Campus News
Valery Fabrikant Denied Early Parole
The former Concordia professor, who shot and killed four of his colleges in 1992, had his request for early parole denied by the Quebec Superior Court last week. In his decision Justice James Brunton wrote there were “no signs that [Fabrikant] will ever change.” In addition to denying the bid for early parole, Justice Brunton also banned Fabrikant from ever applying for early parole again, meaning he will have to spend at least the next 10 years in prison. Fabrikant had argued he had not planned to kill anyone and that “there were three and a half minutes in my life when I killed four people and there were remaining 67 years of my life, when I did not have even a speeding ticket.” A report prepared by corrections officials and presented as evidence at the hearing paints a chilling picture of Fabrikant’s personality. He indicates the violence perpetrated in the murder of four people and the serious injury to a fifth was neither gratuitous nor excessive. In the case of the former, he states he was acting in self-defence and not only were his actions justified, but the victims were deserving of their fate. He states at no time was he not in control of his emotions.
Fabrikant argued that the fact that he has not been violent in prison should be taken into account, however the Judge disagreed. “The dangerousness of the petitioner in the controlled environment of a penitentiary cannot be compared were he to be liberated. The death of four people is testimony to how the petitioner resolves conflicts when in society. Equally worrisome is that the groups of people he has entered into conflict with over the last 15 years has expanded. It is no longer limited to work colleagues but now includes correctional officials, doctors and justice system participants. None of the members of these groups could feel safe knowing that the petitioner was back amongst them.”
Anticipate a fee levy for People’s Potato
The October 2008 referendum will propose to raise the fee levy for the People’s Potato Collective by 10 cents. Students will pay 37 cents per credit, the price the fee would have reached had it been adjusted to the Consumer Price Index of Montreal every year since its inception.
The fee levy was never adjusted to the CPI of Montreal because of a mistake in the original fee levy proposal, drafted in 2000.
The increase will be used to cover wages, food, gas and the ongoing work of the collective. The People’s Potato provides free meals to students every week throughout the fall and winter semesters.
Students may request a full refund of the levy if they like.
Green Party Candidate Refused Table
Possibly taking a cue from the Canada’s largest broadcasters, the CSU refused to let Green Party candidate, and Concordia student Kristina Vitelli book a table on the mezz of the Hall building to campaign, a privilege that was granted to several of student political clubs. Vitelli said she believes the CSU is biased against her party. But CSU VP communications Elie Chivi said the tables are reserved to clubs recognized by the CSU, and not for individual students.
Local News
Hate crime? Freedom of Expression?
An independent candidate is under investigation after telling a high school audience that gay people should be killed.
David Popescu made the comment when asked his opinions on gay marriages during a federal candidates’ debate at a Sudbury high school. He reportedly defended his statement in a phone call after that day when he said, “My whole reason for running is the Bible and the Bible couldn’t be more clear on that point.”
Police will share their investigation findings with the Attorney General’s office, who will provide direction as to whether or not criminal charges should be laid.
It’s in your best interest to NOT shake hands with a proctologist
Only 28 per cent of doctors wash their hands between patients, according to a report from Ontario’s auditor general. This comes after a special project was launched to encourage hand washing in hospitals in order to curb superbug outbreaks. 18 per cent of doctors were washing their hands between patients prior to the project’s launch.
Nova Scotia’s mainland moose: one step closer to extinction
Officers tranquilized a moose that wandered into a residential area near Pictou, N.S. before airlifting it last Thursday. The moose then fell 4.5 metres when the cargo net carrying the animal came loose. Officials are investigating the death. It’s uncertain whether the moose was already ill or if a combination of stress, tranquilizers and the fall killed it. The mainland moose is threatened by habitat loss, disease, parasites and poaching. And helicopters.
Rapist/Killer serving life in prison gets $2,500
A convicted rapist and murderer serving life in an Ontario prison won damages from the Canadian government for an injury sustained to his thumb. Muri Peace Chilton, born Murray Allan Gartton, was working in an inmate labour program when his left thumb became lodged between two pieces of metal. He suffered a cut, an injured nail and a damaged ego. He sued for physical and psychological damages saying that when the prison shop instructor laughed at him he felt, “utterly humiliated.”
Chilton is in prison for raping, killing and burning a 15-year-old Ontario girl in 1990. He did this while on mandatory supervision for raping and choking a woman, then leaving her for dead in a field on a January night in Winnipeg in 1977.
$2,500 is, perhaps coincidentally, the amount Chilton owes the government in legal fees.
International News
Man hit by two trains, cause of death unknown
A county medical examiner’s office has not established the cause of death of a man from the Bronx. He was hit by two trains on on a commuter rail. Authorities are investigating whether the trains killed him or if the man was dead before he was hit.
The man had sent a “distressed” text message to a friend several hours before he was found dead. Bottles of prescription painkillers were found nearby.
“I caught a fish thiiiis big!”
A man from Louisiana has an even better story: He went on a fishing trip and found five caskets. Each was lodged in the mud, all within an area of about 100 yards.
It turns out Hurricane Ike swept up the caskets from a cemetery. Ike disturbed over 100 caskets.
Darwin is sad.
A Wisconsin man was arrested siphoning gaz from a van. He used a cigarette lighter to check how much fuel was in the container, causing a burst of flame. Neighbours called the police, but the man fled by the time they arrived. They found him in a parking lot, nursing a burned hand.
Missing:
5,000 condoms and a motor used to inflate a giant prophylactic. The items and the condom-mobile they were riding in were stolen in Mexico City. The vehicle – which has painted images of half-peeled bananas wearing condoms and a shirtless man — was recovered last Wednesday. The thieves left the inflatable 23-foot prophylactic and 800 HIV tests behind.
Valuable soup stock Campbell’s soup
No financing problems for this woman
A Chicago woman reportedly won a house on eBay for $1.75. Her bid was one of eight on the auction site. She hasn’t seen the house or property, in Saginaw, Mich, nor does she have any plans to move there. She plans to resell the house. A foreclosure hearing on the property is reportedly still pending; the woman would have to pay around $850 in back taxes and yard cleanup costs. In other words, the cost of her win is about 48,571 per cent more than her initial investment.
A fool and his money are soon parted, indeed.
He could have just walked in to ask for directions
A New York man who says he was disoriented after leaving a parking lot crashed into a map store, according to the New York Post. Was he going to ask for directions? Police ruled the crash was an accident. The map store reopened later the same day.
