Friday, August 29, 2025
Home Blog Page 557

How not to protest

Ben Wedge
-
0

For well over a century, protesters have been invited to use the front lawn of Parliament Hill to stage their demonstrations. Just this summer, Tamil people protested the government for not intervening in the civil war in Sri Lanka, and the March for Life brought over 10,000 people onto the hill in pouring rain to protest abortion.

There’s only one catch for these demonstrations – protesters must remain on the lawn, and can’t go up the stairs leading to the top of the hill.

On Oct. 26, that wasn’t good enough for climate change protesters who took to protesting in the House of Commons itself. Calling the RCMP was too onerous. They wanted as much media attention as they could get. So they set up a flash protest. Over 100 students and youth filed into the galleries of the House of Commons, and reportedly at least a few received passes to the Members’ Galleries, which allowed them to sit on the sides, rather than at either end of the House.

In Question Period, after Jack Layton asked his first question, it fell on minister (of industry) Tony Clement, to provide an answer. At this point, one protester shouted and security removed him. He was in the public gallery behind the speaker. Then another shouted, and another. Finally, partway through Layton’s second question, Joe Cressy stood up to lead over 100 youth in protest.

At that point, security swarmed the galleries. Many protesters left, not wanting to cause more problems.

But a few remained.

Jeh Custer, a Sierra Club employee from Alberta, alleges that four security constables jumped on him and smashed his face repeatedly into the stone stairs. Eriel Deranger, of the Rainforest Action Network, described the guards “smearing (Custer’s) bloody face against the wall.”

However, CBC News called this statement into question. Footage showed him without blood on his face until he showed up at their studio to film Power and Politics with Evan Solomon.

It’s that one piece that calls the whole protest into question. Was it a number of students, coming out of the Power Shift conference that weekend, who stood up in solidarity during a protest, or was it an orchestrated event? Was this designed to dupe the media? For a protest to be effective long-term, theatrics should be kept to a minimum.

NDP ties have been alleged. There are, however, doubts, given that the protest peaked during Layton’s second question, but that could have been due to the rhythm started during Clement’s answer.

The protesters called this “the civil rights movement of our generation.” But is it? With the protesters apparently trying to exaggerate claims of rough handling, and digging themselves a deep hole, this could end up causing more problems for the movement for good.

With major news outlets questioning the story within hours of it breaking, will Custer be the next Balloon Boy? Will his credibility be shot? The mainstream media has been doing a good job of posting volumes of raw footage and pictures, as well as asking tough questions. Hopefully they will get to the bottom of this and send a strong message that theatrics will not be tolerated in protests.

It’s our turn now. With the wealth of resources available, we should all take the time to view the footage, to research what really happened, and form our own opinions.

Frosh Survival Guide – A foolproof guide to essays

Katie Ingram
-
0

While essays are common all year, November is usually the time when most, if not of all, final papers are due for the Fall semester. Whether you have already written a paper and did not do as well as you would have expected, or are still in the planning stages for your first, there are a variety of tips and resources.

University essays are not the same as high school papers. High school essays typically followed a five-paragraph system that included an intro, three body paragraphs, each illustrating one supporting point and a conclusion.

In university, while you still have your introduction and conclusion, the body is different. And there’s more variety. Each new paragraph isn’t about a new point, it’s about a new idea concerning a particular point.

Depending on how you structure your argument, your essays and paragraphs will be of different lengths.

Knowing the structure of an essay isn’t enough to write a thoughtful paper, you also have to make sure you know what kind of essay you’re writing.

Persuasive or argumentative essays are not the same as research papers. In a persuasive paper, you are required to analyze a text, present an argument and defend it. In research papers, you are required to do what the name suggests: research.

It’s important to understand what your professor is asking from you. Do you need to have secondary sources? How many? What length does your professor expect?

After you have determined what type of essay your writing, start an outline of your thesis and the arguments you are going to make. This should help you when you begin writing, and if you have questions concerning the paper or your ideas, you have something to show your professor or teaching assistant.

If you’re worried about the quality your paper at any stage of the writing process, visit the Dalhousie Writing Centre. You will have a 30-minute session with a writing tutor who will hopefully put you on the right track.

The writing centre is designed to help with any type of problem – from understanding the assignment and structuring the outline to grammar problems and draft revision. Since the sessions are short, make sure you come with specific questions, as you will be able to get more done in your meeting.

Aside from the essay itself, papers should be accompanied by a bibliography. Not all bibliographies look the same. This is something you must take into account when writing in text and bibliographic citations.

Usually, science papers tend to use APA, while arts papers either use MLA or Chicago style. Although some professors don’t have a preference, it’s a good idea to make sure that you know what style they expect.

There are many resources for bibliographies. In addition to the writing centre, you can also purchase a variety of writing resource books on how to reference everything from a book to an Internet journal. The Killam Library also subscribes to RefWorks, a website that allows you to input the information needed for your references and have your bibliography generated for you.

Although essays are stressful and take a lot of work, it can be easier if you manage your time, make sure you understand the assignment and get help you need from services and resources the university offers.

Frosh Survival Guide is a monthly column about how to survive your first year at Dal. For more information on the Dalhousie Writing Centre, visit writingcentre.dal.ca.

Hit the G-Spot

Katie Toth
-
0

Ah, the mythical G-Spot. Pop culture magazines and the general media are all obsessed with this sexy sponge cake within the interior walls of the vagina. The Gräfenberg Spot would best be defined as the sexually sensitive area within the urethral sponge – a cushion of tissue between the vaginal wall and pelvic bone – that protects the urethra from sex.

We’re saturated with information that tells us all we have to do is hit our G-Spot, and earth-shattering orgasms that confirm our belief in a benevolent god will be ours. So we hunker down. We get ready to find it. We even buy new toys to get us psyched for the process. And, try as we may, we just can’t. So then we feel like a big freak.

What’s up with this obsession with the G-Spot, anyway?

Now, I’m not saying that I have anything against the G-Spot. A squashy vaginal key to giving women amazing orgasms? I’m on board. But I think it’s curious that despite solid scientific evidence to prove its existence, Cosmopolitan magazine is so ready to make each issue involve this quest to find their Orgasm Holy Grail.

Scientists and gynecologists still are seriously up in arms about the fact that no matter how hard they look for the G-Spot, they can’t actually find it. But a lack of scientific proof does not mean what women are experiencing is somehow invalid. I’m very much inclined to believe that in there, somewhere, we all have one, since the sponge itself is obviously, demonstrably present. It’s hard to clinically prove existence of the G-Spot because you have to be turned on to be able to feel it. It’s with arousal that the urethral sponge may become engorged and feel pleasurable when touched. But I don’t often get turned on when I’m visiting my gyno!

So I’m not saying that the G-Spot isn’t a real and pleasurable orgasm origin for a lot of women. However, my concern is that we’re all expected to have these fabulous orgasms on the inside of our vaginas, and that the standard sense of priority makes us forget that a lot of women already can have – and are having – fabulous orgasms through clitoral stimulation.

It begins to look to me a lot like the Freudian vaginal orgasm discourse – the idea that women need penetrative sex to get off, or that penetrative orgasms are somehow inherently better and more ‘mature’ than clitoral ones. It can potentially create a dialogue like this:

Dude: “So why isn’t my penile penetration satisfying you? Why isn’t it hitting your Gräfenberg Spot?”

Chick: “I feel inadequate because I happen to need clitoral stimulation to be satisfied.”

An entire industry has sprouted based on the G-Spot.

The driving concept is that the most common female orgasms aren’t good enough or that they aren’t sexually adequate. Resulting in us buying more and more things that feed into this media cycle on our perpetual quest.

Meanwhile, I fear that this hunt could send us on an expedition that ignores the actual urges, cravings and cues of our own bodies. Each of our bodies is unique, and while many females share some basic erogenous zones, it’s also pretty stupid to create one standard of how those operate, or try not to account for differences between individuals.

If you want to get down there and find your G-Spot, be ready to make an effort.

Do what you have to do to get really, really hot and roaring to go. Take some time to feel around, or have someone else feel around your vagina. Pick up on any sources of pleasure – you’re not just in there with one goal. When you’re ready, try to push against the upper interior wall. This means that if someone else is stimulating you manually in missionary position, they should be making a sort of come-hither motion.

For you, it should almost be like pushing away.

When you feel a walnut-like shape of tissue, you may have located your G-Spot.

Don’t expect magic right then – you’ll probably just have to pee. People think that once you find your G-Spot, then bam! You’re just going to come everywhere!

It’s not a guaranteed push button. You need to stimulate it properly. For some that might mean light touches, or other people might need a rougher stroke or a circular push. For some, touching the G-Spot hurts. For others, there’s not a positive or negative sensation – it just feels boring.

Because proper stimulation can be tricky, toys can be super helpful in getting that extra inch farther, and staying in the game just a bit longer. Order online if you have an idea of what you’re looking for talk to the super helpful folks at Venus Envy about your needs.

Are you looking for powerful vibration, just a little or none? Do you want clitoral stimulation simultaneously, or will there just be so much going on your vulva gets overwhelmed and hides in a hole of fear? One recommendation for those trying to look around for the G-Spot is the ‘Mini G’. It’s cute, it’s pink, it’s slim and good for scoping around up there. Or, if you’re more concerned about your privacy and you have a credit card, you can also order online at www.babeland.com or at the Venus Envy online store, www.venusenvy.ca.

And don’t forget to try different positions. It’s not just about getting up and down, you’ll also want to tackle this project from different angles. Try squatting or putting one leg against a wall. Get creative and release your inner yogi!

My advice to people who are just starting to get to know their body is to light some candles, go have some private time, enjoy some masturbation play, but don’t go hunting for your G-Spot right now.

Think of the G-Spot as standing in for gravy – you don’t need it to have great cheesy mashed potatoes. This is for the advanced class.

Like Dr. Ruth Westheimer says in Sex For Dummies, “If (you) find a place in your vagina that gives (you) a lot of pleasure, great. If not, (you) should just forget about it.” And maybe start touching somewhere else!

Education not for sale

Laura Merdsoy
-
0

Last year, between January and March, there were mass protests at universities around the world; from McGill and the University of California to Olabisi Onabanjo University in Nigeria; Wellington, New Zealand to Durban and Tshwane in South Africa; from Bonn, Germany to Manila in the Philippines; and so on.

All of these rallies had a single objective – to call for an end to the privatization and commercialization of their universities.

This year, the week of Nov. 9 to Nov. 18 commemorates the Global Week of Action against the Commercialization of Education. Students at Dalhousie will be participating as part of the International Students Movement.

Commercialization denotes one main idea: it’s the process of something becoming commercially viable – a product. The question is: should our knowledge, our “higher learning,” be directed by whether or not it creates a product that can be sold?

Commercialization goes hand in hand with corporatization on campus and the general privatization of public institutions, public programs and public services. To understand these cumbersome ideas we need context.

The trend of post-secondary institutions in Canada goes broadly like this: universities are publicly funded institutions, paid for by our collective tax dollars through the provincial and federal governments.

When politicians decide to slash transfer payments and social programming budgets,  universities are on the chopping block with everything else: welfare, healthcare and the arts. With their pockets turned out, many post-secondary institutions turn to tuition increases to download the cost to students. Pennies are pinched on the ground, right where we can see it – increased class sizes, contract employment for professors, our toilet stalls rented as ad space for corporations.

But the old boys on our Board of Governors know a thing or two about business. As the vice presidents of University Inc. they, too, have a product to sell that can help return some of that lost revenue: knowledge.

Universities are hotbeds of free, publicly-funded labour in research and development that is eagerly capitalized on by, well, capitalists.

In the 1990s, commercialization crept slyly into the growing repertoire of private revenue sources for Canadian universities. By 1997, there were 750 active licensing agreements that brought in US $11 million for post-secondary schools in Canada. These agreements allow corporations to purchase the rights to discoveries that are marketable. By 2008, the trend had become a central tenet of the operation of most universities.

No longer affecting just the engineering and science labs, last year the government also focused increases to Canada Graduate Scholarships for the Social Science and Humanities Research Council to fund only those projects that are market-congruent.

This means corporations have their research costs generously subsidized by our tax dollars and provided by our universities. Corporations not only profit from this publicly funded research, but the private sector now also determines what type of research is worth doing. And what type of research should not be made public.

Private companies have no obligation to maintain responsibility for public well-being, even if they are profiting off of public money.

One startling example of the potential harm in this arrangement occurred in 1996 with the discovery of life-threatening side effects of deferiprone, a product of the drug giant Apotex. Nancy Olivieri discovered side effects when she was commissioned by Apotex to test the drugs on her patients at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto. After a concerted effort to silence her, Olivieri violated the fine-print terms of her contract with Apotex that gave the company the right to suppress her findings.

We are left to wonder about the hundreds of other researchers who may not have the same determination to fulfill their ethical obligations, defy huge pharmaceutical companies, and face being ostracized like Olivieri was. But does it really take a potential disaster to make us question whether or not our education ought to be determined by the market?

Once upon a time, we thought of universities as places where people came to learn for the sake of learning. The classroom should and can be about fostering critical thinking, and discussing new ideas about the world and how we want it to look.

The trend toward increased privatization at our university has rolled in with dishearteningly little student outcry, and virtually no public consultation. But elsewhere, it has garnered international uproar. The Week of Action in April saw groups in more than 20 countries on five continents join in protest. This fall, students at Dal will commemorate the International Day against the Commercialization of Education and stand with peers across the globe.

The university belongs to the students, not profiteers. Until students actually have a say in the operation of their university, they will continue to be a product, used to court the services of Aramark, the dollars of Big Pharma and the mental garbage of NewAds. Our voice is what students around the world are fighting for.

Laura Merdsoy is a member of Students Mobilize for Action on Campus. On Nov. 9, the student organization will hold a roving banner forum and street party intended to provoke the creativity of the student body in imagining how their university could be.

Public only by name

Jake Schabas
-
0

It may come as a surprise to hear that Dalhousie University is public in name only. As Angela Potvin, a member of the Social Activist Law Student Association, put it, “as a property they are the same as a mall.”

But wait – aren’t malls the exact opposite of public spaces? In malls, security guards won’t hesitate to tell a teenager to “put your hood down,” and codes of conduct often dictate who uses the space. It’s no coincidence you rarely see street people in malls. It has nothing to do with where they’re choosing to shop. In spaces like these, individual interests – not collective interests – dominate the use of space.

Those interests can’t be the same at Dal, can they?

Well, no, not exactly. But there are striking parallels. For instance, like in malls, when we are on Dal property a special code of conduct applies, which we are assumed to know.

While this protects the University against vandalism or threatening behaviour, it also means that if you don’t have your Dalcard or, for hired workers, proof of employment on you, a security guard can ask you to leave campus.

Likewise, while basic freedoms still apply to students on campus, such as the right to peacefully assemble, demonstrate, lawfully picket and freedom of speech, the Dal code of conduct adds caveats preventing you from disrupting “or adversely affecting any activity organized by Dalhousie University.”

Again, although seemingly reasonable, it’s easy to see how any unwanted form of the former could be made to fit the broad description of the latter.

So why do we call Dal a ‘public’ university? Well, mostly because public funding makes up the majority of the university’s revenue. Despite the fact that the public is footing the bill, the moment you leave the sidewalk or the paved surface of the street, you have left the public world behind.

This fact affects campus life more than one might expect. For instance, Dal’s food and beverage exclusivity contracts with Sodexo and Pepsi – contracts that make it difficult if not impossible for other food businesses, like cheaper or local options, to sell or even give away food on campus – are the reason why the Dawgfather’s hot dog stand is set up on the sidewalk. There, he is on public land and only needs a permit from the city rather than a contract with the Dal Student Union or Dal administration.

That’s something to chew on next time you spend a buck at the Killam on a shitty apple imported from who knows where.

Similar rules that govern food also apply to advertising on campus, especially in the Student Union Building. Anyone who’s used the washrooms in the Killam has a sense of the many national and multi-national corporations like Rogers and Kia that spend their advertising dollars at Dal.

Yet what about in the SUB – the most student-controlled building on campus? While there are plenty of posters on the SUB walls, if you look closely they all have a small DSU insignia on them, meaning that they all stem directly from the DSU. These are the posters taped onto the walls on the stairway, or on the bulletin boards locked behind glass.

You will only find posters not connected to the DSU in select spots in the SUB. These properly ‘public’ wall spaces where pretty much anything can be posted are the bulletin boards tucked into the basement or near the main floor washrooms behind the bank machines. These are places you have to search out.

Ironically, in terms of posters, no building is less public than the SUB.

Not to be overly critical or anything, since there are some legitimate reasons to be weary of letting just any kind of advertising or poster on campus. But you’d think the DSU Executive and staff would be more willing to publicize student events and organizations, rather than just wing nights at the Grawood.

Every year, we see more TVs going up on campus, advertising Grawood night after Grawood night, ad nauseam. Just last week, a new electronic board was installed above the outside front entrance of the SUB, flashing more drink deals and themed nights at – you guessed it – the Grawood.

Space on Dal campus may not be public, but it shouldn’t be treated like a billboard for a select few private interests, and that includes the DSU-run Grawood. With voter turnout for the DSU elections at an abysmal 15.9 per cent and extra-curricular involvement plagued by widespread student apathy, the DSU should be using the communications resources that students fund to promote student interests, not just the bar.

Why not let student societies, groups or teams publicize their events on the TVs and walls all over campus? Isn’t the SUB, the students’ building, paid for by us, and for us? Shouldn’t we be able to put up posters on its walls like we do in all other university buildings?

Just because Dalhousie is privately run doesn’t mean it can’t operate far more publicly. While some codes governing personal conduct, sales and publicity are hardly avoidable, they need to be far more accessible and should be in place for the benefit of students, not faceless multi-national corporations such as Sodexo.

The DSU needs to start actively pursuing greater student involvement. Once students are more plugged into what’s happening on campus, they’ll be more inclined to vote in DSU elections. Only then will we be able to raise voter turnout to a level where the DSU could legitimately claim to represent the interests of the majority of the student body.

It starts with making what’s private on campus more public. This means allowing more freedom to groups who want to organize or hand out leaflets on campus. This means making food contracts more public, so students can have a say in what they eat rather than letting corporations decide. This means making communications resources on campus useful for students who want to display events and subjects that matter – not just advertise Grawood wings.

Editor’s note: Angela Potvin of the Social Activist Law Student society provided information, not advice, for this article.

Youth protest for climate change action

Joel Tichinoff
-
0

Hundreds of youth protestors gathered on Parliament Hill on Oct. 26 for the largest climate change rally in Canadian history. It was part of Power Shift, a three-day summit where youth converged in Ottawa to discuss climate change and lobby the Federal government to take action. It was co-ordinated to coincide with a global day of action on climate change that saw similar protests in 181 countries.

Among the protestors were 55 youth from Halifax, mostly students, who spoke on behalf of Atlantic Canadians.

Power Shift began as an event in November 2007. Over 5,000 young climate change activists descended on the University of Maryland in the U.S. for three days of workshops and keynote speakers, a rally on Capitol Hill and a day of lobbying federal politicians for legislation to address climate change. It was the largest youth activist event on climate change in history. Al Gore made a speech, signs were waved, everyone went home and the Bush administration did nothing. MTV gave the summit a brief mention on its web site, but the story didn’t crack the pages of the New York Times.

The Power Shift summit in Ottawa began at Nepean Sportsplex. A slew of speakers opened it, followed by a performance by underground political hip-hop duo Dead Prez. While there’s certainly a strong activist undertone to their music, some delegates, while thrilled to see Dead Prez live, had reservations about their performance and the opening night in general.

“No one had ever heard of the speakers,” said McGill delegate Paul Foster. “It was cool to see Dead Prez but they were up there quoting Mao and saying, ‘Fuck Obama,’ and shouting that the only real power is in the barrel of a gun. A lot of stuff there seemed inappropriate for a youth climate change conference.”
Workshops were held at the University of Ottawa, but the action was focused on Parliament Hill where hundreds of protesters joined together for the largest climate change rally in Canadian history. The cold drizzle that fell for hours on the assembled demonstrators did not dampen their excitement. Impassioned speakers shouted slogans and waved their arms on the podium.

But anyone hoping for a powerful speech to inspire the youth climate change movement to new heights was hopelessly disappointed. The time-worn words and catch phrases speakers spewed from the stage were met with a tepid response from the crowd. The event climaxed with the assembled activists spread out across the lawn, flailing their arms and chanting, “Tick-tock.” Disinterested reporters and photographers milled around the stage. However the rally saw little coverage in the mainstream media. To cap it off, a zealous group of green-overall clad revellers took off down Wellington Street, leading the charge to 24 Sussex Drive. Few followed them.

RCMP officers, who stood watch over the demonstration, casually dispersed the crowd. Standing by the Centennial Flame, some members from the Montreal delegation debated hopping the next bus home.
A sense of disenchantment hung as heavy as the clouds over the empty hill. It was hard to believe that one had just witnessed the largest climate change protest in our country’s history.

Power Shifters wandered the concrete and glass campus, clutching their schedules, looking about in bewilderment. Not everyone received a map of the campus. But once found, the workshops themselves were highly informative with topics ranging from Canadian climate policy to how to run a media campaign and a seminar on how to lobby.

In the late afternoon the delegates gathered together in groups divided by region and prepared for the ‘Day of Action’ when delegates would swarm into the Parliament Buildings to meet with and lobby local MPs and Senators for greater political action on climate change.

“This is a stranger place than you can ever imagine,” NDP leader Jack Layton assured Power Shift delegates.

Many delegates were dismayed by the lack of real political interest in climate change.

The activists’ frustration boiled over during Parliament’s question period when nearly 150 Power Shift members interrupted with loud verbal protest from one of the viewing galleries. In a dramatic and co-ordinated sequence, one youth activist after another stood up and shouted a plea for action to the politicians on the floor below. Security removed one protester after another, each one followed by another to take their place before the entire gallery erupted into chanting. The ensuing chaos saw Power Shift delegates forcefully hauled from the House of Commons. Witnesses say once the demonstrators had been removed, one MP said, “That was embarrassing,” then resumed the pension debate.

The disturbance made national headlines. It was the only significant media attention the conference received. Many Dalhousie delegates were uncomfortable with the coverage. Regardless of the negative portrayal in the media, Power Shift was an eye-opening experience for many.

Canada is one of the worst per-capita emitters of greenhouse gases in the world and Canadians, along with the Americans, have repeatedly blocked international efforts on multilateral action on climate change.

Bill C-311, the only environmental bill currently tabled in the House of Commons, has been repeatedly delayed. With the global climate summit in Copenhagen set for December many Canadians feel ambiguous about their country’s record as a polluter.

The energy on the bus ride back was electric with new ideas and information on everyone’s lips and fresh inspiration in their minds. Whether Power Shift had an impact on the way the Canadian government responds to climate change is up for debate. If Power Shift was intended to be a wake up call, it seems Ottawa hit the snooze button and went back to sleep. Nevertheless, with the Copenhagen summit on Dec. 7, Canada’s sleep-in on climate change might end soon. Whatever the long-term result, the passion and hope those three days in Ottawa inspired in the youth climate movement is a step in the right direction.

Computer Science Building struggles with space

Lucy Scholey
-
0

It’s getting crowded on the top level of the Computer Science Building. Already small compared to the other floors, the fourth floor recently became home to the College of Sustainability.

It’s not much space for the new department and it is taking away space for the Computer Science Department, say students and staff from both faculties.

“No one seems to be really happy right now,” says Alan Shaver, VP (academic and provost), about the space allocation. “The (Environment, Sustainability and Society) students feel that they’re really crammed and the Computer Science Faculty feel that they’re losing something.”

The College of Sustainability is home to the new major: Environment, Sustainability and Society. The interdisciplinary program currently offers a first-year core course and will offer upper-year courses in upcoming years. The remaining electives are cross-listed with other departments. Last summer, the dean of the Computer Science Department agreed to let the college move in to the fourth floor.

Space is an issue across the university’s campus. Fenwick building was sold last year, leaving less housing options for students. Meanwhile, many campus parents have complained about the lack of available daycare services.

“Space doesn’t change, but the needs and demands do,” says Shaver. “This is always true of universities.”

Thomas Trappenberg, professor of computational neuroscience, says he’s concerned about the Computer Science Building’s loss of space. He says he could use more space to conduct experiments.

“I do understand that there are needs in the new program, which is something we should always take into account when we think about budgeting for a new program,” he says, but adds he does not understand why the College of Sustainability was chosen when many older departments need space.

Shaver says one reason is the new program’s popularity. The university only expected about 150 students in the program, but enrolment is twice that, at 300. Computer Science, on the other hand, has seen an enrolment decrease since the program launched in 1997.

More space is needed not just to accommodate that influx of students, but to prepare for more students in upcoming years, says Shaver.

“We have a new unit that we had to get off to a good start,” says Shaver. “So this is why it was pushed forward.”

Shaver says a medical research group moved up to the fourth floor last year. Now, that group might move out and plans for that space are up in the air.

Shaver says Facilities Management has requested a list of needs requirements from the Computer Science and Environment, Sustainability and Society faculties. The management will assess the space requirements for each. The president and VP (finance and administration) are also involved in the planning.

Shaver says the Computer Science Department will get more space next summer after the New Academic Building on Coburg is completed.

The Canadian Foundation of Innovation is funding the Computer Science Department in this new building. The foundation funded the Computer Science Building when it was built in 1999, but Shaver says they won’t fund the department on the fourth floor anymore. Shaver says that’s partly why the dean of the Computer Science Department, Mike Shepherd, decided to allow other groups into that space.

Shepherd would not give details on the space allocation issue.

“It’s very political,” was all he would say.

Alison Shaver, Shaver’s wife, also works in the College of Sustainability. But Shaver says he has only worked alongside the dean of the department regarding space planning.

More space is needed for interdisciplinary programs, Shaver says, adding that the Institute for Research in Materials also takes up space on the fourth floor.

“I very much agree with that and I would say, therefore, that we should try to work on the interdisciplinary space,” adds Trappenberg.

“What I personally just don’t understand is why this program got singled out in a very short time to get the resources, which many other programs have demanded for years.”

Med school back on track by 2010

Guthrie Prentice
-
0

More than 200 faculty members of Dalhousie’s school of medicine, and almost as many students, are sitting on committees to help craft the future of their school.

Since Oct. 15, the school’s power to grant degrees to doctors has been on probation. The body that decides this – the Liaison Committee for Medical Education (LCME) – is an American certifier of medical schools both in the United States and in Canada.

The biggest problems identified at the Dal medical school by the committee had to do with curriculum.

“The curriculum hadn’t been extensively reviewed since 1992,” said medical school dean Thomas Marrie.

The school was hoping to defer an overhaul of the curriculum until after the establishment of a branch of the school in New Brunswick. In hindsight, Marrie says this probably wasn’t the best decision. He started his tenure as dean in July 2009.

The committee found Dal non-compliant with 10 of their standards. Some are fairly straightforward: they want the school to “assure that students have adequate study space, lounge areas and personal lockers,” but most aren’t infrastructure-based.

Marrie said one curriculum change the committee is asking for is extra mid-term exams, in addition to ones that medical students take now at the end of each educational unit.

He says the problem-based learning model the school uses right now provides several opportunities for evaluation, beyond a rigid exam, but unfortunately an exam is what the committee is asking for.

One student says his day-to-day academic life isn’t affected by the probation yet.

“I and most of the other students I know aren’t really worried about it,” said Mathieu Blanchard, a second-year medical student.

“The only real effect it has on the students is that there (are) quite a few of them taking part in the committees, which are revamping the curriculum to meet standards.”

Twenty of these committees are now meeting to research and review the best medical schools in Canada and the U.S. The committees are also tasked with coming up with ways to implement others’ practices here at Dal.

“They should have their reports ready by mid-November,” he said.

The school has scheduled a symposium for the last weekend in November. Experts in the field of medical curriculums from all over Canada and some from the U.S. will come to Dal to workshop the proposal and set goals for the school.

Deans from Ottawa, Alberta, and a representative from the Association of Faculties of Medicine of Canada will be among the attendees.

Marrie is confident this method will result in a curriculum – both in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick – that meets committee standards by September 2010.

Marrie’s optimism seems to have rubbed off on the students.

“Dean Marrie is the perfect person to fix this,” said Matthew Clarke, a first-year medical student. “I’m excited to see him here and see what he will accomplish over the next couple of years.”

Canada has only 16 schools that grant medical degrees. Even so, Marrie said he has not had any pressure or support from any level of government to successfully pass the probation.

“I think the expectation is that we will fix it,” he said. “And we’re well on our way.”

Playing with print

Bethany Horne
-
0

A few young book-lovers in British Columbia are trying to save the publishing industry by putting more books up online. But this isn’t a den of pirates, or another e-book scheme.

Julie Morris is part of the team that worked to launch Bookriff.com in the fall of 2008.

At BookRiff, users will be invited to grab chapters from different books, articles from magazines or websites, artwork and other content, and mash them together into a customized book, which will be printed on paper and mailed to the creator.

Mark Scott, president of Douglas & McIntyre, founded BookRiff to present the notion that “copyright protection doesn’t have to be abandoned in pursuit of new and innovative publishing tools,” according to Morris. She went from being an intern at D&M, to being part of the BookRiff team in the fall of 2008.

“Having my hands in both has given me the unique perspective of someone who is both confronted with the massive amount of change happening in the publishing industry, and a part of that change to a certain degree,” she wrote in an e-mail.

She agreed to answer some questions about BookRiff for the Gazette, in hopes of presenting one possible future for copyrights and user rights in the digital age.

Bethany Horne: How is BookRiff’s idea unique?

Julie Morris: Oh, there are so many answers to this question. It is a truly innovative business model, for one. It highlights the idea that though demands of readers are changing and the web is becoming a dominant medium, print books are still important and valuable.  It emphasizes the value of “curated” book content, in contrast with many self-publishing websites, which provide some similar book building tools, but not the ability to build upon published works.

BH: How many books will users be able to grab chunks from when the website launches?

JM: The short answer is that we predict having millions of books available upon launch, plus loads of other material from various sources. The longer answer is that it is really difficult to say exactly, for a variety of reasons. We are talking to a number of book publishers, along with newspapers and magazines, as well as online content providers who are all eager to participate, but because we are in beta development, we are just approaching the point that we’re ready to load content into the system. Secondly, some book publishers may choose to sell their books by the chapter, while others may load whole books for users (and authors) to add supplementary material to. The content will likely come in phases, not all at once upon launch. Riffs will also be able to hold public domain content users find with the web search tool or upload themselves.

BH: How does BookRiff propose to balance the needs of the users versus the rights of the writers and content creators?

JM: BookRiff is an open platform where users can create their own strategies for buying and selling content. The business model is such that the content providers (be they authors, publishers, or individuals) set their own price and receive 100 per cent of the revenues. When the user-created compilations we call “Riffs” are printed, the purchaser pays for the printing costs, along with a set BookRiff fee. BookRiff doesn’t try to impose restrictions on any users or what they can do with the tools the site provides, but at the same time we leave it up to the content owner to determine how (his or her) works can be used.

BH: Has anybody hesitated to let go of control over the package his or her content appears in? Say, authors with no control over the book design, or artists unable to see how their work prints on your printers.

JM: Yes, of course. But this is only natural, right? Any time a tool is developed to enable others to alter the presentation of copyright-protected content in any way, there is an automatic reaction of uncertainty. But in your question you suggest that artists have no control over book design and can’t test print quality. This isn’t true at all. Authors and other artists can always keep their content private and use BookRiff to create their own Riffs, print them to test quality and take down their works if they aren’t satisfied. That said, BookRiff won’t be for everyone, and while the print quality is good, Riffs are not meant to compete with publishers’ high-quality offset-printed bookstore books. Riffs are a different medium. They serve a different purpose for readers.

BH: And they’ll also have no control over the quality of the content they appear next to in a book of riffs.

JM: This is true, but isn’t it also true of e-books and other e-content in e-readers? And also true of web content that is read next to an ad placed on the same page in a browser? Because a Riff is primarily a print concept, it asks people to make a leap in the way they think about books, and examine the possibility that a book can be a device just as an iPhone, Kindle, Nook or web browser is a device. Mark Scott brought this concept of the book as a device to my attention. I think it’s pretty dead-on.

BH: When will BookRiff become available?

JM: We have a release plan that doesn’t include specific dates for the simple reason that BookRiff is being built from the ground up, and as we have learned, software development does not follow a predictable timeline. We have a target for a public beta launch, late this fall, after we open the site up in the coming days to publishers and give them enough time to load their content and test out the tools.

Toronto copy shop busted for infringing copyright

Danielle Webb
-
0

A photocopy store popular with students at the University of Toronto was shut down by a copyright enforcement and licensing agency for “illegal photocopying” this month.

Boxes of course packs and textbooks were carted out of Quality Control Copy Centre in downtown Toronto on Oct. 15. The store’s photocopiers and binding equipment soon followed.

“We received tips over the past few years that Quality Control Copy Centre was reproducing full textbooks and course packs without permission. Those are illegal activities under the Copyright Act,”says Savitha Thampi, associate legal counsel with Access Copyright.

But before seizing all the store’s assets, Access Copyright issued several warnings and alternative options for settling the $132,000 judgement that had been levelled against them.

“We did enter into negotiations with Quality Control Copy Centre, and tried different ways to settle through instruction, and through offering licenses,” Thampi says. “In this case, we did need to go to the federal court and we did get the order against (the shop). They were found to be infringing copyright, and even after the order they continued to infringe on copyright.”

Cases like Quality Control Copy Centre are becoming more numerous across the country, says Thampi.

“It does happen, and we are very vigilant in monitoring the activities across Canada.”

Teresa Scassa, a law professor at the University of Ottawa, believes professors sometimes contribute to copyright infringement more than students, a notion that seems to go against common sense.

“You often see professors who have been involved in trying to help their students get around the high costs of materials,” says Scassa.

“The professors will put together course packs and instead of going through the license regime that they have at their own university, they’ll make the course pack available at a copy centre where they don’t have to pay the fees.”

“Cost is really the issue,” she says. “Professors feel that these materials are too expensive, the cost of materials is too high. Students need a break, and in this case the break comes at the expense of the copyright owners.”

Tanya, a B.C. student who did not want her last name used – said some of her professors advocate cutting costs by sharing and photocopying each others’ course packs.

While students try to find a break wherever they can, either by reselling their books on their own, frequenting copy shops like Quality Control Copy Centre, or sharing materials with friends. It is their education that often suffers as they circumvent the law.

“My education is definitely affected,” Tanya says. “It’s very sad and extremely unfortunate when I have to forego buying textbooks because they’re not in my budget and I simply can’t afford them. I don’t get the readings done and can’t always participate in class discussion.”

But there is a solution, if professors are willing to use it.

According to Scassa, professors and academics can take more control over their own copyright through venues such as Open Access, an international movement that encourages the unrestricted sharing of academic works.

“More and more academics are looking for Open Access journals where, as part of the publication, the work is made available to anyone who wants to read it, or copy it, or download it. It’s licensed for those kind of reproductions,” says Scassa.

“It’s not all an issue with copyright law, a large part is academics not thinking hard enough about how they want their work to be disseminated.”

Putting restrictions and conditions on their publications, like allowing it to reproduced in course packs at no extra cost, could go a long way to solving these issues, she says.

1...556557558...567Page 557 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