January 28 2010

Page 1

Yes Man answers our yes/no questions page 8

Obama Drama page 3

the newspaper

university of Toronto’s Independent Weekly

vol. XXXII N0. 18

January 28, 2010

Harper gone rogue

HELENE gODERIS

GC red tape frustrates staff, students

Canadians are listening

ALEX NuRSALL

heLene GoDeris

HELENE gODERIS

Tejas parasher

Live-in against illiteracy

AMY STUPAVSKY When you spend long, blearyeyed hours studying at Robarts, it may sometimes feel as if the library is your second home. For students Afton Chadwick and Lorenzo Somma, the nightmare has become a reality. The two have set up camp on the first floor from Jan. 23 to 30 to raise money for Live-in for Literacy, an event that raises mon-

ey to build educational facilities in developing countries in Asia and Africa. The students forego classes and break for only five minutes every hour. “We put our own educations on hold to help others,” said Chadwick. An initiative of DREAM (Discovering the Reality of Educating All Minds), Live-in for Literacy was started at Queen’s

University in 2005. The organization hopes to raise $20,000 across nine participating universities towards the construction of a library in an Indian village. It also plans to sponsor 10,000 copies of a book published in the local dialect. Shopping for volunteer opportunities, Chadwick decided Continued on page 4

U of T’s latest meeting has stirred up discussion about the university’s decision-making processes. After three hours in Simcoe Hall on Jan. 21 without any concrete, mutual dialogue, students and staff are concerned that U of T’s administration has become too wrapped up bureaucratic red tape. “The Governing Council has just become a rubber stamp,” said Andrew Agnew-Iler, one

of eight students on the fiftymember council. “It is completely useless as any kind of democratic institution. There isn’t much actual debate going on at any point. People are voting, but the votes don’t matter. Nothing ever gets voted down.” Since the Governing Council is the highest decision-making body at U of T, critics feel that such developments will have direct effects on the university’s Continued on page 5

HELENE gODERIS

There was a telling crescendo in the voices of the crowd gathered at Dundas Square as they sang out “we stand on guard for thee” during the national anthem. An estimated 7,000 people came out on January 23 as part of a cross-country rally, organized through Facebook by Canadians Against Proroguing Parliament (CAPP), to protest Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s prorogation of parliament. Harper announced on December 30 he would suspend parliament until March 3. The PM denies accusations that he is eschewing some tough quesContinued on page 5


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