Consultation process

on uOttawa tuition fees

October 27: Student leaders make presentation
to Board of Governors
November 5: Senate agrees to a moratorium on
exams to enable students to lobby
provincial government on
tuition fees
November 17: uOttawa administration makes
presentation to Board of Governors
November 24: Board of Governors will hear the
SFUO and GSAED response to
administration’s presentation
Only then will the Board proceed to
a debate and a vote on the issue.

www.uOttawa.ca
 3
Frank Appleyard

Letters
University education is not a right
Re: “Why university education is a
right” (Opinion, Nov. 13)
I RECENTLY READ an article titled
“Why university education is a right”
in the Fulcrum. The author stated that
post-secondary education should be a
right based on two arguments. First,
that any student who can complete a
degree has the right to education, and
second, that a university degree is “a
ticket to employment” and therefore a
requirement in a fair society. There is
definitely something wrong with these
arguments.
Essentially, by saying that any student
who can finish his or her degree has the
right to an education, we are equalizing
students who achieve 60s and students
who achieve 90s. How is that fair? In
fact, this equalization penalizes high
achievers because they put in more
work and get the same degree as some-
one who just passes. It’s not as if finan-
cial aid is not there to help those who
want to achieve. There are entrance and
merit scholarships available for those
who earn them. This isn’t to say that
people who don’t get high marks can-
not get degrees. They will have to work
hard in a different way to get through
school, but if they want to get a degree
badly enough, they will persevere.
What about the fact that a univer-
sity degree is the key to employment?
Should we be seeking to make univer-
sities, the places from which some of
humanity’s greatest progress has come,
just one more step on the path to the
accumulation of wealth?
By admitting anyone who can pass
their courses for free, which is what
the idea of the right to education is
fundamentally proposing, degrees are
devalued.
I do not mean devaluation in the
sense that the quality of university
education within the institution is
reduced. Despite what the author of
“Why university education is a right”
posits, that is not the devaluation argu-
ment. Rather, the argument is that the
university degree is devalued in soci-
ety because it becomes mandatory. No
longer is it a representation of a strong
desire for knowledge and furthering
society. By allowing university to be-
come a rung in the career ladder, we
have made it into something to take
for granted.
Carmen Grillo
Second-year economics and political
science student
Nov. 21–26, 2008
An open letter to Julie Séguin
Re: “Enough isolation already”
(Letters, Nov. 13)
DEAR JULIE,
I am not taking a side on the ref-
erendum on Student Federation of
the University of Ottawa member-
ship in the Canadian Federation of
Students (CFS), and I’m sure that
you know the old adage about opin-
ions. However, I feel that it is un-
fair of you, especially as an elected
representative of the undergraduate
students of the University of Ot-
tawa, to label the arguments of the
No campaign as “wrong-headed”,
“crazy”, and “angry”. I am unsure of
how I will be voting and I am not
a member of either campaign, but I
feel that your letter to the Fulcrum
belittled those who, for legitimate
reasons, oppose membership in the
CFS. I for one have not heard any
arguments which I would describe
as you have, from either side. Let’s
try and keep this campaign clean,
because in the end, we’re all in it
together.
Spencer McKay
Second-year political science and
religious studies student
Editor-in-Chief
editor@thefulcrum.ca
An open letter to Marc Kelly
DEAR MARC KELLY,
In response to your letter of com-
plaint against the president of U of
O, I would also like to ask why it
was deemed necessary to forward
your email to every student. I have
read the email and the background
information, and I do not feel much
sympathy for you.
While I agree that President Al-
lan Rock’s dismissal of you from his
office was not necessarily polite, I
do not see how it was unwarranted.
It is evident from your recording
that you summarily ignored his as-
sistant—who mentioned the neces-
sity of making an appointment to
you—and have done so in the past
as well. The president presumably
has things to do other than listen-
ing to you whine, and therefore in-
sisting on an immediate response is
rude as well as ambitious.
I have no physics knowledge
past high school, and can there-
fore make no comment on your
research. I fail to understand your
difficulty in accepting your faculty
committee’s rejection of your pro-
posal on the basis that it did not
actually contain physics.
The purpose of having said fac-
ulty members is to ensure that re-
search is done with established
guidelines that conform to the sci-
entific process. Also, I very much
doubt the Faculty of Physics de-reg-
isters a student from a class without
a justifiable basis.
If there is no basis, why is there
no communication with the dean?
There is a reason a hierarchy exists,
and the president at the U of O is
not responsible for an undergradu-
ate student handing something in
that does not conform to criteria. As
there is no mention of anybody else
in the class having the same prob-
lems, it is safe to assume that said
criteria were available.
In any case, I fail to understand
how an individual telling another
individual to “get out” of his private
space is in any way violent. Secu-
rity was not summoned to drag you
outside and break your toes. In ad-
dition, I do not appreciate receiving
your bile against the administration
in my inbox.
Kate Goddard
Second-year conflict studies
and human rights student

Contents thefulcrum.ca poll

News Undergrads cast Do you think the Maclean’s Last week’s results
their votes rankings of Canadian
Consequences and controversies of the
CFS referendum. p. 4
How do you plan to vote
universities accurately in the CFS referendum?
p. 4 Is the U-Pass in danger? p. 5
portray the country’s
schools?
Arts Fashion forward
Laurel Hogan tries on Ottawa Fashion
Week. p. 10 Yes Yes No
Jaclyn Lytle embraces Arms of the Girl.
p. 11
No
p. 10 49% 51%
Sports Basketball’s back Go to
Men’s and women’s teams combine to go 4-0
on the weekend. p. 16
thefulcrum.ca
Want to explore the great outdoors? Then give

p. 16 the Outdoors Club a try. p. 17

to vote!
Feature The AIDS epidemic Business Department Advertising Department Got something to say?

The increasing momentum of HIV/AIDS Send your letters to

criminalization is explored. p. 12–13
Di deals with some funky spunk. p. 22
p. 12
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Advertising Representative
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follow the link for “Advertisers”.

Opinion Pushy fundraising following individuals: Ross Prusakowski

Katie DeClerq offers advice on how to avoid
donating to charities. p. 21
Strandherd? More like stranded.
Jaclyn Lytle describes the Barrhaven
(President), Andrea Khanjin (Vice-Pres-
ident), Tyler Meredith (Chair), Peter
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Climie, Scott Bedard, and Andrew Wing.
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We will not even consider hate literature or

p. 20
libellous material. The editor-in-chief reserves
busing experience. p.20 Press: www.cup.ca
5261. the authority on everything printed herein.
 4
Emma Godmere

News Nov. 21–26, 2008

News Editor
news@thefulcrum.ca

Controversy at CFS polls

Students encounter
campaigning, identified ballots
at polling stations
by Amanda Shendruk
Fulcrum Staff

REFERENDUM POLLS CLOSED Nov. 20 at

8 p.m. after three days of voting by University
of Ottawa undergraduate students to decide
whether or not the Student Federation of the
University of Ottawa (SFUO) should accept full
membership in the Canadian Federation of Stu-
dents (CFS), a national lobbying organization
that represents approximately 500,000 students
across Canada.
Federico Carvajal, a member of the Yes com-
mittee and the external commissioner for the
Graduate Students’ Association (GSAÉD)—a
CFS member union for just under a decade—
indicated his satisfaction at the amount of stu-
dents that showed up at the polls.
“I think the voter turnout has been great … It
is really high in comparison to [the SFUO] elec-
tions last year,” he said, noting that approximate-
ly 2,500 students had voted on the first day.
In the 2008 SFUO elections, fewer than 4,000
undergraduate students cast a ballot.
Despite the notable turnout for this referen-
dum, many students were concerned and con-
fused by the voting procedure. photo by Martha Pearce
At polling stations, students were asked to seal Voters line up to cast their ballots at one of the Unicentre polling stations on Nov. 18.
their ballot in an unmarked envelope, which was such an important vote … we wanted to ensure going to be [a] pretty smooth [process].” between campaigners and voting booths.
then placed in a separate envelope tagged with that we took all the safety precautions.” Haldenby explained that scrutineers from The ROC rules state, “there shall be no
their name and student number. Ryan Kennery, chairperson of the No com- both the Yes and No committees would super- campaigning within 15 feet of the polling sta-
According to the Referendum Oversight mittee, indicated that he had never witnessed vise the ballot counting process. tion on voting days. There shall be no cam-
Committee’s (ROC) rules, “each member of the this voting procedure before. He also indicated that the voting method paigning within sight or sound of the polling
student federation shall be allowed to cast one “I’ve experienced online voting in college, chosen for the referendum was not uncommon; stations.”
(1) secret, non-transferable ballot.” I’ve experienced elections here with [scanning it is a system that has been used in previous CFS Campaigners from both sides were frequent-
Students began to question the secrecy of student cards], I’ve experienced elections here referendums. Haldenby noted that as chair of ly seen distributing election materials in SITE.
their vote not long after polls opened on Nov. with just a ballot, but never [had] an experience the elections committee he will be reviewing the They were behind the 15 meters taped line, but
18, but some uncertainty subsided when expla- with students being asked to write their name process following the referendum. were clearly within sight of the voting station.
nations of the process were placed at voting sta- and student number on there,” he said. “It was Complaints regarding violation of ROC cam- Kishek, one of the many campaigners present,
tions the following day. concerning, but I guess we’ll see. I’m hoping that paigning limits were also heard over the three- said that both committees had mutually agreed
SFUO President Dean Haldenby, who sits on it’s legitimate. day voting period. One complaint alleged that that their distance was appropriate.
the ROC, clarified the situation. “I have no choice but to trust the process,” poll clerks, who are expected to be impartial, “We’re not in front of the polling stations …
“People don’t think it’s secret, but it is still se- Kennery continued. “I think students should be were wearing CFS Yes buttons at certain voting We, as individuals, are not out of sight, but our
cret,” he said. “The reason why [we did it this skeptical when a new process is there.” stations. materials are out of sight,” she said. “We are defi-
way] is so that we can track down the ballot if Yes campaign volunteer Amy Kishek ex- On Nov. 20, Haldenby said he had yet to see nitely within the referendum rules.”
someone voted twice.” pressed complete faith in both the voting and any proof of the situation. However, when informed of the situation, the
During the 2008 SFUO elections, student counting processes. “I’ve never seen it. If I see it, they’ll be prob- ROC was not of the same opinion.
numbers were entered into a computer database “At some point, we need to recognize and re- ably relieved on the spot. We don’t accept that,” “That’s unacceptable, and we’ll look into it,”
to determine voter eligibility. spect that this is the best system that [the ROC] he said. “Neutrality at the polling stations is of Haldenby said.
“We didn’t want to risk it with technology,” could come up with … and then have faith in the utmost importance.” Results from the CFS referendum will be re-
said Haldenby, referring to the CFS referendum. whoever we set to scrutinize the counting,” she During the referendum, there also appeared leased by the afternoon of Nov. 21.
“It’s not just the SFUO making this decision. For said. “I have no question in my mind that ... it’s to be confusion about the appropriate distance —with files from Emma Godmere

Visit thefulcrum.ca for referendum

results on Friday, Nov. 21.
 U-Pass hanging on
by a thread
Councillors
reconsidering U of O
pilot project after
original proposal
defeated
by Emma Godmere
Fulcrum Staff
THE PLAN TO implement a univer-
sal bus pass pilot project for Univer-
sity of Ottawa full-time undergradu-
ate students in September 2009 nearly
arrived at the end of the line after city
councillors voted on the U-Pass at the
Nov. 12 City Council meeting.
Councillors were originally tied
12-12 in their vote to pass the Tran-
sit Committee’s motion to launch the
Student Federation of the Univer-
sity of Ottawa’s (SFUO) U-Pass at the
price of $125 per semester, a motion
which acknowledged the need to find
approximately $2 million in the city’s
budget to balance OC Transpo’s po-
tential loss of revenue on the pass.
Mayor Larry O’Brien broke the tie
to defeat the U-Pass motion after first
defeating an amendment presented
by Knoxdale–Merivale Councillor
Gord Hunter that sought a ‘revenue-
neutral’ price point instead of the
$125-per-semester proposal in an ef-
fort to ensure the city would not lose
money on the project.
“The universal bus pass lost at
council on a tie vote, but it’s coming
before council for reconsideration
at the next meeting,” said Lindsay
Valente, press secretary for Mayor
O’Brien. “The mayor is hoping for
more information on the cost to [be-
come] available at that time.”
www.thefulcrum.ca
Kanata North Councillor Mari-
anne Wilkinson presented the motion
to reconsider the U-Pass, believing it
would encourage transit use among
youth.
“I’m doing it to help the students
out. I think it’s a good idea,” she said.
“I think if we can encourage students
to use transit when they’re at school
they’ll be more likely to use it later on,
especially if we can give them good
service.”
However, Wilkinson realizes the fi-
nancial barrier that U of O students in
support of the U-Pass currently face.
“The timing of this is dreadful. We
just got the budget, and it shows cut-
ting ice rinks and all kinds of other
“We’re not
dead yet.”
Dean Haldenby
SFUO president
things,” she said. “This says it’s going
to cost us $2 million, and that $2 mil-
lion is not in the budget right now, so
we’ve got to find another $2 million
in savings.”
Hunter agreed that budgetary con-
cerns are currently the priority.
“While I think the universal pass is
an attractive idea—and it might be at-
tractive across the whole city—it didn’t
make sense to be adding a two or three
tenths of a per cent increase to our
budget in 2009 when people are ask-
ing us to do the opposite,” he said. “If
it came up tomorrow with a revenue
neutral [price], I would support it.”
U of O sustainable development
coordinator Jonathan Rausseo, who
has worked with the U-Pass project
on campus for several years and re-
cently helped to present the plan to
photo by Lihang Nong
the Transit Committee, felt that many
councillors are too caught up in bud-
getary concerns and are missing out
on the potential benefits of the pilot
project.
“We want to consult with [council-
lors], to make sure that they have the
right information, but then we also
want to consult to give them the low-
down on what happens if they say no,
because there are a lot of implications
for the city if they end up saying no
on this,” he said.
Rausseo cited better air quality,
less traffic congestion, fewer young
drivers at higher risk of collisions on
Ottawa roads, and more sustainable
funding for transit services—with
approximately 30,000 U of O student
potentially locked in to purchase the
$125 U-Pass in September 2009—as
reasons councillors should support
the pilot project.
SFUO President Dean Haldenby,
who has led the project along with
Rausseo, indicated that they have
several steps to take to get the U-Pass
back into the city’s budget consulta-
tions.
“Now we’re at the point where we
need students’ help,” he said. “We need
those who voted for this [and] those
who support this pass to make that
clear to council.”
“We’re going [with] a kind of three-
pronged approach: number one, we’re
going to be lobbying the councillors
with [U of O President] Allan Rock
within the next week; number two,
we’re going to be doing an email and
fax campaign; and number three,
we’re going to be encouraging stu-
dents to get out on [Nov. 26] to coun-
cil to show them that we’re serious
and that we’re ready to go,” Haldenby
said.
“We’re not dead yet.”
U of O prof accused in
1980 Paris bombing
France alleges prof’s
involvement in
decades-old
synagogue attack
by Amanda Shendruk
Fulcrum Staff
UNIVERSITY OF OTTAWA soci-
ology professor Hassan Diab was
arrested in Gatineau on Nov. 13
amid allegations of involvement in
the bombing of a Paris synagogue
in 1980.
The RCMP arrested Diab at the
request of French authorities who
are asking for his extradition to
France, where he is wanted for mul-
tiple counts of murder, attempted
murder, and willful destruction of
property.
On Oct. 3, 1980, a blast outside
the Copernic Street synagogue in
Paris killed four people and in-
jured many others. The explosion
came from a bomb hidden inside
the saddlebags of a motorcycle
parked outside the synagogue. A
Palestinian extremist group, The
Popular Front for the Liberation of
Palestine, Special Operations, was
blamed for the event, which quick-
ly sparked the imposition of tight
security measures at synagogues
around the world.
According to Agence-France
Presse, the 56-year old is accused
of constructing the explosive de-
vice. However, Ontario Superior
Court Justice Michel Charbonneau
has imposed a publication ban on
proceedings, meaning the public
will not be told the particulars of
the French government’s case, or
what evidence was presented dur-
ing Diab’s Nov. 20 bail hearing.
Rene Duval, Diab’s lawyer, has
said he will fight to keep Diab in
Im in ur website,
steelin’ ur newz.
www.thefulcrum.ca
Nov. 21, 2008
Canada.
“We will oppose his extradi-
tion because this is a case of mis-
taken identity,” he told the Ottawa
Citizen. “It will be difficult for the
prosecution to make its case be-
cause all this happened 20 years
ago.”
Quoting unnamed sources,
France’s Le Figaro newspaper al-
leged in October 2007 that Diab
led the commando team responsi-
ble for the attack, and that French
authorities had requested assis-
tance from Canada in inquiries
at the time. In September 2007, a
French magistrate reopened the
investigation into the case when
German authorities discovered
Diab’s name on a list of former
members of the group blamed for
the attack.
Diab, who is also a professor at
Carleton University, was teaching
three sociology courses at the U of
O when he was arrested last week.
In an official statement released
Nov. 14, the university said that
these classes would not be inter-
rupted by the incident.
While the U of O Department
of Sociology and Anthropology
has refused to comment, Matt Bab-
cock, president of the undergradu-
ate Sociology and Anthropology
Students Association, was willing
to briefly discuss the situation with
the Fulcrum.
“He has the right to remain in-
nocent until proven guilty,” he said.
“It will be a long process.”
Babcock was a student of Diab’s
last year, and had kind words for
the professor.
“He was very kind and helped
students wherever he could,” he
said.
The U of O released an official
statement last week confirming
Diab as an employee of the uni-
versity, but refused to comment
further.
NEWS 5
Students face ‘unfair practices,
systemic racism’ at the U of O

photo by Ian Flett

Mireille Gervais is the coordinator of the Student Appeal Centre.
“I observe a lot of contempt for students,” said
Report alleges Gervais. “I can tell in a minute or two of the hear-
ing if the student will win or lose, by judging the
injustice in university [Senate] members’ attitude toward the student.”
The report indicated that many students lose
appeals process determination to pursue their appeals due to the
by Len Smirnov amount of problems that permeate the whole
Fulcrum Contributor process. Some students abandon their appeals
after being subjected to long delays or allegedly
“MISTREATMENT OF STUDENTS, Unfair experiencing a condescending attitude from the
Practices and Systemic Racism at the University administration. Sixty-two out of 388 students
of Ottawa” was the title of the Nov. 12 report re- abandoned their appeals over the past academic
leased by the Student Federation of the Univer- year.
sity of Ottawa’s (SFUO) Student Appeal Centre “Some students don’t trust the system at all,”
(SAC). The report is the latest development in the said Gervais. “Students realize that there are no
ongoing struggle between the student body and policies to protect their rights and are complete-
the U of O administration regarding academic ly disillusioned with the system.”
appeals at the U of O, outlining numerous ob- The SAC report also suggests that professors
structions that students face and criticizing the and the Senate Appeals Committee wilfully dis-
administration’s role in the appeals process. criminate against visible minorities. Seventy-
According to the report, students encoun- one per cent of academic fraud cases recorded
ter long delays in the resolution of their cases between Nov. 1, 2007 and Oct. 31, 2008, in-
primarily due to a lack of deadlines for the U volved students of visible minority status. The
of O adminstration to respond to students’ ap- SAC alleges that these statistics are not coinci-
peal requests. The Senate Appeals Committee, dental but indicative of systemic racism within
the highest level of appeal for individual cases, the university administration.
is also accused of not resolving the cases it re- Director of the U of O’s Office of Communi-
ceives in fewer than six months. In the mean- cations Andrée Dumulon questioned the accu-
time, students encounter little guidance as to racy of the report’s statistics and the existence of
where to direct their claims or seek professional problems within the appeals process.
support. “We have to evaluate the information that is
“Students are uninformed [about] where to in the report, but that takes time and at the mo-
address their appeals. They have little informa- ment it is premature to say anything,” she said in
tion and have to do the follow-ups themselves,” response to the report’s accusations.
said Mireille Gervais, SAC coordinator. The SAC pressured the university to make
Unwritten rules create additional complica- several changes to the appeals process in Febru-
tions for students entering the appeals process, ary 2008, including revoking Senate members’
according to the SAC. Gervais estimated that anonymity, adding an undergraduate seat to the
approximately 80 per cent of her work is based Senate Appeals Committee, and forcing facul-
on unwritten practices, where the administra- ties to send in submissions concerning student
tion may not strictly adhere to standard proce- appeals in no more than 21 business days. The
dures. Students unfamiliar with these practices new process has already experienced setbacks,
lack important knowledge on how to file their however: average delays for Senate hearings in-
claims and conduct themselves during case creased to 82 days from 78 days, and the candi-
hearings. dacy of recently de-registered sixth-year physics
Many students testify that they were mis- student Marc Kelly as the undergraduate student
treated during their Senate Appeals Committee member on the Senate was rejected, namely due
hearings. The SAC report claims that students are to the fact that Kelly is currently pursuing ap-
treated as guilty before they present their cases peals of his own.
and that the students’ intentions have little value
in comparison to the professors’ statements. APPEALS continued on p. 8

6 NEWS Nov. 21, 2008

 Endowment woes at the U of O
Global economic crisis
takes a toll on
Canadian universities
by Amanda Shendruk
Fulcrum Staff
WITH THE VALUE of university
endowment funds decreasing across
Canada, students at post-secondary
institutions may soon experience cuts
to scholarships, student aid, and pro-
gram funding.
The Globe and Mail reported on
Nov. 3 that Canadian universities
have already lost hundreds of mil-
lions of dollars from their endow-
ment funds as stock markets around
the world continue their downward
trend.
Endowment funds are created en-
tirely by donor contributions. The
capital from these charitable dona-
tions is invested and the income is
distributed annually, providing long-
term and relatively stable funding for
universities. Donors allocate funds
to the areas they are most interested
in financing, such as a university’s
general mission or scholarships and
bursaries.
Canadian universities currently
Maclean’s rankings hammer U of O
U of O places last in
student-faculty relations
for second straight year
by Jolene Hansell
Fulcrum Staff
MACLEAN’S MAGAZINE HAS once
again placed the University of Ottawa
at the lowest end of the majority of
their academic and student life stand-
ings in their annual university rank-
ings issue published on Nov. 13.
Since last year’s issue, the U of
O fell two places to come in 10th—
tied with the University of Western
Ontario—in an overall ranking of the
undergraduate experience at Canada’s
15 medical doctoral universities (uni-
versities who provide a wide range of
PhD and medical programs). When
compared to 46 other universities
across Canada, the U of O was award-
ed 24th place for quality of education,
21st for its innovation, and 24th for
its likelihood of producing the “lead-
ers of tomorrow”.
While the majority of the rankings
included both undergraduate and
graduate programs, the numbers are
quite different when the two levels of
post-secondary education are exam-
ined separately. The U of O received
top marks in graduate studies as re-
search grants given to the university
totalled over $178,000 last year,
whereas grants and research dollars
www.thefulcrum.ca
have an estimated $11 billion in en-
dowment funds. On average, Cana-
dian schools invest over half of their
endowment and pension funds in
world markets, which have dropped
more than 30 per cent in 2008, falling
17 per cent in October alone.
According to the Globe article,
some universities have already taken
measures to brace themselves for
projected further negative economic
impacts. Hiring freezes have been put
in place at several institutions, while
others have begun to cut their distri-
butions from endowment funds.
At the U of O’s Nov. 17 Board of
Governors meeting, university trea-
surer Barbara Miazga presented an
overview of the impact of the finan-
cial crisis on the U of O. It stated that
the total market value of the school’s
endowment fund assets on March
31 was $139 million. By September,
however, the market value of the en-
dowment fund had dropped to $133
million.
These losses come at a difficult
time for educational funding. Across
the country, government cash and tu-
ition-fee increases have failed to keep
up with operating expenses, reported
the Globe, and Canadian universities
have already begun to cut costs.
Although dealing with the current
received for U of O’s undergraduate
programs did not even make it into
the Maclean’s list.
One of the lowest rankings the U of
O received was in student-faculty in-
teractions, where the university placed
last for the second straight year. This
statistic gauges the role that professors
play as mentors and examines how of-
ten students either meet with faculty
to discuss career plans or how often
students work with professors on re-
search projects outside of class.
Maclean’s annual university rank-
ings issue examines and rates over 40
Canadian universities on such aspects
as academics and campus life every
year, as prospective university stu-
dents prepare to decide which post-
secondary institutions to attend.
At the U of O’s Nov. 17 Board of
Governors meeting, Rock recognized
the student experience issues that
were raised in the Maclean’s rankings
and several other publications and
indicated his intentions to address
them.
“There’s a message for us to receive,
and I think it’s important that we be
frank about it, that we be direct and
not defensive, that we be eager to
learn why we’re getting these num-
bers, and that we tackle the problem,”
he said. “Our objective in life is not
to get higher rankings in Maclean’s
magazine, don’t get me wrong, but I
see that from all of these sources and
studies [there is] a consistent mes-
sage. There’s something here for us to
look closely at, and I, for one, intend
economic situation will be a challenge
for the U of O, it is not projected to
have serious lasting impacts.
“Over the long term, we expect
that at some point the economy is go-
ing to turn around and markets are
going to recover,” said Miazga, in an
interview with the Fulcrum. “So that’s
not where the risk is. The risk is in the
to look closely at it in the course of
the coming months.”
University spokesperson Andrée
Dumulon also explained that the U of
O has boycotted the Maclean’s rank-
ings for several years.
“The university does not provide
data to Maclean’s,” she said. “There are
20 universities that do not provide in-
formation to Maclean’s because they
question [the magazine’s] methods.”
Other universities who began a
boycott of providing information to
Maclean’s in 2006 include Western,
the University of Toronto, the Uni-
versity of British Columbia, Carleton,
Queen’s, Concordia, and York. Ma-
clean’s normally gathers information
on these universities through statis-
tics provided by both the federal and
provincial levels of government.
U of O Research Chair in Educa-
tion Joel Westheimer indicated that
surveys such as the one featured in
Maclean’s too often rely on reputation
for rankings.
“What you get is a self-perpetuat-
ing system where the elite universi-
ties stay elite, like the University of
Toronto or UBC, because they have a
perception of being elite,” he said.
“From a prospective student per-
spective, the main thing that people
can do is take it as one data point
among many in ways to evaluate what
school is right for them. It’s one piece
of information … but it’s by no means
the final word on which universities
are better than others.”
—with files from Emma Godmere
short term.”
In the short term, students could
be significantly affected.
“It could mean in the short term
that we will have to reduce the amount
that is paid for scholarships and bur-
saries,” she said.
Relative to other Canadian univer-
sities, the U of O has a small endow-
Tuition hikes proposed for
2009–10
by Emma Godmere
Fulcrum Staff
UNIVERSITY OF OTTAWA students
are facing a 4.2 per cent average in-
crease in tuition fees for 2009–10, ac-
cording to a document from the office
of U of O VP Resources Victor Simon
that was presented at the Nov. 17 Board
of Governors (BOG) meeting.
The document, entitled “Tuition Fees
for the 2009–10 Academic Year”, pro-
posed a 4.5 per cent fee hike for first-
year undergraduate students, and a four
per cent rise for returning graduate and
undergraduate students alike.
Notably, first-year students entering
certain graduate programs can expect
to be hit harder than any other student
at the university. Several programs,
including common law, civil law, and
the MBA program could see an eight
per cent increase in tuition fees, while
first-year medical school students
could expect a potential increase of
five per cent.
The document also proposed raising
www.thefulcrum.ca
Nov. 21, 2008
photo illustration by Martha Pearce
ment fund. At the end of last year, the
University of Toronto and the Univer-
sity of British Columbia (UBC) held
the top spots for size of endowment
fund—Toronto at $2.1 billion and
UBC at just over $1 billion. The U of
O does not rank in the top 20 uni-
versities with the largest endowment
funds in Canada.
part-time and international students’
tuition at the same rates as regular full-
time students, and indicated that the
revenue collected from the increase
“will be invested exclusively to enhance
the student experience, and primarily
in financial aid and scholarships”. The
document also detailed that the rec-
ommendations are reasonable, “given
what all other universities in Ontario
are doing, and given all other costs go-
ing up”. According to the document, if
the proposals are accepted, most U of
O students will pay an average of $200
more in tuition next year.
At the Nov. 17 meeting, U of O
President Allan Rock reiterated that
the potential increases were still only
proposals, and that the Student Fed-
eration of the University of Ottawa
and the Graduate Students’ Associa-
tion have been given the opportunity
to officially respond to the proposals at
another BOG meeting on Nov. 24 at 5
p.m. in room 4101 of Desmarais Hall.
The BOG will finalize and vote on next
year’s tuition fees at this time.
NEWS 7

News in brief
York strike leaves
students in the cold
TORONTO (CUP) – CLASSES AT YORK Uni-
versity were cancelled as the union representing
faculty, teaching, and graduate assistants walked
off the job on Nov. 6.
Graham Potts, negotiator for CUPE 3903—the
union representing the part-time York staff—
said they are willing to go back to the negotiating
table, but only when the university comes back
with a fair deal.
Potts indicated that it was not wages that were
the biggest concern of the union, but rather pro-
tection against the cost of living. He detailed that
staff want their wages linked to the consumer
price index, so that if the index rises, workers “do
not continue to fall behind”.
8 NEWS
York Dean of Arts Robert Drummond indi-
cated that the university will be willing to “make
moves” once they can ensure the union is in fa-
vour of reaching a settlement.
The York Federation of Students (YFS) is back-
ing CUPE 3903 and YFS executives were all seen
picketing alongside union members.
Drummond indicated that the strike could last
for several weeks.
—Scott McLean and David Ros,
The Excalibur
Canada’s most vital graduates drawn to U.S.
EDMONTON (CUP) – A NEW STUDY shows
that Canada is losing fewer graduates to the Unit-
ed States than anticipated, but it’s the smarter stu-
dents who are leaving.
Nov. 21, 2008
photo by Braeden Urbanek (CUP)
A study by University of Guelph professor David
Walters indicated that those who are leaving gen-
erally tend to be in the fields that are considered
vital to the emerging knowledge-based economy.
Engineers, computer-science graduates, and
especially those in help-related fields are at the
top of the list. The amount of nurses heading
south actually outnumbers the total doctors
leaving the country.
Walters believes his study could aid the coun-
try’s graduate retention by influencing the gov-
ernment into providing tax incentives for gradu-
ates, or making additional efforts to keep them
in Canada. Businesses may also want to consider
competitive wage rates to keep the more quali-
fied graduates in the country.
—Kirsten Goruk,
Alberta and Northern Bureau Chief
APPEALS continued from p. 6
The SAC met with U of O President Al-
lan Rock in September and sent an advance
copy of their annual report for his review.
“We thanked the Student Appeal Centre
for the advance copy and saw it as a sign of
goodwill,” said Dumulon. “We want to work
closely with the students. We are hopeful
that we can come to some collaborative
agreement.”
At the Nov. 17 Board of Governors meet-
ing, Rock indicated that the university has
taken the report quite seriously.
“I know enough about the work that’s
been done to date to tell you that we’re go-
ing to disagree very strongly that there’s any
evidence to support the allegations that have
been made,” he said.
“We’ve just about completed our analysis
of the report … and we’re going to be tabling
a response to the report in the coming days,”
Rock added.
The SAC is less optimistic about swift res-
olutions to the issues raised in the report.
“The university holds 100 per cent of the
power,” said Gervais. “Until we have a pow-
erful student body, the problem will not be
resolved.”
Staff meetings.
We have them.
Thursdays at 4 p.m.
631 King Edward Ave.
The Fulcrum.
www.thefulcrum.ca
 SAFA to examine relations with SFUO
Ad hoc committee
created to study
relations between
student associations
by Emma Godmere
Fulcrum Staff
THE STUDENTS’ ASSOCIATION
of the Faculty of Arts’ (SAFA) Board
of Directors (BOD) has struck an ad
hoc committee to “examine relations
between SAFA and the Student Fed-
eration of the University of Ottawa
(SFUO)”, according to a press release.
In the statement dated Nov. 13,
SAFA outlined the intentions of this
graphic by Ben Myers ad hoc committee, which include in-
vestigating “the possibility of seeking
independence; the possibility of op-
tional membership within the SFUO;
the possibility of bringing in outside
Nov. 24 & 25 mediation; the possibility of sending
open letters, legal letters or petitions
to the SFUO; or the possibility of
seeking no action”.
While SAFA is incorporated and
University Centre -
does collect money from its own lev-
ies, the association still receives fund-
ing from the SFUO and, as a feder-
Outside Auditorium ated body, is represented at various
roundtables and is expected to follow
SFUO policies.
“There have been lots of instances
that have been building up within
the last couple of months within our
9-6
mandate, in terms of relations with
the SFUO, and they have not been
positive,” said SAFA President Eliza-
beth Doneathy. “We’ve tried meetings
and one-on-ones, and solutions have
not been coming out of it.”
9-5
Doneathy indicated that the recent
decision by the Referendum Over-
sight Committee (ROC)—which has
Photographers.
Illustrators.
Proofreaders.
volunteers to produce every issue.
No experience necessary.
Staff meetings are Thursdays at 1 p.m.
www.thefulcrum.ca Nov. 21, 2008
regulated the campaign for SFUO
membership in the Canadian Federa-
tion of Students (CFS)—was one of
the more recent and most pressing is-
sues. The ROC penalized the No com-
mittee upon receiving complaints that
a SAFA survey sent to undergraduate
students regarding the CFS was too
slanted toward the No side.
“In light of the complete alienation
on behalf of the [ROC] to SAFA in
regard to the survey, as far as I was
concerned, that was kind of a boiling
point and I needed to let the Board of
Directors know what was going on
and all of the things I’ve been dealing
with,” said Doneathy.
SFUO President Dean Haldenby
indicated that the SFUO had met
with SAFA, but not directly before
the federated body created the ad hoc
committee.
“They’re more than welcome to
look into these options, [although]
it’s unfortunate that the executive of
[SAFA] didn’t make an effort to con-
tact me before they took this step of a
measure to look into that,” he said.
“Our relations, in my view, are
okay,” he continued. “There are issues
from time to time, and we deal with
them usually on a case-by-case basis.
The problem is, I was totally unaware
of this happening. I had met only once
with the president of [SAFA] regard-
ing these relations and ... I thought
that we had dealt with quite a bit of it
at that point.”
“We don’t want to put our personal
grudges or whatever out on the fore-
front,” explained Doneathy. “We want
to make sure that we’re making the de-
cision that is best for all arts students.”
The eight-member ad hoc com-
mittee, which includes Doneathy and
other SAFA members, will present
their findings during SAFA’s Feb. 8
BOD meeting.
Writers.
The Fulcrum needs
Help us out.
Drop in and say hi.
NEWS 9

Arts & Culture
Ottawa moves fashion forward
Ottawa Fashion Week
puts the capital on
the fashion map
by Laurel Hogan
Fulcrum Staff
OTTAWA HAS LONG had a reputa-
tion for being one of the most cultural-
ly apathetic and stylistically challenged
cities in Canada. It’s often said to pale
in comparison to other major Cana-
dian cities, especially its famously cul-
turally vibrant neighbours Montreal
and Toronto, cities that hold interna-
tionally renowned fashion weeks. Ot-
tawa Fashion Week, held Nov. 13–15
at the National Arts Centre (NAC),
boldly set out to make its own mark
and prove the critics wrong.
The event debuted in May for the
2008–09 fall/winter season. This time,
it showcased the spring/summer 2009
collections of jewelry, swimwear, cou-
ture, and sportswear from 13 design-
ers and retailers, most of whom live,
work, or deal in the Ottawa area. And
don’t think any of these fashion gurus
are bothered by Ottawa’s apparent
lack of high-class fashion events.
Kamar Hargadon, one of the three
designers behind golf-inspired mens-
wear line Triple Bogey Apparel, ex-
plains that Ottawa’s dearth of high-
class fashion might not be such a bad
thing.
“Ottawa’s a great place to sort of test
your product out … because it’s not
going to get out of Ottawa,” he says.
“You can get some good feedback.”
He and his design partners don’t
have much to worry about after sell-
ing their edgy, board-wear inspired
line of golf polos to both Milk (234
Dalhousie St.) and Shoreline (325
Richmond Rd.), as well as other Ca-
nadian retailers. Although Hargadon
likes Ottawa as a market for trial runs
of his label’s clothing, he doesn’t think
it’s a sustainable market.
“We’ll never be successful if we’re
only in Ottawa,” he explains.
Nicole Colbourne, owner of Gals
Royale, a mobile personal-shopper
boutique, also understands the dif-
ficulty in getting Ottawa consumers
to sit up and take notice. According
to her, success doesn’t come easily in
this city.
“If you can make it in Ottawa, you
can make it anywhere,” Colbourne
says, welcoming the challenge. “Ot-
tawa needs fashion, period.”
And fashion is just what Colbourne
brings to the city, importing her pieces
from perennial fashion hotspots Los
Angeles and New York. She jets back
and forth to personally select pieces
for her boutique, which she brings to
her clients’ homes, where they ‘shop’
Colbourne’s carefully selected prod-
ucts and even enjoy spa treatments
courtesy of Gals Royale.
“We treat them like royalty,” she
explains.
Other designers, like Stacey Bafi-
Yeboa of Kania Couture, work on a
national scale. Hush (1440 Welling-
ton St. W) and Workshop Studio &
Boutique (242.5 Dalhousie St.) are
just two of 23 stores across Canada
that carry the Kania line of “luxury
street style clothing”.
Bafi-Yeboa has nothing but praise
for Ottawa’s fashion world, putting
a positive spin on the city’s apparent
passivity.
“I love being here. There’s a real
balance of fashion and … the laid-
back life as well,” she says. “I find in
other cities you get people who are a
bit competitive … whereas here ev-
erybody’s really supportive.”
That support was evident through-
out the three-day event, where Ot-
tawa’s booming fashionista populace
(armed with Louis Vuitton handbags)
was out in full force. Runway show
attendees formed a line stretching
from the NAC’s Panorama Room all
10
Peter Henderson
Nov. 21–26, 2008
Arts & Culture Editor
arts@thefulcrum.ca
the way down the grand red staircase
to the lobby below. Many lined up 45
minutes in advance, hoping to snag a
front-row seat for the next show.
The efforts of those who managed
to do so were not in vain. Toronto-
based Melissa Clemente Designs’
awe-inspiring parade on Saturday
night of one-of-a-kind, mixed-media
necklaces drew nods and audible ex-
clamations of approval from the audi-
ence of fashion industry professionals,
amateur fashionistas, and even sup-
portive moms who were there only
to see their model daughters walk the
runway. The long, chunky jewellery—
made of fabric, pearls, semi-precious
stones, wooden beads, and vintage
charms on brass, gold, silver, iron, and
surgical steel chains—were easily the
freshest and most eclectic designs of
the night. The most impressive piece
was a simple yet painstakingly crafted
mass of small, turquoise nuggets at-
tached to lengths of silver chain.
Another standout designer was
Ashley Zaba, who sent pin-up in-
spired puff sleeves and high-waisted
swimwear—including a cute, striped
take on the itsy-bitsy teeny-weeny yel-
low polka-dot bikini—down the run-
way. Her best pieces were those that
stayed true to her retro inspirations,
oozing glamorous sex appeal with-
out giving everything away. A curve-
hugging, lipstick-red pencil skirt was
a great example of this cheeky—not
cheap—sexuality, and exemplified
Zaba’s ability to make 1950s glamour
look right at home in 2009.
It may not have been anywhere
near the scale of Paris Fashion Week,
and technical difficulties may have
abounded (the Nov. 13 opening show
was nearly two hours behind schedule),
but, thanks to Hargadon, Colbourne,
Bafi-Yeboa, Clemente, Zaba, and other
talented local designers, the fall/winter
edition of Ottawa Fashion Week was a
resounding success. Ottawa fashionis-
tas proved they know what’s in, and as
for apathy—that’s so five years ago.
photos by Martha Pearce
 Cock’d Gunns aim for success, fail hilariously
McGill grads
make a rock n’ roll
mockumentary
by Lindsey Rivait
The Lance
WINDSOR (CUP) – Rock star diva
wannabes Cock’d Gunns want it all:
fame, fortune, and status as the big-
gest rock band in the world. Unfor-
tunately for them, they’re lazy, lack
musical talent, and have no fans.
Cock’d Gunns, a mockumentary se-
ries airing on Showcase, documents
the exploits of the three members of a
fictional rock band of the same name
on their half-assed rise to mediocrity.
The band features singer/songwriter
Reggie Van Gunn (Morgan Waters),
his brother, bassist Dick Van Gunn
(Andy King), drummer Barry Cic-
carelli (Brooks Gray), and their man-
ager Keith Horvak (Leo Scherman).
While Reggie and Dick bicker about
everything under the sun, Barry tries
his best to keep the band together—
all the while dealing with Keith and
his multitude of problems.
Only in its first season, the series
has already been nominated for three
Gemini Awards this year—Best Writ-
Local band has the
right recipe for living
U of O band
balances school
and folk music
by Jaclyn Lytle
Fulcrum Staff
ASPIRING LOCAL FOURSOME
Arms of the Girl understands the
hectic student lifestyle. Between
class, assignments, studying, and
work, most students barely have
time to breathe. As all members of
the folk-rock band are full-time stu-
dents, two at the U of O, Arms of the
Girl is often left panting. Guitarist
and lead vocalist Carolyn Côté ex-
plains what it’s like to add the stress-
es and responsibility of being in a
band to the long list of demands on a
student’s time.
“It’s absolutely crazy,” says Côté.
“The only time we really have [for the
band to work together] is practice once
a week. It’s just so hard coordinating
all these schedules. [Some of us] are
impossible to [get together], with all
the different schedules. It’s especially
hard to get in any extra practice before
shows, or to get everyone organized
for a photo shoot or shows.”
www.thefulcrum.ca
ing in a Comedy or Variety Series, Best
Comedy Series, and Best Ensemble
Cast for a Comedy or Variety Series.
The onscreen chemistry between
the bandmates and their manager
stems from their long friendships off
screen. King, Gray, and Scherman
went to McGill University together,
where they became friends. After
graduating, they moved to Toronto
where they dabbled in online com-
edy. Meanwhile, Waters had his own
after-school kids’ show on the CBC,
The Morgan Waters Show, and the trio
ended up being recruited as writers
and producers for the show. The early
concept of Cock’d Gunns was born
while the four were still working on
Waters’ show.
“I talked to [King and Waters]
about playing brothers in something
because I thought they looked simi-
lar,” says Scherman. “That’s where we
first came up with the idea of playing
musicians and it would be a comedy
show in the spirit of Spinal Tap.”
King, Scherman, and Waters
pitched the idea of Cock’d Gunns to
Canadian production company Tri-
con before they recruited Gray. The
Independent Film Channel (IFC)
picked up the show, and ordered 13
episodes. The first episode aired on
IFC in December 2007, and Show-
case also bought the broadcast rights
Getting the band together for
shows seems to be the biggest prob-
lem for the band, due to its members’
unnaturally hectic schedules. Both
Côté and bassist Afton Penny are
currently studying at U of O, in edu-
cation and engineering respectively.
The other two musicians, drummer
Chris Zimmerman and lead guitar-
ist Sammy Jo Elderbroom, are also
students.
“It’s unbelievable,” says Côté. “For
our show on Dec. 5, I’ll be up at 6 a.m.
I’ll be teaching for a full day before
the show. One time, Sammy even ran
an entire marathon for something
with school before a show.”
Booking the shows themselves has
also proved to be a challenge for the
band, which Côté admits is a difficult
process.
“It’s been a weird learning experi-
ence,” she explains. “I’d never been
in a band before, so I came in know-
ing nothing. But we had friends, and
we had a mentor to give us pointers.
There was a lot of basically going in
and begging for them to let us play.
Some people have been responsive,
but others have been complete as-
sholes.”
Arms of the Girl has been togeth-
er for almost three years, excluding
the recent addition of Zimmerman.
photo courtesy Showcase
for the first season. Unfortunately, “We’ve been really lucky finding ence for Reggie’s character,” explains
Showcase announced it would be a great production company and a Gray. “He is a diva. He pretends to
ending the show’s run with the Nov. great broadcaster that helps us make be artistic, but at the same time he’s
8 episode, but the show will return to a show,” says Gray. “There’s very little an idiot. That’s one thing we want to
IFC. There is no word yet on a second interference.” skewer with the show—just the levels
season. Cock’d Gunns is inspired by a lot of of pretension in music in general and
The group writes the show, impro- over-the-top rock divas, and the cast how misplaced it is.
vising heavily along the way. They has a lot of fun mocking their rock
also produce the episodes, and are idols. COCK’D GUNNS
involved in the editing process. “I think Axl Rose is a good influ- continued on p.14
This summer they played both Club
Saw and Ottawa’s SuperEx. Origi-
nally, they went by the name Afton’s
Angels, a nod to bass player Afton
Penny.
“We decided it wasn’t a very cool
name,” Côté states. “I mentioned the
play, [George Bernard Shaw’s Arms
and the Man], and we thought we’d
make it Arms and the Girl, because
there were three girls in the band at
the time. Eventually it just sort of be-
came Arms of the Girl.”
The group met through a program
at an Ottawa music school that focus-
es on uniting musicians and provid-
ing mentorship for fledgling bands.
In the case of Arms of the Girl, each
member brings their own unique
taste in music, which Côté says has photo courtesy Tammy Raybould
helped them to develop a sound that out in April, into Ottawa stores. everyone has jobs,” Côté explains.
she calls “acoustic folk-rock”. “The song we all agreed is best is “It’s funny, originally we didn’t
“We do have a lot of different in- ‘Ten Thousand Days’,” says Côté. “It’s know each other at all and I’m
fluences,” she says. “We always fight our baby. It would be our big single amazed we’ve lasted this long and
over this because there’s a definite if we were huge. We had a good CD we’ve come to be so close. We do it
country influence that comes from release in April, and we’re trying to because we love it, not because we
me, and all the other members are get [the album] out there and get it want to be superstars. It’s not easy, it
into different heavier stuff. We al- into stores. It’s hard for a local band can be pretty crazy, [but] we’re like
ways fight about what kind of music to make [an album]. It’s expensive a family.”
we really make; it’s hard to define.” too.”
Earlier this year the band released Regardless, the band intends to re- Arms of the Girl play The New Bayou
their seven-song debut album, Recipe lease a second album featuring their at 1077 Bank St. on Dec. 5. at 8:30
for Living. The band has been focus- newer material. p.m. Tickets are available at the door
ing on getting the disc, which came “Everyone is in school right now, for $10. All ages.
Nov. 21, 2008 ARTS 11
 Innocent until
The global trend toward HIV/AIDS criminalization
Last March, The New York Times reported that HIV-positive homeless man Willie
Campbell, while resisting arrest for drunk-and-disorderly conduct, spat in the face
of the arresting officers. Campbell was charged with assault with a deadly weapon.
That weapon was his infected saliva.
by Nadja Popovich
The McGill Daily
MONTREAL – “WHAT I WANT to do is to ask
you this morning to come on a journey with me,”
invited Edwin Cameron, justice of the Supreme
Court of Appeal of South Africa, in his closing
plenary speech at the International AIDS Con-
ference in Mexico City in August. The journey
he proposed was to examine the criminalization
of HIV/AIDS. HIV/AIDS issues have been a
point of discussion around the globe for the past
two decades. HIV directly attacks the human
immune system, weakening the body’s defences
against illnesses, and causes the development of
the fatal disease known as acquired immuno-
deficiency syndrome (AIDS). According to the
World Health Organization, 2.1 million people
died of AIDS worldwide in 2007.
HIV/AIDS as a crime
The criminalization of HIV/AIDS, one of the ma-
jor topics at the AIDS conference, has garnered
page 12 | the fulcrum
scant media attention in comparison to other of-
the-moment HIV/AIDS issues, such as the race
to find a cure and the efforts to educate the Af-
rican population on the syndrome. Yet a wave of
new legislation attempting to control the spread
of HIV/AIDS through criminal prosecution has
been gaining momentum around the world. Ac-
cording to the Joint United Nations Programme
on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), the purpose behind
such legislation is to “punish harmful conduct
by imposing criminal penalties, and prevent
proven
HIV transmissions by deterring or changing risk
behaviours.”
As defined in “The Case Against Criminal-
ization of HIV Transmission,” an article by
Scott Burris, published in the August volume
of the Journal of the American Medical Associa-
tion (JAMA), the criminalization of HIV/AIDS
“takes the form of HIV-specific criminal statutes
and the application of general criminal law (such
as assault) to exposure or transmission of HIV.”
Attempts to criminalize HIV/AIDS have
cropped up internationally, but this type of leg-
islation has seen opposition from some of the
highest international authorities on the disease.
Some of the most prominent opposition is found
with UNAIDS and non-governmental organi-
zations including the Medical Foundation for
AIDS and Sexual Health in Great Britain.
“Criminalization is driven by an AIDS pho-
bia and an exaggerated view of the risks of
HIV transmission,” said Richard Elliott, execu-
tive director of the Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal
Network. “It comes down to the fact that we’ve
seen the kinds of cases where people are being
charged for spitting or scratching.”
A case in Texas from earlier this year is an
oft-cited example of such legislation stretched
to an extreme. Last March, The New York Times
reported that HIV-positive homeless man Willie
Campbell, while resisting arrest for drunk-and-
disorderly conduct, spat in the face of the arrest-
ing officers. Campbell was charged with assault
with a deadly weapon. That weapon was his in-
fected saliva.
Although neither of the police officers involved
positive
in the arrest tested positive for HIV, the jury up-
held the assault charge. Campbell was convicted
under a habitual-offender statute for similar of-
fences of disorderly conduct in the past and sen-
tenced to 35 years in prison—at least half of which
must be served before he is eligible for parole.
The characterization of saliva as a deadly
weapon exemplifies one major problem behind
criminalizing HIV/AIDS: such cases often ig-
nore scientific evidence.
According to the Centres for Disease Control
and Prevention’s website, “contact with saliva,
tears, or sweat has never been shown to result in
transmission of HIV.”
In developing countries, where the prevalence
of HIV/AIDS is often much higher than in the
western world, there is a more immediate need to
mitigate the spread of the disease. Criminalization
laws can seem more appealing in these countries.
“As the epidemic has exploded in the developing
world, there has been a simultaneous push to legis-
late against the disease. Often it comes in the form
of omnibus laws, which address many issues and
usually throw in criminalization,” said Elliott.
While the adoption of criminalization laws can
provide a concrete way to fight the spread of HIV,
the legal systems in many developing countries
tend to be ill-equipped to deal with the complexi-
ties of such laws and their social consequences.
Furthermore, according to an UNAIDS pol-
icy brief on the criminalization of HIV/AIDS;
“There is no evidence that criminal laws specific
to HIV transmission will make any significant
impact on the spread of HIV or on halting the
epidemic.”
A model law—a law encompassing multiple
issues around the subject—adopted in many
West African countries has been the basis of the
criminalization push.
The African Model Law on HIV in Africa, un-
der Article 36, applies to “any person guilty of
wilful transmission”. However, “wilful transmis-
sion” is defined as “[the] transmission of HIV
virus through any means by a person with full
knowledge of his/her HIV/AIDS status to an-
other person.”
This law came out of a largely U.S.-funded 2004
project on HIV/AIDS in West Africa, AWARE-
HIV/AIDS, and has been written into legislation
in a number of countries since its inception.
This model has led many countries, includ-
ing Sierra Leone, to criminalize mother-to-child
transmission. Such laws stipulate that a woman
can be criminally charged for not taking the
steps necessary to prevent HIV transmission to
her fetus, such as taking anti-retroviral medica-
tions during pregnancy.
It is hard to imagine a mother wanting to
spread HIV to her child. However, as the stigma
surrounding the disease is combined with limit-
ed knowledge about medications, many mothers
do not know how to prevent the transmission.
The ambiguity of such laws, especially in devel-
oping areas, is exactly what Elliott finds troubling.
While in developed states these types of laws are
often born from precedents set by prosecution,
in the developing world they are written directly
into legislation. As a result, they tend to be loosely
defined and risk spiralling into an extension of
criminal law beyond reasonable bounds.

Legislation to stigmatize
The negative repercussions that may arise from
HIV-specific legislation in the public health and
human rights arenas are central to the problem.
The 2007 issue paper for the UNAIDS Refer-
ence Group on HIV and Human Rights raised
concerns over the use of criminal law specific
to HIV transmission as a “return to ‘blaming’
people with HIV,” and resulting in a possible in-
crease in stigma against people living with HIV,
and a possible decrease in people taking individ-
ual responsibility for protecting themselves”.
Christine Vézina, lawyer and head of the
Rights and HIV Program at the Coalition of
Québécois communities fight against AIDS
(COCQ-SIDA), agreed. She argued that the idea
of criminalizing HIV transmission contradicts
the last two decades of public health strategies
for combating the disease.
“The major point regarding public health strat-
egies is focusing on shared responsibility. This
means that everyone is responsible for their own
sexual life,” Vézina said. “The criminal laws are
hurting this idea. What they suggest is that even
if you don’t protect yourself, [you shouldn’t] stress
too much, because it is the responsibility of those
who have HIV to do the protecting, and the law
will make sure of this. People are looking for a se-
curity net, and shared responsibility is less able to
provide this. It’s not comfortable for them.”
A rights-based concern with HIV-criminal-
ization is the risk of disproportionate effects on
marginalized populations. Already-stigmatized
groups such as sex workers, men who have sex
with men, and drug users are seen as prime tar-
gets of such criminal legislation.
Elliott cautioned that these groups are among
the most vulnerable, often already working out-
side the protection of the law.
The uneven application of HIV-specific crimi-
nal laws is reiterated in the UNAIDS policy brief,
which adds that criminalization risks reinforcing
stigma, “driving [people living with HIV] further
away from HIV prevention, treatment, care, and
support services”.
According to Richard Pearshouse, the director
of Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network, “There
is no good evidence that the criminal law is ef-
fective at preventing HIV transmission.”
Criminalization hits home
Though Canada does not have any formal laws
regarding the criminalization of HIV-AIDS, it
is no exception to the trend of finding ways of
using current laws to criminalize the syndrome.
Many cases involving HIV transmission as a
criminal act have been tried.
“Normally what we see [in Canada] are law-
suits that are based on aggravated assault, or
sexual assault, turned to HIV/AIDS cases,” said
Vézina, recounting a case in Montreal—ruled
on in July—that saw a woman charged with ag-
gravated assault for exposing her ex-boyfriend to
risk of HIV infection.
According to a July 9 CBC report, a woman
and a man—identified only by their initials—
were involved in a long-term relationship, which
ended with the woman, D.C., filing an assault
charge over claims of domestic abuse against the
man, J.L.P. This move was countered by a charge
of aggravated assault against D.C. for failure to
disclose her HIV-positive status to J.L.P for the
first three months of their five-year relationship.
D.C. testified that the couple had used pro-
tection over the initial three-month period. Al-
though J.L.P. tested negative for HIV/AIDS, the
court found that the couple had engaged in un-
protected sex at least once. D.C. was found guilty
of aggravated assault for not immediately mak-
ing her HIV status known, thereby invalidating
her then-boyfriend’s consent to engage in sexual
relations.
The judge ruled that anyone with HIV has a
legal duty to inform their partner and that not
doing so was irresponsible.
This case is not the first of its kind in Canada.
A number of cases involving undisclosed HIV
status have been tried as sexual or aggravated
assault.
The reasoning that without full knowledge of a
person’s HIV status, one cannot be in a position
to legitimately consent to sexual relations may
be well intended, but it can lead down a slippery
slope from accountability to blame.
As Vézina said, too many value judgments are
already placed on those with HIV-AIDS and it
would be hard to believe that such biases could
be kept from the courtroom.
“It is hard to keep a presumption of innocence
for the defendant when the party has HIV,” said
Vézina, adding that this played a large role in
D.C.’s conviction in the Quebec case.
illustration by Alex Martin
Worldwide dissent
Whether dealing with unintentional exposure to
risk, or mother-to-child transmission, concerns
over the implications of criminalization and the
extent to which these laws can be stretched are
voiced around the globe.
UNAIDS has urged “governments to limit
criminalization to cases of intentional transmis-
sion, i.e., where a person knows his or her HIV
positive status, acts with the intention to trans-
mit HIV, and does in fact transmit it.”
The UNAIDS policy brief emphasized the limita-
tion of criminalization, stressing that governments
should be expanding those “evidence-informed”
strategies already proven to reduce HIV transmis-
sion, such as education to combat stigmatization
and discrimination, testing and counselling, and
access to medication and care facilities.
In Cameron’s closing speech at the AIDS con-
ference, he accused the criminal approach to ad-
dressing HIV prevention as being “punitive and
angry,” adding there is now, more than ever, a
the fulcrum | page 13
need for a human-rights based, “positive vision
of HIV prevention”.
“Criminalization assumes the worst about
people with HIV, and in doing so, it punishes
their vulnerability,” Cameron said.
His call to action encouraged people around
the world to come out explicitly against the use
of the unchecked criminalization of HIV/AIDS.
As Cameron, the only HIV-positive member
of the Supreme Court of Appeal of South Africa,
asserts: “It’s a virus, not a crime.”
You’ll never eat brunch in this town again
Arts & culture cuts deep
Peter Henderson
Arts & Culture Editor
IT SEEMS LIKE the Ottawa arts scene
just can’t catch a break. Hot on the heels
of the decidedly arts-unfriendly Con-
servative Party’s re-election, the City of
Ottawa has proposed massive cuts in lo-
cal arts funding. These are no ordinary
cuts, either. The City’s draft 2009 budget
calls for a $4.1 million drop in the city’s
arts and culture funding, a 54 per cent
cut from 2008. This is bad for you, bad
for me, and bad for the City of Ottawa.
Let’s hope it’s a one-time exception, not a
brave new rule.
Even some of the biggest events in Ot-
tawa stand to lose public funding. Blues-
fest, one of the largest music festivals in
North America, is entirely cut off from
14 ARTS
the public trough, saving the city approx-
imately $100,000. Although the massive
revenues of Bluesfest don’t necessarily
make this a fatal blow to the festival, it
says something about our local govern-
ment’s priorities when they won’t fund
a festival that brings in millions of dol-
lars in tourism revenues. Bluesfest is not
alone—the proposed 2009 budget calls
for the complete withdrawal of public
funds from all local festivals. This leaves
the Ottawa Folk Festival, the Ottawa
Fringe Festival, and even newer events
like Festival X and Ladyfest, among oth-
ers, on uncertain financial ground.
Unfortunately, unlike the larger festi-
vals, many of the smaller arts initiatives
in this city may not survive without pub-
lic funding. Without help from the city,
SAW Gallery, Propeller Dance, and the
Ottawa edition of the Inside Out GLBT
Film Festival might never have gotten off
the ground. The same goes for the many
local theatre companies that are also los-
ing a portion of their municipal funding,
including A Company of Fools and the
Great Canadian Theatre Company. Even
our very own University of Ottawa Choir
is losing 100 per cent of its funding from
the city.
The proposed arts cuts, right now, only
Nov. 21, 2008
pertain to 2009, but their effects will be
felt for years to come. Youth-oriented
projects like the Orleans Young Play-
ers Theatrical School, the Ottawa Youth
Symphony Orchestra Academy, and the
Ottawa Children’s Choir will see their
funding slashed this year. These pro-
grams and schools are important for the
development of the artists of tomorrow,
and cutting their support means impov-
erishing our artistic future.
Ottawa isn’t the cultural wasteland that
some make it out to be, but that prospect
is almost inevitable if these proposed cuts
are made permanent. The nascent artistic
scene in this city is full of people working
their asses off to deliver culture both high
and low to a seemingly unresponsive
populace, and the least the city could do is
give something back. I realize that this is
crunch time for everyone—the economy
is lousy, housing prices and therefore tax
revenues are trending downward, and the
city can’t afford any supposed luxuries.
But these cuts can’t be made permanent,
or we’ll lose the beginnings of our long-
awaited cultural revival. A city without
arts and culture is a city without life.
arts@thefulcrum.ca
613-252-2311
www.thefulcrum.ca
COCK’D GUNNS
continued from p. 11
“It’s a pretty fun and flam-
boyant industry to base some-
thing on,” adds Scherman. “I
think you have a natural ex-
cuse for fairly eccentric char-
acters that take themselves
pretty seriously, too. I think
that fame and popularity play
just as much a role for them, if
not more, than the actual mu-
sic. They aspire to be the most
popular people in the world,
even if they may not be pre-
pared to work for it or sacrifice
like most other people in life.”
But, like the fake band Spi-
nal Tap, who were memora-
bly chronicled in the 1984
musical mockumentary This
is Spinal Tap, Cock’d Gunns
have explored the possibility
of expanding to other media
outlets. The band already has
an album’s worth of music and
will be playing their first live
gig on Nov. 13 in Toronto at a
special fan appreciation event.
“People have responded
very positively to the music
even though it’s not as out
there like Flight of the Con-
www.thefulcrum.ca
www.thefulcrum.ca
chords where it’s clearly joke
music,” says Gray.
“We’re not supposed to be
some kind of cooler-than-thou
indie band; we’re supposed to
want to be some mainstream
international rock band, but
we’re lazy and stupid, so that
prevents us from getting any-
where,” he adds. “That’s kind
of the crux of the show. We
aspire to be a huge stadium
rock band, as big as Guns ‘N
Roses, but we can barely play a
single gig in a bar without fall-
ing apart.”
Even though the show has
been dropped from Showcase,
the boys behind Cock’d Gunns
are still planning ahead for fu-
ture storylines.
“Keith is going to unfortu-
nately experience another big
problem with a woman, so his
cycle will repeat itself. I think
the band will get some success,
but whether or not it’s the suc-
cess they’re looking for and
if it lasts is very much up for
question,” explains Scherman.
“Annie and Dick will break up,
I could tell you that. I think
Keith might get falsely accused
of murder.”
0949WBB08

Guy Bérubé’s
La Petite Mort
challenges
convention
by Megan O’Meara
Fulcrum Staff
NEW YORK, SAN Francisco, Paris—
these are the cities that come to mind
when thinking of thriving artistic
communities. Luckily for Ottawa, La
Petite Mort Gallery (306 Cumberland
St.) owner Guy Bérubé has called
each of these cities home and wants
to bring his experience in artistic in-
novation to the nation’s capital.
Bérubé was raised in Ottawa and
obtained a photography diploma
from Algonquin College. He moved
to the United States and worked in
several galleries, including the San
Francisco Museum of Modern Art.
In 1989 he settled in New York and
spent a decade working and selling
art out of his apartment. In 2000
Bérubé crossed the ocean to deal art
at Au P’tit Bouchon, an arts venue
in Paris, before returning to Ot-
tawa in 2001. His extensive experi-
ence in other cities convinced him
www.thefulcrum.ca
that Ottawa needed a dose of the
avant-garde, and in October 2005
he opened his own gallery, La Petite
Mort.
Bérubé utilized the skills he honed
during his years as an art dealer to cre-
ate a gallery that seeks to impress and
disturb viewers in the same moment.
The gallery’s name itself—French for
“the little death”, and another term for
an orgasm—embodies this strange
union. La Petite Mort is described on
its website as “that gorgeous moment
that juxtaposes suspense, tension, and
relief just after the release of a really
good orgasm”.
Bérubé brings 25 years of expe-
rience in the art world to La Petite
Mort, including his time as both a
recognized art curator and accom-
plished interior designer in several
of the world’s most culturally vibrant
cities. Bérubé uses his unconvention-
al approach to art—honed through
his experiences in the world’s most
cosmopolitan cities—to challenge
patrons and shift the paradigms of
the Ottawa art world.
“Ottawa would probably be the
last place I would have wanted to
open a gallery because it’s a difficult
market and a tough sell here,” Bérubé
explains. “The reality is sometimes I
have to borrow money to pay the rent.
Sometimes I can’t pay my artists be-
cause I have to pay my bills first.”
Despite the challenge of succeed-
ing in Ottawa’s arts scene, Bérubé
has persevered. He’s made a name for
himself with his inventive gallery and
the strange collection of art housed
within. La Petite Mort has played
host to hundreds of artists in its short
lifetime and has garnered recogni-
tion from both the local and national
media.
Bérubé holds to the philosophy
that change is necessary in all aspects
of life. This ideal is evident in the di-
verse and unconventional work in his
gallery.
“You have to move into the 21st
century and realize that some things,
even though they’ve been the same
forever, have to change. Change is
healthy,” he says. “There’s a lot of rules
I choose not to follow.”
Bérubé has come to realize over the
years that while the concept of exclu-
sivity may work for the gallery, artists
usually hate it. If they depend entirely
on one gallery for all of their sales,
they will miss many opportunities to
showcase their creativity.
“Normally a gallery has exclusivity
[with artists], but I don’t believe in
that,” he explains. “My artists are en-
couraged to show elsewhere. Galler-
personified
Revolution
photos by Ian Flett
ies are meant to work by themselves,
grab as many artists as they can, hold
onto them, [not] share them. That’s
bullshit. It’s not fair to hold on.”
This laid-back approach to the
standard practices of the art world
reaches beyond his artists’ freedom
to the selection of artists themselves
and the way he works on a daily ba-
sis. He explained his concept with a
comparison to some of the galleries
he found when living in Paris.
“You walk into these galleries and
[it’s] a little tiny bachelor apartment
and the guy is cooking his soup on
his desk and it’s very personable.
That’s what I wanted … I didn’t want
it to be pretentious.”
One thing Bérubé never shies away
from is controversy, but controversy
for its own sake is not his goal. He
tries to show art that is worthwhile
and intelligent, regardless of how ac-
cepting people are of its content. His
shows frequently deal with erotica as
a central theme—part of the reason
his collections often have a strong
reaction from the art world.
“There’s a little bit of controversy
because people think [I] just show
anything and everything,” he says.
“But the stuff I show here, it works.
It’s affordable, it’s unique, and the
artists have something to say.”
Nov. 21, 2008
Bérubé sees art everywhere, and
doesn’t hold to the traditional idea of
what should and shouldn’t be shown
in a gallery setting.
“Somebody wanted to rent the gal-
lery for their four-year-old’s draw-
ings,” he recalls. “I thought that was
so cute. I thought, why not? I don’t
want my gallery to be exclusive just
to artists that are established.”
Currently, Bérubé’s gallery has
over 100 member artists, and each
one is guaranteed at least one indi-
vidual show. He calls these shows
“one-night stands”, and hosts one ev-
ery Friday night, from 7 to 10 p.m.
“I discovered a long time ago that
it’s all about the opening night … be-
cause if people came once, they won’t
come back, they’ve seen it.”
As much as Bérubé hates to admit
he plans on leaving Ottawa again,
he has always felt that it’s healthy
for him to keep moving.
“What I would like to do [next]
is take the business and expand it,”
he says hopefully. “I would imagine
the possibility of keeping this one
here and … I would open one in
Toronto or Montreal with the same
name and branch it out.”
For more information visit
lapetitemortgallery.com.
ARTS 15

Sports
Sparks leads team to victory
No growing
pains here
Gees winning weekend
displays bigger, more
experienced men’s
basketball lineup
by Ben Myers
Fulcrum Staff
THE GEE-GEES MEN’S basketball
team did a lot of growing up over the
summer. Literally.
In their home opener on Nov. 14,
the Gees suited up their tallest and
most physical starting five in recent
memory. Along with returning fifth-
year centre Dax Dessureault, who
at 6’9” can easily hook shots over
smaller forwards, the Gee-Gees have
bolstered their lineup with recently
recruited 6’5” first-year forward War-
ren Ward.
Returning forwards Nemanja Ba-
letic and the currently injured Da-
vid Labentowicz add to the offensive
depth, standing 6’7” and 6’5”, respec-
tively. On the bench, Gee-Gees head
coach David DeAveiro has even more
photo by Elizabeth Chiang
options with rookie centres Louis
Gauthier and Matt Michaud, both
over 6’8”.
“We got lucky this year,” said
DeAveiro. “We got a chance to recruit
some big [players] and they all decid-
ed to come [play for the Gee-Gees].
Other times, we try to recruit some
big [players] and we don’t get any ...
But they’re young. They’re raw.”
Along with their newly acquired
big guns, the Gee-Gees can still de-
pend on fourth-year guard Josh Gib-
son-Bascombe, an Ontario University
Athletics (OUA) East first-team all-
star last season. Although he strug-
gled during Ottawa’s first two games
of this season, collecting an unchar-
acteristic five and 10 points respec-
tively, Gibson-Bascombe returned to
form against the McMaster Maraud-
ers in the Gees Nov. 14 home opener,
scoring 25 points.
Even Josh’s younger brother, sec-
ond-year point guard Jacob Gibson-
Bascombe, admits to having grown a
couple inches since he last played in
the 2007–08 season, though his bas-
ketball IQ may have grown the most.
Nov. 21–26, 2008
Women’s basketball on a
four-game winning streak
but still not perfect
by David McClelland
Fulcrum Staff
THE UNIVERSITY OF Ottawa
women’s basketball team no longer
looks like the team that won only
three in the 2007–08 season.
With a convincing 59-40 win over
the McMaster Marauders on Nov. 14
and a close 61-57 win over the Lake-
head Thunderwolves the next day,
the Gee-Gees are on a four-game
winning streak and have already
surpassed last season’s total number
of wins.
While the roster is almost entirely
unchanged from last season, head
coach Andy Sparks, who replaced
Carlos Brown in July, now leads the
Gee-Gees behind the bench.
“It’s a different atmosphere in
practice. We’re working a lot harder
[and] mistakes—we’re just not al-
lowed to make them,” said third-
year guard Melina Wishart, who had
a 14-point game against Lakehead,
including four three-point baskets.
“I think the [team is] probably
buying into a system,” said Sparks of
the difference between the two sea-
sons. “They’re understanding how
Veteran centre Dax Dessureault uses his height to his advantage against McMaster.
“Coming into my first year, I knew
it was going to be a learning experi-
ence, but I thought it was going to be a
learning experience on the court,” Ja-
cob Gibson-Bascombe said following
a 12-point performance against Mc-
Master. Jacob suffered a foot injured
in January, and spent the remainder
of the season in the stands.
David McClelland
Sports Editor
sports@thefulcrum.ca
important defence is [and] I think
they’re learning to support each
other, learning to trust each other a
little bit. And I can’t reiterate enough
how important that is that you know,
when you’re out on the floor, that
you’ve got your teammates behind
you and supporting you, and that
you’ve got the same thing from the
people on the bench.”
While Sparks has had only a few
“It’s a different
atmosphere in practice.
We’re working a lot
harder [and] mistakes—
we’re just not allowed
to make them.”
Melina Wishart
months with the team, his influence
can be seen clearly on the court. Ot-
tawa took care of the Marauders with
ease, and played with poise against
Lakehead, never losing confidence,
even after falling seven points be-
hind the Wolves in the first quarter.
“That’s our coach,” said Wishart.
“He doesn’t let us get on those runs
when teams are beating us down the
court. He brings us in, he talks to us,
[and] he knows what to say.”
Wishart also mentioned that she
felt much of the team’s improved
“When I got hurt, I had to take a
sideline view. I had to look at the
game from an outside perspective,
and I thought that helped me a lot. I
got to look at different aspects of the
game.”
DeAveiro said Jacob’s growth can
be seen on the court.
“[He’s got] more maturity on the
16
play—including their overhauled
defensive game—came from Sparks’s
fresh approach. She was also quick
to praise the team’s two transfers:
Allison Forbes, a fourth-year guard
from the Brock Badgers, and Kaitlin
Long, a fifth-year guard who origi-
nally played for the Dalhousie Ti-
gers.
While Sparks is proud of his team’s
performance to date, he recognizes
that there is room for improvement.
“We could have been beaten to-
day,” said Sparks after the game
against Lakehead. “We went 3-for-11
from the foul line down the stretch,
and to our credit we finally got to
the foul line and we need to do that.
There’s been too many games where
we’ve settled for the perimeter.”
Sparks emphasized that the Gees
need to take a long-term approach in
order to build a successful team.
“Offensively, we’re not executing
as precisely as I would like to see us
execute,” he said. “That’s something
that takes a lot longer, though. We’ve
only been going for two and a half,
three months, and that’s really a one-
or two- or three-year process. We
don’t fix everything [right away].”
The Gee-Gees now have a 4-1 record,
and are second in the Ontario Univer-
sity Athletics east division. They next
play Nov. 21 when they host the Brock
Badgers at 6 p.m. at Montpetit Hall.
Tickets are $4 for students.
photo by Alex Martin
floor, more confidence on the floor,”
DeAveiro said.
Jacob shared duties with his broth-
er throughout much of Ottawa’s game
against McMaster. A dominant first
half from Dessureault and the elder
Gibson-Bascombe gave the Gees a
14-point lead going into halftime.
GROWING continued on p. 19
 Splashing into third This record-breaking team included rook-
Swim team sets
records at Divisional
Championships
by Megan O’Meara
Fulcrum Staff
WITH THE SEASON half over for the Gee-
Gees varsity swim team, the outlook is prom-
ising as the team finished third among six
teams at the Ontario University Athletics
(OUA) Divisional Championships hosted by
the University of Toronto Nov. 15–16.
Head coach Iain McDonald was impressed
with his team’s performance both this week-
end and throughout season.
“We had some really strong performances,”
he said. “Everyone was basically where I ex-
pected them to be in this part of the year. We
were really happy with the meet.”
Team captain Hans Fracke noted that there
were several highlights throughout the meet,
as many of the Gee-Gees posted their best
times this season.
“A lot of people had [personal] best times,
so at this point in the season that’s really
good,” said Fracke. “I think as a team we did
really well.”
The team placed first in the men’s 400-me-
tre freestyle relay, beating out top teams from
the U of T and Western. As well, the team
broke its record for total score at a meet,
encapsulating their impressive performance
this season.
ie Rob Irvine, who came in first in the men’s
200-metre individual medley. He swam his
best time of the season and will compete in
the Canadian Interuniversity Sports (CIS)
Championship in Vancouver Feb. 19–21.
“He was really the standout for the week-
end,” said McDonald.
On Nov. 27, Irvine and the rest of the men’s
team will travel back to Toronto to compete
in the University Challenge Cup. McDonald
explained that this meet unites eight of the
top 10 CIS teams in competition.
“We’ll be racing against the University
of British Columbia and the University of
Calgary,” he said. “It’s a pretty prestigious
event.”
After the Nov. 27 meet, half of the men’s
team will compete at the Canada Cup—an in-
ternational meet in Toronto—the next day.
The team will participate in several com-
petitions in addition to the championship
events, with most taking place in the new
year.
“After Christmas, we have a few minor
competitions before the OUA championship
[on Feb. 6] and the CIS championship,” he
explained.
The team is already working hard to pre-
pare for these meets despite the fact that they
are still months away. They are hoping to
build on the momentum they aquired from
the Divisional Championships.
“We were all pretty tired and were still
able to perform like that,” said Fracke. “Once
we’re rested up and shaved down and tapered photo courtesy Meg Fracke
I think we’ll be even faster and do reallyy The U of O swim team set a record for their best total score at a meet during the Divisional
well.” Championships in Toronto.

There’s more to Canada

than just rocks and trees
U of O’s Outdoors Club
gives students a chance to
experience the outdoors
around Ottawa
by David McClelland
Fulcrum Staff
WHEN YOU GO to school in the
downtown core of one of Canada’s
biggest cities, it’s easy to forget that
the city is surrounded by plenty of
natural recreation areas. The Uni-
versity of Ottawa Outdoors Club
reminds U of O students that there
is a vast world beyond the city, and
gives them a chance to enjoy the
great outdoors.
Karina Lamy, now a fifth-year bi-
ology student, created the club in
2006 after she recognized that there
was a gap in affordable outdoor rec-
reational activities for students at
the U of O. And so the Outdoors
Club was formed.
“I was part of the Carleton Univer-
sity Outdoors Club in my first year,
photo courtesy Outdoors Club but [at the U of O] the only thing
The U of O Outdoors Club gives students a chance to experience
that was available was Sports Ser-
Canada’s outdoors.
vices and they were charging ridicu-
lous amounts for trips that should be
$60,” said Lamy, who is now one of
the club’s three co-presidents along
with Ellorie McKnight and Stéphane
Wojciechowski. “The Adirondacks
trip is $200 ... that’s just too expen-
sive for a student. There just really
wasn’t anything available for stu-
dents to go to [Gatineau Park] or go
camping at a reasonable price.”
During her second year at the U
of O, Lamy brought together some
of her friends and formed the Out-
doors Club. Despite some initial
problems gathering enough mem-
bers to sustain the club and have
it keep official club status, it now
boasts a large membership from
across campus.
The club currently organizes a
wide variety of activities, including
camping, snowboarding, and paint-
ball trips, and regularly hosts first-
aid courses, which teach an essential
skill for outdoor safety.
Lamy feels that the club is suc-
cessful because spending time out-
side of the classroom and meeting
new people appeals to many differ-
ent students.
“There’s a lot of interest [in the
outdoors] for students, especially
exchange students,” she said. Lamy
also noted that the club had gener-
ated interest among students in pro-
grams like Environmental Science
and Leisure Studies.
With events such as a trip to the
Laflèche Aerial Park planned—
where students can ride 200 metre-
long zip lines and explore suspension
bridges high in the forest canopy—
as well as less intense activities like
orienteering and snowshoeing, the
club offers plenty of activities for
students. Lamy said that they’re al-
ways looking for new things to try.
“Everyone likes to be outside, and
it’s fun to try sports that are a little
more adrenaline-oriented,” Lamy
explained. “We haven’t done bungee
jumping or anything, but there’s po-
tential to do stuff like that.”
Students interested in joining the
Outdoors Club can contact them at
out.dehors@gmail.com and ask to be
put on the club’s mailing list. There
is no registration fee to join, however
many of the club’s events require a
moderate fee to attend.

www.thefulcrum.ca Nov. 21, 2008 SPORTS 17

 Number four,
Bobby Orr
Searching for Bobby Orr
a fascinating look at hockey
in the 1960s and 70s
Explore
by David McClelland
Fulcrum Staff the art and
influence
THERE ARE FEW hockey fans who aren’t familiar with Bobby
Orr. Like any of the other greats who have played the game, of the artist
from early stars like Maurice Richard to Sidney Crosby today, behind Mack
his name stands out in the annals of hockey history. Orr won
the Stanley Cup twice with the Boston Bruins, and was one of
the Knife
the most prolific scoring defenders ever to play the game. Yet
many fans know little of the story behind Orr’s career, which
is where Canadian sports journalist Stephen Brunt’s 2006 na- The National Arts Centre
tional bestseller, Searching for Bobby Orr, comes in. English Theatre presents
Brunt’s book, technically speaking, contains nothing new.

THE
Since it is an unauthorized account of Orr’s life, there are no
new interviews with him or those close to him, but neverthe-
less, it’s an excellent overview of his hockey career.
There are three basic themes running through the book, the
first of which is Orr’s genius as a hockey player. Brunt takes
readers from Orr’s days as a young child learning to play the

game in Parry Sound all the way to his storied NHL career.
Orr’s skills are described in intricate detail, including an entire
chapter (one that is perhaps the highlight of the book) devoted
to a description of Orr’s 100th point in the 1969–70 season. It
may sound tedious, but Brunt’s fluid prose keeps things inter-
esting without getting bogged down by superfluities.
Of course, fans already understand Orr’s incredible hockey
skills, and Brunt’s praise is not what makes the book stand
out. Rather, the book’s other two themes make it truly inter-
esting. For one, significant time is devoted to the people who
surrounded Orr throughout his playing career and how they
influenced him and helped (or hindered) him. Orr’s father is
mentioned frequently, as is Orr’s infamous agent, Alan Eagle-
son, who often used an unwitting Orr to further his own ends.
Through these and other interactions, Brunt delivers a more
complete portrait of Bobby Orr—who he was as a man, not just
as a hockey player.
Brunt also exposes the other side of Orr’s career. In addi-
tion to the aforementioned Eagleson, passages detail poor
coaching or managerial decisions affecting Orr’s career, as
well as Orr’s battle with a persistently injured knee and sur-
geons constantly assuring him and the public that all would
soon be well.
ARK:
Orr played hockey during a time of transition, beginning
his NHL career in 1967 and playing until 1979, and this larger
historical context forms the book’s third theme. During that
period, the NHL tripled in size from six teams in the northeast-
THE THEATRE OF
ern corner of North America to 18 spread across the continent,
while the NHL’s short-lived rival, the World Hockey Associa-
BERTOLT BRECHT
tion, sprung up and tried to steal away the NHL’s best players. Directed by Peter HINTON
Hockey changed in a big way over the course of Orr’s career,
and Orr played a big part in those changes—a fact that Brunt With a company of 41 actors, designers,
emphasizes many times in his work. directors, dramaturgs, historians, musicians
It is this historical backdrop that makes Brunt’s work truly and playwrights
exceptional. From Orr’s roots in conservative 1950s Parry
Sound to his transformation into a cosmopolitan Bostonian,
Brunt follows Orr’s career and sketches a portrait of an all-star
defender, while managing to showcase Canada’s national game
November 29 | 19:30
during a period of major change. Searching for Bobby Orr is Dominion-Chalmers United Church,
easily one of the best hockey books to come out in recent years 355 Cooper Street, Ottawa
and is highly recommended for anyone interested in the career
I^X`Zih'%™HijYZcih&%
of one of the game’s greatest players.
($15 for 2008-09 ET subscribers)
Available at the NAC or at the church on the evening

Around the horn

of the performance

Rudolf Schlichter, Portrait of Bertolt Brecht, 1926

Men’s hockey team loses
twice in Kingston
WHILE THE GEE-GEES men’s hockey team
had chances to win this weekend in Kingston,
they were unable to come up with a victory in
either game. On Nov. 14, Ottawa lost 2-1 in a
shootout to the Queen’s Golden Gaels, and a day
later lost 7-6 in overtime to the RMC Paladins.
The Nov. 14 affair was a goaltending duel be-
tween the Gees’ Riley Whitlock and the Gaels’
Brady Morrison, who surrendered just one goal
each in regulation and overtime while facing 35
and 37 shots respectively. Gee-Gees left-winger
Matthieu Methot scored the lone Ottawa goal.
Morrison denied all eight Ottawa shooters in
the shootout before Queen’s forward Brandon
Perry finally solved Whitlock.
Produced by the NAC English Theatre Company
in association with the National Theatre School of
“It was a back and forth game,” said Gee- Canada with assistance from the Goethe-Institut
Gees head coach Dave Leger. “We couldn’t Toronto, the University of Ottawa, and the Friends of
bury our chances in the shootout.” NAC English Theatre.
The next day, RMC took advantage of Ot- Generously supported by The Cyril & Dorothy,
tawa’s slow start to build a 3-0 lead in the first Joel & Jill Reitman Family Foundation
period, before the Gees narrowed the gap to
The National Theatre School’s participation is made
3-2 by the end of the frame. After exchang-
ing goals in the second and third periods, the possible in part by
game was tied 6-6 when RMC forward Justin
Lacey scored on Gee-Gees goaltender Martin
Bricault in overtime.
“We were disappointed with the trip,” said National Arts Centre ENGLISH THEATRE
PETER HINTON, ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
Leger. “We left two points back in Kingston.”
The Gee-Gees now hold a 5-4-2 record and
sit third in the Ontario University Athletics Far www.nac-cna.ca
East division. They next play Nov. 25, when NAC BOX OFFICE MON.-SAT. 10:00-21:00
GROUPS 10+ 613-947-7000 x384 | grp@nac-cna.ca
they visit the McGill Redmen.
—Andrew Hawley

18 SPORTS
613-755-1111
Nov. 21, 2008
GROWING continued from p.16
Fourth-year McMaster centre
Mouctar Daiby had a tough time
defending against the lankier Dessu-
reault, and collected only four points
in the first half thanks to some strong
defence from the Gees. Dessureault,
on the other hand, collected easy bas-
kets off fast breaks and ended the first
half with 15 points.
McMaster managed to whittle Ot-
tawa’s lead to only five points with
five minutes remaining, as Ottawa’s
shooters went cold in the final two
quarters, shooting only 38 per cent
after a blistering 67 per cent first half.
It took a three-pointer from Josh Gib-
son-Bascombe with one minute left
to break the Marauders’ spirits and
seal the game for Ottawa.
To round out their weekend home-
stand, the Gee-Gees faced the Lake-
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www.athabascau.ca/standout

www.thefulcrum.ca
head Thunderwolves on Nov. 15, and
won 80-67 with Ward collecting 19
points and seven rebounds. Fifth-year
Lakehead forward Kiraan Posey scored
26 points in the losing effort. Des-
sureault and Josh Gibson-Bascombe
contributed 18 and 22 points, respec-
tively, showcasing what could become
a potent offensive triple-threat when
Ward is playing up to form.
DeAveiro summed up the team’s
growth in two categories: recruiting
and experience.
“We’re a little deeper than we were
last year, and we’re a year older—and
a year wiser, hopefully.”
The Gee-Gees are now 3-1 and tied
for first with the Carleton Ravens in
the OUA East division. They host the
Brock Badgers on Nov. 21 at 8 p.m. at
Montpetit Hall. Tickets are $4 for stu-
dents.
sudoku
answers
from p. 22
Lighting the lamp
What a difference
a coach makes
David McClelland
Sports Editor
I HAVE A lot of respect for a good
coach. They don’t always get the at-
tention they deserve, as they tend
to be relegated to the background
while athletes perform their hero-
ics on the floor, ice, or field. But
coaches are often the most crucial
element of a team, more important
than any one player. They’re the
glue that holds the team together
and provides leadership and strat-
egy. If the coach becomes direc-
tionless, the team loses its ability to
win games.
At the U of O, there’s no better
example of coaching making a dif-
ference than the Gee-Gees wom-
en’s basketball team. Last season,
with Carlos Brown at the helm, the
team was mired in problems. Sev-
eral veteran players quit the team
after disagreeing with him over the
team’s coaching system, and the
Gee-Gees went on to post a dismal
3-19 record.
Now, I don’t know exactly what
went on behind the scenes, but it’s
obvious that Brown was not the
right fit for the team. That’s not to
say he was a terrible coach—after
all, men’s basketball head coach
Dave DeAveiro decided to take
him on as an assistant coach this
season—but for whatever reason,
Brown wasn’t able to gel with the
women’s team.
Sports Services asked Brown not
to return after the season ended,
and hired local Ashbury College
head coach and former Carle-
ton Ravens assistant coach Andy
Sparks as his replacement. While
Sparks was heralded by Sports Ser-
vices for his coaching abilities, no
one thought that the Gees team
would be instantly transformed
into a winner.
But we were wrong.
After dropping a 52-50 decision
to the Carleton Ravens in their sea-
son opener, the Gee-Gees haven’t
looked back and are currently en-
joying a four-game winning streak.
Much of this success can undoubt-
edly be traced back to Sparks. As he
patrols the sidelines, he looks very
much at home with the Gee-Gees,
his veteran demeanour betraying
his still-brief tenure. His influence
shows on the court—the team is
playing with more confidence and
surrendering over 10-fewer points
Nov. 21, 2008
per game than last season.
Sparks has been able to turn the
women’s basketball team into a
winning squad, tightening up their
defence and challenging the unit to
play harder. In a recent interview,
third-year guard Melina Wishart
spoke of the team’s improved work
ethic and heightened confidence.
I think what’s truly interesting
here is how much one person can
change a team. I know from my
own (admittedly limited) athletic
experience that having an excel-
lent coach can motivate you to play
harder and improve your perfor-
mance, while a terrible coach can
have the opposite effect and detract
from your play.
Sparks’ coaching abilities have
obviously had a huge effect on
the Gee-Gees women’s basketball
team, but there is still work to be
done. While the team’s results are
fantastic so far, they are not with-
out problems: offensively, the Gees
can be frustratingly inconsistent,
and they need to learn how to de-
fend more carefully and take fewer
fouls. Thankfully, Sparks seems to
have recognized these issues and is
working to fix them. It will be in-
teresting to see the team adapt and
change under his guidance over the
remainder of the season.
sports@thefulcrum.ca
613-562-5931
SPORTS 19

Opinion
Heckles:
Hey OC Transpo,
stop cutting corners
and do your job
by Jaclyn Lytle
Fulcrum Staff
THE FORMERLY REMOTE, lacklustre Bar-
rhaven community has developed a reputation
as the definitive Ottawa-area suburbia in recent
years. The community is located anywhere from
30 minutes to an hour from Ottawa’s downtown
core for commuters travelling via bus, and any-
where from 20 minutes to two hours for those
travelling by car, depending upon traffic. The
bus is largely relied upon by commuters, mak-
ing Fallowfield station the transportation hub of
the Barrhaven community. Unfortunately, the
transit stations and routes to, from, and within
the ever-burgeoning community are the worst
planned in the city.
Fallowfield station, Barrhaven’s first park-
and-ride facility located at Fallowfield Road
and Woodroffe Avenue, initially had only one
parking lot when it was built. In designing the
station, the rate at which the community was
growing was not taken into account. Rather
than accommodating the number of commut-
ers that could be expected to make use of the
station say, for instance, five to 10 years down
the road, Fallowfield was built in accordance
with the estimated number of commuters in
Barrhaven at the time. It was not long before the
number of commuters far exceeded the capac-
ity of the station and, shockingly, the Fallowfield
park-and-ride was forced to expand.
A proposal was put forth by members of the
Barrhaven community that the park-and-ride
facility expand upward, creating multi-level
parking that would have the potential to grow
with the expansion of the community. Naturally,
to save precious dollars, the proposal was reject-
ed. Instead, an adjoining field was transformed
into a massive paved lot. Considering the lack
of planning and the refusal to accommodate
the projected number of future commuters, one
can only imagine the astonishment that ensued
when, lo and behold, some short years later the
number of commuters in Barrhaven again far
exceeded the capacity of Fallowfield station.
In an idiotic attempt to resolve this issue, OC
Transpo elected not to address the problems of
Fallowfield station at all and instead decided to
build yet another park-and-ride facility, which
has come to be known as Strandherd. This new
station was built in the centre of the commu-
nity, which unfortunately is the only convenient
thing about it.
Prior to the construction of Strandherd sta-
tion, there were two local buses that ran from
Nov. 21–26, 2008
one end of Barrhaven to the other, both begin-
ning and ending at Fallowfield station. Once the
new station became serviceable, OC Transpo
carved up these two routes to create four sepa-
rate local bus routes in the community. This
means that for someone to travel from one end
of Barrhaven to another, he or she must take a
minimum of two buses. This would not have
been too inconvenient if it weren’t for the fact
that absolutely none of these local bus routes
actually run through Strandherd station. The 95
route offers the most accessibility to this station.
However, it only goes as far as Strandherd one-
third of the time, which inflates waiting times
for passengers so much that it is more worth-
while to forget the whole thing altogether, and
leave from Fallowfield instead, which more and
more passengers are doing.
Strandherd station, although OC Transpo
disagrees, simply does not provide the neces-
sary services that passengers in the community
require (and has basically become a useless
eyesore). Instead of inexplicably carving up a
well-designed local transit system, OC Transpo
should have had the foresight to heed predic-
tions regarding the massive growth of the Bar-
rhaven community and planned to accommo-
date the future population size.
Until recently, the issue of Strandherd sta-
tion has been, at best, an annoyance to those
members of the Barrhaven community who
are obliged to rely on public transit. That was
until OC Transpo decided to start actively tick-
eting cars at Fallowfield station that were not
parked within the lines of a designated space.
OC Transpo clearly does not understand that
passengers using the park-and-ride facility are
forced to find whatever space they possibly can,
be it on the sides of the lot or on the gravel, as
the lot is always full. In addition to ticketing,
OC Transpo put up a sardonically friendly sign
reminding Fallowfield patrons of the expanded
convenience of Strandherd.
What I cannot understand is why OC Trans-
po is punishing passengers for its own mistakes.
One parking ticket costs more than a monthly
student bus pass. Why should students have to
pay parking tickets when the inconvenience of
OC Transpo offers them no other choice but to
park the best they can and ride the bus? Perhaps
one student may offer a suggestion: take the
money that is being siphoned from the pockets
of those of us who have to rely on public transit
and put it toward the smart planning required
to create a system that is both convenient and
efficient.
Michael Olender
Lord Jones is dead
Executive Editor
executive@thefulcrum.ca
A word on impartiality
Frank Appleyard
Editor-in-Chief
FOR THOSE READERS who may not have seen
last week’s Fulcrum, or who may have flipped
through the paper quickly, in the middle of the
issue was an ad inviting students to attend a de-
bate co-hosted by the Fulcrum and La Rotonde
regarding Student Federation of the University
of Ottawa membership in the Canadian Federa-
tion of Students (CFS). However, a day before
the issue hit stands, the Fulcrum pulled out of
the debate, leaving La Rotonde to host the de-
bate alone.
This move was in response to concerns from
our hosting partners that the Fulcrum could not
be involved in the debate, following our edito-
rial board’s decision to take a position on CFS
membership in last week’s editorial. Essentially,
as the Fulcrum had presented its take on mem-
bership, it was argued that it would be inappro-
priate for staff or volunteers to participate in the
moderation of the debate.
This is a belief that I disagreed with at the time,
and still disagree with now. Appearance-wise, it
may not have been appropriate for a publication
with a distinct opinion to be involved with the
debate. But in practice?
It comes down to the concept of impartiality.
In my experience, journalists are often expected
to be beacons of neutrality in every aspect of their
lives. I have met people who are amazed when I
opine in casual conversation about federal poli-
tics or the U of O administration. I have heard,
www.thefulcrum.ca
20
“Are you allowed to say that? I thought you were
impartial.” To me, this expectation of perpetual
impartiality is not reality for a journalist.
A journalist’s job is not to be impartial on a
personal level, but rather to present an unbiased
look at events and issues to readers in his or her
articles. The job requires the ability to set aside
personal feelings and ensure that readers have
access to a comprehensive look at issues and
an unbiased summary of key events. Every day,
writers and editors set aside their own thoughts
on Stephen Harper or the War on Terror to pro-
vide readers with reporting steeped in fact, with
input from all sides of the story.
This practice of impartial reporting is a funda-
mental part of the Fulcrum. While the Fulcrum
indeed took a stance on CFS membership in last
week’s editorial—a space reserved exclusively to
present the editorial board’s opinion on issues—
the same edition’s news section contained none
of this bias. Instead, the same editors who lent
their voices to the editorial strived to ensure
that readers had access to the facts, free from
any personal or institutional slants. Newspapers
contain both information and commentary, and
journalists recognize the importance of keeping
the two separate, regardless of biases.
The student media was not permitted to host
the official CFS debates because we aren’t im-
partial, so we set up our own debate. To me, this
debate’s purpose was to prove that the media
could present an unbiased, informative debate
despite our opinions.
No journalist is impartial on a personal level.
But every writer and editor with a passion for
the craft believes in setting aside personal biases
and giving readers the opportunity and infor-
mation to make their own decisions.
I think someone with those beliefs would
make a pretty good moderator.
I would love to hear what readers think of this
situation. Please, let me know.
editor@thefulcrum.ca
613-562-5261
 Redefining ‘charitable’
by Katie DeClerq
Fulcrum Staff
HEY, WHAT’S $25 A month? It’s like
half a cup of coffee a day! Isn’t that
easy? Actually, what’s $25 a month?
It’s $300 a year!
We have all received the dreaded
phone calls from charities asking for
donations, or even the door-to-door
visits from organization representa-
tives, but nothing is as intrusive as
the fundraisers who stand on public
streets and corner you into a conver-
sation. Their mystifying persuasive
talents often sway you into guiltily
signing a paper and, before you know
it, you have adopted a child or are
paying $25 a month to save the trees.
Unfortunately for students, fundrais-
ers’ target audience is students.
For these charity representatives,
university
students are
a school of Targeting students—many
fish. They’re
swimming
of whom are in debt—isn’t
around cam- right, especially on their
pus everyday
and, with the
own campus.
right bait,
they can be reeled in. While some stu-
dents are strong-willed and fight until
the very end, most are either hungry
to help others or naïve enough to take
the bait.
Students are more open and opti-
mistic about working for a better fu-
ture than out-of-school adults, who
are focused on their lives and those
of their children. Students are inter-
ested in broadening their awareness
on social justice issues and are willing
to stop and have an intelligent con-
versation with a representative of a
charitable organization. Students are
also more likely to feel guilty about
standing there with a Starbucks coffee
in hand while someone is telling them
how a dollar a day will save someone’s
life.
University students already show
st
1 tan free
233-2tan
nd
2 floor, U of O Sports Complex
www.thefulcrum.ca
support for non-profit charities. Just
think of all the events and clubs that
have been promoted around the Uni-
versity of Ottawa within the last two
months: Green Weeks, Trick or Eat,
and Engineers without Borders, End
Extreme Poverty, and Students Aid-
ing Village Empowerment. We invite
speakers to address students, promote
the issues, throw fundraisers, and in
addition to this we are the ones asked
to donate money!
Greenpeace fundraisers will stand
on busy street corners by the Second
Cup on Rideau Street and the ByTowne
Cinema, and Amnesty International
representatives stand on campus by the
busy walkway near Tabaret Hall to en-
tice students to give to their organiza-
tion. I feel that students are ordinarily
willing to listen, and charities have rec-
ognized this. Targeting students—many
of whom are
in debt—
isn’t right,
especially on
their own
campus. Al- illustration by Amlake Tedla-Digaf
though most
students
tions, fundraisers’ tones of voice
become more commanding. The
potential donors. Of course, not all
fundraisers are professionals; some
more time to carefully consider your
situation and there will be less pres-
would love demanding nature of these represen- representatives are students or adults sure for you to decide right away. If
to donate to charity, most just don’t tatives on the street sets them apart who just believe in the cause and are you prefer a less passive-aggressive
have enough money to do so. Students from the many heartening fundraising so passionate that they may come off approach, you can always just say
shouldn’t be asked to donate to charities events on campus, making it appear as a little pushy. sorry and walk away.
but rather should be encouraged to ac- if their only goal is getting your money. If you are stuck in any of the situ- If you do get sucked in to donat-
tively participate in causes and further And if that isn’t enough, certain orga- ations above, there are lots of ways ing against your will, know that it is
any interests they may have. nizations such as UNICEF—conve- to sneak away in a dignified, kind- always possible to cancel a donation.
What is truly fascinating, however, niently placed in the Rideau Centre hearted fashion. Ideally, if you are Give the organization a call and tell
are the ways in which fundraisers are where many students go during their aware of the trap ahead of time, them that you misjudged your finan-
able to attract people and convince spare time—have the phone numbers avoid eye contact and ignore the rep- cial situation, and can’t donate at this
them to donate. The conversations of Ontario banks and will actually call resentatives. If you are already stuck time.
usually begin with a horrifying sta- them and allow you to set up the trans- in the middle of the conversation Remember that a donation is only
tistic or a tragic story involving sick actions right then and there. and forms start getting stuffed into half a cup of coffee a day. A worthy
children or cute animals. These sto- It is important to note that these your hands, calmly explain that you charity will use that money to success-
ries are meant to make you feel sad or people are trained to persuade you would love to help but you need to fully help others and your donation
guilty about being in a privileged situ- to give money. Certain schools even double-check your financial situa- could truly make a difference. But you
ation while others dream of living like offer degrees in professional fund- tion before you can commit. If this shouldn’t be forced to donate. Just be
you do. They continue to talk faster raising. For example, Humber Col- doesn’t work, you can always look at aware of your financial situation and
and more confidently, telling you that lege in Toronto offers a program your watch and say you have to run if you absolutely cannot donate, don’t
it is possible to donate regardless of entitled Fundraising and Volunteer to class, saying you’ll donate online. be afraid to say no. They may be pushy,
your student budget and lifestyle. Management, in which people learn If you are genuinely interested in do- but no means no, and fundraisers will
While they get out their applica- to organize campaigns and deal with nating, doing so online will give you let you swim away.
www. utan.ca
no appointments / no hassle
ANNIVERSARY DAY!
utan
TANNING FOR TUMMIES
$2 from all services or
non-perishable food go to:
Bon appétit - U of O Food Bank
TANNING FOR TUMMIES Thur. Nov 27th ALL DAY
Food Drive Tanning $2 or Food
SunSpritz $7 or (Food +$5)
Everything on sale!
Nov. 21, 2008 OPINION 21

Distractions
Dear Di
If you have a question for Di,
e-mail deardi@thefulcrum.ca.
Dear Di,
I’m a guy who has ab-
solutely no trouble get-
ting girls interested and
back to the bedroom,
but every time I do the
same problem comes up. I am a young
and healthy male, but I have problems
lasting all the way to the ninth in-
ning. Many girls enjoy coming home
and humping like bunnies all night
long, but I have trouble making it last
longer than three or four minutes.
Nothing is more embarrassing than
that post-coital conversation and the
disappointed look on the face of girl
after girl. Is there anything I can do to
avoid the hit and run?
—Two-Pump Chump
Dear TPC,
Listen, your early blast-off isn’t that
uncommon, especially for guys aged
18–25. There are a couple of things you
can do to keep your cock as equally
enthusiastic as your enthusiasm. You
could have more frequent sex, but you
seem like a one-night-stand, no-talk,
all-cock jock. So let’s focus on other
things. You can up your stamina by
masturbating more often, especially
before you hit the town. Once you’ve
schmoozed and you’re back on home
turf, spend more time on foreplay.
Don’t let her pump you off; instead treat
her like you would if she were a Playboy
bunny, focusing more on her pleasure
than your own. Consider going down
on her, which will not only distract her
but please her as well, giving you more
time to recoup if the countdown begins
prematurely. Switch positions; different
positions make different guys come.
If you know you always come during
doggy style, leave that until the end.
Be vocal during sex; ask her what she
likes in between sweet-nothings, which
could motivate you to keep going and
hint at which positions she loves. Most
importantly, vary your thrusting speed
and relax. Obviously, the faster you go
the more likely you’ll come. Personally,
if I can tell a guy is nervous, something I
often do is suck the guy off before I fuck
him. This saves face for the guy while
giving the girl some extra time getting
penetrated. Whatever happens, you’re
lucky you can have sex while drunk
because some guys are complete flops
after a couple drinks. Happy humping!
Love,
Di
22
Sarah Leavitt
Nov. 21–26, 2008
Features Editor
features@thefulcrum.ca
Thryllabus
Friday, Nov. 21
Seminar: Terrorism at the Olympic Games.
2 p.m. Montpetit Hall. Room 221. Register via
marcel.fallu@uottawa.ca. Free.
Women’s basketball: Ottawa vs. Brock. 6 p.m.
Montpetit Gym. Students $4.
Saturday, Nov. 22
Women’s volleyball: Ottawa vs. York. 2:30 p.m.
Montpetit Gym. Students $4.
Dear Di, Men’s basketball: Ottawa vs. Guelph. 8 p.m.
My girlfriend gives great head Montpetit Gym. Students $4.
and I love and appreciate her for it,
but whenever she’s done she comes
back up to make out with me and Sunday, Nov. 23
her kisses taste like come. I don’t sudoku answers on p. 19
want to stop getting head, but I Master’s recital: Sara Spigott on the oboe. 8 p.m.
hate the taste of my own come. I Pérez Hall. Freiman Auditorium. Free.
don’t know how to approach her
about it. Should I tell her to use Monday, Nov. 24
some mouthwash afterwards?
—Salty Kisses Hearsay by Jordan Moffatt Seminar: The Rule of Law, a Victim of the War
on Terror in Canada and the United States? 10 a.m.
Dear SK, Fauteux Hall. Room 232. Free.
You spoiled, spoiled boy. Here is
a girl who performs well and—from Christmas Craft Fair. 10 a.m.–3 p.m.
the sounds of it—with enthusiasm, Minto Place. 427 Laurier Ave. Free.
and you’re bitching about a little
salty tonsil hockey? Listen, as you
may know, not all girls have a taste Tuesday, Nov. 25
(or a talent) for giving head. The
fact that you’ve found one with both Japanese cinema: Nippon: the Land and its
makes you a very lucky guy. On top People. 7 p.m. Fauteux Hall. Room 135. Free.
of that, you’re just shuddering at
the aftertaste. Have you given any Public talk: Botanist Barbara Gamble. 7 p.m.
thought to what a whole mouthful Canadian Museum of Nature. 240 McLeod St. Free.
must taste like? You and your girl-
friend could just have very different Wednesday, Nov. 26
taste buds, but my guess is she’s not
exactly crazy about the taste of your Play: The Constant Wife.
spunk either. So the real question 8 p.m. Ottawa Little Theatre.
here should be: how can you make 400 King Edward Ave. Students $10.
your come taste better for her (and,
consequently, for you too)? First
and foremost, smoking and drink-
ing alcohol are both big no-nos, so
if either of those are overly prevalent
in your everyday life, they are prob- Itch by Daniel Kaell
ably major contributors to bad-tast-
ing blowjobs. Also stay away from
dairy, which just makes come taste
plain bad. If your girlfriend enjoys
sugary treats, try eating acidic fruits
like plums and blueberries, which
can make semen sweeter. Or if you
want to lighten the taste of your
load, try kiwi and watermelon. And
remember that meat and fish tend
to make semen taste stronger and
more bitter, so you may want to stay
away from those. There are lots of
guys out there whose spunk may be
more to her taste, but she isn’t com-
plaining. So even if your post-head
makeout sessions are still a little
weird, give her a big kiss and a big
thank-you. If she can suck it up and
swallow, then so can you.
Love,
Di
 23
Frank Appleyard

Editorial Nov. 21–26, 2008

Editor-in-Chief
editor@thefulcrum.ca

f
Defeating No Heart with the
power of friendship since 1942.
Volume 69 - Issue 14
Nov. 21–26, 2008
phone: (613) 562-5261
fax: (613) 562-5259
631 King Edward Ave.
Ottawa, ON K1N 6N5
editor@thefulcrum.ca
www.thefulcrum.ca
Recycle this paper
or Care Bear stare!
Staff
Frank ‘champ bear’ Appleyard
Editor-in-Chief
editor@thefulcrum.ca
Ben ‘grumpy bear’ Myers
Production Manager
production@thefulcrum.ca
Michael ‘bedtime bear’ Olender
Executive Editor
executive@thefulcrum.ca
Martha ‘beastly’ Pearce
Art Director
design@thefulcrum.ca
Emma ‘tenderheart bear’ Godmere
News Editor
news@thefulcrum.ca
Peter ‘wish bear’ Henderson
Arts & Culture Editor
arts@thefulcrum.ca
David ‘funshine bear’ McClelland
Sports Editor
sports@thefulcrum.ca
Sarah ‘good luck bear’ Leavitt
Features Editor
features@thefulcrum.ca
Danielle ‘hugs’ Blab
Laurel ‘tugs’ Hogan
Copy Editors
Amanda ‘shine bright bear’ Shendruk
Associate News Editor
associatenews@thefulcrum.ca
James ‘daydream bear’ Edwards
Webmaster
webmaster@thefulcrum.ca
Jessica ‘forest friend bear’ Sukstorf
Volunteer & Visibility
Coordinator
volunteer@thefulcrum.ca
Megan ‘proud heart bear’ O’Meara
Staff Writer
Alex ‘sea friend bear’ Martin
Staff Illustrator
Inari ‘secret bear’ Vaissi Nagy
Jiselle ‘share bear’ Bakker
Ombudsgirls
ombudsgirl@thefulcrum.ca
Standing up to City Hall
THE REFERENDUM ON Student Federation of
the University of Ottawa membership in the Ca-
nadian Federation of Students has brought student
issues on both the national and provincial scale to
light at the University of Ottawa. However, while
a campaign dealing with lowering tuition and lob-
bying efforts was slowly taking over campus, U of
O students have been faced with the prospect of
equally grave issues much closer to home.
The issues in the City of Ottawa’s draft 2009
budget have gone virtually unnoticed amid the
CFS referendum pandemonium.
While the astronomical amount of funding
cuts and fee increases in the draft budget affect
every Ottawa resident, the proposed implications
are an affront to Ottawa students’ needs and in-
terests. City staffers seem to have forgotten that
while the city’s 100,000 post-secondary students
may not necessarily pay property taxes, they nev-
ertheless deserve access to resources and services
to promote a better quality of life.
In a testament to the low standing afforded
to student issues in planning for the upcoming
year, the Transit Committee-approved Universal
Bus Pass pilot project for U of O undergraduate
students may not even make it into budget dis-
cussions at all. During debate on the U-Pass on
Nov. 12, Mayor Larry O’Brien broke a 12-12 tie
among councillors and put an end to the ambi-
tious project. While a motion for reconsideration
earned the U-Pass a second chance at inclusion in
budget discussions later this month, the Nov. 12
meeting made it clear that council has little inter-
est in including the pass in the same discussions
as recreation funding and road maintenance.
As if the potential failure of the U-Pass isn’t illustration by Devin A. Beauregard
enough, a proposal in OC Transpo’s 2009 market-
ing plan would cap eligibility for its reduced-fare lose their municipal funding in the name of sav- While a city needs sound infrastructure to
student passes at age 24 starting in September ing taxpayers some cash—$215,000 between the function day-to-day, vibrant communities are
2009. According to the plan, such a move would three. These festivals are only a handful of the greater than the sum of their bridges and traffic
force 6,331 U of O students—largely graduate stu- arts events that keep Ottawa vibrant for students lights. City Council needs to be reminded that
dents—to fork over the extra money for an adult throughout summer and fall, and all three are a communities must serve all residents, even those
pass, despite holding the same status at the school cherished part of the Ottawa post-secondary ex- students who may not pay property taxes, but
as their younger counterparts. This move would perience, like Nuit Blanche is to Toronto and the who also cannot afford increased user fees.
affect 20 per cent of Ottawa’s post-secondary stu- Osheaga Music and Art Festival is to Montreal. The city is holding budget consultations across
dents, while saving OC Transpo $350,000 annual- While these events are certainly not a necessary the city Nov. 24–25. If students hope to retain
ly—mere pennies of the city’s total budget. part of students’ post-secondary education, they some tangible status within the City of Ottawa’s
are treasured additions to the city’s culture that strategic plans, they need to speak up and tell
And the proposed budget doesn’t stop there.
As submitted, the city will take an axe to local enrich students’ off-campus lives. council that students are Ottawa residents too,
arts funding next year, leaving galleries, festi- In looking at each of these points, it is clear and don’t deserve the cruel cuts they’re facing in
vals, and musicians to essentially fend for them- that the City of Ottawa has drafted a budget that this budget.
selves. The proposed 100 per cent funding cut to doesn’t simply under-serve students—it pays no After student issues beyond this campus have
many Ottawa area arts initiatives will likely result attention to them. The city’s accountants and poli- dominated U of O students’ minds for the last 13
in either higher costs passed onto participants ticians alike have turned municipal services into a days, it’s time to draw attention back to our own
or the deaths of the undertakings themselves. tug of war between reducing the load on taxpay- backyard.
Events including Bluesfest, the Ottawa Folk Fes- ers and maintaining a functional community, with
tival, and the Ottawa Fringe Festival all stand to students’ needs lost somewhere in the middle. editor@thefulcrum.ca

Travis ‘surprise bear’ Boisvenue

Ombudsboy Public budget consultations
ombudsboy@thefulcrum.ca

Nicole ‘take care bear’ Gall Monday, Nov. 24 Tuesday, Nov. 25

Staff Proofreader
Assembly Hall, Lansdowne Park, Jim Durrell Recreation Centre,
Robert ‘true heart bear’ Olender 1015 Bank St., 7–9 p.m. 1265 Walkley Rd., 7–9 p.m.
On-campus Distributor

Deidre ‘always there bear’ Butters Contributors

Advertising Representative
ads@thefulcrum.ca
Ross ‘no heart’ Prusakowski
Business Manager
business.manager@thefulcrum.ca
Devin A. ‘grams bear’ Beauregard
Elizabeth ‘best friend bear’ Chiang
Katie ‘do-your-best bear’ Declerq
Kristyn ‘bashful heart bear’ Filip
Ian ‘heartsong bear’ Flett
Jolene ‘oopsy bear’ Hansell
Andrew ‘play-a-lot bear’ Hawley
Daniel ‘laugh-a-lot bear’ Kaell
Danyal ‘birthday bear’ Khoral
Jaclyn ‘shine bright bear’ Lytle
Nadja ‘smart heart bear’ Popovich
Jordan ‘super star bear’ Moffatt
Lihang ‘all my heart bear’ Nong
Amlake ‘smart herart bear’ Tedla-Digaf
Émilie ‘brave heart lion’ Sartoretto
Len ‘me bear’ Smirnov
Kristy ‘too loud bear’ Welbourn
 Visit the fulcrum.ca, dammit!
stay on track!
Get your International Student Identity Card
(ISIC) from Travel CUTS or select student unions
BEFORE going to the train station in order to
access VIA Rail’s student fares, as the ISIC is
no longer issued at VIA Rail stations.

check your expiry! The 2008 ISIC expires when the New Year rings
in, so remember to renew your card before heading home for the holidays.

225 Laurier Avenue East

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Date : 24 - 27 novembre
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Date: November 24 - 27
*Une bourse d’études de 1 500 $ sera remise durant le semestre d’automne 2008 et une bourse d’études de 1 500 $
Time: 10 am - 2 pm sera remise durant le semestre d’hiver 2009. Les formulaires de participation doivent être complétés sans fautes.
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Place: University Centre *One $1,500 scholarship awarded during the 2008 fall semester and one $1,500 scholarship
awarded during the 2009 winter semester. Entry forms must be accurately completed.
Eligibility limited to post-secondary students currently enrolled at participating campuses.