CHARLIE TAYLOR, AN Ottawa native from Westboro, is running for his first elected position in the municipal government. A fourth-year journalism student at Carleton University, Taylor decided to run for mayor in order to bring fresh ideas to the table—ideas that he believes would not be presented otherwise. As his candidacy slogan states, he wants to bring a “breath of fresh air” to politics. “There’s no candidate that I would throw my own support behind,” explained Taylor. “Obviously I do...

THIS YEAR, STUDENTS will notice an extra $290 tagged on to their tuition invoices. In spring 2010, the Student Federation of the University of Ottawa (SFUO) and the Graduates Student Association (GSAÉD) held a referendum asking students to approve the spending of $145 per semester for the U-Pass—a discounted OC Transpo student bus pass. The referendum was successful, and the pass is now mandatory for all full-time students at the U of O. “The U-Pass can benefit most any student;...

Cheating takes universities by storm KAMLOOPS (CUP) - ACCORDING TO A new study released by the Canadian Council on Learning, three out of four university students have used technology to cheat or plagiarize in their academic career. The study consists of data from 2006, including a survey of 20,000 first-year students at 11 Canadian universities and colleges. Over half of the students admitted to cheating and 53 per cent to committing plagiarism. When surveying graduate students, the numbers were significantly...

The problem Medical tests required to diagnose diseases need to be performed at specialized centres, causing long wait times and expensive costs. In addition, current analytical tools are limited to looking at only handful of the biomolecules that signal the onset of diseases, such as cancer. The researcher Michel Godin, an assistant professor in the Department of Physics at the U of O, dreams of making disease testing as easy as scanning a barcode. Godin is part of the Interdisciplinary...

OVER THE PAST few years, the University of Ottawa has pushed for a more green and sustainable campus. During the 2009–10 school year, the Student Federation at the University of Ottawa (SFUO) initiated numerous green campaigns, including the launch of the plastic-bag and water bottle-free campus promotion. This year, the U of O has gone one step further to increase sustainability. In conjunction with the Ontario Public Interest Research Group (OPIRG), the U of O has launched a new initiative...

U of O Supermileage team aiming for perfection after second-place win

FOR THE UNIVERSITY of Ottawa’s Supermileage team, fuel is not served up as tall, grande, or venti. Fuel, according to these U of O engineers, correlates with efficiency, and that has become the basis of the team’s challenge since the group was founded in 2008....

WITH YEARS OF disputes behind them, the Sandy Hill community, in collaboration with the University of Ottawa, has formed the Good Neighbours Committee. This joint initiative is designed to bring together students, residents, and members of the community to debate and discuss issues that affect the district. The committee, formed in April, represents all parties of the Sandy Hill neighbourhood: Robert Stehle, president of Action Sandy Hill; Ted Horton, vp university affairs, representing the Student Federation of the University of...

President of U of O implicated in email contempt ---------------------------------------- WITH NEW EVIDENCE on file, the Canadian Press published an article on June 29 in the Toronto Star holding the University of Ottawa’s president, Allan Rock, responsible for the controversial email sent to Ann Coulter before her scheduled appearance last spring. The email—sent by Francois Houle, vice-president academic and provost at the university—warned Coulter about Canada’s laws on freedom of expression, including the restrictions against promoting hatred towards identifiable groups....

THANKS TO THE Student Federation of the University of Ottawa (SFUO), students from the U of O were able to participate in protests at the Toronto G20 summit June 26–27. At least four SFUO services—the Student Appeal Centre, the Women's Resource Centre, the Pride Centre, and Foot Patrol—combined finances from their budgets to rent a bus which took students to Toronto. “The services got together and said ‘there’s a bunch of us that really care about these issues, so let’s...

$1-billion security price tag could have been spent on student debt, they say

TORONTO (CUP) – CHANTS OF “WHOSE campus? Our campus!” echoed through the empty walkways of the University of Toronto as a procession of students snaked its way through the campus to reclaim the space. The campus had been shut down for the duration of the...

NCC develops $2.6M sound and light portrait of Canada

PARLIAMENT HILL IS on fire—smoke rises from Centre Block, flames flicker up the Peace Tower, and the chilling chime of bells is heard over the crackle of the blaze. But instead of horror on the faces of onlookers, there are smiles. The sight before them...