In honour of UC History Week, here is a quotation from a famous novel which mentions University College:

“In the autumn of 1919 I entered University College, in the University of Toronto, as an honours student in history. I was not properly qualified, but five professors talked to me for an hour and decided to admit me based on some special ruling invoked on behalf of a number of men who had been abroad fighting.”
– Fifth Business / Robertson Davies (1970)

Charles Levi is giving a talk this evening, as part of UC History Week,  about the history of the UC Lit: “Politicians, Lawyers, Defrocked Priests and That Guy Who Shot His Leg Off: Secrets of the names on the JCR walls.”

If you’d like to read more, we have Charles Levi’s book about the UC Lit at Laidlaw Library: Comings and goings : university students in Canadian society, 1854-1973, as well as his PhD dissertation, Where the famous people were? : the origins, activities and future careers of student leaders at University College, Toronto, 1854-1973.

And if you’re interested in the history of UC and U of T, you might also want to read A not unsightly building : University College and its history, as well as the book by last night’s speaker: Martin Friedland’s The University of Toronto : a history (we have both at Laidlaw).

Once upon a time there was a student newspaper, and they had disagreements with their student council. Pretty standard stuff.

But now the student council doesn’t have to deal with that headache anymore, because they shut the student paper down.

The Gargoyle is the paper at the University of Toronto’s University College. Their student levy goes through the University College Literary and Athletic Society. The Society decided at a recent meeting that the Gargoyle spends too much on booze and parties, and on that basis, rejected the paper’s budget, with allegedly little-to-no discussion or debate.

The Gargoyle allots 20 percent of its budget to parties (which include food and alcohol). But those parties are for volunteer appreciation, and since the Gargoyle has no paid staff whatsoever, these funds don’t seem quite so decadent.

From the Varsity:

“The vote [to reject our budget] was done in about five minutes, without any questions being asked to the two editors [of The Gargoyle] that were at the meeting,” said Gavin Nowlan, treasurer and politics editor, who is also president of the Arts and Science Students’ Union. “They just voted it down without any discussion, which was kind of shock to us considering that the UC Lit is famous for arguing for hours about the spelling of people’s names in their minutes.”

“I guess it wasn’t fully pushed through [at the original budget meeting] that [the liquor, food, and drinks] were for appreciation purposes,” said Daniel Tsekhman, president of UC Lit. “I think a big issue at the previous meeting was that not all the information [about the budget] was given to us.”

Perhaps there was other motivation for the hasty decision?

According to Tsekhman, members of the UC Lit feel The Gargoyle makes personal attacks against them, contributing to tensions between the two groups. “This is my second year trying to build a happy relationship [with The Gargoyle],” said Tsekhman.

This sets an extremely dangerous precedent for any student paper that runs under the umbrella of it’s student union, and it’s a disgusting attack on freedom of the press. I hope the students at University College and the other publications at the U of T won’t stand for it.

The postcard was published in Toronto by W.G. MacFarlane, number D216. There are numerous rumours and ghosts stories associated with the building, but probably the most well known is the story of Ivan Reznikoff and Paul Diablos. Due to its romantic elements of the plot involving revenge and murder, it is one of the city’s most beloved and enduring ghost stories, so I won’t repost here. The Toronto Ghosts and Hauntings Society has a very good summary of the tale here.

Darlings, welcome to Hogwarts!

Une petite pensée aujourd’hui pour tous les nouveaux étudiants qui rentrent à Durham. Je suis forcément un peu émue de voir toutes ces nouvelles têtes, l’année est passée tellement rapidement que j’ai du mal à croire que mon Master soit déjà terminé. J’attends encore les résultats, je devrais les avoir d’ici un mois si tout se passe bien. Toujours pas de financement pour le doctorat en vue, mais je ne perds pas espoir de pouvoir faire un PhD à Durham un jour, même si je dois attendre l’année prochaine pour être financée. En attendant je fais toujours les visites du Château tous les après-midis, et de cherche également un travail.

Pour ceux et celles qui me lisent depuis pas très longtemps, je vous explique rapidement: Pour comprendre l’université de Durham, il faut savoir qu’au sein de la fac, il existe 16 ‘Colleges’. Le système collégial est une tradition que nous partageons avec Oxford et Cambridge. Chaque étudiant qui est accepté à Durham doit choisir un College, et c’est là que l’étudiant vit! Au sein du College on a un bar, une salle à manger, une bibliothèque, les chambres étudiantes (si on souhaite vivre au sein de College) etc.

Une pensée donc pour les étudiants en licence qui arrivent à ‘University College’, car déjà pour réussir à être acceptée au sein de Durham University il faut avoir de très bons résultats, mais en plus c’est le calvaire pour être accepté au sein du Château. En effet, je sais que pour chaque place disponible au sein du Château,  ils reçoivent 20 à 30 dossiers. Ceux qui ne sont pas acceptés à ‘University College’ sont envoyés à ‘St Chads’, ou à ‘St Johns’ par exemple, qui sont d’autres ‘Colleges’ de Durham University.

Mais après toute cette sélection, je sais que chaque étudiant va passer une ou plusieurs années absolument merveilleuses ici, au sein du Château. C’est une expérience inoubliable et parfois j’ai du mal à croire que j’ai eu la chance d’être acceptée et de faire mon Master ici.

Je ne sais pas si j’ai déjà expliqué le cheminement historique de la fac de Durham?

En fait, le château date de 1072 et a été construit sur les ordres de Guillaume le Conquérant. Il avait plusieurs raisons pour construire un Château à Durham. A l’époque il y avait la guerre civile, donc il avait besoin d’un Château pour surveiller la frontière Écossaise. De plus, Guillaume le Conquérant avait besoin d’un Château pour protéger ses ‘Princes Bishops’, les évêques/seigneurs de Durham. Le ‘Prince Bishop’ est un titre très particulier, et unique en son genre, donc je ne sais pas si je peux vraiment le traduire. Le ‘Prince Bishop’ était nommé par le roi, comme évêque, mais avait également un pouvoir politique, mais ce n’était pas un titre héréditaire. Les ‘Prince Bishops’ étaient très puissants dans le Nord, car disposaient d’influence politique, religieuse et municipale. Le ‘Prince Bishop’ était vraiment l’homme le plus puissant de Durham!

Guillaume le Conquérant

Ce n’est qu’en 1832 l’Université de Durham a enfin été promulgué par le Parlement. l’Université de Durham avait déjà essayé à plusieurs reprises de s’installer, mais leurs efforts étaient toujours bloqués par les Universités d’Oxford et de Cambridge qui souhaitaient limiter la concurrence.

Pour la petite histoire: En 1286, le Durham College a été fondé à Oxford University pour les moines de la Cathédrale de Durham. Mais peu à peu, Durham College s’est émancipé de la fac d’Oxford et a enfin pu venir s’installer à Durham au 19ème siècle. Aujourd’hui, le Durham College existe encore à Oxford, mais est appelé ‘Trinity College’.

Trinity College, Oxford, aujourd’hui.

En 1832, le dernier Prince Bishop de Durham, William Van Mildert a donné son Château à l’Université. Donc en 1832, tous les cours avaient lieu au sein du Château, et tous les étudiants y vivaient. Peu à peu, l’Université a pris de l’ampleur et il a fallu construire d’autres ‘Colleges’ sur le modèle d’Oxbridge. Aujourd’hui donc on a 16 Colleges, dont ‘Hatfield College’, ‘Van Mildert College’... pour rester fidèle à l’héritage des Prince Bishops!

Bref, tout ça pour dire que le Château, ‘University College’, était vraiment en habit de fête pour marquer la nouvelle année scolaire qui commence!

Ici il devait y avoir marqué “Welcome Home”, mais il y a eu tellement de vent cette nuit qu’on ne voit plus rien! On a tellement de la chance de pouvoir appeler ce Château notre ‘home’...!

Ici, où il y a ‘The Bell Tower’ où vous pouvez voir l’horloge, qui date de 1700. Lorsqu’ils ont filmé Harry Potter, ils sont venus à University College et on voit The Bell Tower dans les films! Ils sont également venus filmer dans la Cathédrale de Durham.

Voilà ‘The Great Hall’, notre salle à manger. ‘The Great Hall’ a été construit au 13ème siècle par le Bishop Bek, puis agrandi au 14ème siècle. Cependant, avec l’arrivée de Bishop Fox au 15ème siècle il a décidé de rajouter des portes au Great Hall afin de limiter les courants d’air. A cause de ces travaux, c’est maintenant l’Université de Oxford qui a la salle à manger la plus imposante de toutes les facs anglaises!

Bishop Fox

Les portraits que vous pouvez voir dans la salle à manger représentent les ‘Master’ du Château, la personne qui est à la tête de ‘University College’. Il y a également les portraits des premiers étudiants de la fac de Durham qui datent donc d’environ 1832.

Pendant l’année scolaire les tables sont toujours alignées de cette façon. Lorsque je parlais de mes dîners solennels, c’est ici que ça se passait, avec la longue robe noire façon ‘Harry Potter’. Que de bons souvenirs! Je n’oublierais jamais ces moments!

Si vous avez manqué un épisode:

• Ici vous avez les photos des jardins du Château.
• Ici vous avec les photos de la fac de droit.
• Ici vous avez les photos de la bibliothèque du Château. Enjoy!

Bonne journée à vous!

]]> http://downtowndevil.wordpress.com/2009/09/30/students-appointed-to-asasud-senate/ Wed, 30 Sep 2009 18:20:06 +0000 sal19 http://downtowndevil.wordpress.com/2009/09/30/students-appointed-to-asasud-senate/ http://calebposner.com/2009/09/20/how-liberal-politics-ruined-student-life/ Mon, 21 Sep 2009 01:28:00 +0000 Caleb Posner http://calebposner.com/2009/09/20/how-liberal-politics-ruined-student-life/

When you consider that our campus paper runs three editions each week, features breaking news updates online between editions, and has put out some wonderful special editions centered around events like the Vice Presidential Debate, we’re quite lucky. Or at least we were. Even as recently as March 2009, Student Life was a publication that had quality standards commensurate with our peer institutions, displayed respect for core journalistic values, and fostered a free and open culture that made involvement both simple and pleasurable. But, with the staff change that took place in April 2009, none of this can be said anymore with a straight face. There has been a noticeable decline in quality, a reckless disregard for journalistic standards and values, and a regression to secrecy and power politics.

Though I do not want to paint too rosy a picture about the operations and content of Student Life prior to this staffing change (such as the horrid coverage of Dr. Daniel Pipes), as somebody who has worked at other student papers and for a range of more professional sources too, I feel able to say that on the whole, the previous standards of operation were generally commendable, and the results often praiseworthy.

First and foremost among what made Student Life function as a credible vehicle that was more newspaper than sub-tabloidal misallocation of paper (as is presently the case) was that, rather than choosing governing sentiments as fit the agenda of those in charge, they upheld journalistic standards, chief among them free speech. It is understood that, especially as it pertains to editorial columns, the writer is given sufficient discretion to not only choose their topic, but write about it in a tone and with a slant of their own choosing. For their part, the editor is generally expected only to make alterations to grammar and syntax, and if need be, removing statements that qualify as libel. And that was the position taken by my editor, and insofar as I am aware all others, up until the staff shift. Not a single article I wrote between September of 2008 and April of 2009 was censored, including an article where I advocated applying an obscure Israeli law that would make the vast majority of its government eligible for life imprisonment and another article decrying Gandhi and the undue popularity he continues to enjoy postmortem. The new staff however, was quick to abandon this standard. Or rather, Kate Gaertner was. Being the new Senior Forum Editor, she has the ability to override the decision of the daily editors. And, at least in my experience, said group was not actively inclined to follow Gaertner’s reckless lead. Rather, they were just a bit too green behind the ears to challenge her abuse of authority, meaning that from day one, she could censor articles whose viewpoint she disagreed with, altering the tone, or making changes that made the article less coherent (as happened with my Fujimori article), thereby making the author seem less competent.

I was greatly concerned when, within a week or so of assuming power, she overrode the daily editor and made drastic changes to an article about the Federal Reserve written by fellow CLA member Phil Christofanelli. While some of her changes were legitimately necessary to enhance the readability of his column, having seen both the original version submitted and that which ultimately ran, I can say with confidence that she grossly distorted Christofanelli’s position, and left out crucial details that supported or qualified his position, and which were contextually critical. Alas, this was not the last example of her flagrant disregard for the opinions of the few non-liberals who had opted to lend the paper credence by letting it cite us as examples of a balance that never truly existed. The very next week, my article about the famed Peruvian politician Alberto Fujimori was savagely butchered.

Length was obviously not the issue, for it was among the shortest columns I turned in last year, and was nearly three hundred words shorter than the column I’d run the previous week about US-Israel relations. Indeed, the version she decided to run without my consent was a mere 19 words more brief. The real changes she made were not to length, but message. My article was unabashedly supportive of Fujimori, who many conservatives hold as hero based on the stellar results he generated while in power, especially as compared to the job done by those who preceded and succeeded him. In her mind however, that was unacceptable. After the column ran, I met with her to discuss my profound anger over the rape of my column. Her justification was that because I was the only Student Life columnist whose focus was on international affairs, she felt the need to moderate my tone, given that I had no left-wing counterpart. Never mind that with the arguable exception of Christofanelli, who covered various domestic policy issues every other week from a qualified libertarian position, every other writer for the section had a pronounced left-wing orientation. Yet at no time did she ever feel that balance was needed there. After all, the views of said columnists aligned generally with her own, so she felt no need to restrict their speech. In that particular exchange her seeming fetish for censoring conservatives was re-iterated throughout, as she issued various proposals that involved cutting, marginalizing, or balancing my column and no others. We ended with me making rather clear that should my column ever again be censored, I would cease to write for Student Life, as I now have.

Censorship though is not limited to those writing, as such policies just as readily apply to those wishing to join the staff. One individual wishing to write for Forum sent Gaertner an email detailing their desire to write for her section. She did not ask for a writing sample or details of the writer’s credentials. She did however make certain to confirm that their political position was one consistent with her own. She stated, in reference obviously to me, that the paper already had a writer who is “very neo-conservative in his stance [ed - this is grossly inaccurate], very pro-Israel” and that she was not looking to hire another such writer in the name of the “balance,” which consisted of me on the right, and most of the rest of the staff on the far left. It wasn’t until she was sufficiently ensured she wouldn’t be adding another conservative to the staff that she granted the applicant a column.

Of course, once granted a column, even if a Forum writer is not subject to censorship as a result of their ideological sympathies, it all but certain they will suffer from the ill-effects of mismanagement and/or power politics. For instance, it was not until shortly after I attempted to submit my Srebrencia column (now run elsewhere) during the first week of class this academic year that a clear word limit was ever stated, being set at a meager 700 (which, in turn, has caused a decline in quality perhaps moreso than any other singular action since the staffing change). Problem was, what your limit was would vary depending which editor you asked, and who you were. Under the old regime, if there was a word limit, it was perhaps a soft 1000, and I ran at least four articles that were between 800 and 1000 words without so much as a suggestion that I consider writing shorter submissions. Under the new regime, the limit is a hard 700. But, and here’s the catch, it applies selectively. I had run multiple columns longer than that in the short reign of the new governing regime. And indeed, I was told by my editor that the submitted article would run, but that in the future, I should keep articles under 800 words. A friend of mine writing for Forum was told to keep his columns under 550 words by a different editor. Presumably these were not arbitrary decisions, but rather the result of mismanagement by Gaertner, as applied to her subordinates.

I am especially inclined to believe the fault lies exclusively with Gaertner based on her inability to relay simple information to her staff in a timely fashion. After the last minute rejection of my Srebrenica article for being longer than a limit I was never told about, and other issues to be detailed below, I resigned from Student Life on August 30, 2009. From what I have been told, even though the article was in her hands well in advance of that time, she did not bother cutting it until printing day, keeping the Friday Forum Editor in the dark. Likewise, he was not even told of my resignation until the next week, at which time he was tasked with finding a way to fill column inches he had come to expect were already accounted for, being that I had a weekly column.

Still, it may not merely have been an issue of incompetence and limited communication skills on Gaerner’s part, as her apparent love for instigating petty conflicts in an inexplicable quest to ensure that her authority was never challenged, even though hierarchically she was never in any danger, manifested itself regularly. This is perhaps best evidenced by her fear of openness, and the associated reliance on secrecy, witnessed clearly in her management of the Executive Board. Made up officially of senior staff, its job is to select the topics for the staff editorials, as well as the position that will be taken therein. Whatever the connotations of her name, the staff in charge before her held that such meetings should be open to all Forum writers interested in attending, and that when there, participants were equal in status to those who were official members of it. They recognized that there was no negative consequence to this approach, as only those genuinely interested would attend if not obligated. At the same time, there was tremendous benefit that came with it, including helping to determine who would be offered promotions at the next staff roster adjustment, encouraging interaction between junior and senior staff, fostering an open atmosphere that instilled faith the paper, and allowed for a diversity in opinion to be given voice that might otherwise be sorely lacking. Gaertner however, would have none of this. Though she herself had attended several such meetings before being made an editor, unsure in power based on her underwhelming experience and leadership skills, she sought to keep the meetings closed, limiting them only to the newly appointed editors, all of whom had the same or less experience than her, and were disinclined to challenge her authority. Or rather, she almost did.

Having regularly attended such meetings previously, and moreover having both written a Staff Editorial (about University College access by undergrads) and having introduced a piece of software still widely used by Student Life staff to collaboratively edit articles (Writeboard), I continued to attend the meetings without issue. And at first, there was no apparent problem, for she had not announced a policy switch, and no other non-editor besides me made a point of attending such meetings. One week however, I suggested to a friend of mine that also wrote for Forum that he experience an Executive Board meeting, as they sometimes featured rather interesting debate. He agreed, and we went together to the next such meeting. Shortly after leaving, he received an email from Gartner, wherein she said stated he was not welcome at said meetings in the future. She said, “One thing that I wanted to address with you is that the editorial board meetings are technically open only to senior staff members, and we invite Caleb, as a columnist, to come to our meetings because we feel he helps us to strike the appropriate political balance of opinion that an editorial board for our campus community should reflect.” That she even allowed me to continue attending for the remainder of the academic year was a bit shocking, for her actions detailed earlier in this article make clear she had no true allegiance to balance. But this was to be short lived.

Just before the start of the academic year, and prior to my resignation from the paper, I sent Gaertner an email inquiring as to when and where the Executive Board meetings would be held this year, thinking that it might have changed from last year. In response to my inquiry, she informed me that “the scope of eboard has changed this year, and in keeping with our goals, it will be limited to editors.” Now, insofar as I can tell, that policy was not any different from the preceding year since her assumption of power, with one notable exception. And that is the concern for balance. It seems that over the summer, she lost any interest in even pretending that her section enjoyed any. Not being one to avoid confrontation, I responded to her, stating as much, albeit with a somewhat nicer tone. She of course ignored this, as she often did emails I sent where the answer would invariably require that she either concede something to me, or put her foot in her mouth. While other writers would hear back from her in hours, I would never get a response as soon as the circumstances forced her hand, even if I sent two or three emails on the same topic over the course of a week or two. To do otherwise would require that she be less paranoid about protection authority nobody ever sought to challenge. And that inclination seems absent from her DNA.

Ultimately, I do not believe that the sad state Forum, and to a lesser extent other sections of the paper, currently find themselves in is necessarily a permanent condition. Past leadership has demonstrated that within our student body there are a perfectly sufficient number of capable individuals to run a high quality campus newspaper. But those presently in power, especially Gaertner, have done considerable damage in the present to our paper’s quality and reputation. If, when the next staff re-assignment comes around serious changes are not made, with more qualified individuals being given greater authority, I fear that what is presently just a dark period for the paper will become something more permanent and more destructive. Its longterm viability, if present conditions persist, is questionable. And, even if it were to continue on, in its present capacity that would serve only as a blight on this fine institution.

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Hier soir je suis allée dîner dans un College qui n’est pas le mien, le St John’s College. Comme pour tous les dîners solennels, j’ai pris un plaisir à choisir ma tenue, à mettre des talons hauts, un nouvel bibi, à porter ma robe noire avec fierté. D’ailleurs je vous parle toujours de cette ‘robe noire’, obligatoire pour un dîner solennel qui ressemble en gros à ceci:

On a un magasin à Durham, Grey & Sons, qui vend exclusivement ces robes. Au début de chaque année scolaire les étudiants vont toujours choisir leur robe dans ce petit magasin. On prend tes mesures, on te fait essayer plusieurs longueurs avant de se décider sur ta taille. Cette tenue académique de base est obligatoire pour toute cérémonie ou dîner. Ensuite, selon votre discipline et niveau d’étude, les robes varient. Lorsque mon LLM sera enfin terminé, et que je recevrai mon diplôme au mois de janvier prochain, ma robe noire sera différente, avec des manches différentes et il y aura une ‘capuche’ (a hood) violet. Je suis déjà allée l’essayer.

Pour revenir à St John’s, j’étais vraiment sous le charme du bâtiment. On dirait un grand manoir à la campagne vu l’étendu des jardins! La salle à manger était exquise aussi. De St Johns, on a également une jolie vu sur la Cathédrale. Voilà la vidéo de présentation de St Johns:

Le dîner était copieux, un peu trop même: une petite salade aux œufs en entrée, mais suivi d’un genre de bœuf Bourguignon avec pommes de terre et petits pois alors qu’il faisait vraiment lourd et orageux. En dessert un ‘banoffee pie’, à base de biscuit, bananes, caramel et beaucoup trop de crème! Suivi de vin, et de fromages.

Avec quelques amis je suis ensuite allée me réfugier au Château, dans notre Middle Common Room (la pièce réservé aux étudiants en Master/Doctorants) avec une autre bouteille ou deux et quelques fruits pour couper avec le repas trop lourd! On a écouté Mozart, Vivaldi… La nuit a semblé interminable.

D’ici quelques années, lorsque je repenserai à Durham, c’est ce qui va rester: les rires; les amis; nos débats mouvementés sur le droit, l’art, la politique; des bouteilles pleines qui se vident, avec toujours l’omniprésence d’un lieu féerique, hors du temps, où personne ne peut nous atteindre; un Château qui est le mien mais que je veux bien partager quand même.

]]> http://comedaydreamwithme.wordpress.com/2009/08/14/over-achiever/ Fri, 14 Aug 2009 13:52:23 +0000 comedaydreamwithme http://comedaydreamwithme.wordpress.com/2009/08/14/over-achiever/

This morning attended a motivation talk about ” How to be a Over-Achiever” . The speaker – Raymond Loh from Penang , sponsored by Orange International College and ICSA International . If you are interested , please visit http://www.oic.edu.my/index.html . The ICSA International is for those who intended to become an accountant or higher – Secretary . This is not boss’ private secretary but Chartered Secretary , who holding a high post in a company . Every documents must let this guy check or sign before going to the big boss . So , for those who are taking accountancy and who wish to be rich , I would recommend you to take this . Most importantly , it is your interest to the subject and your leadership .  Check it out : http://www.maicsa.org.my/default_main.aspx

Without wasting time , I would like to share the skill I learnt at Study Skills Seminar . It only takes 6 baby steps . Therefore , it’s very easy . It works ? Why don’t you try it yourself and tell me ? I will be glad to hear from you .

Step #1  The 4-Ks of SUCCESS

♥ Know Yourself

♥ Know Your Opponent

♥ Know Your Climate

♥ Know Your Environment

Here is some of the famous and successful people :

• Hui Neng – He was an illiterate person but he became a master of Zen .
  
• Booker T. Washington – He was a slave . But , he became black leader and educator .
  
• Confucius – He was an orphan and he became a great teacher in China .
  
• Golda Meir – She suffered from leukemia and she’s been fighting it for 12 years .
  
• Franklin Delano Roosevelt – The 32nd President of US and he was a polio victim .
• Helen Adams Keller – She was a deaf , dumb and blind . Find out what she did .
• W. Shakespeare – I believe everyone knows him . He was a crippled but he is famous with his poetry .
  
• Beethoven – We can listen to beautiful music because of him though he’s tone deaf .
  
• Alexander the Great – He was physically deformed , yet he managed to conquered a lot of countries .
  

Some of them are physically disabled but they made a great success ! We should learn their stories .

Step #2 Everything Is Possible

Impossible is nothing . They are very smart and creative . They know how to play with the words . See carefully and try to get what I mean .

Step #3 Just Do It

Does it sounds familiar ? Yes , Nike use this . Just do it ! Take massive action if you want to become successful .

Step #4 Failures are another ”F”eedback

What does it actually mean ? Thomas Edison failed 1027 times when he was trying to invent the lamp . And you know what he wrote in his jurnal ? This is what he wrote : Today , I found that this , this , this will not make a lamp . To us , it’s a failure . However , with his determination and positive-thinking , he became the world famous inventor . So , NEVER GIVE UP !!!!

Step #5 Have Courage

Courage is important . For example , world famous action star – Jackie Chan . He hurt himself  lots of time when he was shooting . It doesn’t stop him from acting . It’s pumping it , so the fire inside the heart is much more flammable . Be courageous . Overcome ‘FEAR’ .  FEAR actually means F-alse E-vidence  A-ppearing R-eal .

Step #6 Smart Goals – Your Magnet to Success

Smart goals … You need to set a goal or many more than that . Take a piece of paper and jot down your goals . Remember , you have to write it specificly . The more specific , the nearer the goal . From Yale University , in 1953 , they did a write down the goals . After a few years , the students (1953) who are still surviving are being interviewed . Shockly , only 3 % of them achieve their goals . What is the reason ? Well , this 3% students wrote more specific goals compared to the 97% . Set a specific goals is very important .

That’s all I want to share with you . Thank you for lending me your time . Thank you very much .

Ini kabar baik dan harapan baru bagi kaum Adam berwajah kurang tampan. Menurut hasil penelitian terbaru, laki-laki berwajah jelek memiliki kemampuan memproduksi sperma lebih banyak ketimbang pria berwajah tampan. Waduh.

Berdasarkan hasil penelitian terbaru para peneliti di University of Oxford dan University College, London, ditemukan data bahwa kalau pria berwajah kurang menarik memproduksi sperma lebih banyak dan lebih baik setelah ML.

Jadi, jika Anda, kaum wanita menginginkan kehamilan, ada baiknya dari sekarang bersiap mencari lelaki berwajah jelek ketimbang berwajah ganteng. Wah…

Para peneliti berpendapat, ada kecenderungan untuk menahan produksi sperma pada lelaki berwajah tampan ketimbang lelaki berwajah kurang beruntung. Kenyataan ini lebih banyak disebabkan pada kesibukan lelaki tampan untuk tebar pesona ketimbang memperhatikan produksi sperma dalam dirinya.

Sementara untuk pria berwajah kurang beruntung, tidak memiliki beban untuk terus memproduksi sperma, karena mereka lebih memilih menghasilkan sperma berkualitas ketimbang tebar pesona kepada para wanita.

Meski penelitian ini baru dilakukan pada ayam dan ikan, tapi Sam Tazzyman, selaku ketua dari penelitian mengaku hal ini bisa saja terjadi pada diri manusia.

"Ada banyak faktor yang mempengaruhi seseorang itu atraktif atau tidak. Mampu atau tidak memproduksi sperma berkualitas. Semua berperan penting termasuk beberapa hal sepele. Mulai dari masalah ukuran ejakulasi, kualitas sperma, hingga pada ketertarikan pasangan saat berhubungan," kata Sam.

Yang pasti, menurut Sam, ada unsur ketertarikan terhadap lawan jenis untuk membentuk sperma berkualitas. Makin tertarik seorang perempuan terhadap lelaki, biasanya akan banyak sperma yang dihasilkan.

"Meski bisa juga dianggap mengurangi kesuburan sperma, tapi ML berdasarkan rasa ketertarikan mendorong produksi sperma meningkat. Dan ini jarang dilakukan oleh laki-laki berwajah tampan yang lebih mementingkan penampilan ketimbang kualitas hubungan.

Ironis memang, karena hasil produksi sperma laki-laki berwajah jelek ternyata memiliki kualitas lebih baik dan memiliki jumlah yang cukup banyak ketimbang lelaki berwajah tampan. [inilah.com]

For the most part Laidlaw Library does not lend books during the summer because the library is closed. But there are two exceptions:

1. University College faculty & appointed staff: You are welcome to borrow any of our books during the summer. Just e-mail or call us with your request, and we will check the book(s) out to you and deliver them to your UC mailbox or UC office, usually within a couple of days.
2. Other borrowers: Although we are closed, if there’s a book you need and we have the only available library copy on the St. George campus, please e-mail us or call, as we may be able to make a special exception and lend the book to you at a mutually convenient time.

We have a book return box just outside the library doors.

Dimanche dernier j’ai eu la chance de pouvoir assister à un concert de musique classique donné par des étudiants au sein du Great Hall du Château. Mozart, Prokofiev, Elgar et Wood… Normalement le concert aurait du avoir lieu dans Fellow’s Garden, mais malheureusement ce n’était pas possible à cause de la pluie! Ce n’était vraiment pas grave du tout, car The Great Hall est tout aussi prestigieux!

Tout cela me fait penser que je n’ai jamais posté de photo ici du Great Hall, mais j’ai de bonnes raisons: d’abord nous ne sommes pas supposés prendre de photos à l’intérieur du Château, et sur internet il n’y a pas beaucoup d’images… N’empêche que j’ai réussi à trouver, mais les photos ont du être prises au moment de Noël, donc ce n’est pas forcément de saison. Voilà donc où je mange lorsque je dîne au Château, et voilà où le concert a eu lieu:

Pour revenir au concert, c’était vraiment fabuleux, et j’ai adoré les Pomp & Circumstance March d’Elgar. Le concert s’est terminé sur le Pomp & Circumstance March N°1. Au cas où vous ne vous souvenez plus de l’air, voilà:

Je vous parle tout particulièrement de cette dernière pièce car c’est également sur cet air que nous chantons une des chansons de University College;  “Gentlemen of Castle”. Voilà les paroles:

Les paroles ont été prises sur le site de University College. Bon, vous l’auriez compris, il y a également beaucoup d’autres “College Songs” qui sont assez mal polis et qui concernent le College de Hatfield par exemple, nos rivaux!

Il faut donc chanter ces paroles exactement sur cet air, comme pour “Land of Hope and Glory” en fait:

Elgar conducting Pomp & Circumstance March N°1.

Voilà j’espère que ce petit aperçu de The Great Hall, et du concert vous a plu!

Bonne soirée!

Darlings,

J’ai reçu un e-mail qui me demandait plus de précisions sur l’Université de Durham, et plus précisément sur le système collégial. A l’Université de Durham, chaque étudiant doit appartenir à un College. Le choix se fait en début d’année, lors de l’inscription, et la répartition ne se fait ni par matière, ni par niveau d’études. Du coup je me retrouve avec des personnes qui étudient des matières différentes, qui sont aussi bien en licence qu’en Master. Les étudiants qui font une thèse doivent également appartenir à un College.

Nous avons le choix entre seize Colleges différents, chacun a ses propres traditions, ses propres chansons, et il y a toujours une rivalité bienveillante entre les Colleges! Donc vraiment le choix du College se fait par rapport à ses propres préférences. Certains Colleges peuvent être assez religieux, St John’s par exemple; un College est réservé exclusivement aux étudiants en Master… (Ustinov College)

Le système collégial est vraiment génial, car chaque College a un bar, un Common Room, une salle de sport, une bibliothèque… Chaque College organise énormément de soirées, il y a toujours quelque chose à faire! Cela te permet vraiment de faire connaissance avec énormément de personnes, de découvrir d’autres cultures… Il faut rajouter à tout cela les Clubs et Societies de ton College et de l’Université en général, qui te permettent de faire du sport, de jouer au théâtre, d’avoir des activités bénévoles…

En licence, la plupart des étudiants vivent au sein du College, qui devient comme ta famille en quelque sorte!

Comme vous le savez, j’appartiens à University College, appelé également Castle car est basé au sein du Château. Personnellement j’ai préféré ne pas habiter au sein de University College, mais mon cousin par exemple avait sa chambre étudiante au Château tout au long de sa licence. Oui, oui mon cousin était également à Durham University et il a habité pendant trois ans au sein du Château! Quelle chance…!

Chaque College a son emblème, et sa devise. On retrouve l’emblème sur des pulls, t-shirts etc que l’on peut commander à la fac! Le mien est “Non nobis solum”, et veut dire qu’il ne faut pas penser qu’à soi, mais qu’il faut continuer ses études pour le bien de l’humanité en quelque sorte. Voilà un aperçu des emblèmes de chaque College:

University College est le College le plus ancien et le plus prestigieux. Ce College a été fondé en 1832 en même temps que la création de l’Université de Durham. Jusqu’en 1987, ce College était exclusivement masculin! Aujourd’hui, tout le monde veut faire partie de University College, donc j’ai vraiment beaucoup de chance d’appartenir à une institution aussi prestigieuse!

Regardez cette vidéo pour avoir un aperçu de mon quotidien, car cela explique vraiment très très bien les choses. On voit le bar, notre salle à manger… vraiment tout!

University College, Durham.

Je ne sais pas si j’ai été très claire, donc n’hésitez pas à me poser plus de questions. Je vais essayer de prendre plus de photos de mon College dans les jours à venir, car tout est vraiment très joli en ce moment, il fait drôlement beau à Durham! En plus ils viennent d’ouvrir l’accès aux jardins d’été dans une cour intérieure du Château, je vais essayer de prendre des photographies bientôt!

Ajourd’hui, il fait très beau, donc justement, je vais aller prendre mon bouquin et aller lire dans les jardins du Château avec une amie ou deux.

Bon dimanche à vous!

***

Hello there!

I recently received an e-mail from a French reader asking me to clarify what the collegiate system at Durham University implies. I’m sure that you all know, so I won’t bore you with the details! If you are feeling curious, just watch the video!

Have a lovely week-end

University College in St George Campus.

The paths go in separate ways, so do friends. Even if they have so much in common now, some day, they draw apart.

This Tuesday evening, May 5, artist Iain Baxter and writer Alastair MacLeod (author of the wonderful novel No Great Mischief) will be appearing at the U of T Art Centre, in a discussion facilitated by Nino Ricci (whose novel The Origin of Species won this year’s Governor General’s award).

Sylvia Bashevkin (Principal of University College) has not one but two new books out! — one which she wrote, and one which she edited (and wrote parts of):

• Women, Power, Politics: The Hidden Story of Canada’s Unfinished Democracy
• Opening Doors Wider: Women’s Political Engagement in Canada

In Women, Power, Politics she talks, among other things, about the fact that when the media write about women politicians, they tend to focus not on their policies but on things like appearance, dress, and style of speaking (which is usually judged to be either too aggressive or too passive).  She writes about lots of Canadian politicians including Sheila Copps, Belinda Stronach, Audrey McLaughlin, and of course Kim Campbell (who was interviewed on TV Ontario tonight — I’m sure she’d find the book fascinating!).

Linda Hutcheon will be giving this year’s Alexander Lectures, beginning March 23. Her intriguing title is “The Uses and Abuses of Reviewing.” Professor Hutcheon is the author of A Theory of Adaptation (among many other books).

Next week, March 10-12, Ruth Leys (from Johns Hopkins University) will give a series of lectures at University College, on “Emotions in Turmoil: Genealogy and Critique.”

In honour of these lectures, Laidlaw Library has acquired two books by Ruth Leys:

• From guilt to shame : Auschwitz and after
• Trauma : a genealogy

The University College drama program is currently putting on Attempts on Her Life, by British playwright Martin Crimp, at the Helen Gardiner Phelan Playhouse:

• info about the production
• the published play (in a book of four Crimp plays, recently purchased by Laidlaw Library)

Ladies and gentlemen, allow me to introduce you to the new Colleges of Letters and Sciences:

A new academic unit called the Colleges of Letters and Science will be created through a partnership of the colleges of Science, Social and Behavioral Sciences, Humanities and University College. This unit has been developed as part of The University of Arizona’s Transformation Plan to build on interdisciplinary strengths and reduce administrative and business expenses.

This has been a long time coming. As we’ve pointed out in other posts, the most successful institutions have a handful of very large, wide-ranging colleges, which are essentially schools within the school. Because of their size, these intra-university institutions can provide services that currently need separate entities to operate — services such as advising for undecided students:

Advising for students who are undecided on majors, currently provided solely by University College, will be integrated into the new Colleges of Letters and Science to strengthen academic support for students.

The Lamp has never been a big fan of the UC, so I can’t say I’m sad to see it go. The best move for next year (presumably, when this plan would be fully enacted; I can’t imagine that it’s effective immediately) would be to convert the current UC offices into the administrative offices of CLS, saving them the problem of finding space for the new, centralized administrators.

It is worth noting that the three universities (not counting the UC) maintain their indepedent status, with their own deans and administrative control. However, the overall CLS will be run by an “executive dean,” a position to which the current College of Science dean has been named.

Provost Meredith Hay also stresses the “advising benefits” that will be accrued from the new set-up, while not exactly spelling out what these benefits will be. I could see a sort of underclass/upperclass divide in the advising: advisors for underclassmen will be well-versed in the CLS as a whole, helping to spell out the Gen Ed requirements, giving advice on majors (a la the University College), interpreting the Byzantine SAPR; advisors for upperclassmen will be more specified, and associated with programs rather than schools, providing more specified advising up through the graduation check.

You can watch Hay talk about the new institution here.

It turns out my Dad was right. He will be very pleased to hear this. When I was a kid he always used to say, “You are who your friends are.” And ”I just want you to date boys who treat you well.” There’s a reason he said this: I used to surround myself with people who weren’t all that nice to me because I didn’t hold myself in high enough esteem to attract the generous, kind, loving people. My Inner Critic recruited people to do its dirty work of keeping me down. I had a turnaround after losing weight. I learned how to value myself and hold the people around me to higher standards of kindness. It turns out that I may have saved myself! 

A recent study by Dr. Roberto De Vogli (University College, London, UK) and colleagues indicates that bad relationships increase the risk of coronary heart disease by 34%. The study  was published in the October 8, 2007 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine.

Consider these quotes from an article in Heartwire:

“We think the quality of social relationships can be a very important factor for health and well-being,” epidemiologist De Vogli told heartwire. “There is a growing body of literature that shows that being exposed to negative relationships that increase worry, anxiety, and feelings of low self-esteem can in the long term produce emotional effects that may trigger biological changes in the body.”

De Vogli said poor marital quality has previously been reported as an important prognostic factor for MI, heart failure, and metabolic syndrome and that women seem to be more affected by the negative aspects of a close relationship than men. “Our findings expand and corroborate previous research . . . by showing that negative interactions in close relationships are determinants of coronary events.”

De Vogli et al go on to suggest that negative close relationships may be more powerful predictors of health than other aspects of social support because previous research indicates that “individuals tend to mentally replay negative encounters more than they replay positive ones.”

De Vogli told heartwire that he believes emotional effects could trigger changes in the neuroendocrine, inflammatory, and immunomodulatory systems. And although pharmacological approaches “may cure the symptoms, they are just responding to the crisis and not tackling the root causes,” he said. Increasing pressures in society, evidenced by the stresses seen in children these days, also contribute to negative aspects of relationships.

“People just need to be nicer to each other,” he says. “It seems so simple, but it’s basically a truism.”

I wrote an article for Experience Life Magazine in 2005 called Civil Unions in which I wrote about how we need to be kinder to our romantic partners. But this new research goes even further. We need to populate our social circles with people who are nice to us. And of course, we need to be worthy friends and lovers in return.

Today’s smackdown: Say or do something kind for your friends or partner. It’s good for you.

There’s a new book out about two University College alumni, Ken Macalister and Frank Pickersgill. It’s called Unlikely Soldiers: How Two Canadians Fought the Secret War against Nazi Occupation, and it’s available at Laidlaw Library.

In the 1930s, Macalister was a UC undergrad, and Pickersgill did his M.A at UC. Macalister’s experiences at UC and U of T are described on pages 39-45. To find out more about the book, see the Harper Collins description.