IN BRIEF

485 Selkirk is now the William Norrie Centre

In commemoration of the university’s twelfth chancellor, the newly-minted facilities at 485 Selkirk Avenue will now bear William Norrie’s name.

Norrie has been chancellor of the university since June 2001, after a career in local politics. He entered the university in 1950, served as UMSU president and was awarded a Rhodes Scholarship.

Norrie graduated with a law degree from the U of M in 1955. He entered city politics four years later, and was eventually elected mayor of Winnipeg in 1980, beating out Al Golden. He retired from the city in 1992, at which time he became active in Gary Filmon’s government. He has received both the Order of Manitoba and the Order of Canada.

The building houses collaborative ACCESS programs in Education and Social Work with the U of M and U of W, and is the only post-secondary campus serving the North End.

Report calls for more international aid from Canada

Jake Troughton, the Gateway (University of Alberta)

EDMONTON (CUP) — The Ottawa-based North-South Institute was on the U of A campus on Thursday, Oct. 6 to launch the 2005 edition of its Canadian Development Report, which suggests that Canada could be doing more to meet its commitments for aid to developing countries.

This year’s edition of the report focused on Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), a set of eight goals set by the international community in 2000 with the aim of drastically reducing poverty by 2015. The goals range from reducing by half the proportion of people living on less than a dollar a day to reversing the spread of HIV/AIDS.

Dr Roy Culpeper, president of the North-South Institute, explained that the MDGs have been criticized both for being too modest and failing to address some important issues facing developing countries.

Dr Ali Abdi of the U of A’s Department of Educational Policy Studies, who also spoke at the event, expanded on that, arguing that the report didn’t go far enough in attacking the role of governments within developing countries in the poverty of their citizens.

“I think the report should have criticized more strongly the faulty pretexts of democracy in many developing countries. I’m originally from Africa, and I’m here to tell you that the West isn’t solely responsible for poverty in Africa,” he said. “Many countries call themselves democratic, and they’re getting aid on the false pretext of democracy. People in a lot of these countries aren’t citizens; they’re subjects.”

Culpeper concluded by suggesting that Alberta could take a take an important leadership role by committing $400 million per year toward meeting Canada’s MDGs, or a slightly larger share than the province’s share of gross domestic product.

Prof awarded for creating technologies for people with disabilities

Patrick Szpak, the Martlet (University of Victoria)

VICTORIA (CUP) — “I’ve always liked to tinker,” said Biology professor Dr. Nigel Livingston, explaining how he ended up inventing gadgets to helping people with disabilities.

Livingston, whose daughter has a disability, also mentioned a boy who was injured in a car accident, and recalled being struck by how little was available to help the child.

Thanks to the efforts of Livingston and the University of Victoria’s Assistive Technology Team, some people with disabilities have more resources available to them.

Since September 1999, UVATT has been inventing and engineering things that make life a bit easier for people with disabilities.

And they are good at it—Livingston and his team were honoured on Oct. 17 as the first recipients for the inaugural Lieutenant Governor’s Technology and Innovation Award from the B.C. Innovation Council.

The award recognizes the development of highly innovative, new technology based on applied research that has a positive impact on the province.

UVATT’s inventions are varied and ingenious. Past devices include tricycles for children with dwarfism and umbrella clamps for people in wheelchairs. Current projects include mechanical legs and devices that can be activated by the eye or tongue.

Despite federal promise, international students still unable to work off-campus

Alexandra Dodger, The Window New College, University of Toronto

TORONTO (CUP) — To ease international students’ financial burdens, Immigration Canada announced in May 2005 they would be allowed to work off-campus.

Four months later, classes have begun, and international students are still waiting for the federal government to follow through on its promise.

After test-piloting the off-campus work projects in Manitoba, New Brunswick and Quebec, Minister of Immigration Joe Volpe announced on April 18, 2005 that the project would become permanent and apply to students in every province.

“We have been listening to our stakeholders and are certain that these initiatives will help increase the global competitiveness of Canada by attracting and retaining more international students to our schools,” said Volpe, at the time.

Instead of working with each college and university directly, Immigration Canada is currently in consultations with each province to establish agreements that will allow international students in the provinces to work off-campus.

“There is no implementation process yet,” said Ben Yang, the director of the International Student Centre, which provides services to U of T’s 6,100 international students.

Still, Yang expects the agreement between Immigration Canada and the provincial government will be hammered out in time for international students to get off-campus jobs by summer 2006.

Yang was also careful to note that the off-campus work permits will come with many strings attached. Applicants must be full-time students, have completed one semester of study, and are capped to 20 hours per week of work during the school year.