Western breathes sigh of relief
The University of Western Ontario Faculty Association (UWOFA) called off a strike after a tentative agreement was reached Nov. 3.
The union was set to walk out as of 12:01 a.m. but reached a tentative agreement at 4 a.m. after an 18-hour negotiating marathon, said Helen Connell, associate vice-president of communications at Western. If ratified, the agreement will mean a new contract for more than 1,400 full- and part-time faculty members who have been without a contract since June 30.
Tibet students protest Mandarin as primary language
The largest anti-Chinese protests in Tibet in several years broke out last week as educational reform plans promoting Mandarin Chinese as the predominant language of instruction were introduced at a university in the region.
Cape Breton U workers strike
A small union created a big traffic jam at Nova Scotia’s Cape Breton University last week.
Safe injection site shot down
City councillors in Prince Albert, Sask. have dismissed a proposal for a safe injection site presented by two Saskatchewan nursing students.
Robyn Hueser and Emily Frost, both fourth-year nursing students at the First Nations University of Canada, presented the proposal last week.
Frost said although the costs of running a safe injection site are around $300,000 annually, the costs to municipal government of one untreated IV drug user may exceed $49,000 annually in productivity losses, health and health system and criminal justice costs.
Hazing allegations rock U of A
The University of Alberta has launched an investigation into allegations of hazing at the Delta Kappa Epsilon Fraternity on campus.
The allegations first came to light Oct. 21 in The Gateway, the U of A student newspaper.
Senior news editor Alexandria Eldridge said the paper received a video showing pledges being deprived of sleep, forced to eat their own vomit, and trapped in a plywood box called “the Hilton” for 15 minutes at a time.
