EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Mercedes Mueller | editor@thefulcrum.ca | (613) 562-5261
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LETTERS Open letter to Allan Rock DEAR PRESIDENT ALLAN Rock, The senate is the supreme governing body on all academic matters at the university, charged with determining the educational policy of the institution and the implementation of its academic mission. The University of Ottawa Act, 1965, mandates you, the president, to be the chair of the senate. This is therefore your most important statutory and leadership role in the university community as part of the university’s collegial governance. This is true for both new and continuing senate members, especially at the beginning of the fall semester, when we are all looking to get off to a fresh start in our work on campus. Therefore, I am worried that the proper respect and functioning of senate is at risk when you do not come to meetings or when you leave before the meeting has finished. You were absent from the May and June 2011 meetings of the senate, without providing explanation. At the meeting of last Monday, Sept. 12, you left the senate early. This was your third unexplained absence in a row, on the important first meeting of the semester. You also missed the November and December 2010 senate meetings, meaning that you have been absent or partially absent from five of the last nine meetings of the senate. Such systematic absences of the chair are unprecedented at our institution. The president’s attendance for full sessions of the senate’s meetings is of great importance. This includes the “For Information” section, where individual elected senators, representing entire constituencies on campus, often announce future senate work and concerns that the chair, who is also the chief executive officer of the U of O corporation, should be aware of. As president, chairing the senate is a primary responsibility to the institution, as per Article 16(1) of the University of Ottawa Act. Could you please inform the members of senate of what business you had at 4:30 p.m. on Sept. 12 that required you to leave the senate’s first session of the fall 2011 semester? It is troubling to see your absence continuing into the new semester. I hope that the members of senate can look forward to a year of fruitful work with you as chair to lead their monthly meetings. Joseph Hickey Graduate student senate representative, sciences Open letter to U of O faculty and students DEAR UNIVERSITY OF Ottawa faculty and students,
I write to you in a most urgent of times, because on Sept. 15, the Student Federation of the University of Ottawa (SFUO) is going to appoint new student senators to fill vacant positions without an election. I have been interested in representing my fellow students in the Faculty of Arts for months. When I discovered the SFUO’s decision to hand-pick senators at their own choosing, I was appalled at the lack of respect for the principles of justice, equal opportunity, and democracy. What has caused the behaviour of the SFUO to become so corrupted? Instead of holding fair elections, the SFUO will be selecting new senators only on the “merits” of a curriculum vitae and letter of interest—a feeble attempt to conceal their ability to arbitrarily choose anyone of their liking. It’s not a difficult exercise to realize that the SFUO is using this pathetic criterion as a sham so that the appointment of their “favourites” merely appears legitimate—albeit in a very weak sense. I, for one, and surely other students will not be so easily fooled by this poorly veiled deceit. Is it too much to appeal for fairness? If appeals to fairness aren’t enough to check the integrity of the SFUO, then decrees of the senate should, and I invoke the Senate By-law on composition of the senate No. 1(b). The bylaw clearly states that, “One fulltime student elected by his peers in each of the Faculties of the University of Ottawa and one student for the two sections in Law; the method of election and the period of mandate to be determined by resolution of the Senate.” Therefore, I encourage everyone to put pressure on the SFUO for violating a senatorial decree and ignoring important tenets of just political process. We cannot afford to be laissez-faire at this critical juncture. The SFUO cannot be allowed to simply install individuals at its subjective discretion into positions of considerable authority and power; the senate governs almost every aspect of university affairs. Let there be elections so that students may vote for their representatives! It is everybody’s duty to not tolerate injustice and hold the SFUO accountable for its actions. Have courage, for we need to move swiftly and rally immediately at this eleventh hour before the SFUO goes ahead with the appointments. I, myself, contest this insult to democracy by specifically calling on Liz Kessler, vp university affairs of the SFUO, who is responsible for this matter to intervene and reverse the SFUO’s decision on not holding honest elections. Students simply ask for objective votes, not subjective views. Give us the freedom to choose our leaders. Hoang Pham Third-year classical studies student
Open letter to Liz Kessler DEAR VP UNIVERSITY Liz Kessler, As you are aware, Senate By-Law No. 1, 2008, “A By-Law governing the composition of the Senate” states: “It is hereby decreed as a By-Law of the Senate of the University of Ottawa as follows: 1. The following persons are members of the Senate of the University of Ottawa pursuant to sub-section (h) of Article 15 (1): ... (b) One full-time student elected by his peers in each of the Faculties of the University of Ottawa and one student for the two sections in Law; the method of election and the period of mandate to be determined by resolution of the Senate.” This bylaw is available here: Web5.uottawa.ca/admingov/documents/senate-bylaw-number-1-2008-cl.pdf There are currently vacant seats in senate for students from the faculties of arts, medicine, and education. We stand firmly by the position that all senate bylaws must be followed. It is not an option for senate to disregard its own bylaws. Therefore, you have a responsibility to organize a proper byelection immediately in order to duly fill the needed positions. Please do this without further delay. Joseph Hickey Student Senator, Faculty of Graduate Sciences Hazel Gashoka Student senator, Faculty of Social sciences Open letter to Dave Molenhuis, Chair of BOA DEAR CHAIR, IT has come to my attention that there is a motion before the Board of Administration to dissolve the Student Federation of the University of Ottawa (SFUO)’s Student Arbitration Committee (SAC). Please consider that, within the SFUO, should the Board of Administrators dissolve the SAC, it would be analogous to the Parliament of Canada abolishing the Supreme Court by majority vote. As per By-Law No. 8.2 of the SFUO Constitution, the SAC is the “judicial authority of the Federation,” and according to By-Laws No. 8.2.1 to 8.2.3, it has the power to “interpret the By-laws, the policies, and resolutions of the Federation; decide upon the constitutionality of any action taken under the Constitution [...]; impose sanctions on any member of the Federation.” The SAC is of fundamental importance to the integrity of the federation and one of its most vital and well-known mandates is to handle allegations of election rule violations in the election of SFUO executives and
other student representatives to the federation. Independence of the SAC arbitrators is essential to enable an effective role within the Student Federation of the University of Ottawa, as highlighted by an understanding of the provisions of the SFUO constitution, and I believe that, in the current context, I have done everything possible to ensure the independence of arbitrators and of the committee. There have been serious concerns with respect to the manner in which political figures within student government have tried to exercise influence on previous elections and, therefore, I am firmly opposed to the dissolution of the SAC. Given that the bylaws have not been changed, I will continue my role as interim chief arbitrator. According to By-Law No. 8.3.4, “the President of the Federation, the Chairperson of the Board of Administration and the Chief Arbitrator of the Student Arbitration Committee shall recommend arbitrators to the Board of Administration which shall ratify them as vacancy occurs.” At this time, all the positions—except for chief arbitrator—are vacant. As such, I will schedule interviews with the 40 applicants and I trust that you and the president of the federation will be present during these interviews. Such is the law until the bylaws are changed. I would urge you to stop violating the bylaws and to actively ensure that the bylaws are respected. For actions to be taken implying that the bylaws will be changed is irresponsible, disruptive, and disregards our rules. Hazel Gashoka Interim chief arbitrator of the SAC Graduate Studies, sciences
contents News 5 | Arts 9 | Features 14 Sports 17 | Opinions 25 | Editorial 27
Changes to the SFUO 5 constitution BOA cuts SAC, president’s tie-breaking vote
Ready, set, draw!
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24-Hour Comics Day returns for another year
Copy, paste, submit
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For working so hard in the basement.
Youth and old age
Bring back the SAC 27 New changes to the SFUO constitution cause more problems than they solve