Canadian Campus News

Ronald Leung / Silhouette Staff

CFS-BC moves to expel University of Victoria Students’ Society

The Canadian Federation of Students (CFS) British Columbia chapter has voted to expel the University of Victoria Students’ Society (UVSS), citing unpaid fees and UVSS’s departure from national CFS as reasons for expulsion. UVSS students are still considered members of the CFS-BC until the winter session is over. The fees in question total to approximately $160,000, and according to the CFS-BC, are part of an alleged underpayment  from over a decade ago.

UBC futures market facilitates student bets on provincial elections

UBC business professor Werner Antweiler has been running an elections futures market since 1993, hoping to teach students about long- and short-selling – and how to predict election outcomes. The real-world elections futures market is currently trading heavily on this spring’s upcoming provincial election. Students participating in Antweiler’s market are able to buy and sell commodities as they please, resulting in reasonably accurate results in the past. In the 2008 federal election, the Conservative seat prediction traded steadily at just above 40 per cent, and on Election Day they picked up 36 per cent of the seats.

Introduction of scholarship benefits students with ADD/ADHD

Shire Canada, a biopharmaceutical company that focuses on attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is creating a scholarship program for Canadian adults suffering from the disorder. It will be introduced this upcoming September and will not only include financial support for tuition, but also one year of ADHD coaching. Consideration for the scholarship is open to students that have been diagnosed by a physician and are actively seeking treatment for the disorder. The scholarship is available to students in Alberta, Ontario, and Quebec. A minimum of one student per province will be selected and a total of five spots are available.

Laurier professor addresses shaky job market for young Canadians

Communications professor Greig de Peuter at Wilfrid Laurier University is readying students for careers that could be far more precarious than in his “Work and Cultural Industries” class. Bringing in guest speakers such as Nicole Cohen, founder of Shameless Magazine, is part of Peuter’s plan to illustrate short-term contract  and non-permanent working conditions. Cohen speaks with personal experience, referencing her own shaky unemployment after completing her undergraduate degree when she worked freelance for some time. Students praise this pessimistic, yet realistic view of the job market.

New Ryerson Student’s Union policy passes without challenge

The Ryerson Students’ Union (RSU) quickly adopted a new policy which will ensure the empowerment of women’s voices on campus: rejecting the concept of misandry – the hatred or fear of men. This came right on the tail of the attempts of a new group trying to start up the creation of a men’s issues group. Students involved in this group object to the new policy, saying that the group is not anti-feminist, but rather seeks to discuss men’s issues on campus, including misandry.