The Fulcrum - Vol 77 Issue 12

VOL. 77 ISSUE 12

nov. 17, 2016

America’s media-bred monster PG. 19.

In this week’s issue...

GA misses quorum for fifth time in a row P.3 Students raise concerns over lack of promotion, exec. points to apathy Film festival gives voice to queer cinema P.7 Inside Out challenges heteronormative stereotypes, broadens definition of LGBTQ+ film Defining the elements of healthy sexual exploration P.8 How students can learn from the mistakes made in organizing Vet’s Tour Men’s rugby finishes with a spotless record P.10 Final match ends in blowout of York U, suggests bright future ahead

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UCU Friday, nov. 18, 25, and friday dec. 2 12pm to 3pm

Don’t let Trump’s politics into Canada P.12 Why Kellie Leitch’s proposed policies are so dangerous In the media we trust? P.19 How the media failed us in the 2016 U.S. presidential election

NEWS

NEWS EDITOR

Graham Robertson news@thefulcrum.ca (613) 695-0061 @_grahamr

Low GA turnout leads to complaints by students

Concerns raised over lack of promotion by SFUO executives graham robertson news editor

T

he Nov. 12 General Assembly (GA) of the Student Federation of the University of Ottawa (SFUO) did not reach quorum for the fifth time in a row, leading to concerns over a lack of promotion, as well as student apathy.

Executive updates SFUO president Roméo Ahimakin opened the discussion by thanking the students present for their attendance, saying that the federation will continue to fight for underrepresented groups on campus, such as racialized students, students with disabilities, and LGBTQ+ students.

A list of the federation’s successes was then presented, such as the ban of plastic water bottles in 2008, the implementation of the U-Pass program in 2011, and the adoption of GAs in 2014.

Following this update, a list of SFUO campaigns and services were presented. “Campaigns are the backbone of the university,” said Vanessa Dorimain, SFUO vice-president of university affairs.

The exec listed campaigns such as the Fight the Fees movement in collaboration with the Canadian Federation of Students, leading up to the Nov. 2 Day of Action.

“This is work that we have been doing for four years,” said Hadi Wess, SFUO vicepresident social.

Morissa Ellis, SFUO vicepresident of equity, also discussed the No Means No campaign which focuses on consent, gender-based violence, and rape culture.

Ellis further elaborated on the work done at the university on these issues, such as the active bystander training for 101 Week guides that was

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implemented this year, along with the Women’s Resource Centre’s workshops on enthusiastic consent.

Dorimain then gave a debrief of the sexual violence policy that was adopted by the Board of Governors in June 2016, and how the policy will be improved.

“We are very proud of this policy,” said Dorimain, who hopes to have the policy updated annually for the next three years based on student feedback.

Dorimain also said mandatory courses on sexual violence should be implemented at the U of O and that funds should be allocated towards educational campaigns on sexual violence for all students.

Other topics discussed included the Bilingualism Centre, bilingualism at the U of O in general, and 101 Week. According to Wess, despite the the fact that the SFUO had a $0 budget for the week, a total of $200,000 was saved due to sponsorships and partnerships with local businesses.

Wess also noted the success of Shinerama, with $23,000 raised on Shine Day itself.

The GA also saw discussion on clubs funding in light of the reduced SFUO budget.

“We do recognize that clubs are very important to the SFUO,” said Ellis, noting that over 60 new clubs were registered this term. Despite the lack of funding for clubs, Ellis said that she is working alongside Rizki Rachiq, vice-president finance at the SFUO, to provide savings and certain discounts on campus for clubs.

Ellis also said that she is consulting with clubs to determine other ways to meet their needs.

echoed the sentiments over miscommunication between the executive and the students, saying that he saw a lack of promotion for the GA by the SFUO such as videos and class-talks.

Ahimakin responded by addressing Kent’s tone of voice primarily, saying that students should speak more respectfully towards one another. He also said that the executive did class talks and there was consultation with students on promotion.

“I do understand your frustrations,” Ellis said, who noted that there are only six executives. “We are talking to students to see what they would like at GAs.” Responding to a question about the long U-Pass wait lines this year, Dorimain said that they were due to a late delivery of the cards and a lack of staffing, and to combat this issue, more distribution locations will be set up around campus in the future.

Rachiq also addressed a question about the corporate

students had specific questions about the budget, he would be happy to answer them in-person or via email.

The GA then moved into a 20-minute question-and-answer period after the budget presentation. Many questions raised involved communication between the executive and the student body, with one student asking, “Why is the SFUO so bad at engaging with students?”

“It’s disappointing to see the GA not reach quorum,” said Caruso. “We are constantly seeking improvement,” he continued, attributing the lack of quorum to a level of student apathy on campus.

Another question was raised about the lack of simultaneous interpretation for unilingual students. Rachiq apologized for this, saying that due to a lack of staffing at the SFUO because of its financial situation, interpretation was not possible for the Nov. 12 GA. Jordan Kent, a first-year political science student,

maintenance report at the Nov. 6 Board of Administration (BOA) meeting, saying that the report is confidential and will not be made public online.

Quorum Regarding the lack of quorum, a question was raised about lowering the minimum amount of participants required for future GAs. Ahimakin responded that the current quorum, one per cent, is representative of the student population, and that the most effective form of promotion would be student mobilization, such as students telling their friends to attend.

Tristan Lamonica, a BOA representative from the Faculty of Arts, said during the GA that the criticism of the SFUO is “unwarranted,” and that the low turnout was due to a lack of student interest.

In a statement to the Fulcrum, Lamonica said that he had conducted an online survey that included 70 un-

dergraduate U of O students following his election to the BOA, “to get a clearer picture of why quorum is never met.”

According to Lamonica, 88.3 per cent of respondents knew about the GA and that it was open to all students, but in spite of this, quorum was not met.

“The results showed me that a big majority of students indeed knew about it—but lacked interest in attending.”

“The SFUO promotes the GA as best as they can, but in the end students need to either show interest for quorum, or trust their elected BOA members,” Lamonica tweeted.

To accommodate all questions from students, the question period was extended by another 20 minutes. The GA was adjourned following the question period due to the lack of quorum.

The next SFUO BOA meeting will be held on Dec. 4 at the Roger Guindon campus room 2012 at 1 p.m. Meetings are open to the public.

Question period Following the executive updates, Rachiq presented the 2016–17 budget, which can be found on the SFUO website. Rachiq said that if

The Nov. 12 General Assembly was unable to table motions due to lack of quorum.

Photo: Eric Davidson.

NEWS | 3

U of O international student dead following stabbing Incident at Ottawa bar marks city’s seventeenth homicide of the year Graham Robertson News Editor

A University of Ottawa student has died following an altercation with a 27 year-old man outside Piper’s Bar and Grill near St. Laurent Shopping Centre on Nov. 6.

According to police, the student, 21 year-old Solomon Odekunle, and the suspect, Joe-Bryan Ndikuriyo, had begun arguing over a woman, which led to Ndikuriyo stabbing Odekunle once in the throat. Police suspect that alcohol was involved.

One of Odekunle’s friends was also injured in a subsequent fight.

According to the Ottawa Sun, Odekunle was found on a concrete median on Coventry Road near the St. Laurent Shopping Centre after being stabbed,

and was later taken to the hospital where he was pronounced dead.

The Sun further reported that Odekunle was an international student in his final year of economics and political science at the U of O. Odekunle was the son of a pastor at the Redeemed Christian Church of God in Lagos, Nigeria, and was admitted to the U of O in 2012, according to the Saturday PUNCH. It was reported that Odekunle’s father had traveled to Canada following the death, while his mother remained in Lagos.

In a statement to the Fulcrum, Abdul Karim Turay, a U of O alumnus and friend of Odekunle, said, “A calm and peaceful soul, snatched from this world all too soon. Your memory will live on in us:

Solomon Odekunle was an international student in his final year of economics and political science at the U of O.

obedient, helpful, loving and caring, these are attributes that we all strive to achieve, but you being who you are always had

your family, your friends, and your colleagues for generations to come.”

“You were loved by us all, you were always

Photo: Via Facebook.

them ingrained in you,” Turay said of Odekunle.

Ndikuriyo appeared in court on Nov. 6 and was charged with second-de-

gree murder and attempted murder of Odekunle’s friend, who required stitches.

The CBC reported that Ndikuriyo is known to Ottawa police, having served two weeks in prison for possession of a weapon.

Odekunle’s death marks Ottawa’s seventeenth homicide of the year.

“Your death is a great loss to us all, you can never be replaced,” said Turay.

“However, we thank God for the time you spent on Earth, and we thank you for sharing your ideas and your thoughts with us, all of which were insightful and phenomenal.”

Odekunle’s funeral was held on Nov. 11 at 12 p.m. and the memorial service took place at 6 p.m. that evening at 1417 Cyrville Road Unit C in Gloucester.

LRT construction sees fourth accident near the U of O

Three workers rescued safely after incident, concerns raised by union workers Graham Robertson news editor

On Thursday, Nov. 10, at around 4:45 p.m., firetrucks and emergency responders arrived at the intersection of Laurier Avenue East and Waller Street following the collapse of a concrete ceiling in a light rail transit (LRT) construction zone.

Construction workers and first responders, along with students at the scene called the incident a “collapse.” However at 6:34 p.m. mayor Jim Watson Tweeted, “I’m on-site.

No tunnel collapse. Staff are reporting a small construction incident with minor injury to one worker.”

According to CTV Ottawa, city councillor Mathieu Fleury confirmed that a piece of concrete had fallen from the ceiling of the tunnel. This had occurred while workers had been applying shotcrete, a sprayable concrete designed to reinforce the tunnel. Watson told the CBC that approximately six kilograms worth of concrete had fallen.

4 | NEWS

Three workers are now safe after being trapped underground.

OC Transpo dispatches said that three workers were trapped inside the tunnel during the collapse of the concrete, and this was confirmed

by Fleury on the scene.

“What I’m told is safe zones is an enclosed area, it’s a cage in case there were an incident in the tunnel. My understanding is that the three

Photo: Jaclyn McRae-Sadik.

workers are in that caged area awaiting the rescue team,” Fleury told the Fulcrum, while the workers were still underground.

“There’s nothing at the surface. It is a section of shotcrete, which is temporary concrete that would have fallen in the tunnel,” said Fleury.

Peter Launch, the technical

director of the Rideau Transit Group (RTG), told the CBC that the steel cage had come loose from the tunnel wall while workers were applying the shotcrete reinforcement.

Launch further said it is possible that two of the workers were in the basket of a hydraulic boom lift when the cage had detached from

the wall, and this might have made them unable to lower their lift.

Bus routes were also redirected onto Laurier Avenue from Nicholas Street until King Edward Avenue, with delays said to be as long as three hours by several students on campus.

The CBC later reported that the workers were rescued by firefighters, with two of the workers unharmed and one sustaining a minor hand injury.

The Ontario Ministry of Labour had begun an investigation following the incident, and on Nov. 11 the CBC reported that the ministry issued three orders, including to not disturb the scene, for the RTG to provide documentation (unspecified), and for another employer, Hard Rock Concrete, to provide further documentation.

This is the fourth LRT-related incident in the city that has required an investigation by the ministry. In 2014 a section of Waller Street collapsed near Laurier Station and the

Arts building, now Hamelin Hall, while in June of this year a sinkhole emerged on Rideau Street, which caused a gas leak and power outage in the area. Four days before that incident, however, a fire had also erupted in a section of the LRT construction site.

While the City of Ottawa has, according to the CBC, “downplayed” this most recent incident, with John Maccini, general manager of the transportation services department, calling the concrete collapse a “minor construction incident,” union workers are raising concerns.

Sean McKenny, president of the Ottawa and District Labour Council is “concerned and frustrated” over the lack of information on the injured worker, as the CBC further reported.

McKenny also said that the case will add to delays, leading to pressure on employees to work faster to meet deadlines due to the delays.

The ministry has since lifted their temporary stop work order at the site.

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U of O students launch STEM initiative for Indigenous youth

Science kits distributed to remote communities following visit to Cross Lake Zainab Al-Mehdar Associate News Editor

Danielle Taillon, a fourth-year mechanical engineering student at the University of Ottawa, has started a project to get Indigenous youth in remote communities involved with science, engineering, and technology.

“I was inspired by my work with kids over the summer. Often when we were travelling, there were not enough initiatives that taught kids about engineering and entrepreneurship,” Taillon told the Fulcrum.

In July 2016, Taillon and her friend Justine Boudreau, also a fourthyear mechanical engineering student at the U of O, travelled to Cross Lake, a small Cree community eight hours north of Winnipeg. There, they organized a week-long science camp with children and youth in the

The kits are delivered monthly or bi-monthly and are themed with special activities in mind.

community, teaching them computer programming and engineering skills, among others.

Some activities during the camp included mapping out the community, making jewelry with a 3D printer, and designing houses.

“While we were teach-

Photo: Courtesy of Danielle Taillon.

ing the camps, they were learning outside of the classroom,” said Taillon.

“But once we left, it was a different story. I wanted to be able to keep up that learning process even if we couldn’t always be there.”

After seeing how receptive the youth were

to the activities, Taillon decided to launch the kits project.

The science kits are available for purchase from the online Makerspace store for $40. When a kit is purchased by an individual or a school, another kit is shipped out to an Indigenous commu-

nity. The kits are shipped out monthly or bi-monthly, with 10 kits already having been purchased in October.

According to Boudreau, she has received funding for the project from the U of O’s Faculty of Engineering, as well as from personal donations.

“It’s important to me and Danielle that (Indigenous youth) are getting the same opportunity as the kids here do,” said Boudreau. “We are trying to show kids in those communities that they are no different than the kids here.”

Taillon also designed the kits to include a special activity for each month, with the kits shipped out in October having a Halloween-centric theme. The activity involved was to “make a ghost,” and materials included fabric, a needle, thread, as well as com-

ponents such as the Arduino—a beginner-level hardware and software kit—and programmable lights.

The kit also comes with instructions and a guide for teachers and parents.

“It’s just a way for us to keep in contact and keep them interested in engineering and science, and just gives them an opportunity to learn more,” said Boudreau.

“Right now the project is still small, but I hope to include many more local communities as well as First Nations youth,” said Taillon, who hopes to send out as many kits as she can.

Taillon also believes that U of O students can get involved with the project by buying kits or volunteering to help prepare and assemble them.

To purchase a kit, please visit the Makerspace or Adafruit websites.

U of O student works to give sight to the blind

Bionic eye technology uses laser light and cameras to improve vision Matt Zucca

Staff Contributor The possibility of a bionic eye might, in fact, be more of a reality than one would expect, thanks to Ross Cheriton, a PhD student at the University of Ottawa’s Chair for Research in Photonics.

Cheriton was recently hired by the Ottawa-Gatineau tech company iBIONICS to work on developing the retinal implants, with the purpose of giving sight to the blind.

Chariton is also currently working at SUNLAB, the U of O’s solar research lab, trying to improve the photovoltaic cell of the implant by turning the laser light from the camera’s signal into electricity to power the implant.

“You can imagine this retinal implant sits on the back of the eye somewhere, just like normal light coming

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into your eye,” said Cheriton. “It gets focused down into a point at the back of the eye so we make out an image.”

The implant will work by having a laser shine into the individual’s eye, but this light cannot be seen as it is beyond humans’ visible range. From there, cameras and sensors in the device will pick up the laser and thus power the implant.

Cheriton further explains that any type of camera can be used in the implant.

“You could have cameras that see x-rays, cameras that see infrared light, cameras that see ultraviolet (UV) light, and things like that.”

From there, the implant converts this signal from the laser into electrical signals, which the brain interprets as visual stimuli.

Though implants of this kind do exist already, they are only capable of generat-

While technology like this already exists, Cheriton’s implants will be higher resolution and in colour. Photo: Jaclyn McRae-Sadik.

ing low-resolution black and white images.

“In the near future we’re focused on people who need

it the most. We want to improve people’s quality of life

… we know these people that have issues with blindness that we can address with standard camera information.”

Though Cheriton’s primary focus is on helping the blind with iBIONICS, at SUNLAB he contributes to the field of photonics as whole by trying to convert specific colours of the light spectrum into electricity.

By optimizing devices for one colour of light, developers can later stack multiple devices to improve the overall capture of white light.

He suggests it’s possible to someday transform 60 per cent of a solar light beam into electricity.

Only time will tell what’s possible, but Cheriton believes the training he’s gained at the U of O will help him solve any problems in his research that may be around the corner.

NEWS | 5

A&C EDITOR Anchal Sharma arts@thefulcrum.ca

ARTS&CULTURE U of O’s writer-in-residence wins Scotiabank Giller Prize

(613) 695-0062 @imtherocks

Madeleine Thien receives praise for latest book Do Not Say We Have Nothing Iain Sellers

Fulcrum Contributor

O

n Nov. 7, Madeleine Thien, University Of Ottawa’s very own writer-inresidence, won the highly prestigious Scotiabank Giller Prize.

The prize, awarded to the top Canadian writer of the year, was awarded to Thien along with $100, 000 for her most recent novel, Do Not Say We Have Nothing.

According to the Giller Prize’s website, the jurors of the award were entranced

by Thien’s “detailed, layered, complex drama of classical musicians and their loved ones trying to survive two monstrous insults to their humanity: Mao Zedong’s Cultural Revolution in midtwentieth-century China, and the Tiananmen Square

massacre of protesters in Beijing in 1989.”

By winning this prize, Thien’s novel beat out eleven other exceptional Canadian works on the longlist of submissions.

When asked about how it felt to have won the award, Thien admits that “it hasn’t quite sunk in yet, but I’m very happy for the book.”

Along with the win of the Giller prize, Do Not Say We Have Nothing was also nominated for the shortlist of the Man Booker Prize and won this year’s Governor General’s Literary Award for English-language fiction.

While this was the first time that Thien had been awarded the Scotiabank Giller Prize, it was not her first novel.

Thien is also the proud author of a collection of short stories titled Simple

Recipes (2001), and two novels, Certainty (2006) and Dogs at the Perimeter (2011).

Thien describes Do Not Say We Have Nothing as being different from the other works, as it is “more Dickensian, and more of an epic” whereas her past writings “have tended to be more distilled, more slender.”

In Do Not Say We Have Nothing, Thien delves into some of the most deeply questioned parts of the human character. Thien explains that the novel is “about art, music, and revolution in 20th century China. But more than that, it’s about fidelity and loyalty, how people make art, or choose silence, or if it’s possible to forgive oneself. It’s about the desire for utopia coupled with the inescapability of history.”

Despite the differences between this most recent

work and her past stories, Thien clarified that each story is “part of one larger trajectory and body of work.”

When asked about her future, Thien told the Fulcrum that “my next steps are always the same. To keep thinking and writing, to keep imagining.”

As the 2016 writer-in-residence for the U of O’s English department, Thien also acts as an advisor for students and Canadian writers looking for direction.

So if you’re a budding writer looking for a mentor or someone to bounce story ideas off of, drop in during Thien’s office hours at Hamelin Hall 323.

While you’re at it, check out the critically acclaimed Do Not Say We Have Nothing, available at Morisset Library.

Thien’s winner of the 2016 Giller Prize.

Photo: Courtesy of Knopf Canada.

Ottawa’s first Starbucks Evening store opens in ByWard

Coffeehouse chain introduces appetizers and alcohol to traditional coffee menu Ryan Pepper

Fulcrum Freelancer Starbucks is going from chain-store to high-end café, with its new Reserve Coffee Bar in the ByWard Market.

The new location on York Street is like any other coffee shop in the city, and the additions to the menu make this store a go-to stop for students.

This new Starbucks features all the usual food and drink options that you would come to expect from this coffeehouse chain. But what sets it apart from other Ottawa locations is its Evening Menu and Reserve Bar, featuring rare reserve coffee blends, five different brewing methods—none of them instant—and a wine and beer menu.

The store itself features ample seating space and a low, wooden bar where the rare blends are prepared. Its classy, upscale interior sheds the neg-

6 | ARTS & CULTURE

ative expectations you might have of a chain store.

For those who are used to automatically ordering a caramel macchiato or a frappuccino, the amount of reserve blends and different ways of brewing can be baffling. To give you a taste of what this new ByWard hot spot has to offer, a three-year old sumatran coffee is cur-

rently featured on the menu, as are two small-lot blends from Ethiopia.

But the baristas here are coffee masters, and they approach the trade with as much knowledge as you’d expect from an independent, ritzy café. They can easily walk you through everything that goes into making a great cup of coffee.

Choosing your blend is only the first step. Then comes your preferred brewing method. In the world of Keurigs and instant coffee, having to decide if you really want your beans vacuum-brewed or if a pourover will work just fine can be intimidating.

The baristas working the bar are there to walk you

Starbucks Evening stores expect to have appetizers in the coming weeks.

Photo: Remi Yuan.

through every option, so that you can feel confident in your choice that the thicker filter of the Chemex really is doing wonders for your regular pour-over filter—even if you kind of suspect you wouldn’t taste a difference anyways.

The baristas here echo the belief that making coffee is more a science than an art. By adhering to exact measurements, strict time and temperature requirements, and using high-quality brewing methods, the average cup of Starbucks coffee is elevated to a luxury level.

The Evening Menu, also unique to this ByWard location, features red, white, and sparkling wines, and craft beers. Honestly, it seems an odd move to target such a small demographic—those who want to go out to the bar but for whatever reason decided to go to a Starbucks instead, a con-

cept that Ottawa hasn’t seen before. It will definitely be interesting to see whether this is something that consumers will buy into, and whether popular chains might try to follow suit.

It doesn’t help that the Evening Menu has only one alcoholic beverage-coffee mix, a Muskoka Brewery IPA topped with espresso, which is made worse by the fact that this location won’t be introducing specialty food items for another few weeks.

But the menu still features the excellent Pike & Melrose coffee cocktail, a non-alcoholic cold brew shaken with cherry bitters that you can easily nurse for your entire stay.

While this new Starbucks may have some improvements to make in the coming weeks, it still manages to blend science and the art together beautifully for an experience that coffee lovers can’t yet find else-

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It’s lit in the library: Hillbilly Elegy | J.D. Vance Bethany keeshan Fulcrum Contributor

During the school year, when you feel like readings are piled up to your ears, reading for fun can seem like a ridiculous idea—but it shouldn’t.

Reading is the fastest way for you to make an escape into the world of your choosing, and expand your vocabulary without even knowing it. The underappreciated world of literature offers endless benefits, so without further ado, check out this week’s read.

The 2016 United States presidential election has finally come to a close with shocking results. With reality TV mogul Donald Trump elected the next leader of the free world, many people are left wondering how and why he was able to defeat political rival Hillary Clinton, whose victory was practically guaranteed by polls

and the media.

If you’re one of the many people looking for an answer to this new curveball that 2016 has thrown us, look no further than J. D. Vance’s Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis. This book serves as a fascinating narrative that will help explain Trump’s popularity among white working class America, an important demographic in this election.

The autobiography follows the life of Vance and his experiences growing up in his own “hillbilly” culture in Ohio. Although it does not address the Trump phenomenon directly, Vance offers interesting insight into the shattering lack of faith that white, working class people have in their government, which has, in turn, made them so willing to vote for a controversial, and often vitriolic, political outsider.

Vance presents himself as being an exceptional “hillbilly,” since he was able to go to Yale Law School and live out the socalled American Dream, a con-

cept most people of his background think no longer exists.

As such, Vance provides a balanced account of the plight of the working class. He simultaneously sympathizes with his people’s continued inability to find gainful employment, but he also condemns their lack of work ethic and tendency to blame their misfortune on others.

Vance’s family life, the foundation upon which his political analysis is constructed, is similarly full of contradictions. His family is passionate and loving, but also violent and dysfunctional.

Substance abuse, child abuse, and even alleged murders are not uncommon in Vance’s account of white, Middle America. Even still, Vance entirely credits his grandmother with his success. She provided a stable home, and encouraged—even demanded—that Vance worked hard.

This support led Vance to join the military, which helped him develop discipline and confi-

dence in his own abilities.

However, Vance believes that his success in life shouldn’t be seen as particularly remarkable. Instead, as he puts it, “I’ve achieved something quite ordinary, which doesn’t happen to most kids who grow up like me.”

The book itself is wonderfully written, accessible to everyone, and so compelling that it’s hard to put down.

Vance’s descriptions and stories create a world that you can lose yourself in for hours at a time. He will make you laugh and marvel at some of the eccentric characters in his past life, but he will also make you feel sad for their circumstances. Some stories are difficult to read, but they offer such an interesting window into the life of the “silent majority,” as coined by Richard Nixon.

And after these historic U.S. election results, it turns out that this group is more relevant than ever, so you might as well get to know them.

J.D. Vance’s autobiography offers valuable insight into this year’s U.S. presidential election.

Photo: Courtesy of Harper Press.

Coming out for the best LGBTQ+ cinema in town

Inside Out film festival celebrates 10th annual screening at National Gallery Erin Husband

Fulcrum Contributor From Nov. 11 to 13, the National Gallery of Canada played host to Inside Out’s 10th annual Ottawa LGBTQ+ Film Festival.

Inside Out is a non-profit charity, whose main objective is to challenge the stereotypes perpetuated about the LGBTQ+ community by promoting and enabling the production of queer cinema and videography.

With this goal in mind, Inside Out offers diverse workshops about films and screenings at events such as the Rainbow Youth Forum, the More Play Screening initiative, and different LGBTQ+themed film festivals in cities like Ottawa and Toronto.

The 2016 Ottawa edition of this festival featured 13 fulllength productions, as well as a collection of eight short films hailing from across the globe.

These entries include the French film Being 17, which

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The festival featured films such as Papu Curotto’s Esteros.

explores the struggles faced by two adolescent boys in the realms of love, desire, loss, and self-discovery.

Hailing from Argentina comes Papu Curotto’s Esteros, where two childhood friends reunited at random are faced

Photo: Via Youtube, Auténtica Español.

with the difficulty of confronting their past and the repercussions that come along with it.

Carly Usdin’s Suicide Kale served as an impressive entry from the United States, thanks to its ability to comically de-

pict a lunch between friends where murphy’s law makes an appearance.

According to the organizers of this event, one of the many ways Inside Out remains such a popular event in Ottawa is the way it draws attention to

the diversity of the LGBTQ+ community.

Andrew Murphy, Inside Out’s director of programming, shared that the visibility and accessibility of alternative media is integral to the development of this community.

“It empowers voices that are underrepresented, allowing them to tell their stories.”

Brittani Nichols, one of the stars of Suicide Kale pointed out the struggles of queer artists in the film industry.

“Often, when content creators are gay, the heteronormative nature of our society expects the story to be about being gay when, in reality, the story doesn’t have to be about singularly being gay,” she shared.

“It is important to encourage telling the story that they want to tell (and) let their identity fill it in and give it more texture, therefore allowing it to broaden what would traditionally be LGBTQ+ content.”

Inside Out will be returning to Ottawa next year, and they are currently accepting submissions for their 2017 film festival in Toronto.

For more information or to adopt a film, you can visit Inside Out’s official website

ARTS & CULTURE | 7

When a little-known event called Vet’s Tour—organized by the University of Ottawa’s Science Students’ Association (SSA)—came to light last month, it ignited fierce debate among onlookers and participants alike.

In an article published by la Rotonde, a source under the alias Pascale spoke of her experience being groped without her consent during last year’s edition of the event. After the publication of that article and subsequent uproar across campus, participants of this year’s Vet’s Tour emailed the Fulcrum to express outrage about the negative rhetoric surrounding an event which they felt helped promote non-judgemental sexual exploration.

Unfortunately, both sides of the Vet’s Tour debate have failed to reach a productive end, with the university characterizing the event’s participants as acting “disgracefully.” On the other end of the spectrum, la Rotonde news editor Yasmine Mehdi has received Islamophobic remarks for writing the initial story.

But at the end of the day, this type of discourse fails to help either side.

The wide range of experiences relayed to both the Fulcrum and la Rotonde begs a more interesting point of discussion—how can events simultaneously promote non-judgemental, group-oriented sexual exploration, while ensuring a safe, anti-rape culture environment for its participants?

It’s not clear what the aim of the SSA was with the Vet’s Tour event, since they did not provide comment to the Fulcrum by the time of this publication. However, if—as participants of this year’s Vet’s Tour have advocated in their letters to the Fulcrum—it truly was about promoting sex-positivity, it’s essential to look at what steps the SSA failed to take in ensuring the safety of its participants.

Hopefully, by having an open discussion on this topic, students can take the right steps to ensure safer, healthier, and ultimately more fulfilling sex-positive relationships and events on campus.

Savannah Awde

The fine line between sexual exploration and perpetuating rape culture

Editor-in-Chief

Safe, sane, and consensual: Where Vet’s Tour went wrong

When this private sex-negativity occurs, it becomes comprehensible on a wider scope why it’s estimated that only 6 of every 100 incidents of sexual assault and 1–2 per cent of date rape sexual assaults are reported to the police.

This same trend prevails at the University of Ottawa, as the U of O’s Task Force on Respect and Equality reported in 2015 that as many as 44 per cent of female-identified students experienced sexual violence in the form of unwanted touching, whereas a 2015 survey from the CBC showed that only ten students had reported an assault to the university over a five-year period.

Understanding social attitudes towards sex The outcry across campus was largely related to the assertion that Vet’s Tour was a means of promoting rape culture. However, the validity of this term has been a topic of frequent debate on Ottawa’s campuses.

Carleton University administration remains hesitant to adopt the term in the development of their mandatory sexual assault policy, while the University of Ottawa failed to acknowledge the term altogether in its own policy, much to the dismay of the Student Federation of the University of Ottawa (SFUO).

Despite this disagreement, Dr. Peggy Kleinplatz—a professor in the Faculty of Medicine, clinical professor in the School of Psychology, and director of sex and couples therapy training—believes that in some situations we have all the ingredients for a “toxic brew” that makes it more likely for sexual assault to occur.

Kleinplatz cites Peggy Reeves Sanday’s research, saying that in determining whether a society is “rape-prone,” a term she notes is akin to the more popularly used “rape culture,” there are several key indicators.

“We’re still very much heir to a Victorian legacy, which says men are more ‘naturally’ sexual, and women don’t really want it, or if they do they won’t admit to it because they’ll be seen as slutty. And so instead women will be perceived as putting up token resistance,” said Kleinplatz.

“To the extent that these ingredients mix with the belief that women need to be gently cajoled or not-so-gently coerced into engaging in sex, you have the toxic brew that’s required to make it more likely that sexual assault will occur in a given culture.”

Healthy sexual encounters: Consent is only the start So why was Vet’s Tour considered an event that promotes rape culture, instead of healthy sexual exploration among students?

Francesco Caruso, vice-president of services and communications at the SFUO, said that the federation’s issue with Vet’s Tour was not the fact students wanted to explore their sexuality, but the excessive alcohol consumption.

“The combination of sexism, or gender role inequity, in a society that is sex-negative (that is, uncomfortable with sexuality) means that a couple of things could potentially emerge—namely, the inability to talk openly about sexual consent between partners,” said Kleinplatz.

“Exploring one’s sexuality is a vital and important part of growing up and learning about ourselves and our bodies. Any such exploration, however, must be done consensually for all parties involved,” said Caruso. “The issue with Vet’s Tour is that mixing alcohol with sexual exploration can lead to someone’s consent being ignored or coerced, which participants have reported happening.”

“This is paradoxical in a place like North America, where public discourse around sexuality is everywhere. But because we remain privately sex-negative, we’re unable to have the kinds of conversations between partners that would enable us to engage in joint decision making comfortably.”

According to Blair Crew, a part-time professor in the University of Ottawa’s Faculty of Law, common law section, section 273.1, subsection 2 subsection d of the Canadian Criminal Code states that no consent can be obtained if the complainant in a case is incapable of consenting to the activity.

“The courts have repeatedly found that one of the reasons a person can become incapable of consenting to an activity is if they lack the mental capacity to consent because of consumption of alcohol or any other drugs for that matter,” said Crew. “So to that end, drunkenness can become something that overrides consent.”

Kleinplatz was in agreement with Crew, and compared the cultural norm of engaging in sex after binge drinking to drinking and driving—a dangerous practice that was not addressed by Canadian legislation until 1969. Kleinplatz thinks it might be helpful to learn from that trajectory in dealing with drinking and sex.

Illustrations: Jaclyn McRae-Sadik.

“It took concerted effort on the part of government, and groups like Mothers Against Drunk Driving to change the culture from one in which it was acceptable to drink and drive to one that suggests instead that we talk and plan in advance so that we have designated drivers,” said Kleinplatz.

According to la Rotonde, participants in Vet’s Tour were not made aware of the list of activities prior to the event, and the event was invite-only, with no advertising or promotion of the event to give participants a clear idea of what they would be participating in.

“So this is now a question of recognizing that there’s potential danger, and being sensitized to changing our cultural norms around alcohol and sex in the same way that we changed them around alcohol and driving.”

Another point worth noting about Vet’s Tour was the lack of protection of the participants’ privacy. The Vet’s Tour story in la Rotonde featured a photo, taken by Mehdi, of participants engaging in Vet’s Tour activities in a bathroom stall. This marks a clear violation of what Kleinplatz said is an essential element of safe, sex-positive events—protection of privacy.

Crew is unsure as to whether Parliament will intervene in Canada’s courts to create new legislation around drinking and sex in the near future, but he does think that awareness in the judicial system is on the rise.

“By now the courts are much more educated about the effects of alcohol, so I think there is a continuing trend to be more wary of (sexual assault) defenses where alcohol is involved,” he said.

Beyond the question of consent, Kleinplatz said that when we talk about healthy sexual exploration with others, it’s important to consider a level beyond consent: willingness.

This concept goes beyond an ordinary consideration of whether an action would count as sexual assault, and instead considers whether or not each person engaging truly feels free to say “yes” or “no,” or if they feel pressured or coerced.

Given the nature of Vet’s Tour’s sexual activities, which were in a challenge format, it’s not hard to see how the element of pressure may have been a part of some experiences at the event.

“A fairly high percentage of men and women often feel that they don’t have the freedom to say ‘no.’ They may have the right, legally, but they don’t feel they have the freedom to say ‘no,’ and that makes them less wholehearted in their willingness. And all of this contributes to the potential for unwanted sex,” said Kleinplatz.

She also noted that this silence can ultimately contribute to men and women “not feeling comfortable with their sexuality, and not feeling comfortable enough to have a conversation that gives rise to full willingness, let alone consent.”

But this is not to say the element of non-judgemental sexual exploration—a major aspect of Vet’s Tour brought forward from those who wrote letters to the Fulcrum—isn’t worth discussing.

Kleinplatz is a major advocate for equitable, pleasurable, safe, and consensual sexual activities, and said that all of these elements are indicative of a healthy sexual encounter. She thinks BDSM club organizers are exemplary when it comes to creating an atmosphere for healthy exploration, as they ban the use of drugs, alcohol, and recording devices, while advocating the credo “safe, sane, and consensual.”

Kleinplatz said “safe” requires physical and emotional safety, as well as safety from unwanted pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections, while “sane” requires free will and that people are able to give informed consent, meaning they are not inebriated or feeling pressured.

She also noted it’s essential that there’s “some discussion about what kinds of sexual acts, in what kinds of contexts, with which kinds of consequences” there will be before entering into situations where the activities will occur. This is another element of a safe, sex-positive event where Vet’s Tour fell short.

While there should be a place for sex-positive events at the U of O, Vet’s Tour cannot be considered an event of this genre without the elements of safety, mental competency, consent, and protection of privacy—areas in which it consistently fell short.

Getting inspired with sex-positivity on Canada’s campuses Sex-positive events that are organized by on-campus groups aren’t exactly unheard of. In fact, the University of Toronto’s Sexual Education Centre (SEC) has actually hosted events at a sex club in the past that focus on sexuality and exploration. But unlike Vet’s Tour, these events did not include challenges or situations where participants might be pressured into performing some kind of sexual act.

Another difference between Vet’s Tour and the SEC sex club event is the level of advertising. With the event touted as an “epic student sex club adventure,” the necessary steps were taken to make people aware of what they would be walking into, thus ensuring that participants could be mentally and emotionally prepared.

According to Leah West, an external education coordinator at the SEC, key elements to organizing an event that is explicitly sexual, such as their event at the sex club, include good advertising and promotion, clear guidelines or a code of conduct for participants, as well as having people on-hand to deal with any situations that may arise.

However, West said that the sex club event won’t be making another appearance this year, as these types of events can be very isolating for those who want to learn about sexuality, but are not comfortable with the explicit nature of a sex club.

“By holding less sexually explicit events, we hope to create a more welcoming and accessible space for everyone.”

Meanwhile, with students indicating a clear desire to explore their sexuality during their time at university, what kind of approaches are being used at the U of O campus?

Caruso says that the SFUO is more inclined to take less of an experiential approach, and set more of an educational tone with their workshops on issues of sexuality, gender, consent, and safety.

“We don’t want to potentially facilitate a situation in which someone’s consent is not respected, and as such avoiding any activities that would put the SFUO in such a situation is in the best interest of the organization.”

Taking steps towards sex-positivity on campus and beyond While the Vet’s Tour event failed to provide a safe space for sexual activities, the experiences that have been brought forward have provided a much-needed learning opportunity for students at the U of O. Namely, on what exactly it means to engage in healthy sexual exploration, what consent truly entails, and why consent is only the beginning of the discussion.

Although we may not see an event like the U of T’s sex club adventure available at the U of O in the near future, the SFUO does currently provide resources to students so that they can stay informed on how to maximize the safety and satisfaction from their sexual endeavours. Caruso suggests checking out the Pride Centre, the Women’s Resource Centre, clubs on campus, and the SFUO’s campaigns around consent and safer sex.

“Our service centres do phenomenal work in these areas, often partnering with other organizations within the community, such as Venus Envy, a femme and queer positive sex shop, to offer the most open, liberating, and educative workshops possible.”

“Half the work is dismantling the negative cultures on campus, while the other half rests in rebuilding a stronger, safer, consent culture for all members of our community,” said Caruso.

Caruso said while the federation will continue to engage with building a stronger and safer consent culture for students through its services, “it is not the job of the SFUO to facilitate any sexual practices, challenges, or activities.”

And hopefully, with more open conversations about sexuality, consent, and willingness, students can break our pervasive “rape-prone” culture, avoid the trend of private sex-negativity, and work towards a “safe, sane, and consensual” culture on our campus.

SPORTS

SPORTS EDITOR Nico Laliberté sports@thefulcrum.ca

@FulcrumSports

Derek Wendel finishes five-year career with OUA MVP honours Seven members of the Gee-Gees’ football team rewarded with all-star selections Having three freshman on the rookie all-star team should put some optimism in the hearts of University of Ottawa students for years to come.

“We’re happy that they played.

There is a lot of things that have to happen for them yet. They have to develop and move on to get better,” said Barresi.

Despite the loss of senior talent like Wendel and Baines, Barresi is committed to bringing this team to the next level next season.

“We hope to take another step forward, a lot of things need to happen here in the next few months. One is recruiting, two is good spring practice, three is a very productive conditioning and lifting program.”

The Gee-Gees wish their graduating players a fond farewell. The team will have some big shoes to fill next season, noticeably with their two first-team all-stars, but with some supremely talented rookies moving up in their roster there are plenty of reasons to be optimistic about the future.

end of their five-year careers as GeeGees. ”It’s a nice feeling, I’m happy for them. I’d rather (have) seen our team advance in the playoffs … but for those two guys, they worked very hard so I’m gratified and happy for them.”

Derek Wendel finished his fiveyear career with an MVP honour, which served as recognition for averaging an outstanding 367 yards per game this season.

“He put a lot of work into it, a lot of time into it, but so did a lot of other people, receivers, offensive lineman, and the offensive coaches,” said Barresi. “On top of that he’s a fairly talented guy.”

Receiver Mitchell Baines really broke out this year for the Gees, averaging 123 yards per game—a huge achievement for a guy who did not record a single catch in his first two years of varsity football.

“Here is a kid who had a real belief in himself,” said Barresi. “He had a love for the game, a passion for it, and he hung in there for as long as he could and worked at it, and that is the result.”

Zack Goobie

associate Sports Editor

D

espite a disappointing finish to the regular season, the Gee-Gees’ football team ended the year with a 6–2 record and some stellar individual achievements to boot.

On Nov. 9, these achievements were recognized by Ontario University Athletics (OUA) in the form of individual awards.

Seven Gee-Gees in total were recognized, with Derek Wendel and Mitchell Baines, the dynamic duo of the 2016–17 season, being named firstteam all-stars.

Jackson Bennett and Lewis Ward were named second-team all-stars, while Patrick Spelman, Piriyanthan Sinnathurai, and Tremayne Clark-Steven were named to the rookie all-star team.

Head coach Jamie Barresi was particularly proud of Wendel and Baines, especially since both players are at the

Seven Gee-Gees football players were honoured with all-star selections.

Photo: Remi Yuan.

Men’s rugby finishes year without a blemish on their record Competitive club continues their total domination in final game of the season Zack Goobie

Associate Sports Editor Following an undefeated regular season in the Scholar’s Rugby league, the Gee-Gees men’s rugby team headed into their final test, an exhibition game against the York University Lions.

Coming into the game, the Gees had an astounding 8–0 record, scoring 373 points and only allowing 35 points against throughout the entire season.

The Gees looked to continue their regular season success to wrap up their 2016 run, and they did just that.

The game started slowly, with neither team managing to score nine minutes into the game.

A big hit by the Gees seemed to spark the team with 23 minutes to go in the frame, and they soon scored the first try of the game after a short run inside the five-yard line.

10 | SPORTS

The conversion was successful, and the score stood at 7–0 for the University of Ottawa.

It didn’t take them long to extend their lead to 12–0 with a try mere minutes after the first.

York pressed hard to score with 16 minutes to go in the half, but the Gee-Gees stood their ground and didn’t let York get on the board.

Defensive play was at the forefront for the whole first half for the Gees, as they worked to keep their opponents off the board. The half ended 19–0 for the Gees.

The Gees were working on a promising attack with 25 minutes to go in the game. York did well to halt Ottawa’s attack, but the Gees eventually did succeed in scoring their fourth try of the game, bringing the score to 24–0.

Some great passing was on display for the Gees who looked to extend their lead again. An-

The men’s rugby team had a fantastic year in the Scholar’s Rugby league.

other try was earned for the U of O as the game turned into a full-fledged blowout.

An amazing passing play and run resulted in a 36–0 score, but the board wouldn’t

Photo: Remi Yuan.

stay stagnant for long as an incredible solo effort run from 50 yards out made the score 43–0 for the Gees. The Gees showed no signs of slowing down, and game was called

with ten minutes left and a final score of 48–0—a great ending to a superb season for the Gees.

Head coach Stephanie Crawley praised the team’s

new attacking system that they put in place this year, saying that it contributed immensely to their success.

“We excelled on our attack.

We were very good at possessing the ball and keeping possession of the ball. We won most of our set pieces,” said Crawley. “Our backs were really good at attacking.”

Crawley also outlined her expectations for the competitive club’s next season.

“Next year we will go into the Scholar’s league again, the league that we created this year, and we’ll win again.”

The club has only seven graduating players, so they should still be a force to be reckoned with next year.

Needless to say, the future for this club is very promising following their outstanding season in the inaugural year of the Scholar’s league.

thefulcrum.ca

Gees take advantage of Olympic ice to outskate Golden Hawks Discipline, great goaltending lead the Gees to victory in road trip double header Zack Goobie

associate Sports Editor

T

he University of Ottawa men’s hockey team extended their win streak to three games with back-to-back victories against Waterloo and Wilfrid Laurier on Nov. 11 and 12, respectively.

Goaltending was key to the unbeaten weekend. First-year goaltenders Anthony Brodeur and Graham Hunt combined to save 58 out of 59 shots.

The Gee-Gees started off the weekend series with a hard-fought 2–1 win against the Waterloo Warriors on Nov. 11, with first-year forward Marc Beckstead netting the game-winner for Ottawa.

Going into their Saturday game, this time against the Laurier Golden Hawks, the Gees put in an excellent effort to finish the weekend on a high note.

The U of O squad opened the scoring early on. Right wing Kevin Domingue converted on a great twoon-one pass just four minutes into the game.

Less than a minute later, the Gees increased their lead to two when right wing Connor Sills fired a shot from the point that found its way to the back of the net.

Anthony Brodeur stood tall early on to give some confidence to his squad.

The Gees were the recipients of the first man advantage of the game.

Laurier struggled to kill the penalty, but their goalie did a good job bailing them out to keep the game at 2–0.

However, as soon as the penalty was over, the Gees were able to capitalize on poor defense in front, with the goal coming off a one-timer by Brendan Jacome. Just twelve minutes into the game, the Gees lead the Golden Hawks 3–0.

The Olympic-sized ice at the Waterloo Memorial Recreation Complex definitely suited the Gees, who were able to use their speed to penetrate through Laurier’s defense. The offensive attack continued with one minute left in the period. The Gees got a player alone in front, but failed to capitalize on the chance.

The second period started with the Gees heading to the power play.

While they moved the puck well and generated a few opportunities, they

The revamped Gee-Gees team seems to be hitting their stride mid-season.

couldn’t finish.

Laurier seemed to have a little extra jump after the successful penalty kill.

The home team’s goalie held down the fort with eight minutes to go, as the Gees were buzzing around the net. Offsetting minor penalties were called with less than eight minutes to go in the frame, as a little bad blood was in play.

Photo: Remi Yuan.

Tensions boiled over with four minutes left in the period. Gee-Gees defenseman Michael Poirier did well to draw an infraction to get his team the man advantage, though nothing would come of it.

The Golden Hawks were awarded a couple of power plays at the end of the second and early in the third, but Brodeur stood tall again.

The Gee-Gees headed to the pow-

er play again midway through the third, but were foiled by some solid play from Laurier goaltender Colin Furlong.

But Furlong’s success was short lived, since the Gees scored right after the power play’s end to stretch the lead to 4–0.

The Golden Hawks showed their frustration with one minute left, which resulted in a number of penalties. The Gees would finish the game with a five on three advantage, as the last seconds ran off the clock.

A four-point weekend was huge for the University of Ottawa, since their win streak was stretched to three games. Graham Hunt and Anthony Brodeur backstopped for the U of O all weekend and were integral to their success.

The re-established franchise now sits in eighth place in the eastern conference of the OUA, with a 4–6–1 record and nine points.

After a slow start to the season, the team will be looking to continue their momentum at home this weekend.

The next game for the Gee-Gees will take place on Friday, Nov. 18 at 7:30 p.m. at the Minto Sports Complex against the Brock Badgers.

Phillips is top finisher for Gees at cross country championship

Nine Gee-Gees athletes give their all at national U Sports competition Nico Laliberté Sports Editor

Nine University of Ottawa cross country athletes competed in the U Sports national championship on Nov. 12 in Quebec City.

This year’s championship saw a considerable uptick in participation from the Gee-Gees, with the University of Ottawa’s Alex Berhe and Katie Phillips being the only two to make nationals last year.

Third-year athletes Phillips and Sarya Ross competed in the women’s 6 km run.

When it came to the 10 km race, fourth-year runners Alex Berhe and Adrian Tsang, third-years Kevin Bates and Ziyad El Hankouri, second-years Tom Glassco and Ryan MacDonell, and first-year Nicolas Roberts all put their best foot forward.

Berhe proved to have the best result for the men, posting a time of 32:36.4, good for 62nd in the competition. Roberts had the next-best time for the Gees at 33:26.8, placing him 89th out of 162 male runners.

Last year Berhe finished 55th

Alex Berhe had the best time for the Gees in the men’s 10k.

overall and the hope was that he would improve this year, so it is disappointing that he could not live up

to that.

Still in his first year, Roberts showed a lot of promise, making

Photo: Mathieu Belanger.

nationals, and finishing ahead of his second and third-year teammates. He’s definitely an athlete

thefulcrum.ca

worth keeping an eye on moving forward.

As a team, the men finished 14th out of the 21 universities that sent enough athletes to qualify.

Phillips posted the best time for the Gees on the women’s side at 22:45. This time placed her 25th overall out of 162 female runners, just over a minute behind firstplace.

Last year Phillips finished 34th overall, despite posting a faster overall time. Still in her third year, it will be interesting to see if she can improve her showing next year.

As an added twist, next year the women will have to contend with a longer course. According to the U of O’s Sports Services, the coaches of the U Sports teams voted to increase the length of the women’s race to 8 km. The men’s race, however, will remain at 10 km.

While the U of O’s finish may not have been stellar, having a number of young athletes make an appearance at nationals is certainly something the program can build off of going into next year.

Sports | 11

OPINIONS

OPINIONS EDITOR Eric Davidson

opinions@thefulcrum.ca (613) 695-0062 @eric_davidson93

We don’t need any more dog whistle politics

Leitch’s “Canadian values” pose an even bigger threat after U.S. election

However, Kellie Leitch, an orthopedic surgeon and MP for Simcoe-Grey in Ontario aims to utilize a very similar strategy to gain support here in Canada.

As a frontrunner in the race for Conservative Party leadership, Leitch put forward a platform emphasizing “Canadian values,” which includes plans to screen migrants and refugees based on these vague qualifications.

Leitch consistently deflects accusations of racism within her Canadian values platform by refusing to acknowledge the way her vague policy could appeal to Canadians who harbour discriminatory tendencies.

“What I will say is people who believe women are property, that they can be beaten, bought and sold, or believe that gays and lesbians should be stoned to death because of who they love don’t share our Canadian values,” explained Leitch in an interview with the CBC. When Maclean’s journalist Anne Kingston pointed out in another interview that “stoned” is only used in reference to Muslim nations, Leitch simply replied with, “People want to put words in my mouth.”

“Let me be very frank,” Leitch said later in the interview. “Canadians value freedom of religion.

Full stop. That includes all religions. Full stop. So please don’t imply based on something I said means I’m anti-X, Y or Z.”

Leitch has responded similarly in several other interviews, stating that the public isn’t allowed to bring up the racist implications of her policies because she’s never said, “I am a racist.”

Considering the strong link between anti-immigration rhetoric and hate crimes, we need to hold Leitch accountable. Data from Britain’s National Police Chief Council showed that there was a 58 per cent increase in hate crimes in the week following the Brexit vote in June. Women’s groups in Quebec reported an uptick in verbal and physical assaults against Muslim women following the introduction of the province’s Charter of Values in 2013.

In the United States there has been a slew of islamophobic, antisemitic, racist, sexist, and homophobic hate crimes committed since Nov. 8. The facts are clear— anti-diversity sentiments from elites lead to discrimination and prejudice from individuals.

People in power must be aware and responsible for the influence and impact their rhetoric has, especially in tense times. The fact that Leitch refuses to take responsibility for the racist subtext of her Canadian values screening is shameful.

While she has tried to draw a line between Canadian values and discrimination against minorities, the type of people who are spray painting swastikas and assaulting hijabi girls clearly aren’t listening.

While I do believe that there are values that many Canadians share, and minorities should be guaranteed fair treatment and protected from discrimination, Leitch fails to take into account the immigrants whose opinions have progressed throughout their time living in Canada. Besides, there are many of us born and raised in Canada who have also been guilty of espousing backwards beliefs at some point, but we had the opportunity to learn and develop over time—and our country is better for it.

Secondly, Leitch has refused to provide specifics about how this process would be carried out and what we would be screening for. Does she mean the Canadian

12 | OPINIONS

Nadia Drissi El-Bouzaidi fulcrum alumna

T

he election of Donald Trump as president of the United States was a dark day for women, the LGBTQ+ community, and ethnic and religious minorities across the world. Trump rode a wave of xenophobia, sexism, and homophobia straight to the White House, and now millions are fearing for their rights and for their lives.

values of Sir John A. Macdonald, Canada’s first prime minister, who has a long history of racism and misogyny? Or what about the times in a history when we banned Asian immigration, made Asian immigrants pay a head tax, or interned Japanese-Canadians?

Or the forced sterilizations that robbed thousands of their reproductive capabilities? Or what about the colonization and oppression of Canada’s Indigenous communities?

Which set of Canadian values does Leitch mean?

Now I don’t mean to imply that Leitch actually wants to bring back any of these barbaric Canadian practices. However, we must recognize that time and time again these attempts to define Canadian values and identity has meant the discrimination and exclusion of minorities and women. Leitch isn’t the exception, but the rule of Canadian politics. We have been at this crossroad many times before, but the good news is we’re fighting it more vigorously than ever before.

For those of you who revel in Trump’s victory as the monumental “Fuck You” to establishment politics that it undeniably is, be aware that minorities have been screwed by “the system” as well. Minorities aren’t your enemy, we’re your allies in the fight to keep politicians accountable.

We can demand revolutionary change from our representatives without using immigrants as scapegoats. And for all you anti-establishment Trump types out there, don’t be fooled—Leitch, a former Minister of Labour and Status of Women Minister under the Harper government, is as establishment as it gets.

Finally, I want to address Leitch’s claims that she advocates for screening out of deference for women’s and LGBTQ+ rights. If that’s true, why did she call the election of a presidential candidate who openly bragged about sexually assaulting women “an exciting message”?

Now I don’t mean to imply that Leitch condones sexual assault and homophobia, only to say that her silence on these two issues as it pertains to the U.S.

Kellie Leitch’s “Canadian values” test has been called into question.

Photo: CC, Manning Centre.

People in power must be aware and responsible for the influence and impact their rhetoric has, especially in tense times. The fact that Leitch refuses to take responsibility for the racist subtext of her Canadian values screening is shameful. election is powerful.

Trump’s victory was extremely painful, but don’t let it paralyze you. We need to make it clear, at home and abroad,

that our rights are not negotiable. This begins by stopping Leitch’s brand of Trump politics from succeeding in Canada.

thefulcrum.ca

NAFTA or nah? Should Canada revisit its trade agreement with the U.S. and Mexico?

Anastasiia Cherygova Staff Contributor

The recent United States election has, if we phrase it diplomatically, evoked many questions about the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which exists between the U.S., Mexico, and Canada.

It’s already been in effect for over 20 years, and is based on the numerous previous agreements between Canada and the U.S. It took a long time to negotiate the conditions, but since 1994 all three North American nations exist within shared economic space, somewhat equivalent to the European Union (EU) trade space.

Though the discussion may be surprising, Canada should not be afraid of changes to NAFTA, even if they might seem frightening. We shouldn’t necessarily be afraid of president-elect Donald Trump’s economic plans yet, as there is no guarantee that he will follow his election platform. And even

if he does push to renegotiate NAFTA, it won’t be as detrimental to Canada as it seems at first blush.

The significant advantage of NAFTA is that it creates a united market where intellectual property can be protected and finances can be exchanged easily. From the idealist viewpoint, it also provides more opportunities to earn and invest, developing the investment rating of the North American states.

This free trade agreement also technically should protect the market against monopolies, which would ensure that the market would not be dominated by any internal or external forces.

However, there are also some problems with the trade agreement.

The most significant disadvantage of NAFTA is exactly the same reason why so many residents of the United Kingdom voted to leave the EU during the Brexit referendum.

Many small producers are frightened that the cheaper

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has said he’s open to discussing NAFTA. Photo: CC, President of the Republic of Mexico.

and more available goods will flood the market with the establishment of the free international trade. They want to protect their status and secure their income by means of tariffs or other barriers to free trade.

This opinion may not be widely shared, but it has cer-

tainly garnered enough followers to endorse anti-globalist movements and promote protectionist legislature. Another argument against NAFTA is that, in comparison with the EU agreement, it was not endorsed by the states firstly, but by big corporations instead.

This could easily trigger

an anti-corporate sentiment, which again, is not shared by everybody, but is at least understandable. Lately, these opinions have started to gather support, considering the recent scandals involving U.S.-based corporations like Nestlé.

So what should be the decision on NAFTA in Canada? As

we know, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said pretty explicitly that he is willing to discuss the benefits of NAFTA with Trump.

The current economic instability of the whole world is a clear indicator that NAFTA is here to stay in the short term, as an oil-dependent region like North America does not need more volatility.

But now that Canada and the EU have established a free trade agreement, the overall situation could change significantly.

Canada’s agreement with the EU means that the Great White North is now integrated into a way bigger market with a totally different selection and quality of goods. This means that a change in NAFTA wouldn’t be as dire for Canada as it seems.

With the current world being in such a state of economic instability, where every change seems significant compared to the relatively stagnant past 15 years, maybe it’s a time for a new era of trade agreements.

How can the SFUO fight for lower tuition post-Day of Action?

The Student Federation of the University of Ottawa (SFUO) held a successful “fight the fees” protest on Nov. 2, where students gathered to support the free tuition movement. While this event saw a lot of student participation and attracted some media attention, how can the SFUO use this recent success to campaign for lower tuition in the future?

Foster engagement Our student federation has already been involved in national campaigns, but wouldn’t it be peachy if the SFUO could keep this momentum going past Nov. 2?

The SFUO can easily help move students forward by fostering engagement, helping students unchain each other from watching Netflix to go to a town hall or other politically charged events.

First off, an information session would be great. More often than not, most students don’t understand what’s going on, so by organizing such an official sit-down session on campus they could answer important questions like: Why is free tuition im-

portant? How can students help out? After all, the SFUO is mostly populated by individuals who care about students and work doggedly for dreams far into the future, so it’s always disappointing to see their hard work go to waste with events like the General Assembly.

The SFUO could also show students some positive examples by giving them access to passionate speakers, films, and other media that focus on the issue of lowering tuition and the variety of ways students can get involved.

The SFUO is not solely focused on free education. However, they can continue to advocate for it past arbitrary dates and encourage lower tuition in their own way. If they can give out free food too, that would be great.

—Matt Zucca SFUO execs have said they want to build on the success of their “fight the fees” protest with the CFS.

Social Media In the lead-up to the “fight the fees” protest, the SFUO was very effective in promoting the event on social media. They posted constantly to give students information, and had lots of video content. So why stop now that the protest is over?

At a recent Board of Admin-

istration meeting, SFUO president Romeo Ahimakin said that the Nov. 2 protest was successful, but that he wanted to keep pushing forward with the issue, and more social media posts is one way to help do that.

Posting more information about different aspects of the tuition issue, for example its effects on local students versus

international students, can inform a wider audience and inspire them to take action.

The SFUO campaigns department also tends to work with a variety of volunteers who are passionate about student issues, and social media could also be a great platform to get multiple perspectives out there when it comes to big issues like tuition.

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Photo: Jaclyn McRae-Sadik.

The student executive should also continue to send out emails to the student body en masse, which is a great way to make sure students who don’t have social media or don’t follow the SFUO don’t slip through the cracks.

—Eric Davidson

OPINIONS | 13

Students beg Rabaska to take them back

After a rocky relationship, students long for old course management system eric davidson Tomato editor It’s been a long and rocky relationship between University of Ottawa students and Rabaska, their former online course management system, but it’s finally come to an end.

On Nov. 6, Rabaska abruptly ended its relationship with the U of O student body, and people are having trouble coping with the loss.

“At first I was relieved,” said Aaron Dennis, a second-year law student. “My friends at Carleton were always telling me I could do better.”

However, after a quick Tinder date with uoAccess, the U of O’s new course management system, Dennis was left pining for his old relationship—and he’s not alone.

“This new system just doesn’t get me,” said Amy Ross, a third-year geology student.

“No really, it has no idea what

classes I’m in. It’s very inconvenient.”

“It forgets everything,” said Toby Thomson, a fourth-year economics student. “It forgot that I had already taken that math prerequisite, no matter how many times I tell it.”

Psychology professor Ian Stone said that this behaviour is typical of breakups between students and their online course management systems.

“It’s just like Freud said, ‘the hardest thing to move on from psychologically is a breakup with a computer system.’”

In the wake of this mass breakup, some students are starting to reminisce about their old relationship with Rabaska.

“Sure, I should have appreciated it more,” said Ross.

“I complained a lot about the mistakes it made, like not letting me register for my courses on time, but it was just doing its best.”

U of O students aren’t feeling the spark with their new course management system.

“We had some good times together,” said Andrew Silver, a fourth-year engineering student, brushing a tear from his cheek. “I really felt that thrill when Rabaska froze and almost made me miss that last spot in my witchcraft elective.”

Some students are refusing to take the breakup sitting down, and are doing everything they can to win Rabaska back.

Archie Brown, a secondyear music student and a fan of old-school romance, even went so far as to stand out-

Photo: YouTube.com, SargentSodomizer.

side Morisset Library with a boombox playing “Hello” by Adele.

“I never really realized how true this song is until now,” he said, adding that he had called the old Rabaska help number at least a thousand times since the system went offline.

“I feel like this new system just isn’t letting me move on,” said Ross. “No really, it deleted the records of like four of my courses and now I can’t graduate.”

“I just wonder what Rabaska is doing right now,” Brown pondered in horror.

“What if it’s… registering other students for classes? I don’t think I could deal with that.”

University president Jacques Frémont seemed surprised by the mass outcry.

“They know Rabaska isn’t, like, real right?” he asked in a recent press conference.

Brown, however, couldn’t handle that comment.

“If he knew all the things we shared he wouldn’t say that,” he said. “No one can tell me what we had wasn’t real.”

On the positive side, Pivik has been making a killing on sales of mint chocolate chip ice cream.

Chaos ensues after historic vote... in SFUO board meeting One word change in job title sends markets over the edge, shocks students eric davidson tomato Editor The world is in shock after a devastating vote, and financial markets are going crazy. Some pundits are speculating that the planet may not recover.

This kind of trepidation comes, of course, after the Student Federation of the University of Ottawa’s (SFUO) recent Board of Administration (BOA) meeting.

“I’m absolutely shocked at the outcome,” said Peter Ellis, a political science professor at the U of O. “The implications of this meeting could be felt for a very long time. People everywhere should buckle up.”

After a tense build-up, the BOA reached a stunning conclusion when members of the board voted to change the official title of the vice-president social life to vice-president social affairs.

“I was up until three in the morning checking the Tomato’s live-tweet of the BOA meeting,” said Abraham

People everywhere are shocked after the SFUO voted to change one word on a vice-president’s title.

Photo: CC, Katrina Tuloao. Edits: Jaclyn McRae-Sadik.

Wright, a third-year political science student. “I couldn’t believe the vote was going that way, but I just couldn’t stop hitting refresh.”

The SFUO’s vice-president communications, Crancesco Faruso, tried to assure the U of O student body that

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everything would be fine.

“It was a tumultuous vote to be sure, and I’m not thrilled with the result, but I’m confident that we can all move forward in a positive way,” he said.

Ellis said that foreign investors

have been watching this vote carefully, and are currently in a state of panic.

“I haven’t seen the market drop this low since 2008, it’s crazy,” he said.

“The world just hasn’t figured out how to process the ever-changing landscape of student politics.”

The change in title confers absolutely no responsibilities, and will have no effect on the business of the SFUO. In a strange twist, the vote to change the title passed despite the fact that 60 per cent of board members were against it.

The current system involves taking the average age of the board members and dividing it by seven. Then that number of board members are selected randomly to vote. That is, unless the vote takes place in January, in which case the average age is divided by five.

“Yeah, we recognize that the system is somewhat counterintuitive, so we’re working to educate people on

how the system works, and open up a pathway to fixing it,” said Faruso. “You know, like any reasonable governing body would do.”

Despite the convoluted system, Ellis says that the world was taken completely by surprise by the results of this vote.

“The world’s top polling agencies have been crawling around the U of O campus for weeks, trying to figure out the board’s voting preferences,” he said. “It turns out they were all wrong. I guess the BOA members’ hot dog preferences weren’t valid survey questions.”

Ellis said he expects that as the reality of the change in title sets in, world markets will begin to stabilize.

“After an initial adjustment period, I think people will come to accept the situations, and our allied student unions will work well with us.”

“It’s been a crazy few hours,” said Wright, “but at least we still have North American democratic processes to look up to, right?”

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DISTRACTIONS Dear Di,

Dear Di

I’m a very sexual person, but at the same time, I’m constantly worried about getting pregnant or contracting an STI. What are some measures that can be taken to guarantee my safety, as well as the safety of my partner?

-Sexual Safety

FEATURES EDITOR Alexa-Eliza Carter

features@thefulcrum.ca (613) 695-0062 @aecart043

Dear Di, Whenever my boyfriend finishes on my face, it’s almost never a good time. His jizz burns my eyes, bothers my skin, and it tastes very unpleasant. Is this just the way it is?

-Juggling Jizz

Dear SS, While exploring your sexuality with a consenting partner is a vital part of your coming-of-age, you still have to take steps to ensure that all parties involved are protected from unwanted harm. Asking this question is a great step in that direction!

First of all, it’s vital for people that are sexually active to get tested regularly for sexually transmitted infections (STI). This can be especially critical if you are with a new sex partner, if you notice any symptoms that are unusual, or if you discover that a past sexual partner had an STI and did not disclose that fact.

Some STIs like herpes, syphilis, gonorrhoea, and chlamydia can even be passed through fellatio and cunnilingus, which means you can lessen this risk by using condoms during oral sex too.

Additionally, remember your first sex-ed class? While it may have been a drawn out and awkward affair, there’s still one universal truth that holds: there is no way to get pregnant if your private parts aren’t touching.

In this light, don’t forget about classic activities that don’t require the touching of genitals like hand jobs, fingering, dry humping, and phone sex.

Nowadays, you can even utilize webcams for some online fun, although you should be aware that this carries other risks with it such as your partner recording your session without your consent.

So, to answer your question, there are always alternatives for safe sex besides wearing condoms. Be diligent, get tested for STIs, use a condom for oral sex, or make a raunchy phone call.

Any of the above will help you satisfy your sexual craving while maintaining your peace of mind.

Love, Di

Dear JJ, Well, the good news is that it’s not just you.

Ejaculate can taste different from person-to-person, with some tasting flavourless and others making you cringe.

Some health experts even say that a man’s diet will affect the taste of his semen. For example, asparagus may lead to a bad taste, while pineapple can form a sweet one.

There are also many ingredients contained in semen like magnesium, potassium, sodium, and zinc. If you already have plenty of those in your body, then the taste will be stronger.

When it comes to the stinging in your eyes, the chemical found in human semen, known as spermine, has been known to cause negative reactions when it gets into contact with your skin.

You may even have a sperm allergy, which is rare but can cause swelling and itching nonetheless. If it doesn’t feel right, talk to your partner and try to figure out a better way to “finish” that will make both of you happy.

Love, Di

To get all your sexy and saucy questions answered, email Di at deardi@thefulcrum.ca ;) 16 | DISTRACTIONS

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Nov. 17-24, 2016

THRYLLABUS

MUSIC arts Sports FUN Thinking

Thursday, Nov. 17 Nature Tastes (with author Stephen Le), Canadian Museum of Nature—7 p.m.

Stay Late and Create (U of O Makerspace event), share ideas and eat free pizza, Colonel By Hall— 7 p.m.

Ottawa Senators vs.

Nashville Predators, Canadian Tire Centre—7:30 p.m.

Gimme Shelter (The Stooges documentary), Mayfair Theatre—9 p.m.

Friday, Nov. 18 Marianas Trench with Shawn Hook, TD Place—7 p.m.

Gee-Gees men’s hockey vs. Brock, Minto Sports Complex—7:30 p.m.

Saturday, Nov. 19 Ottawa Guild of Potters Fall Sale, Horticulture Building, Lansdowne Park—10 a.m.

Help Santa Toy Parade, starts on Wellington Street—11 a.m.

Skull Fist, Infrared, Death Wish, Thruster, Opium Winter, Mavericks—7 p.m.

Cinema—9 p.m.

Gee-Gees men’s hockey vs. York, Minto Sports Complex—7 p.m.

Colour: In Theory (reading and discussion lead by Carol Wainio) Ottawa Art Gallery —7 p.m.

Gordon Lightfoot, National Arts Centre—8 p.m.

Tuesday, Nov. 22

Sunday, Nov. 20

The Addams Family (a new musical comedy), Centrepointe Theatre—7:30 p.m.

Ottawa Redblacks in CFL Eastern Final, TD Place—1 p.m.

Wednesday, Nov. 23

Gee-Gees women’s hockey vs. Carleton, Minto Sports Complex—2 p.m.

Gee-Gees women’s volleyball vs. Université du Québec à Montréal, Montpetit Hall—2 p.m.

The Ottawa Youth Orchestra, St. Brigid’s Centre for the Arts—2:30 p.m.

Monday, Nov. 21 Andrew Todd: My Paralympic Journey, free admission, Alex Trebek Alumni Hall—12 p.m.

Moonlight, ByTowne

Wolf Talks! (special lecture on the Algonquin wolf), Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society, Bronson Centre—7 p.m.

WWE Smackdown Live, Canadian Tire Centre—7 p.m.

Tower (documentary about the 1966 shootings at the University of Texas), ByTowne Cinema—9:15 p.m.

Thursday, Nov. 24 The Paper Kites, Mavericks—8 p.m.

Sebastian Bach, Barrymore’s—8 p.m.

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DISTRACTIONS | 17

LETTERs TO THE EDITOR Re: Who I am now Dear Editor,

Almost two years ago I wrote an anonymous letter to the editor entitled “I Want To Be Good At Something.” I was severely depressed, and my friends were all depressed too, and I wrote it to let them know that I knew how they felt, that they, and anyone else reading it was not alone. The story got some traction, while I’ve never come out as the author, I’ve heard it talked about since, and it seemed to do what I had hoped.

Recently I re-read it, and I was struck by how different the author was to who I am today. So I thought I would write a second letter and let you all know who I am now.

I am still depressed. I have not had an amazing turnaround, or recovery. Only, now it is a different kind of depression, and I find myself longing for who I was two years ago. Then my depression was centered on a desperate need to prove myself.

I was young, talented, smart, and scared to death that those things wouldn’t matter when there were so many others just like me, only slightly better.

I saw vocation as a means to life having meaning. I didn’t mean for it to have some sort of ordained meaning, only that through it I could justify my own existence enough to continue it. Essentially I wanted some sign that my future was bright. It wasn’t bright. Or at least since then it only got darker.

I found myself discriminated against due to a disability I had all but forgotten was a part of my life. I had a health scare. I left my partner of three years and descended into three months of alcohol and poorly advised sex. I hit rock bottom and then tried to pull myself out of it. In an attempt to return to stability and sanity I ignored warning signs and got back with my ex.

They abused me for the next six months, and then left me. I still have nightmares about them. The things they did and said to me keeps me up some nights.

I am in my last semester of my undergrad. I will probably do a masters. I’ve never let my grades slip enough that that would stop being a possibility. But I don’t assume that will do anything for me. I don’t assume much of anything these days. I’ve gone on a slew of Tinder dates, only to find that most people are selfish, inconsiderate, and sometimes downright cruel. I don’t think I’ll bother going on any more of them.

I don’t think I’ll become that writer I wanted to be. I don’t think I’ll be a journalist or a professor. I don’t know I’ll be anything at all. The people I keep closest to me, they’ve all advised me to go to therapy, some say for PTSD, others for depression or anxiety. I don’t think that will help though.

It isn’t what I need. In this world, that I seem to only exist in because it would hurt too many others not to, that seems completely void of community or caring, what I think I need is some proof that intimacy and comfort are possible. I need some proof that when I tell my friends I have been abused they won’t reply with “who hasn’t?”

I no longer live in a world of dramatic assertions and grand desperation. Now everything, everyone, and every part of me is quietly resigned.

If you are still lucky enough to feel that desperate need to prove yourself, go read my last letter. I hope it helps. I have nothing to help anyone anymore.

If you want to help, buy the person in line behind you a coffee.

Maybe that’ll make them smile.

Editor’s note: If you are feeling anxious, depressed, or just need someone to talk to, please don’t hesitate to reach out to the University of Ottawa’s Health Services , or the Student Academic Success Service’s free counselling and coaching service.

If you want to speak with someone immediately, you can call Crisis Line Ottawa (613) 722-6914 or 1-866-996-0991, Ottawa Mental Health Crisis Line (613) 722-6914, or the Ottawa Distress Centre (613) 238-3311.

Re: The long road to quorum Dear Editor,

A picture is worth a thousand words. The scene before us on Saturday was worth a million. Five times holding General Assemblies (GA). Five times failing to reach quorum. All is not five-by-five at the Student Federation of the University of Ottawa. I was a member of the GA outreach committee—the committee that failed.

At the GA on Nov. 12, the SFUO executive regurgitated the same old excuses for the failure to reach quorum. Students were once again told that students are apathetic, that promoting the GA is hard, that it’s not the exec’s responsibility to promote the GA. As someone who worked with the exec on the GA Outreach Committee, I can say that these tired excuses are laughably far from the truth. On the committee, the exec promised to help set up videos to promote the GA. We never heard back. They promised posters. We never heard back. They promised free food. We never saw that.

They promised emails—to clubs, to fed bodies, to students. We never really got that.

With their help, we were able to be a disorganized committee that talked a lot, but barely did anything.

Now, it is true that there was promotion done for the GA. That wasn’t the SFUO’s work however, but the work of Student Voices uOttawa, an independent student group of which I am a part. We spent considerable amounts of our money on GA promotion—including posters, flyers, and Facebook ads. We reached out to dozens of clubs and every single fed body on campus. As a small group of full-time students, we did much more than the GA outreach committee to promote this GA. As a member of the Board of Administration (BOA), I also pushed to improve the

GA – notably by introducing a motion that would have allowed the GA motions to be debated even if the GA failed to reach quorum. That motion failed, as all but one of the exec voted against it. And hence, students will not have a direct say on the 10 important motions brought to this GA. Is it surprising that several students came to me after the GA saying they felt they wasted an afternoon by coming?

As a federation, we need to take responsibility for our failure. That responsibility starts by clearly admitting that we did fail.

It’s not enough to put on a smile and offer some platitudes about the situation not being ideal. We also need to practice transparency and accountability to a far greater extent—and not just preach them. But most of all, we need to demonstrate a real commitment to change—to building a better SFUO. It is often said that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. That is unfortunately where we lie now, stuck in the stagnation of our status quo. The SFUO calls us to behold its works, blind to the empty expanses of the desert that separates it from the reality of students. The status quo isn’t working for students, and we desperately need radical reform—a democratic students’ revolution of sorts.

This is why I am resigning from the GA outreach committee—to make it clear that I accept my part of the responsibility for this failure, and to show that the SFUO must change. This is also why I will continue to sit on the BOA—to keep up the fight for students and for a better SFUO. No matter how lost, how distant the SFUO may be, it is still worth saving. The GA can still be there for students. The long road to quorum can still be walked.

—Nicholas Robinson, BOA Faculty of Sciences representative and third-year physics student at the U of O.

18 | LETTERS

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EDITORIAL Volume 77, Issue 12, nov. 17, 2016 Exploring our sexuality since 1942.

Phone: (613) 695-0061 | Fax: (613) 695-9006 631 King Edward Ave. Ottawa, ON K1N 6N5 Recycle this, or we’ll downsize your frappuccino.

Savannah “London fog” Awde Editor-in-Chief editor@thefulcrum.ca Kim “Chai latte” Wiens Production Manager production@thefulcrum.ca Kyle “Vanilla white mocha” Darbyson Managing Editor content@thefulcrum.ca Graham “Pumpkin spice latte” Robertson News Editor news@thefulcrum.ca Anchal “Caramel macchiato” Sharma Arts and Culture Editor arts@thefulcrum.ca Alexa-Eliza “Lactose-free cappuccino” Carter Features Editor features@thefulcrum.ca Nico “Iced green tea” Laliberté Sports Editor sports@thefulcrum.ca Spencer “Espresso con panna” Murdock Outgoing Sports Editor Eric “Water” Davidson Opinions Editor opinions@thefulcrum.ca Jaclyn “Espresso” McRae-Sadik Visual Editor visual@thefulcrum.ca Allegra “Cinnamon dolce latte” Morgado Social Media Coordinator social@thefulcrum.ca Reine “Caffè latte” Tejares Webmaster webmaster@thefulcrum.ca Zack “Strawberries and creme” Goobie Associate Sports Editor Zainab “Salted caramel mocha” Al-Mehdar Associate News Editor associate.news@thefulcrum.ca Remi “Americano” Landry Yuan Staff Photographer photographer@thefulcrum.ca Syed “Flat white” Zeehad Multimedia Coordinator multimedia@thefulcrum.ca Lucas “Oprah chai tea” Ghosn General Manager manager@thefulcrum.ca Shanèl “Peppermint mocha” Dear Advertising Representative ads@thefulcrum.ca

Contributors

Nadia “Gingerbread latte” Drissi El-Bouzaidi Matt “Eggnog frappuccino” Zucca Anastasiia “Java chip frappuccino” Cherygova Bethany “Cool lime refresher” Keeshan Erin “Berry sangria tea” Husband Ryan “Mango black tea” Pepper Iain “Caramel apple spice” Sellers

Board of Directors

Mackenzie “Passion tango tea” Gray Kate “Vanilla bean frappuccino” Murray Carolyn “Chai crème frappuccino” Mutis Jonathan “White hot chocolate” Rausseo Raghad “Pike roast” Sheikh-Khalil Will “Caffè misto” Hume Niharika “Iced coffee” Namulla Thivya “Toffee mocha” Naganathan Julia “Latte macchiato” Miraflores Maggie “Caramel brûlé latte” Gollish Cover: Jaclyn McRae-Sadik.

President-elect Donald Trump:

A media-bred monster

To the shock and dismay of many, it was announced last week that Donald Trump would become the next president of the United States. Many pointed fingers at voters who cast their ballot for a third-party candidate, while others took to social media to condemn eligible voters who chose not to participate at all. But in doing that, people fail to recognize that there’s a larger culprit—one who could’ve stopped the Trump catastrophe in its tracks much earlier than any single U.S. citizen could.

When executed correctly, the media is a powerful weapon that can ensure accountability, demand change, and alert the public to causes for concern. Unfortunately, the U.S. media failed on all of these accounts when they turned a blind eye to the damage of condoning the antics of a man not fit to handle his own Twitter account, let alone the White House.

When Jack Beckwith and Nick Sorscher from the Data Face performed data collection of a total of 21,981 articles written about the election, they found that Trump’s name was mentioned in 14,924 article headlines from July 1, 2015, to Aug. 31, 2016. However, then-presidential candidate Hillary Clinton was mentioned in less than half that amount.

Okay, so if Trump was mentioned in such a larger quantity, it must have been because news outlets were condemning his behaviour, right? Not exactly. According to the same study, the tone of the coverage didn’t really swing heavily in one direction or the other, but was very event-dependent.

For example, Beckwith and Sorscher say that the tone of Clinton’s coverage suffered during the email scandal, whereas Trump’s turned negative after he mocked a reporter with a disability. In other words, the study suggests that no candidate was receiving significantly more coverage with a negative tone than other candidates.

And this is extremely problematic for a number of reasons. Clinton, like any politician, has her downsides—putting classified information in a position to be compromised is a huge one. But make no mistake, with Trump threatening to ban Muslims from the country, build a wall between the U.S. and Mexico to weed out “Mexican rapists”, and repeal Roe v. Wade to restrict access to abortion, it becomes clear that the scales should be tipping much more dramatically.

But to see how Trump rode media validation to the highest office in the free world, it’s necessary to look at the roots of his time in the spotlight—The Apprentice.

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This reality TV show is one that Trump has said made Americans realize that he was “highly educated.” Although it may be true that he attended university for business, all one has to do is look at the loss of almost $1 billion he suffered in 1995 and the financial losses in the 1970s that could have forced him into personal bankruptcy—if not for his father’s contributions—to realize that he’s largely unqualified to be judging the business acumen of others.

Yet, he was given his own show to do exactly that back in 2004. And thus began a vicious cycle of the media providing Trump with unwarranted validation.

Trump’s main campaign claim that his success in business qualifies him for the oval office should never have been treated as legitimate by the media, given the aforementioned financial failures.

Flash forward to the 2016 presidential race, and the relationship between Trump and the media is still as dysfunctional as ever.

In March 2016, the New York Times’ Jim Rutenberg noted a “disturbing symbiosis between Mr. Trump and the news media.”

This simply refers to the fact that Trump’s racist tirades, threats, and sensationalist claims get clicks. And while that should always be the goal of any news-based website, the current decline of the U.S. media industry has created a stronger sense of desperation to get these pageviews—introducing motives for media that lie beyond informing the public.

In that same month, Trump told Time magazine, “It’s ratings. I go on one of these shows and the ratings double. They triple.

And that gives you power. It’s not the polls.

It’s the ratings.” And as much as you may hate to admit it, he’s right.

The New York Times reported in March 2016 that Trump had received nearly $1.9 billion worth of news coverage, while Ted Cruz—his closest competition—gained little more than $300 million. To look at how those numbers compare on the Democratic side, Hillary Clinton received less than $750 million at the time. It’s important to make the distinction that this astronomical number is not media time he paid for, but free media time.

You may argue that by providing Trump a public platform, media can allow people to become more informed on the ills of his campaign. However, this ignores the fact this very action has allowed hate and ignorance to become the norm. This mindset denies the reality that Trump has been prone to tell lies and ignore the facts—and with

inundation of lies under a guise of “facts,” from a “highly educated” presidential candidate, many likely began to trust his false claims.

For context, Politifact ranked all of Trump’s comments from “true” to “pants on fire.” He garnered 14 “true,” 111 “false,” and 57 “pants on fire,” compared to 72, 29, and 7 respectively for Clinton.

This is exactly why the mainstream media has failed the U.S. By providing Trump with so much airtime and print space, they condoned the transition of hate speech from a crime to a state of normalcy—all in the name of boosting their bank accounts.

But it’s not just the mainstream media that’s to blame. Facebook has recently come under fire as some have accused its news algorithm of creating an echo chamber for users, where discourse between political views is effectively shut down.

The Pew Research Centre recently reported that “the majority of Americans get their news from social media, with 44 per cent via Facebook.” This alone may not seem so sinister.

But with the rise of clickbait journalism, and the simultaneous boom in social media branching out into a news dissemination role, fake news has seen an ideal ground for proliferation—and this dynamic did not fail to make an appearance in this election.

A report from BuzzFeed found that 38 per cent of posts shared from three large conservative politics pages on Facebook included “false or misleading information,” and that three large left-leaning pages did the same 19 per cent of the time.

This is worrisome, since Facebook’s algorithm can effectively allow fake news to circulate within these echo chambers, where its participants have no incentive to criticize or disprove the false information.

Media is an indispensable part of society—but it can only be effective when it has the best interests of their nation in mind.

Unfortunately, the news media indulged a little too much in the revenue boost that Donald Trump brought them, and social media decided to try competing in the news industry without establishing editorial guidelines. Both took steps away from objectivity in the name of boosting enterprise success.

There’s a long way to go before the public can overcome the damage done by the media in the wake of a Trump presidency.

Luckily, the media will have a loud, uneducated, hateful president to remind them every day for the next four years of why public interest must come first.

EDITORIAL | 19

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