In January I will be teaching a course in the McGill Faculty of Religious Studies. It is entitled Contemporary Theological Issues, which is to say that the actual content of the course was actually somewhat open-ended.  After considering several possible topics, I landed on the topic of forgiveness and reconciliation.

In the process of considering and exploring this theological question I came across this sculpture by Margaret Adams Parker – commissioned by Duke Divinity School and situated on their campus. It is a remarkable portrayal of the return of the prodigal son – and of the elder brother’s hesitance (refusal?) to welcome his brother home.

This image is from the Duke Divinity School online newsletter from Winter 2006. You can visit Magaret Adams Parker here. The story of the making of the sculpture is here.

Laughter is a good medicine?

http://picasaweb.google.com/anonconformer/Thenonconformer#

see also

http://thenonconformer.wordpress.com/2009/12/11/hospital-deaths-account-for-half-of-deaths-annually/

http://thenonconformer.wordpress.com/2009/12/02/even-many-doctors-are-mainly-selfish-self-centered-want-to-get-rich-fast-too/

The non conformer’s Canadian Weblog Recent Posts

•  A NO WIN SITUATION for the federal Conservatives
• Ex Toronto police chief Julian Fantino is one of those bad apples
• Hospital deaths account for half of deaths annually
• New Conservative Accountabiility report
• RCMP Accountability REPORT
• Toronto Police Accountability Bulletin No. 50,
• Montreal Police Accountability
• A serious warning for Quebec’s Premier Jean Charest too.
• RCMP Mounties should be retired and replaced ASAP
• Most Canadians get uneven, inadequate diabetes test, care
• Now there are good and bad laws too, good and bad judges..
• WHERE’S THE STEPHEN HARPER PROMISED CANADIAN JOBS???????
• Too many Doctors are mainly selfish, self centered, want to get rich fast
• Mad Canadian telecomunications giants slug fest
• CANADIAN MOTHER’S RIGHTFUL SEARCH FOR JUSTICE

• http://thenonconformer.wordpress.com/

http://picasaweb.google.com/anonconformer/Thenonconformer#

 

 Almost since my first job after graduating from university I had learned that people are not to be trusted, need to be supervised, and corruption still exists in construction, universities, municipalities, governments, corporations, amongst professionals and politicians as well.

• Overuse of antibiotics and lab tests to protect against malpractice lawsuits (Pennsylvania State University estimates that as much as 91 percent of our nation’s healthcare expenditures are related to defensive medicine);
• Signifcant Fraud  in Medicare claims  ;
• Administrative inefficiency and redundant paperwork;
• Medical mistakes;
• Preventable conditions, such as uncontrolled diabetes

http://www.healthfreedom.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=933&Itemid=1

A  doctor is concerned that Manitoba labs are putting patients in danger , the province is now conducting an external review into the matter.  Pediatric pathologist Dr. David Grynspan says he’s noticed problems at provincial labs for the past two years. Last month, he submitted a 20-page report to the province which outlined concerns about heavy workloads, lack of accountability and some senior managers over-billing for work. Grynspan says those factors compromise patient safety. He says staffing levels may be to blame. Currently there are eight vacancies in the pathology department out of 46 positions. Grynspan says his report outlines one case where a patient’s samples were misdiagnosed.  Tory health critic Myrna Driedger says the province’s external review led by Winnipeg doctor Sharon McDonald won’t be objective.  “I think we need a totally independent external review and an auditor on that committee to look into these allegations,” says Driedger.  Arlene Wilgosh, the board chair for Diagnostic Services Manitoba, the group which oversees the province’s public labs says McDonald is bringing in a pathologist from outside the province, along with an independent labour lawyer to help in the external review.  Grynspan says he doesn’t agree with the review process and would like to see a completely external auditor do a thorough investigation of the pathology department.  http://winnipeg.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20091211/wpg_pathology_091211/20091211/?hub=WinnipegHome

Emergency  Wards in Hospitals can be a deadly place.. many people pick up all kinds of sicknesses there too.. shit disease included.. http://thenonconformer.wordpress.com/2008/08/29/victims-of-deadly-c-difficile-outbreak/   http://anyonecare.wordpress.com/2008/05/08/shit-disease/

Blood poisonings, infection traced to ER 40 affected by outbreak at Seven Oaks General Hospital  12/12/2009 1:00  A bloodstream infection has affected 40 patients at Seven Oaks General Hospital — including two who have died. The Winnipeg Regional Health Authority issued a news release late Friday afternoon, describing the situation at Seven Oaks as an outbreak in the emergency ward and asking anyone treated with intravenous medication and suffering flu-like symptoms to contact their physician. Dr. John Embil, the WRHA medical director of infection, prevention and control,  said his department became aware of the outbreak at the end of the summer when staff found a number of bloodstream infections linked to an organism known as Serrtatia marcescens.  Twenty patients were infected when Embil and hospital staff began tracking the source of the infection in late summer, and another 20 people have since been identified as also having the infection. Dr. Ricardo Lobato de Faria, the chief medical officer at Seven Oaks, said all but two of the 40 patients showed signs of the infection after they were admitted to the hospital following treatment in the emergency ward. Two others were treated in emergency and released but recalled when their blood work revealed the infection, he said.  Embil said officials’ detective work determined that the infection originated in Seven Oaks’ emergency ward but they’ve yet to learn what caused it in the first place. http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews/blood-infection-traced-to-er-79119197.html  

Did they say that the infection was growing somewhere in the ER? Sounds like a late-night movie, but this is very serious. Who has the contract for cleaning, the same people who clean Maple Leaf Foods? Some serious Infections can be   airborne transmitted as well as the standard contact transmission, and no serious disease should be taken lightly by anyone.   http://www.cbc.ca/canada/manitoba/story/2009/12/11/mb-bacterial-infection-er-hospital.html   http://thenonconformer.wordpress.com/2009/07/21/listeriosis-investigator-report/

Before 2007, Canadian hospitals OUTSIDE OF Quebec were not required to publicly report their in-hospital death rates.  The public release would force hospital officials to examine their internal practices and improve patient care. Reporting rates to the public allows patients to examine potential risks at their local hospitals. It also forces hospitals – everyone from the hospital boards to the CEOs to the medical and nursing staff – to compare themselves to other institutions. Dr. David Austin, chief of staff at Markham Stouffville Hospital, said the 43-point drop in the institution’s mortality rate can largely be attributed to how the hospital has improved the way its staff appropriately document patient charts. The hospital has also brought in sub-specialist physicians, including hospitalists and intensivists, to deal with specific in-patient issues.  “If you have sepsis in hospital, you have a one in three chance of dying,”   ”If you are admitted to hospital for stroke, you have a one in five chance of dying. If you are admitted to hospital for heart attack, you have a one in 10 chance of dying.” Dr. Indra Pulcins, director of indicators and performance measurement at   Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI), http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/article/737552–hospital-death-rates-fall-in-new-era-of-disclosure 

AND SPEEDING IS NOT THE CAUSE OF MAIN ACCIDENTS, OR ROAD DEATHS NOW TOO.. http://thenonconformer.wordpress.com/2009/09/10/speeding-is-not-the-major-cause-of-car-accidents-still/

The Buried Life
9 December 2009

The Buried Life, #1 Open the six o'clock news

Click here for more on The Buried Life

One of the great things the Internet has the ability to highlight is will power.  It never ceases to amaze me how far passion can take you.  The Buried Life is a group of Canadian university students attempting to accomplish a list of “100 Things To Do Before You Die.”  Not only have they pursued this to the fullest of their abilities, but they inspire and assist others in their journeys as well.  From this I see two amazing things coming this project, through the use of technology:

1.  Collaboration
Yes, yes, we’ve heard it before, the Internet is all abut collaboration.  But, generally speaking, Internet collaboration refers to creating an application, a software, a product.  The great things about The Buried Life is that collaboration helps people accomplish personal goals and realise a dream.  Many things we hold as inconsequential or trivial may hold value to someone else.  This site is wrought with positivity in a way that not only brings out virtue, but stimulates creativity.  This here is a prime example of the kindness and collaboration of strangers:

2.  Grass-roots change and counter-hegemony
While it may have been a happy accident for MTV to stumble upon The Buried Life, this group of young teenagers have still evoked change – change in not only what defines young adults, but what characteristics are popular and trendy.  An article in  The New York Times noted that MTV wanted to change the direction of their programming to reflect the Obama era of change and “positive social messages.”  However, The Buried Life precedes the Obama reign, and to some extent, were innovators in the youth social responsibility in an decade characterised by consumerism, superficiality, and, for lack of a better word, dumbass-ery.  But, in some ways, they completely epitomise our young adult culture – revelling in spectacle.  The entire project was created on film, meant to be seen and heard.  Nevertheless, change doesn’t necessarily have to be in grand gestures.  It can borrow from the elements of the current state of society to create a new powers of influence and, potentially the most important of all, redefine our generation.

I am curious, though, as to what exactly others find captivating about this young group of adults.  Moreover, why do people feel compelled to help them and would they help others in this same capacity if it did not lead to the possibility of being profiled?  Were The Buried Life not up-and-coming Internet sensations and soon-to-be reality TV-show stars, I highly doubt Global News would allow them to open the 6 o’clock news.

The Buried Life premiers on MTV 18 January 2009 10pm/EST.

That last post really made me think. Not so much the commitment about living consciously but the part about New Year’s resolutions. I know that I’ve been struggling with several issues in my life for quite some time now and I have been forced to realize this, even more so, through the monitoring of my daily actions over the past few weeks. I was reading a few of my posts and I have found them a little shallow. I feel that before I can begin to think about the consequences of my actions on the environment and on society, there are several aspects of my life which I need to correct. What’s the point of everything else if you’re unhappy with your life? I know this will not be easy, since many of these issues I have tried to work on with my psychologist for quite some time, but I am deeply committed to succeeding. The few aspects of my life I would like to work on first are procrastination, bed time, wake up time and diet. I will be keeping track of my daily activities, hour by hour, and at the end of the day I will grade these four categories on a scale from one to ten. I don’t know if this will work, but I have to try it. If it doesn’t help, then I’ll try to think of something else.

Procrastination: I have a very serious problem with procrastination. I’m really ashamed to admit it, but it’s really become sort of a decease. It has put all of my semesters at McGill at serious jeopardy. Just to show you what I’m talking about, my previous semester at McGill, I didn’t do any school work for the whole second half of the semester. I worked day and night the week before my finals, all the while skipping classes, just to catch up on my readings and homework. I promised myself that it wouldn’t happen again, but here I am. The semester at McGill is technically over and I haven’t finished all my assignments. Again, I’m working hard all day every day to finish and I even need to ask a few of my professors for additional extensions. But procrastination doesn’t just occur for school work. It governs every single aspect of my life, from replying to e-mails to cleaning my apartment to doing the laundry and the dishes to buying groceries. My grandparents sent me an email on August 30^th to which I still haven’t replied. And it’s not the first email that they write to me for which this happens. It’s probably the 2^nd or 3^rd in a row. Just writing this, I’m starting to tear up. I feel like such an awful person. I feel like a failure.  I don’t understand why I have such a hard time doing such simple things. It’s the same thing with dishes or laundry. Stuff just piles up until I have absolutely nothing to wear or to eat in. I often have to wash a single glass or plate by hand because everything else is dirty. Same with food, I don’t do groceries unless there’s absolutely nothing to eat in the house.  And when I say nothing, it’s literally nothing. More than once, I didn’t have anything to eat for a whole day and, by the time I convinced myself to go out, the grocery store had already closed and I had to buy something at the convenience store. I have really dark thoughts. I keep telling myself that everything will be hard and difficult and that I really don’t feel like doing them. I tell myself that I’ll do them tomorrow. But things just keep dragging on and on and nothing ever gets done. I don’t really know how things have come to this, but I know that I can’t live like this anymore. This is why procrastination is the most important thing I need to work on. I’ve decided to start a procrastination list. Whenever there’s something which I put off, then I have to write it on the list. If I think about it again, then I have to write a checkmark next to it on the list. At the end of the day, I will go over my procrastination list and write next to each item how long I believe the task will take me. Also, the item with the most checkmarks will be scheduled as the first thing I do the following day. I will also use Outlook to schedule my workday from 8AM to 6PM, as this usually ensures greater productivity.

Bed time & wake up time: I go to bed late. But when I say late, it’s insanely late. At my worse, I can go to bed at around 6 or 7 in the morning. This doesn’t really happen anymore, but it did for a while. Things are better now because I’m taking a medication at night which makes me really drowsy, but I still go to bed a little later than I would like. I understand why I do it. I spend my day procrastinating, telling myself that I’ll do X, Y and Z tomorrow and I begin to dread the next day, because I know that it won’t be enjoyable. Going to bed late is a way for me to push back tomorrow. What usually happens is that the next day I wake up very late. By the time I shower and eat it starts to get dark outside. I don’t like doing schoolwork at night so I push things off to the next day. I don’t like working in the evening because the times when I do it are extremely stressful. I only work at night when I’m in really big trouble. So this is the second thing which I want to work on. Ideally, I’d like to go to bed at midnight and wake up at 8AM.

Diet: When I say diet, I don’t mean following some crazy diet to lose weight. For the past two years, I’ve been exercising a lot and there have been prolonged periods of time where I’ve been extremely careful about what I eat. I haven’t done any diets, but I’ve followed meal plans which were combined to my exercise plan. I’ve measured everything I ate, counted calories, drank 2-3 liters of water per day, I’ve done all that. Overall, I’ve lost around 30 pounds. Since then, I’ve continued to exercise a lot, because it’s something that I love doing, but I’ve seriously relaxed my diet. I also tend to binge on food whenever I get stressed or depressed. More recently, my pattern has been eating very little during the day and binging late in the evening. My goal is not to go back on a strict meal plan, but I am now very aware of what I should be eating and in what proportions. My main goal is not to binge at night. One of the side effects of that medication I take in the evening is that it makes you hungry, so things have been a lot worse recently. Other than not binging in the evening, I also would like to watch what I eat. This means trying to eat healthy, enough fruits and vegetables, not too much fat and sugar, not too many calories, etc.

Today was my last yoga class at the la cite gym downstairs. My three month membership expires tomorrow. It’s really hard to believe more than three months has passed since I arrived here.

Looking back, this was my first time ever owning a gym membership, and I thought the fitness nut in me would drag my ass out to the gym every single day. Apparently not. Some weeks “Condo Syndrome” just sat in. Anw, really need to thank yoga for keeping up my flexibility despite the ever increasing pouch sizes. That can wait till I get back home to sweat it out in the nice warm weather.

AHHH TOMORROW = HELL

9am to 12pm: plant bio finals

12pm to 2pm: locked in a room

2pm to 5pm: genetics finals

5pm to 12am: dinner + cram like crazy for next paper

12am to 8am: SLEEP

9am to 12pm: perspectives of science finals.

Wish me luck. I really need some. Back to cramming now.

love,

drey

(The D. Lorne Gales Lecture in the History of Science)

Mario Biagioli

(Harvard University)

Environmentalism and the Rethinking of Intellectual Property

Friday 4 December, 6pm

Otto Maass Auditorium

Maass Chemistry Building, room 112, 

McGill University, 801 Sherbrooke St W

Abstract:

The image of the "commons" (knowledge commons, science commons, creative commons, etc.) has been extraordinarily important in the development of "cultural environmentalism" – perhaps the most important progressive discourse about intellectual property today. Cultural environmentalists champion collaborative modes of knowledge production and the defense of the public domain against the increasingly intensive and extensive privatization of knowledge. Although a strong supporter of the political goals of that movement, I am concerned by the use of environmental imagery to reconceptualize intellectual property. Starting from critiques of the nature/society dichotomy put forward by science studies practitioners, I argue that the proponents of the "knowledge commons" start with a well-intentioned critique of intellectual property, but end up reinforcing its logic. Because the image of the "commons" and other environmental metaphors do not question the nature/society divide at the roots of intellectual property law, they actually end up reinforcing that which they are meant to question. I begin to sketch out that approach by showing how one of the foundational texts of copyright law – Edward Young’s 1759 Conjectures on Original Composition – cannot maintain the very dichotomy it sets out to establish between nature and society, and ends up casting the author, literally, as a vegetable.

Mario Biagioli, Professor of the History of Science at Harvard University, is the author of Galileo, Courtier (1993) and Galileo’s Instruments of Credit (2006); and has co-edited Scientific Authorship (with Peter Galison, 2002), The Science Studies Reader (1999), and the forthcoming Making and Unmaking Intellectual Property (with Peter Jaszi and Martha Woodmansee), and Worldly Science (with Jessica Riskin). His current projects include a book on the history of authorship, intellectual property, and credit in science (Scientists’ Names and Scientific Claims), and a volume on the role of environmental imagery in recent intellectual property discourse (The Author as Vegetable). He has been the recipient of numerous awards and grants, including a Guggenheim Fellowship. Formerly a photographer and historian of photography, Prof. Biagioli maintains strong interests in museum studies and imaging techniques, recently curating an exhibit of patent models ("Patent Republic", with Jean-François Gauvin) and organizing conferences on new media and digital art ("Recoded: Landscapes and Politics of New Media", with Kriss Ravetto).

For more information, see

http://www.mcgill.ca/hpsc/lectures/ and 

http://www.mcgill.ca/hpsc/seminars/

Or contact 514 398 4681

Tonight I’m gonna be like one of the typical Mcgill students around here. Genetics review sesh with E at Second Cup. Just realized that the grades on my exchange transcript DO matter when applying for grad school.

AHHHH. For some courses I only have like 40% left to pull up my overall grades.

Btw, I have officially no more lecs in Mcgill. No more 8.30s! Time for all-nighters and sleep-ins.

love,

DREEEY

A poorly managed Hospital and personnel is still always rightfully unacceptable even if it is McGill.

 I also here really could not help but notice that the aspiring, ambitious doctors in training work much harder over those who have graduated and who now tend to sit back on their laurels. 

Friday evening the RVH ombudsman finally returns my call and  now passed my file to someone else.. I will see what the results next are here too.

 An  administrative doctor from McGill next had called me and  had falsely tried to justify the RVH receptionist  sending almost all of the patients to see the very same doctors at a private clinic where they will be charged more for the same service by saying all Hospital are overcrowded.. he must have thought I was really stupid.. for I have been employed as an engineering contract manager and if the fabrication shop gave the same false excuses for their late product deliveries in reality they next went out of business, because rightfully in the private sector clients did not accept such lame excuses. The same clearly stupid, pretentious Doctor had asked if my problem that I  have now had for over 6 months had cured itself since last week when I saw the RVH doctor? Hoping naively he would not have to work? or just dumb? If miracles mow here were so common why would we need the doctors  ehh?Nice to be in the public service where you can take it easy and blame another department for your own lack of real, viable productivity. And now how stupid do they really think we are? Fire rightfully very bad persons that I have dealt with so far too here. MEANWHILE I AM STILL WAITING HERE FOR POSTIVE RESULTS TOO.

Quebec and other provinces have no such adequate program and why?

http://picasaweb.google.com/anonconformer/Thenonconformer#

The CBC provides coverage of the suspension of Choose Life (pro-life group at McGill) by the Student Society of McGill University (apparently there’s a video too, but it won’t play for me).

McGill student society president Ivan Neilson says the student council does not take a stance on abortion, but Choose Life’s actions were unacceptable.

“We’ve received several complaints from our students that they felt harassed, that they felt that their safety has come into question and that they felt personally attacked,” he told CBC News. “There are [also] several pamphlets that contain questionable statistics from questionable sources” left at various points on campus, Neilson said[...]

“The hope is that we can encourage actions or tactics on their part which promote respect for all of our [student] members,” Neilson said.

Theresa Gilbert from NLCN highlights some of the golden comments:

This story is best summarized by commenter vox veritas who wrote:

So, on one hand we have some people who FELT harassed, FELT that their safety had come into question and FELT personally attacked. On the other we have a group of people who were ACTUALLY harassed and personally attacked by pro-choice shock troops. Who does council side with? The feelers.

Very true indeed. The story makes an accusation that the people “felt harassed” but were they actually harassed? And if so how? On what occasion? By whom? The story is silent on this point. As for the pro-life club – they were indeed actually harassed… remember these YouTube videos?

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=McGill+Choose+Life&search_type=&aq=f

And who got punished again?

Silly pro-lifers. The SSMU is above the law. And if they aren’t going to protect students from scary words, who will? Whatever shall they do? Someone needs to sing children’s songs to protect their delicate ears!

I’m including the video again because it never gets old. These are the people in charge at the SSMU.

645 Avenue Du President-Kennedy
Montreal, QC H3A, Canada
www.caffeartjava.com

When I went to Canada in November, I was excited to check out Caffe Art Java, a cafe that many people on the internet claimed to be the place to get best coffee in Montreal. Fortunately, Caffe Art Java has one cafe by Rue University on the edge of McGill University, which was very close to where I stayed.

The cafe uses coffee beans roasted by Gimme Coffee in Ithaca, New York. For espresso, they use Leftist blend (which you can buy online from Gimme website as well). The blend is medium dark, but leaning more to the dark side. The barista was skillful and did great job for both the shots and the latte foam. The cafe also serves hot food. I ordered croissant with ham and cheese, which was heated panini style and tasted quite good.

The decoration of the cafe is modern, sleek, and hip. It has red couches, brown chairs, and dark tables. It has light background music (French music when I was there). .It has strong wifi with both 2.4 and 5 GHz options. When I arrived there around noon on Sunday, the cafe was not crowded, but there were more and more people coming throughout the early afternoon. There was plenty of seating however. Most of the customers when I was there were students with laptops working on their school work, but there were quite a lot of young professionals visiting the cafe as well. The staff and the barista were friendly, and seemed to know lots of their frequent customers well.

I may have to explore Montreal more (preferably not in winter!) before judging whether Caffe Art Java is in fact the best in town. But overall, it is indeed a great cafe to get coffee and light meal in downtown Montreal.

Ok, so this will be a longer-than-normal post since there’s been so much I haven’t had time to write about since getting here. Read on if you dare!

Since I can not participate in le Club de Français de UBC or the Youth Advisory Council (2 of my previous volunteer activities) while away from Vancouver, I decided to find a club at McGill to join. So now I am part of the McGill chapter of Engineers Without Borders (EWB). I know what you’re thinking: I know nothing to do with engineering. But the stuff that the university chapters of EWB does doesn’t require engineering knowledge, since EWB’s work in Canada is focused on public education (http://www.ewb.ca/en/whatwedo/canada/index.html). The overseas work that EWB performs does sometimes require some engineering-related skills (http://www.ewb.ca/en/whatwedo/overseas/index.html).

There are several teams within McGill EWB. I joined the Fundraising Team and Youth Engagement Team. The Youth Engagement Team (formerly the School Outreach Team) primarily faciliates workshops on water sanitation, food processing and agriculture, energy, and poverty issues in elementry and high schools. I’ve co-facilitated 4 presentations so far and having previous youth-targeted facilatiation skills with the Youth Advisory Council (YAC) has really helped. I don’t think I would’ve had the courage to do this if it weren’t for having been on the YAC. One of those presentations I actually co-facilitated en francais aussi, which was cool, though I only did it because my co-facilitator was francophone and also very experienced in presenting that workshop. I may do more presentations in French if the opportunity/need arises and I have a francophone co-facilitator.

Being on the Fundraising Team has been especially time-consuming lately. Most of the money we raise is for sending a few students to a poor African country each summer so they can help with capacity-building in the communities that helps them improve their living conditions. In late October, we decided to organize an ethical fashion show that took place just last evening. I volunteered to co-coordinate the models (all McGill students), and if I were an undergrad taking 5 courses, I’d have drowned, since coordinating took so much of my time (scheduling and attending clothing fittings for 4 companies, and spending lots and lots of time on email). Anyone who knows me knows that I get stressed out easily, and boy, was I experiencing the fight-or-flight response the day of the show (making sure all the clothes were ready and organized, knowing who’s wearing what and when, making sure the models are ready for their appearance on stage). Luckily the show went well, thanks to the awesome organizing team and models. I now know I do not want a career in the fashion show industry. Or anything that involves coordinating lots of people, in fact.

McGill EWB is quite an awesome group as far as student- and/or youth-led organizations go. I’m very impressed at how its members actively participate and follow through on tasks. I decided to join EWB in particular because a friend back at UBC who was highly involved in School Outreach told me about stuff she did with UBC EWB and it sounded really cool (plus she said that it doesn’t require any engineering “qualifications”). I’m really glad I joined. Another bonus is that it allows me to still practise my French like I did in the UBC French Club, since many of its members speak French.

This past month has been hectic, not because I’ve been busy off travelling around the States and Canada, but because of midterms. I only had 3 because Anatomy is 100% final and French is continuous assessment, however I found 3 tough enough. We didn’t have any study break because you’re supposed to be revising throughout the year, but who does that? So the past month has involved me cramming late nights in the library trying to squeeze as much information into my weenie little brain with not much luck! I now have my results in and luckily the work paid off, 3 comfortable passes, which may not be great in comparison to the people in my class, but Science students here are mainly wannabe Doctors, so they are ultra competitive and smart. The opposite to me then! So when the class average is an A-, I’m fairly content with my B.

So what have I been up to? Other than studying…

Well Halloween was great fun. I knew North America liked to celebrate it big, but not this big! Everyone puts in the effort to make a costume, and some hardcore Halloweeners will even wear a different costume for each night out. I, on the other hand, thought I should come up with one killer costume to impress all. So being 6’5”, the logical choice was to go as an old-school Oompah Loompah from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. You know what I mean, the dwarf like workers that Willy Wonka employs to make his chocolate. Well, it was a huge hit!!! Most people got the irony, except for a few… And everyone appreciated the effort that some guy from across the pond had put in. I spent a while planning it, and going round thrift shops finding the final pieces to the puzzle, but I eventually got there.

The McGill International Student Network (MISN) arranges socials (pub crawls, weekend trips, movie nights etc) so there’s always plenty of things to do and people to meet, but getting stuck in the international clique is not why I came to Canada. I came here to meet some actual McGill students, rather than fellow Brits. No disrespect to them, I love my exchange friends, we’re all a very similar bunch of people, looking to travel the world and have an amazing time, but it’s very “same same”. You constantly have the same encounters with new faces at Pubs or Clubs and have the same small talk, like “Where are you from? What are you studying? Are you here 1 or 2 semesters?…” Ok, I might be exaggerating a tad, most of my friends are exchange students, but I’m trying my best to break the mould. I still hang out with my Frosh leaders, and I told you that I was in an Ultimate Frisbee Team. Well we’re all good mates and hopefully we’re going to set up a Basketball team next semester. That’s another thing, a lot of exchange students are only here 1 semester, which is kind of depressing because that’s only 3-4 months, whereas my McGill friends will all still be here next year. Phew!

Another thing McGill is great at is looking after its International students. International Student Services (ISS), the people you go to for important info like Visas, Study Permits etc, also organise free/highly discounted Montreal tourist trips e.g. Montreal Bus Tour, Free Museum Passes and just this week, Free Ice Skating. This would be my first attempt at hitting the ice, literally…. I fell over a ridiculous number of times, but it didn’t dent my confidence and I kept getting back up, then falling, again and again. At times I resembled a speed skater, zig-zagging my way between others, but mostly, I resembled a wounded animal after being hit by a moving vehicle. The song “I get knocked down, but I get up again” was a very apt summary of my night. Hopefully by the end of the year I will be a pro, but don’t count on it.

An article that I wrote recently, originally published in the McGill Daily (Oct. 8, 2009):

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Raising a Little Hell on Behalf of a Great Professor

Educator George Leonard describes lecturing as “the best way to get information from teacher’s notebook to student’s notebook without touching the student’s mind.” The information that Dr. Norman Cornett presents takes an alternate route, arriving soundly at its proper destination – the minds of his students. And staying there.

Throughout my undergraduate degree at McGill, I took two classes with Dr. Cornett, neither of which had anything to do with their course titles, and both of which stirred me on an intellectual level that no other course has before or since. The tone was set as we walked into class with theme songs like Trooper’s “Raise a Little Hell” blasting, and the sentence starter “I believe…” scrawled on the blackboard. Cornett’s students were engaged in a complex dance with our own identities – simultaneously cloaking ourselves in pseudonyms and anonymous readings, while revealing truths about – and to – ourselves through no-holds-barred reflections and candid dialogic sessions. He hurled an issue at us, be it same-sex marriage, Aboriginal land rights, or the Holocaust, and shattered our apathy. Employing media as varied as contemporary dance, short story, musical performance, documentary film, and political cartoons, Cornett showed his students not only that we were capable of formulating educated opinions about contemporary issues but more importantly, that our opinions mattered.

By my fourth year at McGill, I was achieving excellent grades but was jaded and frustrated. I despised the formulaic, institutional learning that I felt was being imposed upon my once agile mind. Another day, another A. Depressed and on the verge of dropping out, I consulted Dr. Cornett. Not only did he convince me to stick it out for one more semester, but he set me on a lifelong pedagogic quest. For my final project in his course, I painted a self-portrait, literally seeing myself in a new light thanks to Dr. Cornett’s guidance.

A few months ago I attended the premier of Alanis Obomsawin’s excellent film profiling Dr. Cornett and his ongoing struggle with McGill administration (if one can call such a one-sided battle a struggle) at Toronto’s Hot Docs film festival. Sitting in a row with several of my former classmates, the lights dimmed and I was transported back to the Birks building, circa 2002. I felt the anxiety of anticipation – will he read (anonymously) one of my reflections to the class? After the screening, Cornett’s Q & A transformed into one of his famed dialogic sessions. He thoughtfully addressed a range of topical questions and comments, facilitated audience dialogue with Obomsawin and with his wife Laura. One moment was particularly illustrative of Cornett’s care for each and every one of his students. In the midst of a rambling but insightful answer to a question about applying his pedagogic theories to the teaching of maths and sciences, Cornett paused, looked into the theatre’s upper rows, and with eyes alight exclaimed, “Dora the Explorer!” He had spotted one of his former students, and without missing a beat, called her by the name that she had assigned herself for his class years before.

Having completed an MA in Education and currently enrolled in teacher’s college, I am perpetually shaping and refining my ideas about effective teaching. Thanks to Dr. Cornett, one thing is for certain – my pedagogic philosophy involves raising a little hell.

Check out the trailer for Alanis Obomsawin’s documentary, Professor Norman Cornett: “Since when do we divorce the right answer from an honest answer?”

Read more about Dr. Cornett and join the online dialogic session at Montreal State of Mind

LegalEase McGill – CKUT 90.3 Montreal – Womyn’s Voices and Freedoms
http://www.archive.org/details/LegaleaseMcgill-Ckut90.3Montreal-WomynsVoicesAndFreedoms

Welcome to Legal Ease – a monthly Montreal-based, produced and broadcast radio show concerning “The Law”. The collective is composed of law students from McGill University.

In our first half, we discuss Buffy Sainte-Marie and her legacy. The CIA black-listed 1960s Cree singer has been a strong voice on women’s equality, native issues, and peace for half a century. Her recent concert as part of POP Montreal offered an opportunity to reflect on her legacy and play a few songs.

In our second half, LegalEase looks at the recent controversy at McGill. After organizing an event entitled “Echoes of the Holocaust” comparing abortion to genocide, Choose Life McGill, a SSMU club, was subject to criticisms and protests by other McGill students. The university administration organized a follow-up townhall on controversial events at McGill. LegalEase contrasts reproductive rights and freedom of speech, while considering some relevant legal issues.

In the beginning of the semester I decided it was time for me to finally take guitar lessons. I had tried in the past to teach myself, but I couldn’t get past the beginner stage. So, when the opportunity arose to take guitar lessons through McGill’s mini courses I seized it and I was really looking forward to them. My instructor was Denis Chang, without a second-thought one of the most talented guitarists and gifted teachers I have ever seen. The man is the ideal teacher: he’s really experienced and knowledgeable, a master in his craft, supportive whenever you need him to be, extremely funny and quite the teaser. Besides, he has some of the coolest guitars I’ve seen. Going to his classes is a real joy. Lessons were held once a week for about two hours and initially there were around ten people registered for the course, but somehow he managed to give individual attention to each of us.

During the last three weeks, though, my coursework and the requirements of my research project didn’t allow much time for me to dedicate to my guitar. I had to skip my three last lessons, but I thought that most other students would attend. Today, which was the day of the last lesson, I decided to go meet Denis and tell him that he’s been a great teacher and he’s made me like the instrument much more. I discovered to my surprise (which is why I’m writing this post) that almost everyone in the class had been skipping the last lessons, just like me. I found Denis waiting for his students in the usual room where we practise (in the SSMU building) playing the piano and killing time. After feeling perplexed that I found none of my classmates there, I started feeling angry and disappointed. It was really depressing to see that one of the best teachers I’ve had was receiving this kind of treatment from his students — myself included, of course. He said that it’s OK, that it’s understandable because it’s the last week of classes and everyone is busy with course work, but that didn’t make me feel better at all. It didn’t seem fair to me that he wouldn’t receive an applause on the last lesson like all good teachers do.

I really like my coursework this semester, and my working hard for the moment is something that just feels right, because I’m doing it for myself and something that I enjoy doing. Yet, this was the first time since I’ve started at McGill that I’ve felt guilty about my efforts. I hope it’s the last. In the meantime, here’s what Denis can do:

Christmas is here and Montreal is getting dress for the occasion…

Photos by: Pablojinko

The only thing missing is the snow…

Found at: Downtown Montreal