Letters to the Editor

Re: Give inmates clean syringes, says HIV/AIDS advocacy group (Feb. 9)

To deny inmates clean syringes when the rate of HIV/AIDS infection among prison inmates is anywhere from 10 to 20 times higher than the general population and where rape and same-sex pairings occur, is nothing short of unconscionable.
Criminal/culpable negligence is defined in legal terms as recklessly acting without reasonable caution and putting another person at risk of injury or death (or failing to do something with the same consequences). To play at being “tough on crime” is one thing, to let political ideology to take precedence over a public health issue is nothing short of criminal/culpable negligence.

Wayne Phillips
Communication Director,
Educators For Sensible Drug Policy (EFSDP)
Hamilton, Ontario

————————————————————

Re: Love, sex and candy and NDP becoming increasingly irrelevant
(Feb. 9)

Thank you for the perfect title of “Love, sex and candy” and the wonderfully creative graphic of heart-shaped candies in two human hands for your Valentine’s Day issue. Felicia Di Palma’s article on what men want for Valentine’s day was most fascinating and an innovative take on the traditional Valentine’s Day story.
Also of interest was Alex Woznica’s analysis of the NDP as an irrelevant party. He makes many excellent points, with the exception of his statement that the debate on violence in sport has no place in government. This is totally without foundation. The tragedy is that government should be enforcing criminal code violations. To assault a human being in a hockey rink should warrant no protection in order to handle this horrendously repulsive aspect of hockey.

David S. Rovins
Independent Student

————————————————————————————————–

False Allegations Concerning the New Democratic Youth

It has come to my attention that a slate running for executive positions within Concordia’s Arts and Science Federation of Associations, known as Innovation, has been claiming affiliations with the New Democratic Youth and in particular NDP Concordia, both in last week’s paper and on your campus, during classroom presentations.
I strongly urge you to inform students on your campus that these allegations are false. Further, I ask that you remind candidates that untruthful verbal claims concerning our youth section are a sign of clear and utter disrespect for the work our youth are doing not only in Quebec, but across Canada.
To my knowledge, the following students are not in any way affiliated with the NDP Youth section or NDP Concordia, as was incorrectly reported in last week’s edition of the Link: Aaron Green, Chad Walcott, Elliot Kmec, Alexa Newman, Teresa Seminara, Taylor Knott, Allie McDonald, Serge Keverian, Richard Patenaude and Megan-Jane Renshaw
I respectfully request that you understand the severity of these claims and ask that team Innovation withdraw them immediately. Given that I have also been informed that both Aaron Green and Taylor Knott are executives with Conservative Concordia, I am particularly concerned that students would be led to believe that a team with
Conservative ties is in any way associated with the NDP. Significant conflicts have arisen with similar infiltration attempts with student unions in Ontario as well, and as such, on behalf of all New Democratic Youth, I write with grave concern regarding this misrepresentation.

Reem Zaia
Co-Chair, New Democratic Youth of Canada

——————————————————————————–

Re: False Allegations Concerning the New Democratic Youth

Though no members of our team are affiliated with NDP Concordia, we can confirm that no less than two of our executive candidates and one councillor voted for the New Democratic Party in the last federal elections. We feel slighted by one of the teams running in the current election who have actively engaged in negative campaigning against us.
One candidate who also happens to be a member from NDP Concordia, has actively denounced our entire team as Conservative, which we must clarify is certainly not the case. We feel that Innovation represents the political diversity of the Arts and Science student body here at Concordia.
That being said, we do not feel how our candidates vote in federal elections is a pertinent issue in the upcoming ASFA elections. However, if other teams feel that this is indeed an issue, let’s set the record straight in stating that collectively our team has been involved with Conservative Concordia and Liberal Concordia in various capacities. Furthermore, in terms of party affiliations, our members have voted in previous elections for the Liberal Party, the Conservative Party, the NDP and the Green Party.

Aaron Green
Innovation Presidential Candidate for ASFA

————————————————————————————

Re: Sketchy electoral reforms, controversial candidates: ASFA elections shouldn’t be this concerning
(Editorial Feb. 9)

We are writing in response to the Concordian’s claim that the Arts and Sciences Federation of Associations is “little more than a glorified party planning committee.” It is true that this year social events have been the association’s priorities, but the candidates running for “A Stronger ASFA” believe that it’s important to change this next year. ASFA represents almost 18,000 students, students who need to know that their voices are heard and their rights are defended. In ASFA’s various positions on Arts and Science Faculty Committees, Andrew promises to ensure that students’ needs are championed and that the Faculty responds to our concerns. Working with ASFA’s departmental associations, Anna will train representatives to effectively promote students’ rights in the departments. Above all, we will always defend students’ right to accessible education by opposing any and all tuition and ancillary fee increases. A vote for “A Stronger ASFA” is a vote for protecting and promoting your rights and needs.

Anna Goldfinch, VP Internal candidate
Andrew Rankin, VP Academic candidate
Affiliated with “Vote For A Stronger ASFA”

———————————————————————————————–

Re: Sketchy electoral reforms, controversial candidates: ASFA elections shouldn’t be this concerning
(Editorial Feb. 9)

Contrary to what a recent article in the Concordian has implied, the presidential candidate Charlie Brenchley from the “Stronger ASFA” team has proven through his past endeavours to be a dedicated and trustworthy leader. I first met Charlie at Dawson College where we were both in the North-South studies program. This program gave us the opportunity to travel, bringing with us medical supplies and funding for local projects to the developing nation of Nicaragua. For as long as I have known him, Charlie has been involved in improving his academic and social environment. As the former president of the Dawson Student Union and captain of the Dawson Rowing Team (which I was a member of) his dedication never faltered. His tireless efforts to ensure that matters were handled with respect and understanding is a testament to his strong leadership capabilities. Therefore, I encourage you to head to the polls this week and vote for Charlie Brenchley and the “Stronger ASFA” team.

Élaine Charlebois
History Major

Re: “Youth must take the lead in the drive to sustainability: environmental educator” Feb. 2

The environmental solution proposed by Lisa Glithero in the important article by assistant news editor Evan LePage will hopefully be achieved. Nearly 20 years ago in the Laurentians, we had one of the most successful petitions, with one of the highest percentage sign rates in Canadian history, to protect the environment.
Unfortunately every couple of years we wrote all the provincial and federal party leaders, environment ministers and opposition environmental critics with the goal of having the United Nations declare the Laurentians a protected region for the environment.
Until several years ago practically all responded thanking us for our letters and saying how important the environment was and doing absolutely nothing to help us. Recently we wrote the Leader of the Green Party on two occasions and she did not even bother to respond.
Hopefully the youth may change matters and protect the environment in general and the Laurentians in particular as we now realize one developer trumps many thousands of signatures.

David S. Rovins
President, Preservation Laurentides

Thanks for the help

Dear Concordia Student,

First and foremost, the Concordia Student Union would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your efforts and involvement in various Haiti relief campaigns taking place all over campus. Your input, big or small, is greatly appreciated and we would like to share some ideas with you.
The campaigning is going very well, greater than what we had anticipated for and this is all because of your contribution.

The CSU has been partaking in a variety of events, besides from our collection and drop-off bins available on campus; we doubled the cover charge for Reggie’s Thirsty Thursdays, hosted Bollywood night at the Hive where all proceeds went to the relief fund. Alongside with individual donations, our two-week drive got us a remarkable $11,000, and still counting…which will be doubled! Yes, you heard us right! The federal government will be matching every dollar from personal donations.
However, we want to point out that 100 per cent of the money collected from fundraising and donations will be going to Oxfam Quebec. No member of the CSU will claim these as personal donations. Effective procedures are currently underway and we are taking steps to ensure the total fairness of the doubling procedures.

Coming up in the following weeks are Green month and Black History Month, both reflecting the openness and progressive stance of the entire Concordia community and the CSU. We encourage you to take part in numerous social events, workshops, and invite you to visit the CSU speaker series that will be ongoing throughout the month.
For all we get to achieve together and more,
Thank you.

The CSU Executives

re: “Shifting Shapes,” Jan. 26

The extensive and well-researched article on the extremely important and contemporary issue of eating disorders by life editor Valeria Nekhim is one of the finest pieces to appear in a student newspaper or any newspaper for that matter.

David S. Rovins

Independent Student

re: “TAs’ collective agreement goes to arbitration,” Jan. 26

In reading about the raw deal that the union executive and the university are attempting to push on the TAs and research assistants in the Jan. 26 edition of the paper, I was moved to natural sympathy. I did notice however, that most of the statements in the article from the TAs seem to refer to “the union”, as a kind of foreign body, while they are in fact part of this body. This attitude, and the divorce of the rank-and-file from the executive is a major problem plaguing unions throughout the country, with parallels in many other political arenas. At risk of sounding invasive, maybe it’s time to “take the power back.”

Dylan Fraser

Biochemistry

Related Posts