In Brief
Park that car
September 22 is international car-free day, and several groups in the city are gearing up to take a stand on climate change.
Along with the annual Commuter Challenge, the day is intended to provide yet another reminder that cars are not the only way to travel.
The provincial government recently announced plans to give $42,000 to the Climate Change Connection in order to help the organization’s efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the province. Environment, Science and Technology Minister Dave Chomiak could not be reached for comment.
Resource Conservation Manitoba will be holding a closed-to-traffic party in the Exchange District from 12 – 5 p.m.
The University of Manitoba Recycling and Environmental Group (UMREG) plans to participate in a critical mass bike rally in conjunction with RCM. It will leave Old Market Square at 5 p.m., just as the day’s festivities are ending.
In addition, the Eco-Mafia, a group based out of the University of Winnipeg, will be staging a protest outside of Landau Ford on Thursday. They hope to draw attention to the fact that Ford Motors has the worst fuel economy of all domestic car manufacturers.
In related news, Transportation and Government Services Minister Ron Lemieux has proclaimed the week of Sept. 19 – 25 “Trucking Week,” in celebration of the central role that Manitoba has in the transportation industry.
New campus on Selkirk Ave.
A new building on Selkirk Ave. is bringing the Universities of Manitoba and Winnipeg to the North End to contribute to the revitalization of the downtown core.
At 485 Selkirk, the U of M will offer an ACCESS Social Work program, specially tailored to inner-city residents. The U of W offers a similar ACCESS program in education, a responsibility that it took over from the U of M in recent years. Both programs have been administered from the Sir Sam Steele School in Elmwood since 1981.
Increasing aboriginal enrolment and a desire to increase the service of both universities are cited as the main reasons for the move.
The refurbished building on Selkirk Ave. cost $3.5 million, including $1 million from the Winnipeg Foundation’s Moffat Family Fund. In addition, the City of Winnipeg assisted the university in acquiring the property. The building, designed by Prairie Architects, focuses on the natural use of space, as well as using portions of the original architecture.
Don’t book that ad
Amanda-Marie Quintino, The Eyeopener (Ryerson University)
TORONTO (CUP) — McGraw-Hill Ryerson quietly called off plans to place advertisements in university textbooks because of a “minor oversight” in its company policy.
According to Tom Stanton, director of communications for McGraw-Hill Education, the Ryerson team in charge of the ad initiative was unaware that this was in opposition to McGraw-Hill’s corporate policy.
McGraw-Hill Ryerson is the Canadian subsidiary of McGraw-Hill Ltd. and is not related to Ryerson University, although some administrative policies are shared.
When the initiative was launched, the company released a brochure in an attempt to receive support from potential advertisers.
“Reach a hard-to-get target group where they spend all their parents’ money,” read the pamphlet. “Do you really think 18- to 24-year-olds see those on-campus magazine ads? Do you really think they could miss an ad that is placed in a well-respected textbook?” it read.
But before advertisers had the opportunity to show interest, McGraw-Hill Ryerson pulled out the rule book and cancelled the plans.
According to Gary Ruskin, executive director of Commercial Alert, the fact that McGraw-Hill Ryerson was even making considerations to impose advertisements in the classroom is shameful.
“Some things are too important to be for sale — that includes the classroom.”
Business management professor Tarun Dewan is pleased with the initiative’s cancellation.
“Putting ads in textbooks would cause a dilution of academic integrity,” he said. “It’s very important to keep commercial interests out of universities as much as possible. Textbooks should not contain propaganda.”
According to Stanton, students and professors should not be concerned. McGraw-Hill Ryerson has no plans to change policy in order to accommodate textbook advertisements.
Students eschew Eastern and Western Canada for more prestigious universities
William Wolfe-Wylie, The Argosy (Mount Allison University)
SACKVILLE, N.B. (CUP) — In the aftermath of hurricane Katrina, a number of Maritime universities offered late enrolment to displaced students. The gesture seems to have fallen on deaf ears, however, as the semester gets underway with few students making the trek north to study in Eastern Canada.
Some university administrators feel that students displaced by the hurricane are more likely to attend high-profile schools such as McGill or the University of Toronto if they want to study in Canada.
Katrina devastated New Orleans and most of the U.S. coast along the Gulf of Mexico on Aug. 29, killing thousands and causing billions of dollars in damage, as well as displacing an estimated 100,000 post-secondary students. A website, CampusRelief.org, has been launched to list offers from post-secondary education institutions and the needs of displaced students.
In the Maritimes, Acadia, Mount Allison and the University of New Brunswick have announced scholarships, discounts and extended registration to potential students.
Of these three schools, Acadia University is the only one to have a student take up the offer.
In total, more than 35 Canadian post-secondary institutions have publicly announced their offers to assist eligible students from affected areas in the American South. Among them are the University of Toronto, the University of Alberta and the University of British Columbia.
One student from the University of New Orleans has enrolled at the University of Manitoba, but wished to remain anonymous.
-With files from Sonja Puzic (the Eyeopener)
