Letters to the editor

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Applauding rape

Well, a new school year is upon us, and that means one thing: sexist imbeciles.

I was pretty appalled at what I saw in the quad beer garden last Thursday. The U of M Dance Group had performed a set that they had no doubt worked hard on in the weeks leading up to Thursday and the crowd cheered them on. After their set, the radical cheerleaders came on stage and favoured the crowd with a tongue-in-cheek theatre/cheer set. During their piece warning women of date rape, many men in the audience booed loudly, except of course at the part of the story where the woman gets raped. They cheered at that point.

Some may say that this is just freedom of speech, but it’s more than that. It’s a loud, obnoxious disapproval of women who don’t do and say the things patriarchal men want them to do and say. Maybe they don’t want date rape (or, simply, rape) to be in the public dialogue because coercing women to have sex with them is their idea of romance. Who knows?

It’s sickening to see that U of M students are at best indifferent to rape, and at worst supportive of it. Oh, well, I’ve come to expect the worst.

So, welcome, new students. Greg MacPherson put it lightly at the end of his set when he said, “This is the U of M. Good luck.”

Matthew Nightingale

UMSU off to a scary start

The year has just started and already students have reason to be scared of the actions coming out of the UMSU office. First, the squabble with U1 orientation about getting podium space at the welcome ceremony: it seems that the UMSU executive feels entitled to welcome new students. However, if derogatory remarks have been made by UMSU against the administration in the past couple of years, then it was a good decision to leave them off the speakers’ list and save the U1 students from an inappropriate welcome.

Secondly, last week UMSU decided to evict Campus Massage Therapy from University Centre to give offices to their community representatives. Yes, the reps needed an office in a central location to serve their diverse constituencies, but did it have to be at the cost of a service to a diverse and needing constituency? Apparently it had to happen because there was no written agreement . . . or any rent cheques coming into UMSU’s coffers.

What is scary about both of these events is that it seems UMSU was both inflexible and insistent on following their own agenda with little regard for alternative ideas. I’m getting the feeling that this precedent will continue through the year with continued conflicts with the administration, student groups and other organizations. Keep your eyes and ears open, students — this year could get messy.

Kyle Lamothe fourth-year political science





Volume 94 Issue 5	The Official University of Manitoba Students' Newspaper Website	September 13, 2006

Home About Us Advertise Contact Staff Current Issue PDF Employment Letters to the Editor Meet the Staff Online Archives Personals Volunteer	Font Size Respond Email Print-Friendly Letters to the editor Send your letters to editor@themanitoban .com or drop them off at 105 University Centre Applauding rape Well, a new school year is upon us, and that means one thing: sexist imbeciles. I was pretty appalled at what I saw in the quad beer garden last Thursday. The U of M Dance Group had performed a set that they had no doubt worked hard on in the weeks leading up to Thursday and the crowd cheered them on. After their set, the radical cheerleaders came on stage and favoured the crowd with a tongue-in-cheek theatre/cheer set. During their piece warning women of date rape, many men in the audience booed loudly, except of course at the part of the story where the woman gets raped. They cheered at that point. Some may say that this is just freedom of speech, but it’s more than that. It’s a loud, obnoxious disapproval of women who don’t do and say the things patriarchal men want them to do and say. Maybe they don’t want date rape (or, simply, rape) to be in the public dialogue because coercing women to have sex with them is their idea of romance. Who knows? It’s sickening to see that U of M students are at best indifferent to rape, and at worst supportive of it. Oh, well, I’ve come to expect the worst. So, welcome, new students. Greg MacPherson put it lightly at the end of his set when he said, “This is the U of M. Good luck.” Matthew Nightingale UMSU off to a scary start The year has just started and already students have reason to be scared of the actions coming out of the UMSU office. First, the squabble with U1 orientation about getting podium space at the welcome ceremony: it seems that the UMSU executive feels entitled to welcome new students. However, if derogatory remarks have been made by UMSU against the administration in the past couple of years, then it was a good decision to leave them off the speakers’ list and save the U1 students from an inappropriate welcome. Secondly, last week UMSU decided to evict Campus Massage Therapy from University Centre to give offices to their community representatives. Yes, the reps needed an office in a central location to serve their diverse constituencies, but did it have to be at the cost of a service to a diverse and needing constituency? Apparently it had to happen because there was no written agreement . . . or any rent cheques coming into UMSU’s coffers. What is scary about both of these events is that it seems UMSU was both inflexible and insistent on following their own agenda with little regard for alternative ideas. I’m getting the feeling that this precedent will continue through the year with continued conflicts with the administration, student groups and other organizations. Keep your eyes and ears open, students — this year could get messy. Kyle Lamothe fourth-year political science


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