Category: News

With less than a month to go before the executive complete their mandate, the Concordia Student Union council of representatives is divided about how to tackle one of the last items on their to-do list before exams start.
At the last regular council of representative’s meeting, held on Nov. 14, VP Internal Laith Marouf asked council to approve funding for a lawsuit against B’nai Brith.
Marouf said that Julius Grey, a prominent human rights lawyer, would take on the case upon being provided with a $2,500 retainer. It is estimated the case would cost the union between $25,000 to $30,000.
Marouf is adamant that legal action commence this Friday, and pressed council to make an immediate decision.
When VP Outreach Benoit Desgreniers asked why it was so urgent, Marouf responded: “You have the election starting next week. Personally, my visa is ending soon and I need to move on this.”
Marouf, who was banned from campus in August, is in Canada on a diplomatic visa that expires in December. His ability to renew his visa is contingent on his regaining student status.
“If we pass this I think we’re violating our own electoral rules,” said councillor and presidential candidate Tom Keefer.
Keefer added that if the upcoming elections are a factor influencing the speed at which a decision is reached, they could be rendered contestable.
The tension became palpable and a difference in priorities became evident as the discussion progressed.
“I don’t think this is just self-interest, [but] I think the key legal battle that has to be resolved is whether or not the university is going to be allowed to expel student union representatives with no trial, with no due process,” said Keefer.
Marouf retaliated. “Personally [I think] it’s more important than you and me back in school, Tom, because that is a personal issue. What I’m fighting for is not a personal issue.”
Council approved the original motion to initiate a lawsuit against B’nai Brith in a special meeting of council held Oct. 24, but was concerned about the size of the legal bills such action could incur.
Interim President Patrice Blais was assigned to investigate the cost. “Somehow I’m really wondering if we’ve [Blais and Marouf] been in the same meeting with the same lawyer at the same time. We definitely have a very different understanding of that meeting,” said Blais. “If we take a final decision tonight, we might shoot ourselves in the foot big time.”
Marouf first introduced the motion to sue B’nai Brith because he says they made racist, libelous, and defamatory remarks about this year’s student handbook and members of the CSU.
Of the handbook, executive director of B’nai Brith Canada, Frank Dimant, asked: “Is this a blueprint for Osama bin Laden’s youth program in North America?”
At the same Oct. 2 press conference, the organization also called for a police investigation into those who “promote violence, hatred, and civil disobedience.”
While many on council support legal action, councillors balked when they were not presented with a hard copy of a specific motion to vote on, or of information regarding the cost.
Marouf hastily penned a motion on a piece of paper, but it was not good enough.
While the original motion passed in October named B’nai Brith as the sole respondent, Marouf wants it amended to include other groups like the university administration and The Suburban newspaper.
Council did not approve of funding the lawsuit for want of more concrete and specific information. The situation has been referred to council’s financial committee and a special meeting of council has been scheduled for Nov. 21, when a final decision is expected.
“If we fast-track the process and we’re not doing it right, then it’s going to hinder our chances of winning, and in such a case against B’nai Brith its going to be a [our] lawyer against 25 lawyers and they’re going to do it pro bono,” said Blais. “I am personally in favour of suing B’nai Brith. I think that we need to do it but we need to do it properly.”

An Umbrella Party Wants to start afresh
By David Demers
Gaining trust seems to be a challenge these days, and the Umbrella Party said they are up to it.
CSU President hopeful Zev Tiefenbach stresses trust as a major concern for the Umbrella Party. “I want to be able to work with all students here. To build things that have a direct impact on their lives.”
The Umbrella Party’s first priority will be to set up an advocacy office. The office, where students can address issues of housing, labour and immigration, is how the Umbrella Party said it will regain student trust. “We feel we can offer students a better way of life,” said Tiefenbach.
Another priority for the Umbrella Party is to determine what became of student finances. “We want to figure out where all that money went and put it back into student life on campus,” added Tiefenbach.
A former People’s Potato Project Co-ordinator and current Financial Co-ordinator, Tiefenbach is confident his experience will show. “The union has to defend the interests of the students. I’ve done it once before. I’ll sure as heck do it again this year.”
Because of the limited amount of time, the Umbrella Party said they are not making promises they cannot keep. “Right now we have to go back 15 steps and start over from there,” admitted Tiefenbach, referring to the recent negative publicity of the CSU. “We want our students to be able to say what they want out of the CSU.”
While Tiefenbach will do his best to have a respectful relationship with the administration, he also understands that the union’s primary concern is the students. “Sometimes the administration has made decisions that do not benefit us, the students. We understand that while we must have an outstanding relationship with them, we want to be clear that we are here to defend everyone’s interests.”
Tiefenbach’s reasons for running stem from his love for Concordia. “I wanted students to be supported by the union. Students should feel proud to be a part of this.” He added that his entire team shares his sentiments.

Democracy in Action
Slate decides to back out, will run again
By Julia Gerke
Jonathan Guido concluded his contention for CSU president last Tuesday after his slate decided to cancel its candidacy.
“The clash of ideologies at Concordia is holding us back from accomplishing what a democratic CSU is responsible for. We are going to take the next semester to study how to be more effective in accomplishing the tasks of the CSU,” said Guido.
Even though he did not make the decision himself, he chose to see the positive side. “I think it’s smart not to run this semester. It means we can get back to our original work,” he said.
His party, Democracy in Action, started out earlier this year as an organization that recruited students and demonstrated the principles of participation in the democratic political process. Students are shown how to turn their issues into resolutions and to have them adopted by authorities. The issues can encompass anything from human rights to environmental concerns. “If we don’t participate in our democracy, then who will?” Guido asked, pointing out that there will always be people with opposing views.
The 19-year-old political science student decided to run for president in hopes of ending the ongoing tussle between ideologies in the CSU. Rather than choosing an extreme of the political spectrum, his party, instead, focused on a middle position. “We are moderates,” said Guido about his party, explaining: “By leaving the ideologies aside, we can focus on what is important, the students.”
Guido and his slate wanted to be seen as mediators between conflicting parties, extremely open to constructive criticism and able to learn from past experiences. They hoped to increase the student involvement and boost confidence in the union by working closely with them.
Guido plans to stay involved in Concordia politics. “We are going to regroup, reorganize, and prepare for future elections.”

New Organized Way
New Organized Way wants to build relationships with corporations
By Lucy Teagle
The New Organised Way aims to get Concordia back on track. Set up this year, this slate wants to introduce a variety of new strategies to Concordia with the goal of cleaning up its public image.
President of the New Organised Way and third-year political science student Luis Diaz said that, if elected, he would rework the student union policy and set up a new working relationship with the university administration.
“The current state of Concordia’s public image is mostly due to inappropriate political action carried out by CSU. These issues should be dealt with through student organizations. We aim for an impartial union that promotes student issues – most students don’t even know they are entitled to health and dental care,” Diaz said.
“We do not foresee any difficult relationships with the administration. We want to work alongside them, and co-operate in dealing with Concordia’s student affairs.”
The New Organised Way is made up of full-time students that are active in university issues. They want to involve and inform the student body through activities, debating clubs and assemblies, giving all students a medium to express themselves.
Priorities include replacing the agenda and improving the financial situation of the union.
“We are currently under-funded, and so we want to rebuild public relations with corporations to support careers fairs and funding. However, we want to listen to students before making decisions.
“We will then restructure union expenses, as the current union is not funding [groups] properly and money is disappearing. They are randomly giving money to groups and some are under or over funded. We need to keep public records, and allow access to information.”
Diaz believes that his main opponent in this election is apathy. “We hope to see a high turnout this year. The turnout for the last election was just four per cent, and that is how the current student union got there in the first place.”

The Left Opposition Party for a Really, Really Democratic Representative Union
‘Left’ to democratize admin
By Laura Lovasik
The Left Opposition Party for a Really, Really Democratic Representative Union is inspired and lead by Tom Keefer, the CSU student accused of uttering death threats to a Concordia security guard last July.
According to party members, The Left Opposition was formed to ensure that all genders, races and religions of Concordia students would have equal rights in the university.
Consequently, the party has made democratizing administration a main point in their platform. Such changes would entail major management restructuring, namely having the rector, the dean of students, the Board of Governors, and all administrators directly elected by the students, faculty and staff. Keefer even vowed that if his party is elected, the first thing they will do is put the Dean of Students, Donald Boisvert, out of office.
Additional points in The Left Opposition’s platform are intended to improve student services. The party plans to obtain free education, fair university trials, new self-awareness and self-knowledge classes and adequate prayer space for Muslim students.
Equally important, the party intends to remove aspects of Concordia they consider problematic. This would mean eliminating all profit corporations, including those that are linked to prison murders of union activists and/or building of weapons of war. They also plan to ban CSIS and military advertising from Concordia.
According to Keefer, students should vote for The Left Opposition to ensure they’ll truly be represented democratically. He said his party would hold monthly assemblies and distribute regular newsletters to keep students informed and opinionated. Keefer is confident that such a routine will help students and the CSU build a lasting and secure relationship.

Representative Union
Experience is key: Schulz
By May El Habachi
Chris Schulz president of the Representative Union slate said that experience in politics is necessary to implement platform ideas. He added that his slate has the experience needed to run the CSU.
According to Schulz, the Representative Union consists of students from different backgrounds, different disciplines, and different political beliefs. “I believe by having a mix of political beliefs the union will be less prone to adopt a narrow political agenda,” said Schulz.
He added that he decided to run because he has been active in the CSU since he came to Concordia. Schulz was a councillor and a clubs commissioner, so running for CSU president was the next logical step. Last year he ran for president and lost.
However, Schulz is still determined to run again because he said his team has an important contribution to make to student life.
According to Schulz, the main idea of the platform is the establishment of a student fund. This fund will be financed by the university and its aim is to absorb assorted costs for students. For example, students would not have to pay to use the audio-visuals and they would not have to pay to hold a theatrical production in the Oscar Peterson Concert Hall.
It is crucial for Schulz to be accessible to students. “We’re going be there when students want to talk to us, and we’re also going to be in classes telling students what’s going on,” said Schulz.
When asked why students should vote for him, he replied by saying that the Representative Union brought change to students through a petition of 3,200 student signatures who wanted to have a presidential recall election. Schulz added that students should vote for his slate because they have experience in student politics.

Students who have an understanding of Lampoon and have tremendous zeal
Co-operation with administration, corporations needed
By Vince Carpini
The people who make up S.H.U.L.T.Z. really want to offer a response to what’s been going on in the CSU over the last six months. “We plan to take an approach that we’ve heard a need for,” said candidate for vice-president of university affairs Michael Amin.
Amin said that students should vote for S.H.U.L.T.Z. because they are nice. More importantly though, is the fact that S.H.U.L.T.Z. is committed to bringing money into Concordia through corporate sponsorship. Corporate sponsorship is at the heart of the party’s slate. They hope to build relationships with corporations in order to secure funds for what Amin said are some badly under-funded programs. The money would be used to buy better equipment, hire new teachers and improve salaries for existing professors.
The first thing S.H.U.L.T.Z. will do if elected, said Amin would be to bring back ZOOM Media. “They were a major contract for the school and it was completely wrong to oust them.”
Amin emphasized his party’s desire to work with the university administration, and not against it. “Don’t bite the hand that feeds you,” he cautioned and added that the administration is not against students, but rather is there for them.
The biggest challenge will be restoring voter confidence in their union, and the S.H.U.L.T.Z. slate said they recognized this. “Whoever wins the election will need a long time to get back the confidence of the students,” said Amin. S.H.U.L.T.Z. will work to earn the trust of students by being honest and public in all matters. They will maintain open forums with students and the administration. “We’ll have no secrets,” promised Amin.

CSU presidential candidate Tom Keefer has had his ban from campus lifted so that he can campaign for CSU president.
Tom Keefer was expelled from Concordia for allegedly uttering death threats and assaulting a security guard last July. A superior court judge allowed Keefer to have access to only the CSU offices so that he could fulfill his duties as a student representative. The university justified the ban of Keefer on the basis that he was not a student at the time of the confrontation with the security guards.
“Tom Keefer can run for president because he was given honourary membership as a CSU member,” said Jessica Lajambe, the chief electoral officer (CEO).
In a press release dated Nov. 20 Rector and Vice-Chancellor Frederick Lowy said that Keefer would be allowed access to the entire university, only during the time frame of the campaign period. The campaign period ends Nov. 29.
Lowy added that he had “reservations with respect to the CSU having chosen to permit an individual who has been banned from campus.”
Posters being torn down
Some posters of the candidates have been torn down, according to CEO Jessica Lajambe. Lajambe said that Fire Safety Officer Normand Lanthier had taken down some posters and he later allegedly admitted to taking them down.
Lajambe then met with Lanthier and Michael on Nov.19 to discuss postering. According to Lajambe they agreed that if a poster was blocking a door or a window, they would then give the CEO 24 hours to remove the poster.

Among the referendum questions being asked to Concordia students in the upcoming election will be the issue of democratizing the position of dean of students. Appointed by the rector, the dean of students is responsible for various aspects of student life.
“I think this will give students a better relationship with the dean of students,” said CSU VP Outreach, Benoit Desgreniers, who listed three major advantages of an elected dean.
“Students will be able to question the Dean of Students and bring about more important services and better representation. He or she will now be accountable to the students and not just the rector. Also, the students can evaluate his or her performance.”
The dean of students is responsible for poster policies (defining the criteria of posting notices on University grounds), administering to the needs of international students, setting up funds for student initiative and special projects, and a host of other duties.
Patrice Blais, interim president of the CSU, believes it is important that the dean of students be elected. “You’re working for the interests of the students. The best way to do what they want is to let them choose you.”
As a further benefit, Blais sees an influx of student enterprises and funding. “There’s going to be debates, and people will come in and try to sell to the student body new ideas and projects which will enhance the quality of student services.”
When asked if he thought democratizing the dean of students would empower the students, Blais replied: “definitely.”
Donald Boisvert is the current dean of students with 15 years experience. “I understand the CSU’s position,” said Boisvert, who refused to comment further on the referendum question.

One of the referendum questions that will be on the ballot will be about changing the media fund’s collection and redistribution.
Currently, the media fund is $0.15 per credit. The referendum question asks to change the media fund to an “ongoing media fund of $0.13 per credit indexed annually to the CPI index for the City of Montreal.” That means the fund will vary according to the rate of increase of the cost of living.
However, a lower media fund fee does not mean that the clubs that receive money from this fund will get less of it. On the contrary, the new fund would collect more money, said Sabrina Stea, former president of the CSU.
In previous years, students from the faculties of fine arts, arts and science and independent students paid for the fund. If the new fund is voted, students from all the faculties will pay. “That’s why we are able to reduce it [the media fund],” said Stea.
The second major innovation concerns the redistribution of money. Usually, money was equally divided between CUTV, CJLO and the Amateur Radio Club (ARC), regardless of their real needs. According to Stea, the new fund would be more democratic. Each club will have to present potential projects and the money will be allocated depending on how much each project requires. Stea added it could create a stimulating competition between CUTV, CJLO and the ARC.
Marcelo Coelho, CUTV executive producer, agreed with this idea. “The good thing about the new fund is that it can allow the most active of the media clubs to have a bigger share of the money.” Nevertheless, he added that “active” is a subjective concept and that the redistribution of the money has to be done carefully . “CUTV believes that a committee has to be created to decide how the fund will be shared.”
The new media fund would also benefit non-academic clubs.
Another advantage of the new fund would be its stability, said Stea. It would not need adjustments because of its indexing to the CPI.
The current fund will expire in Winter 2003. However, if students approve of the change, the new media fund would be effective in January 2002.

OTTAWA – When people think of protests, they envision marches and chanting, the waving of posters and clashes with the police. What many do not see are the groups working behind the scenes trying to make the situation more bearable by providing food and shelter to those who need it.
Concordia had its own contingent of such helpers at the G-20 and International Monetary Fund/World Bank demonstrations in Ottawa last weekend. The People’s Potato made the two-hour trip to Ottawa last Thursday night to prepare for what would be a weekend of providing hot food to very cold people.
“People get hungry and tired. We just want to give them a good place to eat,” said Claire Daitch, a Concordia graduate and one of the People’s Potato’s four organizers.
The People’s Potato is better known for providing free lunches at Concordia, but made the trip this weekend to work with fellow free-meal provider Food Not Bombs, a veteran group of the anti-globalization protest circuit.
When all was said and done, some 1,500 vegan meals were served Friday and Saturday to any activist in need. All provisions were paid for through private donations and not student fees, said Daitch.
According to the anthropology graduate, the group went to Ottawa with no political agenda, simply to provide food for whoever required it. The police, though, made no distinction between them and protesters.
“We were stopped by the police three times, and searched twice,” said Daitch. “The first time they were following us for ten minutes, when we accidentally pulled into the bus lane. They pulled us over, and said we had been doing fine until then,” said Daitch. They were simply asked their business and were free to go.
The second time, they were not so lucky. “We were pulled out of the car by riot police with their clubs. The entire car was searched.” Once the police realized there was only food and pots in the car, they were allowed to go, but the feeling of intimidation was there.
The third search was during one of the set ups, when the police actually examined the contents of the cooking pots to make sure it was really food they were transporting.
One of the difficulties was finding a place where the police would let them set up. “It was hard finding a safe location,” said Daitch, since police forced them to move several times.
Their final supper was served Saturday evening in the courtyard in front of the protester Welcome Centre at Ottawa University. As they packed up to return to Montreal, Daitch expressed her belief, that, in spite of police interference, the project was well worth it.
“It’s really important to provide support for these groups when they’re out here. There’s a really good feeling out there.”

Accusations that the voices of Palestinian refugees are not being heard are being dispelled by the likes of you and me.
Two students – Shannon Bow and Jordan Popp – from McGill took the opportunity to go to a Palestinian prison camp in Lebanon with a Canadian organization called the Canadian Palestinian Alliance (CPAL) to educate children in refugee camps in Lebanon.
Now they are home, taking the stories of the refugees and their plight to universities and lecture theatres across the country.
For the 16,000 people that live in the camp, their life is a refugee’s life of hope and pride: hope that they will return to their homeland someday, and pride of their existence and identity.
But in this one square kilometre of land that they have been given by the Lebanese government, they experience conditions that are not fit for any human being. Plastic water tanks filled with stagnant contaminated water line the tiny alleys and rats run around the four or five storey buildings in this open style prison.
“Prison in the sense that they cannot leave because they is nowhere else to go for them,” said Bow, who is studying anthropology at McGill.
For them everyday in the camp is a reminder of their lives – they are viewed as a wrong and forgotten people who live but for the absence of death.
“They have lost sight of all comparisons to the outside world – the camp is all they know,” said Popp, who is studying social work at McGill. “One of the hardest things about our job is trying to get the kids motivated enough to go to school. They tell us, ‘what does it matter what we learn – I’m only Palestinian.'”
Bow and Popp chose to go to the camps to see for themselves what these people went through and how they lived every single day of their substandard existence.
“We wanted to see these people and realize that they are not just a refugee problem and that they are people like you or me,” said Popp.
“Knowledge is power,” said Bow. “And now we have the knowledge of the refugees and their lives we want to take that to people all across Canada and make them aware of their situation.”
The students said the children they taught were definitely the strength of the camps. Bow and Popp added that the children are viewed as the new hope and the generation that will finally lead a revolution that will take their people back to their promised land.

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