volume 103 • issue 6 • thesheaf.com
the
Sheaf
City Hall
Council avoids hard choices in civic review
Education
Just how useless is an arts degree? Page 9
Page 3
Campus
New residences unveiled, 350 spots available for fall
Page 12
Huskies
President MacKinnon still wants a new hockey rink
Page 17
Film
The Sheaf goes to the Toronto International Film Festival
Pages 20 & 21
Radio
CFCR 90.5 FM fundraises with live shows.
Page 24
The University of Saskatchewan student newspaper since 1912
Governor General visits U of S campus
Huskies cheerleading no more
His Excellency the Right Honourable David Despondent team forced to Johnston hopes to build a ‘smart and caring nation’ return jerseys Dorian Geiger
“Yes, you. I hope this isn’t about the Canadian Wheat Board!”
TANNARA YELLAND Senior News Editor At precisely 2:15 p.m. on Sept. 13, the crowd gathered in Convocation Hall fell silent as if they had been shushed by an intimidating teacher. There was no one at the front of the room, and even the man they were waiting to see had not yet appeared. But within moments a short procession of photographers in military garb signaled Governor General David Johnston’s entrance into the room. Johnston, Canada’s 28th Governor General, made a brief stop at the University of Saskatchewan on Tuesday as part of a national university tour. When he took the podium he described his pre-speech jitters. He had asked U of S President Peter MacKinnon, whom Johnston calls a close personal friend, for direction and said, “The instructions were, ‘Provide a message that is short, warm and inspiring.’ And that terrified me.” Johnston explained his terror by sharing a story about some graffiti he saw on a hand dryer during his first month working at McGill in 1979. The graffiti read, “Press this button for a short, warm, inspiring message from your principal.” Despite lacking resolution or a clear punchline, the story elicited laughter from the largely adult
audience. A former president of the University of Waterloo and lifelong academic who attended both Oxford and Harvard before returning to Canada, Johnston understands the importance of post-secondary education. His short speech was tailored to this idea: he focused on the role education will play in creating “a smarter, more caring Canada.” “When we are at our best,” he said, “our most energetic and aware, we view everything we do as learning.” During his speech Johnston complimented the campus’s architecture as well as the pioneering spirit in Saskatchewan, mentioning provincial hero Tommy Douglas to much appreciative head-nodding. Afterward, he took questions from the audience for about 10 minutes. Most of the questions were softballs dealing with topics like how to instill a love of learning in youth (“early childhood and even pre-natal intervention”) and how good Johnston’s relationship with the opposition is (he plans to have a dinner with members of the opposition when he returns to Ottawa). But with time for just one more question, an audience member stood to ask Johnston what he planned to do about the federal government’s plan to disband the
Raisa Pezderic
Canadian Wheat Board. “Just recently, a major proportion of individuals in the agriculture section of this part of the country described in a plebiscite their wish to have” the Canadian Wheat Board remain in its current capacity, he said. “I guess my question is, how can the Governor General provide royal assent to such a bill given those circumstances?” After pausing and then saying he couldn’t say much without “definitely crossing some lines,” Johnston said he felt it would no longer be appropriate for the Governor General to veto a bill that had passed in both the House of Commons and the Senate. “To take it away from that particular matter, and put it in a more general context, we do have responsible government,” Johnston said. “Canada really is the birth of responsible government.... They may have had it in the States, but it took a civil war between 1860 and 1865 to solve some of those issues. “Canada’s had responsible government since 1842, and that’s really what’s at stake” if a Governor General were to veto a bill.
Friday night lights, tailgating, fireworks and Huskies cheerleaders — they’re all part of the rich football tradition at the U of S. Sadly, however, one of these facets has been removed from Huskies football culture and will no longer be found at Griffiths Stadium. It’s the Huskies cheerleading team. Perhaps, Cheer Team Formerly Known As The Huskies is the more accurate term. Forbidden to stunt at the Sept. 9 game between the Huskies and University of Regina Rams, the cheer team showed up anyway to make a statement. That statement came in the form of custom made t-shirts. “We are all Huskies,” read the front of the shirts. “Except the cheer team,” read the back. In an unexpected move by Huskie Athletics, the 20-person co-ed team has been prohibited from operating under the athletic program’s name and logo, and can no longer perform at games. This year would have marked the cheer team’s 20th anniversary. Huskie Athletics has the Huskies name and logo copyrighted but, according to the StarPhoenix, lacks a policy regulating its use. Right now, it is reserved for the organization’s 15 Canadian Interuniversity Sport teams. In June, the cheer team’s head coach Todd Knihnitski received a letter from Huskie Athletics’ lawyers notifying him of the decision to disallow the team’s use of the name and logo. The letter also demanded that the team return all their brand new gear and uniforms. Knihnitski was flabbergasted at the legal document, given his longstanding relationship with Huskie Athletics. A former Huskies wrestler, Knihnitski doesn’t hold any ill will towards athletic director Basil Hughton or Huskie Athletics. Rather, he disagrees with how things played out. “I respect Basil. I didn’t agree with the way they handled it. I think Huskie Athletics needs to revisit this whole thing,” said Knihnitski. “I think they’re restructuring. He’s doing his job. I’m trying to advocate for the athletes.” When asked why Huskie Athletics didn’t meet with the cheer team to announce the decision
rather than sending a letter, Hughton replied, “It was out of my hands.” He, too, wishes the situation would have been handled differently. As to the abrupt nature of the decision, Hughton repeatedly said that Huskie Athletics wants to “move in a new direction.” Somewhat of a cheer guru, Knihnitski, 36, has been coaching the Huskies since 2005. He also operates his own private gym and cheer team in Saskatoon under the name Prairie Fire Cheerleading. Shanda Leftley, the cheer team’s co-captain, is still upset at what happened. “It was out of the blue. Just the way they did it really hurt us. It was in the works for a while and we had no warning,” said Leftley. “We like going to football games and we like being a part of that and now we no longer get to do it. We no longer get to represent our athletic program in the sport that we’re in either.” Following the legal document sent by Huskie Athletics, Hughton agreed to meet with Leftley and other co-captains Ashely Haugen and Brayden Obed to discuss the situation. They arrived at a compromise. The cheer team will still function, but independent of the Huskies. They will be registered as a club under the University of Saskatchewan Students’ Union. The other issue was the new jerseys the team had just bought. Initially, when the cheer team was asked to return all of their gear and Huskies-affiliated clothing, they were devastated. This was going a little far, said Leftley, especially since the team purchased new uniforms and clothing last season after fundraising thousands of dollars. Had they known Huskie Athletics was going to dissolve the team, they never would have bought the jerseys. She felt that this was salt in the wound. “We wouldn’t have bought a ton of new stuff. I understand why we have to give it back. It still hurts because we really liked representing with the uniforms. And it was our money so that’s the part that really sucked.” The team returned their uniform tops with the Huskies logo on them but are allowed to keep their bags, shirts and skirts as long as they are
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Cheerleaders cont. on