The Cadre ~-

16 March 1999

National News 11 A

Swimmers vow to stop rookie initiations

By DOUGLAS QUAN

VANCOUVER (CUP) — The University of British Columbia’s men’s swim team has vowed to put a stop to rookie initiation ac- tivities after a team member complained that the practical joking had gone too far.

The decision by the T- Birds, who won their second consecutive CIAU national championships last month, ends a tradition that has gone on for years despite the fact UBC Athletics condemns ini- tiation activities.

The move comes about a month after head swim coach Tom Johnson called a team meeting to dis- cuss a complaint lodged by a rookie teammate.

The teammate, who asked to remain anonymous, told the Ubyssey that last January, veteran swimmers gathered the rookies to tell them that they had ejaculated into a spaghetti dinner eaten by the freshmen during their ‘rookie day’ last fall.

“{The vets said], ‘Do any of you remember the pot where the spaghetti dinner was made was in the bath- room?’” the teammate said.

“When I found out, I was like, ‘Oh my god, that’s pretty disgusting.’ That really flipped me out. It had an ef- fect on my social environ- ment. I went quiet. | was kind of mad. And I couldn’t say anything.” ;

But veteran swimmers insisted last week the inci-

we didn’t think through,” said team captain Greg Hamm.

The team then decided to abolish all its initiation rituals, including its unoffi- cial rookie day.

While no members of the team contacted last week would say exactly what goes on during rookie day, they acknowledged “it was a day of drinking and running around,” and a day “to let the rookies know that they're rookies — a weird shaming.”

But they also insisted that the events, aimed at bringing the team together, were always controlled.

Still, for coach Johnson, one complaint was one too many.

“I think the opportu- nity presented itself for me to be able to say, “Guys, as much as you think you are getting this, you still don’t really get this. This is not right.’”

Johnson added that since the incident he’s been trying to find an expert who can come in and give the team sensitivity training.

Team members agreed they had gone too far and it was time to put an end to rookie day.

“Going into it, | was kind of bitter about giving up something that was a good tradition,” said team member Jeremy Jaud. “But the more I reasoned with it, [the more I realized] humiliation was not one of the tools we needed [to build a strong

comfortable environment. But they added they're satisfied with the way the team dealt with the matter, and don’t plan on penalizing

it.

“It was handled prop- erly, correctly,” said Kim Gordon, UBC's co-ordinator of inter-university athletics.

Athletics director Bob Philip said he doesn’t want to see behaviour similar to the practical joke played by the swim team. But he said it’s

difficult to deal with rookie ee activities be- cause of differing interpreta- tions of the hazing.

“We don't have a policy to ban them. The coaches don't want that, they don’t want it going under- ground, they want it above ground as much as possible so they can control it,” added Philip.

University of Calgary sociology professor Kevin Young, who has spent the last

four years investigating socialization and identity in sport, says while teams will often deny any involvement in hazing, in reality, it still goes on.

“It continues to shock me that people involved in athletics comfortably ration- alize this away as though it’s acceptable and legitimate in the name of fun,” he said. “It’s clearly not.”

Students launch legal challenge of federal bankruptcy legislation

By ALEX BUSTOS

OTTAWA (CUP) -— A recent university uate and a na- tional student lobby group will ask the courts to strike down recent changes to the federal Bankruptcy and In- solvency Act on the grounds they discriminate against col- lege and university students.

Annick Chenier and the Canadian Federation of Students argue the changes, introduced year, violate the Charter of Rights and Freedoms by preventing graduates from discharging their student loans in the event of personal bankruptcy until 10 years after leaving school.

In contrast, someone with a commercial loan can be disc of their bank- ruptcy after only nine months.

Chenier, who u-

in toral counseling in 1997 from St. Paul’s Univer- sity, is saddled with $52,000

in debt incurred over nine yee of study. She says her igh loan repayment rate of $631 a month, or roughly 34 per cent of her monthly in- come, prompted her to de- clare bankruptcy. “The federal govern- ment is forcing me into a state of poverty for the next 10 years,” Chenier, 29, said at a news conference Tues-

day.

In nine months, Chenier will ask bankruptcy court to discharge her of her bankruptcy and student debt, said Todd Burke, the lawyer

ting Chenier and the CES. Burke argues the

changes to the act have cre- ated an artificial distinction between student and com- mercial debt.

“This section of the Bankru and Insolvency Act on its face discriminates against students as a class of individuals,” said Burke. “(We) will argue that there is

no reasonable justification for such discrimination, and that student debt should be

treated in the same manner as any other form of debt.”

Burke said he plans to — that treating student debt and commercial debt differently violates the equal- ity provisions in the Charter.

Elizabeth Carlyle, CFS national chairperson, said the case should be seen as an attempt to tackle the problem of student debt.

“The question is not: How can we make loan re- payment easier?” said Carlyle. “The question should be: How can we make loan repayment avoidable? And how can we make a sys- tem so people do not have to incur huge debt loads?”

The average student debt load for a four-year un- dergraduate degree in Canada is $25,000. In the 1996-1997 fiscal year, 10,000 students declared bankru

ptcy.

dent never actually happened team.]” — ;

and that they were only jok- _ University athletics

ing when they told the rook- _ officials said the swim team’s \

ies the tall tale. practical joke violated the | ated with a master’s They added that as_ school’s Athlete’s Code of

soon as they heard from the Conduct, which bits be-

coach that there had ee ae yeaa!

complaint, went straight harassment, including

was just a joke and apologize. hurtful or otherwise offen- “It was a practical joke sive, or which create an un-