APRIL 5, 2005

THE CADRE © 7

Continued from page 8

Essentially, the answer to a problem rooted in the concern for a political ideal (that of the SU), was rejected and justified through practical concerns. Yet whatever the practical costs, the democratic ideal should be upheld, as democracy is the supposed system upon which the SU is founded. When practical concerns act as a trump card to dismiss political ideals there is no longer balance in political responsibility. A purely practical or purely ideal political system is mediocre; mediocre in that it is feebly able, if that, to fulfill its function.

(b) The second example I will discuss has been already been debated and outlined in the previous issues of The Cadre. This is the issue of Ryan Gallant running for SU president, while being both the current SU Arts Representative and The Cadre Managing Editor (the issue of his appointment as Cadre Managing Editor is also contentious, but will not be discussed in this article). Firstly, my qualm is not with Ryan Gallant, but rather with the institutions, individuals, and regulations that have allow him to retain his full position as Cadre Managing Editor (which included weekly rants on the 2™ page of the newspaper). In response to my queries Pat Curley stated, “during the election process I kept a very close eye on The Cadre and at no point did I feel Mr. Gallant said anything in The Cadre that supported his platform or went against any other candidates. I do not feel it is a conflict of interest for him to have run in the election and been working for The Cadre and there is no mention ofa by-law not permitting a person working for The Cadre from running in the Student Union election.” However, | fail to see how Mr. Curley’s scrutinizing addresses the fundamental underlying conflict at hand: the issue of unequal distribution of justice to all candidate of the election. ;

Evenif Ryan Gallant’s editorials

were totally unrelated to his campaign, there is no way to measure the influence such editorials (including Gallant’s trademark use of the 7 symbol) had upon the student body. This fact, that of influence, is only of importance due to the emphasis placed upon this by the election rules and regulations themselves which there is an inconsistency in distribution. More simply, Ryan Gallant seems to be exempt from certain rules that other candidates are forced to adhere to in order to maintain the semblance of a legitimate campaign. For example, to minimize unfairly influencing voters, election candidates were restricted from accessing computer labs (apart from the one specifically designated in the SU Building, specifically for candidate use). On the other hand, Ryan Gallant is permitted express his opinions, photo, symbol, and general editorial judgment (selection/editing of articles) in The Cadre, a media outlet which other candidates explicitly cannot use as a means of political influence. The influence that Ryan has achieved through The Cadre is too wide in scope and subtle to measure or even estimate. In consequence, whatever the amount of influence Ryan has achieved through the Cadre, his potential influence would greatly dwarf the potential influence of other candidates in an unfair manner. This described inconsistency is so obvious that I am surprised nothing was done to pre-empt or correct the situation. For example, this could have easily been prevented by simply removing Ryan Gallant’s weekly editorials for a reasonably specified period or, perhaps more appropriately, allow another qualified person to edit The Cadre for the given period. In a practical sense, as Mr. Curley stated, there possibly could have been no impact by Ryan Gallant’s presence as Cadre Managing Editor, which I believe is doubtful. Despite this, the importance of maintaining/striving for the ideal

political, in this case an equal distribution of justice, should not be compensated for by a speculative practical intuition that the electoral process is fine.

In conclusion, I wish to re- iterate the importance of balancing practical political concerns and ideal political concerns. If the practical is overemphasized, as exemplified in the above mentioned actions of the SU, the notion of a true democracy becomes unimportant. The mediocre win and mediocrity is established.

Dominique Taylor

Dear Mr. Editor,

I’m writing in response to the article, “UPEI Student Wins Award at Model UN Conference- Racism Allegations Just Hype: Essaigher” by Kimberley Johnston, published in the March 30, 2005 edition of the Cadre. I'd like to straighten out a few things for Cadre readers. What was supposed to be an article focussed on Zain’s success at an internationally recognized conference, ended up continuously referring back to rumour- based comments regarding alleged “drug usage” and “visits by the police.” To begin with, the reason why few straight answers can be given at this point in time is not at all because myself and other delegates have anything to hide about what happened at the conference. The events that occurred during that week are still being discussed and looked at by the administration, and thus it would be inappropriate for us to make any further comments on the situation at this time. Secondly, there were no “racism charges.” Yes, there were racism allegations, and to echo what Zain said, “don’t believe the hype.” I personally know that there has been enough talk going on around campus regarding this trip, and I feel that it’s time that the reputations of the students, who attended this conference as UPEI

delegates, stop being tainted. To reiterate, this was not “A trip marred with police visits.” There was one call to the police regarding an isolated incident, which had absolutely nothing to do with any “drug usage,” bar fights or prison time- so don’t get too excited. Furthermore, the UPEI delegates who attended the conference this year are all but closed-minded. This was the largest UPEI delegation the Canadian International Model UN has ever seen, and I think I can say it was also the most diverse. Whether it is the various faculties we represent, or our varying cultural and ethnic backgrounds, we cover a broad spectrum of personalities. Spend five minutes with us, and you'll know.

Every UPEI delegate who travelled to Ottawa this year did a fantastic job at the conference, and we all wore our UPEI pins proudly. This trip should be remembered for the great job we did representing our school and for the awesome experience we got from it.

Finally, a news report should be just that- a report on what actually happened, not a report on what the rumours say. ‘

So, next time, you may want to leave your cheesy hyped up rumours and inaccurate comments behind, lest someone who knows the facts reads your article.

Shami Hariharan, UPEI Model UN Head Delegate and Organizer