2005/05May/12

The Gazette
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VOLUME
99,
ISSUE
01 • THURSDAY, MAY 12, 2005
~ The Long and Winding Road ~
Security issues
raised over
Morgentaler
By Mark Polishuk
Gazette Staff
W
estern’s honorary degree to Dr. Henry Morgentaler poses an undue security risk and
will “do irreparable harm to the reputation
of the university,” said Western Board of Governors
chairperson Don McDougall.
In an open letter to the university community,
McDougall states that he is “very disappointed” with
the decision to honour Morgentaler. “We have generally avoided highly charged political and moral issues
and certainly have never used our Honorary Degree
program to position our university on an issue of such
divisiveness with the public,” McDougall claimed.
“Both the University Police and London police
consider this to be a low-risk event”
Jen Boucher/Gazette
IT ONLY LOOKS LIKE THEY’RE HOLDING HANDS. Western students Alex McRae and Nicole Litmola enjoyed a walk
on Tuesday afternoon. They were probably walking because their bus passes expired April 30. But that’s a different
story. See it on pg. 3.
Ivey speakers criticize corporations
By Mitch Tucker
Gazette Staff
T
he inaugural Ivey Builds conference, entitled “What is
Corporate Social Responsibility?” brought many students and professionals to The Richard Ivey School of
Business last April 22.
The conference, organized by a group of Ivey students, featured such notable figures as consumer advocate Ralph Nader,
Canadian diplomat Stephen Lewis, and renowned home
designer Avi Friedman.
Nader opened his address by criticizing the current state of
corporate practice. “I’ve seen the dark side of the marketplace,” Nader said. “Prosecutors can’t
keep up with the crimes committed by corporations.”
Nader cited the corrupt
practices of Enron as an
example of the inadequacy of safeguards created to prevent corporate corruption. According
to Nader, more government intervention is needed to combat the unjustifiably high levels of corporate
corruption.
“ I f
there
are
not
boundaries, bad businesses will drive out good businesses,”
Nader said, noting that corporations are given the same legal
rights as individuals. “One person cannot concentrate the
wealth that an organization can. If corporations are not human
beings, why are they given the same rights?”
Nader added that federally-enforced boundaries would lead
to more responsible environmental practices, better health and
safety for workers, and more effective child labour laws.
Friedman spoke passionately about his “life cycle house,”
which offers home owners greater flexibility and comfort in
low-cost housing. According to Friedman, the small and efficient homes were extremely popular in downtown Montreal,
and sold for roughly $76,000 each.
“Responsibility and profit don’t have to be opposing concepts,” Friedman said, stating the “life cycle house” makes
high-quality homes more accessible, helps the environment
by being more energy efficient than larger homes, and can
improve the overall quality of life within a neighbourhood.
Lewis, the current United Nations Special Envoy for
HIV/AIDS in Africa, delivered a combination of personal anecdotes and alarming statistics to illustrate the effects that irresponsible corporate practice can have on developing countries.
According to Lewis, drug costs on the continent were “artificially high,” and the major pharmaceutical companies only
lowered costs when a competing Indian company provided
Africa with cheaper AIDS treatment.
“The world has gone mad,” Lewis said. “People are dying
for no other reason than the irresponsibility of others.”
Lewis also stressed corporate social responsibility goes
beyond the occasional act of charity from a corporation,
though he is appreciative for “these spasms of philanthropy.”
— with files by Nancy Gray
Paul Davenport
McDougall questioned the protocol involved in
the Selection Committee’s decision, saying that honorees are usually confirmed by consensus, but Morgentaler was confirmed with only a majority vote.
“It is my contention therefore that the process was
corrupted,” he wrote.
Western president Paul Davenport denies any untoward behaviour took place to confirm Morgentaler.
“During my time at Western, we have given over
100 honorary degrees and had divided Committee
votes and taken decisions that were not unanimous.”
McDougall also expressed concern about the
“small army of security personnel” on campus for
Morgentaler’s Convocation ceremony. McDougall
advocates a Special Convocation for Morgentaler at a
smaller venue, where security can be more closely
monitored.
“The big advantage is that it does not disrupt the
convocation day itself,” McDougall explained to The
Gazette. “That day is about the students, not about
the speaker. The special convocation guarantees
security for everyone involved.”
Davenport said all precautions are being taken by
the University Police Department. “Both the university police and London police consider this to be a lowrisk event,” Davenport said.
David Estok, associate vice-president of Western’s
department of communications and public affairs,
says security for Morgentaler is no different than any
other prominent guest of the university.
The only significant difference, Estok said, is
that the 518 graduating students at the Morgentaler Convocation are limited to two tickets for
family and friends. Guests will be required to show
tickets and photo ID when entering Alumni Hall at
the ceremony. Five hundred extra spectators will
be able to watch a concurrent live broadcast in the
South Valley Building.
Estok stressed that students are being personally
contacted about the ticket limit and thus far, “there
has been only one complaint that we know of.”
CSR: Easy to define, hard to accomplish
Dave Picard/Gazette
LET’S GET RESPONSIBLE IN HERE. Outspoken Canadian diplomat Stephen Lewis spoke on corporate social
responsibilty at the Ivey Builds conference on April 22.
Shades of Gray
Nancy Gray
News Editor
The idea of corporate social responsibility (CSR) sounds good
in theory, but is it really being put into practice?
The Ivey Builds conference tried to define what CSR means
and hopefully influence business leaders and aspiring CEOs to
incorporate the idea into the real world.../P.2
P2
➤
news
theGazette • THURSDAY, MAY 12, 2005
Consumers have the power
CONTINUED FROM P1
The critical focus was on large
multinational corporations with
enough money to wield power
over the government.
It is hard to disagree that unethical behaviour exists within some
corporations, or that CSR is a bad
thing, but the unanswered question is how responsible are corporations to their communities
opposed to their stakeholders? The
community has a right to a clean
environment and safe products.
The conference suggested that
businesses can be profitable in
the long-run by practising social
responsibility. Is CSR just another
way for companies to increase
their profits in the long-run,
whether or not they actually care
about the community? What
about philanthropy for the sake
of giving? I personally don’t think
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it really matters what a company’s motives are as long as the
outcome provides a positive benefit for the community.
That is not to say that every
company is purely motivated by
selfish reasons. Profit and CSR
can coexist; businesses can function as profit maximizers, while
the community can receive the
benefits of their actions. Avi
Friedman’s business idea found
harmony between providing
affordable housing and profiting
from his unique housing design.
Ralph Nader and Stephen
Lewis emphasized the government’s role in creating legislation
to ensure large corporations
behave responsibly. While the
government would be beneficial
in imposing boundaries, the public’s role has been left out. Consumers are allowed to choose
which businesses they wish to
endorse, to create pressure
groups, and to raise awareness of
unethical corporate behaviour.
Considering the monetary influence that large multinationals
have over the government, there
is little doubt that new legislation
would be contested with some
serious lobbying.
To put CSR into practice, business leaders and communities
must demand safer products and
business practices. While CSR
sounds relatively easy to implement, many factors make it
problematic. Hopefully, conferences like Ivey Builds will
increase awareness and help turn
corporate social responsibility
into a reality rather than an idealistic dream.
Spanish
for Health
Saturday
May 28
9am-3pm
University Hospital
Room 3CA13
Basic Medical Terminology In Spanish
A first in a specialized series of
workshops for Physcians and
Health Care Providers
- Fee: $130.00 -
For more information or to register please contact:
Mayasol Spanish School (519) 472-3149 • [email protected]
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News Briefs
Western receives major research investment
Science and Engineering Research Canada (NSERC)
awarded close to $16.7 million to Western’s Faculties
of Engineering and Science, Robarts Research Institute and the Lawson Health Research Institute.
Citizenship and Immigration Minister Joe
Volpe announced the grants last Friday at
Somerville House. The funding is part of the federal government’s $510-million investment in
research spending.
Physics and Astronomy professor Martin Houde
said awards like the NSERC Discovery Grants are
“essential” to his research in magnetic fields and
star formation.
“[These awards] allow me to do some testing with
some instruments that would not have been possible without that extra source of funding,” he said.
— Mark Polishuk
USC pranksters hit incoming Stiffly Stiffersons
The new University Students’ Council board members’ first taste of their new digs was filled with
mockery.
Upon arriving at work on May 2, each freshfaced board member was greeted with varying
degrees of entertainingly evil pranks executed by
the outgoing board members.
VP-campus issues Kelly Wilson found an office
filled with sardines, tomato sauce, mustard and
shaving cream by former VP-CI Eric Johanssen.
“At first I thought it was just the stench left
behind from Eric having been in the office for a
year, but then I noticed it was sardines,” said USC
communications officer Jonathan Tan. “The real
kicker is that he also left her a nice bouquet of lilies,
so I don’t think she knew what to feel.”
VP-student affairs Chris Crighton was burned by
former VP-SA Gio Paola.
“When I arrived I was told to put my ear to the
door. You could hear some commotion,” Crighton
said. “Inside I found three birds feeding on about
20 kilograms of birdseed that was strewn about my
desk. I also found remnants of the digestive process
on my chair.”
— Aron Yeomanson
Martin shooting
for budget vote
OTTAWA (CP) — Prime Minister Paul Martin offered
the opposition an opportunity to topple his government on the budget May 19th — an offer immediately rejected by angry opposition leaders.
Martin’s announcement Wednesday that he will
bring his budget implementation bill to a vote next
week brought scorn from Stephen Harper, who
accused Martin of using a pending royal visit as a campaign backdrop to extend his tenuous grip on power.
“We’re not going to wait another week so the prime
minister can use the Queen as a prop,” the Conservative leader said, referring to the monarch’s visit next
week to Alberta and Saskatchewan.
Then Harper went further.
“We’re not going to play another week so that he
can hope the health of some members of Parliament
deteriorates.”
He was referring to two Tory MPs and one Independent who are undergoing treatment for cancer.
The comment outraged Liberal House leader Tony
Valeri.
“I don’t wish illness on anyone, especially members of Parliament who are suffering from cancer and
going through treatment,” Valeri said. “That’s about
as low as you can get.”
The seat count in the House is so close that every
single vote counts. The Tories and Bloc Quebecois
have co-operated in efforts to bring down the Martin
government in past weeks.
Martin and the Liberals ignored a procedural
motion passed Tuesday in the Commons that called
on the Liberals to resign. The motion was not a confidence vote.
Martin insisted Wednesday that he’s respecting
parliamentary tradition, and he called on Harper and
Bloc Leader Gilles Duceppe to do the same “by insuring this House is able to function between now and
the day of the vote.”
Should the government be defeated May 19, the
earliest date for an election would be June 27.
Duceppe said Wednesday his party won’t wait for
May 19.
“I’m telling him he would have the co-operation
of the Bloc Quebecois if he would have the vote
today. Otherwise no collaboration — but no collaboration at all.”
Weekend forecast
Friday
Saturday
Sunday
Cloudy with
showers
Low 6C
High 22C
Cloudy with
showers
Low 10C
High 21C
Isolated
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Low 4C
High 13C
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news ➤ P3
theGazette • THURSDAY, MAY 12, 2005
USC/LTC bus pass irks students
By Lori Mastronardi
long pass, but at the time the USC
rejected the offer. “We’ve told the
student council it is available to
them if they want, but that we
weren’t going to do any more
research for it. If they want to
pursue it, they can approach us,”
said Ford.
The reason for Fanshawe’s
longer pass, Gilmour explained, is
that Fanshawe has a higher percentage of summer students than
Western, and thus it is more feasible for the college to extend service.
For the 2005-2006 school year,
Fanshawe students will pay
$136.65 for a year long pass. Are
Western students willing to pay the
extra $23.25 to extend the bus
pass?
Third-year biology student
Alexis Carere would: “I live half an
hour away. I normally take the bus
during the year, but now I have to
walk.”
“I think people would be really
angry if they were charged for the
Gazette Staff
After relying on the University Students’ Council/London Transit
Commission bus pass for eight
months, summer students have
been lining up at InfoSource to
purchase tickets since the pass
expired on April 30.
Ryan Gilmour, USC VP-finance,
explained that extending the pass
to cover the summer would involve
increasing the current bus fee for
every Western student whether
they required the summer pass or
not. Students will pay $113.40 for
the 2005-2006 fall/winter term,
and a $23.25 increase would be
required to include the summer.
“Every year the same question
is brought up,” Gilmour said. “For
us to even have a contract at all it
needs to be universal.”
John Ford, director of transportation and planning for the
LTC, agreed that the system only
works because of its universality,
which is why students can’t optout of the regular bus pass. “It’s a
very good deal for those who use it
frequently, so if it was only for
those who use it frequently it
wouldn’t be economically viable
for us,” Ford said.
The lack of a summer bus pass
has irked many Western students,
especially since students at Fanshawe College hold a pass that lasts
throughout the calendar year.
According to Ford, the LTC receives
requests from Western students to
extend the pass every year.
Western and Fanshawe were
originally offered the same year-
summer and didn’t need the pass,”
said fourth-year biology student
Leslie Stephens.
Western students currently pay
$2.50 per ride, $8.25 for a strip of
eight tickets, or $64 per month in
the summer. Students must initially visit an LTC location to acquire a
photo ID for the monthly pass, but
these can be renewed at InfoSource.
“In my eight days on the job
there have been two to three
inquiries, but nothing serious,”
said USC communications officer
Jonathan Tan. “After giving an
explanation, most students seem
to understand.”
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CALL FOR PROPOSALS
for Women’s Safety Funding
The Ministry of Training, Universities and
Colleges provides grants to colleges and
universities to support initiatives relating
to the safety of women students, staff and
faculty on campus. In order to continue
promoting the safety of women at the
University of Western Ontario the
President’s Committee for the Safety of
Women on Campus is calling for
proposals for initiatives.
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I HOPE YOU’VE GOT THE BLING FOR THAT RIDE. For Western
students, riding the bus has become an expensive endeavour
since bus passes expired on April 30.
Application forms can be found at:
http://www.uwo.ca/humanresources/facultystaff/
h_and_2/my_h_s_w/WS_application_form.pdf
Information on previous proposals and
how to submit a proposal can be obtained
by contacting Human Resources at 6612111 ext. 85558. The deadline for
applications is Friday, June 10th, 2005.
Please note that funding is contingent
upon receipt of the grant.
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457-9767
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opinions
theGazette • THURSDAY, MAY 12, 2005
theGazette
Volume 99, Issue 1
“A graduation ceremony is an event where the commencement speaker
tells thousands of students dressed in identical caps and gowns
that ‘individuality’ is the key to success.”
— ROBERT PURVIS
Mark Polishuk
Lori Mastronardi
Aron Yeomanson
Editor-In-Chief
Deputy Editor
Managing Editor
Editor - [email protected]
Deputy - [email protected]
Managing - [email protected]
website at www.gazette.uwo.ca
University Community Centre Rm. 263
The University of Western Ontario
London, Ontario, CANADA. N6A 3K7
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Editorial Offices: (519) 661-3580, Fax: (519) 661-3825
The Gazette is owned and published by the University Students’ Council.
Don’t hate,
convocate
I
n the hurricane of controversy surrounding Western’s
decision to award an honorary degree to Dr. Henry
Morgentaler, the student population seems to be
caught in the middle. In the midst of the chaos, however,
the eye of the storm is the most peaceful place to be.
It is important to remember that Morgentaler is only
one of 519 people receiving degrees at the June 16 morning Convocation ceremony. While Morgentaler’s presence is doubtlessly a matter of great interest (be it positive or negative) to some of these grads, it is also likely
that many students will regard the honorary degree
recipient as just another part of the ceremony.
For students, a Western degree is its own reward; Convocation is more like the reward for parents and administration. Students get to walk across stage and pose for
their parents’ flashbulbs, while university administrators
get to wear their ceremonial robes and make a few
speeches extolling Western’s virtues. Graduates can be
excused for feeling like the novelty has worn off after
spending three hours in those dark robes in the increasingly stuffy Alumni Hall.
It is for this reason that all of the furor over Morgentaler’s degree may ultimately be remembered as a molehill that temporarily became as big as UC Hill. If graduation day is all about the students, then it is their opinions
that should count the most, and it seems that for many
in the student population, Morgentaler’s presence at
Convocation is little more than an irritation.
According to administration, almost all of the grads
thus far contacted about the Morgentaler convocation
have expressed an interest in attending as per usual.
Likewise, the majority of the letters received and published in The Gazette supporting Morgentaler have been
written by students. The majority of letters condemning
the honorary degree’s symbolic value have been written
by alumni, faculty members and even people from
across North America who likely have never set foot on
campus.
Most grads don’t see their graduation day as a storybook ending to their Western career, but just as a pleasant bit of pomp and circumstance. It is not as if a tenminute speech from an honorary graduate (the icing on
the Convocation cake) will somehow negate all of the
other great experiences and memories that come with
attending university.
Some might call this “let it all blow over” attitude an
oversimplification, given the deep-seated feelings that
have already been expressed by many in the Western
community concerning the Morgentaler degree. The
symbolic weight of Morgentaler’s degree may be of tantamount importance to those concerned with the “big
picture” of Western’s reputation, but as long as the graduating students have a safe, secure and pleasantly-dullas-usual Convocation, then administration will have
done its job.
After all they’ve done, why vote Liberal?
Yazed +
Confused
Jonathan Yazer
Opinions Editor
The Liberal Era in Canada has lasted
over a dozen years. Looking back, I ponder why anyone would consider endorsing an extension of this political period.
Start with the first Liberal Era Prime
Minister, Jean Chrétien. Some people
like to think he deserves a ‘yea’ vote in
the history books because he led the
‘nay’ effort in Québec in 1995. He saved
the country from fracturing, they say, by
taking painful but necessary steps during turbulent times.
But it was the brave advocates of federalism on the ground in Québec and
the thousands of letters that poured into
the province from the rest of the country
that really saved Canada in 1995. In fact,
Chrétien only stoked separatist flames.
Even Jack Layton has recently stated an
NDP government would repeal the Clar-
The Lone Star
Dallas Curow
Web Editor
Neighbours. When you’re a student,
they can be your new best friends or the
bane of your existence.
If you’re lucky, they will be the kind of
people you want to invite to all your parties — the kind souls who let you store
valuables at their place, or fire up the
BBQ and let your guests go nuts with hot
dogs and marshmallow roasting.
Good neighbours should be treasured when you find them. Bad neighbours are a different story, and they
Section Editors 2005-2006
Letters: Must include the contributor’s name, identification (ie. Economics II, Dean of Arts) and a telephone
number, and be typed double-spaced, submitted on
disk in Macintosh or IBM word-processing format, or
be emailed to [email protected]. Letters more
than 300 words or judged by the Editor-In-Chief to be
libellous, sexist or racist will not be published. The
Gazette reserves the right to edit letters and submissions and makes no guarantees that a letter will be
published.
Sports
James Hayes
Matt Larkin
Ian Van Den Hurk
• Please recycle this newspaper •
Martin has also performed dismally in
foreign affairs, which is supposedly his
strong suit. He had split the Department
of Foreign Affairs and International Trade
against the will of Parliament. Now there
is a plan to reunite them, though they will
operate independently for the time
being. His Canada Corps initiative is a sly
organizational idea, but it will not
accomplish anything new without a large
influx of cash in overseas assistance.
While the United Kingdom is following the lead of other European countries
by raising its foreign aid contributions
to 0.7 per cent of gross domestic product, Martin said he will not commit to
the internationally recognized benchmark. Canada currently contributes
well under half that amount.
Indeed, the Liberal Era is defined by
shortcomings and an unwillingness to
act on any higher principle. From the
gun registry fiasco, to the aimless plan to
meet the targets of the Kyoto Protocol, to
the inept handling of helicopter contracts, the Liberal Party has failed Canadians. So, if an election is forthcoming,
why would anyone vote for these guys?
Won’t you be my (good) neighbour?
Editorials appearing under the ‘opinions’ heading are
decided upon by a majority of the editorial board and
are written by a member of the editorial board but are
not necessarily the expressed opinion of each editorial board member. All other opinions are strictly those
of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the USC, The Gazette, its editors or staff.
News
Ravi Amarnath
Ian Denomme
Nancy Gray
Mitch Tucker
Campus Life
Allison Buchan-Terrell
Tina Taus
Graphics
Brice Hall
ity Act — which Chrétien considers to be
his crown accomplishment — because it
has contributed to divisiveness.
The Clarity Act itself is anything but
clear. Only once a “clear” majority of
voters responds to a “clear” question in
favor of sovereignty can negotiations on
secession legally proceed. The sponsorship program might have helped bolster
federalism. But it wasn’t a program — it
was a scam, and now it’s a scandal.
Unsurprisingly, a survey conducted
last month by Léger Marketing has
revealed that support for separatism in
Québec is at its highest since 1998. That
is Jean Chrétien’s legacy. Also unsurprisingly, the survey showed 76 per cent of
voters felt betrayed by Chrétien and the
Liberals since 1995.
Now take the second Liberal Era
Prime Minister, Paul Martin. While he
created the Gomery inquiry, he also
applauded Chrétien’s smug and childish
testimony before it, at the very least
indirectly oversaw the sponsorship program as finance minister, and has been
unable to stem the tide of separatist
forces in Québec.
Arts & Entertainment
Anna Coutts
Chad Nevett
Dave Picard
Opinions
Jonathan Yazer
come in many forms. From cable stealers to peeping toms, a bad neighbour’s
close proximity to your life can quickly
become a major nuisance.
I’ve experienced both ends of the
spectrum. Some neighbours have
brought over banana bread and flowers
and asked me in for tea; others have
burst through the front door to scream
delightful phrases such as “Stop using
your f****** toilet, you’re f****** up our
water pressure!”
As I recently discovered while staying
with some of my parents’ friends, feuds
and fights with neigbours will not disappear after our exodus from the student
ghetto.
In fact, it seems some neighbours get
meaner, more spiteful and increasingly
nosy with age. So, if you are stuck with a
truly bad neighbour, you might as well
have a little fun with it.
Take a hint from the Grumpy Old Men
films and play harmless tricks on your
neighbours — Jack Lemmon and Walter
Matthau employed such tactics as hiding fish in the back of the other’s car.
I’m not advising you to do anything
illegal or creepy, but the odd practical
joke never hurt. On the other hand, you
never know when you might need a
favour, so ensure you’re not the instigator of a ruthless battle.
You could also try the opposite
approach and bombard your neighbour
with kindness. If his or her cruelty persists after many kind visits and wellmeaning smiles, you really have no
choice but to give ’em a pie in the face ...
or maybe consider moving.
Gazette Staff 2005-2006
News - [email protected]
Gabriella Barillari, Marshall Bellamy, Andrew Cionga, Chris Clarke, Jessica Collins,
Sports - [email protected]
Leah Crane, Kate Daley, Armando D’Andrea, Dan Dedic, Mike Dewar, Deanna
A&E - [email protected]
Campus Life - [email protected]
Opinions - [email protected]
DiMenna, Ljubica Durlovska, Tim Fish, Colin J. Fleming, Lorraine Forster, Adam Gibson, Darren Glowacki, Dominika L. Grzelak, Jesse Halperin, Cory Hare, Holleh Javidan, Sarvenaz Kermanshahi, Laura Kobetz, Travis Kruger, David Lee, Aaron Lynett,
Photo
Jen Boucher
Rachel Cartwright
Cole Yates
Gazette Composing
Kyle Malashewski, Ben Mann, Claire Neary, Megan O’Toole, Karen Otto, Wahid
Ian Greaves, Manager
Cheryl Forster, Maja Anjoli
Pabani, Sarah Prickett, Joel Saucier, Chris Scott, Chris Sinal, Shaleen Somji, Leah
Web
Dallas Curow
Hisham El-Chazli
Gazette Advertising
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Alex McKay, Manager
Doug Warrick, Mark Ritchie, Sandra Rule
G. Turnbull, Tie Um, Joyce Wang, Dave Ward, Jennie Wilhelm, Jonathan Wizowski,
Zack Wolske, Maggie Wrobel, Brad Yandon
STAY TUNED: Kick and Scream all you want, but you’ll have to wait a week for more Gazette goodness
ArtsEntertainment
P5 THURSDAY, MAY 12, 2005
London filmmaker Haggis’s Crash a total smash
By Mark Polishuk
Gazette Staff
Crash
Starring: Don Cheadle, Thandie
Newton, Ryan Phillippe, Matt Dillon
Directed by: Paul Haggis
I
f nothing else, London native
Paul Haggis can take solace in
the fact that when it comes to
Canadian-directed films called
Crash, his is far better than the
unrelated 1996 film by David Cronenberg. Then again, Cronenberg’s movie was about people
who became sexually aroused by
car crashes, so it wasn’t exactly a
tall mountain for Haggis to climb.
Haggis’s Crash deals with the far
more serious topic of racism in
modern society. The film is a series
of interconnected stories about
Los Angeles residents whose lives
are impacted by either their own
racism or the prejudice shown by
others. It would be easy to make a
movie about a bunch of generic
bigots with the moral being
“Racism is bad,” but Crash instead
presents the audience with characters whose prejudice is far more
complicated than blind hatred.
Crash doesn’t ask viewers to
sympathize with all of the characters, but at least to empathize with
them; the film reminds viewers
that racism can only be fought by
first understanding the root causes. Some of the stories are stronger
than others in making their point,
but the film’s tone is never lost.
There isn’t a true lead character
in Crash, but rather an ensemble
of people who possess love-hate
Gazette File Photo
ON TIME OUT FOR... TEN MINUTES! Michael Pena stares off into the wild blue yonder in Paul Haggis’s Crash.
relationships with their ethnicities.
Race always seems to be at the
centre of the film’s various conflicts; a Persian shopkeeper (Shaun
Toub) cannot speak English well
enough to communicate with his
Latino locksmith (Michael Pena). A
black director (Terrence Howard)
is told by his star (Tony Danza)
that the African-American characters in the film aren’t “sounding
black” enough. Peter (Larenz Tate)
and Anthony (Ludacris), a pair of
black youths, are annoyed when
Jean (Sandra Bullock) instinctively
crosses the street to avoid them.
Haggis’s play with stereotypes is
particularly interesting; the two
youths respond to Jean’s snub by
stealing her car. However, the more
we learn about Jean, Peter, and
Anthony, the more complicated
the film becomes. The characters
become defined by personality,
rather than race, and questions of
who was right and who deserved it
become difficult to answer.
The film’s large cast features
many well-known faces, and the
acting is uniformly outstanding.
You expect a great actor like Don
Cheadle — playing a burnt-out
detective — to deliver great work,
but the most sterling efforts come
from the lesser-known names.
Tate, Ludacris, Howard, and
Thandie Newton each bring a
touch of realism to the film that
ensures its overlapping story struc-
ture seems plausible. Bullock and
Ryan Phillippe (playing a cop
uncomfortable with his racist partner) give career-high performances
as well.
Haggis has shown his talent with
his award-winning script for Million Dollar Baby, but Crash reveals
him as a gifted director as well. If
Crash is a sign of things to come,
Frederick Banting might get some
competition in the “London’s most
famous resident” competition.
Ex-con Zdarsky gets intimate at Comicon
By Chad Nevett
Gazette Staff
Gazette File Photo
“NO MEANS NO!” Vampirella meets the Monster
Cops in Vampirella Magazine #7 by Chip Zdarsky.
“Swing by my table and we can sneak off
for an intimate chat,” reads the e-mail
from Chip Zdarsky, and quite frankly I
am a little nervous.
Zdarsky, the cartoonist most famed
for his comic Prison Funnies, has a bit of
a strange reputation. His bio says he
began drawing comics after a brief
prison sentence for accosting a woman,
and it includes pictures of him attending
a showing of the film Elektra dressed as
the title character. Now he wanted to
“sneak off for an intimate chat.”
The Zdarsky you meet in real life
doesn’t quite life up to his reputation. At
his table at the recent Paradise Comics
Toronto Comicon, he’s drawing a sketch
of the Wolfman from his all-ages comic
“Monster Cops” — a comic about Dracula, Frankenstein and the Wolfman as
cops — for a little girl who is attending
the Comicon with her father. But that
doesn’t mean he’s not weird.
“I didn’t draw much when I was a kid,
but when I went to prison, an officer
taught me to tap into my pain and
express it through comics,” Zdarsky says.
In 1996, he spent thirty days in a Barrie
prison after “a bit of a misunderstanding
with my girlfriend. She said she wasn’t my
girlfriend, and the judge agreed with her.”
In 2000, Zdarsky enrolled in the University of Toronto’s one-year General Arts
course and began doing his “Prison Funnies” comic strip for the campus paper,
The Independent Weekly.
The U of T strips were collected, along
with a full comic and other material in
The Collected Prison Funnies, and have
so far been followed up with two issues of
the comic book.
“”
“[There was] a bit of a misunderstanding with my girlfriend.
She said she wasn’t my girlfriend,
and the judge agreed with her.”
Zdarsky also gained fans with “Monster Cops,” which he did for the anthology
Rumble Royale. “I did it for the anthology
as an all-ages thing,” Zdarsky says. “Something I could show my younger relatives.”
Even Zdarsky has been surprised by
the comic’s popularity. “I’ve done, like,
three ‘Monster Cops’ things, but at conventions, all people ask for are sketches of
the ‘Monster Cops,’” he explains. This
popularity led to the comic’s crossover
with Vampirella in a recent issue of Vampirella Magazine. “It was sort of my first
work-for-hire comic work,” Zdarsky notes.
He also completed a two-page “Prison
Funnies Meets Monster Cops” comic for
Comic Festival, a free comic anthology
spotlighting Canadian cartoonists for the
upcoming Toronto Comic Arts Festival.
The experience with the Vampirella
crossover taught Zdarsky that he isn’t
really cut out for work-for-hire jobs. “The
Vampirella thing was a lot of pressure on
me,” he explains. “Not just on me, but
there was pressure on the character. Like,
there’s a message board full of her fans!”
On occasion, Zdarsky reviews comicrelated films for The Movie Network’s @
The Movies program, including his
review of Elektra where he arrived
dressed as the female assassin.
“I told them I was going to do it, they
didn’t believe me, I showed up dressed as
her, and they told me they didn’t want
cross-dressers doing movie reviews,” he
explains. He did the review in his regular
clothes, but pictures found their way
online soon after.
While our chat wasn’t quite as intimate as I feared, Zdarsky ends by saying
“I love you,” and I walk away a little faster
than usual.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 21 - Feb. 19)
Aquarius, your sign is fifty years ahead of its time and that means today you will be early for everything. Meetings, dinners, movies,
and, for men, even sex. But don’t worry; it’s quite common and happens to a lot of guys. Your partner will understand — or at least
claim to. Besides, it will give you more time to cuddle. As for Aquarius women, you’ll be early for your monthly visitor. But, as we all
know, in this case it’s better early than late.
P6
➤
arts&entertainment
theGazette • THURSDAY, MAY 12, 2005
Music for the month of May
By Chad Nevett
Daddy, Eyes Like Knives, Bad Flirt,
The Hexes & OHS
$5 door, show starts at 10 p.m.
Gazette Staff
Now that exams are over, you finally have time to hit the town and
enjoy some live music. London is
hosting several shows this month,
so to make things a little easier on
you, here is a listing of some
notable upcoming concerts.
Thursday May 12
Call The Office — Mommy &
Teach English
Overseas
ESL Teacher Training Courses
Intensive 60-Hour Program
Classroom Management Techniques
Detailed Lesson Planning
Comprehensive Teaching Materials
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Oxford Seminars
1-800-269-6719 / 416-924-3240
www.oxfordseminars.com
The Embassy — Wheels on the
Bus, One Shot Left, Farewell to
Freeway, Chasing Mercury
$6 door, doors open at 9 p.m.
Friday May 13
Centennial Hall — “A Symphonic
Rocker’s Dream” with Orchestra
London
Tickets $34-$49, Children 12 and
under $12 (when accompanied by
an adult), Student Rush Tickets $10
at the door with Student ID; available at Orchestra London Box Office
(679-8778). The show starts at 8 p.m.
Call The Office — The Matadors
with special guests Big Jeezus
Truck, and The 357’s
$6 door, show starts at 10 p.m.
Saturday May 14
Call The Office — Anti-Hero
“Unpretty” Video Shoot
1 p.m. to 4 p.m. — must be available for the full three hours. All
ages, free admission.
Call The Office — Stutter CD
release party with special guests
HITCH
Rated PG
MISS
CONGENIALITY 2
7:00 Nightly
9:25 Nightly
Rated PG
124 Minutes
Sunday May 15
John Labatt Centre — Sarah
McLachlan
Tickets $50.75 -$70.75 available via
Ticketmaster
Show starts at 7:30 p.m., doors open
at 6:30 p.m.
— Dave Picard
Thursday May 19
Call The Office — The Independents with special guests The Dangerfields, and Pantychrist
$5 door, show starts at 9 p.m.
Friday May 20
The Embassy — Misery Index,
Pure Blank, Excrutiating Thoughts,
and Eschatus
Door $8, doors open at 9 p.m.
Call The Office — Grinder and the
Chickens, and local opener to be
determined
$10 door, show starts at 9 p.m.
Saturday May 21
Call The Office — The Illuminati
with special guests From Fiction;
rest of lineup to be determined
$5 door, show starts at 10 p.m.
$4.25
second floor UCC
Tuesdays
$3.00
Kids always
$3.00
S IMON G RADUATE S CHO OL
OF
for movie listings
661-3616
www.westernfilm.ca
FREE Parking call or
see website for details
30¢
WINGS
Mon & Tues
(after 6pm)
w/ beverage purchase
98.87.C.03
regular admission
99.001.C.04
127 minutes
props from Mos Def, the Chemical
Brothers, and DJ Danger Mouse,
it’s safe to bet PlantLife won’t be a
mono-hit marvel.
It’s not totally clear where Jack
Splash was or what he was doing
while he was gone, but Hipsters in
their ’72 Volkswagens, clubbers
breaking it down in their soupedup Civics and Escalade-pimpin’
wannabe thugs can definitely get
into The Return of Jack Splash.
Go, Sherry, and Valeze
$5 door, show starts at 10 p.m.
Tuesday May 24
Call The Office — Jeremy Fisher
with special guest Nathan Wiley,
and local opener to be determined
$10 advance, show starts at 10 p.m.
May 13-19
ON DISC
1205 Dundas St. (w. of Highbury)
B USINESS • U NIVERSITY
659-0222
OF
ROCHESTER
The Simon Graduate School of Business is offering
$30,000 scholarships
to the Class of 2005 at select undergraduate schools.
PlantLife
The Return of Jack Splash
Counterflow
When hip-hop inspired social commentary meets under-the-sheets
funk, PlantLife is born. Think Black
Eyed Peas, only PlantLife is setting
its roots a little deeper into a blues
and soul-based foundation.
A flora-themed title isn’t all the
urbanites share with BEP. The
quartet of Jack Splash, Panda One,
Dena Deadly, and Rashida the
Beautiful share vocal, instrumental, and DJ-ing duties. The result is
The Return of Jack Splash, the
group’s virgin record.
The album’s tracks flow effortlessly from synth-pumping emcee
rants to falsetto-carried club
ammunition, all the while layered
with Shaft-esque guitar work and
some of the sexiest tamborining to
hit speakers in ages.
“The Last Song” spreads love
with digital backbeats that bring
spine popping and locking to a
new level. “We Can Get High” mellows out with bass work and
Splash’s matter-of-fact vocals in
wicked blaxploitation fashion.
PlantLife spreads out from
beneath the mirrored ball to blast
some ops on social issues as well.
Addiction, terrorism, and other
world politics are tackled with a
cool finesse that leaves lyrics like
“fuck their lies and fuck these wars”
smooth and unabrasive. It’s not
that they’ve spat in the face of convention; it’s more like they’ve
seduced it on the dance floor, taken
it home for the night, introduced it
to mom and gotten her approval.
Your best bet is to familiarize
yourself with the band’s unique
brand of groove and boost your
summer stock of esoteric credit
now, or hop on when everyone
else hops on the bandwagon in a
few months. Since the group gets
Western Ontario is one of them!
Scholarships Based on Exceptional: Merit,
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Graduate Programs Include: Full-Time MBA,
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www.simon.rochester.edu/scholarships • Contact us at: (585) 275-3533
NO. 23 IN U.S. NEWS & WORLD REPORT!
“Meh” is the word that comes to
mind when listening to End of Love
by Clem Snide. It’s not that good.
It’s not that bad. It’s just ... meh.
The opening, title track starts
strong, but halfway through loses
steam. This trend continues
throughout the album. Almost
every song sounds really good
and has the potential to be great,
but eventually blends into the
background.
Snide mixes folk rock, pop rock
and alt-country, but he hasn’t
taken any upbeat aspects of the
genres, just the slow, mellow ones.
It’s like a dinner of white bread,
celery and water. You may like all
of those things, but what a bland
combination.
The song titles are the best part
of the album. Titles like “The
Sound of German Hip-Hop” and
“Jews for Jesus Blues” are very cool,
and it’s a shame the songs themselves can’t live up to the titles.
End of Love includes some
great playing and solid songwriting, but it doesn’t grab you. Definitely avoid this album if you’re
planning a long drive, as you’ll
find yourself asleep at the wheel
before the second track is over.
— Chad Nevett
Welcome to
✓
Choose Simon to further invest
in your professional education!
Clem Snide
End of Love
spinART Records
The Spring
Gazette Marketplace
The Advertising Office
Room 267
University Community Centre
The University of Western Ontario
Phone: 661-3274 Fax: 661-3960
[email protected]
SPRING ISSUE DATES:
May 19, June 2, 9
RATES: up to 30 words
$8/issue including tax
DEADLINE:
noon the Thursday before the run date
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P7 THURSDAY, MAY 12, 2005
Sports
ON DECK: Memorial Cup Preview... Next Thursday
Keeping, Lumsden lead way in busy CIS off-season
By Ian Van Den Hurk
Gazette Staff
T
Aaron Lynett/Gazette
PURSUING HIS FOOTBALL CAREER. Western tight end Jeff Keeping was drafted by the Toronto Argonauts.
hough on-the-field action
shut down months ago,
Canadian Interuniversity
Sport has been quite active during
the off-season.
The most prominent event was
the Canadian Football League
draft on April 28. The Mustangs
have had at least one player
selected in the draft every year
since 1988, and Western continued the trend this year with the
selection of Jeff Keeping.
Keeping, a fourth-year tight
end with the Mustangs, was
selected in the second round by
the Toronto Argonauts, 18th overall in the draft. His selection
comes as a bit of a surprise after
playing in just four games last season due to injury. In those games
Keeping notched eight receptions
for 102 yards and a touchdown.
Throughout his career Keeping
has caught 47 passes for 700 yards,
and he was selected as a second
team Ontario University Athletics
all-star in 2003.
While his receiving numbers
What if? ’05 NHL season saved
By Mark Polishuk
Gazette Staff
Just think... what if there almost
wasn’t a 2005 National Hockey
League season?
The owners’ lockout threatened to ruin the whole year for
hockey fans, but just when things
looked their worst, there was an
eleventh-hour meeting between
NHL commissioner Gary Bettman
and Players’ Association director
Bob Goodenow.
What made this meeting so
different than others? Bettman
and Goodenow were accompanied into the boardroom by
noted enforcers Marty McSorley,
Tie Domi, Louie DeBrusk and
Dave “The Hammer” Schultz.
Thirty minutes later, an agreement was reached.
“We sure are proud to be starting this new era of... cooperation,”
Bettman said at the press conference, nervously looking over his
shoulder at DeBrusk, who was
cracking his knuckles.
Whatever the motive, the NHL
‘season’ got underway. Plans were
hatched for a massive Stanley Cup
tournament that would involve
every team in the league. Last
year’s finalists (the Calgary Flames
and champion Tampa Bay Lightning) received first-round byes,
while the other clubs duked it out
in best-of-eleven series.
Play was somewhat sloppy,
since many of the players hadn’t
hit the ice in several months, but
what it lacked in glamour it made
up for in intensity. The players felt
like this year’s playoffs would be
gone forever, and now that the
Cup was miraculously saved, it
made them play all the harder.
No team was more inspired
than Toronto. Critics had considered the Leafs longshots, citing
the advanced age of their roster
and their lack of defensive talent.
What they didn’t count on, how-
Gazette File Photo
WHAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN? If hockey had been played this season, Leafs defenceman Bryan McCabe might have had reason
to celebrate — but probably not.
ever, was heart; specifically, the
heart of the Swedish lungfish, a
delicacy brought back to North
America by team captain Mats
Sundin. The lungfish is more
potent than mango and Viagra
combined, though in this case, it
added potency to the Leafs’ sticks
rather than their... well...
Armed with lungfish juice in
their water bottles, the Maple
Leafs went on a winning streak.
After blowing through the Eastern Conference, Toronto found
itself matched up in the Cup
finals against the upstart
Nashville Predators. The Preds
made the finals on the strength of
rookie goalie Jimmy Jack “Red
Dog” Jackerson, brought in after
Tomas Vokoun retired to become
a bounty hunter in his native
Czech Republic.
Jimmy Jack was a big hit with
his hometown Nashville fans, but
against
the
mighty
Leafs
onslaught, Red Dog was flatter
than one of his hound dog’s ears.
After five games, it was 5-0 Toronto, and nothing could possibly
prevent a Leafs victory... except
for a drug test. Every Toronto
player flunked, thus causing the
NHL to declare the Leafs’ season
null and void, and awarding the
Cup to Nashville.
As it so happened, Swedish
lungfish was on the NHL’s list of
banned substances due to the
large amounts of denderdrudenvaten and iodine. Sundin was so
humiliated he disappeared into
the ruins of Casa Loma to avoid
public persecution.
So, unfortunately for the diehard Buds fans, 2005 continued
the team’s Cup drought. But never
fear! Jimmy Jack Jackerson is a free
agent, and the Leafs have already
sent Domi to “negotiate.”
are respectable, it’s likely that if
Keeping latches on with the Argos
it will be as an offensive lineman.
Keeping has great size at six-footsix inches, 275 pounds, and obviously has quickness from his experience at tight end. In spring camp
this season Keeping worked out at
guard.
Western’s only CFL selection
last season was receiver Christian
Heffernan. Heffernan was drafted
by the Ottawa Renegades but was
released by the team. He returned
to the Mustangs, a possibility that
exists for Keeping.
Of the 53 players selected 33
came from the CIS. Laval and
McMaster led the way in the first
two rounds with five and three
players drafted, respectively.
Laval defensive tackle Miguel
Robede was picked first overall by
the Calgary Stampeders. In his
three years with the Rouge et Or,
Robede was twice selected to the
all-Canadian team.
The six-foot-three inches, 288pound lineman amassed 14 sacks
and 34 tackles for a loss in his three
year career and helped Laval win
two national championships.
McMaster’s star running back
Jesse Lumsden has commanded
headlines since signing a contract
with the National Football
League’s Seattle Seahawks.
Lumsden put up one of the
greatest years in CIS history last
season. The bruising, 227-pound
back rushed for 1,816 yards and
21 touchdowns, eclipsing the
previous league records. Lumsden also set OUA marks with
4,238 career rushing yards and 47
career touchdowns.
The monster season earned
Lumsden an invite to the EastWest Shrine Bowl in San Francisco, a game that showcases
prospects for the NFL. Lumsden
led his team in rushing with 41
yards on five carries.
His performance helped him
score a contract with Seattle on
April 24. The Seahawks are deep at
running back and his chances of
making the final roster are long.
Lumsden’s best chance to secure a
roster spot is probably as a kick
returner. If cut by the Seahawks
Lumsden can fall back on the
Hamilton Tiger-Cats, who selected
him sixth overall in the CFL draft.
Lumsden would be reunited with
former McMaster coach and current Tiger-Cats boss Greg Marshall. Aside from the CFL draft, the
CIS has kept busy with the BLG
Awards.
Adrienne Power, a sprinter from
Dalhousie University, received the
Jim Thompson Trophy for CIS
female athlete of the year. Power
was the CIS track athlete of the year
and the outstanding female athlete
at the CIS championship.
At the university nationals
Power set a new meet record in the
300-metre with a blistering 37.35
seconds, good enough for the
fourth fastest time in the world this
year and the 19th fastest on the alltime world list. Securing her third
consecutive gold medal, Power finished her university career undefeated in the 300-metre.
Power has been asked to run
for Canada’s 4 x 400 relay team at
this summer’s world championship, as well as be a member of
the team in the 2008 Summer
Olympics in Beijing, assuming the
team qualifies.
Lumsden, who already earned
the Hec Creighton Award as Canada’s best football player, added to
his trophy case when he accepted
the BLG Award as CIS male athlete
of the year. Along with the awards,
Power and Lumsden will each
receive $10,000 scholarships to
attend a Canadian university graduate school.
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