Archive for July, 2009

Why they do it, where it leads, and what it’s really worth

I hate the term “student leader.” I think a lot of people do. It just seems smarmy and self-congratulatory. And I’m speaking as a guy who lived that role. I can only imagine how the term must aggravate other people. And yet, we do need folks to run our student unions and our residence councils and our campus media and our clubs and more besides. And often we want to talk about those people as a group. So for lack of a better term I’ll call them student leaders.

Some recent discussion about student politics and student politicians (see here and here) got me thinking about this topic. Surrounding the debate about the appropriate role of unions and the right (or lack thereof) of elected students to hold and express their individual opinions, there were a few references to the perceived benefits and opportunities that come along with leadership roles on campus. I’ve heard it all before. Quite a lot of people seem to believe that the whole student leadership scene is just using it all to get … something. Something more than just the opportunity to do the job, anyway. Maybe that’s why the term is so annoying.

Now I don’t want to get into an extensive debate about what union execs are getting paid (see here for that debate) or whether it’s appropriate. That’s only a small fraction of the many student leaders on campus anyway. A very few students get paid something approaching real salaries to do essentially full time jobs. Some others receive honorariums that are probably quite small in relation to the amount of work they put in. And most are simply volunteers. But even the best paid aren’t receiving more than they’d earn for entry-level clerical work. So let’s just agree that it isn’t about the money, and when people suggest there’s something selfish going on they mean something different.

Back to this idea that students get involved in these positions with the expectation of some secondary gain. Most often this accusation is very vague. “Oh, you don’t really care about X (the club, the union, the position), you’re just in it for yourself.” But that’s got to mean something like awards, personal connections, job opportunities, political careers, etc. We’ve already excluded money as a realistic motive, and it makes no sense to suggest that someone is using one student position only to get to another student position. The end goal has to be something more significant than that – some reward or advantage that comes after university is done.

Brief pause. There is always the rare instance of actual abuse. Unfortunately, any time someone has access to a budget and some responsibility there is the chance they might do something fraudulent. Here’s one example of that. I would never attempt to excuse or justify anything like this. I’ll just say that it happens in student activities just as it happens everywhere else. People steal from charities too. It’s very sad. But that’s not what I’m talking about.

Here’s what I’ve discovered about every student leadership position I’ve ever held or interacted with. It’s worth basically nothing to just have the job. I mean it. Sure you can use it as a line on your CV. But then people fill their CVs with bullshit all the time. And if you really want to create an impressive sounding title for yourself just invent a club, register it with your Student Affairs office (or local equivalent) and declare yourself President. It’s very easy. And exactly because it’s easy to manufacture empty claims of this sort, anyone who might possibly care about your activities on campus will not be suckered in by lines of empty crap. Will they care about what you’ve really done on campus? Very possibly they will. But now we’re talking about your actual work and achievements – not the mere fact that you filled a position and held a title.

I definitely know students who found their direction as a result of some role on campus – elected or otherwise. I’m one of them. Certainly there’s a lot of what I do, right now, that I can trace back in some way to my student union days. But I could never have guessed at where I’d end up when the whole thing started. And that’s also true of just about everyone I know. Building on your experiences, finding some success at the things you do well and getting noticed for that … there’s nothing illegitimate about it. That’s just the way people build careers in any environment. And sure, that happens in student leadership as well. Maybe academic advocacy leads you eventually to law school, as it did in my case. Maybe experience with the student press leads to a career in journalism. But not automatically. Not just because you won an election or got hired for a job.

Student alliance canvassing students on debt-cap concerns

In New Brunswick, once a student has completed their university degree they can apply for the new Timely Completion Benefit, which caps their student loan debt at $26,000.

The president of the New Brunswick Student Alliance, Duncan Gallant, has raised the issue that students can be disqualified if they have not completed their degree within the time limit set by their specific program.

For example, if a student takes longer than four years to complete a four-year undergraduate degree due to illness or other extenuating circumstances, they will not be eligible for the debt cap.

Post-secondary students are being asked to contact the New Brunswick Student Alliance if they are one of the students ineligible for the benefit, in the hope that they can appeal the restriction.

For the complete CBC News story, click here.

H1N1 virus targets young adults, universities preparing for rapid spread

How airport security still isn’t doing its job.

I don’t think that I’m much to look at.

This doesn’t mean that I don’t think I’m extremely attractive, since anyone that has ever seen me would argue that yes, yes I am. What I mean is that I find it hard to believe that those who see me, fear my five-foot-something frame and small, aimless hands of a dyslexic child.

But I would like for once, just once, to go to an airport and not get the full security check-rubdown. And if they absolutely have to do it, maybe dinner or a drink beforehand would help me unclench.

In the past year, I’ve become somewhat of a frequent flier, going back and forth from school and work in Toronto to family in Calgary. I can no longer remember a time when I haven’t been picked for a “random” person and bag search. They take my things and tell me to follow them to a side table: it’s far enough to be out of the way but close enough for other passengers to look at you and tremble. “Boy, airport security is the pits,” their smiles say, but their eyes tell me, “Sweet Jesus, what if they don’t find whatever she has and she comes on my flight?”

They trick me every time. I go to security, empty my pockets, take off my belt and shoes and show them my boarding pass and passport. The man or woman calls me through the metal detector and lulls me into a false sense of security. “Hi there, ma’am,” they say or, “I love your shoes” or, “Your hair is just the cutest.” I giggle like a school girl with a crush. “Oh, my, you’re forward.” I’m inches away from getting the vapors.

Then, once I’m relaxed, they ask me to stand with my arms out while they rip my innocence (or what’s left) from me. They run the metal detector across my body, repeating innocuous phrases as if to diffuse the extremely public experience. “Alright, looking good, we’re just going to take a peak over here.” Either way, you’re still touching my butt.

It used to be easier. In the past three or four years, the amount of time any airline wasted on me was truly a feat. It went from asking for my passport at 10, to looking through my bag at 13, to knocking on the heel of my shoe at 18.

And as I turned around on this particular occasion, flying from Calgary back to Toronto, the woman pressed her hands against my back looking for a bunker of uranium-tipped missiles under my blouse while my mother watched from the gate, giggling as if to say, “Bet you wish you were as racially ambiguous as me, sucker.”

I wholeheartedly understand the need for strict airport security. In no way am I looking for Canadians to go through a tragedy similar to what Americans dealt with years ago. Still, I’m not reassured by the idea that others – others that may be a threat – are being searched with the same vigor I am. Perhaps if I knew what they were looking for, like what dangerous material can be placed inside the waistband of my jeans. Or how my bra’s clasp is a matter of national security. Or what they think is behind my kneecap.

If airport security is not more efficient, it certainly takes more time, and the laws of homeland security dictate that the longer a particular venture takes, the more successful it is. This is the same law that decided that we, as civilized peoples, won the war on drugs because it’s been years since we’ve started the fight. And as you know, no one anywhere ever does drugs at any point. Ever.

I feel the strongest sense of pity for those that are more racially decisive than myself. I wear no religious or cultural markings, like a hijab, so I shudder to think about what the woman that does wear one has to deal with.

Furthermore, I haven’t traveled to the States in years, and thus can’t imagine what their “security” measures have been in the last few years. I assume they would have asked me who I would save from a burning building between Ronald Regan and Jimmy Carter. Depending on my answer, they might roll me up in an antique rug and start whacking me with bats to get anything in or on my person to fall out while chanting, “Beat the lumps, BEAT THE LUMPS.”

It’s a modern privilege to fly, and even furthermore to be able to whine about what could be considered racial profiling in a minimally damaging form. But modern times mean there is a threat. It might not be the one expected and it very well could not be imminent, but preventative measures are necessary. My skin color doesn’t make me any less worried about the threat or terrorism, and I don’t feel safer.

The people that perpetrated the 9/11 attacks hijacked my physical appearance, and the way I’m perceived. They’re not my brothers. So why am I turning out all of my Chapstick and cutting it in half to show I’m not smuggling black tar heroin?

Because I have dark skin and a funny name. In modern times, that’s a goddamn reason. Now bend over.

Hey Everyone, My name’s Brendan, and I’m a recovering engineer… ..eerrr, let’s start that again, shall we? Well my name is Brendan, and I have been an engineer. Studied as an engineer at UBC. Worked as an engineer in Canada. But it wasn’t long before I felt other areas pulling my attention away. I’m also [...]

Hey Everyone,

My name’s Brendan, and I’m a recovering engineer…

..eerrr, let’s start that again, shall we?

Well my name is Brendan, and I have been an engineer. Studied as an engineer at UBC. Worked as an engineer in Canada. But it wasn’t long before I felt other areas pulling my attention away. I’m also a fairly socially-motivated person, and I basically concluded that I could have more impact in business development and entrepreneurialism than while working as an engineer. More chance to build something world-changing. That kind of thing. So I’m heading to Oxford in a few months, to take the MBA, with a focus on social entrepreneurship.

It’s been a long path to get here. Like many 20-somethings I know, I’ve struggled with my career path at times. In my case, it’s been an attempt to reconcile a love of the technical with a desire to tackle tough social challenges. This sometimes translates into a conflict between micro and macro approaches. It has led to a fair amount of work with Engineers Without Borders, both in Africa and Canada (a fantastic organization, and very likely strong at your university), as well as work with other organizations working in the area of appropriate technology. Before starting at Oxford, I’ll finish up with Practica Foundation in Ethiopia, where I’ve been working to set up an office over the past year.

I’m excited about Oxford. It’s been a long time coming. I started thinking about it almost two years ago, while taking courses at Cambridge. I decided that it was the right path, and set about trying to get there. Actually, for an MBA, the tough part is trying to pay for it, especially if your aims are more… say, social than financial. But the more I thought about it, the more I realize that my career goals, to start and grow various socially-minded organizations, would seriously benefit from the skills and credibility of an MBA. So I’m biting the bullet.

Oxford is an odd place, chock full of tradition and Harry Potter-ness. Anyone accepted by the 800+ year old university for study must also be accepted by a college, which forms a social network, support and accommodation. I’ll be joining Oriel College a mid-sized College established in 1324. Yep. 1324. My college is almost five times as old as our country. It’s an odd feeling for a Canadian.

I’ll leave it at that for now, and will check back in in the next few weeks as I get everything prepared to head to Oxford. Feel free to fire me any questions, either here or via my personal blog. I’ll do what I can to answer quickly.

Cheers,

B

- photo courtesy of Monica

I don’t understand basic household appliances, and I feel at odds with the common hair brush

Yesterday I lit a plastic jar of peanut butter on fire. By putting it in the microwave.

I tell you this, because my intention with this blog is to channel your average, albeit rather hapless, university student. You know – the trials and tribulations of semi-adult life – living on your own (at least from September to May), but entirely sustained on bucket-o-wings at Quinn’s Pub and the ingenious discovery that you can wash underwear in the sink when a whole load would just take too much effort. But I’m thinking the peanut butter incident (I just thought it could use a little… softening up) is not your average degree of idiocy. As my mother would say, I’ve outdone myself this time!

No one was hurt, as it was. There was a brief but exhilarating burst of flame (shooting theatrically out of the top of the jar), but it was quickly extricated with the contents still unspreadable. And I knew my fourteen-year-old brother and I were thinking much the same – can we put it in again?

My mother and father worry about me, much the way yours likely worry about you. They probably worry about your diet – when you inhale a cheeseburger faster than the ninth grade boys in the back seat, yet seem to have worrying little familiarity with the protocol for cutting up an onion. Personally, when I learned how to cut up an onion, it was a proud moment – here was one vegetable I finally, at long last, knew what to do with – put it in butter chicken!

Maybe when you insist on your right to a night on the town, yet lose your key at the bar (you thought it was tucked snugly into your bra, which elicits an extended bout of awkward fondling), and end up throwing personal items at your sister’s window to wake her up, a little drunk, at four in the morning.

And they might even feel some concern when you spend much of your time wearing saggy jeans with awkward brown stains on the back pocket (what? I sat on a chocolate muffin!), and no longer see the use in brushing your hair, let alone subjecting it to the typical array of sprays, gels and irons.

The reason I know my mother and father worry about me is because, today in the car, my father looked over and said delicately, “Your mother and I worry about you. You appear to have… no domestic IQ.”

Thankfully, I have at least a few more years of university nailed down. This is as full a strategy as I, and the majority of my friends, can think of for keeping adulthood at bay. While the realities of jobs and tuition and “real” relationships still exist, papers and articles and karaoke nights provide at least a blissful distraction.

I am grateful every single day that I’m in university.

Addressing the question of personal stands on potentially divisive off campus issues, for union execs

A piece I wrote a couple of weeks ago about the limits of an elected student’s mandate seems to have generated some buzz. A political blog from Queens picked up the topic in connection with local issues. Justin McElroy ran a riff off the topic on this site. And I’ve heard from a few student politicians (or former ones) on the subject.

Now I’ve just received this question. Note that I’ve made all the details more general, to avoid putting anyone on the spot.

My fellow union executives and I recently decided to participate together in an event, off-campus, that has some political overtones. Some of us, although they supported it, were highlighting whether or not this was the union taking a stance on something that they felt is seen as political and if that is appropriate. The event is important to at least one identity group on campus, and we see our participation as a way to support diversity. But it’s possible that some students might disagree.

In our union we have a very strict policy that we don’t pass motions dealing with political things (ie. The war in Afghanistan) and while I feel this is a different case I’d like your opinion on it.

Well first off, thanks for the interesting question! In order to answer it, I’ve got to introduce another idea that is foundational to my understanding of student politics. I believe that just because someone becomes elected to a position in some organization – even if that may be the presidency of the organization – that person’s identity does not become entirely subsumed to the organization itself. In other words, there is still the individual. There is the somewhat prominent student, who may still do things on his or her own behalf, and there is the person who holds office in the organization and may do things on the organization’s behalf. Keeping those two roles distinct from one another is very important.

Union executives are fairly prominent figures – at least among students. I’ll compare them to city counselors only in miniature. Not everything a city counselor says or does is endorsed by the city or needs to reflect on the city’s official position on issues. Now, if the counselor says or does something particularly stupid, embarrassing, or toxic that’s a different story. The fact that the counselor is embarrassing him or herself does affect the city – but only by reflection. If a counselor speaks on behalf of some cause or shows up at some event that doesn’t mean the city supports that cause or event. Not even if the mayor does it. The city has its official policy but city officials still have their individual identities. And so too do student figures on campus.

So, to answer the question. I think if your union were to pass a formal motion supporting this event or the cause it is associated with that would be outside of what I feel is an appropriate union mandate. That just goes back to the original article. Similarly, if you were going to spend student money on the cause that would amount to the same thing. But merely showing up doesn’t need to imply that your union is taking a formal stand. You can still show up as prominent students who want to show your support for the cause. And there is nothing at all wrong with that.

I’ll grant you, once the entire union executive shows up that does send a clear message. But the message is only that you happen to agree on this issue. Unless you show up on behalf of all the students you represent, or presume to speak on their behalf, you aren’t binding them to your individual views on the subject. And I firmly believe elected students remain entitled to their individual views. As particularly prominent students on campus others may be interested to know how you feel about things. Feel free to share your opinions (and potentially deal with the criticisms that may follow) but the opinions can remain your own and need not reflect on the union unless you intentionally cross that line.

All of this implies one necessary limitation. If you aren’t showing up as representatives of the union you have no right to require anyone to show up. So while your mail seems to suggest that everyone is on board, if there were one or more execs who would prefer not to participate I would say that’s their right. As soon as you say that someone has to show up as a function of their role in the union then your union is clearly taking a stand. If you communicate clearly that showing up is a personal decision for each participant that would go a long way toward avoiding the perception that you are taking an official union stand on the issue.

I’m really glad this topic has received so much attention, and I’m particularly glad to hear from union execs who agree that unions are strongest and most effective when they stick to core student issues. It’s so easy to push the rhetoric in the other direction, and succumb to accusations that if you don’t use your control over the students’ union to promote a particular cause or agenda then you obviously must not care. Of course students care – about any number of things. But it’s possible to support a cause wholeheartedly and still debate the best way to promote that cause. Grappling honestly with these issues is part of what student leadership is all about.

—

Questions are welcome at jeff.rybak@utoronto.ca. Even the ones I don’t post will still receive answers, and where I do use them here I’ll remove identifying information.

uOttawa overlooks hundreds of law school applicants, cites human error

While the legality of UBC issuing parking tickets is still in limbo, the university, along with UVic, has decided to reinstitute the practice after a four-month reprieve

Four months ago, University of British Columbia students scored one for casual civil disobedience when the B.C. Supreme Court ruled that the university had been illegally issuing parking tickets on campus for years, and had to pay back more than $4 million worth of fines. The judge in the case ruled that while UBC had the right to tow and impound vehicles parked illegally, they didn’t actually have the right to issue parking tickets (Sidenote: UBC often likes to pretend it has the same powers as a city, without any of the sticky issues that come with “democracy” and “accountability”).

In any case, the decision was appealed, but in the short term both UBC and UVic decided to stop issuing parking tickets, instead simply towing a very very small percentage of illegally parked cars. From my experience, it did little to stop students from taking the risk. However, the B.C. Court of Appeals decided to stay the part of the decision that dealt with the fines, which meant that UBC and UVic could reinstitute them until the appeal was resolved. And it appears that they’ve decided to do just that. UVic announced yesterday that the fines will be coming back on July 20th, and today, UBC followed suit. I’ve been told by Scott Macrae, executive director of public affairs at UBC, that this notice will be going on UBC’s website shortly:

Parking fines resume July 20

UBC will resume charging fines for violations of the Parking Regulations on July 20.

UBC had ceased charging fines at its Vancouver and Kelowna campuses as a result of a decision of the British Columbia Supreme Court on March 30, 2009 regarding certain issues in a class action. That decision found that, although UBC can tow vehicles parked in violation of the Parking Regulations and charge reasonable towing and storage fees,  UBC does not  have the power to charge fines under the University Act.  UBC appealed the decision on its power to charge fines, and on July 10, the British Columbia Court of Appeal ordered a stay of the decision until disposition of the appeal.

The stay enables UBC, pending the appeal, to continue to enforce the Parking Regulations by charging fines for violations, as it has done for many years. Persons who violate the Parking Regulations can once again expect to receive Traffic Notices charging fines. In addition, violators will be subject to towing as set out in the Parking Regulations.

The UBC Parking Regulations are available on the web at http://www.parking.ubc.ca

But being older and taller should.

I’ve realized something this summer. My younger brother David is cooler than me. Way cooler.

Actually, it’s not even a matter of David being cooler than me. He’s cool. I’m not.

David’s on his school’s wrestling team. When he throws a football, it travels more than four feet. When he kicks a soccer ball, he can control which direction it goes.

Back in high school, I was in the chess club. And part of Envirothon.

David has dozens of friends on Facebook. I have two. And one of them is David.

David’s coolness has also made me realize something fascinating: certain laws of physics don’t apply to cool people. If I wear a hat for more than 30 seconds, when I take it off, my hair looks like a dead squirrel. When David takes a hat off, it’s like he was never wearing one. His hair instantly springs back to vibrant and shiny life.

I’m the older brother. He’s in grade eight, I’m in university. I’m taller. But none of that seems to matter. His coolness is a direct violation of Sibling Hierarchy Rule #467. Which states that older, taller brothers are automatically cooler. It’s practically my birthright to be cooler than David.

But I’m not.

Last November, I tripped over a wet pile of leaves and broke my arm. When David broke his arm a few weeks ago, it was while playing soccer.

Yeah, even the way he breaks his bones is cooler.