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meliorist the For the week of Thursday, December 8 • Volume 45, Issue 15 your independent student newspaper Give the gift of meliorism this holiday season!

The Meliorist Volume 45, Issue 15

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Page 1: The Meliorist Volume 45, Issue 15

melioristthe

For the week of Thursday, December 8 • Volume 45, Issue 15

your independent student newspaper

Give the gift of meliorism this holiday season!

Page 2: The Meliorist Volume 45, Issue 15

December 8, 2011 • 2Campus beat meliorist

the

If you want to see your event posted in the “Beat,” please contact [email protected] for more information. Events must be submitted by Sunday evening to appear in the following issue of the Meliorist.

End of classes Dec. 9

Ender Bender

Ugly Sweater PartyDec. 9

11 a.m. to 7 p.m. at The Zoo & SU

Ballrooms It’s time to say

goodbye to the semester with

the annual Ender Bender party!

This year will be all about holiday

cheer with an ugly sweater theme!

There are prizes for the top two ugliest sweaters with first place winning a

19-inch LCD TV and second place will receive a $50 Zoo gift certificate. This is an 18+ party and a coat check will

be available for $1.

Student Speaker Challenge submission deadline

Dec. 9 All applications for the 2012 Student

Speaker Challenge must be submitted

by Dec. 9. The question is “Is there

a systemic crisis in the world? If

so, how can it be resolved?”

Final examsDec. 12 – 20

The Zoo closes for

the semester Dec. 19

The Zoo will be closed from Dec.

19 ‘til Jan. 3.

University offices closed for the

holidaysDec. 25 – 31

What’s happening on

Janet BarriageCampus Reporter

For more information on contributing to Campus Beat, please contact Janet Barriage, [email protected]

Keith McLaughlinOriginally published March 26, 2010

First-year students are forced to spend thousands of dollars on food from on-campus vendor that they feel is of substandard quality, low value, and offers limited selection.

Recently a survey has been circu-lating campus asking students their opinions about Sodexo food at the University of Lethbridge. It may not be a huge surprise to many, since griping about Sodexo food is com-monplace at the U of L, but the sur-vey results are coming in and have been termed as “overwhelmingly negative” by the analyst commis-sioned to complete the survey.

Aaron Chubb is a former U of L student and is working on analyzing the data compiled from the survey sponsored by the Lethbridge Public Interest Research Group (LPIRG). He says the results so far have been “very poor” and that he doesn’t ex-pect that to change once all the re-sponses are analyzed.

“I don’t see the survey results changing towards the end of it be-cause they’re pretty consistent,” said Chubb, who plans on releasing the official results next week.

Sodexo is a French multinational corporation that operates virtu-ally every food vendor on campus apart from those contained in the Students’ Union building. It oper-ates Coulee Junction (CJ’s), Fresh Express, and owns all the vending machines along with Mr. Sub and the Tim Horton’s establishments on campus.

For the purposes of the survey, respondents were only asked to evaluate CJ’s and Fresh Express, because companies other than So-dexo determine the quality of food at Tim Horton’s and Mr. Sub.

The survey has collected 400

responses and it appears students have numerous concerns about the food offered by Sodexo at the U of L. Students appear to feel Sodexo food is of poor quality and retails for an inflated cost. Additionally students contend the food is unhealthy and offers little selection for students with dietary concerns.

First-year meal plan forces rez students to spend thousands

on Sodexo foodThe U of L mandates that first-

year residence students spend thou-sands of dollars at Sodexo vendors through the purchase of a meal plan. First-year students living in U-Hall are obligated to purchase a minimum meal plan of $2,390 for the academic year. This translates to $10.35 spent every day.

For first-years in Aperture Park the minimum commitment to the meal plan is $1,700. In both meal plan contracts that first-year stu-dents are mandated to enter into, any leftover balances on the stu-dents’ meal cards are deemed non-refundable and non-transferable, and are automatically forfeited.

Officials from housing services say that large leftover balances on meal cards are relatively uncom-mon. When there are large surplus-es of unused cash in the meal plan, housing services is notified and they then encourage the student to use up the excess money.

The mandatory first-year meal plans subsidize a lot of Sodexo’s profits at the U of L, suspects Chubb.

“[Sodexo] will often have clauses in [the contract] that makes sure it’s a profitable venture. That isn’t nec-essarily in the students’ interest as evidenced by the mandatory meal plan,” Chubb said.

It is not known how much the University’s contract with Sodexo is worth or what both parties get out of the arrangement. Many of the

contracts the U of L has with large corporations are bound by confi-dentiality agreements – such as the administration’s contract with Coca-Cola.

The Meliorist asked the univer-sity administration to reveal some of the details of the Sodexo contract. Nancy Walker, the vice-president of finance for the U of L, replied that she would have to seek legal assur-ance that the university was legally allowed to do so before offering any information.

As of press time the U of L pro-vided no further information on the contract.

Sodexo’s failing grades“It actually tastes like cardboard,”

responded Hamreet Sekhon, a first-year residence student, when asked about Sodexo’s food. “There is limp lettuce and it’s usually all brown and a lot of the dishes are repeated … If they [serve] pasta for lunch – they’ll have that for the dinner,” she said. Sekhon’s concerns parallel those of other students who responded in the Sodexo survey that they feel the food is unhealthy, of poor quality for high cost, and devoid of healthi-er and vegetarian alternatives.

“What if you don’t eat beef? Or don’t eat pork?” asked Sekhon, “There’s not really a vegetarian choice at all or a healthy choice op-tion.” Sekhon pays $1,700 for her meal plan but feels she isn’t getting her money’s worth. “I’m fine with paying $1,700 but it would be nice to have options – not just Tim Hor-ton’s, or pizza, or sandwiches,” said the 19-year-old first-year.

“I don’t feel like I’m getting value for my money at all.” Thomas Fox sits on LPIRG’s board of directors, and he says many of the students’ concerns about Sodexo surround the fact that the company has a vir-tual monopoly on food vending at the U of L. “It’s basically the prob-

lems associated with having a mo-nopoly,” said Fox.

“The monopoly gives [Sodexo] a lot of freedom. What they’re able to do is sign a contract and be really awesome the first year, and then slowly over time the quality deterio-rates because it’s really hard to hold them accountable because there’s no competition.”

Fox said he believes the meal plans to be unfair because students are not receiving enough bang for their buck in better quality food and more selection. He noted that at CJ’s, vegetarians have the very lim-ited options of either eating a veggie burger or making a salad. “Presum-ably a vegetarian living in residence would have to eat the same thing ev-ery single day … that’s just not good enough,” said Fox.

As outlined by the mandatory meal plan contracts, first-year stu-dents are explicitly barred from withdrawing from the meal plan “on the basis of vegetarianism or food preferences.”

The Meliorist contacted both the university administration and So-dexo Canada for comment on the concerns of students surrounding Sodexo’s food. The university ad-ministration said it was “interested” in the results of the survey, but said it would refrain from comment un-til it could review the survey results so it could consider “actions on how to address the concerns raised.” So-dexo Canada, as of press time, had not responded to a request for com-ment.

This article was printed almost two years ago. Has there been a change with the Sodexo re-brand-ing? Or will it just be more of the same? Stay tuned as more informa-tion will be provided on this story in forthcoming issues of the Meliorist.

Survey of students set to give Sodexo failing grade

Page 3: The Meliorist Volume 45, Issue 15

December 8, 2011 • 3melioristthe

Campus beat

Janet BarriageCampus Beat

Do you like techno, house, dub-step, electronic, or dance music? Then have we got a club for you! The University of Lethbridge has a new Electronic Music Club that would like to promote local elec-tronic music events at the U of L and around southern Alberta. Right now they are a small group that focuses mostly on carpooling to shows. So if you need a ride or can offer one, then this is a great opportunity to hit a show with some great people!

Individuals are able to join by contacting the club via e-mail at [email protected]. In-clude your name, student ID num-ber, and e-mail address or phone

number. A $5 membership fee is required, but you’ll get some great benefits! They plan on providing their members with discounts or free entry for local shows and carpools to out-of-town events. In the coming months they will also be hosting DJ and production workshops! If this sounds like something you would like, then join this club and meet people who love the same music as you!

Meetings take place once a month on campus in Anderson Hall; send them an e-mail to find out the time and place. At these meetings they keep members in-formed as to what they are plan-ning and they discuss how the club is progressing. In the spring semester they are bringing two production workshops and one

seminar on mixing lessons to the U of L. These events will give par-ticipants a chance to learn funda-mentals from professional DJ’s and producers, so keep an eye out for more information when you get back from the holidays!

Eventually the club hopes to progress these workshops and provide their members with knowledge of more complex tech-niques in order to perform that perfect mix or create that crisp sound in a production. Exact dates are yet to be decided, but they will be posted on the ULSU website or their Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/groups/uoflemc/.

The U of L Electronic Music Club is a great community of people who enjoy music!

Club HubElectronic Music Club

Chillin’ for charity with your SU executives

Page 4: The Meliorist Volume 45, Issue 15

Sara Parkin News Editor

As winter has made its way to Canada and the temperature has begun to drop, a state of emergency has been declared in Attawapiskat, a First Nation reserve in northern Ontario. The emergency was declared back in September as cold weather arrived in the community and many of its residents are living in unheated tents, while many more are living in crowded, substandard conditions in structures that were never intended to become permanent housing.

Attawapiskat’s housing crisis is not the first of its kind in Canada. First Nation reserves across the country are experiencing a housing crisis; limited access to electricity, running water plumbing, and generally squalid conditions have become a common sight in many provinces. Ramshackle structures that are often overrun with mould, temporary tent structures with no heat or running water and over-crowded construction trailers that

were never meant for permanent habitation are just some of the types of housing that are being found on Attawapiskat and other reserves around the country.

Attawapiskat is a Cree community in northern Ontario which is home to approximately 1,800 people. Due to the extreme housing shortage on the reserve, more than 100 people have been forced to live in substandard conditions and the country is finally taking notice of the plight of the First Nations.

Worsening conditions as temperatures drop

Recently, a federal evaluation of First Nations housing was conducted that came to the conclusion that the housing shortage on reserves throughout the country is severe and only getting worse. The report stated that between 20,000 and 35,000 new housing units would have to be built to cope with the current housing demands on First Nation reserves. A figure closer to 85,000

has been suggested by the Assembly of First Nations. 41.5 per cent of homes on First Nation reserves are in need of major repairs. Rates of overcrowding are a whopping six times higher on reserves than off. The housing crisis has seen many households with three generations living under one roof, not by choice, but brought on by necessity.

After declaring a state of emergency, the Red Cross and provincial emergency workers ramped up efforts to provide the residents of Attawapiskat with the things they will need to brave the ever dipping temperatures. As temperatures are expected to drop to below -20C, relief workers have been busy handing out heavy-duty blankets, sleeping bags, clothing and heaters to those people in Attawapiskat who are living in substandard conditions.

About 90 people in Attawapiskat have turned construction trailers (which were donated to the community by the mining company De Beers Victor) into permanent housing. The trailers were originally intended to be temporary housing, donated to deal with a sewage backup which rendered a number of homes unliveable.

Federal officials are currently looking for medium-term shelter that will be able to house those who are currently living in homes that are unfit for winter habitation.

Third-party manager asked to leave Attawapiskat

The federal government recently sent in a third-party manager to Attawapiskat in order to handle the desperate housing situation on the reserve. The government

had chosen Jacques Marion to be the community’s third-party manager; he is from the accounting and consulting firm BDO Canada. Marion was to be in control of department spending, and he was due to exercise signing authority and was to decide which band staff is required to run its programs and services. However, the federal government’s plan to have a third-party manager come in to Attawapiskat and work to resolve the worsening housing crisis has not gone as planned. Marion has been asked to leave by the band. Attawapiskat Chief Theresa Spence was the one to tell the band manager of their decision.

Despite being asked to leave, Marion continues to have full control of the community’s funding from Aboriginal Affairs and he is still hoping to work with the community in order to address their ever-growing, urgent needs.

Harper urged to broaden scope of upcoming First

Nations summit

The growing housing crisis on the country’s reserves has made many people begin to see the need for the expansion of Stephen Harper’s winter summit with First Nations leaders. Rather than focusing strictly on education, many are urging Harper to broaden his approach to First Nations concerns.

Attawapiskat’s current state of emergency may be the thing that is bringing housing concerns to the forefront of people’s minds for the upcoming late-January meeting, but ironically, it was another crisis in Attawapiskat that brought the issue of education to the top of

Ottawa’s First Nations agenda. Attawapiskat’s primary school had to be torn down as it was built on toxic land and exposure to the area was making children sick. The community is still awaiting a permanent replacement for the school.

While there is a general consensus among the country’s First Nations people that education is an important priority and that improving First Nations children’s education will also improve their prospects, there is also an understanding that education makes up only one small part of a much larger and more complex problem.

Federal government points the finger of blame

Upon putting Attawapiskat under third-party management, the federal government also ordered an audit to find out how federal funds allocated to the community were spent. Many believe that the government’s accusations of financial mismanagement are taking attention away from the broader problem of poor living conditions on First Nations reserves.

Attawapiskat received $450,000 in federal funds for housing through the economic stimulus plan in 2009-10 in addition to its annual housing allocation from the government, which is $581,407 for 2011-12.

While the federal government may be suspicious of financial mismanagement in Attawapiskat, the reality is that it can cost as much as $250,000 to construct a home in the community. The reason for the high cost of constructing a house in the community is the reliance on a winter ice road or expensive cargo flights to bring in the required building materials and contractors. In order to meet all of the community’s housing needs, it would take approximately $84 million, as well as federal approval to transfer new land to the reserve so a new subdivision could be constructed.

Attawapiskat’s federal housing allocation has not changed in many years.

An impact benefit agreement with the mining company De Beers provides the community with some revenue, however, that money goes directly into a trust fund that the community has put restrictions on, meaning that it cannot be used to meet current housing needs.

Attawapiskat is not the first and will not be the last First Nations reserve to experience a serious housing crisis in Canada. The conditions on reserves around the country have been called deplorable and the standard of living found on reserves is often far lower than that found off reserve. As of yet it is unclear how the federal government plans to resolve this crisis and the overarching problems that have lead to ever-worsening conditions.

December 8, 2011 • 4news meliorist

the

For more information on contributing to News, please contact Sara Parkin, [email protected]

Sara ParkinNews Editor

An in-depth look at the state of emergency in AttawapiskatHousing crisis a harsh reality on reserves across the nation

Attawapiskat First Nation band office

Page 5: The Meliorist Volume 45, Issue 15

Briana Hill Ottawa Bureau Chief

OTTAWA (CUP) — On Nov. 24, Leadnow, a youth-led independent advocacy organization, organized a national day of action to protest the federal Conservatives’ omnibus crime bill.

Citizens from across the country, donning cowboy hats, delivered to MPs’ constituency offices petitions and copies of a condemning report released by the Canadian Bar Asso-ciation, encouraging their members of Parliament not to “mess up like Texas.”

“One of the things that we’ve seen is that even conservative Texans have come up to Canada and warned us not to follow their path by using things like mandatory sentences to fill their prisons, and create, really, a permanent under-class of people that have been criminalized in a vast-ly expensive prison system that sucks resources away from crime preven-tion and rehabilitation,” explained Leadnow executive director Jamie Biggar.

Approximately 500 participants, many from regions outside of urban centres, participated in the mass ac-tion.

“The core thing that we’re opposed to is mandatory sentences,” said Big-gar.

“It’ll fill our prisons — it’ll make it impossible for judges to make common-sense decisions about what an appropriate punishment would be for the crime, given the circum-stances of the offender,” he con-tinued. “It’ll mean that a young per-son going through a slightly rough patch in their life will go to prison, essentially for years ... instead of go-ing into rehabilitation and reintegra-tion programs that would bring them back into society.”

Bill C-10 is currently before the House of Commons Standing Com-mittee on Justice and Human Rights and could reach royal assent as soon as March 2012.

But despite a Conservative major-ity in the House of Commons and the

Senate, which is likely to help quickly pass the bill into law, Biggar is opti-mistic public dissent may still sway Parliament.

“We believe that a lot of Conserva-tives have grave concerns about this bill and that by adding our voices and getting out into the public and by showing public opposition to this bill, that we strengthen Conservative MPs who have concerns about this bill and make it more likely that at a minimum we’ll get some amend-ments and changes before it passes.”

Biggar is also pleased to see prov-incial opposition to the bill and hopes that by continuing to display public opposition, citizens will strengthen the positions of Ontario and Quebec in particular, who are currently re-fusing to pay for the expansion of the justice system this bill would create.

Leadnow is also proposing an al-ternative of its own.

“What we’re offering, as an al-ternative ... would be to establish a citizen’s assembly for justice that would include diverse citizens and

experts to come up with a new plan for 21st century Canadian justice,” Biggar explained. “We hope to be able to create such an entity regard-less of what happens with this bill.”

The vision for the assembly is similar to previous royal commis-sions, such as the Romanow report on health care, which, in 2002, presented recommendations on strengthening health care in Canada after interviewing tens of thousands of Canadian citizens, political rep-resentatives and health care profes-

sionals.“We’d like to build on the success

of royal commissions by having a similarly well-resourced initiative, but one that would include a broader range and diversity of citizens and experts in an ongoing way,” said Big-gar. “And [it would] potentially in-clude more Canadians, in more par-ticipatory democracy practices like online voting or commenting, and [in] participating in the decision-making of what our justice system should look like going forward.”

December 8, 2011 • 5news melioristthe

Jordie YeagerThe Link (Concordia University)

MONTREAL (CUP) — The court case of 17 alleged conspirators involved in Toronto’s June 2010 G20 protests ended Nov. 22, with six being found guilty and 11 walking free.

Two of the 17 are organizers from the Con-vergences de luttes anti-capitalistes (CLAC). Patrick Cadorette, one of the CLAC organizers, was the last to see his charges dropped.

Cadorette had been accused of three counts of conspiracy, including mischief resulting in damages of over $5,000, conspiracy to ob-struct police and conspiracy to assault police officers.

“I got arrested because I took part in a few meetings to coordinate the street protest be-tween different cities,” said Cadorette. “CLAC was mobilizing quite a few hundred people, so it was important for us to know what others were organizing.”

One of the protests, called Get off the Fence, was organized by a coalition called the South-ern Ontario Anarchist Resistance. (SOAR) Ac-cording to Cadorette, some of SOAR’s meet-ings had been infiltrated by two undercover police officers.

“I was just sort of included in this group of people who were, according to the cops, con-spiring,” he said. “The way we see it is basic-ally the opposite. We actually wanted to make it safer for everyone who was going to be at the street protests.”

The G20, a meeting of the leaders of 20 of the largest economies in the world, had amassed a wide array of opposition during its edition in Toronto, which was held in June 2010. Over 900 people were arrested, making it the largest mass arrest in Canadian history.

The arrests were also the result of what was revealed to be the largest police spy operation

in Canadian history, which the CBC reported, had involved more than 500 people at points. Cadorette feels that he and the others involved in the case were wrongfully accused.

“The police invested so much money and resources into invading these groups that they almost had to charge people, even though they have pretty flimsy evidence,” said Cadorette.

But the case could have had a far worse out-come for the 17. They had the help of a plea bargain that allowed 11 of them to have their charges dropped.

“One reason we decided to take the deal was that, in any event, there’s no justice to be found in the system,” said Cadorette.

“We’ve been infiltrated, and it’s all part of a strategy by the state to criminalize the organ-ization that was made against G20. We’re ac-tivists, we’re organizers, and we’re being crim-inalized for that. We didn’t expect any victory to come of the trial.”

“The idea of taking a deal is to make it go away, to get it over with as soon as possible, so that at least some of us can go back to organ-izing as soon as possible,” he added.

“In the best-case scenario, a trial wouldn’t have started until the end of 2012. That’s a lot of time to be out of what we want to do, which is organizing, and that’s a lot of resources that are put into defence.”

And, while six of the defendants did plead guilty, none of them were pleading guilty for conspiracy.

“What’s important to say is that they plead-ed guilty to a lesser charge, which was counsel-ing to commit mischief, not conspiracy,” said Cadorette. “Nobody was charged with conspir-acy.”

The six who pleaded guilty are facing jail sentences ranging in length from three months to 14 months.

Leadnow and supporters bring Bill C-10 opposition to MPs’ constituency officesYouth-led advocacy group pressures government to rethink crime bill

Eleven G20 arrestees see charges dropped, six jailed

Page 6: The Meliorist Volume 45, Issue 15

Sara ParkinNews Editor

The holiday season is upon us and for many U of L students this time of year comes along with a lot of rum and eggnog and other potent potables. Local police are kicking their efforts into high gear to keep citizens safe at a time when Christmas spirit and spirits of the distilled persuasion combine to make icy roads all the more dangerous.

Lethbridge Regional Police Service (LRPS), Alberta Transportation and the RCMP have kicked off their annual checkstop campaign, partnering once again in an attempt to rid the roads of impaired drivers.

Starting Friday, Dec. 2, the lookout for impaired drivers and traffic violations began with police setting up numerous traffic checkpoints throughout the city and the rest of southern Alberta.

Police will be looking not only for people under the influence of alcohol, but also those who are under the influence of medication and/or illegal drugs. LRPS can call upon their four trained drug recognition officers to determine which drivers have been using drugs before getting behind the wheel.

Bill 26 seeks harsher penalties for drunk drivers

The province has recently introduced new legislation that is looking to impose stronger penalties on impaired drivers. The Alberta Traffic Safety Amendment Act 2011, also known as Bill 26, was introduced in the Alberta Legislature on Monday, Nov. 21. Introduced by Transportation Minister Ray Danyluk, the bill is seeking tough new changes to the province’s impaired driving legislation.

Under the new law, any motorist who is recorded by police as having blood alcohol content (BAC) of 0.08 or higher would immediately have

their license suspended until after their court case is resolved.

While a BAC of 0.08 is the blood alcohol level allowed by the Criminal Code of Canada, the new legislation proposes that police officers be able to impose administrative penalties immediately on those who are found to have a BAC of o.o5 but lower than o.08. Police would also be able to seize impaired drivers’ vehicles – three days

for first time offenders, and seven for repeat offenders. First time offenders can have their license suspended and vehicle seized for three days, while a second offence would result in a 15-day suspension, a seven day seizure of the vehicle and a mandatory education course. The license suspension gets up to 30 days for third time offenders.

Tough sanctions against drivers on the graduated license system, a great number of which are teenagers, are included in the new bill. New drivers who are still on the graduated license system would automatically have their license suspended for 30 days if any alcohol is found to be in their blood.

The new bill has become a source of controversy for many reasons. The proposed legislation would essentially make the police act as judge and jury right there on the roadside as a single officer administers a breathalyser

test, determines the result and imposes the driver’s penalty. One result that was seen when British Columbia adopted legislation similar to the bill that Alberta’s government just introduced was a decline in formal criminal charges under the Criminal

Code of Canada. Even drivers who blow over a BAC of 0.08 are often given administrative penalties on the roadside rather than being arrested.

The new law is expected to reduce court traffic, penalties administered on the roadside being more efficient and cost-effective.

Many fear the possible implications of Bill 26 on the

hospitality industry

Alcohol servers already make a lower minimum wage than other workers in Alberta, but will they also soon have to fear a decline in tips with the introduction of Bill 26? Since the new legislation was introduced, the hospitality industry has made

its concerns known; they fear a decline in business should the new law come into effect.

Similar legislation in British

Columbia resulted in a 10 to 25 per cent reduction in hospitality business.

Members of the hospitality industry have asked for an increase in late night transportation services like taxis and transit. The fear for the hospitality industry lies with the possibility that, in order to avoid confusing exactly what 0.05 means and how much they are able to drink before reaching that point, a potential customer will stay at home rather than go out.

Members of the hospitality industry are hoping that the government will allow for the late-night expansion of transportation so customers will have an easier time adjusting to the new legislation, knowing there is still a safe way for them to make it home after having one too many drinks.

news6 •December 8, 2011melioristthe

Drinking and driving stats

Lethbridge

Last year’s Christmas check stop campaign numbers:

Five people with outstanding warrants

uncovered

12 impaired driving charges

12 gaming and liquor violations uncovered

13 24-hour licence suspensions

14 uninsured vehicles uncovered

16 suspended drivers

19 unlicensed drivers uncovered

26 unregistered vehicles uncovered

193 provincial statute violations uncovered

Alberta stats

On Alberta roads last year, impaired driving caused...

96 deaths and 1,384 injuries

Administrative suspensions for impaired driving over the last

five years:

42,762 Immediate 24-Hour Suspensions

6,123 Alberta Zero Alcohol Tolerance (AZAT) Suspensions

34,852 Alberta Administrative License

Suspensions (AALS)

Province cracks down for ChristmasNew impaired driving legislation imposes stronger penalties

Page 7: The Meliorist Volume 45, Issue 15

features December 8, 2011 • 7melioristthe

Matt BairdFeatures Editor

For more information on contributing to Features, please contact Matt Baird, [email protected]

Rebecca ColbeckFeatures Bibliophile

Here are some short bits about some great books we haven’t had a chance to review yet this year – just in time for Christmas shopping!

11/22/63, by Stephen KingOn Nov. 22, 1963, three shots

rang out in Dallas, President Ken-nedy died, and the world changed. If you had the chance to change history, would you? Would the con-sequences be worth it? 11/22/63 is a supernatural, quasi-historical, philosophical, science-fiction love story. If you’re avoiding it because you think Stephen King only writes horror, please reconsider. This book is much more in the vein of Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile than Kujo and Carrie.

1Q84, by Haruki Murakami Haruki Murakami may well be

the most technically gifted story-teller in the world today. His works bend genre lines, and twist between fantasy, science fiction and histor-ical literature. He writes novels that transport the reader to places that they have never been before. 1Q84 is no exception. It is a love story that transcends time and space and ques-tions reality itself. It is an ethereal, imaginative, and lyrical tale about a lost love from childhood. It is filled with the unexpected. Many themes persevere throughout this book, but “things are not what they seem” lies at the heart of the story. You will be thinking about it long after you fin-ish this massive read.

Half-Blood Blues, by Esi Edugyan

Shortlisted for the Scotiabank Giller Prize, the Man Booker Prize,

the Governor General’s Award and the Writers Trust Fiction Prize, Half-Blood Blues is the story of a group of jazz players who lived and performed in Germany and France during World War II. The Nazis viewed any kind of jazz music as de-praved and banned it. The story is told through the voice of Sid, who was the least talented of the group and who was directly responsible for the deportation to a concentra-tion camp of the most talented half-black musician in the group. The story alternates between 1939-1940 and 1992. The story of 1939-1940 tells what happened to the members of the jazz group and 1992 when these jazz players were being hon-oured in Germany. Although the novel is about jazz players, it isn’t particularly about jazz. It is more about being human and choices a person makes in life and how it shapes one’s life.

Bossypants, by Tina Fey

Before Liz Lemon, before “Week-end Update,” and before “Sarah Palin,” Tina Fey was just a young girl with a dream: a recurring stress dream that she was being chased through a local airport by her mid-dle-school gym teacher. She also had a dream that one day she would be a comedian on TV. She has seen both these dreams come true. This is a funny, sometimes personal mem-oir where she discusses everything from her youth, through her years with Second City to her rise with SNL and her current incarnation as producer and star of 30 Rock.

Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, by Ransom Riggs

A mysterious island, an aban-

doned orphanage and a strange col-lection of very curious photographs. Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children is an unforgettable novel that mixes fiction and photog-raphy. A horrific family tragedy sets 16-year-old Jacob journeying to a remote island off the coast of Wales, where he discovers the crumbling ruins of Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children. As he explores the abandoned bedrooms and hall-ways, it becomes clear that the chil-dren who once lived here—one of whom was his own grandfather—were more than just peculiar, they may have been dangerous. They may have been quarantined on a desolate island for good reason, and they may even still be alive. A spine-tingling fantasy illustrated with haunting vintage photography. This book will delight adults, teens, and anyone who relishes an adventure in the shadows

Pearl Jam TwentyWhat separates Pearl Jam

Twenty from other glossily pro-duced coffee table tomes is that this lavishly written book with its gor-geous photography was produced by the band itself. Pearl Jam has been one of the most critically ac-claimed and commercially success-ful bands of all time, selling over 60 million albums worldwide, yet the band shunned the spotlight: re-fusing, for the most part, to shoot videos or grant interviews. This book offers fans a treasure trove of behind-the-scenes anecdotes, rare archival memorabilia, personal photos, stage notes and much more. This book is told in their own words and skilfully edited together by Jonathan Cohen. It is an intimate look at an elusive band who defied convention.

Room, by Emma Donoghue

The plot of this book is a “ripped-from-the-headlines” take-off of the horrific true events surrounding Austrian Josef Fritzl, who kept his daughter imprisoned in a sound-proof bunker in his basement for 24 years, and fathering seven children by her. Instead of having the woman tell her story, Donoghue places the narrative in the hands of a child born into a 12’ x 12’ room, the only home he’s ever known. This story is achingly, poignantly heartbreaking and will stick with you for days and weeks to come. Several times since finishing the book I’ve wondered about the scale of my own world and what lies beyond it.

Steve Jobs, by Walter Isaacson

Based on more than 40 inter-views with Jobs conducted over two years—as well as interviews with more than a hundred family mem-bers, friends, adversaries, competi-tors, and colleagues—Walter Isaac-son has written a riveting story of the roller-coaster life and intense personality of a creative entrepre-neur whose passion for perfection and ferocious drive revolutionized many industries. His tale is in-structive and cautionary, filled with lessons about innovation, character, leadership, and values.

Moonwalking With Einstein: Art and Science of Remembering Everything,

by Joshua FoerThe average human wastes 40

days of the year compensating for the things they’ve forgotten. The author, Joshua Foer used to be one of those people, but after a year of memory training, he found

himself in the finals of the U.S. Memory Championship. More im-portantly, he discovered the cold hard truth that we are the sum of our memories. The book draws on new research, cultural his-tory, and memory tricks to help us understand the human memory. Moonwalking with Einstein will give you a great appreciation for the gift of memory that we all pos-sess but too often slips our minds.

The Long Run, by Matt Long

Every competitive athlete has to overcome obstacles and push him or herself to the limit in order to reach their goals, whether they are run-ning a short distance, or compet-ing in a marathon. Matt Long knew this better than anyone. A New York City firefighter, marathon runner, and Ironman triathlete, Long knew what it meant to push his body to the limit. However, when he was cycling through the streets of NYC one December morning in 2005, and was struck by and dragged under a bus, everything he thought he knew about his body’s limits changed. The Long Run outlines his struggle from an elite athlete, to a mangled and bloody mess with a 5 per cent chance of survival, to a man never expected to walk again, back to elite athlete. An inspiring book that shows readers there is really no limit to what one’s body can handle, and what one can do if they truly be-lieve they can.

As always, these great books and more are available at quality book-stores everywhere, including your University of Lethbridge Bookstore. Happy Holidays!

Where the hell did the time go? The best books of 2011 we haven’t gotten around to reviewing yet!

Page 8: The Meliorist Volume 45, Issue 15

Matt BairdFeatures Editor

Over the course of the next few

weeks, many of you will be leaving this fine educational institution and heading off to lands unknown, pre-sumably where you live when you

are not trying to get a piece of paper on it that proves you spent a lot of money in Lethbridge. The holidays are upon us, and between Christmas and New Years, many of you are go-ing to be stuck at The Reunion. You know the one, where you meet up with the members of your extended family that you have not seen since the last Reunion, upon which you pretend to care about the banalities of their lives while the sweet, dull-ing effects of alcohol take their toll. Now, for many of you, myself in-cluded, I understand this is not the case! However, for those of you who find themselves shacked in the mid-dle of nowhere with no respite from the droning boredom that is Aunt Clara’s bunion removal or Uncle Jack’s annual Christmas card col-lection, I bring hope: Mulled Wine.

This, really, is the perfect drink for those of you sequestered in an ageing relative’s house over the Christmas season, because I can utterly guarantee you that no mat-ter how much of a prohibition sup-porter they are, they will have the equipment to make this drink. It does, however, require both pa-tience and preparation, as well as a nod to Alton Brown for the original idea, and the recipe from which I have adapted this drink.

Mulled WineYou’re gonna need...

A large coffee percolator: Every house has one of these. Look in the basement, look in the attic, and look in the garage. At some point in time, your parents, grandpar-ents, or whoever owns the house was forced to inherit, purchase, or steal one of these coffee-brewing monstrosities. As coffee makers got smaller, electric kettles became more efficient, and people stopped having Sunday potlucks, these de-vices were sequestered into storage. They serve as the perfect brewing solution to mulling a bunch of wine.

3 litres of cheap red wine: Once again, look in the ageing cab-inets that populate your relatives’ houses. This might be the hardest to acquire next to the percolator. That being said, this is Alberta, and there’s a liquor store every 20 feet (unless you live in a dry town, in which case, god help you).There will be a spice cabinet in your prison. Shake off the spider webs and look to the whole, dried spices, and gather up the following (loot the fridge for the ginger, lemon, and orange):

A dozen allspice berries, a couple tablespoons of pepper-corns, four star anise pods, six cinnamon sticks, a quarter of a whole nutmeg, two inches worth of sliced ginger, as well

as about half an orange/lem-on’s worth of zest. (That’s the peel, minus the white bit.)1 1/2 cups of honey. (If there’s tea, there’s honey.)

To wit: load your wine and hon-ey into the centre of the percola-tor, where you would usually put the water if you were making cof-fee. Into the basket goes all of the spices, including the ginger, as well as the orange and lemon zest. As-semble the percolator (steel rod in the middle, basket on top), put on the lid, and plug it in! It’ll take anywhere between an hour and a couple of hours to let the wine do its thing. Once it has spiced and warmed up, drink to your heart’s content.

Note: If you’re using an old school percolator with a manual heating element, DO NOT LET THE WINE BOIL. If this does happen, evacu-ate to a saucepan and keep it on a rolling simmer, stirring constantly, before adding about half a cup of cream and a little flour. Reduce to desired thickness. You will have a nice wine sauce from which you can make a meal dedicated to your fail-ure.

Note #2: Patience! It takes a while, I know. Read the Gideon bible or something while you wait.

8 • December 8, 2011melioristthe

Features

Clinton Hallahan CUP Arts Bureau Chief

VANCOUVER (CUP) — The por-trayal of the college experience in movies seems to be a self-fulfilling prophecy: a populace enslaved to the almighty Degree as the new price of admission to Life grows up seeing celebrities get blitzed at par-ties spilling out onto manicured Ivy League lawns and expects the same in the time before they toss their mortarboards. Upon climbing those ivory towers and finding that an education (gasp) makes attempts at relevance, committees are struck by the politically minded of them in at-tempt to reinvigorate “student life.”

Pretty soon you have a student population way more interested in the party than the knowledge. Ex-pectations have to be lowered so professors don’t look bad and, sud-denly, coupled with that damn G.I. Bill and its inflation of the value of a college degree, your B.A. looks like soggy receipt paper in a job inter-view. Kids watched and re-watched Dazed and Confused before they even got to college, so admission standards have to be lowered to let in the stoned 12th-graders. Nobody learns anything after high school and then they all get elected to par-liament. Now we have a nation that reads Italian Vogue for a challenge and no mandatory long-form cen-sus. All of this because John Belushi pretended to be a zit that one time in Animal House. Get it?

Is he joking? Of course. Even when German statisticians use their fancy Chi-squared tests to find that adolescents allowed to watch R-rat-ed Hollywood films drank, on aver-

age, more alcohol than those that were not, it’s tough for me to swal-low the bitter pint that film might just influence the way we drink. As someone who has watched hours of My Little Pony and learned nothing about friendship, it’s just hard for me to understand. But let’s just say, for a moment, that mass culture creates expectations and then youth decide to make those expectations a reality. What is Hollywood teach-ing us about social drinking habits in college? What reality are they re-creating? The easiest answer — one of excess.

Remember, kids, sipping port wine is for the weak and the old. A young person does whatever they can to get the largest amount of the strongest liquor possible into their digestive system to maxi-mize fun times. Alcohol poisoning is just something “the man” made up to keep young people down in the ’60s. If someone gets hurt by excess, it will make for a hilarious anecdote to fill them in on as you explain the saline drip coursing through their veins.

Movies about college (and college parties, more specifically) experi-enced a kind of arms race around the time Revenge of the Nerds hit theatres. Not content with the aver-age party where the only casual-ties were the dignity of co-eds and the occasional acoustic guitar that totally had it coming, producers and writers made excessive drink-ing the basic unit of the college ex-perience, and then festooned it with escalating hijinks. To wit: if your party does not feature foxy box-ing in a kiddie pool full of intimate lubrication, a road trip to get the virgin in your party some action,

or farm animals, you have failed to drink enough. In the same way that the adventure film gave way to producers excising their action set-pieces and stretching them to fea-ture length, hijinks became the only notable feature of college sometime around the Nixon administration. Academia was a pursuit not even the nerds bothered with.

The problem (or not, depending on how much you like booze) is that the idea of a social drinking occa-sion is almost wholly dismissed. In fact, only the stuffiest of squares choose sipping over chugging, and films lionized those who could hold their liquor best. Sure, Bond mov-ies imply that real men can chug a martini, make love to a woman and disarm a death ray over lunchtime, but the badge of honour bestowed on the college souse is made to be an attractive university creden-tial. Combine that with films about adulthood portraying the perpetu-ally pickled as either pathetic losers or dangerous psychos (or Irish) and you have a confusing message com-ing from the leading provider of mass culture in the Western world.

Funny thing is, I haven’t even directly cited a single college drink-ing film yet. The college movie for-mula is so set in stone that a child could write it (and it often feels like one did). Take one band of out-siders, one very literal journey or challenge, enough intoxicants to stop the Grand Army faster than a Russian winter, shake and pour over ice. Garnish with a Slim Jim.

Animal House established the formula and made John Belushi a star, but every movie about the col-lege social life has been a variation on that theme. Road Trip intro-

duced a bus and cross-country in-fidelity, The Graduate introduced post-school malaise, PCU made fun of your pet cause and your band t-shirt, and Dead Man on Campus brought in some light murder. At their core, however, they highlight one theme: college is about any-thing but academics, and drinking is the order of the day. Even The History Boys, a recent film con-cerned with students actually in-terested in their studies and college futures was mostly about homo-erotic experimentation when you get down to it. Studying makes for poor drama, and if we’re taking our cues from Hollywood it’s no won-der there are such things as “party schools.”

The formula made one stab at Oscar glory previously (but includ-ed more Mrs. Robinson than was palatable) but reached its critical and philosophical conclusion just recently in The Social Network. The implication? Pursuing this degree is a waste of time, you drunken secret-

genius. Make your masterpiece to get back at a girl who spurned you while half in the can and then watch everyone line up to kiss your feet. Again, they sidestep the idea that academic success is the priority. Genius, athleticism and the pursuit of cougars are the orders of the day.

There’s no interesting argument to be made on whether or not the portrayal of drinking in college movies is substantially contributing to how much liquor is being con-sumed, but the uniformity of the portrayals is troubling. Academ-ics are meaningless in these docu-ments of the human experience. A good time trumps all.

At one point the cold stone and cloisters of sacred learning halls were probably separate from the so-cial, but who can remember when? The question is fowl: What came first, college binge drinking or col-lege drinking movies?

Which came first, college binge drinking or the college drinking flick?

Photo: Lauren Bird/The Aquinian

Drink of the Week: Mulled Wine

Page 9: The Meliorist Volume 45, Issue 15

Olivier O’BrienFeatures Op-Ed

It’s paper and exam time! Which means that I am scrambling for new and interesting ways to waste time while pretending I don’t have anything to write. So what has procrastination bought me? Well I’ve ploughed through season four of Star Trek, poured a disgusting amount of time into Skyrim, and incurred considerable damage to my liver. All in all, an excellent per-sonal investment, minus the over-whelming hatred of Diana Troi.

(What does she do?! Maybe Greece wouldn’t be in a financial mess if some new age healing crys-tal spouting, space ghost chasing, whiny humanities major layabout wasn’t the best they could do. I mean I even prefer Wesley Crusher to Diana, if only because he dis-appears regularly. Diana Troi is just the worst kind of diversity filler: she doesn’t even wear a uniform – just a different bad ‘80s yoga outfit as she traipses through a serious drama. In the rare instances of her actually doing anything, she has to fall back on her special ability: feelings. But she’s not even good at that; all she does is have blurry impressions of somebody’s feelings, but that real-ly sums her up as a character – a blurry impression of a person. And the rare occasions that she would be useful, she’s absent – because it would make solving the mystery that much easier. But the rest of the crew seems to get along perfectly well without her. Let’s compare her to a stronger, better rounded char-acter from roughly the same per-iod in television history: Scully of X-Files. Scully admittedly has her flaws as a character as well, many of them the same as Troi’s: for some reason the women of television find themselves in empathetic roles... nope, tangent over – stopped car-ing.)

Man there’s really nothing to write about now; my brain is juiced. Just filling space, filling space, fill-ing space, filling space, filling space; seems like that’s the majority of academic writing for me as well. Should this be concerning? Maybe

I would work better at a computer that didn’t have a library of tele-vision on it, but when I’m at one of those I usually go find a better com-puter. Firing up another episode of TNG... looks like this isn’t getting done for a little while. And the Troi loathing is back, and come to think, I always thought that Yar got too much screen time, especially after she was dead. Is Star Trek secretly misogynist, or maybe I am? After all, the three most hateable char-acters are women: Wesley Crusher, Troi and Yar, with an honourable mention for Kako. And all for the same reason: a general failure to be likeable. No one trait really con-demns them; they’re just not as interesting as everybody around

them. But let’s pull this back to Troi.

More specifically, why it feels like she is there as some kind of political appointment that’s purely decora-tive. For one, her mother is an im-portant political figure. Two: un-like the rest of the crew, she rarely wears a uniform, whatever she does all day (besides pitting other more useful people against each other) being readily accomplishable in a slip-on outfit. Three: unlike the rest of the important officers on the ship, who are well-versed in mul-tiple roles and can switch between posts easily, Troi has yet to mas-ter even one. In one episode she is the highest ranking officer on the bridge in an emergency and she

herself makes it abundantly clear that she isn’t even familiar with the basic operation of the ship. In a rare case of good judgment she lets other more competent people fill in. What does she do all day!? She is supposed to be the ship’s psych-iatrist, but she’s rarely in her office taking clients, preferring the bridge instead, where she doesn’t have a job! Her chair has a computer ter-minal, it never seems to get used though, and apparently she was never paying enough attention to learn how any of the other stations’ work anyway. WHAT DOES SHE DO? It really breaks the flow of the story for me that they have some-body who is such an obvious fail, there for political reasons, that isn’t

just casually dismissed and quietly laughed at by the rest of the crew. Damn it. Just damn.

You know, I can’t help but to feel like I got a little sidetracked today.

Editor’s note: The opinions of contributors do not, in any way, reflect the feelings of Meliorist staff towards certain Star Trek charac-ters. We all know that without Troi the audience of Star Trek would not know how to react to the situa-tions on screen, because a charac-ter would not be telling them how to feel. Additionally, if the current trends in yoga pants and shirts are any indication, Troi has had a profound impact on the day-to-day lives of many university students.

December 8 , 2011 • 9melioristthe

Features

The Fall of TroiI make a phone call

Page 10: The Meliorist Volume 45, Issue 15

For more information on contributing to The Meliorist, please contact Kelti Boissonneault, [email protected]

Kelti BoissonneaultEditor-in-Chief

opinionsDecember 8, 2011 • 10melioristthe

I don’t know about anyone else, but this week has been hell; all I can think about now is finishing my final projects and relaxing those few days before exams get the panic-receptors in my brain kicked into high gear. This semester went by quick, or maybe that’s just me? Hard to tell – perceptions are so different between people.

I would like to conclude the opinions section for this semester with a toast to our readers – to you. Your responses to the articles published, the games, the changes we’ve made, and (of course) the TLFs, have kept us here at the Meliorist on our toes. As we constantly strive to improve and become everything you, our readers, want us to be (except a 20-page TLF paper, as that will never happen), it falls to you to provide some guidance. Tell us what you love, what you hate, and what you can abide.

As Lethbridge’s only independent print media source, we have always thought it very important to continually push the envelope with what we print and how we present ourselves. Some of you may have the impression that we sit perched in our ivory tower and sneer at the suggestions we occasionally receive through e-mail, but we don’t. Yes, we live down a long, often dark, creepy hallway in the SU building. Yes, our editors are hermits, and I am possibly the worst of all: sitting sequestered in the office until all hours of the morning, working tirelessly on ways to generate stirrings of thought, emotion, and empathy in our readership. We work hard to entertain, educate, illuminate, and galvanise you into thinking about your world: the world we all share.

I know we can get preachy (as evident by this editorial), but don’t take it as a sign of our arrogance. We’re students only, and we always look for the opinions of our peers. It is the belief of the Meliorist that being a citizen of this world takes

more than just existing in your personal lives: it takes participation in the affairs of your government, your economy, and your entire community. We aim to include as many student pieces as we can each week, though some weeks our contributors are busy with their own lives, and that’s alright. Even those who are not students are encouraged to write for the paper.

We hope to return next semester with articles just as hard-hitting and thought-provoking as we have shown this term, and we hope to up the ante. Just doing enough is never enough, and we will continue to strive for the best we can be, and hope continually to do you, our readers, proud.

Over the holiday, our editors will be hard at work on their sections, and if you ever feel the inclination to write, please do so. We belong to the students, and it would make us so very happy if students would participate more in their campus, their community, and their paper. Stay safe this holiday season, continue to be responsible, and enjoy the time you spend among family, friends, and loved ones. For those of you not returning next semester, we wish you the very best in all your endeavours and encourage you to keep in touch through issuu.com on the Meliorist website: you can view the full PDF version of the print edition there.

I wish all the best to you in the New Year, in your new lives, and with your old dreams. I hope you become the world citizens you were born to be: thoughtful, compassionate, kind, and compelling. Never settle for less than excellent, and never let those around you slip into the oblivion of lost history. Make history, make love, make this world a better place: that is the calling of a graduate of the U of L.

Until next time, yours sincerely,

Kelti L. Boissonneault

Our truth and effort: Happy Holidays and all that jazz

Elizabeth Porter

Page 11: The Meliorist Volume 45, Issue 15

Try and find this unicorn hidden somewhere in this week’s Meliorist. If you can, email the page number and a brief discription of where it’s hiding to

[email protected]. You’ll be entered to win

our monthly Unicorn Draw! You can enter as many times in the month as we publish.

Good hunting, and Happy Holidays!

Editor-in-Chief Kelti Boissonneault

[email protected]

Business ManagerNelson Chin

[email protected]

Advertising ManagerBrandon Wallis

[email protected]

Production ManagerCalvin Shiu

[email protected] Creative Director

Jeff [email protected]

Account RepJillian King

[email protected]

News EditorSara Parkin

[email protected]

Features EditorMatt Baird

[email protected]

Entertainment EditorBilly Davey

[email protected]

Sports and Lifestyle EditorNicole Meech

[email protected]

Campus Beat ReporterJanet Barriage

[email protected]

Photo EditorJon Martin

[email protected]

IllustratorElizabeth Porter

Copy EditorJames Forbes

Distribution ManagerTracy Fairs

Production AssistantsJeff Henry

Emma Ferguson

Creative DesignerBrandon Wallis

WebmasterChris Morris

PrintingSouthern Alberta Newspaper Group

ContributorsRebecca ColbeckOlivier O’BrienZoë Migicovsky

RJ Balog

Cover Elizabeth Porter

An autonomous body, separate from the U of L Students’ UnionSU-166, 4401 University Drive

West, Lethbridge, AB T1K 3M4 Phone: 329-2334

www.themeliorist.ca

The Meliorist is the student newspaper of the University of Lethbridge, published

most Thursdays throughout the academic year by The Meliorist Publishing Society,

an autonomous incorporated body. Please address all correspondence to The Meliorist, 4401 University Drive, Lethbridge, Alberta, T1K 3M4, or drop it off at room SU-166. Deadline for submissions is Sunday 4pm. The Meliorist appreciates and encourages the writing of thoughtful, concise, timely letters. However, The Meliorist will only

consider for publication those letters which are signed by the author. Special arrangements may be made for those wishing anonymity, but absolutely no pseudonyms. Letters should contain the

authors legible name, address, telephone number and student identification number. The address, I.D. and phone number will not be published. The Meliorist reserves the right to edit submissions and will not print libelous material. Letters may be edited for brevity, clarity and legality.

mel•io•rism (meel’e riz’m, me’le e-), n. the doctrine that the world tends

to become better or may be made better by human effort

melioristthe

Procrastination

Across

1- Gyro meat 5- Ethereal9- Forearm bone13- Culture medium14- Loose outer garment16- Animated character17- Hindu princess18- Antiknock fluid19- ... _ saw Elba20- Draft picks21- Anonymous John22- “Gunsmoke” star24- Lean26- School orgs.27- Salsa singer Cruz29- Celebration33- Renaissance fiddle34- Bric-a- _ 35- Actor Rob36- Fingers37- Small moneybag38- Charge carrier39- Capital of Calvados, in NW France41- Ashtabula’s lake42- Small nails44- Embellishment46- Actress Anouk47- Describes a gently cooked steak48- Nightclub of song49- Go hungry52- Needlefish53- Skater Lipinski

57- Opera set in Egypt58- Hagar the Horrible’s dog60- Corrida cheers61- Annoying buzzer62- Capital city of Yemen63- Narrow inlets64- _ sow, so shall...65- Devices for fishing66- Aggregate of fibers

Down

1- Dr. Zhivago’s love2- I’ve Got _ in Kalamazoo3- Horse hair4- Stiff coarse hair5- Apathy6- John of England7- Architect Mies van der _8- Hurrah!9- Kitchen vessel10- Anecdotal knowledge11- Denials12- Black cuckoos15- Casual gathering23- Deserter25- Sot’s sound26- Freedom from war27- Aromatic wood28- “Barnaby Jones” star29- Edible plant product30- Communication medium31- Came to32- Contact, e.g.33- Puerto _ 34- Carried

37- Noblewoman40- Give an account42- Apex43- Expressive of love45- Dallas player, briefly46- Main arteries48- 200 milligrams49- Heroic adventure tale

50- Sardine containers51- An apple _ ...52- Basic unit of heredity54- Et _55- Back56- Org.59- A Bobbsey twin

Crossword

(CUP) — Puzzles provided by BestCrosswords.com. Used with permission.

Sudoku Holiday Unicorn

Re: Mr. Hollander

To the Editor, And Tim den Hollander, of course:

It is with great reluctance that I am drawn into this debate, for as I’ve said before, I do not believe that it is our place to have an opinion on the matter. However, for reasons of play and entertainment and noth-ing more, I will perpetuate the dis-cussion, though I know not for how long.

Firstly, however, I must make something perfectly clear to you: do not delude yourself; you will never stop abortion. You may, perhaps, be effective in the passing of a law that would forbid it (though this is a big maybe, make no mistake). But you will not stop it. Were it to be illegalized, abortion, like cer-tain drugs and underage drinking before it, would merely be forced underground, where it can thence

be controlled by shady characters who failed their medical practicums and often kill more women than they save. Abortions are risky for women, after all, and without prop-er care, she may well die (do not try to use this point as an argument in your favour; some things, especially to a frightened teenager, are worse than death). This is where you will force women, should abortion ever be made illegal again. But as I said, it is a very big maybe.

Secondly, I also must clarify that I, personally, do not believe in aborting a child after the first tri-mester of pregnancy, not only due to the obvious ethics for which you fight every day, but also because it is a great risk to the mother. However, that is my opinion on the issue, and I do not expect anyone else to up-hold it, nor the law to reflect it. It is simply a personal value which I have chosen to hold. Also, you are right, I am sure, when you say that abortion is one of the most painful

decisions that a woman may ever have to make, a decision which will follow her evermore. However, to say that a woman will always regret having an abortion is as assumptive as saying that she never will: one simply cannot know, and as such should not be used as grounds on which to take the choice from her. It should therefore be left to her best judgement at the time, for as I’ve said previously, I do not think that by taking the option, you are help-ing rather than hindering.

As to your attempt to make this extremely subjective, heartfelt and, indeed, passionate issue one of “...local reasoning and science,” and also your clear need to take from a woman her ability to choose what happens to her body (I would com-pare this to rape if I cared to go into the subject) – I find that callous and cold and I am, as a person and as a woman, tempted to take offence. However, recalling that this is only a game played between strangers, I

will decide against it.Finally, I implore you to recon-

sider your careless use of words and revise your title; for the term “pro-lifer” implies not only that you will stand up for every person’s right to life, but also their right to live. As such, do not tell me that being alive is more important than being loved, for though I do not know you nor what your life has entailed thus far, I can say with near certainty that if you were ever starved for affection, you would not say such things. Also, it is not my job to tell you what you should or should not feel the need to do, nor what to stand up for or feel passionate about (I happen to stand up for freedom, hence my opinion on the matter). But as for the vic-tims of the Holocaust, leave that opinion to their children, as I would have you leave a mother to speak for her child, for again, you’ve no idea of what you speak. Good day.

Mikyla Hindson

Letters

Got something to say?

Email your letters, thoughts, rants, raves, complaints, poems, sonnets, anecdotes, stories, ideas, feelings, articles, paintings, comics, or pictures

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Page 12: The Meliorist Volume 45, Issue 15
Page 13: The Meliorist Volume 45, Issue 15
Page 14: The Meliorist Volume 45, Issue 15

Last year the Students’ Union host-ed a fun and well attended welcome back event in January called ‘Melt-down.’ This was aimed at welcoming new students to the University of Lethbridge and welcoming back re-turning students after the holidays. This year we are hosting the second annual Meltdown, only bigger and better. On Thursday, January 19th

we’ll be having a Meltdown Carni-val in the Zoo and Ballrooms. There will be a variety of different games set up, from video games to carnival style games to sporting competi-tions. There will be no cover charge for this event, so make sure to grab your friends for some friendly com-petitions and a chance to meet some new people. We will also have a DJ

and some amazing prizes to give away. On Friday, January 20th there will be a Meltdown Concert in the Zoo. There will be three amazing bands entertaining everyone for the evening. Capacity is limited, and tickets will be on sale the first week back in January, so don’t miss out.

As we enter the last couple of days of classes I’m sure everyone is as excited as I am to finish finals and take a well deserved break for the holidays. Before you hit the books hard next week, you probably want a chance to celebrate the last days of classes. Tomorrow (Friday) the Students’ Union will be hosting the annual Ender Bender in the Zoo. As always, there will be drink specials, rocking tunes provided by a DJ to get you dancing, and plenty of your peers. This year’s Ender Bender will start at 11am, giving you that extra hour inside the Zoo instead of wait-ing in the frosty line up.

We have also decided to add a new component to Ender Bender this year. We will be having an Ugly Sweater Contest during the event. If you don’t already have a hideous

sweater stored in your closet from last year, head down to Value Vil-lage or another consignment store in Lethbridge, dig through their shelves and find the worst sweater you can. And make sure to chuckle when you remember that some-one once bought that new because they thought it looked good. If you

have time and you’re creative, hit up a dollar store to see what you can find to glue or sew onto your newly purchased atrocity. Once you have a sweater that looks like Christmas threw up on it, come to Ender Bender at the Zoo. At exactly 2pm, we will be calling everyone with terrible sweaters to the front

of the dance floor. A panel of judges will each pick their two favorites. These six semi-finalists will have their names entered into a draw to win one of two amazing prizes. If you want to enter the contest, make sure you’re coherent and near the dance floor at 2pm. Plan to come early, because you may be stuck in the line outside of the Zoo and miss the contest. If you have to leave for class or another commitment, pass your sweater on to a trusted friend to enter the contest on your behalf.

Students’ Unionwww.ulsu.ca

14 • December 8, 2011

E n d e r B e n d e r - U g l y S w e a t e r E d i t i o n

M e l t d o w n 2 0 1 2 - B i g g e r a n d B e t t e r

Lisa RodychVP Internal

ULSU Mobile App Now Available!

iOS

Android

Blackberry

Check www.ulsu.ca for more details!

Upcoming Events:-UofL Bookstore Sale benefitting the ULSU Food Bank - all December-Flames Game in the Zoo Dec. 8 at 8pm-Ugly Sweater Ender Bender - Dec. 9 Doors Open at 11am-Flames Game in the Zoo Dec. 13 at 6pm-Flames Game in the Zoo Dec. 15 at 530pm-Flames Game in the Zoo Dec. 16 at 530pm-Zoo Closed for the Holiday Break - Dec. 19-ULSU Offices Closed for the Holiday Break - Dec. 23-ULSU Offices reopen for Spring Semester - Jan. 3-Soles 4 Souls Shoe Drive - Jan. 16 - 20Meltdown Welcome Back Car-nival - Dec. 19-Meltdown Welcome Back Concert - Jan. 20-The ULSU & GSA present Bill Nye the Science Guy - Jan. 23

ULSU Note Bank wants your old class notes!

Ever missed a class and needed the notes? Ever looked for sup-plemental materials and had dif-ficulty finding them?

The ULSU will be collecting your old notes to create our new Note Bank!

The Note Bank will compile students’ old notes from courses here at the U of L and allow all students to access and download these notes when they need them.

Keep an eye out for drop boxes in December and January, there are plenty of prizes to be won and you’re entered into the draw with each note submission!

Notes can also be submitted electronically at [email protected] Cheer offer-

ings in the Zoo`Tis the season to be jolly and

joyous! And what better way to induce thoughts of the holidays and home than a few seasonal fa-vorites!

For the month of December (until Dec. 16th), the Zoo will be offering Mom-style Turkey Sand-wiches with stuffing and cranber-ry sauce for $6 (sides extra).

But to ensure the full holiday experience, order a scrumptious Rum and Egg Nog ($4.50) from your friendly, neighborhood Zoo staff.

If that doesn`t get your happy holiday feelings flowing then or-der yourself one or many of the Crazy Cakes desserts offered. Cookies, Caramel popcorn, Spud-nuts (Thursdays only) or mini cupcakes, you decide how best to induce a sugar coma!

So ditch the study notes (for a bit!) and get yourself to the Zoo and enjoy a little taste of home!

Page 15: The Meliorist Volume 45, Issue 15

entertainment melioristthe

For more information on contributing to Entertainment,please contact Billy Davey at [email protected]

Billy DaveyEntertainment Editor

December 8, 2011 • 15

Billy DaveyEntertainment Editor

“We started releasing stuff when we barely knew how to play our in-struments… We’ve been together so long, just as human beings, we’ve grown up, and we’re better musi-cians… I like to think we’re a little bit wiser, a little bit smarter, a little bit sharper,” said Dan Vacon of The Dudes, a Calgary band that has ac-cumulated over a decade of experi-ence. Vacon talked about the band in matter-of-fact way while always showing optimism, which prob-ably stems from his enthusiastic approach to life. “I think it’s good practice to live a crazy life. Be a yes man, just get out there and just do things… Whenever someone wants you to meet for a pint or try blank—just always say yes, man… Make things to talk about. Get into some romantic trouble; put your heart on the line, that’s what I recommend,” beamed Vacon.

The Dudes will be playing a New Year’s Eve bash on, you guessed it, Dec. 31 at The Blarney Stone. The Dudes are a band that values their live performances, as the live show

is pinnacle to a rock band’s success. Vacon expresses this when say-ing, “Rock n’ roll is just rock n’ roll. Everyone should love it, and if they don’t love it, what the hell is wrong with you? And I just want to bring us to rock fans to every corner of the Earth, that’s my plan.”

It’s hard to understand what makes a band work and keeps it together, on a personal level, un-less you know about the lives of the members. Vacon describes the life of a rocker as hard yet rewarding, “You have to be willing to go out there, especially in the beginning when you’re a young rocker, you’ve got to be willing to drive through the mountains when it’s dangerous as fuck and get paid 150 bucks a night, and crash on people’s floors. It sounds awful, but it gives so much life back; it gives back more than it takes... I get to live a pretty crazy life. I’m happy.”

Vacon also described the band’s origin, which starts in high school. “Me and Bob, our guitar player, this was actually the very first band I ever joined. I learned how to play guitar in high school and started The Dudes… and we played the

fucking high school talent show; that’s why we put together the band. So as we grew up we kind of picked up different members, lost some bass players, lost a couple drum-mers. But, Scotty’s been with us for like 10 years now, so we’ve got our solid crew… and we were kind of the

house band for this old bar called ‘The Works,’ in Calgary… anytime any band would cancel, we lived like three blocks away, and they knew we were always ready to play at the drop of a hat. And we’d do it for pitchers of beer and popcorn… it just kind of kept rollin’ from there,”

reminisced Vacon. The Dudes is definitely a band

that is living their rock n’ roll dream, always finding time to play shows and being happy. “I’ll play anywhere for anyone,” said Vacon, affirming his “yes man” strategy.

Dec 8Open Mic with Reneee Werenka and friends@ Good Earth Coffee

House6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

Open Mic@ Old York

8 p.m.

Dec 9Tristan Skretting

@ Mocha Cabana6 p.m. to 9 p.m.

Davidson Porter Trio@ Ric’s Grill

8 p.m.

Duelling Pianos with Cal Toth

@ Average Joe’s9 p.m.

Open Mic with Cory Oryniak and Dave

Tilsley@ Jimmy’s Pub

9 p.m.

Paul Kype and Texas Flood

Lethbridge Casino9 p.m.

Peter Gilligan and Friends

@ Owl Acoustic Lounge

9:30 p.m.

Behind Sapphire with the Nix Dicksons

@ The Slice9:30 p.m.

Dec 10Karen Romanchuk@ Mocha Cabana

6 p.m. to 9 p.m.

CP Rail Holiday train@ Save on Foods

6:45 p.m.

Mayor’s Christmas Concert

@ Southminister United

Church7:30 p.m.

Cal Toth@ Ric’s Grill

8 p.m.

Paul Kype and Texas Flood

@ Lethbridge Casino9 p.m.

Darryl Düus Blues Band@ Owl Acoustic Lounge

9:30 p.m.

Agnostic-Phibes Rhythm and Blood

Conspiracy with Red Rum Triumph@ The Slice9:30 p.m.

Dec 11Sunday Nature Walk -

Winter Birds@ Helen Schuler Nature Centre

2 p.m. to 3 p.m.

Dec 12Open Mic

@ Owl Acoustic Lounge9 p.m.

Dec 13Open Mic

@ Bo Diddley’s7 p.m. to 10 p.m.

Open Mic@ The Slice9:30 p.m.

Dec 14Ain’t Misbehavin’ with

Bridgette Yarwood and Evan Schaaf@ Ric’s Grill

7 p.m. to 10 p.m.

L.A. beat Open Jam@ Owl Acoustic

Lounge9 p.m.

Hey!Wanna post your band’s concert?

Your fallacious Level 8 gallery opening? Email your events to

[email protected]!

The Dudes abide

The Dudes

Page 16: The Meliorist Volume 45, Issue 15

Kate Bush50 Words For Snow

(Fish People)

Bush’s second album release on her own record label starts soft with “Snowflake,” a song that does its name jus-tice with repetitive and falling piano chords while evoking a feeling of loneliness. Among the soft chord progressions of the piano, Bush’s voice is stunning throughout the album and no matter how quiet she sings the vocals always draw the spotlight. “Wild Man” marks a point in the album where the “background of falling snow” starts to turn into a bliz-zard; starting at “Wild Man,” the percussion, guitars, and keyboard rise above the calm established at the beginning of the album. The orchestral arrangements seem to keep status-quo, but they add immensely to each piece they are featured in. “50 Words For Snow” is a track that lists 50 different words for snow (surprised?), and it’s more of a spoken word poem, with an upbeat backdrop of percussion, than a song. “Among Angels” brings the album back full cir-cle and walks you, once more, through the soft falling snow.

Kreesha TurnerTropic/Electric

(Capitol Records/EMI)

Turner, who was born and raised in Edmonton, has cre-ated a mix of dance, hip-hop, and R&B tracks on Tropic/Electric. “Rock Paper Scissors,” the album’s first single, has a Jamaican feel to the verses but becomes predictable in the chorus. “My Kryptonite” is a good dance track with lots of electronic beats. “Come My Way” starts by showing promise with the rhythm but flops in the verse and comes back in the chorus, with more rhythmic vocals, making it a solid piece overall. Turner’s vocals really bloom in “I Could Stay,” making it one of the album’s best songs. “Away From You” is another great dance tune that relies heavily on electric percussion. Overall, Tropic/Electric is an aver-age album that could have been better if it relied more on Turner’s vocals.

Patrick WolfLupercalia

(Mercury Records)

The English-Irish singer’s fifth album has received al-most all favourable reviews. “The City” starts the album by pulling out all the stops, and has a feel-good texture, which manages to fit a trumpet in perfectly. After the first track, the album slows but does not drop in quality. “The Future” features female backing vocals that com-plement the hook in a subtle yet powerful way. Starting very eerie, “Armistice” seems like it is about to go in a Claude Debussy fashion but starts dropping constant tempo chords before the vocals enter. Just over half way, the album starts to utilize beautifully string arrange-ments. “Time of My Life” drops its strings for the verses, which turns them into a tense down time that is quickly picked up by the strings joined with more percussion.

16 • December 8, 2011melioristthe

entertainment

RJ Balog Entertainment Writer

Okay, so maybe trolls don’t scream Christmas time or season’s greetings, but I’m sure everyone will get enough of that over the next few weeks. With that being said, I thought I’d give everybody a rundown on a film that I personally hold dear – a film about the seriousness of trolls. Trolljegeren, or “Troll Hunter” in English, is a Norwegian mockumentary that follows a group of students as they investigate a man that is believed to be a bear poacher. Little do the students know that the man named Hans (Norwegian icon Otto Jespersen) that’s believed to be a hunter of bears is actually a hunter of ancient and mythical trolls.

The film starts off slow as the students try to get in close with Hans, continually pestering him and following him wherever he goes. The slow start-up doesn’t last long though, and when Hans comes running out from the woods yelling “TROLL!” you know you’ve struck cinema gold. Hans begins to warm up to the eager filmmakers revealing that he works for the Troll Security Service and that it’s his duty to control and monitor the troll populations within Norway. After some deliberation Hans agrees to show them the finer points of tracking trolls and also share in his wealth of knowledge. As it goes, not all the ancient folklore about trolls is true, but there are some things that match up.

Trolls can be separated into two main groups: mountain trolls and cave trolls. They vary greatly in size

and features, ranging anywhere from four to 200 feet tall. Some trolls sport the classic giant bloated look, while others have a wide array

of features like thin bodies covered in moss, long snouts, three heads, and various other little attributes that add to the wonder of the

ancient creatures. The trolls aren’t too bright, often wandering into the bottom of bridges or into farmers’ livestock, but they know to pack it

in come dawn as a precaution of sunlight, as they suffer a vitamin D deficiency that causes their bodies to overreact and turn to stone or simply explode.

Ringlefinchs, Jotnars, or Tosserlads – Hans fights them all as he becomes not just the show’s hero, but a hero that we can all learn from. Equipped with a UV flash gun and troll stench, our troll hunter journeys deep into troll lairs to get personal with these mythical beasts and still makes the effort to handle the bureaucratic paperwork for Slayed Troll forms afterwards… a true hero. Otto Jespersen does a great job winning our trust and allowing us to accept what he says as true. Hans turns troll folklore into reality, giving us a vivid glimpse into the history of trolls. Everything is covered: from gestation periods and behavioural patterns to abilities like detecting the scent of a Christian’s blood.

The design of the trolls and animation are unique and original. The special effects are well done and the found footage style of filming doesn’t get too busy or nauseating. The actors show real emotion and I can’t stress enough that after the film Otto Jespersen just might become your real life hero. This one’s a definite must-see, and if you can’t get past the fact that it’s in Norwegian and you have to read subtitles, an American remake is already in progress. Knowing remakes though, I’d highly recommend the original; it really adds to the tone and feel that it’s real. Check it out; it’s a great watch, and it’s full of trolls… need I say more?

Nothing says Christmas like trollsTrolljegeren (Troll Hunter)

“CHRISTMAS!”

Page 17: The Meliorist Volume 45, Issue 15

December 8, 2011 • 17Entertainment melioristthe

Zoë MigicovskyEntertainment Writer

The holidays are a perfect time for giving a book to those special people in your lives, but with so many options it can be hard to find the right one. This guide is meant to help make that intimidating pro-cess a little easier, and it is divided based on who you’re shopping for. Of course, you may have a Dad that enjoys books in the Mom cat-egory, or vice versa, but I’ve given a range of options for each person based on potential personal tastes and if there isn’t one that works in a specific category, make sure to check the rest of the list. A book is also a great opportunity for a per-sonalized gift if you inscribe the first page with a message, and some authors, like Sarah Jio, even offer to mail you a signed bookplate to accompany your gift, so it is worth checking out their websites or blogs for that possibility.

Shopping for Dad

If your father is mainly a non-fiction reader, then The Secret Gift by Ted Gup, a true story that takes place at Christmas time during the Great Depression, is bound to touch his heart. A father who enjoys mys-teries and suspense novels is likely a perfect recipient for an exciting and twist-filled novel like The Ac-cident by Linwood Barclay. For a father that appreciates novels that take on tough issues, The Bishop’s Man by Canadian author Linden MacIntyre tells a powerful story about child abuse in the Catholic Church from the perspective of a person responsible for helping to cover it up. And, if all else fails, it’s hard to go wrong when gifting your father one of the many Uncle John’s Bathroom Readers full of astound-ing facts and stories in small short sections.

Shopping for Mom

If you’re looking to get your mother a gift that shows how much you appreciate them, then Mom: A Celebration of Mothers from StoryCorps by Dave Isay is a per-fect choice filled with true anec-dotes from people talking about their mothers. If your mother is hitting that special time in her life and having difficulty dealing with you being away, The Hunchback of Neiman Marcus by Sonya Sones is a novel told in verse about a woman going through menopause and hav-ing her only child graduate high

school. Wrecker by Summer Wood is a beautifully written tale of an unconventional family, while The Other Life by Ellen Meister asks dif-ficult questions about the choices a mother may be forced to make and the “what-ifs” they leave behind. Finally, The Violets of March by Sarah Jio is an absolutely charming love story mystery with a beautiful setting and a taste of the past that is a great choice for mothers that find reading a relaxing escape.

Shopping for the Brother

If your brother is a bit younger, Noah Barleywater Runs Away by John Boyne is a fantastical tale with illustrations and a surprise ending about what happens when a young boy leaves home. For a brother in the between age who isn’t quite sure what to read, the His Darkest Ma-terials trilogy by Phillip Pullman remains a great choice, and begins with The Golden Compass. A broth-er who is a bit older might appreci-ate the humour and mystery of I Am The Messenger by Markus Zusak, while one who enjoys darker books will likely enjoy Every You, Every

Me by David Levithan about a boy receiving mysterious photographs, or Twelve by Nick McDonell, a violent novel about a fictional drug that takes over the lives of everyone connected to it.

Shopping for the Sister

The Sister can be a complex per-son to shop for, but depending on their tastes there is a selection of amazing releases for you to choose from. For the historical fiction lover, Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Septeys is a heart-breaking tale about a forgotten piece of his-tory. Quirky and charming, Anna and the French Kiss, or its compan-ion Lola and the Boy Next Door, by Stephanie Perkins are both great for the sister with a light-hearted romantic side. If you want some-thing a little darker, The Sky is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson is a powerful and poetically written tale of a girl who ends up romantically involved with her dead sister’s boy-friend. If your sister is a Twilight fan, there are some fantastic para-normal romance titles available, including Canadian author Kelley

Armstrong’s Darkest Powers ser-ies, which begins with The Sum-moning, and Unearthly by Cynthia Hand, the first in a trilogy about a girl who is part angel. Finally, if your sister is in elementary school and you’re looking for a title that’s PG-rated but doesn’t sacrifice beautiful storytelling and depth in the process, then the magical story of Liesl and Po by Lauren Oliver is perfect choice.

Shopping for the Female Sig-nificant Other

Picking the right book for a Fe-male Significant Other can be a bit nerve-wracking, but there are plenty of options available. The Lover’s Dictionary by David Le-vithan is a clever and poetic diction-ary-style novel, while The Peach Keeper by Sarah Addison Allen is full of Southern charm and magical realism. If your girlfriend or wife enjoys mystery, Jennifer McMahon has a selection of heart-pounding suspense thrillers including Prom-ise Not to Tell and Don’t Breathe a Word, while Laura Kasischke’s The Raising provides mystery with a lit-erary edge. If you’re searching for that perfect book of poetry, try pick-ing up the romantic and beautifully written Love Poems by Carol Ann Duffy, or the incredible latest col-lection from Canadian poet Lorna Crozier, Small Mechanics. Finally, if your significant other enjoys vivid landscapes and rich history in their novels, The Lotus Eaters by Tatjana Soli and The Beauty of Human-ity Movement by Camilla Gibb are both wonderful offerings.

Shopping for the Male Signifi-cant Other

Even if your Male Significant Other is not a big reader, they don’t have to miss out on the book giv-ing. Try a book published by one of their favourite artists or musicians. Depending on their musical tastes, there are a lot of great choices, like

This Is Gonna Hurt by Nikki Sixx or Decoded by Jay-Z. There is also an awesome selection of funny TV-re-lated books including The Bro Code or The Playbook by Barney Stinson, both of which are hilarious, or Sh*t My Dad Says by Justin Halpern. If your boyfriend or husband is a little more adventurous, you can always get them an action packed title like The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins.

Shopping for a Friend

If your friend is looking forward to The Hunger Games movie then there are plenty of amazing dys-topia titles to help tide them over. Divergent by Veronica Roth and Blood Red Road by Moira Young are both incredibly intense debuts with strong female heroines, while novels such as Delirium by Lauren Oliver and Wither by Lauren DeSte-fano are great for readers who love a little romance and lovely writing with their action. If your friend is looking to move on from the dysto-pia craze, then it’s a great opportun-ity to gift them Across the Universe by Beth Revis, a murder mystery meets love story set aboard a space ship that’s an exciting story great for males or females. If you’ve got a friend with slightly more literary tastes in fiction why not gift them Half-Blood Blues by Esi Edugyan, the award-winning novel about race, history and music. Finally, if you’ve got the kind of friend just as likely to watch The Nightmare Before Christmas as A Christmas Tale then this is a great holiday to gift them the beautifully told and magically dark The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern.

No matter whom you’re shopping for this holiday season, there is a perfect book out there just waiting for you to give. A book is a fantas-tic, reusable, calorie-free gift choice you should definitely consider.

Book Giving Gift Guide for the Holidays

Page 18: The Meliorist Volume 45, Issue 15

TLFs

Band/Album/Label * indicates Canadian artist

The Bible and the Kama Sultra are both ancient books about people getting nailed. Happy Christmas :D

You need to quit drinking haterade bro…

Choirs and bands fill City Hall this Christmas. See Calendar of Events athttp://www.lethbridge.ca for December schedule.

December 8th is bend the brim on your stupid baseball hat day. You have been warned. No where is safe.

Everybody in the world has a lobster, sometimes you just have to go through a few crabs to find them <3

Hey druid guy, I think you’re sexy. I want all up under that cloak.Why don’t you come over and let me braid that beard?

Hey 6th floor Study Center people,STFU! it’s called a “Study Center” for a reason!

Go to school – like a bossRead the paper – like a boss*Skips immediately to TLFs* … … – like a boss!

The TLF’s are pretty much a specific very delayed twitter #uselesshashtag

What if you don’t get that chance again to ask that girl out? If she showed you signs she is interested then what is stopping you?

Thank you to whomever found my red and black 8G SanDisk flashdrive and turned it into my professor. I really appreciate it! Way to spread good karma :) Lisa

Look what you’ve done! Now it’s so difficult to get artwork ‘approved’ to be hung up in the Level 8 stairway that hardly anything has been there all semester! I wanna see more art!

To the guy interested in the girl you sit beside in class, just ask her out for tea or coffee… I’m sure she’d say yes.. :D

To the guy who presented on Hans Zimmer in music in recital… thanks for introducing me to my new favorite music! :)

Dear Crush, don’t be scared if a fat guy in a red suit snatches you away on Christmas eve. Sincerely, you were on my wish list.

Dear Boy whose waiting till next semester to ask out the cute girl; DON’T PROCRASTINATE IT! Grow a pair and do it – she’s prolly waiting on you anyway…

To the girl in uhall who paid for my coffee because she is leaving uleth, you’re a babe, and good luck wherever you’re going.

Honk if you love JUSTICE

To the girl in my Human Geo Class, we made a joke that got out of hand at the beginning of the semester that you were my wife, sorry about the awkwardness, lets talk ;)

I think the guy on the cover of the Meliorist(Ode to Movember) is quite attractive ;) Does he go to our university?

When a class ends at 850, and yours starts at 9. Don’t come in at 845, making noise, expecting us to leave. cough*Math 1410*cough

Dear casting critique and pig-headed actor, Favouritism will always happen during casting, it sucks, but is a professional reality. Really? You attend UofL, not Juilliard, shut it.

To the girl in the Formal red fleece jacket ad grey tights , sorry for staring but you have magical eyes wow, cardigan guy

Unimpressed kid in Psych 2820,I hope the RedEx delivery man delivers you a case. You’re cranky and obviously woke up on the wrong side of the bed, and could use the energy…

University of Lethbridge Student Classifieds and Forumhttp://www.ulethstudents.com got a makeover!Seeking moderator/promoter for forum.Message site admin for de

Re: Drama Dept. Comment – It’s hard to live up to your potential if you don’t have an opportunity to push yourself. The rest are graduating this year, just wait it out.

Thank you to Rebecca Colbeck, who last week drew our attention to what those of us who watch BBC television have known for 9 years…The book is fantastic; the quiz show: better!

To tights aren’t pants guy;They are leggings and yes we consider them to be pants! Which is more then what guys wear. Showing off 4 inches of ankle and underwear. Just sayin.

Hey Druid you can be my religious leader to my Celtic group

Shin dig : an archaeological dig that uncovers only Tibias.

Hey bone girl, wanna see my bacula?

My white-haired coffee girl gets getting cooler every time I see her! And was that a shoulder Tool tattoo!?! And a pretty name to top it all off… sigh…- that guy again

that awkward moment when a guy sends you a dirty picture and assumes you aren’t going to show every single one of your friends

Bravo to the individual listening to Alvin and the Chipmunks Christmas music in the study center. I don’t think its possible for me to get angry right now.

To the people who park in the handicap stalls without a permit: if karma doesn’t put you in a wheelchair…I will! Have some respect.

To whoever found my wallet and returned it with all of the money in it, you’re a gem. and merry christmas :)

Dear students complaining about the drama castings. Maybe you would be taken more seriously if you learned proper spelling and grammar. How did you get into this university-or any?

Does anybody else feel deceived by the object manipulation club? I expected far more telekinesis and far less baton twirling.

You’d think that waiting 20 mins & giving your order to 4 people giggling at the Tim Horton’s till on Saturdays, they could get the order right. I thought wrong. Get it together.

Why the heck would you get up and leave class in the middle to buy food…

October 13, 2011 • 18

melioristthe

Submit your TLFs at WWW.THEMELIORIST.CA or to [email protected]. All TLFs must be submitted via a valid uleth account. Keep in mind that slanderous or offensive TLFs my be edited or omitted. The TLFs do not reflect the views or opinions of The Meliorist Publishing Society.

18 •December 8, 2011

Page 19: The Meliorist Volume 45, Issue 15

SemeSter-end Wonderland

(to the tune of “Winter Wonderland”)

Alarm bells ring, are you listening,

In the coulee, the frost is glistening,

It’s a beautiful sight,

We’re insomniacs tonight,

Prepping for semester’s end.

Gone away, are the parties,

Here to stay, are the smarties,

We sing a little song,

As everything goes wrong,

Prepping for semester’s end.

In the midst of bus-loop build a snowman,

And pretend that he is U-L god,

When people ask us who, we’ll say Mahon,

And with a laugh and smile they’ll give a nod.

Later on, in the library,

As we scramble to try and study,

We’ll grumble away,

As the music loudly plays,

Prepping for semester’s end.

Outside, the city lights,

Convince us that it’s night,

But we check the time,

It’s a quarter past five,

Prepping for semester’s end.

Yes we’re prepping, oh prepping, for semester’s end.

uleth Jingle-hell(to the tune of “Jingle BellS”)Dashing through the halls, running late for class, faces whizzing by, gooD grief, i hope i pass!

there’s only one week left, exams are Drawing near, this is the season for Delight, but also one for fear!

Chorus:oh, up the stairs, Down the stairs, all arounD u-hall, o-m-g, the bus is late, what happeneD to the fall? (repeat) a thousanD-worD essay, will keep me up all night, oh what i woulD not give to paysomeone to get it right!

the profs are getting mean, i think i neeD a Drink, thank gooDness that it’s almost Done‘cause i Don’t want to think. Chorus:although it’s near its enD, the semester’s Dragging on, by the time that christmas comes, my hope will be all gone.

exams are coming up, anD essays fail or pass, at the start i was so sure, but this year’s kickeD my a--! oh! chorus (repeat 2x)

Christmas Carol Special

Band/Album/Label * indicates Canadian artist

October 13, 2011 • 18

melioristthe

December 8, 2011 • 19

mock carolS to Sing for the Whole family

Page 20: The Meliorist Volume 45, Issue 15

Nicole Meech

December 8, 2011 • 20melioristthe

Sports and Lifestyle Editor

For more information on contributing to Sports and Lifestyle, please contact Nicole Meech, [email protected]

lifestyle

Nicole Meech Lifestyle Editor

Peggy Sue is an average girl with a somewhat average life. She at-tends the University of Lethbridge and enjoys long walks on the beach (wait we’re in Alberta. . . Revise: long walks in the prairies), as well as the occasional night on the town. But Peggy Sue’s life took a turn for the worse by the end of November 2011. Bright vibrant colours that once served as a cheer for Peggy Sue turned to grey scale, her smiles turned into frowns, and her once bouncy step turned into a slouched shuffle with no apparent purpose. You may be asking, what could have happened to poor Peggy Sue? You see, it’s not a simple one-word answer. Experts speculate that the mere combination of the wind found in Lethbridge, the start of winter, and her approaching exams did her in. It is a common condition known as SADDENED (Seasonal Affective Disorder Doubled [with no] End Neatly Ending [in] Death). Gasp! Ending in death? Never fear, death can be symbolic of many things: extreme exhaustion only fully understood by undergradu-ates, for example.

Peggy Sue tried many things to lift her spirits. She visited what she believed to be the Duke, but even looking at the new name, and thinking about how watered down their alcoholic beverages would be,

made her want to curl up in a little ball. Her next tac-tic involved visiting the free meditation sessions offered by the university campus in an attempt to alleviate some stress. When she walked into the wrong room full of people with the same condition as herself, she figured that misery loves company, so she stayed for a while, ultimately worsening her condition. Peggy Sue even tried picking up a copy of the Meliorist to see if there were any Life-style articles that would help her condition, but she was so offended by the nudity dis-played on the cover that she crum-pled the paper up and threw it across the room (mus-tering more energy than she even thought was possible).

Peggy Sue was getting des-perate. She knew that she had to find a cure, but she was trying all the wrong tactics. She decided to approach this in a simple way – by

s m i l -ing. She had read articles explaining the feel-good hormones that are released when people smile at each other, so that was her new goal. As

she strolled down the university hallways, she found her first tar-

get: first year, drunk with worry, permanent shifty eyes. “My God, how the hell do I do this again?”

Peggy Sue thought as she peeled her chapped lips back over her

teeth in what she thought was a smile. The poor first year

caught the condition – you see, SADDENED is most contagious for

first years. They are fresh meat, still

learning import-ant life skills such as how to cook a box of KD or how to find that “just right” bal-ance while c o n s u m -ing alcohol. This made Peggy Sue feel horrible

about herself, which amplified

her condition be-yond belief.

Dark. Cold. L o n e l y .

P e g g y S u e w a s

h a v - ing a hard time focus-ing on any- t h i n g other than the negativity that was overwhelming her life. She tried to

tell herself that school shouldn’t be causing this much anxiety, but that didn’t help. The pressure to suc-ceed had been instilled in her since she was a baby: in the crib her dad would tell her that she’s “daddy’s little lawyer,” when she learned to crawl her parents pushed her to walk, when she learned to walk she was forced to work on her fine mo-tor skills. While it may seem like maybe Peggy Sue has some deep psychological issues stemming back to childhood, the only thing that really needs to be blamed is the need to succeed. Going to univer-sity isn’t good enough unless you have good grades, graduating from university isn’t good enough unless you succeed in your job. Society is always pushing forward, which is maybe why Peggy Sue is taking such a hard hit during exam time. Sure, she could take a load off and just barely pass her exams, but her conscience wouldn’t let her hear the end of it.

You’re probably wondering at this point if poor Peggy Sue made it through this dreadful time of year. Did she pass all her exams? Was she able to lift her spirits? Well, just like everyone else on campus, she made it happen. She pushed through those endless hours of studying, be-cause there was a finish line to look forward to. And now she gets to look forward to doing it all over again next semester! Happy studying and Merry Christmas!

The Transformation of Poor Peggy Sue: A short story for the burnt out student mind

Beating the exam time blues:

the BEST sugar cookie recipeIngredients

- 1 ½ cups of butter or margarine, softened (butter tastes way better)

- 1 ½ cups white sugar

- 2 eggs - 2 tablespoons milk - 2 tablespoons of

almond extract (this ingredient is vital to making these cookies the best, so don’t bother substituting with vanilla extract!)

- 4 ½ cups flour- 3 teaspoons baking

powder - ½ teaspoon salt

Directions

Cream together the butter and sugar, then add the eggs, milk, and almond extract. Once well mixed, add the flour, baking powder, and salt. Cover and chill dough for 20 minutes. Roll (1/3 at a time) dough to 1/8 inch on floured surface. Cut shapes and place on cookie sheet. Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes (slightly brown edges – make sure not to over-bake!). Let set on cookie sheet until cooled slightly and set.

Icing: icing sugar, milk, almond extract – beat until smooth (and add food colouring for some Christmas cheer).

Nicole Meech Lifestyle Editor

I will admit I was a tad hesitant to release this recipe because it’s one I hold close to my heart. These little beauties melt in your mouth like nothing you’ve ever tasted before. If you’re already a sugar cookie fan, watch out because these are so addicting that you won’t stop at just one – or just 10 for that matter. Plus this is a great recipe to share with your family over the holidays. Enjoy!

Page 21: The Meliorist Volume 45, Issue 15

Nicole Meech Lifestyle Editor

I know I’m not alone when I say that the end of the semester came out of nowhere. It happens every year; we get caught up in everyday life and we focus on the assignments at hand, which distracts us from the passing months and weeks leading up to the end of semester. All of a sudden it seems like there’s a mil-lion things to do with very little time to do it. In a perfect world we could just power through and “get ‘er done,” but unfortunately we are human. And being human means being worn down by non-stop homework, which overcomes our bodies with exhaustion if we don’t take the right precautions. Listed below are some of the tactics I have tried in the past, and some which I intend on using this year to make it through to the very end.

1. Exercise. Even if you’re not a gym-rat, exercise is definitely your number one way to alleviate stress. Even just going for a brisk walk helps clear out some of the men-tal cobwebs that start to form after too much time spent in the books. Many of you may say that there’s no time for exercise during finals, but if you have time to surf Facebook or other mindless internet sites for your mental break, you definitely do have time for a little exercise. Plus, computer-related breaks may just bog you down even more because your mind is still being stimulated, whereas exercising gives your mind a much-needed break. If you don’t feel like walking outside or hitting the gym, get creative! Lunge around your home or even blast some music and dance full-out to get your heart rate elevated (don’t worry, no one will be watching!). Anything to get your body moving for even a few minutes in a day will benefit you.

2. Schedule your work. This may seem tedious, but this has been a tried and tested method for me for four years now and it never fails (I even do this for mid-terms). If you have a calendar, schedule time slots that you are going to study for cer-tain subjects. By planning times, you’ll feel more on top of your work,

which will give you motivation to keep going. And we all know that once our motivation is gone, it’s nearly impossible to get it back.

3. Focus on one thing at a time. Another detrimental habit is looking at everything that needs to get done and stressing about how you’ll ever be able to do it all. While it’s important to keep everything in mind overall, it’s not good to get over-worried. Scheduling your work (see above) will help you focus on one thing at a time, which will really help keep your stress levels low.

4. Change up your scenery. If you generally like studying in your room, or at the library, try switching it up. After endless hours of home-work, your space of choice will be associated with work work work, which will make it harder to work there overall. By regularly changing where you do homework, you’ll be able to have a fresh outlook each time you work.

5. Save your work. Whether it’s presentations, essays, or reports, always have at least three different copies in case something happens to your main copy. Use memory sticks, e-mails, and even print a hard copy – if you think you barely have time to get that last assignment done the first time around, try doing it a second time.

6. Green it up. Drinking end-less amounts of coffee may seem like the best way to stay alert dur-ing this busy time of year, but you’re actually doing your body more harm than good. Caffeine is very acidic, especially in the form of coffee, so over time your stomach may not feel so good as it reacts with the coffee you’re consuming (this is because your stomach will produce more acid to counteract the effects of caf-feine). Depending on how you take your joe, the extra cream and sug-ar are no treat to your cholesterol either – after excessive consump-tion you may feel like your heart is beating faster than usual (which is a pretty clear sign to lay off for a bit!). So even if you’re not a huge fan of green tea, it is a much healthier alternative to coffee and it still has natural forms of caffeine as well. Try spicing up the tea pot with a touch

of honey, or you can even purchase flavoured green teas as well (blue-berry is a nice alternative).

7. Have some “me” time. While it may seem a little ridicu-lous to break away from your studying when you have up to five finals in the span of a few weeks, taking breaks to do things for you will help power through. It can be simple like taking a bath or even watching a TV show – this time of year needs to be about balance. You’ll be happier and you’ll prob-ably have better results on your exams.

8.Eat well. You don’t need to get all gourmet, but make sure that you’re fuelling your body with lots of fruit and veggies. Even just munching on raw vegetables will do the trick. You’ll be way more productive and you’ll feel a lot bet-ter than if you plan on surviving off the McDonald’s value menu.

9. Don’t get distracted. While it’s important to have “me” time, be careful not to let it get out of hand. We’ve all been in the situation: “Oh, I’ll just go on Face-book for a few minutes... Maybe I’ll clean up my desk a little bit too... Oh wait, I missed that episode of [insert favourite show] last night... I might as well just watch a movie, I deserve the break.” Before you know it, your 30 minute planned break turns into a few hours, which leaves you stressed and more likely to start cramming for your exams. Smaller and more frequent breaks are much more productive than one extra large break.

10. Sleep. It may feel like a good idea to stay up all night and get lots of studying done, but you start to put yourself into zombie mode after even just one all-night-er. Your body isn’t equipped to deal with limited amounts of sleep, so your basic functions will suffer. Functions such as concentration, memory, and basic problem solv-ing skills will all take a hit after even just one restless night. Ideally students should be getting about eight hours of shut-eye, but even just 6.5 to 7 is better than nothing.

December 8, 2011 • 21Lifestyle melioristthe

Reaching the bitter endA student’s guide to maintaining sanity during the whirlwind of insanity

Page 22: The Meliorist Volume 45, Issue 15

December 8, 2011 • 22melioristthesports

PronghornsHighlights

Nicole Meech Sports Editor

Basketball

Men’s: After their last

conference game on Nov. 27

against the T-Birds, the men

will be going into the New Year

with a 4-4 record facing Trinity

Western in Langley on Jan. 6.

Their next home game will be

Jan. 20 against Calgary.

Women’s: the women left off

with a 2-6 record. They will also

be visiting Trinity Western on

Jan. 6. and home again on Jan.

20.

Hockey

Women’s: the women have

done exceptionally well so far

this year and plan to continue

displaying their skills on Jan. 6.

They will be away in Saskatoon

to break the tie of 10-4-0

against the Huskies. Their next

home game will be on Jan. 14

versus Calgary.

Men’s: unfortunately the men

are last in the Canada West

rankings but will continue

to work hard in the New

Year. They will be facing the

Saskatchewan Huskies at home

on Jan. 6.

UBC Sports Information

VANCOUVER – Jordan Inglis led the way with a hat trick

(three goals) and two assists as the UBC Thunderbirds beat the Lethbridge Pronghorns 7-3 at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird

Sports Centre on Saturday. For the second night in a row, the T-Birds pulled away from a closely contested game in the third period with an outpouring of offence, including a pair of power play goals. Jordan Inglis opened the game’s scoring with a wraparound goal and later notched the game-winner in the second goal putting home a blue collar goal after sustained pressure from UBC. His third goal, on a late power play, rounded out the scoring at 7-3. Inglis also assisted on Nate Fleming’s goal, which re-established UBC’s lead less than 20 seconds after Lethbridge tied the game 1-1 on a second period a goal from Daniel Iwanski. Other Thunderbirds goal scorers included Jason Yee, Scott Wasden and Max Grassi.For the Pronghorns, Iwanski provided a pair of goals, while Taylor Gal chimed in with a marker of his own. The Pronghorns were down

1-0 at the first intermission and while they clawed back repeatedly in the second period, the team was never able to keep the game tied long. Twice UBC responded less than a minute after a tying goal, while Scott Wasden’s goal in the second period re-established the Thunderbirds’ lead two and a half minutes after Gal had tied the game. The pair of UBC victories also makes a big difference in the standings, as the T-Birds close the gap on the Calgary Dinos to two points. For Lethbridge, the loss means the Pronghorns head into the break in last place in Canada West. However, they remain just two points out of the sixth and final playoff spot thanks to the Regina Cougars’ matching two-game losing streak. Lethbridge will meet the first place Saskatchewan Huskies in the New Year.

Horns SwimmingSports Information

In October, the Horns men’s team received an invite to compete at the University Challenge Cup at the University of Toronto. The invite goes out to the top eight teams from last year’s CIS results. Although the Horns were not ranked in the top eight at last year’s CIS, the Horns were given the last men’s team spot in the meet. Head coach Brad Mori explains, “For our group, this was a great opportunity to get up and race in a CIS only situation and back to back race at the Canada Cup. In Canada West Swimming, we don’t

typically get many chances to race against only university swimmers. Often times, we swim in club meets. So, to have the opportunity to race against only university swimmers adds to the CIS experience and better prepares our team for CW and CIS competitions.” “Having been selected as the last team, our goal for the meet was to beat at least one team and mow down some CIS qualifying times.” The Horns team, comprised of Jeffrey Nicol, Ryan Thornley, Mat Loyola, David Errington, Tiha Konyves, Griffin Brown, Matthew Mastromatteo, and Adam Krysiak, finished ahead of University of Ottawa and University of Western

Ontario in Team Scoring. “I was pretty thrilled about this, as both these Ontario teams have good depth and some studs,” stated Mori. At the Challenge Cup, the Horns were not able to add any new CIS qualifiers, but a few days later at the Canada Cup the team qualified four more swimmers. From an earlier meet, already qualified were Jeffrey Nicol and Ryan Thornley. Swimming to the CIS Standard in the 200m breaststroke were David Errington and Mat Loyola. Adam Krysiak swam a personal best in the 50m Breast to make the CIS standard. Team Captain, Jessica Kelly had an inspiring swim in the 100m Fly final,

winning the consolation final and qualifying for the CIS Champs. Both Nicol and JK missed school records by one tenth of a second in the 200 breast and 50 free respectively. The Canada Cup was a national level competition open to CIS and non CIS athletes of any age. “It was a quick competition this year. Our Pronghorns swam very well. The team is well ahead of where we were at the same time last year. With the depth of the competition, we were not able to make as many finals as would have liked. I know if our group had the opportunity to go again at night, it would have gone from a good weekend to great.”

Jesse Couture Sports Contributor

Lethbridge – The Lethbridge Pronghorns moved into a first place tie in Canada West with a 4-1 win, earning a weekend sweep over the visiting UBC Thunderbirds. Pronghorns’ goals were scored by Erica Williams, Kirsten Reeves and Megan Bach, who contributed two on the night. Sarah Casorso earned the lone goal for the Thunderbirds. UBC net-minder Samantha Langford stopped 31 of 35 shots while Lethbridge’s Crystal Patterson made 26 saves. A Lethbridge power play opportunity in the opening minutes of play saw Williams earn her first CIS goal, skilfully beating Langford. Williams corralled a loose rebound after captain Beattie’s shot from the slot was turned aside by the quick reflexes of the keeper. Heading into the first intermission, the visiting T-Birds found themselves in an all-too-familiar position,

struggling to generate offensive chances, as the shots on goal favoured the Pronghorns 13-4. Midway through the second frame, a turnover at centre ice was controlled by fifth-year forward, Megan Bach, whose powerful strides were no match for the defence, as she broke away and dangled the puck to her backhand to beat Langford stick-side. Less than a minute later, UBC put an end to Patterson’s shutout streak that had reached over 156 minutes, as Casorso’s shot found the back of the net at 9:05, making it a 2-1 game. Shots through two were dead even, 7-7, and despite an aggressive fore-check by the visiting T-Birds and some late scoring chances by the hometown Horns, both goaltenders would stand tall and keep the game to within one. UBC’s struggle to earn the elusive game-tying goal was fraught with close chances, as Kaylee Chanakos’ quick moves through the slot and Tatiana Rafter’s solid follow-up effort on the doorstep

were both denied by Patterson, who faced 15 shots in the third. With under ten minutes remaining, the Horns found themselves with a 5-on-3 power play that would set the pace for the rest of the game. Taking a hard pass in front from Glenda Edie, Reeves would add to her 3-point weekend, knocking the puck past Langford, who was unable to get into position. Pushing the pace in the final minutes of play, Bach would add to the Horns’ lead, earning her second of the game, from

Hopkins and Van Buskirk, at 15:57. With the win, the Horns head into the semester break tied with the Saskatchewan Huskies atop the Canada West standings at 10-4-0 and will return to action in the New Year, on Jan. 6, traveling to Saskatoon for a showdown between the conference-leading teams. The T-Birds fall to 1-11-2 and will have to wait until Jan. 13 before they see their next conference action, traveling to Regina to face the Cougars.

Men’s hockey: Horns swept by T-Birds in Vancouver

Women’s hockey: Horns tied for top spot after 4-1 win over T-Birds

New Year, new games: Stay tuned

for the comeback of all your favourite

Horns

Horns swim at University Challenge Cup and Canada Cup

Page 23: The Meliorist Volume 45, Issue 15

JOBS JOBS JOBS!!!

Let us introduce you to CES (Ca-reer & Employment Services). CES is a student service office dedicat-ed to assisting you with your Ca-reer and Job Search needs. We’re within the Career Resources Cen-tre in AH154, along with Applied Studies and the Management and Arts & Science Cooperative Edu-cation programs. CRC office hours are 9am - 12pm and 1pm - 4pm Monday-Friday.

Go to our website for more detailed information on our

services: www.uleth.ca/ross/ces.

WORKSHOPS to December 19: Please SIGN UP for workshops at CES (AH154) or email ces.

[email protected]

CES Resume/Cover Letter Workshops:

* Thurs, Dec 8, 1:40-4:15pm* Tues, Dec 13, 9:30am-12pm

* Wed, Dec 14, 2-4:30pm* Mon, Dec 19, 2-4:30pm

CES Career Portfolios Workshops:

* Fri, Dec 9, 9-10:30am* Thurs, Dec 15, 1:40-3pm

CES Networking & Job Search Workshops:* Mon, Dec 12, 1-3pm

CES Interview Techniques Workshops:

* Fri, Dec 16, 9:30am-12pm

CHECK OUT OUR NEW ONLINE JOB BOARD!!

Visit our website www.uleth.ca/ross/ces and

click on the student section to find our new online job board!

Summer Postings

• Traditional Ecological Knowledge Facilitator, Cgy ~ TERA Environmental Consultants (Dec 9)

• Production, Leth ~ Hytech Production Ltd. (Dec 15)

• Parent Seed Technician, Kimberley ~ Hytech Production Ltd. (Dec 15)

• Agribusiness and Agronomy Opportunies, Bow Island/Vulcan ~ Parrish & Heimbecker, Ltd (Dec 15)

• Assistant Agronomist, Calmar ~ Har-De Agri Services (Dec 31)

• Parliamentary Guide, Ottawa ~ Library of Parliament (Jan 13)

• Canola Breeding Technical Assistants, Leth ~ Monsanto Canada Inc. (Feb 1)

• Research Assistant/Tutor, Deep River ~ Deep River Science Academy (Feb 1)

• Research Technician, Taber ~ Ag Quest (Mar 1)

• Camp Councillors and Camp Specialist, Various Locations ~ Canadian Camp Staff (May 31)

• Christian Summer Camp Staff for Underprivileged Kids Camp, Evansburg ~ Brightwood Ranch (May 31)

• Summer Interns, Cgy ~ Plains Midstream (Dec 30)

PART-TIME

• Audio Visual/Admin Support, Claresholm ~ Lethbridge College (Dec 14)

• Search Engine Evaluator - Chinese Simplified, Various Locations ~ Leapforce Inc. (Dec 31)

• Remote Control Car Demonstrators, Med Hat ~ InStore Focus (Dec 31)

• Director, Leth – Safety City Society of Lethbridge and Area (Nov 30)

• Restaurant Mystery Shopper, Various Locations ~ Premier Service (Dec 30)

FULL TIME

• Field Research Agronomist, Edm ~ Dow AgroSciences Canada Inc. (Dec 10)

• Outside Sales Rep, Leth ~ Shaw Communications (Dec 17)

• Management Associate, Med Hat/Leth/Cgy ~ Canadian Western Bank Group (Dec 17)

• Front Office Manager, Leth ~ Sandman Hotel (Dec 17)

• Community Support Worker, Leth/Claresholm ~ Independent Counselling Enterprises (Dec 17)

• Assistant Instructor: Horses of Hope Prog, Evansburg ~ Brightwood Ranch (Jan 1)

• Parliamentary Information and Research Service Internship Program, Ottawa ~ Library of Parliament (Jan 11)

• Intake Coordinator, Cgy ~ Arete Human Resources (Jan 16)

• Market Analyst, Acheson ~ SMS Equipment (Dec 23)

• Marketing Manager, Edm ~ Cash Store Financial (Dec 9)

• Management Trainee, Taber ~ Lamb Weston (Dec 28)

• Database Development Programmer, Leth ~ Lethbridge Community Network (Dec 29)

• Office Admin, Leth ~ Chinook Arch Regional Library System (Dec 16)

• Web Developer, Raymond ~ Truehope (Jan 15)

• Special Education Teacher, Cgy ~ Almadina Language Charter Academy (Dec 14)

• Analyst Financial Planning, Cgy ~ Canadian Pacific (Jan 12)

Temporary

• Project Coordinator, Leth ~ Lethbridge College (Dec 10)

• Research Assistant, Edm ~ Pioneer Hi-Bred Ltd (Dec 17)

• Instructors, PN Program, Leth ~ Lethbridge College (Dec 16)

• Instructional Technology Manager, Leth ~ Lethbridge College (Dec 6)

• French Immersion Teacher, Peace River BC ~ Make a Future (Dec 26)

• Kindergarten French Immersion Teacher, Salmon Arm ~ Make a Future (Dec 2)

• Grade 3 & 4 Teacher, Big Valley ~ Clearview School Division No. 71 (Dec 9)

INTERNATIONAL

• Entry Level English EFL/ESL Teacher/Instructor/Tutor, Various Locations ~ DW Recruiting Service (Dec 8)

• TEACHING OPTIONS, South Korea ~ KORJOB CANADA RECRUITING (Dec 23)

• Teach English in South Korea, South Korea ~ Avalon English (Feb 3)

• Math/Science/English Teaching Positions, UK ~ Engage Education Canada (Dec 31)

• Au Pair, United States ~ Scotia Personnel (Jan 20)

• Children’s Camps 2012, United States ~ Scotia Personnel (Jan 20)

For details of the postings and information on the ap-plication processes go to www.uleth.ca/ross/ces and check out the Workopolis-Campus Postings section.

melioristtheclassifieds

Career and Employment

Services

December 8, 2011 • 23

Page 24: The Meliorist Volume 45, Issue 15