All Posts Tagged With: "safety"
Gunshots at York University
No one injured
Toronto Police announced Monday that they’re investigating gunshots at York University. Police were called to 360 Assiniboine Rd. on Feb. 18 at 6:45 a.m. where a “projectile” had been shot through an apartment door. No one was injured. Police are reviewing security camera footage.
University of Victoria student dies of meningitis
Texas requires vaccines
The University of Victoria mourned Wednesday at a funeral service on campus for a student, Leo Chan, who died on Jan. 18 from meningococcal disease, also known as bacterial meningitis.
The disease kills roughly one-tenth of those who get sick and disables another 10 per cent.
Because of the elevated risk in young people who are in close contact with each other, a new law in Texas requires that all students under the age of 30 have proof of vaccination by Jan. 31.
Health Canada recommends vaccinations for children under five, adolescents, and young adults. Coverage varies by province. Some meningitis vaccines are free in Ontario for those aged 15 to 19.
An average of 298 cases are reported annually in Canada. Symptoms include weakness, fatigue, fever, vomiting, stiff neck and sometimes a blotchy rash. The disease spreads mainly among people who are in close contact with each other and swap saliva through smoking, drinks, food or kissing.
Chan lived in on-campus housing. Nineteen people who are at risk of exposure have been given preventative antibiotics, Vancouver Island Health Authority officials told Saanich News.
Another peeping tom reported at York University
Woman flees washroom
Footage of suspect (Toronto Police, Jan. 11)
A third woman has reported an apparent peeping tom lurking in a washroom at York University.
This comes two weeks after two similar incidents. Women reported seeing a man in a washroom stall at Curtis Lecture Hall on Jan. 9 and Jan. 10.
The latest incident occurred on Jan. 24 inside a washroom at the Stacy Lecture Hall. At 8:55 p.m., a woman says she noticed large shoes inside a stall that looked like they belonged to a man. She fled the washroom and activated a security alarm.
The suspect is described as a brown male aged 21 to 23. He’s about six feet tall, weighs about 185 pounds. He has a chinstrap beard and a square jaw. He was last seen wearing dark jeans, brown or dark-green shoes with beige soles, a dark-grey hoodie with a black jacket and was carrying a dark brown or black backpack. Those with any information are encouraged to contact Crime Stoppers.
Doctoral student killed in Mexico
Mexican-born Canadian strangled and slashed
A 39-year-old student from the University of British Columbia was found last week stabbed and strangled with her hands tied behind her back and her jugular slashed, reports CBC News.
Ximena Osegueda, a Mexican-born Canadian, was working on her PhD in Hispanic studies while living in Huatulco, a tourist town close to the Pacific coast. Her body was found along with her partner Alejandro Alvarado’s body on a beach that’s known to be used to dump bodies of those killed by in organized criminals.
Osegueda taught French, Italian and Hispanic studies at UBC. Her family said there was no reason to suspect their daughter was involved in organized crime. They report no ransom call.
Updated on Jan. 6: The Winnipeg Free Press reports that local authorities believe robbery may have been the motive, as a vehicle was recovered in Oaxaca City, 410 kilometres north of Huatulco.
Laurentian mourns teens
Three killed in crash
Three Laurentian University students died and a fourth was sent to hospital after a collision on a cold Highway 17 near Hagar, Ont. on Tuesday, reports CBC News. Renfrew, Ont. teenagers Keegan Melville, Zabrina Rekowski and Hillary Afelskie died when their Ford minivan collided head on with a Jeep carrying two senior citizens. One passenger, Emily Olmstead, is in hospital with non-life threatening injuries. Police are investigating but they say weather likely wasn’t a factor.
Body found on Manitoba campus
Death not suspicious: police
A male body was found on the University of Manitoba’s Fort Garry campus on Monday around 1 p.m. and Winnipeg Police closed off a pedestrian walkway between the engineering building and the University Centre to investigate. A police spokesperson told The Maintoban that they’re treating it as a “sudden death” investigation, rather than a suspicious death.
Ontario student dies after taking ecstasy
Follows accidental death of Calgary teen who took pills
Photo by USDEA
A 23-year-old University of Western Ontario student who attended a concert in Guelph on Nov. 23 died of an apparent reaction to ecstasy pills, reports the Guelph Mercury. The Sarnia, Ont. native was taken to a Guelph hospital at 2:30 a.m. and died of organ failure on Nov. 26 in Kitchener.
Last week, a 16-year-old in Calgary died after taking what appears to have been ecstasy.
The drug most commonly sold as ecstacy is MDMA (3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine), which floods users with euphoria and a sense of empathy. MDMA itself rarely causes sudden death. However, the brightly-coloured pills sold as ecstasy come from drug labs where they’re sometimes laced with more deadly drugs. U.K. Professor David Nutt published a study in the Journal of Psychopharmacology in 2009 that suggested the risk of death from ecstasy use is similar to the risk of death from horseback riding.
St. Thomas students lost apartments to fire
School offers money, food and shelter
Three students who were the victims of an apartment fire in Fredericton in November have received generous help from their school, St. Thomas University. All three have been offered $750 to use however they like, a meal plan worth $350 and free residence for the rest of the semester. The STU Alumni Office also gave each student a $200 Visa gift card. Even faculty chipped in, giving the students hoodies after learning that their clothing was damaged. Perhaps the best gift of all: students will get extensions on their coursework and postponed exams, reports The Daily Gleaner.
Marking the Montreal Massacre
A coast-to-coast round-up of remembrance
Photo by Flabber DeGasky on Flickr
On this date in 1989, a young man named Marc Lepine rounded up women at the Ecole Polytechnique engineering school in Montreal and opened fire, killing 14 females and injuring 14 others before turning the gun on himself. In his suicide note, he blamed women for his problems.
Since 1991, Dec. 6 has been The National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women. Across Quebec today, survivors of the shooting will gather with activists and ask the Quebec government to sue the Canadian government over Bill C-19, which will abolish the long-gun registry and—they say— allow more violence against women to occur.
Here are a few of the ways universities across the country are marking the sombre occasion.
St. Thomas bans alcohol in residence
Follows apparent drunken vandalism
Alcohol has been banned at the Harrington Hall student residence at St. Thomas University in Fredericton for an indefinite period. The decision was made after fire extinguishers were discharged and glass was broken in apparent acts of drunken vandalism. Larry Batt, Dean of Students, told CBC News that the prohibition is meant to be a wake-up call for residents. The ban will last at least until the end of the calendar year. Many students were defiant as the ban came into effect on Sunday. Ryan Walters, a 19-year-old student, said that on the first night of the alcohol ban, “everybody just got wasted.” St. Thomas developed a strict behaviour code after student Andrew Bartlett hit his head and died last year after an off-campus party where hazing occurred.
Feds will fund projects for women on campus
Minister cites recent sexual assaults
Minister Ambrose on June 15, 2011.
The federal government is planning to fund projects to address violence against women on university and college campuses.
Rona Ambrose, Minister for Status of Women, told the Canadian Press that recent attacks on Canadian campuses are a reality check.
“Yes, there are good programs out there being offered by institutions like universities and colleges but we need to do more,” she said.
Women have been targeted by sexual predators at schools across the country this year. On the weekend, there were two incidents of possible sexual predators near the University of Windsor. Earlier this month, female students near Vancouver Island University in Nanaimo, B.C. allege they received the date-rape drug GHB. In the spring, York University experienced two alleged sexual assaults and the murder of Qian Liu, a student from China. In April, four female McGill University students were physically assaulted.
Continue reading Feds will fund projects for women on campus
Women warned at University of Windsor
Student reports man with his pants down
Police at the University of Windsor have posted notices on campus after two women reported encountering possible sexual predators this weekend. A woman reported she was followed home early Saturday morning on Sunset Avenue. The man who allegedly followed her is described as skinny, Hispanic and 21-years-old. The second woman reported that in the early hours of Sunday morning she saw a man with his pants down who was watching her through a window at Canterbury College. He is described as in his 30s or 40s with facial hair, according to CBC News.
Date rape drug shows up in Nanaimo, B.C.
Student may have been sexually assaulted and drugged
Photo by Robert S. Donovan on Flickr
Vancouver Island University is warning students via Twitter to guard their drinks. A woman who was sexually assaulted in Nanaimo recently may have been given the date-rape drug GHB.
Another young woman says her doctor confirmed she was given the drug in October. CTV Vancouver Island reports that the woman was found by a friend in a parkade around 3 a.m. after attending a nightclub. She had no recollection of the evening, but her friend says a stranger had shared her drink earlier that night.
V.I.U. has been using custom drink coasters to warn students about how easy it is for people to slip odourless and colourless GHB into their drinks, reports Canada.com.
RCMP won’t yet open inquiry at Prairie Bible Institute
Activist alleges 80+ cases of sexual abuse
The RCMP told CBC News on Sunday that they can’t investigate sexual abuse allegations at Prairie Bible Institute, a private college in Alberta, unless more alleged victims come forward to police.
Linda Fossen, a 53-year-old former student, was the first to make allegations of widespread abuse. On her personal website, the U.S. resident asks visitors to sign a petition for the “80+ survivors of Prairie Institute” and lists six stories from Jane and John Does who were allegedly victims of sexual abuse at the hands of men connected with PBI. No alleged victims are named.
Fossen wrote that she uncovered the abuse after releasing her book Straight from the Donkey’s Mouth, which is about her own abuse at the hands of her father and while studying at PBI. The book is available for free. Her newest book, Out of the Miry Clay: Freedom from Childhood Sexual Abuse, is available for $8.00 online. Fossen also runs the abuse-related charity, I am Whole, Inc.
Continue reading RCMP won’t yet open inquiry at Prairie Bible Institute
Drunk student paralyzed by fall from bed
Sues university for negligence
An American student who fell asleep drunk and woke up paralyzed after falling more than a metre from his dorm room bunk bed is now suing his school, Fordham University in the Bronx. Kei Usami, 20, smashed his head so hard that he fractured his spine, according to a the New York Post. His suit alleges the university was negligent for failing to put guardrails on the bed. The former tennis player is now in a wheelchair. He says his goal is to walk again by the time he graduates in 2013.
Stabbing at McMaster University
Injured youths won’t help police
Hamilton Police aren’t getting any cooperation from the three young men who were stabbed outside McMaster University’s campus pub early on Saturday morning, reports the Hamilton Spectator. The three men include two 18-year-olds and one 19-year-old—all of them from outside Hamilton.
It’s reminiscent of an incident in September when four people went to hospital and at least two others were cut during a knife fight at a house party near McMaster University. None of those injured cooperated with police. They were also from out of town.
More than 100 thefts near U. of Western Ontario
Police warn students
Dennis Rivest by MyFanshawe on YouTube
Students in London, Ont. are being warned by police to secure their doors, windows, and patio doors due to an increased number of break-and-enters near student housing. Western News reports that more than 100 have occurred near the University of Western Ontario in recent months.
London Police officer Dennis Rivest held a press conference at Fanshawe College recently to offer more information. He called the thefts “crimes of opportunity” and believes that thieves may be walking from residence to residence, looking for easy ways to break in and steal electronics. He says students should not only secure their residences better, but should record serial numbers for computers, cameras, TVs and tablets.
Two separate attacks on females in Ontario
One woman grabbed, another kissed by strange man
Police in two Ontario cities are looking for male suspects after separate incidents involving university-aged females that occurred on or near campuses this week.
The first happened at the University of Western Ontario at 6:40 a.m. on Wednesday. After a female left her vehicle and walked to work near the TD Waterhouse Stadium, she was grabbed from behind by an unknown male who is described as white and aged 25 to 35 with a thin build and a stud or ring in his lower lip. He was wearing a grey hooded sweatshirt under a black leather jacket and black jeans, reports the London Police Service.
The second incident involved a 21-year-old woman near the Wilfrid Laurier University and University of Waterloo campuses on Thursday around 3:30 p.m. A man unknown to the woman hugged and kissed her on the cheek before letting her go. Waterloo police told the Waterloo Record that the man is described as dark-skinned and short in height with a large belly and short dark hair. He was wearing a red sweater or jacket and jeans.
Deadly construction collapse at York University
No injuries to students reported
One man is dead at York University after a piece of construction equipment, possibly a crane or drilling machine, toppled over onto construction workers around 2:30 this afternoon. Another man, who is 36-years old, is still trapped in the debris as of 4 p.m., reports CP24. Three people have been taken to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. The accident happened beside the Schulich School of Business where construction workers are drilling for the Spadina Subway extension. The accident has caused road closures, including portions of Keele St. York students are currently on a reading week break, so few are on campus. No students have been injured.
Is your water fountain safe?
Fredericton schools find unacceptable levels of lead
Even as universities across the country are banning bottled water, alarms are going off about the safety of the water coming out of drinking fountains at some Canadian campuses.
The student newspaper at St. Thomas University is reporting that eight drinking fountains at the small university are being shut down because of high levels of lead detected in the fountains. University officials were uncertain as to the exact source of the contamination, and vowed to replace the fountains with newer models equipped with filters to make the water safe.
According to the report, STU only looked into their fountains after recent tests at the University of New Brunswick showed unacceptable levels of lead in 18 per cent of fountains and sinks — along with others that were very close to the limits set out by Health Canada. New fountains are on order there, too, according to The Brunswickan, coming in at a total cost of roughly $100,000 dollars for twenty fountains.
Why does this matter? Long-term exposure to small amounts of lead can harm the nervous system. According to Health Canada:“Recent scientific studies on lead show that adverse health effects are occurring at lower levels of exposure to lead than previously thought.”
Concerns over water quality at school drinking fountains are not new. A US investigation in 2009 turned up lead-contaminated drinking water at schools in every American state. Some of the lead came from the school’s own well or local water supplies, while lead-soldered pipes were identified as culprits in other cases. In Canada, one study found that 27 per cent of “first draw” samples taken in Ontario schools had high levels of lead, and 9 per cent still had high levels even after the system was flushed.
How many more schools have contaminated water that is going undetected? Since STU only identified its problem after learning of the UNB case, universities across the country may need to begin more systematic monitoring of water quality. At present, Ontario is the only province that has legally mandated monitoring of school drinking water. Mandatory or not, universities should consider conducting tests of their own.
