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THIS ISSUE:What's that ahead?Think twice about speeding oncampus. Page 3.More V1FFThe VIFF con ktinues for another week.Page 7.

Thunderbird Soccer athlete CanadaWestplayer of the week Page 2.

Compromise cityPlan for redevelopment of Woodward'sbuilding raises questions. Page 6.

Superb start

Volume 86 Issue 8

;uya e

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-11111C FENSOM PHOTO

He's got themagic touchUBC soccer Bird Luke Sandilands

brings size and skill as a striker

Luke Sandilands admits that thereis "no magical potion" that makeshim the top scorer in Canada Westsoccer. 'I've just been lucky to getopportunities and convert them,"he says.

While he is in his third year withthe UBC Thunderbirds, it is his firstseason as a striker for the UBCmen's soccer team. And his superbstart has already turned heads. Lastweek against a stingy Calgary team,he managed to score two goals -enonel to earn him top honours asCanada West athlete of the week.

Sandilands is first in scoring inCanada West and fifth in the CISwith five goals in the four gamesplayed this season. He has alsoaccounted for half of the T-Birds'goals so far this campaign.

With so much early success itwould be hard to believe thatSandilands' soccer career was inlimbo at the end of last season.Feeling he needed a change, UBCcoach Mike Mosher decided to takeadvantage of Sandilands' size andspeed by switching him to striker inthe upcoming season.

'Things weren't going well as adefender. [Sandilands'] confidencewas quite low. So I thought thisguy's got good skills, plus size.He would be good up front," saidMosher.

His size and skill made it a nat-ural transition, added Mosher.

"[This is] part of the reason hewent to forward; not only is hebig, but he's deceivingly quick,"explained Mosher. "A big guy

who's quick and who's got greatskill? That's a good set of tools,anyone would want a guy like himup front."

Since the switch, it has beenSandilands' overall game that hasimpressed Mosher.

think he's had a terrific start tothe season," said Mosher. "He's alsodoing a lot of other things: defen-sive aspects, [he has a good] workrate and he'squite fit."

Sandilands feels that his size,not necessarily his quickness, is hisstrength.

"I'm a big soccer player, so a lotof players tend to be slighter. I cangenerally kind of push my defend-ers around, so I can keep the ballfrom them," said Sandilands. "I'mnot super quick or as skilled assome of the other guys though."

Beyond his own off-seasonchanges, the T-Bird squad hasimproved since last year, accordingto Sandilands.

think we have a better teamthis year. Not necessarily the indi-vidual talent," he said, 'but all theguys this year seem to be togeth-er and the chemistry is good, so Isay in that respect, stronger thanlast year."

Coming up this weekend is a cru-cial rematch against a Calgary teamthat is only two points behind UBCin the Canada West standings withone game in hand.

The game can be watched at OJTodd Field this Saturday (October 2)at 2pm.

'Calgary plays pretty aggressive-ly, so we'll just have to by to matchtheir intensity,' said Sandilands."And win the game." •

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UBC•30 Sept 04

by Eric SzetoSPORTS EDITOR

University of Ottawa

L'Universit6 canadienneCanada's university

u Ottawa Attend Law School inCanada and the United States

WWW.uOttawa.ca

For more information visit:www.commonlaw.uOttawa.ca/eng/academic/programsor call (613) 562-5800, ext. 3321

Pay Canadian tuition for all four years.

Earn two degrees:•an LLB from the University of Ottawa; and• a JD from Michigan State University College of Law.

Application deadline: November 1,2004

PAGE FRIDAYFriday, October 11, 2004

PAGE FRIDAYFriday, October 1, 2004

NO FAST MOVES: RCMP and UBC Campus Security are collaborating on a new monitoring programto prevent speeding on UBC roadways. NIC FENSOM pHoiro

The trouble with obscenity lawsLawyer questions the logic of Canadian Criminal Code

by Sienne LamNEWS WRITER

Challenging the Canadian Criminal Code anddemanding a re-evaluation of obscenity laws,William Deverell, a renowned Vancouverlawyer, spoke on obscenity, hate and artisticfreedom at a lecture Saturday evening.

Deverell was a journalist for seven years,including working as a writer for the VancouverSun. In addition, he has written several best-selling novels and wrote screenplays for thelong-running CBC drama Street Legal.

According to the Canadian Criminal Code,the definition of obscenity is "any publication adominant characteristic of which is the undueexploitation of sex, or of sex and any one ormore of the following subjects, namely crime,horror, cruelty and violence."

In the course of his career, Deverell hastaken on many obscenity cases and has contin-ually challenged Section 163 of the Code.

Deverell argued that this law breaches on acitizen's right to freedom of expression. Theissue surrounding the suppression of obscenematerials has been debated for over 400 years,with civil rights activists demanding a relax-ation of obscenity laws.

Section 163 deems anyone who "makes,

prints, publishes, distributes,circulates, or has in his pos-session for the purpose of pub-lication, distribution or circui-lation any obscene written.matter, picture, model, phono-graph record, or other thing',"an offender, according tioDeverell. •

"The freedom to expres swhat is common in society Ls

fundamental progress to a free society [and]]should not be curtailed," said Deverell, quotingthe novel Fanny Hill by John Cleland.

A member of the BC, Alberta, and Yukon bairassociations, Deverell has been counsel in ove q

-1,000 criminal cases either as defense attorneyor prosecutor. His passion for freedom wfexpression led him to become a founding direc-tor, former president, and now honorary direc-tor of the BC Civil Liberties Association (BCLA)).

The BCLA is a charitable society aimed altpreserving, defending, and extending civil lib-erties and human rights across Canada.

Outlawing obscene expressions when thereis no proven harm done is ridiculous, arguedDeverell. Although feminists implicate obscenematerials, especially pornography, as a directcause of physical and emotional harm t:owomen, there has been no solid evidence to

support such a claim, he added.Sex offenders often come from families that

have a low tolerance for children's curiositytowards nudity or obscenity, Deverell pointedout. He argued that obscene works have nodirect effect on sexual and violent crimes.

Doubting this point, a member of the audi-ence raised the case of Michel Briere, a manwho plead guilty to the abduction and killing ofa ten-year-old girl in Toronto in. June 2004.

Briere claimed that pornography was themotivation for his actions. But Deverellresponded by explaining that Briere's case isunique, and denounced the notion that watch-ing pornography directly leads a person to*abduct and kill.

"Is that a statistic?" Deverell asked,going onto question the unconstrained depiction of vio-lence in popular culture.

It is proven that violence on . TV and moviescan arouse aggressive behaviour, yet it does nothave the restrictions that obscene artisticexpressions are subject to, Deverell said.

"Ipersonally don't like • the name of thatmovie, Kill Bill," he joked.

Deverell concluded his talk by saying thatthe question of obscenity laws infringing onfreedom of expression has been debated forcenturies, and shows no sign of disappearinganytime soon. :+

DEVERELL

3Speed demons beware

Translink fare increaserejected by board

A surprise decision made Wed-nesday by Translink's board of direc-tors has prevented the transportauthority from pursuing fare in-crease in the short term. The boardrejected a motion calling for publicconsultation to begin on the pro-posed fare increase by a six-six vote.

As Translink is not able to raisefares without public consultation,this decision has effectively post-poned any activity until such timethat the Translink board is willing toreconsider its position.

Translink's Bill Lambert dis-cussed the delay with the AlmaMater Society (AMS) council atits regular Wednesday meeting.Lambert said that he was 'dumb-struck" by the development, but con-firmed his belief that the fareincrease plans would be broughtback to the board in fairly shortorder.

Translink is obliged to give noticeof a fare increase to the AMS fourmonths in advance so that the stu-dent society can organise a referen-dum. on the matter.

Provided that approval to beginthe consultation is granted in thenext few weeks, Lambert told theAMS that the likely fare increaseswould be set to take effect in April,2005, as previously expected.

The Translink plan to increaserevenue calls for a $2 per monthincrease for the U-Pass as well asacross the board fare increases, anew parking stall tax and an increasein property taxes.

Members of the board that didnot support the plan were dissatis-fied with aspects of the parking taxand not the fare strategies, leadingTranslink officials to be optimisticthat the increases will eventuallyadvance to the next step in the con-sultation process.

AMS gets its vote on

As the provincial election approach-es next May, a non-profit organisa-tion called Check Your Head is aim-ing to raise awareness amongstyouth in BC and encourage eligiblevoters to take part in the politicalprocess.

"We provide youth-driven initia-tives around democracy issues," saidJohanna Mazur, a staff member forCheck Your Head.

At the September 29 Alma MaterSociety (AMS) council meeting,members of council voted to partnerwith the organisation and its "GetYour Vote On" campaign to informstudents at UBC about voting in theelection.

"We're pretty much providing aframework for them," said Mazur."There might be particular issuesthat they decide to do at UBC." +

Brand new trafficwatch programaims to educate

by Sarah BourdonNEWS EDITOR

Drivers on campus may notice arecent addition to the UBC scenerytheir car's travelling speed on a signin bright red numbers at the side ofthe road.

The digital speed watch board ispart of a new program operated byUBC Campus Security and UBC'sRCMP detachment to encouragedrivers to slow down in areas ofhigh pedestrian and bike traffic.

"It's a community-minded pro-gram,' said Bruce Lovell, directorof Campus Security. 'It's toincrease traffic awareness in thecommunity.'

The speed watch board, mannedby two Campus Security employees,is set up on various roadways oncampus and on surrounding roadssuch as Northwest Marine Driveand West 16th Avenue west ofBlanca Street.

A radar antenna attached to thetop of the board calculates a car'sspeed and displays it on a digitalreadout, accompanied by a signbelow indicating the speed limit forthat area. The program will helpdetermine how prevalent speedingis on campus.

"There's the visible part of it.The other side of it is to collectsome statistical data on whatthe speeds are," said Lovell. 'An-ecdotally you might see one carspeed by and say well then, there's[sic] lots of speeders, but are there?'

Speed limits on the EndowmentLands vary from 30 kilometres per

hour up to 80 kilometres per houralong Southwest Marine Drive. Oneperson was caught travelling at 187kilometres per hour along South-west Marine Drive, according toSteve Bohnen, a spokesperson forCampus Security.

"The issue is, people see a wideroadway and lots of visibility andthey just put the pedal down,' saidBohnen. "What we're doing is we'regiving drivers an opportunity toactually just check in on what

'they're doing.With so many cars on campus,

measures should be put in place tominimise speeding, though it maybe difficult to convince speeders to

slow down, said Emma Seddon, athird-year science student at UBC.

"I think when people see thatthey're speeding they don't reallycare," said Seddon. "I think the peo-ple who care would already be goingslower anyway."

The effectiveness of the speedwatch program will allso depencion,the location of the! equipment,explained Seddon.

"I live right on resbrook Malland carsgo crazy fast along there,plus there are lots of cars parkedthere. So maybe that would be agood place to put the monitors."

The speed watch program usesequipment provided by ICBC and

the security staff are trained bythe RCMP.

Though the Campus Securityofficers don't have the ability tocharge speeders, they can providethe police with helpful speedinginformation and often deploy in thevicinity of an RCMP speed enforce-

_ mentiocation.The project will be beneficial in

creating awareness about speedlimits in the area, said Janice Mann,a corporal for the RCMP.

"A lot of people when they'retravelling within the jurisdictiondon't know what the speed limit isso it's an educational aspect ofpolicing,' said Mann. +

UPCOMING FILMSScreenthgs © Norm Theatre in SUBAdmission: $3 and Membership: $20Film Society Hotline: (604) 822-3697http://wvweamsabc.carclubstfilmsoc

Friday Oct 1to Sun. Oct 37:00pm Fahrenheit 9119:30om The Terminal

Think you know everything? Think again. Sarah, our newseditor, knows more than you can ever imagine about cam-pus composting. Take a whiff o' somma that shit, sucka.NEWS MEETINGS. TUESDAY AT 1. SUB RM. 24. ALL AREWELCOME! THAT MEANS YOU! YEAH, YOU IN THE RED.

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5PAGE FRIDAYFriday, October 1, 2004

SPACE MAN: Dr Jaymie Matthews' space telescope could change our understanding of how stars work. "'ARNIE RECITER PHOTO

www.ProfessioneiRings.com

DISTINCTIVE • ATTRACTIVE

WWW.URYSSIW.BC.CA

Funny thing about writinga comic script: - it isn't

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Procyon° from page 1.

meet for the second time since MOSTwas launched, and the first time sinceProcyon's surprising results became knownto astronomers. Whatever the explanationis, it's something new," Matthews tells me.

An unusual patientSay you were a doctor and a patient walkedinto your office. The patient is apparentlyhealthy and all of your training, not to men-tion every doctor before you, tells you thatwhen you apply your stethoscope to thepatient's chest, you should hear a pulse. Youlisten, and there is no pulse to be heard. Thefirst thing you do is check the stethoscope.After rattling it around for a while, it seemsfine. You check the patient again. Still nodice. What the hell is going on?" you startthinking to yourself. But pulses don't answerto frustration and still the patient hangs,silent enigmatic, distant

This is how Matthews describes his reac-tion to MOSTs unexpected—and, for themoment—unexplained results. And, indeed,it is fitting. The detection of vibrations fromProcyon were not only expected by scien-tists, they were assumed, with about 20years of astronomical theory to back it up.Procyon was a poster child for the kind ofscience MOST does, being a larger and moreadvanced version of the Sun. Of course, sci-entists know plenty about the Sun and whenMOST scientists planned to observeProcyon, as a kind of trophy star for theirmission, they logically expected their patientto behave like the Sun, which pulsates hap-pily day and night, but on alarger scale.

Then again, no one's ever worked with astethoscope quite like MOST before.

MOST is the smallest space telescope everbuilt and boasts technology that detectsvibrations of stars to create a model of theirinternal structure—a process called stellarseismology—more precisely than everbefore. MOST's measurements are moreprecise than even the Hubble space tele-scope, though its satellite is only the size of asuitcase and the mirror of its telescope onlythe diameter of a dinner plate, earning it theplayful nickname "the Humble space tele-scope." Stnnningly, MOST can measure lightto the accuracy of one part per million (1ppm). What does that mean? If you were tolook at a street lamp from one kilometreaway and move your eye half a millimetretowards the light, the intensity of the lightwould be 1 ppm greater.

A stethoscope worthy of even the faintestand most elusive of heart murmurs.

The silence ofthe sphere

The "pulse MOST was listening for in

"This is my idea of decorating'Items in Dr. Jaymie Matthews' office:

01 aluminum Rocket Racer01 bottle Black Holes III traditional ale

lemPtY)01 Dr Evil spaceman figurine (see photo)01 "Thank-you for flying LIBC" sign01 Dr Libido's Make-Your-Own-Comet ht-01 life-sized cardboard stand-up of Yoda01 Indonesian singing bowl01 tabloid article. Headline: "Roswell

Mystery Solved: Crashed UFO was actuallya time marhine from the future"

0 Numerous Simpsons figures01 rocket-themed lunchbox01 Rubik's cube in the shape of a human

head

'Dr Libido was Matthews' alter ego in his undergrad days.

Procyon—and which it has, even more curi-ously, detected in stars other than Procyon—isexplained by Matthews by use of an unusualitem in his office: an Indonesian singingbowl, an ancient meditation tool. This, I sus-pect, is an explanation technique he has usedfor many a confused student that wandersinto his office and asks, much as I did, 'So,stars make sound?'

The singing bowl is small and copper-coloured and sits in Matthews' hand like a hol-lowed-out half of a tiny planet. Matthewsbegins his explanation of stars' innerworkings.

'So what's happening in a star like the Sunis that the Sun's made up of gas. It's hot gas, it'svest' hot at the centre where the nuclear reac-tions cause it to shine.' Alright So far so good.Matthews tells me that there is an immensetemperature difference between the core andthe outer layer of the star. 'And in that outerlayer the gas is constantly churning aroundand creates sound, it creates noise, and thatsound can't travel into the vacuum of space,outwards, so it actually goes into the interior ofthe Sun...and the waves bounce around andsome of them cause the sun to resonate, they'lljust pick that right frequency.'

This is where the Indonesian singingbowl comes in. Matthews bits its edge with asmall mallet and a sound is produced: a res-onant golden hum. 'The way it hums,"Matthews tells me, 'is a clue as to what theinternal structure of the Sun is.' This iswhat scientists were hoping to hear fromProcyon. 'It's kind of if you were listening toan orchestra and you digitised themusic...and that would be a signature of themusic coming from the orchestra. So wewere looking for that signature and thatmusic coming from the star, rising above thenatural noise,' he says.

After the 'flat-liner' signal from Procyon,Matthews' team carefully checked whetherthe telescope was operating properly andeven implanted fake signals into the data andretrieved them, to prove that they were not'processing out' the signals they were lookingfor. Still, Procyon did not sing.

Matthews suggests several different rea-sons for the unexpected silence, but emphasis-es that ifs really 'too early to say." But the dis-covery is exciting, if only for the fact that MOSTis telling astronomers information that beforewas largely deduced through theory. "No oneknows, really, how stars behave; Matthewssays, 'and no one else can look at stars the waywe can with MOST. Anything you find is new.Even if the stars behave the way you expected,nobody knew that before...what we're reallydoing for the first time is charting how starsbehave in the way they oscillate in light. Until ayear ago, the only other star we could do thatfor was the Sim.'

There remains the possibility that Procyonis in fact giving off a signal that, for whateverreason, MOST isn't picking up. Or—the end-lessly more exciting option—it could be thatProcyon isn't giving off a signal at all, sug-gesting that there could be something funda-mentally erroneous in our previous models ofstars or, at the very least, that the model doesnot apply to Procyon. But, Matthews adds,MOST has detected the expected oscillationsfrom another star with noise levels similar toProcyon. "I think that alone indicates thatwe're sensitive to what we're supposed to beand that Procyon just isn't doing what wasexpected." -

Teaching oldastronomersnew tricks

Down the hall from Matthews' office is theVancouver MOST ground station—there arethree MOST groundstations worldwide, inVancouver, Toronto and Vienna—and theoffice of Rainer Kuschnig.

Kuschnig is the MOST instrument scien-tist The wall beside his desk is scatteredwith diagrams of the telescope's structure;

the computer on his desk contains the meas-urements of fifteen stars, sent from MOST,eight hundred kilometres above the Earth.Each star is represented by a labelled yellowfolder on his screen. He shows me a chart ofa reading from a star. Small black crossesrepresenting individual data points —oneper every two minute interval—scatter thescreen, linked by a red horizontal zigzag thatshows a mean value. 'This is a completelynew-discovered star,' Kuschnig tells me,indicating the screen; 'no one knew that thisstar is variable." I ask the name of the starand he answers, secretively, "can't tell you, ithasn't been published yet'

Checking the results from MOST is part ofKuschnies daily routine. 'It takes me an hourper day to actually get up-to-date and I do thisliterally in the morning and in the eveningsby having my coffee or in the early eveningsby having a nice beer and the computerscreen runs on the side of my TV...f m alwayson the ball, trying to keep on top of it.'

As the self-described MOST "front-man,"Kuschnig was the first to see the unusualresults come from Procyon.

"I started to realise it, I would say, aftertwo weeks," he tells me. 'Everybody wasexpecting peaks anywhere between 20 at thelowest and 40 parts per million." But aftertwo weeks of observation, MOST hadreached a level of three parts per millionand still no signal. Kuschnies tone becomesemphatic: 'we had this uninterrupted dataset, unpolluted by any kind of strange sys-tematic effects and we just didn't see it.'

In addition to being backed by theory, theexpectations of oscillations from Procyonwere based on measurements previouslytaken from the Earth's surface. But,Kuschnig tells me, these measurementsalways left room for doubt, debate and re-examination. 'The first reports [of oscilla-tions in Procyon] were in the early '90s orso, and the precision at that time was notimpressive, but it showed some peaks...Butit was not until a couple of years ago thatpeople really started to believe that theyactually saw it, they said 'we have indica-tions, we have evidence.' The ultimate proof,and the community accepting this proof onthis particular star, Procyon, was never real-ly fully given."

Prior to MOST, there was widespread butprimarily passive scepticism of the ground-ed observations of Procyon. "A significantfraction of the community has always ques-tioned it, said 'well, it's really borderline, it

doesn't conform again with theory, thesemodes don't show up where they should beshowing up, they don't have the same pat-tern and so on," continues Kuschnig.

Until MOST, there was no practical possi-bility of observing Procyon continuously forany substantial length of time; due-to the factthat any Earth-bound telescope is obliged tofollow the planet's rotation, re-orientatingconstantly towards a different part of sky.'We have more data collectively [from] onerun than all the [ground]runs together...multiplied by two," Kuschnigtells me.

The results from MOST have encounteredresistance—even outright denials—from sci-entists who previously supported or wereresponsible for the contradicted Procyonresults.

"It's created a lot of excitement and alot of controversy,' says Matthews. 'Ast-ronomers are human beings, you know.People don't like to hear that stuff theyworked on for 20 years might not be right,you know, and we don't like to say it unlesswe're dragged kicking and screaming in thatdirection.'

Kuschnies response is more evasive, yetmore dear: "This is typical in science, go toany kind of scientific field, look at very con-troversial results, you find it all along. Youhave the establishment, people that areessentially trying to sell their results, asgood as they were or as, as good as they wereor as bad as they were, I mean Iwouldn't say bad, but they weren't the best atthe time."

The two sides came to a head in the July1, 2004 issue of Nature Magazine. An article(which, Kuschnig comments, was not refer-eed) entitled 'Where are Procyon's quakes?'written byJorgen Christensen-Dalsgaard andHans Kjeldsen contradicts MOST's results,asserting that MOST's powers were not suffi-cient to detect signals from the star and thatfurther analysis will allow 'the Procyon sig-nal to be detected."

The report written by the MOST scienceteam, with Matthews as the lead author andKuschnig as the second, appeared in thesame issue and, both Kuschnig andMatthews note, was thoroughly refereed bymembers of the opposing side. The reportexplains that, while past ground-basedobservations of stars other than the Sun'never achieved duty cycles of more than 35per cent per month," MOST achieved anunprecedented 99 per cent. The report con-

dudes by stating that the new results shouldbe considered carefully and that previousmeasurements of Procyon 'should bere-examined in the context of the newphotometry.'

Back in his office on the UBC campus,Matthews leans back in his chair (this isafter the Indonesian singing bowl has beenset aside and before an impromptu tripdown the hall to the ground station). 'Wehave the capability to make measurementsthat no one else in the world has, that no onewill have until at least 2006; he tells me.'Whenever you look at the Universe in a newway, you find new things!

It ain't over 'til thefat star sings

Matthews has been a driving force behindMOST since the beginning, nursing it throughits stages of proposal, development, construc-tion and launch. Speaking to him, it is easy to tellthat MOST is not only a professional, but a per-sonal, project. His interest in astronomy datesfrom rhildhnod. "I've been interested in starsfor as long as I can remember," he tells me.

Matthews' office is a shrine to all that isastronomical, stocked with all manner of oth-erworldly kitsch. But between the rocket-themed lunchbox and the life-sized Yoda card-board stand-up works a serious scientist.Speaking generally of astronomical discoveryand MOST's accomplishments to date,Matthews waxes poetic.

"It's like a detective game. Somethingyou've done has suddenly added some detailto a distant star and made it, instead of justbeing a pinpoint of light, now you know howbig it is, and how fast it's spinning aroundand all of these things, that's part of the pleas-ure. You can go out at night and look up atsome pinpoint of light and in your mind's eyeyou can actually picture it, what it's doing. Ithas character and detail and you know thatyou were responsible for some of that knowl-edge,' he enthuses.

MOST won't be tumbling down for cen-turies, but, says Matthews, more excitingresults are still to come, delivering more inti-mate portraits of the interiors of stars thanever before. 'So many stars, so little time," helaments.

Meanwhile, the satellite and its revolution- •a/7 telescope will be orbiting, orbiting farabove the Earth, leaving the past behind.

MOST's discovery is unexpected, butUNIQUE • ORIGINAL

what will this mean for science?

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PAGE FRIDAYFriday, October 1, 2004

A cunning planthat just might work

Sfi

A

After ten years of sitting empty, there is fi-nally a plan for the Woodward's building.Vancouver councillors voted 10-1 to approvethe redevelopment of the site by WestbankProjects and by doing so made one of thestrangest compromises in the history of down-town Vancouver.

For those unfamilar with the recent historyof the Woodward's building, suffice it to say, ithas become a powerful symbol of the povertyand homelessness of the Downtown Eastsideafter a lengthy occupation in the summer andfall of 2002.

Social activists and Vancouver's least privi-leged took possession of the building until theywere forcibly removed. Soon after, the citybegan to entertain plans for redevelopment.

The new facility will provide space for aneclectic combination of groups. It will include a34-story tower containing retail space, class-rooms for SFU students, a daycare, low-incomefamily units, lofts and market units (i.e. condosfor sale).

And social housing. 100 units to be precise.Of those, only 60 are considered deep-core hous-ing or housing for recipients of IncomeAssistance. If you ask community advocates, this

is not nearly enoule-I. They lobbied for 250 units.To defend this shortcoming, Larry Camp-

bell has pulled a blame-it-on-Victoria/Ottawasaying that $30 million would be required tofund the 150 more units demanded byactivists. According to Campbell, the city justdoesn't have that much money, but he is com-mitted to lobbying the province for the need-ed cash.

"I can tell you, unequivocally, that 100 unitsis not enough for us either,' he said.

If nothing else, the proposed redevelop-ment is a commendable attempt at social engi-neering. By combining some of the city's verywealthy (the condo owners, along with the SFUstudents getting their MBAs from HarbourCentre) and the downtown residents who willqualify for social housing, a real attempt isbeing made to change the purpose and statusof the Woodward's building.

Some would call this gentrification. Butwhile we have concerns about the reality ofVancouver's rich wanting to buy condos or goto school next to some of Vancouver's poorestcitizens, it might prove to be a step in theright direction. Ideally, the class distinctionsseparating Vancouverites from one other

could be blurred in such a multi-purposebuilding. Let's call this an experiment insocial amalgamation. Only time will tell if itwill prove succesful.

The "heritage' of the Woodward's buildingwill also be maintained in the redevelopment,something which will please those who wish tosee the downtown core retain its "olde tyme"character.

The brick facade and the huge "V.,' on the out-side of the building aren't going away but nei-ther is inequality, poverty, addiction and othergrim realities of life in the city's downtown.

Mayor Larry Campbell and councillorsshould not make the assumption that thereconstruction of this building will bring theDowntown Eastside "back to life." The projectdoes not include social housing for every resi-dent of the downtown core that might qualify.100 units is a drop in the bucket. The rightbucket, true, but it is foolish to believe that thisalone will solve the manifold problems of theDowntown Eastside.

Activists should continue to hold CityCouncil to account. The Council, meanwhile,should continue to seek out new, innovativeways of addressing these concerns. :•

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Here for one more week, the VIFFcontinues its worldly film presentation.With additional screenings added forsome of the more popular films, don't

miss this final chance to see them.

!Control!playing Oct.5

by Jesse FerrerasCULTURE WRITER

Selected as Hungary's official entryfor the Best Foreign Language Film atthe Oscar's, Nimrod Antal's filmKontroll is a dark comic urbanthriller, filmed completely on loca-tion in the Budapest subway system.

Boasting a killer techno-rocksoundtrack, a claustrophobic atmos-phere and cinematography that paysmeticulous attention to the symmet-rical details of subway systems andtunnels, Antal has fashioned an origi-nal, thou& imperfect action thriller.

A hooded figure haunts theBudapest subway system, pushingvictims in front of speeding trainswhilst remaining conspicuous

tl enough to pass off the murders assuicides. The figure, however, is not

4 beyond the Budapest TransportCompany, which quickly informs theKontroll (ticket-takers) of what is hap-pening throughout the subway tun-nels of the Hungarian capital. Bulcsu(Sandor Csanyi), an employee of theKontroll, is a member of the teamthat supervises the tunnels wherethese murders are taking place. Hiswhole life is the Kontroll, and he isamong the most berated employeesin the country. Every day, theKontroll are harassed, beaten andabused by commuters, communicat-ed effectively with a slam-bang tech-nique characteristic of Guy Ritchie —lots of driving and hard technomusic enhancing the excitement ofeach scene.

One day, between harassing com-muters, Bulcsu finds aguardianangel in the form of Szofi (Eszter

Balla), whose beautiful face emergeslike a beacon of hope for Bulcsu. Sodedicated to his position that he can-not even muster up the courage toleave, even as more victims pile upon the tracks. But time will only tellwhether he can escape or be caughtfirst by the mysterious stalker throw-ing people beneath the speedingtrains.

Kontroll is one of the most enter-taining films I have .ever seen atthe Vancouver International FilmFestival. It is fast, funny, and laidthick with style, but it is also substan-tial, although not as noticeably as it isstylish. Nimrod Antal aims forvolume and humour in most ofhis scenes rather than substance,although as the film carries on, theaudience does find itself absorbed inthe underground nightmare that isBulcsu's life. Deceived into thinkingthe film is about a serial killer in aclaustrophobic setting, in truth theaudience is exposed to a study ofworking-class citizens who are con-fined to the gallows for so long thatthey develop their own world.

The deceptive first ten minutes ofthe film does not necessarily work inits favour, as it does take the audi-ence some time to realise that theyare not watching a formulaic actionthriller, therefore becoming impa-tient with the heavy characterisation.Nevertheless, Antal's film is spectac-ular, well-acted, and often hilariousin its depictions of the encountersbetween the Kontroll and the every-day commuters of their subways.Heavy on style and boasting a heart-pounding soundtrack certain to bepopular with techno fans, Kontrolltakes its audience on a wild ridethrough the Budapest underworldand back again.

Scared Sacredplaying Oct. 5

by Ancilla ChuiCULTURE WRITER

Scared Sacred is a relevant film forour time. Following last year'slocal hit The Corporation, it is like-ly that local director VeicrowRipper's Scared Sacred will be thenext hot Canadian documentary.

Being JuliaSept. 26

by Alexander WrightCULTURE WRITER

Canadian actor Bruce Greenwoodwas on hand Sunday to introducehis new movie Being Julia and totell a couple of charming anecdotesabout the film's director, IstvanSzabo. Szabo was apparently soopposed to screaming out directori-al actions and cuts that he decidedto scrap doing that entirely; instead

The premise of the film is beau-tiful yet haunting: Ripper visits the"Ground Zeroes" of the world toexamine how humanity can findhope in the most unlikely places.From the gas leak by UnionCarbide India in Bhopal to theunearthing of land mines inCambodia, to post 9/11, Ripper is atourist of darkness and he is morethan willing to take his audiencewith him In an interesting scene

the whole movie was shot withpleases and thank-yous. What acharming idea.

The anecdote is not nearly ascharming as the movie itself how-ever, as BeingJulia proves to be thefilm we've all been waiting for. Webeing, of course, those of us whostill dream of London in the 20'sand 30's, the good old days whenfoxes were still known to trot.

Jeremy Irons appears 25 yearsafter Brideshead Revisited wearingthe same mustache he wore in hisportrayal of Charles Ryder, andAnnette Bening returns playing abright-eyed, deceptive, and wicked-ly joyfully actress at a crossroads inher life, a role her fans love to seeher in.

Set in the London theatre worldof 1938 where everyone acts bothon and off the stage, the movierevolves around a middle-agedactress named Julia (Bening) While

in Bosnia, we follow two artistswho find hope within the ruins.They wander among museums andother destroyed buildings to pickup little fragments to use in theirart projects.

Ripper is almost running a one-man show because not only is hethe director, he is also the editorand cinematographer. We are toldthe 35mm production just camefrom the lab two weeks before thefilm fest, and the final product ofthis five year journey is a grippingdocumentary with a poetic flare.In one hundred and four minutes,Ripper jam-packs a generousassortment of footage from all ofthese "Ground Zeroes."

What's beautiful about this filmis that it is about humanity and notabout politics. Our world is seeingdarker days but out of the darkness,hope is never far behind. We can.feel empathy and realise we are nolonger living in a tiny bubble, andthat we are all global citizens.

For many, the world is an unsta-ble place where we have no controlof our circlimstanceQ. Rut what wecan control is how we choose torespond to these uncertainties.

she is the greatest actress of hertime, she is by no means the onlyactress. Husband Michael Gosselyn(Irons) who manages the businessside of their theatre, is also anactor—though, as his wife pointsout, the only act he cares to play isthat of the "handsomest man inBritain."

But when a young Americannamed Tom wins Julia's heart bysimply swinging around lamp postsin the moonlight—a move bound towin any woman over—Julia doesnot realise that he is using her toget a big acting break. Everyoneacts in order to use and uses inorder to act, a theme that continuesthrough the film.

This film is great fun, taking theaudience to a time of lying, cheat-ing, acting, theatre, mink shalls,and witty banter. Extremely funnyand entertaining, this film is amust see.

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8Nigerian Novelist

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Nothing hotabout this

firehallby Matt Simpson

CULTURE WRITER

Adichie's debut dazzles

Fusing talent and soundSekoya's soft mix of jazz and electronica bode well on stage and off

A firehall is usually full of grimy men, lotsof swearing, and a lunch lounge plasteredin pin-ups—well not in this squeaky cleanstation. The boys of Ladder 49 have hoseddown all the dirt out of the word dirty. Thelatest flick by director Jay Russel, who alsodirected My Dog Skip, tries to convey whatthe everyday life of a firefighter is like,and unfortunately paints an unrealisticpicture.

Told through a series of flashbacks inthe life of Jack Morrison, played by JoaquinPhoenix, the story spans approximately tenyears, beginning from his first day on thejob as a headstrong bachelor, to a skilledfirefighter and settled family man. The filmhas astonishing fire scenes and good per-formances, but it tries too hard to tug at theheartstrings of its audience with the use ofsappy slow music—the Irish rhythms tookme back to steerage in Titanic. With toomany scenes of heartbreak, the film's tenyear timeline was a little too crammed withemotional episodes.

Trying to depict firefighters in a waythat would make any citizen appreciatetheir hard honorable life-saving duty,Russell sugarcoats the characters to the

point where they don't seem real. The mendon't swear, are devoutly Catholic, and theantics in the firehouse are so Grated thatthey only command a slight chuckle fromthe audience.

Phoenix gives a good performance inspite of the overly heroic role he plays.Notorious for his supporting roles andcreepy villainous portrayls, Phoenix seemsoverdue for a break out leading perform-ance, but this film won't be leaving a mem-orable mark on his resume. Although heplays each stage of Morrison's life convinc-ingly, I thought he was more convincing asthe goofy rookie than the seasoned pro.Playing Chief Mike Kennedy, John Travoltais a pleasure to watch in this supportingrole as he plays a mentor to Jack.

One exception to . the melodramatic

story is a genuinely touching scene whereJack visits another firefighter in the hospi-tal. The burned firefighter doesn't want hiskids to see him, because he's afraid ofgoing from being a hero to a burned andscared "freak'. It raises the conflictbetween the ideal of the firefighter versusthe fallibility of these people. The scenereaches an emotional depth that the rest ofthe film unfortunately lacks.

The film's timidity in tackling tone)subjects is probably due to the mystiquethat has developed around firefighters post9/11. Depicting firefighters as anythingbut likeable could create a public outcry,which is somewhat of a shame, becausefirefighters deserve a movie that is as hon-est about them as they are in their jobs.And this film does not do that.

Purple Hibiscusby Chirnamanda Ngozi Adichie[Anchor Books]

by Lisa Pamela CooperCULTURE WRITER

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichi, daughter of muchacclaimed Igbo novelist Chua Achebe seems to befollowing in her mothers foot-steps with her debutnovel Purple Hibiscus.

Narrated by fifteen-year-old Kambili, PurpleHibiscus is a touching story about growing up inNigeria during a military coup. Kambili's house,despite her upper class comforts, is full of fear andtension under her father's fundamentalistCatholic dogma. He belt-whips his family forbreaking pre-mass fast and forbids his childrenfrom visiting their "heathen" grandfather whoeschews Christianity for traditional African gods.When her father's criticism of the military regimeforces his children to seek refuge, Kambili and herbrother go to live with their aunt, a liberal outspo-ken university professor.

They are reluctantly thrust into another world,one with much less money but seemingly morehappiness, where their aunt may not be able toafford milk, but where everyone speaks excidely atdinner in both English, and Igbo. They preach reli-gious and cultural tolerance, and Kambili doesn'tknow how she will adjust to such a new life, espe-cially when her cousin Amaka never ceases toremind her that she doesn't belong.

When Amaka spitefully asserts that her cousin"hates it here", Kambili suddenly wishes Amakahad kept her mouth shut. Kambili's world soonbecomes complicated with religious, social andromantic contradictions when the unexpectedand tragic occurs, shaking Kambili's world tothe core.

Vividly laced with illustrative detail, revolution-ary discourse, and a strong sense of African pride,the novel's clever insight and nail-sharp remarkscombine to make this three-hundred page piece offiction a quick and colourful read. Best aimed at ayounger, adolescent demographic, this novel ispotentially satisfying for the university studentlooking for an excuse to not read Marx's Capital.

Contrasting between Western and indigenouscultures, religious fanaticism and moderation,acculturation and fusion, pacification, and thespread and rejection of Christianity, Adichie chal-lenges cultural and social boundries.

Unfortunately, it is only in the last fifty pagesthat such issues are given front-and-centre atten-tion, such as cousin Amaka's refusal topick anEnglish name for her confirmation, and her broth-er's provocative scrutiny about missionaries from'the darkest parts of Africa reconverting the West'.These issues are hovering just below the surface,and the last few chapters could preface an entirelynew novel.

Purple Hibiscus could be a gateway to a deeperdialogue about the issues regarding culturalchange, and hopefully will prompt in its reader anewfound interest in cultural dynamics. 4.

Sekoya Stands TallSekoya[Maximum Jazz]

By Tejas Ewing. CULTURE WRITER

Mixing jazz with electronic beats and urban sounds is no longer anew innovation. However, with the over saturation of electronicfusion today, doing it well still gets people's attention. Sekoya hasbeen getting their share lately, with a frantic series of appearancesthat has them on the forefront of Vancouver-based nu jazz bands.They were one of the few Canadian acts at Seattle's recentBumbershoot festival, they have appeared on a Nettwerk recordscompilation along with such fusion heavyweights as LTJ Bukem, andthey received a Canada Councilgrant to fully fund their debutalbum. And all of this in less than twoyears!

After spinning their self-titled release and attending their unoffi-cial CD release party at the Ironworks last Friday, I can say that theattention they are garnering is well deserved. Comprised of the coretrio of vocalist Amalia Townsend, composer/arranger/saxophonistAlvin Cornista and programmer/engineer Dan Kearley, this grouprepresents a sound that Vancouverites should be able to identifywith. The city's easy access to the sounds of various cultures hasclearly been an influence on their music, which blends jazz, soul,broken beats and world music into a cohesive whole.

Tracks such as 'Freestyle reveal hip-hop influenced vocals, elec-tronic breakbeats and sophisticated jazz melodies. Others such asthe instrumental gUstaad# delve more into world fusion, with aclearly middle-eastern influence. Later tracks tackle the spokenword realm, giving Townsend the freedom to really show her stuff.Each track has a different emphasis, and therefore each artist is ableto exert their influence on a different part of the album. In someinstances this might create a mishmash of disconnected work, butthis album has a steady flow to it, and all of the tracks work welltogether, and in the order presented.

This is partly because of the strengths of each member and whatthey bring to the table. Townsend's voice has great range and fluid-

ity, and her lyrics are both meaningful and well delivered. Cornista'ssaxophone playing is vibrant and fresh, providing the jazz backboneto each song. Finally, Kearley's beats are always appropriate, well-chosen and catchy, yet never overshadowing the instrumental andvoice elements of each song.

After seeing many of the album's tracks performed live, I canalso say that Sekoya is an excellent live band. Townsend's stage pres-ence is infectious. Her riotous dancing never fails to bring the audi-ence out onto the dance floor, and once there, Sekoya has the abili-ty to turn up the heat. Their ability to fluidly move from downtempolounge music to infectious danceable vibes further solidified theirreputation for being able to master various genres. Fusion bandsare everywhere now, but those with skill are still hard to find. Keepan eye on Sekoya. •