All Posts Tagged With: "Wilfrid Laurier"
A difficult year for education philanthropists
Donors, schools and profs disagreed on big gifts
Billionaire philanthropist Seymour Schulich is a man of maxims — one of which stands out after a bruising year of donor controversies in Canadian academia.
“Giving away money intelligently is truly more difficult than earning it,” Schulich, 73, likes to say.
Donors, university administrators and professors are looking for a smoother path forward in 2013.
Schulich, Canada’s most generous education benefactor, rolled out a new set of $60,000 scholarships this year that he hopes will rival the Rhodes.
Yet he’s sounding concerns that a donor chill might follow all the bad press that has surrounded benefactions amid concerns over academic freedom and integrity.
The Canadian Association of University Teachers, or CAUT, has been threatening sanctions against schools over donor deals that give benefactors influence on the curriculum, hiring practices and academic management of the sponsored program.
Continue reading A difficult year for education philanthropists
Wildfred Laurier cuts funding for eight varsity teams
Golf, rugby, figure skating, cheerleading and baseball will be pay-to-play
According to The Record, Wilfrid Laurier University has decided to cut funding for eight of the schol’s less-popular varsity teams.
“If they are going to chop our budget, then the team is dead,” says volunteer golf coach Mike Belanger, who says he’s put about $30,000 of his own money into the team to keep it afloat. “We’ve donated our time and money for years to keep our costs down. I just don’t think we’d be able to cover and manage the whole thing on our own.”
Earlier this year, the university’s administration asked all departments to trim spending by five per cent this year and six per cent next year as the university tries to cut its operating budget by about $25.7 million.
Although the athletic programs will still be offered in the fall, golf, men’s and women’s cross-country running, men’s and women’s rugby, figure skating, cheerleading and baseball will be pay-to-play starting in the fall.
According to the school’s athletic director Peter Baxter, those cuts will save the school about $380,000.
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Wilfrid Laurier student dies after residence blaze
First-year economics student and rugby player sustained injuries in last week’s residence fire
A 19-year-old student has died after being injured in a residence fire last week at Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Ont.
According to university spokesman Kevin Crowley, first-year economics student and varsity rugby player David LaForest of Toronto succumbed to his injuries Sunday in the burn unit of Hamilton General Hospital.
“This is a sad and difficult time for everyone who knew David,” said Laurier dean of students David McMurray in a written statement. “Our hearts go out to his family,”
Emergency crews were notified of the fire last Tuesday at around 6 p.m., and as the fire tore through two apartments on the fourth floor, more than 300 students were evacuated.
In the aftermath of the blaze, approximately 150 students were forced out of the damaged Waterloo College Hall residence. The university says it will pay for all the moving and relocation expenses of the displaced students.
Damage to the residence has been estimated at about $800,000.
The Ontario Fire Marshal’s Office and regional police are continuing their investigation into the fire. According to the CBC, some officials suspect the blaze originated in the victim’s fourth-floor residence unit.
A memorial service for LaForest is being planned, and grief counselors will be available for any affected students.
Wilfrid Laurier – Fresh Food Company
Thank goodness for ketchup. A wholly pitiful experience
Upon walking into the Wilfred Laurier cafeteria, we were greeted with a freshly painted and clean room, welcoming with booths and windows and soft lighting that gave a feeling of home. The mood didn’t last. The dining hall closes at the ultra inconvenient hour of 6 p.m. on Sundays. Our arrival at 5:30 may, therefore, account for our pitiful experience.
At this time of the day, there was little choice. Even the lettuce had left the salad bar with only soupy pasta salad remaining, plus a few vegetables swimming in water. Apples and oranges complete with brown spots and old complexion also deserved a pass. The roast beef, despite its pinkinsh hue, was lukewarm and devoid of moisture; accompanying corn and carrots tasted like they had been microwaved hours earlier. The chef cutting our portions didn’t even acknowledge our thank-yous.
Onto to the grill. For some reason I thought it would be prudent to try the soya burger. It was apparently the last one they had, as they promptly removed it from the menu after I ordered. Now one shouldn’t expect a soy burger to be full of juices (that is a byproduct of eating a real burger), but this had little flavour—a fact heightened by the enormous bun that rendered the patty almost unnoticeable to my pallet. A further contribution was made by a rubbery and brown lettuce. Thank goodness for ketchup.
The sandwich bar was more appealing, with a variety of meats (ham, beef, turkey) and an assortment (though limited) of vegetables. The popular stir fry station offered a vibrant meal, served up by someone who appeared to be the only cook on staff not annoyed that dinner-hour students were interrupting cleaning duties.
But these stations, along with the relatively affordable cost, were the only redeeming qualities that night at Fresh Food Company.
Dessert also got a failing grade. The chocolate cake was soggy, crumbly and the icing tasted like sweetened whipped butter, more suitable for topping pancakes than cake. Finishing shortly after 6:00, we were happy to leave. As we did, hungry students were still entering the cafeteria, only to learn that, tonight, there would be no supper for them.
