Spending My Week with Marilyn

by on February 3, 2012 in Arts

When the words “true story” are associated with any film, particularly one with the name of a historical figure in the title, I tend to be overcome with weariness. The fear with biopics of this nature is that they are going to be completely dry and run on for an excessive amount of time. Sometimes watching a biopic feels more like reading a textbook than experiencing actual entertainment.

Luckily, Simon Curtis’s My Week with Marilyn does not fall into this nasty trap that similar movies often find themselves in.

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Puppy Bowl VIII: the biggest little game of the year

by on February 3, 2012 in Sports

This Sunday marks another year of high stakes collision on the gridiron with two staunch rivals leaving it all on the field. In the grand tradition of organized football, the two best teams in the league will take the field, and play their hearts out to prove once and for all who is top dog.

The eighth annual Puppy Bowl kicks off Sunday Feb. 5 on Animal Planet and it promises to be just as heated, intense and confusing as the previous years. There aren’t many rules to the Puppy Bowl, but it involves 10 adorable puppies at a time taking to a miniature football field with the hopes of dragging a chew-toy across the goal line — or falling asleep.

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To Greek, or not to Greek: our university needs frats and sororities

by on February 3, 2012 in Opinions

Every year thousands of students flock to universities all over Canada in pursuit of undergraduate goals. Some are on their way to careers in medicine, law and even government. However, the college experience involves much more than academics. It is a life-changing time filled with growth and social development. This is where the Greek system comes into play.

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Saskatoon’s crisis hotline supports students

by on February 3, 2012 in News

Being a college student is fucking stressful. Risking thousands of dollars on late-night cram sessions and last-minute essays can leave students feeling powerless and result in alcohol and drug addiction and, occasionally, suicidal thoughts. But as bad as it feels to bomb an exam or blow an assignment, there are services for students that can provide support.

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Kai Chan captures the small beauties of life

by on February 2, 2012 in Arts

Wine bottles. Toothpicks. Silk thread. Using such small, simple components, Kai Chan captures the small, simple moments in life.

Over a dozen works spanning 35 years of Chan’s career are currently on display at the Mendel Art Gallery. His installations and sculptures are often misleadingly simple to look at. What may look like loose heaps of branches entangled in each other is, upon closer inspection, meticulously assembled, with each joint strategically connected to other components in a towering work that makes one marvel at the patience required to create this illusion.

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BRIEF: Huskies men’s volleyball victorious, women remain winless

by on February 2, 2012 in Sports

The University of Saskatchewan Huskies men’s volleyball squad recorded its first sweep of the season Jan. 27 and 28 in Kamloops, B.C.

Led by middle blocker Geoff Zerr, the Huskies were able to come back from a two-sets-to-one deficit in the weekend’s first match and win it 15-8 in the fifth and final set.

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Escaping the past and finding yourself East of Berlin

by on February 2, 2012 in Arts

“This show is edgy. It’s gripping. It’s also surprisingly funny.”

That is how University of Saskatchewan alum Heather Morrison describes the Canadian play East of Berlin, which she stars in. The play runs at the Refinery on Dufferin Ave. starting Feb. 3.

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More action needed following Crown-First Nations summit

by on February 2, 2012 in Opinions

“Why can’t they just get over the past and move on?”

This comment, more than any other, enrages me when people discuss issues affecting First Nations in Canada.

I have heard it more times than I ever wanted to. Unfortunately, it usually has nothing to do with the speaker hoping that aboriginal people can move beyond the oppression, but is another way of admitting that they would rather not deal with centuries-old injustices.

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USSU sits out national lobbying campaign

by on February 2, 2012 in News

On Feb. 1, dozens of rallies took place at Canadian universities as part of a National Day of Action to reduce the costs of post-secondary education. The event was sponsored by the Canadian Federation of Students, a national student lobbying group, and organized by individual student unions affiliated with CFS.

The University of Saskatchewan Students’ Union, however, did not take part.

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The CBC is under ideological attack: if the Conservatives cut funding, Canadian identity will suffer

by on February 1, 2012 in Opinions

Currently, the CBC has an annual budget of $1.1 billion, a figure that is expected to decrease in the near future.

The CBC is a wounded soldier wheeling a single pistol. It is up against the heavily armed cavalry that is the American media. If we do not provide it with adequate defence, it will be killed. Canada will then be in danger of succumbing to a Conservative agenda that seems more concerned with protecting its own ideology than the Canadian public.

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