The Sheaf

Census reform endangers student-related statistics

2010-07-29T19:36:55Z

Emma Godmere
CUP Ottawa Bureau Chief

OTTAWA (CUP) — Never before have Canadians raised so much concern over statistics.

In the wake of the federal government’s decision to scrap the mandatory long-form census questionnaire sent to 20 per cent of Canadian homes every five years, the Canadian Federation of Students has raised red flags over the apparent winding-down of national, student-centric surveys.

According to CFS national chairperson Dave Molenhuis, a document was circulated in mid-June to stakeholder members of the National Advisory Group on Student Financial Assistance that suggested funding would not be renewed for the three youth-related surveys.

The Youth In Transition Survey, which examines young Canadians’ transitions between education, training and work; the National Longitudinal Survey on Children and Youth, which collects long-term data on the behavioural development and social communities of children from infancy to early adulthood; and the National Apprenticeship Survey, a less frequent survey that identifies issues with apprenticeship completion and effects on the labour market, were all identified as surveys carried out by Statistics Canada and Human Resources and Skills Development Canada that would not have their funding renewed.

“It’ll affect basically anyone interested in understanding who students are, [and] what the demographics are,” said Molenhuis. “It’s not just going to impact government decision making, which will be adrift without any kind of data to anchor itself to, but it also takes away the ability of the public to evaluate and critique government policy based on what the demographic information on students is. It’s problematic on a number of fronts.”

A spokesperson from Human Resources and Skills Development Canada, alleging the CFS’ information was false, explained in an email that the National Apprenticeship Survey was only a one-time survey. The email explained that the other two surveys “were fully funded, are not yet complete, and findings still need to be analyzed.”

“The Government is acting responsibly by waiting for these surveys to be completed and evaluating them to make sure they were effective and relevant before committing taxpayer funding for another set of longitudinal surveys in future years,” the email stated.

Statistics Canada explained their portfolio of surveys are always changing and none of the three student-related surveys have been officially discontinued for the time being.

But, Molenhuis pointed to any potential reduction in survey data as a major concern, especially when compounded with the government’s recent changes to the census.

“If we are no longer going to make policy decisions based on empirical research, then what are we going to base those decisions on?” he said. “We need this data to be able to evaluate whether or not the billions of dollars that are going into post-secondary education are having any effect, and understand the relationship between post-secondary education and the economy.”

“Not having that information is definitely going to impact our organization’s ability to hold the government to account and the government itself to make appropriate decisions.”

The Conservative government mentioned the removal of the compulsory long-form survey in a document released on June 26. Completing census surveys has been required by law, including the long-form questionnaire, which only about one-fifth of Canadians received.

Federal Industry Minister Tony Clement expressed that the change was motivated by privacy complaints over some of the more detailed questions in the long-form survey, which covers education, income, cultural background and employment, among other topics.

But, the Office of the Privacy Commissioner says it’s received only three census-related complaints in the last 10 years.

Adding their name to the list of numerous organizations that have condemned the change, the Canadian Alliance of Student Associations released an open letter to Clement, highlighting the impact the change could have on student-related data.

“The long-form [survey] provides significant insight into how Canada’s system of higher learning is performing, how Canada compares to other countries with regard to post-secondary education, and helps to identify where, when and how all levels of government in Canada should invest in learning and training,” wrote newly-elected national director Zach Dayler.

“However, the soundness of this data could be put into significant jeopardy if the mandatory long form is replaced with a voluntary survey,” the letter continued. “Considering that Canada already suffers from a lack of adequate, comparable data on our post-secondary system, and that further cutbacks in the size and scope of learning data collected by federal ministries and departments is being contemplated, the ramifications of this alteration to census data collection must not be underestimated by the federal government.”

Statistics Canada’s chief statistician Munir A. Sheikh tendered his resignation July 21, explaining in an online statement that the government would not be able to achieve the same level of statistical data if optional surveys replaced mandatory surveys.

The statement has since been removed from the organization’s website and replaced with a message stating the federal agency is not in a position to comment on the advice it passed on to Clement.

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image: Flickr

Canadian graphic novel weaves together past and present

2010-07-26T16:02:21Z

ASHLEIGH MATTERN
Editor-in-Chief

The graphic novel Stone starts with an emergency. A suicide letter is positioned over frames of a mother rushing through traffic, leaving a car door ajar with the cell phone open on the seat.

But in addition to the story of a young man named Edwin who attempted suicide, we hear the story of one of Edwin’s ancestors, Stone, as told by Edwin’s mother as she watches over his recovery.

The comic flits back and forth between a modern-day hospital and a Cree community at the beginning of the 19th century. Such a large gap in time could be jarring, but the frames at the shifts mimic each other, creating symmetry and a cohesive story.

Stone looks up to his older brother and wants to become a brave like him but Bear leaves him behind in a battle against a Blackfoot tribe.

While the transitions between times are smooth, sometimes the scene changes within times are jarring. Expecting the conversation between Stone and Bear to continue, instead the next page shows Bear leaving Stone behind.

The lines of the black-and-white comic are crisp and clean, and some of the frames are downright beautiful. It would have been an even more beautiful comic had it been coloured.

The characters are well-defined and I found I cared about what happened to them. Having dealt with depression in my own life, I could relate to Edwin’s struggle, and my heart went out to his mother, who obviously cares deeply for her son. My only other disappointment with the comic is that we never learn his mother’s name, but perhaps that will come with another installation in the series.

While the story starts with Edwin’s struggle with his mental illness, the part of the story that takes place in the early 19th century is far more vibrant and compelling. We see Stone on a vision quest, playing a hoop game and on a buffalo hunt. I get the impression the storytelling is also more vibrant for Edwin than his own life.

Stone is the first book in the series called 7 Generations written by David Robertson and illustrated by Scott Henderson. Four more comics in the series are planned: Scars, which takes place during the smallpox epidemic of 1870; Ends / Begins, which follows Edwin’s father’s experiences in residential school; and The Pact, where Edwin and his father “reconcile their past and begin a new journey.”

Assuming the next comics in the series are as engaging as this one, this is definitely a series I’d like to follow.

Kanabliss Tha Supaspliff is west coast Canadian hip-hop

2010-07-21T19:12:11Z

DORIAN GEIGER
Sports Editor

If Canada’s hip-hop spectrum had its own Dr. Dre he would most surely be found in Vancouver rap artist Kanabliss Tha Supaspliff.

The Fijian-Canadian rapper started making waves after his first solo LP Adventures of tha Supaspliff dropped in 2007 but first got his name out with the collaborative hip-hop group Brown N Proud. Pairing up with producer Audio Ninja, the two have solidified Canada’s part of the west coast North American hip-hop movement. Unlike most hip-hop, Audio Ninja utilizes all organic beats as opposed to sampling on Kanabliss’s tracks. Their style is a cornucopia of funk and soul.

Along with Kanabliss’s Cypress Hill-esque flow and lyrics touching on the urban lifestyle of Vancouver, Kanabliss’s demeanour is purely west coast. And like a true west coast rapper, Kanabliss even owns a real low-rider: a 1960 green Ford Thunderbird.

Since coming up, Kanabliss has embraced his coastal identity and has even reached out to prominent U.S. west coast artists to help build upon the G-funk movement in the north. Working with rappers Daz Dillinger and Kurrupt — both of whom were featured extensively on Dr. Dre’s Chronic 2001 album and have recorded songs with 2pac — Kanabliss has managed to raise the profile of west coast rap in Canada considerably. Kanabliss has also recorded and performed with legendary west coast hip-hop heavy weight, Too Short.

Rather than just labelling it west-coast Canadian hip-hop, Kanabliss likes to term what he’s pioneering as the “Vanstadam” movement — but the descriptor encompasses more than just music. The 35-year old east-side Vancouverite claims it’s a lifestyle.

And being from Vancouver, Kanabliss doesn’t shy away from the topic of marijuana and is very adamant in including a verse here and there about the potency of “B.C. bud,” often referring to Vancouver as Vanstadam in many of his rhymes.

“Vanstadam be the home of the stinky / resin in my rhymes make your fingers get sticky,” rhymes Kanabliss on his track “Hurt Somebody.” And on another track, “Chronickles,” Kanabliss spits, “I’m thinking of a minor plan / it ain’t nothing but the ganja inside my hand.”

Kanabliss reiterated that when U.S. artists roll through Vancouver to perform or record for the first time, they are always awed by the superior quality of west coast chronic.

“A lot of the U.S. cats come down here they know don’t about the weed (in Vancouver) until they smoke it,” said Kanabliss over the phone from Vancouver last week.

Since Kanabliss has been working with Daz Dillinger and Kurupt, the three have become friends with each other but Kanabliss couldn’t help but be surprised by the copious amount of marijuana Daz and Kurupt consumed.

“But when Daz and Kurupt came down — those motherfuckers can smoke dog,” said Kanabliss of the prominent west coast rappers.

“We gave them like maybe about three ounces and they were done in three or four hours. And they were like, ‘Yo man we need some more.’ They’re funny cats. Daz is a little bit more quiet. Kurrupt is a little bit more social.”

Kanabliss’s clothing store Eastside Urban Wear boasts its own line of Vanstadam clothing and merchandise and in the near future Kanabliss hopes to be marketing a Vanstadam energy drink along with rolling papers too.

Kanabliss will be bringing his west coast vibes to the prairies when the MC plays at Alleykatz on July 23 with DJ 151 and at Hip-t.r.o.n.i.c. night at Vangellis in Saskatoon with The Gaff, Jiddles, the Intelligentlemen and DJ RamaDan on July 24.

Is organic food better for you?

2010-07-26T15:50:08Z

ASHLEIGH MATTERN
Editor-in-Chief

The average North American grocery shopper has only a vague idea of how their food is grown, processed and transported to the supermarket.

The agriculture-to-grocery-store process is a complex machine that seems almost like magic: row upon row of shiny fruits and vegetables appear in the store every day in seemingly unending amounts. But it’s not magic, and many consumers are aware of this, and becoming wary of the great agriculture machine.

For some, organic foods seem to be the answer. Producers tout organics as the answer to the toxic, mutant fruits and vegetables that crowd the grocery store. They encourage consumers to pay a little more for peace of mind, painting organics as the safer alternative.

Organic producers say their food tastes better, is more nutritious, and is better for the environment. But in an effort to be wary of salespeople’s pitches, I decided to get to the roots of claims about organic foods.

Price

Initially, one of the biggest barriers for me when considering buying organic foods was the price. To compare what I might spend on an average grocery trip, I took my regular grocery list to an organic market.

The biggest surprise for me was the price of milk. My boyfriend and I drink a lot of milk, and so I buy four litres a week. A four-litre jug of organic milk cost a whopping $12.19, compared to the Co-op brand four-litre I usually buy at $3.99.

I would have spent about $60 on organics, compared to about $30 on conventional foods. That’s a pretty big price difference, and no small difference for a student, but most people don’t buy all their food organic. Organic fruits and vegetables have the most competitive prices, and the organic lemons were actually 10 cents cheaper.

As more organic producers get into the market, the prices will continue to drop, as well. For a fairly well-off family, paying an extra dollar for organic ground beef may seem worth the perceived added benefits. Unfortunately, I had only started my journey into the world of organic food. Soon enough, price was the least of my worries.

Nutritious and delicious?

Proponents of organic food say it has more vitamins and nutrients and it tastes better. The taste factor may never be scientifically settled as it is completely subjective, but at least one study has determined the nutritious value of organic foods: they’re no more nutritious than non-organics.

A study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition surveyed over 50,000 published articles about organic food, focusing on 55 studies that met their scientific standards.

They found more nitrogen in conventional crops and more phosphorus in organic crops, but concluded that “there is no evidence of a difference in nutrient quality between organically and conventionally produced foodstuffs.” There were fewer published studies on livestock, but of the studies they did have, they found no nutritional difference between organics and non-organics.

Pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers, oh my!

A farmer sprays liquid urea ammonium nitrate fertilizer to pre-emergent crops.

There are strict regulations on what foods can be labelled organic. When talking to the owner of an organic market recently, he said “no pesticides, herbicides or fertilizers” can be used, but this simply isn’t true. Organic farmers can’t use synthetic products on their crops, only “natural” products. The seemingly logical conclusion is that any natural pesticide or fertilizers is safer than a synthetic one, but again, this isn’t true.

One fertilizer some organic farmers use is manure. What the person selling you organic food won’t tell you is that food grown in a manure-based fertilizer has a higher chance of containing E. coli because the virus thrives in the bellies of cows.

The bottom line is that nearly all pesticides are bad for humans, whether they’re natural or synthetic. Luckily, the amount of harm they can do has a direct relation to the amount of pesticide you’re exposed to. The Extension Toxicology Network explains that pesticides decline over time. Residues left on the food after washing and processing break down eventually, and the levels of pesticides and herbicides on the food is “well below legal limits” by the time the food reaches the grocery store. Organic food proponents say there have been no studies showing low levels of pesticides and herbicides do no harm, but this is also not entirely true.

Pesticides are anything used to defend against fungi, insects and predators. A little known fact is that most fruits and vegetables produce their own pesticides. A paper written by Bruce Ames, who invented the Ames test to determine whether a compound is carcinogenic, says the average American ingests 1,500 mg of natural pesticides per day, compared to 0.09 mg of synthetic pesticide residues.

“The amounts of synthetic pesticide residues in plant foods are insignificant compared to the amount of natural pesticides produced by plants themselves,” the paper says.

Touting the claim that the effects of exposure to low levels of pesticides has not been studied, one organic-supporting website suggests that “In the absence of this information, the safest course is not to expose yourself to chemicals designed and proven to kill other forms of life.” Sticking with this strain of logic, should we stop eating all fruits and vegetables? Natural pesticides may not be synthetically designed, but they certainly have been proven to kill other forms of life.

Irradiation

To be certified organic, foods cannot use irradiation in production. Irradiation uses ionizing radiation to kill bacteria and insects, and to stop plants from continuing to ripen. Fears and misunderstandings about radiation and the process involved in irradiation seem to drive this regulation.

What you might’ve learned in high school and promptly forgotten, like me, is that certain elements radiate energy, making them radioactive. In irradiation, a machine creates X-rays or gamma rays then points them at the food.

While there are all sorts of radiation — including radio waves, microwaves and light — only high frequency ones like X-rays and gamma rays can ionize particles, meaning they can detach electrons from the atoms or molecules.

Ionizing stops the cell growth of bacteria, insects and food. For microorganisms, this means they can’t multiply. For insects, this means they can’t propagate. For fruits, this means they won’t ripen as fast, and for veggies like potatoes, onions and garlic, this means they’ll be less likely to sprout.

Since irradiation uses X-rays, it can’t make food radioactive. A report called “Irradiated Foods” for the American Council on Science and Health says, “Food undergoing irradiation does not become any more radioactive than luggage passing through an airport X-ray scanner or teeth that have been X-rayed.”

The safety of food irradiation has been well-studied. There’s no reason to fear the process. Still, foods do lose some nutrients when going through the process, but no more than cooking, canning or freezing foods.

The aforementioned study notes “It should also be remembered that irradiated food will be consumed as part of a mixed diet, and that the process will have little impact on the total intake of specific nutrients.”

Part of the reason only some foods are irradiated is because not all foods react well to the process, particularly milk and dairy products. The other reason only some foods are irradiated is due to negative public perception. People are afraid of what they don’t understand, and by forbidding irradiation to gain organic certification, it seems as though the organic market is only perpetuating those misunderstandings.

Genetically modified foods

As with irradiation, the rejection of genetically modified foods seems to stem from fear and misunderstanding.

“People have to understand that all the foods we have right now… have all undergone genetic modification; that’s where you take one cultivar and cross it with another cultivar,” said Dr. Nicholas Low, a professor with the U of S’s College of Agriculture and Bioresources. “We want them to grow fast; we want the tomatoes to grow big…. When people talk to me about GM, I don’t think they understand that everything we eat has been modified.”

He says the difference between the old fashioned way of crossing cultivars and genetically modifying it by moving genes from one plant to another is that a very specific modification is made.

In fact, Low says “These genetically modified foods are safer because we know the genome of these plants.” Basically, no changes happen by accident.

Since GM foods can gain genetic materials from other plant species, some consumers and anti-GM groups worry this means allergens might end up in non-allergenic foods, for example, genes from a nut used in grains. In fact, this has been tried: in 1996, the seed company Pioneer Hi-Bred International attempted to use genes from the Brazil nut to make their soybeans hardier.

Pioneer dropped the project when the testers pointed out the folly of using a known allergen to enhance other foods.

GM foods aren’t developed over night. They go through years of trials and testing guided by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. If it’s not fit to be consumed, it won’t be approved.

That’s not to say there aren’t risks involved in the use of GM foods. Critics have legitimate concerns about the possibility of GM foods having an impact on biodiversity or the potential effects of horizontal gene transfer, where genes from the modified crops would transfer into wild crops. So far, GM foods aren’t in wide enough use to know if horizontal gene transfer can happen or to say if they have an effect on biodiversity (in fact, at least one scientist believes GM crops might promote biodiversity). But we have to ask ourselves if the potential risks outweigh the known benefits.

A complete rejection of genetically modified foods might be a mistake.

“GM foods have the potential to solve world hunger and maltnutrition problems and protect the environment,” said Low. “We could use our foods to help to prevent disease rather than having medicine as a the middle man.”

Flat-out rejecting GM foods might mean rejecting better nutrition and feeding the world’s growing population. Perhaps the better path is to continue investigating this relatively new science, but tread carefully.

Livestock

If you would like to know the animal you’re eating was treated well before it was killed, organic might be a good choice for you.

Animals raised for food or their food products on an organic farm are required to have access to pasture, no confinement housing, and a maximum transportation time of 24 hours, among many other stipulations.

For those in B.C., the B.C. SPCA also certifies farms for their humane treatment, though they are the only provincial animal rights group to do so.

“The goal with this program and the other work we do is to have the agricultural industry make changes,” said Alyssa Bell Stoneman, the SPCA-certified program supervisor.

One example of the confinement housing the SPCA and organic farmers do not support is the chicken battery cage. Stoneman describes it as a wire mesh cage used for raising laying hens. There are often five or six hens in each cage, which is little bigger than an 8.5 by 11-inch piece of paper. There’s a feed trough in front, and when the eggs are laid, they roll down and are taken away by a conveyor belt.

“Laying hens have a drive to find a nest or find a spot,” Stoneman said. “There isn’t an area or space for nesting and as well it’s crowded so she can’t stretch and move around.”

To city folk, the idea of any animal being raised in confinement can be disturbing, but a B.C. SPCA fact sheet notes that while outdoor access sounds great, it can also leave animals vulnerable to predation and disease.

Stoneman also notes there are reasons the conventional system arose.

“When you think of the development of agriculture and the changes that have happened, it’s become more industrialized because the pressures on food safety or disease prevention. People expect a cheap, safe project and systems have evolved that have been mechanized.”

Trade-offs have been made: the hens won’t come into contact with their feces in a battery, making the final product healthier for human consumption, but it comes at the cost of denying the chicken’s natural behavioural tendencies.

Another debate often heard surrounding organic livestock is the conventional use of hormonal growth promoters. In Canada, six hormonal growth promoters are approved for use in beef cattle, but the synthetic recombinant bovine somatotropin (rBST) is not approved due to concerns for animal health.

Some organic proponents will argue that growth hormones can cause cancer and other disease in humans, but an article from Health Canada says there’s no proof that “food products from animals treated with these hormonal growth promoters pose a threat to human health.”

As with the issue of taste, choosing organic meat is subjective, depending on your personal feelings about the treatment of animals.

Fresher is better

The Dieticians of Canada and Canada’s Food Guide have no official stance on organics, simply suggesting to eat a wide variety of fresh fruits and vegetables.

But organic foods are also not all the proponents make them out to be. It’s not healthier or safer, and if used improperly, natural pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers are just as dangerous for the environment and humans as synthetic products.

The process of bringing organic food to your table is every bit as complicated as it is for conventional foods. The best way to feel better about your food choices is to learn about agriculture and how the food gets from the farm to your local grocery store, not by simply assuming organic food as the better choice.

“If you say, ‘I choose to eat organic foods,’ that’s fine,” said Dr. Nicholas Low, “but if you say, ‘I eat organic foods because it’s better for me,’ I have a problem with that.”

Next time you’re trying to decide between an organic or conventional food item, you might want to consider your reasons behind the choice a little more carefully.

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Organic potatoes image: Flickr
A farmer fertilizes his crops image: Flickr
Cow image: Flickr

An exciting World Cup ends with a surprising final on Sunday

2010-07-09T23:27:19Z

ISHMAEL N. DARO
Sports Writer

This Sunday’s World Cup final between Spain and the Netherlands marks several important milestones in football history.

The first is that “soccer” is finally being called by its proper name: football. Although this is undoubtedly going to vanish as soon as the CFL and NFL seasons get exciting, it’s a nice role-reversal for fans of the beautiful game.

The second milestone is that Canadians (and Americans) are increasingly embracing the sport and taking it seriously. Of course, people say this every four years when the World Cup comes around, but even if football’s popularity waxes and wanes it is definitely enjoying a long-term upward trend. The numbers help illustrate this. ESPN has seen its ratings double since the 2006 tournament. In Canada, the CBC reported over a million combined television and web viewers for many of the games.

There have been numerous other surprises to come from South Africa that have made it hard to sustain a narrative about the tournament. Hosted for the first time on the so-called “Dark Continent,” this was supposed to be Africa’s time to shine. However, five of the six African teams languished in the group stage despite fielding some of the world’s best players. Only Ghana progressed to the knockout stage, where they lost in a nail-biter to Uruguay.

South American teams didn’t fare much better. Only a week ago, many people expected an all-South American final between powerhouses Brazil and Argentina, but that too was not to be. Other traditional powers like Italy, France and England also put forth disappointing efforts, which led to the very unlikely final match this Sunday between Spain and the Netherlands.

Spain has long been an underachiever in international football. Despite being home to one of the most competitive leagues in the world, Spain only recently made its mark as a national team, winning the European championship in 2008. Since then, Spain has been a favourite to win the World Cup as well, but superstitious football observers will be quick to note that history matters — and history hasn’t been a friend to the Spanish national team.

Another team labouring under history’s weight is the Dutch side. The Netherlands also has a European championship to its name — from 1988 — but it is their 1974 and ‘78 World Cup appearances that continue to cast a long shadow over the team. The Dutch played a fiercely offensive style in both competitions known as “Total Football” and managed to reach the final both times, only to be denied by host nations Germany and Argentina.

Total Football allows players to seamlessly trade positions, where each player is a potential goal-scorer in a relentlessly attacking style of play. This tactic had its greatest cheerleader in Dutchman Johann Cruyff, who exported it to Spain where he was wildly successful both as player and coach. Watch the Spanish side’s quick, short passes while they suffocate their opponents with possession and you can see that Cruyff’s legacy lives on, albeit in a more modern form. And despite a rocky start to this tournament, Spain finally looks like it might be ready for a World Cup trophy.

The Netherlands, meanwhile, has largely abandoned the free-flowing tactics it made famous and adopted a more deliberate, cautious style of play. For years, promising Dutch squads would ride into tournaments pressured to both win and look good doing it. Faced with sides more worried about winning, the Dutch would inevitably fall to opportunistic counter-attacks or be defeated in penalties, earning a reputation as “beautiful losers.”

This time around, however, coach Bert van Marwijk has taken great pains to disavow Holland’s Total Football past and has actually produced results, propelling the Dutch to their first World Cup final in 32 years.

Sunday’s final will see the World Cup finally go to one of the two biggest underachievers in football, but regardless of who hoists the trophy, it has definitely been a historic and exhilarating journey.

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image: Flickr

Pocket Kings become one with the road

2010-07-20T02:25:11Z

DORIAN GEIGER
Arts Writer

Quitting your job, selling your worldly possessions and boarding an RV for five weeks in summer to travel across Canada with your friends is a tempting prospect – and one that the Victoria indie hip-hop group Pocket Kings have made a reality.

Formed in 2007, the Pocket Kings have emerged as one of the west coast’s finer hip-hop acts and members Scram, Tainted Saint and Part-time Steve have sacrificed a lot but are excited to roll through the prairies of Saskatchewan in early July as part of the group’s Unnatural Disaster tour, named after their most recent LP.

“In Saskatchewan, we hope to bring our style of hip hop to an already vibrant scene that we know will accept us as real Canadian hip-hop,” said the lyrically feisty Scram via email from Penticton, B.C., last week.

The Vancouver Island rappers will be making a Saskatoon cameo at Amigos on July 17 alongside Queen City products Pimpton and Kid Kriss, as well as special guest Jiddles.

“We have given up everything we own to go on this tour – jobs, cars, material belongings – and have set out to become the flashiest hobos Canada has ever seen,” added Scram.

“I’ve sold both my cars – one was my low-rider – as well as my chrome chopper bike, the rest of the electronics, art, snowboards to do this,” said other Pocket Kings’ frontman Tainted Saint of the sacrifices he’s made to put his music on the road.

In an era where everyone seems to be a rapper or emcee, the Pocket Kings had to struggle to get their foot in the door on the obscure Canadian hip-hop scene. Sacrificing everything they had to their name for music seemed to be a brilliant solution.

“I basically have the clothes in the RV and that’s it,” added Tainted Saint.

However, gambling is a component of the Pocket Kings roots so the group should feel natural laying all their cards on the table in the face of their cross-Canada excursion.

“We were playing a fair amount of poker at the time, cleaning people out, and if you’ve ever played poker, you know pocket kings are a pretty deadly hand, plus our studio was on Kings Road (in Victoria),” revealed Saint as to the origin of hip-hop collective’s name.

The Pocket Kings all met up through hip-hop battles in Victoria. Despite their underground beginnings, their music is not typical hip-hop and tends to draw fans from many genres.

They present a variety of colourful sounds – from a Sublime-esque swagger to lyrically intelligent hip-hop, the universal genius of the Pocket Kings are for an expansive demographic. Mellow songs like “Dayawns” or “Ms. Officer” that can be found on the Pocket Kings MySpace page, boast the perfect vibe for a lazy summer afternoon on the porch.

Pocket Kings are becoming more sought after on their home turf too and recently have done shows with Warren G, Wutang’s GZA, Blue Scholars, Common Market and Sweatshop Union.

“The geography, climate and people seem to be a whole new world two provinces over. It’s always great to have the chance to play to new crowd and gauge responses. But mainly I am excited to see the women!” added the wily Saint about his anticipation to travel to Saskatchewan.

See the Pocket Kings with special guests Pimpton, Kid Kriss and Jiddles at O’Hanlons in Regina on July 13 and on July 17 in Saskatoon at Amigos. They continue their tour with Thunder Bay on July 22, Montreal on July 29, Toronto on July 30, and Ottawa on July 31.

Huskies to host 2013 and 2014 men’s hockey nationals

2010-07-06T20:05:24Z

JORDAN HARTSHORN
Sports Writer

The University of Saskatchewan will once again have a chance to host a collection of Canadian Interuniversity Sport national championships.

As first reported by Darren Zary of the StarPhoenix, on July 5, the University of Saskatchewan was officially awarded the men’s ice hockey championship — the University Cup — for 2013 and 2014, beating out bids from Alberta, Calgary, Dalhousie, Nipissing and Regina. The men’s volleyball championship will also roll into town in 2015. The Huskies bid for the 2014 men’s volleyball championship as well, but those hosting rights were granted to the University of Calgary.

The U of S previously hosted the University Cup on three occasions from 1998-2000, setting attendance records throughout. In 2000, the U of S set a single-year attendance record of 40,956. Meanwhile, the Huskies also played host to the men’s volleyball championships previously in 1980.

By virtue of their hosting duties, the Huskies are granted automatic qualification into the year-end tournaments. The Huskies have had success in these tournaments in the past. In 1983 the Huskies won their last University Cup, but have also been perennial participants in the event since. In men’s volleyball the
Huskies have won the national title four times, with their most recent coming in 2004.

G20 protest erupts in violence

2010-06-27T01:47:12Z

ALEXANDRA POSADZKI
CUP Ontario Bureau Chief

TORONTO (CUP) — Saturday’s anti-G20 protest culminated in over 30 arrests, after a mob numbering in the hundreds stormed downtown Toronto streets, smashed shop and bank windows and set police cruisers ablaze.

The riots were largely led by a group donning black clothing, goggles, bandannas and ski masks, who some news outlets are identifying as a black bloc group — a protest tactic in which participants aim to conceal their identity in order to carry out acts of violence. They were joined by members of the activist group No One is Illegal, as well as another socialist group.

Chants of “No justice, no peace, fuck the police!” rang through the air of a city that seemed entirely deserted, aside from protesters and riot police, who hid behind large, transparent shields.

The smashing of glass was punctuated by cheering and the low drone of vuvuzelas.

One employee inside a pizza shop on Yonge St. — one of the city’s main thoroughfares — glared angrily at the rioters through the broken glass of his front window as they marched past.

The band of rioters had broken away from the larger, peaceful protest, filling the intersection of Queen St. West and Spadina Ave. in the downtown core before they ran off toward the East.

Their attempts to approach the summit perimeter, where a three-metre fence has been erected to protect the venue where world leaders are meeting, were foiled by a row of riot police.

Several police cruisers seemed to have been abandoned on King St. West and Bay St., which the angry mob quickly set aflame, sending a plume of thick, black smoke up into the air, where it was visible from across the city for the next few hours.

The protesters then headed north on Yonge St., throwing rocks and smashing large, store-front windows as they passed one of Toronto’s emblematic malls, the Eaton Centre.

There was a notable lack of police intervention; instead, rows of cops lined several adjacent streets and guarded the summit borders, largely allowing the vandalism and rioting to run its course.

“No fences, no borders, fuck law and order!” the mob hollered, along with, “This is what a police state looks like!”

While passing a jewelery store, one young woman shouted, “It’s okay, we don’t need your blood diamonds anyway!”

The mob partially dissipated upon returning to Queen’s Park, the provincial legislative grounds, where police converged on the protesters from two sides and made several arrests. However, the protests continued on into the evening as police tried to regain control of the crowds in several areas of the city.

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images: Alexandra Posadzki / CUP

A cog in the gear of the lumber industry

2010-07-06T20:08:52Z

TOMAS BORSA
Opinions Editor

Treeplanting: in common lore, it is the summer job of hippies, dropouts and soap-fearing vagrants whose carbon footprint (Birkenstock, naturally) is only slightly smaller than the gas-tank of their converted bio-fuel school-bus.

I’ve known staph infections with better hygiene than some planters and so I can’t help but concede that perhaps there is some limited truth to this facet of the tree-planting stereotype.

Allow me to construct as honest (and jaded) an image of treeplanting as I can: 10 hours of marching through brush with a 50 pound, lopsided bag uphill, downhill, through carrion piles and wasp nests, shoulder deep in botany with no ostensible purpose apart from maiming, tripping and generally aggravating you to the point of mental breakdown.

All of these factors contribute to some of the highest stress, dropout and injury rates in any industry. But over two seasons of planting, I’ve come to realize that treeplanting, in and of its grubby self, is not an intrinsically valuable, nor ecologically beneficial act in the slightest. Treeplanting is not a tree-hugging, Gaian eco-quest but a cog in the gear of the lumber industry and a practice only marginally more earth-friendly than strip-mining. Let me explain.

Treeplanting is entirely contract based. Typically, the contracts are with logging companies or mills who dictate density, species and quality requirements for each area to be planted. Contracts may also (less commonly) be for grain or cattle farmers, who sell the carbon credits to oil or logging companies to offset excessive emissions.

And to ensure growth in the harshest of conditions, the trees themselves are not so much organic seedlings as pesticide-laden marvels of chemical engineering. Naturally, most veteran planters look past the dangers of long-term exposure to these chemicals.

The utility of treeplanting lies in its efficiency, and its highest cause is the maximization of crop yields. Ultimately, contracting depends on there being a demand for paper products — an inherently biologically damaging venture.

As much as I might resent the hypocrisy of the industry, I love treeplanting and I will do it for as long as my body allows me to.

But let’s be honest; from the outset, treeplanting is not designed to recreate a natural habitat, nor is it in any way a truly sustainable practice — from the high pay to the design of the industry, gains are only ever short-term. Reforestation is intimately linked to deforestation, and planting and logging are essentially one and the same — different stages of the same inorganic, mechanized process.

Busy summer of sick spinning in Saskatoon

2010-06-26T01:41:17Z

DORIAN GEIGER
Arts Writer

These days, it’s rare to spend a weekend enjoying Saskatoon’s music scene without running into the funky trademark scratching of The Gaff somewhere along the way.

Gaff is a busy dude, and the turntablist and producer has evolved into one of Saskatoon’s most popular and respected party DJs.

By regularly spinning at the Freehouse, Scratch and opening for any notable hip-hop act rolling through the city, Gaff has solidified himself as one of the key members of Saskatoon’s DJ scene. In recent years Gaff’s thrown down with the likes of hip-hop heavyweights Jurassic 5, Swollen Members, Sweatshop Union, Del the Funky Homosapien and Grand Analog, to name a few.

Gaff’s current album The Trip Beyond, a collaborative project with DJ Factor, is a groovy journey into the obscure late ’60s and early ’70s psych-rock and folk music — remixed, mashed and backed by hip-hop.

“It originates from hip-hop style — there’s scratching and cutting up and mixing. I play a lot of different genres of music — funk and soul and jazz,” said Gaff, whose real name is Mike Gaffney. “I specialize in breaks and beats too.”

Gaff might be a familiar face on Saskatoon’s DJ scene but here are three things you likely didn’t know about your favourite DJ: (1) Gaff’s actually a landed immigrant and was born in Washington, D.C. (2) Gaff is a Shakuhachi flute player. (3) Gaff’s an avid lover of green tea and has consumed it on a daily basis for 11 years.

Want to know what makes Gaff such a standout on Saskatoon’s music and DJ scene among the hordes of Macbook DJs increasingly patrolling lounges and bars in the city?

Look no further than Gaff’s love for “digging.”

Digging is a popular term within DJ culture to describe the meticulous collection of vinyl records and refers to endless record store rummaging in search of that rare and much sought after piece of vinyl. The DJ equivalent of a museum curator, Gaff has thousands of vinyl artifacts at his disposal — 6,000-plus. Gaff has been digging since 1996.

“Digging is an aspect that comes from really good DJs or producers,” explained Gaff.

Gaff considers this tedious (and border-line obsessive) habit of hardcore DJs a major factor in a turntablists’ desire to develop an exclusive sound.

“There’s a big difference from a DJ to an artist because an artist spends time digging for something that’s unique or special,” said Gaff. “If it’s current, there’s a chance a lot of people have access to it. But if it’s something that’s obscure that other people don’t know about then that can add a lot of uniqueness to your sound and your style as a DJ.”

Gaff couldn’t have been more on point – and his digging habits are what make him such a prolific and successful vinyl conductor. Gaff’s maturity as an artist is apparent in his quest to produce inimitable vibes and his love for digging has legitimized his music over handfuls of other DJs in Saskatoon.