Page 8 September 8, 2008 SPORTS

UPEI Cadre

Olympics from page 7

When Hollywood celebri- ties start to care about an issue you know things are bad. Such is the case in Darfur, a western region of Africa’s largest and most unstable country, Sudan. A region where genocide of non-Arabs is ongoing, resulting in the deaths of as many as 400,000 and the dislocation of as many as 2.5 million. The Arab-dominat- ed government initiated this genocide, by supporting an Arab militia known as the Janjaweed (meaning “devils on horseback’’) that kill, rob, and systematically rape all non-Arabs, in order to force- fully impede non-Arab rebel groups.

China’s role in this human- itarian disaster is that they financially and diplomati- cally support the Sudanese government. The reason? Oil, and lots of it. Sudan relies on oil exports to drive its economy, and China relies on oil from countries, such as Sudan, to support its over one billion inhabitant population.

By purchasing oil from a government that supports genocide, some, such as Sudan researcher Eric Reeves and actress Mia Farrow, have begun to refer to the 2008 Summer Olympic Games as_ the “Genocide Olympics.” China’s willingness to act for greed in Sudan has only served to highlight its disap- pointing inaction with regards to other troubled countries. For instance, China continues to hold close economic and military ties with Myanmar, refusing

to support sanctions against the country, even though the current regime continues to exterminate and mass rape certain ethnic minorities.

Additionally, China refuses to grant Tibet independence, going as far as to use the Tibetan antelope as one of its mascots, even though organizations like Students For a Free Tibet continue to build a strong case high- lighting what they call “Tibet’s historical independ- ence.”

Even though China has been provided the perfect platform to right a history of wrongs, it continues to sup- port genocide in Darfur and human rights violations in Myanmar, and refuse Tibet its rightful independence.

When faced with a barrage of bad publicity, what is a country to do? Censor everyone, of course. Even though as part of their Olympic bid China prom- ised that they would allow the media freedom to broad- cast how and what they saw fit, they have since revoked that guarantee. Such broken promises have been declared as unjust censorship. For Fernando Pardo, head of sports for the European Broadcasting Union, there are many more questions than answers heading into the Games: “Why can’t we broadcast freely during the day?

Why don’t we have a nor- mal timetable as was prom- ised in the beginning? The Chinese [don’t] give a clear answer, only excuses.”

Especially troubling for the Chinese is the prospect of

live broadcasts from loca-

tions such as Tiananmen Square, that could result in riots. According to Susan

Brownell, a China expert |

from the University of Missouri-St. Louis, “Chinese officials are aware that for a lot of the world, Tiananmen Square brings back memories of June 4 [1989]-and what in the West is sometimes known as the Tiananmen Massacre.”

If the Chinese are con- cerned about not creating more horrific memories, they certainly have a lot of work to do during and after these Olympic Games if they do not wish to leave a bad taste in the collective mouth of the human race. What humanity will be viewing this August is more than just a sporting event, but a view into China and therefore a vision of our col- lective futurity.

Humanity is about to expe- rience for better or worse, what Time Magazine chris- tened the “Chinese Century.”

Exhibition Soccer at UPEIl finds Panthers with a win and a tie

Recent exhibition games against St. Francis Xavier and Mount Allison

UPEI vs. Mt. Allison University

August 31, 2008

UPEI recently won an exhibition game against Mt. Allison woman’s soccer by a close margin of | to 0 with a goal by No. 2 Carolyn McKenna. on UPEI’s home turf. ©

UPEI vs. St. Francis Xavier

August 31, 2008

In UPEI male soccer action, our Panthers man- aged a tie with St. FX.

The lone scorer for St FX was Jamar Dixon, while Nathan Snowie managed a goal for the home team.

Nashville Predators sign former Panther Hockey star —

A former Panther is getting his chance to shine.

Forward Joel Ward was signed to a one-year contract with the Nashville Predators this past summer.

The contract states Ward will receive a salary of $500,000 at the National Hockey League (NHL) level and $70,000 while playing at the American Hockey League (AHL) level.

The 27-year-old former Panther posted AHL career

highs, with 79 games played, 21 goals, 20 assists for a total of 41 points, while playing with Minnesota’s primary development affili- ate, the Houston Aeros.

In addition to this contract, the right-winger appeared in 11 games with the Wild while playing at the NHL level.

The Toronto, Ont. native spent four seasons with the school, from 2001 to 2005, knocking up 76 goals and 76

assists for a total of 135 points in 96 games.

He also earned conference MVP, CIS All-Canadian and CIS Most Sportsmanlike Player honours while he was a senior in the 2004-2005 season.

He is one of three Panther Alumni to play with the

NHL.

With information obtained from the UPEI Athletics webpage.