OPINION
Imprint opinion
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2004 FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2004
7 Imprint is published by Imprint Publications Student Life Centre 1116 University of Waterloo Waterloo, ON N2L 3G1
Ignorance is Bush Oscar fever can “buzz” off personally view the limiting of gay rights in our society as the product of a social cycle that began far before the birth of Christ. For some reason, there is a tendency within humans to take Darwin’s survival of the fittest to the extreme, alienating and restricting other groups for whom we feel threatened by. Of course, no one likes to be “The union of a man and a woman is the most downtrodden and so once these mienduring human institution, honoured and nority groups fight back and have their encouraged in all cultures and by every reli- rights reinstated, we then must move gious faith…marriage cannot be severed from to find another group to attack. its cultural, religious and natural roots with- Women, Negroes, the Jewish, native out weakening the good influence of society.” Americans, Asians, people of the Mid- President Bush, Feb.24, 2004 dle East, virtually anyone who stands I have to hand it to President Bush. out from what society at the time Too often it seems that major politi- defines as “the norm” always ends up cians dance around the important is- on the bad end of the deal. sues, such as gay marriage, in the hope The treatment of the gay community of not categorizing in this modern age themselves into a is no different. Sure, definitive political to say that Bush’s call to en- itweis easy platform. In should be Canada too, we see dorse this constitu- thankful for what politicians striving have and be tional amendment we to take the middle happy that we aren’t ground, aiming to is both discrimina- being enslaved, tornot alienate potenor eradicated. tory and ignorant. tured tial voters. With the However, until I American presiknow that I posdential election sess just as many only months away, certainly Mr. Bush rights as my common heterosexual stands out as a courageous political brother, I will remain an advocate. figure, laying his views out on the table I will not lay out all of my reasons for for all to see. why banning gay marriage is absurd; On Tuesday morning, President everyone has heard the arguments for Bush addressed his country with a call or against the issue a hundred times. for a constitutional amendment that What I do feel at this point is sad, very would effectively ban gay marriage na- sad. People today are so much better tion-wide. Not only did the President’s educated than they were a thousand, a controversial speech resound interna- hundred or even ten years ago. The fact tionally, but with that morning’s ad- that I can still wake up on an otherwise dress he effectively split the United innocent February morning and witStates into two opposing factions. As ness the President of the United States I watched the address on television, I condemning homosexuals is extremely couldn’t help but think of the other discouraging. I don’t care how you historical occurrences when an influen- look at it, President Bush’s call to ential political leader split public opinion dorse this constitutional amendment by limiting the rights of a specific group. is both discriminatory and ignorant. Those who have been avid readers of my column should know that I acowan@imprint.uwaterloo.ca
Aaron Cowan
Christine Baker
UNDEFEATED
FACTS OF LIFE That buzzing. Try as you might this time of year, no matter what you do, you can’t make it go away. It’s always in the background. Flip through the channels and it’s all you hear. Turn off the TV and it’s poring out of every newspaper and magazine you see. Step outside and people are chit-chatting about it everywhere. That damn annoying Oscar buzz that just won’t go away. Who is going to win, who deserves to win, why won’t so-and-so win, what will they wear? At least the Academy awards are early this year and this period of nonstop Oscar talk will be short. Maybe all that buzzing is just a
Editorial Staff Editor-in-chief, Christine Baker editor@imprint.uwaterloo.ca Assistant Editor, Lauren Breslin Cover Editor, Dan Micak News Editor, Bianca Tong News Assistant, Mark Stratford Opinion Editor, Sarah Allmendinger Opinion Assistant, Phil Weiner Features Editor, Tim Alamenciak Features Assistant, Sarah Lau Arts Editor, Matt Charters Arts Assistant, Garick Stevenson Science Editor, Eli Denham Science Assistant, Azadeh Samadi Sports Editor, Adam McGuire Sports Assistant, Rod McLachlan Photo Editor, Margie Mansell Photo Assistant, Rebecca Zhou Graphics Editor, Julian Apong Graphics Assistant, Jeff Tran
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May I remind you that he is a member — a voting member — of the Academy. His list is based partially on buzz. As annoying as it might be, we can’t underestimate the power of the Oscar buzz. It’s one of the things that will get people out to the movies and loving the stars. The Oscar hype brings out the previously hidden movie critic in everyone. We suddenly appreciate every hidden nuance of a performance because we’ve heard that it is just so damned good. But heard that from whom? Even the Hollywood stock exchange, an online index of stars which ranks them on their current clout, is ranking the nominees this year and you can believe it’s based on buzz. Why do we watch the Oscars if we already know who is going to win? Where’s the anticipation? Is it in case we missed that below the radar buzz and get blindsided by a surprise? Now that would be a buzz. editor@imprint.uwaterloo.ca
Queen’s native policy debates about public policy take place in Parliament. Our affirmative action policies reflect the half-measures approach to change that Canadians favour. While racial quotas — minimum allowable numbers of minorities, usually black or Latino people — have often been used in American companies, schools and government bureaucracies to achieve a desired level of “diversity,” they’re rarely seen here. Our approach to racial diversity is to choose the minority candidate for a position when two or more people are otherwise equally qualified and that minority group is underrepresented in an organization. It’s not necessarily any more right, but it’s certainly a less radical approach than a hire-by-the-
numbers system. Perhaps that’s why there’s been such an outcry over a relatively marginal affirmative action program that Queen’s University recently implemented. Starting this fall, ten spaces within the Faculty of Arts and Science will be set aside for native students that likely couldn’t get accepted through the normal application process. Native students can either choose to apply normally or through this separate system. The National Post strongly criticized the policy on its editorial page and the Ontario Progressive Conservative Campus Association went so far as to describe the program as a “shocking example of institutionalized racism.”
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Mike Kerrigan SOBER THOUGHTS In the political arena, Canadians tend to be more moderate in all areas than their American counterparts. For instance, although provinces that “radically” cut taxes still have higher rates than most US states, ideas like the “living wage” and rent control ordinances haven’t been as politically popular and strongly implemented north of the border. Even on religious issues, we rarely see highly polarized
Friday, February 27, 2004 — Vol. 26, No. 27 Student Life Centre 1116 University of Waterloo Waterloo, ON N2L 3G1
side-effect of the “Oscar fever” that strikes this time of year as people try to predict who’s going to walk away a winner — pretty sick alright when you really consider what it is based on. The purposes of the Academy include the advancement of the arts and sciences of motion pictures and to recognize outstanding achievements. Do they mean outstanding achievements in marketing and promotion? As far as I can tell, awarding people based on media induced grandeur is not recognizing much else. Does the buzz surrounding these actors and movies really make a difference when the winner’s name is announced or does the winner really deserve it? In a recent USAToday.com article, I got my proof. “Buzz is always important,” says Academy member Mark Johnson. “There are several movies out there that I haven’t seen. Some may be number six or seven on my priority list and that’s based on buzz.”
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