Author: Jacqueline Di Bartolomeo

International students Ontario’s education cash cow

International students studying in Ontario are being taken advantage of by the provincial government, a new report suggests. The report was compiled by the Ontario Undergraduate Students’ Alliance after the government announced their goal of increasing the number of international students in the province by 50 per cent, the Cord reported. The result is OUSA’s Going Global campaign, which advocates for better career opportunities in Canada for those students in order to compensate for the drawbacks of being international, like high tuition and little financial aid. OUSA president Meaghan Coker said international students bring in $5,000 more in revenue than domestic students, which adds up to a contribution of $2 million a year to the Ontario economy.

Conservative staffer rails against Harper media policy… on Facebook

An assistant to a Conservative MP used Facebook to disagree with Stephen Harper’s media strategy, according to the Toronto Star. Tony Phillips, a communication and legislative assistant to British Columbian MP Dona Cadman, called the Prime Minister`s policy of only answering five media questions a day “stupid.” Phillips declined to elaborate on his comments to the Canadian Press, noting that it was a personal Facebook page and that speaking about them in the media would probably not be good for his career. It remains to be seen whether Phillips will be disciplined for his comments.

Text tougher to understand on smartphones

Reading comprehension on a smartphone is half as good as on a desktop monitor, according to a new study. The study, conducted by University of Alberta professor James Miller, focused on comprehension of privacy policies such as Facebook’s, and found it was particularly difficult to comprehend – not in the least because it is written at a grade 13 reading level. Miller said the results indicate the need to create versions of text specifically for use on mobile phones. He noted that as of yet, few online outlets have converted to a different style of writing for online content, a change he said could be useful. He hopes to conduct further research to outline a specific online writing style.

Link discovered between unemployment and longer lifespan

Being unemployed may just be your ticket to a longer lifespan, according a study by two Wilfrid Laurier professors. The Cord reported that economics professors Hideki Ariizumi and Tammy Schirle examined 30 years’ worth of data to discover that mortality rates for middle-aged Canadians drop during recessions. The authors listed a number of changes in behaviour that could explain the drop. They said the unemployed drive less, party less, drink less and eat less fast food. Unemployment also means exercising more and sleeping more, two additional factors in reducing mortality. Ariizumi and Schirle also discovered that while mortality rates in Canada do not drop for seniors in times of recession, in the United States they do. However, Ariizumi cautioned not to take the study as a sign that unemployment is better for your health. So don’t quit your day job in a bid to better your health.

Breast cancer treatment in Ontario expanded on a conditional basis

The Ontario government is expanding access to breast cancer treatment. The Toronto Star reported Ontario will now offer “conditional” access to cancer drugs for those with small tumours when it can be shown that benefits will be derived from making the exception.  In doing so, the province joins the ranks of Alberta, Saskatchewan, and British Columbia, where patients with small tumours have access to cancer drug Herceptin.  The decision comes after the story of a woman who was denied access to the drug over the size of her tumour received widespread media coverage. Cancer patient Jill Anzarut had protested that she had been denied Herceptin because her tumour was less than one cm in diameter. Health Minister Deb Matthews had initially stated it would be wrong to change the rules of the drug approval process, but later reversed her position.

Note to Canadians: Stop watering your driveway

Canadians both appreciate water and unnecessarily waste it, according to a survey looking at our water consumption. According to the Montreal Gazette, a Royal Bank of Canada and Unilever- commissioned study found that 55 per cent of respondents said water is Canada’s most important natural resource. However, of the 2,066 Canadians polled, many also admitted they had wasteful habits like flushing objects like cigarette butts down the toilet to get rid of them, leaving the tap running while doing dishes and hosing down the driveway. Chairman of the Canadian Partnership Initiative of the UN Water for Life Decade Bob Sandford said the results showed that Canadians still do not make the connection between the need to conserve water and their personal use of the resource.

University of Regina Students in favour of continuing CFS membership

Students at the University of Regina have voted for continued membership in the Canadian Federation of Students. The results of an October referendum at the university polling students about the CFS were released March 11 without the consent of the student union, according to the Canadian University Press. The decision made by the CFS to release the results has unilaterally increased tensions between the federation and the student union. With 1,414 students voting in favour of continuing membership and 1,326 against, the margin of victory was narrow. The union’s board of directors had decided against continuing membership in the CFS in October.

Eau de Kessel, because the Leafs didn’t stink enough

You know what they say: if you can’t win a Stanley Cup, go into the perfume business. The Toronto Maple Leafs have announced they will be expanding their brand by releasing a men’s and women’s fragrance. According to the Globe and Mail, the woman’s scent, White, is wearable, if reminiscent of hairspray. Unfortunately for male Leafs fans, Blue apparently smells like cologne from the 1990s. With a price tag of $89.99 for 50 ml of the stuff, the perfume is bound to make a puck-sized dent in your wallet. However, $25 of every sale will go to the MLSE Team-Up Foundation.

University of Winnipeg professors preparing to strike

Negotiations between the University of Winnipeg and its faculty are stalled again, with the latter set to walk out on Thursday if talks do not continue. CBC News reported that Saturday’s discussions fell through when the two parties broached the topic of wages. A university spokesperson said the salary raise demanded by faculty (8.4 per cent over three years) would cause a 10 per cent raise in tuition. However, a faculty association spokesperson denied the claim. The faculty originally set a strike deadline of March 9, but later extended it by a day. They have been without a contract for a year.

Party on, Ryerson U

Ryerson is the latest Canadian university to face the unintended consequences of merrymaking on campus. The Canadian Press reported that a February party in the Toronto university’s residence ended up incurring a $4,000 cleaning bill. University officials are now saying they will crack down on out-of-control behaviour. Student housing manager Chad Nuttall said they are hoping people come forward with information so they can assign the bill to those who caused the damages. If not, the university is considering the implementation of community billing. With the incident, Ryerson joins the ranks of schools like the University of Toronto (access to common room temporarily banned), the University of British Columbia (weekly beer night cancelled) and Queen’s University (homecoming cancelled until 2014) to be faced with stricter rules because of comparable incidents.

Having children – not all it’s cracked up to be?

Researchers at the University of Waterloo are saying that parents idealize the positive effects of having children, the Toronto Sun reported. The study, published in Psychological Science last year, divided 80 parents into two groups. The first group was given literature emphasizing the cost of raising a child (approximately $185,000), while the other was given material expounding on the long-t erm benefits of parenthood. Follow-up interviews revealed the first group was more likely to talk about how much happiness their children had brought them, indicating they were trying to justify their financial cost.  The researchers suggest the phenomenon is a recent one. They say it originated in the 20th century as children began to contribute less financially to the household. My mother has assured me the study is nonsense.

Mad cow disease found in Albertan dairy cow

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency revealed on Friday that a case of mad cow disease was found in an Albertan dairy cow last month.  The owner reported abnormalities in the cow to a local veterinarian as part of the National BSE (bovine spongiform encephalopathy) Surveillance program. A CFIA spokesperson told the Globe and Mail that they confirmed the finding on Feb. 18. No part of the animal entered the human food chain. Mad cow is spread through feed contaminated with infected animal proteins. The discovery is not expected to affect beef exports. The case marks the 18th case of BSE found in Canadian cows since 2003, when an outbreak of the disease devastated the beef export industry.