Fulcrum 022609

Have you attended a Gee-Gees game this year?

Yes:No:

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Contents

SFUO election resultscontestedCoach’s Porn-erComing up big

Insert coin

News

Arts

Sports

Feature

p. 4

p. 10

p. 18

p. 14

Three candidates

ﬁ

le appeal with the SAC.

p. 4 Amanda Shendruk

investigates thede

ﬁ

nitions of academic freedom.

p. 5Peter Henderson

discovershockey erotica.

p. 10Megan O’Meara

talks to singerLucie Idlout.

p. 11

Women’s basketball nets

ﬁ

rst playoff winsince 2005.

p. 18

Local BMX bikers screening

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lmto stop the hate.

p. 19

Is the era of the arcade over?

p. 14–15

You know you’ve thought about it, but is sexin space even possible? Di explains.

p. 26

Rationale for an appeal

MEMBERS OF HE slate, candidates,and students,Our recent appeal has becomequite the topic o conversation. Wehave heard rom people oferingpraise and condemnation. We candeal with both these groups o impos-tors just the same. What worries usmost are the students who have notheard all the acts, who wonder whatis happening and why.Our appeal is not a political ma-noeuvre or a coup. Our appeal is, asthe name aptly says, a plea. What dowe plead or? We plead because ar-ticle 4.11.1 o the Student Federationo the University o Ottawa (SFUO)constitution gives every membero the SFUO the right to contest anelection. We plead that the constitu-tion be honoured and promoted. Weplead or justice so that those whowill speak in our stead and decide inour names will not have but empty words when they invoke justice, hon-esty, and integrity. We plead that thestudents o the SFUO be entitled to arepresentative body that was electedthrough merit and hard work, not de-ceit and manipulation.Tere may be some that wouldlike to think that all politics are dirty.Tere are those who think that onegroup is no better than another; Ispeak not to them. Tere will alwaysbe those that would rather mock theeforts o others than to do somethingthemselves. Our appeal is to thosewho care enough to consider thissimple question: are we just or justpretending?We do not seek to be given thepositions we campaigned or thiselection. We merely suggested such aharsh sentence which has precedentat the University o British Columbiaand at Carleton University. We havesuggested a punishment, but we alsounderstand where our role as duti-ul members o the SFUO ends andwhere the role o the Student Arbi-tration Committee begins. Let therebe no mistake; our only demand is justice.I will answer those that wonderwhy we even care, saying ‘Te elec-tions are over; why not wait until nextyear?’ Who would want a leader whowould have complacently watched thisunravel and said “Justice can wait ayear”? Te answer is plain enough: acandidate who would rather be popu-lar than protect the constitution, orwho would rather speak about issuesthan solve them, is not a candidateworth having.Tis case is simple. Tere is a singlerule about campaigning in the SFUOConstitution. Article 4.7.1 stipulatesthat no candidates may orm a slate.Seamus Wole, Roxanne Dubois, JulieSéguin, and Jean Guillaume ormeda slate, deceived the electorate, andtrampled the Constitution. We willdemonstrate this to the Student Ar-bitration Committee. We will presentmaterial proo, proo o irregularitiesand testimonies rom all across thestudent population. We will do soeven i it makes us unpopular; even i some label us opportunists, we do sobecause no person o integrity woulddo otherwise. And regardless o theoutcome we will submit ourselves tothe judgment o the Student Arbitra-tion Committee.

Renaud-Philippe Garner Tird-year philosophy student (On behal o the plaintifs)

Where is Mother Teresawhen you need her?

I IS WIH great disappointmentthat I witnessed the results o the re-erendum on the Millennium VillageProject. Yes garnered 35 per cent o the vote while No won with 65 percent. Tis shows that the majority o the voting population o our univer-sity has decided that spending $6 peryear on the Millennium Village proj-ect was not a worthy cause or one thatwas too much or them to handle. Tisis incredible! While admitting thatsome students are hard-pressed nan-cially, turning down an investment atthe cost o about two Starbuck’s CaéAmericanos a year by U o O studentsin order to improve the lives o ami-lies ever so slightly in an impoverishedcontinent such as Arica is insanity, es-pecially i we look at the real numbers.Nineteen-thousand children die daily rom easily curable diseases. Eighty per cent o children under the age o 15 who sufer rom HIV are living inArica. Seventeen per cent o Arica’slabour orce is estimated to be madeup o children. wenty-one per cento Kenya’s children are not attendingschool. One hundred-thirty thousandchildren are estimated to be living onNairobi’s streets. wo-hundred thou-sand children are orphans in Rwanda.Te Millennium goals are very ba-sic and practical: to eradicate extremehunger and poverty, to achieve univer-sal primary education, and to reducechild mortality. Tese should not beloy goals or modern civilization,yet in a world such as ours, where 80per cent o the global resources areconsumed by 20 per cent o us (NorthAmerica, Europe, and other developedcountries) with our “what’s in it orme?” attitude, these goals are colossalindeed. Tis is not a good example o a victory or the human spirit.We have all heard about the so-called analyses or excuses rom the vocal opposition to the reerendum,such as “the UN and the World Bank and other such institutions are cor-rupt and bureaucratic”. I can only hope these same individuals haveound other organizations (Oxam,KEVA, Doctors without Borders) they consider worthy to provide supportin order to make a diference. Yet, I donot believe this is the case. Tese individuals are probably out disparagingother goodwill organizations in orderto rationalize their behaviour whilethey powder their cappuccinos.

Jefrey Wong Second-year linguistics student

A word from the Senate

AS YOUR SUDEN representativeson the U o O Senate, we want to work with you and we are committed tolistening to your concerns. In light o recent concerns raised by students inthe orum o the Senate, we are takingsteps to better collaborate with you be-ore these issues need to be escalated tothe Senate table. As student senators,we understand that it is important thatstudents have the opportunity to ex-press their concerns, advocate or theirrights, and promote accountability and transparency on campus. We be-lieve in these goals and are committedto promoting them.Te Senate is the highest academicdecision-making body on campus. Inthis orum student senators have theability to propose motions on academ-ic policy, make amendments, and raisethe concerns o students on academicissues. Student senators sit on a variety o Senate committees, aculty councils,and collaborate with student govern-ments on campus. Tis year we haveconsulted with students on campus onissues o concern and upcoming Sen-ate agendas will contain some motionsresulting rom these consultations.Recently, we have been consulted on amotion or photography during Senatemeetings, or which we believe a airand progressive policy has been putorward which acknowledges studentconcerns and encourages a spirit o openness. We will continue to lobby the Senate to support this motion.We are working to make ourselvesmore accessible to you by creating aWeb page and publishing contact in-ormation so that you can contact usas concerns arise. We want to open adialogue among the student body onacademic topics that are a undamen-tal concern or the Senate. For the timebeing, please visit the members listingo the Senate to contact your studentsenator: web5.uottawa.ca/admingov/senate-members.html.We look orward to the discussion.

Student senators

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Feb. 26–March 4, 2009

Letters

Frank AppleyardEditor-in-Chief editor@thefulcrum.ca

3

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How are you spendingReading Week?

Going on a trip:Visiting family:Studying in Ottawa:

thefulcrum.ca poll

Last week’s resultsLast week’s results

19%19%61%

Eric Datars, School o Management Allison Enright, Faculty o Science Jean-François Gauthier,Faculty o Engineering Samantha Green,Faculty o Social SciencesShamin Mohamed Jr,Faculty o Health Sciences Matthew Mount, Faculty o Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies Joseph Wesley Richards II,Faculty o Law

Student clubs not for ALL students?

HE BEGINNING OF each new se-mester brings another Clubs Week,arranged by the SFUO or studentorganizations on campus to let otherstudents know the purpose o eachclub and the benets o joining andparticipating in clubs. And with thebringing o each Clubs Week, socomes another struggle or our clubto be recognized by the SFUO.Each year, the University o OttawaCampus Conservatives (UOCC) haveto chase the SFUO clubs coordinator orinormation about Clubs Week—inor-mation which is readily distributed tomost clubs on campus. Tis past month,the UOCC was never notied o ClubsWeek by the clubs coordinator, whilethe U o O New Democratic Club wasnotied well in advance o this event.

Katlyn HarrisonTird-year communications student Read the rest o this letter at theulcrum.ca/letters