U-Pass-es throughCity Transit Committee
Cause=InterviewIt’s all over
U of O gets carded
News
News
Arts
Arts
Sports
Sports
Feature
Feature
p. 4
p. 4
p. 9
p. 9
p. 16
p. 16
p. 12
p. 12
SFUO receives councillors’ support for pilotproject.
p. 4
CFS referendum to hit campus in less than amonth.
p. 5Jaclyn Lytle
interviews Brendan Canning of Broken Social Scene.
p. 9Len Smirnov
takes readers behind thefacade of the Bronson Centre.
p. 10
Women’s rugby loses to Laval, ending theirseason...
p. 16
... but men’s football gets another chance.
p. 16
A photo feature displays student cards, past andpresent.
p. 12–13
Do nice guys
fi
nish last? Or not at all? Dear Diexplains how to break out of the friend zone.
p. 22
Does the
Fulcrum
help students?
Re: “Choosing the best road” (Editorial, Oct. 2)
HE
FULCRUM
’S OC. 7 edito-rial cartoon asking “Like, why is it wecan’t, ya know, just schedule a meet-ing with the admin and go over ourconcerns with them?” was an insult.Just schedule a meeting with theadmin at U o O? But the admindoesn’t talk to students! I started my work at the Student Appeal Centre inMay 2007. o date I have worked on567 student cases. I see and know howthe admin works. You want to sched-ule a meeting with the U o O admin?Sure, you can try. I it’s a lower levelo administration you will probably get a meeting. Tis doesn’t mean yourconcerns are going to be addressed.But how ofen do members o theadministration—Allan Rock, PamelaHarrod, Robert Major, Victor Simon,and Mona Nemer—meet students aceto ace to talk about concerns? Whenis the last time you tried to schedule ameeting with Allan Rock?Oh, that’s right—you are the stu-dent newspaper. You oster a riendly and diplomatic relationship with thecentral admin. Tey are happy to talk to you. You aren’t asking them to takeaction to x a problem. You aren’t e-mailing them to describe your case o harassment or abuse.Tis week only I was a witness totwo cases where students are ghting—not to win their case—but just to get ameeting with U o O’s central admin.Does the
Fulcrum
realize its privilege?Does it know that their representationo the admin is not reality?It would be nice to read a studentnewspaper that works or students,not against them.
Mireille Gervais Master’s law student
Fulcrum
of on activism
Re: “Choosing the best road” (Editorial, Oct. 2)
JUS MAKE AN appointment andmeet Te Man! Yup, and I’m sellingthe Macdonald-Cartier bridge or agood price. Wow. Hey
Fulcrum
: Aninstitution resists all moves that takeany power and control away rom theinstitution. Don’t newspaper editorsstudy institutional analysis? In yourdeence, i you have never tried totake power away rom an institution,as in make it more democratic, thenyou can’t really appreciate this socialscience theory stu.In your world view, I think it wouldgo something like this: Student Fed-eration o the University o Ottawa(SFUO) Executive: Hey Allan, pleasedouble the number o elected studentreps on all committees and pay electedstudent committee members the sameas pros get or the same work. Rock:Geez, ya, that would increase unc-tional representative democracy oncampus; why didn’t I think o that?Anyone who tries to level theheight o the hierarchical pyramidtowards a participatory democracy
Advertising Department
Deidre Butters, Advertising Representativephone: (613) 880-6494fax: (613) 562-5259e-mail: ads@thefulcrum.caCheck out our rate card online.Go to www.thefulcrum.ca andfollow the link for “Advertisers”.Multi-market advertisers:Campus Plus: (800) 265-5372Campus Plus offers one-stop shopping forover 90 Canadian studentnewspapers.The
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Business Department
The
Fulcrum
, the University of Ottawa’sindependent English-language studentnewpaper, is published by the FulcrumPublishing Society (FPS) Inc., a not-for-pro
fi
t corporation whose members consistof all University of Ottawa students. TheBoard of Directors (BOD) of the FPS gov-erns all administrative and business ac-tions of the
Fulcrum
and consists of thefollowing individuals: Ross Prusakowski(President), Andrea Khanjin (Vice-Presi-dent), Tyler Meredith (Chair), Peter Raay-makers, Nick Taylor-Vaisey, Toby Climie, Andrew Wing, and Scott Bedard.To contact the
Fulcrum
’s BOD,contact Ross Prusakowski at(613) 562-5261.
model (see Wikipedia) is going tond themselves between a Rock anda hard place. ry it.
Denis Rancourt Physics professor
For a smoke-ree-campaign-ree campus
Re: “Smoke-free campus campaign” (Letters, Oct. 2)
AS A UNIVERSIY o Ottawa stu-dent and a non-smoker I believe thatthe notion o a campus-wide smok-ing ban is abhorrent and an arontto the rights and reedoms espousedby all Canadians. First o all, howmuch regulation do we need? Are weso damned useless as to require BigBrother to step in and legislate ourlives? I have always rmly believed inan individual’s right to choose his orher own actions and to bear the con-sequences or good or ill. I believe thisto be an inalienable right. Who thehell are people to say you can’t smokebecause it inconveniences them? Asar as the health issue is concerned,let’s just put things into perspective.Te amount o carcinogens cigarettespass along as you walk to class is cat-egorically negligible, especially con-sidering that the campus is locatedin downtown Ottawa. We’re in a me-tropolis people, smoke happens. I itwere really a matter o air quality thebanning o cars would be a ar largerconcern than cigarettes.Te proposed campaign advocatesor a campus where we can live andlearn. Tat’s all well and good, butor whom? Everyone or just non-smokers? Te authors also claim thatthey can’t “travel past any entranceon campus” without passing hordeso smokers. Really? Te smokers Isee are ew and ar between and havenever caused me any inconvenience.Tey consume a legally purchasedproduct in the legally prescribedmanner. What more could a ratio-nal, ree-thinking individual ask or?Tis proposed segregation o campusshould oend every single personwho believes in an individual’s rightto choose. It should be received withnothing but the greatest o disdain anddisgust. I advocate or mutual respect,civility, and tolerance among the en-tirety o the student community.
Lise Legault Second-year medicine student
Grading student lobbying
“UIION RAES IN Ontario soarabove national norm” read a recentheadline in the
Ottawa Sun
. Once Inished reading the article, either dueto homework induced insanity or therealization o utility o our goals, Istarted giggling uncontrollably. Ourwise student leaders are, again, takingit to the politicians through the use o the media, trying to reduce tuition eesand not realizing how useless and ine-ective their eorts really are! I mean,this has been done beore hasn’t it?Well, yeah, and it has worked the othertimes hasn’t it? Well, actually, no ithasn’t. Despite their eorts, we still seecontinual rises in our tuition, year a-ter year, government afer governmentand yet our wise student leaders keepmaking the same mistakes.Petitions, protests, and V com-mercials: what do they have in com-mon? Te answer is they are worth-less (at least to this cause). Sure, theseordinary methods o lobbying work or everybody else so they must work or us. Tat is like saying I turn on thelight to help me see in the dark there-ore so should a blind man.It won’t work. We are dierent. Teother lobbies are dierent and thesegments o society they are repre-senting are dierent. And what is thatessential dierence that separates usrom them? We don’t vote. Tat isour inherent handicap: our collectivecomplacency and our innate laziness.Do you really think politicians aregoing to pay attention to the sueringhoards o students? Why should they when their jobs depend on the voter-rich middle-age segment o society?Imagine a scenario where politicianshave to decide between either lower-ing tuition or students or increasinghealth care or seniors. In the realworld, which we should probably start living in, there is a trade-o.You pick one, you give up the other.Nobody has unlimited resources. So,what are they going to und: tuitionor health care? I you think tuitionthen think again. Since their jobsdepend on votes and three-quarterso seniors vote while only a quartero students do, they’ll choose seniorsover us. Would you blame them? No,it just makes sense. We are handi-capped by ourselves.And yet, our wise student leadersdecide to spend the majority o theirtime and resources not on getting ourcollective asses to the polls but oncatching our attention and inormingus o the issues, which is in essenceshining a light or the blind. Recently,the Canadian Federation o Students(CFS), as a gimmick, published re-port cards o the dierent parties andgraded how their dierent policiesimpact students. I saw a lot o F’s inthose report cards. What grade wouldyou give the CFS?
Luan Ngo Master’s economics student
Due to space constraints, we couldn’t print all letters received. Please visit thefulcrum.ca/letters to read moreletters on the
Fulcrum
’s coverage of activism, the U-Pass, and the con-tinuing death of the U of O library.
Got something to say?
Send your letters toeditor@thefulcrum.caLetters deadline: Sunday, 1 p.m.Letters must be under 400 words unlessdiscussed with the editor-in-chief.Drop off letters at 631 King Edward Ave. ore-maileditor@thefulcrum.ca.Letters must include your name, telephonenumber, year, and program of study. Pseud-onyms may be used after consultation withthe editor-in-chief. We correct spelling andgrammar to some extent. The
Fulcrum
willexercise discretion in printing letters that aredeemed racist, homophobic, or sexist.We will not even consider hate literature or libel-lous material. The editor-in-chief reserves theauthority on everything printed herein.
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Oct. 22–29, 2008
Letters
Frank AppleyardEditor-in-Chief editor@thefulcrum.ca
3
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