All Posts Tagged With: "University of Ottawa"
French professor steals English sign
Latest in U Ottawa language tussle
A University of Ottawa professor stole a National Bank sign set up on campus because it wasn’t available in French. François Charboneau, an assistant professor of Political Studies told CBC News that he did so because he wanted to send a stronger message than simply “making another complaint.” All official signs must appear in English and French at the university, but many companies providing services on campus, such as construction companies and food shops, don’t follow the same rules. That’s because the 1974 provincial act that made the university bilingual says it must support this mandate in “programmes, central administration, general services, internal administration of its faculties and schools, its teaching staff, its support staff and its student population.” It says nothing of ancillary services. It isn’t just francophones who are often frustrated by the relationship between English and French on campus. An anglophone student recently wrote of her frustration about French-only signs and service at a Quizno’s sandwich shop on campus.
Students declare “death of affordable transit”
Zombies protest 17 per cent U-Pass increase
Photo by Jane Gerster of The Charlatan
Zombies welcomed public transit users at Carleton University’s main bus stop on Halloween morning. The students in costume were protesting what they called “the death of affordable and accessible transit,” and were collecting signatures from supporters to send to city council.
The protest was a response to the local transit authority, OC Transpo, which announced that Ottawa university students will pay $180 per semester for their universal transit passes (U-Passes) next year. That’s a 17 per cent hike from the $145 they paid this year. According to the Carleton Undergraduate Students’ Association, the new price—$360 a year for most students—means Ottawa and Carleton will have Canada’s most expensive student transit passes.
In contrast, consider that students at Dalhousie University in Halifax pay only $69 per semester.
Continue reading Students declare “death of affordable transit”
Canada’s best cycling schools
Two-wheel transport speeds ahead on campus
Cyclist at Dalhousie. By Andrew Tolson.
From the 21st Maclean’s University Rankings—on newsstands now. Story by Jason McBride.
If you were to design the perfect bicycling environment, it would include safe, well-maintained and lit streets. It would have almost no car traffic, dedicated bike paths and ample secure parking and storage. It might even have showers purpose-built for sweaty commuters and a well-equipped repair shop where cyclists can get help fixing a flat tire. In short, it would look quite a bit like the campus of McMaster University.
McMaster is located in blue-collar, largely car-centric Hamilton, Ont.—an unlikely champion of the bicycle. But in the past two years, the city has been in the vanguard of sustainable travel, expanding cycling infrastructure, improving regional transit and adding carpooling programs. Municipal support has, in turn, emboldened the university, and encouraged both students and faculty to take up, in great numbers, alternative modes of transportation. According to Kate Whalen, manager of McMaster’s office of sustainability, a 2010 campus survey revealed that 37 per cent of students walked or cycled to school. “We have a very engaged population,” she says. And the university is very responsive to the needs of that population. Just one example: after a civil engineering student did a systematic geographic information survey of the use of university bike racks, underutilized racks were relocated to more optimal spots on campus. Ten additional racks are installed each year, Whalen says.
Ontario student demands to be served… in English
French-only sandwiches?
Bilingual sign by MPD01605 on Flickr
French-only signage at the bilingual University of Ottawa has caused debate on The Fulcrum’s website. Anglophone student Jaclyn Lyte writes that at an on-campus sub shop, employees have practically given up on English, with French-only signage. “Call me crazy, but I think it’s important for students to be able to make informed choices about what they eat,” she writes. “I shouldn’t have to grapple with francophone food workers and hold up the line for 15 minutes just to find out what I’m eating.” Lyte supports billingualism. “I’m content to listen through French messages first, and I won’t complain if I have to scroll down an extra page or so to get to my English message,” she says. But she draws a line French-only lunch.
In the comments section, students show their frustration at the school’s official bilingualism. “This school is so French biased,” comments ‘Nick.’
Continue reading Ontario student demands to be served… in English
10-year-old students weren’t discriminated against
Mother had filed complaint against the University of Ottawa
A complaint of age discrimination by the mother of two 10-year-old twin boys has been dismissed.
The Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario complaint was filed by Wendy Foster against the University of Ottawa after her boys were removed by the school from a course on “science and social activism” about a month after they began attending classes in 2006.
They had been initially allowed into the class as “special students,” but the school later decided that they could not attend because they did not meet the entry requirements.
The HRTO adjudicator, David Muir, said there was nothing discriminatory about the school’s requirements.
Although he dismissed the case because the Ontario Human Rights Code does not apply to people under 18 years of age, he wrote that the university’s regulations:
“clearly contemplate that a person applying for entrance to a university level course will have completed a secondary school education or, by virtue of their age and life experience, have achieved a level of intellectual development sufficient to participate meaningfully in a university environment.”
Royals appealing to many Canadian youth
Monarchist League counts 1,500 members under age 25
Photo courtesy of Theodore Scott on Flickr
The Monarchist League of Canada is attracting young people in numbers that may seem surprising, considering the image of royal-watchers as tea-sipping senior citizens. There are 1,500 people under the age of 25 among 10,000 members of the League, according to the Ottawa Citizen.
Not only that, there are active branches of the league on at least four university campuses: at Queen’s, Ottawa, Toronto and Saint Francis Xavier. Some oung members say that William and Kate are easy for young people to relate to. Others say it’s a way to show their patriotism.
Still, not everyone is excited about the upcoming visit by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. The Quebec Resistance Network expects 300 protesters when the couple visit that province in July.
Fired Ottawa prof sued for racist defamation
Denis Rancourt is in trouble again
Denis Rancourt, the University of Ottawa professor who was fired in 2009 for turning his physics course into a class on social activism and for giving everyone an A+, is being sued by an Ottawa law professor for defamation. Joanne St. Lewis, Assistant Professor of law, alleges that Rancourt wrote racist and professionally-damaging statements about her on his blog, U of O Watch. She wants $1-million in compensation.
He wrote that her evaluation of a student-produced report alleging systematic racism at the school was “an academic fraud” and he accused St. Lewis, who is black, of being a traitor to her race. She asked Rancourt to take down the offending post, but he refused.
After being served with papers Thursday, he said he plans to fight the charges. In an interview with the Ottawa Citizen, he defended the use of a particular word that St. Lewis called racist in her statement of claim, which he posted on his website. “This is a term that is understood, well-defined. It has societal and historic meaning,” he said. “It’s used often by public intellectuals and critics. There are many media examples of that in the United States.”
To read more Maclean’s On Campus coverage of Denis Rancourt, click here.
Grad school: not just a plan B for med school applicants
What you need to know about MD-PhD programs
Thousands of students apply to medical school across Canada every year, and the vast majority of them will never even make it to an interview. The chances of success improve for repeat applicants, but the fact remains: even with high marks and stellar extracurricular activities, applying to a Canadian med school is an uphill battle against discouraging statistics. After completing their undergraduate degree and receiving a rejection letter, the big question facing these students is: now what?
Mike Saccone, a fourth-year Health Studies Co-op student, already has a plan B.
“My back-up plan is research based. I will pursue a Masters in Health Research Methodology from McMaster University,” he says. The Masters degree could even hit two birds with one stone.
“Hopefully, this will improve the chances of me getting into medical school, along with fulfilling a degree requirement that I will eventually pursue.”
Saccone says he was exposed to both sides of medicine- research and patient care- while working with a research-focused orthopaedic surgeon, and then working with a surgeon whose primary focus was on patient care.
Colleen Shortt, a fourth year Health Studies and Gerontology student, isn’t considering research as a backup plan to med school. She recently applied to graduate school programs at the University of Toronto, the University of Western Ontario, and McMaster, and is hoping to pursue a career in cancer or HIV/AIDS research. Shortt says that once she’s through grad school she may be interested in applying to med school.
“I thought about applying to med school and originally it was my plan A. But once I started looking into research opportunities I found that this may be a more effective way of reaching more people.”
Khuram Bhatti, a fourth year arts and science student, says he has considered numerous programs and careers, including optometry or pharmacy, and even programs in the States.
“I am considering schools such as the osteopathy programs in the United States, or other types of up and coming schools which have a schooling regiment which is sort of ‘newer,’ comparatively to something such as the MD career field.”
For med school hopefuls who don’t make the cut, pursuing a grad school program is a win-win: it improves their chances on a second application, and at the same time, they’re developing the skills for a different career path. Many med schools look for research or medically-related experience, and some even award additional points to applicants who have completed a graduate degree. McMaster gives an additional 1% to the pre-interview score of MSc students, and an additional 4% for PhD students. Others, such as the University of Toronto, lower the GPA cutoff for graduate students.
Keith Colaco, a third year Biomedical Sciences student, says that although he has always wanted to attend med school and become a physician, in high school he considered becoming an optometrist because of the challenges of pursuing a career in medicine.
“As I started taking more medically-related courses in university, volunteering in hospitals and speaking to medical students, I quickly changed my mind because I was so intrigued by the field and strongly felt the need to help those with medical problems.”
This summer Colaco will be working at the Holland Orthopaedic and Arthritic Centre in Toronto, where he hopes to gain insight into pursuing a medical career. Ultimately, he may combine his passion for medicine and research.
“I am very interested in clinical research rather than focusing on just research in the lab because I have always enjoyed interacting with patients in past volunteer experiences,” he says. “By working in a patient-care setting, it allows me to evaluate patients and conduct research at their bedside.”
Students like Colaco, who want to combine research with patient interaction, are in luck: an MD-PhD program offers the best of both worlds, allowing students to complete the MD curriculum while pursuing a PhD, training them for careers ranging from medical research to the design of healthcare delivery systems. Most of the programs describe their graduates as ‘clinician-scientists,’ with the curriculum juggling between academic course work, training in basic sciences and research, and clinical rotation. Dr. Norman Rosenblum, Director of the MD/PhD Program at the University of Toronto, says that applicants should have “considerable background with some area of science” in addition to experience that “demonstrates an interest in medicine and a knowledge of the clinician-scientist role.”
Some programs, such as the “MD Plus” Leaders in Medicine program at the University of Calgary, go beyond the basic sciences and allow students to pursue any graduate-level field of interest, including a Masters in philosophy or business.
Most med schools across Canada offer the MD-PhD program, with many being created in the past several years. The only drawback? Getting in is even tougher than med school. The program requires students to be accepted into both a medical and a Masters program (or in some cases, a graduate program) and enrollment is extremely limited, with most MD-PhD programs only having enough spots for a handful of students. For example, there are only five spots available in the University of Toronto MD-PhD program, while the University of Ottawa program only has room for four.
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.
How low is too low?
What kind of mandate does a student union president have when only five per cent of students supported them?
Last week, the Student Federation of the University of Ottawa held their annual elections. Voter turn-out was just over 10 per cent. The head of student elections told La Rotonde, U of O’s French-language student newspaper, that he was pleased with the turn-out, despite the fact that it dropped by almost 50 per cent from the year before, because he’d expected it to be even lower. He blamed the decline on a return to paper ballots and ending online voting.
The 11.5 per cent turnout is on the low side when compared to other universities but it’s not the lowest.
This was a close election; the president-elect won by less than one percentage point. And that’s what really gets me, one of the main jobs of student unions is representing students but can someone really represent a group when 95 per cent of the members didn’t vote for them?
The strange case of Marc Kelly
Another controversy for the University of Ottawa
The University of Ottawa is an interesting place, or at least it is a place that generates a lot of attention. Most notably, a scheduled talk by Ann Coulter was canceled in the spring amid student protest, and after the university had warned Coulter she could be jailed if she didn’t watch her mouth. In late April, a freedom of information request revealed support for allegations that U of O administrators spied on and attempted to cancel a talk by Burmese human-rights activist Ka Hsaw Wa in 2007. Then there is the former lecturer accused of being a terrorist and Denis Rancourt, the physics professor who was fired after giving everyone in at least one of his classes an A+. Rancourt has also alleged the university spied on him.
And, just this week, student Marc Kelly was acquitted for trespassing on university property. At the time of his February arrest Kelly had been banned from the campus, but for reasons the university has yet to fully explain. In fact it was the second time in the past few years that Kelly was apprehended after U of O officials called police. The first time was after he had attempted to videotape a senate meeting back in 2008. He was charged with disturbing the peace, but the Crown ultimately dropped the case.
Despite being cleared of criminal charges, Kelly remains banned from the university and will be completing his degree at Carleton University, though he will officially remain a U of O student. It is a curious case. Judge L. Girault of Provincial Offenses Court in Ottawa ruled that even though the Student Appeals Centre, where Kelly was arrested, is located in the middle of the university, the Student Federation of the University of Ottawa is the legal occupier of the space and therefore has the right to determine who can and cannot enter. The ruling should help clarify the relationship between universities and students’ unions.
Exercising my ‘bitching rights’
In a democratic society, not voting is still an exercise in civic responsibility
My mother always told me the only person we can change is ourself. Robert Fowler’s mother must not have taught him the same lesson. The former Canadian ambassador to the United Nations told a group of young adults about to graduate on Sunday that they don’t deserve to be critical of established government because, as a rule, they don’t vote.
This is the essence of ignorance, and the venue he chose to deliver his “great assessment of civilization” makes it all the more infuriating.
Fowler was at the fall convocation ceremony at the University of Ottawa to accept an honorary degree. But rather than using his time at the podium to inspire the soon-to-be graduates, he chose to chastise them based on his own over-simplified view of society. He claimed young people are “intellectually dishonest” and that “they don’t deserve bitching rights” because they don’t turn out to vote.
Political engagement is a two-way street. And not only does Fowler refuse to admit any responsibility his generation may play in the so-called apathy of youth, he goes as far to suggest that young people are not allowed an opinion if they don’t vote, as if voting is the only way one can engage civically.
As citizens of a free and democratic society, we have the right to put our own stamp on this country’s history, and just because we don’t vote in droves it doesn’t give political leaders a reason to ignore us, or worse, try to silence us.
Fowler went on to say: “You seem to be enthusiastically disqualifying yourselves from any right to demand good government in your own country, and effective Canadian engagement abroad.”
Not voting is still an exercise in civic responsibility and people shouldn’t be criticized for deciding against putting an X on a piece of a paper. By the same token, voting is not the only avenue we measure civic engagement and a country’s reputation on the world stage is not the result of a single group’s actions in that society.
A 2005 Statistics Canada survey on youth-political engagement found that youth are just as engaged in non-voting political activity as 30- to 64-year-olds, and they’re more engaged in non-voting political activity than Canadians over 65, who are the most likely to vote.
The question of supposed youth apathy is multi-faceted, with many factors beyond simple laziness. Sure, some young adults are lazy — as are some old adults — but many more participate in their communities and greater Canadian society through a number of untraditional avenues. There is discourse and interest happening, but just because it’s unrecognizable or different to those who’ve come before us, it doesn’t make it any less of a valid contribution to society. Society changes as its youth grow up and influence it in their own unique ways. This is the mark of progress.
So, Robert Fowler, next time you want to bitch about young people and how lazy we allegedly are, how about you try to engage in a discussion with a generation you clearly know nothing about — especially when you have an opportunity to address young people directly. It might do you, and Canada, some good.
Until you’re willing to have that discussion, though, perhaps your mother taught you another lesson: if you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all.
U-Pass gets started in Ottawa
Students dinged $290 for mandatory program
University students in Ottawa will see their tuition rise by nearly $300 in order to fund a compulsory U-Pass program that begins Wednesday. Both the University of Ottawa and Carleton have been busy handing out bus passes to eligible students, the cost of which is affixed to tuition.
After years of lobbying by the Student Federation of the University of Ottawa (SFUO) and two failed votes at City Council, the U-Pass was approved last February after Carleton was recruited to the plan. Referendums, required for the imposition of new fees, were then handily passed at both universities. Previously, a student bus pass would set students back at least $500 for an academic year. The U-Pass costs $290. “Its about making transit more affordable for students, promoting a ridership culture and making a real dent in some sustainability issues,” Dina Skvirsky, vice-president student issues for the Carleton University Students’ Association says.
So far the University of Ottawa has distributed more than 8,000 passes and Carleton more than 7,000. “From an administrative perspective, its been a success,” says Ryan Flannagan, Carleton’s director of student affairs. Although Carleton University did not explicitly endorse the plan, it will be administering it on behalf of the students’ association.
Alex Cullen, chair of City Council’s transit committee, is thrilled that the plan is underway because it will help the city reach its goal of having 30 per cent of all trips in Ottawa being taken through OC Transpo. “What attracted us to it, is that we’d be able to capture a large number of students who are taking OC Transpo,” he said. However, there are no immediate plans to make improvements to transit. “Both universities are already on high frequency transit lines,” Cullen said.
Despite providing reduced transit passes for students, not everyone is happy with the new fee. Charlie Taylor, who studies journalism at Carleton, is running for mayor and opposition to the U-Pass forms a central plank in his platform. “By forcing people to buy the product, you no longer have the motivation to provide a good product at a reasonable price,” he said. “They’ve got a captive consumer base now. They can basically do whatever they want.”
Other than exemptions for those with disabilities who already have bus passes provided for them, students from Quebec, and those who will be away studying afield, the U-Pass fee will be universally applied to all full-time students at both universities.
For students who currently cycle or walk to school, Skvirsky says that they can still make use of the U-Pass on evenings and weekends. “Most students do take transit and we do got a mandate from our members,” she said.
As for students who live outside of OC Transpo’s jurisdiction, Ted Horton, vice-president university affairs for the SFUO, says they actually have the most to gain from the plan, through Transpo’s Park n’ Ride program. The program permits drivers to park their cars at transit stations for free, and then ride the bus. A parking pass at the University of Ottawa costs $700 between September and April. “All feedback, both positive and negative, however, has been overshadowed by the vast number of students who have contentedly filed through the University Centre to pick up their U-Pass without complaint,” he says.
Cullen says the U-Pass will help to recoup costs from those who don’t pay taxes in Ottawa but nonetheless make use of city services. “Those folks ought to be using Transpo . . . they drive on our roads which they don’t pay for,” he said.
The pilot program will be reevaluated by city council next year to determine if it succeeded in increasing ridership without becoming too costly. U-Pass programs have been implemented at several universities across Canada, including at Brock University and the University of Alberta. The British Columbia government announced a plan in June to bring a U-Pass to all students attending a public university.
photo by Dick Penn
How dare you use student fees for protesting?
UOttawa Campus Conservatives indignant over student funded bus sent to protest G20
A Conservative club at the University of Ottawa says that the student union was wrong to use student fees to charter a bus of about 50 students to protest the G20 in Toronto. “I highly doubt that every single student who has to pay those fees would be happy to know their money was being spent to send a few individuals to protest for the weekend,” Campus Conservative president Peter Flynn told the Ottawa Citizen.
The Student Federation of the University of Ottawa’s (SFUO) Foot Patrol Centre pooled resources with the Student Appeals Centre and other campus groups to pay the $1,000 bus rental fee. Flynn took particular issue with the fact that services like foot patrol and student appeals have no mandate to protest. “If there was a ‘protest centre’ on campus then it would make sense to use its budget for this sort of thing, but these service centres have nothing to do with protesting,” he said.
SFUO president, Tyler Steeves defended the expenditure. “We try to capture the passions of our students and help students to pursue them, whether that means setting up intramural sports leagues or renting a bus so they can protest something they care about,” he told the Citizen.
For coverage from campus paper the Fulcrum, please click here.
For all of our coverage of the G20, please see here.
Why not use tuition to fix potholes?
A U-Pass compels students who don’t use transit to subsidize not just other students, but everybody
A student running to be mayor of Ottawa is opposing a U-Pass program set to launch in the fall. Charlie Taylor, a Carleton University journalism student, says the mandatory buss pass approved at his school and the University of Ottawa earlier this year, should have an opt out option. And so it should. U-Pass programs, that affix the cost of a bus pass to tuition, punish students for living in close proximity to their university, or for cycling, or for carpooling, or for living too far away for transit to be a prudent choice. Student transit users on the other hand will see their fares reduced. City council approved the program in February and there were referenda subsequently held at both universities, a prerequisite for bringing in new fees.
As an internal subsidy funded through tuition U-Pass programs see money flow from students who don’t use the bus towards those that do. But it is not just the fact that students will have no choice but to pay for transit that should raise suspicions, it is the nature of the subsidy–the fact that transit is not a service directly related to education. Student fees are used for all sorts of on campus services that are not universally used (unfortunately, libraries fall into this category), but the difference is that most such services are part of running a university. Transit is a municipal, and sometimes provincial, responsibility.
Any improvements made to transit systems as a result of U-Pass schemes like this, that have been popping all over the country in recent years, will not only benefit students but all bus riders. So students who don’t take the bus are not just subsidizing other students, they are subsidizing everybody. Why does that make any sense?
And, no, the fact that the U-Pass was a brought in after a student poll doesn’t legitimize it. The university population turns over every few years, and, so, the legitimacy of a student vote quickly vanishes.
Taking money from tuition to fund municipal infrastructure projects, or to promote a “transit culture,” or to support environmentally sensible choices, is, I suppose, one way for city governments to accomplish their goals. Another way would be to, uh, fund it through the regular taxation system. Of course that would require using property taxes or expending political capital to lobby other levels of government for funding, or for new taxation powers. Extracting money through tuition, from students who will only be in school for a few years, is much easier. I imagine students who walk or bike to school encounter potholes, so why couldn’t we use student fees to fix that problem?
Of course student unions are the ones who actively lobby the government for U-Pass programs. But isn’t it odd that when tuition is being raised for purposes weakly related, if at all, to a university education that student unions are so supportive, but when tuition increases are proposed for more direct educational services, they fly off the handle?
I doubt Taylor has much of a shot at the mayor’s office, but if he helps to raise the U-Pass as a municipal issue, which it is, as opposed to an educational issue (students are broke!) then good for him.
Rock wanted Ann Coulter to return
After UOttawa speech was canceled prez was advised not to invite Coulter back
The president of the University of Ottawa wanted to invite Ann Coulter, the abrasive right-wing American commentator, back to campus after her scheduled speech last March was shut down amid fierce protests. But Allan Rock’s advisers talked him out of it, warning that Coulter’s appearance would only turn into another media circus, newly disclosed documents show.
“An invitation to Ms. Coulter to return to the campus would demonstrate good faith on the part of the university and an unqualified commitment to freedom of expression,” Rock wrote in an email to senior university officials on March 24. That was the day after the speech was cancelled because of raucous anti-Coulter protests outside the auditorium. But several advisers, including Elly Alboim of the consulting firm Earnscliffe Strategy Group, strongly advised against the move. “My own personal view is that, on balance, I would not re-invite her,” Alboim said in a email to Rock. “Should she decide to take you up on the offer, her appearance will become a live news event that she will cynically use to personal advantage to extend her sense of grievance and victimization and amplify her profile. . . . It will be her win, not about your gesture.”
University records surrounding the Coulter controversy were obtained by The Canadian Press under Ontario’s freedom-of-information law. Coulter, 48, is well known in the United States not only for her social conservatism but for the deliberately provocative ways she expresses opinions. She has said she likes to stir the pot without pretending to be impartial or balanced. During her three-campus speaking tour in Canada last spring, for example, she told a Muslim student at the University of Western Ontario in London, Ont., that the woman should “take a camel” if she was barred from flying.
Dissension about Coulter’s pending appearance at the University of Ottawa was inflamed by an email sent by a senior university official to her on March 19. It warned that Canadian law places limits on freedom of expression, including restrictions imposed by defamation law and laws against promoting hatred toward an identifiable group. “I therefore ask you, while you are a guest on our campus, to weigh your words with respect and civility in mind,” wrote Francois Houle, vice-president academic and provost.
Coulter made the email public, claiming the university was trying to gag her — triggering an avalanche of angry invective directed at the university for its allegedly heavy-handed effort to smother free speech. The negative reaction dominated the news media, and resulted in hundreds of often vicious emails to Houle himself.
In fact, the released documents show that it was Rock — not Houle — who asked that the email be sent. Rock even dictated some of the wording. “Ann Coulter is a mean-spirited, small-minded, foul-mouthed poltroon,” Rock wrote to Houle in a March 18 email. “She is ‘the loud mouth that bespeaks the vacant mind’.”
“She is an ill-informed and deeply offensive shill for a profoundly shallow and ignorant view of the world. She is a malignancy on the body politic. She is a disgrace to the broadcasting industry and a leading example of the dramatic decline in the quality of public discourse in recent times.” At the same time, he argued, “we should not take any steps to interfere with her plans to speak next week on our campus.”
Instead, Rock advised Houle he should write to Coulter informing her of the different rules surrounding free speech in Canada compared with those in the United States. “You, Francois, as Provost, should write immediately to Coulter informing her of our domestic laws. . . You should urge her to respect that Canadian tradition as she enjoys the privilege of her visit.” After seeing a copy of the final email to Coulter, Rock praised Houle: “Quel excellent message! Merci et felicitations. I am sure she has never been dressed down so elegantly in her life!”
The Houle-Rock email was itself prompted by a March 17 letter to Rock from Seamus Wolfe, president of the university’s student federation, who alerted the president to Coulter’s pending appearance the following week. Wolfe cited Coulter’s past comments attacking aspects of the Muslim and Jewish faiths, arguing she had a clear history of promoting hatred and should not be allowed to speak publicly on campus. “I would request that you notify Ms. Coulter that she is not welcome on our campus, and that her event will not occur on uOttawa property,” Wolfe wrote.
Canadian university humour not dead
Our coast to coast review of campus satire
Last month, in true Chicken-Little style, I declared the death of the student newspaper satire issue.
I will admit that my panic was only partly a sincere response to an allegedly controversial spoof issue, which I will not name again here because I’ve already given them a hard enough time. My panic was also a very clever ploy, designed to goad writers and editors of student papers to send me their funniest articles and their best humour issues, so I can post them here to inspire future generations of student humour writers.
I was not disappointed by the goadability (Editor’s note: not a real word) of the student press. Our offices were inundated by responses from literally hundreds of thousands of Canadian student newspapers. We had interns working around the clock sifting through the submissions until my editor pointed out that they were not actually interns, but customers of the café next door who got lost while looking for the washroom and blundered into my office, where they were bullied into working for free.
As a result of the unfortunate emancipation of my interns, I was forced to research this article myself. It was an enjoyable task; it really was. You people are funny. But there was really a lot of stuff, and there are only so many jokes about Catholic sex scandals and the menstrual applications of iPads that a guy can read in a day. Consequently, there’s a chance that I didn’t read every word of every newspaper that was sent to me, nor did I use Wikipedia to puzzle through every pop culture reference and inside joke those newspapers contained.
So if you think your spoof issue was funnier than the ones I’ve posted below, please don’t organize a picket outside of the Maclean’s office at the Rogers Building, One Mount Pleasant Road, Toronto; there’s just the tiniest chance that I overlooked that one nuance of your humour issue that made it funnier than the ones I’ve posted below.
And if you’re easily offended, do both of us a favour and just close this window now. Seriously, there’s nothing innocuous to be had here. It’s pretty much all potentially offensive to those with delicate sensibilities.
Best Sex Columnist: Di Daniels at the Fulcrum.
She’s frankly filthy, but she never gives the impression that she’s saying dirty stuff to show off or get laughs. Her article on how to have better sex foregoes all of the foreplay and intimacy stuff and goes straight to bondage, exhibitionism and group sex. Absolutely filthy — but practical!
Best Shit Disturbing: The Athenaeum, Acadia University.
Their cover story for their April 1 issue this year announced that McDonald’s will be opening in the student union building and take over the food service for the campus pub. Wing night at the pub will be replaced by nugget night. In response to the new McDonald’s, student health plan fees will be increasing next year.
I can only imagine the knee-jerk uproar this caused among students who only read the first half of the article. Well done, Athenaeum.
There’s plenty more good stuff in this issue, and I’d love to send you a link, but the Athenaeum hasn’t updated their website since October ’09, so this one is just for me to enjoy. Or, you guys could wake up, update your website, and my editor will post a link here.
Best Cartoons: Nexus, Camousun College
I’m not going to try to describe these cartoons. You’ll just have to look yourself. The only good way to see them is to follow this link and scroll down to page 15. I first read those cartoons three days ago, and I’m still waking up in the morning, laughing about that cat. That cat made my week. Thank you, Shane Priestley and Cam Wright.
Best Photoshopping: The Gateway`s Metraux Spoof, University of Alberta
There’s actually a lot of great stuff in this issue, but the photoshop of Ann Coulter in a hijab on page 6 takes the cake for me. Too much. The photo is accompanied by an article quoting newly converted Islamic extremist Ann saying, “we should invade the west, kill their socialist leaders, and convert them.” Also worthy of honourable mention is the article, “You will always be a repulsive slob: study” on page 13.
The student editors among you will also want to take the time to admire the Gateway’s advertisers. I swear, these guys must have better ad revenue than Maclean’s.
Best Fake Ads: The Sheaf, University of Saskatchewan
Taking a more principled and independent stand on journalism, the Sheaf’s spoof issue contained no real ads at all, I hope. Instead, they squandered their potential revenue-generating space on ads for underage night at a pub, and the 19th annual skinhead picnic, down at good old Rotary park.
Best Spoof: Martha Student Living by The Fulcrum, University of Ottawa
To really appreciate the design work that went into this masterpiece, you have to download a PDF of the entire issue, and scroll down about a dozen pages to get to the spoof insert. I can only marvel at the discipline it must have taken to write an entire Martha Stewart-style spoof issue, without ever breaking voice or straying from the subject matter.
This issue contains advice on how to throw an elegant kegger, how to decorate your beer bong using stencils and beads, and how to make origami claws so you can unleash your inner Wolverine. To avoid looking haggard on your “walk of shame” home from partying the night before, Martha Student Living suggests placing “cucumber slices on your eyelids 10 minutes before passing out.” To spruce up your dorm, you’re instructed to put potpourri between your garbage bag and the can it sits in, so “your overflowing garbage can will smell like a cornucopia of flowers!”
The cartoon illustration of Martha Stewart with a beer keg dressed up in doilies, ribbons and flowers is reason enough alone to take a look at this one.
Thanks to everyone for submitting their work. There were many articles I laughed at, but didn’t have room to mention here. Keep on fighting the good fight against mediocre humour issues and tired, old jokes.
And if you’re procrastinating and you want more good stuff to read, try this. Or this. Or this!
Graphic courtesy of the Gateway
UOttawa president finally talks Coulter
Says, “Freedom of expression applies. Even when it’s painful”
University of Ottawa president Allan Rock has finally addressed that itchy little PR debacle that stung the university a few weeks ago.
In an address to the university senate, Rock discussed the cancellation of right-wing commenter Ann Coulter’s speech on March 23. Coulter’s talk was called off after student protests prompted security concerns.
“From the moment we learned about Ms. Coulter’s intended presentation, there were groups and individuals who insisted that we prohibit her from speaking on campus,” Rock said. “We rejected those demands, asserting that Ms. Coulter had every right to appear and to speak.” Coulter has been criticized as being overly inflammatory and offensive.
“Freedom of expression applies,” he said later. “Even when it’s painful.”
And for Rock, it seems it was pretty painful. He said he turned to the Internet to learn more about Coulter and admitted to “using intemperate language in exchanges with colleagues” in her regard.
And then there was the infamous email from Provost François Houle–the one sent a few days before Coulter’s visit, essentially warning her to watch her mouth. “I share responsibility for the letter from the Provost to Ms. Coulter,” Rock said. He explained that the letter was sent with his knowledge on behalf of the administration.
Rock later added: “I acknowledge that there are other, and indeed better ways, of achieving the letter’s stated purpose.” He also confirmed that the university did not cancel the event; it was indeed Coulter’s representatives.
So what have we learned? Well, it seems the administration champions freedom of expression. That’s a good start! Even though they paradoxically encouraged self-censorship and incited uproar with a preemptive cautionary email (not so good), which culminated to a hostile situation beyond their control—a situation of which they really haven’t yet taken ownership. But hey, at least we know Rock did some solid Googling before that “welcome basket” popped up in Coulter’s inbox.
On second thought, we don’t want you
U of T retracts acceptance email sent to dozens of graduate school hopefuls
Wow, is this ever embarrassing. The University of Toronto School of Graduate studies mistakenly sent emails to dozens of students telling them they were accepted into the speech pathology program, when they were, in fact, rejected. Some 169 applicants received the erroneous email last Friday.
As the Sun reports:
“Welcome to the University of Toronto,” read the subject line. “Acceptance into Canada’s preeminent grad school is an achievement in itself,” the e-mail said. “We chose you because you’re at the top of our list. And we believe you applied to U of T because we’re at the top of yours!”
That message caused at least one student to be predictably elated. “I was walking on clouds,” Meara Brown, who is a University of Victoria student, told the Sun. “I told my references, my peers, my profs, my friends, and my family. My family started telling everyone in the small town I grew up in.”
Brown’s educational ego boost was burst just three days later, when the U of T sent a clarification email:
“On April 9 you received an e-mail from the School of Graduate Studies suggesting that you should have received an offer of admission from the University of Toronto,” the April 12 e-mail said.
“The e-mail was sent to you as a result of an administrative error. We sincerely regret the confusion this has caused.”
The U of T blames the mistake on a line of coding in the original mass email that was intended for the 45 students who were actually accepted into the program.
A not dissimilar debacle happened at the University of Ottawa last spring when the law school misplaced 600 applicants. To rectify the mistake, UOttawa admitted extra students, and at least they blamed it on “human error” and not on those dreadful computers as the U of T has done. I guess that is just the way things are done at “Canada’s preeminent grad school.”
When reality bites
Recessions hit young people hardest—even long after they’re over
During his final year at the University of Ottawa, Justin Cantin had one goal for his first job after graduation: not to wear a uniform. Ideally, he hoped to put his undergraduate degree in history to work in a museum or doing research. But after graduating last December, in the aftermath of the most severe recession in decades, reality hit. With $45,000 in loans, the 23-year-old moved back in with his mom in Mississauga, Ont., and started sending out resumés. He soon broadened his search to include part-time jobs, factory positions—“whatever would give me a paycheque,” he says. Last week, he landed a warehouse gig in Waterloo, Ont. Though relocating for a manual labour job is not something he ever imagined he’d do, he says, “It’s better than nothing.”
As Cantin struggles to adjust his expectations, he can take comfort, however cold, in the knowledge that many of his peers are doing the same. Though it’s been months since Canada’s economy returned to growth, recessions have a way of bearing down hard on youth, even long after they’re officially over. Predominantly employed in industries like retail and food service, which depend on consumer demand, or in unions where seniority rules, youth tend to be first on the chopping block when the economy goes south. This time was no different: since October 2008, more than 190,000 jobs for young people have disappeared; unemployment among 15- to 24-year-olds rose to 16.3 per cent in August 2009, almost double the overall rate.
Although jobs are slowly coming back—as of February, youth unemployment had dropped to 15.2 per cent—what’s on offer is hardly the stuff from which middle-class careers are made. Thanks to the disappearance of manufacturing jobs, hiring freezes and the delayed retirement of workers, for many the reality is a spell of unemployment or a low-paying gig—both of which can have lasting consequences, derailing careers for years to come. While it’s impossible to know how much their future will be shaped by the Great Recession, one thing is clear: the generation raised to believe in the limitlessness of their own potential has just been dealt a very unlucky blow.
Strictly in terms of unemployment, this recession has not been as cruel to youth as other downturns. In August 1992, unemployment for those aged 15 to 24 shot up to 18.4 per cent; in the early ’80s, it reached 20.6 per cent. But according to Armine Yalnizyan, an economist at the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, it’s the kind of jobs that were lost that’s cause for concern. Whereas the recession in the early ’80s replaced full-time jobs with part-time jobs, and the one in the ’90s replaced traditional employment with self-employment, this downturn “seems to be replacing permanent jobs with temporary jobs,” she says. “Where is the next generation of middle-class jobs going to come from?” she asks. “There’s just nothing coming up on the menu.”
The best way for youth to survive the hostile job market, say experts, is to wait it out by investing in school or volunteer positions. The trouble is that with median family incomes slipping, indebtedness at record highs and boomer parents struggling, many youth can’t afford to delay working. To make matters worse, says David Green, an economist at the University of British Columbia, the social safety net is not what it once was. While 83 per cent of those who were unemployed at the beginning of the recession in the early ’90s qualified for jobless benefits, this time only 43 per cent qualified. And incomes aren’t what they used to be either: though new workers began to gain ground again in the mid-’90s, at the start of the recent recession, says Green, they were still facing real wages below those of their counterparts in the early ’80s.
For youth who are unable, or unwilling, to prolong their entry into the job market, breaking in during a downturn is an uphill battle. When Amanda, who asked that Maclean’s not use her last name, got her undergraduate degree in math last June, she wanted to get a job as an analyst. But after four months of unemployment, she took an entry-level position at a Toronto IT firm. While her friends who graduated with similar credentials just a few years earlier started out making about $40,000, she’s earning $30,000.
In fact, most young people entering the job market now are making less than peers who found jobs two or three years ago. “And that lasts for quite a while,” says Paul Beaudry, Canada Research Chair in Macroeconomics at UBC. A study of Canadian men who graduated with B.A.s over almost 20 years found that, on average, those who begin their careers in down times tend to do so at smaller firms that pay less, suffering an eight to nine per cent income hit. And it takes 10 years to catch up to those who graduated in boom times. Worse still, for those who graduated from less prestigious universities with degrees in lower-paying fields, the scarring effect on their earning potential “sort of remains permanent,” says Phil Oreopoulos, a University of Toronto economics professor who co-authored the study.
The prospects are bleaker for those without post-secondary education. “Employers out there, they’re asking for everything—the moon and the stars,” says Joan Gardener, project administrator at the Mississauga, Ont.-based Youth Community Connections, a government-funded program that serves out-of-work young people. For those who do manage to secure employment, the erosion of high-paying, middle-class manufacturing jobs means it’s tougher to get ahead. “Think about it as a career ladder with the rings in the middle all being missing,” says Morley Gunderson, an economics professor at U of T. “You don’t have a way to start at the bottom and move up anymore.”
