161.7www.theontarion.comMar. 4 - 10, 2010

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NDEX

the issues this week

LIVING

LIBRARY

KAZOO

#90

QUINOA

GLORY BOWLS

GOING

GREY

MICHAEL

KEEFER

For thestudents,by thestudents

S,  v  k   Zvz. S,  vM-S  A G  v k    -- .B   Uv  G-,  v     J AS,   b  42. k   M. 19 20,    z v ,    Zvz H. T    xb b     k O, xv  k   . W     j     z (ﬁ z    $1000) 20 b ,  J A S   b

ANIEL

ITONTI

Onward and upwardGryphon women of to the OUA ﬁnals

Walters leavesGryphons for specialteams position in CFL

F K W,    j     .L  k,  -    Gb      b          . S ,     W  b        W B Bb  C Fb L.“T   bvb       ,”    K. “H   jb        x   b.” T ﬀ  Bb 

IKE

READGOLD

 P LP     . W   W     k  fl   v   . A  b  , W    v           b vv    1990   .“F     ,    fiv .I  v qk,”  W,    b k      LP. “I ’ b k . I j    G I  v   x          .”Rfl       G, W  b      v      “I’  b   G   G. I  bvb   bk   ,”  W.“I  v b  v     G.“I  v        G. M   j  , b  [ W] j     .” T    ff- b W’, b v ff       .“T  ffi      k    []    I’v v    ,”  W. “T   k fi. T   b,b      b    v.

R Bj

Gryphons goaltender Danielle Skoufranis backstopped her team to their third straight playoﬀ win on Saturday.

K Rz

After four years as head footballcoach of the Gryphons, Kyle Walters will be moving on to theCanadian Football League.

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OACHING

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WEEPING

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EWS

NTARION

161.7

Loud noises causelasting and severehearing loss

Bad news for all thosepeople who play music in theirheadphones at full volume:hearing loss, according tospecialists, is ‘cumulative andirreversible.’ According to Dr.Brian Filgor, if a person is exposedto overly loud noises as an infant,they can suﬀer from hearingloss for as much as half of theirlives. Because of the signiﬁcantly smaller size of a young child’s earcanal, reoccurring exposure to thekind of volume common to sportsevents or concerts can causeserious and lasting damage to thechild’s ability to hear. Filgor alsoexplained that this kind of hearingloss is gradual and is usually notpainful so it can go unnoticedand can continue to worsen.Being aware of the possibility iscrucial for prevention. (New York imes)

Woman sues forwrongful mastectomy

A woman who had amastectomy in November at Windsor’s Hôtel-Dieu GraceHospital is suing after it becameclear that she didn’t have breastcancer when the surgery wasperformed. While one doctorprovided the breast cancerdiagnosis, a pre-surgery testrevealed that this was, in fact,not the case. Te doctor thatperformed the surgery misreadthe test and went ahead withthe mastectomy only discoveringthe true result of the test post-surgery. Inquiries into the casehave since been launched by the hospital and the doctor thatperformed the surgery has sincebeen suspended. (CBC News)

GM recall after faultypower steering leads to 14 crashes

General Motors is recallinga number of smaller model carsbecause of a faulty power steeringfeature. Te eﬀected modelsinclude Chevrolet Cobalt, PontiacG5, Pontiac Pursuit and Pontiac4. According to GM, the carscan be controlled but requiredgreater eﬀort than usual. GMhas placed the blame on a partfrom a oyota-owned supplierthat apparently didn’t meetquality standards. Tis comesat a time when oyota is beingforced to recall eight million carsfor various problems, includingaccelerator and braking problems.(BBC News)

Israeli Apartheid Week at U of GMore environmentally sound pork?

The campus criticallyexplores a seeminglynever-ending conﬂictA U of G innovationmay soon mean thatpigs will producemuch less pollution

Student organizations on theUniversity of Guelph campus aretaking part in the internationally recognized event known asIsraeli Apartheid Week (IAW). Troughout the week, daily eventsare scheduled to showcase criticalperspectives on the Israel-Palestineconflict, a conflict that has now endured for over half a century andremains a contentious and oftendeadly dispute. While imposing blame for theongoing conflict on either stateremains a heavily sensitive andcontroversial task, IAW seeks toraise awareness regarding Israel’slarge-scale acts of violence anddeliberate segregation in defianceof international law. In 2008-2009, Israel’s attack on the GazaStrip killed approximately 1,400Palestinians, and resulted in majorshortages in food and humanitarianaid. In the last few years, Israelhas initiated the constructionof a major barrier consisting of high technology concrete fencingthat spans over 400 km along thePalestinian territory of the WestBank. Following the InternationalIt has been a long-standing folk tale that pigs are dirty animals andlive in their own filth. But of lately people are becoming more familiar with the interpretation that pigsare in fact very clean animals. Te Enviropig, a genetically modified line of Yorkshire pig thatis currently being developed at theUniversity of Guelph, is puttingthe final nail in the coffin of thismyth. Tis enhanced pig is capableof digesting plant phosphorousmore efficiently than conventional Yorkshire pigs. It does this by producing an enzyme called‘phytase’ in its saliva, actively working to degrade indigestible‘phytate’ contained in the grainthat they eat. Tis reduces theamount of phosphorous in thepig’s manure by 30 to 70 per cent,depending upon age and diet.So great, the Enviropigproduces less phosphorous manure,but what does this mean and how does that make this pig cleaner? Te phosphorous releasedin the manure of the averagepig is an excellent fertilizer buttoo much phosphorous in onearea can contaminate the soil. When significant amounts of thephosphorous saturated soil reachbodies of water, they become

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Court of Justice’s ruling thatthe wall is illegal, Palestinianshave called upon internationalorganizations across the worldto impose boycotts, establishdivestment initiatives and institutesanctions against Israel, known asthe BDS movement. Along withthe support of many renownedcritics including Noam Chomsky,Naomi Klein, and Desmond utu,IAW aims to promote the BDScourse of action.On the U of G campusspecifically, several individualsfrom organizations collaborated toorganize IAW and reiterate thismessage though lectures, films and various public outreach actions.Guelph Peace Alliance memberDrew Garvie explained how heresponds to claims that the word“apartheid” is inappropriate andexaggerated by demonstratinghow the term was attributed toIsrael’s actions against Palestine by those who’ve lived through brutalapartheid systems themselves.“People like Desmond-utu,Nelson Mandela, and RonnieKasrils…risked their lives in orderto defeat racist segregation andnow view the situation in Palestineas analogous as or worse thanthe oppression under which they suffered,” said Garvie.Professors are also taking anpolluted. Te phosphorous in the water can stimulate algae growththat lowers the oxygen content of the water, kills fish and can makethe water unsafe to drink.If environmental sustainability is not a convincing enough reasonto adopt the Enviropig, thenperhaps the economic benefitsare. Concentrated AnimalFeeding Operations (CAFO)have been aware of the problemof phosphorous pollution and tocombat it they have relied heavily on expensive phytase dietary supplements in order to reducethe amount of phosphorous in themanure. Te Enviropig reducesthis cost by being able to producephytase itself.As with any genetically modified organism, there are of course potential concerns suchas whether the modified animal’s welfare is compromised and if they are safe for human consumption. Te Enviropig website states thatall of their animal experimentshave been conducted following theguidelines set out by the CanadianCouncil of Animal Care, andalso that in order to produce pigsmeant for commercial use they would have to be healthy. Te lead scientist for theEnviropig project, University of Guelph professor Cecil Forsberg,said that “the real issues at thispoint are the social and ethicalconcerns…[but] we have produceda pig which can digest phytate,making it a fit animal. [Somepeople are] against the use of genes from one species in anotheractive role in participating inIAW. Dr. Michael Keefer fromthe School of English and TeatreStudies at the U of G gave alecture on uesday night entitledthe Attack on Palestinian HumanRights in Canada. Keefer expressedhis steadfast support for IAW and why it is important for studentsand Canadians at large to engage with this week’s events.“IAW is important becausethis is an issue that Canada isinvolved in,” said Keefer. “Whatis happening in the occupiedPalestinian territory is atrocious. Te unfortunate fact is that Canadais very distinctly a part of what isgoing on in Gaza. It’s personally legitimate for people to say it isappalling that the Palestiniansmade a horrible mistake in electingHamas, but to say…we will cutoff your food supplies and clean water for your kids…is monstrous.Canada was the first nation to joinin that blockade in 2006. Whatthat means is Canadians need tobe brought to an understandingof what’s happening here, and…return to the tradition of moderateresponses as opposed to extremistresponses, and return to a traditionof peace making.” While the topic of IsraeliApartheid may appearoverwhelming in its scope, somebecause it compromises theirpurity.” Whether the Enviropig issafe for human’s to eat remains tobe determined by the Canadianregulatory authorities such asHealth Canada. Tis project, which began atthe university in 1997, has comea long way and is finally at thestage where it has begun to ask for approval from national andinternational regulatory bodies.Forsberg explained that it is too

Cecil Forsberg

Te Enviropig is an exciting development coming out of the University of Guelph. Te Enviropig could one day mean more environmentally friendly conditions for keeping and raising pigs, thanks to less-toxic waste output from the animals.

events are using creative platformsaimed to establish a unique way forstudents and community membersto learn about the subject. On Tursday Mar. 4 at the CardenStreet Cafe, an IAW event willexplore a riveting movementpresently taking shape to denounceinjustices and oppose the WestBank barrier. Entitled ‘Art asResistance,’ the event will featurea presentation with live-poetry andmusic to illuminate how the IsraeliApartheid is being resisted throughartistic measures. As the WestBank barrier has been unexpectedly transformed into the world’s largestcanvass, this event will explain why local and international artistshave sought to beautify the barrenconcrete wall in order to voice theiropposition.Depending on religious,political and geographicalaffiliations, individuals across the world hold conflicting opinionsin regards to Israeli-Palestinerelations. Regardless of how you may already view this issue,participants believe IAW remainsan essential opportunity to createmeaningful dialogue, establishcritical outlooks, and engage with acomplex conflict that continues toinstigate widespread suffering whilesabotaging any progress towardsestablishing global stability.early to tell when the pig will bemade available to the public, butadded that all applications havebeen submitted.“[Tis is the] first transgenicanimal to go through this sort of regulatory review,” said Forsberg.At this point, barring any unforeseen obstacles, it seemsthat the Enviropig may soon bereaching supermarkets around the world where it may also have thebenefit of making people feel a bitbetter about eating bacon.