Reading Time: < 1 minuteWITH THE OFFICIAL first day of spring coming up, March is a month full of happenings; the mathematical constant 3.14 has a spotlight on the 14th with Pi Day, the Lenten season, and St. Patrick’s Day festivities are on the 17th. So other than the number enthusiasts, Christians, and pub-goers, is there another day in …
Opinions
Reading Time: 2 minutesDEAR PRESIDENT ALLAN Rock, Last week I and fellow student senator, Hazel Gashoka, wrote to you requesting that you agree to allow students and the public to observe your upcoming cross-examination in the defamation lawsuit of St. Lewis v. Rancourt, which is currently before the Ontario Superior Court of Justice. You will be cross-examined by …
Reading Time: 3 minutesON MARCH 12, the Ontario government announced their decision to begin accepting private-sector bids for the opening of a fully outfitted casino within Ottawa city limits. This isn’t the first time there have been talks about a casino in Ottawa: In the early ’90s Jacqueline Holzman, former Ottawa mayor, had plans and approval from city …
Reading Time: 3 minutesIT HAS BEEN over a year since the sale of bottled water at the University of Ottawa was banned entirely. For some, the once-controversial ban was a step toward a more sustainable campus, a smaller ecological footprint, more access to public water fountains, and less money spent on something that is virtually free. For others, …
Reading Time: 2 minutesBIRDS CHIRPING, CAR engines revving, first years griping: These are the sounds of the U of O campus. And after five years of hanging around listening to the same tired soundtrack, it gets boring. Confession: I am an iPod user. That girl ordering coffee with her headphones still on? That’s me. The person too enthralled …
Reading Time: 3 minutesA FACT LITTLE known amongst University of Ottawa students is that their own beloved campus newspapers are members of a greater organization of student news media called Canadian University Press (CUP). This past week, one of our fellow CUP papers faced a disconcerting proposal from their student union regarding their method of print. The Xaverian …
Reading Time: 2 minutesAFTER WATCHING INVISIBLE Children’s promotional video Kony 2012, I was left feeling like something wasn’t quite right. This wasn’t the first time I had heard about the horrific use of children as soldiers. An unforgivable act places Joseph Kony into a realm of evil few people can understand—myself included. But something beyond the heinous acts …
Reading Time: 2 minutesStopping the outsourcing LAST YEAR, BARACK Obama allegedly asked Steve Jobs what it would take to bring employment back to U.S. soil; the late Apple CEO replied that jobs aren’t returning—which may have been a wrong assumption. The rising labour costs in China coupled with advances in computerization have allowed more jobs to return to …
Reading Time: 2 minutesWE’VE ALL SEEN it before: A new type of social media comes out, gains popularity, and before you know it we’re all flocking, convinced the new venue will help us to better market ourselves. But then something strange happens. In the midst of writing about yourself in 140 characters or less on Twitter, updating your …
Reading Time: 5 minutesCONFESSION TIME: I have a cat. This is a confession, because more often than not I discourage my friends who are students from getting pets. I cringe when I hear about the break-up cat adoption. I grind my teeth when I hear about the couple moving in and getting a dog—in third year. I want …
Reading Time: 2 minutesSINCE INVISIBLE CHILDREN’S Kony 2012 awareness video went viral last week, the Internet has been awash with discussion of the plight of Ugandans at the hands of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA). Knowledgeable reporters, celebrated columnists, concerned world citizens, and would-be activists have been weighing in with their own praise and criticism of the video and the group that produced it. Over one week later, the film has largely accomplished its goal. The world is quickly becoming aware of the destruction, murder, and abuse committed by the LRA, and is just as swiftly becoming impassioned about a cause that, until recently, many of us were content to ignore. So now what? Awareness is important—that can’t …
Reading Time: 2 minutesRe: Niqab ban oppresses new Canadian citizens (Opinions, March 8) MINISTER JASON KENNEY’S controversial ban on the wearing of the niqab during citizenship ceremonies has been an effective red herring, distracting from the government’s many questionable policies. But it would arguably be acceptable even if he sought to extend the ban toward all public life …
Reading Time: < 1 minuteSTUDENTS ACROSS THE country are facing barriers to access to post-secondary education. Recently, the Charest government in Quebec passed a proposed increase in tuition fees by 75 per cent over the next five years in their budget, imposing new barriers to students in the province. Though their tuition fees will still remain amongst the lowest …
Reading Time: 6 minutesTHE LONG-PROPHESIZED END of the world is upon us—if you buy into the mania surrounding the end of the Mayan calendar, that is. Though we’ve known for a long time Dec. 21, 2012 will mark the end of humanity, the exact means of our destruction has yet to be decided. Making the case for nuclear …
Reading Time: 2 minutesCool habitat, bro THANKS TO THE miracle of Apple products, orangutans at the Toronto Zoo may be getting a lot more social. The zoo is next in line for a program that gives iPads to the massive monkeys so they can socialize with their species over social media apps like Skype. Designed to enrich the …
Reading Time: 3 minutesTORONTO (CUP)—IMMIGRATION MINISTER JASON Kenney—best known for his support of deportation policies—is in the spotlight once again. This time, it’s for his recent implementation of the niqab ban at Canadian citizenship ceremonies. Coincidentally, Kenney made this an issue last December, when the Supreme Court of Canada was hearing arguments in the case of a woman …
Reading Time: 3 minutesIT’S STORYTIME. A few weeks ago, Canadian economist Don Drummond released his much-anticipated report, outlining a series of recommendations for the Ontario government to avoid hitting a projected deficit of $30.2 billion by 2017–18. Among the list of cost-cutting initiatives, Drummond recommended post-secondary education (PSE) funding be contained to an increase of 1.5 per cent …
Reading Time: 3 minutesALMOST TWO WEEKS ago, the Conservative government made an unusual decision to refer to a committee for amendments before a bill was read a second time by the House of Commons. Vic Toews, Canada’s public safety minister, unveiled the Conservative government’s Bill C-30 last month, otherwise known as The Protecting Children from Internet Predators Act. …
Reading Time: 2 minutesTHOUGH DIVORCE RATES are on the rise, and knocked-up high-school sweetheart couples are at the bottom of the list when it comes to quality marriages, there is one couple that’s been making it work for 23 years and counting. This pair has survived all the highs and lows of marriage, including botched holiday plans, rebellious …
Reading Time: 2 minutesIN THE TRANSITION between high school and university, free, easily accessible WiFi is one of the biggest differences post-secondary offered. Access to a wireless connection everywhere at university means freedom to roam Facebook, browse memes, read the news—pretty much do anything but pay attention to your prof. Still, unlimited internet access is something universities value—not …
Reading Time: 2 minutesIN A RECENT ruling by an Ontario Superior Court of Justice judge, Leroy Schickle was saved from a three-year mandatory minimum sentence for gun possession. Schickle, who boasted an unblemished record prior to the conviction, was charged with possession of a handgun when he posted a Facebook profile picture of himself holding the weapon in …
Reading Time: 2 minutesAFTER 10 YEARS of construction, the Large Hadron Collider was completed in 2009 by the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN). The collider, situated on the French–Swiss border, is a 27-km-long round pipe in which two beams of energy are fired toward each other so that researchers can study what happens during and after the …
Reading Time: 2 minutesOh, Vladimir, you turn a girl’s head A SEXUALLY SUGGESTIVE political campaign has been launched by Russian prime minister Vladimir Putin and his camp. The adverts play on the concept of first-time voters as virgins, and depicts young, attractive women in doctor’s offices discussing their upcoming “first time.” Putin, who is currently running for president …
Reading Time: 4 minutesEVERY YEAR, THE Student Federation of the University of Ottawa (SFUO) Elections Office releases a report outlining their activities throughout the SFUO election period. The report reviews logistics, results, appeals, and mentions any issues that came up during the elections, with some final comments how the elections ran in general. While self-reflection is an integral …
Reading Time: 3 minutesWITH THE AMOUNT of attention the U.S. Stop Online Piracy Act and Protect IP Act have been getting, along with Canada’s kid brother Bill C-11, the question of whether the Internet can be made a private place is being debated heatedly all over North America. While there are many advocates for limiting the scope of the web, it seems Fulcrum volunteers have come to the consensus that restriction is ignorant, and ultimately ineffectual. Point: A balancing act …
