THE BOARD OF Administration (BOA) met March 18 at Roger Guindon Hall with a long list of constitutional amendments to address changes to the Student Federation of the University of Ottawa (SFUO) executive starting in the 2013–14 term. The board received reports from the executive updating the situation for each position and confirmed the election …
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HOMELESSNESS IS A very real problem in Canada’s capital. According to the Alliance to End Homelessness, the city’s homeless shelters took in over 7,100 individuals for more than 440,000 overnight stays in 2010, and that excludes those who slept on the streets. Camping for the homeless March 12–16, five Telfer School of Management students hoped …
Study confirms cougars have returned to Eastern Ontario PETERBOROUGH, Ont.—A FOUR-YEAR STUDY by the Ministry of Natural Resources confirms what many rural residents were already sure of: Wild cougars have returned to Ontario. Although considered extinct, the major research effort documented tracks, fur, photos, DNA, droppings, and sightings of the animals. The evidence, however, does …
THE STUDENT FEDERATION of the University of Ottawa (SFUO) is bringing back student-run tax clinics March 20–22. The clinic is run by student volunteers under the direction of Sarah Jayne King, SFUO vp finance, and is entering its second year of operation. “There are quite a few student unions across Canada who hold tax clinics, …
FOUR MEN IN Melbourne, Australia wanted to avoid paying for drinks so badly they jumped off the 55th floor of a building. The men were wearing business suits and had business suitcases with them while ordering expensive cocktails at Vue de monde, a prestigious restaurant. “Basically, four guys came upstairs with parachutes hidden underneath their …
GARY GOODYEAR, MINISTER of state for science and technology, visited the University of Ottawa on March 13 to announce $124.5 million being invested in bringing leading researchers to Canada and building infrastructure for research to foster. This investment funds 136 Canada research chairs across the nation, including a renewal of five chairs at the U …
LAST SUNDAY, THE Board of Administration (BOA) passed a motion changing the Student Federation of the University of Ottawa (SFUO) executive for 2013–14. Many significant constitutional changes were made—including to the executive positions—without any consultation of the new executive or students. Because students elect faculty representatives to the BOA, they don’t get much individual say …
STUDENTS LOOKING TO get ahead in their studies during their summer months usually turn to local classes. But if the choices for courses are lacking the classes they need, students have an alternative option. Online courses from universities across Canada are being offered for University of Ottawa credit. “Most often, courses are taken in the …
A GROUP OF eight professors is working on implementing the University of Ottawa’s first PhD communication program, which will be entirely bilingual. This program will be the first of its kind in Canada, likely to be ready by 2014. “We are looking forward to this program with much enthusiasm because there are many possibilities, which …
GRADUATE STUDENTS WILL vote on the U-Pass referendum question during the Graduate Student Association (GSAÉD) elections March 19–21. Despite approval of the U-Pass in the Student Federation of the University of Ottawa (SFUO) referendum by 3,723 votes to 1,576 votes, graduate students also have to approve the program for the City of Ottawa to proceed …
External commissioner The external commissioner is responsible for organizing the association’s campaigns, overseeing media relations, and representing GSAÉD when meeting with other organizations. Internal commissioner The internal commissioner oversees the GSAÉD staff, communication with departmental graduate students’ associations, and the organization of all meetings with the chair. He or she must ensure all official documents …
FOR THE PAST 12 years, kinesiology students across Canada have participated in the Kin Games—an annual competiton of academics and sports. This year, March 23–25, the Kin Games will be hosted by the University of Ottawa human kinetics and the Faculty of Health Science with 25 schools participating. “Kin Games is a massive student-run event …
City considering limited online voting in municipal elections OTTAWA—OTTAWA IS LOOKING to let some people vote online in the next municipal election. The vote tabulators put into use in 1997 are now at the end of their suggested life cycle and need to be replaced. Voters currently fill out paper ballots that are tabulated by …
BEFORE MARCH 5, not many people knew who Joseph Kony was. Today, a video titled Kony 2012 has over 74 million views on YouTube. Kony 2012 is a campaign started by Invisible Children, an American organization fighting for the rights of Ugandan children who have been forced into active membership in Joseph Kony’s Lord’s Resistance …
LAST YEAR THE Fulcrum examined whether part-time students are given the cold shoulder. I didn’t care for the subject at the time—I was a full-time student who got all the associated benefits and wasn’t interested in what I thought were “first-world problems.” I was naive. The fact is, part-time students are trampled on by every …
AS THE GRADUATE Student Association (GSAÉD) election draws near, the candidates, all of whom are running unopposed, have begun their campaigning. The Fulcrum sat down with the five hopefuls and asked them why graduate students should cast a ballot in their favour March 19–21. INTERNAL COMMISSIONER Caitlin Campisi, internal commissioner candidate Caitlin Campisi, current internal …
The problem CYBORGS AREN’T SCIENCE fiction. All around us people with pacemakers, insulin pumps, and prosthetic implants continue to live normal lives because of mechanical and electronic parts within their bodies. It’s not sci-fi; it’s mundane. But that doesn’t mean combining human bodies with technology is scientifically simple. Even relatively straightforward implants need to be …
IN NOVEMBER 2011, Liz Kessler, the Student Federation of the University of Ottawa’s (SFUO) vp university affairs, brought forth a motion at an SFUO Board of Administration (BOA) meeting to create an internal audit committee in hopes of better understanding the barriers to education and discrimination currently faced by U of O students. Kessler’s motion …
Protesters fight Highway 5 extension OTTAWA—FOUR PROTESTERS, ACTING against a court order, have taken to the trees in Gatineau Park in an attempt to protest their removal and the expansion of Highway 5. An injunction was issued prohibiting people from efforts to obstruct the construction on Feb. 28. The Gatineau Park Protection Committee, which is …
RECYCLEMANIA IS AN annual international contest between post-secondary institutions around the world. Universities compete to be recognized as the one of the most sustainable universities globally. Campus Sustainability Office and the Student Federation of the University of Ottawa’s (SFUO) Sustainable Development Centre are running a waste-free pledge contest until March 31 for students to promote …
STUDENT ACADEMIC SUCCESS Service (SASS) recently employed man’s best friend to help reduce student stress on campus. Tundra, the fully certified therapy dog now working at SASS, belongs to associate professor Audrey Gilles of the Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of Ottawa. “Tundra was a dog that I rescued during my last year …
THE PROBLEM: YOU need advice—professional advice—and you’d even be willing to pay for it, but you have no idea how to get a person with expertise to sit down and chat with you. The solution: Liaise, an Ottawa-based start-up business that recently won a $5,000 first-place prize at the Nicol Entrepreneurial Award Business Plan Competition …
I USED TO live in a very corrupt country, one where funding for a politician’s new home in the Bahamas was more important than funding for health care. In Ukraine, politicians would rather spend the country’s money on a $1,000 bottle of champagne than help citizens and lower the class divide. That’s exactly why I …
GRADUATE STUDENTS AT the University of Ottawa will go to the polls to elect the executive of the Graduate Students’ Association (GSAÉD) and representatives to the University Senate March 19–21. Nominations closed and the campaigning officially began on Feb. 29. “The only contest that will be contested is the senate sciences seat,” said Peter Schalk, …
THE WORLD RECORD for the longest human mattress domino chain was broken in New Orleans, La. Guinness World Record rules dictate for a chain to be valid there must be a consecutive chain of toppling mattresses and each person attached to the mattress must touch the person behind them, all of which was achieved. The …
