oa
LINTON
Twelve degrees of
separation

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By Ronald Callender

as the oath-of-office snafu,

wherein Chief Justice John

Roberts stumbled over some
wording while President Obama was
being sworn in as the 44th president
of the U.S., a blessing in disguise?
Was poetic justice at work when the
snafu occurred? The snafu has been a
blessing in disguise, at least for me and
will be for anyone who has an interest
in U.S. politics. If it hadn’t occurred,
I would not have looked into the ways
President Obama’s circumstances and
actions have separated him from his
predecessor, George W. Bush.

Within hours of ascending to
the U.S. presidency, Obama signed
executive orders to create the
highest ethical standards for any
administration. His predecessor’s
administration was ethically
challenged. President Obama’s
executive orders dealing with issues
surrounding the military prison at
Guantanamo Bay (“Gitmo”), and its
prisoners are diametrically opposite
to Bush policies on the same matters,
and will close the military prison at
the U.S.’s Cuban naval station within
one year; establish an interagency task
force to deal with what should be done
with the approximately 245 prisoners
at “Gitmo;” restore the standard and
due process for the U.S. military
court-martial system; and end torture,
including water boarding, which was
conducted to get intelligence from
prisoners in U.S. military custody.
Bush’s policies were generally

described as not good for US. citizens
or the U.S. standing in the world.

8

 

Therefore, their undoing means the
snafu was pregnant with poetic justice.
The snafu also propelled President
Obama from just being one of 42
presidents into a special small-group
of presidents. That distances him again
from Bush.

Bush was never sworn in twice
in one term. But President Obama, by
retaking the oath “out of an abundance
of caution,” became only the third
U.S. president to do so in one term.
Chester Alan Arthur, the 21st President
of the U.S., had to retake the oath.
Calvin Coolidge was the second U.S.
president to take the oath twice in one
term.

President Obama is the only U.S.
president to graduate from Columbia
University and to hold a Juris Doctor
Law degree magna cum laude; second
youngest U.S. president ever elected
to the office he holds; one of five U.S.
presidents who invited an in-law to
live in the White House; the eighth
left-handed U.S. president; the first
US. president of African descent; and
the politician who ascended to the U.S
presidency the fastest.

The snafu is a good example
of how something can appear to be
bad for us, but can turn out for our
good: without the snafu, President
Obama would not be part of the
special small group of presidents with
a rare experience and he would not
have an official funny story to tell his
grandchildren about the role of the
“strict constructionist’ chief justice
in the snafu who was the jurist Bush
nominated and he voted against.

 

What-sexual’? The
prefixes are coming!

By Helen Clay

n Tuesday, February 17",
Justin and Helen of the
Douglas Pride Collective will
be hosting an information table for
pansexuality and asexuality in the New
Westminster campus concourse.
No idea what pansexual and asexual
means? You’re not the only one!

Pansexuality is a sexual
orientation characterized by what
some pansexuals refer to as “gender
blindness.” This means that gender and
sex are irrelevant in choosing a partner,
either romantic or sexual.

The key to understanding
pansexuality is to know the difference
between sex and gender. Sex is
biological, determined by your
hormones, your chromosomes and
what’s in your pants. Gender is your
perception of yourself as masculine or
feminine, or in some cases a little of
both or perhaps even neither. So one
could be of the female sex but have a
male gender identity or vice versa.

Now how does that relate to
pansexuality? Pansexuality means
rejecting the idea that only two genders
exist, male and female, perhaps even
thinking of gender as a spectrum,
which we move around all our lives.
So a specific gender is not the focus
in a sexual or romantic partner or
partners. Pansexuality is therefore an
attraction to all genders.

Can pansexuals be monogamous?
The answer is yes. Justin, himself, is
in a monogamous relationship at the
moment. Of course, some pansexuals
opt for non-monogamy, but that is
independent of their orientation, as
many heterosexuals also opt for non-
monogamy.

What about asexuality? An asexual
is defined as a person who does not
experience sexual attraction.

So, if asexuals don’t want to have
sex with anyone, who cares? Why does
anyone else need to know? Well, many
asexual people will still experience
romantic attraction and fall in love.
This gets to be a problem when all the
other people around you appear to be
sexual, and need to express their love
through sex.

There’s been little research on
asexuality to date. One study suggested
that one percent of the population
may be asexual—that’s 22,000 people
in Metro Vancouver! The problem
is that most of these 22,000 people
don’t know that asexual is a valid
orientation, and that they are not the
only ones who feel this way. They may
be in a relationship, very much in love
with their partner, but suffering stress
over the issue of sex. Or, perhaps they
have never felt the need for a close
relationship, and feel isolated from
the rest of society. Many asexuals find
understanding and like-minded people
on the web forum www.asexuality.org.

So come along on Tuesday,
February 17", and check out our
table in the concourse of the New
Westminster campus. We’ll have lots
of info on pansexuality and asexuality,
and Justin and Helen will be there to
answer any questions you may have.
If you’re not in school that day, come
find us in the Pride Office, located in
the New Westminster Students’ Union
Building (room 328). The general
office hours are posted around campus.
Justin’s hours are 12-2 p.m. Mondays
and 10:30 a.m.—2:30 p.m. Thursdays.
Helen is in on Mondays 2 p.m— p.m.

 

 

 

 

 

Justin and Helen from the Douglas Pride Collective