Tuesday, August 26, 2025
Home Blog Page 543

Prorogation shuffle

Dalhousie Gazette Staff
-
0

By Justin Ling, Opinions Contributor

“Get back to work,” reads the simple text, superimposed onto a postcard picture of the Canadian parliament building.
This blunt display is the icon for the now-famous Canadians Against Proroguing Parliament Facebook group, which has seen its membership rocketing towards 200,000 people in recent days, with dozens more joining every minute.
This outlet has helped fuel the righteous indignation over Harper’s undemocratic actions and has garnered daily attention in just about every Canadian news outlet since that fateful Friday. Harper had no doubt hoped to bury the news under new year’s excitement.
The online reaction was immediate and fierce: “What kind of slow-witted alcoholics does he take us for?”
But this isn’t new territory.
Unlike last time, where he prorogued the house to dodge an unruly group of “separatists and socialists” who were trying to install themselves in the prime minister’s office, this time Harper is avoiding backlash from the detainee abuse inquiry.
What have we learned since? Is it that Stephen Harper is holding Michaëlle Jean hostage, or that our prime minister has the same social inability to play with others as a five-year-old child? While both may be true, they are beside the point.
What we should have learned is that it’s time for change.
Some are quick to accept the prorogation because their abhorrence for parliament is so deep-rooted and perpetual that no matter what is being done and who is in power, they will find a reason to take issue with it. In the views of these disgruntled naysayers, our members of parliament wouldn’t be doing anything but bickering anyway, so what difference does it make if they’re at work or not?
Unfortunately for these folks, apathy does not get results and the occasional gem that comes out of Ottawa is reason enough not to give up all hope.
What both sides are failing to realize is that there is a third option. The most recent prorogation is merely a symptom of an overall disease that plagues our house of commons, one that must be rooted out with good, old-fashioned populism. And no, not like the fanatically hilarious tea-baggers that besiege our neighbours to the south.
Imagine, if you will, a system where electors can write their own bills to be debated on the floor or one where voters have the ability to put their members of parliament up for a special election when they’re dissatisfied with his or her performance.
And yes, that means the voter could theoretically fire the prime minister whenever they damn well please.
Right now voter outrage and fury between election dates has no outlets other than petitions, letter-writing campaigns, rallies and Facebook groups. If we truly respected our democratic institutions, we would be pushing ways to channel this frustration into more productive activities.
Such revelations have been whispered about in fringe circles for quite some time. Well-intentioned advocacy groups, such as Fair Vote Canada and its Nova Scotia subsidiary, have pushed for democratic reforms for the past decade. In the past they’ve succeeded by putting ballot initiatives on electoral reform forward in Ontario and British Columbia.
Other partisan groups have suggested similar ideas. The federal New Democratic and Green parties, as well as the provincial start-up Atlantica party, have advocated for varying degrees of democratic reform, yet have essentially accepted defeat. They know that the ruling Conservatives and Liberals would never support a resolution that would diminish their seat totals or cause them submit to genuine accountability.
The Liberals and Conservatives won’t join the movement wilfully. Why would they, knowing that they’ll be subjected to a system where they must respect those other parties, the ones that make up a third of the vote?
Their hands must be forced.
The first step to doing so is to recognize and correct the fact that there is too large of a disconnect between our house of commons and the average voter. Make no mistake that the democratic institutions in Canada do belong to us, and shrugging them off as tainted by partisanship and politics-as-usual is merely a way for us to pass the blame.
The next step is to accept that there is no immediate answer to the myriad of dizzyingly frustrating questions, but there are points of departure available to us. A good start would be the anti-prorogation rally on Jan. 23 at Province House. The real question is: What must we ask when we get there?
We cannot afford to let parliament resume only to allow red-faced politicians to pass us over in favour of the petty squabbling that has marked the once-lauded lower chamber.
No, we must demand a voice in the House of Commons instead of timidly knocking on the door.

Are you(th) engaged?

Dalhousie Gazette Staff
-
0

By Holly Huntley, Staff Contributor

During the event with Michael Ignatieff on Monday, Jan. 11, a student asked Ignatieff, “When youth political engagement is at an all time low, how do these attack ads give us something to believe in?”
Voter turnouts are low across all generations, but the second-year political science student who spoke forced me to ask: How can we increase youth political engagement? Why do I care?
I would like to live in a true democracy. One in which every single eligible person casts his or her vote. If Harper still wins, at least I would know that my country was full of nincompoops and there was nothing that could have been done differently.
So, I investigated the issue of youth political engagement further by asking Ignatieff during the media scrum: “How would you increase youth political engagement?”
“By showing up,” he replied. “By getting in a room with students and taking any question they ask you. That’s the key, I think, because that seems credible to them and we had a great turn out today. Then listening to students with respect. Listening to young people with respect. Being prepared to change your position if you’re wrong and then showing a vision about where you think the country ought to be in 2017.”
It all still seemed like an ego-massage to me.
How convenient that everything Ignatieff did on Monday is all that is required to politically engage youth.
When Stan Kutcher, the Liberal candidate for the Halifax federal riding, was asked about youth engagement he said, “The first thing is to respect young people, and I really mean respect young people, not pay lip service to young people. To provide opportunities for them to make their voice heard.”
Kutcher also says that meaningful youth engagement requires more dialogue between politicians and youth in order to be effective.
“Don’t just come to people and say what is on your mind and then leave,” Kutcher said. “What you do is you come, say what is on your mind, what your ideas are and then how can you stay involved with me so we can work on your ideas together.”
It was the lack of dialogue in Ignatieff’s response that was the erking me. But it was an interview with Kutcher’s son, Dan, a second-year Dalhousie law student, also a member of the Liberal Party, that made me realize students are engaged on many levels.
“The students’ questions reflected more than just university issues,” Dan Kutcher said. “It shows now that students have a broader outlook.”
Students questioned everything from the economy, to prorogation, to lack of Canadian environmental policy. Only a couple questions about specific student issues came up.
“I think it’s about taking the kids’ gloves off and not classifying (youth) as young people – classifying them as people who are learning and engaged and connected in a way that older generations aren’t connected,” Dan Kutcher said.
Many students were engaged and I was impressed. Approximately 400 people attended the Ignatieff event, but there were only enough chairs to seat 300. Even more surprising, hundreds more were turned away, and about 30 students lingered outside the event just to listen.
I had to wonder: Are youth actually less politically engaged? Or should I reconsider my traditional definition of political engagement? Voting and partisan commitment may be low, but what about other forms of political engagement?
Consider this: Have you made an ethical decision when purchasing something – for example, local versus fair trade? Or have you volunteered for something or someone you believe in? Or have you decided not to work for an organization or company that does not correspond with your values? These are all forms of political engagement and political decision-making.
Rob LeForte, DSU vice president (education), drew my attention to this.
“Direct political action isn’t required to be engaged in the political process,” said LeForte. “Sometimes people in social movements have more impact on policy development than somebody who is a member of a political party.”
I reconsidered my initial disappointment in low voter turnouts. Sometimes there isn’t a better option. Sometimes no matter whom you vote for, you will be left unsatisfied with his or her political platform. Perhaps the key is fostering these other forms of engagement and forcing each and every political leader to adapt to our values in these ways.
As long as you have a responsive government, this can be made possible. That’s another issue entirely.
But there is another important consideration for political parties attempting youth engagement.
“I believe that when people are trying to engage young people broadly they tend to sort of skew the line between student and youth,” LeForte said.
He believes this confusion can be problematic and might be the root of the problem political parties have when engaging youth. This might be crucial for politicians attempting to engage youth. They need to break the traditional idea that addressing student issues equates to addressing youth issues.
I drew a few different conclusions Ignatieff’s talk at Dal.
Youth and students cannot be clumped together and politically addressed as one. Students do more than just study, and not all youth chose to be students. Many students are politically engaged – some in the traditional sense and even more in the non-partisan sense. So while partisan participation can be extremely influential, non-partisan political engagement has the potential to be of a greater social influence.

Holly Huntley is a member of the Liberal Party of Canada. She interviewed her boss, Stan Kutcher, for this article.
Josh Boyter, Gazette Editor in Chief, took photos of Ignatieff’s speech for the Liberal Party.

Managing the distance

Dalhousie Gazette Staff
-
0

By Kimberly Elworthy, The Cord

WATERLOO, Ont. (CUP) – Love is worth a lifetime of dedication. It is the rare light at the end of the dreary tunnel on the banal journey through life.
One would not have an epic love story without the necessary physical distance between two lovers challenging their devotion and tearing their hearts into pieces every second they are apart.
However, in a contemporary context, long-distance love stories are no longer defined by romantic letters, but by the prevalence of communication technology.
University is the optimal place to find long-distance relationships mitigated by technology. In order to follow one’s dreams and expectations, one is often driven out of one’s hometown, sometimes even one’s country, to pursue an education.
The long-distance relationship is practically inevitable, especially for university students, but all too often those immersed in technology in an attempt to keep in touch with their significant other become obsessed with the standstill their relationship comes to when they find themselves far apart.
By using communication technology and participating in online arenas, couples can further their connection and allow their relationship to evolve. However, technology can transform a relationship and has a tendency to foster hardships for the couple.
This seemingly artificial environment has drastically altered what it means to be in a long-distance relationship.
There is now unlimited access to cheap technology that can bring lovers in front of each other immediately, at least within the world of cyberspace.
It has also created a new realm where couples meet online first.
Kiri Ipsen, a student at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ont., met her Australian boyfriend, Brad, online and, to the dismay of her family, united with him overseas when she moved there for a one-year exchange.
“My mom thought that I was going to be kidnapped or murdered. My friends thought I was nuts,” she recalls.

How has technology changed our relationships?
Dr. Alexandra Boutros, a communications professor at Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Ont. explained her unique outlook on how technology has affected our most intimate relationships.
While it’s tempting to say that new media and new technologies are how people interact, she believes the key change is that technology – and therefore the ability to communicate – is never turned off.
“Part of what new technology has changed for us isn’t exactly how we interact with each other … but it’s the time and the scope, it’s the pace of our lives that has changed,” she said.
Constant access to partners that are further away can sometimes lead to obsession, as it can be addictive to want to know information about what is going on in the lives of loved ones.
“One of the most significant reasons we do choose to always be on call is for the idea that access to information, even the smallest amount of information, signifies status and power,” said Boutros. “Having access to information all the time is a type of power and it is very addictive … It becomes very difficult to say, ‘Oh, I don’t need to check Facebook today.’”
Couples who do choose to not partake in the latest technology often face alienation from peers for not participating in this shared social experience.
“The problem is with people who choose not to engage in mobile communication … (They) find themselves making this choice within a social environment. They are not passively choosing not to have a cell phone, they are making a statement,” said Boutros.

When Facebook rears its ugly head
It’s not uncommon for couples to check each other’s Facebook page (or even sign on as them) just to make sure everything is as they expected. But in long-distance relationships, Facebook can act as a policing system, which can lead to impromptu fighting.
Laurier student Alison Price found out that a past boyfriend had been secretly keeping in contact with his ex-girlfriend when he left his Facebook account active on her computer.
Now, she says she and her current boyfriend talk on the phone and rarely use Facebook for communication.
Like Price, many couples avoid having Facebook relationships or find that snooping means there’s mistrust in the relationship.
Jessica Botelho is an international student at Laurier. She has been in a long-distance relationship for two years while her boyfriend, Jonathan Perry, goes to school in Chicago.
“I’m not worried, if you’re doing stuff like (snooping Facebook) it’s because you’re worried,” said Botelho. “You don’t trust that person,”
It’s important to understand why people feel the need to publicize their relationships on this social networking tool and how it affects the way people interact.
“Saying that you have a relationship on Facebook is a way of validating that relationship,” Boutros explained. “It’s our way of saying: ‘This is true.’”
“We gossiped about people before Facebook, we worried what our partners were doing at work … but with Facebook we have to re-negotiate these issues. We have to decide what we are going to keep private and what is at stake in making the relationship public,” she added.

Physical distance
Even though the world may feel as if it’s shrinking due to communication technologies, it’s important not to forget that physical distance still imposes limitations on the accessibility of one’s partner.
Travelling is a large component of maintaining relationships, which takes time out of already substantial schedules – especially for university students. Transportation and time are important elements in the reality of a long-distance relationship.
“In the past, I have taken buses down to Chicago which were ridiculous 24-hour trips,” said Botelho. “I’ve also taken a flight to Chicago. It’s a lot faster and you end up spending more time together.”
Price also mentioned an added stress in finding the time to visit her boyfriend.
“The first thing I do as I’m leaving is try to think of the next time I can figure out my life to get back up to (see him),” said Price, who normally takes the Greyhound to see her boyfriend four hours away.
Tomlinson finds that, although she and her boyfriend don’t live very far from each other and have vehicles, it still becomes hard to make time.
“His work schedule is weekends … and I can’t really go home in the week,” said Tomlinson. “We both have jobs and working around those schedules and my school schedule. It’s really hard.”
Distance took on an entirely new level for Ipsen, who met her boyfriend on the social networking site RSVP before her exchange to Australia.
“We first started on MSN, which lasted maybe a bit over a week. We went from there to Skype, so we knew what each other looked like,” said Ipsen, who explained that speaking online made the transition to physical contact much easier.
“When we met it was weird,” Ipsen said. “I thought I knew him so well. The first time we spoke it was for over 14 hours (on MSN) and then, after that, a few hours every day.”
After their year together in Australia, Brad immigrated to Canada where they both now live in Hamilton. He works full-time while Ipsen is in her fourth year at McMaster University.

Keeping intimate
Trying to keep the spice alive and diminishing the possibility of wandering eyes can dominate the minds of long-distance couples. Our long-distance interviewees explained the intricacies of how technology can play a critical role in the upkeep of intimacy. Stay creative and read these suggestions.
Phone sex is best executed when one person tells the other what they like done to them by the other person. Include your vibrator or just manually masturbate; moaning is always helpful, but being focused is important. Laughing can ruin a good phone sex session.
“If you’re going to have phone sex you might as well do it over Skype so you can see something,” said one interviewee, who preferred to remain anonymous. “It’s nice to see him getting turned on. I do a strip tease. I have a vibrator and we both masturbate at the same time.”
Or you could send photos over cell phones or e-mail.
“This one time when I was younger and we started dating I took this picture in my bra and I sent it to him. Then his dad transferred files from my boyfriend’s computer to his computer. One day I’m sitting in the living room and I see this bra picture go by on the slide show … No one saw it but I was mortified.”

Stegemann makes ancient philosophy relevant at Dal talk

Dalhousie Gazette Staff
-
0

By Katrina Pyne, Staff Contributor

Barb Stegemann, author, motivational speaker and columnist for The Chronicle Herald, is calling on you to dump your “frenemies” and re-examine your life.
“Always strive to be better than you were yesterday,” Stegemann said. “Imagine where you will be 10 years from now.”
Stegemann came to Dalhousie’s Dunn Building Thursday evening to talk about her new book, The 7 Virtues of a Philosopher Queen.
The book discusses how to get your life on track by applying wonder, moderation, courage, truth, justice, wisdom and beauty.
According to Barb, to begin re-examining your life you should put yourself in a positive environment. Dump the “frenemies”, she says, and instead flank yourself with people who care about you.
After she finished her presentation, Stegemann continued to speak to students one-on-one about stoic philosophy, and how to live the most fulfilled life possible.
The author says stoic wisdom was not meant to sit on a shelf. In her new book, she brings the wisdom of Plato, Socrates and Adam Smith to people wishing to advance and grow their communities.
“We’re all going to be dead in 100 years,” she says with a grin. “Isn’t that liberating?”
The author’s journey began in Antigonish, Nova Scotia. She says she spent her last $5 and started again.
“There came a point for me when I wondered: Why am I here?”
“Now I have a goal: I want to have the wisdom of Solomon by the time I’m 96.”
She spoke joyously about plans for her life, the book, and the next generation. She has big plans for herself and even bigger plans for the people who attended the talk.
In order to have a mission in life you must constantly be visualizing, she believes: you must have a dream.
“Now I know why I am on this earth, I have my vision.”
Andrew Rutenberg, a physics professor at Dalhousie who attended Barb’s talk, agrees with Stegemann.
“I think you have to articulate a mission for it to become real,” says Rutenberg.
According to Stegemann, the details should never come before the dream. She greatly dislikes devil’s advocates.
“Don’t ever let anyone take your joy from you,” she says. “No one owns tomorrow.”
“I think it’s okay not to have a vision,” says Alex Myers, a fourth-year political science student at Dalhousie who attended the talk. “I am going to figure life out as I go.”
Stegemann continuously draws inspiration from the wisdom of the past but she’s keen to keep it in a modern context so readers can continuously relate.
“I imagine I will have a 56th edition to this book,” she says.
Stegemann’s next project will be The 7 Virtues of a Philosopher King. She’s almost finished doing the interviews required for the book.
She also plans to begin a “Perfume not Poppies” project in which she will advocate for businesses trading with war-torn nations.
“I am 40 and my life has just begun,” the author says. “Maybe one person comes to these talks thinking they need a compass in their life. If I could only make them realize that they have the compass – I have succeeded.”

DSU meets with premier

Dalhousie Gazette Staff
-
0

By Lucy Scholey, News Editor

Students made their voices heard in more than one way last Thursday.
The Alliance of Nova Scotia Students Associations (ANSSA), including delegates from the DSU, met with Premier Darrell Dexter and Education Minister Marilyn More.
It was the DSU’s first time meeting the premier.
“I felt very good coming out of it today, as a whole,” said DSU vice president (education) Rob LeForte. “It seemed that he was fairly receptive to all the ideas and especially the notion of having a strategic plan for post-secondary education.”
ANSSA, a student group that represents most post-secondary institutions in the province, presented a pre-budget submission report to the premier. In it, they recommended the government provide more grant money, eliminate the graduate tax credit, eliminate differential fees between Nova Scotians and out-of-province students, and conduct a review of post-secondary education.
But these needs are difficult to meet when the province is facing a $590-million deficit, said Leforte.
“He talked a lot about the reality of the current financial situation,” LeForte said. “So talking about coming into a job and being told that there’s a $500-plus million dollar deficit and how much it’s all about balance … is very realistic and I appreciate that (the premier) was forthright with us in that regard.”
But while LeForte is optimistic about the meeting, he says he’s not expecting any concrete answers yet.
“I understand that until an announcement is made and until they discuss it … it’s not a firm announcement or anything,” said LeForte. “But I think that the reality is that it is a possibility and if something like that is on the horizon, it’s something we’re going to keep working towards.”
The Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), a funding agreement between the universities and government, is due to expire March 2011. Both LeForte and ANSSA executive director Mark Coffin said a critical review of the province is needed before a new agreement can be made.
“We need a plan, regardless, and right now we don’t have one,” said Coffin. But the premier and education minister were receptive to the idea, he added.
“We’ve been pushing this for almost four years now, so it’s nice to see something coming from government,” he said. “Given that we’re the university capital of Canada now, we’re hoping that the province will start enacting policies and reviews like this one that live up to the title.”
Nova Scotia has the second highest post-secondary tuition rate in the country, after Ontario. On average, Nova Scotian students pay $5,696 a year.
To ease this, the former Conservative government introduced a tuition freeze for all students, with an added bursary for all Nova Scotian-born students. When Dexter was in opposition, he said he was against differential fees for students from outside the province. Coffin said ANSSA brought this up at the meeting.
“We sort of reminded him that that’s what he told us last time we met and he said, ‘You know, I’m not a fan, but the fiscal situation is this,’” said Coffin.
The tax credit has also been a contentious issue for ANSSA. The current government introduced the idea last fall. It comes as a $15,000 rebate, paid over six years, to any student who works in the province after graduation. Coffin said the tax credit wouldn’t work. The province should put that money toward helping students at the beginning of their degrees, not at the end.
Last fall, Dexter said the tax credit would be used to retain students.
“We really do need to find ways to ensure that young people from this province stay in this province,” he said.
At Thursday’s meeting, Dexter said the province should be on par with other provinces that have the same credit program.
“If another province has a graduate tax rebate program, it’s less likely that somebody would stay in Nova Scotia where there wouldn’t be one,” said LeForte.
Dexter encouraged the student representatives to continue pushing their recommendations in upcoming province-wide consultations with Finance Minister Graham Steele.

Students party in protest

Dalhousie Gazette Staff
-
0

By Laura Parlee, Assistant News Editor

The Canadian Federation of Students in Nova Scotia is fed up with broken promises, and the group was willing to celebrate to have their voices heard.
The group held a New Year’s Eve party outside One Government Place on Thursday morning, rallying against high tuition costs in Nova Scotia.
Holding up a banner that read, “Education shouldn’t be a debt sentence”, the students presented a petition to the provincial government asking for increased funding for universities to match the national average, a reduction of tuition, more grants and less loans.
The petition has been circulating since last February, and has collected almost 3,000 signatures.
Kaley Kennedy presented the petition to the deputy education minister Dennis Cochran outside the building after spending 30 minutes blaring party tunes and chanting: “We will not give up the fight. Education is our right.”
The federation originally planned to hand the petition to Premier Darrell Dexter, but he and Education Minister Marilyn More were unavailable due to emergency drills for the provincial government members.
After the petition was handed over, the real party began.
In true new year’s fashion, the students adorned shiny party hats, tooted party horns, then counted down and popped sparkling grape juice with shouts of “Happy New Year!”
“Let’s hope 2010 is filled with no more broken promises,” said Jake Byrne, the Nova Scotia Representative for the CFS.
Many students were hoping the election of an NDP government would mean tuition cuts, but so far the NDP’s only policies on post-secondary education have been a graduate retention tax credit program that seeks to retain graduates in N.S., and the creation of 250 more seats at the Nova Scotia Community College.
J.D. Hutton is a long time NDP supporter. He helped campaign for the party this summer when the NDP were elected with a landslide victory. Hutton says he still supports the party, but he is disappointed with their lack of initiative on tuition.
“The NDP has been promising tuition cuts for a long time,” he says. “I don’t want to be out here. I don’t want to be in debt … I’d like to see some cuts.”
In an interview last September, Dexter said tuition was still important to his government, but not now.
“We live in a particular reality of shrinking economies … We’re suffering from the same thing as everyone else is suffering from,” said Dexter. “There are going to be trade offs of one sort or another.”
Byrne and Kyle Buott gave rousing speeches to the crowd, and encouraged students to share new year’s resolutions from their protest signs.
“Let’s remind the NDP government who elected them,” said Buott, president of the Halifax-Dartmouth and District Labour Council. He said the labour unions “stand in solidarity” with the student movement.
Nicolas Gall held a sign saying he resolved to get a fourth job, even if it meant having to give up sleep or miss classes.
Gall was recently elected to the King’s Student Union as external vice president and worked with Maritimes Organizer of the CFS, Rebecca Rose, to help organize the rally.
He says his real resolution is to keep students aware of tuition issues.
Finance Minister Graham Steele will hold public consultations across the province about balancing the budget. Students hope the petition will be an important part of considerations. The new budget is in the works for March.

Opinions Editor Kaley Kennedy helped to promote this rally, but she did not contribute to the editing or reporting of this article.

Facebook v. Twitter

Dalhousie Gazette Staff
-
0

By Scott Beed, Staff Contributor

Popular culture is sprinkled with stories of 20-something’s in their basements or dorm rooms, or slacking off at work, dreaming up the next big Internet sensation. Facebook and Twitter are two of the more influential layers recently added to the Internet mosaic. Yet they are simultaneously loved and hated by all. Those quick news headlines and constant status updates give us hours of enjoyment and procrastination. Facebook This site has become as common on university campuses as exams and mid-terms. The fascination with Facebook grows daily and is fuelled by ever-accessible Wi-Fi networks. On any university campus in North America, it’s hard to find a student who has never heard of the social networking site. Mark Stoddart, an instructor in the sociology department at Dal, says Facebook’s appeal stems from the familiarity it brings to users. “For the most part, it’s almost a virtual high school reunion,” he says. “You can connect with people who you haven’t talked to in many years. All it takes is a couple messages and you’re completely caught up.” For 15- to 25-year-olds, Facebook will be a permanent fixture, he says. “I know when I walk through my classes both here at Dal, and when I was teaching at the University of Victoria, the people who have laptops are most likely surfing Facebook.” This type of distraction is new to university classes. Stoddart says it’s surprising how many students are on Facebook during his lectures. “There are many more modes of distraction in class, and maybe it seems more prevalent and persistent because it is more readily available,” he says. “In the ‘80s and ‘90s it took more effort for kids to slack off. So distracted students are nothing new. But Twitter and Facebook give students new ways of being distracted.” Twitter This social networking website has also become more popular recently. According to Twitter’s website, the word “micro-blog” was coined to describe short “tweets”. Originally, Twitter’s main function was for company use because the maximum 140-character tweets are less formal then e-mails. The program eventually expanded for greater public use. Alex Brodsky, an instructor in the computer science department, says Twitter and Facebook may share common functionality, but Facebook has a more general application. “Twitter has pretty much one specific functionality, which is publishing short snippets of information, and Facebook is almost an entire platform in itself, which allows users not only to publish short updates but also photos or movies.” Multi-purpose v. single use Though both sites have useful aspects, Brodsky says Facebook’s ability to facilitate social networking goes way beyond Twitter’s capabilities. According to Brodsky, Twitter is a focused one-purpose application while Facebook is a very general multi-purpose application. Brodsky says the nature of the Internet allows people to build and add layers themselves. But Facebook, as Brodsky sees it, adds its own layers on top of the heap with its own third-party applications. “For example, one could argue it would be reasonably simple to implement a Twitter plug-in or a Twitter (application) on top off the Facebook infrastructure,” he says. Brodsky is reluctant to make any predictions on the fate of either site but says Twitter’s Achilles heel may be that it only has one purpose. Jeremy Bishop, a first-year Dal student, says he uses both sites on a daily basis. On Twitter, he observes rather than tweets. He logs on to follow celebrity Tweets. If he has something to say, he uses the Facebook status toolbar. Brodsky is quick to warn that the success of one site doesn’t necessarily mean the failure of the other. They both perform completely different functions and have different uses. For all he knows both could fail miserably within the next four months, he says. That’s the Internet’s unpredictable nature.

Yaffle may become Google of academia

Dalhousie Gazette Staff
-
0

By Josh Boyter, Editor in Chief

The gates of the ivory tower have long been a menacing and highly protected place with watchdogs, passwords and reluctant faculty. This is all beginning to change with a highly innovative and simple idea: tear the gates down.
Over the past three years, Memorial University has come up with a new search engine: Yaffle. A Newfoundland term that means an armload of fish or sticks, Yaffle is the prized new flagship idea that is beginning to revolutionize how research reaches faculty, students and the public.
This is changing how we access academic information online. The online search engine works as a database, categorizing various research projects that are being conducted by faculty and staff. It encourages communication and collaboration on various research efforts.
The ability to enrich current research is phenomenal. We often get bogged-down in our own work, frequently researching with blinders on. Collaboration can sometimes be difficult to achieve since academic research may not be widely known. Such technology can aid in developing large working groups, who are neither bound by institution nor borders to work together.
Additionally, this allows for a two-way conversation to emerge with interested parties, including the general public. The dissemination of ideas can aid in enriching lives far outside academic institutions, as higher education become more expensive and less of an opportunity.
The coupling of this technology with new initiatives such as Apple U can help bridge the stifling gap that exists between “Northern” and “Southern” researchers. Many researchers in the South may not have access to higher education or research assistance, but may have valuable insight into a particular social or research problem. These can include poverty, food security and education. The ability for projects such as Yaffle to connect researchers who have strong liaising partnerships with interested and engaged partners in the developing world is a massive feat. Research can now become more focused, and tailored.
With the explosion of the Internet over the past 15 years, a great deal of poor information has been born. Often, rigorously conducted research is safeguarded for a privileged few. The safe keeping of research has helped proliferate poor websites with little or no knowledge value. The opening of academic information to a wider audience can aid in developing stronger, more educated opinions. The development of new social media can aid in bridging the ivory tower, general public divide and create a stronger network of informants and research counterparts.
While Yaffle is still in its infancy, the potential for this tool is endless. While the ivory tower still remains guarded, there appear to be cracks in the mortar. Bridging the chasm that has existed in relation to academia and the public is important. Yaffle in conjunction with dedicated students and faculty can aid in revolutionizing how we conduct and develop research.

Tigers blanked by UNB

Dalhousie Gazette Staff
-
0

Arfa Ayub, Staff Contributor

It was a disappointing start to 2011 for the Dalhousie Tigers men’s hockey team. They lost 5–0 to the UNB Varsity Reds last Friday (Jan. 7). The Tigers dominated UNB and won 6–3 last time they faced the Reds, but this time they played like a team whose defence forgot they had a game to play. The Tigers were shutout for the third time this season.

Dal started the first period strong, playing physical and not allowing UNB to gain the attacking zone. Halfway through the period UNB took over the game. After a hard hit by Dal defender Justin Javorek UNB’s Kyle Bailey had trouble getting up and had to be helped off the ice. He did not return for the rest of the game.

The hit triggered a momentum spark for UNB as they went on to score the next three goals. UNB’s Jonathan Hardy scored during the next play after speeding past Dal’s defence and made it 1––0. With 6:36 left to play in the first, UNB nearly scored a shorthanded goal on a breakaway chance. Spencer Corcoran scored to make it 2–0 late in the first period. Josh Clendenning followed up 22 seconds later with just under three minutes left to play.

The second period was not much better for the Tigers. They allowed two more goals by defender Josh Kidd and centre Ryan Seymour which made it 5–0, putting UNB in complete control. After the fourth goal Tigers head coach Pete Belliveau replaced starting goalie Bobby Nadeau with backup Josh Disher.

The lone bright spot for the Tigers in the period had been when they effectively killed off a five-on-three powerplay to keep the game from completely getting out of hand. UNB’s Chris Culligan nearly made it 6– 0 during the last minute of the third as he sped into the attacking zone on yet another breakaway chance allowed by Dal’s defence. Fortunately, Disher made a great sliding save.

Tigers need to start scoring

Dalhousie Gazette Staff
-
0

Ian Froese, Staff Contributor

It is a cliché maybe older than the game played on the ice: every game matters. And in AUS women’s hockey, where only eight points separate the second through sixth place teams, the phrase could not ring louder.

“I think, really, it has gotten better and better,” said Tigers head coach Lesley Jordan, explaining the tight competition between the competitors. “In the past its been PEI and Mount A sort of in sixth and seventh and both of those teams have beaten pretty much everybody in our league (this year). It’s pretty even. It’s anyone’s game on any night.”

The Tigers currently sit in third with 17 points following the first weekend of play after the midseason break. They intend to improve upon their fifth place result last season. Although a few losses would see Dal plummet in the standings, the Tigers are also within striking distance of the AUS juggernauts, St. FX and Moncton.

“I think we want to be a top three team so being ranked third overall is where we want to be,” Jordan said. “Closing the gap might be a different story just because it’s a pretty sizeable lead, but we need to win games like (last weekend’s) against PEI and Mount A to keep ourselves in position, and then when we have opportunities against the top two teams we have to make sure we get points in those games as well.”

The Tigers have witnessed their fair share of nail-biting matches this season, including at least one contest versus each team decided by a single tally. The team were three and five in a streak of eight straight one-goal games; four were solved in overtime. A few bounces could easily have propelled Jordan’s girls to the pinnacle of the AUS heap. The Tigers, for instance, are the only team to have stolen points from the undefeated, nationally-ranked St. FX; Dal claimed two points courtesy of overtime losses. Against Moncton the Tigers lost both games, by a single goal, of course.

Hoping to get a jump on the competition, the Tigers cut short their December break, returning a week earlier than normal for exhibition and intra-squad matches. They were victorious against Saint Mary’s and played some laid-back tilts against Team Nova Scotia as that team prepares for the Canada Winter Games.

In net, Ashley Boutilier defends the crease. She has been given every opportunity to lead the Tigers, starting each game. She must persevere to keep her squad competitive in difficult matches. Team captain Laura Shearer is a threat at the point with 13 points. The leader of the defence corps should continue tallying on the scoreboard alongside her explosive fourth-year teammate Jocelyn LeBlanc. The Tigers will only go as far as LeBlanc takes them. One of the conference’s finest talents, her success comes at a price to the team. She will be sidelined for four matches beginning Jan. 29 to represent Canada at the 2011 International University Sports Federation Winter Universiade in Turkey. Fourth-year forwards Robyn Nicholson and Robin Mullen should help carry the offensive load.

The Tigers will need to improve their scoring beyond just LeBlanc’s departure. They have surrendered more goals then they have scored.

“Whether it’s on the power play or five-on-five we want to get three goals a game, if not more, and if we can keep [our opponents] to two goals or less than we’re in good shape,” Jordan said. St. FX and Moncton have hit the netting 55 times each, substantially more than the 33 goals the Tigers have celebrated.

In this past weekend, scoring remained a concern. The Tigers required extra minutes to edge both Mount Allison and UPEI past their 1–1 stalemate.

1...542543544...567Page 543 of 567

EDITOR PICKS

POPULAR POSTS

POPULAR CATEGORY

ABOUT US

The Dalhousie Gazette is the main student publication at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. The paper first began publishing in 1868, making it the oldest continually operating student newspaper in North America followed by The Harvard Crimson and The Columbia Daily Spectator

Contact us: admin@dalgazette.com

FOLLOW US