Volume 10, Issue 2

October 2010

“Most people do not really want freedom, because freedom involves

responsibility, and most people are frightened of responsibility.”
- Sigmund Freud

IN THIS ISSUE:
The Myth of Post-MIT Careers
Guest Article by Stuart Thompson
Hear What You’ve Been Missing
Ray Balberman
Things to do Before You Graduate
MIT Soph Team www.mitsc.ca
and much more

Disclaimer: The sole responsibility for the content of this publication lies with the authors. Its contents do not reflect the opinion of the
University Students’ Council of the University of Western Ontario (“USC”). The USC assumes no responsibility or liability for any error, ESAELP PLEASE
ELCYCER RECYCLE
inaccuracy, omission or comment contained in this publication or for any use that may be made of such information by the reader.
 CONTENTS
3 10
Editor’s Note The Great American Soap
Winning Hearts, Losing Minds Opera
STAFF The genre that refuses to die
4 JENNIFER SPENCE
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Hadrian Mertins-Kirkwood
zine.editor@gmail.com
New Kids on the Block
Three Stunning Additions to your MITSC
11
HEAD COPY EDITOR Letter from the President FIMS’ Search Engine
Taylor Pearce ERIKA CASUPANAN The Research Help Desk
zine.copyeditor@gmail.com LAUREN NISBET
LAYOUT EDITOR 5
Mary Wong 12
zine.layouteditor@gmail.com The Myth of Post-MIT
Careers The Blindside of Sex
ADVERTISING AND WEB EDITOR COLLEEN WATSON
Jonathan Forani It takes more than a piece of paper to
zine.adteam@gmail.com land a media job
STUART THOMPSON 13
CONTRIBUTORS 6 Selling Out
The truth about music sales
WRITERS Our Social Network EMILY STEWART
Ray Balberman, Paula Brent, Erika
Obsession
Casupanan, Gillian Marsh, Linley
And why we can’t get away from it all 14
McConnell, Lauren Nisbet, Taylor
Rivers, Jennifer Spence, Emily GILLIAN MARSH Print is not Dead
Stewart, Stuart Thompson, Julian But that doesn’t mean we can’t have a
Uzielli, Colleen Watson 7 blog, right?
JONATHAN FORANI
ILLUSTRATORS Taking Back Our Online
Gillian Cummings, Olivia Griggs, Liam
Grue, Meg Hackney, Warren Kong,
Identities 15
Gillian Marsh, Matthew Winquist JULIAN UZIELLI
Things to Do Before You
COPY EDITORS
May Chow, Meg French, Liam Grue,
8 Graduate
MIT SOPH TEAM
Katie Hetherman, Vincy Kwong, Beth Hear What You’ve Been
Lucente, Andie Wright
PHOTOGRAPHERS
Missing
What is the importance of music fidelity
16
Thomas Pilgrim in the age of the earbud? Do You Want to Contribute
RAY BALBERMAN to the Zine?
BE MORE THAN A READER: An mitZine Flowchart

CONTRIBUTE TO THE ZINE

We’re always looking out for talented writers,
illustrators, copy editors, artists, and other READ
contributors. Make your voice heard and your
work seen in the official FIMS undergraduate THE ZINE
student publication. ONLINE
Contact Hadrian Mertins-Kirkwood for
www.scribd.
information or inquiries:
com/mitZine
zine.editor@gmail.com
Or visit us online at www.mitsc.ca
 EDITOR’S NOTE

WINNING HEARTS, LOSING MINDS

I was hesitant to write about the possible faculty affirm that they are “fully committed to reaching an security and research freedom. Likewise, proposed
strike—by the time you read this a contract could appropriate and responsible negotiated settlement”. sanctions on any activity deemed to reflect poorly
very well have been reached, or the strike might Cryptic press releases and messages emailed on the “Western Brand” could cost your critically-
already be in full swing—but I decided that the directly to students have managed to placate thinking, socially active MIT and MPI profs their jobs
number of MIT themes surrounding this issue undergrads without addressing any real areas of and dissuade competent outsiders from coming
deserved some attention. If a strike here at Western contention. Assuming the administration has good here to replace them. Ultimately, the long-term
is news to you, westerngazette.ca/uwofa is a good reasons to impose new provisions on faculty, they quality of education at UWO is at stake.
place to start getting informed. have done very little to make them public.
Advocates for the UWOFA will tell you to speak
Although students are essentially an afterthought in Unfortunately, a confidentiality clause in the your mind and email UWO president Amit Chakma
these negotiations, the public relations battle (read: negotiations has made it very difficult for students at achakma@uwo.ca, but I worry that there is
propaganda war) to gain student support is alive and to learn just how close both parties really are to very little we can actually do as students. Despite
well. The UWO Faculty Association has cried out reaching an agreement. The administration and being important stakeholders at the university,
against the “culture of control” that the administration UWOFA are apparently divided on several key, undergraduates at Western do not have access
is trying to impose, and published extensive guides ideological issues (their definitions of “fair” and to the kind of relevant, uncensored information
for faculty and students about how to prepare for a “necessary” are incredibly disparate), and without we need to take a position and take action on this
strike. Faculty have made impassioned speeches to first agreeing on what “academic freedom” really issue. It looks like we are destined to suffer either a
their classes, written letters to campus publications, means, it appears both sides are going to have a potentially devastating strike in the short-term (lost
and urged students to write to the administration nearly impossible time reaching a settlement. To time, credits, and tuition), or a disastrous decline in
demanding explanations. The UWOFA even hosted make matters even more complicated, pay and the quality of education in the long-term.
an Information Picket on campus to “reach out to benefits have still not been discussed.
Either way, we lose.
Western students”.
Why should you care? Any significant changes to
Hadrian Mertins-Kirkwood
Through a variety of media including Facebook the institution of tenure will cost FIMS some of its
and Twitter, Western’s administration continues to best professors as they seek universities with job mitZine Editor-in-Chief

ARE YOU A
MUSICIAN
IN MIT, MTP,
OR MPI?
DO YOU SING, PLAY IN
A BAND, DJ, PRODUCE,
OR MAKE MUSIC IN ANY
OTHER WAY?
Contact the mitZine
about being featured in
an upcoming article about
musicians in our faculty:
Sam Allen, MIT
photo by Thomas Pilgrim zine.editor@gmail.com
NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK
THREE STUNNING ADDITIONS TO YOUR MITSC

PAULA BRENT
Alumni Relations Commissioner
Hello mittens. I’m this year’s Alumni Relations
Commissioner and it’s my role is to find out what
past MIT students are doing so that YOU have a
better idea of all the dyno opportunities that await
you with a degree in MIT/MPI/MTP. Careers. Jobs.
Real life. Curious phenomena. So whether you’re
an aspiring journalist, filmmaker, activist, or b-boy
(like myself), I want to put you in touch with people
who are already there and who are willing to help
brothers and sisters get there too. So start dreaming,
wild ones. The future is coming. Way fast.
pbrent@uwo.ca
LINLEY MCCONNELL
First Year Representative
Hey MIT! A little about me: I love Nutella, dancing,
Ryan Reynolds, and Latin. As one of your first year
reps it’s my job to make your first year in MIT the
best year of your life. That, and the job to make MIT
look like the most badass faculty on campus. If you
have any questions or concerns about the program
or just want to put any ideas out there, just let either
Taylor or me know! Never take life seriously, no one
gets out alive anyway.
lmcconn9@uwo.ca
TAYLOR RIVERS
First Year Representative
HEY MIT! I’m very excited to be the first year
representative of the most badass faculty at
Western. I look forward to all the MIT events this
year, particularly anything that involves dancing.
I hope to provide the first years with a voice on
council and put together a wicked event for you all
to attend. But hmm.. what else, oh! I love music,
I own way too much plaid, and am full of useless
knowledge about pop culture. That is all. See you
soon!
trivers4@uwo.ca

LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT edited by May Chow

Welcome to the first of a series of “Letter from the
President” blurbs to let you guys know what I’ve
been working on. Since September, it’s been very
common for FIMS students to come to me asking,
“Sooo... how is being president going? Wait... uh...
what does the president do exactly?” I suppose it’s
probably a good idea to clear up what I do.
The job of the MITSC President, in a nut shell, is to
ensure council runs smoothly. The responsibilities
include delegating tasks, acting as a supportive
resource to all members of council, familiarizing
myself with USC policies by attending Clubs
Training and Clubs Finance Training, and ensuring
that the MITSC Constitution is upheld by all
members. The president’s responsibilities also vary
throughout the year. For example, in September a
large responsibility is filling vacant council positions,
in January a responsibility is organizing debates
during the USC election period, and in March the
president works on transitioning the incoming
president and councillor.
4 [mitZine v10.i2]
As the MITSC President, I represent undergraduate graduate? Hopefully Paula and this new position will
FIMS students on FIMS committees including be able to help you figure it out. Paula has been
Faculty Council, Faculty Town Hall, Space working hard to collect alumni contact information
Committee, and as the Chair of the Undergraduate and will be creating a blog that profiles FIMS alumni.
Student Fund Committee. I also act as a link between The blog, which will be updated throughout the
FIMS students and the USC on committees such year, will feature an alumni, their career history, and
as the University Students’ Council, the Standing what they have been involved in at Western. Pretty
Communications Policy Committee, and the USC neat, huh?
Presidential Roundtable. That probably sounds like
As the Chair of the Undergraduate Student Fund
a lot of meetings, but I am working to represent all
Committee, I’ve also been working with the
of you. So if you ever have any feedback on the
committee to review funding proposals, approve and
MITSC, the USC, or the faculty, please let me know
facilitate projects, and ensure that all of the projects
so I can direct your feedback to the proper place.
are beneficial to FIMS students. The MITSC is also
So what has been happening since September? working on programming for the fall which include
Three new members have been added to the MPI events, a charity coffee house, a social event,
MITSC. The two first year reps, Linley McConnell and much more!
and Taylor Rivers, are a rad pair who will be the link
That’s all for now, kids. Remember, I always love
between first year students and the council. This
to chat.
year the MITSC has also introduced a new position
called the Alumni Relations Commissioner, which Erika Casupanan
is filled this year by the lovely Paula Brent. Ever MITSC President
wonder what happens to FIMS students after they ecasupan@uwo.ca
 GUEST ARTICLE

THE MYTH OF POST-MIT CAREERS

IT TAKES MORE THAN A PIECE OF PAPER TO LAND A MEDIA JOB
written by Stuart Thompson, MIT Alum and Gazette Editor-in-Chief // illustrated by Liam Grue // edited by Hadrian Mertins-Kirkwood
I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but you’ll probably especially rocky, with advertising down and costs came not from the classroom but from the
exit MIT jobless, penniless and directionless. I’ve cut across the board. Young recruits have to show newsroom.
seen it happen: entire classrooms filled with people employers why they’re one in a million—literally.
Stephen Brunt, a sports columnist for the Globe and
who do school work for four years and nothing else. There are no more handouts. For MIT students, this
Mail, worked at the Gazette when he was studying
At the end of it all, they walked away with little more means doing some real work at CHRW, the Gazette
political science at Western. Like hundreds of
than a piece of paper and a head filled with theory. or the mitZine. And I mean right now.
Gazette alumni working in the industry, he says
After all, MIT is theory-based program, not a At the end of every year, I see a handful of MIT employers want graduates who’ve been involved
professional one. So while engineering students students walk into the Gazette’s office. Nervous, with campus media.
graduate and become engineers, you graduate and shy and unsure of themselves, they say they’re
“I haven’t met many people in journalism who
become a graduate. A lot of MIT students have none interested in journalism. The problem is they’ve
were worth a damn who didn’t have some kind
of the practical skills employers are looking for. never tried it and they’ve got one month before they
of university newspaper stint,” he told the Alumni
graduate. Then the opportunity is lost forever.
But there’s a bright side. Unlike Ivey, MIT is not Gazette a few years ago. “It draws those who have
overloaded with homework, meaning spare time is With no experience, you can walk into the Gazette’s a genuine passion for the craft.”
easier to come by. Class schedules are average, office and get published the next day. Trial-by-fire
Whatever you make of your time at Western,
meaning you’ll have Fridays off and weekends free. journalism is the best training on campus, period.
consider that places like the Gazette, CHRW, and
And for those of you without part-time jobs, your And that paper’s no small potatoes either. The
the mitZine all close their doors once you graduate.
commitments outside of class amount to little more Gazette is the only campus daily in all of Canada,
And if you want employers to open theirs, you’ll
than shining your shoes for the APK Live. printing 11,000 copies four times a week to serve
need more than that piece of paper.
about 30,000 students, staff, and faculty.
This makes you a great candidate for some
volunteering. I don’t mean soup kitchens and If you’re just looking for resume padding, you’ll find LEARN MORE
pet hospitals. I mean getting your hands dirty in it with campus media. Volunteer with the Gazette www.westerngazette.ca/contributions
newspapers, magazines, video, and radio—all on five times and you become “staff.” That doesn’t www.chrwradio.com/training
campus. And if you want to leave MIT with anything sound too bad for a resume, eh? www.mitsc.ca/zine.html
more than a degree, you’ll have to get involved with
But if you actually apply yourself, you can have
one of them.
stories to tell employers. You can talk about chasing
These are the stakes. We’re at a time when entry- down leads and writing breaking news stories. You
level jobs are rare, unemployment rates are high, can talk about interviewing artists with international
and competition is stiff. The media industry is fame. You can talk about how your best education
[mitZine v10.i2] 5
OUR SOCIAL NETWORK OBSESSION
AND WHY WE CAN’T GET AWAY FROM IT ALL
written and illustrated by Gillian Marsh // edited by Liam Grue
Physical social networks have thrived since religion
and the creation of churches, but as time passes,
their digital counterpart is becoming even more
of an obsession. With the introduction of online
communities such as Friendster, MySpace, and
most recently Facebook and Twitter, have we
become too involved?
As a student in the Faculty of Information and Media
Studies, Facebook seems to make its way into
every lecture and every tutorial of every class. But
as I entered my social networking class last month
and the weeks passed, I realized the true extent of
this generation’s fixation.
In our first class, we were discussing—duh—
Facebook. A girl raised her hand and said something
along the lines of: “No matter where I intend to go on
the internet, I always automatically type ‘facebook.
com’ into my URL box, before re-typing the URL I
meant to write.” Though I can’t say I do the same,
it was shocking to me that this was said and that
others seemed to relate. It made me question this
generation’s dependence on social networks and
where I fell on this scale of the affected.
Nearing the end of September, I saw this sort of
obsessive behaviour again as two of the largest
online communities faced very public technical
issues. Within two days of each other, Facebook
and Twitter were struck by complications that led to
user outcries and hundreds of news stories.
On September 21st, Twitter experienced a hack for photos and information really impact us? If we
where ‘tweets’ of blocked-out text generated popup can no longer remember the birthdays of our best
windows that redirected users to pornographic friends or get people together without making a
websites. Though this was the first hack on Twitter, Facebook event for it, are we not too involved?
many users did not even notice the issue because
Yet there is something inside of us that when we
they were ‘tweeting’ through alternative sites such
think about our reliance, we just push away. Almost
as ÜberTwitter and “bit.ly”.
all of us feed off these websites and watch those
On the 23rd, Facebook was disrupted after having who have allowed us to see. Without issue, we log
issues with a third-party networking provider that on every day and share more than we really should ,
caused the site to be slow or unavailable to some often checking back throughout the day to see what
users. Although Facebook has been down in the else is new.
past, a few hours without it creates quite a stir
By no means am I suggesting we give up these
among its users.
social networks. For some it would be impossible,
In both cases, it did not take more than an hour before and I can admit giving up Facebook isn’t number
news stories surfaced and users of one network one on my list of priorities. I probably seem rather
posted on the other about their dissatisfaction with fanatical as this article goes on, but I’ve slowly
the temporary complications. At this point, you’ve realized throughout the years that posting less is
probably already forgotten about this incident. better.
After thinking about our generation’s obsession, In our digital age, thinking about our connections
I remember the day that Facebook went down. and the impacts of these connections is important.
I was talking to my roommate about a friend of If we continue our blind faith, we will no longer be
mine and was unsure if my roommate had met able to think logically about the information we
the friend. I immediately decided to show her share. This information must be seen as a bullet
pictures of them on Facebook. As the page slowly shot from a gun—once the trigger’s been pulled, we
loaded, I—admittedly—was slightly annoyed at the can’t bring that bullet back.
inconvenience, giving up on the search after a few
And that’s a feeling we don’t want to become
minutes. I found myself realizing my dependence
obsessed with.
on the site. So how does the instinctive typing of
‘facebook.com’ and reliance on these networks
TAKING BACK OUR ONLINE IDENTITIES
written by Julian Uzielli // illustrated by Warren Kong // edited by Beth Lucente
Facebook is creepy and weird. There, I said it.
Unless your privacy settings are as high as possible
(and the default settings give you no privacy at
all), pretty much anyone on your hundreds-strong
friends list can look you up, creep your photos
and interactions with other people, and generally
invade your privacy. Due to Facebook, that one
guy you met once a year ago, added as a friend
and haven’t spoken to since (admit it, you’re
thinking of someone) probably knows more about
your personal life than your parents. All your
Facebook information is stored on a remote server,
accessible quite easily by anyone who can guess
your (probably simple) password—or if your privacy
settings are at the default minimum, anyone with a
web connection.
Did I mention that I’m a Facebook addict? Call it
hypocrisy, but I just can’t bite the bullet and delete
my profile. It’s not the social networking aspect
that bothers me; to be sure, it’s a valuable tool
for procrastinators and responsibility-shirkers
everywhere (it’s pretty good for staying connected
with friends, too). Sure, it’s a productivity vampire,
but damn if it isn’t entertaining. What bothers
me, and thousands of like-minded individuals, is
the privacy concerns. True, my privacy settings
may be at almost the maximum level, and yes, I
don’t use my real surname on my profile, but that
nagging concern is always there: whatever I post
will be there forever, floating on a server that I
can’t control, and which is accessible to millions of
others. What we need is a social network with all
the social benefits of Facebook without the privacy Moglen at NYU concerning privacy issues online.
concerns, and four students from NYU have come They dreamed up a social network that removed
up with just the thing. the middleman in the cloud and connected users
directly to one another, and decided to make a
They call it Diaspora: “the privacy aware, personally
summer project out of it. They started to put the
controlled, do-it-all, open source social network”.
word out, setting up a fundraiser on Kickstart.
It’s still in development, but it seeks to address
com so that they could support themselves while
many of the common privacy concerns with online
devoting their summers to the project. Their goal
social networking. While early screenshots show
was to raise $10,000; to date, they have raised over
that the user interface is clearly Facebook-inspired,
$200,000. Last month they released the source
there are two major differences with Diaspora: first
code onto Github, a Google Docs-type website for
is that it runs on open-source software, meaning it
collaborative software development, and within a
can be edited and improved by anyone who wishes
week they were the tenth most popular project on
to contribute. Second, and most importantly, it is
the site. Apparently they aren’t the only ones who
totally decentralized. Unlike Facebook, where users
value privacy online.
upload their data to the cloud, Diaspora users will
be the masters of their own data. Each computer Diaspora is far from ready for consumer release;
running Diaspora is called a “seed”, and each seed everyone working on the project is doing so as a
essentially acts as a small server on the network: volunteer, and there is still plenty of programming
all your data stays right where it is, and you retain to be done. But it is real, and it is coming to a seed
full ownership and rights over it. If you decided to near you. Whether it will catch on or is doomed to
remove some embarrassing pictures after a night of be lost in the sea of failed social networks remains
drinking, for example, you wouldn’t have to worry to be seen. For now, I suppose I’m stuck with
about them still being archived on the cloud or being a total hypocrite, denouncing Facebook’s
anyone else’s server. Once they’re gone, they’re social panopticon in my status updates. However,
gone for good. considering the immense community support for
Diaspora on Kickstart and Github, and the growing
This is the central philosophy behind Diaspora:
public backlash against Mark Zuckerberg’s war on
sharing and privacy don’t have to be mutually
privacy, I think this could be just the paradigm shift
exclusive. Diaspora’s student founders, Dan
the social networking landscape needs.
Grippi, Maxwell Salzberg, Raphael Sofaer, and Ilya
Zhitomirskiy, were inspired to begin their project For more information about Diaspora, check out
in February 2010 after a talk by Professor Eben www.joindiaspora.com
[mitZine v10.i2] 7
 HEAR WHAT YOU’VE BEEN
MISSING
WHAT IS THE IMPORTANCE OF MUSIC FIDELITY IN THE
AGE OF THE EARBUD?
written by Ray Balberman // edited by Andie Wright
illustration by Matthew Winquist // photograph by Hadrian Mertins-Kirkwood
Most people wouldn’t walk into an art gallery, snap a picture of a masterpiece painting with their
digital camera, and then view that photo off the screen of their iPod or iPhone. That would be like
giving a big five-fingered slap to the face of the artist.
Ironically, listening to MP3s is the equivalent of viewing a painting on a three-inch screen.
When a studio recording is transferred to a CD, it is compressed to a tenth of its
original size. When you rip that CD to your iTunes, the file is compressed again by
a factor of ten. So, the average MP3 actually represents one-one hundredth
of the musical data a recording engineer actually hears when mixing
the song. With a tiny digital image of a painting, you would lose
the depth and detail of the work, the colours would be slightly
different, and the overall aura of experiencing the painting
would be destroyed.
The same thing happens when listening to an MP3.
Subtle details such as the squeak of a finger on a
guitar string or the reverberation of the room the
song was recorded in will probably be lost. This
is okay if you are listening to Biebz’ “Baby” or
the ever-popular, bar-star favourite “Shots” by
LMFAO. However, for other more subtle types
of music like classical—okay let’s be serious—
folk rock, R+B, jazz, or rap, you’re not going to
get an as immersive experience as you would
listening to the raw, uncompressed audio.
If you describe the music you listen to as
“pumpin’,” chances are you will be okay with
MP3s. Most Top-40 music has all the subtlety of
a bunch of rowdy Sophs banging pots and pans at
8 a.m. during O-Week, so losing the nuances of the
music isn’t really a problem. In all seriousness, MP3s are
inherently biased against music with a lot of dynamic range, or
music that tries to set up a sonic atmosphere.
As if the compression already applied to the song isn’t bad
enough, a lot of people choose to compound the problem by
listening to music through cheap iPod earbuds. Thank you very
much Coldplay, for spending months in the studio recording Viva La Vida
and hiring one of the world’s best producers to work on your album with
you. It really sounds great on these Chinese-made earbuds!
Thankfully, there currently seems to be a move away from the culture of the earbud by young
adults. Two of the hottest selling commodities on the market right now are Dr. Dre’s “Beats”
headphones and turntables. So it seems that some people care about the quality of the music
they listen to. The stoner kids revel in the novelty of listening to that vinyl copy of “Dark Side of the
Moon” they so “luckily” managed to find, and the hardcore hip-hop fans pump their “Beats,” to see
if their headphones can rival the absurd amount of bass that twin subwoofers put out in their car.
Okay, now that I have managed to alienate anyone who might still be reading this, and have made
myself out to sound like an elitist audiophile snob, I’ll be a good little MIT student and talk about
the cultural implications of MP3 listening. Oh, and I’ll let some other people talk. By the way, I
think “Beats” headphones sound great, with an extremely full—almost too full—bass response
that most headphones don’t offer. I also own a turntable.
8 [mitZine v10.i2]
André Doucette, producer and engineer at London’s
own Charterhouse Recording Studios, believes
that MP3s have changed the culture of listening
to music. “In the past kids would gather around a
turntable and listen to an album from beginning
to end. That doesn’t happen much anymore. The
music industry has shifted towards promoting single
songs.”
Musician, audio engineer, and UWO popular music
professor Dr. Jay Hodgson agrees. “Our parents
[the baby boomers] valued popular music. It was the
chosen expression of their culture. Not movies, not
books, music. People would sit
around a good
stereo
system and
listen to a record.”
If listening to music isn’t at the centre of
youth culture anymore, what is? The answer is
visual stimulation. Movies, television, and video
games have stepped into the void that music left
and have become the chosen expression of young
peoples’ identities.
“We live in a visual culture. Most people can tell
the difference between standard and high definition
televisions. But most people can’t tell the difference
between MP3 files and CD quality audio,” Doucette
notes. “People will buy an expensive high definition
television and cheap out on the surround sound
system.”
The truth is most people can’t really hear the
reduced fidelity of MP3s when they listen to their
iPod. But consider this: when was the last time
your iPod gave you an auditory experience as
captivating and immersive as going to a movie
theatre? Granted, movie soundtracks are mixed in
5.1 surround sound, but in terms of audio fidelity,
movie scores are the pinnacle of any commercial
product. Isn’t it rather ironic that an industry based
on moving pictures has better sound quality than
the music industry itself?
“Discussions of fidelity are simply not in the everyday If I were an executive in the music industry I would
consumer’s vocabulary,” says Dr. Hodgson.
In my opinion, the best thing the average music
listener can do is go to a movie theatre and watch
a film with a great score and consider how much
more powerful the experience is, how much depth
can be created and how clear the sound is across
all frequencies.
Alternatively, find someone with a Blu-Ray player
and a good 5.1 surround system. Just as there is
high definition video, there is high definition
audio too. Blu-Rays are the only commercial
medium in existence which play music In my opinion, the reason most people download
back in an uncompressed format.
Not many people even know
that such a thing as HD audio
even exists. It does, and it is of
exponentially higher quality than
a CD. I truly believe the medium
of the CD is obsolete. All music “We [audio engineers] are just sort of waiting for the
studios today are capable of day when MP3s finally go away,” laughs Doucette.
recording at a quality that far
surpasses the capabilities of a
CD. Even the home recordings I
make on my laptop are of higher
quality than CDs can support.
Right now, the music industry
isn’t making any money. We’ve
all heard the industry rhetoric
which condemns anyone who illegally
downloads music. I’m going to avoid that
argument right now, but on that note, here is
some simple logic for the music industry executives:
if something isn’t working, try another approach.
I would love to see a new medium for music
developed. No industry in the world waits as long
to release new product innovations as the music
industry does. In fact, ever since the late 1950s,
when stereo sound was introduced on LP records,
the product that is “the album” has hardly changed.
The average LP contains somewhere between 30
and 60 minutes of music, album artwork, and some
liner notes. The CD is essentially the same product,
just on a different medium, with only a marginal
improvement in sound quality from vinyl (some fans
of vinyl would debate this last point).
Ford didn’t stop with the Model T. We don’t carry
around cell phones as big as bricks anymore. So
how can the music industry hope to continue to exist
without being innovative and creating something
that we can call a new product?
If Blu-Ray discs can surpass DVDs, than a new
medium for audio can surpass CDs. It certainly
won’t be cheap. People would most likely need to
buy a new hardware device to play the new file
type—the average internet connection isn’t fast
enough to transfer uncompressed audio yet—and
people would need to feel the desire to greatly
improve their speaker system or headphones.
want to make this transition now. The baby boomers
are almost past their prime consuming age. And we
all know how the baby boomers love to tell us how
their music from the 60s and 70s is “way better than
today’s garbage.” It’s time to sell them re-masters
of their favourite Rolling Stones or Eric Clapton
records on a new medium, and get them buying
new speaker systems.
“The desire to amass 3000 MP3s has surpassed
the desire to own eight great albums,” says Dr.
Hodgson.
music so freely is that they have lost any sort of
reverence or respect for an archaic product that the
industry is selling us. It’s time for the music industry
to try a new medium for storing digital audio data.
Financially, they can’t really do any worse than they
already are doing.
André, I couldn’t agree with you more.
RAY’S TIPS
1. Know why mp3s are bad. In general, they:
are mid-range biased, distort in the upper
frequencies (making pops, clicks, buzzing or
hissing), lose the nuances of the recording,
and sound “thin” (not thick and spatial).
2. Consumer beware: before you run out and
buy a super-expensive set of headphones, take
a closer look at the files you are playing. Daniel
Gauthier, a third-year popular music student
laments, “when I bought my new headphones
[Beats by Dr. Dre] I loved how they sounded,
but I began to notice how crappy my MP3s all
sounded. Now I have to go back and re-rip all
of my CDs at a higher quality.”
3. Know how to make your digital audio files
sound good. Rip your CDs at raw quality .wav
or .aiff, and if you’re moderately concerned
about hard drive space, encode your CDs and
download your music at 256kbps or 320kbps.
Use an AAC encoder and enable variable
bit rate encoding (VBR). Don’t use 128 kbps
MP3s. There is no other way to say it—they
sound terrible.
Hard drive space gets cheaper every day. A 1
Terrabyte hard drive now runs around $100,
tax included. That’s 100,000 good quality
AAC files at 10 megabytes each, or 25,000
uncompressed .wav files.
[mitZine v10.i2] 9
 THE GREAT AMERICAN SOAP OPERA
THE GENRE THAT REFUSES TO DIE
written by Jennifer Spence // Illustrated by Olivia Griggs // edited by Vincy Kwong

A historic moment in the history of media occurred Phillips’ first big hit was Guiding Light in 1937,
between 2:00 and 3:00 pm on September 17, whose instant popularity had advertisers falling over
2010—if you don’t know what happened, ask your themselves to sponsor the show. Phillips believed
grandmother. that a radio serial’s main purpose was to be a “utility
to its sponsors.” She made a habit of introducing
On that Friday, America’s second longest-running
major story events, such as weddings, that could
daytime soap opera, As The World Turns, aired its
easily lend themselves to tie-in products and
final episode. By 3:01 pm, more than fifty years of
endorsements. In fact, the term ‘soap opera’ comes
heartache, heartbreak, and breakups in the small
from the fact that the earliest advertised products
town of Oakdale, Illinois, had reached their end, and
were—you guessed it—soap.
not a dry eye could be found in nursing homes and
retirement communities across the nation. When television came of age in the early 1950s,
CBS Radio was keen for GL to transfer over to the
Yet therein lies the problem. Citing falling ratings and
visual medium. Before Phillips went on to create
aging viewers, TV networks are cancelling daytime
ATWT and Days Of Our Lives, she was initially
serials left and right, replacing them with cheaper
skeptical of this new technology. For the first four
crowd-pleasing fare; ATWT is just the latest victim
years, she had the show produce two different
in a long line of casualties. Only a handful of soaps
versions—one for radio and one for TV—in case
remain on air under constant threat of replacement
the whole ‘television thing’ didn’t work out.
by reruns of The Price Is Right.
Television daytime soap operas continued to thrive.
How did this happen? How did television’s most
The format’s emphasis on dialogue over action
bankable genre go so wrong?
scenes meant that housewives could go about their
Historians have credited the birth of the soap opera daily tasks while listening to the TV from another
genre to Irna Phillips, an American radio writer in room. The segmented story lines and repetitive
the 1930s. Phillips knew that if she targeted shows explanations of past events made it easy for (even
to housewives, she could attract a previously the most casual) viewers to keep up with the exploits
overlooked demographic that held considerable of their favourite fictional characters.
purchasing power.
Let’s flash forward to 2010, where soap opera ratings
10 [mitZine v10.i2]
are at an all-time low. In this post-network era,
television episodes can be streamed, ad-free,
with the click of a button, and no one has five
hours a week to dedicate to a single show. Even
worse, the most desirable demographic—the
Internet generation—have no interest in their
grandparents’ outdated entertainment. As a sign
of the times, the industry’s oldest and largest
sponsor, Procter & Gamble, bailed out of the
soap sponsorship business just last year, while
other companies are set to follow.
Not everyone in the soap industry, however, is
ready to give up on this legendary genre just
yet. Many influential cast and crewmembers are
pulling together to give the traditional American
soap opera a not so traditional home on the
Internet.
In the past several years, the Internet-only soap
opera has gained considerable momentum.
FIMS’ SEARCH ENGINE
The most popular online shows have attracted THE RESEARCH HELP DESK
some of the biggest names in the industry: the written by Lauren Nisbet, MITSC VP Academic
star-studded “Gotham” reads as a who’s-who of illustrated by Mary Wong // edited by Meg French
soap actors; “Imaginary Bitches” was recently
It’s that time of year again. September has come and gone, leaves are changing, the air is crisp, and
nominated for an Emmy; and the actors and
school bags are heavy. Brace yourselves, it’s midterm season. Whether you’re hunkered down all day
storylines on “Venice” (unofficially) picked up
at Weldon or typing frantically at NCB between classes, we are all facing the same onslaught of essays,
from where Guiding Light left off. The financial
exams, and assignments that won’t stop coming until the end of the semester. Here’s a thought to keep
backgrounds to these shows are just as
your spirits up: you are not alone. Not only are your peers stressing right along with you, but Western offers
untraditional as their distribution method: the
tons of resources to help you out during this busy time, so take advantage!
leading shows are financed through private
donations, fan fundraising, and subscription- Fran Gray, subject librarian for Information and Media Studies, is part of the knowledgeable and experienced
only access. staff at Weldon Library who are always happy to help with anything you may need. The Research Help
Desk—located on the main floor—provides assistance for any essay or assignment research that could
Interestingly enough, the traditional daytime
be making you frantic.
soap opera—a genre known for its characters’
revolving door romances and a never ending When approaching a research project it’s easy to become overwhelmed, especially when you don’t know
supply of evil twins—is under constant pressure where to begin. “Refine your research question and understand the background of your topic,” are the first
to remain as un-controversial as possible. If pieces of advice Fran gives for any struggling researcher. Having a more specific focus allows you to be
a soap is too adventurous, like introducing more efficient with your time, not having to spend hours searching through books and web pages. She
same-sex relationships into the traditionally emphasizes that “some preliminary reading can often save time in the long run.”
heterosexual landscape, the show’s advertisers
It’s this efficiency of research that Fran and the rest of the Research Help Desk team are experts in. “If you
get nervous and demand changes. As a result:
can’t find what you are looking for in five minutes, ask,” encourages Fran. If you discover you have more
Phillip from The Young & The Restless was
questions as you proceed, she always encourages you to come back for more help.
written out shortly after he came out; GL’s Olivia
and Natalia were never allowed to kiss; and Fran Gray specializes in resources for MIT and can be contacted by email (fgray@uwo.ca) or by phone
ATWT ended with its three gay characters either (519-661-2111 extension 84823).
dead, heartbroken, or alone.
Online soaps, nevertheless, are not limited by BREAKDOWN OF RESOURCES
these outdated standards and practices. The Libraries: the Shared Library Catalogue (http://alpha.lib.uwo.ca) helps you to search for books at any
logistics behind Internet distribution and private library on campus, but most of the books relevant to media studies can be found at Weldon. There
ownership allow creators unprecedented levels is also a page specific to MIT on the Western Libraries website (http://www.lib.uwo.ca/programs/
of creative freedom. For example, “Venice” was mediainformationandtechnoculture), which provides links to media-related databases such as
praised for its imaginative continuation of the Communication and Mass Media Complete and Google Scholar. The page also links to News Source
Olivia and Natalia relationship (and yes, they databases which provide full text newspaper articles.
finally got to kiss).
Online Tutorials: provide Citing and Writing guides to help students prepare proper citations for
Over seven decades, soap operas have references (http://www.lib.uwo.ca/programs/journalism/styleguides.html)
gone from humble radio serials, to successful
television dramas, and become pioneers in There is also a News Research guide for students looking to use information directly from news stories
the world of online entertainment. It seems (http://www.lib.uwo.ca/programs/journalism/newsnewspapersresearchguide.html)—especially
that, much like Days’ infamous villain Stefano helpful for MIT students!
DiMera, the American daytime soap opera Wireless Internet Access, Printing, Photocopying, and Study Space are also services available at
genre can never truly die. Western Libraries
THE BLINDSIDE OF SEX
written by Colleen Watson // illustrated by Meg Hackney // edited by Taylor Pearce
Throughout the 1940’s, Alfred Kinsey worked diligently to prove that humans are naturally sexual.
After The Kinsey Reports were completed in 1953, his statistics showed that individual sexual
experiences ranged from self-fulfillment, premarital sex, and homosexual relationships. Just
the same as any animal on the planet, we are inherently sexual, and his statistics shed light on
many misconceptions of sexuality. So why does mainstream media still convey sexuality in such
a narrow view nearly sixty years after the Kinsey Reports?
Sexuality is everywhere in our society, whether it’s the Buffalo ad at London bus stops, music
artists like Lady Gaga and Britney Spears, or Hollywood starlets such as Scarlett Johansson and
Megan Fox. The media focuses on highly sexualized women. History has shown us that sexuality
is based on culture, and our culture is capitalism. Our media creates sexual ideals for viewers’ to
strive towards, so companies may profit from sex. “I think all women in Hollywood are known as
sex symbols,” Megan Fox said to Entertainment Weekly in 2009. “…You’re merchandised. You’re
a product. You’re sold and it is based on sex.”1 However, these images limit viewers’ perceptions
of what it means to be sexual. If viewers see sexuality as natural, people will not invest. Everybody
knows that sex sells, but society also imposes gender roles when it comes to sexuality. “People
limit themselves when they succumb to feminine and masculine binary roles,” says Jillian Clair,
a third year MIT student. “Men and women behave in what they think is sexual rather than what
they feel is sexual. They miss out on exploring themselves as sexual people.” Most people are in
the dark on sexual behavior, simply because society paints a negative image.
Mainstream media primarily conveys heterosexual couples and frequently depicts women as
vulnerable characters who are subverting to their male partners. Whether it’s Jersey Shore’s
Ronnie and Sammi, or Glee’s Quinn and Puck, sex in media insinuates that male characters have
an obligation to prove their masculinity through sexually active lifestyles, while women characters
are left to gratify the men. The problem is that media does not broaden this perspective. “Sexuality
is not a static thing,” continues Clair. “It is constantly being challenged and contradicted.” This
becomes apparent when media figures challenge sexual norms.
Adam Lambert’s videos feature strictly heterosexual couples, even though he has been overtly
homosexual since his debut on American Idol in 2009. Last November, Adam kissed his heterosexual
keyboardist at the American Music Awards. The following day, he was pulled from Good Morning
America and received criticism across America, but Adam Lambert refused to apologize for the
incident. “There is nothing wrong with what I did...It was just a kiss!” he exasperated on BBC One.
“People kept saying, ‘Oh, but our children!’ I’m a singer, not a babysitter. It was eleven o’clock
at night!”2 Parents had similar concerns for their children when Katy Perry appeared on Sesame
Street, singing a parody with Elmo of her single, “Hot and Cold”. Parents expressed that Katy
Perry’s outfit was “too sexual for pre-schoolers”.3 However, in our society, it is nearly impossible to
censor sexuality since mainstream media uses sex appeal for blatant advertising. “The problem
with media is how much it lies,” says Josi Knelsen, a second year English student from Kings.
“Young girls and boys are going to get the wrong idea unless someone educates them about sex.
If they are not informed, they are more likely to make poor decisions for themselves.” However,
since sexuality has negative implications, parents often avoid addressing the subject altogether
with their children.
So, perhaps it is time for our society to reconstruct its notions on sexuality. In the 21st century,
it is apparent that we are overpopulated, so sexuality needs to be understood outside of sexual
intercourse itself. Maybe we should take some of Kinsey’s advice, and realize that sexuality is
a natural thing. Everyone has different pleasures, fantasies, and fetishes. Some prefer men
more, and others prefer women more. By making sexuality comfortable and removing negative
connotations, individuals can experience fluidity in their sexual experiences, whether it is an
individual or shared. This allows people to see beyond media’s narrow view of what it means
to “be sexual”, which may lead to healthier relationships and sexual lifestyles. It’s time society
regards sexuality as empowering rather than degrading.
1 http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20284375,00.html
2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-7sL1bbdAEo
3 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3zyDp3XhQXE
SELLING OUT?
THE TRUTH ABOUT MUSIC SALES
written by Emily Stewart // illustrated by Gillian Cummings // edited by Katie Hetherman
Websites such as Napster and Limewire are often looked down upon because they allow people
to download digital recordings for free. It is considered illegal since there is no price on the music
provided. It is labeled as unfair to the musicians since they supposedly make no money from the
free downloads. Surprisingly, however, it is not the singers and bands we love who benefit from
record sales.
In fact, musicians earn just 13% of the profits from record sales. The record label, on the other
hand, amasses the largest slice of the pie, collecting 63% of the profits from the CDs. The other
24% goes to the distributors of the record. It is suggested that for every $1000 sold in CDs, the
musician only makes about $23.40.1 This disconcerting fact can leave many thinking: “How is
that even possible?” A few years ago, Courtney Love made a breakdown of the economics of the
recording industry.
The controversial singer states that although the band is given $1 million to begin with, half of that
money is spent on the recording process of an album. Also, the manager gets 20% commission,
in addition to $25 000 given to both the lawyer and the business manager. Therefore, the band
has to live on $45 000 until the record is released.
Once the album is released, the band typically releases two singles and two videos to go along
with the song releases. Half of the money spent on the production of the music video comes right
out of the band’s royalties. Support for the tour costs $200 000 and is 100% recoupable. Then,
the record company spends $300 000 on radio promotion, which is charged straight to the band.
The band then earns $2 million dollars from all of the record sales— that is, if none of the CDs
were sold at a discounted price.
How much does the record company earn? About $11 million, spending $750 000 in publishing
and $2.2 million in marketing, leaving their profit at $6.6 million. The musicians themselves earn
about a third of what they could be receiving working at a gas station.2
The next time you hear your favourite band say they never made a dime in album sales, keep this
in mind. Love explains that although, “ hearing yourself on the radio, selling records, getting new
fans and being on TV is great [...] the band doesn’t have any money[...] and nobody has credit”.3
The media portrays the celebrity life as glamourous, complete with loads of cash, but the truth is,
they make very little money.
Love also states that the relationship between a musician and their fans is a special one that a
record company doesn’t understand, as they “put records on the radio and hope for the best”.3
However, it seems that more musicians are using digital technology to promote themselves. Love
believes that this is beneficial because it, “gives everyone world wide, instant access to music”
and it creates “new ways to distribute and market music”.3
Digital music can really help those who are trying to get into the industry. If you go on Youtube,
there are thousands of musicians who are trying to promote themselves. There are also many
fan pages on Facebook and MySpace for the bands to gain fans. Digital music is also easier to
access than store-bought music. Unfortunately, the quality of the digital music format is terrible,
but Love feels that no one really cares anymore: “No one prefers a cruddy sounding mp3 over the
real thing. But it’s easier to get an mp3 file”.3
Despite the awful sound quality and copyright concerns that come with free digital music, Love
feels fine with her fans accessing her music that way: “I’m not afraid of wireless, mp3 files or any
other threat to my copyrights. Anything that makes my music more available to more people is
great”.3 She has touched a nerve on the current state of the music industry, even if the record
labels don’t love to hear it.
1 http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20100712/23482610186.shtml
2 http://www.negativland.com/albini.html
3 http://www.salon.com/technology/feature/2000/06/14/love/print.html

[mitZine v10.i2] 13
 PRINT IS NOT DEAD tas
BUT THAT DOESN’T MEAN WE CAN’T HAVE A BLOG, RIGHT?
Jonathan Forani, mitZine Advertising & Web Editor

The mitZine is ready to launch a new wave of online We all love being in MIT at Western, but every once
content. What can you expect? in a while there’s something about the program or
the school that pushes your buttons (I have to take
No, not a duplication of what’s in your hands right
a science credit? WTF). Let the mitZine Online be
now (if you want this online, check out scribd.com/
your place to vent about the powers that be in MIT.
mitzine).
This isn’t Stalinist Russia. You can do that here.

the mitZine Online Like the perfect public sphere it is, you’ll be able to
discuss and comment on all of this without fearing
will feature the kinds of content we just can’t fit into censorship.
the print Zine:
This isn’t your mother’s web log. This is your
• Reviews of Movies, TV, Music and more faculty’s playground.
• Pop Culture Fixes and Social Commentary Interested in joining the Zine as we enter the global
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Are you a Photoshop wizkid looking for online
As interested as everyone probably is about your design opportunities?
day-to-day life, the mitZine Online is not the place to Did you regret not getting involved last year? And
blog about your morning strolls along the Thames. every other year?
Save it for Twitter. Instead, we ask: Is the online world a place where your creativity
thrives?
Did JWoww really move you last night?
Want to try your hand at shorter content before you
Is Don Draper’s whoring around ticking you off?
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Come blog about it. Get in touch with us: zine.adteam@gmail.com
Let the mitZine Online be your outlet. Be a part of the mitZine digital renaissance.

DESIGN CHALLENGE
THE MITZINE ONLINE NEEDS A HEADER...
DO YOU HAVE WHAT IT TAKES TO CREATE IT?
Rules! All designs must:
be 960 x 80 pixels,
involve at least one moustache,
display the high quality swagger of our faculty,
and be submitted to zine.adteam@gmail.com
by November 21st

14 [mitZine v10.i2]
 EDITOR’S NOTE: This article was supposed to run in
the Frosh Issue but was pulled because the Orientation
Programming Committee determined that items 2, 3, 4, 7, 8,
illustration and layout by Mary Wong 9, 12, 15, and 20 were inappropriate for frosh.

THINGS TO DO BEFORE YOU GRADUATE

Four years may seem like a long time right now, but if you’re not careful it’ll all be over before you can say “Marx’s Manifesto Makes Modern Materialists Mistrust

1
Money” five times fast. Make the most of your time at Western and in FIMS with these helpful suggestions from the MIT SOPH TEAM.

Take your parents

c h a t ro u l e t t e 15 FLOOR HOP IN SAUGEEN
ON A FRIDAY NIGHT

6
out to Ceeps on a
Saturday Night
IN CLASS BUY SOMETHING
10. DANCE ON A STAGE FROM THE MIT
BONUS: DANCE ON CLOTHING SALE
GET WIDLY A TABLE.
BONUS: MAKE SOMETHING
INAPPROPRIATE AT 11. JOHN REED FOR THE MIT CLOTHING SALE

3 GET “ESCORTED” OUT OF A BAR

13
EVERY MIT EVENT
for being too much of a good time

4
Do something STUPID for charity

17
put on the
Complete the “World Tour
Sing along with

1 8
of Beer” at the Spoke with your campus meal plan
BONUS: DO IT IN ONE DAY BONUS: LOSE YOUR FRESHMAN
Rick McGhie

CULTURE JAM
FIFTEEN AT THE CAMPUS REC CENTRE
become friends with a
PROFESSOR

614 19
BONUS: SHARE A PITCHER
See a guest speaker (E.g.s. from
the past two years alone include get your name WITH THEM AT THE
GRAD CLUB
David Suzuki, Paul Martin, Stephen
in the Gazette

7 floorcest
CONTRIBUTE TO THE MITZINE

FSU
Lewis and Robert Kennedy Jr.).

sport a moustache, 20
GIRLS INCLUDED
participate in
8
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TO THE ZINE? no
yes! TEEN STEREOTYPES
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OR 4TH YEAR? BACK.
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no
ARE YOU IN ANY FACULTY AT YOU’RE ADOPTED
UWO?
no BY FIMS. WELCOME
NO ONE’S TO WESTERN!
yes!
CHECKING ID...
WHICH ONE ARE YOU?

Writer Illustrator Copy Editor

First sentences to an article, story, Photoshop is your playground. To You’re more than a spell checker;
or poem will randomly pop up in you, Photoshop’s layers are like you can help parse others’ ideas
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