Mark Bigland-Pritchard's SP article: Reactor Research Centre's Agenda

It is difficult to avoid the conclusion that the CCNI is the nuclear industry's chosen back-door route to achieve the goals which the people rejected so overwhelmingly, and that the Wall government is fully behind this anti-democratic move. Indeed, Enterprise Saskatchewan's 2010-2011 annual report bragged that the government was implementing 18 of the 20 recommendations in the rejected UDP report.

Meanwhile, Saskatchewan's universities are conducting scarcely any work on the renewable energy technologies (wind, solar, small hydro, sustainable biomass, etc.), smart grids and energy efficiency measures that are transforming electricity grids worldwide. A Canadian Centre for Renewable Energy Innovation would be a much better use of our money economically, environmentally, and socially.

Read more...

D'Arcy Hande's Briarpatch article on nuclear power, tarsands extraction, and the co-option of the University of Saskatchewan

Follow the Yellowcake Road

Nuclear power, tarsands extraction, and the co-option of the University of Saskatchewan

D'Arcy Hande

"After reviewing this brief history of collaboration between industry, government, and the university, one may be struck with a profound sense of the surreal. It is as though, like Dorothy, we are transported to an alternate reality, the Land of Oz. Here, all the talk is about the bright future of nuclear medicine and glittering isotopes. But go down the shady side path into the forest, and one encounters the dark underside of the nuclear agenda and its connection to tarsands extraction."

Read more... 

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."

U of S Senators Demand Action from Board of Governors re: MacKinnon's Political Endorsement

November 3, 2011

Sandra Finley

656 Saskatchewan Crescent East

Saskatoon, SK   S7N 0L1

t 306-373-8078   e sabest1@sasktel.net

Members of the Board of Governors of the University of Saskatchewan

c/o  Dr. Lea Pennock

University Secretary

The University of Saskatchewan  

105 Administration Place

Saskatoon, SK                                               t 306-966-4632                                  

S7N 5A2                                                         e lea.pennock@usask.ca

cc:  Senators Miller, Hande, Fortugno, Schriml  (by email)

Dear Members of the Board of Governors of the University of Saskatchewan:

Re:    1.  PRESIDENT MACKINNON'S ENDORSEMENT OF ROB NORRIS' POLITICAL CAMPAIGN

See StarPhoenix, Hutton, October 28^th , at  http://www.thestarphoenix.com/news/MacKinnon+comment+conflict+prof/5620291/story.html#ixzz1c5BVLoig

“Rob Norris is the finest Minister responsible for post-secondary education that I have been privileged to work with in my thirteen years as President of the University of Saskatchewan”  (MacKinnon, September 2, 2011.)  Mr. Norris is the Saskatchewan Party candidate in Saskatoon-Greystone provincial constituency and is the incumbent Minister of Advanced Education, Employment and Immigration.  The endorsement is re-produced in his election pamphlet, with the permission of Dr. MacKinnon.

We, University Senators, request

-       In the exercise of its responsibility for the autonomy of the University, the Board of Governors censure the President for his compromising statement and subsequent authorization to use it in an election pamphlet.

Since Saskatchewan has fixed election dates, President MacKinnon would have known that this quote would be favourable to Norris’ re-election chances. He gave permission for its use after the writ was drawn up.  This is an inappropriate use of the position of President of the University.

President MacKinnon and Provost Fairbairn overrode the choice of the Search Committee for the Dean of Law to put in place University of Alberta Law Professor Anand, thesis supervisor of the president’s son.  This was also an inappropriate use of the President’s position.  It is documented at  http://sandrafinley.ca/?p=3366   

Censure is warranted.

RE:   2.  CHAIRMANSHIP OF PRESIDENTIAL SEARCH COMMITTEE

The U of S Conflict of Interest Policy states that a “Conflict of interest is a breach of an obligation to the University that has the effect of advancing one’s own interest or the interests of others in a way detrimental to the interests of, or potentially harmful to, the integrity of the University.  Conflicts of interest and the appearance of conflicts of interest must be avoided.”

We request

-        that the Board of Governors ask Governor Hopkins to permanently stand down as the Chair of the Selection Committee for the next President of the University.

Governor Hopkins is a member of the CAMECO Board of Directors since 1992, she stands to gain through her considerable holdings of CAMECO shares ($1.8 million as at end of 2009) if the University continues its friendly posture towards promoting the nuclear industry.  The University has done this in part through its hasty establishment of the Canadian Centre for Nuclear Innovation, CCNI  (University Council, 22^nd of September, 2011;  Board of Governors, October 14th, 2011).

In defence of the best traditions of the University,

_____"Sandra Finley"________

Sandra Finley, Elected Senator

On my own and on behalf of:  

Stefania Fortugno, Elected Senator

Mary Jean Hande, Elected Senator                                      

Jordan W. Miller, Elected Senator

Ronald Schriml, Elected Senator

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.