The ongoing debate over Quebec tuition raises was brought to attention on Thursday March 22, when over 200 000 students marched through downtown Montreal.  An additional 300 000 students opposed to tuition raises were also on strike across the province.
Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois, head representative of protest organizers and leading student committee CLASSE, has said that Education Minister, Line Beauchamp, will no longer be able to refuse dialogue after such a large turnout.
Earlier in the day, numerous organizations, such as the Parti Québecois, as well as numerous large unions, threw their support behind the movement. The crowd, mostly composed of students from Universities and Cégeps, had a large amount of support from the public, including families and the elderly. Many local inhabitants were waving red flags from their balconies and rooftops to show sympathy for the cause; efforts that were met by cheers from the crowd.
At 1 PM local time, the crowds assembled in Canada Square and divided into groups, marching on three main arteries crossing downtown Montreal. The largest throng followed a predetermined route, along Rue Sherbrooke. CLASSE had decided to make the route public, despite opposition from other student organisations.
Protestors demonstrated much creativity through their chants and placards, notably carrying an enormous effigy of Quebec Premier Jean Charest’s head through Old Montreal. Late in the afternoon, all of the groups slowly converged along the waterfront at Place Jacques Cartier and dispersed peacefully before nightfall. No violent incidents have been reported. One protester was even surprised by the lack of police interference with the march, unlike those that have preceded it.
Precautionary measures were taken to prepare for the protest. Some of these measures included rerouting downtown transit traffic and allowing free use of the STM metro system for protestors going to Canada Place. Many universities and colleges, such as Concordia, closed down for the day in anticipation of lessened attendance.
This has easily been the largest protest thus far in the continuing dispute over increasing tuition fees. The Liberal government has so far refused to back down from the initiative or even have a dialogue with the student movement, claiming it is an inevitable and just measure. Students disagree, saying it will only limit access to education and cost society much more in social services and loss of tax revenue in the long run.
Though small in number, a contingent of Bishop’s students, totalling at just over 20 individuals, made their presence heard at the National strike. The Bishop’s University Discussion Group for Tuition Raises had only been created a week before March 22. The group was spearheaded by Arianne Arshinoff-Foss, a 2nd year Liberal Arts major, as well as Patricia Roy, a 1^st year Philosophy Major. Tasked with informing the students in the Bishop’s community, in addition to stimulating discussion and debate, the group held information sessions in the SUB and in the Quad, on last Tuesday and Wednesday.
During the week prior to the national protest, the BUDGTR reached out to the University of Sherbrooke to secure transportation for the Bishop’s students. So far, this effort has been the only sign of interest in the tuition raise debate within the Bishop’s community.
At the SRC’s Executive Meeting on March 18, members were informed of news and reporting from both supporters and protestors of the tuition hike. The SRC decided to take no action to inform students, and remain neutral.

The recent SRC elections, that were held to determine a number of council positions, drew a voter turnout of 564 individuals, representing a 21.89% participation rate.
The positions to be determined were off-campus Student Events Coordinators (SEC), off-campus Student Affairs Representatives (SAR), Humanities Senator, as well as, Education Senator. In addition to these positions, the elections were also held to determine the outcome of the “Reinvent Your Library” referendum, in addition to, the referendum concerning the return of the Bishop’s logo to its original design.
The three individuals elected into the position of off-campus SECs are Nicholas Holatko, Anna McDonald, and Steph Delorme. Next year’s off-campus SAR positions will be filled by Jarad Plato and another individual who is still to be determined.
The library referendum was passed, with 80.3% of voters in favour of the notion. The passing of the referendum will have Bishop’s students pay $25 a semester for the next ten years as part of the university’s Capital Campaign.
After the election occurred, a member of the SRC approached the Elections Appeal Committee (EAC) with a complaint concerning the recent elections. The EAC, chaired by SRC General Manager Annis Karpenko, is in place in order to address any complaint a Bishop’s student may have with the way the SRC elections are run.
It was advertised that the elections would take place from 9am to 10pm from Tuesday, March 20 through Thursday, March 22.  On the last day of the election, the voting closed at 7pm, rather than 10pm.
While the complaint itself, as well as, what is discussed at the meeting remain confidential it is expected that there will be a re-election for one of the positions in September 2012.
Karpenko stated, “After reviewing the results of the elections, the EAC determined that, based on the average hourly voter turn-out, the three hours cut from the ballot period could have impacted the election results by a maximum of three percent.”
She further elaborated on the issue with the results in explaining that “as the margin of victory was of less than three percent for the second elected SAR and the Humanities Senator, these results have been deemed invalid and an election will be held between these candidates and the runner-ups for these positions in September 2012 alongside the on-campus SEC and SAR positions.”
In addition to these elections being invalid due to shortened voting hours, Karpenko explained that there was “some confusion with Education Students on practicum voting via e-mail which could have greatly affected the result.” The election determining Education Senator will also be re-held in September.

Sherbrooke University recently played host to the 24 annual seminar held by the Student Association for Environmental Masters Degree (AMEUS). This year, the main focus of the event was “Plan Nord,” a proposed initiative, and its reality in terms of sustainable development.
Five students and three faculty members from Bishop’s University attended this event. The Green Levy Fund, a fund available to support student initiative, assisted the students involved and encouraged them to attend the seminar.
Québec Premier Jean Charest addressed the attendees with, what he called, the Plan Nord. Charest, who was recently in Gatineau targeting an audience of businessmen, is marketing this public investment plan, which was announced in May 2011 by the Québec government.
According to his statement on March 2, the Plan Nord seeks to oversee an industrial development in the northern part of Québec. The Plan Nord will target two different areas of industrialization: hydroelectric power, as well as the mining industry. The southern limit of the planned industrialization is located just a few kilometres north of Chicoutimi.
The provincial government plans to invest $80 billion, including $33 billion of private mining investments, to assure the completion of this initiative. Of the total $80 billion, $47 billion will be invested into hydroelectric projects. The projected goal is to generate 3500 MW of power in northern Québec. However, the government has yet to declare from where the hydroelectric power will be generated. The Plan Nord projects a 10% increase from the current annual amount of hydroelectric power being generated.
The other examined component of Plan Nord, the mining development, targets the Québec earth that is very rich in non-renewable resources. Mining projects in Quebec involve the extraction of multiple minerals, although the exact quantity of these resources is unknown. The government is planning to protect 50% of the territory included in the Plan Nord initiative. This 50% includes a 20% that will already be under protection by the year 2020.
Following the government’s presentation of the project, many professionals came forward with their individual opinions. In favour of the project, individuals praised a focus on the development of aboriginal communities with the monetary benefit generated from the projects for mining and construction companies, as well as provincial economic development attributed to royalties. Professionals opposed to the Plan Nord highlighted a lack of data concerning industrial development and quantity of resources, the risk of a vulnerable ecosystem, and the lack of precision concerning protected areas.

Presentations

The convention began Friday, March 23, with afternoon presentations by all seven leadership candidates. BC MP Nathan Cullen began with an informal speech without teleprompter, focusing on the strengths of his campaign, including his idea on working with the Liberal Party in the next election to decide to run the candidate between the two parties who had the greatest chance to beat Stephen Harper’s Conservatives.

Next up was Ottawa MP Paul Dewar, former Foreign Affairs Critic for the NDP. Fighting a great deal of criticism for his poor French, Dewar peppered his speech with a great deal of French that still was behind many of his fellow candidates.

Former NDP Party President and strategist Brian Topp presented next. The only candidate without a seat in the House of Commons, Topp received a number of endorsements from prominent NDP members, including former Saskatchewan premier Roy Romanow, Former leader Ed Broadbent, and actress Shirley Douglas, daughter of party founder Tommy Douglas.

The youngest candidate, northern Manitoba MP Nikki Ashton was next, delivering a strong speech about her work to represent the “Jack Layton Generation” of young voters. Ashton also threw in a line of support for Quebec students resisting the province’s tuition hikes, and showed off her fluency for –five- languages including English, Greek, and French.

Quebec Deputy and former Liberal MNA Thomas Mulcair was next up to speak. The clear frontrunner of the race, Mulcair had amassed support from the majority of Quebec’s 59 newly-minted NDP MPs.  Mulcair chose a slow parade through the convention floor up to the podium to speak, led by a contingent of drummers rumoured to be from Cirque du Soleil.

Toronto MP Peggy Nash was the penultimate presenter, focusing on her work as a negotiator alongside a number of endorsements from Toronto city councilors, and union leaders. Nash also received the support of the former NDP Leader Alexa McDonough. Nash’s final words and teleprompted speech was noticeably  cut off however for going over the 20 minute time limit.

The final presenter was Nova Scotia MP Martin Singh. Singh opened his presentation with his son playing a traditional fiddle song from the province, and introducing delegates to his life and campaign through an animated video, followed by a traditional speech. The presentation explored the underdog’s roots in Nova Scotia,  his plan for a national pharmacare strategy, and his move to Sikhism.

Tribute to Layton

The evening following the candidate presentations opened with a tribute to Jack Layton, the former party leader who passed away in August from cancer. Delegates entering the room were given white shirts imprinted in orange with the message “I am the Layton legacy.” Screens across the stage of the convention center focused on a chalkboard backdrop filled with messages of thanks and love for the former NDP leader. On stage an artist did a charcoal sketch of the leader while video clips, interviews and speeches proceeded.

The event featured a number of prominent people both in Layton’s own life, as well as political figures in Canada. One video showed reflections on Layton’s work, featuring former prime ministers Jean Chretien, Brian Mulroney, and Paul Martin.

Assemby of First Nations Grand Chief Sean Atleo came on stage and made a speech about the commitment Layton had for First Nations peoples in Canada.

Many convention goers grew misty-eyed as Layton’s children were featured in a video clip along with their father. Layton’s son Mike Layton, and daughter Sarah Campbell came out on stage to talk about how while their father was often seen talking in his political life, he had great power as a listener and cared a lot for his family and his granddaughter, Beatrice.

Layton’s widow, Toronto NDP MP Olivia Chow also came on stage to speak about the work of her late husband. Chow’s message was that of hope and optimism for the future, following the tone of much of the tribute.

Voting

It took four rounds of voting for new party leader and Official Leader of the Opposition Thomas Mulcair to declare victory. Members were able to vote in advance, or live vote at home or on the convention floor following each ballot result. While over 130 000 members were eligible to vote, only close to 50 percent of members voted.  Conflicting media reports estimated 50-70% of voters did so prior to the convention.

The NDP had a record amount of delegates at  this year’s leadership convention with close to 4600 members present.

The first round showed single digit percentage results for candidates Paul Dewar (7.4%), Martin Singh (5.8%), and Nikki Ashton (5.7%), with Mulclair ahead at 30.2%, Topp trailing at 21.3%, Cullen at 16.3%, and Nash in fourth with 12.8% of the vote. Dewar, Singh and Ashton dropped off following the first ballot results, with both Dewar and Ashton not publicly supporting any other candidates following.

Reports from Singh’s camp prior to the convention reported that Singh would instruct his supporters to move to support Mulcair, with Singh and supporters on Mulcair’s bleachers minutes later.

The second round of voting began shortly thereafter, with Mulcair, Topp, Cullen and Nash left on the ballot. Bleachers with supporters of each of the remaining candidates began to be merged with supporters from the first three candidates to drop out. Numerous blue-clad Ashton supporters moved to Cullen’s camp, while Dewar’s supporters were less recognizable.

With live voting available on the floor of the convention as well as online for members live-streaming the convention, voting was extended for each subsequent ballot to accommodate technical problems with accessing online voting. Rumours of problems for members voting in Western Canada began during second ballot voting.

Second ballot results gave Mulcair a stronger lead with 38.3% of the vote, Topp behind at 25%, Cullen still in the third spot with 19.9%, and Nash in last with 16.8%.

With Nash out, the third round of voting became needlessly complicated for voters with a large delay in voting. Delegates on the floor of the convention waited in line for over an hour as online voting was down. Jokes referencing the recent misleading robocalls were made across the floor, with delegates wondering whether “Pierre Poutine” was behind the problems.

The NDP later claimed that there was a cyber attack on the company used for the online voting that caused the delay. While the attack slowed down the voting, it did not effect voting outcomes as the voting was done through a secure server requiring both a membership number and pin-code password.

Third ballot results showed a stronger lead for Mulcair at 43.8% of the vote, but not enough to meet the required 50% +1 vote. Topp remained in second place with 31.6%, and Cullen was eliminated with 24.6% of the vote.

The voting for the fourth and final ballot was extended by over an hour as both Topp and Mulcair supporters rallied a strong base along the bleachers of the convention centre. By just after 9pm, Mulcair was announced the winner with 57.2% of the vote, and Topp the runner-up with 42.8%.

The victory for Outremont MP Mulcair was welcome news for local MP for Compton-Stanstead, Jean Rousseau. “We were a bit worried at the beginning about Topp and his support in Western Canada,” admitted Rousseau, however with the strongest NDP base in British Columbia, Mulcair’s supporters needed to come from beyond Eastern Canada.

“I always thought that Mulcair had the greatest experience as a politician and he showed through environmental and economic issues.”

TORONTO (CUP) — The federal government is closing job centres that help students find seasonal summer employment, shifting its services online to save $6.5 million a year.

The offices, called Service Canada Centres for Youth, were open temporarily from May from August to offer job-finding advice and career-building tips to youth aged 15-24.

“The number of students visiting these sites has significantly decreased over the years, making them less effective and relevant for today’s youth,” said Alyson Queen, spokesperson for Human Resources and Skills Development Minister Diane Finley. “Young Canadians have told us that they want to access more government services online, so as a result we are expanding our website with more resources to help them find employment.”

While Finley announced on Jan. 27 that services were moving to the government’s youth employment site, there was no mention in that announcement that the centres would be closing.

Diverse reaction has followed the announcement.

“It doesn’t surprise me, because this government has shown its willingness to cut its expenses on the backs of the most vulnerable,” said Liberal MP for Papineau Justin Trudeau, the party’s critic for youth and post-secondary education. “Young people, unfortunately, are easy targets in that sense.”

The centres provided career advice such as resume writing and interview techniques, and were stationed country-wide with about 100 in Ontario alone.

“There might be a good reason to move important aspects of these job centres online, but the other side of it is you probably need, more than ever, good forms of training, coaching and development of skills ultimately to get around the labour market,” said McMaster University political science professor Peter Graefe. “All that is lost when we move things online.”

The shift online comes at a time when unemployment among Canadian youth is 14.5 per cent, according to Statistics Canada — almost double the rate of unemployment in all Canadians.

“We need to be ensuring that youth have access to jobs and that youth have access to services to find jobs,” said NDP post-secondary education critic and MP for Scarborough-Rouge River Rathika Sitsabaiesan. “We should be encouraging our youth to find better employment, we should be providing that support, but we can’t.”

Trudeau said that the issue has been brought up briefly in the House of Commons.

“It came up at one point in question period and [the Conservatives'] answers have been about streamlining, offering the same quality of services, making better use of taxpayers’ dollars,” said Trudeau. “But this is not making better use of taxpayers’ dollars, this is removing investments in young people.”

The federal Conservatives, however, are reiterating the fact that the summer job-finding services will still continue, being integrated into already existing Service Canada offices.

“What we want to be clear about is students will continue to have access to in person service… at our Service Canada offices,” said Queen. “There is no longer the need for these seasonal temporary offices.”

Also repeated by the federal government is the statement that more young people are going online. But according to Graefe, excluding those who cannot navigate the online job market could be problematic, and that while those who know how to move from the online job market to getting a job will do well, others who might not have access or experience with looking for jobs online could be left behind.

“There [are] problems that haven’t been thought of,” Graefe said, adding that if youth use other mainstream online job sites to find work, support for the traditional centres may not be enough for them to stay open.

“It’s a government that’s looking to cut as much as possible, in places that they think people aren’t going to feel it, and let’s face it — youth aren’t going to come out for these employment centres,” he said.

A recent campaign, initiated by a number of Bishop’s University students as well as several members of administration, is proposing to reinvent the John Bassett Memorial library.

Built in 1959, the library has progressively become outdated. According to Dave McBride, Director of University Advancement, the university has engaged in discussions about a library expansion for the past six or seven years.

The campaign’s website explains that, in order for this project to be successful, a referendum will be held by the SRC. The referendum proposes each Bishop’s student make a “contribution to the capital campaign of $25 per semester.” The referendum will take place March 20-22, 2012.

While the date for the event has been scheduled, the plan to hold a referendum for student funds still requires approval by the SRC executive. This motion is expected to pass at the meeting scheduled for March 18, 2012.

McBride addresses the decision to target library renovations through the capital campaign project, as it was a project that “the majority of students would benefit from.”

The library renovations would include a physical expansion of the building, in addition to a reorganization of how the interior space is distributed. One idea to create more space within the library would be to move some of the less used books to another facility.

The last student capital campaign was held between 1998-2003 where students agreed to contribute towards a renovation of the Student Union Building. Over the five-year period, Bishop’s students contributed a total of $500 000.

The renovations of the library are expected to cost between $7-$8 million.

It is hoped that the new capital fundraising campaign, in support of library renovations, will generate a total of $30 million dollars from a variety of donors. The new campaign is looking to generate $1 million directly from student contributions through the $25/semester increase in student fees. The timeframe to accomplish this goal is expected to occur within the next five to ten years.

McBride presented the idea of library renovations to the Student Representative Council (SRC) at the end of January 2012. While the Chief Returning Officer of the SRC will carry out the referendum, the student government has not officially stated whether they are in support of, or opposed to, the referendum.

SRC President, Taylor Johnston, addressed the matter. As the referendum is asking for student contributions, she recognized “[the importance] that [the SRC] make a statement that [they] do support and care about [the referendum].”

While the SRC is not officially involved in the organization of the student referendum, a number of members have been involved in the campaign supporting the changes to the library. These individuals have already released two promotional videos, and hope to release a total of four to five over the course of the short campaign period.

The videos can be seen at www.reinventyourlibrary.com.

Johnston recognizes that renovations to the library would be beneficial to all Bishop’s students. “We hear lots of feedback about the library: there’s not enough plugs, not enough space, not modern enough, there’s no room for classrooms, the professors don’t really come there because it’s seen as a student’s space, not a learning common.”

The idea of a “learning commons” explores the idea that the library should be not only a space that stores information, but should also provide ample meeting space for both students and staff.

While McBride has already begun raising the issue of the referendum within the alumni network, thus far there have only been unofficial consultations of the library expansion.

McBride defends the lack of official consultations and recognizes that making plans for such a large-scale project, in itself, costs money. Johnston currently supports the initial plans.

MONTREAL (CUP) — Documents from McGill’s Development and Alumni Relations (DAR), many of which are marked “confidential” or “highly confidential,” were posted online on March 3 by the anonymous group McGillLeaks.

In a statement on its website — which had no content remaining as of March 8 — McGillLeaks had announced its intention to release hundreds of documents over the next three weeks, starting with the release of DAR documents pertaining to pharmaceutical, biotechnology and defence industries.

The documents were available to download from three different hosting sites linked to on the McGillLeaks website until March 6, when the links stopped functioning. The statement from McGillLeaks was taken offline on March 7.

The first release of documents contained donor and corporation profiles, correspondence pertaining to corporate funding, histories of corporate donations and relations, and industrial partnerships — notably, a Memorandum of Understanding between McGill and Canadian pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline Inc.

On its website, DAR states that its “many programs and activities help the university establish and maintain strong relationships with alumni, donors, and potential donors.” DAR employees report to vice-principal (development and alumni relations) Marc Weinstein.

In its statement, McGillLeaks verified the authenticity of the documents on its website and stated that the contents of the documents have not been altered.

McGillLeaks outlined three goals for its public release of the documents: to provide an account of a “corporate university’s inner workings,” to supply accurate information regarding McGill’s relations with the private sector and to create transparency.

“While not exhaustive in any sense, the documents are primary source material on the university’s role within the competitive market, and how it conceives of that role,” the statement reads. “We are cognizant of the fact that the methods used by McGill are similar to those of many other ‘public research universities,’ and thus are relevant not only to those with an interest in McGill,” it continued.

The university has a policy regarding safe disclosure in recognition of the “necessary and valuable service” of the “good faith reporting of improper activities (’whistleblowing’).” The policy, approved in 2007, applies to all members of the McGill community, and such reports will not be considered cause for reprisal.

Under the policy, an improper activity is “an act or omission committed by a [member of the university community] that constitutes ‘Academic Misconduct,’ ‘Research Misconduct,’ or ‘Financial Misconduct.’”
The policy also states that, in all McGill activities, the university “seeks to promote a culture based on honest, transparent, and accountable behaviour.”

It is unclear what the relationship is between this policy and McGillLeaks’ actions.

In its statement, McGillLeaks discussed its “leak” of documents. “We do not see the leak and the new level of transparency it produces as ends in themselves. These documents are only as important as your pursuant critical analysis and initiative,” the statement read.

McGillLeaks stated it would publish submissions of documents related to McGill that are “classified, confidential, and/or not yet public.” The group advised any contributions to be made anonymously and advised against contacting the group from the McGill network.

On the morning of March 6, vice-principal (external relations) Olivier Marcil released a statement to the Daily. “This breach of confidentiality is an attempt to hurt the well-being of the university, and hurts individuals whose only intent is to support our students and professors. We deeply regret this invasion of their privacy,” the statement read.

According to the statement, the university has initiated a forensic analysis “to determine the source of [the] violation of our confidential files, and we will take immediate legal action against those who are responsible.”

“This information is gathered under the standard professional practices of philanthropy,” the statement continued.

The same statement was sent by DAR to alumni on March 5, but it was attributed to Weinstein.

The release of confidential files has raised concerns over the protection of private information and general security in the campus community. In a March 6 email to all staff and students, Marcil indicated that McGill has called the police.

Both the Daily and Canadian University Press received letters from the university’s lawyers, demanding that the sites take “immediate necessary measures to remove any link” that redirects users to the McGillLeaks site. The Daily and Canadian University Press have removed the links pending consultation with their lawyers.

In anticipation of a referendum on student contributions to the library in the next few weeks, The Campus will be providing an in-depth look at the state of the library, beginning this issue with an interview with Head Librarian, Bruno Gnassi.

Bruno Gnassi may be one of the freshest faces on campus this year to go unnoticed, with only five months as Head Librarian at Bishop’s. Far from, however, in terms of his experience with libraries across the country. Now he hopes to use his experience to improve our own.

Sitting down for an interview in the comfortable chairs of his office, nestled behind the Periodicals Room, there is a gleam in Gnassi’s eyes when questioned about the importance of libraries. After eight years with the library of Mount Allison University in Sackville, New Brunswick, Gnassi put his plans for retirement aside to take the position of Head Librarian at Bishop’s.
“There’s an intangible niceness when you walk in here,” explains Gnassi of Bishop’s John Bassett Memorial Library, “it feels younger and ready to go.”

Compared with Mt. Allison, Gnassi comments on the youthfulness of the fifty year-old building compared with his former workplace. While students may not always see the building in the same light, Gnassi has entered the library just as plans to update and modernize the facility have began to take form. Gnassi considers this opportunity as a librarian’s “nirvana.”

Since the beginning of his term this year, Gnassi has worked to collect a wide range of input from students on what library services they wish to see improved, including through the Library Quality Survey, as well as informal consultations by walking around to talk with students. As Gnassi explains “students are telling us a lot of things. ‘Make it a true library commons; give us top-notch infrastructure; give us rooms and study spaces that can be leading edge; and give us quiet spaces, where when we want to be alone and contemplative, want to enjoy the silence of the moment, we can do that.’”

For students, Gnassi brought not only his experience with him to the job, but also Study Hall, a tradition at Mt. Allison. Bishop’s’ first-ever Study Hall provided evening study space on the first floor of the library during the Fall exam period, from Monday to Friday until 2:30pm. “I was figuring 40-50 students, and we did much better than that here,” explains Gnassi.

SRC VP Academic Justin McCarthy explains that “[Gnassi] mentioned the idea, that he did it in Mount Allison, and we met a few times to decide the numbers of volunteers, etc.” Both Gnassi and McCarthy confirm that the initiative will return this winter semester. “I want to see if the numbers hold,” explains the Head Librarian.

Providing a library that “not only does the study thing, but does the living thing” is

Important for Gnassi as he envisions a modern library experience for Bishop’s students that reflects the digital age of interconnectedness This includes working to provide more seminar and conference rooms for students in what he coins, “a center for engaged learning.”

Gnassi explains that this perspective on the modern library encourages more room for people to use the different mediums of information, and “after you’ve looked and poked around, you start to talk to each other.” He describes it as needs of not only our century, but a twenty-second century library by including spaces to collaborate with colleagues in one’s own classes, and from all over the world in web conferencing. “The library of the future will not only [cross borders] in physical space, but in cyberspace as well,” say Gnassi.

Plans for a possible library expansion have not currently been finalized. However, Gnassi is optimistic that the original building will still play a large part of any further expansions. The current layout of packed rooms of books however has also been called to question. “Do we use high cost space for people things, and low cost space for storage?” asks Gnassi rhetorically. “It’s possible what we could’ve been told is we want a bookstore, but that’s not what I’ve been hearing.” Whether this includes freeing up the space currently taken up by bookshelves along the entire second floor remains to be seen, though the idea of storage elsewhere in the library looks to be a consideration.

As Gnassi begins the procedure of a more formal evaluation, he considers the future. When asked for his vision of the library within five years, Gnassi hopes to see a project for expansion shovel-ready, though admits that  “it depends on money and these things are not easy to do.

For now, Gnassi sees a great potential for the library as he slowly approaches retirement. Explaining his staff and their use of funds and resources, referring to them as “can-do” people. Thus, “with can do, even if you’re not rich rich, you can do lots of stuff.”

For years, the University of British Columbia has had some of the highest admission requirements in Canada. Because of this, offers of admissions have been seen as a badge of honour. Recently, however, UBC is changing their competitive admission process to include a more personal application.
In the past, students interested in the engineering/sciences programs were expected to hold an average above the low 90% range, and those wishing to gain acceptance in other fields, were required to hold an average within the mid-to-high 80% range.
UBC receives more than 30,000 applications to undergraduate programs each year and admitted just 5,913 first-year students for the 2011-2012 academic year.
However, the high admission standards have altered the dynamics of the university. While academics are important, UBC is beginning to recognize that extra-curricular activities are equally important. Beginning next fall, UBC will be converting to a broad-based admission system, including the undergraduate’s personal profile as a part of the application process. UBC will be the first major Canadian university to implement this kind of admission system.
“I think the overall concern is that we [have been] looking at such a narrow aspect of who [a] student is,” explains James Ridge, UBC’s Associate Vice-President and Registrar.
“We [have realized] we were missing elements of that student’s experience and accomplishments. Even the challenges they face can be powerful predictors of the future roles they may fill.”
Students are now required to fill out a five-question survey that will allow the admissions office to gain a better understanding of what the student is capable of. A student who may have grades in the 70s, but who has been helping a single mother raise his/her siblings, may now gain acceptance to UBC. This would not have been the case in the past when admittance to the university was based solely on their academic performance.
“[This] kind of story puts [a student’s] academic accomplishments in a hugely important context,” Mr. Ridge says. “It tells us about their commitment, time-management skills, perseverance, important information that we had no way of collecting, let alone evaluating, before.”
The questionnaires weight will vary from faculty-to-faculty but could balance out to as much worth as 50%. For science programs, emphasis will still be placed more heavily on academics

MONTREAL (CUP) — In a day of action on Feb. 24, thousands of students gathered in Philips Square and marched through downtown Montreal to protest tuition increases set to begin this September. The demonstration marks the start of the Quebec student movement’s general unlimited strike.

In honour of the day of action, 47 student associations, representing about 68,400 students, were on strike for the day. Currently, 44 associations, representing about 53,750 students, are on strike, and 16 associations, representing about 11,500 students, have a strike mandate but have not yet gone on strike.

The march at times numbered up to 15,000 students. The Coalition large de l’Association pour une solidarité syndicale étudiante (CLASSE) organized the demonstration, and spokesperson Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois said he was “totally surprised” by the turnout.

“I think we were waiting for a few thousand people and we’ve got thousands and thousands of people,” said Nadeau-Dubois.”

As of 2:45 p.m. the demonstration was trailed by between 17 to 20 police vehicles, including a van of riot police, an ambulance and a van labeled “Support logistique.”

At Berri-UQAM metro station the demonstration splintered down to about 1,500 demonstrators who continued marching towards Jacques Cartier Bridge.

“The protest technically ended at Berri-UQAM station,” said a student who wished to remain anonymous. The student said that some demonstrators wanted to continue the march.

Those demonstrators who continued reportedly marched towards the bridge — though most did not reach the bridge, according to the student.

Many of those taking part in the splinter demonstration encountered riot police near Papineau metro station.

“We weren’t fully kettled,” said the student, who was also present during the splinter demonstration. Most demonstrators marched away from the riot police. “We just came to the conclusion that there was no point in getting pepper sprayed,” said the student.

According to the student, approximately 50 to 75 riot police surrounded the remaining demonstrators leading them into Place Émilie-Gamelin beside Berri-UQAM metro. Between 5 and 5:30 p.m. the number of demonstrators had “fizzled” to 500, the student added.

“They started banging their shields,” however, the student added that the demonstration was “really peaceful.”

However, some reports state that some demonstrators blocked access to the Jacques Cartier Bridge just before rush hour at around 4 p.m. After a standoff, police dispersed the blockade with shields and pepper spray.

“They [demonstrators] were asked to leave, and were then removed by the riot squad,” said Service de police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM) spokesperson Anie Lemieux.

According to Lemieux, the blockade ended at 5 p.m. Lemieux said there were no injuries and one arrest for disturbing the peace, although it is unclear if the arrest was related to the blockade.

Demonstrators present when riot police intervened at Jacques Cartier Bridge were not available to comment on the intervention.

The Quebec government announced in March 2011 tuition hikes of $325 a year for five years starting this September. The increase will raise base Quebec tuition to $3,793 by 2017, still among the lowest in Canada.

“We’ll be more and more thousands on strike in the upcoming days and weeks. I think now this government has no choice, it has to listen to us, and it has to stop increasing tuition fees,” said Nadeau-Dubois.

According to the CBC, a non-confidence motion on the proposed hikes will be debated in the Quebec National Assembly on Feb. 28. Nadeau-Dubois said Premier Jean Charest and the provincial government had yet to engage in any kind of negotiations.

“I think if [Charest] wants to ignore us he can do it now, but from next week we’re going to be more and more thousands of people in the streets. Very soon there’s going to be a point from which he cannot stop us from protesting,” said Nadeau-Dubois. “He will have to negotiate with us; soon he won’t have the choice.”

Nadeau-Dubois said he hoped McGill students would soon join the strike.

“I think with the protest today we have the proof that everyone in Quebec can mobilize,” he said. “I think McGill is going to be taken by the wave soon.”

The McGill Arts Undergraduate Society (AUS) voted in a special referendum last week to amend the referendum so the AUS could join CLASSE, and thus go on strike itself. Catherine Simard, a psychology student who attended the protest, said she hadn’t heard much about the strike at McGill.

“Someone came to talk to me about it last Friday, but that’s all I’ve heard,” said Simard.

“The province can afford to have lower tuition, it’s just that they don’t want to, because it’s easy to take money from students because they don’t have many ways to sway public opinion,” she continued. “[McGill is] as much a part of the province as any other university, and we should do our part.”

National Assembly member Jean-Martin Aussant filed a petition February 17 to call on the government to back down on tuition hikes after pressure from the Table de concertation étudiante du Québec (TaCEQ), a Quebec student lobby group of which Students Society of McGill University is a founding member.

The petition is available until May 16, and had collected 19,049 signatures when this story went to press. With enough signatures, the petition can be brought up for debate in the National Assembly. Nadeau-Dubois was skeptical about the efficacy of the petition.

“At the point we are now, I think a petition is not what is going to convince this government, but maybe it can help, and if it can help we’re going to sign it,” he said.