OVER THE EDGE NEWSPAPER. OCTOBER 11, 2006

Vegetarian Versus Meat-

Eating Athletes

UVic student researches the effectiveness of creatine, a dietary element in meat

MELANIE TROMP
THE MARTLET (UNIVERSITY OF VICTORIA)

VICTORIA (CUP) -- Every now and
again, University of Victoria researchers
get to pondering those age-old ques-
tions -- whether or not an isolated tree
falling is audible, maybe the chronology
of chickens and eggs or in this case, that
burning question of whos the better
sports star: the meat-eater or the vege-
tarian?

UVic graduate student Kamran Rad
has devised his thesis study to pit mixed
diets against veggies in an effort to deter-
mine the usefulness of creatine supple-
ments, a dietary element that herbivores
lack by one half.

“Human bodies receive two grams of
creatine per day -- one gram from nat-
ural production and one from [meat]
diets,’ explains Rad. This chemical pro-
duces short bursts of energy that are
integral for performance sports includ-

ing sprints, lifting and track-and-field |

events.

Using a double-blind methodology,
Rad is currently testing 40 athletic pat-
ticipants aged 20 to 49, including three
vegans and three: lacto-ovo-vegetarians
(someone who does not eat meat, but

will eat dairy products) to determine the
effectiveness of creatine. Female athletes
make up the majority of the 20 veggie

volunteers.

“Thus far, the meat-eaters
in Rad's study appear to be
performing better than the
vegetarians in most cases."

‘The study is being conducted over 12
days in five one-hour sessions, analyzing
the volunteers in terms of work output
(10 chest presses) and anaerobic power
(sprint cyclitig) with 20-second breaks
between sprints. These breaks are the
linchpin of the entire thesis.

“(Creatine supplements] will help
with energy production,’ Rad specu-
lates.“If you have more phosphoric crea-
tine in your system, more [energy] will
be generated during short breaks.’

A creatine supplement first appeared
on the radar as a performance enhancer
after the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona,
where two gold-medal athletes in track
events and several British rowers con-
firmed its use.

Despite its muscle-enhancing propet-
ties, creatine has not made it onto the
International Olympic Committee's
banned substance list yet, although it is
illegal for sale in several countries.

Rad, an exercise science student, hy-
pothesizes that the results of this study
will benefit vegetarian athletes, though
creatine is not the only element lacking
in a meat-free diet. He admits to the
value in conducting a similar study to
test the significance of vitamin B12 and
iron supplements, two nutrients that are
also linked to star athletic performance,
in herbivorous diets as well.

Thus far, the meat-eaters in Rad's
study appear to be performing better
than the vegetarians in most cases.

A former vegan himself, Rad has
weighed out the pros and cons of a vege-
tarian/vegan lifestyle after becoming
borderline anemic.

He is quick to point out that meatless
diets have proven effective in reducing
the rate of obesity, diabetes, high choles-
terol and heart disease -- positive effects
that make iron deficiency at least a bit
more appealing.

Industry Tries to Stop
Guitarists
Music Publishers Take Down
Tablature Websites

STEVE CAREY
THE MARTLET (UNIVERSITY OF VICTORIA)

VICTORIA (CUP) -- Remember
when you worked out the finger pick-
ing to that Johnny Cash song, wrote it
on a napkin and then e-mailed it to your
friend? Turns out, that's illegal.

Tablature is a text representation of
music that shows notes by string and
fret. Several high-profile online tab ar-
chives recently received letters threaten-
ing legal action from the Music Publish-
ers Association (MPA) and the National
Music Publishers Association (NMPA)
of America.

A common feature of tab sites is a
disclaimer that explains that the tabs
are not for sale and are provided only for
private sttidy and educational purposes.
Since no money changes hands and no
one is selling the music as their own,
site operators assumed that they werent
breaking any laws.

Not so. According to U.S. copyright

- law, the right to make and distribute ar-

rangements, adaptations, abridgments,
or transcriptions is the exclusive prop-
erty of the copyright holder. This means
that the MPA and the NMPA are well
within their rights to ask that the tab

websites be taken down and the offend-
ing material be removed.

Sites in question are the volunteer-run
Online Guitar Archive (OLGA.net)
and Ultimate Guitar Archive’ (Guitar-
tabs.cc). The NMPA and MPA have yet

to sue infringets, instead opting to use

_ the take down provisions in the Digital

Millennium Copyright Act to threaten
without suit.

That's pretty nice of the lawyers. After
all, they could just sue the ad-revenue-
just-barely-keeps-us-afloat tab site
operators, pecking away at them in court
until the legal fees bankrupt them. The
lawyers’ letters use phrases like “good
faith,’“penalty of perjury,’ and “demand,”
but should really say “or else.’

It’s a case of technology being ahead
of the music industry's business model:
In a statement to the New York Times,
an MPA spokesperson estimated that
a single guitar tab could cost $800 per
song to produce, license, and format for
downloading.

What a lack of forward thinking.

Anyone who can play a song can write
a tab, from a.monkey with an accordion

to the fattest racehorse in the world.

Learning a song from a tab is as much
of a burden as it is a boon: there arent

standards built into the format, time
signatures are hard to represent, com-
mon chords go unlisted and they're
riddled with mistakes,

After many failures, a music pub-
lisher-sanctioned solution to distribute
electronic sheet music and tabs will be
developed. The artist will then have
control of their music and get the rev-
enue they desetve from the sales or li-
censing of their songs. Perhaps they'll
distribute them through their MySpace
websites, a method that most artists
have embraced to communicate with
their fans.

How has this affected the guitar play-
er? There's no way the music publishing
industry can seamlessly fill the gap they
created by taking down these archives.

They can provide all the Bob Dylan
tabs in the world in book form, but for
obscure songs or classics the tech-savvy
guitarist will tirelessly search the same
way as they do now: via news groups,
message boards, or lower-profile web-
sites.

The regulation of electronic sheet
music is just another step in the com-
mercialization of the Internet, but that
won't stop guitarists from picking and
clicking their music online.

ARTS _

21

| Bollywood Films in North America

RYAN HEISE
THE GATEWAY (UNIVERSITY OF ALBERTA)
EDMONTON (CUP) -- After play-
ing for over two months in Edmonton,
“Kabhi Alvida Maa Khena” (Never Say
Goodbye) has become but one example
of the rising popularity of Bollywood
cinema in Canada.
Centered ‘in Mumbai, India, Bolly-

| wood contributes between 200 and 300

Hindi-language films to India's yearly
total of around 1,000, making it one of
the largest film industries in the world.

However, it's been the exports of
Bollywood -- whose films are often cat-
egorized by their torrid love affairs, trad-
itional Indian values and elaborate song-
and-dance routines -- that have found
success throughout the world.

According to Dr. Stephen Slemon, a
professor of English and film studies at
the University of Alberta, the fast-grow-
ing appeal of Bollywood films in coun-
tries such as Canada can be attributed
to a few different reasons.

“Bollywood is massively entertaining,’

| Slemon said. “It’s never been about high

art. It’s a completely free-enterprise exer-
cise; there's no government money put
into it. It's made simply to entertain.’
Slemon also pointed out that, with
such a large Indian population in Can-
ada, the cultural connection to ones
homeland plays a significant role. Bolly-
wood has attempted to reach out to the
vast Indian demographics around the

world and offer a glimpse into India’s
dynamic culture.

U of A English and film studies PhD
student Mridula Chakraborty echoed
this sentiment. “It’s very interesting in
the way that [Bollywood] educates the
nation, but also educates the diasporic
Indian audience about the changing
morality that's happening in their home
country,’ she said.

Bollywood has also been very pro-
active in using the rise of the English
language and popular culture to prod-
uce films that resonate within not only
varying generations of Indians, but also
many other cultures throughout the
world.

“They know exactly what's going on
in hip hop and they know what's go-
ing on with Beyoncés latest thing;
[Bollywood]s really tuned into popular
culture,’ Slemon said. “These changes
in Bollywood cinema are targeting new
demographics around the globe, while
still appealing to its traditional Hindi
base.’

“There's so much to it,’ Chahal said.
“You have the music, you have these
beautiful song and dance numbers, and
you can watch them over and over again.
Tt doesn't matter if you know the ending,
because it's about being entertained by
the whole movie. You watch a three hour
thing and make a night out of it.”

MASSIVE BRAIN
with impressive body of work
and numerous international

awards
publishing in
and

enjoys

spending

frequent
top journals
time in

North America's third-largest
research library. Seeks like-
minded grad students for

similar pursuits.

The University of Toronto is now accepting
applications from top graduates flirting with the idea

of pursuing their grad studies with us. We think it's a

perfect match. You're brilliant and accomplished.

We're an irresistible combination of scholarship and
world-renowned research. But don't admire us for our
brains alone. U of T is a vibrant campus located in the
most multicultural city in North America. Clearly we
should get to know each other. Feel free to contact us.

gradschool@sgs.utoronto.ca

www.gradschool.utoronto.ca

UNIVERSITY o& TORONTO