Ultra Vires Vol 6 Issue 3 2004 Nov

THE

INDEPENDENT

STUDENT

NEWSPAPER

OF THE

UNIVERSITY

OF TORONTO

FACULTY

OF LAW

u tra vires ~OLUM~

6 ISSUE

3

.

NOVEMBER

23

200

-

SINCE 1999

Students wary of Bay Street firm'in;olvement in pov;;;u~;i~;~CA Corporatization fears "preposterous": Dean BYJONATHANDESBARATS Students fearing a corporate takeover of Downtown Legal Services (DLS) can relax, say lawyers from Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP, the firm that ponied up a $500,000 donation for the renovations at the new clinic bnilding on Spadina.

"I don't think we have any expectations in terms of the relationship between the finn and the clinic," said Rosalind Cooper, a partner at Faskens who chaired the student committee at the time the contribution was first discussed. "In terms of being mvolved in the day-to-day operations, . that's not something the firm is interested in."

I The question of precisely how much involvement Faskens would have with the clinic has been a bit of a question mark since the idea of making a donation was first proposed. In the initial discussions, Dean Ron Daniels told Faskens about a clinic::at Harvard Law School cat"*! the

Hale and

Dorr Legal

Services

Center.

Initially called the Legal Services Institute, the clinic received a $2 million 'donation from Hale and Door, a Boston business finn, for the purchase and renovation of a new building in 1992.

"I was anxious to get as much support as possible for [DLS] and so broached the possibility that over time there may be some further things that Faskens can do to support DLS that would take place in the CONTINUEDON PAGE4

UVINDEX • MARIA SUSPENDED, P.3 • BOOKSTORE THEFT? P.4 • MEET MEGRET P.9 • OCISURVEY, PP.l0-13 • OUR FAIR LADY, P.19 • CAPTION CONTEST, P.22 • BUSH AND SIMPSON, P.23 • JON STEWART, P.24

Tbe Coca-Cola Bear pays a vgilto ,the borne, of,tbe Coca-Cola Dean during tbe Santa Claus Parade Nov. 21. See editorial on p_ 16

Complaint prompts changes to Trial Advocacy Final evaluation made optional in popular upper-year course BYANDREWPILLIAR A tempest in a teapot has blown up around the upper year Trial Advocaoy course, involving allegations of poor planning, whining students, deep regrets, and a "shitty little writing assignment."

In an email sent to enrolled students on October 29, students learned that the final method of evaluation in the course had become optional. In response to "a very critical email from one student," course coordinator Julie Hannaford informed students that the fmal trial, which is usually seen as the culmination of the course, as well as some written preparatory work, would no longer be compulsory. These changes to the honours/pass/fail course were made in response to a student email sent to Hannaford that raised concerns about the final trial taking place on a Sunday, citing interference with religious observances.

As a result of the change, one third of the class of 96 students has elected to

forego the final trials entirely.

The abrupt change was communicated to the class by an email in which Hannaford stated "[a ]pparently, I have run afoul of a University Policy that I was unaware of." Students had received an earlier notice informing them that the final trial had been moved to Sunday, November 28 from Saturday, November 27. According to Hannaford, the complaining student had insinuated that significant changes to the format of assignments as published in the syllabus were contrary to university policy unless the entire class agreed to the changes. The Faculty of Law Student Handbook actually states that "[t]ollowing puhlication of the method of evaluation in a course in this Handbook, it must continue to be available for the academic year, although an instructor may subsequently offer additional methods on an optional basis." There is no mention ofthe unanimous consent of the class for changes to be made.

The changes and awareness of the email

--------

communications have elicited mixed reactions from students currently enrolled in the course. Third year student Amy Salyzyn remarked that "certainly, it is unusual to have a course where the final evaluation is effectively optiona!." Gleb Bazov (III) was skeptical about the method of accommodation, remarking that "if there were religious concerns, they should have been accommodated on [a basis of individual] request," and that it is "ridiculous for a three credit course to have no means of final evaluation," Hannaford recognizes as much, suggesting that the course will be graded in the future, in order to combat the fact that ''trial ad is perceived as a bird course".

According to Hannaford, changes in tbe course over the past five years, in particular moving tn a half-day final trial, have made the course "easier than it's ever been." At one point, frustrated with the tone of the class and with the student reacCONTINUEDON PAGE2

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E N JOY B EI N G ( HAllE

N G ED? (I)

OSLER

HOSK!N(1

HARCOURT

NEWS

2

ULTRA VIRES

"Beyond OCls" session draws twenty-five students Some question whether session explores real opportunities or merely provides solace for "DCI rejects"

BY ANDREW PlUIAR Is there life for U ofT law students beyond Bay Street? The answer is certainly "yes" but the route to that answer can be difficult to find for some. Exploring options is one of the points of the Career Development Office's "Beyond OCls" information session, held this year on November 16.

Although Director of Career Services Lianne Krakauer noted that approximately 50 per cent of second year students do not secure summer jobs through the OCI process, only 25 students attended the event. Nevertheless, Associate Dean (Career Services) Bonnie Goldberg was pleased with the turnout, noting that not all students are interested in looking for summer positions so soon after failing to secure employment.

But did all the students who attended the "Beyond OCls" session fail to secure a Bay Street job? The session was run as an organized discussion, with Krakauer posing questions to a six-person student panel about their experiences going through OCls without success. Though all of the panelists had participated in the interview process, not all had pursued firm jobs with the same fervour. Third year 'studeut Caroline Wawzonek reflected that she had not been interested in OCls originally, but found herself caught up -in the process and then feeling, frustrated

by not receiving

a iob offer.

Lang Michener Lawyers - Patent

II. Trade

Ben Arkin (III) encouraged students to take would make no-call day a loteasier if we ences, approximately 90 per cent of stusome time to reflect on the OCI process and knew that our futures didn't hang in the bal- dents secure articling positions by September of their third year. Many of the to consider what areas of law they might be ance." interested in. Recalling advice from In a similar vein, Griffith noted that the remaining 10 per cent apparently either Krakauer the year before, Arkin counselled session "felt a bit like a support group for choose not to article, or land positions later students to ask themselves "what they OCI rejects." Although the CDO has con- in the year. Tbougb tbese figures are would be doing if they already bad an arti- sidered holding a similar event before OCI encouraging, many students were looking cling position." Many of the panelists com- results are known, this model was rejected for "more direction in terms of possible mented similarly that not securing a second in the belief that few students would attend, next steps," according to Waxberg. Whether year summer job provided a valuable since most who enter the Gel process students are ultimately bound for Bay Steet opportunity to consider where their inter- expect.to be successful. Krakauer noted that or not, there is undoubtedly more to the secests lay, and what types of work they were regardless of second year summer experi- ond year summer than the finn job. interested in. Clearly, there is life aller Bay Street, as all of the students on the panel The Muppets take Falconer were successful in securing articling positions, and most remarked on how positive tbe experience of not getting a job bad been iD retrospect.

The second year students in attendance clearly appreciated the candour of the third years. Emily Griffith (IT) described tbe panelists -as "great-very candid and with a range of summer experiences to talk about." However, some students questioned the assumptions underlying the event. One student, who wished to remain nameless, felt that "the CDO was implying that the only dung tbat lay 'beyond OCls' was another shot at Bay Street." Indeed, most of the student panelists had secured articling positions in the Toronto area, many with finns of one size or another. Lee Wax berg (II) suggested that the CDO "could do more Max Matas (III) and Danya Rogen won the award for Best Costumed Couple at to expose us to alternatives to Gels ... it the annual SLS HaUoween Party held October 29. .

LLP

NEWS

23 NOVEMBER2004

3

Sodexho food workers suspended, reinstated Former Grounds of Appeal employee accused of harassment

BY JONATHAN DESBARATS The brief suspension of Maria Ferraz, a former Grounds of Appeal employee now working in the cafeteria of the Medical Sciences Building, had nothing to do with her activities as a union organizer or her public comments, according to ber employer.

"It was a separate issue," said John Kristjanson, VP of Operations and .Communications at U of T Sodexho. "It migbt appear that way, but it had to do with an employee that made a claim [of harassment], and we needed to take a course of action that would diffuse the situation."

The suspension of Ferraz and coworker Goretti Frias, who is also a union organizer, came on October 27, a week after Ultra Vires published a story in which Ferraz was outspoken about her efforts to bring in a union for cafeteria workers. Ferraz also suggested in the article that ber move from Grounds of Appeal to the Medical Sciences Building may ultimately Itave bad something to do witb her involvement with the union UNITE-HERE (Union of Needlerrades, Industrial and Textile

Employees & Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees).

According to Sodexho, another worker had registered a harassment complaint against Ferraz and Goretti.

Although it was never made clear precisely what the nature of the complaint was, it was said to involve "offensive verbal comments."

Ferraz recalls that she and Goretti were simply "joking around" with the woman, whom they both knew.

"This was five minutes, and then she left. Half an hour later we were called to the office by our boss and they said we have a complaint that you 've been harassing an employee."

The two cafeteria workers were escorted out of the building and asked to leave indefinitely until the investigation of the mysterious harassment complaint could be carried out. Although it was initially reported by The Varsity that the suspension was without pay, that claim was later denied by Sodexho, who claimed that the suspension was with pay.

Ferraz recalls that the suspension was initially without pay, but that Sodexho changed their position.

Maria Ferraz and otbers at a November 1 rally for tbe suspended "They saw tbat there was no harassment, and they decided to make an agreement-to pay us for the time," she said.

Althougb it is not entirely clear whether tbe complaint was the resnlt of a growing divide between pro-union and anti-union employees on campus, Kristjanson wouldn't rule out the possibility.

"We bave some 200 employees that work at the university, it is a big contract, and it becomes an interesting tar-

get for a union. They've been very aggressive over the last number of years to get representation, and with that comes a little bit of turmoil from time to time," he said.

Tbe two employees were reinstated following a meeting with management October 30, but botb received a written disciplinary warning from the company witb respect to their workplace bebaviour.

Ferraz said the complainant was "anti-union."

j 1

\I

Sl:UetIt complaint Iea!ls to review of faculty's admissions polley

Mark Agents

Selwyn Pieters, an unsuccessful applicant to the LLB program, filed a human rights complaint agaipst. U 0 fT and otherOntario law schools. Mr. Pieters stated that "because of my race and colour. I have been subject to racial discrimination bN:i the Admissions Committee." He alleged that tbe use of the LSAT re~ults was advelilf,! discrimination because standardized tests disadvantage minority groups. Professat Weinrib defended the faculty's use of the LSAT and noted tbat the level ofdivers~ in the student body was higher than the national average.

\

~erse moot puis judges In studepts' places The paper led with "report On the first-ever "Reverse Moot," part of the la school's 50th anniversary celebrations. Over 500 students and alumni watched llk Ontario Court of Appeal Justices Rosalie Abella and Stephen Goudge took 01\ Supreme Court Justices Frank Iacobucci and Ian Binnie. Based on the problem atthe "Speluncean Explorers", the moot was a sbowcase for outstanding and hUlllQl."< ous oral advocacy. Justice Abella promised not to "engage the court in a debate when '110means no,' or myths and stereotypes about cave explorers," while Justice Goudge pleaded for recognition that "cannibals are people too."

0".

Meet Snjlt Sl\iit Cbaudhry was introduced as a new professor, joining the faculty to teaCh in healtb law and contemporary issues in federalism. He stated that "tk ambition is to bridge public poltey material, coastitutional case law, and the pol.ijl: cal science literature. An interdisciplinary perspective is indispensable to IllIdeIlt. standing the operation oflegal regimes."

The article noted that Choudhry was headed for medical school, before COInilJ~~ hlSsooses and attending U ofT to study health law.

courses

TRIAL AO CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Toronto BCE Place 181 Bay Street, Suite 2500 P.O. Box 747 Toronto ON M5J 2T7

workers.

Attention: Scott Whitley Director of Professional Tel: 416-360-8600 Fax: 416-365-1719

Development

tion, Hannaford "threatened to pull out, and pull my faculty out as well." However, noting tbat many students had sent emails supportive of Hannaford's work with the course, she said she "can't be that mad because I like all the students so much."

There is sympathy for the work that Hannaford and her faculty put into the course among the student body. Third year student Ingrid Grant pointed out that "I don't think anyone will blame her for feeling frustrated that a course that she and others have put so much work into might be perceived as being a joke."

--

4

NEWS

Trip to Harvard preceded DLS donation

cations and communications, whether electronic (including by way of the Internet) or otherwise, emanating from the DLS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 would not work at DLS, say members of Premises." the executive.

Daniels, the main architect of the relabuilding that they need," said Daniels, "It's not just that we wouldn't want it," tionship between Faskens and DLS, said adding that DLS students executives and said Danny Kastner (II), a member of the the issue is being overblown. the clinic director were consulted about the DLS executive. "I f tbey had expertise to "The suggestion here is that there is idea. lend us we'd want it. But the areas of law some subtle or not so subtle agenda to corDaphne Simnn, Associate Registrar at that tbc Harvard clinic is involved in DLS poratize DLS and to rob it of its identity the Law Society of Upper Canada, who is Dot involved in." , and turn it into a satellite of some downwas the lone DLS civil review counsel at Students at DLS work in areas such as town law finn and this is preposterous," the time, recalls some vague notions about criminal, refugee, housing, employment, said Daniels.

Faskens lawyers giving talks on civil liti- university affairs and education rights.

"We've got a little bit of a loss of instigation, but that essentially the arrangement "There are a lot of people at DLS who tutional memory here. There was consultawas focused on changing the name of the are uncomfortable with being in a close tion on all these issues. [Faskens] didn't clinic. relationship with a business law finn," come up with the name, we came up with "My understanding was that it would said Ingrid Grant (UI), also a member of the name after consulting with students. just be a name," said Simon. "1 think it was the DLS executive. "It doesn't fit in at all Now, ifsome of the students have changed more ahout the firm being a figwehead with what DLS is about." their minds, we'll have to have a discusthan anything else, and about providing a Tbe band-Wringing over the Faskens/ sion about that and if it's legitimate and I place to house the clinic. No one would sit DLS relationship may have to do with understand their reasons it will be someon the executive, and there was to be no more than the question of whether Faskens thing that we can broach to the firm." involvement in the day-to-day operations will become involved in clinic operations.

In reference to Faskens becoming more at all," said Simon.

Some students are worried about the pro- involved with the clinic in other ways, At the Harvard clinic, Hale and Door posed name of the clinic building: The Daniels said it would be "silly" not to at lawyers serve as review counsel for stu- Fasken Martineau DuMoulin Centre for least consider wbat Faskens has to offer. dents in estate planning, small business Legal Services. Tbe fear is that the name Ultimately the question of how and to planning, intellectual property and housing will confuse clients and will lead to the wbat degree Faskens bas any further development. According to the Hale and impression that DLS is a sub-office of involvement in DLS is up to students and Door Legal Services Center website, the Faskens, particnlarly if the name appears the DLS executive, said Cooper.

Hale and Dorr lawyers also "model for our on pleadings and other documents.

"The way we like to look at it, we look students the ways in which attnmeys in the Any changes to the oew name are subto the students to tell us what if apy role most prestigious and highly-paid sectors ject to the approval of Faskens, as set out they want us to play. [f tbey were to say of the bar can contribute to the public good in a contract between Faskens and the by making legal services more widely University signed in August, 2000. The available." contract also states that the name must The Hale and Dorr model is one that appear as part of the address on "all publi-

ULTRAVIRES 'we need some assistance in this way, J for example, 'we're behind in filing,' maybe we would send over a clerk to help out. If the students came forward and wanted to be involved in some particular aspect. we would consider that."

Mary Misener, the acting executive director at DLS, believes one of the ways for Faskens to contribute would be to send more of their summer students to work at clinic as part of the Public Interest Advocacy Program.

"We have more space now at DLS. I'd like to try and get some people who are headed to Bay Street to stop by and do some poverty law. We certainly have the demand-it's unbelievable how many people need us," said Misener, noting that while costs have gone up at the clinic, funding from Legal Aid Ontario has remained static, and may be decreasing in the future.

Until the summer of 1998, DLS was located in the crumbling office in tbe basement of Falconer that now bouses Ultra Vires. The clinic moved to 720 Spadina in 2000 before finding its current home at 655 Spadina Avenue. In September 2000, Ultra Vires reported: "The money pledged

by Faskens will be used to renovate the building at 655 Spadina by making it wheelchair accessible and refurbishing the office spaces inside."

- with files from Ben Arkin

Books missing from Law bookstore

Value estimated at $8,000

BY JOIIAT\lAII DESBARATS

A number of books have disappeared from the bookstore in the basement of Falconer, according to Marlene Haughton, Operations and Bookstore Coordinator at the law school.

"I found both bookstore doors unlocked on Monday morning," said Haughton. "My first thought was that we'd had a late delivery the night before

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and that the delivery

person

hud le:fi the

door unlocked."

Haughton saw that one stack looked significantly understocked. After doing a closer count of the inventory, Haughton realized that more tban just a few books were missing. Sbe immediately alerted the University of Toronto campus police to the missing books, and an investigation is underway.

Haughton estimates the value of the books, which include copies of many different texts, at approximately $8,000. A phone, a radio and a calculator were also missing.

According to Haugbton, the bookstore has experienced several break-ins over the years.

Some merchandise has gone missing, bnt nothing of this magnitude. In ODe incident which occnrrcd before Haughton's tenure, the cash register was stolen with cash still inside.

Bora Laskin Library has also experienced problems witb stolen laptops over the years. Last year a number of student lockers were broken into, and more recently the school has been experiencing a consistent loss of chalk, chalk erasers. and the wheels from the bottoms of chairs in some classrooms.

HELMUT

23 NOVEMBER 2004

5

HELMUT helps to demystify phenomenon of third year malaise DEAR HELMUT Feeling dnwn? Health Enables Legal Minds at the Universityof Toronto (HELMUT)offers advice Dear HELMUT, J didn J get a job. Despite prostrating myself on the altar of capitalism, despite grovelling up and down the towers of power on "The Street ", despite injecting myself with botox so that J could smile all week during interviews, 1 got nothing. 1 had watched Michael Douglas in "Greed" for four days straight to prepare, but all for naught. Now, J face the prospect of showing my face at all of the "Beyond Bay Street" information sessions-but f have a feeling these things are just code for "Let Mock the Losers" parties. Do you have any suggestions? What do J do now?

- Beaten-down Second Year

still to come. Best of all, not only are there plenty of other jobs out there, BSY, there are jobs that you may find suit yon better.

So chin up, BSY, and head to those "Beyond Bay Street" sessions. These are not "Mock the Losers" parties; everyone there is also seeking a non-OCl snmmer job experience. Consider the meeting a Botox Detox session, and you'll feel rejuvenated and ready to tackle the job market again.

Hope that helps.

s

Dear HELMUT, As a first-year, I've noticed that the third-years (that is, the ones who actually show up to class) seem kind of distant, and sometimes even hostile, towards us. Was it something we did, or are they always like that?

- Intimidated New Kid on the Block

Dear BSY, Wbat to do now? First, congratulate yourself for having survived the Kafkaesque world that is tbe OCI process.

Now ask yourself whether you came to law scbool witb the intention of grovelling, prostrating and botox.ing? My guess is that if the OCI process took that mucb energy out of you, then you probably didn't really want to work on Bay Street. [fyou do want to get your foot back in the door for Bay Street, there are many Bay Street-type jobs

Dear New Kid, Don't worry, it's nothing you or your classmates did. It's also really not the third-years' fault either. There is some alchemic reaction that takes place during one's tenure at the law school that transforms youthful idealism and curiosity into indifference and even scorn. * In case you haven't heard it yet, there exists the saying that in the first year of law school they scare yon to death, in the second year they work you to death, and then in the third year they simply bore you to death. With that boredom in third year comes general apathy to all things law school related.

Most third-years are already mentally and HELMUT's Help: emotionally gradnated from the law I) You bave begun to dream in Latin terms. scbool, and they are just waiting for tbeir 2) When one of your professors fails to physical state to catch up. As a conseshow.up to class, you decide to give an quence, third-years come to regard first- impromptu lecture of your own ... and you years as a sore reminder of a part of their follow it up with a pop qniz. recent past that they would sometimes 3) To get a better nnderstanding of tbe orirather jnst forget altogether. Yon have a gins of the Charter you. hold a onija sesfew different options for how you can sion to talk with Pierre Trudeau. choose to deal with the third-years sbonld 4) Your family issued a missing person's you encounter them at school: a) You can report for you ... two months ago. stay ont of their way altogether and just 5) You get a secret rush when yon notice wait for them to gradnate; b) You and your that tbe library has added a new journal to friends can mnck them behind their backs; its collection. c) Yon can try approaching a couple of 6) The scbool janitorial staff has become tbem and try striking up a (preferably nonaccustomed to cleaning around you at law) conversation. If you have the fortinight. tude, we would recommend attempting the 7) As you're leaving tbe law school (only last option. Third-years do have some to get more coffee of course since the valuahle insight to impart that they've Grounds of Appeal has long since closed) a gained over the years, and they may also homeless person sees yon, takes pity on be a source of reassurance to you in April you due to your haggard appearance, and when everyone else in your year is freak- offers to give yon all of their spare change. ing out over exams, Whatever option you 8) Your quintessential oxymoron is "decaf choose, try to hold on to whatever opticoffee". mism and enthusiasm you possess as long 9) Your idea of a fun Saturday evening is as yon possibly can. getting together with law friends and mak(' The mysterious formula looks something ing up a song abont the Charter to the tune like this: "high debtload + inadequate finan- of "Locomotion". (Don't think this hasn't cial aid + an administration that doesn't actually happened.) care abont students' needs + Scotia Bank + 10) Everyone at the Halloween party conBay Street + OCls + CDO + prospect of gratulated you on your realistic zombie working 70-hour weeks doing work that has costume. But you weren't wearing a cosno meaningful purpose ~ 18>") tume and yon didn't even know it was Halloween. You were just coming over to Top Ten Signs You Might Need a Break try to put a stop to all of that distracting From Studying and Should Seek noise.

l

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7

LEGAL ISSUES

Tackling police violence in Rio de Janeiro shantytowns news coverage on favelas, equates these communities with crime and fail to menuring the course of my summer tion that less than one per cent of the peointernship at an NGO in Brazil, ple who live infavelas are involved in the I decided to delay my return to drug trade.

My work at the Global Justice Center second year law in order to continue to do . human rights work in Rio de Janeiro. I involved a series of cases in which innocent young men in favelas were shot and worked for the Global Justice Center, helpkilled by policemen. Police officers, ing mothers of victims of police violence encouraged by both society and the govin the Brazilian favelas to seek justice ernment to be "tough on crime", frequentfrom national and international authorities. ly raid favelas and shoot indiscriminately It is estimated that 25 per cent of the at residents who, by reason of being city's population live in shantytowns known asfavelas. Althoughfavelas are sit- young, black, and male, fit police profiles of drug-traffickers. Last year alone, the uated on hillsides throughout the downpolice in Rio de Janeiro were responsible town area, their presence is not acknowlfor 1,195 civilian deaths. edged on city maps and it is only in the last The Global Justice Center works with ten years that the government has begun to tbe mothers of victims of police violence provide residents with electricity and to denounce these arbitrary acts of viosewage systems. The popularity of the lence.

This is done hy filing charges 2002 film, City of God (Cidade de Deus), exposed the world to the violence of the against the police officers, alerting the appropriate UN Special Rapporteurs, and, illegal drug industry that is based infavemost recently, bringing cases in front of las. While the film was disturbingly accuthe Inter-American Commission on rate in its portrayal of the young, heavilyHuman Rights (lACHR). On October 21, armed members of the warring drug car2004, lawyers from tbe organization pretels, it failed to show tbe diversity that exists within afavela. The film, as well as sented a report to the lACHR in

BY LINDSAY LANG

D

Wasbington, DC, during a hearing on they are trying to bring their sons' deatbs police violence and public security in Rio to justice. They told of being threatened by de Janeiro. The report documents the cases the police and treated with a complete lack we bave worked on and the response of of respect by authorities. They vowed that Brazilian authorities to complaints about they will not rest until the officers who killed their sons are in jail and people torture and/or deatb perpetrated by police. know that their sons were not drug trafWe have found that police enjoy almost complete immunity for their actions and fickers. One woman, who lost both her sons when police shot at them while they that most Brazilians seem ready to accept any assertion that the victim was a drug- were playing dominos in the favela, trafficker, that his death was accidental, or explained tbat she is tormented by wonthat it was a resnlt of resisting arrest. The dering wby the police killed them and judiciary has also condoned police vio- wbich son was killed first. Every single lence by broadening the definition of mother, between sobs, explained that even tbougb they live in favelas they are mem"crimes associated with drug trafficking" bers of society and that the authorities canto include crimes committed by residents of favelas who have descended from the not simply ignore their pleas for justice.

It will be interesting to see what actions, hilltops to protest police violence, such as ifany, the state will takein response to the blocking traffic. Finally, judges issue recommendations tbat the IACI-IR will "general search warrants" that are targeted issue.

I am not sure how confident the against an entire favela community arid motbers of the victims are in the efficacy allow police to searcb the person or home of international Jaw; however, Iam certain of any resident.

The launching of tbe report in Rio that it is meaningful for them to know that the deaths of their sons are receiving interoccurred at the same time that our lawyers were presenting to the IACHR. Many of national attention and that there are people the mothers we work with came to the who are willing to help them achieve juspress conference and spoke about how tice.

Women in law remembers the Montreal Massacre 15 years later, White Ribbon Campaign continues to challnge male violence against women

BY ZIMRA YETNIKOFF AND AGGIE LUCZKIEWICZ

,

This December 6 marks the fifteenth anniversary of tbe Montreal Massacre. On that day in 1989, Marc Lepine entered the Ecole Polytechnique de Montreal armed with a semi-automatic rifle. He left fourteen young women dead, many others injured, and a nation sbocked.

The first young woman he shot and killed was simply standing in tbe corridor.

He then entered an engineering class full of students and separated the men from the women at gunpoint. He lined the women up against a wall and opened fire, shooting each one from left to right, immediately killing six of tbem.

Lepine then continued through the halls of the schnol on a shooting spree, targeting women. At one point be walked into the cafeteria where students were celebrating the end of the semester. He sbot and ki lied women and injured men nearby.

Lepine finally entered a classroom in wbicb Maryse Leclair, a student in ber final year of study, was conducting a presentatron, He screamed for tbe students to get out of the room but out of sbock and

fear, DO one moved. He aimed his weapon at Maryse Leclair and shot her, then shot two more women as the)' tried to escape.

Leclair, who was still alive, called out for

help. Lepine went over to her, puJJed out a knife and stabbed her repeatedly in the heart. As the police prepared to enter the building, Lepine shot himsel f in the head, dying instantly.

The women who died were targeted simply for being women. Lepine's suicide note indicated that he killed bimself for political reasons; in particular to protest against "feminists" taking jobs and opportunities that rightfully belonged to men.

Lepine had not been admitted into the Ecole Poly technique's engineering program, wbicb had been attracting a growing number of women in recent years.

Attacbed to his suicide note was a list of 19 prominent Quebec women, including Quebec's first woman firefighter and police captain. He wrote that tbey too would have died that day if he bad had enough time .10 get to them.

Following the massacre, Canada official.Iy designated December 6 as a National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women. In 199I, a group of men, including then-Toronto City Councillor Jack Layton, co-founded the White Ribbon Campaign (WRC). The movement has since spread to dozens of countries. Each year, thousands of scbools and organizations in North America get involved by distributing white ribbons.

Wearing a wbite ribbon is a personal pledge never to commit, condone, or remain silent about violence against women.

The White Ribbon Campaign organization is composed of and run by men. Tbeir central focus is on male violence against women. Comparing violence committed by women and by men, Statistics Canada noted in their 2000 Report on Family

Violence that the result of male violence is five times as likely to require medical attention. Women are four times as \\kc\y

as men to fear for their Jives, and are three and a half times as likely to be murdered by a male spouse as vice versa.

Tbe WRC commemorates the Montreal Massacre and the women who died that day. The WRC is also committed to educating young boys and men about the pervasive and ongoing prnblem of violence perpetrated by men against women in our society.

Upcoming WRC and Women and the Law Events: Men who would like to help distribute white ribbons should contact Natalia Bitton at natalia.bitton@utoronto.ca.

A lable will be set up by Bora's head between 12 and 2 p.m. from Nov. 29 to Dec. 6. We also encourage all students, especially men, to wear these ribbons.

The money collected from the ribbon campaign will be donated to The December 6 Fund -(www.dec6fund.ca).

The fund raises money to help women rebuild lives free from violence.' It provides interest free loans to women fleeing abuse so that they can build independent lives.

There will be a WRC candlelight ceremony to commemorate the victims of the Montreal Massacre at 6 p.m. on December 6. The ceremony will be held at tbe memorial for the massacre located behind the law school on Philosopber's Walk.

Women and the Law will be holding a documentary screening followed hy a discussion during WRC week. Keep an eye out for further information.

We encourage all students to visit the Women and the Law bulletin board to learn more about violence against women in Canada.

The names of the murdered women are: Genevieve Bergeron, 21, on scholarship in civil engineering, talented musician, Igan, 23, semester graduating mechanical engineering.

Nathalie Croteau, 23, in her final. year of mechanical engineering.

Barbara Daigneault, 23, in her final. year of mechanical engineenng.

Anne-Marie Edward, 21, first y'ear chemical engineering student, on the ski team, Maud Haviernid, 29, in her of engineering

second year marenats.

Barbara Klucznlk Widajewicz, 31, departmental secretary.

Maryse I.;Iganiere, 25, worked in the school's budget department.

Maryse Leclair, 23, fourth year, engineering materials.

Anne-Marie Lemay, 22, fourth year, mechanical engineering.

Sonia Pelletier, 28, was to graduate the day after the massacre in mechanical engineering, Michele Richard, 21, second year, engineering materials,

Annie St-Arneault, 23, mechani¡ cal ~neeri'18 5t~t.

I â&#x20AC;˘

i

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8

LEGAL ISSUES

ULTRAVIRES

Much-needed electoral reform?

To most Coloradans, it's a "really stupid idea"

BY IAN DISEND

low suit. If Colorado were not alone in loving Coloradan turn down this chance? reforming the process, it wouldn't end up The probable reason can be traced AM£IJPIl~T J{, So the election is over. No more rallies, back to the underlying theme of the 2004 the one state less worthy of our attention.

DW/ltl 35~ no new bumper stickers and no more State officials could easily have phrased election: partisanship. It is very likely guarantees that "I am such-and-such a Amendment 36 like an international conAsIN/HE that many voters, for one reason or vention, whereby it would only have candidate, and I have endorsed this mesanother, looked only to the short term sage" for at least three more years, give and felt that altering the system to split kicked in after a minimum number of or take. Much of the world may be other states had joined the club.

ECVs would somehow favour one party uneasy with the result, but the election While the vast majority of states conover another.

(Given the eventual ~!5? .J'L---,r pundits can take a well-deserved break, Republican victory in the state, the bene- tinue to endorse this winner-take-all with tbeir analyses finally done. ficiaries of the proposed system were state-level system, two states remai~ l"A1IP IN oTU-E.l. Neus., COLI10PAtJ.s Well, what's one more? Certain issues probably perceived to be the Democrats). defiant exceptions. Perennial powerhous/lAVE ~A.l> 11"fJ/l. 'I<Y pI'! Tuff from the 2004 general election in the There was another reason, though. es Maine and Nebraska don't use the ({<Jan." of 13L«ro-'AL ~EFp;(I'1 __" United States bave been done to death.

Figuring Colorado to be a perennial Amendment 36 formulation, but instead The invasion of Iraq; tax cuts; John swing state, apparently many residents employ a regime recognizable to most Kerry's record in a war that, last anyone passed, would have divvied up the state's felt that, inevitably, every election would Canadians-with one twist. Rather than checked, ended three decades ago. '(et nine ECVs according to the popular vote. simply result in a 5-4 ECV split one way awarding all ECVs to a single candidate, one issue keeps getting lip-service, then Under this model, a 51-49% split would or the other (or 6-3 at best), thus lowerthe winner of each Congressional district slipping back under the radar for another see the winning candidate take five, and ing the political stakes in their state, and (a 'ridirig' to Canadians) earns one ECV. presidential term. We're talking about the losing candidate four ECVs. making it a non-factor come campaign- The twist is that the remaining two ECVs electoral reform.

Granted this historical opportunity to ing season. Presumably, tbe candidates not tied to districts are handed to the popIf you read the last issue of Ultra democratize the process, Coloradans would also treat it as such. ular vote winner. Sounds nicer in princiVires, you might remember an explana- convincingly said "thanks, but no You can't fault the emotion behind ple, although it turns out that neither tion of the dubious Electoral College thanks" in a split of about two thirds that argument, but how correct is it? For state has, as of yet, ever had anything but regime for presidential elections. The against to one third in favour. To add one, a 5-4 division is by no means unanimity. system, of course, prevents any citizen's insult to injury, the organized opposition inevitable; that's just the way it is now.

It would be nice to think that the vote from ever advancing past the state to the amendment called themselvesSecondly, the last two elections have Electoral College mess will be cleaned level; it is instead tallied with other votes wait for it-"Coloradans Against a shown how crucial every last ECV is, so up one day, but the system has so much from that state only, and the winning canReally Stupid Idea." Although this might even a one-vote advantage could be crit- inertia in its favour that one bas to wondidate takes all of the state's Electoral he in reference to the fact that the amendical to the final outcome. Thirdly, if der when, if ever, the atmosphere might College Votes (ECVs). ment purported to apply to this election if Colorado truly feels roughly 55 per cent he right. Perhaps the main lesson to come The voters of Colorado, however, had passed, an arrangement forbidden by the inclined toward one candidate, why out ofthe ·Colorado story is that measures a chance to do something about it this U.S. Constitution.

Either way, since should the stakes be artificially raised? like this should be made in non-presidentime around. Included on their ballot was when was making votes count a really And finally, the ultimate idea behind tial elections, when voters' fields of a deci,ion on "Amendment 36" which, if stupid idea? Why would any democracysuch a scheme is for other states to fol- vision are likely to be a little broader.

,51-

• t

23 NOVEMBER 2004

LEGAL ISSUES

A new focus on elder law as legal aid clinic turns twenty than most families can handle, which has several consequences. First, it places the care recipient at increased risk of The population is aging and more people elder abuse. The misty-eyed idealizathan ever are living to reach old age. tions of family that underlie much of the Everybndy knows that; it's (ahem) old policy belie the fact that family, and news. specifically spouses and children, are But the focus on the number of people the most likely perpetrators of elder just reaching old age (i.e., 65) obscures abuse.

This sometimes occurs because the nature and the immensity of the caregivers are overtaxed, but sometimes demographic shift that is occurring. The they are simply unscrupulous. more significant issue, ] think, is this: Either way, there is a need for elder the older population is aging. By 2041, . abuse laws and enforcement mecha16.3% of older adults (and 4% of the when that abuse general population) will be over 85, as nisms-particularly occurs in the family. Burnt-out carecompared with 10.2% in 1998 and 5.1% givers continue to lobby for adequate in 1901. formal supports, such as government The burgeoning old-old (as opposed, funded home-care and long-term care of course, to the young-old) population will force us to re-evaluate many of our facilities.

These long-term care facilities pose social and legal structures. the further legal challenges of defining In a world where people regularly live and preventing elder abuse. to be 96, for instance, we may want to Investigators at Royal Crest, a particure-evaluate the statutory system of legal larly striking example of a soulless nursincentives designed to impel people to ing home, found a woman with maggots retire by 65. and feces in ber shoes. But some cases Other future "hot" issues will stem more from the physical hardships of are less clear-cut, and it can be bard to draw the line at which respect for indeaging than from arbitrary social markers. pendence ends and neglect begins, for Before expanding, let me issue a disinstance. In addition to creating opportuclaimer. Many people will be in super nities for idealist advocates to push for health and have their mental faculties legal reform, some lawyers might be absolutely intact at 85 and beyond. interested to know that nursing home Nothing is necessarily connected to old class actions are big business in the age except deatb-and that is something U.S.-the sympathetic plaintiffs garner necessarily connected to birth.

That said, the rate of cognitive and multi-million dollar remedies.

Dementias also raise issues of substiphysical disability in the 85-plus cohort With people who is staggering. In 1992, tbe incidence of tute decision-making. dementia was-conservatively-seven have degenerative cognitive illnesses, it times higher among those over 85 years is often difficult to say when they are or of age than among their 65-84 year old are not competent to make decisions for peers. Furthermore, the very old tend to themselves. Again, there are dangers accumulate chronic, non-fatal conditions from absentee and unscrupulous family that can, taken together, be quite dehilimembers. tating.

All this explains why we should care These statistics have legal and policy that the Advocacy Centre for the Elderly implications. Prof. Evelyn Shapiro, for (ACE) exists, and wliy we should be pleased to hear that it celebrated its 20th instance, suggests that governments address population. aging by shifting anniversary in the Bennett Lecture Hall resources from acute "heroic" care to on November 2.

ACE was the first legal clinic in preventive care and broad public wellCanada devoted exclusively to serving being. In our obsession with technology, older adults. The eight staff members says Shapiro, Canadians are like the cit(five lawyers and three support workers) izens of Chelm (a fabled town of idiots).

The Chelmites noticed that a lot of peo- have a three-prong mandate: to engage in political lobbying, to educate all ple were accidentally tumbling down the local ravine because there were no barri- seniors and their legal representatives about the state of the law and, finally, to ers. So they built a hospital at the bottom assist individual low income older adults of the ravine. fight their legal battles in the courts. The The high technology used in heroic end-of-life care is like the hospital at bulk of their cases focus on issues like consent to health care, long-term care, the bottom of the ravine. Very expenelder abuse and seniors' consumer sive, very inefficient, and way, way too late. issues.

The anniversary gala featured two A misguided over-investment in speeches.

The first,

by Manitoba health care at the margins of life detracts Professor Evelyn Shapiro, focused on from efforts we could make to ensure the importance of attending to social that people stay in one piece longer. determinants of health and affirmed the Poor health in later life is often correlated with poverty early on. Things like value of public health care. The second clean air, nutritious food and adequate speech, by the Hon. Roy McMurtry, focused on the value of legal aid to the shelter over a lifetime may act as baniers to an unfortunate old age. elder population.

ACE's website is at www.advocacyPeople who have severe cogn.itive or physical disabilities are more likely than centreelderly.org, and it is full of practithe non-disabled to require round-thecal guides to elder law. Check it out. clock care and supervision. This is more Then go jogging.

BY LISA MINUK

- -

9

New prof preves sleeping through Torts no impediment to success an accused person before the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda. How did With exams around the corner, you may you get involved in that?

FM: Someone knew a lawyer, who knew think that you are busy-but your hectic a lawyer, who knew me. I thought it would schedule would probably not hold a candle to that of one of the Faculty's newest pro- be a great opportunity to see how you would go about defending someone who fessors, Frederic Megret. Along with teaching the Laws of War seminar, he is had a right to a fair trial but you found distasteful. Tlie defendant was a director of currently completing his PhD thesis the radio station that incited people to (which he is set to defend this March), writing extensively on international crimi- commit genocide in 1994. He was never involved directly in the genocide and it nal law, co-editing a book on the United Nations and human rights and giving one was an interesting legal issue: does racial presentation after another at various con-. incitement make you responsible for murder? ferences around the world. Megret hasn't UV: Why did you decide to move to had a weekend off in months and works Canada from France? upwards of 15 hours a day, but he manFM: I didn't want a career in France aged to take a few moments to tell UV a because I didn't feel it was as stimulating little about himself. as it should he. I felt that the Anglo-French UV: How did you get interested in law? tradition had more to offer regarding critiFM: I was I? years old and sailing on the cal analysis.

I heard about a fellowship at Mediterranean and had two offers in front McGill University.

It seemed like a good of me, one from the King's College choice but no one told me about the· Lond~n-Universite Pantheon-Sorbonne Montreal winter.

But by then it was too for law and nne from the London School of Economics for International Relations. I late. called my father up and he told me to go UV: -How did you end up at the University of Toronto's Faculty of Law? for law since I would land a job afterFM: Brian Langille called me up out of wards.

UV: What was your scariest moment in the blue at McGill. I kept answering his questions. He said that he was interested in law school?

FM: Being caught in second year Torts in me for a position and asked if I could a lecture ball with 200 students fast asleep come in for an interview. I had a conferBY I MAN ABOKOR

ence at Idaho Law College on Transitional by the professor, who stopped his lecture, pointed at me_ and said "get this lad to Justice the day before and I spent the night wake up." Someone woke me up and on a bench at a Boston airport because I missed my connection. I carne to Toronto everyone was staring at me.

UV: What was your happiest moment in a little jet lagged and I made a presentation here in front of the whole Faculty on an law school?

Argentinian Supreme Court case. It went FM: Finishing. great and I was eventually offered a job.

UV: What did you do after you finished?

UV: You seem extremely busy. What do FM: I was a bit dissatisfied in law school you do on your off-time? because the emphasis was on corporate law. So, after finishing my law degree, r FM: 1 spent time in Argentina and got decided to complete my compulsory mili- hooked to Argentine Tango. So when I tary service in France instead of going into 'want to do something non-academic, I go private practice like all of my friends. I to tango classes. My favourite tango is served as a UN Peacekeeper in Bosnia and Desde I'alma.

UV: You have only been in Canada for a Sarajevo for five months, an experience that made me realize that it would be great year. Is there anything that Canadians do to work in international law. After my mil- that you find strange? itary service, I felt I lacked the tools of FM: People seem to spend a disproportionate [amount] oftime watching hockey. analysis for international law. So I decided I feel that the action is·too fast to actually when doing a Masters [in international public law and international organizations know what is happening. I'm a soccer fan myself. And when you go to the supermarlaw] to do a Masters in International Relations simultaneously, I didn't get ket you get all of these varieties of cnffee much of a weekend or day off. But it was and then people make coffee with so much water in it. It tastes like water flavoured worth it.

UV: You assisted the defence counsel for with coffee. '

!

\

10

RECRUITING SURVEY

ULTRA VIRES

Ultra Vires 2004 Survey of Toronto Law Firm Recruiting Methodology The Ultra lire< 2004 Survey of Toronto Law Finn Recruiting was conducted onlUie. Responses were solicited bye-mailing second year students at the University of Toronto and advertising the survey on the LawBuzz.ca web site. 58 valid responses were received during the survey period, November 7 10 14. The vast majority of responses were from U ofT students (47). Other respondents attend Osgoode Hall (7), Western (2), Wmdsor (I) and Queen's (I). A large number (116) of respondents partially completed the survey bul abandoned it midway.

Students were asked to rate each fum thaI they had mel with on a IO-poinl scale in the following categories: (I) experience during the On-Campus Interviews (OCrs) in October; (2) experience during in-finn "callback" interviews in November; (3) experience al dinners, receptions or events during the November interview week; (4) the level of respect finDs showed lhroughout the process; and (5) the swag (i.e. free stuft) they received at any point FitialJy, respondents were asked to provide an overall rating for each finn.

Respondents could optionally provide comments about each fum for any of the questions.

The numerical results of the survey are reported in the tables on pages II and 12.

You caD find the swag scores on page 13. Average scores were calculated for each category, and a "Compostte Score" Was calculated based 00 weights assigned to each calegory-25% for the ocr, 25% for the Callback, 30% for Respecl, 10".4 for the Events and 10% for the Ovmill Seem. If a finn did nol offer a reception. meal or another evept, or if DQ ~ were teeeived, then the weighl was adjusted as follows: 30% for the ~.f/Ir lliiI c.JIbac1c, 30".4 for Respecl and 10% for the Overall Score. A small IIUlIIIler at (imls weno dropped from the survey because of insdeqllate data.

ocr,

The results ate di'vided • two claues: Full Ser\il<:e Business Law FIrms Boutiques, specl8rty FiIllIs and <Javernmonl Employersln the latter class tend to smaller nwnbers of students for the summer, and 80 the mnnber of responses for tb* firms was much lower lhan for finns io the former class. Furthermore, smaller flDJlS may nol have dedicated recruiting personne~ and SO it may be unfair 10 compare tbent' directly against Ihe larger firms, As a small nwnber of fums in the Boutique, Specialty and Govenunent class had receptionS or meals, the formula for calculating the Composite Score for this class is the second one described above.

Although the comments received are generally eonsistenl with the ratings, the results of this survey should be treated with some skepticism. First, they are based on relatively small samples. Second, no attempt was made to verify that the respondents had interviewed with the firms they claimed they had or thaI they were even law students, Third, some respondents may have completed the survey multiple limes or otherwise intentionally tried Ib skew ratings. Where this was detected (e.g. a rating of 10 for Events for a firm thaI did nor have a meal or reception), the unreliable ratings were dropped from the calculation of the average score. Fourth, this survey primarily reflects the experience of University ofToronto students and is by no means representative of the experiences of students at other law schools. Fifth, no attempt was made 10 correct for selection bias.As this was a voluntary survey, il only reflects the views of respondents who were motivated to take il. Finslly, there was no correction for potenlial biaSes crealed by other faelof1iSUCh as the number of people each ttrDl interViewed, the number of students hired or whether or nOI the respondenl received an offer from a finn.

That said, we hope you enjoy Ihe results.

Data compiled by Evan Thomas and Keir Wi/""'t

Student comments on Full Service Business law firms Aird & Berlis LLP (#18) OCJ: Reviews were mixoo. For some, the interviewers were ''incredibly mendJyand approochable" and "really nice," but some felt it was "too focused of an interview."

CoIIbat:k: One student commented thaI the finn "wenl out of their way to make me comfortable." Noted another. they were "vCl)' weD organi:zfd and very nice."

E_ Despite the relatively low score for the Iinn's events, one respondent commented, "great restaurnnt, nice hosts, and I gal tons of attention."

Respea: The finn was "very professional and attentive. The messages were consistent and they were grncioos."

a1mosphere and the students fell very appreciated."

Respect: Despile a good rating for respect, one studenl "didn'l like the fuel that they senl no POSI-0CI rejection letters."

Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP (#5) OCI: Blakes received solid marl<s for its OCls. 'The best, by far; Mary Jackson is worth her weight in gold," wrote one. However, a number of people complained of being cut off in the middle of answers. "Just leI me talk" and "cut me off repeatedly" were two typical comments.

CoJIback: Blakes scored higher during the callbacks. They were "really relaxed" and did a "great job ofletting me meet as many people in the finn as possihle." Another respondent wrote Baker and McKenzie (#23) that Blakes "made a great effort to let me speak OCt: Numerous respondents disliked their OCI, to the people r wanled 10 meel on my sinking the finn to the bottom of the rankings.

Wednesday interview."

One wrote, '''The interviewer was rude and comE_: Compliments for baving "three firm bative.1 think his goal in OCIs was torturing stu- members al the dinner wbe were able to answer dents." Another commented that the "interviewquestions fully." For the reception, some noted er was quite confrontational:' the "great lawyer turnoul with a fun U.S. elecCa//back: Baker fured no better in the callback. tion theme (hot dogs, pretzels, American beer, According to one student, the finn "really etc.)," but others thought the American theme monopolized my time, with high pressure to was <lover the top." """",tan evening event, reception and dinner ...

Respect: Blakes got thehighesl marks of any I really liked the poople who I met, but nol the full-service finn in this category. They were pfocess."

"VCl)' nice and prompl in responses" and Events: Baker gained back some ground with a "extremely accommodating of my time schedsolid dinner performance. "Great food and good ule and requests." They were also ''vCl)' respectconvernation at Jump," "Everyone who was ful of other firrru;" and even "the PFO letter was involved in interviewing candidates appeared 10 nice." be there and was pleasant" Respect: Wrote one stndent, "[I] received some Borden Ladner Gervais LLP (#l5) mixed signals when it came to offers but overall OCl: BLG's low rating for the OCI may bave felt respected" stemmed from a lack of energy on the part of their interviewers. Although they were ''vCl)' Bennett Jones LLP (#2) nice people," the interviewers were ''vCl)' dull" and "not VCl)' engaging," according 10 some.

OCl: Bennett Jones was near the top of the "Lots of uncomfortahle silences," wrote one charts for the OCIs. A1thnugh one student "felt respondent This sentiment was by no means like I was really canying the interview," others universal----one respondenl wrote thaI the intersaid that the finn was "VCl)'weB organized and viewers were "surprisingly oUlgoing and fun!" courteous." caUboJ:k: Mixed reviews on B1£'s callbacks. caU/XU;k: Bennett Jones scored high for its callbacks, apparenOy by ratcheting up the rainmak- "Totally disorganized" was one criticism, and another stndent wrote that "two [second interer fuctor. Students commented that a "I-on-I viewers] were in fields I didn'l express any interview with the managing partner was a great interest" Another felt that the finn was "too touch" and "all interviewers were partners."

Events: An excellent perfonnance. Wrote one uptight" Despite this criticism, one student was more encouraging, writing, "I was able to speak studen~ "Good restaurant in Yorl<ville... Great

with as many people al the finn as I wanted ... greal job."

Respect: A disappointing score for respecl may reflect a failure to give closure to disappointed students. "Still waiting for my rejection leIter .. 0'" wrote one. "No contact after OCIs," commented another.

Cassels Brock & Blackwell LLP (#1 I) OCl: Good marks for lhe OCr, bUI some applicants fell they didn't gel enough show time.

"Deb Glatter is nice and fiiendly bul has a tendency to dominsle O,e interview," wrote one stndent Callback: According to one student who admitted he/she hadn't shown enough inlerest, the finn "had me in and out in I hour ... Nice guys though." The interview format may also need work. "Only one interviewer put the pressure on to come up with new material for 90 minutes.

Though it did aDow me to gel to know at least one Cassels lawyer weD ... really well."

E_: The reception was "fablilous, lots of lawyers taking initiative to talk to students!"

Respect: The1ake-no-prisoners approoch to callbacks may have cost Cassels points in Otis category: "I fell like I was rushed oul of the office. I could have saved time and not gone in at all."

criminating against TueSday interviewees. "I went in late on Tuesday for my first interview. but they invited me back and treated me the same way Ifeel they would have treated me had I been there Monday morning." Others commented that Davies was "all class 'and honest throughouf' and "[I] never fell like Iwas getting the hard sell."

Davis & Company (#21) OCI: Re;pondents had violently opposing views on Davis & Company. Wrote one, "truly, the two most boring people I ever met. I was praying for il to be over when il hanIIy began."

Others were more charitable, writing '1 loved these guys'" and "quirky interviewers. Tried 100 hard to be likable, bUI they were likable, so il was okay."

Callhack: Again, a mix of comments. To some, the "people are all very nice" and Davis is a "great finn [with 1 wonderful people." Others fell the experience was "disorganized and

Wlprofessional."

Events: "Davis loses points for its awkward

Davies Ward Phillips & Vmeberg

cocktail party ... which forced 6O-plus students to schmooze with evCl)' partner in sighllo compete for three positions."

Resped: The notorious cocktail party sunk Davis to the basement. "Tried to monopolize my time" was a common criticism.

name didn't go over well." caUboJ:k: ExceDenl marks for the callhacks.

Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP (#14) OCT: Ralph Glass turned in a strong performance during the OCIs, earning himself and the finn generous plaudits: "Ralph Glass is unbelievable. He is maybe the best attorney on a student committee." More generally, Faskens beasted ''vCl)' fiiendly, vCl)' prepared interview-

LLP (#4) 00: Students provided a range of opinions on Davies' OCIs. Some said thaI Davies' interviewers were "friendly and to the poinf' and "down to eart1L" Others opined that they "came across as VCl)' arrogant" Not swprisingly, one studenl's "question about the 'Slavies' nick-

"Enthusiastic, passionate and honest," "able to meet senior people from evCl)' area that interested me," "fur and away the best people I have met with" and "impressed from start to finish" were some of the conunents received.

Events: Wrote one stndent, "Group meal, which Ididn't like, but il was a greal restaurant" Others praised the food and enthusiasm of the lawyers. "I had a greal time ... The people were honest and open to talking about the firrn." The breakfasl had "enough lawyers there to speak to and nol too many people such that you couldn't move around" Respect: Davies got high marks for not dis-

ers."

Callhack: Aller a good showing al the OCIs, Faskens may have "failed to live up to [the] expectations" of some students. "One interviewer made me feel like I was jusl an impedimenl to getting work done," wrote one.

Events: "Fondue bars" and ''TVs for election updates" made a good impression on stndents, as did the "excellenl turnOul of associates milling around." Still, the room was "too busy and crowded to get into any kind of quality discussion."

Respect: Faskens' rating for respect was solid, and one respondenl noted that the finn was

RECRUITING SURVEY

23 NOVEMBER 2004 "vel}' respectful of my time."

Full Service Business law Firm Rankings

Fogler, RubinoffLLP (#19) OCI: Fogler may have made a strategic error with its choice of interviewers. One student wrote that the finn "sent two of the ditziest lawyers they could find." A more charitahle commentator wrote that "the two interviewers were pleasant, if young." ln another vein, "the large pile of hoarded cookies on the interviewers' table suggests they are never fed at Foglers."

Callback: Only one respondent rated Fogler's callback and wrote '1 freaked out the associate. hut enjoyed meeting the partner," which likely explains the mediocre score.

Respect: Students "fell respected generally."

Fraser Milner Casgrain LLP (#17) OCT: Poor interview marks hurt FMC. "This was the worst interview I had hy far Didn't seem at all interested in me personally." '1 think my interviewer was falling asleep!" "Quite uncomfortable." "The interviewers were mendIy, bul nol particularly interesting or enthusiastic."

Ca!lbtK:k: FMC won back some ground with its callbacks. One respondent wrote, "[they] ananged for me to meel the head of every departmenl that interested me... VCl)" weDorganized and VCl)' nice." Others were similarly complimentary: "great interviews," ''vCl)' casual" and "interesting people."

Events: Individual meals at an "incredJble restauranf' were "highly appreciated." "Points for sending a partner, an associate and an articling student" The reception scored points for an on-site sushi chef and "vety, very high" attendance by lawyers.

Respect: At least two respondents fett used.

"Major false signals" and "really nice ... Wltil I

11

e

Firm

Rank

0 0 V)

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23

Torys Bennett Jones

Osiers Davies

Blakes Stikeman Elliot McCarthy Tetrault Ogilvy Renault Heenan Blaikie Lang Michener Cassels Brock

,

Goodmans

McMillan Binch Faskens Borden Ladner Gervais Gowlings Fraser Milner Casgrain Aird & Berlis Fogler Rubinoff Goodman

and Carr

Davis & Company Torkin Manes

Baker & McKenzie

7.3 7.4 7.7 6.9 6.8 6.9 7.3 6.9 6.5 7.3 7.2 6.6 6.5 7.3 6.4 5.7 5.5 6.8 6 5.3 65 6.3 3.8

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19 11 22 15 34 28 24 18 14 16 18 27 21 26 35 21 23 17 6 18 12 12 8

9.1 9 8.1 8.6 7.7 7.9 8.1 7.6 7 7.8 7 7 6.3 56 7.2 6.6 7.8 6.3 5 4.4 6 3.4 4

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8.8 9.3 7.6 8.1 8.1 7.8 7.9 9 10 8.3 7.7 7.1 73 6.7 7.7 7.4 8.7 5.5

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16 7 21 15 27 23 22 17 18 15 17 24 19 26 30 19 21 13 6 17 11 11 9

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• These Finns did nOI have receptions, dinners or other events andlor no responses were receIved From candIdates. For lhese finns, the Composite

0

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81.3 81.2 77.4 76.6 76.1 75.5 74.6 73.7 71.5 71.2 69 68.6 68.1 67.4 67.2 63.4 61 60.4 56.3 51.8 51 50.9 49.5

Score IS based on aJ 0% we ighting

for the OCI score; ]0% for the Callback; ]0010for Respect; and 10% for the Overall score.

lawy~

practicing in my area of interest."

Gowling LaBeur Henderson LLP (#16) OCI: Not favourable, with one interviewer described as a "complete dweeb" who was

'totally unfuendly and talked about his 'big deals· ... Another stndent called the experience "awful. One lawyer talked abonl his practice area practically the entire time when my application clearly indicated other inlerests."

Goodmans LLP (#12) CallblU:k: Gowling; won hack a few people OCT: Goodmans' laid-back attitude cut both with its callback perfonnance. '1nitially, I was ways. The inlerviewers "seemed like they nol especially impressed ... On the second interbelonged in Clueless" and were described as view, they really sold the finn." being "on uppers." On the other hand, Otllers felt Events: TIle reception had 'too many people in _ the more casual approach was "fantastic. I felt the space.

My inlerviewers didn't attend, and I comfortable right away." wasn'l able to track down many lawyers in litiCaUback: Students with callbacks were a little more receptive to Goodmans' finn culture. The - gation, which I was interested in."

Respect: Gowlings apparenOy needs to let pe0finn was "great all-round" and "people were enthusiastic and fun 10 talk to." Students "met a ple down more easily. Many students criticized "the hasty cold rejection e-mail." variety of people" and "spent VCl)' little time talking about law school or law in general."

Heenan Blaikie LLP (#9) Events: Several respondents cited the friendliness of the finn and how associales made a OCT: While one student felt "the cardhcard interviewers seemed to lack personality," anoth"phenomenal" effort to introduce stndents to er described them as "Vel)' nice interviewers. senior lawyers. Others found it to be a "scary Comfortable.

Enthusiastic." Several noted that cocktail party" that was "too packed, 100 hot." it was "more substantive and like a traditional "Lose the reception and have a meal," suggestinterview than the resl." ed one student CaUback: The finn was '10ts oflUo" with "nice Respect: Goodmans' tendency to polarize opinpeople, bul somewhat disorganized." ions was apparent in this category. "I have no Respect: Heenan scored decenlly in this categotime for firrru; tl,al play games with their stnry, although students did nol appreciate the dents," "lots of mixed signals," and "disgust"pressure tactics. such as a phone call trying to ing" were the more negative comments. Others figure out if I would accept an offer."

Another simply said Goodmans was "Greal!" noled that the finn was "a bit too inquisilive as to my 'position'."

Goodman and Carr LLP (#20)

Events: "Fabulous (and expensive) dinner" along with an associate and ''vCl)' senior partner." '1 felt pampered, wooed, and wowed."

"There was enough room \0 move at \he recep.J

tion, and there were a 101 of senior partners in attendance. I managed to meel quite a few peaCONTINUED ON PAGE 12

felt led on without a job." On the other harid, another studenl fell that FMC was ''unfailingly interested in me as a person."

OC/: While one described the inlerviewers as "downrighl rude," mosl fell Oley were ''vCl)' nice people." One civic-minded student reported, "il was going greal until I asked a question abent community involvemenl and got a VCl)' cold response."

Callback: Hurting their ranking, partners were described as "boring and snotty" who "seemed pretty uninterested in me." The finn "didn't make much of an effort 10 pair me up with

Lang Michener LLP (#10) OCT: Universally positive reviews as students "really enjoyed this one." The interviewers were described as "nice and infonned", "nice hut nerdy", and "professional and genuinely interested in me," caUboJ:k: Students cited the access to "many senior partners" and felt the process was "quite thorough."

! ,

,

Ogilvy Renault's

clients has meant gain experience

diversily of

thaI I am able to

in a variety

of business

sectors and work with a team of colleagues complemenl

whose backgrounds my own training as

a chemical engineer.

,

,

Andy Radhakant aradhakant@ogilvyrenault.com

\ OGILVY RENAULT

ogllvyrenautt.com

.

RECRUITING SURVEY

12 Full service Firms

ULTRAVIRES

OCI

McCarthy Tetrault LLP (#7) OC/: Great reviews, with comments including ''tops in my book," "incredibly nice interviewern," and ''young and energetic."One dissenting voice felt it was "too rigid and seemed to be over-rehearsed," Callback: Again, universal praise. Students "met with a variety of senior people" Events: Praisefor taking studentson individual meals."My hosts were very attentiveand interesting, if the restaurantwasn'tas impressiveas other firms." "Top restaurantwith good people, but maybe a littleunoriginal."

Respect: ''Really nice when I· told them I wouldn't be able to come to the caUback.Take rejection well."

Firm

Rank

Gilberfs Hodgson Tough Bereskin & Parr Hicks Morley

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Lemers

Smart & Biggar Skadden Arps Lenczner Slaght Shearman & Sterling Department of Justice Dimock Stratton

8

9 10 11 *'" No

- -e

Firm"

~

{2 Aird & Berlis Baker & McKenzie Bennett Jones Beres'Kin & Parr

Blakes Borden

Ladner

Gervais

Cassels Brock Davis & Company Davies Ward Dimock Stratton Dept. of Justice Epstein Cole Faskens

Fraser Milner Casgrain

Fogler Rubino!!

Gilberfs Goodman and Carr Goodmans

Gowlings Heenan Blaikie

Hicks Morley Hodgson Tough Lang Michener Lenczner Siaight Lemers Macleod Dixon **

McCarthy Tetrault McMillanBinch MillerThomson Minden Gross Ogilvy Renault Osiers Paliare Roland Pinkofskys Shearman & Sterling Sherrard Kuzz Skadden Arps Smart & Biggar Stikeman Elliott Torys Total

e

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87 84.7 71.3 71 70.8 69.6 66.5 63.4 64 56.3 47.5

Score IS calculated based on a 60% weighting

3 4 41

2 36

most," and that ''you can't walk into this one expectingto have a nice chat" Callback: Students felt they were ''very weUorganized, with weU-prepared,energetic interviewers."On the other hand, some felt McBinch was ''very formal ... stiff... lacked personality" Eve/lts: Dinners drew compliments from some, who "went to a great littleplace downtown with two very personable lawyers," Others were Inore critical, stating that ''the partner I went with was uptight, .and I couldn't wait to get horne."

Respect: Solid marks, with one student noting '"respect' could be the theme word for this finn." However, one reported that McBinch , 'basically told me they were making an offer, then didn't."

0giIvy Renault (#8) OCI: The reviews were positive, if stightly apathetic. "Pleasant interview, but somewhat strange." '''The interviewer told me flat out that therewas no (and I mean 'no') WOlXin Canada in the areas that Iwas interested in... and then gave me a callback."

OIJJlxu:k: In an improvement from the OCls, second round interviews were described as ''professional and relaxed" with people who "knew about me without being creepyabout it" EI>ents: DinnClShad "great food, good company (mostly), nice and intimate."

Resped: Sotid marks, as they were "easy going and respectful" people who "shuffledtheir own schedules to accomm<X!ate me."

Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP (#3) OC/: High marks for ''really great, intelligent conversation. They had obviously read my resume and had actual, specific questions for me." ''Even in a relaxed atmosphere substantial infonnation was relayed." However, at least one student felt ''they didn't bring any energy to the interview."

Cal/bai:k: The interviews were described as ''very nice and very boring" with "great people, if a littlenerdy."

Events: Most comments noted the restaurant choices were "a tittle cramped and noisy" for group dinners. Still, praise went to "relaxed atmosphere" with "great food." Studentsappreciated the casual attitude during dinner: ''Everyone got dnmk---no real recruitmentbusi-

ness was going on at aU."

1 3 2 80

e

8-

responses regarding these employers were received for this portion of the survey. The Composite

McMiUan Binch LLP (#13) OC/: The recruiterswere "friendly and professional" with "lots of energy." Several students ooted that this was "closer to a traditional interview with more substantive questions than

E

~

c

Overall

~ ~ ~~ ~

~

for the OCL

Toronto DCI Hiring Results: Breakdown by school 0

Respect

Callback

~ ~ ~ ~~

2 2 32

1 3 24

23

1 1 18

2 16

• Finn names are abbreviated.

•• Did not ultimately hire during OCIs. Note: These figures were provided 10 Ulrra Vires by the respective finns and were accurate as of the week of November 2004. All firms participating in OCls were contacted. Results are printed rrom linns that replied.

15,

Resped: High marks. ''Very honest."'''This finn was classy all the way."

Stikeman Elliot LLP (#6) OCI: The interviewers were descnbed as ''two valleygirls." One student complained,"I tried to talk about my resume but they were too busy

chatting with each other."

CaUback: Mixed reviews, ranging from ''very good" to "not so weUorganized, as I had to wait for people to get back to their office."

Events: The dinner was ''tops!'' People were ''very friendly," although "the restaurant was a tittle crowded and loud." However, the pub night was panned as "brutaL" "The pub night was a disaster for anyone who arrived after 9 p.m. because many of the lawyers were already too drunk to have a rational conversation."

Another student claimed that it was "like a bad flashbsck to high school when you're talking to the 'popular girl' and she's fully looking over your shoulderthe whole time to see when somebody from the A-list is going to arrive on the scene."

Respecr: Perhaps being a littlepetty,one student . complained that they "misspelled my name."

Torkin Manes Cohen Arbus LLP (#22) OG: A number of students enjoyed their OCI with Torl<:in Manes. Said one, '''The interviewClS were interestedin my background, and the conversation was pleasant" Cal/bai:k: In a huge let down after the OCIs, students "didn't enjoy this one at all" and "couldn't wait for the interviewto be over."They reported "waiting for lare interviewers" and "interviewCIS [who] seeroed disinterested."

Resped: The impersonal touch tumed off at leastone student.'1felt that [ was just one of the seething l'nasses to them" Torys LLP (#1) OCI: Excellent reviews across the board landed Torys at the top. The interviewers were "welcoming and friendly" and "very informal and relaxed." The ollly criticism was that ''they spoke a lot so it was somewhat hard to get a word in."

CaUback: More rave reviews, with people describing Torys as "excellent," "extremely professional," and full of "great people."

Rainmalkers were out in force. "Torys pulled out all the stops, with the top partners, managing director, and Frank Iacobucci."

Events: Comments were unanimously positive, ranging from ''unbeatable'' to "wonderfiJI"and "simply excellent!" "Great dinnertwo very entertaining hosts wbo carried on with me like I'd been part of the firm for years." Breakfast with Frank Iacobucci was "a good move." "Frank was tops (as usual!)'l Respect: Near the top of this category.

According to one student, Torys was "the most hands-off. They put no pressure on students to teU them what way they were leaning.

BY SABA ZARG HAM I (Finally, my own column ... world domination ... here I come ... ) Funny thing about baving your own column and a blank cheque to write about whatever you want-once the glory (yes, glory) fades, you actually have to come up with something to write about. Hmm. Didn't see that coming.

So I've been racking my brain, and finally realized that if I'm going to be on the cutting edge of journalism I bave to write about exactly what everyone else is writing about-s-Oflls, Or rather, the post-OCls fallout.

Now I'll begin with a disclaimer: I fully benefited from the ocr process and am grateful for what I know was a tremendous amount of effort on the part of our Career Development Office. This was a massive project and I have no interest in criticizing the processlbeast itself (I'll leave that to others).

That being said, r want to concentrate on the non-OCls world, also lovingly known as "Beyond OCls". After the ominous "call day", during which most

of my classmates were infonned of whether or not tbey were worthy of existing, [ went on the infamous Law Buzz website (one oftbe most horrifying websites I've ever been on, where small people wait for the opportunity to eat smaller people aiive through. "anonymous" playschool-quality trash talk with a pocket-protector worthy law-nerd edge). On that site, I saw words floating around like "devastated", "crushed", udemoralized", "life over", and "dropping out". Now, these are all thoughts that have consistently passed through my mind since starting law school, but the heavy concentration of them on this particular day made me wonder how, having a year ago been oblivious to the existence of "call day", we all came to believe that this was the be all and end all of our budding careers.

So here's my two cents: it's all about options. Or rather, OUf ignorance of said options. A (very) informal pool indicated that the number one reason many of my friends have "nded up at firm x, if lucky enough Loget an offer, is because "it was my only option".

Really? Ijust keep going through this in my mind and I eome back to the same point every time: that simply cannot be true.

I know my classmates, and I know that I am surrounded by absolutely brilliant people, with great educations and a wealth of personal experience. ['m sure these were people who never worried about getting a summer job in undergrad. So why is it that with a few more

years of education

and experience,

instead of facing a rainbow of opportunity, they instead feel they are stuck in a rapidly shrinking vortex of limited and

highly regimented choices?

I think this speaks volumes about the way that our second year recruiting system is structured, and it is a serious problem. We are led to believe that withdrawing ourselves· from Gels is nol a choice, it is a failure-either an academic failure or a failure of foresight. An inability to understand what is in our best interest. But it could be a choice, a valid choice, if students were only informed at the beginning of the year about all their options. The unfortunately titled "Beyond OCls" session should be in September, and function not as a poor consolation for a mythological inadequacy but as an information session for students who are seeking alternative moulds. Throughout Orientation Week we were introduced to practitioners working outside of Bay Street, people who had carved a different path for themselves and were (gasp!) happy in their professional life. Where are those people when we need them most-at the moment where we are actually in a position to choose what we want to do?

My suggestion to the CDO is to start the year not with four screenings of "The Genuine Article", but with a comprehensive and condensed version of Orientation Week, this time entirely focused on career options. Inform us of positions that regularly appear in government, in public interest, and in small boutique firms. Offer us pamphlets and statistics, facts about finding articlmg positions, and heck, a little logoed canopener while we're at it. We would be forever indebted to you for baving assisted us in making one of tbe more important decisions of our career armed with knowledge. If this school is serious about ensuring that no student is limited in their career choices then they need to support us, not only with an inefficient and convoluted Back End Debt Relief program, but also with the tool most valued in any institution of higher learning: information.

Saba's Get Involved Agenda: Higb Scbool Visits: Join the Students of Law for the Advancement I of Minorities (SLAM--everyone welcome) and addrellS diversity issues at the source I Donate three bours of your tinoe and visit a local school to encourage disadvantaged students to pursue I legal careers. Reach out to future leaders of the world, and be a rock star at • the same timer Contact Caroline Meyer (caroline.meyer@utoronto.ca) or Melissa Krishna (melissa.krishna@ utoronto,ca) to sign up inornediately! <r

<r Tbe Wbite Ribbon Campaign: Women and the Law is raising awareness about violence against WOOlen from Nov. 29 to Dec. 6, There will be noboos distributed every day from 122 p.m. at Bora's Head, and on Nov, 30 at 5 p.m. tbere will be a docwnentary screening and RCeption intbe Rowell Room. Stop by to sbow your support

and maybe evenieamsometbillgl

17

I' don't want your democracy

Saba's Soap Box -

Boutiques, Specialty Firms and Government Rankings

CONTINUEO FROM PAGE 11 pie, making me feel that I had the chance to make an impression and the chance to get an impression."

Respect: Students had tittle to say, other than Lang sent a "professional, personalized rejection letter."

OPINION & EDITORIAL

23 NOVEMBER 2004

I

BY SCHEHEREZADE B. RASTEGARDJAVAHERY Paul Bremer says that Iraq is "on the path to full democracy" and has made significant economic progress in the past year. The recent attack on Fallujah is the latest development of the American government's supposed plan for "full democracy" in Iraq.

I! is often asked whether international law is a legitimate field of law.

However, we would not need to consider this question if the American government were to abide by the principles of international law. What other government has been allowed to weasel away from almost every article of the Geneva Conventions, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the UN Convention Against Torture, and other basic rules and principles of international law on a continual basis? The masterminds of the Bush administration have surreptitiously become the first and foremost violators of international law. If you fund the UN, it would seem, you are above the law.

Consider the events in Fallujah, a city of 300,000 west of Baghdad.

On Octoher 8, the Pentagon announced a "precision strike" against the "terrorist leaders" in Fallujah. The "precision

Even though \'ve a\ways known those flower girls had shifty intentions, Article 50

of the Conventions forbids slaughtering them. strike" was against women and children guests of a wedding party. Don't be fooled, senior Pentagon officials assured the public: " ...we hit it. If a wedding party was going on, well, it was in concert with a meeting of .. top Zarqawi lieutenanl." Even though I've always known those flower girls had shifty intentions, Article 50 of the Conventions forbids slaughtering them. I! states that "the presence within the civilian population of individuals who do not come within the definition of civilians does not deprive the population of its civilian character .., The U.S. Government insists they were scared of "al-Qaeda-linked terrorist leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi" and they felt the bombing was legitimate.

However, even FOX News reports that Lt. Gen. Thomas Metz, commander of the multinational force in Iraq, acknowledged that "It is fair to assume that he [Zarqawi] left."

Now that the U.S. "democratic" elections are over, the bombings on Fallujah have resumed to instill a "full democracy" in Iraq. The U.S. government scoffs at Article 54 of the Geneva Conventions prohibiting the attack of any objectives "indispensable to tbe survival of the civilian population."

In the name of democracy, hospitals in Fallujah were the first targets of attack. Indeed, the ter-

rorist activities of the U.S. government also laugh in the face of all civilian rights. A "Pentagon official" reported to The New York Times: "If there are civilians dying in connection with these attacks, and with the destruction, the locals at some point have to make a decision. Do they want to harbour the insurgents and suffer the consequences that come with that?"

President Bush urges praying for

More importantly, who let the U.S. government get away with calling themselves the beacon of democracy?

American troops. These "brave" men and women have suffered ten casualties in Fallujah, while the "insurgent and civilian casualty figures remain unk.nown." President Bush has asked that we thank the "brave" troops for "the hard work necessary for a free Iraq to emerge." When did we decide that everyone has to live in a democracy?

Who are we to impose our values on the rest of the world? More importantly, who let the U.S. government get away with catung themse\ves the beacon of democracy? \ thank Pres\dent "Bu'50h{or

being a superb example of a terrorist leader who not only does not believe in democracy in Iraq, but does not believe in it for the American people either.

The saddest part of all of this is that Bush was democratically elected by the American people. Americans are more responsible for supporting terrorism because they elected this terrorist government. Under Saddam, the Iraqi people did not have a cboice. Under tbe Taiiban, the people of Afghanistan did not have a choice. Yet, Americans willingly elected a government that continues to massacre countless Iraqi civilians in revenge of the terrorist attack on American civilians in 9/11.

The Americall- government has never had any intention of establishing a democracy in Iraq. They want to use Iraq as the wedge to open tbe region economically and establish America's presence, with a market benefiting only themselves. A truly democratic government understands that the tenets of democracy cannot be imposed or forced. The American government should not be viewed as a symbol of democracy. This logic should be apparent not only to students of international law, but to anyone with any iota of human decency. The irony in using bombs, terror, and violence to "free" Iraq is so overwhelming it is painful. I would rather live in Saddam's Iraq than be in Iraq right now.

At least then I would have the right to water and electricity.

The author is an exchange student from the University of St. Andrews in Scotland, studying International Law and Political Science at the University of Toronto.

OPINION & EDITORIAL

18 LEITER TO THE EDITOR

Townhall piece "holier-than-thou" Last month, readers of UV were treated to a

anger against some aspect of this faculty/adminislrationlstudent body". And all this time I thought [ was generally satisattendee of the SLS Town Hall meeting ("SLS Apathy", Opinion, October 19, fied with this school. I even came close to 2004). To make a long story less long, being pleased and or impressed with those who administer this place. Well, watch out turnout was dismal, leaving the author SLS, as soon as someone tells me why I'm depressed and angry at us aod the SLS, and, angry, you're going to hear from me, presumably, many, many other things. My And furthermore, the article got me thinkinitial reaction after reading the article was to ing about how unimportant those things I stock up on canned goods and gas generalike to do are. Perhaps the author could write tors, but then I paused to reflect. Before I a monthly column, iI fa Guaragna's fashion respond, though, I should point out two column (minus the tongue-in-cheek) telling things: us each what are worthwhile uses of our time 1. As author of this Jetter, I am in no way and what is not. For example, I feel like I representative of the apathetic student body. should attend a Health Law & Policy semiI have not been elected, and when I held a nar before I graduate, but I'm not sure if Town Hall to discuss what I should include enough people will see me there for it to be in the response, you wouldn't believe how worthwhile ... any suggestions? few people showed up.

In true holier-than-thou fashion, the arti2. I take no issue with the description of the turnout as "low". I was actually there for cle wraps up with a stern warning, as patronabout 5 minutes until I realized that I had izing as it is incomprehensible.

After come way too late for a pizza grab n' IUD explaining that "we are here to learn what it and, if I went for it, r would be seen for all means to be a lawyer, and a law student", the my soullessness. author tells us: "This is our scbool. It is our As far as I can tell, the article takes issue faculty, we are responsible for its nature and with SLS failures, student apathy, and the we need to start owning that." Ithink in there SLS failure to address student apathy. In somewbere is why I'm angry. addition, there are a couple side shots at the I propose more town halls. With mandaSLS for disproportionately advertising for all tory attendance. And that every SLS decision the events that actually get a tum-out, includfrom this point on be confmned only by refing Law Games, an event that is neither run erendum. Also, we should maintain a cache by the SLS nor advertised by the SLS. of small arms. But don't tell James McClary.

The article taught me much about myself We'U need the weapons when he makes his \ didn't even \mow. rOT example, \ \eamed move. \hat "'Ne a\\ \\ave concerns, we a\l have -Peter Hawkings

sanctimonious

tirade about our apathy by an

ULTRAVIRES

Remembrance Day, not Remembrance Hour

BY MATT PIERCE Since I was very young, my grandfaIher, a WWlI veteran, has taken me to the Remembrance Day service in Halifax every year. which I have continued to attend since moving to Ontario five years ago. It pains me to see Ontarians going to class and work (In November 11, in the face of sucb an important tradition.

Remembrance Day must become a statutory holiday across Canada. This day serves as a beacon ofthe peace and freedom that was so greatly threatened just decades ago, but that so many of us take fat granted today. As Canada has readily e~brac~d through history holidays thathave significance for only part of the population, If sbouIdbc prepared to give similar recognition to a day that has so deeply affected all of us, whether we realize it at present or nol.

T call on the law school to take a leadership role in this movement. To date, the school has only been wiJling to cancel classes over the II :00 hour, This is not enough. The day is more than just a half-hour service with Cannon blasts and trumpets ringing out stirring versions of "The Last Post", l! is a day of rcmembranceia time for people to step back from their lives and realize wbo they have 10 thank fo, where they are today. If we are fully prepared to take school off to recognize such religious events as Rosb Hashanah and Easter, then it is time to properly recognize a day that is symbolic themselves Canadian,

not just to

a

specific

congregation,

but to anyone

forever grateful to my grandfather for instilling in me a sense of pride for the men and women who fought so admirably for us all, and an appreciation fa, the wonderful country we live in as a result. With many of the veterans we honour-on November II now gone, it is up to the rest of us to instill this pride and appreciation ~ons to come. I fear that if we cannot hold Remembrance Day sacred by

ill

be

lD~1#i~r,~':~"~~'."'I;iltl'

" As an articling student, I prefer when my contributions go unrecognized."

o

o

o

o

o

Strongly Agree

o Strongly Disagree

Bereskin & Parr (#3) OCI: A solid performance. "Interviewers were both pleasant and we were able to have a good discussion. They showed interest and were engaging."

at OCls by far. The interviewers were fiieodly and informal but professional. The interviewers gave honest and frank answers to all questions." "The most easy going conversation of the whole process. Very geouine people."

Callback:

Callback: High marks continued. The "least

Students "loved the finn," and found "everyone J met with was engaging and the interviews were all conversations."

Respect: Students "felt respected and valued throughout the process."

fair and relevant," one student reported that one of the interviewers made an "extremely offensive

& Blackwell

LLP. Cassels Brock and the CB logo are trade-marks

about homosexuality.

that they had a huge chip on their sboulder'c They "told me the case I talked about was a

'bad choice'."

Dimock Stratton LLP (#11) OCI: Middling marks from one student who said the finn was "not particularly interested but not rude." Others did not like the seating' arrangement. "Way too close and personal."

Respect: Lack of communicatioo led to low marks. The finn "didn't even send a rejectioo

LLP (#5)

OCI: Thanks to a "very bright, interested interviewer"

who "provided

lots of infonna-

tion," Lemers received solid marks.

Callback: "Nice folks," wrote one student.

"Everyone felt approachable, fiiendly, honest, and excited about their finn and their work."

Events: The cocktail party was "friendly," and "intimate enough to meet lots of the lawyers."

Respect: While "the OCI was warm and respectful," some students were miffed they "received no rejection letter."

Lenczner

There's more to DC Is than just jobs 1. (tie) Baker & McKenzie (8.5) At least two students found Baker & McKenzie's notepad and pen to be "useful and high quality."

I. (tie) Minden Gross Grafstein & Greenstein LLP (8.5) For at least one student, the Minden Gross umbrella "was handy during Vancouver interviews."

11. Miller Tbomson LLP (5.7) According to one student, the "CD case was a unique idea," but was "low quali-

3. Gilbert's

LLP (8.3) Students appreciated the "CD of their very funky hold music."

ty. " 12. Gondmans LLP (5.5) At their reception, Goodmans gave out candy loot bags. As one sarcastic student wrote, it was "so fun it's hard to believe I'm applying for a real job!"

4. McMillan

Bincb LLP (7.7) Students found the breath mints "very handy for subsequent interviews."

13. Torkin

Slagbt Royce Smith Griffin LLP

Gilbert's LLP (#1) OCl: Excellent reviews put Gilbert's in the top position in this class. Students described this as "my favourite interview" with recruiters who were "friendly, approacbable, and fun."

However, one student did not appreciate the light-hearted atmosphere, and felt "the interviewers did not present a good ilnage of the

finn. Nice people but just not very serious."

CaUhack: Students appreciated that the interviewers ·'took three days off to make swe the students could meet everyone." The office was described as a '10taI1y different alrnosphere."

Events: The cocktail party was described as "the best amoog maay great ones" with ''wonderful food and entertainment, including cigarmaking demooslratioDS." Respect: Highest marks thanks to "no game playing. I knew where I stood." Even students who were rejected complimeoted the "nice rejection letter. Personalized and polite." rucks Morley LLP(#4)

Hamiltnn

Stewart

Storie

Respect: Hicks Morley was criticized for its offer lactics. One student reported that the finn '101d me they would make me an offer ... and then didn't" Another wrote, "They were pushy and tried to get me to say that I would accept an offer from them."

Tougb

Shields

DesBrisay

O'DonneU LLP (#2) OCI: Excelleot reviews.

One student described them as "the best finn I encountered

The choice of interviewers cost Lenczner Slaght dearly in this category.

Students complained of a "self-important interviewer who droned on" and "one interviewer was the good cop, one was the bad cop." One student summed it up thus, "interviewers were unfriendly and basically silent" Callback: Students "felt welcome at the finn" and we", "pleasantly surprised" by the people.

Events: "l1le reception was described as "wee and small For a boutique Jike this, the reception fomlat works." "llhink I mer everyone': wrote one student.

Respect: The biggest complaint was lbat there was "no rejection letter."

Smart & Biggar (#6) OCI: Compliments for the interviewer, who was "professional" and a "good representative for the finn."

Callback: Perhaps damning with faint praise, lawyers in the office were ''polite.''

Respect: "No rejection leiter."

Skadden,

Arps, Slate, Meagber

& Flom

LLP(#7) OCI: Poor marks for the interviewers, who "didn't seem like they cared to be there" and "only wanted me to ask questions of them, for the whole time. Weird."

Sbearman & Sterling LLP (#9) OCI: While most cited a "good interview, nice people, and pleasant conversation," one student (with high self-worth) complained that the "interviewers were a little young. I expect-

Cohen

Arbus

LLP

Keychains are apparently passe for students. "Might as well not do anything",

OCl:

letter."

Manes

(5.3)

(#8)

sniffed one.

14. Heenan Heenan

5. Gowling Lafleur Henderson LLP (6.9) Gowling's combination alann clock/currency converter devices was '"highly use6. Fogler, Rubinoff LLP (6.5) The notepad and pen were "not very original and mid-range for quality ...

8. Fraser Milner Casgrain (6.3) While students found tbe FMC branded plastic portfOlio/notepad usefull, it was "hard to bide during OCls." •

15. Lang Michener (5.0) Although the folding Frisbee was not regulation, it is "amusing for small children. " 16. Blake,

Cassels

& Graydan

LLP

(4.7) Blakes did not give out swag during OCls, but tbey did courier a two-incb thick "olume of promotional material on call day. It was variously described as "propaganda", "ridiculous" and a '"waste ofpape,."

9. Bennett Jones LLP (6.1) The less-than-original clipboard with paper may explain why Bennett Jones wound up in the middle of the pack.

10. Cassels

Brock

& Blackwell

LLP

(6.0) There was much puzzlement over the multi-tool device banded out by Cassels Brock during OCls. One student called it a '''scary knife."

A LAW DEGREEWON'T GET YOU INTO A COURTROOM. WE WILL. litigation firm, highly rated by bath Chambers and Partners and lEXPERT.

For more information contad Perry Hancock, Student COMofdinator: 416.865,3092 of Cassels

Brock & Blackwell

LlP. All rights reserved.

www.lsrsg.com

stu-

dents. "Best swag evert" and '"'1love the silty putty" were two of the more positive comments, but man)' felt the "novelty wore off {It:etty qu\ck" and that they were «\rj\ng tQQ na.t:o.to \oo'k fun:'

fut"

7. Aird & BerUs (6.4) The Aird & Berlis branded bighUgbter witb integrated flags was popular, ifboring.

Blaikie LLP (5.2) Blaikie's siliy putty polarized

ed to meet with partners."

reputation on advocacy. lenczner Slaght is the leading Canadian

LAWYERS

Cassels Brock

comment"

Respect: Low marks stemming from "a sense

Lerners

Swag ranklngs

If litigation is your passion and becoming a top counsel is your goal, make sure you work at a firm thai has built its

CASSELS BROCK e 2004

nf Justice (#10)

OCI: While most felt that "the questions were

Hodgson

No you don't. The students we talked to said they want to be challenged and contribute in a real way.

So what do we do differently? We put your knowledge to work, often for clients involved in mergers and acquisitions, securities, intellectual property, information technology, bankruptcy, real estate, banking, health law, litigation and more. Interested? Visit www.casselsbrock.com or contact Deborah Glatter, Director of Student Programs, at 416 860 6606 or dglatter@casselsbrock.com

BS-oriented interview of the week." Students "got the sense that the :finn was genuinely concemed about making sure that Imade the best choice for myself" Respect: Students raved that the finn was "respectful and courteous at all times."

who calls

1am

out

Comments on Boutiques, Specialty Firms and Gov't

Department

13

RECRUITING SURVEY

23 NOVEMBER 2004

or phoncock@lsrsg.com

YOU WANr TO IE ON OUR SIDE.

•

14

COMPILED BY ADRIAN L1UAND TARIQ REMTULLA The second-annual Ultra Vires Rankings was bigger and better this year, with more questions and more participants. While there were clear preferences for some categories (favourite Reference, favourite judge of all time), others were just agony-inducing (who is the best tag team? The Deans have youth on their side, but the Weinribs just look so dam cute .. .). Not since the Bridge Week long paper selection form has there been so much anxiety over the fate of one's choices.

Without further ado, here are the preferences of you and your fellow classmates.

Favourite case name 41 % · R. II. Pappajohn 33% · Pushpanathan 21% · Bolton II. Stone 5% Talk about living up to your name. Sansregret breaks into his ex-girlfriend's house and terrorizes her, so that she has sex with him just to calm him down. Then he'll claim he honestly believed she was consenting, despite having just threatened her with physical violence. This guy wasn't just sans regret, he was sans a brain.

· R. v. Sansregret

Favourite Reference · Margarine Reference 54% · Secession Reference 21% · Manitoba Egg Reference 16% · Local Prohibition Reference 9% The Margarine Reference also takes the priz.e tor least lil<.el'j name tor a case about criminal law. Who knew a kerfuffle over oleo-margarine would lead to a fundamental statement about the scope of criminal law?

\

Favourite phrase in a case · "saucy intruder" (Pierson v. Post) · "Cricket is the delight of everyone" (Miller v. Jackson) · "The consideration is that natural love ... which counts for so little in these cold courts" (Balfour v. Balfour) · "Man on the Clapham omnibus" Thanks to the court's colourful description -_-of Pierson, no one remembers the outcome of that case (who got the fox anyways?). Denning's quote, on the other hand, makes sure that we do.

40%

36% '19% 5%

_ favourite first-year course · Torts 35% · Constitutional 26% · Criminal 21% · Contracts 9% · Property 9% It wasn't until after we printed out the surveys that we realized, by some inexplicable oversight, that we had forgotten to include Legal Process. How did we manage to forget those four months of life where we learned about estoppel, res judicata, and limitation periods??

Fortunately for us, no one else seemed to notice the omission.

Most useless property law topic · History behind law & equity 48% · Adverse possession 20% · Distress (landlord can seize tenant's goods for rent) 18% . · Finders 14% In a tight race featuring little boys who find sacks of gold, squatters on vacant lots, and vengeful landlords, the history behind the merging of the courts of law and equity won out. We can hear Professor Phillips crying already ...

.-....:: ... ==.;,;,;~....:......;;.

15

ULTRA VIRES RANKINGS Funniest facts · R. v. Fagan (man stops car on police officer's foot) 41% · R. v. Abbey (cocaine smuggler thinks he "astra-travelled") 29% · Jarvis v. Swan Tours (man upset over spoiled vacation) 16% · Hawkins v. McGee (the case of the "hairy hand") 14% You have to wonder what was going on in Fagan. The guy stops his car on a cop's foot, tells him off, then refuses to move while the cop shouts at him. With that kind of audacity, he must've had some of what

Favourite contracts remedy · Specific performance 53% · Expectation interest damages 17% · Reliance damages 10% · Rescission 7% If we had it our way, we'd get our backyard wall, 7-foot pool, and a "perfect" hand.

Daviault was drinking.

Favourite case involving a refugee whose last name starts with "S" · Suresh 73% · Singh 20% · Shah 7% · Sethi 0% The break-away winner here was Suresh.

Was it because the Supreme Court of Canada discussed the applicability of international law in s. 7 of the Charter, or because we just can't tell one "S" case from another?

SCC's most influential

· Oakes

(George Lucas sued for "stealing" Ewoks idea) · Black v. Canada (Conrad Black tries to sue PM Jean Chretien) · Warner Bros. v. Nelson (contract case involving Bette Davis) · Gould v. Stoddart Estate (Glenn Gould's estate sues over photos) George Lucas may have gotten away with the Ewoks, but what he really should've been sued for is Jar Jar Binks-mental anguish, anyone?

52%

· Baker 21% · Morgentaler 17% · Law 10% The bane of everyone on their first-year exams: you write out beautiful s. 15 or s. 7 argument, then you still gotta plod through the three-pronged Oakes test.

And pop quiz, everyone-what were the facts behind Oakes anyway?

It was hash oil, folks!

Biggest jerk

28% 23% 11%

play.

37% 30%

· Demeter (man is convicted for murdering wife, then tries 19% to claim insurance) · Instan (woman lets her ailing aunt starve) 14% In a reversal from last year's results, Caratun takes over Cuerrier for the biggest jerk. Mrs. Caratun toils for years and years so that her husband can go to school, and just days after he gets his dentist license, he serves her divorce papers. Rumour has it that Dr. Caratun's dental clinic is listed in the telephone directory ... afterschool vandalism, anyone?

Favourite Latin phrase

'suigeneris

43% 25%

· quid pro quo · prima facie 20% · stare decisis 12% There were a host of other Latin phrases that didn't make the cut: inter alia, pacta sunt servanda, de minimus ... but then, on second thought, we realized we had no idea what they all meant.

U of T professor most likely to be SCC judge · Roach 58% · Sossin 22% · Rogerson 11% · Shaffer 9% Sure, Roach would be a good bet to make it to the Big Dance ... but actually, we wouldn't be surprised to see anyone of these four at 301 Wellington Street in a few years.

Favourite SCC judge · L'Heureux-Dube 52% · Laskin 21% · Dickson 16% · McLachlin 11% Everyone's favourite dissenter wins with a majority of votes. She may have increased our reading load by say, 40%, and been singularly responsible for the everincreasing length of SCC judgments, but who can resist the petite Quebecoise lady with the catchy name? Her long-winded (and thought-provoking) opinions will be sorely missed. Let's hope Abella picks up the slack.

Favourite course name · Art of the Deal 39% · Innovation and Knowledge 23% Transfer in Regional Industry Clusters · The Laws of Wa~ 29% · The Idea of Public Law 9% Of course we're going to like "Art of the Deal" the most-it reminds us of why we came to law school in the first place (i.e., to practice corporate law on Bay Street). Hmm ...

Favourite case involving booze · Daviault (intoxication defence) 45% · Beard (no defence of drunkenness) 27% · Hodge (guy gets arrested for having pool hall) 18% · Russell (regulation of alcohol by province) 10% This will be a good one around the dinner table. If you want to assault someone while drunk, be sure you get so drunk that you won't even be deemed to have formed the intent to do so. Pass the red wine!

,"

38%

Favourite judge of all time · Lord Denning 38% · L'Heureux-Dubs 27% · Cardozo 22% · Learned Hand 13% Not surprisingly, Lord Denning takes the honours. Thanks to him, we're full of legal one-liners and we can rest assured that cricket players will always have a place to

a

• Caratun (d.entist who gets license, then divorces wife) · Guerrier (H'V-positive man who has unprotected sex)

famous people

· Preston v. 20th Century Fox

case

.,

I

I

I

•

t.

t

f

tiiFlIii-

j

Favourite Moot · Jessup (International) 30% · Wilson (Equality) 27% · Gale (Criminal) 27% · Laskin (ConstitutionaI/Administrative) 16% At U of T we're into all of the moots. Like Law Games, they give us the chance to try to prove how much better we are than the other law

Favourite treatise 50% · Hogg on Constitutional Law 34% · Waddams on Contracts 9% · Wigmore on Evidence 7% · Stuart on Criminal Law Hockey is to Gretzky as Canadian Constitutional Law is to Hogg. Need we say more?

Favourite source of news

· Ultra Vires

36%

· Headnotes 33% · Merril Boden 30% · MyMailBox on e-community 1% The people have spoken. We're the place to go when you want to be in the know-but kudos to Headnotes and Merril Boden for keeping it close. We promise we won't take our victory for granted.

Favourite classroom · FLB 40% · Solarium 36% · BLH 15% · Moot Court Room 9% FLB has the most consistent internet connection-amI it's the closest classroom to a water fountain. By the way, when are they going to replace those chairs in the MGR? Favourite time slot for class · 10-12pm 39% . 24pm 30% · 9-11am 26% · 4-6pm 5% _ If you actually want us to come, it would be better if you scheduled class after 10 am-and before 4 pm. Otherwise, maybe just put the notes on that MSN site.

Favourite faculty tag team · Brothers Weinrib · Frank and Edward Iacobucci · Deans Daniels and Chiang · Cook and Dickens Arnie and Ernie are such a popular fan club website.

45% 32% 16% 7% combo they have their own official

Smartest graduating class of all time · 1987 (Chapman, Macklin, Roach, Shaffer) 83% · 1964 (Bill Graham, Paul Martin) 13% · 1986 (Cossman, Daniels, Johnston) 4% · 1984 (Macklem, Morgan) 0% In thirty years, they're still going to be talking about that Class of 1987.

Rumour has it that three of them were in the same small group. Can you imagine what that would've done to the B-curve??

Favourite E. Weinrib course · Roman Law 34% · Restitution 30% · Torts (section) 25% · Torts (small group) 11% For those of you who haven't had him, you don't know what you're missing. Let's just say Ernie's teaching style is like a fine wine-it only

I'

i

gets better with ti me.

schools.

Favourite case involving

_~_;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;.....;;;:;:;~;,,;;;;;;;;;;;~~===============

l

..

•••••

I

OPINION & EDITORIAL

16 EDITIORIAL

Drawing lines in the sand over corporate sponsorship It doesn't seem like that long ago that the controversy of the day iovolved the question of whether or not to put vending machines in high schools. On the one hand you had your cash strapped school administrators, crying about rising costs and tumbling government funding. On the other hand you bad your nervous lefty types worried about the commercialization of education, and about just bow fat and caffeinated their teens would become in the process of dolling out their lunch money to the corporate tycoons.

Tbe one thing that seemed to be lost on tbe casb strapped administrators, who would inevitably take the pragmatic "if tbe punks don't get it bere they'll just get it at the corner store" approach, was that the thougbt of rich corporate types getting their paws into every nook and cranny of our society just makes some people feel downrigbt uncomfortable.

Enter the donation by Faskens to DLS. The sentiment in some circles seems to be that any opposition to Faskens involvement in DLS, or the after-the-fact wrangling over the name, is evidence that. students really are the wbiny ingrates tbey are routinely accused of being. After all, who can accept a $500,000 donation only to ~\art act\ng CQ') about the who\e anangemen\ \a\er"t l'askcns )U'5t wants to

cuddle a little. Where's the harm in that?

No one would dispute that the donation was a generous one. Nor would anyone dispute tbat the new digs are a damn sight better than the original office in tbe Falconer basement, affectionately known as "Tbe Pit", and now home to your loyal UV scribblers. But the point may simply be ahout having somewbere to bide from the deluge of Bay Street claptrap that hits you everywbere you turn at tbis scbool, what with Big Firm Classroom X, Big Firm Event of the Week Y, and the AdPacked Scbool Rag Z. DLS bas alway. been a welcome refuge from that atmosphere.

It may seem like a small point to debate wbether Faskens restricts its branding to

~.

the outside of the building, or whether they will have their name on every scrap of paper that emanates from tbat space, whether real or virtual. But surely you have to forgive a few hardcore DLSers from feeling like it'. the end of an erathat opening that door is tbe thin edge of the wedge. What's next? Will DLSers be climbing over eacb other to rub elbows with Faskens lawyers? Will Faskens open dossiers on the best and brightest young DLSers in the hopes of scooping them up?

To some, that's a borrifying prospect, to say the least.

Few, I'm sure, would argue that Paskens lawyers are circled around a boardroom table, plotting a coup against the DLS executive and a full-scale corporate assault on DLS. Tbey seem like fine folks, truly. But you bave to wonder whether their assertion that they did not have some more concrete expectations going into a $500,000 deal isn't a bit of polite posturing, a grace-under-pressure stance, if you will. And who would blame them if they thought they were getting a bit more bang for their buck? If you look at tbe Harvard clinic that was put to tbem as a prototype, they wouldn't have had to connect too many dots to imagine what the future might hold in store.

Wben 1.t comes right down to it, this might be one of those flmdamental issues that just divides people. plain and simple.

Either you get it, or you don't. Not to pick on the Dean, because the Dean seems to get picked on all too often around here, hut his assertion that student fears are preposterous reeks of disdain. And perbaps it's not surprising coming from someone wbose name is regularly accompanied by one form of sponsorship or anotber. (Most notably, Dean Daniels held tbe position of Coca-Cola World Fund Fellow at Yale last year.)

There are those out there wbo think corporate sponsorship will save us all, and tbere are those who feel dirty about tbe whole arrangement. The two sides aren't likely to see eye to eye anytime soon. One

ultra vires Ultra Vires is tbe independent student newspaper of tbe Faculty of Law at the Uoiversity of Toronto.

Editor-in-Chief Associate Editor News Opinion and Editorial Legal Issues

Features Diversions Production Editor Copy Editor Business Manager

John Norquay Jonathan Desbarat.

Andrew Pilliar, Keir Wilrnut Keir Wilrnut Lisa Cavion Adrian Liu Lisa Minuk Laura Bowman Ian Disend Lisa Cavion

Communications Centre, Falconer Hall 84 Queen's Park Crescent, Toronto ON M5S 2C5 ultra.vires@utoronto.ca (416) 946-7684

ULTRA VIRES

Conditioned to be quitters lUre.

BY BEN REENTOVICH "Get involved." "Law school is about more than just the law. It is more than just getting a job." The message has been clear from tbe beginning: we should take the opportunities that law school offers beyond just academics. Vet there is a worrying theme that is included in that message: the idea that it is okay to quit; that getting involved shouldn't require too mucb of an effort.

"Come on, do Law Review, you'll only be busy for two weeks and then you are done." "Join Pro Bono, it won't be more than tltree hours a week." These are two of the more prevalent student groups nn campus and ~o easier to pick on, but thiscoddling attitude has been a constant selling point for!llOSl· activities. We don't expect tIuIt much trom you, and we expect yon to bail lIllyway, so don't worry about makin& oommitments that othels,come to rely an.

Is lIris really the attitude we want to ~ Yes, we _ all students first, but once we've made a commitment, why are we so easy about accepting excuses? At what point do we make people accountable to their word?

Law school is a new environment, but readings are still readings, and assignments don't just JlQP up without some SOd of notice. If you've over-extended "'~!l'l!!:'f. Md get out.

I've never been in an environment with so many bright and intelligent people, and yet I'm sbocked at how little we expect of each otber. and how willing some of us arc to put in the minimum required. If tbere was ever a group of people that should be able to take on more and push themselves, isn't that us?

Law school could be the last chance for some of us to try and bave an impact, or just try something new, before the 60 hour plus work week sets in. Of course, this is a sweeping generalization that clearly doesn't apply to all; there are heroes, yes, heroes, amongst us who manage to juggle, commitments that some of us couldn't even fathom.

The reality is thatwbal motivates some.is not what motivates others; we all cameto law school looking for a version Of happiness and it seems-like we allow the future to dictate our present sometimes. r met a second year orientation group leader during Orientation Week who was planning to quit after the Tuesday night because she had felt that she bad done enough to include it on her resume.

YeS,the dreaded res,ume. It is a sad realization to come to that we are still buying into some Preconceived notion of what is expected (If us instead of taking the opportunity to do something tbat genuinely interests us. I'm corning to realize

bave experience with post-secondary education; most of us have job experience outside oflbe bubble that.is university, SO the excuse of schoolwork just seems a little. .. well •.. ynu get the pic-

Street ate a needed addition 10 diose Who have a genuine passion for what they are doing, but neither has the right to be irresponsible in their volunteer.rcommitments. Be it figbting for human rights Or being part of a sports team, why are we so afraid to test our limits and pusb ourselves forward?

thing seems certain-in this era of dwindling government funding and growing corporate profits,· places like DLS will have no choice but to turn to outside, corporate funding for support. Some will peel off their skivvies and leap into tbat kind of relationship and will see nothing but blue skies and rainbows ahead, while others

will insist on baving coffee first, all the time wondering if tbings will ever be tbe same. It's not a question of right or wrong.

Botb sides, I'm sure, want tbe relationship to work witbout tbe other side feeling slighted, or uncomfortable. Tbe key, as Dr. Pbil migbt say, is good communication.

••

'eXcuse

Iii ~, or some asSjgnment you haven't started. All Mus papeJ'

Contributors \man Abokor, Ben Arkin, Oren Bick, Todd Cbemecki, Angela Chu, Oliver deGees!, Ian Disend, Chris Essert, Miranda Gass-Donnelly, Julia Guaragna, Peter Hawkings, Patrick Hous.ais, Lindsay Lang, Aggie Luczkiewicz, Max Matas, James McClary, Steve Penner, Matt Pierce, Scbeberezade B. Rastegar-Djavahery, Ben Reentovich, Tariq Remtulla, Larissa Ruderman, Dave Seevaratnam, Juda Strawczynski, Evan Thomas, Zirnra Yetnikoff, Saba zarghami

19

OPINION & EDITORIAL

23 NOVEMBER 2004

Talking 'bout my generation Why you really shouldn't trust anyone over thirty to remember. Some of us will likely still be paying it off.

"My Fair Lady" then proceeded to tell After my three year stint bere I'm starting me what was billed as an allegory, but to really tire of a few things. Tbe ubiquiturned out to be the most patronizing tously tepid 2-4-1 Pizza, the bomoerotic experience of my life. Apparently there graffiti in the men's room, and tbe incomwas once a student named Eliza Doolittle, prehensible book store hours may bother who was very poor and even more unedusome, but you'll find these conditions in cated, and couldn't speak the King's pretty much any correctional facility.

Englisb, but was fortunate enough to fmd What really sticks in my craw is the a famous professor of diction who took patronizing attitude of our Law School's pity upon her. One day she was mumbling Alumni regarding the excess money today's students are forced to fork over in her way down the street, when some order to receive the privilege of getting the passers-by thougbt she was begging for same education they got for a fraction of change, so tbey tossed her a few coins.

Sbe took these to ber professor and offered the cost a few years earlier.

Just the other day r bad the pleasure of to pay for the invaluable lessons he was gregarious enough to provide. The profeschatting witb one of our distinguished alumni. I can't tell you who she was, but . sor's assistaot chuckled haugbtily at the idea the young girl bad so little knowledge she's quite inspirational, having once been of hoth the value of ber education and the awarded a high-ranking desk job while value of the money in her hand that she pregnant! (Note to self: Tell Mom I love her, not so mucb for carrying me while she thought she could ever compensate the worked twelve-hour shifts on her feet in professor fully for his kindness. The professor scolded his assistant, saying, "Ahthe ER, but for not being so sanctimonious but to ber-those few little pennies are as about it.. .). good as gold!"

Anyway, sbe was recalling her fond Now I'm not the sharpest tool in memories of U of T back in the sixties, even how she had gotten married in her Flavelle's shed, but wbat the hell was that second year. I was stuoned. Don't get me little breach of copyrigbt supposed to wrong-I love this place too-more than Liberals love siphoning off public funds towards organized crime, but she must have been joking. With the financial aid system here, nobody gets married during law school. As unromantic as it might sound, it would cost you thousands of dollars. When weighing the eternal damnation you would face for living in sin against tbe prospect of being pushed to the back of the financial aid line, for most of us the choice would be quite obvious!

Then I realized-things were probably mean? I suppose there are four possible different back then. Tuition levels were interpretations: lower, and debt loads less burdensome.

I. We are all wretches desperately in But by how much? So 1 decided to ask her need of the salvation our exalted teachers how much tuition was in her day. Big misare charitably providing at a fraction of its take ... huge. I may as well bave lied about true value, a value we would never be able my fust year grades in a job application to fully comprehend? tbere was so much consternation on the 2. For us drab little guttersnipes to have Dean's face. (Yes, the Dean was there tbe gall to complain about what we pay for too.) She told me that sbe didn't recall. our education is laughable-what seems Once again-you could have knocked me like a fortune to us is little more than over with a feather ... ask any of my classscraps at the table of the legal elite? mates what their tuition was thirty years 3. I was behaving like a plebeian and I from now and I am sure we will all be able too could be liberated by a complete metaBY STEVE PENNER

young professionals of that day spent in taxes, they received $1.33 in services back from the government. Once this chosen group reacbed middle age, they gave themselves tax cuts, stripped funding from education, focused on health care, and we are the ooes stuck witb the bill, such that for every dollar we will spend in taxes, we will only receive $0.66 in government services.

Why, I ask these chosen Boomers, is my generation only half as worthy of government support as yours? Where is our Section 15 argument for being discriminated against in such a manner? It's funny-when I was recently down in Belize I was struck by the emotional claims of the Mayan people tbat all they really wanted to do was to create a better morphic make-over and one day le~ bow life for their children than wbat they bad.

What bappened between our grandparto converse politely with distinguisbed ents' generation and yours to get rid of the company?

4. It doesn't matter how much you chip idea that you do everything you can to help your children, even if it means makin for your education, its value is infinite(Note to ly greater than any monetary figure, so ing sacrifices for yourselves? self: Tell Dad I love him, not so much for don't complain. funding my childbood, but for baving the Now, as mucb as I would love to think simple buman dignity not to stick me with otherwise, I'm pretty sure my new benefactor of wisdom was referring to #4, and the bill for his .. .) .

Wben I hear my fellow students comI don't necessarily disagree. Tbe issue I bave with this type of argument is its plain about the difficulties they face in inherent inequality. Personally, I have no fmancing their education, ofteo tbe argument focuses on the differences in OUf problem paying more for a superior prodfmancial situations and bow to account for uct, Ijust don't understand wby our generthese properly. We are completely missing ation is being asked to subsidize a far the point.

The problem is not tbat student greater portion of our education than the X in 2004 receives more or less assistance one. tbat came before it. If quality goes up than student Y, tbe problem is that every and costs go up witb it, fine, but tbat bursingle member of Generation X and den should be spread equally across both Generati.on Y is getting hosed, forced to the student body and the public purse-in the same ratios as it always has. Baby bear the burden for the excesses of our But the ultimate Boomers have taken full advantage of parents' generation. indignity is when we are told by our pretheir demographic position to take more decessors that it's no big deal. If the and give less to society than any generation in history, and they just don't seem to bypotbesis is that a U ofT legal education increases in value and status along with give a damn when their children question rises in tuition, then we have a serious this lapse in moral integrity. free-rider problem. All of our alumni, Take a look at their parents, our grandwhether they are professors or partners on parents, who grew up in the Depression,' Bay Street, are seeing their own status fought a world war to protect the freedoms increased, while we pay the cost. Tbey of those who came after them, and then made more sacrifices to ensure that their received a discounted education, a wealth of social services, and we get the bills for children bad every possible advantage. both their deficits and our own tuition. I Then, when Baby Boomers became young adults, they supported governments that suppose if I valued a pat on the head sanctioned stealing from the future to sub- enough 1 might feel somewbat compensated, but I don't... What I'd really like is for sidize their present. Law scbool graduates us all to pay our fair sbare, but law and in the sixties voted for Trudeau, who, with economics won't belp me as long as the Chretien as his fmance minister. accumulated massive deficits ensuring both their politics of generational supremacy rules in their stead. own re-election, and.that for every dollar

BLAKES 2005 SECOND YEAR SUMMER STUDENTS: Rahool Agarwal, Sarah Davidson Ladly, Rahat Godil, Sophia Javed, Alex MacMillan, Doug Robertson, Adrienne Sum, Richard Turner and Kate Wood.

Ultra Vires is an editorially autonomous newspaper. We are open to contributions wbicb'reflect diverse points of view, and our contents do not necessarily reflect the views of the Faculty of Law, the Students' Law Society (SLS), or the editorial board.

We welcome contributions from students, faculty, and other interested persons.

Ultra Vires reserves the rigbt to edit submissions for lengtb and content.

BLAKE,

Advertising inquiries sbould he sent to tbe attention of the business manager at ultra.vires@utoronto.ca.

The next issue will be publisbed on January 18, 2005.

The deadline for submissions is January 10.

Submission limit: 850 words.

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20

OPINION & EDITORIAL

SLS update: the Rae Review In the Ontario Budget 2004, tbe Ontarin Government said that it wants to improve The beginning of this academic year was postsecondary education in the province. To different for the SLS. Of course, there are a that end, the Government established the number of things we do every year that we Postsecondary Review, headed by former continued to do. SLS Student Affairs premier (and U ofT law alumnus) Bob Rae. Popularly called the Rae Review, its manplanned a number of events, most significantly a very successful Halloween party, date is to give the Government advice by and has been distributing funds to clubs for January 2005 about the design and funding events and activities. Currently SLS Student of Ontario's postsecondary education sysAffairs is selling law school clothing and tem. The consultation process started in the summer and kicked into high gear as assisting with a holiday food drive.

On the other side of SLS, Student Caucus Ontario's university students started another representatives are participating in the vari- year of school.

As you can imagine, the SLS at this law ous committees of Faculty Council. The Financial Assistance committee, for exam- school has an interest in the effects of differple, has heard a number of appeals of'finan- ent funding models for legal education.

The University of Toronto Faculty of cial aid awards, as it does every year. The Information committee is discussing ways Law has recently experimented with a fundto improve security in the library, something ing model tbat involves significantly it has been working on for a few years. The increased tuition coupled with an increase in ad hoc Capstone committee is considering needs-based funding. The effect of this ways to improve the third year experience at model is to provide the law school with the law school and there is another ad hoc more funding through tuition increases. The committee that is reviewing the academic increase in needs-based funding will ameappeal policy. These examples are just a liorate, it is argued, the othetwise significant negative impact on accessibility of the smatter oftbe SLS's activities. school to low- and middle-income students.

Nevertheless, despite our "regular" activSLS Student Caucus discussed this and ities, this year started differently. Last Monday the SLS and the student govern- many other related matters in its weekly ments of Ontario's five other law schools meetings. We circulated to students a dissubmitted to the Postsecondary Review a cussion paper and encouraged people to jointly-written document discussing the express their views through a town hall held design and funding of legal education. on November 9. The product of all this was What, you might ask, is the Postsecondary a submission to the Rae Review written jointly by the student governments of Review?

BY JAMES MCCLARY, SLS PRESIDENT

Ontario's six law schools (see www.uoftsls.ca for a copy). ill the joint submission we make a nWTIber of recommendations. Many of them are very general, such as that law schools must remain accessible to all Canadians and that tuition .and debt repayment models should allow students to choose to work in public interest fields. Some recommendations are specific, such as that aSAP sbould be reformed to allow students to borrow enough to pay fnr their legal education. (aSAP's current maximum loan amount is barely a third of what it costs to attend this law school.)

Another specific recommendation we make is that aSAP should include an income-contingent Joan repayment scheme.

Such a scheme would help alleviate the problem faced by students who desire to work in public interest positions but who cannot realistically choose to do so. Such a scheme would ideally be structured to assist those who would otherwise not receive back-end debt relief or for whom such relief is inadequate.

Most importantly, the SLS believes that mechanisms are needed for the collection, reporting and review of data relating to the impact of tuition levels on accessibility, quality, articling placement rates, and the impact of debt and tuition on career choice.

If an increase in needs-based funding will effectively counter the effects of high tuition, the law schools should want to show that by collecting and reporting this data.

The Ontario Law School Application Service (OLSAS), for example, should annually collect data on the socio-economic

ULTRAVIRES status of all law school applicants in Ontario. OLSAS could then publish this data, comparing the socio-economic characteristics of the entering class of eacb school to the applicant pool. Such information would be of immense benefit to those deciding on a funding model for legal education.

Having OLSAS collect and publish this data, rather than relying on the law schools, is important Our law school has argued that increases in financial aid offset the otherwise deleterious effects of tuition increases on the neediest students, but it has not shown this to be true.

Since law school tuition levels were deregulated, the law school has studied the effect of tuition increases on accessibility only once, in 2002-2003. Despite a commitment to study accessibility on a yearly basis, tl,e law school did not study accessibility in 2004 and is not planning on doing so for 2005. Were OLSAS required to publish this data, we would receive an annual picture of the effect of tuition increases on accessibility. This would, accordingly, allow us to support or refute the claim tbat accessibility is not at risk.

Ultimately, the recommendations in our joint submission will be vetted by the advisory panel to the Rae Review and mayor may not make it into Rae's recommendations to the Government. We are, however, looking forward to the report in January.

Although the Rae's mandate is very wide, we expect that the report will make a nurn. ber of specific recommendations regarding the design and funding of legal education.

Hopefully our efforts over the past couple months will have some effect.

DIVERSIONS

23 NOVEMBER 2004

21

Class Action: penetrating the law school newspaper After eight hours of classes, are students mntivated to pick up the latest edition of Ultra Vires and dig into an article about a frustrating administrative decision? Some students may be inclined to-and I hope they enjoy clerking at the Supreme Court!

But most will go home for a break and maybe watch an episode of Sex and the City.

This article poses an alternative. It considers the merits of a column devoted to issues arising in and around the law school' about sex. Your initial reaction to the suggestion may be to reread the last sentence, nudge the person beside you, and ask if you understood it correctly. But, is a sex column necessarily ultra vires a law school paper?

There are two possible arguments against including discussions of sex in Ultra Vires. The first is that law students are above sucb puerile things; that a law school paper should be devoted to academic issues. However, newspapers should not be a domain exclusively for academia.

Newspapers in general, and school papers in particular, should be a forum for conversations on current issues affecting the audience of readers.

A common assumption among those inexperienced in legal pursuits is that law students devote all of tbeir time to their education; I know my parents still fall for that. But we all know that the doors to

INTERESTED

Flavelle do not necessarily represent the entrance to Club Keener. Though it is sometimes difficult to remember, every law student has a personality beyond the elements of it they reveal in class. As such, a law school newspaper sbould not be entirely dedicated to legal matters. It should provide, ahem, stimulation for the ... other facets of students' identities.

Discussions of issues related to sex should not be excluded from this attempt to arouse non-legal brain cells.

A quick visit to the Rowell Room con-¡ firms that sex is always on the lips and tongues of students. Discussion ranges from the gossip surrounding last weekend's party to debates about infidelity and abortion. A sex column in the paper would mirror the diversity of these conversations and would provide an avenue for discussion.

The second argument against the inclusion of a sex column in Ultra Vires is that it may be offensive to some readers. Yet, the majority of issues in a law school paper, and indeed in law school, are controversial and often offensive.

Controversy is the life blood of the legal world, and offensiveness is often a springboard for impassioned debate and greater understanding.

About a month into every new school year, after people have had a chance to get a little comfortable with one another, there

is that first night out where propriety starts to break down. As thegroup gets smaller and pitchers pour dry, discussion turns to sex. Instead of what you did in undergrad, the question becomes who you did in undergrad.

This column will be a recreation of that discussion and an attempt to keep it open

and active. Have an argument about pornography laws, or a conversation about erotica, or just make a new friend on the dance floor. .. let me know. It could form the basis for the next article.

class_action _uoft@yahoo.ca

IN CLASS ACTIONS?

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DIVERSIONS

ULTRAVIRES

Division 2 Ultimate Team way better looking than competitors Cappell (NeA) wbo was recruited ... err... admitted strictly for ber frisbee skills.

BY OlIVER DEGEEST Without further ado, so continues the law scbool intramurals report ...

Men's Football Impossible!' Unimaginable!! As an author, I prefer not to use exclamation marks, but in this situation I will make an exception.

The men 's football team has lost. A scheduling blunder forced our guys to play the semi-final game during Reading Week. We managed to field only seven players, and lost 36-6 to the UC-same UC team that we tbumped earlier in the year. Sports Illustrated called me to find out wbat happened, but I was in no mood to talk. The U ofT Intramurals News described the loss as "simply stunning."

With the end of the season, I for one would like to tbank Scott "I'll show you a reasonable person standard" Kirkpatrick (III) for captaining the team for the past three years.

I speak for the team (and the refs), in saying that we'll miss you.

Women's Football Not to be ontdone by the men's football team, the female footballers also qualified for the playoffs in tine form. Sitting tied for fourth in their division, our team faced stiff competition in the quarterfinal. Losing 13-0 at the balf, the ladies regrouped at half time and came out firing with two touchdowns to pun abead 14-13. Witb ten plays left in tbe game, and our team on defence, we managed to ho\d off the other side unti.\ they

fluked a touchdown on the second last play of the game. Team captain Marisa Wyse (III) commented, "It was tbe most exciting game in my U of T footbalJ career." Mine too.

Women's Basketball Finishing the season with a 3-2 record, team captain Nadine Dechausay (1I) was sbocked to learn tbat the women's basketball team would not be granted a playoff spot.

Already looking towards next year, the female team is in discussion with the Jaw scbool admissions committee to get admissions standards waived for two undergraduate prospects. In the true spirit of recruitment, Dean Daniels bas organized a lunch, tbough be will not be in attendance.

Men's Basketball As mentioned in the last issue, the lntramurals Staff did our team a "favour" and {:l\acedthem in a competitive Division \

bracket. Needless to say, tbe men bave not fared too well, and will probably not be advancing to tbe playoffs. Consequently, our guys have now fmnly fixed their attention on winning the Law Games basketball trophy-a far more illustrious award.

Co-ed Volleyball I must admit to an error. In the past issue of lN, I qnoted our two volleyball teams as being "male" when in fact they are "co-ed".

Full apologies.

On a more positive note, both teams are doing extremely well. The Division I team is led by heavy-hitter Gabi Szerze (I) and bas only lost one set out of ten. Tbe Division 3 team is undefeated, and looking to use a successful run in tbe playoffs to vault into Division 2. Though somewhat nnrelated, volleyball coordinator Nadir Nurmohamed (11) bas spent a considerable amount of time flirting with one of the referees, and apparently would like to meet her in a soda] setting.

Co-ed Ultimate Both the Division I and Division 2 teams qualified for the playoffs, compiling 3-2 and 4-1 records respectively. This past weekend, the Division 2 team was upset by an undergraduate team in tbe early stages of the playoffs. League consensus, however, was that our team was far better-looking than the tearn we lost to. Meanwhile, tbe Division 1 team shocked the 5-0 Trinity College team by advancing to the semis.

Player of the game honours were to be sbared by: Andrew Hennigar (ll) who arrived at 10:30 am to scout for our 1:00 g~e; and Oxford-educated Lauren

Men's Hockey The Division IV hockey team has overcome considerable adversity this season. With most of our star players being encouraged by their agents to play in Europe, our guys have started slow with a 1-3 record.

However, we are on a one game winning streak (after defeating Architecture 3-2) and look to move up in the division as the season progresses. Alex MacMillan (II) and Jeff Tracey (II) share the team lead with 2 goals, while Jon "Dukes of' Desbarats (III) leads tbe team witb six penalty minutes.

"Other" Sports

In celebration of OCIs, we would like to recognize the top sports highlight relating to the-interview process. Well actually, there is a tie for first, so I guess it is a top two. But bey, I make the rnles. Right? Rigbt.

1. During OCl week, GeoffMoysa (II) was asked to verify the details of his resume.

Specifically, he was asked to stand up and perform various kung-fu moves within the curtained interview booth. He chose to work elsewhere this summer.

1. Also during OCI week, a student (I can't name names... alright, let's just call her Faye Kravetz (II)) was discnssing the extracurricular section of her resume, namely, the fact that she was a water-skier.

The interviewer commented on his inability to stand on water skis, at whicb point Faye responded, "I could get you up." Silence ensued.

Hold tight for the next issue, where we will recap the alcobol-fuelled debaucbery known as Law Games. Thanksfor listening.

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DIVERSIONS

23 NOVEMBER 2004

23

A "working class hero" and the world of underground abortion practices Film Review: Vera Drake Directed by Mike Leigh Playing at Cnmberland 4 Cinemas 3 y, scales of justice (out of four) REVIEW BY LARISSA RUDERMAN

.

Films about law offer wonderful potential. Movies can begin where legal texts leave off, turning the black and white letter of tbe law into full-colour portraits of the complex effects of legal systems on individuals. Vera Drake perfectly lives up to this potential. Mike Leigh's masterful film about a backroom abortionist in post-war England is a beautifully crafted and wbolly honest story," presenting us with an intimate portrayal of lives affected by abortion law.

"A working class hero is something to be," sang John Lennon, and Vera Drake (Imelda Stann ton) bas certainly earned this title. Wheo not toiling diligently as a domestic in the bomes of rich Londoners, Vera is visiting invalids, tending to her elderly mother, or inviting a lonely young bloke, Reg (Eddie Marsan), over for beef stew and sympathy. She goes about her daily tasks with a smile on her apple-cheeked face and a wordless tune on her breath, confident that a fresh cup of tea will solve most any problem. Iu the evenings, she gathers witb her husband (Phil Davis) and her adult children (Alex Kelly and Daniel Mays) around a dining table no bigger than a chessboard. But, despite

their modest lifestyle, the blue-collar brood is full of joy. Leigh sensitively

logical scrutiny. to determine whether her abortion is "warranted".

But Vera's volunteerism is dangerous, botb from a legal and a medical perspective. After one of Vera's patients is admitted to hospital on tbe brink of death, tbe medical officials persnade the girl's. mother to report Vera to the authorities.

There is a remarkable moment in the film when the police come to Vera's door and she is finally, after so many years, face-to- face witb the law. In a stunning and heartbreaking extended close-up, we watch as Vera increasingly comprebends the magnitude of the concaptures the small pleasures wbich mark sequences that await her-interrogation, . the family's poor but vibrant exisconfession, public condemnation, judgtence-a swing social, an evening at the ment, sentence. The scene marks Vera's film house, an awkward courtship stroll. surrender to a system which she-nor However, despite this apparent familanyone else-cannot change in any way. ial hIiss, Vera's relationsbip witb her Having already recognized her busband and cbildren is marred by one inevitable fate, Vera is forced to bear the terrible secret. Vera performs illegal indignity of being processed through a justice system that bas already conabortions.

Vera does not take money for her serdemned her. vice. Rather, she simply performs these Indeed, the final portion of the film abortions as another act of community highlights tbe terrible fatalism tbat the service. ÂŤI help girls out", she says law engenders.

Police inspectors, plainly. The women seeking Vera's serlawyers and judges, both sympathetic vices are diverse in their backgrounds and antipathetic towards Vera's cause, and circnmstances, but they all share tbe are absolntely powerless to bait the mercommon financial inability to obtain a ciless, grinding gears of justice. legal abortion.

Leigh is excellent at letting his story Tn contrast to Vera's "girls", we fol- , unfold in an understated, yet intense low the plight of the daughter of one of manner. He clearly has an eye for detail, Vera '5 affluent employers as she tries to creating settings which are infused with secure

a hospital

abortion

foHowing

a

date rape. In exchange for sanitary, professional treatment, the young woman is subject to exorbitant fees and psycho-

emotional resonance-the grey drabness of the grimy London flats, the claustro-

phobia of the bedrooms where Vera plies her trade, the mismatched, worn

warmth of the Drakes' living room.

But what truly makes Vera Drake an extraordinary film is the calibre of the acting. Phil Davis brings tender pathos to the role of Vera's husband, a loving partner trying desperately to comprehend the secret life his wife has led.

Eddie Marsan beautifully plays the role of the outsider, Reg, wbo has become one of the family thanks to Vera's goodness, and his quietness masked a profound understanding of, and appreciation for, Vera's motivations, But tbe greatest accolades must go to Staunton's performance in tbe title role, which won ber tbe best-actress award at the Venice Film Festival. Staunton is able to convey volumes about Vera's character tbrough subtle acting and sbeer pbysical presence. When Vera stares dolefully at a hysterical post-abortion patient, we immediately understand tbe feelings of pity and futility she is experiencing, the sorrow of knowing tbat doing all you can will never be enough. Staunton's performance is so fulJ of truth that it is often painful to watcb. Wben Vera, already in police custody, must tell her busband of her past, tbe agony of tbis forced confession is almost tactile.

It would be easy to dismiss Vera Drake as a period piece, a throwback to a time when morals norms were conservative, women's rights were 'negligible, and television sets were exotic. But to do so would be folly. In present-day America. where access to abortion rests on ever-shakier grounds, Vera Drake serves as a powerful reminder of the widespread and tragic results of driving the practice of abortion underground.

Lip Synching and Lie Spinning

BY DAVE SEEVARATNAM A few Saturdays ago, I was winding down after an uneventful evening and decided to watch TV before bed. It was 12:30, so I flipped to Saturday Night Live. I'm a semi-avid viewer of the show, but after Weekend Update things tend to go downbill. The end oftbe show features tbe kind of comedy sketches you would expect from a pack of 1O-year-olds on a rainy day at summer camp, as well as the second number by a flasb-in-the-pan musical guest, inevitably tbe follow-,up to tbat annoying-yet-catcby first single. But with the delectable Jude Law bosting that night, I was willing to sit througb the showcase of mediocrity.

The musical guest was Asblee Simpson, famous mostly for being the younger and "edgier" sister of Jessica Simpson, who's famous for her "folksy" idiocy and oversinging. Asblee (yes, that's really bow she spells ber name) is more of a rocker than big sis, they tell us. Sbe has to be because sbe dyed ber bair dark brown and someone in ber backup band plays the electric guitar. I will grudgingly admit that I was pleased to hear tbe opening notes to "Pieces of Me," ber hit single. Better this crap song than some crap song my ears haven't gotten used to yet, I thougbt.

After the opening notes came the opening lyrics-witb Ashlee's mic at her waist.

She froze as her band tried valiantly to continue the cbarade. Tben, inexplicably,

she commenced a "hoedown," dancing syncb, a not-so-subtle jab at Britney and along to a version of ber song tbat I would company. later find out was identical to the one she When Dubya announced his plan to had "performed" earlier in tbe show. The invade Iraq and flip the bird at more than producers mercifully cut to commercial. fifty years of international law, his excuse Pop culture addict that I am, I thought was tbe incredible "Weapons of Mass about this for an embarrassing amount of Destruction" refrain. At the end of the time.

This failed show tbat night, attempt at lip-synching Ashlee's excuse was, was tbe biggest booboo "My band started playAshlee will be all right by an SNL musical ing the wrong song." guest since Sinead (Riiigbt, and wbicb one in the land of the O'Connor ripped up a of them was singing the picture of tbe Pope on- forgetful and the home wrong lyrics for yon?) air after a performance When Bush's excuses of the oblivious a decade ago. It could fell through, he leaned be career-ending, as heavily on the tennons Ms. O'Connor's snafu Saddam-al Qaeda conwas for ber. But then it struck me: tbis was nection, while Ashlee focused on an acidbappening in the America of tbe new mil- reflux condition that allegedly affected her lennium, Bush country. If Americans vocal cords, forcing her to use a recorded could tum a blind-eye to Dubya's flubs in track as back-up. Ashlee's excuse was Iraq, tbey can surely forgive anotber slightly more believable tban Dubya's, but Texan. still weak.

Tbe dim-witted commander-in-chief Tbe media bad a field day with both. and tbe musical flavour-of-the-month Jon Stewart and his Daily Shaw coborts have more in common than their home have brilliantly skewered the American state. Both were also-rans in their families administration in the wake oftbe invasion, who were finally stepping out of the sbadand many of their lesser peers bave also ows of their famous kin. George Bush was been on tbeir games. In Asblee's case, on riding bigh after the successes of U.S. the next episode of SNL, Horatio Sanz forces in Afgbanistan. Weeks before her dressed up as Elton John and sang, to tbe performance, Ashlee's album was continutune of Tiny Dancer, "Ashlee Simpson, ing its strong run on the Billboard cbarts, you're a phony ... " Morning radio shows giving her the confidence to tell a magaand online gossip columns were buzzing zine reporter that she wonld never lip- as well.

In each situation, the public seemed at first to he on the sarne wavelength as the satiric media. It's easy to forget tbat tbe anti-war movement in the United- States was strong for a fleeting moment. Ashlee's website was flooded with tirades from disillusioned fans. She was declared the second coming ofMilJi Vanilli.

Bnt we are talking abont America, the land of the forgetful and tbe home of the oblivious. On November 2, most of the world watched in disbelief as Dubya was elected by a clear majority. Taken in by a campaign of fear for their security and for their "family values", residents of Jesus Land thnmped their Bibles all the way to tbe polls, apparently forgetting, among Bush's other foibles, all that had bappened and continues to happen in Iraq.

It may be too early to tell, but you get the sense that, jnst like Dubya, Ashlee will he all rigbt. Bad taste and stupidity lurk everywhere, but tbey seem to have made America their beadquarters. Ashlee will turn out another manufactured single (likely after firing tbe hapless drummer who pressed the wrong button to launch the fateful "Pieces of Me" encore) and all will be forgiven. Tbe spawn of Busb voters will continue to devonr ber album, Sadly, no one on the planet can escape Busb: his administration is perbaps the most important factor sbaping our international system. Thankfully, when Ashlee's songs come on the radio, we can change the station.

DIVERSIONS

24

Choose your music wisely

BY ANGElA CHU

a life buried in the books for the glory of bluegrass garage demands an entire shift in Lifestyle. You'll definitely need to load up on the street crcd. Try, for instance, partying so hard that you fall asleep in a pile of semi-lit cigarette butts and syringes and wake up with a handful of sores on your face. The leaps and bounds needed to get to this point are so vast that I'm not sure the switch is even possible. But more importantly, why would you want to? The lesson here is that you can listen to awesome music, so long being part of that scene entails changes so disgusting that you'd rather be in school for the rest of your days.

The best (and worst) advice that I have ever gotten about dealing with the stresses of law school is to always maintain a healthy social life. While outside interests are often times hard to start up, they're even barder 10 lame once developed. I used to think that going to shows was the only thing keeping me connected to real life, but I soon realized that the greatest hazard in straying from the law school herd is. the possibility of never returning.

So how do you strike tbe perfect balance between not living and breathing law school, and wanting to drop out to become a rock star? The answer is simple: choose The Unicorns, with The Besnard Lakes your music wisely. and Noah 23 - Octoher 27 @ The The Organ, with controller.controller Vatikan and Pony Da Look - Octoher 23 @ The The trouble with listening to truly great music is that even if you're not capable of Horsesboe It will always be a wonder to me Why The genius on the same scale, you still want to Organ manages to sell out every show it be as close to it is as possible. This is actuplays. I mean, yeah they're good, but ally the most dangerous kind of music come 00. Their music is super simple and because it makes you want to drop out of varies little from track to track. Here is school just to be a groupie. This is the case your recipe for Organ-like success: I. Get with the Unicorns, whose live perforyour hair cut at Coupe Bizzare. 2. Buy an mances are nothing to sneeze at. Their last altered ironic 80s-metal tee from Black show turned into a massive dance party on Market. 3. Break out your childhood stage, and nobody jn their right mind Casio. Though this is easier than making would give up a life of constant rurnpmac and cheese, there's a reason why law shaking in exchange for rapidly deterioratstudents aren't dropping out by the huning distance vision. Clearly it would be dreds to form airy synth-pop bands. madness to advise that you stop listening to Hello?\? We're all freaking over-achievgreat music. But it's certainly worth impleer'&\ \f \t's too easy, we already 'know that we can do it so why is there any need to try? (Whoa. I can't believe I just said that.

menting a system of self-rationing, because lord knows there are too many rock stars in

this world and not enough lawyers.

Oh, wbatever-you know it's true.) So I guess the rule of thumb is to listen to borderline-mediocre music because it will almost certainly keep you in school.

The Deadly Snakes, with Horsey Craze - November 13 @ The Comfort Zone Keeping in tune with what music should really be all about, The Deadly Snakes is pure drugs, sex, and rock 0' roll. Aside from requiring real musical talent, leaving

I \

Jon Stewart becomes American Peter Hogg America (The Book): A Citizen's Guide to Democracy Inaction

by Jon Stewart et al.

REVIEW BY JUDA StRAWCZYNSKI The landmark decision Bush v. Gore not only decided a presidency, it also revolutionized the study of American constitu-

tiona! law. Electoral law profs have been dragged down from the ivory tower; suddenly the esoteric has become essential.

The U.S. constitutional scholar of today therefore needs a textbook that provides both excellent legal analysis as well as a strong explanation of the "extra-legal" factors that may influence American jurisprudence. Thankfully, America (The Book) has filled this gap in the academic literature.

Law students will find the chapter on the judicial

branch,

(aptly

titled

The

Judicial Branch: It Rules) a good starting point. This chapter features a one-page cheatsheet of the leading cases in United States Supreme Court history. The summaries of Marbury v. Madison, Roe v.

Wade, Brown v. Board of Education and the notorious Dred Scott clarify without oversimplifying.

For the confused Canadian student trying to untangle the reasoning of the judges to our south, this page is gold. The rest of the chapter's interactive learning activities will assist even the most bored law student in learn-

ing something.

And for the law student fearing the foray into the extra-legal world, America (The Book) is the one-stop shop for everything from U.S. History, Foreign Polic-y, Media Studies and Electoral rules, Sure, it's ambitious to contain all this information in one book. A law student may wonder whether she should seek additional secondary materials to enhance her understanding of the issues and find a "balanced" perspective. Such a view is nonsense. The Daily Show is the only book; one needs. While other academics trek down the safe Road to Maybe, Stewart's team tells it as it is.

For example, let's look at America (The Book)'s coverage of the recent presidential election. Let's face it: Bush beat Kerry bands-down. And of all of the pundits' predictions, only one source called the dismal Democrat display. Turn to page II of the Election Supplement, found at the back of America (The Book). There, the writers of the Daily Show created a pre-election electoral map. With the shoo-in states coloured into red (Republican) and blue (Democrat), readers were invited to colour in the missing states on Nov. 2.

But the Daily Show staff offered their followers their take on which way the remaining states would swing. And for Obio: "Tbe Tipping Point: Bush: Tens of millions of dollars invested in an expertly structured top-down campaign apparatus ... Gotta go with Bush." So Bush wins. The Daily Show writers called it.

As the Daily Show staff have notee! before, "The Map don't lie."

America (The Book) is a must-have for any law student, and makes for the perfect boliday gift. Thankfully, tbe publishers appear unaware that if only they had distributed the book through the U of T bookstore they could charge hundreds of dollars per copy. For just over $20, America (The Book) is a must-have.

Criminal case briefs

BY LISA MINUK Tired of reading bulging, poorly edited casebooks that smudge when highlighted?

Here are some truly brief briefs. Toke these into the exam, and you're set. This month, the theme is criminal:

Rv. Stone Bertha Stone: You're ugly and you smell.

Bert Stone: Doo don doo don doo.

Bertha Stone: And you have a small penis.

(Alleged) WHOOSH. Bert Stone STABS Bertha Stone FORTY-SEVEN TrMES. Bert Stone: Hrnrnrn. Dead wife ... bloody knife in my hand ... sorry, don't remember a thing after the "Whoosh".

NIKE: We have a SWOOSH. It's completely different. And NO, that's not what we mean by "Just do it."

R v. Ewanchuk Ewanchuk: This is the part of the job interview where we massage each other 17 year old girl: Uhh ... 1 don't..; He tries to TOUCH her BREASTS and takes out his PENIS. 17 year old girl: NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. McClungJA: She clearly asked for it.

Ghost of Nellie McClung: Agh. â&#x20AC;˘ MajorJ: I don't usually believe in doing things

23 NOVEMBER 2004

ULTRA VIRES

like "writing judgments." But my goodness, are you KIDDING Justice?

McClung?

McClungJA: This is all L'Hereux-Dube 1.'s fault! The feminists are ruining this country!

R v. Sorrell and Bondett S&B: Chicken place, we're here to rob you!

Manager: We're closed.

S&B: Oh! Shit. Sorry to bother you, sir. We'll corne back when you're open.

Judge: Unfortunately, convictions are based on mens rea rather than on whether or not you are too stupid to live. Acquitted. But try not to breed.

R v. Tessling Tessling

s grow-op

discovered by flying infrared camera.

Tessling: CHARTER RIGHTS! Police: ruST/CE! Abella J,A. (as she then was): Charter Rights.

Binnie J.: Justice.

QU'EST-CE QUE C'EST?

Am I right for France?

25

FASHIONABLY YOURS

I refuse to look like a sexy librarian

public outrage. Which brings me to ...

6. How would you have voted in the

BY JULIA GUARAGNA Everyone thinks they want to go to American Ejection? Kerry / Bush / France. But should your next step be to Nader. Ninety percent of French would I don't recall when pointy-toed have voted for Kerry. The headline on a head over to Merril and demand an applishoes became the style and major French dally the day after the eleccation? Not so fast, Pierre. Although Ishape for shoes. 1 think it was tion was L'Empire Empire the Empire France May Be Right For You, you first a gradual process, and then they Declines.

Moreover, politics are so leftneed to ask yourself, Am I Right For were ubiquitous, and round-toed wing here that someone on the right is France? sboes looked a little, well, referred to as a liberal, with the same Based on a survey of the U of T kind of venom that dated.

When the pointy-toe first exchange students' emerged, people scoffed: "they someone on the left experiences in Paris, look so 80s, no one will actualis in America.

I've composed a Do you have any moral or ly wear them."

My frie.nd 7.

And for that brief questionnaire to Michelle, who lives in Italy, matter, how do you help you answer this ethical problems with came home for a visit sporting feel about socialism? fundamental quesforce-feeding a duck until Good / Not-So-Good what can only be described as tion. / Great, as long as I pointy cowboy boots, and once I. Do you Speak its liver becomes so vived the attempted re-awakening. we realized people in Europe were weardon't pay the taxes French? Yes / Not Lulled into a false sense of security, I ing them, we knew it was only a matter of but nevertheless reap Really / I speak enlarged and fattened purchased yet another pair of pointy-toed time before North America became just the benefits. The one Greek. Not as imporbooties, this time blush pink with a relaanother sea of point-toe shoe clad feet. I of us who's the- most tant as you might that the duck dies? tively short heel.

Then suddenly, the succumbed to the trend slowly-my first negative about this think. At least one of round-toe pump was everywhere, and a pair were pointy, but the tip was squared experience is correus didn't speak a snarky commentator in a celebrity magaoff.

I bought them one size too big so that spondingly the one word of French my feet wouldn't get squashed. Today, I zine was quoted as deriding her boss for before corning here. But I'm not going to who gets the most fed up with: the fact wearing "last season's pointy-toed have pointy-toed everything-stilettos, that it takes at least five times as long to name names. boots," do anything administrative here as it kitten heels, flats, in a rainbow of 2. Do you really like small-group-size I was horrified-my beloved shoes and does in Canada; the fact that in order to colours. classes, where you can prove to your Thinking about the early days of the boots, all of them, last season's? I conclose your bank account, you need to go peers and professors that you completely sulted fellow pointy-toe aficionadosto the bank to wait in line to make an pointy-toed shoe seems weird now, since know what Bradford v. Pickles stands they have dominated for so many sea- what should we do? Will you still wear appointment to corne back the next day for? Yes / No / Who needs small groups? sons, and 1 have grown to love them. I them? I concluded that 1am going to conto wait in line to meet someone who can I'll make my views heard in BLH!! The tinue to wear them, although Iwill incorthought the pointy-toed shoe was going close your bank account in five minutes; classes here have several hundred stuporate the odd round-toe where approprithe way of the capri. pant; that the)' had dents in them. They are all between 18 the lack of a service ethic in any store in ate. My decision was based partly on my the entire country; the fact that just about surpassed their one-time "trendy" status and 20. They don't have what we would all French workers-c--includirrational and undying love for my to become a wardrobe staple. The capri ing judges-are unionized . pant was a trendy thing when it re- pointy-toed shoes and boots, and on a few more practical reasons. First, the pointyand therefore have no incenemerged in 1998, toe is more flattering tive to help you out. but now it is just 8. Do you like the idea of that than a round toe, another pant, not because it elongates getting taken out to dinner trendy at all, like Imagine my alarm when the silhouette, making by the Dean and Lois? Yes / jeans or black dress your legs appear Yes / Yes. There was some pants. One can bare- the round-toe re-emerged longer and leaner apprehension in the ranks ly fathom what we (okay, maybe the leanbefore DRD and Lois carne wore before earlier this year as the for a little visit to wrap up er part is a bit of a capris-l have some new style in shoes. some negotiations that stretch). Second, the deeply suppressed apparently will lead to a round-toe pump is not memory of shorts, shared degree program in versatile. It looks cute and (gasp), a skort, Paris. But Lois picked a realwith skirts and dress but that was in tbe ly amazing restaurant for us distant past. And so it was with the pants, but it is tough to wear with jeans, to go to (Good work, Lois!) and it almost requires that you submit to pointy-toed: oh sure, there would be other call a "reasonable attention span". There and then the next night we all went out to the whole new "sexy librarian" trend that shoes, but the pointy-toe would remain is a lot of talking during class, 0% of ajazz club, courtesy of the Dean (Way to is so popular right now. Third, the appeal the foundation of my shoe collection. which is even tangentially related to go, Dean!). of the round-toe may be that it is often Imagine my alarm when the round-toe what we are learning.

9. Do you love the bar? Yes / No / I re-emerged earlier this year as the new rendered, in keeping with the season's 3. Do you have any moral or ethical like weed. The idea of drinking is a bit other trends, in satin and tweed, looking style in shoes. Although I had previously problems with force-feeding a duck until new here-most bars close around 8 p.m. so feminine and adorable you just want to written in this space that my feet eagerly its liver becomes so enlarged and fat- and exist primarily for old men to drink awaited a return to round-toe shoes, I snap them up. But when satin and tweed tened that tbe duck dies? Yes I No / I'm wine in at ten in the morning. So far, I've are no longer tbe trend, the good old meant as a comfortable alternative, not All of A Sudden Feeling Hungry. It's found exactly one cool bar bere. But it black leather stiletto is going to look pretas an overwhelming trend supplanting true, the manufacture of foie gras may was really, really cool, in that lower-eastty inviting.

Fourth, pointy-toed shoes are my beloved pointy-toe! My initial reacseem a bit barbaric-but its consumption side way that nowhere in Toronto comes tion was denial: sure, the round-toe is all sexy. I know round-toes are sexy in the is purely divine. If' you've never tried it, close to. And if you like weed, aforementioned new "prim is sexy" kind over the runway and fashion magazines, don't knock it.

Amsterdam is nearby. Err ... I've heard. of way, but frankly, I'd rather look just but that doesn't mean people will actual4. And how do you feel about eating 10. But, like, should any of this matplain 01' sexy rather than look like a ly wear them. After all, fashion magaraw shellfish? Horrible / Great / I once ter? Do you fucking love Paris? Yes! So zines are constantly declaring trends that "sexy librarian." ate an oyster directly out of the ocean. forget about staying in Toronto to take I have a feeling the pointy-toe is not never corne into fruition. Case in point: It's true. I did. that tax course that you couldn't fit into the cape let. The capelet was supposed to over yet, and people will keep wearing 5. Are you in favour of or against the your schedule in second year. They're be the new poncho this fall/winter, but as them; but even if they don't, I've made Toronto bar smoking laws? Yes / No / 1 going to make you learn it when you artimy choice, and I'm going to stand by it. it turns out, ponchos in a heavier materihaven't been to a bar since June 1. Two cle and whether you've taken a class in it So if you see a solitary pointy-toe in a al are the new poncho. I saw some roundweeks ago, the city of Paris passed a or not, you're still going to be screwed. toes in stores this summer, but they lay crowd of round, don't feel sorry for the bylaw specifying that a restaurant in Scoring: Obviously if you're actually fool. I know alongside their pointy-toed sisters, and I poor fasbion-challenged Paris no longer needs to have a smoking they're not the latest, but they're mine, I keeping score, you're a nerd, and we didn't see many people wearing them, section. This was of course met by mass love them, and so I'm sticking with them. don't want nerds in Paris. even in New York, so 1 figured I had surBY CHRIS ESSERT

â&#x20AC;˘

DIVERSIONS

~

1

1

- - -~.-;------:-==..,...=--~ DIVERSIONS

26

ULTRAVIRES

Embattled epicures unite, ain't nothin' to lose but your frozen sushi

11

•

reflecting our profound a mb iva l e n c e toward consumption.

If eating is an art, our patron artist is more Albee than Adria.

T h e province's overzealous proactivityOntario's medical office of health has yet to receive a single complaint concernBY LISA CAVION ing fish:related illnesses, and no other Canadian or u.s. jurisdiction has a simAt El Bulli restaurant, in Spain, Ferran Adria is staking a claim for food as art: ilar ban-e-will seriously compromise, he serves carrot "air", s foie gras of ripe infer alia, menus based on sushi, .sasbipeach, raw egg yolk in a caramel shell. mi, and ceviches. Meant to come into And on your way out of his restauranteffect on October I, the ban generated a cum-performance venue, you can buy public outcry among media and restauhis 700-plus page cookbook (volume ranteur associations, who claim that one of a projected three, which comes they were not consnlted on the change. with its own CD-ROM, naturally) for (Strangely, however, no one seems to be those who want to recreate deconstructprotesting the disproportionate impact ed, po-rno masterpieces at home. on certain cnltural traditions embodied Here in Ontario, though, you'll be in the impugned culinary arts. Surely . lucky if you can get real sushi. A prothere is a human rights complaint to be posed amendment to the Health launched here, no? Are international Protection and Promotion Act banning gastronomes an analogous group?) fresh fish is currently under a three1n some respects, we are fiercely month review. This is just the latest defensive of our food supply. Trade in attack of North America's \ega\ eating agriculture, the building-block of all d\sotdet-a tegu\atof)' bmge-and-purge food components, is cverwbetrningj y

UV Crossword

BY LISA MINUK

regulate food additives, labelling, and avai\abi\i.ty of processed foods in

Beone of the the first FIVEpeople to deliver a completed crossword under the door of UV's office in the basement of Falconer. You will win a free latte! Honest.

32.

33.

35.

37.

38.

39.

Across J. bad faith 8. absentminded, Kevin 9. recent author of eponymous report IJ.court with jurisdiction in equity 14. ketchup loving president wannabe 15. strange 17. if the nays don't take it, these do 19. mistake 21. Amartya's last name 22. sui generis 24. dangerous 25. "the thing", in Latin 27. Sue Rodriguez fought for the rigbt to do this 29. angry

schools. McDonald's has been sued (so overregnlated, with byzantine safetyfar unsuccessfully) for making patrons related non-tariff barriers. Critics from obese, and various jurisdictions, includdeveloping countries claim that these ing Ontario, have explored slapping regs are essentially protectionist "fat taxes" (sin taxes akin to cigarette schemes benefiting North American taxes) on unhealthy foods. farmers (or, more accurately, North Simultaneously, however, various other American agricultural conglnmerates). regulatory bodies, including the U.S. In support of their claim, tbey can point Congress, are passing "Cheeseburger to anomalously high tariff rates on agrirestaurants and cnltural products and other forms of Bills" to indemnify food companies against the damages quota protectionism. their customers do to themselves with The public, increasingly distant from the companies' products.

Overconthe real production of foodstuffs, alternately fetishizes food preparation (see sumption and obesity, these critics say, Gourmet, Bon Appetir, Saveur, etc. etc. is a personal responsibility and a prietc ... ) and food vate peril. safety, and The ridicudemonizes food lous dichotomy consumption.

In between "cake addition to law- The ridiculous dichotomy is evil" lawsuits suits alleging and "let tbem between "cake is evil" that concerns cat cake" corpolawsuits and "let them eat abont food safety rate irresponsiand labeling are bility obscures a inadequate to cake" corporate irresponsibility few real probinform people of obscures a few real problems lems tbat migbt the dangers of be amenable to processed food that might be amenable to legal analysis: (in California, an the reality that legal analysis. advocacy group people of lower is pressuring for socioeconomic labelling of a status often cancer-causing don't have substance that may be present in French access to nutritious food or safe areas to fries), some 150 bills were introduced exercise; that money spent marketing last year in various state legislatures to processed foods dwarfs money spent

white constrictor mystery places Little Sisters said "art"; border guards said this de nada

Down 1. Canada's second prime minister 2. pains 3. father to Cordelia, Regan, Goneril 4. famous egoist 5. anger 6. folk singer Williams 7. depressed donkey 10. military unit 12._pres 13. insulted 16. execute a task 18. affirmative 19. fairness or court in which judges punish big jerks in property disputes 20. Toys_ 22. strongly encouraging 23. moon of Jupiter 26. if you find one of these in your ginger beer, SUE 28. two people oftbe same mind are ad __ 30. law school's next door neighbour 31. not here 32. Supreme Court doesn't do this in summer 33. good (Fr.) 34. 2nd year stressmakers (sing.)

36. Greek letter

promoting

healthy

lifestyles;

ULTRA NEWS

23 NOVEMBER 2004

Ultra News: Not-50-Real News From Around the Law School Mike late for rendezvous despite "excellence"

Rowell Room furniture seized in daring daytime heist A band of thieves stole thousands of dollars worth of fumiture from the Rowell Room last Thursday in a bold daytime heist. Over 20 law students witnessed the theft, but none of them gave any thougbt to what was going on.

"We saw that they were starting to move the furniture, so we got off the couch and went into tbe library instead," said Alana (Ill). "It was time to get some work done anyway."

Dave (I) pulled nut his cell phone when he saw the tbieves taking the furniture, but instead of calling the police he called his wife. "I told her not to worry about dinner for me because it looked like they were setting up for some sort of reception," he told

uv.

Instead of merely moving the furniture out of the way, however, the thieves carried it out of the building and into the back of a truck. Campus police are asking anybody with a more precise description than "just a couple of guys" to contact them.

- Oren Sick

-e

Colonel Mustard finally acquitted

Student attractiveness on steady decline

After one of the longest trials in Canada's history, Col. Mustard was finally acquitted last week for the notorious murder at the Boddy Mansion in June of t 983. After several mistrials and a longjurisdictional bartle that made it up to the Supreme Court of Canada (his lawyers argued that he. shonld face a military tribunal), Mustard, 86, walked away from the cotutroom a free man.

"The evidence against him was largely circumstantial," explained (Law) Professor Plum, himself briefly a suspect in the early stages of the investigation. "Yes, he had the candlestick and yes, he was in the conservatory at the right time, but tbe fact remains

Confirming what many students have already noticed, researchers have found that the attractiveness of students here at the Faculty has been on a steady decline.

Since classes started in September, the student average has fallen 2.4 points, from 7.1 out of 10 on the first day of school, to a mere 4.7 out of 10 by early November.

Researchers cited several factors for the decline.

"On the first day of school, girls wear more makeup, everyone is more tanned, and people are less fat," commented lead researcher Dr. Tom Jolfi.

"As the semester progresses, stress levels rise and showering levels decline, make-up

that no one actually saw him do it."

With the Crown declining any further appeal, Col. Mustard plans to celebrate the end of his ordeal by golfing with longtime companion Miss Scarlett.

Ian Disend

that the

agribusiness producing our overabundance is often frighteningly exploitative of its own labourers; that government schemes to protect North American producers often do so at the expensive of hungry people elsewhere in the world.

Interestingly enough, jurisdictions with more extensive food regulation (usually civil law jurisdictions) also tend to bavc lower levels of obesity.

The reasons for this are unclear for the moment-does a greater concern with food safety reflect a broader pattern of health-related regulation and investment? Does a closer scrutiny of foodrelated technology reflect a greater reluctance to change long-standing eating patterns? Does more restrictive regulation simply decrease the sheer amount and variety of food available?

But the correlation suggests that perhaps we should consider starting a legal action chapter of Slow Food, the international "eco-gastronomy" movement of "enlightened hedonists" fnrmed in reaction to McDonald's European expansion that tries to link the products of hands and minds. Through tbeir guidebooks, tastings and other educational events, Slow Foodies attempt to foster economic models that will allow food production and consumption to remain vital components of cultural expression. Perhaps their message that everyone can and should have access to joy and to their own culture's means of enjoyment is one to wbich lawyers and law-makers should pay beed in plying our own art.

27

MAX! MAf.!

$,41

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use decreases, tans are lost, and toned summer muscles melt into blubber," he added.

As exams approach and personal hygiene loses all meaning, the student average will likely fall somewhere between "totally heinous" and "mostly hideous".

Experts also suspect holiday gluttony to create a further downward pressure.

- Todd Chernecld

influenced by that," said Blue-footed Booby (ll), one of the representative plaintiffs, who is also Chair nfthe Zero-Tuition Collective. "The Faculty says it's to eliminate bias. But I think there's something more sinister going on."

"In first year Iwas Orchid and got three A's. Then r got Bushtit in second year, studied way harder than my friends, and ended up with all Bs," added Hog-nosed Skunk (Ill). "It's true I might bave obviously snored through a few Law and Ecnnomics lunches, bnt tbat's no reason to ruin my career."

Otber plaintiffs named in the suit include Giant Hogweed (I), Bog Rush (1), Tansy Ragwort (I), Buff-breasted Flycatcher (ll), Hoary Redpoll (Il), Flammulated Owl (ll), Hairy Woodpecker (11), Tufted Titmouse (ll), Seacow (ID), Wild Ass (TTl), Hairytailed Mole (111),and Bnshpig (111).

Aside from monetary damages, the students are seeking an order compelling the Faculty to replace, the current system with nne featuring the names of WWE wrestlers, comic book superheroes, and twentieth century despotic rulers.

- Patrick Houssais and John Norquay (formerly Moorhen and Peewit)

Chiang still smiling after bloodless coup

New law school Dean Lois Chiang is smiling wider than ever after seizing control of the decanal office earher last week. "When Ron went to Belize over reading week to feign interest in human rights, I knew my time had come," said an ebullient Chiang, A class action lawsuit has. been initiated against the Faculty of Law by current and "I was sick of smiling at him all the time and I had a vision of a united faculty." former students.

The students are claiming damages Prof. Daniels has been accused of ecoresulting from the intentional assignment of nomic mismanagement, opaque decisionpseudonyms which they say negatively making and poor speechmaking-all hallimpacted their marks, and employment marks of the former (Caesar) Wright potential. Students use assigned plant, bird, regime, which was ousted by a faculty coup and animal names in first, second and third in the early 1950s. year respectively on all their exams and Despite his checkered record, Prof. papers.

Daniels is certain that he will soon triumph "You can't tell me that a professor markand lead again. "I will not let my supporters ing an exam by Stinkweed is not going to be down. We shall continue the march of progress," pledged Daniels. He further assured concemed acolytes, ''Not to worry.

1 have drafted a kickass five year plan for reclaiming power."

News of the coup came as a surprise to student groups, bnt officials said it would not harm the SLS' good relations with the faculty. "In fact," reflected one third year rep, "it may even help." <Lisa Minuk

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