Students at Mohawk College are campaigning for the school to introduce sharps disposal containers in washrooms.
The Change.org petition campaign, being led by a group of six Mohawk students in their final year of the social service workers program, currently has over 100 signatures.
Vince Soliveri, a campaign organizer, said the petition is driven by safety concerns and a desire to de-stigmatize the use of needles.
Currently, Mohawk College does not have sharps disposals in washrooms.
Instead, there are signs asking students not to flush needles down the toilet or put them in the garbage.
“Because it is so stigmatized, people do not want to have that conversation,” Soliveri said. “Telling people to cap needles and take them home is a pretty harmful way to go about the situation.”
Soliveri first started thinking about the subject when a harm reduction worker from the AIDS Network came in to speak to the crisis intervention class in November.
“[The harm reduction worker] brought up that Mohawk College is branding itself as a safe and inclusive space for anybody and having a sticker like that on the wall is stigmatizing for those that use needles and do not really to create a safe and inclusive environment for people who do use needles for any reason,” Soliveri said.
The project team members began serious work on the project in January.
Soliveri has a particular connection to the issue as well, being a placement student with the AIDS Network in downtown Hamilton.
These experiences make him confident about the feasibility of installing sharps disposals.
“It does not really come at an expense other than a little bit of labor screwing the sharps container and mounting it on the wall. That is really the hardest part of it because everything else is provided by other agencies in the city,” Soliveri said.
The AIDS Network currently runs a “Community Points” program in collaboration with Hamilton Public Health Services, where the organization picks up needles and drops off sharps disposal containers around the city by request.
For the rest of the semester, the team will be working out the exact details of a potential sharps disposal program. They are also planning a public outreach phase.
After that, they will bring their plans to the college administration.
“This is probably a project that will go beyond our time as students,” Soliveri said. “We finish school in April, and we are hoping by then, we can at least have a pretty good set of signatures in our petition that we are circulating around members of the Mohawk community.”
Soliveri is hopeful that the petition could have lasting effects beyond Mohawk.
“We are hoping if this project is successful and people are into it and understand the value, that it can be used as a framework for other places in the city,” Soliveri said. “And that could be as big as a university or that could be as small as your local café, just letting people understand that the process is not as daunting as people think it is.”
A sharps disposal system at Mohawk would not be the first of its kind.
Ryerson University is planning to install sharps containers in over 500 washrooms in university-owned buildings following a successful pilot project last January.
McMaster lacks sharps disposal containers in its washrooms. McMaster Associate Director Health Safety and Risk Management Lisa Morine said the university regularly inspects the campus and sees no present need to implement sharps disposals in washrooms.
The Mohawk College online petition can be found at https://www.change.org/p/get-sharps-containers-at-mohawk-college. To contact the Community Points program for disposal of sharps or for harm reduction supplies, call 905-546-2489.
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Ronald Leung / Silhouette Staff
Police crackdown on renewed Quebec student movement
Last spring was marked by massive student protests marching against the Liberal $1,625 tuition hike, numbering over 200,000 people including Parti Quebecois leader Pauline Marois. This year, with Marois at the helm implementing a five year $70 indexation, students took to the streets once more – and were quickly shut down by police just 10 minutes into the Montreal protest. Over 200 people were arrested and fined. Student protesters noted the heavy-handed change in tactics and worry about the fear these actions will cast on potential supporters.
Threat of probation looms over University of Saskatchewan medical school
A small team of inspectors has returned to the University of Saskatchewan after the College of Medicine was told two years ago that it was at risk of losing accreditation if it did not restructure its operations. Ten infractions were outlined: overall lack of structure, unclear professor responsibilities, decentralized student reviews, a delay in reporting students’ final marks, informal student review procedures, and insufficient study space. College faculty and university administration have been working on sweeping plans for the school of medicine.
University of Regina refugee students await Minister verdict for amnesty
Two Nigerian students from the University of Regina have been anxiously staying at a church while their lawyer, Kay Adebhogun, works to keep their cause as a priority for government officials. Both students also worked at the local Walmart in Regina, but when realising that they did not have the appropriate SIN number or a work permit respectively, they both left their jobs only to be arrested by the Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA). The students originally received full scholarships from the Nigerian government.
SAIT student holds record for world’s largest chess set
A student from the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (SAIT) holds a Guinness World record with his father for the largest chess set. Secured in 2009, the giant set currently is in Medicine Hat, Alta. Ken Taylor explains that his father, Bill Taylor, received inspiration in 2004 when he saw a large chess set in Austria. Bill’s enthusiasm quickly caught on with Ken and they built the set together. The father and son received commemoration from the provincial government. The king is the largest piece at 3’ 11” tall, weighing 35 lbs.
Ryerson engineering under criticism for “initiation” ritual
Students in Ryerson’s faculty of Engineering are facing potential disciplinary action for running an “initiation” ritual that involved scantily-clad students crawling through slush in downtown Toronto. The controversy was sparked when a YouTube video of the annual event surfaced. Ryerson president Sheldon Levy has called the event “completely unacceptable” and not representative of the “positive and supportive culture of Ryerson.” The Ryerson Engineering Students Society (RESS) and other students involved in the “swim,” which is meant as a team-building activity for frosh week leaders, contend that it was not a hazing ritual, but was all in the spirit of fun.
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.
Ronald Leung-The Silhouette
Ryerson students turn to ‘Sugar Daddies’ for income
It’s not easy surviving financially as a university student – tuition, rent, food and entertainment attack from all sides as debt piles up. More than 150 Ryerson students, mostly female and in need of cash, have turned to dating website SeekingArrangement.com to find “Sugar Daddies”: older businessmen looking for company. These “Daddies” pay the students large amounts of money for dates, friendship and even sex. While not illegal, it certainly is a concern that some of today’s students are turning to prostitution to pay for education. (Reported by Diana Hall, The Eye Opener)
Memorial University theatre students get hate mail from Church in Kansas
The theatre class of Memorial University recently put on a production of Laramie Project, focused on the true story of Matthew Shepard, a 21-year-old who was physically attacked and left for dead in 1998 after being identified as homosexual. Westboro Baptist Church in Kansas turned its sights on the Newfoundland university by sending hate mail such as “God hates fags.” The Church has been known to picket the funerals of AIDS victims, American soldiers killed in the Middle East and individuals identified as “nation-destroying filth.” (Reported by Laura Howells, The Muse)
Burst reservoir floods McGill campus
Water freely flowed from the McTavish Reservoir on Jan. 28. The location of the reservoir, just uphill of McGill, allowed the leak to sweep through campus, resulting in hundreds of cancelled class and laboratories and over hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage. Although a home-made video of a student being swept away in the middle of the street by surging tides has gone viral, no injuries were reported. (Reported by Erin Hudson, CUP Quebec Bureau Chief)
Plans for new B.C. law school criticized for allegedly homophobic rules
The plans of Christian-based University Trinity Western to open a new law school on the West Coast has ignited controversy for proposing that all future student must sign a “Community Covenant” that outlaws pornography, alcohol on campus and limits “sexual intimacy” for “marriage between one man and one woman.” This gives the University sweeping powers to theoretically suspend or expel students displaying homosexual behaviour. Deans of law schools across the country have strongly opposed this point, arguing that Trinity Western crosses a moral boundary and is promoting discrimination based on sexual orientation. (Reported by Laura Rodgers, CUP B.C. Bureau Chief)
University of Toronto sex-based student party sparks controversy
The University of Toronto Sexual Education Centre recently held a controversial party at Oasis Aqua Lounge, where students were invited to spend the night exploring their sexuality. With pornography freely playing and piles of condoms and lube stacked in corners, it’s not surprising that this event ignited heated discussion on the online Toronto Star article page, which got thousands of shares on Facebook. Critics argue that “it says something about where our society is going morally,” but some students are proud of how accepting the event was. (Reported by Kristine Wilson, The Ryersonian)
A panel discussion on unpaid internships at the Will Work for Exposure Conference on Oct. 19 in Toronto.
The culture sector, long known for its precarious working conditions, is shaping up to be more arduous for its workers. On Oct. 19, a mix of students, professionals, artists and union leaders converged in Toronto to talk labour injustice at the ‘Will Work for Exposure’ conference at Ryerson University.
Organized by Ryerson’s Centre for Labour Management Relations and members of the Canadian Media Guild and ACTRA, the conference addressed topics including wage theft, copyright and workers’ rights.
The event also provided the venue for one of Canada’s first public debates on unpaid internships, according to organizer Nicole Cohen.
Kim Pittaway, former editor-in-chief of Chatelaine, who has taught journalism at Ryerson and the University of King’s College, noted in her panel speech that getting a first job as a journalist is much harder now than when she was starting out.
“When I did connect with an employer, I was paid an actual wage. And that doesn’t happen these days with the students I have taught,” said Pittaway. “For most of them, the reality is they won’t be considered to be hirable until they’ve done, not one internship, but two or three or four unpaid internships back to back.”
Pittaway said students should be especially wary of unpaid work at for-profit organizations.
“There’s a problem when profit-generating organizations reap the benefits of younger workers,” she said. “A lot of young journalists are surprised and grateful when people pay them, and they undervalue their own work.”
Other panelists expressed similar sentiments in the afternoon session on unpaid internships.
One was Agata Zieba, a former journalism student who spoke about her experience at two unpaid, full-time stints in the magazine industry.
“I did everything from administrative work to writing online articles to plenty of fact-checking. Everyday I pushed myself to work harder and for longer than I was told to,” said Zieba. “I didn’t want to be forgotten once the next round of interns replaced me in four months or six weeks.
“I felt I was getting great experience, but I admit that I kept wondering, why am I working for free?” she said.
Edward Keenan, senior editor at The Grid, also weighed in, having started out as an unpaid intern and also having managed an internship program.
“I don’t think I’d be a journalist if unpaid internships didn’t exist. I was competing with too many people vastly more qualified than me, at least on paper.”
Referring to internships at The Grid, formerly Eye Weekly, Keenan noted, “If those positions were paid, there are thousands of mid-career journalists in this city who could take them first.”
He also pointed to the oversupply of workers in the industry, with the number wanting work far exceeding the number of jobs available.
“Virtually no one enters the culture industry because they desperately need to feed their families. We’re not forced into this business by circumstance,” he said.
Why, then, aren’t more young people turning away from culture work? The answer has to do with the ‘reality TV model,' according to keynote speaker Andrew Ross, professor of social and cultural analysis at New York University.
“Culture work is more gratifying,” he said. “People will be drawn to the contest.”
In his speech, Ross spoke about higher levels of free labour after the 2008 financial crisis. He argued that, among other factors, student debt contributes to an increasingly unfair labour market.
“Debt is a condition of entry into the workforce for most,” he said, comparing this to a “modern form of indenture.”
“If [students] are lucky enough to land paid work, a large part of their wages are more and more used to pay off loans taken out simply to prepare themselves for employability in the first place.”
In recent years, debate over whether unpaid internships are exploitive has been heating up in Canada and the US.
Many argue that these positions are restricting access to the culture sector, giving an edge to those who can afford to take on unpaid work. Currently, there are no regulations for unpaid internships in Canada and, as several speakers pointed out, few reliable statistics on the subject.
“There’s very little being written about it,” said Andrew Langille, Toronto-based lawyer and blogger at Youth and Work.
Langille noted that unpaid internships not only affect young workers, but also recent immigrants, workers in their 20s and 30s, and older workers switching careers.
“It’s very difficult for government and academics like myself to comment in any meaningful way without knowing the scope of the issue,” said Langille. “I think [data collection] is a big start.”
(Infographic updated to account for new information)
This time next year, McMaster students could be off on their first-ever fall break, but so far, there have been few signs this will happen in 2013.
With sessional dates to be presented to the Undergraduate Council in December, MSU President Siobhan Stewart has limited time to determine whether her proposed fall break will get the nod from the student body. She will then need to convince University administrators to make a change to next year’s calendar.
Stewart won the MSU presidential campaign in April with ‘fall break 2013’ as a major platform point.
The promised break could manifest itself in several ways, from an extra day off before Thanksgiving weekend to a full reading week.
At this point, Stewart says she’s not sure what she could accomplish in time for 2013.
“I can’t say whether or not a full reading week could happen next year. Something can happen. What that something is, I don’t know yet,” said Stewart, who said she would not identify concrete goals before finding out feasible options and polling students.
“My role is to get student feedback and try to get all the factors. In terms of getting that into the calendar, all I can really do is present [what students want]. I don’t have approval power, but my hope is that with substantial student voice behind me, that will add more weight to whatever it is they’re hoping for,” said Stewart.
As of yet, the MSU has not held a public student forum on fall break. Stewart said a survey of student opinion will be released in early November.
The survey will ask students for feedback on what is possible for fall break next year and whether or not they want to move toward a larger-scale initiative like a fall reading week.
Given the tight timeline for administrative approval, a full week off during fall 2013 is unlikely.
Stewart's electoral platform discussed introducing a fall break at Mac
Last week, Ryerson University joined several other universities in the GTA by having its inaugural fall reading week, giving students time off from classes between Oct. 8 and Oct. 12.
It was no easy feat, and Melissa Palermo, Vice President (Education) of the Ryerson Students’ Union can attest.
“We started work on getting a fall reading week in the 2010/2011 year,” said Palermo.
“We first wanted to get students’ opinions on whether or not it was something they wanted, and we got a mandate at our semi-annual general meeting in 2010. We did research on what happened at other campuses and wrote a proposal to the University Senate, and that proposal was passed in January of 2011. The whole process took about a year and a half.”
Phil Wood, Associate Vice President (Student Affairs) at McMaster said there are a number of administrative kinks to work out before a fall break of any kind could happen.
“There are several difficulties that must be worked through on our end. These include things like length of a term and exam schedules, which will need to be dealt with before we could consider even a pilot project,” said Wood.
As is the case for Ryerson, some professional programs at McMaster may not be able to reduce the number of weeks in the semester from 13 to 12.
In particular, engineering students need to spend a higher number of hours in class in order for their program to be accredited.
“Whether or not they would be able to take time off would depend on the steps we are able to take to replace these hours. This would not be a simple task,” said Maria White, Assistant Dean of Engineering.
At Ryerson, the faculty of engineering and architectural science was permitted to re-evaluate whether they wanted a reading week due to their accreditation requirements. Ultimately, the faculty decided not to participate.
“Their options were to find more class time or work through the reading week,” said Palermo.
The fall reading week debate has grown in popularity among Ontario universities over the past few years, with mental health concerns and student stress at the core of the discussion.
Debra Earl, McMaster’s Mental Health Team Nurse, wrote a proposal for fall break for submission to Student Affairs in 2009, to which she says she has received no response.
The report compares McMaster to peer institutions in Ontario and the U.S. and finds McMaster more stringent than other institutions in its scheduling accommodations for students.
The study shows the number of teaching days at McMaster was one of the highest in the province in 2009, with only two non-teaching days in the semester.
McMaster’s exam period (14 days) was also longer than nine other Ontario universities’ in 2009. McMaster had only one ‘study day’ before the start of exams.
“There might be a benefit to having exams spread out more, but what some schools do is have a condensed exam schedule and a longer study period beforehand,” said Earl.
At the time of Earl’s study, Laurentian, Trent, Nipissing and York had week-long breaks during the fall semester. Since then, the University of Ottawa and Ryerson University have jumped on board.
The University of Toronto offers a two-day mid-semester break in November, and Queen’s has a three-day study break in December.
At the moment, it is uncertain whether a fall break would be favourable to the majority of McMaster students, and in what capacity they would want it implemented. It also remains to be seen whether there is enough time to make it happen for the next academic year.
The Undergraduate Council will vote on next year’s sessional dates on Dec. 11. The schedule for 2013-2014 must be finalized before the printing of McMaster’s undergraduate calendar in March.
