I am not sure who's more to blame

I don't understand why some media outlets continually choose to cover non-stories and then insist on turning them into negative stories.

I currently disgusted with a CBC story that deals with student speculation about parking limitations at MUN even though a new 870 space parking structure that opened today.

Maybe the most troubling aspect of the story is that most of the student opinions are nothing more than speculation.  The students quoted in the story simply don't know if there will continue to be parking problems once the new structure opens or if it may actually alleviate parking congestion around campus because the facility just opened today.  And even if all parking problems aren't resolved with the addition of this structure, are things not better than they were yesterday?

The tone of the story is also troubling.  Instead of focusing on the fact that the university is actually trying to alleviate student and staff concerns about parking this story adopts a negative tone and doesn't even really acknowledge the improvement to the parking situation that will arise because of this structure, which one might have expected to be the primary focus of the story.

To some extent, the way the story is framed here it all feels a little circular.  Wouldn't the natural response to these student concerns be the construction of a few parking garage?

Oh, and another problem is reporting on a real story but omitting the context and the pertinent details so most people reading will think it's a non-story and miss the significance of the whole thing.

Recent CBC coverage of the Labrador City housing shortage has done a great job of this.  Today's story about changes to the social housing eligibility income cap does a particularly great job of painting only a partial picture of the situation.

A story yesterday about bus accidents in Halifax was infuriating because they went so far as to request information about each Metro Transit bus accidents but then failed to put the numbers in a context that would allow one to reasonably judge whether or not the accident rate was reasonable or not.  With just a little more work this could have been a great story, instead it was likely more harmful than helpful as it sowed seeds of confusion rather than seeds of clarity.

This 'vote mob' thing has gone a little too far

A few weeks ago some University of Guelph students engaged in pseudo-protest/public action that they called a vote mob. As far as I can tell their action involved them standing across from a Harper/Conservative event and indicating that they, as youth, planned on voting in this election.

Since this time the 'idea' has spread across the country and other university groups have tried to engage in similar behaviours. A few days ago CBC reported on 'similar' activities that had taken place throughout the Maritimes. Then just today I saw that MUNSU has posted a video of their attempted 'vote mob.'

Since first hearing about the concept I have been a little unclear about exactly what these actions were hoping to achieve. Now, as the idea travels further and further from the originators, the connection to a goal related to voting seems increasingly unclear. For instance, what is the MUNSU thing supposed to do? If anything I suspect that a video that shows a 'vote mob' of about 30 (if that) in an otherwise empty university campus might actually confirm that youth really aren't that engaged in voting. One would think that if students were engaged in voting and the whole 'vote mob' idea Atlantic Canada's largest university could pull enough attendees to at least fill a regular classroom.

So as much as flash mobs social networking based protesting are all the rage right now I think that the Canadian university student community might actually be better off if they just forgot about the whole 'vote mob' thing for the time being, or at least until they can figure what it means or how to actually get mass participation (and this participation problem may be tied to the first problem). As it stands right now, I can't help but feel a little embarrassed for the members of these vote mobs.

Has MUN gone viral?

Last night, on Neil and Rebecca's recommendation, I was watching a video on YouTube. All of a sudden I noticed an ad that had something to do with double rainbows. After a slightly closer inspection I noticed that the ad had something to do with Memorial University of Newfoundland, apparently it is an ad for their philosophy program.

I am not sure how effective viral video based ads on YouTube will be at attracting students to MUN, but I definitely found this one amusing. I generally feel that a move in this direction would be an improvement for Canadian university advertising campaigns, which to this point have generally pretty lacklustre and unexciting (at least as far as I have seen).

Score
Cameron 60
Neil 0

Big News on the Education front in Nova Scotia

It seems that a consultant's report has recently been submitted to the Government of Nova Scotia by Tim O'Neil on the subject of the university system in Nova Scotia. Not surprisingly, the consultant has made a number of recommendations.

One of the recommendations is to completely deregulate tuition, a change that would be expected to facilitate tuition increases. As a current Dalhousie student, and a former Memorial University of Newfoundland student, this particularly recommendation isn't particularly appealing to me. Furthermore, as the consultant notes, given a declining enrollment environment I don't see how increasing fees will help solve the financial problems of the universities. Actually, I can imagine a situation in which such a change may actually prove damaging. What will happen to enrollment in Nova Scotia universities if tuition fees in both Newfoundland and Quebec are several thousands of dollars less a year? Why would anyone come to high-priced, underfunded universities?

Another suggestion that the consultant makes is that a number of the universities consider merging. In particular, the consultant suggests that Nova Scotia Agricultural College, NSCAD and MSVU might be potential candidates for absorption or affiliation. I was a little surprised that the consultant recommended against a more all-encompassing set of mergers. I suspect that the duplication at the administrative level among Nova Scotia universities is quite costly. For instance, Nova Scotia seems to be paying 11 university presidents even though there are only 40 000 students, a number that in many jurisdictions in the United States might be associated with a single institution.

Of course there are a number of other recommendations that the consultant makes, but I found these two to be the juiciest. And I am sure that over the coming days we will see responses from groups associated with the universities and civil society. I suspect that at least some of these recommendations, notably the deregulation of tuition fees and potential mergers of long-standing institutions, will face serious public criticism. I am kind of curious to see how it all plays out.

2004: Summer of Logic

A few years ago, I think it may have been the Summer of 2004, Neil and I took an undergraduate logic class (taught as a philosophy course) together, along with a few other math people. Not surprisingly, given their previous encounters with much of the material, most of the math guys did quite well with the material. Given my proximity to the math guys, and my unwillingness to be bested by too wide a margin by Neil, I also did pretty well with most of the content.

Unfortunately, many of the others in the class didn't have such an easy time with the material. One girl, try as she might, could never seem to make it through the practice questions without a handful of questions (most of which demonstrated her complete failure to comprehend the material). Another few also drew attention to themselves in a variety of ways, though one student in particular stood out, eventually getting the nickname Humpty-Dumpty as he thought words should be understood in terms of that which they were being used to refer.

Just moments ago I finally came across the passage (though I had heard the story paraphrased by the prof.) in Through the Looking Glass that gave rise to this guy's nickname. So here it is, the quote that was the reason for Humpty-Dumpty's nickname:

"When I use a word," said Humpty-Dumpty in a scornful tone, "it means what I want it to mean, neither more nor less."

I am sure all involved would be pleased to know that Neil and I still refer to Humpty-Dumpty all these years later.

Montifax goes legit

Some of you may have been wondering about the credibility of some of the content found on Montifax. Turns out there is no need to worry, we provide content that is of a high enough quality that it can be cited in an academic publication.

I guess I should explain how I know that this is the case.

Earlier tonight while I was waiting for various SSHRC application/from pages to load I started strolling around the internet. In particular I was curious to see who was linking to Montifax these days (if you are curious, it is a rather short list of sites). I

Interestingly, one of the results that was returned was both new and a little different than some of the others. By following the link I was taken to an article in the Journal of English Linguistics by Sandra Clarke and Philip Hiscock. The article, entitled "Authenticity in an Online Newfoundland Rap GroupHip-hop in a Post-insular Community: Hybridity, Local Language, and Authenticity in an Online Newfoundland Rap Group," examines the content and context of the Gazeebow Unit phenomenon.

By taking a quick look at the article I was able to see that they had included a quote of mine from A Few Quick Notes 38. In the chosen quote I suggest not only that I have recently been "thinking about my favourite Newfoundland hip-hop/rap group, Gazeebow Unit" but also that "For those of you who have not heard Gazeebow Unit you are in for a surprise/treat. The skeet lifestyle has never before received such an eloquent treatment."

Anyway, in a strange way this seems to at least partly justify the time I have spent on Montifax over the past few years (though this was a comment that I wrote in the early months of the blog).

A Few Quick Notes 361

-Today was a near-perfect Fall day. It was cool, but perfect for walking, and clear. The only aspect of today's weather that may mar its near-perfection is that it seems possible that we could have frost tonight.

-As some of you will have likely seen, earlier today we posted a survey. So far the response has been pretty good. If you haven't taken it already and are interested in checking it out just head here.

-My father is in town for the weekend to attend a meeting. While looking through some of the schedules that he forwarded to us I noticed that the conference planners had made plans assuming that the family members of the principle attendees would also be attending. With this knowledge in hand I suggested to my father that he might try to snag us an invite to the dinner and comedy show tonight. Not surprisingly, he was interested in seeing if this would be possible.

Almost immediately I realized that I likely wouldn't be able to attend even if my father was successful as I would have school work to do (which I am actively avoiding at the moment). It turned out that Neil and Rebecca were free and were able to take advantage of the invitation to the event.

-A few days ago I read that MUNSU lost close to $100 000 on its September Snoop Dogg show. In the following days CBC carried the story and confirmed the size of the loss. Sadly, I am not particularly surprised that this show wasn't a success for MUNSU. Hopefully this loss isn't too problematic for them.

-For a few days it seemed that Gadhafi would be making a quick visit to St. John's. Now it seems that he won't be pitching his tent in St. John's, which I think is rather unfortunate. I guess such a visit isn't particularly appealing when you know that the foreign minister will be there to give you a lecture.

-I guess I should try to get back to reading I keep referencing.

A Few Quick Notes 313

-We are in the midst of another rainy day in Halifax. Hopefully the thundershowers that have been predicted don't actually make it to town.

-I was able to attend the MUN fundraising dinner at Pier 21 last night. As I mentioned previously, the guest speaker was to be Gwynne Dyer, a Newfoundlander and MUN alumnus.

While I knew that Rick Hillier, MUN's Chancellor, was to be there, I was pleasantly surprised to see that the acting President, Eddy Campbell, was also in attendance, as was the Direct of the School of Pharmacy. I was also very pleased that I ended up seated next to the only person at the event that I knew (someone from Neil's elementary school class who is presently a Dal student).

Dyer's talk was about the likely negative impact of climate change. While I didn't necessarily agree with everything in the talk, I did agree with the general thrust of the argument (or certainly the over-arching goal of the talk), which is that humans are having a negative environmental impact and need to change their ways quickly.

Given that I am in the middle of a book on G.K. Chesterton, who was frequently sought as a public speaker (though on slightly different topics), it was fun to be privy to a similar experience. In general I get the sense that this tradition is fading to some extent. I don't know how many of my peers would be interested in hearing a freelance thinker/writer expound on whichever topic suit them. Though maybe part of the problem is that we no longer have as many people who write so prolifically on such a range of topics that they would be able to engage in such activities.

The more I think about it, the more I think it would quite fun to see the equivalent of a G.B. Shaw vs. G.K. Chesterton public debate. The problem is that I have no idea who the two debaters would be.

-My uncle is scheduled to arrive this afternoon for a visit. At the moment we haven't scheduled many activities, actually I don't think that we have scheduled much of anything. About as far as we have gone in the planning process is to discuss what we would be having for dinner tonight and how we would go about procuring beer (two somewhat important topics given the guest).

-In about half an hour I need to head to Dal. I am really hoping that the rain has subsided by then. Sitting around while wet is something I don't particularly enjoy.

(I was going to say "there are few things I like less" until I realized that there are likely many things that I like less, or dislike more.)

A Few Quick Notes 312

-Today was a pretty nice day. My sense of things is that it was about 20 degrees and sunny in the downtown area for most of the day. It seems that things are forecast to be a little cooler and less pleasant for the rest of the week.

-A few days ago I removed the scarlet runner beans from my bedroom because they were showing signs of spider mite infestation. Though I didn't see any signs of mites, I also removed the two bean plants that were in my window.

Today I saw some specks on the corn plants that may be spider mites so I took most of the plants in my window outside for a quick wash with insecticidal soap. I will probably repeat this process again in a few days, whether I see signs of growth or not.

Unfortunately, while doing a little more reading I learned a little more about how unfortunate and difficult a spider mite infestation is to deal with. It seems that they are a particularly difficult pest to eradicate. One of the problems is that they have not natural predators inside human dwellings (aside from humans), and are apparently shockingly resistant to pesticides. Hopefully my dousing with soap and trips outside will work as I really am somewhat fond of these plants. It would be great if it was just a little warmer so that I could leave them outside around the clock.

-The up side of this all is that I was encouraged to harvest some of the thyme I have been growing since the fall. The idea of the harvest was that with a smaller plant the spider mites would be unable to use it to move from to plant.

The thyme is now hanging and drying in my bedroom. Presumably in some number of weeks I will be able to collect the dried thyme and add it to our previously existing stash. Given this abundance of thyme I really should start trying to find ways to use it a little more.

-It seems that I will be attending a Memorial University of Newfoundland alumni dinner in a few day. I really don't know what to expect, aside a talk from Gwynne Dyer and a meal. Apparently the post-talk question and answer session is to be moderated by the Chancellor of the university, Rick Hillier. I guess the idea is to allow Memorial graduates to get to know other graduates in the region, so I presumably should ready myself for networking and polite conversation related activities.

Another thing is need to work on is business attire, which is what I am supposed to wear to the event. Hopefully I own something that can pass as business attire. I am starting to think that maybe I should have brought my suit and dress shoes with me to Halifax.

-Moments ago when I was trying to type 'shoes' I accidently typed 'shews.' I guess some of my childhood spelling problems are still present. Though now that I think about it I don't know if switching to phonetic spellings was my common approach to spelling errors, I will have to check with my parents.

Such mistakes confirm my feelings towards spell-checking programs. I really don't know how I would have managed to make it through university without such programs. Presumably my functional vocabulary would have been much smaller, and my syntax more convoluted so that the same opinions could be expressed with a smaller number of words.

A Few Quick Notes 260

-When I woke up yesterday morning Environment Canada was reporting that it was -23, today it was -22 While I think that the location of the weather station may have skewed the reports slightly, they were still pretty cold mornings. Unfortunately, yesterday it wasn't quite cold enough for spit to freeze before it hit the ground, a temperature target that I think I would like to experience about one time in my life. Aside from cool temperatures things are really quite nice. The sun has been out and the wind continues to be low or non-existent.

-This Christmas I was fortunate enough to receive a range of winter hats as gifts. Two of the hats are of the balaclava style, which surprised me as I wasn't aware that I had made my fondness for these hats widely known. Anyway, one of the hats is a hunter's fluorescent orange, and quite warm. Not surprisingly, I used yesterday's temperatures as an excuse to break it out for the first time (aside from in apartment use) since arriving in Halifax. The hat was great, it really kept the cold away from the part of my head that it covered, which was most of my head. If you have the opportunity to get one of these I recommend them, even if they do stand out.



-Yesterday I was able to test the coffee/mug warmer that I pulled from the free crap pile on Thursday. While it seems to do its job I am not sure how much I will actually use it. I think I am a little more comfortable with my mug resting directly on the desk, rather than on some piece of electrical equipment.



-Yesterday Neil and I took advantage of some coupons that a international fast food chain recently distributed. Unlike most coupons, these are returned to the customer once used, meaning that they can be used repeatedly. The best of the two coupons is for a free, no-purchase-necessary coffee. Based on people in line ahead of us, I am getting the sense that this in particular has been a popular coupon, as it basically means free coffee for a month. I am pretty sure that I will make an effort to head back a few more times for free coffee before the coupons expire.

-Yesterday there was a story in the Chronicle Herald about university enrollment in the Halifax area. It seems that the Halifax Chamber of Commerce would like to see it slightly higher, and has even gone as far as to set enrollment goals. Strangely, it seems that these goals were set without the support of the university and without any offers of support from the Chamber of Commerce (at least that is the impression that the article gave me).

Not surprisingly, the enrollment targets have not been met. Thus the Chamber of Commerce is a little disappointed in the situation. Amazingly, the Chamber of Commerce seems to have failed to grasp a number of the challenges faced by the local universities when it comes to increasing enrollment. A huge impediment would seem to be tuition, which is much higher than one would pay in other Canadian provinces. Not surprisingly, as noted by the president of St. Mary's University, a relatively large number of students have decided to go to Memorial (where tuition is much lower). So not only are these universities going to lose local students to cheaper tuition, they are also going to have a hard time attracting out of province students.

While many of the problems faced by the universities in this context are relatively obvious it seems strange that the Chamber of Commerce would set a goal and then seemingly do nothing about fixing some of the problems so that their goal could be met. Additionally, it seems a rather strange that the Chamber of Commerce would try to involve themselves in such an area without the support of the universities.

I guess there is no pay-off for having read the above rant, I just found the situation rather amusing and absurd on a number of levels.

-It seems that we should be having a guest for a few hours this afternoon. In preparation for the guest's arrival I decided to make some humus and a sticky toffee sponge pudding (really, I was just looking for any excuse to make these things). While I think the humus should be fine, I am a little worried about the pudding. It seems that I accidentally doubled the amount of butter in the pudding. This has obviously changed the nature of the dough, hopefully not too negatively. I guess I will find out shortly whether my error has made the dish inedible, or whether it is a great improvement.

A Few Quick Notes 206

-We have had rain and overcast skies again today. My understanding is that this type of weather is to continue tomorrow.

-The Royal St. John's Regatta did not go ahead today because rain and wind were forecast. The idea is to have it tomorrow, but that could be postponed again if the weather is as bad as forecast.

My understanding is that the Regatta would then be held next week, skipping Friday, so that a long weekend wouldn't be created.

-Last night I went to a friend's place of residence just outside of town. Once in the building I learned that it had previously been used to film a local television show. Apparently what is now the workshop was one set while the kitchen was used as the kitchen on the show. To my great disappointment, my suggestion to turn the building into a museum dedicated to the show likely won't be acted upon.

-I wonder if I should start reducing the number of carrots that I consume each day. I worry that if I don't drop down to below 3-4 a day I will burn out and be unable to eat carrots again for a number of years.

The problem that I am facing is that I don't have access to a reasonably priced replacement vegetable . Furthermore, the other vegetables that are available tend to be of a lower quality.

-As of about half an hour ago the Memorial University of Newfoundland Libraries webpage changed drastically. The new scheme is much more reminiscent of the main MUN page than the old library webpage was. Hopefully I will be able to easily find all of the things that I use on a regular basis.

A Few Quick Notes 91

-It seems to be about 6 degrees above freezing and snowing in St. John’s. The forecast seems to be suggesting that by later this afternoon this snow will turn into rain, making things generally unpleasant. Fortunately it is not as windy as it was yesterday.

-For some reason I have almost stopped using my computer for personal reasons since my return. I haven’t been able to figure out why this has happened, though it may have something to do with not having access to a desk. Hopefully my blogging consistency will pick up over the next few days.

-My younger sister Kirsten and I went out for breakfast at the Bagel Café this morning. I think that the event was a success. All in all, the restaurant was pretty much as I remembered.

-When I returned to St. John’s I was surprised to learn that Roll Up the Rim cups were still available. I was able to purchase a few more chances at the big win leaving me with a record of 4/44, all of my wins being coffees.

-On Monday I was able to go to Memorial to pick up my Alumni card, something that allows me to check out books from the university library. On Wednesday I went to the public library to renew my library card. Two library cards in a week, I think that is a personal record.

Just this morning I realized that I will be able to use my new public library card to ILL a book that I have been interested in reading for a few years. Maybe I can head back to the library this afternoon to get the process rolling (that is if they offer ILL services).

-It is amazing how relaxing work seems in relation to this last year of school. While my work projects are on my mind, I don’t have the ability to work on them in a concrete way after hours in the same way that I would with schoolwork.

-It looks as though a big part of my summer will be spent designing, creating, and adding records to an InMagic DB/TextWorks database. One element of the task that I am not looking forward to is having to import records from another database with a different set of fields (which apparently can be done).