The really good news for Dal Profs

Given the uncertainty around the legality of picket line burning barrels in Halifax it's probably a good thing that the Dal profs and the university just reached an agreement that will avoid a strike.

That being said, had there been a strike I do think it would have been pretty neat to see what the architecture profs could have come up with strike-shack-wise had their been a late winter strike.

Bad news for Dal profs

If the experiences of striking transit workers are in any way indicative of what Dal profs might face on a picket line, things are looking good as far as those all-important burning barrels are concerned.  It seems that after a slight reprieve the city is not less inclined to let the practice go unchecked.  A local newspaper is now reporting that if when 911 calls are lodged about barrels the fire department will be dispatched to douse the fire.

What a sad state of affairs for organized labour in Halifax.

Cameron: 41
Neil: 0

Good news for Dal profs

As some of you may know, it looks as though the Dalhousie faculty and support staff may both be drawing closer to strikes.  Given the time of year these strikes would be taking place one would expect any picket lines to include strike huts and burning barrels.

Fortunately for future Halifax strikers, as a result of the ongoing transit strike the municipal government has recently agreed to not enforce the bylaw that makes illegal to have barrel fires in Halifax.  Presumably this precedent will carry over to other contemporaneous strikes?

Anyway,  assuming that the transit strike keeps going and the Dal faculty and support staff strike, Halifax could soon become the barrel fire capital of Canada.

I'm also curious about strike etiquette.  If to separate unions at the same employer are on strike at the same time how are picket positions determined?  Seems like there's a chance that the second union to go out could get stuck with dud locations.

Cameron: 36
Neil: 0

Free parking in Halifax

As I have recently mentioned a few times, I just listened to the entire episode archive of the 99% Invisible podcast.  One of the first episodes of this show (but one of the last that I listened to) dealt with a new parking initiative that was being implemented in San Francisco.


99% Invisible-08- 99% Free Parking by Roman Mars

[Embedded audio]

The general parking scheme to be implemented in San Francisco, at least as described in the podcast, was to create a system that encouraged a more efficient use of available parking space (their goal is to always have one free space per block).  A key component of creating such an outcome is to have dynamic pricing that reflects usage.  Higher prices in high demand areas and lower prices in low demand areas.  Furthermore, such prices would change regularly to reflect changing usage patterns. (You can read more about the system at the SFPark.org site.)

Anyway, I was reminded of these concepts and ideas as I read a recent CBC article about planned changes to parking rules in Halifax.  Instead of dealing with parking congestion problems with an approach reminiscent San Francisco's, Halifax seems interested only interested in implementing a course permitting scheme that will be of the most benefit to homeowners on residential streets (who are currently complaining about the lack of available parking space on their streets).

Maybe I should take a second to step back and describe the parking situation as it exists on the non-campus streets near Dal, the province's largest university and an institution with a relatively well documented parking shortage.  What is immediately striking about parking near Dal is not that there are no available spaces, but that there are many near-empty streets with available on-street parking.  These streets have almost no cars because complicated no parking schedules (things like two hour maximums or absolutely no parking between certain hours) make them difficult to use for most people with commitments at Dal.  Of course, I should also note that the few completely unencumbered parking places are almost always taken.

So getting back to the new proposal, if streets in Halifax are uniformly converted from free parking to permitted parking a few problems may arise.  Firstly, streets that are now almost completely empty may fill up with newly permitted cars (making some aspects of the problem worse).  Secondly, homeowners will now have to pay for the privilege to park near their homes (though they will have reduced rates).  Thirdly, those with irregular commitments in areas impacted by the changes may have a harder time parking as they won't have a parking permit for the area in question (this is the change that really bothers me as it will likely impact me when I am trying to go to Dal).

But that brings us to a few questions: Do we have an inherent right to free on-street parking? and Do homeowners have an inherent right to street parking in front of their property?  I guess my initial response to both of these questions is 'no.'

Lets deal with the first question first.  As much as I like free on-street parking and as much as I think it is a reasonable thing municipality to decide to provide, I think one can make a pretty convincing argument that as streets that are wide enough to allow for on-street more parking cost more to build that such costs should be recouped from those using the service rather than the entire tax base.  Similar approaches are taken with regards to things like gas taxes or bridge tolls.  Thus a pay-for-parking approach isn't completely outside the norm in most North American contexts.

Now on to the second question.  Though homeowners in residential area might like to be able to park in front of their homes I'm not really sure that they really have much an argument beyond that.  If we look at cases of property ownership in areas of dense development we often see that there isn't enough room for all owners to take advantage of on-street parking, options other than parking in front of one's building must be found.  Thus I don't see that the home owners in Halifax should really have much of a claim to the on-street parking in front of their homes (particularly during business hours).  It should also be noted that as a property owner you can both choose how to allocate your property (such as how much of your property is dedicated to parking) and decide whether or not you own a car.  Expecting to also have some claim to street space for which you have not paid and that is not equally available to all property owners or residents seems a bit much to me.

Of course, the other part of the equation that has been seemingly completely ignored, at least if we use this CBC article as our only source, is that attempts could be made to reduce the number of individuals interested in parking in Halifax.  Maybe a better bus system or efforts to decrease sprawl might also help with parking problems.

I guess, in the end, I think that this policy is missing the point.  People parking on the street is fine, there is nothing inherently wrong with it (though a few parking garages and a more effective pricing scheme might not be completely uncalled for).  Furthermore, if you don't provide alternatives to street parking (either parking-wise or alternatives to driving) you won't really solve the problem, you might just shift it further afield.  And I suspect that in the best case scenario that is all this policy will do as they fundamentally haven't done anything to reduce the need for parking.

To help with that party vibe

Frequently the Killam Library has something of a party vibe. Instead of studying, many students sit around at large tables and socialize. On some evenings it is a particularly raucous and happening place.

I am now starting to wonder if this state of affairs isn't related to something that I found on the fifth floor.

A place that makes the location of its 'staff ounce' known is surely the obvious place to go for a party. Apparently all kinds of the undergrads knew about this before I did.

It has begun or On the road or a more 'rational' university system in Nova Scotia

Since the O'Neill Report on post-secondary education in Nova Scotia was released a few months ago talk of university mergers has been in the air. Recent university budget constraints and tuition increases have provided the merger fire with even more fuel.

It seems that we may have finally reached a tipping point. CBC is now reporting that Dal and the Nova Scotia Agricultural College are set to begin merger talks.

I presume the big question is if this set of talks will lead to any additional merger talks. Based on what I have heard on the subject MSVU seems like a prime merger candidate, as does NSCAD. I keep wondering if we can really justify the continued independence of SMU and Dal.

One prof I spoke to about this a few months ago thought that mergers were unlikely to happen, at least in Halifax, on a large scale because of the religious affiliations of the schools that would be involved. Could a protestant school really absorb a catholic school like SMU without causing a public backlash? While we will have to wait to see if such arguments are brought forward, I really have a hard time imagining that this would ever be much of an issue in this secular age, particularly when most of the students attending these schools probably can't identify the religious groups with which the school was originally associated. Furthermore, are any of these religious groups really interested in putting up a fight, particularly if winning means permanent budget gridlock for the institution and lower quality education?

Anyway, I suspect these merger talks are a sign of things to come for post-secondary education in Nova Scotia and given the size of the industry here such talks will be of some importance to the province as a whole. I know I will definitely be paying attention as this plays out.

A Few Quick Notes 534

-I think today might have been overcast with a few sunny periods, but the more I think about it the more that I really don't remember much of today's weather. I guess I was paying attention to other things.

-Last night Neil, Rebecca, Jeannette, and I tried to go to a local restaurant to take advantage of a Groupon that I purchased a few weeks ago. Much to our surprise, the place was absolutely packed. I guess the fact that it was about 6:00 PM on a beautiful Friday evening may have had something to do with it. (Somehow all of us forgot to piece together that it was Friday evening and that Friday evening might be a particularly busy time.) We eventually decided that we weren't wiling to wait such a long time for a table in a restaurant that would likely still be overfilled when we got the table.

-For breakfast/brunch this morning I made a loaf of bread. It seems that I am getting a fair bit better at judging the volumes required for a single loaf of bread. This is good, as sometimes it is a good move to make a single loaf instead of a half-dozen loaves.

-As expected, Dal's tuition will be going up for next year. I am still of the opinion that the province may be shooting itself in the foot by allowing this to happen, but obviously they feel differently. I guess time will tell - but I think that they really can't risk driving away too many more young people given their already lopsided demographic balance.

-Just moments ago I finished some grading that I have been working on for the past two days. On both days I really put in a few good hours. Though these days were not particularly pleasant, that I have finished means that I should be able to promptly get back to studying.

-The Lounge Lizards are great. I really don't listen to them quite enough.

Sadly fitting

How is that a stock/new ticker was added to the Dalhousie management building's (Rowe Building) lobby and I remained unaware of this development?

This sends a pretty strong message about the types of programs that are important to the faculty - mainly that the non-business programs aren't really part of the program. I guess I find this notable as I have started to wonder if 'business education' is really even appropriate at a university? Might there not be a better type of institution to provide this kind of training/education?

Also, why does the Rowe Building lobby smell like yeast?

Perfect gift

Because it was recently my mother's birthday I have been thinking about things that might make appropriate gifts for her. Today I think I came across the perfect gift for my father to give my mother - a rubber flash drive bracelet.

One of these would be perfect because it would combine my father's favourite thing to give (flash drives) with my mother's favourite thing to get (jewelry). And, in this case, the funds would go to support a good cause. Who doesn't win in this scenario?

Plus, who wouldn't want one of these puppies? These things are so hot right now that I almost burned my wrist while I was wearing it earlier today (or maybe that was just the rubber burn that it caused when I was putting my sweater on)

The only thing that might make it better is if it said "Savestrong" instead of "Dalhousie Libraries."

So this happened last night

It seems as though someone was stabbed next to Dal last night. The location of the stabbing is about 1.5 kilometers from where we live is on one of the routes I take to get to school. Bummer.

The only comforting fact is that the suspect was known to the victim. For some reason I seem to find such things more comforting than others do.

What I find particularly ironic about this is that just last night I was having a conversation about violent crime in Halifax. Little did we know that within a few hours of our conversation one of Halifax's most gruesome crimes of the year to date would be committed within just a handful of hours. Maybe this place is a little more violent than I give it credit for being.

A Few Quick Notes 514

-After several days of sub-zero weather we have finally moved onto a just-above-freezing winter rainstorm. Though I haven't gone outside yet, I imagine that it is going to be pretty slippery and generally unpleasant. Oh, and the temperature is supposed to return to the sub-zero zone by tomorrow. What fun.

-I seemed to have dropped to 0:2 in this year's Rollmops the Rim to Win competition. As lame as it is to keep reporting these figures here, I am largely motivated to continue the practice this year for two reasons. Firstly, I do like knowing my record and this is a relatively easy way of keeping track of it. Secondly, it seems that my brother, sister, and mother have kept me abreast of their progress so far this year, so it seems only right that I continue to return the favour and, again, this seems to be the easiest way to do it.

-Apparently Dalhousie is no longer a nuclear power. I guess it is mildly comforting to know that there isn't a 30 year old nuclear reactor in the building next to my office.

-The end of our 3rd annual blog-off is fast approaching. As of yet Neil has still not posted. I am hoping that he will throw up at least a few posts before the whole thing wraps up in a couple of days.

Score
Cameron 55
Neil 0

Parade of Books

A few weeks ago I noticed that the Dalhousie Libraries were going to be hosting a video contest with an e-reader as the grand prize. Not surprisingly, to enter the contest one had to create and submit a video "telling us why you love the Dal Libraries."

At first I didn't think that this would be the contest for me, mainly because I couldn't think of a good way of approaching the topic. Eventually I settled on some kind of stop-motion/time-lapse content. Of course, that isn't really enough of an idea to build a video so I had to think about it for a few more days.

I eventually decided to go with a stop-motion thing that would then convey a message about the library.

Anyway, I decided to give it a shot this afternoon and this is what I came up with.



[Embedded video]

Definitely not the best stop-motion work, but considering that no planning went into the shooting of this video I think it turned out relatively well.

They are planning on releasing the results in early March. If I hear back from the contest administrators I will be sure to let you know by what margin I lost.

Score
Cameron 39
Neil 0

Looks like it might be a storm pt. 5

It seems that some establishments and institutions are trying to power through the storm and stay open while others are admitting defeat and closing. It seems that the Grad House Cafe was trying the former approach but has now opted for the latter.

Three hours was all it took for them to come around to the fact that Dal closing means that all of their potential customers will be heading home.

In case you are curious, it is still snowing, though the blowing seems to have slowed down a little.

Score
Cameron 7
Neil 0

She's supposed to be a storm pt. 7

It just came across on the Twitter that Dalhousie will be closing for the evening. So I guess, at least according to the university, this is something of a real storm.

Rebecca is now waiting to find out if the yoga class she is planning on attending this evening has been cancelled or not. My guess is that it will eventually be cancelled, especially now that the universities are starting to close.

Amazingly, we still don't have that much accumulation.

Canadian Political Science connection or where that library book came from

A few months ago, when I started to prepare for my comprehensive exams, I checked a number of books out from the library. Over the course of the past few months I have been slowly making my way through these books. Relatively early on the the process I noticed that one of the books, The Commercial Empire of the St. Lawrence by Donald Creighton, had a signature on the front end paper.

At first I didn't really pay much attention to the signature as I assumed that it had been placed there by one of the book's borrowers at some point in the past 70 years. Then, a few months ago, for some reason or another I gave the signature another look.

Much to my surprise I found that the signature resembled the name of one of the significant figures in Canadian political science: R. MacGregor Dawson.



That his signature appear in a Dalhousie Library book didn't make much sense to me at first. Fortunately, a quick search shed some light on the situation. Amazingly, it seems that not only was Dawson born in Nova Scotia, but he received his BA and MA from Dalhousie and also had his first teaching gig at the university. The book was published by a prominent University of Toronto scholar at about the time Dawson arrived in Toronto.

I presume that upon his death in 1958 Dawson's books, or a portion of them, were donated to the Dalhousie libraries and have then been in circulation since then. Sadly, the bibliographic record for this book does not seem to note its provenance or provide me a way of finding out if there are other books from the same source (which there likely are).

Why I am mentioning any of this is that I just find it neat to think that because of the signature inside the front cover of this book I am able observe a connection (even if it only one individual owning the other's book) between two prominent early 20th century Canadian writers. It is also kind of neat to think that at some point Dawson was likely hunched over the same book I am now hunched over. I wonder if he was as displeased with the writing style as I am?

Halifax's House Music

Just because some of the House graffiti may have been removed from the removed from the Dal campus a few days ago does not mean that such graffiti is not still present in the vicinity of the campus.

This morning as I was walking to school along South Street I noticed some similar graffiti on the sidewalk. In this case the stencilers were bold enough to include a pun



As many of you might have observed, it has snowed in Halifax. We finally have a few centimeters of fresh powder on the ground.

On its way to gone

A few days ago I post a photo of some new graffiti at Dal and wonder how long it would last.

The answer, it seems, was today.

As I was walking to school today I noticed that a graffiti removal company employee was just starting to remove the offending graffiti on the side of the computer science building.



A tidy environment for more effective learning.

New Graffiti

Based on personal observation it seems that stencil-based graffiti is becoming popular in a number of places, including in Halifax. Over the course of the past few years I have seen a number of incarnations of such endeavours, some of which seem to be more message-based than others.

An iteration of this trend that seems to be cropping up on the Dalhousie campus is a House (of the TV show) stencil that depicts House's head.




The thing about this image that I can't quite figure out is why it is relevant (particularly to the side of the computer science building), or, to put it differently, worth the effort and possible criminal charges? Furthermore, were the stenciled image and the text created by the same person at the same time? Whether the text and image are of the same origin or not, what is the meaning of the phrase "I'm coming"? Is my sophomoric interpretation that far off-base?

I am also curious to see how long Dalhousie will allow these images to remain. Presumably those on buildings (and not sidewalks) will be removed somewhat promptly?

School Appropriate?

A few days ago I was at Dal when I saw the following display.



While I am not sure exactly what the reference is to, it nonetheless seems a little strange as a dorm decoration. It certainly seems hard to believe that the university would really want such a display associated with their dorms if only because of the myriad of ways in which such a display could be misinterpreted.

I will be curious to see if these letters are still so visible next week.

Politicking and associated activities

This morning I received a notice that Siobhan Coady, the Liberal MP for St. John's South-Mount Pearl, would be speaking about Canadian foreign policy at Dalhousie this afternoon. Though the notice was somewhat last minute I decided that the event might be entertaining and worth attending.

I can't say that things started well, as one of the first comments during Ms. Coady's introduction was to point out that we would be in for "a hopefully great presentation." Talk about a ringing endorsement.

The talk then started with a somewhat off-subject anecdote/joke about Halifax being close to God. We then quickly moved on from locally flavoured anecdotes to a range of criticisms of the current government. "Bad diplomacy" on the part of the Conservative/Harper government was blamed for Canada's failure to win a UN Security Council seat as well as the loss of Camp Mirage in the United Arab Emirates. These failures were contrasted with the proposals supported by the Liberal opposition. It was, not surprisingly, suggested that these Liberal approaches would solve many of the problems that had been previously outlined.

I guess I shouldn't forget that a few characterizations of Canada were also provided: Canada "a trading nation," Canada as the "most international society," and the acceptance of the view of Canada as a middle power (whatever that means). There was also a fair bit of stuff about Canada's tradition as a peace-keeping nation (and our current deficiencies in this regard).

All-in-all, the talk was fine and Ms. Coady was a very effective speaker. I was particularly impressed with her ability to handle the audience's questions and comments, some of which were clear attacks on Liberal policy while others were just a little harder to grasp.

That being said, to at least some extent, the talk disappointed me. I guess it was just that whole thing had much more of a campaign speech feeling than I expected. Liberal policy proposals were praised and Conservative policies criticized. I just wish that in advance I had known that that was what I was in for, though I guess this is as much my fault as anyone else's as I don't think that there is much else that I could reasonably have expected to have happened at such an event. At least I will know that the next time I head to hear a politician speak, even if the event is sponsored by an academic institution, that I should expected a partisan campaign speech.