Shame on you Carleton University

First...it always saddens me that no one knows anything about CF unless they are personally affected by it. Second....this is beyond ignorance of the disease itself. To say that they aren't going to give any charitable donations to CF because it is a "white man's disease" is shameful. Why is it that white people are always getting the shaft? I have never been racist...have no plans of being racist...but yet it is okay for everyone to be racist against me because I am white. I am willing to bet that very few people have heard of this story, yet if they would have made the comment, "We aren't going to give to sickle cell charities because it is a black man's disease" there would have been 9 kinds of h*** to pay.

This is just another example of how CF isn't one of the popular diseases that celebs and companies bend over backward to help.....CFF needs help!

Carleton students may review charity decision

JOSH WINGROVE
Globe and Mail Update
November 26, 2008 at 10:46 AM EST
The Carleton University Students Association was left backpedalling Tuesday and Wedneedsay after voting to call off its Shinerama fundraiser for the Canadian Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, while implying in a formal motion that the charity and the disease weren't sufficiently “inclusive.”
In a meeting Monday night, CUSA members voted 17-2 to approve a motion to look at donating the frosh week fundraising money to other charities because “cystic fibrosis has been recently revealed to only affect white people, and primarily men” and “all orientees and volunteers should feel like their fundraising efforts will serve their diverse communities.”
That left the Canadian Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, which receives about $1-million a year from more than 60 postsecondary Shinerama fundraisers nationwide, scrambling to correct the information in a story that exploded across the country.
CUSA president Brittany Smyth sought to douse the flames of the controversy Tuesday night. Citing the motion's final line, she said the debate was over whether to consider directing money raised to various charities, not about whom CF affects.
But that final line concludes the union will “work to select a new broad-reaching charity for orientation week,” appearing to imply that the CCFF doesn't meet such a requirement, and failing to mention rotating charities. Ms. Smyth nevertheless insisted that CUSA has not closed the door on the CCFF.
Ms. Smyth said on Wednesday that the matter will be re-examined at its next meeting. She told Ottawa's CFRA radio that the intent of the vote was simply to look at whether to shift the association's fundraising efforts to other charities.
CF foundation CEO Cathleen Morrison said Tuesday that “I couldn't understand what could be behind this. Like, have we got the story [about Carleton's motion] right? Obviously, the information is incorrect.”
CF is a fatal genetic disease that affects males and females equally, because children whose parents both have the gene that causes the disease have a one-in-four chance of getting it, regardless of their sex.
While it affects Caucasians – a scientific term the foundation says doesn't mean whites, but rather all people of European, North African, Middle Eastern and South Asian descent – more than black or East Asian populations, the latter groups aren't immune, Ms. Morrison said.
Janet Mitchell, a black woman whose daughter has CF, said she wasn't aware that it was present in her community in Nova Scotia before her daughter was born. She and her husband, who is white, both carry the gene.
“People need to know, whether they like it or not, it's not just a white person's disease,” said Ms. Mitchell, 44. “For anyone to say that cystic fibrosis is just a white man's disease, they're just not doing their research,” she said.
“It's actually a fair amount of confusion surrounding it. Most of the discussion around the motion was actually interest in switching charities, and not just going for one charity,” Ms. Smyth said. “Most of the people wanted to switch charities from year to year, just the idea of mixing it up.”
The motion was written by student Donnie Northrup, an orientation volunteer. Ms. Smyth said the association's rules prohibit them from changing motions in the middle of a meeting, so his draft could only be voted on as-is. Mr. Northrup said the motion was an effort to expand the benefit of fundraising.
“This is not saying that cystic isn't a ‘good enough cause,' but acknowledging that others exist and we can be more representative of the desires of students if we rotate our charities,” Mr. Northrup said in an e-mail to The Globe and Mail. “In this system, there is also the possibility to return to Shinerama after a few cycles. I genuinely do not understand all the attention this has garnered.”
Two people voted against his motion, including third-year student Nick Bergamini.
“They're trying to score cheap points by playing politics with a disease,” Mr. Bergamini said Tuesday night. “What's important to note that this does not represent what Carleton students are about. If it's going to be a black mark on anybody, it should be the student union.”
This year's Shinerama, which is over and the proceeds of which the CCFF still expects to receive, raised about $20,000.
Ms. Morrison said she hopes Carleton will continue its own Shinerama in years to come. She believes support for CF, which affects young people and for which the median life expectancy is about age 37, is broad-reaching among students.
“Our doors are always open to anybody who'd like to help. Hopefully, we can overcome the current circumstances, and come out ahead,” Ms. Morrison said.