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The Mac vs. PC debate

by Iain Macdonald on

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Over the years there have been a number of lively computer debates, many of which remain unsettled. There’s Vim versus Emacs, C++ versus Java, and whether or not P is equal to NP. All of these arguments pale in comparison to the most disputed topic in both geek and non-geek circles: PC or Mac?

This is a question that arises frequently when you or your friend thinks it’s time to get a new computer. How do you know when that time has come? Typically, a computer should last between three and five years. For laptop computers of this age, any repair costing more than ten or fifteen percent of the original computer price is likely not worth the expense. A desktop computer should last a bit longer, and these repairs are generally cheaper. You should always check to see if your machine is under warranty or not before replacing it.

    

The Mac

Apple has made a lot of money by making pretty things. The Macbook and Macbook Pro are reflections of this: many are attracted to the sleek silver body and apparent simplicity of the design. When you open one up, the Macbook is just as attractive on the inside as it is on the outside. The Mac operating system has a sleek and polished user interface. OS X is based on BSD UNIX, meaning it is POSIX compliant. It’s a more secure, standards compliant operating system. Because Apple controls all hardware in every Mac, there are no driver issues, at least not with internal devices. Macs tend to not get sick, as most malware targets Windows users. Macs are compatible with  all of your other favourite Apple toys and come with a good set of prepackaged software. Apple has very highly rated customer service, despite their inaccurately labelled “Genius Bar.”

The Mac does not offer very many distinct advantages over Windows, besides being pretty and somewhat easier to use—a debatable point anyway. However, the Mac has a very strong brand name by which many loyal costumers swear. Macs are usually more expensive than their PC alternatives, another hotly debated issue. Expect to pay 10 to 20 per cent more for a middle-grade Mac than for a PC with comparable hardware. This is in part due to the restricted market for Macs. Many people will tell you that Macs are for artists and designers, a claim which isn’t as true as it used to be.

The PC

Microsoft made a lot of money by grabbing the market share early and hanging on for dear life. With Windows Vista behind us, Microsoft’s Windows 7 is not a bad operating system (although it isn’t a good one either). PCs come in all shapes and sizes, from many different manufacturers. This increased competition leads to generally lower prices for middle-of-the-pack PCs, along with more selection. Almost all software is distributed for, and runnable on, a PC. Many more device drivers exist for Windows, too. The popularity of the PC means it is easier to find support. Additionally, if you want to play video games, you’ll probably need a PC. Furthermore, because of the design of most PCs, specifically, the lack of a unibody, repair costs will be lower.

PCs have some serious downsides too. As mentioned before, most malware targets the Windows operating system, so you will need antivirus software to deal with this issue. The operating system is also a bit less stable, although serious advances have been made since the days of Windows ME’s blue screen of death. Windows also suffers from issues like disk fragmentation and registry problems, although these are easily fixed. The less attractive interface is, perhaps, the biggest gripe many Mac users have when using Windows.

Despite the pros and cons for each side, the fact is that you’re probably not going to read this and come to a definite conclusion. In fact, your mind is probably already made up. The decision is almost entirely a personal one. If you can’t reach a verdict, there’s always Linux, which offers the best of both worlds, with almost none of the cons.

Student Life

McGill’s Barbados campus: Bellairs Research Institute

by Matt Essert on

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Matt Essert

McGill is a terrible tundra of frigidness and despair. You can’t go to class without having your nose hairs freeze off or your feet succumbing to terrible frost bite … unless of course, you’re spending a semester at the McGill Bellairs Research Institute in beautiful Barbados.

The Bellairs Institute is home to both Canada’s only teaching and research facility in the tropics and the complete opposite of what comes to mind when most of us think of McGill. Barbados is a beautiful Caribbean island full of green monkeys, fields of sugar cane, and arguably the best rum in the world—pretty different from Montreal. And yet, the Bellairs Institute is a McGill oasis that offers students the facilities to do real field work in a variety of academic areas. According to U2 biology student Claire O’Brien, the small facility in the middle of the west coast of the island provides exactly what students need to conduct this research.

O’Brien explained that besides analyzing data and working on certain projects indoors, most students at Bellairs spend the majority of their time outside and in the field.

“[The student facilities are] like residence basically,” she said. “It’s just what you need, because it’s an island so you’re outside a lot. Your projects and everything are in the field.”

Students generally take three classes over the course of the semester, one at a time, and will also work at an internship where they can gain valuable hands-on experience.

“It’s very much a mutual relationship that’s even more beneficial because you’re a student and these people you work with are like mentors. They run these organizations you get to work with,” explained O’Brien.

As for the classes, all 25-30 students at the institute take the same three: “Intro to Globalization”; “Water Resource Management,” which O’Brien described as more engineering-based; and “Urban Planning.” Because courses are taken one at a time, O’Brien said that the classes are “very sped up,” and students are often faced with class on a Wednesday, a midterm that Friday, and the final exam the following Friday, a situation that is not dissimilar to the time-crunched classes many students at McGill take over the summer semester.

Despite the fast-paced nature of the courses, O’Brien said that it’s easy to learn a lot because much of the material is very relevant on the island.

“The really cool thing about the classes is that everything has to do with where you are. As opposed to learning at McGill in Montreal, you don’t read about these cases or you don’t have to look at textbooks. It’s literally all about what’s going on on the island.”

Unlike many McGill classes with hundreds of students and multiple-choice exams, O’Brien said the Bellairs Institute aims to create a close community between the students present during the semester.

“There’s only 22 students and you live with them and you work with them and you study with them and you party with them, so it’s a totally different experience in that way.”

Originally, the institute was only open to graduate students and professors for research opportunities. With the change to allow undergraduates to attend the institute and engage in a wide variety of research, many students have been eager to take advantage of such an exciting opportunity—and why not? O’Brien, however, cautioned prospective students to do their research before applying to the program. Although it could be thought of as an exchange program, all students at the institute are from McGill, but come from a variety of programs. This offers a particular experience that many will love, but others might not enjoy as much.

“I don’t think it’s necessarily for everyone, it depends on what you’re looking to do going abroad as a McGill student,” O’Brien said. “But it’s really cool that McGill has this. It’s like a mini-McGill on a Caribbean island.”

Student Life

St. Patrick’s day in Boston alone

by Mookie Kideckel on

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If you’re like me, being alone is one of those things you spend most of your time avoiding. Unless I’m in some kind of intensive study disposition or having one of those occasional 20 minute introvert moments, I do very little by myself. Walking and talking, eating, grabbing coffee, even taking naps are better with other people, and in some cases, I would even be embarrassed to be seen doing them by myself. So when en route to see a prospective grad school this weekend, I decided to stop in Boston for 24 hours by myself, where I experienced a bit of a culture shock. Because it was St. Patrick’s Day, I was under a moral obligation to do that most taboo of solo activities—drinking alone. And, frankly, it wasn’t half bad.

Travelling alone was always one of those things I just assumed worked out. People go on exchange—they go to Europe, or South America, wherever, and they do it by themselves. Nobody really tells you how they dealt with the fact that they had to find their way from the airport by themselves, navigate an unknown city despite their terrible sense of direction, and go to meals without feeling like the most awkward, creepy, unfortunate guy in town.

Those worked out alright. Studying Google Maps for about half an hour before I took off didn’t hurt. The nice bus driver let me on for free when I didn’t have the right change and a delightful Bostonian spent about 10 minutes looking up directions to my hotel on his phone when I took a wrong turn. The concierge recommended a great breakfast place where they seated me with a stranger, and we bonded over recommendations of things to do in the city, the craziness of the Tea Party, and delightfulness of Newfoundland. As for walking around the city, the constant upward arch of my neck probably gave away my tourist status, and the signs and maps all over the place made navigating even Boston’s nonsensical streets somewhat manageable. Plus, it was sunny, which is more than can be said for any walk taken in Montreal over the past several months.

No; the real challenge would be the drinking. There was no way I could be in Boston on St. Patrick’s Day during my first year of being legal in the prude United States and not grab a beer along the way. But, who drinks solo? Alcoholics, mostly. And even though everybody knows it’s impossible to be an alcoholic while still in university, I didn’t want to give off unseemly appearances. I tried three pubs in the morning—including the original Cheers because I’m cliché—and breathed a silent sigh of relief when I discovered they were closed. By the afternoon, I decided to just go for it. I stopped into a pub blasting Irish music, coughed up the $10 cover they were entitled to that day by happening to have the word “Irish” in their name, and sat down at a table by myself. I ordered a Guiness and the worst shepherd’s pie I’d ever eaten and tried to see if I could make some friends. But since the other patrons were a group of middle-aged businessmen and a drunken 23-year old (I know, it was her birthday) flirting with them, I opted to read my book instead. In fact, the main people I regretted not befriending that day were the two girls filming a parody of Rebecca Black’s “Friday” at 8 a.m. in the Boston Common.

Being alone can be pretty intimidating I suppose, but it also gives a lot of freedom. I woke up when I wanted, did what I wanted, and generally had an awesome time. There’s also a certain confidence to be gained from not even having the option of being social—you kind of embrace the situation, and maybe find an outlet in concierges and hotel receptionists who are always willing to listen.

All of which is to say, Boston is beautiful. Go take a look. And you could even do it alone.

Student Life

Chocolate Crepe cake

by Monique Evans on

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whatsforlunchtodayhoney.net

This past Saturday night was a surprise birthday party for a friend of mine, and naturally an opportunity for some baking fun. I had another friend over to help out, and together we made a very cute, reasonably simple, and impressive looking cake: Chocolate Crepe Cake. This cake is made by layering chocolate crepes with spiced whipped cream and semi-sweet, heavily spiked chocolate. When sliced into, the cake reveals tons of layers and looks truly impressive. With well-made crepes and heavy layers of cream and chocolate, the texture becomes fluffy yet decadent. It’s not your average birthday cake and the variations are endless. What’s more, you can always double the crepe batter and make a delicious little breakfast for you and your friends.

Ingredients:

  •  1 1/2 cups cold milk
  •  4 eggs
  •  1/4 cup sugar
  •  1 cup flour mixed with 3 tbsp cocoa
  •  3 tbsp dark rum, brandy, or grand marnier. (The liquor really brings out the darkness of the chocolate).
  •  1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
  •  2 1/2 cups heavy/whipping cream
  •  1 tsp vanilla extract
  •  3/4 cup confectioners’ sugar
  •  1/2-1 tsp allspice, cinnamon, cardamom, or nutmeg
  •  6 to 9 ounces of semi-sweet bakers chocolate

Directions:

In a large bowl, mix together the milk, eggs, sugar, flour, liquor and butter (in that order). Blend with a mixer on high speed for three minutes. To adjust the consistency to your preference, add more milk or flour and blend again for 30 seconds at a time. Cover and  refrigerate for two hours.

If you have a crepe pan, use it. I do not have a crepe pan, so I used a small non-stick skillet. Spray the pan with cooking oil. PAM is actually very useful in this situation, because if does not over-grease the pan. You want some oil, but not so much that you make a greasy crepe. Using a 1/3 cup measure, pour some batter into the middle of the pan and swirl it around to make a reasonably uniform shape. These are very thin pancakes and are easy to overcook. You will be able to see when the bottom side is cooked and ready to flip. A spatula and some resilient fingertips will do just fine. Keep making crepes with a uniform amount of batter so that they are as similar in size as possible. Once they are done, set them aside to cool.

Whip together the cream, vanilla, sugar, and spice until stiff peaks form. Do pay attention so that you don’t over whip the cream and create butter. You don’t want the cream to be the light, fluid topping you would make for pie, but too much whipping will not create  the desired consistency either (near solid).

Meanwhile, make a double boiler on the stove to melt your chocolate. Boil some water in a saucepan and put a bowl ontop. Melt down the chocolate and  remove it from the stove. Mix in your liquor of choice until it is well combined and smooth in consistency.

On a plate, layer a crepe, and then cream, and then a crepe, and then cream, and then a crepe, then chocolate and then cream, and then a crepe … you get the idea. Make a stack of crepes with layers of chocolate and cream, leaving some whipped cream at the end to cover the entire outside of the stack. I would recommend sprinkling sugar over the crepes as you layer them for added sweetness. Chill the cake in the fridge for four hours before serving.

We decorated our cake by dusting the top with cocoa powder through a heart stencil we made with baking parchment. The cake was very popular and is a concept that can be the basis for many other flavour combinations. I’m planning a raspberry, whipped cream, and grand marnier crepes cake for next time.

News

Students win 1st prize in Go Green Challenge

by Matt Essert on

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Two McGill students were recently awarded first prize in the fourth annual TD Go Green Challenge. David Morris and Omer Dor, both U3 chemical engineering students, beat out competition from 59 schools, winning $100,000 for sustainability projects at McGill, $20,000 in cash, and paid summer internships at the TD Friends of the Environment Foundation.
To win first prize, Morris and Dor produced a video detailing how they would turn the roof of the Ferrier Building into a greenhouse that would harness the building’s heat and greenhouse gas emissions. Their plan, called the Integrated Energy and Food Greenhouse, would grow food for use on McGill campus and could also house biological reactors containing microalgae which could be used to produce carbon-neutral biodiesel.
Morris explained that he met Dor last semester during CHEE 595, a graduate-level class called “Energy Recovery, Use, & Impact.” Taking the class as undergraduates, the two became fascinated with technologies that could be used to increase sustainability in energy projects.
Dor said that sometime in November, he and Morris started “throwing out ideas … and from there we just came up with a better idea and innovated it.”
Morris also explained that the pair wanted to try to create something large-scale, because McGill already has several small sustainability projects.
According to Mary Desjardins, executive director of the TD Friends of the Environment Foundation, a selection committee of about six or seven people went through the 132 entries to determine the winner and award the prize money.
“We know that [the $100,000 prize is] going to be used from something really great here,” Desjardins said. “[McGill] already [does] some great things and I think they will be able to do even better with that gift.”
Jim Nicell, associate vice-principal (university services), who has a leading role in McGill’s sustainability projects, said he was excited about the possibilities ahead.
“Ultimately, to create a culture of sustainability at McGill, everybody has to be engaged in it,” Nicell said. “McGill University could be a living laboratory for the exploration of ideas. Things like the sustainability projects fund make that a reality.”
After approximately two months of work that included research, planning, and the actual filming of their entry video, Dor said the pair had arrived at something that “wasn’t just an idea, but one that’s unique and also practical.”
But while the video mapped out a seemingly practical strategy for the implementation of this project, there are a number of problems that might make the realization of Morris and Dor’s idea impossible.
“It can’t happen,” said Jonathan Glencross, a U3 environment student who was instrumental in the creation of the university’s $2.5 million Sustainability Projects Fund. “What’s amazing about it is how creative and intentional it was and how it demonstrates to people the type of solutions that are possible. It’s just that for that specific context, it’s not [possible.]”
Glencross explained that besides the structural issues involved in building such a structure on top of the Ferrier Building, such a greenhouse would also need a dedicated staff.
“This as an idea for the downtown campus would be, I think, a challenge for a number of reasons,” Nicell said.
Because of McGill’s central location in the city of Montreal and next to Mount Royal, Nicell said, certain building restrictions exist for structures over a certain height. Furthermore, though the greenhouse would produce a lot of food, food growth isn’t McGill’s “primary service,” meaning that this project would add more functions to the university’s portfolio that it isn’t necessarily equipped to handle. Nicell said that that this kind of project could have a place at Macdonald Campus, however, which is about to undergo a process of renovation and updating.
“We have a completely outdated system out there, and here’s a good opportunity to think about recovering the heat, recovering the CO2,” Nicell said. “We also have a strong interest in biofuels out at Macdonald campus, so the question is: can we wrap this kind of idea into that larger project?”
Glencross echoed this sentiment, saying that the project is highly transferable and “gives a concrete example to people who don’t really think systematically about where fuel comes from, what you can do with the byproduct, how it can be used for an essential service like food.

Sports

Roads not safe for running

by Shannon Kimball on

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The triathlon and distance running community recently lost one of its brightest stars when Sally Meyerhoff, a 27-year-old triathlete, world class marathoner and Olympic hopeful failed to yield at an intersection while biking. She was hit by a pick-up truck and died on impact. Police reports showed no signs of impairment on the part of the driver.

It’s easy to label this accident  another tragic result of reckless training, and indeed Meyerhoff should have yielded to the truck. But Meyerhoff wasn’t the first athlete lost in an accident like this, and she won’t be the last. That’s because the factors that led to these tragedies aren’t going to change anytime soon.

The roads are becoming more crowded. Long distance and triathlon races have taken the casual exercise world by storm; anyone trying to get fit trains for an ultra-marathon, and most take to the roads for training. Some athletes have access to mountain trails and quiet country roads, but an ironman competitor living in Toronto must find a way to do weekly 100 mile training rides, and must resort to the streets for large portions of the ride. As dangerous as the roads are, many runners are also wary of training in city parks after dusk and before dawn.

Technology is the other culprit, making it easier and easier to get distracted. Listening to music, checking Garmin watches or other GPS devices, and even using a cell phone while working out have become the norm. I’m waiting for Apple to release an iHypnosis app so unenthusiastic runners can be in a totally altered state of consciousness while grinding out a 20-miler.

Most elite athletes don’t use these devices, preferring to focus on the training itself. This creates another problem—these athletes are so focused that they prioritize their training over their safety. They think that stopping for two seconds to yield to a car will hamper their workout, or some just get into their “zone” and don’t notice potential hazards.

There’s always been tension between drivers, bikers, and runners. Bikers are notorious for weaving in and out of cars and running stop signs, and runners can’t move fast enough to get out of risky situations. This tension can lead to even more dangerous behaviour.

As in most cities, the streets in Montreal aren’t wide enough to accommodate the bike lanes. Compounding the problem, most bike lanes are often occupied by a traffic jam of commuters, joggers, and serious bikers trying to move at different speeds. Bike lanes often aren’t clearly marked and often aren’t continuous. While running I’ve almost been creamed by a cyclist and flipped them off only to look down and realize that I was in the wrong.  West Coast cities with strong environmental focuses like Portland or Vancouver are more accommodating. But the eco-friendly aren’t the only ones that have changed their layouts—Boston recently widened and painted its bike lanes to make them more obvious.

Elite and amateur athletes need to take responsibility for themselves while training. There are some obvious safety tips that all road runners and bikers should adhere to: wear reflective gear at night, avoid unfamiliar or heavily trafficked roads, and look twice before doing anything illegal. But if we want to make any progress towards being healthy or being green, the roads will have to be shared, or else there will be more Sally Meyerhoffs stories.

Sports

Bever and Filles de la Rouge making waves

by Walker Kitchens on

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Andrea Bever
Karen Lacombe

At the beginning of 2009, the only time Andrea Bever had ever rafted was during Frosh. Two years later, she became a Pan American Rafting Champion after winning the gold medal at the Pan American Championships in Brazil with her team, the Filles de la Rouge.

The Filles de la Rouge are one of the world’s best women’s rafting teams. They have won two consecutive Pan American Championships and received silver medals in the last two Canadian Championships. This year the team consists of six members: Captian Majorie Bourbeau, Marilou Salette, McGill alumni Diana Taneva, Stefanie McArdle, Karine Corriveau, and Andrea Bever. Just as incredible as the team’s success is Bever’s story of joining it.

Two years ago Bever never thought she would be a member of the Filles de la Rouge. In 2009 she applied to be a rafting guide on the Rouge River for the summer but didn’t expect to get the job.

“I just wanted to do something different for the summer and didn’t know what. I was looking into everything and applied to everything I could find on CaPS [McGill Career Planning Service],” said Bever. “I was surprised that they called me.”

After getting the call, Bever travelled to the Rouge River to complete her training. She quickly realized that she was getting into something far more intense than she had previously thought—she was rafting in freezing April waters and going down some serious rapids.

“It was terrifying,” she said. “My first weekend there I thought I was going to die. [But I kept doing it] because of my pride and because [my friends] made so much fun of me when they found out I was going [I couldn’t stop].”

That summer she met and began to paddle with the Filles de la Rouge. While she was working as a guide, the team needed a spare paddler and invited Bever to raft with them.

That summer the Filles had planned to travel to Sonamarg, India and compete in the Kashmir Cup. However it was a period of transition for the team with only two members of the team remaining and Bever was asked to join the squad. Bourbeau, Salette, Taneva and Bever are the only members of the current team to have made the trip to India. The Kashmir Cup was a learning experience for Bever as she had never raced competitively before.

“I’d trained two or three times before I went to India so it was completely new to me,” Bever said. “I had never done a slalom course before so the first slalom course I did was in India.”

The Filles de la Rouge finshed second in the Kashmir Cup and Bever began to train with the team. During the season they train three times a week on both flat water and on rapids.

Last summer the team traveled to Foz do Iguacu, Brazil to compete in the Pan American Championships. The championships are held biannually and the Filles de la Rouge entered as the defending champions. However, since their previous victory, two years earlier, there were some new members on the team.

“We didn’t really know what would happen because we were a new group of girls and it was one of our first times racing together,” said Bever. “Winning was our goal because we were defending our championship but we didn’t know what would happen.”

In a competition there are four events; the Time Trial, the Sprint, the Slalom and the Downriver. Each event is different in length and technique, and worth a certain amount of points. The team that accumulates the most points in each of the events wins the championship.

In Brazil, the Filles de la Rouge entered the final event, the Downriver, barely trailing a team from Costa Rica. Bever had sat out the first three events but was in the boat for the deciding Downriver race.

“Since we went into the Downriver in second place we knew we had to get first if we were going to win,” said Bever. “That was a lot of stress because I was doing the Down river and hadn’t done the other events.”

With Bever in the boat, the Filles jumped out to a quick start and led the entire way to win the gold.

“We got in front right in the beginning and we stayed in front,” she said. “It was so exciting.”

This season the Filles de la Rouge are hoping to build on their success from last year. They’re competing in and hoping to win the Ottawa Valley Rafting Championship, Canadian Rafting Championship, the European Cup in Finland, Gauley Festival in West Virginia and the Pre World Championship.

Moreover, they’re hosting the Rouge River Race on July 1. The race is a fundraiser for the team and is open to competitive and casual rafters. In addition to the four standard events there will also be a rodeo in which competitors are awarded for having the best flip and surf.

In the long term, Bever and the Filles de la Rouge are hoping to compete in the Olympics. Rafting isn’t an Olympic sport, but at each Olympics the host country is able to choose trial sports for their country’s games. In five years rafting may be an Olympic sport since Brazil is hosting the 2016 Olympics and have the best men’s rafting team.

“We’re trying to get it to be an Olympic sport,” said Bever. “So our long term goal is to win an Olympic gold. I’m planning to raft for a long time. I want to [go to the Olympics] and I want to be there when it happens. Hopefully we’ll make it in.”

Sports

Pacioretty hit ignites reaction in classic Habs style

by Sam Hunter & Steve Chamberlain on

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Steve Chamberlain
Steve Chamberlain

A sparsely-attended “anti-headshot” demonstration held outside of the Bell Centre on Tuesday, March 15 demonstrated little aside from pettiness and partisan fanhood.

The rally, held before a game between the Montreal Canadiens and the Washington Capitals was organized in response to the year’s rash of head injuries in the NHL and the league office’s inadequate response.

Montreal fans in particular have been up in arms over a March 8 hit on Canadiens forward Max Pacioretty by the NHL’s biggest player: 6’9″ Norris Trophy-winning defenceman Zdeno Chara. On the play, Pacioretty, age 22, chipped the puck past Chara and was checked into the boards as he attempted to chase it into the offensive zone. The play would have been an uncontroversial two-minute minor penalty for interference, but the angle of the hit sent Pacioretty’s head directly into a stanchion between the player benches, leaving him with a grade three concussion and fractured vertebrae. The young forward is still out indefinitely, but the Canadiens have speculated he will make a full recovery and may even return within five weeks.

Chara received a 5-minute major and a game misconduct on the play, but the NHL handed out no supplemental fine or suspension, which hasn’t sat well with Habs fans. This injury, adding to headshot concerns raised by serious concussions to Sidney Crosby and other stars, prompted three Montrealers, Victor Henriquez, Jean-Francois Dubé, and Arcadio Marcuzzi to organize the Bell Centre rally through Facebook.

In a week where GQ Magazine listed Habs fans as the 11th worst in sports—citing the infamous riots and looting that followed Canadiens’ playoff victories in 2008 and 2010—the event was criticized by media and prominent hockey personalities. Bruce Boudreau, coach of the visiting Capitals, wondered aloud at a Tuesday press conference, “What if that was Hal Gill that hit David Krejci? I don’t think there would be a protest going on here today … if you don’t like it, don’t come to the games.” Montreal fans were also attacked in national newspapers and online blogs, with Deadspin posing the question, “Really, Montreal Fans?”

Despite substantial attention in the national media, and over 1,600 “attending” on the protest’s Facebook page, the actual turnout was significantly lower. At any one time, between two to three hundred people milled around, a large percentage of whom either belonged to the media or were trying to get on TSN by standing behind John Lu. The meagre crowd quickly dispersed as spectators filed into the arena long before puck drop.

Even in the face of criticism and low turnout organizer Henriquez called the event a “success.”

“We had one main objective, to get the opinion of the fans,” said Henriquez. “[And to that end] we received 1,100 signatures on our petition.” The petition demands that the NHL institute new regulations and measures against violent hits on hockey rinks.

Ryan Thorpe, a Westmount resident who attended the protest carrying a double-sided sign reading, “Should Bettman’s Arrogance Bodycheck Player Safety?” and “NHL Staunch-On Ignoring Player Safety,” hoped the rally would serve to convince NHL executives that the fans are truly concerned about player safety.

“I still play at 61, and love the game,” said Thorpe. “I don’t think it should degenerate into a violence-filled affair where great players like Crosby get their careers ended prematurely.”

Sports

Around the Water Cooler

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The first week of the NCAA tournament is behind us—and what a week it was. The Big Dance was in full force as buzzer beaters, last minute comebacks, questionable officiating, and countless upsets led the Tribune sports editors and many others to tear-up their brackets in shock, awe, and disgust. The unpredictability of the past week was vintage March Madness and the amazing roller coaster ride will continue over the next two basketball-packed weeks.

 

 

THE BIG LEAST

The Big East Conference set an NCAA record by sending 11 teams to the Big Dance. Unfortunately for them, it looks like all 11 teams will be eliminated in near-record time—only two are still standing. The Big East’s top three teams, Pittsburgh, Notre Dame, and Syracuse, choked in the second round, getting upset by Butler, Florida State, and Marquette, respectively. Not to be outdone, St. John’s, Louisville, and Georgetown were all upset in the first. UConn and Marquette are the Big East’s last hopes for redemption, but don’t expect much from them as this year’s Big East seems to be a case of quantity over quality. Big East? More like Big Least.

 

RELATIVE BRILLIANCE

How many times have you cursed out a player, through your television, for making a boneheaded, idiotic play that cost you a bet, your bracket or your sanity? Well, I’m done with that. After watching the countless errors and miscues that separate the amateurs in the NCAA from the seasoned pros in the NBA, and gesticulating foully at my computer as the numbskulls murdered my bracket (there’s so much red on there I could fight a bull with it), I’ve finally realized that nobody’s perfect. This comes on the heels of an intramural basketball game in which my team had the ball in the frontcourt, up one with 30 seconds remaining. In the proceeding seconds, we managed to turn over the ball twice, once directly underneath our own basket, and capped it off by sending one of the other team’s players to the line with 0.3 seconds remaining. At least compared to my team, every play in the tournament so far has been a shining example of basketball genius.

 

CANADIAN CONTENT

There are higher than normal levels of flannel, maple syrup, and beaver pelt at this year’s NCAA tournament. Tristan Thompson of Brampton, Ontario and Corey Joseph of Ajax, Ontario were headlining the show-down in Texas before refereeing errors and late-game mistakes derailed their run against Arizona.

Robert Sacre of Vancouver had the Gonzaga Bulldogs poised for a long, upset-ridden run after toppling the red hot St. John’s Red Storm in the first round, but the team got Jimmered in the secound round. Still, Sacre must have impressed scouts. Standing at 7’0″ and 260, he’s got an NBA body already, and moves with a rare fluidity for players his size. Factor in good free-throw shooting and Sacre seems like he has the tools to compete at an NBA level already.

 

2011 NBA DRAFTEES

Speaking of the NBA, there are a ton of players still in the tournament who are currently slated for the lottery in what’s supposed to be an incredibly weak draft.

There’s little in the way of expert consensus, with as many as eight different players being touted as potential first-overall selections.

 

QUOTES OF THE WEEK

“I never had time to look back. But now I get the chance to, so, I’m going to miss it. I mean, Morehead is now my second home. I’m going to miss each and every last person that came out and supported us. I’m going to miss my teammates, playing with them, having a great time. … I’m going to miss being coached as hard as I was by Coach Tyndall. Even though it was hard, it helped me.”

— Kenneth Faried, Morehead State Senior forward and all-time NCAA rebounding leader, on being eliminated from the tournament and playing his final college game.

 

“I don’t know. It’s tough. You know, I want to win and … I’m a competitor, man. I just wanted to win the game, I don’t care about a scoring record or anything else, man. I wanted to get to the Final Four and I didn’t get a chance to do that.”  

—Jacob Pullen, Kansas State Senior, fighting back tears after scoring 38 points and setting his school’s all-time scoring record but missing a crucial game-tying free throw in the  final seconds.

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