2005/05May/19

The Gazette
theGazette
www.gazette.uwo.ca
Western’s Daily Student Newspaper
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VOLUME
99,
ISSUE
02 • THURSDAY, MAY 19, 2005
Western
welcomes
Congress
Budget gets
some Rae-ve
reviews
By Mark Polishuk
By Aron Yeomanson
Gazette Staff
Gazette Staff
L
W
estern is set to host the
largest conference in
London’s history.
The Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences runs from
May 28 through June 5 and will
bring more than 7,000 academics
to campus. Last held in London in
1978, the conference is the largest
of its kind in North America.
Organized by the Canadian Federation for Humanities and Social
Sciences, Congress 2005 is expected to inject approximately $6.5million into the local economy.
“The Congress is an extraordinary gathering of brilliant minds
from across the country and
around the world,” said Western
president Paul Davenport.
According to Dr. Brian Timney,
dean of social science at Western,
Congress 2005 will give the university a unique opportunity to attract
top-notch faculty in the future.
“This is the showcase conference for humanities and social
sciences in Canada,” he explained.
“All organizations for all of the different disciplines attend, so it
gives our faculty a chance to interact with other academics on our
own turf and showcase Western.
“Competition for bringing in
excellent scholars is very high. The
Congress will allow these people
to see what Western is like in a
non-hiring environment, so that
when we are advertising positions,
it puts us on their radar screens.”
Timney said, however, faculty
recruitment is not the reason why
Western is hosting the event.
“Primarily, the Congress is a
cost efficient way to bring people
together,” he said. “Its a unique
event in that people get a chance
to mix with other social scientists
from different disciplines in a
much broader sense than you usually see on a university campus.”
Western history professor
Jonathan Vance will be moderating
a panel discussion entitled “Reflections on Genocide,” and was excited to be associated with the Congress. “For people in social science,
this is the big one,” he said.
Thousands of papers — on topics ranging from politics to technology — will be presented for the
first time at the conference.
Research findings to be presented include: “The Bible and the
Modern World: Taking it Personally,” “Repeat Killings: Of Mothers,
Monsters and Matricide,” and “The
Making of a ‘Cosmo Girl:’ Gender,
Identity and Consumption.”
Some sessions at Congress will
be open to the public. For more
information on the conference,
visit www.fedcan.ca/congress2005.
Gazette File Photo
WE SHOULD CALL IT MORGENTALER MANSION. Traditionally, residences are named after rivers or
geographic regions, but why not name one after an esteemed honorary degree holder? The new
rez will open in 2006, and will probably cause much less controversy than our suggestion would.
New rez to be ready in 2006
Upper-year students to fill rooms
By Lori Mastronardi
Gazette Staff
S
tudents who would rather
prolong residence life than
settle in the student ghetto
will be relieved to know that an
upper-year residence is scheduled to open in September 2006.
Construction began last
November on the lot formerly
occupied by Western Day Care,
adjacent to Essex Hall residence. According to Susan
Grindrod, associate VP of housing and ancillary services, the
residence is being built in
response to increased student
enrollment. The new facility will
provide housing for approximately 400 students.
“We built a lot of accommodations for first-year students, and
now we want to provide for
upper-year students,” said Chris
Bumbacco, assistant director of
housing services, adding that current upper-year housing facilities
— such as the Platts Lane and
Glenmore apartments — are filled
to capacity.
The new residence will include
a combination of two and threebedroom furnished suites, complete with a kitchen, common
area, bathroom and powder
room. Since there is not a main
dining hall, students will not be
required to purchase a meal plan.
However, if students choose to
purchase the plan, Essex Hall and
Perth Hall are in close proximity.
“We sought out student feedback to decide how to design it.
We showed them rough drawings
of the suite design and made
alterations based on their suggestions,” Bumbacco explained. “We
wanted to build what they wanted, since they’re our market.”
Since the residence offers students an eight month lease, the
building will be available for summer conferences. Bumbacco said
the facility is more attractive for
conferences because it offers such
features as meeting rooms and
double beds.
University Students’ Council
president Ryan Dunn explained
that the new residence will allow
Western to cater to the needs of
upper year students. “People who
want to continue in residence can
stay with people who have similar
interests,” he said.
Fourth-year english and philosophy student Jenny Seymour,
one of the few upper-year students who lived in Perth Hall last
year, agreed. “I think it would be
better for students to be placed
with more upper-year students,”
Seymour said. “There’s a huge
mentality difference between first
and upper-year students.”
Residence fees will be determined in the fall, along with the
name of the residence. Bumbacco
explained that the board of governors will make the name choice.
“Generally we name residences
after something geographical,
such as rivers and counties. For
example, Elgin county, Essex
county, and Saugeen River.”
Does Western plan to pursue
more residence development projects anytime soon? “You never
know what’s going to happen in
the future, but this will be the
fourth residence since 1995, and I
think it’s more building than any
other university has done,”
Grindrod said. “I think we’ll have a
good mix of housing and an
appropriate quantity of housing.”
ast week’s provincial budget
is drawing a largely positive
response for providing a
long-term plan for Ontario’s postsecondary institutions.
“I’ve been in senior administration for 20 years, and this was the
best provincial budget for universities that I have ever experienced,” said Western president
Paul Davenport. “At a time when
many ministries are seeing their
budgets frozen, post-secondary
education has received a very significant multi-year increase in its
resources.”
The budget outlines an investment of $1.6-billion into Ontario’s
universities and colleges by 200910. This includes $683-million for
student financial assistance, operating grants and training and
apprenticeship programs for
2005-06, up from $200 million.
Former Ontario premier Bob
Rae’s review of post-secondary
education was cited as a major
influence in the McGuinty government’s budget.
“Bob Rae made a brilliant statement about the relation between
the knowledge economy and postsecondary education, and provided a very compelling case for this
investment,” Davenport said.
University Students’ Council
VP-education Shane Gonsalves
noted the benefits will not be limited to undergraduate students.
“One of the main priorities is
expanding graduate programs,
and that was money earmarked in
the university’s budget from a few
weeks ago. That was an area
where Ontario is significantly
behind the American counterparts that Western compares itself
to,” he explained.
Gonsalves said the budget did
not resolve the issue of whether
tuition will be regulated by the government, though he was pleased
by the inclusion of student input in
the creation of a new tuition framework for the fall of 2006.
“It’s great that students will get
a say in the process with the other
stakeholders,” he said.
Phillippe Ouellette, national
director of the Canadian Alliance
of Student Associations, expressed
general satisfaction with the budget, but said the issues of dedicated federal funding transfers and
grants specifically targeted at lowincome and higher-need students
were not addressed.
“The budget is a symbolic measure that education is becoming a
major issue,” Ouellette said. “It
seems as if provinces are starting
to wake up to this, and how they’re
responding is where the critique is
coming from.”
P2
➤
news
theGazette • THURSDAY, MAY 19, 2005
Deregulation a concern both then and now
tion program has soared from
$8,000 to $18,000 per year. So look
on the bright side, class of ‘98; you
got off pretty cheaply.
We$tern still tops
By Mark Brown
Friday, May 29, 1998
The impact of deregulation could
hit students harder at Western
than any other Ontario university
for those entering the honours
business administration or medical programs in September.
Under the new provincial
government policy, universities
are permitted to deregulate
tuition for some programs by
submitting a plan that will show
how the university will double
enrollment into a program by
the 2003/04 academic year, said
As The Gazette approaches its
100th year of publication, we will
be reprinting some notable stories
published in the last century. Some
show how much Western has
changed in the last 100 years,
while others show how some
things never change.
Since this story was published
almost seven years ago, tuition for
the Honours Business Administra-
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David Scott, Council of Ontario Universities
spokesperson.
The programs most effected by deregulation at
Western are dentistry, medicine, orthodontics and
the HBA program. Western’s medical program will
cost new students $10,000 while the same program
offered at Queen’s University and the University of
Toronto will cost $6,159 and $6,800 respectively.
Although McMaster University has not yet
approved next year’s fees for their medical program,
Fred Hall, assistant VP-academic at McMaster, said
students will probably pay close to the same amount
as Western students.
Students enrolled in Western’s HBA program will
pay $8,000, while students enrolled in equivalent programs at Laurier, Carleton, Guelph, McMaster, Windsor, York and Queen’s will pay between $3,500 and
$3,700 or roughly the same fees as most other undergraduate programs at those schools.
The less expensive business program at Laurier
has the second highest academic cut-off level in
Ontario and is comparable to Western’s business program, said Robert Roseheart, president of Laurier. “At
the end of the day the debate will come back to the
services of the program — what kind of services are
you providing to charge those fees?”
Western’s VP-academic Greg Moran disagreed with
Roseheart’s comparison and said the reason there is a
tuition difference is because Western’s HBA program
is the only second entry level undergraduate business
program in Ontario. Many other universities are frustrated the government has not allowed them to
increase their fees because students enter the program in their first year, Moran added.
The tuition hike in the deregulated programs will
not impede access to Western, as students will have
greater access to loans, bursaries and work-study
programs, said Moran. “We would argue that a few
thousand dollars should not be a big factor especially
if we can offer aid.”
Students are concerned they will have to look not
only at the quality of the program being offered but
the cost of the program and what they can afford, said
Hoops Harrison, national director of the Canadian
Alliance of Student Associations.
“Unfortunately this will lead to a two-tier system,
you can already see it now,” he said.
News Briefs
Big donation means bigger library for Brescia
L ONDONS
ONLY
The library at Brescia College is about to get much
larger, thanks to a $750,000 donation from Western
philanthropist Beryl Ivey.
The library, which currently houses over 70,000
books, will be expanded to 8,000 square feet,
almost twice its current size. The construction is
scheduled to last from February to July of 2006.
The Brescia library is the Ivey family’s most
recent contribution to the university community.
Other charitable efforts involving Mrs. Ivey
include the Beryl Ivey Garden located behind
University College and the Beryl Ivey Chair in
Ecosystem Health in affilation with the Schulich
School of Medicine.
“Mrs. Ivey’s generosity to the college and to
Brescia’s students will allow us to carry out this
much-needed renovation,” said Theresa Topic,
principal at Brescia College. “She shares our vision
of a library as a dynamic and exciting space.”
Ivey, an alumnus of Western, received her BA
from Brescia in 1947. She has served as director and
vice-president of the Ivey Foundation for 28 years.
B IER M ARKET
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Female Liberals:
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OTTAWA (CP) — A group of female Liberal MPs is
taking the Conservative party to task for what it
calls “egregious and misogynist comments” about
turncoat Belinda Stronach.
Reaction to the rookie MP’s defection straight
into the Liberal cabinet on the eve of a critical confidence vote has sparked raging reaction.
But much of that criticism has had a “personal
and sexist tone,” said Sarmite Bulte, a Toronto
Liberal.
Stronach was variously accused of prostituting
or whoring herself for political gain by a couple of
angry Conservatives. Another referred to her as “an
attractive... dipstick.”
Four other Liberal women joined Bulte in
denouncing the Conservative attacks against
Stronach.
Deputy Prime Minister Anne McLellan, who on
Tuesday welcomed the billionaire heiress to cabinet because she has “great shoes,” also joined in the
Conservative bashing Wednesday.
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Last week, Paul Martin was scrutinized by the media for arriving one
day late for V-E Day ceremonies in
the Netherlands. The main criticism directed towards him (as well
as opposition leaders in Parliament) was that domestic politics
should not have taken precedence
over such an important event.
While the flap surrounding
Martin’s late appearance received
plenty of media attention, it is
more important to consider the
relevance of commemorating historical events at all.
History is often thought to be
one of the most boring academic
subjects, forcing students to sleep
through the memorization of its
countless dates. During my first
few months of class I shared that
very sentiment. If I would never
have any practical use for these
facts in the “real world,” then why
bother studying them? As the year
progressed, however, my attitude
began to change, and I have now
gained a whole new perspective
on the subject.
Contrary to common belief,
history is not about memorizing
the facts from years ago, but rather
understanding how cultures have
evolved over time and how this
impacts modern society. In many
cases, current events have their
roots steeped in cultural history.
Names that often appear in the
news — Israel, Kashmir, Aceh, to
name a few — carry a far greater
background than a news story can
convey.
Witnessing the ongoing rivalry
between Solidarity for Palestinian
Human Rights and the Israel
Action Committee this past year at
Western and reading about the
recent textbook controversy
between Japan and China has
made me wonder if clinging to his-
tory is a negative phenomenon.
After all, if historical events are
used to justify or perpetuate traditional rivalries over generations,
then is it really so important to pay
tribute to them?
Despite these negative incidents, it is still important to study
history. It is through an objective
study of events that we are able to
understand the nature of past and
present conflicts and also learn
how to prevent future conflicts
from arising.
On the whole, have these
objectives been met? Probably
not. It takes only the naming of a
few places — Rwanda and Sudan,
for example — to show many
lessons have yet to be learned by
the international community.
However, only through the willingness to understand and
remember historical events for
what they were can the “idealistic”
hopes for peace and reconciliation among people across the
world be reached.
So when Paul Martin and his
opposition counterparts showed
up late last week in the Netherlands, they not only showed disrespect towards war veterans, but
also sent a scary message to Canadians: their present-day political
aspirations were more important
than commemorating one of the
most significant events of the
twentieth century. Sadly for them,
lack of timely arrival at the V-E Day
celebrations will likely go down in
their own personal histories as a
major blunder.
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opinions
theGazette • THURSDAY, MAY 19, 2005
theGazette
Volume 99, Issue 02
“Life is change. Growth is optional. Choose wisely.”
— ANONYMOUS
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
Advertising Dept.: (519) 661-3579, Fax: (519) 661-3960
Editorial Offices: (519) 661-3580, Fax: (519) 661-3825
The Gazette is owned and published by the University Students’ Council.
Forest City
branching out
The upcoming weeks will be busy for London, as the
city is scheduled to host the Memorial Cup and the
Congress of Humanities in an effort to prove it can play
in the big leagues.
However, London’s appeal lies in its ability to blend
elements of a small town and bustling city. By playing
host to two landmark events at the same time, London
may find it’s taking on more than it can handle. It would
be like the London Knights challenging the Tampa Bay
Lightning for the Stanley Cup. London is a quality midsize city, but it isn’t comparable to major markets like
Toronto and Montreal.
In one respect, hosting such grand scale events has
the potential to raise London’s profile. Since the opening of the John Labatt Centre, the city has undoubtedly
improved its ability to pursue high-profile events.
Noteworthy bands like Green Day and Pearl Jam have
chosen to perform at the JLC, sparing London residents
a tired trip to Toronto while simultaneously fueling the
local economy
Neighbouring cities have watched London’s progress,
recognizing the benefits of building a top-level arena. For
example, Oshawa is scheduled to open a 6,000 seat arena
in 2006, in an effort to rejuvenate its downtown core.
Surely hosting the Memorial Cup and the Congress of
Humanities will generate similar benefits? Perhaps not.
There is a definite concern that London isn’t quite ready
to host two high-profile events in the same weekend;
hosting the events could prove problematic for the city.
There are already complaints about a lack of
overnight accommodation and parking. Hotels are
booked, and Western needs to open additional residence
beds to the public. According to the JLC website, 8,000
parking spots are within walking distance of the JLC, but
the arena seats 10,000 people, and 40-60,000 people are
expected to flood Talbot Street for the Memorial Cup.
Furthermore, there is a safety concern for local residents. With thousands of people concentrated in the
city’s core, there is a potential that the mix of alcohol and
excitement could lead to overly rowdy behaviour.
If the events fail to run smoothly, the city could annoy
local residents and detract them from the downtown area.
As well, London will likely bid for the 2009 and 2012 World
Junior Hockey Championships. How they handle hosting
the Memorial Cup will likely play a factor in determining
whether or not London’s bid(s) will be successful.
The place of Western in London’s grand-scale plans
has yet to be determined. Will Western become a more
prestigious part of a growing town? As well, as the city
grows and taxes increase, the cost of living will rise —
something that will directly affect Western students.
While the Knights have a solid shot at the Memorial
Cup, clinching the Stanley Cup is an impossible feat.
Likewise, London needs to remember that one’s reach
shouldn’t exceed one’s grasp.
Malls becoming overcommercialized?
Malarkey
Matt Larkin
Sports Editor
Who knew a casual trip to the mall
could be such an eye opener?
On a recent afternoon, I headed to
Sherway Gardens Mall outside of Toronto in search of new shoes with mommy
and daddy as my ride — I lost my driver’s license...don’t ask.
Stepping into the spacious shopper’s
haven, I felt like I had been hibernating
for the last few years. Had I entered the
future where I could ride a hover bike
from store to store? Sweet.
My analogy sounds extreme, but
every square inch of the mall had
become stylized, commodified, and targeted to a specific audience.
I know what you’re thinking: “Well,
duh. A commercialized shopping mall
— what did you expect, a hobo auctioning off his can collection?”
It’s Now
or Nevett
Chad Nevett
A&E Editor
Stephen Harper is an egomaniac, blind
to the fact that pushing an election
could kill his political career.
Along with the Bloc Quebecois, the
Tories want an election because they
claim the Liberals lost the moral right to
lead. While one could argue in favour of
that position, Harper forgets that calling
an election is not what the Canadian
public wants. In his drive to defeat the
Liberals, he has forgotten his alleged
motivation: the will of the people.
The Tories’ lead over the Liberals in
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 •
music that I couldn’t find the right
shoes, I wished I had my gat with me.
Offensive stereotypes aside, I’m not
condemning an enterprise like Foot
Locker for its new persona.
Even more astounding is that entire
malls can become niche markets in and
of themselves. To compete with many
nearby crowded “supermalls,” Sherway
Gardens now sells itself as a pristine,
classy purchasing forum for high
achievers.
Don’t believe me? I saw a couple
dressed to the nines, sipping tea as in a
French café. Just picture it: “Meet me at
the mall for some chamomile dahling.
It’ll be fah-bulous.”
Maybe I’m paranoid. Maybe I’ve
been in the dark and I’m only stating
what most of you already know is true.
But either way, I’m alarmed at what I’ve
seen in the modern mall; it seems we’re
not far off the day on which we can no
longer make unique purchases to establish niches as original people.
Still, I can’t blame the retailers for
their scheming. They’re selling lifestyles
and making a killing doing it.
Harper harpin’ for the wrong reasons
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
I know there is probably no space
more commercialized than a mall, but
what I noticed was a trend towards
hypercommercialization; it has become
virtually impossible to purchase anything that doesn’t cater to some sort of
hot, hip, happenin’ trend.
For instance, I went through half a
dozen bloody shoe stores just to find a
pair of plain shoes that you couldn’t see
on Ashton Kutcher’s or Paris Hilton’s
feet. How did those damn bowling shoes
penetrate the mainstream market?
It’s not simply the products that are
geared toward highly specialized markets. Entire establishments, mimicking
specialty television channels, are
moulding themselves into niche stores
that intentionally turn away unwanted
consumers and focus on creating a reliable target audience.
Foot Locker, for instance, was a general interest sports outlet as recently as a
few years ago. Today, you head in looking for some workout clothes and walk
out looking ready for a gang war or a
record deal with Dr. Dre. Screaming to
my parents over the store’s blaring rap
Arts & Entertainment
Anna Coutts
Chad Nevett
Dave Picard
Opinions
Jonathan Yazer
the polls has evaporated since Harper
pressed for a confidence vote — even
though other polls indicated the majority of Canadians wish to hold off an election until the Gomery Commission
releases its final report on the sponsorship scandal.
Canadians want the facts before
deciding whether Paul Martin’s Liberals
should be held fully responsible for the
party’s past crimes. Harper, though, sees
this as his best opportunity to grab the
power he believes he deserves.
However, most polls show the Liberals
and Conservatives with similar shares of
support. If Harper keeps pushing for an
election, the best he could do is head up
his own minority government.
This would be problematic, since the
Tories would not have allies to form a
minority government. The Tories would
have great difficulty allying themselves
with Jack Layton due to political differences, and they would lose the Bloc —
their current partners — because you
can’t be a separatist party and prop up
the government.
The most alarming part of Harper’s
push is the cause: the Liberal deal with
the NDP that promises $4.6-billion for
social programs like post-secondary
education, affordable housing, and
healthcare. These are the things Harper
is against?
If Harper brings down the government, which looks less likely since Belinda Stronach’s defection; he will find he
isn’t the winner he expects to be, but just
another politician blinded by ambition.
And, unfortunately, the biggest losers
will be Canadians — who simply want
the facts before choosing a leader.
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]
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P5 THURSDAY, MAY 19, 2005
ArtsEntertainment
Jet Li’s emotions
Unleashed at last
By Andrew Cionga
Gazette Staff
Unleashed
Directed by: Louis Leterrier
Starring: Jet Li, Morgan Freeman,
Bob Hoskins
Gazette File Photo
“GO GET ‘EM TIGER!” Will Ferrell coaches the Tigers in Kicking & Screaming. Don’t go see it —
it’s not funny.
Kicking leads to Screaming
By Chad Nevett
Gazette Staff
Kicking & Screaming
Directed by: Jesse Dylan
Starring: Will Ferrell, Robert Duvall,
Mike Ditka
Have you ever known someone
who tried really hard to be funny,
but never pulled it off? In fact, not
only were they not funny, but it
was painful to watch them try so
hard and fail? That’s what Kicking
& Screaming is like. It’s painful to
watch Will Ferrell and company try
so hard to be funny, but fall flat
nine times out of ten.
Ferrell plays Phil Weston, a
pharmacist struggling to relate to
his hyper-competitive father,
Buck (Duvall). The film demonstrates the father-son tension
with a flashback of Phil trying out
for his college track and field
team, but nearly every joke is predictable. However, the flashback
also serves to introduce Phil’s
wife Barbara (Kate Walsh) and
Buck’s new trophy wife Janice
(Musetta Vander), and reveal that
Phil and Buck had sons on the
same day.
In the present, Buck coaches
the boys’ soccer team, the Gladiators. Buck’s son, Bucky Jr., is the
team star, while Phil’s son, Sam, is
a bench-sitter — just like Phil was
as a kid. However, Buck soon
trades Sam to the worst team in
the league, the Tigers. At Sam’s first
game, the Tigers are without a
coach, so Phil steps up and the
father-son coaching battle begins.
Phil asks football coaching
legend Mike Ditka — who just
happens to be Buck’s neighbour
— to help make the Tigers a winning team. Ditka pushes Phil to
be more competitive by drinking
coffee, leading to an extremely
strange subplot where Phil
becomes addicted to the substance. Any scene involving coffee seems like it was added just
so Ferrell could do his thing
except, most of the time, he
doesn’t do it very well.
Most of the acting in Kicking is
well done. The problem is the
material; it just isn’t that good. The
story is typical and predictable, the
jokes are repetitive, and for most of
the film, Phil and Buck are so
unlikeable you hope both the
Gladiators and the Tigers lose —
even though you know which one
is going to win.
This bland story does have a
bright spot: Elliot Cho as Byong
Sun, the adopted child of a lesbian
couple. Every second Cho is on
screen is pure gold; he is the only
reason to watch this film. Whether
he’s giving it his all to take out
Ditka’s trash, or kicking the crap
out of a cappuccino maker, Cho is
cute and funny as hell.
Another notable character is
Connor (Dallas McKinney), a lisping ten-year-old convinced he’s a
comedic genius, despite the fact
he’s just annoying — rather like the
movie itself. Mike Ditka is also
funny when he begins his tenure
as assistant coach of the Tigers,
training the kids like he would his
old Chicago Bears.
One question is left unanswered: why does Barbara love
Phil? He isn’t presented as a
remotely likeable character until
the film’s conclusion. It’s baffling.
Kicking & Screaming is a film
with potential, but thanks to
poor writing and a surprisingly
poor performance by Will Ferrell,
it doesn’t deliver. Ferrell hasn’t
been this unfunny since A Night
at the Roxbury.
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Is Unleashed just another film filled
with implausible fights, gory violence and Jet Li attacking everyone
in his path? While blood and bodies
still fly in this latest release written
by French filmmaker Luc Besson
(The Fifth Element), Li emits some
emotion this time around.
Danny (Li) is introduced as a
fighting machine, raised and
trained like a dog in captivity by
his “Uncle” Bart (Hoskins). Bart, a
notorious gang lord, uses his “pet”
to settle his scores. Danny
becomes devoid of emotion, as he
obediently completes his brutal
tasks. The sole symbol of his lost
humanity is represented by an
alphabet book that Danny reads in
his cage at night.
The simple knock-em-all-down
storyline transforms itself into a
more complex plot once Danny is
freed in an attempt to kill himself
and his master. Once in the outside world, he encounters a blind
piano tuner named Sam (Freeman). The piano, often used as a
symbol of serenity, is brilliantly
employed by Leterrier, as he displays Danny’s sudden attachment
to the musical instrument.
While living with Sam and his
beloved daughter Victoria (Kerry
Condon), Danny is exposed to a
world of warmth and love. The
martial-arts warrior begins to
experience love and compassion,
and his feelings, so long repressed,
begin to resurface. Through beautifully played piano music, kisses,
and even the taste of ice cream,
Danny discovers new sensations,
and, with this, memories of his
mother. Due to a horrific childhood incident, Danny had blocked
her from his memory.
The plot climaxes when Bart —
who we find out is alive and well —
confronts Danny and forces him to
return to fulfill his brutal assignments. The fighting spirit within is
released once again, but this time
Danny’s ferocious martial-arts
skills have a purpose: to protect
those whom he has come to love.
Hardcore Jet Li fans might be
disappointed with the middle
portion of the story, where
Danny’s humanity grows, and the
focus shifts to his emotional
awakening. However, this aspect
of the film offers Li an opportunity to demonstrate his acting abilities, proving he’s more than just
“the guy who beats everyone up,”
as he is often cast.
The supporting characters
deliver notable acting performances. Hoskins flawlessly portrays the devious Uncle Bart, and
Freeman successfully captures the
humble nature of his blind character. The film’s standout element,
however, is the choreography,
ranging from the graceful scenes
depicting fingers massaging the
piano keys to the high-pumping
adrenaline rush of the fight
sequences.
Despite far-fetched plot gaps,
which include the implausible
meeting of Danny and Sam, the
acting and choreography are strong
enough to shape Unleashed into a
film that will thrill and surprise the
audience — especially viewers who
think Jet Li is just an action star.
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arts&entertainment
theGazette • THURSDAY, MAY 19, 2005
PISCES (Feb. 20 - March 20)
Piscean, you are submissive and accepting of your surroundings. You prefer a dream world to the real one. You’re creative and artistic and don’t belong in
a nine-to-five atmosphere. What does this all mean? You’re going to be homeless. People will walk all over you, driving you to wander into the streets
where you’ll find a new home. You’ll make an art of creating strange and crusty rag-clothing, and shy away from the stares of small children. Oh, and you
smell like fish.
A Thousand reasons to visit Shakespeare blog
By Dave Picard
Gazette Staff
It’s getting summery outside, with
bright places and warm bodies
assaulting the senses. Dark skin,
patios, and Coronas are in season.
It’s a prime time to pursue personal pleasure and perhaps self-discovery, but it’s also a great time to
peek into another person’s life.
And though the summer will eventually end, blogs will carry you
through the year.
Welcome to
The Spring Gazette
Marketplace
2 issues remaining: June 2,9.
Ad Rates: $8/ad/issue including tax (up to 30 words)
Ad deadline is 1 week prior (before noon).
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Services
A blog — which is in-the-know
speak for a web log — is basically
an online journal. Filled with
words and images plucked from
the minds and cameras of anyone
and everyone, these frequently
updated personal histories are
highly addictive. Because blogs
are created and updated using
simple software provided by sites
like www.livejournal.com, readers aren’t limited to perusing the
Simpsons-laden and tech-speak
infected diaries of nerds and
geeks.
Check out Thousand Shakespeare at www.livejournal.com
/users/strokethyfrost. Maintained
by
a
blogger
known
as
Strokethyfrost, it’s a kaleidoscope
of uncomfortable poetry, streamof-consciousness rants, daily
activity accounts, and photography. In involving yourself with the
frequently updated blog, you may
be surprised by the seemingly
mundane and bizarre minutia of
Strokethyfrost’s life.
You’ll soon be immersed in the
idiosyncrasies of people you’ll
never actually meet. Something
about his choice of words and
provocative images cause you to
compare Strokethyfrost’s experiences to your own life and frame of
mind. It’s the kind of journey best
taken after the sun sets, with a window open so outside sounds can
carry you through it.
It isn’t all deep, though. Thou-
sand Shakespeare is ridden with
comic perfection that television
and film writers rarely seem to
capture. Take, for example, a discussion between Strokethyfrost
and his sister Treston.
“Treston you wanna have coffee
with me...?”
“No!”
“Why not?”
“Smoking is bad. And coffee
tastes yucky.”
“But you’re turning nine next
week! It’s time!”
Whether thought-provoking,
entertaining, or inspirational,
this blog is always good for
something. The fact that you
never know what you’ll get next is
even better.
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P7 THURSDAY, MAY 19, 2005
Sports
ON DECK: A tour of Big-League ball parks... In two weeks
2005 MasterCard Memorial Cup hockey preview
London Knights
Rimouski Oceanic
OHL champion
QMJHL champion
Regular season record: 59-7-2-0
Playoff record: 16-2
Memorial Cup victories: 0
With London ranked as the
best team in the nation, this
year’s Memorial Cup is theirs
to lose.
London enjoyed a season
that equaled the best in
Canadian Hockey League
history. The team started by
going unbeaten in its first 31
games of the season, and
capped the year off by being
crowned OHL champions for the first time
in the club’s 40-year history.
Now, with only one thing left to win, the
Knights’ only concern has to be folding
under the pressure. Of course, another concern might be named Sidney Crosby.
Players to watch: The Knights are an
offensive powerhouse. They scored an
incredible 310 goals in the regular season
this year. Most of those points came off
the stick of Corey Perry, who led the OHL
in scoring with 130 points in
60 games.
Dylan Hunter scored 104
points, finishing second in
league scoring, while Rob
Schremp managed 90 points
in 62 games.
London plays well defensively as well as offensively,
holding opponents to a
league-best 125 goals in regular season play. On the blueline, the Knights
are led by captain Danny Syvret who had 69
points in 62 games, and Brian Rodney who
had 62 points of his own.
Oh, and their goaltending’s great too.
Regular season record: 45-17-5-3
Playoff record: 12-1-0
Memorial Cup victories: 1 (2000)
The Rimouski Oceanic is set
to represent the Quebec
Major Junior Hockey League
at the Memorial Cup for the
second time in the club’s 10year history.
Rimouski boasts an
extremely talented lineup
and should be considered
London’s biggest competition in the quest for this
year’s Cup.
Rimouski dominated play in the QMJHL
this season and was the hottest team in the
nation in the second half of the year. The
team rolled to an impressive 45-17-5-3 reg-
Regular season record: 34-26-7-1
Playoff record: 13-8
Memorial Cup victories: 2 (1999, 1984)
The Ottawa 67’s were not
supposed to get this far.
Earning a spot in the
tournament because London cannot occupy both
the OHL champion spot
and the host spot, the OHL
finalist 67’s are by far the
underdogs at this year’s
Memorial Cup.
Coming into the playoffs
as the sixth-ranked team in the province,
the 67’s managed to knock off Barrie, Sudbury, and Peterborough before falling 4-1
in the OHL final to the Knights.
Despite the loss, Ottawa accomplished
its main goal in getting to the Memorial
Players to watch: Three words — “The
Next One.” Not to say that this is a oneman team, but the eyes of the hockey
world will undoubtedly be
focused on Sidney Crosby
in this tournament. The 18year old scored an astounding 66 goals and 102 assists
in 62 games this season.
Crosby was equally impressive in the playoffs, notching 14 goals and 17 assists
in 13 games.
Helping Crosby offensively are teammates Dany Roussin and MarcAntoine Pouliot. The pair chipped in with
116 and 114 points respectively, good for No.
2 and No. 3 in league scoring behind Crosby.
— Aron Yeomanson
— Aron Yeomanson
Kelowna Rockets
Ottawa 67’s
OHL finalist
ular season record on the strength of a 28game unbeaten streak to finish the season.
Cup, and you can bet they’ll be ready to
play. Hall of Fame coach Brian Kilrea’s
group was a surprise in the OHL playoffs,
and they could be a surprise here as well.
Players to watch: With seven players scoring more than 20 goals each
in the regular season, it is
safe to say the 67’s have a
well-balanced attack.
Up front, Ottawa is led by
Chris Huilt, Mark Manconi,
and Brad Bonello who
scored 71, 68, and 66 points
respectively in the regular
season.
Ottawa’s story of the
playoffs, at least until the series against
London, was goaltending. Nineteen-yearold Danny Bottachio started all 21 of
Ottawa’s playoff games and posted a
sparkling 0.921 save percentage.
— Aron Yeomanson
scoring. The key for Kelowna has been a balanced attack and strong goaltending.
WHL champion
Regular season record: 45-13-12-2
Playoff record: 16-8
Memorial Cup victories: 1 (2004)
In 2004, Kelowna became the
first team since Ottawa in
1999 to claim the Memorial
Cup on home ice.
Even with the fire power
exhibited by London and
Rimouski, Kelowna can’t be
counted out. The club has
shown an uncanny ability to
win games when they matter
most over the past two years.
Though they were a dominant team in
the WHL, the Rockets achieved their goals
this season in a different fashion than their
counterparts from Quebec and Ontario.
During regular season play, Kelowna did
not have a single player notch enough
points to place within the top 20 in league
Players to watch: Nineteen-year-old netminder Derek Yeomans played the majority of
games for the Rockets this season. Yeomans
was outstanding in regular
season play, starting 54 games
while posting a minuscule
1.83 goals against average and
a 0.923 save percentage —
numbers good enough to rank
him as the fourth-best goaltender in Western Canada.
Offensively, Kelowna does
not possess a lot of flash, but
he gets the job done with a
solid, balanced attack. In playoff action, the
Rockets had five players amongst the league’s
top 10 scorers. Justin Keller led the way with
12 goals and 10 assists while teammates Tyler
Mosienko, Blake Comeau, Tyler Spurgeon,
and Shea Weber also made the list.
— Aron Yeomanson
McAuley leads at East-West Bowl
By Ian Van Den Hurk
Gazette staff
Despite being months removed
from game action, Randy McAuley
reminded a bevy of Canadian
Football League scouts and
coaches why he is one of Canada’s
most explosive and exciting football players.
McAuley, Western’s starting tailback, led the West team to a 34-16
victory in the third annual EastWest Bowl. The East-West Bowl is
an all-star game that pits Canadian
Interuniversity Sport football players against each other as a showcase for next season’s CFL draft.
McAuley carried eleven times
for 41 yards and wowed spectators
with his record 104 yard kick
return for a touchdown, earning
him Most Valuable Player honours
for the West team.
On his return, McAuley raced to
his left after receiving the football.
Seemingly stopped in a crowd of
traffic, the running back made a
defender miss,swiftly cut to his
right and dashed across the entire
field before turning up towards the
end zone.
After the game, McAuley admitted his legs weren’t quite at regular
season level.
“I shouldn’t be saying this,
because I shouldn’t be [tired], but I
was huffing a little bit,” laughed
McAuley when asked about his
104-yard romp.
Western wide receiver Andy
Fantuz and defensive tackle Tom
Dolezel were also invited to the
East-West Bowl.
With West quarterbacks looking for him early and often, Fantuz was the game’s leading receiver with seven receptions for 79
yards and a smooth touchdown
grab on a fade.
When asked about the scouts
and the chance of being drafted
next season, Fantuz indicated that
for the most part his thoughts
remain centered on the Mustangs.
“I’ve always got [the scouts] in
the back of my mind, but I’m just
trying to focus on getting better as
a team and winning a championship,” Fantuz said.
Dolezel was all smiles after the
game and enjoyed his chance to
meet and practice with the players
he normally battles against during
the Ontario University Athletics
season.
“You learn a lot, you learn
where they’re coming from and
experience who they are,” Dolezel
said. “Once you get to know them,
they’re actually really cool guys.”
Western head coach Larry Haylor was the offensive coordinator
for the victorious West team and
he was pleased with the performance of his Mustang charges.
“All three of them were outstanding,” Haylor said after the
game. “Each of them was superb,
so it was a great statement for
them all.”
Aaron Lynett/Gazette
DOES HE HAVE THE RIGHT STUFF? Donnie Wahlberg and Joey
McIntyre feel that Mustang stars like Randy McAuley are destined for great pro careers, but will the CFL scouts agree?