NOW IN OUR 47TH YEAR

7 8 9 NOV 2008
www.rockcliffebookfair.com
cole publique
Rockcliffe Park
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Rockcliffe Book Fair has thousands and thousands
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both adults and children. The Book Fair is not just about
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records, dvd's, games and more!
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I want you so bad.
I want you so bad.
Its driving me mad.
Its driving me mad.
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Contents
An on-again, off-
again relationship
Post-apocalyptic
awesomeness
Shot down in a
shootout
Pwnd by addiction
News
Arts
Sports
Feature
p. 4
p. 9
p. 16
p. 12
Amanda Shendruk looks into the history of the
CFS and the SFUO. p. 4
An independent campaign aims to make the U of
O smoke free. p. 7
Peter Henders on reviews Fallout 3. p. 9
Danyal Khoral reviews the latest comic take
on the J oker. p. 15
Womens soccer team misses out on gold medal
in shootout. p. 16
Football team upsets Golden Gaels in seminal.
p. 17
Dave Atkinson explains the difference be-
tween online obsession and harmful addiction.
p. 12 13
Di helps you increase your chances of having
random sex at home and at school. p. 22
he choice is yours
IT IS OFFICIAL. We, the undergradu-
ate students of the University of Otta-
wa, are inally being asked the question
of whether or not to join the Canadian
Federation of Students (CFS) as full-
ledged members.
For those of you who do not already
know, the referendum will take place
on Nov. 1820. Stay tuned for polling
stations around campus.
What is the CFS you ask? Google it;
it only takes 0.25 seconds.
Now, you are probably asking your-
self why should you care about another
election. We have been bombarded in
the media with our own, arguably
pointless, federal election. We have
been enthralled with the presidential
election in the U.S. for the last year. But
most importantly we, as students, typi-
cally dont vote in elections, whether
they are on-campus, municipal, pro-
vincial, or federal.
It is important to make your deci-
sion. he decision of joining the CFS
is crucial. You have the opportunity
to end a long-running debate among
your student leaders here at school.
Now, you are probably saying that
you do not care about student poli-
tics. But the reality is that you pay for
student politics to happen. You pay
for services at your university that are
run by your fellow students, you pay
for your Student Federation of the
University of Ottawa (SFUO) execu-
tive salaries, and you pay for tuition,
books, rent, and beer. At the end of the
day you pay a lot for your university
experience.
What is important to note is that
joining the CFS will be yet another
cost added on to your student fees. You
need to make an informed decision for
yourself and for future students of this
institution of whether or not you think
this increased fee will beneit you.
Voice your opinion, because this time
it actually does matter.
So please stay tuned in the coming
weeks. here will be two sides of the
debate presented to you. And of course
they will be bombarding you with pro-
paganda again and again. he most
important thing you can do as a stu-
dent is to pay attention and vote.
Liz Doneathy
Fourth-year English student
A united student voice
I AM A strong supporter of the CFS.
I come from a working-class fam-
ily. I have a degree in linguistics and
am completing another degree in
honours translation. I have had an
incredible experience in university.
However, I have faced much struggle
and hardship. Even now I am trying
to pay of about $50,000 of debt.
I have been involved in student poli-
tics since second semester of irst year
when we had a rally for lower tuition
in Halifax and I was introduced to the
CFS. he CFS is focused on students,
is organized and run by students, and
consistently gets results for students.
Like all organizations, it is not perfect,
but it unites the great majority of stu-
dents in Canada and lets them have a
voice.
While the federal and provincial
governments are funding so many
other things, they are neglecting us:
students and recent graduates. he CFS
is ighting to change this and unite the
voices of students so we can be heard
together. Provinces in Canada who
have a united student voice have suc-
ceeded in obtaining tuition fee freezes
and reductions and increased funding
to post-secondary education. he CFS
and the half-million students across
Canada that they represent have seen
many victories that have beneited all
students.
Why do we hear politicians speak
about the economy, the elderly, fami-
lies, etc., but seldom about students?
Because there are some who think we
are better of independent, screaming
with our individual voices and drown-
ing each other out. We need one voice.
We need a united student movement
or things will never change. Students
may not be rich but we are many, and
if we can learn to speak together we
can efect change. All Canadians
should have access to a high-quality
university education. Some say we al-
ready do, but it is neither equitable nor
inclusive. I know many brilliant people
who were denied their right to a uni-
versity education, who dropped out or
lost their scholarships, or couldnt get
into grad school because their grades
sufered when they had to work full-
time. I know many people who are
drowning in debt.
You can tell yourself this is normal
in a developed country like Canada,
you can tell yourself this isnt true, you
can tell yourself that not everyone who
is qualiied deserves to go to university.
But you would be in denial.
here is a referendum coming up.
Educate yourselves. Examine the is-
sues, not the rumours. Listen to facts,
not naysayers. I support the CFS. Find
out whether you do too.
Amy Morris
Former SFUO vp inance
Drop fees, not bombs
Re: Dont drop fees (Opinion, Oct. 30)
AS STUDENTS ASSEMBLE on Nov.
5 to drop fees, we must not forget the
very real connections between mili-
tary spending and a lack of funding for
education. As tuition fees rise, we are
simultaneously witnessing an increased
military presence on campus in the
form of the Canadian Forces aggressive
military recruitment campaign, bom-
barding students with half-truths and
easy solutions for education inancing.
he deceptive tactics of the recruiters
is oten enough to convince students
to trade their debt sentence for a death
sentence.
While students make demands for
better-funded education, we need to
link the student debt crisis to areas of
wasteful, unethical government spend-
ing. Over the next 20 years, Prime Min-
ister Stephen Harper has pledged to
spend $490 billion on the military and
on Canadas war in Afghanistan. But
lets put these numbers into perspective:
six new warships will cost Canada $4.5
billion. his spending could eliminate
all tuition fees in Canada. Four strategic
airlit airplanes will cost $2 billion. his
equates to a $4,000 grant for every Ca-
nadian student. As our right to quality
education is being disregarded, rights
to life, security, and self-determination
in Afghanistan are being bombed to
pieces by the Canadian government.
he war in Afghanistan has killed
thousands of Afghan civilians, and
97 Canadian soldiers. Airstrikes are a
common tool in the NATO arsenal;
in August an air strike killed over 90
unarmed men, women, and children.
At the end of October, the Taliban an-
nounced it would only engage in peace
talks if all NATO forces leave Afghani-
stan. Canadas occupation has proven
destructive and fruitless.
hroughout the Drop Fees cam-
paign, some students may question if
a reduction (or elimination) of tuition
fees is economically feasible. Kalin
Smith makes several ridiculous argu-
ments against the Drop Fees campaign.
First, if tuition fees are reduced, the
operational funds of the university are
reduced. Smith is misrepresenting our
campaign; Drop Fees isnt targeting the
administration, but is targeting the pro-
vincial government. If the federal gov-
ernment can allocate $490 billion to the
military over the next 20 years, it has
the means to properly fund education
through a social transfer to the prov-
inces its merely a matter of priorities
and political will.
Secondly, Smiths argument that uni-
versity degrees will lose value if enroll-
ment increases is from the perspective
of someone blatantly unaware of his
privilege in society. Over 70 per cent
Got something to say?
Send your letters to
editor@thefulcrum.ca
Letters deadline: Sunday, 1 p.m.
Letters must be under 400 words unless
discussed with the editor-in-chief.
Drop off letters at 631 King Edward Ave. or
e-mail
editor@thefulcrum.ca.
Letters must include your name, telephone
number, year, and program of study. Pseud-
onyms may be used after consultation with the
editor-in-chief. We correct spelling and gram-
mar to some extent. The Fulcrum will exercise
discretion in printing letters that are deemed
racist, homophobic, or sexist.
We will not even consider hate literature or
libellous material. The editor-in-chief reserves
the authority on everything printed herein.
Nov. 612, 2008
Letters
Frank Appleyard
Editor-in-Chief
editor@thefulcrum.ca 3
Advertising Department Business Department
The Fulcrum, the University of Ottawas
independent English-language student
newpaper, is published by the Fulcrum
Publishing Society (FPS) Inc., a not-for-
prot corporation whose members con-
sist of all Univeristy of Ottawa students.
The Board of Directors (BOD) of the FPS
governs all administrative and business
actions of the Fulcrum and consists of
the following individuals: Ross Prusa-
kowski (President), Andrea Khanjin
(Vice-President), Tyler Meredith (Chair),
Peter Raaymakers, Nick Taylor-Vaisey,
Toby Climie, Scott Bedard and Andrew
Wing.
To contact the Fulcrums BOD,
contact Ross Prusakowski at (613) 562-
5261.
Will you be campaigning for
either side in the Canadian
Federation of Students mem-
bership campaign?
Yes:
No:
Not sure:
Which winter-season Gee-Gees
team will have the best regular
season record?
mens basketball:
womens basketball:
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womens hockey:
womens volleyball:
thefulcrum.ca poll
Go to thefulcrum.ca to vote!
Last weeks results
31%
0%
13%
19%
38%
of newly created jobs require a post-
secondary education. hose denied an
education for economic reasons are
at a distinct disadvantage regardless
of their intellectual merits. Education
must be accessible for all, and this goal
is certainly within reach. he irst step
is student mobilization, but we must
make the connections between expen-
sive imperialist wars and under-funded
post-secondary education. Drop fees,
not bombs!
Student Coalition Against War
Due to space constraints, we were
unable to print all letters received.
Please visit thefulcrum.ca/letters to
read more about sustainability at the
U of O.
Correction
An article in the Oct. 30 issue of the Fulcrum
incorrectly said that over 70 per cent of stu-
dents who contact the Student Appeal Centre
are visible minorities. he article should have
read that over 70 per cent of students who
contact the centre concerning accusations of
academic fraud are visible minorities.
A second article incorrectly stated that over
70 U of O students have iled appeals with the
university through the Student Appeal Centre.
he article should have read that there are cur-
rently over 70 students with unresolved cases.
he Fulcrum regrets the errors.
Nov. 612, 2008
News
Emma Godmere
News Editor
news@thefulcrum.ca 4
he cartoon, published in a 1994 issue of the
Fulcrum, and recreated at right, portrayed the
turbulent relationship between the Canadian
Federation of Students (CFS) and the Student
Federation of the University of Ottawa (SFUO)
in late 1994, just months before the two federa-
tions parted ways.
More than a decade later, the SFUO is once
again considering a relationship with the CFS,
and Nov. 1820 undergraduate students at the
University of Ottawa will have the opportunity
to decide whether or not the two organizations
should re-visit their past.
A decade-long relationship
he conference that founded the CFS was held
Oct. 1419, 1981, at Carleton University. he
federation was oi cially formed on Oct. 18, ater
the merging of two national organizationsthe
National Union of Students in Canada and the
Association of Student Councils. he CFS was
founded as a democratic student organization
with a mandate to articulate and advance stu-
dent interests and an ultimate goal of obtaining
accessible post-secondary education for every-
one.
Although the U of O was not a participant in
the founding conference, the SFUO attended
every CFS meeting up to 1985, when U of O un-
dergraduate students voted to join the federa-
tion. he referendum passed with 74.2 per cent
of students in favour of membership.
In 1990, 77.2 per cent of undergraduate stu-
dents voted to continue the SFUOs membership
in CFS.
When we were members, we were really ac-
tive and took leadership roleswe had a nation-
al chairperson [and] we were on the national
executive a bunch of times. here was a history
of us being leaders in the CFS, explained Sea-
mus Wolfe, current SFUO vp university afairs.
We brought a lot of the stringent bilingualism
requirements [to the CFS, and] we put a lot of
the campaigns on the table.
One of those leaders was Guy Caron, SFUO
president for the 199293 and 199394 academic
years. Upon completion of his term as president,
Caron was elected as national chairperson of the
CFS. Ironically, Carons time with the CFS coin-
cided with U of O undergraduate students deci-
sion to de-federate from the organization.
he breakup
We let [the CFS] during a bitterly fought ref-
erendum during March 1995, stated the transi-
tion report of Alain Gauthier, SFUO president
for the 199697 and 199798 academic years.
During the de-federation referendum Gauthier
was the organizer of the anti-CFS campaign.
Why we let was a combination of personal
politics, [and] a tumultuous political climate,
explained Wolfe, outlining the reasons for the
SFUOs 1995 departure from the CFS.
he mid-1990s were turbulent times for the
Canadian student movement: the federal gov-
ernment was cutting social transfers for post-
secondary education by the billions of dollars
and [former Liberal federal minister responsible
for Human Resources Development Canada]
Lloyd Axworthy was proposing radical reforms
for post-secondary education, stated the SFUOs
Ad-hoc Committee on Student Advocacy Orga-
nizations Report Concerning the Canadian Fed-
eration of Students, released this summer.
University student federations across the coun-
try disagreed on how to handle the Liberal cuts,
whether to proceed diplomatically or radically,
leading to mass student movements both to join
and to leave CFS. During the 199495 academic
year, 20 ai liation or disai liation referendums
were held at universities across Canada.
At the time, [the] CFS was accused by the
SFUO to be both too slow at reacting and too
confrontational to these [political] issues, stated
the report. Additionally, there were suggestions
that the CFS was too involved in non-student
related causes like free trade issues, and that
their goal to abolish tuition fees was unrealistic.
SFUO internal politics also played a signii-
cant role in the 1995 de-federation. News arti-
cles and editorials in 1994 issues of the Fulcrum
suggested that the SFUO was doing everything
in its power to leave the national organization.
hese suggestions continued throughout the
199495 academic year.
Fulcrum articles chronicled a number of suspect
actions by the SFUOs Board of Administration
(BOA) of the time. Prior to the March 1995 CFS
de-federation referendum, the BOA moved to join
the Canadian Alliance of Student Associations
(CASA), a rival national student organization.
he upcoming referendum means that we
will have a choice about remaining with the
CFS. But the Board of Administrations recent
move to accept CASAs constitution in principle
and take the irst step in becoming full members
means that this decision was made for us, read
a January 1995 Fulcrum editorial.
Furthermore, the BOA approved the motion
to lower quorum for the referendum from 12
per cent to ive per cent, and to reduce the bud-
get for the elections convener.
he lead-up to the referendum was not with-
out its fair share of controversy. Rumours sug-
gested that Alain Gauthier, the SFUO vp inter-
nal at the time, disliked Guy Caron, the previous
SFUO president and then-national chairperson
of the CFS.
Basically, from what I can see and from what
Ive read, it became Alain Gauthiers goal to take
down the Canadian Federation of Students be-
cause he knew that it was appreciated by Guy
Caron, said current SFUO president Dean
Haldenby.
LOVE/HATE HISTORY continued on p. 5
The CFS and the SFUO:
A love/ hate history
by Amanda Shendruk
Fulcrum Staf
THE BLACK AND white
graphic showed two arms:
biceps bulging, hands tight-
ly clasped, locked in an
unwavering arm wrestle.
On one arm, the letters
CFS were inscribed; on
the other, SFUO.
will be no restriction as to the people
who can campaign or the amount
of funds which can be spent on the
[SFUOs de-federation] campaign.
he 1995 court order resurfaced
when a motion was put forward at
the SFUOs Board of Administration
(BOA) meeting on Nov. 2 to restrict
SFUO executives and employees from
campaigning during paid hours, ater
the SFUO had pledged not to take a
collective stance in the CFS referen-
dum.
When the issue of the court order
was raised, the motion was amended
to read be it further resolved that any
campaigning by the SFUO executive
be done outside of paid time in good
faith, and was passed.
he referendum rules contain other
regulations regarding committee vol-
unteers, such as allowing only up to 30
non-SFUO members to campaign on
campus per day; requiring all volun-
teers for either campaign committee to
be identiied and recorded by the ROC,
as well as hold a campaign permit; and
prohibiting campaigning in any service
or business owned by the SFUO, among
several other detailed rules.
his is one of the most regulated
CFS campaigns that I can think of,
said Haldenby.
Undergraduate students will have
the opportunity to vote in the CFS
referendum at polling stations across
campus Nov. 1820, from 8 a.m. to 8
p.m. every day. For more information
about the referendum, polling sta-
tions and times, or to obtain a copy
of the referendum rules, go to refer-
endum.sfuo.ca.
by Emma Godmere
Fulcrum Staf
THE REFERENDUM OVERSIGHT
Committee (ROC) has made its i-
nal decisions regarding how the Nov.
720 campaign for the Student Fed-
eration of the University of Ottawas
(SFUO) full membership in the Ca-
nadian Federation of Students (CFS)
will play out.
In a 22-page document dated
Oct. 31, the four-person committee
consisting of SFUO President Dean
Haldenby and Political, International,
and Development Studies Student As-
sociation President Faris Lehn, along
with CFS Northern Ontario organizer
Christine Bourque and CFS national
director for organizing Lucy Watson
detail polling stations and times, Yes
and No committee guidelines, cam-
paign material restrictions, and the
oi cial referendum question that is to
appear on the ballot.
A lot of [the rules] were com-
promises here and there, explained
Lehn.
Fellow committee members
Bourque and Watson were not avail-
able for comment.
he ballot question includes sever-
al paragraphs detailing the objectives
and history of the CFS.
he Canadian Federation of Stu-
dents is a national student organiza-
tion and the Canadian Federation of
Students-Ontario is a provincial stu-
dent organization with a total mem-
bership of over 500,000 university and
college students, the oi cial question
reads. he Canadian Federation of
Students was formed in 1981 to ad-
vocate for an afordable, high-quality
system of post-secondary education
and to provide services to and provin-
cial and national student representa-
tion for students.
he question also details the ex-
pected additional student fees, which,
when the fees for CFS and CFS-
Ontario are combined, will be $7.15
per full-time student per semester.
Part-time students can expect to pay
a total of $3.58 per semester. he
question concludes by asking, Are
you in favour of membership in the
Canadian Federation of Students and
the Canadian Federation of Students-
Ontario?
We feel its important for the stu-
dents to have a base idea on exactly
what theyd be voting on, explained
Haldenby.
In a press release dated Oct. 29,
shortly ater the irst drat of the ref-
erendum rules was published, a group
identifying themselves as the No com-
mittee expressed their displeasure
with the inalized ballot question.
he drat question splits the to-
tal membership cost into two com-
ponents and essentially includes
Yes campaign speaking points, said
Michle Lamarche, identiied as the
chairperson of the No committee
in the press release. he question
should be [rewritten] immediately, or
the referendum postponed until a fair
question can be decided upon.
According to Haldenby, all of the
rules set out in the ROC document
are set in stone.
Basically, the [ROC] came up with
that question that we feel is fair. It
mentions the fees, it mentions factu-
ally what the Canadian Federation of
Students is, and then it asks the ques-
tion on whether or not [students]
want to become members, he said.
Haldenby identiied Lamarche and
Communications Student Associa-
tion President Ryan Kennery as the
two No committee representatives,
along with SFUO VP Student Afairs
Danika Brisson and SFUO executive
coordinator Franois Picard as the
two Yes committee representatives.
he representatives were not yet of-
icial at press time.
Another section of the referendum
rules that has been met with some
concern among students is section 10,
entitled Campaign Expenses, which
contains no evidence of regulations
on committees campaign spending.
Haldenby acknowledged that there
will be no spending cap in this cam-
paign, although there are limits on
[putting up posters], there are limits
on banners so were controlling
materials in that manner, he said.
he issue of capping campaign i-
nancing was also addressed in the
SFUOs 1995 CFS de-federation ref-
erendum, where a court order issued
in February of that year stated, there
NEWS
Nov. 6, 2008
5
www.thefulcrum.ca
Concerns about the legitimacy
of referendum proceedings peaked
when the CFS obtained a court in-
junction against the SFUO. In Febru-
ary 1995, a judge ruled that the SFUO
disobeyed CFS by-laws regarding the
participation of non-students during
the campaigning period.
Because of the ruling that the SFUO
disregarded CFS by-laws, the initial
referendum, held Feb. 1315, 1995,
was voided. he SFUO proceeded to
hold another referendum the follow-
ing month.
In March 1995, U of O undergradu-
ate students voted to pull out from the
CFS with 70 per cent in favour of de-
federation. Over 4,000 students voted
in the referendum, which equalled
approximately 20 per cent of the U of
Os undergraduate population.
Getting back together?
For a number of years ater the SFUO
let the CFS, they continued to attend
the national organizations semi-an-
nual general meetings as non-mem-
ber observers.
You basically go through everything,
but you dont vote, explained Wolfe.
he SFUO also continued to par-
ticipate in a number of CFS-led cam-
paigns, such as the no means no
date rape campaign and the campaign
to reduce tuition fees.
In the 13 years since the U of O
and CFS parted ways, the BOA has
re-addressed the question of mem-
bership on three separate occasions;
however, a CFS ai liation referendum
was never called.
During the 200607 academic year,
the BOA considered joining a nation-
al student organization, but decided
against it. Last year, the SFUO execu-
tive proposed prospective membership
in CFS, but the BOA overturned the
decision. On July 27 this year, however,
the BOA voted in favour of accepting
prospective membership in the CFS.
he fate of the relationship of the
CFS and the SFUO now rests in the
hands of current U of O undergradu-
ate students as they head to the polls
Nov. 1820 for a full-membership
referendum.
LOVE/HATE HISTORY
continued from p. 4
Get to know the CFS
The basics
The Canadian Federation of
Students (CFS) represents approxi-
mately 500,000 students at more
than 80 universities and colleges
across Canada.
It operates under the premise
that there is strength in numbers
and with the aim of creating ac-
cessible education for all.
It is a national organization that
is sub-divided into provincial
branches (such as CFS-Ontario).
The CFS portrays itself as an ac-
tive organization. They research
and analyze government policies,
and employ strategies such as
lobbying, public awareness cam-
paigns, and student mobilization
in order to accomplish their aims.
To either join or leave the CFS,
the interested student union must
hold a referendum, in which each
student gets one vote.
There must be two years
between either federation or de-
federation referendums.
Services
The CFS provides prospective-
member and full-member student
unions with various services, such
as discounted cell phone rates,
Student Saver Discount cards, the
National Student Health Network,
the Student Work Abroad Pro-
gram, and access to Homes4stu-
dents.ca.
The CFS partially owns and oper-
ates the travel service Travel CUTS,
which specializes in cheap airfare
and budget travel.
CFS members receive the Inter-
national Student Identity Card,
which can be used for various
travel discounts. The $17 card is
free for CFS members.
Campaigns
Member student unions are not
required to participate in every
CFS campaign.
Current campaigns deal with
matters such as tuition fees and
funding, date rape, aboriginal edu-
cation, copyright reform, racism,
and sustainability.
Proposed SFUO Fees
For full-time students:
o CFS National Fee: $3.90 per
semester per student
o CFS Ontario Fee: $3.25 per
semester per student
For part-time students:
o CFS National Fee: $1.95 per
semester per student
o CFS Ontario Fee: $1.63 per
semester per student
The Canadian Federation of Students is a national
student organization and the Canadian Federation
of StudentsOntario is a provincial student orga-
nization with a total membership of over 500,000
university and college students.
The Canadian Federation of Students was formed
in 1981 to advocate for an affordable, high-quality
system of post-secondary education and to pro-
vide services to and provincial and national stu-
dent representation for students.
For full-time students, the fee is $3.90 per se-
mester for the Canadian Federation of Students
($1.95 for part-time students) and the Canadian
Federation of Students-Ontario fee is $3.25 per
semester ($1.63 for part-time students).
Are you in favour of membership in the Canadian
Federation of Students and the Canadian Federa-
tion of Students-Ontario?
CFS referendum rules released
SFUO to experience
one of the most
regulated campaigns
in the CFS
ppppppppppp
The question:
NO YES
NEWS
Nov. 6, 2008
7
www.thefulcrum.ca
by Len Smirnov
Fulcrum Contributor
A GROUP OF University of Ottawa
students launched an independent,
university-wide campaign on Oct.
28 in an efort to promote a smoke-
free campus. he campaign aims to
reach out to undergraduate students
and garner support for a petition to
include two anti-smoking questions
on the 2009 Student Federation of the
University of Ottawa (SFUO) refer-
endum ballot. Over 1,500 signatures
need to be collected before Nov. 21
for the questions to appear on the
ballot.
he irst proposed referendum
question demands a ban on the sale of
tobacco products at SFUO businesses,
while the second asks the SFUO to re-
strict smoking to designated smoking
areas on campus. he campaign aims
to initiate a broad conversation about
smoking on campus and the SFUOs
links to tobacco companies.
Whats important is that we ask
the students the question and we al-
low the students to have a conversa-
tion, said Ryan Kennery, one of the
campaign organizers and president of
the Communications Students Asso-
ciation (CSA). his conversation is
happening on a lot of other campuses,
but hasnt really happened here.
A core group led by Kennery and
CSA VP University Afairs Sarah
Burke, along with a dozen other vol-
unteers, are leading the Smoke Free
Campus campaign. he volunteers
plan to reach undergraduate students
primarily through in-class presenta-
tions. hey have already discussed
campaign issues with several fellow
students and began visiting classes in
the irst week of November.
he organizers are focusing the
campaign on the issues of leadership
and priorities, both of which they
claim the SFUO is lacking by allow-
ing the sale of tobacco products in its
businesses. hey point to the SFUOs
contradictory roles as an organizer of
the annual Relay for Life event, a fund-
raiser for the Canadian Cancer Society,
and as a retailer of tobacco products to
reveal the organizations inconsistent
approach to tobacco issues and unwill-
ingness to surrender the proits made
from selling tobacco products. Ken-
nery hopes that the SFUO will over-
look the inancial incentives of selling
the products to pursue the principles
of a smoke-free environment.
I think that the principle out-
weighs any inancial incentives, said
Kennery in response to concerns that
the SFUO would experience inancial
dii culties in banning the sale of to-
bacco products.
he organizers insist on promoting
the Smoke Free Campus campaign
through democratic means. As an ac-
tive member of several student orga-
nizations, including the SFUOs Board
of Administration, Kennery has the
ability to promote the campaign
through closed channels. However, he
believes that student opinion must be
solicited prior to presenting the cam-
paign issues to the student body or-
ganizations. Kennery explained that a
democratic petition will increase the
weight of the campaign.
It will give the elected SFUO ex-
ecutive a mandate to go with respon-
sibility to lobby for change, he said.
Kennery anticipates that the peti-
tion will make the Smoke Free Cam-
pus campaigns issues a top priority
for the SFUO over the next year and
hopes that undergraduate students
will encourage other university
groups to discuss the campaign.
We are tackling the issues through
the mechanism for undergraduate
students, said Kennery. We hope
that when the other undergraduate
students step up and make a state-
ment, the other constituencies will
take notice.
Students can get involved in the
Smoke Free Campus campaign by
sending an email to smokefreecam-
paign@gmail.com, checking out the
Campus Sans Fume | Smoke Free
Campus (uOttawa) group on Face-
book, or signing the online petition at
petitiononline.com/sfccsf.
Students petition for a smoke-free campus
Independent
campaign promotes
ban on tobacco
products
Communications students Ryan Kennery and Sarah Burke are spearhead-
ing the Smoke Free Campus campaign.
photo by Martha Pearce
by Emma Godmere
Fulcrum Staf
THE UNIVERSITY OF Ottawas administration
will soon lose another vice-president, marking
the third vp departure in six months.
he search for a new vp academic was
launched Nov. 1, one day ater the application
window closed for the position of vp external
relationsa position that has been vacant since
July. he position of secretary for the university,
a job that is considered a vp role, has been va-
cant for over a week.
Current Dean of Common Law Bruce Feld-
thusen held the position of vp external af-
fairsunder its previous name of vp university
afairsin an interim role until August, while
former secretary of the university Pamela Har-
rod took on the role of advisor to the president
for special projects at the end of October. Ac-
cording to U of O President Allan Rock, the po-
sition of vp academic will continue to be illed
by its current occupant, Robert Major, until a
successor is chosen.
[Robert Major] was thinking about retir-
ing this past summer, and I said Robert, Im
newly arrived, Id be grateful if youd stay on,
and he kindly agreed to do that, said Rock.
We started the [selection] process. Thats
going to take a few months to get the right
people.
While the administration is faced with the
burden of conducting two vp searches at the
same time, Rock explained that as far as the vp
external search is concerned, they are already
inding some success.
We got some terriic applications. We have a
pile of very attractive CVs, so were going to now
get down to the point of meeting with the [hir-
ing] committee and considering them, he said.
Obviously, its in my interest to ind someone
ASAP because Ive been carrying a lot of that
[positions responsibilities] myself.
When asked about Harrods departure from
the secretary position, Rock emphasized her de-
sire to switch roles within the administration.
Pamela [Harrod] has taken on a new role.
Shes taking some areas where shes developed
expertise and shes going to focus on those, he
said. She was ready for a changeshes been
working very intensively.
At press time, Rock expected that an an-
nouncement regarding a replacement for the
secretary role would be made this week.
Harrod and Major could not be reached for
comment.
with iles from Frank Appleyard
U of O administration
loses third vice-president
in six months
Search for vp academic
launches alongside ongoing
vp external hiring
photo by Martha Pearce
Robert Major will leave the position of vp academic once his successor is named.
THE CANADIAN FEDERATION of Students
(CFS) membership referendum ballot question
that will be presented to University of Ottawa
undergraduate students Nov. 1820 is unlike
any other referendum question the Student Fed-
eration of the University of Ottawa (SFUO) has
seen in recent memory.
Using exactly 100 words, the referendum
question established by the Referendum Over-
sight Committee (ROC) includes a three-para-
graph-long preamble that gives an overview
of what the CFS does. In an interview with
the Fulcrum, SFUO President Dean Haldenby
emphasized the importance of informing stu-
dents about the CFS. I agree that one needs to
be informed to vote; however, that is what the
13-day, committee-regulated campaign is for.
he preamble gives the impression of favouring
the Yes side of the campaign, which has already
concerned many students.
Interestingly, in two CFS de-federation ref-
erendums that faced the Simon Fraser Student
Society and the University of Victoria Graduate
Students Society in the past year, each student
association saw ballot questions that simply stat-
ed, Are you in favour of maintaining member-
ship in the Canadian Federation of Students?
Both referendums resulted in de-federation
from the CFS.
Vp communications francophone for the Stu-
dent Association of the Faculty of Arts Michle
Lamarche, who is expected to represent the No
committee, explained in an Oct. 29 press release
that the SFUOs referendum question essentially
consists of Yes committee talking points and
said that there should be no preamble, the cost
should simply be per semester, all in accordance
with how all SFUO referendum questions have
been asked in the past.
According to the SFUO constitution, refer-
endum questions are expected to be concise,
precise, and unambiguous. While the CFS
membership referendum is not strictly SFUO-
led, Haldenby did acknowledge that the ROC
attempted to incorporate several commonplace
SFUO regulations in their referendum rules.
his CFS referendum question clearly does not
adhere to the rules that other SFUO referendum
questions must follow, and undergrads will be
presented with a referendum ballot that will dif-
fer from any others seen before.
When asked about switching to a mixed-
member proportional electoral system last year,
Ontario voters were simply asked, Which elec-
toral system should Ontario use to elect mem-
bers to the provincial legislature? with the
option to choose either the existing electoral
system (First-Past-the-Post) or the alternative
electoral system proposed by the Citizens As-
sembly (Mixed Member Proportional). While
there was concern over the fact that it wasnt a
yes or no question, nobody voiced a need for
there to be an explanation of either electoral
systems on the balloteveryone knew the in-
formation would be a part of the campaign.
While the referendum rules are set in stone
and little can be done to change the ballot ques-
tion at this point, the issue that the lengthy
question raises is the importance of arriving at
the polls as an informed voter. If undergradu-
ates on campus can prove they are more aware
of the CFS and the pros and cons of full mem-
bership than the ROC appears to believe, then
the preamble on the ballot will no longer matter.
Rather than the inluence of a carefully worded
preamble, it will be students markings on the
ballot that decide this referendum, and students
had better be ready to see the information arrive
at their doorstep this month.
news@thefulcrum.ca
613-562-5260
NEWS
Nov. 6, 2008
8
www.thefulcrum.ca
Rapid HIV testing
continues on campus
THE UNIVERSITY OF Ottawas
Health Promotion Resource Centre
will continue its pilot program ofer-
ing free, rapid HIV testing to part-
and full-time U of O students on the
second Wednesday of every month.
Testing remains anonymous, as date
of birth and gender are the only iden-
tifying questions asked by health care
professionals, while some informa-
tion on sexual history and practices
may be needed to gauge potential risk
of contracting HIV.
he next testing date on campus is
Nov. 12, 9:30 a.m.2 p.m in room 206
of the Unicentre. Appointment sign-
up is ongoing at the Health Promo-
tions Resource Oi ce (UCU 203) on
a irst-come, irst-served basis.
Jolene Hansell
Student threatens Memorial
University prof online
ST. JOHNS (CUP) MEMORIAL
UNIVERSITY OF Newfoundland
was crawling with police oi cers on
Oct. 27 ater a death threat was made
against a professor.
he threat, which was posted by
a student on a website, gave speciic
details on the date, time, and place the
actions would be carried out.
Working with the universitys com-
puter services, police discovered the
threat was made from a computer
in Memorials Queen Elizabeth II li-
brary, where students have to log in to
use a computer. Within two hours of
Memorial University administration
hearing about the incident, police had
gathered students who had logged in
that morning and began a round of
questioning.
According to Memorials Depart-
ment of Marketing and Communica-
tions, the deadline given by the Web
threat has passed without incident.
Police are still investigating the
threat and no arrests have been
made.
Ian MacDonald, he Muse New cabinet for a new session
RE-ELECTED PRIME MINISTER
Stephen Harper and his new 38-mem-
ber cabinetincreased from 31 min-
isters in his last cabinetwere sworn
in before Governor General Michalle
Jean at Rideau Hall on Oct. 30.
Harper included 11 women in his
new cabinet, an increase from the
seven women previously holding
ministerial positions. he decision to
include more women may be in reac-
tion to the over 437 women from all
political parties who ran in this elec-
tion, and the 32 female Conservative
MPs who were elected. Still, the per-
centage of female ministers in this
cabinet28 per centfalls short of
former Liberal prime minister Paul
Martins record of 30 per cent in his
2003 cabinet. One of these new fe-
male ministers is Leona Aglukkaq,
Nunavuts former health minister
and the irst Conservative member
of Parliament elected in Nunavut,
who will take over as federal health
minister. Algukkaqs position in the
cabinet was seen by many as a a sign
of the growing importance of Cana-
das North.
At the ceremony, Harper an-
nounced that the economy would be
his governments number one pri-
ority, and his selection of ministers
seemingly relects that commitment.
Jim Flaherty will continue his role
as minister of inance, Peter MacKay
will remain as minister of defence,
former health minister Tony Clem-
ent will take the position of minister
of industry, and John Baird is being
shul ed from the environment port-
folio to the transportation portfolio.
Other signiicant appointments in the
new cabinet include Stockwell Day
moving from public safety to inter-
national trade, the newly elected Gail
Shea as the minister of isheries, and
Lawrence Cannon as the minister of
foreign afairs.
Jessica Sukstorf
News in brief
Ottawatch
Vote of condence
One hundred words of woe
Emma Godmere
News Editor
Staff meetings Thursdays at 1 p.m.
Drop by 631 King Edward Ave. and pick up a story.
by Daniel Harris
Fulcrum Contributor
THE LATEST FILM FROM writer
and director Kevin Smith, Zack and
Miri Make a Porno, has been stirring
up controversy south of the border.
he ilms premise is all in the title;
two platonic friends (Seth Rogen
and Elizabeth Banks) are strapped
for cash and ind themselves making
a pornographic ilm to pay the bills.
his is the eighth ilm from Smith,
who is best known for his cult classics
Clerks, Mallrats, and Dogma.
During a conference call, Smith
talked at length about the controversy
surrounding his latest ilms content,
marketing campaign, and the word
porno. he ilm pushed the edge of
the rating system to breaking point.
Initially the Motion Picture Asso-
ciation of America (MPAA) gave us an
NC-17, he says. We made the cuts to
get the R but they were still kicking it
back at NC-17. Ater doing that three
times I said Im not comfortable cut-
ting into the movie anymore.
Smith then made the decision to go
for broke and appeal the rating to the
MPAAs appeals board.
he appeals process lets you have
this one inal bite at the apple. So
we put everything we wanted in the
movie into the movie and accepted
the NC-17 rating.
In the U. S., an NC-17 rating means
that no one under the age of 17 is ad-
mitted to the theatre. Children can at-
tend R-rated movies in the U.S., but
only with an accompanying parent or
guardian. Most major movie theatre
chains refuse to carry NC-17 ilms, so
the rating means commercial failure
for whatever ilms receive it.
Despite having been through the
appeals process twice before with
Clerks and Jersey Girl, Smith was less
conident about the outcome.
Each time the objections had been
based on dialogue the characters said,
he claims. his was the irst lick we
ever made where they could actually
point to visual sequences and be like
youve got a dudes face being shit on,
you cannot have that in an R-rated
movie. I fought it so hard because I
really wanted to keep that shit shot.
he MPAAs initial ruling was even-
tually overturned and the ilm was
awarded an R rating, but not before
Smith had second thoughts.
I was so close to looking over and
saying alright, lets cut a deal. Id seen
so many Law and Orders and theyre
always cutting deals. I was so close
to saying I will cut out a lot of the
thrusting if you just let me keep the
shit shot.
Due to the MPAAs control over all
marketing materials, Smiths ight over
content didnt stop with the rating.
hey may have lost that little bat-
tle, but they more than made up for it
in terms of kicking back our trailers
and not letting us use any of the post-
ers we submitted, Smith contends.
he poster in question showed Ro-
gen and Banks in split-screen, staring
forward with slightly goofy expres-
sions on their faces. On Rogens side
of the poster, Bankss hair is visible
at roughly his belly button, while on
Bankss side Rogens hair is visible
at a similar level. Its meant to be a
broad innuendo for oral sex, but its
tame enough that no one in Canada
seemed to notice.
KEVIN SMITH
continued on p. 14
Nov. 612, 2008
Arts & Culture
Peter Henderson
Arts & Culture Editor
arts@thefulcrum.ca 9
by Peter Henderson
Fulcrum Staf
FALLOUT 3 IS perhaps the most antic-
ipated video game of all time. he irst
two Fallout games still routinely make
best-of lists, a full decade ater Fallout
2 was released. he online community
dedicated to the franchise has grown
as new generations of fans discover the
original two games, and excitement
has been building to a fever pitch ever
since Bethesda Sotworks announced
in 2004 that it would be releasing a
true sequel to the franchise, now avail-
able on Xbox 360, Playstation 3, and
PC. Its been ten long years but Fallout
3 was deinitely worth the wait.
Fallout 3 is a game that deies
description. Its a irst-person role-
playing game (RPG) thats deeper
than BioShock, has a better plotline
than Grand het Auto 4, and is more
engaging than Mass Efect. Its every-
thing youve ever wanted in a game,
even if you didnt know you did. Fall-
out 3 is not without its laws, but its
a massively ambitious project that
will surely stand as one of the greatest
games ever released.
Fallout 3 is set in and around
Washington, D.C. in the year 2277,
more than 200 years ater the Great
War wiped out most life on Earth.
Many perished, but pockets of hu-
man beings survived in underground
bunkers called Vaults. Ater the war
was over, some of those hidden in the
Vaults emerged to start a new civili-
zation. Some, however, stayed in the
Vaults, locked away from the newly
developing world. You are one of
those people, born in the Vault and
destined to live out your remaining
days there. Of course, destiny is not
always fate, and you soon arrive in
the Wasteland, let to fend for yourself
while searching for your father.
Players create their own character
through a simple yet deceptively deep
process. You can choose your gender,
your ethnicity, and your appearance,
as well as your primary characteristics
and skills. here are also perks: unique
attributes you can choose that give you
skill bonuses or provide other advan-
tages. Outside the Vault, as you gain
experience and levels, you can upgrade
your skills and gain new perks. It feels
so natural that you can forget just how
complex the system really is.
Player creation determines how
you survive in the Wasteland out-
side the Vault, and it is here that the
game really shines. You can salvage,
repair, and sell equipment, and this
scavenging adds another layer of
realism. Other characters can join
your party, including Dogmeat, the
friendly canine companion from the
irst two Fallout games. here is also
a system of karma, which tracks your
good and bad deeds, and changes
other characters actions accordingly.
Some non-player characters (NPCs)
will join you or shun you depending
on your karma, and the karmic de-
cisions you face will truly test your
conscience.
he game can be played any num-
ber of ways, with high speech skills
and charisma allowing you to talk
your way out of almost any situation,
strength and guns letting you ight
your way to your goal, and sneak skills
and agility that allow you to avoid
whatever dangers you come across.
Unlike many other RPGs, Fallout 3
presents viable options for whatever
skills you choose. Every character you
create will provide a diferent game-
play experience.
FALLOUT continued on p. 14
Getting ahead in a post-apocalyptic wasteland
Fallout 3
redeines
modern gaming
Fallout 3 includes exploring, diplomacy, and giant-ass explosions in equal measure.
Director Kevin Smith fought hard to keep his latest lm as dirty as possible.
image courtesy fallout.bethsoft.com
photo courtesy Alliance Films
Zack and Miri make a fuck tape
Kevin Smith vs.
decency
ARTS
Nov. 6, 2008
10
www.thefulcrum.ca
by Nigel Smith
Fulcrum Staf
NOW IN ITS third year of touring,
Dash Arts intoxicating reimagining
of William Shakespeares A Midsum-
mer Nights Dream makes one of the
Bards most cherished comedies into
a transcendent spectacle that deies
categorization. Its a heady mix that
incorporates dance, aerial acrobat-
ics, live music, and song, making this
production a testament to the com-
munal power of theatre.
Transporting the audience to a for-
eign landscape of fairies, kings, and
queens, A Midsummer Nights Dream
unfolds within one magical evening
of mischief and sensual awakenings.
Deep in the forest, two pairs of star-
crossed Athenian lovers fall suscepti-
ble to the magical powers of the fairy,
Puck. Under the orders of his mas-
ter Oberon, king of the fairies, Puck
renders each lover lovesick over the
wrong partner. Meanwhile, an ama-
teur theatre troupe, preparing a per-
formance for the Duke and Duchess
of Athens, also come in contact with
Pucks naughty ways, transforming
their star performer Bottom into a
literal ass. he play is illed with ro-
mance, comedy, and magic, and ends
with a triumphant performance by
the acting troupe.
Peter Hinton, the artistic director
of the National Arts Centre (NAC),
deserves praise for bringing U.K. di-
rector Tim Supples unique vision
to Ottawa. Supple served as artistic
director for the Young Vic heatre
in London in the 1990s, and formed
Dash Arts back in 2005 to collaborate
with artists from abroad. Supples in-
novative staging of the comedy is a
conceptual marvel. Basing the pro-
duction in the recesses of India, he
argues a case for the universality of
Shakespeare. Points are clearly made
regarding the rigid and oppressive
class system in India, with the theatre
troupe inhabiting one of the lower so-
cial classes. Furthermore, the darker
aspects of sexuality that are hinted at
through the domination of the female
lovers by their male counterparts are
provocative for a comedy. hough
these themes are touched upon, they
do not distract from the palpable joy
of the production. Dressed in re-
splendent costumes and acting on top
of real dirt, the performers exude uni-
versal warmth. heir energy and love
for the material is truly infectious.
he productions incorporation of
several languages adds to the magic of
the play. Hindi is the oi cial language
in India, however the Indian consti-
tution recognizes 22 diferent spoken
languages. Along with English and
Hindi, the production incorporates
six of these dialects, linking Indias
wide range of cultures in an ingenious
manner. No subtitles are provided,
but through the clever staging and
distinct characterizations, the story
unfolds with surprising ease. hough
the tale is well known, this interpreta-
tion sheds a whole new light on the
plot and lends the comedy a new sense
of vitality. Shakespearean adaptations
nowadays consistently strive to con-
nect to the younger generation while
keeping the older ones entertained.
Supples take on the Bard succeeds at
doing so with deceptive ease, cross-
ing generational and cultural barriers
with aplomb.
his new take on A Midsummer
Nights Dream is a piece of theatre that
has the power to transform. Socially
and culturally enriching, it provides
an exciting new context for such cel-
ebrated material, bringing audiences
closer to a culture oten deemed ex-
otic in the Western world.
Youll never want to wake from this
dream.
A Midsummer Nights Dream runs
at the NAC until Nov. 15. Tickets are
$32.50$67, or $11 through LiveRush.
Visit nac.ca for details.
A dream to live in
photo courtesy the National Arts Centre
by Peter Henderson
Fulcrum Staf
OTTAWA-BASED INDIE-ROCK COLLEC-
TIVE the Urban Aesthetics are aiming high in
the wild-card round of the Live 88.5 Big Money
Shot on Nov. 7.
he Live 88.5 Big Money Shot is a multi-
round battle of the bands organized by Ottawa
radio station Live 88.5. Prizes include more than
$250,000 worth of recording time and equip-
ment. he Urban Aesthetics made it past the
irst round, which was decided by text-message
voting. hey now have one last shot in the wild-
card round, where they face a panel of judges for
their chance to make the inals.
I think that everyone thats in it will beneit
from it, says Greg Janssen, founder, lead sing-
er, and principal songwriter of the band. You
get the exposure, having an audience that you
wouldnt necessarily play to, you get live experi-
ence, and if you win you get money.
he seven-piece band released their self-titled
debut EP in October. It was produced by Dean
Watson, who has also worked with fellow Ottawa
residents Jetplanes of Abraham, and was released
on Janssens own label, Indie Empire. he EPs
cover art was drawn by Colin White, a local art-
ist. What started as a solo project for Janssen in
January 2007 is now a full-ledged collective.
At irst, I only really wanted a three-piece
bass, drums, guitar, explains Janssen. But we
never found a bass, we just kept inding all these
other pieces. When we found a bassist, by that
time wed picked everyone else up.
he bands current lineup, inalized in May,
now consists of Janssen on guitar and vocals,
his girlfriend Jen Rouse on vocals, Jon Rikin
on drums, Mike Braia on guitar, Evan Runge
on violin, Neil Gerster on bass, and Lawrence
Pernica on trumpet. hough ostensibly a col-
lective, the bands sound is much more like a
conventional rock band than other groups of
similar size. heir music combines lyrical depth
with tight, catchy melodies, weaving the difer-
ent instruments and sounds into a cohesive and
well-directed whole, the very opposite of some
other, jam-band style collectives.
As much as were a collective, were more
song-oriented, explains Janssen. We do some
jams and things like that, but were very much
a tight combo.
As to the inevitable comparison to Broken
Social Scene, another collective and one of Can-
adas most popular bands, Janssen doesnt see
much in common.
heyre more interested in textures, says
Janssen. It seems like everyones just throwing
in sounds whenever they feel like it, which ends
up coming up with something really cool, really
neat, and really diferent, but were more along
the lines of [a traditional] band.
he Urban Aesthetics irst EP was recorded
before the addition of Gerster, Braia, or Pernica,
with Janssen illing in the bass and guitar tracks
and a session musician playing the trumpet.
We just hadnt found anyone at that point,
says Janssen. You can tell when you see us live
now. Our sounds evolved a lot, just from having
those few extra members. Its a lot more full, a
lot more dynamic, because they can play their
instruments better than I can.
All the members of the band live in Ottawa,
and their experience with the local music scene
has been ambivalent, but Janssen sees room for
growth.
It is dii cult sometimes, because its just hard
to get people out to shows, explains Janssen.
heres lots of great stuf in Ottawa, its just hid-
den somehow. Weve been looking around, just
from putting together shows over the past cou-
ple months, looking for bands, and you stumble
upon all this great stuf thats coming out of the
city that youve never heard of. If people knew
all the stuf that was going on, maybe it would
be a diferent story.
he Urban Aesthetics play the Live 88.5 Big Mon-
ey Shot on Nov. 7 at the Live Lounge (126.5 York
St.). Admission is $8. Doors open at 8 p.m. 19+.
Breaking down the Urban Aesthetics
The Urban Aesthetics live up to their name as stylish city-dwellers.
photo courtesy the Urban Aesthetics
Real dirt is just one of the innovative components of Dash Arts new take on a
classic play.
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something of a golden age for video
games. Sales are skyrocketing, the
intense competition between per-
sonal computers and consoles has
led to incredible choice for consum-
ers, and game developers are getting
the inancial resources they need to
make innovative and brilliant games
like Portal, Fallout 3, and BioShock.
his massive success means that the
gaming industry is here to stay, but
there are problems on the horizon.
Like other creative industries, the
gaming industry must straddle the
line between business and artnev-
er an easy balance.
Gaming is hugely proitable now,
with sales of games alone account-
ing for $9.5 billion in revenues last
year. To put that number in perspec-
tive, the total worldwide box-oi ce
receipts in 2007 amounted to $9.66
billion. he gaming industry already
has comparable revenues to the ilm
industry, and its growing fast
the 2007 earnings represent a 28.4
per cent increase from 2006, and it
doesnt even include the $9.35 bil-
lion spent on gaming consoles and
associated hardware. Gaming is a big
business, and where theres business
theres business people, and where
theres business people theres not a
lot of creativity.
It isnt hard to see that the ideas
of proit and artistic expression of-
ten enjoy an inverse relationship.
Business interests aim for the most
proit from the biggest audience,
while artistic considerations value
experimentation and innovation
over appeasing the masses or mak-
ing a quick buck. Allowing artists
to have control over their art is the
model the gaming industry should
follow, with game designers being
allowed creative freedom over their
products.
Currently, the gaming industry
is organized in a very top-down
hierarchy, with many of the game
studios owned by huge conglom-
erates. Producing a game is a huge
undertaking that requires money
most game development studios
dont have, so they rely on larger
companies to fund their work. his
is a necessary evil, but the busi-
ness concerns of the conglomerate
must be balanced against the cre-
ative concerns of the developer. Its
no surprise that the best games are
made by developers who are free
to experiment, innovate, and make
the kind of game that theyd want to
play. Warren Spector was given free
reign at game developer Ion Storms
division in Austin, Texas, and
brought us Deus Ex, the irst game
to mix role-playing elements with
the thrill of a irst-person shooter
and get it right. he second game
he produced from Ion Storm Aus-
tin was beset by interference from
the businesspeople at the top of the
company, and it turned into the un-
derwhelming critical lop that was
Deus Ex: Invisible War.
Obviously the idea of game de-
signers running the show does have
its troubles. hink about Daikatana,
the game released by one of the orig-
inal designers of Doom ater years
of development. Daikatana was to
gaming what Waterworld is to ilm: a
massive vanity project brought down
by hubris and mismanagement. A
better idea would be to strike a bal-
ance wherein game designers have
almost total freedom over design and
programming, but business people
provide the nitty-gritty management
of resources.
For an example of the best-run
company in video games, look no
further than the most successful one:
Blizzard Entertainment. Although
Blizzard is now a part of a giant cor-
poration, Activision Blizzard, it is
let alone to do as it pleases, and its
standing policy is to release a game
when its done. Every game Blizzard
has released since 1995 has been a
massive hit, including Diablo I, Dia-
blo II, Warcrat II: Tides of Darkness,
and World of Warcrat. Its games are
successful because they take time
to make the gameplay experience
unique, engaging, and easy to learn.
he business side of Activision Bliz-
zard gives the designers free reign
over content, without relinquishing
control of management or market-
ing. hey strike the balance perfectly,
and as a direct result of that they are
the most proitable video-game com-
pany in the world.
Now that gaming is a big busi-
ness, its necessary to safeguard the
high-quality games weve come to
expect from the demands of corpo-
rate types who care about nothing
but the bottom line. Games like Star
Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II,
S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl,
and Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of
the Earth could all have been great
if the business people had let the
designers make a complete game
instead of rushing it out the door
to make a quick proit. Gamers cur-
rently have an enviable amount of
choice among great games, and only
the suits at the top of the chain can
take that away from us. So please: let
the creative types create, and let the
managers manage.
arts@thefulcrum.ca
613-562-5931
Youll never eat brunch in this town again
Gamings golden age
Peter Henderson
Arts & Culture Editor
f
If youre reading this on Thursday,
it may already be too late.
But dont worry, we have one every week.
Come to the Fulcrums staff meetings,
Thursdays at 1p.m.
Act now, before its too late.
The Fulcrum is looking for students
to join its board of directors.
If you are looking for experience in business
or not-for-prot organizations,
email Ross Prusakowski,
the Fulcrums business manager.
business.manager@thefulcrum.ca
Now that gaming is a
big business, its neces-
sary to safeguard the
high-quality games
weve come to expect
from the demands of
corporate types.
ARTS
Nov. 6, 2008
11
www.thefulcrum.ca
by Dave Atkinson
Fulcrum Contributor
SOME PEOPLE SHOOT heroin cooked
on a tinfoil takeout plate into the web-
bing of their toes in a back alley. Some
people take televisions apart in hotel
rooms ater a week without sleep, fu-
elled by methamphetamine. hen there
are those who spend the hours between
2 a.m. and 4 a.m. updating their cats blog
to ill everyone in on the life and times of
Mr. Mittens, the greatest cat in the blo-
gosphere. Internet addiction is as real as
any drug and has escalated into an actual
disorder.
According to the Diagnostic and Sta-
tistical Manual of Mental Disorders IV
(DSM), an addiction to drugs or alcohol
is present if the patient exhibits three or
more of the following symptoms: Toler-
ance to the substance; consumption of
large amounts over a long period; a num-
ber of unsuccessful eforts to cut down;
time spent obtaining the drug replaces
social, occupational or recreational activ-
ities; and continued use despite adverse
consequences. A person who exhibits
these symptoms in relation to Internet
use has become addicted.
Internet addiction disorder was irst
thought up as a joke by New York psy-
chiatrist Ivan Goldberg in 1995. Gold-
berg made it up to show the American
Psychology Association that the DSM
included disorders that should be consid-
ered questionable. He was trying to make
fun of societys obsession with its own ad-
dictive disorders, and thought being ad-
dicted to the Internet was ridiculous. hat
was before people started to upload hun-
dreds of videos of sneezing baby pandas.
hough the makers of ergonomic chairs
and Doritos are very happy with people
sitting at their computers, Goldbergs IAD
joke is now considered a serious issue by
psychiatrists and the general public alike.
Internet origins
he Internet was originally created as
a network between military computers
owned by the United States government
that allowed the rapid sharing of infor-
mation over long distances. he network,
called ARPANET, was designed and
implemented by the Advanced Research
Projects Agency in 1969. It had no hilari-
ous pictures of cats, porn, or Facebook.
ARPANET remained a purely military
and academic system until the late 1980s
and early 90s, when it was opened to cor-
porate interest, and most importantly,
when the European Organization for Nu-
clear Research launched its World Wide
Web Project in 1990. he Internet was
inally made public.
Within a few years, the Internet became
omnipresent; case in point: there are now
refrigerators that can go online. An ever-
growing cross-section of the population
has gained access to the Internet, and
whenever you get a wide enough sample
of people, there will undoubtedly be some
people in there that can get hooked on
something as unexpected as the Internet.
he intoxicating Internet
In a study published in Computers in
Human Behaviour in December 2007,
authors Andrew hatcher and Gisela
Wretschko found that most people have
what they call problematic Internet use,
which they deined as the use of the In-
ternet that creates psychological, social,
school, and/or work dii culties in a per-
sons life. Some of the symptoms they
included in their study were a preoccu-
pation with online activities, needing to
spend increasing amounts of time online,
and unsuccessful attempts to reduce the
amount of time spent online.
Nicholas Carr, author of the article Is
Google Making Us Stupid? published in
the Atlantic Monthly, believes the Internet
has made life a lot easier in some aspects,
such as conducting research, but has also
increased our reliance on technology with
detrimental efects.
My mind now expects to take in infor-
mation the way the net distributes it: in
a switly moving stream of particles, he
writes. Once I was a scuba diver in the
sea of words. Now I zip along the surface
like a guy on a Jet Ski. What the net seems
to be doing is chipping away my capacity
for concentration and contemplation.
As the Internet becomes increasingly
integrated into every facet of life, people
will spend more of their free time suring
according to hatcher and Wretschko.
Some will use their time wisely while oth-
ers will become addicted to the very idea
of the Internet. While one person uses the
Internet to do research for their econom-
ics essay, another spends all their time
looking up YouTube videos. hey dont
go to class, they dont wash their rotting
laundry, but they have over 1,000 friends
on Facebook. It is these people that may
have a problem.
Jerald Block, a psychiatrist at Oregon
Health and Science University in Port-
land, has spent a signiicant time re-
searching the idea that the Internet can
be addictive. His research has led him to
believe that the Internet is actually more
than just an addiction; its a distortion in
the persons mind. He spoke to the Tele-
graph in January about his indings on
Internet addicts.
he relationship is [now] with the
computer. It becomes a signiicant other
to them, he explained. hey exhaust
emotions that they could experience in
the real world on the computer through
any number of mechanisms: emailing,
gaming, porn.
Gaming addiction
One of the most popular things to do on
the Internet is play video games. Within
several months of the Internets public
release, the nerds took hold and turned
it into an all-out gaming network. With
the release of Playstation 2 in 2000, the
Internet weaseled its way onto video
game consoles. Online games like World
of Warcrat and he Sims have made it
possible to immerse yourself in a world
that is forever at your whim, allowing you
to create a second life that is like the real
world, only you can be an elf or some-
thing. Most good things used in excess
have detrimental efects, and video games
are no exception.
In a 1990 article entitled Addiction:
deinition and implications published in
the British Journal of Psychiatry, author
Aviel Goodman compared the criteria lists
for various addictive disorders such as al-
cohol dependency, pathological gambling,
and compulsive overeating and came up
with several characteristics of addiction.
Essentially (and this is massively simpli-
ied) if you do something more than you
feel like you ought to, try to cut back and
fail, feel crappy when youre not doing it
and balls-out great when you are, and then
feel awful when you inish doing it, youre
probably addicted to whatever it is. Its
strange to admit, but some people exhibit
this behaviour toward video games.
Alleged addiction to gaming has even
been the cause of several deaths. For exam-
ple, South Korean gamer Lee Seung Seop
died of exhaustion in 2005 ater playing
Starcrat for 50 consecutive hours. In Chi-
na in 2007, recently ired schoolteacher Xu
Yan played online video games for 15 days
straight. hough these stories are relatively
rare considering the sheer number of gam-
ers, they likely make you wonder what the
diference is between liking to play video
games and needing to play them.
Well, for one thing, youre at far greater
risk if youve got a penis. According to a
Stanford University School of Medicine
study on video games completed in Febru-
ary, the part of the brain responsible for re-
warding feelings is more stimulated in men
than in women when a video game involv-
ing territory control is being played. With
increased playing of video games comes
increased skill, and higher rewards or lev-
els are attained. Alan Reiss, senior author
of the study and professor of psychiatry
and behavioral sciences at Stanford, was
not surprised by the outcome.
I think its fair to say that males tend
to be more intrinsically territorial, he
said in an Ottawa Citizen article in May.
It doesnt take a genius to igure out who
historically are the conquerors and ty-
rants of our speciestheyre the males.
Most of the computer games that are re-
ally popular with males are territory- and
aggression-type games.
Notably, according to a May 2006 Wash-
ington Post article, treatment centres and
telephone hotlines have opened in South
Korea to combat gaming addiction. Also,
in August 2005, the Chinese government
introduced an anti-online gaming ad-
diction system targeti
he governments efort
ing time of anyone un
gamed for over ive ho
the screen appeared at
utes of subsequent play
You have entered unh
please go ol ine imme
you do not your health
and the beneits you ca
to zero. If the gamer r
their progress would b
his system is still in ef
So ladies, the questi
may be: Is my boyfrie
dict? Well, probably n
addict is dependent on
point where they cant
to. Your boyfriend may
but if he still inds time t
go to school, he is not a
Pornography a
Ask most men and odd
you they love their por
was a huge hit when it
quickly getting as old as
just isnt cutting it anymo
ternet and youporn.com
ic saviours in the world
and Whos Nailin Paylin
porn is found either fre
these days. In the hatch
study, they found that t
main portal for porn du
cess, afordability and an
However, there are in
with over-usage of Inte
Psychologist Gabriel Ca
a study, Narratives of S
porn Dependents in th
ual Addiction and Comp
the problem of Internet
He noted, when com
the Internet reaches an
of hours per week, it cle
users involvement, car
to his family, and can
marriage and sexual rel
Surf junkies
The dangerous allure of the Internet
South Korean gamer Lee Seung Seop died of
exhaustion in 2005 after playing Starcraft
for 50 consecutive hours.
Once I was
Now I z
ing Internet cafs.
ts limited the play-
nder 18. If players
urs, a warning on
ter every 15 min-
ying time, saying:
healthy game time,
ediately to rest. If
h will be damaged
an win will be cut
refused to quit, all
be forcibly erased.
fect.
ion in your mind
end a gaming ad-
not. A real gaming
the activity to the
stop if they want
y not want to stop,
to shower, eat, and
addicted.
addiction
ds are they will tell
rn. While Playboy
irst came out, its
s Hugh Hefner and
ore. Luckily the In-
m emerged as hero-
d of Jenna Jameson
n?. Almost all good
ee or cheap online
her and Wretschko
the Internet is the
ue to its ease of ac-
nonymity.
ncreasing problems
ernet pornography.
avaglion published
Self-Help of Cyber-
he July issue of Sex-
pulsivity examining
porn addiction.
mpulsive sex use on
average of dozens
early decreases the
re and availability
be detrimental to
lationships.
According to the 1996 study Diferential
Diagnosis of Addictive Sexual Disorders
Using the DSM-IV, pornography addic-
tion tends to worsen. hose afected by it
are continuously desensitized to common
sexual stimuli, so they require hard-core
material to become aroused. his is strong-
ly related to the extreme types of porn
available so readily on the Internet.
Generally speaking, a porn addict isnt
turned on by a naked lady. he naked lady
needs to be covered in latex, carrying a whip,
lanked by a team of dwarfs and something
or other involving poo... or something.
It needs to be quite extreme.
What efect does this have on a normal
sex life? Well, we need to remember that
porn stars are basically the professional
athletes of sex, so trying to work at the
same level is like trying to run as fast as
that Jamaican Bolt guy who tripped and
danced his way to a record-breaking
100-metre time.
he World Wide Web
If youre awake at 5 a.m. in the centre of
a ield of empty Red Bull cans and Dorito
packaging, putting in eye drops to coun-
teract the efects of staring at a lat-panel
monitor for 19 straight hours, you may
have a problem. But this is far from the
average person. Most of us use the Inter-
net a lot because it is a great and power-
ful tool, and it makes what we want to do
easier, cheaper, or more fun.
While not everybody has a compulsive
personality, many of us likely spend far
too much time on the Internet. Our tele-
vision, music, and comedy ixes all come
from cyberspace along with our gaming
and porn needs. Everybody has had the
experience of looking up long-lost friends
on Facebook instead of writing that essay
due the next day. It is Carr that put it most
eloquently:
Never has a communications system
played so many roles in our livesor exerted
such broad inluence over our thoughtsas
the Internet does today.
s a scuba diver in the sea of words.
zip along the surface like a guy
on a Jet Ski.
Nicholas Carr, Is Google Making Us Stupid?
Three ways to curb
your Internet habit
You have a problem, your friends have
held interventions, you own four smart-
phones with burned-out touchscreens,
and you want to cut back or even quit the
Internet. With these three easy tips, you
can break your dependence on the pre-
cious network of information and fun.
1. Go back to dial-up
his will allow you to check email and
little else. It would be like an alcoholic
having to suck his beer through a mil-
limetre-wide straw six kilometres long.
he inconvenience alone may allow you
to kick your habit completely.
2. Shufe your habit to another vice.
Why not be addicted to sandwiches?
Or kayaking? Or both? Ater all, if you
spend your time slicing ham in a kayak
to make a nice hoagie, youll have no
time for the internet!
3. Maroon yourself on a desert island
Drastic? Perhaps, but by far the most
efective. Who is going to think about
the Internet when youre collecting vari-
ous bugs for your next meal? And who
needs World of Warcrat when youre
spear ishing with a sharpened rock tied
to a branch with coconut hair rope?
photo by Alex Smyth
ARTS
Nov. 6, 2008
14
www.thefulcrum.ca
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FALLOUT continued from p. 9
he combat in Fallout 3 is a hybrid of the
turn-based strategy of the irst two Fallout ti-
tles and irst-person mayhem. Players use the
Vault-Tec Assisted Targeting System (VATS),
which pauses combat and allows the player to
spend action points to target speciic areas of
an enemys body for area-speciic damage, like
slowing an enemy down by shooting it in the
legs or aiming at a vulnerable spot. here are a
limited number of action points, and ater they
are expended the player reverts to real-time
until their action points recharge. his makes
for an intense combat experience, especially
once other people join your partyyou must
be both strategic and skilled if you are to sur-
vive.
Fallout 3 is a massive post-apocalyptic tale
of mutants and anarchy that is yours to shape
as you see it. All around the Wasteland are the
remnants of a once-great civilization. When
you irst emerge from the Vault, you look
out over a destroyed
town,and can see the
partially destroyed
Washington Monu-
ment in the distance.
here are pages of text
to be read on comput-
ers detailing the events
that led to the Great
War and that wars ef-
fects on the populace,
as well as dozens of
hours of side quests
that detail the difer-
ent ways humans (and others) are surviving
in the wastes. Even without the compelling
main story, this game would be epic in size and
scope. It seems as though no small detail has
been overlooked, and every NPC you interact
with is believable.
hough Fallout 3
is a triumph on many
levels, it falls short in
some areas. here is
a third-person cam-
era available, but the
animations for your
characterthe way
he or she walks, inter-
acts, or shootsare so
bad that youll stay in
irst-person whenever
possible. Combat,
though intense and
satisfying, can sometimes be chaotic, and there
isnt enough variety in the enemies you ight
considering the massive scope of other aspects
of the game. Also, the huge amount of content
in the game world means that there is no way
everything could be play-tested beforehand,
and some bugs seem to have slipped through
the cracks. Also, the game is not for the faint
of hearteven the basic level of gore is pretty
shocking, and this is not a game to be played by
or around children.
Fallout 3 may not be perfect, but its the clos-
est a video game has ever come to perfection.
Its a vast, complex, incredible experience that
is almost ininitely re-playable, and it only gets
better the more you play it. he storyline is
nothing short of epic, and proves once and for
all that gaming has inally come into its own as
a narrative formno movie can hope to com-
pete with the hours of engrossing gameplay
that Fallout 3 has to ofer. It is not oten that a
game transcends the limitations of its medium.
Fallout 3 is one such rare beast.
Fallout 3 is a massive post-
apocalyptic tale of mutants
and anarchy that is yours
to shape as you see t.
KEVIN SMITH
continued from p. 9
In Canada, Alliance distributors
said we dont have a ilm board and
we dont give a shit, were going to
use that image, Smith recalls. [In
the US] we were forced into a corner
about how we could
market and sell the
movie.
he inclusion of
the word porno in
the title didnt help
the process much.
Many U.S. television
networks have cut
the word during pro-
motional spots and
shown trailers that
simply call the ilm Zack and Miri.
I knew when we titled the movie
Zack and Miri Make a Porno we
were going to turn of some people,
Smith says. But I was labbergasted
because I thought we had used the
cutest word possible to describe that
industry. I mean, we didnt go with
Zack and Miri Make a Fuck Tape or
something like that. Or even make a
porn. Its got that o on the end of it
that makes it cuddly and cute; porno
is just a cute word.
You cant object to the term.
How the fuck [else] are we going to
describe it? Smith adds. Its like a
dude walks into Blockbuster and
sees the sign that says action and
goes I object to that term. And who
are these fuckers that are confused
and think this is real
pornography? I dont
know how people are
confusing what is so
blatantly a comedy
with hardcore por-
nography.
Despite the prob-
lems with the MPAA,
Smith hasnt lost his
edge. He got the re-
sult he wanteda
ilm illed with comedy, vulgarity
and sexall without having to step
in front of the camera.
No one needs to see me fucking;
I dont need to see myself fucking. I
dont want to see that many rolls jig-
gling at one time. he closest I ever
got was taking a picture of my dick
with an iPhone and I couldnt even
do that. I mean, how do you take a
picture and lit the gut up at the same
time?
We didnt go with
Zack and Miri Make
a Fuck Tape or some-
thing like that.
Kevin Smith
ARTS
Nov. 6, 2008
15
www.thefulcrum.ca
by Danyal Khoral
Fulcrum Staf
THE JOKER IS Batmans greatest and oldest foe,
irst appearing in the comic Batman #1. He is
a relentless psychopath whom the residents of
Gotham City and Batman fear the most. Joker, a
new graphic novel authored by Brian Azzarello
and drawn by Lee Bermejo released on Nov. 4,
allows the reader to get a close-up look at the
inner workings of the Jokers insane mind. It
chronicles some of the most lurid and subver-
sive things the Joker has ever done, and does its
best to explain just why he does them.
he graphic novels story begins moments
ater the Joker has been oi cially released from
Arkham Asylum, Gotham Citys home for the
criminally insane. he Joker realizes that his
position in the citys underworld has severely di-
minished because of his long incarceration and
beginsin violent fashionto attempt to regain
the respect he once had among the criminals. he
entire story is told through the eyes of a low-level
thug named Jonny Frost, who becomes the Jokers
chaufeur and follows him through the chaos.
Joker is a one-shot, which means that it doesnt
directly relate to any continuity in the canonical
Batman timeline. One-shots are important for
comic book readers because they allow the art-
ist of a book to take an unexpected and some-
times experimental look at a character. In Joker,
the artist and writers are not constrained by the
events of the canon Batman universe and can
therefore take the story in any direction they
see it.
In 2006, roughly the same time the ilm he
Dark Knight went into production, Azzarello
conceived the design concept for the Jokers look
in Joker. his look happened to coincide with
that of Heath Ledgers universally acclaimed
portrayal of the character in he Dark Knight.
However, according to Azzarello in an inter-
view with the online entertainment site IGN,
the resemblance was just a happy accident. he
coincidences dont end there; both Jokers share
a mystery and menace previously unseen, with
many of the aspects that made Ledgers Joker so
compelling present in the graphic novel.
In terms of the comics look and feel, Azza-
rello and Bermejo portray Gotham City and its
residents in a realistic manner similar to direc-
tor Christopher Nolans approach in Batman
Begins and he Dark Knight. he artwork is si-
multaneously gorgeous and surreal, with more
than a few pages produced in lavish, near-photo
splendour. he city, the characters, and the vio-
lence are all rough and realistic, but beautiful to
look at.
here can be many interpretations of the Jok-
ers function in relation to Batman and Gotham
City. Azzarellos Joker is a violent, discordant
metaphor for the abominable aspects of society.
he criminal characters in this novel continu-
ally refer to the Joker as a disease; theyre more
frightened of him than they are of Batman. Az-
zarello reinforces the idea that the Joker is more
a concept of corruption and evil than a man.
here are truly gruesome and brutal moments
in this story that make the Joker seem like the
stuf of nightmares.
Overall, Joker is an oddly subtle rumina-
tion about two men who are ideological oppo-
sites but almost require each other to survive.
he events in Joker could almost be a sequel to
he Dark Knight or could run concurrent to it.
While the ilm is an epic story involving many
characters and situations, the graphic novel only
has one focusthe Joker. he story allows the
reader to have private time with him; the novel
functions as almost a character study of the Jok-
er. It explores the nature of evil and our capacity
to empathize with a true psychopath.
Notably, Joker has an amazingly efective and
poignant ending that no fan of Batman or the
Joker should go without reading. his graphic
novel is an adult and intellectual take on the
character and should be read by everyone who
enjoyed he Dark Knight.
The J oker returns
New graphic novel
takes on Batmans
worst enemy
Good Bad
Film Film
Zack and Miri
Make a Porno
The Haunting of
Molly Hartley
A
d
KEVIN SMITH HAS done it yet again, creating
a ilm that intertwines a sweet romantic comedy
with so much crude sexual content that youre
still laughing when you leave the theatre.
Writer and director Smith is renowned for
his low-budget cult-classics like Mallrats, Dog-
ma, and the two Clerks ilms. Zack and Miri
Make a Porno is one of the few where he uses a
cast of name actors instead of the close friends
who originally performed in his ilms. Smiths
movies tend to revolve around the same group
of characters played by a core group of actors
that Smith has used from his beginnings as an
independent ilmmaker. hough some of these
actors return for Zack and Miri, theyre playing
diferent characters. he majority of the main
players consist of Judd Apatows (he 40 Year
Old Virgin, Knocked Up) crew, namely Seth
Rogen, Craig Robinson, and Elizabeth Banks.
While the ilm may be mistaken for an Apatow
production due to the cast, Smiths characteris-
tic minimalist comedy shows up in the irst 10
seconds of the ilm, when Zack (Seth Rogen)
walks in on Miri (Elizabeth Banks) using the
toilet. he combination of toilet humour and
romantic moments is a Smith trademark.
Zack and Miri Make a Porno has a simple yet
wild plot. Zack and Miri are two best friends
living under a mountain of debt. hey ind
themselves just before the hanksgiving holi-
day with no water, no electricity, no money,
and no way to avoid their looming eviction
from the apartment they share. Ater mulling
over several options to save themselves, they
igure that the best and easiest way to make
money is by creating an amateur porno movie
with themselves as the leads. Several setbacks
put production of the ilm behind schedule, in-
cluding the hidden feelings that arise as Zack
and Miri put their supposedly platonic rela-
tionship aside to ilm their sex scene.
Smith is notorious for creating the most in-
genious comedic lines imaginable, and he ills
Zack and Miri with some of the dirtiest scenes
ever shown in a mainstream movie. Yet the
movie is still a romantic comedy at heart, and
Smith doesnt forget that, even during a scene
featuring human excrement. he movie is equal
parts vulgarity and afection, making it the
sweet and sour candy of comedic genius. But
be forewarned: Zack and Miri Make a Porno is
essentially thattwo people making a porno
ilm. Be prepared for some rough, tough, and
in some cases, just plain nasty sex scenes that
make the movie live up to its title.
Hisham Kelati
THE HAUNTING OF Molly Hartley is the High
School Musical of horror ilmsit targets a teen-
age audience and is almost critic-proof. Its per-
fectly tailored for its young audience and no one
else, so the reviews wont really matter to the
people who are determined to see it.
For everyone else whos brave enough to watch
this ilm, theyll probably perceive its writing,
visual style, and act-
ing to be among the
blandest things ever
recorded on ilm. he
plot trudges along in
a Frankensteins mon-
ster-like mlange of
other, better horror ilms. A teenage girl named
Molly Hartley (Haley Bennett) begins to have
vivid lashbacks to a young age when her mother
tried to kill her. Mollys mother believed that if
her daughter reached 18, she would then become
property of the Devil. Mollys frequent, disturb-
ing visions of her mother, and strange encounters
at school and at home begin to convince her that
her mother might have been right.
he plot of he Haunting of Molly Hartley is
ludicrous at best, executed awkwardly by jump-
ing from scene to scene with no real continu-
ity. Director Mickey Liddell seems just ine with
dramatizing the events of this ilm as if it were
a bad television soap opera. his penchant for
melodrama is best exempliied in the main sub-
plot of the ilm; a trite, lifeless, Gossip Girl-style
high-school drama that seems to exist only to
satiate its target audiences need for teen angst.
he scares are relegated to obvious and re-
petitive jump-out-of-your-seat moments that
require no skill to
produce. Nearly ev-
ery character, at one
point or another,
suddenly appears ei-
ther behind or beside
Molly, accompanied
by an orchestral sting. All the horror in this ilm
follows this template and winds up, ultimately,
just being an emotionally vacuous exercise in
jump-scares.
his ilm isnt nearly as bad as its deplorable
trailer made it out to be and will serve the needs
of its young, intellectually developing audience.
For everyone else, the time spent watching this
ilm and the price of admission can both go
towards something more entertaining, like wa-
terboarding or watching a family pet being au-
topsied.
Danyal Khoral
images courtesy Alliance Films
The scares are relegated
to obvious and repetitive
jump-out-of-your-seat moments.
illustration by Alex Martin
Nov. 6Nov. 12, 2008
Sports
David McClelland
Sports Editor
sports@thefulcrum.ca 16
by David McClelland
and Anna Rocoski
Fulcrum Staf
AFTER OVER TWO hours of play,
the winner of the Ontario Univer-
sity Athletics (OUA) womens soc-
cer gold medal was decided in mere
seconds.
With the battle between the Laurier
Golden Hawks and host Ottawa Gee-
Gees on Nov. 2 still deadlocked at 0-0
ater 30 minutes of extra time, the
match was decided on penalty shots.
Ater each side scored three times,
second-year Laurier defender Sadie
Anderson stood under the lights at
Matt Anthony Field and drove a shot
into the corner of the net past Gee-
Gees goaltender Jess Charron, win-
ning her team the gold medal.
To get there, the Gee-Gees irst had
to defeat the Brock Badgers in a semi-
inal game on Nov. 1.
It was a tightly contested match, de-
cided in the 36th minute, when Gee-
Gees midielder Catherine Scott took a
free kick in front of the Brock net. he
ball bounced around in front of the
goal until it was booted out of the pen-
alty area, but Ottawa midielder lise
Desjardins connected with the ball to
score the only goal of the game.
he little team that could, thats
what we tell ourselves, said Desjar-
dins following the game, referring to
the Gee-Gees relatively small stature
compared to other OUA teams. I
mean were not the biggest team but
weve got a lot of heart.
Althought the Gees maintained
possession for much of the irst half,
the Badgers had several close chances
in the Ottawa zone that were denied
by goalkeeper Jess Charron.
We knew Brock was a team that
liked to play very direct, so we tried to
keep the ball out of our end. It was go-
ing to be a bit of a game of territory,
explained Gee-Gees head coach Steve
Johnson following the game. We
wanted to play strong in this game as
much as possible in Brocks end and
not give them those opportunities on
goal.
Brock managed to create more
chances in the second half, but the
Gees hard-working defence and solid
goaltending from Jess Charron held
the Badgers of the scoreboard.
Despite maintaining their strong
play into the inal against Laurier the
next day, the Gee-Gees ended up fall-
ing short of the gold medal.
I think the irst 45 minutes was
maybe the [single] best performance
Ive ever seen us play in a playof
game. I thought our whole perfor-
mance through the whole match was
top class, [and] its a shame we didnt
carry that through in the penalties,
said Johnson shortly ater the loss
to the Hawks. [Laurier] is a good
squad. I thought the game was go-
ing to be a bit more dii cult than it
was, but their back line held irm and
they were there when we tried to get
through.
Despite the loss, Ottawa domi-
nated throughout the game. During
the irst half, the Gee-Gees applied
consistent pressure on the Hawks,
but were unable to score. Ottawas
attacks were shut down by either
Lauriers tough defence or by goal-
keeper Mal Woeller. At the opposite
end of the ield, the Garnet and Grey
efectively slammed the door on the
Hawks attack and prevented them
from taking the ball deep into the
Ottawa zone.
While the Gee-Gees outshot the
Hawks 17-5, many of their strikes ei-
ther sailed wide of the net or seemed
to be targeted directly at Woeller.
While Charron was not as busy as her
counterpart, she was able to keep the
Hawks at bay when needed to main-
tain the tie.
I think we had one of our best
games of the year, and its unfortu-
nate we couldnt inish it in [regu-
lation time], said a disappointed
Sarah Bullock, a third-year Gee-Gees
striker. I think we had a lot of great
shots on net, we just had trouble in-
ishing. Overall Im happy with our
performance ... It sucks that we lost in
[penalty shots], but what are you go-
ing to do?
Were really happy with what we
have going into nationals, its just
unfortunate that we lost on [pen-
alties], said midfielder Brittany
Harrison after the game. We made
[Laurier] look pretty bad compared
to what they usually look like. We
got through a little bit, but they
were pretty strong today so it was
tough.
As OUA inalists, the Gee-Gees will
now compete in the Canadian Inter-
university Sports championship hosted
by Trinity Western University in Ab-
botsford, B.C. Nov. 69. In addition
to the Gee-Gees and Golden Hawks,
the Trinity Western Spartans, Brock
Badgers, Montreal Carabins, Victoria
Vikes, Dalhousie Tigers, and defending
champions Cape Breton Capers will
compete for the national title.
Gees cant nd gold in shootout
After winning semiinal,
womens soccer team falls
to Laurier in gold medal
match
Ottawa goalkeeper Jess Charron was perfect in 210 minutes of regular play, but was unable to hold off Laurier in a penalty shootout.
photo by Alex Martin
Ottawa
Brock
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Carleton
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Laurier
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1
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3
SPORTS
Nov. 6, 2008
17
www.thefulcrum.ca
by David McClelland
Fulcrum Staf
THE UNIVERSITY OF Ottawa Gee-Gees are
back in business. Ater tumbling to a 3-4 record
late in the regular season, the U of Os mens
football team has now won three straight games,
culminating in a dramatic 23-13 win over the
undefeated Queens Golden Gaels in an Ontario
University Athletics (OUA) semiinal game in
Kingston on Nov. 1.
he game paralleled last seasons semiinal, in
which the undefeated Gee-Gees had their prom-
ising season cut short by an underdog when they
lost 23-16 to the University of Western Ontario
Mustangs. his year, it was the Gee-Gees turn to
play the spoiler.
Im pretty emotional right now, said Ottawa
head coach Denis Pich ater the game, sur-
rounded by celebrating Gee-Gees. What a year
this has been! hese kids and the coaching staf,
they beat a very good football team.
Ottawa struggled during the games opening
moments. hrough much of the irst quarter,
the two teams battled for ield position, with
neither defence giving up much ground. Finally
with just over two minutes let in the opening
quarter, Gaels quarterback Dan Brannigan
tossed a 51-yard touchdown pass to receiver
Devan Sheahan to open the scoring. he Gaels
then forced Ottawa to give up a single point on
the following kick-of to go up 8-0.
he Garnet and Grey then dug in and re-
sponded in the second quarter with a pair of
touchdowns from third-year running back Da-
vie Mason, who punched through the Queens
defence with a couple of nard-nosed rushes.
Ottawa also added a ield goal from kicker Matt
Falvo before haltime. On the other end of the
ield, the Gee-Gees defence held strong and
kept Queens to a single ield goal in the quarter,
securing a 17-11 lead going into haltime.
We worked hard all week; the coaches put to-
Gees s hock Gaels
Mens football team downs
undefeated Queens team,
moves on to Yates Cup
by Anna Rocoski
Fulcrum Staf
TIRED OF CALIFORNIA raisins, cranber-
ries and apricots? Well dont fret, there is an-
other dried berry on the market that is gaining
prominence in North America. Also known as
the wolberry, the goji berry has a tangy and
sweet taste, looks like a red raisin, and may also
have health beneits.
hey are delicious, kind of like raisins if
you get them really fresh. hey are quite sweet
in taste, said Phillip Bosloy, manager of he
Wheat Berry, an organic food store located
at 206 Main St. in Ottawa. heyre rich in
vitamins, minerals [and] amino acids, [and]
theyre one of the best known antioxidants
available, and they do enhance your immune
system function.
Goji berries are native to China, where they
have been used for about 6,000 years by herbal-
ists in Chinese medicine.
Claudine Guiet, the coordinator of the peer
education and resource centre with Health
Promotions at the U of O, explains that in Chi-
nese culture, food is considered an im-
portant part of staying healthy.
In all these traditions
people look at food as a
way to stay healthy
and prevent ail-
ment, she said.
Guiet ex-
plained that the
herbalists in China
have used goji berries
for many purposes, believing they can
protect the liver, help eyesight, improve sex-
ual function and fertility, strengthen the legs,
boost immune function, improve circulation,
and promote longevity. However, there are few
clinical studies on humans, so most of these
beneits are unconirmed.
Goji berries are available in dried fruit form
or juice form, but goji berry juice may not be as
pure as the actual berry itself, since the extract
is diluted. he berry contains seeds (which
carry essential fatty acids) that are sometimes
omitted during the juicing pro-
cess. So check the ingredi-
ent listing of the goji
berry juice before
purchasing to ensure
the whole berry is
being used.
Prices of goji berries
range depending on
the company distrib-
uting the berry, the quantity
being purchased, and the health
food store visited. Most health food
stores in Canada carry the dried fruit,
with prices tending to be about $10 per 100
grams. Goji juice with seeds is available at he
Wheat Berry for $55 per litre (an 18-day sup-
ply), while the dried fruit itself is also available
in bulk form.
Since the berry is relatively new to Western
culture, few scientiic studies have been done
on it, and its potential health beneits are still
unconirmed.
In terms of the research that we have on
goji berries, it has only been tested on hu-
mans in two published studies, which means
nothing in the greater scheme of things, said
Guiet.
Published studies have shown that cancer
patients taking goji berries tended to respond
better to treatment. he berries are also believed
to contain antioxidants, and may reduce the
growth of cancer cells, lower blood glucose, and
reduce cholesterol.
he goji berry is great for snacking on, mix-
ing with other fruit or yogurt, or as a cereal top-
ping. hough further clinical trials have yet to
be done, they are still a healthy snack, and worth
checking out if for no other reason than that
theyre delicious and make a new and interest-
ing snack.
The Gee-Gees defence surrendered only one touchdown and a eld goal to a renowned Golden Gaels offence.
photo by Frank Appleyard
Dried fruit blues
Goji berries provide a new
and possibly very healthy
snack
gether an awesome game plan. [Queens] didnt
come out and surprise us with really anything,
said ith-year Gees linebacker Joe Barnes, who
added that the ability of the Ottawa coaching
staf to adapt to Queens ofence on the ly was
integral in the Gees success.
Ottawa may have had the lead going into the
second half, but they were missing a key element
Mason, who strained his hamstring late in the sec-
ond quarter, sat out the rest of the game and Pich
indictated he is unlikely to return to the Ottawa
lineup for the remainder of the playofs.
However, by that point the game was all
but over. he Ottawa defence kept the Gaels
ofence in check in the second half, with
Queens only tally coming from a safety of a
blocked punt deep in the Gee-Gees zone. he
Gees ofence was able to add a pair of ield
goals in the fourth quarter to bury the Gaels.
he win qualiies Ottawa for the Yates Cup
against Western on Nov. 8.
Gee-Gees quarterback Josh Sacobie felt his
team is inally beginning to realize its potential.
Im just so happy for this win, he said ater
the game. his is our team, what were supposed
to be. Were seeing it now, but its never too late.
his is where it matters. his is the Ottawa Gee-
Gees that I saw at the beginning of the year.
he Gee-Gees will play in the OUA Yates Cup on
Nov. 8 against Western in London at TD Water-
house Stadium. he game will be broadcast on
he Score, with the kick-of at 1 p.m.
SPORTS
Nov. 6, 2008
18
www.thefulcrum.ca
by Tony von Richter
he Brunswickan
FREDERICTON (CUP) I LOVE
SPORTS, and always have. For as long
as I can remember, sports have been a
big part of my life. From irst watch-
ing and playing them, to now writing
about and studying them, there has
never been a time when sports havent
been important to me.
Up until last week, though, I never
stopped to think why I consider sports
to be so important. On the surface, it
seems absurd. Rather than focusing on
things that have a direct efect on our
lives, sports fans spend an inordinate
amount of time watching people put a
puck into a net or hit a ball with a stick.
In fact, many of us will spend hun-
dreds, if not thousands, of dollars for
the privilege of watching other people
exercise.
Why do we do
this? It cant be
solely for the enter-
tainment value, as
there are hundreds
of other forms of en-
tertainment that are
cheaper and easier
to access.
Is it because we
look up to the ath-
letes and individu-
als involved in the
games? Somehow,
I doubt thats it.
More oten than
not, these days were
confronted with
stories of athletes
acting out and not behaving as public
igures should.
Sometimes when watching or read-
ing current sports coverage, I wonder
if were really covering sports at all,
and Im reminded of a quote from
Aaron Sorkins ictional TV show,
Sports Night.
Look, I got into this cause I liked
getting people to like sports. And Ive
turned into a PR man for punks and
thugs. Any atrocity, no matter how
ridiculous or hideous or childish, it
doesnt matter. I make it sports.
hat quote from actor Peter
Krauses character was irst broadcast
10 years ago last monthand if any-
thing, the state of the sports world has
only worsened.
Instead of stories about thrilling
come-from-behind victories and tales
of late round drat picks overcom-
ing the odds and becoming all-stars,
were presented with stories about
athletes being convicted of assault or
other crimes. Sure there are stories
of athletes donating to charities and
similar things, but they tend to be de-
emphasised in favour of more nega-
tive coverage.
hen why do we support these
teams and athletes? If one of the pre-
vailing opinions about sports is that
it is illed with nothing but punks
and thugs as Krauses character says,
then by spending time and money on
sports, arent we just encouraging this
kind of behaviour?
I dont think that we are, and
thats because the vast majority of
people who are involved with sports
are good people who just happen
to have their careers play out in the
public eye. We usually only hear
about the misbehaving athletes be-
cause they are the exception to the
rule, and the nature of the media is
to report on the extraordinary, not
the everyday.
If its not purely for entertainment,
and if its not be-
cause we look up to
the athletes, then
why do we invest
so much time into
sports?
Its human na-
ture.
hat may seem
like an outrageous
statement, but as
long as there have
been people there
has been some
form of sport or
athletic competi-
tion. Whether its
in organized events
or simple play be-
tween children,
there are elements of sports such
as our competetiveness and natural
drive for success that are ingrained,
and sports are how we exercise these
elements of our personalities.
Since sports have always played an
important role in human society, it
really bothers me when people mar-
ginalize sports. In the grand scheme
of things, of course sports arent as
important as things like national
defence and health-care issues. But
we are far too quick to dismiss the
importance of sports in our society.
his attitude can sometimes be seen
in sports media, and I think it comes
from a desire to be seen as not taking
ourselves too seriously, as we realize
there are more important issues than
sports in the world. However, sports
are a much larger part of our culture
than oten believed. Its time to stop
pretending that sports dont matter.
hey do. As long as we keep them in
perspective, we should celebrate the
good parts of sports and give them
the proper respect and attention they
deserve.
Why we bother
to watch sports
As long as there
have been people
there has been
some form of sport
or athletic
competition.
by Megan OMeara
Fulcrum Staf
THE GEE-GEES WOMENS hockey
team played one of their most intense
games of the season against McGill
on Nov. 1 at the Sports Complex are-
na. In a game highlighted by 10 goals
scored and several lead changes, the
Gee-Gees ultimately fell 6-4 to the
McGill Martlets.
McGill dominated the irst period,
scoring twice before Ottawa could
respond when forward Erika Pouliot
scored the Gee-Gees irst goal of
the game with a ierce shot that beat
McGill goaltender Gabrielle Smith.
Before the period ended, the Mar-
tlets answered back with forward
Vanessa Davidson sending a slap-
shot past Ottawa goaltender Jessika
Audet, leaving the Martlets with a
two-goal lead at the end of the irst
period.
Gee-Gees head coach Shelley
Coolidge reasoned that her teams
hesitant start was a result of the Mar-
tlets reputation.
We were playing against the team
that won the national championship
last year and we expected them to
be tough, she said ater the game. I
think we came out a little bit tentative
because of that and just a little too
tense.
he Gee-Gees turned the game
around in the second period, as Au-
det blocked all of McGills shots while
Ottawa tallied two goals to tie the
game at 3-3. he irst goal belonged
to forward Joelle Charlebois, and was
followed quickly by forward Jodi Re-
inholczs game-tying goal.
he beginning of the third period
featured Kayla Hottot taking the lead
for Ottawa, getting the puck past
Smith less than three minutes into
the period. With Martlets star goalie
Charline Labont away at a Canadian
national team training camp, it seemed
the Gee-Gees could inally break their
13-game losing streak against McGill,
which dates back to the 2007-08 sea-
son.
Hottot said ater the game that
they were determined to show McGill
what they could do.
We wanted to prove to them that
we were a lot better than we have been
in the past, and that we were going to
give them a run for their money this
year, she said.
At the end of the third period, the
Martlets fought hard to bury the Gee-
Gees, managing to score three goals
on Audet in only 10 minutes. his
lurry of goals brought the inal score
to 6-4 and extended the Martlets
winning streak against Ottawa.
While Coolidge agreed that
McGills sixth goal was hard earned,
she was upset that their ith goal was
allowed to stand.
heir ith goal was on a net drive
that I think should have been an of-
fensive charge, said Coolidge. I
wasnt happy with the fact that a pen-
alty wasnt called on the play.
Pouliot felt that her team needed to
come out stronger against McGill, but
believed they have a real chance at de-
feating them in future matchups.
I think we need to play harder
against them because they are ranked
number one, but now we know that
we can beat them because it was a
close game, she said. hat was one of
the best games we played this year.
Despite the loss, Coolidge was sat-
isied with her teams performance.
Jessika Audet played a real solid
game for us in net, she said. At the
end of the game I was really proud of
how our team competed and how we
fought back.
he Gee-Gees sit in second place in
the QSSF with a 3-1-1 record. hey
next play on Nov. 8, when they host
the Concordia Stingers at 2 p.m. at the
Sports Complex arena. Tickets are $4
for students.
Gee-Gees unable to
stop Martlets
Despite putting the puck into McGills net four times, the Gee-Gees werent able to beat a strong Martlets team.
photo by Alex Smyth
Womens hockey
loses 13th straight
game to Martlets
Watching footballgood.
Watching football, soccer, basketball,
or hockey live, for freebetter.
volunteer@thefulcrum.ca
SPORTS
Nov. 6, 2008
19
www.thefulcrum.ca
IMAGINE YOURE WRITING a inal exam
worth 60 per cent of your grade, but you and
several of your classmates are unable to inish
before the time is up. he professor then pro-
ceeds to award an A+ to the irst person who can
shout out the answer to a question asked aloud,
while the rest of you get a failing grade. Sound
arbitrary and an unfair test of your skills? Well,
thats kind of like what ending a championship
soccer game on penalty shots is like.
On Nov. 2, I was a (very cold) witness to the
Ontario University Athletics womens soccer
gold medal match between the Ottawa Gee-
Gees and the Laurier Golden Hawks, hosted
here at Matt Anthony Field. As you can read on
pg. 16 of this issue, the Gees lost the match in a
shootout. But it was a game Ottawa should have
won. he Garnet and Grey outplayed the Hawks
throughout the game, and it was only solid
goalkeeping and defending that kept the game
scoreless until the end of the extra time.
And then, suddenly, jarringly, the game is in
penalty shots. he ball is placed 12 yards from
the net, the goalkeeper is forced to guess what
the shooter is going to do and, more oten than
not at the university level, the ball ends up in the
back of the net.
Soccer isnt the only sport to decide games
on a penalty shootout, as the National Hockey
League has received wide criticism for its intro-
duction of the shootout as a tiebreaker in regu-
lar season games, but it somehow seems more
out of place in a soccer match. While hockey
tends to feature sudden changes of momentum
and bursts of individual efort on a regular basis,
soccer is all about building and shiting momen-
tum as a team. Plays are pieced together intri-
cately, working their way from one end of the
ield to the other, usually as a string of quick,
accurate passes, that, if done right, culminate in
a shot on goal.
he penalty shot is the antithesis of a typi-
cal soccer play. Its quick and immediate, and
doesnt reward teams for the skills that build a
otherwise strong soccer team. Goalkeepers, es-
pecially, are hung out to dry as all they can do is
guess where the shooter will try to put the ball
and hope that they guessed right.
he shootout is also an emotional letdown. It
was obvious that the Gee-Gees were crushed by
the fact that they had played an excellent game
but lost due to what essentially boiled down to
bad luck. And as a fan, such an ending feels an-
ticlimactic, with none of the payof that comes
from watching a well-executed goal during a
match. Even if Ottawa had won, it would have
been unfulilling, as it simply would have meant
luck was on the Gees side.
Unfortunately, theres no efective solution for
the penalty shootout in soccer. Many matches
would drag on for hours upon hours if there
werent a strictly enforced end time, and there
arent really any less arbitrary ways of deciding a
winner. Regardless, a shootout is a poor way to
end what may otherwise be a terriic match, and
to lose in a shootout as the Gee-Gees did is a fate
I wouldnt wish upon any team.
he bottom line is that the Gee-Gees played
a fantastic game and should not beb blamed for
not winning the gold medal. heyve built an
extremely strong team, and one that should be
able to compete with the best Canada has to of-
fer at nationals this weekend. he shootout was
a bad way to cap of the gold medal game, but
one that should not be dwelled upon.
sports@thefulcrum.ca
613-562-5931
Lighting the lamp
Shootout an unfortunate way to end game
David McClelland
Sports Editor
Around the horn
hree varsity teams travel to U.S.
for exhibition games
ON OCT. 31 and Nov. 1, three Gee-Gees var-
sity teamsthe mens basketball, womens bas-
ketball, and mens hockey teamstravelled to
the United States to take on several National
Collegiate Athletic Association Division Two
teams.
On the evening of Oct. 31, the womens
basketball team posted a 55-51 win over the
Cortland Red Dragons, led by a 14-point
game from third-year point guard Melina
Wishart. he following day, the Gee-Gees
were unable to top the Le Moyne Dolphins,
losing 55-36.
he mens basketball team faced of against
the Providence Friars on Nov. 1. he Gee-
Gees had trouble matching the Friars, falling
by a score of 85-55. A highlight for Ottawa was
rookie guard Warren Ward, who had 13 points
and seven rebounds in the game.
Finally, the mens hockey team took on
the Colgate Raiders, and lost 6-3. The Gee-
Gees fell behind 3-0 in the first minute-
and-a-half of the game and Colgate added a
fourth goal later in the period. Scoring three
goals, the team attempted a comeback in the
second period but were unable to catch the
Raiders.
David McClelland
Womens volleyball
sweeps Lakehead
THE GEE-GEES WOMENS volleyball team
earned a pair of wins against the Lakehead
hunderwolves in hunder Bay Nov. 12.
Ottawa won in straight sets on Nov. 1,
downing the hunderwolves 25-21, 25-20, and
25-18. With nine kills and 18 digs, ith-year
let-side hitter Karine Gagnon was a highlight
for the Gees.
he Gee-Gees dominated Lakehead again
the next day, winning in straight sets but by
a wider margin. hird-year middle Aminata
Diallo had eight kills and 11 digs leading t to
Gee-Gees to scores of 25-15, 25-15, and 25-
23.
With the wins, the Gee-Gees opened up a
six-point lead in the Ontario University Ath-
letics East division over the second-place To-
ronto Varsity Blues. he team plays next on
Nov. 8, when they visit the McMaster Maraud-
ers.
David McClelland
O T T A W A S 2 4
t h
vi nt age cl othi ng s ale
Admission $7.00
Help the Ottawa Food Bank. Bring along
a non-perishable food item or make
a donation at the sale.
Information: Penelope Whitmore (613) 730-8785
10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Fairmont Chateau Laurier
Sunday, November 9, 2008
Im in ur
website,
steelin ur
news
www.thefulcrum.ca
Nov. 612, 2008
Opinion
Michael Olender
Executive Editor
executive@thefulcrum.ca 20
by Anna Coutts
Fulcrum Contributor
WHAT DO YOU want to be when you grow
up? In kindergarten, the answer to this ques-
tion seemed so simple. Fireighter, doctor,
teacher: these were just some of the simple an-
swers we had.
By the time age 18 comes around, this ques-
tion is the bane of students existence. As uni-
versity application deadlines draw nearer, every
student begins pondering what they really want
to do with their life. Unfortunately, this dilemma
doesnt disappear with an admission ofer; even
in university, most students still dont know
what they want out of life.
I know choosing a career isnt easy. It took
me over 20 years and several in-school program
switches to inally igure out what I wanted to
do with my life. However, my years of indecision
and confusion have taught me several things.
he most important thing Ive learned is that
in order to igure out what you want to be, you
irst need to ind out what you can be. Even in
university, most of us still think of careers with
kindergarten simplicitywe all still want to be
teachers, doctors, or ireighters.
Whether you ask a counsellor or surf the
Web, make sure you spend some time research-
ing what is out there. here are likely thousands
of jobs in the world youve never heard of, and
one of them just might be perfect for you. he
more jobs you know about, the more likely you
will be able to ind your dream job.
I learned the hard way. I didnt research any-
thing; I just went with what I knew. When I
applied to university, I was still thinking with
kindergarten simplicity. I only knew of a few
schools and a few programs. I bounced around
from psychology to media to English before I
ended up in my current program, educational
counselling. Id never even heard of it when
I started university; if I had, I probably would
have applied to it years ago. I was limited in my
knowledge of my career options, and this lim-
ited me in my education.
he second signiicant lesson Ive learned is
that you shouldnt feel pressured to choose your
career overnight. If you dont know which career
youre gunning for, or are in a program you dont
think is right for you, dont forget that theres
nothing wrong with taking some time of from
school to experience the world and igure out
what you want to do. Dont be afraid to switch
programs or take a break from school. It could
save you time, money, and unnecessary stress.
In high school I excelled in and enjoyed all
of my classes, so when it came time to choose
a career path, I was torn. I had no idea what I
wanted to do with my life, but I decided to go to
university anyway. I thought it was the thing to
do and I felt pressured to start a post-secondary
education as soon as I inished high school.
he end result? I switched majors three times
and still graduated with an undergraduate de-
gree I didnt really want. I spent thousands of
dollars on an education I wasnt really interested
in rather than taking some extra time to work
or volunteer and igure out what I really wanted
to do.
Like many other people, I had it in my head
that I had to inish school quickly and get a start
on real life. he problem is that rushing into
real life without an idea of what kind of job
you want doesnt really save you any time.
While sometimes it might work out for the
best, many people who rush into school or force
themselves through a program end up feeling
miserable and going back to school for anoth-
er degree. I pushed myself through an English
degree just because I felt I should inish it and
didnt want to stay in school any longer. And just
like a lot of my friends, I ended up going back
to school anyway. I realized that avoiding an ex-
tra year of school or trying to save a few bucks
isnt worth it if it means spending your life doing
something you hate.
Another important thing I learned on my
journey of self-discovery was the importance of
gaining real-life work experience. If you arent
sure what you want to do, try working in the ield
youre considering a career in. Even if you cant
get a job, its worthwhile to job shadow, take on
an internship, or volunteer to get a taste for your
potential career. I also learned this lesson the
hard way. While I loved all the media courses I
took during my undergraduate degree, it wasnt
until I actually worked in media that I realized it
wasnt the ield for me. Even if youre pretty sure
you know what kind of career you want, make
the efort to get some work to make sure its really
the job for you. If you just base your decisions on
school, you might discover that while you loved
the classes, you hate the reality.
he last tidbit of advice I can ofer is this:
make a list of your values and goals. It may
sound silly, but a little list can go a long way. Its
a great way to organize your thoughts. Start by
listing and ranking your goals in life. hen, list
all of your interests and cross-reference them
with your goals. Once you put it all on paper,
its easier to sort out what you want to do with
your education. While it may sound ridiculous,
I swear by this trick. Ater I graduated with a
degree I wasnt interested in, I wrote up a list
like this to help me igure out my future. Sort-
ing my thoughts on paper forced me to really
look at what I wanted out of life. It ofered me
clarity Id never been able to ind before.
So if youre having trouble choosing a ca-
reer, hopefully you can learn from my mistakes
and save yourself some of the stress, time, and
money I lost while struggling to igure out what
I wanted to be when I grew up.
illustration by Amlake T-Digaf
When I grow up, I want to be...
by Anna Rocoski
Fulcrum Staf
LEAVING THE COZY coninements
of home, the typical University of Ot-
tawa student wedges ear buds in his
or her ear canals and a cell phone in
in their back pocket, efectively seal-
ing the technology bubble shut.
A technology bubble can be deined
as the world in which all that matters
to a person is their electronic devices.
Cut of from reality (and other bub-
bles), the persons life is dictated by
technology to a fault; in the context
of campus, that fault is disrupting the
educational environment and alienat-
ing other students.
In any class, it isnt difficult to
witness someone stuck in a tech
bubble. There is the sloucher
(someone slouched in perfect tex-
ting position, texting productively
for the duration of class), the ringer
(a cell phone blares the latest Brit-
ney Spears song in the midst of a
classnever gets old), and the not-
much-of-a-sneak (someone trying
to hide their ear-bud wires under
a bulky sweater). Outside of class,
Bursting the campus
technology bubble
HECKLES:
there is the Hollywood (someone
who must have millions of friends
because their cell phone is glued to
their ear constantly) and the ghetto
blaster (someone whose iPod is so
loud that everyone around them
starts to sing). I know its going to
be hard, but U of O students have
got to burst the bubble.
When on campus, students are
in a learning environment. Maybe
some are good at multi-tasking be-
tween taking good notes, texting,
and listening to music. But for most,
constantly switching between ear
buds, cell phone, and ballpoint pen
threatens a sound education; not just
for themselves but also the students
around them. Many professors do
not use PowerPoint and expect stu-
dents to devote their full attention
to lectures and take comprehensive
notes. he typical student brings
their bubble to class and distracts
others who come to learn. You arent
going to earn high marks if you are
always distracted and really, if you
need to bring a distraction to class,
you probably shouldnt be registered
in the irst place.
Before I step down from my soap-
box, I want to explain that I used to be
a victim of the bubble. Mine popped
when I lost my cell phone and forgot
to charge my iPod. I was no longer
permanently connected to my friends
and family and I waited for my bus
uncomfortably staring at the ground
with no music and no one to call or
text. I had no idea what to doI felt
completely exposed. Lots of other
students on campus were bopping
around in their tech bubbles; why did
mine have to pop?
It only took a few days to get ac-
customed to life outside of the
bubble. It really isnt that bad to
wait around or walk around campus
without something assaulting your
ears constantly. I began to appreci-
ate the small things around me like
the environment changing as the
seasons shit. Actually speaking face
to face with friends was quite inter-
esting. I appreciated taking time to
myself without being caught up in
someone elses drama. Without a cell
phone, I had to make more concrete
plans with people since they had no
way of contacting me once I let the
house. Work and volunteering would
contact me via email or by home
phone. I would deal with things
when I wanted to and I still meet my
deadlines. I began to feel more and
more as if technology was no longer
dictating my life.
So try it. Ditch the cell phone and
leave the iPod at home. Slow down
and take things as they come. School
brings enough stress, so dont bother
bringing additional baggage that will
just add to it. As a student, education
should come irstthe world can
wait.
OPINION
Nov. 6, 2008
21
www.thefulcrum.ca
by Nigel Smith
Fulcrum Staf
I WAS 17 when I irst began work-
ing towards my bachelor of ine arts
in 2001. Back then I was the puppy in
class, but nowadays that tender age is
common amongst irst-year students.
he age of enrollment decreased in
2002 when Ontario abolished grade
13a grade I never completed. Hav-
ing earned my high school diploma in
Switzerland, I got a head start on my
formal education. You could say I was
lucky, but I would beg to difer.
At a university in British Colum-
bia, my year was composed mostly of
students aged 1925. I was majoring
in acting. he majority of my classes
took place in the heatre School,
a building separate from the main
campus. It was hard-
ly your regular uni-
versity atmosphere.
Being a conservatory
program, our class
was limited to 30
students. Although
I was young, I felt a
sense of entitlement,
having been hand-
picked along with
my fellow classmates
following a lengthy audition process.
We considered ourselves to be the
acting elite of the nation, the irst-
year Julliard class of Canada. And this
was before class had even oi cially
started. he schools process during
the irst semester was to break us
down, rid us of any preconceptions
we had regarding the crat, and re-
build us from scratch. My classmates
had a wide variety of experience.
Two had backpacked through Asia,
a few had performed overseas, and
many had worked professionally be-
fore embarking on their education. I
on the other hand had an assortment
of high school and independent pro-
ductions under my belt, but no clear
picture of what the acting profession
truly entailed.
he format for our introductory
technique class was a solo exercise
performed in front of the entire
class, followed by a feedback session
between the student on stage and the
rest of the class. While the majority
were adept to the discussion forum
process, I felt hindered by my lack
of insight. Literally, I couldnt grap-
ple with what was being discussed.
When called up, I performed the ex-
ercise as per the professors instruc-
tions, with the intention of pleasing
him and entertaining my classmates.
But when it came time to discuss
what I had done, I had nothing to
say, and was unable to fully wrap
my head around the purpose of the
exercise. By working so hard to sat-
isfy the professor without asking the
right questions, I wasnt being true to
myself; a disservice to the reasoning
behind the exercise and my educa-
tion in general.
Presumably I grew throughout the
four years, gaining a clearer and surer
sense of self by my inal year of stud-
ies. My professors took note of the
change, expressing surprise at my ad-
vancement in regards to conidence
on stage. I had grown to understand
the techniques developed throughout
the four years, realizing what worked
best for me and what didnt. However,
though my inal year came as a revela-
tion of sorts, the irst few years of the
journey were tough ones; years that
could have been easier, richer, and
fuller had I immersed myself more
in my program along the way. he
elder students in my class, who had
come into the program with a greater
sense of self, let the program further
enriched. I, on the
other hand, began
my studies in a state
of elation, which
soon withered when
I came to terms with
the fact that I felt
lost amongst such
strong individuals.
Being too young
and not ready to
fully appreciate the
fact that I was getting a high level of
education, I unconsciously squan-
dered the semesters, only realizing
my potential late in the game. Sure,
my last year was a high, but in hind-
sight, I now feel troubled knowing
that I couldnt express myself fully
until late in my education. I can only
imagine how gratifying the entire ex-
perience would have been had I taken
the time to learn more about myself
before applying.
here is no doubt that my experi-
ence mirrors that of a large number
of students. With the majority of
irst-year students beginning their
studies at 17, how can they be ex-
pected to have a irm grasp on what
they want to pursue, and what truly
drives them to learn? Many individ-
uals are fortunate enough to know
what they seek out of a university
education and work towards obtain-
ing a degree with a goal in sight. But
there are many who enter into a de-
gree blindly. Feeling pressured by
either familial demand or societys
rush to get ahead, many embark on
an education in order to please those
powers that be. How many times
have you been told that if you wait
too long youll end up never apply-
ing? In our bustling society, theres an
innate fear of taking the time needed
to relect. hink back to your time in
high school. In the conined nature
of most high schools, many students
dont graduate with a true sense of
identity. Without truly knowing ones
self and ones passions, why would
someone begin forging the path to-
wards a career they arent even sure
they like?
Now in the midst of your stud-
ies, ask yourself: do you feel like
youre reaching your full potential?
Do you speak up in class? For that
matter, do you feel you have any-
thing of value to bring to the table?
Or do you simply not feel the need
to, because deep down your studies
dont spike any interest within you?
Would taking some time off to dis-
cover where your true passion lies
really be such a bad thing? The time
after graduating from high school
should be used to feel out every
available option and toy with all the
bustling ideas in your head. If there
is any doubt that your studies arent
benefitting you, look within. Travel
to inspiring locales, read stimulat-
ing books, keep a journal. Focus on
what you want out of life and what
course of study would benefit you
intellectually. From then on, youll
be forging your future with passion.
Its your life to live, so think every
option through because it is easy to
let the right one slip by.
Finding what drives you
Dear irst-years:
postponing university
could enrich your
educational
experience
illustration by Amlake T-Digaf
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The time after
graduating from high
school should be used
to feel out every
available option and
toy with all the
bustling ideas in your
head.
Nov. 612, 2008
Distractions
Sarah Leavitt
Features Editor
features@thefulcrum.ca 22
Dear Di,
I was inspired by last weeks ran-
dom-sex in the library question. Tell
me, how can I increase my chances
of random sex with my boyfriend?
Weve been dating for almost three
years, and everything about our
relationship is great, except for the
sex. Every week we do it on the same
day, at the same time, and in the
same positions. Its getting harder
and harder to ind the energy for it.
What should we do?
A Clockwork Girlfriend
Dear ACG,
Sex is as mental as it is physical. Its
all about state of mind, and it sounds
like both yours and your mans need
to change. Remember that while sex
is an integral part of your relation-
ship, it should never be as dreaded
(or as pre-planned) as your weekly
chores. Unlike housekeeping, boy-
friends dont have to be done accord-
ing to a schedule, so dont have sex for
the sake of having sex. A change in at-
titude can really kickstart the coitus,
and it might as well start with you,
ACG. It sounds like there is a discon-
nection between you and your man;
it seems that you two are caught up
with other things, bored with sex, or
just plain tired of each other. So I want
you to talk about fantasies and desires
and facilitate unspoken communica-
tion like eye contact and certain ways
of touching, which will increase the
energy between the two of you. he
better you both get at being present in
that momentenjoying the sense of
intimacy, paying attention to authen-
tic reactions, playing of each others
signals like breathing and shivers, and
really exciting each otherthe better
your chances of fucking like bunnies.
Ater you two have worked on your
attitudes, tell him to take time of
work and have lunch-break sex on the
balcony. Halloween costumes are oi -
cially on sale, so buy a sexy cop outit
complete with handcufs. Have sex
when your boyfriend is least expect-
ing it, like in changerooms. Watch
TV in your lingerie. Build up antici-
pation with notes around the house
mentioning how much you want to
suck his cock. Talk to him about sex
and during sex in new ways. All of
this should encourage him to think
about the relationship and how he
acts. I also want you to consider this:
does it always have to end in sex?
Love,
Di
Last week, I was
stumped by a question
on random hookups and didnt
want to give a half-assed reply. I
decided to appeal to my readers for
a little bit of help. his was the ques-
tion:
Dear Di,
My friend told me he got a blow
job behind one of the stacks in the
Morriset Library by a girl that se-
duced him while he was studying.
Im so jealous! Is there any way that
I can improve my chances of hav-
ing random sex with strangers? Or
do you just have to be really fucking
hot?
Wanting Fith-Floor Fun
For shame, dear readers. Like any func-
tioning relationship, there needs to be
some give and take for the relation-
ship to lourish. Unfortunately, ater
presenting this question to readers last
week, I only received a single reply:
Yo irst of all, let me say that it is
pretty much impossible to swing that
kind of exchange without having a
hot body (any ab lab and you can
forget it!), however thats not the only
ingredient. Let me put it succinctly,
youve got to work it. Conident poise
and eye contact are among the lead-
ing causes of women to make bad de-
cisions! Id say try to ish out someone
who looks bored and take an avid
interest, then ask for help with some-
thing and lead them into a dark cor-
ner. Best case scenario? Oral. Worst
case? Sore cheek.
So, WFFF, Ill explain to you what
Ive been ruminating about all week:
Conidence, eye contact, and even the
results of sheer boredom could afect
your chances of randomly hooking up
with strangers, but all that is as futile
as betting on the Ottawa Senators
there is no way to predict whats going
to happen. People feel and act difer-
ently in various situations, so changing
yourself to increase your chances of
random sexual encounters is impos-
sible. All you can do is groom yourself,
smell great, be yourself, and hope for
unrestrained horniness. Or you could
keep the library hook-up a fantasy
and avoid the risk of contracting STIs.
Happy studying!
Love,
Di
Dear Di
If you have a question for Di,
e-mail deardi@thefulcrum.ca.
hursday, Nov. 6
Mexican cinema: Frida, naturaleza
viva. 7 p.m. Arts Hall.
Room 257. Free.
Speaker: Jennie E. Burnet. Sorting
and Sufering: Gender, Ethnicity, and
Social Classiication in Post-Geno-
cide Rwanda. 1 p.m. Desmarais
Hall. Room 3120. Free.
Friday, Nov. 7
he Sexuality Team presents
the ilm: hree Hearts:
A Postmodern story. 6 p.m.
Unicentre. Alumni Auditorium.
Free.
Hock and Rock: Mens hockey
game followed by a Grace Over
Diamonds concert. 7 p.m. Sports
Complex. $5 ticket pickup at
Morisset 006.
Saturday, Nov. 8
Womens hockey: Ottawa vs.
Concordia. 2 p.m. Sports Complex.
Students $4.
New Ottawa Repertory heatre
presents: Fires in the Mirror. 7 p.m.
Ottawa School of Speech and Drama.
294 Picton Ave. Students $15.
Sunday, Nov. 9
Learn-to-meditate workshop.
2 p.m. Arts Hall. Room 257. Call
613-791-5793 to reserve a seat. Free.
Concert: Trio Hochelaga. 3 p.m.
Tabaret Hall. Room 112. Students $5.
Monday, Nov. 10
Concert: Generation 2008. 8 p.m.
Dominion-Chalmers United Church.
355 Cooper St.
Voluntary contribution.

Tuesday, Nov. 11
CDN4700: Les francophonies
canadiennes presents the ilm:
Deux voix en un echo. 5:30 p.m.
Lamoureux Hall. Room 271. Free.
Wednesday, Nov. 12
Anonymous rapid HIV testing.
9:30 a.m.2 p.m.
Unicentre. Room 203. Free.

Chinese cinema: Introduction of
Chinese Opera. 7 p.m. Fauteux Hall.
Room 147A. Free.
Thryllabus
Word search by Virginia Raynec (CUP)
The Thryllabus needs lots of events to remain so thrilling.
Email features@thefulcrum.ca with suggestions.
sudoku answers on p. 19
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Volume 69 - Issue 12
Nov. 612, 2008
phone: (613) 562-5261
fax: (613) 562-5259
631 King Edward Ave.,
Ottawa, ON K1N6N5
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The necessity
of independent voices
Nov. 612, 2008
Editorial
Frank Appleyard
Editor-in-Chief
editor@thefulcrum.ca 23
WHETHER YOU LOVE or hate
the goals of the recently launched
Smoke Free Campus campaign, you
have to give organizers Ryan Ken-
nery, Sarah Burke, and company
respect. he independently run
campaign to limit the use and sale
of tobacco on campus is proof that
legitimate campaigns dont neces-
sarily need the backing of an inlu-
ential student association to gain
traction among students and afect
change on campus.
Campaigns at the University of
Ottawa are typically the domain of
the Student Federation of the Uni-
versity of Ottawa (SFUO), as cam-
paign ideas are loated by the SFUO
Campaigns Committee, and are
carried out by the committee, SFUO
campaign staf, and volunteers.
According the SFUOs website,
the only current SFUO campaign is
the Drop Fees campaign, while re-
cent initiatives have urged students
to Stop the Security and Prosperity
Partnership, Vote Mixed-Member
Proportional, and speak out to im-
prove the conditions in First Nations
communities. Such campaigns are
undeniably expensiveover $30,000
has been committed to Drop Fees
and extremely labour-intensive to
run efectively. While its under-
standable that given these costs only
a handful of student-funded cam-
paigns can reasonably occur in a giv-
en year, there are nevertheless many
student views and convictions that
do not receive SFUO endorsement.
Enter the non-SFUO campaign.
he value of independent cam-
paigns cannot be understated. While
any undergraduate student has the
opportunity to attend SFUO Cam-
paigns Committee meetings and
pitch their ideas, there is no guaran-
tee that the committee will approve
the concepts, thus relegating the
proposed campaigns to the dustbin
of history. his processwhich is a
much-improved system implement-
ed this yearcan still leave deter-
mined students feeling marginalized
where their ideals and convictions
are concerned. Every year, students
opine that for various reasons the
SFUO doesnt properly represent
them, or that the on-campus demo-
cratic system bars input from all but
the student leaders themselves. he
Smoke-Free Campus campaign is
proof that beyond the complaints
and democratic inadequacies, ac-
tion is possible. he voiceless can be
heard in a meaningful way.
he Smoke Free Campus cam-
paign has the potential for signii-
cant ramiications for the U of O
community. If the organizers can
get 1,500 signatures on a petition,
undergraduate students will have
the opportunity to decide during
a February referendum whether
or not the SFUO should adopt the
ideals of the campaign: to restrict
smoking on campus to designated
areas, and to ban tobacco sales from
SFUO businesses.
Last years SFUO election ballot
included two referendum questions
and a plebiscite, all directly result-
ing from SFUO work throughout
the year. In recent memory, no in-
dependent campaign has led to a
referendum question being posed
to undergraduate U of O students.
Given this historic context, the
Smoke Free Campus campaigns
goal is even more ambitious. De-
spite their prolonged absence, non-
SFUO campaigns meet a vital need
in on-campus democracy, as they
give students on the periphery of
student government an opportunity
to legitimately afect change free
from the constraints of bureaucracy
or the brick wall of student leaders
representing opposite views. While
running a campaign with the budget
of Drop Fees campaign is obviously
unrealistic, the Smoke Free Campus
campaign has proven that it is pos-
sible to reach students without a de-
pendency on deep pockets. Instead,
the organizers have reached U of O
students through well-planned pos-
tering, Facebook, and simple deter-
mination.
Perhaps you dont agree with
the Smoke Free Campus campaign.
Perhaps you just dont think its goal
is realistic. Regardless, the fact re-
mains that organizers have admi-
rably taken it upon themselves to
advocate for change without seek-
ing the SFUOs stamp, and the addi-
tion of their voices to the ot-tiring
din of top-down student politics on
campus is refreshing.
If the Smoke Free Campus cam-
paign achieves nothing else, let it be
to prove that any student with any
idea is capable of making waves on
campus. For those who frequently
complain about this campus stu-
dent leaders and their work, con-
sider following this campaigns
lead, and putting the energy spent
bemoaning the system into chang-
ing it.
editor@thefulcrum.ca
illustration by Devin A. Beauregard
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