Red Bull sports gives me wings

“Red Bull gives you wings.”

This succinct little catchphrase gets repeated all too often in television commercials by a company that shows no remorse in almost literally forcing their product down the throats of consumers.

Normally I despise being subject to blatant advertising. I even sometimes go out of my way not to purchase a product if I feel like I’m being tricked into complying with the will of a soulless corporation.

But Red Bull, as much as I try to resist, is a company that I just can’t be upset with.

For a corporation with a billion dollars in worldwide sales, they spend their money in the most fantastic and whimsical of ways. Their contribution to the world of sports is especially inspiring.

Although Red Bull owns many sports teams — including several professional soccer teams and a Formula One racing team — the main reason I like the company is because they just go out and invent their own sports.

The best way to describe the events they create would be “organized insanity.” A huge emphasis should be put on the insanity.

Red Bull organizes and sponsors a wide variety of events, from Red Bull Paperwings — their paper airplane flying competition — to Red Bull Crashed Ice, which is an ice-skating obstacle course race. They even run a competition for homemade human-powered flying machines.

If it’s the little things that make life worth living, then these events make life great. Even if it’s for advertising purposes, it makes me really happy to know that a paper airplane enthusiast has some goal to work towards – namely to become a paper airplane world champion, which is as hilarious as it sounds.

And if anyone doubts the worth of our generation, we have a simple and irrefutable retort.

We have a professional airplane obstacle course racing league – the Red Bull Air Race World Championship as they decided to call it. What have you done with your life?

Professional sports leagues exist for our entertainment — but sometimes these leagues become monotonous. For anyone who gets bored with the standard professional sports leagues, these ridiculous gatherings provide a hilarious cure. Sure, someone already created extreme sports; Red Bull just decided to take that to new heights.

I’m really not trying to sell you energy drinks — in fact, I would not drink Red Bull unless you paid me a substantial amount of money. The drink itself seems like poisonous, off-colour urine to me — I assume it tastes that way too.

But I do love Red Bull’s attitude toward running a business. Every company is going to spend money on advertising its product, but Red Bull chose a less than traditional method that we can all appreciate. Basically, they decided to have some fun with it.

And in them having fun, everyone gets to have some fun — or die in the process.

40th Juno nominations

2011 Juno Nominees

This Sunday marks the 40th annual Junos. This year, Drake is playing host and performances are scheduled for Arcade Fire, Broken Social Scene, Chromeo, City and Colour, Down With Webster, Hedley, and Sarah McLachlan among others. The stakes are high for the nominees, as contenders are sure to be neck-to-neck. The nominees inclue:

Juno Fan Choice Award

Drake

Hedley

Johnny Reid

Justin Bieber

Michael Bublé

Single of the Year

Classified – “Oh Canada”

Drake – “Find Your Love”

Hedley – “Perfect”

kd lang – “Hallelujah Vancouver Winter 2010”

Young Artists for Haiti – “Wavin’ Flag”

Album of the Year

Arcade Fire – The Suburbs

Drake – Thank Me Later

Hedley – The Show Must Go

Johnny Reid – A Place Called Love

Justin Bieber – My World 2.0

Artist of the Year

Drake

Johnny Reid

Justin Bieber

Neil Young

Sarah McLachlan

Group of the Year

Arcade Fire

Broken Social Scene

Down With Webster

Great Big Sea

Three Days Grace

New Artist of the Year

Basia Bulat

Bobby Bazini

Caribou

Hannah Georgas

Meaghan Smith

New Group of the Year

Die Mannequin

Hollerado

Misteur Valaire

My Darkest Days

Said The Whale

Western Foot Patrol hits the books

Donating to a cause just got a little bit easier.

Western Foot Patrol will be raising funds for their program at Chapters North London this Thursday.

Foot Patrol is a free service that promotes safety and deters crime at Western’s campus by offering free walking escorts on campus and to the nearby residential area.

“There is a voucher on our website. If you make a purchase and hand the voucher to the cashier, ten per cent of your purchase will go to Foot Patrol,” Samantha Johnstone, manager of Western Foot Patrol, explained.

“The money goes directly to the program. This fundraiser will be going towards our annual volunteer appreciation banquet that we have at the end of every year,” Johnstone stated, adding the funds will go to volunteers as a thank you for what they do.”

Members of Foot Patrol will have a booth at the Chapters between 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. promoting the fundraiser but vouchers will be valid all day.

“We hope to raise $500 which would be absolutely fantastic. If we surpass that it would be even more wonderful,” Johnstone said.

If students can’t make it to Chapters, Western Foot Patrol will also be holding their annual used book sale in the University Community Centre atrium April 5 and 6.

“We get donations of used books from the London community and we sell those books for $10 a bag. It is an absolute bargain,” Johnstone said. “We have tons of used books that look brand new.”

For a Chapters voucher and information about Western Foot Patrol head to uwo.ca/footpatrol http://www.uwo.ca/footpatrol/index.htm The escorts volunteer their evenings Sunday to Thursday from 6 p.m. to 1 a.m. and Friday and Saturday from 6 p.m. to midnight to ensure the safety of Western’s community.

— Amber Garratt

Haphazard protest helps no one

Whatever happened to the days of a good old Guevaran revolution?

Hippies today are useless.  If anyone travelled through the great building known as our University Community Centre yesterday around lunch, they would be lucky enough to witness the feeble attempts of student activism on our campus.  For those of you who missed out, go on with your lives. There was very little to see anyway.

I’m not against activism —without it we’d still be stuck in the jungles of Southeast Asia with the tiger-blood of Charlie Sheen running through our veins. But I’m against doing things half-assed, and yesterday’s protest was an act of slacktivism.

The protest by supporters of the Student Refugee Program might have seemed a good idea — finally some students getting behind a cause they care for. However, there is a big difference between a good idea and good execution.

The protest started off strong: a unified group of people walking towards the office of the University Students’ Council, roaring their grievances, megaphones and all. Everyone jerked their heads around, anticipating a huge crowd to rally at the summit of the UCC. Intsead they witnessed a small group get to the top of the mountain, talk for a bit, and sit down (campfire guitar songs followed).

This protest was a letdown for many who knew it was coming, but it fits right in with the rest of SRP’s practices towards public expression. The club is perhaps too eager to show they really care, and this eagerness is what got them to this situation in the first place. With demerit points for over-campaigning and failure to properly organize as a group, it’s no shock that their protest against campus seemed to be haphazardly thrown together.

The Student Refugee Program, I feel, is a great cause — in fact I’m sure they would be happy to know I voted yes on the referendum. It’s a cause that many people care for so its invalidation deserved a greater response than it got. One of their protest signs even spelt “results” wrong!

Maybe I’m just a Nascar fan waiting for the crash, expecting something like the protests of ‘Nam, but I think more could have been done. Flaming garbage cans — no. But maybe a camp out? More protesters? Yelling into the megaphone rather than whispering?

I give the protestors credit for standing their ground on the issue, and for giving David Basu Roy another chance to be political, but they really need to choose a side on their approach. Either be all the way out there or act professional, because mixing the two doesn’t help your cause get support from the student body.

Perhaps the reason for SRP’s lack of flair is their wariness to break any other rules.  But why bother protesting if you’re just going to play it on the safe side? It would be better to keep the passion that SRP showed earlier in their campaign and run with it, to get some of the 5,712 people that voted yes to come out for a real rally for the cause on Concrete Beach or anywhere else students frequent.

Petitioning the USC office does nothing — they already know that SRP is frustrated with their decision. To make any real change to the committee’s ruling, the SRP should look to the student body rather than shaking fists at the receptionists of the USC.

The purpose of protesting

For as long as there have been causes to fight for, people have come together in droves to voice their opinion. This rings all the truer for university students.

As anyone who was present in the University Community Centre yesterday morning well knows, a group of students staged a protest outside the University Students’ Council office against the Election Committee’s decision to invalidate the results of the Student Refugee Program referendum.

Protests are not a new phenomenon. They come in a variety of different forms, be it speakers and signs, a mass of people congregating in Toronto, or a sparse number of concerned students standing vigil on Concrete Beach. But on the whole they generally have the same goal — to create awareness of an issue. Seeing people march in the streets might not be the sole cause of new laws or policies, but it can be the catalyst of real change.

While people marching en masse may be a rare sight these days, that doesn’t mean people aren’t speaking out. Groups still work to spread information and spread awareness — they simply use other forums, such as the internet and, more specifically, social media.

Trading loudspeakers and physical signs for Facebook groups and anonymous website comments are definitely a sign of the times, though this isn’t a wholly positive change. Anonymous internet comments can be seen as the perfect example of “slacktivism” — people looking to get satisfaction from doing the least amount of work possible.

Nonetheless, if the internet and social media are used to effectively disseminate information and spread awareness, they’re indeed useful tools. Whether a protest is held physically or online, if it’s simply a group of people looking to whine and complain, it really doesn’t benefit anyone.

In the case of SRP, the protest seems to be more about pressuring an opinion onto others as opposed to creating awareness. Perhaps the group’s time would have been better spent on the more reasonable avenue available to them to address their problem — the formal appeal process.

The group, as of now, fully intends to appeal the Election Committee’s decision to invalidate the referendum results. The issue is that instead of just appealing, they’ve taken up a loudspeaker and stood on a soapbox to gain attention.

While not a bad thing, it’s questionable how helpful it will be to the SRP’s cause. The protest could end up emboldening the USC to more fervently defend their position, or bury the real concerns under a layer of increasingly complex and irrelevant social justice concerns.

—The Gazette Editorial Board

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Good

The NHL has finally done something right.

On Monday, Matt Cooke received a lengthy suspension from the NHL for his recent elbow on New York Rangers defenseman Ryan McDonagh. The suspension will see Cooke miss the remainder of the season and the first round of the playoffs. Although the punishment is harsh, it’s about time the NHL made a statement about dangerous hits in the game.

Cooke has become well known around the league for his dirty hits, already having been suspended four previous times, including just last month after hitting Blue Jackets’ Fedor Tyutin from behind. Of course, Cooke might be most well known for his devastating hit on Boston forward Marc Savard, which he escaped without any repercussions.

After so much controversy surrounding the NHL, especially after the Chara-Pacioretty hit, it was good that the NHL finally decided to make a bold statement against dangerous hits in the game.

The Pittsburgh Penguins organization also deserves a thumbs up for sticking by their strong stance on headshots and supporting the NHL’s decisions.

Hopefully the fifth time is the charm and Cooke will finally learn his lesson.

Bad

The future of women’s hockey at St. Mary’s University is in limbo.

Last Friday, the women’s varsity hockey team was cut from the school’s athletic program after it was decided the school had to trim down their operating budget. However, after receiving an abundance of letters and emails supporting the women’s program, it was decided the fate of the team would actually be decided next week.

Although the women’s hockey team is the most expensive of all the women’s programs at the school, with an approximate budget of $60,000, it seems entirely unfair to completely axe the program.

Obviously with the outpouring support the women’s team has received, it’s clear the majority of people want to see the program remain at the school. With the great steps forward that women’s hockey has taken in recent years, it’s a shame we could see a step backward.

Hopefully the board of governors will seriously consider every option to avoid having to eliminate women’s hockey completely. If not, then it’s a shame that an issue of money could prevent the continuation of hockey for women at St. Mary’s.

Ugly

Unfortunately, Barry Bonds is back in the spotlight.

Bonds’ long-awaited perjury trail has finally begun this week. Of course, Bonds has been accused of lying to the grand jury about accusations of steroid use during his career as an MLB player.

Of course, Bonds innocently claims he thought he was taking “flax seed oil and arthritis cream” instead of being given performance-enhancing drugs.

It’s pretty unbelievable that Bonds could unknowingly take steroids, and prosecutors for the trial are sticking to their story that Bonds lied to the jury, even after it was revealed he wouldn’t be prosecuted if he admitted to using the drugs.

Hasn’t this gone on long enough? This trial has been seven years in the making, but does anyone even care anymore? Most people at this point assume Bonds must have been aware of what he was doing — yet the U.S. government still insists on prosecuting him.

This trial will continue to unfold as new evidence is presented and Bonds continues to sweat in the defendant’s chair. But guilty or not, the sport of baseball has definitely already suffered.

First-year student releases debut album

Special effects save film from cheesy plotline

Battle: Los Angeles

Director: Jonathan Liebesman

Starring: Aaron Eckhart, Michelle Rodriguez, and Ramón Rodríguez

There’s no question that aliens exist in Jonathan Liebesman’s latest film Battle: Los Angeles.

After Sergeant Michael Nantz (Aaron Eckhart) decides to resign from the marines, he’s given no choice but to continue his fight when extra-terrestrials invade Santa Monica and other major cities with only one purpose — to obtain all the water on Earth.

The team of new marines and the somewhat-retired Nantz take on the biggest challenge they’ve ever faced. The team must find and protect civilians from the swarm of technologically-advanced aliens without any knowledge of how to kill them or how powerful they are.

Although audiences may have seen similar storylines in previous films like War of the Worlds, Battle: Los Angeles stands out for the incredible graphics. This type of film has the possibility to become very cheesy, but the graphics definitely saved it with life-like scenery and battle scenes.

The beginning of the film is most intense when the marines first discover the type of enemy they’re dealing with. While walking through the deserted side streets of downtown Santa Monica, audiences can expect unnerving situations and quite a few explosions.

Michelle Rodriguez also makes an expected appearance as tough girl and technical sergeant Elena Santos, a non-commissioned officer of the Air Force. Neither her nor Eckhart’s acting skills are overly impressive in this action-packed film, but it’s forgivable since the main focus of the film was thankfully not placed on dialogue.

This is not the type of film to see if you’re expecting life-changing dialogue or an unexpected plot — this is a film you should see if you want to experience suspense and the sights and sounds of a battle. Regardless of whether or not Battle: Los Angeles would make a better video game than a movie, it’s an overall entertaining experience.

Huron digitizes slave era documents

The Historian’s Craft, a course taught at Huron University College, will be celebrating the art of preserving history. The class will be digitizing and transcribing original documents from the slave-movement era and posting them online in hopes of informing the public about this historical period.

The class began using websites for projects last year. Nina Reid-Maroney, an assistant professor in the history department at Huron, said the students first looked at the diary of Thomas Hughes, a reverend who was working to provide education for fleeing slaves.

This year, the students looked at the archives in Oberlin, Ohio for letters to and from Rev. Hiram Wilson, an anti-slavery agent working in Canada, Reid-Maroney explaianed.

The class is also working on a second project for Christ Church in Chatham, which is celebrating its 150th anniversary. The website for the church will contain digitized documents from the archives.

An unveiling of both projects will take place at Huron’s Great Hall on March 24 from 12:30 to 2:30 p.m.

Don’t ‘beleaf’ in Toronto’s NHL playoff chase

With all due respect to Kermit, being green is way easier than being a Leafs fan.

For years, the Maple Leafs have consistently sat in the bottom half of the Eastern Conference standings. The Leafs haven’t even seen the post-season in six seasons. Oh yeah, then there’s the whole 44-year Cup drought thing. So all–in–all, there hasn’t been a lot to cheer for in Leafs nation lately.

So when the Leafs get any sort of victory, the fans party like it’s 1967, which is what we are in now. As I write this, the Leafs are sitting five points out of the eighth and final playoff spot with nine games remaining in the season. Although depending on the results of Tuesday night’s games that could be drastically different.

Yes, it’s mathematically possible for the Blue and White to reach the post-season once again, but with remaining match-ups against Buffalo, Montreal and New Jersey, the Leafs can’t afford to lose any points.

But knowing the Leafs, this latest playoff drive will not be an easy road, filled with dizzying highs, terrifying lows and creamy middles. But isn’t that what we should expect from the Leafs?

Compared to other elite teams in the league — Vancouver, Detroit or Philadelphia — the Leafs just aren’t playoff material. Though I won’t totally discount the Leafs, as their game versus Boston on Saturday night was possibly one of their best games of the season, it seems unlikely that a deep playoff run is in the cards.

But maybe I’m being too cynical. Maybe I should just sit back and ‘beleaf’ and hope that by some miracle, the Leafs make a Cinderella run during this year’s Stanley Cup playoffs.

Most likely that won’t happen and the best-case scenario is the Leafs barely squeak into the playoffs, and Toronto fans get to enjoy four glorious games of playoff hockey. Four games might be enough to satisfy some Leaf fans after so many years of failure, but I’m not ready to settle for a forgettable quick exit from the first round.

My reluctance to believe stems from years of heartbreak, from years of hoping that this would finally be the season the Leafs won’t let me down. I’d just grown comfortable with the whole “rebuilding” label that’s constantly thrown around in Leafs nation to explain their mediocre results.

Sure, it would be great if the Leafs strung together a series of wins, catapulting themselves past Carolina and Buffalo and into a first-round playoff spot, but I’m not holding my breath. I just can’t submit myself to yet another letdown.

So thank you to the Toronto Maple Leafs for giving fans something to cheer about lately, but I’m not falling for it this time. I’m just fine waiting for another year, or five.

The tough choice, and the right choice

Today marks one full week from the end of the spring referendum period — a referendum that asked questions about late–night busing, a 12–month bus pass and most importantly, the fate of the Student Refugee Program. Though we were aware last week of the results of the transit–related questions, it took until late yesterday morning to get the full results for SRP.

Though the tally of votes was over two to one in favour of adding $0.52 to student fees to fund SRP, the University Students’ Council Election Committee declared the results invalid due to an excess of campaign violations.

The decision should be commended. With such a clear margin of victory, the easiest thing for the EC to do would have been to declare the referendum passed and ignore the multitude of campaigning violations incurred by the “Vote Yes” side.

But it’s not up to the committee to decide how big of an impact the violations had on the vote. The EC is there to uphold the election rules of Bylaw 2 — if the rules have been broken then their choice is clear.

One could make the argument that Bylaw 2’s rules are convoluted and hard to follow, but both campaign teams were clearly told the rules governing the election process before voting commenced. Not to mention Bylaw 2 is always accessible online.

The Elections Committee also made the tough choice in this case to rule against a program few would argue against. The benefits of SRP from a humanitarian standpoint provide a strong argument that the ends justify the means. After all, if the end result is good, should it matter if some rules were broken in the process?

Unequivocally yes. If a similar situation occurs a few years down the line, the future EC will have to make a moral call as to whether it should overlook campaign violations.

Perhaps the most unfortunate result is the fact that the referendum would have passed regardless of the excessive campaigning that led to these violations. Yes, campaign teams make mistakes, especially if the supporters are as passionate as the “Vote Yes” side obviously were. But the flagrant nature of the violations — a voting booth in the same building as the USC office and three separate biased mass e-mails — are hard to overlook.

Few would argue against the merits of the SRP. Their mandate of expanding access to university is laudable and the support they received should encourage them to pursue other fundraising routes.

—The Gazette Editorial Board

Education gets thumbs down from Ontarians

According to a recent poll, Ontarians are not happy with how the Liberal government is handling the university education system.

In a poll of 1,800 people, about half said the quality of university education stayed the same and approximately one third said that the quality of education has declined since Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty was elected.

Nora Loreto, a spokesperson for the Canadian Federation of Students, explained some of the reasons why respondents felt this way.

“The Liberal party has made a lot of policy changes to post-secondary education. One of those changes includes increasing tuition fees by five per cent on average every year.” she explained. “When that happens, the public perception of any kind of other investments that might be made into the system gets overlooked by the fact that students are being relied on more and more to fund the system.”

Though Ontarians are not happy with the annual increase in tuition, the Liberal party has implemented this and other changes for a reason, Loreto explained.

“They injected money into the system to help meet the enrolment growth that was being caused by the Baby Boom, and so those funds are important and badly needed. They also made changes to OSAP, and they just announced that they intend to create a credit transfer initiative,” Loreto said.

“The problem is that when these changes are accompanied by increasing tuition fees, it makes it very difficult to convince people that a system is in place that is both acceptable and affordable.”