I really enjoyed writing this column on student activism towards the tuition increase at the U of O. Its interesting how you can learn so much from absolute strangers. Just goes to show that those behind the scenes are sometimes, if not most of the times, a lot more wise than we give them credit. Enjoy
http://www.thefulcrum.ca/blogs/blog/38619
Will students take action?
by Katherine DeClerq
Published: Nov 24
AT THE NOV. 22 Board of Governors (BOG) meeting it was decided that tuition would increase by an average of 4.3 per cent for the year 2011–12. Was this a surprise to students? Absolutely not.
Students from all faculties and programs gathered in the audience to watch as their representatives pleaded with the BOG to stand up to the government and not follow the precedent of increasing fees. Most of them held a sign that read “Tuition fees are too damn high”. With cries of “shame”, these students watched as the necessity of institutional finances outweighed the needs of the students.
After the meeting, I had a nice chat with a man who was operating the camera for the BOG. He looked at me with a smile, shook his head, and said in an accent, “If this had been done in my country, we all would have been in the streets and in front of Parliament. We would not have took it, especially with an election coming.” And with this, the wise gentleman proceeded to pack his equipment and leave.
As I walked home, I realized he was right. Yes, we have protested in the streets, courtesy of the Nov. 5 CFS “Drop Fees” rally—but that was an organized activity in which less and less students took part. Now, we are participating in a campaign that gets students to sign petitions in hopes that a list of names and email addresses will be enough to change the government’s mind. At the BOG meeting, those signs that students held were only used twice, and it was in silence.
And so, I ask you: whose fault is it that our tuition is increasing? Is it the administration, who is trying to balance a budget? Is it the government, who is not paying attention to the student generation? Or is it the students, who are too lazy to get the government to listen?
The man with the camera is right. We have an election coming. Are you really ready to take a stand, or is complaining enough for you?
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Saturday, November 27, 2010
The art of an ipod battle
Ivory Antenna participated in an Ipod Battle yesterday to support community radio, competing for CHUO 89.1 FM against Reel Radio in Gatineau. Myself, my co-host, and a friend decked out in business attire (with my co-host dressing up as an L.A. bad-ass) to represent team "Guilty Pleasures".
This was out first Ipod Battle, and it was quite an interesting experience. For those who have never heard of such an event, you basically jump in a boxing ring with another team and battle with music. Each team plays 30 seconds of music and you dance ridiculously, and whichever team gets the loudest cheers, wins. It is quite intimidating, and we did not drink enough beforehand, I can tell you that.
My experience was as such: We jumped in the ring, won the rock-paper-scissors game to start first (kudos to my scissors!) and started with "99 problems". It was a success! We started to dance, not knowing what we were doing, but people were clapping and dancing. Our next song was a good one, and a guy jumped in the ring and started grinding with my co-host--who took it rather well. haha, we got an A for that! And with our last song, we chose wrong. No one really danced, no one cheered...it was kind of awkward. So...we lost. And that was it. Three songs and it was over for the Guilty Pleasures.
BUT, it was a riot. We all decided before going into the ring that we were just going to have fun, do out best, and if we lose...oh well. I personally had a blast acting like an idiot.
The thing is,we all were so nervous, but we succeeded. We tried something completely new and ridiculous...and it felt good! We supported our radio station and found out that rock music is not battle-worthy! Fun times, fun times!
This was out first Ipod Battle, and it was quite an interesting experience. For those who have never heard of such an event, you basically jump in a boxing ring with another team and battle with music. Each team plays 30 seconds of music and you dance ridiculously, and whichever team gets the loudest cheers, wins. It is quite intimidating, and we did not drink enough beforehand, I can tell you that.
My experience was as such: We jumped in the ring, won the rock-paper-scissors game to start first (kudos to my scissors!) and started with "99 problems". It was a success! We started to dance, not knowing what we were doing, but people were clapping and dancing. Our next song was a good one, and a guy jumped in the ring and started grinding with my co-host--who took it rather well. haha, we got an A for that! And with our last song, we chose wrong. No one really danced, no one cheered...it was kind of awkward. So...we lost. And that was it. Three songs and it was over for the Guilty Pleasures.
BUT, it was a riot. We all decided before going into the ring that we were just going to have fun, do out best, and if we lose...oh well. I personally had a blast acting like an idiot.
The thing is,we all were so nervous, but we succeeded. We tried something completely new and ridiculous...and it felt good! We supported our radio station and found out that rock music is not battle-worthy! Fun times, fun times!
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Is the U of O really that bad?
http://www.thefulcrum.ca/blogs/blog/38059
Column, November 17: In response to the university rankings published in Maclean's and the Globe and Mail
Is the U of O really that bad?
by Katherine DeClerq
Published: Nov 17
MACLEAN’S MAGAZINE HAS come out with their annual Canadian university rankings. These results are supposed to help high school students decide where they think the “right fit” would be for their post-secondary education. While the idea of ranking universities is a good one, the way in which they are judged may not be.
The University of Ottawa has consistently received poor ratings compared with other universities in both the Maclean’s University Edition and the Globe and Mail’s University Report. Whether the publication judges food services, teaching quality, or overall university atmosphere, the U of O has always been at the bottom of the list. And my question is why?
Who exactly are they interviewing, and what are they asking? If Acadia University is rated as having a better reputation than “Canada’s University,” then I want to know exactly why! Each report includes their methodology, but it doesn’t give any specifics. And in Maclean’s, it was the staff that collected some of the evidence from statistics provided to them by Statistics Canada and the universities themselves.
That makes these reports ambiguous. It says that our teaching quality is poor, but compared with what: the fact that we are an academic university as opposed to a more hands-on college? When they say “overall atmosphere” are they referring to student life, comfort, or diversity? The grade system doesn’t mean anything if we don’t know what they are talking about.
You also have to question how these answers are obtained. Were emails sent to students asking them to fill out a questionnaire? I never got one. Do they take responses from each faculty? I don’t remember getting a notice. So how do we know if the people rating our university are representative of ALL students’ interests?
Yes, the U of O isn’t perfect—but are we really that bad? If so, why do so many students enroll; why are our teachers and staff receiving so many awards for their work and research; and why did the former Governor General choose to work from our campus?
Sometimes, I think these reports are overrated, and I am not ashamed to say it. Yes, the U of O needs to kick it up a notch, but that doesn’t mean that we deserve to be at the bottom!
news@thefulcrum.ca (613) 562 5800
Column, November 17: In response to the university rankings published in Maclean's and the Globe and Mail
Is the U of O really that bad?
by Katherine DeClerq
Published: Nov 17
MACLEAN’S MAGAZINE HAS come out with their annual Canadian university rankings. These results are supposed to help high school students decide where they think the “right fit” would be for their post-secondary education. While the idea of ranking universities is a good one, the way in which they are judged may not be.
The University of Ottawa has consistently received poor ratings compared with other universities in both the Maclean’s University Edition and the Globe and Mail’s University Report. Whether the publication judges food services, teaching quality, or overall university atmosphere, the U of O has always been at the bottom of the list. And my question is why?
Who exactly are they interviewing, and what are they asking? If Acadia University is rated as having a better reputation than “Canada’s University,” then I want to know exactly why! Each report includes their methodology, but it doesn’t give any specifics. And in Maclean’s, it was the staff that collected some of the evidence from statistics provided to them by Statistics Canada and the universities themselves.
That makes these reports ambiguous. It says that our teaching quality is poor, but compared with what: the fact that we are an academic university as opposed to a more hands-on college? When they say “overall atmosphere” are they referring to student life, comfort, or diversity? The grade system doesn’t mean anything if we don’t know what they are talking about.
You also have to question how these answers are obtained. Were emails sent to students asking them to fill out a questionnaire? I never got one. Do they take responses from each faculty? I don’t remember getting a notice. So how do we know if the people rating our university are representative of ALL students’ interests?
Yes, the U of O isn’t perfect—but are we really that bad? If so, why do so many students enroll; why are our teachers and staff receiving so many awards for their work and research; and why did the former Governor General choose to work from our campus?
Sometimes, I think these reports are overrated, and I am not ashamed to say it. Yes, the U of O needs to kick it up a notch, but that doesn’t mean that we deserve to be at the bottom!
news@thefulcrum.ca (613) 562 5800
Monday, November 22, 2010
Life of an editor
It has been a while since I have posted on my blog. The reason for this is that I have a job as News Editor of The Fulcrum, the English language student newspaper at the University of Ottawa. While I thought I could easily keep up with my duties as an editor and my intentions with this blog, as well as my two classes and my radio show Ivory Antenna (Wed 12-1pm on CHUO 89.1 FM), I was wrong.
My first month as News Editor was pure insanity. I wasn't used to the time commitment, and the aggressive way in which I had to push to get information for a story. It was a mad dash to meet my deadlines and I was always the first person in the office and the last person to leave. You would think, that with all my other commitments, I would crash and burn. Well, to my surprise, and the surprise of a lot of my friends, I overcame those challenges.
Now, things are a lot easier. The time commitment is still insane, and the workload never ceases, but I now have a system. Even with all the work I have to do, even with all the deadlines and the quick pace, I still love my job.
The rush is exhilarating. The stress addictive. And the feeling you get when you find a lead to an amazing story can not be topped.
Yes, my poor blog took the backseat to all my initiatives, as did my class work (something I am now trying to rectify), but it was—and still is—worth it!
Already, within 3 months, I have met and interviews some amazing people:
-Lisa Laflamme, CTV national news anchor
-Alex Trebek, host of Jeopardy
-Michelle Bachelet, the Former President of Chile
-Debi Goodwin, CTV reporter, documentary film producer, and author
I am still one of the first people in the office and one of the last to leave during production, but now, I am proud of it!
So as an ode to this wonderful life I am living, I will be posting my columns on my blog, and writing something about my experience as an editor of a student newspaper. You will hear about the challenges I face (and if I am able to overcome it), some of the weird things that happen at this university, and about the craziness that is my life: too many commitments for one 20-year old girl to master.
As a side-note: Without my friends, co-workers, and family supporting me...this would have been an interesting ride. Thanks everyone!
My first month as News Editor was pure insanity. I wasn't used to the time commitment, and the aggressive way in which I had to push to get information for a story. It was a mad dash to meet my deadlines and I was always the first person in the office and the last person to leave. You would think, that with all my other commitments, I would crash and burn. Well, to my surprise, and the surprise of a lot of my friends, I overcame those challenges.
Now, things are a lot easier. The time commitment is still insane, and the workload never ceases, but I now have a system. Even with all the work I have to do, even with all the deadlines and the quick pace, I still love my job.
The rush is exhilarating. The stress addictive. And the feeling you get when you find a lead to an amazing story can not be topped.
Yes, my poor blog took the backseat to all my initiatives, as did my class work (something I am now trying to rectify), but it was—and still is—worth it!
Already, within 3 months, I have met and interviews some amazing people:
-Lisa Laflamme, CTV national news anchor
-Alex Trebek, host of Jeopardy
-Michelle Bachelet, the Former President of Chile
-Debi Goodwin, CTV reporter, documentary film producer, and author
I am still one of the first people in the office and one of the last to leave during production, but now, I am proud of it!
So as an ode to this wonderful life I am living, I will be posting my columns on my blog, and writing something about my experience as an editor of a student newspaper. You will hear about the challenges I face (and if I am able to overcome it), some of the weird things that happen at this university, and about the craziness that is my life: too many commitments for one 20-year old girl to master.
As a side-note: Without my friends, co-workers, and family supporting me...this would have been an interesting ride. Thanks everyone!
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