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Art meets activism in Jane

Dalhousie Gazette Staff
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By Heather MacLean, Opinions Contributor

Forty years ago in the United States, single motherhood was taboo. It was difficult for single people to obtain contraceptives, and abortion was illegal.
So if you were pregnant, and didn’t want to be, what did you do? If you lived in Chicago between 1969 and 1973, you may have looked in the phone book for the number listed under the name “Jane Howe,” and arranged a safe, but illegal, abortion.
Officially known as the Abortion Counselling Service of the Chicago Women’s Liberation Union, “Jane” was run by women who arranged abortions in secret apartments throughout the city. The idea was to decrease the cost but increase the availability and safety of the procedure for otherwise desperate women.
“It wasn’t that we were for abortion,” Heather Booth, an early Jane organizer told The Chicago Tribune in 1999. “We were for women having the right (to) make this most personal decision.”
At the time of Jane, Booth was a University of Chicago student and activist who went on to become a leader in the Democratic National Convention.
After helping many women, and surviving police raids, Jane disbanded after the Roe vs. Wade ruling legalized abortion in the United States in 1973.
Often, it is easy to forget these important points in history. There is a need to preserve records of the struggles of women, but they can’t always fit into the clean and proper spaces of history books. In the case of Jane, the story has been preserved in a play.
“I was intrigued by these bourgeois housewives running an illicit abortion service between car-pooling and dance lessons,” author Paula Kamen told The Chicago Tribune in 1999.
But the play does more than tell these women’s stories.
The Saint Mary’s Women’s Centre presented the first international production of the renowned play Jane: Abortion and the Underground on Jan. 9 and Jan.10.
”I wanted to inspire an understanding of women’s political struggle for reproductive rights,” said SMU Women’s Centre board member Jane Gavin-Hebert, who organized the play.
A silent auction and art show were also part of the two-night event, featuring drawings by local artist Rebecca Roher. All proceeds from the play and silent auction will go toward Trust Women: A Conference on Reproductive Justice.
Sometimes it feels as if women’s rights, especially the right to bodily autonomy, are treated like a political football, and could be taken from us at any time. This play reminded us of how much more choice and control women now have over their bodies, but we could lose our rights at any moment, unless we fight for them.

Opinions Editor Kaley Kennedy worked as a security guard for this play.

THE HEALTHLY STUDENT: Pearly whites take plenty of practice

Dalhousie Gazette Staff
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By Rachel Sunter, Health Columnist

Blood, pain and shame; that about sums up my recent dentist check-up. It was supposed to be a regular cleaning, and I’m sure the receptionist would attest to that. For me, it was a deserved punishment, and a lesson learned.
Since my teenage braces came off, blue-masked faces have oohed and aahed over my gaping jaws, commenting on the general splendor of my pearly whites. “Good brushing, I see,” and “so white!” and even, “Joan, come have a look at these.”
Life gets busier, bedtimes get later, and as I’ve gotten older my tooth-brushing practices have gone a little slack.
For years dentists didn’t seem to notice my corner cutting, and I let it get to my head.
This time last year, twice-a-day brushing had fizzled down to once. Mouthwash became an extraneous commodity. And flossing? Pah! Only when I’m feeling really productive.
My chief concerns were that I continued to have good breath, and white teeth in pictures. Gradually, my dental-upkeep guilt lessened, and I was able to happily settle into a low-maintenance routine.
One year later, I’m prepping for tomorrow morning’s appointment. As I floss my teeth in the dim light, I am shocked to see red blotting teeth and fingertips alike. I wonder if maybe gums need to get used to floss or something, like calluses with new shoes.
The next morning, my gums are so sore and red I don’t dare floss again in the hour before my appointment. Anxiety builds in my tummy in the waiting room. Too soon, I am called in.
The dental hygienist is chatty and pleasant, making sure I’m warm enough and my shoulder bag is off to the side so no one steps on it. Chair buzzes back, light flicks on, open up wide, and it begins. With the same metal tools I’m long past caring about, she scrapes around each tooth to remove my annual build-up of plaque.
I’m half-focused on answering the usual questions about school and boyfriends when piercing pain interrupts my thoughts. The hygienist says nothing out of the ordinary, so neither do I. As she goes along, the pain builds, spreads and rings with stinging.
I begin to wonder if she’s unpracticed, or distracted. I stop talking, half to encourage her focus, half because I’m tense with anticipation for the next slice of her hand, but nothing improves. If my pain is any measure of the bleeding going on in there, it’s a wonder she can see anything to keep scraping at.
Sure enough, the hygienist pauses to, “Give a little rinse, there,” with a water tube. Unbelievably, the pain from each freshly cleaned tooth persists, doubling and tripling as each tooth gets its metal cleanse.
I find myself newly eyeing the shining curves and points of those things she’s using. I feel like I’m seeing these “tools” for the first time: torture devices.
I willfully daydream to distract myself from the pain, though images of iron maidens and thumb-screws keep reappearing. I wonder if hundreds of years form now, scholars will chortle at the primitive nature of 21st century dentistry, what with their crude utensils and absent anesthetic.
As a last resort, I mentally recite passages from my favourite medieval fantasy books, where protagonists bravely undergo all degrees of physical strain. Embrace the pain, I chant to myself.
None of it helps.
When the hygienist finally tells me to take a good rinse and pick which flavour of gritty toothpaste I’d like for my polishing, I practically shiver with relief. After the slice-and-dice I’ve just had on my raw flesh, the irritating tickle and hum of the rubber polishing brush is a warm massage in a mountain spa.
Before I go, the dentist comes in for a look. She comments on how readily my gums are bleeding.
How often do I floss? Oh, once every few days or so. I privately wonder if all dentists have a rule when it comes to patients’ hygiene claims. To calculate actual flossing habits, divide maximum admitted days between flossing by three.
Though the tenderness and bloodiness of my gums shout my lies, the dentist prescribes the usual daily flossing and careful brushing around the gums to avoid complications.
Turning to make some notes, she adds that running from it only makes it worse.
For once, I hush the “blah-blahs” in my head and listen. Convinced and determined to improve my at-home dental care, I openly admit my motivation is one-part health, one-part aesthetics, and two-parts pain.
It’s been nearly two weeks of nearly daily flossing, and my gums are bleeding less than they have for a year. With a resigned sigh, I admit defeat. Out with the tooth gunk, hello happy gums.

Frosh Survival Guide: Getting back into the swing of things

Dalhousie Gazette Staff
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By Katie Ingram, Opinions Columnist

It doesn’t matter if you celebrate a holiday during December; after winter break, it’s easy to find yourself having trouble with school work. After two weeks of relaxing, trying to read a text book or writing an essay at the beginning of the winter term is one of the hardest things to do.
Some people avoid this problem and fall right back into the daily grind of school, but others tend to fall into two categories: the guilt-stricken and the procrastinator.
Guilty students tend to realize they could have accomplished a lot over the past two weeks, and begin to panic. As a result, the guilt-stricken student becomes overly stressed, even before the term has officially begun.
If you are this type of person there are a few ways to tackle the new year and your workload without feeling at fault about taking time off to enjoy a well-deserved vacation.
First, step back and take a breath.
The term has just started; there is no need to worry yet. If your marks were good last semester, there is no reason to worry; you’ve already got a handle on university and you should be fine.
The main way to stop feeling guilty is to stay on top of work by re-evaluating your time management skills. If you have a break in the morning, use this to do your readings, so that your evenings are free for assignments. Look at your due dates and the lengths of your assignments.
If you have a lab report to do and you don’t need to spend a lot of time on it, then don’t devote an entire night to it. On the other hand, if you have an essay due and are having trouble with it, devote more time to it. Budget your time correctly and you will be able to ease back into school without many problems.
Or maybe you fall into the second category: the procrastinator.
There is really only one way to conquer this problem. You must retrain your mind for school.
No matter how early your classes start, try to make sure you’re up at least one hour before you have to leave for class.
This will not only help you avoid sleeping in too late, but you will also have time for step two. Use the time before your first class in a productive manner. It’s very easy, especially during the first week of classes to avoid doing any work at all, even if it’s just readings.
To avoid slacking off before class try reading that novel for English or do research for that pending history paper; anything that can help your brain move from vacation mode to work mode.
Finally, give yourself a bed time. For example, try going to bed at 11:00 or 11:30; you will be showing yourself that you cannot stay up as late as you did on the break because the holidays have passed.
Overall, January is much like September. As first year students, you should always be taking a ‘planning’ approach to the new term. Therefore, no matter what problems you are having, you can tackle them with ease as your solutions will be carefully laid out and hopefully enable you to successfully finish the year.

Sex Ed: Going down doesn’t have to leave you on your knees

Dalhousie Gazette Staff
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By Katie Toth, Sex Columnist

While in my hometown of Toronto over the holidays, I went to a class at my local sex shop to learn about “Giving Great Head”. Sitting with notepad in hand, I was ready to polish my mojo like no woman had before me.
My jaw dropped as our instructor passed around flavoured condoms and dildos before telling us about herself: “Some people wonder how you end up teaching a blowjob class.”
“Wait!” I wrote to the friend I’d dragged along. “This is a blowjob class?”
I don’t know why, but when I saw the notice for the “women’s-only workshop,” I had anticipated a lesbian or bisexual brouhaha, featuring a sort of Sapphic sage imparting equal-opportunity wisdom to her youthful disciples.
Ah, well. Such are the pitfalls of over-enthusiasm and a meagre attention span.
Maybe this was the perfect time to bone up on my mediocre fellatio skills. Still, I felt suddenly uncomfortable about this new dynamic. Something about the concept of the class seemed almost… well… subservient.
Wait a minute.
Why do I think that?
In many aspects of hetero culture, from romantic films to pornography, a sense of entitlement to sexual pleasure is often associated with the male role in a relationship.
A feminine role, in contrast, is associated with delivering that pleasure to a dominant recipient. Images of women who have sexual power usually involve not giving but withholding the pleasure which they are capable of offering.
Even if we haven’t all been there, most of us know someone who has refused to get his or her partner off until he or she apologizes, does the dishes, or quits smoking.
It’s pretty obvious how lack of sex can be used to assert some power in a relationship. However, this presents a fragile dynamic, since it basically means that the only power we see women having involves them not having sex (or fun).
I guess these norms had convinced me that going down on anyone necessitated a sense of acquiescence. Giving someone pleasure, I now realize, can be just as empowering, if not more so, than withholding it.
It can certainly be more active and involve more control.
The sexual mores of queer women can attest to this. Because queer relationships and sex are not as consistently displayed on mainstream TV, film and advertising (with the exceptions of ratings seasons and attention grabs), the gays don’t always experience the watchful eye of the media in the same way.
The lack of representation and visibility means that queer sexuality does not come with the same cultural baggage. Thus, certain power dynamics inherent or possible in the oral sexual experience can make themselves visible.
Let me give you an example. In dyke culture, power roles seem to be practically reversed from that of hetero norms. Being “on top” for girls is often associated with the power of giving pleasure, of forcing the person underneath you to be incapacitated with orgasm.
I know someone who ties her butch identity to not allowing the other party to give her pleasure: being on the bottom or allowing someone to pleasure her would involve vulnerability as much as it would entitlement. In the lack of orgasm, however, you don’t relinquish control.
Giving a dude head can be an equally powerful act. You are overwhelming your partner with pleasure, and you get to decide how much cock is in your mouth, where and when.  Likewise, for a dude to lay back and enjoy the ride, relinquishing control of the sexual situation, can be an incredible adventure—maybe even a frightening prospect.
Unfortunately, the legacy of sexism shields male power from this moment of vulnerability.
Mainstream porn gives us the money shot—the male orgasm—after he thrusts his cock into the mouth of his deep-throating partner. These images, whether filtered through mainstream pornography or Hollywood comedies, build up certain roles within oral sex that make it hard for a guy to relinquish control, just as they make it hard for a girl to see how much control is possible within the act.
So what did I learn in blowjob school that can counteract these conceptions?
First of all, being aware of the power of what you’re doing can be a great first step to overcoming those feelings of insecurity. Look at his face and you’ll see just how much pleasure you’re able to bring him with your hands and mouth.
Oral sex doesn’t have to be a chore—ask yourself how you could get more out of it.
Also, ask yourself if this is about positions of power, or just about your jaw hurting. You don’t have to just suck through the pain: use your hands more, lick it like a lollipop (thanks, Lil’ Wayne), and give your inner cheeks a break.
Dudes: look at your partner and communicate, even if your shlong is kind of in the way of their mouth. Putting your hand on their head or the back of their neck while they’re going down on you makes some people uncomfortable.
Thrusting, as fun as you may think it seems at the time, can cause people to gag on your cock.
I’m not trying to make you feel insecure about an experience you should let yourself enjoy without hang-ups, but if you’re not sure, you should ask.
Be courteous: someone is being kind enough to suck your junk.
For some, no tip or trick will make them hot about giving head. Oral sex might be a trigger to bad memories that even tying their partner up in all four corners won’t get them past.
If you really, really hate giving blowjobs, that doesn’t make you a bad person. You can compromise or try to think of some alternatives that work for both of you.
But remember that oral is most likely to be got when it’s given. And, if it’s consensual and approached with enthusiasm, it can be a rockin’ time.
If you’re not a fellating fan, consider giving it another go from a different angle this time. Or, as I tasted in class, try adding a chocolate flavoured condom. Who knows what might happen?

Studying in Iceland

Dalhousie Gazette Staff
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By Josh Mackintosh, Features Contributor

When we first arrived in Iceland two months ago, we ate all things Icelandic, such as fish quesadillas and lamb hotdogs, which Bill Clinton has been known to enjoy. We drank all things Icelandic, such as licorice schnapps and $9 pints of mediocre beer. We did all things Icelandic, such as soaking in the Blue Lagoon for hours, and visiting Ikea. Besides coming here to study Resource Management, we came here to experience Iceland.
The three of us barely knew each other a year ago. Jennifer was raised in Saint John, N.B. and moved to Halifax for work, and later for school. Lindsay is from Rothesay, N.B. and moved to Halifax to go to Dalhousie. Josh is from Kentville, N.S. and attended Acadia before going to Dal to study Environmental Planning. We were all studying planning on Dalhousie’s Sexton Campus. We did our studio projects, internships, and theses together before we graduated in 2009. Now we are studying in Iceland, working on our Masters of Resource Management, specializing in Coastal and Marine Management. It’s a multi-disciplinary program with students from all over the world; from Canada and the United States to Latvia, Iran and Mauritius. The program also includes professors from across Europe, the U.S. and Canada who are well known in their respective fields. Some of them even attended or taught at Dal.
The University of Akureyri offers our program in Isafjordur, Iceland. Isafjordur is in the Northwest corner of Iceland in an area called the Westfjords. Isafjordur is the biggest town in the Westfjords and has a population of about 3,000 people. Because of the city’s location (66 degrees North, at the mouth of the Arctic Circle) there are nearly 24 hours of light per day in the summer, and in the winter nearly 24 hours of darkness. In the Westfjords there are plenty of opportunities to go horseback riding, on boat trips, fishing, hiking or exploring for wildlife in the Hornstrandir Nature Reserve or on either one of two of the biggest seabird cliffs in the North Atlantic.
In Isafjordur, we have countless opportunities for hiking over the mountains around the fjords, over the avalanche barriers, and through the tunnels that borough deep under the mountain or along the seaside. We sailed around the Westfjords, and saw a glacier and the nature reserve. That trip, however, had to be cut short due to a gale warning. Despite a few nauseous classmates and a broken boom, the motor back to the town was one of the best ways to see the Westfjords.  In September we experienced our first Icelandic snowfall. We have been told to expect it in May and sometimes June as well, so that is something to look forward to.
The Blue Lagoon was an interesting experience. When you see brochures about travelling to Iceland, you are bombarded with pictures of the Blue Lagoon. When you Google images of Iceland, the first image that shows up is of the Blue Lagoon. So naturally, we had to check it out. As we approached from kilometres away, we saw this cloud of perfect white steam escaping into the air. As we got closer we saw the perfect blue water, which is almost glowing. It doesn’t look real.
We came to the entrance of the Lagoon and saw hundreds of people. They were all trying to take token pictures of themselves in front of the lagoon’s bright blue water. When we entered the payment area, we were overwhelmed by the amount of people who were trying to get into the water at the same time. By this point, we had decided it was perfectly reasonable to pay $50 to access this lake of warm water.
We went into the changing room, which, if you don’t play sports growing up, is a place of extreme discomfort to begin with, especially in Europe where there is no shyness about nudity. Posted on the Blue Lagoon changing room walls was a sign that read: “All bathers must shower in the shower room with no clothes on before entering the lagoon.” Of course, being a fairly reserved North American, this made me even more uncomfortable.
After not complying with the posted naked shower rule, I quickly slipped out the door to the deck that runs around the lagoon and blended in with the crowd. The Blue Lagoon, despite being kind of cool, continued to disappoint me. It was packed with people who each wanted something different from it, ranging from families having fun putting mud on their faces, taking pictures and swimming around with orange arm floatation devices, to couples on honeymoons who were trying to have a romantic time kissing and snuggling.
The Lagoon can make you feel quite sick if you stay in too long; however, we wanted to get as much time in as we could for $50. It was a delicate balance. Once you see a floating Band-Aid it’s game over – time to leave.
We left the change room and were corralled like cattle through the Blue Lagoon shop, where you can buy $100 Blue Lagoon Shampoo or a $5 bottle of water, which you need, because the lagoon has dehydrated you to the point of collapse.
Coming to Iceland was quite an adventure. We each had varying first impressions of the place that we will call home for the next year. One thing that struck me upon arrival in Iceland is how much some areas look like the moon. Iceland is beautiful. The island is lush and green and full of expression in the summer, which is much too short. What Iceland lacks in long, warm summers, it makes up for with friendly people.

Big news of 2009

Dalhousie Gazette Staff
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Lucy Scholey, News Editor
Laura Parlee, Assistant News Editor

Swine Flu
Feeling under the weather? The H1N1 epidemic was inescapable in the news world this year. It was linked to nearly 387 deaths in Canada. They told us we could get the vaccine, they told us it would only be available to priority groups, then they told us we could get it again. This roller coaster of information created long line-ups and cranky parents at the vaccine clinics. Now there’s a possibility of a third wave.

Lisa Raitt
Nova Scotian reporter, Stephen Maher, came across a sweet scoop this year when he found a tape recording of Minister of Natural Resources Lisa Raitt dishing her true thoughts about other ministers and important issues. She dismissed health minister Leona Aglukkaq’s abilities, and called the isotope crisis a “sexy issue”, creating media frenzy. Cue a teary apology, fire responsible assistant and viola: crisis averted.

Obama Nobel Prize
Shit hit the fan when Obama received the Nobel Peace Prize last October. With his support for the war in Afghanistan – a 30,000 troop surge shortly after receiving the Nobel – and wavering Middle East peaces talks, many people were baffled at his win. But he had his supporters, too. After all, one of his first orders of business was closing Guantanamo Bay. He’s also promoted nuclear nonproliferation and reached out to the Muslim world.

Olympic Torch relay
The upcoming 2010 Winter Olympics has almost everyone hyped up. In Nova Scotia, many people gathered on Brunswick Street to watch hockey prodigy Sidney Crosby carry the torch and hand it to Olympic snowboarder Sarah Conrad. That’s not to say the sporting event has attracted all positive attention. People across the country have protested the games, saying the province is hosting the event on stolen Native land.

MJ death
Pop icon and controversial court case winning Michael Jackson died suddenly last summer of heart failure. The media erupted, as stories about his assets, custody of his children and full live coverage of the star studded funeral dominated news.

Economic meltdown
If you weren’t already in a “how-will-I-find-work-with-my-arts-degree” crisis, then this gem of news probably put you there. Many students gave grad school a second thought or stretched their degree a little longer. Best to hide from the work force at this time. Now that we’re apparently crawling out of the recession, things might be looking brighter for students.

Afghanistan
This is an obvious one. Since Canada embarked on the Afghanistan mission in 2001, we’ve seen endless headlines. Despite the usual, pro-war anti-war debates, there have been flare-ups with the treatment of Afghan detainees and a promised exit date that wasn’t met. We’ll see whether and how the gears will shift once the next 2011 exit date approaches.

NS NDP win
They called it “orange crush” for a good reason. As last June’s election drew closer, the question changed from “which party will win?” to “will the NDP have a minority or a majority?” It was the latter, when the party swept 31 out of 52 seats in the legislature. The party’s win was also the first in Nova Scotia history.

DSU budget sees increase

Dalhousie Gazette Staff
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By Lucy Scholey, News Editor

The student union isn’t as badly in the red.
After last year’s VP (finance and operations) predicted this year’s whopping $68,824 deficit, the Dalhousie Student Union budget came out on top with $31,985 in net revenue.
“There is an average-sized deficit of $20,000 to $30,000 a year,” current VP (finance and operations) Doyle Bond says.
But Bond predicts the recession and the uncertainty underlying the Pepsi contract as a few reasons for the unusually low prediction.
“We didn’t know how much and from whom any revenues from (the Pepsi contract) would be coming from,” says Bond.
Pepsi cut its funding to the DSU in the 2008-2009 year because the union wasn’t meeting its target sales. Though the union had enough funds to pull through, this loss was still significant – the contract, at the time, was the largest in the DSU. The union has since renegotiated its contract with Pepsi – with a smaller target volume and shorter contract – and is receiving funds from the company this year.
Despite this, the DSU’s sponsorship profits increased. Bond partly attributes the increase to orientation week events.
“Most years, (orientation week revenue is) always better than what we predict,” he said in an earlier interview. “However, you can’t bank on that.” So, like with other departments, the DSU projected a lower budget line, to be safe.
But nearly every department on the budget saw an increase. At least a higher prediction than what the DSU thought.
The Halifax Student Alliance (HSA) is an exception. The multi-school coalition saw a $13,046 decrease. That’s because last year, members dropped out for reasons such as lack of interest or funding shortfalls, says DSU president Shannon Zimmerman.
The organization lobbied the municipal government on issues such as late-night transit and student safety. Last year, the DSU put a freeze on Health Savings Account (HSA) funds until the organization has enough support to get back on its feet again.
“It wouldn’t have gotten any other financial resources other than from Dal and we didn’t feel that that was appropriate” says Zimmerman. “It’s supposed to be a coalition of metro universities and colleges. It should have all of them committed to it, rather than just one financially committed.”
The DSU is working on restarting the coalition, but progress has been slow, Zimmerman adds. It may take another few years, she says.
The only other revenue decreases were to the full-time and executive departments. Bond attributes that to “small, trivial things” such as unattended conferences or cut backs on office supplies. Though Bond says the cuts weren’t intentional.
There was also a shift in full-time positions. After three people left the policy analyst, administration assistant and communications departments, the three positions were slimmed down to two – a society co-ordinator and a policy/PR position.
Without much debate, the DSU presented and passed the budget at the last council meeting Dec. 2.
Bond says the new budget should be in line with the needs of all departments.
“I’m confident that what we’ve done with the budget this year and what we’re predicting as a surplus will be really close,” he says. “I’ve talked closely with all the department heads and they all predict all their different expenses and revenues coming in. They’re predicting to be on par to what I said and predicted to council.”
Students can access the budget on the DSU website.

Academic evaluations to be posted online

Dalhousie Gazette Staff
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By Lucy Scholey, News Editor

Many students have scribbled in many of those little bubbles on academic evaluation forms; in the bubble under the number five to indicate an instructor’s enthusiasm in class, or in the bubble under the number one to say a professor didn’t mark fairly. But these forms might soon mean more to students than just a chance to dish on a favourite or most-hated professor.
The Dalhousie Student Union (DSU) and the Senate Committee Centre of Learning and Teaching (SCOLT) are working on a policy to open course evaluation results to students. It would allow students to see their instructors’ ratings online.
If you have ever visited www.ratemyprofessors.com when choosing your classes, this probably sounds familiar. But it will be different, says DSU vice president (education) Rob LeForte.
“There won’t be little chilli peppers saying whether a professor is hot or not,” he says, of the little icon that shows up beside an instructor’s name. “It’ll be more professional.”
LeForte says current evaluation forms can differ between faculties, but the new forms would follow a common format. They would also ask a lot of questions similar to current evaluations, such as whether an instructor was accessible, enthusiastic or gave timely feedback. A professor or department could add other questions to the form, but those answers would not be made public. Neither would written comments.
“So it remains instructive, as opposed to some of the destructive stuff that’s on (ratemyprofessors.com),” he says.
The policy isn’t finalized, but discussions between SCOLT, the DSU, deans and students have been ongoing since last year. LeForte says the DSU council has pushed this policy for years. Now that it’s finally underway, he says it could benefit both the students and the professors.
“For students, it’s going to be good to be able to see the results when they’re choosing courses,” he says. “For professors, it’s really going to be for whoever wants to opt-in and to give their students … or future students that insight when choosing their courses.”
It will also give instructors more incentive to better their teaching skills, he says.
But the policy won’t be mandatory. Instructors will choose to opt in if they want to make their evaluations public. Newer professors will be encouraged not to opt in because “it takes them quite a while to get used to teaching in an academic environment” says LeForte.
“Many of the professors say that this is not a problem,” adds Alan Shaver, vice president (academic and provost) of Dal’s senior administration. “Other professors have questions about privacy. They have questions about what the students want to do with this.”
Sean Clark, PhD candidate and lecturer in the political science department, says he likes the idea of the new policy. It allows students to make a more informed decision in something they’re paying for, he says.
“Post-secondary education is much like any other business transaction,” he writes in an e-mail.  “Students are paying … consumers of an extremely specialized product.”
But he cautions students against relying on instructor evaluations when choosing a class. There could be other factors affecting students’ ratings, such as course material that’s inherently dry or uninteresting.
“If engineers only selected classes on the basis of professor popularity, I would not be so keen to fly in airplanes or drive over bridges,” he writes.
Instructor ratings would only be available to students. They would have to log onto the website using their Dal accounts and passwords.
Other Canadian universities have taken on a similar initiative – among them McGill and McMaster. Shaver says Dal has looked to the G13 schools, Canada’s research leaders, as examples.
Amy Higgins, a first-year student at the University of King’s College, says she would probably use the website for choosing future Dal courses.
“I think it’s really great because it might help me,” she says. “But I feel like it also might be misleading because certain professors might be good for a certain learning style and they might have poor ratings, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they wouldn’t work for me.”
Costs and resources needed for the policy are also still in the works. Once the policy is more concrete, it will have to go through Dal’s senate in March. It would then be implemented for the 2010/2011 academic year.

Dal experiments with Gmail

Dalhousie Gazette Staff
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By Katrina Pyne, Staff Contributor

Dalhousie is putting Google to the test. The university’s alumni e-mail accounts are now hosted through Gmail, instead of through the university’s website.
Dwight Fischer, assistant vice president of Information Technology Services at Dal says it’s a way of “dipping their feet in the water.”
It’s a move that might see 52,000 Dal student, alumnus and employee accounts switch to Google or Microsoft providers. The current school provider has experience problems crashing and losing e-mails.
Fischer says the system needs to be replaced, but it would cost Dal several million dollars. Switching to a Google or Microsoft provider looks ideal.
“Both Google and Microsoft have tremendous capacity beyond what we offer,” he says.
But with affordability comes another issue – privacy is lost under a switchover to an American-owned e-mail account.
The United States Patriot Act gives U.S. authorities the right to search phone, e-mail and other records sourced on American soil.
“It does make me concerned, but that’s the world we live in,” says Fischer.
He says e-mail privacy is a “dated concept.”
“At the point of send, we lose control,” he adds.
Today’s technology-savvy generation live in a different world. They tend to disclose sensitive information through e-mail.
“Don’t operate under false assumptions of privacy,” says Fischer, “Stop using e-mail for private, sensitive communication.”
There are many draws to Google or Microsoft. Google now offers 25 gigabytes of space compared to Dal’s current e-mail system, which has about 0.5 gigabytes.
“What we’re driving is a 1990 Buick,” says Fischer. “We can keep putting money into that but it’s still a 1990 Buick. We have to ask where we want to be.”
It’s not uncommon for Dal employees to reach the capacity every few weeks. When you get close to that barrier, it’s a matter of cleaning it up, deleting e-mails and losing records.
But for students, storage is less pressing.
“Most students don’t approach their capacity,” says Mark Hobbs, DSU vice president (internal).
David Lewis, first year representative on the King’s Student Union, agrees.
“What we have here in terms of storage is fine,” he says. “However the interface is not user friendly.”
“It needs to be re-organized,” says Dave Etherington, president of the King’s Student Union. “The e-mail system right now is insensitive to more involved students.”
According to Dal’s technology services, 10 per cent of students forward their e-mail to Google. So Fischer says the resources to maintain the university’s e-mail system could be put elsewhere.
“Wouldn’t we be better off putting our money towards the classrooms, invest in the teaching and the learning, not commodity services?” he says.
The term is “cloud computing.” It’s a general term for anything that involves delivering hosted services over the Internet, such as e-mail or storage. It allows for companies to focus on their main business rather than the surrounding infrastructure.
In Dal’s case, it would theoretically allow the university to put more money toward teaching as opposed to spending it on e-mail access.
The shift to cloud computing has become huge amongst businesses, according to Fischer.
According to a University of Alberta study, switching to Google would provide centralized e-mail and calendaring, and increased security from viruses.
After doing the study, the University of Alberta signed a four-year contract with Google. They hope to begin the switchover in early 2010.
So where does that leave Dal?
According to Hobbs there has been a significant drop in the number of student complaints concerning Dal’s e-mail system in the last year.
“There is no e-mail ambulance going to the hospital any time soon,” says Hobbs.
Although Hobbs would like to see changes to Dal’s e-mail, he says there’s no driving force to switch over.
“It just has to work and it just has to be functional,” he says.

Demand scanner satisfaction

Dalhousie Gazette Staff
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By Hilary Beaumont, Copy Editor

How do you feel about 3-D “naked” body scanners?
Would you feel violated if you were picked for ‘secondary screening’? Would you feel better if given the option of a full-body pat-down instead?
Chantal Bernier hasn’t asked you these questions. The assistant federal privacy commissioner did, however, ask them of the national air security agency. A week ago, she was satisfied by their answers. This brief inquiry opened the way for 44 3-D body scanners to be installed at major airports across Canada.
Bernier said these scanners, which produce an outline of a person’s unclothed body, make it difficult to see the traveller’s face. The scanners will only be used to examine travellers picked for ‘secondary screening’. And these specially selected travellers will be given a choice: full-body pat-down or full-body scan. Bernier said this option would lessen the “sense of invasion.”
Are you satisfied?
Has Bernier asked a person who has been groped, harassed or sexually assaulted whether a choice between full-body 3-D nudity and a full-body pat-down would lessen the “sense of invasion”? She certainly hasn’t asked at-risk individuals how they feel. This leaves certain groups vulnerable because the masses can cope.
We already know certain groups are targeted more often for additional airport screening. It may not be policy, but it happens. So let’s consider an individual who belongs to one of these groups. Let’s single out a Muslim woman wearing a hijab. Let’s flag her for additional screening, and give her the choice: scanner or pat-down? It’s not much of a choice. This goes beyond privacy rights and becomes a potential violation of religious freedoms.
Has Bernier asked celebrities or other notable figures how their privacy might differ from the average Canadian’s? Within that realm, Pamela Anderson might have a different take on body scanners than Margaret Atwood.
There are individuals who may value their privacy to a higher degree than others. Hermaphrodites, or people undergoing gender transition. People with Chrone’s Disease who carry urine and fecal collection bags on their person. People who have been sexually assaulted. Celebrities. People whose privacy is pivotal in their religious practice. Or that chance guy with the evolutionary remnants of a tail. How does he feel?
Would you allow a stranger to see you naked if it would guarantee your security, and the security of other weary travellers queued before and behind you? Though it is arguable how secure you might feel walking through a machine that virtually strips your clothes off: do you feel safe?
Unfortunately, these special scanners do not guarantee travellers’ safety from terrorist attacks. They do, however, provide a façade of security. Though no security measure – not shutting down air travel, not closing borders – can prevent another terrorist attack from happening, Bernier thinks this measure will help. The next, more invasive security measure, after the 3-D scanner, will also help. Our government will continue to allow the violation of our privacy rights in the name of false security.
How is it possible to “successfully answer” these questions in only three weeks? They are deeply controversial, and each Canadian harbors a different opinion. It is obvious the national security agency does not prioritize privacy over national security. This group is also unlikely to undermine their own premise: that security is possible. Bernier should have asked someone else.
Is your security guaranteed? No. And no one pretends it is.
Is your privacy guaranteed? No. But it’s meant to be protected by law as a fundamental right.
A year from now, it will be more difficult to object to a “naked” body scan. These scanners will become routine. Until the next threat to Canadians’ ‘security’. Until the next increased ‘security’ measure.
Do you care?

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