November 15, 2007
More than 100 Montreal students who locked themselves inside CEGEP Vieux-Montréal to protest tuition increases have been arrested. Police arrived on campus late Tuesday night after the students defied two requests to leave campus. The students are now facing charges including public mischief, assault and battery, and armed assault. No one was injured during the clash, but school property was damaged. Students say to expect more protests, but the government stands firm behind its $50 tuition increase.
Things are not all rosey on the picket lines at uSask and uRegina this week. Hundreds of patients at the University of Saskatchewan have been told to expect delayed service due to lack of essential patient care services, normally provided by CUPE members. 2 clinics at uSask have been closed, and outpatient services have been suspended at another. uRegina's president reports that outside help will be brought in starting today, to relieve the 100 administrative staff who have been filling in for 600 clerical, custodial and maintenance staff.
Earlier this week, Memorial University was temporarily disturbed when a student brought a pellet gun onto campus. Within 2 hours of being reported, the student was apprehended. He explained that he had brought the gun for use in a class project -- which was confirmed by a professor. While no one was hurt and there were no violent intentions, the University is pleased to report swift response from security resources and "excellent" communication between the police and the university. E-mail and web-based communications were used to alert the campus of a possible weapon on campus.
PM Steven Harper has appointed the University of Waterloo's president as an independent adviser for the public inquiry into the Mulroney-Schreiber affair. President Johnston will advise the government on how it should handle the inquiry. Johnston has served multiple governments regarding public policy. It has been suggested that PM Mulroney made a business deal worth $300,000 with Schreiber just 2 days before stepping down from his post.
Canadian would-be doctors are getting ready for this year's round of MCAT testing, and have their fingers crossed that there will not be a repeat of last year's "headaches." Not only was there a seat shortage, but the first edition of the online MCAT was also plagued by computer glitches. The Association of American Medical Colleges, which runs the test, says that all complaints have been heard and that this year's test will be much more stress-free -- other than the stress normally included in a major standardized test, of course. 6,000 Canadian seats will be available this year, up from 3,000 last year.
Somewhere between 20 and 49 cases of salmonella have now been reported in connection with a campus food outlet at the University of Western Ontario. One father is seeking legal counsel, and says that his daughter continues to suffer from the illness and is not able to return to her studies. She missed 9 days of school, including 3 midterms, and her family is concerned she will lose the entire term. On campus, many students are completely unaware of illness and continue to be Pita Pit patrons.
US college and university students are increasingly interested in foreign language courses and programs. Enrolment in Arabic courses alone have doubled between 2002 and 2006. According to the Modern Language Association, the increased interest in language study reflects "a major push toward internationalization on college campuses, more government support for language study, and simply more interest from students."
Why buy a clicker when you can use your cell phone? Rather than fighting students and their text messaging addiction, some teachers are encouraging students to use their cell phones to get involved in learning. Wireless software allows students to take quizzes on class content, detecting when a student "has it down cold" and moving on to new topics. Phones can also be used to distribute audio, and even video.
Bebo, the social networking site with 40 million users worldwide, has launched yet another take on social networking: the spin this time is media. Open Media allows users to access free content from major broadcasters and smaller players. Networks including CBS, MTV, BBC and more are loading their content onto their own Open Media channels or profiles, and making money off the advertising that is included. The launch is a challenge to Facebook, which is much lighter on the media side, and to YouTube, as a new online video provider. MySpace has been very successful with media content, but has its own origins in music rather than video.
(It's not what you think.) Does a survey of 8 million college freshmen over the past 40 years support the existence of a Millennial generation? (Nope.) How long is the decision cycle for students? (Hint: you probably need to launch new programs earlier than spring!) How do marketers have to behave in the world of social networking? (Like good dinner party hosts.) What are the interactive marketing channels to watch in 2008? (Hint: IM is already old news.) What are the advantages and disadvantages of centralized marketing structures on campus? How do you leverage word of mouth in the world of Web 2.0? Find the answers to these and other questions on Ken's blog, which summarizes all the most valuable nuggets of wisdom he heard at the 4-day
AMA Higher Education Marketing Symposium this week.
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