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the
Vol 41•Web Issue • December 8, 2011 - January 4, 2012
carleton’s independent weekly - since 1945
RAVENS FALL IN
FIGHT-FILLED AFFAIR p.14
cover by
Gerrit De Vynck
INSIDE: CU student camps out for Attawapiskat p. 4 • ONLINE: Letter: CUSA missing the point on U-Pass debate see charlatan.ca
News
2
December 8 - January 4, 2012
News Editors: Lana Perić, Inayat Singh and Holly Stanczak • [email protected]
Changes and challenges at Milieux
by Laura Moor
Carleton architecture students
turned the Aberdeen Pavilion at
Lansdowne Park into an apocalyptic wonderland Dec. 1, during
Milieux, their 38th annual open
house party.
Milieux, previously known as
Kosmic, immersed its attendees
in a “wild phenomena” through a
creative fusion of free-spirited design, art, and music.
After almost four decades of
hosting this event, Carleton architecture students made a number of
changes this year.
Kosmic was renamed as Milieux to allow organizers more
creative freedom to diverge from
the notoriety accompanying the
Kosmic name, said event director
and third-year architecture student Shane Dalke via email.
Milieux aimed to deliver the
same unique experience, while
placing more emphasis on the exhibition of students’ design work,
Dalke said.
“An event like [Milieux] is
very important to the architecture
community,” Dalke said. “It gives
students an opportunity to explore
aspects of design that cannot be explored in a studio project.”
This year was a first for several
contributors from outside of Carleton’s architecture school.
“We decided to crash one of
their planning meetings and toss in
A mime entertains students at Milieux while holding a suspended tunnel of tape above his head. ||
a proposal,” said Nick DeGasperis,
a third-year biochemistry student
who along with his roommate Colin Barber, created a still frame of a
car bombing.
A group of industrial design
students also contributed to the
event for the first time by building
a forest of burnt-out trees.
Architectural
installations
included a tape tube spanning
CUASA supports
coalition’s efforts
The Carleton University Academic Staff Association (CUASA)
has passed a motion to support
the Coalition for a Carleton Sexual
Assault Centre, CUASA’s chair of
equity Jennifer Evans confirmed
Dec. 7.
Despite some “dissenting
voices registered,” the motion was
still passed, Evans said.
A communiqué went out at the
beginning of the month as an initial statement in response to the
fourth reported assault, Evans
said.
There have been three reported
sexual assaults and one reported
physical assault since Oct. 30.
“It basically called for the faculty community to think about
sexual assaults on campus as affecting us directly,” Evans said.
“Both in terms of how students
experience it, violence on campus,
but also our role as teachers and as
educators being on the front line
too.”
Carleton administration shares
the same goal of ensuring “that
people who have experienced
sexual assault get the best possible services and supports that
they require,” according to a
statement issued by Christopher
Cline, Carleton’s media relations
co-ordinator.
A proposal for space to provide
additional services, peer counselling and support for those who
have experienced sexual assault
has been made by a space planning committee, Cline said.
But Carleton president Roseann
Runte said finding a space for the
centre is only one of the issues.
“There are requests . . . for three
full-time staff and various other
things,” Runte said. “It’s not just a
room that is under consideration.”
Carleton is doing the best it
can to support victims of sexual
assault, as Carleton is one of the
few schools with a sexual assault
co-ordinator and educator, Runte
said.
“The university has been quite
active,” she said.
As for CUASA, all they can do
at this point is to “lend its support
to the coalition, acting and asking
for more services for students,”
Evans said. q
— Lana Perić
across the pavilion’s trusses, a cantilevered viewing platform, and an
inflated circular room.
The visual environment was
complemented by musical performances from artists including
Juan Maclean, Prince Club, and
Ninja Funk Orchestra.
Two stages were housed in the
pavilion along with the art pieces,
and there was still plenty of room
photo by
Gerrit De Vynck
to spare.
“Its abundance of space allowed
for much flexibility for designing
and exhibiting,” Dalke said.
However, third-year engineering student Brendan Roy said the
large size of the venue left something to be desired. Roy said he
felt the excess space created a feeling of emptiness in certain areas,
eliminating the intimate nature ex-
perienced at other Kosmic events
he has attended.
Over 600 people attended this
year’s event, according to Dalke.
At $30 each, ticket prices were
double that of last year.
Event organizers declined to
comment on whether or not ticket
sales were high enough to break
even.
Proceeds from the event will be
donated to Architecture for Humanity.
The evening drew to a close half
an hour earlier than planned due
to a noise complaint, said Kat Forget, event organizer and third-year
architecture student. This was unexpected because the pavilion isn’t
in a residential area.
The surreal nature of the night
continued to the very end. Sydney
Osmar, a third-year humanities
student, noted the chaos of the coat
check.
“I had to climb into a disheveled
structure and rummage through
piles of coats to get my things off
the floor,” she said. “I’m relieved
nothing of mine was stolen.”
Dalke said he viewed the event
as a success, adding organizers
consciously “took some risks” and
“planned for surprises.”
“I feel people that attended the
event were given a unique experience, [which] was the focus of the
event,” he said.
q
— with files from Holly Stanczak
Condo board prez denies discrimination
by Holly Stanczak
Confusion surrounds the Dec. 6
vote by a South Keys condo board
to uphold their requirement for
single-family renters.
Carleton Condominium Corporation No. 24, which is responsible for
257 units on Southgate Road, passed
a resolution Oct. 20 upholding a rule
that only allows single-family renters in the area, said condo board
president Lorne Anderson.
Carleton student and tenant
Nicholas McLeod petitioned the
board to overturn the ruling, which
he said would effectively ban students. McLeod collected a number
of signatures from the condo’s
homeowners, and the board delayed a decision on the issue until
the Dec. 6 meeting.
To overturn the ban, at least 25
per cent of homeowners had to attend the meeting, and at least half
had to vote in favour.
In the end, the students were unsuccessful, losing the vote 101-82,
McLeod said in an email. He called
the decision “disappointing.”
However, Anderson said this
rule is an old one, and it doesn’t
affect students.
“Since 1973, the condo board
has only allowed single-family
renters . . . The board simply voted
to uphold the rule, [not create a
new one],” Anderson said, adding
students are still allowed to rent in
the area as they always have.
A “family” can be considered a
group of people who are related,
or “two or more unrelated persons,
provided it’s clear that their intention is to live together permanently
or indefinitely,” according to Section 2.4 of the Condominium Rules.
When asked if “permanently
or indefinitely” allowed for a
one-year student lease of a unit,
Anderson responded: “Yes.”
Section 2.3 characterizes a “single family” as “one family” renting
a unit, “provided that no roomers
or boarders are allowed.”
Anderson said a provision
exists to allow for sublets. Only
“rooming houses” would be
prohibited, which Anderson described as a house in which people
“each rent different rooms for different lengths of time,” rather than
a collective lease.
By voting on this rule, Anderson said the board simply wanted
to clarify the definition of a renter
and renew their commitment to the
rules in light of recent “incidents”
the board has had with landlords.
McLeod said the idea that the
board’s definition of a single family
has been around since 1973 is “ab-
solute crap.” Students are being
discriminated against, he said.
“The entire meeting [Dec. 6] was
bashing students,” McLeod said.
Despite losing the vote, McLeod said student advocates can
create other opportunities to discuss the issue.
“The fight is far from over and
the vote was very close,” he said.
“The rule can and will be brought
up during another meeting especially since the rule does not begin
affecting people until the end of
people’s leases which are generally
the next school year.” q
The Education of Charlie
For more coverage . . .
Banks
CU journalism grad
makes it big
Cody Wilby spoke to a
Carleton graduate about
her big break on the Ottawa
Morning show.
Inuit education under
the microscope
Alex Brockman reports on
Carleton faculty and student
research in Canada’s North.
charlatan.ca
December 8 - January 4, 2012
charlatan.ca/news
3
Vigil held for violence against women
by Miriam Katawazi
The Womyn’s Centre held a
vigil Dec. 6 in the Unicentre atrium
to commemorate the Montreal
massacre and address the three
recent sexual assault incidents
reported on campus.
Pictures of 14 smiling women,
who were all shot to death by
gunman Marc Lépine at Montreal’s
École Polytechnique in 1989, hung
on the wall of the atrium.
“We want to show people that
we remember and we will continue
to remember,” said Womyn’s
Centre programming co-ordinator,
Kandace Price.
The Womyn’s Centre at Carleton
opened in 1976 and was used as a
women-only space. When it first
opened, there were panic buttons
on every desk for security reasons.
Price said while they have come
a long way since then, more has to
be done.
The Womyn’s Centre used the
day as an opportunity to speak
about the recent alleged sexual
assaults on Carleton’s campus.
“Violence
against
women
is happening constantly and
women need a space to disclose
their experiences as victims of
sexual assault,” Price said. “The
administration is trying to create
a false sense of security by placing
more safe walkways and security
buttons even though these buttons
are inaccessible to people in
wheelchairs.”
Some of the speeches addressed
Carleton’s need for a sexual assault
support centre.
Patrizia Gentile, a sexuality
Supporters hold up photos of the victims of the Montreal massacre. || photo by Portia Baladad
studies professor at Carleton, said
the university needs to initiate
a more proactive campaign by
creating a sexual assault support
centre that will tell people the
university doesn’t tolerate sexual
abuse.
“Carleton has failed us by not
creating a sexual assault centre,”
Gentile said.
Remembering is important
because it’s the first form of
resistance, Gentile told the group
of about 25 people who stood
around the stage.
After the speeches, the names of
the victims were read out followed
by a moment of silence.
CUSA in talks with union
Some of the students, professors
and supporters then marched
around the engineering building
at Carleton, holding up photos of
the victims, to commemorate the
massacre
The victims in Montreal were
engineering students.
“Even though there have been
many reported sexual assault
cases at Carleton there are still
many that go unreported,” said
Amy Ramnarine, a third-year
psychology and sexuality studies
student. “These women need to
have somewhere they can tell their
story.”
Carleton has been stalling
because they say they have no space
and that a sexual assault centre
would have stigma associated with
it, Price said.
The Coalition for a Carleton
Sexual Assault Centre is asking
for a support centre that is run by
students and is university funded.
The centre would be available to all
students, Price said.
A referendum in January
2009 showed that 80 per cent of
students wanted a sexual assault
centre, according to the coalition’s
website.
The coalition is currently
working with Carleton’s space
committee to find a space for the
centre, according to Carleton
president Roseann Runte.
Carleton
students
are
committed to this fight for a sexual
assault centre, said coalition
member Sarah McCue.
Gentile ended her speech with a
quote by an activist named Audre
Lorde: “My silences had not
protected me. Your silence will not
protect you. But for every real word
spoken, for every attempt I had
ever made to speak those truths
for which I am still seeking, I had
made contact with other women
while we examined the words to fit
a world in which we all believed,
bridging our differences.” q
by Christian Osier
Province to send out $800
grants next semester
The Carleton University Students’ Association (CUSA) and
CUPE 1281, the union representing
student workers, are at the bargaining table in efforts of drafting a
new collective agreement, according
to CUSA president Obed Okyere.
CUPE 1281 represents 120 parttime employees, Okyere said, who
work at Oliver’s Pub, Rooster’s,
and other CUSA businesses and
service centres.
The union’s contract with
CUSA expired earlier this year,
said CUSA vice-president (finance)
Karim Khamisa.
CUPE representative Kandace
Price said she wouldn’t comment
directly as to whether or not the
union is considering to file for conciliation with the Ontario Ministry
of Labour.
Filing for conciliation requires
full union ratification, she said. Conciliation would involve the ministry
looking into CUSA’s finances on behalf of the union and attempting to
facilitate further discussion.
Price said she did not want to
misrepresent the wishes of the
The Ontario government will
be sending out an $800 tuition
grant to eligible undergraduate
students next semester, according to Carleton vice-president
(finance and administration)
Duncan Watt.
The grant, a campaign promise from the Ontario Liberal
Party, is now being extended to
professional programs like business and architecture, Watt said.
This is a change from the Liberal platform that originally only
intended the grant for students
in non-professional programs.
Watt was on a conference call
with officials from the Ontario
Ministry of Training, Colleges
and Universities last week to
discuss the upcoming tuition
grant.
To be eligible, students must
be full-time undergraduates
whose parents make less than
$160,000 a year.
Graduate, part-time, outof-province and international
students are not eligible for the
CUPE 1281 represents 120 part-time CUSA employees. ||
union while the matter was still
under review.
“[CUSA remains] optimistic
that an agreement can be reached
without having to involve the On-
photo by
Gerrit De Vynck
tario Ministry of Labour that will
be beneficial for both parties,”
Okyere said. q
—with files from Inayat Singh
grant, Watt said.
Watt said officials he spoke
to didn’t say how the ministry
would determine which students were Ontario residents.
He said that eligible students
will have to send a parental
consent form to the ministry,
so their parents’ income information can be accessed. The
ministry already has parental
income information for students
receiving OSAP aid.
The ministry should be releasing official rules for the grant
before Christmas, Watt said.
The grant will be mailed as a
cheque to eligible students next
semester.
Representatives for the ministry could not be reached for
comment.
Ontario currently has the
highest undergraduate tuition
fees in the country at $6,307 per
year, according to Statistics Canada.
— Inayat Singh
4
charlatan.ca/news
Carleton
talks
Title Here
university
finances
Carleton hosted a town hall
meeting Dec. 7 to discuss the
university’s financial position,
their plan for the upcoming
year, and the challenges they
may face.
“We are financially stable,
everyone has a role to play and
our pension plan is our biggest
liability,” said Duncan Watt,
university vice-president (finance and administration).
Carleton spends about half
a billion dollars each year, with
about 75 per cent of its money
going towards salaries and
benefits, according to Watt.
“Managing our budget is actually managing our income,”
Watt said.
Carleton’s income comes
from government grants and
tuition fees, he said.
Last year was a good year
for first-year enrolment, Watt
said.
There seemed to be fewer
applications in March 2011, but
it eventually evened out and
there was no significant change
in first-year enrolment this fall,
he added.
The university filed a plan
for a deficit in pension plans
in July 2010. The deficit totalled $169 million, according
to Watt.
Some of the major financial
changes include making larger
payments to the pension plan,
no government framework
until after 2011-12 and the
impact of the provincial government deficit, Watt said.
On the other hand, some
major financial opportunities
for Carleton include fundraising, community engagement,
undergraduate and graduate
recruitment and increasing the
amount of external research
funding, Watt said.
This month, Carleton will
lay out budget priorities for
next year, Watt said.
In February 2012, the Régime de Pensions du Canada
(RPC) will submit budget requests.
In March 2012, the provincial budget will establish a
funding framework and finally,
by April 2012, they will seek the
Board of Governors’ approval
for 2012-13.
As for buildings, there will
be an addition to the library in
the new year.
“It will be a spectacular
improvement,” Watt said. “Not
only visually but it will give so
much more study space to students.”
The extention to Residence
Commons will open this January and the construction of new
facilities at Alumni Hall will
begin in May.
— Brianna Harris
December 8 - January 4, 2012
Camping out for Attawapiskat
Carleton student Graham Shonfield camps outside the Unicentre to raise money for residents of Attawapiskat. ||
by Lana Perić
The housing crisis in Attawapiskat has influenced third-year
public affairs and policy management student Graham Shonfield
to camp in a tent outside of the
Unicentre for 88 hours.
Shonfield’s goal is to raise
awareness about the issues surrounding the northern Ontario
reserve. Attawapiskat issued a
state of emergency Oct. 28 and the
Red Cross intervened in late November.
The Conservative government
has put around $90 million into
the community since they’ve been
in office in 2006, Prime Minister
Stephen Harper said in a Canadian Press article.
Residents of Attawapiskat
live in mouldy tents, disrepaired
houses and trailers. Shonfield will
be camping outside from 8 a.m.
Dec. 5 to midnight Dec. 8.
“I’m living in solidarity like the
five families living in tents in Attawapiskat . . . and then I’m also
raising money for the First Nations Caring Society [of Canada],”
Shonfield said.
Shonfield said he wants to
raise $1,000 for the society, specifically their program “Shannen’s
Dream,” which strives to provide
safe schools and adequate education to First Nations children.
Shonfield said Attawapiskat
hasn’t had a primary school in 12
years, although the government
promised one for them back in
2009.
“I’ve just been trying to get
involved in as many things as I
can, so when I heard about all
the media attention Attawapiskat
was getting, I wanted to take advantage of this opportunity and
fundraise,” Shonfield said.
Shonfield said the inspiration
for his activism came from the
photo by
Gerrit De Vynck
movie Titanic.
“I saw how the boats that
weren’t filled [with people] didn’t
go back to help the others that
were drowning,” Shonfield said.
“I almost felt . . . like we weren’t
helping the people of Attawapiskat, like we were letting them
drown and so I really wanted to
do what I could . . . to help them
out and raise money.”
Shonfield said he’s been dealing with the issues facing First
Nations for the last three years.
He volunteered in the Gull Bay reserve, located near Thunder Bay,
Ont., last summer.
“I spent . . . six weeks there and
ended up making a documentary
from their perspective about what
life on a reserve was like. Ever
since then, I’ve just been trying to
get involved with as many things
as I can,” Shonfield said. “It’s an
issue really close to my heart.”
Hillory Tenute, a second-year
Fire damages CKCU antenna
by Gerrit De Vynck
Carleton’s radio station is off
the airwaves after a fire damaged
the station’s antenna late Dec. 6.
Around 11:45 p.m., CKCU unexpectedly went off air and then
came back.
Just after midnight, the broadcast cut out again and didn’t return.
Matthew Crosier, CKCU’s station manager, said when their
engineer went up to check what
was wrong, there appeared to be
smoke damage.
“We truly don’t know what
caused the fire,” Crosier said.
Technicians were planning to
examine the damage the night of
Dec. 7, he said.
The fire happened at the broadcast antenna at Camp Fortune, a
ski hill 15 minutes north of Ottawa.
The tower is owned by CBC
and hosts many different radio stations but only CKCU and the New
Hot 89.9 were affected by the fire,
Crosier said. According to a CTV
News article, Radio-Canada was
also affected.
“It’s up to CKCU to find and fix
the problem and determine if their
insurance will cover the damage,”
Crosier said.
The station and its listeners will
have to wait until the damage is
assessed to find out when broadcasting will resume.
“We could be on by the weekend, or it might be just before
Christmas,” Crosier said.
Until then, fans of the independent radio station will have to listen
online.
q
doctoral student at Carleton and
self-defined aboriginal activist,
was raising money for Attawapiskat through a bake sale in the
Unicentre the first day Shonfield
spent outside.
“I think what [Shonfield] is doing is a fantastic job,” Tenute said.
“Right now, I think the most important part is creating awareness
about what’s going on. The more
people we can educate, the more
of a difference we can really make
on a structural level, as well as on
campus.”
Tenute said it’s not fair to be
focusing on only those from Attawapiskat because it caught
media attention.
“We need to look into that this
is happening across Canada. This
isn’t just one instance. This is one
of many instances,” Tenute said.
“Therefore I feel that we need to
pay tribute to the other communities.”
q
For more coverage . . .
Social innovation
coming to downtown
Ottawa in 2012
Erica Richard spoke
to Carleton grad Vinod
Rajasekaran about Hub
Ottawa, which is scheduled
to open February.
Carleton grad
students talk foreign
policy with Liberals
Lauren Larmour reports on
a foreign policy discussion
between Liberal MPs and
and Carleton grad students
at the House of Commons.
CKCU is located on the fifth floor of the
Unicentre. || photo by Gerrit De Vynck
charlatan.ca
National
5
December 8 - January 4, 2012
National Editors: Jonathan Duncan and Randy Fox • [email protected]
Brandon professors go back to work
by Cassie Hendry
Striking faculty members at
Brandon University were back to
work Nov. 28 after a six-week labour
stoppage.
The Brandon University Faculty
Association (BUFA) and the university met Nov. 25 to end the strike,
which lasted 45 days, according to
the university’s website. It was the
longest in Manitoba’s history.
This decision came after Manitoba’s Minister of Labour and
Immigration Jennifer Howard
ordered faculty to vote on the university’s final offer, the Winnipeg
Free Press reported.
Faculty members went on strike
Oct. 12 after failed meetings with
the university administration, said
Brandon University Student Union
(BUSU) president Deandra Tousignant.
The salary increase proposed by
both parties were within 0.2 per cent
of each other — problems as to when
the salary would be implemented
that caused much of the friction, according to the Canadian Centre for
Policy Awareness (CCPA).
The faculty association also
wanted reduced teaching loads to
balance research and teaching, job
A picketer stands outside Brandon University. ||
security and wage increases for sessional instructors, and transparency
dealing with personnel files, according to a BUFA press release.
Terms of the deal have not been
released.
“We were not that far apart, in
terms of what the union position
was and what our position was,”
photo courtesy of
Angie Currie
university president Deborah Poff
told the CBC.
During the first week of the strike,
BUSU voted to support the faculty.
BUSU also provided information
and aid for the students during the
strike. They created forums between
the administration and faculty for
students, circulated a petition, and
held rallies, Tousignant said.
But support for the faculty soon
decreased.
“In the beginning, there was a lot
of support for the faculty,” Tousignant said. “But after a couple of days,
students started to get frustrated . . .
between the two parties there was a
lot of hostile communication.”
A lack of information for students caused a lot of the tensions,
Tousignant said.
“Students felt outraged by the
fact that they didn’t really know
what was going on,” Tousignant
said. “There was a lot of confusion
and it was a very polarizing issue
in our campus community and the
Brandon community in general.”
The issue of refunds for classes
was also a topic of discussion among
students. Students are allowed to
drop courses and collect their full tuition refunds one week after classes
resume.
However, the student union will
not refund its membership fees.
“It was not an easy decision,”
Tousignant said. “As a student
union, we continued to operate during the strike and a lot of our budget
was spent in the first week of school
. . . since many students have already taken part in these services,
refunding their BUSU fees wasn’t
actually possible.”
Tousignant said it’s much easier
for the university to refund students,
because they were actually saving
money during the strike.
“Their budget is made up of both
tuition fees and government funding, whereas [the student union’s
budget] is entirely made up of membership fees,” she said. “[They’re] in
a far better position to be refunding
fees.”
Classes resumed Nov. 28 and
the first term will continue until
mid-January. The last day of classes
before the holidays is scheduled for
Dec. 20, while students will return to
complete the term Jan 4. The second
term will start Jan. 31, according to
the university’s website.
“When we found out about the
strike being over, there was a whole
lot of excitement to get back into the
classroom, but that was followed
by a large amount of anxiety about
what school was going to be like,”
Tousignant said.
“But since we’ve been back to
class, all parties at the university are
working really hard to move forward. It will take all of us to take the
learning environment at this university back to where it was.”
q
Booze ban at STU residence McGill support staff
Alcohol is now banned at Harrington Hall residence. || photo courtesy of Megan Aiken
by Brianna Harris
St. Thomas University in Fredericton, N.B. has instituted an
alcohol ban at one of its student
residences, after many incidents
of vandalism over the past semester.
Students are not allowed to
have alcohol in Harrington Hall
for the rest of the fall term, according to Jeffrey Carleton, the director
of communications at St. Thomas
University.
The residents were told about
the ban Nov. 27 in a mandatory
meeting. About 100 students attended, according to the Canadian
University Press.
The university expects students
to respect the reasons for the prohibition, and expects that they
will respect the prohibition itself,
Carleton said.
Carleton said he doesn’t think
the ban will have a big impact on
students because there was only
a full week of classes left when it
was put into place and quiet hours
begin closer to exam time.
“As a general rule, social activities in residence wind down
as you get closer to the end of the
term,” Carleton said.
During the first week of classes, “welcome week,” there’s an
alcohol prohibition, Carleton
said.
The university also has a warning system on alcohol, Carleton
continued. If you’re caught with
it, you get a warning and consequences come about for repeat
offenders.
Administration will meet with
residence leaders in January to revisit the ban, which only applies to
the one residence.
They will try to bring forward
proposals to look at before the
term is done so they can come to
a conclusion before the students
come back from winter break,
Carleton said.
“The residents of the house
understand why we’re doing it,”
he said. “The vast majority are
supportive.”
But student accounts differ.
The first night of the ban, there
was a large party in Harrington
Hall, 19-year-old student Ryan
Walters told CBC News.
“Everyone just got wasted.” q
strike comes to an end
by Jonathan Duncan
After more than three months
of deliberations, McGill University
has reached an agreement with
striking support staff.
The McGill University NonAcademic Certified Association
(MUNACA), who had been without contract since November 2010,
ratified the agreement and returned to work Dec. 6, according
to the association’s website.
MUNACA, which represents
1,700 workers, went on strike
Sept. 1.
Their members were striking
in order to achieve wage parity
with other Ontario universities,
as well as pension protection,
and the implementation of a fair
wage scale, according their website.
The strike caused a new rift
on campus, MUNACA president
Kevin Whittaker told the Montreal
Gazette.
“There is a new realization
about the administration now,” he
said.
“It will take time to heal, but
time does heal all wounds.”
MUNACA is also unhappy
with the McGill Association of
University Teachers (MAUT) for
filling in on the jobs they were
boycotting, according to their
website.
Accusations were made Sept.
23 when a Quebec Labour Department inspector filed a public report
detailing that 15 of 110 workers
were not eligible replacements for
the more than 1,600 support staff
on strike.
“The easier MAUT makes it
for the university to carry on its
functions, the longer our strike
will last,” the press release stated.
One point of the agreement was
a 13-16 per cent pay increase over
five years, and wage parity by 2015,
the MUNACA website stated.
This would allow workers to
achieve their full pay rate within
12 years, instead of the previous
36.
q
For more coverage . . .
Atheists distrusted,
study says
Brianna Harris reports on
a recent study that finds few
people trust atheists.
Protesting Bill C-10
Sammy Hudes reports on a
youth-led organization’s
national crime-bill protest.
charlatan.ca
December 8 - January 4, 2012
charlatan.ca/national
6
Race to replace the late Layton begins
By Frank H. Auer Nichols
The New Democratic Party’s
race to replace the late Jack Layton
officially kicked off Dec. 4 at the
new Ottawa Convention Centre.
Nine candidates congregated
at the convention centre for the
first of six bilingual debates that
will help the NDP choose its next
leader.
The debate began with each
candidate giving a one-minute
statement outlining what they
would do to create a more inclusive
economy, if elected as Canada’s
next prime minister.
Nathan Cullen, MP for the
Skeena-Bulkley Valley riding in
British Columbia, said he wants
the government to focus on making better choices.
“Building prisons for crimes
that have not been committed is
not good government policy,” Cullen said.
“We need to find a way to [educate] the Canadian public about
true investments.”
Ottawa Centre MP Paul Dewar
said he wants to invest in the
“green economy,” and called for
Paul Dewar speaks at the Dec. 4 leadership debate. ||
the end of “ridiculous” corporate
tax cuts.
After the introductions, candidates were presented with a broad
question, and each had a minute to
answer.
Though the debate was centered around the economy, the
public also chimed in with a variety of questions, some through
multimedia outlets such as You-
photo by
Gerrit De Vynck
Tube.
Small business owner Scott Leyton wanted to know what the new
NDP leader would do for small
businesses, while British Columbia student Kim Cambell wanted
to know what candidates would
prioritize when it came to the environment.
During a rapid-fire round,
where would-be leaders had 15
seconds to answer questions,
candidates agreed that making
affordable housing available to
Canadians should be a top priority.
“Imagine the number of good
jobs we could create by putting a
good roof over everyone’s head,”
said Parkdale-High Park MP
Peggy Nash.
Later, the candidates were sectioned off into groups of three to
debate amongst each other.
Brian Topp, the party’s former
president who is also running for
leadership, tried to derail a question on the environment by talking
about government sales tax.
Dewar referred to Canada’s
“embarrassing” lack of commitment to international sustainability
agreements and proposed “an Eastto-West grid for sustainable
energy” that would help Canada
meet their agreements, and build a
stronger infrastructure.
Towards the end of the debate,
candidates had the opportunity to
ask each other questions.
Cullen brought up the current
housing crisis in Attawapiskat, a
First Nations reserve in northern
Ontario, to illustrate how out of
touch the current government is
with Canada’s rural communities.
Dewar added that his innovation strategy would infuse the job
market and create a more energy
sustainable Canada.
Thomas Mulcair, the MP for
Outremont, Que., said education
is essential to a growing economy.
He also commented on the decrease in doctoral degrees.
“The only way to increase
wealth, is to increase knowledge,”
Mulcair said.
The Quebec vote was essential
to the NDP in the last election,
bringing in 59 seats (42.9 per cent)
of their total constituency. As a result, there was a noticeable tension
when some candidates struggled
in the French portion of the debate.
Robert Chrisolm was one such
candidate. He used a translator to
answer questions.
After the debate was over, he
admitted that a bilingual leader
was necessary in Canada, and asserted he was taking time to learn.
Five more debates will be held
before the election on Mar. 24,
2012.
q
Prof steals English sign More mature students at school
By Sammy Hudes
By Sarah Brandon
A University of Ottawa professor took down a sign on campus
written only in English, feeling it
disrespected the university’s bilingual status, according to Maclean’s
magazine.
Francois Charbonneau, a political science professor, took the
English-only National Bank advertisement in order to send a strong
message that he couldn’t otherwise
achieve by merely filing “another
complaint,” he told the CBC.
A 1974 provincial act that made
U of O an official bilingual university requires “programmes, central
administration, general services
[and] internal administration of
its faculties and schools, its teaching staff, its support staff and its
student population” to reflect this
status, according to the university’s website.
There is no mention of outside
parties that have a presence on
campus in the act.
Charbonneau said U of O is
the only “major” institution in
Ontario where French-speaking
residents of the province can
study in French.
Nearly 490,000 francophones
live in Ontario and an additional
70,000 identify both English and
French as their mother tongues,
according to Statistics Canada.
“Outside corporations that
advertise only in English are disrespectful to both our students and
faculty,” Charbonneau said.
“I was merely denouncing the
lack of respect of corporations for
the 11,000 francophones, and thou-
The number of mature students
studying at universities and colleges across Canada is on the rise,
according to David Sovka, associate director of marketing and
recruitment at Camosun College
in Victoria, B.C.
Sovka said he believes the trend
is in direct correlation with the
state of the economy, and the factors surrounding it.
It’s about “people losing jobs,
industries changing — growing
and dying and moving on — and
other huge shifts in what people do
for a living,” he said.
He also said the changing nature of education itself may be
prompting older students to go
back to school.
“What you studied years ago
may just not be required anymore.
Or you may just be tired of it and
want a change,” he said. “Not all
re-education is a desperate thing.”
Carleton’s Bill Ellis Centre
for Mature and Part-Time Students (BECAMPS) was created in
1996 and is tailored to “address
the unique needs of mature and
part-time students at Carleton
University,” according to its website.
BECAMPS boasts an expanding
library, a computer with Internet
access and a refrigerator where
mature students can store their
lunches. The facility also has an
area just for kids.
Still, more changes need to be
made in order to accommodate the
steady increase of older students,
Sovka said.
One of many bilingual banners at
uOttawa. || photo by Gerrit De Vynck
sands of other immersion students
at our university.”
Jesse Smiley, a first-year history
major at the U of O, said bilingualism is something that’s both
“cherished and openly critiqued”
on campus. Smiley, who is not
bilingual, said while he feels the
university usually takes a strong
stance towards bilingualism, he
has also noticed some French-only
signs on campus.
“People have fought so hard
for those bilingual rights,” Smiley
said. “A professor acting the way
he did says a lot about pride.”
Charbonneau said he reacted
to the English-only signs not because he is a “linguistic zealot,”
but because he wanted to support
the francophone students on campus who have nowhere to go. q
BECAMPS was founded in 1996 to address the needs of mature and part-time
students at Carleton. || photo by Gerrit De Vynck
“The first and biggest change
is in how programs are delivered.
Most adult students already work
full-time, or at least part-time. That
means Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to
3 p.m. classes don’t work,” he said.
“It’s on us to deliver classes
when those students can take them,
which means evenings and weekends.”
According to their website, volunteers at the BECAMPS currently
help students work around their
diverse schedules by assisting with
daycare and time management.
Younger students are also accustomed to technology in the
classroom while many mature
students might not have been in
a classroom for years, and aren’t
used to the new ways of teaching
and of learning, Sovka said.
“We’re talking about students
who grew up with chalkboards
and, maybe, white boards. That
is to say, some of the equipment,
classroom layout, dependence on
online technologies and resources,
etc . . . will hamper some adult stu-
dents,” he said.
Carleton’s “10 tips for mature
students” reminds them to find a
new way to learn because many
people will process information
much differently than the last time
they were in school.
It also adds that older students
should organize their finances because of the costs associated with
studying at university.
However, it advises that students should remember to “step
back every now and then and get
a little perspective.”
Sovka said there are many
benefits to the increasing number
of mature students in universities.
“Younger Canadians see their
parents studying and, by extension, valuing education,” he said.
The increase in educated adults,
Sovka said, leads to benefits for
Canadian society as a whole.
“Ultimately, this is a good
thing,” he said. “More knowledgeable Canadians in every
sector? In the parlance of Facebook: ‘Like.’” q
Features
7
December 8 - January 4, 2012
Features Editors: Sarah Brandon and Selin Kum • [email protected]
Hark, now hear the cash registers sing
A look at how consumers are targeted during the holidays . . .
Cyber consumerism
By Cody Wilby
Most people have heard of Black Friday,
but Cyber Monday is a day that many may
not have known existed.
Cyber Monday, which marks the Monday following American Thanksgiving, is
a marketing term created by companies to
persuade people to buy online — a trend
that has spread to Canada in recent years.
The attractiveness
of online shopping is
heightened this time
of year.
There’s more
selection,
better
prices, and it offers consumers the
chance to beat the
lines as shopping malls
begin
to
crowd.
As a
result, companies
are
now using social media as
a method to
attract consumers.
“If you
have an exciting deal, people love to share that information,” said Jim Tobin, president of Ignite
Social Media.
Out of the social media outlets available, Facebook, tops the list in terms of users
based on global traffic statistics.
Laura Mullen is a third-year communications student who views brands and their
promotions through Facebook.
“I can use social media sites like Facebook to ‘like’ a brand,” she said. “Their page
then shows up in my news feed and I can
follow the trends that the company is promoting.”
There are benefits for players in any industry looking to make use of social media,
Tobin said.
“That way, you reward them, grow your
sales and grow your channel at the same
time,” he said.
Marc-Andre Pigeon, a communications
Cultural icons
by Kirsten Fenn
The use of cultural icons in marketing is
especially high during the holidays.
While businesses can influence the perception of the holiday spirit, to others these
icons are a way to bring joy and nourish cultural traditions.
“Corporations send messages to consumers about their products,” said Louise
Heslop, a marketing professor at Carleton
University.
Price, product, location, and advertising are all important aspects of marketing a
product and showing customers their needs
will be met, she said.
One way businesses encourage consumer purchasing is by offering promotions,
Café commercialization
professor at Carleton, attended a conference
discussing the use of Quick Response (QR)
codes in targeting consumers. These codes
can be scanned with a cellphone and are
used to drive traffic to given sites.
“There are also dozens of shopping apps
out there to help you narrow your selection
and drive you to a given retailer,” Pigeon
said.
“Google Analytics and other companies
have developed tools that allow companies
to better identify and target potential consumer groups.”
While online shopping provides new
outlets for consumers and new
opportunities for merchants,
Pigeon
said
shoppers
should be cautious when
making purchases online
because there have been
serious data breaches at
certain companies.
Emma Fraser, a
third-year
history
student at Carleton,
said she’s hesitant
to make purchases
online for these reasons.
“I’m mostly worried about credit card
theft and the chance of
fraud,” Fraser said.
“With that said, I
think the legitimacy of
items online really depends on what a person is buying, and who they are buying it
from.”
Despite these kinds of hesitations, online traffic spiked on Cyber Monday. $1.25
billion in online sales were generated in the
U.S., which was a 22 per cent increase from
last year, according to comScore, an organization that examines digital marketing intelligence.
“It was just the second billion-dollar
spending day on record, following on the
heels of Cyber Monday 2010,” ComScore
chairman Gian Fulgoni said in a press release.
“It will be interesting to watch the next
couple of weeks to see if any future individual days in 2011 manage to leapfrog this
year’s highest day to date.” q
— graphic by Marcus Poon
Shoppers bustle in and out of the Rideau Centre. ||
such as discounts and coupons, “especially
during tough economic times,” Heslop said.
Cultural icons are also important in draw
ing business, particularly during the holiday season.
“The role of an icon, for example Santa
Claus, represents something,” Heslop said.
“We associate the icon with a memory, and
this memory to the product. It has an emotional level to it.”
Just as the image of Santa prompts many
to recollect childhood memories, the Christmas wreath prompts the same for Linda
Bergeron, who has been creating her product since the age of 13, carrying on an important family tradition.
“I kept doing the wreaths because my
grandmother was doing the wreaths, and
then my father,” Bergeron said.
To Bergeron, who sells fruits and veg-
etables in the ByWard Market during the
summer months, the cultural icon of the
Christmas wreath is an especially important
part of her business.
“We basically do a fundraiser,” Bergeron
said. “Sports teams buy them from us, and
then they resell it. They make a profit out of
it, to help their organizations.”
This perk keeps customers coming back
for more each year.
“They’re very happy, very satisfied because [the wreaths] keep longer than Christmas,” she said. “Sometimes they don’t
throw them out until February because they
keep very well and have a nice smell.”
A good first impression is important
for catching the consumer’s attention, and
prompting them to return.
While “businesses didn’t create Christmas . . . or Halloween or Easter, they cer-
By Jasmine Williams
It’s that time of the year again.
Grocery stores and clothing stores are
playing familiar Christmas tunes, and coffee shops have all the new holiday flavours.
While most people may not think much of
these marketing techniques, companies tapping into the holiday spirit can make an impact on consumer spending habits.
Second Cup has a range of holiday teas
so popular that people will buy several boxes at a time, said Trisha Williams, a Second
Cup employee.
“The holiday season has a lot of emotions and feelings around it,” Williams said.
“It kind of takes you back to being a kid.”
Melissa O’Neill, a second-year journalism student at Carleton, said she agrees. She
said she buys the peppermint hot chocolate
at Starbucks because the drink, and the holiday cup it comes in, remind her of Christmas.
“For things you might not normally
spend money on, you’re willing to give
yourself a little permission because it’s the
holidays,” said Robin Ritchie, an assistant
marketing professor at Carleton.
Starbucks is also known for its marketing techniques during the Christmas season.
Daniele Monti, Starbucks’ creative director, wrote last year on the official company
blog that their Christmas cup design is “inspired by the idea of people sharing their
own stories and experiences to create the
holidays at Starbucks.”
But it’s not all about the packaging.
“I love my coffee, but I love my flavoured
coffee even more,” said Caitlind Anderson,
a second-year sociology student at Carleton.
A self-proclaimed coffee lover, Anderson said she switches from Tim Hortons to
Starbucks during the winter for the “better
flavours.”
This year, Starbucks went even further
with the theme by creating an app for smartphones. By using the camera feature, customers can make the designs on the cup virtually
come alive. But not all shoppers are so willing to embrace the holiday spirit. O’Neill said
when she worked at a local Loblaws, customers would complain about the holiday decorations being up in early November.
“Christmas can be fun, as long as you
keep it low-key,” Williams said about the
holiday decorations at Second Cup.
Marketers see the holidays as a way to
experiment with techniques and catch the
attention of their target audience, Ritchie
said, which for coffee chains like Starbucks,
is virtually everybody.
“I think overall, the market suggests that
they’re effective and continue to be effective,” Ritchie said. “Any kind of resistance
to it is really token.”
The short window of opportunity for
getting holiday products also contributes to
their popularity, Williams said.
“You put a time limit on something, and
people feel they need to get something right
away,” she said.
Holiday marketing campaigns have
been a mainstay in Canada during the winter months. With the increasing Canadian
popularity of American traditions like Black
Friday and Cyber Monday, these campaigns
continue to evolve. “I think the question
is what will be the next big thing,” Ritchie
said. q
photo by
Maria Church
tainly are interested in using the opportunity to encourage consumers to buy their
products,” Heslop said.
But due to the state of the economy,
“businesses are facing difficulty motivating
customers to come to the marketplace and
spend money,” she added.
Bergeron sells her product for only
$10, as a way to help others, and “keep the
Christmas spirit.” Selling wreaths is as much
about her customers as it is for her, she said.
“Christmas is a very important time,”
Heslop said. “It’s a chance for businesses to
get a jump start on sales.”
While Heslop said businesses do play
an important role in redefining holidays, to
Bergeron, selling the icon of the Christmas
wreath is about preserving tradition and
“making people happy,” just as much as it
is a livelihood. q
8
charlatan.ca/oped
Overheard at Carleton
Girl: I’m going to play a game with
this drawer called “What the fuck is in
here?”
Guy: I tried that game with your mom
last week but it didn’t go so well . . .
OOO
(In Herzberg building)
Guy: The [Science Student Success
Centre] in the basement has rat
problems. Yesterday, Mike saw a bat
in the tunnels nearby, and there are
cockroaches on at least three floors.
What the fuck? Did someone start a
game of Jumanji in Herzberg Building?
OOO
(In the Unicentre food court)
Girl: They play dope tunes. Well, dope
according to a 64-year-old man.
Guy: Like Dre? Wu Tang?
Girl: Yeah, my dad is all about
Ghostface Killah.
OOO
(In the Unicentre food court)
Girl: Just FYI, we’re joining a curling
league.
Guy: Why? Don’t you have enough
experience yelling, “Harder! Harder!
Harder!”
OOO
Guy: We're CUSA, we're dysfunctional
but we fight AIDS!
OOO
You don’t have to be dysfunctional
to email: [email protected]
For web exclusives . . .
Religion blog: Hanukkah
Sammy Hudes discusses the Festival
of Lights and why it’s important to
celebrate the holiday publicly.
Defending the U.S.
Delroy Dyer continues the discussion on
Islamophobia, saying all the blame can’t
fall on American society.
CUSA misplays U-Pass debate
Stephanie Feldman argues that CUSA
should be focusing on more than just fare
increases when it comes to OC Transpo.
#TeamBeaver
Yaelle Gang discusses why Canada
should ditch the polar bear idea and stick
with the beaver as its national symbol.
Some certainty for Christmas?
Marie Waine tells us why changing
programs is a big decision that students
shouldn’t take lightly.
charlatan.ca
Assault counselling biased to mainstream
RE: “Students need sexual assault support centre,” Dec. 1-7, 2011
I read a letter in the Charlatan recently
that struck me at the very centre of my
core. I want to thank the anonymous person, first and foremost, for their letter. I
want to let them know that it inspired me,
and gave me power to write this down.
Not empowerment, but real power. It has
been much too long since I’ve felt that.
I am a student at Carleton University,
currently completing my bachelor’s in
social work. I am visibly queer, and androgynous. I first came to Carleton in 2006
studying in a different program.
Late one night I was walking to my car
after class, it was located in one of the furthest lots. I will never be able to convey the
enormity of that night. So far since then I
haven’t been able to tell the whole story.
I was gang raped by three men. There I
said it. It’s not the first time that I say this. I
actually say it, over and over again hoping
that at any given moment it will become
less real, or somehow change something.
I was almost 20 then. I am almost 25 now.
Health and counselling was the reason
I quit Carleton that year. I was trivialized,
scrutinized, interrogated. I did not feel
validated. They made me feel like what I
was telling them wasn’t true.
That it was so unbelievable that someone like me could be raped. I know I don’t
look like a conventional “woman” but I
was raped, and my body knows this.
A sexual assault support centre is needed on our campus, especially for stories
like mine.
A sexual assault support centre would
be a space for survivors to find ourselves
again, and build capacity for community
but also a place to resist rape culture and
educate others of the reality of violence on
our campuses.
We are not an isolated incident, sexual
violence is everywhere. It is happening at
our school.
We need a space for survivors to go
to feel validated, and believed. As a
community who has historically been
pathologized, we know the peer/feminist/anti-oppression support model works.
And no, these are not a group of people
who think they are counsellors. However,
they are a group of people who know their
stuff, and have the knowledge of what
resources are available for certain experiences, especially ones who do not fit the
“mainstream” — stories like mine.
We need to keep fighting for this centre. There are people who need it. People
like me.
Note: This social work student, who is
gender non-conforming, spoke on the condition of anonymity.
For the rest of this story, visit
charlatan.ca
Carleton business model bad for students
RE: “Sit-in for support centre,” Dec. 1-7,
2011
We would like to begin by saying that we
appreciate the attention that the Coalition
for a Sexual Assault Centre received by the
Charlatan. We want to stress that we do not
wish to discredit the efforts of the coalition
in regards to the progress that does indeed
need to be made concerning sexual assault
awareness and support on campus.
Though our action, “Got Space?,” did
include the demand for the sexual assault
support centre, the wider issue we sought
to uncover was that of the privatization of
the university and the neo-liberal businessmodel to which Carleton University has
subscribed.
Students as cash cows and consumers,
education as a commodity that comes with
a price tag, and the inaccessibility of education to all — these are the issues that have
an impact on critical pedagogy (strategies of
teaching and learning), which in turn infringes on our intellectual engagement.
The business-model that promotes ef-
ficiency, speed, and ‘professionalization’
of the students is dangerous to the student
body by threatening our mental health, the
overall accessibility of the university, and
the transparency of the university’s investments.
Carleton University’s history is ripe with
critical intervention and discussion and has
been on the forefront of important issues.
However, faculty, students, and staff seem
to have strayed from Carleton’s historical
roots.
Through this, the larger Carleton community has lost physical and intellectual
space in the institution that at one point provided a space for action.
Now, we wander the halls of this place
of ‘higher’ learning, gaining knowledge and
privilege, making ourselves marketable for
the future. Upon reflection, when you look
back at the opportunity you have now, at
the little space you have left, what have you
done with it?
— Geneviève Colverson
human rights and law, HUMR 3202
December 1 - December 7, 2011
No pints neeeded for
Carleton Tories
Re: “Pint waiting for Tories,” Nov. 24-30, 2011
We at the Carleton Conservatives were disappointed to read the Nov. 24 editorial, “Pint
Waiting for Tories.” Not only does it misrepresent the facts, but the author made no effort
to actually confirm their statements with the
Carleton Conservatives.
First to the factual errors: the Carleton
Conservatives brought three Ottawa-area
candidates to speak with our club and other
students in the first three months of the school
year. Ottawa Centre and Ottawa South Progressive Conservative candidates Rob Dekker
and Jason MacDonald joined us at [Expo Carleton] in September, where they had a chance to
meet and talk with many students face to face.
Then in October, Glengarry-Prescott-Russell candidate Marilissa Gosselin came to our
S-AGM, where she had an opportunity to address students and interact with our campus
club. Gosselin later commented that the Carleton Conservatives played a crucial role in her
campaign. The most disappointing part of
“Pint Waiting for Tories” was that the author
did not take time to contact us before making
their accusations. Like any club, we don’t post
our every thought on Facebook, and had they
come to our S-AGM they would have been informed of the upcoming events of the Carleton
Conservatives.
Furthermore, had the Charlatan contacted
our executive, we might have had the chance
to inform them of our highly successful volunteer program. This program gives students the
chance to work closely with members of Parliament, ministries and the Prime Minister’s
Office. The program is already responsible for
placing a number of students in volunteer positions on the Hill. It is our hope that through
the volunteer program we may provide students with a far richer political experience than
they would have simply by meeting an MP for
a drink.
We at the Carleton Conservatives are
immensely proud of our efforts to connect
students with potential employers. We plan to
build on this volunteer program in the future.
While we’re on that topic, we haven’t heard
a peep out of the Carleton New Democrats.
They don’t have an active website and their
Facebook group seems deserted. The author
might find more validity in investigating the
complete absence of student representatives of
the Official Opposition, not making mistakes
concerning the activities of the Tories.
We hope that through this response we will
provide yet another opportunity for students
to become politically involved.
— Tristan McLaughlin
director of communications,
Carleton Conservatives
Problems in Attawapiskat the result of government neglect
Attawapiskat is in the news right now
for the poor conditions the residents are
living in, mostly the lack of housing and
the lack of fresh water (one source for 1,800
people).
Attawapiskat doesn’t have a school. It
hasn’t had a school for 12 years. The closest they got to having a school was when
Shannen Koostachin, at 13 years old, rallied
the students there to protest to Ottawa and
demand another school. It worked and the
government promised a new school for the
community in 2009.
After 150 years of residential schools,
you would think the government would
make it a priority to do something right for
aboriginals; you would think that it might
actually care about its citizens. But the
proof is in the pudding.
If Canada doesn’t care if First Nation
communities have safe drinking water or
schools, then this country simply don’t care
about providing basic needs for them. And
on top of that, they are now blaming Attawapiskat for its problems.
To those who are unhappy with the
government’s decision to keep giving our
native people ‘free money,’ please take a
second and ask yourself, if they have it so
good from our government, would you like
to switch places with them?
Would you like to live in a tent or a shed
through the winter? How would you feel if
you didn’t have a high school or a primary
school in your community? What if you
had to boil water every time you wanted
to drink it?
The aboriginal people I have met have
been nothing short of spectacular. They
have a wonderful sense of humour and are
incredibly intelligent.
Surely they deserve the same basics in
their communities that we all take for granted in ours.
— Graham Shonfield
third year, public affairs and
policy management
Opinions/Editorial
9
December 8 - January 4, 2012
Op/Ed Editor: Tom Ruta • [email protected]
Outright bans not the answer
St. Thomas University in Fredericton, N.B. recently
banned alcohol in one of its residences after incidents of
vandalism by drunk students. Such a move by university
authorities is simplistic and cannot be considered an effective solution to the problem.
The decision was made based on two incidents of vandalism. While the university had proof the perpetrators were
drunk, the solution cannot simply be banning everyone in
the residence from having alcohol. The majority of residents
could very well be peaceful and moderate drinkers, and
don’t deserve such a heavy-handed ban.
The university risks driving people away from the residence in question, and forcing residents to drink off-campus,
which may be more dangerous. The ban might actually make
the problem worse, by forcing students to drink secretly and
putting them in direct conflict with university security over
an activity that was previously legal.
Universities should avoid simplistic solutions and
sweeping decisions to solve problems like this. At Carleton’s
residences, for instance, alcohol is permitted but glass bottles are not. Rather than a sweeping ban, limits and controls
on alcohol consumption can be enforced more effectively
and will get better results.
At St. Thomas, students in the residence welcomed the
ban by getting drunk on the first day of it taking effect. The
university has simply brought on itself a mammoth policing
task and isn’t any closer to solving the problem.
The university will re-visit the ban next semester, and
here’s hoping they do the right thing.
No need for fighting
This past weekend, the Carleton Ravens men’s hockey
team had a full-on line brawl against the Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières Patriotes (UQTR).
This isn’t the first time the Ravens have brawled with
opposing teams. Earlier in the year, they dropped the gloves
with Guelph, and last season, they collected over 78 penalty
minutes in a brawl with the Patriotes.
While the fights have received some attention, they
should not be commended. Other sports don’t allow fighting and hockey needs to stop being the aberration.
To be fair, Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) hockey
has some of the toughest rules legislating fighting to be found.
Those involved in a fight are given game misconducts and,
for a player who instigates the bout, a two-game suspension
is added on top of that. But these rules do nothing to change
the culture of fighting in hockey at the root of the problem.
For Carleton, fighting is often overlooked because of the
team’s “chippy” style of play. This can’t be considered acceptable. In a recent series by the New York Times, it was
found that taking blow after blow to the head for years contributed to former NHL tough guy Derek Boogaard’s brain
disease. These are the consequences. Boogard died at the
age of 28 this past summer. His death was attributed to a
mixture of alcohol and painkillers.
It’s obvious that despite prohibitions in leagues such as
the CIS, fighting persists. With brawls becoming more commonplace, the time is now for the NHL to step in. As was the
case with requiring players to wear helmets, or even introducing the trapezoid behind the net, it will be unpopular at
first but will eventually permeate the game’s culture.
Maybe ticket sales will take a hit, but isn’t that better than
somebody’s brain?
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How far is too far when it comes to changing Shakespeare?— p. 12
Stay away from Christmas, Occupy Ottawa
excuse to spend and Canadians love it.
“Hit them where it hurts!” This is the bad-assed slogan
Occupy Christmas employs. But who are you hurting,
Occupy? It seems as if you are trying to turn Christmas
into a season of regret and self-consciousness. The last
time I checked, the spirit of Christmas was all about soliOver the past few weeks I’ve been observing the Oc- darity and giving, two points held in high regard by all
cupy Ottawa movement closely. Since right before the of the Occupy movement.
Unfortunately, in order to give, some bucks need to
eviction until now, I’ve attended general assemblies and
be spent.
talked with occupiers about what they’re doing.
I realize that Christmas is also a season of thinking
Let me just start off by saying I sympathize with the
movement’s initial cause. It takes a great deal of courage about those who are less fortunate, but how is having dry
and determination to stick it to the man the way they did crackers as a Christmas dinner going to solve this?
We rely on companies. Hell, I can hardly count how
from the start.
Lack of organization and the fragmented goals found many occupiers I’ve come across, walking around with
cups of Starbucks coffee. “Would you like a layer of hypat the campsite were minor issues.
However, looking at Occupy now, the steamroller ocrisy on that coffee, sir?”
Not supporting any large
energy that was present at
companies there, geniuses?
the start appears to have
I realize that Christmas is also a season
And once again, devanished into thin air.
of thinking about those who are less
spite this trash talk — I am
The protesters appear
fortunate, but how is having dry crackers sorry — I still do support
lost and the people are now
refusing to waste any more
as a Christmas dinner going to solve this? the initial causes of the Occupy movement. Social and
publicity — be it good or
economic inequality is sickbad — on them.
ening and has been going on
Occupy Ottawa has befor too long.
come a child with its candy
A world where the rich grow richer and the poor grow
taken away by its parents: the media.
Shortly after they were kicked out of their campsite, it poorer is also plain debauchery. I just do not see how Occupy Christmas is a piece that adds to solving the puzzle.
seemed as if the movement was dead.
So here’s my message to the movement:
After the extensive coverage on the eviction, pubDear Occupy,
lishing the costs of police intervention and revitalizing
Fight the ones that count. Fight the banks. Fight the
Confederation Park, the media went on to find new play
politicians. Fight the overindulging, excessively rich.
pals.
The simple truth here is that Occupy needs media Sure, fight large companies, but leave Christmas alone.
It’s the one season where we get to enjoy the less drastic
coverage in order to remain effective.
So what does Occupy Ottawa do? Occupy Ottawa: The and less serious things in life.
It’s the season we spend with our loved ones. It’s the
Sequel! Occupy Christmas is the name of this brand new
season where we give.
brain fart.
In the end, here’s an idea for all you occupiers out
The initiative is to convince the masses to cut back on
holiday spending, in order to stop beefing up large com- there: Want to really Occupy Christmas? Invite a homeless person out for a great dinner. Make food or money
panies’ revenues.
With this initiative, Occupy has shot itself in the foot. donations to those in need. That would be some justified
Being from a distant, foggy country, I’ve seen how much and effective spending that never has to be cut back.
Not just for Christmas, but every single day of the
Canadians care about their holidays. A good meal, presents, Black Friday stampedes — a holiday is a proper year.
q
Features Editors
Selin Kum and Sarah
Brandon
Op/Ed Editor
Tom Ruta
Perspectives Editor
Natalie Berchem
Arts Editors
Kristen Cochrane and
Jenny Kleininger
Sports Editors
Callum Micucci and Nick
Roy Toes is a third-year journalism
exchange student who says the Occupy
movement is misguided in its attempt to
take on Christmas.
Wells
Photo Editors
Portia Baladad and
Gerrit De Vynck
Graphics Editor
Marcus Poon
Web Editor
Chris Herhalt
Copy Editor
Shamit Tushakiran
Contributors:
Julia Allen, Cassie Aylward, Dario Balca, Alex Brockman, Riley Byrne, Luke Chandler, Kari Charles, Jessica
Chin, Maria Church, Geneviève Colverson, Tyler Difley, Michelle Duquette, Pamela Fabbro, Kirsten Fenn,
Marcus Guido, Frank H. Auer Nichols, Brianna Harris, Rebecca Hay, Cassie Hendry, Sammy Hudes, Yuko
Inoue, Shelby Jensen, Miriam Katawazi, Lauren Larmour, Lesley LeRoux, Tristan McLaughlin, Laura Moor,
Christian Osier, Lana Peric, Erica Richard, Oliver Sachgau, Calum Slingerland, Lewis Smith, Shamit Tushakiran, Pedro Vasconcellos, Mei Wang, Cody Wilby, Jasmine Williams, Nick Zou
The Charlatan’s photos are produced exclusively by the photo editor, the photo assistant and volunteer members, unless otherwise noted as a provided photograph. The Charlatan is Carleton University’s independent student newspaper. It is an editorially and financially autonomous journal published
weekly during the fall and winter semesters, and monthly during the summer. Charlatan Publications Incorporated, Ottawa, Ontario, is a non-profit corporation registered under the Canada Corporations Act and is the publisher of the Charlatan. Editorial content is the sole responsibility of
editorial staff members, but may not reflect the beliefs of all members. The Charlatan reserves the right to edit letters for length and grammar. The Charlatan’s official shout-out is to all of our fantastic web editors. Contents are copyright 2011. No article or photograph or other content may be
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Perspectives
10
December 8 - January 4, 2012
Perspectives Editor: Natalie Berchem • [email protected]
Carleton student on a mission
By Michelle Duquette
Braving the humidity and culture shock
of Central America, Allison Hidinger, along
with 25 university students and 10 staff from
across Canada, set off for Panama May 3 June 7, 2011.
The mission trip was organized by Campus for Christ, an international organization
that strives to help students discover Jesus
and change the world.
After spending six weeks of her summer
in Panama the previous year, Hidinger was
no stranger to the culture and livelihood of
the city.
“I was so excited to be back in Latin America,” said Hidinger, a fourth-year journalism
student at Carleton. “I love the culture and
any chance to use my Spanish is a plus.”
Originally from White Horse, Yukon,
Hidinger has been involved in the church
and in mission work from a young age. At
14, Hidinger travelled to Mexico to help
build an orphanage for children through
Youth Unlimited Gospel Outreach Ministries, a house building ministry.
Since that first taste of changing the
world, Hidinger hasn’t stopped.
While in Panama, she and the other Campus for Christ volunteers spent their time at
the Universidad de Panamá. They worked
with the students to help plan events, speak
about Christ and understand their needs on
a physical and spiritual level.
Fourth-year journalism student Allison Hidinger travelled to Panama with Campus for Christ. || Provided
The second part of the trip was spent in
the Panamanian mountainside, helping indigenous families living in poverty.
“There were five of us that helped the
family with their coffee plant crop,” Hid-
inger said. “We worked
down unwanted weeds
machetes.”
Though the country
temperatures are warm,
outside chopping
and bushes with
is lush and the
a mission trip is
anything but a vacation, Hidinger said.
“The hardest part was spending a long
day on campus, sweaty and tired, and then
we’d pile onto these buses called Diablo
Storhos, or Red Devil,” she said. “You’re
crammed up against everyone and the drivers are crazy. It’s definitely a culture shock.”
Hidinger said her parents were wary of
her mission work at first, insisting she spend
her summers at home or at work instead.
Despite her family’s trepidation, Hidinger
continued to volunteer. Now, she said her
family is very supportive of her, and proud
of the work she has done.
“The thing I love about missions work is
that you always get more than you give,”
she said. “I’ve learned so much from all the
students and faculty. My experience has
been wonderful.”
Hidinger said she plans to continue her
mission work in Latin America and with
Campus for Christ even after she graduates
from Carleton. The Canadian partnership
with the Panama ministry has ended, as they
no longer need the support of mission trips,
but Hidinger has been given the opportunity
to return to Mexico in the next year.
Hidinger is building ministries and
movements, and she said her work, though
difficult, has helped her to grow and succeed
in helping others.
“All the reasons that take me to Latin
America outweigh the inconvenience or the
differences of culture,” she said. q
Canoes trump cars for Carleton professor
By Shelby Jensen
Every morning, Root Gorelick transports
his canoe to the river on a special trailer
he pulls behind his bicycle. After carefully
making his way through the morning traffic,
he ties up his bike. Then, he paddles to work.
Gorelick, a biology professor at Carleton,
said he used to commute to work on his bike.
But a couple years ago, he started canoeing to the university once in a while. Last
year, he did so more often and to this day,
he still does.
“This year I figured, well, let’s just see
how long I can push it,” Gorelick said.
When Gorelick heard about a man in
Phoenix, Ariz. who did the same thing, he
said the notion of towing a canoe with a bicycle startled him.
He had been putting his canoe on the roof
of his car until he met another evolutionary
biology professor who was visiting Carleton
from Vermont.
He told Gorelick about a trailer designed
for towing a canoe or kayak behind a bicycle.
Along with his respect for the other professor and his work, Gorelick said he also had
a lot of respect for his creative commuting
idea. So, he looked into getting his own
trailer.
Towing the canoe is the only thing about
canoeing to work that draws much surprise,
Gorelick said.
“That’s the one that people don’t know
what to make of,” he said. “Everyone expects it out on the river.”
The only real challenge Gorelick has faced
while commuting is the foul winter weather,
like high winds, which can make canoe-
Instead of biking, Carleton biology professor Root Gorelick paddles to campus by canoe. ||
ing difficult. He can, however, bring more
things to work with him in his canoe than he
could while biking. One time, Gorelick said
he even transported his clothing for convocation to the university by canoe.
Gorelick said canoeing in the dark isn’t
a problem for him — he barely notices the
loss of daylight because of the extra hour he
photo by
Gerrit De Vynck
spends outside commuting each day.
He said he’s seen a lot of unexpected
wildlife, met some interesting people and
enjoys the peace of paddling along.
“The river is unexpected, in a good way,”
he said.
Though it means an hour lost everyday
where he could be doing something else,
it also gives him an extra hour outside. It
means he can also avoid coming into work
stressed, Gorelick said.
Despite the few times he has almost
tipped the boat, Gorelick said he has enjoyed
a semester of relaxing trips to work and
hopes that trend continues — even as winter
approaches. q
Arts
Feist enchants NAC crowd with new album
11
December 8 - January 4, 2012
Arts Editors: Kristen Cochrane and Jenny Kleininger • [email protected]
by Tyler Difley
For the second-last show on her
Canadian tour, Feist delivered an
energetic and passionate performance at the National Arts Centre
(NAC) Dec. 5.
Feist took to the stage after
opening act Bry Webb. She bowed
to the audience as they erupted
into applause.
She quickly jumped into her
first song of the night, “Undiscovered First,” from her new album
Metals.
After her opening number,
Feist took time to talk to the audience, expressing her acceptance
of the mainstream success she’s
received.
“For years, I’ve tried to fight
the comfortable seats,” she said.
“I’m not going to fight the NAC
tonight.”
The NAC may have been
fighting her though, as scattered
microphone
feedback
issues
plagued the body of her performance.
But this did nothing to quell
the excitement of the audience.
They were too entranced by
Feist’s soaring vocals and animated guitar playing to pay much
The Path of Totality
Korn
Roadrunner
Fusion genres are often the
most rewarding to listen to. At
best, the genre allows an artist
to distill the very essence of two
or more styles into something
unique and challenging.
At worst, it’s an outlet for
several stubborn artists to all
pigeonhole their ideas into a
single song — like Mick Jagger’s
recent supergroup, SuperHeavy,
has done.
The Path of Totality, Korn’s
10th studio album, lands somewhere in the middle, bringing
on a plethora of guest artists and
bravely fusing bland nu-metal
with painfully generic dubstep.
The opener, “Chaos Lives in
Everything,” lays out a blueprint
for every song thereafter.
After repurposing the Amen
breakbeat as an intro, “Chaos
Lives in Everything” settles into
a typical Korn riff, punctuated
by half-time drum couplets that
have become the standard in
mainstream dubstep.
Basses alternatively squeal
and roar around the edges while
vocalist Jonathan Davis continuously offers to kiss the listener’s
frown or, if not that, rape them.
This brings up a troubling
Leslie Feist performs at the National Arts Centre on Dec.5. || Photo by Portia Baladad
attention to technical glitches.
Feist continued with a rich
selection of songs from Metals, including “How Come You Never
Go There,” “A Commotion,” and
“Graveyard.”
Feist kept the audience
engaged throughout her performance, alternating between upbeat
aspect of The Path of Totality,
in that rape is referenced more
times than racism was in the film
Crash.
If Davis isn’t actively sexually assaulting someone, then his
ex-girlfriends, the government
and the illuminati are threatening to rape him, his mind and
his hope.
Throughout the album, Davis
emphatically informs “you” that
he will overcome the obstacles
“you” place in front of him, and
eventually take his rightful place
at the country club.
The distrust and pent up
anger expressed in the songs,
coupled with the vivid rape
imagery, might carry more
emotional weight if it wasn’t
delivered by an emotionally arrested, 40-year-old millionaire.
Davis comes off less as an
angst-ridden teenager, and more
as a conduit to Herman Cain’s
innermost thoughts. Bringing on
dubstep for each track limits the
range of the record.
Rarely does the album venture out of the 130-140 BPM
realm, slowing down occasionally with all the heavy-handedness
and self-righteousness of an
Evanescence song.
Davis even pulls out the bagpipes for the closing track, in
the laziest solo put onto record
since Phil Collins’ “Everyday,”
redeemed by the fact that it features a heartbroken 40-year-old
man not resorting to rape as a
means of atonement.
— Riley Byrne
rock numbers and subdued, slow
songs. Frequently switching between acoustic and electric guitar,
she treated the audience to her
vocals and her skills as a musician.
During the middle of her performance, Feist ventured away
from her new album to play fan
favourites from her 2007 album,
The Reminder.
“Everyone climb inside the
time machine,” she said.
Feist got the audience involved
by asking them to help her sing “So
Sorry.”
Then she continued to power
through familiar renditions of
“My Moon My Man” and “I Feel It
All,” for the first time bringing the
crowd to their feet.
Feist carried the momentum
even as she returned to her new
material, delivering a rendition of
“The Bad in Each Other,” featuring
opener Bry Webb.
Feist’s quirkiness was constantly on display, as she happily
hummed between songs, threw
mock punches at the air around
her, and made humorous replies
to shouts from the audience.
“Can you leave a photo at the
backstage door?” she joked after
someone in the audience shouted,
“I love you, Leslie!”
After playing “Comfort Me”
and “Caught a Long Wind,” Feist
left the stage to a roaring standing ovation. She wasn’t gone long,
however, as she quickly skipped
back into the spotlight.
“I love you guys,” she said.
After encore performances of
“When I Was a Young Girl” and
“Cicadas and Gulls,” Feist wished
a happy birthday to her drummer
Paul Taylor, leading the audience
to spontaneously sing “Happy
Birthday” for him.
Following a jazz-like rendition of “Sea Lion Woman,” Feist
asked the audience, “How about
a slow dance?” The response
was a resounding ‘Yes,’ and Feist
launched into “Let It Die,” the title
track from her 2004 debut album,
Let It Die.
After returning to the stage for
a third time, Feist wrapped up the
show with her song, “Intuition.”
On Feist’s current tour, she’s
performing with backing vocals
from American folk-rock trio
Mountain Man.
After wrapping up her Canadian tour, she’ll be performing
in Mexico, Australia, and New
Zealand, before touring Europe in
March.
One of many Carleton faces in
the crowd was journalism student
Eric Balnar.
“I told my roommate before
the show that this is the highest
expectations I’ve ever had for
a show,” Balnar said via email.
“Not only did she exceed my expectations, she created a whole
new league.”
q
Alumni in the land of sweets
by Lesley LeRoux
Carleton alumni gathered to
watch the Pennsylvania Ballet
perform George Balachine’s The
Nutcracker Dec. 1 at the National
Arts Centre (NAC).
The ballet was a rich presentation of the classic story, sparking
enthusiasm from an audience that
included 65 alumni and their families.
The Carleton University Alumni
Association (CUAA) organized an
opportunity for the university’s
alumni to buy discounted tickets
to The Nutcracker. The alumni association also held a pre-reception
at the NAC.
“It’s important to keep alumni
engaged with the university,” said
Sarah Fee, the event’s organizer.
Those in attendance socialized
before the performance and then
shared in the experience of watching a holiday favourite.
The Nutcracker was true to the
traditional narrative and choreography of Balanchine, supported by
the skills and artistry of the Pennsylvania Ballet. This marked the
ballet’s NAC debut and their first
international presentation of The
Nutcracker, according to the event’s
pamphlet.
From the moment the dancers
were introduced onstage, the audience was immersed in a world of
colour and texture. Each of the
190 costumes made by designer
Judanna Lynn created a Christ-
The Sugar Plum Fairy is played by Arantxa Ochoa. ||
mas-like atmosphere, with details
of gold and silver on many garments.
Elements like the triangles of
cheese speared on the Mouse Army’s helmets, or Mother Ginger’s
stilts and broad skirt encouraged
laughter from the audience.
Other costumes, like the frosted
turquoise skirts worn by the Snowflakes or the Sugar Plum Fairy’s
classic ballerina ensemble inspired
a different response — one marked
by gasps and a sort of hypnotized,
trance-like silence.
The set was also full of surprises.
The Christmas tree was a standout
feature, growing to twice its height
photo by
Portia Baladad
during the first act. Accented by
lights that moved along to the
music, the tree came close in comparison to that of New York City’s
extravagant Rockefeller Center.
Even though the focus of the
night was the performance, alumni
were enthusiastic to network and
reconnect with Carleton.
Shawn Menard, president of
the CUAA’s National Capital Region chapter, said in a speech “it’s
important to come to these kinds of
events.” Tammi Varma, a mass communications alumna, said that
events like this one “keep the
Carleton pride alive.”
q
December 8 - January 4, 2012
charlatan.ca/arts
12
Youth in the Reagan era
Commentary
by Kari Charles
Conversations of booze, drugs,
and sex generated an outstanding
audience response at the opening
night of the Sock ‘n’ Buskin Theatre
Company’s This is Our Youth Nov.
30.
The combination of the actors’
chemistry and director Iain
Moggach’s passion for the script,
written by American playwright
Kenneth
Lonergan,
surely
contributed to the crowd’s positive
reception.
This Is Our Youth takes off
as Warren Straub, played by
Luke Bradley, reveals to Dennis
Ziegler (Geoff Burnside) that he
has stolen $15,000 from his father.
This forces Warren to re-negotiate
his own stance in life. The theme
of morality continues throughout
the production, highlighting the
characters’ offbeat and animated
humour.
The
play
also
includes
elements of 1980’s iconic imagery
reminiscient of the Reagan youth
culture. As Moggach writes in
the production’s pamphlet, this
is a play with a “ . . . great plot,
deep characters, and an edge of
controversy.”
Moggach’s
comment
is
reflected in the stereotypical dorm
room setting inscribed with 1980’s
elements, like New Wave Zolo
music references and T-shirts with
political messages.
Bradley’s strong stage presence
and edgy humour received
laughter from the audience for his
role as Warren, an awkward yet
quirky teenager.
His performance complements
the theme of controversy in the
play as the audience witnesses
Warren negotiating a place to stay
with Dennis, as well as Dennis’s
deep personal attachments to
the objects he has stolen from his
father.
The dark humour used
throughout This is Our Youth seems
historically sensitive in a situation
where a 1980s adolescent is torn
between his parents’ conservative
ideals and the social pressures of
appearing “good at heart.” q
Luke Bradley (left) and Geoff Burnside are two of the three performers in This is Our
Youth, which includes elements of Reagan youth culture. || photo by Gerrit De Vynck
Shakespeare reimagined at GCTC
by Oliver Sachgau
Shakespearean plays usually
don’t involve clowns licking a baby
in order to discover what flavour
it most resembles. They also don’t
involve a lot of improvisation.
Still, A Company of Fool’s
production of A Midwinter’s
Dream Tale, which combines
two Shakespearean plays and reimagines them, does exactly that.
The play, presented by the
Great Canadian Theatre Company
(GCTC) and directed by AL
Connors, runs from Nov. 29
through Dec. 18.
It centres around two clowns,
‘Restes and Pomme Frite, who get
lost in a forest, and end up in the
Land of the Fairies.
They’re picked up by a fairy
king named Oberon and his wife
Titania, who are going through
personal and marital problems —
Titania has gotten pregnant while
Oberon was away.
The play is loosely based on two
Shakespeare plays, The Winter’s
Tale and A Midsummer Night’s
Dream, but it’s written in modern
English.
Margo
MacDonald,
who
plays ‘Restes and is one of the
original creators of the show, said
Winterlude inspired the creation of
the play.
“The owner of the Gladstone
Theatre asked us to put in a show
that could run in conjunction
with Winterlude, and he said,
‘Shakespeare has a winter play,
doesn’t he?’ And we’re like ‘Yeah,
and it’s a terrible play to do for all
ages,” she said.
A Company of Fool’s production of A Midwinter’s Dream Tale, which runs until Dec.
18, combines two classic Shakespearean plays. || photo by Oliver Sachgau
“But then we thought, ‘A
Midsummer Night’s Dream is
a great all ages play, and if we
could somehow do elements of
A Winter’s Tale, combine it with
A Midsummer Night’s Dream,
put the clowns in it, have some
singing and some dancing . . .’ and
it all just wound out from there,”
she said.
After the success of the show,
the GCTC picked it up for a second
run, Connors said.
“[The GCTC] liked it enough to
make it part of their season, which
is something you don’t often see
happening: a local Ottawa show
being programmed in the season
here,” he said.
During a preview show, the
GCTC showed two scenes from the
play, including one where ‘Restes
and Pomme Frite are tasked by
Oberon to kill a baby.
Not wanting to kill the infant,
they decide to name it, and ‘Restes
comes up with the idea of licking it
in order to name it after a flavour
of ice cream.
“The whole show was actually
originally
written
through
improvisation,” MacDonald said.
For Connors, improvisation is
nothing new.
He’s the artistic director of
the Canadian Improv Games, a
national high school tournament
in improvisation, which Margo is
also involved with.
He said that improvisation
gives the play and the audience
something different and exciting
every time.
“Having improv at your game
is a wild card, it’s exciting because
both the performers on stage and
the audience are creating this
scene together at the same time,”
he said.
“We’re all discovering what this
scene is about and there’s always
the risk that it will fail.”
“You don’t go see a NASCAR
race to see cars go round in a
circle perfectly for five hours, you
go hoping there’s going to be a
disaster,” he continued. “And
improv is the same way.”
Despite the improvisation
factor, Connors said that fans
of Shakespeare will be able to
recognize his works in the play by
various cues imbued within the
script.
“There are not too many entire
speeches from Shakespeare, but if
you are a Shakespeare fan going
into the show, there’s a bunch of
Easter eggs here and there,” he
said.
For the production, Connors
said he has high hopes for audience
reception.
“I have no doubt that this will
be, and I say it, this will be the
funniest play you can see in the
history of time, for all eternity.” q
Poetry slammin’
the issues
The generally mellow and
relaxing environment at Café
Nostalgica reached its maximum
capacity as students, friends and
supporters gathered for blUe
mOndays’ last Spoken Word
Edition event of the year Dec. 2.
The poetry slam featured the
performances of two young, local
artists, Carleton student Emily
Barrie and Warren Bain. Both
are typically more recognizable
by their stage names, Eminemily
and Ras Tabula.
Both artists took rationalistic
approaches to their pieces and
received excellent feedback from
the enthusiastic audience via
snapping.
This gesture of appreciation is
more commonly used over clapping in this setting as a way to
maintain and preserve the intimacy of the event.
Barrie’s
poems
focused
primarily on her personal perceptions of love, lust, and the
harsh inequalities women continue to face.
“I started writing slam poetry when I was about 15, before
I knew it was actually slam
poetry,” Barrie said. “It was just
a style that came organically to
me, and I’ve been writing that
way since.”
Audience members were visibly awestruck.
“There were times when I had
shivers, literally, because I could
connect with what she was saying on a personal level,” said
Layne Davis, a first-year journalism student and a friend of
Barrie.
Barrie also described her lifealtering experiences in Africa
working with those who suffer
from HIV/AIDS and through
her participation in the Occupy
Ottawa movement. She slept in
a tent at Confederation Park for
eight days.
Bain’s pieces focused more so
on Earth’s physics and quantum
mechanics and how everything
within it is intertwined.
“I try to view the planet as
a single unit entity,” said Bain,
who has also competed through
spoken word for various other
not-for-profit organizations in
Ottawa.
— Julia Allen
For the rest of this story, visit
charlatan.ca
The Education of Charlie
For more coverage . . .
Banks
Gambino disappoints
Luke Chandler reviews
Childish Gambino’s “tepid”
new album, Camp.
Calder live and alive
Dario Balca discusses singersongwriter Kathryn Calder’s
show at Raw Sugar Cafe.
charlatan.ca
December 8 - January 4, 2012
charlatan.ca/sports
13
BOG approves renovations
by Lewis Smith
Renovation planning is well
underway for the Carleton Ravens
football team.
At a Nov. 29 meeting, Carleton’s
Board of Governors approved the
expansion of the fitness centre in the
upper level of Alumni Hall, as well
as the construction of change rooms
in the lower level, according to
Carleton’s vice-president (finance
and administration) Duncan Watt.
Keith Harris Stadium will also
see renovations to its deteriorating
stands and press box.
“For the facilities, we’re looking
at [getting] shovels in the ground
in May,” said manager of football
operations Thomas Timlin.
Though these renovations will
not come cheap, obtaining the
funds isn’t a concern for Old Crows
Football Inc., the Carleton Ravens
football alumni association.
“The fundraising for the facilities
are all part of our own fundraising
program,” said Old Crows president
Kevin McKerrow, referring in part
to the $5 million in pledges the Old
Crows secured in order to kick-start
the football program.
The Old Crows are also looking
at sponsorship to offset some of the
costs, Timlin said.
The Carleton football program,
which is scheduled to take to the
field in fall 2013, has already seen
a considerable amount of alumni
involvement. But as it stands, the
front office would welcome the
opportunity for more donations.
“We’re looking for a couple
more champions, as we call them,”
Facilities at Keith Harris Stadium will also be renovated. ||
Timlin said.
Following a recent $1.5 million
donation to the McGill football
program by one of their football
alumni, members of the Ravens
football community believe this
is a positive sign for the future of
Canadian Interuniversity Sport
(CIS) football.
“McGill is very well-funded by
the alumni,” Timlin said. “From
an operations view, this will
mean more coaches, more athletic
training facilities and greater
access to experts to be able to help
their student athletes.”
“I think it’ll certainly help them
a great deal,” McKerrow said. “I
have no idea how they intend to
use that, but obviously an influx
photo by
Portia Baladad
of $1.5 million is great for their
program. I think we’ll start to see
more donations like that coming
from alumni.”
The Ravens football program
received a similar donation in
2009, when former player John
Ruddy pledged $2.5 million of the
required $5 million start-up fund
to bring back Ravens football.
In addition to the renovations of
facilities, the Old Crows still need
to hire a head coach.
“[The function committee] have
been very busy over the past week.
They’re right into it,” Timlin said.
“I don’t know if they meet daily,
but since [the applications] closed
[Nov. 28], they’ve met a couple of
times.” q
Cheerleading team
finishes last at nationals
Carleton’s cheerleading team
finished last in the Power Cheerleading Athletics (PCA) national
competition in Toronto Dec. 3.
The team finished behind the
University of Ottawa, McMaster University, the University of
Saskatchewan and the University of Regina.
The team performed two
runs in the competition in the
small co-ed category, meaning
the team has fewer than five
males.
In the first round of the competition, Carleton placed last
with a total score of 157.5, while
McMaster University came first
with a score of 182.
The first run, according to
team member Grace Protopapas, wasn’t the team’s best.
“On our harder stunts, a couple of girls didn’t make it up into
the air, or when they were in
the air they fell,” she said. “For
everyone that comes down [the
team gets] a deduction.”
The team’s second run, on the
other hand, was the best they’ve
performed all year, Protopapas
said. Carleton came fourth in the
second round, beating the University of Ottawa team by just
half a point.
“It was one of the best runs
that I’ve ever done with the
team,” she said. “We did so well.
I think only two things in the entire routine didn’t go [well], and
that’s it.”
Still, it wasn’t enough for the
team to win in the end. Carleton
lost to uOttawa, who placed
third, by just four points, Protopapas said.
Protopapas said she thought
the loss was disappointing,
but she was still proud of the
team.
“It’s frustrating, but it’s just
one of the things that you can
take and improve on in second
semester,” Protopapas said.
Carleton’s biggest challenge in
the competition was the number
of injuries they sustained earlier
in the season, according to Protopapas.
“One of our girls in last weekend’s competition sprained her
foot so badly that the doctor
said if [she] competes again
[she would] break it,” she said.
The team had injury woes
prior to the tournament as well,
with two girls suffering concussions earlier in the year, Protopapas said.
“And at the [this weekend’s]
competition, on our warm-up
mat, one of our girls rolled her
ankle,” she said.
In the end, Protopapas said
she’s still extremely proud of the
team.
“We just said, it’s two and a
half minutes, give it all you’ve
got, leave it all on the floor, and
then you cry after you get off the
mat,” she said.
The team will resume training
in January for their 2012 competitions. —Oliver Sachgau
Men’s basketball team remains perfect
night.
Third-year forward Dan Penner led the Ravens with 22 points,
while fifth-year guard Willy
Manigat chipped in with 21.
Penner got a few crowd pleasers in Dec. 2 against the Warriors,
slamming home a dunk halfway
through the third quarter followed by back-to-back three
pointers.
The Ravens will look to continue their winning streak against
the York Lions Jan. 6 at the Ravens’
Nest. q
by Pamela Fabbro
The Carleton Ravens men’s
basketball team improved their record to 8-0 after beating the Wilfrid
Laurier Golden Hawks 84-68 in a
battle of the undefeated Dec. 3 at
the Ravens’ Nest.
“I think we’re getting used to
each other and we’re improving
on offence,” said third-year guard
Philip Scrubb. “I think there’s still
room for improvement but we’re
having fun.”
The Ravens quickly took an
11-point lead about two minutes
into the game — a lead they never
gave up thanks to strong defensive
work.
The Ravens used their fullcourt pressure to force turnovers
and generate offence.
“If we can keep the pace . . .
then we become tough to cover
and if the pace gets slow then our
lack of size becomes an issue,”
said Ravens head coach Dave
Smart.
Scrubb and third-year forward
Tyson Hinz led the team offensively, netting 21 and 18 points
respectively.
CIS Top Ten Rankings
1. Carleton University
2. St. Francis Xavier University
3. Lakehead University
4. University of Saskatchewan
The men continued their perfect season last weekend, beating both Laurier and Waterloo. ||
Despite the 84-68 win, Smart
said the Ravens need to improve
defensively.
“We can’t make some of the
fundamental mistakes we made
tonight in terms of switches and
things like that,” Smart said. “If we
get better defensively, then we can
get out of transitions well.”
Both Smart and Scrubb said the
team also needs to work on their
rebounding in the second half of
the season.
“We’ve gotten away from [re-
photos by
Pedro Vasconcellos
bounding] the past few weeks and
we’ve gotten out rebounded by
other teams, but we just got to keep
working hard,” Scrubb said.
The win against Laurier followed a 102-53 victory over the
Waterloo Warriors the previous
5. University of Victoria
6. University of Alberta
7. University of British Columbia
8. Wilfrid Laurier University
9. University of the Fraser Valley
10. Concordia University
— source: Canadian Interuniversity Sport
Sports
14
December 8 - January 4, 2011
Sports Editors: Callum Micucci and Nick Wells • [email protected]
Ravens fall to rival UQTR in shootout
The men dropped a two-goal lead to rivals in a dirty affair Dec. 3 at the Ice House
by Calum Slingerland
In a game that saw over 240
penalty minutes handed out, the
Carleton Ravens men’s hockey
team suffered a 3-2 shootout loss to
the No. 10 nationally ranked Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières
(UQTR) Patriotes Dec. 3 at the Ice
House.
Coming off a 7-2 loss to the
Concordia Stingers the previous
night, the Ravens were looking to
prove the blowout was just a fluke.
“My message to the team after
the loss was to have a better effort
and to stick together,” said Ravens
head coach Marty Johnston. “I feel
they did that, but at the same time
we’ve got a long way to go.”
Having defeated UQTR by a
score of 7-1 in October, both teams
started the game in a very physical
manner. The Ravens ran into penalty trouble early on, having five
minors called against them in the
first period.
Carleton killed off every UQTR
man advantage, largely due to
the spectacular play of goaltender
Matthew Dopud. Dopud had eight
saves through the first 15 minutes,
including a remarkable sprawling
stick save to keep the visiting Patriotes off the scoreboard.
Five minutes into the second
period, Ravens captain Brandon
MacLean beat UQTR goaltender
Guillaume Nadeau with a quick
snapshot to give Carleton their first
goal of the game.
After trading numerous scoring chances, physical tensions soon
boiled over between both teams. Ravens forward Jordan Deagle
was speared with a stick in front of
the Carleton bench, resulting in a
10-player line-brawl. Players from
both teams promptly paired off to
fight, with the referees desperately
trying to control the situation.
The game was delayed for close
to 30 minutes as the officials struggled to hand out penalties to those
involved. The referees dealt a total
of 167 penalty minutes between the
two teams for the altercation.
This isn’t the first time the two
teams have dropped the gloves. Last
season, the Ravens collected 78 penalty minutes after a late brawl with
the Patriotes, and a total of six misconducts were handed out between
the two teams. Later that month,
the Patriotes eliminated the Ravens
in the second round of the Ontario
University Athletics playoffs.
Both the Ravens’ and Patriotes’ benches were left severely
shorthanded after the Dec. 3 altercations. After the scrum, Johnston
said the message on his bench was
that cooler heads would prevail.
“We were hoping the guys
would keep their composure going into the third,” Johnston said.
“They did that for the most part,
but then some undisciplined penalties definitely cost us.”
On a five-minute power play,
forward Andrew Self gave the
Ravens a 2-0 lead 35 seconds into
the third period, banking home a
rebound close to the net. But this
seemed to spark the Patriotes, who
began pressuring the Ravens almost instantly.
With a two-man advantage,
Charles Bety deflected a crosscrease pass to pull UQTR within
one. Then, with just under three
minutes left in the third, Pierre-Luc
Lessard beat Dopud in tight off a
Raven turnover to tie the game.
“At that point . . . we couldn’t
sit back, and [we] needed to go out
and try and get one,” MacLean
said. “We pushed back and had
some chances, but we should have
put the game away before that.”
Overtime solved nothing, with
both goaltenders making key
saves.
In the shootout, UQTR netminder Nadeau stopped all three
Ravens shooters. Felix Petit managed to score for UQTR, tucking a
nifty backhand between Dopud’s
legs to escape with the comeback
victory.
“We came out ready to go after
losing to Concordia the other
night,” MacLean said. “Towards
the end of the second, we had a lot
of opportunities to put the game
away. We failed to do that, and
they eventually kept building momentum off of it.”
The Ravens head into the holiday break with a modest 9-5-2
record. They return to action Jan. 4
at home, hosting the University of
Ottawa Gee-Gees. q
Tensions quickly boiled over in the second period. ||
photo by
Gerrit De Vynck
Women’s basketball winning streak ends
by Marcus Guido
The Carleton Ravens women’s
basketball team were unable to
extend their win streak to four
games, as they fell 73-67 to the
Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks
Dec. 3 at the Ravens’ Nest.
The loss drops the Ravens,
ranked fourth in the country, to a
5-3 record and ends the Hawks’
two-game skid.
Rookie forward Shelby Kurt
gave the Ravens trouble all night
long, scoring a game-high 22 points,
while collecting six rebounds.
“She can get it going for sure.
When she’s confident, it’s hard to
stop her,” said Ravens head coach
Taffe Charles said. “She’s a hard
matchup for most of the team.”
The Ravens started strong,
countering the Hawks’ solid
defence in the key with 50 per cent
shooting from three-point range to
build a 19-11 lead going into the
second quarter.
After netting the opening basket
in the second quarter, the Hawks
went on an 8-0 run to pull within
The women shot a dismal 4-20 in the third quarter Dec. 3 against the Golden Hawks. ||
two points and force Charles to call
a time out.
But it didn’t settle down
Laurier’s attack, as they exposed
Carleton’s weak perimeter defence
to gain a 36-31 advantage at halftime.
But it was the third quarter that
put the game out of reach for the
Ravens. They shot a dismal 4-20
photo by
Shamit Tushakiran
from the field and didn’t drain any
of their six shots from three-point
range.
And it wasn’t because of
Laurier’s defensive efforts. Most of
the Ravens’ shots were completely
uncontested — they just wouldn’t
sink.
“We had open looks and we
had open lay-ups,” Charles said.
“The chances are there, we’re just
not finishing the plays.”
The players didn’t change their
strategy for the final frame, he said.
The women improved their
shooting to win the quarter 24-22,
but still lost by a slim six-point
margin.
A big reason for the loss was a
lack of points off the bench, Charles
said. But that should be fixed soon.
Second-year forward Darcy
Hawkins, who shot more than
40 per cent from the field and
averaged more than five rebounds
a game in her rookie campaign, is
recovering from a concussion that
prevented her from playing all
season.
“She should be ready to go at
the end of the month,” he said.
“That should help the rotation.”
The Ravens’ regular season will
resume Jan. 6 when they visit the
York Lions. q