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View PDF - Western USC
thegazette
Western’s Daily Student Newspaper • Est.1906
www.gazette.uwo.ca
A&E
SPORTS
SWIMMING
Women perform
VOLUME 101, ISSUE 37 • WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2007
OPINIONS
JOEL PLASKETT EMERGENCY TROIS-PISTOLES
Concert review... p.5
well... p.7
Participants speak... p.4
Red Bull gives you injuries
Study: energy drink cocktails lead to questionable behaviour
By Lauren Pelley
Gazette Staff
Jonas Hrebeniuk/Gazette
WHO DO I LOOK LIKE? BETTY FORD? POUR ME ANOTHER! A new study
shows that mixing caffeine and alcohol can have dangerous consequences. It must have really taken a prodigy to figure that out.
If you enjoy throwing back Red
Bulls with your vodka, read on —
mixing alcohol and energy drinks is
a recipe for disaster, according to
new research.
A study headed by Dr. Mary
Claire O’Brien of Wake Forest University School of Medicine in North
Carolina found students who consume energy drink cocktails are
more likely to suffer injuries, ride
with an impaired driver and make
regrettable sexual decisions.
WFU’s web-based survey of
4,271 students found nearly a quarter of those who consumed alcohol
in the past 30 days also drank energy drink cocktails.
According to the study, students
who consumed energy drink cocktails were more likely to be taken
advantage of sexually, or take
advantage of someone, than those
who just drank alcohol.
Certain results of the study are
staggering — nearly 40 per cent of
cocktail drinkers traveled with a
driver under the influence of alcohol, compared to about 23 per cent
of non-mixers. Also, students who
consumed mixed beverages were
approximately twice as likely to be
hurt or injured when drinking.
Students who are male, white,
athletes, fraternity members or
pledges, and older students were
most likely to enjoy cocktails like a
Jäger bomb.
“When I bring out Red
Bull and vodka, that’s
when you know I’m
going hard.”
— David Feldman,
a second-year science student.
Dr. O’Brien attributed the results
to the fact students “can’t tell if
they’re drunk ... and can’t tell if others are drunk.”
Western sociology professor
Paul Whitehead further explained
the study’s results.
“You have two drugs working in
slightly different directions. Alcohol
is a depressant, caffeine is a stimu-
lant,” Whitehead said.
“What you’ve got is a situation
where the power drinks hide the
effect of the alcohol so people don’t
feel as intoxicated as they are.”
Whitehead said people who drink
only alcohol are more likely to recognize its effects and learn their limits.
Second-year science student
David Feldman is not concerned
about mixing beverages: “When I
bring out Red Bull and vodka, that’s
when you know I’m going hard.”
Alex Graham, a second-year
math and philosophy student, said,
“No matter what you’re drinking,
you don’t think about it ... [energy
drink cocktails] don’t change the
playing field that much.”
On the flip side, third-year
health science student Linda Bi
doesn’t see the point in mixing alcohol and energy drinks — especially
due to the controversy.
The WFU study suggests those
who drink just alcohol, versus drink
cocktails, are more likely to drink
responsibly.
“I’m not against moderate
drinking [or] drinking energy
drinks,” Dr. O’Brien stressed. “I’m
against mixing the two.”
USC to consider sustainable packaging
By Sarah Berman
Gazette Staff
We try to eat food that is good for
our bodies, but what about using
food packaging that is good for the
Earth?
The University Students’ Council is considering using more sustainable food containers in its
restaurants.
USC VP-campus issues James
Arthurs said a plan to use more sustainable packaging will be unveiled
in January.
“The new plan is looking into
sustainable operations at the Wave
and the Spoke, as well as, things like
reusable grocery bags.”
EnviroWestern co-ordinator Will
Bortolin said these initiatives are a
step in the right direction. Bortolin
maintained it is important to find
biodegradable alternatives to the
Styrofoam containers filling campus garbage bins.
“Styrofoam is a cheap, light
insulator,” he said. “It’s great for
business, but it doesn’t break down
... In our minds [garbage] just disappears, but that’s not the case.”
Bortolin explained there are different levels of biodegradability.
“Styrofoam is almost completely
non-biodegradable, but paper
products used at the Spoke do
eventually break down.”
The most sustainable products
are potato-starch based, and can
biodegrade within six to 12 months,
Bortolin said.
He pointed out the Grad Club
has already switched to biodegradable take-out containers.
The Grad Club’s general manager Marc Lalonde said, up until Sept.
20 of this year, the Grad Club used
Styrofoam products, much like
other campus restaurants. In
Shaun Ding/Gazette
PLEASE SEE SUSTAINABLE P3
Oshawa students’ houses raided by police
| The city raided student houses for lease agreements in an attempt to combat absentee landlords |
By Mike Hayes
Gazette Staff
Near the end of September, “highly
questionable” actions by the City of
Oshawa resulted in students’
homes being searched by police for
lease agreements.
According to Fraser McArthur,
president of the Student Association at Durham College, University
of Ontario Institute of Technology
and Trent College in Oshawa, city
bylaw officials executed search warrants on homes during the last
week of September, around the
Durham and UOIT campus,
allegedly for zoning purposes.
The city was granted 17 search
warrants to obtain lease and rental
agreements. At least 10 houses were
searched.
“Officials have been pretty tightlipped about the reasoning behind
the searches,” McArthur said. He
went on to add there have been
numerous community issues this
year regarding student relations
with the city.
Bylaw officials allegedly confis-
cated lease agreements for properties determined to be “lodging
houses.” The area surrounding the
campus is zoned for single-family
homes, but many landlords purchase properties and rent them out
to students.
The city’s reaction to the issue has
concerned McArthur. “Our residential zoning laws may be changed.
“Students could be evicted.”
Yet officials see things differently.
John Neal, city councillor for
Ward Seven, where the campus is
located, felt safety was a large issue
in this case.
“[The city of Oshawa] is simply
enforcing existing bylaws — specifically enforcing the zoning and
ensuring that leases are signed
legally,” he said.
Neal believed the city was going
after absentee landlords.
“These landlords aren’t willing to
maintain the property. The majority of students are [in Oshawa] to go
to school, and they expect the landlords to take charge.
“I’m working with the students
and the university.”
But many have raised concerns
about the use of search warrants for
the purposes of obtaining lease
agreements.
Anonymous Durham and UOIT
students claim uniformed officers
searched through personal effects
and belongings in order to find
lease agreements.
Only student homes were subject
to the “raids,” which were executed
whether or not students were home.
Mayor of Oshawa, John Gray,
PLEASE SEE NOT P2
P2
➤
news
theGazette • WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2007
‘Not about students,’ says Mayor
CONTINUED FROM P1
More than a simple panty raid
said, “We went to the courts and the judge gave us permission based on the preliminary information we submitted that justified search warrants.
“This is not about the students. We have some
homes that have been illegally converted.”
As for the use of search warrants, Gray believed
landlords were to blame.
“Some [landlords] are pretty swift. Some of them are
savvy enough to say ‘No, you’re not getting entrance.’”
Gray added allegations of searching through personal effects were “unfounded.”
Jason Voss, review counsel and lecturer in the Faculty of Law at Western, said
“In my 10 years of practicing criminal law, I’ve never
seen search warrants executed for such a purpose,”
Voss said.
“If the search was to look for lease agreements, then
I would wonder why the police wouldn’t search the
home of the landlord rather than the tenant,” he
added.
City of Oshawa bylaw officials and the Durham Regional Police Service were granted 17 search warrants to
search student homes surrounding Durham College,
University of Ontario Institute of Technology and Trent
College to get lease agreements. At least 10 houses
were searched.
“[The City of Oshawa] is simply enforcing existing
bylaws — specifically enforcing the zoning and ensuring that leases are signed legally.” John Neal, city
councillor for Ward Seven.
Neal believed the city was going after absentee landlords.
“If the search was to look for lease agreements, then
I would wonder why the police wouldn’t search the
home of the landlord rather than the tenant,” Jason
Voss, review counsel and lecturer in the Faculty of
Law at Western added.
Nobel winner questions lecture’s value
Wieman says students don’t use brains in standard lectures
By Clay Dasilva
Gazette Staff
Nobel-prize winning physicist Dr.
Carl Wieman hopes to teach universities how to teach scientific
subjects.
Basing his work on past
research that shows the inefficacy
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of lectures in helping students
learn, Dr. Wieman is embarking on
a campaign to improve the pedagogical methods of university education.
“In the standard lecture, [students] are not using their brains.
This is clear from research, [including] studies involving brain-scanning,” he said.
The standard lecture to which
Dr. Wieman refers is the one-tomany lecture, where students in
large classes are essentially passive
recipients of information imparted
by instructors. Wieman said his
idea is that without being engaged,
students will not learn as much as
they can.
“Educating is more than just
putting information into the brain
— if students don’t engage, learning
is not happening,” Wieman added.
Tom Haffie with Teaching and
Learning Services at Western agrees
with the idea.
“Inviting students to think about
their class can help people learn in
the room, but students need to
keep looking outside of the lecture,”
he said.
Haffie compared learning to a
gym workout. “No one is going to
get stronger by watching other people lift weights in the gym — you
have to do it for yourself.
“Learning is a very personal
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thing.”
Dr. Wieman explained several
techniques could provide this
engaging environment.
“One technique is to have students do small assignments before
class, preparing them ahead of
time, to be discussed in small
groups. It could involve the use of
clickers, giving teachers the ability
to gauge their students’ understanding.”
Ali Haider, a third-year business
management and organizational
studies student, liked the concept
of contributing in a smaller environment.
“If you’re contributing, you can
get straight feedback,” he said.
Zach Armstrong, a fourth-year
honors genetics student, agreed
with Wieman’s intention, but
expressed some reservations about
how engaging students in large
classes will work.
“Having group discussion in a
first-year biology course is simply
impossible. However, upper year
classes should definitely be taught
in a more ‘how-to-think’ manner,
rather than ‘what-to-think,’” he
said.
“You would have to enforce participation marks ... the best way to
test people is one-on-one or in
smaller groups with oral tests
instead of written tests,” Nathalie
Diaz, a fourth-year kinesiology student said.
All agreed the role of teachers
today has changed from one that
merely imparts information to one
that provides students with an
intellectually stimulating environment.
Quoting
Socrates,
Haffie
summed up the general reservation
against passive lecturing: “I cannot
teach anybody anything, I can only
make them think.”
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theGazette • WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2007
Sustainable packaging
finds friend in USC
[INSERT “UNDER MY UMBRELLA” REFERENCE HERE]
CONTINUED FROM P1
Jon Purdy/Gazette
DOWN CAME THE RAIN AND WASHED OUT ALL THE STUDENTS. Torrential showers blugeoned the masses yesterday,
reducing them to soggy, shivering husks of their former selves. Actually, it wasn’t that dramatic, but it was pretty wet. And
cold. It really sucked.
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101.37.C.01
and Media Studies, said, “We have
sites like this already where content
is checked, ideas are considered,
articles are reviewed each year and
added to, if need be — we call them
encyclopedias.”
Blackmore pointed out the main
lure of the Internet is free information, and Wikipedia is the perfect
example of that.
“We need to examine how we
use wikis like Wikipedia. If we want
them because they’re free ... than
any competing site would need to
be just as accessible and free.
“As long as academics are prepared to write for nothing, then a
site like this could continue. But
sooner or later it will be up against
much more powerful sites like Britannica.”
✄
A project that could save students
and teachers copious amounts of
Aspirin has found its way onto the
World Wide Web.
The project, titled Veropedia,
hopes to improve on Wikipedia,
while avoiding the vandalism
problems associated with that
website.
“I found an article that had been
on Wikipedia for 18 months, chronicling an island with a population of
127,000 people that lay off the coast
of Lebanon,” Danny Wool, founder
of Veropedia, recalled.
“It was a sturdy, well-written
article that used the same formatting of other Wikipedia pages. The
only problem was that this island
doesn’t exist.”
Issues like these are the main
focus of Wool’s Veropedia, which
currently employs a staff of 113 former “Wikipedians.”
According to the Veropedia website, its aim is to “collect the best of
Wikipedia’s content, clean it up, vet
it, and save it for all time.”
The process of vetting Wikipedia
articles will depend on the review
of recognized academics and
experts.
The project is unique in that it is
not an expert-driven project: all
articles are written by Wikipedia
contributors, while at the same
time the vetting process ensures
that only the “cream of the crop”
will go on the site.
“While going through featured
articles on Wikipedia,” Wool
explained, “One notices that there
are only 1,600 out of 2.5 million articles vetted. And even in these articles there are problems that need to
be fixed.”
Grammar, punctuation and
redundant information seemed to
be the main issues plaguing these
articles, Wool added.
Despite criticism, Wikipedia was
positive about the project.
“The more free content projects
of high quality [that] are available,
the better for the world,” Sandy
Ordonez, communications manager at the Wikimedia Foundation,
said.
Wool hopes Veropedia will be
adopted by academics and educational institutions.
“We’re hoping as interest gets
out, more academics will want to
use it,” Wool said.
But some academics are skeptical of the service.
Tim Blackmore, associate professor in the Faculty of Information
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Black bean curry and Peking duck are delicious. We can’t make
it for you, but maybe we could whip you up some microwaved
Chunky Soup or a bowl of Kraft Easy Mac.
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Richmond St.
Veropedia aims to be a legit wiki
Western Rd.
response to requests from graduate students, the Grad
Club changed its policy.
“We are trying to be more environmentally friendly,” Lalonde said. “All of us have to do our share.”
But replacing Styrofoam packaging comes at a cost.
“These cost about a nickel more per container,”
Lalonde said. “But in the long run, it’s better for the
business if we show that we care about the environment.”
The new take-out boxes biodegrade in 90 days if
composted, Lalonde added.
Arthurs said Western has a responsibility to find
more sustainable solutions. “The Spoke and Wave are
high-traffic areas [that] contribute to high-waste on
campus.
“We’re trying to reduce the amount of waste we produce,” he said.
Fourth-year political science and biology student
Steven Buchalter said sustainable alternatives are currently few and far between on campus. “When I’m here
I try to go somewhere with an actual plate so I’m not
creating waste.
“I think offering recyclable or biodegradable packaging is a great way to encourage students to conserve,” he said.
Arthurs assured the USC would take action as soon
as possible. “The reason we can’t just snap our fingers
is there are many costs and lengthy processes
involved.”
The USC must work with its food distributing company, SYSCO, to meet sustainable goals.
When asked if the USC is doing a good job of providing sustainable services, Bortolin was hesitant, but
positive.
“I don’t think they’re sitting on their hands.”
“It’s evident that environmental sustainability is a
pertinent issue to students,” Arthurs said. “It’s not just
a fad.”
USC BARS
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P4
➤
opinions
theGazette • WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2007
thegazette
Volume 101, Issue 37
“The liberally educated person is one who is able to resist the easy and preferred answers,
not because he is obstinate but because he knows others worthy of consideration.”
—ALLAN BLOOM
Allison Buchan-Terrell
Brice Hall
James Hayes
Editor-In-Chief
Deputy Editor
Managing Editor
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The Gazette is owned and published by the University Students’ Council.
Profs must
make more
of an effort
Nobel Prize-winning physicist Carl Weiman has proposed
lecturing is an inefficient method of teaching, suggesting
it does not engage students. He proposes the current system of university education be rejected in favour of discussion-based classes.
Course materials should be presented in a manner
engaging to students, and Weiman’s thoughts open
debate on what exactly is the best method.
As Weiman is a physics professor, it’s important to
note the distinction between courses in the Arts and
Sciences. Arts courses, which are based far more around
debate, lend themselves more to discussion-based
teaching.
This concept raises questions about the validity of the
lecture method in Science courses. It’s not uncommon for
professors simply to work from slides and lecture notes,
often taken directly from the textbook.
It’s no surprise students are bored in class when lectures are often just rehashes of the previous night’s readings. What’s the point in being attentive when you are just
relearning things you already know?
As such, professors need to go the extra distance to
engage their students. Whether that means better oratory skills, use of audio-visual tools or simply finding
more interesting aspects of course material to present,
they need to find a way to make their courses interesting.
Of course, it’s unfeasible for many professors to put
too much planning into lectures due to the time commitments of research; this raises the question where research
and teaching fit into university life.
Whereas universities like Trent and Laurentian
emphasize a closer-knit, smaller class size atmosphere
concentrating more on in-class attention, Western advertises itself as a research-intensive university.
However, the best student experience mandates that
teaching comes first. Papers and journal entries might be
essential to Western, but as tuition-paying students we
have a right to have professors putting emphasis on our
education.
It is obviously not possible to make all lectures discussion-based — the resources simply aren’t available for
class sizes that small, and some disciplines are not well
suited to debate.
However, this means professors must do a better job
mediating the learning process, finding ways to engage
their classes. Both students and professors play an important role in providing a proper academic environment; as
such, they need to provide the best education possible,
and we need to take advantage of the opportunity provided.
Letters to the Editor
Kusinski’s claims unwarranted on Trois-Pistoles
Re: “Kusinski will have his day in court.”
Oct. 31, 2007
To the editor:
As a 2007 participant of the Trois-Pistoles
program, I am utterly appalled by Adam
Kusinski’s actions. After the completion
of the spring session, I enjoyed myself
and my home stay so much I decided to
extend my time in Trois-Pistoles for eight
more weeks.
The woman whose home I lived in
was very generous and welcoming; she
has hosted students for 18 years. About
one week into the summer session, the
school contacted my host mom regarding a student who was causing huge
administrative problems during his
home stay. The school explained no
other host family was willing to take in
this student; eventually, my house mom
accepted and took Kusinski into her
home.
Everyone in the house was very skeptical of Adam, and our skepticism was
not unwarranted. Adam was very bizarre
and disrespectful. He spoke openly in
English in front of our host parents,
walked around inappropriately dressed
and asked for more food at mealtimes
and proceeded to waste it.
I will not continue to bash Kusinski.
However, I will say his claims are grossly
exaggerated. I had several friends who
lived in the same area of Kusinski first
home, and although they didn’t enjoy the
distance from school, they joked it was
good exercise to burn off all the extra
calories.
Kusinski’s claim about his second
home, in which I was also a resident, that
12 students lived in the “medium”-sized
house, is false. The house was quite large,
and hosted nine students — eight in the
program who shared double rooms, plus
myself in a single room.
I think it is sad and pathetic Kusinski
would stoop to such a low level as to
Internationlal Relations III
To the editor:
I think it may be a good time to tell you
how the Trois-Pistoles French Immersion
program changed my life.
I was a first-time student at the
school in the spring of 2005 and arrived
in this small, rural town in eastern
Québec like most unilingual Anglophones do — bewildered and disoriented. I remember asking, “What have I
gotten myself into?”
I was suddenly staying in a home with
complete strangers, sharing the facilities
and living quarters with other students
from across Canada and the world, and
clumsily attempting to function in a
completely Francophone community.
I wanted so badly to learn French — to
be able to communicate with people. It
was this motivation that kept me marching through the Maritime fog and cold
mist on my way to class each morning.
The incredible warmth and encouragement I received from the citizens of
Trois-Pistoles gave me the strength and
courage to practise my French in public,
with people on the street, in the shops
and bars. By the end of the five-week
intensive program, I learned how to
speak French, about the people and culture of Québec, and also a great deal
about myself and what I am capable of
achieving if I want it badly enough.
I am now a Master’s student in the
department of French Studies, I teach an
—Nicholas Moroz
MA Candidate, French Studies
To the editor:
Ask students in French Studies what their
favorite recent film is, and they will tell
you L’auberge espagnole. The title is a
French expression that refers to a place
or situation where what you find is essentially what you have brought yourself.
To me, this is a good illustration of
Adam Kusinski’s conflict with Western.
Mr. Kusinski is suing the school for having falsely advertised the Trois-Pistoles
experience in its brochure.
The problem is Mr. Kusinski had, selfadmittedly, an important reason for
choosing the five-week immersion program.
The main reason for choosing the
program in Québec was that [he] “just
needed to bump up [his] average 0.5 per
cent to get into the BMOS program.”
He expected Trois-Pistoles to be a
“safe” way to achieve that. Can I suggest
that by “safe” he meant students could
expect a good mark without actually
studying? Can I further suggest that after
discovering some effort on French 135
was required, he decided to withdraw
from it, regardless of his living conditions
there?
The person who should admit “they
made a mistake” is Mr. Kusinski himself.
Hopefully he will remember in the future
that a choice for the wrong reasons
(attaining a higher average) is most likely to lead to a poor outcome. What you
give is ultimately what you get.
—Valérie Prat
PhD Candidate, Applied Linguistics
Lecturer in French Studies
Maximum 300 words. All letters must include the author’s name, year and program.
Section Editors 2007-2008
News
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Mike Hayes
Sarah Berman
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Arts & Entertainment
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Letters: Must include the contributor’s name, identification (ie. Economics II, Dean of Arts) and a telephone
number, and be typed double-spaced, submitted on disk
in Macintosh or IBM word-processing format, or be
emailed to gazette.editor@uwo.ca. Letters more than
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reserves the right to edit letters and submissions and
makes no guarantees that a letter will be published.
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Justin Wu
• Please recycle this newspaper •
—Meghan McKelvey
intermediate French class and I correspond regularly with my Francophone
friends whom I met in Trois-Pistoles —
all things I would have thought impossible only three years ago. Merci Trois-Pistoles.
Who could hate a province that gave us poutine and Maxim Lapierre?
Send us a letter at gazette.opinions@uwo.ca
Editorials appearing under the ‘opinions’ heading are
decided upon by a majority of the editorial board and
are written by a member of the editorial board but are
not necessarily the expressed opinion of each editorial
board member. All other opinions are strictly those of the
author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the
USC, The Gazette, its editors or staff.
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blame Western, the Canadian government and Trois-Pistoles for his inability
to adapt to a new and exciting environment. Kusinski’s claims should not discourage students from participating in
the Trois-Pistoles program — it is an
amazing program, and was one of the
most valuable experiences of my life. I
think its 75 years of existence speak for
themselves.
Web
Shawn Foster
Gazette Staff 2007-2008
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Erik Adler, Erin Baker, Mary Ann Boateng, Dino Bratic, Steve Browne,
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P5 WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2007
ArtsEntertainment
Joel Plaskett Emergency gets crowd wailing
CONCERT REVIEW
Performance:
Openers:
Crowd:
Set List:
Worth the $$$:
By Lauren Pelley
Alec O’Hanley and bassist Andrew
Macdonald added to the band’s
lush sound, which resonated like a
heartbeat through the intimate
venue.
A string of tunes including
“Nighthawks” and “Backseat
Sweetheart” — complete with
handclaps, tambourine beats, and
falsetto oo-ing — got toes tapping.
Two Hours Traffic toned things
down with the acoustic-driven
“Heroes of the Sidewalk” before
returning to its usual thumping
rhythm. By the time the band
reached the set’s highlight — the
single “Jezebel” from its new
album, Little Jabs — most
of the crowd was unable
to stand still.
Despite Two Hours
Traffic’s strong performance, it was
clear
the
audience
wanted
Halifaxb o r n
Gazette Staff
With a fan’s Nova Scotia flag
clutched between his teeth, Joel
Plaskett brought the East Coast to
London as he rocked Call the
Office.
Joel Plaskett Emergency, with
openers Two Hours Traffic, played
at Call the Office on Sunday and
Monday nights.
On Monday, Two Hours Traffic
kicked off the evening with its distinctive and infectious blend of
pop-rock melodies.
It’s easy to forget the P.E.I.based indie rockers have only been
around since 2003. Its sound is
tight and its onstage chemistry is
electric, which might have something to do with having Joel Plaskett as their producer — but there’s
more to it than that.
Two Hours Traffic was catchy,
with the sharp vocal stylings of
Liam Concoran floating over Derek
Ellis’ pulsating drumbeat. Guitarist
Plaskett. When he took the stage,
flanked by Emergency members
Dave Marsh, Chris Pennell and
special guest Peter Elkas, the crowd
became even more energetic.
Plaskett’s set featured songs
that spanned his career, from
2007’s Ashtray Rock to his teenage
years in the indie band Thrush
Hermit.
Whether he shimmied
across the stage like
James Brown,
ad-libbed half
his lyrics, or
played a guitar
solo on his knees,
Plaskett never disappointed.
The Emergency’s rendition of
“Snowed In/Cruisin,” an Ashtray
Rock number Plaskett penned in
his Thrust Hermit days, was one of
the night’s most memorable
moments.
The band built up momentum
during the first half of the set with
grinding electric guitars and
Marsh’s maraca-heavy drumbeat
before Plaskett switched to
acoustic for the last half’s steady
rhythm. At the set’s climax was an
adept guitar solo from Plaskett,
layered with the harmonica
stylings of Elkas.
Plaskett kept the night interesting by mixing a few solo acoustic
numbers, including
his biggest hit to
date, “Nowhere
With You,” into
t h e
Emergency’s energetic rock and
roll set. Plaskett was on fire during
rock numbers like “Extraordinary”
and equally at home playing
toned-down, nostalgic pieces like
“Soundtrack for the Night”.
Finally, he switched things up in
the show’s encore to play drums
for Ashtray Rock’s sing-along single
“Fashionable People.”
Plaskett
offered a
crowdpleasing
show from
start to finish.
Jonas Hrebeniuk/Gazette
Two Hours Traffic step out of mentor’s shadow
By Andrew Sullivan
Gazette Staff
Two Hours Traffic has been stuck
with the “up and coming” tag for a
few years now, but the young band
from Charlottetown, P.E.I. is finally
shedding the title.
It could be the fact the band crafts
strong three-minute pop tunes time
and time again, or the fact the band
members listen to everything from
the newest East Coast sensations to
your dad’s old record collection.
“We grew up listening to what
everyone else listened to growing
up. A lot of baby boomer music: The
Beach Boys, Crosby, Stills and Nash.
Whatever was catchy when we were
young,” guitarist/keyboardist, Alec
O’Hanley, explains. “You keep
exposing yourself to new things. You
don’t really pick your influences. It’s
more like your influences pick you;
they get entrenched over time.”
With its second LP, Little Jabs,
released this summer, the band can
be found all over the place, including your television. So far the band
has had music featured on shows
like The O.C. and Gossip Girl.
“It’s really done on a case-bycase basis,” O’Hanley states. “If
Smallville or whatever wants to use
a song, why not do it? It’s a win-win
situation. We are making money
and not really doing any work.
“We don’t tour the States yet, so
it is a great way for us to get listeners that way. Television shows
themselves seem pretty harmless
in general.”
Advertisements are a different
story.
“With advertisements, you have
to be more careful. I think M.I.A. had
a song used in a car commercial,
and it was sort of contradicting her
own lyrics. It’s a different vein of film,
I guess. But you also have people like
Feist, who after that iPod commercial, [is] just becoming huge.”
With an album produced by East
Coast legend Joel Plaskett and an
opening slot on his tour, O’Hanley
believes the constant barrage of
Plaskett questions simply comes
with the turf.
“It’s the angle they come at us
with. If it’s always the same questions again, you do get weary. But
Joel is a really good guy, and it is a
small price to pay. We are touring
with him, so you sort of expect it.”
Plaskett found the young band
after hearing its first EP, The April
Storm. Two albums and a few EPs
later, the band still has a strong connection with its mentor.
“Musically, he’s like an encyclopedia. He knows a bit of everything.
He’s always been really good for us.
He has had the experience of doing
the indie thing, he’s been on a major
U.S. label and been dropped as well.
We are pretty green in comparison.”
O’Hanley isn’t kidding about the
band’s youth. Its members still
aren’t old enough to rent a car, or
more importantly, a van.
“We were working on our first
national tour. And we were in
Edmonton. The van was parked,
but when we came outside, it was
stuck between a tree and a hillbilly’s truck. When the cops opened
the door to pull him out, liquor bottles poured out into the street.
“Luckily, we weren’t in it. And we
got all our gear out of there too. I
think our drummer would’ve been
pretty upset if we hadn’t.”
The band, however, couldn’t find
anyone to rent it a van. Luckily for
O’Hanley, his parents found an
identical one and met up with the
band in Winnipeg to deliver it.
“They’ve always been supportive. They put me in piano lessons
when I was six and wanted to learn
how to play Happy Birthday. My
dad might have a conference in
town or something and just show
up randomly at a show.
“The more success that comes
our way the more they begin to
understand this isn’t just some side
thing or a distraction from a real
job,” he says. “It becomes your job.”
Two Hours Traffic played last
Sunday and Monday nights with
Joel Plaskett at Call The Office.
The Band: Two Hours Traffic
Sounds Like: The Cars, Big Star
Fun Fact: Band members Liam Corcoran and Alec O’Hanley met in kindergarten
Listen to: Jezebel
Where They’re Playing Next: Nov. 7 in Kingston
Courtesy of Rémi Thériault
THESE SUSPENDERS ARE SO FOXY EVEN LARRY KING WOULD BE
JEALOUS. The members of Two Hours Traffic are more than just handsome faces. They also write a mean song.
P6
➤
arts&entertainment
theGazette • WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2007
Denzel, Crowe go toe-to-toe in American Gangster
Campus Hi-Fi
Restaurant Breakfast
Served
NOW IF YOU’LL EXCUSE ME, THERE’S SOMEONE OUTSIDE I NEED TO GO KILL. Frank Lucas (Washington) gives a lesson in business to his brothers moments before stepping outside to gun down a rival dealer.
All DAY
By Michael Gregoris
Gazette Staff
All Day Special
American Gangster
Directed by: Ridley Scott
Starring: Denzel Washington, Russell
Crowe, The RZA, Common
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It has become increasingly difficult
to create an authentic gangster flick
that’s worthy of being mentioned in
the same breath as Goodfellas or
King of New York. American Gangster is no exception.
Ridley Scott’s voyage into the
seedy underworld of the 1970s
heroin trade presents the true-life
tale of Frank Lucas (Washington),
the figurehead of Harlem’s inner
city trafficking empire, who paves
his way to the top by enforcing a
strict code of business and ethics.
Playing opposite Lucas is Richie
Roberts (Crowe), an outcast cop
driven to the fringes of his own
precinct by the overwhelming corruption that has spawned an army
of greedy police officers.
Like Lucas, Roberts maintains
his own code of ethics. Upon discovering Lucas is importing heroin
from Vietnam in the coffins of dead
soldiers, Roberts undertakes a harrowing journey to bring Lucas
down and curb the corruption
plaguing the drug squad of the
NYPD.
It’s obvious the cast members
spent a great deal of time preparing
their roles — the acting is outstanding. However, one cannot
ignore the fact Washington, though
he delivers a great performance, is
pigeonholed into the same role he
played in Training Day.
As is the norm for most of Scott’s
films, the cinematography of American Gangster is beautiful. Those
looking for a fast-paced, shoot-‘emup-style gangster flick should look
elsewhere, as Scott abandons this
motif for a more methodical
approach in illustrating the emotional complexities of both Lucas
and Roberts.
However, despite its lack of over-
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the-top violence, American Gangster still includes several gory
scenes, one of which shows Lucas
quietly getting up from his seat in a
breakfast diner, calmly proceeding
outside and firing a bullet square in
the head of a rival — in broad daylight.
Despite strong performances
and complex subplots, American
Gangster has several shortcomings.
At times, American Gangster
comes off as another title in the
long list of clichéd gangster flicks,
complete with the predicatable
rise-and-fall storyline seen in films
like Scarface.
The film is also lengthy. At just
over two and a half hours with a
focus on character development
rather than action, American
Gangster is too long and tedious.
Moreover, there are a number of
superfluous, distracting characters.
Lucas is celebrated as an
embodiment of black empowerment who stands for political
autonomy through financial gain.
However, the notion of Lucas as a
hero is continually undermined
by the fact that those he’s trying to
represent are the same people
who buy his drugs and fund his
empire. The disparity between
these two perspectives further
complicates any evaluation of
Lucas as a real hero.
Nevertheless, American Gangster is an enjoyable experience, but
unlike The Godfather, it fails to
leave a lasting impression.
P7 WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2007
Sports
ON DECK: Rowers bring home hardware... Thursday
Jonas Hrebeniuk/Gazette
OUA Swimming
Women’s team succeeds at annual meet
| Nell leads the way with dominating 400m, 100m times |
By Tara Athar
Gazette Writer
The Mustangs may be known for
their speed on land, but Western’s
swim team also shows prowess in
the water.
The team is off to a strong start
this season, having won its first
meet against Wilfred Laurier University, and performing steadily this
past weekend against several
Ontario universities.
Their challengers included the
Guelph Gryphons, McMaster
Marauders and the Brock Badgers.
Various regional aquatic clubs also
participated in the meet.
McMaster head coach Andrew
Cole was impressed, but not surprised, by Western’s performance
this weekend.
“Western’s always a great time,
always up for the race. They’ve had a
tradition of excellence in their pro-
gram for many, many years,” he said.
“Their coach, Paul Midgely, has built
a terrific program; there’s a concept
of high performance and working
towards Olympic-level athletes.
Whenever we can go head-to-head
with Western, it’s a great thing.”
First-year swimmer Hayley Nell
showed despite being a rookie on
the team, she’s no amateur to the
sport. Nell came in first in the
women’s 400m long course
freestyle, beating her opposition by
3.01 seconds.
She also placed first in the
women’s 100m long course
freestyle, with a time of 59.21, leaving a 4.40 second margin between
herself and second place.
“Swimming is a very individual
sport,” Nell said. “When it comes
down to it, it’s you who has to push
yourself in workout and in the races
in order to do well.
“Seeing as we have so many
workouts, especially the early morning ones, it always helps to have
other people there in the pool at 5:30
in the morning to swim with you.”
While they may lack sleep, these
athletes don’t lack the ability to
work as a team, dominating both
the men’s and the women’s relay
races this past weekend. The
squads placed first in four out of
five relay races.
Ryan Atkison and Nadia Kumentas also performed well and showed
great potential for the rest of the
season.
Western may have taken the
lead in this weekend’s races but its
biggest challenge is embodied in its
perennial rival and last year’s
Ontario University Athletics champions, the University of Toronto.
Toronto may have schooled them
on Oct. 27, but if things go as Midgely hopes, the Varsity Blues may be the
ones singing the blues this year.
“We want to win the women’s
OUA [title],” Midgely said. “I definitely think we have the team and
if we continue to train at the level
we’re training and preparing at and
continue to bring the team together, we’ll be very competitive at
OUAs.”
While Midgely is not as confident in the men’s ability to capture
first place, he feels a podium finish
is attainable.
“We knew [going into] this year
it wasn’t going to be our year on
men’s [side], but the team is coming together and getting better and
they’ll definitely be better in February. I think realistically U of T is too
strong on the men’s team for us to
take [them] out this year.”
Midgely has high hopes for the
future of the men’s team though.
“We’ve got some good men,” he
said. “They just need a bit more
seasoning.
“They’re a season or two away
from being able to step up at the
OUAs.”
In addition to the threat facing
the Mustangs from Toronto, Midgely acknowledges other potential
roadblocks on the path to an OUA
championship.
“I think as in every year with any
sport that goes over the exam period, the difficulty is that you do well
preparing them until the November-December period, and then
two things happen: they have
exams where they have to back off
the training, and then they go home
for the Christmas break,” he said.
“If we can maintain our training
focus through that period, we’ll be
very good come February.
“There’s not enough time when
they come back in January to be
ready for a February championship
meet if they don’t hold their training through that period.”
OUA Volleyball
OUA Basketball
Team blocks Brock from win
Ballers in the win
column with victory Willougby, Descours key in victory
over Guelph
By Stephanie Ramsay
and Katie Graves
Gazette Staff
By Stephanie Ramsay
Gazette Staff
After falling to the McMaster
Marauders 78-54 in its home
opener, the women’s basketball
team is now in the win column.
In its second game of the regular season, the young squad
defeated the Guelph Gryphons
75-68 before a lively crowd at
Alumni Hall on Saturday.
Veteran forward Bess Lennox
stressed the importance of moving on after a tough loss against
McMaster.
“Mac is always a tough opponent,” she conceded. “I think from
that game we were able to take
away a lot of positives from the
first half. We did some really good
things on the offensive and the
defensive end, and also we were
able to learn from a lot of our mistakes in the second half.
“[Western head coach Stephan
Barrie] always tells us, win or lose,
to put the game that just happened behind us, learn from it,
and look to the future. I think we
PLEASE SEE FREE P8
Fifth-year volleyballer Lauren
Willoughby knew timing would be
key in defeating the Brock Badgers
Friday night at Alumni Hall.
“One thing that I think that put
us at an immediate advantage was
the way they approach, which
tends to be a bit slower,” she said.
“If we were late on closing the
block, it almost served us better
because the timing matched up so
we were at our peak when the ball
was coming over.”
Willoughby’s five blocks, along
with the team’s timely kills, contributed to Western’s 3-1 win.
Despite defeating the Badgers in
four sets, Western struggled early in
the match. In the first set, Brock’s
defence frequently kept the ball in
play and forced Western to make
several errors. Although Western’s
blocking steadily improved, the
Badgers captured the first set 25-20.
Mustangs head coach Dean
Lowrie said his team’s nerves got
the better of them early in the
game.
“We made a lot of errors in the
first set,” Lowrie said. “We were a
little afraid of the situation. We
missed some serves and we hit
some balls out. Statistically, we
made 16 errors for their points.
When the set is only to 25 points
and you give up 16 points, it is
tough to win.”
Fifth-year outside hitter Caro-
line Descours agreed the squad
lacked confidence in the first frame.
“I think what happened in the
first set is that we came out a little
bit hesitant. Our season is off to a
slow start, so I think confidence is
an issue.
“After that first set, we got
together and decided we just needed to play and not be afraid to go
out and play aggressively.”
The Mustangs did just that,
coming out in the second set with
big blocks and standout defence of
their own. Although Brock kept
Western on its toes for the first half
of the set, Western’s offence quickly
took off, securing it a nine-point
lead. The Mustangs’ tough serving
PLEASE SEE STRONG P8
P8
➤
sports
theGazette • WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2007
Free throws crucial
in Mustangs first
home court win
CONTINUED FROM P7
were able to do that.”
As Saturday’s match-up got
underway, it was clear the Mustangs were not dwelling on previous disappointments. Western’s
offence quickly took off, with
Lennox scoring the first two
points on what would become a
13-point scoring run.
After a Guelph timeout, the visitors hit the court with renewed
energy. Soon after, standout
Gryphons guard Heather Angus
got her squad on the board with
two points. Angus prevented the
Mustangs from running away with
the game, leading her team with
16 points and seven boards.
However, Angus’ offensive
surge was not enough for the win,
as the Gryphons struggled with
their shooting and were only able
to secure the lead for a brief
moment in the second half.
Gryphons’ head coach Angela
Orton said inexperience was a factor in her team’s loss.
“I thought we could have penetrated a little more against them,
but overall I’m pretty happy with
my team’s performance,” she said.
“We have nine freshman and we’re
a young team. We have one
fourth-year player and one thirdyear player, so I’m pretty happy
with what we did and I think we
kept our composure.
“We were down 13-0 to start
the game, so this could have been
a blowout.”
Despite the Mustangs’ early
run, the Gryphons whittled Western’s lead down to five points by
halftime. In the second half, both
squads racked up a number of
infractions and free throws became
an important factor in the match.
After halftime, the Gryphons
missed eight of 15 attempts from
the charity stripe, which only
made their seven-point loss more
devastating.
On the other hand, Western
knocked down 10 of 14 attempts
from the foul line.
“It really came down to free
throws in the end,” third-year
Western forward Megan Lapointe
said. “We were hitting ours fairly
well and Guelph wasn’t, so that
helped us a bit.”
Barrie stressed the need to
focus on every game individually.
“We have so many games left
and it is such a long season that
you can’t get too high when you
win and you can’t get too low
when you lose.”
Next up for the Mustangs is a
home game against the York Lions
on Nov. 9. Tip-off is at 6 p.m. at
Alumni Hall.
Jonas Hrebeniuk/Gazette
Strong defensive play not
enough to secure Badgers win
CONTINUED FROM P7
eventually won them the set 25-18.
Lowrie indicated some minor
adjustments after the first set
helped his squad gain some
momentum.
“We only made one personnel
change — we put Sarah Farrell in
the game — and she did a good job
... We started to really focus on a lot
of the technique we’ve been working on and we got some good
results out of it.”
In the third set, Western’s offence
overpowered Brock’s defence and
the Mustangs’ strong serving once
again spelled trouble for the Bad-
gers. Willoughby and Farrell both
had strong rotations in front, and
Brock began consistently hitting
the ball out. Western’s disciplined
block proved too tough for the Badgers and the Mustangs won the set
25-14.
Descours said solid blocking
was a crucial part of Western’s game
plan.
“They ran pretty offensive middles last time we played them and
we had a lot of trouble defending,”
she said. “This time we set a much
better block against them, forcing a
lot of balls to get hit out. As well, we
dug them a lot better. We knew their
angles ... I think our team can take
credit for their errors.”
In the fourth and final set,
Brock’s defence regained its composure and the Badgers to took an
early lead. However, Western quickly answered back, eventually winning the set 25-20.
Brock’s head coach Lucas Hodgson said his team’s inability to execute the game plan led to its loss.
“Just mentally, the team did not
come prepared like we prepared all
week. We didn’t follow our game
plan, so that broke down our
defence. Our blocking wasn’t what
it’s supposed to be and we made
too many unforced errors. I give
Western credit, they played well.”