interrobang issue for january 14th, 2013

Volume 45 Issue No. 16 January 14, 2013 www.fsu.ca/interrobang/

NEWS 2Volume 45 Issue No. 16 January 14, 2013 www.fsu.ca/interrobang/

Myriah Kay is in her secondyear of the Business Marketingprogram at Fanshawe. Shedescribed herself as an extreme-ly personable individual who“loves going out and having agreat time!” 1. Why are you here?To be the best person I can be.

2. What was your life-changingmoment?Coming to college and growing up.3. What music are you currentlylistening to?Everything from hip-hop to indieto country. 4. What is the best piece ofadvice you’ve ever received?

Be yourself.5. Who is your role model?Michelle Obama. 6. Where in the world have youtravelled?Various parts of Canada, Europe,and the United States.7. What was your first job?Tim Hortons.8. What would your last mealbe?All-you-can-eat sushi.9. What makes you uneasy?Messy people. 10. What is your passion?People.Do you want Fanshawe to know 10Things About You? Just head onover to fsu.ca/interrobang andclick on the 10 Things I KnowAbout You link at the top.

10 Things I Know About You...

Everything is A-oKay

CREDIT: SUBMITTED

Myriah Kay gets silly with some hats.

CREDIT: MELANIE ANDERSON

The Bookstore was bustling during the first week back to campus after the break.

KIOSK QUIZWHERE CAN YOU FIND INFORMATION ABOUT

YOUR HEALTH ANDDENTAL PLAN?

Drop by the Welcome Kiosk with your answer. Five winners will be selected from correct entries and we’ll notify winners by email.The Welcome Kiosk (between the Bookstore and the Library) is open all year between 8am and 4pm, Monday to Friday.

PRIZES SPONSORED BY CHARTWELLS

sweet tweets of the week

@tbabii_martian:D been a great 1st day, classes fixed,

books bought, ready for my first

class’ and I’m done at 11:50! Couldn’t

ask for more #fanshawe

@MadiSpriggsxo so proud of my momma who started

her first day as a prof at fanshawe

today! #yougogirl #loveyou

@jonathonvieira

Lmao the class next to mine is play-

ing techno music and partying....is

this fanshawe or western??!

@MeShawnyBNo classes on the ground floor this

semester! :) #Fanshawe #MovinOnUp

@PubMilosBy shopping locally, you are helping

local economy more that govern-

ment handouts #SupportLocal

#LdnOnt

@HollysHopeLee#ldnont: sidewalks r slippery.found

out the ouchy way#groundishard

@FanshaweLibraryNormal library hours start again

today including evenings and Sun-

day. You can find our full hours here

http://ow.ly/fGAfW #Fanshawe

@d_deelstra $36 dollars online for a textbook

that’s sold for over 200 at the

fanshawe bookstore?? #igotadeal or

#thebookstoreisarip!

@itsjennerI need to say I LOVE the same sex

couples included in the Poags Jewel-

lers commercials! #ldnont

@themetrolondon#Fanshawe downtown campus

coming along. #ldnont http://ow.ly/

gCgSS

@inspireldnont#LdnOnt, Treat people like mirrors &

watch how you reflect in their eyes.

@LdnTechJobsLess than a month to prepare for @

EmployON Job Fair on Feb13 #LdnOnt

-http://londonjobfair.ca

@Calligordonlife would have been a lot better if

I was always this excited to go to

school #Anticipation #Funshawe

#London #Res #Friend

The Larry Myny MentorshipProgram has been connectingFanshawe students with industryprofessionals for over six years,making over 400 matches in thattime.

In 2012 alone, the programmade over 100 matches. “We’rehappy to have the most matchesthat we’ve ever had in the pro-gram before,” said Derek Collins-Newman, the program’s coordina-tor. “I’m looking forward to someexcellent reviews and feedback inthe spring.”

The 100th match was madebetween Justin Duckett, currentlycompleting his graduate certifi-cate in Broadcast Journalism atFanshawe, and Sean Irvine, aweekend anchor for CTV News inLondon and Windsor

“I get to sit down with Sean andmeet once every week (or two).He can look at my schoolworkthat I’ve done, and we can talkabout it and (he) can tell me waysto improve,” Duckett explained.“When you sit down and talk tosomeone who’s been in … (thejournalism industry) for 20-plusyears, it seems like anything hewould say I can just soak in andlearn.”

Irvine, who graduated fromFanshawe’s Broadcast Journalismprogram in the early 1990s, saidhe saw the mentorship program as“an opportunity to give back tothe school that I learned a lot ofthe practical skills I use every dayfrom.”

Most of the program’s mentor-ships run from September toApril. Irvine and Duckett willhave a shortened mentorship,since they were paired up inDecember and Duckett will bemoving to Toronto in March tocomplete an internship at GlobalTV. Despite the fact that theirtime will be cut a bit short, Irvinehad big plans for the mentorship.He said he planned to giveDuckett firsthand accounts of

what it’s like to be a journalist bytalking about his own career path.He added that he will also giveDuckett a tour of the CTV facili-ties to show him what it’s like tobe in a real newsroom. “He has awide variety of interests as towhere he might want to end up(after graduation), so it’ll be anopportunity for him to not onlysee what I do but what otherswithin the station facility do.”

Duckett said he was lookingforward to working with Irvine.“Sean seems like a really nice guy… It’s really cool that he’s willingto help out in this; he has no obli-gation to do this, he’s the one whooffered and wants to help us out.”

The Larry Myny MentorshipProgram matches Fanshawe stu-dents with mentors in their indus-try – often Fanshawe grads them-selves. Collins-Newman said hetakes many factors into considera-tion when making a match,including the student’s program,where they see themselves goingin the future, their age, and whatthe student is looking for in amentor. “Personality as well – Iget to know the mentor and thementee separately, so I kind of getto know their personalities and Itry to match up which would bethe best fit in terms of personali-ty.”

Duckett said he would recom-mend the program to “anyonewho’s serious about their school-work and serious about getting themost they can out of the short timewe are in school. It seems likethere’s no downside to doing it;there are only positives that cancome of doing it. It doesn’t takeup very much of your time, youcan learn a ton and meet people inthe industry.”

The Larry Myny MentorshipProgram debuted as a pilot projectcalled the Fanshawe CollegeAlumni Association MentoringEdge in September 2004, official-ly launching under the MentoringFor Success name in September2005. In 2011, the program gained

the sponsorship of Larry Myny,Vice President and senior invest-ment advisor with CIBC WoodGundy.

The Larry Myny MentorshipProgram is not currently acceptingapplications, but will reopen inSeptember. For more informationabout the program, check outmentoringfanshawe.com.

ERIKA FAUST INTERROBANG

Mentorship programmakes 100th match


CREDIT: LARRY MYNY MENTORSHIP PROGRAM

Sean Irvine (left) is mentoring Fanshawe Broadcast Journalism student Justin Duckett (right) through the LarryMyny Mentorship Program. Larry Myny (centre) was proud to present them as the 100th match made for 2012.

Monday, January 21 may beknown as the saddest day of theyear, but the College StudentAlliance (CSA) is choosing thatday to send a positive message.“Blue Monday” is the first-everprovince-wide mental awarenessday for all CSA member col-leges.

“I think it’s great that they’refinally reaching out and usingtheir money and their power andconnections to really get outthere and make something visibleacross multiple schools at onetime,” said Fanshawe StudentUnion President Zack Dodge.

Blue Monday at Fanshawe willfeature a large service fair in Fhallway with booths set up fromorganizations around the com-munity and at Fanshawe.Counselling and AccessibilityServices will be there along witha booth from the FSU. “We’ll bereaching out to talk about theprogram and what the day repre-sents and obviously the theme ismental wellness. We once againjust want to break that stigma-tism towards it,” said Dodge.

At noon on January 21, localcountry artist Stephanie McIlroywill be coming to Forwell Hall.“She’s battled mental illness allthroughout her teens and youngadult life,” said Dodge. “She’sturned it around quite positivelyand has a relatively successfulcountry group, so they’re gonnacome in and do a speaker series

session mixed with an acousticsit down.”

In addition to the service fairand music nooner, the FSU isbringing back puppies and kit-tens! PAWS (ProgressiveAnimal Welfare Services) iscoming back to the StudentCentre with dogs and cats,spreading happiness throughoutthe halls.

Dodge emphasized the impor-tance of students addressingmental health issues. “I thinkmental wellness is probably thelargest concern that many stu-dents have, because aside fromfinances, academics and yourphysical health, I think keepingyour head straight when trying toabsorb new knowledge is essen-tial.”

Blue Monday will allow stu-dents to connect with one anoth-er in-person and online. Therewill be a social media postcardcampaign that will allow stu-dents to share their mentalawareness tips, stories or posi-tive experiences.

“Blue Monday is blowing thelid off the concerns and its givingyou an open form to connect withother students who may havesimilar concerns,” said Dodge.“It’s just shining some light on apositive motion because mentalhealth is often related to sad sto-ries and sad experiences. At theend of the day, this can be a turn-around moment for many stu-dents and sometimes the bestway to solve your problems is tobe aware of them.”

MELANIE ANDERSONINTERROBANG

Blue Monday aims toimprove mental wellness


A six-part series of talks byNature London is showingLondoners the importance of pro-tecting and preserving the wildercitizens of our city, from backyardbirds to beavers and turtles, not tomention all sorts of plant life.

The goal of these Nature in theCity talks is to make “everybody inLondon more familiar with the nat-ural environment, with the hopesthat they will thus figure out howto protect it,” said Pat Tripp, amember of Nature London and oneof the organizers of the program.Nature London hopes to inspirepeople to “individually, collective-ly and politically” take action onissues local flora and fauna are fac-ing.

This is the eighth year Nature inthe City talks will be presented.Last year saw an average of 300audience members per event.

Each of the six talks will begiven by a local expert showing ahighly visual PowerPoint presenta-tion. “Turtle Tales will be particu-larly good because Will Lyons hasspent a lot of time on his stomachrecording local turtles, filmingthem,” said Tripp. Lyons is a keenobserver who will give attendeeson February 5 a first-person viewof local turtles.

“Nature in the City is just one ofthe things that Nature London

does,” Tripp said. “Nature Londonis the local naturalist group and …has its own meetings throughoutthe year and … (makes) efforts toprotect nature.” The group meetsto discuss environmental issuesand take field trips, and there is aspecial birding wing of the organi-zation for people interested in ourfine feathered friends.

The Nature in the City series oflectures is sponsored by NatureLondon and the London PublicLibrary. Each of the six lectureswill take place at the WolfPerformance Hall in the CentralLibrary at 251 Dundas St. Theyrun from 7:30 to 8:30 p.m. everyTuesday from January 15 toFebruary 26 and are free to attend.

Check out naturelondon.ca formore information on NatureLondon.

The Nature in the City series of talkspresents a sampling of London’s wildspecies and the places they call home.

JANUARY 15Urban Beavers: Admirable Engineers orAnnoying Nuisances?

Outdoor educator Tom Purdy explainshow local beavers make a living andprovides insight into the ways of theseenterprising but not-always-welcomeneighbours.

JANUARY 22Ferns and Their Allies: Feathery andFascinating

Western University botanist JaneBowles describes local fern speciesand reveals the secrets of this ancientgroup of flowerless plants.

JANUARY 29Backyard Birds: Guess Who’s Comingto Dinner?

Local birder Gail McNeil reviews theroster of potential visitors and offerspractical tips for attracting migrant andresident avian guests to your yard.

FEBRUARY 5Turtle Tales: Tracking an Elusive Quarry

Will Lyons, teacher and turtle fan, slith-ers through mud, water and under-growth to encounter the private lives ofLondon’s turtles. He shares his adven-tures and amazing video footage.

FEBRUARY 12Green Roofs: A Cool Overhead Trend

Kees Govers of LiveRoof Ontarioexplains the rationale, benefits, chal-lenges and how-to’s of transformingurban roofs into cooling oases wheregrowing things reign supreme.

FEBRUARY 19Westminster Ponds: Legacy of Glaciers

Naturalist Dave Wake introducesLondon’s largest natural area, the 250-hectare Westminster Ponds – PondMills Environmentally Significant Area.It features a rich history, woodlands,meadows, unusual species and more.

ERIKA FAUSTINTERROBANG

Getting wild in the Forest CityThe Ontario government is mak-

ing it more difficult for under-agecitizens to purchase alcohol andtobacco. All driver’s licences andphoto cards issued after January 1,2013 will display a new identifierthat clearly shows when the card-holder turns 19, the legal age to pur-chase alcohol and tobacco productsin Ontario.

Minister of Transportation BobCharelli said it’s a joint decisionfrom across the province. “Our gov-ernment has heard from the retailsector and public health units acrossOntario. We’ve taken action to keepyouth in Ontario safe by includingthe date a person is 19 years of ageon Ontario’s driver’s licence andphoto cards.”

The identifier will read “age 19”followed by the exact date the card-holder turns 19, all in bold letters.The new text will be located at thebottom of the ID beside the date ofbirth. This isn’t a new trend amongother Canadian provinces; Quebecis now the only province that does-n’t have an age identifier on its dri-ver’s licence cards.

Sean (who asked that his last namebe withheld), a local bouncer, said hedoesn’t think it will help much. “Idon’t think the change will impactbar security because most bars onlyhave a select few bouncers that ever

handle the actual ID-ing, and that isusually the more senior staff that hasexperience with fake IDs and thingsto look for. We do get quite a fewunder-agers, but with fake IDs theyuse someone else’s, so if that personis 19, it will still say they are 19 onthe card they hand us.”

Sean did say, however, hebelieves it will make it more diffi-cult for people under the age of 19to purchase alcohol. “This willmore help Beer Store, LCBO andconvenience store workers becausethey are untrained in detectingunder-age and fake IDs, where barsecurity is required by the govern-ment to take the required course,which helps with the process.”

Drivers under 19 years of age whoare drinking are two times more like-ly to be involved in a fatal collisioncompared to older drivers. TheMcGuinty government is working tohelp prevent youth from smokingand drinking at home and on theroad. “Injury and substance abuseprevention are key priorities for thepublic health system in Ontario. Thisinitiative will help keep Ontario’syouth healthy and safe,” said Dr.Arlene King, Ontario’s chief med-ical officer of health.

Ontarians can get their G1 dri-ver’s licence as young as 16. Thereare approximately 150,000 cardsissued to drivers under the age of 19each year.


Ontario introduces new ageidentifier on driver’s licences


Students who are the first gener-ation of their family to attend post-secondary education (that is, theirparents didn’t attend college or uni-versity) may face unique challengesin attending school, such as anxietyabout not knowing what to expector negativity from family members.

Jocelyn Fry, who is the first per-son in her immediate family toattend college, just finished herthird semester of Fanshawe’sTravel and Tourism program. “It’sdifferent because my parents don’tknow the whole college experience,so they don’t exactly know whatI’m going through with the courseload and assignments, how strict itis to get everything in on time andhow busy I really am,” sheexplained.

She said one of the biggest chal-lenges she’s faced was that she did-n’t know college would be so dif-ferent from high school. “It’s a lotdifferent. I don’t think people knowthat when they come in. It’s moreserious.”

Fortunately for Fry and other firstgeneration students, Fanshawe hasa support system in place.

Jan Robblee is the student suc-cess advisor for all of Fanshawe’sfirst generation students. She pro-vides a listening ear for the emo-tional side of being a first genera-tion student, and she comes into thejob with firsthand experience. “Iunderstand what it’s like to be amature student and also have a fam-

ily and go to school,” she said. Shegraduated from Fanshawe’sComputer Systems Support pro-gram 16 years ago while working atthe College and raising two public-school-aged children.

As the first generation studentsuccess advisor, Robblee’s mainfocus is on support, and while shecan’t have one-on-one meetingswith every one of the 3,000 first-generation students at Fanshawe,she can point them to resources oncampus.

Online, students can turn toFanshawe’s page for first genera-tion students(www.fanshawec.ca/1stGen),which contains information for stu-dents and their families. There isalso the First Year @ Fanshawep a g e(www.fanshawec.ca/firstyear),which is a helpful resource thatlinks to all kinds of informationabout what students need to knowabout attending Fanshawe. TheBecoming a Better Student freeonline class (accessible throughFanshaweOnline, click on SelfRegistration in the top right corner)offers tips for study strategies, goal-setting, time management andmore.

Another source of support is thestaff at Career Services (D1063),who have online services to helpstudents find jobs, define strategiesfor effective job searches and more.Students can also take a personalityand aptitude test at Counselling andAccessibility Services (F2010) to

explore future careers and discussthe results with a counsellor.

There is help on the financial sideof things, too. First generation stu-dents can apply to the FirstGeneration Student Bursary onceevery year. Winter intake studentscan apply for the bursary betweenJanuary 21 and February 8;Summer semester intake studentsmust apply in May, and Fall semes-ter intake students apply inSeptember. Applicants must submita short essay that discusses the chal-lenges and rewards of being a firstgeneration student. This bursary,worth up to $1,000, is based onfinancial need. For more informa-tion, visit fanshawemoney.ca andscroll down to the “Apply forBursaries” link.

Robblee is hosting a meet andgreet event for first generation stu-dents on January 15 from 4 to 6:30p.m. The event will take place inSC2014 in the Student Centrebuilding and will highlight impor-tant information about FanshaweCollege. It will also feature a panelof first generation students speak-ing about their own experiences.It’s free to attend and there will befood and drinks. If you’re interestedin attending, send an email toRobblee.

Students who have questions orconcerns about being a first genera-tion student can contact Robblee byemail: [email protected] orby phone: 519-452-4430 ext. 3914.She is also available to chat byappointment.


First generation students findsupport at Fanshawe

It’s the start of a new semester,and in addition to new classes, newteachers and tons of homework,it’s also time to get your hands onsome free money.

The college wide awards havebeen open since early Decemberand Winter semester bursaries justopened up a few days ago, so thereare plenty of opportunities to apply– and now is the time to do it, asmost applications are due onFebruary 15.

There are some common ques-tions students have when talkingabout student awards, saidDanielle Steele, an awards officerat Fanshawe. First of all, what’sthe difference between a bursaryand a scholarship? According tothe Student Awards sheet distrib-uted by the Student Awards office,

a bursary is a non-repayable awardgiven out based on financial need;a scholarship is also a non-repayable award but is awardedbased on criteria such as academicperformance, leadership or volun-teerism.

Students also want to know howthey’ll be notified if they win, con-tinued Steele. If you are awarded abursary or scholarship, you’ll benotified through FanshaweOnline,so be sure to check your FOLaccount regularly.

Finally, students wonder how toapply. Check out fanshawebur-saries.com, an easy-to-use onlinesystem that shows what’s open andthe criteria to apply. “We tell stu-dents … apply for anything andeverything that they feel they meetthe criteria for,” said Steele.

Don’t be discouraged by thebursaries or scholarships that

require you to write an essay toapply. “A minimum award orscholarship is $500 for maybe ahalf-hour of work,” said Steele.“You can’t work (at a part-timejob) for a half an hour and make$500 to $1,000-plus.”

For a full list of college-wideawards currently accepting appli-cations, head towww.fanshawec.ca/postsec. A fewother resources to check out arescholarshipscanada.com and stu-dentawards.com, two websites thatmake it their mission to connectCanadian students with the wealthof free money available.

If you have more questions orwant some help navigating theworld of student awards, theAwards and Scholarships office inK1003 is open from 9 a.m. to 4p.m. Monday to Friday.


CREDIT: STUDENTS.UBC.CA

The only way to tap into student bursaries and scholarships is to apply. Fanshawe College has many bursariesand scholarships waiting to be applied for. Visit fanshawebursaries.com for a full list.

Greyhound has announced thata new Express bus will travelfrom Western University toToronto on weekends, andFanshawe’s hopping on board.

Whether you’re thinking ofdoing some sightseeing or travel-ling home for the weekend, thisservice provides an easy and inex-pensive way to travel to Torontofor a weekend. The express serv-ice can cost as little as $1 eachway if you book your trip farenough in advance.

There are currently two pick-upand drop-off points forGreyhound Express at WesternUniversity: at the RichmondStreet main gates and on OxfordDrive opposite Lawson Hall. Theroute offers two daily trips toToronto on Fridays and returnsSundays.

Fanshawe Biz Booth supervisorKevin Masterson says he is in

contact with Greyhound represen-tatives and should have aFanshawe Express bus service upand running by January 18.Masterson has high hopes for thenew service. “If we do one likethat, where it leaves every Fridayand returns every Sunday, thenwe’ll have students that will waitfor that one (bus) – especially ifit’s a discounted fare.”

The bus provides non-stop serv-ice to Toronto, reserved seats, freeWi-Fi and power outlets.

This announcement comes justtwo months after Greyhoundexpanded the express service fromToronto to London; Windsor; AnnArbor, Michigan; Detroit; andChicago. The new WesternUniversity stop began on January11, and will continue to run onFriday and Sundays.

For tickets or more informationabout schedules or fares, visitgreyhound.ca/express.


New bus service connectsstudents to T.O

Relax, de-stress, focus. Thisyear, Fanshawe’s Counselling andAccessibility Services is offeringfree meditation classes for stu-dents. It’s a chance to catch yourbreath and find relaxation amidstyour new classes and course load.The classes will be held everyTuesday and Thursday from 4 to4:20 p.m. starting January 15 in

room F2010. Take advice from the Dalai

Lama: “The basic sources of hap-piness are a good heart, compas-sion, and love. If we have thesemental attitudes, even if we aresurrounded by hostility, we feel lit-tle disturbances. On the otherhand, if we lack compassion andour mental state is filled with angeror hatred, we will not have peace.”

HANNAH LECTERINTERROBANG

Need a break? Meditate

CREDIT: CITYNEWS.CA

A new Greyhound express bus service to Toronto that can cost as a littleas $1 has already begun at Western University, and should be offered atFanshawe by January 18.

Time to apply for bursaries andscholarships

OPINION LETTERS TO THE EDITOR [email protected] 6


In social programming, they call it a“wicked problem”: a social or cultural prob-lem that seems impossible to change becauseof the complexity of the issue. It’s an aptterm to describe Aboriginal Affairs inCanada.

Attawapiskat Chief Theresa Spence begana hunger strike to draw attention to the livingconditions on the Attawapiskat reserve andto pressure Prime Minister Stephen Harperinto a meeting. Over three weeks into thehunger strike, Harper agreed to meet withSpence and other First Nations leaders onJanuary 11. Since then, the discussion hastaken an abrupt left-turn. Sun News startedtaking numbers from the financial state-ments on the Attawapiskat website anddrawing some questionable conclusions.Kent Driscoll gave some insight into thenumber discrepancies in his article onAPTN.ca, but the net result has been that thefocus has shifted from the needy to thefinances.

There is a lot of evidence supporting theclaim that the federal dollars allocated toAttawapiskat have been seriously mishan-dled, but this isn’t exactly a revelation todecision makers. The rhetoric surroundingreserve funding is well established and itappears to be on the verge of consuming yetanother opportunity for actual change. ChiefSpence does herself and those she stands fora disservice by undermining concerns abouther handling of the Attawapiskat finances.While she likely believes that she is stayingon message and avoiding distractions, thefederal audit will reportedly disprove herclaims that the reserve’s money is well han-dled and her credibility will dissolve.

This time last year, Attawapiskat was in astate of national emergency, citing poorhousing, living conditions and sanitation.Fast-forward to today and very little haschanged. While the financial statementsshow relatively large transfers to the town,it’s an isolated reserve that would obviouslyrequire marginally higher transfers toachieve living conditions comparable toreserves near densely populated areas. Toadd fuel to the fire, an audit of how moneyfrom the federal government is used inAttawapiskat has been pending and is nowset to be released. It’s no secret that thereport is highly critical of how about $90million was used in the community, and thisis just one issue that the January 11 meetingbetween the Chiefs and Stephen Harper hadto deal with.

What gets lost in the rhetoric is that thereare real people in Attawapiskat who arestarving, sick or don’t have adequate shelter.While the audit condemns the way fundshave been spent to date, and rightfully so, itserves as proof that funding isn’t the prob-lem. The amount of money going into thereserve is enough to provide adequate livingconditions for its inhabitants, yet this hasn’tbeen the case. The strategy until now hasbeen a patchwork quilt of funding, offers ofassistance, and an appointed city manager.

What’s needed is a comprehensive strate-gy that works with the people who need thehelp. The most difficult part of getting aid tothose who need it is the constant rhetoric thattakes the place of actual discussion. Untilthere is a sense that both sides are interestedin coming together in good faith, all we’llget is smoke signals.

Fundingcontroversy

Not so long ago I helped with their wed-ding. While upgrading her college educa-tion, she works at a Petro-Can station fuelingcars. He works for a computer graphics com-pany designing business cards, posters andflyers.

One of the more impressive fixtures intheir home is a book case filled withDragonlance novels. Obviously this couplespends a lot of time in a world that is muchdifferent from his cubicle and her postsbehind the gas station cash register and fuelpumps. They are two of the legions of fansof the novels and scores of associated boardgames, movies, books, and digital products.With names such as Dragons of the AutumnTwilight containing fantasy realms such asKrynn, Dragonlance novels and theircousins have grabbed a lot of attention.

The first of the three promised Hobbitfilms is out. I know that I myself will berevisiting Middle Earth again from time totime during the next few years. I just fin-ished, again, the Lord of the Rings trilogy, soI am fresh from a recent tour of the place.

Not that such journeys are for everyone.One distant cousin of mine has no patiencewith the Middle Earth’s Shire and the MistyMountains. “Lord of the Rings?” she asksincredulously. “Too many walks in thewoods for me.” Well, I guess there are a few.But the woods do have trolls, elves and talk-ing trees, not to mention black riders anddragons – all keeping the walks quite inter-esting compared to the ones I have taken in,say, Fanshawe Park.

These fantasies have a Medieval feel tothem and hearken back to pre-modern storiesand myths. They make use of fantastic natu-ral scenery and their characters are involvedin struggles of often epic scale.

My sense is that those aspects of fantasystorytelling explain why readers are attract-ed to them. But do those works have an

appeal that runs deeper? It seems to me that fantasy writing taps

into a strong desire to find that life has moreto offer than whatever is on the table for a lotof us – than, say, an office cubical or runninga gas pump. Many of us have made anuneasy peace with a world that offers plentyof material possessions, high-paying careers,more material possessions, a terrific bodyand, well, even more possessions. Of course,that offer comes with the understanding that,depending on the economy, funding sources,the affordability of gym memberships, deathand taxes, it could be withdrawn any minute.

Somewhere in the hearts or minds ofmany people is a hope that in the end, thereis some way to get to a place that has lessconcrete and glass, less bureaucracy; a placethat is free from constant upgrading andever-increasing layers of accountability. Aplace where friendships trump the bottomline.

We often desire, even if we don’t knowwhat to do with that desire, a path to a worldof unspoiled ancient landscapes, wherequests for beauty, love, friendship, heroismand peace are considered worthy, admirable.

There’s a great scene in one of the Jesusmovies where he is talking with the people.He says, “Those with power and moneythink they own the world. (Pause.) And, theydo. (Another pause.) But what can they buywith all that money? (Pause again.) Moneycannot buy a good heart.”

I am not an expert in fantasy writing orfilm. But I’ve concluded that one of the mes-sages of good fantasy literature is this: Ourmaterialistic, consumeristic, sophisticatedforms of life may seem very impressive, butthey do not satisfy the need for a good life –and a good heart – that so many search for.We’ll have to turn elsewhere for support inthe quest for a good heart, and an admirablelife.

You have probably seen the first install-ment of The Hobbit (unless you are on sidewith my cousin). A fantasy though it is, Ihope it encourages your and my quest forsomething authentic, real, wonderful andworth celebrating in future generations. Infact, as you might have guessed, I think thatthe teachings of Jesus are exactly the placefor that quest to start.

VICTOR DE JONGINTERROBANG

NOTES FROM DAY SEVENMICHAEL [email protected]

The appeal of dragons

CREDIT: DRAGONSPICTURES.INFO

Dragons are one form of fantasy that helps people escape into other worlds.

Attawapiskat Chief Theresa Spence onParliament HIll in Ottawa

You ever walk into a room and ‘feel thetension’? I think some people even proceedto cut it with a knife (although they may lookstrange). That is how the world feels to me;TENSION is a weekly column dedicated tothe smaller irritations in life.

Who are you when you are alone? Who are we when we don our uniforms?

What do these outer trappings have to dowith our personality? Our clothes project ourpersonality to the world. Our shirts, ourshoes, our hair, our makeup and our smellsall tell the story of us. But when it comes todriving our cars, it seems that most of usbecome assholes.

Our streets have become a battlefield ofgrumpy, texting, swerving, no signaling,lane-changing, red light-running, egocentricdrivers looking for a quicker path tonowhere, fast. We all stand back and watchas another is cut off, tailed-gated and honkedat while mouthing soundless expletivesthrough rolled up windows.

There is a number of irritating driver typeson our streets, and here are but a few:

Snowballs:These are ladies aged somewhere between

retirement and paying for dinner at SwissChalet with old hair curlers. You can spotthem by the plumes of white Judge Judy hairpeeking out from behind the wheels of con-servative, middle-of-the-road, four-doorsedans. They slowly make their way fromthe pharmacy to their daily appointment atthe hairdressers, with perhaps the occasional

stop at the cleaners to pick up their pantsuits.Snowballs are prone to being overcautious,and slow to make decisions on the road.

Snowmen:These are the still-living husbands of

Snowballs driving in pristine 1979 darkbrown Oldsmobiles with a front seat so largeyou could film an episode of The Big ComfyCouch on it. The only real problem here isthe space dedicated to these behemoths inleft turns, the Home Hardware parking lotand their carbon footprint.

Soccer Moms:When they’re not too busy leaving their

shopping carts in the middle of a parking lotor adding stick-people stickers to the back oftheir mini vans, the Soccer Mom is a dis-tracted driver. Driving is continually inter-rupted with the needs of kids, thoughts ofChristian Grey and the guilt of putting Momin a home after she tried to pay for dinnerwith a bunch of old hair curlers.

Soccer mom’s daughter:Get off the phone.Closet rednecks:Middle-aged, conservative, blue-collar,

thinning hair covered with a baseball hat,with a leftover Movember goatee that slight-ly hides their growing double chin. Thesemen drive two-door Mustangs, Hummersand new Dodge pickups with key-activatedhorn-honking locks. They slowly seethe atthe state of the roads while mumbling aboutwomen drivers, ethnics and teenage trashthat they glare at while waiting at stop lights,hoping to catch their eye for a moment ofopen defiance… unless it’s a girl – then theyare looking for cleavage. The ClosetRedneck changes lanes without signaling,speeds up at yellow lights, turns left wellpast the advance green and clogs the TimHortons drive-thru.

Homies:You can feel the BOOM BOOM a block

before they pull up beside you. It starts witha slight tickle at the base of your spine andends with a white-knuckled apprehensionthat one would feel if a bunch of bats justswooped into your car. You hazard a glancethrough tinted windows to see a slow headbob, sunglasses and a self-satisfied smirkthat comes and goes with the slow sway of apair of garters hanging from the mirror. TheHomie owns the road (and the airwaves);they are overconfident and fast, and theirdroopy pants or fake gold necklace may getcaught in the brake pedal.

There are as many irritating personas onour streets as there are words to describethem: the white trash Walmart women, theless endowed, the I-overreact-to-everythingperson, the I-take-up-two-spots-in-a-park-ing-lot guy, and the I always-go-the-speed-

limit-unless-I-am-by-my-house-then-I-go-slower women.

What does your car and your driving sayabout you? Why is it that our personachanges as fast as turning the key in the igni-tion? The windshield allows us to becomeoverconfident, angry and honest. After all,we would never flip the bird to someone whowalks too close in front of us in the grocerystore. Try that sometime!

It doesn’t really matter; in the end, we areall going to be paying for our quarter-chick-en dinners with old hair curlers, anyway.

With the explosion of Internet traffic,incidents of identity theft have increaseddramatically. The Canadian Council ofBetter Business Bureaus estimates that iden-tity theft costs Canadian consumers, banks,businesses and credit card firms over $2 bil-lion annually. What is identity theft, andhow can you protect yourself against it?

What is identity theft?Identity theft occurs when an individual

collects and uses another person’s personalinformation (name, address, SIN, date ofbirth, etc.) without that person’s knowledgeor consent. The identity thief may use thisinformation to open bank accounts, to applyfor loans or credit cards, or to go on shop-ping sprees using the victim’s funds or cred-it. Identity thieves can cost a victim signifi-cant amounts of lost time and money. Youmay be a victim of identity theft if younotice unusual activity within your bank orother financial accounts. Your statementsmay show withdrawals and transfers thatyou did not make. You may receive callsfrom collections agencies or creditors aboutunpaid balances that you do not owe.Finally, you may find yourself being reject-ed for credit cards or loans for reasons notmatching your known financial position.

How can you prevent identity theft?Securing your sensitive information and

making it inaccessible to others is the mosteffective way to prevent identity theft.Identity thieves obtain information fromnumerous sources, including wallets, purs-

es, homes, vehicles, computers, mailboxesand by telephone. Thieves may remove doc-uments containing personal informationfrom garbage or recycling bins. Shred allsuch documents before disposing of them.Never loan your debit or credit card tosomeone, and never give anyone your PINnumber. Avoid posting personal informa-tion on websites like Facebook or MySpace,and always be sure to run up-to-dateantivirus software. Finally, unless you initi-ated the contact with a known and trustedperson or entity, never give personal infor-mation over the telephone, through the mail,or in response to emails. Remember thatlegitimate vendors and organizations willnot request this personal informationthrough email.

Which laws deal with identity theft?The Canadian Criminal Code was recent-

ly amended to include three new criminaloffences related to identity theft, all ofwhich carry five-year maximum prison sen-tences. The offences include obtaining andpossessing identity information with theintent to use it dishonestly, trafficking inidentity information, and unlawfully pos-sessing someone else’s government-issuedidentity documents. The Criminal Codeallows a court to order an identity thief torepay a victim for actual money or propertylost. The court may also order the thief tocompensate a victim for costs associatedwith the effort to rehabilitate his or her iden-tity.

What should I do if I am a victim ofidentity theft?

If you are a victim of identity theft, youshould take immediate action. Contact eachof your financial and credit card institutions,and any other company that you know pro-vided the thief with credit, money, goods or

services. Also contact Canada’s two nation-al credit reporting agencies: TransUnionand Equifax. Report the incident to yourlocal police department, and get a copy ofany available police report. Finally, reportthe incident to the Canadian Anti-FraudCentre. If credit cards or government-issueddocuments have been lost or stolen, youshould notify the issuing authority immedi-ately in order for them to cancel the card ordocument and issue you a new one. The“lost wallet” site at tinyurl.com/cdn-lost-wallet has links to key federal and provin-cial document issuers to assist with thisprocess.

For more information, we encourage youto contact the Ministry of ConsumerServices at ontario.ca/mcs or toll free at 1-800-889-9768, and the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre website at antifraudcentre-centreantifraude.ca. In addition, you canfind more information about consumer pro-tection topics at any time in a series ofCommunity Law School webinars archivedonline at yourlegalrights.on.ca/training-topic/consumer-law. Be empowered, andstay tuned.

This column is brought to you byCommunity Law School (Sarnia-Lambton)Inc., and Community Legal Services andPro Bono Students Canada at WesternUniversity, with financial support from theLaw Foundation of Ontario. It provideslegal information only. The information isaccurate as of the date of publication. Lawschange frequently so we caution readersfrom relying on this information if sometime has passed since publication. If youneed specific legal advice please contact alawyer, your community legal clinic, JusticeNet at 1-866-919-3219 or the Law SocietyReferral Service at 1-800-268-8326.



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reserved. The Interrobang is published weekly by the FanshaweStudent Union at 1001 Fanshawe College Blvd., Room SC1012,London, Ontario, N5Y 5R6 and distributed through theFanshawe College community. Letters to the editor are welcome. All letters are subject to edit-ing and should be emailed. All letters must be accompanied bycontact information. Letters can also be submitted online atwww.fsu.ca/interrobang/ by following the Interrobang links.

Driven to madness

CREDIT: CALYPSOCAFECHICAGO.COM

Soccer Moms can be seriously distracted drivers.

LAW TALKCommunity Legal Services & ProBono Students Canada (UWO)519-661-3352

TENSIONFRANK YEW (B.O.L.)

Who is who? Protectingyourself from identity theft



I recently took up a part-time role as theadministrator for a business wherein I wasreplacing an elderly lady who had committedherself to said organization for 30-plus years.Now this is no insult to her or her abilities, butwhat I inherited in terms of office files, sup-plies and documents can only be described asfrighteningly overwhelming. It’s as thoughshe NEVER – and I mean NEVER – threwout anything in the whole time period sheworked there.

I understand it’s one thing to hold ontoimportant membership, financial or construc-tion-related files as you never know when youmay need to reference them again in the future– that part I understand. What I CANNOTcome to terms with is why she felt it necessaryto hold onto the scrap pieces of waste paperfrom which you peel off mailing labels, knit-ting patterns from the 1960s, instruction man-uals for DOS discs and typewriters, out-of-date volunteer schedules and mail-order cata-logs, burnt-out light bulbs, used plastic foodtrays, and at least two decade-old sugar andother condiment packets that would no doubtcause serious illness upon ingestion… that is,

unless she had an issue when it comes to let-ting things go.

With shows such as Buried Alive, the abovedescribed compulsive behaviour known as“hoarding” has seen a great deal of exposurein recent years. With any “TV land” depiction,however, the complexity of this psychologicalcondition is typically only characterized insuperficial terms leading the general public tobelieve that, in behaviour therapist JasonElias’ point of view, “these people are justslobs or lazy.” In reality, this perceptioncouldn’t be further from the truth.

From an evolutionary stance, the impulse toamass goods can be traced to both our sur-vivalist instincts and, believe it or not, ourmating practices. As biologist Tom Waiteexplains, in the animal kingdom, manyspecies will “hoard” an excessive amount offood in preparation for “survival” over thewinter months or long journeys. In referenceto the second point, male animals, in particu-lar, also commonly “collect” and display theirvarious accomplishments in order to attractdesirable female mates. In summary, theamassment of food, carcasses and the like – inother words, “hoarding” – is effective inattracting mates because it demonstrates thatthe given animal is strong and smart, but moreimportantly, a good candidate for “providing”and/or “leading.” Wouldn’t you know it?Humans desire the same traits in their roman-tic partners!

Let’s return to my administrative predeces-sor for a moment. One thing I’d specificallylike to draw your attention to is her age. Now,obsessive-compulsive behaviours can affectany and all demographics, but something tokeep in mind when it comes to older folksseemingly affected by this disorder is thatmany of them likely lived through extremelytrying economic times, such as the GreatDepression. Why is this important? Well,quite simply, if you experienced havingNOTHING, EVERYTHING becomes essen-tial and worth holding onto, especially if youdevelop a paranoia that circumstances couldrevert back to how they were.

The next point worth mentioning is thatthroughout my training with this woman, therewas not a single moment where she madesmall-talk references to a husband, family orchildren. When someone occupies a space forthat long a period of time, they typically havepersonal mementos on display; interestingly,there were NONE. While she may have justbeen a very private person, another convinc-ing theory is that this career – her work – wasliterally all she had and the only way she wasable to “define”/”express” her identity.Consequently, she took great pride in what shedid and EVERYTHING, including the every-day minutia, became significant and wasworth keeping.

Psychologists have noted that hoardingtends to coexist with a “profound inability to

make decisions,” according to DiscoverMagazine, and may even be linked to otherafflictions such as depression, which is recog-nized as having debilitating effects on an indi-vidual’s motivation. Why my predecessorcouldn’t throw anything out I’ll never knowfor certain, but scientists agree that this behav-iour in humans is “a natural and adaptiveinstinct gone amok,” to put it lightly.

As Christmas has just passed and, no doubt,in line with the season’s modern day practice,all of you were showered with more and more“stuff” as per the requests on your wish lists, Ithink it’s important that you ask yourselvesthe following questions:

1. Why did I want these items?2. What do these items mean to me?3. How do these items define me?4. Could I live without these items?While I’m not making the insinuation that

any of you suffer from the above discussedpsychological dilemma, I believe it’s impor-tant to understand and assess your desire formaterial things. While we’re all allowed tosplurge once in a while, the psychologicallymature/psychologically balanced can effec-tively distinguish between their needs andwants as well as the significant and insignif-icant. In other words, just as the saying goeswhen it comes to true friends, you should beable count the most important items in yourlife on one hand.

A few too many of my favourite things

PSYCH YOUR MINDROSE CORA PERRY www.rosecoraperry.com

When it comes to exercising, some peoplecompare the feeling that they get to a ‘high.’They feel rejuvenated and often in high spir-its. You may have heard this referred to asthe ‘runner’s high,’ however there is a mis-conception that you need to actually get outand go for a run in order to feel this way.

As Guy Faulkner, professor ofKinesiology and Physical Education at theUniversity of Toronto, points out, it is diffi-cult for the average person to achieve a ‘run-ner’s high,’ yet it does not take a full on boutof exercise to feel improved. Even a simplewalk for 10 minutes at a moderate to lightintensity is enough to make you feel better.It’s easy to just step outside on a small breakat work or school and go for a walk in orderto improve your feelings and reduce stress.“Going out for a run provides a temporarybreak from the stresses of the work day,”Faulkner has said. “For others, it’s a sense ofcompetence and mastery and learning a newskill.” Whether it’s a walk or run for fun, orthe competitive side of you that wants tomaster a certain distance and time, gettingactive can be positive for your mental health.

Faulkner goes on to mention that it is notonly the physical activity and ‘high’ thatmakes you feel better. He shows that just theroutine of having something to do andknowing what to do can make a change insomeone’s lifestyle and can act as a distrac-tion to their current problem.

When asked if the statement ‘exercisemakes people happier’ would be too crude,Faulkner responded, “I’d clarify the state-ment by suggesting that for some peoplewhat is important is the process of exercis-ing rather than the exercise, per se – forexample, interacting with other people,improving skills or feeling a sense of controlover what one’s body can do – these experi-ences might contribute to feelings of well-being.”

But what about when your mental healthneeds some help? There are many steps tohelp deal with depression, however the hard-est part is to get going. Anyone who hasexperienced depression will tell you howabsolutely drained and powerless you feel.It’s nearly impossible to even get out of bed

some days. As Paige Weahner points out inher article “Exercise and depression” onabout.com, in order to start, you must startwith even the smallest of things. Whetherit’s getting your shoes on just to get outsidefor a bit or finally picking up the dog’s leashto take the dog for a walk, you must startsomewhere and keep it simple. She thengoes on to mention that you must set easy,realistic goals for yourself, and keep in mindthe power of depression. Go easy on your-self; there is no sense getting upset over notbeing able to pull through, and every littlebit helps.

So now you might be asking yourself,what about the psychological benefits toprove this? To answer this question, we turnto a little stimulus called endorphins.Endorphins are chemicals released in thebody during a bout of exercise or workout.As stated on the WebMD “Exercise anddepression” page, “Endorphins also trigger apositive feeling in the body, similar to that ofmorphine. For example, the feeling that fol-lows a run or workout is often described as‘euphoric.’ That feeling, known as a ‘run-ner’s high,’ can be accompanied by a posi-tive and energizing outlook on life.”

The article continues: “Endorphins act asanalgesics, which means they diminish theperception of pain. They also act as seda-tives. They are manufactured in your brain,spinal cord, and many other parts of yourbody and are released in response to brainchemicals called neurotransmitters. Theneuron receptors endorphins bind to are thesame ones that bind some pain medicines.However, unlike with morphine, the activa-tion of these receptors by the body’s endor-phins does not lead to addiction or depend-ence.”

Do what you can, but don’t ever pushyourself beyond your limits. Depression is aserious thing, and is not meant to be takenlightly. Keep in mind that even the smallestbouts of exercise have the potential toincrease feelings of euphoria.

For more information on Guy Faulkner,check out tinyurl.com/depressionandexer-cise.

Chris Anderson is a Fitness and HealthPromotion student at Fanshawe College.

Exercise “high” whenfeeling down

CHRIS ANDERSON SPECIAL TO INTERROBANG

Students are always on the go, jugglingclasses, homework, jobs and, if there’s time,a social life, and it’s not always possible tofind time to eat a healthy meal or think abouta food budget. I’ve come up with an easysolution to both problems, and it’ll cost youless than $120 a month.

It seems very implausible that one personcan live well with just under $120 a month!This seems almost too good to be true, somewill say. The truth about this is, you shouldkeep busy in order for this to work as well.

You may be thinking I am going to tellyou to purchase 120 boxes of macaroni andcheese or 120 cups of ramen noodles. No, infact the diet I am about to share with you hasbeen thoroughly tested and analyzed byyours truly over 30 days.

Now, there are some things you are goingto have to part with (junk food, pop, juiceand dairy products, for the most part), but ifyou are able to consume this diet on a regu-lar basis it will help improve your efficiencyin more ways than one. This diet consists ofraw foods like carrots, apples, bananas,grapes, cucumbers and broccoli, and otherstaples like pasta, rice milk and hemp seeds.

Now, you might ask, is this all you con-sume each day? The truth is yes, it is my pri-mary diet and I only deviate from it whengoing out with friends with the money Isaved on groceries. Let me give you a briefbreakdown of the expenditures on a bi-weekly basis – the prices will fluctuateslightly, depending on your grocer of choiceor various promotions they might be run-ning, but this is essentially the average ofwhat I spend and consume:

- $2 for hemp seeds (protein)- $2 for rice milk (calcium)- $5 for five large packages of pasta (car-

bohydrates)- $23 for 30 cans of flavored tuna (pro-

tein)- $5 for three bushels of broccoli for boil-

ing or raw consumption (vitamins)- $2 for three bushels of bananas (potassi-

um)- $6 for two bags of Granny Smith apples

(vitamins)

- $3 for two pounds of red grapes (vita-mins and anti-oxidants)

- $6 for three pounds of baby carrots (vit-amins and minerals)

- $2 for two cucumbers (vitamins andminerals)

The total amount spent for this period willbe $56 in this instance for two whole weeksor $112 for an entire month. Some may saythis is not enough to sustain life, but take itfrom a man who is healthy and alert and onthe go all the time: this diet works forincreasing both mental and physical capabil-ities. If this diet is combined with an averageto intermediate workout regimen, you willshed weight in no time as well. If you use areusable bottle and drink water every day, itwill save you a lot of money, and our land-fills will thank you. There are many ways tobe creative with the food you purchase,whether you make salads or eat them indi-vidually, cooked or raw, there is a ton ofvariety.

As long as you have the desire to eat welland increase your expendable money, youwill flourish with this diet. Admittedly it isnot filled with various colourings, artificialsugars, sweeteners, MSG or other compo-nents of artificial nature, but your body willthank you and so will your wallet if youhave the willpower to stick to it.

How to eat well and save money

DAKOTA THOMPSONINTERROBANG

CREDIT: SUNIPIX.COM

Apples are part of a nutritious diet.

LIFESTYLES 9Volume 45 Issue No. 16 January 14, 2013 www.fsu.ca/interrobang/

I write about random things alot. I write a lot about randomthings. By now you’ve likelyseen a lot of different media pub-lishing articles about the “Best ofThings to Come” this year,whether it’s to do with music,films or even coming televisionshows. Unfortunately, it’s diffi-cult to navigate the ether withany sense of authority.

It’s a cruel assault when youthink about it; not unlike theyear-end Best Of lists, articlesthat attempt to forecast the yearahead are often heavily steepedin opinion and influenced by tar-get audiences, and for that reasonthey can be self-indulgent oreven self-serving at times.

Of course, it isn’t possible toknow in advance what sort ofmusical highlights or adventuresthe year will hold – or indeed, theimpact any given artist or releasewill really make once the dusthas settled – but having said that,there is a considerable amount ofhigh-profile projects slated toarrive in 2013 that are worth amention.

One such project is DaveGrohl’s Sound City documentary,scheduled to premiere at thisyear’s Sundance Film Festival inFebruary. The film is centred onSound City Studios, the birth-place of Nirvana’s Nevermindalbum among others.

Sound City features interviewswith a who’s-who of legendaryartists conducted by Grohl –including Tom Petty, FrankBlack, Mick Fleetwood andmany, many more – and boasts asoundtrack including “Cut MeSome Slack,” the new jam thatthe remaining Nirvana lineupwrote and recorded with PaulMcCartney before they per-formed it live at 12-12-12: TheConcert for Sandy Relief.

“I really feel like Sound City ismy life’s most important work,”Grohl wrote recently in a letter tofans. “I hope you do too.” Expectthis film to make a big splashamong music and film fans thisyear.

This year is also going to seehigh-profile releases by hugeartists; new music from JimiHendrix is due this spring, alongwith albums by iconic bands andartists like Yo La Tengo, BadReligion, Eels, KrisKristofferson, Johnny Marr... thelist goes on and on.

Looking ahead to the year inmusic is a dizzying task to saythe least, and for that reason I’veenlisted help; I reached out tofive bands that have been fea-tured in this column over theyears to weigh in on the releasesthat they’re looking most forwardto in 2013. As a bonus, all of theartists below are themselvesactively working toward newreleases this year – who better todiscuss highly anticipated releas-

es than the collective creativeminds who are anticipatingthem?

At this time a year ago,Toronto indie-rock outfit Hands& Teeth were celebrating therelease of their album HuntingSeason with a tour that stoppedinto the former APK Live here intown. The band is currently writ-ing new material for a newrelease and they were happy todiscuss their picks.

“I’m excited to giveBroadcast’s forthcoming sound-track for the film BerberianSound Studio a few spins in early2013,” said guitarist KevinBlack. “Not only does the albumpromise to be a bizarre and darkperiod piece set in 1976, it alsocontains some of the last work ofvocalist Trish Keenan: one of themost enchanting voices in indierock.”

For bandmate NatashaPasternak, it’s the coming albumby Local Natives. “The har-monies they use are stunning andthey are a great live band too!I’m interested to see if in the newrecord, they become more main-stream or if they get freaky.”

“I’m really looking forward tohearing something new fromDeerhunter in 2013,” continuedDerek Monson. “Their 2008release Microcastle is one of myfavourite albums of the last fiveyears ... considering that theyhaven’t produced anything sinceHalycon Digest in 2010, I figurethat we’re due to hear somethingsoon.”

Weighing in from a secret stu-dio somewhere in Montreal,Toronto’s Topanga took timefrom working on their first full-length to express their excitementfor the year to come.

“The Bronx IV is one, simplybecause it’s gonna tear people’sfaces off,” said drummer ZackMykula. “But the biggest one forus is White Paint by Hollerado.Yes, they are our friends, and welove them. But more importantly,with this record, they have real-ized a carefully constructed,utterly catchy, and all-aroundawesome album. So good.”

Guitarist Steve Sladkowskiagreed. “I’ve been lucky enoughto hear the record already and Ican guarantee that it’s going tofuck people up in the best waypossible.”

Birthday Boys guitaristGraeme Kennedy, working on asolo record in addition to dutieswith the band, is most excitedabout new music from Nick Caveand the Bad Seeds. “Any yearthat brings us new Nick Cavesongs is a good year – and themusical arrangements of the BadSeeds are always mind-blowingto me. I’m sure I’ll enjoy listen-ing to it as much as I will shame-lessly nicking ideas from it.”

Not one to overlook talentclose to home, The Archives’guitarist Crispin Day is excitedabout new releases from some ofToronto’s finest.

“In 2013 I’m really stoked tohear the new Dinosaur Bonesrecord, Topanga, Decades, TheBalconies...” he listed excitedly.

“There are so many greatCanadian bands putting musicout in 2013 it’s next to impossi-ble to play favourites. A lot ofthese bands have really workedhard to earn their stripes, so 2013will be artistically and career-defining in a big way.”

For Gentlemen Husbands’ leadguitarist Ryan Hutcheson, thetitle goes to Drake. “I just thinkeverything the guy puts out isgreat and he never fails to outdohimself. That last record wasdamn near perfect and I’d expectthe same out of this next one.”

That’s certainly a lot to consid-er, however we’ve barelyscratched the surface of all thereis to come. No doubt the comingyear will have its share of excite-ment and surprises, but restassured you’ve got a head startwhen it comes to perspective.

For more on the bands andartists above, have a look throughour Interrobang archives or fol-low them on Twitter @handsand-teeth, @topangamusic, @birth-dayboys, @thearchivesband and@gentlemenhusb.

And for more of the latestmusic news, views and evenanticipated releases, consider fol-lowing this column on Twitter@fsu_bobbyisms. My deepestthanks to all of the artists abovefor sharing, please give them alisten and have a great 2013! I’mout of words.

BOBBYISMSBOBBY FOLEY

With a little help from my friends:Looking ahead to 2013

CREDIT: SOUND CITY

Dave Grohl calls Sound City his most important work.

LIFESTYLES10Volume 45 Issue No. 16 January 14, 2013 www.fsu.ca/interrobang/

With January comes the annualurge for self-improvement andmotivation for total life overhauls.While some resolutions stick andothers don’t (when did I ever thinkthat going to the gym every daywas going to happen?), I havemade a pact with myself to stickwith my New Year’s style resolu-tions for as long as is humanly pos-sible.

A few ideas quickly come tomind: Never leave the house insweatpants again.

Throw out those jeans that don’tfit and likely never will again.Make an effort with hair and make-up (regularly). Present the imageyou want to be known for. Dressfor the job you want, not the jobyou have.

I realize these goals aren’talways practical. Take it from me,someone who slings soup andblends (messy) smoothies in awardrobe of jeans and t-shirts dayafter day, who longs to work in aslick, modern office building tee-tering on pin-thin stilettos andswathed in cashmere. Dressing thepart, and subsequently ruining mySunday best, would be unlikely toget me anywhere closer to the topof the corporate ladder. For me toadapt this rule (and resolution) tomy everyday life, it means: take alittle more time in the morning tomake sure that the jeans I throw onare clean, not too wrinkly, fit mewell and flatter my shape. Shoesthat have to be flat and practical donot mean they have to be dirty oldrunning shoes. Some new moc-casins, Converse All-Stars or ankleboots could really up the ante inmy workday wardrobe. For the

time being, I happen to be a foodservice worker, but that does notmean that I have to dress like it.

This does not mean that youmust be a slave to your image, cak-ing on layers of makeup and fakeeyelashes when you have laryngi-tis, or pouring yourself into a skin-tight dress when you’re just pop-ping out to Shoppers for a fewthings, but do take some time toconsider the image that you’re pre-senting to others. You care aboutyourself, you are worth the effort,and you’ll feel better in general ifyou pull yourself together beforeyou leave the house.

In terms of personal image, takea cue from social media mogulsand brand yourself. You, yourTwitter feed, your Facebook andTumblr pages, your personal web-site and your work should be acohesive package that makes iteasy to connect you with all thatyou do in this technological envi-ronment. As much as people wantto deny it, your appearance is a bigpart of personal success, whetherit’s getting that big job you’regoing after, making a good impres-sion in an important presentation,or catching the eye of that specialsomeone. Take the time to makesure you’re happy and confidentwith your appearance. You deserveit!

I know from much personalexperience that taking that extratime in the morning will benefityou throughout the day. Once youbump into your prof, your ex-boyfriend and his new girlfriend oryour boss while you’re wearingyoga pants, your roommate’sboyfriend’s sweatshirt, yesterday’sponytail and no makeup, you’llknow what I mean.

You don’t have to be a fashion-ista to present a clean, well put-together image that will serve youwell from today and into all that2013 has to offer.

Style resolutionsMAKE THE LOOKYOUR OWNAMY LEGGE

CREDIT: SODAHEAD.COM

When making style resolutions, the first one on your list should be tonever leave the house wearing sweatpants again.

The beginning of a new yearalways has such an exciting atmos-phere. It feels like when that clockstrikes midnight, you will instantlybecome a new person.

I’ve always considered NewYear’s Eve to be one of myfavourite holidays, but more oftenthan not it leaves me feeling disap-pointed. That’s okay, though,because come January 1, that listof resolutions will become a reali-ty and suddenly you look freakish-ly similar to Kate Upton and win aNobel Prize. I’m here to tell youthat this is not the case.

I don’t have anything againstwriting a list of resolutions – Ithink they’re great, actually. Theymake you think about what aspectsof your life you’d really like tochange or improve. However, howoften is it that you ever followthrough with them? Once the firstweek of the New Year is over, so isthat low-carb diet. (I’m sure somepeople have found great success,but I’m speaking for the majorityof us.)

There is some good news,though! If you really want some-thing, you will make it happen.The New Year is the perfect timeto do all the things you’ve everwanted to do, but it’s not the onlytime that your life can change. Ifyou think back on the past year,your life has probably changedquite a bit, and I’m sure that didn’tall take place within the first

month. If there’s something you want to

do, do it now. Make a list of reso-lutions and try to accomplish themone day at a time. If your plansdon’t work out exactly as youplanned them on Pinterest, don’ttake it out on your feather pillow.Take a breather, and try againwhen you’re ready.

If you’re wondering if I made alist of resolutions to try to com-

plete this year, I’ve actually justcrossed off number one on my list,which was to purchase a RyanGosling blow-up doll.

So whether you’re planning totravel the world, start holding thedoor open for strangers or maybebring back the fanny pack, I’mwishing you all the best of luck.Let’s all work together to make2013 the best year yet.

MY SERIES OFUNFORTUNATEEVENTSJENNA WANT [email protected]

Have your best year yet

CREDIT: PROJECTS.AJC.COM

Jenna Want started on her resolutions early this year by snuggling upwith Ryan Gosling.

www.fsu.ca

SAC & Executive Positions Available:Vice President of Internal Affairs

School of Transportation and Motive Power

School of Art and Design

School of Building Technology

Contact:FSU President – Zack Dodge for more [email protected]


The latest embellishment to beadded to the common shirt is the dec-orative collar! They’re fun, adddetailing to the shirt and can replaceaccessories.

You can find so many differentdetailings on collars, such as spikes,studs and rhinestones that cover theentire collar. Featured in this week’sphoto is a long, sheer, sleeveless shirtwith little gold pieces that frame thecollar. It is simple, it can be worn byanyone and it can suit any taste. Theshirt can be worn with a blazer if itgets cold or just on its own with atank top underneath to show off theflow of the shirt.

Since the embellishments mayoverpower earrings or necklaces,emphasize with layering braceletsand watches instead.

1. Sleeveless Collared Shirt:There are so many ways to wear thisgorgeous collared shirt. It can bepaired with tights, jeans or a miniskirt. This shirt can be buttoned allthe way up to the neck for an orderlylook or with one button opened so itlooks more relaxed. You want to becareful when pairing this piece withwith jewellery: wearing earrings or anecklace may conflict with the detail-ing on the collar, while a simple

statement necklace worn underneaththe collars with the shirt buttoned allthe way up would look chic. (UrbanPlanet, $20; funkier collared stylescan be found at NastyGal.com)

2. Puffy Sleeved Blazer: Addingthis blazer to the shirt keeps the out-fit looking sophisticated when it getsa bit chilly in the room. The simplic-ity of the blazer will go with any kindof outrageous collars that you maychoose to rock. (Urban Planet, $35;more sophisticated blazer stylesavailable at H&M, $40 to $60)

3. Layered Bracelets: A greatway to add some fun accessorieswith the collared shirt is to layer onyour bracelets and watches. Gold is ahot colour for watches this season;it’s a soft metallic colour that can beworn with gold or silver or mixedwith rhinestones. Mix your watchwith spikes, studs, friendshipbracelets, beaded and thin or thickhip-hip inspired bracelets. The morevaried and interesting the mix, thebetter. (Aldo Accessories, $6 to $15;more bracelets at Forever 21 at a sim-ilar price point)

Whether you choose an extrava-gant collar or just a simple embel-lishment, it is evident that the col-lared shirt is so easy to style into aformal look. Choosing to wear a dec-orative collar allows you to wearyour old friendship bracelets (whichare probably in your accessory draw-er collecting dust) while mixing themwith the season’s hot styles!

Decorative collars add a touch of style

CREDIT: HAI HA NGUYEN

THE SHOPPING BAGHAI HA NGUYEN

The New Year has finallyarrived! Many people have madetheir New Year’s resolutions andso this is often a time for change.

One of these changes could bestepping out of your comfort zoneto enhance or change your makeupfor the better. People often thinkthat they need to entirely changetheir makeup to make it look freshand new, but this year, try using aclassic makeup product to add a bitof flare for 2013.

With new products constantlybeing launched throughout theyear, some of the greatest, timelessproducts are forgotten. These prod-ucts are often very versatile andare suitable for most people.

One of my favourite classicitems is the Touche Éclat RadiantTouch by Yves Saint Laurent. Thisproduct is the all-time best solutionfor getting rid of that dull, tiredlook. It can be used under the eyesto get rid of dark circles or any-where else on the face to helpbrighten and give the skin a radiantfinish. The product is also so easyto use; click the pen a few timesand lightly blend the product ondesired areas (you never have toworry about this product lookingheavy because it blends so well).Touche Éclat comes in many dif-ferent shades and is suitable formost skin colours!

Another classic product that willdefinitely add some colour to yournew look is Benetint by Benefit.This product was originally creat-ed in the 1970s for an exoticdancer but is actually amazing at

adding a beautiful colour to thecheeks and lips. Many people areoften afraid of using a liquid cheekcolour, but this product is veryeasy to use since it goes on sheerand can be built upon. Benetint isalso versatile as it can be used onthe lips to create a healthy stainthat is very long-lasting.

NARS “Orgasm” blush is anoth-er must try product for your NewYear’s look as it is a suitablecolour for everyone. It can beapplied very lightly to just give aluminescent glow, or can be builtupon to create a gorgeous flushcolour that makes the skin look somuch healthier. Another trick youcan do with “Orgasm” is to apply abronzer to the cheek area first andthen apply the blush overtop tocreate a perfect sun-kissed glow.

Lastly, a product that has beenmentioned numerous times beforeis the Diorshow Mascara. Thismascara has a powerful brush thatcreates a very voluminous lash butdoesn’t cause them to clump. Thismascara is long wearing and does-n’t flake but still comes in a water-proof formula for those who haveextra teary eyes. Diorshow comesin three colours – black, brown andblue – so it can be made suitablefor anyone’s makeup style.

Now is the time to switch upyour makeup and try somethingnew. It doesn’t have to be a drasticchange, but by adding in one or afew of these classic makeup items,you can really enhance your make-up and start the new year with afresh new look.

Classics for the New Year

CREDIT: KARLASUGAR.NET

Touche Éclat is the perfect product to brighten the complexion.

BEAUTY BOYJOSHUA R. [email protected]


In September 2011, Carl Juniperwas in the same position many col-lege students are when they firstcome to school. He was away fromhome for the first time and he wasnervous about his classes and mak-ing friends.

Every day, from the day schoolbegan on September 1 to the lastday of school on April 20, Juniperwrote in his planner about whathappened. On the last day ofschool, he handed in that book ashis final project.

Juniper is the titlular character ofFanshawe student AnnetteDawm’s award-winning book,Carl Goes to College.

Dawm graduated fromFanshawe’s General Arts programin December 2012 and plans tohead into the AdvancedFilmmaking program inSeptember.

What started out as a hobbyturned into the book. “I wrote inthe planner – each day I wrotesomething different that happenedto this character, Carl. Thatbecame his planner.” She beganher hobby in September, and dur-ing her second-semester children’sliterature course, her professorassigned the final project: write abook for children. “I said, ‘Ohgood, I’ve already got one started,”

Dawm chuckled.Many of Juniper’s experiences

mirror her own – they both comefrom a small town (Dawm is fromChesley, Ontario, and went to thesame tiny high school as the singerLights). “In the book I actually usesome real-life experiences,”explained Dawm. “In the book,Carl gets to go see Prince and Iactually got to see Prince when hecame to London.”

Though she wrote it for a chil-dren’s literature class, she said, thebook is aimed at older teenagers –ages 17 and up. “It’s for anyonemaybe thinking about going topost-secondary school … It’s defi-nitely about growing up.” She cau-tioned that the book containsswearing, sexual content anddeath, so “it’s definitely not forfive-year-olds.”

Dawm used a website calledblurb.ca to create the book. Usersdesign and write the book theywant published, and then the web-site binds the book for them.

“I handed it in and it came backwith a 100 per cent (grade),” saidDawm. Her professor was soimpressed she encouraged Dawmto submit it to Fanshawe’s writingcontest. She submitted it to theAcademic Senior Vice President’sWriting Contest for Excellence inStudent Writing and took home the2012 prize for creative writing. “I

feel really good about that becauseit’s something I’ve always wanted,to have an award-winning book,”she said. “I’m 21 and got it out ofthe way.”

In addition to taking home thewriting award, she also won theaward for highest GPA for her pro-gram.

She is currently working on asequel to Carl Goes to College thatwill tell the story about Juniper’ssecond year in school, “but

because I don’t know what I’mdoing, Carl doesn’t know whathe’s doing.”

In addition to working on morestories about Juniper, Dawm isalso hard at work on her otherhobby: a Flat Stanley-type charac-ter she calls Schwartz Abdul.Dawm created Abdul in 2007 dur-ing one very boring day in Frenchclass, and the pair has since met anumber of celebrities includingDan Akroyd, Jason Mraz and

Victoria Pratt from Cleopatra2025. Dawm has also self-pub-lished a book chronicling Abdul’sadventures: Schwartz Abdul’s BigBook of Celebrities.

To check out Juniper’s andAbdul’s stories online, head toblurb.ca/user/S_Abdul. If you’reinterested in purchasing a copy ofCarl Goes to College, they are $25.Get in touch with Dawm [email protected] tofind out more.


Self-published book nets top Fanshawe honours

CREDIT: ERIKA FAUST

Fanshawe student Annette Dawm took home a prestigious award for her self-published book, Carl Goes toCollege.


CREDIT: ERIKA FAUST

Sara Baxter took home the top prize for her entry into the Interrobang’sannual cover contest. Check out her design on the front of this issue.

In my new column, Mel’sMunchies, I’ll be reviewing restau-rants around the city, finding funrecipes to try at home, and makingmeals for every occasion. Look forit every other week.

This week I chose a popularLondon restaurant located in theheart of downtown: The TastingRoom. It’s a fairly new addition toRichmond Row that I woulddescribe as small and charming.With a large appetizer menu and afew wine flights to choose from, it’sa great place to go whether you’researching for a quick bite or a largemeal.

My meal started out with a PinotGrigio wine flight. My four glassesof wine contained two ounces eachof different pinots. A wine flight is agreat conversation starter and is per-fect for someone who wants to startlearning more about wine. Thewines were good, and had diverseflavours, but I thought there wouldbe more variety in terms of their ori-gin: three were from Italy and onewas from France.

If you are a brie cheese fan, youwill love the Roasted Garlic Brieappetizer. It came out piping hot,with a thick slab of brie topping alayer of roasted garlic, and a toastedbaguette for dipping. Probably not agood choice for a date considering itmakes your breath reek of garlic,but it was absolutely delicious. Witha price tag of $12, it was a little cost-ly for an app, but it was a large sizefor a starter – definitely filling whensplit between two diners.

Even though the meals are a littlepricier, you’re paying for qualityfood and large portion sizes. Iordered the Celebration of Pork asmy main course, and was verypleased. The meal came with porkdone two ways – pork tenderloinmedallions with an apple bacon but-ter sauce and maple-chili glazedpork belly – with garlic mashedpotatoes, and asparagus. The porkdish was $26, which is a little pricyfor pork, but the portions were huge.Needless to say I brought somehome and it made a delicious lunchfor work the next day.

I would recommend The TastingRoom for a date; the lights are dimand it has a cozy atmosphere. Ifyou’re going with a group of friendsor family, definitely make a reserva-tion. I was there on a Wednesdaynight at 6:30 p.m. and the place waspacked – not an empty seat in sight.Even with a full house, the servicewas very quick. We completed ourwine and meals in about an hour.

My only complaint would be thenoise level. I often found myselfyelling when trying to have a con-versation with my friend, but thiswas probably because of the smallsize of the place and the popularityof wine.

All in all, the meal was delicious.The food was immensely flavourfuland I definitely did not leave hun-gry. If you’re looking for a moreupscale, somewhat pricy spot,check it out! The Tasting Room islocated at 483 Richmond St., justtwo doors down from the GrandTheatre.

Drink: Pinot Grigio FeatureWine Flight, $11

App: Roasted Garlic Brie, $12Main Course: Celebration of

Pork, $26Total Price per Diner: Around

$50If you have a restaurant or

recipe suggestion for Mel’sMunchies, email her at [email protected]

A taste of London’s downtown

This weeks’ Interrobang covermay have caught your eye. Withbright colours, butterfly silhouettesand a beaming face, the designwon this year’s cover contest.

First-year Photography studentSara Baxter created an abstractwatercolour painting for her win-ning entry. “There’s an artist I likewho does faces out of watercolour,but I wanted to do something thatwas more my own. I added butter-flies and I wanted to capture myfirst year of college and beingmyself at a new school,” explainedBaxter.

The theme of this year’s contestwas student life, and Baxterexpressed her own experiences atFanshawe through her art. “I usedthe butterflies because they trans-form from caterpillar to butterfly,and that was sort of like comingfrom high school to college for me:like becoming myself and goingout on my own and everything.Then I did the face without anyface around it so it was kinda like ablank slate, everything was new,”she said.

Baxter’s art pieces often captureideas instead of literal things.She’s inspired by famous surrealistpainter Salvador Dali. “I loveabstract art … he does weird paint-ings, his paintings are like dreams.He’s my favourite artist.” She alsofinds inspiration in those aroundher. “My boyfriend, who I go toschool with, he told me I should do

it (enter the contest), and all myroommates saw me doing thepainting and told me I should enterit.” Having the support of friendsand family has encouraged Baxterto continue her art.

Although Baxter is takingPhotography in school, drawinghas always been a passion of hers.“I do a lot of drawings in my sparetime, I do a lot of cartoon(-type)drawings,” she said. “People justask me for drawings so I drawwhatever they want me to … whenI’m home (in Kingston, Ontario), Ido a lot of acrylic paintings forfriends and family.”

When choosing which collegeprogram to take, Baxter was facedwith a tough choice. “I was choos-ing between going into art andgoing into a photography. Art hasalways been what I’ve done on theside, and we have paintings aroundmy house that I’ve done for myfamily. I decided to go into pho-tography instead because I wantedto keep art as a hobby and some-thing I like to do, I didn’t want it toturn into career,” she stated.

The future for Baxter is still amystery, but studying art may be inthe picture. “After I graduate, I’mnot 100 per cent sure what I wantto do, because I want to finish thephotography. Then if I feel like Istill want to do more school, Imight come back and do a diplomain fine art.” For now, she’s lookingforward to completing her secondsemester and in particular herfavourite class: creative design.


Cover contest winnershows her true colours

CREDIT: THE TASTING ROOM

A look inside London’s The Tasting Room restaurant on Richmond Street.

MEL’S MUNCHIESMEL [email protected]

Is the only exercise you getdragging your ass out of bed andwalking sluggishly to class in themorning? Maybe it’s time to starton your New Year’s resolution andshed those pounds. If you’re on atight budget, there are ways toexercise in and around campuswithout using the gym or spendinga ton of money.

Use Your Own Body Weight“If you’re confined to a small

space and you don’t have much towork with, you’re probably goingto be using your own bodyweight,” said Rick Melo, fitnessconsultant at Fitness 101 on cam-pus. Use your own body weight toyour advantage; sit-ups and push-ups are common exercises that caneasily be done in a small space.Depending on your skill level,there are many variations of thetwo common exercises. If youstruggle with push-ups, you canalways perform “modified push-ups,” which are performed on yourknees instead of toes. To makepush-ups more difficult, you canbalance on one foot. If you havelimited floor space, you can usesomething that’s about waistheight to perform standing push-ups. Place your hands on your sink,bed or desk, so your body is at a45-degree angle and perform push-ups this way.

Pull-ups are another easy way toexercise, said Melo. “You canalways grab above a doorway anddo pull-ups and that will work yourback.”

Got a Soup Can?Instead of spending money on

weights, use items you alreadyhave in your room. You can usesoup cans, fill empty water bottleswith sand, or use a basketball as amedicine ball. You can even fill alaundry bag with laundry toreplace a sandbag.

“People don’t wrap their headaround it; they think they have tobe in the gym to work out. Ifyou’re doing resistance training, allit means is that you need weight. Itdoesn’t matter if it’s a 45-poundweight plate or a bag of potatoes; itcould be anything. If you’re goingto work on your chest, lay down onyour back and push something,”said Melo.

“Once you learn the movementand what it works in the body, allyou have to do is add any kind ofresistance to it,” he added.

Get Creative with Cardio“With cardio, you can get cre-

ative. There’s a gazillion ways todo it,” said Melo. “With cardiothere’s only a couple things youhave to remember: it’s gotta becontinuous and repetitious in bodymovement, elevating your heartrate.”

It may be routine for you to takethe elevator, but remember thatevery residence and building oncampus has stairs you can use for acardio workout. “I have my stu-dents running in the stairs in the SCbuilding and there’s never anyoneusing them,” said Melo. “The car-dio workout they get from that isamazing – they’re breaking a sweatrather quickly, their heart rates goup fast and they’re getting an

incredible workout and leg work-out as well because they’re using alot of their quads to get up thestairs and their hamstrings to sus-tain the movements up and down.”

Don’t forget about running andwalking. There are tons of placesto run in London and nearFanshawe. You can run around thecollege. You can head to theFanshawe Conservation area,which is only a five-minute driveaway – or you can just walk there.If you’re near Western University,there are tons of trails along theThames Valley River as well. Melohad one tip when it comes to run-ning: “Running in general, you gethealth benefits, absolutely, but tomake it more interesting and toturn it into a habitual thing, youwant to have it timed. You want tohave some sort of a goal.”

One trick is to use songs on aniPod to time your progress insteadof a standard stopwatch. “The bot-tom line is that running is one thingbut if you don’t track yourprogress, you’re going to have ahard time keeping yourself moti-vated to improve consistently.Let’s face it, it takes a lot of moti-vation to run unless you love it,”said Melo.

Breathe, Stretch, PoseStretching is one of the most for-

gotten about but important parts ofexercising. “A lot of people need towork on their flexibility, a lot ofpeople don’t realize that,” saidMelo. It’s important to make sureyou stretch before working out andmake sure you’re warm beforestretching, he added.

A rez room is the perfect spot to

practice some yoga or Pilatesmoves. Both involve breathing,stretching and relaxation, whichare great stress relievers. There aretons of exercises you can do frombeginner to advanced. If you’venever done yoga or Pilates before,use the Internet for ideas – thereare many YouTube videos for dif-ferent exercises.

Buy an Inexpensive Piece ofEquipment

There are several pieces ofworkout equipment you can buythat won’t break your bank. Melorecommended a Bosu Ball because“once you have one of those youcan do a million different things onit, and they are really inexpensive.”

You can also use tension bands.“Physiotherapists use them all thetime. When you have to do exer-cises, you can sometimes make thetension tighter by a) buying atighter band or b) tightening itaround your wrist. The more ten-sion, the more resistance you canget.”

No Excuses“In terms of being on a budget,

I’ve never bought that as anexcuse, because all it takes is get-ting creative,” stressed Melo.Remember, you don’t need tospend hundreds of dollars on fancywork out equipment, simply usethe tools and equipment you havearound you and get to it!


CREDIT: STOCK PHOTO

Using your own body weight with push-ups or sit-ups is one way to helpyou get started on that fitness resolution without breaking the bank for agym membership.

I love the holidays as much asthe next girl – maybe even a littlemore, depending on who she is,exactly – but do you know what Ilove even more? I love the influxof big, powerful, impressive block-buster movies that come out in thatgolden time between Christmasand New Year’s. For me, this isprime movie season because,unlike the summer blockbuster runthat is also hugely popular withfilmmakers and studios alike, theholiday movie season sees many ofthe Academy Award contenders,which tend to be a little more intel-lectually stimulating and a littleless action-packed than summerflicks.

This year is certainly no excep-tion. Among the big titles that havebeen released this year during thisgolden holiday movie time are TheHobbit: An Unexpected Journey,Les Misérables, and Zero DarkThirty. I’m not going to talk aboutthese movies in particular butrather why this time of year is somagical for movies.

It’s largely due to the fact thatmovie studios know that studentsand professionals alike tend tohave much more free time duringthis time of year. Most colleges

and universities take at least a cou-ple of weeks off from classes toallow students to enjoy the seasonand take a break before the newsemester begins in January. Mostcompanies offer their employees atleast a few days of holidaysbetween Christmas and NewYear’s Day. Kids are at homegoing stir-crazy, parents are look-ing for a way to relax and collegekids are looking for something funto do. The studios know this, sothey keep their biggest releases forthis time.

The Oscars are another big fac-tor in this move. Movies have to bereleased before the end of the cal-endar year in order to be eligiblefor the following AcademyAwards. It makes the most sense tofilmmakers looking to take homethat golden statue to save the bestchances for the very end of theyear so the buzz and popularity isstill fresh in the minds of voters,rather than the faded memories ofmovies that were released 11months earlier.

This year, even though you’reall settled nicely back in schoolnow, I hope you can all get out forone last night at the movies beforeyou buckle down into study modefor the next four months. Go watcha really impressive, epic flick withyour friends. Go watch somethingdeep and thought-provoking.Enjoy everything this time of theyear has to offer from the magicalworld of cinema.

McGee’s MovieMomentsALISON [email protected]

Movie cheer timeof year


Everyday exercises on a budget


Barbie: The Princessand the Popstar(2012)

It is that time of the year whenfilm critics put together their listsof the top films released the previ-ous year. This all leads to the cul-mination in February when theAcademy Awards are handed out.In 2012, the Oscars turned this filmreviewer into a grouch when theyhonoured The Artist. Come on, thatfilm featured neither colour norsound! That’s like giving theProstitute of the Year award to astreetwalker who only gives hugs.

I have confidence this year,however, that the Academy willmake good after this gaffe andaward their highest prize to a filmthat featured plenty of audio and anabundance of colour to a film thatis, in this reviewer’s opinion, thebest film released in 2012. OnFebruary 24, prepare to hear “andthe Oscar goes to… Barbie: ThePrincess and the Popstar.”

Barbie: The Princess and thePopstar is the 23rd Barbie film,putting it just shy of the JamesBond franchise – in quantity thatis, certainly not in quality. The filmis based on a work by Mark Twain,which likely will lead to him final-ly getting some respect 100 yearsafter his passing.

This latest Barbie installmenttells the tale of two young womenwho seem to have it all. Tori is theprincess of the enchanted land ofMeribella, and unlike members ofBritain’s Royal Family, she isn’tlikely to be photographed with herbits and pieces on display for theworld to see. Keira is a chart-top-ping pop star who has performedacross the globe.

Now it may sound like these twohave it made. I mean, what woman(or man, for that matter) wouldn’tlove being a princess or pop starwith exorbitant wealth, a lavishwardrobe and probably a free sub-scription to HBO?

However, these two youngwomen are not fulfilled. Tori is

tired of the seemingly pointlessceremonies she has to attend, andnever gets to truly be herself,always putting on airs under thewatchful eyes of her controllingaunt. She dreams of a life awayfrom the kingdom, and wishes shecould be like her favourite singer,Keira.

Keira, likewise, is down in thedumps. Sure, her albums are sell-ing like hotcakes – actually, muchbetter than hotcakes; I mean, Idon’t know a single person whohas ever bought a hotcake. Butdespite her hotcake-dwarfing sales,Keira doesn’t have time to do whatshe really loves: composing music.Like starlets such as BritneySpears and Rihanna, it’s about themusic to Keira, but she is beingpulled in every direction by man-agement and doesn’t have the timeto sit down and write some newditties.

So when Keira and Tori meet upone day, they magically changeplaces and are able to live the lifethey dream of, if just for a short

while. But, spoiler alert, they bothcome to realize that the grass is notalways greener on the other side.

This is just an outstanding filmfor all ages. I watched the film withmy two young children, and it washard to say who enjoyed it more,although I was clearly doing themost clapping and pointing at thescreen. Afterwards we discussed it,and I commented that the film con-tains a wonderful message for chil-dren, and also puts both the foiblesof the monarchy and the musicindustry under the microscope. Myfour-year-old responded that sheliked Keira’s dog, while my one-year-old simply said “woof” andthen soiled himself. Rumour has itthat renowned film critic RogerEbert had the exact same responseto the film.

I cannot wait to see Barbie getup on stage in a few months toaccept the Best Picture Oscar forBarbie: The Princess and thePopstar. She might be the leastplastic-looking person who attendsthe ceremony.

Cinema ConnoisseurALLEN GAYNORwww.cinemaconn.com

Enthusiastic about fantasticplastic classic

CREDIT: UNIVERSAL STUDIOS HOME ENTERTAINMENT

Texas Chainsaw 3D(2013)

Perhaps you are a fan of theoriginal 1974 slasher flick TheTexas Chainsaw Massacre, inwhich some unsuspectingteenagers are horribly butcheredby an insane family in Texas. Ormaybe the 2003 reboot, whereJessica Biel and some of herfriends are horribly butchered byan insane family in Texas, is moreyour style. Well, if neither incarna-tion of this story is creepy enoughfor you, then perhaps you’ll findwhat you’re looking for in TexasChainsaw 3D where, you guessedit, some unsuspecting young peo-ple are horribly butchered by aninsane family in Texas... in 3D.

The plot line of this new take onthe story proves to be a follow-upon the original movie. After theevents of 1974, the house wherethe murderous Sawyers lived hasbeen burned to the ground and thefamily seemingly eradicated.Years later, a young woman namedHeather comes to find out that shehas inherited land in Texas afterthe death of her grandmother, soshe packs up a few of her closefriends and takes them along forthe ride down to check out her newproperty. As it turns out, not all themembers of the sadistic family aredead, and chaos ensues whenHeather and her friends find them-selves ambushed by Leatherface

and his iconic chainsaw. The cast of Texas Chainsaw 3D

is filled with many little-knownfaces, however it seems that horrormay just be their proper place inthe movies. Alexandra Daddariotakes on the lead role of Heather,and while her role may not call formuch in the way of acting skills,she proves that she has what ittakes to be a leading lady in slash-er flicks.

Tremaine Neverson steps inalongside Daddario as Heather’sboyfriend Ryan, who she takes toTexas with her. Having previouslyworked on dance-heavy moviesStep Up 2 and Step Up 3D,Neverson holds his own in thisgory departure from his usualwork.

Not to be missed is in the infa-mous Texas villain Leatherface,this time around played by DanYeager. He may be a newcomer tothe big screen, but Yeager gives astrong, spine-chilling performanceas the butcher with a chainsaw.

Tania Raymonde and KeramMalicki-Sánchez round outHeather’s circle of friends as Nikkiand Kenny.

There is something extra creepyabout watching a gory slasher flickin 3D, mainly because the blood istruly everywhere. However, it’salso a visually stimulating experi-ence. If you’re a fan of blood andguts, 3D slashers are somethingyou’re sure to love.

Texas Chainsaw 3D may not bethe next Citizen Kane, but it isexactly what it promises to be, andfor that at least it should receivesome credit. If you’re looking for abloody good time at the theatrewith friends, then you should defi-nitely check out Texas Chainsaw3D.

CREDIT: LIONSGATE

Leatherface is taken to a whole new dimension in Texas Chainsaw 3D.

REEL VIEWSALISON [email protected]

A chainsaw massacrein the third dimension


The beginning of a New Yearmarks a fresh start we hope will beas pure as the driven snow. Mosttimes we focus on fitness, familylife and friendship when wantingto better ourselves and the peoplearound us. But take it from oldFather Time, a.k.a. your friendlyprofessor: it’s also important toconsider improving your studyhabits, and, concurrently, yourcareer moves.

A survey by Virgin MobileCanada reported more than 51 percent of Canadians make NewYear’s resolutions, but more thanhalf – 52 per cent – can’t last morethan a month.

The survey asked more than1,000 adults about their NewYear’s resolutions. Topping the listwere: stay in touch with friendsand family; fall in love; quit smok-ing; get better grades or a promo-tion at work; and drink less alco-hol.

Publisher Penguin Group(Canada) lists its own Top 10Canadian New Year’s Resolutions,including (in order): lose weight;stop smoking; stick to a budget;save more money; find a better job;become more organized; exercisemore; be more patient at work/withothers; eat better; and become abetter person.

If you belong to a fitness club,then you know the wait time forthe treadmill will triple this month.Jumping on the fitness train – andthen falling off before February –is probably the most likely failedresolution. And it’s a good bet in

today’s hurried society, beingmore patient with others is also atough chore, although that may bethe cynical journalist in me speak-ing.

It is encouraging, though, to seegetting better grades and finding abetter job amongst the top wishesfor the New Year. Here, then, are afew tips that may be useful inkeeping those resolutions through-out 2013.

Another of the aforementionedresolutions – become more organ-ized – is really what I believe to bethe secret of success in obtainingbetter grades. Too many times Ilearn of students who, despite theirintelligence, talents and admirablestudy habits, fail to get the bestgrades possible. It is ironic thatduring a time when multitaskingcomes as easy as brushing yourteeth, organizing school schedulesbecomes as difficult as a rootcanal.

Being of old-school mentality, Istill have a large desk calendar fortracking appointments, deadlinesand to-do lists. I also carry a dailyreminder book – again, old-schoolmentality, but it works for me. Nodoubt, most of you keep track ofcommitments via tablets and lap-tops. I do that too. Perhaps myNew Year’s resolution should be,don’t be too organized. But thepoint here is that being organizedis imperative to best utilizing time.As an entrepreneur who operatestwo businesses, my biggest feareach day is wasting time.

I do get it, though. Student lifeinvolves just as much socializingand networking as it does hittingthe books. But you can easily jug-gle all of those things. I won’t tellyou that back in the day, I walkedfive miles to campus in a snow-storm, but I did rely on an organ-

ized schedule. Two weeks permonth, I would arrive at the col-lege by 4:30 a.m., air newscastsfrom 7 a.m. until noon, attendafternoon classes, handle sportseditor duties for CIXX-FM, par-take in Friday afternoon televisionnewscasts and cover City Hallcommittee meetings. I still foundtime for an active social life – andyes, they sometimes overlapped,making for some hilarious on-airbloopers.

I tell my students about thatcrazy schedule, and they look atme like I have two heads. But thekey to achieving all of those thingswas keeping an organized sched-ule. Thus, my biggest advice toyou is to work on your organiza-tional skills in order to better yourgrades. It doesn’t hurt to study,either.

The other advice I have for stu-dents, in regards to job searching,is to start the moment you enter

your program in September. It isnever too early to network. BeforeI entered the Broadcast Journalismprogram here at Fanshawe, I vol-unteered as a night editor at CKSL-AM 1410, learning the ropes frommentors including Chris Mayberryand Steve Hennigar, now at TheCanadian Press. During my secondyear of studies, I worked part-timeas a reporter and newscaster at1570 CHLO in St. Thomas, againhoning my skills and networking.

The biggest mistake I see stu-dents make is waiting for a plumjob to come to them. You may getlucky and have a dream job land onyour lap, but chances are you’llhave to work hard in order to land

that ideal position. As for my New Year’s resolu-

tion, I’m working on not workingtoo hard and taking more time toenjoy life – easier said than donewhen you operate a business. It’s aresolution I make every year and,more times than not, fail byFebruary. Here’s hoping this is alucky 2013.

Award-winning journalistJeffrey Reed is a FanshaweCollege professor with theCorporate Communication andPublic Relations post-graduateprogram and an instructor withFanshawe’s Continuing Educationdepartment. Email him [email protected].

Resolution revolution begins with youTHE REAL WORLDJeffrey [email protected]

Happy New Year! I’m feelingglad and optimistic for 2013. I’vejust graduated from the Law Clerkprogram and embarked on myshiny, brand-new career. Big hugsand shout-outs to all my professorswho helped launch me and kudosto the Fanshawe Adult Social Club(FASC), which I’ve been proud tolead for the past year.

FASC was definitely instrumen-tal to my development as anengaged, mature student atFanshawe. It introduced me tomore friends and provided me withvital information on how to accessall the resources at school to getahead in my studies and my career.I’m proud to hand over the baton tothe two students who will lead theclub this year. Gabrielle Sturm isthe club’s new President, andSneha Mol Scaria has taken overthe mantle of Vice-President.Sandra Black, who graduated fromthe Law Clerk program and ispresently a student in the Paralegalprogram, is staying on as

Secretary.Gabrielle Sturm just graduated

from the Protection, Security andInvestigation program and isenrolling in Police Foundations.She found out about FASC lastyear and immediately wanted tocheck it out “to meet people of myown age bracket.”

She said, “FASC has given methe opportunity to socialize withother mature students and to findout about Fanshawe activities. Iplan to keep the bi-weekly ormonthly get-togethers going andencourage anybody to come outand have a good time with us!”

Sneha Mol Scaria echoedGabrielle’s enthusiasm. “I like theSocial Club because it’s a goodopportunity to do something differ-ent with a group of people and getto know each other.” Scaria saidshe has a lot of ideas for the club inthe future and in particular wouldlike to do some fundraising for acharitable organization like theSalvation Army. She urged morestudents to get involved withFASC. “We need more members inorder to be a more effective club.”

As an international student inthe Developmental ServiceWorker program, Scaria said, “I’mreally enjoying London and

Fanshawe. Fanshawe is a greatschool and offers a lot to interna-tional students like clubs andEnglish classes.”

Whatever your motivation,FASC is a great place to get toknow your school better. This pastyear we’ve had pub nights at theOut Back Shack, a potluck party,and a great holiday buffet atSaffron’s in December. As outgo-ing president, I recommend youjoin this club if you’re mature inmind or body and want to socializewith your peers! For more infor-mation about the Fanshawe AdultSocial Club or to be put on ouremail list for future events, emailSturm or Scaria at [email protected].

I’d like to thank all my readersfor the opportunity to indulge myinner journalist. As this is my lastcolumn, if anyone is interested inwriting for Interrobang from theperspective of a mature student,contact Erika Faust at theInterrobang office in the StudentUnion building. Not only is it funto add a 500-word column to yourweekly assignments, but you getpaid to vent about all the thingsthat are on your mind! Thank you,Fanshawe; it’s been a great expe-rience.

THE LONG VIEWSusie Mah

The Fanshawe Adult SocialClub wants YOU!

CREDIT: STOCK PHOTO

Getting organized and staying organized is an underappreciated key to success.

NiagaraCollege.ca/graduate

905-735-2211 ext 7784

NiagaraCollege.ca/graduate

905-735-2211 ext 7784

We’re on Campus Fanshawe CollegeGraduate Studies Fair

Thursday, January 17th, 2013London Campus: F Hallway, F Building

10:30 am to 2 pm

So you have an education under your belt, how about adding some practical experience to those credentials and really have what it takes to blow the lid off the career market when you graduate. Talk to our recruitment specialists who can illustrate how our one-year graduate programs can get you real results.

Graduate Programsget you real results.


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* Those who qualify will receive a one-time scholarship of $2,500; the only one of its kind in Canada.

THE TONIGHT SHOWwith Jay Leno

A Michigan lawyer has beenarrested for manufacturing crystalmeth in his office. I hope the fact thatthis guy’s a lawyer doesn’t send themessage that somehow all methdealers are sleaze balls.

President Obama met with leadersof the American Indian tribes andthey honoured the president by giv-ing him his own Indian name:“Running Deficit.”

President Obama signed the newfiscal cliff tax increase into law whilevacationing in Hawaii. He used anautopen, an electronic way of signingyour name when you're not even there.Politicians can now raiseyour taxes while they’re onvacation in Hawaii. This isa Democrat’s dream cometrue.

BEST IN LATE NIGHTCOMIC RELIEF

CONAN with Conan O’Brien

A new study says the averageAmerican weighs 176 pounds. Thatmay not sound too bad. But the studywas conducted at elementary schools.

A 69-year-old Florida woman wasarrested for stealing hundreds of dol-lars worth of lingerie. Authoritiesreleased her after she threatened tomodel the lingerie.

Mercedes is developing technolo-gy to let you look at Facebook onyour car windshield. It’s perfect foreveryone who wants to get hit by anoncoming 18-wheeler.

Gay groups are apparently angry atformer President Clinton because hehasn’t come out in favourof gay marriage. Clintonsaid he’d be willing tohave two lesbians come byand try to convince him.

LATE NIGHT with Jimmy Fallon

Anderson Cooper said that whilefilming a segment for 60 Minutes hegot a sunburn on his eyeball and wastemporarily blind. Either that, orAnderson Cooper is terrible at fakinga sick day.

Applebee’s is opening a “green”restaurant in New York that willhave waterless urinals, a wall madeof plants, and rooftop rainwater har-vesting. All of which will be under-neath a giant, million-watt neon signthat says “Applebee’s.”

There’s talk that Jackie Chan mayjoin the cast of The Expendables 3,along with Sylvester Stalloneand Arnold Schwarzenegger.Stallone, Schwarzenegger,and Chan - which explainsthe movie’s next title: TheCan’t-Understandables.

THE LATE LATE SHOW with Craig Ferguson

Jeff Zucker, the former head ofNBC, is taking over CNN. And WolfBlitzer announced in five years he’sstepping aside for Conan O’Brien.

Rupert Murdoch is the guy whosetabloids hacked into people’s phonesin England. He’s back in hot watertoday. The British parliamentarycommission delivered its findings.The report assessed the standardsand ethics of the British tabloids.Spoiler alert: They don’t have any.

Arnold Schwarzenegger has com-mitted to appearing in at least onenew Terminator movie. In the nextmovie, Arnold from the futurewill time travel to the pastand tell Arnold from thepast to wear a con-dom.

THE LATE SHOW with David LettermanLindsay Lohan was in court again

today. She’s been sworn in so manytimes she has Bible elbow.

A team of scientists in Scotlandhas developed a computer that writesjokes. The good thing about a com-puter that writes jokes is that thejokes may not be that funny, but atleast it doesn’t take off the Jewishholidays.

Has anyone seen Al Gore'sCurrent TV? I don't mean by mis-take. I mean, who's actually watchedit? Well, Al-Jazeera has purchasedAl Gore's old TV network, CurrentTV. So it's now owned byAl-Jazeera. And listen tothis: $500 million. This is alittle something Al Gore hascome up with called“global fleecing.”

JIMMY KIMMEL LIVE with Jimmy Kimmel

After hours and hours of toughnegotiation, the most powerful peo-ple in America have finally come toan agreement — that’s right, if it’s agirl, they’ll name it Kim, and if it’s aboy, they’ll name it Kanye.

While working on a deal to avoidthe fiscal cliff, members of Congressspent New Year’s Eve at the Capitol.Yeah, even the guy watching theTwilight Zone marathon with his par-ents was like, “Talk about a lameNew Year’s.”

On Monday night, thieves brokeinto the Apple store in Paris and stoleone million dollars worth of iPhonesand iPads. That’s right —they took four iPhonesand two iPads.

Now that the holiday break hasended (too soon, for some), itappears as if we are all off to theraces once again. We are nowbeginning the Winter 2013 semes-ter, and it means that we are only ashort time away from spring pop-ping up, and tales of fishing,beaches and warm sun seem with-in an arm’s reach, you think it istoo much to bear. Too manyassignments, too many projects,not enough time!

Do not fret, my fellow Falcons.The keys to remaining focused aresimple and can be followed withrelative ease even by the busiest,most time-strapped individual.

The first step is to ensure thatyou receive enough sleep in accor-dance with your calorie intake andexertion. “Animal and human stud-ies suggest that the quantity andquality of sleep have a profoundimpact on learning and memory,”according to information fromHarvard Medical (for more infor-mation, check outhealthysleep.med.harvard.edu).This does not necessarily meanyou must have eight hours of sleepeach night, but it does suggest that

you must find a balance betweenthe amount of time you sleep andthe level of sleep you achieve,which can vary from three to eighthours per person.

The second step is to ensure youconsume the proper foods that willincrease your brain power and youroverall level of competency andcognitive function when absorbingand applying knowledge in variousscenarios. Through research, Ihave come up with a list of cost-efficient, healthy and deliciousfoods that will increase your over-all health in addition to enhancingyour memory so you will be pre-pared to study and retain the infor-mation. This list includes itemslike tomatoes, red grapes, mixednuts, fish, capers, coffee, blueber-ries, turmeric and eggs.

I know what you’re thinking. Iscoffee healthy? Yes! Coffee that isblack and fresh roasted with no addi-tives or by-products is beneficialbecause of the natural ingredients incoffee beans that act as antioxidants.It is the same concept for the blue-berries, red grapes and capers.

The third and final step toremaining focused and retainingknowledge during the semester isto be confident. This may not seem

like an important step, but youmust understand the possibility ofadversity defeating you if you arenot ready mentally or physically. Ifyou incorporate the first two stepsof obtaining enough sleep and theconsumption of brain enhancingfoods with the final step of confi-dence and perseverance, you willbe successful in anything you putyour mind to as your physiologicaland intellectual capabilities worktogether to enhance your odds ofgetting better marks.

Sometimes life throws you acurveball, but it is up to you to takeit stride and make it work for you.We are all in this together, and westill have a long way to go beforethe flowers flourish and the grass isnourished again.

Staying strong in the second half DAKOTA THOMPSON

INTERROBANG

CREDIT: STOCK PHOTO

The mighty egg helps to boostbrain power.


Nerds

2012 has come

and passed and the world

didn’t end. Somehow

I am disappointed.

No worries

The insanity will

continue into

2013.

www.fsu.ca

Tickets availableat the Biz Booth.

Bus Stop

LIFESTYLESAcross1. Head covering

4. Army rank (abbr.)

7. Constructors

13. Emits rays

15. Formerly a large part of

Eastern Canada

16. Large brass wind instrument

17. Biblical measurements of

length

18. At all times (poetically)

19. Marsh bird

20. Specks of dust

21. Small merganser

23. Dance step

24. Society girl (informal)

25. Word expressing pleasure

(plural)

27. Location of first garden

29. Pea holder

32. Breed of dog

35. Continent

36. Wash

37. Deficiency in the blood

39. Invigorate

41. Hiker’s nemesis

42. University degrees

44. Hard dark wood

45. Compass direction

46. Former world superpower

47. Danish krone (abbr.)

48. For

49. ___ Little Teapot’ (2 words)

51. Assist

55. Scour

58. Extol

60. Period of time

61. Australian bears

63. Marine crustaceans

65. The Far East

66. Recluses

67. Parts of eyeglasses

68. Accomplished

69. Hallucinating drug (abbr.)

Down

1. Women of a Muslim household

2. Regard with deep affection

3. Dickens’ Tiny __

4. Porches

5. Italian seaport

6. Flies that feed on human blood

7. McDonald’s “Big __”

8. Shrewdness

9. Dish of pieces of marinated

meat

10. Alter written material

11. Ceremonial act

12. Be impudent

13. CAA suggestions (abbr.)

14. Precedes DEF

22. Bet

24. College head

26. That man

28. Perishes

29. Southern constellation

30. Kiln

31. Declare as untrue

32. Public transportation

33. Burden

34. Scarce

35. Sounds of contentment

36. Sign of the zodiac

38. ___ facto (by that very act)

40. Basic monetary unit of

Albania

43. Bored

46. Courteous

47. Smeared with paint

48. Whines

50. New Zealand Polynesian

52. Purple vegetables

53. Made a mistake

54. Official news agency of the

former Soviet Union

55. Used as a toast in drinking

56. Central part

57. Heavy precipitation

59. Military award (abbr.)

62. Urban roads (abbr.)

64. Open ___ 9’

Solution on page 22

1. Blue eyes are agenetic mutation. Before the muta-tion occured, all humans had browneyes.

2. The Guinness Bookof Records was

originally pub-lished by

G u i n n e s sBreweries as a refer-

ence for settling bar argu-ments.27

3. Ants have graveyards.4. You can’t tickle yourself.5. The first South Park episode

was made with construction paper.It took three months to make.

6. An average heart beats100,000 times a day, pumpingsome 2,000 gallons of bloodthrough its chambers. Over a 70-year life span, that adds up to morethan 2.5 billion heartbeats.

7. A lump of pure gold the size ofa matchbox can be flattened into asheet the size of a tennis court.

8. Most people who read theword “yawning” will yawn!

9. Optical illusions occur whenwhat the eyes see conflicts withwhat the brain expects.

10. The largest breed of rabbit isthe Flemish Giant.

11. A donkey will sink in quick-sand but a mule won’t.

12. Women who went to collegeare more likely than high schooldropouts to enjoy both the givingand receiving of oral sex.

13. Your home is 10 times morelikely to have a fire than be burglar-ized.

14. Until 1990, the deadly poisonmercury was used in about 30 percent of latex paints.

15. The military used toilet paperto camouflage their tanks in SaudiArabia, during the Desert StormWar.

16. In 1977 a 13 year-old boy hada tooth growing out of his left foot.

17. The Saguaro Cactus, found inSouth-western United States doesNOT grow branches until it is 75years old.

18. The opposite sides of a dicecube always add up to seven.

19. The famous aphrodisiac“Spanish Fly” is made from driedbeetle remains.

20. People who ride on rollercoasters have a higher chance ofhaving a blood clot in the brain.

Aries (March 21 - April 19)It’s hard to know which is more

intimidating - what you’ve alreadyfinished or what you have yet todo. You’re momentarily aware ofyour small scale in a big world.Otherwise, there’s no reason toworry.

Taurus (April 20 - May 20)You feel technologically

advanced, at the top of your game,outstanding in your field. A greatpersonal outlook opens your mindto intriguing new suggestions. Besure to pay your respects.

Gemini (May 21 - June 20)The Twins prefer to stand alone.

You’re not at war with yourself,but you’d be happy with quiet daysand some extra space. Maybeyou’ll be ready for a party thisweekend, or maybe not. There arebetter things in life.

Cancer (June 21 - July 22)Cancer can find a good word to

say about anyone. You’reassertive, inventive, intuitive andeveryone’s favourite guest. Yourplans for the weekend are alreadyfirmly in place.

Leo (July 23 - August 22)Some people may lose control

and turn belligerent. It’s Leo’s jobto keep the peace. Maintain bal-ance with delicacy and a responsi-ble flash of the usual attractiverecklessness for which you’re sowell known.

Virgo (August 23 - Sept. 22)The stars put you in charge of

any games that will be played.Virgo is all about enforcing theunity of the human family. You seemany faces that may be worn bynew friends in the New Year.

Libra (Sept. 23 - Oct. 22)Stay away from controversial

subjects. Know the differencebetween ignorance and opinion,and keep that knowledge to your-self. Libra would prefer not to gettheir hands dirty in other people’sbusiness.

Scorpio (Oct. 23 - Nov. 21)It’s taken some work, but you

arrive appropriately dressed in theright place at the perfect instant.Scorpio embarks on a grandadventure. Let the moon floatyour boat wherever the tide willcarry it.

Sagittarius (Nov. 22 - Dec. 21)It’s easy to make the wrong

move when your usually perfecttiming is off. As long as you’renot trying to do a tightrope act orjuggle flaming torches, you’ll beokay. To be safe, ask someoneelse to drive home.

Capricorn (Dec. 22 - Jan. 19)A friendly social context is the

perfect background for an intenseone-on-one moment. Renew avow. Speak an unspoken commit-ment. The results aren’t in, buteffort and intention are every-thing.

Aquarius (Jan. 20 - Feb. 18)You thought that you knew it

all, but you should know better.Start carrying out your resolutionssooner than later. Take comfortamong other clueless people try-ing to get it right.

Pisces (Feb. 18 - March 20)Pisces’s New Year begins like the

other Water Signs, you feel a surgeof power. Knowledge and abilitydance within easy reach. Embracethat elusive future and show it exact-ly who’s in charge.

Fill in the grid so that every row, every column and every 3x3 grid con-tains the digits 1 through 9. That means no number is repeated in any col-umn, row or box. Solution can be found on page 22.

Sudoku Puzzle

puzzle rating: hard


Word Search

Tin-Man(Words in parentheses not in puzzle)

AzkadelliaBlunderful (Mystic)Wyatt (Cain)Central (City)DG

EmeraldGlitchLavender (Eyes)LongcoatsMobats

(Mystic) Man(The) Outer ZoneOld Brick (Road)Raw(Resistance) Fighters

W

I

Z

A

R

D

E

W

E

T

R

P

D

U

W

R Q T D O R O T H Y O T R Y

O U T E R Z O N E P L I O N

P I R D Y D Z F T D U A C E

S T D R L A V E N D E R E T

O U L A O I G W Y A T T N S

Y L R U Q F H J I G O P T R

S E D W F K Z L M C O S R E

M T U B X R L C V G K Z A T

A Y A D R E E B F H M U L H

N P L O D I Z D G J D W R G

C K G A C W C L N M N A J I

I R K H C G I K Q U Z R H F

S Z O J K T N L B G L F Y E

A P A W C F P O S T A B O M

I T C H Y D S T L R T O T O


WESTMINSTER (CUP) —Shopping second-hand is not onlyeasy on your wallet, it is also a greatway to express your individual style.Gone are the days when hand-me-downs were forced upon you byanother, oppressing one’s freedomfor personal expression. Today’shand-me-downs are in fact soughtafter and create a sense of individual-ity by wearing something that is lim-ited edition or even a one of a kindpiece.

Let’s distinguish the differencebetween thrift shopping and vintageshopping. Vintage shopping is aneasier—yet potentially more expen-sive—way to finding pre-loved beau-ties. Vintage stores curate specialsecond-hand finds for consumer con-venience and so the price tags are attimes largely marked up. Basically,you pay more for the convenience.

Not everyone is willing to spendhours sifting through racks and racksof junk in order to find those hiddengems. So if you’re okay with spend-ing a little extra money, vintagestores can save you most of the effort.With time you will learn to know agood deal and a great find when yousee one.

On the other hand, thrift shoppingis just that: being thrifty. Finding bar-gains for great items in places likeValue Village, Goodwill, Talize, andother thrift stores can be like a treas-

ure hunt. Successful thrift shoppingrequires a keen eye, determination,and patience. Walking into a ValueVillage as a rookie can be over-whelming and discouraging, but thekey is to have the right mind set.

Here are some tips for skilledthrifting:

DemographicThe nicer the area, the better the

finds. Let’s be honest: you’re notgoing to have much luck finding any-thing of value at the Value Village inthe dodgy end of town—and even ifyou do, leave it for those in need.Check out thrift stores in the well-to-do areas and you’ll be amazed at howwhat was another person’s “trash” isjust waiting to be claimed as yourtreasure.

No expectations are good expec-tations

Walk in with no expectations orprejudgements. If you go thrifting fora specific item, you'll never find it,and you may end up missing out onsomething special that you’ve over-looked because you’ve been close-minded or to focused on a specificfind.

MaterialsStay clear of polyester, or other

cheap looking materials. If you thinkit’s going to make you itchy wearingit or if you’ll look as cheap as theprice tag, then don’t bother. Aftergoing a couple times you will learn totrain your eye to look for materials,patterns, and colours that appeal to

you. You don’t have to pick outevery single item to decide if you’lllike it. Scan through the materialsand if something pops out at you, pullit out and take a closer look. Don’twaste your time.

Always, always, ALWAYS try iton

You never know how somethingwill look until you put it on yourbody. You don’t want to lookfrumpy, outdated, or tacky. If it’s notyour style or it’s not something youcan see in your wardrobe then put itback. If it’s worth altering then makesure the price to alter it doesn’t costmore than the clothing itself, andmake sure you’re actually going todo it. It may only be five dollars, butif it’s just going to sit in your closet,what’s the point?

Bring a buddyEspecially if you’re a newbie, it

always helps having a second opin-ion, specifically from someone whoknows your taste and style. Bestfriends will always be honest if theylike something or not.

Go with your gutAt the end of the day you’re the

one who has to wear it and if youdon’t feel comfortable or good insomething then it’s not for you. Styleis 100 per cent about having confi-dence, which comes from knowingwho you are, and staying true to that.Just because something is fashion-able or trendy doesn’t mean that it fitsfor you and your style.

Thrift versus vintage shopping

CREDIT: THE OTHER PRESS

There are many hidden treasures in thrift shops if you take the time toexplore with an open mind.

NATALIE AYBARSTHE OTHER PRESS


In November, Londoners paintedthe town purple as part of theLondon Abused Women’s Centre’sShine the Light on Woman Abusecampaign.

Some London high school stu-dents went above and beyond,painting their faces purple anddressing up in purple gear as part ofMiss Canada’s Break the Silencecampaign.

“It’s a campaign that I startedabout a year ago,” said JaclynMiles, the current titleholder ofMiss Canada 2012. “It’s a programto raise awareness about variousforms of abuse.”

“During the month of NovemberI was really involved with theLondon Abused Women’s Centre’sShine the Light on Woman Abusecampaign. As an extension of that, Iwanted to bring the awareness thatthey’re doing with their campaigninto the schools and get the studentsmotivated to participate in commu-nity activism.” Throughout themonth of November, Miles trav-elled around London to talk to highschool students and share her ownexperience with sexual assault anddomestic violence.

“When I break my silence, whenI talk about things that are hard totalk about, then it makes (the stu-dents) feel comfortable to talk aboutit, too. Even if they haven’t gonethrough something like that, thewhole point was really to get themto feel empathy for the issue,” Milesexplained.

Sarah Everingham, a grade 12student at South Collegiate Institute,said she found Miles’ talk “veryinteresting” and thought it was ben-eficial to students. “I think it’s veryimportant to share first-hand experi-ence, especially. People who arealso going through it will feel more(comfortable) opening up about it.”

Miles encouraged students towear their purplest outfits to hertalks as part of her contest, thePower of Purple. At the end of eachtalk, the students who wore purpleoutfits had their pictures taken byMiles, and the photos were postedon her Facebook page(tinyurl.com/misscanada12-fb).Students encouraged their friendsand family to vote for their photo byclicking Like on the photo. Thewinners of the contest were chosenat the end of November.

Miles noted that 1,600 peopleviewed her page and 400 Facebookusers Liked her page as a result ofthe contest. “Just for those four daysto get that much attention to (thepage) was really good. The wholepoint of it was to show kids howpowerful they are – how, justbecause they think they’re young,doesn’t mean they don’t have a bigimpact on issues,” she said. “It goesto show how much attention theyalone have brought to that issue.”

The first-place winner of thePower of Purple contest was JordanJoseph Martens from ThamesSecondary School. “He was wear-ing purple honestly from top to bot-tom: he had a hat, he had earrings,he had a sweater, undershirt, hispants, boxers, socks, shoes,shoelaces – everything was purple,”laughed Miles. “It’s his favouritecolour, too, so he was happy todress up.” He took home first prize:an adventure pack for four spon-sored by Adrenaline Paintball inLondon.

Second-place winnerEveringham “just grabbed all of my

purple clothing and tried to find away to wear all of it.” Her outfitincluded purple makeup, purplesneakers and a purple hat with herbaby cousin’s nylons sticking outfrom underneath. She sent out over100 messages to her friends andfamily to vote for her photo onMiles’ page and was “extremelyhappy” with how well she did, shesaid.

Everingham’s prize was a‘Beauty From the Inside Out’ pack-age, and she got to spend the daywith Miss Canada and talk aboutwhat it means to feel beautifulinside as well as outside. The dayincluded a makeover package pro-vided by local businesses: profes-sional fashion styling and makeupby Deanna Ronson; hair styling byNova Vita Hair Studio andAesthetics; and glamour photos byMaira Tilson Photography. Ronsontook Everingham for some personalshopping at Mine 101 (900 OxfordSt. E.), a local consignment shoprun by the Women’s CommunityHouse. Ronson helped Everinghamfind a black full-length gown;“When I found out she was in grade12, I said, ‘This can be your promand graduation dress!’”

After being glammed up by thepros, it was time for Everinghamand Miles’ photo shoot. Ronsonprovided jewellery and a tiara forEveringham, and Miles brought herMiss Canada Crown. “That wastons of fun because they both got to… (be) princess for a day,” smiledRonson.

“It was a lot of fun, I reallyenjoyed the day,” said Everingham.“We got our hair done and ourmakeup done and then we got to eatcheesecake and talk about life … itwas a lot of fun.”

After she’s finished at South,Everingham plans to study EarlyChildhood Education, likely atFanshawe. She said she wants towork in a daycare for a few years,then head to teacher’s college. Herultimate goal is to become a kinder-garten teacher, and she already hasplenty of experience dealing withchildren; “I have four younger sib-lings, three older siblings,” she said.


Purple campaigns smash stigma, break silence

CREDIT: MAIRA TILSON PHOTOGRAPHY

Jaclyn Miles (left), the current titleholder of Miss Canada 2012, and Sarah Everingham, a grade 12 student atSouth Collegiate Institute, spent a fun day together as part of Miss Canada’s the Power of Purple contest.

�kpi Student SatisfactionSurvey

February 4th- February 8th, 2013Fanshawe College and the Student Union need 10 -15outgoing students . . . to help with the administrationof the KPI Student Satisfaction Survey.

If you have any questions please call 519-452-4430,ext. 4690. If you wish to apply please emailInstitutional Research at [email protected].

Training and surveys are paid.Students wishing to work duringthe survey period must attendthe training session.

Training Sessions TBA.

Please apply beforeJanuary 21, 2013.

With a new year comes newopportunities for London’s sportsteams to shine and dominate thesporting world in Ontario, Canadaand the world. Last year, London’sathletes put on some outstandingperformances, and their achieve-ments were recognized and praisedby Londoners and sports fansacross the country.

Let’s start with everyone’sfavourite team, the LondonKnights. They won the OHLchampionship for the second time,beating the Niagara IceDogs onhome ice in game five, driving thecity into a frenzy. Austin Watsonwas a marvelled acquisition; he

showed his worth in the playoffs asthe Knights headed to Shawiniganfor the Memorial Cup. Sadly, theylost in the finals to the ShawiniganCataractes 2-1 in overtime.

This season, the Knights havetaken the OHL by storm. Althoughthe team started off slow, their lossto Windsor on November 1 wouldbe their last for almost two months.The boys won 24 consecutivegames, beating their own franchiserecord and falling just one winshort of tying the CanadianHockey League record. TheKnights are sure to be tough com-petitors as their exciting seasoncontinues and the run for theMemorial Cup begins once again.

The London Nationals also had a

great season, claiming the WesternConference championship in the2012 Greater Ontario JuniorHockey League. While they wenton to finish third in the SutherlandCup, Kelly Thomson’s teamhelped put London sports on themap.

London’s new basketball teammade a name for themselves acrossCanada. In their inaugural season,the London Lightning came out ontop, as over 5,000 fans witnessedthem defeat Halifax in game five towin the league title. London fin-ished with a 33-10 record on theseason, including 5-2 in the play-offs. Budweiser Gardens could behome to two defending championsfor the 2012/13 season.

The Lightning made numerouschanges to their roster in the offseason, coming back even strongerthan last season. The Lightningwon their opener, beating Halifaxonce again. The team continued tobe successful throughout 2012. Noteam came close as the Lightningopened the season with 11 consec-utive wins, breaking the leaguerecord.

Soccer might not be the primechoice for London sports fans, butthat doesn’t mean the sport doesn’tdo well in the city. FC London wascrowned winners of the 2012Premier Development League sea-son, beating the Carolina Dynamo2-1 in the championship finals inNorth Carolina. While the victorymight not have sent every sportsfan in the city into a frenzy,London’s soccer fans were ecstaticthat from a league of 73 teams,spread across the U.S.A., Canadaand Bermuda, their local teamcame out on top.

One of London’s women’s soc-cer teams also made headlines.North London Galaxy wascrowned as the best women’s team

in the country when they beatSurrey United to lift the 2012Jubilee Cup. This victory is theirfirst national title after four Ontariotitles in six years.

The 2012 Olympic Games gaveLondoners a chance to show theirtalents to the world. London nativeDamian Warner catapulted toCanadian fame after his mesmeris-ing performance in the decathlon,where he finished fifth. He didn’twin a medal, but instead he set sixpersonal bests in 10 events. The22-year-old also put up the secondbest point total (8,442) in Canadianhistory. Heptathlete JessicaZelinka and swimmer Joe Bartochhad memorable performances inthe Olympics as well. Zelinkaplaced seventh in the heptathlonwhile Bartoch and his teammatesfinished eighth at the 4x100-metremedley relay.

London and Londoners can beproud; they live in a city that ishome to champions. From individ-ual accolades to team champi-onships and success at the provin-cial and national levels, and even atthe Olympics, 2012 had it all.

Each new year, I often try toemphasize some of the key pointsthat people should generally fol-low if they want to be successfulwith their New Year’s resolutions.Often discussed are proper stagesof essential goal setting and rea-sons why people relapse when try-ing to improve their physicalhealth. It’s no secret that, onceagain, “working out” and “eatingbetter” will top the majority ofpeople’s 2013 self-improvementlists. But, as you get older, youbegin to realize that setting single,definitive goals is not always thebest solution – at least, that’s whatI’ve noticed is true for me.

Don’t get me wrong here. I’m allfor the “one step at a time” motto,and if you want to be a doctor, forexample, it’s definitely not hap-pening overnight; it takes years ofschooling and perseverance. Thesame can be said for simple NewYear’s resolutions like “workingout more.” But if they are so sim-ple, why do so many people’s res-olutions fall by the wayside onceFebruary rolls around?

I truly believe that when a goalis limited in scope, it can oftenbackfire because of the unplannedemphasis that is placed on it. Imean think about it, you set onegoal, you slip up a few times and

there is a likelihood you may giveup all together. Try a newapproach: why limit yourself toone goal when you can set SEV-ERAL goals?

Allow me to clarify. A friend ofmine often falls into this pattern ofdepression once winter sets in. I’venoticed that his life is very routineand hasn’t changed all that muchover the years. I encouraged him toshake things up and become a “yesman,” much like Jim Carrey in themovie of the same name. I told himwe were going to salsa lessons, andeven though we were absolutelyterrible, he picked up a few newmoves and had a great time. He hasalso got involved in our basketballleague and beach volleyballgames.

Along with these improvements,he has built up the courage to takeup some other hobbies that havealso acted as catalysts in his per-sonal improvement. Gradually,I’ve noticed a very positive changewith his overall demeanour, andalthough he has never needed anyimprovements with his fitness and

eating lifestyle, the rest of his lifehas improved tenfold and he is notthe winter grump that I was soaccustomed to.

I guess what I am trying to say isthat when you take a proactiveapproach to truly improving your-self on a grand scale, you may beshocked to realize how everythingfalls into place. Want to get fit?Great! But why stop there? Haveyou wanted to be more sociable?Start smiling at everyone and strikeup small talk! Have you wanted tolearn a different language? Startthis week – you could get involvedwith the International departmentand meet with students from anoth-er country, and there are even lan-guage course offerings availablethrough Fanshawe’s ContinuingEducation!

Be a “yes man” in 2013! Whoknows? You may just find thatyour workout and eating resolu-tions come naturally because youlove life that damn much!

Loving life in 2013FUN AND FITNESSRICK [email protected]

SPORTS&LEISURE 22Volume 45 Issue No. 16 January 14, 2013 www.fsu.ca/interrobang/

fanshawe collegeathletics

Fanshawe College Athletics www.fanshawec.ca/athletics | j1034 | 519-452-4202

campus recHiring Indoor Soccer Referees

Co-Ed Volleyball Entry Deadline

Friday January 18

Ball Hockey Entry Deadline

Friday January 18

3 on 3 Basketball Entry Deadline

Monday January 21

open recOpen Rec – Every Tuesday, Thursday,

and Sunday night from 10pm till 12am.

basketballWednesday January 16 vs Mohawk

Women’s @ 6pmMen’s @ 8:30pm

CREDIT: COURTESY LONDON LIGHTNING

London Lightning forward Elvin Mims helped the team to an 11-0 start tothe 2012/13 season. The team won the 2011/12 National BasketballLeague championship and is hoping for a repeat this season.

What a year for sports in LondonVICTOR KAISARINTERROBANG

Staying motivated in the new year

Q. How can I stay motivated tokeep my New Year resolution tobe physically active?

A. We suggest that you try usinga number of behaviour changestrategies. Find which ones workfor you and stick with them.

Set realistic goals: Your goalsshould be specific and measurable.For example, “I plan to ride thebike at a moderate intensity (so Iam warm and feeling the workout)at Fitness 101 three times thisweek, for 25 minutes each time.”When your goals are specific and

measurable, you will know if youachieve them. You should setshort-term goals and long-termgoals – set a goal for each day,each week, and each month.

Track your progress: Keep a logor the amount of physical activityyou do each week. Compare theresults from week to week andcompare the results to your goal.You have to know your currentbehaviour to change your behav-iour. Keep your log on the fridgeor someplace visible so that it alsoacts as a prompt to action.

Reward yourself: After you havecompleted a weekly goal, youshould reward yourself with some-thing you like (buy a new article ofclothing or a new video game, treatyourself to a movie). Rewardsdon’t have to cost money – you can

reward yourself by watching yourfavourite TV show. For this strate-gy to work, you have to make sureyou withhold your reward untilyou reach your goal. Graduallyspread your rewards out so thatyou have to work more before get-ting them.

Use a support system: Have aclose friend or family member tokeep you on track and remind youof your goals. Work out with afriend so that you can motivate andencourage each other. You will beless likely to blow off the gymwhen you are blowing off a friendalso.

Submitted by Heidi Streicher,Lauren Brull, Tara Mcleod, NicoleVahey, Connor Quinn and JulieHancock.

HEALTH HABIT OFTHE WEEK Fitness and HealthPromotion students

SPORTS&LEISURE 23Volume 45 Issue No. 16 January 14, 2013 www.fsu.ca/interrobang/

Hello and welcome to 2013. Ihope everyone has had a wonderfulstart to the new year, and I alsohope many will be looking to buy anew car.

I thought I should start the yearoff with a piece on two brand-newvehicles that are on sale right now.One of them is good, the other isnot.

I am talking about the newNissan Sentra sedan and the newNissan Pathfinder SUV. Both thesemodels are fresh for 2013, but howare they to drive and what are thefeatures like?

To find out, Nissan Canada invit-ed me to the launch of these twonew offerings in the beautiful cityof Vancouver, B.C.

I’ll start off with the Sentra, a carthat has been quite a volume sellerfor its manufacturer. The Sentra isnot the entry level model in theirline-up; that distinction belongs tothe Versa sedan. The Sentra isroughly seven inches longer thanthe Versa, yet it feels no more spa-cious. Still, at least from a roomi-ness point of view, the Sentra cer-tainly has more space to offer thanits rivals from Kia or Toyota.

It looks good, too. This seventh-generation Sentra is a handsomecar. Take the badges off and peoplemight think it’s a Lexus (it doeshave more than a passing resem-blance to the much unloved andhence discontinued LexusHS250h).

The design is slippery throughthe air, with just a 0.29 co-efficientof drag (better than most sportscars).

The new Sentra has clever fea-tures, such as the tire pressure mon-itoring system that beeps the horn

when you have filled the tires withthe correct amount of air. This willprevent you from under- or over-inflating its tires.

This compact car has some(optional) luxury features, like aneight-speaker Bose stereo system, atouchscreen navigation/infotain-ment system and dual-zone climatecontrol.

So far, the Sentra is shaping up tobe a pretty good car, but it’s farfrom perfect. My first complaint iswith its quality. The Sentra’s interi-or is five shades of grey – boring!In my SR-spec tester, I was baffledwith how many mismatched bits ofplastic there were in this interiorand wondered why Nissan haddone that. Is it because of cost orwere the designers this blind?

I was also baffled when I openedthe trunk. Yes, the trunk is huge,measuring 428 litres, but it suffersnot only from huge C-hinges toprop the trunk up (which wouldcertainly impede in its capacitywhen you close the trunk), but alsofound the most bizarre contraptionto keep the trunk lid up.Essentially, it had two pieces ofmetal running between the C-hinges, which will undoubtedly oneday snag on some luggage. Nissan,you have created the best active all-wheel drive system in the worldand a rev-matching manual gear-box – why did you produce a mech-anism that is this flawed?

Details like a half-painted trunkhinge and a mysterious glued-onsponge under the front hood justadd to my frustration with this newvehicle.

All this before I’ve even gottento the powertrain. Under the hoodlies a 1.8-litre four-cylinder enginethat produces 130 hp and 128 lb/ftof torque – not the strongest enginein its class. Power is fed to the frontwheels via either a six-speed manu-al or a CVT (continuously variabletransmission) automatic. My tester,sadly, had the latter. While Nissan

has done a decent job with the CVTgearbox in vehicles such as theMurano, the Quest and the newAltima, the one in the Sentra is nottheir best effort.

Nissan claims that this is a sec-ond-generation version of the CVTfound in their compact cars, but itperformed no better than the lastone. Very disappointing.

This CVT has three drive modes(Normal, Eco and Sport), but thecar didn’t feel much different ineach mode. However, if the fueleconomy numbers can be believed,the new Sentra can average 5.8litres/100km on a combined cycle,which is quite good.

The ride and handling, however,is not. While the suspension and thechassis soak up the bumps well, theseats are quite uncomfortable. Iwasn’t the only one complaining,as my driving partner, who is slim-mer than me, had the same com-plaint. As for handling, it seemsfine for a car like this, but the elec-tric power steering system offers nofeel as to what the front tires aredoing.

So to cap it off, the new Sentra isa fine car for those who are not intocars and are just looking to get fromA to B. If you like cars, though,look elsewhere. Pricing for the

Mexico-built Sentra starts at$14,898.

Now let’s talk about the newPathfinder. This is the fourth-gen-eration version of this model, and itis the second time it has a uni-bodyconstruction. That means it’ll besmooth on the road, but not ofmuch use off-road. Since mostSUV buyers never go off-road, thisis not a big deal.

What is a big deal is that this isthe first Pathfinder to feature aCVT automatic; however, Nissansays its FK-K2 unit is the mostadvanced CVT on the market. I’llget to how it actually performed abit later.

Under the hood is a very familiarengine. It is a 3.5-litre VQ-seriesV6 motor that is found in manyother Nissan and Infiniti models. Inthis application, it produces 260 hpand 240 lb/ft of torque. That allowsit to tow up to 5,000 lbs, which isquite impressive.

The new Pathfinder can at thetwist of a knob go from front-wheeldrive to active all-wheel drive orAWD lock, so while it might not bean ideal vehicle for off-roading, itcan haul you out of whatever yourlocal weather can throw your way.Buyers on a budget can buy a sim-ple front-wheel-drive-only model.

It can haul people too – seven atthe same time. Sharing its platform(and many other things) with theInfiniti JX35, it has the same cleverseating configuration that allowseven adults to sit comfortably in thelast row.

While not many people will beimpressed with the way the newPathfinder looks, most will love itsinterior. Not only is the quality ofthe fit and finish superb, but thespace is plentiful and you can getmost of the gadgets you’d find inits Infiniti cousin, which includesthe around-view monitoring systemfor parking. Clever stuff.

It’s also economical; Nissanclaims a combined city and high-way fuel economy of 9.5litres/100km for the AWD model,which is quite good.

Specs and clever features aside,how does it drive?

Well, it is certainly not an enthu-siast’s vehicle, but it rides verywell, it is extremely quiet, and itsCVT works quite well in this appli-cation. If you are looking for alarge family vehicle and don’t wanta minivan, the Pathfinder is worth alook. There are four trim levels onoffer (S, SV, SL, Platinum), andprices range from $29,998 to$45,198.

MOTORING NAUMAN [email protected]

Comparing Nissan’s 2013 offerings

CREDIT: NAUMAN FAROOQ

The new Nissan Sentra has some nice features with a low price tag.

As Robin Van Persie continuedhis incredible run of form thisChristmas break, it became clear tofootball fans that ManchesterUnited is serious about this season.

With a younger club and a fewpieces that didn’t seem to fit themold (Rafael da Silva, among oth-ers), the team has become by farthe best in England, tallying aseven-point gap at the top afterChristmas. Individual performanc-es, combined with a great inter-play, have lead the team to anamazing season so far.

Shinji Kagawa has to be one ofthe best purchases of the season,even though he has been outinjured. He embodies how his for-mer club, Borussia Dortmund,played: crisp passing and great ballcontrol. The figure Man U paid tosnag Kagawa has not beenreleased, but it was likely worth it.In the two Champions Leaguegames he played in, he racked uptwo assists, with two goals going in

domestically in eight games – apretty good stat line, considering.Watch for him to come back andmake an instant impact.

Wayne Rooney has had a greatseason even though he’s not onpace to bag 30-plus goals.

Rooney plays hard on the ballbut has a gifted touch. He used thisto go on an unreal tear early in2010 and finished that season with34 goals after getting hurt inMarch. Back then, no one couldhave predicted the outstandingabilities that he’s showing now. Hewas considered a one-dimensionalgoal-scorer, and now he’s turnedinto a lynchpin in their attackingbuildup.

Lastly, there is Van Persie. Thestars have aligned for this man,who I believe is comparable to thelikes of Lionel Messi at this point.With 30 goals last season, andreaching towards that total with 16already in this season, he has beena great asset to the team. Given apoacher’s role, he can effortlesslypeel defenders, which is so crucialin their system. A striker usuallysits in behind RvP and the resultsare deadly when that striker is, say,Rooney. Rooney dominates thefield like a pitbull, using his size

and speed to his advantage. He’struly having some of the best sea-sons the EPL has seen in a while.There is a lot of football left to be

played; United still sits in the FACup and Champions League, somaybe they have a few more thingsto show critics. The Red Devils

look as dangerous as ever headinginto 2013.

United still top team in Premier LeagueFANSHAWE FCMARTY [email protected]: @martythompson_

CREDIT: ISIPHOTOS.COM

Robin Van Persie shows fans a man who has two thumbs and can score about 15 times that total this season.

interrobang issue for january 14th, 2013

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