charlatan

the Vol 38•Issue 16•November 27 - December 3, 2008

carleton’s independent weekly - since 1945

CUSA STAINS CARLETON

p 3 11 &
COVER BY CRAIG STADNYK
News
Dropped fundraiser outrages community
BY BEN FRANKS
When Christine Skobe heard
about the recent motion to
abandon Shinerama, she said she
felt “complete disappointment.”
Skobe is a third-year film and law
student who suffers from cystic
fibrosis, the disease Shinerama helps
support research for.
The motion, passed at the Nov.
24 Carleton University Students’
Association (CUSA) council
meeting, has created a splash with
national media and caused
dissention amongst the student
body.
“The executive clearly had no
consultation with students
because the Carleton community
has always been in support of
Shinerama,” said Nick Bergamini,
the journalism representative on
CUSA council, and the only
elected councillor to vote against
the motion in the 17-2 vote.
The other vote against the
motion was made by a proxy for
representative Sean Finnigan.
Kailey Gervais, Rideau River
Residence Association (RRRA)
vice-president (programming) and
a CUSA councillor for Public
Affairs and Management, has also
expressed her opposition to the
motion.
“Every councillor that voted
made a serious error,” she said,
because they had no time, once the
motion was unveiled at the
meeting, to consult with their
constituents or do research.
Gervais was not at the Nov. 24
council meeting, and said she
apologizes to students for not
being there. Her proxy, chosen by
‘Shinerama-gate’ hits national news
BY TINA YAZDANI
Students, alumni and citizens
across Canada have expressed
their outrage and disappointment
with the motion passed by
Carleton University Students’
Association (CUSA) on Nov. 24
that dropped the annual
Shinerama fundraiser.
Within 24 hours of the motion
being passed, CUSA and cystic
fibrosis were the centre of debate in
national news forums and headlined
almost every newspaper in Ottawa.
The public outrage mainly
surrounded a clause that stated:
“Whereas cystic fibrosis has been
recently revealed to only affect
white people, and primarily men.”
CUSA was criticized for their
lack of research on the matter.
“A simple visit to Wikipedia
would have resulted in the death of
this motion . . . but CUSA councillors
acted recklessly in their pursuit of
political correctness,” said Joey
Coleman, Maclean’s OnCampus
blogger on his blog Nov. 25.
“If you’ve been elected to serve us, you must serve us,” said one protester (right) of CUSA’s motion to drop
Shinerama as the orientation week charity.
CUSA president Brittany Smyth,
voted in favour of the motion.
“The fact that the proposition
contained false factual information
about the [cystic fibrosis]
population shows both immaturity
and a lack of research intelligence,”
said Carleton alumni Murray Gale.
Carleton’s alumni expressed
their collective disappointment
with CUSA in an open letter
written by Jane Gilbert, president
of the Carleton University Alumni
Association (CUAA).
Several national media outlets
have picked up on the controversy
and are following it closely.
An online poll running on
CFRA News Talk Radio’s website
showed 95 per cent of people were
against CUSA dropping Shinerama
based on the motion presented.
“This has done damage to the
university’s reputation,” said
Christopher Waddell, associate
director of Carleton University’s
School of Journalism and
Communication.
“It gives people who want to take
shots at the university an easy target
. . . and for some people, when they
mention Carleton for a while, this is
what will be discussed, which is
unfortunate,” he said.
Others were more gracious
about the effect of this controversy
on Carleton’s reputation.
National Post columnist
Jonathan Kay, despite his negative
reviews of CUSA’s actions, said
the majority of media are aware
that CUSA’s decision does not
reflect the views of students.
“The impression that CUSA is
somehow speaking for the student
body at large is untenable. Many
reports I have seen mention the
Facebook group story — so the word is
News Editors: Kathryn Burnham and Jennifer Pagliaro • news@charlatan.ca
“The end result has caused
significant pain to members of the
broader Carleton family including
more than 100,000 members of
CUAA worldwide,” Gilbert wrote.
Carleton president Roseann
Runte addressed the controversy
in an e-mail to all Carleton
students sent out Nov. 26.
Runte also said she is
“convinced that our students will
do the right thing and take the
appropriate course of action.”
CUSA has released a statement
clearly getting out about all the
opposition at Carleton,” he said.
Coleman still said, however,
that at this time, this is extremely
damaging to the school’s name.
“People remember negative
things like this. People cannot
believe that this happened, they
cannot believe the motion,” he said.
“They are shocked that CUSA is
trying to justify their actions.”
The long-term effects of the
motion on Carleton’s reputation
are yet to be determined, but
CUSA’s decision to reconsider the
motion may save a bit of face for
Carleton students. ! president of the Rideau River
Shinerama stats
• Shinerama involves students
at almost 60 Canadian
universities and colleges
• Shinerama began in 1964 as a
shoe-shining campaign during
orientation week
• In 2007, “shiners” raised more
than $985,638
— compiled from CCFF website
C.J. ROUSSAKIS
saying the motion will be revisited
at an emergency council meeting
Dec. 1.
Some students have been
calling for the resignation of
various CUSA councillors, includ-
ing Smyth and CUSA science
representative Donnie Northrup,
who put forth the motion.
Smyth did say she apologizes to
all students “that are hurt and upset
by this and anyone who’s been at all
affected with cystic fibrosis for all the
confusion that’s come from this.”
CUSA reconsiders
BY BEN FRANKS
Carleton University Students’
Association (CUSA) has
announced plans to reconsider
their earlier decision to switch
charities from Shinerama.
This was announced in a press
release entitled “Carleton
University Students’ Association
moves to reverse decision on
Shinerama,” which was posted on
the CUSA website Nov. 26.
“All they were hoping to do is
discuss which charity people want
to support,” said Meera Chander,
Residence Association (RRRA)
and seconder of the original
motion.
“Obviously now we see that
students want to support cystic
fibrosis.”
This will be discussed further
at an emergency council meeting
Dec. 1 at 6:30 p.m.
The motion originally passed at
the Nov. 24 council meeting. It
claimed “cystic fibrosis has been
recently revealed to only affect white
people and primarily men,” and
thus resolved that the Orientation
Supervisory Board “work to select a
new broad-reaching charity for
the Charlatan • November 27 - December 3, 2008
The facts on CF
• It is estimated that one in
every 3,600 children born in
Canada has cystic fibrosis
• It is the most common, fatal
genetic disease affecting young
Canadians
• In 2002, 94.8 per cent of
patients with CF were Caucasian
• According to CCFF CEO
Cathleen Morrison “Caucasian”
encompasses people of South
Asian, Middle Eastern,
European, North African and
South American descent
• For the period 1998-2002, the
median survival age was 37.0
years, 37.8 for males and 34.8 for
females
— compiled from Report of the
Canadian Cystic Fibrosis Patient Data
Registry and CCFF website
“Most of the discussion that
came around the table was actually
just about switching the charities
and mixing it up, maybe trying out
a local charity, different things like
that,” she said.
“I understand where the CUSA
councillors are coming from,”
Skobe said. “[But] I’m also feeling
like it’s a slap in the face to cystic
fibrosis research.” !
— with files from Kathryn Burnham
and Jennifer Pagliaro
orientation week.”
There has been some confusion
surrounding the demographics
indicated on the Canadian Cystic
Fibrosis Foundation’s (CCFF)
website, which states that 94.8 per
cent of patients with cystic fibrosis
are Caucasian.
Donnie Northrup, a faculty of
science representative on CUSA
council and a head facilitator for
the CUSA orientation week, put
forth the motion. He said he
interpreted Caucasian to mean
“white.”
However, Cathleen Morrison,
chief executive officer of CCFF,
said that the definition of
‘Caucasian’ includes people of
European, South American, North
African, Middle Eastern and South
Asian descent.
Despite this misinformation,
CUSA councillors do not see the
clause as an issue.
“In the end . . . we are voting
for the ‘be it resolved’ clause,”
Chander said. “The rest is not
looked at as intensively.”
For the rest of this story and future
updates, see
www.charlatan.ca
3
News
Shinerama back, Northrup gone
BY KAYLA MORRISON
Apologies, dramatic resignations
and emotionally-charged speeches
filled Porter Hall as it surpassed its
150-person capacity with excited
Carleton students, national media
and Carleton University Students’
Association (CUSA) council
members, Dec. 1.
Students lined the walls and
filled up the seats, many holding
homemade signs supporting
Shinerama, CUSA and the
resignation of certain members.
The emergency council meeting
was called in light of the backlash
of the decision to drop the popular
Shinerama fundraising campaign
was made at the Nov. 24 meeting.
The backlash is the result of a
“whereas” clause in the motion,
which stated: “Whereas cystic
fibrosis has been recently revealed
to only affect white people, and
primarily men.”
At the Dec. 1 meeting, CUSA
unanimously voted to rescind the
earlier motion to drop Shinerama,
to issue a formal apology, and, in a
separate motion, to donate
$1,000-$3,000 to the Canadian
Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, in
order to make Carleton’s donation
for the year at least $40,000.
Now, many CUSA members
say, it is time to move on from the
issue and come together to regain
public support.
“It was the last thing in our
mandate to divide students,” said
Carlos Chacón, CUSA vice-
president (internal affairs).
He said that before everything
happened with Shinerama, he
could walk down the halls holding
his head high. “It’s disheartening
that now I have had to walk with
my head low,” he said.
Chacón apologized for not
sending out the agenda in a timely
fashion, and said he will from now
Shooting at Prince of Wales shocks students
BY NIC BAIRD
Matthew Kalli, 20, has been
charged with two counts of second-
degree murder in connection with
the shooting deaths of Warsame
Okie, 25, and Hayder Al-Ebadi, 18,
at 1435 Prince of Wales Dr.
The apartment building near
Hog’s Back is popular with students.
Alexandra Frustaglio, a third-
year student at Carleton, said she
usually feels safe in the building,
although she said “there have
been times when really unusual
people come in the apartment.”
“I’m a little unnerved about it,”
Frustaglio said about the
shootings. She added that she was
supposed to be doing laundry at the
time of the shooting.
“Luckily I didn’t, I could have
been where it happened. I didn’t
sleep at my apartment for that
weekend,” she said.
Constable J.P. Vincelette with the
Ottawa police assured that the many
students who live in the area should
To city councillors, we give bus tickets for the 117 during peak hours; To Brittany Smyth, we give a new cellphone; To Roseann Runte, we give a batch of chocolate-chip cookies; To CUSERT, we give Epi-pens;
CUSA president Brittany Smyth and chair Ian Boyko at the packed Dec. 1 CUSA council meeting.
C.J. ROUSSAKIS
CUSA councillor Donnie Northrup
resigned.
on have the agenda ready 48 hours
ahead of time.
Chacón was the focus of a
motion for a recall, along with
Meera Chander, CUSA
representative for the Faculty of
Public Affairs and Management,
which were removed from the
1435 Prince of Wales Dr., on the corner of Prince of Wales and
Meadowlands, where the shootings took place.
not be concerned for their safety.
Vincelette added that the fact that
the accused turned himself in to
police means that students should
not be too afraid of the area near the
high-rise.
“I think we’ve seen probably
News Editors: Kathryn Burnham and Jennifer Pagliaro • news@charlatan.ca
agenda by its mover, Sean Finnigan,
one of the other representatives of
that faculty.
“I decided to recall [the
motions] because I felt that the
facts had changed,” Finnigan said.
“I felt the motions were no longer
relevant, and that they should no
longer be addressed.”
A motion to recall Donnie
Northrup, one of the representatives
for the faculty of science and the
author of the original motion, was
also removed from the agenda after
he resigned.
“This is an educational
institution where we’re
encouraged to make mistakes and
learn from them,” Northrup said.
“CUSA council did not pass a
motion because of racism in any
form. The sentiments around that
table were about serving the first
interests of students by embracing
a system of rotating charities.”
HEATHER WALLACE
about 10 students this week that
were concerned, who lived in
the apartments,” said Maureen
Murdock, director of Carleton’s
Health and Counselling Services.
Murdock said these situations
affect people differently. She said
CHRISTOPHER KING
Sean Maguire, the representative
for special students, also resigned.
He cited his history with CUSA and
said he should have known the
rules of council better and should
have known that the preamble
could be amended to remove the
“racist and sexist” clause.
However, before leaving,
Maguire encouraged students to
renew their faith in CUSA. Service
centres, atrium activities, Rooster’s,
Oliver’s “are the vast, vast majority
of what CUSA is all about,” he said.
“Councillors around the table
love representing Carleton
students,” said Devon Seville, the
representative for the College of
Humanities. “I would encourage
students to stay involved, stay
passionate and to shine like
you’ve never shone before.” ! Shinerama, opting to investigate
— with files from Kathryn Burnham
and Jennifer Pagliaro
that usually it bothers the students
who live alone more than those
who have roommates.
“You just have to address whatever
their concerns are. Some people just
need people to talk to,” she said.
Vincelette said that he cannot
confirm that it was a gang-related
shooting, but said he sees these
issues as being present at the trial.
However, it is known that Kalli
had possession of his handgun
since at least July and that Okie is
believed to have also had a gun on
him, though he did not pull it out.
Vincelette emphasized the
importance to contact police at any
sign of trouble.
“If you, as a member of the
public, observe something that
looks suspicious, we encourage
you to contact police,” Vincelette
said. “We’ll send a car just to
investigate. Sometimes the mere
presence of our vehicle in the area
could create a change that
would eliminate these drastic
situations.” !
the Charlatan • December 4 - January 7, 2008
CUSA reps
threatened
Within the past week,
members of CUSA say they
have been receiving threatening
calls, e-mails and text messages.
One such anonymous e-mail
stated, “I hope someone puts a
bullet into each of your heads. I
hope he rapes the girls first . . .”
according to an e-mail provided
by Carlos Chacón, CUSA vice-
president (internal affairs).
Chacón said there are other
ways to express feelings that
don’t result in hate mail.
“I have always had an open-
door policy,” he said.
Students are free to go and
talk to him or e-mail him, or any
other CUSA councillors, if they
have questions or concerns
about CUSA decisions, or ideas
of their own.
Len Boudreault, director of
campus safety, said he saw a
few of, but not all, the e-mails,
and the ones he saw had “no
foundation.”
— Kayla Morrison
Petition Tally
The petition to impeach
Brittany Smyth, organized by
Stephen Alexander Conrad,
currently has 1,282 signatures.
The signatures are now being
ratified by the chair, Ian Boyko.
Shinerama timeline
Nov. 24 — CUSA votes to
discontinue support for
rotating charities yearly.
Nov. 25 — Local and national
media pick up the story of
CUSA’s “racist and sexist”
motivation behind switching
charities.
Nov. 26 — CUSA calls an emer-
gency council meeting for Dec. 1
to “revisit the motion.” The
announcement is headlined:
“Carleton University Students’
Association moves to reverse
decision on Shinerama.”
Nov. 27 — Students organize a
rally in support of cystic fibrosis
and a petition to impeach
Brittany Smyth and Donnie
Northrup. CUSA posts official
apology letter signed by Smyth.
Nov. 29 — The original CUSA
agenda for the Dec. 1 emergency
meeting included motions to
recall Meera Chander, the
seconder of the motion, Donnie
Northrup, and Carlos Chacón,
CUSA vice-president (internal
affairs) for failure to deliver the
agenda in a timely manner. It
also includes the motion to
reverse the earlier decision to
drop Shinerama and issue a
formal apology.
3
4 charlatannews April 2 - 8, 2009

Voices of leaders: speaking with students

Speaking with Brittany Smyth
The Charlatan’s KATHERINE BOONE talked
to outgoing Carleton University Students’
Association (CUSA) president Brittany Smyth
about what she feels she achieved this year, what
she regrets and her advice for future executive.
This is an abridged version of the interview.
The Charlatan: Do you feel you succeeded in
representing the interests and needs of the
students at Carleton? Why or why not?
Brittany Smyth: I think so. I mean, it was an
interesting year for sure, I can’t stress that
enough. It had its ups and its downs, but I think
generally it’s been pretty good. We managed to
do some great advocacy — the Nov. 5 day of
action was really wonderful. We had so many
students out. We had some really great successes
with it as well and we made some wonderful
steps forward, just as students broadly.
We won the system of needs-based grants
and a bunch of other wonderful stuff, which
is denitely moving in the right direction for
students. It’s been a good year and we’ve had
some great success. It’s had its downs as well,
but I think generally speaking it was pretty good.
TC: If you had the opportunity to re-do or
change any decision from this year, what
would you pick and why?
BS: I don’t think that’s an overly tough choice
— I would denitely say the November council
meeting and denitely doing the Shinerama
motion over again. Now looking back at it, we
can denitely see what we could have done
differently. We [had] the best of intentions
with it. No one on our council at all meant for
that to be how it was interpreted or anything
like that. Hindsight is 20/20, so we denitely
know what we could have xed there . . .
Looking back, we should have defeated
the motion and got the writer of the motion to
rewrite it to include different whereas clauses,
because [the whereas clauses] were the real
issue. The whereas clauses only reect the
opinions of the person motivating the motion.
The intentions of the motion were really good.
We were just looking into doing different
charities or rotating charities. The motion
had good intentions, it was just the whereas
clauses that were the problem. Fixing those
would have been something I would love to
have changed.
TC: What advice would you give to next
year’s president?
BS: I guess after this year I would say to
read your motions carefully, but on a more
serious note I would say just have fun. Some
people take this too seriously and can get too
wrapped up in it. It’s important to realize that
it’s a student association . . . This is denitely
no stepping stone for some grand career in
politics . . . Make sure you’re always doing
what’s in the best interest of the students no
matter what.
For the rest of this response and to learn what
Smyth’s future holds, see
www.charlatan.ca
Speaking with Erik Halliwell
The Charlatan’s KATHERINE BOONE talked
to Carleton University Students’ Association
(CUSA) president-elect Erik Halliwell about the
controversial election this year, his goals for next
year and his advice for future election participants.
This is an abridged version of the interview.
The Charlatan: Why did you decide to run for
president this year?
Erik Halliwell:I felt as though I wanted to continue
my work here at CUSA. This year I’ve been able to
actually do the majority of the things I planned on
doing and promised for under my [vice-president
(internal)] rule, and so I actually just wanted to
continue to do the work of the organization I
believe in — everything from lowering tuition
fees to tackling controversial and important issues
such as racism. It’s an organization I believe in and
so I wanted to give it another try.
TC: What do you hope to accomplish in your
term as CUSA president for next year?
EH: I would like to continue what I actually
promised, which is the academic appeal centre,
working on possibly getting computers in
Roosters, as well as the portfolios of those who
didn’t get in with me.
TC: You mentioned the mixed group this year.
How do you feel about spending the summer
working with a mixed group?
EH: I think it’s going to be ne. I think there’s
enough common ground to nd with individuals
who were on opposing sides. When you really
look at it, there weren’t a lot of fundamental
differences between the two . . . I mean, there were
differences, but I think that, for example Nick
Bergamini ran on a campaign to lower tuition fees
and I think that’s something that . . . his way of
doing it might have been different from my way
of doing it, but that I don’t think will be too much
of a hindrance in terms of us working together.
I personally would like to nd a good working
relationship with both people . . . I can’t foresee
that many troubles . . . I’m optimistic that we can
pull together.
TC: What are your thoughts surrounding
the controversy of Bruce’s disqualication
— obviously the nal appeal came in today
[April 1] so it’s a closed deal, but what are your
thoughts on it?
EH: Ultimately, I think it’s good in that it shows
that you have to follow the rules — that you
can’t break the rules and win. I think that’s the
message — is that it’s like democracy is more
than just getting the votes. It’s also following the
rules to get those votes. You absolutely have to
follow the rules. If you didn’t, you would have
chaos, because if it was a free-for-all it would be
completely unfair to any individual who wanted
to run . . . I think that the ruling is fair and justied,
absolutely.
For the rest of this response and to learn what
Halliwell’s advice is for others who want to get
involved with CUSA, see
www.charlatan.ca

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