The University of Torontos Independent Weekly Since 1978 VOL XXXV Issue 6 October 11, 2012the newspaper

Former US Ambassador and cur-rent UofT chancellor Michael Wilson addressed a packed Hart House Great Hall last night on the issues of US-Canada rela-tions and the upcoming presi-dential elections below the bor-der.

From his experience as am-bassador to the US under both the Bush and Obama adminis-trations, Wilson concludes that Canada has one of the best con-nections to the US in the world. As he was told by other ambas-

sadors, We are the envy of prac-tically every country.

But how will Canadas rela-tionship to the US change with the results of the presidential election on November 6? Wil-son focused on a couple key is-sues to answer this question.

Canadas main concern with the US is the close economic ties that the two countries hold. While trade with Canada makes up less than ten per cent of the US GDP, according to Wilson, about 30 per cent of the Cana-

U of T Chancellor, former ambassador speaks on impact of presidential race for Americas hat

see page 3

Sebastian Greenholtz

What US elections mean for Canada

Art theft at 1 Spadina, page 4

Toronto Womens

Book Store shuts up shopAfter 40 years in the busi-ness, the Toronto Womens Bookstore will be closing on November 30, own-er Victoria Moreno an-nounced on Tuesday. The feminist bookstore, which originally operated as a non-profit, has been in dif-ficult financial straits since 2009, when its board voted to keep the store open and asked the local community for $40,000 in support. The bookstore switched to a for-profit business model, but has still not earned enough to stay afloat. The stores closure means there is one less positive space for women in the neigh-borhood; its also sad news for U of T students, who will have to buy even more books at inflated prices at the university bookstore.

Man dies after winning

live cockroach-

eating contest

On Monday, the winner of a cockroach-eating con-test in South Florida took ill and died after ingesting dozens of roaches - and a few worms on the side. 32 year-old Edward Arch-bold collapsed soon after the contest and died upon reaching hospital, never able to reclaim the grand prize, a python. Unless the roaches were contami-nated I dont think that cockroaches would be un-safe to eat, an entomology prof, Michael Adams, told the Globe. Thats a relief. Check next weeks issue for the date of the newspapers first annual roach-eating contest.

the briefs

contd page 3

dian GDP depends on this trade. This makes favourable relations between the countries an eco-nomic priority.

One of the most important commodities Canada sells to the US is oil. As a top issue for US-Canadian relations Wilson cited the Keystone XL Pipeline, a pro-posed extension to a pipeline that brings crude oil from the Alberta oil sands to refineries in Illinois. While the project has been stalled because of insuf-ficient information in the pro-posal, Wilson thinks the project will go ahead no matter who wins the election. I think that the signals are that they will ap-prove it. They realize they need the oil.

Since the two countries share an often-traversed border an-other key issue for US-Canada

relations, and for the US in gen-eral, is security. Since the events of of 9/11, the US has made travel into the country more difficult, such as the demand to show a passport when crossing over from Canada. But between Barack Obama and Mitt Rom-ney, Wilson is not so sure that when you get right down to the decisions [about security] that each would have to make if they were president would be signifi-cantly different.

Overall, Chancellor Wilson concludes that our relationship will stay solid regardless of what voters do in November. Canada will continue to benefit from its favourable position to the north and in the heart of the United States. Canada can rest easy, be-cause, as Wilson said, What would we have if we didnt have the United States trying to influ-ence the way things are?

THE NEWS2 October 11, 2012

the newspaper

the newspaper1 Spadina Crescent Suite 245Toronto, ON M5S 1A1

Editorial: 416-593-1552thenewspaper@gmail.comwww.thenewspaper.ca

the newspaper is published by Planet Publications Inc., a non-profit corporation.

All U of T community members, including students, staff and faculty, are encouraged to contribute to the newspaper.

Editor-in-ChiefCara Sabatini

News EditorYukon Damov

Arts EditorVACANT

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Web EditorJoe Howell

Managing EditorHelene Goderis

Design EditorSamantha Chiusolo

ContributorsSuzanna Balabuch, Sarah Boivin, Bodi Bold, Lou Doyon, Sebastian Greenholtz, Helene Goderis, Jordan Harcourt, Dylan Hornby, Nick Ragetli, David Stokes, Emerson Van-

denberg, Maddy Young

the newspaper is the University of Torontos independent weekly paper, published since

1978.VOL XXXV No. 5

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Anti Iran war messages clash at Queens Park

The south side of Queens Park flooded with signs in Farsi on Saturday as protesters gath-ered to fight against calls for a war against Iran. The Toronto Coalition to Stop the War (TCSW), a group of over 60 peace-minded organizations in the GTA, organized a protest calling for no war and no sanc-tions against Iran.

TCSW sees the decision of the Harper government to sev-er diplomatic relations with Iran as a clear step towards war. As stated on the event website, Cutting ties with Iran forecloses the possibility of a diplomatic solution, leav-ing only military options on the table.

After a long period of discus-sion, TCSW chose to restrict the message of the protest to opposing war, without making commentary on the political situation in Iran. The organ-izers of the protest called for peace and cooperation among the various groups present, however the messages in the crowd were far from unified.

Four socialist organizations in attendance called for a workers struggle against the capitalist system as a struggle against war. A group of Iranian students bore signs stating solidarity with the Green Movement, Iranian pro-democracy protests in response to the dis-puted results of the 2009 election.

A small but

loud contingent, armed with a megaphone to rival the offi-cial sound system, supported sanctions as part of their cry, Down with the Islamic Re-public of Iran. Official speak-ers of the demonstrations tried drowning out the anti-regime voices, urging the assembled masses to chant The people, united, will never be defeated.

University of Toronto stu-dent Arash Azizi, organizer of the Toronto Contingent Against War and Oppression, which opposes both war and the Iranian regime, criticized the pro-sanctions group as demonstrating uncivilized behaviour.

It was not unexpected that they would show up, they have very powerful forces. They [the pro-sanctions group] bran-dished the flag that belongs to the monarchist regime of Iran and was resolutely rejected by the people in the 1979 revolution [against the Shah].

Niaz Salimi, president of the Iranian-Canadian Community Council and speaker at Saturdays rally, told Now Magazine before the event that she supports the sin-gle anti-war message

that the coalition put forward. People dont come to get con-fused; people come to get one message: Dont attack Iran.

However, during her speech, Salimi spoke in favour of op-position to the Iranian govern-ment, which Azizi felt was a powerful counter to the mes-sage put forward by those sup-porting sanctions.

For the first time due to the pressure we saw a criticism of the regime from the coalition, and this was from an activist from the Iranian community, Azizi says. To politically dis-arm these people it is impor-tant to take a position of the anti-war movement in support of the Green Movement as did Niaz Salimi. ... We think its the best way to build a broad anti-war movement.

Sebastian Greenholtz

from Michael Wilson

Toronto Coalition to Stop the War calls for no war, no sanctions, no, really.

www.thenewspaper.ca 3 THE NEWS

The University of Toronto ranked 21 in the prestigious international Times Higher Education World University Rankings (THE-WUR) released October 3. UofT dropped two spots from last years position, which could have effects on prospective students.

Universities use high stand-ings to their advantage by publishing information in re-cruitment material aimed to prospective students. Despite the drop, U of T remains the highest ranked Canadian uni-versity.

Only 8 Canadian universi-ties broke the Top 200 and just two Canadian universities rose in position. When asked if U of T is concerned with the drop in standings, U of T Vice-President and Provost Cheryl Misak replied, There is noth-ing magical about being in the top 20 universities worldwide 21st is still a great place to be.

Participating in THE-WUR allows for U of T to be put on the map for prospective in-ternational students. Accord-

ing to THE-WUR editor Phil Batys analysis of a survey conducted by IDP E d u c a -t i o n , foreign s t u -d e n t s c o n -s i d e r i n -t e r -n a -

tional ranking the most important factor when de-ciding upon a school.

One great advantage of being so high in the world rankings is that students outside of Canada know how ex-cellent we are, said Misak. That helps us attract top-flight stu-dents from all over

the world, which makes the

U n i v e r -sity of

To -

ronto even stronger.In an interview with the

newspaper, second-year inter-national student from Rhode Island, Ari Abrams said, The only reason I consider staying at U of T is because it is ranked #1 in Canada. It definitely helps having a name brand on your diploma.

Universities interested in participating in THE-WUR provide and sign off their in-stitutional data, allowing THE-WUR to conduct calculations and release a relatively fair method of comparison of the 400 universities involved.

THE-WUR is based on a methodology of 13 contribut-ing factors, neatly divided into 5 categories: Teaching and the Learning Environment (30%); Research: Volume, Income and Reputation (30%); Citations: Research Influence (30%); Industry Income: Innova-tion (2.5%); and International Outlook, Staff Students, and Research (7.5%). 2.5 per cent of the entire rating of a uni-versity is based on its ability to attract undergraduates and postgraduates internationally, something that has become

key to the success of a univer-sity on the world stage.

We take the Times Higher ranking most seriously, as it has a methodology far supe-rior to that, say, of Macleans, admitted Misak. In a 2006 ar-ticle for The Ottawa Citizen, U of T President David Naylor explained why four major Ca-nadian universities decided not to participate in Macleans magazines annual ranking of Canadian universities. The methodology used in Ma-cleans ranking uses only three determining factors: levels of research funding, diversity of offerings, and a focus on un-dergraduate and postgraduate programs.

It is not hidden that rank-ings released by THE-WUR and other publications has an impact on prospective stu-dents. Even for international students currently attending U of T, its standing on the nation-al and world stage remains an important statistic. Current in-ternational student from Eng-land, Sebastian Watts said to the newspaper, My decisions on universities were heavily dependent upon rankings.

Times Higher Education Rankings drops UofT two spots Recent university rankings have implications for prospective international studentsLou Doyon

Immigrants more successful than mainstream Ca-nadians, accord-ing to U of T researchersA new U of T study has found that Chinese and South Asian immigrants to the United States, Cana-da, and Australia are more successful than the coun-tries third- and higher-generation white popu-lations. Co-authored by sociology professor, Jeffrey Reitz, PhD student Naoko Hawkins, and Prof Heather Zhang of McGill, the study shows that, while there are cross-national differ-ences in first-generation immigrants success, the children of Asian immi-grants outperform whites in all three countries in terms of finding a job and overall economic status. Sourced from The Torontoist, The Globe, and U of T News.-Geoffrey Vendeville

the briefscontd...

Smile for the camera! Youre an MBA applicantUofT business school introduces video response as part of MBA admissions processEmerson Vandenberg

The Rotman School of Man-agements MBA program will have a new live video response component for this years ap-plicants. Graduate school hopefuls will have to answer random questions on video in real-time as part of their ap-plication. The new format is a test pilot, but Rotman believes the video component could revolutionize the application process by assessing students in a way the old essay-only sys-tem did not.

The purpose of the essay based model had been to show-case elements of applicants personalities that otherwise would not show up on their re-sumes, according to the Direc-tor of Recruitment and Admis-sions, Niki da Silva. The essays had begun to sound very simi-

lar, da Silva told the newspa-per. The video component will allow two applicants that, for example, both had internships at investment banks, to differ-entiate themselves.

The new video format aims to access these personality el-ements and also provide evi-dence of other qualities the Rotman School is looking for. Qualities like proficiency in English, quick-thinking, and confidence go beyond what even properly answered essay questions could provide. This approach will also yield the opportunity to students whose resumes and grades are not as striking.

The advent of admissions consultants and online discus-sion threads have eroded the authenticity and uniqueness previously seen. The notion has spread, that admission

boards are looking for a spe-cific kind of story in the essays, according to da Silva. The ge-neric result fails to get to know candidates in a meaningful way, which is the real purpose of the essays.

The new video component asks students to install a soft-ware program developed by UofT tech start-up, Kira Tal-ent, on their computer. The program launches a video of da Silva, asking a generic ques-tion to all applicants, followed by a randomly selected ques-tion from a library of twenty options. Applicants have 30 seconds to consider the ques-tion and 90 seconds to answer it on video. Questions are more personal in nature and they will grant access to the person-alities behind the applications said da Silva.

UCLA Anderson had been

running a similar application component, but cut the pro-gram because certain students were unable to access the ap-propriate technology. Da Silva discussed this potential issue with operators at Kira and de-cided this would not be a wide-spread problem.

We already conduct inter-views with international stu-dents via webcam, and to date no one has complained about not having access to the right technology, she explained. However, da Silva said that should such an issue arise with any of its applicants, Kira Tal-ent will ship them a free web-cam so that they can answer the questions.

For more information on the new video component, da Silva has posted a detailed introduction on the Rotman Schools website.

MA

DD

Y Y

OU

NG

4 October 11, 2012 THE INSIDE

Whats Justin a nameOpinion: Trudeau must distance himself from his famous father

On a cool Thursday night in a banquet hall on the outskirts of Mississauga, Justin Trudeau easily fills a room. He takes the stage to boisterous cheers and faces a familiar barrage of cameras. After announcing his run for the Liberal Partys leadership last Tuesday, the Trudeau name may once again captivate a generation of Cana-dians.

However, with Canadas natural governing party in its worst shape in history, Pierre Trudeaus son faces a much more difficult path to power. Along with a third-place party, critics chide that he wouldnt be here today were it not for his last name. Some Liberals worry about a perceived lack of substance. While his last name shines a bright media spotlight on his campaign, if he intends to bring the Liberals to victory he must first distance himself

from his famous father. While both Trudeaus have

drawn crowds in their respec-tive times, Pierre Trudeau was a political rebel, admired for a rare combination of charisma and intellect. He was the Prime Minister who gave Canada a constitution, who pioneered multiculturalism, who threat-ened Quebecs separatists to just watch me, who success-fully decriminalised homosex-uality, contraception and abor-tion, who became pals with Fidel Castro, who was called an asshole by President Nix-on and later quipped Ive been called worse things by better people, who slid down banis-ters, dated celebrities and spun pirouettes behind the Queen.

It is easy to see how Pierre Trudeaus legacy only heaps more pressure on his son--a 40-year old former schoolteacher--to perform politically. Justin hasnt yet found a distinct identity. He may win charity

boxing matches, but is often si-lent in Parliament. His speech-es may inspire grand ideas, but offer few policy details.

For the man many hope will breathe new life into the Liber-als, we still dont know much about his political positions. Yet despite the unknowns, his widespread appeal and cha-risma is something the Liberal Party has been seeking in a leader for over a decade.

Back in Mississauga, Trudeau attributes the Liberals past success to being deeply con-nected to Canadians. He re-veals his own frustrations that, Ive too often heard it said in Liberal circles that the Liberal Party created Canada. This, my friends, is wrong. The Liberal Party did not create Canada. Canada created the Liberal Party.

In a party often criticized as elitist and out-of-touch and has seen support slip in four con-secutive elections, he makes a

convincing argument. He faces his critics by promising a new chapter for the Liberals, declar-ing, This will be a campaign about the future, not the past. I want to lead a movement of Canadians that seeks to build, not rebuild. To create, not rec-reate.

How he will go about this

remains to be seen. Fortunate-ly for Trudeau, these are still early days. Come the 2015 elec-tion, half a century after his fa-ther entered politics, Trudeau will only be a name. If he has any chance of becoming our next Prime Minister, Canadi-ans will have to vote for Justin.

This wil be a campaign about the future, not the past. - Liberal party leader Justin Trudeau (above).

Dylan Hornby

So youve failed your first midterm: An introduction to Leibnizs Theodicy

Presumably, any student find-ing themselves at the Univer-sity of Toronto has managed to do so through a combination of intellect and fortitude. Pos-sessing such talents, the expe-rience of the first failed exam is a jarring one.

Cries of students railing against the injustice of the universe can be heard in the halls of almost all dormitories: Why did this happen to me; I dont deserve to suffer! (Simi-larly, your columnist weeps: Why cant I write a sex col-umn?). How to explain this to your parents? For such indi-viduals, rather than turning to nihilism and spending an em-barrassing month or two wear-ing black and cursorily read-ing Schopenhauer, it is worth considering an interesting, if deeply flawed, alternative put forth by German mathemati-cian Gottfried Wilhelm Leib-niz.

Let us begin with the as-sumption that the world is morally ordered. More specifi-cally, let us assume that there

exists a God that is omnipotent (all-powerful), omniscient (all-knowing), and omnibenevo-lent (all-good). If there is evil in the world (as there is, since you failed), this triad is incon-sistent. Attempting to resolve the apparent paradox, Leibniz (and other theologians) coun-tered that evil exists only to such an extent that it permits the greatest amount of good in the world overall. Consider an example: the expression of a virtue such as fortitude would not be possible without the ex-istence of difficult exams.

Performing a cosmic cal-culus (the methods used are unclear), the evil produced by these challenging exams (involving not only many stu-dents failing, but also anguish and missed parties) would be more than cancelled out by the goodness of the expression of fortitude. Going further, Leibniz argues that in creating the world, God could choose only amongst logically possi-ble alternatives. This has the additional impact of removing Gods direct responsibility for evils that have accrued.

Of course, this view is not without numerous detractors. That we live in what Leibniz famously termed the best of all possible worlds, flies in the face of evidence. In particular, we may look at ills that have no imaginable connection to good outcomes: for example, painful, unobserved deaths. It does not seem that removing such ills would have any far-reaching effects that would worsen the world, even from a Gods-eye view (what possi-ble benefits can accrue from Keeping Up With the Kar-dashians?). To modern phi-losophers, Leibniz calculus seems like a reductio ad ab-surdum: we have no reason to improve our condition or grounds for criticism, because evil is a necessary antecedent to good.

Having discarded theodicy as implausible, what is the frustrated student to do? Your correspondent humbly sug-gests studying harder, and not telling your parents about what went down last week in economics.

Aberdeen Berry

Who said that philosophy degree was worthless? Aberdeen Berry presents the second installment in the series that applies philosophical theory to practical student problems. (No, its not paying off that tuition)

Last week, U of T arts lecturer George Hawken reported the theft of approximately 30 small copper plates from the storage room around the corner from his office at 1 Spadina Crescent. These plates comprise an impor-tant chunk of the artists work dating from the 1970s and 80s.

The copper plates are en-graved using acid, and then inked before being run through a press to create prints. Now that the plates are gone, Hawken has lost the potential to reprint im-ages that could have brought in more money.

I thought I had left the door locked, the contents were so im-portant to me, said Hawken.

But building caretaker Jaime Marroquin says he saw the door open when he came into work last Monday, October 1. I thought George had left the door open so students could bor-row some material from inside, says Marroquin. The door was not forced.

Its uncertain whether the plates were stolen as salvage metal, or for their artistic value. Two boxes of miniature plates were stolen, the copper material is valued at approximately $500. Their value as art objects is any-ones guess, Hawken told The Toronto Star.

The larger plates (about 70 of them) were left untouched, although they had been uncov-ered and were plainly visible. Normally I had them concealed behind a piece of black foam core, which had been moved, said Hawken. I have to pre-sume the plates were taken for their value as copper, and the smaller ones were portable and less obvious.

Visit thenewspaper.ca for further coverage of the story. Cover photo: print by George Hawken.

Art TheftArtists copper plates stolen from storageHelene Goderis

www.thenewspaper.ca 5 THE INSIDE

The Debate: Is privacy in your package?

According to the Canadian Ox-ford Dictionary, the word per-sonal is defined as ones own; individual; private. There-fore, a personal computer (PC), by definition, should be pri-vate. Internet service provid-ers are eroding this concept by creating user agreement state-ments that infringe on privacy.

For arguments sake, lets look at the home. Your house is

where your personal lives are conducted. You eat, sleep and bathe there, all of which are private activities. As a result, we expect the home to be a private place from the outside world. This is why we have locks and alarm systems on our doors and police require a search warrant to enter. Our personal information should be no different. We alone should have the authority on who has access to our identity.

Sympaticos Privacy Policy entitles them to disclose per-sonal information on the grounds of enforcing any law in Canada or where otherwise required by law. This is a broad statement. The line dividing our right as Canadian citizens to pri-vacy and the right of govern-ment institutions to breech that privacy is no longer clear.

Sympatico is not the only Internet service provider with

a leni-ent privacy policy regarding law enforcement. U of Ts Ap-propriate Use of Internet Com-munication and Technology form states, Nothing in these guidelines restricts the author-ity of the relevant offices from initiating new rules or guide-lines as circumstances dictate or as technology evolves. Es-sentially, authorities are given the right to manipulate the guidelines to suit their own

n e e d s at the expense of your privacy.

These agreements are at odds with the Privacy Act, which aims to protect the privacy of individuals with respect to information about themselves. Apparently, this right should not be assumed because we all know what happens when we assume. It is time to stop assuming and start reading the fine print.

Jordan Harcourt

^^CON

NIC

K R

AG

ET

LI

A recent child pornography case has set a potential privacy precedent in Canada, allowing police to search a persons home based on possible criminal activity linked to an IP ad-

dress. Authorities obtained the now convicted criminals name and address from the Internet service provider (Bell) who willingly released the info connected to the IP address

in question. According to the Globe & Mail, Bell Sympaticos user agreement stated that it could refuse to protect a customers confidentiality in instances of criminal behaviour.

The concern is whether or not a person should reasonably expect to privately use the Internet (without the government knowing), given such agreements between customers

and providers. Also, in question is whether or not such precedent could allow for misuse or illegal intrusion by authorities.

Motion: You have the right to anonymously use the Internet

PRO^^

While often invoked as de-fense, there is no absolute right to privacy. In cases of possible crime, many laws allow for vi-olations of privacy in order to keep the public safe, including questioning suspects, search-ing with a warrant, and ar-resting those suspected. All of these actions violate privacy,

but are necessary to protect so-ciety from criminals. Allowing police to use personal infor-mation given by Internet Ser-vice Providers is no different.

There are many places on campus where multiple com-puters are using the same hot-spot, meaning they all have the same IP address. Should UofT wifi be used for illegal ac-tivity your laptop could have

the same criminal address. But there is no reason to fear get-ting caught up in an investiga-tion. The bulk of digital crime committed at UofT is petty crime, such as illegal software downloading. Millions of tech-savvy people around the world engage in digital petty crime, and with austerity cuts down-sizing police forces there are simply not enough investiga-

tors to pursue them all. Only when internet use threatens peoples lives and livelihoods, such as identity thieves or child pornographers, will the police bother to go through the multi-step process from an IP address and to arrest.

First, police contact the In-ternet Service Provider and request the name and address where the IP is registered. If ille-

gal activity occurred through a UofT IP address, the ISP would inform the police of this ori-gin, and probably stop this direction of investigation. A search warrant must be issued for a specific person or place, and because the police cant search every laptop ever con-nected to UofT wifi the police couldnt get a warrant issued for a shared IP address anyway.

So no need to be afraid if the person sitting next to you at Robarts is torrenting Photo-shop - the police have bigger things to worry about. If ISP information can catch child pornographers, but prob-ably wont worry about digital petty criminals, the benefits clearly outweigh the risks.

Sebastian Greenholtz

THE ARTS6 October 11, 2012

Plan Benefits

Your health

& Dental

Who is enrolled?All full-time undergraduate, professional faculty and theology students at St. George or Mississauga are automatically enrolled in the U.T.S.U. extended health and dental plans.

Plan members who are first year students or returning from a leave of absence are covered starting September 1, 2012. Although coverage is effective from September 1, new plan members will not be able to receive reimbursements until their accounts are activated by the end of November.

oPt-in & oPt-oUt

datesStudents starting

in September: aug. 27 to oct. 5,

2012 Students starting

in January: Jan. 7 to Feb 1,

2013

the U.t.s.U. offers tWo insUrance Plans An extended health plan; and a dental plan. Students who have comparable health coverage may opt-out of the health plan while any student may opt-out of the dental plan. Students are required to opt-out on an annual basis.

Students may enroll their spouse (including a common law or same sex partner) and/or children to both the health plan and the dental plan for an additional fee.

Opt-Out Online at stuDentplans.ca/utsu

enrOl by ViSitinG health@utsu.ca

get more info onlineVisit utsu.ca/health for benefits information.

once your account is activitated, register at greenshield.ca/studentcentre to get personalized claims forms, claims history, to print your Green shield ID card and to get discounts on dental and vision with exclusive Discount networks.

For more info please contact your students union: U.T.S.U. Health & Dental Plan Office 12 Hart House Circlehealth@utsu.ca

Provider info:1-888-711-1119

greenshield.ca/studentcentre

YoUr insUrance Provider is green shield. YoUr green shield id is:

sac (u of t ID#) - 00 i.e. sac 999999999-00

Samsara, which opened Fri-day, October 5 at the TIFF Bell Lightbox, is the documentary equivalent of a poem. The film has no spoken narrative and is purposefully plotless, demanding the viewers make their own connections. Shot in exquisitely lush 70-mil-limeter film and filmed over four years in 25 countries, the movie employs a floating cam-era to deliver breathtaking im-ages from a variety of intense locales -- from factory farms and assembly lines, to far-flung tribal peoples, prisons, cathedrals, mosques, and jun-gle temples, waterfalls, Ameri-cans in Costcos, and Japanese in subway trains -- in order to craft a global portrait of our times.

Director Ron Fricke, who also directed 1992s similarly non-narrative visual smorgas-bord Baraka (and worked on

1982s Koyaanisqatsi), con-tinues the sensory overload sought by those films but seeks something more elusive and challenging in this incar-nation. In-between highly ki-netic vignettes of time-lapse photography, the pacing slows and the film is intercut with a succession of confrontations with nakedly-observed human faces -- that of a Thai stripper,

and a facially disfigured war veteran, among others. The images are enticing and repel-ling, challenging the viewer to maintain eye contact, with all the ambiguity and intensity of connection.

Between images of Balinese dancers, infants being bap-tized, and exploding volca-noes, there are moments in the film when the viewer is so

swamped with sublime beauty that the best option is laughter. Alternatively, other moments are deeply disquieting, notably the testing of eerily lifelike ro-bot heads, a performance art-ist who turns himself into a figure of demonic destruction, and the many images of con-sumer trash. Perhaps the most visceral triumph of the film is its power to makes the view-

er desperately crave human warmth, someone dear to hold onto to endure the onslaught of images of unbearable lone-liness, violence, injustice and waste.

Despite moments when the imagery veers toward the sur-realist and decadent, the film is pulled back to sobriety by the inescapable eternal logic of life and death, creation and de-struction. This is epitomized in the movie by the monks who, throughout the film, create an elaborate multi-coloured man-dala with tiny bits of sand and at the end, with the mandala complete, wipe it out. Samsara, which roughly translates to the cyclical nature of life, is a roving, rhapsodic meditation, as exhilarating and exhausting as its message is endless.

Samsura screens at the TIFF Bell Lightbox until Thursday, October 18.

www.thenewspaper.ca 7 THE ARTS

Plotless movie a portrait of our times Documentary Samsara is fit for stoners, lovers, or anyone into high-definition

spiritual transcendence David Stokes

British musicians have a rich history of captivating North American audiences, and sing-er Ellie Goulding is no differ-ent. The 26-year olds lovely, wispy voice is so unlike any-thing else playing on the air-waves that its intricacies are quite unforgettable. Gould-ings second studio album, Halcyon, hit Canadian stores this week.

Coming off the success of her first studio album, Lights (2010), Goulding has some-how managed to avoid the sophomore slump by com-ing up with an album replete with catchy electronic hooks, delicate choral harmonies, and even stomping bass (slightly reminiscent of her boyfriend Skrillexs trademark sound). Although Skrillex and Gould-ing did not work on the pro-duction of the record, they

recently collaborated on Bit-tersweet, for the last install-ment of that aborrhent Twi-light series.

Of the eighteen tracks on Halcyon, there are many stand-outs. A song simply entitled Joy, returns Goulding to a mellow, stripped-down for-mat more reminiscent of her earlier work, yet with a very mature take on learning from a relationship.

One of the albums released singles, Anything Could Hap-pen, is so infectious, pairing Gouldings candy-coloured melody with a pumping elec-tronic undercurrent and a very clever use of a rousing chorus. The song is already so well loved by fans that the artist and her team created a visu-ally stunning video of fans In-stagram photos displaying the tracks lyrics.

Ellie Goulding doesnt only depend on her fans for inspi-

ration. Some of the Halcyons stand-out tracks are covers of already famous and well-loved songs. True to the under-stated yet brilliant nature of her voice, Goulding puts her own spin on tracks like Hang-ing On (originally by Active Child). Her voice hits angelic highs toward the beginning of the track, splitting into what seems like a hundred harmon-ic voices, and building the sus-pense that the song so badly needs, dropping into a bass-heavy rhythm, all while show-casing the range of the artists voice.

It is on Hanging On that Goulding pairs up with fellow Brit sensation Tinie Tempah, as well as teaming up with Calvin Harris on the distinctly dancey I Need Your Love, somewhat of a departure from the gentler, darker content of the rest of the album. Never-theless, the pairing is clever, as

with this kind of track, Gould-ing reaches out to yet another type of audience, all while col-laborating with talented art-ists of the moment.

Avoidance of the dreaded sophomore slump is most definitely an achievement, and pairing that with artistic ma-turity in both lyrics and musi-cal experimentation is a sure recipe for success. The pretty-voiced Goulding will surely

continue to make a mark on listeners everywhere just as she has been. Having per-formed at William and Kates wedding reception, theres no-where to go but up.

Ellie Goulding plays the Sound Academy this Sunday, October 14. For tickets, visit ticketmaster.ca

Ellie Goulding is all lit upBrit synth pop darling serves up a solid sopho-more album Suzanna Balabuch

THE END8 October 11, 2012

the newspaper asked: If you could watch any two people debate, who would you choose?

2

TIMOTHY Economics & Political Science, 5th yearMachiavelli and Barack Obama because of their contrasting views on human nature.

JOEY Anthropology, 4th yearBugs Bunny and Steve Stifler. You never know what theyre going to say to each other.

MAURO Hart House EmployeeSarah Palin and Hillary Clinton. Clinton is so smart and I want to see how much Palin has evolved since the last elec-tions.

MASOUND English, 1st yearHitler and Machiavelli. I would like to see someone as charis-matic and persuasive as Hitler take on a political thinker like Machiavelli.

BO

DI

BO

LD

LISA Philosophy & Politics, 1st yearDescartes and Einstein. I would like to see the clash between religion, ancient science and modern science.

MAX Political Science, 1st yearMichael Moore and Ezra Levant, because they both have very polarizing opinions and represent different ideolo-gies.

the campus comment

Dear Suzie

Dear Suzie,

Im a male GO Train commuter. I was recently reading the Shout-Outs page in TOnight maga-zine, and saw a date posting that Im convinced was written for me. Someone described my appearance/clothes to the T, and had the train time that I take every day. Im totally creeped out, but Im also single and curious. Do I respond?

Sincerely,Creeped Out, but Curious

Dear Creeped Out,

Ive always had a secret desire for someone to write a Shout-Out to me, so let me preface this by saying that Im super jelly. I also think this problem is really a no-brainer. What do you have to lose if you answer this ad? Pretty much nothing, except maybe a few hours and a little bit of money if the date doesnt lead to anything. I say go for it, but go in with absolutely zero expectations. Please for the love of pants, pick a public meeting place for your first date and have a friend call you 15 minutes in, just in case you need a fake emergency. If they turn out to be crazy, at least youll have a funny story to tell your friends. If they turn out to be cool, who knows? You could make this advice columnist even more jelly by riding off into the sunset with your Shouter-Outer. Good luck!

Sincerely,Suzie

Got a question for Suzie? Submit it anonymously at the newspaper.ca in the blue box

Why you should go on that date with your GO train stalker

The Friends of the Library, Trinity College

37th Annual Book SaleOctober 18 22, 2011

Thursday October 18: 4 pm 9 pm (Admission $5 )

Friday October 19: 10 am 8pmSaturday October 20: 10 am 8pm

Sunday October 21: noon 8pmMonday October 22: 10 am 8pm

(No admission charge Fri Mon)

6 Hoskin Avenue, upstairs in Seeley Hall

cash cheque debit Amex Mastercard Visa

www.trinity.utoronto.ca/booksale 416 978 6750

Museum or St George subway; or Wellesley bus 94 to the door

Newspaper 2011