Quote of the week:

"Honey, this is pornography. People don't pay attention to the Legislature." - Sharon Mitchell, co-founder of the Adult Industry Medical Healthcare Foundation, on a motion by a California legislator to make condoms obligatory in porn films, in Tuesday's New York Times.

Arabs seek sponsors

Looking for a way to satisfy white post-colonial guilt and make friends at the same time? Well, look no further. The Action Committee for Non-Status Algerians (CASS) is searching for individuals and organizations to sponsor non-status Algerians seeking permanent residence.

"Right now, we're looking for a sponsor for an elderly woman who, unlike most of the non-status Algerians here, does not speak particularly good French," says Andrea Schmidt, a member of the CASS support committee. "Nonetheless, in an effort to show Quebec that she is able to function here and support herself, she's working 60 hours a week in a store up at Jean-Talon."

A sponsor's main obligation is to act as a financial guarantor, responsible for repaying any social assistance an applicant may require during the period of sponsorship, usually lasting three to five years. But, according to Schmidt, most of the applicants are self-sufficient and/or have family in Quebec who help them make ends meet. "Generally, the people who are trying to find sponsors are, in fact, working, and have been providing for their own needs for the past number of years," she says.

Sponsors must meet certain requirements, which, for unmarried individuals, include being a permanent resident or Canadian citizen and having an annual income of at least $30,000. However, Schmidt says the criteria are flexible, so that a potential sponsor who falls short in one category may still be eligible. Small businesses, unions and non-profits can also apply. For more info call 938-4538, or e-mail Andrea Schmidt at andrea@tao.ca. » Christopher Hazou

Falconers seek to soar

Quebec's falconers have the right to allow their birds of prey to soar overhead but the birds are forbidden to swoop down and nab other beasts. "We don't have a remote control over these birds, but by law if one does a hit, we're not allowed to harvest it and we have to report it in a log and give it to the government," says Charles Morin, secretary of the 30-member Quebec Association of Falconry and Austringers.

The medieval hunting tradition of falconry was outlawed in Quebec in the early '80s, and we remain one of the last places in North America to ban the aerial hunt. British Columbia recently totally deregulated falconry, but it's unlikely to happen here, largely due to the staunch opposition of the Quebec Association of Ornithological Groups (AQGO), which, in a letter last year to the Quebec Ministry of Natural Resources, Parks and Fauna, denounced falconry as "aristocratic" and having "no tradition in Quebec."

Animal rights activists are also suitably unimpressed, even though falconry isn't exactly a high-profile concern, compared to pig farming or bull fighting. "Falcons are kept hooded and tethered for most of their life, so it's certainly a miserable existence," says Andrew Plumbly, director of the animal rights group Global Action Network. Others object on the grounds that it could endanger the raptor population, as budding falconers steal falcon eggs; that it uses one wild animal to hunt another for sport; and that any domestication of a wild animal for entertainment is a bad idea.

Currently only 10 Quebecers own provincial falconry licences » Kristian Gravenor

Fresh frosh radicals

While many will argue there are few things in this world more unbearable than a newly politicized university freshman, it's certainly a preferable breed of McGill student than the typical trust-fund-beer-barfing-suburban-Ontario-future-captain-of-industry variety that head here every fall to puke on the streets of the McGill Ghetto come frosh week.

Once again this year, the Quebec Public Interest Research Group at McGill University [QPIRG-McGill] will be presenting its ninth annual Radical Frosh, a "a radically different, politically progressive orientation to McGill and Montreal." Running August 28–30, the idea is to both familiarize and politicize new students with respect to social justice and environmental causes through various workshops, tours, films, political discussions and the like.

According to coordinator Aaron Lakoff, "We have so many people coming to McGill from out of town who don't feel like they have any connection to local - or for that matter, federal or provincial - politics. Our goal is to break through this barrier by bringing [social] activism and a sense of the community to new students." To this end, Radical Frosh has scheduled a slew of events, ranging from a pub crawl through the gay village to presentations by such noted local activists as Norman Nawrocki and celebrated trouble-maker Jaggi Singh.

This year's theme is Tune In, Turn On, Branch Out, and it all winds down with a big ol' radical wingding at Sala Rossa (4848 St-Laurent) Monday, Aug. 30, featuring Euphrates, Paul Cargnello and Kalmunity. For more info go to http://ssmu.mcgill.ca/qpirg/radicalfrosh/. » Chris Barry

REAR-VIEW MIRROR

19 YEARS AGO THIS WEEK
Aug. 29–Sept. 12, 1986

On the cover: Jane Fonda at the World Film Fest, where she and director Norman Jewison "fail to impress" with Agnes of God. José Arroyo describes the Montreal-made film as "banal and trite," and he calls Jewison a "journeyman director."

• Looking at the post-Lévesque PQ leadership race, Brian Topp assesses the three top candidates: Justice Minister Pierre-Marc Johnson is as "conservative on constitutional matters as he is on economic ones." Manpower Minister Pauline Marois has "considerable appeal to feminists, socialists and nationalists." Agriculture Minister Jean Garon is "an entertaining stump speaker."

• "R.E.M. aren't hit-oriented and they don't actively court success or stardom - being a small, almost cult, band suits them fine," writes Daniel Sanger.

• In a review of rock critic Dave Marsh's book Fortunate Son: The Best of Dave Marsh, Brendan Kelly writes that Marsh, for all his strengths, "sometimes seems… out of touch. This is sadly evident in his distanced but sympathetic coverage of punk."

Angel >> Protest space Protesters descending on New York City for the Republican National Convention this weekend are still looking for a place to hold their rally. The city of New York, run by Republican mayor Michael Bloomberg, doesn't want to let the estimated 75,000 protesters use Central Park's Great Lawn, fearing they would damage the grass. Critics say the city is simply trying to stifle dissent, and the New York Civil Liberties Union says the city has already spent hundreds of millions of dollars on security for the convention and will put 10,000 cops on duty. City elders suggested alternate venues in the Bronx and Queens. The issue hasn't been resolved by presstime.
Insect >> Education cutbacks A new study commissioned by the Centrale des syndicats du Québec (CSQ) reveals that over a third of the province's teachers are suffering from stress and are verging dangerously close to burnout. Overworked teachers are blaming the previous government's cuts to education funding, and are calling on the present one to inject some much-needed cash into the system. The study comes out just as students, no easy bunch to tame even in the best of times, return to classes and the CSQ, which represents the province's teachers, prepares for negotiations with the Charest government.