In Brief

MAGALLY ZELAYA AND CHELSE MCKEE, STAFF

Guard your drinks carefully

Two students from the University of British Columbia have alleged that their drinks were spiked at a fraternity party on Sept.14.

Nineteen-year-old Brittany Dolynchuk and her friend Stephanie Ataliotis both experienced similar periods of blackouts at the Friday night festivities. Ataliotis checked herself into a hospital the next morning where the drug gamma-hydroxybutyrate (GHB) was found in her bloodstream.

GHB is a common date-rape drug. According to the American National Institute on Drug Abuse, it is a central nervous system depressant and is colourless, odourless, and tasteless.

The women have asserted that neither was sexually assaulted, but they have launched a group on Facebook.com to inform others of the danger of drink spiking and warning others against leaving drinks unattended.

More masturbation please

In a study conducted by the Cancer Council Victoria in Australia, researchers found that men who ejaculate the most between ages 20 and 50 have a lowered incidence of developing prostate cancer later in life.

Men who ejaculated more than five times a week were one-third less likely to develop the disease.

The research suggests that the more a man ejaculates, the fewer cancer-causing compounds remain in the prostate gland. Ejaculation flushes the ducts, reducing the effect of carcinogens that could otherwise accumulate.

Increased sexual activity is not taken into account, however, as some STIs increase the likelihood of developing certain genital cancers.

The Canadian Cancer Society says prostate cancer is the most common cancer among Canadian males, with 22,300 diagnoses and 4,300 deaths estimated for 2007.

The study found that the most protective effects of frequent ejaculation occur while men are in their 20s.

U of M’s Maddin wins film fest prize

Guy Maddin, Winnipeg filmmaker and the University of Manitoba’s filmmaker-in-residence, won the Toronto-City award for Best Canadian Feature Film at the Toronto International Film Festival.

Maddin managed to beat out David Cronenberg’s critically acclaimed film, Eastern Promises.

“I never really thought much of the awards and the arts,” said Maddin.

“I watch the academy awards but just for the musical numbers. I don’t really care to win. I follow some history enough to know they usually give awards to the wrong people.

“Having said that, winning an award is better than not winning one. It’s an honour that the jury chose me.”

Maddin, a native Winnipegger himself, directed his documentary, entitled My Winnipeg, based around Winnipeg’s history and his own personal history growing up in the city.

George Toles, head of the University of Manitoba’s film studies department as well as Maddin’s usual screenwriting partner, assisted in writing the script.

At the moment, Maddin is teaching two film courses on campus, Film Enchanted — Out of the Nursery and Into the Night, and You Show me Your Melodrama, I’ll Show you Mine.

Winnipeg professor has his head in space

Ed Cloutis, a planetary geologist at the University of Winnipeg, is helping out with the Canadian space mission to Mars.

Cloutis will help to build a miniature camera for the lander for the Northern Light Landed Mission, which is scheduled to launch in late 2009.

Cloutis commented that they are “borrowing a lot of technology from the Europeans” in their design of the lander.

The Canadian space project is only $20 million in comparison to the average price tag of an American space mission of $300 million.