Mixin’ up the medicine Issue 19 January-ish 2014

FREE!

Inside: Free Calendar! / Students Pick the Person of the Year / Is the Fac Broke? / Dave!

Continued on Page 2

Welcome back to our semi-regular review of the state of free speech in France, which is

defined as “the freedom to say what you like ...as long as the government doesn’t have a problem with it.”First off there’s Dieudonné, a “comedian” with a bug in his unfunny ass about “the Jews.”

As everybody knows, whenever anyone starts talking about how “the Jews” or “the gays” or “the Freemasons” or “the Bilderberg Group” control the world, or how “the blacks” or “the Arabs” are ruining the country, you should not take their pamphlet. Don’t listen to them – just keep walking. But even anti-semites and crazy people should have a right to speak their (dam-aged) minds. On January 6 Interior Minister and giant dick, Emanuel Valls sent out an official circular recommending that Dieudonné be banned from performing his one-man show “Le Mur”. Tours and Nantes banned his show. In Toulouse, Mayor Pierre Cohen said he wanted to ban it. The conseil d’etat confirmed the ban. Francois Hollande publicly stated his support.Many people have criticized Valls for using the issue as a distraction from from how giant a dick he is, and have complained that he’s just creating free publicity for Dieudonné.That trivializes the issue: when the gov-ernment can ban speech before it hap-pens, that’s a stunning abuse of power. That they justify it by claiming it is necessary to preserve “public order” is no comfort. Apart from the fact that it’s a lie - Dieudonné’s shows have never caused any incidents - “preserving public order” is the same excuse every dictator ever gave to ban anything, anywhere. That puts Valls, Hollande and Pierre Cohen in some very nasty historical company. His show should not be banned.But that’s not enough... Dieudonné should not be prosecuted - as he has seven times in the past - for “inciting racial hatred” or for wishing (as he did) that journalist Patrick Cohen, was sent to the gas chambers.“Inciting racial hatred” should not be criminalized.Nobody ever says they’re against freedom

You’ve been slipping your quenelle to too many people.

You’re one to talk.

The body of Mirail student Emmanuel Nkisi Etonye was removed from the Ga-ronne Saturday, according to media reports. Emmanuel, 19, enrolled in L1 MIASHS (Maths, applied computing and social sci-ence) disappeared December 20 last year, when he went missing on the way to a party. His cell phone and credit card had apparently not been used in the interval.The National Police in Toulouse told the Mariner that while they were awaiting autopsy results for official confirmation, there was a “strong chance” that the body belonged to Emmanuel. The police were not permitted to provide further details concerning the circum-stances of the death.One thing the police apparently didn’t do is contact the Mirail to inform the uni-versity that a student was missing. By all appearances, the Mariner was the first to bring the matter to the attention of uni-versity officials.Emmanuel’s parents arrived last week from the Democratic Republic of the Congo to

MISSING MIRAIL STUDENT FOUND DEAD

Quenelles & Closer

Emmanuel Nkisi Etonye, 19, was in L1

Are Freedom of Speech & Privacy just for the Powerful?

Continued on Page 2

FREE!

Francois’ Giant ‘But’

About the MarinerYou are reading the Mariner! The greatest free monthly English-language student newspaper in France.

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of speech. They say “I’m for freedom of speech, but...” It’s the ‘but’ that you have to watch. The real test of freedom of speech is not in the easy cases, but the hard ones. It’s in sup-porting the right of horrible people to say stupid and hurtful things.Apart from the ridiculousness of the French justice system getting in-volved in Dieudonné’s songs about “Shoananas,” speech crimes laws do 2 things:First, they treat citizens like chil-dren...as if the people who hear his words will act on them. It says “you are not mature enough to hear certain things.”Second, criminalizing unpopular speech exposes the weakness of French society. A strong society doesn’t fear that a few nasty words are going to tear it apart. A government that is doing its job needn’t think that Dieudonné’s paranoid ravings will be popular. When speech is banned, it’s a sign of deeper problems. The true problem is the deep strain of anti-semitism in France, not one bad comic who makes anti-Jewish com-ments or makes invented gestures.Dieudonné has been attacked with all the power of the government because he reveals an ugly truth about France. He’s embarrassing to powerful people.Speaking of embarrassing powerful people, poor Francois Hollande!He woke up 2 weeks ago to find out that everybody knew his private business. Ok, he’s been schtupping an actress – that might look bad, but it’s not illegal, right? And it turns out someone had been tracking his location so they could find out what

he’d been doing. It must feel terrible to know that he was being secretly followed. Hollande has complained about the intrusion into his private life and has publicly threatened to sue Closer magazine.Unfortunately for this version of events, meanwhile President Hol-lande runs an intelligence agency, the DGSE, that secretly monitors the communications of all French citi-zens, even though they haven’t done anything illegal. French citizens, however, they do not have the luxury suing the DGSE for these – not very legal - attacks on their private lives. (See the Mariner, September 2013 for more on the DGSE.) The DGSE can also track of all French citizens, using cell phone location data, to see whether they have taken scooter rides to embar-rassing places. To see how powerful this ability is, see the Ukrainian protestors who recently received text messages saying “We know you’re at the protest.” Who is more deserving of privacy? Ordinary citizens or the president? Hollande is a hypocrite for claiming privacy that he doesn’t accord us.Powerful beneficiaries of privacy laws believe that ordinary people can’t be trusted with privacy, we can’t be trusted with knowing what the president does with his quenelle and we can’t be trusted to hear - and reject - hateful speech.When powerful people whine about privacy, or when they say “we respect freedom of speech....but...” don’t lis-ten to them – just keep walking.

search for their son. According the MIASHS secretary, they came to the Mirail Tuesday, January 13. An internal email provided to the Mariner explained that the parents “had already contacted the police and didn’t understand why UTM wasn’t aware of the disappearance.”Prof. Claudie Hassenforder, who is in charge of L1 in the MIASHS program remembered Emmanuel from earlier in the semester, when he contacted her to arrange a

make-up exam for algebra. “He passed easily. He really wanted to pass his exams. He said he was worried [if he didn’t pass] he wouldn’t get [his carte de sejour] renewed by the Prefecture.”“He passed the first [set of exams in October]...He came more at the beginning of the year, after he didn’t come back very often,” Prof. Hassenforder said.Our thoughts are with Emmanu-el’s family at this time.

Francois’ Giant ‘But’Continued from Page 1

Missing Mirail Student Found Dead

Continued from Page 1

When Students Speak, We Listen

Person of the Year 2013

Ibtissem Sid-Ahmed, L2 LEA English/Chinese: ‘In my opin-ion, the man of the year 2013 is Nelson Mandela. Even if the year 2013 will be remembered as the year of his death, he will remain a great icon in our history, one that fought for freedom and against racism, two major pillars of history. One of my favourite quotes from Mandela is:

“I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.”’

Kenza Lab, L1 LEA, English/German: ‘The woman of the year 2013 is Miley Cyrus. Like her or not, you have to admit that everybody has been talking about her for months: Miley sticking out her tongue, Miley twerking, Miley smoking pot, Miley hopping up and down naked around some big ball...’

Lena Gimenez, L1 LEA English/Spanish/Chinese: ‘The woman of the year 2013 is Chris-tiane Taubira because she defended gay rights with courage and eloquence, and has managed to keep her head high despite all the attacks she underwent.’

Lily Bessoles, Masters 2 CeTIM (translation & inter-pretation): ‘The woman of the year 2013 (because why not choose a woman?) is undoubtedly Christiane Taubira. I don’t know much about politics but I admire the risks that she took and the fact that she has shaken the country by passing the law about gay marriage. It’s a major

improvement and she will always be remembered for it. Plus she rides to work on a bike! She’s a true woman, with a story and solid principles, and she is not afraid of anything. I could picture her as president.’

Violène Ruffier, L2 LLCE English: ‘I think that the man of the year 2013 is Edward Snowden. What courage! And his revelations are quite ironic when you come to study the [USA’s] founding texts and especially the Fourth Amendment in second year.’

We can all acknowledge that 2013 was one of the top 13 years of the millenium so far. (2008 obviously sucked.) But who was the person that rocked your world the most?

Edward Snowden photoshopped in front of Moscow airport

Feb 11th:The Day We Fight Back

Against NSA

Surveillance”See eff.org for details

Editors’ Choice:

EDWARD SNOWDENPerson of the Year 2013

2013 brought out the heroic side of many worthy individuals - Christine Taubira kept her head high against some pretty low blows, the great Nelson Mandela was laid to rest, Pope Francis did some pretty un-Popey things... But in our office one person stood the tallest this year, making the greatest personal sacrifice to challenge a horrendously powerful adversary, and that person is Edward Snowden.

Snowden gave up a cushy, well-paying job in Honolulu, a model girlfriend, and any chance of ever returning to his country as a free man to expose the illegal surveillance practices of the world’s govern-ment agencies, most notably the American National Security Agency. Governments acting against the will of their people and in total secrecy is a horrifically undemocratic idea, but through the various top-secret documents that Snowden turned over to reporters, we now know this is normal modus operandi for intelligence agencies around the world.

Snowden lit a fire that could rage for years. But without him, govern-ments would continue spying on their own citizens - even innocent ones - and lying to them about it. At least now we’re able to fight back.

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« Des Espaces Autres » A collective student exhibition @ Le CIAM From February 13th to February 27th

On February 14th, 2013, men and women in over 200 countries rose up to demand an end to violence

against women. This Valentine’s Day, they’re returning to the streets to continue the battle. I caught up with One Billion Rising’s Toulouse organizer Taisha Barton-Rowledge for details.“Dance brings people together,” she says. “It’s infectious; it can spread.” Barton-Rowledge, herself a dancer with the Ballet du Capitole, combines the right amounts of technical skill and energy to help the movement recruit enough local support last year to land it on the covers of local magazines. “I love the idea that dance and music are an integral part.”The idea is simple: at 18h30 on the 14th, hundreds of people will break into dance to Aretha Franklin’s ‘Respect’ in the middle of Place du Capitole. They will repeat the dance again around 15 minutes later, this time giving everyone in the area a chance to dance along. “We had over 300 people dancing last time,” she said.

Similar demonstrations will happen in cities around the world, creating a wave of support for women’s rights that will circle the globe. The goal is to have a total of one billion participants, a number reached by estimating that at least one-third of all

women will be touched by vio-lence at some point in the life, resulting in approximately one billion victims. Despite the difficult subject, the spirit of the demonstration is positive. “Hatred can’t be fought

with hatred,” she continued. “We’re go-ing to stand up and dance in the face of violence.”The choice of Valentine’s Day is also no accident. One Billion Rising is a campaign closely related to V-Day, a movement created to use Valentine’s Day as a day of awareness for violence against women.“I can’t think of anything more romantic than someone saying ‘I’m going to fight for your rights,’” Barton-Rowledge added.

To get involved:News and updates, including rehersal and sign-making schedules, will be posted at: facebook.com/OneBillionRisingToulouse

Additional info available at:onebillionrising.org/ and vday.org/and through Amnesty International.

Your Valentine’s Day Plans

One Billion Rising... by Casey Heagerty, M2 English

Jeanne received a BTS in Photography, and is now an Arts Plastiques student at the Mirail. Her photo series is entitled “Une Histoire Vraie” and has been selected with a few other

artistic projects for display at the CIAM next month. The process of “Une Histoire Vraie” starts with writing. Jeanne wrote a fictional story and then took some photos as if it was a documentary. A documentary about a normal, everyday life that becomes increasingly difficult. The histoire vraie of an ordinary woman which is put into the light.

Her pictures, which are made into triptychs, will be hung in a line. In an attempt to create a narration in movement, and get close to the effect of a filmstrip.You can see Jeanne Ménétrier's work here: https://www.facebook.com/jeannemenetrier.photographe https://www.facebook.com/willandjoan.photographersJeanne will also be present for the Vernissage - a chance to meet the artists - on the opening day.

Onwards & Upwards with the Arts

Scratching Student Photographers’ Backsby Alice, L2 LLCE English

Une Histoire Vraie, by Jeanne Ménétrier

Two participants, 2013

Your Valentine’s Day Plans We’re Screwed!

by Paul Scanlan, M1 English

How to Save a Sinking Ship?

Onwards & Upwards with the Arts

The Mirail is set to fall into a budget deficit perhaps as soon as next year, say administration officials, with

serious consequences for students, staff and the university’s independence.The recently passed Mirail 2014 budget will just manage to cover all the univer-sity’s expenses. The problem is when you get beyond next year - then the university starts to risk running a budget deficit. That is, the university doesn’t have enough money to pay all its bills. “2015...we’re ringing alarm bells” said Didier Foucault, history professor and member of the Con-seil d’Administration.If the Mirail goes into deficit, the Rector will come in and take over the administra-tion of the fac from the Presi-dent. What does this mean? “No new projects, no develop-ment, close what’s unprofitable or too expensive until the fac budget is balanced,” Patrick Bouyssière, President of the CFVU (Commission Forma-tion et Vie Universitaire.) This situation is not unrealistic: 14 out of 76 facs in France are already under rectorat control.Prof. Bouyssière said the gov-ernment might seek to avoid the bad publicity of another fac going under rectorat man-agement. If it looks like the university will go into deficit the Ministry will send bud-get consultants down from Paris – possibly from the private sector. But if these consultants come in they will probably be in charge too. Either way it’s a serious step for a university that has a long tradition of democratic self-governance.The university’s budget (or ‘DGF’: Dota-tion Globale de Fonctionnement) comes each year from the Ministry of Higher Education. The CA votes to accept this lump sum, which is usually a formality. Then the CA votes again to decide how to allocate the funds. For several years now the government has pursued austerity poli-cies towards university funding, and now money is tight.During protests in December, protestors said that the 2014 budget was smaller than last year’s and insufficient to run the university properly. They predicted nega-tive consequences including larger class sizes for students, cuts to certain degree programs including ancient languages, Portuguese, Polish and Catalan.

[See December’s Mariner for coverage of the protest.]Some of these claims appear to be mis-taken...for now. It should also be stated that payment to Vinci for the reconstruc-tion of the Mirail does not come out of the fac’s budget, as some protestors claimed. Rather, it’s paid directly from Paris.Marc Gruas, deputy head of the Portu-guese department, was surprised to hear rumors that his section would be elimi-nated, adding they would “fight to keep it open.” Meanwhile, Magali Rouquier Head of the UFR de Lettres, Philosophie et Musique assured the Mariner that the ancient languages dept. is not going anywhere.

The 2014 budget is in fact the same size as last year, Prof. Foucault said, but agreed it was not enough. Plus, with inflation and various increased costs, it’s a question of doing more with the same. The university does not, he said, have plans to cut any degree programs.Prof. Foucault argued the Mirail was rea-sonably fortunate compared to certain other facs in that its finances are suffi-ciently in order that it’s able to make do with the same amount of money this year as last year. Class sizes, however are set to increase. He said Catalan’s future is not bright.Teachers, CA members and students protestors all agree that the current budget was insufficient. The debate was what to do about it.Mirail President Jean-Michel Minovez has already taken a public stand saying the budget is too small. Not all university presidents have been willing to do that.

And that’s a real step. The CA of December 3, 2013 was met with protestors who wanted to block any vote on the 2014 budget. By not passing the budget, protestors wanted the fac to make a power play in its funding negotiations with the Ministry.But Prof. Foucault argued that as members of the CA, thus guarantors of a public service, they can’t just refuse to vote. “Not voting means not having the funds to oper-ate.” Without a budget approved by the CA “January 1, we don’t have any resources to pay our bills. And then what happens? The rector steps in.”Mr Bouyssière echoed the same senti-

ments, “What do [the protes-tors] want us to do, not pay salaries? People have families. All because of 100 students? Get real!” He also said he feared that blocking the uni-versity would lead to confron-tations between students.So if not voting on the budget isn’t the answer, then what is? Both Prof. Foucault and Mr. Bouyssière participated in pro-tests as students. Mr. Bouys-sière - whose pencil mustache and habit of wearing a leather jacket at his desk hinted at a man unafraid of living life on the edge – reminisced about battling the CRS in Montau-ban. Both teachers’ responses

were vague. They argued for more contact between students unions and teachers’ unions. Prof. Foucault mentioned writing a petition. They both mentioned have a protest march somewhere. But where?Almost everybody at the Mirail seems to agree with the protestors point. So if you are protesting people who agree with you on the ends but maybe not on the means, are you just shouting at the wrong building?But the fact remains, if you want to be more effective, you need support. There were 100-200 students who seem to be actively involved in trying to fight for the Mirail’s budget and who are aware of the coming budget crunch. They might be shouting at the wrong buildings...but is it a good thing that at least they’re shouting? And what is everybody else doing?

Left: Mirail President Jean-Michel Minovez requesting additional funds.

The Mirail is almost broke. Everybody agrees on that - but nobody can agree on what to do.

Get involved!

Facebook Group: Mobilisation Université Mirail/ comite.mobilisation.mirail@gmail.com

Armando’s Feel-Good Moment: Silver Lining Moment

My fa-vorite p e -

riod of the year is definitely the time between the end of first semester exams and the moment when the results are revealed. This

magical period when you feel relieved from the pressure of exams and you are in an odd mental state: you are crazy-tired due to the succession of all-nighters, and at the same time you are insanely happy because you can finally take a big breather. Also, you don’t know if you’ll pass your exams or not but you can speculate about it. It is kind of like when you play the lottery. The best moment is when you imagine what you’ll do with your mil-lions. Maybe you daydream about the classic triple-H hip-hop fantasy: drinking Yubari King Hooch out of a five-figure-a-night Hooker’s bellybutton in a stretch Hummer. My own fantasy is to get my millions in 5-euro bills so I can distribute all that cash from a hot-air balloon above Place du

Capitole, so I’ll be able to see from above all the people sharing the money in chaos. Once, someone told me in a grave tone: “Armando, you should not tell people about your dreams.” I still don’t understand why. You may say I’m a dreamer but I’m not the only one. I also like this period because it is when the best parties take place. It is more relaxing that New Year’s Eve. As the party is totally improvised there is less pressure about having the time of your life, and pursuing in vain a sensation that you’ve never felt before. After your last exam, when the whole class gathers outside the exam classroom - everybody rapidly agrees to cruise downtown to get hammered. In those moments, it’s true that it is easier to let go and

you are not afraid to lose control. For just one night your body and mind toler-ate being happily poisoned by ludicrous drinks such as Kalimotxos and Manzana shots. It makes you ponder: does the body rule the mind or does the mind rule the body? I dunno. Plus you finally bond with your classmates, and you feel like privateers in a port of call, gathering strength to raid

the foreign vessel led by the sadistic Spanish Captain: Secondo Semestro.

After a party like that you feel like that furry, pink rabbit hooked up on Du-racell batteries. What a thrill! On my scale of happiness, I rank that enjoyable moment right in between angry sex and a quickie in a public bathroom. I wish you all a happy and prosperous second semester, and above all good grades.

“Armando, you should

not tell people about your dreams.” I still don’t understand

why.

“Ready to do battle with the fearless Captain:Secondo Semestro”.”

So I finally got a col-umn cool!!1

So there I was on the metro and it was kind of late ‘cause it was a Friday night and so

OBVIOUSLY I was out partying or maybe it was a Wednesday. Anyway I had had like 30 beers and it was awesome, and there was this cute girl who was all cute and all, but then she had one-too-many jello shots and she threw up all over but not on me. But soon people started leaving and then I left to go catch the metro, and there I was on the metro and I kind of got sleepy. The next thing I know, I open my eyes and there’s no one else in the metro car, just me. And also, the tunnel was really weird - it was all

bright and white. I was like “Dude, am I dead?” But the metro kept rolling and rolling and there were no stops or anything. I kept see-ing this weird “XII” thing and so I though I was going in circles and I thought “Dude, you found the mythic donut!” Suddenly the metro slowed down and then stopped, and the doors opened. There was this woman who came over to me and she was dressed in white, and she said something in French and I didn’t understand, and then she said: “You can’t stay here. You need to leave.”And my heart started beating and so I’m thinking, “What, are we the last humans on Earth or is there some kind of alien attack going on above and we need to find safety?” And then she said:“You need to come with me.”

So I was like “cool” and I followed her through this weird metal door and then I was on another metro and it looked familair and there was this old woman sleeping on the other side and soon I got to my stop.I got out and I knew there was one thing that would make this night awesomer and that was kebab from Fun Kebab ‘cause they’re the best.I was like “Dude, this is the best.” And I looked over and saw that cute girl and she smiled at me, but then like two minutes later she threw up again and it went all over but not on me. There’s always a story when you go to Fun Kebab.

Dave’s Three-Column Column by Dave Finkbrau, L?