… A preport

Here we are: April already, another year just dust in the wind. As we settle into placements, get ready to burn some midnight oil, and write our finals, we begin our journey into another unforgettable summer. It is time to say congrats to our soon-to-be alumni of Lakehead. You did it, and someway, somehow, you have left your mark at Lakehead on your adventure through the halls of higher learning.

To those who are fortunate enough to be returning in the fall, be ready for some amazing shows and events - and a few new surprises for the Outpost as well as The Study. Not to mention a brand spanking new constitution and bylaws and, more excitingly, an O-week that will make history. Your executive team is waiting, wishing, and biting the bit to get started.

Over the summer and fall, Lakehead will grow with the opening of phase 1 of the new Orillia campus. LUSU is ready to assist our southern ‘Wolves with the growing pains. Heck yes for the U-Pass!

The next round of tuition increases for both campuses will be announced at the next Board of Governors meeting, on April 16^th. We are ready to speak and make a stand. If you have any questions, comments, or gripes, please shoot me an email or two.

Finally, a big thanks to the outgoing executive, Dave, Trevor, and Josh – plus all of the LUSU staff and volunteers. They put a tremendous amount of time and dedication into their year. We would not be where we are today without all of your hard work. Thank you for leading the students, and for all the advice you have shared with Neva, Chris, and I. Enjoy your well deserved time off, and good luck next year.

Well friends, good luck on exams, and enjoy your summer: go for a swim, eat some cake, and make your four months of freedom count.

See you on the flip.

Mike Snoddon

President-Elect

president.elect@lusu.ca

Photo by Cole Breiland

What is the Argus? It’s a question I began asking myself only recently, after years of reading, and then writing for, the paper. As incoming Editor-in-Chief, I figured it was time to seek out an answer. With some serious study and reflection, or possibly a quick consultation of Wikipedia, I discovered that Argus was a hundred-eyed giant of Greek legend: Argus Panoptes, or “all-seeing”.

I suspect the bright young minds of this institution hardly need reminding that Zeus had a thing for the young nymphs. Well aware of this penchant, his wife Hera assigned Argus to keep watch over a particularly seductive nymph, to stymie the lecherous god’s advances. Is it too much of a stretch to imagine our student newspaper in place of its mythical namesake, guarding the student body from the slippery tentacles of corruption and injustice?

One problem: the Argus staff combined possesses a paltry 24 eyes. The rest can only be provided by you. Whether the “you” in question happens to be a Lakehead student, a faculty member, or a Thunder Bay resident with no ties to the university, I’d like to ask your help in making next year’s Argus a relevant, vibrant, and exciting publication – one that speaks to Lakehead students and the city as a whole.

As an editorially independent newspaper with no corporate owner tying our hands, the Argus is free to be your paper, covering issues others can’t or won’t. We’ll be making efforts to reach out to students and the wider community, and we hope you will reciprocate. We can’t be “all-seeing” without you.

In practice, the help I’m requesting can range from taking a minute out of your day once in a while to making the paper a part of your life. It could mean shooting us an email with a story suggestion, submitting a story or a letter to the editor, or becoming a regular contributing member of the “Argus family” – a dysfunctional one, to be sure, but then what self-respecting family isn’t?

Jaded visitors from larger metropolises might disagree, but Thunder Bay is never short of compelling stories. The catch is that, as students, we do not always have the time to catch them as they develop. It’s also true that, as students, we aren’t always exposed to major local issues like poverty and racism. So when you see something that should be talked about, point it out to us (argus@lakeheadu.ca). Tell us what we should be covering and what we can improve upon.

Even better, come visit us in our office (UC 2014b, upstairs from the Study) and pitch a story of your own. Contributing to the paper in the form of articles, photos, or comics affords you the thrill of putting your work in front of thousands of readers. And if the glory isn’t enough, contributors also get paid.

Keep these ideas in mind over the summer; I hope to see students and community members claiming The Argus as their own next year.

Finally, a huge thanks to this year’s staff and contributors for your hard work and dedication! You have set an imposing standard to build upon for next year.

Ian Kaufman

Editor-in-Chief, 2010/2011

A final farewell from the fair maiden

It’s been a slice LU, it really has. This year has been full of learning experiences, no doubt, as well as a few exciting ones. It’s been great to hear the positive feedback on The Argus’s recent changes, and it’s been great to work with the team I’ve had.

Going into this year, I had a few goals in mind, which were accomplished. The campus clubs section was a much-needed service for LUSU’s clubs and centres, as advertising with the paper is not always a critical use of the budget. Also, the lifestyles section has created a fun, playful element to the newspaper, and I hope it continues to grow as students continue to submit articles and column pieces.

Another achievement this past year has been the overall aesthetic and content changes; these have been some of the critical shifts in the attitude and professionalism of the student-run paper.

In the past, The Argus has represented the staff members’ opinions and interests; however, this is because students do not write nearly enough for the paper to be representative of anyone else – especially the student body as a whole.

I’d like to congratulate Ian Kaufman, Editor-in-Chief 2010-11, and am stoked to hand of the torch to him. Now, as the students change, so must their newspaper, and Ian is definitely the man for the job.

Ian is much more activist oriented than myself, and I think this is important for The Argus. I am a lot more cautious in my approach, and perhaps this is because of getting beaten in only the second issue of the year. That season came and went, thankfully, and then more fiascos occurred. But hey, it worked out extremely well and pushed the staff to create a more diverse product and service.

The Argus now exists as a service for the students on and off campus, and this past year has been fantastic for reaching the wider TBay community.

I am proud of this product and proud of my team. We never got stuck in a rut, and were willing to shift anything as long as student input and constitutional rules were looked into. Change is necessary – for as the students and university continue to grow and take a different shape, so must The Argus.

It is an interesting phenomenon to walk into a political space and occupy it as a creative individual. It’s been inspiring, horrifying, and I’m honestly looking forward to being a dedicated masters students in the English department.

Unfortunately for you all, I will be continuing my presence on campus – and in the media – as LUSU’s Campaign Commissioner 2010-11 and a simple, paid contributor for The Argus. I look forward to creating change on campus and working with LUSU President Mike Snoddon. We hope to make some integral progress at LU, and will be looking forward to the students’ help, as well as The Argus’s.

I can only hope that The Argus mutates ten-fold, and becomes transformer-like, in the years to come.

I bid thee farewell – keep rockin’.

Brandi Cameron

Editor-in-Chief 2009-2010

We did it! Another year in the books, literally!… A bit premature with exams still looming, but if you have the time to read this, then you’re probably one of the special few who doesn’t cram the night before your exams. Otherwise, odds are you’re just reading this while waiting for the bus. In either case, what I’m curious of is what do you actually remember from 2009-2010? I remember quite a lot, but I was also deeply involved here on campus, and I don’t think it’s fair to say the typical student that goes to Lakehead is apathetic, so let’s see what your defining moment is…

Did a professor hate your opinion in an essay? Your study group didn’t work out, leaving you scrambling to finish? Being a freshman and walking into the wrong class (don’t feel bad, I’m a Junior and I still do it on occasion)? Seriously though, university is a very unique place; you pay roughly $20,000 in tuition fees for 4 years of homework and studying, and maybe you get a degree. Do you remember the last time you spent that kind of money on something with a “maybe” involved? I don’t. So let’s be honest with ourselves – Lakehead students typically don’t put their tuition to work.

Fact of the matter is that your tuition is an investment; if you don’t make it work, you won’t get anything out of it. Now it’s true that we have a decent graduate rate here, and that we have one of the most diverse and well rounded student bodies, but your memories shouldn’t just be about late night assignments or trying to opt out of the Health Plan; make your university experience well rounded too.

When was the last time you went out to an event, or cheered at the Thunderdome? What about being in a club, doing a little volunteering, using the many resources and centers, or even taking a small job; did the chance of those happening slip away? The better question is why did those opportunities slip away? Sure, attendance was “up” at events this year, but somehow it’s still status quo to call our students apathetic.

The reality is we are all just a victim of our own choices. Many of us block or delete LUSU and Communication e-mails without hesitation. Worse still, there’s a larger majority of us that don’t attend anything or use anything to their advantage – by choice. If you’re one of the majority, then take one last note this year: You are missing out.

Let’s take a poll - Just in time for exams. Did you know the Learning Assistance Centre, located in the tunnel, provides each student with a few hours they can book for free tutoring each year as part of your fees? How about the free study rooms you can reserve in the Patterson Library, which are great for study groups? What about The Study’s extended exam hours if you need that extra caffeine kick?

What about those of you in Orillia – Did you know that next year you’ll be getting your very own U-Pass? Did you actually participate in the academic fee increase survey? What about Orillia based clubs, there’s actually quite a few now; ever join one? If you scored 1 out of 3, don’t feel bad; so did half of your classmates. I didn’t know about most of the stuff on campus until near the end of my first year.

It’s amazing how much there is for us to use and do on campus – we just need an attitude adjustment. I should know, having been in the LUSU Office almost every day for the past two years now as a student, a Board member, and as Chief Returning Officer (glorified name for running Elections on campus).

I can’t say I’ve gone to everything, but I know what’s available to students, and I know how few of those things get to be a common aspect of the student life. We are already skeptical towards a lot of these opportunities, whether it’s because of what you might have heard about the student government, or maybe because the Board of Governors announcing another tuition hike has your wallet tapped (foreshadowing, if not then the HST will get us anyway), or some other reason.

Regardless of why, your voice counts. If you want to be heard, go to your LUSU Office – you might not know who needs to hear your concerns, but they do, and they will always point you in the right direction. After all, it’s your Union, you pay for it, and for the people that work there, myself included, so why not put it to good use?

The point is we’ll never be able to say “I rode the mechanical bull at Orientation” or “that club’s pub crawl was amazing” unless we look past the problems, be proactive, optimistic, and get involved. So here is the resolution for Lakehead come Fall 2010 – Make it memorable. Make it the defining year in your post-secondary career, then continue to build on it in the years to come.

Make sure to keep up the great work with your studies, and to really enjoy all of the fine detail in this grand painting which is your university experience. If you’re not sure how to start, or if you need some ideas next year, read those e-mails, check out the poster boards, continue to read The Argus, or even take a short walk to your LUSU Office and see what’s happening in and around your university!

Best of luck on your exams, Lakehead! I’ll be back next year, so I hope to see all of you back safe this fall! Congratulations to all of this year’s graduates; best of luck to you in the future!

Sincerely,

Tomas Valiquette,

Lakehead Enthusiast & CRO LUSU 2009-10

Alas, the end of year has snuck up on me. With a certain amount of sadness I realize this means no longer sleeping in the office after an all night production session.

I would like to thank all of the Argus staff, contributors, blankets, and pizza, for making this an incredible year. I regret not making taking the opportunity to become intoxicated with the lot of you throughout the school term, hopefully this can rectified after exams.

Kidding aside…

While the paper has had its struggles this year, I think we should be proud of what we have created.

For my part, I hope we have presented something visually interesting to the community.

Maybe the most surprising portion of the year for me has been covering varsity sports. Not being a sports fan by any means, I still was caught up in the electric air of the crowds in the final moments of more than a few games; I even caught myself missing shots because I was enraptured with the play. Congratulations to all of our teams for having great seasons.

Probably the most controversial photo in the paper this year was the couple kissing in feature of issue twenty. I wanted to challenge our norms and create discussion about how we deal with sexuality in public settings in a tasteful manner.

My time at Lakehead and the Argus has allowed me to find my direction, and I will be pursuing a career in photojournalism, I hope I can continue bringing stories to the forefront in a visually compelling manner.

We have a talented crew coming in next year, and I look forward to keeping up with the new website next year; we are going to fix the website, right? Ian?

Cole Breiland

Photo Editor

Peace out from the news editor

I walked onto the Lakehead University campus four years ago as a fresh-faced townie but a little bit jaded.

I turned down an offer to enrol in Carleton University’s prestigious Journalism program to study English at Lakehead. For a long time, I felt as though I had passed up the biggest opportunity of my life. There was no way I could get the type of career I wanted at Lakehead, or so I thought.

For my first two years, I didn’t take advantage of the school much. I worked 20+ hour weeks at a burger joint to pay for school and didn’t take the time to really see what was available to me.

Once third year came, my confidence level built up enough that I could walk into the Argus office and ask how I could get involved. After a few months of contributing, I managed to work up the courage to apply for the news editor job and got it.

After a year of covering the antics of the student union, I feel as though student apathy is justified. We’re busy, we’re broke, and we’re tired of being talked at by people who claim to be authorities.

At the same time, I haven’t given up on LUSU. As harsh as I may have been on the executive, especially Dave Grad, I think the student union got the face-lift it needed.

I can honestly say this was the first time I’ve seen my student fees at work, other than in the form of referendums asking for more money. So I’ll say it in print: good work gentlemen, it was a pretty good year.

This May, I will be saying goodbye to my life as a student. Looking back, I don’t think I got a worse education at Lakehead than I would have anywhere else. Sure I won’t have a big name on my diploma but I will have more applicable experience than most of my Ivy League counterparts.

If I had gone somewhere else, I would never have met all of the amazing people who remind me why I wake up in the morning; I wouldn’t have taken as many risks as I have. Lakehead may not be the epicentre of cool, but the hippies here do make me smile on a daily basis.

I should also say thank you to all the amazing people I have met at and through the Argus. Good luck to Ian next year as head-honcho of this fine newspaper and his staff. I think we’ll be seeing an even better Argus come September, so stay tuned.

I don’t feel qualified to give students any enlightening advice on how to improve their university experiences. I guess I’ll acknowledge my own lesson learned— cast hesitations aside and get into the rush. Life is no good on the sidelines, so soak up as much joy and love as possible and never take it for granted.

So long Lakehead, thanks for the ride.

Stacey Goyan

News Editor 2009-2010

VP finance-elect decides to stick with LUSU and possibly delay graduation

Stacey Goyan

News Editor

Despite possibly delaying his education, incoming VP Finance Chris Vaillant, says he’s not quitting LUSU.

“I will be remaining the VP Finance-elect, delaying my placement if needs be,” said Vaillant in an interview last week.

On March 25^th, Chief Returning Officer Tomas Valiquette announced to LUSU’s Board of Directors that, because Vaillant did not complete a required course, he would be unable to fulfil his education placement. As a result, he would need to complete both the class and the placement by the spring of 2011 in order to graduate at the end of that year.

For Vaillant to complete his placement, he would need more vacation days than executive positions are allotted.

The board voted against the 15 additional days off, giving Vaillant an ultimatum: put off graduation or quit LUSU. Vaillant had until Monday to inform LUSU of his decision.

Vaillant continued talks with the registrar and the Faculty of Education to look for other options that would allow him to serve as VP Finance and also graduate in the spring of 2011.

“As long as the Faculty of Education can arrange a placement after my term is complete […] I am in the clear. So ultimately, there should no longer be a conflict with my term as VP Finance and my required academics.”

If this does not work out, Vaillant says that he will delay graduation, and subsequently delay starting his teaching career. He also offered his apologies for the situation.

“The VP Finance position has continually been plagued with drama, from the [Johnny] de Bakker debacle in 2007, to the [Ian] Dasti fiasco in 2009, and now the Vaillant matter in 2010.”

“This has obviously been a trial by fire for my upcoming term, and I hope my decision to stay with the union reflects the passion and dedication I will be carrying into this position.”

Vaillant will replace current VP finance, Josh Kolic at the end of April.

What your student union is doing while you’re on vacation

Erin Collins

Argus

As students prepare for a summer of relaxation after a hard year’s work, LUSU will be continuing to work towards improving Lakehead. While current president Dave Grad will be stepping down following the end of term, he offered the student body some insight into what will be going on following his replacement by Mike Snoddon.

“This summer’s going to be a bit busier than last summer, and next summer will probably be busier than this summer. When we [the LUSU executive] came in last summer, we didn’t have a lot of training, and there wasn’t a lot we could have meetings about. This year we’ve planned ahead.”

One of the main initiatives for LUSU this summer is the design and implementation of the strategic plan, says Grad. “The strategic plan basically outlines what we hope to accomplish in the future. It’s kind of fallen by the wayside [with] everything that’s been happening lately. [Incoming president] Mike Snoddon’s going to be in charge of that. We’ve had an initial meeting, we’ve got the ball rolling, and we intend to really focus on it once the school year is finished.”

Dave explains that the plan provides a guideline for the future activities of LUSU. It can be used to set attainable goals for new executive, who may otherwise be unaware of what the student body has been working towards in the past.

“It’s never existed before,” says Grad. “We’re looking at certain areas of focus, including the services we offer, advocating, campaigns, and events. It intends to build on what we’ve accomplished this year and make sure we continue in the same direction… It provides a little more accountability and structure.”

Another major objective for LUSU this summer is the simplification of the constitution.

“The current constitution is a confusing, 200-page bible,” explains Dave. “It contradicts itself, and it’s not really a constitution – technically it’s more just a list of bylaws. We’re looking at it being simplified and making more sense.”

Grad asserts that the reason this summer is so jam-packed is the increased forethought concerning the future of LUSU. “This is one of the first years we haven’t undertaken any major projects,” says Dave. “In the past, coming into this job, most of the executive looked at their budget as how much they can spend in one year, rather than worrying about leaving some for the future. This year, we tried to cut down on spending and leave some money for the next year, planning ahead.”

Although this summer promises to be very busy for the new executive, Grad doesn’t think students will be missing too much. While they may not be able to attend LUSU meetings over the summer, open forums will be presented to the student body with the coming of the new school year. These will mostly be spent finding out what direction students want LUSU to take, and developing a rough draft of the action plan for the next year.

“It’s been a good year,” reflects Dave. “The work this summer will be towards making next year even better.”

Asexual reproduction may seed new approach for agriculture

Anthony Marrelli

Argus

Farmers throughout the world spend an estimated $36 billion a year to buy seeds for crops, especially those with sought-after traits like hardiness and pest resistance. They can’t grow these seeds themselves because the very act of sexual reproduction erases many of those carefully selected traits. So year after year, farmers must purchase new supplies of specially produced seeds.

This problem is sidestepped by some plants, such as dandelions and poplar trees, which reproduce asexually by essentially cloning themselves. Jean-Philippe Vielle-Calzada, a Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) international research scholar, wondered whether he could learn enough about the genetics of asexual reproduction to apply it to plants that reproduce sexually.

Vielle-Calzada and his colleagues have developed research that moves us a step closer to turning sexually-reproducing plants into asexual reproducers, a finding that could have profound implications for agriculture. Agricultural companies and farmers around the world have a tremendous interest in this method; it would allow them to simplify the labour-intensive cross-hybridization methods they currently use.

As with animals, sexual reproduction in plants involves the generation of male and female gametes that each carry half of the new organism’s genes. Flowering plants exhibit the most advanced form of sexual plant reproduction, producing pollen derived sperm cells that join with egg cells to produce seeds. Each seed, then, is genetically unique. By contrast, although there are several types of asexual reproduction in plants, they all produce the same result: genetically identical daughter plants.

Vielle-Calzada’s quest to develop an asexual seed began a decade ago, when he decided to investigate apomixis, a specific type of asexual reproduction. Many species of plants use apomixis to generate viable seeds without the fusion of sperm and egg. This method of asexual reproduction results in the formation of seeds that are essentially clones of the main plant and has great potential for crop improvement.

In apomixis, reproductive cells retain the full complement of chromosomes, rather than losing half their genes via meiosis, as happens in sexual reproduction. About 350 families of flowering plants rely on apomixis to reproduce, but nearly all plants used for food reproduce sexually.

Vielle-Calzada and his team studied apomixis in Arabidopsis thaliana, a small flowering mustard plant with a compact, well-understood genome. Arabidopsis was also selected because it reproduces sexually; the team’s goal was to induce apomixis in a species that doesn’t naturally practice it.

The researchers netted a number of interesting genes in their screen, but one in particular, Argonaute 9, caught their attention immediately. The large family of Argonaute proteins has gained widespread attention among researchers because the proteins control which gene products (either RNA or proteins) a cell makes. Argonautes do this by slicing up messenger RNA before it can be translated into proteins.

The next step involved mutating the Argonaute 9 gene to produce several gametes, rather than the usual single gamete. Instead of carrying half of the species’ chromosomes, they carried the full complement of genetic material, implying that they had not undergone meiosis.

By cutting off the function of Argonaute, the scientists caused a schizophrenic reaction of the cells in the ovule, which were not supposed to become gametes. It seems that Argonaute normally prevents those cells from being transformed into gamete precursors.

This suggests that Argonaute 9 prevents the initiation of apomixis in Arabidopsis.

The finding raises the possibility that many, or maybe even all, plants have the ability to reproduce through apomixis, but that potential is suppressed by Argonaute 9. It’s possible that plants have an ancient genetic memory that allows them to reproduce asexually.

The team then searched inside the ovule to look for the pieces of RNA that Argonaute 9 degraded. They found that Argonaute chewed up 2,600 snippets of RNA. After mapping those RNA sequences back to the Arabidopsis genome, the team discovered that more than half were produced by transposons. Transposons, also called “jumping genes”, are mobile genetic elements that copy and insert themselves throughout the genome. Their function remains somewhat mysterious, although some evidence suggest they are important in controlling gene expression.

“It seems that Argonaute 9 silences transposons in the ovule of Arabidopsis”, Vielle-Calzada says. The open question now is why this occurs. His working hypothesis is that squelching the transposons prevents apomixis, but his lab is working to prove the connection.

Though he has made great progress, Vielle-Calzada is still working toward creating a fully asexual Arabidopsis plant. His current mutants do not develop completely asexual seeds. But by highlighting the role of Argonaute 9 in plant reproduction, Vielle-Calzada has moved a step closer to a slew of agricultural possibilities.