The Gateway isn’t satisfied with mere hotdogs and waffles. We explore some other services that should be sold on campus.opinion, page 6

Green and gold to red and whiteEight volleyball Bears and Pandas show that they’ve got what it takes to wear the maple leaf.

SportS, page 13

Pop culture aficionado Alex Migdal takes apart Rebecca Black’s “Friday” follow-up.

a&e, page 10

inside

A work of cart

1 9 1 0 2 0 1 0

YEARS

CELEBRATING

volume CII summer issue 2 the official student newspaper at the university of alberta www.thegatewayonline.ca monday, july 25, 2011

NERMEEN YOUSSEF

CRUNCH TIME A nutritious, gluten-free snack called Chickitos developed by four U of A students is getting lots of attention. See story, page 4.

Computing Science layoffs aggravate graduate students

Alex MigdAlStaff Reporter

The University of Alberta is gearing up to host hundreds of youth this week who will be rallying in a global movement revolving around the theme of “Our World. Our Water.”

From July 27 to 30, the Centennial Centre for Interdisciplinary Science will play host to the Global Youth Assembly, a congregation of 450 del-egates between the ages of 16 and 28 looking to “ignite change” on human

rights issues.Renee Vaugeois, executive direc-

tor of the John Humphrey Centre for Peace and Human Rights, a non-profit organization, has worked on the GYA since its first assembly back in 2007. She views the event as “cre-ating a movement of youth who are challenging things, who are thinking differently, who are working col-laboratively, and who are embracing human rights.”

The idea for the GYA came to Vaugeois in 2006 when she attended a

youth assembly in New York run by the United Nations, which she described as a “disappointing” experience.

“It was all white, middle-class Americans. There were maybe five people from Taiwan,” she said. “The programming was all older white people talking down to these kids. We all went, ‘This is so not what we’d want to do.’ ”

Driven by a desire to assem-ble youth of diverse backgrounds together, Vaugeois initiated a proposal for an assembly in Edmonton, which

successfully launched in 2007. Thirty-five countries were represented in the last GYA, and Vaugeois hopes to see the same number this time around.

“It’s driven by different approaches,” she said. “We want to make sure that the speakers we do have are diverse. If you look at the program this year, we have indigenous speakers from around the world.”

Scheduled speakers include aquatic filmmaker Fabien Cousteau and Montreal MP Justin Trudeau.

Hundreds to gather for third Global Youth Assembly

Please see aSSembly Page 4

AAron YeoNews Editor

Campus-wide budget cuts have led the Department of Computing Science to eliminate some valued positions, leading to a negative response from students.

Every department has a go-to person for questions; Edith Drummond was the Graduate Student Advisor for the Department of Computing Science until her position was terminated last week. Her duties will now be assigned to faculty members. While department chair Mike MacGregor called the layoff an “unwelcome task,” the decision was taken even less well by students.

“If you ask any student in that department, [she] was probably the one person you shouldn’t lay off,” said Dave Churchill, Vice President of the Computing Science Graduate Students’ Association. “She was basically like the lifeline to the department for student-related things.”

When the graduate students heard the news, it spread on Facebook and many expressed their frustrations, writing that faculty aren’t compe-tent enough in administration duties, showed concern for future students, and exclaimed “Bring back Edith!” Others praised her help in the past, and asked “Who do we go to now?”

“One of the comments that hits home a lot is ‘Where will the department be

in 10 years if they continue like this?’ and the response was overwhelmingly negative,” Churchill said.

All faculties and departments faced two per cent budget cuts this year, and Churchill was told that computing sci-ence was aiming at a 3.5 per cent cut. According to MacGregor, 97 per cent of the department’s budget is for sala-ries, and that “the only place for those budget cuts is support staff salaries.”

“A 3.5 per cent budget cut is really just a euphemism for a much larger cut in services,” Churchill said.

Churchill added that this isn’t the first time downsizing has affected them. Earlier this year, the depart-ment’s teaching assistant advisor was laid off and replaced by a professor, which some students saw as a conflict of interest.

“I don’t want to have to go to a prof to talk about the financial distress that I’m under, and then go to a research meeting with him later. It’s uncom-fortable, and not a very good profes-sional environment, in my opinion,” Churchill said.

In addition to Drummond, the department eliminated an adminis-trative assistant position held by Iris Everitt and a vacant help desk position on Monday July 18. In an e-mail to students, MacGregor wanted to stress that the decisions were “a question of roles, not personalities.”

Please see compSci Page 2

“My Moment” not the new black

Delegates from around the world will discuss water issues and human rights at a conference in CCIS

2 News monday, july 25, 2011 www.thegatewayonline.ca

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As you may be aware, singer Amy Winehouse kicked the bucket from suspected drug overdose.STREETERSHannan RusichVisiting

Well of course I’d probably go for a nap, and have a heart attack or something, and die in my sleep. That’d be the nicest way.

With fireworks. [Fireworks?] With fire-works. Or on a firework. Psshhewwww into the sky.

To die bungee jumping off a cable car strapped in between two mountains. Which is a tourist attraction. My friends are going to do it. Not the dying part, though.

I’d probably work myself to death. I’m really OCD, so I’ll probably be like, “Oh my god, my pens aren’t straight enough,” and rearrange them, and I’ll just forget to feed myself, and kick the bucket.

Cody CarverPhys Ed IV

Sierra YoungVisiting

Compiled and photographed byAaron Yeo and Dan McKechnie

How would you like to see yourself go?

JusTiN BellManaging Editor

The School of Business at the University of Alberta will be offering more real estate-related courses in the future and could eventually turn real estate into a major or minor option for commerce students, thanks to the recent introduction of the Stan Melton Chair in Real Estate.

David Dale-Johnson will take over as chair this September and is already expanding the number of real estate courses offered at the university. Previously, only a survey course was offered. Starting this fall, com-merce students will be able to take a course on real estate finance and investment.

“It’s really a tool-oriented course, giving students the tools to make real estate valuation decisions, financing decisions, [and] development deci-sions. So it’s a heavy duty kind of finance, numbers-oriented course,” Dale-Johnson said. “Most students who go to work for real estate com-panies will look to them to have

this skill set when they come in the door.”

While Dale-Johnson will take over those two courses this fall, he wants to introduce two more next year. Those would include one course on real estate law, covering everything from transactional regulations to getting approval to build. The other would have students form teams to act as consultants for clients, gaining real-world experience.

There are relatively few real estate programs in Canada, according to Dale-Johnson. He’s also one of few academics focusing on real estate; he spent the past seven years working in the industry, and was the direc-tor of the Real Estate Program at the University of Southern California before that.

“Most of my life, I’ve been interested in the real estate sector,” Dale-Johnson said. “I’ve been interested in what cities grow; what makes them livable. That led me to a career in academia.”

The new chair and courses are part of the School of Retailing at the Alberta School of Business.

Dale-Johnson said the two make a natural fit because of the importance of real estate in the retailing world. Using a large retailer like Canadian Tire as an example, he said they would likely have a real estate division that focuses on where to open new stores and manage existing spaces.

“Every retailer is faced with making real estate decisions. It can make or break a particular retailer.”

The School of Retailing direc-tor Kyle Murray agreed, saying it’s “incredibly important” to have real estate classes at the U of A.

While there will be more retail courses for students in the next few years, both Murray and Dale-Johnson said the addition of a major or minor in real estate will be dependent on demand from students.

The chair position was established after the donation of $300,000 by the Alberta Real Estate Foundation earlier this month. That comes after a pre-vious donation of $500,000 by the same organization, completing the $3 million required by the university to fund the chair position.

New real estate chair to bring in more courses on the industry$3 million dollars of donations help U of A introduce experienced realtor and academic David Dale-Johnson to the Alberta School of Business

Michele DuvalGraduate Studies I

“Layoffs are not about the behaviour of specific individuals. Layoffs are a question about whether we can sup-port the services we absolutely must with some remaining subset of the roles,” MacGregor said.

While most students believed Drummond was the one person who could answer every question, Churchill learned from the administration how exactly her position worked.

“Drummond was more so the face for the students to go to for questions, but once she got all the information and filled out the forms, then the rest of the administration would do most of the legwork,” Churchill explained.

As a result, students are beginning to turn their frustrations towards the provincial government — the source of the cuts, and Churchill is looking for ways to get his peers involved in lobbying and petitioning.

Assistant Chair (Administration) Fran Moore will take on Drummond’s duties until faculty are trained. Drummond declined to comment on the situation.

The department will be holding a meeting on Monday at 11 a.m. in CSC-333 to address any unanswered con-cerns from students.

Layoffs not targeted: MacGregor compsci Continued From Page 1

3NewsThe GaTeway volume cii summer issue 2

U of A researcher makes solar panels cheaper, more durableRachel siNGeRNews Staff

With the ever-changing climate, the need for new energy resources is becom-ing more significant, and a University of Alberta professor’s research on plas-tic solar panels has been garnering seri-ous attention, including a visit from the royal couple.

Jillian Buriak, a chemistry profes-sor at the U of A and a senior research officer at the National Institute for Nanotechnology, was recently in Calgary to give a presentation to the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge about her research on plastic solar panels.

“The amount of sunlight that hits terrestrial earth in one hour is equiva-lent to the amount of power consumed worldwide in a year,” was how Buriak began her presentation to the royal couple at the opening celebrations of the Calgary Stampede.

Her team, known as the Buriak group, along with Michael Brett and his group in electrical and computer engi-neering, has been working on making plastic solar panels more efficient, more durable, and price competitive.

“We want to make solar cells like newspapers, where you roll them out and spray them,” Buriak said.

Silicon has been the most common material used to make solar panels, but

they are very expensive to make and are not cost-competitive.

“When you are converting silica, i.e. sand, into silicon you have to remove the oxygen molecules off the silica molecule. That is a very strong bond that takes a lot of energy and that energy is expensive,” Buriak explained. Her team has been working to perfect plastic solar panels that can function similarly to silicon.

“The difference between silicon and plastic is that silicon, in spite of its cost, does everything that a solar cell has to do. It has to absorb light, it has to sepa-rate charges, and then it has get them out so they can do work. Plastics, on the other hand, are generally insulating unless they are highly coloured they are not very absorbing,” Buriak said.

So far, plastic solar panels are fairly effective, but now the problem is lon-gevity, and this is where Buriak’s group has had a major influence. Both teams have made significant steps towards making plastic solar panels more stable and therefore more durable.

As a result of this work, one of Buriak’s graduate students, along with two graduate students from Brett’s group have teamed up to form a com-pany called Lightpower. The three stu-dents were finalists in TEC-Edmonton’s Venture Prize and won money to help them get the company started. Their

hope is to have a product on the market by 2015.

Buriak was asked by U of A Vice President (University Relations) Debra Pozega Osburn if she would be able to give a presentation on July 8. Two weeks later, she found out that she would be presenting to the Duke and Duchess. At the presentation Buriak had some samples of the plastic solar cells which her group had made into all sorts of shapes.

“I gave Prince William a solar cell where we put the electrode in the shape of a Canadian flag, and I gave [Princess Kate] one of the most beauti-ful leaves,” Buriak said. She added that the royal couple seemed very interested in the research and were fascinated by the fact that such a thin panel could be used to reduce the world’s dependency of fossil fuels.

Buriak said she hopes this research can be taken to third-world countries where electricity is in short or no supply.

“There are some environmentalists, and we are not talking about extremists here, who are proposing that any fossil fuels that we are going to burn should be exclusively for making renew-able energy devices, because that is an investment in the future as opposed to just burning them, it’s a way of trans-forming your fossil fuels, it’s a way of investing it.”

hayley DuNNiNGNews Staff

A warmer Alberta is causing plants to bloom up to two weeks earlier than in 1936, stressing ecosystems’ natu-ral cycles as spring falls out of step, according to a University of Alberta study.

Doctoral student Elizabeth Beaubien, from the Department of Renewable Resources, runs a network of more than 100 volunteers called Plant Watch. They monitor the blooming times of 12 key plant species, and compare it to detailed records from as long ago as 1936. The data shows that today there are warmer average temperatures, but short bursts of winter can still occur, leaving earlier-blooming plants vulner-able to frost damage.

“Even though in general, winters are warming, the incidence of frost has not gotten earlier as fast as the plants have gotten earlier,” Beaubien explained.

Hard frosts can destroy the potential for fruits, preventing the species from seeding and spreading into next season. According to phenology, the study of the timing of seasonal changes, plants

respond primarily to heat, and Beaubien believes a winter warming trend has had the greatest damaging effect on the earlier blooms, with average February temperatures rising up to 6° C. Aspen poplars and birches are some of the hardest hit by the changes.

“Trees are becoming much less capa-ble of growing in central Alberta than they used to be. The City of Edmonton used to remove 600 to 900 [stressed or dying] trees a year, and now it’s up to 4,000 to 6,000 trees a year.”

Beaubien has run Plant Watch since 1987. The species studied include trembling aspen and prairie crocus, widespread plants that have a short blooming period. The plants must be observed in a rural setting to avoid the influence of the urban heat island — a phenomenon of locally higher temper-atures within cities.

Two non-native plants were also selected: the dandelion and lilac, as these species are also tracked across Canada and in other parts of the world. The data is merged with that of two earlier efforts, extending the range back to 1936.

These changes can have larger

ecological effects, as spring changes usually occur in step with each other. For example, birds returning from South America expect a crop of berries for their young. But the birds respond to the longer days instead of the warmth, so if the bloom has come early, the birds may miss the crop.

The data can also be used in forest fire prediction and allergen forecasts. The first blooming of certain species can predict when certain pests will attack target crops, even before the insects have become fully-grown and start to cause visible damage.

“That will be the day when it’s easi-est to control, with the least amount of expense and environmental impact if you’re using chemicals.”

The data has also been used to check satellite imagery against ground obser-vations. If plant phenology data from satellites can be calibrated by ground observations, it can be used more widely, allowing seasonal changes to be mapped more efficiently over time and space. Currently, Beaubien wants to keep the Plant Watch volunteer pro-gram running as an intensive study of Alberta’s response to climate change.

Earlier springs and weather changes disruptive to ecosystem: study

Rachel SiNgeR

4 News monday, july 25, 2011 www.thegatewayonline.ca

JacqueliN GreGoireNews Writer

School projects don’t often pave the way for future careers, but that’s the case for four University of Alberta food science students who recently created Chickitos — a hot new chick-pea snack — for a product development class.

After multiple attempts and failures, Kate Alexander, Eden Berhe, Paula Duenas, and Marshall Bell successfully developed a smoked chili-pepper-flavoured chip made predomi-nately of chickpeas. While its satisfying crunch makes it similar to a regular chip, it’s quite dif-ferent due to high protein, low sodium, and double the amount of fibre.

“Smoked chili pepper is a bold taste, but it’s not spicy because we want it to reach out to all markets,” Berhe said. She also mentioned that if it was too spicy the chickpea taste wouldn’t be as strong, which defeats the purpose of “Mission Im-pulse-able,” a competition sponsored by Pulse Canada that challenges undergraduate students to develop a food product made mostly of edible seeds from the pod-bearing family of plants.

Since Alexander has celiac disease, Chickitos are gluten-free and more marketable to people with allergies who might otherwise have dif-ficulty finding alternatives to salty snacks. Although gluten is a common binding element that gives elasticity and smooth consistency to foods, relentless experimenting done on campus led the team of students to find potato starch as a suitable substitute. In addition to the natural starch found in chickpeas, this key ingredient allows the chip to be both crumble-free and celiac-friendly.

Although the product started as a cracker that wasn’t accepted among tasting panels due to a

chunky texture and unpopular flavours such as lemon pepper and dill, it eventually became a success as a fried chip with a mix of secret spices.

“The first [cracker] was a train wreck, but for the second one everyone loved it,” Alexander said. Chickitos thrived among family and friends as well, forcing Alexander to hide sample bags they keep at home because “they seem[ed] to disappear really fast.”

After winning the top prize of $2,500 at a

Western-Canadian competition in Vancouver earlier this month, getting Chickitos on the shelves and devising a patent is their next move.

“It’s in the works, but it’s so expensive,” Alexander said. At $35,000 per country, the next step towards mass-producing and selling their product isn’t going to be easy.

But that’s not to say the hard work won’t be worth it. Berhe and Alexander both majored in food science, and the experimentation and com-petitions have helped them gain experience in the

industry and brought them closer to the market.“I would have gone into food technology

after graduation anyways, so this is a step in the very right direction,” Berhe said.

In addition to the 300 sample bags made in a government-run product development plant in Leduc, recent media coverage has helped them and their product get exposure.

“It’s a bit overwhelming. I honestly didn’t expect this many people to be interested,” Behre said.

NermeeN youssef

om Nom Nom The nutritious snack was created by Eden Berhe (left), Kate Alexander (right), and Paula Duenas and Marshall Bell (not pictured).

U of A students’ new healthy chickpea snack a hit

KristiNe NielseNNews staff

If you’re worried that the campus is being taken over by masses of children in brightly coloured shirts, you can rest easy: they’re just here for camp.

Presented by the Faculty of Engineering and taught by engineering, science, and education students, these camps use hands-on activities to show kids the fun and value of science and engi-neering.

“Everybody goes into university thinking that they can’t do engineering or math,” said David Cockburn, the Associate Director of Media Relations for DiscoverE. “If we reach them at a young age and show them what they are capable of, we find that’s where the impact is the high-est.”

These high-impact camps are run for a week at a time, with topics ranging from robotics to acous-tics and health and fitness. Helping to provide these camps are the faculties of Physical Education and Music. There are also female-only camps.

“Many girls sometimes don’t feel comfortable entering camps, because a lot of our camps end up being all boys anyway, or all boys and one girl,” Cockburn explained. “We give them a safe space to show their interest in engineering and science.”

The program’s reach extends far beyond campus and even beyond the usual summer camp season. Camp instructor and engineering student Keita Hill explained that he teams up with other students to bring their interactive curriculum into the classroom prior to the summer.

“We spend some time talking about the sci-entific principle, and then after that we do a hands-on project with it. For example, with electricity we built a little conductivity tester to see whether objects were conductive or insulative,” he said.

It is not only Edmonton-area schools that get these opportunities. Instructors travel across Alberta and the Northwest Territories, making their high-energy education more accessible.

“We’ve gone up north as far as Tuktoyaktuk, [on the north coast of the Northwest Territories].

We really try and emphasize cooperation with the community. We try to work together to see what they want to come to the community and what can we bring to the community,” Cockburn said. The program now reaches approximately 20,000 students every year.

The students range from grades 1-12, with pro-grams becoming increasingly complex. There’s also a program for high school graduates to help transition them into university.

“It prepares high school students for engineer-ing. It’s great because it gives them something that most first-year engineering students don’t have,” Cockburn said.

“We have professors come to the camp and do activities with the kids. They’ve done things in the past like create composite panels out of spaghetti and glue to find out what sort of crosshatch pat-terns is the strongest. Then they tested it by drop-ping golf balls from increasing heights. In some cases they were dropping them from two stories.”

Apparently spaghetti and glue will never leave summer camp, even if it does get a little more high tech.

Prize-winning smoked chili pepper “Chickitos” chips feature high fibre and protein, low sodium, and are celiac-friendly

Students become teachers in DiscoverE camps

KaitlyN meNard

aye, roBots The U of A is host to a number of DiscoverE camps, where university students help make science and technology fun for younger kids.

Much of the GYA’s content — keynotes, workshops and social events — will also come from various U of A professors and students. Vaugeois estimates that 80 per cent of volun-teers assisting with the event are U of A students as well.

“I think there’s a real energy around it,” she said. “A lot of youth talk about it; it’s a word of mouth thing. It’s got a great energy [and] they believe in the cause.”

Vaugeois says the last day of the assembly, which is spent on action planning, is the most critical component.

“The last two GYAs, they’ve walked away with really concrete plans,” she said, noting that resulting projects sprung up in places as far as Rwanda. “They build the action [plan] that’s for them, but also as a collective, so we can keep the momentum going.”

Volunteer Lisa Brass reiterated the impor-tance of action planning. The U of A political science student has been heavily involved with organizing programming for the GYA, and she says this year’s theme is an excellent choice in terms of being “unbiased” and including multiple perspectives.

“With water, there are so many topics that surround it,” she explained. “Water in con-flicts, water and consumerism, water and fash-ion. There’s so many ways you can come at this and I think that makes it a really well-rounded concern.”

Although fewer participants are expected this year due to a cut in funding, Vaugeois is opti-mistic that the four-day event will create just as many unforgettable memories.

“I think that face-to-face time is so valu-able and you get that at the GYA. You get those times to meet people and dig into issues with people,” she said. “Where else do we get this opportunity to connect?”

assembly Continued From Page 1

Conference to focus on world’s water supply

OpiniOn opinion@gateway.ualberta.ca monday, july 25, 2011

City taking growth in right directionAFTER YEARS OF SPRAWL AND AGGRESSIVE outward growth, Edmonton is finally trying to innovate. It’s nice to now see a city administration that wants to take a step back and consider the impli-cations of unchecked growth; or, at the very least, make Edmonton more livable.

City council approved The Way We Green last week, a planning document outlining a vision for a more sustainable city. It’s part of The Way Ahead, a series of planning documents the city is putting together to take us up to 2040.

Developers are already decrying The Way We Green, claiming it will halt development in the city, and implying it could turn Edmonton into one big ghost town. It’s mostly overblown rhetoric by a formerly powerful lobby used to calling all the shots when it comes to development in the provincial capital.

Council has outlined a vision for the city that, for once, doesn’t include massive sprawl and the annexation of surrounding farm land in order to build cheap houses on the outskirts of town.

While a boon to the development community, these fringe communities make it increasingly harder for the city to extend services to all citizens. Everything, from police and fire services to transit, has to be stretched to accommodate new communi-ties that can be almost an hour’s commute from the downtown core.

The plan doesn’t put a complete stop to develop-ment on the outskirts, but it could make the lives of developers a lot more difficult — depending on the interpretation of the document.

The Way We Green outlines a dozen “challenges” for the city moving ahead, from water supply and quality to growth and waste management: goals that every Edmontonian would agree are important. But they’ll clash with the development lobby, which realizes it’s their bottom dollar that’s impacted by the city’s new direction.

For instance, when it comes to ecosystems, the planning document says communities should be “full of nature.” Again, depending on interpretation, that could mean a lot more headaches for developers intent on cramming houses into the smallest pos-sible lots at the expense of open green space.

Other goals include making Edmonton carbon neutral and generating zero waste. While lofty, they’re goals we should be aiming to hit by 2040, which is still a long way off.

Timelines and interpretation will also play a big part of what the goal actually means in practice. Being “waste free” could mean 10 different things to 10 different people. And even if the goal is fairly straightforward — say becoming carbon neutral — there’re innumerable ways to achieve it between now and 2040.

The vagueness of the plan will now go to admin-istration to be turned into more concrete, short-term goals which can be debated.

Regardless, The Way We Green is another example of council’s recent prioritization of green develop-ment and having a livable city over lower taxes and filling potholes. Everything from improving old neighbourhoods and extending the LRT to Century Park to increasing the number of bike paths, makes a better city — essentially an Edmonton we want to live in.

We shouldn’t be afraid of these documents and cow to the whining developers concerned about next year’s profits. Edmonton is our city, and we should strive to make it a great city, not one in which we reward building endless houses for a quick buck.

Justin Bell

Managing Editor

New nation’s birth is shadowed by violenceFriends, on July 9, South Sudan became the world’s newest nation. Last week, citizens of South Sudan jubilantly took-part in Independence Day celebrations, unveiling a new country flag and laying the groundwork for a new future. Yet these joyous celebra-tions were shadowed by news of surging violence, particularly in the border regions of Abyei and South Kordofan. The Khartoum govern-ment has invaded Abyei and has been bombing the Nuba Mountains for weeks in an effort to stop poten-tial opposition, as the area has ties and a long history of sympathy with the South. Hundreds of civilians have died and more than 170,000 people have fled the fighting, many of them hiding in mountain caves. With humanitarian aid and UN peacekeeping troops expelled from the region, observers on the ground are warning that the attacks are an attempt at ethnic cleansing by the Khartoum government.

As the threat of genocide looms, Canada has the responsibility to act. Call 1-800-Genocide today and ask our leaders to ensure that measures are put in place to pro-tect the minorities in the northern regions bordering South Sudan. Here is a suggested talking point:

“I am calling because I am con-cerned about the dramatic spike in violence and threat of ethnic cleansing in Sudan. Canada should speak out at the UN against the escalating conflict and talk to its international partners in order to apply pressure on Khartoum to stop attacks and begin troop with-drawal.”

For more suggested talking points visit standcanada.org/take-action/1-800-genocide/

As South Sudan embarks on a new phase in its history, it is impor-tant to recognize the role of the international community in ensur-ing that the secession remains peaceful. It is up to us to let Canadian decision-makers know that we care about what happens to the people in Sudan and that we will continue to press them to take action. Please call 1-800-Genocide today.

elham BidgOliDirector, Stand Canada

Buyback a convenient option for the lazyRE: (“Forget book buyback: sell straight to your fellow students for cash” by Alana Willerton, July 11)

I’m too lazy to sell my books to fellow students, either via Facebook, Kijiji, posters near appli-

cable classrooms, at knifepoint, etc., so I’m glad to use the Bookstore’s buyback. A lot of universities don’t even offer a similar service, so I’d say we’re more spoiled by choice than anything else. Still a good per-spective though.

“tOO lazy”Via Internet

Tree of Life not quite as bad as weird alien babyRE: (“Overambitious cinematic vision stunts The Tree of Life” by Alex Migdal, July 11)

Worst Movie. Ever. Except Eraserhead.

“anyReasOnaBlepeRsOn”Via Internet

Letters to the editor should be sent to letters@gateway.ualberta.ca or delivered via paper aeroplane to SUB 3-04. Website comments may occasionally be printed.

The Gateway reserves the right to edit letters for length and clar-ity, and to refuse publication of any letter it deems racist, sexist, libel-lous, or otherwise hateful in nature. The Gateway also reserves the right to publish letters online.

Letters to the editor should be no longer than 350 words, and should include the author’s name, pro-gram, year of study, and student identification number to be con-sidered for publication. Seriously, we need your name.

Hopelessly depressedNorway sufferingFamine in SomaliaAmy Winehouse dead

Ryan BROmsgROveSadness Editor

RoSS VInCEnt

edslettersto the

webfromthe

Shut up, school childrenDear Sir,—This is written in the

hope that those against whom the criticism is directed will take it in the constructive spirit in which it is offered.

In regard to those who are a constant source of disturbance to any meeting or assemblage which they attend, why do persons who have reached the age of 18 or 21 still behave like public school children? Indeed, the comparison is not flattering to “public school children.”

If a person must be continually making comments while someone is addressing an audience, surely he may be at least expected to speak in a tone which is not audible in all four corners of the room.

What is the object of these whisperings and mutterings? They certainly do not do the whisperers any good, they are disturbing to the speaker on the platform, and especially annoying to anyone in the vicinity of these “audible oafs.” This has been mentioned in con-nection with chapel —it is equally a nuisance in classes.

I hope some good may come of this letter, as I believe much distur-bance is due to thoughtlessness.

J. e.December 5th, 1934

letters fromthe archives

6 monday, july 25, 2011 www.thegatewayonline.caOpiniOn

OpiniOn staff

Group Commentary

With the introduction of Fat Franks and Eva Sweets to campus, The Gateway is enamoured with all things sold on carts. But the cart vending industry is sorely lacking several important services.

Matt Hirji

Every student at the university has his or her regrets. Things were said, mis-takes were made, and your ex-girl-friend’s car was sunk to the bottom of the icy North Saskatchewan River.

But what if that condom didn’t break? What if you’d studied for that test instead of drinking a six-pack of Four Loko? What if that fish tank never flew off of Stadium Car Park? What if you could take it all back?

Yes, a time machine would do just perfectly, thank you very much, and how convenient it would be via a cart in Quad. What’s that you say, Department of Physics? Time travel isn’t possible yet? Well, let me ask you this, nerds: why are you being so cynical? Every year, thousands of undergrads make mistakes that we would die to take back. Why, just last week I made a weak pot of coffee and was forced to drink sub-standard black gold all day. And my friend committed a fashion faux-pax — flats with denim — that earned the jeers of everybody around. Namely, yours truly.

These things couldn’t have been averted, but they could have been erased from history with a quick do-over.

So get off your high-horses, you e=mc2 nerds. Nothing trumps a time machine. Not even Fat Franks.

Justin Bell

Waffles are great. And we all love wieners. But if there’s one thing that should be sold out of vending carts on campus, it’s velociraptors.

The extinct, six-foot-long killing machine would do well selling next to Eva Sweets and Fat Franks. The multitude of uses alone would turn heads in administration and make

the complicated genetic manipula-tion worth it.

Topping the list of uses is student intimidation. Nothing says “you’re going to live with that B-” than a hissing murderer that’s been dead for nearly 70 million years. And we wouldn’t have a repeat of the Baker affair if the consequence was 20 min-utes in the raptor closet.

The little scavengers would also act efficiently as control for the burgeon-ing bunny population on campus. We’re approaching a rabbit density seen before only at the University of Victoria, so why not let lose vicious predators to cull the herd? As an added bonus, only the smartest rab-bits would survive, breeding a cohort of super-intelligent tiny mammals.

While the technology, not to men-tion questionable morality, of bring-ing back a long-extinct species is not yet in place, I know I’ll be the first in line to drop a Wilfried Laurier to grab the best cart vendor goods in history.

Aaron Yeo

Too many times have I found myself walking along the sidewalk trying to write a speech for my next upcom-ing banquet, only to end up thinking of hot dogs and waffles. Those damn carts litter the pleasant summer streets like hobos on Jasper Avenue, but they don’t provide anything of value. If only they could sell some-thing useful. Like speeches.

Lots of people need to give speeches. In fact, statistics show that at almost 90 per cent of events involving people, at least one person is required to participate in some sort of discourse. Yet the lucky individuals often tasked with making speeches are usually the busiest — wealthy CEOs, federal politicians, deans of medicine and dentistry. They don’t have time to write their own mono-logues, and paying someone to cus-tomize a speech is expensive. A cart conveniently placed along the route to the event in question could pro-vide pre-written keynotes, lectures, eulogies, and emancipation procla-mations at reasonable prices.

And like a chilli cheese dog or a waffle topped with snozzberries, speeches could be upgraded with Powerpoint slideshows for a modest additional cost. Next time you need to make an important speech, the cart could be your answer. It’s

foolproof. No one will ever know.

Ryan Bromsgrove

Do you like laser tag? No shit you do; it’s awesome. Now imagine you could play it throughout campus by walk-ing up to a cart in the quad, handing over a couple of bucks, and walking away with a laser and a vest.

You immediately duck behind some trees as you spot another player coming out of CAB. That sucker didn’t see you, so you take your time creeping up behind him and shoot-ing at point blank — just because you can. Ten points. Then a red dot hits the grass in front of you. You turn around, look up, and see another enemy behind the glass windows on the CEB staircase. He dodges out of sight. The hunt is on.

It would be amazing to slip through the dark corridors of the labyrinthine Biological Sciences building with a laser in hand. I feel that it would really bring out the wonder of the architec-ture like nothing else could. Sure, we joke about the absurdity of that room that you can only access via a closet, but no one’s laughing when that room is all that’s saving you from losing a precious life.

Out of ammo? The cart can double up as a recharge station, with a safe zone radius of 15 meters. The best part is that since it’s on wheels, it can keep moving around campus, adding a dangerous but thrilling new dynamic to the already fast-paced game.

Still not convinced? Imagine a full class in CCIS spontaneously breaking out in a cacophony of primitive digi-tal noise and fading ruby laser light. Or the arts students assembled in rows, staring down the soulless sci-ence army in the few calm seconds before battle erupts. I can think of absolutely no reason why simulating armed warfare in a place of education could be interpreted in bad taste.

You just have to trust that the laser tag cart doesn’t start trying to nickel and dime you. The last thing we want is them selling add-ons like shields and grenades at premium cost. This would compromise the important balance of laser tag, thowing the integrity of the game into question.

And remember, no running. It’s all fun and games until someone gets a scraped knee. Those cart-vendors will know.

Ryan BRomsGRove

The cart vending scene’s got some seriously untapped potential

7The GaTeway volume cii summer issue 2 OpiniOn

RyanBROmsGROve

Ted Morton wants to run this province. In an attempt to look good to supporters of the pro-

posed Edmonton downtown arena, he’s got a solution to the $100 million funding gap that the province rightly declined to hand over. He‘s calling it a “penny tax.”

This is a horrible idea.Sure, the name sounds friendly, but

it’s vastly misleading. This isn’t some whimsical scheme whereby you hand over a few pennies to the tax-fairy when you feel you can. His idea is to add an extra one per cent onto the GST for those in the Edmonton region for two years. Morton estimates that would bring in the missing $100 million. So call it what it is: a region-specific one per cent sales tax.

Morton’s further suggestion to hand the decision over to the people in the form of a referendum is a smart political move that frees Morton of the responsibility of endorsing the project. Appealing to direct democracy makes us all feel empowered and fluffy inside. If it all goes awry, we can’t complain about politicians being greedy.

And if — rainbows and sparkles — we make too much money, Morton says it will be returned to the taxpay-ers in the form of property tax reduc-tions. Which is really nice for those of us with property.

Morton was the Finance Minister back in February, when the provin-cial budget’s multitude of drastic spending cuts was announced. He said the budget “ask[ed] everybody to give up a little,” recognizing the dire economic situation that most of the world was in.

Furthermore, I’m under the impres-sion that the province of Alberta gets its tax revenue from the people of Alberta — almost a third of which live in the Edmonton metropolitan area. So we’re

told that the province can’t afford cru-cial services, and that we all have to make sacrifices. Then we’re told that it would be a good idea for people choose to tax themselves for the goal of having a shiny new vanity project.

This is nothing more than the suggestion that we allow a potential majority to subject the rest of us to a mandatory charity.

Here’s a better idea. Let’s have a ref-erendum on implementing the “penny tax” province-wide, only instead of building expensive toys, we use the money to stop the potential lay offs of the hundreds of teachers the province can’t afford to pay. Or let’s institute it federally and put it toward paying off our half trillion dollar national debt.

I’m not saying that as long as there are problems that we’re not addressing we can’t do anything fun, but we’re dealing with some dire cuts on the way back to a balanced provincial budget. As anyone who’s ever maxed out a credit card knows, there are times when you can buy the supersized Double Big Mac combo with bacon and what they call an apple pie, and there are times when ordering off the value menu means you can afford power this month.

Right now, we should be taking a hard look at the financial realities and eating a lot of cheap McDonald’s until we’re sure this will never happen again. If you’re willing to pay extra for an arena, nothing’s stopping you setting up a fund to take donations. Leave the rest of us out of it.

“Penny tax” ignores financial reality

Dear summer semester profs: you are doing a great job.

Dear cute guy I met at the wedding, you failed to mention you were still in high school. Way to ruin what we had going!

to the muscle-heads at FLC who can bench four pies but have never heard of a leg press: you look ridiculous in shorts. nice pecs tho!

Thank you to every single soul of the UofA, you made of this year one of the best for me. I’ll miss you all.

Please stay to the right if you can’t run down the stairs fast enough or aren’t planning on walking up the escalator. You might not have a bus to catch, but my bus is across the street and I’d like to make it home sometime this century.

There is no need to keep your computer plugged in all day in a library where plug-ins are hard to find and get all bent out of shape when someone else asks if they can use it. Thanks though to the random who came and told me I could plug my computer in with her power bar.

I’m addicted to Minecraft. Send help.

I don’t see any heatwave

Asian gal in jeans and vitage-like leather shoes with Ieopard bag, I had a crush on you on April 21 @ main gym final exam. Can I buy you coffee or what?

Why try?

I write a final in 7 hours, still have half of the course material to cover, and I DON’T CARE! I can’t wait to get out of here. So long U of A

To the guy in Anthr 494 who thinks he knows everything, has to offer an opinion on everything and constantly interrupts... The rest of us won’t miss you.

Summer is beautiful, maybe students could stay away

god is dead

The Gateway reserves the right to edit any submissions, as well as refuse publication of any submis-sion it deems racist, sexist, hateful, libellous, or overtly offensive. The Gateway cannot guarantee that your submission will be used (but we’ll try). Submissions should be 130 characters max (including spaces).

ThreeLinesFreeGot something that you need to get off your mind? Either email us at threelinesfree@gateway.ualberta.ca, tweet @threelinesfree, or message us at www.thegatewayonline.ca/threelinesfree

Let’s have a referendum on implementing the “penny tax” province-wide, only instead of building expensive toys, we use the money to stop the potential lay offs of the hundreds of teachers the province can’t afford to pay.

8 monday, july 25, 2011 www.thegatewayonline.caFeature

Edmonton has always been known as a driving city. The roads are wide and the side-

walks sometimes non-existent. When a politician wants to score some quick points, they talk about paving potholes and extending roads into the suburbs.

But slowly, attitudes in the capital city are changing. While transit has made the bigger splash when it comes to city dollars and big projects, bicycle commuting is increasingly gaining in popularity.

Jayson Smith agrees, pointing to the advantages of taking a bike over driv-ing. Smith works at Redbike, one of the city’s bike shops.

“Think of the cost of insurance, cost of gasoline, lack of parking, cost of parking,” says Smith. “All those things that go along with operating [a vehicle]. We have definitely seen an increase of people riding their bicy-cles, especially to and from work.”

Despite being a city designed around cars, bike commuting is slowly inch-ing into the mainstrem. The city’s Bicycle Transportation Plan, drafted in 2009, acknowledges that much of Edmonton was planned in “an era heavily influenced by the automobile”, but also that the demands of a modern city include adequate bike access. The Bicycle Transportation Plan states that there are currently more than 200 kilo-metres of bike routes in the city. These are divided between marked on-street lanes such as the 109th Street tran-sit corridor, contra-flow lanes (bike lanes that run parallel to but against car traffic), and shared-use paths and sidewalks. The city’s transporta-tion plan lays out designs to expand that amount significantly.

“As part of the transportation master plan, we’re planning to install almost 500 kilometres of on-street cycling facilities,” explains Matt Tokarik, a spokesperson for the city’s Department of Transportation, adding the planned routes should be in place by 2018. Tokarik notes that the new routes often try “to piggyback onto the neighbourhood renewal proj-ects,” allowing them to be rolled out at the same time that neighbourhood projects are completed. He notes that the city is “constantly installing more

shared-use paths” for less-experienced riders. Bike commuting in Edmonton can be challenging: the Bicycle Transportation Plan acknowledges that existing routes are of benefit primarily to “confident, experienced riders.”

Anna Vesala, executive director of Edmonton Bike Commuters (EBC), also believes there are challenges for cyclists on the road.

“Neither cyclists nor motorists are familiar with how to act on the road, and motorists aren’t sure how to safely interact with cyclists,” she says. According to Vesala, this discourages less-confident riders from making use of the existing on-street routes. The city does maintain that riding on the sidewalk is illegal, but many people choose to risk it in the face of Edmonton motorists. Vesala feels that this is due to a lack of education of both riders and motorists.

“Oftentimes motorists will just clip by me because they don’t understand that I am actually taking a bit of the lane, so they should do a full pass into the lane around,” she explains.

Vesala feels that the city’s cycling development plan is a good one, but adds that cyclists need to be involved in every stage of the process. Although there was extensive public consulta-tion, including discussions with EBC when the Bicycle Transportation Plan was drafted, Vesala feels that the city has gone off track.

“The city has lost a lot of the infor-mation that they’ve received from the public so now we’re seeing the implementation of those plans and they’re broken a little bit. They’re not

cohesive; they’re not made by cyclists.” EBC would like to see this addressed as development continues, with the end goal of making Edmonton as acces-sible by bike to the largest possible number of people.

The group is a key element in Edmonton’s bike scene. Non-profit and volunteer-run, EBC provides services and education to the cycling commu-nity. The commuter group offers tools and training for cyclists so they can keep their bikes on the street.

“In terms of education courses for riding, we offer introductory courses so people that have never ridden a bike before can learn their balancing skills, turning, using one hand — really simple things. And we offer more advanced commuter cycling: how to be in traffic, negotiate various traffic situations, and learn the rules of the road as a cyclist,” Vesala says.

Bike repair and maintenance is another core element of EBC’s pro-gram. Volunteers are on hand to help cyclists with repairs ranging from new tires to complete rebuilds.

The Edmonton Bicycle Commuters are at the centre of Edmonton’s bike commuting scene mostly by default; as the only large-scale, public bike shop in town, they fill a role not met by anyone else. Although there are other bike groups in Edmonton — the Alberta Bicycle Association and Bikeology being two — only EBC offers a centralized, year-round hub for cyclists. Given the central role EBC plays in the city’s bike scene, acces-sibility is key. In addition to their scheduled days for only women and transgendered people to use the space, EBC is working to cater to non-Eng-lish-speaking cyclists.

“We have a few volunteers who are from the University of Alberta International Centre and they have said that there are lot of people in resi-dence there who don’t speak English. They’ve offered to do some of the basic bike maintenance courses we offer in different languages. So we have German, Korean, [and] Mandarin,” Vesala explains. By offering their ser-vices to the widest possible range of people, Vesala says, EBC hopes to get more people out and riding.

Alternative Transportationwords and photos by Dan McKechnie

Rules of the RoadHere’s what the City of Edmonton recommends in order to enjoy Edmonton’s bike facilities safely:(taken from the City of Edmonton’s website)

One person per bike, unless it’s designed for more than one.

Obey traffic signs and signals: if you’re riding on the road, you follow the same rules as the cars.

Yield to pedestrians: if you hit a pedestrian, it’s on you.

Wear a helmet.

Use your bell to pass: the city legally requires cyclists to audibly alert pedestri-ans when they wish to pass.

And here’s what the Edmonton Police Service has to say:

Avoid distractions such as headphones.

Dress visibly, with bright colours and reflective elements.

Dismount at intersections: cyclists are pedestrians at crosswalks.

Do not assume that vehicles will give you right-of-way, even if you should have it.

Carry ID in case of an accident, and carry basic tools and supplies in case there is a problem with your bike.

“Think of the cost of insurance, cost of gasoline, lack of park-ing, cost of parking ... we have definitely seen an increase of people riding their bicycles, especially to and from work.”

Jayson SmithRedbike

A&E entertainment@gateway.ualberta.ca monday, july 25, 2011

Michael RaultWith Sans AIDSFriday, August 12 at 8:30 p.m.The Artery (9535 Jasper Avenue)$10 in advance at yeglive.ca, $12 at the door

If there’s one thing that can be said about Edmonton, it’s that we’re a proud city. Proud of the talent pro-duced here and sent out into the world, and even prouder to support them when they come home. Without a doubt, that sentiment is extended to Edmonton’s golden boy Michael Rault, who is return-ing home to perform where it all began, and who will be accompanied by another homegrown talent, Peter Sagar’s Sans AIDS.

Improv on the AveFeaturing Rapid Fire TheatreThursday, July 28 at 7 p.m.Avenue Theatre (9030¬118 Avenue)$5 at the door

It’s one thing to experience the hilariousness that is an improv comedy show, but how often do you get to experience the colossal efforts of two, three, some-times even four improvisation troupes in one night? On the last Thursday of every month, actually. Hosted by Edmonton’s own Rapid Fire Theatre, Improv on The Ave’s monthly event regularly features improvis-ers from the University Improv Group, DropCloth, and Red Deer’s Bullskit.

Big Valley JamboreeThursday, July 28 – Sunday, July 31Camrose, Alberta (50 minutes southeast of Edmonton)$52 and up at ticketmaster.ca

Grab your cowboy hat, a six-pack of beer, and your buddies, because it’s that time of year again — people from all over the province will be swarming Camrose for one of the best country music festivals out there, Big Valley Jamboree. With big ticket names set to dominate the stage — LeAnn Rimes, Jason Aldean, Toby Keith, and Ronnie Dunn, to name a few — there’s no doubt that this four-day festival will be the source of more than a few good times. And concerts aren’t the only thing BVJ has to offer: bull riding, songwrit-ing workshops, and a midway full of junk food are just some of the other activities available throughout the weekend.

Picture StartDirected by Harry KillasThursday, July 28 at 7 p.m.Ledcor Theatre, Art Gallery of Alberta (2 Sir Winston Churchill Square)Free with gallery admission

Unless you’ve been living in a padded cell for the past month, you may have noticed that Edmonton’s been experiencing more than its fair share of rain lately. So what better way to stay dry and satisfy your inner art critic than by popping over to the AGA. Once you’ve had your fill of the various exhibits, make sure to check out Picture Start, a documentary about a group of Canadian artists referred to as “Vancouver School” who battled mass media and older conceptual art practices with photographic art of their own back in the 1980s. Clocking in at less than an hour, this film is the perfect excuse to prolong your inevitable return to the great outdoors.

AlAnA WillErtonBasically wrote this issue’s entire A&E section, nbd

socialintercourse

In a Better World explores the powerful conflict between choice and consequence

In a Better WorldWritten by Susanne Bier and Anders Thomas JensenDirected by Susanne BierStarring William Jøhnk Nielsen, Markus Rygaard, and Mikael PersbrandtOpens August 12 at the Princess Theatre (10337¬82 Avenue)

KristinE niElsEnArts & Entertainment Staff

“No revenge is more honourable than the one not taken.”

The proverb at the heart of Susanne Bier’s In A Better World may seem simple, but the film itself is a difficult emotional journey through the complexities of family and friendship, and the intricate web of choices that create our lives.

Twelve-year-old Elias (Markus Rygaard) is the target of bullying in his Denmark school. He is known by his classmates as “rat face” and often has to drag his bicycle home after the tires are mysteriously deflated. But his luck appears to change the day his new classmate Christian (William Jøhnk Nielsen) befriends him. At first, the relationship seems promising for both boys: Christian is reaching out to someone for the first time since his mother’s death, and with his help, Elias is no longer being targeted. But it soon becomes clear that Christian is search-ing for more than simple companionship, and he begins lashing out against Elias’ bully, beat-ing him with a bicycle pump and threatening him with a knife. Soon Christian and Elias are bound together by the lies they tell their

parents and the police about their actions.Meanwhile, Elias’s father Anton (Mikael

Persbrandt) returns home from his work as a foreign aid doctor in a Sudanese refugee camp. At home, he wants nothing to do with the con-flict that his presence creates, as discrimina-tion against his Swedish heritage occasionally lands him in the same situation as his son. And as with Elias, Christian begins urging Anton to take action against it, tempting him towards revenge. But Anton’s work has made him all too familiar with the consequences of violence, and he cautions against it.

Christian, on the other hand, continues his downward spiral and begins lashing out against his own father, whom he blames for his moth-er’s death. As he isolates himself from his family, he draws Elias further into his troubles, leaving the boys’ parents facing potential disaster.

While the story is full of emotional suspense, it’s imprinted upon a bleak and empty back-drop. The film opens with Anton in the middle of the desperation of a refugee camp, working to perform a risky surgical procedure to save a young woman’s life. However, director Sussane Bier manages to avoid overwhelming the audi-ence with drama through a refreshingly human approach, focusing on the hope and resilience

of the people in the camp in favour of the seem-ingly hopeless landscape.

The movie becomes even more striking as it seamlessly shifts to a different stretch of empty sand: small-town Denmark. Here, a completely different scene of sorrow unfolds as Christian stands in church and eulogizes his mother with a fairytale read to him as a bedtime story, his poignant words emphasized by the acting skill of the young Nielsen. While portraying the gravity of grieving might seem intimidating for a young actor, Nielsen manages to hold his own. His understated performance conveys an unsettling sense of helplessness — nothing can touch the darkness that is growing inside him.

In a Better World finds its depth in the sink-ing knowledge that someone desperately needs to reach out to the troubled Christian, but the unfortunate reality is that no one may be able to. As Christian becomes more consumed by emo-tion, Nielsen’s performance remains simple and true — to the actor’s credit, even at his charac-ter’s most destructive point, he still evokes an underlying sense of empathy.

The friendship between Elias and Christian ultimately creates the film’s emotional core. Although both boys have relationships with other characters, everything plays out between them in some way, and the raw and powerful chemistry between the actors makes their bond particularly moving.

When the boys both reach their breaking point, an emotional explosion creates a fitting release for the quiet layers of tension. When it’s finally time to take a breath, it’s still done in the understated way of the rest of In a Better World. Through the skill of its actors and unrelenting emotional roller coaster, the film manages to maintain simplicity and clarity while asking a question with no easy answer: how do you separate honour from revenge?

filmreview

In a Better World finds its depth in the sinking knowledge that someone desperately needs to reach out to the troubled Christian, but the unfortunate reality is that no one may be able to.

10 monday, july 25, 2011 www.thegatewayonline.caArts & EntErtAinmEnt

Let’s call it a finer flop. By no means does Rebecca Black’s sophomore single “My Moment” reach the disastrous, mind-boggling lows of her viral classic “Friday” — and that’s exactly the prob-lem. Lacking the hypnotizing qualities of a song that revolutionized a day of the week, Black has now been reduced to a watered-down wannabe better suited for the likes of Mini Pop Kids.

Black is just too nice. Her whole shtick screams of contradiction. She sings lines like, “Haters, said I’d see you

later / Can’t talk to you right now,” but then desperately tries everything to appeal to those haters and get them on her side. Black must be harbouring some resentment from all the “Friday” backlash, but instead of displaying any genuine feelings, she masks it with sugarcoated hand claps, finger snaps, and air drumming.

Granted, Black does sound human this time around. But from the very first robotic note, Black does little to prove that she has any pipes. Or conviction. Or originality. Her worst crime in all of this is failing to include the only real gem in the “Friday” video: her backseat friend Bennet Cinkle — a.k.a “Awkward in Pink.” Surely the girl with such perfectly stilted dance moves could have made a

cameo in the new video’s Britney-esque dance break. For shame, Rebecca.

The irony in all of this is that Black’s “My Moment” is about a moment that has essentially long passed. Without another catastrophic single to propel her further into internet infamy, Black’s 15 minutes of fame has come and gone. Now we’re left with a teenage girl forcing us to remember a moment that should be locked up forever in flop culture.

AlEx migdAl

Flop Culture is a semi-regular feature in which Gateway pop culture pundits shake their literary fists at ridiculous events or celebrities deserving of an inky bitch-slap.

flop culture

Certified CopyWritten by Abbas KiarostamiDirected by Abbas KiarostamiStarring Juliette Binoche and William Shimell Opens July 29 at the Princess Theatre (10337–82 Avenue)

AlAnA WillErtonArts & Entertainment Staff

There are movies that we fall in love with instantly, movies that fall short of the hype, and even movies that we like in spite of ourselves. And then there are movies that we try to like because we think we should, because the film critics have hailed it as extraor-dinary — who are we to disagree? Unfortunately for director Abbas Kiarostami, his latest work, Certified Copy, falls under this last category.

The film explores the relationship between British writer James Miller (William Shimell) and a French antiques dealer (Juliette Binoche) whose name is never revealed. Miller is in Tuscany to speak about his new book in which he argues that even an original art piece is a copy of its subject, making issues of authentic-ity insignificant. After the woman arranges to meet with him, the two

discuss Miller’s book as they visit vari-ous areas of Tuscany together. Stopping at a coffee shop during their journey, they’re mistaken for a married couple. From there on out, their relationship appears to change, as they begin to speak and act as if they are indeed a couple that has been married for 15 years and share a son together.

The most interesting part of the movie is the relationship between Miller and the woman, with its slow evolution from two strangers into that of a married couple. The transi-tion is a subtle one, so much so that you might miss the beginning of it if you’re not careful. Still, in a film that provokes more questions than it provides answers, this scene is one of the more clever ones and should

be watched out for.Certified Copy has everything

that should deem it worthwhile: an interesting concept, award-winning performances, and beautiful cinema-tography. But when it comes down to sheer entertainment value and the ability to hold the interest of a viewer, it falls short. The film is slow, some-times frustratingly so, and though much is said, not much ever really happens.

Regardless of the overall blandness of Certified Copy, Binoche’s acting ability cannot be denied. She won the award for Best Actress at the film’s premiere at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival. Unfortunately, her character is as annoying as she is intriguing, and even good acting can’t save her from coming off as unlikeable. As for Shimell — taking on his first role in a major film — he manages to hold his own opposite the seasoned Binoche, playing nicely off her character’s insipidness.

Certified Copy is bound to stir up conflicted feelings. Ambiguous at best and forgettable at worst, chances are good that you’ll still want to like the film; you’ll want to look past the ambi-guity and lack of action and appreciate the many finer points it has to offer. But most of us won’t be able to. We shouldn’t have to try so hard to do so in the first place.

filmreview

Certified Copy has everything that should deem it worthwhile [...] but when it comes down to sheer entertainment value and the ability to hold the interest of a viewer, it falls short.

Artistic vision lacks cinematic flair

11The GaTeway volume cii summer issue 2 arTs & enTerTainmenT

Fisher plans for his approaching acoustic one-man-band future

Jeremy FisherEdmonton Folk Music FestivalThursday, August 4 – Sunday, August 7Gallagher Park (9411–97 Avenue)Festival passes sold out

alana willerTonArts & Entertainment Staff

Whether he’s cycling across Canada on one of his many bike tours, creating a homemade music video, or churning out new songs, there’s no doubt that Jeremy Fisher is a busy man. And with a weekend-long visit to Edmonton’s Folk Music Festival fast approaching and another bike tour in the works for September, there seem to be no signs of slowing down for Fisher, showcas-ing yet another side of himself with his latest album, Flood.

What Fisher initially envisioned as a sparse live album evolved into some-thing totally different when Toronto-based musician Hawksley Workman signed on to produce Flood, making it what Fisher describes as the most “bom-bastic” record he’s ever made.

“Some of the songs turned out way different than the way they were con-ceived, and I think that’s cool,” says Fisher. “I love being pushed out of my own conventional ways. I have my own conventions, my own little idiosyncra-sies in the way I write songs and the cadence of how they come together, and [Workman] definitely challenges

me on that.”But don’t be fooled by its lighter, up-

tempo sound: Flood is full of subtle references to darker times in Fisher’s life. One of the worst is the death of his grandmother. On the opening track “Shine A Little Light,” Fisher explores his religious beliefs, or lack thereof, follow-ing the experience of his grandmother’s funeral.

“I get it, in that tail-end of your life especially. The unknown, what it must be like to let go of life and move onto some other place, or not move onto anywhere and for it just to be over,” says Fisher. “I can certainly see the appeal to having some kind of narrative to guide you through that. So I guess the song kind of came out of me accept-ing that [religion] was a part of my grandmother.”

For Fisher, whose beliefs take on a much different form than those of his Anglican grandmother, the song has

another much simpler meaning.“ ‘Shine a Little Light’ is a little subver-

sive because it’s a gospel sort of phrase, but I think of it more like shining a flashlight under a bed when you’re a kid to make sure there’s no monster there before you fall asleep. That’s sort of how I see religion, and I’m trying not to be critical of it because it was, like I said, a part of who [my grandmother] was.”

With the dark times hopefully in the past, Fisher is free to keep pushing the boundaries of his music. Envisioning an acoustic record this time around, Fisher will be busy maintaining the bal-ance between experimenting with new sounds and leaning on the old ones that got him where he is today. But as Fisher looks to the future, he’s keeping it simple: as he takes his music on the road with a bike instead of a tour bus, the elabo-rate sounds of Flood may be in the past for now.

“I made a decision — we’ll see how long it sticks — that I would really like to just tour solo from here on out,” Fisher says. “It’s so much easier on my ears and my body, and it’s really where all my songs come from. When I write a song I’m always trying to get some-thing that works well with just voice and guitar or whatever instrument I’m writing on. I’m realizing now that because I tour so much like that, prob-ably the best thing I could do for me and the people who are interested in what I’m doing is make a record that reflects that more.

“I don’t see myself making a record like [Flood] ever again, to tell you the truth.”

musicpreview

“I made a decision — we’ll see how long it sticks — that I would really like to just tour solo from here on out. It’s so much easier on my ears and my body, and it’s really where all my songs come from.”

Jeremy Fisher

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SportS sports@gateway.ualberta.ca monday, july 25, 2011

Matt HirjiSports Editor

The smell of evergreen is pungent as Canada’s national volleyball teams prepare for the upcoming summer Olympics with rosters chock full of former and current Bears and Pandas athletes.

In total, eight players on the men’s and women’s senior national teams are occupied by athletes that have spent time honing their volleyball prowess under the roof of the Main Gym. The number of U of A athletes is overwhelming, and something that current Athletics Director Ian Reade takes a tremendous amount of pride in.

But it’s also a number that is a reflection of what he already knew — that Green and Gold volleyball is one of the most dynamic varsity pro-grams in the country.

“It’s a testament to what our coaches have done, in terms of recruiting the best athletes coming out of high schools and club levels and then pro-viding those athletes with the best opportunities to develop their skills,” Reade said. “It’s certainly an unbe-lievable legacy of those programs. It’s what a university support program is supposed to do — to develop athletes so that they can move on after they graduate, or even in the middle of their university careers, to go on and play at the highest level. In this case, it’s a very successful example.”

For Nick Cundy, one of the former Bears on the men’s national team, the experiences he gained as a left-side hitter during his tenure with the Golden Bears from 2003-2007 have proven invaluable during his last five years competing at the highest inter-national level.

Under the guidance of Bears head coach Terry Danyluk — a former Olympian for Team Canada him-self — Cundy said that he was able to build a foundation that allowed him to progress to the highest level of volleyball in Canada.

“It helped me get where I am today. You’re a product of your associations, and to be associated with a coach that was one of the best players of his generation [...] he had the experience and knowledge to know what the next level was going to look like. So he could kind of bring that into our gym,” Cundy explained.

And it’s wasn’t just Cundy who was able to make the leap from wearing the Green and Gold to the Red and White. In total, seven of the 21 play-ers on the men’s national senior team roster played under Danyluk at one point in their volleyball careers.

It’s a shared background that has bred a familiarity on the court and that may allow this incarnation of the team to make the Olympic games for the first time in 14 years.

“It’s really cool. It’s really familiar,” Cundy said. “It’s nice to come to the gym having some history with some of the guys. All the U of A guys play really well together. We get along together and we communicate, it seems like, on a different level. It’s nice to be playing with a bunch of Bears. We are totally in tune with each other because of it. It’s a sport of reaction, with a small court and a really fast ball. Knowing each other so well gives us an advantage in that aspect.”

After finishing third in the Pan-Am Cup last month, Cundy and his Team Canada teammates will continue their drive for a London Olympic qualify-ing bid when they take on Slovakia later this summer.

U of A advances to red and white

Matt HirjiSports Editor

Being nominated to host the 2013 and 2014 CIS National Track and Field championships will give the Golden Bears and Pandas a rare opportunity to earn a national championship on home turf in upcoming years.

The Bears last reached the top of the national podium in 2001 and haven’t hosted the premier event in more than 19 years. But recently years, both the men’s and women’s team have emerged among the most competitive in the country.

For Track and Field head coach Georgette Reede, the home-court advan-tage that her team will receive in 2013 and 2014 is an opportunity at glory that

she doesn’t want to take for granted.“I’m really excited to do this. And the

fact that we get to host the event two years in a row is really positive as well. We get the first year to do our best, have a dry run, and then the next year to knock it out of the park,” Reede said. “It gives us the opportunity to show-case not only our great facilities, but our strong team and show what we can really do out here in the west.”

“We don’t have a lot of home games. It’s not like going to a basketball or vol-leyball game, where you know that it’s going to be there every weekend. We spend a lot of time competing away from home, so it’s not on people’s radar,” she added.

But the Green and Gold will be showcasing more than just their

tremendous athletic prowess when they host the best varsity runners, throwers, and jumpers from across the country. The $1.5 million, state-of-the-art, Mondo track and field surface that was installed in the Butterdome last year will take centre stage at nationals. As Reede explains, the surface, which is said to be one of the fastest in existence, may provide

the boost the Bears and Pandas need to defeat their opposition.

“It’s the most unique track in North America. It’s a seven-lane oval, 12-lane straightaway. It’s a very fast track with a similar surface to the one that was used at the Beijing Olympic Games. So we’ve got the novelty of having a facility that can really showcase a meet like the national championships. It’s great from a spectator’s point of view — there is lots of space and we can offer a sched-ule that is both athlete and spectator friendly.”

If the familiar track surface isn’t enough to push the Bears and Pandas over the edge, the events will be hosted in partnership with the Canadian Athletics Coaching Centre (CACC), an association that was established

during the 2001 Track and Field World Championships, to further cement the profile of U of A’s track program for years to come.

“With the help and collaboration of the CACC, we are going to have the opportunity to [develop] local and national athletes from across the country, but hopefully we’ll get some international athletes that will want to come and participate in our program. It gives us the opportunity to really maximize the whole benefit of hosting the event. It can be something that will help our program grow and be a ben-efit to the university as a whole,” Reede explained.

“We’re on the verge of a break-through here. We’re going to do it up right.”

“It’s nice to come to the gym having some history with some of the guys [...]We get along together and we communicate, it seems like, on a different level.”

Nick cuNdy Left-Side Hitter, team Canada

The Bears and Pandas Volleyball program sets up athletes for a spot on Canada’s national teams

Green looks to run for gold when hosting national track championships

Matt Hirji

MECCa OF DEVELOPMENt eight former and current U of a volleyball athletes compete for Canada’s senior national teams.

“We’re on the verge of a breakthrough here. We’re going to do it up right.”

GeorGette reede Head CoaCH, U of a traCkand fieLd

14 monday, july 25, 2011 www.thegatewayonline.caSportS

SportS Staff

Group Commentary

The list of the most valuable sports franchises was released this month by Forbes, and to nobody’s surprise Manchester United Football Club came out on the top of the heap. How is a soccer team worth $1.86 billion anyways? But after reading through the list, the question was raised: If you could own any sports team, for any reason, who would it be? The answers, from the absurd to the backhanded, are in. Now, who wants to lend me $1.86 billion?

Matt Hirji

I hate the Los Angeles Lakers. But if I could ever scrounge up enough nick-els to purchase a profes-

sional sports team, the Showtime Squad would be a slam-dunk.

No, I wouldn’t even buy the Lakers just to infiltrate their head office and take down one of the most successful franchises in sports history from the top down. (Side note: steal their sun-shine?) Nor would I acquire them just to man-date a change to the team’s hideously boring triangle offence or ridiculously pretentious yellow and purple uniforms.

No, for me, owning a professional sports team would be all about stroking my ego. And the Los Angeles Lakers would stroke my ego on the silver screen.

Given the team’s proximity to Hollywood, the Lakers are the team for the rich and famous. A-List celebs like Jack Nicholson, known for his recent role in Bucket List and his penchant for axing down doors, has been a religious court-side patron for more 40 years. I could only imagine talking shop with Jack over a couple cold ones. Maybe he’d even offer me a walk-on role in his next flick?

And, saving the best for last: OMG! Zach Efron has become a fixture at the Staples Centre for more than a few years now. Oh, what I wouldn’t give to knock boots with Troy Bolton himself.

Sing it with me now! California, here we come, right back where we started from.

Justin Bell Some franchises, such as the New York Yankees or the Los Angeles Lakers, come with expectations. If they can’t put together

a winning record, owners are tarred, feathered, and strapped to the next freight train bound for hell.

As an owner, there’s a lot at stake for a team full of overpaid prima donnas and their ridiculous antics. Why go through heartache and torment when you can own a team who’s expectations are so low, merely making payroll is seen as an accomplishment?

Enter the Buffalo Bills. Forgettable mediocrity is the name of the game in upstate New York, where the Bills and Sabres combined to win zero championships in the last forever years. Showing up at the game is the first step to ... going home.

If I were the owner of the Bills, instead of bringing winning seasons or Superbowl rings, I’d be given the key to the city by merely offering fans the chance to come see real sports heroes on other teams. Theme nights could include “shake Brett Favre’s hand” and “holy crap, Tom Brady actually came to our shitty town.”

Even perennial talk of moving the team north

has done nothing to sway the lethargic Bills fans. But, if you lived in Buffalo, you would also be trying to find a way out.

Ryan Bromsgrove

If I could own any team I wanted, it would defi-nitely be the X-Men. It doesn’t matter that they’re not involved in any sports, I’ll make one

up to accommodate them. No, I’ll make up an entire tournament — The X-Games.

Round one will be Cyclops and Wolverine kicking things off in a roller blade race. To make things a little more interesting, I’ll make it heart-pounding fight to the death on wheels. Better yet, I’ll hit Comic-Con before the race starts and rake in money by taking bets from nerds.

Next, Phoenix and Nightcrawler will square off in a tense bowling match. The twist? The bowling balls are bombs, and they’re throw-ing them at each other. The telekinetic powers of Phoenix Nightcrawler’s teleportation means this might turn out to be a riveting clash for the ages.

Sitting in the owners box, with a view of your empireThe Gateway’s staff reveals which professional franchises they would like to purchase in a new version of fantasy sports

15The GaTeway volume cii summer issue 2 comics

panel show by Ross Vincent

lister daze by Gateway Staff

panel show by Ross Vincent

16 monday, july 25, 2011 www.thegatewayonline.caAdvertisement