The Fulcrum - Vol 77 Issue 15

VOL. 77 ISSUE 15

jan. 19, 2017

Fearless, flawless, female. Pg. 4, 5, 6, 10.

In this week’s issue...

E

TH N I W O NCE T

U O Y S T F I G UALLY T C A D E T N WA

TOUR

HA C A FOR

Pussy grabs back P.4 Ottawa allies rally together to protect the rights of women across the globe

Rejecting rape jokes, once and for all P.7 The Future is Female show brings longawaited feminist, LGBTQ+ twist to comedy Reflecting on rankings P.8 As next gen Gee-Gees are accepted to the U of O this winter, the Fulcrum takes a deep dive into university ranking systems Ringing in the new year with a national win P.11 Gee-Gee ladies claim top spot among Canada’s university ringette teams Five stages of New Year’s resolutions P.14 New year, new you... for now

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NEWS

NEWS EDITOR

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

Gee-Gees staff volunteer faces additional criminal charges Equipment manager charged with sexual assault, further human trafficking Graham Robertson news editor

A

former GeeGees volunteer equipment manager is facing charges of sexual assault and further charges of human trafficking, according to the Ottawa Police Service.

Cameron Lyons, 37, was charged in October 2016 with three counts of child luring and two counts of human trafficking of a minor, after posing as a talent agent from a fake talent agency.

Ottawa police have since received over 20 Crime Stoppers tips, emails, and phone calls since Lyons’ original arrest.

Lyons is now facing charges of two counts of sexual assault under 16, two counts of sexual interference under 16, two counts of invitation to sexual

touching under 16, and one count of procuring a person under 18 to provide sexual services, according to a press release by the Ottawa Police Service. All of these charges are in relation to a single female minor.

Lyons is also charged with one count of sexual assault, two counts of extortion, and three counts of criminal harassment in relation to three women.

None of the allegations made against him have been proven in court.

Investigations originally began in 2015 after the first alleged victim had come forward. Lyons had allegedly contacted underage girls under talent agent aliases, offering the girls modeling jobs and asking for sexual favours in exchange for money.

While not employed by the University of Ottawa, Lyons

Ottawa police have confirmed that none of the allegations were brought forward by U of O students.

was in his 18th season with the Gee-Gees and was “suspended pending the outcome of crimi-

nal charges,” according to U of O acting manager of media relations Isabelle Maillioux-

Photo: Parker Townes.

Pulkinghorn in an interview with the Ottawa Citizen.

Lyons was also working as a

baseball umpire in the Ottawa area when he was charged.

In an email to the Fulcrum, Sgt. Jeff LeBlanc from the Ottawa Police Service’s human trafficking unit wrote, “The offences occurred between 2013 and 2015 in various locations in downtown Ottawa. No offenses occurred on or near the (U of O) campus.”

“There is no indication his contact with victims was linked in any way to his position at the university. There is no indication that U of O students were targeted,” said LeBlanc.

Lyons is currently in custody, with his bail hearing taking place on Jan. 19.

Anyone with more information on Lyons is advised to contact the Ottawa police’s human trafficking unit at (613) 236-1222 ext. 5005, or anonymously via Crime Stoppers at 1 (800) 2228477.

Latest SFUO board of administration meeting lowers GA quorum Comptroller general’s investigative powers, sexual violence prevention also on agenda opinions Editor

The most recent meeting of the Student Federation of the University of Ottawa’s (SFUO) Board of Administration (BOA) could easily have ended in disagreement.

The Jan. 15 meeting came only four days after a special meeting of the BOA, where a report by comptroller general Tanner Tallon raised issues about executives’ expenses and hours in the office.

You might expect that taking this same group of people and shutting them in the basement of Tabarat for six hours would yield somewhat of a dark ambiance. But you would be wrong.

It certainly seemed like things could take a turn for the worse at the beginning of the meeting, with Faculty of Engineering representative Arsalan Khan saying that some executives had been “too emotional” about motions in the in-camera session at the last meeting.

But even though there was the usual heated debate over topics as

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books and personnel in addition to strictly financial documents. It also gives them the power to investigate incidents with indirect effects on the organization’s finances, such as the hiring and firing of people in business roles. This motion passed.

The second motion allows the independence of the comptroller from the board and executive, thereby strengthening their ability to maintain the anonymity of complainants.

There was concern from both faculty representatives and members of the executive that this motion would make it too easy for people to falsify claims to “get back” at executive members.

After debate, the motion was sent to the constitutional committee, which will examine it before it is brought to the board at a later date.

members asked Hume to join the GA committee.

After some quick back and forth, the board passed the motion lowering quorum. Everyone applauded.

In the allotted six hours, the board got through several other important motions.

obscure as how many people are allowed to sit on committees, nothing bad seemed to come of them.

Some motions, including the creation of an ad hoc committee on sexual violence prevention, passed unanimously.

There was even a moment of levity when the board motioned to take a ten-minute break. The meeting’s chairperson, Shawn Philip Hunsdale, asked if members were sure, as “when you ask for 10 minutes you often take 20.” There was an audible “ooh.”

But it wasn’t until around five hours in that the meeting took its strangest and most uplifting turn.

Will Hume, a fourth-year communications student at the U of O, was given speaking rights and walked to the front of the room.

Hume had received the requisite 300 signatures on a motion to lower quorum needed at General Assemblies (GA) from one per cent of the student population (around 350 people) to 0.75 per cent (around 240).

The mood lightened considerably at this point, and several executive

Eric Davidson

General Assembly Vice-president of university affairs Vanessa Dorimain announced that the next GA will take place on March 14, with quorum now being lowered from one per cent of the student population to 0.75 per cent.

Comptroller general Lee Chitty, a representative from the Faculty of Law’s common law section, brought up two motions that looked to clarify the powers of the SFUO’s comptroller general, who is responsible for investigating financial misconduct within the organization.

The first motion clarified the scope of investigative powers allotted to the comptroller, stating that they now have access to SFUO

Centre has temporarily closed, as its two employees left for academic reasons.

SFUO president Roméo Ahimakin announced his intention to create a seat on the BOA to represent international students.

A motion was then brought to increase the scope of records collected at SFUO meetings, including during in-camera sessions. Records kept for in-camera sessions would be kept private for 10 years. Before it could be voted on, the motion was sent to the policy and bylaws committee to be voted on later.

A motion to examine transparency within the SFUO was also sent to the policy and bylaws committee to be voted on later.

Another motion which passed made it easier to submit a motion to the BOA. Individual students can now submit a motion to the board if they get 100 signatures (it used to be 300).

The next BOA meeting will take place on Feb. 5 at 1 p.m. in TBT 083.

Meetings are open to the public.

Other business The motions that were presented at the last GA will be voted on by the board at the next meeting on Feb. 5.

The Sustainable Development

NEWS | 3

Ottawa women to rally together in post-inauguration march

Jan. 21 event part of international movement for women’s rights Zainab Al-Mehdar Associate News Editor

On Saturday, Jan. 21, women in Ottawa will join in solidarity with women in Washington, D.C., and around the world, for a nation-wide march.

Catherine Butler, one of the organizers of the march, told the Fulcrum, “What I like about this new movement (is that) it’s about women as women, but it’s about women collectively.”

The movement has received international awareness, with similar marches set to take place in cities such as London, England on the same day.

In Canada, 14 marches will be taking place across the country, stretching from St. John’s, Newfoundland, to Victoria, B.C., and other major cities in between.

The Ottawa event will begin with a onehour rally at the Human Rights Monument on Elgin Street, followed by a march to the Library and Archives building on Wellington Street.

The day will also feature speeches and live performances of singing, drumming, and poetry at the Library and Archives building.

Speakers include Francyne Joe, president of the Native Women’s Association, Linda Silas, president of the Canadian Federation of Nurses Union, and Amanda Jetté Knox and Zoe Knox, human rights advocates and public speakers.

The event will also feature performances by a number of Canadian musicians and artists, including Ottawa-based Jamie Anderson.

“I would emphasize that it’s not about the snazz and having a really entertaining event,” said Butler. “It’s about the opportunity to have something meaningful that is led and spearheaded by women ... that gives us

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the ability to pull a lot of people so we can start having a collective conversation about where do we go next.”

Although the marches come a day after president-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration, Butler emphasized that “this is not a Trump protest—this is so much bigger than one man, one administration, one country.”

“The day of the election was a tipping point for a lot of women,” said Butler, highlighting that “there was an appetite out there for activism at a grassroots level that probably we haven’t seen since the ‘60s.”

According to the Ottawa Metro, feminist groups in Washington have stood up against Trump’s derogatory comments against women in the past, and now expect up to 200,000 protesters to show up at the U.S. capitol on Jan 21.

However, these protests speak to broader issues such as the slew of new anti-abortion laws passed in 2016 and the proposed defunding of health-care providers such as Planned Parenthood. There’s also the possibility of Trump appointing anti-abortion justices to the Supreme Court who could overturn Roe v. Wade.

Although the event is labelled as a women’s march, Butler ensures that people from all walks of life are welcome in the movement.

“This is a completely inclusive event—if you are a human being that supports the notion that women’s rights are humans rights, than we need you at this march.”

According to the Facebook event page, it is open to women, girls, transgender and genderfluid persons, men and boys, families, visible minorities and immigrants, members of

The march will feature a number of Ottawa-based speakers and performers and others from across Canada.

the LGBTQ+ community, religious minorities, persons with disabilities, climate change defenders, and all others who wish to give their support.

“It is important that we stand together now more than ever,” said Butler. “Because of the election’s impacts, and the risks going forward not just in America, but the threat of this alternative and hard-right social conservative movement that is moving through North America and Europe threatens women, minorities, and any marginalized population in a way we have not seen since the Second World War.” “If we don’t stand up now, and if we don’t send a global collective message to the leaders of these conservative movements, we will pay the price. We can’t afford to be polite and silent and ask for permission … we need to own our power and we need to do it now.”

For more information, please visit the Facebook event page.

Photo: Jaclyn McRae-Sadik.

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U of O student selected for Daughters of the Vote conference

March event to promote discussion on women’s issues in federal politics graham robertson news editor

This March, one woman, aged 18 to 23, from each federal riding across the country will participate in the inaugural Daughters of the Vote conference on Parliament Hill.

The conference is hosted

by Equal Voice, a “national, bilingual, multi-partisan organization dedicated to electing more women to all levels of political office in Canada,” according to the Daughters of the Vote website.

In an interview with the Fulcrum, Nancy Peckford from Equal Voice highlighted that the the Daughters of the Vote conference is held 100 years after some women in Canada were first granted the right to vote at the federal level—women in Québec could not vote until 1940, while Indigenous women were only granted this right in 1960.

“We felt that it was important to recognize 100 years, though the journey is not yet complete,” said Peckford.

Peckford explained that aside from celebrating 100 years of some women first receiving the federal vote,

the conference will “underscore the tremendous commitment young women have to be champions for change.”

Among the women participating is Jasmine van Schouwen, a law student at the University of Ottawa who first applied to participate in the conference last year and will be representing the Kanata-Carleton riding.

Van Schouwen believes that this conference will “empower the new generation of women in politics” and help overcome the barriers women face when entering federal politics, such as oppressive social norms and a lack of awareness about women’s underrepresentation.

“I was thrilled,” said van Schouwen, when asked how she felt about being selected for the conference.

“Especially looking at the other delegates … I’m very excited for this opportunity to find out what my goal is for the next few years.”

The conference will begin on March 6 exclusively for the roughly 70 Indigenous participants, as a way to discuss the history of Indigenous peoples’ en-

Van Schouwen will be representing the Kanata-Carleton riding at the upcoming conference.

gagement in politics and the issues facing Indigenous communities today.

The rest of the 338 participants will arrive that evening for the remaining three days. Events during the conference include a policy day with caucuses on topics ranging from mental health, to climate change, to women’s engagement in STEM. In addition to these

roundtables, there will be a session at the National Arts Centre featuring women in elected office and “cultural icons,” a leadership development day with workshops on skills such as public speaking and advocacy, and the main National Leadership Forum in the House of Commons.

There will also be a gala featuring women members of parliament, senators, and

Photo: Jaclyn McRae-Sadik.

other elected officials. Past women politicians will be in attendance, all whom Peckford said “passed the baton” onto those currently in office. Notable speakers include MP Catherine McKenna, and Kim Campbell, the first woman Prime Minister of Canada.

“I think the biggest thing would be getting to meet this amazing, diverse group of women from across the

country,” van Schouwen said. “They’ve done a great job of choosing women from diverse backgrounds, it’ll be cool to see the challenges of women entering politics.”

Van Schouwen also said that discussion between the participants will allow them to come up with solutions to the issues facing women in politics today, and better affirm their individual ideas.

She believes that girls and young women should be engaged in initiatives such as these because “often times women are on the bench ... women’s issues aren’t making it onto the table, they’re not being considered.”

Van Schouwen believes that “the more women we see entering politics, the more people seem willing to enter this field. It seems more attainable—seeing them succeed is inspiring, it makes them feel like they can do it too.”

Jasmine van Schouwen has been a contributor to the Fulcrum for several years, and served as the Fulcrum Publishing Society’s ombudsperson for the 2015-16 publishing year.

APUO challenges senior U of O executives’ pay raise in court

Judge rules in favour of challenge, U of O to attempt to overturn $7,500 payment graham robertson news editor

A judge has ruled in favour of a challenge brought forward by the Association of Professors of the University of Ottawa (APUO) in 2015 over a salary increase for two senior executives at the U of O. The challenge came following an increase in the salaries of Dr. Mona Nemer, vicepresident of research, and Dr. Jacques Bradwejn, dean of the U of O’s School of Medicine, in 2014.

Nemer’s pay in-

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A formal lawsuit was first filed by the APUO in December 2015.

creased 50 per cent between 2012 and 2014, to a total of $392,058.

Photo: CC, Sara Long.

than he earned in 2012, and was raised again to $422,780 in 2015.

Bradwejn’s salary increased to $422,571 in 2014, $36,000 more

The APUO alleged that this pay increase goes against the Ontario public sector wage freeze, with the complaint first being made at a Board of Governors meeting in July 2015.

A formal lawsuit was then filed in December of that year.

The U of O did attempt to stop this lawsuit by the APUO, an organization that represents roughly 1,250 full-time faculty members and librarians at the university, saying that only the provincial government could challenge salary raises.

However, the judge presiding over the case, Justice Giovanna Toscano Roccamo, disagreed with the university and allowed the APUO’s lawsuit to continue forward.

In her ruling, Roccamo also ordered the U of O to pay $7,500 in costs to the APUO. However, according to the Ottawa Citizen, the university is now attempting to overturn this ruling.

A full list of professors’ and faculty members’ salaries can be found in the Ontario Sunshine List.

NEWS | 5

A&C EDITOR Anchal Sharma arts@thefulcrum.ca

ARTS&CULTURE

(613) 695-0062 @imtherocks

The Future is Female takes on Ottawa

All-female lineup sells out two feminist, LGBTQ+ friendly comedy shows Anchal Sharma

Arts & Culture Editor

F

or Toronto-based stand up comedian Natalie norman, co-host of the popular period discussion podcast the crimson wave, empowering women is just a perk that comes from doing what she loves— telling great jokes.

For Toronto-based stand up comedian Natalie Norman, co-host of the popular period discussion podcast The Crimson Wave, empowering women is just a perk that comes from doing what she loves—telling great jokes.

Last week, Ottawa comedy fans got the chance to see Norman ply her craft at Pour Boy. Hosted by fellow comedian Nour Hadidi, this show, dubbed “The Future is Female,” was put together by Norman in August 2016 and debuted in Toronto.

For this recent Ottawa show, the lineup featured local talent Aggie Winsom, Kennedy Ryan, and Megan Honey.

The show was only supposed

to run for one night on Jan. 12, but it was such a success that the group came back for an encore on Jan. 15, which sold out in an astounding 12 hours of being announced.

What made this show different wasn’t just the “no rape jokes” policy, or the feminist friendly and LGBTQ+ inclusive message, but the audience itself, which was made up predominantly of women, something that Norman hopes to see more of in the future.

“I think they’re audience members that comedy has forgotten about in so many ways, just like women,” she joked. “There are so many alternative people that do comedy, but, for so many reasons, don’t want to go into that club atmosphere whether it be the fear that a comic’s going to pick on them, or that they’re going to be assaulted.”

This is why Norman wants to encourage more female talent to show itself. For her, representation is everything.

“Comedy was never catered for women,” she said. “It was never for the woman’s gaze or what they perceive as funny … and

I think that’s new in itself and there’s a lot of female comedians coming up now and you’re seeing that and it’s awesome.”

At Sunday’s show, each comedian had something unique to joke about. These zingers ranged from a variety of topics including sex, mental illness, body positivity, race relations, and of course, crushing the patriarchy—all without bashing on each other, which Norman finds incredibly important.

“I’m tired of living in a community where it’s okay to shit on women, and I think it’s an interesting perspective when women aren’t the punchlines (because) you have to work harder,” she said.

“The whole ‘no rape jokes’ (policy) involves that whole world of ‘let’s flip the narrative.’ Like, we don’t have to punch down. We can have progressive, smart comedy, that’s so fucking funny without making people feel isolated or shitty.”

While the show received a great turnout and many laughs, Norman understands that being a woman in her field comes with

its challenges, most of which come from a lack of understanding for the kind of work that she does.

“When we do something where it is an all female show, people get pissed when it sells out. They get upset because for the first time ever, another gender is being locked out of a space and that’s not what the point of it

is,” she said. “I don’t perceive it as taking space away from them. I think it’s a space for us that’s already opening.”

For Ottawa, this seems like a much-needed break from the norm in the comedy scene. Norman plans on returning in a few months with an even better show, at a bigger venue.

“You guys are so excited. You

want to see it, you go with us on this weird adventure … it’s just a wonderful city that’s warm and it wants to hear us.”

To learn more about Norman or Hadidi’s stand up comedy you can follow them on Twitter @stalkingnatalie and @nourhadidi.

You can also listen to Norman’s podcast at http://thecrimsonwave. libsyn.com.

“I’m tired of living in a community where it’s okay to shit on women, and I think it’s an interesting perspective when women aren’t the punchlines (because) you have to work harder.” — Natalie Norman, Torontobased comedian.

The shows featured a lineup of talented local comedians, including Ottawa’s own Kennedy Ryan.

Photo: Marta Kierkus.

Taking on the magazine world at an astounding PACE

U of O alumni launch second issue of indie magazine, seek local artists to contribute Anchal Sharma Arts & Culture Editor

Ottawa is chock full of artists waiting for their time to shine, and PACE magazine is happy to be their outlet.

This quarterly magazine, whose name stands for “Poetry, Art, Culture, and Enlightenment,” is a politically charged, grassroots publication started

by University of Ottawa alumni Timothy Doan and Stéphane Mukunzi in 2016, and features local Ottawa photographers, writers, and designers.

PACE saw its second issue come alive at its recent launch party on Jan. 7 at Club SAW. The event was free to attend and reflected the vision of the project, as guests enjoyed drinks and live entertainment from Urban Legends Poetry

6 | ARTS & CULTURE

Collective, as well as a live DJ and a visual showcase of work featured in the magazine.

“One of the realities about Ottawa is that it’s a big city, but people are so spread out that they don’t necessarily get to interact with one another,” Mukunzi explained. “The idea behind the launch is to have a venue for Ottawa artists to meet and mingle and … know what’s happening.”

Although the magazine is currently being sold for $15 at select locations around the city, the team hopes to distribute it for free in coming years.

“The most important part of where I see PACE in the future is giving it out for free,” said Doan, adding that accessibility and inclusivity play a large part in the magazine’s values. “The end goal is to get people’s minds

Photo: Courtesy of Jeremy Avila.

enlightened to stuff that’s happening around the city.”

This is also seen in their acknowledgement that “PACE

is written and distributed on unceded Algonquin territory,” a statement which Mukunzi hopes will create a sense of openness and dialogue around the issues facing Ottawa today.

“This is a good product, it’s cool, it’s a nice thing, but we want people to recognize that the idea behind this is to have a critical conversation about the things that matter to us and this is our way to include as many people as possible,” he said.

“It’s small but it’s a way to recognize that.”

Despite the magazine’s humble beginnings, Doan and Mukunzi have high hopes for the future.

“Eventually I want to be printed en masse and sold throughout the country,” said Doan, naming VICE as one of the team’s chief inspirations, al-

though they plan on sticking to their non profit mandate. “(I see us) moving into recording visual content … back where VICE started out is where I want to end up.”

“We don’t want to be held back by revenues,” Mukunzi added. “We want to feed the collective consciousness, as we believe it’s necessary.”

While they are still on a high from celebrating the launch of their second issue, Doan and Mukunzi noted that they’re gearing up for their spring issue and currently accepting submissions at pacemagazineottawa@gmail.com.

PACE magazine is currently available at Compact Music and The Gifted Type as well as on their official website. You can also find them on Facebook.

thefulcrum.ca

Ready, set, whoa: A Gee-Gee’s guide to the U.K.

Ch. 5: Coming home

The hardest part about being back in Ottawa is just moving on.

It feels like things were on pause here while I was gone, and now I have to pick everything back up where I left off. Well, that and the weather.

I’m supposed to be wrapping things up in this column, and providing a sense of closure on my trip. This is very difficult for me to do, because that experience has become such a large part of who I am now, and who I want to become in the future.

If any of you are at all thinking about doing a semester abroad make sure you do your research early, and don’t be afraid to talk to the wonderful people at International Office.

While this is a huge project involving a lot of moving parts, it’s completely worth it. You have an awesome opportunity

of where the next trip was—something that doesn’t usually cross my mind living here in Ottawa.

Attending the University of Reading has been great, and all of the staff and admin there were unbelievably helpful in making sure that all the international students got settled. In fact, the U of O International Office also made this trip as easy for me as possible, which I found pleasantly surprising. They put up with my annoying and repetitive questions, and then put up with many of those same questions in e-mails from England.

What I’m going to miss most from my semester abroad is the sense of adventure. Everything was exciting and new, even simple things like using new currency.

There was always a little moment in the day where you realized that you were overseas, that you were somewhere other than home.

David Campion-Smith social media coordinator

Since my semester abroad is over, and I’m starting back at the University of Ottawa this term, I thought it would be the perfect time to look back and reflect on my short time in the U.K. as a whole.

I decided to go overseas for a variety of personal reasons, chief among them being the desire to travel. I wanted to do something, not unique, but that would make the story of my education different than just four years and a degree.

The physical act of traveling was such a huge part of it that it feels difficult to overstate. Knowing that I could grab some friends and explore a whole other country the next weekend was an intoxicating thought. I found myself always planning, always thinking

David Campion-Smith ties together his journey in his final chapter.

to go engage for an extended period of time with another cul-

Illustration: Yomi Orims.

ture, an opportunity that made me better off for taking it.

Campus creations: from poetry to prose The sky didn’t load today, By Rich Larson It was an aching white blank, with little fissures where code leaked out like drizzling rain, but nobody seemed to notice except Adelaide.

“Nina, look,” she said at recess, on the squeaking playground swings.”The sky’s got a glitch.”

She kicked out hard, trying to soar high enough to touch the faulty firmament.

“Looks fine to me,” her friend said, draped stomach-down over her swing, feet shuffling the gravel. Her eyes stuck to the iPhone clutched in her small pink hands.

In class, Adelaide couldn’t stop looking out the Windexstreaked glass.

“It’s like someone broke the game,” she said, when the teacher scolded her to pay attention.

“Life is not a game, Adelaide,” he said, raking a strand of black hair behind his white ear. “That’s why you should be learning your times tables. Not staring out the window.”

Adelaide walked home under the void, watching error messages ripple in the wind.

She spent the day searching for polygons in the elm trees and invisible walls around the boarded-up well she was supposed to avoid.

When she wormed under her sheets that night, the sky outside still hadn’t darkened. Adelaide argued for an extension on curfew.

“Not a chance,” her mother said, leaving a warm kiss on her forehead. “And don’t worry. I’m sure the sky will load tomorrow.”

But when her mother paused in the doorway, Adelaide saw her silhouette jump and flicker, and a glowing trickle of code leak down her cheek.

About the author: Rich Larson was born in West Africa, has studied in Rhode Island, worked in Spain, and now writes from Ottawa, Canada,

where he is currently completing his BA at the University of Ottawa. His short work has

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been featured on io9, translated into Polish and Italian, and appears in numerous Year’s Best

Illustration: Yomi Orims.

anthologies. You can find him at richwlarson.tumblr.com.

ARTS & Culture | 7

When university rankings Fal FFal l alll How did this happen at the University of Ottawa, and what does this mean for the school’s reputation as a whole?

During this winter, high school seniors across the country are making one of the biggest decisions of their young lives: selecting a university to attend.

Since 2010, Times Higher Education (THE) and Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) world university rankings have been the go-to source for these prospective students.

Both lists are based on formulas that pull data to determine a university’s research performance, reputation, international outlook, and employability.

But when it comes to these rankings, there’s a lot more at stake than the decision of a single high school student. In reality, the well-being of the universities can hang in the balance as well.

Fall from grace At the University of Ottawa, these rankings are taken very seriously.

Once it was revealed that the U of O’s THE ranking fell below the 250 spot this September, its lowest standing ever, the school’s higher-ups took notice.

During the U of O’s Sept. 26 Board of Governors (BOG) meeting, Jacques Frémont dedicated a large portion of his president’s report to this revelation, saying that the administration would investigate the ranking’s methodology.

BOG member Michelle O’Bonsawin even fielded the question about whether or not the university should seek damages from THE for receiving such a low score.

“We look at them very closely,” said Serge Nadeau, the associate vice-president of planning at the U of O. “Rankings are one of several indicators that we have. It can generate a lot of discussion and it could lead to changes in priorities at the university.”

According to M’hamed Aisati, vice-president of product management funding and content analytics at Elsevier, a company that provides a large portion of research data to ranking agencies such as THE and QS, there are three types of people who are concerned about these rankings: future students, the university marketing department, and industry partners.

“Many universities do use the rankings to market themselves,” Aisati explains. “They attract students, typically students from abroad because that brings investment.”

Universities rely on enrollment to meet their budget, and international students—with a tuition price tag of more than three times the price of a national student—are a big catch for an institution.

Generally the U of O performs fairly well in these university rankings, but they’ve been dropping steadily over the last couple years.

Although these changes seem shocking, it’s important to note that they come at a time when QS and THE incorporated large changes into how they calculate their academic rankings.

Both rankings also weigh a teaching and educational environment component. This portion looks at data such as student-to-teacher ratio, the institution’s income, and its reputation.

Representatives from Elsevier and the U of O both agree that this methodology change has played a significant role in the school’s 2016–17 results.

Internationalism is also highly valued in the rankings, measured by the ratio of international students and faculty members.

Outside of losing favour with THE for five years straight, the QS ranking has been falling as well, dropping from 218 in 2014 to 291 in 2016.

Methodology changes In order to really understand why the U of O’s rank took a turn for the worse, and how it can improve in the future, it’s important to investigate how THE and QS calculate their rankings in the first place.

Both ranking agencies use very similar inputs into their calculations, but weigh them differently.

One of the largest components of both rankings is research performance.

The last key area is knowledge transfer with industry, based on amount of funding received from that industry.

But a major change this year to the rankings is the addition of new universities.

There are certain criteria that a university must meet before it will be ranked by THE or QS, for instance they must have published a minimum number of publications. As new universities become more established and start publishing research, they are added to the rankings.

This variable is calculated using research output, or the number of publications a university published that year divided by the number of researchers at the university. There’s also a citation score that’s taken into account, which is dependent on how often a publication from that university has been cited in other studies.

“Changes include the expansion of the THE rankings exercise from 400 institutions in 40 countries to over 800 institutions in 71 countries worldwide,” said Calto.

Daniel Calto, director of solutions services at Elsevier, notes that the U of O’s overall citation score in the THE rankings actually went up in comparison to previous years. In fact, it increased to a score of 67.5 in 2016–17 compared to 61.5 in 2015–16.

Nadeau explained that even though an institution is lower in the ranking this year, they may still be in the same or a higher percentile as they were in previous years, due to the addition of more universities.

“It is unlikely that citations performance had a negative effect on the U of O’s overall ranking unless other institutions had even higher rises in their citations scores,” Calto explains.

When these new universities are added, it increases competition for every university in the rank.

This means that with more universities being ranked, this can lead to misleading results. For example, a university that ranks 100 out of a total of 400 is ranked in the top 25 per cent of global research universities. A university in the top 25 per cent of a total of 800 universities would receive a rank of 200.

Additionally, Calto noted that universities relegated to tiers below the top 100 are often statistically very close in rank. Since universities’ results are only a few points different from the universities before and after them in the rank, any disturbance by adding more universities, which are also very close in rank, can easily impact the rank of the older universities.

Another methodology change worth noting is a decision by THE to exclude the citations from so called “kilo papers,” publications with more than 1,000 authors, in this year’s calculations.

Calto mentioned that “these papers, a large majority of which are physics papers, are often very highly cited.

Exclusion of these papers may affect the rankings, especially at institutions with a significant percentage of their research in physics.”

This is particularly important for the U of O, which, having recently opened the André E. Lalonde Accelerator Mass Spectrometry Laboratory in 2014, now dedicates a lot of resources to research in physics.

Additionally, due to the university’s location, many former students are now employed by the government, which can affect the student feedback portion of the rankings.

Sylvain Charbonneau, associate vice president of research at the U of O, said this creates challenges when ranking agencies contact graduates for reputation surveys. Graduates of universities employed in the private sector have much more freedom when discussing the reputation of their alma mater than government employees, who are required to remain unbiased when discussing government-funded universities.

How can the U of O improve?

With a better understanding of the methodology of rankings, the U of O must begin to make a steady climb back up the QS and THE rankings.

Since there are many factors that go into determining a ranking, there are a variety of ways the U of O’s ranking could continue to worsen.

“You could do many things,” said Aisati.

“You might do fantastic work in research but you

lag behind because you are not internationally seen, or you do not work with industry to get an income or somehow your reputation is not good.”

That said, there are also several key areas to focus on to improve a university ranking.

“We can say increase your infrastructure, attract the best researchers in the world, develop the best programs, attract funding as best as you can,” said Aisati “but ultimately, you need to have a solid research foundation.”

As such, probably one of the best places for the U of O to start rehabilitating its reputation is in the area of research, since the school already flaunts a strong citation score.

In order to increase the number of citations a publication receives, it needs to be seen by a lot of people—and that’s why international collaboration is so important.

More authors, in different locations, means more audience.

According to Calto, “On average, work that has even one international author has on average 1.6 times the impact of papers written only by authors in a single country.”

Another important stride the U of O can make is in fostering an interdisciplinary work environment.

“Some of the most highly cited papers are actually in interdisciplinary areas,” said Calto. “Often dealing with grand challenges like climate change, aging, and cybersecurity.”

In the end, the key to better research for a university is to build a strong network of collaboration across countries and disciplines.

Aisati encourages universities to “build something that is very rock solid” in order to support the institution in the long term.

What the future holds

portant to the U of O. The dramatic drop in rank these last couple years is concerning for the school since these results affect its global status, enrollment levels, and funding opportunities.

However, like most metrics, university rankings aren’t infallible. This last year has seen a doubling in the number of universities ranked by THE and some significant changes in the way ranking results are calculated by THE and QS. Luckily, in 2014, the university launched its Destination 2020 Strategic Plan featuring four pillars of focus: the student experience, research excellence, internationalism, and bilingualism. These pillars, according to the administration at least, will all directly impact research performance and potentially ranking performance as well.

The university has made some strides in this direction by offering a variety of educational activities such as scientific experiments, research projects, co-op, international exchanges, fieldwork, and resources such as the Michaëlle Jean Centre for Global and Community Engagement.

The U of O has also been growing its network of international partners and this focus has already brought results.

“We have collaborators all over the world. We’ve established a joint school in China, we have a joint lab in Leon, France, we have the Max Planck Center,” said Charbonneau.

But with the change in methodology, it still might take a few years for rankings performance to stabilize.

Despite the persisting decline in the university rankings for the U of O, we can still rely on our work in research.

Charbonneau said that the collaboration with Max Planck Center offers a certain amount of prestige.

“The Max Planck society would only partner with the best. And in that field of research, we’re the best.”

When it comes down to it, rankings are obviously im-

Illu stra tion s: J a cl y nM cR a e-S adi k.

SPORTS

SPORTS EDITOR Nico Laliberté sports@thefulcrum.ca

(613) 695-0062 @FulcrumSports

Hunt guides his team to shutout victory

Gee-Gees show no signs of fatigue to get their third win in as many days and strong goaltending shut down Laurentian’s offense.

The Gees were aggressive right out of the gate, being called for two penalties early in the first period. The Garnet and Grey looked dominant early, but couldn’t find the back of the net. Laurentian’s goalkeeper stood tall while making some great saves.

Defenseman Adam Beveridge finally put one past the Voyageurs’ goalie with an impressive shot that rang off the iron before hitting the back of the net at 12:32 in the second period.

Shortly after, center Jacob Hanlon made a great play to intercept a clearing opportunity by the Voyageurs’ goaltender and deposited the puck in the empty cage. Gees goaltender Graham Hunt kept up his solid play to keep the score at 2–0 after 40 minutes.

Just over five minutes into the final period, center Mathieu Dubois scored a beautiful breakaway goal to increase the Gees’ lead to three.

The Voyageurs had a breakaway

Zack Goobie

associate Sports Editor

T

he Gee-Gees men’s hockey team improved to 4–0 in 2017 after going undefeated in their three-game weekend set. This hot streak was capped off by a win on Sunday, Jan. 15 at the Minto Sports Complex against the Laurentian Voyageurs.

After back-to-back victories against Lakehead University, the Gees came out and played a solid 60 minutes against a struggling Laurentian team to propel their record in the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) conference to 11–7–3.

Four different Gees found the back of the net on Sunday, and a combination of good defensive play

The Gees are now 4–0 in the new year.

With just less than eight minutes left, and being down by four goals, Laurentian’s coach decided to pull his goalie while already on the power-play for a six on four advantage. The decision proved costly as Dubois deposited the puck in the vacant net with less than five minutes to play, making the final score 5–0 for the Gees.

The Gees fired an impressive 46 shots on the Laurentian goalie in total. Hunt stopped 36 shots on the way to his first shutout of the season.

The Gees are now 7–3 in their last 10 games. While there are going to be obvious growing pains for the young team, their strong hustle in early 2017 brings new hope and optimism to the future of the program.

The next home game will take place on Jan. 18 versus the Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières Patriotes at the Minto Sports Complex. The puck drops at 7:30 p.m. You can purchase tickets from the Gee-Gees’ website.

Photo: Marta Kierkus.

of their own not long after, but Hunt made an impressive save on the attempt to help his team maintain their lead.

Left wing Cody Drover, the former Dieppe Commando, scored on another breakaway in dramatic fashion as well.

Women’s hockey team goes 1–1 in weekend series

Team improves to 3–0 against rival Carleton, holds onto second place in RSEQ Nico Laliberté

for their fifth of five games against the Martlets this year. The teams had split the series 2–2 heading into Saturday’s game, with the Gees having come out on top in the most recent meeting on Jan. 8.

However, the Martlets would have the last laugh, downing the Gees by a final score of 2–1. The Gees opened the scoring, with star forward Mélodie Bouchard netting her ninth of the season with less than a minute left in the first.

Rioux collected an assist on the play to total five points in her last three games.

Unfortunately the Gees immediately took an ill-advised penalty and the Martlets would make them pay with a power-play goal, sending both teams into the first intermission tied 1–1.

The second period was largely dominated by the Martlets, with the Gees managing only three shots on goal in the frame. This included two Gees’ power-plays that failed to generate much of anything. It was only thanks to goaltender Émilie

Sports Editor

After ending the year with a loss to McGill, the Gee-Gees women’s hockey team entered 2017 looking for a fresh start. After splitting their first two games of the year in early January they would continue this pattern, going 1–1 in games over the weekend of Jan. 13–15.

Carleton Ravens The Gees faced their cross-town rivals on Jan. 13 for the third of four meetings between the teams this year. The two teams combined for 18 goals in their first two meetings, with Ottawa coming out on top both times, so a high-scoring game was to be expected.

The Gees did not disappoint, netting five goals en route to a 5–2 victory. The Gees opened the scoring early in the first period with a goal from Alex Lafleur, her first of the season. No one else would find the net in the first, and the Gees went into the intermission holding a 10–7

10 | SPORTS

After a strong start to the season, the team has been treading water of late.

shot advantage.

The second period opened similarly to the first, with Shanie Deschatelets scoring her fifth of the season early in the frame to give the Gees a 2–0 lead. The Ravens would strike back before the halfway point of the period to draw within one, and the period ended with the Gees holding on to a slim 2–1 lead.

The first half of the third was

Photo: Kyle Darbyson.

largely uneventful. Carleton scored just under 14 minutes into the frame to tie the game at two. However, Gees forward Roxanne Rioux came back less than a minute later and restored the Gees’ lead. The Garnet and Grey would get two more goals, including an empty netter, to seal the game.

McGill Martlets The Gees faced first-place McGill

Bouchard that they escaped the period unscathed.

It seemed inevitable that the Martlets would eventually take the lead, and they did early in the third.

The game ended with the Martlets owning a 25–15 advantage in shots, and a 2–1 edge on the scoreboard.

Only managing 15 shots despite having six power-play opportunities is a pretty bleak result for the Gees.

While McGill is a strong team, the Gees have proven in the past that they can compete with them.

However, anytime you fail to score on six power plays, you’re not doing yourself any favours.

Needless to say, the Gees have to stop playing .500 hockey and start gaining momentum for the upcoming playoffs.

The Gees’ next game is on Jan. 19.

They’ll be looking to complete the season sweep against the Carleton Ravens. Their next home game is on Jan. 21 at 2 p.m. against the Université de Montréal. Tickets can be purchased from the Gee-Gees’ Website.

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U of O ringette team takes national title

Gee-Gees go 6–1–1 in round-robin, defeat Western 5–4 in the final Alexandra Huluta

Fulcrum Contributor

After years of coming close, the University of Ottawa’s ringette team finished 2016 on a high note, battling eight other schools to bring home gold at this year’s University Challenge Cup. Since 2012 the team has finished no worse than third in the tournament, but the gold medal had eluded them up to this point. This season, they finally broke through, securing gold in the final against Western with a score of 5–4.

Since the tournament, held at the University of Guelph this year, has been largely dominated by western universities for the last couple years, this was the first time two Ontario teams met in the final.

The team went 6­–1–1 in round-robin play, including a 6–6 draw against Western, the team they would eventually meet in the final. The U of O squad entered the

gold-medal matchup against Western looking to redeem themselves for two consecutive finals losses.

Human Kinetics student Alyssa Mainwood, who was one of three unofficial cocaptains this year, played in the National Ringette League before joining Ottawa’s team this year. She credited putting team play over individual performance as a key to their victory.

“We had played about nine games in four days, so (the final) was our ninth game, and we were all exhausted,” said Mainwood. “It was important to come together as a team and play together to make that work because without each and every one of us, then it wouldn’t have been a victory.”

After falling short to western teams like Calgary and Alberta in past tournaments, it was a great accomplishment for the team to finally get the gold. Though she was not there for their defeats in

According to forward Alyssa Mainwood, the squad’s emphasis on team play was their key to victory.

previous years, Mainwood understands how monumental this victory is for the team.

“They’ve been very close to winning, they’ve always been a little bit short in the finals against a team out west, and I know for them it was a great accomplishment to finally (win) in the finals.”

Head coach John Packman is considering retiring this year, as his daughter is graduating from the team, so it was a fitting send-off for him to finally capture the gold after bringing the team so close for years.

“He was just so excited and so proud,” said Mainwood.

“He was happy that he finally got to win and he can retire from coaching finally satisfied.”

Packman is looking towards retiring from the team this year and to possibly hand over the baton to Mainwood, who would like to return to the team next year in either

Photo: Courtesy of Sports Services.

a playing or a coaching capacity.

As the team celebrates its hard-fought victory, it looks towards a new season with hopes of maintaining its newly acquired title through the same great team atmosphere that brought them to victory in 2016.

New U of O study connects physical activity with concussion recovery Survey of over 3,000 children finds traditional treatment of rest may need revision Nico Laliberté Sports Editor

Concussions play a major role in the lives of athletes.

Almost every sport carries the risk of concussion, and we still know very little about the best way to treat them.

But a recent study led by University of Ottawa researcher Dr. Roger Zemek represents a gradual shift in the way we view concussion treatment .

After surveying over 3,000 children aged five to 18, Zemek and his researchers found that physical activity may lead to quicker concussion recovery in children.

“Kids who were recruited into our study had to fill out a questionnaire at seven days post-injury and at 28 days post-injury, where we monitored their symptoms,” said Dr. Andrée-Anne Ledoux, a co-author on the study and part-time professor at the U of O.

“So we had questions such as ‘Do you have headaches?’

‘How do you feel?’ etc. and we also had questions about their physical activity routines.”

The study was looking to find out if children who engaged in physical activity earlier after experiencing a concussion actually had a reduced risk of persistent post-concussive symptoms (PPCS). Ledoux explained that PPCS refers to long-term symptoms that can last for months in some cases, and can include “headache, nausea, feeling dizzy, feeling disoriented, anxiety, (and) cognitive disorders.”

Zemek and his team found that “the proportion with PPCS at 28 days was 28.7 per cent with participation in early physical activity vs.

40.1 per cent with conservative rest, a significant difference.”

These findings counter the traditional concussion guidelines, which suggest that the

Dr. Roger Zemek, Associate Professor and Director of Research for the department of Pediatrics at the U of O. Photo: Courtesy of the CHEO Research Institute.

injured should rest until they are completely asymptomatic.

“Right now we’re telling them they’re not even allowed to walk (based on) these conservative guidelines,” said Ledoux. In reality, Ledoux explained that a better way to stave off PPCS may be to slowly reintroduce

children to walking, mild jogging, riding a stationary bicycle, or swimming.

However, this doesn’t mean children should jump right back into heavy physical activity after sustaining a concussion. Ledoux urged that children who sustain a concussion should be removed immediately from

physical activity and get diagnosed by a physician.

“We do have studies that are telling us that rest is good, but rest for a long period of time like we’re doing right now is not good,” she said. “That small window of rest is very important at the beginning, but we cannot exaggerate that window.

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We can’t have that window for four weeks is what we’re saying.”

While this study could have major ramifications on the way concussions and concussion recoveries are viewed, Ledoux cautioned that it is still early on in the process of discovering the optimal treatment for concussions.

“This is a limitation to this paper, that it’s based on questionnaires,” said Ledoux. “So we did not give a physical activity treatment to ‘group A’ and a rest treatment to ‘group B’. That would be a second study that we’re working on currently.”

Ledoux also explained that due to the developmental differences between children’s and adults’ brains, the study could not be applied to adults.

“We would need a study to figure out if it’s the same in adults, just due to the fact that the brain is so different.”

Sports | 11

OPINIONS

OPINIONS EDITOR Eric Davidson

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

“Corporate branding” at Vimy is not a big deal Discreetly recognizing donors shouldn’t distract from bigger picture Curtis Rafter

fulcrum contributor

A

lmost a hundred years ago, Canadian soldiers joined together and fought tirelessly against the Germans at the Battle of Vimy Ridge, leaving Canadian forces triumphant despite losing some 3,600 troops.

Because of the sacrifices those brave men and women made, this military skirmish is now embedded in the minds of many as the pinnacle of Canadian military achievement.

As the 100th anniversary of the conflict approaches, the Vimy Foundation has been working to open up a completely remodelled Vimy Visitor Education Centre. The project, slated to open in April 2017 at the Canadian National Vimy Memorial in France, will cost close to $10 million, a price that will be subsidized thanks to a combination of

public and private donors.

As nearly $5 million was donated from private entities, the Vimy Foundation proposed the construction of a tangible show of appreciation.

Jeremy Diamond, executive director of the Vimy Foundation, suggested that donors be recognized via “five named areas” and a “standard donor appreciation panel” to be implemented within the Vimy Visitor Education Centre.

Diamond described these features as “subtle” and “unobtrusive.”

Even so, some are adamantly against the idea of the Vimy Memorial having anything to do with “corporate branding.” Some see Diamond’s commemorative proposal as equating lives lost with money spent, while others see it as capitalizing on Canadian sacrifice to turn a quick profit.

However, I tend to agree with the other side of the debate.

The sanctity of the Vimy Visitor Education Centre will likely remain

Private donors contributed nearly $5 million to build the new centre.

intact, given the modest nature of the commemorative propositions in question. In other words, a “tasteful” plaque is very different than the type of “corporate branding” you might see on a race car.

Photo: CC, Heather Cowper.

It’s also worth noting that the Vimy Visitor Education Centre wouldn’t exist if it weren’t for the generosity of private donors who, coincidentally, donated the money with no strings attached.

In that way, the kind of branding in question is not malicious.

Rather, it’s a solemn nod to the donors for their efforts in enhancing how people learn and come to know about the Battle of Vimy Ridge. Sponsor recognition is also an important step in ensuring further funding for other projects.

And realistically, people have become largely desensitized to the constant bombardment of direct advertisements we see every single day on television, on the street, and online. I find it hard to believe that tourists will go to the Vimy Visitor Education Centre, notice the sponsor commemoration, and then fixate on it in such a way that will mitigate their experience.

Ultimately, people go to Vimy Ridge to learn some history and appreciate the sacrifices that were made. This endeavour won’t be corrupted by a minimal amount of “corporate branding.”

The right to unplug

Disconnecting after work will reduce stress, increase productivity in workforce Eric Davison

Fulcrum contributor French workers now have the right to ignore any communication from their managers outside of work hours, including emails.

While this new law might seem trivial, it’s the most recent of a long string of victories for workers’ rights across Europe.

Over the last 30 years, advancements in communication technologies, automation, and global trade have caused an unprecedented shift in Western labour markets.

Europe is adapting to thrive in this new economy, and Canada must follow suit if we plan on remaining competitive.

France’s “right to disconnect” from work is hardly a unique idea.

Germany passed nearly identical legislation in 2013, and similar pushes from labour unions and corporations have been ongoing for nearly a decade. The goal is simple: reduce stress, and promote a greater work-life balance in the workforce.

Coupled with initiatives like

12 | OPINIONS

France has mandated that its workers ignore emails after work hours.

Sweden’s six-hour work day or Italy’s two-hour lunch breaks, workers in Europe are being offered more time off than ever before.

Despite the touted health benefits, many have expressed concern over the impact these workers’ rights ad-

Photo: Jaclyn McRae-Sadik.

vancements could have on Europe’s economic health. However, these objections stem from an outmoded understanding of the demands of modern industry and Western economics as a whole.

In the manufacturing sector, the

relationship between time worked and product produced is obvious— if a cobbler can make six pairs of shoes in six hours it stands to reason that an eight-hour work day would result in eight pairs of shoes.

But with the manufacturing exodus from the Western world this logic is becoming increasingly irrelevant.

In the 1950s, encouraging office workers to stay later meant more paperwork could be stamped, more letters could be sent and more reports could be filed. The limiting factor for a firm’s productivity was not human, it was technological. As computers entered the mainstream, the tedium of everyday business became increasingly unnecessary— yet the pressure to maximize man hours remained.

While employees continue their nine to five schedules, various reports suggest that, with technology doing most of the grunt work, only three to five of those hours are truly productive.

With most technological limitations behind us, a corporation’s

success is now dependant on its employees’ ability to communicate, think creatively, and problem solve. These “soft skills” are directly impacted by the worker’s mental well-being—while a disgruntled cobbler might still make acceptable shoes, an undermotivated financier makes poor market calls. As Canada continues to move towards a service-based economy, the mental health of our citizens is not just a quality of life concern, it is an economic concern.

Being constantly connected to your work via emails and more causes an incredible amount of stress with no tangible benefits. If an office worker in 2017 can’t effectively fill an eight-hour day, why make them work even longer?

Rather than forcing employees to work around the clock, we need to focus on maximizing their performance during the few hours a day that they are truly productive. By following France’s lead, Canada can create a happier, healthier workforce that’s better equipped to take on the challenges ahead.

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Canada should hit the gas when it comes to driverless cars Base level of regulation is important, but too much will strangle innovation Nicholas Robinson staff contributor

Imagine you’re driving down the road and, suddenly, a kid jumps out right in front of you. Do you swerve hard to the side even if it means you might hit a tree and die?

What if you were sitting in a car, and the car was being driven by artificial intelligence (AI)?

With Transport Canada deciding to study the safety of bringing driverless cars onto Canadian roads, this question about AI is becoming more pressing than ever.

But they need to be careful in what recommendations they make.

Here’s the thing: when it comes to driverless cars, a lot of people would be uncomfortable with sacrificing an innocent kid on the road. But most people would also be reluctant to buy a car that would sacrifice them. Of course, this raises interesting

questions not only for the industry, but also for the regulators: should the government decide who gets killed when this happens?

That is a big issue, but the government simply shouldn’t have the power to control death—the very same principle we recognize when we outlaw capital punishment and legalize assisted dying. That being said, there is a need for some regulation to ensure that no abuse takes place. For instance, a car being programmed to prefer running over the kid rather than breaking the passenger’s leg.

Another idea that comes up regularly is that cars can be fitted with emergency brakes and steering that only humans can use. That idea is just problematic— people need to get over the conceit of thinking that human intelligence is inherently better than any other type of intelligence, because it quite simply isn’t. In fact,

Transport Canada recently announced it will look into safe ways to bring driverless cars to market.

the evidence today shows that humans are worse drivers than AIs. Forcing driverless cars to have emergency brakes that can be operated by people is not only pointless, but probably makes the

cars less safe.

Driverless cars will be a powerful boost to our economy and our society. The government should give the technology the room it needs to develop and thrive, and

Photo: CC, Steve Jurvetson.

not strangle it with undue precaution. Of course, there should be a bare minimum of regulation ensuring that the cars are able to properly navigate, recognize obstacles, and know the law

of the road. But this kind of regulation should be kept to a minimum.

The only place in which the regulation shouldn’t be kept to a minimum is in privacy. The government needs to enact strong laws to ensure that cars don’t just become roving data pirates hoarding information about the passengers.

Of course, driverless cars aren’t quite ready to take over the roads just yet, but Canada should seize the opportunity to become a world leader in this technology while we still can. This means that our government should do its best to actively encourage development and testing of driverless cars on Canadian roads.

Driverless cars are going to be the future, whether we like it or not. So we should make sure that that future benefits Canadians—and that means embracing AI behind the wheel.

Canada’s scandals are smaller, but they still matter

Taking our own issues seriously keeps democracy healthy, allows social progress Eric Davidson Opinions Editor

In the shadow of Donald Trump’s election in the United States, one may be forgiven for dismissing the Canadian media’s coverage of so-called “scandals” as the act of a younger sibling crying out for attention.

With the press now turning to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s vacation plans, it might seem, at first blush, that the word “scandal” means something entirely different in the Great White North.

Are we really expected to care that our prime minister rode in religious leader Aga Khan’s private helicopter when the leader of the free world is quite possibly starting the first literal Twitter war?

Should we really be complaining about our democracy, especially when Canada is enjoying its time in the sun on the world stage, with some proclaiming it as the last bastion of freedom itself?

Yes. We should be hanging on every word of reports of our prime min-

There have been significant differences in political scandals in Canada and America of late.

ister’s use of vacation time, our senators’ expenses, and a Phoenix that just can’t seem to rise from the ashes.

While the drama south of the border can make these Canadian kerfuffles seem all but insignificant, there’s very little you, as a

non-American, can do about it. You can’t vote for a new government and you don’t have a member of the U.S. congress to complain to.

What you can do, however, is pay attention to the government in your own country.

Trust me, after seeing so many

Photo: CC, Gage Skidmore, A.k.fung.

problems unfold, many Americans must long for the chance to quibble over expense reports and the odd helicopter ride.

But we do have to be careful, and see our smaller scandals for what they are. We can’t let Trudeau bumbling into someone

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at the House of Commons dominate our news cycle over more important issues.

We need to realize that a scandal constitutes more than the personal actions of politicians. It also includes revelations of deeper societal issues, like the terrible conditions found in numerous Aboriginal communities in our nation.

As long as we accord them their proper place in our minds, paying attention to political scandals in Canada will play a central role in keeping our democracy strong.

To even come close to living up to the “last bastion of freedom” moniker, we need to recognize all the problems affecting our society—social, economic, and, yes, political of all sizes. Only then can we make real progress in our society.

Because here’s the thing, American politics is like a slow motion car crash right now—we just can’t seem to look away. But that collision is on the other side of the road, and if we stare for too long we risk veering off course ourselves.

OPINIONS | 13

From school to sauna: SFUO makes official office switch-up Executive follows VP finance Rachiq’s lead in relocating to Le Nordik David Campion-Smith Social Media Coordinator At the Jan. 11 Board of Administration (BOA) meeting, comptroller general Tanner Tallon revealed that the Student Federation of the University of Ottawa’s (SFUO) vice-president of finance Rizki Rachiq was spending meeting times at Le Nordik, a spa located in Chelsea, Québec.

The SFUO has since announced that this revelation is actually part of a larger plan to physically move their offices to the spa.

According to SFUO spokesperson Mas Agge, this relocation is designed to motivate SFUO employees to be more interested in their work and provide an incentive to attract employees in the future.

“We noticed that board members weren’t exactly motivated to do their job, so we hope this move will make things more exciting for them,” said Agge.

The SFUO cited student engagement as another reason for mov-

ing to a more attractive venue.

“We think this new environment will get students more jazzed to see us,” said Agge. “Come visit the SFUO and make it a spa day.”

This move may also alleviate some of the budgetary problems the SFUO is currently facing, since the fees to visit Le Nordik are considerably lower than the cost of renting out office space in the University Centre.

“If you have to choose between running 1848 for a weekend or holding office hours in a sauna, I think it’s pretty clear what the answer is,” said SFUO president Roméo Ahimakin.

Ahimakin went so far as to say that, if this move proves successful, the SFUO will run a budget surplus by the end of the year.

Many students also feel that the move will be positive.

“After dealing with the SFUO about almost anything I tend to feel a lot more tension and stress,” said Angela Roberts, third-year biology student and president of

The SFUO has decided to move its office from the U of O campus to Le Nordik spa . Photo: CC, Jason Paris, via Rizki Rachiq Facebook. Edits: Jaclyn McRae-Sadik.

the Science Student’s Association.

“Now I can just walk in and get a massage or a soak in a hot tub.”

A student referendum will be

needed to pass the proposal, but word on the street is that the SFUO will be giving away free mud bath treatments to all “yes”

voters. In the future, going to get a bus pass may just mean getting pampered along the way.

Five Stages of new year's resolutions Anastasiia Cherygova,

staff contributor

thefulcrum.ca

THE TOMATo | 14

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倀椀氀愀琀攀猀Ⰰ 刀甀渀渀椀渀最Ⰰ 吀爀愀椀渀椀渀最 䌀愀洀瀀Ⰰ 吀爀愀椀琀栀氀漀渀 吀爀愀椀渀椀渀最Ⰰ 圀攀椀最栀琀 吀爀愀椀渀椀渀最Ⰰ 夀漀最愀⸀

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DISTRACTIONS Dear Di,

Dear Di

FEATURES EDITOR Alexa-Eliza Carter

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

Dear Di,

I recently got into the U of O’s medical school after graduating, but when I got the bill I realized paying rent wouldn’t be in the cards this year and I’ve moved back in with my parents. I can’t stop thinking about what this means for my sex life, how can I be trapped under my parents’ roof and still get some?

I recently started taking antidepressants, and I’ve noticed a huge drop in my sexual stamina. I’ve also just begun dating a man I’m extremely attracted to, but every time we get between the sheets I take forever to get it up, let alone get off. Should I end it before I embarrass myself, or is there a way I can salvage this relationship?

-Freaky but Sneaky

-Depressed and Sexually Stressed

Dear FS, First of all, congrats on your acceptance to med school!

Smart and sexy is an irresistible combination.

You likely aren’t alone in your sexual setback—if there’s two things most students can relate to it’s being broke and horny.

With that in mind, there are many tried and true ways for you to keep your freak on while living at home, all without traumatizing your mom.

While some might leave their car sex days back in high school, this erotic endeavour can be an exciting way to get creative with your sexual partners. Just make sure you’re prepared beforehand with condoms, lube, tissues, and your go-to toys. Even though this may seem obvious, I’m going to emphasize it for good measure—find an extremely private place. You might want to see your partner’s ass, but someone carrying their groceries to their parked car might feel differently.

No car? No problem. If you have a planned partner for the evening, try renting a room from Airbnb in advance. While a hotel might be out of your budget, you’ll find lots of low-priced rooms on this site that can provide some uninterrupted alone time with a special someone.

It’s also a good idea to get to know your parents’ schedules!

If you notice they both leave and come back to the house at certain times each day, use that to your advantage. Who knows, you may even grow to enjoy the thrill of possibly being caught.

If these options don’t appeal to you, try sexting or calling your partner. If you’re going to get yourself off anyway, adding in a little dirty talk from your partner definitely can’t hurt.

Have fun ;)

Taking on a new relationship while trying to manage a mental illness is incredibly difficult, and I’m sorry to hear you’re in a bind.

First, think about whether you feel comfortable disclosing your struggles to your new partner. This can be scary but, despite the stigma, depression is extremely common. In fact, antidepressant use in Canada is the third-highest among the world’s developed countries.

In Canada, one in five people will suffer from a mental illness. Odds are, your partner has struggled with the same thing you’re facing, or is close to someone who has.

You could also just tell them you’re on medication that reduces your libido, and that you may need more attention down there than usual. Is it a turn on for him to watch you masturbate? If you’re comfortable doing so, try starting off with that to get yourself warmed up and reduce your partner’s workload.

If you feel it’s too much for you to take on a relationship while working through your personal health problems, don’t stress. New relationships take a lot of energy and attention, and it’s critical to put your needs first when you’re in a stressful time.

Telling your partner you need solo time to work on your health is totally OK, and if they’re worth your time they will understand.

Love, Di

Love, Di

Dear DSS,

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

thefulcrum.ca

Jan. 19-26, 2017

THRYLLABUS

MUSIC arts Sports FUN Thinking

Thursday, Jan. 19 Inaugural Collins-Huang lecture by Robert Daly, “Red Lines, Red Flags, and Red Scares: U.S.China Relations in the Time of Trump?”, Faculty of Social Sciences building (room 4004)—3 p.m.

Other Desert Cities, Ottawa Little Theatre—7:30 p.m.

Friday, Jan. 20 Gee-Gees women’s basketball vs. Lakehead University, Montpetit Hall—6 p.m.

Gee-Gees women’s basketball vs. University of Guelph, Montpetit Hall—6 p.m.

Women’s March (for inauguration), Human Rights Monument—11 a.m.

Tuesday, Jan. 24

Gee-Gees men’s basketball vs. University of Guelph, Montpetit Hall—8 p.m.

Annihilator, Mortor, ExVedete, Mavericks—7 p.m.

Sunday, Jan. 22 Ottawa Senators vs.

Columbus Blue Jackets, Canadian Tire Centre—5 p.m.

Gee-Gees men’s basketball vs. Lakehead University, Montpetit Hall—8 p.m.

The Edge of Seventeen (Golden Globe NomineeHailee Steinfeld, Best Actress), ByTowne Cinema—8:50 p.m.

Saturday, Jan. 21

Monday, Jan. 23

Gee-Gees women’s volleyball vs. McGill, Montpetit Hall—2 p.m.

20th Century Women, (Golden Globe NomineeBest Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy), ByTowne Cinema—6:45 p.m.

Gee-Gees women’s hockey vs. Université du Québec à Montréal, Minto Sports Complex—2 p.m.

admission, Vanier Hall (room 1026)—12:30 p.m.

Master’s/Ph.D. thesis writing workshop, free

Ottawa 67’s vs.

Mississauga Steelheads, TD Place—7 p.m.

Wednesday, Jan. 25 Study abroad-general information session, free admission, Montpetit Hall (room 103)—5:30 p.m.

Ottawa 67’s vs. Kingston , TD Place—7 p.m.

Moonlight (Golden Globe Winner-Best Motion Picture, Drama), Bytowne Cinema—6:55 p.m.

Thursday, Jan. 26 Nocturnal Animals (Golden Globe winnerAaron Taylor-Johnson, Best Supporting Actor), ByTowne Cinema—6:55 p.m.

thefulcrum.ca

DISTRACTIONS | 17

18 | LETTERS

thefulcrum.ca

Volume 77, Issue 15, Jan. 19, 2017 Feminist and proud since 1942.

Phone: (613) 695-0061 | Fax: (613) 695-9006 631 King Edward Ave. Ottawa, ON K1N 6N5 Recycle this, or we’l l jump in your mud bath.

Savannah “Ana Kasparian” Awde Editor-in-Chief editor@thefulcrum.ca Kim “Beyoncé” Wiens Production Manager production@thefulcrum.ca Kyle “Charlotte Flair” Darbyson Managing Editor content@thefulcrum.ca Graham “Malala Yousafzai” Robertson News Editor news@thefulcrum.ca Anchal “Samar Yazbek” Sharma Arts and Culture Editor arts@thefulcrum.ca Alexa-Eliza “Audrey Hepburn” Carter Features Editor features@thefulcrum.ca Nico “Nellie McClung” Laliberte Sports Editor sports@thefulcrum.ca Eric “Ruth Bader-Ginsburg” Davidson Opinions Editor opinions@thefulcrum.ca Jaclyn “Michelle Obama” McRaeSadik Visual Editor visual@thefulcrum.ca David “Laverne Cox” Campion-Smith Social Media Coordinator social@thefulcrum.ca Allegra “CeCe McDonald” Morgado Outgoing Social Media Coordinator Reine “Zadie Smith” Tejares Webmaster webmaster@thefulcrum.ca Zack “Viola Desmond” Goobie Associate Sports Editor associatesports@thefulcrum.ca

EDITORIAL

So you want to be elected to the SFUO? Don’t fall victim to past mistakes Leave your personal life at the door A special Board of Administration meeting on Jan. 11 revealed a number of interesting tidbits about the executive’s misuse of the Student Federation of the University of Ottawa’s (SFUO) resources. And unfortunately, this wasn’t the first time.

According to comptroller general Tanner Tallon’s most recent report, SFUO president Romeo Ahimakin linked his personal phone bill to the SFUO credit card, which Tallon called “essentially breaking policy.” In Tallon’s September 2016 report, it was noted that the executives had racked up a tab at Pivik for when they forgot their wallet and could not pay. This situation led to the implementation of a discount for SFUO executives, resulting in a $1,000 loss at the convenience store, which only made $7,000 in the previous year.

So, you want to be elected to the SFUO this year? Try keeping your personal life out of your work life. You are not in this job to freeload off of a student business because you can’t remember to put your wallet in your pocket. You are not elected vice-president so that you can have your phone bill paid off by students. You’re here to work. Period. Stop using SFUO resources as a way to make your personal life easier, because with actions like these it’s extremely easy for students to stop trusting that your leadership is really with their best interests in mind.

—Graham Robertson, News Editor.

Zainab “Dalia Mogahed” Al-Mehdar Associate News Editor associate.news@thefulcrum.ca

—Savannah Awde, Editor-in-Chief.

Marta “Jan Wong” Kierkus Staff Photographer photographer@thefulcrum.ca Syed “Janet Mock” Zeehad Multimedia Coordinator multimedia@thefulcrum.ca Lucas “Oprah Winfrey” Ghosn General Manager manager@thefulcrum.ca Shanèl “Maya Angelou” Dear Advertising Representative ads@thefulcrum.ca

Contributors

Rich “Rupi Kaur” Larson Alex “Pitseolak Ashoona” Huluta Janoah “Lupita Nyong’o” Victoria Willsie Curtis “Meryl Streep” Rafter Nicholas “Ngozi Okonjo Iweala” Robinson Eric “Demasduit” Davison Anastasiia “Mimi Alemayehou” Cherygova Yomi “Winona Ryder” Orims Parker “Missy Elliot” Townes

Board of Directors

Mackenzie “Wendy Davis” Gray Kate “Beverley McLachlin” Murray Nadia “Sheila Watt-Cloutier” Drissi ElBouzaidi Jonathan “Maureen Googoo” Rausseo Raghad “Roxane Gay” Sheikh-Khalil Will “Susan B. Anthony” Hume Niharika “Simone de Beauvoir” Namulla Thivya “Billie Holiday” Naganathan Julia “Lisa LaFlamme” Miraflores Maggie “Sylvia Plath” Gollish

Engage with clubs and federated bodies Representing students at the highest level—as executives of the student federation—means understanding the needs of the average student, many of whom are part of one of the numerous clubs or fed bodies on campus. While it obviously isn’t a requirement to be president of five clubs or your fed body to run in the SFUO election, you should be engaged in some way with smaller student-run initiatives. And students want an executive who will provide them with the tools they need to better facilitate these initiatives.

Whether it’s helping out with promotion, providing clubs with funding or other resources, ensuring that fed body roundtables are held each month, or simply being present at events, showing that you care about students and their activities on campus goes a long way.

Often times it may feel like there is a disconnect between the SFUO executive and the rest of the students on campus, which is why students say that “the SFUO does not represent them.” The best way to bridge this gap and promote a more inclusive campus environment starts with active dialogue with students, and that’s exactly what candidates should do if they want to be a successful member of the SFUO executive.

Master your social media kung fu These days conventional wisdom dictates that if you’re running for office and you’re not constantly reminding people on Facebook or Twitter, you might as well not be running at all.

With this in mind, don’t take after the current SFUO administration and completely half ass your social media presence.

After all, the student union doesn’t exist just to remind us about their new app or upcoming community barbeques.

They have a responsibility to keep students in the loop about about important democratic processes like by-elections and General Assemblies, something the SFUO has neglected for a long time.

Obviously I’m not the first person to make this observation, but if you want to be taken seriously as a candidate in the upcoming election you’ll probably need to make sure that your social media kung fu is strong.

Show us the money Several of the recent scandals around the SFUO have involved money—like how much executives spent on taxis, PIVIK discounts, etc. Other fundamental issues, like problems with student businesses such as 1848 and, you know, the fact that the student union almost went bankrupt, are rooted in money as well. To help solve these issues going forward, execs need the help of a body of students who understand the situation.

How do we get there? Just show us the money. The SFUO already posts a budget—let’s just expand that to include things like executive salaries and major expenses, along with status reports on student businesses. If students can see the numbers, not only will it make them understand the situation better and want to help work on a solution, but it will buy you a lot of good will—who doesn’t love transparency?

Also, maybe don’t spend thousands of dollars on fireworks.

—Kyle Darbyson, Managing Editor.

—Eric Davidson, Opinions Editor.

Cover: Jaclyn McRae-Sadik.

thefulcrum.ca

EDITORIAL | 19

Jobs you didn’t even know existed Are you a student looking for work or simply in-between jobs?

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