The smell of barbecue and the sounds of live rock filledthe University of Ottawa campus May 14.

From afar, the lawn in front of U of O’s Tabaret Hall may have resembled the scene of another wild party. But this time the revelers were student volunteers and several hundred homeless Ottawa residents.

Project Homeless Connect Ottawa was a collaboration between U of O, Carleton University, Algonquin College and La Cité Collégiale, aimed at providing Ottawa’s homeless with essential services.

"Help for the homeless, above all, comes through better access to basic goods and services,” said the organizers in a statement. 

The president of the University of Ottawa student federation was arrested Feb. 2 for disturbing the peace after he called an officer “fuck-face,” shown in a video posted on YouTube and confirmed by the Ottawa Police Service.

Police said Seamas Wolfe, president of the Student Federation of the University of Ottawa (SFUO), used the insult after having been warned by the officer not to swear or he would be arrested. Wolfe appeared to be frustrated with the officer’s conduct in the arrest of Marc Kelly in the Student Appeals Centre (SAC) just prior to the incident.

Kelly was arrested for violating the Trespass to Property Act after police received a complaint.

SAC co-ordinator Mireille Gervais said the real reason for the arrest was that Kelly “is an effective political activist.”

The University of Ottawa’s campus security unconditionally revoked a No Trespassing Notice on Jan. 11 that was issued to a teaching assistant accused of painting graffiti. The notice barred the student from campus and he said he suffered from “discrimination, interference, and humiliation,” as a result.

Joseph Hickey, a physics master’s student, said U of O’s Protection Services and U of O president Allan Rock had no right to deny him access to campus because he is a fully-registered graduate student and had TA obligations to fulfill. He said he wants his story known to students.

“It is important that Carleton students are made aware of student repression taking place at their neighbour university,” Hickey said.

Denis Rancourt, the tenured University of Ottawa physics professor who made headlines in March 2009 when he was dismissed by the university, has announced on his blog that the university hired an undergraduate student journalist to spy on him. 

U of O dismissed Rancourt on March 31 because they said he was grading his students arbitrarily. Rancourt was well-known for his pedagogic teaching method whereby he awarded an A+ to all of his students.

Following his dismissal, Rancourt told the Charlatan that “the whole grading thing is a pretext. They’re firing me for my dissidence. It’s a political firing.” 

On a blog post earlier this month, Rancourt said “extensive covert surveillance” by the U of O was revealed through access to information law requests and appeals to the information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario.

After 10 years in the works, students at the University of Ottawa were granted a fall reading week in a motion passed Dec. 7.

U of O vice-president (university affairs) Ted Horton said he’s “very proud of the work on this proposal — it will directly improve the lives of our students. From more academic preparation time for exams and final assignments, to less student stress, it’s a terrific improvement and I’m pleased to be able to bring this change for students.” 

The move has many Carleton students wondering if their university will follow suit.

While students always had a week in February to catch up on readings and study for midterms, such a break has never been granted for the fall term.

Benefits of a fall reading week include reduced stress and anxiety, a chance for students to visit family, and more time to prepare for exams, Horton said. A fall reading week would also help students with exams scheduled as late as Dec. 23, as it would give them more time to travel home for the holidays.

The Bloc Quebecois (BQ) has had a presence for years at the University of Ottawa, student activists say. But now, they’ve made it official. The U of O is now home to the first BQ student club outside Quebec.

Their approval as a club went without incident, despite some controversy.

“We fulfilled all the requirements, which [are] having a club constitution in English and French and having at least 15 members,” said the club’s secretary, Marie-Soleil Ouimet.

The clubs and activities office of the U of O student federation could not be reached for comment, but club founder Tristan Dénommée said the federation has received one complaint about the club.

“The federation got an e-mail,” Dénommée said. “There are people around here who say, ‘yeah, you just want to diss Canadians.’”

It is the acme of foolishness to think any record can be unblemished. 

Carleton varsity men’s hockey team was unceremoniously made aware of that as they were disposed of handedly by the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees 5-2 Oct. 17 on home ice.

The loss marked their first defeat of the season, appropriately administered by perennial rival U of O.

But this loss wasn’t too sore, as the Ravens defeated the Gee-Gees 5-2 the night before at U of O.

Carleton started off the game with fervour, determined to extend their winning streak to four. 

Sorry political science Ravens - it seems our ‘Next Great Prime Minister’ is studying at the University of Ottawa.
On March 18, Amy Marlene Robichaud, a fourth-year political science student from Calgary, took home the title and a $50,000 prize after dominating the final round of the CBC reality TV show Canada’s Next Great Prime Minister.
Robichaud became the third winner of the annual show hosted by Alex Trebek, which started 14 years ago as a simple essay contest organized by Magna International.