On Campus

Phalluses on ballots at Carleton, a racist party & Capoeira

What students are talking about today (February 7th)

From "How to Phallus your Ballot" mlrbMUSIC/YouTube

1. About 1,000 people spoiled their ballots in the recent Carleton University Students’ Association elections, chief electoral officer Sunny Cohen told The Charlatan. Most of the ballots were disqualified because people wrote in more than one place, but more than 100 had penises drawn on them. A “Phallus Your Ballot” Facebook page and instructional video had proposed this act of protest. “If we’re going to elect dicks, we might as well get to draw them,” read the page. Third-year student Sam Corey told The Charlatan he voted for two candidates but drew a phallus on the rest of his ballots because CUSA is too concerned with issues like “safe space.”

2. A fraternity at Duke University threw an Asian-themed party on Friday. The Asian Student Association fought back on Wednesday with a protest after seeing photos of party goers in Japanese kimonos and dressed as sumo-wrestlers. The ASA released the photos but was kind enough to blur faces. Although kimonos and sumo costumes aren’t offensive on their own, The Duke Chronicle reports the party was advertised in an e-mail that started off “Herro Nice Duke Peopre,” a dig at some Asian accents. The frat has apologized.

3. After criticism for failing to notify students about a sexual assault on campus until six weeks after the fact, the  University of Saskatchewan has improved the way it notifies students. U of S Campus Safety’s Harold Shiffman told The Sheaf the university is modelling its new communications after American universities where the federal government requires schools to tell students immediately of crimes on or near campus. In addition to its USafe, a text messaging and emailing service that alerts subscribers of immediate dangers, they’ve launched an impressive detailed crime log.

4. Liberal leadership candidate Justin Trudeau was at Western University this week. He fielded questions about student debt, saying “we have to make sure the path to gainful employment is encouraged from the business side,” and adding he has a target of “70 per cent participation in post-secondary education.” He also made clear that he supports legalization of marijuana, not just decriminalization. Also in marijuana news, a New Zealand study shows that young stroke patients were 2.3 times more likely to test positive for cannabis than other age and sex matched patients.

5. The Eyeopener has a feature this week on the Ryerson Capoeira Club. “Often confused with breakdancing by the untrained eye, this martial art is very unique and deep-rooted in history. In colonial times, Portuguese-occupied Brazil was the largest importer of African slaves… Unequipped and unarmed, some of these slaves developed capoeira as a tool for survival against the harsh conditions of the rain forest and to fight off slave-catchers,” explains writer Charles Vanegas. With moves like “the jump of the monkey” and simulated combat set to live Brazilian music, it sounds like a lot more fun than many campus clubs.

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