Ultra Vires Vol 3 Issue 3 2001 Nov

THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO FACULTY OF LAW

\t OLliME 3 Iss '

UE

3

• NOVEMBER 20, 2001

Five,year Plan Focuses on Building Students look for clear stance on tuition

BY TIM WILBUR

tat ion has been a parr of the process from the beginning. · The dean's five-year plan for the law school "I am hoping that people see what we wtll be unveiled in the next few weeks are saying now as a continuation of a cona.mld criticism that studentll will have lirrl~ versation we have been hanng for the past tim~ t? review the document and provide their mput. The plan is being produced two years with student' and f.'lculty," he stated. The dean points co numerous town after numcrou~ student consultations and hall meetings and focus groups as evidence del;ys t!uc to the marks scandal of last year. of this consultation.

I Will Circulate a discussion document Second-year student Claire Hunter that will be made available to faculty and agrees there was a lot of consultation with ~tudents," stated Dean Ron Daniels. students in the lead-up to the academic ?nee there is a document ro react to, we plan. "I was actually happy with the conwill hold a town hall meeting." The dean sultation that was done last year," she hopes that this document will be sent to explained. the provost some time in December.

However, Hunter acknowledges that no . Third-year student Jacob Glick, who document existed at the time of these conms on the provostial committee reviewing sultations. "There should maybe be anoththe document itself, ~ concerned that er round of consultation when there is an interested students will nor have much actual document to refer to," she said. time to review the academic plan.

Hunter also poinb out that students on "Because of how comprcs~ed the process the committee may have a different focus b, there is little time to consult on any dis- than the dean. "I think that access in gencu ion documents that are produced by eral is what the students will be concerned the lprovosua\1 committee," he said. with, although the new butldmg is probaGlick b also concerned with the time of bly going to be a major focus (of the plan]." }'ear char the document will be released.

There is no intention ar rhc momcnr co I "By November 13, students aren't inter- include any concrete proposals on approested in academic planning, they are more priate tUitions levels in the plan. j interested in preparing for exams."

Although the dean has promised no The five-year academic plan is essen- tuition money will be used to fund the new tially a JUstification to the university for building, students continue to rarse conThird-'Jear tuy .soldzer Mike Hollinger lurks around lhe SLS Hallowe'en Part)' on Nat.'. 2. funds that the law school receives. It sets cerns about where their tuition fees will go. out the law school's priorities for the next First-year student Aaron Delaney, who sits few years, demonstrating to the university on Faculty Council, points out that deferadministration what the law school plans ring other sources of funding to the buildto do with its money. A major focus of the ing, such as alumni and government supcurrent plan will be a proposal for a new port, means tuition will have to pick up U ofT maintains share of jobs, though scandal still looms butlding, doubling the amount of space at the slack in other areas.

"The number one priority [in the the law school.

BY SALMAN HAQ more students with summer positions than The plans call for the five-storey struc- report] will be the new building. It has a two summers ago, but not as many as last ture to replace the building adjoining $60 million price tag. The dean says this Preliminary results indicate that law stu- year."

Goldberg also cautioned that it is too Flavelle House. The architectural firm, won't come from tuition, but everything dent recruitment for the summer of 2002 has dropped 10 to 15 per cent over last Hariri Pontarini, has been working on the else will," Delaney said.

Delaney cites increases in faculty summer. The total number of students Please see "Finns," page 7 current Flavelle renovations. hired at ten large Bay Street firms contactAccording to the dean, student consul- salaries as one cause of rising tuition fees. ed by Ultra Vires dropped to 161 from 187.

The share of JObs garnered by University of Toronto law students at these firms remamed stable - 50 m 2001 and 44 in

Summer Recruitment Down

UVINDEX

2002.

Waterrolour rendering of rht proposed U ofT law building (Hariri Pontarini, archirects).

Bonnie Goldberg, Assistant Dean of Career Services, said that firms "over-hired last year," and she knew that this year hiring would be down. "Summer programs are still viable, but I'd be surprised if firms internally weren't thinking about their business plans," said Goldberg. "We have

Lunch with Samer, P4 Alternative Careers, p8 Jihad at the Law School, plO Book Review: The Security of Freedom, p14 • Children & Diversions, p18 • • • •

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NEWS

ULTRA VIRES

20 NOVEMBER 2002

- - - NEWS Faculty of Law Holds Conference on Anti~ terrorism Legislation --~--

Official Opening of the Rowell Room

UV Briefs BY

nM WILBUR,

NoAH GnTERMAN,

II II

AND DAN MURDOCH

Renovations Close to Completion After cxtcnswe construction mto the tall, it appears that students "ill be able to wmc most of thctr cxt~m:. at the Ia\\ school. "On our tcmative schedule, '' c "til 1x- ahle tu ha\'e all exams here, apart from the computer lahs," ~md Assistant Dean Lo~ Chtang. "\Ve \\ill be tblc to ha\e all ex::m1s on :;rte. Tlus IS assummg that FLA and FL(; arc ready br rhen, and '' e h;l\ c been told the~

",JJ be."

<. 'hmng has :,,ud that FLC should be finrshcd some nmc dunng exams, and hopes that almost all classes next scrm'Stcr wJIJ be held at the law schooL

Still no director for the International Human Rights Programme Snlllent~ v.·ill still have rhe opportunity co participate in the Internanonal Human Rights Programme (IHRP). despite the fact that no director has been found to head rhe programme. The law school first announced fundrng for a full-rime Director in rhe summer of 2000. Last year, Carol Chandran was htred to till the post for approx;mately SIX months, and she left at the enJ of the academic )ear. The school is snll searching tor a permanent ThtectOl, ovet a 'fUt aftet the \)()Sitton was announced.

Assistant Dean Lois C....'hJang said that the admmrstration is m the midst of choosing from a pool of eligib\e candidates. "The fust deadline was October \5, in getting \1\iRP} committee togetheL l have already

me

~ . . .~grif'IW k••-h+''•--" . . GatfliJ, who partidpstal m che programme last summe~; was happy with thc results. "If (the administration] has time to cultivate the <:ontacts, tt may not be a problem," Garfin said. "!But) it is tmportant to have a coordinator, because tt is important that organ!· zanons know they are being recommended by an mstitution like U ofT."

New UV editors The UV editorial board welcomes

two new editors:

Bemtna Butt in News, Student Affaus; and Joseph A.G. Bcrkovits in Editorial & Optruon.

Correction last issue's page 1 story incorrectly identified Tim Wilbur as the author of "Transcnpts for December Exams." The COrtt.'Ct author was Semina Butt.

The New UV Website: Same Address, Better Links

SLS President BenJU! Shinewald addresses the Grand Opening of the newly renovated Rowell Room. The Honourable Henry N.R. Jackman, Chancellor of the University of Toronto, is seen here in the background. Chancellor Jackman donated $200,000 to the school for the renovations to the room, which continues co be named after his grandfather, the Honourable Neu·ton Wesley Rowell. His parents originally donated money to the law schoolm 1966 to create the Rou•eU Room, u·hich at the time was earmarked for an intematioTUlllaw library. The Grand Opening raised the bar for law school receptio11S, complete with free flou•ing champagne, SeTtlers rather than a buffet, and a harpist.

More Semestered Courses for First. .Year Students Faculty continues to fiddle with curriculum B>"

TIM WILBUR

Semesterization for first year students rna~ become a reality in the ncar future as Faculty Council agam looks at ways to improve the first-year program.

This new initiative comes after numerous Faculty Council reports and committees on c urriculum over the past few years. Changing Civil Procedure into a halfyear, first-semester course was only one aspect of a comprehensive set of recommendations made by Associate Dean Mayo Moran's Curriculum Committee last year.

"Last year, we broke the taboo on scmesterization," said Ernie Weinrib, who chairs the newly formed curriculum committee. Weinrib hopes that rhe semesrerizarion of Civil Procedure will be the first step to full semesterization for first year.

Weinrib believes semestenzation would increase the administration's ability to improve the first year c urriculum . "If we semesterize, we will be able to have eight or nine courses, which would mean that we would be able to cover more areas," Wcinrib says. "We should be able to enlarge t he public law component. [Scmestcrization also] creates t he possibility of one unit being a writing course. With the present distribution of courses, we can't do that. What I suspect is that rhe first-year curriculum doesn't prepare students for second and third

www,law.utoronto.ca/ultravires

Weinrib is keen to receive feedback from students about semt!literization. "I would be very inrerelited in student views on this. If anyone wants to email me their views, that would he very appreciated."

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year."

For many students, however, the increased flexibility comes with a substantial downside. "I am not sure if the increase in flexibiliy that semesterization would give us is worth the tradeoff in terms of increased stress and pressure [of marks for first semester]. I would have to have really compelling reasons for that tradeoff," said first-year student Aaron Delaney, who sits on Faculty Council.

Upper-year students echo Delaney's reluctance to have official evaluation for students four months into first year.

"Being able to learn how to learn the law takes a while," said third-year student Laurie Jessome.

Weinrib acknowledges that semesrerization may increase pressure for students m December, but he thinks the re arc ways to lessen this pressure.

"We would have to give some thought to whether we need the transcripts in the present form, or something more relaxed." Weinrib cites Yale as a possible example, where first semester courses arc evaluated on a pass/fail basis.

A Harpist at the Rowell Room Grand Opening.

Faculty receptions will never be the same.

The free champagne was pretty damn good too.

Noah had five gl:~s~s.

Professor Duff- won't make us buy a fourth volume for tax!

Library suggestion board - su~cstion goes in the box, re~ponse goes on the board. The admin should be raking notes.

Coffee house - sweet, ~wect music.

Macs

Bill C--36 could capture peaceful civil disobedience, say panelists

BY STEPHAN1E

W AI<EFIELD

In rapid response to the federal government's proposed anti-terrorism legislation, the faculty of law held a conference on Bill C-36 on Nov. 9 and 10. Titled "The Security of Freedom," the conference drew more than 350 lawyers, students, government officials and community activists ro the Isabel Bader Theatre ar Victoria College.

Consisting of presentations and panels over two full days, the conference also included two surpnse announcements.

Representatives from the Department of justice had agreed ro respond to criticism of the legislation in closing remarks and the conference proceedings were ro be published in book form just one week later.

In a bid to ger tough on terrorists after Sept. II and to honour Canada's international commitments, Bill C-36 will amend ten statutes and ratify two international convennons. The bill seeks to define and criminalize terrorist activities, and will affect a broad range of areas including access ro infonnation and charitable organizations. A number of Canadians have voiced concerns about the scope of rhe bill and the speed with which it is being implemented.

Following the bill's introduction by the Justice Minister on Oct. 15, the conference was planned in remarkably short

the preparation of reflective essays at the rop of their scholarly agendas," Daniels said.

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Clayton Ruhy- wouldn't have lunch With Samer "if his life depended on 1t."

Squirrel~, pigeons, raccoons, m1cc, rats, cockroaches, etc. in and around Falconer. If I W"Jnted wildlife I'd have gune to UVic.

11

"We really only had one organizational you've been even a small meeting," said Professor Kent Roach. "The part of the democratic bill hadn't been our for long - only two or three weeks. We did a very rough and process. These are ready division of labour, then everyone important issues, not just for went off and wrote therr papers. We had research assistants helpmg us and we lawyers but for all shared information."

Canadians," , Kent Roach Participants in rhe conference were mostly drawn from within the faculty.

Martin Friedland gave a paper on "Police ist group.

Powers in Infom1ation Gathering", whtle "I think people felt it was their chance SuJit Choudry spoke about "Ethnic and ro say something," said second-year sruRacial Profiling and the Charter." Other denr Leigh Salsberg. "So often they don't conTributors included Janice Stein, Israeli get the chance." Salsberg also noted that scholar Oren Gross, and MP Irwin Cotler. most speakers continued to take questions The papers were given in panel sessions, cluring the breaks, and that many stayed followed by Q&A sessions with rhe audi- and listened to the entire conference. ence.

Having made the decision to hold the Two recumng critiques from the pan- conference, Dean Daniels approached the elists concerned the breadth of the definiInternational Studies) gave a talk at the tion of terrorist activity, which could cap- University of Toronto Press ro publish a book accompanying the conference. The faculty," said Professor Patrick Macklem, ture peaceful - albeit illegal - ctvil disobedione of the key organizers of the event. ence, and at the lack of an external review book, called "The Security of Freedom: "She signaled what was going on in procedure when information is declared Essays on Canada's Anti-Ten:orism Bi\\," was produced very quidt\'V and ed\te<l ~ Ottawa, and said that the academy should secret by the federal government.

Roach, 'Da.n,e\., and MacV..\cm. ~)' the end get more involved in public debate on the Audience reaction ~o the b\\\ in the of the week, copies had been given to topic." question periods was almost universally eve[\' MP and Senator, to members of the Dean Ron Daniels, whom Macklem negative. CommentS ranged from concerns Justice department, and to every ma)or credits as the "driving force" of the confer- over \tl> \mpact on immi!fC<U\t communiti~ media out\et \n the c.ountr)'. Roach note!. ence, described it as a collective effort. to whether it would now be considered a that he aho sent a copy to ~ \e dm

l..owdoo'Jl Being booted out of the Rowell Room.

3

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NEWS

4

ULTRA VIRFS

NEWS

20 NOVEMBER 2001

U of T President Feels Heat Over Cold Lunch

BY S~iER MUSCATI

LUNCH WITH SAMER

hen Robert Birgeneau accept· cd the ro~t of University of Toronto president last year, he looked forward tO what should have been a tranquil homecoming.

After all, the city and univer~ity hold many fond memories for the 59-year-old Birgcneau. He was born and raised here and recein:d his phpics degree from U ofT before headtng off to study at Y.1le anJ Oxfi1rd and teach at MIT. Although he b glad ro be back, hb return ha~ been anything bur placid.

Since hb rime in office, the institution h01s I'Cen acracked for stifling academic freedom. The univer~ity face:. a lawsuit fi>r revoking a professor's job offer after he cnrimed a corporate funder's product. And, perhaps even more embarrassing, the university has had to apologize to a law professor after it publicly investi· gated her for comments she made in class.

W.'ho: U ofT president Robert Birgeneau has also had to deal with a Birgeneau mark-falsification scandal at the law WIJeTe: Simcoe Hall, Office of the school rhat saw 17 srudents suspended, President and charges of unethical practices at the 'XIhen: Friday, November 9 medical faculty.

Di.sh: Roast beef sandwich, $3.95; Add to that list a group of distinChicken wrap, $3.25 guished retired female professors seeking redress for years of unfair wages, and widespread concerns over private sector He is at ease talking about his underinfluence on research, and you have a graduate experiences at the U ofT. After ruffled president who doesn't have the a\\, this ilt whetc he fe\\ in \ove. His story time or i.nc\i.nati.on to go for \unch mter· \ of how, during frosh week, he connected views wirh srudcnr reporters. with his future wife of 3 7 years resurrects But I persist. After a week of discusmy faded hopes of finding a sugar mama sions wtth Ius army of assistants, they at the Jaw school. Birgeneau encourages finally grant me an interview • but not me, noting that former U ofT president without conditions: 1 have to email cer· Robert Prichard met hiS significant other tain questions to him beforehand, I have at the law school. only 30 minutes, and we can't leave his As the questions become more serious office (wh1ch is more spacious than my and I press him on the controversies he apartment) for lunch. has had to deal with, he loses his smile I agree, but come armed: My schooland looks uncomfortable. Repeated quesbag conceals three not-so-scrumptious tions concerning academic freedom sandwiches from the law school "cafeteappear to make his roast beef sandwich ria." At first, Birgeneau • who has been even more unpalatable. He abandons it described as a lanky Jimmy Stewart on the table after a couple of bites. lookalike' • appears alarmed as I empty "We should switch to some more posithe somewhat flattened loot on his contive things," he comments about our disference table. However, he eventually cussion. "I hope there are some positive accepts my frugal offering of a chicken things that you'll ask about." wrap and a roast beef sandwich.

W

Academic Freedom Birgeneau can't be blamed if he's tired of talking about the $9.4-million law~uit his univerloity f.1ces from David Healy, or the Denise Reaume and Nancy Olivien aff.1irs. The cases have received widespread press coverage and have been a recurring headache for Birgeneau.

To defend the university against the negative publicity, the president felt it nece~sary to write an opinion piece in the U)fOnto Star last month titled "Academic freedom b alive and well at the Univer ity of Toronto."

Healy was offered a job as the clinical direccor of the mood disorders and anxiety program at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, as well as a faculty appointment at the university. But the offer was withdrawn last fall, one week after he gave a lecture in Toronto linking suic1de to Prozac. Eli Lily & Co., an important donor ro the centre, makes the anti-depressant.

"I think the Healy case is terrible and that it was handled very badly, but it wasn't an issue of academic freedom," Birgeneau says. "It was an issue of offering a position to a person who in the end they Judged was inappropriar,."

When asked how such a mistake could have been made, Birgeneau acknowledges that the hiring process was not very thorough, and that the commit· tee picked someone without much deliberation. (l should have told him to ask our Dean's reappointment committee of last year for

tip~ .)

He says significant

changes have now been made to the hiring practices, including stricter guidelines.

The case of Olivieri is similar to Healy's in that it highlights the conflicts of interest that can arise when private comp~nies sponsor research. Olivieri has been battling the Hospital for S1ck Children and the university for years, smce she first expressed safety concerns over a drug made by Apotex. Last month, a 540-page report commissioned by the Canadian Association of Univers1ty Teachers concluded that Olivieri should get redress "for the unfair treatment she received."

Birgeneau says that the Olivieri busi· ness has gone on long enough and

"everyone involved in it should just move on." He doesn't give much credence to the report because "neither the hospital nor rhe U ofT participated in 1t.

This is JUst some out~ide group."

B1rgeneau categorizes the two cases as atypical. He says they are complicated and involve other variable~ beside academic freedom, but isn't at liberty to talk about them. "Experiences held by two out of 5,000 don't ncces~arily reflect the entire environment and if you go around and talk to faculty you'll find, overwhelmingly, that this is one of the freest . " cnv1ronment:..

However, his view isn't shared by many academics. Earlier this month, 27

Birgeneau, described as a lanky }immy Stewart lookalike, appears alarmed as I empty the flattened sandwiches on the table. prominent medical scientists - including two Nobel Prize winners - criticized the university in an email to Birgeneau, stating that retracting the job offer from Healy was an "affront to the standards of free speech and academic freedom."

It continued: "This entire affair is poisoning the reputation" of the U ofT's psychiatry department "and bc~mirchin g the name of one of North America's

5

Over 100 Students Typing Exams this Term Some concerned about Soffest, blocking software from ExamSoft cacy of SofTest, were both discussed at Faculty Council. But it did not proceed to The coming exam period will see an a vote. "The committee had made the unprecedented number of ways to write an decision," said Assiscant Dean Lois exam, and a trial run, for this school, of Chiang. "There are a number of commit· blocking software that prevents students tees where ... it's brought to Faculty from accessing personal files when working Council for information only."

Questions remain about problems stuon laptops. dents may encounter with the anti-blocking Those wishing to write on PC laptops software.

"I don't like [ExamSoft's] business were required to download SofTest, a promodel," said third-year student Stephen gram from ExamSoft Worldwide that blocks access to files on the hard drive and Parks. "They use a closed IP system."

This means that the program code is not the Internet. The software had to be registered by November 14, and a registration available for analysis by external auditors, making it harder for users to know potenfee of $45 had to be paid.

The decision to use blocking software tial complications. Parks acknowledged, was made by the Laptop Committee in its however, that this is a common practice in report to Faculty Council. Concerns had the industry.

The Registrar's Office of Harvard Law been raised that students writing on laptops can access files on their hard drive or even School has released a report outlining its prepare template answers in advance. experience with SofTest. Though the Software such as that provided by ExamSoft report is largely positive, it does point to 1s becoming increasingly popular at schools the risk of program difficulties before and that allow exam-writing on laptops. during exams. These could force students According to the New York Times, the to switch to handwriting at the last minute, leading providers of these programs are or even during the exam. According to the Software Secure Inc. and ExamSoft, with report, this happened to three of 49 ExamSoft being very popular with law Harvard students in Spring 2000, only "1 schools and bar associations. As of last or 2" of over 200 students in Fal\2000, and winter, over 80 U.S. law schools were using ten of 215 students in Spring 2001.

Some U ofT law student:, had difficulSoffcst from ExamSoft, including top uni· vcrsities such ns Harvnrd and Georgetown. ties downk,ading the program. Gai\ Wong The need for the software, and the effi- (Ill) was unable to successfully \aunch the

BY DAN MURDOCH

program on her laptop, even though it met dred" students have registered for the the program specifications. As she was ExamSoft option. The school pays $30 US unable to contact ExamSoft support, for each student using the software, and which closes at 5:30 p.m., she downloaded the company requires at least one hundred the program on a frienfs computer. students to register from each school.

"Given the problems I had with installa- Although the $45 CON charged thlS year tion ... I'm not confident using this program will not fully cover the fee due to continuing drops in the exchange rate, the school during exams," said Wong.

Another third-year student, Alix does not intend to subsidize the cost in Dostal, was able to download SofTest but future years.

"This is a pilot year," said Chtang. "Every has noticed subsequent changes to her system configurations. "My desktop is now year after this will go much smoother."

Students have three other exam-writing ExamSoft green," she said.

The administration tested two competl· options. Macs and older laptops cannot tors of ExamSoft, but chose SofTest run SofTest, but students with these combecause it is an older, more established pro- puters can continue to use them without gram. According to Chiang, members of blocking software and free of charge for a the Laptop Committee were issued test two-year transition period. They will write versions of the program this past summer. in a room w1th additional invigilators to They were then asked to email the school guard against cheating. Students without with comments, and to encourage other laptops have the option to write on deskstudents to try the program. Chiang could tops in a univerSity computer lab. They will not recall receiving any replies. also be charged a $45 fee to cover the lab Sanjana Rajan, a student representative rental. And lastly, students can of course on the Laptop Committee, acknowledged continue to handwrite exams, free of that the committee members received test charge, in a room at the law school.

Questions about the differences versions of the program, but did not personally try it out. "As far a:. 1 know, between handwriting and ~\n\1, exams {Coordinator for Information Setv\cc~ Tec.l w\\\ c.ontmue to be considered. Mark Tjnden \ wa5 the only one who reported breakdowns for handwritten ver~us typed back to the e<;>mmittee," said Rajan. He exams have always been kept by the 5C.hoo\. "We'\\ be monitonng a\\ al>p\:Cts of gave the program a rositive teview.

Chi.ang ays that Mdd\n\tc\'1 lWeT -a hun- \!)(.::\,\"\"\ wn\\ny..n <::.0\"\~\TTtU. C:.n\a\\11,.

grea t rcM.-.a r<.:h untvc.."r ... lttt."~."

Law school scandal The ttniversity also came under intense fire last year after publicly revealing that it was investigating comments made in class by Reaume. She postulated that students could thwart Bay Street's reliance on unofficial December marks if they collectively submitted straight-A grade reports.

The university later dropped their investigation and apologized amid criti· cisms from across campus and North America that Reaume was unfairly tar· geted. Birgeneau says the apology was appropriate and the university should

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ULTRA VIRES

N E WS

6

Osgoode Legal Clinic Fires Review Council CLASP students resign over policy against representing accused domestic abusers conflict of interest due to their specific division that deals with battered women as criminal review counsel at a ranonale for this policy.

O~goode Hall's student legal clinic "We 'arc advancing a set of values in was fired recently for oppo~ing a inherent conflict with defending men policy lO tum away men accused of domes- charged with domestic violence," stated tic assault. Five student members of CLASP executive director Glenn Stuart.

O~goode's Community Legal Atd Services Men charged with domestic assault, Program have also resigned m support of however, often need to rely on publicly David McComb, who was terminated after funded legal clinics for help. Legal Aid for a private criminal lawyer is typically reserved labelling the policy an embarrassment.

As stated by Constantin Draghtci- for accused who face potential jail senv.,~ilescu, one of the students involved in tences. And according to David Harris, a this controversy, "Mr. McComb's sudden review counsel for Downtown Legal di.~missal is, in my view, an outrageous act Servtces, men with no prior convictions of silencing dissent." charged with a simple domestic assault Despite the publtcity surroundmg these often face only a conditional discharge. events, and the students' confirmed Once rejected by legal aid, the options for refusals ro rerum to the clinic, CLASP such individuals become very limited. continues to enforce its "no abuser" policy Unlike other offences typically turned for files accepted under the new criminal down for legal aid support, people accused review counsel, Chris Sherrin. of domestic assault do not have the option The policy has been subject to consider- of entering programs that prevent the able criticism by defence attorneys, as well stigmatization of a criminal record. "We do as praise by various equality-seeking not offer diversion programs for these mat¡ group:,. In contrast to Downtown Legal ters," stated Helen Howe, the team leader Services, which continues to defend men for domesti~ assault prosecutions at accu~e~ of domestic assault, CLASP cites a College Park Court. "We really feel such

BY ANGELA jAMES

A

programs would minimize the seriousness of domestic assault."

Conditions placed upon an individual after arrest for domestic assault can also be onerous. A typical condinon prohibits direct or indirect contact with the complainant.

"When individuals are charged with domestic assault, raking the matter to trial can pose an undue hardship for the family.

The people that come to our clinic are often already economically marginalized and often only have one person in their famtly that is working," explained Natasha Calvinho, a third-year law student at DLS. Early resolution programs that are available, however, typically require a guilty plea and result in a criminal record. For example, the Partner Assault Response program places individuals in intensive counselling for 17 weeks after a guilty plea.

Following successful completion of the program, the crown attorney can recommend a conditional discharge. Craig Coughland, a member of the DLS executive, asserts that the outcome of a potential conditional discharge is "generally not constdered a good deal for the accused."

However, the existence of bail condttions can be a strong inducement. "Once people enter our program, we vary thetr condinons if the accused and the victim want to continue their relationship," stated Howe.

Concern nonetheless exists that unrepresented people may be induced to enter guilty pleas. "The judges, in thetr efforts not to undermine the program, may use the conditional discharge as a benchmark and accordingly hand out srronger sentences upon conviction," explained David Harris.

Although men defended through DLS do not typtcally face jail sentences, serious repercussions of a criminal record can nonetheless occur. "Many of the people who come to our clinic are new Canadians and people in the process of becommg Canadian citizens. Any convictions could hinder thetr Immigration applications," Calvinho said.

Harris noted that m his five years as a review counsel at DLS, there has never been a serious proposal to discontinue defending men accused of domestic assault.

U ofT President Unwilling to Budge on Female Pensioners

Fem.ale Pensioners

Frank/rn, who rcw¡ed with a measly pen¡ sion of $20,000.

Birgeneau seems unwilling to budge on the issue. "It's true we've received negative publicity for this and obviously I feel badly about that. On the other hand, I believe that we've done the nght thing."

Ironically, as the Dean of Sctence at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology he won much acclaim - even getting coverage in the New York Times - as a crusader for women's rights. He acknowledged that female scientists at MIT had been grossly discnminated against and ordered a system of redress.

According to U ofT's promotional materials, his pioneering study there on the status of female scientists "has become a blueprint for redressing past injustices of gender discrimination at North American universities."

However, he distinguishes the U ofT case on the basis that the women are asking for retroactive corrections, while the MIT corrections were forward looking.

"It's very unusual to make corrections going backward in time as opposed to going in forward in time. There's typically not much legal basis for that, actually."

Perhaps the biggest thorn in Birgeneau's side has been a group of retired female staff and faculty seeking adjustments to their pensions. They say the university unjustly enriched ttself by paying them less than men of equal or lesser rank, expenence and skill.

On Nov. 9, a court refused to certify them as a class, raising the spectre that the university may face ~many as 108 lawsuits from the women, mostly in their 70~. 80s and 90s. The group includes distinguished scientist and scholar Ursula

For all his troubles, Birgeneau makes $350,000 a year (his wife reportedly makes $60,000 as "university ambassador"), a pay cut of about $100,000 from his previous job. He also has refused a key source of ancillary income; Birgeneau won't sit on any company boards for at least three years because of concerns over corporate influence.

"Money is not a driver in my life .. .I thought a valuable thing for me to do

C.'ommued from "U ofT President, "page 4

have handled the situation differently.

However, he remains adamant that the profe~wr acted incorrectly. "l cannot think of any conditions under which it's appropriate for a profes~or in cia!>~ to recommend to ~tudents that they misrepresent their grades, whether it's for political purposes or not. I pcrM)nally don't believe that's within the range of what we call academic freedom."

Btrgeneau describes the law school scandal, which saw 17 students suspended after falsifying their grades in pursutt of Bay Street jobs, as "terribly unfortunate." But he is vehemently opposed to the suggestion that the school may have

"I cannot think of any conditions under which it's appropriate for a professor.in class to recommend to students that they misrepresent their grades, whether it's for political purposes or not." contributed to the problem because of the heavy Bay Street presence there.

As adults, he says, the students should take re~ponsibility for their actions and not blame the law school environment.

-

"Money is not a driver in my life," says Birgeneau.

"The~e were first-year students who were in the faculty of law for only a couple of months. They've hardly been there long enough to have they psyches altered by the environment of the law school."

................ .............. .

Looking forward

wa~ ro spend ar l ca~t part of my career in a leadership role at a great public university."

Birgeneau is looking forward to getting more comfortable in his administra-

"First,yedr students ... have hardly been there long enough to have they psyches altered by the environment of the law school. "

7

NEWS

20 NOVEMBER 2001

Firms cut back on summer recruitment "frenzy" Grades scandal may cause potential law students to "think twice" about attending U of T over the next few years. When a large segment of the student body does what they are alleged to have done, one has to quesearly to draw any firm conclusions about tion what external pressures caused them summer recruitment. U ofT students norto do it." When he first heard about the mally accept positions all across Canada as scandal, Dominique says he was shocked well as in the United States. Offers from and disappomted. "However, wtthout New York and Boston firms are open until ab~oh-ing these students of responsibility, it Dec. l, whtle many smaller law firms in was, in some way~. the chickens coming Toronto htre students well into the new home to roost because of the recruiting year. frenzy."

According to ~ome fim1 representatives, Dominique cites both recruiting preswho reque~tcd anonymity, the primary rcasure at an ever-increasing early stage and son for the decline in the numhcr of posithe perceived pressure among students to tions is a slower economy. Some students, obtain a job on Bay Srreet as important however, were concemed that last year's external pressures. However, Dominique is grades scandal might adversely affect U ofT qmck to point out that his firm is "not at all students. "It definitely came up in some of concerned about the general quality of stumy inter\lews," satd Joseph Berkovits (II). dents that are currently at the school, or Goldberg said she was never concerned about the quality of students that the facthat the scandal would have any negative ulty will be able tO attract in the future." impact on student recruitment. U ofT stuBay Street beckons - but not as much as last )'ear.

Pomorov, a member of the stuMichal dents were still finding jobs in law and in dents committee at Osler, Hoskin & schools that wanted to be at this firm.

It is other fields at the end of last academic firm did not hire any U of T students for Harcourt, also indicated that changes to not unusual that we miss a school or two 2002.

Cassels Brock & Blackwell hired year, shortly after the scandal broke. "I was the Bar AdmtSstons program contributed gratified last spring not to see a detrimen- seventeen students last summer, of whtch each year, and we come back strongly the to a drop in recruitment from thirt) stutal impact on the student body generally SIX were from U ofT. This year, twelve stu- next year." dents to nineteen at her fi.rm.

Students Nevertheless, Dominique docs wonder and so I was confident students involved in dents htred were from other schools. Brian Septembct 100\ who began artidi.ng in the recruiting process would have no neg- Dominique, chair of the firm's students whether future law school applicants w\\\ he 1\t ntm.S unt\\ )une 1001, un\ike \a:,t ative aspersions cast on them as a result of committee, says the "fact that there are no might think twice about attending U of T summer, when fi.rrns had no students for {U of Tl students being hired in 2002 is a because of the 5canda\. "lf l were a events of last year." ,mristica\ anoma\y and a reflection of the prospccuve student l would wonder about the entire four-month period beginning in W hile U ofT students maintained their number of strong candidates at other the ~canda\ i.n choo~i.ng to attend U of T May. !>h a re of jobs, a t least (>nc m ajor downtown Continued from "Summer," page 1

Facult:y holds conference on new an.ti-terrorisrn lcg isln t:io n Contmued from "Faculty of Law," page 3 Engltsh barrister, who hopes to use it as a basts for analyzing similar UK legislation.

The impact of the book on Bill C-36 has yet to be seen - Jusuce Minister Anne McLellan plans to introduce revtstons on Tuesday. But the response to the conference has been posttive. "I'm stunned at how quickly it was put together, and the feedback I've had was overwhelmingly favourable and enthusiastic," said Professor Jutta Brunnee, who gave a paper on the legblation's international context. Several faculty members welcomed the opportunity for greater colloboration with their col-

leagues.

Even the Justice department had nothing but praise for the conference - although th~ir position on its content was largely defensive. "It made sense," pointed out Leigh Salsberg. 'They were being attacked for two days.

But I didn't get the feelmg they were going to act on what they'd heard."

Lookmg back, Roach declared that "it was exhilerating to think you've been even a small part of the democratic process. I think one message from the conference was that the~e are important issues, not just for lawyers but for aU Canadians."

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I decide not to ask for an explanation.

It's been a long half hour and Birgeneau's appetite ~ccms to he making a comeback.

He makes a valiant attempt at the flaccid roast beef sandwich, in what is probably the highltght of the interview for him.

swhitley@langmichener.ca For more information about our student programs, please visit www.lattgmicheuer.ca TORONTO

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For just $2.50 per issue, you'll receive a fresh copy of Ultra Vires on your doorstep. Keep up with news and issues at the U of T faculty of law.

Send an email to ultra. vi res@ utoronto. ca.

8

NEWS

Deconstructing Terror BtJIT

pies of the 1m porta nee of rcvocanon Both F.nsd Kutt}, lawyer at the Erhm.. protilmg, arrcsnng b; clau>'O}.

CunaJ1an Mushm C1\'1l Liberties ance, ,md Dmcoman amendments w A ociauon, .md Srephen the lmnugranon Act \\ere just some of McCnmmon, A~soc1atl! Counsel wuh the concerns presented on Ocwher Z9 the C:mad1an C1\il Libcr11cs at the ~tudent-org,mul!d panel A~sociation, stressed that 36 mn} be Deconsrrucung Terror: The Legal and unnecessaf}. m'1ng to the alrcad} Social lmplicanons of September 11th 0\ erbroad powers uf CS!S and Bill and Be\ond. Over two-hundred pco· II. McCammon smd that we haH' to pie from ~ithm and \\lthout the law be ~nnc:-tl of our \\lllingncss "to do tcr· school \\ere m arrendance. nhlc things in the semce of (our} con· Students of L·m for the \1cnons," and deems the govenunem·~ Advancement of Minorities (SLAM) amhmon to provide absolute security and the Muslim Law Students' an imposs1blc goal.

Assoc1auon orgamzed the evenr over a Professor Ed Morgan furthered this onc·momh period. "The ~peakers were argument by saying that "self.determi· contacts of various SLAM members," nation docs not justify the unilateral stated Sandra Chu, co-president of usc of force." Such force is only justi· SLAM. fled in the nnme of self-defence. David "The mainstream media hasn't been Orchard, author and runner-up to Joe adequately covering the i~sue:. brought Clark in the 1998 PC part}· leadership up by the panelists and it wa~ impor· race concurred. "This is not a war on tam to provide a forum for alternative terrorism; it is a war on Afghanistan,'' \iews to the current, predominant emphasized Orchard. mentaht}• that we should wage war Consequemlr, "there bas been a and clampdown on civillibenies at all serious backlash against Muslims or CC&t m Otdet to supposedly maintain minoritJes that are perceived to be our freedom," said Samet Muscat\, the Muslims," observed Muscati. "Mosques other co-president of SLAM, \\hen have been firebombed and veiled asked why the forum was arranged. women have been harassed. Even the Sherryn Aiken of the Centre for govemment has imposed a security ~ Studic& edloed MU$C.a.~t. conc\amtxiown on unm.igrant& and cerns. A.t the forum, she prov1ded a refugees. They will be detaining them hl«torrt:..IIMelv ol'. tftJdtmcy to &~ fJittlcttbd".,..,lbi:l -6tli0"blame~ roreign-bom" atter occurdudng a national idennry card, raising rences of social mile. In addition to legirunare concerns that the move· aggravating chis ttend, Aileen is worried ments of immigrants could be traced. that. like the US omnibus anti-terror· In her speech, Mamah Mohamed, ism bill, Canada's version, C-36, will Professor at the Univemty of Science serve to aiminalue human rights work. in Malaysia and Visiting Professor at Greg Lyndon, a human rights work· the Munk Centre, similarly lamented er who had Just returned from a the "embellishment of Islam by the Palcistam refugee camp at the border West with all sons of misconceptions."' of Afghanistan, added that the bill and She noted that Jihad is "a concept other reacuons to September 11 have more metaphorical than real,'" and "challenged [his} sense of the rule of that U.S. papers have perpetuated mis· law We have to find a new language understanding by trying to "decon· for human rights that encompasses struct the motivation of the tenorists." secunty... globaUy: aaserted Lyndon.

She concluded her tallc by exhorting Also troubled by the proposed legis· the need to "bridge the gap between lation, Muscati is upset that C-36laclcs fear and tgnorance. If you do not com· a sunset clause, referring to the WaJ bat this ignorance, no one will win this Measures Act and the wartime intern· war against terrorism and barbarism," ment of Japanese Canadians as exam· Mohamed cautioned.

c.

c.

cd to work m sooal policy, pur!luing an LL.B. "to complement [her! social policy Leilani farha spcab enthu~iastically about iml!rc~t~." It wa~ not until the third year of her po~ition n~ staff lawyer and founder her program that ~he became imcre~tcd in cum manager of the Women's Programme human right~. She took ~everal cour~e~ in at the Centre for Equality Rights in th1s area, and was largely inspired by Accommodation (CERA), a non-profit Profe~sor Jennifer Nedclsky's Feminist NGO. Her combined degree in law and Theory cour~e. socinl work from U ofT was instrumental "That class prov1ded me with a theoret· m sparking her interest in this field. ical legal framework that I still use today," Currently, Farha is strategizing for a enthuses Farha. Farha did not take the Human Rights Board inquiry into "dis· course in Ontario human rights. "I find crimination based on citizenship and place that humorous, given what I do today." of origin." Besides targeting issues of While at U ofT, Farha also worked with homelcssness and housing in Windsor, twenty other women of colour to develop Ontario, Farha is also delving into a feder· Tinderbox, a community-based legal joural government initiative to combat child nal. Her objecuve was to "give voice to poverty, and collaborating with four other marginalized people. I see an intersection women to draft a document • regarding between that kind of thing and what I am economics and women's social rights • to doing today." • be submitted to the United Nations.

After graduating, Farha maintained In January, Farha will resume her partie· contact with CERA while working at an ipation in the intake process at CERA by NGO outside of Canada. Subsequently, representing human rights complainants at the executive d1rector of CERA "wooed" administrative tribunals. her back to Canada.

Before graduating from U ofT in 1995, Farha concedes that there is a "lugh Farha participated in the International turnover generally in the non-government Human Rights Internship Program. She sector,'' but opportunities abound if you \Vt>rkt..•d \.Vith ;tn ()rJ(tJni:z;1tJon in Pnlcstint....

that wanted to Hart a housing rights cam-

paign. She further fueled her interest in accommodation 1ssues by undertaking a placement at CERA as part of her social work program.

Farha cannot speak highly enough about the mternslup experience. "I can't tell you how that influenced me. [ltl con· firmed a commitment to this area of prac· tice."

Although Farha "started in housing and just never left,'' she had originally intend-

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Outreach program seeks to aid society's downtrodden

BY SIMREN DESAI

Students who work at Downtown Legal Services not only represent low-income clients m criminal and civil matters; they also engage in outreach projects to educate marginalized individuals around the city through the DLS Community Outreach program.

"It's part of every legal clinic's mandate to provide legal education because that pertains to servicing underprivileged client5 in the community," explained sec· ond-year student Andrea Slane. Slane and Emily Joyce, also a second-year, coordinate the Public Legal Education component of Community Outreach.

These student crusaders of justice have three mam objectives: to disseminate information on rights and legal procedures to communities that often do not receive the full protection of the law; to help groups apply their newfound knowledge in locating legal services or remed1es for their particular problems; and to help members

of these groups avoid problems with the law by making them feel that the legal sys· tern is meant to serve, not antagonize.

The most important way PLE addresses these objectives is by conducting free legal rights workshops at various victims' shelters and community support centres throughout the city. These workshops target a particular group of people and involve a ~hort lecture-style segment, fol· lowed by a question-and-answer session.

Audience members with existing legal problems are often very curious about how to fight their particular court battles.

When faced with such inquiries the stu· dents must exercise caution.

"We give legal information, not legal advice," said Slane. Not being lawyers, the students must refrain from giving advice during presentations to avoid liability issues.

Some examples of past PLE workshops include: "Victims of Violence," a discussion of the services and remedies available to victims of violent crimes, including

, • ._..,.

Although Farha dreams of being a pho· tographer or taking more studies to keep abreast of "fashionable trends in academic thought," she does not foresee leavtng her job.

"I am a luck):, lucky woman," affirms Farha.

Farha can be reached at leilani@equal· ityrights.org.

CERA's website is: www.equalityrights.org/ccra/.

......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... __

·.

Faculty Offices Renovated The new faculty office complex on the fourth floor of FlaveUe, pictured below, is almost complete. A combination of a renovated loft, summer cottage and advertising firm, the new space is the place to be for the law school's professors. Forget the Rowell Room, let's hang out up there.

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For more information please contact spinlaw@canada.com

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Adding value Resolving disputes Sharing know-how Setting standards Practising law that matters

Poverty's Challenges, Law's Responses :\L\D1\:\IE ,Jl .H'riCE

Jl

Finding solutions

U ofT Faculty of Law's 2nd Annual Student Organized Human Rights and Social Justice Conference

HPEAI\:ER:

:::;::l

Advising leaders

[ll_Jl-HJ C l ~ T [:R L~T ~ CT\\' ( >RK L[·C:\ L :\CTH >:'\ \\'( >RK ~ H( > [ )~

I(~~Y:\"O'rE

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................................................................................................................................................................................... ....................... .................................................................:

~TU Dl-~T

I - ;, 2002

instruction on filing an application with workers, coordmated by Mel Hogg, are the Criminal Injuries Compensation available on Wednesday evenings. Meal· Board; "Police Powers,'' which outlines an Trans is a program held for transsexual and individual's rights and responsibilities vis· transgendered people every Monday night a-vis police, and is aimed at those who are at the 519 Church Community Centre. It particularly likely to be the subject of includes a free meal and entertainment, police harassment; "Police Protection and is attended by PLE volunteers every Powers,'' which is aimed at female victims other week, under the direction of Slane. of domestic violence, and details the legal Natasha Calvinho chrects the final satellite protection that is available to them; and clinic at Council-Fire, a commumty out· "Social Assistance Programmes," which reach centre for Toronto's indigenous pop· informs clients of the procedures and crite· ulation. ria relevant to applying for social assis· Future mitiatives will include the ere· tance. arion of more engaging formats to educate Student volunteers also provide help at chents at workshops. Although well·inten· the satellite clinics which comprise the tioned, as an audience they "can be tough; second main component of the they are not the kind of people who like to Community Outreach Division. Unlike Sit and listen to a lecture," remarked Joyce. the workshops, satellite clinics are held Nonetheless, Joyce and Slane agree that weekly and are focused on helping individ- "anyone who has an interest in public ual clients with their legal problems. advocacy should take part in public legal There are three satellite clinics current· education. It's very rewarding." ly run by DLS. Street Outreach Services is Further information on DLS Communi~ a drop· in centre for young adults at risk of, Outreach programs is available at • or already involved in, prostitution. Intake www.dls.uroronro.ca/outreach.htm.

Mraight /nw. ··

SPIN LAW Februar~

9

DLS Students Educate the Community

A mmllhl~· ft:,llrm: of l ' ofT ,drmmi ,md tht:tr (hcnc can.· a /1£llh.\

Leilani Farha finds fulfillment advocating for housing rights

NEWS

20 NOVEMBER 2001

In the Alternative

Panel considers effects of Sept. ll on minorities

BY BEM'INA

ULTRA VIRES

Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP

oslerstuden t. com

----···- ..... ............. ......................................................................................................................................................TORONTO

>

OTTAWA

>

CALGARY

>

MONTRtAL

>

NEW

YORK

At this semester's coffeehouse, law students showed the world that they're not just geeks - they're geeks

with creative talent. Clockwise from rop left: Julian Jubenville and Geoff Chesney; Ronen Levy and Rap~~ Ric~; AUx Dostal.

10

11

DIVERSITY AT nHE LAW SCHOOL

Jihad at the Law School

Invisible Minorities, Visible Assumptions Sarah Loo~cmon.:, a lesbian student in her third year, explained parr of her expe· ewral year~ ago. there was a group of rience at the law sehoul. "I'm not some· Jc,mh male budd1es at Northern body who walb down the street and every· ':>ccondary School who affecttonatcly one thmb i~ a bbian. So I am always havrdcrrcd ro themselves as "The Semites". A ing to say something." Sarah was already hkmde-haired, blue-eyed new friend of the out when she came to law school, and was gang one day called out "What's up, ready to meet other queer students and to Semue:.?" Awkward glances surrounded get involved. In~read, when she arrived, him. ~You know, only Jew:. can callus that."

"Exactly," the blonde-haired, blue-eyed )C\\ replied. Dc,pl{c the red face:. of the other Semites, it "as an easy mistake to m:~kc. We all carry a~sumptions about to what it meam robe a minority, and we mar accidentally act on these beliefs, foot in mouth and all.

T he Admission and Enrolment Report to Faculty Council listed that of the 181 students m the first-year 2001-2 class, there are 8 aboriginal students and a total of 45 she found that UTOIL was largely inactive visible minority students. While not sug· and often wondered where the other gay gesting that an admissions report should and lesl;>ian students were. "It's the type of rally all visible and invisible minorities sep· thing where you can't just look around the arately, this "black-and-white" charring class and see who's who," she mused. scheme is a useful reminder of what we may Although Sarah has not often encounmiss when looking around our law school. tered overt homophobia, what she has Invisible minorities, in particular, are regu- encountered is a well-intentioned hetero\arly ~ubject to what may seem like hann- sexism from both staff and students, forcle5~ assumptiom. But these unchecked ing us to question what we mean when we beliefs often keep them hidden and unseen. tout the diversity of our law school. At In speaking to a lesbian student and two DLS one summer afternoon, for example, students who have suffered with senous Sarah was with a group of male students menta\ hea\th \ssues, the message 1s dear dtscussing which female movie stars they \na\ \\ic g~:u. better and easi.er when oth ers would want to sleep with (those DLS k1ds

BY Au ENGEL

S

Invisible minorities are regularly subject what may seem like harmless assumptions.

M!e, and are not ;1fmid of, otherwise l11dden

hard at

parr.s of youn;e/£

with '\·call, she's cute" or "you really rl1ink

wc~rk).

that ~he':. attracnve?" ~he was asked at the end of the convers;ltion which male stah she would be after. "Uh ...I think it would be women smrs for me." After the assump· tions were ch:~llcnged, the conver:.ations definitely became more fun.

Perhaps a more striking example of the impact of being our as a minority emerges from the srorie~ of rwo students with men· tal illnc,s. The first student, Stephen Parb (III), wrote about his struggle w1th mental health issues la~t year in Ultra Vire~. The second student docs not feel comfortable dbclosing her own struggle with panic and anxiety.

Stephen has gradually come our as dysthymic and a maJOr depressive. In his first year of law school, Stephen was withdrawn and acted with hostile mistrust to the few who trted to approach him. He hesitated to ask for help for fear that he would be dismissed as "a law student who just couldn't cut it." In March of first year, Stephen hospitalized h1mself. He first spoke to Assistant Dean Moran and then to a few close fnends. In second year, he wrote an Ultra Vires article, coming out to the school as a whole.

Stephen says the key to coming out successfully is minimizmg the disturbing elements of mental illness while countering the stereotype of a law student who JUSt couldn't cut it. Now, as more people know parts of him that were kept hidden, and become comfortable talking with him about the fonnerly taboo issues of mental health,

I

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/

AI=~IRMA"TCYE

AC.TCOI'C AT U ofT I.AW : PRotnOTitl6 TttE

ENROLl.nf6NT 0~ H.lSTOKJCAU.y DISADVA NTAC:I•D ~eN(.£ llNO 6VSu~ess mAJORS "To C..OUII1'e R C6t'T&>Ib£S C>F ofiPReSS&ON .,,

Willie she would inccrj~·c;t

Plccl!>e sec "l11t'isib/e, "page 14

Rising Tuition Threatens Accessibility

2000/01

2001/02

Number of Students

173

181

Males Females

79(45.7%) 94(54.3%)

87(48.1%) 94 (51.9%)

Median age Average age

BY }lLL EVANS

ust how financially accessible are we as a school! I have found myself ponder· ] mg this question over the pa~t two ecks: as I handed over my $45 ExamSoft laptop registration fee; as I sat across from my loan officer at Scotiabank while she explained interest rates and amortization plans; and as I found myself making sum· mer job decisions based, to some extent, on where I would stand to make the most money in the least amount of time. What's more, I readily acknowledge the relatively privileged financial. position in which I ~rood upon entering U ofT law. Childless, in my early 20~. with no spouse, no mort· gage and no pre-existing undergraduate debt-load. Taking on $50,000 • $60,000 of debt was, while daunting, not really pro· hibitive. But mine i:; not a reality shared by the vast majority of my cohorts acros~ the country · if I had a child, or a mortgage, or had to work 20-hours a week during my B.A. Mudies, would I be here?

A quick convcr~ation with Aladdm Mohaghegh from the school's Financial Aid Office reveals that we are a heavily indebted student body. More than half of us received some fonn of government loan this year. As for how many of us resort to additional bank loans, credit lines and other methods to finance our time here, there arc no figures available. But with this year's entering class paying $12,000 in tuition, I would guess that the figures arc qu1te high.

26-29

24 25 27

30 years+

12

24 25 35 11

JD/MBA Applications Combined offers

27

28

12

11

23 4

16 I

JD/MSW Applications Combined offers The sky high tuition no doubt proves to be an insurmountable barrier to many prospective students, impeding a large number of hopefuls from even getting a foot in the door. But is it getting worse?

Arc we more of a bastion for the "haves" than we were a decade ago? First-year stu· dents six year~ ago paid one-fifth of what this year's students do. However, while these figures are startling, they do not tell the whole story. Since then, the amount of money allocated to financial assistance for students has increased from $100,000 to over a million dollars; assistance that might take the form of bursaries, awards or debt-relief. Tuition has doubled in the last three years, but so too has the number of students attendmg free of charge, and the amount of money spent on back-end debt relief in this period has tripled.

Even despite these welcome additions,

however, It is undeniably difficult to take on a $36,000 plus dollars debt in the hope of some debt relief or a bursary of a few thousand dollar~. While the administration has us believe that thirty of my classmates were merely acting as "bad apples" in mak· ing the decision to misrepresent their &rrades, one wonders if their choices were informed, or even dictated, by their need to come up with $11,000 in tuition fees over the summer months. A step in the right direction might be to redirect money intended for renovations and swanky new building~ towards lowering tuition and pro· viding real financial aid to those who need it. By lowering this barrier, we could ensure that more people who want and deserve a great legal education, and not just those who can afford one, could attend U ofT. It's jmr a thought, but I guarantee we would all be the .ric~er for it.

Undergraduate Majors 17 Sciences 16 Commerce 3 Engineering 12 Psychology

Art:;*

115

Aboriginal Visible Minority

13 29

33 26 8 12 84 8

45

Numbers we'd like to see Economic backE,>round Ethnic back&rrotmd

*Includes Economics, English, HIStory, Philo!ophy, Political Sc1ence, Aruhropology Source; AdmiSsion and Enrolment Report lO Faculty Council

BY SALMAN

HAQ

face a jihad at the law school. No, I'm nor a closet member of the Tahban, and I'm not declaring a holy war on Flavclle House. But I do face an internal "struggle," which is actually the literal translation of the Arab1c word "jihad," a term which has been thoroughly misunderstood by much of Western society. My struggle has noth· tng to do with geopolitics or armed con· tlict. Instead, It's an mternal tug-of-war between maintaining my religion and culture on one hand, and fully integrating into a largely Western, secular society on the other. And, unfortunately, it's a tightrope that has been hard to walk at this law school.

As an undergraduate at the University of Toronto, I \viOlessed Toronto's diversity in its myriad of student clubs defined along linguistic, ethnic, religious, and cultural lines. But until I began law school, I never jomed any of these groups. We arc all Canadtan, I thought, and that should be our defining characteristic. With so much bloodshed in the world a direct result of religious and ethnic conflicts, how could these groups help promote understanding and integration among us? These groups ran contrary to my belief that racial and ethnic stereotypes would gradually fade away if people of d1fferent backgrounds lived side hy ~ide a~ indivi.duah, not in groups.

My experience at this law ~chool, a!> we\\ as my brief dealings with the legal profession, have forced me co qucsrion rhis conviction. On the one hand, law promotes equality among peoples of different colours, races and religions, and this value is championed throughout the faculty. I have found law students, including my fellow classmates, to be extremely knowledgeable about different religions and cultures, and generally free from stereotypes that are unfortunately far too common in the general population. On the other hand, I realize that no matter how "Canadian" I am, certain elements of my culture and religion set me apart from the dominant culture in law school and the legal profession.

Perhaps a little background is necessary.

I am a second-generation Canadian, born and raised in Ottawa. My parents immi· grated to Canada from Pakistan in the 1960s. Growing up in Ottawa, my best friends were never Pakistani, even though the vast majority of my parents' friends were Muslims from the South Asian community. I cannot explain this fact easily; my parents never discouraged Pakistani friends, but never stressed Pakistani culture either. Perhaps they recognizL-d their own difficulties in adapting to Western life and tried to make sure I felt as "Canadian" as anyone else; that is probably why I love hockey, trash Americans, and unconsciously say 'eh.' Our family followed our religion, Islam, relatively closely, but I was never taught my parents' native tongues, Urdu and Punjabi. (Although I can fully understand Urdu/Punjabi, my accent is so bad that attempts to speak in my ancestral language are met with laughter; I regret teasing my Dad about his pitiful French.) I have only managed to make it back to Pakistan to visit hundreds of relatives once in the past fifteen years.

Pakisrani culture, then, was not a big

blings about high beer prices at SLS events.

If I drank alcohol, I'm sure these would be concerns of mine as well. But alcohol b forbidden in Islam, so I don't drink. I certain· ly find hangover stories amusing, but to be honest, I will never be able to fully relate to these tales of headaches and vomit.

Being relatively uninterested in some of the more crazy "wet" s~ial events would not be much of a concern to me were it not for the fact that, in my opinion, an active social life in law school is crucial to academic succe~s. Succeeding in law school b as much about bemg "in the loop" as studying hard. You need to know what courses ro take, which professors to avoid, what to study, and how to land a job. Much of thb "unofficial" information is handed down from upper-years and shared among friend~ • and this exchange of knowledge often occurs at social events. Last year, when I felt much more isolated than I do now, I worried about being "out of the loop," mostly because "getting hammered" wa~ not my idea of a good time. At Orientation this year, someone noticed that I hadn't had an alcoholic drink all evenmg, and when I told him I don't drink, I was met with a confused look, as if to say, "You don't drink? It's law schoo\ • everybod'i drin\r.st" As I enter the legal probs10n, I realize that alcohol will remain an issue. Last summer, a fellow Muslim law student,

part of my childhood. I was proud of my parents' heritage, and my parents' childhood stories of forty-degree days, reckless adventures, and oddball teachers in Pakistan could be a best-seller if put on paper. But I was a Canadian, not a Pakistam-Canadian. My religion and culture were important to me, but I never felt that they might place me in difficult situa· tions.

U ofT law school, however, is a unique environment. From a purely psychological standrx)int, members of visible minoritie:. arc often comforted by strength in num·

-·

I find ltangover stories amusing, but to be honest, I will never be able to fully relate to these tales of headaches and vomit. bers. Unfortunately, U ofT law school falls far short in reflecting Toronto's multicultural diversity. Beyond sheer numbers, though, law schools are known for their work-hard, party-hard atmosphere. From my experience, alcohol plays a b1g role in social life at this law school, and probabl'i others as we\\. Think about how often "open bar" 1s seen as a selling point for socia\ events. Reca\1 the comp\ainu. when cheap a\c.oho\ was \e»s ?Ctva!ti.ve at t'ni.s

year's Onentanon. Consider the grum-

Please see "Student," page 14

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l

EDITORIAL

12

Administration Must be Upfront About Tuition

Ulaa Vires IS the student newspaper of the Faculty of Law at the Uruvenity of Toronto.

Our goal IS ro provide a forum m which stu· dents can exchange their ideas. We hope to fos. ter a sense of community within the Faculty of Law, the Umvmtty as a whole, and the greater Toronto area. Our mission IS to Increase sntdent awareness of legal and IOCialiSSues and, in tum, to encourqe our peen to conaibute to the DW'IY communJnea of which we are a pan.

pper-year papers arc due Dec. 20. It seems the dean is also hoping to have his extended paper requirement, the academic plan, finished up too. He'll print it at the last minute and get it to Celia by lOAM. After deferring last term, he's procrastinated again, and it is now a rush to get the plan to the provost for t he holidays.

Assuming the provost does not cut funds for lateness, like a professor would marks, this is perhaps hasty.

The dean is right when he says there has been considerable consultation to date, and we do not require another series of town hall meetings.

But an opportunity to view a draft of the fi nished produc t would allow students and fac ulty to see if the consultation has been worth a damn, and to voice concerns if it has not.

December, really, is not the best time to do this. Ultra Vires, for instance, is keen to comment on a discussion paper outlining the details of the 5-year plan. But the period between the release of the discussion paper and the planned submission to the provo~t fa\\!> between issues. So, we me left to comment upon expcc· rations.

'Perhaps we arc wrong (remember, we're '-pecu\atmg), but it ~ecms the

U

NtvJS 11m Wilbur (Untmsity Atfairs) Bemina Butt (Student Atfairs) Features All Engel Beatrice van Dijk

Editorial & Opinion Joseph A.G. Berkovits I..egallssURs Simon · J. Proulx

DiWTsions Stephen Parks

Producuon MuMger Sa\man H uq }'tlmh.•r Wemberg,•r Bu~mcss

MuMger Jenn Bonneville

)

mlmini.srmrion ;_, prinmrily interc.-rc•cl I ll tfl<' JIC\4' f>w/Ju1g pTOf"'>.,, f[, Student,, mc;~nwhlic, per~1H

in raising questions about access. This makes sense: the administration has to work here, whtle we have to pay

fo r 1t.

We understand the need for an improved facility. The Ultra Vires office is located in the basement of Falconer where we work amongst exposed wires, an air conditioner that spews debris, and the occasional mouse. We a rc nor unappreciative • at the beginning of last year we had no office at all. But we also see room for improvement. Likewtse faculty salary increases a nd additional hiring of professors; approached properly, these can all be good things that make the school a better place. But there is the matter of money.

Smce deregulation, tUition has risen $2,000 every year for the incoming class. A ll signs point to continuing increases. But how much?

The dean says the academic plan will nor outline a specific intent for tUition, but instead will speak more generally. T his is unacceptable.

Continuing to increase tuition by $2,000 a year begtns to look arbitral), a marketing decision to increase tuition as much as possible without making the increase, in any one year, sound oppressive.

We arc now four year~ into deregulation . The !>Chool should have an idea of how much it thinks tuition should be. Lump sum increases canIJ{)t he.• '--cuJtinllc...c.J unr,/ th~ huhhlt.~ hn•nks .111.! lilt• sclu>olnocicc., appl•· cntiOII!J decreasing, or students drop·

ping out, or a flood of applications for back-end debt relief. At some point, the tramition must end and

tuition increases limited to normal inflationary considerations. We need to know where that point is.

The school IS deregulated • nor private. U ofT L1.w continues to be a public institution. Access is nor merely a goal, it is a responsibility.

We do not disagree with the sentiment bchmd improved infrastructure and programs. And the school (indeed, the whole university} has done a very good job in the midst of government cutbacks. Not all of this has been done at the expense of students - private donor fundraising, while ra1sing its own set of concerns, has been fru1tful and largely beneficial to t he school. But the cost to students has become very high, and tuition levels must level off.

Sure, those of us going to Bay Street or Wall Street can afford it.

That's not the point. The point is that an institution spending large (albeit decreasing) amounts of public money is obligated to remain accessible to the public. This means sacrificing comforts hkc a new building and program improvements like hiring professors when there isn't enough money.

No doubt we can learn from good U.S. schools. But ultimately we must he comparcJ to our Canadian coun· rerparrs. In quality we compare well. flur

Ill

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Ltsa Vatch

Letters to the Editor

Contributors Sandra C1tu, Sunren Desat, Theresa DiGangt, Alex Dosman, Jill Evans, Megan Ferrier, J•cob Ghck, Mel Hogg, Mike Hollinger, Angela Jamt.>s, Laune )essome, Emily Mak, Samer Muscan , Mindy Noble, Karen Park, Ian Richter, Paulme Rosenbaum, Gillian Scott, Stephanie Wakefield Ultra V1res lS an editorially autonomous newspaper. Ultra Vires is o pen to contribution~ whtch reflect dive£$e pomts of vte'\\, and tts contents do not necessanly retlect the vtews of the Faculty of Law, the Students' Law Socict) (SLS) or the edttonal board The editors welcome conmbunon from students, faculty and o ther interested persons, but reserve the right to edit submtSSioru; for length and content.

Communicauons Centre, Falconer Hall 84 Queen's Park C rescent Toronto , Ontario, MSS 2C5 (416} 946-7684 ultra. vircs(routoronto.ca www.law.utoronto.ca/ultravircs A vernsing mquiries should be sent to the attennon of the advertising manager at ultra.vites@ utoronto.ca Ultra \Ves 11 published monthly, and ts printed

by Weller Publishing in Toronto. Qrculanon 1,000. The next issue will be in january 2002.

Ed1tors,

I was disappointed to rcaJ in your mtel'\'iew with Dean Daniels (Dean Daniels Keeps Cool over Hot Lunch, Oct. \ 6), that "as to the investigation of Prof. Reaume, I don't regret that for a moment." This is a surprismg statement given that the University has officially and publicly regretted that investigation , instigated by the law ~chool administration. The announcement of the investigation precipitated protests from distinguished legal academics across Canada and around the world, and a grievance from the U ofT Faculty Association. That grievance was re~lved with the "University of Tc>ronto\ Apology to Denise Reaume" of June 18, 2001, available on the University's website at http://www. newsandevents.utoronto.ca/bin2/0 106 18a.asp. The apology accepted that there was no foundation for the allegation that my colleague had counseled the commiSSIOn of an academ1c offence, regretted the fact that Reaume had been named, and apologized "for any harm caused to her rep· utation." It also, necessarily so gtven the circumstances, reaffirmed the University's commitment to "principles of free speech and academic freedom."

The Dean of the law ~chool, as a senior adminisrranve officer of the University, is covered by that apology, and the law school community therefore needs to be assured that the law school, as well as the University, apologized to one of its own. The distinction drawn in the interview between the investigation and the publicity surrounding it is spurious the University's apology covers both, and I cannot believe that the law school requested a secret investigation or thought that it could have that had it wanted one.

When the apology was announced rhis summer as a settlement of Profcs:ior Reaume's grievance the law ~chool administration committed itself to working to make that settlement effective and to putting the incident in the past. It is indeed unfortunate that, as the new school year begins, students have been told that investigatmg faculty members for statements made in exercise of their academic freedom is an acceptable practice.

- Professor Jim Phillips Editors, I, and many of my colleagues at the law school have recently been the subject of a strange form of discrimination that

You people are ~lobs (and yes, I'm talking to you, fellow law students). This sch(Xll is tlhhy. A few days ago, I sat down in RLH and there was a rotting half-eaten apple lying on the sear next to me.

I've got only one word: goddamn revoltmg.

You've probably heard the complaint before. But the recent missive m Hcadnores from the somewhat shadowy Joint Snff-Srudent Committee regarding cleanliness in the Rowell Room didn't really address the issue. For the problem is not that our pretty, new lounge is being sullied by its idle occupants; it\ that law students regularly show a complete and utter disre· gard for both thetr colleagues and their surroundings in almost every room they spend time in - like snails, we leave a trail of slimy refuse.

I mean, who do you think you are? Do you simply not realize that most people do not want to sit down beside a pile of used napkins and empty bean salad containers?

Do you actually expect others to clean up your own reeking rubbish? Do you feel entitled to such a service? We're rhe best, aren't we; and the best don't clean up filth.

Of course, if you told an outsider that a bunch of soon-to-be lawyers consistently fail to pick up after themselves, they

has pervaded the hallowed halls of University of Toronto law school, in the form of 'computer-user profiling'. I am referring tO the new software that PC laptop users are required to download onto their computers, at a cost of $45 per student, in order to secure our computers so that we can use them to type exams. Al thou~h this per se is not terribly disquieting to me, it is the fact that only SOME students are subject tO this reqUirement that I find problematic. As the program we are using is not compatible with Mac laptops, Mac users will continue to type their exams as they have Jonc in years past, wtth a regular word processing package, absent the security features of the new software. Of course, I am not suggesting that we force all Mac users to switch to PCs or not to type: each is entitled to their computer preference, and after all, it would merely compound the issue of differential treatment. Nonetheless, there is no principled reason why PC users need to use this software if the Mac users do not.

Instead of violating the s. 15 nghts of PC users, perhaps we should think about revisiting this policy decision.

- Alix DosUJl

Please see "Letters," page 16

'Law school only' convocation expensive and elmst

BY MEL HOGG AND SANDRA CHU

Several weeks ago, members of the Students' Law Society launched a petition in support of a 'la\\o school only' graduation. The petition was publbhed in Headnotes and presentations were made ro ~ome upper-year classes to garner support and gather signatures. In essence, the petition aims to ~ecure: l) a weekend convocation, 2) more than the two tickets traditionally provided per graduatmg stu· dent, and 3) a convocation limited to the faculty of law. At first glance, the proposal Pauline Rosenbaum dislikes litter,·and so should you. may sound appealing: clearly, a weekend convocation and additional tickets wouldn't be surprised. From that perspec- our own hands. increases accessibility.

Yet, there are a And I don't think it can be said that I tive, then, it seems we're just fulfilling our number of factors that were nor considam asking a lot her~.

All it should take, in destinies. Maybe we're supposed to be ered which we feel may influence stu· insensitive, uncaring, and unclean • maybe fact, is a simple, uncomplicated awareness dents' opinions about the desirabthty, and of your fellow students • just a passing we're supposed to be dirty, grubby law stuindeed, acceptability, of the proposed 'law thought about the space that you share dents. Maybe a law school filled with heaponly' ·convocation. school with them.

It's basic civility, people, and tf ing mounds of greasy garbage is not wholly Consider the number of graduates from you can't get that right, well, then I guess inappropriate. the Umversity of Toronto in any given But that cannot be right. For whatever you get the filthy mess you deserve.

So no matter the foul reason, no matter \ year. Convocation ceremonies are a masthe failures of law and oflawyers, we ought sive undertaking involving a week-\ong nor to rely on them to justify our own the polluted motivation, there should be series of morning and afternoon sessions. If grimy ways. Our destiny, whether soiled no excuses. Give a hoot • and throw out every other faculty, depanment, and colyour goddamn garbage. and muck-filled or dean and bright, is in lege were granted weekend convocations, students would be convocating virtually a\\ )'Cat \on~~,. h thete an)' teason \aw !.tudents should he given preferential treatment!

Also keep in mind the cosc.s involved in a convocation production as well as the number of umversity officials and support office and admiring the awesome view.

"BUT HOW MANY?" he persisted. staff whose attendance is required at each "One," I finally admitted.

As Caroline was escorting me to the ceremony. There are simply insufficient I tried to prepare for Bathgates as best I elevator after my third interview, I resources to provide individual convocacould. Lianne Krakauer at the Career thanked her for the constderable time and tion ceremonies to all graduating classes.

Development Office went through an effort that she had devoted to me.

Even tf additional funds could be made hour-long mock interview with me. I had Suddenly, I could see that she was no available, they should be put to better use the feeling that she would have hired me if longer as cheerful as she had appeared to (broadening financial aid and academic she could. be before. "Look," she said in a tone of programs, to name but two).

Even at 7:45 on the morning of my only voice that made me go pale. "I just want An obvious benefit of the proposed on-site interview, being at Bathgates was you to know that ft's very competitive. We ' law school only' graduation is the availbeautiful. It was like gomg to heaven, high are interviewing 120 people for only 20 ability of additional tickets. Traditionally, up on the top floors of the Bank of Canada jobs." each graduating student is initially providThe next day I found myself back in ed with only two tickets. The reality, howTower [not its real address], all modern art, black granite and chrome. My host-lawyer, familiar territory, Sidney Smith Hall, talkever, is that more tickets are often avail· Caroline Kennedy [not her real name], ing to an old friend from graduate school. able. Prevtously, graduating students have came out to greet me. She was from the After nine years, he was going to defend been able to obtain additional tickets the research department, a good sign, I felt, his Ph.D. thesis next month. He was now a morning before their convocation wtth given my interest in research. She intro- sesstonal lecturer. For this he was paid few problems. Even if this was not the duced me to five lawyers and on the next $9,000 a year but other part-time jobs case, the faculty of law organizes a sepaday, another four. Some of the lawyers I helped him get by. He didn't think that rate ceremony post-convocation for the met were senior partners, which was sup- there was much chance of getting a tenure graduating class, their friends, and family. posed to be another good sign. Caroline stream job soon, bur told' me how much he This provides an adequate opportunity to couldn't have been friendlier or more con- enjoyed his work. He looked happy, even if celebrate graduation with a larger circle of siderate. She laughed at all my JOkes and he did need a haircut. family and friends. when I ran out of questions to ask her colAs we were chatting, Caroline reached Although we feel that such practical difleagues, she thought of good questions and me on my cell phone. "I am calling ro tell ficulties are by themselves insurmountable, asked them herself. you that Bathgates w1ll not be hiring you the larger issue is the underlying implicaThe truth is, I'm not the most gregarious this summer." To make sure that there wastion of the petition. For the most part, 0 of person and meeting all those people and n't any misunderstanding, Caroline was T law students are already disconnected trying to say the smart and witty thing was careful to emphasize the "nor." from the larger university community. To a strain. The most serene moment in the "Why does law school have to be so suggest, as does the SLS petition, that it is whole process was the time I spent with an damn demoralizing? Why do I even both· objectionable to be 'lumped in' with our articling student. I had scarcely recognized er?" I complained to my friend. fellow students only serves to reinforce the him at first because he looked so different in "Never mind," he assured me. elitism with which law students and the his suit, but he had been in third year when "Something is bound ro come up." legal community are already identified. We I was in first year. He looked too young to be I thought about what Effie said. arc students of the University of Toronto, in a serious place like that, as if he had -Name Withheld By Request and members of a larger community, even snuck in wearing his father's suit. We hard- -Effie Koutsogiannopoulos is the school's if we arc only forced to remember this on ly' spoke, staring out of the window in his AdmiSswns Counsellor. the day we graduate.

Effie's Prophesy

tu-upnrrson

OJpy Editor

We Should Graduate as U of T Students

BY NoAH GnTIRMA:-J

a h rc"tkutg IX>rnt and

$12,771 may very well be getting close to it. We need to know what the administration thmks, in clear and concrete tem1s.

13

OPINION

Against Litter: clean up your own filthy mess

EDITORIAL

ULTRA VIRFS

Adr,zrtising MmyWL-r

ULTRA VIRES

20 NOVEMBER 2001

Or, H ow I didn't ge t hired by Bay Street this summer ast year, as the majority of my firstyear classmates worked themselves up into a frenzy over summer job applications, I decided to concentrate on my studies. I was here to learn, I resolved, not to chase after jobs.

But by second year, I had become less tdealistic. "If I don't apply now," I reasoned, "someone else will get the well-paying job I want!" Reluctantly at first I wrote 11 cover letters, and then, anxtously, I added another seven. I got nine first interviews.

I told Effie all about it and she offered a prophesy. "You are not destined for Bay Street. You are a scholar and should be reaching."

"Thank you," I said.

"It's not a compliment. But if you do apply to Bay Street for God's sake get a haircut." I listened to her about the haircut.

On call-back day, at 8:14a.m. to be precise, someone from the highly respected law firn1 ofBathgates [nor their real name] phoned me. That was it: one second interview. Bur it was a good one, a dream job.

When I arnved at school, I was ~l!rround­ cd by a pack of boastful students.

"Thank God for call-watting," someone exclaimed.

"Yeah, the phone was just ringing off the hook!" ~ r can't even remember how many interviews I got. Was it six or seven?"

I rned to beat a hasty retreat but it was too late. "How many second interviews did you get?" asked one of my friends. ''I got all the ones l wanted," I answered as cryptically as possible.

L

ULTRA VIRES

LEGAL IS SUES

14

BooK REVIEW

Papers Question Tradeoff Between Security and Freedom freedom in our "free and democratic SOCI· to at lca~t attempt to address terrorism.

The problem is then nor with anti-terror· ety." Austin fears that privacy ma7 now be ism lcgi~larion in general, hut with Items of attacked via security argument~ in addi· Editl!d /Yv Rtn~ 1IJ ]. Dame!~, tion to the more traditional "efficiency." this particular bill.

Patrick Macklem. and Kent Roach Cossman and Schneiderman expound on Close rtttention is g1ven to the necessity • Unitoersiry of Toran to Pre~s. 2001 of preserving the rule of law, and to the the chilling effect~ of C-36 on freedom of severe shortt1lls of C-36 in that re~pcct. association and expression, especially in

BY SIMO:\'-J. PROULX Stewart and S<bsin are horh concerned the labour and anti-globalization contexts. with the amounr of dt~cretion conferred by Choudhry fear~ that the bill may somehow There are srnkmg s1milaririe~ between The the bill onto ndmini~rranve 1gencics and legitimate discriminatory administrative Security of Freedom and the legislatimt it their pre:.umed "expertlo". Sossin notably practices such as racial profiling. Davis criticizes. Both address i~suc~ ar the core of fears the effects of limited possibilities for studies its chillmg effects on property Canadian democracy, and Jo ~o in a judicial review of such decisions on their rights and the financial capacity of individ· remarkably short amounr of time. In a,H. fairne~'· Gross and Dy:enhaus ponder the tion, both arc somewhat hodge-podge m desirability of stepping outside of the rule their format, targeting is,ues big and ~mall of law in emergency Situations, sugge~ring in numerous statute., and legal fields. that such circumstances may instead call This s}nL•rgy i' furrhcr manifested in for a heightened need for the rule of law. rhar both documL·nr~, while purporting to The book also raises interesting ques· be qwck re~pome~. Ill'!}' in fact have been rions on the weakness of the Charter as a the result of months, if nor years, of reflec· rights-protccnon mstrument in the terror· tion. As pointed our in a Q&A session of ism context. In light of the recent Supreme The Security of Freedom conference on Nov. Court Ch.artcr jurisprudence, both 9, the I 75-page long Bill C-36, tabled in Parliament on Ocr. 15, curiously contains and nor confined to ex-post criticism of a Dyzenhaus and Weinnb fear that security is many items that have been on law- completed state of affairs. But that was to concerns and talks of"exceptional circumenforcement agencies' wish lists for an extent accomplished by the conference stances" may increase the courts' deferdecades. In fact, some components of the alone. The book goes further by consider- ence to Parliament and effectively bring a omnibus bill are mere incarnations of pre· mg the role of law in a democratic society judicial override of the Charter. vi.ou!. \egi.~\atwe attempts. Part VI, for under stress.

One Important line of criticism found in example, deahng wi.th the re~tranon of The \aunching of this debate includes almo~t every paper is the doubt about the consideration of severa\ i.nterre\atcd effecr\vcnel>s, and hence the need for mea· uals and organizations, notably on the charirie~. is norhing other than Bill C-16, introduced six months earlier, and some· themes, one of which being the apparent sures in the b\l\. Roach, Stewart and financing of entities working abroad or what ~ta\\cd in committee. Si.mi\ar\y, The dichotomy between security and freedom. Shaffer discuss the overlap between pro- engaged in polttical activities, while Duff considers such effects on charitable organi· SecuTil;t of FTeeJ.tnn \l'o one'" a oitcc.t td\cc.- 'Vdvct~\c cba\\cngc~ tbc ptesupposit\on po~ed measures and the criminal code, tion of long-held concerns by its twenty- that any J!llin in our collccrivc sccuriry rcmindin!l '" that the mnntfesrarions of zntions, <'~J">CCI.llly tho~e nctivc m un~rahlt•

Proposed Ontario Disabilities Act Deficient

The Security of Freedom: Er.~ay~ on Canada's Anti-Terrorism Bill

That the faculty is nwn_.1entarily shedding its arcane image by con-tributing directly to an important and current political debate by itself worthy of celebration.

.>ome contributor.,.

Thi., /a.'r point i.~ precisely what makes che book more chan a timely but narrow and ephemeral exercise. Of course, the fact that the faculty is momentarily shedding its arcane image by contributing directly to an important and current political debate is by it~clf worthy of celebration. For once, the academic contribution is pro-active,

Invisible Minorities

I

rwcc~.,aril~·

be ar the expense of free· dom or of ir.' corollary ,·alues, and reminds mu.,c

us that the balancing of anti-terrorism and democratic values is not a zero-sum game.

In that sense, most of the book's contribu· tors seem to accept the possibility and even the nece~siry ot anti-terrorism measures.

Brunnec, Macklem, Stem and Cotler all point to Canada's mttrnational obligations

tc...•riorhnt l1nvc ahvay."'t hcen c.;runinal , nnd

that har~her criminal sanctions are not likely to deter terrorists already on the verge of killing themselves. They question the wisdom of attacking fundamental tenets of the crimmal justice system with little prospect of added collective security.

Finally, other authors consider the val· ues and other elements that constitute

tH

u~U."'J'f."t...f" 4,.4,)lJI I (fH:"t.

While all the contributions in The Security of f-reedom are specifically targeted at Bill C-36, they also raise concerns that transcend the bill and delineate the place of security concerns m legislation more generally. Accordingly, the book should outlast the bill that gave it life.

Student faces internal "tug--of--war" between two worlds

Continued from "Invisible , " page 1I

Continued from "Jihad," page I I

he is no longer isolated at the law school anJ his life is generally much less lonely.

Stephen's story last year was also a com· fort to at least one other student who was dealmg with mental health issues of anxiety and panic. Howc\·er, she still hears jokes around her about valium and prozac and think:. to herself: "if only they knew that there were people on pills right in this conversation." Because of the general lack of ~eminvity and aw·areness around her, this student still feels she is suffering from something "too different" to be openly dis· cussed with others. The only friends she tells ahout her struggle are those who have volunteered ~omething vulnerable about themselve::.. She would not tell others, she says, because she is afraid of being judged.

In reaJing these stories it is easy to admire the strength of those invisible students who have the courage to discuss their ongoing struggles openly. However, as a student body that wants to be proud of its <livcr~ity, it is important for all of us to rake off our blinders, and to start recog· nizing the many !>hade~ of grey that exbr between the black and white lines of our student admissions statisrics.

while attending a Friday afternoon cocktail hour at his firm, was dismayed to find no non-alcoholic beverages available. As a summer student, however, he felt uncom· fortable asking for a D1et Coke, so he pro· cecded to feel even more uncomfortable mingling without a glass in his hand.

The Muslim holy month of Ramadan began a few days ago, but I won't participate in much of the month's obligations and tra· ditions. Given the relatively small number of .Muslims in C·mada, it is unrealistic to expect mainstream society to adjust to the requirements of Ramadan. Nevertheless, juggling course work, organizing events, and pr<xiucing this newspaper aren't easy rash on an empty stomach ·a result of sun· rise-to-sunset fasts that are the key element of Ramadan. Eid-ul-Fitr, Muslims' holiest and most festive day of the year, falls this year on December 16 • conveniently between my bus. org. and income tax exams.

My cultural upbringing also presents some challenges to adapting to law school.

Many of these concern~ are not unique, of course, to Muslim~ or Pakistanis. For example, since dating is frowned upon, I

don't have a significant other (although I'm sure there arc many other reasons for that unfortunate situation.) I live vicariously through my friends' romantic expcri· ences, sharing their joy at new relation· ships, and consolmg them through tough

£id,t£l,fitr, Muslims' holiest and most festive day of the year, falls corweniemb· this year between my bus. org. and income UlX exams. times. I wonder if I can truly relate to their feelings. At the same time, when I find myself attracted to someone, I feel the weight of cultural expectations.

Joining the legal profession also means confronting cultural traditions. As I men· tioned, my parents Immigrated to Canada in the 1960s, and their immediate con· cems were adjusting to a va~tly different ~ociery nnd building a new life for them: selves. As such, they did not engage in political activism; at the time, the safe

route was to lie low, ignore racism, and generally keep to one's self. But an impor· rant part of being a lawyer is the ability and willingness to express your opinion and to stand up for your principles. This genera· tiona! and cultural gap became apparent to me after the events of September ll • I wanted to counter the stereotype of "fundamentalist" Islam and promote the true meanmg of my religion, while my parents were concerned that my involvement with the Muslim Law Students' Association would hun my chance~ on Bay Street.

Reconciling my cultural hentage and relig1ous behefs with the features and demands of law school and the legal pro· fession is an ongoing process. While I once thought that cultural and religious groups would prevent the resolution of this internal struggle, I now believe that they can be a positive influence. The difficulties that many minorities face m adjusting to law school anJ the legal profession suggest that groups such as the MLSA have an impor· rant role to play in promoting awareness, removing barriers, and providing support.

My jihad continues, and consistent with the true meaning of Islam, it is an intro· spcctive search for balance and under· standmg.

BY MINDY NOBLE & PAULINE ROSENBAUM

he Ontario government has mtro· duced a bill on equality for people with disabilities that is akin to old Swiss cheese: stinky and full of holes.

On November 6, the government final· ly mtroduced the legislation that Mtke Harris had promised in his 1995 campa1gn.

After more than six years of government stalling and broken promises, Ontario Citizenship Minister Cam Jackson introduced B1ll 125, "An Act to improve the identification, removal and prevention of barriers faced by persons with disabilities," commonly known as the Ontarians with Disabilities Act. In the public gallery were many Ontarians who have lobbied for this legislation for years, including the chair of the ODA Committee, David Lepofsky.

This bill was the first in Ontario's history to be provided to the Legislature in Braille, audiotape, electronic disc and large print formats.

According to the government, the bill aims to ensure for persons with disabilities "the right to lead hves with dignity and quality, justifiably seeking the same rights to experience the same fullness of opportu· niry, experience and participation a5 all other mcmhers of our Socicry." The puhlic portrayal of the bill suggests an increased

T

emrohnsis o n collaboration and consulm·

tion with persons with dlsabtl!tlc~ a<.:ro":. the province, so that diverse experiences, needs and abilities can be represented in public policy.

In addition, the bill aims to emurc that provincial and municipal governments, as well as all public sector employers and ser· vice pro\·iders, plan for greater accc~sibili­ ry and equity for persons with disabilities.

All of these measures could serve to break down attitudinal and physical barriers that arc currently tmpeding participation and equality for persons with disabilities.

Bill 125 could be an tmportant step towards equahry in Ontario. The right to participate in civic, economic and social life is fundamental for all Ontarians.

Removing barriers to restaurants, movie theatres and shopping malls, providing accessible and affordable public trans· portation • these measures not only bene·

fit those persons who use wheelchairS, gUide dogs, or other aids. They also assist many other members of society, such as parents w1th strollers, people with shop· ping carts, and the elderly.

However, the bill as It currently stands does not accord with the goals articulated by the Minister. One of its deficiencies is that it is not retroactive. Moreover, the standards of accessibility are vague. And, the Act does not address barriers in the private sector. The bill allows for the development of regulations in this area, but places no obligation on the govern· mcnt to do so. Finally, the bill requires that a plan be developed by ministries, municipalities and public service organizations and agencies, such as those dealing with transportation. However, it does not require implementation, and contains no enforcement mechanism or rime limit.

The ODA process and product stand in stark contrast to the Americans with Disabilities Act. Over a decade ago, that lewslarion mirrored the goals of barrier removal in transportation, employment, housing and communications. The ADA includes enforcement mechanisms, mcludes deadlines for changes in the pub· he and private sector, as well as flncs for those companies Qr service providers who fail to comp\y with its requnements.

"By contrast," writes Helen Henderson of the 1<>ronro Star. "Onrario\ pro{'().,e-d law ·~ a maHerpiecc of waftling. It sets up no mandatory changes, no deadlines for accomplishmg anything, no meam of enforcing anything. For the most part, responsibility for bringing any ideas to fruition is downloaded on to municipalt· ties."

Aside from these substantive lacunae,· the legislative process itself left much to be desired. Not only was this legislation over six years in the making, but its introduction and subsequent proposed "consulta· tion" showed a blatant disregard for the expressed needs of the community affect· ed. The government announced second reading without even one day's notice, ignoring how difficult it is for people with mobility or sensory impairments to arrange to get to the legislature. Arrangements

Editors, When Karen Park moans that "the law is an ass" (Letters, Oct. 16) as the U.S. attacks the Bin Laden forces, she emboches the condition.

The world reels from the horror of the September 11 mass murders of thousands of innocent civilians, but Karen Park instead sympathizes with the perpetrators and those who provide them support! The gross level of moral blindness and insensi· nviry to human suffering that she demon· strates is astonishing, and (given her educa· tion) is almost as worrisome as the bchav· iour of the terrorists who have dedicated

A Treasury of Legal Wisdom

BY D AN M URDOCH

So much for fundamentals A "senior federal offiaal'' describes the new anti-terrorism legislation in a nut· shell: "We remove the right to silence.''

Source: The Globe and Mail

Necessary kidnappings Remember when the Supreme Court narrowly defined rhe defence of neces· siry in the Robert Latimer case last year? Something about an "a1r of reali· ty" to the imminent hamt, juJged objectively? }ultttce James Donnelly of the Ontario Superior Court may have missed that. The result is last month's acqUittal of Carline Vandenelson, a Stratford mother who admitted to abducung her children from their father because the couns limited her access. Ms. Vandenelson datmed necessity on the grounds that she believed being deprived of their moth· cr would cause her children mcparablc harm. In leaving the defence tO the jury. Justice Donnely ~tared: "Ms. Vandene\sen acted in develop· ing circumstances and a :mul of pow· erful emotions ... She was involved in a high-stah·s .:ontcsc. Ar issue was :1 prcc1ou:> asset, the fonnauvc years and the welfare of her children."

So. it may be objectively neccss.lry to ignore court rulings?

Source. The Globe and Mail, The National Post

I'd confess too Canadian police arc worried th:tt sus· peers will figure out their methods now that the Supreme Court, in R. v.

Memuck, has refused to uphold puhli· cation bans of undercover tactics.

HerL''s how they got a confession in this case, as outlined by Iacobucci J. "Following the first trial, the

respondent was targeted by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in an undercover operation code-named Operation Decisive. The undercover operation followed a partem common· ly employed by Canadian police. The respondent was invited by undercover officers to join a fictitious criminal organization. He was then asked to undertake certain tash the claimed importance of which "~as increased over time. The tasks included count· mg large sums of money and delivenng parcels. The respondent was then wid to be honest about his involvement in the murder of Amanda Cook. When he demed involvement, he was told that the "Boss" of the organization was angry wtth the person who had recmitcd the respondent as the respondent was a liar. l11c respondent was again encouraged to discuss the murder honestly. He was told that the criminal organization would arrange for a person dying of cancer to confess to the cnme, and thereafter would provide assistance to the respondent in :.UJng the government for wrongful imprisonment.''

Source: R. "· Mentud<.

Lawyers as introverts Who lcnew rhar lawyen are so mo..i~sr!

Sandra Rubin, wrir~·r of the "Marion~" column in rile National Pose's new Legal Post section, can get lawyers to talk. But none of them want to tdentt~· themselves. In the past two weeks, Rubm hasn't named the ,ourcc of a single comment.

An exhausnve list of who she has artnbuted quote~ to: - one observer • a senior McCarthys type • one knowlcJgeable law~er another lawyer familiar with the It· u:uion • one corporate top gun And the person every reporter wants to talk to: • someone \\ ho knows

Source: The National Post

Please see "Disabilitres," page I9

Letters to the Editor Continued from "Letters," page 12

15

LEGAL I S S U ES

20 NOVEMBER 2001

themselves to the destrucnon of the West and its civilization. The U.S. government is subject to a system of checks and balances, an active civil-Liberties tradition, and a vig· orous press. However, the government IS also concerned for the safety of its citizens, 1ts mstiturions and, yes, its interests.

Osama Bin Laden has declared war upon the West and demonstrated his group's capability for mass bloodshed; under these circumstances, what alterna· rive does Ms. Park suggest?!

• M. Neuer, U ofT '98, New York City

Editors, Last week stopped by Parkdale Community Legal Services, where I spent

the second tenn of last year in the intensive poverty law programme run by Osgoode Hall Law School. Visiting made me think about the fact that this year is the last year that U ofT students will be able to participate in the programme.

The reason for this is that Downtown Legal Services, U ofT's student clmic, ha~ begun offering its own term-long intenstve programme. Personally I fully support this development. It provides a great opportu· nity for students at the law school. But why docs it have to mean the end of the oppor· rumry to go to Parkdale? I have worked at both clinics extensively in my three years at U ofT l-aw school. And I have loved my time at both. However, there are differ· ences between DLS and PCLS. The Parkdale clinic is located at the heart of a

unique residential neighbourhood and has a particular relationship to the community as a result. Furthermore, at PCLS there are community legal workers, who are full. time paid staff, assigned to each divtsion.

These CLWs work on community out· reach, law reform and legal education initiatives in conjunction with the students, and sometimes the lawyer~ in their dtvi· sions. There is nothing comparable at DLS. While I welcome the addition of an mtensive programme at DLS, I am disap· pointed that the administration feels it is necessary to stop U of T students from going to Parkdale as a result. It seems to me that U of T students can only benefit by having two intensive clinic programmes to choose from.

• Sarah Loosemore (Ill)

I

DIVERSIONS

16

ULTRA VIRES

Choose Your Own Legal---Beagle Adventure Nature's kaleidoscopic working~ are one wmdswept morning as you follow your regular path to the law school.

Hearing the crackle of leaves underfoot, your gaze i~ redirected to the ground, and you realize that you have happeru.'d upon a large bank of rakt.-d leave~. What do you do?

If you are ape to be ]'leased by chis, go co 1( 1).

If you are af'' co be perturbed by this, go to

1

grumpily towards the school and arc star· tied innumemble times by honking cars.

Indignantly, you continue on. Go co 2.

If tlus is an go co 3(2).

2(1) You have no choice bur to stop and adnure your furry little friend. "Hi there!

May I make your acquamcance?" you ask.

1(1) C1sting off your book bag with the· SqUJrreb are the delight of everyone. You arn.:.tl flur, you launch yourself onto the walk into Flavelle with your eyes trained to mountain of leaves. After minutes of the ground, so as not to tread on any bushy autumnal fun, you compose yourself. rails. Go co 3. reas~emble rhe pile with artistic considcra· tion, and frohc the rest of the way co 2(2) Kicking the objectionable fiend aside, you curse collective fauna. You school. Go to 2. never understood why Bambi's mother's 1 (2) Casting disdainful glares at the pile, death was such a tragedy. Squirrels are tan· you make a concerted effort to steer clear tamount co locusts. In fear of sullying your of it so as not to dishevel your business Italian leather, you keep your eyes on the attire. You make a note to yourself that chis ground. Go co 3. unsightly mound could potentially be a torr, and pencil in a time to suf\'eil for law· 3 Nor looking where you are going, you suits. It's never roo early to start building bump mto Bora's protruding head. your clientele base! You then march If ellis is a welcome change of pace, go to 3 (1) .

1(2).

More Not--So--Real News r~o~ A.~ound the Law School Students urged to

look for change under cushions In tel>poru.e to nsmg tuition, the law school'~ fmancial md ofhl:e has pro· duccd a document suggesting that stu· dents mtght do \\ell to look for some extta cash under the cushions in the ne\\ Ro\\ ell Room. "l11c couches m the new lounge are an excellent source of ~tudent funds," explamed Aladdm, who nms the financial md office. "Last week, for mstance, I searched around :md found 35 cents under the cushions on one of the chairs, as well as a pen and some subway token,." ·Noah Gnterman

Shadowy Committee claims all money found in cushions

tlon at the moment." ':All I can say JS char mone}' rna} or

m 1~ not have been found, and that this money m,l) or may not have been eqmvalcnt to 3S cents, and that th1s JS c.:ents may or may not have gone to the pur· ch.'1 e of a new gumball, \\hich I then, pcrhap, consumed," Tam explained. "I can also sa) that any candy, hp balm or other valuables found under the cu,hton 1 the property of the Commmce."

Q\tcsnon~ remain, ho\\ever, espeually rcgardmg how this new rcgulanon wt\1 affect student finances. As well, the authonty and mandate of the Joint St·tff.Student Commtttee are sn\1 shrouded in sccn:q.

"This Committee must prevent problems before they arise," Tam cryptically concluded as he left the press briefing. ·Noah Guterman

Intensive truancy

Last month the Admmistrauon announced that tt would enforce atten· dance at intenstve courses. Ahststanc In a surpnsmg mo' e, the secrcnve and Dean L>ts Chtang e>.lJiained how this heretofore unknown joint Staff-Student \\Ould work, "To reflect'the core values Committee has laid clcum to any money of the Faculty, we arc biting a truant found under the cushions m the Rowell officer. Her job will be to hunt students Room. This move ts at odds with a down in pool halls, video arcades, stteet recent financtal atd office report telling comers and regularly scheduled classes." students they could use such money to Smce mtensives are evaluated on a offset tmtion costs. pa 'fail basis there is a concern that the Officer Kathy truant officer won't have enough Chief Admin "General" Tam unveiled the new direc- authonry to drag students back to class. nve m a terse!~ worded statement read Chtang expl:uned away thiS concern, to UV reporter~. \Vhen a~ked where the "We're gtvmg her a taser and a licence mone~ \\ould go, General Tam stmply to stun.''

Hated, "\\c c.mnot release that informa· ·jacob Gl~ek

inco your private space,

If you luwe the compassion of a swol, go to 4(2).

3(1) With a broad smile on your face, you 4(1)

a~tir

2 Before reaching your destination, how· ever, you cro~s paths with the requisite squirrel.

If 'VOlt like these God-git.·en gifts, go to 2 (1).

If 'VIltt dislike Rodentia, go to 2(2).

inc~ion

stop co notice the intricacies of the work· manship, and are taken aback by the bust's striking resemblance to your Uncle Barry.

Rtpping out your day timer, you assign a day and rime co rake a photo with this marvel, and kick yourself for not having done so earlier. Moving on, you pick up The Globe and Mail, read it amid the splendour that is the Rowell Room, fold the paper back into its original form, and sec it back where you found it so that others may partake of the news. Go tO 4.

Delighted to see that a fellow schoolmate is working so hard, you smooch the dog-cared page, affix a scratch and smell sticker that reads: "Fantastic job!", and insert the sheet into the rightful owner's mailbox back at Flavelle. Go to 4(l)(a).

4(1)(a)

After law school, you begin workmg for a reputable human rights orga· nizarion, start an enviable family, reach your toddlers to make friends with squir· rels, and spend your summers at the Fontainebleau.

3(2) You spill your latte all over poor Bora. Frightful bust! It might as well be Medusa's head! On your way to Falconer, you pick up The Globe and Mail, though you couldn't care less what is going on in the world. Heck, you just need material with which co line your kitty's litterbox. Go to 4.

competition, you head to the library, retype the summary with corrupt information, print it, and shove it into the student's mailbox. You have never gotten more sat· isfaction from a dime. Go co 4(2) (a).

4

4(2)(a)

The No Fun Room

The Magik of Law Books

Upon entering Falconer, you spot what appears co be someone's summary with a name on it.

If you have good intentions, go to 4(1).

4(2) Overcome by your malicious spirit of

After graduating, you end up working in a large and impersonal corpo· rate firm and sell your soul to boredom. Go to Purgatory.

BY ]ACOB GUCK, LAURIE ]ESSOME, MEGAN FERRIER, GILLIAN Scorr T/w .lii•J'< l\n•r/u! ]< >UH Swtt-::Hu<./ctH

Committee has released another list of behavtour:. verboten in the Rowell Room: - no ~hoes allowed, bur no sock ~lidmg either -no talking • no peeing in the plants - no rearranging the mosaic titles admittance without gloves -no Twister - no impure thoughts • no Parcheesi • no disparaging Dean Ron D - no referring to it as "The Langille Room" (Sorry, Professor Langille.)

• no flash photography - no taking of snuff or discharging of firearms • no comparing these no-fun policies co the town rules in Footloose • no Kenny Loggins ·no joy

. no

BY STEPHEN PARKS

Rm

I..l:t cl I Spells Torts Crnn Crim Prop Prop

The Latin! The Latin! . · 'shed anthropolooi~t enters a law school heart of darkness.

In h er second report our d lSttngut b....., BY

• How ro get Silence for your Library • Ah\J\S get Consent before ~ou Polymorph • Consent in Duels • Easements on Magtcal Node~ • Do you have a property nght m magtc tlowmg beneath your lamh?

l..t:.:el 2 StJells Bus. Org.· ~1aximizing shareholder magic IP • The policy debate over free speech, copyright and spells Admm • Wizardry is n profession Tax • I·ormulae and Inl:antations

'

DR. W.B. FtusSY

Anthropologu:al Log· Second Mcmth My mentor in anthropological field work, Bartholomew]. Ntcb III, was an expert in participant observauon. l fear that l am not living up co his exacting standards. far from maintaining an objective pcr~pecttve, I am beginning co idcnufy with my sub· jeers, and am even starting to internalize their codes of behaviour. That b: I am becoming a bona fide law 11tudent!

[Aaargh! The latin! The latin! I Language Acquisition Our language faculties arc bemg rewired to accommodate che lingua franca of rhe legal profession. Latin is now de rigcur, colloq~i· al stare decists notwithstanding. In ptth and substance, of course, this nomenclat· ural adjustment is nothing more chan a collateral estoppel of prior means of state· menr. In practice, however, it is making us incomprehensible to the outside world.

Rites of Passage The first-year class has successfully navi· gated several rices of belongmg in the legal world. We have completed the "first small group assignment". We have attended numerous "social mixers". We have duly followed the first "bridge week". Rituals such as the morning coffee, the hurried hallway hello, the afternoon drink at the Duke (cf sociability, below) arc becoming highly formalized and, dare I say, rote. llluugh m:x

When everytlung you studied seemed cool! Get that fcclmg back through fun metaphor.

>lt..ulul....l u•

•u«h, I Jls

cern here a process of transition to a dif· ferent set of socially identified circumseances. We are bonding. We are becoming one with lawyerdom.

Sociability It is as my mother warned back in Grade 9: if you don't make friends m the first two months, you are "doomed, darling."

Cliques have formed. Study groups congregate around tables, jealously guardmg their intellectual property. I have also detected a

The Best of Both VU>rlds ...

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.

offer some (reasonable, ObJecnvc) mstght into this strange society? Note to self: Must make appointment to meet with him.

Crime and Punishment r~rhaps

not urpnsingly, behaviour at the school i~ regulated b) an un~po­ k~n though powerful ~code of (almol>t) Professional Conduct" ICO(a)PCj. Accept~d codes of behaviOur have been internalized, and arc respected upon pain of excommunicmion. Codes mclude:

•

l. Questions in class l(l). Unsolicited questions in clas shall be !united r.o no more than three

Third-year students follow rule 2(5): evade, evade! hetero-sexuals, and are channeling their frw.trated sexual energy to stc~my case summaries and even steamier intramural sports.

2. Subjects are alieru. from outer space.

3. Subjects have learned a thing or two smce htgh school, and don't want their flings to figure as lund htghlight!> in the ever-popular "Locker GosMp Sessions".

On the basis of the fc\\ surreptitious Biological Imperatwes .. romantic glances l've happened to intercept, In a very strange inverse of tradtno~al motivations, status in this commumty I am tendmg toward hypothesis 113. seems founded not on the ability to meet [Bummer. I dig aliens.} Further research hm· biological imperatives (i.e. the basic human ticipatory, perhaps?} IS C\idemly ncce:>Saf)'. drives for food, rest, and social contact), but rather on the ability to overcome them.

Stress/Release In the high-pressure environment, some Mating Patterns remedy for stre~s i~ clearly necessary.

This has proven a particulacly difficult Although the well adjusted opt for a good point of observation. While initial research workout at the gym or maybe orne vigor· revealed that a higher-than-av~rage pro- ous home improvement, che less balanci· portion of subjects are either (a) married, cally endowed rna}' reach for ocher releas· (b) engaged, or (c) in serious relationships, es. Hell, I'm all for primal screarru. the sexual habits of the remaining singletons are difficult to dtscern. I have posited The Reasonable Man several hypotheses with regard co this He seems to be an archetypal figure of sorts, although his character changes enor· unusual circumstance: 1. Subjects are repressed a/bi/homo/rrans/ mously from case to case. Perhaps h~ could certain guardedness among classmates.. I suspect most individuals have formed dts· tinctive opinions about thetr peers, and are letting those labels guide their social dect· sions. [Note to self: hmmm, forget ~he hockey pool. The real money is in a bernng pool on who'll go politico.]

per cia s or a total of rhrce mmutcs, whichever is less. l (2). Irrelevant, ill-formulated, nnd inappropriate qucsti~.ms or commen~ shall be met with an almost impercep· tible collective groan from the rest of the class. l{3). Think before you speak.

1(4). Subsection 1(3) does not apply when bailing a classmate out of a tough situation. (Eg. "So, jane Doe, just what would Lord Denning have had to say regarding Cardoro's flO'\· non on p~onmate cause as articulated

by Prosser, hmmm?")

2. Meeting acquaintaoces in hallways )

2(1). fim encounter: "Ht! How are you oomgl 'How wu 'fOUl ~f!Wil }

Ubw, un't Con~~~ sensical these days!!" or IOIIJething cl the sort.

2(2). Second encounter: Friendly eye contact, smile, "Hey".

2(3). Third encounter: Eye contact, nod and smile.

2(.f). Founh encounter: Passing eye contaet, cun nod.

2(5). Fifth encounter: Evade, evade!

2(6). Sixth encounter: Aven eyes, do not acknowledge existence. Slmlc home, avoiding the Rowell Room.

A Short and Incomplete Update of Law School Intramurals Showing the university community we're not just geeks . . we can play sports too!

DIY VI Hockey Roundup November 8 Law "C" • 2 vs. Skule Rookies • 1

O.ffmng the broad range ofexperienu ofa large finn, with tht hands-on approach ofa strUJ/1finn.

Contact ~tu C. Straszynski, p>traszynslti@.torkimrumts.tom Hot"' .....,..., WUIIV.torkitltnQII(S.COIIf

17

DIVERSIONS

20 NOVEMBER 2001

The DIY VI hockey team has entered a new world of respectability with its fir~t .500 record in recent memory and hopel> of a first-ever playoff berth.

A season of firsts continues.

Ourshoormg the Skule Rookies by a wide margin, the Law "C" has strung together two straight wins for the first time ~mce Arnie Weinnb was Acting Dean. Goal scorers were Shawn Lauhman and Vince Kazmierski. Goalie Jeremy Streeter played another splendtd game and narrowly mtssed a shutout as a screened .shor beat him in the game's dying moments.

Asked for the secret of this newfound success, rhc ream's most veteran player, David Moon, credited rhe talentt•d crop of rookie~. "They're all grear! Tremendous athletes and scholars. And rough. One guy won't e\'en wear ~houldcr pads. They cat nails for breakfast, and nt the new cafeteria for lunch. Tou~h."

November 15 Law "C" • 1 vs. Chern Engineering • 0 Jay Streeter earned a shutout, holding up the early lead given to him hy Peter Marhe~on-Young. Streeter stopped (ac least) 25 ~hoc~. In spite of playmg much of the game in their own end, rhe Laws hung on to win. "Gocxi teams win close games.

They win when they don't deserve to," Coach "Coughdrop" Coughlan opined.

"It's definitely the coaching," said Mike

Hollinger. "It's like before the game, he's a phenomenal moti\'ator. He said that if we play like last week, we'd definitely win.

Depending upon how good che other team was, of course. He didn't know chat."

Winger Steve Savtlle added "the Coughdrop is 100% wmncr." When it was mentioned that the team lost its first game, in which Coughlan played, Savtlle clari· ficd. "He thinks like a 100% winner."

Defenceman and SLS President Bcnjic Shinewald added that while Law has six different goal scorers this season wtth a goal apiece, he l~d the ream with three penalties. "I'm sending a message co the adminbtrarion. I don't back down."

Results from November 19 were nor available at press ttme. Come watch DIY VI play on November 27 at lOPM as they hope to make the playoff~.

-Mike Hollinger

Playoff News Congratulattons co Men's DIY I Football who won the champtonshtp m glorious fom1.

The Women's Football Blue Team suffered a heartbreaking loss in the ~emi-finals.

The White Team had been previously elimmated in the quarters.

Give your favourite New Law Ultimate team member a hug for playing a tough game m the bttcer cold and wind of Nov. 18. New Law were JUSt one win away from the title game bur could nor gcr around the defensive savvy of the Faculty of Physical Education and Health team.

The Women's Soccer Team lost a heart· breakmg 1-0 championship march at Varsity Stadium on Nov. 17.

CHILDREN & DIVERSIONS

18

ULTRA VIRES

get

CHILDREN &

19

DIVERSIONS

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Against Children (and while we're at it, against Potter too)

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BY BJW'o.'DA DIDYK

Find your inner child. Except you, Sagittarius.

Cf

Aries (March 21 • April 19) A~ a child you were warm-he;med but very

impatient. "When do I get to go to Kmdergancn?" "When \\ill I get to stay up past 8:00?" Yes, dear Aries, you were always in a rush, even conquering the feat of porry·trainmg ar rhe render age of one and a half.

Slow down! There's no rush. Revel in the daycare-likc atmo~phere of the law school that you rebelled against at three. Take a few da}·s off and live the bibs of Sesame Street and naptime you were so anxiou~ ro leave behind.

If rou're good you may even get jello for dessert. Yum. Taurus (April 20 • May 20) A lover of home comforts, when your mother ( ) made you stay home from the Grade 11 dance you were only too happy to comply. (Such a shame, they played Maestro Fresh Wes.) · Although you could use this inclination to nur· ture your ralenr for embroidery, you would be better served by learning to cook and throwing lots of dinner parties. In your house! You won't have to leave, I promise {except maybe for groceries). Just remember that you can't have any fun without letting your friends spill a few glasses of wine on your new car· \)et. Caution: i.f 'YOU nnd yourself in a Spanish arena surrounded by people shouting "0\e", be carcfu\. Trust no one wei\ding a red cape. It won't end wel\.

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20 NOVEMBER 2001

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Gemini (Ma'f 21 • June 20) For you, .~elf expression is a necessity, not a luxury. Your

Leo Quly 23 • Aug. 22) Leos have a natural affinity to children, especially ar story· telling nme. Your most childlike qualiry, however, ts the i~rational hateon you have for all figures of authority.

And ir's all based on the fact that you don't like ~omeone else telling you what to do.

When you played follow the leader, you alway~ had to be the leader, didn't you? Try stepping aside and learning to listen, my dear. After all, most of your parents unwelcome advice turned our to be right, right?

(With the possible exception of that boyfriend on the motorcycle • he was so perfect for you! You would have had ten babies by now.)

Virgo {Aug. 23 • Sept. 22) A methodical perfectionist, you were always the teacher's pet. As a child you never coloured out of the lines and you still secretly like doing foomote checks for Law Review. But Virgo, all that apple polishing may tum you into a finicky fuss-pot with no friends. You must rediscover the spontaneity of childhood. "Okay," says Virgo, consulting his palm pilot. "l'U schedule tt in next week." No! Not good enough. Do it now! Right now. Put down the paper and run to Queen's Park. Frohc. Chase a squirrel. GO. Libra (Sept. 23 • Oct. 22)

-.n..

The Ubran child is friendly and thoughtful, lihanng

Capricorn {Dec. 22. Jan 19) A 1336 Almanac states "Whoso is borne in Capricorn schal be ryche and wellufyd." Translated: you will have lots o' cash and will be well-loved (or wellloofah-ed, possibly}. You were a pampered baby, Capricorn, and that's given you the confidence and determination to get what you want in life, no matter what's in your way. Things will pay off if you can keep control. So climb ev'ry mountain and ford ev'ry stream. Even as a child you knew where you want· ell ro go. uon t change a

thing, baby. her toys, helping slower children to build architec· you single-handedly redecorated your room using only turally sound sand castles. Have you forgotten your crayolas and magic markers. Luckily, the Twms are also basic curiosity m the people around you? You will very versatile and your creative output need not take the get so much more back if you would only give a little. So form of grafitti and the destruction of your mother's say "Hello" to someone new. Incidentally, Libra, in my Aquarius Oan. 20 • Feb. 18) wall-paper. So do like Madonna and Express Yourself this Aquarius was the original flowerresearch I discovered that Librans are supposed to be par· month. Sign up for Interpretive Dance at Hart House. If child and you grew up loving ani- ~ ticularly adept at poultry keeping but have absolutely no that's not satisfying, I'm sure the renovated law school mals, smelling daisies and just gen- ~ sense of slapstick comedy. Who knew? will have some nice, blank dry-wall for you to, urn, erally letting the sun shine in. improve. Just don't tell anyone I told you to do it.

Sigh ... We all know the sad truth, don't we Aquarius: Hippies never get anywhere Scorpio (Oct. 23 ·Nov. 21) in life and unless you plan to spend your days Cancer Qune 21 , July 22) Scorpio children are in constant on a ferry commuting from your organicallySensitive and moody, your big brother was need of entertainment. As you Toronto Island cottage to your job at an friendly on to something when he called you a grew, your love of Saturday ·environmentalist book co-op, I suggest you cash "Crybaby". I know the column this month morning cartoons evolved into a voracious in your love beads for a power suit. You did is aU about getting in touch with your inner child. You appetite for all of life's pleasures. This need want a job on Bay St., didn't you? Isn't that why my dear Cancer, are the exception. You must put the for continual amusement may have turned you chose U ofT? Your inner child must be hurt and humtliation of growing up behind you, lest you you into a greedy materialist. If you are com· confined to a small herb garden in your back grow an even thicker shell to try and protect yourself. fortable with this, I suggest you march down yard.

Very small.

The truth is, Cancer, you can't keep yourself safe from to Bay St. immediately. I see a tall, dark parents realized chis when

m.

everything. That's life. You can't run crying from the room every time your friends don't save you a seat in the Rowell Room. Embrace your trauma. And sweetie, it's time to grow up.

LENCZNER SLAGHT ROYCE SMITH GRIFFIN IAIUUSTEllS

For infonnation about opportunities for a student to learn to be an advocate see our website at www.lsrsg.com or contact Peny Hancock, Student Co-ordinator at (416) 865-3092, e-mail phaneock@lsng.com Sum2600, 1)0 ADEI..AID£Snur Wrsr. TOIIOHTO, OoirAltiO, C>.!<AOA MSH JP} T!LUIION!(416) 16HSOO • fACS!Nll.l(416) 16$-9010

building in your future ... But if you want more out of life, you must recall the simple pleasures of childhood. Have you ever really spent time with a three year-old? All they need is an old pot and a wooden spoon. Go pick up a book of Dennis Lee poems and you'll see what I mean.

Pisces (Feb. 19 ·March 20) As a child your favourite time was bath time and you always hogged the water play station in your Kindergarten class • anything to be near or in the water. While you excel at furniture design and interior decorating, you are quite unimpressed with luxury and glamour. You understand that, like fish in a pond, we live in a community, a delicate eco-system. Balance must be preserved and no one can have too much or too little. As a kid, your siblings capitalised on your tolerant tendencies, always stealing the biggest piece of cake out from under your nose.

That's fine for cake. But make sure no one is taking advantage of you when it counts • watch out!

BY NOAH GITrERMAN

Children are overrated.

And I'm not being flippant here. I know of what I speak.

Once upon a time, for instance, I worked for an orgamzation that was in the business of saving children, and was called, appropriately enough, Save the Children. I also used to dedicnte whole summers to keeping children entertained, and out of harm's way.

But they have not won me over, these children. I know what they, and we, arc up to.

Of course, I agree that children cancertamly be amusing. Especially when they are someone else's. I once wrote a play that was performed by a bunch of tcn-yc:u-olds.

The play was a romantic comedy about donuts. It starred an awkward and shy jelly Screw Potter and Momters Inc. - Noah would rather see Heist. donut who had fallen in love with a beautiful and popular chocolate glaze. The first child. And I don't think we would want to, like Potter because the children should read scene contained a soliloquy by the jelly either. Children are people, and many peo- books, and Potter makes good books. But donut. The first line of that soliloquy was: ple are mean and terrible, and thus many our love for the idea of chtldren and their children are mean and terrible too. So love books quickly mutates into some horrible "Light of my life, fire of my jelly... " Now, that's kinda funny. And it would of the children is itself an idea - a ctpher for justification for the rampant and unre· probably have been difficult to find adult our own yearnings about lost opportunity strained commerctal exploitation of chilfriends or acquaintances to perform such a and an innocence that has and never will dren's hves, literary and other.

Because our attachment is to the idea, piece. Thus I am thankful of the children exist. for performing that play, and for being OK, but so what, you may ask • why not the person, we seem to be unconcerned when the child's pen.ona\ opportucan't we love an idea? funny about it, too.

Well, for one thing, our unqualified love nity for individual choice is systematically The gratefulness, however, ends there.

For it's really the idea of children we love, for the idea of children often backfires, in degraded by the steamrolling Potter juggernaut. Thus instead of asking, "what would not children themselves. Indeed it is curious and sometimes harmful ways.

Take a certain Mr. Potter, for instance. We you like to read, young person," we justify ·-""ssihle to actually love each and every

compliance - it's OK you feel personall:y compelled w read eight Potter not:d.'i and purchase a Potter can of Coke before you go ~ee the Potter mot:ie, little johnny, because the . children ought to be excited about Potter (and please, if I hear any more crap about innocenr children innocently learning about Potter through a completely innocent word of mouth phenomenon, I think I might ralph).

Now, we can take the implications of our obsession with rhe idea of children a little further, beyond Potter.

And when we do that, we can sec that the imertion of our own need~ and de,ire~ into the idea of children is mo~t completely manifested when we. actually start creating them, willy nilly.

For no child asks to be created. And it would be hard to argue that at this moment, given there are a hell of a lot of children out there right now, we need anr more. Thus we must create them selfuhly, in order to participate more fully in the idea that we love, and that we also have created.

Children, then, as creations of our own creation, are not treated for who they are, bur for what they are. Commodified not just for the Potter machme, but for our own intense desires, feeding a very, very hungry idea.

An unfortunate state of affairs, perhap5, but I think a solution can be found. Rise up, and be against them, not for them.

Down with childhood! Down with the children\

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The Legal Wisdom of Hobbes for a high-paying job to which he is clearly spending much special time with my own entitled. When she suggests rather point· dad, who's always working." His father's l I really needed to know about· edly that he work harder, and that what guilt-ridden response: w and law school I learned from you get out of school depends on what you "This is the story of the hydrauhc pump obbes. Not the philosopher, put into it, Calvin scowls back, "Then for- (Fig. l}, the wheel shaft flange {Fig. 2) and though I bet he has some valuable insights get it." He takes up private enterprise the evil patent infringement." Funnily, I too. I'm talking about Hobbes, feline com- instead, selling kicks in the shin for 5 cents, think I saw this exact diagram circulating panion to the imaginauve and uncontrol- "because everyone needs what I'm selling." around Bora Laskin a few weeks ago, in an lable first-grader, Calvin. From Calvin's On the other hand, though, Calvin and IP take-home assignment. Do we have a classroom escapism to Hobbes' compan- Hobbes seem to have learned pretty early whole generation of Calvin-parents breedionship and their creative kid shenanigans, how to play the whole school game. ing within our own walls? Don't say you I think that law students can learn great Consider Calvin's tack on his writing weren't warned.

I really think that we need more of stuff from these two rascals. assignments. He opines to his stuffed tiger It's a little-known fact that part of our that the purpose of wnting is to "inflate Hobbes' reflection and Calvin's imaginalegal tradition, the common law, actually weak ideas, obscure poor reasoning, and tion in our school. For example, what hap· developed as a parallel to Calvinball. inhibit clarity." Law school bound? pened to the huge cardboard boxes that What, you didn't notice? They arc equally Calvin's assignment is entitled "The must have come with the new Rowell predictable. The only permanent rule in Dynamics of lnterbeing and Monol~ical Room furniture? How fun would it have both is that you can't play the game the Imperatives in Dick and Jane: A Study in been to use them to build a couple of same way twice. You declare things oppo- Psychic Transrelational Gender Modes." I ttansmogrifiers, time machines, or even sitely by not declaring them, and the play- must mention how impressed I am with duplicators. Sometimes it would be nice to ers are the only ones who know what is the strategtc use of punctuation in his title. come out of class and pay a visit to the going on. It's kind of hard to learn the I'm convinced that the elusive "A" is a dinosaurs or outer space... Or how about rules, but you figure out pretty quickly how direct result of a catchy paper title, and creating a duplicate me so that she could to talk the talk. I almost expect Lord every snazzy cover page has to feature at do research while the real me goes to the Denning to say stuff like "Counsel has to least one punctuation mark, preferably the movies? Even if that's not going to happen, jump everywhere until someone finds the colon. Calvin has befriended this trick, I guess I can still take Calvin's lead and fantasize about one of my profs turning Bonus Box", or "The score is Q to 12." I too: "Academia, here I come!" could reply smartly with "Olly-wolly polliActually, I don't know if law is where into an octopus or an alien or something.

Calvin shows us that it's okay to buck the woggy ump-bump fizz" in either situation.

Calvin would end up. With a father who is trends and just be yourself· remember the What about our approaches toward the a patent lawyer, Calvin already has too venerable institution of learning itself? much insight into a lawyer's schedule. D<!autiful snowflake Calvin brings for show Take, for instance, Calvin's attitude toward When Calvin calls his dad at work, he gets and tell that turns mto an ordinary, boring the role of higher education: he inquires yelled at: "I don't have time to tell you a molecule of water, just like every other one, somewhat belligerently of his poor teacher, story now! I'm very busy! I'm expecting when you bring it into the classroom. With Miss Wormwood, whether his education is important calls." Calvin won't have any of that analogy, we'll leave you drips and head adequately preparing him for the Zlst cen- it: "OK, Dad. I'll just stay here, qutetly back out to fight aliens on the swing set. tury, for a competitive global economy, and growrng up at an unbelievable rate, never Spaceman Spiff to the rescue!

BY PAULINE R OSENBAUM

M

Disabilities Act Continued from "Proposed Disabilities," p15 need to be made well in advance, for example for sign language interpretation, appropriate child care, accessible transportation via Wheeltrans or taxis, and to get Braille or large-print copies of relevant documents. Moreover, the quick public consultation announcement specifically went agamst the request for 3 weeks' notice put forward by the ODA Committee.

The government claims that this bill is the beginning of the consultation process.

That is not good enough. The consultation should be over; the removal of barri· ers, with legislated compliance and time· lines, should have been implemented by now. Recall that Mike Harris first promiSed this bill in 1995. Recall also that about 3 years ago, the Tone~ mtroduced and withdrew a three-page, small-print bill on disability that was not worth the paper it was printed on.

People with disabilities in Ontario deserve much more than these thin and flimsy guarantees. The introduction of this bill was the government's opportunity to show Ontarians that they are committed to ensuring that people with disabilities are treated with dignity and respect.

Instead, after six year~ of promises, the government has created a bill that i~ ~o full of gaps and so lacking in any enforcement that it suggests a reluctance, if not refusal, to acknowledge and promote full ~ocietal integration and participation of people living with disabilities in G_ntario.

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20

ULTRA VIRES

DIVERSIONS

Ultra News: Not--So--Real News From Around the Law School Furniture spotted in Rowell Room Accordmg w 'ources, there were couchc~ and cha1r) in the Rowell Room for only 90 minute.) rc~tcrdar. "I was readmg a news· paper, when these dudes came in to remove the furniture,'' reported Penny (Ill). When reached for comment, a rcprc· sentati\'e of Facilities and Scrv1cc~ explained, ''The Rowell Room was hooked for an cn.•nt that evening. We just followed ~tandard procedure, removing all traces of comfortahle furniture ar least seven hours in advance."

The Admmistrarion tollowed with n list· scrv message reading, "Urgent - We contin· ue to encourage students to usc the wonderful super-duper Rowell Room, so long as they get the hell out for our shmooze-fe:.ts."

In order to force students to vacate the room qu1ckly the Faculty also plans to appoint Rowell Room hall monitors.

Sashes w1ll be distributed next Thursday.

Dean's kids design new building

uprising remained slim.

"We could, ofcourse, all simply refuse to do our readings," explained Penny (Til).

"However, the collective action problems that would create :;cem insurmountable. As well, due to Duff's expertise in handling student que.,nons, thue does not seem to be any way to further discuss Paul's call for revolution."

• Noah Gitterman and jacob Gltck

Girlfriend complains first.-year "ruined"

My Cousin Vinny

Last Thursday, Duff mentioned to the class that the fourth volume of his casebook would soon be released, thus adding to the 1,500 pages of reading already assigned.

Paul (III), sensing the restless mood of his Jacob Glick fellow students, extended his hand and boldly asked Duff, "aren't you concerned that we might revolt?"

• Jacob Glick and Noah Gittem~an A forest of hands then shot up, as students hoped to weigh in on Paul's interesting proposal for open rebellion. Duff, how· La~t week the admm\sttation moved the ever, quick!~ got a handle on the budding bust of former dean Caesar Wright to a insurrection, exp\aming that he would only place of prominence in the Rowell Room A nascent rebellion among students m entertain questions duecdy related to ante-~hambcr. By all accounts, "Caesar's Professor David Duff's Income Tax class course material on the fine distinction Head" hal> been a tremendous success. has fi:z.z\ed due to Duff\ quick on-the-spot between capital and current expenses. With "StudC'nts nC'cU more hronze ht.>ad. . ' rhinking. u<n., ·h c rc , ,, tu rn. u1"' ''u"'·"' ~rudcn ts _,c;Jmnh ·

Students demand more busts

~ttk-d back for the rest of the lecture.

After the cla~s. hopes for any future

cxplamed Pres1dcnt Benj1e Shinewald.

"Oversized novelty heads with empty eye sockets best exemplify the great minds needed to pursue a modem legal education.

Caesar Wright had a magnificent dream that one day there would be disembodied heads in every room of this great law school.

1l1e time has come to honour his legacy."

Duff crushes rebellion

A romantic evening ended on a sour note last Saturday as Trudy, a Thornhill investment adv1sor, accused her longtime boyfnend, Dale, a firsr-year law student, of "ruining" My Cousin Vinny.

"The whole time he was, like, 'that would never happen,"' Trudy told Ultra Vires. "And he kept pointing out all these inconsistencies in Vinny's arguments. It was really annoying."

The 1992 legal comedy starred Joe Pesci in the mle role as a halfwit lawyer hired to defend his wrongfully accused cousin, played by Ralph Macchio of The Karate Kid fame. Trudy and Dale rented the DVD from Blockbuster.

-Ian Richb \ ,,.,, \',., \, J,', ,,, ,., "'

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