Deadly Legacy

By Bryan Lee, The Starphoenix March 20, 2015 6:03 AM
http://www.thestarphoenix.com/technology/Deadly+legacy/10905348/story.html

Neil Alexander, executive director of the Fedoruk Centre stated in an interview that Saskatchewan's future could be much brighter, richer and cleaner if the province embraces nuclear power.

Brighter? For Cameco, Areva, Rio Tinto and others including Alexander. Richer? For the same groups. Cleaner? Enriched uranium causes cancer and birth defects. Enriched uranium placed in nuclear reactors to create steam to drive an electric turbine is the most lethal, toxic material known to humankind. Reprocessing of the high level toxic material produces plutonium that is only used for military purposes.

Science has never discovered how to detoxify or neutralize this material, which future generations will have to contend with for millennia.

I am disappointed that the Saskatchewan government funds the Fedoruk Centre and that the University of Saskatchewan continues to be influenced by the corporate interests. It amazes me that a public institution of higher learning promotes the nuclear agenda.

I am further disappointed at Premier Brad Wall's comment that, "The only program for First Nations and Metis is Cameco." This comment and the premier's international travel to sell uranium certainly underscore the need for leadership in the Saskatchewan legislature.

Bryan Lee

Metis representative on the U of S Senate

Christopher Lake

© Copyright The StarPhoenix

Columbia University launches community wide program to address rape culture

Columbia student Emma Sulkowicz vowed to carry her mattress everywhere she went until her alleged rapist was expelled from university. 

Emma Sulkowicz's #CarryThatWeight project (which she is doing as her thesis) garnered international attention. Rape culture on university campuses is an urgent problem and Emma's project inspired support from students across the USA - as survivors are feeling let down by the institutions that are supposed to protect them.  

This semester Columbia University launched the "Sexual Respect and Community Citizenship Initiative." As one part of this initiative, all Columbia students are taking part in new, required programming that explores the relationship between sexual respect and community membership. 

The programming options available to students include workshops, trainings, film screenings with discussion, videos and reflections, an arts option, and keys to resiliency, which are offerings specially intended for survivors, those who support survivors and others who have experienced trauma. 

Programs like this are a step in the right direction. However - Kirby Dick, director of a new documentary about rape on campus points out in his recent CBC interview that rape culture is alive and well.



In Canada 1 in 4 women will be sexually assaulted, that number is higher for first nations women and 83% of women with disabilities will be sexually assaulted in their lifetime. The impact this has on our communities can be addressed in a meaningful way and the University of Saskatchewan can play an integral role in setting an example for universities across Canada by raising standards, responsibility and expectations. 

VOTE NOW! 2014 U of S Senate Elections

The 2014 University of Saskatchewan (U of S) Senate elections are upon us (May 5 – June 20, 2014). As the U of S Senate is "the University’s window on the Province, and the Province’s Window on the University,” all members of U of S alumni are invited to elect Senate representatives.

All pertinent information for voting (including candidate profiles) can be found on the here. To vote, you must use your username (NSID) and click on the “vote” tab on the paws.usask.ca website. If you do not know what your NSID is, be sure to contact the U of S Secretary at university.secretary@usask.ca.

Read more...

University Senators question legality of Susan Milburn’s position on U of S Board of Governors

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - March 13, 2013. 

SASKATOON – Several University of Saskatchewan senators are questioning the legitimacy of new Board of Governors Chair Susan Milburn’s continuing membership on the Board, pointing out that the appointment of Ms. Milburn as the chair is fundamentally flawed according to University of Saskatchewan Act, 1995, c. U-6.1.

Senator Stefania Fortugno, a practising lawyer in Saskatoon, explains,

     In 2011 with Milburn's second and final term as Senate representative on the Board soon to expire, the Board requested that the Government appoint Milburn as one of its five appointees to the Board. However, the Government chose to appoint other individuals.

     There was a second option:  the Government was asked to amend the University’s governing legislation to enable Senate Representatives (Milburn) to serve a third term.  The legislation has not been amended.

     Milburn's maximum term expired June 30, 2012; she was granted an extension for the time being.   And yet on March 5th the Board made her Chair until 2016, four years beyond the maximum set out in the Act.

     Our argument is that the University is without doubt subject to the laws of Saskatchewan.

Knowing that Milburn’s term as a Senate-elected representative on the Board would officially expire on June 30, 2012, a new representative should have been elected at the April 2012 Senate meeting.  The Board, wishing to retain Milburn’s services in the interests of continuity, recommended to Senate that the position be left vacant for the interim while waiting for the government to address the issue. The motion was met with some opposition at Senate but passed with the understanding that this measure would be temporary and the position would be filled in 2013.

Because of her status as a provisional senate representative, a number of senators were surprised to find that on March 5, without Senate consultation, it was announced that Milburn had been selected to chair the Board until 2016. This means Milburn is expected to remain on the Board a full four years beyond her legally prescribed term as Senate representative, according the Act.  

Concerned senators ask: for how many years will the Senate be prevented from electing an appropriate representative to the Board?  The current situation requires that the Board of Governors and the Senate intentionally, actively and knowingly circumvent the Act. In Fortugno’s opinion, “This is not an example of good governance. This decision represents a failure to respect legal and democratic principles, including the rule of law.”

Susan Milburn’s skills and contributions to the University are not in question, say the senators. The law, as set out in the University Act must be respected.  The Senate needs to elect someone who can legitimately represent the Senate on the Board of Governors. This is an opportunity for the Board to uphold its legal integrity and to act on its  recently proclaimed commitment to transparency and good governance.

-30-

Please see appended information package.

Media Contacts:  Mary Jean Hande                                                Sandra Finley

  U of S Senate Member at Large                            U of S Senate Member at Large

  647-458-5326, maryjeanelizabeth@gmail.com    250-248-3526, sabest1@sasktel.net           

   

Open Letter by Professor Emeritus Michael Hayden Re: Proposed revisions to Senate Bylaws

April 19, 2012

An Open Letter to the University of Saskatchewan Senate

            In my opinion, as the author of the only peer reviewed history of the University of Saskatchewan, the proposed revisions to the bylaws of the U of S Senate are a further step in a decade-long multilevel process of substantially increasing the number of university administrators and giving them greater powers though the development of complex bureaucratic procedures, while turning faculty members into employees and students into customers. Now the plan is to reduce senators to silent observers, acquiescing to the top-down dictates of the university cum corporation. 

            The original senate was the supreme academic body of the U of S. The majority of its members were elected by Convocation. Over time university and appointed members came to  outnumber elected members. The University Council was originally the executive of the Senate.  In 1909 the Council became a faculty council and it evolved into the major academic body. Thus historically the Senate had become a rubber stamp, though it retained and occasionally used certain powers such as determining affiliation.

            The 1968 University Act maintained the Senate’s powers, but in a 1970 amendment many of these powers were transferred to Council.  In the 1968 Act the Senate became a means for the university to explain itself to the public and provided a forum for the public to present non-binding suggestions to the university.

            Inspired by the 1990 report of the Governance Committee of Issues and Options, whose primary author was Peter MacKinnon, the University of Saskatchewan Act of 1995 gave the Senate two special powers. The first is to “recommend to the board or the council any matters or things that the senate considers necessary to promote the interests of the university or to carry out the purposes of this act.” The second is to “do any other thing that the senate considers necessary, incidental or conducive to exercising its powers, to promote the best interests of the university or to meeting the purposes of this act.”

            The proposed bylaws begin with a noble statement that seems to support the Senate’s function as the university’s window on the province and the province’s window on the university.  But the bylaws then severely restrict the ability of members of the senate to exercise the powers granted to it in the University Act by greatly reducing the types of issues that may be raised and by giving too much power to the executive to determine which of the now restricted  allowable issues may actually be discussed.   In my opinion, in the interest of preserving the mandate of the Senate, as reflected in the 1995 Act, the proposed revisions are regressive and I urge senators to give them serious reconsideration.

Michael Hayden

Professor Emeritus of History

University of Saskatchewan

Media Advisory: Would proposed bylaw revisions further restrict democratic debate in U of S Senate?

Proposed U of S Senate bylaw revisions further limit senators’ ability to act as “province’s window on the University” and unnecessarily divide senators.

What: University of Saskatchewan Senate Meeting

When: 8:30AM, April 21, 2012

Where: Exeter Room, Marquis Hall, University of Saskatchewan

At the upcoming Senate meeting, an ad hoc committee will present revisions to meeting procedures for approval by senators. These revisions grant the Senate Executive Committee the authority to reject motions based on criteria of “personal claim or redressing a personal grievance against the University, any employee, officer or director of the University, or any body of the University, or primarily for the purpose of promoting general economic, political, racial, religious, social or similar causes unrelated to the activities of the University."

Several University senators and alumni believe that this language is too general, leaving room for the Executive Committee to reject potentially valid motions. These senators believe that it is important to have the ability to debate matters of politics, economics and environment to fulfill their role as the province’s “window onto the university,” as stated in the preamble to the proposed bylaw revisions. Such issues are just as vitally important to the University as they are to everyday Saskatchewan citizens.

“I would like to see senators achieve as close to consensus as possible,” said Jordan Miller,  “At present, the proposed revisions are likely to create great divisions in the Senate body that are entirely unnecessary.”  

In light of these concerns, USSWORD senators will argue that many of the proposed revisions should be returned to the committee for further consideration.

The proposed bylaw revisions can be found in the April 21, 2012 Senate meeting agenda

(p. 123). 

Since the Senate is the bridge between the U of S and the Saskatchewan community at large, the public is always welcome and encouraged to attend Senate meetings. 

Senate Election 2012

It's time again for U of S Senate Elections nominations!! Please send in your nominations before March 1, 2012.
Please visit the website of the Office of the University Secretary for more information and nomination forms!

http://www.usask.ca/university_secretary/senate/senate_elections.php

From the website of the Office of the University Secretary:

"An election will be held in the spring of 2012 for seven (7) Senate districts and five (5) member at large positions that expire on June 30, 2012. Elected Senators serve three-year terms beginning July 1 and are eligible for re-election to a second consecutive term.

As a Senator, you are part of the university's tri-cameral governance structure (Board of Governors, Council and Senate), and are responsible for some critical areas of operations, including: Non-academic student discipline; granting honorary degrees; establishment or disestablishment of colleges, schools and departments; examinations for professional societies; and promoting the interests at the U of S."

Counterpunch article on "Casino Capitalism and Higher Education"

THE POLITICS OF IGNORANCE

CASINO CAPITALISM AND HIGHER EDUCATION

by HENRY GIROUX

OCTOBER 31, 2011

"[H]igher education is increasingly defined as another core element of
corporate power and culture. Public spaces such as libraries are detached
from the language of public discourse and viewed increasingly as a waste of
taxpayers' money. The dominant media is simply an adjunct of corporate
advertising and ideology while also trading in the idiocy of celebrity
culture.  No longer vibrant political spheres and ethical sites, public
spaces are reduced to dead spaces in which it becomes almost impossible to
construct those modes of knowledge, communication, agency, and meaningful
interventions necessary for an aspiring democracy. Ignorance is now the
political and cultural currency of choice and provides the foundation for an
ongoing neoliberal attack on the social state, workers, and unions, matched
by a full-fledged assault on higher education."

READ MORE...

ScandaloUS Bias

MacKinnon comment a conflict: prof

By David Hutton, The StarPhoenix October 28, 2011

"A University of Saskatchewan professor says president Peter MacKinnon's endorsement of Saskatchewan Party candidate Rob Norris in a campaign brochure is unprecedented and constitutes an "abuse of power."

read more...

U of S Administration uses legal system to threaten and intimidate.

Long time U of S Professor likens University administration to the Politburo

The University of Saskatchewan . . .  is no longer the People's University of Saskatchewan that it was intended to be when first chartered near the turn of the century. Governing bodies at the University of Saskatchewan are virtually meaningless in a democratic sense.  The “politburo rules”. Members of Council tend to go along with what the Presidents, vice-presidents, deans, vice-deans and administrative advisors come up with, which have been very much influenced by corporate interests and corporate donations of late.  Faculty members of Council seem to live in an unconscious and understandable climate of fear—they do not want to oppose administrative plans for fear of keeping their own programs at the departmental level viable and properly funded. They tend to express homilies in support of top-down policies already made. They are constantly intimidated by the cycle of departmental reviews mandated by the former Provost as well as the tedious, time-consuming, ever-present, and incomprehensible Integrated Planning cycles, where the University collectively contemplates its navel rather than getting on with the job of actually serving students and the people of Saskatchewan .

read more . . .

SP Article on Corporate Influence at the U of S

U of S senators want more public input 

Rory MacLean

October 11, 2011

University of Saskatchewan senators who this summer called for the board of governors chair to resign because of her ties to Cameco Corp. are now saying the senate itself has a democratic deficit.

They formed the group University Senators in Saskatchewan Working to Revive Democracy (USSWORD) earlier this year to criticize the corporatization of the university.

The group was created after environmental lawyer Stefania Fortugno penned a letter that accused board of governors chair Nancy Hopkins of having a conflict of interest between her financial interest in Cameco and position as chair of the search committee for the next university president.

Elected senator Mary Jean Hande said a number of senators and faculty have since voiced their support for USSWORD, but are afraid of repercussions if they should be seen as aligning themselves with the group.

"They're afraid to speak out about these things because they're worried about repercussions," she said. "They're worried about bullying and they're worried about harassment."

Hande wouldn't specify exactly how many senators are involved, but she admitted it is less than half of the 28 elected to the body.

It's been difficult for the group to communicate with the other senators, said Hande, because communication is vetted by the senate secretary and the senate email list has recently been disabled.

Motions submitted by USSWORD to be put on the last senate meeting agenda calling for an investigation into Hopkins' apparent conflict of interest were rejected twice for being out of order.

"They told us there wasn't enough time to discuss these motions at the meeting, so they basically rejected them. They don't have the power to do that," said Hande.

Hopkins earlier denounced the accusations as "absurd," saying they stemmed from the fact that Cameco is in the nuclear business, "which is a big flashpoint for many people."

A recent chart issued by USSWORD outlining different corporate ties at the university reveals a nuclear focus, bearing the title Radioactive Trinity: A study of partnerships of government, industry and the U of S, though it also outlines links to several oil companies among university governors. These connections call the university's autonomy into question, said Hande.

"The university is a public institution. Its role is to serve the university community. That type of influence takes the university away from the influence of the people of Saskatchewan. We're concerned that the university is being transformed into some sort of think-tank for the energy industry."

USSWORD will be bringing three motions to the next senate meeting and is asking any interested members of the public to attend. The Occupy Saskatoon protesters will attend the meeting, which starts at 9:30 a.m. on Saturday in Room 150 in the College of Law building.

PROTEST COMES TO SASKATOON

The growing Occupy Wall Street movement demonstrating against corporate power and economic disparity hits Saskatoon on Saturday.

The Occupy Saskatoon event starts at 9:30 a.m. at the University of Saskatchewan, where the rally will support a group of academic activists and elected officials speaking out against corporate influence at the university.

The rally then marches to downtown Saskatoon and stops at Friendship Park for the day-long demonstration.

Occupy Wall Street is a continuous demonstration that has attracted thousands of people to New York to protest corporate influence in American society and government.

Read more: http://www.thestarphoenix.com/business/senators+want+more+public+input/5529876/story.html#ixzz1aV0CjbM9

Senators intend to present motions regarding Autonomy, Corporatization, Transparency and Communication at U of S Senate Meeting

The following are summarized motions that were submitted to the U of S Secretary, by elected senators, for inclusion in the October 15^th U of S Senate Meeting Agenda.  The motions were twice rejected by the Senate Executive on the basis that they were not “in order” and that they would like to “ensur[e] that sufficient time is given to the substantive issues that are on the fall meeting agenda.” As they are currently drafted, the U of S Senate Bylaws do not restrict individual Senators from placing motions on the agenda and the Senate Executive has conceded that these motions can be presented at the Senate Meeting for inclusion in the agenda.

That these motions were rejected by the Senate Executive, is just another example of the impoverished democratic climate on the U of S Senate, and emphasize the urgency of having motions such as these on the agenda. These are substantive issues that deserve proper consideration and discussion at the upcoming U of S Senate meeting and these Senators intend to see them discussed. If you’re concerned about Autonomy, Corporatization, Transparency and Communication at the University of Saskatchewan, we encourage you and all Saskatchewan community members to attend the October 15^th U of S Senate Meeting to show support for these motions.

Summaries of the three motions:

1. In light of an astonishing number of harassment and intimidation cases at the University of Saskatchewan, the senators seek clarification from the Board of Governors around the apparent dysfunctional role of the University administration in matters of dispute mediation and resolution.

2. In the past year alone, it was brought to the attention of the Board of Governors that their chair, Nancy Hopkins, appears to be in a significant conflict of interest by concurrently serving as a Cameco board member; and corporate and government interference has resulted in the inappropriate earmarking of $30 million of public money for the U of S Canadian Centre for Nuclear Innovation. Concerned that these instances represent a growing trend, the senators request clarification of issues regarding the apparent inability of the Board of Governors to protect the university autonomy from corporate and government influences. 


3.  At present, communication amongst U of S senators is restrictive and vetted by the University Secretary. USSWORD senators seek the formation of a committee to facilitate communication amongst all senators.

What: University of Saskatchewan Senate Meeting

When: 9:30AM, October 15, 2011

Where: Room 150, College of Law , University of Saskatchewan

Occupy Saskatoon plans to be at Oct. 15 University of Saskatchewan Senate Meeting.

News Release

OCCUPY SASKATOON — RECLAIM OUR COMMUNITY

Saskatoon people are rallying on Saturday, Oct. 15th, as part of a “people-centred,” international protest movement. We are acting in solidarity with those who “Occupy Wall Street,” and others in hundreds of cities, across Canada and world wide.

The central problem with our economic structure is the impact of corporate power on the lives of individuals, communities, institutions and government.   Nowhere are the concerns about corporate influence more troubling than at the University of Saskatchewan. The University, always strapped for cash, takes large donations from large corporations because public funding has remained stagnant.  But are these donations shifting the focus of the university away from the needs of students and towards the demands of corporate sponsors? Are sciences getting priority attention, while other programs are neglected?   

In the last three years, Cameco corporation, with provincial government backing, has practically taken over new research development at the university.  At the same time, programs like the Extension Department, the Department of Languages and Linguistics, and Fine Arts have been eliminated or starved for resources.  The administration is openly hostile to any debate or opposition to this drift in priorities.  The University Senate is the last chance to voice our concerns.  We need YOU, the ordinary citizen, to show up and demonstrate your support for the senators speaking out about OUR issues.

If you are worried about the rising costs of food and gasoline, you’ve felt the effects of corporate power. If you are concerned about how your community is being planned and directed, you’re aware of the influence of corporate power.  If you troubled about your children’s education, you’re bothered by the effects of corporate power.

We invite people from across the city, and beyond, to join us on Saturday, October 15th, to reclaim our community. 

9:15 a.m. University of Saskatchewan Senate meeting, College of Law

12:00 p.m.  March from the University to River Landing

1:00 p.m.. “Occupy” Friendship Park