PC at Uni to the extreme

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Atan Nolme

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Oct 14, 2004
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OTTAWA -- The Carleton University Students' Association has voted to drop a cystic fibrosis charity as the beneficiary of its annual Shinearama fundraiser, supporting a motion that argued the disease is not "inclusive" enough.

Cystic fibrosis "has been recently revealed to only affect white people, and primarily men" said the motion read Monday night to student councillors, who voted almost unanimously in favour of it.

Every year near the beginning of fall classes, during university orientation for new arrivals, students fan out across the city and seek donations from passersby. According to the motion, "all orientees and volunteers should feel like their fundraising efforts will serve their (sic) diverse communities."

Nick Bergamini, a third-year journalism student on the student council, said he was the only elected councillor present to vote against the motion. The decision is an example of campus political correctness gone too far, he said.

"They're not doctors. They're playing politics with this," said Mr. Bergamini. "I think they see this, in their own twisted way, as a win for diversity. I see it as a loss for people with cystic fibrosis."

The Shinearama fundraiser is carried out by students at about 65 colleges and universities across Canada. It has raised money for the Canadian Cystic Fibrosis Foundation for almost 50 years and Carleton has been participating for at least 25.

During orientation week this year, Carleton students, who have raised about $1-million over the years, raised about $20,000, said foundation chief executive Cathleen Morrison, who was surprised and dismayed by the student association decision.

The rationale for dropping cystic fibrosis as the beneficiary is not correct, she said. CF is diagnosed just as often among girls as boys, although the health of girls deteriorates more rapidly, she said. It is commonly considered an illness that affects Caucasians, but that includes people from the Middle East, South America, North Africa and the Indian subcontinent.

" ‘Caucasian' as we understand it isn't just white people," said Ms. Morrison. "It includes people with a whole rainbow of skins."

One of the councillors who voted in favour of switching the charity said Monday night that the information provided to the panel prior to the vote was factually incorrect, and he will be seeking support from other members to hold an emergency meeting to reconsider their decision. "After seeing all the reaction today, I definitely think it should be revisited and reconsidered," said Michael Monks, who represents Carleton's business students for the student council.

Student association president Brittany Smyth said the motion came about because the association has been contemplating rotating the beneficiary of Shinearama to different charities each year instead of giving the money to a single charity.

"It's about people wanting to do something different," she said.

The motion was forwarded by Donnie Northrup, who represents science students. Mr. Northrup did not respond to a request for an interview.

The preamble to the motion is Mr. Northrup's explanation for why he supports the motion, based on what he learned as an orientation-week volunteer, said Ms. Smyth.

In making a decision, it was not the preamble but the declaration itself that matters, she said.

"The preliminary is the councillor's own motivations and ideas," she said. "Most discussion revolved around rotating the charity."

Mr. Bergamini said he doesn't believe the decision represents the opinion of most students.

"They're playing racial politics with something that is supposed to bring people together -- a charity," he said.

Ms. Morrison, who hopes to get a chance to set the record straight with the student association, said students raise a healthy chunk of the approximately $16-million raised each year to support cystic fibrosis research.

The median life expectancy for a person with CF in Canada is just over 37 years, about twice what it was two decades ago. The money for research has helped produce a lot of international "firsts" including isolating the CF gene and carrying out the first double-lung transplant for a CF patient.

Meanwhile, public reaction to the student association decision has been swift, from those who denounced the decision as political correctness to those who facetiously mused about what would qualify as an "inclusive" disease. Others wondered if the student association decision would affect alumni donations to the university.

"The reasoning behind this is totally ridiculous. Eventually cystic fibrosis is a fatal disease. I wouldn't wish it on anyone," said Marie Lunney, a Carleton graduate who has worked as a foundation volunteer. "If I had a choice between donating to CF or Carleton, I'd donate to CF."
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Source
 
a disease can infiltrate a person more readily depending on their genetic markers. certain loci, most of which make up the MHC for antigen presentation, are found in certain groups of people and not others. also, depending on the cell surface receptors being displayed, or how a protein is processed and at what rate, can also have a dramatic effect on the pathogenesis of something like CF or SCA. chalk it up to evolution, not racism, on the part of the disease or the body's ability to fight it.

did the university do the right thing? depends on the mission statement of the institution. if their goal is to help all, and not a select group of people, then maybe the money should be used elsewhere that would effect more people. then again, last i checked out the demographics, aside from Toronto and the northern territories most of Canadia is primarily caucasian.

okay, that's the most thinking i've done in a week. my brain hurts now.
 
plot said:
bottomline: what a douchebag university
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it's ottawa. what do you expect? :p
while their intent was probably in the right place, this was a dick move. why not add on another charity, or have the students have the right to vote on the charity for that year?
 
Carleton students to reinstate charity
Cystic fibrosis cause dropped for not being 'inclusive' enough

OTTAWA - The president of the Carleton University Students' Association (CUSA) says she will move a motion to reinstate Shinerama as the frosh-week charity of choice after it was dropped on Monday for not being "inclusive" enough.

The preamble to the original motion stated that cystic fibrosis affected only white people, and mostly men, and that the intent was to find a charity that served the "diverse communities" at Carleton University.

The motion passed almost unanimously, but the resulting uproar has caused the student association to think twice about its decision.

CUSA president Brittany Smyth said talks are in the works to hold an emergency meeting next Monday or Tuesday to reinstate the charity.

In a news release issued yesterday, Ms. Smyth said "the issue has been blown out of proportion."

"We're really sorry for the confusion," she said.

Nadine Imbleau-Redmond, the Eastern Ontario regional director for the Canadian Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, called the news of the students group's change of heart "wonderful."

"We're overjoyed here at the foundation," she said. "We're just happy that the group heard the outcry of the students and population, and felt committed to the cause. They're doing the right thing."

Ms. Imbleau-Redmond said the flap should not strain relations between the university and the charity.

"The vote was based on incorrect information, and now that they've been informed about the correct information and the legacy, they're realizing what it's all about," she said.

Ms. Imbleau-Redmond said the controversy has heightened awareness about the charity and the disease, which is a fatal genetic disease that primarily affects the lungs and digestive tract.

CF is diagnosed just as often among girls as boys, although the health of girls deteriorates more rapidly. It is commonly considered an illness that affects Caucasians, but that includes people from the Middle East, South America, North Africa and the Indian subcontinent.

It is estimated that one in every 3,600 Canadian children is born with the disease, and there are 3,500 people in Canada who attend specialized clinics for the disease.

According to the CF foundation's Web site, half of all Canadians who have the disease are expected to live into their late thirties and beyond. Initially, the life expectancy was childhood.

Shinerama is carried out at about 65 colleges and universities across Canada. It has raised money for the Canadian Cystic Fibrosis Foundation for almost 50 years. Carleton has participated for at least 25 years.

During orientation week this year, Carleton students, who have raised about $1-million over the years, raised $20,000.
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from same source http://www.nationalpost.com/related/links/story.html?id=997995

still a douchebag university for ever even making it an issue
 
i often wondered how they can strech immunology into a 3 year degree pathway, looks like i was right
 
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