U of O Watch mission, in the words of Foucault...

"One knows … that the university and in a general way, all teaching systems, which appear simply to disseminate knowledge, are made to maintain a certain social class in power; and to exclude the instruments of power of another social class. … It seems to me that the real political task in a society such as ours is to criticise the workings of institutions, which appear to be both neutral and independent; to criticise and attack them in such a manner that the political violence which has always exercised itself obscurely through them will be unmasked, so that one can fight against them." -- Foucault, debating Chomsky, 1971.

U of O Watch mission, in the words of Socrates...

"An education obtained with money is worse than no education at all." -- Socrates

video of president allan rock at work

Monday, March 1, 2010

U of O student newspaper Business Manager Frank Appleyard threatens legal action against UofOWatch blog posts

What was Mr. Rock Thinking?

In two recent posts (HERE and HERE) we reported breaches of professional journalistic ethics by staff and journalists at The Fulcrum (U of O student newspaper) regarding Fulcrum staff and journalist treatment of former U of O physics professor Denis Rancourt.


Fulcrum Business Manager Frank Appleyard objects to some of the content in the two posts and believes that he has been unjustly defamed.

In particular, it appears that U of O's President Allan Rock hired Appleyard in 2009 to reward him for his critical editorial coverage of Rancourt.

The best way for Mr. Appleyard's objections to be fully and accurately represented is to post his detailed letter of protest. Appleyard's letter is posted HERE.

This way readers can judge for themselves.

The Fulcrum Publishing Society (FPS) Ombudsman has a perspective at odds with that of Appleyard and an interpretation of his own Ombudsman's Interim Report that is relevant in the matter of the alleged unjustified defamation of Appleyard.

The FPS Ombudsman's reaction and clarification is posted HERE.

It appears that Mr. Appleyard (and the FPS Board of Directors) did not read the FPS Constitution all the way down to Section 12; the "Conflict of Interest Policy" section. As pointed out by the Ombudsman, the meaning and intent of Section 12 are quite clear.

[The FPS Ombudsman was immediately suspended by the FPS Board of Directors following the release of his Interim Report, for not agreeing to perform his duties as directed by the Board - for doing his job. At the time of this posting he had not yet been removed from his position.]

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

I wonder if Rock has anything to do with the lawsuit... he certainly has motive...

Anonymous said...

I note that Rancourt is the always first person to step up and publicly demand reparation or apology for the infringements on his reputation or rights, but he is more than happy to lay out false or unproven allegations about others as factual with maximum dissemination.

Where is this man's principles? What happened to his integrity. So much for standing up for freedoms, and rights.... Denis Rancourt is stands for only one thing... and that is Denis Rancourt. And God help anyone who gets perceived by him as an opponent.

Anonymous said...

What's wrong with Rancourt standing up for Rancourt? Sounds like you got beat up a few times in high school... couldn't stand up for yourself, could you?

UofOWatch Editor said...

See also the many comments and exchanges on the related previous UofOWatch blog post "What was Mr. Rock thinking?"

Pierre-Joseph Proudhon said...

It would seem to me that Rock and Appleyard should come clean and tell us what the Ombudsman would have discovered in what he was about to investigate...:

-What were the job functions of Appleyard under Rock?

-How much was Appleyard paid by Rock?

-What was the selection process for this job? How was it advertised?

-Since the job was paid using student tuition money, how did it serve students?

-Did the job involve covert information gathering like in the case of Fulcrum editor Maureen Robinson's job with the admin?

-What were Appleyard's special talents that made him suitable for this job with the President's office?

...seems to me these are relevant questions that any ombudsman would want to follow up...

ooops the Ombudsman was suspended and fired by Appleyard's buddies in mid investigation...? No...

Anonymous said...

I think it's funny that Appleyard has only managed to discredited himself even more with the nonsensical threat of legal action.

Rock must be paying good $$$ if Appleyard can afford to sue.

But Appleyard, please do sue! We need Rock as a material witness!!! Get Rock on the stand! Yes, get Rock on the stand!

Anonymous said...

Yeah all of that would have been asked in the investigation but the ombudsman was too busy conjuring up
1. pre-emptive reports with unfounded assumptions,
2. disregarding the by-laws of the FPS,
3. dissolving and trying to nullify the very investigation committee that was in the process of Rancourt's case...

Check out page 2 of La Rotonde, there is a full page on the matter. Something Mr. N and DGR probably don't want you to see.

Anonymous said...

Keep of the good work DRG. I come to U of O Watch whenever I need a good laugh.

I read the emails both Frank Appleyard and the ombudsman wrote. First I laughed. Then I laughed some more. I nominate Frank Appleyard for comical stooge of the year at the U of O. Appleyard was shutdown! And he is an open liar.

Now I got to say that Appleyard was not even brave enough to mention the section that the ombudsman settled the question with. Just shameful. Did Appleyard forget he is on the Corporate payroll? It's sad. But it's still hilarious.

Appleyard: 0
DRG: 100

Try harder Appleyard.

About time someone at uOttawa stood up instead just marching in line. We need more people like that to step up when it counts. Mr. Ombudsman, I salute you wherever you are.

Anonymous said...

check out this hilarious new post about Appleyard and Rock at The Pamphleteers:

"allan rock you in trouuuuuble"

http://thesepamphleteers.blogspot.com/2010/03/allan-rock-you-in-trouuuuble.html

http://thesepamphleteers.blogspot.com/2010/03/allan-rock-you-in-trouuuuble.html

Anonymous said...

March 2, 2010 6:03 PM comments are Frank Appleyard...

LOL pre-emptive reports!???!!

Anonymous said...

My friends and I are talking to our reps in engineering to have Frank Appleyard and Emma Godmere removed. We don't want our student money to go into the pockets of these people.

Anonymous said...

So when's the trial??? Hello??? Hello???

Anonymous said...

I got this link forwarded to me yesterday. This is all happening at the U of O? What the Hell is going on? How come I need to read this all in a blog?