Archive for April, 2011
Don’t say ‘GSA’
Ontario Catholic schools will create anti-bullying clubs that definitely won’t be called ‘gay-straight alliances’
Let’s embark upon a little thought experiment, shall we? Suppose Johnny B. Seventh-Grader is being bullied mercilessly for his fiery red hair. “Ginger!” the kids call him. “Freak of nature!” they say. “You have no soul!” And so forth. Johnny, feeling ostracized and alone, looks to his school’s administration for support. Naturally, one would assume, resources would be available for our redheaded friend. After all, the school—a public institution—is part of a society where reds have the right to live freely from discrimination. Redheaded people can work in Canada, they can own property, they can vote, hell—they can even marry! So the school, you would expect, would be compelled to foster an environment of inclusion. Johnny’s principal hears his plight, and, in an effort to change the culture of taboo brewing around redheads, she creates a school club called, “It’s OK to be R**.” What’s wrong, Johnny? Don’t you feel more accepted?
The Ontario Catholic School Trustees’ Association (OCSTA) is doing the same sort of semantic dance when it comes to naming its new anti-bullying groups, created in response to requests for gay-straight alliances in Catholic schools. A reporter from Xtra, a national gay and lesbian newspaper, spoke with OCSTA president Nancy Kirby, who told her the new groups will not be called gay-straight alliances:
“When I look at a gay-straight alliance, I see an activist group,” [Kirby said]. We are answering the students’ request for support and assistance, not for activism. Students don’t want to become activists; they want to be supported in being bullied by their peers.”
Is standing up against anti-gay bullying not activism? “In some ways it could be and in other ways it isn’t,” she says. The groups will all have a “common name.”
That’s right—no activism allowed! On a side note, Kirby should probably look into St. Joseph Secondary School, where a lot of this GSA talk originated, because the school apparently has a Solidarity Action Committee “committed to creating a just world by working for peace, fairness and equality everywhere.” Sounds like trouble to me…
According to the Xtra article, students at St Joseph Catholic Secondary School chose the name “Rainbow Alliance” for their club, but the school principal rejected the suggestion, allegedly telling student Leanne Iskander that the name was “too LGBT-sounding.” In related news, word has not yet been confirmed on rumours of whether the school will, in fact, change the name of the cartons of “homogenized milk” sold in the school’s cafeteria.
If the administration’s aim was really to create a safe, inclusive environment for gay and lesbian youth at its schools, it would have no qualms with having “gay words” in the title of the anti-bullying club. Its wavering, however, suggests otherwise. Just another reason why the public dollar should not be supporting a system that puts religious doctrine before students welfare. And oh yeah: down with Gingers.
NDP surge in Quebec could put students into office
10 university students standing as NDP candidates in Quebec
When Thomas Mulcair became the second NDP candidate ever to be elected in Quebec, it had far more to do with his personal popularity than with his party’s.
Mulciar had been the environment minister in Jean Charest’s cabinet and publicly disagreed with the premier on a plan to sell part of a provincial park. When he was demoted, he resigned. Standing up for his convictions may have hurt Mulcair’s career in Quebec City but it certainly didn’t hurt him at the federal ballot box.
Coming into this election, the NDP had its eyes on gaining a couple more seats in Quebec, but had no serious hopes of a massive breakthrough. As a result, in many ridings, the NDP has been willing to stand anyone with a pulse who wants to run. They’re placeholder candidates, whose only purpose is to ensure that the party’s name is on every ballot in the country.
But, with polls showing surprisingly strong for the NDP in Quebec, it caused a stir when one of the candidates took off for Vegas and when the party was unable to tell reporters if another candidate was still planning to take a vacation of her own. There have also been concerns that many of the candidates don’t live in their ridings and haven’t been campaigning.
Interestingly, 10 of the NDP candidates in Quebec are university students and two of them have a pretty good chance of being elected.
Some seat projections are putting Isabelle Morin, a student at Bishop’s University, in the lead in Notre-Dame-de-Grâce–Lachine. The western Montreal riding, which includes urban and suburban areas, has been considered a safe Liberal seat. Current MP Marlene Jennings has never received less than 40 per cent of the vote since she was elected in 1997.
The same seat projections are also suggesting that Elaine Michaud, a masters student at Quebec’s École nationale d’administration publique, could win in the riding of Portneuf–Jacques-Cartier. The suburban riding, which surrounds much of Quebec City, is currently held by André Arthur, an independent who usually votes with the Conservatives.
While I’m not sure how much I trust riding-by-riding seat projections, it doesn’t look like some of the student candidates have much of a chance.
Some of them, like Charmaine Borg, who is standing in the riding of Terrebonne-Blainville, don’t seem to be campaigning at all. A local newspaper in the riding couldn’t even get in contact with her. Borg is the co-president of the NDP club at McGill. The other co-president, Matthew Dubé, is standing in the riding of Chambly-Borduas, just east of Montreal.
Others, like Pierre-Luc Dusseault, look like they’re actually trying to get elected. Dusseault, who is standing in the riding of Sherbrooke, is an applied politics student at Université de Sherbrooke.
Laurin Liu, standing in Rivière-des-Mille-Îles, north-west of Montreal, has some electoral experience, she was recently elected as one of the undergraduate representatives on the board of McGill’s campus radio station, CKUT.
If some of these students do get elected, it won’t be the first time Quebec has put a student in to the House of Commons. The youngest MP elected in 2008 was the Bloc Québécois’ Nicolas Dufour, who was 21 at the time. The youngest MP ever was also elected in Quebec; Claude-André Lachance, a Liberal, was 20 when he was elected in Montreal. Luachance got his law degree while he was a sitting MP.
UManitoba teaching assistants turn down new contract
Vote to authorize strike action
Members of CUPE Local 3909, the union representing teaching assistants, markers, tutors and student instructors at the University of Manitoba, decided to reject the university’s contract proposal and approve strike action in a vote held last Friday, reported the Winnipeg Free Press.
The university’s four year contract offer called for a two year wage freeze while the last two years of the contract included an annual 2.9 per cent wage increase. 97 per cent of the union’s members voted in favour of rejecting the deal.
John Danakas, director of public affairs at the U of M, explained that the offer is similar to what other bargaining units at the university have accepted from the administration.
However, CUPE Local 3909 president Matt McLean argued that some bargaining units on campus will be receiving a wage increase in the second year of their contract as well as increases to benefits.
“We will not accept an agreement which fails to address our basic needs of getting paid for all the work we do, job security, guaranteed hours, and salary increases,” McLean said in a statement.
McLean explained that members typically work 60 to 80 hours each semester and make an average of $3000 for the academic year, according to the Free Press.
Halifax students make latest Wikileaks dump
Consulate chronicles ‘militant student group’ involvement in 2003 anti-war protests
It seems someone is paying attention to student protests after all.
In this case, that “someone” is the American consulate in Halifax, which chronicled a 2003 anti-war protest held by “militant student groups, church groups, and the self-styled ‘Halifax Peace Coalition.’” In a document released this past Thursday, the consulate describes three “major” anti-war demonstrations in March 2003. The demonstrations were described as nonviolent, though participants “engaged in strong anti-U.S. rhetoric and burned U.S. flags on several occasions.” The cable also notes demonstrators as chanting, banging drums, sounding air horns, and throwing bags of paint.
Come now, silly U.S. consulate! We all know that no student group in Atlantic Canada would ever participate in cheap stunts like that!
The cable concludes with the consulate’s acknowledgement that “militant student groups” and the “Halifax Peace Coalition” intend to demonstrate every Saturday, and that the consulate is in communication with the RCMP and Halifax police.
Study find students most likely to vote NDP
27% say they’re voting NDP; Liberals come in close second
Most of the students surveyed confirmed that they would definitely be heading to the polls May 2, with 76 per cent saying that they were “very likely” to vote, and 10 per cent saying they were “somewhat likely” to vote. Of those who said they would not be voting, little interest in the election was the primary reason for deciding not to cast their ballot.
When divided by sex, female students were more likely to vote NDP or to be undecided, while male students were more likely to vote for the Liberal Party.
Canada’s best teachers: Fred Phillips
How accounting can be ‘exciting’
In 1986, to recognize the importance of university teaching, the Society for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education and 3M Canada created the 3M National Teaching Fellowships. Ten university faculty members are recognized each year for their educational leadership and exceptional contributions to teaching. Here we continue our series profiling all 10 of the 2011 3M Teaching Award winners, with a look at Fred Phillips, an accounting professor at the University of Saskatchewan.
University of Saskatchewan accounting professor, Fred Phillips is rarely discouraged by the fact that students often view accountants as dull, humourless money counters. “In a lot of ways, it is to my advantage,” he says, before adding wryly, “The bar is very low.”
For him, accounting is not dissimilar to detective work. Financial statements tell a story and “that story doesn’t always go in the same direction as the cover story that people tell.” A solid grasp of accounting principles allows for uncovering what is actually going on in a firm. “It’s really a fun puzzle,” he says.
For years, Phillips used PowerPoint presentations in the classroom, but starting in 2009, he compiled all his lectures into video form. This solved a dilemma he had been facing. By making the video lectures available to students before class, time was freed up to discuss specific case studies—a valuable resource when studying a profession that demands “deep, contemplative critical thinking.”
Unfortunately, another obstacle arose. “The problem was that there weren’t a lot of suitable resources like this to draw on,” Phillips says. So he set about developing his own case studies. He produced videos highlighting well-known cases such as the fraud trial of former Computer Associates chairman, Sanjay Kumar, and the bankruptcy of Circuit City, to illustrate key accounting practices and principles. He then wrote his own hypothetical problems to present to his classes. Phillips enjoys helping his students learn: “It’s fun to help them discover where their perceptions are and are not on point,” regarding what accountants do.
Phillips’ approach does appear to be working. One of his students, Samuel Clarke, switched majors from arts to accounting, because Phillips helped him to see that the material was “exciting.”
Vote mob craze hits UWinnipeg
Approximately 100 students mobbed the university’s downtown campus
With vote mobs organized at over 30 campuses across the country, I knew it was only a matter of time before the craze hit my hometown of Winnipeg. Since the energy of these rallies is better illustrated with multimedia coverage than in print, I produced a video of the vote mob organized by students at the University of Winnipeg and University of Manitoba that took place on the U of W campus Wednesday for The Manitoban. Approximately 100 people, most of them students, showed up to support youth engagement in the upcoming federal election, along with a handful of local candidates.
UManitoba French college to be full university
Legislation would recognize Manitoba’s only French university
Legislation was proposed in the Manitoba legislature today that would see Collège universitaire de Saint-Boniface (CUSB) elevated to full university status. Currently, CUSB is a University of Manitoba college that caters primarily to Winnipeg’s French-speaking population. Under the legislation, the new University of St. Boniface would have an independent senate, and would have greater flexibility in developing relationships with other institutions, though ties would be retained with the U of M. “This new legislation will provide the institution with more opportunities for academic partnerships across Canada, with the potential to offer students more options for graduate programs in partnerships with other institutions,” Advanced Education Minister, Erin Selby said in a government release. Founded, 1871, CUSB is the oldest university in western Canada.
Islamic extremism thrives at British universities
Homeland security report criticizes schools for failing to address problem
British universities are “hotbeds of Islamic extremism,” according to a new report from an all party committee on homeland security. Addressing the problem is of the “utmost urgency,” the group says, but universities have been reluctant to cooperate with anti-terror investigations to avoid “spying” on their students. Universities were criticized for failing to “establish the correct balance between academic freedoms and university authorities’ responsibilities as part of ensuring homeland security.” The report found that more than 30 per cent of those charged, and convicted, of crimes related to terrorism had been to university, while 10 per cent were still students. The report also noted that Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, dubbed the “Underwear Bomber,” had been Islamic Society President at University College London in 2006-2007, and that two of July 7 London bombers had been university students.
UToronto evicts prep school
‘Laboratory’ school has been affiliated with the university since 1910
A prestigious high school has been left looking for a new building to lease, after the University of Toronto denied its request for refurbishment. Located on the St. George campus, the University of Toronto Schools has served as a unique training ground for student teachers, while providing university preparatory education to gifted students. Described as a “laboratory” school, UTS has permitted young teachers, graduate students and education researchers, to have access to a control group for experimentation in the classroom. Now, after 101 years, beginning in 1910, the university has decided it wants the space for itself. In informing UTS of its decision, U of T explained that it was undesirable for the site to be used “for a non-university use in perpetuity,” though no firm plans have been made for the facility. UTS has until 2021 to find new accommodations.
Getting ready for the MCAT
The most important test I’ll ever write?
Even though it’s been more than a week since my last exam, I can’t relax and fully embrace summer vacation. Some of my marks haven’t been posted yet, but that’s not the problem. And I’m pretty sure that I’m not suffering from Post-Exam Stress Disorder, which is usually caused by physics or chemistry exams (I only had biology courses this semester). The reason I can’t relax is because I’m now studying for one of the most important tests that I’ve ever written: the MCAT.
For most schools across Canada, a high GPA and solid extracurricular experience are usually given more weight than the MCAT. Some schools don’t even consider MCAT scores, such as the University of Ottawa and the Northern Ontario School of Medicine. McMaster University only considers the Verbal Reasoning portion of the test, and although the University of Toronto requires applicants to write the MCAT, their score isn’t included in the overall academic calculation. Instead, it’s just used as a “flag” during the admissions process, with less than minimum marks possibly disqualifying the application.
When it comes to medical school admissions, an applicant’s MCAT score isn’t a universally-important deciding factor. But it’s still going to be one of the most important tests I’ve ever written.
For one thing, the MCAT is much more important to med schools in the States and abroad. And even if some schools don’t consider the MCAT in their admissions process (or they only use cut-off scores), it’s still important for many Canadian schools, such as the University of Western Ontario. This is especially true outside of Ontario- the University of British Columbia, the University of Calgary, and the University of Manitoba all consider MCAT scores, just to name a few.
So unlike my last summer vacation, the next couple of months won’t just be a combination of part time jobs and relaxing- I’ll also be preparing for the MCAT. And stressing out about the physical sciences section.
Who should go to university?
Are too many of us getting degrees?
One common refrain in university circles, strangely enough, is that there are too many people going to university. These days, it is said, nearly everyone goes to university, which means that we spend too much, the value of a degree is degraded, grades are inflated, and trades are depleted. Universities, some say, should return to their former status as elite institutions for those who should really be there.
But are there really so many of us going to university? And how do we decide who should go?
To make sense of all this, we should first dispel the wide-spread myth that in Canada today pretty much everyone gets a university degree. The statistics on these things always lag behind the reality to some extent, and the studies are not always perfectly consistent with each other, but, as of 2007, the percentage of the working Canadian population (25 to 64) with a university degree was around 25%, an attainment that put us behind several other similar nations including the United States, and on par with many other industrialized countries such as Australia, the UK, and Japan. A quarter of the population is hardly everyone and is, indeed, about normal for a country like ours.
Further, just as not everyone is going to university, neither is it the case that no one is doing anything else. This study from 2009 shows that while more people are going to university, so too are more people seeking college and trades education. In fact, more people (just over 30%) are getting college and trades education than university degrees (just over 20%), and the trades and college participation rate is increasing about as fast as the university participation rate. So those (including the Prime Minister) who think that the vast majority of Canadians should not be going to university already have their wish.
Still, the perception persists, especially among the university-educated, that there are a lot of students who just should not be there. They feel this way because while they were studying and paying attention in class, they couldn’t help notice others stumble into class late and only occasionally. It was clear that many students are uninterested, unprepared, and, clearly, uninspired. Shouldn’t those people at least be weeded out?
Maybe, but bear in mind that many of them are. Universities have policies that prevent students from failing indefinitely. At a certain point, you simply are not allowed to come back. And a certain number of failures, we should remember, is not necessarily a bad thing. For some, the best thing they can learn in university is that it is the wrong place for them. Or at least, the wrong place for right now. I have had several good students who came to university, failed out, and came back later when they were ready to work. Similarly, some students take a year or two of university to get their intellectual bearings. They struggle in the first year or two and then something clicks into place — they get a key insight or are inspired by a class or a cause — and they succeed in ways no one could have predicted.
This is why we should be very cautious about downsizing universities. Those of us making good salaries thanks to our university training should not be too quick to call for a move towards universities as elite enclaves for those who excelled in high school. Most young people have no idea what they are capable of — that’s part of what young means — and making universities open to as many people as we can is our best way of making sure that everyone gets a chance to discover their potential. Such a strategy means that university faculty must remain vigilant, fight grade inflation, and not give out credits freely as though every student has a right to them. It also means that the public school system has to do better in preparing students to go to university so that they are not overwhelmed when they get there.
Would those people calling for an elite university system feel the same way if they were not already part of the elite?
Disqualification reversed for Concordia student election winners
Second-place team remains disqualified, neither slate will have expenses reimbursed
The team that won March’s Concordia Student Union election will take office after all.
Two weeks ago, the chief electoral officer disqualified all the candidates from the two main slates, accusing them of multiple election rule violations. On Wednesday, the student union’s judicial board overturned his decision to disqualify the members of Your Concordia, which won the executive along with a majority on council, according to board chair Bella Ratner.
The Your Concordia slate had received harsh criticism from elections chief Oliver Cohen, who banned members of the group from running in CSU elections for two years.
However, the board did uphold Cohen’s decision to disqualify the Action slate, which won nine of 29 council seats and one of four student seats on the university’s senate.
The board also upheld Cohen’s decision not to reimburse the slates for election expenses, over allegations of over-spending.
A full judicial board report will be issued next week.
A small number of independent candidates also stood in the election, however all of the positions were won by members of the two slates.
Where did the idealists go?
Students care less about education and the environment than their future standard of living
Photograph by Cole Carside
Every election campaign season, experts suggest that the best way for political parties to rock the youth vote is to focus on “the student issues”—often defined as tuition and the environment. Omeed Asadi, a third-year communications student at York University, hears it all the time. “In Vari Hall, which you have to cross to get to pretty much every class, there’s always the York Federation of Students rallying against high tuition, or green activists against pollution,” he says. “Don’t get me wrong. I respect those issues. But I don’t think that’s all there is to it.” Asadi also cares about health care, the tenor of parliamentary discourse and fiscal responsibility.
He’s not the only young Canadian who thinks there’s more at stake in this election than tuition hikes and the health of the planet, according to an exclusive new poll from the Historica-Dominion Institute. The survey asked 831 youth between the ages of 18 to 24 what issues concerned them. Participants were given 10 statements, each capturing a different election issue, and asked to rank them from most to least concerning. Turns out the average young voter is a lot more like Asadi than the student activists making all the noise. “They’re certainly thinking of longer-term issues earlier in their lives than we would have thought,” says Jeremy Diamond, a director at Historica-Dominion.
The most common concern for youth? “That my standard of living will be lower than my parents,” which 63 per cent ranked in their top three concerns. This was consistent across party lines and from coast to coast, although it was significantly more common among young people in the economically stagnant Atlantic region (75 per cent). “We tend to think of students as idealistic,” says Diamond, “but this shows an overriding worry that they won’t be as successful as their parents.”
Dietlind Stolle, a McGill University political scientist, cautions that the “standard of living” statement is likely capturing more than just economic concerns. That may be true, but it’s not the only evidence from the survey that shows students are worried about the country’s financial footing. “Fear of another economic recession” is a concern of 43 per cent, ranking it third. In fact, youth put the country’s bank accounts far ahead of their own; “paying for my post-secondary education” is a top-three concern of just 18 per cent.
This heavy focus on the economy doesn’t surprise Janni Aragon, a political scientist at the University of Victoria, who studies young voters. “The millennials are keenly aware of the economy,” she says. “A lot of my own students worry that after graduation they’ll have to move back in with their parents, because they won’t be able to afford an apartment, God forbid a house.” Economic worries, surprisingly, are especially prevalent among left-leaning students. Among respondents, recessions are top of mind for 63 per cent of Green supporters, 48 per cent of those who plan to vote for the NDP, 45 per cent of Liberal supporters, and just 27 per cent of young Tories.
It isn’t that they’re concerned with finding work—“getting a job or keeping my current job” was only in the top-three lists of eight per cent—so much as fear about the economic burden they may inherit. “Paying off the national debt” is a top-three concern for 24 per cent.
The second-biggest concern for youth overall is “that the health care system won’t be there for me when I need it.” In British Columbia and Atlantic Canada, 58 per cent prioritize this concern. Overall, 49 per cent listed it in their top three. Jessica Wong, a first-time voter at McGill University, says health care is the issue that has the biggest influence on her vote, though she admits it’s an issue she has never discussed with her peers, unlike tuition or the environment. The 19-year-old chemistry student has little experience with the system, “but I think health care is indicative of how a country treats each other—whether they just look after the rich people or look after everyone.”
Fourth on the list, with nearly one in three (31 per cent) ranking it in their top three, is a concern for “the erosion of democracy.” This was fairly consistent nationwide, though it’s somewhat more pressing in Quebec. The only defence-related option was “foreign threats to Canada,” which 23 per cent made a top-three concern. “I would have expected it to be lower,” says Aragon, citing the stereotype of young people as pacifists. That said, she wasn’t surprised to learn that Alberta has the highest percentage of young hawks (32 per cent).
Only near the bottom of the list do the so-called “student issues” appear. Less than one in five (18 per cent) say that “paying for my post-secondary education” is a top-three concern. But the biggest surprise is how few put the environment as a top priority. Only 13 per cent of youth agree “that the environment will be ruined without more action,” putting it second from the bottom. More shocking is that in English Canada, the students who care most about the Earth are far more likely to say they’ll vote Conservative (23 per cent) than Liberal (eight per cent), NDP (eight per cent), or even Green (seven per cent).
Even if it’s not their priority, students still do care greatly about high tuition and the environment. When presented with the statement, “the government should provide more money to help students pay for higher education,” 88 per cent either somewhat or strongly agree. And 86 per cent agree that “the government should be doing more to protect the environment.”
But that’s where the consensus ends. On every other policy position, students are more split. Large numbers “neither agree or disagree” with statements about raising corporate taxes, opening the health care system to more private money, or increasing immigration. “That may indicate,” says Aragon, “a lack of understanding or exposure.”
That’s no doubt a reality for some students, but not for Asadi. He’s read all the platforms and can quote Michael Ignatieff’s about untendered fighter jet contracts and the billion-dollar G20. “It’s so short-sighted to focus only on tuition,” he says. “I’m only in school for one more year. Then everything affects me.”
The online survey of 831 Canadians between the ages of 18 and 24 was conducted on Uthink’s online national research panel between April 8-13. The margin of error is 3.4 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
Bishop’s role to be examined at St. FX
‘We would call it an example of systemic discrimination’
St. Francis Xavier University will be reviewing the long-standing tradition that sees the Bishop of the Diocese of Antigonish automatically named Chancellor. A university spokesperson confirmed to the Chronicle Herald that a committee has been appointed to examine St FX’s bylaws “with specific attention paid to reviewing the role of and process for selection of chancellor.” The university is evidently responding to advocacy from students Kurt Andersen and Cam Fleming, and others, who have been calling for the change. “We would call it an example of systemic discrimination . . . Since the bishop is the only person who can ascend to the chancellorship, a woman could never become chancellor and people of any other religious background could never become chancellor,” Andersen said. The review is expected to take a year, a time frame the group is dissatisfied with. A press release signed by Andersen, Fleming, and a handful of professors and other students suggested a complaint could be filed with the Human Rights Commission, if the process is not sped up.
Profs worry China preparing to spy on students
UManitoba considers deal with Confucius Institute
Some University of Manitoba professors are worried that the Chinese government is gearing up to spy on their students. A deal is being proposed that would see the Confucius Institute, which is sponsored by the Chinese government, rent space on the U of M campus for the purposes of teaching Chinese culture and history. “They would supply the teachers from China. What they teach is only what the Chinese government through the (Chinese) education ministry approves of,” Asian studies professor Terry Cameron told the Winnipeg Free Press. Cameron is concerned that China would use the institute to monitor the activities of Chinese international students studying at the U of M. “There isn’t a consulate — it would give them an agency to keep an eye on the students.” The faculty association is also officially objecting to the institute coming to the university. “Instructors working for non-U of M agencies typically have none of the academic rights and protections that U of M professors and instructors have,” president Cameron Morrill said.
Youth vote still up in the air
Vote mobs could bring them out, but summer could keep them in
The question on everyone’s mind going into Monday’s federal election day is just how much recent attempts to galvanize young Canadians will translate into votes on polling day.
It’s no secret that youth participation is a high priority in this election with vote mobs, youth debates, special ballots and more occurring in ridings across the country.
Late last week, a Calgary man rented a bus to drive young voters to the Easter weekend advance polls. Students in Victoria also organized shuttles to local polling stations last weekend.
“We are excited there is so much energy around this election. This weekend we will translate that energy into votes,” Victoria organizer James Coccola said in a press release.
But, according to the Calgary Herald, efforts in the Alberta city went largely unnoticed. Only six students took advantage of Michael Wilson’s offer to provide them with transportation to polling stations. Wilson spent $800 to rent the bus.
The Herald article hypothesizes that exams, the long weekend, end of the academic year or a poorly organized event could have been to blame for low turnout for Wilson’s shuttle bus. But in reality most of these reasons will remain on May 2, leading me to believe that things may not change between the advance polls and Election Day proper.
But recent research by the Canadian University Press has shown how much an impact young people can have on the outcome of almost every riding in the country if they come out to vote. That kind of awareness can quickly drive voter participation. It amounts to hope. Hope that their voice may actually be heard — the same kind of hope that led to Obama’s historic victory three years ago.
While the country saw a record turnout in the advance polls this weekend, with over two million Canadians voting, we won’t know for sure if that turnout is a trend indicative of increasing voter involvement or if the holiday weekend made it easier for Canadians to cast their ballots.
I, for one, hope it’s the former. Young people have a right to vote, a strong voice, and the opportunity to make a difference. They should seize it.
Student lobby group divided on extending language laws to CEGEPs
Fédération étudiante collégiale du Québec can’t find consensus on issue of restricting access to English-language colleges
Quebec’s largest CEGEP student lobby group won’t be taking a stance on calls by the Parti Québécois for the province to extend language restrictions to the colleges.
The 23 student associations of the Fédération étudiante collégiale du Québec debated the issue at the organization’s general assembly, last weekend. But after a “heated debate,” the group was unable to reach a consensus.
FÉCQ president Léo Bureau-Blouin, who was reelected to a second term at the assembly, told the Montreal Gazette that debate over the PQ proposal split the group down the middle, and that, “we haven’t closed the door on the idea … But for now, we’d like to proceed with measures [to promote French] that are more consensual.”
According to a FÉCQ press release, the group would like to see improvements to second-language instruction in CEGEPs, along with programs to help non-francophones in Montreal get jobs in French. The group says that these proposals would help preserve the French language without creating “deep divisions,” like the PQ proposal.
Quebec currently restricts access to English-language primary and secondary schools, forcing francophones and new immigrants, along with their descendants, into the French-language system. The PQ has called for these restrictions to be extended to CEGEPs. Students in Quebec, who graduate high school after grade 11, must attend CEGEP before they can attend university; the colleges also provide vocational programs.
What I wish I had known about roommates
Advice for successful cohabitation
After living with four different sets of roommates since I moved out of my parents’ house two years ago, I’ve decided to give up on cohabitation for now as I leave my townhouse I share with two people in downtown Winnipeg and settle into a one bedroom apartment. Looking back on my rather extensive experience, there are a few pieces of advice I wish I had been given about dealing with roommates before stepping out on my own:
1. It’s not going to be an episode of Friends: Like every naïve young student first leaving the nest, I imagined that I’d automatically become best friends with the people I was living with. While I have had roommates that I’ve become close with, and am still friends with, I’ve had others that were virtually strangers. You may get lucky and hit it off with your roommates right away, but you might find yourself living with people who are only interested in sharing your rent and nothing more, which can be a perfectly fine situation too.
2. Best friends don’t always make the best roommates: You already hang out with them all the time, so why not live with them, right? While you may know everything about who they’re dating, it’s hard to know what they’re like to live with until you live with them. Make sure to seriously consider if you can deal with any weird habits they may have, and having to spend that much time with them before moving in together. These things may seem trivial but can be really taxing on your relationship, so be honest with your friend and yourself.
3. But be wary of living with strangers: It’s a lot harder to talk to a roommate you met through Kijiji.ca about paying their share of the bills on time or keeping up with housework than someone you’ve known for a while. You’re also setting yourself up for getting stuck living with someone that creates bigger problems for you than making your home less than tidy if you decide to board with someone you don’t know.
4. Communication is key: Sometimes it can be difficult to keep the lines of communication open with whomever you’re living with when you have opposing schedules and hardly ever see them. But having good communication with your roommates is really essential to having a happy household. If they’re doing something that’s bothering you, you need talk to them about it and not let it stew. No one wants to feel uncomfortable in their own home because they’re secretly mad at their roommate.
5. Try to shop together, at least for groceries: If you can split the bill on things like staple groceries and bathroom supplies, it will make living together much easier. Having to label who’s salad dressing is who’s can get really tedious.
6. Chore charts are bogus: I don’t find chore charts or chore wheels to be effective in keeping your home in order. No one really wants to have to check their names off each time they mop the floor, and they just end up seeming anal and annoying. If you’re worried about everyone doing their fair share of housework, you’re better off dividing up tasks or sections of house for each person to look after.
7. Have each others’ emergency contact info: This is something I’ve never done, but probably should have in hindsight. Hopefully you will never have to use it, but it’s a good thing to have just in case. If you haven’t seen them in a while, a nice courtesy text or call is always a good idea as well.
Of all the advice I could give however, the most important thing to remember is to always be respectful and considerate of whomever you’re sharing your home with. Seems like a pretty basic rule of thumb, but it’s something that is forgotten much too often, especially once you’ve been living with someone for a long time.
Everything you learned suddenly doesn’t matter
Post-exam purge
I’m finally done all my exams. There are more than four months of summer vacation between me and next semester. It seems strange that all of a sudden, the material that used to seem so critically important- the stuff that I’ve been cramming into my head for the past 12 weeks- doesn’t matter anymore.
Since the first week of January, my day-to-day existence has revolved around my textbooks. And now, after weeks of procrastination, followed by a couple days of frantic “I-can’t-believe-I-fell-nine-chapters-behind-since-the-midterm” studying, it’s all over.
The day before my microbiology exam, with three more chapters to read and several weeks of lectures to memorize, I would have preferred trying to circumcise a T-Rex with a plastic spoon instead of writing that exam. The very next day, those three chapters are suddenly irrelevant and I’m selling my textbook on AbeBooks.
Sure, some of the courses I’m taking next semester will build on what I learned in anatomy and physiology. But words like “photophosphorylation” and “polymorphonuclear leukocyte” can be mentally purged forever, joining the ranks of all my other repressed memories.
Like that time in grade nine when I gave a girl a Valentine’s Day card, and then she ceased to acknowledge my existence.
