Archive for December, 2010
Saving money on textbooks
Non-existent textbooks are the cheapest
I recently found out that my textbooks are only going to cost about $20 this semester.
The entire $20 of my textbook expenditures is from a single course, Studies in the Humanities. Technically, the book I have to buy isn’t even a textbook- it’s a novel that the class is required to read for the exam.
My anatomy course and both of the labs I’m taking don’t use textbooks, since all the material is drawn from the course notes. Although I don’t select courses based on textbook prices (or, in this case, a lack of textbooks), it’s always a nice bonus when things work out this way.
Three of my courses are actually using textbooks I already own. Two of the courses- Human Physiology and a French class- are continuations of courses I took from previous semesters. The third course, a microbiology class, just happens to use the same textbook, which luckily wasn’t part of my end of the year textbook bonfire.
And no, I can’t actually afford to set my textbooks on fire, no matter how terrible the course was. By “end of the year textbook bonfire,” I actually mean “sold on AbeBooks.”
-Photo courtesy of djfoobarmatt
Alberta prof asked to resign over grades dispute
Legal action threatened after students’ marks lowered by admin
A University of Alberta math professor is threatening legal action to reinstate his students’ grades after his department lowered them without his support. When Mikhail Kovalyov informed his students what had happened, and encouraged them to appeal their grades, he was asked to resign.
Back in May, Kovalyov received an email from an associate chair in the Department of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences informing him that grades for his first year math course had been lowered, resulting in a change in class average from 2.16 to 1.79 on a 4.0 scale. Other sections of the same course had averages that ranged from 2.13 to 2.95, according to documentation obtained by Maclean’s. The math professor says that he had already failed over 20 per cent of the class before these changes were approved.
University guidelines suggest an approximate mean average of 2.62 for first-year courses, with only six per cent of the class failing.
When faculty services officer David McNeilly, who is also responsible for reviewing final grades, first proposed the changes to Kovalyov in April, he explained in an email that the department’s proposed grades for Kovalyov’s class were “more generous than the typical exam cutoffs.” He also pointed out that in Fall 2009, the department failed 29 per cent of students in one section of the class. “In particular, we are being consistent,” McNeilly wrote.
Kovalyov responded to McNeilly that if so many extra students deserve to fail, then they should never have passed and received credit for math courses in the previous semester. “If we were consistent, all these students would have never made [it] through” the prerequisites, he wrote.
Related: Students speak out on UAlberta case
‘there doesn’t seem much point to professors handing out grades at all’
A 65 page document prepared by Kovalyov for the board of governors in August, outlining the events of the dispute, includes an expanded explanation from McNeilly why the grades were lowered. In particular, Kovalyov supposedly awarded too many B grades compared to C and D grades, even if the overall class average was not excessively high.
Kovalyov says he always outlines his marking policy to students at the beginning of the term. “By doing this, they made my words to students worthy of nothing,” he wrote in an email to Maclean’s. “I am certainly one of those less respectable professors who can be told to lower their grades.”
Shortly after learning of the changes to his grades, Kovalyov emailed his students and encouraged them to appeal. “Should any one of you [choose] to complain, I will try to assist as much as I can within the law and regulations” he wrote. He also called the department’s actions “disgusting.”
Despite warnings from administrators that taking his case directly to students is “inappropriate,” Kovalyov sent two additional emails to students, in which he called the actions of the departmental administration “a crime of forgery.”
Those messages to students did not sit well with university brass and in July Kovalyov was informed by department chair Arturo Pianzola that he was being relieved of his teaching duties.
In a letter explaining the decision, Pianzola says that the “contents” of the emails Kovalyov sent to students “disparage administration” and contain “unfounded and inappropriate,” allegations.
A formal complaint was also filed against Kovalyov by the dean of science, Gregory Taylor, as well as Pianzola, stating that Kovalyov’s actions were “unbecoming” of a senior professor. The letter accuses Kovalyov of “Undermining student confidence” in the grade appeal process and “Engaging in insubordination.” An email Kovalyov sent to an administrator where he referenced Joseph Stalin’s purges from the 1920s and 1930s was also cited in the complaint against him.
In late November, Kovalyov, who has taught at the university for more than 20 years, was offered a deal in exchange for his resignation. Under the proposed arrangement the university would continue to pay his full salary until March 2011, followed by a lump sum payout in April equivalent to 15 months pay. He turned down the offer.
Instead, Kovalyov wants phased pre-retirement where he would continue to provide partial duties until 2013 when he was originally suppose to retire. He has been consulting with the faculty association on how best to proceed.
Kovalyov said that while he finds the disciplinary actions of the university unfair, he no longer sees much of a future for himself at the U of A. “Even if this matter is settled, something else will come up,” he said.
Kovalyov’s battle with administrators over grades go back to at least 2009, when he says grade averages were lowered for two sections he taught of a first-year math course. He has also been embroiled in a similar dispute regarding a third-year course.
The university has declined comment on the case, and attempts to contact other professors in the department, as well as several of Kovalyov’s students, were not responded to.
Vice-president provost (apologies, the editors) academic Colleen Skidmore did agree to address grading policy in general terms. She explained that the grades set by instructors are unofficial until approved by the chair of the professor’s respective department. “It is the chair, or the dean, that has the responsibility for ultimately deciding what the final grade is,” she said.
Photo: Getty Images
New cigarette warnings? Please.
Graphic labels won’t deter young smokers, nor motivate those already addicted to quit
The cat was out of the bag over 50 years ago.
Despite a Marlboro on every lip and A Frank Statement proclaiming the safety of the product, people were beginning to catch on—inhaling tar and chemicals was bad for you.
It’s curious, then, especially as we approach 2011, why federal leaders believe it important to shock that reality back into us. Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq has unveiled a series of 16 new warning labels for cigarette packages that are bigger and more graphic than previous labels, just in case you haven’t been getting the message.
Aglukkaq hopes the new warnings, which cost almost $4 million to develop, will motivate existing smokers to kick the habit and deter new smokers from picking it up. The goal is to get people to “stop and think” before they light up, Aglukkaq said Thursday.
Surely those youths motivated by peer pressure, beer, or rebelliousness will suddenly resort to reason and thoughtfulness when confronted by the new labels, right? I can hear the gasps already: “You mean smoking is not good for me? Geez, well just pass me the mickey, then.” Trends show that kids are already less interested in picking up the pack than they were 10 years ago, so some are undoubtedly getting the message. Plus, since the old labels would be new to young people taking their first puffs anyhow, these revamped warning signs will be little more than expensive wrapping paper to the young target.
And the addicted smokers? They persist because they’re addicted, not because they don’t know cigarettes are bad for you. If some smokers are unable to quit despite the loss of a loved one, pressure from children, or a critical diagnosis, a few government-solicited images won’t magically do the trick, disturbing as they may be. The government’s money would be more effectively used to subsidize stop-smoking aids or resource centers for those hoping to quit. Yet this softball lob is just enough to quiet the anti-smoking lobby while not too seriously threatening the government’s haul of tobacco taxes.
The new cigarette warning labels may evoke some first-glance discomfort, but will likely fade into packaging after the first drag.
-Photo by Nerissa’s Ring
Sorry Alberta, I’m keeping my 10 pound textbook
Advanced Education Minister’s biggest opposition to ebook depository may be students themselves
In the digital age we live in where print mediums are being rapidly replaced by their digital counterparts, a surprising amount of skepticism continues to surround the electronic textbook.
That doesn’t mean the e-textbook doesn’t have it’s supporters. Alberta’s advanced education minister Doug Horner recently announced his desire to launch an online book depository for Alberta students, with the hopes that it could cut the costs of textbooks for students in half.
Horner told the Edmonton Journal that the students would have access to textbooks written in Alberta, in addition to commonly used first-year textbooks used at a variety of institutions. “Because isn’t the objective to help the student achieve, as opposed to paying a stipend to whoever wrote a book?” Horner said.
While this could be a groundbreaking development for Alberta post secondary education, Horner may have some serious obstacles to overcome. Perhaps his biggest? Convincing students to give up their cherished 10 pound paper textbooks.
One of the most significant factors in the failure of electronic textbooks to take over the education world has been the reluctance of students to make the switch. Despite often costing a fraction of what a new textbook costs, (the New York Times pointed out that e-textbooks are usually more expensive than a used textbook, but less expensive than a rental or new textbook) they continue to be a hard sell to students. “The screen won’t go blank,” Faton Begolli, a sophomore from Boston, told the Times. “There can’t be a virus. It wouldn’t be the same without books. They’ve defined ‘academia’ for a thousand years.”
Other students told the Times that eBooks can strain your eyes, and it’s easy to get distracted if you’re reading a textbook on your computer.
A study conducted by OnCampus Research in October found that students have been reluctant to catch on to e-readers, seemingly for these very reasons. According to a press release issued by the National Association of College Stores, the study found approximately 92 percent of students surveyed said that they do not own an e-reader, and only 13 percent had bought an eBook over the past three months. Some students explained in the comment section of the survey that they would never buy a digital textbook, and prefer having a physical copy that they can highlight and write notes on.
This hasn’t stopped companies from trying to sway students to a digital option. Amazon launched the Kindle DX last year, which has a larger screen better suited to reading textbook material, along with a pilot project with seven colleges and universities in the United States to find out how to make the device appealing for campus users.
Barnes and Noble College Booksellers has also tried to hook students on their e-textbook software, NOOKstudy, by giving away “College Kick Start Kits”, with ramen noodle recipes, tips for how to deal with college roommates, and access to several classics such as Dante’s “Inferno”.
Not all students are vehemently opposed to the e-textbook, and some educators have thrown their support behind the e-textbook option as well. Anne Jordan, professor emeritus at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto, said in University Affairs magazine that she had an excellent experience teaching using an e-textbook that she wrote for one of her graduate courses, explaining that it allowed her to integrate multi-media platforms into her course, including videos and drag and drop exercises.
“It’s a completely different way of teaching from lecturing and having people go and do readings and write reports,” she said. “The interactivity makes it a much more personal learning experience”
Chris Martin, a student at McMaster University, told University Affairs that he saw the electronic textbook as a way students could be more eco-friendly, and thought the multifaceted structure of the electronic textbook could facilitate more diverse ways of teaching.
I’ll admit that I like writing in the margins of my textbooks as much as the next student, but it seems like a small convenience compared to the prospect of not having to lug around a massive book that I paid $200 for. That being said, I predict that many of my fellow students won’t be ready to let go of them anytime soon.
Friendless children prone to depression
Researchers suggest teachers should build community to foster companionship
Elementary school teachers should take steps to build community in their classrooms to help foster friendships among their students, according to Concordia University psychologist William Bukowski and his research team. A study to be published in the journal Development and Psychopathology found that children who lack friends are prone to depression. “Over time, we found that withdrawn kids showed increasing levels of sadness and higher levels of depressive feelings,” Bukowski said. The researchers surveyed 130 boys and 101 girls over three years between grades three and five. They concluded that having even one friend can help children from having negative feelings escalate “throughout adolescence.”
Culinary students left in limbo
Province closes down Niagara Falls college but not all students are eligible for support
At least 28 students from a Niagara Falls culinary school that was closed down in October have been left without tuition refunds or government support to complete their diplomas elsewhere. One of the school’s former students, Beatrix Princzne Csemer, has been ordered to return to her native Hungary, but is consulting with a lawyer and plans to return to Canada to finish college.
Csemer, who had spent $9,000 on her program, only needed to complete a one-year-internship to earn her diploma as a pastry chef from Niagara-on-the-Lake Culinary School. When the school was closed down by the province, in relation to allegations its programs and marketing materials did not meet regulatory standards, only 16 of the 44 students affected were deemed eligible for Ontario’s Training Completions Assurance Fund. The Fund ensures students are either provided another option for completing their education or given a full or partial refund when private colleges are shut down.
Csemer was among 10 students who met with Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities officials over the holidays to determine why they were not eligible for support. Csemer says she was told she would not be receiving support because her particular program had not been approved by the government.
New semester’s resolution
Regrets from last semester
Right now is the time of year when I look back and think about all the stupid mistakes I made during first semester. Like not keeping up with the textbook readings in Developmental Biology and falling behind by a whole chapter. And then another. And another. And then one more, to make it a nice even number.
While some people look forward and plan ahead for the next semester, I can’t help but look back. So instead of a “New Year’s Resolution” list of the stuff I plan to do next semester, this is a list of the stuff I plan to never do again.
5) Falling behind on the readings, even by a single page. It’s a slippery slope. One reading quickly becomes two, and then three. You know those harmless domesticated bunny rabbits that a couple of pet owners released into the wild? It’s kind of like that.
4) Underestimating the class with a 100 per cent final is a deadly error. There aren’t any assignments, quizzes or midterms to worry about. But even if I’m completely caught up with my other four courses, procrastination is like an infectious disease: it starts with that one class but spreads quickly, devastating my carefully-planned study schedule for all my other classes and labs.
3) Telling my older sister that she needs to relax and close the textbook every once in a while. And then watching her make the Dean’s list every single semester since she started at Waterloo, from my relaxed-but-non-Dean’s-list chair.
2) Although I still haven’t had the opportunity to test my theory that nobody ever shows up, including the professor, I won’t register for any more early morning classes. The temptation to skip them is much too strong, and oddly enough, professors don’t give any sort of “You actually showed up at 7:00 in the morning” bonus marks.
1) Make a curfew for myself and this time, really stick to it. Operating on less than five hours of sleep actually really is counterproductive. Considering the fact that sleep deprivation is an interrogation strategy, right alongside bright lights and sharp objects, it shouldn’t be part of my study repertoire.
UPEI sued for forced retirement
Contract veterinarian says he was denied position because of age
A veterinarian says the University of Prince Edward Island forced him to retire and has filed a $250,000 lawsuit. Ian Moore had worked at the Atlantic Veterinary College since 1996 on a renewable contract basis. According to his statement of claim the university refused to give him a leave of absence in 2009, and then in December of that year denied him two positions he had applied for in favour of a younger candidates, effectively causing him to retire. Moore alleges he was denied both jobs because of his age. In the spring, UPEI was forced to reinstate three employees because its mandatory retirement policy was found to contravene provincial human rights law.
Communist Manifesto goes graphic
Carleton prof turns Karl Marx’s most famous work into a comic book
A Carleton University professor is taking the “anything but textbook” approach with plans to create a four-part comic series based on the Communist Manifesto. George Rigakos, who teaches in the Department of Law, will use the book to teach political economy and says he is already getting orders from Europe. “The Communist Manifesto lends itself to the graphic novel or comic book format as it can be interpreted as a story about villains, victims and heroes,” Rigakos said. “Comic books are about more than just superheroes.” Publisher Red Quill which has already released the first installment, has released a promotional video.
British banks try to censor research
Cambridge student exposes flaw in chip and PIN technology
A Cambridge University professor has come to the defense of a student whose research exposed a flaw in debit card chip and PIN technology. In his master’s thesis, computer science student Omar Choudary demonstrated how chip and PIN technology, intended to make cards more secure, can be overridden with a simple device. “When the card is inserted into a chip and PIN machine at a till, the device uses electronics to ensure the card is accepted,” the Daily Mail reported. Former Labour Treasury Minister Melanie Johnson, who now chairs the UK Cards Association, requested that Cambridge’s press office remove the research from its website. Ross Anderson, one of Choudary’s advisors, told Johnson that “It’s not the PR department who decides what gets published at a university.” He added that “Censoring writings that offend the powerful is offensive to our deepest values.”
The PhD ‘Ponzi’ scheme
Why you might want not want to go to graduate school
A few weeks ago, the Economist ran a lengthy story, well lengthy for the Economist, on the apparent futility of pursuing a PhD. While advanced degrees may be pursued for purely intellectual reasons, doctoral students are being trained for specific careers, usually in academia. The supply has far outgrown the demand and some critics call doctoral education a ‘Ponzi’ scheme.
Indeed, the production of PhDs has far outstripped demand for university lecturers. In a recent book, Andrew Hacker and Claudia Dreifus, an academic and a journalist, report that America produced more than 100,000 doctoral degrees between 2005 and 2009. In the same period there were just 16,000 new professorships. Using PhD students to do much of the undergraduate teaching cuts the number of full-time jobs. Even in Canada, where the output of PhD graduates has grown relatively modestly, universities conferred 4,800 doctorate degrees in 2007 but hired just 2,616 new full-time professors. Only a few fast-developing countries, such as Brazil and China, now seem short of PhDs.
Harvard partly to blame for admitting con-artist
University takes steps to guard against fraud
It appears Harvard University bears some of the blame for admitting former student Adam Wheeler, who had falsified several documents when applying to the prestigious school. Wheeler pleaded guilty earlier this month to charges of fraud and larceny and was sentenced to 10 years probation and ordered to pay $45,800 in restitution.
While he has been portrayed as a master con-artist, Wheeler’s application to Harvard, obtained by the Boston Globe “reveals neither a meticulous feat of deceit nor a particularly elaborate charade. At times, he was just plain careless.”
Among the discrepancies in his Harvard application was Wheeler’s claim that he had scored a five on 16 advanced placement (AP) exams, despite the fact students typically only take one or two AP courses during their high school tenure. He claimed to have taken two of the exams in 2002, despite not even being in high school at the time. He also provided freshmen grades from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, despite the fact MIT does not issue letter grades for first year students. “Not to take responsibility from what he did, but Harvard has to own up to what it did by letting him in,’’ Wheeler’s lawyer told the Globe.
A Harvard spokesman says it is “taking measures to bolster” the school’s ability to “protect against fraud.”
There’s a website that helps you skip class?
Website “calculates” whether or not you should skip class
When websites where students can rank their professors or anonymously flirt with one another have become enormously popular, I guess it was only a matter of time before I came across a website that allows students to calculate whether or not it’s worth it to skip class.
The Skip Class Calculator uses a quiz that asks students a variety of questions about their course, such as what grade they currently have and how much of the exam material they think comes from lectures only. Based on your answers, it gives you a rough estimate of whether you can duck out of your lecture or not, without letting your grade suffer.
The site was created by Jim Filbert, a recent university grad who says he created the site after waking up on a cold morning and weighing the risk of missing class versus his desire to stay in bed. “I was wondering if there might already be a tool on the interwebs which would run that risk for me,” Filbert explains on his website. After finding nothing of the sort online, Filbert launched the website in March this year, which has since produced over 50 000 calculations.
The website has, predictably, attracted the ire of some professors, namely Cornell University professor William Briggs, who wrote on his blog that those who use the calculator “should not only skip, but should drop out of school altogether.”
“These people are probably only after a ‘degree’ anyway, an item which can be purchased in various places. This maneuver would save them the tedium of sitting in class, relieve them of the necessity of thinking, and lessen the burdens of the professors forced to endure their (occasional) presence,” Briggs wrote.
Yet the website is nothing for professors to get upset over and label all students who ever skip class lazy and apathetic, since the questions asked by the website only mirror those students ask themselves when debating skipping class anyway. To see what all the fuss was about, I took the quiz a few times based on my classes from this past semester. For my French class, I scored an answer telling me that I was safe “but not Ferris Bueller safe” if I decided not to go to class. It seems like it is at most a fun online tool to fool around with, but obviously not to be taken seriously, by instructors or students. Sometimes missing class is inevitable, but if you’re taking the time to use a website to decide if you should go to class or not, you should probably go to class.
The On Campus Top 10
Our most read stories of 2010
Listed below in reverse order are the Top 10 most read online education posts for the past year. As with previous years our readers are primarily interested in news and commentary about academic freedom, free speech in universities, faculty strikes and student grades.
10: Carleton profs prepare for strike vote
9: Queen’s Remembrance Day soapbox
8: Rejoicing in Christopher Hitchens’ cancer
7: Toronto’s G20 summit: a failure all around
4: Academic freedom at Trinity Western?
3: NSERC bars scientist from receiving grants
Notable posts that just barely missed the Top 10 were: UManitoba–PhD ‘diploma mill’ and The problem with RateMyProfessor.com
York’s David Noble dies
Prof noted for his criticism of technology and for his activism
Prominent York University professor and activist, David Noble, died suddenly of natural causes Monday evening. Noble, who specialized in the history of technology, was noted for his criticism of technological advancement on the grounds it limits the ability of workers to exercise influence.
He was also noted for several battles waged against universities. In 2008 he settled out of court with Simon Fraser University for being wrongfully denied a prestigious research chair in 2001. He alleged the university’s decision was motivated by his activism.
In 2004, he distributed a pamphlet criticizing York for being biased due to pro-Israel influences. The university responded by condemning the literature as “offensive” and implied the pamphlet was motivated by bigotry. Noble sued the university for defamation, but the courts were not expected to hear the case until next year.
He later filed a complaint with the Ontario Human Rights Commission, arguing that York’s policy of closing during Jewish holidays was discriminatory, a policy the university changed before it was heard by the Commission.
Noble was 65.
Deja vu as Concordia loses second president in a row
Unanswered questions surround apparent firing of Judith Woodsworth
For the second time in three years, Concordia university has abruptly lost its president half-way through their term.
While the university is claiming Judith Woodsworth left for “personal reasons,” CBC, the Montreal Gazette and the Concordian have all quoted anonymous sources saying she was fired.
The big question, of course, is why.
When Woodsworth’s predecessor, Claude Lajeunesse, stepped down in 2007 by “mutual agreement,” in other words he jumped before he was pushed, there was little question as to why. Lajeunesse managed to alienate almost everyone at the university. But Woodsworth was hardly a polarizing figure. She may not have been an inspiring leader but she certainly wasn’t divisive. In fact, she hardly seemed to be present at Concordia, she had very little contact with students, rarely spoke to campus media and seemed to spend more time promoting Concordia in China and India or meeting with alumni in British Columbia and the United States than actually running the university.
My feeling was always that Woodsworth was more of a figurehead than an actual leader but I was always under the assumption that this was what the university’s board of governors wanted, so I’m not sure if this is what may have lead to her firing.
There is another, more unsettling, possibility: that her firing was related to missuses of Concordia expense accounts or conflicts of interest related to a trip she took with her husband, a former Concordia professor, to the Vancouver Olympics, which was paid for by a company that does business with the university. Concordia also paid her husband’s travel expenses on several occasions when he traveled with Woodsworth on university business. There’s also a controversy involving two former Concordia auditors, who were fired by Woodsworth for abusing their expense accounts. They’re currently suing the university for wrongful dismissal.
Woodworth isn’t the first senior administrator that Concordia has lost this year. In September, Concordia’s head fundraiser, Kathy Assayag, stepped down for “personal reasons.” A few weeks later vice-president, services, Michael Di Grappa, left Concordia for a senior position at McGill.
Something is clearly rotten at Concordia’s top levels, but what’s actually going on remains a mystery. And that’s really unfortunate. As a public institution Concordia owes the citizens of Quebec an explanation. Concordia already has a reputation for secrecy and this certainly doesn’t help.
Students trained to fight cyberterrorism
Will help form the ‘front line of defense’
According to a news release from Florida State University, there is a “critical national shortage” of cybersecurity professionals, despite the fact that the internet is playing an increasingly important role in our everyday lives (the SFU news release mentions banking, power grid and stock exchange operations).
Apparently, the National Science Foundation (NSF) is trying to help fix the problem. They recently awarded a $1.85 million grant to FSU’s Department of Computer Science, providing scholarships for almost 60 FSU computer science graduates as part of a “Scholarship for Service” program.
Students who receive the scholarship will be required to work for the government for a minimum period of time, forming the “front line of defense in protecting the nation’s information infrastructure from cyberterrorism.”
-Photo courtesy of Don Hankins
GG to focus on education
David Johnston wants a smarter more caring society
In an interview with QMI Agency, Governor General David Johnston said it would be “very appropriate” for him to influence public policy in areas such as education, research and voluntarism. “His goal, he said, is to have fostered a smarter and more carrying society at the end of his 4.5-year term,” QMI reported. While the former University of Waterloo president acknowledged that “You have to respect the office that you hold,” that doesn’t mean he should remain silent on issues of public importance, despite the fact the Governor General does not have direct political responsibilities. “I would like to see that notion of helping your neighbour not simply as something that you switch on and off, like do a good deed today, but as a mainstream feature of Canadian citizenship,” he said.
The procrastination pandemic
25% of the population are chronic procrastinators
With about a quarter of the population guilty of being chronic procrastinators, the problem has reached pandemic levels, a University of Calgary psychologist argues in his recent book, the Procrastination Equation.
Impulsiveness is the most common character trait associated with procrastination, and it is the temptations provided by computers that are the chief contemporary culprits, says Piers Steel. “It’s almost like having a casino, a strip club and a games room all in the same place. It’s all right beside you. The second you have an inkling or a feeling, a wavering or a tendency, you can indulge in it instantly,” he told the Canadian Press. “For some people, this means not getting a degree. Or certainly not living up to their potential about what type of mark they got, what type of job they could get into.”
In addition to choosing short term desires, over long term goals, Steel says low confidence and boring tasks are also principle reasons why people procrastinate. Among Steel’s tips to improve productivity are to turn off email notifiers and cell phones.
Toronto student faces deportation to Mexico
Classmates and teachers spend Christmas in church to support student who says he faces persecution
A Toronto high school student has been arrested and is awaiting deportation to Mexico. Daniel Garcia, a grade 11 student at Parkdale Collegiate Institute, fled from Mexico with his sister in 2007 and claimed refugee status, stating that they feared for their lives. After the claim was rejected, Garcia applied for a pre-removal risk assessment to investigate whether it was safe for him to return to Mexico. He says he had not received a decision but told the Canadian Press that immigration officials told him that a decision had been sent in the mail. On Saturday, teachers and students spent Christmas Day gathered in a church in support of Garcia. His sister Brenda was deported on Monday.
