February 2016 by The Gradzette

Gradzette The university of mANITOBAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S GRADUATE STUDENT Magazine FEBRUARY 2016

GU15, executive payment on the agenda for grad student AGM Page 5

Gradzette THE UNIVERSITY OF MANITOBA’S GRADUATE STUDENT MAGAZINE

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FEBRUARY 2016 Gradzette c/o The Manitoban Newspaper Publications Corporation 105 University Centre University of Manitoba Winnipeg, MB, R3T 2N2 General inquiries and advertising Phone: (204) 474.6535 Fax: (204) 474.7651 Email: editor@gradzette.com Editor:Tom Ingram Copy Editor: Katy MacKinnon Designer: Marc Lagace Contributors: Megan Colwell, Chantelle Dubois, Carolyne Kroeker, Anu Lotay, Estefania Wujkiw Cover: Megan Colwell The Gradzette is the official student magazine of the University of Manitoba’s graduate student community and is published the first week of each month by the Manitoban Newspaper Publications Corporation. The Gradzette is a democratic student organization, open to participation from all students. It exists to serve its readers as students and citizens. The magazine’s primary mandate is to report fairly and objectively on issues and events of importance and interest to the graduate students of the University of Manitoba, to provide an open forum for the free expression and exchange of opinions and ideas, and to stimulate meaningful debate on issues that affect or would otherwise be of interest to the student body and/or society in general. The Gradzette serves as a training ground for students interested in any aspect of journalism. Students and other interested parties are invited to contribute. Please contact the editor listed above for submission guidelines. The Gradzette reserves the right to edit all submissions and will not publish any material deemed by its editorial board to be discriminatory, racist, sexist, homophobic or libelous. Opinions expressed in letters and articles are solely those of the authors.

Contact editor@gradzette.com for more information.

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In this issue

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Catch and release by Chantelle Dubois

Making it rain in Manitoba by Tom Ingram

Grad students gather for AGM by Anu Lotay

FEBRUARY 2016

Catch and release

Studying the migratory habits of the Canada Warbler

Chantelle Dubois

niversity of Manitoba graduate student Amélie Roberto-Charron is a migratory bird researcher currently studying the migration habits of the Canada Warbler.

Roberto-Charron, who completed her undergrad in ecology at the University of Alberta, developed an interest in bird ecology unexpectedly after taking a required course on the topic. The Canada Warbler, like many other migratory birds in Canada, is declining in numbers rapidly across the country. Between 1968 and 2007, migratory bird populations declined by as much as 85 per cent. The decline is not proportional across Canada; populations are declining more rapidly on the eastern side of the country. The reason for this disparity is unknown. Roberto-Charron is trying to find out if there is strong connectivity in the Canada Warbler’s wintering range in the Andes and northern Amazon, their breeding grounds in Canada across the boreal forest, and the migratory route between the two. Connectivity describes the relationship of a specific population’s geographic location at different points in the year. High connectivity would indicate that the same population tends to migrate to the same locations, while low connectivity indicates overlapping of different populations in wintering ranges. This connectivity, or perhaps lack of connectivity, of wintering and breeding grounds could provide some insight into what may be causing the decline of migratory birds. “High connectivity [could mean that] the population in New Brunswick is experiencing more anthropogenic disturbances,” said Roberto-Charron. “If all the birds are overlapping in their wintering range, that could mean that the birds are more resilient to disturbances happening in their wintering grounds.” Another aspect that makes Roberto-Charron’s research particularly unique is that the birds are being tracked for the first time with geolocator devices. “What’s neat about geolocators is that they’ve only just become miniaturized enough to track songbirds like the Canada Warbler,” said Roberto-Charron.

“When they were originally developed, they were developed for marine mammal tracking, and now they’ve become miniaturized enough that we can put them on songbirds, and they can fly across the Americas to their wintering sites and back.” The geolocators, manufactured by Migrate Technology Ltd., weigh roughly half a gram including the harness. The Canada Warbler is between nine and 12 grams in weight. At this weight, the tracker hardly affects the bird. The geolocators are able to track the birds by recording light levels (sunrise, sunset, and high noon) and matching them to corresponding time (Greenwich Mean Time). This information is then used to determine the bird’s latitudinal and longitudinal location.

Canada warbler.

In order to fit the devices onto the birds, researchers travel to a deployment site and set up a lightweight nylon net six by three metres in size. The netting appears invisible to the birds. Then, a recording of the male’s mating call is played. Since Canada Warblers are territorial, they will immediately fly into the area and be caught by the net. The researchers then mount the geolocators onto the birds with harnesses made out of a Stretch Magic jewellery cord – essentially mounting like a backpack onto the bird’s rump with leg-loops. An identification band is also put in place. The bird is then released and free to make its journey. The geolocators do not transmit data wirelessly and must be recollected the following year. The Canada Warbler typically returns to its original deployment site, where Roberto-Charron and her colleagues use the same

Photos provided by Amélie Roberto-Charron.

method to capture the birds. The identification bands are used to keep track of which birds have been monitored and which ones have been recently mounted with geolocators. The Canada Warblers are being tracked from several locations across Canada, including Alberta, Manitoba, Quebec, and New Brunswick. Currently Roberto-Charron is analyzing the data from geolocators collected in Alberta, which will give some insight into where the Canada Warblers from this location are going for the winter. Once geolocators are collected from all sites across Canada next year, she will be analyzing the bird’s migratory connectivity. This data will also provide information that will help create maps of the Canada Warbler’s migratory routes, migration timing, stopover sites, and threats they are encountering on their journey. The first geolocator recoveries indicate that the birds overwintered in Venezuela and Peru. This is the first time Canada Warblers have been tracked to their wintering sites. These birds travelled over 6,500 km from Slave Lake, Alberta. While reason for the decline of migratory birds in eastern Canada is still to be determined, Roberto-Charron says there are ways for everyone to help migratory birds thrive. “Little things like not letting your cat outside [...] and putting up decals on your windows can help,” says Roberto-Charron. In the meantime, Roberto-Charron is analyzing data and looks forward to the information it will yield. “It’s incredible when you start working with the analysis and you can see where the bird actually went [...] and start thinking about this little bird you saw and captured, and it flew all the way to South America and back. It’s amazing.” 3

Gradzette

The National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation at Chancellor’s Hall on the U of M campus.

Photo by Carolyne Kroeker

Making it rain in Manitoba

An analysis of the province’s post-secondary funding commitments

Tom Ingram

ast month saw a flurry of announcements from both the province and the University of Manitoba concerning funding for post-secondary education. For students who have been hearing about nothing but austerity and cuts for almost two years, this might seem like a bewildering shift of direction.

Should students still be concerned about cuts? Has there been a sea change in education policy? Will hundreds of millions in cash even fit into a swimming pool? It might be premature to pose these questions. After all, it’s an election year.

Certain provincial commitments have been promiscuously re-announced in order to keep them in the public’s memory $150 million for Front and Centre: a guide for the perplexed It’s important to stress that none of this money has actually been given to any universities and colleges yet. The announcements represent promises for the future. The more short-term announcements concern the 201617 budget, which will not be released till after the election. The long-term commitments should be taken with a grain of salt even if the NDP wins another term – if they lose, of course, all bets are off. The press releases put out by the province and the university gloss over the fact that certain provincial commitments have been promiscuously re-announced in order to keep

them in the public’s memory. January’s announcements included $30 million for indigenous education, research excellence, and graduate student support. This money will mainly be used for scholarships, bursaries, and research chairs – it will also support an indigenous success fund and the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation. Another announcement was $120 million for buildings and renovations at the U of M. Most of this will go to the proposed Inter-Professional Health Education Complex at the Bannatyne campus, while the remainder will be used for upgrades to libraries, labs, and classrooms and the retrofitting of the Helen Glass Centre.

FEBRUARY 2016 These two figures add up to $150 million – a number that may be familiar as the province’s highly touted contribution to the university’s Front and Centre campaign. This contribution was announced in October and confirmed in November’s throne speech. January was the third time the province announced this funding – only this time they announced it in two instalments and with great fanfare, giving the impression that it was a new commitment instead of more detail on an old one. The province also announced a figure of $27.9 million – the money they are devoting to post-secondary education in the coming year. This sum includes $1 million for the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation and $3 million for graduate student scholarships and bursaries at U of M – both of which also fall under the heading of the $150-million Front and Centre contribution. The figure of $150 million is misleading, since the Front and Centre money will not appear as a lump sum – it’s not that kind of commitment. In the event that the NDP wins the election in April, the money will be paid toward specific projects over the course of seven years, subject to approval in each year’s provincial budget. What has been branded as a $150-million donation is actually a more modest deal for an annual contribution to the U of M’s strategic and capital projects over several years. This is all well and good – some of the projects, such as a boost to the U of M’s scholarship and bursary funds for graduate students, are sorely needed. Others are well-thought-out and forward-thinking proposals, such as the various research chairs and the indigenous success fund. However, smoke and mirrors always make one suspicious. We’re seeing the same funding commitments being continually repackaged in different guises to keep two key branding points in the public eye: first, that Manitoba’s

CFS-MB Aboriginal commissioner Jaron Moen Gun Hart with Manitoba education minister James Allum. Photo by Estefania Wujkiw

NDP government is committed to post-secondary education, and second, that the U of M’s star is on the rise. The NDP’s ill-fated 2011 commitment to major operating grant increases is an instructive comparison. Though they are currently being lauded for their 2.5-per cent increase to university operating grants, they campaigned in the last election on a promise of grant increases of five per cent annually for three years. They followed through on this increase in 2011-12 and 2012-13 before pulling back in the 2013 budget. The increase has been 2.5 per cent each year since then, and the U of M has blamed its budget troubles on this low annual increase coupled with low tuition. The Front and Centre contribution is a larger commitment over a longer period of time than last election’s promise. A lot can happen in seven years, and it strains credulity to think that this agreement will survive fully intact for such a long time.

“A campaign like Front and Centre certainly enhances the university’s ability financially to deliver on its mandate. But it’s usually not baseline funding. It’s usually not salary funding. In fact, it’s almost never, except in the case of chairs”

– John Danakas, executive director of public affairs, U of M

Budget outlooks We reached out to John Danakas, the U of M’s spokesperson and executive director of public affairs, to ask whether these promises of more funding will have any effect on the university’s budget outlook for the coming year. The university made controversial across-theboard budget cuts last year, and stated their intention to do the same in the 2016-17 budget. They cited a lack of income due to low tuition and insufficient operating funding from the province. Critics of the cuts, such as the University of Manitoba Faculty Association, argue that the budget shortfall was a result of the university’s practice of transferring money from the operating fund for capital projects. Danakas clarified that the Front and Centre money will largely not affect the university’s operating costs, stressing that the commitments from government and private donors are one-time only. “The university’s challenges with operating funding in the past number of years and the immediate future are because of the difference between rising costs of operating the university, and the number-one cost of operating the university is salaries,” Danakas said. “A campaign like Front and Centre certainly enhances the university’s ability financially to deliver on its mandate. But it’s usually not baseline funding. It’s usually not salary funding. In fact, it’s almost never, except in the case of chairs.” The details of the U of M’s budget, including the final word on any cuts, will have to wait until after the election and the provincial budget.

Gradzette

Grad students gather for AGM GU15, executive remuneration on the agenda

Anu Lotay

he University of Manitoba Graduate Students’ Association’s (UMGSA) annual general meeting, which took place on the evening of Jan. 21, saw a surprisingly high showing of graduate students. UMGSA president Kristjan Mann pointed out it was one of the largest he had ever seen.

The meeting is where proposed changes to bylaws, membership policies, and election procedures can be approved or disproved. Members also have an opportunity to learn about the progress of various committees and the financial status of the association. UMGSA vice-president internal Valery Agbor, who chairs both the finance and bylaws committees, reported on the finances of the organization, noting that, of the proposed budget of $400,000, approximately $153,000 remained for the 2015-2016 term. Agbor said that while the association saved money in some areas, such as orientation expenses due to partnerships with the Office of Student Life, they “went over on the budget” in others. The UMGSA had awarded 268 conference and travel grants by December 2015, totalling $125,710.09 of the approximately $177,200 budget. One of the UMGSA’s main functions is supporting graduate students through these grants and the increase in the grants’ budget and expenditure each year is reflective of the high demand and need for graduate student funding. The GSA also gives out awards to two full-time masters and PhD applicants and two part-time graduate applicants, based on research, academic experience, community involvement, and professional excellence. Overall, Agbor reported that the finance committee had “done its job” in accordance with the association’s spending policy. In his report, Mann reflected on the association’s stronger role in the GU15, which involved hosting delegates from all over Canada for the semi-annual conference held at the University of Manitoba last August. The national organization provides a venue for student leaders to discuss pertinent issues including funding, childcare, mental health,

The UMGSA executives and senators at the AGM.

and time to completion, among others. Mann said that the UMGSA received a very positive response and student leaders from other universities were “impressed with what [we] had to offer.” The GU15 will continue to be a priority for the UMGSA campaigns committee as they prepare for the next conference at the University of British Columbia. Enoch A-iyeh, vice-president external and chair of the campaigns committee, said that a letter requesting greater assistance for graduate students from the provincial government was drafted and circulated to members of the GU15 for support. A-iyeh said that, in light of budget cuts and increasing international student tuition, it is important to let the provincial government know that “this is not OK and it’s important that you hear [us].” The anti-cuts campaign will also continue to be a priority as the university prepares to cut another four per cent from its operating budget. The major motion of the evening was a proposed 11-per cent increase to the president’s honorarium and a 22.5-per cent increase to the vice-presidents’ honoraria. The president and vice presidents are paid $13,800 and $9,300, respectively. The proposed motion suggested that executive honoraria be increased to $15,500 for the president and $12,000 for the vice presidents. The UMGSA bylaws stipulate that executive honoraria must be reviewed by the internal development and review sub-committee (IDRSC). The IDRSC, chaired by Carl Neumann, was charged with researching and compiling comparative data on the honoraria received by graduate student organization executives at other universities. The IDRSC’s recommendations also took online discussions and feedback into consideration. Neumann reported that graduate organiz-

Photo by Megan Colwell.

ations differ vastly in how they remunerate executives. However, these were not the only criteria involved in proposing the increase. The UMGSA executives’ relatively great workload and lack of supporting staff was cited, as well. Discussion on the motion by members included calls to re-review the figures, a more proportional increase across the board for all executives, and hiring more staff to reduce the burden on executives. It was also suggested that staff be hired in lieu of non-essential executive positions, and for the purposes of continuity. Senator Richard From, who also chaired the meeting, informed the membership that a new staff position has been created. After much lively discussion, the membership voted overwhelmingly for the motion, which will take effect in the 2016-17 term. The meeting concluded with a review of the UMGSA’s relationship with the Canadian Federation of Students (CFS) by Mann. This discussion was conducted in private session with the membership. Since a 2012 report unearthed questions over the manner in which the UMGSA joined CFS in 2001, the UMGSA has maintained that it is not a member of CFS, going so far as to enshrine their non-membership in their bylaws. UMGSA membership voted in their 2012 annual general meeting to hold the associated fees in a contingency fund until the end of the 2017-18 term. The CFS has ongoing membership disputes with a number of student unions. Last year, following a legal battle, the Cape Breton University Students’ Union was ordered to pay CFS $295,000 in outstanding fees along with $100,000 in court costs.

FEBRUARY 2016

Diversions Words, Crossed.

By Shane Gibson (@tsgibson) 13

Across 1. Soup from Saigon 4. Switch sides 7. Company offering business offerings over the web, briefly 10. Have a bite 11. Animal doc 12. Old Olds 13. Uris hero 14. Before 15. US chain of food stores 16. Emergency money 18. It represents Australian teachers, briefly 19. Pooped during the day? 21. Greek letters 24. Ulan Bator’s old name 25. Young track 27. French ship’s course 28. Piccolo’s cousins 29. Lets go 31. Food additive, for short 32. Cowboy hats 36. ___ Jordans (shoes) 37. Hi-___ (shoes) 38. Compass pt. 39. Actor Bruce 40. Shore bird 41. Sushi fish

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42. Big shipbroking group, for short 43. Chemical endings 44. Lon ___ of Cambodia Down 1. Orchard fruit 2. Tortoise’s foe 3. Soul singer Redding 4. Get stuffed? 5. Unrelenting courage 6. War horse 7. Symptom of too much TV, according to some to parents 8. Erne 9. Website annoyances 17. Menu item 20. Calendar page 21. Long johns 22. Heretic’s beliefs

23. Choice from the tea cart 26. Takes to the cleaners 30. The Jetsons’ dog 33. “Now I’ve ___ everything!” 34. Afternoon hour: ___’clock 35. Dudley DoRight’s beloved S A G Y

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The Gradzette Bulletin Board The Gradzette is hiring a staff writer The Gradzette is a monthly graduate student magazine funded by the University of Manitoba Graduate Studentsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Association and published by the Manitoban Newspaper Publications Corporation. The staff writer will be responsible for writing one 1200-word article per issue in addition to attending UMGSA council meetings and writing briefs. The successful candidate must be a current graduate student at the University of Manitoba. Qualifications:

- Strong writing ability

- Able to work to deadlines

- Interviewing skills

- Familiarity with CP style and journalistic conventions would be an asset

Pay is $140 per month. The position is a 7-month term until the end of August 2016. Please forward resume, cover letter, and writing samples to Tom Ingram at editor@gradzette.com by Feb. 5.