November 23, 1998

View Full Issue Table of Contents

The Mail

There is an immediate remedy for thuggery on ice, which was adopted many years ago by the Charlottetown Minor Hockey Association (“Thugs on ice,” Cover, Nov. 9). The concept was very simple. If a player was injured in an on-ice incident for which an opponent was penalized, the offending player was automatically suspended until the injured player was able to return to play.

UNIVERSITIES 98

REINVENTING THE CLASSROOM

It is nearly showtime. On a catwalk five feet above the auditorium floor, psych prof “Dr. Mike” Atkinson is pumped and ready to roll. Behind him, sharp bursts of computer-generated images fill a large screen. Hip-hop pours soothingly out of the overhead speakers as 1,200 University of Western Ontario students climb to their seats. By ROBERT SHEPPARD

UNIVERSITIES 98

CAMPUS CONFIDENTIAL

Snow falls on Montreal, bringing with it a timeworn Canadian tradition: nestling in for the winter. The cold reddens cheeks and fires hearts. November cold— whether dressed in wet eastern snow, riding a Prairie wind or bursting from a cold gust off the Pacific—sends young northerners in search of warmth.

106

THE MACLEAN'S EXCERPT

Random Excess

f, as U.S. technology writer RobertX. Cringely has suggested, Microsoft chairman Bill Gates is the Henry Ford of the personal computer in dustry, Mike Cowpland is its Lee Ia cocca-an engineer whose greatest talent is in marketing, a born sales man and inveterate hype-spinner whose failures are every bit as mem orable as his successes.

UNIVERSITIES 98

Measuring Excellence

It’s a balmy Friday afternoon in downtown Toronto, absurdly warm for late September, and hundreds of teenagers have headed out to do some serious shopping. Skateboards stuffed in their backpacks, yoked in twosomes or parties of five, they crowd down the escalators of the Metro Toronto Convention Centre. By ANN DOWSETT JOHNSTON

World

NATION ON TRIAL

As he walked into a courtroom in the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur one day last week, Anwar Ibrahim looked more like a victorious politician than the defendant in a criminal trial that could net him 20 years in jail. The 51-year-old father of six glanced at supporters gathered outside the courthouse, smiled warmly and waved enthusiastically.

UNIVERSITIES 98

A VIEW FROM ABROAD

UNIVERSITIES S In the Great Hall at Oxford’s Christ Church College, far below the arching vaults of carved and gilded hammer beams, the vegetable curry vaguely disappoints. It is a bland concoction, not quite the royal repast expected in a place where Queen Elizabeth I once feasted and where the patrons since have included such distinguished company as William Penn, Lewis Carroll and W. H. Auden, not to mention a string of 13 British prime ministers. By BARRY CAME

Canada

THE MANNING PRESCRIPTION

Preston Manning’s patience is wearing thin. Six months after the Reform leader launched his bid to unite his party with Conservatives—and anyone else willing to take on the liberals—he is getting tired of hearing about all the problems he faces in forging such a coalition. By JOHN GEDDES

134

Books

Old earth, new view

For a century or more, travel authors have faced a major problem. What can they write about now that the last corners of the earth have been visited and reported on ad nauseam? Is there anywhere that National Geographic hasn’t saturated with déjà vu? Despite such obstacles—or because of them—travel writing has probably never been better. By JOHN BEMROSE

128

Music

Totally awesome'

A few days on the concert circuit with the Canadian band Sloan defy just about all the usual rock ’n’ roll expectations. Excessive drugs and boozing? Try ginger ale and earfy-ish to bed. Dalliances with groupies? Try looking for a phone to call the steady girlfriend. A whole lot of egotism and attitude? Try nice, earnest, uncompetitive. By NICHOLAS JENNINGS

November 161998