Anti-abortion Display Generates Controversy

Robert Kotyk, CUP Central Bureau Chief

WINNIPEG (CUP)—When it came to
the University of Manitoba, a controver-
sial display comparing abortion to global

 

atrocities such as the Holocaust drew crit-

icism from student groups who say its
message is inappropriate.

The Genocide Awareness Project
display, which was set up on U of M’s

campus Oct. 12, juxtaposes images of
aborted fetuses with photos from the
Holocaust and other instances of geno-
cide.

University of Manitoba Students for
Life brought the display to the campus.
The club posted signs warning students
about the graphic nature of some of the
images and handed out pamphlets to
those who walked nearby.

The club also created controversy last
March when it used the same images in a
display set up in front of the university
library.

“We're here to educate people about
abortion,” said Dale Dewit, president of
Students for Life. “Bring it up, discuss it,
[and] get an exchange of ideas, because
we feel that as long as people don’t think
about it, it’s going to keep happening, and
we don’t want that.”

Several campus groups opposed the
display, including Students for Choice, a
group established in response to the fra-
cas earlier this year.

Kim Flynn, a member of Students for
Choice, said she objects most strongly to
the style of the group’s presentation.

“Abortion is not genocide,” said
Flynn. “It’s inaccurate and they make it
inflammatory. Instead of approaching the
issue, [Students for Life] tries to make
people upset with the photos.”

“The dictionary definition of genocide
is an extermination of a mass group of
people based on their race, ethnicity, reli-
gion [...] and women don’t have
abortions for that reason,’ added Holly
Anderson, another Students for Choice
member.

Stephanie Gray, executive director of
the Canadian Centre for Bio-ethical
Reform, which provided Students for Life
with some of their material, said one of
her group’s activities involves training
campus anti-abortion groups to defend
their point of view.

When a similar display was used at the
University of British Columbia for the
first time, Gray said, it was met with hos-
tility.

“We get a wide range of responses,”
she said. “There are definitely degrees of
opposition.”

Gray asserted, however, in comparing
abortion to historical atrocities, her group

is trying to encourage students to learn
from history.

“If you study history itself and you
look at the history of 20th century atroc-
ities,” she said, “you'll see at the time
various injustices occurred, people who
were trying to prick the conscience of the
public in general often would make paral-
lels between past atrocities.”

Members of the University of
Manitoba’s Jewish community also took
issue with the comparisons made in the
display.

“What they’re doing is taking the
revulsion that you feel when you look at
the pictures from the Holocaust and
they're just tying it to abortion,” said
Gershon Richter, a member of the uni-
versity’s Jewish Students’ Association.
“It’s a deceitful tactic.”

“Whatever your views are on [abor-
tion], the fact that they’re putting that out
there [...] they shouldn’t be allowed,” said
Aliza Millo, another member of the
Jewish student group. “You can’t compare
them.”

 

Globe and Mai! Puts Universities to the Test

Meghan Waters and Ryan Muscat
The Silhouette (McMaster University)
HAMILTON (CUP)—Canadian universi-
ties have been put to the test, and the
results were published in the Globe and
Mail Oct. 13.

Unlike last year, when the newspaper
ranked universities, this year the schools
were allocated letter grades based on the
opinions of 27,811 current full- and part-
time undergraduate students. All of them
are members of the StudentAwards.com
online database, and the ratings are based
on their responses to more than 100 ques-
tions.

Wilfred Laurier University in
Waterloo, ON, is one of the schools that
ranked well, managing an A grade in the
education category, and an A- in student
services. Laurier was ranked in the small
category, for those schools with fewer
than 12,500 students.

Wilfred Laurier Student Union
President Steve Walker was not aware of
the results of the Globe and Mail rankings,
but said: “Laurier is very proud of its
extensive community on campus, and stu-
dent services contributes to that greatly.”

Hamilton’s McMaster University
ranked consistently in the top four in the
medium-sized school category (between
12,500 and 25,000 students). The school

HW | OTHERPRESS

ranked third out of 17 schools in educa-
tion and student services with an A and an
A-, respectively. McMaster scored slightly
lower in career preparation, ranking
fourth with a grade of B+.

The medium-sized school classifica-
tion had the highest number of schools.
The large classification had the fewest,
with only nine schools.

McMaster Student Vice-
President Tommy Piribauer is also pleased
with the report card.

“T think one of the best things that it
shows is that we’re balanced in all areas;

Union

there’s no significant variance,’ said
Piribauer. “Although we didn’t score
straight A’s across the board, it is a success
that we are balanced at a high level.”

Piribauer also said good showings in
high-profile rankings are important for
the university. “Anything that shows up in
any type of media is positive if we score
well,” he said.

However, Piribauer was not satisfied
with McMaster’s B+ showing in quality of
teaching.

“We can’t constantly focus on research
at the expense of teaching quality,” said
Piribauer. “You always want to see your
university score well, but you also want to

see your university
score well in teaching
too, and that’s some-
thing we need to
improve upon.”
McMaster did, how-
receive an At

in faculty

ever,
members’
knowledge of subjects.

For Piribauer, recent
developments on cam-
pus mean that the university has the
potential to increase its stature. “If you
look at the recent investments, the
DeGroote (donation of $105 million) will
hopefully move McMaster up in the rank-
ings.”

For Amina Rai, Student Union
President at the University of British
Columbia, her school’s B grade in educa-
tion highlighted where improvements
need to be made.

“In regards to the academic section, in
terms of overall excellence, I think it is a
good indication that new methods need
to be looked at,” said Rai. “There are
problems of over-crowding in class-
rooms, and because of that, students feel
alienated from the class.”

UBC was classed in the large division,

 

for schools with more than 25,000 stu-
dents.

Rai also said improvement is necessary
in the student union, which she said needs
to be more student-oriented.

“We have our offices open to students
to show them where and how their repre-
sentation is occurring,” said Rai. “The last
few years, the AMS (student union) has
gone more towards a business route. We
need to get back to grassroots advocating
for students.”

Some schools faired poorly across the
board, including the University of
Windsor in the small schools division.
The university came last in a field of 12 in
the student services and career prepara-
tion second-last in

categories, and

education.

Qetaber 27/2004