Bandersnatch Volume 42 Issue 11

Wednesday, MaRCH 27, 2013 | VoluMe 42, Issue 11- 1..

. sTayIn’ alIVe sInCe 1971 | WWW.bandeRsnaTCH.Ca | Wednesday, MaRCH 27, 2013 | VoluMe 42, Issue 11 . #


BANDERSNATCHJohn Abbott College

21275 Lakeshore Road

P.O. Box 2000

Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue,

Quebec, Canada H9X 3L9

Phone: (514) 457-6610 ext. 5389

Fax: (514) 457-6091

Office: H-041

Web: http://www.bandersnatch.ca/

E-mail: [email protected]

Zack Duma

Editor-in-Chief

Bee Clarke

Assistant Editor-in-Chief

Analisa Astorino

Campus Life Editor

Emma Sutherland

News Editor

Dina Willis

Entertainment Editor

Kenzy Abdel Malek

Arts Editor

Caroline Houle

Opinions Editor

Constantino Montelli

Games and Tech Editor

Casey Dulson

Sports Editor

Brendan McGarry

Production Manager

Ellie Coleman

Assistant Production Manager

Position Available

Production Staff

Emily Ciccia

Office Manager

Catherine Dubé

Media Administrator

Position Available

Webmaster

Position Available

Banner Designer

Bandersnatch is a student run alternative press

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at our e-mail indicated above or visit us at the

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entrance of The Oval).

Hello Students, Friends, Romans, Countrymen!

This week is the much antici-pated Multicultural Week here at John Abbott College and you should definitely all ‘come on down!’ (Insert Price Is Right Theme here). It’s going to be great, and a big thank you goes to all those who are participating,

volunteering, and celebrating Abbott’s multicultural character. Also, be sure to check out SUJAC’s very own Canada booth!

Other than that, have a nice, long weekend and get some well-deserved rest! If you celebrate Easter, enjoy it!

Last but not least, feel free to stop by the SUJAC office (P-101)

if you have any questions, com-ments, or concerns or if you just want to see our new plants. We’ve been stepping up our office veg-etation ‘game’ lately and we now have a Mooncactus named Martin and a Bamboo named Andrew! Don’t hesitate to come by and say “Hi”!

Letter from the Editor-in-Chief

Letter from the Assistant Editor-in-Chief

After over two years on the paper, as a staff writer, as Opinions Editor and now as the assistant Editor-in-Chief, I can safely say that I have never been prouder to be a part of the Bandersnatch team. Through hard work, dedication and passion they put together a work of art, a newspaper, but above all, a voice for the students of John Abbott College. Bandersnatch has always been a safe place for stu-dents to get their message out, to voice their opinions, to make friends and memories and to become informed on the goings-on in their school.

Personally, Bandersnatch has al-ways been a safe place for me. The

pride that I’ve always had for the pa-per that we produce, for the articles written and the immense love for the school and fellow students that has grown from it will always be of the greatest importance. Knowing that I am part of a team of amazing people, staff, readers and contributors, alike, is a feeling like none other.

I am a firm believer in the press. I feel that as we have more and more of the world at our fingertips, we as a people ought to grasp onto it and the school newspaper is a way of doing so.

As we fall on harder times, and face some difficulties, I call on you, the voices of John Abbott; the readers, the contributors, the writers, the stu-dents, to support us. Show your

support by picking up the paper, spread the word, read, write, contrib-ute. And above all, remember that we love you.

Bee ClarkeAssistant Editor-in-Chief

Bandersnatch is more than a pa-per to me; it’s a sanctuary. Whether we’re hanging out in production or in the office I know that no matter what happens I can always go to these places and hang out with good friends, and time seems to melt away. Sometimes everyone’s talking and then before we know it it’s seven at night and we have to rush to make the last bus.

I came to Abbott from Toronto in 2011 and it was such a culture shock that I almost didn’t know how to handle it all. I went from taking four classes a semester at my high school to taking seven at a college. To make matters worse, my first se-mester schedule was terrible. I was starting at 8:30 a.m. and ending at 5:30 p.m. everyday with huge two-to-four-hour breaks during the middle of the day. The apartment I was staying at was also downtown so going home during this time was never an option. The real icing on

the cake in this situation was that I knew no one at the school. I was brand new and had no friends who I could hang out with, so these breaks and long hours made for a very de-pressing first few weeks. So much so that I almost decided to move back to Toronto and finish my high school rather than go to college here.

It really was a bad situation, but there was a light at the end of the tunnel. I found the Bandersnatch pa-per, as soon as we had that first meeting I knew I had found my home away from home. Everyone was welcoming and it didn’t matter what you were into, what you did or even looked like. Anyone who want-ed to join could. Ever since that meeting I have gone to the room al-most every day to hang out and talk to the various people there. It really was a sanctuary, it was cut off from the rest of school and sometimes when in the office I forgot that we were even at school. Basically all in all it gave a very lonely kid a com-munity to be a part of.

Some may say that saying that a

club is a sanctuary and a community is a bit of a cliché but the paper is a community, and we are also more than that at the same time: we are a club that actually produces some-thing for the students from the students. We’re a community with something to back ourselves with, something to be proud of.

This paper was really what made me stay here in Montreal and I’m very glad that I have done so. Now I’m Editor-in-Chief of this paper, with an amazing team standing alongside me all of us working to produce this paper and keep it going. We do not get paid for doing the pa-per—in fact we don’t receive much of anything—yet we work through all the challenges, the writing, the long meetings after school and the pro-ductions which go from 8:30 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. We do it only based on the fact that we love this paper. The paper is a living breathing organism, something which we all raise and take care of together. All in all, the paper brings many different people together.

Zack DumaEditor-in-Chief


Money is a big concern when going to school. For some, people can afford books and tuition but for others it is just not as easy to pay for all of it. With an average of seven classes a semester books can end up costing much more than a student can afford which is why there is financial aid. This is a great help for John Abbott students who are in need of money. As much as 11% of all John Abbott students will talk to finan-cial aid to help them with their financial problems. Since last july there have been around 800 demands for financial assis-tance. It is not easy for the financial department to choose who gets money and how much but what is known is

that they are a great help for many stu-dents here at John Abbott. They can’t do this alone but if our community here at John Abbott could get together and give just a little, more people could have a great education. The students financial aid tries to help are the ones who might be living away for the first time without their parents and can’t pay for their gro-ceries or school fees. They also help students who might have left home be-cause of violence and want to better their education. There are many reasons why students are in need of financial as-sistance, so by giving a loonie or two you might be able to help a student succeed.

The Loonie Line here at John Abbott is really well known throughout the school and also in the west island.

Every year John Abbott students and staff make a long line of loonies in the school and raise money for the less for-tunate kids who need help financially. On average, the loony line raises about $10,000 every year but this year we are hoping to surpass that number and help even more people. So far the financial department has given out around $26,000 to students who are in need. 68 students are now capable of attending John Abbott College because of the fi-nancial aid department.

On April 9, 2013 it will be the offi-cial Loonie Line day. Do not forget your change and remember that all the dona-tions that financial aid receives is to help students succeed. There will be games and prizes in the agora and we hope to have a record breaking year!

Nadeem MeghjiContributor

Education is costlyI’m considering getting into a long-distance relationship. How do I make this work?

Just like any relationship, long-dis-tance relationships demand effort, compromise and trust. Whether it be by phone or Skype, maintaining contact with each other is vital. Your partner has to feel as if you’re physically there, even if that’s not always the case. When couples are together, they often participate in activities that don’t involve talking. Long-distance relationships call for creativity: initiate your own tradi-tions. If you both love The Walking Dead, watch it together every week via Skype. Spice up the relationship by challenging each other to differ-ent activities. If your hobby is baking, have a baking contest to-gether. At the end of it, send a package of baked goodies to each other. Be old school and slip a homemade card in there. Small acts of kindness do make all the differ-ence. If your significant other prefers playing video games, see who can get to the highest level without dying. Send them cute vid-eos throughout the day, even if it’s of you running errands. Make an effort to see each other at least once a month. Savor your time alone by connecting on an intimate level. Finally, be a trusting partner. If they haven’t done anything to break your trust, you shouldn’t be ques-tioning their loyalty.

A girl I like wants me to ask her out, but I still love my ex. What should I do?

Do not ask her out until you have completely moved on from you ex. There is nothing worse than feeling like a rebound. Since you like this girl, you should care enough to avoid hurting her. So don’t put yourself in a bad position in the first place. If she wants you to ask her out, chances are she has feelings for you. For now, be friendly around her without being flirtatious. Don’t lead her on. No one wants to be someone’s second choice; they want to be someone’s first priority.

“The dementors are feeling angsty and resentful of the treatment they are receiving at Azkaban” read the notice “They no longer wish to affiliate them-selves with the Ministry of Magic.” All around the room, the members of the Order pondered the implications. The Death Eaters had already slaughtered thousands of muggles at the World Cricket Tournament and had targeted several celebrities; therefore an alliance with the dementors meant the possibil-ity for nearly endless havoc. Such were the dilemmas which I faced as I, along with several other students from schools across the greater Montreal area, par-ticipated in a simulation of the Order of the Phoenix as a part of MariMUN, the Model United Nations Conference or-ganized by Marianopolis College.

On February 23, the nine-member delegation from John Abbott College arrived at the event, each of us eager to participate in one of the four available committees. In addition to the Harry Potter-themed committee, participants had the opportunity to battle a plague in the Council of the Deceased Political Leaders, discuss the issues of child sol-diers and chemical warfare as a part of the Disarmament and International Security committee, and consider the repercussions of Fukushima and nucle-ar medicine in the francophone Agence Internationale the l’Energie Atomique.

The double-joint literary crisis, of-ficially names Dawn of the Death Eaters, pitted two opposing parties against one another, obliging each to re-act to the other’s deeds in order to achieve a set goal. In this case, myself and two other John Abbott students each took on the role of a character from the series (Hagrid, Ron and

Aberforth) and battled the Death Eaters in the hopes of saving the wizarding world and its muggle neighbors from harm. Despite the divergence from the typical topics approached in Model UN, this portion of the conference offered many chances to display and refine the skills of cooperation, diplomacy, prob-lem-solving and public speaking which are so vital at any such event. Each group was required to utilize all of the skills at their disposal as they frantically raced against time.

As the day progressed, the sessions intensified, as the tactics employed by the wizards became increasingly far-fetched. Assassination attempts were plotted in the Council of Deceased Political Leaders, while the Order of the Phoenix began a series of negotiations to win the cooperation of the magical creatures that inhabited the wizarding world. During the last session, dele-gates in the other committees defended their draft resolutions as Hogwarts and its surroundings became a

battleground. With our new allies, the giants, dementors and house elves, as well as our best dueling skills and the most creative strategies our minds could conjure, we fought viciously to defeat the Death Eaters and their sup-porters, the centaurs and goblins. During the final confrontation, our op-ponents emerged victorious, using the elder wand to slay Harry Potter.

To top off a memorable day, three of the John Abbott delegates were rec-ognized with awards. Orla Mahon was rewarded for her representation of Ronald Weasley, Matt Cross was ac-claimed for his incarnation of Hirohito on the Council of Deceased Political Leaders, and Linda Agaby received honorable mention for her accomplish-ments on the Disarmament and International Security committee. This was our last conference of the year be-fore JACMUN, which will be hosted at John Abbott College, and was an enjoy-able way to finish a what has been a great year for our club.

Emma SutherlandNews Editor

JACMUN goes to MARIMUN

Ask Alice


“I am excited that today I have achieved my dream of going back to school... I want all girls in the world to have this basic opportu-nity” says Malala Yousafzai, the young Pakistani girl who has be-come a symbol against woman’s oppression in the world, particu-larly with regards to equality between the sexes in schooling.

Malala is a fifteen-year-old ed-ucation and woman’s rights activist. Malala became known in-ternationally in 2009 after writing for a BBC blog detailing her every-day life living under Taliban rule.

On the 9th of October 2012, Malala was shot in the head by a Taliban gunman while returning home on a school bus. She was in a coma for days after being rushed to a British hospital to receive proper medical attention. She has since made a near full recovery, being fitted with a cranial plate as well as a cochlear implant. Malala has now been given refu-gee status by the United Kingdom, where she will continue her

schooling. Although she has left her native Pakistan for security reasons, Malala and her family re-main undeterred in their activism for equality between men and women in the educational system.

Indeed, the Taliban’s vain at-tempt at silencing the young girl have proven to be a great catalyst for her cause. International con-demnation followed the shooting,

as well as harsh words from the Pakistani government and other religious clerics in the region. Although Pakistan is a democratic republic (one which was even ruled by a woman, Benazhir Bhutto) there are certain areas of the country where the government has little, if any, authority, includ-ing the infamous Kashmir border, a sort of no-man’s-land between

Ten years have passed since former President George W. Bush uttered the words: “Either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists” to the United States Congress and sent 150,000 troops to invade the desert country of Iraq, but many still wonder, ten year later, is Iraq better off? Did the United States really accomplish their mission?

With over 1 trillion US dollars spent, 4400 United States soldiers lost, and an estimated one million Iraqis dead, no weapons of mass destruction were found. Saddam Hussein, the des-pot who tyrannized the country for decades, has been disposed of and ex-ecuted and Iraqis have the right to vote and choose their own leaders. Industry seems to be booming, especially real estate, construction and retail and their GDP seems to be rising at a very high rate according to a recent Newsweek International study.

According to the former Administrator of Iraq, Paul Bremer, who ran the country for fourteen months after the invasion, GDP per capita is up more than 600 percent, 23

million Iraqis now have access to cell phones and the internet (both of which were illegal under Hussein) and infant mortality rates have dropped. Despite all of these positive outcomes, the fact remains, the country is still perhaps even more so, rife with sectarian vio-lence between Sunni and Shiite and the political system has been left in tangles after the departure of United States troops, leaving a weak and fledgling democracy having to struggle for its survival.

Human rights, which should have seen an improvement after the fall of Saddam Hussein, have taken a turn for the worse as an Amnesty International report read: “The removal of Saddam Hussein in 2003 should have been fol-lowed by a process of fundamental human rights reform, but almost from day one the occupying forces began committing torture and other serious violations against prisoners, as the Abu Ghraib scandal involving U.S. forces and the beating to death of Baha Mousa

in the custody of British soldiers in Basra graphically demonstrated.” The report goes on to say that Iraq is im-mersed in a “cycle of human rights abuses”. Thirty thousand Iraqis are cur-rently being held prisoner without trial. The government of al-Maliki has also been called a “threat to democra-cy” by Toby Dodge, author of “Iraq: From War to a New Authoritarianism” because of his attempts to take control of the armed forces and intelligence services by re-appointing officers who are loyal to his party.

The United Nations also sent out a report that states that seven million Iraqis live in poverty and forty percent of all Iraqis do not have access to clean drinking water and their households receive on average eight hours of elec-tricity a day. The state of healthcare since 2003 has also been declining which resulted from the exodus of qualified medical professionals after the invasion.

It seems as though perhaps it is still too early to tell whether the out-come will be good or bad in the long run, but as long as violence still runs rampant throughout the country, Iraq will never be able to progress.

Iraq: 10 years laterSam Hersh Contributor

Tessa MasciaContributor

Pakistan’s Malala: triumphant Pakistan and Afghanistan. In these areas, Islamic militants such as the Taliban excercise control over the populace, acting as the local gov-ernment. Malala was an inhabitant of such a region.

For her continued activism de-spite the great obstacles which the brave young girl has had to face, Malala has been nominated for the Nobel peace prize. She is the youngest nominee for the presti-gious award.

Despite the news of her nomi-nation and the recoverty from her assasination attempt, Malala re-mains humble and true to her cause.“She wants to be a normal teenage girl,” said Ruth Weeks, the headteacher of Malala’s new school in the UK. Malala has commenced schooling Thursday March 14th at Edgbaston High school in Birmingham, the city’s oldest in-dependent school for girls.

She says she is looking most forward to learning ancient Greek, and although she misses all her old friends in her Pakistani village she is very much looking forward to making new friends in Birmingham.


On Thursday March 21, Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard apologized, for the first time, on behalf of the Australian govern-ment for the decades of forced adoptions by the state.

Tens of thousands of babies were taken from their families or from a single young mother, deemed “unfit” to care for them. A married, childless couple would then adopt them. All this was due to a policy created by the state, claiming that this was in the best interest of the child. It was in place from after World War II until 1982, with most adoptions taking place between the 1950s and 1970s. Young mothers affected by this policy say they had been pressured or tricked under the influence of drugs into signing their children away.

“Today, this Parliament, on be-half of the Australian people, takes responsibility and apologizes for the policies and practices that forced the separation of mothers from their ba-bies, which created a lifelong legacy of pain and suffering,” said Ms. Gillard during her apology at Parliament house in Canberra, the capital.Over 800 children and parents affected by the policy gathered on Thursday to hear the Prime Minister apologize and take responsibility on

March 17 was looking like a nor-mal Sunday for most residents of the small Quebec town of St-Jérôme. While others were going to church or relaxing with a book, Benjamin Hudon-Barbeau and Dany Provencal, inmates at the St-Jérôme detention center, had planned more exciting activities. At 2p.m., the pair was whisked away on ropes at-tached to a hijacked helicopter in what an eyewitness described as a “James Bond moment”. The pilot, Sébastien Foray, was hired by Mathieu Marchisio and another unidentified man to fly his Robinson R44 on a scenic tour of the Mont-Tremblant region. Soon after takeoff, they ordered him at gunpoint to fly over the St-Jérôme jail.

Once their adventure in the heli-copter had finished, they landed and took off in a white Cadillac Escalade. The pilot returned to the safety of a Mont-Tremblant landing pad. He was treated for shock and allowed to rest. The police pursued the vehicle to a cot-tage in the town of Chertsey. At one

point, Hudon-Barbeau contacted the Montreal radio station 98.5 FM saying “I don’t want to hurt anyone, I’m not a f---ing killer. I have never hurt an in-nocent [person]. I know this wasn’t the best thing to do, but I don’t want to stay in prison anymore, I am ready to die.” Luckily all of the occupants were able to escape. Gunfire was exchanged but the suspects surrendered without inju-ry, with the exception of Hudon-Barbeau, who sustained an

injury to his leg while exiting the helicopter.

As of now all four suspects are in custody, awaiting their April 6 court date. They were charged with nearly two dozen offenses, including evading custody, kidnapping and brandishing a deadly weapon.Benjamin Hudon-Barbeau, purportedly associated with the Hell’s Angels biker gang, had been incarcerated since November 2012 for “firearms-related charges” and his

criminal associations. Provencal was serving time for a high-profile home invasion in Beaconsfield. The accom-plices were initially identified asMathieu Marchisio and YageBeaudouin. ‘Yage’ admitted to having used a fake name and his true identity is still being investigated. All of the suspects are being held without bail.

Yves Galarneau, the security man-ager of the prison in question, made the obvious statement that “there are no security measures in place at the jail to prevent a helicopter from swooping down from above.” Given the rarity of such an event, lax precautions are un-derstandable. That being said, this incident is not without precedent. Just last year, Alexei Shestakov made a sim-ilar escape from a Russian penal colony. The events in St-Jerome could also be attributed to overcrowding in the facil-ity of 480 inmates. Last month, a tactical team was called in to quell a riot with pepper spray. It was noted that provincial jails are especially crowded on weekends due to an influx of people serving short sentences.

Frederick Dupuis-MongersonContributor

Helicopter jailbreak

Upon the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI on February 28, the Roman Catholic Church began its quest for a new leader. The Church’s 115 cardinals were set to begin their Papal conclave in order to elect a new Pope and they got an answer much earlier than expected.

After only five ballots and in the midst of their second day at-tempting to elect a new pope, white smoke was seen emanating out of the glorious Sistine Chapel on Wednesday March 13th at 7:06pm Vatican time. Saint Peter’s square then began erupting with joy as they were waiting to see which can-didate was elected Pope as well as to hear his first words and blessing.

76 year-old Argentinean Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio was elected, becoming the first Pope of the Americas and the southern hemisphere, and the Jesuit order altogether. As Pope, he took the name Francis, in honour of St. Francis of Assisi.

He maintains the theologically conservative views of the past, keeping with Church teachings on abortion, same-sex marriage and contraception. He is best known

for his great social justice work in South America, and hopes to keep it as his number one priority as Pope rather than the specifications of what the Church’s beliefs.

He has already began breaking traditions in the early stages of his papacy, from standing up while he preaches, rather than sitting down, to not wearing many articles of symbolic clothing that is intended for the Pope. The Catholic Church is struggling on the world stage, and many believe Pope Francis I is the man who can get the Church back on its feet.

Matthew ShanahanStaff Writer

New pope is elected, is not european behalf of the Australian government and people.

Ms. Gillard claims that the moth-ers who had been separated from their children did not know their rights, which enabled the govern-ment to take their children without proper consent. “You were given false assurances, you were forced to en-dure the coercion and brutality of practices that were unethical, dishon-est, and in many cases illegal,” she said, to a very emotional crowd.

A year ago, a Senate committee was put together to investigate the re-percussions of the adoption policy. This report estimated the amount of adoptions from 1951 to 1975 to be between 140,000 and 150,000.

The committee suggested a na-tional apology by the government to the children and unwed mothers who had been affected. Ms. Gillard also pledged to donate 5 million Australian dollars to provide professional sup-port, mental health care, and reunion help for the families affected by the forced adoptions.

The state of Western Australia, in October 2010, was the first state to apologize for the adoption policy and the damage it caused the families that were affected by it, and, since then, the other Australian states have also apologized. Ms. Gillard’s apology was the first that was provided by the Australian Federal Parliament.

Australian government hangs head in shame Abby VandzuraStaff Writer


I’m the Canadian Queen of Englandand I’ve just turned twoLying on my side Face-planted in mud These maple leaves always stuck inmy hair I’m royalty andNobody wants me. For f***’s sake I’ve been drowned infountains. Worthless, I fear Many a senseless year Of misery to come.

My name is PennyRyan TellierContributor

Edwardian era coupleElis RobertsContributor

Sarah Rachel AsplerContributor

Installation arts special: snow storm sculptureAnonymous Contributor

The face


I need a poemThat I can writeTo put my mindAt ease tonight.And I need to have itWritten downBefore the sunraysReach the ground.For if I don’t get this verseWritten soonMy words will be as feebleAs my eyesight by the moon.

By the moonJessica FordContributor

Harry by the lakeCarine NyionkuruContributor

The lone magnoliaGaby RimokContributor

Kawenni:io LawrenceContributor

Beadwork


Girls today have a lot to worry about: being too skinny, too fat, too studious, too stupid, too prudish, too loose, too made-up, or not made up enough. Some of these are things everyone gets judged for, which they probably shouldn’t be, but at least it’s equal. In one case however, it seems that females get a lot more flack than males, that case being promiscuity.

Examining the language we use in reference to promiscuity, we can see that there’s a double standard pretty deeply entrenched in our cul-ture. The words we use to describe a woman who sleeps around a lot are “slut”, or “whore”, but when a man does it, he’s a “player” or a “pimp” (which has somehow become a com-pliment). When this is pointed out, a popular explanation is that “If a key opens lots of locks, then it’s a master key. But if a lock is opened by lots of keys, then it’s a bad lock”. I find this super hilarious, because it does this

The thought of home is sometimes so powerful it feels like it can move mountains. Most of the time, whenever we leave home, we get this strange sen-sation in our stomachs, like someone is twisting your organs and crushing them in their fist. Feeling “home sick” can be enough to have someone run back to their hometown and never leave. Others, however, trek through the homesickness, knowing that they made the right choice in leaving. Looking around today, it seems like a lot of peo-ple are making this choice.

Ask your older siblings or even your parents: university is a great chance to explore the world and yourself. Most of the time, this exploration is found outside of your hometown, perhaps even in a different country. Many Cegep and grade 12 students from across Canada seem to have the same idea that university is the perfect opportunity to move out and away from home. Whether it’s to another province, some-where in the States, or even going as far as Europe or Australia, young students hear the call of travel and follow it. It’s not that these other countries have bet-ter universities, it’s just that they are foreign and, mainly, far away from home. University is seen as a chance to leave the town you grew up in, maybe

even to distance yourself from family and friends that have surrounded you for your entire life. There is something appealing about starting fresh, intro-ducing yourself to the world with a clean slate in a different city or country. You can be whoever you want to be and no one will be the wiser. If something has been following you or hanging over your head your entire life, maybe a change in scenery or atmosphere can help with that.

At the end of your undergraduate degree, or even sooner if you prefer, you can decide whether this new life is some-thing you want to continue or if you miss the one you used to have. Those few years you spent in Sydney or Toronto could have been just what you needed before returning back home to your friends and family. Or, as many people chose to do, you can stay in this new city or country and continue making a new life for yourself.

Scholastic escapeAngelina SmolynecStaff Writer

Slut shamingAngela BrettContributor

Leaving home for university isn’t for everyone. It can be scary and may feel impossible to just pick up and leave at such a young age. Even more than high school or Cegep, University is the per-fect place to find yourself. Being stuck with the same people and the same city may hinder your chances of achieving this. A change in scenery and circle of friends can help you figure out if the life you had before is one you are happy with, or if it really is time for a change.

super clever thing where it compares human relations to the act of un-locking a door. That’s how you know it’s super enlightened.

In all seriousness, though, this is a really dangerous explanation, be-cause it literally compares finding a sexual partner to trying to make a

door open. As if getting a girl to sleep with you is like a key trying to get the tumblers of a lock in place, as the lock just sits there and decides if the key is good enough to open. As if the lock doesn’t want to be opened, but will if the key can talk it in to it. Essentially, the attitude is that sex

isn’t something women enjoy, but instead something they do in ex-change for other things. Maybe this is true of some women, but I really don’t see why this should be the norm. If it’s such a great thing for men to sleep with a lot of women, who’s idea was it that women shouldn’t enjoy it?

With that in mind, I beg of you to think about the language you use, and the assumptions you make about people. What’s wrong with being a slut, anyways? Is it that the person is living in a way that you wouldn’t? If so, plenty of people do things that you wouldn’t do all the time; that doesn’t make them bad people, just different. Are you worried about them sleeping with your significant other? If your partner cheats on you, isn’t it your partner’s fault, the per-son who promised to be faithful to you, not some stranger’s?

We’re all just people, and it seems ridiculous to judge people so harshly based on one tiny aspect of their lives.


Wow okay, so what about that Pretty Little Liars f inale, huh? Who knew a show could be so addicting, yet so frustrating at the same time? Pretty Little Liars has aired on ABC Family for three seasons and we’re still left with the question: who killed Alison DiLaurentis? Now, in the season three finale, which aired on March 19, we found out that Toby only joined the A Team to protect Spencer, cute right? Spoby reunited! This shows that the hit teen drama show can re-veal a lot of answers, but also leave us with cliff-hangers! Who was in the trunk? Whose hand was pulling the other hand out of the dirt? Where is Detective

Wilden? Is Jason alive? Is Alison alive?! We were left with all these questions, along with a major one this season: who is Red Coat? We found out in the finale that Mona Vanderwall, who is part of the A Team, did not know of Red Coat’s identity either. So what could this mean? Are there two A Teams now; a good one and a bad one? Was what the girls saw true, was Alison really Red Coat? Or were they hallucinating? No one really knows anything anymore,.What we do know is that we can always count on the show rip-ping our hearts out, while we yell at the screen, but we will always return to watch it every week. The liars have us hooked and the fandom cannot wait until the summer season premiere, which airs June 11.

Pretty Little Liars season finale reviewTracy Chan Contributor

Having been described many times, not inaccurately, as “Michael Cera with a jew-fro”, one could say that George Watsky is best known for being articulate, in that much of his following was earned as a result of the video “Pale Kid Raps Fast”. Posted over two years ago, featuringWatsky rapping at an incredibly fast pace, it quickly went viral. In addition to be-ing able to say a lot of words in a short period of time, Watsky is an accom-plished slam poet. His second full-length album, Cardboard Castles, came out on March 12.

At first, I was a little under-whelmed. The first couple of songs, while sounding great, were themati-cally very typical to Watsky. He likes to talk about working hard to over-come challenges, and not conforming under pressure, and don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing wrong with that, but when all you do is talk about your own ambition, it gets a little self-referential for my taste.

However, my mind started to change with “Hey, Asshole”, featuring Kate Nash. A rather dramatic change of pace from the previous songs, it’s instantly relatable. It explores how hard it can be to be happy sometimes, no matter how many good things are going on, and how important it is to try anyways.

From there, listening to the al-bum became an intense experience, reminding me once again how phe-nomenal a lyricist Watsky really is. “Tiny Glowing Screens”, in two parts,

is a sobering exploration of the ab-surdities of our technologically advanced society, at once witty and profound, with lines like “And I can’t tell our little victories from epic fails/It’s either heaven or hell and I can’t make heads or tails” and “Against the vastness of what we don’t know/No one would ever audition for a McDonalds commercial again”. Seriously, if you just listen to one song off this album, make it “Tiny Glowing Screens Part 2”, its Watsky doing what he was made to do, recit-ing poetry set to music.

Other tracks that I found partic-ularly enjoyable were “Sloppy Seconds” and “Dedicated to Christina Li”, because of just how personal they feel. Cardboard Castles is meant to have a childlike feel to it, thus the ti-tle, and there are short conversations between Watsky and a young boy. Between songs, these conversations reinforce the mood of the album, that of a second-grade art project, and al-though seemingly trivial, they can make some profound points. The whole thing is so personal, that it’s pretty easy to get a comprehensive image of just who George Watsky is from it: a strangely charismatic mix of humble and fiercely proud, awk-ward and confident, funny and dead serious.

If you want to hear something clever and fun, then I urge you to give Cardboard Castles a try, even if you’re not generally in to hip hop. You’ll be pleasantly surprised. If you like what you hear, he’ll be playing a show at Cabaret Underworld on April 3. Bring your own glitter and paste.

Cardboard Castles, real musicAngela Linn BrettStaff Writer

Last Friday, My Chemical Romance broke up. For twelve years of producing music, four albums dating from 2002 to 2010, My Chemical Romance has sup-ported their fans through all the hardships of being a teenager, taught them that’s it’s okay to be different or a misfit, but above all showed them that it gets bet-ter. This progression can also be seen in their music, from the I brought you my bullets, you brought me your love album which has a very emo vibe to it all the way to the Danger Days: The true lives of the fabulous

killjoys album which could be described as a rock opera.

Fans have been cut up about the news of the breakup, dis-apointed with the band for announcing the breakup in a short post, despite rumors of new albums and a logo change. Personally, I feel that although I am incredibly upset at the news, I’m also happy that I had them when I needed them. Their mu-sic helped me through some of my darkest moments. And I want to thank them for making me, and all the other killjoys and black paraders, strong enough to pull through.

“Promise me, when MCR’s gone, you’ll do what it takes to

My Chemical Romance, 2001-2013Bee ClarkeAssistant Editor-in-Chief

survive. You’re strong enough to do this without me.” -Gerard

So long, and goodnight. Thanks for the venom. My Chemical Romance 2001-

2013, always in our hearts.


the gold medal and also being named player of the game and the tourna-ment. He had 34 points in the gold medal game. After the game, Djimith Ndiaye, assistant coach of VIU stated, “Defence was the key; we got the stops ”. Matt Kuzminski, the gold medal winning coach said, “It’s tough to de-scribe the feeling, how much work goes into this one moment”. Brandon Jones, player of the tournament in shock stat-ed, “Feels like you’re on top of the world”.

The tournament meant so much to John Abbott. It gave the college the chance to show off our school facilities to other colleges and universities around Canada. There were around 5000 people who attended the tourna-ment. They also supported a great cause in Procure, which is organization that helps the fight against prostate cancer. Congratulations to VIU on winning the gold medal also Congratulations to Holland and Langara on wining respectively win-ning silver and bronze. Can’t wait for Abbott to host another basketball nationals.

On Saturday, Langara played Sheridan for a chance to win the bronze medal. The game was an instant classic as both teams kept on scoring points. Langara had an early lead but Sheridan came back to tie the game twice and force overtime. In overtime, it was all Langara due to the play of Elliot Mason. A scary incident happened as Brody Greig injured his hamstring late in overtime, helping Langara clinch the bronze medal. The gold medal was the battle of the best players in the tourna-ment between Alvin Parker and Brandon Jones. If the first quarter was any indication that it was going to be a great game, the offence exploded for both teams with the game being tied at 20. But VIU dominated the second quarter and went into the locker room at halftime being up nine with a score of 40-31. In the third quarter, Holland came out strong, scoring 23 points and were down by only four points after the third quarter. VIU wouldn’t let Holland take the lead. The game was about Parker and Jones every time. If one got a basket, the other would respond. In the end, Jones won the battle, winning

The Pittsburgh Penguins began this year’s shortened season with a bang. Their 13-8-0 record on March first was good enough for second place in the Eastern Conference.

Their next scheduled matchup against the Montreal Canadiens result-ed in a 7-6 overtime win, very typical of the way Pittsburgh had played through-out the first 6 weeks of the season. But then things started to change for the Penguins. Ever since that win against the habs, Pittsburgh rides a 12-game winning streak heading into Tuesday’s

matchup, coincidently against the Canadiens. Early in the season, the Penguins were criticized for their poor defense and goaltending. But since their huge winning streak began, their defense has sharpened as well as their goaltending. They have won many more low scoring games like 2-1 and 3-0. Their offence is as dominant as ever, even without Evgeni Malkin.

The healthy return of Sidney Crosby and sudden explosive outburst of Chris Kunitz, whom are both atop the league leaders in points, have cre-ated the NHL’s hottest dynamic duo of the year. Sitting in first place atop the Eastern Conference, Pittsburgh’s

SportsWith Casey Dulson

SportsWith Casey Dulson

As March Madness in the States has kicked off, John Abbott hosted its own version of March Madness March 14 to 16. The teams that played were the best college teams in Canada. There were eight of the best colege teams in Canada spreading from BC to Alberta, Ontario, Quebec and P.E.I. The tourna-ment started on March 14th with a quadruple double header that started at 1 p.m. The first game of the tourna-ment was Red Deer College vs. Vancouver Island University. Ryan Davidson who was 3/5 from the field, scored 25 points in VIU’s 87-75 victory and was also named player of the game. The second game of the tournament was Sheridan vs. Keyano. Trevor Williams stepped up and scored a game-high 35 points and was named player of the game. The third game of the first day was Champlain College Saint-Lambert against Holland College. Holland won 72-61. The score was closer then it should have been be-cause Holland dominated the game. The player of the game was Alvin Parker who scored 24 points for the win. Parker at times played like he was member of the Harlem Globetrotters.The last game of the night had John Abbott playing Langara. This game was all Langara as they started the game with a 9-0 run and the score at halftime was 49-25 for Langara. The final score was 90-63.

On the second day of the Tournament, there was the battle of Quebec with John Abbott facing Champlain. Throughout the first half it was looking like Champlain was going to win this game, as everything was working for them. However, a Ricardo Monge layup at the buzzer gave the lead to John Abbott at halftime. John Abbott never looked back from there and won the game with the score of 73-62. At the end of the game,a couple of John Abott students stormed the court in celebration. Charles Miller was

named player of the game due to the 18 points and couple of three-pointers he had in the game. David King, John Abbott Head Coach stated, “I’m happy for my players more than myself, they worked hard all year. I always believe in them and it was about time they be-lieve in themselves”. Charles Miller who was very humble about being named player of the game said, “ It’s an amazing feeling, like a dream come true, The most important part is that we got the win and are moving on to the next round.”. The 6:30 and 8:30 games would decide who was going to play for the gold medal game on Saturday night. The first game had VIU playing Sheridan. VIU had a tough challenge to beat Sheridan for the upset as they were the number six seed play-ing the number two seed in the tournament. Sheridan took the lead in the first quarter and at halftime the score was 45-35. VIU had a couple of problems in the third and fourth quar-ter and one point during the game Sheridan had the lead but Brandon Jones led a rally and pulled the upset to advance to the gold medal game. Jones was named player of the game due to the 28 points he scored. The last game of the night was Holland vs. Langara and also the battle of the best point guards in the country between Alvin Parker and Brody Greig. This game had everything you need in basketball game; a comeback and a dramatic end-ing. Holland kept the lead throughout the game led by Alvin Parker until Langara came back to take the lead in the final minutes of the game. With the score of 86-80 for Langara, it looked like it was going to be their night but Holland went on a 7-0 run with a three-pointer by Alvin Parker and then Langara made a costly foul on Steve Hardy who went 1/2 on his foul shots but Leo Morris grabbed the rebound and scored the winning layup. The final score was 87-86 for Holland. Chase Bowden of Holland was named player of the game having scored 25 points for the win.

VIU victorious NationalsCasey DulsonSports Editor

How far will Pittsburgh go?Matthew ShanahanStaff Writer

management still isn’t satisfied. In the past few days, they’ve acquired veteran defensive forward Brendan Morrow from the Dallas Stars as well as defen-sive defenseman Douglas Murray from the San Jose Sharks. They are definitely a serious Stanley cup contender this year.

However, challenges arise in the other top teams such as the Canadiens and Bruins in the East as well as the Chicago Blackhawks and Anaheim Ducks in the West. With less than 20 games to go in the regular season, it looks like it will once again be an excit-ing finish to the regular season when late April arrives.


Lara Croft from the Tomb Raider se-ries has been one of the most recognizable female videogame heroines in gaming. The first game was released in 1996 on Windows, Sega Saturn and Playstation. This started a franchise with over a dozen games made, two movies by one of Hollywood’s most famous actresses and many other forms of media like comic books and merchandise. The recently re-booted franchise has received critical and commercial praise. Now, let’s look to the past to uncover the legend of Tomb Raider.

Created in 1996, the British develop-er Core Design wanted to make a 3D adventure game. During the 18 month creation process, they had a male place-holder character similar to Indiana Jones. As development continued, the team of six felt that the game would be better suit-ed with a female character. Toby Gard is credited as the creator of Lara Croft. Originally called Laura Cruz, they changed her name to Lara Croft to make the character “UK friendly” and incorpo-rate a British origin. A popular story about the game’s development is that the reason that Lara chest was so big is because one of the developers messed around with the model, accidentally blowing it up to 150%. The other developers saw this and decid-ed to keep the change.

The story of Lara Croft is that she is a famous English archaeologist that goes around the world seeking adventure and ventures through ancient, hazardous tombs and ruins around the world. The reason for this life choice is that a plane crash left her in the Himalayas for two weeks; the experience spurred her to shun her former life as an aristocrat and seek

The Penny Arcade eXpo was held in Boston between March 22 to 24. PAX has been an exciting convention to go to and play the recent upcoming games that

Here are some of the games that are coming out in April!

Defiance - X360,PC,PS3/Apr 2Shootmania Storm - PC/Apr 10Injustice: Gods Among Us - Apr 16Pandora’s Tower - Wii/Apr 16Dead Island: Riptide /Apr 23Soul Sacrifice -VITA/Apr 30Deadly Premonition: The Director’s Cut - PS3/Apr 30

Here’s some of the games that came out in March. Don’t miss them! Tomb RaiderCastlevania: Lords of ShadowGod of War: AscensionLego City UndercoverMonster Hunter 3 UltimateGears of War: JudgementLuigi’s Masion: Dark MoonBioShock InfinitePokémon Mystery Dungeon: Gates to Infinity

In conjunction with the release of Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Gates to Infinity, Nintendo released a Special Edition Pikachu 3DS XL model. If you don’t have a 3DS yet or you really want to catch ‘em all, get this special edition handheld console right now!

The evolution of Tomb RaiderConstantino “Tino” MontelliGames & Tech Editor

other adventures around the world. She is presented as a beautiful, intelligent, and athletic individual that can handle any situation. Later on in the series, the devel-opers would give her more emotional depth, starting in the reboot trilogy and fleshing out her origins in the new 2013 reboot.

The first game was a critical and commercial success, earning great praise from reviewers and fans, and it made Lady Croft into a huge gaming celebrity. The graphics and atmosphere at the time were incredible and the balance between puzzle-solving and action was great. Returning to the original can be a bit jar-ring with the old controls and how games nowadays have perfected the 3D plat-forming genre. Nevertheless, it was a huge hit as Core Design made four more games in the series until finally their last game in the series, Angel of Darkness received harsh criticism.

Three years after Angel of Darkness, we got a brand new Tomb Raider game in 2006. Now in the hands of Crystal Dynamics, the makers of Gex and the Legacy of Kain series, Tomb Raider has a new engine and fresh new look for Laura

Croft. The trilogy of Tomb Raider: Legend, Anniversary and Underworld re-invented the mythos and story of Lara while still keeping to the roots. The trilogy has received fair praise and if you want to get all the games, check out the Trilogy pack on PS3 and Xbox 360.

After the release of a downloadable game called Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light, no one knew what the future will hold for this beloved series. After being bought by Square Enix, Crystal Dynamics returned to the drawing board and again reinvented Lara Croft in a second reboot. This became a more gritty, dark, and real-istic portrayal that made Lara a more believable character. Initially, fans were shocked at the drastic change for the char-acter and how it managed with mature themes; including showing a trailer of the physical abuse and the implied attempted rape the character was subjected to. But once the game was released on March 5th, it received huge praise for the great origin story and gameplay. Everything about it was captivating. So kudos for making Lara Croft a major player in gam-ing and I hope they continue to create more great adventures for Miss Croft.

PAX East 2013Dr. DDRContributor

will be released in the near future. Open to the public, it’s one of the biggest places to get to talk to developers and play their awesome games. A few games released their own PAX trailers like Saints Row IV and Watch_Dogs. PAX is also the place for indie developers to show their

game off in a big scale. The Showcase includes Little Chomp, Major Magnet, Orion’s Forge, Saturday Morning RPG, Spaceteam, Third Eye Crime and Time Surfer. All these games are on mobile devices. Also play-able at PAX was Metro: Last Light, Naughty Dog’s The Last of Us and The

Elder Scrolls Online. One of the biggest surpises at Pax was the reveal of a new DuckTales game, remastered by WayForward and published by Capcom and Disney. Word is that if this game does well, it might inspire Capcom to make more of these Disney games they made back in the NES and SNES days. Also, Blizzard Entertainment made their presence (which is a rare thing for them to appear outside of BlizzCon) with their announcement of a game called Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft. It will be a free-to-play online collectible card game and will be released sometime in summer 2013. With so many great pan-els and guest appearances, PAX will continue to be a big deal for years to come.


A new game in the Gears of War series was recently released on Xbox 360. This new addition is called Judgement, and rightfully so, because the entire game takes place during flashbacks narrated by Lt. Damon Baird and his fellow mem-bers of Kilo Squad while they are on trial as war criminals. The squad consists of four members including Baird, Pvt. Augustus Cole, Sofia Hendrik, and Garron Paduk. This is the first game in the Gears series which does not feature the charac-ters Marcus Fenix and Dominic Santiago; it is also the first prequel in the series. This prequel shows the events just after Emersion Day. Baird is on trial with his team for unauthorized use of a Lightmass missile, an extremely powerful mis-sile which can only be put on par with a nuke. The game, like most additions in the series, has upgrad-ed graphics and to my surprise a

Gears of War: Judgement reviewZack DumaEditor-in-Chief

color pallet. For those who don’t quite understand this, in past Gears games, they featured mostly grey/ green toned objects so that they ended up looking quite bland and boring. The only things that would stick out were some bright blue lights and blood. Now if you take a look at this game, you will see quite the difference. A big change to this game was to the combat system. First, the game was purposely made more difficult that unless you play on casual mode, you’re going to die quite a bit. With that said, guns seem to do less damage than usual and have a variety of shields. The Locus uses their own close quarter’s executions, so the game has become very melee based. Next on the list of changes is the online multiplay-er. First off, the move “Down but Not Out” is no longer in the game. But both free-for-all and Overrun (previously known as hoard) modes are in the game with four exclusive maps each. I was pleased to learn that “execution mode” will return

in the form of free add-on content along with two extra maps two weeks after the release of the game. This is good because looking at the original released online content; it is seriously less than some past games in the series. Even with the add-on content, it does not seem

quite the same. Still, it is better than the original content. All in all, the game is just as fun and gory as it always has been, and even with the added difficulty to the campaign mode, it still has added bonus mis-sions which you can do for an extra challenge.

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Bandersnatch Volume 42 Issue 11