UPEI STUDENT NEWSPAPER

FEBRUARY 6, 2002

editor-in-chief Matthew DORRELL

copy editor Joel MEGGS

production manager Jeff COLL

news editor Erin FAGAN

entertainment editor — Stephan MACLEOD

sports editor Adam GAUTHIER

photographer / style editor Jonah CAMPBELL

reporter VACANT

advertising manager Kim TRAN

distribution manager Andrea STEELE

graphic design Bill MATTHEWS

contributors Brad DEIGHAN Martin DORRELL Clare HENDERSON Dawna LABONTE Thomas LLOYD Mare MACDONALD Catherine SWEET George amd John

The Cadre is the official newspaper of the UPEI Student Union.

2,000 copies of The Cadre are printed 10 times per semester.

There are meetings open to anyone Mondays at 5:00 in Main 06.

The deadline for submissions is Friday at 5:00 PM. The opinions expressed within The Cadre do not necessarily represent the views of UPEI or the UPEI Student Union Inc. Letters to the editor: mdorrell@upei.ca

Editorial 14: ECMAs, etc.

I tried to watch the televised ECMAs. It was a struggle. Awards shows are invariably more interested in the awards themselves, rather than the recipients; the ECMAs are no different. It’s really the only explanation for the questionable practice of putting musi- cians in suits, having them squeeze awards and mumble into microphones. Maybe I’m being foolish, but wouldn’t everyone rather see more of the musi- cians performing instead?

Imagine how many different —

artists could be covered if the perpetu- ally uninteresting awards show banter was dispensed with, if the tedious thank you speeches were cut. This years ECMAs this year featured a small legion of hosts - Rick Mercer, Jonathan Torrens, Sheila Rogers, etc - and they were all dull and superfluous, with the possible exception of Sloan’s Chris Murphy who was less dull. It would be a much better advertisement for East Coast music to spend the existing time and money on better production values, more bands, and much, much less of the typical award show nonsense. Wouldn’t two hours of music be preferable, be more productive for the artists, for the sales, and thus for the industry as a whole, than two hours of music and say-nothing chit-chat?

I know that discussing TV commercials is one of the lowest forms of human conversation or endeavour, ranked even below discussing TV shows, but I found the Shell ad which aired during the ECMAs so offensive that I hope you will forgive me.

In the advertisement, the happy

Shell geologist talks to the quaint ethnic types who are concerned that their cute little ecosystem might be adversely affected by the friendly people at Shell whilst they suck more resources from the ground. But the Shell geologist is very concerned, and Shell is very con- cerned, and it’s all very touching and inspirational.

Does anyone believe the self- portrait Shell is painting? This is a com- pany that has routinely taken advantage of weak environmental laws and law enforcement in developing countries, a company that has repeatedly lied about their environmental record - one of the worst on the planet. This company has, with the assistance of the Nigerian mil- itary, attacked and killed Nigerian pro- testors and non-protestors alike; has destroyed churches and homes in order to punish and intimidate Nigerian citi- zens. There isn’t a grain of salt large enough to accompany this cynical, dis- gusting bit of corporate advertising.

On a much lighter note, have you seen Holland College’s new TV ad? More importantly, have you heard HC’s new TV ad? The one with the delightful jingle sung by some anony- mous starving artist who, one assumes, was staggeringly drunk at the time of the recording? Perhaps, in the future, the good folks at HC will realize that in addition to informing customers of the product or service you wish to sell, advertisements should also make that product or service attractive.

Matthew Dorrell, Editor-In-Chief