Turning trash into treasure
Zanta cometh
Waste-to-energy as a business pg 18
‘tis the season for pushups
pg 14
THE VARSITY Vol. CXXXIII, No. 9
University of Toronto’s Student Newspaper Since 1880
19 November, 2012
Reforms absent from AGM agenda Union opts to hire lawyer to conduct review of electoral policies Kaleem Hawa
VARSITY CONTRIBUTOR
JUSTIN TRUDEAU: the rising son
Liberal frontrunner visits campus pg 6
“Men’s issues awareness” lecture met with protests
Several proposed reforms to the University of Toronto Students’ Union electoral policy were quashed Sunday after it was announced that the amendments had been submitted past the deadline — a deadline that, according to some, was intentionally obscured to prevent the proposed changes from coming before next week’s annual general meeting. The UTSU found itself on the defensive after student co-head of Trinity College Sam Greene charged that the union “deliberately attempted to stifle proposals and amendments” that he believes should be discussed during Thursday’s high-profile meeting. Trinity College will vote Monday on a motion calling for the resignation of union executives. All UTSU constituents are eligible to attend the annual general meeting, to be held this Thursday. In recent years, the AGM has served as a de facto battleground for pro- and antiunion groups. (for more, see pg 5) The amendments, which were developed by Greene in conjunction with other college leaders, were not added to the AGM agenda because they were submitted too late to be vetted by the Policy and Procedures Committee and the Board of Directors. Some of the changes proposed by Greene included removing the ability to use proxies in voting at AGMs as well as reducing the minimum number of nominations
needed to run as a candidate in future elections. The amendments were developed in part to operationalize changes initially proposed by a non-binding, non-partisan declaration circulated by the St. George Round Table. Various campus groups have endorsed the declaration, including the Trinity College Meeting, the University College Literary and Athletic Society, the Engineering Society and most recently, the St. Michael’s College Student Union. Instead of entertaining the reforms at Tuesday’s AGM, union executives moved late last week to allocate $17,000 to hire a lawyer to perform an “independent and bipartisan review of elections procedure.” UTSU president Shaun Shepherd said that the review will be completed prior to the next election. Absent Greene’s amendments, the union will discuss a largely uncontroversial agenda that tinkers with several components of UTSU bylaws. Last year’s AGM mandated that the UTSU would be required to advertise future meetings in vaguely defined “campus publications.” This year, it is being proposed that “campus publication” be clarified to mean The Varsity and the newspaper. The role of the vice president– campus life is also to be altered. The job currently calls for “one clubs day and at least one clubs resource session each semester.”
CONTINUED PG 3
Assaults, arrest as controversial speaker visits campus Dan Smeenk
VARSITY STAFF
Around 100 protestors disrupted a lecture given by controversial author and activist Warren Farrell at the MacLeod auditorium at U of T on Friday night. Farrell, whose works include The Liberated Man, Why Men Are the Way They Are, and The Myth of Male Power, was on campus to give a speech outlining his theory about how males are disadvantaged in Western society. He was hosted by the Canadian Association for Equality (CAFE). Farrell, who describes himself as a former feminist, and the only male ever to have been elected to the
Board of the National Organization for Women three times, started to include men’s issues in his work about gender in the mid-1980s. About fifteen protestors stood in front of the doors before the event, forming a barricade and blocking attendees from entering through the main doors of the auditorium. About two dozen Toronto Police Service officers were present to provide security for the event, including officers on bicycles and on horseback. U of T Campus Police were also present. One protestor was arrested after a scuffle broke out in front of the auditorium’s doors. He was later released with no charges. Another protestor was cautioned for assault of a police officer at
the back entrance. A video posted on YouTube shows event attendees entering the building, and people identified by the videographer as organizers physically assaulting protestors. There was also significant controversy over the move by protesters to barricade the doors. Many patrons argued that the methods used by the protestors suppressed free speech and stifled debate. The protestors argued that Farrell’s talk was hate speech, and did real damage to women. Demonstrators shouted the slogan “No Hate Speech on Campus” on a number of occasions throughout the night.
CONTINUED PG 7
Recruitment 101 How to make the Varsity Blues
pg 21