Ultra Vires Vol 7 Issue 3: 2005 November

T H E IN D E pEN DE NT STU DENT N E W SpA pER 0 F T H E· UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO FACULTY OF LAW

ULTRA

·v I R E S

VOLUME 7 ISSUE 3 NOVEMBER 22, 2005

SINCE 1999

ROM ·withdraws condo tower proposal Developer faces towering opposition from community, BYGEOFFMoYsA

u ·

·

~versity

at public meeting

It is the tallest building never built on the Univ~rsity of Toronto campus. The Royal Ontano Museum formally withdrew its proposal to build a 210-meter 46-story luxury condominium tower on top of the museum site on Bloor Street and Avenue Road on Monday November 7, less than a week after facing fierce community opposition at a public meeting on campus.

"The ROM and its partners have taken public concerns very seriously, and will not proceed with this project as proposed," said ROM Director and CEO William Thorsell.

The tower, which was staunchly opposed by the Facuities of Law and Music at the U ofT, would have been built directly abutting the law school's Falconer Hall and the music faculty's Edward Johnson· Building.

The site currently houses the McLaughlin Planetarium, which"was closed in 1995 and is currently used as overflow office and storage space for the ROM.

A partnership between. the ROM and Graywood Developments, the layered glass structure would have provided four floors of office space for the ROM, with 42 floors of luxury condominiums ranging in price from $2 million to a $50 million penthouse. Only 60 individual units were to occupy those 42 floors. The plans also included a reflecting pool and plaza on Queen's Park, a footbridge to Philosopher's Walk, and a new Effie Koutsogiannopoulos and Celia cenua celebrate Celia's 25th anniversary working for handicapped-accessible entrance to the Museum subway station. the universtity of Toronto. Happy anniversary Celia!!

The proposal first surfaced this fall as a late addition to the Renaissance ROM pro- museum. Initial plans included expansion 2007, and it has run over budget. While . tower. "Without being privy to the board's ject, which was first announced in 2001 as a and renovation of the ROM's galleries. Its Thorsell claims that the fmancial shortfall reasoning, I think a big driver of this is $200-plus million revitalization of the boldest element, however, was the massive currently stands at $20 million, some esti- money," said Interim Dean Brian Langille at Crystal structure still under construction on mates have been as high as $60 million. To a Town Hall hosted by the law school on the museum's north end. date, the ROM has raised $176 million, rep- Monday October 31. "Many people don't Designed by German architect Daniel resenting mostly private donations along think it's a good idea to plunk this tower Libeskind, the Crystal will serve as the with $60 million from the federal and down here, but if it provides tens of millions ~~ SAUCY INTRUDER P.2 museum's new entrance onto Bloor Street, provincial governments. of dollars to finance the project they're cur~~ JANISCH HONOURED P.S Under the scrapped proposal, the ROM rently working on, then that's another matter as well as housing some of the expanded galleries and a restaurant. This phase of the would have received a $20 million windfall for them." ~~ CHOCOLATE AS DIPLOMACY P.9 The well-attended Town Hall in BLH construction was scheduled to take place from the condo tower, causing many to ~ WORK-LIFE BALANCE P.ll between 2004 and 2006, but the crystal is speculate that this was the ROM's biggest was organized in response to the ROM's ~ VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN P.21 now rumoured to be delayed until 2006- motivator in proposing the condominium application to the city to have the ~ SECOND-HAND SMOKE P.25 Planetarium site rezoned from institutional

UVIndex

~

REVIEWS P.24, 26

~

GAMES P.30

Recnaltment Review see page 13

CONTINUED P.2

YOURE ABOUT TO START YOUR LAW CAREER LET'S TALK RETIREMENT. on

Consider Osler, Hoskin & Haroourt LLP. We p1are a premium rnentoring and innovative training, lmu;e row a cail:B" rev~ depnJs va.y nruch (11 lVN it ~·

OSLER

2

NEWS

ultra vires

No plans for planetarium CONTINUED FROM P.l

University of Toronto's Mechanical Engineering Building on Tuesday to mixed-use in order to permit the develop- November 1 to showcase the proposal and ment. Elizabeth Sisam (U ofT's Assistant solicit feedback.

The meeting proved to be the project's Vice President, Space and Facilities Planning), and the U of T's Planning early undoing. Over 200 people arrived to Lawyer, Stanley Makuch, were on-hand to voice their opposition to the proposal, explain the background and the intricacies including Langille, Acting Assistant Dean Bonnie Goldberg and Professor Arnold of the process.

"Zoning bylaws permit only certain kinds Weinrib. Members of the public heckled of construction on the St. George campus," project architect Brian Brisbin during his said Sisam. "The ROM believes they are in presentation, calling the tower ''ugly", ''draa commercial and retail area located on matically out of proportion," and a "sore Bloor Street. The ROM is in fact located on thumb." During a prolonged question periQueen's Park, where the Planetarium is.'' od, residents expressed concern that the The U qf T, explained Sisam, has a long- development ;would set a bad precedent of standing Area Secondary Plan that recog- rezoning institutional land in the area, Residents also challenged the developers ni~s the area as an institutional district.

Sites can be added to development areas, but on the financial motivation for the project. must conform appropriately to existing "You've got to make your money somebuildings. "You can't just rezone the site where," shouted one man during Brisbin's without looking at the surrounding context," presentation. While Thorsell acknowledged the project was running approximately I 0% she said.

The development, said Sisam, also threat- over budget, he denied that this was the reaview of the proposed tower from Bloor st. ened the institutional capacity of the son for the proposal. "The tower wasn't just University in a way that other large devel- a financial justification for us," agreed opments in the area haven't. "It's our belief Brisbin. "The plan always called for a large slick graphical presentation invoking the clear message to scuttle the project comthat if this goes forward, we will be told that icon."

Museum of Modern Art in New York, and pletely. "I had hoped that many visible pubThe ROM and its developers briefly site is at its saturation point in terms of what calling Bloor Street Toronto's Fifth Avenue. lic benefits would justify a beautiful excepwe can build in the future. This limits what addressed the Law and Music Faculties' "The tower will tell a story from the sky," tion to the rule on this site," said Thorsell in we can do as the U ofT to meet the acade- concerns that the construction and the finsaid Brisbin, adding that the structure would a ROM press release. "In the course of ished tower would severely disrupt their mic needs that are our obligation.... fall in line with the city's stated plan of events, they did.n 't." Citing his surprise with City council was slated to make a deci- academic needs. While there was no plan in urban intensification, and serve as the the extent of the public opposition, Thorsell sion on the proposal in early January. After place for dealing with construction necessisays the ROM has abandoned the plan to fue -r~orts are submitted to fue c\t-j's plan- ties, Brisbin contended that "as a result of anchor for th~city's "museum district."

In the end, however, Thorsell conceded bpild a condominiwn tower, and presently ning departments on such an application, the glass construction, Falconer Hall would that the public has the final say. "Obviously, has no other plans in mind to develop the developers are required to have a public actually be more exposed than it is now." we don't have a right to build this," he said. site. meeting under the provincial Planning Act. However, Thorsell acknowledged the "If the commUnity and the planners and the Professor Arnold Weinrib, who specialHowever, the ROM and Graywood took a University's general opposition to the procity are completely opposed to it, then it izes in municipal and planning law, says the more proactive approach to public consulta- ject, calling its reaction "hostile." · won't get built." · ROM shouldn't have been so surprised the The public outcry grew after Brisbin's tion, hosting a public meeting at the It took less than a week for the public's proposal didn't fly. "I can't believe that Thorsell thought it was going to go ahead," . - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ,. said Weinrib. "It's the phallic nature of the tower that killed it. There's'nothing remotely like it in the area, even though the developer tried to sell it as representative of the neighbourhood." .

Now that the plan is off the table, many wonder whether the University will resume attempts to strike up a deal with the ROM for joint use of the space. Both the Law

BY GEOFF MOYSA While the Campus·Police were quick to "The intrusion in my class was a minor Faculty and Music Faculty urgently need emphasize the woman 's harmlessness, the thing," said Macey. "She was not violent more space to meet their growing student A middle-aged woman who disrupted Administration said they were monitoring or threatening or intimidating in the least, needs. "We have an option. right now to classes and events at the law school three the situation carefully. "You can never although after a few weird questions, I did weeks ago was simply a "harmless, delu- assume that she's not harmful," said find her presence annoying, particularly move the faculty to Devonshire Place," said Langille. "Before this, (former Dean) Ron sional person who finds comfort being in Acting Assistant Dean Bonnie Goldberg. since it was the last class of my Intensive Daniels spent a lot of time negotiating a the school," according to U ofT's Campus "The minute I heard I informed the Dean, and I was trying to wrap things up." joint project with the ROM. This negotiation Police Service. and informed Facilities Management and The woman was seen again the next didn't go anywhere, and T think now we're In the period of one week starting at the Campus Police. We tried to assess exactly day in Falconer Hall before the SLS seeing why, because the University didn't end of October, the woman made vocal what was going on."

Halloween Bash. "She told me she was have the cash flow to put on the table." outbursts in several law classes in addition The woman was first seen on Thursday responsible for putting up the decorations, "I'm not quite · sure why from the to attending the SLS Halloween Bash and October 27 in the Solarium during Yale at which point I asked her if she worked Museum's point of view they'd want to do a CDO workshop. Alerted by a student Professor Jonathan Macey's Law and for the school," . said Andy Anthony (I). something like that," agreed Weinrib. "I've about the woman's · presence, the Finance Intensive session scheduled from "She said no. I asked her if she was a stuAdministration and the Campus Police 6:20 pm to 8:20 pm. "She came in carry- dent, and she said no. I asked her then always been of the view that the University began to keep track of the situation. On j.ng a huge bouquet of flowers and a bag of what she was doing there, and she said she should expropriate the planetarium site - it Wednesday November 2, Campus Police pizza slices," said Anne Weintrop (II). The was an alien." Several students reported would have the power to do it, and the land wouldn't be hugely expensive." were informed the woman had returned, woman reportedly walked down to the talking to her at the Halloween party that and escorted her out of the main floor of seating area and started looking over stu- night. the Bora Laskin Law Library. dents' shoulders during the \eeture, asking The following Monday, the woman "It was a minor occurrence," said for a piece of paper in order to take notes. appeared in the Rowell Room, and folCampus Police Inspector Sam D' Angelo. Soon after, she began interrupting the lec- lowed Sarah Halsted (1) to her Criminal "It's · not really a security issue, it was ture with seemingly random questions. Law class in the Moot Court Room taught more of a nuisance than anything else. She "The professor was really good about it," by Kent Roach. "She recognized me from was no threat to anybody, and to our said Weintrop. "He'd say 'just give me SEE "SAC" P.4 knowledge she hasn't been back to the five minutes and I'll answer your quesbuildings." tions.'''

22

November 2005

NEWS

3

Hudson Janisch inducted into the Canadian .Telecommunications Hall of Fame Former prof lauded as Canada's greatest communications law, regulation, and policy educator

BY KEIR WILMUT As a renowned professor, mentor, consultant, author, and policy analyst, Hudson Janisch has never Jacked for those willing to sing his praises. On October 17, the praise and gratitude of generations of students and telecom companies around the world was made official as Hudson was inducted into the Canadian Telecommunications Hall of Fame.

For 26 years, Janisch was a fixture at the University of Toronto Faculty of Law. A gentle giant with a booming voice and hearty laugh, Janisch left his mark on generations of students as Canada's greatest communications law, regulation, and policy educator. After retiring from U ofT in 2004·, those who didn't know him may have expected him to take a year or two to catch his breath; instead, Hudson and his loving wife, Alice, (above-right) packed their bags and moved to the West Coast. A logical move for a man whose life journey has already brought him from Capetown to Britain, Chicago, London (Ontario), Halifax, and Toronto.

'Hudson and A\ice \eft tne big cicy for

moved from monopoly to competition. In the new year, he plans to return to Cape Town to attend his 50th High School reunion. ln the culmination of decades of industry-leading work in the telecom f1eld, Hudson was inducted into Canada's Telecommunicaticms Hall of 'Fame as an inaugural \aUieate 'm the .. A.dvocate and Academic" category. Man'j foTmeT stu-

Seche,t.., a s-ma\\ commu:n\'ty of '1 ,..5()() on

den.\.~ and c.o""\\.c:.a~u.<::"?.. v.~c:~e. \:n attc.~Q.o;o..nc.~

'\.C'\

British Columbia's apt\y-named Sunsbme pay tnbutc to \he man wb.o, m t'ne -r~s o\ Coast. Witb Alice in charge of supervising one former student, --was likely the best the construction of tbeir window-lined recruiter of brilliant minds to the telecomhouse on the water, Hudson was eagerly munications business. His passion became recruited by the both the faculty oflaw and a generation of students' passion as well." · of While he er =eatly misses the students at the business school at the University U of T, he admits that he enjoys British Columbia to teach seminars on the freedom that "retirement" allows. telecom regulation, his area of expertise. b d Unsurpcisingly for a man who as rna e a He has continued his industry-leading career out of teaching and inspiring others, consulting work, providing insight ~nd he bas chosen to use this freedom to conadvice for Telus, TELSTRA (an Austrahan tinue to share his knowledge and passion. company), and the government of Trinidad Together with Alice, Hudson is embarking and Tobago. He also has found time to on this next stage of his life with energy work on a book with Richard Schultz and .enthusiasm. · d

Intruder raises security concerns Faculty struggles with· issues of public access after "annoying" outbursts

exploring how

Canada's~te~leHcio~m~mmu~s3trytJ~~ti~iJ.~mmmm~~ilruJ;l

Phillips, Janisch discuss life, socks.

Five Years

Ago . :in Ultra

Vi:res

Law Games funding contentious ft h t d The SLS and the Dean agreed to contribute money to Law Games a aC e a e . fu d. th · n The event held m a1gary debate about the appropnateness of n mg e ~xcursto . d Tb L r Games in January 2001 had a $550 per person pnce tag attache · e d Committee submitted a budget proposal asking for $1,600, but some s~dents :Olce disapproval at the SLS 's open budget ?Ieeting, ~r~in~ that.thee~;s shou not e pro. 1 t .. ty and viding assistance to what some perceiVed as a drinking bmg . · an important socta ac tvt ,"b d Law Games supporters argued that th e event ts enhances school spirit. Further, they argued that the u.of~ needed to ~o~:ea~~s~ T~e reputation" it had garnered for not attending or hostmg aw games m d b .

SLS took the middle ground and donated $600.' while the Dea? announc~eas~~~~~ of $250 per person for up to 15 people. To qualtfy for the Dean s. ~ut~:l:culty's quick ld have to be receiving financial aid already. In the end, despt e . wou the bursary announcement arrived too late, and no one took tt. . response,

e:

/v. .

.t.,l..._._-

.. -

-

Dean selection process underway to The compost·t·ton of the commt.ttee to recommend a Dean, whose tenure u · was· ' b .

J I 1 2001 was announced. Chaired by Adel Sedra, then the mverstty s ~gm on u y h , ·ttee t·ncluded law professors representatives from other facVtce Provost, t e commt ' · h L AI · ulties, a representative of the Law Society, the president of t e aw umm Association and three U ofT law students. .

An exte~al review committee was also formed, made up of Frank Iacobucci, Dean Michael Crommelin of the University of Melbourne,. Profess~r .Janet Halley of H rvard University Dean Jeffrey Lehman of the University ~fMtchi~an, and George a ' . · of ch·tcag0 · This . . comm1tteeh was meant Triantis a law professor from the Umverstty ; 1 b htnark for "excellence."

The outcome oft e se1ectton to proVIde an extema enc . process was four more glorious years of Dean Daruels.

Professor leaves Law Faculty for prestigious cbair at York .

Professor Rosemary Coombe gave her resignation.to t~e U ofT Faculty of{;a': order to accept a chair in Social Science at York Umverstty. Although Dean antes would not confirm whether or not she was leaving, Coombe broke the news some two weeks earlier by notifying certain colleagues and students. Coombe, who had been · the Facu1ty smce · 1988• was scheduled to teach "Intellectual Property, wtth d T d d H an Rights" and "Intellectual Property: Patents an ra e Development an urn . .d d ith the arrival of IP Professor Secrets" in the Winter term. Her departure comet e w Jonathan Putnam, wh o Jeft the Faculty lialfway through the 2004/2005 school year.

It

4

NEWS

ultra vires

22

November 2005

NEWS

5

Law students band together to fight tuition hikes

Computer lab option reinstated

Representatives from all six Ontario law schools meet with province to submit proposals to Tuition Planning Framework

Administration praised for 'fair' response, but some concerns remain

BY GEOFF MOYSA Forget all the talk of rivalries between law schools in Ontario. On Tuesday November 15, student governments from all six Ontario Ia\\ schools came together to make a joint submission to the Ontario Government's Tuition Planning Framework.

The Framework. a stakeholder consultation project, will guide the \oicGuinty Government in deciding where to move as the 2003 tuition freeze comes to an end this year.

The initiative showed a largely unprecedented degree of cooperation between Ontario law student bod1es, with the U ofT represented by SLS President Mike Pal ( II).

"This is somethmg that, as law students, we'd never been a part of before,'' said Pal. "The closest we've come before was being part of the Rae Report last year."

"One of the most difficult things is just getting consensus from six different schools," said Chris Lee, President of the Legal Soc1ety at the University of Western Ontano, and Western's representative on the proposal. "But we came out with a great result. We'd defm1tely like to see th1s level of collaboration continue. Until last year, I don't think this had happened for at least ha\f a decade, if not \onger than that." \>a\ cred\ted \he med\c\ne facu\\1e~· \obbying etTorts with inspiring the cooperative ethic. "The med students have been doing it for a long time, "said Pal. "The province has heard submissions from the med schools, and from dentistry, but not from us. We want to lobby provincially so they know our issues on this, and also because we need greater collaboration between the schools."

The proposal had been in the works for a few weeks. but didn't gather steam until three weeks ago, when the schools learned that they would have the opportunity to meet with Chris Bentley, Minister of

SAC

Trammg Colleges and Universities, and his staff in mid-November. The members of the law school coalition suddenly found themselves preparing the joint proposal in short order, right in the middle of November job interviews. "It was definitely hectic,'' admitted Pal.

First year tuition at the law school

2006?

2005 $16,873 2004 $16,795 2003 $16,812 2002 $14,794 2001 $12,772 2000 $10,795 1999 $8,762 1998 $6,650 1997 $4,448 1996 $3,803 1995 $3,029 1994 $2,729 Part of the drawback of the quick turnaround time wa~ the \ack of opportunity to consult with students. While there wasn't time to do a full consultation, Pal reported that everyone in the SLS caucus got to sec and discuss two different versions of the draft the night before the meeting.

The main thrust of the proposal suggests rcfonns to the Ontario Student Assistance Program, which the coalition claims doesn't currently reflect the true costs of attending law school. The proposal also advocates a regulated percentage increase in tuition wherein schools would be allowed to increase tuition only by a rate roughly

consid~ring

INTRUDER FROM P.2 the Halloween party,'' said Halsted. "She started asking about my Crim class - she said she'd like to go, and she followed us there. I thought I would defuse the situation by telling her that she should get Dr. Roach's pennission first." The woman reportedly did get Roach's pennission, and proceeded to disrupt the class, interrupting Roach with questions, opening and closing the doors at the back of the MCR, and at one point standing up in the middle of the row for part of the class.

The woman also reportedly attended a COO workshop and a first year Constitutional Law class without incident.

The Campus Police Service is sensitive to the tensions involved in dealing with intruders who may be mentally ill, but arc not hannful, according to D'Angelo. "The term used by the Campus Police is 'unwanted guest' , which I realize is probably not the best tenn," he said. "We have to be gentle. Through no fault of their own, they are displaced or mentally ill, and we

matching the rate of inflation each year. The anything where U of T would have fewer provisional figure suggested by the coalition resources than it did before. Universities in Ontario have always been under-funded was4%. ' The proposal's third clement focuses on and the U ofT is part of that."

"We're m a competitive environment for accountability, seeking to provide a real benchmark for exactly how quality is the resources in this province,'' said Lee. improving as the cost of education increas- "It's a dtfficult issue. We understood that U es, and what impact that has on accessibili- of T wouldn't be able to sign onto that. ty. "I think the province took this one very There docsn 't seem to be a lot of room for a seriously," said Pal. "The understanding solution to the equity of financial resources when tuition was deregulated was that we problem. Either the U ofT would have to would sec an increase in both quality and sign on to the parity mechanism, or the rest accessibility, but we've never had a proper of the schools would have to raise tuition to way to evaluate this claim."

U of T levels. But our first priority wa<; Finally, the proposal recommends the accessibility. so further increases were not creation of a pennanent advisory council to something we could accept." coordinate Jaw school concerns with the Another concern that did not make it into Ministry on a longer-tenn basis. "They're the proposal was the issue of increasing planning on having a system-wide Ministry enrollment in Ontario law schools. "Some council," said Pal, "but for all of post-sec- of the schools thought we should consider ondary education. We were hoping to have a putting a cap on enrollment - for instance, law-specific one, because the med students Ottawa let m 50 70 more students than are reportedly getting their own council." A usual last year, and there arc genuine conpennanent council would also help protect cerns about articling rates in the province." law student governments against the Overall, Pal is pleased w1th how the progress-erasing effects of the yearly report was received by Bentley, and is hopturnover in their executives. ing for a quick decision. "It sounds like they Bentley was not particularly thrilled with want to make a decision very soon,'' he said, this last idea, admitted Pal. "From his stand- "maybe even in December or January. point, he has to ask 'is there going to be a People arc applymg to University for next council for every faculty?' He was a little year, and they want them to have some cerreluctant, b ut he saw the ro\e we wanted to

give the council to measure quality and accessibility as valid."

While the law schools were able to agree on most clements, there were some contentious items that did not earn a consensus.

Most notably, Pal said U ofT could not support a "parity of fundmg" mechan1sm whereby the government gives more funding to other schools to balance them with the UofT. "Our tuition is higher and we have more resources, and then the freeze preserved that state," explained Pal. "I couldn't sign onto

tainty o n thl! c osts they' ll be facing."

Lee wus also excited by Bentley's reactio n. " 1/c initia lly o nly had half an hour

scheduled to meet with us, and ended up staying for an hour and was late for Question Period because of that,'' he said.

"He took our sumissions very seriously."

"Ultimately, the province is going to set the framework," said Pal, "and it sound" strongly like they're going to put in some kind of regulated framework again. That wac; my reading from the meeting - they don't \vant to go back to a fully deregulated environment.''

''StudySafe'' program

deal with them the best that we can. We atcly. The school also removed a series of either offer to take them to a hospital, or lockers, added some mirrors in stratcgtc offer them a place to go, and utilize people locations, and made sure that the right like Street Help. Most of the time we do doors were opened and closed at the right resolve the situation without having to · times as a result of a security audit last resort to taking someone into custody." year.

Goldberg said that such intrusions The SAC is currently entertaining a which happen to some degree every year - number of ideas, including the possibility raise issues of how to manage security in of a "StudySafe" program modeled after the school while preserving public access the campus WalkSafe Program. Students to areas of the school such as the Rowell would be able to call a number to call if Room and the library that inevitably they feel threatened, or alternatively build comes as a result of the school's location a list of students that keep semi-regular and base of academic resources. hours at the library that other students can However, the disruptions have already contact. prompted a greater dialogue within the law Some students are concerned about the school about security and access issues, effect of the disruptions on the academ ic said Goldberg. "We had a good discussiOn environment of the school. "It was weird about security issues at the last Student and it was embarrassing for the school,'' Affairs Committee meeting," she said. said Weintrop of the Law and Finance "We 'vc asked Philippe Perron-Savard (I) incident. "This Professor is here from and Mike Pal (II) on the SAC to keep an Yale, and you have this woman who's eye on this." interrupting and being very disrespectful."

For now, the plan is simply to send a "Hopefully steps will be taken to premessage of increased vigilance, asking vent future similar occurrences," agreed students to report any such issues imrncdi- Chris Graham (II), who was also in

Macey's Law and Finance Intensive.

"Without diminishing the delicate balancing exercise required by the law school buildings being considered "quasi public", this type of incident is probably a clear case of conduct that such a charac terisation is not required to admit."

Macey, however, remained very positive about his experience at the U of T, and says the school is a very safe environment.

"In my experience, there is a much higher level of security around urban law schools in the US than in Canada," he said. "We have a lot of security in the U.S m general and at Yale in particular, so we don't have such disruptions in our buildings. We have guards posted at the doors into the buildings that can be accessed without a key. I believe that there are guards here 24 hours a day. From my perspective, if this is the biggest security threat at the U of T. you folks arc darned lucky in this day and age."

BY GEOFF MOYSA An email from the Administration on October I 7 2005 announced that students who do not own or have access to a Windows-compatible laptop would once again have the option of writing their December exams in a computer lab on campus.

Prior to the 2005/2006 school year, the Faculty's policy on examinations allowed students to elect to type their exams for a yearly fee of $65. Students could choose to write their exams on their own laptops in a classroom in the law school, or in a computer lab somewhere on the St. George campus.

The laptop option, intended for usc by the majority of students, required students to install ExamSoft, a program for Windows only that functions as a stripped-down word processor and does not allow any other programs to be opened. Students who wrote their exams in the computer lab used Microsoft Word, which has no security fea-

tures.

Citing concerns over security and invigilation, fonner Assistant Dean Lois Chiang revoked the lab option over the summer of 2005 without consulting students. The result was a minor uproar in the fall amongst students who did not own ExamSoft-compatible computers or were accustomed to typing

have been grateful for the change. "We had tremendous positive feedback from students,'' said Goldberg about the decision.

"Several students wrote to me personally to express appreciation for the opportunity to type."

There are some students who own ExarnSoft-io:ompatible laptops, however, but prefer wntmg in the computer lab because of ExamSoft's tendency to crash when installed on laptops. "I have some concerns about ExamSofi's stability,'' said Andrew Winton (lll), "but I understand the adminisStyle-crazed yuppies and technophoblc luddites rejoice: tration's position that all students who are computers from 2005, 1985 no longer a barrier to typing typing should be in a similar position. I also examinations. think that the training sessions are a good way of addressing concerns of those who are used to typing without Exam Soft." exams in the Jabs. type their exams wilJ be able to. The faculty According to Goldberg, moving in the "The law school is aware that this created is also offering two ExamSoft training sesother direction and having all students type issues for students wishing to type their sions at the end of November to familiarize their exams in computer labs would have examinations,'' read the memo from Acting students with the software. been cost-prohibitive, and it's doubtful that Assistant Dean Bonnie Goldberg. "To "This was a matter of parity among all accommodate these students, the law school students,'' said Goldberg. "Our intention there would be enough lab space on campus has secured two University computer labs from the beginning with typing exams was to accommodate all law students.

"We also considered our computer lab in that will allow us to install Examsoft on the that everyone who was going to type was the library," said Goldberg, "but it didn't desktops." going to type on an ExamSoft computer. lt Wlule space in the labs is limtted, the was meant to put everyone on the same foot- have the space, and it would c\ose off the · space to students who need it to type papen; Administration conducted a pol\ prior to ing." during exams. We thought that the costs outmaking the decision to see how many stuGoldberg stressed that the po\icy's sucweighed the benefits." dents were affected by the policy change, cess wil\ have to be evaluated after and is confident that everyone who wants to December exams, but says so far, students

1

6

LEGAL ISSUES

ultra vires

22 November 2oos

LEGAL ISSUES

7

Only mass chaos will move Chinese rulers

Legislating away the "Indian problem"

Western human rights rhetoric misses the mark

The Supreme Court must find section 6 of the Indian Act discriminatory be lightly cast aside by even the most ferocious mamland critic of the current regime. lndignatton at tyranny is balanced by a well-founded and often underappreciated fear of anarchy.

The difficulty, of course, is that such an emphasis has perpetuated the power of the

lcadershtp over the coals will be of little use. Bemg a dtctatorship after all does not necessarily mean that the center has absolute control over the state apparatus, especially in China where the latter is the most effective shock-absorber ever devised by man.

Dr. Xu spoke of numerous reforms in administrative law enacted in the last few years so as to mitigate the abuse of state power, and to bring administrative law more in line with the developing human rights law in China. Just how well the latter is developing, and whether these reforms will be successful throughout the country remains to be seen.

But one thing is certain. China's rulers tremble at the specter of mass chaos. not at the prospect of disapproving letters from the good folks at Amnesty International.

Might it be a good idea to pressure for the release of dissident X? Certainly. Ought we to specify concrete administrative reforms in an enormous country on the other side of the Pacific? Let's not kid ourselves ...

"Human rights abuses in China today are primarily the result of problems in local and regional administration."

Are western protests a well-intentioned waste of time?

BY JONATHAN SONG

About a week ago, I attended a lecture given by Dr. Xu Xian-Ming at the Munk Centre for International Studies. Dr. Xu is ?resident of the Chmese University of ?o\\tic~ and Law, and wa5 part of a mainland delegation to Canada to talk about IJUman rights Jaw. While the good professor could not venture into the juicy areas like the Tiananmcn Square Incident of 1989, it

"Canadian . outbursts have had negligible impact on the lives of Chinese citizens." was nonetheless a very interesting lecture, certainly not Soviet in atmosphere, where agreement by the audience with the speaker's position is presumed and the latter proceeds to harangue to the mind-numbing approval of the assembled cadres. No, tt was an intellectually stimulating sesston, freer in its scope and with a speaker far more gracious than some visiting lectures given by putatively freedom-loving Canadians.

Human rights and the question of the rule of law in China is one of those elements of Western political discourse that seems to thrive on its political irrelevance.

There is a certain pattern to the typtcal visit by a Western statesman to mainland China in the last decade. The Western statesman makes some noise about human rights issues, his Chinese hosts pooh-pooh those remarks, and everyone toasts and gets down to business. Meanwhile in the Western country in question, opposition figures on the left and the right lambaste the government for being weak-kneed on China's human rights record. Once such figures gain power however, they themselves try to

wiggle out of any efforts to bind their China policy to human righl'> issues.

What ought we as law students, already committed to the arduous task of achieving technical mastery of the law, and also expected to be avatars of progressive postnationa\ \ibera\ism, to make of a\\ this'?

Outmgeous! How dare countries like Canada tum a blind eye to massive environmental degradation, vicious worker exploitation, and police-state brutality?

What do we do? Demand that Beijing stiape up! Write mean letters to the PRC embassy!

Buy more expensive T-shirts!

Well Virginia, other than the inconvenient fact that the Canadian government does not appear to be in any position to pressure Beijing on anything (though the contrary doc~ not seem to hold), such outbursts have amounted to little more than rhetorical sparring between BeiJing and its critics that has had negligible impact on the lives of Chinese citizens.

Chma has been a unified autocratic empire for the last 3,000 years. On the one hand it had the Confucian tradition of governance on the wide discretion of the literati who rejected written law as excessively rigid. On the other it had the Legalist tradition with its ultra-rigid legal codes that made no room for individual rights but were instead directed entirely at the strengthening of the state. Actual governance in most of Chinese Imperial history was a combination of the two. The result has been a rcgtme of sometimes benevolent but largely unaccountable scholar-bureaucrats.

Human rights entered the Chinese intellectual world in the context of national collapse about 150 years ago. Those Chinese who took up the banner of human rights ever since have tended to do so in the very necessary aim of augmenting national power. It should not be forgotten that the unprecedented increase in poverty alleviation and (relative) personal freedom, and the concomitant rise in national power that has occurred since the commencement of Dcng Xiaoping's economic reforms will not

still unaccountable and all-powerful bureaucracy. I luman rights abuses in Chma today arc primarily the result of problems in local and regional administration. The countless incidents of social unrest, pacific and otherwise, that have spread across the country like wildfire were largely caused by grievances caused by the mafia-like nomenklatura on those levels. Raking the national

Fre.e.

l~IC..

Gards l'ust in time for trave\\ing over the ho\ida1s:

fu\\ ~time students are e\igib\e to rec.eive a free l~lC. c.ard through '5Al. (thafs a saving of $Ill).

Ta~e 1our

r- C.ard a\ong ~ith an additiona\

piec.e of photo lD and a passport siz.e photo to the ~Al. offic.e on Hart House C.irde to have a c.ard made on the spot.

A.n app\ic.ation form is avai\ab\~ for do~n\oad at: www.uoftsac.ca.

BY AMBER CROWE, FOR THE NATIVE lAW STUDENT ASSOCIATION

Before 1985 there was blatant and undtsputablc sexual discrimination in the Indian Act. In an attempt to avoid claims of discrimination, the government introduced Bill C-31, but this bill has proven to be the most damaging and assimilationist poltcy the Canadian government has come up with.

"Indian" is a legal definition in the Indian Act and only refers to people who are registered under that Act. There are countless aboriginal people in Canada who arc not registered as "Indians". In terms of discrimination, the Indian Act took Indian status away from Indian women who married non-Indian men, but allowed Indian men not only to keep their Indian status but also to extend their status to the nonIndian wife. Stripping an aboriginal woman of her Indian Status had several consequences of which l will list only a few: she became unable to live in her community, own reserve land, inherit reserve land, pass her status to her children, vote in band elections, exercise treaty rights, and access ameliorative programs.

This situation was unacceptable with the new Charter about to take effect - the

" By d es1gn . or b y

accident, the federal government has succeeded in legislating "Indians" out of existence

"

Act obviously offended Section 15 equality rights. To avoid this state of affairs, the government passed an amendment ~o t~c Indian Act known as Btl\ C-31. Thts btll would restore Indian status to women who

had been removed from the Indian register as a result of marriage to a non-Indian person, and in some cases would extend status

"Bill C-31 has proven to be damaging and assimilationist." to her children. C-31 also restored status to aboriginal men and women who had "lost" their status through other sections of the Act. At various times Indians had to give up their status if they wanted to,

Act] is the weaponry carried by its war- catcgoncs of aboriginal people. riors."C-31 redefined who is and who is Government legislatio'n and pohctes make not an Indian within the meaning of the distmcttons among aboriginal people, Act. Now, all status Indians are registered treatmg them dtfferently based on the catunder Section 6 of the Act. This section is broken down into two sub-sections 6( I) and 6{2). If an individual can prove he/she has two parents entitled to Indian status he/she will be registered under Section 6( I). If an individual is deemed to have only one Indian parent he/she is registered under Seclton 6(2). It is clear that with a high out-marriage rate (a term used to describe the marriage between an Indian and a non-Indian) we will have fewer and fewer children born who can regtster as an Indian under 6( I) or 6(2). Consider the egory they fall into (I have distinguished sixteen categories, some include 6( I) Indians, 6(2) Indians, C-31 Indians, status Indians, non-status Indians, on-reserve Indians, off-reserve Indians, band member Indians, and non-band member Indians, descendants of Indian men, and descendants of Indtan women- it didn't even get rid of the sexual dtscrimination~). These distinctions, l contend, are exact\y the type of distinctions that Section \5 is aimed at and cannot survive the Law lest. fi.r'i>\ Nahon communit\es are seeing an cx'{'l\os\on of the\r non-<;;tatu\\ ~'{'lu\at\on, a ~1)~­

"The extinction of

Indian Status will be the beginning of the end for us as Nations."

u\a\\on we \va.ve o,u\c\<..\'j Tea\\1.1::\\ c.\\.nn"~\ ne '\t"<e.n.\.cd. e'-"\,ua\\'j """''\."~be. ~\.a''"., '""'c:.~'\:\.co~ o\':

tbc commun\t"y \>ecau~e \eg1~\a\\on anl.\lor funding n.:quircmL•nt' do not nllon us to. accompanying chart.

Community leader.; arc lon:cd ttl discrirmBy design or by accident, the r~.·ucml fedcrul elections, attend univcr.;ity, o"n non-reserve land in fcc simple, or enlist in government has .succeeded in Jcgis/:J.ting natc 11gainst their own people.

1 believe that aboriginal people /J;wc the Canadian forces (many did enlist even "Indians" out of existence. For large and endured and prevailed through millennia, remote communities the effect may not be though not required to - and have had to but that in the circumstances we face in a fight for equal treatment to other veterans strongly felt yet, but in my community, the modem context the extinction of Indian Alderville First Nation, where our outever since!).

Status will be the beginning of the end for As vindicating as it was for aboriginal marriage rate is approaching 90%, it is us as Nations. If Canada is to fulfill her women to have their Indian status restored, already glaringly obvious that within two fiduciary obligations, protect her honour.

Bill C-31 has proven to be damaging and more generations we will no longer see and prove true her constitutional principles assimilatlomst. As one native man from any status children being born. In fact, two regarding aboriginal people and equality, British Columbia put it in 1990, "Bill C-31 separately conducted studies predict that then her Court must recognize Section 6 of comes in as a gift. When we accept Bill C- the last status child in my community will the Indian Act as discriminatory and stop· 31 and open it up - it is a Trojan Horse. be born in 2032, a mere twenty-seven denying Indian Status to the descendants Instead of warriors coming out, assimila- years from now. · Remember the reason behind amending of her First Peoples. tion will be coming out. With that our culture and our language will be lost forever. the Act? It was to avoid claims of disIf Bill C-31 is the Trojan horse of assimi- crimination. Disturbingly, Section 6 of the lation, Section 6(2) [of the amended Indian amended Act results in several dtfferent among other thing!>, \ole in pnl\ incinl or

A LAW DEGREE WON'T GET YOU INTO A COURTROOM. WE WILL. If litigation is your passion and becoming a top counsel is your goal, make sure you work at a firm that has buil.t .its r.eput~tion o.n advocacy.

Lenczner Slaght is one of the leading Canadian lthgat1o~ f1rms, h.1ghly rated by both Chambers and Partners and LEXPERT. For more 1nformat1on contact Perry Hancock, Student Co-ordinator: 416.865.3092 or phancock@lsrsg.com

www.lsrsg.com

You want to be on our side.

8

FEATURES

ultra vires

22

November 2005

FEATURES

9

Chocolate as Diplomacy

BY LAlLA PASZTI Thirty years ago, environmentalists and scientists alike held that our salvation lay in developing the "hydrogen highway."

Hydrogen fuel cell powered cars would rescue us from the nightmare of depleted fossil fuel reserves and abate our carbon dioxide contribution to the atmosphere.

This vision was grounded in good intentions and promising technology, but hydrogen fuel cell technology will not evolve in time to address the problem of the world's depleting oil supply.

Fuel cells operate like battenes yet never run down or require recharging.

They produce energy m the form of electricity and heat as long as hydrogen is supplied. Hydrogen bums clean with the only by-product being water a contrast to the potpourri of environmental pollutants from gasoline and other fossil fuel burning cars. But scientists have since recognized that the hydrogen fuel cell will not liberate us from our dependency on fossil fuels in the near future. A feasible hydrogen fuel cell solution will require two components cheap hydrogen fuel and a cheap fuel cell. Current technology will deliver neither in time. Cost is not the only barrier to widespread use of hydrogen fuel cells hydrogen production currently contributes to greenhouse gas em1ssion. The biggest concern. however, is that g\oba\ warming

has to be addressed much sooner than most had expected. Yet US policy and legislation pushes the hydrogen dream aggressively as the scientific community warns that a fuel cell solutiOn will come too late.

California's zero emission mandate is viewed as one of the key drivers for the fuel cell industry. Last year, President Bush's FreedomCAR initiative promised 1.4 billion dollars for developing a fuel cell powered car. FreedomCAR replaced the Clinton administration's Partnership for a New Generation of Vehicles (PNGV). Where PNGV had examined a number of ways of improving fuel economy, such as lighter car bodies, improved engine design and better aerodynamics with the specific goal of an eighty mile per gallon car, FreedomCAR has a specific fuel cell fe1cus. Scientists argue that it is poor policy to focus exclusively on this solution while ignoring other proven and cost-efficient technologies such as the diesel-electric or gasoline-electric hybrid cars and bio-fuel (fuel made from cellulosic biomass such as ethanol, biodiesel and methanol) production. Conspiracy theorists, alerted by usage of the 'Freedom' prefix, hold that this is more than President Bush trying to reduce US dependency on foreign oil. Instead they view this is an unholy trinity - amongst the administration, automakers and oil companies. The \owe~t estimate on the cost of a hydrogen

fuel cell powered car puts it around the $750,000 mark. Automakers would therefore do well to focus on cheaper fuel to produce SUV's and pick-ups. Oil companies, as major producers of hydrogen, would be able to keep their hold on the energy market.

While much money has been thrown at the development of efficient and cheap fuel cells, less attention has been spent on the hydrogen fuel needed to power them.

There are no giant pockets of gaseous hydrogen; hydrogen must be manufactured at a great cost. At this time, the only economically viable sources of hydrogen in the U.S. (and most other countries) are natural gas and coal About 80% of all hydrogen produced comes from natural gas reforming in petroleum refineries. It is an energy-intensive process requiring a large amount of high-pressured steam produced by burning natural gas. Perversely, the chemistry of the reformation reaction and the energy required to purify and liquefy a kilogram of hydrogen releases about I9.5 kg of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere. On the other hand, burning three kilograms of diesel, which is equivalent to a kilogram of hydrogen mileagewise, produces about 2.5 kg kilograms of carbon dioxide. This contrast makes pursuing a hydrogen economy based on reforming fossil fuels seem ludicrous.

Hydrogen can a\so be produced from

electrolysis. Having enough electricity to separate hydrogen from water, and generating that electricity without using fossil fuel, will be the biggest challenge faced in creating the hydrogen economy. It is troubling that the Bush administration has earmarked a significant portion of the funding to hydrogen manufacturing from natural gas and coal. This is a seemingly useless contribution"since these processes are well established and are running very close to their maximum theoretical efficiencies. It would be much wiser to look at producing cheaper electricity through wind, solar and geothermal production and increasing the number of nuclear power plants.

The current conception of a hydrogen fuel cell powered car is not only costly, but environmentally unsound. Legislation bent on pursuing this goal should focus more on renewable sources of hydrogen production and developing cheaper means of producing electricity. As well, much headway can be made by directing policy and funding towards established alternatives such as bio-fuels and the hybrid car.

These are smaller, feasible steps to tide us over until the hydrogen fuel cell future is realized. Since optimistic projections put that realization some seventy years in the future, it is tmperative that government policy recognize this and give practical technology solutions a higher priority.

Towards a delicious theory of international relations

BY LEE-ANN SIU AND ZIMRA YETNIKOFF The season of diplomacy is upon us.

Whether you're celebrating one winter holiday or another, families will come together, people will get introduced, you will probably sit at a stranger's table or have a .stranger sit at your.s. This period of tunc requires a lot of soft stepping. Each family is sovereign, and no family likes their jurisdiction (the li ving room) infringed upon. and adversely possessed ("discovered") by foreign and potentially hostile subjects. Therefore, concessions will have to be made gifts given. But gifts must be chosen wisely. Offending heads of state may result in undesirable repercussions, such as passive-aggressive table manners ("oh, you asked for the mashed brussel sprouts? I'm sorry I didn't hear you! Oh, you wanted them on your PLATE?") It is trite law to state that chocolate has become the sine qua non of first introductions whose purpose is to form domestic bonds and forge international allegiances.

It may be argued that it is customary international law to give a box of chocolates before you cross a stranger's threshold (or border). This customary law has become so widely accepted it has become entrenched even in Canadian domestic

Lee-Ann and Zimra after half a kilo of pure, uncut Columbian gold

ragan and black pepper, bourbon pecan, carl grey, rosemary, chai. and a very very salty caramel all impressed our palates and gave us extreme pleasure (sec photos).

Some of the more traditional flavours, hO\H!Ver fell ShOrt or OUr (legitimately held) expectations. Our advice: go for the unconventional :.pice combinations they, like !iOme summer team sports, \.\ill be the delight of everyone. Also, ha" ing no precedent set bdore them, they cannot be distinguished from other (perhaps better) chocolate:..

Holt Renfrew law, where Canada is otherwise reticent in incorporating international instruments (see? We were paying attentiOn m administrative Jaw).

When choosing your chocolate, keep in mind the national margin of appreciation: not everyone will respond to chocolate in the same way because of the socio-political framework in which they were raised.

Majoritarian taste has paramountcy when you give chocolate. However, taste is culturally relative. You must be aware of the majoritarian preferences of the place you visit. You may have to accept that minority tastes become the majority m another home and you, once the majority wi\\ become the minority and have to defer to

the tyranny of the new maJonty when choosing the type of chocolate to present.

As is traditional in our reviews, we will now proceed to a substantive analysis of the items in question, namely, the chocolate. We do not purport to represent all tastes. As judges in a democratic society, we acknowledge our subjectivity, and are open about that (unlike some people). We readily assert that this list is not exhaustive: however, this issue is best left to another day. The court, errrr authors, should not unnecessarily close doors, blah blah blah.

Locations: only in economically solid Canadian jurisdictions.

Is there anything here that we can't review for UV? Surprisingly disappointing, given the star points this joint scored in our previous reviews. (Legitimate mercilessly trampled expectations upon). The inappropriately named "Mephistopheles" dark truffle wasn't devilishly good, but puritanically bland. The "Chocolate Decadence" was decadent all right --ehocolate powder exploded a\\ over my mouth. chin and nose with every bi.te.

(The other author in dissent: l thought it was endearing but \ can see how the ex\)\oded\1\)0n mi.ght fmd \he ex\)Crience "Qet\ut'o\n't!,).

'The Choco\at.e

Per cur\am necessary critena (familiar to those who know and love Baker v. Canada): the nature of the chocolate, the nature of your hosts, the importance of impressing said hosts, legitimate expectations based . on reputation, the choice of chocolate-~a~mg procedure (mass? specialty? specialization?). Okay not really. But almost.

-

-~

r~~~ "Wizy I want to work for RI.G wizen I grow. up. ..

By Szizie flendersonn'. All rights reserved. Copynght 2004.

A good lawyer never stops learnmg. At BLG, we passionately believe in tontinued education as a way for all our lawyer_s to be able to.;,offer th~ very best legal counsel in todq1 constantly dlangmg busin:ess en ronme;'or F national student trainang programs to 1ntensove leam1ng programs rom. t- on the path to partnershop At BLG this commotrnent rMans we assoc1a ~· . best rvlce for more are always able to provide our clients With the very se · Information, visit the BLG wetxlte at WWN blgcanada.com.

CALGAAY

MONlliUol

OnAWA

f()ll()lj'TO

VAHCOIM~

WATliiLOO R£GION

II ii1_ IOIIDEN LADNER GERVAIS

IT BEGINS WITH SERVICE

-wno\e Fooas

Locations: Yorkv11lc. Oakdlk. <md other _,..,lie~> across North America (Smallville, Smurfville and Mudvillc are all home to Whole Foods, logically).

Whole Foods struck out on this one.

Granted, they arc not chocolate specialist!>, but we expected other tastes besides ALCOHOL. The white cappuccino truffle was enticingly sprinkled with a dusting of cocoa, but tasted like alcohol. One author luckily chose only choco· cod iva latcs that were suppo~cd to Various Locations. taste like alcohol: Like in many cases, rum, whisky \.\e will :;tate our conand cognac. clusion at the outset.

They all tasted Godiva is the best. ~arne. the Now we will bore you Other author: for another few hunyeah.

Like dred paragraphs with rubbing why we believe that is.

ALCOHOL. This 1s or course not At the end obiter, smce it is vital in of the day, your reaching our conclusion. Now we . reason for g1vmg will proceed to elaborate on our holdmg. chocolate must be justiWe conclude that the nature of the fied in reasonable and democchocolate is unsurpassed. The coconut ratic company. Therefore, you must caretruffle was creamy and not too sweet; the fully balance between your individual dark chocolate ganache was rich and tastes and the good of the people who are strong. The dark chocolate and espresso your hosts. Applying a commons~ns~ tes.t, truffles were deeply flavoured and perfectyou must make sure that the obJCCttv~ 1s. ly textured. The price of a box of Godiva pressing and substantial (i.e. impressmg chocolates is a bit prohibitive, but th1s your new boyfriend/girlfriend's paren~). must be accounted for under your personThere must be a rational connection al proportionality assessment (see below). between the gift you are giving and the recipients. Next, minimal impairment of JS Bonbons: your finances must be considered. Finally, Locations at Dupont and Queen. the effect of subverting your tastes must be While the nature of the chocolate was proportional to the purpose of placating secondary in quality to Godiva, the diver- the "other." sity of flavour selections may tru~p overall excellence. Coriander and hme, tarWe mted the chocolate according to live

10

FEATURES

ultra vires

A Pilliar in Pest The brutalist, Comnlunist-era buildings are reminiscent of Robarts

BY ANDREW PIWAR

end of the day, at least I'm working in my mother tongue.

Dear Yousuf; This is an English-language, l really enjoyed your letter from Paris in graduate-level university, but the last issue of UV Your croissants sound I am one of only two native nice. I'm writing from Budapest, where I'm English speakers m my classspending the term at Central European es of almost 40. My colUniversity. Every day, I go to school under leagues are drawn from the watchful eye of George Soros (he around the world, with a parfounded the university in 1990. and his ticular focus on nationals from portrait hangs just inside the front doors). former-Sov1et states. Because Pay careful attention to my words: every of th1s, and in spite of the day, l go to school. For anyone who course load (which has mercithought that an exchange wac; an opportu- fully relaxed a little since my nity to swap classes for cafes, let me dis- first week), it's an invigorating abuse you of that behcf. You mention that place to go to school.

Yet it stnkcs me as a little things arc different in Pans? So too, here.

During the first week of my academic odd that there arc at most two term, I had 34 hours of classes. The pro- Hungarians in any of my fessors take attendance in every class. classes. The courses uniformMissing more than one class per course is ly deal with comparative law grounds for failure (I thought this was one and international law - U of T m five of those "scare the students" rules that years? - and there is virtually no interacaren't really enforced - until someone tion with the Hungarian legal system. An missed two classes and dropped the enterprising Dutch friend of mine is trying course). Failing to complete readings for to arrange a trip to see the Hungarian classes constitutes an absence. The Constitutional Court in action in an oh-soSocratic method is employed by many EU-Ideahstic attempt to correct this situaprofessors, often with surprising fervour. I tion. Mind you, I'm not sure that the trip have no idea how I survived that first will provide much of an insight into week.

Hungarian advocacy: sadly, my Hungarian But let's face it: everyone is busy. At the remains very rudimentary. (As a side-note,

the Lonely Planet points out that to be able to say "I don't speak Hungarian" in Hungarian, you have to have mastered enough grammar to render your statement automatically nugatory.)

But enough about school. No matter how much (or little) class you attend, one of the prime values of an exchange is obviously found outside school. And Budapest is absclutely stunning. The Baroque and nco-gothic architecture all around compliments the natural beauty of

this Danube-perched city. There is evidence of brutalist, Communist-era buildings outside the downtown area, but out of the historical context, they are certainly no more distressing than U of T's reference library. Everywhere you look, you see signs that Hungary is in Europe (since · January l, 2004, this has had a pohtical relevance in addition to the longer-standing geographic relevance). And Europe is also in Hungary. German seniors walking back to their tour bus pass French families taking advantage of the exchange rate for the weekend. British diplomats hurry into their well-fortified embassy while Italians imbibe Budapest's cafe culture across the street. (A little further away is one of those priceless diplomatic ironies: the city's only remaining monument to Soviet troops sits across the street from the U.S. embassy.) I live just down the street from the spectacular Parliament buildings. Appropriately, the street name - Alkotmany - means "constitution".

So there you have it. Budapest is sometimes referred to as "the Paris of Central Europe", but this probably isn't fair either way. We should compare notes when we're all back in Toronto - I'll bring my class notes and some Hungarian Tokaji wine, you bring the croissants.

-Lo~·e. Pi/liar

When the going gets weird, the weird tum pro

BY JARED T. KELLY The Directions I. Subway to College StatiOn 2. Take the Carlton streetcar east to Jarvis

Street 3 Walk south along Jarvis until you see something that looks important on the cast side of the street.

4. You're there!

T he Crystal Palace Let us begin. It was a sunny fall afternoon, the wind was slight, the air was warm and feelings of youthful optimism were fluttering about in a skull increasing statutestained, when out of the blue, an unblemished glass building appeared on my left.

It rose above the simple surroundings, and with 1ts shining glass, steel girdings, and ostentatious importance, I fathomed it could be no less than a crystal palace. Sure enough, guarding the back lawn of this great glass mansion were two of her Lady's superlative servants, both exhaling wafts of the finest whiskey, while heckling my approach in prose unknown to my untramcd ear.

Coming round to the front gates, my dreams of hobnobbing with royalty were swiftly dashed, as instead of homing Toronto's cultural elite, this transparent palace was the home of... plants, merely plants. Afraid to inquire as to my whereabouts to the rather imposing sentinels, I instead went straight through the front gates and entered the kingdom known as the Allan

Jared Kelly with purse at the Allan cardens Gardens.

Dream Sequences

Upon walking through the front threshold, my senses were immediately overcome. Warm humid air enveloped my body, tickling my carbon-dad lungs, and the sweet scents of spring soon seduced my psyche. I was lost in a dream world devoid of rain, with constant climes, verdant vegetation, and flowers forever blooming.

Overcome with overwhelming sensation, thoughts of forced adventures past began to mesh with the present as I slipped uneasily into a heavy haze ...

Awakening, I found myself in a starkly separate environment, yet one that was oddly altogether the same. To all sides, suspended in the air, hung a brilliant blue hue. Listening mtently, the silence was suddenly shattered by a blanket of overly cheery chatting, grand guffaws, and dis-

cussions of imminent importance. • Blurry eyed, I looked ahead and suddenly saw staring directly at me, four foreign, but seemingly friendly, eyes. First startled, I then realized that they belonged to bodies that were there all along, but hidden in blue costumes of camouflage, (albeit a darker, more professional blue.)

Breakmg the silence, the bodies thrust forward their hand and said: "Hello Jared, we've been looking forward to meeting you!"

Somewhat taken aback at first by this unwarranted welcoming, I soon was pacified and slid comfortably into leisurely chitchat about far off places, past dreams. and current aspirations. While revelling in my newfound popularity, (evidently stemming from my magnificent past and unparalleled wit,) I was abruptly put to a test: "Tell us Jared, what would you like to know about us?"

Squirming about in my chair. I yearned to return to my plant kingdom and out of this curtain of blue ...

And then abruptly, as if hearing my pleas, an eerily familiar voice called down from the heavens: "The 20 minutes is now over. Please take your belongings and ... '' Leave this mystifying dream I did and returned pleasantly to my wanderings in the lush, perfect confines of my kingdom of green - where it never rains,, never snows, and the flowers are forever in bloom.

First years: Lost? If so, clip, save, and read again in one year's time.

11

Work-life balance in the legal profession: Emerging reality or elusive dream?

BY ALEXIS ALYEA AND ZIMRA YETNIKOFF On Wednesday, November 2, Women in the Law was pleased to host a lunch scss1on with Victoria Bovaird. Analyst, and Sonya Kunkel, Semor Director, from Catalyst Canada. Catalyst Canada is a not-for-profit research orgamzat1on dedicated to expanding opportunities for women in business. In 200 I, Catalyst first addressed the legal pro.fcssJOn m Canada with its report, Women in Law: Making the Case. The report sparked a wave of interest, and in the fall of 2003, Catalyst launched an online survey of lawyers in 100 Canadian law firms, including a total of 1,439 associates and partners (638 women and 801 men).

The results of the survey Jed to a series of reports exploring law firm associate satisfaction and retention, with the goal of addressing factors that help (and hurt) firm flexibility and work-life culture. The survey asked associates and partners questions that we, as lawyers-to.-bc, certainly have a stake in, including: experiences in managing work and personal responsibilities, perceptions of a firm's environment, attitudes towards using fleXIble work arrangements, career satisfaction, intention to stay at their firm, and partnership aspirations of associates.

The results of the survey showed both women and men associates ranking an environment supportive of family

The Forced Adventure Series - Book 3

FEATURES

22 November 2oos

nnu

personal

commitments and more control over schedules as the top factors for choosing to work at a different firm; with 62% offemale asso.ciates and 47% of male associates intending to leave their firms within five years or less.

However, associates with positive perceptions of their firms' work-life culture intend to stay with their current firms longer. The overall message: firms with a more balanced

pi table to those who do take leave Smce the legal profession is client-based, someone who leaves for a year will come back to the office to find ttiat all her clients have been reassigned and there is no work left for her to do. This drives many parents to cut their leave short and return to work before they would have liked to.

In sum. the Catalyst report brought to firms' attention what students and young lawyers have kno\m for a long time: that work-life balance is a critical consideration when we evaluate our workplace, and poor work-life balance 1s linked to associates leaving firms. Some questions were left unanswered by the Catalyst survey, including why associates who regard work-life balance as so important remain at their firms, and where people go when they do eventually leave. While Catalyst did not have answers to these questions, it is clear that these questions and others are increasing in importance and that we. as the next generation of lawyers, will have to try to answer them.

VIctoria Bovaird and Alexis Alyea nn at the catalyst presentation

have ho~fu\\'j a\wa'j~ cons\dered a:.wc\ate-

figure on the importance of retention. The avcra~e

work-life culture stand a better chance of retaining both men and women.

These findings surprised most of the law firms that sponsored the survey. The primary assumption in the legal community is that associates will decide to stay or leave ba-;ed on monetary considerations or opportunity for advancement. Pausing for a moment. the Catalyst presenters asked members of the audience whether the results of their survey surprised us. We answered with a resounding •·no."

Catalyst then demonstrated the bu~incss case for work-life balance. putting a dollar

tutal co,l of an assoc\ate's dCl)<U'\ure

is $315,000, approximately twice the average associate's salary (not including "soft" costs such as lowering firm morale and intellectual capital). This amount is high in both real and relative terms. given the general rule that turnover cost is 1500/o of salary.

Further, a fmn's average break-even point on an associate is 1.8 years. Considered with the "five years or less" exit point of the average associate, firms are left w1th a rather small profit-making wmdow.

After Victoria Bovaird presented the report's fmdings, she and Sonya Kunkel sent the ball right back to the audience. They asked us whether we, as students, were asking firms about balance and flexibility 1ssues when we mterviewed for either summer or artlcling positions. The responses were numerous and varied. One student responded that she would not ask about work-life balance in her upcoming interviews bec'ause she was afraid of being seen ac; a slacker. When the competition is so intense and numerous wellqualified student-; arc seeking the same limited positions, marking oneself as un~illing to sacrifice one's entire self to work is a disadvantage.

Another student replied that she was a-;king about work-life balance because she felt this demonstrated long-term commitment.

Finns realize that young lawyers w1ll eventually want to start families. and that some students and associates already ha\'e families. Being genuinely interested in how a finn will accommodate your work-life balance needs m the future demonstrate:. that your interest in the firm is long term.

"While this firm and others seem to be taking steps to address the work-life balance quandary, there remain great strides to be taken. "

Student Comments Some firms treat their associates primarily as a source of prof1ts. Others think of them as future partners. While the \attet ~\

Some student.'> remained t\w, -.econ~\ apl>roach,

necessary to

to

bargain

ske~t\ca\

about

retcnt\on to be an \m"QOT\an\ \ssuc, \"c

be\'"'"'"'1!. \ha\. \\ ,,. have something with

beFore

demanding work-life balance accommodation. In this vein, many women believe that they have to prioritize work for a few years in order to prove commitment and establish a track record.

This then raised questions about what firms consider the necessary level of commitment. Many associates believe that firms will only think you are committed if you are visible in the office and put in long hours.

One student responded that this perception is not dominant at all firms. One finn. before makmg this student an offer, emphasized that they are not a "face time" ftrm, implying that students and associates arc evaluated on the work that they do, and not on whether they are seen doing the1r work.

While this firm and others seem to be taking steps to address the work-life balance quandary, there remain great strides to be taken. One student noted that she could not find any statements about work-life balance on firm wcbsitcs when she was doing research for OCI interviews. This gave her the feeling that firms arc still only giving lip service to the problem and not offering any substantive infom1ation or solutions.

Another student recounted that when she asked about work-life balance policies at one interview last year, the female interviewer proudly announced that the male interviewer had just returned from paternity leave. "Oh really." the student exclaimed. "!low long did you take off?" "Two days" her male interviewer replied. This story elicited incredulous laughter from the audience. While firms may offer attractive maternity or patcm1ty leave packages, the fact remains that the profession is inhos-

\\C::W,. <!On\ll\\!, \~UU\ " " " '

C:..\11.\':j'A

\!,~\

,.._.._,un , ...

that the former set now also have a rea. on to treat work/liFe balance issuet> seriously The bad news is that !inns often demonstrate a tendency to react to trends, not to predict them. (Thus we see mass layoffs when the market turns down, and then a scramble to hire when a hot market or big case catches them offguard a couple ofyears later.) Until the firms face a mass exodus of top talent who are looking for more family-friendly work environments, they won't feel the need to change.

-Andrew Winton

I was drawn to this event because it was meant to shed light on work-life balance, which seems to be a pervasive concern in the legal field. As a law student, I had already resigned myself to having very little balance in my life. I had accepted that l would be working very long hours - at least for the first few years of my Bay Street career, that I would rarely sec my family and not even breathe the thought of children until my clients were made blood brothers. However, I ~as cmpo\\ocrcd

by CATALYST's presentation. I wao; not surprised to learn that the results of their recent study revealed that this is a very important issue for both women and men partners and associates. ln addition to the traditional incentive of remuneration, a top concern for lawyers is working in an environment that is more supportive of family and personal commitments. I walked away from the presentation thinking ho\\ sad it is that our society encourages workaholism and that profit-; have become more important than people. the environment and CONTINUED ON P.12

12

FEATURES

ultra vires

Does advanced technology advance education?

Osgoode beats the curve with handraising technology

BY ROB WAKUlAT It's likely that there arc as many reasons for coming to the University of Toronto Faculty of Law as there arc students, but it's probably fatr to say that there's at least one constant rationale: prcst1ge. It's the reason this Faculty can charge almost $17.000 per year in tuition, and yet still attract over 2,000 applicants. It tells us that it can provide the best legal education in the country and most of us believe there is some truth to that.

The state of our facilities, however, tells a different story. With constant complaints about the quality of the Flavelle wash-

" Even t h e nicest . people are suceptible . rage to click

"

rooms, the Moot Court Room and the need to walk to Bloor Street for cheap and healthy sustenance, are we getting our money's worth, or are our cross-town rivals domg more with less?

On November 17, 2005 Osgoode Hall held the official opening of the Cassels ~rock & E\ackwe\\ \..LP c\assroom, which is part of a techno\ogica\ renovation series that began in the late I 990s.

Osgoode had previously received gifts from Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP and McCarthy Tetrault with which they developed two technology-enhanced classrooms. In 200 1, former Dean Peter W. Hogg presided over the opening of the Faskens Classroom, ushering in an era of change for students and faculty alike.

"I put in place a consultative process to approve a plan for the law school, which involved faculty, students, staff and alumni, and one of the priorities that emerged from that process was to get onto the cutti ng edge of learning technology," said Hogg. "Our experience with the first classroom encouraged us to build more."

Despite being an avowed "blackboard and chalk man", Professor Hogg under-

stood the value of technology and played a vital role in finding a place for it at Osgoode. Today, Osgoode Hall boasts six renovated classrooms, including a new 390-seat Moot Court that cost $ 1.2 million. It would seem that Osgoode students are definitely getting technological bang for their buck.

"One of the rooms is also equipped with the PRS or 'clickers' system, which allows students to enter answers to questions posed by the professor using automated keypads," said current Dean Patrick Monahan.

Dean Monahan is convinced this system is more than a gimmick because it allows simultaneous participation, promotes active learning and infl uences students' grades. By programming the clickers with students' individual ID numbers, be can keep track of their progress and encourage students to earn up to 5 per cent of their grade by providing correct answers.

Other professors have used the clicker system to check how well students understand the material, take attendance and intel)ect some fun into the normal student routine of listening for five minutes, playing Spider Solitaire and talking on MSN Messenger en masse.

"Surprisingly, clickers do add to the classroom environment," said semi-skeptical second year Osgoode student Lisa \..ui. "lfs a decent indicator of bow we\\ the class un derstands the material, assum ing that people aren't messing around and clicking the wrong answer on purpose."

However, Lui added that the technology isn't perfect. "Sometimes the receiver doesn't register the vote properly, so students will press the buttons with increasing violence or bang the clicker on the desk. Even the nicest people are susceptible to chck-rage."

The clicker system is probably the most controversial aspect ofOsgoode's technology revolution clearly pitting tecbnophobes against technophiles. But it is also a symbol of how Osgoode is embracing new ideas and a willmgness to experiment.

"Faculty have lined up to teach in the new classrooms," affirmed Professor Hogg, "and they do so in order to make use of the

22

November 2 005

BY EVAN THOMAS, GEOFF MOYSA AND KEIR WILMUT

compatible with classroom goals."

"The slow adoption of technology is part of the tcchnophobia of lawyers generally," said Professor Ben Alarie, "it's also part of law school culture. If you have the conception of learning to promote students to think like lawyers and you do that through the Socratic method or one adapted from it, then PowerPoint isn't consistent with that mode of learning. Furthermore, if it's mtsused, and PowerPoint is definitely open to misuse, then it won't students click their way to an be effective." exciting career at the osgoode Despite his mtsgtv~ngs, Institute of Technology Professor Alarie conceded that some classes such as tax might be more amenable to PowerPoint technology." than others because of the need to give University of Toronto Law Associate examples. charts and graphs. In addition, Dean Lome Sossin was quick to assure he expressed his support for clickers. that U of T was paying attention to this "Clickers would help in every class. I issue and would not be left behind, refer- actually th1nk they are a good way to proring to the Information Committee's adop- mote student interest and discussion espetion of Carswell's TWEN system in 2003- cially when used properly. I think the case 2004. for clickers is definitely clearer than case TWEN allows for the online posting of for PowerPoint." course and web-based material, discussion In contrast, Professor Jim Phillips has forums, online assignment drop-box func- no qualms about expressing his distrust of tions and a calendar to remind students of technology gimmicks for teaching. "I'm important dates. According to Professor not sure Lclickcrsj add anything," he said, Sossin, it has been adopted in over 15 U of "l am also not convinced that technology T classes including first- and upper-year does a lot.

I have been to many courses. If Osgoode has chosen to go with PowerPoint presentations where people the Big Bang approach to classroom tech- write about their remarks, show them on a nology, it seems as though U of T has screen and then read the screen. Doesn't favoured a more cautious route. Despite do much for me." the generosity of Cassels Brock and Clearly, technology use is an issue that McCarthy Tetrault that enabled FLB and the legal education field in general and U FLA enhancements, few students can say ofT in particular is looking at. The questhat they have experienced more than the tion to be answered is how do we want our occastOnal PowerPoint presentation at this tuition and future alumni donations spent point in their legal education. to harness it? As the law school goes "The growth of technology in the class- through a period of transition, which may room has been incremental and based on include a new building, it may be a good the view that one size does not fit all time for us to reflect on these issues and courses," said Professor Sossin, "Lecture chart our course into the future. notes and PowerPoint slides have been posted by some faculty while others find 'chalk-and-talk' technology still the most

the fostering of relationships with family members and friends. I looked inward and realized what I had been willing to give up and thought there is definitely time for change.

-Aggie Luczkiewicz While very impressed by the efforts of the Catalyst team and thoroughly encouraged by their fmdings, I was definitely struck with a sense of"so what?". The study, while promoting ideals such as "work-life" balance did little to provide students, or indeed ftrrns, with any practical considerations of what this might involve beyond the

familiar mantra of flex-hours. As young preprofessionals embarking on an exceptionally competitive career which undeniably leads to high levels of substance abuse, mental health problems, and divorce, it would have been interesting to hear some suggestions about how we go about engendering change from within. Social change rarely results from people recognizing and talking about the problems, it takes actions to alter a system, especially one as entrenched as the imbalance of a legal career. As a final criticism of an inarguably

well delivered and interesting report, I was disappointed to see that yet again having a life outside of work was reduced to some degree to a women's issue. While the report itself appears to be gender neutral, displaying statistics and responses from both men and women, the discussion inevitably turns to that of traditional fami ly structures and concerns regarding children and other familial commitments. The familiar dualism of work/family implicitly marginalizes pursuits, interests and lifestyles that are non-traditional. When we speak of balance within

To read the reports and to join in on this important conversation, go to: http: // www .catalyst.org

our lives I believe we should be looking to balance all parts of our lives, including the pursuit of sport, art, sexuality, volunteerism; all the things that make us individuals.

Family structures and careers are not the sole determinant of "who we are" and we need to ensure that the things that make us unique are as important to the work-life balance consideration as procreation and productivity.

- Kathryn Bird

13

2005 Survey of Toronto Law Firm Recruiting The Ultra 1/res 2005 Survey vf Tcmmto l.aw Firm Recruiting was conducted using w1 unonymous online sun·ey distributed to second rear student.\' at the University tl Tcmmto. 97 rt:Sf;onses representing appro.\imutely 60% of .1tudents participating in the process - were recen·ed.

Re.1pondents were a.\ked to provide their approximate age, gender, \'isihle minorif} status, previous work experience, prwr education, and second year course ;,election. Re.1pondent,1 were alw a1ked to prol'ide their gmdes jivm first year. After indicating how they had fared in the OC/ process. re~pondent., were asked to gil·e an m·era/1 rating on a scale of 1- I 0 for each firm with which they had contact. Final!;~ re.,.pondems were usked

to pnwide collllllelltl on firms.

Although the replie~ to this survey appear honest, with no ohl'ious outliers, the results ~~hould be treated with some :.n•pticism. FirM, where stati.\tics are reported for .mh-mmp/es (e.g. an?ruge jlrm ratmgs), they are based 011 relutiw~~· mw/1 mmples. Second!): some respondem~ may hm·e completed the .\11n·ey multiple times or otherwi,·e intentional/~· tried to skew ratings. Third/;~ no attempt wus made to correct jilr selection bias. Fmally. for the firm ratings, there was no correction for potential hiuse.1 ciT.'ateJ by other factors such as the number of people imen•iewecl by each firm. the number ofstudents hired, or whether or not the respondent recein?d an offer from a firm.

OCis, callbacks, offers: The big picture Table 1: The numbers Male Female Visible Minority Not Visible Minority Under 24 24 to 26 27 or Over

Avg. #Applications 23.6 23.6 25.3 23.1 24.6 23.3 23.8

Avg. #OCis 11.2 8.6 9.8 10.2 8.9 11 8.9

Avg. # Callbacks 5.2 3.6 5.7 4.5 3.8 5.1 3.8

How did students do?

% Receiving 1+ Offer 72.9% 64.7% 66.7% 70.3% 53.S0,(:, 77 .6% 55 .~,(:,

Age, gender and v\s\b\e m\nor\t'f status

On overage, responde nts applie d to 23 .4 firm s, tho u g h "orne a pp\\c d \ u o n\y

""c

employer and one respondent applied to all 45. On average, respondents were offered I 0.1 O C is and a ttended 9.5. While all but o ne respo ndent received a t least o ne OCT, there was a wide range; five people received one OCI and three received 23.

At the callback stage, respondents were offered an average of 4.5 callbacks and attended 3.4. About 29 percent of respondents received between one and two, and 45 percent received one to four. Seven of the 82 respondents wtth OCis - 8.5 per cent received no callbacks, and 6% received more than ten.

At the end of the process, the average number of offers was 1.4. Half of respondents received one or two offers, and only a very small number of people wowed recruiters at four or more firms. Twenty-five respondents (or 30 per cent of all respondents) walked away from the process w1thout a job.

'{- nCt'l\\H\¥,\ll~?,.\y,. \.he.Te \.'!. n o cv\c...\ c.n cc::.

'"n.\ \ a:w \"'\ nn'i. ' "

' " '"- t~-\..\~?'"':1 U\"S.c'C'\~\n"A.\.e;U on''""~

basis of gender or visible minority status. However. they're ltke Goldilocks when 1t com e::; to age: they like their candida te.~ no t too young. :md no t too old.

Table 2 sets out the dem ographic data for rc.~pondents in this study (the sm all numbe r of respondents who did not provide this information were dropped from the calculations in th1s section). Despite the variation in the numbers in the table for gender lllld visible minority statuts, there is no statistical relationship between receiving llll offer and a respondent's gender or visible minority status. This may, however, be in part due to the small size of the sub-samples.

On the other hand, there is statistical evidence that age and offers are correlated.

People between the ages of 24 and 26 were statistically more likely to have received at least one offer than those younger than 24 or those 27 or older.

For those of you who came straight from undergrad, try growing a moustache, or smoking lots and wearing more leopard-print.

Grades: Does your transcript control your fate?

Table 2: The effect of grades GPA 3.625 + 3.50 3.625 3.375 3.50 3.25 3.375 3.0 3.25 < 3.0 Entire Sample

Catalyst report CONTINUED FROM P.11

FEATURES

Avg.#OCis 13.3 13.3 9.9 8 .3 5.4 6 10.1

Avg. #Callbacks 5.4 5.4 4.8 4.6 2.5 1.7 4.5

Ava. # of orrers 1.7 1.6 1.9 1.7 0.6 0 1.4

While students w1th below average or JUSt above average grades still receive a handPopular wisdom holds that grades are the key to th~ OCI proc.ess. Despite .w~at yo~r . ful of OCis, they are significantly less likely to receive callbacks or offers. Middling mother may have told you, what is popular is indeed w1se. There IS ~trong statistical evigrades are not necessarily a barrier to getting OCls, but they are a serious disadvantage dence that GPA and offers are correlated: 80% of respondents wtth a B+ average or . . . above received at least one job offer, whi le only 40% with a below B-4 average became during the callback and offer stages.

It's official: personality does matter. However, even Chntoman levels of w1t and gainfully employed. charm can't make up for too many Cs on your transcript Importantly, the effect of good grades differed over the course of the process. The d~ta Some firms appeared to value high grades more than others. Torys, Blakes, Osiers, (sec Table 2) reveals that students with very good grades (a GPA of 3.5 or better, equivBennett Jones, and Heenan Blaikic demands the highest minimum GPA for callbacks and alent to all Bt grades) received more OCis on average th~n other s~dents. However, offers, whereas McCarthys. Goodman & Carr, McMillan Binch, A!rd & Berlis, and students with very good grades do not appear to have rece1ved c~ns1derably more cal.lGowlings seem to be more understanding of less-than-stellar scholastic performance. backs or offers than students with good grades (3.25 or better, eqUivalent to an even mtx of Band B+ grades).

Firm Ranklngs ••• next page>>

14

ultra vires

FEATURES

Large Firm an kings Aird & Berlis 6.7 (#6) Aird & Berlis received solid marks for

Blake, Cassels & Graydon 6.9 (#3)

Blakes earned solid marks for their show of R-F.-S-P-E-C-T. "They were really respectful of my time. When I told them that I had another appointment, they rushed me through and didn't hold it against me. I also didn't make it to the reception, but still got an offer." The OCI. though, was mildly criticized for "odd, irrelevant questions" and "off-the-wall questions and attitude."

Explained another student. "They asked, 'If you won an award for leadership for something not on your resume, what would it be for?' Urn, how about for 'having the graJX'S to tell the interviewers that that was the stupidest question I got during OCis'?"

their "very respectful, extremely personalized recruiting." "Very friendly" was a frequent comment. One student (with an apparently low threshold for "coolness") found this firm to be a "pretty cool place." Another appreciated the "lack of form letters."

Baker & !\tcKenzic 5.6 (#23)

Cellar-dwellers for the second year in a row, interviewers were roundly criticized for dullness. "Could use some coffee, or perhaps host a public interest show on PBS." One rejected candidate complained, "they ne\Cr responded after a positive OCJ, even when I e-mailed them after call day."

Borden Ladner Gervais 6.0 (#17) Bennett Jones 7.3 (#J)

Despite only so-so ratings, BLG received kudos for "kind people and a well organized process. They didn't play headgames, there was no pressure, and they didn't demand a huge time commitment." Other students complimented their "pleasant people" who gave "well thought-out answers." Puzzled one student, "when I asked what their pro bono work was, they said heir attorneys read to children, which sounds pretty absurd."

Guess somebody.\' not a fan of children.

After a strong second place showing in 2004. Bennett Jones took over first place thanks to their "professionalism," "good dinner," and "best OCI swag." "I was extremely impressed with my experience at Bennett Jones," complimented one student, "they were very interested and knowledgeable about me." One student, however, took bsue with some alleged "sexist comments made by some senior partners at the dinner."

Table 3: Number of hires per firm Rrm Poltd &. 'Benis

)

Baker & McKenzie Bennett Jones

Bereskin & Parr Blakes Borden Ladner Gervais Cassels Brock Davis & Company Davies Ward Dimock Stratton Dept. of Justice • Epstein Cole Faskens Fraser Milner Casaain Fo~er Rubinoff Gilberts Goodman & Carr Goodmans GON!ings Heenan Blaikie Hicks Mor1ev Hodgson Shields lang Michener lenczner Slaght lemers McCarthv Tetrault McMillan Binch Mendelsohn Miller Thomson Minden Gfoss Ogilvy Renault Osiers Paliare Roland PinkorskVS Ridout&M~ Shearman & Sterlina Sherrard Kuzz Skadden Arps Smart & BiQQar Selmon Rothbart Stikeman Elliott Torkin Manes Torvs Total 2004 Total

-

sc:: ~ ~e IQ

9

~

~

Q

7 23 22 15

3 20

Ill

~

'\

'\

I 4 ) 1 10

e .l!l

1

1

4 12

3 4 1 7

1

4 3

3 6

2 2 17 12 4 2 9 15 18 10 6 2 8 3 3 24 11 8 3 14 26 3 4 1 2 1 2 2 1 13 5 9 355 361

1

3

3

4

2 2

2 2 5 2 3 2

3 4 6 3

1 1 2

0

c::

t

::,

0

2

3 5 3 3

2 5 2 2

i '3

1 2

1 1 1 1

ig - "' 5 ::::: (!)

~

2

2 1 4 1

1 1

2

1 1

3

5 2

2 3

2 2 1

3

3

3

~

2

2 2

1 1 3

2

1 1

4

2

1 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

1

1 1 2

3 1

1

1 1

2 1 1

1

1 1

1 1

2 2 1 1 1

1

2 1

3 1

3

1

1 1 1

2 1 1 2 1 2 1 3 2 1 96 74 39 32 33 30 15 16 20 91 80 41 36 32 24 23 18 16

• The DoJ did not provide any information

1

Davies received favorable comments from most. "Very impressed with the people 1 met. On top of all the information, and very welcoming to my questions. Best and mo:.t consistent group of people I met."

Suggesting that Davies perhaps benefited from low expectations. one student noted that they '\\.ere not as 'slavish' as anticipated." "Forget what you may have heard," hoped a student who received an offer, "this is a great bunch of people." "Best business cards of any firm," praised one candidate, "Patrick Bateman would be jealous." There was a complaint from a student who exercised, shall we say, less than stellar judgment; "when I sent a pre-PFO, a recruiter took it personally and complained to many attorneys at the fim1, including summer students."

Dal-is & Company 5.8 (#21)

Continuing their poor performance from

2004. Davis & Co. lagged in the ratings.

"My my,'' commented one student, ''don't we like each other! Don't mind me, I'm just here for an OCl." Several students criticized their high-pressure tactics: "Seemed to have a bit of an inferiority complex; probably asked me I 0 times if they were my top choice." One student was pleased that "at least they tell you if you are on a wait list."

Fasken Martineau 5.6 (#22) Fasken's attempts to be "fun" cut both

ways. The "comedians masquerading as 'lawyers"' were "polite and friendly," but "didn't ask me a single question over the course of the OCI interview. I got the feeling they weren't taking it seriously." "The guy interviewing me seemed totally disinterested," complained a student who didn't receive a callback. "When I stepped into the booth he was busy playing with his blackberry and I had to wait for him to fmish before we could start."

Fogler, Rubinoff 3.3 (#25)

1 1

Dnics Ward Phillips 6.6 (#9)

Goodman and Carr 6.1 (#16)

"Interviewers who spent the OCJ interview looking out the curtain'' and "misleadmg signals" hurt Goodman & Carr. "They gave me the wink wink nudge nudge ... but then no offer?! What were all those drinks and callbacks for?" Time management skills appear poor, with one student finding them "good but rushed" and another noting that their "interviewers were 20 minutes late, all meal interviews late, and they didn't coordinate meeting place." ''I was impressed," said one admittedly biased student, "but then they offered me a job, so I'm not one to ask."

Goodmans 6.8 (#5)

Once again, Goodmans polarized students. While some complimented their "friendly OCI interview" and "nice, nonobnoxious people" for "doing a good job of making me feel the love," others claimed that "the stereotypes of the firm are completely true." "They were superficially nice," and showed "too much love." Similar to last year. "the reception was a waste of time. It was impossible to talk to anyone because the room was way too packed."

One student described their recruitment strategy as, "we'll find as many ways as possible to tell you that we don't hire assholes."

"Guess I was too good looking for them," fanatici.1ed a possibly fugly reject. More seriously, severo\ cnndidntcs reported '"scnous false signals." "Goodrnans monopolized

my time- hurting me with other firms- then didn't give me an offer. Nice."

Gowling's OCI was roundly criticized for being "very boring." "The interviewers were unfriendly. hard to talk to. and spoke way too softly. I could not hear a thing.'' ''Interviewers could not have ix."'t:n more depressing- speak up!" Ratings improved at the callback stage. with one candidate finding them "very very sweet and polite. They sent a really ntce letter (semi-personalized) after I declined their offer." Wow,. student expectations must be low when "semi-personalized" impresses us.

Heenan Blaikie 6.2 (#13)

1 2

4 1

Apparently the perkiest Iii' fmn on Bay Street, many students commented on therr "htgh energy." "Can you say hyper! Very upbeat at OCJs." "They love to laugh," said one student, without specifying whether it was with him or at him. Generally, students considered this firm "middle ofthe pack."

patted him or herself on the back: "I didn't have to apply since I worked there last summer and they already offered me a job."

Gowling Lafleur 6.3 (#12)

1

1 1 1 5

0 ~ IQ Q

....

'\

1

1 1 3 1

:::,

1

1 3 2 2

1 1 1 2 3

.!!

'\

1 2

3

2 1 7 1 1 1 5 8

~

!'!

Cassels Brock & BlackweU 5.9 (#19)

Fogler's "unprofessional, low grade humor" landed them dead last. "It was like being interviewed by a couple of fiat boys," shuddered one student, "They were joking amongst themselves for at least half of the interview. Bizarre questions. It seemed rude.

I thought they'd high-five me at the end."

Another student was blunt: "Awful. A waste of my time." Mocked one web-savvy internerd, "Tell your website designer it's not 1995 anymore." Oh, snap!

Fraser Milner Casgrain 6.6 (#8)

Jumping nine spots in the ratings from last year, FMC earned points for a "great availability of lawyers, well run receptions, solid organi1.ation, and friendly people."

One student offered constructive criticbm: "Very nice people, unfortunately they only asked very broad questions. They could have done with some follow ups." Missing the point of this survey, a returning studerll

Complimented for their "great group dinner," Heenan scored point.-; for being "really nice to deal with" and "respectful of my time." They are a "wonderful firm." said one candidate, "but put way too much pressure on candidates," echoing identical critiques of the firm from 2004. "They effectively said 'tell us you'll accept an offer or we won't make you one."'

Lang Michener 6. 7 (#7)

Lang Michener was danmed with faint praise. "They were really nice," opined one student, "Really, really, painfully nice.

What's the word I'm looking for? Yeah. desperate." Concurred another candidate, they were "generally polite, but didn't have a lot to say that was positive about their own firm or their work there." "Bunch of phonies," kvetched a student who didn't get an offer.

McCarthy Tetrault 5.3 (#24)

After a solid performance in 2004.

22

November 2005

McCarthy's dropped like a stone to secondto-last place. "The OCI interviewers were terrible," said one student, ''One of them stared at the ceiling the whole interview, even before I started speaking." Callbacks were rated a bit more positively. "My lunch with people from McCarthy's was great," complimented a candidate, "However, the big fmn snobbery was palpable." "They took me to a really nice restaurant where the two partners proceeded to tell me how much all the other frrms sucked," said another.

One rejected candidate felt that the fix was in: "McCarthys seemed to have pre-selected 'preferred candidates.'. There is no party, so if you don't get a lunch or dmner, you have a major uphill battle. They are fake nice, and will not tell you you're not in contention."

McMillan Binch 6.5 (#10)

McBinch's "typical behavioral interview questions" scared some students, who found it "like an inquisition," but others found it a "great interview process." Generally, the firm scored for "professional and polite" people who gave "clear expectations and clear communication with no pressure."

FEATURES Minden Gross 6.1 (#15)

Praised as an "excellent mid-size firm," students "really liked the people."

Ogilvy Renault 7.2 (#2)

Thanks to "friendly, dynamic people," Ogilvy soared into second place. "For,a big firm, they do have a different culture that I could feel during my time visiting them."

Concurred another candidate, "I was thoroughly impressed with everyone I met during the enttre interview process .. " While some reJected students appreciated the "very polite rejection email," other scorned lovers felt led on by "false signals."

Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt 6.8 (#4)

Once again, Osiers scored htghly. "They were my top chotec going into the process." said one enthusiastic partner-to-be, "and they never disappointed me. Amazing people, and a phenomenal firm." A candidate who was not as fortunate sighed, "awesome people and frrm... blast my low marks!"

Not all students were impressed; at least one found the firm "very aggressive and not particularly pleasant or welcoming." However, for the majority, Osiers was "TERRIFIC."

Miller Thomson 5.9 (#20)

Several students found Miller Thomson a "tougher interview, not overly friendly, but still a good fmn." The cocktail party was panned as "chaos. You got two minutes with any random lawyer in the room then were passed off to the next lawyer." Some lawyers apparently have trust issues; one student recalled that "a partner interrogated me about my resume, and implied exaggeration. 1t was the worst experience of entire

working lite," while another reported that a partner "demanded references."

dinner: 'We work hard, but we play hard, too'. Who says shit like that?" "The people there are really great," self-congratulated a student who received an otTer. "They work hard to recruit the best."

Good to sec some students still have a healthy sense of self-esteem.

Stikeman Elliott 6.5 (#11)

Torkin Manes 5.9 (#18)

Table 4: Large Firm scores Seen 1 Bennett Jones 2 6diWReneult 3 Blake Cassels & Gravdon 4 Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt 5 Goodmans 6 Aird & Berlis 7 lana Michener 8 Fraser Milner Casaain 9 Davies 10 McMillan Binch 11 Stikeman Elliott 12 Gowlinas 13 . Heenan Blaikie 14 Torvs 15 Minden Gross 16 Goodman and Carr 17 Borden Ladner Gervais 18 Torkin Manes 19 Cassels Brock & Blackwell 20 Miller Thomson 21 Davis & Company 22 Faskens 23 Baker & Me Kenzie 24 McCarthv Tetrault 25 Foliar Rubinoff

A non-conventional interview style lost Torkin points. "What a weird interview they want you to ask about them, they didn't really ask me anything."

Another student also found the process to be pretty torkin' annoymg, grumbling, "you want ME to ask YOU questions for \8 minutes?"

62

20CM 8c:onl 8.1(2) 7.4(8) 7.6(5) 7.7(3) 6.9(12)6.ohm 1.1c1m 6.1(17) 7.7 (4) 6.8 C13) 7.6(6) 6.3(16) 7.2 (9) 8.1 (1)

6.1 6.1 6.0 5.9 5.9 5.9 5.8 5.6 5.6 5.3 3.3

n/a • 5.2(20) 6.7(151 5.1 {221 6.9(11) n/a 5.1(21) 6f{14) 5.0(23) 7.5{7) 5.6~

7.3 7.2 6.9 6.8 6.8 6.7 6.7 6.6 6.6 6.5 6.5 6.3 6.2

to a nice restaurant and had a great time."

Torys appears to have had some trouble with data management, however. "They emailed me the same rejection letter for a call-back interview four times within one hour," griped one reject. "Notification of ca\\ing was VER'l disorganized, said another, ""{'bey notif1ed everyone e\se except me one week before ca\\ da:y. \bad to ca\\ \n, anu one student, '"\\\c t>eQ?\c are Ver>J l'To\'es- \nc:-j \nen sen\ =e \n-ree re~ec\'"""':· ne\a'\"' siona\, yet stl\\ personab\e." Concurreu ma\\CT, pcop\c'. another, "they were really nice. E~·czyonc I met with had read my resume. We went out

Students had varied experiences at Stikeman's OCI. While one complrrnented the "friendly, personal recruiter," another griped that "they totally bated me and didn't Torys 6.2 (#14) hide it." A student who didn't get an OCl After cruising to victory \ast year, Torys offered a helpful tip for future applicants: tumbled thirteen spots in the rankings. Most "There are tWo Ts in Elliott. Oops." comments, however, remained positive.

Callbacks were also mixed. "Some of the "One of the to? fums in the country," raved nicest associates," said one candidate, "Pity all the partners are more interested in talking

to ~1ch other than us students... Laughed another, "Someone actually said to me at

Boutique Ranklngs Table s: Boutique firm scores

Department of Justice 5.1 (#tO)

Once again, students loathed the DoJ. "I would not wish this interview on .my worst enemy," said one student, while another was equally caustic: "I really hated them. When it was obvious that I didn't know the answer, they kept pushing me and made me feel dumb. Also, in my PFO, called me MR when they bad already met me and knew I was a female." Other students mentioned the "pretentious" interviewers who were "high on themselves" and "wanted to make it clear that they were smarter than every other firm." Well, at least they pay well.

Bereskin & Parr 5.4 (#9)

Poor scores were due mainly to complaints about the OCI, where "the interviewer just told inane stories from his unde~d­ uate engineering days." Apparently th1s student had never met an engineer before. One student was pleased the firm took the time to "provide good feedback after an unsuccessful interview. ·• Gilbert's 6.2 (#6)

Despite tumbling five spots in the rankings, Gilbert's continued to dra~ raves. The firm's "decent people" were uruformly complimented for being "genuine" an~ "super friendly _ quick to respond to emaJ!s/questions." "I can't say enough good things about my experience with Gilberts," ~nthused an "ber-keen student, "They try therr best not to U 'play the games'. I rate them IO+++II"L · · et's check back on the number of pluses after

.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Hicks Morley Hodgson Tough Lemers Skadden .Arps Shearman & Sterling Gilbert's LLP Lenczner Slaght Smart & Biggar Bereskin & Parr DeoartrnentofJustice

Score 2004 Score 7.1 (4) 7.4 8.5 (2) 6.8 7.1 (5) 6.4 6.7 (7) 6.3 6.4 (9) 6.3 8.7(1) 6.2 6.3 (8) 6.0 7.0 (6) 5.6 7.1 (3) 5.4 5.6 (10) 5.1

eight months of articling, shall we?

Hicks Morley Hamilton Stewart 7.4 (#I)

Rocketing into frrst place, students raved that Hicks is an "amazing firm that makes you feel comfortable. They appreciate whatever sort of background you have and encourage different opinions among associates." Another candidate went so far as to say that they "made me want to do labor (though I haven't even taken the course)."

For the second year in a row, however, Hicks was criticized for "using pressure tactics. They don't come close to abiding by the law society rules." And they would have got away with it too, if it weren't for those meddling students!

Hodgson Shields DesBrisay O'DonneU 6.8 (#2)

Hodgson maintained their secondplace ranking by being "unusually down to earth and honest. There was no cat-and-mouse game going on here."

Students were universal in praising them as "extremely nice and personable."

when my host interviewer showed apparent signs of boredom." In fairness to Lem.crs, the student might have actually been bormg.

Shearman & Sterljng 6.3 (#5)

Students were so ambtvalent about this shop that they couldn't even be bothered to comment.

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom (Toronto) 6.3 (#4)

Skadden generated divergent feelings amongst candidates. "If I had a dollar for every inappropriate question these guys (ok, just one of these guys) asked, I'd be a .rich man now," said one, and another descnbed it as "pretty awful: the worst callback ever.

Lenczner Slaght Extremely boring, tired place." However, one student appreciated their "very hone::.t Royce Smith Grifl'm 6.0 (#7) Many students noted Lenczner's "differ- and candid interview. The interviewer knew ent process and treatment of 'serious candi- my CV inside and out. He suggested t?at dates."' "l really liked them a lot," opined Skadden wasn't the right fit for me dunng one candidate, "I found the attorneys to all the OCI, which I agree with and really be very welcoming and mtelligent and appreciated. Best OCI I had." Yes, but does unlike the other firms, actually engaged me that warm feeling get you $2,400 a week? in intellectual discussion rather than meaningless small talk." Note for next year: Smart & Biggar 5.6 (#8) Students found this fmn pleasant, if small-talkers need not apply. somewhat generic. "Nice folk,'' complimented one candidate. One would-be comeLerners 6.4 (#3) Strong scores stemmed from "fine, nice dian said the firm was "smartar and biggar people" who were "boring, but re:;pectful .o~ than any of the other shops I interviewed your time and presence." Students who dtd- with." Would-~ but won't-be. n't receive offers, however, felt that the callback seemed "perfunctory." "I knew the callback wasn't going to amount to anything

_16 _____________________________________________________________________PARWPICS____________________________________________________________________~17

r

ultra vires

OPINION AND EDITORIAL

18

Ultra Vires is .the independent student newspaper of the Faculty of Law at the Univcr.;ity of Toronto.

Retired Professor criticizes the direction of faculty:

Scrapped ROM_project

· holds important lessons in listening for Administration

"prestigious" institution hatches a "bold plan" to become a visionary "worldEditor-in-Chief Keir Wilmut class centre" with httle or no stakeholder GeoffMoysa Associate Editor input.

Millions of dollars are spent on GeoffMoysa News questionable schemes, and the community Ben Reentovich Opinion and Editorial it exists to benefit grows angry and disenLegal Issues Sarah McEachern franchised. Sound familiar? It should, Features Zimra Yetnikoff although thts time it was law school getDiversions Angela Chu ting the shaft instead of giving it.

Production Editor Laura Bowman When the ROM scrapped its proposal to Business Manager Anne Wemtrop drive a towering, incongruous glass phalStephanie Giannandrea Games/ress 1 lus into the museum's vulnerable rear end, it was seen as a victory for just about everyone except Graywood Developments. Various residents' associations and the University ofToronto led the Contributors battle against what was viewed as a poorly thought-out cash grab, and an affront to Aniz Alani, Paul Alexander (nee Iskander), Andy Anthony, Alexis Alyea, Amber public space and University autonomy.

Crowe, Catherine De Giusti, Jon Ellison, Hessam Ghadaki, Hudson Janisch, Danny The ROM's architects pitched the proKastner, Malcolm Katz, Jared T. Kelly, Alex Kenjeev, Mike Kotrly, Jared Kelly. · ject as the nouveau chic in city planning, Jenmfer ~arquis, Laila Paszti, Andrew Pilhar, Hadiya Roderique, Fredrick Schumann. making seductive innuendos to the avantDave Seevaratnam, Lee-Ann Siu, Jonathan Song, Sayran Sulevani, Adrian Sum, 1 garde cultural landmarks of New York and Melanie Tharamangalam, Evan Thomas, Rob Wakulat San Francisco. And while Toronto has always had an envious eye cast over our more cosmopolitan counterparts. many

A

Ultra Vires is an editorially autonomous newspaper. We are open to contributions which reflect diverse points of view, and our contents do not necessarily reflect the vtews 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 right to edit submissions for length and content. ~

Advertising inquiries should be sent to the attention of the business manager at ultra.vires@utoronto.ca.

The next issue will be published on January 17th The deadline for submissions is January 9th.

Submission limit: 850 words.

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

:/c.:f I Lf

:J o o

7_!i;

.

·~

ll't.,.

-

s

A11 t: tv' "'~'o tJ

-

~our

pl{-f +-o c ~tv... sf_

it s"' ~ur

~~j(

----

'{OU·

This November's Sign of Insanity

Those in opposition be they student or faculty - were dismissed as small-scale thinkers not understanding the Dean's "boldness of vision" and our need to keep pace with international trends. Dissent was brushed aside with a paternalistic hand, while the other hand reached enviously toward the ivy leagues and their "excellence."

"This time it was the law school getting the shaft instead of

. . It. . giVIng

"

Our law school must regain Commonwealth focus

BY HUDSON JANISCH

A

This insularity of academic vision is evident in the decision to limit membership of the External Review Committee to two deans from American law schools. This

\ citi7.ens bristled at the idea that our com-

Of course, no one ever asked us whether we wanted to be Yale. No one asks us much that really helps shape the school's trajectory, despite the fact that we foot a nice chunk of the bill for it to exist.

Instead, we get our token 3 spots on the Dean Selection Committee, and have to rely on the SLS to fight our position on the

mun,ty had to fo\\ow this strcn song and

tuition frcc:l'c with the province - a p<>s•-

In :sharp contrast. in the Commonwealth

tion that, perversely, is opposed in principle by the Administration.

For all the venom and derision directed at the ROM, at least it had the good sense to listen. Given the level of opposition from students to the Five Year Plan, one wonders whether there was any amount of feedback that would have convinced the administration to at least re-consider their plans.

• • • We admit it - here at Ultra Vires, sometimes we give the administration a rough nde. It's not our mandate to ' produce glossy puff-pieces expounding upon the glory of the school. The school already does a pretty good job of that by itself. But we're not a bunch of cynical ingrates either, and the admmistration deserves pratse (or at least a hiW,l-five) for working hard to solve our various gripes this yearespecially after Dean Daniels and Assistant Dean Chiang set sail in the summer, a move that would have produced administrative chaos if not for people like Bonnie Goldberg, Lome Sossin, and the indispensable Celia and Effie. They worked diligently to consult with students and provide a fair solution when the computer lab fiasco was discovered.

And we're pretty big fans of Mai-Anh, Aladdin, and the rest of financial aid crew, too.

After last year's outcry over financial aid estimates, they revamped the system to be more accurate and transparent this year.

They're even putting out their own bulletm to pre-empt our own rabid missives.

Now, if you can just cut it out with the tuition hikes ...

ously there had been a high degree of commitment to student contact and teaching, today, as elsewhere in the university, teaching and supervision are all too often regarded as an imposition, not a vocation.

"Law teachers" have been largely replaced by •·Jegal scholar.;." While there has been a good deal of boasting recently of

year and a half into retirement after 26 years of teaching at the law school, I returned this October for a short visit to Toronto. One of the highlights was a lunch reunion of Torts Small Group C, where I was particularly delighted to learn that Mark Ulton (Ill) had been part of the school's winning team in the Commonwealth Moot Championship.

While I was delighted at his success, I was les~ happily reminded of the extent to which the law school has tended to tum ito; back on the rich and varied legal traditions of the Commonwealth in favor of fawning over American law and legal education.

ever-growing American connection is entirely one way: witness the recent con firmation hearings of John Roberts as Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court in which he testified that he would never refer to, let alone apply, any foreign or international legal norms.

The University of Toronto Faculty of Law will never be accepted by Americans as one of their elite law schools. At best it will be allowed to tag along as a farm team.

keep up wtth the Dow Joneses.

For its part, the law school put on an unusually high-minded display of opposition. Strongly worded press releases were dispatched, and Interim Dean Brian Langrlle hosted a "call to action"-style Town Hall, where he spoke with force and convtction on the dangers the project posed to our great institution.

The whole circus was intelligent, impassioned and even inspiring. But to anyone who knows this faculty's sordid history of selective listening over the last decade, it was an msulting display of hypocrisy from an institution that, for once, finds itself on the receiving end of a sweeping change from above.

The people that make this law school tick each and every day are tremendously nice individuals. When s~dents have concerns about anything from personal crises to course screw-ups to pop machines, they respond quickly and effectively. But when there's a major change on the table, we are ignored and all but frozen out of the process.

Former Dean Ron Daniels began construction of his own giant glass tower atop the law school when he announced the Five Year Plan m early 2000. Like the ROM, the Faculty hosted a Town Hall to hear the opinion of those affected by the proposal. At both Town Halls, stakeholders voiced near-unanimous opposition.

But whereas the ROM backed down in the face of this outcry, our Faculty moved ahead unheeded: tuition has made an inexorable 46-story climb into the sky. The Faculty simply ignored student opposition, rode out the storm of anger (cue sabbatical to Yale), and waited a few years for new students to arrive who had no memory of _:_paying less than five-digit tuition.

t9 i

EDITORIAL

·ULTRA VIRES

OPINION AND EDITORIAL

22 November 2oos

" Dean Danie .1s

the law school could be a leader rather than a camp follower. The wonderful thing about

"The university of l Toronto Facu ty of Law WI"ll never be

the Commonwealth is that it brings together a w1de range of countries into an association with shared legal values: it includes memhers with highly developed legal systems similar to our own, evolving legal systems which are supporting rapid economic development. as well as developing countries whete the most basic legal infrastructures are still far from secure. Not only could we learn much from the far more relevant Commonwealth legal experience. but its members, unlike the U.S .• are eager to learn from us. Consider. for example, the major role Canadian law and legal scholarship played in South Africa's emergence from

accepted by Alnericans as one of their elite law " SChOOlS. _ _ _ _az~_ _ _ _ _ _ _llll

~a!I~IDI:KI:I

the horro~ of apartheid.

TI1e challenge for this law school (and

suffered from an acute case of "edifice envy". " a vastly improved faculty to student ratio. I wonder, with lighter teaching loads and time off from teaching considered such a desirable whether there is really more actual student contact. It is extraordinary that there should have been this drift from teaching given the caliber of the law school's student body and the stimulating challenge of teaching such gifted and intellectually precocious individuals. They deserve the full attention of the faculty, not simply as faces in the crowd, but a<; individua\ co-advcnturen; i.n \nc

~o\UU)'

of\aw.

Happily my return visit coincided with one that is unlikely to be addressed by the the October 8 issue of Ultra Vires and reading it reassured me that this outstanding student publication remains critically on top of many of the real issues in Canadian legal education. While I was not the least bit surprised to learn of the distorting effect of selective faculty salary increa<>es, and the inevitable impact of tuition incrcao;cs on middle income access to the law school. I was taken aback to learn that plans for a new law school building on Bloor Street had survived the abrupt departure of their creator. A return visit to the law school with its many recent improvements and superb location did not suggest either the need for relocation External Review Committee given its pre- or the likelihood of alumni support for such sent composition) must be to seck ways to an extravagant venture. When the subject of diversifY, to at least some degree, away from a new building was initially broached. I sugthe U.S., not by being anti-American, but by gested that Dean Daniels suffered from an being significantly more concerned with and acute cac;e of"edifice envy." I saw no reason involved in the Commonwealth. to change my diagnosis.

As ambitious third year students a numLunch at Pho Hung with its view of masber of the small group had summered sive steel girders jutting out of the ROM "downtown" and had clearly noted the dis- suggested parallels between developments connect between what they were learning at at the law school and the museum. A fine law school and what they will be doing in building and a fine law school have been practice. This gap is greatly exacerbated sacrificed to the vanity of those who strive when a law school places too much empha- for something new and glitzy. rather than sis on detached theory rather than integrat- cherishing and improving what they have. ing theoretical perspectives into legal doc- The parallel became even clearer with the trine. Failure to integrate theory not only announcement of plans for a 46 storey luxumeans an abrupt culture shock is upon leav- ry residential tower right next door to the ing law school, but in the longer term, the law school. Much like the law school. it highly desirable impact of theoretical would have been only accessible to a few, insights on practice is largely lost between very rich people. And as could still happen two solitudes. to the law school's overwrought and misln recent years the law school has guided ambitions. plans for the tower were lx.>come less of a distinctive professional defeated by popular demand as entirely school and more integrated into the rest of inappropriate in a Canadian environment. the university. One unfortunate consequence of this has been a significant shift in faculty attitude towards teaching. Whereas previ-

"A fine building and a

Where the Future Comes to Grow

Toronto Attention: Scott Whitley, Director of Professional Development BCE Place Suite 2500, 181 Bay Street Toronto, ON MSJ 2T7 Tel.: 416-360-8600 Fax.: 416-365-1719

Ottawa Attention: Wanda Phanor, Articling Coordinator 50 O'Connor Street Suite 300 Ottawa, ON K1 P 6L2 Tel.: 613-232-7171 ext. 124 Fax.: 613-231-3191

fine law school have been sacrificed to the vanity of those who strive for something new and glitzy."

\

20

ultra vires

OPINION AND EDITORIAL

BY KEIR WILMUT

packages that every student receives arc adequate to Two days after my first financial aid meet their needs, financialassessment-induced heart attack of the ly disadvantaged and ecosemester, I read in the last issue ofUV that nomically insecure students Interim Dean Langille believes Ia'>'- stu- arc less willtng to take on dents at U ofT are "indifferent to price" debt risk, for a number of because of the school's strong financial aid reasons: a) it affects their family's finances, b) unlike policies.

Financial assistance at U ofT is hardly students from wealthy famso generous as to make price a non-issue. ilies, they don't have a The standard response of the Faculty is security net if they are that assistance is needs based, and those unable to service their debts who need aid receive it. Let's assume for and c) they arc, very often, a moment that the financial a1d packages expected to contribute to given out are sufficient to enable most stu- their family's financial dents to actually attend. Is that the end of needs immediately after they graduate. This also means, of course, that students from financially disadvantaged backgrounds (if they make it here at all) are disproportionately constrained in their career The latest fad in student halloween choices after graduation .

Inadequate aid. The cat fashions, scary indeed. is out of the bag for most of us. After first year, financial aid substantially according to their last income tax receipt, decreases for many students, and it isn't and how many dependent children their the tuition issue?

The sim?le, and factual, answer to that because we all made a killing in first year parents support. The information the que~t\on is no. Here¡~ why¡. p\ay\ng high-stakes internet poker. Faculty solicits - and the only information \)cb\. Mo'i>\ of \be a\0. '!\tuden\s receive rurth~:t, financ\a\ a\0. assessments don't \t w\\\ acc~:pt - \s simply inadequate to \':> \n \ne \orm o\: \ oa.n':> \ha\ rn.u':>\ 'oe tepa\o \a\<.c \nto accoun\ rea\ cucum':>\ancl!s determine actua\ need. upon graduation. Believe it or not, the affecting students' finances: it's immateriBeing middle-class. The vast majority knowledge that we are sinking deeper and al whether your family supports grandpar- of students who attend law school are not deeper into mind-boggling, spirit-crushing ents or extended family (generally more severely financia lly disadvantaged, which debt materially affects our decision-mak- common in immigrant communities), IS why they are able to take on the enoring abi lity and the quality of our lives. It \\'hether your parents arc a year away from mous debt that a legal education necessiaffects the career paths we are w1lling and retirement and paltry pensions, whether tates. But the formulation of the Faculty's able to take It affects our non-career, per- your parents arc willing to give you any fmancial a1d assessment and if the Rae sonal post-law school life choices and money at al l. There just isn't room for fac- rev1ew IS anything to go by, government plans. Debt (espec1ally debt to the tune of tors like these in our financial aid assess- assistance will soon follow suit - is several tens of thousands of dollars) ment formula. Students tell the Faculty weighted to define need in fairly narrow how much money they have in the bank, terms. Many middle-class students, therechanges everything. Related to this: Risk. Even if the financial assistance how much money their parents made

BY MElANIE THARAMANGAIAM

Art cle d

"Financial assistance at U ofT is hardly so generous as to make . a non-Issue. . '' pnce

fore, arc unlikely to receive any bursary assistance at all, and are forced to take on even more debt in the fonn of Scotiabank loans. The assumption is that middle-class students have the security net of their middle-income family, but this is rarely a realistic option for students graduating after seven years of umvers1ty. All of a sudden, Big Law starts to look like the only oasis in the desert. And since the back-end debt relief program only applies to those making less than $40.000 a year for more than I 0 years, it hardly mitigates the career constraints imposed by Big Debt.

Student loans arc not a substitute for affordable tuition. Glib responses about financial assistance are not sufficient to answer the material concern that our astronOtntcal tuition rate is keeping financially disadvantaged students out of law schoo l.

The price of the Faculty's indifference is not just the loss of those students talentfor whom ed, diverse, and capable tuition rates matter. It goes much further than that. As the Faculty continues to ignore these concerns, it continues to perpetuate a profession of wealthy elites, with utter disregard for the social - and moral consequences.

When I was still trying to decide where to go to law school, I attended an orientation session at U ofT, where then-Acting Dean Langille gave a speech that I thought was downright inspirational.

Utopia, he

said, isn't a useless abstraction. It's a real, working vision that enables people to achieve the extraordinary.

An accessible law school, that opened a traditionally elitist profession to everyone, on the basis of merit; a law school that was about teaching the law, not acquiring prestige; about students, not the bottom line; a law school that recognized that substantive fairness depends on properly assessing the material conditions of students' lives: now that would be extraordinary.

LAWS: charting a course of inclusion In an opinion piece published in the October 2005 1ssue of Ultra Vires ("Who is steering the LAWS ship?"), Angela Chu questions whether the Law in Action Withm Schools program is fulfilling its goal of promoting education among "at risk" high school students. Specifically, Chu points to the program's implementation at Harbord Collegiate, which "involves all 250 Grade I 0 students regardless of whether or not they are like. ly to graduate and continue on with their studies", as representative of a "misalignment of goals [which] cuts against the credibility of the program."

While it is true that the Harbord model differs from the approach taken at Central Technical School - which includes 55 students selected as being "at risk" of not graduating or not pursuing post-secondary education in a distinct LAWS class - not all 250 Harbord students participate in the full range of activities offered as part of the LAWS program, as is the case at

"That the program also includes "non at-risk" students hardly seems a gross distortion of the faculty's vision for the program. " statistic fails to differentiate between an atrisk student who participates in the full panoply of mentorship opportunities and the student who attends an afternoon field trip at the local courthouse.

The LAWS outreach program, now in its first year of operation, includes student

21

OPINION AND EDITORIAL

Violence against women is a men's issue

¡ An accessible education would be extraordinary

Central Tech.

While Chu is correct in noting that Central Tech's students "only" make up 18 percent of the total number of students "involved in the program'', this unhelpful

November 2005

Women: Don't read this article

The Price of Indifference

BY ANIZ AlAN I AND CATHERINE DE GIUSTI

22

workshops on legal issues, field trips, mock trials, and an after-school tutoring program facilitated by volunteer law students under the direction of LAWS coordinator Alexis Archbold. The tutoring program is only one aspect of the LAWS program, though the most significant in terms of volunteer resources required. At Harbord, only II of the 250 Grade I 0 students participate in the tutoring program, in which participation is limited to identified "at risk" students. Far from suggesting that there are only II "at risk" students at Harbord, this figure merely reflects the limited number of volunteers available.

As the tutoring program for "at risk" students represents the most significant volunteer commitment for students, "law students who are devoting their.time to the LAWS program because of the implications of accessibility" need not share Chu's apparent concern that they arc being a<>kcd "to provide resources to students who would eventually end up in law school anyway."

The rationale behind the Harbord model

also warrants consideration. Students participating in Harbord's specialized ESL and French Immers1on programs are organized into cohorts which make a separate LAWS class unfeasible without excluding at risk-students within the existing programs. Rather than forcing at-risk students within these cohorts to choose between the rare opportumty provided by LAWS and a comprehensive ESL curriculum, for example, Harbord chose to include all Grade I 0 students in a more limited version of the program offered at Central Tech while mamtaining opportunities for at-risk students to participate in the after-school tutoring program.

That the program also includes "non atrisk" students among those invited to attend occasional field trips and workshops - events which would be organized for a core group of students in any event hardly seems a gross distortion of the faculty's vision for the program.

Guys,

we need to talk: I know you say you're opposed to violence against women, but I don't believe you.

Our society has a problem. Half of Canadian women have been victims of at least one act of physical or sexual violence. 30,000 women report spousal violence each year, and it is estimated that another 50,000 never call the police. On average, 74 women a year are killed by a current or former partner.

Violence against women exists in every segment of the population Don't think that this is a problem for the poor or uneducated, or that as intelligent future professionals we're beyond this. Money and status can buy a lot of things, but safety from a pissed off husband with a belt isn't one of them.

But the suffering of the 80,000 women a year who experience violence at the hands of a partner isn't the problem; what they are subjected to is a symptom of the problem. The problem, men, is men. More specifically, the problem is you and me.

I know: you ' ve never hit a woman.

Neither have l. But that isn't good enough.

Merely not beating up your girlfriend isn't good enough anymore. The vast majority of men never have and never will be violent towards a partner, and yet violence against women continues.

If violence against women is going to end, then non-violent men like you and me are going to have to stop perpetuating the attitudes that make battering possible, and begin to change the economic and cultural barriers that stop some victimized women from doing anything about it Our attitude towards women is the problem. I've been in conversations with bright, educated, soon-to-be-pillars of society, friends of mine who would never hit a woman, when one of them mentions the slut he fucked last weekend. Or rolls his eyes at the bitch who never shuts up in class. Or makes fun of the summer student who developed an office ass. Or casually assumes that his girlfriend will give up her job to move where he wants to live.

In ways both blatant and subtle, I have seen men at this law school demean women and treat them as less worthy of respect and decency than men. And I've seen you not say a damn thing about it.

And, no, I didn't say anything either.

Hell, I've done worse: I've made offensive comments, and I've treated women poorly out of a misunderstanding of what it means to be a strong man. We all have, and that why we're all part of the problem.

Every time we de-humanize women by fa1ling to treat them with a basic level of respect we are tacitly giving our support to a system of attitudes that makes the asshole with the belt think he is justified in teaching his wife a lesson. Even women who are lucky enough never to personally experience violence bear the brunt of our attitudes: Maybe I am a slut. Maybe I should just be quiet. Maybe I am too fat.

Maybe I'm not capable.

Somehow it has become acceptable, or even cool, to treat women w1th disrespect, and to act like admiring and respecting

jokes and language, ending subtle (and non-subtle) forms of sexual harassment, and rejecting the equation of masculinity with domination.

This doesn't mean patronizing women and treating them like fragile creatures Half of Canadian women have been victims of at least one '>'-ho we have to protect from the cruel world. Treating women as equals means act of physical or sexual violence since the age of 16. that if a woman is behaving like a jerk, there's nothing sexist or misogynist about calling her a jerk. Ending violence against Of all victims of crimes against the person, females made women begins with removing the prejuup the vast majority ofvictims of sexual assaults (86%), dices that lead us to treat women differen tly, whether we treat them as lc~s worthy or criminal harassment (78%) and kidnapping/hostage-taking as delicate flowers. or abduction (67%).

In short, lets start treating women like people.

Once we start getting a handle on that, Of all female victims of violent crimes, 47% were victims maybe we can begin to remedy the ecoof common assault, 9% of sexual assault, 9% of assault with nomic factors that force some women to choose to stay with an ab1.!4ve husband a weapon causing bodily ann, 7% of robbery and 6% of rather than put their children through the criminal harassment. trauma of a shelter, and begin to address the cultural attitudes towards gender that make some women believe that she Women are much more likely to be victimized by someone shouldn't have made him mad, that he really does love her, that she can't live they know than by a stranger. 77% of all female victims without him. were victimized by someone they know (3 7% by a close The Faculty of Law's White Ribbon campaign runs from November 28th to fiiend or an acquaintance, 29% by a current or past partner, December 2nd, with a lunch event on 11 % by other family members, while just 19% were victimDecember l st. Wear a ribbon and show your support, but more importantly, take ized by a stranger. some t\me to look inside yourself and discover )'OUr attitudes and be\\efs that make violence against women possible. women is something to be vaguely embar- what we say and what we do. Fortunately, Discover them, and change them. rassed about. We can blame a lot of exter- therein lies the solution to this problem.

The only way to stop men from hitting nal factors for this problem the media, our upbringing, something inherent in their partner is for you and I to actively male genes - but we can't do much about stop letting them think it is OK. That those things. All we have control over is means refusing to tolerate demeaning

Statistics on Violence Against Women (from 2000)

Crossing the bridge ... weak.

Informal Bridge Week Survey llo\\ 's Bridge week going?

Amazing 5% Great 15% Not Bad 25% Bad20% Tortured Citizen Bad - 35% Would Bridge \\eek be better if we got assignments on Monday?

Yes 75%

If assignments were given out on Monday would you still come Tuesday-Thursday?

Of C'.ourse 25% Hell No 75% Did you surf the internet instead of paying attention?

Yes 70% Did you do your readings?

All of them I0% Some ofthem 45% I started and then realized ... 45%

BY ANDY ANTHONY I imagine that somewhere in Flavellc, some time ago, a group of Law faculty including professors and administrators were trying to solve a pressing problem: Is there any way we can take off more class time while also improving the reputation of our law school? I imagine this meeting went on for quite some time. In the end, the meeting adjourned with one clear solution to solve the two-tiered problem. And so, bridge week was born.

I do not believe we can blame our faculty for pursuing additional time off. After all, our professors are well respected practitioners and academics. Surely they

deserve a vacation from the everyday callowness of the first year student body. While second year students spend the week sucking up to Bay Street types and third year students lay on the beach in Belize, Audrey Macklin puts the faculty brainstorm into action. Guest speakers line the stage in BLH and first year students arrive on Monday fueled with excitement for the coming week.

Excitement quickly turned to exhaustion for most of the class o 2008. Long hours in BLH were wasted away on various websites (www.addictinggames.com, www.candystand.com) o joining MSN messenger conversations with 20 peers. "Bridge week was amazing. I got much better at Tetris," sa1d one anonymous first year student. Of course, not all students spent the week in an online stupor. Some students became deeply involved with the material and speakers.

This was evident in the question and answer periods when these few highly interested students were able to directly engage the panel. So it wasn't a total waste.

\

22

ultra vires

OPINION AND EDITORIAL

The double-edged sword of the public press in informal discussions - stories about dis-

BY BEN REENTOVICH

male, I definitely get off easier then most.

But why does it When you run a newspaper like Ultra always have to be the Vires, which solicits opinions and stories same voices pointing from the entire student body, then it turns out what we should all out you have to deal with, at the least, ignobe aware of. Do you rance and apathy. ever ask yourself why I' m tom on the ignorance factor - do the it is almost always a posttives of giving contributors broad disvisible minority raiscretion to have their say outweigh the negatives? ing diversity and racism issues? Or a On the one hand, it points to some of the woman raising gender worst aspects of our society that exist in equality issues? We our very law school- things like racism and all go to the same law intolerance. I'm thinking of articles printed that connect struggling communities school and are all A textbook example of student apathy with gang warfare, or see any housing impacted, even if we development outside of the Annex as the don't realize it, when "projects." Come on: the projects? Don't us to educate ourselves about the world we we allow our ignorance to allow people to we see how devastating that could be to live in. Yes, racism exists in the law continue to be oppressed. those who actually live there - think of all school. Sometimes I get the feeling that as Ah, but it is not ignorance alone - it is the negative connotations associated with law students we see ourselves as above it also apathy. It isn't so much that we don't that term. And yet, ironically, we are all. Like we are enlightened beings that care, most of us seem to have pretty strong sometimes so unmindful of the language treat everyone equally, respect all voices, views about issues like social justice and we use that we don't even realize that there and give space to any and everyone. Come inclusion, but it is rather that we can't be is an issue. Why ironically? Because we on. We need to wake up to the fact that we bothered to do anything about it. Or at are so obsessed with language as lawyers have as much work to do as the rest of least, not do enough to actually have an that you would think we would be hyper- society if we are going to get past all the"- impact. aware when we are marginaltzing others. isms" in the world. I am ignorant someOkay, seemingly huge swing in issue, Is there any wonder there is a fear that law times; I treat others differently sometimes but one that is surprisingly connected. school is a bastion for elitists? Why do without realiZing it. Yes, sometimes I am OCis. "they" live in the projects and "we" live in racist; I'm working on it. Am I the only The call was put out for opinions on the one? communities?

OCT process. I was expecting a deluge of Some might be questioning the voice angry students with their views on what On the other hand, by bringing things into the open, it has the chance to spark real that is raising these concerns - after all, as was wrong and what should be done to fix debate and affords the opportunity for all of a white, middle class, straight, able-bodied the process. 1 certainly heard enough of it

respect, flaws in the process, being made to feel inadequate, and pressures to conform.

I am (un)luck:y enough to be facing the prospect of the process next year, so I can't comment on how it went, but surely someone has an opinion. Apparently not.

Maybe this is a comment on UV and its (lack ot) inclusiveness, but I think it also points to a larger problem of apathy in the student body. Talk to anyone in SLS and they will readily agree. Which raises the big question - why can't we be bothered?

Is it because we feel disempowered and the administration never really listens to our voices, i.e. tuition. If so, then that is very disturbing. How can we ever affect change in the world out there, if we can' t even have an impact on the world of Flavelle and Falconer?

I know this seems like yet another patronizing rant from a holier-than-thou law student about being a better person.

I'm talking to myself as much as anyone else. If nothing else, I'm trying to increase awareness that language and attitudes can have a real impact on people's lives, and it is not just a matter of being politically correct. It's not just to lerance, it's acceptance.

I get that we hear this all the time, but as law students we are incredibly privileged, but if we keep thinking of them living in the "projects" and us visiting everyone once in a while from our apolitical law bubble, then we have lost a real opportunity to get past our ignorance.

â&#x20AC;˘â&#x20AC;˘As an articling stude nt, I prefer when my contributions go un recognized."

0

0

0

0

Strongl y Agree

0

0 Strongly Disagree

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, advocacy and more.

To learn about our student programs contact Shelby Anderson at sanderson@casselsbrock.com or 416 869 5377.

cb CASSELS BROCK LAWYERS

To subscribe to Connect - our new student e-newsletter - visit www.casselsbrock.com/connect

c 2004-2005 Cassels Broc k & Blackwell LLP. Caners Brock and the CB IOQO are trade-marks of Cassels Brock & Blackwell LLP. All riQhls reserved.

22

November 2005

The Case Against Bottled Water Another over-priced status symbol

BY ALEX KENJEEV With the horrible stories this month about the disease-causing drinking water on the Kashechewan Cree reserve, it's hard not to consider abandoning public water altogether. A full 17% of Canadians already have; they drink water only from bottled sources. Worldwide sales, meanwhile, have grown more than 40% since 200 I. It's an easy choice for lawyers and law students to make too, as the convenient bottles arc given away at firms, lunchtime conferences and so on. If you've switched over or are considering it, read on. If you read to the end, I promise a cool story about Japanese tycoons.

Environmentally Devastating You already know that bottled water is, well, bad for the environment. The overwhelming majority of plastic water bottles aren't recycled- and even if they are, it's always prudent to reduce and re-use before so going recycling, through a club pack and tossing each bottle in the blue bin is still a bad practice. Consider that Canadians buy more than 700 million litres of bottled water a year, and imagine the size of that pileup. Trucks usually transport our bottled water, of course, and they emit polluting gasses and wear down our roads. And some high-priced, sexier waters are shipped all the way from Europe or Australasia.

But while environmental concerns are important, most people, when push comes to shove, would probably put their wallet and their health first. Wouldn' t you?

Economically Irrational The problem is, bottled water isn't an economical choice, either. Just three Nayas or Dasanis a week, at a $1.75 apiece, will. set you back over $300 a year--and that excludes the bigger containers you'll be using to stock what you dnnk at home.

Even if you only buy in bulk, you still can't beat tap water (virtually free) or even home-filtered water (2.5 cents a litre).

But what about the economy as a whole?

Even if it's a little extravagant from the consumer's point of view, surely the bottled water industry creates jobs and so on, right?

Well, kind of. Bottled water is to Canada's economy what elevator operators were in the old days. When user-friendly buttons started to replace them, people cried out for the lost jobs. But jobs that don't need doing are a drain on the economy. It's the same for people who work in the bottled water industry: if you don't spend that toonie on Evian, but still get all the water

23

OPINION AND EDITORIAL

you need, you'll invest it elsewhere and make the overall economy all the more effective.

New InfoCenter sparks wave of jealousy, resentment

BY HESSAM GHADAKI

Less Healthy OK, so it's bad for the earth, it's a bit pricey, and a little wasteful, but this is your health, after all, right?

Right-except that bottled water is not healthier!

First, tap water regulations are far stricter than anything the bottler ever faces. For instance, in the United States, standards for bottled water only require it to be tested for bacteria once a week, whereas tap Late last year, a couple students had their water is tested hundreds of times per fancy machines stolen, and so these dismonth. heartened young men came to us, where Second, tap water can be healthier. If your only the boldest dare to go: the basement water is distilled, you're missing out on the lab in Bora Laskin.

Believe it or not, we important minerals that water naturally were once cutting edge. Back when 286 's contains. More importantly, tap water in were all the rage, I remember being dismost cities contains fluoride, which proplayed in a storefront window for weeks at motes strong teeth and prevents a ridiculous price, and passers-by would tooth decay. This simple policy long to stroke my smooth keys and sleek change reduced childhood design. I had fancy new features like caps tooth decay in Canada by \ock and print screen - and could alt-tab 29%. But bottled waters between solitaire and WordPenect 5.\ either don't add it or, if seamlessly. From the Deans' office, I was they're among the 40°/o that transferred to Merril Boden, tben tbe resell public water, actually library adrnin staff, even to the strip-mall remove the fluoride computer setup on the second floor. I through reverse osmosis or knew one day I would find myself here, in distillation. Not surprisingthe basement with my fellow old-timers; ly, as bottled water consumption has here alone we idle behind locked doors increased, so has tooth decay. until inevitably someone desperate enough strolls in.

A New Status Symbol In particular, I remember a long haired I think there's another big reason why peofellow who was zesty, full of energy and ple drink bottled water, though: bottled ready to begin a legal process summary. I water is a status symbol! That's why big took a deep breath, got that fan going, and law firms have coolers full of it, and that's told myself the debacle on Monday (or why we, young soon-to-be lawyers, need was it Tuesday? My clock is all jumbled to start setting pn example and a better up again), was just an aberration- I'm still trend. good, just slow, stJII good. I did my best Which brings us, as promised, to Japanese but he was overzealous. He opened Word, tycoons. Last summer, when Japanese a challenge in itself, but then he wanted policy makers wanted to cut back on enerinternet, and soon one window became gy consumption, they convinced the three, then four, then solitaire, then paintnation's top business leaders to make a colbrush ... alas I could do no more. It all lective statement by ditching their suit came so fast that I couldn ' t even autojackets and wearing short sleeves- allowrecover. Its not my fault, it was never ing for huge savings in office air condiinstalled properly. I try to relax and let the tioning. fan take over for a while. As my pain subAlongside the privilege of being among sided, he soon discovered that most of the Toronto's up and coming, we have an computers were as useless as I. In time he opportunity to do the same thing. When discovered that by using eleven machines at once, he could almost make some headthose who can clearly afford water from way into his assignment. some ridiculous creek in France choose to Over the summer there was a rumor that carry a Nalgene bottle (or maybe a fancier, the. library was making changes designer version), we'll be on the right improvements to the factlities. With a long track.

Like those forward-thinking list of demands, we dreamt of endless supJapanese business leaders, we can help plies of new RAM, processors and accespush the inevitable status symbol game sories. Harriet (middle row, right side) that people play into a healthier, more thought a new VGA monitor was on the environmentally and more economically way, while I secretly hoped for one of friendly direction. those fancy ZIP drives nobody ever used.

Jeremy, the arrogant one, wanted a DVD burner. We all laughed in his face.

It wasn ' t until late August that we heard the news. The library had decided to install a new state of the art flat screen television to the ceiling of the hallway on the first floor. This high definition screen would be used to make announcements and air CPAC (on low volume of coun;e) for law students to enjoy. It would have a glamorous name like "InfoCenter" and would be a big success. Although there was no real seating where students could reasonably enjoy the new technology, because it was conveniently attached to the ceiling, students could lie down on the carpet and enjoy endless hours of entertamment between late night sessions at Bora Laskin. We all felt like right decision had been made until one day Frank, the oldest machine - a post war model, went and unhooked himself, gathered a cavalry of mouses together and took a ride upstairs to see the InfoCenter for himself. Hours later he reappeared. "Man that elevator is slow.

Fellas, l have had enough! When will you stand-up for yourselves? What are we

"passers-by would long to stroke my smooth keys and sleek design. " good for? Meaningless library research sessions? This ridiculous project is too much. I mean, if they don't invest in us, why not at least drain that perpetual pool of water by the men 's washroom?

Gentlemen, if we don't act now we' ll all end up in an elementary school in Honduras courtesy of IHRP!" Out of breath, Frank drifted into a scrolling marquee of "Bring back Teddy Tjaden" and had to re-boot a few dozen times before coming to. Vincenzo, the printer imported at a premium from Milan added, "Raggani, I mean guys, come on, ever since they made Vinny the cheapest printer in de city, I've been running constantly, and on low quality toner here.. . I feel used, I feel like a cheap suit." While Vinny wept, we all agreed that he had a point, and so be warned that extra five cents a page in printing costs you save may cost you your afternoon, but until that monstrosity upstairs is brought to justice, we will freeze as often as we can, and don't bother regularly saving, because that old school hourglass is just our way of saying thanks for nothing.

'

24

ultra vires

DIVERSIONS

CD REVIEW:

For good music, turn to the manufactured stuff

22

November 2005

Go Logo

BY DAVE SEEVARATNAM

BY MIKE KOTRLY

supposedly about dealing with the paparazzi. Chris Martin, you're really not that hot; get over it.

Ax Iall' school comes into full 511'ing. mm~)' students turn to books, movies, or alcohol to retain a modicum ofculture or imiil·idu- · James Blunt, "Back to alit; in their lin·.\·, fn11~~· case, /tum to the Bedlam", Wea/Atlantic compact disc. !fynu are like me. you may Records think that "legllimate" music iv the only There's a general rule in the mu.\iC 110rth lislening to. Howei'Cf; a~ you music industry: if you're popular will see through thisjoumey ofsome ofthe in England it's automatically brillatest tit/£'.), intelligence and musical talent liunt in North America. Not so for arc directly proportional to how much of James Blunt's Back to Bedlam. your miJ-rijj if reL·ealed While Back to Bedlam was a huge

Coldplay, "X&Y", Capitol Records.

r have to admit that at first listen Coldplay's latest, X&Y, has some pretty good songs. My favourites were "Clocks" and "The Scientist." Then I realized that those songs were from their last album, and r was referring to "Square One" and "What If." Basically, this CD is the same as their last, so much so that I think Coldplay should sue themselves for copyright infringement. But that's not all, I think I'm getting too old for all of the angst. Tracks like "Fix You" and "The Hardest Part" features so much talk of emotions and "feelings" that 1 wanted to vomit. A.nd has anybody bothered to \istcn to the \)'Tlcs of "S~ced of Sound'?" \t'!i

smash in England, 1t doesn't change it from being a complete dud. All the record company can talk about IS how he wrote his songs while he was a peacekeeper in Kosovo, that he has an engineering degree, and how complicated and intelligent he is. Sounds like how first years introduce themselves at orientation. And Blunt himself is also keen to point out how deep he can be: "I have seen peace, I have seen pain I Resting on the shoulders of your name Do you see the truth through all their lies? Do you see the world through troubled eyes?"

I'm not sure if this is a song lyric or a poem from an eleven year old's diary after her school dance.

The Pussycat Dolls, "PCD", A&M Records If you're really committed to the rock thing, albums like the above are passe anyways. First off, they're too mainstream.

You're enough of a clone already: you're a law student. If you want to be cool, you need to listen to bands whose names sound "indie" like "Death Cab for Cutie" or "The Decembensts." When in doubt, a cool name has the following format: start with "the", followed by an adjective, and then a pluralized noun. The less it makes sense, the more cool it is. Try to make up a name for yourse\t1 My fake indie band name is

"The Melting Q-Tips."

But if you're wilhng to leave the rock train, fear not! Manufactured pop has come to the rescue, and will have both the music and sophisticatiOn ·to get you through any rut. Consider PCD, the latest album from the Pussycat Dolls. Now. this is a group that most men would certainly love to get behind, both literally and urn. literally. However, they arc so much more.

First, the phat beats arc pumping and all up in here. I'm sure you ha\e all heard the party anthem "Don't Cha'' which cmpo\\.crs women and applauds their ability to be "hot," "fun," and "freak." But their songs arc also nuanced and political. Consider the track "Beep" whose chorus states "Keep lookin' at my *beep* .. . I'll do my thing while you playin' with your *beep*."

At first glance this is just an inappropriate, crude, and immature song using beeps to sneak suggestive content through the censors. Far from it, in its proper context the song is a cutting commentary on power politics in lraq from the Shi'ite perspective. From that angle the lyrics are quite astute: "Keep lookin' at my [coalition with the Kurds in Parliament], I'll do my thing while you playin' with [appeal to international opinion in order to amend the constitutional drafting process]."

Those of us from leftist, tree-huggmg upbringings (or at least undergrad settings) were taught that advertising is the devil.

Whether in the form of those invasive posters above urinals or billboards over city parking lots, it is the mouthpiece of commerce speaking the language of unbridled, unprincipled consumption Advert1smg is also the lifeblood of television and, for many, this taints the medium permanently.

"when I was a toddler, my parent would play a tap e of "adverts" to keep me occupied. They probably had little idea of the damage it would do to my attention span.

"

But Jet's face reality: U ofT Law is a d1fferent world. As much as we may cherish our socially progressive and post-materialist roots, we have to take a close look at

ourselves as we are now. The fact 1s that most of us are headed to Bay Street, or some alternate form of "working for the Man." You may say that you really haven' t changed, that you still hold the same values, and maybe that's true. But 1f you've given Him a chance (sorry, the Man, not God), for the sake of consistency, why not take another look at advert1smg? In that spirit, I will use my space this month to make a small concession to domain of advertising. Herein lies my tribute to advertising in my favourite medium.

Truth be told. I had always been strangely fond of T.V. commercials.

This could stem from the fact that, when I was a toddler, my parents

would play a tape of"adverts" to keep me occupied. Having just moved to England from Sri Lanka, they were new to television as well and probably had little idea of the damage it would do to my attention span. Fortified with music videos for "Wake me up before you go-go" and "Uptown Girl", the tape of commercials was simply a foolproof babysitter.

As I grew older, I was fascinated by the creativity I was exposed to during every commercial break. I 1dolized Angela Bauer, the advertising dynamo from Who's the Boss who was always story-boarding ideas late at mght and who eventually opened her own agency. l will

Jarhead's take on Iraq beautiful, if unsatisfying

BY JARED KELLY AND SAYRAN SULEVANI

1

Cast: Swofford (Jake Gyllenhaal) star and true ltfe character; Staff Sgt Sykes (Jamie Fox.x); Troy (Peter Sarsgaard) Swofford's sniper partner D1rector: Sam Mendes I must admit that I went into Jarhcad expecting it to carry a political message about war in general or particularly war in the Middle East. lt didn't Based on a memoir of the same name by Anthony Swofford, the mo\ie follows him through the rigours of Unites States Marine Corps (l SMC) training. his deployment in the Saudi Desert during the first Gulf War, wa1tmg for something to happen, and finally, combat.

Few details are given about the war itself and upon reflection that seems appropriate. Despite the severe training that the Marines are subjected to, the bulk of the Gulf War is waged aerially, using smart bombs, cluster bombs and cruise missiles. The Marines are taken to the Middle East in August 1990 to guard the oil for their Saudi friends (as they are told by a superior). Hostilities don't begin unt!l January 1991, at which point 500,000 American Forces are stationed in the M1ddle East. So, some of them do a lot of waiting. The movie lags a bit at this point.

Got it, Mendes.

This is a new kind of war looking for an identity among old wars (as evidenced by the numerous references to war epics such as Apocalypse Now), but unable to find it.

pie, they have gone through the Hollywood grinder and come out as predictable war movie characters. Th1s has a cheesy effect. but not an insurmountably bad one. So I would recommend it, but not strongly J - Sayran Sulevani

This war consists of hard training, waiting, and the anti-climax of nearly non-existent combat. Most of the Marines do not get to put their training to work (that is, they don't even get to discharge their weapons).

Although that might seem like a relief in some sense, what a tease it must have been.

So, if you're looking for politics, you won't find any strong statements in this film. It does boast, however, bouts of beautiful cinematography of the Lawrence kind. My only complaint (besides the lag) concerns the peripheral characters.

Although they may be based on real peo-

Some people say they don't make wars like they used to. I say. while that may be true, they don't make war movies like they used to either Goodbye Apocalypse Now, hello Three Kmgs. I would have thought that our abiltty to give insightful retrospective analysis on the futility of war, its outrages and contradictions, and political motivations would have been enhanced by the last couple "wars", but alas, we haven't come too far ,lately ... can Jarhead reverse this trend ... ?

Jarhead is a war film that delivers several strong statements, albeit subtly and not as effectively as perhaps the audience would like. Censorship is a good one.

Mendes continually reveals to us how the Marine is not only meant to empty his cranium of all things not Marine (i.e. jarhead) but also to keep quiet in face of the press.

Swofford tells us that every circumstance a Marine might face has an exact action to be followed according to the training manual. Want to know how to dispose of shit?

The Marines have a rule for it.

On another level though, Mendes show us how society at large is being duped into acquiescing to inane wars fought against fonner allies on false pretences for ulterior

motives. He accomplishes this m a couple ways. First off, he purposively selects a range of characters, from the hot head to the cerebral to the cynic. and lets the audience watch as they all are turned into creatures so devoid of thought and meaning that their sole satisfaction in life comes from killing Secondly, ~1cndes rather ingeniously shows us how the ''beauty" of war is merely a front for another reality.

I fe achieves this task in the typical fashion the news reporter shielded from rcaltty on the front - but more impressively, also the atypical.

Jarhcad is at times funny, beautiful, and disturbing. However, it docs seem a bit hollow or unsatisfying at times. The script is based on Swofford's real life account, which is a b1t unfortunate, since the guy had a mere 4 days in the war, didn't fire a shot, and most memorable moment was burning shit. W1th that to work with, Mendes and company did an admirable JOb, but for me, came up a bit short.

- Jared Kelly

25

DIVERSIONS

L

aunch an exciting career at

Smart &.. Biggar. Canada's largest firm practising exclusively In Intellectual property. technology law and litigation.

We're the only firm In

Canad~ or the

United States to be ranked In the coveted first tler for both patent law and trade-mark/ copyright law In Managing Intellectual

and work for clients ranging from exciting start·ups to hundreds of Industry leading Fortune 500 companies. In cases originating from almost anywhere In the world. If you have high aspirations In IP and technology law, Smart &. Biggar Is the most rewarding place to be.

Interested In joining us at the forefront?

Property magazine's most recent World

Visit the Careers area of our website

IP Survey. As a student at Smart &.. Biggar. you'll interact with leaders In the field,

for info on how to apply.

SMART&. BIGGAR Toronto I Ottawa I Montreal I Vancouver I Edmonton

smart·blggar.ca

acceptable turn of phrase?).

Yes, consumensm 1s uncool, but so b working on Bay Street. Appreciating a commercial every now and then is a relatively innocuous way to at least partially embrace the selling-out process. Naomi Klein wouldn't think much of it, but Angela Bauer would be touched.

Heenan calling!

Secondhand smoke

say now, without a trace of irony, that I wanted to be just like her. To th1s end, one summer break, my sister and I spent a couple of days making up and filming commercials using our parents' camcorder. We d1d everything from perfume commercials to cereal spots. I was proudest of our take on low-budget furniture ads: the poorlylimed cheese that we have come to associate with Western New York is, l discovered, an art form.

But I soon realtzed that the world would not fully accept my level of devotion. One time, a friend mentioned the Cool Rock commercial, for one of those now-mfamous 80s compilation COs. I launched into the entire collection of audio chps that played in the commercta\. Satd fnend was I suitably horrified. Years later, I have long ' lost touch w1th h1m, but 1 still know that I the Corey Hart song comes right before "Pn va te Dancer."

Wffif JON ELLISON Notwithstanding that friend's reaction. there arc moments where I bond with oth- Several years ago. I was given the honour ers over a shared atlinity for particular of being invited to a soiree in upper New Hampshire held by the philanthropist J.J. commercials. One example comes from a Stevenson III. By some stroke of fate, I Bounce Fabric softener spot from a few chanced to be seated beside none other years back. where the spokesperson rejoiced over a fresh-smelling towel: " I than Dr, K. MD PhD. the illustrious pulmonologist whose name I had heard whisjust washed it . . . five days ago." It pered in reverential whispers since I was became an ann6ying habit of mine to supbut a mere tot. ply the "five days ago" follow-up to every I attempted to hide my habit from the mention of"l just washed it." One day, my good doctor for the better part of the housemates and I were discussing laundryevening, but the branoy induced too much related issues, when the trigger phrase was temptation, and r stole away to the terrace uttered. In perfect, almost cosmic, unison, to secretly indulge my craving. one housemate and I blurted out "five days As I smoked, I was surprised to hear footago." Such moments of synchronicity arc steps approaching across the la\\.n. I made possible by television advertising. turned, and faced none other than Dr. K! Like ecologists whose philosophy To my further chagrin, he had come not extends from a true appreciation of nature, for the sake of lecturing me on the cvib of aloof from anthropocentric concerns, mine tobacco. but with a lit cigarette of hi:. ov. n has been a "deep commcrcialogy." I like perched between his lips. commercials not because they gi\e me a In shock, I inquired of the doctor: chance to go to the bathroom or discuss "Good sir. how could such a renowned with friends the latest Desperate pulmonary physician as yourself. v.ho Housewives plot developments - and cerwrites so often in the Herald and the tainly not for the products that they are Times of the harms of even a single cigaselling. I appreciate them for what they arc rette, smoke one himself!" The doctor at thc1r best. snappy, memorable, and good-naturedly slapped me on the back, entertaining. While I long ago let go of my and answered with a wink: "Ah. such a aspirations to be the next Angela Bauer, I question! And you tell me, sir: docs not still cherish good commercials when I sec the barber shave his own v.hiskcrs? Doc~ them, like last summer's Bicks "I'm not the cobbler wear his own buckles'! bringing pickles" ad, a strange-yet-beautiAnd the butcher, does he not cat prime ful masterpiece. Equally, I enjoy critiquing rib'!" the just plain bad ones, like those Whenever I am tempted to quit, I need Canadian Tire ads with the awful and incxonly think back to that warm spring night pltcablc "I'll start with you" jingle (What and the \\Ords of Dr. K. will you start with me? Or is it me who\ starting with you? Is "started right" now an

'

ultra vires

DIVERSIONS

26

22

Poetic justice: A preliminary inquiry into judicial verse

BY FREDRICK SCHUMANN "Korr v. RCA 2 (Dvor y offod

We read the decisions and dissect their reasons. lsn 't that a little cold? What about all those times when the judges step back from the problem at hand, and tum their mind to poetry? This week we'll read the bleak modernist verse of Justice Benjamin Cardozo.

IS

rwtumJJ"

Uvery effect Jll natural when the.ro 1c complete knowladgo of

of defcnrla.nt's rnilrond after buying

the cnuse.

n ticket to go to Rockaway Bench.

Ever·y darnnge become.<: natural when tho transaction out of wluch 1t

·Korr v. RCA 1 (The telogrnmr Ou 1ts fu.co 'rho tologrrun Crphor U: an uruntolLgbla It rsJargon Untrnuslated 'I'rans!uted info English It rernmn&: obscure 'I'hough sorne mklmg

or tho tmnslntron

Mny bo conveyed

To nn mgcn•ouc rnmd

occurs hns been fully npprohended.

~\b\\\t\e\i

of \anguage wh\\e exp\oif\ng them to p\ayfu\\y undenn\ne \he cxptess\on of pc!>!>\mbm \\!>c\ f. The wh\tc

space between Jines aptly concretizes the gap between signifier and signified in the hesitancy it forces on the reader.

A trnin stopped nt tho ctn!ion bound for another place.

(The quasi u; obviously futllcl Two men In the complexities Otll3

or Modern Lifo.

ran forward to cateh H

doos not know where

nnd the e..xlraordiunry

Clearly anticipating the later formal techniques of High Modernism, this companiOn poem to "Kerr v. RCA 1", measures out its meanmg in contemplative couplets and tercets. Again, as in "The Telegram", we have a concern with indeterminacy. This time, however, we are jarred into the historical field, with the "complexities" ofmodermty (6) complicating the simple binary of extra/ordinary.

As usua\ in Cardozo's verse. the poem itself problemat\Lc\i \\!> own the!>\!> as bein g overly na·ivc: the binary split is healed with "complete" knowledge (2) which makes every effect and damage "natural" (I. 3) Moreover, sometimes-threatening "complexrtics" are to be welcomed for

27

DIVERSIONS

Hadiya's Picks: vintage shopping

BY HADIYA NEDD-RODERIQUE My wallet is hurting and every time l use that ScotiaBank card I feel it slowly sucking my soul away. So, when I need that shopping fix without the debt load aftertaste, I hit up the vintage scene.

Top places to go for vintage shopping in

Preloved Here they take clothes apart, sew them back together in crazy funky new ways and charge you way more money for it. But it's so cute and kito;chy that you don't really care, especially when they have their awesome 30-70% off sales. There was one of these on my block in MTL and it was Trouble, with a capital T.

eaav

T.O:

cBay is golden, even more so beam c you don't have to leave your hou'iC. You can find anything on eBay, like slouch boots for $20 dollars. and vintage mighty mouse tshirt'>. It knows no bounds. Beware overpriced shipping to Canada, and Clli>toms charges! I recommend purchasing from Canad1an sellers.

Mississauga Now, before you get your undergarments all in a twist and think I'm insulting the 'Saugs. let it be known that I hail from there. A few cool people live in Mississauga, usually for reasons like saving money because their law school tuition is so damn expensive. And this, my friends, is why its second hand stores arc GEMS in the vintage shopping department. Miss1ssauga Village de Valcurs are only frequented by

Toront o Vintage Clothing Sho w

roo much plaid even for Jim Phillips? the 13-17 year old age bracket, who arc looking for Avril Lavigne knockoffs or Britney Spears inspired hooker gear. So. all the good stuff is left for the taking. How else could I have found a navy and baby blue ladies small vintage adidas jacket for $7'!

the ordmar·y enos begins

What a beautiful, troubling med1tation on the hermeneutic difficulties of language! Problematic translation is a metonym for the peril of the speech-act: even translated, the telegram remains "obscure" (4). The second meaning of"jargon'' (3}-given by the OED as "bJrdsong"-provides a more positive spin on the (superficially) grim indictment of language and compels us to realize the indeterminacy of (even) this meditation on indeterminacy. The poem is pessimistic about the expressive pos-

·pn.Jsgraf" •Plaintiff wns stnnding on n plntform

November 2005

their ability to blur overly "simple" and, ultimately, oppressive meta-narratives into unity, by confusing the boundaries between the ordinary and the extra- (or, literally, out-of-) ordinary.

Which readers do not feel themselves standing there on the platform w1th Cardozo and Mrs. Palsgraf, watching the semantic stock-cars and linguistic locomotives of Cardozo's poetic imagmation collide and jolt on the tracks? Who is the mysterious passenger, unceremoniously "pushed" mto semiotic referral, and what is in his suitcase- the endlessly deferred signified; Lacan 's ghostly semos? When will it explode in a burst of monstrous hct-

Value Village Cheap and huge, Value Village caters to everyone. A place to find suits, furniture or Halloween costumes (their makeup might not come off for a week, but it was only a dollar). Also worth mentioning: Goodwill and Salvation Army. They're not as good as

sorting by size as VV, but if you've got time to dig, it's worth it.

All of Kensington st.

Aka, Mecca, or where I belong. An entire street devoted to the magic that is Vintage.

If you're going to Kensington, make a real day of it. Be prepared to give Kensington the time it deserves. Prices arc going up, but my love remains. Best Stores: Flashback (great cowboy boot selc:~:uon), Courage my Love (former home of my grad dress).

This year, it was held in the CBC Broadcast Centre. And let me tell ya, if I had been in this city you bet your ass I would have been there Sigh Tons of repre!'>cntntion by many different vmtage stores (including Courdge My Love), many one of a kind pieces.

Queen west strip (Black Market 319 Queen W, Circa, 456 Queen W, Brava, 483 Queen W. etc, etc) This involves more walking than Kensington, but, like Carrie Bradshaw, shopping is my cardio, so it works for me.

Try going more west, yes, PAST Spadina.

A.\\ the way to Duffenn. 'You can do \t .

croglossia'?

Next Time: "Trick or Tort: Halloween Negligence and the Duty of Scare"

Restaurant review: Radical Roots The daily rotating menu means it's something of a gamble each time you visit, but that's part of the fun. So ts communal seating and cleaning your own dishes, two staples of the Radical Roots system. Offer to do all the dishes at your table, and you will be adored by a gaggle of International Socialist vegetarians, a.k.a. your new friends.

Just when you thought tubers were uncool, along comes Radical Roots.

R adical R oots (vegan food) 33 St George Street (at College, in the International Student Centre at U ofT) Open: Monday to Friday Breakfast: 9:30 Lunch: II :30 Travel lime: 5-l 0 minute walk from the law school - depending on your fitness . level ( 15 minutes for Malcolm).

Menu rotates daily.

BY DANNY KASTNER AND MALCOLM KATZ Radical Roots, located in the International Student Centre at the University of Toronto. was started by volunteers under the name " Vegetarium Cafe." Complaints about the name, mostly relating to its similarity to the word "Vomitorium" prompted a re-christening (apparently by a committee including Bill and Ted and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), and "Radical Roots" was born.

The first difficulty with enjoying oneself at Radical Roots is finding it. The cafe is well-hidden in the bowels of the International Student Centre and reveals itself only upon close inspection. Once discovered. howe~er. Radical Roots will unveil its sumptuous delights to you, in exchange for money. Hoy,: much money?

Well that depends on you. Most dishes and meal combinations operate on a sliding scale from 5 to 7 dollars. Be prepared to

answer the question "How much do you want to pay?" And no, you will not be the first person to grin sarcastically and say, "Nothing."

Radical Roots is a workers' collective, with no hierarchy among employees and equal pay for all. According to the folks who work there. every member of the collective is equally involved m managing the operation. In practice, this seems to result in high camaraderie but also the occasional running out of food.

The food served is vegan, fair-trudc, organic, and usually delicious. Every day the menu is different, but the offerings fall into four main groups: Soups, Stews, Salads and Sandwiches. When asked why all the foods began with the letter "S". a representative Radical Roots workcr'manager stated, "I don't know what you are talking about."

"When asked why all the

tions. At the risk of ra1sing the wrath of the school's vegans (and those other vegetarians, like Danny, who are JUSt not principled enough to be), one thing you will notice if you do not typically eat vegan is that the food can tend to be quite bland.

That is why the yam and bean chili spread on sticky rice with a side order of beetslaw ($5-7) was so surprismg. It was not only colorful but tasty too (and filling another complaint I - being a pig - typically have with vegetarian food). An order of cauliflower and potatoes in a warm beet broth was similarly delicious (and colorful). It was flavorful and satisfyingly chunky (3.50$) Danny ventured "soupcrb" (I shit you not). The roasted vcggie and pcsto sandwich with tofu spread and a side order of beet-slaw ($5-7) was, however, disappointing, being overly dry with a disturbing under-tinge of sour. and should be avoided although the beet-slaw remained good.

Positive: Good portion sizes. Edible. cheap food.

Negative: If you like hot or salty food, vegan typically is not for you. Radical Roots is no different (although better than most).

foods began with the letter "S", a representative Radical Roots worker/manager stated, 'I don't know what you are talking about.'"

• • • When Danny suggested a vegan restaurant, I admit to having had my do~bts. and not just because I didn't want to be the only pudgy carnivore surrounded by healthy. lithe vegetarians. The food, however, was pleasantly surprising - although admittedly I did have rather low expecta-

To learn more about why Ogilvy Renault is the right strategic fit for you, visit:

OGILVY · RENAULT

ogilvyrenault.com/students

LLP I S.E.N C.R.L, s.r.l

OTTAWA · MONTR~AL · QU~BEC ·TORONTO ·VANCOUVER· LONDON (UK)

.

·~;~·._:.

.

·~

_···:

..

•":.-~.,

oJt

1

~

0

°

o

0

~~

0

r

, j,~.

-

28

ultra vires

DIVERSIONS

22

November 2005

Faculty Smackdown: Round 3 The Results are in!

Round 3 Finals Phillips v Flood

29

SPORTS

Law Ultin1ate Tean1 wins championship!

But Raptor woes continue: who's to blame?

/

?• The Provost, sitting in his fancy ivory tower, thinks he gets to pick our new Dean. Time to pick the People's Champion!

In tbe end, there can be only one.

BYJENNIFER MARQUIS

Log onto www.ultravtres.ca/smackdown and cast your vote in the final round of the Faculty Smackdown!

Breaking News!

On Sunday afternoon, the Div I Ultimate team rode an undefeated season to the championships\ The team p\aycd Uni.ver!'.ity Co\\ege

('

What's in a Name Change?

BY PAUL ALEXANDER (OR PAUL ISKANDER. TAKE YOUR PICK.)

My wife is a modem, liberated woman.

I'm a modem, sensitive guy. So when I had the good luck to become engaged to this phenomenal girl just over two years ago, I wasn't going to risk scotching the deal by doing anything so neanderthal as demanding that she take my last name.

1 was fine with this, but I've always felt it was good for spouses to share the same name - 1 think it's an important sign of unity, especially when kids come along. So in what I thought was a stunningly chivalrous gesture, 1 offered to take her name.

"That's emasculating," she replied matter-of-factly. "Besides, making you take my name would be just as unfair as making me take yours." She had a point, but this left a quandary. What to do for a name? · The idea hit me as we lounged in the pool one sunny afternoon. "Hey Amy," I called across the water. "Why don't we just p1ck a new name?"

"Ok." "I low about 'Alexander?'"

"Ok." That settled that. · "But Paul," you say. "Why 'Alexander?'" Good question, reader. The answer is less interesting than you might expect: it's just a translation of my original last name. "lskandcr." As far as I've been able to discover, Alexander the Great was actually named Iskander. I'm told that people in the Arab world took to calling him "The lskander," or "ai-Iskander" in

apartments. Subsequent attempts to call the Office for a new form were exactly as successful as I'd expected. which is to say not at all. My backup plan- picking up the form in person - stalled when I discovered Jay Scott Greenspan Jason Alexander that the office was conveniently located in Allan Stewart Konigsberg Woody Allen Thunder Bay. Six months and a phone call to my MPP Gladys Leeman Kirstie Alley later, I finally got my hands on a copy of Robert Le Roy Parker Butch Cassidy the application form. I filled it out. had it Caryn Johnson Whoopi G~ldberg signed by the first lawyer I saw that day, and sent it in, happily awaiting the governWilliam Michael Albert Broad Billy Idol ment's prompt reply.

Reginald Kenneth Dwight Elton John A couple of months later, the form came back to me. There was a problem with Jon Francis Bongiovi Jr Jon Bon Jovi Page 12. It took them two months to tell Ronald Daniels Brian Langille me this.

The offending page was filled out, and back it went. Now, two months later, we Arabic. It was a hop, skip and a jump from very far back So while I'm hugely are finally Alcxanders. there to "Alexander" hence the name we attached to my family, no one in our famiWe're quite excited about this. I'll never all know and love. So why did we choose ly is particularly attached to the name. have to spell my name for anyone again, I it as our name? Simple: I essentially get to Except perhaps for my Mom, but hey - she get to keep full membership in the keep the same last name I started out with, changed her name when she got married lskander clan, and it's all done in time to and Amy (nee Andrews) gets to keep her too. have the new name on my diploma. And it After the wedding, I set about contact- only took two years! My mother-in-law initials. Everybody wins. (I also like that the name "Alexander" literally means ing the Office of the Registrar General to suggested that perhaps my real reason for "The Defender of Men" - an apt title in get the paperwork done. Naive newlywed becoming a lawyer was to see if I could that I was, I assumed that this would be a speed up the process. this line of work.)

The next step was breaking it to my par- simple operation. But after months of callAs unique as our mutual-name-change ents. " ... Dad," I said hesitantly. "How ing, I finally came to terms with the fact plan is, however, we're apparently not the would you feel about me changing my last that the Office seems to have a policy of first couple to have come up with the idea. name to 'Alexander?'" My father's reply: "I never answering the phone.

I'm not even the first U ofT law student.

After much perseverance, I got through Professor Stewart recently told me that, love it!"

In retrospect, this should not have been and, despite cell phone static and a dying years ago, a student of his did the same a surprise. Egyptian last names traditiOnal- battery, managed to request an application thing after getting roamed. The bizarre ly change from one generation to the next, form. The form arrived after a month or part? The former student's new name was so the Iskander family name doesn't go two - just in hme to get lost when I moved - wait for it - Paul Alexander.

Famous name changes

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

REACH & REWARD Meaningful work is in your grasp at Bereskin & Parr. One of Canada's foremost IP law firms, it's also a place that values its people - and your input. And that makes Bereskin & Parr a great place to grow.

We invite you to join us.

Bereskin & Parr I NTELLECT U AL PROPERTY LAW

www.bereskinp ar r.com TORONTO

M J SSJSSAUGA

WATERLOO

MONTRtAL

1\.

in the finals. Law expected a tough game, as UC boasted a number of players on Torontula, a touring team.

The final game started quite tight, but Law broke it open with a number of long throws, taking a small lead UC came back to tie it at 2-2, but then Law set up a strong zone defence, which would prove to be the key to victory. In the second half, Law kept up the defensive pressure, exploiting U.C.'s errors to make occasional long strikes, running up the final score to 11-4.

Departing captain Evan "Grabby Hands" Thomas (JII) was full of praise for the team. "Two years ago, the last time we won Div I. we had some great players", he said, "This year, we had not just great players, but a great team. I think we're on the brink of a dynasty here, and I'm just glad I could be a small part of it.''

Sadly, both the Women's Basketball and Volleyball teams failed to make the playoffs, but by the end of the season both of these teams looked strong and I'm optimistic that we will see more numbers in their win columns. The Co-Ed Division 3 Volleyball team easily made the playoffo;, but lost in the first round to the Faculty of Medicine in a match filled with controversial calls, profanity (Jim), and many pints of beer at the Duke post-loss where the "Shipley Rule" got discussed for hours.

The Men's Soccer team, one of the teams I was lucky enough to sec in action, also suffered a loss that stopped them in their quest for the championship. This group of guys is really dedicated to the game (they even have a coach!). The game I managed to observe involved a great deal of fancy footwork, stellar goaltending. and a sports injury to Andrew Hennigar who ended up in the Emergency Room v. ith a

broken nose.

Turning now to a question asked by Toronto basketball fans everywhere ... what's the deal with the Raptors? Are they ever going to win? With the Raptors' 10093 loss to Boston on Friday night their record drop-ped to 0-9, the won;\ s\af\ \n franchise history. The way the team is playing right now, it looks like they may

be in for breaking the embarrru;sing record for the worst start in NBA history, which is the 0-17 start that both the L.A. Clippers and Miami Heat accomplished in 1998-99 and 1988-89 respectively.

The big questiOn for Raptors fans is who we should be blaming for the disappointing Rap tors play, not just this season. but pretty much every season since the Raptors joined the NBA in 1995. I know I had my doubts when Toronto ~elected Charlie Villanueva as their first round draft pick, but we certainly can't place the blame on his shoulders as he's been one of the few sparks for the Raps this season.

Young Chris Bosh seems to be doing the best he can in ptoviding team leadership on and off the Court. Maybe Jalcn Rose should shoulder some of the fault for the weak play of the Raptors in the season thus far. especially since he. the top-paid Raptors player. reached a career low against the 76ers when he had lour fouls. three turnovers and no points. rebounds or assists in his seven minutes of playing time during that loss.

It would be easy to simply accuse GM Rob Babcock of blowing many an opportunity to improve the Raptors organization .... As for me, for now. I think I'll just stick with blaming Vince Carter and keep the dream alive that I'll sec a Canadian team with the NBA Championship in my lifetime.

·)

GAMES

30

ultra vires

'5udo~ulll

UV Caption Contest 8 4

9

5 7

9 1 4

8 7

4 4 3 8

3 2 9 .

6

4

5

9 2 1 7

6

"Ok, lets try a different approach officer. say I'm trying to sell you a bike ... "

4

"No 1will not let you took in my trunk! Oh, you mean my car. sure."

!umb\eH

"Bomb threat!? Let's unpack that."

estates exam?

Her "- - - - - - -

_______ !!

~tord

&tame\\

Each letter is replaced by another! Try to decipher this killer legal(?) quote!

Hint D=R " '

\VIT.AA OSRT\V

LlTIEG LAPE

_0_0_ 000 __ _ _ _ 00 00 __

LoGo Latin Wordseart:.hB · fiND TW6S6 Cf2P,.2Y LATiN WOQDS! AY1 I~ITID ?(<.()

Y1D~D

I~ cA'Ht;:f<.A 'Ht;:~~ f<.bA

?R.I'HA fAclt;:

CALTR.A Vl(<.t;:~

HAY1t;:A~ cDR.?V1~

t;:X ? AR.Tt;:

l)t;: JCAI<.b

DY11Tt;:(<.

CVfl Y1D~D

()~Vi~

?t;:(<. ~

'HALt; fll)t;:

~~~t;:

ALIY11

i)lt;:

----------. --- - - - --- --

P'QM ORB LRA JIMFBPMY

TRD VREYGPDFVL

FEH PT P MFB CL

------ - ------ ______ ." L __ _ P VFE OMB CWRL

UFVZ

LRA TRD YMVREH - HMODMM CADHMD

_____)

XFJ

FEH RDHMD

p R 0 B I

E X p A R T E E

A

B

v R R A

s

I N E I X MM I N A ME T I F H A E T I A E B R I B 0 J 0 0 I ME A B N E I L 0 A L I H A B E A

c u

c s

v

s

p

u

uD s L E N

D I E T J M p R Q R A A R A D A L 0 B E ME

v

oean search committee considering Miers .

fair notice that studying law can fundamentally change your outlook on the \\Orld.

"After I began studying law, I started noticing things," says Bertha. "At first, I would say things out loud when watching cop shows on TV, like 'you can't do that, that's a section 8 violation· and 'that evidence will never get in under s.24(2).' But then thing.-; got worse. 1 started reading All the Pretty Horses and there on page 5 was the savagery thesis Darlene told us about. I had to slam the book shut and throw it again~t the wall. Pausing. Bertha takes in a deep breath and shakes her head. "I just ·want to go back to being normal. Ignorance really is bliss. you know."

Ztmra Yetnikoff

,..................................................................................

Briefly Noted Student buys Mac, sense of superiority

New law schopl nears completion

In an effort to raise funds, the finance office has created a wonderful incentive for excellence, OK??" In addition to computer donors by offering them the opportunity to extension cords and external floppy drives. adopt a law student in financial need. An students will no longer be provided with email was sent out to bursary recipients, hole punches. curling irons, Spanish dictiostating: "As a result of your financial situa- naries, moustache wax, unicycle parking tion, you nave been put on the adoption spots, cocktail refills, legal will kits, STD block. All personal information is now tests, free drinking water, loaner yarmulkes. property of the fmance office. Furthermore, hot oil massages, knitting lessons, and you will be required to write an essay on moist towelettes. Goldberg would not comwhy you arc worthy of financial assistance ment on whether Effie and Celia's candy and how your bursary has made life better." supply would be affected by the policy When asked to comment, Mai-Anh gushed: change.

GeoffMoysa "This program comes just in time for the ho~s! Our donors will receive a card in the mail containing the adopted student's Firm Recruiters compete picture and such quirk)' info as the student's for Most Misleading name, address. phone numl5eT, age, sex. Website martial status, social insurance number, and Firm recruitment officers reportedly had favourite colour. We also encourage our a field day trying to out-do each other to adopted students to make a drawing with produce the most misleading website durcrayon for their donor- now wouldn't that ing callback interviews in November. ··rm be nice'!" really looking forward to workmg at -Angela Chu Goodmans this summer," sa1d Scott (II).

"The Aboriginal Patent Litigation practice Faculty emails list of things area on their website sounds really excitit won't provide· ing." "Aboriginal Patent Litigation?? Oh, we totally made that shit up," laughed Students received a perplexing email Goodrnans recruiter Chesty L'Hercux. "All from the faculty's administration last week enumerating all of the things that the law we do is push paper for giant corporations." school will not provide. "We try to be "These poor kids just spent a year talking accommodating to student needs," said about constitutional theory and social jusAssistant Dean Bonnie Goldberg. "but tice and God knows what other silly ideas," some of the shit they're requesting is just explained one Fasken Martineau recruiter. ridiculous. $16,000 only buys so much "We don't want to scare off our labour pool, so we tell them we have a strong practice

Fake accent fails to impress area in International Environmental Human Rights. By the time they figure out it's BS. they've already signed their artichng offers."

- Geoff Moysa

Daniels: 1am still a P.I.M.P.

r

!.:

Celia: 25 years down, 25 to go Start of fall signalled by changing leaves, return of ugly-ass boots

i

':·,=,,,'=.,

With recruitment collegial O\ erfinished, for another year environment

Ron Daniels, Ex-Dean of the U of T faculty of Law and full-ttme gangsta, had a

Five degrees. zero jobs

hardcore reputation whi\e in T.O., but he

shocked and disappointed mlllly of his . peeps when he decamped suddenly to become Provost at the University of Pennsylvania. Inevitable questions arose about whether he could still keep it real and gangsta at an lvey or whether he was turning whitey. When reach~d for comment, Daniels insisted, "I don't know what you heard about me. but a bitch can't get a dollar out of me -no Cadillac, no perms. You can't sec that I'm a motherfucking P.I.M.PT' When asked to clarify, he repeated it twice before launching into a tirade about a shorty, dancing for dollars in the club, and who has got a thing for "that Gucci, that Fcndi, that Prada, that BCBG, Burbeny. and Dolce and Gabbana".

- Malcolm Katz

student Suffering from Nervous Breakdown complains Law "Cot to Her." Bertha Boyd (Ill) is suing the law school admissions office, citing a failure to give

UPenn beginning to understand

\

I

Glover comments

U11icycle still not catching on Professor thanks student for uninfonned comment

;

Ij

Student complains about tuition while drinking $8 beer Bomber demands extensiOn cord

1

"'Naughty nurse" disappointingly conservative

1.:

Gnping up 43%, proposed solutions down 62%

I

Davies increases price fur souls 12%

:

l

Faculty adds fourth Weinrih

i

!,,

I ;

Pubic Interest Fellowship creates exciting pro-boner opportunitie Chris Graham allegedly spotted unshaven and in sweatpants

L_~. . . .~. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ...u.~

.... _ .

s

B 0 J I R F 0 c u R I I

s RE A D s 0 uEs N E B I s v u s s c0 Rp us N

31

Ultra News: crayons, lies and pimps

Finance Office Launches Adopt-a-Law-student Program

And the winner is ... Lee Waxhcrg!!!

How did the student get through her

UlTRA NEWS

November 2005

A source close to the Faculty's Dean Search Committee disclosed that Harriet Mters, failed nominee for the Supreme Court of the United States, is on the shortlist of candidates vying to be the next Dean.

"As a former Dallas corporate lawyer and major player in the Bush White House, she can really raise the school's profile south of the border She's got all sorts of contacts to the top US law firms. as well as tics to potential donors like Halliburton and the Carlyle Group." "They think her talent for stonewalling will be a definite asset when it comes to dealing with students." Reached for comment, Miers said, "Toronto? When they said U ofT, I thought they meant the University of Texas."

-Evan Thomas

8

I

22

Oh crap, I'm so screwedl! V\tly d1 d I spend eO 12 classes reeding 'IWfWWhllerinjacomics.com???

bj

1'1

~:~mo t;;~,..o

5t'drrfhg 3 . 4"hr1l 1

G,n o5 t.

IDses il:.

OH MY GOD! OH MY GOD! UNNNNG GOG GHf+lHHH I!! I

-

www.fmc-law.com/careers

FRASER MILNER CASGRAIN u1 MONTR£AL • OTTAWA • TORONTO • EDMONTON • CALGARY • VANCOUVER • NEW VORl<