Compiled by Charles He, Matthew Wyman-McCarthy and Jillian Flake
Contributors
Meth harms babies’ brains
New research at the University of Toronto suggests that even a single exposure to the common club drug speed can cause neurological birth defects in babies.
“We’ve known for a while that meth abuse during pregnancy is associated with low birth weight, cleft palates and other malformations, but this is the first research demonstrating that even a single exposure can cause long-term damage,” Peter Wells, pharmacology professor, told the faculty and staff newspaper The Bulletin. “It’s an important finding, given the increasing use of club drugs among women of childbearing age.” He said the effects of speed in the fetal brain seem to be very different than in the adult one, where methamphetamines are believed to cause actual physical degeneration of the brain.
“People usually think the last trimester of pregnancy is when developing brain function is most susceptible to damage, but in this case the brain is also affected by methamphetamine even in the earlier embryonic period,” Wells said.
—With files from The Bulletin
New abortion at McGill
After having an abortion and finding no emotional , McGill student Agathe Gramet-Kedzior was inspired to found an abortion group for students at her university. According to the McGill Daily, she hopes that the new group will allow women to share their experiences and emotions during a difficult period of their lives.
“This type of group is excellent because it’s about women talking to women who’ve had the same experience,” Marius Wolfe, health promotion officer at McGill’s student health service told the McGill Daily.
Wolfe pointed to studies that showed post-abortion therapy, such as psychiatric treatment or groups, reduces potential serious psychological after effects of having an abortion, such as depression.
Gramet-Kedzior said she is aware of the controversy surrounding abortion, but said her own group is non-political and does not judge on the morality of abortions.
“I’m not trying to cause controversy. I’m not taking a stance…. It’s purely a group, like Alcoholics Anonymous,” she said.
She said she hopes her group will be successful because she feels that McGill has a significant number of women in her situation.
“I heard from my doctor that there’s a lot of young women at McGill who get pregnant and don’t tell their boyfriend or their parents,” she said. “They’re basically having an abortion alone.”
—With files from the McGill Daily
‘Pimp my program’ at Ottawa U
In response to recent program cuts to the faculty of arts, the Student Federation of the University of Ottawa (SFUO) organized a fundraiser last April called “Pimp My Program.”
The fundraiser was an attempt to save some of 40 courses slated to be cut from the curriculum for financial reasons. The event included a yard sale, car wash, barbeque and concert for students.
In an interview with the Fulcrum, Dan Bova, SFUO VP (academic), said the goal of “Pimp my Program” was to raise at least some of the $343,200 necessary to keep the courses which had been scheduled for cancellation in order to hire 20 new full-time professors.
Bova and other student leaders conceded that the event would likely not result in the re-instatement of any courses and said raising awareness of student displeasure was a major objective.
“I think the point is to let the university know that the students actually do give a shit,” Bova said. “[s] pay a tremendous amount of lip-service to caring about undergraduates, but I’ve never actually seen them do it.” While University of Ottawa s are happy that initiatives such as “Pimp my Program” highlight the fact that Ontario universities are severely underfunded, they feel the event gave the university negative publicity when high school students were selecting universities, said Robert Major, VP (academic) and provost at the university.
—With files from the Fulcrum
Payroll inequities remain in Canada
Race and gender both play a role in the worth of an undergraduate degree, according to research reported by McMaster’s student newspaper The Silhouette.
According to the 2001 Canadian Census report, immigrants earn less than their Canadian-born counterparts. Regardless of an individual’s level of education, a gap persists even after he or she has lived in the country for 10 years.
The research states that in 2000, women with a bachelor’s degree earned 64 cents for every dollar that men earned.
However, the statistics are more equal for younger women—those between the ages of 25-29—who earn 81 cents to each dollar their male counterparts earn.
Further, men remain at the top of the payrolls—the majority of Canadians who earned more than $100,000 or more annually are university-educated men.
Daniel Coleman, director of the master of arts in cultural studies and critical theory program at McMaster, said he believes lifestyle influences trends that leave women out of high-paying positions.
“Gender inequity remains firmly in place in many occupations,” Coleman said. “ for daycares, maternity leaves and the associated assumption about the workers’ reliability all play into keeping women from entering high-income jobs.”
—With files from The Silhouette
CBC takes over campus airwaves
High-profile CBC radio personalities are taking over the airwaves at Carleton University’s campus radio station—CKCU-FM 93.1—while they remain locked-out of their own jobs.
First airing on Sept. 7 between the hours of 8 a.m. and 9 a.m., the new show, entitled Locked-Out Live, debuted on CKCU, featuring from the CBC Radio morning show.
Scheduled guests will include environmentalist David Suzuki and singer Bruce Cockburn.
The plan to use the community stations to get locked-out CBC employees back on the air is modeled after the University of Calgary’s campus station which began a similar program back in August, Matthew Crosier, CKCU station manager, told The Charlatan.
The show will not focus on the lock-out, but rather on local stories, in order to increase listenership at CKCU, Crosier said.
Many of those involved with the project are CKCU alumni, including Rita Celli from CBC Television.
According to Crosier, it was CBC workers who approached CKCU.
Locked-Out Live is not expected to affect negotiations said Richard Stursburg, senior CBC negotiator and executive vice-president of CBC Television, but he said he believes it is designed to “put pressure on management.”
The 5,300 CBC employees represented by the Canadian Media Guild —including familiar names such as Peter Mansbridge—were locked-out on August 15.
—With files from The Charlatan and the Gauntlet
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