The Charlatan has published 165 news articles since the fall semester began in 2018. But, with so much news breaking all at once, it’s important to check back on some of the biggest stories of the year.
Here’s a look at the top 10 highlights from this year’s news stories that kept students informed, generated controversy, and brought the Carleton community closer.
Ethiopian Airlines plane crash
Two members of the Carleton community were killed when an Ethiopian Airlines plane crashed near Addis Ababa on March 10. Pius Adesanmi, director of the Institute of African Studies (IAS) and professor at Carleton, along with Peter DeMarsh, a Carleton alumnus from 1985, were among 18 Canadians out of the total 157 passengers who died.
A Festival of Life to celebrate Adesanmi took place after on March 26 at the Dominion-Chalmers United Church. Hundreds of community members attended the event, and came together for a night of poetry, music, dance, and spoken word. In addition to statements from family and friends, several high commissioners from African countries also paid their respects.
Where’s the story now?—A fund was created by the IAS in Adesanmi’s honour to “support students and continue his life’s work,” according to the university. Many students and colleagues of Adesanmi hope the fund will be used to support students interested in African studies at Carleton specifically, but decisions regarding the fund will be made by the Adesanmi family.
CFS membership referendum
Carleton students voted on whether the Carleton University Students’ Association (CUSA) should
continue its membership with the Canadian Federation of Students (CFS) on Oct. 19. Roughly 52 per cent of voters chose to keep the CFS on campus. Each undergraduate student pays $16.74 to the CFS annually, totalling just over $440,000 per year.
The days leading up to the vote were filled with intense campaigning from both sides of the argument. The “CU Later CFS” campaign said students should vote to leave CFS because of high membership costs, non-campus professional campaigners being hired by CFS, and financial scandals that the CFS had in the past.
The “Vote Yes CFS” campaign said students should vote to keep CFS for their ability to lobby at all levels of government, allow students to keep services like the International Student Identity Card, and the National Student Health Network.
Where’s the story now?—According to the CFS’ membership bylaws, “in order for a vote on decertification to take place, a member local association may not have held a vote on decertification within the previous twenty-four (24) months.” CUSA will therefore have to be a member of the CFS until at least the beginning of the 2020-2021 academic school year.
False alarm of an attacker on campus
Members of the Carleton community received email and phone notifications from Campus Safety warning of an “active attacker” being sighted on campus around 2 p.m. Jan. 28. It took roughly 30 minutes for Campus Safety to send a follow-up email announcing the alert was false, and there wasn’t an active attacker on campus.
Campus Safety explained the false alarm was accidentally sent out by hitting the wrong key, which sent out the alarm notification instead of saving the email as a template to be used for future emergencies.
Carleton community members were upset over the false alarm, and many voiced concerns regarding the conduct of Campus Safety, as well as the seemingly little amount of information given to students should a real active attacker come on campus.
Where’s the story now?—Campus Safety tested the Carleton University’s Emergency Notification System (ENS) on March 28. Notifications were sent out both before and after the test to alert community members of the test, the ability to provide feedback in a post-test survey, and an informational hyperlink about Carleton’s emergency plans.
Ford administration’s changes to tuition and OSAP
On Jan. 17, Ontario’s provincial government announced a 10 per cent reduction in domestic tuition fees and changes to the Ontario Student Assistance Program (OSAP), which are to be implemented by the 2019-20 school year. The tuition decrease will cause Carleton to lose $20 million in revenue for the upcoming 2019-20 academic year.
According to a press release, students from household incomes of $50,000 will no longer receive “free tuition” from OSAP and students from household incomes over $140,000 will no longer be eligible to receive grants. Premier Doug Ford has also proposed the elimination of the six-month grace period for repaying student loans.
The Ford administration also created a Student Choice Initiative which allows students to opt out of paying ancillary fees that were previously deemed essential services such as student clubs and societies, service centres.
Where’s the story now?—Students have expressed concerns over whether they will be able to attend university next year due to changes in university funding. The future of many student clubs, services, and teams depend upon how many students opt out of ancillary fees next year.
Student groups–such as the Carleton University Students’ Association, the Graduate Students’ Association, Carleton’s campus radio CKCU, and the Charlatan have been working to raise awareness of their services on campus.
Islam Awareness Week in Light of Christchurch
This year’s annual Islam Awareness Week (IAW) saw increased participation from Carleton community members in light of a terror attack in Christchurch, New Zealand which occurred just three days before IAW programming began.
In order to honour the 50 victims who died and the dozens more that were critically injured in the two Christchurch mosque shootings, the Carleton Muslim Students’ Association (MSA) in charge of IAW held a minute of silence every day of the week.
IAW volunteer records showed increased community participation with over 130 free Qur’ans handed out within the first two days of the event. IAW also offered a variety of Islam-related activities such as guest lectures, public prayers, a virtual reality tour of Mecca, and a hijab table.
Where’s the story now?—Noor Shubiar, one of the coordinators of IAW, said she hoped the event would bring Muslim community members closer to their faith and create an open dialogue between non-Muslim and Muslim individuals to combat ignorance of Islam.
Steacie Building Fire
Carleton’s Steacie Building was evacuated Jan. 26 at 7 p.m. due to a fire and chemical hazard. Students were informed that Steacie, Herzberg Laboratories, and Richcraft were all inaccessible both by tunnels and main level entrances via email and emergency text messages.
According to the Ottawa Fire Services, arsenic, hydrogen peroxide in low levels, and hydrogen fluoride were detected in the room where the fire initially started. Although not confirmed, the fire is said to have been started because of an electrical problem and not a chemical one.
Where’s the story now?—Steacie building reopened Jan. 29 for normal operating hours. Clean-up from the fire included repairing water and smoke damage to the building.
Snow Day at Carleton
Carleton campus closed February 12 at 5:30 p.m. for a 24-hour period due to an incoming snowstorm. All classes during the closure, including those with midterm examinations, were cancelled as a result.
Environment Canada released a winter storm warning for southern Ontario on Feb. 12 predicting heavy snowfall amounts of 30 to 40 cm and gusting winds of 60 km/h, which would cause transportation issues and power outages.
Carleton’s snow day remains one of the only days in recent memory when the entire campus shut down all on-campus activities. To provide context, Carleton classes were not cancelled Oct. 22, 2014 when a shooting took place on Parliament Hill.
Where’s the story now?—Due to the snow day, the final day of classes for the 2018-19 school year was pushed a day later to April 10, which caused the final examination schedule to end on April 27.
Prof investigated for testing non-course material
Carleton professor John Rogers came under fire in November when several engineering students alleged he used out-of-course material for an electronics midterm exam to cut the number of students in his course titled “Electronics II”.
Despite data listing students’ grades from 2011-13, which showed more than half the class failed their midterm exam in the years Rogers had previously taught the mandatory electrical engineering course, Rogers said the midterm was fair and that he had considered altering it because he “was worried it might be too easy.”
The head of the electronics department, Niall Tate, met with concerned students and Rogers to get to the bottom of the allegations. Carleton communications confirmed there was an “internal investigation” that took place to determine any neglect in Rogers’ conduct.
Where’s the story now?—The final exam for Electronics II, worth 50 per cent of the course grade, was overseen by a third party due to the allegations. According to Rogers, he suggested the third-party review himself. Rogers added having exams reviewed by department peers was previously a common practice at Carleton.
First-year student death
TRIGGER WARNING: Death, suicide.
A first-year student living in Prescott residence died off-campus by suicide the weekend of Jan. 26.
According to Greg Aulenback, Carleton’s strategic initiatives manager, the university was informed that the student died of “a sudden death off-campus” by Ottawa Police Services (OPS).
“We have been in contact with the family and the students, faculty and staff that are directly affected by this terrible tragedy,” Aulenback said in an email. “We are committed to supporting those affected during this difficult time.”
An urgent floor meeting was held for the second-floor residents of Prescott Jan. 28—a day after residence managers learned about the incident.
Where’s the story now?—Carleton administration has still not commented on the student’s death.
If you or someone you know is struggling with mental health, contact:
- Mental Health Crisis Line: 613-722-6914 (within Ottawa) and 1-866-996-0991 (outside Ottawa)
- Distress Centre of Ottawa and Region 24-hour line: 613-238-3311
- Youth Services Bureau 24/7 Crisis Line: 613-260-2360 or 1-877-377-7775 (toll free for eastern Ontario).
Students who require counselling support can go in person between 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday to Friday, to Health and Counselling Services at the CTTC Building, Suite 2600. Students may also call 613-520-6674 or walk in to schedule an appointment.
Carleton employees can access the after-hours Employee Assistance Program (EAP) by calling 1-800-668-9920, or 613-725-5676 during regular business hours.
Free Speech Policy
Carleton administration implemented its Free Speech Policy as of Jan. 1. The policy needed to be introduced in order to comply with the Ontario provincial government’s free speech directive, which mandates all Ontario universities to implement a free speech policy by 2019 or face potential funding cuts.
The draft policy was open to feedback for just over a year, beginning in October 2018 and getting approved by the Senate during this academic year’s Nov. 30 meeting.
Under the new policy, all faculty, students, and staff are free to criticize, contest, and condemn any views expressed on campus, but also may not prevent, obstruct, or interfere with others’ freedom to express their views. The policy also encompasses related responsibilities like respect, tolerance, and civility.
Where’s the story now?—Emily Grant, president of the Carleton Academic Student Government (CASG) and the undergraduate student representative on the Senate task force, said even though this policy provides a helpful framework for free speech on campus, it is still up to individuals to act respectfully because “at this point, we’re not kids anymore.”
BONUS: Residence shower ejaculation hoax
Storey said staff members informed her of the prank postings—dated Sept. 19 with an official Carleton logo—which were subsequently removed.
“The shower is not a good place to ejaculate. We have had multiple complaints that the water pressure is very low and we are trying to fix it, but the reasoning for it being so low is because of the amount of cum in the drainage system,” the notice read. “We ask you to not ejaculate in the shower so we can resolve this issue.”
Where’s the story now?—The prank was a one-time action, but the buzz that the letters generated lasted weeks, with some students still unsure of the truth. Storey said, for future reference, important notices are typically communicated through email rather than physical postings.
File Photos
