It’s a natural journalistic response to want to attach a human face to tragedy, and use that to create empathy in viewers and readers. But that desire for a human face also has to be balanced with the knowledge that these are human beings in a dangerous and desperate situation.
When an active group of literal Nazis takes to the streets with torches, shouting things like “Blood and Soil” and bearing swastika-laden flags, suddenly everyone is concerned with being politically correct.
In other words, safe injection sites may save lives, but not the ones we care about. As a result, no matter how much evidence is presented on the benefits of safe injection sites to drug users’ health or longevity, none can convince these opponents that such facilities are desirable.
Yet, while they say they are on the side of students, the federation has taken numerous actions to strip power away from the voices they represent. In the past few months alone, the SFUO has done everything from increasing their own salaries to reducing the power of the General Assembly (GA), and most recently, threatening the funding of federated bodies. Oh, and let’s not forget the resignation of an exec just two months into his mandate.
Until you acknowledge all the ways in which academia intersects with our identities, our lived experiences, our health, and our socioeconomic status, then there is no way you can be “fully committed to ensuring the well-being of our students.”
Individual members should make a point of reading the constitution in its entirety. It’s a long document, but if you’re elected to serve the students it’s only fair you have to do your homework.
Sanctuary cities may not be legally binding in a lot of cases, but it is the first step in making people feel welcome.
It’s long past time to say it clearly and loudly: the SFUO needs radical reform, and it needs it now.
On behalf of the University’s administration, I want to respond to the recent letter to the editor concerning uOttawa’s mental health services.
I am writing to the Fulcrum for one reason: the SFUO Food Bank needs your help! We are bursting at the seams with a surplus of food and need help giving that food away.
This document contains many promising ideas that could improve life for several different types of students. However, it also fails to provide a clear roadmap to achieve to these goals in a lot of places.
Ottawa police, please scrap the wristbands and start salvaging your relationship with the black community and the city of Ottawa at large.
At the end of the day, academic fraud is a serious crime that has been neglected by students for years. It’s time universities take action and show the seriousness of this act.
With the U-Pass and health plan being the two biggest budget lines under the purview of the SFUO, it’s worth asking: should the university administration step in and clean up the mess that their students have made?
If people are using a dating app, they may very well be using more than one, or even way more than one, or alternating between them. Why limit their choices?
This past week, it is the opinion of the Fulcrum editorial board that campus press institutions have been subject to attempted pressure tactics by members of the Student Federation of the University of Ottawa (SFUO) executive.
If the SFUO wants to convince students that they have any legitimate influence in the affairs of their own federation, they must uphold the decision made at the GA to reverse the salary increases.
We need to be more critical of the methods we use to measure health, especially since different people have different goals, from getting a good summer body to training for a powerlifting competition.
Whether or not the climate in student politics is boiling or balmy, the GA is a useful tool for you to help fix problems you see in our student union.
While the SFUO seems ready to put the U-Pass scandal all behind them, there are still fundamental questions that must be answered to ensure something nefarious did not happen.
Mental health affects us all. I personally know many students struggling with this issue every day, and I am terrified of the consequences that will occur because they weren’t able to receive adequate help.
We took the opportunity to speak with editors of student newspapers across the country to get their take on their student federation’s structure.
Hamilton is at least moving in the right direction with their new education based approach to regulating predatory payday loans.
The Icelandic government will introduce new legislation this month to eradicate the pay gap between all forms of gender, ethnicity, sexuality, and nationality.
Why shouldn’t the government use an inanimate object that belongs to nobody to offer someone a concrete chance at extending their life?
