Interested in Science Outreach for Youth?

Presented by

Synapse – CIHR Youth Connection invites you to

®

Science with Impact Workshop

This is a free workshop, but space is limited. Pre-registration is required.
February 19, 2009, 9 a.m. – 12 p.m.
Stanton Residence, Room 202, Ottawa University
Facilitator: Sue McKee
To register or for more information contact:
Nicole Kaiser at nkaiser@letstalkscience.ca or 1-877-474-4081

Letters
Putting a new spin on things neighbours.
Re: “Big dreams and small hopes” (Fea- Howell also mentions the right of
ture, Jan. 22) return of the four million displaced
Palestinians. In fact, only 85,000 Ar-
JOE HOWELL’S ARTICLE “Big abs left Israel in 1948 and 85,000 Jews
dreams and small hopes” is guilty of were forced out of Arab countries at
several lies of omission. I would like the same time, not to mention the
to address a number of them. First of thousands of Jewish refugees coming
all, Howell neglects to mention that from Europe after the Holocaust.
the Camp David talks failed when Finally, Howell made sure to omit
Yasser Arafat got up from the negoti- the fact that officials from the Euro-
ating table without making a counter pean Union, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia,
offer; apparently he was too cowardly among others, have said that Hamas is
to accept 97 per cent of the West Bank to blame for the war this past month.
and 100 per cent of Gaza. The 3 per These are just a handful of the facts
cent of the West Bank—land inhab- that one should keep in mind when
ited by only Jewish Israeli citizens— considering Howell’s simplistic at-
that Israel was to keep, would be com- tempt at explaining the regular un-
pensated by some of the most fertile rest in the Middle East. One can only
soils of Israel proper, and would have hope that the students at U of O are
expanded the size of the Gaza strip. intelligent enough not to take How-
Instead Arafat returned to Ramal- ell’s article at face value.
lah and launched the second intifada Jennifer Hadad
against Israel. Hillel Ottawa student representative
Howell mentions that Hamas was
democratically elected. He fails to ex- Don’t hate on Twilight!
plain that this so-called democratic Re: “Shut up about Twilight already!”
organization has a charter based on (Opinion, Jan. 22)
the destruction of fellow human be-
ings. Hamas’ charter states: “The Day IN RESPONE TO Maureen Robinson’s
of Judgment will not come about article criticizing Stephanie Meyer’s
until Muslims fight the Jews (killing saga Twilight, I think that someone is
the Jews), when the Jew will hide be- taking the teen novels too seriously.
hind stones and trees. The stones and I also have read the four-book series
trees will say O Muslims, O Abdulla, (Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse, and
there is a Jew behind me, come and Breaking Dawn) which predominate-
kill him.” Rather than focus on the ly targets the female population, and
well-being of the Palestinian people, though admittedly none of the novels
Hamas chooses to devote all time,
money, and energy to attacking their
are Nobel Prize-worthy, they are get-
ting thousands of people picking up
Contents
Election!!! Election extravaganza
The Fulcrum presents this year’s SFUO
election candidates. p. e1
It’s your money. The referendum questions
explained. p. e7
p. e1
Arts Ocean of controversy
Jaclyn Lytle explores the depths of Saving
Luna. p. 9
Sepideh Soltaninia gets down with Make
Your Exit. p. 14
p. 9
Sports Bouncing back
Men’s basketball rebounds from loss to
Carleton. p. 15
Men’s soccer team survives in spite of not
having a coach. p. 17
p. 15
Feature Bees?!
The U of O is full of great researchers. Sarah
Leavitt introduces you to them. p. 12–13
Di explains how confidence makes the man.
p. 22
p. 12–13
Feb. 5–11, 2009
books again. I think it’s wonderful
that the love story of a mortal girl and
a vampire is bringing back the love of
reading. Similarly, the Harry Potter
series by J.K. Rowling was met with
similar criticism in regards to it con-
taining the aspects of magic and the
dark arts. And yet, it has become both
the most widely read and most chal-
lenged book series of the 21st century.
But just as in the case of Harry Potter
and the magical world of Hogwarts,
I am sure that the Twilight novels are
not creating “a generation of young
girls who believe that the Edward
Cullen prototype actually exists”. No,
not everything in the book is realistic,
which is why the book is categorized
as just that—fantasy.
Britney Castleman
Second-year French as a Second
Language student
More than just a village
Re: “Not in my village”
(Letters, Jan. 29)
DEAR TRAVIS WEAGANT,
While I respect your wishes to start
a No campaign against the Millen-
nium Village initiative, I feel you are
at best seriously missing the point,
and at worst gravely misinforming
students.
Firstly, you mentioned that this has
nothing to do with your education.
Well, it does. There will be internship
opportunities in the villages—it looks
like several positions a semester—to
learn about solutions-based, holistic
community-led development ap-
proaches. There is also talk of creating
courses and incorporating the idea
into a global community services cen-
tre. More than just a village, it’s a plat-
form for engagement in these issues
that exists nowhere else. And I’m not
just talking about international de-
velopment students. This will greatly
enhance the learning experience for
anyone interested in cross-cultural
perspectives on sustainable develop-
ment, chemistry, biology, agrofor-
estry, political science, international
relations, sociology, anthropology,
environmental studies, policy admin-
istration, engineering, economics…
need I go on? We will be one of the
first, if not the first university in the
world to do anything like this. This
has already generated, and will con-
tinue to generate, a world of opportu-
nities for students in many ways.
Secondly, you mentioned that you
already give to charity. That’s awe-
Business Department
The Fulcrum, the University of Ottawa’s inde-
pendent English-language student newpaper,
is published by the Fulcrum Publishing Society
(FPS) Inc., a not-for-profit corporation whose
members consist of all University of Ottawa
students. The Board of Directors (BOD) of the
FPS governs all administrative and business
actions of the Fulcrum and consists of the fol-
lowing individuals: Ross Prusakowski (Presi-
dent), Andrea Khanjin (Vice-President), Tyler
Meredith (Chair), Peter Raaymakers, Nick Tay-
lor-Vaisey, Toby Climie, Scott Bedard, Andrew
Wing, and William Stephenson.
To contact the Fulcrum’s BOD,
contact Ross Prusakowski at (613) 562-5261.
Frank Appleyard
Editor-in-Chief
editor@thefulcrum.ca
some! But the truth is that this is
more than just a charity. Yes, you will
be helping improve the lives of 5,000
people and facilitating their own ejec-
tion out of extreme poverty, but it’s
also about creating a partnership be-
tween Carleton University, the U of
O, and a leading research institution,
the Earth Institute at Columbia Uni-
versity. It’s about creating hands-on
learning opportunities for students
who want to make a real difference.
It’s about showing other universities,
the government, and the world that
we care and about leading by exam-
ple. It has nothing to do with “trying
to donate your money better than you
can”.
As a member of the Students To
End Extreme Poverty, these are only
some of the reasons why we are ask-
ing students if they will invest $6 per
year in support of a Millennium Vil-
lage, as much for your own education
and growth as for the villagers you
will be supporting.
Kellie Piché
U of O alumna
Defining the privilege of tenure
AS AN ALUMNUS of the Faculty of
Engineering at the University of Ot-
tawa, I have a vested interest in the
reputation of both the Faculty of En-
gineering and the Faculty of Science
at the U of O. While I can not com-
ment on the specific circumstances of
Professor Denis Rancourt’s dismissal,
I have heard him speak officially at
the Ottawa Public Library on his
views regarding both the pedagogy
of the Faculty of Science and U of O
President Allan Rock. The main point
of contention brought up in this talk
was that the Department of Physics
had refused to allow one of Rancourt’s
fourth-year physics students to con-
duct a fourth-year project of his own
choosing that would count towards
his degree. When I questioned the
student as to the topic of his project
he told me it was on how the way sci-
ence is taught affects what is learned
in the course. I would have to agree
with the Department of Physics that,
while it may be a valuable topic to ex-
plore, it is not a topic that falls into the
domain of physics and hence should
not count towards a physics degree.
Professor Rancourt very much struck
me as both a rebel without a cause and
an anarchist. While he should be free
in Canadian society to be both, these
views are in no way related to aca-
Advertising Department
Deidre Butters, Advertising Representative
phone: (613) 880-6494
fax: (613) 562-5259
email: ads@thefulcrum.ca
Check out our rate card online.
Go to www.thefulcrum.ca and
follow the link for “Advertisers”.
Multi-market advertisers:
Campus Plus: (800)265-5372
Campus Plus offers one-stop shopping for over
90 Canadian student
newspapers.
The Fulcrum is a proud member of
Canadian University Press:
www.cup.ca
3
demic freedom that is afforded a ten-
ured professor. If Rancourt had been
viciously attacking a physics theory or
a published experiment then the uni-
versity would have a duty to safeguard
his academic freedom. As it is clearly
not the case in this situation, I do not
believe that the privilege of tenure has
been violated.
Jason Butler
U of O alumnus
Millennium Village
missing a few steps
NEXT WEEK WE will be voting on
six referendum questions, one of
which is the funding of a Millennium
Village at the cost of $6 per academic
year, per student. At first glance it
seems like a wonderful project that
will truly benefit families that are
deeply in need. Don’t get me wrong,
a project like this isn’t terrible at all;
it has achieved good things and I’m
completely for its idealistic nature.
However, some things have to be
said.
What is the Millennium Village?
It’s based on the United Nations’ de-
velopment goals established in 2000
to end poverty in Africa. Economist
Jeffrey Sachs, who had a utopian ideal
for solving poverty dilemmas in Af-
rica, led the project.
LETTERS continued on p. 20
thefulcrum.ca poll
This week’s question
How do you plan to vote
in the SFUO election?
Online:
Polling station:
I won’t vote:
Last week’s results
Do you think the benefits
of online voting outweigh
the potential problems?
Yes:
No:
53%
47%
Got something to say?
Send your letters to
editor@thefulcrum.ca
Letters deadline: Sunday, 1 p.m.
Letters must be under 400 words unless
discussed with the editor-in-chief.
Drop off letters at 631 King Edward Ave. or
email
editor@thefulcrum.ca.
Letters must include your name, telephone
number, year, and program of study. Pseud-
onyms may be used after consultation with the
editor-in-chief. We correct spelling and gram-
mar to some extent. The Fulcrum will exercise
discretion in printing letters that are deemed
racist, homophobic, or sexist.
We will not even consider hate literature or
libellous material. The editor-in-chief reserves
the authority on everything printed herein.
 4
Emma Godmere

News SFUO Election coverage p. e1–e8

Feb. 5–11, 2009
News Editor
news@thefulcrum.ca

Shedding light on human rights of India, S. M. Gavai, at 7:30 p.m.

International
Development Week
brings global experts
to U of O
by Megan O’Meara
Fulcrum Staff
SINCE FEB. 2, INTERNATIONAL
Development Week has been in full
swing at the University of Ottawa,
with volunteers spreading awareness
about this year’s theme: “Develop-
ment: A Basic Human Right?”
Julie Cook, international health
and development coordinator with
the U of O and one of the organizers
of the week-long event, explained the
theme in greater detail.
“The theme is human rights, and
more specifically development as a
human right,” Cook said. “We formed
it as a question because we want stu-
dents to actually discuss and debate
over the issue, to ask themselves—
is development actually a human
right?”
Cook explained that the main rea-
son for choosing the theme was the
60th anniversary of the Declaration
of Human Rights on Dec. 10.
“We decided we want to continue
in that vein and celebrate human
rights and raise awareness of human
rights abuse,” said Cook.
International Development Week
has been raising awareness of issues
Several NGOs were on campus to kick off International Development Week on Feb. 2.
surrounding globalization on cam-
pus for four years , but last year was
the first comprehensive week with
several events planned for each day.
The week is run at the U of O by the
International Health Centre and the
Political, International, and Devel-
opment Studies Students’ Associa-
tion, however the event originates
from the Canadian International
Development Agency (CIDA). Al-
though the theme varies from cam-
pus to campus across Canada, it is
always held the first week in Febru-
ary.
The week-long event this year is di-
vided into different sub-themes that
the day’s activities and speakers are
based around, including the right to
food, water and sanitation, education,
health, and security. The English,
French, and bilingual events occur
across campus until Feb. 7.
International Development
photo by Martha Pearce
Week’s keynote speaker is former
foreign affairs minister Lloyd Ax-
worthy, who will explain his per-
spective on Canada’s responsibili-
ties in international human rights at
the National Gallery of Canada on
Feb. 4 at 7:30 p.m.
The activities on Feb. 5, all sur-
rounding the right to health, include
a screening of Michael Moore’s Sicko
playing in French at 4 p.m. and a
speech by the High Commissioner
Both of these events are being held
in the Alumni Auditorium free of
charge.
“[Gavai will] be speaking about
the myths and realities of India and
the challenges of having the largest
democracy in the world,” she said.
On Feb. 6, Alexandre Trudeau,
journalist and son of former prime
minister Pierre Trudeau, will be giv-
ing a speech in French in the Alumni
Auditorium at 7 p.m., with a bilingual
question-and-answer period after-
wards. He will be speaking about his
experience as a journalist overseas—
Trudeau was well known for covering
the 2003 invasion of Iraq—and how it
relates to the right to security. Tickets
are $10.
Many different campus organiza-
tions will be hosting workshops open
to all students on Feb. 7 including the
Student Federation of the University
of Ottawa, the Centre for Equity and
Human Rights, the Graduate Stu-
dents’ Association, and the Onta-
trio Public Interest Research Group,
among others.
“The workshops are skill-based and
designed with the intent of teaching
students how to take the information
they obtained throughout the week
and put it into action,” explained
Cook.
For a full schedule of the week’s events
and ticket information, visit sdi.idw.
uottawa.ca.

Post-secondary show-and-tell opening up the conference to undergrads was to

GSAÉD Interdisciplinary
Conference highlights
students’ research
by Jolene Hansell
Fulcrum Staff
THE 12TH ANNUAL Graduate Students’ Asso-
ciation (GSAÉD) Interdisciplinary Conference
kicked off Feb. 2, featuring 82 presentations of
the University of Ottawa’s own graduate stu-
dents’ research. This year’s theme—which acts
as the focus for all of the research presented and
which was interpreted in several different ways
by students from all faculties—was “Position
Canada: Identities and Innovation”.
This year’s conference boasted three keynote
speakers and a multitude of research sessions in
four rooms over four days. The projects present-
ed by students cover a wide range of subjects.
Engineering, health sciences, literary studies,
war, identity, translation, and environmental
degradation are just a few of the disciplines that
were covered by students at the conference.
Additionally, this year undergraduate stu-
dents were invited to present research for the
first time. According to GSAÉD university af-
fairs commissioner Serge Dupuis, the intent of
expand the scale and scope of U of O students’
research.
“We wanted to get undergrads involved in
research this year,” he said. “This was a pilot
project this year, as was the project to get more
French presentations.”
Participation in the GSAÉD conference has
grown exceptionally over the years. This year’s
record breaking 82 presentations was almost
double last year’s participation rate.
“We are happy with this kind of success ...
[and] we are excited that many students want
to share their research with the university this
year,” said Dupuis.
Calls for research papers were sent out
in August 2008, asking interested students
to submit their research papers by Nov. 26.
Theses were then evaluated by a committee
of professors.
photo by Martha Pearce
“Pretty much everyone who wanted to partic-
Students discuss research in ethnography as part of the GSAÉD interdisciplinary conference.
ipate and who made a conscious effort to com-
plete their abstract got in,” said Dupuis. versity of Ottawa (SFUO) also stepped up to they’re going to have to do in the future, should
The conference also awarded cash prizes to sponsor prizes worth $200 and $300 for the they want to continue into graduate studies, and
students based on the evaluations of their pre- best two presentations by undergraduate stu- we’re excited to be a part of the process.”
sentations. The first, second, and third place dents. The GSAÉD interdisciplinary conference
prizes were $1,000, $500, and $250, respec- “I think it’s a great partnership between the wraps up Feb. 5.
tively, and each included an English award and a GSAÉD and the SFUO,” said SFUO President
French award, while third place offered two per Dean Haldenby. “It’s a good opportunity to The schedule and locations for all of the events
language. bridge the undergraduate and graduate studies can be found on the conference website, at gsaed.
This year, the Student Federation of the Uni- so that students can kind of get a feel for what ca/conference2009/home_en.html.
 ‘This is about Canada’
National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations Phil Fontaine
talks to the U of O about last year’s historic apology
by Emma Godmere
Fulcrum Staff
LAST JUNE, CANADIANS witnessed their
federal government offer a long-awaited apol-
ogy to aboriginal peoples who suffered through
residential schools for decades. At these gov-
ernment-organized schools, many Aboriginal
students experienced abuse and neglect thanks
to federal policies that have been likened to cul-
tural genocide. On Jan. 29, National Chief of
the Assembly of First Nations Phil Fontaine—
who was present at last summer’s historic an-
nouncement—visited the University of Ottawa
for the third annual David Makow Lecture on
Tolerance and Intolerance. The Fulcrum had
the opportunity to sit down with Fontaine prior
to his presentation to discuss what the historic
event means for today’s students—and where
young people come into play in continuing to
bring Aboriginal issues to light.
Fulcrum: Your lecture focuses on Aboriginal
rights in a post-apology era. Many students
watched the federal government’s historic
apology last year, but they did not know a
Canada with residential schools. What re-
sponsibility do today’s students of all back-
grounds have in maintaining awareness of
Canadian Aboriginal rights?
Fontaine: The apology was important for all
Canadians. When Prime Minister Harper ruled
in the House of Commons to apologize to the
survivors of the residential school experience,
he was doing it for all Canadians. The apology
was about attempts by successive governments
to eradicate any sense of Indianness from this
country, and they did it through a policy that
was designed to kill the Indian in the child.
That’s what residential schools were designed
to do: it was to do away with our cultures, our
languages, to deny us our history, and it had
in too many cases tragic consequences. So, the
apology was about this experience, but sadly,
most Canadians were not aware that residential
schools existed.
We see the apology as an opportunity for
the country to transform Canada into a place
that respects the rights and interests of all of
its peoples. The apology makes it possible, be-
cause what we are also about to embark on is a
truth and reconciliation commission—to write
the missing chapter in Canadian history. And
we will be able to do that by ensuring that all
of the unique perspectives that factor into the
residential school experience will be able to
come forward before the truth and reconcilia-
tion commission ... and that survivors will also
be able to tell their stories.
So this is about Canada; the process is about
making things right in Canada, and all peo-
ples have a role and a responsibility in ensur-
ing that the story is told. It’s incumbent upon
young people to know and understand their
country, to know and understand how Canada
came to be, and to know and understand the
place of all peoples in this country, including
the First Peoples. So there’s an obligation on
the part of all.
Do you believe there’s even more of an obli-
gation for students in Ottawa, based on their
location in the capital, to act and bring atten-
tion to Aboriginal rights?
One could make the assumption that students
here would be more sensitive and more knowl-
edgeable, because this is, as you noted, the capi-
tal of Canada, but students here are no different
than students in different parts of the country.
The history of the First Peoples is virtually
non-existent, and so universities and colleges
and governments [do] in fact have a responsi-
bility to make sure that Canadians are given ev-
ery opportunity to learn about Canada, the true
history of Canada—for example, to dispel the
myth that Canada is made up of two founding
nations, the French and the English. The First
Peoples are the original founders of this land,
and so when we talk about the Canadian federa-
tion, we should be talking about three founding
nations: French, English, and the First Peoples.
So we have a pretty big challenge before us,
and I believe that we can turn this around ...
For example, one of the suggestions that we
have—and it will [be] a formal recommen-
dation to the Canadian ministers of educa-
tion—[is] that ... a course in Native studies be
compulsory before you graduate from a uni-
versity with an undergraduate degree. That
will build a level of knowledge that’s sadly
lacking today.
You were quite young when you became Chief
of the Sagkeeng community in Manitoba.
What advice do you have for today’s young
people who may be inspired to seek positions
photo by Alex Martin
of leadership in their communities?
National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations Phil Fontaine spoke at the U of O on Jan. 29.
Rather than focusing on me, I would say look to
[U.S. President Barack] Obama. There’s some-
one [who has] inspired the world, and Obama
stands for change ... and also has a significant
message—that anything is possible. There are
so many opportunities before us here, to be
engaged and to help transform our country,
and young people in particular are in an ad-
vantageous position because they’re educated,
they have a much more expansive view of the
world, they’re not as confined in their think-
ing, they [have a] much broader perspective.
That’s what we need to bring about the kinds
of changes that are necessary and important
for Canada.
Last year’s residential schools apology was
undoubtedly a big step forward for Canadian
Aboriginal rights. Where do we go from here,
and what role do young people play in this
next step?
[The apology] was a momentous occasion, and
I see it as a [starting] point to transform Canada
into a place that it deserves to be.
If you look at where we are today, or where
we fit in [in] Canada, we’re the most impov-
erished group in Canadian society. And this
grinding poverty exists in the midst of in-
credible wealth—Canada’s one of the richest
places in the world ... This is our homeland;
we should be able to benefit from the incred-
ible wealth that’s being created here daily off
our lands.
Canada was once all ours. Today, we pos-
sess and occupy less than one half of one per
cent [of] this incredible, wealthy landmass, and
there’s no reason for that. It’s young people like
yourself that have this incredible opportunity
to change Canada, just in the same way that
Obama has inspired so many to think about
change, change that is positive for the United
States. Well, we have to think in the same way
about our place here.
www.thefulcrum.ca // 02.05.09 // NEWS // 5
 News in brief
Wilfrid Laurier University
to put classes on BlackBerrys
WATERLOO (CUP) – WILFRID
LAURIER UNIVERSITY is set to
provide over 100 incoming MBA stu-
dents with BlackBerrys and data plans
this fall, in an attempt to incorporate
new technology into the classroom.
WLU got the idea from a similar
project established at Mexico’s Tec-
nológico de Monterrey in August
2008. Administrators at the school
were able to move 30 per cent of the
curriculum of various first-year pro-
grams to BlackBerry Pearls and allow
students to select courses using the
smartphones.
The purpose of the program at
WLU is to incorporate modern so-
cial networking into the classroom
in an effort to influence teaching and
learning methods. The university, af-
ter purchasing the devices at a special
rate, aims to maximize the use of the
BlackBerry to allow students to access
course material, multimedia, tests, and
eventually the school’s web system.
—Linda Givetash,
dap_campusp_4x7-5_sep12.eps
The Cord Weekly
6 \\ NEWS \\ 02.05.09 \\ www.thefulcrum.ca
Anti-Islam posters spark
controversy at UVic
Guerre des Tuques
VICTORIA (CUP) – POSTERS
CALLING FOR a ban of Islam “in
the interest of human values and
universal love” recently appeared on
University of Victoria notice boards,
causing some students to voice their
concerns regarding the tolerance of
hate speech.
The poster, which was designed
like a petition and addressed to the
International Court of Justice, con-
tained various quotes and signatures
from alleged international support-
ers. Copies had not been stamped
for approval and were removed on
discovery by various groups on cam-
pus.
The posters, as well as an anti-
Islam cartoon, were put up around
the same time as the Muslim Student photo by Martha Pearce
Association hosted a lecture series
For the first time since the competition’s beginning, the Student Association of the Faculty of
entitled “Islam and the West” in or-
der to promote education and aware-
Arts (SAFA) won the Student Federation of the University of Ottawa’s annual Guerre des Tuques
ness. It is unknown who posted the competition, where representatives from faculty student associations battle to build the best snow
material. fort outside the Unicentre. SAFA beat the Engineering Students’ Society and the Political, Inter-
09/12/2008 9:47:52 —Kailey
AM Willetts national, and Development Studies Student Association to win a Wii console for their Simard Hall
and Danielle Pope, The Martlet office.
The Fulcrum Publishing Society
The Fulcrum Publishing Society will be holding its annual general meeting at 5:30 p.m. on Feb. 6 in Des-
marais Hall, room 1160. There will be pizza and refreshments provided.
The meeting will be dealing with the society’s audit, electing five (5) student directors to the FPS Board of
Directors for the 2009-10 year and proposed amendments to the Society’s bylaws. All U of O students
have a vote, come and use it!
All proposed motions will be posted at www.thefulcrum.ca/business seven (7) days prior to the meeting.
Visit the site for more information, or contact president@thefulcrum.ca.
The Fulcrum 09–10
editorial board elections
The Fulcrum is holding elections for next year’s editorial board. If you have a passion for student
journalism, we have the opportunity for you!
Candidates must prepare a platform outlining their vision for the role they would like to play next
year. Platforms are due at 5 p.m. on the Friday prior to the election date of the position, and
should be emailed to editor@thefulcrum.ca. All elections will take place at the Fulcrum office at
631 King Edward Ave. during the weekly staff meeting Thursdays at 2:30 p.m.
The election dates and platform deadlines are:
Position Election date Platform due
Editor-in-Chief March 5 Feb. 27
Production Manager March 5 Feb. 27
News Editor March 12 March 6
Sports Editor March 12 March 6
Arts & Culture Editor March 12 March 6
Executive Editor March 19 March 13
Features Editor March 19 March 13
Art Director March 19 March 13
For more information or to submit a platform, contact Frank Appleyard at editor@thefulcrum.ca
 Online voting boosts turnout
in student elections Second consecutive
turnout in their 2008 election.
Acadia Students’ Union president Kyle
op in Alberta, to those studying in a castle
in Glasgow, Scotland, are able to log in and
Senate meeting shut down
Atlantic Canada ahead of Steele believes the convenience of being vote,” said Amyotte.
the game when it comes to able to vote online is definitely playing a The St. FX Students’ Union has been us-
online polling stations role in their turnout increases over the ing Smit’s program since 2005. by Emma Godmere room, about 20 of the specta-
past four years. “It’s much easier for the voter; they can Fulcrum Staff tors—many of whom had been
by Danielle Webb “The accessibility [of online voting] is hop on any computer in the world and filming—created their own
Atlantic Bureau Chief much more practical than the paper bal- vote. It’s certainly much easier to increase THE SECOND CONSECU- meeting and remained in the
lot. When people can vote from their beds, your actual votes when communication is TIVE University of Ottawa Senate chambers for almost an
ANTIGONISH (CUP) – THE STUDENT you would figure voter turnout would be driving [students] to an online poll, rather Senate meeting was adjourned hour. The group, which includ-
FEDERATION of the University of Ot- higher,” said Steele. than making them walk or drive to a poll- less than 10 minutes into sit- ed Kelly and suspended phys-
tawa’s (SFUO) elections bureau is hoping Online voting in Atlantic Canada took ing station,” said Neil Stephen, former vp ting on Feb. 2. ics professor Denis Rancourt,
the introduction of online voting will help off in 2004 with the launch of iVoteOnline communications for the St. FX Students’ U of O VP Academic Rob- composed a list of demands
increase voter turnout in this year’s stu- by Dalhousie graduate Mike Smit. Union. ert Major, who was chairing and proceeded to the office
dent union election. Dalhousie has also seen voter turnout Stephen’s efforts to increase awareness the meeting in the absence of of the U of O Legal Counsel
“Following a dismal three per cent voter increase since adopting Smit’s program. around the election and rallying his fellow President Allan Rock, ended Alain Roussy. The group listed
turnout in a by-election last year, [the Elec- “Before online voting, Dalhousie had executives in engaging the student body the meeting without a vote af- their demands to Roussy and
tions Bureau] felt we needed to experiment a voter turnout of between three and five led to St. FX’s 50.4 per cent voter turnout ter over a dozen students and occupied his office for over an
with new ideas,” said SFUO elections chief per cent. Over the years, we have seen in 2008. community members refused hour.
information officer Wassim Garzouzi. turnout range from 12 per cent in our first But, Stephen will admit there are prob- to stop filming the proceedings. The responsibility of dealing
“It is a very engaged campus, yet fewer year [of online voting] and reach up to 21 lems with the system. These actions—identical to what with Kelly’s trespassing charg-
students have been voting in student elec- per cent,” said Dalhousie Student Union’s “It’s not totally secure, it doesn’t look occurred at the Jan. 12 Sen- es from the previous Senate
tions. The CFS referendum was able to get chief returning officer Sarah Amyotte. very good, it takes away the one-on-one ate meeting—were made once meetings falls to Roussy. As
a 22 per cent turnout and protests easily Online voting has also been instrumen- connection with a polling station—that again in solidarity with dereg- the group began chanting their
attract a few thousand students, yet when tal in enabling Dalhousie to reach new visible connection is lost,” he said. istered student Marc Kelly, who demands to see Kelly’s charges
it comes to SFUO elections, there was sim- demographics of the student body as well, Despite any negatives, Stephen does be- was arrested after attempting to dropped, recording allowed at
ply no connection with the students,” he said Amyotte. lieve online voting is here to stay. film the Dec. 1 Senate meeting. all U of O meetings, and Ran-
continued. “Dalhousie is an institution not limited “Like it or hate it, [online voting is] not Ironically, the first item on court’s suspension removed,
But students at many Atlantic universities to our three campuses. We have co-op stu- going anywhere. The positives far out- the Senate’s Feb. 2 agenda was two Protection officers arrived
are already voting online, slowly increasing dents all over the world and even a nursing weigh the negatives.” discussing a policy on record- to monitor the situation. Kelly
voter turnout at universities like Dalhousie program in Yarmouth, N.S. With online The SFUO will be e-voting Feb. 10–12. ing, broadcasting, and photog- was told to leave the premises
in Halifax, N.S., Acadia in Wolfville, N.S., voting ... students everywhere, those who Garzouzi and his colleagues are aiming for raphy at their meetings. before Ottawa police would be
and most notably, St. Francis Xavier in An- only have class one day a week to those a 30 per cent turnout, which would more After Senate members left called to remove him. No ar-
tigonish, N.S., who saw 50.4 per cent voter who are working for their engineering co- than double last year’s turnout. the Tabaret Hall meeting rests were made.

WEDNESDAY
NIGHT EAST COAST
KITCHEN
PARTY
$4.49*
KEITH’S IPA AND KEITH’S RED
(20 oz)

3LITRE G
ON

TABLE KEG www.primepubs.com

44 Sparks St • 360 Moodie Dr

TO SHARE $18.99
*AVAILABLE FROM 7PM TO CLOSE
260 Centrum Blvd
PLEASE DRINK RESPONSIBLY
STARTS AT 9PM

PLUS LIVE
ENTERTAINMENT
D’Arcy McGee’s is a registered trade-mark of PRC Trademarks Inc. Used under licence. ©2008 Prime Restaurants of Canada.

www.thefulcrum.ca // 02.05.09 // NEWS // 7

 9
Peter Henderson

Arts & Culture Feb. 5–11, 2008

Arts & Culture Editor
arts@thefulcrum.ca

The lonely orca

Documentary film Saving Luna
makes its Ottawa premiere
by Jaclyn Lytle ger in frequent interactions between
Fulcrum Staff boats filled with the general public
and a killer whale that could one day
SUZANNE CHISHOLM AND her grow to weigh more than 5 tonnes.
husband, journalist Michael Parfit, “The [issue was] that a bunch of
have a whale of a tale to tell. Their groups were trying to do what they
new documentary, Saving Luna, de- thought was the right idea to save
picts the story of Luna, an endearing Luna,” says Chisholm. “There were all
and daring whale that lost his mother these different perspectives; you had
and found companionship in the most conservation organizations saying he
unlikely of places—the tourist boats should have no contact with humans;
that populate Canada’s west coast. the First Nations saying [we should]
Luna became the centre of a let nature take its course; some other
controversy that erupted in Brit- conservation groups saying he should
ish Columbia in 2004 between con- be relocated to his pod; [and] some
servationists, the government, and people saying that he should go to an
the First Nations groups of Nootka aquarium, because then he would be
Sound. After three years of follow- safe.”
ing Luna’s story, Chisholm and Parfit It was at this point that Chisholm
co-directed and co-produced Saving and her husband arrived and began
Luna, an award-winning documen- filming the events as part of their re-
tary that chronicles the struggle to search. Although they were initially
protect Luna and how one lonely careful, as journalists, to remain un-
whale swam his way into the hearts involved, they too began to form their
of thousands. The film premiered at own opinions as to how the problem
the Vancouver should be ap-
Inte r nat i ona l proached. The
Film Festival
in December “We are definitely pair became ac-
tivists for Luna’s
2007, and had
its Ottawa pre-
not the only species welfare, believ-
ing that it was
miere on Dec. [that] needs friend- the responsibility
30. of those involved
Luna was not ship, that needs con- to create a safe

tact. These whales

quite two years environment for
old when he be- him.
came separated
from his moth-
definitely do.” The clash be-
came heated in
er. In July 2001 Suzanne Chisholm the summer of
the baby orca 2004 when the
made his way federal Depart-
into the Nootka ment of Fisher-
Sound area, where he began to inter- ies and Oceans (DFO) made a deci-
act daily with residents. sion to attempt to relocate Luna. It
“Without other whales he took was hoped that the young calf would
the next best thing and tried to make be able to reintegrate into his pod,
friends with people,” Chisholm re- which was being tracked by U.S. re-
calls. “It took him a little while before searchers.
he started approaching boats, but “[The DFO] only decided to [exe-
once he did, he got used to people cute the reintegration plan] after a lot
pretty quickly. He wanted to be with of pressure from conservation orga-
people, there’s no question. If you nizations and the general public,” says photo courtesy Suzanne Chisholm
think about their socialization [prac- Chisholm. “They started to think that Saving Luna details the long fight over the future of Luna, a human-loving whale that lost his family.
tices], males stay with their moms Luna was on a collision course [with
their entire lives. They never leave. the public]. He was getting bigger, however, Chisholm and her husband was completely different. He came rience [about] what our role is in
When you think about those social he was getting more interactive with are careful not to reveal. Rather, more to humans because he wanted com- the world. The need to connect [is]
bonds it seems natural that he would people, [and they felt] this could be can be learned, Chisholm explains, panionship. That is an amazing thing. amazing; we are definitely not the
be looking for something in the ab- dangerous.” by watching the film and coming to People responded; they love Luna.” only species [that] needs friendship,
sence of other whales.” Due to intervention on the part of know Luna personally. Chisholm explains that being part that needs contact. These whales
By the time Chisholm and her hus- a local First Nations group, the DFO “It’s always amazing when you of an experience of this kind teaches definitely do.”
band became involved with Luna, a abandoned their attempt to relocate think about a wild animal coming to us about our place in the world, a
conflict had escalated between several Luna. But the conflict was by no humans for contact or social connec- lesson that she herself came to learn Saving Luna is playing at the Bytowne
groups that were concerned for Luna’s means at an end. Fears continued to tions because if you think about the from being a part of Luna’s story. Cinema (325 Rideau St.) until Feb. 8.
welfare. Though Luna’s antics seemed grow as Luna became older, larger, relationships, they don’t come to us “We as humans could have done Tickets are $9 for non-members, $6 for
harmless to most, those with marine and more insistent on receiving at- for companionship, they come to us better. There are some lessons that members. For more information, visit
experience could easily see the dan- tention. The outcome of Luna’s story, for food,” says Chisholm. “But Luna I’ve learned from the whole expe- bytowne.ca.
Album reviews
WORKING ON A Dream, the Boss’s 16th studio album, is catchy
in the classic Springsteen tradition, but as a whole simply isn’t all
that great. “My Lucky Day”, “What Love Can Do”, and the title
track are all passable rock anthems, but the only two true stand-
outs are his ode to late keyboardist Danny Federici, “The Last
Carnival”, and the Golden Globe-winner “The Wrestler”, which
is available only on new pressings as a bonus track. Elsewhere,
songs like the cheesy “Outlaw Pete” and “Queen of the Supermar-
ket” are some of the worst songs Springsteen has ever penned.
The music of Working on a Dream is saved somewhat by the E
B- Street Band, who are used sparingly but add depth to some of the
Bruce Springsteen weaker moments. Coming from the man who wrote “Thunder
Working on a Dream Road”, this album is a huge disappointment.
—Nick Rudiak
SHIVABOOM IS CANADIAN sound scientists Eccodek’s third
venture into the genre of world music. Shivaboom, like most world
music albums, features vocalists and artists that you’ve never
heard of singing lyrics that you will probably never understand.
Shivaboom is really a drum-and-bass album at its core. Deep
beats underscore a number of vocalists from countries such as
Mali, India, and Turkey. Eccodek gets credit for incorporating an
Indian tabla drum into the beats, as the instrument adds a hard-
c
driving rhythm to songs like “Lover’s Trance” and “Behind the
Mask”. But like most drum-and-bass albums, Shivaboom sounds
Eccodek
like sex music, and it’s encouraging to know that the soundtrack
Shivaboom to sex sounds the same in any language.
—Julian Blizzard
I earned my undergraduate degree.
Now, I want a
rewarding career*
*not just a job
In less than one year, Humber
postgraduate programs will help
you launch your career in:
• Financial Planning
• Human Resources
• International Development
• International Marketing
• Marketing Management
• Public Administration
Building on your university degree,
Humber’s postgraduate programs offer a
concentrated curriculum, career-focused
courses and practical field placements.
You’ll gain the real-world experience and
skills that employers value most.
Get the career you want – apply now.
business.humber.ca
10 \\ ARTS \\ 02.05.09 \\ www.thefulcrum.ca
FANTASY BLACK CHANNEL is the brainchild of four young,
musically ambitious Britons known as Late of the Pier. On their
debut album the band come up with an ambiguous test in musical
ridiculousness that is hard to classify as anything but experimen-
tal. The mishmash sounds like an unholy mixture of nu-wave,
metal, and disco—a bizarre musical mongrel that’s still eminently
danceable. The extensive use of strange synthesizers and samplers
characterizes the album, but these are blended with the more tra-
a
ditional sounds of guitar, bass, and drums. Although a few songs
like “The Enemy Are the Future” are heavy with electronic noises
Late of the Pier and sound like someone threw a bunch of instruments down a
Fantasy Black Channel flight of stairs, most of Fantasy Black Channel is captivatingly
written and irresistibly likeable. “White Snake” has a great glam-
punk sound while “Space and the Woods” has a pulsating disco
beat that seems to shift styles throughout the entire song. Fantasy
Black Channel is not for the conservative music fan, but for those
willing to risk some musical experimentation, its catchy tunes
and throbbing beats will make you move.
—Andrew Champagne
XO IS LeATHERMOUTH’s debut album, a foray into screamo and
hardcore. The band is the side project of Frank Iero, rhythm guitarist
for My Chemical Romance, and that should give you some idea of
the quality of the music here—Iero plays backup guitar in a shitty
band, so why would you ever listen to an entire album of his? XO
features driving, blindingly fast, distortion-laden licks with Iero
screaming his angst-ridden lungs out. XO’s largest flaw is easily the
wearisome, incoherent, indecipherable high-pitch screaming Iero
uses gratuitously throughout the album. He stated in a press release
d
that LeATHERMOUTH is an opportunity for him to “vent about
all the bullshit that I see going on in the world that makes me ill.”
LeATHERMOUTH
Be that as it may, his constant screaming is more likely to make his
XO audience feel ill. The songs on the album aren’t all bad, however. The
track “Catch Me If You Can” is a glimmer of hope for Iero’s future
career—it’s intricate and well-composed, and it is the only instance
of Iero’s voice diverging from the monotonous screaming in all the
other songs. Hopefully he can build on that style in the future and
stop his one-man vocal assault on the eardrums of his audience.
—Julian Blizzard
HijYZcihgZXZ^kZ*%d[[7dmD[[^XZi^X`Zieg^XZh
If[dZj^[[l[d_d]
_dj^[fh[i[dY[
e\Wjhkbo]h[Wj
f[h\ehc[hÅ
=hWcco
7mWhZ#m_dd_d]
@Wc[i;^d[i
Ehnes
Photo: Benjamin Ealovega
:A<6G
VcY
96K>9AD8@>C<IDC!XdcYjXidg
;ZWgjVgn
&-"&.
Hdji]Vb=Vaa-e#b#
I^X`Zih[gdb&.
?6B:H:=C:H!k^da^c
H8DII<DD9 LdgaYEgZb^ZgZd[C688dbb^hh^dc
@DGC<DA9 K^da^c8dcXZgid
:A<6G :c^\bVKVg^Vi^dch
C 68 Orchestra
 Bad
New in Town
IT’S OFTEN HARD for romantic comedies to
break the stereotypes of the genre. The trite and
Film
tiresome plot devices that pepper every roman-
tic comedy are, to some, tried and true (and if it
ain’t broke, don’t fix it). New in Town, a romantic
comedy starring Renée Zellweger, takes all these
stereotypes and more and creates a tired and trite
pastiche sure to please no one. What if you made
a movie that was entirely predictable, entirely ste-
reotypical, and devoid of all originality? Well, the
result would look a whole lot like this film.
New in Town stinks, and it’s all been done be-
fore. Our workaholic heroine, Lucy (Zellweger),
gets thrust from her high-stakes job in Manhat-
tan to the slow-paced world of New Ulm, Min-
nesota, in order to facilitate her company’s take-
over of a local manufacturing plant. Lucy, who
is supposed to be a high-powered woman out of
touch with her feelings, just comes off as a cal-
lous and unfeeling bitch. The movie is supposed
to be about her character development—the
woman who learns to love—but in the end she
still comes off cold and distant. Zellweger has
natural charm, but it’s completely lost in this sea
of clichés and pratfalls that writers Ken Rance,
C. Jay Cox, and director Jones Elmer force on
her. That’s right, the physical comedy that was
F
so endearing in Bridget Jones’s Diary is present
here, but its only purpose seems to be to remind
the audience of the other, better romantic com-
edies Zellweger has starred in.
The clichés continue to cascade as Lucy gets
acquainted to her small-town surroundings.
She falls for her main adversary in the factory
takeover, workers union representative Ted
(Harry Connick, Jr.). Ted is another poorly re-
alized character, a belligerent slob whose glar-
ing personal defects are supposed to be excused
once we find out that he’s damaged goods. Just
because someone has experienced emotional
trauma doesn’t mean he has the right to be an
asshole all the time, but nobody told the writers
of New in Town. Seldom have two more dislik-
able people been brought together in a romantic
comedy, and seldom has a relationship seemed
more absurd.
New in Town is no Bridget Jones’s Diary. It’s
no When Harry Met Sally. Hell, it’s not even on
par with P.S. I Love You. This is a movie without
a single endearing character or quality, which is
a feat in a genre where that is supposed to come
so easily. New in Town should be ridden out on
a rail.
—Peter Henderson
Good
Taken Film
TAKEN IS A suspenseful and gripping thriller
with enough car chases and shootings to go
around, but it’s the emotional family bonds that
drive both the plot and the characters forward.
When Kim (Maggie Grace) and her friend
Amanda (Katie Cassidy) are kidnapped while
on vacation, it’s up to Kim’s father Bryan (Liam
Neeson) to rescue them before it’s too late. As
Neeson murders his way through the criminal
underworld to find information about his daugh-
ter’s disappearance, he uncovers a conspiracy that
reaches further than he could have imagined.
The plot of Taken may be predictable, but the
action is awesome. The film never gets repetitive
or boring, and any weaknesses in structure are
quickly forgotten when the action scenes ramp
up—even if the actual violence is minimal.
Apart from the action, though, Taken has a sur-
prising emotional core. The audience believes in
Bryan’s desire to protect his daughter, and the
family dynamics that the film explores—albeit
briefly—make the characters much more iden-
tifiable and three-dimensional.
A
Thankfully, Taken moves away from the
shaky-cam trend that has plagued other recent
action movies like Quantum of Solace, Eagle
Eye, and Batman Begins. Director Pierre Morel
lets the action speak for itself instead of over-
whelming it with fancy camerawork. The movie
is filmed in dark shadows and back alleys—it’s
lit like an Alfred Hitchcock film, but that is a
very good thing.
Although Famke Janssen’s role as the bitchy
ex-wife is unusually weak, the rest of the cast is
incredible and manages to bring out the emo-
tional undercurrent of the film. The always
amazing Neeson plays a man driven to despera-
tion out of love and concern, giving a nuanced
performance that makes him seem at once a
devoted father and a ruthless killer. Although
Taken sounds like typical action movie fare, it
has an emotional heart that sets it apart from
other films in the genre.
—Nick Rudiak

Independent Corner

LAURENT CANTET’S THE Class, winner of the
Palme d’Or at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival, is
an engrossing and entertaining classroom drama.
Adapted by François Bégaudeau—who also stars
as himself—from his semi-autobiographical
2006 novel Entre les murs, the film details the
struggles of a literature teacher at a tough, in-
ner-city Paris school. Based on his experiences
as a teacher, Bégaudeau’s screenplay has a real
life ear for classroom chatter and dynamics,
and the line between truth and fiction in The
Class is often blurred. Bégaudeau and the ju-
nior high students—all amateur actors—bring
an unmatched authenticity to the film with the
natural portrayals of their subjects. Begaudeau’s
performance as a persistent, consciously ideal-
istic teacher is endearing. Many of the students
are foreign born and immersed in cultures out-
side that of mainstream France, representing the
new multi-ethnic makeup of the country. They,
like real teenagers, can be smart, soft-spoken,
ignorant, rude, contemptuous, compassionate,
and aggressive. Cantet’s direction sits the audi-
ence down in the classroom and through his in-
timate camerawork he is able to focus in on each
student and his or her peculiarities. Students are
seen solely in the classroom and during recess,
but through their attitudes, appearance, and ac-
tions, they emerge as three-dimensional charac-
ters. The original French title, Entre les murs, can
be translated directly into English as “between
the walls”, which would be a much more ap-
propriate title as Cantet starts and ends many
of the scenes with empty rooms. These rooms
are used as a metaphor of change and hope, but
the audience’s expectation for both erodes as the
classroom tension escalates and the students
challenge their teacher with increasing intensity.
This is one class you do not want to miss.
In French with English subtitles.
—David Davidson
www.thefulcrum.ca // 02.05.09 // ARTS // 11
by Sarah Leavitt
Fulcrum Staff
Ranked seventh in research

F
rom the greenhouse that sits
on top of Gendron Hall to intensity in Canada
the chemical warning signs
in Vanier Hall, the U of O is
abuzz with researchers at work.
According to RE$EARCH Infos-

Extraordinar
ource Inc.’s 2008 ranking of Canada’s
top 50 research universities, the U of
O is ranked seventh in research in-
tensity and is home to almost 1,000
laboratories in a wide range of dis-

i
ciplines. The research has not gone
unnoticed and U of O researchers are
consistently rewarded, nationally and
internationally, for their efforts. Ac-
cording to the U of O, researchers at
the school amassed over $124.7 mil-
lion in grants in 2007.

The flight of bees

714 research
Most people shrink away when they laboratories
hear a bee buzzing in their vicinity,
but Charles Darveau marvels at the
energy and power of that yellow- and
black-striped insect. statistics courtesy University of Ottawa
Darveau is an assistant professor
in the department of biology and his
research focus is the study of metabo-
lism, using flying insects—bees in
particular—as his models. Darveau
received his bachelor of science from
the Université du Québec à Rimouski
and his PhD from the University of
British Columbia.
He explained that he is enraptured
by the flight of bees.
“We all know as humans that if we
exercise, that’s pretty much as expan-
sive as it gets in terms of activities,”
Darveau said. “But in animals, the
mode of locomotion that is the most
expansive is flight. And in flying ani-
mals, insects really have the most ex-
pansive form of flight.”
In his lab in Gendron Hall,
Darveau happily watches his bees fly
around. Strategically placed flowers
provide the bees with much-needed
pollen while the insects occupy them-
selves with serving the queen bee and
nce
tending to their colony. At least once
a day, Darveau or one of his graduateate
students extracts a bee from its colony
ony
in order to study its flight.
“Small species [of bees], in order
der
to fly, hover and gather resources, ces,
have to beat their wings at 250 beatsats
per second,” Darveau stated. “Or- Or-
chid bees—the large bees—in order der
to hover and fly, probably beat their
heir
wings at 80 to 100 beats per second.nd. we end of asking questions that are cyclopedia, sedges are “grasslike tionary nature of things,” explained the Natural Heritage building of The world of spo
If you look at one muscle cell of the related to the lifestyle of these ani- plant[s] distinguished from grasses Starr. “From the point of view of the Canadian Museum of Nature
small species and the large species, mals.” by their 3-sided, solid stems and by biology, to learn anything you where Canada’s biological collec- While the world
the small species has to consume Darveau’s research has been leaves with 3 ranks instead of 2.” need to make a comparison, even tions are kept. the opening cer
three times more oxygen to produce published in the Journal of Experi- Starr was one of five Ottawa if you are comparing individuals. While his work with sedges Vancouver 2010
three times more energy to accom- mental Biology and the Canadian scientists to receive funding from But the only way that you can truly has taken him across the world, Games, the game
plish the exact same activity. We have Society of Zoologists Bulletin. the Ontario Research Fund for his understand something new is by Canada offers him a great place to be running aroun
this great diversity in the amount of research. With his $89,683 grant, knowing [the differences] within a do his research, as its landscape is frenzy. That’s the p
energy needed to accomplish a simi- Ottawa’s grassroots Starr is looking into the DNA of group of species or in a family, [as dominated by sedge grasses. These pics that truly f
lar activity.” sedges. well as having] some sense of the grasses make up 10 per cent of the Parent.
From observing their flight, The next time you take that short- “They’re the kind of things that evolutionary distance [between country’s flora and are particularly Parent is an as
Darveau and his students gain a bet- cut through the park or field, you practically nobody would even species].” prominent in Ottawa. in the School of
ter understanding of bees’ individual may be destroying the very thing recognize or know that they were Starr splits his time between “Believe it or not, there’s over and her current
cellular metabolism and the fuel they Julian Starr is studying. Starr is different from grasses,” said Starr. the Canadian Museum of Nature, a hundred species of the sedge on the organizatio
need in order to fly. completing his first year at the U That’s what makes his research where he works as a research sci- genus I study in Ottawa proper,” ing events, or wha
“We end up looking at very intri- of O as an assistant professor in the so difficult. Starr works in system- entist, and the U of O, where he said Starr. “That is a phenomenal sporting world as
cate details of how biochemical path- department of biology and spends atics, or what is commonly known teaches plant categorization to un- number. From a Canadian per- ment”.
ways are put together,” said Darveau. most of his day working with as biological classification. dergraduate and graduate students. spective, [the sedge family] is ex- “What I am inte
“By doing this research, we are work- plants; sedge grasses in particular. “It’s the science that names, clas- He spends much of his time classi- tremely important ecologically,” ing to see how [a
ing with these very neat animals and According to the Canadian En- sifies, and determines the evolu- fying his sedges at the facilities of said Starr. ally organizes the

page 12 | the fulcrum

 for the purchase of a $500,000 shock
tube. The tube—located in the struc-
tural engineering lab in the basement
Ranked 10th in total research of Colonel By Hall—simulates explo-
funding in Canada sions and shakes the entire building
when used.
“It’s the only shock tube in opera-
tion in a university in Canada,” said
Nistor. “With it, we are looking at the

ry
impact of blasts on various infrastruc-
ture: walls, columns, pipes, reservoirs,
and so forth.”
By working together, the team com-
bines the particular aspects of their

nnovation
fields to construct a complete picture.
“[Palermo] and Saatcioglu look at
the structural aspects, I look at the
hydrodynamic aspects,” Nistor ex-
plained. “We have an interdisciplin-
ary approach. That is a quite novel ap-

U of O academia at its finest proach and that’s why I think we have

an edge on this particular project.”

273 teaching GLBT refugee rights

ort management are huge and have big budgets
but not much time to do it,” Par-
is transfixed by ent explained. “They involve many
remonies of the different stakeholders like the gov-
Olympic Winter ernment, the media, sponsors, the
es’ organizers will community, sport organizations,
nd backstage in a and international delegations. How
part of the Olym- do they organize all these people
fascinates Milena and their activity within a short
amount of time?”
ssistant professor The Olympics originated in
Human Kinetics 1896, but there has been little re-
research focuses search conducted into how events
on of major sport- like the Olympics, the Pan-Amer-
at is known in the ican Games, and International
s “sports manage- Swimming Federation World
Aquatics Championships are run.
erested in is look- “There isn’t that much literature
committee] actu- out on it, so I had to essentially
ese things, which start at the beginning when I did
my doctoral studies,” said the Uni-
versity of Alberta graduate. “I had
to say ‘Okay, what does an organiz-
ing committee look like and what
does it do?’”
By sifting through past com-
mittee final reports, press releases,
documents, and by speaking to a
variety of individuals involved in
large-scale sporting events, Parent
gathers the information she needs
in order to uncover the answers
she is looking for. She hopes her
research and results might prove
to be key to the success of future
Games.
“Besides the undergraduate and
graduate students who work with
me, I’m the only one in Canada
who does this kind of work,” she
laboratories
photos by Martha Pearce and courtesy Murat Saatcioglu and Charles Darveau
said. pact of explosions on hydraulic
Parent has co-authored the sec- infrastructures, such as dams. He
ond edition of the textbook Under- received his undergraduate diplo-
standing Sport Organizations: The ma in hydrotechnical engineering
Application of Organization Theory from the Technical University of
and has had a number of her re- Iasi and his PhD in coastal engi-
search articles published in the neering from Yokohama National
Journal of Sport Management and University in Japan.
the Journal of Business Ethics. “[As an] example, someone
comes with a truck on the crest
When things go boom of a dam and blows it up,” Nis-
tor explained. “Water is going to
If one day you are sitting in class start crushing through the crater
in Colonel By Hall and feel a and you will have massive flood-
small earthquake, don’t duck and ing which might wipe out a city
cover—it’s just a routine experi- or a village. We look at how long it
ment. Ioan Nistor, a professor of would take for the dam to fail.”
civil engineering and vice dean Together with engineering pro-
of research in the Faculty of En- fessors Murat Saatcioglu and Dan
gineering, is researching the im- Palermo, Nistor secured a grant
Adopted on July 28, 1951, the United
Nations Convention on Refugees was
the first international convention
to be adopted concerning refugee
rights. Canada was one of the origi-
nal signatories of the convention,
which listed five grounds for claim-
ing refugee status. The fifth ground
of “membership in a particular so-
cial group” is considered an open
category, but many problems have
arisen from the interpretation of this
particular condition.
Nicole LaViolette, vice dean of the
Faculty of Law, looks into the deci-
sions made by the Canadian Immi-
gration Refugee Board concerning
refugee claims made by gay or lesbi-
an individuals and whether they are
considered members of a “particular
social group”. She obtained her bach-
elor of arts from Carleton University
and her baccalaureate in common
law from the University of Ottawa.
Her research involves reviewing
refugee cases and looking at the doc-
uments used to make the decisions on
claims. LaViolette has been interested
in this human rights issue for over ten
years.
“I want to see to what extent are
the commission and the court using
human-rights documentation when
it came to sexual-minority claim-
ants,” LaViolette explained. “Are they
relying on work produced by Am-
nesty International or Human Rights
Watch or other human rights organi-
zations?”
By reviewing case laws and looking
at the actual decisions made by the
board as well as the claims that went
to Canada’s Federal Court, LaViolette
is able to gain a better understanding
of how such decisions were made.
Her research so far has proved fruit-
ful. She was asked to submit an article
on her research findings for a special
issue of the International Journal of
Human Rights.
“In some sense, the situation is bet-
ter. A lot of human-rights organiza-
tions are doing much more work in
different countries to document the
persecution of sexual minority,” she
stated. “However, there is still a need
for those human-rights organizations
to do this kind of documentation
work for more countries.”

the fulcrum | page 13

 Jane Eyre meets Jim Belushi
Belle Moral brings
gothic comedy to
the NAC
by Peter Henderson
Fulcrum Staff
COMEDY AND HORROR do not co-
exist easily, and it’s rare that combina-
tions of the two actually work out. Belle
Moral: A Natural History, a new play at
the National Arts Centre (NAC), is a
rare treat—a gothic comedy that’s eerie
and amusing in equal measures.
Belle Moral, which runs at the NAC
until Feb. 14, deftly straddles the thin
line between humour and horror,
providing a classic gothic storyline
that happens to have a hefty dose of
jokes, sight gags, and laughter. There
are mysterious deaths, a cryptic and
disturbing scientific investigation,
and a terrible storm at the play’s cli-
max—all gothic tropes recognizable
to those familiar with the works of
writers like Edgar Allan Poe or Mary
Shelley. What would make Poe turn
in his grave, however, are the numer-
ous absurd moments in Belle Moral—
an ancient butler who is constantly
referred to as “young”, a young man
with an unfortunate predilection for
underwear-free living, and rapid-fire
dialogue that would seem more ap-
propriate in a 1940s Katherine Hep-
burn screwball comedy. Though it
exists in an uneasy place between
two disparate genres, Belle Moral is
a modern classic that’s engaging and
Breaking out of the cubicle
14 \\ ARTS \\ 02.05.09 \\ www.thefulcrum.ca
hilarious.
The play, written by bestselling Cana-
dian novelist and playwright Ann-Ma-
rie MacDonald and based on her 1990
play The Arab’s Mouth, tells the story of
the MacIsaacs, a Scottish family coping
with the death of their father and the
family secrets that his death unearths.
Pearl MacIsaac (Fiona Byrne), the ca-
pable, intelligent, and studious daugh-
ter, must keep her brother Victor (Jeff
Meadows) from self-destructing long
enough to untangle their inheritance
while dealing with the meddling of her
aunt Flora (Donna Belleville) and her
father’s oldest friend, Dr. Seamus Reid
(Peter Hutt).
The greatest strength of Belle Moral
is the script. It’s fast-paced, funny,
and intelligent, and it never pauses
long enough for you to see how pre-
dictable the whole plot really is. Al-
though MacDonald depends heavily
on gothic devices—suicide, madness,
and family secrets squirreled away
in the attic—the witty dialogue and
intricate plotting keep the play fresh
and energetic.
Director Alisa Palmer has done an
outstanding job of bringing Belle Mor-
al to life. Inventive staging that utilizes
a large backdrop with three rotating
pieces adds diversity to what could
have been a dreary set, as many of the
scenes are set in two distinctly bor-
ing locations—a drawing-room and a
study. Even the scene changes are ex-
ecuted well, making use of both stage
hands and actors to perform quick
switches that never distract from the
plot. Some of the scene changes even
have jokes, physical comedy that’s
photo courtesy Make Your Exit
Donna Belleville and Fiona Byrne make Belle Moral: A Natural History a delight for theatre fans.
barely visible in the dark. This is a dar-
ing move because it draws attention to
the stage and breaks the suspension of
disbelief. It’s a credit to Palmer that it
works in Belle Moral.
Though the script is the primary
strength of Belle Moral, the superb
acting leaves very little to be desired.
Byrne’s Pearl MacIsaac is a wonder to
behold, a woman of exceeding intel-
lect and sharp wit who could hold
her own against any literary heroine.
Byrne is in almost every scene and
has several long monologues, yet she
Old friends Make
Your Exit exchange
business for rock
by Sepideh Soltaninia
Fulcrum Contributor
FOR THE MEMBERS of ambient
alternative band Make Your Exit—
think a tighter, smaller Broken Social
Scene—their high school band was
more than just a teenage pastime.
And now, it’s their vocation. After
completing their respective degrees
and entering the business world,
these six long-time friends from To-
ronto reunited in late 2007. They had
a common realization—there’s more
to life than work.
“All of us sort of parted ways when
we went to university,” explains lead
vocalist Jeff Buckley. “Then we all got
our standard office desk jobs where
we were working in cubicles and were
essentially hating what we were doing.
The name [of the band] pretty much
boils down to me saying, literally, that
I wanted to make my exit.”
For Make Your Exit, which consists
dominates the play with grace and
aplomb. Her character’s chief foil is
Dr. Reid, and Hutt plays his conflict-
ed character well—a man caught be-
tween loyalty to his best friend and a
desire for scientific progress, one who
espouses compassion one moment
and the amoral evil of eugenics the
next. The rest of the cast is strong as
well, with Belleville a standout in the
role of Flora.
It’s no surprise that Belle Moral
was a hit when it first premiered at
Niagara-on-the-Lake’s Shaw Festival
of drummer Mike Thomson, guitar-
ist Mike Denby, saxophonist Oliver
Pauk, keyboardist Adam Pesce, bass-
ist Mike Dellios, and Buckley, leaving
the corporate world required rekin-
dling some very old friendships. The
guys, most of whom have known each
other since high school, made an ef-
fort to get back together, and they
now describe the band more like a
family than a job.
“We’ve known each other for so
long and we’ve grown as musicians
together,” recalls Dellios. “When I
started playing bass, I think the first
time I picked one up was with Jeff and
we were in Grade 7. So knowing how
people play and just coming into your
own with specific musicians makes it
more of a family attitude where you
don’t feel that it’s awkward to be hon-
est and straightforward.”
The band will be showcasing mu-
sic from their debut self-titled EP at
a concert hosted by the University of
Ottawa’s Criminal Law Students’ As-
sociation on Feb. 6 at the Rainbow
Bistro. Proceeds from the show will
benefit the Association in Defense of
the Wrongfully Convicted (AIDWC).
AIDWC is an organization that advo-
photo courtesy Emily Cooper
in 2005. Much of the original cast, in-
cluding Byrne, return for the Ottawa
edition of the play, and they play their
familiar roles with effortless joy and
charm. Theatre done well is a treat for
the senses, and Belle Moral gets every-
y
thing nearly perfect.
Belle Moral: A Natural History is at
the NAC (53 Elgin St.) until Feb. 14.
Tickets are $42 for adults and $22.25
for students, $37 and $19.95 for mati-
nees. For more information, visit nac-
cna.ca.
cates for those charged with murder
in whose cases evidence of their in-
nocence exists.
“It feels nice to have another reason
to play a show that can make you feel
good and provide a service and fund-
ing to a good organization,” explains
Buckley.
Make Your Exit will also be stop-
ping in several other cities across On-
tario in February and March.
As a band, the guys are working
hard to distinguish themselves in the
independent music industry.
“It is what you make of it,” says
Buckley. “You can be a super success-
ful indie band that grinds it out and
pushes really hard to make it happen
or you can sit around and let it pass
you by. If you don’t work hard it’s not
going to happen for you, because no
one else is doing it for you.”
Make Your Exit play at the Rainbow
Bistro (76 Murray St.) on Feb. 6 at 9
p.m. Tickets are $10 in advance and
$14 at the door. Tickets are on sale
now, and are available every day be-
tween 11:30 a.m and 1 p.m. in Fauteux
Hall. For more information, visit mys-
pace.com/makeyourexit.
 15
David McClelland

Sports Feb. 5–11, 2009

Sports Editor
sports@thefulcrum.ca

Back with a vengeance

Men’s basketball
destroys opposition
by Anna Rocoski
Fulcrum Staff
JUST TWO DAYS after dropping the
Capital Hoops Classic 87-72 to the
Carleton Ravens, the Gee-Gees men’s
basketball team bounced back and
defeated the Laurentian Voyageurs
88-52 on Jan. 30 and the York Lions
111-76 on Jan. 31 in Ottawa.
“We’re disappointed we didn’t play
our best game on Wednesday night
[against Carleton], and so we wanted
to come back and correct some mis-
takes we made,” said Gee-Gees head
coach Dave DeAveiro after the game
against York. “I thought we did that
this weekend, so now we have to build
on these two games because we got a
tough weekend next weekend in To-
ronto.”
“Coming into these two games this
weekend, they were statement games,”
said third-year centre Louis Gauthier.
“What we wanted to do was compose
ourselves and show that even though
we lost [to Carleton], we’re a tough
team and no one is going to walk over
us like that.”
On Jan. 30, Ottawa coasted to an
easy win over Laurentian, led by an
18-point effort by fourth-year guard
Josh Gibson-Bascombe. The Gees
looked confident throughout the
game and capitalized on a lethargic
Voyageurs side to jump to a 45-24
lead at halftime. Although Laurentian
improved their play in the second
half, Ottawa pulled away and had no
trouble wrapping up an 88-52 win.
Against York the following night,
Ottawa once again had the game sewn
up at half time with a commanding
55-28 lead. Gibson-Bascombe and
fourth-year guard Josh Wright were
the top scorers for the entire game
with 26 and 25 points, respectively,
but neither saw any time on the court
during the fourth quarter.
DeAveiro used the final quarter of
the game to give many back-up play-
ers a chance to rack up some minutes
of playing time. This included second-
year guard Bojan Dodik, who played
the last five minutes and nailed three
three-pointers, as well as Gauthier,
who finished with 13 points. Gauthi-
er, who stands 6’8”, is being tapped as
an eventual replacement for veteran
center Dax Dessureault.
“[Gauthier] played great tonight,”
said DeAveiro “[He] has made a
steady improvement and progress
throughout the year and he is getting
more and more playing time. When
[Dessureault] graduates, Louis is go-
ing to be the guy to step in next year,
so this is good for him in terms of
that.”
“I think I played pretty well,” said
Gauthier. “Minutes are always good.
When the coach says you’re doing
well you get minutes, so I’ve got to
keep working hard and get [them].”
With the pair of wins, DeAveiro
also entered the Gee-Gees record
books as the winningest men’s basket-
ball coach in the U of O’s history. The
victory against York gave him a 167-
104 overall record spanning eight sea-
sons, surpassing the 166-221 record
held by Jack Eisenmann, established
from 1989 to 2001.
The pair of wins improve Ottawa’s
record to 15-2, leaving them in sec-
ond place in the Ontario University
Athletics East division. The Gee-Gees photo by Alex Martin
next play on Feb. 6, when they visit the Ottawa’s David Labentowicz hooks a shot past Laurentian forward Matas
third-place Toronto Varsity Blues. Tirilis.

Lions lament Laurie lashing

photo by Laura Barclay

Gee-Gees centres Hannah Sunley-Paisley (pictured) and Katie Laurie combined for 53 points
against weekend opponents Laurentian and York.
Playing against a smaller York team, Gee-
Gees head coach Andy Sparks knew that mak-
Gee-Gees centre has ing Laurie the centrepiece of the team’s game
season-best 23-point game plan could yield results.
“For a lot of this year, our perimeter players
by Ben Myers have carried us,” Sparks said. “In this game, be-
Fulcrum Staff cause [York] was a little smaller and beaten up
a bit with a couple injuries, it meant we had a
IS KATIE LAURIE getting better with age? The post advantage, so we were trying to play to the
23-year-old centre celebrated her birthday on post.”
Jan. 31 with a 23-point game, helping the Gee- The Gee-Gees point guards fed Laurie the ball
Gees defeat the York Lions 74-60. Coupled with in the paint throughout the evening. Reaching
a 76-67 overtime win against the Laurentian over defenders for easy buckets, the fifth-year
Voyageurs the previous evening, the Gee-Gees centre exploited the Lions’ most glaring weak-
are once again within reach of first place in the ness: size.
Ontario University Athletics (OUA) East divi-
sion. LASHING continued on p. 16

Carleton fans silent
as offence falters
by Andrew Hawley
Fulcrum Staff
IF NOT FOR the last 20 seconds of
the Jan. 31 showdown between the
University of Ottawa women’s hockey
team and the Carleton Ravens, the
Ravens’ Ice House would have put a
library to shame. Ravens fans only got
one opportunity to cheer, for a last
minute goal that broke Ottawa’s shut-
out bid in the Gees’ 2-1 victory. The
confident Ottawa squad improved to
3-0-2 against their cross-town rivals
this season. It was the first Gee-Gees
win at the Ravens’ home Ice House
since January 2008.
Ottawa brought pressure early by
outshooting Carleton 10-3 in the first
period. While they generated chances
on two power plays, it was their de-
fence that shone by keeping the Ra-
vens from getting shots through to
the net.
“We had a quick start to the first
period,” said Gee-Gees head coach
Shelley Coolidge. “I was impressed
how well as a five-man unit we were
committed to the back check. We
competed [well] for loose pucks in
the defensive zone.”
Gees ground Ravens
In the second period, the Gees pen-
alty kill was put to the test as the team
took five penalties, including two
from second-year defender Kelsey
deWit just seconds apart. Ottawa was
successful in killing them all.
“The penalty killers played very
well tonight,” noted Coolidge. “They
got into the shooting lanes and
stopped shots.”
The Gee-Gees’ efforts were reward-
ed with a goal from first-year forward
Fannie Desforges seven minutes into
the second period. She received a
dead-on pass in the slot from fellow
first-year winger Jodi Reinholcz and
put it past Carleton goalie Amanda
Muhlig.
“It was a beautiful pass and a
beautiful goal,” said a smiling Des-
forges after the game. “We were
having difficulty scoring lately so it
was important to get one to set the
tone.”
Coolidge noted that the Gees sat
back on their heels in the third pe-
riod, as Carleton outshot Ottawa 9-4.
Gee-Gees fifth-year goaltender Jes-
sika Audet was forced to make some photo by Alex Martin
key saves, especially on an early Ra- wards. “She stepped up in the third a 2-0 lead. the win.
ven power play. Audet also received period.” With a last-minute power play,
some help midway through the pe- Along with Audet’s third-period the Ravens pulled Muhlig and for- Ottawa remains second in the QSSF
riod when a wrist shot from Carleton performance, Desforges contributed ward Jennifer Gordon scored a one- with a 6-5-2 record. They host the St.
forward Sara Seiler got past her, but offensively again when she made a timer from the slot, finally getting Thomas Tommies in an exhibition
then ricocheted off the post. pass to second-year forward Erika the team on the board. But with just game Feb. 7 at 5:30 p.m. and then the
“[Audet] played really solid for us Pouliot, who scored a backhand goal 19 seconds left to play it was too lit- McGill Martlets on Feb. 8 at 6 p.m.
tonight,” commended Coolidge after- on Muhlig’s stick side to give the Gees tle too late, and the Gees took home Tickets are $4 for students.

LASHING continued from p. 15 worst enemy.” University of Ottawa

The Gee-Gees recovered in the third quarter,
Lions point guard Laura McCallum tried her scoring three-straight three-point baskets and
best to force the Gees into a shooting contest, opening up a 48-42 lead by the end of the quar-
scoring 28 points with killer accuracy from the ter. From there, Ottawa had no problems sewing

TRANSFORMING NSSE
three-point line and quick darts to the basket. up the game, coming away with a 74-60 win.
Combined with 12 points from a surprising 59- Hosting Laurentian on Jan. 30, the Gees had
58 win over the Carleton Ravens the previous their shooting game running at full steam as

THE UNIVERSITY CUSC

evening, McCallum now holds the title of most guards Emilie Morasse and Forbes scored 21
prolific scorer in Lions women’s basketball his- and 16 points respectively. Ottawa outscored the
tory. Voyageurs 10-1 in the overtime frame to win the

“It wasn’t pretty, but we’ll take [the win],” Gee-
Gees fourth-year guard Allison Forbes said fol-
lowing the game. “Our first look down the floor
was to get to our high-low [play] … and they
couldn’t stop it, so we kept going to that.”
In the second quarter, McCallum gave the
Lions the lead while Laurie and the Gee-Gees’
shooting went ice-cold. The Lions out-scored
Ottawa 17-9 in the quarter, knotting the game
at 30-30 at halftime.
“It just seems like we can’t [maintain] pros-
perity,” Sparks said of the team’s second-quarter
woes. “We can’t really put [teams] away, and
that’s been our problem all year. We’ve been in a
lot of close games and sometimes we’re our own
EXPERIENCE
game 76-67.
A crucial game against the OUA East divi-
sion-leading University of Toronto Varsity Blues
on Feb. 6 in Toronto will likely determine the
Gee-Gees’ final position in the standings as they
head to the playoffs, which begin Feb. 18. Otta-
wa is currently tied with Carleton for second in
the division with a 12-6 record, while the Blues
are 13-5. The Gees have four games remaining.
“After we lost at Scotiabank Place, I thought
we were going to have some trouble [winning
both games],” said Sparks. “But we responded
with two wins this weekend and Carleton took a
loss [Jan. 31] to York, so we’re back [to] control-
ling our own destiny again.”

National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE)

Canadian University Survey Consortium (CUSC)

www.uOttawa.ca
For further information:
Hélène Lacroix, 613-562-5954

16 \\ SPORTS \\ 02.05.09 \\ www.thefulcrum.ca

 Self-run and self-motivated
Coachless men’s
soccer team still
going strong
by Megan O’Meara
Fulcrum Staff
THEY DON’T HAVE a coach and
they have to pay many of their ex-
penses out of their own pockets, but
the Gee-Gees men’s soccer team still
manages to keep itself running.
While the women’s soccer team is a
varsity team, the men’s team only has
competitive club status, meaning they
receive much less money from the U
of O. Veteran striker Ben Trenaman
explains that the university provides
some funding and the players bear the
everyday costs of running the team.
“We do receive a small sum of
money from the U of O, but [we]
pay for most of our tournaments and
travel costs as well as referees. Gear
and field time [is paid for] with mon-
ey the team fundraises,” he said.
In addition to the financial respon-
sibilities, the team hasn’t had a coach
since 2007, and has been running it-
self ever since. Captain Marc-André
Paulin runs the team with co-captain
Shawn Spendlove and a few other
veteran players, including Trenaman.
Paulin explains that there are three
players in charge of choosing the
team’s players for tournaments, while
he takes care of the team’s finances and
another player looks after the practice
schedule. He noted that, unlike var-
sity teams, the competitive club teams
don’t get a lot of gym time.
“Obviously the gym time is really
booked during the year so we were
only given 8:30–10:30 [a.m.] on Tues-
days,” he said. “We actually need a lot
more and that’s why the coach from
the [women’s] team lets us practice
with them on Monday and Wednes-
day.”
Along with the limited gym access,
the team is also forced to travel for al-
most all of its games.
“We don’t have a slot for games on
the weekends here, so we can’t host
any home games,” explained Paulin.
“We have to go to other schools and
play them on their fields.”
Fortunately, the members of the
team are able to raise enough money photo courtesy Ben Trenaman
to cover these costs, and only need to It’s been two years since they’ve had a coach, but the Gee-Gees men’s soccer team has still found a way to
pay for extras like tracksuits or new survive.
balls. Despite these issues, the team Paulin noted that while the team The team wishes it could be a var- that aren’t coming out for the team
has been able to thrive, beating varsi- has consistently good results, they sity team, contending that they are just because we aren’t varsity,” said
ty teams in exhibition games at other benefit little from them. skilled enough to compete and that Paulin. “There’s still a lot of talent at
schools. The players often get com- “It is frustrating because it’s always having this status would encourage the university that we wish we could
pliments from the coaches of other exhibition games and we don’t even more students to try out. With varsity use … to maybe even better our
teams. count in the standings,” said Paulin. status, the team would receive fund- team.”
“Over the past few years we have “We prepare for the games but there’s ing for travel and equipment, a paid Those players that do play in spite
had good results and [proven] to be no real point of trying to set a goal to head coach, and would be eligible to of these challenges are willing to face
highly competitive with these much try and make it to the finals or the [Ca- compete in Canadian Interuniversity them head on.
higher funded and more organized nadian Interuniversity Sport] champi- Sports. “We’re trying to do the best that we
teams,” said Trenaman. onships at the end of the year.” “There’s still a lot of good players can with what we have,” said Paulin.

Around the horn

Men’s hockey can’t repeat upset
AFTER SHOCKING THE second-ranked Uni-
versité de Trois-Rivières à Québec (UQTR) Patri-
otes with a 3-2 win on Jan. 23, the Gee-Gees men’s
hockey team was unable to repeat the feat during
their road trip Jan. 30–Feb. 1. They lost to the Pa-
triotes 5-3 on Jan. 30, and then lost to the Concor-
dia Stingers 5-4 in a shootout two days later.
While UQTR, now ranked third, was set on
avenging their loss to the Gees, for a while it
looked like Ottawa might pull off another up-
set. Goals from rookie centre Phillipe Bolduc,
fourth-year centre Dan McDonald, and third-
year winger Yanick Charron gave the Gees a 3-2
lead after two periods. But UQTR tied the game
early in the final frame and then scored again
with less than five minutes to go. An empty-net
goal in the dying minutes of the game secured
the win for UQTR.
Against Concordia, Gees third-year winger
Keven Gagné had a field day, scoring a hat trick,
his best single-game performance this season.
His third goal was on a power play in the third
period to tie the game 4-4 with less than 30 sec-
onds left to play. But the Gees’ comeback was
thwarted when Concordia’s Nicolas Lafontaine
scored the lone goal in the shootout to give the
Stingers the win.
Ottawa remains last in the OUA East with a
9-10-5 record. They next play on Feb. 8 when
they host the Toronto Varsity Blues at 2 p.m. at
the Sports Complex. Tickets are $4 for students.
—Andrew Hawley
Women’s volleyball swept aside
on Toronto road trip
TORONTO WASN’T KIND to the Gee-Gees
women’s volleyball team on Jan. 30–31, as the
squad lost two games in straight sets to the To-
ronto Varsity Blues and York Lions.
Against Toronto on Jan. 30, the Gees started
strong, battling the Blues to a close 27-25 loss
in the opening set. But Ottawa was unable to
maintain the solid effort and couldn’t stay close
enough to the Blues to threaten them in the fi-
nal two sets, falling 25-13 and 25-22. Third-year
leftside/rightside Aminata Diallo was Ottawa’s
top scorer with eight kills.
The next day, the Gees bit off more than they
could chew against the Lions, who are unde-
feated in 17 games this season. York made short
work of the Garnet and Grey, defeating Ottawa
25-22, 25-16, and 25-20. Fifth-year Ottawa left-
side hitter Karine Gagnon led both teams in
scoring with six kills and 14 digs.
The loss drops Ottawa to 12-6 on the season,
leaving them in second place in the Ontario
University Athletics (OUA) East division. The
Gees will round out their season on Feb. 7 when
they host the 12-5 Brock Badgers at Montpetit
Hall at 2:30 p.m. Tickets are $4 for students.
If the Gee-Gees win, they will host an OUA
quarterfinal on Feb. 14.
—David McClelland

If you’re reading this, you have the attention to detail we need in our proofreaders.
Come to 631 King Edward Ave. on Tuesday evenings to keep the Fulcrum error-free.

www.thefulcrum.ca // 02.05.09 // SPORTS // 17

Lighting the lamp
I didn’t watch Super Bowl XLIII
I HAVE A confession to make: I didn’t
watch the Super Bowl on Feb. 1.
Truthfully, I have never worried
about it much. I know, it seems in-
congruous—I am, obviously, a sports
fan, and you can often find me glued
to a television during the Stanley Cup
finals or the World Series. But never
during the Super Bowl.
I’m often met with shock when I
David McClelland tell people I didn’t watch it, like I’ve
just admitted that I burned the Mona
Sports Editor Lisa or that I personally orchestrated
money back
fast
walk in with your taxes, walk out with your money
and you could win $5,000 towards a road trip. visit refundroadtrip.ca
come in today or call
1-800-HRBLOCK (472-5625)
To qualify for student pricing, student must present either (i) a T2202a documenting 4 or more months of full-time attendance at a college or university during 2008 or (ii) a valid high school
identification card. Expires July 31, 2009. Must also qualify for Instant Cash Back and Cash Back products. See office for details. Valid only at participating H&R Block locations in Canada. SPC Card
offers valid from 08/01/08 to 07/31/09 at participating locations in Canada only. For Cardholder only. Offers may vary, restrictions may apply. Usage may be restricted when used in conjunction with
any other offer or retailer loyalty card discounts. Cannot be used towards the purchase of gift cards or certificates.
18 \\ SPORTS \\ 02.05.09 \\ www.thefulcrum.ca
fake NASA moon landings. I’ve never
quite understood it. Sure, the Super
Bowl is a championship game, but
it’s not like it’s the only major pro-
fessional sports championship that’s
decided over the course of any given
year. Yet it seemingly draws fans out
of the woodwork, as people who don’t
even like football end up watching the
game.
There’s a reason for this of course:
the Super Bowl has become a com-
plete and utter circus over the years.
I can’t help but compare it to our
own Grey Cup, the Canadian Foot-
ball League’s annual championship.
Though things like half-time shows
make appearances, the Grey Cup is
much humbler and more down-to-
earth which allows the events in the
game to shine through.
With the Super Bowl, though, I
always feel like the game gets lost in
the noise, no matter how memorable
it is. Between the ridiculously over-
blown commercials, the thousands
of fireworks that are fired, and the
overproduced halftime shows, I start
to lose track of what the whole thing
is about.
Why can’t we simply enjoy the
game for its own sake, without all
the trappings? Take the World Series:
over the last 10 years, it’s usually at-
tracted between 15 and 20 million
viewers per year. Nowhere near as
high as the Super Bowl (which had 95
million this year), granted, but still a
pretty significant number. However,
Major League Baseball has resisted
the urge to make the series into an
over-the-top spectacle. At the end of
the day, it’s about baseball—nothing
more, nothing less.
The Super Bowl is at the forefront
of what I think is a bigger problem in
sports—a need to be flashy and over
the top. It’s impossible to watch any
professional game these days without
being bombarded by promotions and
contests, like we need something to
distract us from the game in case we
get bored. I can’t help but feel that we
need to dial things back and turn our
attention back to the athletes and the
game.
I know I’m nearly alone when it
comes to having this point of view,
but I stand by it. Let’s enjoy games
on their own merit, without needing
to turn them into the Sporting Event
of the Year™. Because the appeal of
sports isn’t the half-time show, the
ads, or even how many million peo-
ple are watching; it’s the game. That’s
what should matter in the end.
sports@thefulcrum.ca
613-562-5931
sudoku answers from p. 22

Opinion
Recorded lectures
might be key in the
future of education
by Lisa Le
Fulcrum Contributor
IT’S MIDTERM SEASON and lectures are
dominating students’ time once again. Students
suffer from hand cramps from scribbling down
their professor’s words, and then strain their
eyes trying to decipher their scrawls at home.
One solution to the struggle of keeping up with
professors could be recorded lectures. At the
University of Ottawa, we already use Virtual
Campus, where professors can post their own
PowerPoint slides for students. So why can’t we
add more media? Recording in-class lectures
would give students the ability to refer to their
lectures any time they wanted. This means that
during ugly weather or
paralyzing events such
as a public transit strike,
students would still be If the U of O had
able to follow the classes
they were unintention- provided students with
ally missing. access to recorded
During the recent OC
Transpo strike, some lectures during the bus
students were unable
to get to class on time,
strike, students wouldn’t
sometimes not even at have had to miss out on
all; forcing some to drop
classes altogether. If the
as much content, and
U of O had provided some would not have
students with access to
recorded lectures during had to drop courses.
the bus strike, students
wouldn’t have had to
miss out on as much content, and some would
not have had to drop courses.
Students aren’t the only ones who could ben-
efit from recorded lectures—professors could
extend their reputation outside of the U of O.
According to a November 2008 article pub-
lished in University Affairs, recorded lectures
are catching on across North America. The
article highlighted the experience of profes-
sor Robert C. Burk, an associate professor and
chair in the department of chemistry at Car-
leton University, who was reportedly the first
educator worldwide to record and release vid-
eo podcasts of an entire course. This garnered
him attention from students, other professors,
colleagues, and media. Regardless, Burk fo-
cused on the recordings’ benefits for students,
who he noted were combining class attendance
with lecture review afterwards, correlating im-
proved academic performance with increased
lecture viewing. The article further cited re-
search from the University of Wisconsin-Mad-
ison that polled 7,500 students and found that
82 per cent preferred courses that were supple-
If you’re reading this, you have the attention
to detail we need in our proofreaders.
Come to 631 King Edward Ave. on Tuesday evenings
to keep the Fulcrum error-free.
19
Michael Olender
Feb. 5-11, 2009
Executive Editor
executive@thefulcrum.ca
Tune in to learn
mented with recorded lectures posted online
to courses without. Students said that they fa-
voured courses with recorded lectures because
the recorded components helped them make
up for missed classes, review material and im-
prove retention, and boost test scores.
There are many other instances in which
recorded lectures could be useful. Students
who study at the university through corre-
spondence could benefit more from recorded
lectures than just word documents. Recorded
lectures could improve international students’
chances of mastering English or French while
keeping on top of course material. There are
students in French Immersion who are still
struggling to understand the French vocabu-
lary, and with recorded lectures they would be
able to review and solidify their knowledge of
the content. Notably, at Carleton University a
pilot program was recently launched which
allowed students to cut and paste video clips
from recorded lectures into a compilation of
clips that they might want to refer to later—
think of it like making
a study sheet full of
important points that
you might want to re-
view before a test. So
the technology could
be applied and im-
proved to benefit both
students and teaching
illustration by Devin A. Beauregard
methods.
Of course there is
a negative side to this
solution. Professors
would likely be dis-
couraged if the major-
ity of students in their
classes skipped lectures
and instead depended
on videos available on-
line. Another point is that students who rely
on recorded lectures won’t get the face-to-face
interaction with professors. Once students
reach their third and fourth years of study, it
becomes important to forge relationships with
professors—especially if they need reference
letters for graduate studies applications or jobs
in their field. Finally there is funding: record-
ing equipment and software isn’t cheap, and
neither is your professor’s time. But university
is already expensive, and if it’s possible, stu-
dents should get their money’s worth by being
able to access the lectures that cost them big
bucks anytime they want. Are the benefits that
trickle from recorded lectures worth the time,
effort, and money? I believe that if the U of O
provided the means to access recorded lec-
tures, students would be able to maximize their
learning and get more for their money. Pro-
fessors could record the lectures they already
give it class and then circulate them on Virtual
Campus afterwards.
It’s not too great of a stretch to envision this as
the new standard in universities.
 LETTERS continued from p. 3

The first Millennium Village Project

started in 2004 in Sauri, Kenya, and
its purpose was to fund $2.75 million
in five years to make this village self-
sustainable and economically empow-
ered in order to be able to thrive in fu-
ture generations. With added income
to the families, a better water supply,
more access to vaccinations, agricul-
tural aid, and resources for education,
it would supposedly permit the village
to sustain itself. The money is being
spent in good places, but will it really
be beneficial in the long run?
If Sauri is a success, this system
will be implemented in other small
villages. However, the problem with
this is that African countries are often
economically unbalanced for a rea-
son. These nations are infested with
corruption, meaning that the more
money being funneled into the proj-
ect is also putting more funds into the
black market and powerful individu-
als’ pockets. It creates inner-village
struggles and tensions amongst the
surrounding communities, which in-
dicates that throwing millions of dol-
lars into specific villages would not be
the best of ideas.
Since the 1950s over $2.3 trillion
from federal aid programs has been
dedicated to aid relief in Africa. Over-
all, the corruption hasn’t changed, the
situation is still dire and several con-
flicts are still very present. An idealistic
project such as the Millennium Village
creates false pretenses to the public
about particular aid relief projects.
The benefits to U of O students
to partake in the Millennium Vil-
lage project include taking an active
role in effecting world change and
contributing money to the less fortu-
nate. But to realistically effect change
in the world, you need passionate
people who care deeply about these
issues, not just a source of money. I
feel like the Millennium Village proj-
ect has skipped the important steps of
raising awareness and getting people
passionate about these causes to af-
fect change; rather the initiative just
collects $6 a student and expects the
majority of the campus to forget the
yearly donations, never having cared
about these projects and surrounding
problems in the first place.
The students behind this project are
doing something for a greater good.
But I believe the approach is idealistic,
not realistic. Money isn’t the quick,
one-stop solution to these villages’
problems. You need to make specific
investments to solve specific problems,
such as reducing corruption, improving
accountability, and involving the villag-
ers effectively into the decision making
NOKIA N95 8 GB

process of their own development. And

these types of actions need people who
Let the games begin with Campus Battle ’09, where Rogers care enough to be leaders and fight for a
customers duke it out to win a private concert for their school in solution to these problems.
April. It’s open to universities across the country, so cast your vote On Feb 10–12, you will be asked
today and may the best school win. Contest ends March 1.
to fund this project for $6 a year—$24
during an average university stay. I
would be happy to donate that money
Text BATTLE to 4869 or to a philanthropic initiative of my
choice, but will simply saying yes to
visit facebook.com/campusbattle this referendum question make you
care about the situation?
Contest ends March 1, 2009. No purchase necessary. For full contest details, visit rogers.com/urticket.
Joël Larose
Nokia and Nokia Nseries are registered trademarks of Nokia Corporation. Fourth-year
TM
Trademarks of Rogers Communications Inc. used under license. © 2009 Rogers Wireless.
communication student

20 \\ LETTERS \\ 02.05.09 \\ www.thefulcrum.ca

RGW_N_09_1002_B1_B.indd 1 1/9/09 4:54:14 PM
 HECKLES:
Official stupidity
by Peter Henderson
Fulcrum Staff
IT ONLY TOOK minutes for sports-
reporting stupidity to hit after the
Super Bowl matchup between the
Pittsburgh Steelers and the Arizona
Cardinals on Feb. 1. The main Na-
tional Football League blog on Ya-
hoo! Sports—one of the most popu-
lar sports coverage outlets on the
Internet—had an article titled “Of-
ficiating dictates Super Bowl XLIII
to the unreviewed end”. The central
thesis of the article was that the fi-
nal play by the Arizona Cardinals, a
fumble by quarterback Kurt Warner,
should have been reviewed by the
officials. The blog claims that since
it was overlooked, it means that “an
officiating controversy threatens to
overshadow the stellar play on the
field”.
Oh, come on! Any sports fan knows
that blaming the officiating is the last
refuge of the loser, and for a promi-
nent national blogger to say that one
missed replay could overshadow one
of the most thrilling Super Bowls in
recent memory is patently absurd.
This was, unfortunately for those
watching, one of the most penalized
Super Bowls ever played, but that
doesn’t mean that the refs weren’t
doing their jobs—in fact, it probably
means that they were doing their
jobs exceptionally well. Even after
the game was finished, some claimed
that the referees were partial to the
Steelers as the Cardinals were dealt
almost double the penalty yards.
Listen to me, sports fans: refs don’t
win the game, and they don’t score the
points. I know it’s tempting to blame
everyone other than the players on
the field, but that’s what it comes
down to. Only in incredibly rare cas-
VOTE
es do officials ever change the game,
like referee Ed Hochuli’s inadvertent
whistle at the beginning of this NFL
season in a game between the Denver
Broncos and the San Diego Chargers,
which handed the game to the Bron-
cos and almost knocked the Chargers
out of playoff contention. That was a
once-in-a-career mistake, and it’s the
only time in my personal, profession-
al-sports-watching experience that
I’ve ever seen a referee change the
outcome of a game.
Great teams never talk about beat-
ing the refs. Great teams never talk
about the wins they almost had. Great
teams just win, pure and simple. Peo-
ple may complain about officiating,
but it all works out in the end. Sure,
Hochuli made the Chargers lose a
game, but if they hadn’t played ter-
ribly for half the season, it wouldn’t
have mattered come playoff time. If
the team doesn’t want the referees
to decide the game for them, all they
have to do is win convincingly—no
official can bungle a landslide. Stop
whining about biased officials, and
accept the outcome. Next time, the
call might just go your way.
vo t e o n l i n e o n Fe b . 1 0 -1 1 -1 2
iwillvote.ca/obama
Lord Jones is dead
The decline into irrelevance
Frank Appleyard
Editor-in-Chief
HOW THE MIGHTY have fallen. In
2006, radical physics professor Denis
Rancourt had the sympathies of many
at the University of Ottawa. His Activ-
ism Course was new and special, he
was hailed by many as an innovator
with his students’ interests in mind,
and there was a sense that perhaps
he—an educator with a unique per-
spective—was being treated unfairly
by the U of O administration for his
unconventional pedagogy. After all,
universities are a birthplace of new
ideas and free thinking—qualities
that Rancourt certainly holds dear
and employs in his teaching.
But as the years passed, sympa-
thy for Rancourt disappeared as
he selfishly turned the U of O into
his personal three-ring circus. His
vocal opposition to the university
administration—which began as a
well-founded battle for academic
freedom—devolved into an unde-
fined challenge of the university
from the foundation up, battling the
school on every front imaginable.
The sideshow has been on campus
for years, complete with 10-year-
old students, lawsuits, human rights
complaints, claims of ideological
persecution, and now open defiance
of orders to stay away from campus.
Through it all Rancourt has gotten
louder, and the basis of his struggle
has become murkier.
And so here we are—Rancourt an
outcast at the U of O, and the same
community he has attempted to rally
in support offering little more than
feelings of annoyance, frustration,
and general apathy towards anything
to do with the professor. His is no lon-
ger the battle of an unconventional
professor against university oppres-
sion. Rather, it has degenerated into a
personal vendetta with the sole goal of
disrupting, subverting, and otherwise
antagonizing the university commu-
nity. Rancourt is not viewed as an ed-
ucator fighting for a noble cause, but
as a perpetual dissenting voice, and a
nuisance to those who have tired of
his “look at me, I disagree” antics.
Activists, rebels, and revolution-
aries have captured the hearts and
minds of thousands throughout
the ages. Not through their actions
alone, but through their underly-
ing visions, causes, and ideals. Suc-
www.thefulcrum.ca // 02.05.09 //
cesses have not come through spu-
rious struggles but through efforts
to bring justice and fairness for the
masses who needed a voice they
were otherwise without.
Rancourt’s dichotic and undefined
battle offers none of these qualities.
His motivation to ardently oppose
and defy the university at all costs is
a cause that few are willing to rally
behind, and even fewer are willing to
lend credibility to. The university and
its administration are far from perfect.
But Rancourt has wantonly harassed
the university too many times and pre-
sented too many incredible claims for
his struggle to garner even a scrap of
interest, while ensuring that his right
to determine his pedagogical meth-
od—a cause worth fighting for—is
increasingly obscured in his conflicts
with the university. In short, Rancourt
has abandoned his duty as an educa-
tor to become a rebel on a long, loud,
and increasingly irrelevant path to no-
where.
To Rancourt: You are no hero. You
have simply become a nuisance to this
campus. Please, take your leave of the
University of Ottawa, and let the rest of
us get on with our lives and our educa-
tion. In the words of Oliver Cromwell,
“You have sat too long for any good
you have been doing lately ... Depart, I
say; and let us have done with you.”
editor@thefulcrum.ca
613-562-5261
The Fulcrum
staff meetings:
Thursdays
at 2:30 p.m.
OPINION // 21

Distractions
Thryllabus
Thursday, Feb. 5
Lecture: Global Health in
Turbulent Times: What Are the
Prospects? 12 p.m. Desmarais Hall.
Room 3120. Free.
Friday, Feb. 6
Concert: University of Ottawa
Orchestra. 8 p.m. Saint Brigid’s
Centre for the Arts and Humanities.
310 St. Patrick St.
Voluntary contribution.
Lecture: Alexandre Sacha
Trudeau. 7 p.m. Alumni
Auditorium. $10.
Saturday, Feb. 7
Panel: The right to communicate:
Securing a voice for the voiceless.
1 p.m. Fauteux Hall. Room 147A.
Free.
Pop & Ice Cream
Sunday, Feb. 8
Women’s hockey: Ottawa vs.
McGill Martlets. 6 p.m. Sports
Complex. $4 for students.
Monday, Feb. 9
Film: Waltz with Bashir. 6:55 p.m.
Bytowne Cinema. 325 Rideau St. $9,
$6 for members.
Tuesday, Feb. 10
Concert: Radu Lupu on piano.
8 p.m. National Arts Centre.
53 Elgin St. $10.75 for students.
Wednesday, Feb. 11
Comedy: New talent stand up.
8:30 p.m. Yuk Yuk’s. 88 Albert St. $6.
sudoku answers on p. 18
Feb. 5–11, 2009
Dear Di If you have a question for Di,
e-mail deardi@thefulcrum.ca.
Dear Di,
I grabbed a copy of the Fulcrum
the other day and read your col-
umn. I was wondering if you could
help with my problem. I am a single
male in my early 30s and I have had
only a few serious relationships in
my life. I have been single for three
years now and my problem is I don’t
have much success getting dates or
keeping a woman’s interest. I’m at-
tractive and funny, but I just can’t
seem to get my love life into action.
Any and all help would be very wel-
comed and much appreciated.
—No-Action Jackson
Dear NAJ,
No doubt this dry spell may have
gotten your confidence down, but
please don’t let it. It sounds like
you’re a great guy who’s ready to
commit, something that we women
all know is hard to find. However, it
also sounds like you might be lack-
ing the ego that women love. That’s
right, I said it. Women find confi-
dence (sometimes even borderline
cockiness) incredibly sexy. Ever
wonder why hot girls go for unat-
tractive yet overconfident men? It’s
because there is something totally
magnetic about a man who believes
he is the cat’s pyjamas. When women
are looking to settle down, they look
for a guy with a swagger in his step.
They see that the more confidence a
man has, the better he will be able
to take care of a wife and a family.
Now, I’m not saying that you should
fake it and go swaggering around as-
shole-style. The next time you meet
a woman you have the hots for, just
Sarah Leavitt
Features Editor
features@thefulcrum.ca
remember what you wrote
to me: you are attractive
and funny. So just be your-
self and surprise her every
once in a while with a rose
or a Tuesday night date and
things will develop naturally.
If she doesn’t respond as fa-
vourably as you’d hoped
and she calls it off,
she’s not The One.
Some women are
dead ends, so don’t let the end of a
serious relationship here and there
get you down. Carry on with your
life and enjoy the time you have sans
femme (you’d be surprised by how
many people miss that single-time
freedom even after they have found
The One). I guarantee that a zest
for life and confidence will start to
draw in rather than repel the women
you’ve got your eye on, and you’ll
eventually find your One.
Love,
Di
Dear Di,
I hadn’t had sex before I met my
girlfriend, who was pretty much my
first everything (kiss, sex, BJ, etc.)
I tried your tip about putting two
pillows beneath her bum to enhance
penetration and she loved it. Now
I’m looking to pleasure her to the
max. I’m getting there, but I need
a few tips on how to make good sex
into GREAT sex.
—Wants to get her to scream
Dear WGHS,
The funny (and frustrating) thing
22
about great sex
is that there is no
formula. What you need to do to set
a lover aflame will be different every
time, so I have to reiterate that com-
munication is key. It sounds like you’re
doing all right under the sheets over
there, so I was thinking: What if you
brought fantasies into bed? Some of
the most explosive sex comes from
the fulfilment of our deepest fanta-
sies, whatever those may be. Maybe
your girlfriend enjoys a spanking. She
might like to have sex with her stilettos
on. She could even be a ‘furry’ (Google
it). If you don’t know what goes on in
the gutter of your girlfriend’s mind,
have no fear—many of us never find
this out about our partners. That’s
where communication comes in.
Gently broach the subject before,
during, or after sex. If she seems ner-
vous, perhaps share a fantasy of your
own (if you’ve got many, start with the
least kinky and move on from there).
If she is too shy or just isn’t a kinky
daydreamer, try one of my personal fa-
vourites: make your girlfriend a big ol’
ice cream sundae (with extra whipped
cream) and then use your mouth on
her while she’s got her mouth on the
sundae (yum!). My guess, though, is
that she has a fantasy or two up her
sleeve and will be psyched that you
want to make her dreams come true.
Happy wish granting!
Love,
Di
by Lance Mudryk (CUP)
 23
Frank Appleyard

Editorial Feb. 5–11, 2009

Editor-in-Chief
editor@thefulcrum.ca

f
Not starring Kristy
Swanson since 1942.
Volume 69 - Issue 20
Veiled democracy
Feb. 5–11, 2009
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
they’ll make another movie.
Staff
Frank ‘buffy’ Appleyard
Editor-in-Chief
editor@thefulcrum.ca
Ben ‘spike’ Myers
Production Manager
production@thefulcrum.ca
Michael ‘xander’ Olender
Executive Editor
executive@thefulcrum.ca
Martha ‘darla’ Pearce
Art Director
design@thefulcrum.ca
Emma ‘harmony’ Godmere
News Editor
news@thefulcrum.ca
Peter ‘oz’ Henderson
Arts & Culture Editor
arts@thefulcrum.ca
S
OME MEMBERS OF the Student
Federation of the University of Ot-
tawa’s (SFUO) Board of Admin-
istration (BOA) have a lot to be
ashamed of after their Feb. 1 meeting. The
issue of e-voting in the upcoming SFUO
elections was again on the agenda, this time
with the board discussing an amendment to
the system that would have effectively scut-
tled the ambitious plans for the new voting
platform.
The initiative was defeated, but the con-
tent of the motion itself was hardly the most
controversial part of the debate. What was
most galling is the manner in which the is-
sue of e-voting was finally put to bed: the
board decided the fate of e-voting via a
secret ballot, hiding the board members’
identities and opinions behind the safety of
a small scrap of paper.
The secret ballot process endorsed by the
board ultimately removed all sense of re-
sponsibility from the decision being made.
Claims that secret balloting lets board mem-
bers vote with their conscience without fear
of retribution overlook the fact that student
leaders should be held accountable for their
decisions and their opinions. Hiding behind
anonymity is not good for anyone involved.
Sitting on the BOA should not be about
being liked, or about making decisions that
everyone will agree with. Rather, members’
priorities should lie in saying precisely what
they think, and doing what they feel is best
for the community they represent. A failure
to openly stand up for beliefs and convic-
tions is far worse than a failure to appease
each student affected by the decision.
The irony in this decision is that later
in the meeting a motion was presented af-
firming the SFUO’s position that anyone
is able to film or record the BOA proceed-
ings, in the interest of transparency. It’s
hard to be truly transparent when board
members are afraid of putting their name
to their beliefs.
But the hardest part to swallow is that
the SFUO has potentially lost a lot of cred-
ibility in its calls on the university adminis-
tration for transparency and accountability
in the proceedings of its Senate and Board
of Governors meetings. This is a cause
that all students can support, and the U of
O needs student leaders committed to the
same principles that they’re supposedly
fighting for.
If BOA members are truly afraid to have
their opinions known, perhaps they should
reconsider why they ran for the board in the
first place. As the SFUO’s highest governing
body, the BOA makes difficult decisions—
decisions that these members were elected
to make. E-voting is a controversial issue
that will affect every undergraduate student
at the U of O, and students deserve to know
how their representatives voted.
In a democracy, we expect our leaders to
put their name to a decision. And whether
on the ‘winning’ or ‘losing’ side of the bal-
lot, leaders will be respected for taking a
stand. Sadly, the board members who sup-
ported secret balloting did not take a stand
in this decision.
editor@thefulcrum.ca

David ‘angel’ McClelland

Sports Editor
sports@thefulcrum.ca

The other campaigns

Sarah ‘drusilla’ Leavitt
Features Editor
features@thefulcrum.ca

Danielle ‘faith’ Blab

Laurel ‘cordelia’ Hogan
Copy Editors

Amanda ‘fred’ Shendruk
Associate News Editor
associatenews@thefulcrum.ca
James ‘giles’ Edwards
Webmaster
webmaster@thefulcrum.ca
Jessica ‘tara’ Sukstorf
Volunteer & Visibility
Coordinator
volunteer@thefulcrum.ca
Megan ‘dawn’ O’Meara
Staff Writer
Alex ‘andrew’ Martin
Staff Illustrator
Inari ‘kennedy’ Vaissi Nagy
Jiselle ‘vi’ Bakker
Ombudsgirls
ombudsgirl@thefulcrum.ca
Travis ‘clem’ Boisvenue
Ombudsboy
ombudsboy@thefulcrum.ca
T
HROUGHOUT THE NEXT
week undergraduate students will
be bombarded by the election
campaigns for the Student Fed-
eration of the University of Ottawa (SFUO)
executive, Board of Administration, and the
U of O Board of Governors and Senate. This
campaign season sees a massive number of
candidates all vying for attention and try-
ing to convince some 30,000 students that
they are deserving of representing students
next year.
These are colourful campaigns with faces,
personalities, debates, and battles with oth-
er candidates, making them extremely cap-
tivating and easy to grow attached to.
But the election of student leaders is only
one of the important decisions facing stu-
dents when the polls open on Feb. 10. There
are six referendum questions up for debate
this year—an extraordinary number—with
the potential to impact the campus as much
as the election of any student leader.
While referenda often lack the appeal
and drama of the SFUO executive elec-
tions, they are no less significant. Ref-
erendum questions are the most direct
form of democracy available to U of O
undergrads—questions deemed important
enough to require input from the student
body on what action is to be taken, and
questions based on the efforts of individual
students. The referenda on the ballot this
year (see p. e7 for a full rundown) include
questions pertaining to restricting smok-
ing on campus, a pitch to support a United
Nations-led project, and an increase in fees
for the SFUO’s food bank.
These questions affect not only students’
on-campus lives, but also their wallets, as
over half of the questions ask for fees to be
collected to facilitate the introduction of
new services or offerings. Student fees have
become an integral part of the dialogue on
campus surrounding student issues, and
voters must take care to study the causes to
which they choose to offer both money and
legitimacy.
Students caught up solely in the oft-
intriguing election platforms and promises
of SFUO candidates cannot make claims
of being wholly informed or engaged. The
significance of these questions dictates a
need to carefully weigh the pros and cons
of supporting or defeating a question. Ref-
erenda are often forgotten about until stu-
dents stumble across the questions while
casting their ballots, and the issues on the
table next week are deserving of as much
pre-polling scrutiny as any potential can-
didate. There may be less human drama in
the debate over referendum questions, but
they are no less important to the student
experience.
editor@thefulcrum.ca

Nicole ‘willow’ Gall

Staff Proofreader

Robert ‘parker’ Olender

On-campus Distributor
Deidre ‘anya’ Butters
Advertising Representative
ads@thefulcrum.ca
Ross ‘principal snyder’ Prusakowski
Business Manager
business.manager@thefulcrum.ca
Dave ‘groosalugg’ Atkinson
Devin A. ‘wesley’ Beauregard
Julian ‘glory’ Blizzard
Andrew ‘adam’ Champagne
Laura ‘the mayor’ Clementson
David ‘jonathan’ Davidson
Katie ‘lilah’ DeClerq
Kristen ‘jenny’ Filip
Contributors
Des ‘gunn’ Fisher Carl ‘the cheese man’ Meyer
Marie-Helene ‘lindsey’ Haché Kaitlin ‘jasmine’ Milroy
Jolene ‘doyle’ Hansell Anna ‘caleb’ Rocoksi
Andrew ‘joyce’ Hawley Nick ‘warren’ Rudiak Covers
Aaron ‘angelus’ Kozak Brett ‘the master’ Skidmore by Martha
Lisa ‘connor’ Le Sepideh ‘slayer’ Soltaninia Pearce
Jacyln ‘lorne’ Lytle Nick ‘the beast’ Taylor-Vaisey
Catherine ‘professor walsh’ McIntyre
 OTTAWA

3C
15 Capella Court, Unit 130
(613) 599-5995

Wireless Zone
101 Bank St.
HOT SMARTPHONES FOR
HOT, SMART PEOPLE.
(613) 230-0202

Cellular Unlimited
901 Carling Ave.
(613) 238-7533

Cellular Unlimited
3069 Carling Ave.
(613) 820-7782

Wireless Zone

T BLACKBER
1465 Merivale Rd.
(613) 224-9222

Wireless Express ES
203-205 Richmond Rd. N

RY
N
(613) 724-2674

THI
BARRHAVEN

CUR
Wireless Express
RioCan Marketplace
130 Riocan

VE
(613) 823-9240

CORNWALL

Wireless Express
BERRY
ACK
Cornwall Square Mall
1 Water St. E
(613) 936-2083
BL
FIRST BLA
GATINEAU
R
T POPULA
Promenades de L’Outaouais
(819) 561-3031 C
360, Boulevard Maloney Ouest

KB
(819) 663-8580

ERR
442 Saint-Joseph Blvd.
(819) 776-4377

GLOUCESTER

Y FLIP
OS

Wireless Express
Gloucester Centre
M

(613) 842-7285

KANATA

3C
Kanata Centrum Mall
(613) 599-9690

Wireless Express
Hazeldean Mall
(613) 271-1153

KINGSTON

Wireless Express
Kingston Centre
1096 Princess St.
(613) 546-6043

Wireless Express
Cataraqui Town Centre
(613) 634-9897

Wireless Express
122 Princess St.
(613) 549-0315

ORLEANS

3C
2020 Lanthier Dr.
(613) 590-1166

PEMBROKE NOW GET

UNLIMITED
Beyond Wireless
670 Pembroke St. W
(613) 732-1602

OTTAWA

The Shops of Main Street

1261 Main St., Unit 12
(613) 836-0976

2515 Bank St., Unit 5

(613) 739-4775
TXT, EMAIL & IM
O N LY F O R A L I M I T E D T I M E
*

11 Selkirk St.
(613) 745-6800

1867 Carling Ave.

(613) 729-0435

359-363 Bank St.

(613) 594-4555

Hunt Club Centre

3320 McCarthy Rd.
(613) 523-2474

1493 Richmond Rd.

(613) 829-2137

College Square
1379A Woodroffe Ave.
(613) 225-6007

300-3161 Strandherd Dr.

(613) 823-4558

Billings Bridge Plaza

2269 Riverside Dr., Unit 44
(613) 737-2071

690 Bank St.

ALL NEW
(613) 216-5461 BLACKBERRY CURVE 8320 ® TM
BLACKBERRY CURVE 8900 ® TM
BLACKBERRY
ACKBERRY PEARLL FLIP 8220
82 ® TM

Carlingwood Mall
$
99 99 $
199 99 $
49 99
† † †
2121 Carling Ave., Unit 87
(613) 798-1946

Place d’Orleans
110 Place D’Orleans Bld., Unit 290
$
549 99
no term
$
599 99
no term
$
39999 no term

(613) 590-2237

Rideau Centre
50 Rideau St., Unit 327C E XC L U S I V E LY F R O M R O G E R S
(613) 232-4800

St. Laurent Shopping Centre

1200 St. Laurent Blvd., Unit 248
rogers.com/unlimited
(613) 746-8546

NEPEAN

3777 Strandherd Rd., Unit 14

CANADA’S MOST RELIABLE NETWORK;
(613) 823-1425 FEWEST DROPPED CALLS, CLEAREST RECEPTION
Merivale Place
1651 Merivale Rd.
(613) 224-3827

Bayshore Shopping Centre

100 Bayshore Dr., Unit K7
(613) 762-7665

KANATA

300 Earl Grey Drive, Unit 1

(613) 591-8281
†
Eagleson Place
On select 3-year plans. Offers subject to change without notice. *Available with any BlackBerry device with subscription to select plans and activation with BlackBerry Internet Service. Includes unlimited personal e-mail (up to 10 accounts) while using BlackBerry on the
700 Eagleson Rd. Rogers Wireless network. See rogers.com/unlimited for plans and details. Usage subject to Rogers Terms of Service & Acceptable Use Policy available at rogers.com/terms.
TM
(613) 592-5098 Rogers & Mobius Design are trademarks of Rogers Communications Inc. used under license. All other brand names and logos are trademarks of their respective owners. © 2009 Rogers Wireless.

RGW_N_08_1371_4C_C.indd 1 1/13/09 1:45:54 PM