OcroBER 25, 2005

Before sitting down and writing this letter of disgust, I contemplated whether I should respond, because a response would inevitably prove that I took the time to actually read the poor excuse of.a paper. There are many negative characteristics of this publication, but in this e-mail I am choosing to focus on only one! “Drunk Freshman Hits on Student - Sex Does Not Ensue” is under fire! I want to shoot McGuigan and burn his pathetic article! Not only was the article based on pure BULL SHIT, but it wasn’t even grammatically correct. Was he drunk when he wrote it?! First of all the problem to be looked at is the fact that there are drunk freshmen! Who gives a rat’s arse whether or not they are attractive! There shouldn’t be underage drinking allowed. Hey, had there not been liquor provided to the ‘unattractive freshmen’ then the girls probably wouldn’t have taken the time to victimize the fellows waiting in line by ‘hitting on’ them. That poor boy must’ve had quite a traumatic experience. With quotes regarding the well being of his manhood and reference to the fashion police I’d say that it was probably his first real encounter with the female race, unattractive ornot! He should be thanking her for the exposure. The only redeeming quality these gentlemen seem to have is the fact that they chose not to take advantage of these intoxicated females upon their request to “fornicate”. However, this virtue is quickly smeared away by this quote, given by Randy MacIntosh, “I probably would have hit it if no one was around.” PIGS!!! What caring gentlemen these chaps have proven themselves to be. Furthermore, I am revolted at the comparison of the appearance of any young woman to a barn animal. The notion is absolutely infuriating and is degrading to women everywhere. The bottom line is that had it been a couple of absolutely gorgeous

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

young girls, the drunkenness and sexual remarks wouldn’t have even been an issue for the young men in the article. All this is about is the disgusting idea that women are only suitable “companions” if they are attractive. Screw you all!!!

Hugs and Kisses Kim Eveleigh Sober, Angry, and Attractive Freshmen

Dear Mr. McGuigan; Thank you SO MUCH for paying some much

overdue attention to the issue of alcohol-related sexual harassment on campus [“Drunk Freshman Hits on Student - Sex Does Not Ensue”, October 12, 2005). I think that many women can relate their own experiences at the bar to the experience of your friends. Of course, when women experience alcohol- related sexual harassment, it’s more often the case that intoxicated men - with a fascinating sense of entitlement - grind against them without consent, grope them anonymously on the crowded dance floor, or slur crude pick-up lines in their general direction.

And how fascinating that no one ever discusses why those circumstances - which from what I gather, occur with a lotmore frequency and a lot less critical attention - are completely intolerable and inappropriate. Might it have to do with the power dynamics of gender

heirarchy? I think your friends.

illustrated this possibility beautifully when they alluded to the idea that sexual advances from drunk women are tolerable (and perhaps desirable?) so long as the woman’s appearance fits within the framework of a particular beauty standard; that a woman whom they consider “unattractive” is not worthy of being addressed or treated

like a human being (using the pronoun “it” to describe this young woman, instead of “she’’); and that violence against women is acceptable, so long as it occurs discretely and out of public view. Intriguing.

Lauren Warbeck

Dear Editor,

I write to you today as a concerned student. Lately I’ve witnessed and participated in intense debate concerning topics ranging from the increase in fees at UPEI, both in tuition and student union fees, to the lack of awareness on campus about important, student related issues. The debate always seems to come down to the question of how we establish unity and a sense of togetherness among students here at UPEI. Lacking sufficient answers I felt that the first step would be to find out exactly how resources are allocated here at UPEI, more specifically the Student Union. Since the vast majority of the funds comes directly from the students’ pockets, and since the Student Union represents the interests of the students at all times, I thought that finding out how the Student Union manages our fees and decides how these funds are to used, may be a good place to start.

I may have been wrong. I inquired to the VP of Finance at the Student Union about obtaining a copy of this years Student Union budget. I couldn’t get a straight answer that day and when I did, I found out that not only was my request for the budget turned down by the VP of Finance and the General Manager (who I don’t think is even part of the Student Union), but the reasons for doing so made little to no sense whatsoever.

From my meeting with the Finance VP and the General Manager I understood that the reasons for not releasing the budget were twofold. The first being that since the budget involved

THE CADRE e 4

a lot of numbers, students would not be able to understand the budget since they would not have any of the background information used in deciding the document. The second reason was that since the Student Union is an elected body, students have already approved the budget since they elect councilors who make decisions on their behalf at the SU. Basically a proposed budget is put forward and everyone votes on it.

I would like to know how much information the councilors were given when taking up the issue of a budget. Secondary reasons I was given for not releasing the budget were the fact that every student would not be pleased with the budget and they cannot make changes for everyone. That is true but if there was sucha | problem with the budget it doesn’t truly represent students and that students need to have a wider debate about the issue before deciding its contents.

While the latter reason does contain some truth I must point out that the fact that councilors are elected and represent students does not really explain why I cannot have a copy of the SU budget now. The university itself posts a detailed outline of the school’s budget on the school’s main page, available to anyone and everyone.

As to the first reason I’m wondering what we students are being taken for these days. Students aren’t idiots and if those in charge think that they can withhold a budget on the grounds that we wouldn’t understand it, I think its time for them to wake up. Furthermore I don’t think this lack of sufficient information has any bearing on whether or not the budget should be made public, I’ve seen many budgets and different breakdowns of numbers before and I know from experience that if I’m not aware of the context that the information was taken

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