Gradzette The university of mANITOBA’S GRADUATE STUDENT Magazine JUNE 2014
Proposed tuition hike shelved after negative student response Page 3
Gradzette
June 2014
THE UNIVERSITY OF MANITOBA’S GRADUATE STUDENT MAGAZINE
Winnipeg’s Elm Park Bridge, better known as the BDI bridge for its iconic ice cream location, celebrated its 100-year anniversary this summer. Originally used for automobile traffic, the bridge has been a pedestrian walkway since 1974.
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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: Ryan Harby Copy Editor: Bryce Hoye Designer: Marc Lagace Contributors: Tom Ingram, Marc Lagace Cover: Ryan Harby
The Gradzette is the official student magazine of the University of Manitoba’s graduate student community and is published on the first Monday 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 objec¬tively 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 If you have a passion for writing, jourexchange of opinions and ideas, and to stimulate meannalism, photography, or illustration ingful debate on issues that affect or would otherwise be the Gradzette is looking for individuof interest to the student body and/or society in general. als to get involved with the produc tion process of the U of M’s graduate The Gradzette serves as a training ground for students instudent paper. terested in any aspect of journalism. Students and other interested parties are invited to contribute. Please contact The Gradzette currently offers 10 the editor listed above for submission guidelines. cents per word for freelance articles, $7 per photo/graphic used, and $30 The Gradzette reserves the right to edit all submissions for images used on the cover. Freeand will not publish any material deemed by its editorilancers will be added to a contact al board to be discriminatory, racist, sexist, homophobic pool and emailed with potential aror libelous. Opinions expressed in letters and articles are ticle, photo, or graphic assignments solely those of the authors. when they become available. The Gradzette is a member of the Canadian University Interested applicants please send Press, a national student press cooperative with members your resume and at least two (2) refrom St. John’s to Victoria. cent work samples to editor@grad zette.com. All contents are ©2014 and may not be reprinted without the express written permission of the Manitoban Newspaper Publi¬cations Corporation.
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Gradzette
june 2014
Grad school fee hike faux pas
University of Manitoba’s plan to raise ‘continuing fees’ shut down Marc Lagace
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he University of Manitoba is backing down from a plan proposed to raise continuing fees for graduate students after a swift response by the University of Manitoba Graduate Students’ Association (UMGSA) and the provinces’ Minister of Education James Allum.
“He informed us of this proposal, and answered some of our preliminary questions,” said Rempel. “They had been requested to consult with students by the Minister of Education [James Allum].” Rempel doesn’t believe that graduate students would have been consulted if not for Allum’s request, as COPSE decisions do not specifically require direct student consultation for these decisions. After UMGSA’s meeting with the administration, Rempel explained one of the biggest issues that the UMGSA had with the proposal.
The faculty of graduate studies had drafted a five-page document to present to the Council on Post-Secondary Education (COPSE) on May 16, in which they outlined a plan to raise the continuing fee paid by grad students from it’s current cost of $703.15 to $3,000 in 2016. In the document, the faculty argued that the rising fees were necessary to keep up with the rest of the “The magnitude of the increase was U15, a group of Canadian research universities. unprecedented. The reasons given were to be According to the figures provided, U of M more competitive with the U15, and to attract graduate students, on average, pay less tuition the best students [to the U of M]. There wasn’t over a longer period of time for a master’s or a specific plan on how to allocate the funds that were being suggested,” said Rempel. PhD than the other U15 institutions. The fee hike was brought to the attention of newly-elected UMGSA president Laura Rempel on her first day in office, when she received a call from the office of the dean of graduate studies, Jay Doering, to set a meeting with UMGSA executives for May 6.
“In the proposal the university asked for our feedback on how to allocate those funds, but given the six-day turn around on feedback that they were requesting, that was not a very realistic request.”
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In response, the UMGSA sent out a questionnaire to graduate students regarding the fee hike. About one third of the university’s 3,669 graduate students responded to the survey, with 95 per cent of respondents agreeing that a “lower continuing fee was not delaying or discouraging them from graduating in a timely manner.” Also, 89 per cent of respondents said the $3,000 continuing fee would deter them from registering if they were a new student considering the U of M.
post-secondary students, and commended the reaction from the UMGSA and graduate students as an indication that more discussion is required between administrators and graduate students.
“The magnitude of the increase was unprecedented. The reasons given were to be more competitive with the U15, and to attract the best students [to the U of M]. There wasn’t a specific plan on how to allocate the funds that were being suggested”
With just over 24-hours until the rally, the UMGSA was informed by COPSE that the university had backed down and would not be presenting to the council. According to Rempel, there is one more COPSE meeting in June before the council is dissolved and eventually merged with the Manitoba’s Department of Education as a result of budget cuts in the province’s budget for 2014, released in March. Rempel is looking for more transparency from the university in the future, with graduate students granted a “genuine voice” in future consultation. “To get [Education Minister Allum’s] request to be consulted was great, and we thought that was a good first step,” said Rempel. “And then for him to come out so strongly and
— UMGSA president Laura Rempel publicly was more than we could have hoped for. We hope that this means we can start a new An emergency rally was planned for the morning relationship with him as a new executive and of May 16 outside the COPSE offices. Included work together on proposals in the future, or in the rally call was a statement from Allum, in being more proactive rather than reactive.” which he reaffirmed the province’s dedication to affordable, quality education for Manitoba’s
Get your research featured in the Gradzette Are you a graduate student eager to promote your research and provide exposure for your work in the master’s or doctoral program? The Gradzette is looking for individuals interested in participating in our ongoing “Researcher Profile” column, which seeks to showcase important and exciting U of M research for a larger audience. If you would like to be featured in an upcoming “Researcher Profile,” please contact editor@gradzette.com with details regarding your field of study, a short blurb about your current research, and any pertinent contact information for interview purposes.
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The Buckingham affair
Photo by Hatchmandara, 2012
Professor’s dismissal sparks controversy at the University of Saskatchewan
Tom Ingram he past two weeks have been a difficult time at the University of Saskatchewan as controversy flared over the dismissal and subsequent rehiring of a professor.
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recent troubles—it was placed on probation by the Committee on Accreditation of Canadian Medical Schools late in 2013. The newly created school gained its accreditation in January of this year, and a merger could cause the Agency for Public Health Accreditation to review the program, Buckingham wrote. The university’s provost Brett Fairbairn responded to these concerns in a statement.
On May 13, Robert Buckingham, then executive director of the university’s School of Public Health, released an open letter opposing the amalgamation of the School of Public Health with the College of Medicine. The merger was slated to occur as part of the university’s controversial According to Buckingham’s letter, Ilene BuschVishniac, the university’s president, had told cost-cutting TransformUs initiative. the school’s deans that they were expected not Buckingham expressed concern that this would to publicly oppose TransformUs, and that if threaten the accreditation of the university’s they did their “tenure would be short.” He also Master of Public Health program. reproduced an email from Fairbairn instructing At most schools, Buckingham wrote, the faculty Buckingham not to publicly mention any focused on the prevention of disease (Public potential threat to the program’s accreditation. Health) is organizationally separate from the When Buckingham arrived on campus on faculty focused on treatment (Medicine). He May 14, campus security personnel gave him a cited a 2007 proposal by the university’s School letter informing him that he had breached his of Public Health Steering Committee, which contract and damaged his relationship with the agreed that the School of Public Health should school. The security personnel then escorted be separate from and equal to the professional Buckingham from campus. He was told to stay health sciences colleges. off university property, but would be allowed Buckingham also expressed concern about back at a later date to collect his belongings. the merger due to the College of Medicine’s The very next day, Buckingham was rehired
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in his capacity as a tenured professor, but was not reinstated as head of the School of Public Health. Martin Phillipson, vice-provost of the university, has taken over Buckingham’s role until a replacement can be found.
“There are an awful lot of people who are in the same view that I am and there is going to be an enormous amount of unhappiness if they don’t consider our views carefully,” Miller told the CBC.
Busch-Vishniac apologized to Buckingham, On May 19, the university’s Board of Governors describing the firing as a “blunder.” called an emergency meeting. Shortly before “This was not a decision made by one person. the meeting, it was announced that Fairbairn This was a decision made by my team. I am very had resigned as provost. The next day Buschcomfortable standing here telling you it was the Vishniac announced that she had no plans to resign. Student organizer Nick Marlatte told the wrong decision,” she said to the CBC. CBC that he was unsatisfied that Fairbairn was “The debate that is raging confuses Dr. made into a “sacrificial lamb.” Buckingham’s former role as Executive Director of the School of Public Health with the academic “It’s a broader group of people within the senior freedom associated with that of a tenured faculty leadership that’s actually been tainting the member,” Busch-Vishniac added in a press university’s reputation,” he said. release the same day. The result of the Board’s emergency meeting was inconclusive, and a follow-up was scheduled for May 26 and 27. The Board’s chair Susan Milburn “There are an awful lot of people said in a press release that the Board “discussed who are in the same view that I the leadership of the university in depth.”
am and there is going to be an enormous amount of unhappiness if they don’t consider our views carefully,” — University of Saskatchewan professor Jim Miller
“In his role as an administrator at a level that removes him from the faculty association, Dr. Buckingham is not only permitted but encouraged to have opinions that might disagree with those developed by top administrators. However, once a decision is made at the institutional level, all senior leaders must publicly conform to that decision or resign their leadership role.”
“We do not want to act in haste and therefore we have not made any final decisions,” she added. On May 21, students held a rally against TransformUs. The same day, Buckingham returned to campus and received a “hero’s welcome,” according to the CBC. Buckingham told the CBC he has “no ill feelings” toward Fairbairn or Busch-Vishniac for firing him. Late in the evening of May 21, the board announced that they had met and decided to fire Busch-Vishniac days before their planned meeting. Gordon Barnhart, a well-known Saskatchewan academic and politician, stepped in as acting president. Busch-Vishniac has the option to continue in a teaching role in the College of Engineering.
Although the board dismissed Busch-Vishniac In the aftermath, University of Saskatchewan over the Buckingham affair, it still remains professor Jim Miller wrote a letter to the Board of committed to the TransformUs initiative. Governors calling for the president and provost to be fired. He said they dismissed Buckingham “unlawfully.”
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SFU grad launches Vancouver’s first affordable 3D printer
DittoPro brings the price point of a consumer-level 3D printer to all-time low Esther Tung — The Peak (Simon Fraser Universiy) BURNABY (CUP) — Lego pieces, forks, guns, medical models, and makeup; with capabilities to create everyday items, 3D printers are poised to disrupt mass production and the manufacturing sector as a whole. Leading the charge is SFU graduate Eugene Suyu, who recently put Vancouver on the map with the launch of his company, Tinkerine, and its revolutionary printer DittoPro. The DittoPro is a prosumer-level 3D printer that, according to Suyu, is meant to “sit in your office or home and not look like it’s out of place.” Suyu graduated two years ago from the SIAT program, where he encountered his first 3D printer in an industrial design course. “Once you use a 3D printer [as an industrial designer], a lot of thoughts go through your head. It opens up the doors in terms of what you can create,” said Suyu, who decided to create a 3D printer geared toward individuals after being unable to find one on the market. 3D printing decentralizes the manufacturing process by allowing the average person to print an entire object in their own home by uploading a digital image to the machine. The range of objects that can be created is limited only by each machine’s size, and the types of materials it can handle. Most 3D printers use a variation of plastic, although recently a Harvard student launched a printer that is able to create powdered eyeshadows and lipsticks through a process that is more similar to that of an inkjet printer. Tinkerine elected to use PLA, a biodegradable corn-sugar substrate, as the input
version of the plastic. “[It] makes the room smell like a candy shop,” said Suyu. While Tinkerine does not have facilities on-site to handle material recycling, they do manufacture most of their machines in-house. Despite using local labour, DittoPro’s price is about 30 per cent lower than a comparable model on the market right now. Suyu said that producing locally allowed for greater quality control and reliability of the machines. SFU acquired its first 3D printers at upwards of $15,000, whereas the DittoPro costs just $1,999 — although the two models can print about the same size and resolution. However, it would take SFU’s printers up to two to three times longer than the DittoPro to print the exact same object. But back in 2007, when SFU purchased its printers, the slower model was the baseline for affordability and productivity. Despite the political, social, and economic implications of a technology that can decentralize power and production, Suyu is more focused on the technical aspects of 3D printing — he sees the socio-political controversies as a “side effect” of what he is doing, rather than the driving force. SFU has yet to place an order for the new DittoPros, which are set to ship in May. Suyu is optimistic that there could be cross-collaboration between industrial design courses and Tinkerine’s education initiatives.
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Gradzette
Bulletin Board U of M school of art student Kristiane Church was named one of the winners of the inaugural Aimial AGO Photography Prize this past month for the following photo, entitled Julie.
TEDxUManitoba The University of Manitoba is hosting the first ever TEDxUManitoba event on Nov. 4, 2014. Now you can apply to be a speaker at TEDxUManitoba 2014! The deadline for speakers’ registration is July 31, 2014. Rules for speaking at the event include: 1) No selling from the stage - speakers are not allowed to pitch their businesses, products, or services nor ask for funding; 2) No political agendas - speakers are not allowed to advocate for parties, political leaders or politically controversial topics; 3) No religious proselytizing - speakers are not allowed to prove or promote a certain religion, deity or belief system; 4) No pseudoscience - speakers for science-related talks must be able to prove the scientific underpinning and credibility of their ideas. If you have any questions or if you have any people who you think should be contacted about speaking, please visit http://tedxumanitoba.com/speakers/.
Cale ndar hi ghli gh ts 6th Annual Canadian National Medical Student Research Symposium
June 10-12 Bannatyne Campus
FHS Habitat for Humanity Build Project
June 25-26 Robson Hall Fort Garry Campus
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The 135th Annual Spring Convocation
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H2O Program Annual Conference
June 10 - 20 1:00 - 9:00p.m. E-Lot Bannatyne Campus
Western Canadian Functional Food Ingredients: Strategies to Manage Costs & Enhance Products
June 11-12 Richardson Centre Fort Garry Campus Student fee: $50
June 3-5 (six sessions) Investors Group Athletic Centre Fort Garry Campus
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