Monday, October 19, 2009 Volume 36, Issue 6

ten albums you should probably check out if you haven’t already page 6

Library to remain open24 hours during exams

A small orchestra of violins andcellos played in the background.Servers dressed in black and whitepas sed around hors d ’oeuvres .Three screens placed around theatrium showcased three-dimen-sional digital representations of abuilding’s interior and exterior,and a three-square-foot piece ofsod stood at the foot of the stairsalong with eleven silver shovelslying against the wall.S e ldom has the CCT at r ium

looked this lavish. But last Friday,UTM officials met there to cele-brate the groundbreaking ceremo-ny for the Hea l th Sc i encesComplex.UTM Pr inc ipa l I an Orchard

began the celebration by welcom-ing those in a t t endance . “Thebuilding we’re building is reallyabout students,” said the Principal.The four-storey Health Sciences

Complex will be used primarily asan Academy of Medicine (U of T’sfourth), housing research labora-tories and the biomedical commu-nications program. One of onlyfive of its kind in the world, thisprogram is unique in Canada andwil l grant medical s tudents theopportunity to study side by sidewith scientists and researchers.“S ince the ear l y 1980s , the

University of Toronto has trainedclose to 50% of family physiciansin Ontario and 25% of all special-ists in Canada.

The Franklin Institute has chosenRichard Peltier, a University ofToronto Physics professor, as therecipient of the 2010 Bower Awardand Prize for Achievement inScience. Peltier is the first Canadianto receive this $250,000 award.Previous recipients include MarieCurie, Thomas Edison, AlbertEinstein and Stephen Hawking.Renowned for his research on theinterconnections of system climatevariability in the hydrosphere andcryosphere and the internal proper-ties of the Earth, Peltier uses mathe-matical concepts to show the trendsof climate change that have occurredthroughout the course of the Earth’shistory.The Franklin Institute was founded

in 1824 in Philadelphia to inspire andcelebrate the “[Benjamin] Franklinsof today.” Seeking to inspire genera-tions of students to pursue studies inscience and technology, the Institutepresents the Bower Award to individ-uals who have made great scientificadvances and directed their effortstowards the benefit of humanity.“The physical state of our planet

may well be the most important ques-tion facing us today. Professor Peltieris one of the scientific leaders who ishelping the global society understandthe challenges and opportunities weface in saving our fragile Earth. Hisinnovative research continues to bevital to a host of possible solutions,”said Professor Paul Young.Last Friday, the Hazel McCallion

Academic Learning Centre announcedthat it would reintroduce the 24/5schedule abandoned less than a monthago. UTM Chief Librarian Mary AnnMavrinac posted a message on thehomepage of the library website thatread, “Great news! Your student

union and your library have collabo-rated to reintroduce 24/5 hours ofopening, five days a week duringstudy and examination periods inDecember and April funded by theOffice of the Vice-President andProvost.” The change will take effectin December 2009.The library cancelled its 24-hour

service only last month, offering alter-native shortened hours due to a lackof funding from the office of the VicePresident and Provost. The UTMSUimmediately began a campaign toinform students and persuade theUniversity’s administration to fundthe service.

Over 12,000 students signed a peti-tion supporting the 24-hour libraryservice, which UTMSU then present-ed to University of Toronto PresidentDavid Naylor at a town hall earlierthis month. (Nearly 100 studentsjoined UTMSU at the town hall.)Students argued that with the new,shortened hours of service the safetyof those who study late at night wouldbe compromised as they returnedhome or to their rooms instead ofremaining at the library.

Matthew Filipowich/ The Medium

Ground breaksfor HealthScienceComplex

U of T professorwins Boweraward and prize

SAALIHA MALIKNEWS EDITOR

Elections for UTMSU first-year rep-resentatives took place this month asnine hopeful candidates ran forDivision I representative positions.Campaigning began on October 5and polls remained open on October7 and 8 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at vot-ing stations located across campus.Out of 555 ballots cast, Hiba Mohajirand Mariya Hassan won with 132and 127 votes respectively. In theircandidate statements, both represen-tatives underlined the importance ofcreating an enjoyable and unforget-table campus. “This is about you, notme,” said Hassan, addressing the stu-dent body. “We will not fail tomake a difference.”

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First year electionresults

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BBuuiillddiinngg continued on ppaaggee 33

Marc Bressler elected as Residence Council PresidentElections for Residence Councilwere held on Saturday, October 24,2009. The voting period was from12 p.m. to 8 p .m. in the OscarPeterson Hall and aproximately 200votes were cast . In his speech,Bressler noted he has been an activemember of the UTM community.As a former member of the UTMSUboard of directors and the UTSUboard of directors, Bressler tookpart in organiz ing Orientat ionWeek and the Student Day ofAction. The top three priorities forResidence council , according toBressler, are making sure fees donot increase for residence students,organizing a food committee to cre-ate diverse food options and hold amemorable residence formal.

LLiibbrraarryy continued on ppaaggee 33

PPrriiaazzee continued on ppaaggee 33

INSIDEInvestors beyond bordersPPAAGGEE 22

Style in focusPPAAGGEE 55

UTM Anime ClubPPAAGGEE 99

UTM Badminton ClubPPAAGGEE 1111

Matthew Filipowich/The Medium

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UTM INVESTORSNEWS

Careers in Marketing! Hear marketing professionals speak about

their successful careers in a variety of industries and start building your Career in

Marketing, Communication, or PR!

Wednesday, Nov 4th 2009 From 5:00 - 7:00 Faculty Club, SE 3140

If Teaching is in YOUR Future ... sign-up for the

Is Teaching in Your Future Workshop and Learn How to apply to B.Ed Programs!

Thursday, Nov 5th 2009 From 2:00 - 3:30 Council Chambers, SE 3130

Political Science Career Night!

Learn about what YOU can do with YOUR degree in Political Science from

professionals in fields such as Law, Government and NGOs.

Wednesday, Oct 28th 2009 From 5:00 - 7:00 Faculty Club, SE 3140

TO REGISTER FOR EMPLOYER EVENTS, WORKSHOPS AND MORE, visit www.utm.utoronto.ca/careers

MONDAY, OCTOBER 26, 20092 THE MEDIUM

With environmental crises happen-ing worldwide, Investors BeyondBorders, a new student organizationat UTM, strives to make a differ-ence. According to its press release,the organization seeks to “combineeducation, energy and investmentsto help societies, especially develop-ing and emerging ones, curb theirreliance on fossil fuels.”Investors Beyond Borders is led

by former UTMSU VP UniversityAffairs and Academics MarijanaJosifovska, who performs under themantra “find your G.E.M” (G.E.Mstands for Green Emerging Market).When Investors Beyond Borders

hosts the International RenewableEnergy Case Competition in 2010,UTM will become one of only fiveinternational universities to hostthis competition. During the event,students of different economic, aca-demic and cultural backgrounds willwork to uncover uses for renewableenergy sectors in emerging markets,advance the education of climatechange and renewable energy tech-nologies, and expose the investmentpotentials of emerging markets.“[It] will be the world’s first glob-

al case competition addressing theneed for cleaner energy,” saidJosifovska.The focus for the 2010 competi-

tion will be the emerging SoutheastEuropean nation of the Republic ofMacedonia, which has one of thehighest levels of GHG emissions perunit of GDP in Central and EasternEurope. Moreover, 70% of its totalemissions come from the unsustain-

able energy sector. This presentsample opportunity for improve-ment, and Macedonia has beenworking to reform its economy bycreating green projects that will cor-rect its energy shortage. A completel ist of the country’s efforts andreforms can be found in the 2009

Doing Business report by the WorldBank, which ranked Macedonia asthe top reforming nation in Europe,and thirty-second out of 183economies.The national strategy outlines the

course of action for Macedonia totake advantage of CDM opportuni-

ties, including: identifying priorityareas for projects; setting up thecountry’s designated nationalauthority under the Ministry ofEnvironment and PhysicalPlanning, which will establish therules for CDM projects and grantapprovals ; and building up

both national private- and public-sector capacity to part ic ipatein CDM.More information about

Investors Beyond Borders or theIRECC can be found by visit ingwww.investorsbeyondborders.com.

October 15Noise complaintCampus Police attended a residence atMaGrath Valley and spoke with a ten-ant regarding loud music. The matterwas resolved.

October 16MischiefCampus Police investigated graffiti ona wall at Kaneff Building. The graffitiwas removed

October 16AssaultCampus Police investigated an assaultat the RAWC during a basketballgame. The culprit left before thearrival of Campus Police.

October 17Careless drivingA parent called Campus Police and

complained about a careless driver onInner Circle Road.

October 17Theft under $5000A laptop was stolen from a house atMcLuhan Court during a social gath-ering. The matter remains underinvestigation.

October 17Theft under $5000A bicycle was stolen from a front yardof a residence at Shreiberwood.

October 17Trespass to Property ActCampus Police investigated a man forusing the gym without a membership.The man entered the gym using some-one else’s membership card.

October 18

Person in need of assistanceCampus Police assisted an elderlyman who became lost at UTM. PeelPolice took the man to his residence.

October 17Theft under $5,000Campus Police investigated a theft ofa knapsack from the cafeteria of OscarPeterson Hall cafeteria. Inside the bagwere books.

October 18Fire AlarmSomeone activated a fire pull stationat the CCT Garage. The building wasevacuated. The Fire Departmentattended.

October 18Theft under $5,000A cellular phone was stolen from astudent at the Library.

October 19Motor vehicle accidentTwo vehicles collided on Inner CircleRoad. Damage was high. No one wasinjured.

October 19Fire CallSomeone set a garbage container onfire in the North Field. Extinguisherswere used to put out the fire.

October 19Trespass to Property ActA person was reported soliciting formoney at the Library. The person leftbefore the arrival of Campus Police.

October 19Theft under $5000A cellular phone and a knapsack werestolen from a locker at the men’schange room at the RAWC

October 20HarassmentA woman reported being harassedduring a chat line exchange. She wasat her residence in Erindale Hall.

October 20Library Code of ConductCampus Police attended the Libraryafter a call for assistance from Librarysecurity. A man had refused to showidentification to security. He leftbefore Campus Police arrived.

October 21Trespass to Property ActA person was reported soliciting formoney at the South Building and inthe Library. He was not found.

Campus police weekly summariesOctober 15, 2009 to October 21, 2009

Investors Beyond Borders aims to find a G.E.M

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investorsbeyondborders.com

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UTM will compete in the world’s first competition addressing the need for cleaner energy.

Student service staysopen 24/5 during exams

BOWLING, BUILDING AND BUSSINGNEWSMONDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2009 THE MEDIUM 3

“Now that the Library will be open 24hours during exams, will you use it?”

�“I won’t stay over night butresidences students andthose who commute long dis�tances will, so it’s good forthem.”

� Paulina Filewska4th�year CCIT

“I will for sure use the libraryduring exams but I usuallystay until 3 a.m.”

� Brandon G.3rd�year Commerce

“I’m going to stay overbecause I commute down�town.”

� Krishan W.3rd�year EngineeringSt. George campus

“I’ll use it until 1 or 2 a.m. butI won’t stay overnight.”

� Hamza Ansari2nd�year Commerce

Answer this question on our poll atmediumonline.ca/poll

The group of MDs who will trainhere in Mississauga will be part of aninnovative partnership with the out-standing local health-care providers”said Dr. Catharine Whiteside, deanof U of T’s Faculty of Medicine.Harinder Takhar, MPP for

Mississauga-Erindale and theMinister of Government Services,added the project will ensure that“our hospitals become teaching hos-pitals. We’ll be able to retain some ofthese doctors.”The Health Sciences Complex

became possible thanks to a partner-ship among the Government ofOntario, UTM, U of T’s Faculty ofMedicine, Trillium Health Centreand Credit Valley Hospital .Construction began this summer.The complex was designed byaward-winning architect AlarKongats of Kongats Architects andwill cost $37 million, half of whichwas donated by the provincial gov-ernment as part of a province-wideinitiative to increase the number ofphysicians in Ontario.“If anybody said to me there’d be

a medical sciences building here inMississauga, I would have said ‘keepdreaming!’ Today we are realizing ateam approach,” said Mayor Hazel

McCallion. The mayor recalled herfirst event at UTM, which then hadonly 1,500 students enrolled. It nowhas almost 12,000 students.In accordance to UTM’s promise

to “Grow Smart, Grow Green,” theHealth Sciences Complex will useenergy-efficient lighting and rainwa-ter to fill toilets and water its greenroof. The building is designed tomeet or exceed the Leadership inEnergy and Environmental Designsilver status, an internationally rec-ognized standard in green buildings.

The platform party consisting ofthe speakers and MichelleDiEmanuele, the president and CEOof Credit Valley Hospital , madetheir way to officially break groundon the Health Sciences Complex.The group posed, shovels in hand,before Orchard concluded the cere-mony.The Health Science Complex is set

to open its doors in the summer of2011 with its first class of 54 medicalstudents, and expects 216 students atthe academy by 2014.

UTMcelebrates groundbreaking for newbuilding

BBuuiillddiinngg continued from ccoovveerr

Last week , Miss i ssauga Trans i tintroduced a new limited-stop busroute , 101 – Oakv i l l e Expres s ,that will travel between Oakville,UTM and the Is l ington subwaystation.Route 101 – Oakvil le Express

will run Monday to Friday duringthe morn ing and even ing rushhours, departing UTM every 20minutes. Identifying decals havebeen p l a c ed a t a l l Oakv i l l eExpress bus s tops to help trav-ellers identify the service. “The Rou te 101 – Oakv i l l e

Express is the first l imited-stopexpress service that travels alongthe Dundas Street corridor to theUTM campus,” said MississaugaTransit director Geoff Marinoff ina City Hall press release. “It pro-vides a direct transit route to andfrom Oakville for UTM studentsand other passengers . I t i s a lsoanother Mississauga Transit ser-vice option along Dundas StreetWest for commuters going to andfrom the Islington subway station.”

Route 101 shares severa l busstops with Route 201 – DundasExpress along Dundas Street Westbetween Westdale Mall and theI s l ing ton subway s t a t i on .Commuters will continue to enjoya 10-minute , combined-servicef r equency a t t he s e sha r ed busstops, said Marinoff.The UTM student union, whose

Ministry of Transportat ion haslong campaigned for alternativeme thods o f t r anspor t a t i on ,expressed sat i s fact ion with thenew route. “[It’s] a benefit to stu-den t s f rom Oakv i l l e , a l l ow ingthem t r anspor t a t ion to UTMus ing the UPASS . I t s e rve s a sencouragement toward alternativet r anspor t a t i on and make s ourcampus even more accessible tos tudents wi th in and outs ide o fMiss i s sauga , ” s a id Mar ia P i l a rGalvez , UTMSU VP Univers i tyAffairs and Academics. Passengers on the Route 101 –

Oakville Express will also benefitfrom connect ions to Route 110that travels between the ClarksonGO Station, UTM campus, SouthCommon Mall and Square One.

New bus route for UTM

When internat iona l s tudentsstart off their first year at UTM,the In ternat iona l S tudentResource Centre pairs them withupper-year students or mentorsthrough its buddy program. According to the ISRC’s web-

site, the program’s objective isto “br ing f r i ends toge ther . ”Veronica Vasquez, one of theorganizers for the centre ’ sevents this semester, said that“ the buddy-program and i t sevents are a great opportunityfor first-year international stu-dents and their mentors to con-nect and build social networksin a safe and fun environment.” With the core objectives of the

buddy-program in mind tomotivate and assist internationalstudents with building a cohe-sive university culture, Anisha

Sharma, the ISRC buddy-pro-gram liaison, arranged a get-together for a group of interna-tional students and their men-tors at Classic Bowl and a groupdinner. “Students were so happy and

many of them were going bowl-ing for the f i r s t t ime . Mostwould expect the mood to betarn i shed by the torrent ia ldownpours last Friday evening,which soaked the students dur-ing their bus trip to the bowlingarena, but in fact the soakingwas a fun par t o f the ent i reprocess,” said Simran Khanna,one of the attendees at the get-together.Despite the uncertainty of the

weather , Sona l Cas te l ino , anupper-year mentor with the cen-tre’s program, explained the rea-soning behind this year’s bowl-ing activity and remarked thatthe activity was an ideal oppor-tunity to put to practice one of

the buddy-program’s visceralpr inc ip le s o f t eamwork andtrust. “Pairing up the students insmall groups of bowling teamsencouraged everyone to interactand ta lk and work wi th oneanother in a safe and comfort-able manner,” said Castelino. “The Buddy Program’s bowl-

ing event was a great opportuni-ty for s tudents to exp loreMississauga outside the campusand I think they really cherishedthe experience,” said ISRC co-coordinator Harpreet Randhawa.The bowling get-together was

one of the many events orga-n ized by the In ternat iona lStudent Resource Centre, a ser-vice provided by UTM StudentAf fa i r s for internat iona l andinternat iona l ly-minded s tu-dents. Its objective is to offercruc ia l s e rv ices such as theBuddy Program, Global Café ,Let’s Talk Turkey and peer-advi-sory office hours.

International students bowl with buddies

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They also referred to other campusesthat still offer a 24-hour library ser-vice, and contended that servicesshould not decrease while tuition feesincrease.“It is the drive, the compassion,

and solidarity that we students havethat win these battles. It is proof that getting involved,knowing the issues, and speaking outget results,” said UTMSU PresidentJoey Santiago, adding that theUTMSU and the Library will make anofficial announcement later thisweek. Santiago thanked the Office of the

Vice-President & Provost CherylMisak for funding the 24-hour service and encouraged students toexpress their gratitude to both theProvost and the UTM Library for theirefforts.Mavrinac credited both the town

hall and the Library’s “Tell Us WhatYou Think” comment forum forhelping communicate the message.“We delighted to obtain the necessaryfunds to support student success dur-ing the extremely important studyand examination periods,” saidMavrinac. Details about the Library’s hours

of service are available online at library.utm.utoronto.ca/hours

LLiibbrraarryy continued from ccoovveerr

First Canadian winsinternational award

Peltier has been part of the U of Tcommunity for a long time. He com-pleted his Ph.D in Physics at theUniversity of Toronto in 1971 andwent on to teach at U of T in 1993. In April 2010, Peltier, along with the

rest of this year’s Laureates, will con-duct seminars and lectures at universi-ties and participate in various educa-tional programs at the FranklinInstitute. Most events are free andopen to students of all ages, givingyoung minds the opportunity to meetand converse with the world’s greatmodern scientists. Peltier will receivehis award at the Franklin AwardsCeremony and Dinner on April 29,2010.

PPrriizzee continued from ccoovveerr

Matthew Filipowich/The Medium

The ISRC took many international students bowling for the first time

The Library (I can never bring myself to call it the HazelMcCal l ion Academic Learning Centre) announced thisFriday that it would resume the 24/5 schedule that it aban-doned less than a month ago (see the article on the coverpage). We can once again study in the library as late as wewish. (Not that I or anyone I know ever stayed there after 8p.m.) More importantly, we don’t have to bow our heads inembarrassment when UTSC or St. George students boastabout the hours of their libraries.So, we got what we wanted. We’ll never know whether we

got it because of the UTMSU campaign, or because of TheMedium’s coverage, or because of the students who told thePrincipal during the town hall event on October 2 that theywere against the reduced hours, or because the Provost’sOffice suddenly came up with the necessary cash. I like tothink it was because of our coverage, but of course it wasmost likely a combination of all of the above.Two conclusions can be drawn from this unexpected turn-

around. First ly, students have power — more than theythink. There is, however, a caveat to this power: It needs tobe used wisely. In the case of the Library’s new hours, stu-dents not only had a reasonable goal, but also fought for it ina mature way — never mind those who booed a fellow stu-dent when she dared wonder aloud whether maybe UTM hada point about cancelling the 24/5 service. Other than thatshameful bout, there were no T-shirts depicting a raisedmiddle finger or inviting the library to screw itself. Suchgimmicks may be good for publicity; they may stir up “themasses,” but they sure don’t invite respectful, intelligentdebate.The second conclusion is not so easy to arrive at, perhaps

because of its implications: that other UTM services maysuffer because of funds that were allocated to the Library sothat it would remain open. UTMSU President Joey Santiagoassures us that this won’t happen. But how can we be sosure? After all, U of T President Naylor himself asked whichservices students were willing to sacrifice in order to keepthe library open 24/5.If indeed no services get cut, then one question arises: why

did UTM change the library hours in the first place if moneywas not a problem? On the other hand, if money was a prob-lem, how was the Provost’s Office suddenly able to extendthe hours back to what they were before? I find it hard tobelieve that the students’ protests had nothing to do with theold hours being reinstated.All that matters for now is that the library is back to its

regular hours. It would be foolish take it for granted. Wecried when something was taken away. Let’s use it now thatit is given back.

OPINIONMONDAY, OCTOBER 26, 20094 THE MEDIUM

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Letters to the Editor

Dear Editor,

I was surprised to see that Mr. Beg’srecent letter describes the UTMSU asbeing unaccountable and unapproach-able. He implies that the student uniondoes not truly represent students views,which is simply not true.Since September, the UTMSU has

had a number of consultation meetingsthrough various ministries such asEquity, Environment, Education &Outreach, International StudentsAffairs, Social Justice, Campus Life aswell as an information session for allfirst years which every student had theopportunity to attend. We have heardmany excellent ideas and suggestionsfrom students, which have directly influ-enced the approach we have taken on anumber of issues.Mr. Beg even goes on to praise the

efforts of the Student Union, saying hesupports the campaign to drop tuitionfees and other opportunities for studentsto be heard. The UTMSU has workedtirelessly to be true advocates of studentson campus, and we make every effort torepresent the campus groups and indi-vidual students who ask us to do so.In his conclusion, Mr. Beg laments

that he does not know his “presidentand execs as much as they [UTMSU]seem to want to know the principal.”The door to the student union office isalways open, and we are always glad tochat with any student — including Mr.Beg — if they take the time to visit us.I finally would like to update you that

due to the collective students effort dur-ing the referenced town hall, the VicePresident and Provost Cherly Misak hasagreed to provide funding for the 24/5library thanks to all students who cameand voiced their concerns.

Henry Ssali

No double standard

UTMSU messageDear UTM Students,

I hope this finds you all well and in goodspirits. I also hope that you have had suc-cess on your midterms! For those thathaven't finished yet, best of luck to you(although you should be studying, notreading the paper!) I have just one itemthat I want to bring up with you all theStudent Day of Action on November 5.While there may be many issues that

happen on campus that we fight for, ris-ing tuition fees remain to be a commonissue that we all face. I urge you to joinyour fellow students, to come out to thedemonstration on November 5th andmake your voice heard! This year is moreimportant than ever — it is the end of theReaching Higher framework, whichmeans the Ontario government mustinstitute a new fee framework. It has recently been announced that

the UTM Library will be re-introducingits 24/5 hours. Why? Because students

made their voice heard. We gathered as acollective with one clear message — giveus our library hours back. I thank allthose who came out, whether it be insupport, to deliver your message, or tosign a petition. Let's keep the pressurehigh, and we'll win this one too!On November 5, join thousands of

students from other universities and col-leges to show the government that youwill not put up with high tuition fees! Wewill be meeting up in the UTM StudentCentre at 12 p.m. next Thursday. Foodand transportation will be provided, soall you have to do is show up! If you areinterested in helping organize the cam-paign, or if you have any questions at all,please send an e-mail to nov5@utmsu.ca. Again, best of luck on your midterms

this fall season, and I hope to see you allon November 5!

Joey SantiagoPresident, UTM Students' Union

It’s About Us Muslim Women. Again.Today’s plunging necklines and stackedbangles are flashbacks to pre-IslamicArabia where women walked aroundheavily ornamented and bare-breasted.Pre-marital sex, multiplicity of partnersand a highly sexualized culture was thenorm. The advent of Islam reintroduceda code of conduct that emphasized mod-esty, marriage, lineage, beautiful charac-ter and human rights. Each morning,women choose to either cover or baresomething or the other. It seems that tobe liberated, women must bare all. Butfor at least a few millennia, women ofvarious religions choose to cover theirbodies.to ensure their feminine graceand modesty.The veil is not only a sign of dignity,

but a common element of religious prac-tice for devout women. It successfullyintroduces a de-sexualized public spherewhich does not inhibit sexuality butrather grants it a defined place in day-to-day life. Modest dress neutralized sexualdifferences between males and females,allowing them to rise above primal dis-tinctions. The command for women to cover

their heads is unambiguously stated inthe Quran. Therefore, any claim that thehead-covering is not commanded in theQuran, or the face-veil an un-Islamicpatriarchal concept, should be disregard-ed as fallacious. Moreover, it is ridiculousto claim that forms of the veil in Islamare a patriarchal legislation. God is theOne who legislates, and God does nothave a gender.As the Cambridge scholar T. J. Winter

says, “[a] woman who exposes hercharms in public is vulnerable to whatmight be described as ‘visual theft,’ sothat men unknown to her can enjoy hervisually without her consent.” The claimthat the veil or the face-veil reduces awoman to a vulnerable passive object isbaseless since it very clearly does theopposite. The Canadian public sphere has

afforded every individual the right tofreedom of thoughtand expression. Thewoman who veils her face is hence nei-ther ‘barbaric’ nor ‘stupid.’ If face-veils and burkas have led to

bank heists, a simple metal detectorwould solve that problem. To claims thatthe burka is a symbol of Saudi inspiredIslamic extremism, the burka, niqab orthe chador are simply cultural and geo-graphical adaptations of the face-veil. If acountry chooses to enforce the burka,that is an offense on their part. But if awoman chooses to wear it, then thatshould be her choice, regardless of itsnegative associations. Lastly, what truly is “an insult to the

female gender” is stipulating what shecan and cannot wear in a free country ifshe so chooses to. A modestly coveredwoman is simply neutralizing her sexualdifference. In light of this, the MuslimStudent Association at UTM unani-mously takes a stance against the call forlegislation to ban the face-veil. It emanci-pates itself from any representation bythe Muslim Canadian Congress.

Ruqayyah AhdabVice-President, MSA

Michael Di Leo, Editor | arts@mediumonline.ca

MONDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2009 THE MEDIUM 5

Style in focus: part oneTaking a look at winter fashion for men

There’s one thing that us former tropicnatives and style aficionados like aboutToronto, and it is that the four differentseasons give us a chance to vary ourattire. In the summer we can continueto wear shorts and sandals and light,short-sleeved shirts and polos, but wecan also wear scarves and sportcoats inthe winter.Some of us take the task quiTe seri-

ously, squinting at GQ articles, askingquestions and studying the outfits ofwell-dressed people (discreetly, lest theythink we’re about to hit on them). Inthe process we usually find, much toour surprise, that many Canadiansdon’t take winter attire seriously. InEurope, I often saw men wearingscarves, leather gloves, and stylish butwarm boots, yet many guys at UTMwear gloves the size of boxing gloves,sneakers with slippery soles and SantaClaus hats.Given that autumn forgot to show up

this year, I thought it was about time Iwrite up a list of tips on what to wearfor the winter. It’s not because I knowbetter than you or that I think I’m moreelegant, but because there is certainirony to a Cuban writing about winterattire in a Canadian newspaper. Andalso, you might find something useful.(Or I might, if some of you decide towrite back with tips).

HATS

Can’t live with ‘em, can’t live without‘em. I regard hats with suspicion,maybe because in the tropics we seldomwear them. (We certainly don’t wearstraw hats, unless we’re working in thefields). Plus I hate hat-hair. That said, Ihate frozen earlobes even more. Up to80% of your body heat escapes throughyour head. I don’t know if that statisticis true, but it certainly feels true on colddays.Stick to the basics: a toque on really

cold days. (Driving caps look good butare not as practical). Felt toques literally

stink, so get a wool one, or one in cash-mere if you can afford it. And no fuzzyballs hanging from the top, for the loveof God, unless your name is Hans andyou are a ski instructor.On really cold days, the bold and the

daring can get away with wearing oneof those fur-imitation trapper hats.Many clothing brands are trying hardto make them fashionable (they madeUgg boots fashionable, even for someguys, so they’ll probably succeed). Afriend at work once remarked that trap-per hats look stupid. I can’t help agree-ing. He also said they looked warm —and by all accounts, they are — whichmakes me wonder whether I’m the stu-pid one for refusing to wear them. Inthe end, people with trapper hats maylook daring, with that screw-you atti-tude that can, when discreetly done, doso much for your appearance.

Where: Everywhere.Price range: $20 to $50.

SCARVES

One easy way to tell Canadians fromforeigners: Canadians seldom wearscarves. To this day, I have no idea why.Scarves keep the throat warm and fendoff colds. They also look great. Forthose who fear that a scarf will makethem look silly, rest assured — they canattract female fingers like a magnet,especially when made of cashmere.(Once you try a cashmere scarf you’llnever go back).Hemingway wore scarves. Sartre wore

scarves. Scarves are manly things. Getone in a solid colour, or perhaps with afew stripes. The simpler, the better.Burgundy is a widely ignored, but asmart choice.

Where: H&M, eBay,Winners.Price range: $50 to $200.

GLOVES

Gloves are so easy to get right. Yet mostguys don’t. All you need is leather. Thinleather gloves will work anywhere, fromFrosh to graduation to the job inter-view, and they are guaranteed toimpress your date.Ideally, gloves should match the

colour of your shoes. Go for brown first(you did get those brown boots, right?).Get a second pair in black when youfind a sale. And make sure they arelined inside. I have a pair lined in cash-mere that I bought at Danier for lessthan $30. Synthetic lining also works —some say it works even better, but I rec-ommend you pass it up if you havesweaty hands.According to many forums, the best

gloves come from a small workshop inFlorence called Madova. They arehandmade and retail for up to 60 euros.A bit on the pricey side, but the qualityis indisputable. I’ll get them when Imake decent money. And when I learnnot to lose my gloves.

Where: Danier (waiting for post-wintersales will score you a great price),

Winners.How much: $30 to around $80 for theMadova gloves.

SHOES

Come wintertime, I see many peopletiptoeing around campus with ChuckTaylors or other sneakers. I wonder ifthey just haven’t tried boots. Boots arewarm, comfortable, and allow us tostroll around without worrying aboutsludge pools. They’re back in style now,especially army boots and old-fash-ioned boots like the L.L. Bean KatahdinIron boots (my likely choice), a fewTimberland models, and the Wolverine1,000 Mile Boots, which were first soldin 1914. Even Aldo has taken to sellingvintage-looking boots.

As for the colour, I once read that

Italian men only wear black shoes whenthey go to a wedding or a funeral. Weshould take cue. Black shoes are over-rated — and overused. Nothing looksbetter than freshly polished brownshoes. I tend to agree in the case ofboots, although there’s nothing wrongwith a nice pair of black ones.

Where: Timberland stores, Aldo, LittleBurgundy, Brown shoes, online.How much: $120 to $300.

COATS

Many people think the more stylish thejacket, the less warm. Not necessarily. Awool, wool-and-cashmere or pashminawool coat can effectively protect youagainst Toronto’s nastiest winter days,especially if: a) it’s got a warm lining,

and b) the front zips and buttonsclosed. Moreover, longer dress coatsprotect your legs like no ski or puffyjacket can.Now, unlike most other accessories I

mentioned earlier, these coats are diffi-cult to find at a moderate price. But younever know. I once found a very nicewool-and-cashmere British dress coatat Goodwill for $15. A quick, $10 visitto a trustworthy tailor made the jacketlook as if it had been custom-made forme.For those who need a winter jacket

right away, a parka may be cheaper andeasier to find (just go for a solid colour).

Where: Tom’s Place, Winners, somedepartment stores. And yes, Goodwill.How much: $15 (OK, only at Goodwill)to infinity.

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BUY THESE THINGSARTS & ENTERTAINMENTMONDAY, OCTOBER 26, 20096 THE MEDIUM

Haven’t you heard?A&E Editor MMiicchhaaeell DDii LLeeoo picks ten albums you should hear if you haven’t already. At leastthat way we won’t be held accountable for whatever choices you may make in the future

ARMCHAIR APOCRYPHAA�DREW BIRD

The mus i ca l equ iva l en t o f anorna te an t ique wardrobe . I t ’ sclassy, original , and fits well inany s i tua t ion . Bus mus ic? Yes .Date music? Yes. Sitting-alone-in-your- l iv ing room-la te-a t -n ightmusic? Yes. Crying-about-a-lost-lover music? Sometimes.Andrew Bird is known for his

textured sound, and none of hiso ther a lbums come c lo se tomatching Armchair Apocrypha inthis respect. “Imitosis” is a collageof violins being picked like a gui-tar. “Armchairs” fades in smooth-ly, but ends on an epic high note,f i l l ed wi th p ianos , v io l ins , andBird’s trademark whistling. It willmake you feel real nice.

THE YOUNG AND PASSIONATEDAYS OF CARPEDIA [EP]

TTHHEE CCAARRPPSS

On the first track, when JahmalTonge proclaims “this might bethe r awes t th ing you ’ ve eve rheard,” he may just be right. Notso much in the way that Lou Reedis considered raw, or, as a morecon t empora ry examp le , P e t eDoherty (though this is subject toque s t i on ) bu t tha t the mus i citself, a stripped-down, mucked-up, electrified version of drum ‘nbass may be the closest soundingthing to let t ing i t a l l go on thedancefloor.And wi th sou l fu l voca l s and

songs that address social issues inour na t i ve GTA, wha t ’ s no t tolike?

TIGERMILKBBEELLLLEE && SSEEBBAASSTTIIAANN

When “twee” was the in-thing in theearly 90’s, it was mostly due to thedominance Belle & Sebastian had onthe genre. Everyone was listening to IfYou’re Feeling Sinister and The Boywith the Arab Strap, but no one real-ized that Tigermilk was what kickedB&S into the mainstream.

There are the staples —“MyWandering Days are Over” and “ICould Be Dreaming” — that areimpeccably produced, but the other,lesser known songs are what give thisalbum its character. “ElectricRenaissance” and “Expectations” arelight and airy B&S renditions of anelectronic song and latin-ish songrespectively, both adding to the cohe-siveness of the album as a whole. Plus, listening to Tigermilk will makeyou feel like a little kid again.

ROCKET SUMMER [EP]TTHHEE FFIIRRSSTT AAIIDD KKIITT

Indie-rock has acquired a bad rapover the past few years. When peo-ple hear the name, they cringe, pic-turing five white twenty-somethingswith dirty hair playing on vintagesynthesizers while whining overtop.To be fair, this is generally a prettyaccurate description — visit Lee’s onany given night — but sometimes aband comes along whose music is sooverwhelmingly good, so distinctlyfresh, and so much fun that you for-get all the stereotypes associatedwith “their kind” of music.This is The First Aid Kit. Hailing

from Halifax, they have only twoEP’s to their name but promise alifetime of listening pleasure. Don’tbelieve us? Try downloading theiralbum for free on their Myspacepage.

NIANDRA LADES AND USUALLY JUST A T�SHIRT

JJOOHHNN FFRRUUSSCCIIAANNTTEE

TAKING CARE OF BUSINESSSSKKRRAATTCCHH BBAASSTTIIDD

There are two kinds of DJ’s: thosewho work at clubs where they playtop 40 hits , and those who takethe process of turntabling as anart, digging deep through crates ofrecords to find that perfect drumhit, and mastering the techniquesof cutting a record.Skra tch Bas t id i s the second

kind of DJ. Apart from winningseveral national and internationalDJ compet i t ions , he b r ings anenergy to his l ive and recordedperformances that is unmatchedby any o f h i s con temporar i e s .Taking Care of Business exempli-f i e s th i s energy , and conta inssome of the most serious displaysof scratching ever recorded. Thatand the tracks are just so muchfun.

Many of you wil l recognize thename John Frusciante as the gui-tarist of the Red Hot Chili Peppers.What you may not know is that hehas a successful solo career on theside.

Niandra LaDes is the first soloalbum Frusciante ever released, backwhen he first left the Peppers mid-tour in ’92. To put it lightly, thisalbum is weird. Expect there to betimes where you question why it wasrecommended to you in the firstplace. Also, be prepared to hear theshrieks of a man completely pos-sessed by a life-threatening drug-addiction. Yeah.But if you can get past that you

will find some of the most intrigu-ing melodies, beautifully complexguitar arrangements and mind-bending production techniques —all done with a pop sensibility thatmakes Niandra LaDes so irresistible.

ELVIS IS BACK!EELLVVIISS PPRREESSLLEEYY

Many people don ’ t rea l i ze thelongs tand ing e f f e c t s o f E lv i sPresley’s music on today’s society.To put it lightly, without the King,most top 40 music we hear todaywou ldn ’ t be on the top 40 . I twould be played on college radio.

Elvis is Back! is one of the bestexamples of Presley’s significance.Recorded after his military dis-charge in 1960 , the a lbum i s aturning point of sorts, where Elvisprogressed from the more struc-tured Rock ‘n Roll which he wasknown for to the pop music forwhich he would later be remem-bered.

Elvis is Back! features severaldist inct musical s ty les , rangingfrom doo-wop to blues to gospel,each injecting a shot of colour ontop of the rigid 4/4 compositions.Ever wonder why R&B became sopopular? This is where it started.

LIFESTYLEZ OV DA POOR AND DANGEROUS

BBIIGG LL

When people discuss 90 ’s hip-hop, all too often Big L gets over-looked . Maybe i t ’ s because henever had a really captivating sin-g l e — one which he wi l l beremembered for always. Or, morelikely, it’s because he was gunneddown in h i s pr ime , r igh t a f t e rs ign ing a ma jor dea l w i th thenewly formed Rocafella records.(Jay-Z was a protégé of Big L.)

Li f e s ty l ez i s the on ly s tud ioa lbum L re l eased whi l e he wasalive. Since then there have beenmany compilations featuring hisfreestyles and unfinished demos,but none come close to matchingthe in tens i ty and de l ivery o fLifestylez. Mostly because it is dif-ficult to imagine how anyone isable to rhyme like L, mixing multi-syllabic rhyming schemes with anin tent to des t roy anyth ing hespeaks of. No one does it better.

DUSTY GEMS ANDRAW NUGGETS

WWEEEEZZEERR

It may seem unusual that a bonus discwould be featured on such a list, butmake no bones about it, this is pureWeezer.

Dusty Gems features some classic b-sides and demos from the blue albumdays which have since become popu-lar Weezer hits. Songs such as“Susanne” and “Jamie” hold their ownwith anything Weezer has producedsince. Other lesser known songs, forexample “Mykel and Carli” and a bar-bershop quartet rendition of “MyEvaline,” have reached cult statusamong die-hard Weezer fans.But don’t assume that this is for

Weezer fans only. It is quite the oppo-site in fact. Dusty Gems opens theband up to some of their more inti-mate moments — their unproduceddemos, their original quirky songideas, and the unmitigated joy foundthroughout which makes their otheralbums almost boring in comparison.

BREAKING ATOMSMMAAIINN SSOOUURRCCEE

Released in 1991, Breaking Atomsremains one of the best-produced hip-hop albums to this day. With styles asdiverse as jazz rap and alternative hip-hop, Breaking Atoms is notable forhaving influenced artists such as ATribe Called Quest andHieroglyphics and for the debut offuture superstar Nas.But what is most impressive about

Breaking Atoms is the productionbehind it. Considering it was made ata time where computers had very lit-tle, if any, role in creating music, it isincredible how such complex and fullbeats were created, not to mention thedegree of musicality behind them. Ahip-hop classic, Breaking Atoms willnever grow old.

Thoughts about this article?Visit mediumonline.ca to post

your comments.

FOOD POLITICIZED ARTS & ENTERTAINMENTMONDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2009 THE MEDIUM 7

Friday, October 30th, 2009AT NIAGARA FALLS

Hart House wraps up world food week

Do you ever think about where yourfood comes from, who produces it andhow it is processed?With an ever growing concern for

better food quality, cost and distribu-tion in today’s society, there has neverbeen a better time to question andchallenge our current food system andto adopt more sustainable methods offood production.During Hart House’s World Food

Week from October 16 to 23, studentsand community members were invitedto think critically about food and ourrelationship with it through a series oftastings, workshops, panel discussionsand lectures.The week began on World Food Day

with “Home is Where the Fork Is,” afree tasting of local foods at the WilsonHall Lounge at U of T’s New College.The tasting aimed to encourage par-ticipants to try local food as well as todiscover the benefits of being a loca-vore — one who eats locally grown

foods.The week proceeded with the screen-

ing of Fresh, a shocking and yet inspi-rational documentary by filmmakerAna Sofia Joanes. In an intimate setup at Sammy’s — a small cafeteria atHart House — audience memberslearned about the crude reality and dis-astrous consequences of industrialagriculture. Although depressing attimes, Fresh also offered encouragingadvice by food experts and motivation-al examples of farmers who are alreadychanging the way they produce food.“I’ve seen a lot of food security docu-

mentaries and I sometimes find theyuse a lot of scary tactics to shock and toget the message across. But, I foundthat [Fresh] had a positive message,”said Ana Greisman, an audience mem-ber.

On October 20, “Hungry for Change:What Toronto Eats,” an impressivephoto exhibit showing Toronto fami-lies surrounded by what they eat, waslaunched at Hart House. This exhibitruns until October 26 and can be seenhanging from the walls of hallways atHart House.The highlight of World Food Week

was a keynote presentation aboutEarth Democracy delivered by world-renowned author, ecologist, physicistand activist Dr. Vandana Shiva.“Dr. Shiva’s scholarship and liveli-

hood exemplifies what World FoodWeek is all about: living consciously tosustain and honour our earth'sresources,” said Estelle Oliva, assistantdirector of Student Life and Leadershipand the event’s organizer. “We arethrilled to have her participate in this

week-long awareness campaign.”Dr. Shiva gained recognition for her

tremendous contribution to and sup-port of environmental activism. Avisionary, she is the founder ofNavdanya, the Research Foundationfor Science, Technology and Ecology.Navdanya was founded in India in1987 and has since served as a networkof seed keepers and organic producersin 16 states of the country.“When I found global corporations

wanted to patent seeds, crops or lifeforms, I started Navdanya to protectbiodiversity, defend farmers' rights andpromote organic farming,” said Shiva.Prior to her presentation at Hart

House Theatre, Dr. Shiva met with aselect group of U of T students, whohave “demonstrated leadership skills,taken initiative on campus and[demonstrated] a passion for sustain-ability and equity issues,” said Oliva.

The event was organized as aConversation Café, where small groupsof approximately ten people sitting atround tables answered specific ques-tions regarding food equality, agricul-tural sustainability and earth democra-cy. Each group had a facilitator whowould rotate tables every ten minutes,taking their table’s question along. Dr.Shiva was one of the facilitators, givingstudents the opportunity to engage inconversation with and learn from thisdistinguished guest.During this intimate gathering, Dr.

Shiva urged students to “petition thegovernment to subsidize healthy food,not the unhealthy.” She insisted thatrespect be brought back to food, farm-ers and the Earth.

World Food Week ended with a lec-ture by Um’Khonde PatrickHabamenshi, a member of theToronto Food Policy Council andfounder of Behind Dogon Doors, aCanadian social enterprise working tobring awareness to challenges faced bydisadvantaged groups.Those who missed World Food

Week or those who simply didn’t getenough of it are welcome to attend Uof T's Action 4 Food Justice — a freelunch provided by U of T’s famous “Hot Yam.” This event will take place atHart House’s Music Room on October27. Action 4 Food Justice is an oppor-tunity for students and communitymembers to come together and sharetheir ideas on food issues.

PPAATTRRIICCIIAA FFIIGGUUEEIIRREEDDOO

“Cheap food is an illusion. The realcost of the food is paid some�where and if it isn’t paid at thecash register, it’s charged to theenvironment, it’s charged to thepublic person in the form of subsi�dies and it’s charged to yourhealth.”

� MMiicchhaaeell PPoollllaann, author of InDefense of Food: An Eater’sManifesto

Jo Dickins Photos

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Jo Dickins Photos

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On October 20, U of T’s Hart Housereceived Bollywood star Rahul Boseand Solomon Island teenage activistChristina Ora to talk about currentissues on climate change.Voices for Climate Justice Tour

sponsored the two-hour presenta-tion, which focused both on theimpact of climate change in SouthAsia and islands in the South Pacificand on what they called a failure ofthe Canadian government to takepositive action. Climate ActionNetwork, a conglomerate of environ-mentally conscious organizationsincluding Greenpeace and CanadianWorld Wildlife Federation, workedwith the Indian Students’ Society atU of T to organize the event.Award winning 17-year-old public

speaker Christina Ora discussed theimpact that rising sea levels, floods

and ion are having on drinking waterand food production in the SolomanIslands. Ora shared personal storiesof property damage and harm to theislands’ beautiful coastlines. “Don’tleave this room with that knowledgein your head alone. You go out andyou spread the word,” said Ora.With highly developed countries

such as Canada using 15-20 timesthe amount of energy as India, RahulBose, a film star in Pyaar Ke SideEffects and Thakshak, asked, “Howcan we ask poor families to reducetheir energy consumption when weare so much better off?” Bose sug-gested supplementing fossil fuel forgreen technology such as solar powerto decrease our energy use.Student speaker Lauryn Drainie

criticized the Canadian governmentfor their recent actions at the lastglobal meeting in Thailand, where190 countries met to discuss on cli-mate change. Canada supported

Australia, the US and Japan on theirsuggestion to phase out the KyotoTreaty. Such an action would elimi-nate the international goal of reduc-ing gas emissions by 5% by 2012 andallow “highly developed” nations tocreate their own policies.With COP15, the United Nations

Climate Conference scheduled totake place this December inCopenhagen, it is now the optimaltime for students and citizens aliketo pressure the Canadian govern-ment into taking action on climatechange.Drainie believed a moral stance on

climate change will have little effectin motivating citizens and the gov-ernment. Canadians should focus oninforming the government andunsupportive countries that theyhave much to lose in the face of glob-al warming and climate change.Canada has impending problems atits doorstep: by 2030, 80% of glacialwater will run dry, forest fires in BCwill increase and the prairies willface severe draught.The Climate Action Network had

put in requests with the IndianStudents’ Society to host a similarclimate change event at UTM. TheISS’s financial resources and man-power were insufficient to host suchan event, and with an eight-posterlimitation on student group advertis-ing, it was a long shot. AshwinKapadiya, public relations director ofthe ISS, sought help from UTMSU’sMinistry of Environment to increaseadvertising and gain support.Without any feedback from UTMSUand the Ministry of Environment,the ISS declined CAN’s requests.“I was disappointed that the

UTMSU decided to disregard thisevent especial ly during theirEnvironment Week, given that thisevent would be perfect for them andwould not cost them a dime,” saidAshwin. “It is these experiences thatmake it very difficult for us to unifythe campuses in any effort – let alone‘Green’ efforts.”Both the Scarborough and St.

George campuses successfully hosteda speaking event on climate changeas apart of the Voices for ClimateJustice Tour.

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MONDAY, OCTOBER 26, 20098 THE MEDIUM

Amir Ahmed, Editor | features@mediumonline.ca

CAN do attitudeBollywood celebrity Rahul Bose and activist Christine Ora addressclimate change issues at Hart House

The new 2012

MARY DYTYNIAK

Hollywood, some celebrities, andassorted pseudo-scientists with toomuch time on their hands have cited2012 as the year the earth will end.According to James Lovelock, earthscientist and creator of the controver-sial Gaia Hypothesis, the actual dateof our doom may not be that far off.According to Lovelock, Europe,China and North America maybecome “uninhabitable for thegrowth of food” by 2025. This view issupported by Stewart Brand in hisnew book “Whole Earth Discipline,”in which he cites the many, manypeople who believe the earth is goingkaput in many, many ways.Brand, environmental activist, for-

mer soldier and a graduate ofStanford’s biology program, has beenan environmentalist long before AlGore made “going green” somethingsexy. He founded the environmentalmagazines Whole Earth Catalogue in1968 and CoEvolution Quarterly in1974. Brand wrote Whole EarthDiscipline as his latest attempt toeducate the public on the immediatethreat of climate change and to offerwhat he sees as the solution.In “Whole Earth Discipline,”

Brand summons up terrifying statis-tics. According to a 2008 study, severeclimate change — the kind that canturn Europe into Siberia and put anend to water supplies in India — canhappen in as little as three years. He

takes these statistics and points out afrightening present day, where glacialmelts in Tibet, tropical diseases insouthern Europe, and swarms of fish-consuming jellyfish seem like harbin-gers of an ecological apocalypse.Brand’s image is frightening, andreading “Whole Earth Discipline,”one can see that Brand himself isfrightened.As a solution for this environmen-

tal instability, Brand takes on manysocietal institutions commonlyviewed as anti-environment andchampions them to hold incrediblepotential for sustainability. “While[cities] are becoming the Greenestthing that humanity does for theplanet… [they] have a long way togo.” Brand goes on to endorse nuclearenergy and genetically modifiedfoods, as well as sticking to the con-ventional wisdom such as eatinglocally and discouraging the spread ofinvasive species.Unfortunately, Brand’s energetic

and passionate writing style, whichmakes “Whole Earth Discipline” aneasy read, also undermining the toneof his arguments. Brand leaves thereader wondering which of his theo-ries are good science, and which arespeculation. I guess we’ll find out in 2025.

AMIR AHMEDFEATURES EDITOR

wikimedia.org

Steward Brand’s ‘ecopragmatist’s mani�festo’ endorses nuclear energy, GM foods

blog.taragana.com

Want to write forFeatures?Email us

at features@mediumonline.ca

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FEATURESMONDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2009 THE MEDIUM 9

CAREERS AND CARTOONS

POSTGRADUATECERTIFICATESFOR REWARDING CAREERS

business.humber.ca

FINANCIAL PLANNINGGLOBAL BUSINESS MANAGEMENTHUMAN RESOURCES MANAGEMENTINTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENTINTERNATIONAL MARKETINGMARKETING MANAGEMENTPUBLIC ADMINISTRATION

The question comes to every stu-dent, usually from a well-meaningrelative or perhaps a fellow student:Four years and tens of thousands ofdollars buy us all an education sec-ond to none, but where does it lead?Many students have high aspirations— plans for graduate schools or pro-fessional schools. Others, such asengineers or accountants have apretty good idea of where they’ll endup, and specialized in pointing thisout back in the twelfth grade.In high school, getting that accep-

tance letter seemed like it was thefirst step in defining an entirecareer, but now the English and artshistory majors of the world have towonder what exactly their degreescan get them, and whether or notknowing what ekphrasis means real-ly counts in the workforce.The career counsellors at UTM

advise these students not to worry.It’s a common problem and simplyknowing your options can go a longway.According to the Career Centre

staff, the problem for the nebulouslydefined humanities programs isn’t alack of options in the workforce. Theoptions are endless and these stu-dents are aware of it. English majors,for example, usually assume that adegree in English inevitably leadsthem to become a struggling writeror an English teacher, but only a

small percentage actually take thisobvious route.While the other “artsy” majors,

such as Italian studies, art historyand classics , present less directapproaches, they do exist, and a littlework coupled with a few visits to theCareer Centre wil l provide ananswer. The Career Centre has anendless number of resources oncareer choices in the form of hand-books put together for each majorand the “careers by major” section ofthe Career Centre’s website.For senior students, the Career

Centre also offers career advice fromUTM alumni and can educate on theprocess of picking and finding acareer.Unfortunately, there is no one job

more common than the next for anymajor. Language graduates havegone on to endless jobs, from teach-ing overseas, to journalism, to work-ing for large publishing firms. The

same applies to art history gradu-ates, who can end up in the expectedrealms of museums and archives,but can also branch out as art thera-pists and preservationists.The world is not a logical place

and hoping to have a career laid outin advance is unrealistic. The CareerCentre knows this and can help anystudent willing to find what theyenjoy and plot out the direction theywould like to go with it.Let’s face it, as students, we’re

young and stupid. We don’t like todeal with the real world until weabsolutely have to. And the fact isthat there are just too many possibil-ities to create a single plan to fit anyspecific program, much less a specif-ic person. The world is scary, but bybeing here, you’ve done the hardest(and most expensive) part. The restis out there. You just need to do a bitmore work to find it. Good luck —see you in the job market.

Where are you going with that?For humanities students, choosing courses is easier thanchoosing a career

Drop by the Student Centre presenta-tion room on Friday evenings and youmight find Sprited Away flashing onthe wall or a crowd of students playingName That Tune to Japanese popmusic. They are members of the UTMAnime Club, which focuses on animeand manga and encourages a passionfor any part of Japan’s pop culture.The Anime Club split from the

Erindale Gaming Organization severalyears ago to accommodate diverging

interests when the Japanese pop cul-ture phenomenon became popular oncampus. UTMA was created to fill aniche in the community. Anime —animation originating in Japan — andmanga — comics and drawn cartoonsconforming to a style developed inJapan — became increasingly popularin North America in the late 1990s.The club served as a space for animefans to meet and interact with eachother.UTMA’s main event is their biweek-

ly Anime Nights held at the StudentCentre’s presentation room. The clubshows two to three episodes from four

different shows throughout the night,along with social activities such askaraoke and raffles for anime mer-chandise. The anime shown covers dif-ferent genres to appeal to as manymembers as possible, and by the end ofthe semester the club will have finishedwith four shows.The members play an active role in

the club as well. The executive teamtake member suggestions for clubactivities and events, and membersoften attend anime conventions as agroup. “It’s all about entertainment,socialization and relaxation. The clubprovides a chance to watch anime, butit is also an opportunity for membersto spend time with people who shareyour interests and to make newfriends,” said Sarah Overall, UTMA’sreturning president.One of the club’s most important

aims is to foster a love and apprecia-tion for Japanese culture. Candy Chou,a club executive, has establishedJapanese lessons for club members andthe club sets up sushi night gatheringsfor those who crave Japanese food.UTMA also organizes communityactivities like anime Movie Nightsopened to the public and art sales, inwhich they encourage artists to con-tribute anime-themed artwork.Members also interact with each otheron the club’s forums, where they holddiscussions and share fan fiction andfan art based on anime series.Although UTMA has been very suc-

cessful, it has had its share of conflicts.Last year, the executive team under-went a complete overhaul when thethen elected president quit the club aweek before the new school year. Theteam scrambled to pull the clubtogether and Overall stepped up to the

role. Since that time, the club hasexpanded their activities repertoire.While the old club held anime nightsand one or two sushi nights, thereformed club now encourages socialinteraction and discussion.With three of the current executive

team graduating this year, UTMA hasalready made plans for a smooth tran-sition. Core activities such as theAnime Nights and social Sushi Nightswill continue, but Overall stated thatthe rest depends on the club membersthemselves. “We will keep what worksand discard what doesn’t. The club willgrow and change with the members.As long as everyone is having fun, Idon’t think we can go too far wrong.”Many students might feel awkward

joining the club when they know littleabout Japanese culture or the animeand manga industry, but Overallstressed that everyone is welcome.“When I joined in my freshman year, Iwas only familiar with some anime Isaw on YTV. I knew about three series.Now, I’m the club president. Being ahardcore fan is definitely not a prereq-uisite for enjoying yourself in thisclub.”The UTM Anime Club’s next event,

the Halloween & Cosplay AnimeNight, takes place on October 30 at theStudent Centre presentation room.Check out their website atutmaclub.webs.com or drop by theiroffice at room 220 in theStudent Centre.

The UTM Anime Club: Banzai

DERIC VARCOE

teefonline.com

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SU LYN LIEWCCOOPPYY EEDDIITTOORR

The school bell rings, Theo and Ibarely hear it in the backstage hall.The backstage hall looks like any

other hallway near the music wing.The tiles are the colour of dark cof-fee, and the oddly shaped trape-zoidal-prism bricks that line thewalls are the colour of sl ightlyspoiled cream. The hall leads to aside door at the front part of theschool, and continues into the restof the music wing. What makes thehallway different from others is itsposition — jammed between room101, the main music room, and thestage in the cafeteria. The two doorson either end of the hallway lead tothe backstage.We don’t have much time until

the flood of students interrupts thelesson Theo is set on giving me, buthe acts as if crowds and noise don’tapply to him.Let me tell you about Theo Pham.

The five-foot-five, soft spoken Asianguy standing in front of me.Theo Pham doesn’t need sleep.

Theo Pham doesn’t need food. Allthat Theo Pham lives on coffee andawesomeness . Theo Pham is aMathlete, speaks German at thechampion level, and stars as the pre-mier solo saxophonist of theWoodlands School jazz band. TheoPham scores at least ninety five per-cent in every class he takes, and isbent on getting into U ofT life sci-ences on a scholarship. Mostimpressively , Theo Pham wearsblue, woollen old man sweaters andpulls off the look so that he stilllooks cool.

Theo Pham is teaching me aboutthe sound board.The sound board controls the

audio equipment on the stage dur-ing a performance. It can channeland amplify specific frequencies, cutoff or turn on the hanging micro-phones, and in the wrong hands canmake an audience’s ears bleed. It’snot so much a board as a slab, ablack plastic slab easily the size of atwo-year old, and just as heavy.Spindles, buttons, and LEDs crowdits surface, sometimes moving orblinking by themselves.“Amir? You understand?”Not a chance. Theo has — appar-

ently — just taught me how to dealwith feedback. I remember thewords “destructive,” “awful,” and“for God’s sake don’t let it happen,”but nothing beyond that. I pray for afeedback-free concert tomorrow.Students start to trickle into the

hallway. Theo ignores them, butthey don’t ignore Theo, or thesoundboard. One guy — he lookslike a seventh grader, only a seventhgrader can wear that look of smug-ness and not get beaten over thehead — gives us an appraising look,like he’s commissioned the entireconcert tomorrow and wants hismoney’s worth.“You’d better explain it to me

again,” I say slowly, “ just to besure.”Theo nods, approving of my

apparent thoroughness. “Okay, wellthese spindles over here control thefrequency input for —”The sound board’s cool , laid-

back, party-hardy cousin, the lightboard, stands next to its sombre rel-ative. I can lift the light board if Iwant to. I could put it in my back-

pack without too much trouble. Icould probably break it i f I hadsome time and a hammer. If I triedthat with the sound board, it’d prob-ably hit me back.

The trickle of students grows to aflow. One unlucky guy, sporting aplaid shirt and a wispy beard, kicksone of the wires. Theo’s nostrilsf lare at the transgression. “Hey,watch it,” he calls out, and continueshis lecture.I shift my feet and disturb the

coils of wires that circle the boards,Theo and me. They run into theopen backstage door, up the shad-owed wooden steps that lead to thestage, where the risers, electricalswitches, and hanging lamps sitready for the concert tonight.“So that ’s i t .” Theo finishes.

“Understand?”Absolutely not.I nod. “Yeah, got it.”“Awesome. So if the sound is too

harsh you…” Theo trails off, waitingfor me to fill in the blank.Crap. I take my memory, slam the

gear into reverse, and punch backthrough time. I strain my mentalears for Theo’s instructions, andrepeat them verbatim.“You check the spindles for the

woodwinds against the levels for thebrass,” I say, “after the volume out-put. And then you do the sound lev-els.”I don’t know what that means, but

Theo nods. “Great. And if Mrs. BKcomplains about the noise level?”“Tell her you fixed it but don’t do

anything,” I answer. I rememberthat much, if only for the blasphemyof lying to Mrs. BK, the head of themusic program and the school’sequivalent of a stage mom. For Mrs.BK, the Woodlands School acts aslittle more than a vehicle for theband, which she fights for everyyear, and usually succeeds. Underher the band has won double-goldstanding at the 500 level everyMusicfest for the past ten years,despite the fact that the 500 level isreserved for classes composedentirely of twelfth graders . TheWoodlands Senior Band’s popula-tion is mostly elevens and tens.Theo claps his hands together.

“We’re all done then. We’ll go overthe basics again just before the con-cert just in case, okay?”Thank God for you, Theo Pham. I

nod, “Yeah sounds good.”“Great. Any plans before the con-

cert?” Theo asks as he rolls a wireinto a loop for some inexplicablepurpose.“Uh, I think I’m going to catch up

on my sleep,” I say. After a calculustest today, I need it.“Oh right . Sleep.” Theo says

absently, still coiling the wire. “Tellme how that goes.”

FEATURES POETRY AND PROSEMONDAY, OCTOBER 26, 200910 THE MEDIUM

The seconds crawl by,Slowly, painfully, each onedeathly silent in itsdisappearance.

On this heavenly islandBeneath the pale blue sky,Where the Almighty kingInscribes His words in the

bookOf destiny,

I patiently await my timeHoping and wishing....to fly.

For my wings are growingheavy,

And I fear that I shall soonperish;

For some, it was a song;Others, a lullaby.And for a lucky few,The soft kiss of a lover’s

eyes.

As for me, I indeed knowwhat shall set me free:It is the heavenly beautythat adorns you, my lady,The only one that my eyes

shall ever see.

I had a breakthrough as I sat at a tablein the patio of a Parisian restaurant ona sunny afternoon, scanning the menufor what would become my first andonly true meal during my stay inParis, and hoping no one wouldnotice my rumbling stomach. It was-n’t a breakthrough about my studentvisa application to Canada, whichaccording to a polite, bespectacledQuebecois functionary would likely berejected, nor was it about our family’sstatus in Spain, where we had a pend-ing residence application. It wasn’teven a breakthrough about what to dothat night.It was about escargots.One sunny Saturday afternoon in

Havana, five, maybe six years before Isat in the patio of that Parisian restau-rant on a similarly sunny afternoon,Walfrido Samuel Henriquez haddescribed how escargots are cooked.Walfrido — a Cuban professor at theAlliance Française à la Havane, whereI studied French for nine years —loved food and wine and children. Hewas also the best language professorone could ever hope for.Upon learning that the idea of eat-

ing escargots made a few of his stu-dents retch, Walfrido launched anexplanation of the process by whichescargots are collected, prepared andcooked. He explained it with a near-lewd smile and faraway eyes, a trueomnivore’s expression, a Francophileone at that. “First you take the snails,”

he said, “and you put them in a littlewooden box where not a ray of lightcomes in, and after a few days thesnails are so hungry that they crawlout of their shell. Then you open thebox and you take the snails and youboil them in court-bouillon — youboil the shells, too, but make sure it’sa different pot. Then you push thesnails back into their shells and youcover the opening with a paste madeof butter and garlic and parsley.”

Walfrido’s description didn’t con-vince me to eat escargots. But it didmake me curious. I loved the processhe described and wondered whowould have ever thought of lockingup snails so they would crawl out oftheir shells. Years later, aFrenchwoman, horrified by my pro-fessor’s tale, said that the escargotsdon’t crawl out. “They are only placedin the wooden box,” she said, “so thatthey will secrete toxins and slime.”And merde too, I thought.I still liked Walfrido’s version bet-

ter, all the while suspecting he hadpurposefully adorned it, and as I sat inthe Parisian restaurant I thought backto it and wondered, for the first time

ever, if I should try escargots. I was,after all, a new man now, luckyenough to live in a new world burst-ing with freedom and possibilities,and escargots had been beckoning melately, piled together onto smallporcelain dishes, striking my eyeswith the bold colours of their shellsand my nose with the scent of theirbuttery sauce.“Je crois,” I said, looking up at the

waiter, “que je vais essayer lesescargots.” I must have ordered a maincourse too, but I forget what it was.The waiter returned with the escar-gots a moment later, as if he didn’twant me to change my mind, andwhen I saw them in front of me,sprinkled with parsley and goldenwith butter, I knew it was too late todo anything but eat them.A two-tined fork and a tong sat by

the small porcelain plate. A mouth-watering scent floated into my nos-trils. I grabbed the tong with my lefthand and discovered that it fit perfect-ly around one of the shells. Lifting theshell with the tong, I inserted thefork’s tines into the opening andpulled out a thicker-than-expectedsnail. I stared at it, holding it close tomy mouth, a thick slab of dark flesh,and something turned in my stomach.“Il faut pas trop regarder,” a voice

said. It came from a pretty backpackersitting at the next table. She wasblonde and freckled and she eyed mewith a curious smile. She was right.No need to look at it for that long.I nodded my thanks, closed my

eyes, and shoved the fork into mymouth.

Les escargotsLike the hollowed inner tubing of a siphon

You drain the remnants of my wilted spirits

Collapsed and spent on my back

Mouth pried open, hands raw

I’m praying you’ve had enough

You’re not quite certain of who I am

Neither am I

I think I was supposed to be the scarecrow

And you, the tin man,

Or maybe the man of steel

Or maybe I’s a slave,

And you’s a masta.

Can you hear it when I’m choking?

I mean, over your sniffing and snorting?

Gurgle, cough, now I can’ breathe

Wiat! I think I remember who you’re supposed to be

Yes, I see it

It was the king

Sitting on a throng of delusion, misogyny and abuse

I gorge on the garbage at your feet, I can’t get enough

Jesus, I’ve forgotten my title, it’s on the tip of my tongue

Who am I when you are not thinking of me?

A fringed, fraying doormat,

Or a queen?

I simply cannot recall which one I am supposed

To be,

And so I bathe in the garbage at your feet.

Creative Corner

The King and ITTIIFFFFAANNYY SSCCOOTTTT AALLAAIINN LLAATTOOUURR

EDITOR�IN�CHIEF

Fate of an angelMMAAZZIINN HHAASSSSAANN

Theo PhamAAMMIIRR AAHHMMEEDDFEATURES EDITOR

One guy — he lookslike a seventh grader,only a seventh gradercan wear that look ofsmugness and notget beaten over thehead — gives us anappraising look, likehe’s commissionedthe entire concerttomorrow and wantshis money’s worth.

MONDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2009 THE MEDIUM 1111

Andrew Tysiak , Editor | sports@mediumonline.ca

UTM men’s division 1 basketball team triumphsover WoodsworthEagles 75�65 victory maintains their perfection, pushes record to 2�0�0 on the season

The UTM Eagles men’s division 1basketball team won 75-65 againstWoodswor th Co l l ege l a s tWednesday. So far in the season,UTM’s record stands at 2-0-0, instep with a triumphant 72-45 winover Law in the Eagles’ first game. After securing possession from

tip-off, UTM continued to domi-nate Woodsworth , keep ing theball deep in the opponent’s endfor the majority of the first half.UTM t r i ed the i r luck w i th amissed three-point shot in thef i r s t run , wh ich was ea s i l yr ebounded by the Eag l e s fo ranother chance at net. Although it took a Woodsworth

turnover and basket to jumpstartthe Eagles ’ drive, UTM made i tonto the scoreboard early in theeighteenth minute of play after atwo-point jump shot from EliasSbiet. A slew of supporters gath-ered in the stands chanted loudcheers for the men’s team and thefans r ece ived f r ee t - sh i r t s l a s tWednesday — tokens of gratitudefor their spirited support. The game saw excellent passing

and pos se s s ion by UTM, whoplayed with a calm and practicedapproach to the basket. “We prac-t ice once a week with the sometournaments and exhibition gamesevery now and then. Our practices

are condition, strategy and skillbased. After last night’s game, weneed to get back to the basics likerebounding, passing and defense,”said coach Ammer Askary, whohas coached the men’s division 1basketball team for the past threeyear s and won two champi -onsh ips . An i sh , who coachesalongside Askary, has been withthe team for five years and has ledthe team to three championshipsand two finals appearances.Wi th a so l id h i s to ry beh ind

them, the UTM Eagles conveyed astrong desire to capture first placeagain this year. “I believe that we have the per-

fect combinat ion of p layers onthis squad,” said fourth-year vet-eran Ambrish Patel. “This year’steam is by far the most talented inthe last couple years. We will defi-nitely repeat as champs, no ques-tion about that.” Patel added that the team can

improve on pressure defense. “Wehave quite a few rookies on thisteam. And they are still adjusting.But we'll pick up on that soon,”said Patel.Rookie or veteran, the team tac-

t i c s o f Wednesday ’ s game wasclear. It was strategy versus drive,as UTM showed good movementon the court and manufactured along list of strategies and plays.The team wasn’t afraid to movethe ba l l and pass to get a c lear

shot— a stark contrast to Woodsworth’sblind ambition and unorganized play.Woodsworth gained a chance to

ca tch up on po in t s a f t e r a f ewUTM fouls. The Eagles refocusedon man-to-man strategy after thatand optimized on their opponent’sshort-bench weakness.“We p l ayed way be low our

capab i l i t i e s . Woodsworth on lyhad 5 players, which might havemade our players think we had aneasy game. We should play ourgame r egard l e s s . I have h ighexpec ta t ions fo r the se guysbecause they are good basketballplayers,”said Askary.Despite the one-sided supply of

subs, Woodsworth’s Eddie Kagemanascored the game h igh w i th 27po in t s , f o l l owed by t eammateChris Bon with 21 points. UTM’sh igh s core s went to AndreWoodrof fe with 12 points , fo l -lowed by teammates Julian G. with11, and Osama A. with 10 points.And the mos t memorab l e

moment?“Alan Carty's cross over,” said

Pate l . “Between the legs o f theopponent on the fast break, andan acrobatic lay-up. All you couldhear were ‘ooos and aaahs’ fromthe fans.”Catch more acrobatic attempts

a t the UTM men’ s d iv i s ion 1 ’ snex t home game a t 8 p .m . onNovember 4.

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Matthew Filipowich/The Medium

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Only in its second year of opera-t i on , t he Badmin ton C lub ha sbecome one of the campus’s mostsuccessful athletic clubs with over150 members. Things, however,were not always rosy for the club.Their rise to prominence at UTMwas a d i f f i cu l t and s t r enuousprocess.For example, their rookie cam-

paign as a club in 2008 did notmeet club president Siew ChingYeo’s expectations.“Last year was lacklustre due to

our lack of foresight to apply formore funding,” said Yeo. “On topof that , we charged members avery low fee, which couldn’t even

cover renting the gym for one ses-sion.”Although other factors could

have expla ined the mediocr i ty ,Yeo be l i e ved tha t he r l a ck o fexper i ence and prepara t ion a sclub president was the main con-tributor to the club’s sub par per-formance.“We didn’t know that booking

gyms were tha t expens i v e norwere we aware that the club wasrequired to pay for such things,”said Yeo. “For a club that thriveson the bimonthly use of the gyms,i t was mighty expensive to runsuch meet-ups for members. Assuch, our first year had a disap-pointing number of events.”Rather than lose her motivation

and desire to continue, Yeo con-sidered the first year as a learningprocess and something to buildupon for the upcoming schoo lyear . Af ter a summer o f heavyplanning and preparat ion , Yeo

developed an efficient game planshe be l i e ved wou ld so l ve theclub’s problems. As a result, shewas more than ready to launchthe 09 /10 ed i t i on o f theBadminton Club. “Learning from our lessons last

year, we increased our member-ship fees slightly to cover the costof renting the gym for our mem-bers. We have tried to keep it lowbecause we are students, after all,and c an ’ t a f f o rd to spend somuch,” said Yeo.Although the slight increase of

membership fees appears to bethe key to the i r succe s s , somecredit should be given to UTMSU.Yeo hopes to maintain her rela-tionship with the student-basedorganizat ion and to at tract theattention of UTMAC in order tocontinue progressing as a club.“Although the sum we have col-

lected this year will last us for oneor two more sessions, we are still

grateful that the UTMSU has beensupport ing us f inancia l ly s incelast year for our events. We cer-tainly hope to work with UTMSUand UTMAC this year to provideand expand on more opportuni-ties for our students in the realmof badminton,” said Yeo.After a successful first orienta-

tion, Yeo was anxious about thec lub ’ s f i r s t upcoming mee t -upsession of the year and excited atthe opportunity to see her mem-bers gather in ful l strength andplay for the first time. Membersshould also expect to participatein many new and exciting eventson campus . Not only does Yeowant to entertain the club’s mem-bers, but she also hopes to takethe next step as a club and stepoutside the realm of its duties. The club is currently in talks

with the RAWC to organize cam-pus-wide Rec Tournaments forbadminton. It is also in talks with

UTMAC to have some influenceon the badminton tournamentthat UTMAC is hosting. With the help of volunteers, the

club hopes to organize a secondtournament t o r a i s e funds f o rcharity. Moreover, it intends tohost a separate badminton sessionwith Best Buddies , which pairsvolunteers with intellectually dis-abled students.As long as students can bring

their own racquet, they will findtha t c lub o f f e r s much fun andexc i t ement . Most impor tant ly ,members are not expected to be ata top professional level when theyjo in the c lub . Anyone o f any playing level can join.Interes ted members are we l -

comed to j o in the Badmin ton Club for their events. Questions and inqu i r e s c an d i r e c t ed a t u t . badmin ton@gma i l . com. The fee for the whole year is $5.

Badminton Club rises from the ashes at UTM

ANDREW TYSIAKSPORTS EDITOR

Learning from last year’s mistakes, the club’s membership has tripled so far this academic year

the new mediumonline.ca is here

SPORTS PERFECTION AND WEATHER

MONDAY, OCTOBER 26, 20091122 THE MEDIUM

New Orleans Saints prove to belegitimate Superbowl contenders

The New Orleans Saints are the mostunderrated team in the NFL, but haveturned heads with their impressiveplay thus far. Fans and media outletsall over the United States speculatethat the team might make it to theSuperbowl. Despite critics who initial-ly doubted the team’s abilities, fansshould not be surprised if these predic-tions become reality. The Saints began the season at 5-0

and have the most potent offence inthe league. With Drew Brees leadingthe way at QB, it seems like no one canstand in their way. Currently, they leadthe league in average points per game(38.4) and total yards per game (430).Running back Reggie Bush led theSaints in rushing and they are the fifthbest rushing team in the league. Lastweek, they scored 48 points against theNew York Giants, the leagues leadingdefence.Prior to that game, no other team

had scored more than 40 pointsagainst the Saints since 2007 when theCowboys managed to score 45. Theyhave a powerful offence with Brees andBush. The two effectively mix passingand running plays and keep defencesoff-balance, which is the key to theirsuccess on offence. Many professionals have also criti-

cized the Saints defence as weak andineffective. This season, they have beenanything but ineffective. They are cur-rently the ninth best defence in theleague, allowing just over 300 yardsper game. Furthermore, they have onlyallowed an average of 18.6 points pergame in six games this season and theyhave played solid teams. The team hasbeen underrated because of their weakdefence in the past and this season is

no different. However, the Saints con-tinue to perform on both offence anddefence and have proved their criticswrong this season. The Saints are expected to win the

next five games leading up to a bigshowdown with the New EnglandPatriots. If they can stop Tom Brady,their offence can do the rest as the Patswill have no answer for Brees. This willprove to be the biggest test for theSaints defence. Even though it will be ahigh-scoring game, the Saints offencewill take control of the game and provevictorious. If they can defeat the Pats,the next big test will be against theDallas Cowboys. With Tony Romo’sinconsistency and Brees’ near perfect

play, the Saints should remain unde-feated. Regardless of what critics have said,

the Saints will continue to prove themwrong with their stellar offence andsurprising defence. It would not besurprising if the team goes undefeatedthis season, with how they perform inthe playoffs as the only unknown. Ifthe Saints continue with their recentplay, anticipate them to reign supremein the playoffs and make it to theSuperbowl. Despite being vastlyunderrated, the New Orleans Saintshave proven they are a team to lookour for. The rest of the season is goingto be a hard fight and should be veryexciting.

WWIILLLLIIAAMM RROOBBEERRTTSSOONN

hawkfantasyports.files.wordpress.com

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Weather conditions coulddetermine who wins WorldSeries

As the baseball playoffs take place, itgets easier to notice the effects thatthe cold weather has had on the wayteam managers make their decisions.Cold weather can even affect the out-come of the gameOne way the near-zero tempera-

tures have affected the MLB playoffsso far this year is how managerssetup their rotation. Normally, man-agers would start with their bestpitcher, followed by the second bestpitcher in the second game and soon. Managers, however, have to takeinto consideration that some pitcherson their roster have never beenexposed to weather conditions likeNew York’s and Denver’s.This came into play when the

Phillies manager, Charlie Manuel,decided to start J.A. Happ in gamethree of the NLDS instead of PedroMartinez because the game was heldin Denver, Colorado. DominicanRepublic-born Pedro Martinez neverexperienced pitching in below zeroweather conditions. J.A. Happ isfrom the state of Illinois, where theyfrequently experience cold and harshweather conditions during both thefall and winter. The result was a win in the NLDS

game (although Happ was not veryeffective, the opposing pitcher for theRockies, Hammel, was as mediocre).Rather than start Martinez inColorado, the managers had himstart in game two of the NLCSagainst the Los Angeles Dodgers.This resulted in an amazing seveninning two hit performance byMartinez, which later resulted in aloss.In the case of the L.A. Dodgers,

not taking the weather conditionsinto account may have cost themgame three of the NLCS. HirokiKuroda, a Japanese pitcher, was slat-ed to start for the Dodgers against thePhillies. Dodgers manager, Joe Torre,chose not to make the switch andkept Kuroda as the starter. Kurodowas not used to pitching in theseconditions and relied heavily on off-speed pitches to get hitters out.Pitchers who rely on off-speed pitch-es tend to struggle in the colderweather due to not being able tothrow their pitches the same waythey can in warmer conditions. The results were disastrous. The

Phillies scored four runs in the firstbecause Kuroda was unable to throwstrikes consistently. The terrible startby Kuroda ultimately cost theDodgers the game as the Phillieswent on to score 11 runs, six ofwhich were charged to Kuroda.The weather has also affected the

total number of runs scored.Throughout the regular season,Yankee Stadium was notorious forbeing a hitter’s haven where ten rungames were the norm. Often theoffensively inclined Yankees teamwas able to succeed this margin inruns by themselves. So far in theplayoffs, no game played at the newYankee Stadium has managed to goover the total of ten runs combinedfor both teams. The jet stream inYankee Stadium that normally turnsfly balls hit to the right field intohome runs does not seem to be a fac-tor anymore. At the end of the day, it is possible

that the winner of this year’s WorldSeries isn’t the team with the bestskill, but the team that is best able toadapt to the cold weather.

HHAAII BBAAOO