© News the other press e KHellyParry e kelly-parry@telus.net January 21, 2004 President’s Diversity Writing Contest Kelly Parry News Editor Interested in writing about diversity? The President's Writing Contest on Diversity is an annual event sponsored by the Office of the President with support from the Equity and Diversity and Diversity Event Planning Committees. The event cul- minates in an awards cere- mony in the third week of March during Diversity Week. The contest is intended to: raise awareness of diver- sity at the College and to encourage an appreciation of that diversity. It is an opportunity to highlight the importance of _ literacy across all programs at the College and to express the President's interest in and support for the develop- ment of students’ writing skills. Students prompts to begin writing encouraged to address questions such as: What does diversity mean to you? How has diversity shaped or enhanced your life? What are the principles of diversity that you would like to share with others? Students’ submissions are judged by committees with broad representation. Prizes are awarded and publication and display opportunities provided for winning sub- missions. Deadline for this year’s entries is February 14. Application forms can be picked up in the library. looking for can be Wanted: Minister of Good Times Kelly Parry News Editor Let the good times rule! The Guinness Party of Canada is giving its more than 105,000 registered members new cause to celebrate. The party, which launched as a grassroots movement last year, with a mission to make St. Patrick's Day a National Holiday, cele- brated its first anniversary today, with a Toronto News Conference to introduce a brand new leader and an exciting, new national initiative. “I am proud to have led our party since its founding. We've accomplished much together in a very short time,” says retiring Guinness Party of Canada Leader Karen Cutaia, who took the party and its platform to Parliament on May 28, 2003, for an exclusive meeting with more than 30 MPs, Senators and VIPs including the Irish Ambassador to Canada. “But it is time now to pass the pint to a new leader, to advance our cause,” she announced to a surprised throng of party faithful and reporters gathered to learn the party's news for 2004. Stepping up to the plate is Guinness Party of Canada co-founder Michele D’Angelo, whose aim is to recruit new members and national support for more good times. “Our party started as a platform for Canadians to stand up and state what they believe. Good times, with 18 percent, topped our list of member beliefs.” “I am delighted to assume leadership of the Guinness Party of Canada and to announce an awesome, new initiative to help further our goals,” says D’Angelo. “What this country needs are more great leaders dedicated to making good times rule in Canada,” she says. “To this end, the Guinness Party of Canada is conducting an in-depth national search for an entirely new posi- tion, Minister of Good Times.” It’s easy to run for this amazing new portfolio. Every Guinness Party of Canada member in good standing is eligible. Simply visit , to join the party (if youre not already a member) click on the NOMI- NATE icon, and state why you or your nominee should be elected Minister of Good Times. The Guinness Party Whip and a team of Believers are also touring Canada’s pubs and licensed establishments. They've recruited more than 800 new leadership candidates since the blitz began last October. Candidate photos, beliefs, and self-styled portraits are already posted at . To ensure regional representation, the party is also partnering with radio stations in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, and Montreal to hold local nomination and selection events. Founded in January 2003, The Guinness Party of Canada is dedicated to Community, Conviction and Good Times. The party has already inspired a Private Member’s Bill, to be presented in Parliament this year by MP Pat O’Brien, calling for a new mid-winter holiday. The Guinness Party of Canada Wants You! The Guinness Party of Canada cele- brated its first anniversary, Wednesday, January 14, 2004, in Toronto with new party Leader Michele D’Angelo. Monterry Summit Opens Ted Morrison OP. Contributor The gang was all there: Paul Martin, George W. Bush, Vincente Fox, and elected leaders from Latin and South America, along with their entourages, at the Special Summit of the Americas. The only missing American nation was Cuba, which has long been banned for lack of democracy. And let’s not forget the protesters. Right from the start there were strains. The assembled nations found it hard to agree on the agenda. The United States, Mexico, and many other countries were anxious to expand the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), and discuss security and corruption, while several of the South American leaders, including President daSilva of Brazil, felt that social issues should take center stage. This dis- crepancy threatened to destroy the Summit. Brazil wanted to discuss security issues, though not in the same sense as the US does: In response to the recent fingerprint- ing and biometric scanning of visitors to the US, Brazil began doing the same to US cit- izens. Fox wanted to discuss security and immi- gration too, in particular Bush’s proposed amnesty for several million illegal immi- grants from Mexico currently working in the United States. Fox cancelled a visit to the President’s Texas ranch after Texas exe- cuted a Mexican national last year, so there we Page 4 — e _http://www.otherpress.ca was pressure to thaw relations. Security was on the minds of many, including the populist lord of Venezuala, Hugo Chavez, although speculation was that what Chavez meant by “security” is consolidation of his shaky grasp on power. The respective leaders of Canada and Mexico also cautioned the United States to focus not only on security, but on trade and travel between the countries with which it shares borders. Paul Martin was there to walk a tightrope. Already many Canadians felt he would be “over-friendly” to the Bush administration. Many are outraged by his public mulling over participation in the US “Missile Defense Shield,” a gadget for which the technology does not yet exist, and which is viewed by many other nations as a threat in itself. On the other hand, Martin wants and needs to relate better with Bush than his predecessor, Jean Chrétien. If Martin succeeds, he'll be the first Liberal prime minister to get on well with a Republican president. Of course, being per- ceived as too willing to cozy up to the US is viewed as a fatal flaw in Canada, a country somewhat neurotic about-its sovereignty. A particularly thorny problem was the call from Washington to expel corrupt nations from the Organization of American States (OAS). However, as many of the other countries point out, a floor-model descrip- tion of corruption would be difficult to cre- ate. Could Canada be suspended for the cronyism of various cabinet ministers in the Irving scandal? In any event, the Summit will determine whether the Americas lurch onward in uni- son, or collapse in chaos, as did last year’s Free Trade meeting in Mexico City. It is hoped that the various nations could recog- nize where their shared interests lie.