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NEWS The University of Waterloo Student Newspaper Friday May 30,1997 Volume 20, Number 3 Student Life Centre, Room 1116 University of Waterloo Waterloo, Ontario N2L 3Gl Ph: 519-888-4048 Fax: 519-884-7800 e-mail: editor@imprint.uwaterloo.ca WWW: http://imprint.uwaterloo.ca
photoillustration by Stephen Johnston
Editorial Editor in Chief Assistant Editor Forum Editor News Editor News Assistant Arts Editor Arts Assistant Sports Editor Sports Assistant Features Editor Science Editor Photo Editor Photo Assistant WWW Page Editor WWW Page Assistant Systems Administrator Graphic Editor Proofreaders
Board Peter Lenardon Saba Haider Matt Feldman James Russell Rob Van Kruistum Debbra McClintock Leanne Jenkinson Jeff Spitzig vacant Jeff Peeters Mike Owen Joe Palmer Niels Jensen Mary Ellen Foster vacant Adam Evans Stephen Johnston vacant
Staff Business Manager Advertising/Production Advertising Assistant
Marea Willis Laurie Tigert-Dumas Bahi Selvadurai
Distribution
Board
of Directors
President Vice-President Secretary Treasurer Director at Large Staff Liaison
Stephen Johnston Adam Evans Rob Van Kruistum Jeff Peeters Mike Owen Debbra McClintock
Trial of the centurv Claims of defamation thrown out W by David Drewe special to
Imprint
n May 27, a long-simmering feud between Ron English and York University almost reached a conclusion in Small Claims Court. Almost. English, a former Vice President of the York Federation of Students (YFS) sued Atkinson College Administrator Shannon Barnes for Defamation of Character, demanding $5000 in damages. Barnes countersued, also for Defamation, demanding $6000. The animus stems from English’s campaign for the PresidencyofYFS. During an interview withT&Xxcalibur, York’s student newspaper, English claimed to have “exposed” the administrators of Atkinson College for improperly convicting students of academic dishonesty without following Senate procedures. While the administration as a whole was criticized, Shannon Barnes was the only person named. Barnes replied in a letter to the editor accusing English of lying. She stated that she had never been involved in academic dishonesty cases, and that she was not even permitted to be involved. The strbng language of her letter, as well as its timing (right before the election) incited English to file a claim against Barnes. When efforts to reach a settlement failed, Barnes added a countersuit. After a morning of confusing and seemingly semirelevant testimony, the judge presiding dismissed both cases. With only English having taken the stand, and before he even had a chance to leave it, the judge pronounced, “I see no merit in your claim. I’m dismissing it.” Barnes’ lawyer immediately stood and demanded an apology from English. Rather than conceding that point, the judge instead dismissed the counter claim, calling it purely “tactical,” noting that the countersuit was not filed when the interview was published, but only when a settlement appeared impossible. After the judgement, Barnes’ lawyer Shirley Katz stated that, “We really do believe that Ron English defamed Miss Barnes, even if he made the statement in the course of a political campaign where there is greater latitude. The court, however, didn’t agree.” She did add, however, “the court didn’t see merit in Ron’s claim.. . that was the significant part.” Katz was provided to Barnes free of charge by York Universit$ English was at a disadvantage representing himself, answering a barrage of questions which even casual observers recognized as irrelevant. This disadvantage was further demonstrated by English’s failure to object to Katz’s manner of questioning, which often resembled testimony more than interrogation. English later noted this, saying “I think it’s unfair that Barnes - with
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Heather Calder, Chris Law, Jack Lefcourt, Melissa MacDonald, Ed McLaughlin, Adam Natran, Pete Nesbitt, GregPicken, Candace Rutka, Christopher Skene, Pat Spacek, John Swan, Dan Zachariah Imprint is the official student newspaper of the University of Waterloo, It is an editorially independent newspaper published by Imprint Publications, Waterloo, a corporation without share capital, Imprint is a member of the Ontario Community Newspaper Association (OCNA). Imprint is published every Friday during fall and winter terms, and every second Friday during the spring term. Imprint reserves the right to screen, edit, and refuse advertising. Imprint ISSN 07067380. Mail should be addressed to Imprint, Student Life Centre, Room 1116, University of Waterloo, Ontario, NZL 3Gf.
photo
by David
Drewe
her position and salary -gets a lawyer paid for by taxpayers, while I’m a student who has to represent myself.” On the decision itself, English said “I was disappointed, but it wasn’t unexpected. . . . It wouldn’t have surprised me if I’d won and got nothing.” He meant that while he was confident defamation occurred, he was unsure he’d be able to prove damages. English saw the case as a means to send a message to the university, that Atkinson College could not afford to continue with what English alleges is improper. In conversation with English and former YFS executive Grant Wagner, several horrifying stories were recounted. According to English, one student was denied her degree with neither a hearing nor any notice. She wasn’t aware she was even suspected of cheating. When she failed to receive her degree, she pursued the matter. She was found innocent and cleared. English recounted other cases similarly skewed, too numerous and too complicated for inclusion here. According to Wagner, Atkinson college has a 100 per cent conviction rate in academic dishonesty cases since a crackdown which began after an essay cloning scandal several years ago. For comparison, the University of Waterloo’s rate is somewhere around two-thirds, according to Jay Thomson, Chair of UW’s University Committee on Student Appeals. When Imprint informed him of the alleged “perfect record” at Atkinson College, he looked quite surprised, and expressed disbelief. While the case is over, English has yet to decide whether or not he will appeal. The heart of the issue, however, is not two people’s exchange in a newspaper, it is whether or not the students of Atkinson College are treated fairly, and according to the policies of York University. With this issue left unresolved, no conclusion can have been reached,
Electionhopefulssquareoff at ML by James Russell ederal election hopefuls debated in the Theater of the Arts on Thursday, May 22. The Liberal incumbent Andrew Telegdi squared off against candidates from the NDP, The Reform Parry and the Progressive Conservatives as well as Monte Dennis from the Canadian Action Party, and Helmut Braun from the Marxist-Leninist Party. In his opening statements, Telegdi was quick to point out his personal connections to UW, and the fact that he has donated money to both UW and WLU, but that didn’t stop him from having to fend off attacks on the Liberal’s 40% cut to the Canadian Health and Social Transfer which the provinces use to fund education and health care. In contrast, Braun had little in the way of a prepared speech, and read from Marxist-Leninist party literature. He explained that the “economy is in deep crisis” and that
muter train service asked by one of the directors ofWPIRG. International trade also came up, with Telegdi defending the Liberal’s trade policies with China, despite their severe human rights abuses. Telegdi explained this, saying “they’d find somebody else to trade with.” Braun expressed his opposition to the Helms-Burton law, saying “‘one thing I’m glad about is that we’re continuing to have ties with Cuba.” At several points throughout the forum, candidates took shots at each other, though Telegdi was undeniably the favoured target. At one point, Ted Martin, running for the NDP, rebutted Reform’s Mike Connolly’s statements on how to deal with violence by saying, “I’d like to refute many of the things that Mr. Connolly just said, but I trust you’re knowledgeable enough to do that on your own.” Connolly also went head to head with Telegdi over education funding, breaking the question-answer format by arguing back and forth for a couple of minutes. Unfortunately, little new ground was covered, with all
the solution
candidates
Imprint
Contribution
Jeff Gardner and Ron English: The Moustache Squad.
staff
F
would
be to “nationalize
all banks
and other
financial institutions,” a position he reiterated on a question regarding tuition, where he advocated “no tuition fees.” In a country as prosperous as Canada, “why should there be tuition fees at all?” he asked. After opening statements, the floor was opened to questions from the audience, which varied in focus from access to post-secondary education to a question on com-
simply
referring
back
to party
policies
rather
than providing specific information on how they would help students obtain jobs or deal with their debts after graduation. The large number of questions from the audience easily filled the two-hour time limit for the forum, and candidates opted to spend their time on these questions, rather than present closing remarks.