Top Ten
May 22, 2007
The federal government has announced a $9.2 billion fund for science and technology. A tax incentive program will encourage the private sector to invest in research and development, to help get innovation out of the labs and into the market. Science program bursaries will also be increased, and there are plans for regulations that will promote research that benefits the public interest. Maclean’s Teck Cominco and the BC government have each announced a $7.5 million investment in the Keevil Institute of Mining Engineering at UBC. The funds will be used to expand faculty and create more student spaces at the internationally recognized facility. Keevil is the only mining engineering and research school in BC. An additional 80 student and 3 staff positions will be created over the next 5 to 7 years. BC News Release Although Homecoming is still 5 months away, the Kingston Whig-Standard reports that Queen's University is planning to build on successful security measures taken last year. Out-of-town police forces will again be supplementing Kingston Police to keep the peace on Aberdeen Street. The Queen's senate has proposed revisions to the student code of conduct for 2008, to include sanctions for off-campus behaviour, which police hail as a step in the right direction. The Kingston Whig-Standard The University of Victoria has organized a summer retreat for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered high-school students, meant to help ease the transition to campus life and to increase awareness of the services and supports available to students. The social anxiety of teens just becoming open about their sexuality, along with the typical transitions involved in starting PSE, is often overwhelming. The retreat includes mentoring by current students, sexual health and community activism workshops, and overnight stays on campus. The Vancouver Province York's Schulich School of Business will make the first Canadian university use of web-based software to help students prepare for job interviews. “InterviewStream” is an online tool that allows students to video-record themselves answering industry and skill-specific questions, either at home or at an on-campus facility. The software analyzes body language and speech patterns, even counting the number of times unnecessary words and phrases are used. York News Release The first long-range study of the media’s coverage of health issues, from Simon Fraser University, has concluded that Canadian newspapers are consistently missing the “real” stories about health, and dwell on easy-to-understand and sensational stories instead. 65% of the almost 5000 stories included in the story focused on service, delivery, management and regulation. Only 5.9% covered socio-economic factors, a major cause of health concerns, and only 1.5% focused on child development concerns. SFU News Release 27 US colleges are now lined up against US News & World Report’s rankings issue. 12 schools pioneered the protest and another 15 have joined the fray. The Annapolis group, a body including hundreds of liberal arts colleges, is expected to discuss the issue at its meeting next month. The National Association for Equal Opportunity in Higher Education will be appealing to all historically-black colleges to join the boycott. US News says it is not worried about the campaign. Inside Higher Ed Alumni reitrement communities on US campuses are already old news -- the really devoted alumnus can go one better. For just a few thousand dollars, several US colleges are offering to house the ashes of former students and faculty in perpetuity, so that they can spend eternity in the locale of their college glory days. Other schools are building memorials to serve the same purpose. In an increasingly mobile society, one's alma mater may be the most logical resting place. The New York Times Boys are reportedly almost twice as likely to download podcasts as their female peers. 63% of the 18-24 year old podcast audience is male. 18-24 year olds in general account for 29% of the overall audience. A study of October 2006 podcast downloads revealed that 54% of the podcast audience is in fact 35-54 years of age. Biz Report Grade 9 and 10 students visit college websites to find out: if they can get in, if they can afford to get in, and if the school is strong in their area of interest. By grade 12, when prospective applicants visit a college website it is a second pass, and they are looking for keys to a strong application, and to solidify their shortlist. Top-level content should be kept quick and efficient to navigate, to allow a shallow survey by younger students, with detailed and interactive content (read: time-consuming) placed where serious applicants will find it. mStoner’s Blog
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