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Volume 146 · December 4, Issue 14, 2012 www.thebruns.ca

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THE BRUNSNEWS

Dec. 04, 2012 • Issue 14 • Volume 146 • 2

news@thebruns.ca

What the frack?

One of the coldest days in November was not enough to dissuade over 300 anti-shale gas protesters from amass-ing in front of the New Brunswick Legislative Building last Tuesday afternoon.

After meeting at the Old Burial Grounds at 11 a.m. of that morning, the protesters marched – signs and bullhorns in tow – in well below zero degree weather through downtown Fredericton.

Shortly after noon, the protesters arrived at the Legislative Building, where politicians and police officers weren’t the only groups waiting. A small pro-shale gas group from the

Miramichi Valley also camped out-side the building.

Although much fewer in number, the pro-shale gas group remained vocal, advocating the potential job opportunities in shale gas, calling the protesters “delusional” and “hypo-critical”, and pointing out that most of them likely used cars as their main mode of transportation, an act no more or less detrimental than shale gas drilling.

The anti-shale gas protesters set up a stage near the front of the building, with a large handcrafted boot bearing the words “Mr. Alward This boot’s 4 U”, standing to the side. Speakers from all areas of the province took turns speaking out against shale gas.

One of those speakers was Julia

Linke, from Taymouth, a settlement located a half an hour’s drive away from Fredericton. First becoming in-volved with the cause after attending a public forum held at the Fredericton Inn in the spring of 2011, Linke has now taken up an active role in raising awareness concerning the negative repercussions of shale gas drilling.

“I was one of the committee members in charge of organizing this march,” said Linke.

“We started preparing six weeks or so ago, working with a few others by getting the word out to more individ-uals and groups. There are so many unions and groups that have already taken a stance, and that number is continuing to grow.”

In the throne speech delivered

later that day, the Alward govern-ment said it would continue to weigh the options concerning shale gas development.

Using two reports, one written by biologist Louis LaPierre, and the other written by chief medical of-ficer of health, Dr. Eilish Cleary, the government will develop a blueprint for oil and natural gas.

“New Brunswick has a long history of oil and gas production,” the throne speech said.

“All residents of our province rely on natural gas today, whether directly for energy, or indirectly through the goods and services we consume. If the estimates for the potential amount of natural gas are accurate, it has the potential to heat

every home in our province for sev-eral hundred years, and to provide a significant competitive advantage for our economy.”

But Greg Cook, the MC of the rally, doesn’t believe the Alward government has come through on its promises to the New Brunswick people.

“The Louis LaPierre shale gas study group process, based on only nine public hearings – none of them in the metropolitan areas of New Brunswick – is a far cry from the premier’s promise of consultation in every riding in the province,” said Cook, in his remarks on Tuesday afternoon.

“Democracy in New Brunswick is broken, and on life support.”

Chad BetteridgeThe Brunswickan

Over 300 anti-shale gas protesters marched to the provincial legislature last Tuesday. Bronté James / The Brunswickan

Electronic thefts rise on campus As exams approach, students are being robbed of more than just their sleep and sanity.

In the past month, an iPad has gone missing from the Harriet Irving Library, four computer thefts have occurred in the residences, and there have been a couple of cases of stolen iPods. So far, no one has been caught.

According to Bruce Rogerson, director of campus security and traffic, not all the stolen articles are being reported either.

“We probably are not capturing some information, because people think [their items] are just lost [as opposed to being stolen],” he said. “So sometimes, they report things as lost, but they may have gotten up from where they were eating, studying or whatever else, and left it for a moment, came back and didn’t realize it was missing.”

Rogerson said the reason nobody’s been caught is because the thieves are going beyond pawning and selling. He said this also explains why none of the stolen articles

have been recovered.“It doesn’t always have to be somebody

that’s selling or pawning. If they’re going home, they’re going to take that stuff away from campus where it won’t be seen,” said Rogerson. “They disappear rather quickly.”

Rogerson said it is important students are aware that the thefts are usually the works of other students.

“The stats are, 80 per cent of thefts on a campus are generally committed by people who work, study and play there. So people should be aware of that,” he said.

He said this seems to be the case of a couple of the computer thefts, which occurred where the computers were in the room of the young female students involved.

“The computers were actually in their room in a desk drawer out of sight, but they left their door unlocked for about an hour or so,” Rogerson said. “So some-body obviously knew them, knew their surroundings or what was in their room, because they were target specific.”

According to Rogerson, the key to keeping your valuables is precaution and

prevention. “Lock your doors regardless if you’re

going to be away for a minute,” he said. “Thieves target places that are easy to get into. Watch out for [your valuables], guard them, lock them up, and keep them out of sight, especially in your car.”

The university also offers free Front-DoorSoftware that supplies students – under their unb.ca address – with laptop protection for four years; the software incorporates tracking service, information protection and recovery.

The “buddy system” is another way to keep valuable items safe.

“If you have to get up and go away from a study area or where you are working, and there’s a person there you know, just ask them to watch it for you,” said Rogerson.

This is a particularly bad time of year for thefts on campus, as everything begins to wind down and students become less conscious of their valuables.

“It’s that time of year and students are excited; exams are coming and they’re go-ing home,” Rogerson said. “You get caught up in it and you drop your guard on what you should be watching for.”

Emma McPheeThe Brunswickan

Students are advised to keep a watchful eye on their electronics this time of year. Mike Bourgeois / The Brunswickan

Citizens divided over shale gas

Dec. 04, 2012 • Issue 14 • Volume 146 • 3BRUNSWICKANNEWS

BRUNSWICKANNEWS4 • Dec. 04, 2012 • Issue 14 • Volume 146

Atlantic provinces take on climate change:

Shane BelbinThe Muse (Memorial University)

ST. JOHN’S (CUP) — While science behind climate change research has existed in academia for years, the practical study of how to adapt to it is relatively new. Recognizing this knowledge gap was a major incentive for the founda-tion of the Atlantic Climate Adaptation Solutions Association (ACASA). By pooling the resources of the Atlantic provinces, ACASA hopes to con-duct research on climate change which can be explained to the public and translated intro relevant policy changes. The organization, which in-cludes Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland and Labrador, held a conference in St. John’s on Nov. 27 to highlight the results of projects that have been undertaken. Opened by the Tom Hed-derson, Newfoundland and Labrador’s Minister of Environment and Conserva-tion, the research presented showcased the knowledge being generated on climate change in the province. “It’s knowledge and under-standing that will get us where we need to be,” Hedderson said. In his keynote speech, Bob Sandford, the EPCOR chair of the Can-adian partnership initiative in support of

United Nations “Water for Life” decade, spoke about how climate change has caused major shifts in the approach scientists have to take. With a background in hydrol-ogy, Sandford talked about how the con-cept of “stationary”— that processes and availability of water in the hydrological cycle does not change over time — is simply no longer true anymore. This is a major under-lying assumption in developing models and predictions, and a lack of validity for it will have major repercussions in the scientific community. Although advanced scientific research in areas such as remote sensing and salt-water intrusion were presented, the vital human aspects of the equation were also included. By working at the community level, the program hopes to build resiliency at all levels within the province. A focus was also placed on mak-ing the results of the studies available to the public. With results showing things such as flood risk maps and susceptibility of coastal areas to erosion, the studies present infor-mation which can be useful to developers, municipalities and concerned citizens. While Glenn Davis, ACASA’s regional coordinator, is proud of the work that’s been done so far, he is confident that the problems are far from solved. “We’ve accomplished a lot, but the job isn’t done,” he said.

UNB has leg-up on science

UNB reasearch is helping to change what prostetic legs can do. Submitted

Gordon MihanStaff Writer

Technology behind prosthetic bionic limbs has been taken to the next level, with help of researchers at the Uni-versity of New Brunswick.

UNB’s connection to the f ield of bionic prosthetics has been well established, and the university was involved with inventing the whole field. RN Scott Hall, the biomedical engineering building on campus, is named after Bob Scott, a pioneer in the field.

Scott was the first scientist to come up with the idea of measuring the electricity from the muscles in an amputee’s remaining limb, and using that to extract information about what the user is trying to do.

Dr. Kevin Englehart, the acting director of the Institute of Biomed-ical Engineering at UNB, has been supervising the research being done on campus.

“Our role is to try to take the energy produced from the mus-cles from an amputee and decode what the person is trying to do, and control the prosthesis,” said Engle-hart.

“In the case of an arm, if you want to flex a prosthetic elbow or open and close a hand, we’ve been improving ways of actually extracting that infor-mation from a person’s central nerv-ous system, through the muscles.”

Levi Hargrove, the lead researcher

at the Center for Bionic Medicine at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chica-go, and UNB Alumnus, worked with a variety of different institutions to launch one the world’s first smart legs.

“Levi was one of my PhD students and he took the research a little bit further and made it much more ac-curate,” said Englehart.

Hargrove and his team put the bionic leg to the ultimate test when Zac Vawter, the wearer of the leg, climbed 103 flights of stairs to the top of Chicago’s Willis Tower.

Research that helped make this possible was conducted by Engle-hart’s students, Roua Razak and Dan Rogers; they contributed to the sophisticated neural control of the smart leg.

“They looked at the similarities and differences between controlling arms and controlling legs” said Englehart.

“Basically, it is taking the electri-city that’s produced by the muscles while someone tries to do some-thing; in the case of an amputee, that part of the limb is missing. But the part of the limb that remains’ muscles are still active and you can still try to estimate what the person is trying to do.”

Controlling a leg has its own set of challenges that are different from controlling an arm.

“They’re standing on the pros-thetic leg, so they’re actually bearing the weight, which does nasty things to the muscle signals. And on top of

that, you have absolutely no room for failure. If you make the wrong decision, the subject will fall down. There is no margin for error at all.”

While the concept of being able to move a thought-controlled pros-thetic limb seems complicated, the amount of programming that goes into such a device is even more complex than you might originally expect.

“The prosthesis has to recognize whether you’re walking level, or whether you’re climbing stairs, or whether you’re going up and down a ramp, or whether you’re trying to avoid an obstacle,” said Englehart.

“It literally has to be aware of what you’re trying doing all the time, and even more than that, it has to anticipate it.”

If the subject is transitioning from walking level to suddenly wanting to go up stairs, the prosthetic leg has to know that the subject is going up those stairs even before the first step is hit.

“The reason we look at muscle signals is that the muscles actually prepare themselves for climbing stairs even before you hit them, because if you approach stairs, you probably don’t think about it, but your muscles stiffen up, getting ready for that first step,” said Englehart.

“The muscles are stabilizing them-selves; there are cues in there that you can actually measure before any movement happens.”

Conference presents local findings from interprovincial project

Some Atlanic Canadian shorelines are seeing coastal erosion. Submitted

Dec. 04, 2012 • Issue 14 • Volume 146 • 5BRUNSWICKANNEWSTips to get your study onThere’s a calm on campus; the kind of calm that comes before a storm as students frantically study for exams.

Fortunately, there are ways to prepare yourself for them, even under a tight deadline.

Dr. Richard Spacek, of the writing and study skills program, said there are techniques that help learn material faster.

One of them is self-testing. “It’s actually faster than other tech-

niques,” Spacek said. “If you have a test, don’t simply review the information. You also need to practice retrieving it on command, which is what a test forces you to do.”

“That’s what you’re going to have to do for assessment purposes.”

Spacek said a good way to self-test is through group studying, since questions you make for yourself might be easier than questions someone else creates.

This could be effective, provided the group isn’t a social occasion.

Alexander Gergely, a third year business student, recommends studying in a group of selected people.

“Make sure that when you study with people, you find people that are, a) help motivate you; and b) people who have gone to class and paid attention, because if you surround yourself with smart people, you, in effect, are also smart,” Gregely said.

Keeping yourself on a schedule and completing tasks require self-regulation.

Spacek said self-regulation is like a muscle; the more you use it, the stronger it becomes. In the short run, you’ll tire out and run out of willpower, but in the longer run, the more you try to exercise your will, the more successful you will become.

Speaking of exercise, that’s another thing Spacek said can benefit students during exam time.

“If you possibly can, it’s useful to keep exercise in the schedule,” Spacek said, “It has several benefits. It actually seems to improve cognition across the spectrum of age.”

Sleep is another key factor in learning. Sleep-deprivation has the same effect of

stress, raising cortisone levels and shrinking the hippocampus, the part of the brain that consolidates memory.

Spacek said reducing sleep, such as stay-ing up late and not recovering the lost time, is a disaster.

“You hurt your ability to learn. You

hurt your ability to retrieve information rapidly. This is what you are preparing to do,” Spacek said,

“It could not more directly strike at your ability to perform if you designed it that way.”

Nick Chamberlain, a third year busi-

ness student, recommends using everyday examples when studying.

“Relate it back to your life,” said Cham-berlain. “It’s a lot easier. That’s what I find helps get me though studying.”

Despite best efforts, it’s sometimes easy for students to fall into last minute study traps. Believe it or not, one of the ways to avoid last minute studying is going to class.

Jessica Goldberg, a fourth year arts student, finds that if she pays attention in class, takes notes and then types them, she remembers more.

“And if I do that throughout the year, that leaves a lot less stress at the end,” Goldberg said.

Spacek said, typically, students fall into last minute studying due to bad time management.

“It’s when people are exploring a whole range of new activities; these are activities that sometimes compete with study time and that leaves them [students] at the end of term with a lot of catching up to do,” said Spacek.

“It’s difficult to learn faster.”

Heather UhlNews Reporter

Twenty-eight year-old Ryan Stanley, is working to understand how evolution occurs at gene duplication, through fruit flys. Shane Rockland Fowler / The Brunswickan

Room 47, in the windowless basement of UNB’s Bailey Hall, houses an animal with a big name, and even bigger poten-tial. Drosophila Melanogaster is kept here; thousands of them. Most are kept behind a double set of sealed doorways, inside a large incubator. Sometimes, when researchers want to get closer to them, they knock them out for a while, by turning on the large canisters of gas kept in the corner. They are the key to genetic research in this part of Canada. If they ever all got out at once, it would be pandemonium. No glass of wine would be safe.

Drosophila Melanogaster is the com-mon fruit fly.

While they may seem inconspicuous enough, floating around your kitchen whenever the bananas get too soft, fruit-flies are model organisms in the field of genetics. They are easy to maintain; just a little brown paste in a vial with a cotton-swap topper is all that’s needed to keep an entire genera-tion happy for life. Most importantly, you can watch their genes change.

Room 47, better known as the “The Fly Room” to the dedicated researchers who work there, is a brightly lit room with a bit of a funky smell, and sometimes has CBC radio playing in the background. It’s an oddly cozy spot where earnest scientists

are trying to get a better understanding of evolution through genetics.

Your brown eyes, or brunette hair, came from your parents. These inherited traits were determined, by not just what genes your parents had, but on how they interacted when they came together. It’s an overly simplified way of looking at genetics. But when it comes to studying genes, people are terrible test subjects. In addition to being completely unethical, the time gap between generations is too large. It literally takes a lifetime to see how a trait is passed down from parent to offspring.

Fruit flies are model organisms because you can change some of their DNA and see how it impacts a trait down the road, in a dozen generations, in about a month. They lead a very quickened lifestyle. A fe-male can be ready for sex eight hours after hatching. This leaves a very small window for a geneticist to select virgin specimens for breeding. Virgins must be used in order to ensure that the followed trait or genetic change is the one they want.

Here, Ryan Stanley O’Neill, a tall, short-haired, 28 year-old is earning his PhD in biology by studying how they changes in DNA evolve over time. He’s an evolution-ary geneticist.

“I work to understand how evolution occurs at gene duplication.”

“My work aims to understand how evolution occurs after gene duplication,” explains O’Neill. “Occasionally, a muta-tion will produce a second copy of a gene, and this second copy could evolve a new function.”

Out of those two copies, one gene needs

to keep doing its job. Sometimes both cop-ies work at the same job. Other times, those small changes, can lead to new traits, or new abilities. It’s how those differences act and maintain themselves over time through multiple generations that is the basis for O’Neill’s research.

“In order to fully study a gene, first you knock it out,” O’Neill says. “I completely remove the gene from the fly’s genome and see how the fly is affected. Once I know what its impact is, then I can make smaller changes and really study it.”

For a portion of this work, O’Neill is concerned with genes that coordinate the building of a cells cytoskeleton and how it

reacts with a cells membrane. The cytoskel-eton is the scaffolding that is built as a cell grows, giving it its shape. Think of it as the poles that erect a tent. The poles determine the tent’s eventual shape.

The work is tedious, as a small change can sometimes be hard to detect.

“I’ve had to go through 400 individuals before and I got one single fly that had the event that I wanted,” says O’Neill.

Sporting dress shoes, black dress pants and a psychedelic, graphic T-shirt screaming through his zip-up cardigan, the Belle Isle native is passionate about his field. Previ-ously having given a talk to a group of kids about the basics of his science, his dressy

appearance belies his quirky nature and the long path he took to get to room 47.

Originally, hoping to build video games, O’Neill entered computer sciences before realizing he absolutely hated it. The pre-requisite of chemistry caught his eye, so he switched over. He switched majors again to biology, a year later.

“Then I took some time off to work at a call center, as well as [for] a lobster biologist before coming back to school.”

He admits that the pursuit of knowledge is something that he could simply not turn down. He loves being “an inheritor of knowledge.”

“I’m soaking it all in,” he said.

Room 47: The basement flies

Shane Rockland Fowler

Periodical Elements

With exams coming up, students are about to hit the books, hard. Bronté James / The Brunswickan

BRUNSWICKANNEWS6 • Dec. 04, 2012 • Issue 14 • Volume 146

DEANSWhat they are. What they do. And why we have so many.

43the number of UNBF and UNBSJ deans

35.8%

26.7%

37.5%

The Budget Breakdown

spent on non-academic salaries in 2011

spent on academic salaries in 2011

spent on everything else in 2011

Non-academic salaries include adminstaion and other employees, such as communications, maintenance staff, etc.

All levels of deans fall under academic salaries.

of UNB’s operating budget is spent on administration alone.

This includes salaries and other expenses.

9.6%

270the number of contract academic employees for both campuses

A look into where salaries fit into the UNB budget

Dec. 04, 2012 • Issue 14 • Volume 146 • 7BRUNSWICKANNEWS

Cherise LetsonNews Editor

The number of deans and other man-agement at UNB is having a negative impact, says Miriam Jones, president of the Association of University of New Brunswick Teachers (AUNBT).

She said the number of deans has been going up in recent years, while the number of full-time faculty mem-bers has been going down.

“We are very concerned about this trend towards top-heavy manage-ment, while more and more teaching is being done by underpaid contract staff with no benefits or job security,” said Jones.

UNB has 270 contract academic employees for both campuses, out of approximately 900 faculty members. This is actually lower than recent years. Last year, there were 275 con-tract academic employees, and 314, two years ago.

Jones said many post-secondary institutions are adopting a more business and corporate model of operation, which has led to changes that threaten the quality of educa-tion, such as the diminishing of departments and programs, and the off-loading of more teaching on causal employees.

“Deans, associate and assistant deans are all drawn from faculty; there is also, and possibly worse, a huge expansion of managers hired in a widening range of non-academic activities,” said Jones.

“Meanwhile, students have fewer and fewer course offerings to choose from. Programs are starved and scaled back, retiring faculty are not replaced, and the whole idea of a broad educa-tion is disappearing down the drain and being replaced by curriculum driven by the marketplace.”

Jones said though she understands the pressure on universities to be accountable, the amount of manage-ment is still too much.

“To be fair, because of increasing demands from government agencies and elsewhere that post-secondary institutions account for themselves, there are heavier demands on admin-istration than perhaps there were in the past,” said Jones. “Nevertheless, the growth of university management is out of all proportion.”

UNB has 43 deans for both cam-puses; this includes both associate and assistant deans.

Associate dean positions need to be approved by the university senate, and are filled by a faculty member, while assistant dean positions don’t need senate’s approval, and they also don’t have to be filled by a faculty member, though it’s advised.

An associate dean serves as a partner to the dean. They work along with the dean in handling the faculty, though they’re not the equivalent of a dean.

An assistant dean is a level down from an associate dean, and serves as a “support” to them. Neither position has a defined set of tasks,

and the job description for each department is different; what they do is up to the dean.

Deans themselves have the task of making all decisions for their de-partment. They are also responsible for managing both full-time and part-time faculty, including admin-istering the collective agreements, and handling human resource issues.

They also assign faculty workloads and faculty reviews and they are ac-countable to the vice-president for annual review. Though they are en-couraged to, deans are not required to teach.

St. Thomas University has 2,494 students and two deans. When divided evenly, this is about 1,247 students per dean. For the two main campuses, UNB has 10,638 students and when divided evenly, works out to be about 247 students per dean. However, it should be noted some departments, in reality, have more students to look after than others.

UNB vice-president academic, Tony Secco, said numbers aren’t everything when it comes to looking at the necessity for deans. He said deans are also important for account-ability. He compares the operation of a faculty to that of a small company.

“The chief executive officer for a small company, or a big company, has the same accountabilities to stake-holders; the same human resource issues,” said Secco. “To make up a budget for a small unit is not much different than making up a budget

for a big unit… You really can’t equate it to the number of students.”

However, Secco said the deans are responsible for the teaching of stu-dents, and handling their issues. He also said most of the deans at UNB teach at least one course.

“When there are problems and students have issues, the issues go all the way up to the dean; then of course, more students will mean more issues go all the way up to the dean,” said Secco. “So, numbers do have an effect in that regard.”

In 2011, UNB devoted 9.6 per cent of its operating budget towards administration alone. This number includes salaries, but expenses too. Also in 2011, UNB spent 35.8 per cent of its budget on academic sal-aries and 26.7 per cent on non-aca-demic salaries, which included, but was not limited to, administration.

Deans, associate and assistant deans, fall under academic salaries.

Secco said though many students don’t know much about deans and what they do, he said this in many ways can be a good thing.

“Because it means that things are running smoothly; they’re [students] getting educated. People are work-ing in the background making sure all that happens. So, the dean is the CEO of that organization making sure that it does all operate,” said Secco.

“In many ways, the less you know about the administration, the smoother it must be running.”

“In many ways, the less you know about the administration, the smoother it must be running.”

BRUNSWICKANNEWS8 • Dec. 04, 2012 • Issue 14 • Volume 146

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Dec. 04, 2012 • Issue 14 • Volume 146 • 9

the brunswickanEditorial BoardEditor-in-Chief • Sandy ChaseManaging • Liam GuitardNews • Cherise LetsonArts • Lee ThomasSports • Josh FleckPhoto • Bronté James Copy • Hansika GunaratneProduction • Alex Walsh Online • Sarah Campbell

Staff Advertising Sales Rep • Bill Traer Delivery • Dan Gallagher Arts Reporter • Elizabeth Creelman News Reporter • Heather Uhl Staff Reporter • Gordon Mihan Sports Reporter • Julie McLaughlin Opinions Columnist • Cody Jack

ContributorsSarah Badibanga, Chad Betteridge, Mike Bourgeois, Nikki Chapman, Benjamin Crouse, Shawna Cyr-Calder, Shane Rock-land Fowler, Tamara Gravelle, Brandon Hicks, Robert Johnson, Monique Lamon-tagne, Kevin Lemieux, Alyson MacIssac, Justin Marshall, Emma McPhee, David Micalef, Nick Murray, Karšten Saunders, Ja-cie Targett, Jeremy Trevors, Sarah Vannier

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About UsThe Brunswickan, in its 146th year of

publication, is Canada’s Oldest Official

Student Publication.We are an autonomous student

newspaper owned and operated by Brunswickan Publishing Inc., a non-profit, independent body.

We are a founding member of the Canadian University Press, and love it so. We are also members of U-Wire, a media exchange of university media throughout North America.

We publish weekly during the academic year with a circulation of 6,000.

Letters to the editorLetters must be submitted by e-mail

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Cody Jack

A Critical Eye

THE BRUNSOPINION

editor@thebruns.ca

‘Tis the season to be in contradiction

The holidays will be soon upon us. Unless you’re one of those people who started humming festive tunes right after Remembrance Day, then it is already here for you. I myself am an atheist, but I do partake in the familial and Santa Claus aspects of Christmas. It is hard to escape that living in North America.

But this article is not going to be about saying “Holidays” instead of “Christmas”, or whether there should be a Christmas tree in a public place, or if it is acceptable to say “Xmas” instead of “Christmas”. This piece is going to be about critiquing the contradictory nature of this season. This season, for North American Christians and most agnostics/atheists, celebrates both ex-cess and charity while celebrating the birth of one Jesus Christ or the night Santa Claus brings toys to children.

It is the major time of year when retail sales are hoped to increase so as to maintain economic growth. At the same time, most of our wages have been barely keeping up with inflation. But do not fret! For we have access to credit cards to help us purchase those excessive gifts for our loved ones! As of

this year, Canadian personal debt – not including mortgages – is at its high-est levels at $26,768. Something the Mark Cardy, governor of the Bank of Canada, has called an issue of national importance.

But, if we lived within the means, as many people argue the govern-ment should, the whole system would collapse under itself. That is because we produce more than what can be consumed. Capitalism is built on a model of continual growth. If that growth is not achieved, then we have a recession. So, instead of giving people higher paying wages in order to pur-chase products, which would lower profit levels, companies extend credit to consumers, which they make money off in the interest. And the system keeps going on its merry way.

So we spend in excess and companies make in excess. Interestingly enough, this is a religious time of year. The Christian faith, premised upon the gospel of Jesus Christ and the Bible, extols moderation as a tenant to living the good life, as seen in Timothy 6:10: “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.”

Religion has historically been used

to keep the masses docile and com-plaisant. It was used to justify existing social and political hierarchies. But today, most world religions run in contradiction to the social and polit-ical hierarchy of capitalism. Capitalism could not withstand everyone living in moderation, or it would collapse. It requires excess in consumption as well as excess in the levels of income from rich to poor.

Hence why our new religion is ma-terial consumerism. We therapeutically go to the new temples of worship, the shopping centre, or Costco. We buy to sooth our souls about the anxieties we feel in life and the separation we feel

from the world around us. And then, at this time of year, to es-

cape our momentary guilt about living a life of excess, we give to charities, to those less fortunate. We give to those people whose position we hope to never find ourselves. We forgive them for being poor during this time of year, but rail against them for not helping themselves during the rest of the year.

The less fortunate were once some-one like you, buying things for their children or loved ones at Christmas time. Now, because of the recent economic downturn, they find them-selves needing; and we give to them to maintain their poverty. Instead of

looking at the causes of our own exces-sive consumption and their poverty, we look to the symptoms. The majority of the poor are poor due to circumstances beyond their control. Unemployment currently sits at 11.6 per cent in this province. Poverty and unemployment will always exist in capitalism. Not everyone can be rich in capitalism, someone has to make less or nothing, so someone can make more.

So, during this festive season, think critically about the system in which we’re joyously partaking. Think critically about the need for charity in capitalism, and why exactly you’re buying all those things for loved ones and the like.

Like the Grinch tried to do, Capitalism has consumed the giving spirit so everone can spend in excess without feeling guilty. Bronté James / The Brunswickan

10 • Dec. 04, 2012 • Issue 14 • Volume 146 BRUNSWICKANOPINIONLETTERS TO THE EDITORDon’t lose sight of history

Dear Editor,

The editorial, “Let’s not lose sight of history”, does just that in one respect. Cody Jack writes, “Un-less one group beats out the other or a two state solution arises, the conflict will continue,” and makes an analogy between the European conquest of North America and the Palestinian situation. But there can be no two state solution until whoever represents the Palestinians admits defeat, and thus the legit-imacy of Israel; the Holocaust is irrelevant except to suggest why the Israelis will not choose to leave. It is a harsh fact that both First Nations and the Palestinians lost wars and thus their native land. In both cases, one group has defeated the other in a series of wars. Canada does not tolerate violence against Canadians by First Nations just because the latter were defeated in a conquest, and neither will the Israelis tolerate

One more thing to like about love

jcoterhals / FlickrCC

I was seated in the corner of the wait-ing room when I first saw her; she was seated in her unique sort of chair.

A chair says many things, you know. In her case, her chair speaks volumes about her story. Her chair is strong, supported from front to back and head to toe by long braces that assist it to recline. Chairs like these are used to recline because those who inhabit them often spend time sleeping and eating in them precisely because they are bound to them.

When a person has arrived at spending their days in a chair like this, they are likely to be called what is referred to in care facilities as a per-son who requires “total care”. This means that they need help standing, eating, bathing, toileting, etc.

From my line of sight, I can also discern the obvious facial distortions of someone who has had a significant stroke. I suspect her speech is limited as well. As her chair traverses the threshold of the doorway, I see the man who propels it; I wonder who he is. He is very warm with her as he tends to her. His aged hands, all speckled with wrinkles and time, they are familiar to her as he carefully wraps a scarf about her head making sure to avoid the tiny hooks of her earrings; she has to keep warm, you know it is December, and the frost is already gathering on the fields.

With what muscle tone remains on the right side of her face, she draws her right cheek tighter and the crook of her mouth exposes the line of her teeth; she is smiling at him; she is saying “thank you”. Thank you.

All the while, my mind had wondered how they knew each other. Was he a caretaker, a paid helper, a husband? And then it hits me: They are wearing matching wedding bands.

In the moment, I feel compassion for both of them. I think of how tired he must be tired from serving the role of full-time care provider. And what about her; I wonder if her mental capacities remain strong enough for her to be aware of her humble place in life.

They made their way about the waiting room carefully angling the large chair in between the rows, and as they left, I knew that it would be hours before the memory of them would escape me.

As the afternoon passed, my heart was awash with emotions. I couldn’t help but wonder what their journey has been like? When they wed some 50 or 60 years ago, could they have imagined this day? Perhaps. But nonetheless, even if it could be im-agined, no one enters into marriage with the hope of ending up here today. Instead, our ambitions of love and family are fuelled by passion and optimism; later on, they will be tempered with time, patience and dedication.

So, why share this story with you? Well, just to be clear, I did not share their story with you to raise questions about the sanctity of marriage or to drum up rumblings of why people should or should not marry. The point of this article is also not that it is the man who is her caretaker. Instead, it could just as easily have been him who was the victim of a stroke and her who was his caretaker.

The gender of the peoples in this story is arbitrary – the message therein is anything but: Self-giving, self-sacrificing, selfless love is a lot like non-verbal gestures. In both cases (with love and with non-verbal gestures), sure, you can see examples of them in a story that is specific-ally a male-male, female-female, or male-female exchange. My article two weeks ago was about one such example. But let me be clear, neither non-verbal gestures nor the kind of love that is described in today’s story, are bound to a particular gender.

Love, such as the kind described in this story, is found in every spectrum

of life: Young or old; male or female; gay or straight; married or common-law; rich or poor. And perhaps that is the point, if there is one to be found, that love, itself, is greater than any boundary or definition that we might attempt place upon it.

Perhaps it is because love is greater than the sum of each of us and although we are its recipients and distributors, if only for a collection of decades while we tread upon this earth, love is eternal – it comes before us, dwells in us, and carries on long after we have left.

Beyond the sinew and the syn-apses that string our hearts, minds, and bodies together and urge us to regenerate and create life anew, I believe there is something bigger, something greater, that dwells at the centrepiece of human existence: A love that is eternal and a love in which we all participate. It just so happens that how it shows itself looks very different from one unto the other.

In no matter what context it is found in, there is a potential within the human heart to give of ourselves in ways, which we never thought possible. Love: That inexplicable force that draws us to one another and stays with us long after the glory and beauty of our youth has long-since left us.

It is love that is wheeling us around a waiting room and placing a scarf around our head with all the care of a loving mother or father. Love like this makes me smile. - Peace

Kevin Bourque

Chaplain’sCorner

attacks. The Palestinians have to ac-cept defeat, which means the loss of what is now Israel, before there can be two states. They have not done so, but they could; the fact that the Israelis continue to build settlements is, along with further provocations, both wrong and not necessary. These facts suggest to me that nei-ther elected government – Hamas and the current Israeli government – wants peace and has the support of its people. They continue to provoke each other, one by refusing to give up violence to win back their land, the other by continuing to expand. Abbas and the PLO are marginalized because of this, and peace is not in sight. The Palestinians have to take the first step and admit defeat, and anyone should see why they don’t, but also why they almost certainly must, sooner or later.

Roger Seamon

“Chocolate.”Braydon Costello Jennifer Clements Jordon Totton

“Beer and video games.” “Knitting and colouring.”

Kaitlyn Brace

“I spend time with my cat, Coen ... like the brothers.”

“Sleeping.”

Kevin Belyea Nicole DeYoung TJ Leighton“I want to use the puppy

room at Dal.”“Listen to music and play

some basketball.”

Wayne Walton

“Throw on some Dave Matthews and go for a walk.”

VIEWPOINTWhat’s on

YOUR

mind this week?

How do you relieve stress during exam season?

Jenny Keleher“Napping.”

Rachel Clarke“Drink tea and bake cookies.”

12 • Dec. 04, 2012 • Issue 14 • Volume 146 BRUNSWICKAN

Dec. 04, 2012 • Issue 14 • Volume 146 • 13BRUNSWICKAN

The University of New Brunswick (UNB) is offering five exciting 3-week travel study programs that blend a love of travel with your passion for learning. But why study abroad? To find out, check out UNB’s top 5 reasons below!

Reason #1: You get to experience a new culture. The UNB Travel Study program gives you the chance to develop a global mindset, and see the world in a more sophisticated way. You will gain a new respect for other cultures and learn what it truly means to be a ‘global student’. “It’s important for Canadian students to see just how diverse the world truly is,” said Professor Emeritus and Director of the Rome Travel Study Program, Dr. Peter Kent. “Studying abroad gives you the chance to see what it’s like to live in a new culture and experience everything first-hand. That’s something you just can’t replicate in the classroom.” “It’s a tremendous experience and a real eye opener for students,” said Chair and Professor of Economics, and Director of the China Travel Study Program, Dr. Weiqiu Yu. “Living in a new environment, seeing things happening around you, and experiencing a different culture is unforgettable. Not only do you learn about history and economics, you learn about the world.”

Reason #2: You see places normally closed to tourists. During each trip you are accompanied by local guides and university professors, who are expert professionals–they know the country, its literature, its culture, the language, the

current economy and the political landscape. These professors will take you to places normally closed to tourists, and introduce you to the heart of your destination’s history, culture, and cuisine. “We go to places tourists normally aren’t allowed,” said Professor and Director of the France Travel Study Program, Dr. Robert Viau. “Because UNB has been doing this travel study program for so long, and we have such a great relationship with our host countries, we get special permission to go behind closed doors and visit places most tourists have never seen, like the Sorbonne University and the French Senate, as well as a behind the curtain look at the Moulin Rouge. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience when you travel with UNB.”

Reason #3: You learn more about yourself. Studying abroad can also be a catalyst for learning more about yourself. By venturing out into the world, and getting outside your comfort zone, you begin to acknowledge your own cultural values, beliefs, and biases. It forces you to think about who you are and what your purpose is in the world. “I’ve been told by students that the UNB Travel Study program was their defining moment at university,” said Associate Professor and Director of the New York City Travel Study Program, Dr. Jeffrey Brown. “It’s a different way of learning about yourself as well as the world.” “It’s a transformative experience,” said Dean of Arts and Director of the Greece Travel Study Program, Dr. James Murray. “We take you to places that make you think about the world and your

place in it. We want to give an adventure you carry with you forever–something that gives you a better sense of who you are as a person.”

Reason #4: You can earn credits toward a degree. The UNB Travel Study Program is about more than just travel. You also earn credits toward a degree. The programs are open to anyone from a university or college background, or anyone with an interest in exploring the world and learning something new. Not a UNB student? You can apply as a visiting student, or audit courses! “It’s the equivalent of opening a textbook and jumping into the page,” said Dr. Murray. “The travel study program lets you see, touch, and experience things you normally only read about. It enhances the educational component by putting you in the book. It makes education 3D.”

Reason #5: Because you can! “As time goes by, the price of travel continues to rise,” said Dr. Viau. “If you don’t take the opportunity now, you may not be able to afford it later. Not to mention that these places will just continue to get more and more crowded with tourists. Do it now, and have the time of your life.”

For more information about the UNB Travel Study Program, visit: www.unb.ca/travelstudy or contact the College of Extended Learning at 506 458-7706, or travelstudy@unb.ca.

UNB Travel Study programs for 2013 include: China – May 6 to 27, 2013: Travel and study in four of China’s big cities. Learn the history, experience the culture,

and witness the world’s fastest growing economy in transition.France – May 6 to 25, 2013: Experience the medieval city of Poitiers, and Paris, the city of light. Delve into the literature, history, art, politics, and society of both of these magnificent cities.Greece – TBA, 2013: Explore the world of the Ancient Greeks. Visit the monuments and artistry of ancient Greece, learn about Greek antiquity, and experience the ambiance of modern Hellenic society.New York City – May 5 to 25, 2013: Discover the poetry of Manhattan. Study in one of the world’s

5 Reasons You Need to Study Abroad5 Reasons You Should Study Abroad

most exciting urban centers and make extensive use of its many museums, galleries, libraries, streets, and people.Rome – May 13 to June 3, 2013: Live and study in “The Eternal City.” Explore the structures of ancient and modern Rome as you investigate the many layers, both physical and historical, of this beautiful city.

The Eiffel Tower in Paris, France has been a main attraction in the city since the 1889 World’s Fair.

[Paid Advertisement]

THE BRUNSARTS

Dec. 04, 2012 • Issue 14 • Volume 146 • 14

arts@thebruns.ca

A Christmas classic will be back on many Theatre New Brunswick stages starting next week.

It’s a Wonderful Life was first per-formed in 2009, and director, Caleb Marshall, has decided to get the cast and crew back together to tour it around the province, starting with Fredericton.

The performance in 2009 was probably Marshall’s biggest hit to date with TNB, and he knew he would bring it back when the time was right. Marshall said audiences were demanding its return.

Eight out of the nine cast members

from the original show have returned for this performance. Mark Craw-ford, who will be playing George Bailey, said the fact that so many people signed on to do it again shows how great of an experience it was the first time.

Crawford said this performance is not very different from the one in 2009. He said it will look and sound the same as it did, but the crew is a bit older now which changes the meaning behind it.

“Honestly, we’re all just three years older and have three more years of life experience, and different things have happened to us,” said Crawford.

“I feel like the work is richer and a bit deeper.”

Marshall said the script for the performance was not taken from the movie, but from a radio drama. Mar-shall was able to add the visual effects to the script and produce what he will be presenting.

“I would have felt a little bit cheated if the whole production took place in a radio studio,” said Marshall.

“Just like when you’re listening to a radio drama and see it come to life in your mind’s eye, this production is rooted in that, but it bursts to life.”

Crawford said he is not going to try to copy Jimmy Stewart’s performance in the movie, but at the same time, it is iconic and he wants to stay true to the original

performance.“There are things about that per-

formance that audiences love,” said Crawford.

“He put his stamp on that char-acter, and there’s no use pretending he didn’t play it.”

Marshall has been working with Crawford to find ways of making the character his own while still having the images audiences love.

Crawford’s favourite thing about the play is the relationships he gets to have with the other characters through it.

“It’s a pretty special and wonder-ful thing to get to fall in love every night on stage,” said Crawford.

It’s a Wonderful Life is a tradition-

al Christmas film, which families enjoy watching every year. Marshall said he is one of those people.

“It’s one of my all-time favourite films,” said Marshall.

“I watch it every year whether it’s with friends or late Christmas Eve when everyone has gone to bed. The few years where I didn’t watch it at Christmas always felt strange.”

The show will be at The Playhouse from Dec. 6-9 with shows starting at 7:30 p.m. from Thursday-Saturday and 2 p.m. matinées on Saturday and Sunday. After that, they will be per-forming in Miramichi on Dec. 15, Saint John on Dec. 16, and Moncton on Dec. 17. Tickets are $40 for adults and $10 for students.

Tamara Gravelle The Brunswickan

Mark Crawford and Jacqueline Thair will be performing in It’s a Wonderful Life at The Playhouse. Andre Reinders / Submitted

How about a cold one to warm the season?The twelve days of Christmas are about giving, hope, and… beer?

Yup, that’s right – beer. Picaroons started what may be-

come a holiday tradition, last year, by brewing up twelve distinct Christmas brews.

“It was pretty close to the twelfth day when we decided to go ahead and do it last year,” said Sean Dunbar, owner of Picaroons.

“I think we were singing Bob and Doug Mackenzie’s Twelve Beers of Christmas.”

The process of brewing the beer does not include twelve new beers; rather, the team makes alterations to existing Picaroons beers. Dunbar has a beer infusion contraption called Randall the Enamel Animal, which is used by his staff to pour the beer through into a growler; this adds the flavour to the beer.

However, last year there were a few

issues. A third of Dunbar’s first beer of Christmas was undrinkable.

“The f irst beer was a mess. It foamed up, when we tried to put it in growlers. They were real experimental, because when we had the idea, we only had three [mixtures] in our head; it was just kind of a joke.”

They did figure it out, though, and this year, the team has a solid plan to produce the beers.

“We have old kegs here that we put stuff in and bring to a boil, making an extract. Then we place the extract in another keg and keg the beer on top of it,” said Dunbar. He mused that the production process is less of a science, and more of an art form.

The first beer this year is going to be something similar to last year’s Old Christmas Tree IPA.

“This year, we are experimenting with spruce and phuya, which were used to flavour and preserve beer by Acadian settlers,“ said Dunbar. The second beer will be a fusion of Picaroons Dark and Stormy Night

with chocolate and orange peel. You will have to wait to find out about the other ten.

Last year’s turnout at the Brew-tique was incredible, and much of the limited-run beer was gone within hours.

“We were more than surprised! We have outsmarted ourselves more than once,” said Dunbar, laughing.

“Our customers shouldn’t be able to surprise us anymore; it’s a really neat community here.”

The citizens of Fredericton have embraced Picaroons over the last few years. With the introduction of the growler to Picaroons product line, the company has grown.

Picaroons will be sell ing the special Christmas beers at its Brew-tique on Queen Street, starting on Dec. 13.

The beer is only available straight from the keg, so fill up a growler and do what Bob and Doug Mackenzie do eh: Sit back and enjoy the Holiday season eh, with a brew, you hoser.

Liam GuitardManaging Editor

The Twelve Beers of Christmas will be returning on Dec. 13, cour-tesy of Picaroons. Liam Guitard / The Brunswickan

TNB brings the Wonderful Life to Freddy

Dec. 04, 2012 • Issue 14 • Volume 146 • 15BRUNSWICKANARTS

The holidays are a great time to get out there, get sexy, and get silly with your partner(s). Bronté James / The Brunswickan (top) top10things / FlickrCC (below)

The holidays are coming up and you are probably trying to find the perfect gift for that special person (people?) in your life. Here are a few suggestions, based on sex and relationships research that are guaran-teed to do the trick.

Get Out ThereInstead of spending a ton of money

on a gift, how about using it to learn something new as a couple? Research has found that couples that try new, exciting, or challenging things together, are happier in their relationships (Reissman, Aron, & Bergen, 1993).

What are some options? Treat each other to skiing or snowboarding lessons at Crabbe mountain ($75 per one-hour pri-vate lesson for two); sign up for a cooking class at the Superstore ($18-20 per person); or, surprise your partner with a Latin dance class at the Currie Center ($65 per person for six classes).

Doing something together is also a great idea if you just started dating some-one and aren’t quite sure how serious things are yet. Get tickets for a show at

the Playhouse, check out a new res-taurant, or spend a night at Clay

Café painting Christmas ornaments.

If the relation-ship is very new,

maybe just play it

low key by going for a walk in the snow. Be sure to warm up at Second Cup with a candy cane or eggnog latte. Researchers have discovered that holding a warm drink makes us like the person we are talking to, more (Williams & Bargh, 2008).

Get SexyA survey on Goodinbed.com found

that 20 per cent couples say they are tired of having sex with their partner in the ‘same old ways’, all, or most of the time. Use the holidays as a chance to mix things up!

I am loving the super sexy “create your own art” kits that you can find at Loveisart-kit.com. When you order a kit, you receive a plastic tarp to cover your floor, a large white canvas, a bottle of non-toxic washable paint, two sets of disposable slippers, and a body scrubber.

When you are ready to get artsy, you put the canvas down on the top of the tarp, strip yourself and your partner down, and get as silly or as wild as you want with the paint. It’s “finger painting” for grownups!

Once you are satisfied (with your art, of course...) you throw on the slippers, run to the shower, and wash each other off. Then you let the paint dry and voila! Personalized modern art that captures a sexy moment with your partner. Hang it on your wall and try not to giggle when your mom visits

and compliments your decor. Another sexy option is boudoir photos. Boudoir photos usu-

ally involve some nudity – ranging from sexy

pin-up to play-boy model –

and can be a

fun g i f t . You can either get pic-tures of yourself taken and give them to your partner as a gift, or you could give your partner a gift certificate to have pictures taken.

Research has found that after getting boudoir photos taken, many women say they feel more confident and pleased with their body (Muise, Herold, & Gillis, 2010). Fredericton photographer Kandise Brown offers boudoir photography packages start-ing at $500; Kandisebrown.com.

Get SillyLaughter is something that most of

us value in a partner (Lippa, 2007) and humour makes us feel closer and more connected to other people (Fraley & Aron, 2004). Take advantage of this by investing in a lighthearted, silly, or maybe even a little cheesy gift.

BoldLoft (Boldloft.com) sells coordin-ating and lovey-dovey pillows, mugs, and glassware. All of their products come in sets of two and feature cute little drawings of a stick figure boy and girl. For example, in one pillowcase set, the left pillow has a picture of a girl with a magnet, and the right pillow has a picture of a boy being pulled in the direction of the magnet. Cheesy? Absolutely! Adorable? Definitely!

This would also be a great gift for some-one in a long distance relationship because you could each keep one part of the set.

BoldLoft is an American company, so if you want to order one of these,

do it now to leave time for shipping.

Happy Holidays!

Sarah Vannier

The New Position

‘Tis the season to be sexy TIP: Wrapping girfs in the bruns is not only cost effective it as also great for the environment

16 • Dec. 04, 2012 • Issue 14 • Volume 146 BRUNSWICKANARTS

ber it. It only happens once a year, you know. Besides, that’s what New Years is for!

Pro tip: Flip-flops anytime after September are not okay.

ViRgo (August 23rd to September 22nd)Bah, humbug. Virgos get nothing but coal for their horoscope this week.Pro tip: Coal, you peasant.

LibRA (September 23rd to october 22nd)The holidays are fast approaching, and that means Christmas break.

Surround yourself with people who love you for just being you. Time to

break out the ugly Christmas sweater!Pro tip: What the hell, it’s Christmas. Pub-crawl!

ScoRPio (october 23rd to November 21st)I don’t care if you don’t look “cool”. Bundle up. We live in Canada, and

it’s freaking cold outside, fool.Pro tip: If something looks too good to be true on Kijiji, it’s probably

stolen.

Opening closetsLee ThomasArts Editor

It started – as so many of my life decisions do – with an argument at the Cellar.

For anyone who doesn’t know, there’s a popular catchphrase from Community, when Señor Chang – in reply to Jeff’s comment that the “most important tool is respect” – shouts, “Hah! Gaaaaaaaaay!”

Hilarious, right?Here’s the thing, though. Chang’s an

asshole, and the show builds its humour entirely on the concept of intolerant people being insensitive to each other. I enjoy the show thoroughly, but I don’t need that shit in my real life.

Back to the Cellar.I’m sitting with my cabrones, playing

some trivia. I was sitting and enjoying the conversation, and classic-smartphone-trivia-cheating, when I hear one of my friends guffaw and say, “Hah! Gaaaaaaaay!”

Did they intend for it to be offensive? Probably not.

Does that make it excusable? Definitely not.

Being two pitchers deep at this point, I remarked that it was probably an inappro-priate comment to make. All of these friends live in residence, and I asked them to speculate on how they think a person in their house would feel, if they were gay and people were making such comments.

They responded that they would not make such remarks in front of a gay person.

Cue the record scratch.So, now is probably the right time to

admit that I identify as queer. To me, this means that I like both males and females, as well as potentially people who don’t fall into either category, because the gender binary is the biggest lump of baloney I’ve ever heard.

Anyway, I haven’t been “in the closet” about this since I’ve been at university – hooray for small town northern Alberta homophobia. But I don’t constantly talk about it, because, well, it’s not a big deal. And it’s precisely because of this – because I’m not perpetually self-identifying – that everyone at the table assumed I was straight.

So, I would like to offer a revolutionary idea: Maybe try checking your heteronor-mative assumptions, instead of putting the onus on the other (potentially closeted) person. It can be as simple as asking “So are you seeing any person/people?”, rather than “boy/girl”. There’s no need to pry fur-ther – remember, straight, gay, or anything else, it’s not necessarily any of your business who they’re attracted to.

Note: this only applies to the sort of people who will accept your friends regard-less of their sexual orientation. If you’re not, you should probably think about coming out of the closet as a douchebag.

For many of you, you’re going to head home this holiday season and see old friends who you haven’t met in ages. Even though it might be difficult to imagine that you don’t still know everything about your old BFF, try to remember that you don’t know what soul-searching or experimenting they’ve been doing since you last talked.

To help remind you, here’s a rhyme!1, 2, 3, 4Open up the closet door,5, 6, 7, 8Don’t assume your friends are straight.Lastly, if someone does “come out” to

you, please remember to treat their feelings as valid (i.e., don’t say “It’s a phase,” or “I knew it!”) and remember to thank them for trusting you enough to divulge this information.

All the best!

BY BEN CROUSE BRUNSHOROSCOPES

SAgittARiuS (November 22nd to December 21st)Dub step Christmas music is appropriate for holiday festivities with your

friends, not with your grandma.Pro tip: “That clean-shaven guy looks really tough,” said no one ever.

cAPRicoRN (December 22nd to January 19th)Don’t be a ho ho ho this holiday season. Keep your stockings on.Pro tip: Mariah Carey really looks forward to Christmas. It’s the only time

her music is ever played.

AquARiuS (January 20th to February 18th)If you’re going to listen to Christmas music aloud, at least make sure it’s

decent Christmas music. Those around you will be grateful for your taste that doesn’t totally suck.

Pro tip: She wants the D, just not yours.

PiSceS (February 19th to March 20th)Going to be alone this Christmas? You can always build a snow boy-

friend or girlfriend. Just kidding, now stop playing Black Ops 2 and go outside for once.

Pro tip: Mistletoe is not an excuse to attack a girl’s face with your mouth when you’re drunk.

ARieS (March 21st to April 19th)Christmas is getting close, and you have no idea what to get for that

one person on your list. Remember: We live in Canada. A Tim Horton’s gift card is always appropriate.

Pro tip: Put on eight coats. It’s cold outside.

tAuRuS (April 20th to May 20th)An embarrassing moment may make you want to climb up the chimney

and hide forever. Take it easy. Candy canes fix all problems.Pro tip: Eggnog. The milk of everything good in life; it makes everything

better.

geMiNi (May 21st to June 20th)If you know someone is going to ask you out in the holiday spirit, and you

have no intentions with him or her romantically, just tell them. Grow some snowballs.

Pro tip: McDonald’s twice a month is acceptable. McDonald’s eleven times a month is a heart attack waiting to happen.

cANceR (June 21st to July 22nd)Don’t feel like rocking around the Christmas tree? Take a break from your

busy schedule and relax at home with a warm drink. Everyone needs a chance to recharge once in a while.

Pro tip: A wise man once said, “Don’t play leapfrog with reindeer.”

Leo (July 23rd to August 22nd)Make sure you don’t drink so much this Christmas that you can’t remem-

Stressbusters

Creating artwork is one way to deal with exam stress. Karsten Saunders / The Brunswickan Gordon MihanStaff Reporter

It’s that time of year again.The time of year when people keep re-

minding you that it’s that ‘time of year’.No, not Christmas, you holiday-

lover, you. I’m talking about a less jolly and stress-inducing time of year: Exam season.

Exams are stressful, there’s no deny-ing that. The key is finding ways to reduce stress when you’re studying for exams, or “stressbusters”, as I like to call them. Bust that stress right in two. And what better way than with the arts?

Drawing, writing, music, television, crafts… The options are bountiful! Unless you’re studying for an arts exam, then I guess the only reasonable solution would be to do math.

Listening to music is something many students do to relax while they’re studying for exams. It doesn’t even

necessarily have to be relaxing music; simply whatever gets you through your intense study sessions.

So while listening to music may be a good idea for some, other people may enjoy more hands-on activities to reduce their stress. Danielle Belyea, a third year Renaissance College student knits when she gets stressed.

“I love knitting. It’s relaxing and always a good break from schoolwork,” said Belyea.

If knitting isn’t really your thing, there are plenty of other craft-related activities you could do, like pottery or paper mache. Actually, no, paper mache is frustrating and unnecessarily messy, and would more than likely just cause more stress. Maybe just stick with pottery.

Thomas Wilson, a second year Arts student has a couple of different, non-pottery ways he deals with stress.

“I really like writing non-school

related things like poetry and fictional stuff, and not have to worry about what I write,” said Wilson.

Wilson also watches a fair amount of television and movies during his down-time, but surprisingly strays away from recreational math.

Television could very well be an ef-fective stressbuster. Just flip the boob tube on and let the mind-numbing programming wash over you. You can stop worrying about exams and just focus on whether or not everyone will still love Raymond at the end of the half hour. I suggest working out some sort of reward system, e.g., study hard for an hour or two then watch an episode of something.

Studying with the TV on in the background is just a sure-fire way to get distracted. The same method could be used with movies but the length of TV shows creates a modest break that wouldn’t detract from your studying.

The main thing to be wary of is the dreaded p-word.

Procrastination.We’ve all been there, “Oh, I’ll just

surf the web for a minute.” Well, that minute can turn into a couple of hours pretty quickly, and it wouldn’t even really be your fault with the amount of cat pictures and timeless internet-based humour that’s up on the web.

It’s not just the Internet that can eat your time though; everything men-tioned in this article has the ability to turn into a procrastination-fest. So, if you’re the type of person who can’t handle this kind of stuff, maybe just focus on studying for as long as possible before getting distracted.

Do whatever you can to reduce your stress, as long as it helps you get through these ‘X-ams’ before ‘X-mas’!

Sorry, bad joke. It’s definitely that time of year again.

Dec. 04, 2012 • Issue 14 • Volume 146 • 17BRUNSWICKANARTS

Almost every student – almost every person – has done time in a menial job for minimum wage, with no respect. If you’re in arts or forestry, rude people even say that you’ll never get out.

One of the worst jobs – in terms of social respect, if nothing else – is at McDonald’s.

Maxime, McDuff & McDo (alternatively titled Union Trouble: A Cautionary Tale) is a 2002 documentary from director Mag-nus Isacsson, who passed away earlier this year. The film follows the exploits of two young McDonald’s employees, Maxime and Pascal, who attempted to form a union at a franchise in Montreal. The movie was shown at Cinema Politica on Nov. 30.

The first half of the documentary mostly shows fast-paced protests and negotiations; the English-only speakers in attendance at the viewing are confused; one bilingual theatregoer graciously translates for those around her. But Maxime and Pascal are successful in gaining the right to form a union fairly early on. ‘Now what?’ I wondered, aware that there was another half-hour or so left of the film.

The trouble doesn’t stop there though, in terms of the unionizing process. The two young men are met with adversary from all sides; from their parents, who don’t want to see them get hurt; from their mentors, who criticize them – rightly, as the documentary presents – for getting a

little too full of themselves; and from their fellow-employees, who have no interest in jeopardizing their jobs or paying union dues.

During the conversation which followed the showing, one man wondered aloud why the other employees were opposed

to unionizing. Did it give them no real financial benefits, he asked? Perhaps, he speculated, it’s like Obamacare. Some of the more left-wing activists in the room cringed a little.

The story of Maxime and Pascal doesn’t end perfectly after all. The McDonalds

at which they work is shut down a few months after their union is formed, using an increase in rent for the premises as an excuse. No one had expected anything less, as the same thing had happened at other McDonalds locations. The struggle, it is stated, will continue nevertheless.

On the surface, Maxime, McDuff & McDo depicts an essentially political outcry against big business manipulation of em-ployees. A young man in the documentary even says at one point, he sees their fight as a David-and-Goliath struggle.

As Matthew Hays of the Montreal Mirror points out, however, “Though the film has obvious political overtones, it also emerges as a poignant coming of age story.” The film is just as much about Maxime and Pascal learning to appropriately exer-cise their political influence as it is about a struggle against worker exploitation. The story comes off in turn as both comical and poignant, with the pair fumbling or re-considering what they had previously held as gospel truth.

At one point, a young protester echoes the French McDonald’s slogan: “C’est ca que j’aime.” He’s talking, though, about the possibility of using his future and education to change things. This, more than anything, is the prevailing spirit of the documentary.

Elizabeth CreelmanArts Reporter

Maxime, McDuff & McDo follows the story of two young Canadians who try to form a union at a McDon-ald’s in Montreal. Screenshot

Cinema Politica Review: Maxime, McDuff & McDoby Brandon Hicks FO

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18 • Dec. 04, 2012 • Issue 14 • Volume 146 BRUNSWICKANARTS

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THE BRUNSSPORTS

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Dec. 04, 2012 • Issue 14 • Volume 146 • 19

Claire Colborne nailed a three pointer in overtime to give the Varsity Reds a win against CBU on Friday night. Sarah Badibanga / The Brunswickan

The women’s basketball team has secured their first win of the season. In a nail bit-ing, overtime thriller, the Varsity Reds squeaked past the Cape Breton Capers 62-58, on Friday night.

The Reds led through the majority of the game, but when the Capers hit an and-one in the last minute to tie the game, the teams headed into five minutes of additional play.

The game proved to be slow starting, as neither team scored any points for the first two minutes. The game appeared to be a battle of the guards with aggressive defensive play by the Capers, forcing the Reds to attack and look elsewhere for scoring. The Varsity Reds came out strong and kept this momentum for the majority of the game.

The Reds led for the majority of the first half, until the last seconds of the second quarter, when the Capers hit a three to take the lead. The highest lead that the

Reds held at any point during the first half was eight points. They battled hard for every point that they scored, often driving through three or four Capers’ players in order to get the ball to the basket.

The Reds came back in the third quarter, erasing the one point lead that the Capers held, and continuing that momentum to build back the eight-point lead they had previously had. Once the eight-point lead was regained, the Reds held onto it until about the halfway point in the fourth quarter. The Capers came back strong, not ready to lose the game. The last four minutes of the game was a

battle for control. The teams traded bas-kets, but a pair of free throws from Rachel Cleary at the two-minute mark gave the Reds a three-point lead. The game looked to be in the Reds’ control, but an and-one by the Capers in the last twenty seconds tied the game, forcing an overtime period.

The Capers opened up overtime strong, but the Reds pushed back and kept the game in their control. When the Capers hit two free throws to put them ahead by one, Claire Colborne came back and hit a huge three, with six seconds left in the game. Colborne had seven of her 22 points in the overtime period, to propel

the Reds to their first victory of the season. “I’m just really happy for the girls. They

haven’t given up and have continued to be engaged even though we have been very frustrated. I’m not making a very big deal about it because we did play very well back in October, and we just needed to find a way to get back into it,” said head coach, Jeff Speedy, following his team’s first win of the regular season.

Saturday afternoon’s game against the Capers did not end as favourably for the Reds as the night before. Cape Breton opened the game strong, and while the Varsity Reds tried on several occasions

to catch them, they could not get the job done, falling 71-52.

The Reds went on a 13-2 run to end the first quarter and begin the second, but they could not close the gap before the Capers went on another run. This seemed to be the story of this game; UNB would go on a run and close the lead, but CBU would respond with a powerful run.

The game remained within reach throughout the first half, but in the second quarter, CBU began to add to their lead, ultimately leading to the 20-point deficit at the end of the game.

Julie McLaughlinSports Reporter

The NBA fined the San Antonio Spurs for resting star players; what are your thoughts?

PANELTHEY KNOW WHAT’S UP

The fact that the Spurs got slapped with a fine is outrageous! Gregg Popovich should be able to handle his team how-ever he sees fit. If he wants to rest his players, and lose every game of the sea-son, that’s his own thing. Popovich is do-ing what he thinks is best for his team. They are one of the oldest teams in the

Completely ridiculous. A coach has the right to rest superstars, and ‘Pop’ has done it before. On the back of a ticket, it doesn’t say, “The NBA guarantees star players in tonight’s matchup,” and ‘Pop’ is thinking about the bigger picture, rather than just one meaningless, NON-CONFERENCE game vs Miami.

I think the big issue here is the fact that this was a nationally televised game. The NBA relies on the teams to put on a performance when they are being tele-vised. This game was chosen because of the teams and their abilities. By sitting out his top players, Popovich took away from this potential. It was still an amaz-ing game, but in reality, it shouldn’t have

Josh FleckSports Editor

Nick MurraySports Writer

cellarpub.caJulie McLaughlinSports Reporter

I think the fine was completely justi-fied. Although coach Popovich said he operates from a coach’s perspective, and the league operates from a busi-ness perspective, he has to realize the two coincide. He should have informed those involved sooner, and should have known the repercussions of his actions.

Bronté JamesSports Writer

Women’s basketball grab elusive first win

Dec. 04, 2012 • Issue 14 • Volume 146 • 20BRUNSWICKANSPORTS BRUNSWICKANSPORTSthink ya know football?!

The games: Rams@Bills, Titans@Colts, Eagles@Buccaneers

Liam GuitardOverall 24-12 (Last week 2-1)

Rams: They’re going to ram through the Bills’ defensive line.Colts: Really? You picked this game, Fleck?Buccaneers: Power rankings look good. I don’t follow this team; but heck, the Eagles are consistently brutal.

SUB PeoplePeter RyanOverall 22-14 (Last week 1-2)

Bills: The Rams are terrible.Colts: Andrew Luck is going to explode.Buccaneers: The Eagles are hurting right now.

Justin MarshallOverall 17-19 (Last week 2-1)

Rams: Bills’ defence has proved they can’t stop anyone.Colts: The Colts have one of the most dangerous offences in the league.Eagles: The Bucs’ D is awful.

Nick MurrayOverall 17-19 (Last week 1-2)

Bills: Buffalo have been finding ways to grind out wins. Should be a close game.Colts: Tough call, but some-thing’s gotta give in Indy right now.Buccaneers: Make it a home sweep for my picks.

Feeling lucky?Josh FleckSports Editor

One thousand dollars is a lot of money for a student.

It’s also roughly how much money is spent on Proline at Campus Convenience alone, in the run of a week. That’s 526 large coffees from Tims. That’s a lot of cheddar to throw around on gambling, especially for students.

There are many different reasons for gambling on sports, and even more strat-egies when it comes to picking your games.

Fifth year geodesy and geomatics en-gineering student, Andy Oullette, said the key to being successful in sports gambling is research.

“A lot of it comes down to research, which I don’t necessarily think a lot of people do,” said Oullette. “I have two fantasy football teams that I look after with my friends, so I have a lot more invested during football season.”

Oullette calls his gambling a hobby, but also compares it to smoking.

“I spend my $20 a week on gambling, while someone else may spend their $20 a week on smoking.”

Fourth year business student, Greg Madsen, got his start in sports gambling

back in his days at Fredericton High School; however, just within the past couple of years, he got more heavily involved with betting.

“I first started back in high school,” said Madsen with a wry grin, “but I never got too serious into it until last year.”

Madsen’s rationale for betting is similar to everyone else’s when it comes to why he bets on games: To win money.

However, he also has another reason for doing it. “It makes everything more exciting. I’ll watch the games, and I have never rooted for someone to miss a field goal so hard, just because I need to cover the spread or something.”

Oullette has some interesting rules of thumb to live by; he never ever bets on his favourite teams, because of a certain level of bias, he also rarely listens to the “storylines” of the week. If someone is saying that the Eagles or Jets have been sucking, or the Patriots or Texans have been dominating, he doesn’t necessarily follow suit; he says, “[I] go with my gut feeling”.

Madsen follows one of the same rules as Oullette. Madsen never bets on a team that he likes, and he never bets on teams he hates. He never picks a game if the odds are less than 1.4 for a team.

For spending $20 a week on average, Oullette’s largest payout for winning since starting has been $280. Madsen keeps his bets relatively low and safe, thus resulting in lower payouts. He has yet to break three digits on his wins.

Oullette has also evolved his methods of gambling, and taken them online. He uses Bodog.ca to make his bets based on the relative ease that it brings.

“If I want to make my bets, all I have to do is bring up the app on my phone. I don’t have to go to the store, it’s just right there.”

Using the online method also has the plus side of monitoring your overall success.

Both Madsen and Oullette have their betting pick up during football season, and both get tickets each week; Madsen gets a ticket for the Thursday night NFL game, college football on Saturday, and then NFL on Sunday. Some people would say they have a problem, but neither one agrees.

“As long as you keep the amount of money you spend low, it won’t make that much of a difference in your life,” said Madsen.

“I don’t think it’s a problem; you have to take everything in moderation,” said Oulette. “In order to have fun, you need to spend money, and I have fun betting on sports.”

Great finish for women’s volleyball

Michael BourgeoisThe Brunswickan

The Varsity Reds women’s volleyball team took it to the Université de Moncton Aigles Bleus, Saturday night at the Currie Center, defeating them in straight sets, 3-0.

The Aigles Bleus, 5-3 on the season, came to Fredericton to take on the 2-8 Varsity Reds for the first time this season.

UdeM held a small lead for most of the first set, but the Reds battled back to take the lead, forcing Moncton to take a time out to regroup. However, the Reds would not give the lead back, as the offence started to come together, and Celina Abba had two of her four service aces in the set. UNB

fended off the Aigles Bleus to take the first set 25-20.

However, the Aigles Bleus were not laying down in the second set. A back and forth set had both teams jockeying for the lead with their big hitters in full swing. With both teams staying within three points of each other, Abba with an uncontested kill out of the middle, finally knot it up. UNB took a very tight second set in extra points, 26-24.

UNB came out firing on all cylinders in the third, dominating offensively and defensively. The Aigles Bleus had no answer for Vanja Mitrovic, who now sits sixth in the AUS in kills. With six of the teams 17 kills in the set, Mitrovic led the way. She finished

with 16 kills and ten digs on the night, and was a force to be reckoned with for UNB. Her standout play, along with great set-ting from Paige Paulsen, and some steady defence, led to the Varsity Reds capturing their third win of the season, finishing off the Université de Moncton in style, 25-10.

“I think it’s a great way to end off the first half of the season,” said Mitrovic. “Every-one contributed a huge effort tonight, kept their focus, and it obviously paid off.”

“I think it was overall our best perform-ance of the season,” said a very pleased Jilliane Goulet, head coach of the Varsity Reds. “Everybody was contributing in the match; people were aggressive; they were where they needed to be, digging deep, get-ting balls up, challenging balls on defence, and serving tough.”

“I couldn’t ask for more from my team, they came out and delivered today.”

This game was the last game of the first half for the Varsity Reds.

“We’re going to be lifting a lot of weights, we’re going to be on the volleyball court working on some technical tweaking, and give the girls a much deserved rest,” said Goulet, in reference to her plans for the holiday break.

The Reds will be playing in an exhibition tournament in Toronto, Ontario, over the Christmas break, and will be back in AUS action on Jan.11, against Université de Moncton.

The women’s volleyball team dominated UdeM for their third win of the season. Michael Bourgeois / The Brunswickan

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BRUNSWICKANSPORTS22 • Dec. 04, 2012 • Issue 14 • Volume 146 BRUNSWICKANSPORTS

Looking for a spark

The men’s basketball team hosted the fifth ranked Cape Breton Capers this weekend, hoping to put a dent in their perfect record.

The Reds fought hard throughout both games, but came up short. Friday night, the Varsity Reds were defeated 96-77, and 95-83, on Saturday afternoon.

There was no doubt that this weekend would be a difficult one, but the Reds held their own for the majority of the game on Friday night. Jimmy Dorsey, the 2011-2012 AUS MVP for the Capers, did not disappoint, hitting shots one after another. UNB was prepared for this and played great defence against him, keeping him to 25 points on Friday, and 20 on Saturday.

Friday night’s game was an exciting spectacle. While the final score may not have shown this, the Reds opened the game with a high level of energy, giving something to cheer on, for the fans in the Currie Center. The two teams traded leads throughout the first quarter, which allowed the fans to get excited about the game.

Cape Breton started the second quarter

strong, gaining a five-point lead, but UNB stayed in the game and kept the lead man-ageable. Much of this can be attributed to Jordan Irvine’s offensive performance in the second quarter. Irvine scored UNB’s final nine points of the quarter, off of three consecutive three pointers. Irvine scored 14 of his 16 points in the second quarter.

The third quarter was similar to the previous two quarters, where the game remained close. Will McFee shined dur-ing the quarter, scoring ten points to help his team close the scoring gap. Down just two points at the end of the third quarter, things began to spiral out of control for this V-Reds team. UNB scored just five points in the fourth and final quarter, while their opponents scored 22, cementing their victory. The fourth quarter has been the demise of Varsity Reds for several games; remaining close for the majority of a game is not enough to pull out much needed victories.

“We just had too many unforced er-rors and unforced turnovers. I give them some credit; they played some pretty good defence. It was really just our decision mak-ing tonight that was really our demise,”

reflected head coach, Brent Baker, follow-ing his team’s loss Friday night.

Saturday afternoon’s game was very different for the home team. They started slow, scoring only five points in the first five minutes of the first quarter. Unlike the night before, the team did not find their groove until late in the game. Down nine at the end of the first is a difficult way to start a game. The Reds battled back in the second, but they could not overcome the point difference quickly enough, and CBU regained their control of the game.

The second half of the game was much more in UNB’s hands. Shaquille Keith, one of the Capers’ better players, sat on the bench with four fouls in the fourth quarter, while two of his team members picked up technical fouls. UNB used this time to shift the momentum in their favour. CBU was dealt with another blow when Dorsey hit the floor hard and appeared to have injured his back; he would not return to the game. UNB continued to peck away at the game, but they simply could not overcome the deficit, and fell at the hands of the Capers once again, 95-83.

Julie McLaughlinSports Reporter

Despite 38 points in two games from Will McFee, the Reds couldn’t get passed CBU. Sarah Badibanga / The Brunswickan

At the breakJosh FleckSports Editor

For some Varsity Reds teams, the first semester was extremely good to them, while for others, the season left something to be desired.

The men’s volleyball team reached a high point in the preseason, beating last year’s bronze medalists, the Manitoba Bisons. This earned the team the number eight spot in the rankings, which they have seen slide to the number ten spot the next week, and currently sit unranked, and second in the AUS behind rivals Dalhousie. Despite all this, head coach Dan McMor-ran, isn’t deterred.

“We’re five and five after the first half of the season and I think that’s indicative of how many new and inexperienced CIS players we have this year. Our lineup is extremely talented and deep, and in the first half, several players got opportunities to gain experience and make contributions, which will benefit us down the stretch. The second half looks promising.”

As for the women’s volleyball team, they have been in a trend of win one match, lose four, which has led to their 3-8 record. After a dominant win on Saturday night against UdeM to finish off the first half of the season, things look to have come together for the team.

“We have been on a general upward climb this semester,” said head coach, Jilliane Goulet. “There have been some definite peaks and valleys, but the general direction I think is getting better. It’s been a great semester for us, we haven’t had a ton

of success, but all the work we have put in this semester is going to pay off.”

That work certainly paid off in a 3-0 drubbing of UdeM to close out the first half of the season.

The women’s basketball team has also had their share of struggles this season. Team scoring and ball security have been the issue on this squad. The team is leading the AUS in turnovers with 24 per game, and sitting last in team scoring with only 58.6 points per game; more than ten points less than the next worst team. If this team can find consistent ways of scoring outside of Claire Colborne, who is contributing 17.1 points per game, they have all the pieces to string together some wins.

The men’s squad has had some ups and downs as well. After beating StFX in the preseason, there was some hype coming into the regular season. The bright spots for the team include Aaron O’Brien, leading the AUS in blocks with two a game, while getting balanced scoring out of the back court from Will McFee, Dan Quirion and Matt Daley. Sitting in fifth in the AUS with a 3-5 record, the team is having difficulties translating practice energy, into game day energy.

“We have to get our heads around play-ing at a tempo in practice that is going to result in something a lot better against the number five team in the country [CBU] and the number two team [Acadia],” said head coach, Brent Baker. “We’re going to have to get to a level of play that is going to make sure we can compete for 40 minutes, not just two or three quarters. Our first eight games have been a mixed bag, and

it will sort itself out over the Christmas break.”

The first half of the swimming season has seen some familiar faces making a splash (pardon the terrible pun). Danielle Losier has been as consistent a swimmer as you can be, regularly finishing in the top three in her events, leading UNB to multiple second place finishes behind powerhouse Dalhousie. Overall, the team is nearing CIS qualification times across the board, and head coach Robin Ferdinand is looking forward to hitting the pool in the new year.

It doesn’t take much to sum up the season of the men’s hockey team so far. Up until this past weekend, they were sitting pretty in the number two spot in the country, but with a loss to the number four team, Acadia, it most certainly means a drop in the rankings. Despite the loss, the team still sits in second place in the AUS, and are playing high caliber hockey, for coach Gardiner MacDougall. MacDougall faces some tough choices, one being, who will get the bulk of the starts between the pipes. The candidates are Dan Lacosta and Travis Fullerton. In one, you have Fullerton, the goalie who has taken you to the Championship, and the other, Lacosta, who had a cup of coffee with the Colum-bus Blue Jackets, and is the owner of a 9-0 record this season. When it comes to the offence, there is no lack of scoring options, as the team is leading the AUS in scoring four goals a game, led by Tyler Carroll, who has ten on the season, followed by first year Varsity Reds, Cam Braes, Colby Pridham, and Bryce Swan, who all have seven.

Dec. 04, 2012 • Issue 14 • Volume 146 • 23BRUNSWICKANSPORTSMen’s hockey sit in second at the breakThe men’s hockey team was back on the road to Nova Scotia last weekend, and split their trip, beating the Dal-housie Tigers 5-2 Friday night, then losing 3-2 to Acadia on Saturday, to finish out the first half of the season and go into the holiday break.

Friday night, Bryce Swan put up three points in the win, while line mates Chris Culligan and Tyler Car-roll, also had multi-point nights.

Dan LaCosta got his ninth start of the season and stopped 11 Tigers shots to remain unbeaten this year, while UNB outshot Dalhousie 40-13.

Dalhousie opened the scoring in the first period, as Jacob Johnson cap-italized 30 seconds into a Josh Kidd kneeing penalty.

Four minutes later, UNB answered with a power play goal of their own, as Tyler Carroll tied it up with assists coming from Culligan and Swan.

The AUS’ second-best power play went to work again in the second period, after Brendon MacDonald picked up two and 10 for a hit to the

head. With Cam Braes playing on the point on the top power play unit, he fed Swan, who buried his seventh goal of the year.

Later in the second, Stefan Salituro scored his first of the year unassisted, putting UNB up 3-1 after 40 minutes.

Dalhousie cut the lead two minutes into the third, with defenceman Nick Croft, netting his first of the year; but UNB put up two more towards the end of the third, with Carroll scoring his second of the game, and team-leading tenth goal of the year. And later, Nick MacNeil iced the game, scoring his fifth of the season in the empty Dalhousie net.

Saturday night, the nationally second ranked V-Reds rolled into Wolfville to play the fourth ranked Axemen in a battle for first place in the AUS.

Midway through the first, last year’s AUS hockey MVP, Andrew Clark, put the Axemen on the board with help from Dustin Ekelman and Alex Beaton.

Later in the second, Cam Critchlow tied it up for UNB with his third of the year, but the lead was short lived.

With 43 seconds left in the period, Ekelman capitalized on a UNB turn-over and beat Travis Fullerton on a shorthanded breakaway for his seventh goal of the season.

Acadia pulled ahead 3-1, three minutes into the third period, with Clark burying his second of the game.

UNB tried to mount a comeback in the third, with Colby Pridham bringing them back within one goal with 48 seconds left, but with the net empty, they couldn’t add another, losing to the Axemen for the second time this season.

Fullerton made his return to the crease since missing his last scheduled start with the flu, and made 25 saves in the loss, while UNB outshot Acadia 45-28.

With the loss, UNB now sit in second place in the AUS standings, one point behind Acadia going into the holiday break. However, the V-Reds will only play Acadia once more in the final 12 games next semester. Only two points separate the top three teams, with Saint Mary’s in the hunt, just one point behind UNB.

Nick MurrayThe Brunswickan

The Reds beat Dalhousie on Friday, before falling to Acadia on Saturday night. Tim Lingley / The Brunswickan

Paige Nelmes: A coaches connectionBronté JamesPhoto Editor

From UK to UNB, first year UNB Varsity Red volleyball player, Paige Nelmes, left her friends and family in Bournemouth, UK, in the hopes of playing professional volleyball.

“In a way, it’s kind of like being at home, and I like the fact that Fredericton is quite small, because I’m not used to the city, either,” said Nelmes.

“It is really pretty, and it’s just a new experience, so I can go home and say, ‘Oh my God, I’ve been in Canada for four years; I’ve done something with my life,’ rather than it just be like, ‘Oh, I’m at home; I play for a club.’”

Meeting the head coach, Jilliane Goulet, a year earlier at Great Brit-ain National Team Selection, helped Nelmes decide on UNB. Having a friendly face would make the transition easier.

“This was sort of a last minute deci-sion. I was already set up to go to Amer-ica, and I literally had a month to decide that I wanted to come here,” she said.

“She offered me a scholarship, and it was nice to know somebody. So I thought instead of just going away where I wouldn’t know anybody, I thought, you know, it’d be nice.”

Moving from the UK to Canada wasn’t an easy decision. Living in a different country for her first year of university, she had a tough transition,

but said the girls on the volleyball team were her safety net.

“It’s my first year at university, so I was freaking out; I mean I was freaking out. The first week, I found was really hard; school is this massive jump,” she said.

“Now I’m much more settled, so I got through that really hard phase, but all the girls were really supportive and I met a lot of new friends.”

Travelling to Canada is not the first time she has left the comfort of her home to play volleyball.

At 16 years old, Nelmes moved to Loughborough, England, with 18 other people to attend the National Volleyball Academy. A two-year program at high school level, Nelmes and her teammates trained twice a day and had matches every weekend on top of her studies.

“I wanted something bigger, which is why I came here; [it was] the next step, I guess,” she said.

Although she still has four years left of school, Nelmes is already thinking of her future in volleyball. She is hoping to play professionally for at least one year.

“I think these next four years are a decider for me – to see whether I’m good enough; if I’ve improved – [to see] whether I’m good enough to go into a professional league,” she said.

“[If] it’s your dream, it would be nice to do something to get to the stage where the whole point of training was to play. That’s your job, that’s what you’ve been doing.”

If her career in indoor volleyball does not work out as hoped, Nelmes said she will make the transition to beach volleyball.

“’I’d also like to play beach volleyball, because I’d like to go to the Olympics. The Great Britain team for indoors aren’t very good; our beach volleyball team is a lot better, so I might change, instead of indoor volleyball.”

“Professional is my aim… so we’ll see how that goes and hope for the best, over the next four years, really.”

Paige Nelmes is a major contrib-utor in her first year as a Varsity Red. Rob Blanchard / UNB Sports Information.