NOVEMBER 5, 2003 Eyecandy is dandy, but eyeliquor is quicker Art initiative lets young artists share their work with the world By Kelly Hynes, The Muse ST. JOHN’S, Nfld., (CUP) -- Terminus1525 is a virtual space where young artists from across the country can make their art available for audiences every- where to enjoy. E A pilot project of the Department of Canadian Heritage (in partnership with the Canada Council for the Arts and the National Arts Centre), the program co-exists on-line and in the real world. Outside of the vir- tual galleries, many emerging artists are also working on street- level projects, which are featured on the Web site. Montgomery Hall, is: one: of four national producers for Terminus1525, and is based out of St. John’s; Newfoundland. His own online exhibit, entitled EYE- CANDY! features graffiti-style murals from the back alleys and streets of downtown St. John‘s. “In the beginning, graffiti art was writing, and still is to this day,” says. Hall. “Graffiti artists, in. the subculture of graffiti, are called writers because a lot of graffiti artists don’t go by. their real names. They use a pen name, as a writer would.” He also addresses the notion that Graffiti is most commonly still thought of as vandalism, with the general public attaching a negative stigma to the art form. “The way I looked at it was that it was a good way to show- case young talent, to make people more aware that graffiti art is not vandalism, and that it is actually a practiced art form,” says Hall. Speaking of the Terminus1525 website as a whole, Hall adds that the project's: coordinators steered away from a government identity to. be more inviting to experimenting artists. He feels this decision has _ seriously impacted the way the project'was approached. “We were given free reign. When they said we could do this, there weren't any stipulations that we had to have it done a cer- tain way,” says Hall: “This is creating a standard medium,” says Krissy Holmes, co-curator of the EYECANDY! urban art exhibit. “It gives young artists a voice in our community as young Canadians.” Kaboom! Powerful solar flares erupt Photo Source Nasa (taken October 30, 4:44 PM ET) Early Wednesday morning at 12:00-3:00am, we experienced one of the biggest solar flares for the past 3 decades. The huge explosion produced a particle cloud 3 times the size of the earth and is hurtling through the solar system at more then 1million miles per hour. The geomagnetic storm it caused is being ranked has one of the most powertul of it’s kind . It is said to be able to disrupt satellites for the 24 hours. The geomagnetic storm also caused colourful auroras(northern lights) in the night sky as far south as Texas. by Stephanie Morgan Gordon Campbell has™ struck again. The Georgia Straight, an independe nt Se hae in ped ait + had arise 1 million dollars in back taxes on “With the recent criticisms against the government that has proliferated in the Straight, the newspaper itself has suddenly ceased claim to that status. their ipaper. Why? Because they. have been: deemed to be an adver- tisement, and not a newspaper. They have failed to have over 25% of the Straight dedicated to editor- ial pieces. This amount is what the Social Services Tax Act, which the NDP government put forth in 2001, requires. This act allows newspapers and magazines to be tax-free on their printing costs. With the recent criticisms against the government that has proliferat- ed in the Straight, the newspaper itself has suddenly ceased claim to that status. Over the past year the Liberals have taken a very keen interest in the actions of the Straight, especially concerning whether or not the Straight can be classified as a paper. They are at this point undergoing a thirty-day inquiry into the paper, and what is going to be required to be consid-; ered a newspaper. Though the Liberals have tenta- tively agreed that the Straightjwas, indeed, .a newspaper, it took much public acclaim for the“bureaucrat- ic’ mistake to be fixed. This of course is no real, ‘comfort to the employees of the Straight, though’ there is no danger of the paper being closed down for at least two or three years. The amount of editorial content came into question because the editors of the Straight compile a list of community and cultural events called “Time Out’: ‘This was. considered to be. “advertis- ing”, eventhough all of the listings were not paid for and allowed community events to put their ads into one of the only free mediums in Vancouver. It was considered an editorial aspect of the paper until, one year ago the: Straight called by an auditor. The auditor then came to their offices twice to measure the sizeof “Time Out”. After that, the Straight heard very little of consequence until they were told ‘they wereé'to be levied @ 1 million dollar fine. Between October 14th and 15th the situation changed from the Straight having to pay the 1: mil- lion dollars to them being hesitant- ly being granted the title of news- paper. The Straight itself is in a state of shock over what has hap- pened to them, and though there are many media members seeking to assist them and adding in their own outrages against this atrocity, those under the Canwest media group and some “radical” papers in the surrounding areas have - deviated from that. Bill Tieleman, president of West Star Communications, commented on the Sun’s hypocritical .com- ments concerning the Straight. In an editorial the Sun commented ‘that ‘the: Straight’s was. | NEws 8 Straight over the Top Gordo and the Liberals do it again e. ht’s “xjust not that 4 important—and _jit-is certainly not “the only newspaper, or the most: effective. one,’ reporting and criti- cizing government performance”. The Sun has not placed sufficient information about anything that the- Liberal government has done wrong (as Tieleman mentioned, this was the paper that concealed their own reporters’ exclusive on Campbell’s night in the drunk tank). He so mentions Darren Atwater’s (of Terminal City) view that claims the Straight simply wishes to “not pay tax like other Over the past year the Liberals have taken a very keen interest in the actions of the Straight, espe- cially concerning whether or not the Straight can be classi- fied as a paper.“ people have to do”. While this is a blatant disregard for the freedom of press in Canada, the government itself is blaming the NDP’s. The Straight itself claims that closing them down is “but a_ politically motivated attempt by the government to silence one of its harshest critics.” Information following the cov-’ erage can be found at http:/ /www.straight.com, Though it seems that the issue will be resolved in the Straight’s favour they are still in limbo as the gov- ernment makes their decision.