Carl Meyer, Excalibur (York University) RONTO (CUP)—A York student was arrested after vocal- ig his opinions about racial profiling on campus and waving pbject that appeared to be a gun. on Boadi, a York student, was arrested by the Toronto on 3 at approximately 5:30 p.m. Ten police officers arrested Boadi outside of the York bkstore after they received an emergency call from York ity and other bystanders that he was holding a gun up in air. Police later confirmed that the gun reports were false. Boadi eduled to appear in court on Wednesday, Jan. 10. ayson Young, a York student, was sitting in a nearby restau- t when he noticed Boadi talking loudly outside. He cribed Boadi’s actions as an attempt at a political statement er than as a threatening act. “To me, it seemed at first like performance art,” Young said. Witnesses said that Boadi was suggesting that the recent k Campus Alert was an example of racial profiling on pus. York University posted a public alert afound campus in H-December after police issued a composite sketch of an The campus alert displays the police composite photo at the ividual they believe committed the sexual assaults in the area. s» top with a written description underneath: “Male, black, 25 to 35 years, 6’0”, medium _ build, bald or shaved head, red shirt, black ballcap.” Boadi “was proving a point; he was draw- ing attention to the fact that this is kind of a farcical example of justice by the university,” Young said. “He was commenting on whether this is an effective way to deal with some terrible behaviour that’s been going on on campus.” | Although emergency calls placed to police stated that Boadi was brandishing a gun, Young finds it difficult to believe that this impression could be given. “He wasn’t even holding [the object] like a gun.” Ellyn Sylvia, a York student, saw police and York security march past her to the bookstore. Young believed that Boadi’s actions were not criminal, adding that the only thing that might have provoked anyone was that “he seemed to stray a bit from the point.” Saada Awaleh-God, vice-president of media relations for the York University Black Students Association (YUBSA), sug- gested that the police responded with unwarranted force. “He wasn’t causing any harm. The amount of force put on him was not necessary. Ten officers for one man is not neces- sary,’ Young said. “Tt took about eight or ten cops to subdue him even though he was being completely peaceful,” he exclaimed. “[It was] this huge parade of police officers coming to talk to this man who wasn’t doing anything criminal.” Sylvia agreed that Boadi was not struggling when police and York security led him outside. “He was pretty docile,’ she said. Young also noted that during the incident, York Security blocked off the area near the bookstore. “There were two security guards saying, “You can’t walk past here.” When mang asked why, he said he was simply told, “You just can’t.” Alex Bilyk, director of media relations at York, defended Any Black Male Could Fit that Description’ brk student arrested while protesting alleged profiling on campus York Security’s decision to involve the police and block off the area. “Nobody wants to fool around when they think there’s a weapon involved,” he said. “York Security took the measures they needed to take in order to allow the police to react to this case. “If someone is causing a disturbance, and there is reason to believe a weapon may be involved, we'll take the necessary action to involve the police as soon as possible,” continued Bilyk. Bilyk, however, suggested that students should be wary of possible police involvement when considering taking similar actions to those of Boadi. “Use your own head,” he said. “In today’s environment, people are all on edge and it’s not an appropriate action.” Meanwhile, some students believe that the incident was pro- voked by the sexual assault campus alerts on campus. The secretary of YUBSA, Yolanda Abrahams, suggested that the composite on the campus alert is not descriptive enough to be effective. “The sketch looked very ambiguous. Any black male could fit that description,” Abrahams said. “Racial profiling still exists on campus,” she said. Other students have suggested that the campus alert bor- ders on issues of racial profiling and that they could have done without the composite photo, since they felt it was too general to be used as an investigative tool. Professional opinions differ on the existence of racial profiling. Thomas Lynch, a detective sergeant overseeing sexual assault crimes in the Toronto Police Sex Crimes Unit, believes that the process used in developing composite photos is highly scientific; however, he would not provide details. “That’s a long process that we use through our forensic identification people, and that’s a process I’m not willing to dis- cuss right now, but basically. we use the victims’ memory of her assailant to prepare a composite.” Lynch was quick to defend the process. “We would never solely go prosecute on a composite. We would have other evidence too,” he said. “We would use differ- ent kinds of identification for down the road, whether it be forensic or whether it be a photo of the actual suspect identi- fied.” credit. January 8 All does bewe, Late registration begins. January 8-21 Réfands for course —" during ms period are = per Fenway 20 Last day to add a course. Last day to change from credit to audit status in a course. Deadline for Scholarship, Award & Bursary Applications for Winter semester administered by Douglas College. . January 21 Last day to drop a course without receiving a “W” on record (subsequent withdrawals receive a grade of “W”). January 23 Deadline to apply for limited enrollment programs for Summer Semester. _ January 24 Last day to apply for Summer Graduation (June). and Deadlines! | Douglas Sindee While we've getting heck into the hang of pop quizzes, all-night cramming and wimainall expensive book prices, don?t forget all of the important upcoming dates and deadlines regarding your studies. Cut ont this info and keep it handy, or for a full winter semester calendar of deadlines, students can also go to the . Donglas College website, at on www.douglas. be.ca. January 3-March 15 Applications or reapplications for Summer for | General Admission programs will be processed but students will receive a late | — appointment ‘time. January 31 Deadline for submission of new International student applications for the Summer Semester. February 1 Early Deadline for Student Loan Application for Summer Semester. Deadline to apply for transfer credit to ensure credit has been record- ed to meet course pre-requisites for Summer registration. February 12 Winter Graduation Ceremony February 12-13 Study Break - Classes cancelled. j February 19-24 Mid-semester - students may obtain mid-semester standing from instructors during this week in order to make decisions about dropping courses by the deadline below. February 28 Deadline for students placed on academic probation from the Fall semester to meet with a Counsellor. Students who do not meet with a Counsellor by this date will be unable to access their records ot register for future semesters.- bnewseditor@gmail.com