The Sheaf

Comic series ties together Star Wars mythology

2010-09-01T03:58:37Z

HOLLY CULP
Arts Editor

As a huge fan of the Star Wars films, I’ve never really ventured into what is known as “The Expanded Universe” composed of books, comics and video games that accentuate and expand the Star Wars mythology. I recently took up a friend’s recommendation to look into the world of Star Wars comic books.

The title suggested to me by the nice man at 8th Street Books and Comics, who knew instantly that I had little to no experience with comics aside from a childhood obsession with Betty and Veronica, was the Star Wars: Vector series.

Star Wars: Vector creates a storyline by compiling the issues of comics in which a single character appears. For the Vector series they chose the character of Celeste Morne, a Jedi who was first introduced in issue five of Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, which becomes the first chapter of Vector. The following three chapters are made up of issues from the Dark Times, Rebellion and Legacy titles of Star Wars.

Celeste Morne is an interesting character because she comes into contact with nearly every major character over the span of 5,000 years. She first appears around 4,000 years before Darth Vader on the planet of Taris, a planet that is being overrun by a plague as well as a group of militant, invading nomads known as the Mandalorians.

On Taris, Celeste searches for an ancient Sith artifact known as the Muur Talisman for an elite group of Jedi called the Covenant.

When Celeste finds the talisman, the spirit of the ancient Sith lord named Karness Muur that resides within begins to possess her.

In an attempt to prevent herself from giving into the power of Karness Muur, Celeste has herself put in a state of stasis in an isolation chamber until the Covenant can help her, which they never get the chance to do because the planet she’s on gets blown to all hell and the chamber, along with Celeste and the talisman, is buried under mountains of ice for the next few millennia.

Fast forward 4,000 years later: the Republic has fallen and been replaced by Emperor Palpatine, with Darth Vader as his right-hand man. The isolation chamber that holds Celeste has been found and Darth Vader gets his hands on it. Obviously he wants the power of the talisman for himself, but Celeste doesn’t let that happen.

Celeste continues to live in isolation with nothing but Karness Muur’s whispers for company. Now free of the isolation chamber, she goes on to encounter Luke, Leia and eventually Cade Skywalker, an unwilling descendant of Luke’s who is not only a former Jedi, but a thief, smuggler and struggling drug addict.

Star Wars: Vector is a great starting point for anyone who is a fan of the films. The use of different Star Wars titles by different artists exposes the reader to new art in each chapter. Although in some chapters the art can be a little abraisive on the eyes, in others it is chilling and beautiful. If one was interested in expanding their knowledge, Vector is an easy, entertaining read.

Julie Doiron goes back to basics with latest project

2010-09-01T04:10:44Z

GREG REESE
Arts Writer

Since her early days playing in the trippy folk-rock outfit Eric’s Trip, Julie Doiron has been putting out record after record of consistently hot tracks.

Perhaps a main ingredient in her recipe for musical success has been her willingness to collaborate with other musicians. Looking around the indie scene in Canada and abroad, you’ll find Doiron’s name popping up all over the map; she’s played and recorded with a motley set of artists, including Herman Dune, Mount Eerie, Shotgun and Jaybird and Gord Downie.

With all the loud, idiosyncratic projects Doiron has worked on in the past, it seems oddly natural for her to go back-to-the-basics and turn to her current project, Daniel, Fred & Julie, a stripped-down folksy affair with three-part harmonies sung over traditional ballads.

Daniel, Fred & Julie have a simple sound which comes from a laid-back approach to writing and recording.

“I’ve recorded very quickly before,” said Doiron, “but this was a beautiful week. It was nice and relaxed. I’d make dinner for my kids and then (the band) would come and get me and we’d hear the songs. We’d try it once or twice and then we’d record it.”

Recorded in a campfire sing-a-long style, the indie super-group comprising Daniel Romano (Attack in Black), Fred Squire (Calm Down It’s Monday) and Doiron, huddled around a single microphone in an open garage and let the tape roll. The live show will only use one or two extra pieces of equipment.

“It’s a little different,” explained Doiron. “(There are) just two acoustic guitars, but we each have our own microphones. Theoretically, we could do it around one mic — maybe we should. But I like to sing right on the mic, because I like to close my eyes when I sing.”

Despite the stripped down approach Doiron takes with Daniel, Fred & Julie, she hasn’t slowed down any. Shortly after her tour with this band, she will join Gord Downie’s backing band, The Country of Miracles, on another cross-country tour. Indeed, Doiron will return to Saskatoon on Oct. 5 to play the Odeon with Downie.

“I’ve kind of been touring non-stop since March 2009. It’s been a really long year and a half. (Right now) is the longest time I’ve had off. The last two weeks have been great.”

Asked if the somber tone of Daniel, Fred & Julie comes from life on the road, Doiron hesitated.

“Well, ‘The Runner’ might,” she said, “but no, most of the songs don’t. No, I love being on the road. I mean, I miss the kids a lot but I really love touring…. A lot of the songs are more traditional and murder ballads but Dan chooses most of the subject matter. You know, sometimes you write those (sad) kinds of songs — that’s my job. I can’t let it get to me. In the past, when I was a little sad it was hard but it’s an opportunity to perform. It doesn’t really make me feel bad.”

See Daniel, Fred and Julie perform at Amigos on Sept. 4.

Jamelle Barrett might be the missing piece to Huskies basketball team

2010-09-01T03:34:52Z

DORIAN GEIGER
Sports Editor

Following the Huskies men’s basketball first-ever national title in the spring, there was concern that the team’s large turnover of all-star players and the temporary absence of head coach Greg Jockims heading into the 2010 CIS season may hinder the team from repeating such a monumental feat.

Some of this concern has been alleviated by the arrival of the new recruit and point guard Jamelle Barrett.

Barrett is poised to fill the shoes of Showron Glover, a player largely responsible for helping bring home a trophy to the halls of the U of S in 2010. Glover opted to play the 2010-11 season overseas in Europe.

In addition, two other important components to the Huskies roster last season, CIS championship tournament all-star Michael Linklater and veteran head coach Greg Jockims, will not be returning this season. Jockims is only exercising a professional leave of absence and will hand the reins over to assistant coach Barry Rawlyk. Linklater completed his fifth and final year of eligibility in 2009-10.

Similar to how the Huskies acquired Glover, the Dogs dipped into the California market to bring Barrett to Saskatchewan.

The Sacramento-born point guard recently arrived in Saskatoon and since his first visit to the city of bridges, has been ecstatic to come play for the national champs.

“On my visit to Saskatchewan I felt really comfortable and I really like the situation,” Barrett told Huskies Athletics recently.

“I felt really comfortable with the team and city. I like Coach Rawlyk and the teammates I met,” added the 21-year-old.

Barrett is no stranger to championships either. As a senior, Barrett led his Sacramento high school basketball team to a 30-3 record in his senior year. He also clinched two league championships and a regional championship during the early phase of his athletic career in California. Following high school, Barrett played for a prep school in North Carolina and later with the College of Southern Idaho and the Consumnes River College in California.

Barrett’s time with the Consumnes River Hawks was his most successful stint following high school graduation. Playing with the California organization, Barrett aided the team to 23-6 regular season record, collected 246 assists, 59 steals, averaged 18.69 points in 26 games and scored more than 30 points in a single game, four times throughout the season. Moreover, the 5’11, 189 pound point guard was named to the all-star team and was dubbed conference player of the year while playing for the River Hawks.

Barrett and the Huskies will get the ball rolling this fall when they travel to the University of Alberta’s Non-Conference Tournament for pre-season action Oct. 7 to 9.

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image: Gord Waldner / The StarPhoenix

U of S buys Ogle Hall

2010-09-01T04:13:01Z

VICTORIA MARTINEZ
News Editor

Provincial cabinet has approved plans for St. Thomas More College to sell Ogle Hall to the University of Saskatchewan.

STM and the university ratified the agreement in April.

Ogle Hall is currently a 50 person residence on Seminary Road. It will remain a residence until June 2011 when the property changes ownership.

By that time, the 400-bed College Quarter residence should be complete.

STM plans to use the $950,000 from the sale to enrich its Catholic Studies program, which it feels is a better fit with its mission at this time.

The university is still considering how it will use the building once it takes ownership.

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image: Pete Yee

Saskatoon Transit expands service

2010-09-01T04:07:09Z

ASHLEIGH MATTERN
Editor-in-Chief

Big changes are coming to the Saskatoon Transit system starting Sept. 5.

Seven new routes on the east side and north end will be added and the bus bays downtown will be re-arranged to accommodate the new routes.

There are changes to 15 routes in the areas of Downtown, Nutana-Exhibition, Mayfair-Kelsey-Airport, West Side and Northeast. Routes in Stonebridge, Willowgrove and Hampton Village will be extended. North Industrial will have added service to 71st Street, Costco and the Credit Union Centre.

A high frequency DART corridor has been added from City Centre to the university via 25th Street, running every five to 10 minutes in peak periods and every 15 minutes mid-day and Saturdays.

To figure out what changes are happening to your bus routes, visit Click & Go on the Saskatoon Transit website and plan a trip or request a schedule for a date after Sept. 5.

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image: Pete Yee

Bicycle Show and Shine tour concludes in Saskatoon

2010-09-01T03:01:08Z

KEVIN MENZ
Associate News Editor

Retire Your Ride celebrated its last stop on the Bicycle Show and Shine tour Aug. 28 at the Saskatoon Farmers’ Market.

The tour, which travelled throughout rural and urban Saskatchewan, supported the federal government’s Retire Your Ride program to promote bicycle use and public transit in place of automobile use.

Retire Your Ride is a national program implemented by the government of Canada to reduce air pollution by removing cars made before 1995 from use on Canadian streets.

The government issued $92 million for the project which enabled the Bicycle Show and Shine tour to travel throughout Saskatchewan promoting environmentally-friendly transportation.

Jen Antony, project coordinator for Retire Your Ride Saskatchewan, said the tour helped provide reasons for citizens to retire their high-emission vehicles.

“We wanted to entice people to get outside our society’s car culture habits,” said Antony. “We wanted to show people how much fun biking can be and that Smart Cars are not as impractical as people think.”

To promote efficient vehicles, the tour showcased two travellers in one Smart Car hauling a bicycle.

“We leased a Smart Car and travelled around rural Saskatchewan through gravel roads and all over,” said Antony.

Of course, travelling through the difficult Saskatchewan roads with a Smart Car completely disrupted the way many Saskatchewan citizens consider travelling — the large truck is no longer a necessity, Antony pointed out.

Aside from displaying low-emission and practical travel methods, the tour presented numerous reward incentives for Saskatchewan citizens to retire their rides.

2,995

Number of vehicles accepted into the program

2,595

Number of vehicles permanently retired

15

Number of participating recyclers

There are six choices of rewards for people who choose to stop driving their old, inefficient vehicles: a $300 cash reward for the vehicle; up to $490 off a high-end bicycle; a free six-month bus pass from Saskatoon Transit; $1,000 worth of credit on a non-expiring account with Saskatchewan Transportation Company; $3,000 from an automotive company if one purchases a vehicle from the same company; or 20 per cent off a MEDIchair scooter.

Antony says the final option is amazing for people who are elderly or disabled.

With these incentives, the program has been a huge success. Its national goal was to retire 50,000 vehicles by March 31, 2011. So far the program has retired over 90,000 vehicles throughout Canada.

“It’s really exciting that we’ve greatly exceeded our goal,” said Antony.

For people who are interested in retiring their vehicles, they can do so at retireyourride.ca or they can attend a Retire Your Ride event within the city to find out more.

“We will be set up in the bowl during Welcome Week and people are encouraged to find out more about the program,” concluded Antony.

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image: Flickr

Stef Lang to play Welcome Week

2010-09-01T04:12:03Z

HOLLY CULP
Arts Editor

Ladysmith, B.C., is home to two notable ladies. The first is Pamela Anderson, who needs no introduction. The second is Stef Lang, an honest and humble songwriter whose career is just beginning to get off the ground.

With the recent release of her full-length debut, Stef Lang is prepped for a month-long cross-country expedition that began in Duncan, B.C., on Aug. 30.
“We’re doing all of our island tour dates first,” said Lang. “We’ve been booking this tour over the last few months and now it is finally happening.”

The work that went into planning the tour is coming to an end and the real work can begin.

“There were months and months of phone calls and emails and now we can start touring. We are very excited,” she said.

After the island dates are complete, Lang will continue taking her band east to eventually play the U of S’s Welcome Week in the Bowl prior to the anticipated return of Fred Penner to Louis’.

“I will most definitely be attending the Fred Penner concert,” commented Lang. “We actually get him two nights in a row because he plays the U of R the next night.”

She describes her music as a cross between pop and rock with some folk mixed in. Having listened to a few of her songs, it could be described as cheeky pop, as Stef Lang is far from being a fame mongering auto-tune sensation, and that’s a good thing.

Lang’s single “Mr. Immature” is a classic angry breakup song and also the subject of her first video, shot in New York City.

For a girl from the West Coast, she said it was exciting to visit and work in New York.

“I had been wanting to go there for a long time,” said Lang. “And I happened to be in Toronto and my producer’s cousin offered to shoot the video so we just spent the whole day shooting the video guerilla style around New York.”

Lang has released her full-length album called The Underdog, and is lucky enough to get that little warning that marks her album “explicit” on iTunes.

People who are unfamiliar with Lang’s music can expect an entertaining and engaging show.

“Our shows are very high energy,” said Lang. “But also personal and intimate. We like connecting with fans and if people want to reach out to us, we’re online.”

Keep an eye out for Stef Lang during Welcome Week on Sept. 8.

Google and Verizon proposal threatens the open Internet

2010-09-01T15:23:57Z

ASHLEIGH MATTERN
Editor-in-Chief

“Welcome to the new decade: Java is a restricted platform; Google is evil, Apple is a monopoly, and Microsoft are the underdogs.”
-Blogger Phil Nash

They give us free Internet services that we can hardly do without. They champion for a free and open Internet. They make great products and give consumers an alternative to Apple or Microsoft.

Sometimes it seems Google can do no wrong. Until now.

Net neutrality is one of those buzzwords floating around the Internet these days. Basically, it’s the idea that the Internet should be free and open.

Technology industry expert Leo Laporte from podcast This Week in Tech, says he prefers the term “anti-discrimination” to net neutrality. He thinks information on the internet should be seen as “a bit is a bit; no bit on the Internet should be treated differently than another bit.”

Basically, he argues that Internet providers shouldn’t prioritize one type of service over another, slowing down BitTorrent sites while speeding up their own sites. If we allowed them to do that, we’d end up with a tiered system that resembled cable television more than the Internet we currently know.

The “bit is a bit” model is the one that has been used since the Internet was created. Some of us have now spent our whole lives using the Internet with this familiar model.

But it’s not a model that Internet providers want to use, and a battle between public interest and big name companies is on the horizon. Internet providers would prefer a system that allowed them to charge users for packages of websites. It all comes down to the bottom line: profit.

Surprisingly, Internet giant Google — whose corporate motto is, rather ironically, “don’t be evil” — have now marked themselves as one of those big name companies who are interested in benefiting from a tiered Internet system, garnering them a lot of negative attention along the way.

At the beginning of August, Google released a joint policy proposal with Verizon, what they call a “suggested legislative framework for consideration by lawmakers.” At first glance, the policy suggestions seem harmless.

They outline seven “key elements” concerning the Federal Communications Commision’s governance of the Internet which are fairly reasonable, even supporting net neutrality and non-discrimination of services, but it’s the sixth suggestion that got the online tech crowd buzzing.

It reads: “Sixth, we both recognize that wireless broadband is different from the traditional wireline world, in part because the mobile marketplace is more competitive and changing rapidly. In recognition of the still-nascent nature of the wireless broadband marketplace, under this proposal we would not now apply most of the wireline principles to wireless, except for the transparency requirement.”

While all of the other elements propose the FCC support and regulate net neutrality, this sixth element leaves wireless network open to the possibility of wireless providers creating a tiered system.

On episode 260 of This Week in Tech, Molly Wood, an executive editor at CNET.com, explains why giving up on net neutrality over wireless networks is a bad idea.

“In the future, most of us will consume our data over wireless networks and not as much over wired networks,” she said. “That’s the new infrastructure and it is the new battleground. And I think that Google is absolutely about to sell us down the river when it comes to tiering wireless networks.”

She also points out that while the proposal is only a lobbying effort, Google and Verizon could have a lot of influence on future legislation and future regulation.

Most commentators suggest Google will benefit from the tiered system because they have plans to partner with Verizon for their Android mobile operating system, though Google denies this charge.

But what do these American companies lobbying the American government have to do with Canada? The sad truth is that time and time again, the Canadian government follows the American government’s lead when it comes to technology policy.

Blogger Patrick Beja, who was also involved in episode 260 of This Week in Tech, said “whatever we decide on now is going to be the foundation for what happens later. And we don’t know what we’re going to need later. The Internet evolves so fast because we have no restrictions.”

We may be a long way from seeing the end of this debate, but as Internet consumers, we should watch its development carefully.

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image: Flickr

Farmers’ Market showcases first ever Local Foods Day

2010-09-01T02:30:52Z

KEVIN MENZ
Associate News Editor

On Saturday, Aug. 28, the Saskatoon Farmers’ Market hosted the first ever Local Foods Day.

The goal of Local Foods Day is to ensure that the city commits to food security, which is each citizen’s right to safe, diverse, nutritional and locally grown food.

Specifically, the day focuses on Saskatoon’s food charter as presented by the Saskatoon Food Coalition, an organization solely dedicated to the charter’s implementation.

Rachel Engler-Stringer of the Food Coalition believes the food charter is instrumental for the city to establish food security.

“The food charter is mostly policy regulations that encourage individuals and businesses to choose local food,” said Engler-Stringer. “It is a way to connect the rural and urban environments.”

In order to stimulate food-secure policies within the city, the Food Coalition has been working closely with City Council to ensure that the food charter is followed in the best possible way.

“The food charter, as a principle, came into effect in 2002 but it has not yet been fully implemented. The coalition’s goal is to keep City Council on track for the full implementation of the food charter,” said Engler-Stringer. “We asked City Council to declare this day, Aug. 28, Local Foods Day. Hopefully it becomes an annual event.”

The charter’s five principles involve food security’s relation to production, justice, health, culture and globalization. This means the charter is vital to farmers’ markets, to connecting rural agriculture to urban centres, to establishing urban gardens and to making local food accessible throughout the community.

Mayor Don Atchinson opened up about a few practices the city recently established regarding urban gardens, including donating fresh food to the food bank and establishing communal gardens on vacant lots.

“On Third Avenue there is a community garden (dedicated to donating) tomatoes, potatoes, dill and all sorts of vegetables to the food bank,” said Atchinson. “Also, (we have implemented) a policy for vacant lots of land. Lots that do not sell and are still vacant next summer will be opened for the public to use as community gardens.”

He emphasized that this policy exemplified the food charter not only through the encouragement of local foods but also by bringing the community together.

Engler-Stringer, also a researcher at the University of Saskatchewan, says the food coalition also makes sure that the charter stays relevant.

“Some cities in the United States have adopted policies limiting fast food locations within certain distances of schools. If our research shows that this is effective in preventing childhood obesity, we would consider adopting a similar policy,” she said.

This is an interesting concept especially considering Saskatoon’s high restaurant per-capita ratio. In fact, certain areas of the city have little access to healthy food options. Instead, they are overrun by unhealthy restaurants.

“Riversdale or Pleasant Hill have no access to full-service grocery stores,” Engler-Stringer pointed out.

However, in Atchinson’s opening address for Local Foods Day, he was optimistic that with the development of Station 20 West, a proposed community centre with a full-service grocery store located near the Riversdale and Pleasant Hill areas, more citizens would have access to healthy and local foods.

Increased access to grocery stores would help improve Saskatoon’s food security.

Joanna Simpkins, who runs the Pick-a-Peck tent at the Farmer’s Market every Wednesday and Saturday, said she always looks for healthy local food in the grocery stores.

“Local food will make the whole community healthier,” she said.

Coincidentally, many customers at the Farmers’ Market believe local food tastes better, too.

While interviewing Simpkins, one customer yelled that it was “the best food in the city!”

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image: Flickr

Sportscentre comes to Outlook, SK

2010-09-01T04:17:19Z

CATLIN HOGAN
News Writer

The shores of the South Saskatchewan River in Outlook were electrified as TSN and Kraft rolled into town Aug. 25.

This was the second year of the Kraft Celebration Tour, when two TSN anchors visit 10 Canadian towns in 10 days. Last week the tour made its Saskatchewan stop in Outlook for a live edition of Sportscentre. The town was also awarded $25,000 to refresh the community, courtesy of Kraft.

The town plans to put the money toward the regional swimming pool that has been suffering from structural issues for several years. With the park sitting along the banks of the river, erosion and weathering is causing the pool to slope toward the river. Currently there is a four inch difference from one side of the pool to the other, which has moved a quarter inch this summer alone.

Pool manager Janet Adelman said that the money will be going toward making repairs to the pool’s foundation to prevent further damage.

Having TSN in Outlook was a highlight for the hundreds of people in attendance. Local high school principal Phil Guebert knows how much this means to the town.

“A $25,000 infusion is amazing,” Guebert said. “Any time you can get a focus on the town in a positive way, it’s great.”

This event isn’t just a highlight for the people in Outlook, but also for the anchors from TSN. Sportscentre hosts Dan O’Toole and Jay Onrait don’t plan to take a single moment of the tour for granted.

“It is a collection of moments that most Canadians will never be able to experience,” said O’Toole.

“It’s our favourite thing that we get to do all year,” Onrait added.

Aug. 25 is a day that Outlook won’t soon forget, and generations of swimmers will be forever grateful for it.

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image: Flickr