Post-Secondary News Digest for January 13, 2010
Canada
Covert surveillance at U. of Ottawa:
(Media Co-op) A former professor at the University of Ottawa has filed two union grievances against the school for undertaking extensive covert surveillance on him. Former professor Denis Rancourt accuses the school of hiring an undergraduate student to take on a false Facebook identity and infiltrate student groups that supported Rancourt’s activism course.
Video games prepare youngsters for bigger things: study:
(York U.ca) A York University study suggests young people who play at least four hours of video games a week have better control of skilled movements. The study concluded that playing video games reorganizes brain functions and may offer hope for patients with early Alzheimer’s disease.
Students present 4,000-name petition:
(Inside Toronto) A student who is protesting an impending faculty strike at Ontario colleges has assembled a petition with 4,000 student signatures. Graeme McNaughton, who started the Facebook group All-Ontario Walkout, presented the petition to the faculty union and administration at Humber College Tuesday. The petition requests that both sides return to the negotiation table. A faculty strike vote is set for Wednesday, Jan. 13.
Federal mismanagement of Canada Student Grants:
(Maclean's) The Concordia Students’ Union says not a single student in Quebec has received financial assistance from the Canada Student Grants program. The program, with a $350-million budget, is meant to provide non-repayable grants to students who apply for financial assistance. Human Resources and Skills Development Canada says a longstanding deal with Quebec means such funding is usually paid out after completes their year.
U of A outsources e-mail to Google:
(Edmonton Journal) The University of Alberta is negotiating with Google to have the Internet giant provide email services for its staff, faculty and students. Google offers its email service for free and outsourcing to the company would save the university around $2 million a year. If completed, the university would become only the second Canadian university to switch to Google, after Lakehead University in Thunder Bay switched last year.
U.S.
Southwestern U. to run on wind-power:
(Dallas Morning News) Texas’ Southwestern University will bring in wind power from hundreds of kilometres away to keep the lights on. The city of Georgetown, the school’s home, signed an agreement Tuesday with AEP Energy Partners to use wind-generated power from two farms in west Texas to cover the school’s electricity use. The university, which has a population of about 1,300, will pay the city a fixed rate for electricity from Ohio-based AEP.
Big payout for Ohio U.:
(Wall Street Journal) A start-up company supported by Ohio University for 26 years is giving the school more than US$40 million as a return on its investment. The university has been investing in, supporting and housing Diagnostic Hybrids Inc. since its founding in 1983. Now Quidel Corp. is buying the company, which develops diagnostic technology, for US$130 million. The university, which owns a 32 per cent stake, will take home roughly US$41.5 million, nearly twice what it made in donations last year.
Baby Einstein co-founder ponders UWash lawsuit:
(New York Times) A co-founder of the company that created the “Baby Einstein” children’s videos wants to take the University of Washington to court. A complaint filed by William Clark demands the school release records relating to two studies that linked television viewing by young children to attention problems and delayed language development. Clark wants “the raw data and analytical methods” from two U. of Washington studies so as to “audit their methodology,” he said in a statement Monday.
Weber State offers tuition break:
(Deseret News)) Utah’s Weber State University is planning to offer free tuition to as many as 2,000 students. “Dream Weber,” modelled on a program in Texas, will harness federal and state funding and combine with US$2 million from an anonymous donor to allow students from underrepresented populations to attend Weber for free. Students who meet eligibility requirements will be able to attend the school for up to eight semesters.
Study: Dropouts hurt economy:
(Dallas Morning News) A new study conducted by a Texas-based education advocacy organization shows high school dropouts have taken a billion-dollar toll on the economy. The study, conducted by the Alliance for Excellent Education, considered what the impact would be if half of the 14,500 high school dropouts in the Dallas-Fort Worth area had graduated. The study found they would earn up to an extra US$197 million a year with a high school diploma, and nearly two-thirds of them would pursue a college education. The diplomas would add an extra $4.1 billion to the economy each year.
World
Cairo bans surgical masks during exams:
(GulfNews) Egypt's Cairo University has voted to ban students from wearing surgical masks while taking exams. The move comes after female students were using the masks as a replacement for the niqab, the full facial veil worn by some Muslim women. The university banned niqabs during tests last October, based on complaints that some were disguising themselves as other students to help cheat on exams.
Chinese universities see fake international students:
(AFP) Some Chinese students are using fake passports to apply to universities in their home country, according to China's state media. Students born in the country are getting fake documents from Africa, South America and Southeast Asia to take advantage of lower admission criteria for foreign-born students. Education officials say some students apply to schools without knowing the language, or even national capital, of the country they claim to come from.
Australia must protect foreign students: prof:
(News.com.au) A professor at Melbourne University says Australia is in denial when it comes to racial attacks on international students. Simon Marginson, speaking at an education conference in Switzerland, says the Australian government is not doing enough after the murder of an Indian graduate student in the country earlier this month. The murder, and reports of other attacks, have prompted India to issue a travel warning to its citizens visiting Australia.
Murdered Tehran prof opposed regime: student:
(The Chronicle of Higher Education) The professor from the University of Tehran who was killed by a bomb Tuesday opposed the Iranian regime, a student says. An email from a student at the university who is active in the opposition movement says state media reports of Massoud Ali Mohammadi as a “staunch supporter” of the Iranian government are false. He also says reports that Mohammadi was killed by American and Israeli agents are fabrications. Iranian media have claimed that Mohammadi was killed by the West because of his work as a nuclear physicist.
Cambridge to restore rare Ghandi statue:
((India Express)) Cambridge University is raising funds in hopes of restoring a one-of-a-kind sculpture of Mahatma Ghandi. The statue, which shows the peace advocate sitting at a spinning wheel, is the only full-sized sculpture for which Ghandi ever offered to pose. The statue fell into disrepair when the sculptor, Clara Quien, died in 1987. Once restored, the statue will be displayed publicly by the university on one of its campuses.
Students vote to drop author's name from German university:
(YNet News) Students of Germany's Ernst Moritz Arndt University have voted in favour of changing the name of their institution, with supporters saying the writer was an anti-Semite. During the campaign to drop the name, a student publicly read from some of the nationalist author's works. Some pedestrians found the text so offensive they called the police. University administrators have not said what name the institution would take it they decide to go along with the vote.