Vol 35 issue 14

Monday, January 5, 2009 Volume 35, Issue 14

page7 page8Monday, January 5, 2009

8www.mediumonline.ca

page12

Students at University of TorontoMississauga (UTM) may be gettingan extended reading week if negoti-ations break down between the uni-versity administration and its con-tractual staff union, CUPE 3902. Aspart of a regular collective agree-ment renewal process , theUniversity of Toronto is asking theunion to make a number of conces-sions, such as eliminating a TuitionAssistance Fund (TAF) created inthe last agreement, which providestuition relief for members of CUPE3902 in deregula ted programs.Unfortunately, the members of theunion voted on December 11 toinstruct their bargaining team not toaccept any concessions, a movewhich has resulted in the currentdeadlock.Unlike at York University, where

classes have shut down sinceNovember over pay-related issues,CUPE 3902 is fighting for “equityissues, not wages” according tounion representa t ive RebeccaSanders. “We recently bargainedfor improved materni ty andparental leave, but are still pressingfor decent childcare assistance inline with what other employees atthe university receive.”Childcare access for students has

also been a major issue for studentsat UTM. Some protests arose at arecent childcare meeting due to thefact that UTM students are chargedSt. George rates, which is muchmore expensive than comparablechildcare here in Mississauga.“We are also asking the employer

to cover the extremely expensiveUHIP (University Health InsurancePlan) premiums forced on interna-tional students and their families,”says Sanders. “This private, for-profit plan charges over $3,000 peryear to insure a family, a huge bur-den for already impoverished stu-dents.”The low income of their members

is one reason why CUPE 3902 isrejecting any concessions, especial-

ly given the worsening economicconditions worldwide. As Sanderspoints out , “our members arealready the poorest employees ofthe university, living well belowthe poverty line [so] if cuts need tobe made, they should not targetpeople who can barely get by as is.”Furthermore, Sanders insists that

her union’s proposals would notcost the university very much. “TheUniversity of Toronto has over $1.4billion in operating revenue [and]the proposals in dispute cost theuniversity a tiny fraction of a per-cent of that,” she explains. “Wehave even made proposals that lit-erally don't cost the University apenny more than they've alreadycommitted to in the past. For exam-ple, combining our benefit planswithout raising the cap,” and yetthe university has rejected theseideas and refused to make any con-cessions of their own.Sanders blames the university for

being unreasonable, for refusing toconsider their proposals and insist-ing on a reduction of benefits, andhints that they are to blame for thecurrent stalemate in discussions.CUPE 3902 wants to avoid a strikeat all costs, but feels that U of T isnot making an honest ef for t toreach a new agreement with them.“We are willing to be flexible andcreative [in finding solutions] andour proposals are moderate and rea-sonable,” she says. “If the employershares our desire, they need to reci-procate and come back to the tablewith a fair offer that addresses ourcore concerns.”The Univers i ty of Toronto

administration could not be reachedfor comment due to office closuresover the holiday break. Accordingto the CUPE 3902 website, negotia-tions thus far have resulted in “anadditional hour of paid training,re lease t ime from work dut iesaround major academic deadlines,and a better wage rate for assistantinvigilators” and that “despite thispositive momentum, the union andthe employer have decided to filejointly for conciliation.” Such amove means that the Ontar ioLabour Board must now appoint aconciliator to oversee negotiationsand try to foster some sort of agree-ment.For more information please visit

http://www.cupe3902.org

Strike at UTM in February?

AA ddiissppuuttee oovveerr ppaayy iissssuueess bbeettwweeeenn tteeaacchhiinngg aassssiissttaannttss aanndd aaddmmiinniissttrraattiioonn hhaass rreessuulltteedd iinn ccaammppuuss cclloossuurree aatt YYoorrkkUUnniivveerrssiittyy ssiinnccee NNoovveemmbbeerr.. CCoouulldd tthhiiss bbee aa rreeaalliittyy aatt UUTTMM iinn aa mmoonntthh’’ss ttiimmee??

Photo/www.voices.com

The University of Toronto and CUPE Local 3902 arecurrently deadlocked in negotiations, with a mediatorscheduled to intervene this month in the hopes ofreaching an agreement. If this fails, CUPE may be in astrike position as early as February.

AANNDDRREEWW HHAAMMIILLTTOONN��SSMMIITTHHNEWS EDITOR

Canada stars at WJHC

JJoohhnn TTaavvaarreess lleeaaddss hhiiss tteeaamm oouutt oonn tthhee iiccee iinn OOttttaawwaa aatt tthhee WWoorrlldd JJuunniioorr HHoocckkeeyy CChhaammppiioonnsshhiippss.. CCaannaaddaa hhaass hhaadd aassuucccceessffuull ttoouurrnnaammeenntt tthhuuss ffaarr,, aanndd aarree sseett ttoo ttaakkee oonn SSwweeddeenn iinn MMoonnddaayy’’ss ffiinnaall..

Photo/Matthew Filipowich

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MONDAY, JANUARY 5, 200922 THE MEDIUM

BBiillll RRiicchhaarrddssoonn bboowwss oouutt ooffccoommmmeerrccee sseeccrreettaarryy jjoobb(CNN) �� New Mexico Gov.Bill Richardson is withdraw�ing his nomination to be com�merce secretary, citing thedistraction of a federal inves�tigation into ties to a compa�ny that has done businesswith his state.

EEggyypptt BBeeccoommeess FFllaasshhppooiinnttOOvveerr GGaazzaa (Wall Street Journal) RAFAH,Egypt �� As Israeli troops pushinto Gaza, Egypt has becomea flashpoint in the deepeningdivide between moderateArab leaders, backed by theWest, and their moreextreme rivals, includingHamas and Lebanon'sHezbollah, backed by Iran andSyria.

TThhoouussaannddss ggaatthheerr ttoo rreemmeemm��bbeerr BB..CC.. aavvaallaanncchhee vviiccttiimmss(CBC) SPARWOOD, B.C. ��The eight men killed in anavalanche one week agowere remembered by theirfriends and family at a publicmemorial on Sunday.

FFeemmaallee bboommbbeerr aatt SShhiiiitteesshhrriinnee iinn BBaagghhddaadd kkiillllss 3388(AP) BAGHDAD, Iraq �� Awoman hiding among Iranianpilgrims with a bombstrapped under her black robekilled more than three dozenpeople on Sunday outside aBaghdad mosque during cere�monies commemorating thedeath of one of Shiite Islam'smost revered saints.

SSrrii LLaannkkaa ppuusshheess aahheeaadd wwiitthhwwaarr oonn rreebbeellss(AP) KILINOCHCHI, Sri Lanka�� Battle tanks rumbled north,attack helicopters flew over�head and artillery fire roaredthrough the jungles as SriLankan forces pushed aheadSunday with an offensiveaimed at capturing the TamilTigers' last remaining strong�holds.

BBeeiirruutt sseennddss 2200 ttoonnss ooff mmeedd��iiccaall ssuupppplliieess ttoo hheellpp GGaazzaannss(Agence France Presse)BEIRUT, Lebanon �� Lebanondispatched nearly 20 tons ofmedical equipment onSunday to hospitals in theGaza Strip. The hospitalshave struggled to cope with aspiralling casualty toll fromIsrael's nine�day onslaught.

UTM Women’s Centre honoursMontreal Massarce victims

Mumbai vigil brings UTMtogether in mourning

In response to the horrific attacks onseveral hotels in Mumbai, Indiabetween November 26 and 29 wherealmost 500 people were killed orwounded, the University of TorontoMississauga Student Union(UTMSU), Muslim StudentsAssociat ion, Sikh Student’sAssociation and the Hindu StudentCouncil organized a candle-lightvigil to pay respects to the victims. On December 3, over 100 studentsshowed up at the CCIT Building tomourn those killed. The tragic terrorattacks on western-friendly targetssuch as the Taj Mahal Palace Hotelwere orchestrated by Lashkar-e-Toiba, a Pakistan-based militantorganization, according to the onlysurviving vict im, Ajmal AmirKasab. In a sign of solidarity, clubs rep-

resenting these perspectives –Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, Indian andPakistani – organized in a very shortspan of time a vigil with the purposeof bringing people together tomourn the victims of this tragedy. UTMSU President Wasah Malik

was very pleased with the turn-outand noted the event was organizedin only two days. “It is important totake the right steps forward,” Malikexplained, “and only humanity canhelp humanity. The most importantthing right now is helping the vic-tims.”After remarks by the presidents of

the various clubs and Surender K.Arora from the Indian Consulate in

Toronto, the assembled groupobserved two minutes of silencebefore proceeding on a silent walkthrough the campus. Once back atthe CCIT Building, the vigil con-cluded with Malik thanking every-one who came. Many of those inattendance also wrote messages tothe victims on a large banner.Arora noted in his open address

that it is “imperative to get rid ofterrorists and that it is important todemonstrate that such tactics areunacceptable to the internationalcommunity.” Tensions betweenIndian and neighbouring Pakistanhave always been high due to dis-puted claims in the Kashmir regionand the fact that both countries pos-sess nuclear arsenals. Religious ten-sion also exists and adds fuel to con-flicts, especially in mixed areas suchas Mumbai, which has large Muslimand Hindu populations.There were a number of refer-

ences made by students about theSeptember 11, 2001 terror attacks onthe United States, often comparingthat incident with the at tack onMumbai. Steven Zhou of theMinistry of Social Justice and UTMNew Democrats explained that if theattackers are traced back toPakistan, India could possibly claimjustification for military action, fol-lowing the United States’ examplein Iraq. “The worst thing that canhappen is if people in India listen tothe right-wing politicians in theBharatiya Janata Party (BJP),” Zhouadded.The general tone was one of

mourning, rather than the need forvengeance. Soham Bhatia of theSouth Asian Alliance believes that

the attackers were terrorists whowere probably brainwashed, butstressed the importance of focusingon the human tragedy. “We are notcondoning [the attacks] in any way,”he said. “These victims are individu-als who had hopes and ambitions,”and so it is crucial to make that themost important part of this event.Mohammed Ashour, president of

the Muslim Student Association atUTM, noted that “in the Koran, noone is supposed to kill innocent peo-ple,” suggesting that if the attackerswere truly followers of the faith,

they would refrain from such tactics. Malik agreed with that sentiment

and added that “there are those whohave manipulated this religion tosuit their own desires, and havemoulded minds filled with hatredand violence.” He emphasized thechallenge of preventing these distor-tions of truth to be perpetrated,which serve only to divide peopleand turn them against one another.“We are here in memory of all

those who lost their lives, and theyare in our hearts,” Malik said som-brely.

Photo/Lara Matiisen

OOvveerr 110000 ssttuuddeennttss ggaatthheerreedd iinn aa ccaannddllee��lliigghhtt vviiggiill ttoo mmoouurrnn tthhee vviiccttiimmss ooff tthheeMMuummbbaaii aattttaacckkss iinn NNoovveemmbbeerr.. TThhee eevveenntt wwaass oorrggaanniizzeedd bbyy tthhee HHiinndduuCCoouunncciill,, SSiikkhh SSttuuddeenntt aanndd MMuusslliimm SSttuuddeenntt AAssssoocciiaattiioonnss,, aammoonngg ootthheerrss..

December 5, 2008 saw the UTMWomen’s Centre hold a memorialservice for the nineteenth anniver-sary of the Montreal Massacre whenMarc Lepine shot and kil led 14women at the École Polytechnique. Natalie Ellis, leader of the UTM

Women’s Centre, welcomed thosein attendance and discussed theimportance of the issue on violenceagainst women. She began by play-ing a radio clip by Katherine Cantyof CBC News from September2006. The broadcast was ofMonique Lepine, mother of MarcLepine, asking for forgiveness from

the famil ies of the women whowere killed by her son.Christina Da Silva recounted the

events surrounding the infamousday. She noted the fact that MarcLepine’s suicide note listed the 19women he wanted to kill and thelack of effor t to s top him fromkilling his victims. Bobbi-Jo Duff from UTM’s cam-

pus police, spoke about violenceagainst women and emphasized theimportance of not blaming the vic-tims of gender-based violence. Sheencouraged the female students atUTM to contact security immedi-ately if they feel their safety is everin danger.When the speeches were conclud-

ed, a candlelight vigil was held to

remember the 14 women who losttheir lives. To commemorate thevictims, the name of each individ-ual was announced and representedby a person coming forward hold-ing a l i t candle . A moment ofsilence then ensued, followed by amusical performance by Loriel M.Ducoy.Joan Simalchik, professor and

program coordinator of theWomen’s and Gender StudiesDepartment, emphasized on chal-lenging violence against women inour society, pointing to more recentincidents such as the murder ofAqsa Parvez, who was killed by herfather for refusing to wear the hijab.She also discussed how more than500 Aboriginal women have gone

missing in Canada, and how thegovernment, legal forces, and mediaconsistently fail to bring enoughattention to the issue.“Changing male attitudes that tol-

erate violence against women is oneway to make a difference,” com-mented UTM vice-president andprincipal Ian Orchard, who was alsoin attendance. Joeita Gupta, representing the

Association of Part-time UniversityStudents (APUS), gave the closingremarks. “The lack of an appropri-ate and accessible daycare systemin Canada, which disproportionatelyaffects women since women aremainly responsible for working andlooking after their families, createsa ‘double burden’ for women.”

KKAARREENN AAKKHHTTAARRASSISTANT FEATURES EDITOR


MONDAY, JANUARY 5, 2009 THE MEDIUM 33

Gaza conflict escalates as thousandsprotest downtown Toronto, worldwide

After over 400 people in the Gazastrip killed and an estimated 1,600wounded by I s rae l i Ai r Forcebombings, protesters came out inforce this past weekend to voiceout against the conflict. The Israeli assault on the Gaza

strip is reminiscent of the month-long 2006 war in Lebanon, whichsaw Israel suffer a humil ia t ingstalemate against a much smallerenemy, Hezbollah. Like that con-flict, this one began with a limitednumber of Israeli casualties, whichthe Israel i government of EhudOlmert then used to justify a large-scale military intervention.Similar protests took place all

weekend in many o ther c i t i e saround the world, from Cairo toLondon to Baghdad. In Egypt, thepower fu l Mus l im Bro therhoods taged a l a rge p ro tes t , whichinc luded Supreme GuideMohammed Mahdi Akef urging thecrowd to express the i r angerthrough peaceful means. No inci-dents of violence were reported atany of the protests, though angeragainst Israel’s actions was evi-dent.A number of executives from the

UTMSU, as well as many otherstudents and groups from UTM,attended the protest, which drewpeople from a wide range of eth-n ic , re l ig ious and soc ia l back-grounds. In his statement to The Medium,

University of Toronto MississaugaStudent Union (UTMSU) PresidentWasah Malik commented on theinjustice that the Palestinians arefacing at this moment. “The worldhas witnessed the loss of manyinnocent humans in the past few

months. It is just sad to see thatvery little forceful action is beingtaken by the political leaders ofthis world to cease the fire in Gazaor even force the Israeli authorityto grant the permiss ion for theentry of basic necessities and med-ic ines fo r the Pa les t in ians ,”explained Malik who also addedthat UTMSU is against all injus-tices, including the injustice thatthe innocent Palestinians are fac-ing today.Several Arab groups, including

Hezbollah in Lebanon and conser-vative clerics in Iran, are takingmeasures to support Hamas and thepeople of the Gaza strip, both interms of humanitarian aid and mil-itary recruitment, with at least onewebsite signing people up to fightagainst Israel in defence of Gaza.The silence of the world com-

munity is unusual, with very fewcountries criticizing Israel for itsactions, though there have been anumber of calls for a cease-fire.US President-elect Barack Obamahas not yet issued a statement onthe conf l i c t , a l though Uni tedSta tes Secre ta ry o f S ta teCondoleezza Rice has said that“the United States strongly con-demns the repea ted rocke t andmortar attacks against Israel andholds Hamas responsible for therenewal of violence in Gaza.”Around 200 counter-protesters

turned out downtown Toronto insupport of Israel, drawing angryshouts and epithets from the pro-Gaza crowds. As they marched, theprotestors brought stretchers to theIs rae l i embassy on O’ConnorStreet, where they demanded thatIsrael be held responsible for theinnocent deaths it has caused. Atthe moment, there does not appearto be any possibility of an end tothe hostilities in Gaza.


Anti-povertymeeting at UTM

On December 12, 2008, MarvynNovick, consultant for the SocialPlanning Network of Ontario andco-founder of Campaign 2000,came to the HJA Brown EducationCentre to discuss his Blueprint forPoverty Reduction. Peter Clutterbuck, coordinator

for the Social Planning Network ofOntario, began the meeting by dis-cussing the importance of makingpoverty an issue that politicianswill pay attention to. He also men-tioned ways to work together ascitizens to make a difference andthe importance of having a fairlabour market, which wouldinclude so-called “living” wages.Clutterbuck pointed out how theminimum wage will be raised to$10.25/hour in 2010.Novick emphasized the impor-

tance of having poverty reductionas a long-term political strategy in

our society, and how povertyreduction has not gone far enough.He also emphasized that manymeasures that help people copewith poverty, such as food banksand hostels, are poverty alleviation,not poverty reduction. He alsonoted that many preventative mea-sures such as “second chance” pro-grams to go back to school are notpoverty reduction.

“Things were very different inthe 60s,” commented Novick. “Thegovernment invested in Old AgeSecurity, Canadian Pension Plan,

seniors’ and low-income housing,and universal public health care.” Novick also examined some

facts about poverty, such as therate of child poverty in 2005 beingthe same as in 1989, and pointedout the irony of the current bailoutcrisis – the same people who want-ed the government to stay out ofthe economy are now asking fortaxpayer dollars. Where the gov-ernment does play a strong role(Denmark, Finland, and Sweden),the result is often a stronger overalleconomy despite having highertaxes.Poverty has a disproportionate

effect on immigrants and refugees.In the GTA for example, temporarywork agencies take advantage ofpeople who are new to Canada bypromising them excellent careerswhich turn out to be low-wage,dead-end jobs. Novick firmlybelieves that the system of socialassistance should be based on dig-nity and respect and should providelong-term permanent solutions.

WWiitthh ssttuuddeennttss oonn bbrreeaakk,,llooccaall ddeeeerr uussee ccaammppuuss

WWiitthh UUTTMM ssttuuddeennttss oonn tthheeiirr wwiinntteerr bbrreeaakk,, tthhee llooccaall ddeeeerr ppooppuullaattiioonn hhaassbbeeccoommee iinnccrreeaassiinnggllyy bboolldd wwhheenn mmoovviinngg aarroouunndd ccaammppuuss.. TThhiiss ccoouuppllee wwaass

pphhoottooggrraapphheedd oonn SSuunnddaayy nniigghhtt..

KKAARREENN AAKKHHTTAARRASSISTANT FEATURES EDITOR

BBeettwweeeenn ssiixx aanndd tteenn tthhoouussaanndd ppeeooppllee ttooookk ttoo tthhee ssttrreeeettss ooff TToorroonnttoo oonn SSaattuurrddaayy ttoo pprrootteesstt IIssrraaeellii aattttaacckkss oonn tthhee GGaazzaassttrriipp.. TThhee llaatteesstt eessccaallaattiioonn iinn vviioolleennccee ccoommeess iinn rreessppoonnssee ttoo aa nnuummbbeerr ooff rroocckkeett ssttrriikkeess ffiirreedd iinnttoo ttoowwnnss iinn ssoouutthheerrnnIIssrraaeell,, aanndd hhaass rreessuulltteedd iinn aallmmoosstt 22,,000000 ccaassuuaallttiieess iinn lleessss tthhaann ttwwoo wweeeekkss..

In the GTA, temporarywork agencies take

advantage of people whoare new to Canada by

promising them excellentcareers which turn out

to be low�wage, dead�end jobs.

Photos/Mohammed Hashim

Many have been shaking their heads recently. Some of them at what’sgoing on in the Gaza strip right now, and some at what’s happeninghere in Toronto with all the protesting. Sceptics have wondered aboutwhat can possibly come of protests here in Canada. How can all thedemonstration over at Queen’s Park possibly have an effect on what’shappening in a land once known as Palestine?“They’re applying pressure on the Canadian government to apply pres-sure on the Americans to in turn, apply pressure on Israel to stop theattacks,” explained my News Editor. “That’s one way of looking at it,”he adds.I honestly don’t know if all the indirect pressure will work. I mean,we’re not talking about lowering tuition fees here. But one thing it isdoing is getting people to think. To think not just about what’s goingon in the Middle East but why. Why this war that has spanned decadesis still going on. And why it probably is never going to end.There’s so much to debate on the subject, and almost unlike anythingelse, it bears so many different perspectives, so many sides to thewhole argument. Take Hamas for instance, the Palestinian politicalparty in the center of it all. The Western opinion on them is clear-cut –they are a terrorist organization, plain and simple. The residents ofGaza however, take a very different view of them, for Hamas is theonly organization that provides them with aid, with services like edu-cation and health care, as well as widow, food and fuel subsidies forimpoverished families. No one else is doing this in Gaza, except for theUN and aid NGOs, who are often Christian-based and/or underfundedand hence, of little influence to the Palestinian villagers.Hamas refuses to accept Israel’s right to exist and will never changetheir view on this. They were after all, elected democratically by thepeople of Gaza for the very purpose of fighting for the re-ownership oftheir land.Recently, a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas ended, and Hamaschose not to renew it, beginning instead to fire home-made (butincreasingly sophisticated) rockets into Israel, killing and wounding afew people (reportedly less than 20, though this figure has never beenmade official). In response, Israel launched massive airstrikes into theGaza region and has just begun a ground invasion, killing almost 500Palestinians. Similar to what happened in Lebanon in 2006, when twoIsraeli soldiers were kidnapped and Israel responded with airstrikeswhich killed thousands of innocent civilians.Some will argue that the numbers are heftily one-sided. Less than 20Israelis killed vs. over 500 Palestinians killed? Why are Israeli livesworth more than Palestinian? From this stance, I’m forced to wonderabout the American lives which seem to be worth more than theIraqis’.But war is war isn’t it? There’s no rule that says both sides have toweigh their punches equally. If Israelites are captured and killed, youcan’t blame them for striking back. You can’t really blame them fortaking action – however severe – to ensure it doesn’t happen again.The simple solution here is for neither side to launch any offensive.But that’s not likely to happen, at least not in the near future.Palestinians will never stop believing that their actions are justified.And in retaliation, neither will the Israelites.Truthfully, I don’t have a proposed solution for any of this. As far as Iknow, the pros and cons and the ifs and buts are endless. But the onecertainty I do have is that this is probably the most complex issue inthe history of the world to date. And what good are we as students ofthe world if we do not educate ourselves on this? We’ll probably con-tinue to shake our heads on the issue, but let’s never stop thinkingabout it. There is never anything to gain from scepticism.

LLeetttteerrss ttoo tthhee eeddiittoorr wwiillll bbee eeddiitteedd ffoorr ssppeelllliinngg,, ggrraammmmaarr,, ssttyyllee,, aanndd ccoohheerr--eennccee.. LLeetttteerrss wwiillll nnoott eexxcceeeedd 550000 wwoorrddss iinn pprriinntt.. LLeetttteerrss tthhaatt iinncciittee hhaattrreedd,,vviioolleennccee oorr lleetttteerrss tthhaatt aarree rraacciisstt,, hhoommoopphhoobbiicc,, sseexxiisstt,, oorr lliibbeelloouuss wwiillll nnoottbbee ppuubblliisshheedd.. AAnnoonnyymmoouuss lleetttteerrss wwiillll nnoott bbee ppuubblliisshheedd.. LLeetttteerrss aanndd aannddootthheerr eeddiittoorriiaall mmaatteerriiaallss rreefflleecctt ooppiinniioonnss ooff tthhee aauutthhoorrss,, aanndd ddoo nnoott nneecceess--ssaarriillyy rreefflleecctt tthhee ooppiinniioonnss ooff tthhee eeddiittoorrss,, ssttaaffff,, vvoolluunntteeeerrss,, oorr BBooaarrdd ooffDDiirreeccttoorrss ooff TThhee MMeeddiiuumm.. IInn ootthheerr wwoorrddss,, jjuusstt bbeeccaauussee wwee pprriinntt iitt ddooeessnn’’ttnneecceessssaarriillyy mmeeaann wwee aaggrreeee wwiitthh iitt.. SSuubbmmiissssiioonn ddooeess nnoott gguuaarraanntteeee ppuubbllii--ccaattiioonn.. SSuubbmmiissssiioonn ooff mmaatteerriiaallss ttoo TThhee MMeeddiiuumm pprreessuummeess tthhee wwrriitteerr hhaassrreeaadd,, aanndd aaggrreeeess wwiitthh,, tthhiiss ppoolliiccyy..

EEDDIITTOORRIIAALL Please write to:[email protected]

AALLII KKAASSIIMMEDITOR�IN�CHIEF

[email protected]

EDITORIAL

LLeetttteerr to the Editor

TThhee MMeeddiiuumm iiss aallwwaayyss llooookkiinngg ffoorr vvoolluunntteeeerrssaanndd aassssiissttaanntt eeddiittoorrss..

TThheerree’’ss nnoo eeaassiieerr wwaayy ttoo ggeett ppuubblliisshheedd tthhaanntthhrroouugghh uuss..

EEmmaaiill tthhee sseeccttiioonn eeddiittoorrss oorr AAllii aatt [email protected] ttoo ffiinndd oouutt hhooww yyoouu ccaannggeett ssttaarrtteedd.. OOrr ssiimmppllyy ddrroopp bbyy oouurr ooffffiiccee ��

SSttuuddeenntt CCeennttrree,, RRoooomm 220000..


EDITORIAL

EEDDIITTOORR��IINN��CCHHIIEEFFAli [email protected]

NNEEWWSS EEDDIITTOORRAndrew Hamilton�[email protected]

AA&&EE EEDDIITTOORRMichael Di [email protected]

FFEEAATTUURREESS EEDDIITTOORRAlain [email protected]

AASSSSIISSTTAANNTT FFEEAATTUURREESS EEDDIITTOORRKaren Akhtar

SSPPOORRTTSS EEDDIITTOORRChristoper Sa’[email protected]

CCOOPPYY EEDDIITTOORRShelley Bahorie

PPHHOOTTOOGGRRAAPPHHYY EEDDIITTOORRMatthew [email protected]

AASSSSIISSTTAANNTT PPHHOOTTOO EEDDIITTOORRLara Matiisen

CCOOMMPPOOSSIITTEE EEDDIITTOORRMatthew Filipowich

WWEEBBMMAATTSSEERRVerisha Khanam

DDIISSTTRRIIBBUUTTIIOONN MMAANNAAGGEERRAli Kasim

BBUUSSIINNEESSSS MMAANNAAGGEERRRomano Bergic

BBOOAARRDD OOFF DDIIRREECCTTOORRSS

Christine Capewell, Jane Ngobia, Isa

Cunanan, Raji Aujla, Laura Gaspini,

Umeimah Bastaki, Bhagyashri

Bhandakkar, Julie Tyios

MMEEDDIIUUMM IIII PPUUBBLLIICCAATTIIOONNSS

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UTMSU President welcomes students backDear UTM Students,

It is my pleasure to welcome youback to yet another academic session. Ihope that you had the opportunity to getsome rest, eat healthy and enjoy yourbreak.The UTM Students’ Union had been

working hard for you during the fallacademic term to help ensure that youhave a fair and a safe environment tosucceed at UTM.Recently, the UTM students were

introduced to the idea of changing thecurrent 13-week fall semester to a 12-week semester, giving students theopportunity to study a week prior totheir exams. Through student consulta-tion, this idea was considered to be anacademic policy change that would playa role in benefiting students succeed intheir post-secondary education. I amvery happy to announce that this policychange was passed at the recentErindale College Council meeting.It is very important to continue the

progress that UTM students have sharedgoing into the New Year and a new aca-demic term. To do this, your students’union is committed to bringing about

more campaigns and events for you.The UTM Students’ Union will be

providing students with book & needsbased bursaries, Expression AgainstOppression, campaigns to fight allforms of discrimination and hate, cam-paigns to move towards a sustainablecampus, lobby the government for anOSAP reform to allow part-time stu-dents eligibility, Unity ThroughDiversity, more pub nights and muchmore. Your students’ union will contin-ue the fight to lower tuition fees andparking fees. There is a lot of work that needs to

get done, so please drop by your stu-dents’ union office in the Student Centrein Room 100 and get involved becauseTOGETHER we hold the power toimplement effective changes to enhanceour student experience.As your elected representative, I want

to wish all of you a very Happy NewYear and I hope this year brings you lotsof joy, happiness and success.

Regards,Wasah MalikPresident UTMSU

8 5 6 4 98 7

2 13 8

5 4 9 32 5

4 29 3

5 8 6 3 9

6 2 3 4 18 7

2 67 9 8 5 2

3 8 4 65 9 4 3 7

4 93 7

4 1 9 6 3

SSUUDDOOKKUU

BBLLOOGG QQUUEESSTTIIOONN

In early december,University of Toronto teach�ing assistants voted 63 per�cent in favour of a strike.

With the teaching assistantunion, CUPE 3902 still intalks, the TAs could hit thepicket lines in February.

The Medium wants toknow what you think.

DDoo yyoouu ssyymmppaatthhiizzee wwiitthh tthheeUUTTMM TTAAss vvoottee ttoo ssttrriikkee??

� No, TAs get paid too much

� Yes, they deserve more for theamount of work they do

� I don't care

VVoottee oonnlliinnee aatt mmeeddiiuummoonnlliinnee..ccaa//bblloogg

Ali KasimYours,

Rebecca Rosenblum’s Metcalf/Rookeaward-winning Once is a collection ofshort stories about people who are intheir twenties and the situations thatsurround them. Drawing from her ownexperiences, the Hamilton-bornUniversity of Toronto graduate intri-cately pieces her characters together,showing them in the more ordinarymoments of life. The Medium recentlygot a chance to speak with theesteemed author about her collectionand thoughts on writing.

The Medium: What inspired you toundertake the writing of O�CE?

Rebecca Rosenblum: The stories in thebook that I wrote first were not con-sciously part of a book. They were justthings I wrote that happened to workout better than other projects from thesame period. About halfway throughgrad school, a student is supposed toplan and then execute a long project.That’s when I realized, all the stuff Iwrote that worked were short stories,and that might be because I liked themso much. So the first and second ver-sions of the book, both much differentthan it stands now, were a part of mythesis work with Leon Rooke atUniversity of Toronto.

TM: I notice that a lot of the storiesjust pick random events in the livesof characters. Why did you chooseto go this route?

RR: To me, they aren’t random. Life islong, complex and convoluted; shortstories are usually about 15 pages.Some people can telescope a whole lifeinto that. I’m thinking of somethinglike Annabel Lyon’s “Black,” whichis stunning if you can do it well. WhatI’m working on these stories is the“minute particular,” getting the readerfar enough into the characters and theirlives to find the importance in whatthey say over breakfast, what they dowaiting for the bus, how they pass theless “climatic” moments that constitutemost of life.

TM: How did you do the researchfor the stories contained in O�CE?RR: For most of these pieces, the mate-rial is based on my imagination andfilled in with my incidental experi-ences; not a lot of research was done. Idrew on jobs I’ve had, people I’ve met,places I’ve been, foods I’ve eaten, butthen I completely free-formed fromthat. You won’t find many “true sto-ries” here. I’m not a big autobiographi-cal writer, but lots of bits of truth.The exceptions are “ContEd,” forwhich I did look into the tax system,and “Route 99,” for which I spent anafternoon riding the eponymous route.In those cases, the research felt bothenjoyable and necessary to the stories,so I did it. Oh, and I read ChesterBrown’s amazing Louis Riel andplayed the game Earthdawn in prepa-ration for writing “Massacre Day,”though I’m not sure if that counts asresearch since I used so little of it.

TM:Who was your target audience?

RR: I always write first to entertainmyself, to write the sorts of stories Iwant to read. And then I try to makethem good enough and clear enoughthat others could enjoy them too. Thepeople I envision liking the book arepeople who feel too weird, too imma-ture, too young, too poor or too alienat-ed to be a target market, or were onceand remember what it feels like. Peoplewho are curious about other people.People who love short stories, lovebooks, love and hate public transit andtheir jobs, and really dig Vietnamesefood. People who are interested in thereal world but not exclusively.

TM:What do you want your readersto take away from reading O�CE?

RR: I guess I just want them to get toknow these people and experience a lit-tle bit of their lives. To think abouthow it would feel to be them and livethrough those things, the context ofwhatever that particular reader’s lifeoffers. And I want people to laugh atmy jokes.

TM: What does writing mean foryou?

RR: It’s a huge opportunity for me. Ihave so much bouncing around myhead and it’s amazing to be able to putit out there in a way that means some-thing to readers the way it does to me.The art and craft of that is a constantchallenge: the scene-building, the char-acter descriptions that aren’t too heavy-handed, and the sentence structure thatseems effortless but is in fact the thir-teenth version. But in the end, if some-one says they really felt connected tothe characters and the events, or evenwilder, that they connected with themin a different way than I did, that’shuge. That means I’ve made theseimaginary people live on the page.Amazing.

TM: When did you first know thatyou wanted to be a writer?

RR: Only recently, though I alwayswrote. And parents, teachers, friendswere always really encouraging of that.What’s cuter than a little girl with apoetry notebook? In high school anduniversity, I wrote pretty steadily, tookcreative writing classes and belongedto groups, all without submitting stufffor publication more than a coupletimes. If I’d thought of the metaphor atthe time, I would’ve compared it torec-league soccer. No one thinksthey’re going to go pro, they play onlybecause they enjoy it, but still they goall out, they play seriously.I was 27 when I thought maybe I’d

like to be a bit more serious. I still did-n’t say, I’m going to be a writer, but Idid go back to school for my MA inEnglish and creative writing. It was away of giving myself two years towrite, in a very structured and orga-nized way. It was a way of getting helpwith something that was too much forme to contemplate on my own, a booklength project. About a year into theprogram, I did have enough confidenceto start sending my work out. I guessthat’s like a pro-league tryout.

TM: What are your stories trying tosay?

RR: I’m definitely more interested inthe specific than the general in mywriting. If the stories reflect on societyit is only because they take place with-in it. I do mean my characters to live inthe real world, even those who livewith a bit of magic – the food and thesnow and the work schedules and theprice of gas are all still real.I often feel outside of things – pop

culture or finance or just a conversa-tion, but that’s just me and the stuff Iencounter. I’m not sure that’s represen-tative of twenty-somethings as a groupin society as a whole. I do think thatpeople who don’t fit are interesting,both for the thing that made them out-siders in the first place and the vantagepoint that a position outside the crowdgives them.

TM: Did you draw on some of yourown experiences for O�CE stories?

RR: I’m not a super-autobiographicalwriter. When I do use real-life stuff, Ifind it very stressful to weed out therelevant from the merely actual. I alsofreak out over whether people will bemad if I use bits of their personalitiesin my work. I think I flatter myself.I’m not so brilliant with verisimilitudethat people could easily catch a glanc-ing reference to their noses or dictionor home décor. But stealing lives isenough of a hot-button issue for methat, while I write a lot about peoplelike those I know, very rarely do I tryto embody a real person on the page. Iuse real settings a lot, because thatdoesn’t feel invasive. Most of theplaces in Once, as well food, jobs, tran-sit routes, television programs, etc.,etc., are definitely from my experience.

TM: What words of wisdom wouldyou like to impart on other writers?

RR: Write for awhile, and then seehow you feel. Every writer is different– some need to study the craft in aclassroom, or in a group of fellow writ-ers, or alone locked in a room with abig pile of books, or some combinationthereof. Some people need to read onlyin their chosen genre, and some people,like me, need a sprawl of poems andshort stories and epic novels. The moreyou write, the more you know whatyou need to do to make it better.

TM: What advice would you give towriters who’ve had their worksrejected by publishers?

RR: The first rejections are so hard –it’s going to sting, absolutely. Knowwhen you are ready for that. For a longtime I was not confident enough, in mywriting or in myself, to cope with rejec-tion, so I didn’t send work out. Finally Igot to the point where I thought my sto-ries were strong enough that if someoneelse disagreed, it wouldn’t destroy me.The big turning point for me wasn’thaving my work be “good” enough toget published, because there are toomany factors in that. Editors have their

preferences in genre and style, journalshave space constraints, envelopes getlost and, hell, there’s just more qualitywork being produced than there is roomto print it. The goal that matters for awriter is to be able to look at rejectionas one bit of feedback, to pout for a dayor two, try to use the feedback, andmove on. Love your own work enoughthat rejection is irrelevant, or almost.

Michael Di Leo, Editor | [email protected]


I earned my undergraduate degree.

Now, I want arewarding career*

*not just a job

business.humber.ca

In less than one year, Humberpostgraduate programs will helpyou launch your career in:

Building on your university degree,Humber’s postgraduate programs offer aconcentrated curriculum, career-focusedcourses and practical field placements.You’ll gain the real-world experience andskills that employers value most.

Get the career you want – apply now.

Once a winner, always a writerThe Medium chats with Rebecca Rosenblum about her award�winning collectionof short stories and what it means to be a writerKKAATTAARRIINNAA IILLIICC

photo/mcnallyrobinson.com

TThhee ccoovveerr ooff OOnnccee,, RRoosseennbblluumm’’ssffiirrsstt ccoolllleeccttiioonn ooff sshhoorrtt ssttoorriieess..

Photo/alumni.utoronto.ca

RReebbeeccccaa RRoosseennbblluumm wwoonn tthhee ccoovveett��eedd MMeettccaallffee//RRooookkee aawwaarrdd ffoorr OOnnccee..


When Avian released their debutalbum, From the Depths of Time, twoyears ago, people didn’t expect much.The band started off as vocalist LanceKing’s side project while he was withPyramaze. When Pyramaze and Kingwent their separate ways Avian becamethe latter’s primary project. The firstalbum suffered through one minorissue: not being able to hear King’svoice clearly in all the tracks – thesongs simply weren’t mixed highenough. Thankfully, that’s a non-issuewith the new album.King does both the lead vocals and

the keyboard work on Ashes andMadness. An important thing to noteabout this release is that King usesvocal styles he’s never used before,which, to fans of his, is quite exciting.He even goes as far as to add a fewdeath metal growls in some tracks toadd to their darker tones. Welcoming Bill Hudson

(Cellador/Powerquest) as the newlead guitarist was a wise move on theband’s part – his vicious shredding fitsthe album’s darker tone and providessome of the most frantic and awe-inspiring moments of guitar playing inthe album. Yan Leviathan (rhythmguitarist) remains as the band’s mainsongwriter, writing every song and themajority of the lyrics on the album. Hewrites some intricate riffs that are bothcatchy and heavy. It’s easy to hear howwell the band meshes together in thesong writing department. The album has ten tracks (one of

them a short instrumental), each ofwhich stand out on their own. Theopening/title track is a great way to kickoff the album, giving you a nice taste ofwhat to expect throughout this metalmasterpiece. “The Lost and Forsaken”was the first track to be released via theband’s MySpace site. It is one of theheavier songs on the album and Kinggoes all over the place with the vocals. “Into the Other Side” is a classic fast

paced power metal tune, while “All TheKing’s Horses” is a moody piece whichhas a hard rock feel to it with its classicsounding solos. The final song “Timeand Space Part II: Unlock the Mystery”is the longest track on the album and isby far the most epic sounding. An ener-getic chorus and moody verses lend tothe overall feel of the song, as doesKing’s son playing the violin and hisdaughter murmuring an apocalypticspeech as the song fades out.

Ashes and Madness is a great melod-ic power metal album with interestingand catchy songs. From beginning toend the album spews classic metaltunes. The only complaint is that itseemed to go by too fast – one or twomore songs wouldn’t hurt. Also, afterlistening to the album in its entiretythere is the lingering question: WillAvian be able to top this metal master-piece?

CD REVIEW

AvianAshes and Madness

4.5/5

Belle & Sebastian remain a mystery tomuch of the world. If You’re FeelingSinister and Tigermilk – their two mostnotable works – are consistently rankedamong many critics “best of all time”lists and their fan base was one of thefirst to harness the networking powerof the internet, yet very few people,fans included, understood the processbehind the group in their early years.Perhaps it was due to their notoriouslyinfrequent and confusing interviews, orthe fact that they were rarely ever seenlive on stage. The likeliest reason however was

their complete refusal to adhere to anyof the music industry’s standards. Theband reverted to playing lighter, classi-cally-tinged ballads – what is nowtermed “baroque pop – at a time wherethe sharp, hook-riddled melodies ofBrit-pop were fashionable. The mem-bers weren’t considered musicians, but

friends who played instruments, and tomany, the music seemed childish.Arguably, this is what attracted many

lonely youth to the group. The begin-nings of hipster-indyism as we know ittoday were, in a sense, based on thecharacteristics of Belle & Sebastianand their music. Except that the banddidn’t care.The recently released BBC Sessions

sheds some light on B&S during theirheyday. Recorded from three separateperformance sessions at the BBC withdeejays Mark Radcliffe, SteveLamacq and John Peel from 1996 to2001, this is one of the rare recordingsof the band playing in an almost liveenvironment.As band leader, Stuart Murdoch has

stated on several occasions that he waslargely dissatisfied with the mixing ofIf You’re Feeling Sinister, and hasnever until now been in the position ofbeing able to produce what he believeshis songs should sound like. To bothfans and non-fans the differences areprominent. Unlike how they are pro-duced in the original versions, the threetracks “Like Dylan in the Movies,”“Judy and the Dream of Horses,” and“The Stars of Track and Field” (the

only ones from Sinister included in thecompilation) are much more focusedon the instrumentals. Murdoch sings inhis calm, expressive voice but it isturned down in order to hear the com-plexity and layers of melodies his bandmates put forth. Such nuances are diffi-cult to hear in their original recordings,and it is a pleasure to appreciate howuniquely talented the band is.In addition, there are some never

recorded tracks on BBC Sessionswhich could tent the pants of any B&Sfan. “Nothing in the Silence” featuresthe subdued vocals and song writing ofviolinist Sarah Martin (again, a rarity)and minimal instrumentation with onlya reverbed xylophone, bass guitar, anda longing harmonica chorus. It is thegem of the album and one of theband’s most powerful outpours.While Murdoch is at times off-key,

or while the horns may be too thin, oreven when a few of the guitars areoddly recorded, the essence of Belle &Sebastian remains. It’s almost a giventhat BBC Sessions will be popularamong fans of the group, and it is diffi-cult to imagine anyone disliking thecontent. It’s Belle & Sebastian at theirmost genuine, and it is striking.

CD REVIEW

Belle & SebastianThe BBC Sessions

4.7/5

Photo/wikipedia.org

BBeellllee && SSeebbaassttiiaann rreellaaxx aass aa ffaammiillyy..

with Michael Di Leo

Welcome back to another fun-filledsemester at UTM. And what betterway to welcome us back than with abrand new segment of What’s theDil-Eo? Allow me to keep you allupdated on what’s going on in theworld of Arts and Entertainment.First and most importantly, I

would like to point out what a terri-ble break it was for concertgoers. Itis understood that most bands don’twant to tour during the holidaysbecause of other obligations andwhatnot, but one would expect tosee at least a few bigger nameToronto bands playing the club cir-cuit. Jason Collett continued his winter

tour at the Dakota where he playedhis usual mixture of folk-rock. Afew guests stopped by, but nothingoverly exciting. In terms of hip-hop,shows were sparse. Perhaps the bit-ter Toronto winters frighten the boyzfrom the South, or maybe, and morelikely, they were denied entry to ourfair land, thus joining the prestigiouslist of banned American acts – BoneThugs-n-Harmony, DMX, and 50Cent to name a few. On the positiveside, revered DJ Skratch Bastidmade it out to the Drake a few daysbefore Christmas and performed amemorable set as usual.

Prince is back, and with threealbums to boot. In an exclusiveinterview with the Los AngelesTimes, the leader of the �ew Power

Generation described his mostrecent foray into music: two soloalbums tentat ively t i t led LotusFlower and MPLSOU�D and Elixir,a Bria Valente album he guested on.The tracks are described as moreguitar oriented and reminiscent of“When Doves Cry,” except with acameo from Q-Tip. More interestingis that he is doing all of this withoutthe help of a record label, and iscourt ing a “major retai ler” (myguess: Best Buy; think ChineseDemocracy) for the physical distrib-ution of the albums. ApparentlyPrince has realized that he can makemoney off his name.

Pitchfork released its list of thebest albums and tracks of 2008 –one of the most viewed music listsin existence. Not surprisingly, FleetFoxes were deemed to have the bestalbum (or should I say LP/EP com-bination) with their Sun Giant EPand self-titled debut. Surprisingly,�ick Cave’s newest album DigLazarus Dig came in low at #32,while Vampire Weekend andHercules and Love Affair both over-shot with positions in the top 10.In other news, Katy Perry just

split up with her boyfriend. We allhave an equal chance now.

Be sure to check in next week aswe have a very special issue featur-ing our best-of-2008 list in conjunc-tion with CFRE Radio.

LLUUCCAASS DDII MMAASSCCIIOO MMIICCHHAAEELL DDII LLEEOOA&E EDITOR


photopop is a new weekly section curated byThe Medium’s Photography Editor Matthew Filipowich.An assemblage of weekly photographs, photo + collaborate is your take on weekly life, seen through your eyes.

comments: [email protected]: www.mediumonline.ca/photopop

photo by snowpeaks

Not so curious after allThe Medium takes a look at one of the year’s most anticipated films, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,adapted by Eric Roth from F. ScottFitzgerald’s 1921 short story of thesame name, tells the story of BenjaminButton (Brad Pitt), a man described byhis adopted mother as “pre-maturelyold.”

Initially, the story – about a manwho “grows” younger while everyonearound him ages – was based aroundMark Twain’s observation of how it’s

a shame that the most enjoyable partof life comes at the beginning, andends with the worst. The main charac-ters from the story were adapted fromthe book, but otherwise the screenplaytakes a very different path fromFitzgerald’s original. In an attempt tomake the short story classic“Hollywood,” the writers added theepic backdrop of beginning with theFirst World War and finishing at theheart of Hurricane Katrina, as well asincorporating the love story betweenBenjamin and Daisy (CateBlanchett).

Director David Fincher (Seven,Fight Club) framed this epic fairytalewith the last breaths of an elderlyDaisy and her daughter Caroline(Julia Ormond) in a New Orleanshospital with “Katrina” raging outside.Caroline begins reading to her motherfrom a journal which once belonged toBenjamin Button. Slowly, the 21stcentury hospital room fades to thestreets of New Orleans circa 1918, atthe end of the war. Caroline’s voice isreplaced with Brad Pitt’s, in an enter-taining southern drawl.

The flashbacks to Benjamin’s lifeare constantly interrupted with returnsto the modern day hospital room.Although this use of framing is appro-priate and necessary during somestages of the film, there are momentswhen it appears useless and its func-tion lost and replaced with bad acting.Considering the duration of the film (2hours and 45 minutes), there are fram-ing scenes which should have been lefton the editing floor.

At the end of the film whenBenjamin is unable to write in hisjournal, the elderly version of Daisypicks up the story to include her finalmoments of their time together. Hermemories of their relationship at theend of their lives is by far the mostmoving portion of the entire film, as itis crippling to watch a sixty-somethingyear old woman in love with a teenageboy who doesn’t even remember her.

The only reason this film is bearablefor three hours is because of Brad Pitt.He manages to be eerily good-looking,despite his age or the large amounts ofmake-up he is wearing. One notablemoving scene is when he returns tovisit Daisy after abandoningher and their daughter. He is alittle over twenty years old,while she’s in her mid-fifties.Despite his young appearance,Pitt acts with so much age andwisdom, that he embodies anold soul flawlessly. There isweight in and under his eyeswhere one can almost see theexperiences he’s had in hislifetime. Pitt’s performance isconsistent throughout. Duringthe early parts of the filmwhen Pitt plays the old ver-sion of himself, he plays thepart with such innocence andthe lightness of a child.

There is an overall feelingthat the film is a series ofsnippets of his life with occa-sionally moving moments,and the bits and pieces don’talways add up. Button’s lackof personality is the main rea-son for this. He comes off asnice and gentle, but there real-ly isn’t much else to him. In asense, his character is similarto that of Forrest Gump (alsowritten by Eric Roth), in

which he is a vehicle for the story-telling but is himself an empty vesselin the end. Overall, it is fitting that somuch of the film plays with theephemeral nature of life, yet so little ofthe story sticks in the viewers mind.

RROOSSEE MMUUSSTTAARRDD

PPiitttt aass aa mmiiddddllee��aaggeedd BBeenn BBuuttttoonn,, ppeeeerriinnggoovveerr tthhee vvaasstt oocceeaann..

Photos/outnow.ch

AAnn eellddeerrllyy BBeennjjaammiinn BBuuttttoonn ((ppllaayyeedd bbyy BBrraadd PPiitttt)) ddaanncceess tthhee nniigghhtt aawwaayy..

MONDAY,JANUARY 5, 200988 THE MEDIUM

Alain Latour, Editor | [email protected]

Love has touched CCIT studentsbefore. Love for computers, graph-ic design projects, and even webapplications. But love has nevertouched two CCIT students to thepoint of wanting to spend the restof their lives together. Not untilnow. Igor Mazic is a 2006 DEM gradu-

ate. So is Nina Honawar. Igor’spassions are photography and trav-elling. So are Nina’s. And untilthree and half years ago neither ofthem had any idea the other exist-ed. They were immediately attract-ed to each other, mutual interestsnotwithstanding, one warm Juneevening in 2005 at a games nightparty, over a Cranium board at amutual friend’s place. At the time,both of them had just finished withthe i r th i rd year in CCIT. Theybegan meeting for some after-workstreet photography sessions soonafter that, in a location that most ofus would refer to as the corner ofQueen and University. Igor andNina still refer to it as “the meetingspot.” For a short while they remained

“just friends.” But of course, that

status gradually evolved and esca-lated into something a lot more.Upon graduat ion they t raveledtogether to Australia, Costa Rica,South East Asia and Japan, both ofthem with camera in tow. Photos oftheir tr ips around the globe areposted on their photo-blog. Visitorsto the blog started referring Igorand Nina to friends who were get-ting married and who needed wed-ding photographers. Before theyknew it they had enough proceedsfrom wedding assignments to con-sider launching their own photogra-phy company. The couple did thiswhile still hanging on to their full-time jobs in the marketing field. One warm September evening,

exactly three years, three months,and three days af ter the i r f i r s tencounter at the meeting spot, Igorbrought Nina to the same place. Anarchitectural firm had hired them,he explained, to take night shots atthat intersection.They had been working for a

while when Igor proposed they takea break. Sitting down at the foot ofthe stairs by the fountains, he sur-prised Nina with a hardcover book.On the first page she found a photothey had taken during their firstdate at the meeting spot. It showedthem sitting right where they sat. Nina continued to flip through

pages full of pictures: Igor andNina jumping up in the air in theAustralian outback; Igor and Ninagrinning for the camera on gradua-tion day; Igor and Nina strollingdown a UTM hall; Igor and Ninatravelling, laughing, working, tak-ing photographs; Igor and Nina in

love. On the last page there werefour pictures, all in sequence – apicture of a wheel, a U-turn road, amerry-go-round, and a goofy por-trait of Igor. This wasn’t strange to Nina – for

the last three years, Igor had creat-ed Christmas, St. Valentine’s, andbirthday postcards for her, alwaysending with a riddle composed offour seemingly unrelated images.“But what’s the occasion today,”she wondered as she lifted her gazeto find Igor kneeling in front ofher, a ring in one hand, a felt mark-er in the other, asking her, “WheelU merry me?” Before she could reply , Igor

turned to the last page, where a bigcheck box for “Yes” loomed in themiddle, close to a tiny check boxfor “No” in the corner. Ecstatic,beaming, and amused, Nina tookthe marker and checked off the bigbox.

Soon after, Igor and Nina submit-ted their story and profiles to per-fectcouple.ca, a site where engagedcouples vie for the annual prize ofbeing announced as “Mississauga’sPerfect Couple” and a chance towin a honeymoon vacation pack-age. Having been chosen from sev-eral hundred submissions, Igor andNina are now in the final sixteen,where onl ine votes wi l l decidewhich couple gets the prize. Thewinning couple will be announcedon January 11 a t The PerfectWedding Show held a tMississauga’s Living Art Centre.The deadline for voting is January7. As UTM graduates, Igor and Nina

hope the UTM communi ty wi l lstand behind them. And to encour-age participation, they have createda contest where people who votefor them could win a free photoshoot , de ta i l s of which can befound a t www. th inkpho-to.ca/contest.pdf.

The Medium would l ike toencourage students to visit the site.We also hope everyone on th iscampus will appreciate the beautyin Igor and Nina’s unique story.They are in love, they are UTMgrads, and they deserve a great hon-eymoon. Let’s help them achievethat dream.

www.athabascau.ca/standout

CCIT’s first ever couple

AALLAAIINN LLAATTOOUURRFEATURES EDITOR

For the last three years,Igor had created

Christmas, St. Valentine’s,and birthday postcards forher, always ending with ariddle composed of fourseemingly unrelated

images.

MMaaddee iinn UUTTMM:: SSoooonn��ttoo��bbee MMrr.. aanndd MMrrss.. MMaazziiccPhoto/Igor Mazic

If you’d like to get published, this yourchance. Submit yourentries to Alain at

[email protected]


While writing the final lab practicalexam in my ‘Biology of Protista’ course,professor Amir approached me frombehind. “I need to speak with you afterthe exam, so don’t leave”, he whispered. I was nervous enough trying to identi-

fy these single celled creatures. I movedfrom one microscope to another andtried to concentrate on the exam ques-tions. Professor Amir was my favorite pro-

fessor because of his easy going natureand ability to find fun in everything hetaught. He smiled and nodded his headat me as I refocused my eyes on the tinytorpedo shaped creatures whizzingthrough the field of view. Everythinglooked like a Paramecium at this point. “Yes, did you want something?”

Professor Amir asked when he saw mein the room after the exam ended, “Ohyeah, I remember now”. He nodded hishead in a goofy way, his disheveled darkhair flying around. “I just wanted to askif you had taken any Ecology coursessomewhere else maybe?” “No”, I replied, “but I was hoping to

take the field eology course in Dorsetthis summer - at least I’ve applied for it”. “Yes, I know. I’m on the committee

to review the applicants. When yourname came up, I said you’d be fine for it,but they told me you didn’t have theecology prerequisite. I told them I didn’tbelieve that because I knew you knewplant names and stuff, so I pushed youthrough based on that. My butt’s on theline if you can’t handle the course now,so please don’t embarrass me.”I felt honoured that he was even

aware of what I knew in a class of 120students. When I was ten, my friend Kathy and

I borrowed field guides from the libraryand searched around Lake Boshkung for

plants. "Oh my goodness, this really cool one

with the neat design on the leaves is anorchid, goodyera tesselata." I banged thebook with my finger. "And look, it's growing exactly where

the field guide said it would, in drywoodlands," Kathy replied. "No wonderit didn't do well in our terrarium next tothe sphagnum moss!" We dug up mosses and lichens, rooted

out ferns and delicate woodland plantsand grew them in our small aquarium athome upon returning from her cottage,eager to know everything about them. I felt I could handle the ecology field

course. I would earn a half credit in justtwo weeks and I would make professorAmir proud. August 22 arrived all too soon. My

good friend Ron and I had to work at oursummer jobs right up until the day thecourse began. I worked long hours as ateller in several branches of the TDbank, and Ron worked at a fitness cen-tre. He taught some weight training, butmostly was hired to sell memberships topeople who would probably never usethe facilities despite needing the exer-cise. Both of us were glad for the escapefrom our jobs. “This field course will be like the only

vacation time I’ll get this summer,” Ronsaid. I agreed. We drove up to the Dorset field sta-

tion together in Ron’s old royal blue sta-tion wagon, arriving long after dark andlater than the other students in thecourse. Ron found a room on the guy’sfloor, but the girl’s dorm was full.“That’s ok, Marianne, there’s plenty

of room in the prof’s section. You canhave the room right across the hall fromRoy and me all to yourself,” professorAmir grinned. I was uncomfortable withthe first-name basis everyone seemed tobe on here at the field station. In mymind I still held professors in highesteem. Much like teachers throughout

my life, I never considered that they hadfirst names or did mundane things likeeat or go to the bathroom.The field course was taught by four

professors from the Toronto campus andtwo from the Mississauga campus whereI attended the University of Toronto. I joined 23 other students kneeling

along the dock edge as Dave from thefield station taught us how to paddle.Surprisingly, the dock didn’t go any-where with so many paddles J-strokingin the same direction. We boarded our canoes and paddled

out onto the lake to collect data. Like amother duck taking her babies out forthe first time, 12 canoes pointed each ina different direction bobbed behind twocanoes moving smoothly in a straightline. “Head toward that patch of purple

flowering plants,” professor Barrenshouted from his canoe. “It appears tobe a clone-one single individual. Let’ssee what the flowers tell us about thisplant.” We picked every one of themore than three hundred pickerel weedflowers to look at what length the styleson the flowers were.We collected from traps at sunrise.

We stood back to watch in case deermice wanted to spring high into the airas the trap opened. The small creatureswere identified, weighed, measured,recorded and ear-tagged before beingreleased back into the wild. We set thetraps again at the end of each day inorder to possibly catch them again tohelp us figure out population sizes ofeach species. Lectures continued in theevening after dinner. As I hoped, we identified flowing

plants, trees, ferns, fungi, and insects onland, and algae, creatures that made upplankton, and fish in the lake. We set upa lab in a room of old benches and stoolswith microscopes, under which we couldexamine things we collected. We wereall expected to do our own research pro-

jects which had to fit into the few day-time hours we had off. I chose to studyinsect eating pitcher plants and the liveinsects associated with them.We slept in dormitory rooms. Each

held two beds, closets, and desks.Linoleum tiles covered the floors andsmall windows overlooked the treedgrounds. We ate wonderful meals in abuilding that always smelled of freshbakery and just brewed coffee. Early in the first week as I rested after

dinner, professor Amir wandered intomy room.“Hey Marianne, you seem to be doing

great at this field stuff. I’m so glad,” hesmiled. As we exchanged stories abouthow our summer had gone, professorAmir picked up things on my desk,played with them and put them down.“So how do you know so many scien-

tific plant names?” My jaw dropped when I realized that

professor Amir was tossing around mybirth control pills. His eyes followedmine to his hands, and he realized whathe was playing with. He quietly clearedhis throat and put the pills down. “Uh, Ithink I’ll be going now,” professor Amirmumbled as he wandered across to hisroom and shut his door.The next day I went to the women’s

shared bathroom to shower at the end ofa long day. I lingered a long time, as hotwater eased my sore muscles. I cameout of the shower to see a fully nakedprofessor Mary Shay. This woman hadthe most enormous breasts I had everseen. She wasn’t named ‘torpedo tits’by the other students for nothing. Likeeveryone else who was relaxed andeager to chat about their summers, Maryyapped away to me. I hoped that I justlooked red due to the hot water I hadbeen in. I pulled my towel closer aroundmy tiny body in the hopes that the pro-fessor would pick up a towel and do thesame. She just stood there naked, com-fortable as anything.

“So Marianne, do you normally getout canoeing as much as we do here?” “N-no not really,” I stammered. She

was short, so I had to look down to her.I couldn’t avoid looking at her breasts.She droned on and on. After whatseemed like an endless time, she pausedlong enough for me to say, “I’d betterrun, I promised to meet Ron before theevening talk,” and dashed.I became vigilant to avoid circum-

stances like the one with Mary, but man-aged to relax as the week wore on andinto the final week of the course. I evengained a nickname - Fern - because ofmy love of those forest plants, andeveryone felt like family by then.“Fern, come play volleyball after din-

ner, we need a few more to make goodteams,” Ron said.“Oh, I don’t know, I’m not very ath-

letic” I replied.“Hey we don’t need athletes. It’s just

for fun. What problem could you havewith it?” “Okay,” I said. It did sound like fun. I arrived at the indoor volleyball court

just as they were beginning to play, andthey gestured to where I should stand.“Oh no,” I thought, “right next to RudiBoons, the ‘small mammal’ professor.I’ll have to be careful.” The game gotunderway, and a long forgotten competi-tive streak ran through me. Confidentthat I could get the ball over the net, Ijumped up and applied all the force Icould muster. I felt something under myclenched hand that was too hard to bethe ball, as I knocked over Rudi, smash-ing him on the head. A tangle of bodies,arms and legs, we ended up in a heap onthe cold linoleum floor, Rudi trappedunderneath me.All I could do was thank God that the

field course ended in another day. I wasso glad that this professor beneath mewas not from my campus and I wouldnever have to take a course from himagain.

CCrreeaattiivvee CCoorrnneerr

MMAARRIIAANNNNEE KKAALLIICCHH

The Field Course

Why do I feel so restrict�ed, why do we feel so

restricted? I think and think and

reflect on this sometimes

I walk and perform mydaily operations bur still� I

feel restricted

So restricted like thedomain of a function, tothe point where I cannot

function to the truedesires of my domain

So restricted…restrictedso that I cannot forcemyself to look into the

eyes of anotherSo restricted, afraid to

raise my hand up during alecture

Where is this feeling

coming from? Whoshaped my hand in this

fashion?As a baby these rules didnot apply, everything wasfree�for�all, but as con�sciousness grew, theseshackles intensified…

…So restricted thatautonomous responsesdo not occur automatical�ly – like the Bystandereffect, my actions seemto be dependant on

somebody

So restricted that I can’teven feel these shacklesand observe the ways oh

my movementsSo restricted that when Iinteract with another Ifeel limited, normal

speech and personalitiesblur, I choke, freeze,

pause, look away, stutterand hesitate. I just wantto look directly and speak

So restricted like a personwho’s been hypnotized –tell them that their eyelidsweigh a ton and surpris�ingly that cannot open

their eyes

Restrictions like these areengraved into our uncon�scious, where they are onconstant display – buriedso deep in the mind thatvital perceptions is diffi�

cult to attain

But the worse restrictionfelt is of knowing howmuch you can change

your reality and seeminglynot being able to do any�thing about it: like actingin and watching a movieat the same time…Howmuch you can do, all thefears anxieties, socialstandards that restrict

you…can all easily vanishwith a change in thought– realization without cita�

tion…Meditation

All the wonders each per�son is capable of:

Cures and conditionswithout medication

Flight without avaiationSight without visualizationAll the bliss without arrestNo test causing stressWriting this message

without a pen

Reaching the stars, noneed to extend

Like a drop of water inthe ocean

We are to this EarthThe Sun us to the Galaxy

The galaxy is to theUniverse

The universe is to UsLook within yourself andsee all the possibilities tothe extent that the wordpossibility itself misrepre�sents what you are really

capable of

…I feel so restricted, wefeel so restricted

Let’s end this restrictionLet’s open our eyes tosee that these shackles

never existedLet’s no longer be

restricted

RestrictedJJEEFFFFRREEYY SSAAAAHH


The time of the year when we aresupposedly at our happiest andkindest has just ended. Christmastrees, crowded stores, bearded oldmen dressed up in red suits, cheapsigns announcing sales – it’s allgone now, g iv ing tu rkeys andhumans alike a moment of respite.Twelve months of respite to beprecise, during which some of uscan go back to being our not-quite-so-cheerful selves.

Now I am not trying to be cyni-cal. I do enjoy the holidays. Theyprov ide many of us wi th theopportunity (some would argue“obligation”) to spend time withfriends and family. But the holi-days do have a dizzying commer-cial spin to them, and as a part-time retail employee at the EatonCentre (I won’t say which store,for fear of more customers), I canat test that the hol idays can getpretty ugly.

The days be fore and a f te r

Christmas – Boxing Day in partic-ular – begin with hordes of gallop-ing customers running back andforth, pushing one another, pester-ing my co-workers and me withloud questions ranging from whattime it is to where such and suchstore can be found to where theATM, bank, movie theater, foodcourt, info booth, or lost grandsonis . As the days wear on , theybecome zombie-like, meanderingalong the bright halls with glazedeyes, hypnotized, shuffling tiredfeet, carrying heavy bags crammedfull with everything the mall has tooffer.

“You should be happy,” my bossremarked once when I spent fifteenminutes trying to find a restroomwhere the toilets weren’t clogged.“If people didn’t spend so muchthis time of the year, the recessionwould be a lot worse.”

He was right of course – thingswould get ugly indeed if peopleheld on too tightly to their money.But can a balance not be struck?After all, what’s the point of hav-ing time off if we’re to spend itgetting up at 5 a.m. so we can beamong the first in a Future Shop oran Abercrombie & Fitch lineup?

I have stood in line for hoursmyself. But I was trying to applyfor permission to leave my home

country permanently. My parentshave stood in line for hours too.But they were lining up for food. Iremember thinking, over six yearsago when I learned my family andI would finally leave Cuba, that I’dnever have to stand in long lineupsagain. Yet many people in Torontochoose to do it, not because theyare hungry or because they need avisa, but because that sweet fifty-two-inch plasma is on sale.

Live and let live. That’s alwaysbeen my motto. It shouldn’t botherme tha t mos t people choose to

stand in line for hours when theycould instead be travelling or hav-ing dinner with their family orcatching up with friends or makinglove or playing in the snow. But itdoes, and much of this is becausethese peop le don’ t even look

happy while they’re doing it. Andit makes me wonder whether we’redestined not to ever be happy withwhat we have, and to always cravefor more, even when more is nottruly necessary.

The most depressing part of itall was discovering that I am not

immune to this sad epidemic. Forexample, I just found about some-thing called the Sonos Multi-RoomMusic System. It allows you to lis-ten to different songs in differentrooms, with the music stored inyour Mac or PC. Now if I couldonly find it on sale…

AALLAAIINN LLAATTOOUURRFEATURES EDITOR

The ugly side of Father Christmas

The days before andafter Christmas begin

with hordes of gallopingcustomers running backand forth, pushing oneanother, pestering my

co�workers and me withloud questions.

”Things sure are different from thisside,” I say to Ann, a universityfr iend and now a coworker . “Ithought lugging those nets , hipwaders and sampling equipmentaround in the f ield was tediouswhen I was a student. It’s nothingcompared to keeping track of it forfifty students at a time. Preparationtakes so long, and equipment seemsto break and get lost constantly.”

“That’s why you have a job,”Ann says, smiling and tossing backher whitish blonde hair.

“You know, it may sound silly,but the biggest problem I’m havingis not the actual work, it’s callingour Professors by their first names.It just doesn’t feel r ight to callProfessor Maynard ‘Paul’. Whentalking to him, I just avoid using hisname at all. I had no problems withprofessor’s names when I workeddowntown in research, or in theother biology jobs I had. It’s justthis place. Did you find it comfort-able from the beginning?” I ask.

“I think i t ’s different in theresearch lab” Ann replies. “I’m notworking so closely with the sameprofs I had as a student.”

“Yeah, but Debbie , in thePaleontology lab cer tainly hadRiddel as a prof, yet she tells meshe had no problems that way,” Isay “maybe I’m just too easi lyintimidated. I know Maynard sureintimidated me when I was a stu-dent.”

Professor Maynard’s long lightgrey hair s t icks out l ike AlbertEinstein. He is loud, overbearingand dramatic. A world renowned

Plant Ecologist, Professor Maynardstudies plants in Japan, the Arctic,Poland and China. I remember hisembarrassing personal comments inclass.

“Jak s ie masz?” ProfessorMaynard asks me in class how I amin Polish. “What, with a last namelike that you never learned to speakPolish? Didn’t your parents teachyou? It’s the key to learning othercultures. I learned it from my wife.It’s not too late for you too,” hebooms for all to hear.

I avoid him when on class fieldtr ips , choosing instead to joingroups led by the teaching assis-tants. Sometimes there is no choicein who leads, like the day I went onthe trip to Rattray Marsh.

“Oh my God, these hip wadersare huge,” my friend Marilyn saysto me. “And they smell of nastyrubber and stinky feet.”

“Mine are chafing against myright heel and inner thighs,” I say “Ican feel blisters forming already.”

Our friend Pete sinks deep intothe sludge and shrieks, “Phew whatis that horrible gas smell?”

“How does Maynard move withsuch agi l i ty in hip waders in aswamp?” Marilyn whispers to me.

“I wish he’d slow down so I cantake notes on what he’s saying,” Isay to her.

After we trudge through muck,stumble over rounded rocks, wadealong a shallow stream, we reachfirmer ground and walk into a cat-tail marsh. The sky clouds over anda soft fog moves in. Cattails tallerthan anyone become maze-like andclose in around us.

“I hope we don’t have to find ourown way back,” Marilyn says. “I’mtotally lost here, like we’ve been

walking forever.”Finally we stop.“Well here we are” Professor

Maynard exclaims.“Where are we?’ a shy mousy

haired girl asks.“Why, in the middle of the cattail

marsh, of course. Weren’t you pay-ing attention?” Professor Maynard’s

eyes narrow.“B-but we’ve been in the cattail

marsh for about twenty minutes”she stammers.

“Exactly, I wanted you to get asense of how enormous this part ofthe marsh is. You can’t truly get asense of that when you stay on theedge. Now we better hurry to getback before the bus leaves withoutus.”

He is right. I feel that sense ofthe enormity of the cattail marshevery time I see one.

Now at work in the lab, I lendsmelly black rubber hip waders tothe current s tudents heading toRattray Marsh.

“Do we really need these?” a stu-dent asks. “What are we going to

see in the marsh anyway?”“Oh, you’ll be surprised, marshes

are neat,” I say. “Let me know whatyou think when you get back.”

When the last s tudent leaves,clipboard in hand, I look at the messof my lab. I will have a couple ofhours to sweep the back room floorand tidy up before the students andtheir mucky waders re turn. I tshould be enough time for me to tryand fix last week’s broken scopes.

The time passes quickly and I amsurprised when the students returnfar more jovial than I expect. Theyare dirty and smell of swamp gas.

“Well, did you find the trip inter-esting?” I ask them. “Did ProfessorMaynard take you into the cattailmarsh?” All the students laugh andgrin wildly.

“You tell her,” a smiling blondegirl prods a tall skinny guy.

“Oh, we’ve got to tell you thisone, it was great. We go into thecattail marsh and follow Maynardfor a long time and…….” the skin-ny guy’s voice halts. ProfessorMaynard s tands in the room.Everyone becomes silent. The stu-dents return their waders and departin a hurry.

I burst with curiosity as to whatcould have happened. Soon, theonly people lef t in the lab areProfessor Maynard and I.

“Did something happen outthere?” I ask.

“Oh, yeah…something I’vealways feared would happen finallydid today,” Professor Maynardpauses for a long time.

“And that would be….?” I ask.“Well, you know how after the

tour of the marsh, the stream, andthe pebble beach, I like to take thegroup really far into the cat tai l

marsh? I make sure they’ve walkedfor about ten minutes…maybe youremember from when you took mycourse?”

“Yes, I remember vividly.”“Well I had a coffee just before

we got on the bus to go to themarsh, and I never had time to go tothe bathroom, so after about fiveminutes of just walking, I reallyneeded to take a leak. So I stoppedthere and told the class the spiel thatI usually do, about how massive itis then told them to turn around andgo back to the bus. They werewalking ahead of me, so I figuredthey could find their own way out.I took the opportunity to doubleback a bit so I could relieve myselfin the marsh. I walked back a waysand stopped to be sure that theywere far off and I couldn’t hearthem. I unzipped and started to peea huge stream. Man, I really neededto go. Then I heard a sound, like ananimal, or a throat clearing, and its tar t led me into turning aroundbefore I finished. There, before me,was the whole class, staring.” PaulMaynard says, with open hands ges-turing to his fly.

“I guess the path out of the marshwasn’t obvious to the students.” Isay, laughing hard. I never hadtrouble calling him by his first nameagain.

File Photo/Deca

IItt hhaassnn`̀tt ggootttteenn mmuucchh bbeetttteerr..

CCrreeaattiivvee CCoorrnneerr

Biology ExperienceMARIANNE KALICH

When the last studentleaves, clipboard in hand,I look at the mess of mylab. I will have a coupleof hours to sweep theback room floor and tidyup before the studentsand their mucky wadersreturn. It should be

enough time for me to tryand fix last week’s broken

scopes..

Any comments aboutthe Features section?Post online at the

www.mediumonline.ca/blog

Christopher Sa’d, Editor | [email protected]


2009 WJHC: Could you expect anymore from these kids?

Ottawa rumbled during the 2009World Juniors Hockey Championship(WJHC) with one of the quickest andmost entertaining competitions inIIHF history, mostly thanks to anexhilarating performance fromCanada. Enriched with a promising display

of talent, the tournament has beentouted as nothing short of successfulby many. Every game at the ScotiaBank Place and the Ottawa CivicCentre has been filled with enough hit-ting, scoring and rude on-ice attitudefor an electrify World Juniors atmos-phere like never before.

As Canadians, it has been pleasingto witness the stability of Canada’sdevelopment program and the size ofeach player’s heart willing to battlethrough every game up to the last pos-sible breath. Right up to the pointwhere longtime rivals Russia knockedon the door, Canada did not disappointwith blowout after blowout of every-one else in their way.And against Russia, they managed

enough after a late scare to clinch thesemi-final tie 6-5, a familiar scorebetween the two hockey giants Canadaover the last few decades. The 1987Canada Cup series saw three gamesending with that very same score line.Canada took two of the three games towin the series.How befitting it is that the Canada-

Russia rivalry continues on to this day.Russia head coach Sergei

Nemchinov led a disciplined group ofyoung players going into the tourna-ment. No matter how tough the oppo-nent, Nemchinov has successfully

inspired his team to fight back gameafter game. “He’s a great young man,” said

Canadian head coach Pat Quinn dur-ing an after game conference. “Hecovered our threats and he did a greatjob coaching his team against us. Heshould be proud of his team, theyfought hard.” Undoubtedly, it was the most heart-

breaking game of the championshipsso far, with Canada needing a shootoutto claim victory. Russia responded to every Canadian

goal with a goal of their own minutesafter. Russia finally took the lead nearthe end of the game until Canadianwinger Jordan Eberle dished in thetying goal during the last seconds ofthe game. “It was a tough game and a tough

goal to see go in the last seconds,”said Nemchinov. “It was really toughfor all of us.”At press time, Canada is scheduled

to face Sweden in the gold medal

match. “This is the best group of kids they

have seen since ’81,” said Quinn. “Weexpect to find ways to improve ourgame for the gold medal match.” It’s going to be another epic battle

between two hockey dominant coun-tries, both of whom adopt a rather sim-ilar style of play – grit and scoring,with inspiration drawn from a star cen-tre. Canada boasts Mississauga-bornJohn Tavares while the Swedes haveVictor Hedman. Both players roundoff the top two NHL draft prospects. Hedman holds the potential to grow

into a Nikolas Lidstrom type defense-man – a solid and regular contributor.So far however, Hedman has put in aless-than-stellar WJHC performance. Various scouts and general man-

agers such as Detroit’s GM KenHolland and Chicago’s Assistant GMRick Dudley believe there are a coupleof other players to watch out for in the2009 NHL draft.There has been buzz about

Canadians Cody Hodgson and ErieOtter, while Slovakian goalkeeperJaroslav Janus has also been touted asa hot prospect. The rumor mill has been in full

force as well, with talks of Pat Quinncoaching the Ottawa Senators andmaking the Scotia Bank Place a homeaway from home. The tournament has seen record

breaking attendances with a total of456,000 fans from Dec. 26 to Jan. 5.And this doesn’t include the exhibitiongames. In a business portfolio, thiswas definitely a money grabber.It’s no surprise – we’ve seen

Tavares slam pucks in the net frommid-air and possibly Canada’s quick-est and most dedicated team ever.Three players have scored double digitpoints thus far and Tavares is oncourse to break a scoring record sta-pled by Canadian Jeff Carter. Anddon’t forget winger Jordan Eberle’shistory-making tying goal in the lasttwo seconds of the Russia game.

CCHHRRIISS SSAA’’DDSPORTS EDITOR

Women’s Winter Sports

Basketball (Tri Campus, Div 1 and Div 2) Jan. 7Jan. 12 Jan. 14

6:00-7:30pm6:00-7:30pm6:00-7:30pm

Gym CGym A/B

Gym C

Ice Hockey (Div 1) Jan. 11 Jan. 18

10:30 -11:30pm10:30 -11:30pm

Erin Mills

Indoor Soccer (Tri Campus, Div 2)Jan. 8Jan. 13 Jan. 15

6:00-7:30pm6:00-7:30pm6:00-7:30pm

Gym A/B Gym A/BGym A/B

Lacrosse (Div 1) Jan. 8Jan. 13

5:00-6:00pm6:00-7:00pm

Gym CGym C

Volleyball (Div 1 and Div 2)Jan. 8Jan. 14 Jan. 15

6:00-7:30pm6:00-7:30pm6:00-7:30pm

Gym CGym A/B

Gym C

Ultimate Frisbee

Jan. 7Jan. 12 Jan. 14

5:00-6:00pm5:00-6:00pm5:00-6:00pm

Gym CGym CGym C

Jan. 7Jan. 12 Jan. 14

7:30-9:00pm7:30-9:00pm7:30-9:00pm

Gym CGym A/B

Gym CJan. 11 Jan. 18 9:45-11:45pm Iceland

Jan. 13Jan. 15

7:30-9:30pm7:30-9:30pm

Gym A/BGym A/b

Jan. 8 Jan. 13

5:00-6:00pm 6:00-7:00pm

Gym C Gym C

Jan. 8 Jan. 14 Jan. 15

7:30-9:00pm 7:30-9:00pm 7:30-9:00pm

Gym C Gym A/B

Gym C Jan. 7Jan. 14 7:00-8:30pm Pool

Coed Winter Sports

Men’s Winter Sports

Basketball (Div 2)

Ice Hockey (Div 1)

Indoor Soccer (Tri Campus, Div 1 and Div 2)

Lacrosse (Div 1)

Volleyball (Div 1 and Div 2)

Water Polo (Div 1)

Ball Hockey (Men’s)Wednesday, January 7th @ 12:00pm

Room 1118B

Ball Hockey (Women’s)Monday, January 9th @ 12:00pm

Room 1118B

Indoor Soccer (Men’s)Tuesday, January 20th @ 12:00pm

Room 1118B

Basketball (Men’s)Monday, January 26th @ 12:00pm

Room 1118B

Indoor Soccer (Coed)Tuesday, January 27th @ 12:00pm

Room 1118B

Volleyball (Coed)Thursday, January 29th @ 12:00pm

Room 1118B

Basketball (Coed)Thursday, January 29th @ 1:00pm

Room 1118B

Cricket (Men’s)Monday, February 2nd @ 12:00pm

Room 1118B

Let’s keep up the winning tradition!! If you played in high school, you can play for UTM!

Get out to a try-out!If you are unable to make any of these tryouts,

but would like to participate, please contact Jack Krist (905) 569-4607 [email protected]

or Louise Vanderwees (905) 828-3712 [email protected]

Pick up a copy of our ActivityGuide today for more

information regarding danceclasses, instructional classes,swimming lessons and much,

much more…

Any women interested inplaying Ice Hockey for UTM forthe Winter term please meet in

Room 1118B at 1pm.


Huskies triumph with Donald Brown

The third edition of the InternationalBowl pitted an offensive juggernaut,University of Connecticut, against afeel good, overcome the odds, defencefirst, University of Buffalo.The 2009 Bowl also featured theHuskies Donald Brown, an All-American running back who torchedthe Buffalo Bulls for 261 yards and amajor, and then promptly declared hiseligibility for the NFL.“I'm going to pursue the NFL,”

Brown said. “I know I told you guysearlier that I was coming back, butthat was to eliminate the distractionsfrom my team. We had enough inter-nal distractions going on, and theydidn't need that one as a burden aswell.”The leading NCAA rusher ended

months of speculation by forgoing hisfinal year to enter the next NFL Draftafter the Huskies beat the Bulls, 38-20.“I just felt in my heart that it was

best for me. It was one of the toughestdecisions I've ever had to make in mylife,” said the International BowlMVP.Finishing his college year with

more than 2,000 yards, Brown isexpected to be a highly touted draftpick especially after his performanceat the Bowl game.“He's a stallion. He’s a triple-crown

winner and we rode the horse all theway to the finish line,” saidConnecticut head coach Randy Edsall.

“The team out there that will drafthim, he’s going to make that team bet-ter.”Connecticut committed no less than

five turnovers in the first half, handing20 points to the Buffalo Bulls, for ahalftime score of 20-13 to the Bulls.The second half told a much differentstory with a much more calm and col-lected Connecticut team coming offthe blocks. Brown of course had muchto do with the fight back. Early reports indicated that Buffalo

had sold over 11,000 seats but it wasthe undersized Connecticut faithfulthat roared louder than their rivals. Oneach UConn possession, and everytime Brown, the diesel workhouse,powered through the defensive line,the cheers grew louder.With a never say die approach, the

Bulls made a late charge in the fourthquarter but on the 8-yard line Bullsquarterback Drew Willy was inter-cepted in the Huskie endzone. DahnaDeleston closed out the scoring withan electrifying 102-yard interceptionreturn. “It was a tale of two halves,” said

Edsall after the game. “The first halfwe shot ourselves in the foot with ourturnovers.”The Bulls were making their first

Bowl appearance since 1958, after theteam voted to skip the TangerineBowl because of segregation rules.Many of the surviving members ofthat team were honoured on the fieldbefore kickoff on Saturday, one dayafter the Rev. Jesse Jackson, the U.S.civil rights leader, said the team'sdecision “was the greatest game neverplayed.”

AAbboovvee:: TThhee CCoonnnneeccttiiccuutt HHuusskkiieess ppoossiinngg ffoorr tthhee ccaammeerraass dduurriinngg hhaallffttiimmee.. BBeellooww:: TThhee HHuusskkiieess bbaasskkeedd iinn gglloorryy..

SSAAMM LLAANNEESPECIAL SPORTSCORRESPONDENT

Vol 35 issue 14

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Transcript of Vol 35 issue 14