Taking bets: how long will UManitoba’s new president’s honeymoon last?
My home university has a new president and I am taking bets on how long before the University of Manitoba Students’ Union starts attacking him. Dr. David Barnard started his first day by attending two “informal gathering” at the Winnipeg campuses of the university. At the first, greetings…
Good news for UWinnipeg
The announcement isn’t new funding but it’s just as important. The city of Winnipeg is shutting one block of Spence street, which divides the UWinnipeg campus, to vehicle traffic for good. This may not seem like much, but it will make a big difference to the campus. I…
Windsor closes campus pub
The University of Windsor student pub is shutting down after losing it’s operating subsidy. This is a smart move. The modern campus is always short of good student space and funding for real student services. Hopefully, the USWA turns the space into something that all students can enjoy…
Could the release of university presidential contracts actually work against the public interest?
I’m tempted to think the release of all these presidential contracts may actually work to increase university president’s compensation levels, especially in the case of retirement payouts. Back in April 2005, Pauline Tam and Sarah Schmidt of The Ottawa Citizen wrote an extensive article on university presidential payouts.…
Tuition waivers for uni president’s children
Reading this article in the Prince George Citizen outlining the contract of the UNBC president and some of the reasons for the departure of the previous UNBC president, I was struck by this sentence: “The Citizen has also learned UNBC agreed to continue waiving tuition fees for Cozzetto’s son…
North American Solar Car race starts today
The North American Solar Car race begins today in Texas. There are 6 Canadian teams in the field of 24 competing to win the race which ends on July 23 in Calgary. I’m not sure which team I should be cheering for. There’s the University of Waterloo team…
Arbitrator’s ruling at St. Thomas U released
The Daily Gleaner reports that STU professors will have being teaching fewer classes and getting paid more next academic year following an arbitrator’s binding ruling. The faculty association and university administration agreed to arbitration after a month long strike/lock-out nearly cancelled the university’s second term. With arbitration now…
Finding the message – how one word in a news release can distract from the message
A few weeks ago, the McMaster Students Union put a news release supporting the construction of a light-rail line between the university and Stoney Creek. The release has caused a stir in Hamilton for many reasons. Most importantly, to me at least, is this reflects a sea change…
Could ‘Veterans’ ads make a difference in the 2008 US presidentials
Disclaimer: I am a huge fan of John McCain and have been for a long time. I have a McCain 2000 lawnsign which I consider to be the centrepiece of my political memorabilia collection. I was not going to blog on the presidential race because of this bias.…
No matter where they are, many student unions are the same
In New Zealand, the largest national student lobbying organization doesn’t particularly like opening it’s meetings to the media. There excuses sound oddly familiar to me too! ‘We need safe space’ and/or ‘not enough time to think about it’. Funny how students’ union need to think about transparency no…