ContentsContentsU-Pass-es through City Transit Committee

Cause=Interview

It’s all over

U of O gets carded

NewsNews

ArtsArts

SportsSports

FeatureFeature

p. 4p. 4

p. 9p. 9

p. 16p. 16

p. 12p. 12

SFUO receives councillors’ support for pilot project. p. 4

CFS referendum to hit campus in less than a month. p. 5

Jaclyn Lytle interviews Brendan Canning of Broken Social Scene. p. 9

Len Smirnov takes readers behind the facade of the Bronson Centre. p. 10

Women’s rugby loses to Laval, ending their season... p. 16

... but men’s football gets another chance. p. 16

A photo feature displays student cards, past and present. p. 12–13

Do nice guys fi nish last? Or not at all? Dear Di explains how to break out of the friend zone. p. 22

Does the Fulcrum help students?

Re: “Choosing the best road” (Editorial, Oct. 2)THE FULCRUM’S OCT. 7 edito-rial cartoon asking “Like, why is it we can’t, ya know, just schedule a meet-ing with the admin and go over our concerns with them?” was an insult.

Just schedule a meeting with the admin at U of O? But the admin doesn’t talk to students! I started my work at the Student Appeal Centre in May 2007. To date I have worked on 567 student cases. I see and know how the admin works. You want to sched-ule a meeting with the U of O admin? Sure, you can try. If it’s a lower level of administration you will probably get a meeting. Th is doesn’t mean your concerns are going to be addressed.

But how oft en do members of the administration—Allan Rock, Pamela Harrod, Robert Major, Victor Simon, and Mona Nemer—meet students face to face to talk about concerns? When is the last time you tried to schedule a meeting with Allan Rock?

Oh, that’s right—you are the stu-dent newspaper. You foster a friendly and diplomatic relationship with the central admin. Th ey are happy to talk to you. You aren’t asking them to take action to fi x a problem. You aren’t e-mailing them to describe your case of harassment or abuse.

Th is week only I was a witness to two cases where students are fi ghting—not to win their case—but just to get a meeting with U of O’s central admin.

Does the Fulcrum realize its privilege? Does it know that their representation of the admin is not reality?

It would be nice to read a student newspaper that works for students, not against them.

Mireille Gervais Master’s law student

Fulcrum off on activism

Re: “Choosing the best road” (Editorial, Oct. 2)JUST MAKE AN appointment and meet Th e Man! Yup, and I’m selling the Macdonald-Cartier bridge for a good price. Wow. Hey Fulcrum: An institution resists all moves that take any power and control away from the institution. Don’t newspaper editors study institutional analysis? In your defence, if you have never tried to take power away from an institution, as in make it more democratic, then you can’t really appreciate this social science theory stuff .

In your world view, I think it would go something like this: Student Fed-eration of the University of Ottawa (SFUO) Executive: Hey Allan, please double the number of elected student reps on all committees and pay elected student committee members the same as profs get for the same work. Rock: Geez, ya, that would increase func-tional representative democracy on campus; why didn’t I think of that?

Anyone who tries to level the height of the hierarchical pyramid towards a participatory democracy

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model (see Wikipedia) is going to fi nd themselves between a Rock and a hard place. Try it.

Denis RancourtPhysics professor

For a smoke-free-campaign-free campus

Re: “Smoke-free campus campaign” (Letters, Oct. 2)AS A UNIVERSITY of Ottawa stu-dent and a non-smoker I believe that the notion of a campus-wide smok-ing ban is abhorrent and an aff ront to the rights and freedoms espoused by all Canadians. First of all, how much regulation do we need? Are we so damned useless as to require Big Brother to step in and legislate our lives? I have always fi rmly believed in an individual’s right to choose his or her own actions and to bear the con-sequences for good or ill. I believe this to be an inalienable right. Who the hell are people to say you can’t smoke because it inconveniences them? As far as the health issue is concerned, let’s just put things into perspective. Th e amount of carcinogens cigarettes pass along as you walk to class is cat-egorically negligible, especially con-sidering that the campus is located in downtown Ottawa. We’re in a me-tropolis people, smoke happens. If it were really a matter of air quality the banning of cars would be a far larger concern than cigarettes.

Th e proposed campaign advocates for a campus where we can live and learn. Th at’s all well and good, but for whom? Everyone or just non-smokers? Th e authors also claim that they can’t “travel past any entrance on campus” without passing hordes of smokers. Really? Th e smokers I see are few and far between and have never caused me any inconvenience. Th ey consume a legally purchased

product in the legally prescribed manner. What more could a ratio-nal, free-thinking individual ask for? Th is proposed segregation of campus should off end every single person who believes in an individual’s right to choose. It should be received with nothing but the greatest of disdain and disgust. I advocate for mutual respect, civility, and tolerance among the en-tirety of the student community.

Lise LegaultSecond-year medicine student

Grading student lobbying

“TUITION RATES IN Ontario soar above national norm” read a recent headline in the Ottawa Sun. Once I fi nished reading the article, either due to homework induced insanity or the realization of futility of our goals, I started giggling uncontrollably. Our wise student leaders are, again, taking it to the politicians through the use of the media, trying to reduce tuition fees and not realizing how useless and inef-fective their eff orts really are! I mean, this has been done before hasn’t it? Well, yeah, and it has worked the other times hasn’t it? Well, actually, no it hasn’t. Despite their eff orts, we still see continual rises in our tuition, year af-ter year, government aft er government and yet our wise student leaders keep making the same mistakes.

Petitions, protests, and TV com-mercials: what do they have in com-mon? Th e answer is they are worth-less (at least to this cause). Sure, these ordinary methods of lobbying work for everybody else so they must work for us. Th at is like saying I turn on the light to help me see in the dark there-fore so should a blind man.

It won’t work. We are diff erent. Th e other lobbies are diff erent and the segments of society they are repre-senting are diff erent. And what is that

essential diff erence that separates us from them? We don’t vote. Th at is our inherent handicap: our collective complacency and our innate laziness. Do you really think politicians are going to pay attention to the suff ering hoards of students? Why should they when their jobs depend on the voter-rich middle-age segment of society? Imagine a scenario where politicians have to decide between either lower-ing tuition for students or increasing health care for seniors. In the real world, which we should probably start living in, there is a trade-off . You pick one, you give up the other. Nobody has unlimited resources. So, what are they going to fund: tuition or health care? If you think tuition then think again. Since their jobs depend on votes and three-quarters of seniors vote while only a quarter of students do, they’ll choose seniors over us. Would you blame them? No, it just makes sense. We are handi-capped by ourselves.

And yet, our wise student leaders decide to spend the majority of their time and resources not on getting our collective asses to the polls but on catching our attention and informing us of the issues, which is in essence shining a light for the blind. Recently, the Canadian Federation of Students (CFS), as a gimmick, published re-port cards of the diff erent parties and graded how their diff erent policies impact students. I saw a lot of F’s in those report cards. What grade would you give the CFS?

Luan NgoMaster’s economics student

Due to space constraints, we couldn’t print all letters received. Please visitthefulcrum.ca/letters to read more letters 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?

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Will you benefi t from the SFUO’s U-Pass?

Yes:No:

Did you vote in the federal election?

Yes: No:

Oct. 22–29, 2008Letters Frank Appleyard

Editor-in-Chiefeditor@thefulcrum.ca 3

Go to www.thefulcrum.ca to vote.

thefulcrum.ca poll Last week’s results

79%21%

Oct. 23–29, 2008News Emma Godmere

News Editornews@thefulcrum.ca 4

by Emma GodmereFulcrum Staff

STUDENTS CAN ANTICIPATE riding OC Transpo with a universal bus pass as early as September 2009, thanks to Student Federation of the University of Ottawa (SFUO) President Dean Haldenby and U of O Sustainability Coordinator Jonathan Rausseo’s presentation to the City of Ot-tawa’s Transit Committee on Oct. 15.

Th e committee of nine city councillors passed a motion to recommend that coun-cil implement the SFUO-proposed U-Pass as a pilot project for full-time undergradu-ate students at the price of $125 per semes-ter next academic year. Last February, stu-dents voted in favour of the project and the proposed price in an SFUO referendum.

“I’m very excited about it,” said Halden-by. “I think it means that we have one more step forward for a universal bus pass for our students at the price that they want.”

Th e presentation by Haldenby and Rausseo included analysis of universal bus passes at other universities and municipal-ities across the country, and highlighted the fact that even at $125, the U of O’s U-Pass would be one of the most expensive in Canada.

Ottawa’s U-Pass represents a 50 per cent drop from the price of a regular OC Trans-po student pass, while other universities, such as Guelph and McMaster, pay 75–89 per cent less than their cities’ regular tran-sit pricing.

OC Transpo has been strongly recom-mending a $198-per-semester U-Pass in order for the transit service to remain revenue-neutral. Th is would mean a 20 per cent reduction in price for students, and would require approval from U of O stu-dents in another referendum.

“Th ere [are] always going to be many questions surrounding [the $125 price], but the facts remain the same,” Haldenby said. “We do know that this is still going to be one of the most expensive passes in the country, and, from what I understand, North America.”

At the meeting, Innes Ward Councillor Rainer Bloess pointed out that the $125 price tag seemed to be “pulled out of thin air”, and many other councillors expressed worry in regards to the $2.1 million rev-enue loss that OC Transpo would suff er.

“Th e true cost of the program will prob-ably be somewhere a little over what we’re proposing to be the $125,” said Rausseo, who has been involved with the project since its early stages in 2001 and who is

representing the university’s interest in the project. “In that case, we’re looking for the city to pick up the rest of the bill.”

Councillors will need to fi nd an extra $2.1 million to fund the project at budget deliberations in December, if the U-Pass is to be off ered at $125 per semester.

“Th e tougher challenge will come dur-ing budget, because we’re in a diffi cult bud-get situation—we’re always in a diffi cult budget situation,” said Transit Committee Chair Alex Cullen. “What are the tradeoff s for $2.1 million to enable this project?”

Rausseo echoed Cullen’s budgetary con-cerns.

“Come budget time, the U-Pass issue [is] also up there with libraries and police budgets and everything,” he said.

“[However], we think that there are sav-ings that are going to be generated from the program itself. If we’re distributing the pass, then OC Transpo doesn’t have to pay for people to distribute the pass,” Rausseo continued. “Th ey don’t need to have to worry about printing out another pass every single month, because it’s one pass that’s good for the entire academic year. Th ey [won’t] have those massive lineups at the Rideau Centre … we’re able to take away a lot of that stuff .

“We can get rid of a lot of rider fraud,” he added, “because there are so many people that just jump on the bus and come to the university and, of course, OC Transpo’s not making any money off these people.”

Th e SFUO has been gaining support from other city and university groups, including the Pedestrian and Transpor-tation Advisory Committee that passed the U-Pass motion unanimously, and the Carleton University Students’ Association, which was also present at the Oct. 15 meet-ing and plans to propose to their student population a U-Pass referendum question similar to the SFUO’s.

In order to successfully pass this pilot project through council, the SFUO will need to garner support from at least 13 councillors at the city’s Nov. 12 council meeting, and then subsequently ensure that the city is willing to take care of the extra $2.1 million during budget meetings in December.

“Does this mean that we trade off on other projects? Does this mean that we increase taxes? [Th at is] a diffi cult thing to do… when bus fares are going up and [with] a mayor that says ‘zero means ze-ro’—but it’s not impossible,” said Cullen.

“It’s a political process and the student body just can’t sit back and say, ‘there, we’ve punted the ball, and it’s someone else’s now’,” he continued. “For this to be successful, they have to participate all the way through. It’s a two-stage eff ort, so they will need to stay engaged in order to make sure that we move this ball across the goal line.”

U-Pass gets green light

City Transit Committee approves pilot project

for September 2009

photo by Lihang Nong

NEWSOct. 23, 2008 5www.thefulcrum.ca

by Emma GodmereFulcrum Staff

UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS AT the U of O will decide this No-vember whether or not the Student Federation of the University of Ot-tawa (SFUO) will become a full member of the Canadian Federation of Students (CFS).

In a statement released on Oct. 20, the Referendum Oversight Commit-tee (ROC)—which represents both the SFUO and the CFS—announced that a referendum on full member-ship will be held on the U of O cam-pus Nov. 18–20.

“We looked at a couple of time pe-riods that would be available for us, one of those being November and [the other], March,” said SFUO President Dean Haldenby, who holds one of two SFUO positions on the ROC. “Th ere were pros and cons to both, and in the end we decided on November.”

“We do realize that it will be a busy time, however, at the same time the [month of March] was not really all that good of an alternative either,” he said. “It’s so close to our regular elec-

tions … We did not want it to become the overarching issue for our general elections.”

Regarding the involvement of the SFUO and their executive in the referendum campaigns, Haldenby explained that for the most part em-ployees would be able to act as they wish.

“At this point, we welcome any of our students, [and] any of our stu-dent employees to be involved in the [referendum], and that includes the executive,” he said, “but as far as the Student Federation of the University of Ottawa goes, we have not taken a stance.”

Th e campaign period runs Nov. 7–20, leaving students with only 13 days to get informed about potential advantages and disadvantages to join-ing the CFS.

Shelley Melanson, the chairperson for CFS-Ontario and a former presi-dent of the Carleton University Stu-dents’ Association, believes that this is the ideal time to inform U of O stu-dents about what the national student advocacy group has to off er.

“I think this is an opportunity to provide students with information about [CFS], about the work that we do collectively across the country, and to evaluate whether or not working with students from across the country towards advocating for higher quality and more aff ordable post-secondary

education is something that students at the University of Ottawa are inter-ested in doing,” she said.

Haldenby indicated his desire to ensure that as much information as possible is presented to U of O stu-dents throughout the 13-day period.

“I can tell you that at least my goal is to make sure that … the pro and con sides have their opportunity to be able to have themselves heard in an equal manner, but also to have information about what the Canadian Federation of Students is, to make sure that [stu-

dents] are informed about it,” he said.Th e SFUO has been a prospective

member since July 2008. Th e referen-dum comes 13 years aft er SFUO mem-bers voted overwhelmingly to defeder-ate from the CFS in a 1995 vote, ending 10 years of membership.

CFS: no or yes?Referendum

to be heldNov. 18–20

image courtesy cfsontario.ca

by Emma GodmereFulcrum Staff

FIREFIGHTERS WERE CALLED to D’Iorio Hall shortly before noon on Oct. 19 aft er a graduate student work-ing on the third fl oor noticed smoke in a hallway outside a laboratory.

Arriving on the scene at approxi-mately 11:30 a.m., fi refi ghters at-tempted to put out the fl ames with water, carbon dioxide, and dry chem-ical fi re extinguishers; however, the fi re resisted all eff orts.

According to Alain St. Amant, chair of chemistry for the Faculty of Science, the cause of the fi re was at-tributed to air-sensitive compounds that reacted aft er their storage con-tainers developed air leaks.

“[Th ey were] compounds that react with air, that react with water, so they only way to put them out is basically by smothering them with a totally in-ert substance,” said St. Amant. “Th at’s why it was so hard to put out, and it just burnt out by itself eventually.”

Th e fi re triggered the sprinkler systems for the entire fl oor, including inside professor Sandro Gambarotta’s lab, where the localized fi re occurred.

“Th e main damage, ironically enough, was generated by the sprin-kler,” Gambarotta said. “It’s just one cabinet underneath one fume hood which [was] destroyed by the fi re and the intense heat, but the fume hood is still working.”

No one was in the third fl oor lab when the fi re occurred on Sunday.

“I think the good news is that no one has been hurt, [and there has been] no major damage,” Gambarotta continued.

Andrew Zlotorzynski, environ-mental health and safety offi cer for the Faculty of Science, explained that the biggest concerns were the lasting eff ects of the water that was used to try to put the fl ames out.

“Right now, to prevent any future problems with mould, you have to act very quickly, [aft er] this amount of water used by fi refi ghters themselves and the sprinklers,” he said.

Zlotorzynski explained that only four hours aft er the fi re occurred, people were already on site cleaning up the water damage.

“Th ere [were] 2–3 centimetres of water on the third fl oor,” he said.

Total damage was estimated at $100,000.

Zlotorzynski expected the fl oor to be back in use by Oct. 22. Th e par-ticular laboratory aff ected by the fi re is expected to be out of commission until early next month.

Labs damaged by fi re in D’Iorio HallChemical fi re, water

damage leaves third fl oor out of commission

The fi re at D’Iorio Hall on Oct. 19 could not be extinguished using water or fi re extinguishers.photo courtesy Faculty of Science

IN LESS THAN a month, undergraduate stu-dents will be faced with yet another ballot on which the decision they make will greatly im-pact their next few years at the University of Ot-tawa.

Th e referendum to decide whether or not the Student Federation of the University of Ottawa (SFUO) should join the Canadian Federation of Students (CFS) as full members will occur Nov. 18–20. Th e campaign to present students with general CFS information and highlight the pros and cons of joining begins Nov. 7.

Th is means that students will have only 13 days to evaluate their experience as prospec-tive members—which they have only been ex-periencing for about four months—adequately weigh the pros and cons of joining the CFS, and make an educated decision.

In an interview with the Fulcrum, SFUO President and Referendum Oversight Commit-tee (ROC) representative for the U of O Dean Haldenby explained that the ROC was faced with two options for referendum times: No-vember 2008 or March 2009. Th ere were argu-ments made against March, as Haldenby noted its proximity to SFUO executive and federated body elections. He expressed concern over the fact that such a big decision as choosing wheth-er or not to take out full membership with the CFS could potentially take over the SFUO’s Feb-ruary elections.

On one hand, Haldenby brings up a valid point. Th e distraction of a March CFS referen-dum would likely overshadow executive elec-tions and potentially leave undergrads to wit-ness a single-issue campaign—or alternatively, the elections would out-shine the CFS debate and leave students uninformed about the refer-endum positions. Th ere are far too many other issues facing our campus—student space, com-mercialization, or accessibility, to name a few—that need to be recognized during executive elections in the spring, and yet the CFS debate is extremely important.

On the other hand, a November referendum

means students have to make an informed deci-sion in less than a month. Th e SFUO has only been a prospective member since July, which begs the question: have students really had the time to experience the CFS and its off erings? Haldenby noted in an interview that the SFUO will have attended two major CFS general meet-ings, taken part in a major provincial campaign on Nov. 5, and experienced several other cam-paigns, such as the ones revolving around sus-tainability and ending date rape. But as always, it comes down to whether students have actually been informed about these CFS activities and taken part in them.

It’s important to remember that, according to CFS by-laws, undergrads are locked into what-ever decision they collectively make for at least two years, since the minimum time period be-tween federation or de-federation referendums is 24 months. Th is is an important issue to take into consideration, especially for undergradu-ate students who are still just beginning their degrees. For those fi rst- and second-years in particular, the decision made in this upcoming referendum will greatly impact their U of O ex-perience for the rest of their time on campus. Th e SFUO’s campaigns, initiatives, and general mandate all have the potential to be aff ected by CFS membership, whether for the better or worse, and it’s the SFUO that undoubtedly plays an important role in the campus life of all un-dergrads.

Th e SFUO has a lot on its plate right now; Green Weeks are wrapping up, the U-Pass is still making its way through City Council, the Nov. 5 Drop Fees campaign is right around the corner, and to top it off , this CFS debate is about to hit campus in full force. Is a November referendum simply too soon, and is 13 days too short a time period to make an informed choice?

Undergrads have been handed a very short and quickly approaching period of time to make the CFS decision. All this campus can do is make the best of the situation, but beware: the SFUO and U of O undergrads should not and cannot blow past this decision and mark up their bal-lots on a whim.

Rushing a decision has never helped anybody. Students can’t aff ord to quickly make up our minds and regret any decision soon aft er. Sim-ply put, haste makes waste.

news@thefulcrum.ca613-562-5260

NEWS Oct. 23, 20086

Vote of Confi dence

Haste makes waste

Emma Godmere News Editor

If you’re reading this, you have the attention to detail we need in our

proofreaders.

Come to 631 King Edward on Tuesday evenings to keep

the Fulcrum error-free.

by Megan O’MearaFulcrum Staff ELECTIONS WILL BE held Oct. 22-23 in order to fi ll the currently va-cant Engineering and Education seats on the Student Federation of the Uni-versity of Ottawa’s (SFUO) Board of Administration (BOA). Each faculty has one student running for the posi-tions, leaving voters to choose either ‘yes’ or ‘no’ for their candidate on the ballot.

Myriam Bérubé is the lone candi-date running for the Faculty of Edu-cation’s spot on the board, and is cur-rently the president of the Faculty of Education’s French student council. She cites her position on the student council as suffi cient experience for the position on the BOA.

“I usually run everything by my student council fi rst,” she explained. “We consult the students on what they want to do.”

Bérubé was not initially intending to run for the position, but noted no other students seemed to have a de-sire to. She felt someone was needed to represent the faculty.

“I waited until the last minute to see if there was anybody else interest-ed in the position, because I think it’s a position that could have been fi lled by anybody else,” she said, “[But] I thought it was important that some-body represent the students.”

Her main focus, now that she is running, is to emphasize the impor-tance of her fellow students’ partici-pation in decision-making.

“I wouldn’t say I have one platform to defend,” she explained. “My objec-tive is to take a democratic stand and

to consult the students … to know if they want to defend something or if they want a certain project [to be sup-ported].”

Rob Arntfi eld is the sole candi-date running for the Faculty of En-gineering’s spot on the board, and is currently the president of the Engi-neering Students’ Society (ESS). He highlighted accountability as one of the top priorities he would take on, if elected to the BOA.

“I would like to start holding the SFUO more accountable,” he said. “I’d like to … create more of a policy manual where if the executive aren’t completing a set of designated duties, then they’re not getting paid for their job.

“Th at would be something very… feasible, because I certainly know, at least from a federated body stand-point, that members of the [SFUO] executive are taking on tasks that are above and beyond their mandate, however they’re not completing their mandate to begin with, so it seems counter-productive.”

Arntfi eld explained he can bring experience from his position with the ESS to the BOA.

“I would say that I would be best-suited to represent the engineering students at the BOA because I’m already elected to represent engi-neering students to the Faculty of Engineering,” he said. “Th at involves consistent meetings and sitting on various boards.”

Only students enrolled in the Fac-ulty of Education can vote for the Education seat on the BOA, and only students from the Faculty of Engi-neering can vote for their Engineer-ing representative. Polling stations will be set up in the main entrance of Lamoureux Hall and in the SITE food court, and will be open 10:30 a.m.–7 p.m. on Oct. 22 and 10 a.m.–7 p.m. on Oct. 23. Results will be released on the morning of Oct. 24.

—with fi les from Emma Godmere

NEWSOct. 23, 2008 7www.thefulcrum.ca

by Amanda ShendrukFulcrum Staff

FOLLOWING MONTHS OF renovations, stu-dent-run Café Alternatif offi cially re-opened its doors in the basement of Simard Hall on Oct. 21.

Last year, with support from the Students’ Associ-ation of the Faculty of Arts (SAFA) and the Student Federation of the University of Ottawa (SFUO), a group of students spearheaded a campaign to reno-vate the run-down café under the name “Project Alternatif”.

Aft er a successful SAFA referendum in Sep-tember, Arts students will pay a levy of $3 per semester for the fi rst year and $1.50 per semes-ter for subsequent years to Café Alternatif. Th e levy, which will take eff ect for the 2009–10 aca-demic year, will assist with the café’s renovations and future upkeep.

Th e new SFUO food-service under the same name will off er exclusively fair-trade tea and coff ee. Th e food service will also sell fresh sand-wiches, salads, cookies, and pastries, among other foods.

“Th e menu will still be refi ning itself in the next few weeks,” said SFUO VP Finance Rox-anne Dubois, via e-mail. “One of our priorities is to off er aff ordable food options for students that are also fair-trade when possible, and fresh.”

At the café’s grand opening, SAFA President Liz Doneathy expressed her excitement that af-ter almost a year of planning and renovations, the café is fi nally open to students.

“I’m very happy. I think the place looks lovely. I’m so excited for more students to come down and spend time here and get to see it,” she said.

SAFA is in charge of both the café space and event booking.

Dubois echoed Doneathy’s excitement at the opening.

“I’m really happy we’re here. I’m very proud that we’ve decided to go ahead and open a stu-dent-run café on campus,” she said. “We have a café that I think represents the need that there is for good food options, as fresh and as cheap as possible, on campus.

“I’m looking forward to having a café that’s re-ally in touch and in tune with students’ needs,” said Dubois.

Café Alt celebrates re-opening

Café Alternatif has been re-imagined with new furniture and a new SFUO-run food service.photo by Ian Flett

Oct. 14 election results

THE OCT. 14 federal general election yielded a third consecutive minority government for Parliament.

Th e Conservative Party gained 16 seats to form a 143-seat minority gov-ernment, only 12 short of garnering a majority.

Speaking to his supporters in Cal-gary on Oct. 15, Stephen Harper ex-claimed that “Canadians have voted to move our country forward and they have done so with confi dence,” according to cbc.ca.

Th e Liberal Party retained its status as the offi cial opposition, but lost 19 seats in the House of Commons. Party support is currently at its lowest level since 1867, according to the CBC. On Oct. 20, following disapointing elec-tion results, Liberal leader Stéphane Dion stated that he would resign his position when a new party leader is chosen at an upcoming leadership convention.

Th e Bloc Québécois remained strong in Quebec, winning 50 of the 75 seats available in the province. Th e Tories won 10 Quebec seats despite much greater expectations, prompt-ing Bloc leader Gilles Duceppe to boast on election night that “with-out the Bloc Québécois tonight, Mr. Harper would have formed a majority government,” according to cbc.ca.

Th e New Democratic Party won 37 seats, retaining those of party leader Jack Layton and his wife, Olivia

Chow. Layton expressed optimism over the fact that the seven seats gained in this election will move the NDP closer to becoming Canada’s governing party.

“In fact, we’re in a stronger posi-tion to pursue [the offi ce of Prime Minister] now with some important new seats that we’ve been able to win—particularly in Alberta, in New-foundland and Labrador—and for the fi rst time ever an elected member of Parliament in a general election from Quebec,” Layton said on Oct. 14, ac-cording to cbc.ca.

Th e Green Party failed to win any seats, including in the riding of Cen-tral Nova where party leader Eliza-beth May lost to Conservative Minis-ter of Defence Peter MacKay.

“Next time, we’ll make all the dif-ference,” May said to supporters on the night of Oct. 14. “We will be stay-ing in force in Central Nova because I’m not going anywhere.”

Th e Maritimes also witnessed the election of independent Bill Casey, an ex-Tory from Nova Scotia, while another independent, André Arthur, was elected in southern Quebec.

All 15 Ottawa area ridings kept their incumbents. A handful of rid-ings in central Ottawa remain Liberal and NDP strongholds, while several nearby suburban and rural areas were won once again by Conservative can-didates.

—Len Smirnov, with fi les from Danielle Webb (CUP)

Education and Engineering face BOA by-elections

Ottawatch

www.thefulcrum.ca

Students protest StFX code of conduct

ANTIGONISH (CUP) – STUDENTS AT ST. Francis Xavier University in Nova Scotia ral-lied on Oct. 15 to protest their campus’s code of conduct.

Th e Community Code of Conduct outlines the rights and responsibilities of StFX stu-dents. Similar codes have spurred protests at campuses across Canada, such as the rally on April 25 over the proposed code of conduct at the U of O.

Th e event that sparked the protest was the dismissal of Kat Fraser from her position as president of Th ompkins and Th ompson Hall, a campus residence building, and her transfer to another residence, aft er allegedly mistreat-ing a fi rst-year student during frosh week.

Th e StFX Students’ Union supported the rally, although the executive did not play an active role in its organization, and some mem-bers of the executive had expressed concern over the approach taken.

Th e rally served to increase both student and administration awareness of the code of conduct. Th e StFX administration is interest-ed in holding a town-hall style meeting in or-der to address student concerns, and students have expressed optimism about increasing dialogue.

—Kate Clark, Th e Xaverian Weekly

B.C. plans second med school

BURNABY (CUP) – PRELIMINARY DIS-CUSSIONS ARE underway regarding the potential establishment of a second medical school in Surrey, British Columbia; possibly an extension of Burnaby’s Simon Fraser Universi-ty. Th ere are currently 56 doctors per 100,000 people in Surrey, compared to Vancouver’s 140 per 100,000. To compound the dilemma, Sur-rey expects a population increase of 300,000 over the next 30 years.

Th e lack of doctors forces patients with non-life-threatening medical issues to resort to using the emergency facilities at hospitals, resulting in long wait-times in emergency rooms.

Generally, doctors tend to settle in the area in which they are trained, therefore, to re-solve the lack of doctors in Surrey, it has been suggested that Surrey should have a medical school of its own. However, prior to establish-

ing a second medical school, issues concern-ing infrastructure, resources, and funding must be resolved.

—Elias Rahjiak, Th e Peak

Brandon University faculty strike over

BRANDON (CUP) – STUDENTS AND FACULTY at Manitoba’s Brandon University breathed a collective sigh of relief Oct. 15 as the school’s faculty strike came to an unexpected end aft er 16 days and 10 hours on the picket lines.

Th e tentative agreement was signed late in the aft ernoon between the administration and the Brandon University Faculty Association (BUFA), but has yet to be offi cially ratifi ed by the faculty association or the university’s board of governors.

BUFA members returned to work on Oct. 16 and classes started up the next day.

According to faculty members, the fall term is still scheduled to end on time. Many stu-dents voiced concerns that it may prove dif-fi cult to complete their courses by the end of the semester due to their heavy work loads. Faculty assured them that allowances will be made, and that students will face no academic penalty because of the strike.

—Maryann Buri, Th e Quill

U of Windsor students feel strike’s aft ermath

WINDSOR (CUP) – AFTER RETURNING TO class aft er a 17-day strike on Oct. 13, University of Winsor students were notifi ed that their exam period was revised to include exams as little as two days before Christmas. Additionally, the revamped December exam schedules include testing as early as 7 a.m. and as late as 8 p.m., leaving many commuting stu-dents upset.

Th e university is looking into ways to allow out-of-town students to stay in residence for the duration of exams, according to University of Windsor Students’ Alliance President Tif-fany Gooch.

Th e strike began on Sept. 17 and ended on Oct. 6 when the Windsor University Faculty Association voted in favour of a new contract with the administration. Many students are concerned that the new contract will have a negative eff ect on tuition.

—Hannah Larking, Th e Lance

On November 18-20, 2008 undergraduate students at the Universityof Ottawa will have an opportunity to vote on membership in theCanadian Federation of Students.

The referendum campaign period will be from November 7 to November 20. Information about referendum deadlines, committees, polling locations and hours will be released by October 28.

For more information please contact: cfs.ref.fcee@gmail.com

R E FE R E N D U M N OT I CE

NEWS Oct. 23, 20088 www.thefulcrum.ca

photo by Catherine Fancy (CUP)

News in briefNews in brief

Oct. 23–29, 2008Arts & Culture Peter Henderson

Arts & Culture Editorarts@thefulcrum.ca 9

by Jaclyn LytleFulcrum Staff

INDIE ROCK COLLECTIVE Bro-ken Social Scene has reached almost a decade of performing together as the biggest supergroup in Canadian music. The band, which has varied in size from two members to over a dozen throughout the years, was originally put together by Brendan Canning and Kevin Drew, two To-ronto-based musicians.

Jason Collett, Leslie Feist (Feist), Emily Haines (Metric), Andrew Whiteman (Apostle of Hustle), and Torquil Campbell and Amy Millan (Stars), have all been involved with Broken Social Scene at some point of their career. The supergroup has made a major contribution to the definition of Canadian alternative rock.

Broken Social Scene plays an eclectic mix of rock, folk, and al-ternative, with each member of the

band having their own unique style and impact on the final project. The band’s second album, You Forgot It In People, won a Juno for Alterna-tive Album of the Year and ranked fourth in Chart magazine’s 2005 reader poll of the 50 greatest Cana-dian albums of all time. Pitchfork Media called their music “endlessly replayable, perfect pop”. Broken So-cial Scene has received widespread acclaim, and they have become one of the biggest bands on the Cana-dian music scene.

Although they’ve played across the globe since the release of You Forgot It In People in 2002, the group is no stranger to the Ottawa music scene. Broken Social Scene plays the Bronson Centre Theatre on Oct. 30.

“We come once or twice a year … I’ve never been disappointed by the Ottawa crowds,” says Canning, who shares guitar and vocal duties for the band.

Broken Social Scene has a sound that’s hard to pin down into one genre, and that indefinable quality allows them to play many different types of shows and festivals.

“I have pretty fond memories of both [Bluesfest and the Ottawa Folk Festival],” Canning says. “You know, we’re not really a blues or a folk

band but I appreciate getting to go play [the festivals] … and the club gigs. The last few in recent memory have all been really good.”

The band is currently touring in the U.S., on the leg of their Some-thing for All of Us... tour, which Canning describes as a “U.S. elec-tion [leg].”

“We’re in the swing states right now,” he explains. “[We’re] throw-ing in a little Canada at the end, so we can feel good about being home again.”

Election season in Canada ended on Oct. 14 and Canning is glad it’s over, although he applauds the new national prominence of the Green Party.

“We’ve already had a Canadian election that seemed to do absolute-ly nothing one way or another, other than waste a lot of money that could have gone to cleaning up lakes but instead went into campaign adver-tising,” he says. “Same old bullshit. If anything, it sort of got Elizabeth May a little more press time. She be-came a slightly more known force ... I think she’s got a lot of good ideas and she’s progressive.”

The band has been touring since Feb. 20, playing both old and new material, to promote Canning’s de-but solo album Something for All of

Us... It’s the second release in the Broken Social Scene Presents: series after Drew’s 2007 release Spirit If...

“It was something that I felt came at a good time for me because I’ve been in lots of band scenarios over the years, and I hadn’t necessarily ventured out as a front man, shall we say,” explains Canning.

Although Canning claims that his solo album isn’t “that much of a de-parture”, fans can expect a variety of new sounds, including experimen-tation with “guitar feedback loops, extra keyboard tracks and … a little extra acoustic-guitar picking than is on some of the other Broken Social Scene stuff.”

Recently, the band signed on to the Yellow Bird Project. The Mon-treal-based not-for-profit organiza-tion commissions bands to design t-shirts that are sold from the Yellow Bird website (yellowbirdproject.com), with all the proceeds going to a charity of the artist’s choosing. Other participants in the Yellow Bird Project include Rilo Kiley, The Shins, and Wolf Parade. Profits from the Broken Social Scene t-shirt, de-signed by Kevin Drew, will go to Lake Ontario Waterkeeper, a group dedicated to water issues around the Great Lakes Basin.

“You know, anything that will help

clean up our waters is a very neces-sary cause,” Canning says. “On the topic of water, it’s pretty disappoint-ing that Toronto is right on a lake that is oft en not so swimmable. You can take a drive on the [Queen Eliza-beth Way] and drive into Hamilton or Burlington and then you get hit by the massive plants. Just massive, massive industry that neglected to think about the cleanliness of water or the future of the planet. I’m all for it, any small little token we can do.”

Broken Social Scene will continue the American leg of their tour until Oct. 30, when they will celebrate their return to Canada at the Bron-son Centre. The tour will wrap up in Toronto on Nov. 28 after three other shows in Canada and another swing southward into Georgia, Tennessee, and Florida.

As for the future of the band, Canning confirms that there are plans for another Broken Social Scene album, but says it might be a while before it hits the streets.

“We’re thinking about it, [but there’s] nothing much to report right now.”

Broken Social Scene plays the Bronson Centre on Oct. 30. Tickets are $27.50 from Ticketmaster, End Hits, or Ver-tigo Records.

Canadian rock supergroup plays

the Bronson Centre

has something for everyone

Broken Social Scene

photo courtesy Norman Wong

by Carl MeyerFulcrum Contributor

THE AWARDS CEREMONY and opening night of the 11th Annual Ottawa International Writers Festival was not without a sense of hu-mour.

On Oct. 18, prominent writers from around the world gathered at Library and Archives Canada (395 Wellington St.) to kick off the two-week-long bilingual celebration of fi ction, non-fi ction, and poetry in the nation’s capital. Th e festival runs Oct. 18–27. Th is year, almost all the events take place at this venue.

Wearing a blue and orange CBC shirt, CBC Ottawa radio host Alan Neal stepped up to the podium and welcomed the full house to the awards ceremony about to unfold.

“I repeat: ceremony, not a gala,” Neal said, smirking.

A chorus of laughter and groans echoed through the crowd. It was a reference to a com-ment made during the recent election campaign by Prime Minister Stephen Harper in his defence of cuts to government subsidies to the arts. On a September campaign stop in Saskatchewan, Harper had said that “ordinary working people” can’t relate to artists who attend “rich galas” and complain about arts cuts.

Th e ceremony to which Neal referred included the Ottawa Book Awards and the Lampman-Scott Award for Poetry. Th e Lampman-Scott Award

was presented to Shane Rhodes for his work Th e Bindery. Aft erward, Ottawa Deputy Mayor Shad Qadri presented the Ottawa Book Awards, that included three categories: English Fiction, English Non-Fiction, and French Fiction. Th e winners, re-spectively, were Elizabeth Hay for Late Nights on Air, Tim Cook for At Th e Sharp End, and Andree Christensen for Depuis toujours, j’entendais la mer.

Carleton University professor wins award

At Th e Sharp End is part of an extensive two-volume look at primary source material from the First World War.

Cook is a professor of Canadian military history at Carleton University and a historian at the Canadian War Museum. He told the Ful-crum in an interview aft er the ceremony that he had originally begun the project as a Mas-ter’s thesis.

“It’s diffi cult to get [material on the First World War], because a lot of the material was destroyed in the Second World War,” Cook explained.

He obtained his material from Library and Archives Canada as well as the Imperial War Museum in Australia and sources in Germany.

“Th e offi cial records span tens of thousands of pages. You can never look at everything,” he continued.

Cook said that aside from looking at offi cial reports, personal source material such as letters and diaries written by soldiers was just as im-portant in constructing the historical record.

“All those testimonials that really help to ex-plain what a battalion was doing. A battalion is a thousand guys, and in a battle like Vimy Ridge where you have 100,000 Canadians, to tell that story you have to fi nd visuals, you have to let the reader experience what they were doing.”

Writers Festival runs until Oct. 27

Students hoping to catch a glimpse of famous authors will not be disappointed. Events run throughout the rest of October, with some post-festival events happening in the fi rst week of November.

One of the most famous authors attending the festival is renowned cognitive scientist Ste-ven Pinker, who will be giving a talk on his latest book, Th e Stuff of Th ought on Oct. 25 at 12 p.m. Tickets are $10 for students.

Pinker became famous aft er publishing Th e

Language Instinct in 1994, which suggested the human brain, as an evolutionary trait, has an innate ability to learn language. Th is refuted commonly held beliefs at the time that language must be taught.

Another famous author is host of the Discov-ery Channel’s Daily Planet, Jay Ingram, who will be speaking about climate change on Oct. 25 at 2 p.m. Tickets are $10 for students.

For ticket information and a full schedule of events, visit the Writers Festival website: writersfestival.org.

New chapter for writers festOttawa International Writers

Festival brings together scribes from across the globe

Amateur and professional writers alike united in Ottawa for the Ottawa International Writers Festival.

photo by Carl Meyer

ARTS Oct. 23, 200810 www.thefulcrum.ca

by Len SmirnovFulcrum Contributor

CONCERTGOERS HAVE COME to expect that the money they pay for tickets will be split in one of two ways: lining the pockets of Ticketmaster ex-ecutives, or providing the artist with their next impractical stage outfi t. Ottawa’s Bronson Centre, located at 211 Bronson Ave., takes a diff erent approach—it gives the profi ts back to its community.

Th e centre has hosted several re-nowned artists in recent years, in-cluding Feist, Matthew Good, Emily Haines and the Soft Skeleton, Tegan and Sara, and Animal Collective. Mar-tha Wainwright will grace the stage in December 2008 and the Sam Roberts Band will rock it in January 2009. Th e centre uses a portion of the revenue it generates by hosting concerts to invest in discounted offi ce space for non-governmental organizations (NGOs) with limited resources.

If the off er of discounted offi ce space appears contradictory to eco-nomic logic, it is. Th e Bronson Centre does not try to make profi t from rent-ing out offi ce space. Instead, it focuses

its fundraising eff orts on renting fa-cilities to the general public and local businesses. Its central location and discount prices make it a highly attrac-tive base for local NGOs. Th e centre became more active in holding musi-cal concerts as a way of raising its rev-enues in the early part of this decade.

Th e Bronson Centre was established as a registered non-profi t charity by the Grey Sisters religious order. Lo-cated in the former Immaculata High School, which moved to a new Ottawa location in 1994, the centre underwent $400,000 worth of renovations to add new offi ce space and community fa-cilities, prior to its opening in 1996. Th e centre currently boasts a 900-seat theatre, a reception hall with a kitch-en, stage areas, and several meeting rooms.

Th ere are 34 NGOs based at the centre. Among others, they include the Elizabeth Fry Society of Ottawa, Starlight Starbright Children’s Foun-dation, Ottawa Pastoral Counselling Service, Psychiatric Survivors of Ot-tawa, and Anti-Poverty Project. Th ese NGOs have limited resources and rely on the Bronson Centre’s discounted rent to maintain their services. Th e centre guarantees the organizations permanent and aff ordable space, and provides Internet, reception services, and administrative support to ensure that they operate with the same advan-

tages as professional businesses. Th ere is turnover in the NGOs who

use the centre’s facilities, but the Bron-son Centre staff work hard to uphold its mandate of aff ordability.

“We are trying not to be the cause of them leaving,” notes the Bronson Centre’s Executive Director Corey Mayville.

Th e NGOs also benefi t from close proximity to each other. Th ey readily exchange advice and sometimes coor-dinate their services.

“What I have here is a community of people who are like-minded in wanting to improve the quality of populations,” says Mayville. “Th ey work within their space, but know that the guy next door will be willing to help.”

Th e camaraderie is a strong incen-tive for NGOs in choosing to rent of-fi ce space at the centre. Mayville cites that the groups like “just being sur-rounded by people who think like you” and have a common concern for society.

Th e Bronson Centre’s charity work does not translate into higher ticket prices, notes concert promoter Shawn Scallen. In fact, there is nothing to suggest that the centre holds registered charity status when compared to other concert venues in Ottawa. To concert goers, it’s just another excellent venue, but for NGOs and the people they help, it’s a godsend.

Music to save the worldBronson Centre off ers rock,

roll, and aff ordable offi ce space to local NGOs

Stars played the Bronson Centre on April 3, one of dozens of bands that have visited the venue.

photo by Ming Wu

OLIVER STONE’S FILMS have a knack for provoking discussion. Pla-toon, JFK, and Natural Born Killers were all met with protests and contro-versy due to their subject matter and Stone’s reputation for stirring the pot. His latest fi lm, W., is no exception.

W. chronicles the life and presiden-cy of George W. Bush, the fi rst time there has ever been a fi lm biography of a sitting president. Most of Stone’s fi lmmaking experience lies in tack-ling controversial historical topics from a left -wing perspective. With Bush still in offi ce and his advisors still prominent in the news, W. is a gamble, even by Stone’s risk-taking standards.

Th e audience is fi rst introduced to Bush (Josh Bro-lin) addressing an empty baseball stadium, looking out of touch and strangely inert as he gazes into the empty bleachers. Th e fi lm returns to this visual metaphor for loneliness and grandeur oft en, as from there screenwriter Stanley Weis-er fl ashes back to the key moments that shaped Bush’s life.

Bush is portrayed in his younger years as a privileged, whiskey-loving southern boy. Wayward, erratic, and lacking any true sense of ambition,

Bush is deemed a failure and an em-barrassment to the family name by his overachieving father, George H. W. Bush (James Cromwell), a war hero, former CIA director, and for-mer president. Th e uphill battle Bush fi ghts to earn his father’s respect, and the subsequent turn he takes away from his father’s guidance, forms the emotional crux of Stone’s fi lm.

Weiser takes a bold approach by telling the story through Bush’s eyes. It’s an eff ort to make the audience

relate to a man most other writ-ers would simply lampoon. Brolin’s complex perfor-mance also helps this cause. By not falling into the trap of mere mimicry, Brolin craft s a portrait of a man so lost that he doesn’t even

know it. Substituting macho gusto for brains, Brolin’s Bush is in constant need of guidance, yet would never admit it.

Familiar fi gures pop up in the fi lm, and the excellent performances Stone gets from his actors somehow make the characters seem more real on the movie screen than the actual people do on the nightly news. Elizabeth Banks does a superb job as Bush’s stalwart wife, Laura, while Richard

Dreyfuss delivers a note-perfect fac-simile of Dick Cheney, the power-mad vice-president. Th e only excep-tion is Th andie Newton’s portrayal of Condoleezza Rice. Caricature does not even begin to describe the broad way that Newton approaches the role. Her performance fi ts in the realm of parody, clashing with the authenti-cally nuanced portrayals of current public fi gures in the fi lm.

Stone and Weiser were not out to make a documentary on the current administration, but rather to expose a man simply not fi t for the job at hand. Th ey argue their case by stick-ing to many true accounts, but also

embellishing events where it fi ts their cause. Th ere is no way of truly know-ing what goes on between Bush, his wife, and his many advisors behind closed doors, but the audience knows that. Th ey expect to be served a point of view with their history lesson. Dra-matic exchanges between Bush and his father, which make up the bulk of the fi lm, are a clear example of this true-to-life but fi ctional approach. Taking artistic license to subvert our preconceptions is necessary for a fea-ture fi lm based on a sitting president. W. succeeds in handling this danger-ous territory with a deft touch, al-though some pundits have criticized

it as being too soft on its subject.Stone is clearly out to make a state-

ment by releasing this fi lm so close to the current election. W. does not set out to attack Bush and hold him sole-ly accountable for all the havoc that has befallen the U.S. Instead, Stone surprisingly attempts to give a fuller and much more complete portrait of Bush as a fallible human, and a simple man in way over his head. All leaders are susceptible to the same pride and emotion as regular people, especially in Bush’s case. W. is a fi tting tribute to a man who is very much a known unknown.

—Nigel Smith

Film reviewsW. A

Stone surprisingly attempts to give a fuller

and much more complete portrait of Bush as a fallible human, and a

simple man in way over his head.

Max Payne Body of LiesB+ C+MAX PAYNE IS the best fi lm ever adapted from a video game, but that’s not saying much. It’s the story of a renegade cop, the titular Max Payne, who has spent three years searching for the kill-ers of his wife and baby. His old partner informs Payne of a string of drug-related deaths in the city that seem to have a connection to his search, and in his crusade for the truth Payne leaves a trail of bullets and bodies in his wake.

Payne is played by tough guy Mark Wahlberg, whose recent string of badass character roles in Th e Departed, Shooter, and We Own the Night have made him the new go-to guy for gritty ac-tion movie anti-heroes. Wahlberg fi ts into the role like a second skin; aft er all, this isn’t the fi rst time he’s played a vengeful cop.

Max Payne is based on the two video games of the same name, whose disparate plots are chopped up and mixed together to make a sin-

gle narrative in this fi lm. What separates Max Payne from Doom or Lara Croft : Tomb Raider is that it feels like more of a movie than a live-action video game. Th e cinematography and di-rection is brilliant, with fantastic action scenes and dialogue that is surprisingly not campy or cheesy.

Unfortunately, the character of Mona Sax (Mila Kunis) could have been written out of the movie. She only has about 10 minutes of screen time and seems to be onscreen only to please fans of the video game Max Payne 2 and add some cheap sex appeal. Th e movie’s conclusion is pretty anti-climactic, and might leave some viewers feeling cheated out of what could have been a spectacular fi nale. Video-game movies are getting better, but they’re still not a reliable cinematic commodity.

—Hisham Kelati

IF YOU ARE one to spend multiple hours on Google Earth, then chances are you will enjoy sitting through the two choppy hours of Ridley Scott’s newest fi lm, Body of Lies. Set in the Mid-dle East, the fi lm depicts the confl ict between two CIA operatives working against terrorists who have carried out an attack in Europe and are threatening to strike again.

Agent Roger Ferris (Leonardo DiCaprio) is followed throughout various terror-fight-ing operations with an aerial camera that’s reminiscent of a satellite image. This is ap-pealing at first, but this innovative film angle is exhausted by overuse. Ferris does all of the fieldwork for his supervisor and mentor, Ed Hoffman (Russell Crowe). Gaining up-wards of 50 pounds to play his role, Crowe is mostly shown either barking sardonic or-ders or foul-mouthed spy-film clichés into

his suspiciously prominent Blackberry. Both actors play their roles expertly, with Crowe obviously relishing his chance to play an ar-rogant heel.

Unfortunately, the skilled acting in the fi lm is undercut by the underwhelming script. Adapted from David Ignatius’s novel of the same title, William Monahan’s screenplay in-cludes an excessive amount of settings and geographic jumps, oft en leaving the audience scratching their heads in regard to the char-acters’ whereabouts. Th is is a disappointing outing from Monahan, as his Oscar-winning script for Th e Departed placed intense empha-sis on developing the local mood and colour of the city of Boston. Body of Lies showcases Ridley Scott at his worst, and off ers nothing to distinguish it from other recent thrillers.

—Kalin Smith

images courtesy 20th Century Fox, Warner Bros., and Lions Gate Films

ARTSOct. 23, 2008 11www.thefulcrum.ca

FEATURE Oct. 23, 200812 www.thefulcrum.ca

THE UNIVERSITY OF Ottawa has existed as an educational institution since 1848 and ever since its inception hhalls. The Fulcrum delved into the U of O’s past and unearthed a trove of both antique and contemporary studenmeal plan, and Ontario Student Assistance Plan card all-in-one.

The year was 1890. No photocopiers existed. Neither did com-puters. The university had to rely on typewriters and pens to create student cards.

The archives held no cards from the 1900s to property, With much scavenging, the Fulcrumthe 1960s, the U of O improved its card-makinas lamination. The cards became more offi ciastudent cards.

The 1990s saw the U of O start using computers to design a more reliable form of identifi cation. In 1990, cards included a barcode for taking out library books as well as a student number for identi-fi cation during exams.

Moving into the new millennium, colour photos were introduced on student cards.

[1963][1890]

[1996] [2003]

The evolution of idenUniversity of Ottawa student cards

FEATUREOct. 23, 2008 13www.thefulcrum.ca

has churned out student card after student card for the undergraduate and graduate students who have fi lled its nt cards. Over the years the U of O student card has morphed from merely a form of identifi cation into a library,

50s as they are considered personal m found a few more gems from the past. In

ng abilities by introducing a picture as well al, longer-lasting, and more similar to today’s

The 1970s cards introduced the student’s signature as a form of proper identifi cation.

In 2004, the U of O unveiled a new and improved student card. The card clearly stated the university’s name and brought the university’s colours into students’ wallets.

Four years later, the U of O increased the technology of the cards by including an electronic chip. The chip enables students to put money directly on their cards for photocopying and printing purposes. With the launch of the Gee-Gees Rewards program, students also use their cards to accumulate reward points over the year.

[2008][2004]

[1970]ntifi cation compiled by Sarah Leavitt

Fulcrum Staff

Check out Rock Talk at www.president.uOttawa.ca/blog

Come hear Allan Rock share some of his reflections after a few months as president. He will take questions from students following his address.

Allan Rock talks to studentsFriday, October 24, 2008 at NoonAgora, University Centre, downtown campus

Rock Talk Unplugged!

University of Ottawa

ARTS Oct. 23, 200814 www.thefulcrum.ca

Album Reviews

Winter GlovesAbout a Girl

Kaley Bird Kaley Bird

UnderoathLost in the Sound of SeparationB+ B A-

PACKED WITH SWEET lyrics and backed up by a beautiful musical performance, Montreal band Winter Gloves’ debut album About a Girl is a 30-minute adrenaline rush. Th e 8-bit Ninten-do-style piano melodies are innocent and joyful, and blend perfectly with dreamy guitars and the occasional drumming outbursts. Th e fuzzed-out tones on the album, particularly on “Hillside” and “Invisible”, separate Winter Gloves from other piano-based bands. Th e album is loaded with soulful and unforgettable choruses, and singer Charles F. has a superb, soaring voice that sends the listener into a euphoric state. About a Girl should defi nitely be on your Christmas list.

—Rami Haidr

EDMONTON’S KALEY BIRD skillfully blends folk, jazz, and pop music on her self-titled debut album. Th e songs explore an entire spectrum of emotions, from the melancholy of “It’s Just So” to the child-like amusement of “Dishes Ain’t Done” and “Dress Me Up”. Bird delights her lis-teners with inventive lyrics like “Well, the dishes ain’t done / Hell, they belong to no one” and con-veys a comforting sincerity in her performance. Th ere is a familiar Canadian style in all of Bird’s songs, including direct references to Canadian weather in “Northernline” and “Be Your Blan-ket”. Regrettably, Bird takes few artistic risks with her music and does not complement her lyrics with equally daring rhythms and melodic variations. Th e lack of artistic experimentation restrains Bird’s fi rst eff ort, but the album still yields high expectations for the artist’s future musical endeavours.

—Len Smirnov

CHRISTIAN HARDCORE BAND Underoath’s latest album Lost in the Sound of Separation suc-ceeds in refi ning the developing sound of previ-ous releases, such as the band’s last major release Defi ne the Great Line. It was on that last album that the band fi rst included the additional vocals of Spencer Chamberlain, whose clear singing con-trasts the harsh screaming of bandmate Aaron Gillespie perfectly on this new release. Despite this addition, Lost in the Sound of Separation still has the hard, screamo-punk tone of Underoath’s for-mer albums. Th e band stays faithful to its Chris-tian basis in their writing, which gives their lyrics depth: “I roamed around the wasteland and I swear I found something / I found hope / I found God / I found the dreams of the believers”. “Too Bright To See Too Loud To Hear” and “A Fault Line, A Fault Of Mine” will have fans singing as much as “Th e Only Survivor Was Miraculously Unharmed” will get heads banging and moshers running violently into one another.

—Jaclyn Lytle

Ever find yourself using the phrase, “I prefer their old stuff”?

Then review some albums for the Fulcrum!

E-mail arts@thefulcrum.ca to hop on the free CD train.

ARTSOct. 23, 2008 15www.thefulcrum.ca

LET’S DISPENSE WITH the for-malities. My name is Gustav Elatus, and I’m here to fi x you. I’ve spent my last three years attending the presti-gious Austrian School of the Sarto-rial Arts—that’s fashion school for all you plebeians—and I was also a sum-mer intern at the British Vogue, not the vulgar American pastiche that shares the same title. I’m here on an exchange, and the Fulcrum has asked me to use my vast fashion expertise to show you poor, misguided stu-dents how to dress. I’m sick and tired of the fashion crimes I see every day, and I’m putting you all on notice.

Th e foliage and frost of the fall sea-son is now upon us. It’s the perfect time to look employable by donning the uniform of the season: sweaters, vests, and sweater-vests. Of course, a collection of carefully selected ties adds much to your wardrobe, but you should be careful when selecting a tie to match your outfi t and your body type. Pay attention to colour, pattern, and the width of your tie, not to men-tion how you tie it.

You may have noticed choosing the right tie isn’t as easy as your father would have it seem. Th ose Looney Tunes ties you’ve been giving him every Christmas are a crime against humanity, and no self-respecting fashionista would ever be caught dead with anything considered nov-elty. Jokes are for comedians, not for wearing around your neck.

Tie colour is pretty basic: match it to your shirt. Don’t wear anything too bright or fl ashy; uncouth Ameri-cans always do this when they visit my home country, and we can’t help but snigger behind their backs. My friend Calvin founded a large fash-ion house, and you’ll never see him wear anything too outré around his neck—unless it’s that devastating fur I bought him last Christmas. Choose

colours that blend well and don’t clash, using your best judgment. From the fashion decisions I’ve seen around this campus, however, your best judgment probably isn’t very good at all.

Th ere are several rules for choosing the correct tie pattern. Break these at your own risk—Mr. Blackwell may have passed, but I’ll gladly name you and shame you with my own “Worst Dressed” list. Striped shirts look good with patterned ties. Shirts with subtle patterns look good with boldly striped ties, as do the checked shirts that are so popular these days. Dot-ted ties work with almost any shirt because they look awkward no mat-ter what you wear. If it looks like it would be worn by Bozo the Clown, it’s probably not haute couture. And remember the two out of three rule—if your suit and shirt are striped, your tie shouldn’t be. My Italian tailor, Giorgio, once threatened a man’s life because he refused to follow this rule.

Skinny ties are the latest thing, thanks to the hip teen bands Fall Out Charlotte and Panic! at the Drive-In. I don’t listen to such vulgar assaults on the ears—my taste runs more towards Rachmaninoff and the earlier works of Shostakovich. But from what I’ve seen during the daily torture session I call Entertainment Tonight Canada, skinny ties are about as ubiquitous as that young Miley Montana girl.

Skinny ties make a statement, but they don’t make the same statement for every person. For some people strutting around Ottawa in their skinny ties, that statement is “I just hopped on the back of the fashion train—where do I get a ticket?” Un-fortunately, these ties only work for some people. Th in ties are for thin bodies, and normal ties for normal bodies. If you’re shaped more like

a linebacker than a horse jockey, throw out anything thinner than two inches. Also, be sure to match small collars with thinner ties, and vice versa. God knows how many times I have physically cringed when a student comes strutting into class thinking he’s hot shit, but actually he looks like he just raided his fashion-challenged father’s wardrobe.

Th e knot is a big part of tie style. Th ere are several diff erent types of knots, but only two of consequence. Th e Four in Hand knot is the most common, which means it should be avoided—you don’t want to look like everyone else. A common alternative, the Windsor knot, is large and bulky, and makes it look as though there’s a cobra attacking your neck. Nobody wants to look like they spend too much time in the reptile house. Th e Half Windsor is an acceptable sub-stitute, but only those with true style use the Pratt knot. It’s all the rage in Europe, and you’ll fi nd me sporting it whenever I need to impress anyone, which is never, because I impress ev-eryone all of the time already. Check out instructions on the Internet, and Giorgio won’t have to give you his fa-mous Italian backhand.

Hopefully this little guide has shown you unfortunate, style-de-prived students how to correctly wear one of the most important parts of any man’s wardrobe. Don’t think you can avoid my gaze, either—I’ll be re-turning to criticize University of Ot-tawa fashions. Trust me, there’s more to come—I haven’t even touched on women’s fashions. But fi rst, I believe fellow columnist Di and I have an im-portant meeting. She’s going to show me something you Canadians call a “G-spot”, whatever that is.

Got a question for the Fashist? E-mail arts@thefulcrum.ca

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by David McClellandFulcrum Staff

THERE WAS A point during the Uni-versity of Ottawa Gee-Gees’ football game on Oct. 18 when it seemed that the team’s season might come to an early and inglorious end.

With both Ottawa and the visiting Toronto Varsity Blues needing a win to make the Ontario University Ath-letics (OUA) playoff s and the Gee-Gees down 23-10 at halft ime, the fu-ture of the Gees’ 2008 season looked grim. However, the team came back from the locker room re-energized and won 39-30, thanks to a dominant running game.

Gee-Gees quarterback Josh Sa-cobie, already impeded by a heavily injured receiving corps, bruised his hand slightly in the fi rst half, causing him to have diffi culty gripping the ball properly for the remainder of the game. While Sacobie was an unchar-acteristic 10-20 in passing attempts with just 122 yards, the Gees were able to make up for the lack of pass-ing by coming up with 329 yards on 42 rushing attempts.

Th e 122 passing yards meant Saco-bie fell short of reaching the all-time

CIS regular-season passing yards re-cord of 10,201, set the same day by Matt Connell of the McGill Redmen. Sacobie ends his career with 9,885 passing yards, good for third all-time in the CIS.

“I’m not too happy with my perfor-mance, unfortunately, [but] I really don’t care either because our running game was dominating,” Sacobie said following the game. “I told the boys that I just loved handing the ball off and watching them run. I just wish I could be a part of it—go out and block—but unfortunately the coach doesn’t want me to do that.”

In the first half, it didn’t look like the Gee-Gees would be able to get any facet of their game working. Despite opening the game with 10 quick points off a one-yard touch-down rush by Sacobie and a 13-yard field goal by kicker Luigi de Lellis minutes later, the rest of the half was a disaster for Ottawa. The Gees’ de-fence was unable to contain Toron-to’s offence, and while in possession of the ball the Blues’ determined de-fence prevented the Gee-Gees from moving the ball downfield. Led by second-year quarterback David Hamilton, the Varsity Blues were able to score three touchdowns in the half and added two singles to give them a 13-point lead at the halfway mark.

A humbled Gee-Gees squad came out in the second half, but was able to tighten up their defence. The Gees also switched to moving the ball almost exclusively on the ground, with Sacobie doing little

more than handing the ball off to his running backs. The change in philosophy was successful, as run-ning backs Felix Dejardins-Potvin and Davie Mason both ran for touchdowns, while Sacobie ran one in himself. The Gee-Gees were able to add a fourth touchdown when Sacobie connected with receiver Alex Fortier-Labonte with a seven-yard pass to seal the victory.

“Well, it was urgency,” laughed Ma-son regarding the diff erence between the fi rst and the second half. “If we lost, we would be going home, never to play again [this year], so the only thing we were thinking was: we can’t lose.”

“We put it on our O-line to shake things up, to say let’s go play some old-style throwback football,” said Ottawa head coach Denis Piché aft er

the game. “We didn’t care how good or pretty it was going to look, [we] just [went] and got it done. [We had] a lot of resilience, and bought our-selves one more week.”

With the win, the Gee-Gees fi nish their regular season with a 4-4 record in fi ft h place in the OUA. Th ey now visit the Guelph Gryphons on Oct. 25 in a OUA quarter-fi nal match-up.

Oct. 23–29, 2008Sports David McClelland

Sports Editorsports@thefulcrum.ca 16

Gee-Gees rush towards playoffsSacobie misses out

on record as running game leads

Gee-Gees past Varsity Blues

Normally a quarterback, Brad Sinopoli suited up as a receiver against U of T, and caught four passes for 44 yards.photo by Alex Smyth

by Anna RocoskiFulcrum Staff

ON OCT. 18, the University of Ot-tawa’s women’s rugby team travelled to Quebec City to take on the un-defeated Laval Rouge et Or in their Quebec Student Sports Federation (QSSF) semifi nal match. Laval won the playoff match 47-0, closing out the Gees’ season.

Despite the season-ending loss, Gee-Gees head coach Suzanne Chaulk was proud of her team.

“You had to have been there be-cause I know people are looking at the scoreboard going ‘Oh great, [a] crappy game’, but it wasn’t. For the majority of that game they played well above what they had played all season,” said Chaulk.

Th e game was decided within the fi rst 30 minutes, in which the Gee-Gees allowed 40 points, while surren-dering just seven through the rest of the 80-minute game.

“We played like a team that was very, very nervous. [When] they weren’t sure they could do it, they played with nerves,” said Chaulk. “We couldn’t get a ball from one set of hands to the other [and] … [the Rouge et Or] were coming through easily—it was like we were butter on defence.”

Th e Gee-Gees rallied and came to-gether in the last 10 minutes of the fi rst half and played with determination for the duration of the second half, limiting Laval to a single try.

“I was really pleased, that last 50 minutes was amazing. We had the ball more in the fi rst 10 minutes of the second half than [we] had it the entire fi rst half,” explained Chaulk, “Th e key is that [the Gee-Gees] know that they can do it and that’s the trick to any team. Th ey have to get to a point where they believe they can, and once they reach that point then they can [win].”

Chaulk believed that her entire team put in a lot of eff ort, especially those playing up front.

“Our entire front row—Esinam Egbeyaka, Philippa Ogbemudia, and Tegan Bradshaw—did a phenomenal

job,” explained Chaulk. “It’s a gruel-ling job, especially when you are play-ing defence, but if they had not done the job they did, we would not have had the game we had.”

With the season over, the team will now continue to work hard in the off -season.

“To be honest [this is when] the real work begins for us,” said Chaulk. “Because, unlike winter sports, we don’t have any pre-season with our players, so we get them as they are. If they don’t show up at training camp [in late August] as fi t as we would like there’s not much we can do about it until the season’s over.”

Th e U of O has a women’s sevens team—a variant of rugby played with seven players instead of 15—which the team plays on to stay fi t in the off -season. Th e main diffi culty is fi nding a suitable heated dome or indoor sta-dium to play in. Currently, games can be hosted in Ottawa at Frank Clair Stadium and at a dome in Montreal operated by Concordia University.

Th e QSSF fi nal features Laval and the Concordia Stingers facing off on Oct. 26 in Quebec City.

A valiant try in Quebec CityGee-Gees women’s rugby

team defeated in semi-fi nals

A determined effort was not enough to keep the Gee-Gees’ playoff run alive.photo courtesy Suzanne Chaulk

SPORTSOct. 23, 2008 17www.thefulcrum.ca

by Anna RocoskiFulcrum Staff

FOR SOME, A Saturday morning in-volves a hearty breakfast from Father & Sons; for others the morning is used to catch up on sleep. But on Saturday at 8:30 a.m. or earlier people begin arriving at the Sports Complex to sign up for the 9 a.m. Saturday morning Zumba aerobics class.

Zumba is a type of aerobics with upbeat Latin music and unique dance moves. It’s an increasingly popular form of exercise in North America that was created in the mid-1990s by Columbian trainer Alberto Perzen. In 1999, the booty-shaking fi t-ness class made its way to North America when Perez moved to Miami, Florida.

“It’s like being on a vacation—just the moves you do [are like] salsa-tropical dance,” said third-year political science and history student and Zumba partici-pant Andrea Khanjin. “It’s a nice break from the weather if it’s cold outside. You leave the change room and summer is gone, so it makes it a bit diff erent.”

Zumba is a brand-name fitness pro-gram led by certified instructors, and is a very energetic workout thanks to the dancing and upbeat music. It is similar to regular aerobics (rhythmic, whole-body fitness exercises usually set to techno or dance music) except there is a lot more twisting and dance-style moves incorporated into the workout. The fact that workouts are spent dancing can make for a much more entertaining cardio workout than simply getting on a treadmill or exercise bike. The work-out is focused on the abdominals —the tighter your abs, the more successful the workout.

“I try to come every Saturday. Basically you get an early start to the day, it’s en-ergizing and exciting and it’s a diff erent kind of workout. It’s really refreshing and invigorating,” explained Khanjin.

Even though dancing isn’t everyone’s forté, participants can still fi t in. Classes usually contain a large group of individu-als that may be equally bad at dancing, and most classes have a large contingent of newcomers, so no one has to worry about being the only person not knowing what they’re doing.

“I’m not into dancing so I might not look cool, but it’s fun jumping around looking like an idiot and you’re with a

group,” said Kathleen McTavish, a third-year sociology student and Zumba par-ticipant.

Th e Zumba class takes place in the Sports Complex in the multi-sports room every Saturday morning. Make sure you show up at least a half-hour before the class begins because there are limited spaces for students in each class.

For more information on Zumba, as well as other aerobic classes at the U of O, visit geegees.ca.

illustration by Martha Pearce

Ay ca-zumba!Aerobics class

off ers cardio with a twist—literally

by David McClellandFulcrum Staff

JUST AS THE University of Ottawa men’s hockey team seemed to be gaining momentum in their season with a 4-2 win over the Concordia Stingers on Oct. 17 their bubble was burst the following night in a 7-1 loss to the University of Quebec at Trois-Rivières (UQTR) Patriotes.

Against Concordia, Ottawa got off to a sluggish start, but aft er killing off a penalty assessed to left -winger Jakub Blundil for slashing at the fi ve-minute mark, the Gee-Gees came alive. Gees rookie left -winger Matthieu Methot netted the fi rst goal of the game with eight minutes left in the period. Th e Stingers responded shortly aft erwards when a loose puck in front of the net made it past goaltender Riley Whit-lock 14:28 into the period. It only took 30 seconds for the Gee-Gees to reply as team captain Martin Hérard fi red home a one-timer off a pass from centre Pat Millette.

“It’s true it took us a little [time] to get in the game,” said Gee-Gees third-year left -winger Yanick Charron af-

ter the game. “But we [said] to each other, even aft er the fi rst period, that we’re a better team than that, so it was kind of a wake-up call for us.”

Th e second period saw both teams score on the power play. Ottawa tal-lied eight minutes into the period when Stingers netminder Maxime Joyal bobbled the puck, which was then poked into the net by Charron. A minute later, Concordia responded as a well-passed puck was knocked past Whitlock by right-winger Nico-las Lafontaine.

Th e third period was replete with penalties, with 32 penalty minutes accumulated between the two teams. Despite the ensuing power plays, scoring was light, with the only goal coming from Charron at the 7:21 mark when he cut across the Stingers’ crease and fi red the puck top-shelf.

“Th ere were a lot of penalties in the game, but I thought we played very well today,” said Gee-Gees head coach Dave Léger aft er the game. “Th ere are a lot of hard feelings still [between Concordia and Ottawa]. We have a player who sustained a broken jaw last year as the result of a slash, and I actually thought we were quite disciplined relative to what the guys’ fi rst instincts [were].”

Th e next evening, the Gee-Gees took on the UQTR Patriotes, but with

much diff erent results. In the fi rst period, UQTR estab-

lished the lead with a pair of power play goals in the second half of the frame. Methot responded with a goal of his own with less than three min-utes remaining, leaving the Gees be-hind by one goal at the intermission.

From the start of the second pe-riod, the game went downhill for the Gee-Gees, as the Patriotes scored fi ve more times—twice on the power play—while Ottawa was completely unable to respond. In all, seven dif-ferent players scored for the Stingers, making the win a true team eff ort.

Th e Gee-Gees struggled to kill penalties, especially in the fi rst two periods, as the Patriotes scored on all but one of their fi ve power plays in the fi rst and second period. UQTR did not score any even-strength goals until the fi nal period of the game, when they scored three. In contrast, the Gees were unable to score on any of their eight chances with an extra attacker.

Th e Gee-Gees now have a 2-3-0 record, good for third in the Ontario Univer-sity Athletics Far East division. Th ey next see action on Oct. 24, when they host the Concordia Stingers at 7 p.m. at the Sports Complex Arena. Tickets are $4 for students.

Gee-Gees run into penalty trouble

Gee-Gees left-winger Sean Smyth ties up Concordia’s Marc-André Element behind the net.

photo by Alex Smyth

After a win against Concordia, men’s hockey team struggles

with Patriotes

The Fulcrum is looking for students to join its board of directors. If you are looking for experience in business or not-for-profi t

organizations, e-mail Ross Prusakowski, the Fulcrum’s business manager.

business.manager@thefulcrum.ca

www.thefulcrum.ca

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SPORTS Oct. 23, 200818 www.thefulcrum.ca

GSAED FEST: Departmental Graduate Students Association FairOctober 24, 2008, UCU

WHY? Because Graduate studies are about Graduate students.

Mingle with Graduate students and make new friends.Learn more about services provided to Graduate students at the University of Ottawa.

Special features:1pm, Agora: Implications of Commercialization, organized in cooperation with the Office of the President.

9pm, Nostalgica: Grad NIght

by Megan O’MearaFulcrum Staff

THE UNIVERSITY OF Ottawa women’s hockey team had mixed results on Oct. 18 and 19, besting the Concordia Stingers 6-2 and then falling to the Carleton Ravens 3-2 in a shootout.

Against the Stingers on Oct. 18, Ottawa goaltender Jessika Audet worked hard to protect the net in the fi rst period as Con-cordia hit her relentlessly with shots. Ot-tawa eventually recovered as third-year forward Taryn Brown notched the Gee-Gees fi rst goal of the game with just under three minutes to play in the fi rst period. A minute later, rookie forward Fannie Des-forges fi red a hard shot into the Stingers’ net, allowing Ottawa to take a two-goal lead into the intermission.

In the second period, fourth-year Gees forward Joyce Spruyt scored at the 10:20 mark, while Desforges followed it up six minutes later with her second goal of the game. Meanwhile, the Stingers replied with a pair of goals themselves, as forward Mary Jane O’Shea and defender Valerie Lapage-Barrette added their names to the scorecard.

In the fi nal period, rookie Ottawa for-ward Jodi Reinholtz picked up her fi rst goal of the season, and Desforges contin-ued her streak, adding to the lead in scor-ing the sixth and fi nal goal of the game for the Gee-Gees. With a goal in each period, Desforges earned her fi rst Canadian Inter-university Sports hat trick.

Gee-Gees head coach Shelley Coolidge was proud of Desforges’ performance throughout the game.

“I was really excited for [Desforges] … she was going to the net hard all game,” she said.

Desforges stressed that her success was a team eff ort, saying that she receives a lot

of support from her fellow teammates. “[Centre] Kayla Hottot was very en-

couraging on the bench, and a lot of other girls just keep encouraging and pushing, and it helps a lot,” said Desforges.

Coolidge was pleased with her team’s performance.

“I thought [Gee-Gees goaltender Jessika Audet] did an exceptional job of covering the rebounds and the girls did a good job of … limiting Concordia’s second shots,” she explained. “We ended up with 32 shots on net at the end of the game, and any coach should be happy with a number like that.”

While the team put in an excellent per-formance to earn their second straight win on Oct. 18, the following day the team suf-fered its fi rst loss of the season when they visited the Ravens.

Carleton lead the way in the fi rst period as forward Jennifer Gordon scored the fi rst

goal for the Ravens at the three-minute mark, and was followed fi ve minutes later by a goal from forward Kristen Marson.

Aft er a scoreless second period, the Gee-Gees managed to score twice in the third period, as defender Michelle Snowden narrowed the Ravens’ lead to one goal, setting up forward Amber Foster’s game-tying goal with 14:07 remaining to force overtime.

Neither team managed to score dur-ing overtime, and Audet was tagged for goals three times during the shootout. While the Gee-Gees outshot Carleton 36-29, they did not manage to score on Carleton goaltender Amanda Muhlig in the shootout.

Th e Gee-Gees now hold a 2-0-1 record and sit fi rst in the Quebec Student Sports Fed-eration conference. Th ey next play Oct. 24 when they visit Concordia.

Rookie forward Fannie Desforges (21) had a hat trick in her third CIS game.photo by Alex Martin

Back and forth

Trio of victories for men’s basketball in Newfoundland

THE GEE-GEES MEN’S baseketball team won the Sea-Hawk pre-season basketball tournament held in St. John’s, NL., Oct. 16–18 with victories over the Ryerson Rams, RMC Paladins, and Memorial Sea-Hawks.

Th e fi rst game of the tourna-ment on Oct. 16 was the clos-est for Ottawa. Down 42-36 to the Rams at halft ime, the Gee-Gees showed determination and came back to win 83-82 in dramatic fashion with fourth-year guard Donnie Gibson sinking a free throw with 0.2 seconds left .

Th e next two games went more smoothly for Ottawa, as they put on clinics for both the Paladins and the Sea-Hawks. Th e Gee-Gees came up with a 102-40 win over RMC on Oct. 17, and followed it up with a 94-54 victory against Memo-rial the next day.

Fift h-year centre Dax Des-sureault was awarded tour-nament MVP honours, while fourth-year guard Josh Gib-son-Bascombe was named a tournament all-star.

Th e basketball team will play next on Oct. 24 when they host the Jack Donahue tip-off tournament. Th eir fi rst game is that night, when they play the UPEI Panthers at 8 p.m. in the Montpetit Gym. Th e tourna-ment runs Oct. 24-26. Tour-nament passes are $20 for stu-

dents, while a day pass is $8.—David McClelland

Women’s volleyball sweeps Kingston trip

THE GEE-GEES WOMEN’S volleyball team came out on top in their season-opening road trip to Kingston with a pair of victories against the Queen’s Golden Gaels and RMC Paladins on Oct. 17–18.

Th e Gee-Gees played Queen’s on Oct. 17 and looked shaky out of the gate. Th e Gaels won the fi rst two games, post-ing 25-20 and 25-22 scores. Th e Gees managed to rally together and came back with three straight victories, win-ning 25-21, 25-23, and 15-13 to take the match.

Th e next day, the Gee-Gees visited the Paladins and were able to emerge victorious, win-ning three of the four games to bag the victory. Th e Paladins won the second game of the match 25-13, but the Gees took the rest with scores of 25-22, 25-22, and 25-12. Rookie middle Aminata Diallo had 14 kills and 10 digs for the Gee-Gees in her second regular season game.

Th e Gee-Gees are currently in a tie for fi rst place in the Ontario University Athletics East division, and next play Oct. 25 when they host the Western Mustangs. Th e game starts at 2:30 p.m. in the Mont-petit Gym. Tickets are $4 for students.

—David McClelland

Around the horn

Women’s hockey teamtallies a win and a loss

over weekend

THE FULCRUM

A FEW WEEKS ago, I used this space to de-nounce Ottawa Senators owner Eugene Melmyk’s plan for a Major League Soccer stadium in Ka-nata, saying that Ottawa would be much better off with a downtown stadium (“Learn from the past, don’t repeat it”, Oct. 2). Th ankfully, it seems that someone else in Ottawa understands what I was talking about.

A group of local businesspeople, led by Ot-tawa ‘67s owner Jeff Hunt, currently have a conditional Canadian Football League fran-chise, which hinges on their having a stadium

deal in place with the City of Ottawa by March 2009. On Oct. 17, they revealed their plan for a revamped Frank Clair Stadium at Lansdowne Park. If their plan is accepted, this new stadium could be one of the best things to hit Ottawa in years, for both the sporting community and the city as a whole.

If you’ve taken in a Gee-Gees game at Frank Clair Stadium re-cently, you know that it’s a long way from being a beautiful stadium or even a pleasant place to watch a football game. It’s partially demolished, and the harsh concrete stands look like some-thing out of a dystopian science-fi ction movie. Needless to say, this does nothing for the sta-dium’s atmosphere.

Th e new plan, however, calls for a complete-ly refurbished 25,000-seat Frank Clair Stadium at the centre of a stunningly redeveloped Lans-downe Park. Instead of the current concrete monstrosity, there will be a comfortable mod-ern stadium, more like BMO Field in Toronto

than what currently exists. Instead of parking lots, fans could enjoy a selection of stores and restaurants built near the stadium and the landscaped parkland along the Rideau Canal. Meanwhile, the proposal calls for parking to be built underground, or perhaps for incorporat-ing park-and-ride systems at nearby Billings

Bridge or Carleton Uni-versity.

Additionally, as the proposal’s website (lansdownelive.com) somewhat snidely notes, the new stadium would be suitable for amateur and profes-sional soccer as well as football—placing it in

direct opposition to Melnyk’s plan. Given the flexibility that Hunt’s group says that they are willing to show in negotiations with the city, and the sympathy city officials have shown towards a more centrally located field, a re-developed Frank Clair Stadium certainly has a leg up over a new facility in Kanata. As there needs to be a deal in place with the city by March of next year for the conditional CFL

franchise to go through, we will probably see Melnyk and Hunt’s proposals duking it out over the next five months.

And what of the Gee-Gees? The University of Ottawa’s football team is currently the only regular tenant at Frank Clair, and the univer-sity will very likely soon be faced with having to choose between building their own field on campus, or becoming involved with the plans for Lansdowne Park. In this sports editor’s opinion, the Gee-Gees would be far better off sticking with Frank Clair—it’s a short bus ride from campus, and the Gee-Gees could play in a world-class stadium, which would certainly help entice students to come to games.

With any luck, Lansdowne Park will look completely diff erent in a few years. No longer will it be a place where events are hosted be-cause there is no other choice. It will be a place we’ll want to go and watch a variety of high-calibre sports. Ottawa may one day have sports facilities better suited to our status as Canada’s capital, in place of the current facilities fi t for a provincial backwater.

sports@thefulcrum.ca613-562-5931

Lighting the lamp Ottawa’s future stadium?

David McClellandSports Editor

SPORTSOct. 23, 2008 19www.thefulcrum.ca

University of Ottawa

For more information: scsgrad@uOttawa.ca | Telephone: 613-562-5800 ext. 2444Please RSVP at www.socialsciences.uOttawa.ca/rsvp

Wednesday, October 29, 2008 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. University of Ottawa, Tabaret Hall, Room 112, 550 Cumberland Street

Graduate programs offered:

Graduate Studies at the Faculty of Social Sciences

Open House

Frank Clair stadium is partially demolished, and the harsh concrete stands look like

something out of a dystopian science-fi ction movie.

Staff meetings Thursdays at 1 p.m.

Drop by 631 King Edward Ave. and pick up a story.

Oct. 23–29, 2008Opinion Frank Appleyard

Editor-in-Chiefeditor@thefulcrum.ca 20

by Jaclyn LytleFulcrum Staff

“LOOKING FOR A Sarah Palin look-alike for an adult fi lm to be shot in next 10 days. Major adult studio. Please send pix, stats etc. ASAP. Pay: $2000-3000 No anal required.” Th is adver-tisement, posted on craigslist by Hustler Videoon Sept. 10, suggests that founder Larry Flynt and his staff at Hustler are hoping to tap into what could be a new niche in the pornography industry. Hustler’s latest project, entitled Who’s Nailin’ Paylin?: Adventures of a Hockey MILF, is a satirical exploitation of 2008 U.S. Republican vice-presidential nominee Sarah Palin; the porn empire’s fi rst attempt at a political parody porn.

Th e New York Daily News broke the story on Oct. 2. Th e newspaper quoted a spokesman for Larry Flynt Publications—which owns Hustler and Hustler Video—who confi rmed that the fi lm was in production at that time. At press time, the video’s release date was unavailable, although Hustler is reportedly fast-tracking it to get it on shelves before the U.S. presidential election on Nov. 4.

Th e complete script became available at tmz.com on Oct. 9. Erotic actress Lisa Ann por-trays Serra Paylin, who is involved in a variety of sexual encounters, each increasingly hilarious. In the opening scene, Paylin is reading a copy of “Today’s MILF” when she is interrupted by two Russian soldiers knocking at her back door. Th e soldiers, whose tank has inexplicably crashed into a tree in Paylin’s yard, want to use her phone, and they aren’t denied any hospitality. In a later scene—a fl ashback dream sequence—a youth-ful and eager Paylin is a student at “I-Da-Ho

University”, where she gets some one-on-one assistance from her creationist professor aft er class. Th e fi nal scene depicts Paylin at a news conference, addressing accusations that she is having an extra-marital aff air. Once the crowd clears out, Paylin is left seemingly alone, until “Hilly”, the bisexual bipartisan, crawls out from

beneath Paylin’s podium. Th e two fi nd them-selves in a sticky situation when “Condi” enters, and the politically charged threesome have at it.

Th e Who’s Nailin’ Paylin? script is equally por-nographic and entertaining, and it does more than just appeal to fantasy. Despite the excessively corny dialogue, the writing is actually quite clever. Th ere is a political statement disguised within the script that suggests the upcoming erotic feature is more than just pornography. For instance, the majority of the characters included in the script parody major U.S. political fi gures. Th e dialogue is designed to be relevant to issues in the current

election, and is fi lled with satirical commentary that specifi cally targets recent events concerning the Republican party. A large portion of Paylin’s lines, for example, are only slightly altered from sections of speeches that Palin has made.

It is no coincidence that Flynt and his team at Hustler posted their advertisement only days aft er the Republican National Convention in Minneapolis. Flynt, who is very liberal, has been a long time advocate for freedom of expression. His 2005 book Sex, Lies, and Politics: Th e Naked Truth admonishes Republican policies. It ap-pears that Flynt is using Who’s Nailin’ Paylin? as a statement of his own political belief.

Although Who’s Nailin’ Paylin? may be a somewhat indirect route for Flynt to make his statement, this movie is perhaps the most ef-fective manner of creating discussion. He is using an outlet he feels is being suppressed in order to make an openly satirical statement about those he considers responsible. Flynt is trying to nail the Republicans where it hurts, and show the American public the naked truth about Palin.

It is unlikely that the release of Who’s Nailin’ Paylin? will have any visible eff ect on the Nov. 4 election, but that doesn’t appear to be Flynt’s intent. Th e fi lm, instead, is a subversive reminder that at least one American will not accept a limitation of his rights. Hustler is creating a whole new frontier in the sex industry with this fi lm. Who’s Nailin’ Paylin? should be recognized for its merit as a clever and brave critique of Republican party policies. If John McCain and Palin do get elected, you can be sure that this won’t be the last time we hear from Flynt.

by April LimFulcrum Contributor

OH YES, I’M talking to you, you Internet lingo and slang enthusiast. Whether you are a closet or full-out “1337”, I have developed strong feel-ings of dislike towards certain individuals like you who insist on typing “lyke dis”. Does it re-ally save you time to write one fewer letter in a word? Does replacing the letters “a-t-e” with the number eight really clear up time in your busy schedule? Please do me a favour by at least act-ing like you have the time to talk to me on MSN by typing out full words in complete sentences.

Whenever I sign on to MSN, I prepare myself for an onslaught of poor language and grammar. I even have a post-it cheat sheet of for-mulas on my desk so that I know when you type, “BRBG2P”, you mean, “Be right back, got to pee”. Be consider-ate. It may save you time, but it certainly does not for me. It takes me forever to decipher what the heck you’re saying.

Not only is the use of Internet slang confus-ing and time-consuming for the receiver, but it is also rude and less personable. I don’t know about you, but if my boyfriend messaged me, “143 4eae!” (code for “I love you”—each num-ber represents the number of letters in the words) I would fi rst think, “Really, why am I dating this tool?” and then my second reaction would be a rabid response of caps-lock hatred directed at him for not being able to spend the extra fi ve milliseconds to type, “I love you forever and ever and ever”. I would expect Internet lingo to be used mostly by pubes-cent teenagers (or in some cases by moronic boyfriends), but apparently that is not the case if I am receiving cryptic messages from my fel-low classmates. A word of advice: If you are an avid, die-hard, Internet-slang user, ensure that your excessive use of it does not seep into your essays, lab reports, or theses.

I realize that the invention of the Internet and its continuous evolutions have made every-thing more convenient and effi cient; however, conversations and communication do not have to be speed effi cient. So, if you type in Internet slang, I strongly discourage you from talking to me on MSN unless you want a raging yet perfectly worded and grammatically cor-rect reply. Better yet, instead of doing me a favour, do yourself a favour and learn and appreciate how to type sincerely and correctly. Your current friends won’t hate you and your future friends will thank you, or at least I will.

Hustler nails Palin where it hurts

Who’s Nailin’ Paylin? should be recognized

for its merit as a clever and brave critique of

Republican party policies.

illustration by Alex Martin

HECKLES:Dun u h8 it wen

ppl type lyke dis?

by Len SmirnovFulcrum Contributor

IN REACTION TO Russia’s military advance into Georgia on Aug. 8, Western countries are condemning Russia as an aggressor and accusing its leaders of reviving Cold War hostilities. Dubbed the 2008 South Ossetia War, the confl ict involved fi ve days of heavy fi ght-ing, and ended when Russian President Dmitry Medvedev declared a halt to the operation on Aug. 12; a formal Russian withdrawal was completed on Oct. 8. Russia is considered to be the victor in the confl ict, as Georgia lost con-trol over parts of Abkhazia and South Ossetia it previously held, and Russia recognized the regions as independent republics. U.S. Presi-dent George W. Bush called Russia’s actions “unacceptable in the 21st century” and U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice accused the Russian government of “bullying” the for-mer Soviet republic. Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper echoed these sentiments, sug-gesting that Russia’s invasion “indicates a Sovi-et-era mentality”.

Th ese strong statements aimed to intimi-date Russia and bolster democracy in Geor-gia, but they also revealed the Western leaders’ ignorance of history and their profound misun-derstanding of Russia’s role in the summer con-fl ict. Western leaders claimed that Russia acted as an aggressor because the country initiated the August attacks without any provocation. Th is claim disregards the fact that the Georgian gov-ernment committed the fi rst act of aggression in the confl ict.

Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili au-thorized a military attack on South Ossetia, a separatist and pro-Russian Georgian province, in the hopes of bringing the province under fi rm Georgian rule. Th e Georgian military forces entered South Ossetia on Aug. 8. Th ey

bombed and occupied the province’s capital Tskhinvali, killing South Ossetian residents as well as Russian peacekeepers in the process. Russian citizens living in South Ossetia were left to the protection of a weak local militia. Th e militia ultimately off ered little resistance to the well-trained Georgian military forces and was unable to prevent massive South Ossetian ci-vilian casualties. Russia responded by sending armoured Russian divisions into Georgia from North Ossetia, a neighbouring Russian prov-ince. Th e Russian divisions expelled Georgian troops from South Ossetia and advanced to the Georgian city of Gori. Th e Russian attacks on Georgia were a necessary response to Georgia’s deliberate assault on its own citizens and the Russian peacekeepers stationed in the province.

Th e Western leaders’ arguments concerning Russian aggression appear even more misguid-ed upon considering that Russia had a legiti-mate motive for getting involved in the confl ict. Russian peacekeepers, stationed in South Osse-tia on the conditions of a ceasefi re arrangement brokered between Russia and Georgia in 1992, were killed as a result of Georgia’s off ensive. Ac-cording to Timothy William Waters, professor at the Indiana University School of Law, Russia’s involvement in the confl ict following the kill-ings of its citizens is entirely compatible with international law and cannot be interpreted as aggression.

Russia’s duty to intervene in the confl ict can also be traced to its historic ties to South Os-setia. Aft er Georgia’s separation from the Soviet Union in April 1991, South Ossetia voiced its desire to remain affi liated with Russia. Although it was automatically included in Georgia, the province considered itself independent of the new country. Recent referendums show that South Ossetian people still feel a close connec-tion to Russia and prefer Russia’s guidance over rule from Geor-

gian capital Tbilisi. Vast portions of South Osse-tians hold Russian passports and classify them-selves as Russian nationalists.

Russia was required to respond to Georgia because it was directly implicated in the issues that generated the military confrontation. Rus-sia’s attacks on the Georgian military forces were used for the self-defence of its peacekeepers and citizens in South Ossetia. Th ese defensive actions demonstrate that Russia will resist any aggression against its nationals—a goal many Western nations are likely to identify with—and cannot be interpreted as unprovoked interven-tion in another nation’s domestic aff airs.

Western leaders, such as recently retired Ca-nadian minister of foreign aff airs David Em-erson, argue that Russia acted as an aggressor because it used disproportionate force in its attacks against Georgia. Th ey criticize Russian forces for marching outside of South Ossetia, burning villages and killing Georgian civilians. Richard Cohen of the Washington Post went as far as to state that Russia’s bombing of Georgia “is not merely disproportionate, it is purposely, studiously, coldly atrocious”.

Th ese claims assume that Georgia’s incur-sions into South Ossetia will end as soon as all Georgian troops are expelled from the separatist province, and ignore the possibility that Geor-gian forces might re-enter South Ossetia aft er the withdrawal of their Russian counterparts. Russia is helping to prevent future attacks on South Ossetia by venturing beyond the bound-aries of the province and destroying key Geor-gian military installations, port facilities, and communications infrastructure. Russia’s surge into Georgia can even be seen as a positive de-velopment for global security. In reaching Gori, the Russian troops were able to seize weapons left behind by the retreating Georgian army and secure them against theft by terrorist organiza-tions.

Regrettably, the Western leaders refused to recognize Russia’s practical intentions and

see the country as anything other than an aggressive nation. Th ey further vilifi ed Russia’s actions by presenting Georgia as a beacon of democracy in the for-mer Soviet Union. Such d e p i c t i o n s

position Russia as an authoritarian country that is determined to suppress Georgia’s democratic traditions and prevent Georgia’s inclusion into Western organizations, such as NATO and the European Union.

Th e Western portrayal of Georgia as a de-mocracy is entirely disconnected from the cur-rent conditions in the country. Saakashvili came to power during the 2004 Rose Revolution at a time of nationwide confusion and chaos. Since then, he has rarely upheld the democratic slo-gans that grant him popularity in the Western world. Lincoln Mitchell of Th e New York Timesnotes that Saakashvili reduced media freedom, weakened opposition parties, and modifi ed the constitution to grant greater powers to the pres-ident. In November 2007, Saakashvili used force to suppress peaceful demonstrations against government corruption.

Notably, on Oct. 1, 45 Georgian politicians created the Movement for Freedom and Jus-tice to oppose Saakashvili. According to Th e New York Times, the Movement demands that Saakashvili “put the interests of the country and the people above personal ones” and stop pre-tending that Georgia has already achieved de-mocracy. Growing complaints from opposition groups, such as the October Movement, under-mine Western perceptions of Georgian democ-racy and the image of Saakashvili as a victim of Russia’s authoritarian aggression against the free world.

Following the confl ict, Harper urged his gov-ernment to “review everything” in Canada’s relations with Russia and U.S. Republican pres-idential nominee John McCain suggested expel-ling Russia from the G8 as a punishment for the country’s aggression towards Georgia. As the Western leaders debate and raise hysteria over Russian aggression, it is necessary to critically examine which side is reviving the Cold War mentality: Russia or the West?

OPINIONOct. 23, 2008 21www.thefulcrum.ca

Reviving the Cold War mentalityRussia’s actions in the

Russian-Georgian confl ict are unjustly

condemned

illustration by Alex Martin

Th ursday, Oct. 23Green movie night: Refugees of the Blue

Planet. 7 p.m. Unicentre 205. Free.

Panel discussion: Al-Haq Human Rights Workers from the Occupied West Bank. 7 p.m. Carleton University. 101 Azrieli Th eatre. Free.

University of Ottawa Wind Ensemble. 8 p.m. Tabaret Hall. Room 112.

Voluntary contribution.

Friday, Oct. 24Th e Urban Aesthetics, Rude Boy, Harpoon,

Channel One, and To the Rescue. 8 p.m. Th e Live Lounge. 128 York St. $8. 19+.

48-hour novella contest. 5 p.m. Register 2:30–5 p.m.

Arts Hall. Room 321. Free.

Saturday, Oct. 2524th annual Creative Hands craft market.

9:30 a.m.–3:30 p.m. Greenbank Middle School. 168 Greenbank Rd. Free.

Women’s volleyball: Ottawa vs. Western. 2:30 p.m. Montpetit gym.

Students $4.

Sunday, Oct. 26Men’s basketball: Ottawa vs. McGill.

4:30 p.m. Montpetit gym. Students $4.

Monday, Oct. 27Lecture: Th e Politics of Musical Perfor-

mance. 11:30 p.m. Pérez Hall. Room 307. Free.

Tuesday, Oct. 28Exhibit: Radical Drag. 11 a.m.–6 p.m.

SAW gallery. 67 Nicholas St. Free.

Th e Department of Th eatre’s Drama Guild presents: Brecht on Brecht. 8 p.m. Academic

Hall. Students $8.

Wednesday, Oct. 29Documentary: Th e Invisible Nation. 8 p.m.

Unicentre. Room 205. $2.

Oct. 23–29, 2008Distractions Sarah Leavitt

Features Editorfeatures@thefulcrum.ca 22

Hearsay by Jordan Moffatt

Dear DiIf you have a question for Di, e-mail deardi@thefulcrum.ca.

Dear Di,I’m starting to get back into dating

aft er a hard relationship and I’m fi nd-ing myself in the “friend zone” all the time, even when I go on dates with new people. I always end up in this area with them and I’m getting tired of having new “girlfriends”. I asked my friend about it and she says it’s because I’m too nice to date. What should I do about it?

—Nice Guys Sleep Alone

Dear NGSA,First, let me reassure you that there is

nothing wrong with being a nice guy. At the end of the day most girls want a good guy who knows how and when to be a gentle-man and who genuinely respects women. With new romantic interests, you might want to hold off on talking about your past relationships before you really get to know each other. It’s okay to show your vulner-ability to your love interest aft er a while, but showing too much of it too soon might give her the impression that you’re inse-cure. I think you need to master the art of being what I call the Imperfect Gentle-man. Here’s the general mindset: fi rst, the IG takes care of himself—he smells great, cuts his fi ngernails, has brushed his teeth within the last 12 hours, and dresses with a bit of personal style. Second, let the lady know you’re interested without throwing your heart at her feet (that is how many fi rst dates go awry). While you’re getting to know her, fl irt with her a bit and see how she responds. If she seems interested,

ask her out on a date. Once you’re out on your date make it clear that you like her by off ering to buy the fi rst drink and fl irting a little, but whatever you do, don’t lay all your cards on the table too fast. Th e real key to the IG attitude is for the girl to re-alize that you aren’t perfect but you’re pretty awesome. Remember that there are no standards to meet. When you’re interacting with the girl you’re dig-ging you’ve just got to relax and be your-self—keep it casual and don’t take yourself too seriously. If you’re too worried about being nice all the time it’s going to be hard for women to get to know the real you. Good luck!

Love,Di

Dear Di,I’m embarrassed to ejaculate. My se-

men barely fi lls the tip of a condom and whenever my girlfriend asks me to come on her tits, I get so self-conscious about my low fl ow that I lose my hard-on. Why is my semen so wimpy, and how can I produce bigger, more impressive loads?

—Not-So-Wide Load

Dear NSWL,Have you been watching too much porn

lately? It can be discouraging to compare your own ejaculate to the buckets of pro-tein shake the Dirk Digglers of the world seem to have in endless supply.

But let’s be honest: most aspects of porn are even more fake than its silicone-inject-

ed stars. Listen,

remember that one episode of Kenny vs. Spenny, “Who Can Produce More Semen”, when

Spenny fooled Kenny (for once) by pouring milky-white shampoo into

his vial of sperm? Th at’s the oldest trick in a porno prop-master’s book. Th e truth is that males 20–30 years old ejaculate an average of just four millilitres each or-gasm. We’re talking less than a teaspoon’s worth of semen here, NSWL, so I’d be willing to bet that yours isn’t nearly as “wimpy” as you think. Th e less time you spend worrying about your come and the more you spend simply enjoying sex, the better—for you and your partner. How-ever, if you’re really bent on increas-ing your load, studies have shown that men in better overall health—those who watch their diet, exercise regularly, drink lots of fluids, and avoid cigarettes—tend to produce more semen. Eating foods that are high in amino acids may also in-crease the amount of man seed you can spread. Also, simply unloading less fre-quently could result in a slightly larger volume of semen. But even these sugges-tions might not make a noticeable dif-ference in the amount of ejaculate you produce, so don’t worry. Just relax, and the rest will come.

Love,Di

ThryllabusThe Thryllabus

needs lots of events to remain so thrilling.

E-mail features@thefulcrum.ca

with suggestions.

sudoku answers on p. 17

Frank ‘mackenzie king’ AppleyardEditor-in-Chief

editor@thefulcrum.ca

Ben ‘fallowfi eld’ MyersProduction Manager

production@thefulcrum.ca

Michael ‘terry fox’ OlenderExecutive Editor

executive@thefulcrum.ca

Martha ‘heron’ PearceArt Director

design@thefulcrum.ca

Emma ‘bayshore’ GodmereNews Editor

news@thefulcrum.ca

Peter ‘queensway’ HendersonArts & Culture Editor

arts@thefulcrum.ca

David ‘blair’ McClellandSports Editor

sports@thefulcrum.ca

Sarah ‘strandherd’ LeavittFeatures Editor

features@thefulcrum.ca

Danielle ‘baseline’ BlabLaurel ‘carling’ Hogan

Copy Editors

Amanda ‘south keys’ ShendrukAssociate News Editor

associatenews@thefulcrum.ca

James ‘walkley’ EdwardsWebmaster

webmaster@thefulcrum.ca

Jessica ‘cyrville’ Sukstorf Volunteer & Visibility

Coordinatorvolunteer@thefulcrum.ca

Megan ‘confederation’ O’MearaStaff Writer

Alex ‘moodie’ MartinStaff Illustrator

Inari ‘westboro’ Vaissi NagyJiselle ‘lebreton’ Bakker

Ombudsgirlsombudsgirl@thefulcrum.ca

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ombudsboy@thefulcrum.ca

Nicole ‘campus’ GallStaff Proofreader

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Deidre ‘train’ ButtersAdvertising Representative

ads@thefulcrum.ca

Ross ‘pleasant park’ PrusakowskiBusiness Manager

business.manager@thefulcrum.ca

Volume 69 - Issue 10Oct. 23–29, 2008

phone: (613) 562-5261fax: (613) 562-5259

631 King Edward Ave., Ottawa, ON K1N6N5editor@thefulcrum.ca www.thefulcrum.ca

Recycle this paper or we’ll raise fares.

Staff

Evan ‘millenium’ AbramsDave ‘bay’ AtkinsonKenny ‘carling’ Dodd

Katie ‘kanata north’ DeClerqIan ‘lycée claudel’ FlettPhil ‘teron’ Flickinger

Rami ‘hawthorne’ HaidrTed ‘dominion’ Horton

Matt ‘lincoln fi elds’ Johnny

Camila ‘trim’ JuarezDanyal ‘eagleson’ Khoral

April ‘bayview’ LimJaclyn ‘riverside’ Lytle

Carl ‘bank’ MeyerJordan ‘kent’ Moffatt

Kelwryn ‘metcalfe’ OrdÉmilie ‘queensway’ SartorettoLen ‘billings bridge’ Smirnov

Nigel ‘airport’ SmithKalin ‘stittsville’ SmithAlex ‘greenboro’ Smyth

Sasha ‘place d’orleans’ SperanziniAnna ‘elmvale’ Rocoski

Lihang ‘st. laurent’ NongJack ‘iris’ Wang

Norman ‘barrhaven centre’ WongMing ‘greenboro’ Wu

Contributors

cover photo

by Lihang Nong

fTaking the 95 downtown

since 1942.

A masterful performanceUNIVERSITY OF OTTAWA under-graduate students are one step closer to seeing the implementation of a universal bus pass. Th e U-Pass, which was passed in principle by students during a referendum last school year, has been a long-time passion of the Student Federation of the University of Ottawa (SFUO), and is now fi nally within arm’s reach of becoming a re-ality.

Th e fact that a U-Pass is fi nally nearing realization for U of O stu-dents is only part of the story. Th e most noteworthy aspect of this saga is the manner in which this leap towards student transit access has been taken. Th e U-Pass’s genesis at the city level comes aft er what is arguably one of the most remarkable acts of lobbying by the SFUO in recent memory. Th e SFUO demonstrated not just eff ective but refreshingly inspiring leadership at the City of Ottawa’s Transit Com-mittee meeting on Oct. 15, inducing the committee to give the project its fi rst breath of life.

Th e presentation to the commit-tee made by SFUO President Dean Haldenby and U of O Sustainability Coordinator Jonathan Rausseo was near fl awless. City councillors re-ceived an eloquent and clearly well-researched pitch that turned the en-tire committee into supporters of the pilot project.

Ultimately, the presentation was not just a feather in Haldenby and Rausseo’s caps, but rather a perfor-mance that all U of O students will benefi t from. City councillors were openly impressed by the SFUO’s well thought-out approach, and were quick to heap praise on the U of O student body for its leadership and vision in lobbying for the U-Pass. Th e SFUO’s inventive plan and Haldenby’s determined performance cast U of O students in a positive light among city offi cials; one that can only be benefi cial in future dealings between the two groups.

Th e U-Pass pilot project is not yet a done deal, as city council must now approve the plan, and the proposal must navigate the always-treacher-ous city budgeting process in up-coming months. However, in getting this far, the SFUO has demonstrated their ability to cast an impressive shadow on a stage much larger than the one found in their typical intra-university work. Haldenby and the student leaders behind this proposal have impressed some of the city’s top brass, and for that they deserve respect.

If this keeps up, U of O undergrads will be the proud owners of a U-Pass come September, and students will know exactly who to thank: their stu-dent leaders.

THE NEXT TWO weeks will be a period of calm before one of the most powerful storms likely ever seen on campus hits the U of O. Yes, the long-awaited referendum on Student Feder-ation of the University of Ottawa (SFUO) mem-bership in the Canadian Federation of Students (CFS) is about to arrive, with the campaign opening on Nov. 7.

For the uninformed, this referendum will fi -nally put to rest a debate that has absorbed this campus for several years: to join or not to join? Since 2006, on-again, off -again prospective-membership, indecision, and division among student leaders have at times characterized the U of O campus. Th is drawn-out debate will fi nally culminate in what is truly needed: stu-dents having their say.

Nov. 18–20, undergraduate students will have the chance to decide whether to join their graduate student brethren in CFS-dom, or to ef-

fectively silence the group of students who have advocated for membership in recent years.

Th e stakes involved in this referendum can-not be dismissed. Depending on whom you ask, national student lobby groups such as the CFS carry a lot of clout or stigma—and sometimes both—at campuses across the country. As U of O undergrads will likely fi nd in the coming weeks, there are as many merits and detriments to join-ing the CFS as there are people willing to pas-sionately campaign for your vote. Membership in a prominent organization such as the CFS is not a trivial matter, and students should take note that their vote in this referendum is every bit as meaningful as their vote in the federal elec-tion. Students’ votes in this referendum will de-termine not only student fees, but also access to campaigns, services, and national representation in lobbying eff orts.

Th e campaign period is blissfully short—only

13 days—and you can bet that neither the ‘yes’ nor ‘no’ sides will waste a moment. Th at means that an incredibly large amount of information will saturate this campus in an incredibly small amount of time.

So, enjoy the calm of the next two weeks. However, when the fl oodgates open, under-graduate students must keep their eyes and ears open and remember that one of the most sig-nifi cant decisions in recent memory is facing them. From the moment this campaign kicks off , pay attention to what is being said by all sides and determine for yourself exactly what the CFS is and what it means for you. Th e staff at the Fulcrum will do their best to help. Students have the opportunity to settle a longstanding debate and choose a decisive path for the SFUO, themselves, and future U of O students. Do not underestimate the power of this referendum. Involve yourself and embrace it.

Oct. 23–29, 2008Editorial Frank Appleyard

Editor-in-Chiefeditor@thefulcrum.ca 23

The great debate nears

editor@thefulcrum.ca