Volume 29, in the Year of the Lord 2008
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concordia’s independent newspaper kerning the Golden Arches since 1980 Dare to be bare NAKED YOGA HELPS MONTREALERS LEAVE IT ALL BEHIND • PAGE 9 Living in the library for literacy • News page 5 • Sports page 19 Men’s basketball team respond to McGill Tribune’s criticisms • Opinions page 21 Use door handles, not door buttons & drink to Obama’s inauguration volume 29, issue 19 • Tuesday, January 20, 2009 • thelinknewspaper.ca volume 29, issue 19 • Tuesday, THE LINK • JANUARY 20, 2009 • THELINKNEWSPAPER.CA/NEWS NEWS 03 CSU Chair rejects recall petition and resigns Recall moves to Judicial Board as battle continues • JUSTIN GIOVANNETTI tern to stall the whole process: the worried about Cohen. “The CEO has longer it goes, the better it is for the the documentation everyone else has, On the afternoon of Jan. 13, CSU.” so he will have to make a decision. He Concordia Student Union Chair Nudo declined a request for com- will also have access to the bylaws and Jessica Nudo rejected a petition to ment by The Link. the student lists, just like the Chair recall the student union executive. In the Jan. 13 letter sent to Blais, did.” Twenty-five hours later she Nudo also stated that the recall violat- Upon a request for interview, resigned. ed the provisions of section 247 of the Cohen declined and asked that a list of “I cannot be a part of this continu- Standing Regulations of the CSU. questions be submitted only by email. ous war over power and some individ- Those provisions, approved by the Blais confided that even if Nudo’s uals’ ‘claim to fame’,” wrote Nudo in CSU Council three days before Nudo rejection is overturned, it might be too her resignation letter, received nine received the 3,600 signatures, set new late. “With an election scheduled for minutes before the scheduled start of a guidelines for all recall petitions, March, the CSU will say, ‘It’s too late CSU Council meeting on Jan. 14. “An invalidating the campaign Blais had now,’ even though they are the cause on-going battle remains between the already set in motion. of the delay.” CSU and certain individuals, who have “I filed a complaint with the According to Blais, a solution exists formed their life goals around an Judicial Board, if that doesn’t work to the current disagreement. “The log- attempt to impeach anyone who then I will file an action in Superior ical conclusion is to go the university stands in their way.” Court,” said Blais, who has thus asked registrar and say, ‘Hey can you check In an email sent Jan. 13 to Patrice the JB to overturn Nudo’s rejection of this,’ and have them compare the stu- Blais—a lawyer and president of the the 3,600-signature petition and invo- dent names, but the CSU doesn’t want CSU in 2001-2002—Nudo wrote that cation of section 247. to.” she had “generated an electronic data- The head of the JB, Tristan Kashfi argued that Blais had yet to base from the data in [Blais’] petition Teixeira, confirmed that the JB contact the CSU with the proposal. and compared it with the electronic planned to meet on Jan. 20 to discuss The president also told The Link CSU membership list.” She claimed Blais’ contestation. “I’ve read the com- that she had had no contact with the that only 1,300 of the 3,600 handwrit- plaint and I’ve gone over the evi- Chair before she resigned, but did ten signatures on Blais’ petition dence,” Teixeira said. confirm “the last week was stressful matched those of undergraduate stu- In the event that the JB overturns for her.” dents. Nudo’s ruling, the CSU’s new Chief “I respect her for completing her “Had she checked the petition prop- Electoral Officer, Oliver Cohen—elect- duties,” Kashfi concluded about the erly, she would see that that isn’t true,” ed Jan. 14—would need to validate the now ex-Chair of Council. Blais said of Nudo’s ruling. “But to say petition, Teixeira said. The current interim-Chair of that two out of three signatures are “I don’t even know if he’s been Council is Brent Farrington, former false is only a way of creating doubt given access to his CSU email yet,” CSU president from 2003-04 and cur- about the validity of the petition. I was Teixeira said of the new CEO. rent National Deputy Chairperson of not very surprised, this is part of a pat- CSU President Keyana Kashfi isn’t the Canadian Federation of Students. “Were it not for these guys,” change another institution.” Shh! We’re tearing said LeClare, “I probably would One former prisoner could not have gone back into the institution make the meeting, however, as he 232,800 within a year. I had a bad reputa- had found a job and was working number of adults admitted to down prison walls tion, nobody would hire me. [But], that night, although his absence some form of custody in when the need was there, they spoke to the successes achieved by Canada in 2005-06 Roundtable discussion on prisoners’ rights took me under their roof, under ReCon in reintegrating those their wing.” under their care back into society. weighs pros and cons of radical reform LeClare later joined ActionVie, Said one prisoner, “It’s nice to a group that prepares prisoners for know that those who are forgotten • CHRISTOPHER OLSON Concordia, aimed to help various their parole hearings and, eventu- [by the prison system] aren’t actu- working groups to improve condi- ally, life outside of prison. ally forgotten.” 33,440 Two prisoners currently serving tions in Canadian prisons. Helen Hudson of the Certain number of adults in custody life sentences used their once-a- Just how much must be com- Days calendar committee said that Proceeds from the Certain Days: across Canada in 2005-06 month reprieve from their prison promised in the pursuit of prison schools and institutions of learn- Freedom for Political Prisoners walls to discuss the effects of reform was up for debate: ing are the direct opposite of pris- Calendar go towards helping prisoner Concordia’s grassroots activism in “Termites will [tear down] the ons, where personal improvement advocacy groups and can be pur- their now-native environs. walls, not a hurricane,” said one is squandered instead of fostered. chased at the Concordia Community The two men were invited to prisoner. It is an imperative of the edu- Solidarity Co-Op Bookstore or from take part in the roundtable discus- Former inmate George LeClare, cated, argued Hudson, to lend certaindays.org. 3,500 sion, called “Tear Down the who spent 32 years in prison their support to those without it. number of those prisoners Walls,” at Concordia’s Community before finally achieving parole, “As students, we have access to To find out more about currently serving life sen- Solidarity Co-op Bookstore on Jan. owed his easy transition into a free information about human rights. ReCon or to get involved, email tences in Canada in 2008 15. The talk, hosted by the Quebec life to groups like ReCon, a work- [We] take what we’re learning [email protected] or call 514-848- Public Interest Research Group of ing group of QPIRG-Concordia. from one institution and use it to 7583. STATS PRISONER JUSTICE AND RECON 04 NEWS THE LINK • JANUARY 20, 2009 • THELINKNEWSPAPER.CA/NEWS Don’t get any bright ideas; most councillors have been left in the dark. GRAPHIC GINGER COONS Former CSU bookkeeper sued for $363,238.25 ‘I can’t even fathom the secrecy,’ says councillor • TERRINE FRIDAY hefty amount, the statement of claim—filed the bylaws they broke this year? Of course.” at Quebec Superior Court on Dec. 29—shows Kashfi maintains that former CSU presi- The Players: Councillors of the Concordia Student her only official debt is a negative credit card dent Shuriye should have seen the warning Union are outraged that they’ve been left in balance of $6,893.98. The remaining balance signs of unbalanced books. An overview of the names the dark about the union’s finances. is “unaccounted for in the [CSU and “You’re managing a corporation, really,” Several members of Council—the govern- CUSAcorp’s] accounting books and records.” Kashfi said. “Just like if the cash is short at Council ing body of the CSU—say they haven’t been The legal document also claims Lyonnais Starbucks, it’s your job to find out why from - Officials elected by student body given any concrete numbers about money is responsible for failing to file provincial and your employees and to rectify it.” - The CSU’s only mandated decision-making missing from the union’s piggy bank. Some federal payroll deductions amounting to body also claim they were not aware that a law- $56,350, with interest included. Financial controls and improvements suit, signed by the CSU’s legal team on Dec. Osei argued that “if the CSU really wanted Kashfi said the current executive is doing Keyana Kashfi 23, had been filed against former CSU the students’ money back, the CSU should everything it can to rectify the financial - Current president of the CSU employee Marie Lyonnais for the total have also sued the [Order of] Quebec shortcoming and isn’t being secretive about amount of $363,238.25. Chartered Accountants,” which represents its the numbers. Fauve Castagna members. “I don’t know who advises them “I’m not withholding information from - CSU VP Finance: 2007-08 Crunching the numbers legally.” the student body,” Kashfi repeated.