Paper Trails

Closing up Shop

2009-01-21T16:19:00.004-05:00

So that's it, then. Two years. Nine hundred entries. But that's all she wrote. My thanks to the editors I've had over the years, and everyone who faced my ire.

Most importantly, thanks to the people who cared enough to read the damn thing or write comments, especially if you're not people I already knew.

My next endeavour is coming together as we speak, keep up with me on Twitter until then.

Oh, and in my hands is a replica eggplant from a dollar store. Which I won at Hip Hop Karaoke last week. For switching a faulty microphone on the fly without stopping. It looked like this:

And yeah, I still go by The Trail there.

Pure truth, Windsor. Be well. Do Good.

Jordan Ferguson
08.10.06 - 01.21.09

Two to Go: On Windsor

2009-01-21T15:01:00.003-05:00

I'm writing this in a beaten-up Moleskine cahier I bought shortly after I got my job. I was initially disappointed that instead of the hardbound, banded journal Moleskine is known for, I ended up with a set of three softcover notebooks. No place ribbon, no expandable pocket, just pages wrapped in cardstock. Yet even though I've since purchased the attractive and expensive model I originally wanted, I still find myself turning to the fragile and unattractive mistake I originally bought. The cover is wearing away in spots, the wrinkles, divots and dents form a cartography of the abuse I've put it through. I've only recently passed the halfway mark, the black stitches sealing the previous year behind its threaded seam.

I've been putting this one off for as long as I can. Up to this point, I could still pretend I had some tenuous connection to the city I loved, the city where I found myself, the city where I discovered what I didn't want out of my life, and gave me what I did want [which, as it turned out, was a way out].

But with the end of this blog concludes the last "contribution" I will make to our city for the foreseeable future. And surprisingly, I am perfectly fine with that. Because while I will always love you, Windsor, and I will rep you until the day I die, if my life works out in a way I would like it to, I will never live there again.

This is not an easy reality for me to acknowledge, and though I probably suspected it for months, I was able to ignore it on the basis that I was never home long enough to know I was right. But this past Christmas was the first time in maybe a year I was home long enough to get reacquainted with the flow of day-to-day life was like.

And it was slow. And boring. And small. And for the first time since I left I realized there was no denying that I had become the person I always hated: the guy who leaves Windsor and finds himself a little ashamed when he comes back. And I was okay with it.

The thing I realized tooling around with my man Hollywood on Boxing Day was that while I feel like my average speed has moved up, Windsor's has stayed the same. There's no way to say that without feeling like an arrogant prat, but it's the truth. Even in the most mundane activities here, you see more, experience more, live more than you do back home. Example: when I lived in Amherstburg, it would take anywhere between 25 - 35 minutes to drive to Windsor. Lady Trail and I drive for longer than that finding a Taco Bell across town, and it's not as soul crushingly boring as that commute up Howard Ave. used to be. Because there's something to look at other than fucking cornfields and a driving range.

So it is with a lighter heart than I was expecting that I bid you goodbye, Windsor. If not to you than to what you represent. I think I never fully let go of you, and that was a mistake, but it was the only way I knew how to leave. You were all I knew, and I had to take you with me when I left. You were never really what I wanted, but I made you work, like this beat up Moleskine. But if I now have what I want, why am I still holding onto you? Why am I fighting against who I am now, reluctant to appreciate everything I love about Toronto? Because I'm afraid of betraying you? Unlikely, you washed your hands of me the second I left. I've been in your shoes, I've done the same thing. So be it.

These are the dark days for you, Windsor. The auto economy is tanking, the Greenlink plan is bleeding money for nothing, tuition is going up and up and up. And it's gonna hit bottom before it bounces upward. But I have faith in you. I know there are enough of you who don't adhere to what the Star or Gord Henderson tell you [one last time: Gord? You're an imbecile], who don't want to feel like the victims the city's narrative is trying to construct for you. And I hope you find the strength and support to get up and bring the change the city so desperately needs.

But it will be without me.

I'll see you again, Windsor, and there's no denying the part you have played in my life. But I'm really not interested in having you part of my future.

Love,
Jordan

Three to Go: On Music

2009-01-05T20:19:00.003-05:00

I believe I've well established that one of the things I love about becoming an old man is the correlating decrease in how much I give a shit about things like the trendiness of things like my musical tastes. Sometime in 2006 I realized I had wasted a lot of time forcing myself to listen to music and read books and watch movies I didn't actually like, but because it was demanded of the image I was attempting to project. As a result, my iPod's been living in 1998 ever since.

So while I still try to keep up on the world's crappy pop songs [Ne-Yo is a beast of a songwriter, people. Just admit it, you'll feel better], I don't really keep up on the musical trends the Pitchfork crowd think I should. Is Pitchfork still the zeitgeist barometer? Shows how far I've fallen.

So when everybody cranked out their best of lists for the albums of '08, I didn't pay much attention, but curiosity always gets the better of me, and despite the mind-boggling presence of the Lil' Wayne album on numerous #1 spots, I noticed something encouraging.

I'd previously mentioned an interest in the latest album by Girl Talk, Feed the Animals [pictured above]. After seeing it pop up repeatedly on lists of 2008's best records, including Blender's list and even Time magazine [topped in both instances by Weezy], I finally took the plunge and hunted it down.

And it is mindblowing. Nevermind that it has the best album cover I've seen since The Streets' Original Pirate Material. Suburban house with lawn on fire immediately suggests the sort of party to be avoided, and this is the album that would be playing when the cops come.

To put it briefly, it's a mashup album, but it's unlike any other mashup album I've ever encountered. Other similar projects, from Danger Mouse's Grey Album to Mick Boogie and Terry Urban's Viva La Hova all have...themes. Two disparate elements smashed together to make something new, but they all have an established framework. Even geniuses like DJ Earworm [who dropped the sublime Radiohead/Kanye banger 'Reckoner Lockdown' easier this year] make songs in a traditional sense. Verses and choruses and whatnot.

Girl Talk [who goes by the legal name Gregg Gillis and is a medical engineer in a former life], makes no such promises. Each song packs at least 20 samples into each of its 3-4 minute runtimes, and the selections are completely random and [this is the important part] well known.

I've talked about my love for The Avalanches' one and only album Since I Left You, the closest thing I can compare Feed the Animals to in the sense that it's made of hundreds of samples, but different in that those samples aren't recognizable. You listen to the Girl Talk album and find yourself being drawn into the ridiculous combinations Gillis pulls out of his hat. Metallica and Lil' Mama? Why not? Weezy and the Chili Peppers? That'll work. Part of the thrill and excitement of the album is hearing those songs you've known your whole life in a completely different way. Put it on at a party and every person in the room will at least one cock their head in puzzlement, asking if what they heard really happened.

This is all ignoring the album's other major contribution: the fact that the album, legally, cannot exist. All the music on the album is copyrighted, there is no way Gillis or the album's distributor, Illegal Art, can release it. But they have, in a giant flip off to the recording industry as a whole, offering it in a fashion to Radiohead's In Rainbows experiment of 2007: let the buyer decide how much they want to pay for it. Those looking to access the album can decide for themselves how much they think it's worth. If they choose nothing, they have to explain themselves from a selection of options from 'I don't believe in paying for music' to 'I can't afford it'. No judgment, you'll still get the album no matter what, but you should at least tell them why.

Anyway, this has gone on far enough, the point remains: Gillis has made something extraordinary, and while it's not something you would probably listen to everyday, and certainly is not something that can be incorporated into your shuffle playlist, but if you put it on at your next party, the block will be hot enough to singe your grass.

Four to Go: Salve in the Wounds

2008-12-30T14:00:00.001-05:00

At least Jon Lajoie thinks we're cool.

EDIT: Behold the actual footage the earlier video promised, courtesy of my man Mike Evans.

Five to Go: Here Come the Bile

2008-12-30T13:08:00.002-05:00

This will ramble. Don't expect cohesion. Or coherence. As always these opinions are my own, and do not represent the editorial board of The Lance or any of its volunteers.

The problem Windsor, I think, is that deep down, you don't really want a student newspaper.

I took an office at the Lance in 2004, and am making my exit here four years later, and in that time, I've never found anyone who didn't already work for the paper who had anything good to say about us.

You think this is our own fault. You think we bring it upon ourselves with the advertising, the choice of advertisers, wire copy, lazy reportage, sensationalism or any other of the myriad claims made against this newspaper in the past four years. But I am constantly amazed by the venom this publication generates among some people on campus.

When the pub got closed, it wasn't long before the targets turned to The Lance. "Why do we give money to a paper we never read? Take that money for the Pub we don't go to." Why not take it from the radio station you never listen to and takes twice as much of your tuition? Nope, never.
I can only assume this is because something like CJAM falls into a sort of 'out of sight, out of mind' category. Buried in a far away corner of the CAW Centre, few outside of the station's dedicated staff and volunteers even remember it's there. Whereas The Lance gets plastered all over campus, making it an easy target. People see the stacks of papers littering the cafeteria and assume people are using them as napkins. It's not my fault you people can't use a recycling bin.

As far as the other criticisms, allow me to retort.

The number of ads: I'll assume something I was told in '04 holds as true today if not moreso: If the paper operated on student fees alone, it would come out once a month. Sad reality: ads are required to keep the paper coming out once a week, in colour. Don't tell to the editors to cut their salaries, they make f**king peanuts as it is, and deserve their meagre sums for the level of work they put into it.

The types of ads: At the first national newspaper conference I ever attended, ad policies were the topic of the day. Some felt they were ethically necessary, and refused ads from the military, or tobacco or alcohol or companies with questionable environmental practices. Those were the idealistic students who ran college papers.

Others felt they were the most ludicrous ideas they had ever heard, and laughed them off as naive. These were people like Lewis Lapham of Harper's, and Ken Alexander of The Walrus, both of whom were quick to point out that they would take ad money from whoever wanted to hand it over, if it meant getting another issue out. Because these men understood that in the world of print, survival is the highest priority, and gave their readers enough credit to tell the difference between running an ad and making an endorsement.

Survival is even more precarious in the world of student publications. The Lance makes ad money from national and local customers. Nationally, ad sales are down across the board on account of the recession [also a reason I'm making my exit]. So we turn to local to hopefully pick up the slack. So if a strip club wants to pay us a grand for a full page ad, if it's the difference between the black and the red, hell yes we'll take it. If it were up to me, there'd be classifieds stuffed with escort ads in the back. But I'm without scruples.

Wire copy: I've fought tooth and nail for this, always. You do not live in a bubble. No one thinks they're more globally connected than a university student, yet none of them seem to care about what might be happening at schools across the country. Shut your damn face. One or two wire stories in an eight page news section does not suggest a dearth of local content.

Now, when the Opinion section was running wire copy a few weeks ago....THAT suggests a dearth of local content, and serves to strengthen my original thesis: you don't really want this paper.

Not that some criticisms are not valid. I can't lie, I've rubbed the bridge of my nose on more than one occasion over the current news section. Local produce? Flu shots? Is this the Amherstburg Echo? I know it's the end of the semester, but damn.

And yet I know from experience, if the news editor had run stories more city than school based, there would be a pile of angry emails criticizing the lack of campus-centric content.

You do not want this newspaper. Don't even get me started on the oversight committee, some lame-brained misguided endeavour by a crew of legacy grabbing instigators conducted in a fashion even the most peabrained of observers found fault with, and managed to last about half a year before losing its chair. You people care so little about this paper you won't affect change even after you've fought for the right to do so. And the editors are to take you seriously??

"Well why the eff do you care, Trail? Your ass is out the door anyway."

This is true, and do not misconstrue this as sour grapes. The fact that I still love this newspaper and cherish my time there is why I find all of this so frustrating. Bitching about something and doing nothing to try and improve what you see as problems is a dick move. You complain about ads, but it's not like an increase in student fees would be met with applause [despite not increasing in six years]. You complain about content, but refuse to volunteer or write stories. And this song and dance never changes. It's the nature of campus publishing, known too well to any of us dumb enough to put more than two years into it. By the time you can reach a compromise with anyone, they graduate, and a new crop of rabid young world changers comes storming in and you start with them all over again.

You do not care about this newspaper. You do not want this newspaper. It could disappear tomorrow and you would not even notice, and you're too stupid to realize how tragic that would be.

Counting to 900

2008-12-30T12:57:00.003-05:00

My terror of large natural bodies of water and the things that live beneath them has been well documented for years [in short: I hate large natural bodies of water and the things that live beneath them], and the subject of much mockery among people who know me.

"That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard, what are you so afraid of?"
"Whales, mostly."
"Whales? Sharks I could understand, but whales? That's just f**king stupid."
"I'm telling you, if I was swimming of the coast of Labrador and that big ass tail broke the water next to me, you would hear the snap in my brain. That's it. Batshit crazy."
"That would never happen."
"I just don't like things that could swallow me in one bite."
"That would never happen."

Oh wouldn't it, ne'er do wells? You know, I was almost ready to believe you. I was almost ready to admit my fear irrational. Then I saw this.

Via.

Yup. One day you're out kiteboarding peacefully, next thing you know the goddam whales are turning on you.

Who's insane now, you assholes?

Mutiny

2008-12-04T17:13:00.003-05:00

As much fun as it is tiffing with Kenny [A.L., I like that, abbreviated, like it's a selection from his collected correspondence. There will be endnotes!], and as much as I've argued in favour of the open dialogue blog commenting affords us over the past two years....well, screw it. I'm a petty man, Windsor, and I refuse to let him have the last word.

A small, petty man.

If you're desperate to chew me out, the blog email address is easily acquired. Take that, democracy!

Canadian Government: Still Boring

2008-12-02T21:16:00.003-05:00

How is it that even when the Canadian government is undergoing the most dramatic events in my lifetime, it's still boring as hell?

Now while I'm certainly not one to support what's going on right now [how Dion could ever believe he'd be welcomed with open arms as a placeholder PM is anybody's guess], I can't quite jump onto Gordo's foam-dripping train of wrath directed at the coalition parties, with no heat on the Tories [and seriously, Windsor Star? Can we thumbnail that picture of Henderson? Horrifying].

My own opinions tend to lead to the Globe's current editorial on the matter, suggesting that while a Dion-led coalition government is about the last thing this country needs, this is a mess of Harper's making. His plan to try and cut the subsidies to the other parties would have effectively neutered them politically, leaving them unable to financially compete in any future elections.

And the opposition are the ones taking a poop on democracy.

The sad fact is that none of our federal leaders give a good goddamn about democracy, only about power and keeping a tight hold on their fragile positions.

Sad, sad, sad.

Of Bangs and Whimpers

2008-12-01T12:24:00.005-05:00

Not that is wasn't obvious lately, but as it is now December 1, I feel it's time to officially announce that the Lance Blog will be shutting its doors.

I got the call from Lane Editor-in-Chief Ryan Rogers a couple weeks ago, citing a need to trim operating costs in the wake of slowing ad sales at both a national and local level. No hard feelings there, and I can't say I blame him. I think the best part of that conversation was when the clearly tired and overstressed Rogers asked the following:

"Did you ever want to be Editor-in-Chief when you were News Editor?"
"Fuck, no. Too much stuff like what you're dealing with now."

Anyhoo, I'm not shuttering the doors quite yet. Blogger tells me I'm at 892 entries including this one, and I think I'd like to get it up to a nice even 900 before I lock the place up. And I'd like to make sure I have somewhere set up for all you loyal readers to follow me to. All three of you.

The next week may be a tad nostalgic, Windsor. But you'll forgive me the indulgence, as you've forgiven me so many other things before it. As we kick off the Paper Trails requiem, I've dug through the archives to give you five of the better moments of the past two years.

5. Gollum Watch
Some of you might remember this blog started when I lived in Kingston, Ontario. You may not know that it started there because I had followed Lady Trail there while she attended Teacher's College, because I was fairly certain if I stayed in Windsor, I would have lost her, and I didn't really want to risk that. And she was cool with me going, so why not. You never knew this blog had such a romantic inception, did you.

Anyway, as much as we loved Kingston as a city [still do, want to get back for a visit badly], we didn't really feel much in common with the people there, and making friends was troublesome. So we kind of stuck to ourselves with another pair of Windsorites who had gone to Queen's.

Which brings us to March '06, and Lady Trail had to leave to do an alternative practicum for her course requirements, which basically entailed everyone scattering across the globe teaching in non-classroom settings. Lady Trail went back to Windsor for the month, and I stayed in Kingston. Gollum Watch was the tale of my descent into isolated madness, and was pretty funny, I though. I had visual aides and everything.

4. Mission Statement
This post is the first time I ever rolled up my sleeves and tried to break down for all of you the issues of net neutrality, internet culture and new vs. old media that would become sort of staples over the years. It's still a good read, I think. And well laid out, to boot.

3. The Trail vs. The Pussycat Dolls
Very dated by now, and certainly says nothing new, but never let it be said I was unwilling to make an ass of myself for your amusement, Windsor.

2. [tie] On Anonymous Commenting and My Nemesis
During the 2007 UWSA election we posted a series of debate videos from the candidates here on the blog. On one entry, someone [still don't know who] left a rude and suggestive comment about one of the candidates, which opened a debate on whether or not anonymous commenting should be allowed on this blog. This is the entry where I laid out why I was allowing them [the best weapon against mean speech is more speech] which was not met by a lot of support by the people who were angered. I was just happy people were interested.

The closest thing this arena ever came to out and out internet flamewars was the day I referred to former UWSA rep Ken Birchall as a 'Warrior of Virtue', fighting what he saw as injustice at every turn. This was apparently an insult of sorts, as Mr. Birchall took exception and left what what would become a typically impulsive rebuttal in the comments thread, as well as in emails to other Lance Editors and columns for the opinion section.

In the end, it was all too much for Kenny, and he resigned from council over the UWSA's failure to heed the recommendations of the Electoral Monitoring Committee during last year's general election.

I trust he's out there swinging his sword of light against injustice as we speak. God bless him. *gives one-finger salute*

1. How Great Thou Art
To this day, the one entry to receive the most traffic is my flimsy report on the Dominion Christian Centre in Hamilton after I had seen it featured on CTV's W-Five program. Essentially just a recap of what I had seen on the show, a somewhat disconcerting story of extreme religious fervor, families ripped apart and failed cult deprogramming, the post sparked a brief outburst of commenting after it first went up, but in the years since, I will still see hits going directly to that post two years later. People are still interested in this story; maybe they just find it hard to believe that something like this could be happening in their own backyards, among their neighbours.

If you want to watch the show in question, it's still on CTV's site here.

Also worth noting: for months after that post went up, an IP address in Hamilton spent a lot [and I mean a LOT] of time at the blog. If I didn't know better, I'd think I was being watched.

More nostalgia to come as we bring the curtain down, Windsor. And it won't all be sunshine and orange juice.

Unofficial: Popping My Cherry

2008-11-27T18:50:00.002-05:00

This isn't part of the official countdown, Windsor [since I've put it on hold due to my illness this week], but I couldn't resist, for the first time, jumping in on the latest 'discussion' on the collapsing auto industry over at the Star's website, at an apparently frequent poster who's made a name for himself, not in the best regard:

"I usually refrain from getting directly involved in these discussions, but I'm really hoping that 'Guido' is a phantom. I need to believe that my car was built by someone who knows the difference between a 'concession' and a 'concussion.' Possibly he's suffered too many of the latter.

It's not even like I [completely] disagree with him, but man, you're not doing your cause any favours."

Oh blue collar Windsor, I suspect I'll miss you the most.

Prince of Persia + Sigur Ros = Awesome

2008-11-25T23:02:00.003-05:00

You know kids, if you're gonna take entries for the Opinion section, you should probably alter the headlines. Since they make no sense removed from context. But who am I to question?

In recent days, you may have seen a commercial for a game called for Prince of Persia. It has amazing music. This is the full version.

The song is called 'Saeglopur' by Sigur Ros. From the album Takk. You're welcome. Bed.

Ten to Go!

2008-11-24T21:33:00.001-05:00

Last night's Stephen Colbert Christmas Special may have been a bizarre and uneven affair, but it did provide us with what could be John Legend's most brilliant musical moment. What better way to accent your nog than with.....nutmeg.

One Down, Eleven to Go

2008-11-24T20:40:00.002-05:00

Kanye West's new album 808s and Heartbreak dropped today, debuting his new...I don't know what style. After a couple cursory browses of the album, I don't think it's a stretch to say I think the best thing about the album is the cover art, by graf-legend/toy designer/fine artist KAWS.

I certainly understand the emotional timbre of the album. Ending his relationship with his fiance, as well as the tragic accidental death of his mother guaranteed West would be in a bad mood when it came time to release an album. But the approach he's taken, while not without promise [I'm thinking here of album opener 'Say You Will' and to a lesser extent current single 'Heartless'. But Yeezy can express his dismay that people consider Auto-Tune wack all he wants, that don't change the fact that it's wack. Or worse, overdone. T-Pain and Akon done milked that heifer for all she's got.

But I understand, he needs to do this, it's just his way. He's not the sort of artist to suffer privately, and hip-hop isn't the sort of musical culture that would allow him the luxury to do so even if he wanted to.

Some critics have apparently been comparing 808s and Heartbreak to fellow Chicagoan and frequent collaborator Common's much-maligned 2002 experimental album 'Electric Circus'. I'm more interested to see if West follows Com's subsequent career path: after 'Electric Circus', he released his certified classic, 'Be'.

So I'm still with you, Kanye. I just hope you come back to us, sooner than later.

***

I also found an interesting article in the latest issue of SPIN [with MIA on the cover] ponduring the death of sampling in hip-hop, in light of Kanye's latest album, which features only original electronic compositions.

Contrast that with 'Graduation', which featured samples from Elton John, Steely Dan and Michael Jackson among others, and made for a much more engaging album, I found.

From the moment block party DJs figured out how to take two copies of the same record to extend the breaks the crowds were interested in dancing to, the sampling and reinterpretation of preexisting music has been at the core of hip-hop. Everyone knows 'Rapper's Delight' is just the bassline of 'Good Times' by Chic for six minutes. Doesn't make it any less awesome.

But as hip-hop increased in popularity, people started paying attention and lawyers started getting involved. Move to the present day with the culture of vinyl crate diggers and every obscure one hit wonder in the world Googling themselves, and you have an environment where every sample has to be 'cleared', or gotten permission for. According to SPIN's article, for a top tier sample from someone like James Brown or George Clinton, you're looking at $20,000 minimum, as well as royalties.

So when someone like Soulja Boy comes out, of course he's gonna take a Casio sample and do it all himself. And when he's successful, the big boys are going to wonder why they're opening their wallets when they could save the money by doing it themselves.

Is this for the best? Probably not. I know I'm an old-school head, but can anyone really argue that a sample free song like Mims' 'This is Why I'm Hot' is a better song that Wu-Tang's Gladys Knight-sampling, 'Can It All Be So Simple?' Umm, no. But this is where we find ourselves, and there are still producers out there carrying the torch like Pete Rock, the RZA, or up and comers like 88-Keys [who's first single 'Stay Up [Viagara]' features a hot-fire verse from Mr. West that soothes me to believing everything will be okay].

I find it interesting that hip-hop gives us yet another example of the benefits of remixing and sampling that I've gone on about here for ages.

Now I'ma go find that Girl Talk album everyone's on about.

Dead Man Walking

2008-11-19T22:22:00.002-05:00

Since I'm still on the payroll, let's have a look at what's shaking in the tubes, shall we?

Locally, the man who cut the ears off his dog last year has found himself in a similar predicament behind bars. Rony Salman was serving time for robbery in Windsor when he had part of his ear chewed off by another inmate. I wish I could say I was sorry.

See kids, prison justice is just as effective as the judicial system.

Man sues author of popular book at my work, claiming he is in fact, not a douchebag.

The 25 most important stories to receive next to no coverage in the mainstream media. Doing my part for the birkenstock set.

And in some amazing news for all my Knights who say 'Ni', the gents of Monty Python have decided to throw damn near everything in their vaults on YouTube. Because you've all been doing it anyway and frankly, you suck at it.

And now, I have zombies to kill. Go buy Left4Dead.

2008-11-18T19:09:00.002-05:00

Though to be fair, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't getting a little tired, Windsor...

We're #8! We're #8!

2008-11-18T17:17:00.004-05:00

I was shopping for groceries on the weekend when I saw Maclean's on the impulse rack. Since you're never far from my thoughts, Windsor, I couldn't resist checking up on you and hearkened back to my days as a fast moving News Editor, getting Sunday night emails from public affairs with embargoed info that actually made me feel like I was a for-real journalist, before the glamour of professional blogging came along.

I haven't crunched all the data yet, I'll leave that to my esteemed colleagues at the mothership, but even at a glance, it was a pleasant surprise to see UWindsor out of the double digits of comprehensive universities. I come from a time when the entire ranking fallout season was dedicated to positive spin on the school's pitiful performance. This year, it would seem the university's efforts have not gone unnoticed.

Of course, we still take a drubbing in the reputation survey, and the current upward momentum is in response to initiatives started three years ago [according to a stats prof I heard speak back in the day concerning the rankings].

Lord help me, Windsor, but I just can't help from being an optimist, and with the medical school completed and the engineering building on the way, it's not unthinkable to think that this upward movement is a trend that could continue.

I would also suggest to Gord Henderson and all the other down-nose-lookers that condemn the university community as the out of touch ivory tower dwellers who continuously turn their backs on the city, that an improved performance in Maclean's benefits the city as well as the school, and when we put ourselves a couple slots above a school like York, we're turning heads that heretofore weren't even considering us. Self-improvement starts at home, n'est-ce pas?

Somebody tell me if the university is still 'withdrawn' from the rankings? That was an Uncle Ross initiative back in the day, I'm wondering if Wildeman has carried it over?

But the monkey on the back of our fine school continues to be the matter of reputation, and the lovely ladies [including D'Arcy] of the Lance Out Loud look at what you think of the subject.

A Ponderous Day on the Internet

2008-11-17T23:35:00.004-05:00

Yes. Yes they do. Found outside the Canadian Opera Company at Queen and University.

I spent the day trying on hats. What did the rest of the world do?

The Globe wonders why Apple can't do more to track stolen iPods and iPhones?

Wired wonders why Mirror's Edge will make you vomit? [answer: proprioception].

Gizmodo wonders why, with the digital signal conversion coming to televisions next year, television manufacturers have such pisspoor recycling initiatives?

BoingBoing wonders if Obama will continue the failed 'war on drugs', given his past support of medicinal marijuana?

The Trail wonders if there's a better way to waste time than this?

Oh right, it's called Left 4 Dead and Wall-E on DVD. Both of which to be purchased tomorrow. Making it officially the best Tuesday ever.

Another One Bites the Dust

2008-11-17T01:21:00.003-05:00

The crumbled remains of what was once Patrick O'Ryan's. Not news, but still sad on a Sunday. Photo courtesy my man Hollywood.

In these current trying economic times, am I the only one who finds it odd they're building a bank there.

You know who they need to talk to? The owner of Shanfield-Myers. Or, as you may know it, 'That weird china shop you pass on the way to Shwarma Kingdom'. That place has survived for decades, and I defy you to find one person who has ever bought anything there.

Something Like the State of the World

2008-11-15T00:08:00.003-05:00

Interesting day in politics on both sides as the border as Michael Ignatieff makes a return to the Liberal Leadership picture announcing his intention to pursue the top seat again.

South of the border, the Obama transition team has started leaking names of potential cabinet members to gauge approval. The marquee possibility: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

Ever wonder where Apple gets its sleek design ideas from? 1960s designs from appliance maker Braun is probably not the first place you think of.

George W. Bush: Phoning it in til January.

Is it legit? Who knows, but it could become your new favourite blog: The View From 90. Years old, that is.

Salon exposes the positive side to Bush's legacy: Vladamir Putin talked out of hanging the President of Georgia when told it's something Bush would do.

Bed!

Love Robots Now. They'll Go Easier on You When They Rise Up

2008-11-14T11:55:00.005-05:00

A quick look at November 2007 indicates I post a lot more stupid videos this year than I did last year. Though to be fair, I also wrote a lot more about what happened to me on the subway or what was happening in the wrestling industry. So maybe it balances out.

At any rate, there's no way I can't post this for everyone's enjoyment. The Wall-E DVD comes out next week, and if you recall, it's the movie my inner eight-year-old has been waiting for the last 20 years or so.

As is tradition, the folks at Pixar have included an original short for the DVD release, focusing on the little robot shown getting locked out of the ship about 2/3 through the movie. His name is Burn-E.

~~Watch it now, since it could be gone by the time I get home from work tonight. And before anyone sends me a cease and desist, I fully intend to buy the DVD next week anyway, mousers.~~

EDIT: Wow. It literally got taken down as I was posting the entry. Go Lawyers!

So much for that idea.

As a substitute: An AP video discussing if Shep Fairey's Obama image has crossed him over from street artist to iconic imagemaker.

Yawn

2008-11-14T00:07:00.002-05:00

Some days, Windsor, the blank box is harder to face than others. This is one of them.

These are the days you get a senior choir singing Eminem.

Honestly, it's like the anti-Hip Hop Karaoke.

My Shot at Greatness

2008-11-13T00:24:00.002-05:00

I'ma enter. And I'MA WIN! Just you wait and see. And when I do, I am so out of here.

2008-11-12T22:48:00.002-05:00

Well, to update you on my iTunes fiasco, the folks at Apple gave me back my downloaded song files with no questions asked, even though they misdiagnosed my problem, thinking it was a result of the auto-sync that is the default option for iPod updating, suggesting I manage my music files manually. One problem: I already do that, so I still have no explanation for why this happened in the first place.

So they gave me what I wanted, but never solved the problem. Win? At any rate, if I had to suggest anything to you, Windsor, it would probably be to just buy songs on your home computer. The iPod Touch/iPhone WiFi options are cool, but if my problems are a regular occurrence, it's definitely more trouble than it's worth. Wait til you get home.

As it plays in the background, I ask myself why I never encountered Top Chef before this night?

Elsewhere...

The Yes Men print fake copies of the New York Times announcing the end of the Iraq War, and get them to the streets.

Don't have a cat? Thinking of getting one? Experience the terror we deal with on a daily basis.

Those allegations about Sarah Palin not knowing Africa was a continent? Apparently a prank, aimed at exposing the shoddiness of bloggers. I'd feel bad, but since I first learned of it via FoxNews...yeah, not so much. Now why does the guy in the picture keep his clothes in a milk crate?

Oh my Lord: half naked World of Warcraft cosplay. See it now, fans, you'll all be underground again once Lich King hits.

Lich King? Litch King? Am I spelling that right? You people are ridiculous.

Your newspaper. In full 3D

2008-11-11T17:44:00.003-05:00

As L-Boogie says, ever wonder what 24 million dollars gets you? A pretty sweet building, actually.

Though if I may be a fatalist for a moment, all you guitar playing, fax machine brandishing activist types: I've been around the block a time or two, and I've seen a couple rodeos. And I feel I can say with certainty that besides death and taxes, nothing is more guaranteed than increases in tuition. As long as schools in Canada can still feel like a bargain compared to American schools, there will never be a move to lower tuition. You had your freeze for a couple years, that's about the best you will ever be able to hope for.

Yes, yes, I know it's important to be heard, but at what point do you acknowledge that all shouting in a windstorm is earning you is a sore throat?

See, this is why they want to take away my Liberal card.

The Trails Discuss Animals

2008-11-10T23:25:00.002-05:00

Regarding the following:

Lady Trail says, "That's animal cruelty! They're not supposed to be on ice and they're not supposed to be playing! That's not so amazing [video poster] Iwantjustice1! They look like they have sadness in their bellies."

Paper Trail says, "TURKEY FIGHT!"

Best thing since Giraffe Fight.

Come on, Windsor, I gave you a real post earlier.

Steve Jobs is On Notice

2008-11-10T18:44:00.003-05:00

I debated all weekend if what I was steaming to blog about fell under the editorial jurisdiction of this venue.

I fully realize it appears as though I never dedicate any thought to what I slap up here, but I never forget you interweb-savvy kids back home, who not only come here for scoops on what's shaking around your school and city, but for tech news and concerns, as well as ongoing opinion and commentary on the information age we live in.

With that in mind, I thought to myself that since most of you have iPods, and a growing number have iPhones, you might be interested.

You may recall last month I sang the praises of the iPod Touch Lady Trail purchased me for my birthday. I immediately dubbed it 'The Jesus Box' and am still consistently amazed by all it is capable of despite the flaws some quibble over.

That reminds me, wait here while I go check the blog email, since only my personal email is wired to the box.

.....

Cool, youngcrunk09 subscribed to the YouTube channel.

Anyway, one of the big selling points of the iPod Touch and iPhone is the way it integrates with the iTunes music store. By connecting over WiFi, you can browse everything the service has to offer, and if you decide to purchase a song, you tap a couple buttons and the song downloads straight to your iPod for your enjoyment. No ripping CDs, no dragging and dropping, just bam! Done.

It's a wonderful feature, and one I had used a few times for singles and one-hit wonders I was too lazy to track down via more illicit means. But I began to notice that songs I had purchased ended up going missing. They vanished from the iPod and were nowhere to be found. Quizzical.

The first time it happened, I assumed it was because I had tried to drag and drop it from the Pod onto the laptop for Lady Trail. The Digital Rights Management on the file asked me to authorize the transfer and informed me that I would only be able to put it on five laptops or iPods. No surprises there, I was familiar with DRM, I knew what it entailed. But as soon as I unplugged the iPod, the song was gone. But I put the blame on myself and bought it again, to my irritance.

But that's one thing. Having half a dozen songs I bought later vanish for no reason is another one entirely.

Now I have done some searching around, and have learned that many people have had the same issue, and that it to stem from the auto-backup the iPod conducts everytime it plugs in. I had been canceling the backup since use of the laptop is a favour in the first place and I don't want to take up space on the hard drive with multiple copies of the same files being unnecessarily backed up. I've started a correspondence with tech support, but it's still ongoing and hasn't reached aby definitive conclusion.

But even if I get all my songs restored and never have this issue again, I suspect I'll be angry about it every time I want to get a new song.

You've heard me rail against DRM in the past Windsor [dig around in the Kingston Year for some prime rants], and this is exactly the reason why. I paid for this music, I played by the rules and acted like a responsible adult, who supports the artists he enjoys, and I get shafted because of the 'helpful' features that Apple demands you use. If I had my way, I'd never plug the thing into the laptop, but it's the only way to charge the thing, since my wall charger isn't supported with it. Awesome.

And you know what? If I had stolen the music off of peer-to-peer service, I would have none of these headaches. And Windsor, I have said it before but I've never had a better example before: This is why DRM does not work. It punishes people who play by the rules, while people who don't have no problems. I'm not about to say I don't have any songs acquired illicitly, and you know they haven't gone anywhere.

And you know the worst part? In my search for answers, I was rooting around Apple's tech support FAQs, and found the listing for missing files, which had this helpful hint:

Another place to look for wayward music files is in your Recycle Bin (Windows) or the Trash (Mac). Don't ask. Sometimes things happen and files wind up there.

Excuse me? Don't ask?! Kiss my ass, Apple. I shouldn't even have to look around for wayward files in the first place, they should just stay where the hell I put them.

I know these features are meant to assist in functionality but for Chrissakes, it's like a friend volunteering to help you move and burning your house down on accident. Unacceptable.

So be wary, Windsor, and keep an eye on your files at all time. We'll see what tech support has for me later this week. And I guess I'm off to LimeWire to find some replacements that will stand where the hell I put them.

One of Them, Likes

2008-11-08T00:18:00.002-05:00

Someone shit in the urinal at work tonight, Windsor. Understandably, my heart's just not in it.

But a twelve-year-old boy playing Mad World on acoustic guitar takes the edge off.

Through the Wire

2008-11-06T23:56:00.002-05:00

Or under it, rather.

Speaking of under, under a bus seems to be where the Republican National Committee is throwing Sarah Palin, now with allegations that the infamous $150,000 shopping spree for clothes was about four times what party officials were expecting.

Sigh. I almost think I'll miss her, Windsor.

The New Yorker examines why evangelical teenagers get knocked up with such alarming frequency.

Somehow, I always get suckered into collections from the glory days of the Sega Genesis, and I will now get sucked again when the Mega Drive Ultimate Collection comes out for the 360 next year, because it will finally give me my favourite game of adolescence: Streets of Rage 2. I'm a sucker, Windsor.

And this is apparently all my stolen wireless connection can handle right now. Ain't that a pisser?

Has anyone else noticed that Stewart and Colbert haven't been as funny since Tuesday?

Quick Links

2008-11-05T22:58:00.003-05:00

Seriously, I'm going to have so much less to complain about for the next six months or so. Hopefully the UWSA will start their inevitable epic screwups to keep my indignation righteous.

Horrors!: CNN's holograms not holograms!

Not all sunshine and orange juice out there as California voters pass Proposition 8, banning same-sex marriage. Appeals have already been filed.

Author Michael Crichton, he of Jurassic Park fame, has died at age 66.

Eff keeping it real, The Onion keeps it right.

Fox News quick to come out with all those 'off the record' concerns about Palin during the campaign.

And just because Lady Trail loves this stuff: tiny horse pwns would-be capturers with ninja-like speed.

A Few Words About Last Night

2008-11-05T21:36:00.003-05:00

It was Jon Stewart who told me, of all people. I had been flipping between ABC, CNN and the Comedy Network all night [I blame Lady Trail, I was content to avoid it], with CNN's realtime results map on the laptop screen positioned on the couch armrest. I was too paranoid and distrustful of the numbers to believe them, convinced that it would be closer than it was.

So when Stewart told me at 11.00 that Obama was the next president of the United States, I was stunned. Seeing that he had 297 electoral votes on CNN's website didn't convince me. It wasn't until McCain came out to concede that it hit me. The guy actually won.

I know there are people in my life who expect me to gloat. To cheer. To rub it in. But my values don't lean to the gloating side. I may feel a certain sense of satisfaction at the results, it has nothing to do with the man who won.

I like Obama. A lot, no question. But I didn't want him to win because I thought he was the messiah. Truthfully, I expect more than a few heartbreaking disappointments from his presidency. I don't know how he could not. But I wanted him to win because I needed to continue to believe 'our way works.'

In a campaign that went from civilized to sleazy in record speed, that saw John McCain attacking Obama for tenuous connections to criminals he barely met, and Rudy Giuliani and Sarah Palin [please exit stage right. Immediately] flippantly mock his professional history in front of a rabid crowd of thousands, I continued to admire how Obama kept his focus on the issues. The most frustrating thing about him this campaign was that he didn't attack McCain more ferociously. It's not like opportunities were in short supply [ie Rolling Stone's vicious takedown of everything McCain positioned himself as]. But Obama stayed on his talking points, refusing to enroll in the Karl Rove school of sleaze and smear that McCain was so compliant to be dragged into.

And I needed to believe that something resembling integrity could be rewarded in American politics. I know I'm not American, but come on, I'm from Windsor. We know better than anyone how the US sets the pace for the rest of the world, at least for a little while longer. I needed to believe that these people, who have given me authors and filmmakers and musicians and philosophers I respect so much, wouldn't fall for the same tricks again.

And they didn't. Instead, they elected the first Black President in American history. Even McCain, who gave the best and classiest speech of his campaign as he ended it, seemed relieved it was over. He really seemed like a man who's ambition got the better of him. I hope he can get back to the guy I liked in 2000.

While I do see the results as a refutation of George Bush's policies [seriously, how does he feel right now?], and a need for 'change', whatever that's really supposed to mean, I would like to believe it was also a statement from the American people that they are fed up and tired by politicians who smear their way into office.

I don't know about you, but there's something refreshing about a politician that people actually seem to give a shit about. I mean, I don't know about you, but I didn't see anybody crying when Bush got re-elected. Not supporters, anyway.

2008-11-05T00:23:00.002-05:00

Sleep well, America. And thank you.

Deeper Underground

2008-11-04T20:10:00.003-05:00

So as I'm sure I mentioned before, I'm doing my best to stay with my head in the sand today, trying to avoid the election bludgeoning the 24-hour news channels will be trying to give me, which is odd considering how much time I've devoted to it up to this point [certainly more than I gave the Canadian election, bad Trail bad, I know] but after seeing how the noble intentions of this election campaign collapsed into the business of usual mudslinging and smear tactics, and knowing how well such tactics have worked in the past, I can't even bring myself to be optimistic. So I'm just trying to avoid it as best I can, and hope I hear something I like in the morning.

Though truth be told, I'd be surprised if they really had a decisive conclusion by then.

In gaming, I spent a week with Star Wars: The Force Unleashed on the ol'Xbox, and oh my God, never have I seen a game more determined to get in the way of its own fun than this one.

If you don't follow these things, TFU is a canon story told between episodes III and IV, concerning a secret apprentice Darth Vader mentored to hunt the remaining Jedi across the galaxy. So you do, swinging your lightsaber and using the Force to all sorts of destructive ends from blasting Storm Troopers with lightning to grabbing them from a distance and chucking them off a platform. Sounds amazing right? If only.

The funny thing is, the story never stops being amazing, yet the gameplay never lives up. Targeting is wonky, the camera apparently gets scared of bosses given the way it hides behind trees at inopportune times, and there's a lag in some of the controls which make something as simple as jumping a pain in the ass.

Oddly enough, after I played God of War, I didn't understand what all the fuss was about. Now, after playing games that want to be God of War, I see how they don't live up. TFU wants to combine Luke Skywalker and Kratos, but the controls just aren't that smooth.

This doesn't make it a bad game per se, just a frustrating one. It's totally worth it if you care about Star Wars at all, since it fills some of the ample gaps left by Lucas between the trilogies [and as I said, this is considered official history by the LucasArts Empire [no pun], and there are few things more badass than slapping somebody around with a black lightsaber, but there are significant flaws that keep it in the rent pile.

And as I watch the X-Play Gears of War 2 special as I write this, I wonder: Why does everybody in this game have an effing soul patch?

In conclusion, Bjork discusses her television.

Groovy, man.

Zombies!!!

2008-11-04T19:26:00.002-05:00

The title has nothing to do with the following video, but with a board game we own in the Trail household and have yet to play, because Lady Trail had to have it at the Silver Snail Midnight Madness sale.

But the video is a fine piece of work, too.

It's that time of week again, so be sure to check the mothership for some of the news you need to know. If you want the rest of it, grab the paper, damn! We're not running some sort of charity, here.

Late Night Stuffs

2008-11-03T23:57:00.002-05:00

Windsor, I currently have a kitten curled up at my hip as I type this on the living room couch. I can feel the slight tremble of her purring through my jeans as she sleeps. I have determined this is happiness.

See, kittens are appropriate pets. Less appropriate? Monkeys ordered from the backs of comic books in the 1970s.

Staying with the wild kingdom, the best animal photos of the year.

Gender Analyzer thinks this blog is written by a woman. Hurrrm.

Dear God, I just saw an advertisement for Chinese Democracy by Guns n' Roses. November 23! If I lived in America, I would totally make sure I got a free Dr. Pepper.

And the best news I've heard this week [though it's early]: Preacher is still alive as a film project, after HBO ultimately passed on it for being the disgusting, offensive, glorious bastard it is. Go on and Wiki it, then mark your calendars and start the countdown. Hopefully Mendes can get a trilogy out of it.

Monday, Monday

2008-11-03T11:23:00.002-05:00

One of my Facebook friends currently has the status, "------ is your worst nightmare: a Republican win followed by a McCain heart attack."

Yeah, that'd sum it up.

Last week I drew notice to a story in the Star about the financial hard times the university could be facing in the wake of the current economic crisis, now the Globe's followed suit, reporting schools across the board could be looking at some difficult decisions regarding how money gets spent.

Also sobering in that article is the sidebar ranking the top endowment funds at Canadian universities: Windsor has $60-million. Twentieth ranked New Brunswick was $147-million. We won't even talk about UofT.

That's the reality of what the school's competing with. And the more I think about it, the more fatalistic I become.

So I throw up a video of a Japanese 'rhino escape drill' video from a Japanese Zoo. When there are rhinos tearing up Sunset, you'll thank me.

Check Your Apples for Razorblades!

2008-10-31T11:33:00.004-04:00

We know how it is, Windsor. You want to get a great costume together for Halloween, but in these economically trying times, is it really appropriate to acquire the $200 Heath Ledger Joker outfit? Probably not. Luckily for you, alternatives are available.

Be safe, ghoulies.

The American Presidential Election In Two Minutes and Twenty-Five Seconds

2008-10-30T00:19:00.003-04:00

Recently Lady Trail and I came to the conclusion that it's probably better for both of our sanities if on November 4th we do the best we can to avoid any and all coverage of the election. National Novel Writing Month will have recently started so that should keep me busy enough, and the Lady will no doubt be bogged with marking for her classes. Or hell, maybe we'll just see Zack and Miri Make a Porno.

You may ask yourself why we would make such a decision? Well, this is part.

Get the latest news satire and funny videos at 236.com.

Tightening the Strings

2008-10-30T00:01:00.002-04:00

Or did you think the university could hike faculty salaries by 16 per cent in the current economic climate and not feel the effects?

To be fair, the resolution of the faculty strike isn't the only thing putting the U on shaky financial ground. The Star reports global market conditions, as well as decreased enrollment numbers could impact the university's deficit, currently projected at $5-million.

Additionally, the current economic crisis has seen the university's endowment fund lose ten per cent of its $60-million value. So, the place isn't making the money it used to, and the money it does have is worth less than it used to. You do the math.

None of this is going to help matters at a school already battered by the faculty strike earlier this year, and a student government plagued by allegations of misconduct.

I wish I could predict for you what this will mean for you and your degree, but I suspect it ain't anything good. What does it say when the best you can hope for is getting out before the shit really hits the fan?

Boo, Yo

2008-10-28T23:36:00.002-04:00

For my money, the only thing better than the Lance Out Loud is the Lance Out Loud in a pair of corsets. Good times, that Halloween is.

Thanksgiving With Shatner and Other Stories

2008-10-28T17:12:00.005-04:00

This is Henry. You may know him. He sang in some bands called Black Flag and The Rollins Band. He's starred in some movies, written some books and hosts a show on IFC. He visited the Queen Elizabeth Theatre in Toronto last night, and we visited him.

Click here to continue reading this post.

When I was sixteen, seventeen tops, I went to a bookstore that used to be on Park St. called Borderline Books. This is back when the Norwich Block was still around and great indie bookstores in the city were plentiful [a moment of silence for South Shore Books. Ask your parents]. And among the hard-left and world literature on the shelves there were a few titles by Henry Rollins. As the grunge and punk resurgence was still in full force back then, I knew the guy's name, knew he had been in Black Flag and knew he did spoken word, but had never seen any of his books before, published on his own imprint. So I snagged a copy of Black Coffee Blues and let it have more of an influence on my young poetry than I should have.

A couple years later I directed my parents to buy me the hardcover of Get In the Van, a collection of Rollins' journals during his time in Black Flag, accompanied by amazing photos of the early-80s hardcore scene in America [if you're in a band, it's required reading]. So I've been a fan of the man for years, yet have never seen him live, despite the incessant touring the man does. So to say I was looking forward to last night would be...inadequate.

Shortly after 8.00 the lights in the theatre dimmed and suddenly the man himself shot onto the stage, no fanfare, no introduction, just an blast of energy through the curtain, and he kept up the pace for a full three hours. Among the topics discussed:

-Spending his first real Thanksgiving dinner with William Shatner and his family, since Henry dislikes holidays on the whole, since they keep him from working.

-Do's and Don'ts for listening to Slayer [Do: Work out. Don't: Shop for groceries. You won't know what happened until the cops are pulling you over to discuss the children lodged under your back bumper].

-Politics, obviously, and the potential future of his country, including his...shall we say intense dislike for Sarah Palin?

The bulk of the evening concerned how he spends most of his time when he's not touring or working: traveling to places most Americans don't get to go to. He talked about being in Islamabad, Pakistan the week Benazir Bhutto was assassinated. He talked about standing in Nelson Mandela's former prison cell in South Africa. He talked about talking to former IRA members in Northern Ireland. He talked about picking up human ribs in the killing fields of Cambodia and his talkative Laotian tour guide [who called him 'Mister Curve' for no real reason].

And he talked about why he travels: to see what's what and walk the streets and talk to people he's just met. And then he goes on tour and tells people what it's really like. So he can tell you that even though anguished Muslims in Pakistan were burning tires in the streets after Bhutto was killed, no one gave paid him any mind, and no one chanted 'Death to America'.

This is the Rollins I find most interesting. To say the man's intense is an understatement, and it's fascinating to see him transform himself into what he says 'punk rock should look like as it hurtles towards fifty.' He's become a sort of punk rock Bono, with a focus on eliminating world hunger, since he sees it as the root of most if not all of the serious challenges in the world.

I won't say it was all sunshine and orange juice; my attention span is so shot I can't keep up most activities for longer than 90 minutes, so three hours of Rollins' travel stories came eerily close to watching your relatives' vacation slides. It also becomes apparent listening to him that even though I may be a fan of his, I doubt he'd be a fan of mine, with my decorated house and my enjoyment of Christmas and appreciation of vacations. It's a little conflicting to laugh at a guy's jokes when you're pretty certain he would hate you.

That notwithstanding, it was amazing to watch him go for the whole three hours with no stopping, no stammering and nary a sip of water to soothe his throat. And he does this every night. It's impossible not to respect that sort of ethic.

Below, a video of the man discussing one of the reasons he thinks the rest of the world hates America [NSFW].

Edit

2008-10-27T23:53:00.001-04:00

All right, Windsor, I had every intention to write you a full report of how I spent my evening, but I had no idea my evening was going to perform for three hours. And since I have to work at 7.00 am tomorrow, I'm afraid the report will have to wait.

So it goes...

Like Bunnies, I Tell You!

2008-10-27T17:33:00.002-04:00

Quick like a bunny, Windsor. Daddy's going to see a show tonight, he'll let you know about it when he gets back.

Convicted murderer Jesse Imeson, whose flight from police had the province panicked last year, was convicted to life in prison with no hope of parole for 25 years. Imeson plead guilty to three counts of second degree murder for his killing of Carlos Rivera, along with Bill and Helene Reiger, a couple in their 70's.

Interesting, and I don't add this for salaciousness, but because I was heretofore unaware of it, but the whole sad affair started when Imeson woke to find Rivera performing oral sex on him, prompting him to commit the first murder. One sad incident launches another.

Elsewhere, another plot to assassinate Barack Obama gets broken up by Tennessee authorities.

Japanese Prime Minister complains he no longer has time to read comics. You and me both, brother.

Something I noticed myself, now that I spend more time on the iTunes music store filling the Jesus box: why are they substituting stars for letters in titles that have naughty lyrics? The Guardian investigates.

Oh and for the gamers, I'm playing Force Unleashed right now, and I want to Force Grip that camera right out of the damn wall and actually give me a proper perspective on the action. And I want Starkiller to jump without a half second lag when I press the button. God of War you are not, sir.

And now, I need to hustle to the CNE. Full post later tonight.

A Personal Moment

2008-10-24T16:39:00.001-04:00

Do you figure it's a coincidence the Toronto district school board had a PA day the same day High School Musical 3 comes out?

Yeah, I didn't think so. Today was a fun day at work.

2008-10-23T17:44:00.003-04:00

If you're a new or irregular visitor to this blog, only discovering it during the strike [and if you're still here, thank you], you may not know that The Trail is a large supporter of the Copyfight at home and abroad.

Basically, I have a problem with the ways corporations and content owners try to tell you what to do with culture. I get testy when art gets commodified like that. Or maybe I just have a problem when iTunes tells me I can only put a song I paid for on five computers or burned CDs. If I can buy a CD and rip it as many times as I want, screw you for trying to limit how I use the digital equivalent.

See, I'm not always happy with Steve Jobs.

One of the more fascinating and amazing aspects of the copyfight is the art of the remix. Don't think of this just when someone puts a techno beat behind a Britney Spears song. Remixing involves creating something new from something old, however that may be. Of course, content owners have a problem with this, even though most people who remix are amateurs and aren't looking to make any money off the project anyway, they do it just for the sake of creation. So the entertainment industry likes to threaten legal action on anyone who makes something out of copyrighted material.

Do you understand how messed this is? Remember that guy who re-edited footage from The Shining to make it look like an uplifiting family drama? Would never happen. DJ Earworm, one of the best mashup artists I've ever encountered would be sued into oblivion, and would never have made his incredible Radiohead/Kanye masterpiece [among many others]. Remember when sampling first came under fire from the record industry, for taking an original recording and reorganizing or combining it with other recordings to make something brand new? This is not thievery, this is creation. It's like the lumber company who sells me a 2'x4' telling me I can only use it to make toothpicks. Ludicrous.

American academic Lawrence Lessig has discussed issues like this for years, but his recent book is dedicated to this issue specifically [aptly titled 'Remix'], and has joined my 'Book Pile of Epic Height' currently scattered abouts my shelves.

In a serendipitous move, my man D.Bresson sent me the link to a documentary on these issues, by EyeSteelFilm. Seen in the clip include author and blogger Cory Doctorow [a guy who regularly gives away his books online] and Lessig himself. Check it out....

Fight the good fight, Windsor.

Downward is Heavenward

2008-10-23T17:28:00.002-04:00

Remember last week when I told you about TVO's current affairs program The Agenda coming to Windsor for a live broadcast? Well, they came and went, and the crew of the Lance Out Loud was there to catch it.

I find the comments made by the lovely [and coordinated] hosts interesting. I met up with my old friend, journalism classmate and former Lance contributor Melissa Pulleyblank, who recently moved up this end of the province, following her dream to get into the head office at McDonald's Canada [don't snicker, she makes an aight salary and gets benefits and stocks]. So how was she enjoying her flight from the Rose City, something she had dreamed about since she was a teenager?

Hates it. Wants to go back in December.

We talked a lot about Windsor yesterday, and I made pretty much the same point that MFA student Justin Langlois makes, encouraging a Windsor that can create a viable and sustainable economy focused on art and culture. My theory, completely uneducated obviously, is that the idea that the Big Three are going to swoop in and decide to start making hybrids in Windsor is optimistic at best and delusional at worst. This is forgetting that Ken Lewenza Sr. is now heading the CAW [and how did that happen, anyway?]. I fear that ship might have sailed for the city, despite the bottomed out real estate. Between the potential GM/Chrysler merger and the current state of the economy that sees companies holding on to all the cash they can get, things are probably headed downward for awhile. But I do think the city can withstand these challenges. I just hope there's people left there to help with build it back up.

Speaking of tightening belts, I see that 'oversight committee' for The Lance finally got up and running, fulfilling one of Justin Teeuwen's administrative dreams [and probably Coffin for that matter]. The UWSA it's purpose is not editorial, more fiscal, to make more transparent how the paper spends its money.

Damn. Nice knowing you, Windsor.

Holy Crap, The World!

2008-10-22T23:27:00.002-04:00

Allow me to take a moment from re-ripping my CD collection [is there a more tedious enterprise?] to peek my head at the world outside, Windsor.

I suspect the Lance website has been slow on its update in an effort to shake me from my iTouch euphoria. Well played, comrades.

Locally, and of interest to me, is the news that Lancer football coach Mike Morencie has had some choice words for city councillor [and blogger] Alan Halberstadt after Halberstadt made some posts calling for Morencie's exit after the Lancers were eliminated from playoff contention last weekend in a 40-11 loss against McMaster.

Halberstadt says the Lancer football team should have been able to accomplish more with a top gun like running back Daryl Stephenson, and is embarrassing the university by getting beat in their fancy new, $10-million stadium, which is rarely filled.

Also of note is the speculation from Guelph reporter Greg Layson posted his own blog alleging Athletics Director Gord Grace could be taking over the head coach position next season [Morencie is less than halfway through a four-year contract].

I'll refrain from commenting on whether Morencie should stay or go [I like him, but have no idea if he's been an effective coach or not], I am a little disappointed that Halberstadt has ducked the invitation to engage Morencie directly in discussion. It doesn't exactly help the impression that some have about bloggers as nothing more than reclusive misanthropes lobbing irritated missives at people bigger than them. It's unfortunate, I generally like Halberstadt, and am pleased that he's embraced newfangled technologies like his blog in a town not known for embracing future trends that much.

Elsewhere...

Tokyo broom shop hasn't had a customer since 1972.

Oh, I can't help myself: New York magazine analyzes the "final undoing of Sarah Palin." Still not enough for me to believe Obama can win.

Related, for all my white people: David Sedaris discusses undecided voters. In the New Yorker. Stream that on NPR and the caucasian trifecta is officially in play.

Quickest way to ice your chances of sex on Halloween: Amazing Transformers costume.

And, for my man D.Bresson, Extreme Championship Wrestling play-by-play man Joey Styles calls figure skating.

Composed on the Jesus Box

2008-10-22T10:31:00.001-04:00

Well, I'm not going to sit here and tell you that it isn't tedious trying to type on the touch keypad, but I'd be lying if I said the idea of blogging everywhere I went wasn't appealing. Being able to draft ok the subway alone could shoot my productivity through the roof.

So I stand by what I said the other day: it's not without its flaws, but I'm willing to endure them while the novelty is still so high.

I still won't be paying the five bucks for the full version of the application that lets me make posts, though. Cheap as free, suckas!

Reviewed: W.

2008-10-21T17:26:00.003-04:00

As mentioned yesterday, Sunday was my birthday and I had the pleasure of spending it in its entirety with Lady Trail, something that happens with less frequency during the school year [not complaining, it just is what it is], and we concluded it by seeing...W.

Odd choice for a birthday viewing? Not as odd as the year I saw From Hell. Now that was a life affirmer.

I don't know that I have anything to add to the discourse on the film that hasn't already been said. It seems to be a rather polarizing film, which is what obviously what Stone was going for. I will say this though: I was surprised how sympathetic the film was to him.

To explain, the promotional materials for the film all make it seem like you'll spend two hours pointing at the oaf muck up the country. Not surprisingly, these matters are rarely so clear. Put it like this, my first words out of the theatre to Lady Trail were, "Poor little fool." The movie doesn't portray Bush as some sort of clown, it paints him as a deeply flawed man who doesn't always exercise the best judgment, a condition exacerbated by the people he surrounded himself with, namely Karl Rove and Dick Cheney.

Also worth note is the lack of intrigue present in the film. This isn't like JFK or Nixon where Stone presented a healthy dose of speculation in the film. With the litany of books and reports on both sides that have trailed the Bush administration, most of the inflammatory scenes in the movie have been well documented by multiple sources, like his history of alcoholism and the lack of reliable intelligence before the Iraq invasion. It sort of leaves you wondering why you spent two hours watching things you already know about, if you've followed these things or have been an avid Daily Show watcher.

Finally, the acting must be commended, even if the actors don't always succeed. Thandie Newton is startingly good as Condoleeza Rice, but by the film's third act it almost seems like parody. Richard Dreyfuss as Dick Cheney nails the glowering menace of the VP, delivering a speech supporting the Iraq invasion that left me shaking my head in sadness that people running a country, let alone the most powerful one in the world, could think in such a fashion.

But the star is Josh Brolin, and he continues putting together a hell of an acting resume. His Bush is confident, delusional, contradictory, charismatic, infuriating, and a man who refuses to be easily categorized. I don't know if I can recommend seeing it in a theatre, but it's definitely worth a rental just to see his performance.

You might think you already know everything about the man, you may have already written your book on him. W. shows that, to borrow a phrase, you might think you know, but you have no idea.

Reviewed! The Trail vs. The Jesus Box

2008-10-20T17:36:00.002-04:00

It's certainly no secret that The Trail has been on the nuts of Mr. Jobs a few times in his life, Windsor. In fact, if you were to trace back my computing history, you find its genesis in games of 'Carmen Sandiego' on the Apple IIc when I was seven or eight, so the love was deep. Spending three years on Macs pretty well exclusively only heightened the love, as did the purchase of my first iPod, a device I mocked upon its initial release, then caved to trend pressure and quickly could not imagine life without it.

But times change, Windsor. I had to relinquish the Macs I had been using, reverting back to Windows XP. My iPod, Ol'Weezy, was on her last legs, and I found myself listening to the same 20 of her 2,000 songs every day on the subway, just to keep her battery going for more than 24 hours. I was, I thought, embracing a life without the next big thing. Until I woke up yesterday morning and found Lady Trail had purchased me a 16GB iPod Touch for my birthday [which was yesterday. Jerks].

As you can see, the more things change, the more they stay the same.

Look, I knew the thing would be cool. I knew there would be the tactile pleasure in sliding around the touch screen, like some infant banging on the tray of his high chair. But I didn't have the slightest inkling of all the things this little box of magic could do.

It should be stated, if there any strikes against the thing, it's almost that it's too fancy, or that it does so much, when you can't do something, it sticks out even more. The coolest features are of course dependent on WiFi connectivity, so if there's no network around, the bells and whistles are pretty much fudged: No email, no Facebook, no iTunes purchasing, no web browsing. But when you can get online, it's like the heavens opened up. The screen is so sharp it's better than most monitors I've had. Lady Trail and I watched a couple movie trailers, and they loaded on the iPod faster than they loaded on her laptop. Ridonkulous.

The main complaint about mobile Safari [Apple's web browser] remains the same: No Flash animation. You have no idea how entrenched Flash has become in website construction until you have to go without it. Case in point: I surfed to this blog last night, and neither the Twitter box or the music player loaded. YouTube works fine, but that seems to be the only one. I just tried surfing to Homestar Runner just now, and not even the title screen would load. Bummer, that.

The real star of the whole endeavour, though, has nothing to do with Apple. It has to do with everyone else who makes stuff for it: The App Store.

I have gone App insane, Windsor. It is all I can do to limit myself to free ones. Already I have downloaded pool, a blockbuster/Arkanoid style game, a marble madness maze game, an app that makes my iPod sound like a Lightsaber and plays the Imperial March. And these are all the free ones! And they're not all stupid! Take Urban Spoon: You input your location [down to the neighbourhood if you choose] along with how much you want to spend, shake the iPod [it has motion sensors for cute little tricks like this] and boom! A suggestion on where to go to dinner. A couple clicks gets you reviews of the place, even the menu if available. For us, who half the time end up eating at a chain because we always end up in unfamiliar parts of town and don't know where to go, this is a killer app. Combine it with the built in Maps feature the iPod has, and I can get directions straight there. BUT: There's no copy and paste, so I have to manually go back and forth between the address of the restaurant and the Maps function as I punch it in with the graphical keyboard my fingers are a little too pudgy for. See what I mean about noticing what it won't do?

If anything, the thing I've noticed the most so far is that the Touch performs most poorly at the thing that's supposed to be its primary function: play music.

This could just be me being averse to change, it could just be me being so familiar with Ol'Weezy ThirdGen that I haven't fully gotten used to browsing for music on the Touch's interface. The CoverFlow feature which allows you to flip through album covers to find your music is pretty, but probably redundant. I just find that half the time I can't find songs in CoverFlow, since it searches albums, and half the time my songs don't have albums listed in that field on iTunes. I also have a short attention span, and the constant clicking of the display on and off to fast forward I find irritating, and I wish there was an easier, more hands-free way, but this could probably be accomplished by picking up a $20 headphone remote, which I may have to look for tomorrow. It's the accessories that kill you.

Don't let any of this lead you to believe that I don't consider this device anything less than incredible. Even in the middle of a field with no WiFi for miles, you can use it for more than you could ever do with an iPod Classic. It will never be the BlackBerry killer I suspect some at Apple want it to be [the keyboard is far too cumbersome, the nimble fingers of today's businessman require an actual tactile keyboard, I'd imagine], but for Mr. Casual like me, it's beyond amazing: I can take notes, plan my appointments with the calendar, get weather updates, stock quotes [if I cared], and read Gord Henderson wherever I am.

If you're in it just for music and video, you should probably stick with the classic and the format you're used to. But if you're itching for the bells and whistles, there is no reason not to rush the hell out of your home and get one of these.

Well played, Jobs, and thanks to Lady Trail for an amazing birthday. I suspect she only bought it for me to keep me occupied at night when she's marking.

Late Night Culture

2008-10-17T23:57:00.002-04:00

I know nothing [NOTHING] about ballet, or dance in general. But I know that anyone who can do ballet with one arm, or one leg, could take those kids on So You Think You Can Dance to the woodshed for fun.

A Bit o'This and That

2008-10-16T23:59:00.002-04:00

The ladies of the Lance Out Loud hit you up again with your obligatory election update, as well as the increase in Indians enrolling in classes to lose their accents and sound more American.

And can I just say, as much as I enjoy mucking through American politics, I am so relieved that the debates are over. The McCain smirk was staring to give me the night terrors.

And in a brief gaming note, I see the PS3 port of Bioshock has this little goodie tacked onto the end of it.

The funny thing is, Lady Trail will be more excited for this than I am.

A Nooner

2008-10-16T11:37:00.003-04:00

Morning, Windsor. Just a quick note to alert you to a pretty cool opportunity coming up this weekend.

The Agenda, Steve Paikin's current events program on TVO will be broadcasting from the Art Gallery of Windsor this coming Monday night, using content gathered from an 'AgendaCamp' held there the day before.

"Using blogs, video, photographs and an interactive wiki, participants will be able to propose and lead discussions."

The focus is on the manufacturing economy [surprise, given the location], but it's a rare chance for the city to receive some greater media attention in a format other than ringing the city's funeral bell.

For info on the camp, visit tvo.org/agendacamp, for tickets to the show taping, visit tvo.org/theagenda.

Aftermath

2008-10-15T20:42:00.002-04:00

Well, was anyone really surprised how that played out? The Federal Election is in the books and once again, the new boss is same as the old boss. Harper used his victory address to trot out a new economic plan to minimize damage from the current economic hardship. Elsewhere, Stephane Dion's leadership of the Liberals could be on the chopping block, after the party failed to recoup any significant ground from 2006, and took the lowest percentage of the popular vote since Confederation [yowch].

Oh, and the Greens still didn't get a seat. Le meh.

On the home front, congrats are in order to criminology student Chris Stephens, who was the only player to pick all the weekend's NFL winners and longshots, netting him a cool $573,000 on a $10 SportSelect ticket. No more OSAP for that boy.

As well, don't forget to pick up the new issue of The Lance, with a feature story on Finger Eleven, who are playing on your campus on October 20. Tickets are still available, $20 for students, $25 for the public.

Me, I'm just counting the days for new Kanye. Entertainment Weekly heard it this week, and got to look at naked ladies in the process.

Cat v. Toothbrush: FIGHT!

2008-10-14T19:03:00.002-04:00

I don't think you people realize how hard it is to limit myself to one cat-related post a day [LOLCats don't count]. As I glance over at my own pair of felines tearing each other apart in the bedroom right now [it's my own fault, I got them hopped up on turkey leftovers] I am reminded again of what a....unique kind of joy cat ownership provides one.

Case in point:

If you haven't voted yet, just frigging do it already.

Feeling the Itis

2008-10-14T10:44:00.004-04:00

Hoping your turkey enjoyment was everything you wanted it to be, Windsor.

I would love you to give you a proper state of the world, but it seems most of said state is concerned with the ongoing economic armageddon, of which I have only a limited understanding of [though apparently Europe figured out how to fix it]. Still, the bulk of what I'm hearing is this: it was a long time in the making, and it will be a long time getting out of it. So tighten your belts, graduates, and enjoy spending the next 15 years of your lives getting out of debt.

Other, than that, it's Election Day!

See the exclamation point? That was me trying to work up enthusiasm for Canadian politics. That said, the aforementioned economic crisis has been a game changer for this election, forcing the party leaders to alter their plans considerably. Some predict that if Harper gets the big chair again, his cabinet will be significantly shuffled again. If the Liberals don't hold onto as many seats as they had when the campaign started, his spot as party Leader could be threatened. So it wouldn't be all bad if Harper gets reelected. Polls suggest we'll get the same Parliamentary makeup we had when this thing started, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't get off your ass in the democratic process.

I'll be doing it to renew my complainer's rights, which for a sassbag like me is of paramount importance.

Elsewhere:
Down south Bush signs a law toughening penalties for movie and music piracy at a federal level. Sure to reverberate up here in the coming months.

A St. Louis radio station encourages arson by shifting to 24/7 Christmas music. Now. In October. Before Halloween.

Peeing on yourself is always a good way to distract the police officer who has pulled you over.

Radio Silence

2008-10-12T22:58:00.003-04:00

Hot god damn, sorry about that Windsor. Apparently it took me a little longer to get back into the post-strike swing than I was expecting. Busy times up here, as I worked a closer on Thursday night, then hit up Hip Hop Karaoke with Lady Trail [making our onstage debut to Grand Puba's 1995 track 'I Like It']. Saturday night we checked out Lucinda Williams at Massey Hall [The Lady's a fan], then tomorrow we're having an Orphan's Thanksgiving at one of my coworkers.

I imagine most of you are happy to be seeing the family this weekend, but irritated to have your studies interrupted again so soon after they recommenced.

Enjoy your weekend, Windsor. I'll be reminding you of our upcoming election shortly, but for now, enjoy Lance Multimedia Editor Mike Evans' latest offerings for you, as he prepares for the Windsor 48-Hour Flick Fest.

Back to School, Back to School....

2008-10-08T09:33:00.002-04:00

Hate reading? The Lance Out Loud crew is here to help you get caught on the strike aftermath.

It is also worth noting that the current issue has an article on the influence of Zapp and Roger. Which makes absolutely no sense to me but I'm glad to see it. Everyone read Wax Poetics!

Quick Shots: Nick and Norah's Infinte Playlist

2008-10-07T22:44:00.005-04:00

This is a Kat Dennings. I find her hot as hell. I can say that, because she is legal. I know this, because I wiki'd her. 2008-1986 = 22, suckas.

Since moving to this city last year, my supporting cast has become markedly more diverse: I now boast friends of different religious and sexual backgrounds, ensuring I can make insensitive comments about most demographics, because I have at least one friend in said demographic.

Yet most of these friends are limited to dee-effing it at work, so when my lesbian Amy asked me if I wanted to go see Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist after work, I was a little surprised. After accounting for the whereabouts of everyone she would have asked instead of me, and because it was right after my shift at a movie theatre across the hall and Lady Trail would be out at her sign language class, I agreed. Thoughts, which go mildly spoilerish:

--Clearly, I am not this film's demographic. This is not to say I didn't enjoy it, but it's clearly not meant for me. Every generation, every segment of youth culture at a given time requires its 'movie where kids like them stay out all night doing nothing.' Back in my day, it was probably 'Dazed and Confused'. For the dumb kids of this generation, it was 'Superbad'. For the indie kids rocking the neon frame sunglasses and the scarves in the summer, it's Nick and Norah. It's a love letter for music nerds, and I can appreciate that, since once upon a time I used to be one. My issue might be with the type of music showcased.

--NY indie rock reigns supreme in this movie, and as a genre, it's music I have little patience for, and only recently gained some insight as to why that might be. I was flipping through the annual Da Capo anthology of music writing for this year, and read a rebuttal to a column by New Yorker critic Sasha Frere-Jones on the problems with indie rock. Topping the list: it has no soul. Read: it's not black enough. I'll leave Frere-Jones' column for you, but as expected it generated a sufficient level of ire in the music press upon its publication. One of the responses was from Slate's Carl Wilson, the piece collected in the Da Capo book. Wilson argues that Frere-Jones' problem isn't just the lack of musical miscegenation, it's an issue of class; indie rock isn't just the music of white kids, '...more blatantly upper-middle class and liberal-arts-college-based, and less self-aware or politicized about it.'

Wilson adds this makes the music less body-centric, more 'bookish and nerdy'. And as a drummer who listens to hip-hop 77 per cent of the time, that just doesn't click with me. Many arguments were had with coworkers the month we were playing Vampire Weekend regarding the danceability of it. Take a wager what side of the debate I stood on.

The characters in Nick and Norah love this stuff. They want plaintive guitar strumming and nonsensical, vaguely romantic lyrics. When something resembling hip-hop does take the stage, it's courtesy of a white guy in a Liberace jacket, to the dismay of everyone in attendance. Cool for them, but it ain't my bag. Well, !!!'s cool. I dig them. And Lady Trail plays the new TV On the Radio in the house, which is cool. But both those bands are familiar with groove.

--There's a really random plot point about orgasms that comes 3/4 through the movie out of nowhere, and doesn't really reach a worthy conclusion. While initially confused at its inclusion, I then remembered the movie was based on a teen novel, which made perfect sense.

--Where's Fluffy is the worst f*cking name for a band I have ever heard. Ever in life. The Dickaches, though, that's quality.

But it's a cute little movie, a fine enough distraction, and if you can still stand Michael Cera playing Michael Cera, you'll love it.

If My Traffic's Fallen By Half, It Must Be The State of the World

2008-10-06T16:39:00.002-04:00

Wow. Look at those hit counts drop. You ungrateful wretches must be back in class. No more time for poor ol' Paper Trail and his daily efforts.

Meh, I can't complain, it was a fun vacation for me. Though horrifying in the sense that it revealed just how much time is spent on this thing. I may have to eliminate nap time. So what's new out there?

Obviously, you're in class right now, so you know the strike is over, and your main concern has shifted to how you will make up for the last class time. While finer details will be left up to individual faculty, the Star reports the fall break will be eliminated, and the semester has been extended to December 12.

Since when do you get a fall break?

How any of this will affect your confidence in the education you receive, that's up to you, Windsor.

On the election front [ours for a change] the leaders are getting on the economy train that's keeping your parents up at night. Dion's taking claim for being the first one to panic, while criticizing the Harpatron 3000 for ignoring the crisis in its early stages and now doing what the Liberals were calling for in the first place.

For his part, Harper is giving an interview with the Business News Network as we speak, though sources say the Tory platform won't be undergoing any major alterations in light of the current economic situation.

As I write this on a laptop running XP, we learn that the little OS is proving harder to get rid of than Microsoft would probably like.

South of the border, as I continue to promote my liberal agenda, Rolling Stone runs a story for next week's issue on the fiction of John McCain's depiction as a 'maverick,' and some dickhole teacher in Florida tells his seventh graders that CHANGE stands for 'Come Help A Ni**er Get Elected.'

This is why I will never believe with confidence that Obama can win.

The dumbest list of great books I've ever seen.

Ninety-two year old pulls gun on paramedics to decline treatment. That's one way to do it.

Finally!

2008-10-05T20:59:00.002-04:00

Now that you're going back to class I can finally start posting stupid videos again. Like this one, designed to give you a laugh before you head in to yell at your profs and sort out what the rest of your term will look like.

The best thing since Al Pacino Checks His Bank Balance.

Day 16 - update 31

2008-10-03T13:48:00.002-04:00

The University of Windsor has released this statement:

The University of Windsor announces that it has reached a tentative agreement with faculty and librarians that would end the current work stoppage. Classes will resume Monday. The agreement must still be ratified by members of the Windsor University Faculty Association and approved by the University’s Board of Governors.

All classes are to resume on Monday.

The UWSA is already in meetings trying to offer some advice on behalf of students for the back to work protocol that is being developed at this time.

You can send them your thoughts, advice and input that you feel should be considered for the BTW protocol at uwsa@uwindsor.ca.

Rumours [from some UWSA highers-up, and an attendee from the WUFA rally this afternoon] have it that WUFA president Brian E. Brown is very excited with the tentative agreement. So things are looking up.

Day 16 - update 30

2008-10-03T09:07:00.003-04:00

Well, an offer is out there, and ratification is next:

All of your lobbying and petitioning for everyone to get back to the table can now be directed toward people who can actually vote to pass the ratification. Sitting in at the president's office isn't going to help the WUFA vote in favour of the contract, but perhaps sitting at their ratification meeting (location TBA) could.

Besides that, the agreement is reported to have been reached at around 11 p.m. last night.

As WUFA says:

WUFA's Negotiating Team reached a tentative agreement with the University Administration @11PM on Thursday, October 2nd. In accordance with the WUFA Constitution, the Executive is meeting @10AM on Friday Oct. 3rd, to be followed by Council @3PM to consider the terms of the proposed agreement. There will be a ratification meeting on Saturday @noon for all members of the bargaining unit at a location to be announced. The terms of the proposed agreement will be announced at that time. A ratification vote will follow. All members are encouraged to attend. There is no provision for advance polls or absentee ballots.

The language coming from WUFA president, Brian E. Brown, isn't particularly warming, though.

Asked how well the deal addresses WUFA's demands, Brown replied: "At the moment, I'd rather not comment on that."
"We'll have to wait and see what the executive has to say about it, and also council and the membership as a whole. We have to follow our constitution."
- Windsor Star

But tentative agreement or not, a rally in support of WUFA, organized by WUFA, will be held today at noon outside of Chrysler Tower.

So you know where your profs will be, now you can go visit and see if your assignments are due.

Day 16: Update 29

2008-10-03T05:50:00.002-04:00

What did I tell you?

Rogers will for certain have further details later today.

Strike Aside: When the Blame Comes

2008-10-02T22:41:00.002-04:00

So I been thinking, Windsor. On Wednesday it was reported that the admin and WUFA were headed back to the bargaining table, yet classes were still canceled for the remainder of the week. Couple that with Rogers mentioning that even if a deal was reached it would take at least 48 hours for the union to ratify it. Perhaps I'm being optimistic, but I wouldn't be terribly surprised if [THIS IS PURE CONJECTURE!] you're all back in classes by Wednesday at the latest.

But let's not pat ourselves on the back just yet, Windsor. There's no denying this whole fiasco has been one of the more epic clusterf*cks to visit the university in some time, possibly in the entire time I've been keeping an eye on it. And it's going to do some damage on a couple levels.

1. University vs. Students
The most recent concern on most of your minds is what happens to your money, and by now most of you probably know the answer: you ain't getting it back. The University is guaranteeing you will get your full semester; you're still getting what you paid for, just not when you expected it. At least that's what they told psychology student Katrina Fotopoulos when she tried to withdraw for the year. Is it bullshit reasoning? Of course, but you expected that, it's bureaucracy!

I don't doubt that the University will go to the ends of the earth to provide the extra resources to give you the means to make up the time lost. But that's just it: you've still gotta make it up. For some of you, that's just a pain in the ass, for others it's time where you would otherwise be working, making money to pay for your education, time that you now have to take off from your job. In either case, how likely is it you'll be holding a grudge against someone, either faculty or admin? It certainly won't help that reputation, campus morale issue they trot out from time to time.

2. University vs. City
The relationship between this university and its host city is becoming increasingly fascinating as the years go on. Sometimes, the school gets hailed as a beacon of progress, moving the city forward into the future; other times it's the ivory tower populated with intellectual elites [that means you too, students, make no mistake] that have no concern for the regular people and don't want any.

I first started thinking about the public perception of this dispute when I went looking online to see if the esteemed Star editorial cartoonist Mike Graston had bothered to weigh in on it. And he sure did, back on September 26, summing up an opinion I suspect is shared by more people on the streets than WUFA would care to admit [a quick glance at the more outspoken, if grammatically worrisome, comments on the Star's website would suggest the same].

Don't forget people are still irritated that Uncle Ross opted not to build the new engineering downtown [a decision I still agree with]; now that they're being asked to sympathize with profs still making $539 a week in strike pay [I don't think anyone on the picket's missing any meals] while they're kids are left dangling in the wind. Not a recipe for goodwill on either side.

I am in no way saying that I've gone all anti-WUFA. My personal distaste for unions in these economically precarious time notwithstanding, there's been too much shadowy talk of issues left out of the admin's public negotiating for me to believe it was all about money. I've spoken with Brian Brown in past years, he's stand up and I am sure did not take putting a strike vote to the membership lightly; whatever was left out of that full page newspaper ad must have been important.

But the fact remains, the past three weeks have been a disaster for this university, and while I have all the faith that student apathy will run its course and put this hardship out of your minds by the time you're writing midterms [whenever that might be] I fear the public damage done to the institution will be much harder to shake.

Check back, when we know something, you'll know it.

Day 15 - update 28

2008-10-02T08:17:00.003-04:00

I found an old copy of The Lance from the last faculty strike in 1982. Here's what came of it last time:

November 18, 1982
Make-up classes up to each faculty
by Kevin Rollason

Professors at the University of Windsor must find some way to make up classes during the strike. This can be in the form of extra classes, foregoing breaks, or several other ways recommended by the Deans of each of the faculties, said Dr. Cassano, vice-president academic.

Cassano said that he had "asked the Deans to monitor the professors," to see if they were making up classes. He admitted though, that the university had left the idea of make up classes "pretty well to the instructor."

Dr. Jerome Brown, Dean of Arts, felt that "it is a matter of commitment." He went on to point out that it was in the contract that the faculty association signed, that the faculty would not be paid for the week lost because of the strike. Instead, he said, they "would be paid for making up classes."

Brown pointed out that already many classes had been made up. Classes would not be made up in five minute spots but "in recognizable blocks."

Dr. Walter Romanow, Dean of Social Science, said that he called a meeting of the professors in his faculty immediately "to try and figure out strategies for different ways of making up classes." They had to do this, he said, in order to accommodate different classes which consist of lectures, seminars, and the like.

Romanow felt that "all classes and labs have been made up for will be made up by the end of the semester."

One of the fears of the Deans, Romanow said, was the danger of hurting students' performances in school through the make-up procedure. But, as far as he knows, "no student has been disadvantaged."

Cassano said that he expected all of the Deans to meet with the professors and send their make-up plans to him. He said that there are different procedures for every faculty at the university.

Brown gave several examples of how the Faculty of Arts is making up classes. One example is with evening courses. They can be made up by adding half an hour to the class four times if it is a two hour course, or by holding a separate class on another day, by agreement with the students.

The memorandum Brown sent out to each of his Faculty Members concludes by saying that they must follow the "guidelines with liberality and fairness, but especially in such a way as to ensure that students receive the tuition for which they have paid and which is necessary for the integrity of the course and the discipline."

Brown further commented that any student who feels their professor, in the Faculty of Arts, is lax in his make-up classes, or didn't make up a class, they should contact him. He stressed that it was "part and parcel of the agreement" the teachers signed.

Click here to read 'Terms of strike settlement revealed at meeting' - Oct. 7, 1982

Terms of strike settlement revealed at meeting
October 7, 1982

by Paula Lovquist

On Friday, October 1, 1982, the Board of Governors held a closed meeting during which they ratified a new one-year agreement with the University's Faculty Association. The pact, which was ratified Thursday by the Faculty Association, provides for two alternate monetary proposals.

The Lance spoke with John Dempster, chief negotiator for the Board of Governors who provided us with the following information.

The first proposal provides for a total of 13.8 per cent increase in the monetary package. It includes a 10.25 per cent salary scale increase in two stages, retroactive to July 1, 1982plus a $1,150 professional development increment.

PTR, or progression through the ranks, is a term used for the progression of the faculty members up the professional rank ladder, via which they are justified of earning a higher salary.

The Board of Governors and the Faculty Association agreed to join together in an application to the Ontario inflation Restraint Board to have the Faculty Association exempted from Ontario's new Compensation Restraint Act for the 1982-83 contract. The 13.8 per cent settlement is comparable to the settlements reached by other universities for 1982-83.

In the event that the above proposal is not accepted by the Inflation Restraint Board, the new contract provides for a second monetary package which includes a nine per cent increase over 1982-83.

Other agreements in the contract include:

- an increase of sabbatical leave expenses. They will rise from 75 per cent to 80 per cent.

- a retirement fund of $150,000 is to be created which will be distributed within the next three months to currently retired Faculyt members and their beneficiaries who are qualified to receive it.

- another fund of $50,000 will also be set up for anomolies, for which faculty members may apply if they fell justified.

- a further agreement, which came after some struggle, dealt with one of the faculty's "principles." The faculty decided that if a member was assigned to teach a course for a semester and then discovered that this section was empty, and therefore cancelled, he should still be compensated for it even though he was not teaching. The Board of Governors disagreed, and ultimately, the two groups agreed that if such events were to happen, the professor would be assigned to another duty for which he would receive equal compensation

- The professors also insisted that any member who teaches more than four courses per semester be considered to have a full-time appointment. The Board agreed and it was entered into the contract.

- The Board of Governors and the Faculty Association also agreed to set up a committee which will investigate and make recommendations on all of these concerns and others. This committee will consist of three members of the Board of Governors and three members of the faculty association.

Overall the ideal of "civility" was maintained and both sides appear to be satisfied with the eventual results. The only question remaining is: how long will it last?

That both the Board and the Faculty Association would be willing to risk the academic life of so many people is rather frightening.

John H. McGiveny, Chairperson of the Board, in his statement to the Board of Governors said, "It is a sad commentary on our maturity and our creativity and our commitment to the students and to the community, that we are unable to settle our differences without jeopardizing the education of those who represent the justification for our existence."

It is too bad they did not think of that sooner.

Day 14 - update 27

2008-10-01T12:49:00.004-04:00

WUFA strike update:

Dr. Alan Wildeman met the public at town hall, and a podcast is now available. By clicking on this link, you'll have at least an hour of the debate available. I've been listening for a while, and it's about half way over.

If you couldn't make it, and you've got the time/interest to listen to Wildeman field questions/attacks from the community.

If that link isn't working, you can find it hosted at www.uwindsor.ca/strikeinfo

Props to everyone who asked questions - they didn't pull any punches.

Day 14 - update 26

2008-10-01T09:14:00.007-04:00

The most important WUFA strike update yet:

Wednesday morning, October 1, 2008
Negotiators back at bargaining table: Greg Long, the provincially-appointed mediator in the collective bargaining negotiations between the University of Windsor and the Windsor University Faculty Association, released the following statement last night:

"Subsequent to the parties having reviewed their respective positions with the mediator, the mediator has today called the parties back to the bargaining table and negotiations are ongoing."

- www.uwindsor.ca/strikeinfo

Elsewhere:

The Windsor Star continues its coverage of the latest developments, most of which revolve around the students at the University of Windsor these days. In 'Students grill Wildeman,' Don Lajoie reports that some students still aren't getting the answers they wanted even after meeting with the administration.

In the last two days, University of Windsor president Dr. Alan Wildeman has met with student leaders and students at large to address their questions regarding the strike and how it will impact their studies this semester.

Some of the questions haven't been answered, and I'll try and clarify some of the material.

Please click here for more answers.

"My big concern is what happens to tuition and we didn't get answers. We've already missed (two) weeks and we won't get that time back. I've paid for something I'm not getting."

- Lisa Hill, a third-year criminology student

Short answer: you're not getting your money back.

Long answer: Both the faculty and the administration are saying two things that should answer this question for you. First, they continuously quote that no Ontario university has ever lost a semester to a strike. The second is, they will make sure that you receive the full value for your semester and get you the credits you deserve. To disambiguate, this means they're not giving you back your money - because you will, in the end, get what you paid for. You're just not getting it as scheduled.

"[T]here have been no talks between the administration and the Windsor University Faculty Association (WUFA) for two weeks. She said that if extra classes are tacked on at the end of the year, she'd be in financial trouble."
"I came from Toronto. I know 10 people who came for this. We all signed an eight-month lease. Now we might be spending money for rent, food and gas we didn't budget for. I'm supposed to have a classroom placement in two weeks and haven't learned anything. It's a stupid waste of time. Why is he talking to us?"
- Anony-source, first year education

I think the question here is: will the semester be extended? This question is being asked in many forms, including: will we go to school on weekends? Will we go to school during the counselling week? Will we go to school late into December? Will we go to school in January (extended semester)? etc.

Short answer: They don't know.

Long answer: A back-to-work protocol will have to be established, and in it, professors and their deans will design the adjusted curriculum. It is very realistic that each of your classes and labs will have their syllabi changed. That being said, each professor will have to restrategize how they intend to provide the instruction required for their course. This is all contingent upon how much time is lost, and that is a question that can't be answered yet.

Simply, until they know how much time they have to make up for, they cannot establish an answer to this question.

Some people are asking why, if both sides want to return to the bargaining table, are they not at the table?

Short answer: the mediator hasn't brought them back to the table yet.

Long answer: The two sides aren't actually phoning one another to say that they're ready to return to the negotiations, but rather the appointed mediator, Greg Long from the Ministry of Labour, meets with each side to evaluate whether he believes bringing them back to the table is worthwhile. He reviews proposals, counter-proposals and the wishes of each side and then decides whether or not they are close enough to a deal that they should resume negotiations. To this point, Long has said:

The mediator may call the parties back to bargaining if there is, in his assessment, a reasonable prospect for a resolution of the dispute. The mediator will have no further public comment on negotiations at this time.

So, you can see that this is the process through which they must negotiate. Hopefully this is more clear - I think we were all a bit put off when we were being told by both sides that they were trying to get back to the table, but weren't going back. Well, this explains the situation a bit better.

Are my assignments due when we go back to class?

Short answer: If classes are cancelled, then the assignments are cancelled.

Long answer: You ought to be working on your assignments during the strike, but it is not due until after the strike is over. Be prepared for that. The deans are going to work to minimize the impact on students in their first days back to class. So, technically, yes - all assignments should be due, but it would be an awfully inflexible professor who would collect them. Deadlines and due dates will be considered during the development of the back-to-work protocol, which cannot be done until a conditional agreement is met. [Edit 1 p.m.]

How long after a conditional agreement is reached will classes be back on?

Short answer: At the very least, 48 hours. Probably longer.

Long answer: There is a 48-hour period after a deal is reached in principle that the striking body will take to have its membership ratify the results. This is the union's way to approve of the contract. Negotiators have to take an agreement from the negotiating table and then pitch it to the members, who then vote on whether they will agree to work under those circumstances or not. During that ratification period would be when the back-to-work protocol (and answers to many of these questions) will be hammered out. So, it would take at least 48 hours after a deal is met in principle.

The Weekly Digest

2008-09-30T23:54:00.003-04:00

Most of your strike news from the last week in easy to digest bite-sized tidbits.

Nice to see you using your time productively, L-Boogie.

Day 13 - update 25

2008-09-30T20:58:00.005-04:00

The Lance interviews Dr. Allan Bonner, MA, MSc, LLM from Allan Bonner Communications Management Inc. to help make sense of labour disputes.

Bonner discusses what happens when one side takes out an ad and the impact it plays during negotiations, why either side would be interested in discussing their issues with the public, and how persuasion from the public at large can affect a union's vote to ratify a contract offer.

Click here to continue

Lance: What kind of a role can the public's opinion play in negotiating a deal between two parties.
Bonner: Oh, huge. I refer to a whole series and list of what I call non-table participants. So if you've got a faculty association, and you've got the administration, that's great, and they're at the table and they're talking away. But who is severely affected by this, or who may want to have an affect on this? Students, donors, neighbours, Joe Citizen, legislators, ministry of ed., there's all kinds of people, so to think that there's just the two of them at the table, is not a great idea.

L: How is it to either of their advantage to appeal to the public?

B: Because if you can create a non-table participant who is what I would call the 'Hammer' or the 'Sword of Damacles,' where the Minister of Education says, stands up and says, "Look I've had 47 letters on this this morning and phone calls, and if these people can't get their act together, then I'm going to intervene or I'm going to withhold funding."

Or maybe you get, Bobby Kennedy Jr. has spoken once or twice in Ontario. Maybe he says, 'I'm not going into a university campus where there's a labour dispute, they've got to fix it. Maybe Jack Layton says the same thing. Maybe donors, maybe T. Boon Pickens, you know, the University of Guelph is being funded by NASA, and some other things, interesting high tech, I don't know who's funding the University of Windsor research, but maybe they say, 'Look, I'm going to suspend donations until they get their act together.'

And don't forget, the bargaining committee of the union and the management reps, they have to go back and sell the package to their constituents, too. They're at the table and they've got to go back and sell it to their members, and it's like concentric circles, there are stakeholders farther away from the table.

L: So is there a direct relationship between a picketer perhaps preventing another employee from crossing a picket line to go to work, and actually resolving a contract?

B: Well, it's conceivable. You've described an isolated incident. The picketer is probably, you're allowed to have an information picket, at least you always were, and then picketing is governed under labour relations legislation, I think you can require people who want to cross the line to have a management escort, all that sort of stuff.

L: I understand that in terms of educational disputes, the provincial government, it would take a serious step for them to interfere with someone's legal right to strike. Has this happened before in your experience? What would have to happen for the provincial government to interfere with someone's right to strike?

B: Well, it depends on how you define 'interfere,' but in the papal visit in 1984, or '85, you could look it up, I believe the provincial government passed pre facto legislation preventing a TTC strike. In America, you just can't strike if you're at the post office, it's considered an essential service. Ronald Reagan fired all the air traffic controllers when they struck, early in his tenure. Sometimes labour strikes are ended through legislation, sometimes they're prevented by legislation. Sometimes they're prevented forever, and you may never strike, sometimes they are prevented for a limited amount of time.

That's all very unusual. The pre facto prevention was unusual. Post facto isn't all that unusual. I think legislating postal workers when they struck, and TTC, they had to go back to work eventually. Mandating arbitration or mediation, not all that unusual.

L: One of the parties took out an ad, and advertised how much they offered. How can that affect negotiations, when you take out an ad and you try to appeal to the public?

B: Negotiations don't occur in a vaccuum. All the members of the union and the management of the university all belong to families and clubs from walking down the street, and go shopping and what have you. And people are continually saying, 'What's this all about?' They have to have a response. Now, there are some aspects of labour relations that are very difficult to explain easily in the super market aisle when a neighbour runs into you. You know, carrage rights, pension calculations and the ability to take pension benefits when you retire, the affect of benefits on your family, this can get very complex.

You add up all that kind of stuff and one side may say, the union is being offered 'x.' Every union member is getting 'x' extra dollars a year onto this settlement. Well, the other side may say, 'No, it's 'y' number of dollars and it's 'z' amount of benefits.' Quantifying the benefits is difficult because you haven't used the benefits. You don't know if you're going to need eye glasses in the next year. There are a lot of different ways to shave any kind of statistic.

When you communicate the larger public about it, obviously people are talking about it in coffee shops and ... saying, 'Why don't these people get offered more? What is the matter with management? Aren't they stingey! How on earth can a university professor live on that, and why aren't they treated better?'

OR if they're saying, 'Wholly molly, I had no idea these guys were teaching 12 hours a week, and they're making $90 grand a year and they still want more, get a life!" Now that's going to have an affect on the vote that's eventually taken by union members and whether they're going to accept and ratify the contract. It's going to have an affect on how bold the negotiating team is because they read the paper and they listen to the radio and they watch the tv. When you walk into the room when you're being lampooned in public on radio, tv and print, and you walk into the room, maybe the other side ... well, it puts you in a bad position.

L: In your experience, when one side takes an ad out and goes public with the negotiation terms because they've hit a stalemate and expose what the other side turned down, how does that affect relations between the two, and what is that generally a sign of in terms of negotiations.

B: Depending on how the ad is worded, it can signal a new level of animosity, it can be muscle flexing. Maybe one side, for example, has more money and resources to take out ads, and it's considered dirty pool, or unfair, or unlevel playing field. It can cause a hardening of positions, let's say.

If it's phrased nicely, 'We just wanted you to know...' and all that nice, namby pamby language, maybe it is viewed as an information piece.

L: One of the concerns, chiefly, is that one side has been saying, 'It's not all about money. There are other concessions that we're looking for, that we're trying to get.' The ad itself said, 'We offered this much of a raise,' and it takes the idea that this wasn't all about money, then shows the money figures, to make people believe that it is about money. It derails the direction that everyone was moving in.

B: A very, very common tactic. You don't usually want to say it's about money, although if you're way behind, there would be occassions where you might.

Then Allan Bonner referred me to an interview he'd done called 'Transit Pie.'

I forget, if you look at that, you can see that the TTC took out a $100,000 ad, and I didn't understand what they're point was. I'm sort of, I was interviewed and asked if this was a good idea. I said, 'Maybe, but what are they trying to tell me? What is the issue here? I couldn't get it for the life of me.' Often the union feels it needs to create some communication to shore up its position with its members, but for the general public it's incomprehensible. That's another problem.

A Brief Respite

2008-09-30T19:48:00.004-04:00

Nothing new on the outskirts to report, aside from classes canceled tomorrow and Gordo producing a couple of anonymous sources whose views on the strike likely mirror Henderson's own, I'd wager. Funny how that works out, innit? Not that I'm suggesting anything.

If Rogers has anything, he's playing it close to the chest right now, likely overseeing the mothership's update, so I'll take this opportunity to throw up a stupid video.

Dude, church has gotten awesome since I was a teenager.

Day 13 - Update 24: Talks to Resume?

2008-09-29T12:22:00.003-04:00

The Star is currently reporting that the provincial mediator is returning to the city today in an effort to bring WUFA and the UWindsor admin back to the table.

No one knows exactly what the mediator, one Greg Long [add him to the list of Dramatis Personae] will be doing once he gets here, but UWindsor rep Lori Lewis confirmed he would be meeting with the administration.

Fingers crossed, Windsor.

Day 13 - udpate 23

2008-09-29T10:22:00.002-04:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Spencer Dingle
Communications Coordinator
University of Windsor Students’ Alliance
(519) 253-3000 Ext. 4401
dingle@uwindsor.ca
WINDSOR STUDENTS RALLY DURING PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS

University of Windsor Students’ Assemble to Mourn the Loss of their Education

WINDSOR – The University of Windsor Students’ Alliance (UWSA) is hosting a student rally to protest the current strike. The assembly will take the form of a memorial service for the lost education at the University of Windsor on Monday, September 29th at 2:30pm in front of the CAW Student Centre.

This student protest will have no affiliation with WUFA or with the administration. It is strictly to foster student unity and support and show BOTH SIDES that students are gravely concerned with the future of their education at the University of Windsor. Students who attend are encouraged to wear all black to correspond with the memorial service theme.

The event will consist of a student procession on campus, speeches, and the launch of a student petition to the government to intervene and get students back into the classroom.

As the previous UWSA rally last Tuesday was scheduled to coincide with a board of governors meeting, this protest is meant to backpack onto a presidential address by Dr. Wildeman to each of the student councils of UWSA, OPUS, and GSS.

After the address, UWSA members will be available in the pub in order to allow students to pose their member questions regarding the briefing and situation.

- 30 -

For more information regarding this issue, contact Spencer Dingle at (519) 253-3000 Ext. 4401 or dingle@uwindsor.ca. You may also visit www.uwsa.com for new developments on this and may other issues affecting University of Windsor students.

Day 12 - update 22

2008-09-28T19:18:00.002-04:00

WUFA strike update:

Not too much in terms of updates over the weekends.

The faculty strike is now affecting the world of the Toronto Maple Leafs, so to speak. The Windsor Star reported on Saturday that former head coach Paul Maurice has been traveling to UWindsor to finish a degree, but hasn't been in town due to the strike.

"Every time I get fired, I like to take a few courses," Maurice told ESPN.com. "I commute from Toronto and take a few classes down there. Although, last week, the faculty went on strike and that put a bit of a fly in the ointment."
- The Windsor Star

Don Lajoie also reported yesterday that the faculty association is interested in pursuing legal action over the administration's advertisement last week which revealed some details of their negotiations.

The union representing striking University of Windsor faculty and librarians said Friday it may pursue bad-faith bargaining charges against the school's administration.
Brian Brown, president of the Windsor University Faculty Association, said the union is looking at its legal options after the administration and the university board of governors released details to the media Tuesday of the employer's final contract offer, put on the table before 1,000 professors and librarians walked off the job Sept. 17.
"Lawyers for the Canadian Association of University Teachers have been looking at it," said Brown. "They've been going for a while to see if there's a case to bring to the labour ministry."
- The Windsor Star

The University of Windsor has updated its strike information page, with an explanation of why they ran the ad in the Windsor Star last week.

The University took the step of publishing a general explanation of its pre-strike financial offer for one purpose, and one purpose only – to demonstrate to the broader community that our offer was an attempt to balance the need to be fair to our employees with the need to avoid eroding the long-term economic position and academic quality of the University of Windsor. Some have criticized the attempt to be transparent. Others believe that the amount offered was excessively generous for a variety of reasons.
- the administration

You can read more at the link: www.uwindsor.ca/strikeinfo

WUFA has responded to the ad on their website, as well.

"Contrary to the University’s misleading full-page ad earlier in the week, academic salaries at Windsor will be below the provincial average were the University’s offer to be accepted. Pay for part-time faculty would be the lowest in the province, and the salary structure for full-time faculty would be the most unattractive in Ontario."
- James L. Turk
Executive Director
of the Canadian Association
of University Teachers (CAUT)

You can read more about their stance on the issue at www.caut.ca/wufa

I promise we'll have lots more interesting material, including a media conference with the administration where they've promised to not leave until every question is answered.

Day 10 - update 21

2008-09-26T13:40:00.001-04:00

WUFA strike update

Mediator may call the two sides back to the table

.Latest Updates - Faculty Negotiations

Friday morning, September 26, 2008

Strike mediator calls on both sides to review positions

Greg Long, a meditator from the Ontario Ministry of Labour, issued a report Wednesday explaining his decision to adjourn exploratory discussions with each side in the labour dispute between the University of Windsor and its Faculty Association.

In a short letter to the negotiating teams, he asked both sides to "carefully review their respective positions."

"It is the assessment of the mediator that there is currently no reasonable prospect of resolving the key issues in this dispute," Long wrote.

He added he may call the parties back to bargaining if he determines there is a reasonable prospect of successful negotiations, and refused further comment.

- www.uwindsor.ca/strikeinfo

Day 10 - update 21

2008-09-26T10:47:00.002-04:00

Here's what the blogosphere has to say about the strike. While I've been perusing through the blogs and vids around the net, I just haven't posted any of the comments yet - so: here goes.

Leftnews: –They are on strike and under increasingly hostile public action from the employer.

Democracy of Hipocrisy: I and many others are growing tired of this dispute and it looks as though most of the picketers are as well. They look so disillusioned, dejected and tired. They are not out in droves as they should be and when they are out, they are sitting down, on the grass, crossing their own picket lines. To me, this is not helpful, it is more hurtful than anything and conveys a message of defeat. Now, I was also hoping to hear from students on this issue but the facebook group seems to be the place to be. I know I am posting a lot in there. It's too bad though because I would like to hear what people really think, anonymously or not, I don't mind.

Bea's Hive: Some interesting ideas came to light, we found out that yesterday that the WUFA heads and the mediator waited for 8 hours for the admin to show up and go back into talks and no one showed up. Wildeman keeps on saying that they want to be in talks, but at this point the mediator has returned to Guelph because of the unco-operativeness of the admin.

Prez Gooch: [N]othing could have possibly prepared me for this catastrophe. What's worse is the fact that what is going on is so completely out of my control. It doesn't matter what I do, how many hours I put in (9am-1am), or how hard I work: This strike will continue until the Administration and WUFA reach an agreement.

Let me answer your question with a question: DEAR IDIOTS who keep driving by in their cars and yelling "Get back to work!" at us: SHUT UP. Do you honestly think that, if ending the strike was as simple as going back to the classrooms and teaching, we'd still be standing here A WEEK LATER? Yeah, that's right. So shut up and just keep driving. None of these faculty who have been scraping by on strike pay and picketing for hours need to hear you being a loudmouth idiot.

the doctor is in: One thing I will say to my students is this - do not fear that you will come back and have to turn in assignments and be ready to discuss multiple days of material all at once. I am not going to do that , and I doubt very seriously that any return-to-work protocol that is negotiated will allow any faculty member to make unreasonable demands of students after a week or more on strike. Just please be patient, get info from multiple sources, and do not give in to the rumor mill. WUFA is providing info via its site at www.caut.ca/wufa, and I believe there is something in the works to provide more systematic info to students and parents (but don't quote me on that). If and when I have more info I will post it. I'll post some pictures tomorrow from today's rally outside the Board of Governors meeting.

Igloonotes:I know lots of people have gone home, since they don't see a point waiting around in Windsor without classes; others still are playing the waiting game, trying to do readings and be caught up for the eventual thrust back into academic life.

Some students are also angry that professors have chosen this time to strike, commenting that they should have been on strike in the summer, to limit the impact on students' education for the big fall semester return to school.

uppityundergrad: For those of you who may not be aware at this moment the faculty association at the University of Windsor has been on strike for one week. The issues of this strike go well beyond the cliché issues of wage increases and working environment -- the faculty is fighting the administration back on things that, from what I gather, are happening at many schools in North America.

Search Windsor Essex: The strike affected the U of W students’ Shinerama fundraiser for the Canadian Cystic Fibrosis Foundation Saturday. Many students were gone this weekend, said co-ordinator Merisa Miladinovic. Still, about 125 people turned out for the event and helped raise about $3,000 and counting.

Day 10 - update 20

2008-09-26T10:09:00.003-04:00

WUFA strike update:

Here's a round up of the latest information on everything - although the only news that matters, really, is that the strike is still on.

The Windsor Star released an editorial - meaning they're stating their opinion on the matter, in their latest column.

[W]e do believe U of W president Alan Wildeman did the community a great service this week by publicly releasing the university's last offer, and putting the dispute into perspective.

[...]

While we applaud the university for releasing its offer, the numbers also highlight the central problem in these negotiations -- and it applies to both sides -- a complete failure to recognize the difficult economic times this community faces and the tough realities that exist in the private-sector workplace.

[...]
The view of Brian Brown, WUFA president, that other universities are providing increases of between 3.75 per cent and 4.25 per cent annually -- above the U of W offer -- shows a disregard for the impact of the economic downturn on the average family in this area.
As well, the university's argument that the school needs competitive salaries in the median range of Ontario universities is outdated and irrelevant. The lower cost-of-living here, the quality of life in this area and teaching and research opportunities at the U of W should be key selling points used in attracting talented faculty members.
- The Windsor Star

Of course there's much more to read at the above link. So that's where they stand.

Students plea for strike resolution, from Don Lajoie, outlines the very predicament students are stuck in. The reality is, they are basically powerless in this fight, though they are struggling to find some way, if any way, to implore their captors to resolve this issue. Or at least get back to work while negotiating. The big story is that the administration's representation that was expected to answer questions of the student body canceled at the last minute, giving everyone a sour taste in their mouth. The word "coward" comes up a lot in the reader comments.

Many of the Windsor Star's letters to the editor were featured regarding the strike. One of which is here, and you can surely find the rest if you browse around the site.

But the comments don't really favour the faculty, either, as they've been obstructing work crews trying to do their own jobs. Faculty picket lines halt campus construction outlines the absence of support the public has for WUFA interfering in other people's business. I was once told by one of my professors to take a course in logical thinking (it was response to a weak argument and flow in one of my essays). Well, many years later: How does standing in front of my car help you get a contract signed? Discuss.

While yesterday we linked a Globe and Mail article, Maclean's is now getting on board. In talks with Kevin Doyle a few days ago, he was a bit surprised that his "alma madder' hadn't caught up yet. University reporter, and former Canadian University Press president, Erin Millar highlights the impact that the administration has had when they took out the full-page ad on the negotiations.

And that ad that outlined some of the details of the negotiations warranted a response from the WUFA, which is here. And of course you can read the entire transcript of their statement here.

This story is growing to the national stage. For example, the strike has appeared in The Muse out Memorial University in Newfoundland. [Thanks Lindsey]

And the national exposure might grow even more as the faculty association at Wilfrid Laurier University are struggling to reach an agreement with their administration, as well. The article describes how both the administration and faculty find it difficult to balance negotiating with teaching classes, but they're finding a way to get by, like using a 'bargaining protocol.' Their contract also ended in June.

Day 08 - update 19

2008-09-25T15:05:00.006-04:00

WUFA strike update:

1) The UWSA open council meeting with the administration has been cancelled. Dr. Wildeman's secretary has indicated that he is in meetings and has had to cancel all of his appointments for the day.

Could this mean that they are back at the bargaining table?

Other updates:

2) Rumours surfaced last week that some 155 employees of the University of Windsor were laid off due to the strike. Lori Lewis (nee Koutros), manager of news services at Public Affairs and Communications, has said this is FALSE.

"No. I think you’re talking about food services workers. All those people are being paid and they’re working their regular hours. Nobody was laid off," says Lewis.

3) The meeting at the Caboto Club on Sunday for the public, parents of students and students being hosted by the Windsor University Faculty Association is in the Canada Hall between 2 and 4 p.m. Everyone is welcome.

4) For some reason the Mike Gasher shows from Dr. Winter have been taken down, but replaced with the identical Mike "Dasher" series. The difference is in name only, and one can only speculate why they have been removed, at this time. I saw James Winter the other day, but didn't know that there had been difficulties with the videos, else I would have asked. Sorry folks.

They can be found at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-uOHp1Y-jWU
and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rr53UUZUepY if you miss them.

5) The Globe and Mail have taken notice of the strike, and you can read 'University of Windsor Strike Gets Personal,' by Elizabeth Church. If you pick up the hardcopy edition today, and flip to page A4, check out the photo credit ;)

6) A transcript from the meeting that the WUFA set up yesterday in response to the administration's decision to go public in the Windsor Star with their offer that WUFA turned down.

Brian E. Brown: president of the Windsor University Faculty Association.

Brown: On my right is Mr. Peter Simpson from the Canadian Association of University Teachers.

First I wanted to announce to you, that on Sunday between 2 and 4 p.m. at the Caboto Club, we’ll be having an information meeting for the students, parents and the public where we will answer questions that they might have. That’s Sunday, 2-4 at the Caboto Club.

For more of the press conference WUFA held yesterday, click here

As I said last night, I was not sure why the administration and Board of Governors decided to go public with their best offer. And I don’t understand why they want to negotiate in the media. And as I said last night, WUFA … will not negotiate in the media. We’re here today to give you some information in terms of explaining some of the proposals that are being put forward in terms of what they mean, such as promotions, tenure and renewal, and Mr. Simpson will deliver that message to you, and we will an explanation of that for you at the end of this conference.

Peter Simpson, negotiator for WUFA and secretary of the Canadian Association of University Teachers Defense Fund.

Peter Simpson:
Thank you. One of the features of the position that the administration has taken in the media is their representation of what they’re calling a fair and equitable salary offer. There’s a component of that offer that is difficult to understand for people who don’t work in the university sector. The reason is because it’s a feature of the university employment sector that is unique to that sector. No other employment sector has this feature. You’ll see the university referring to a certain percentage scale increase on something that they’ve called an adjustment, which has a value of a thousand dollars. I want to explain to you what that feature really is, and give you a sense of how it works in the university sector.
The university sector employs a deferred salary mechanism, which is to say, like a pension plan, part of your money is put away for later. It’s parallel to a pension plan, but it’s actually something that functions in the following way.

If the average salary over 30 years of a university professor or librarian, worth $92 – 93 thousand dollars. The way the system works is you start at $52, and over the 30 years you progress towards the ceiling, so you end up, at say $132. So the average salary of someone who works in a unionized workplace with a job rate, gets $28.75 an hour, and that’s their job rate, people who do their job get paid this. The university sector works differently. You take a greatly reduced salary to start and work you way back to the ceiling. The mechanism is called a ‘progress through the ranks’ increment. It’s a built-in feature of the system. The promise is you start low because you’re going to be moved back towards the top. What the university is calling a $1,000 adjustment, is actually (and this in my opinion, and I am not speaking for the union at this point, this is my analysis) a deliberate calculated misrepresentation of the PTR system. They’re treating it as some kind of bonus, it’s actually a promised built-in structure to the salary system.

So it’s very important that people understand, that they [the admin] know this, they’re not stupid. They may not be telling the truth, but they’re not stupid. They’re actually trying here, in my opinion, to create confusion in a way that harms the union, and in a way that harms the image of university professors.

No person in any other employment sector would take a 50 per cent reduction in their salary rates if they weren’t going to get it back over time. That’s the way it works.

There’s a second feature of their $1,000 adjustment that’s important. The number of steps that it takes to get from this reduced salary up to the ceiling, is fixed. It’s between 30 and 40 [steps]. That means that the value of each step as you go back is relatively fixed and typically in collective bargaining in the university sector, it is adjusted for inflation, so the value of each step as you work your way back up, is adjusted by inflation in bargaining. No other university has ever insisted in cutting in half the size of the step as a condition for a collective agreement. [Cutting it from $2,200 to $1,000] And I’m not talking about Ontario, I’m talking national. This is unprecedented in this sector and constitutes a breach of an undertaking that gave people the incentive to take the reduced salary in the first place. That’s the first thing. The second thing is, last year the value was $2,200 for this increment. They’re cutting it in half. Now, instead of in 20 years and getting to that $132 number, I’ll be lucky to get back to that 92, which ought to have been my average over my career.

It’s extremely important for people to understand, that they have harmed people who are working on this system, and in good faith came in with a progress through the ranks mechanism in play. Those people are being harmed because it’s a breach of an undertaking made by the parties when they started. I would add further that the PTR, the university is saying that the union’s proposal would cost them millions of dollars and create a deficit. It’s important to understand that at least the $2,200 set value from last year, if it were repeated this year, would not be an increased cost to the university. It’s a fixed amount, it’s the way the salary system works. That would be like saying that the university would have an increased cost of paying members their salaries next year. That’s not an increased cost, people earn their salaries each year, they ought to be budgeting for it. Again, this is a misrepresentation that cuts to the heart of the salary system in the university sector and the difficulty that is being exploited in my opinion, is the difficulty of explaining to people, in any other employment sector, why people with PhDs would accept making $40,000 less at the beginnings of their career, in order to make $40,000 more at the end. It’s a difficult system to understand, it’s a difficult system to explain.

At the heart of the university’s so-called best offer, is a gutting of the salary system people accepted in good faith when they came to this university.

I want to say something else, every other university has it. Every other university in Canada has it. The 2200 step value here is among the lowest, so the union’s position is actually lower than contracts that are being settled right now in other universities in Ontario. The union’s proposal is competitive with those, in fact we would find our self behind some of them. What they’re doing is trying to twist this, and trying to create, in my opinion, a confusion of what the system even how it works. One of the consequences of the move they’re making is that’s it’s going to be incredibly difficult to attract new faculty when it will take them more than twice as long to get to their average salary at Windsor, than it would at Carleton, or Ottawa, or Queen’s, or Toronto, or Guelph, or Laurier. It’s going to be really hard to compete for new faculty if the people re going to take twice as long to get the same salary.

That point and other shave been made to no avail. But it’s extremely important that the people of Windsor understand what the impact would be on this university of this so-called best offer.

Apart from creating confusion, why would the university do this?

In my opinion, the university is trying to save money to correct financial management errors that it has made, not the union, the university administration has made, and they’re trying to do it by clawing money out of the salary system. And what people need to understand, is people are looking at this $1,000 adjustment and thinking it’s some kind of bonus. It’s actually less than 50 per cent of the step value they’re entitled to. It would be good to ask Dr. Wildeman, or Mr. Cook, why they’re doing this. I have no idea. What I do know, they understand the way the system works.

How much would they save under this new system?

Well, on the face of it, the existing step value is $2,200, and remember this is the step that returns you to the average salary, they’re going to by their proposal, by next year, they’re going to save $1,200 per full-time academic staff member, and there are over 500 of them. This is literally asking members to pay for the financial management mistakes of the administration. To not just take it out of their salaries, but to take it out of the salary structure. It’s one thing to say ‘we can’t give you as much of a percentage increase this year, for a variety of reasons we can’t do that, but this is gutting a system that’s a deferred salary system. It’s effectively the same as saying we’ve decided we’re going to give you half as much pension, we know you’ve been putting money away, but we’ve decided it’s a little rich for our blood, and so we’re going to give you half as much pension. It’s not a one-year thing they’re doing, they’re fundamentally altering the entire system in a way that betrays the good faith of those who entered it. It affects people who are junior faculty members disproportionately, but it affects everybody.

I think they’re quite candid about their budgetary problem. It’s certainly not mistakes anyone else made. We have neither the privilege nor the responsibility of directing the university’s finances.

They’re facing a $5 million deficit. If they accept this unions’ contract, that will be doubled. Where will they stand?

The university has decisions to make and they will make those decisions. I’m trying to explain here, where they’re taking that money not just out of the salaries of individual faculty members, but out of the system itself. And it’s important that you understand, it’s one thing to say to people, you have to take less of a scale increase this year because we have to save money. It’s something else to take this deferred salary system and now claw it back. That’s the point, and I think those are distinct issues. It’s one thing to come to the table and say ‘There are tough times, we’re going to have to do this thing this year, and hopefully we can correct it down the road.’ But they’re betraying a deferred salary system, that is saying, I spent years at $40,000 less on the understanding that I’ll be working back up, and now you’re telling me, oh sorry, we changed our minds. That’s the part that’s particularly galling. And that’s the thing that’s really done a lot to mobilize the faculty.

This is not about money, this is about quality in education, all of a sudden it’s about money?

This is not the place to identify or remunerate or articulate bargaining proposals, there are several bargaining proposals outstanding. I’m here to explain to you of the things they’re claiming, they’re claiming it’s all about money, it’s not, there’s lots of things outstanding, but I’m here to clarify in particular detail, this element of what they’re presenting to the public. They claim it’s all about money, but within their claim that it’s all about money, there is what I think a deliberate misrepresentation, so I’m here to clarify that misrepresentation.

Brown: It’s not all about money, it’s about the quality of education that we deliver to our students, its’ about the research that we do, it’s about academic freedom, its’ about the collective agreement, the protection that’s there for our membership. There are many outstanding issues that are contained within the administration’s best offer that are just not acceptable as a package in its entirety at this point. The university administration, can if they want to, repackage that money. We have tried. We have a proposal, that we have tried to deliver to the university negotiating team. We have not been able to get them to the table so that we can present that proposal to them. I do not know why they are not coming to the table. The board of Governor’s met yesterday, I thought after that meeting that they would have returned, however, it is my understanding, that they’re still not at the table, and I’m still hoping that the mediator will get both sides back to the table, so that we, the Windsor University Faculty Association negotiating team, can present our proposal to the administration.

I don’t know what it’s going to take there was a student rally yesterday, there were faculty out there, librarians, ancillary academic staff, sessional members of WUFA who were there, to try and send a message to the board of governors when they went into that building to say get back to that table, that’s what I thought the message would be when they left that room. However, the message was entirely different. They decided to go public in the paper with language on salary, they left out an awful lot. That is just a little bit of what we are negotiating at this point, a very little bit.

We are ready to go to the table.

Peter Simpson: I would like to explain here a particular detail that is particularly galling for me as this goes on, it’s immensely frustrating. First of all, the reason they say it’s all about money in their media campaign, is because they don’t want to release the rest of the details. It would be extremely useful since they’re campaigning in the media, for them to show you the other things that we’re supposed to also accept, along with having the salary structure disfigured. You’ve proposed to someone the deformation of the salary structure, and put that in the media and say it’s all about money, well, there are a lot of other things that they proposed that are not acceptable that are not money things, that are actually in some cases just as egregious, and they’re putting that stuff out there as if it were just about money, they’re not showing you the other things, the other 20 things that were in their proposal.

The second thing is, the one thing you have to understand about the language of collective bargaining, when someone puts an offer on the table and says ‘this is our best offer,’ that means you have to accept that it will not get better. So your counter proposal is only intelligible to us to the extent that you’ve accepted the terms of our offer. Now you tell me, if someone said to you, my best offer is that I’m going to steal your car, and you come back with a counter-proposal, but remember, the offers not getting any better. You come back and say, ‘well, here’s $20.’ They say, no, no, no, you didn’t hear me, we’re not here to negotiate, we gave you a best offer. Coming back to the table’s great, we can all sit and get hotel tans till the end of time, negotiating is what has to happen. Being at the table is not sufficient. What’s necessary is for people to negotiate, and when people throw down a gauntlet and say, this is the best offer, it’s not getting better – oh, well, that leaves me a lot of room, let’s see, what does that leave, yes, or no?

Apparently not, that’s why it’s called a best offer. That’s why there’s elements of this campaign that are a fundamental misrepresentation. Hold on a sec, what’s the difference between a best offer and final offer. A best offer means, no offer could cost more than this one costs. It’s the richest offer we’re prepared to give you. We’re not prepared to move on the cost of the proposal, so what that means is, you accept that we’re gutting the deferred salary system, or else.

So, this is the difficulty people putting out a part of the story in the media, is that they conveniently forget to reiterate the details that make it difficult for the union to move. It’s fine for us, we have counter proposals on all outstanding items, but the employer has made it very clear that the terms of the intelligible or legible counter proposal in their eyes, till we satisfy the condition of the best offer business. It’s an artful dodge of the final offer, but not that artful. It’s pretty blunt when you get down to it, what that requires is not that we negotiate with them, it’s that we capitulate or reject. That’s why no one who’s interested in collective bargaining makes that kind of move, because things break down when you make that kind of move. It says, take it or leave it. Where’s the challenge of negotiating, where’s the actual, ‘Let’s try to solve problems constructively in a collaborative way.’ I do this for a living, I travel across the country. I do not see best offer practices, I hope I do not see it again soon.

How often do you see students left out in the middle like this?

That’s a complex question, let me just say this. The faculty association is absolutely open in trying to work with students in trying to figure out ways to deal with the circumstances. No term has ever been lost in any university in Canada because of a strike, it’s never happened. And there’s been some bad ones. And when this one is over, there will be accommodations made to ensure that people get hours taught and those kinds of things are part of any solution to the current problem. The concerns of students are relevant to the process in so far as any attempt to end the strike has to include ensuring that students get the contract hours and credits they need that they signed up for. No other university in Canada has lost a term.

Back to work protocol, it’s an extension of the collective bargaining process to cover how to deal with the issues arising from having to return to work after a strike. So people have to make up classes, the term gets delayed, there are a number of issues.

At some point, it’s conceivable that the province could be concerned enough to legislate people back to work, most places that I work in, that would be politically unacceptable to a government. I suspect Windsor might be an example of a place where it would be politically unacceptable to legislate people back to work. Generally people are permitted within the labour relations process to exercise their right, the right to strike is one, and to limit those rights is a very serious undertaking for a government.

What influence does the public have on the bargaining table?

First of all, the students, you have to understand these are professors who work very closely with students. This is not something that they like, this is not something that the professors want to do, the professors feel that they have no choice at this point. Influence the public has, they can tell Mr. Cook and Dr. Wildeman, that this kind of literally unprecedented attack on the salary system, is not the way to solve the deficit. There are ways to be fiscally responsible without going after this. I mean, ask, if you go to a press conference and you get a chance to talk to Dr. Wildeman or Mr. Cook, ask them why they want to gut a deferred salary system, instead of offering less money on a scale increase.

The employer of record in the university system, is not the government. Universities are individually chartered and legislated institutions created by acts of legislation in Queen’s Park, but the management of the university is at the mercy of a board of governors, mercy might be inappropriate, but nonetheless, the board of governors by the legislation, have the mandate to run the finances of the university. They have the legal authority to enter into agreements with legalized staff, there are ministerial or governmental appointees to boards, but they are not the majority, they’re supposed to be people drawn from the community. One of the things that people in the community need to hear is that no one’s going to come and work at this university if it takes them twice as long to get them back to the average salary. So the people who are supposed to be running university, the board of governors, the community really need to say to them, ‘Are you really sure that’s the best way to ensure the strength of this university? To make it fundamentally unattractive to people? To say ‘We’re going to play fast and loose with this whole deferred salary,’ every university’s got it, and one of the reasons that every universities got it, is that ensure the mobility of university professors from one institution to another. Everyone has to be on similar deferred salary system, or else you’d lose going from one place to another. So people are going to have to think twice as long to get to the same place that they would be at an other university. It’s tricky to explain, but in effect, it’s pretty simple, it’s takes you more than twice as long to get to the same place.

The View From the Outside Looking In

2008-09-25T12:21:00.003-04:00

Random thoughts while sifting through the rapidly forming mountain of information that's been piling up as a result of the strike.

--A brief housekeeping note: Anonymous comments are still begrudgingly allowed, but no spam. Copying and pasting of the same [lengthy] comment on multiple posts will see them deleted.

--I don't know how you could think that the admin's decision to make public the offer WUFA rejected was anything other than an attempt to sway public opinion and present the faculty as a crew of money grubbers stubbornly putting their own interests ahead of students. It doesn't seem to have worked, and it'll be interesting to see if students call them on it at today's info session.

--At the same time, I find it curious that sessional instructors, initially presented as the educational equivalent of sweatshop workers, are now being embraced as brothers in arms, with WUFA president Brian Brown telling the Star they take issue with SI's at Windsor making less than half the amount per course that instructors at UofT make.

--I know I took a shot at Edy Haddad the other day [my distaste for inflexible politics on either side is no secret] but I'll give the guy credit for taking the unpopular position and saying what a lot of people might be trying to ignore: however just the cause, the strike is still taking money out of your pocket, Windsor. And whenever this gets resolved, you're gonna be the ones making up the difference on a shortened semester.

Rogers will surely have updates from the info session later tonight.

Day 07 - update 17 [Updated Thursday, 12.16 p.m.]

2008-09-24T15:57:00.005-04:00

What you need to know:

Classes are already canceled for Thursday.

IMPORTANT EDIT: the 2 p.m. info session has been cancelled [8:36 p.m.]

The UWSA will be inviting students to their Council meeting at 4 p.m. on Thursday afternoon in the Ambassador Auditorium and all students are welcome. At the Council Meeting special guests

Dr. Clayton Smith, Vice-Provost, Students & Registrar
Stephen Willets, Vice-President, Administration & Finance
Dr. Alan Wildeman, President of the University of Windsor
Brian E. Brown, President of the Windsor University Faculty Association
Dr. Stephen Pender and
Dr. Anne Forrest are expected to be in attendance to answer questions.

PLEASE NOTE: It is to be noted that an open question and answer period will not be allowed. Students will be required to submit their questions before 3 p.m. to uwsa@uwindsor.ca to have their questions asked. Only councilors have speaking privileges during the meeting.

Also,

The WUFA will be hosting a public information session at the Caboto Club on Sunday where the public are welcome to answer any question. If you have concerns and you'd like to have WUFA address them specifically, schedule some time this Sunday at 2.00 p.m.

Day 07 - update 16

2008-09-24T13:33:00.003-04:00

WUFA strike Update

A memo from the WUFA:

Media Release,

Please be advise the Faculty Association of the University of Windsor will hold a news conference today (Wednesday Sept 24) @ 2:00 p.m. at the University Community Church, 2320 Wyandotte St. West.

All Media is invited

On behalf of the Faculty Association,

Jean Roath, Administrative Assistant
Faculty Association, University of Windsor (WUFA)
Kerr House, 366 Sunset Ave.
Windsor, Ont. N9B 3P4

WUFA@uwindsor.ca
(519) 253-3000 ext. 3366 Fax (519) 977-6154

www.uwindsor.ca/wufa

And the University of Windsor appears to have taken an ad out in the Windsor Star regarding the details of their last offer to the WUFA.

I would imagine that the media release from WUFA will have something to do with the administration's latest coverage in the Star last night and today.

Day 07 - update 15

2008-09-24T10:34:00.017-04:00

WUFA strike update:

From the rally that was mentioned in The Star's latest article, I have some pictures. They tell some of the story. (Sorry for everyone using dial-up.)

This was an established event put on by the UWSA.

The UWSA was providing bottles of water, and there was a BBQ as well. Tosin Bello, VP Finance & Administration, can be seen carting bottles of water around himself.

The chief idea was to have students sitting around studying. (Early plans called for hundreds of chairs to be set up for everyone to sit in while they read.) It was a demonstration of what impact the strike was having on students, on display for the Board of Governor's whom were assembled for their regular meeting.

Students also prepared a petition, and were intending on submitting a sheet that outlined how the strike was personally affecting them. Later on in the sit-in, students entered the Toldo Building and the Board of Governor's meeting to present their sheets. They were asked to leave, as the meeting wasn't made public.

Hundreds of other students just mashed themselves up against the entrance to the Toldo Building, waiting for the administration to join the meeting. One member, whom I couldn't identify, was using a folder to shield his face. Whether it was from the sun, or the faculty/students, I honestly cannot say.

There were at least a dozen photographers ranging from amateur, to expert, to professional. This is an experience that many members of the student community appear to be interested in capturing on film.

WUFA president Brian E. Brown (on the right) was making himself available for comment. He was message boxing as best as he could, indicating that the administration was yet to return to the bargaining table, and that the WUFA had organized another package for consideration. He wasn't sure why the admin hadn't returned to the table - but considered that perhaps they were waiting until after the Board of Governor's meeting before getting back to negotiations.

The faculty association lined up on the other side of the street in support of the students. They were of the understanding that the students were demonstrating to the Board of Governor's independently, so WUFA just watched on.

But then the picket captains geared them up to get rowdy and make noise, and boo as administration approached the building.

Then Liberal cast-out and social activist Edy Haddad appeared, and started to grill the professors for costing students money.

Who is Haddad? He called for a buoycott of the University of Ottawa for not offering free tuition, and declared himself interested in running as the Liberal candidate for the Windsor-Tecumseh riding back in November, 2007 - yet was overlooked by the Libs when they selected Larry Horowitz (Windsor West), Steve Mastroianni (Windsor-Tecumseh) and Susan Whelan (Essex).

What was he saying to the assembled faculty? You can find more at the Windsor Star's video of the event, here.

Day 07 - update 14

2008-09-24T10:05:00.002-04:00

WUFA striek update:

The Lance's co-op student Carly Moulton interviews people around residence to see what's beeng going on:

Andrew Bell,
Second Year Business and member of the Windsor Inter-Residence Council

What have you been doing with your free time?
My free time, I’ve been trying to keep up with my work, but it’s hard to do.

How do you think the strike will be resolved?
I’m hoping it’s going to be resolved soon, again we stay kind of impartial to its deposition, but it’s really frustrating right now just waiting for them to argue it out. I don’t think the strikes very effective right now, I think they should have done this stuff earlier, you know what I mean? They could’ve started the negotiations in the summer. It’s kind of wasting my time.

Have you seen a lot of students in the halls?
No actually, the residences are empty. Everybody’s gone home. It’s very scary. It’s difficult to run programming around it too. We’re trying to keep people interested in actually being here but if the strike goes on much longer there’s really no reason for them to stick around. That’s why we’re here though.

If you were to guess how many people do you think are in res?
Well I’ve been given different figures for different buildings but we’re at less than half right now, they’re emptying out. We have all the international students still here, it’s kind of hard for them to go home for a couple weeks, but everyone else, anyone that lives close, I’ve been home two or three times already, I live in Chatham, so I may as well.

So is Vanier empty then too?
I haven’t been in Vanier much, I’m in Clark. But apparently it’s not a pretty sight. Campus has been pretty dead so I’m hoping they get back to doing what we pay them to do.

Megan Vereyaen
First Year, Mathematics

Are you living in res?
Yah, I’m in Laurier.

Has it been pretty empty?
Yah, there’s been a few people around.

How do you feel about the strike so far?
So far it’s been all right, I hope that they resolve it because I mean we’re paying tuition money to go to school so it’d be nice to go to school. I understand that they need to get their voice out but it shouldn’t really be at the expense of the student. I think there’s a lot of negotiating that could have been done prior to the school year.

What have you been doing in your free time?
Pretty well just been hanging out, been doing some studying but I mean you can only do so much. I went home a little bit too.

Day 06 - update 13

2008-09-23T23:27:00.004-04:00

WUFA strike update.

The administration at the University of Windsor have broken their media silence, and addressed the Windsor Star's editorial board with some of the details of the CBA that was offered to WUFA, and was turned down, a week ago.

Bear in mind, since the strike, the two sides have yet to meet again.

'We can't be silent anymore,' by Don Lajoie.

You can read the article in its entirety, but there is an awful lot of rhetoric in there. I've tried to separate the facts from the war cries.

To recap what's in the article:

Details on the deal that was offered to WUFA
Wildeman presented a document that said "faculty wage increases of three per cent plus a $1,000 bonus the first year, three per cent plus $1,000 the second, and four per cent plus $1,750 the third. If the faculty had accepted the offer, by the end of the contract, the average professor would be making $150,046."

"average salaries would rise from $84,775 to $97,396 for assistant professors, from $106,168 to $121,000 for associate professors and from $132,493 to $150,046 for professors over the three years."

"The goal of the release ... is to put pressure on the union to come back to the table and to get the strike settled as soon as possible."

WUFA has attempted to return to bargaining, after contacting the provincial mediator involved in the talks and offering to table a counter proposal to administration.

"We're not supposed to negotiate in public or through the media," [Brian Brown, president of WUFA] said. "We would never describe our proposals in the media.... All I can say is that the faculty association wants this to end. We don't want to be out in the street. We want to teach and the students want us back."

"[M]ore than 500 students attended a rally on the campus as the University's board of directors met Tuesday afternoon. Hundreds of union members lined up across the street from the building where the meeting was held, carrying placards and yelling slogans in support."

"About 100 students ... made their way into the [Toldo] building and crowded into the ... boardroom, where they ... presented a 400-name petition calling for an end to the strike."

And, as usual with any Windsor Star article where comments are allowed, there are remarks that run the gamut.

I've got some pictures of the events from this afternoon.

Day 06 - update 12

2008-09-23T14:18:00.003-04:00

WUFA strike update:
Well, it's been a few days, and information is in short supply, mostly because nothing new has come of the strike.

Windsor University Faculty Association president Brian E. Brown and I had a brief conversation just now, and this is what came of it:

- The two sides have not returned to the bargaining table.
- WUFA has a proposal prepared for the administration to review
- the other side is called back to the negotiating table by the mediator
- the mediator is Greg Long, was appointed by the Ministry of Labour

The Board of Governor's Meeting is scheduled for 3:30 this afternoon, but it is expected to be entirely in camera. That means that only the Board of Governors are allowed in - or anyone whom is a special guest to the meeting.

The WUFA has a members-only meeting to be held tonight at 7:15 p.m. where they will convey the circumstances to their members.

Students are expected to be demonstrating by the Toldo building at 3 p.m. this afternoon.

The University of Windsor has released this list of items that students can do to stay up to date on their studies while class is out.

I'll tell you what, though, I guess I'm the last guy on campus to find out that the residences are all half empty, anyhow. According to a member of WIRC (Windsor Inter Residence Council) most students have said aloha for the strike. Except for the international students .

Brown said that after a tentative agreement, each department will have to find their own way to recoup the semester. So what's good for English won't necessarily be the same for Math & Stats, which won't be the same psychology. So you'll have to pay close attention after the strike, to what your department emails you to figure out how the rest of the semester is going to play out.

I've got some student testimonials from our co-op student Carly, and I'll get that posted to you sooner than later.

A Word From Your Robot Overlords

2008-09-23T11:52:00.003-04:00

Only Gord Henderson could fan the flames of class war during a labour dispute in a town as union friendly as Windsor.

I figured it was only a matter of time until he started griping about the WUFA strike, and he doesn't disappoint in today's edition, comparing the luxury living status of Windsor Faculty [even on strike pay] with the hard knock life of the city's rapidly declining industrial sector.

Even if I agree with the Hend-O-Tron 4000's larger point [my new theory on Gord is that he's become so bloated by his 'large fish/small pond' status that he's had robot duplicates of himself doing his columns. Look at the cold dead eyes of his staff photo and tell me I'm lying], which I do [it's probably time for unions to tighten the belt more than their willing to, there are bigger forces at work in the world at this particular moment], I love that the man, who is still holding a grudge at the university for kiboshing the downtown campus plan last year make no mistake, is chiding people with PhD's for the money they make.

You know Windsor, I'm well aware of my station in life, yet I feel no petty rage with someone at a university making $100,000 a year, because to my mind they earned it. Someone with less education taking a whopping pay cut down to $20.50 an hour? Open those jobs up, the factories won't have to outsource anywhere; there's plenty of discounted labour in this country that will gladly take it. Hmm, so maybe I'm fanning the class war now.

Talk about a cocoon.

Thoughts: Sigur Ros @ Massey Hall, 9.22.08

2008-09-23T00:12:00.008-04:00

Surprise to no one, Massey Hall was packed to the rafters tonight with fans eager to welcome back dreamy Icelandic quartet Sigur Ros, currently touring in support of a record with a very long title I cannot pronounce.

Click for the rest of this post.

The nice thing about living in this city is that it allows me to get some culture whilst indulging in my laziness. No matter how much I loved the act, I could very rarely muster the energy to endure two border crossings, currency exchanges or [if the Palace is involved] an hour drive on American freeways. Hopping the Yonge line for fifteen minutes is much preferable.

The night started with fellow Icelanders Parachutes and honestly, the less said about them, the better. That's probably not fair, if I had seen them in any other context, I would likely have thought they were amazing. But the band is so clearly influenced by the act they're opening for, it just felt like Sigur Ros-lite. At one point I actually zoned out to the point where I was thinking about hamburgers. Not even because I wanted one, that's just what came to mind.

By 9.00 the main attraction had taken the stage, alone. One of the notable details about this particular outing is that Sigur Ros has been touring without any additional instrumentation. No string section, no horn section, just the band.

The decision to tour on their own means the setlist takes on a distinctly rockier, guitar-centric feel, spanning a decent selection of each of the band's four major-label albums [sorry diehards, I didn't catch any Von selections tonight]. Old favourites like Ny Batteri [with its percussion-controlled lighting rig] worked flawlessly with new songs like Inní Mér Syngur Vitleysingur, all tinkly piano and throbbing backbeat.

While I was enthralled for the entirety of the show, I didn't feel totally connected to it until the end portion. Saeglopur [from 2005's Takk] has long been my favourite song by the band, so to finally hear it start up live was enough to move me to tears. Surprisingly, the band then moved directly into Popplagid from (), which has been the show closer for years. After building the song's tension for over six minutes before bursting in a wash of feedback, the crowd didn't know what they could do for an encore. The answer, wisely, was to move in the totally opposite direction, bringing out the acoustic guitars for a two song encore of Illgresi and Gobbledigook, both from the new album.

The joyous rhythms of Gobbledigook, which brought Parachutes back to the stage playing marching drums, and the entire audience clapping along, was transcendent. By the time an unexpected cannon of confetti exploded over the unsuspecting Massey Hall crowd, it was impossible not to be amazed at how something as simple as a three minute song can totally transform you.

If you're catching the show tonight in Detroit, to say you'll enjoy it is a gross understatement.

Massey Hall security was running everyone amok for trying to film, so my videos, while sounding angelic, aren't much to look at. Bug me if you want one that bad, I'll throw it on YouTube until they take it down.

Strike Update: A Rebuttal

2008-09-21T00:00:00.006-04:00

My, Rogers certainly is thorough, isn't he? Never say we don't keep you informed, Windsor.

Got an email today from one Chad Beharriell, a History and Distance Education Instructor at UWindsor.

Beharriell is a Sessional Instructor, which puts him at the centre of what seems to have become the flashpoint issue of this labour dispute; as one of those 'Maquiladora'-style instructors, so labeled by UWindsor Comm Studies prof James Winter both in print and in video [videos you in previous entries], his profession has attracted the ire of faculty and student alike.

Beharriell writes in response to an editorial by Winter published in the Windsor Star, after negotiations between faculty and admin first broke down. His response is presented here in its entirety.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

James Winter is both an accomplished academic and passionate writer, as evidenced in his August 25th letter to the Windsor Star, 'Lowest Bidders Wanted'. Yet as a sessional instructor at the University of Windsor, I feel he misrepresents both my work and personal approach to teaching when he describes me as a "Maquiladora"-type Mexican worker to the public.

As an instructor in the History and Distance Education departments, I feel fortunate to come from a Northern Ontario village to share my approach to Canadian history with students. I would never compare such fortunate circumstances - receptive students, supportive faculty and administration and a vibrant city - to the lot of factory workers in the developing world.

I chose to accept my job and did not do so grudgingly. Mr. Winter might say that I lack the necessary 'class-consciousness' to see how mistreated I am but I am conscious enough to be grateful for decent employment when half the world, as I'm sure he is aware, lives on less than a dollar a day.

Finally, while I respect the research abilities of my university peers, Mr. Winter's logic is flawed to argue that conducting research equates directly to teaching ability. Students require instructors to clearly share ideas in a class setting - I am confident in my teaching skills to deliver quality education without a majority focus on my own research. Ask a student how they rate their instructors - that is the
final judgment on teaching.

I believe that the faculty union has the right to strike if they truly believe they are being hard done by - but I also have the right not to participate if I do not share that perspective on my situation as a sessional instructor.

Chad Beharriell
History and Distance Education Instructor
University of Windsor

Day 04 - update 11

2008-09-20T17:26:00.009-04:00

WUFA strike: Day 04 - update 11Len Wallace pulled a Bob Dylan and tried to inspire everyone around him with a bit of poetry. [Later he pulls a Woodie Guthrie.]

Len Wallace: An injury to one is an injury to all. Now sometimes in these struggles arises great art, great music and great poetry. On the other hand, there is this. I wrote this yesterday. How many people are on the flying squads? Okay, this is The Ballad of the Flying Squads:

We're members of the flying squads, a valiant band are we
We march around the campus to confound the enemy.

You'd best be ready and beware for we're that band
We'll assault you with a smile and thrust a leaflet in your hand.

Just point us to the battle, we'll be the first in line.
Our muscles taught as hardened steel from raising up our signs.

Our voices hoarse from shouting for a contract that is fair.
We've walked 10,000 weary miles around a 12-foot square.

We shall never cave to taunts and threats in this battle we are winnin',
Nor fear to eat a hot dog and wash down a brew from Tim.

We'll never shirk our duties, we shall picket every day.
With discipline we shall sign in to ensure we get strike pay.

We're the women and the men who teach here every day.
We're here on strike for dignity, for equity, fair pay

So listen up administrators, governors, by God
If they're messing with our union, you're messing with the flying squad.

He continued: This not a game, these people are not naive. We're getting emails of threats and intimidation. The new president acting as good cop, the old president acting as bad cop.

This is an old, old tactic. And don't forget the Board of Governors. The head of the Board of Governors, Dave Cook, not quite the friend of teachers, and his brother the lawyer, for the administration. They know what they're doing, let's do what we're doing. Let's stand together in solidarity. The new president of the uni said the first day of the strike was the worst day in his university career. At $315,000 a year, that comes down to $6,000 paid per week. For an administrator, about $2000 per week, for a sessional, $250 a week. And what is that? That's a shame.

We aren't going to back down to threats or intimidation. We're not going to turn on ourselves. We're going to stand united. Actually, I was given a new slogan. Something from the Cuban Revolution. "The faculty united, shall never be defeated."

Here's a little song, some of you heard it before, written by Woody Guthrie in the 1930s. The chorus goes, "You can't scare me. I'm sticking to the union till the day I die."

Then he sang Union Maid, while playing it on his accordion:

There once was a union maid, she never was afraid
Of goons and ginks and company finks and the deputy sheriffs who made the raid.
She went to the union hall when a meeting it was called,
And when the Legion boys come 'round
She always stood her ground.
Oh, you can't scare me, I'm sticking to the union,
I'm sticking to the union, I'm sticking to the union.
Oh, you can't scare me, I'm sticking to the union,
I'm sticking to the union 'til the day I die.

This union maid was wise to the tricks of company spies,
She couldn't be fooled by a company stool, she'd always organize the guys.
She always got her way when she struck for better pay.
She'd show her card to the National Guard
And this is what she'd say

Chorus

You gals who want to be free, just take a tip from me;
Get you a man who's a union man and join the ladies' auxiliary.
Married life ain't hard when you got a union card,
A union man has a happy life when he's got a union wife.

[I couldn't find the lyrics for the last verse, and I swear, this is the best I could do to decipher what was actually sung. Sorry if it's off - I try my best.]

Oh, ladies if you want to be free, just take a little tip from me;
Just get yourself a union card, organize your liberty.
Ya gotta take a stand, with bolded beers in hand?
Just move your bones like union Jones. Show that union hand.

[There were dozens of cameras floating around capturing the entire event - and so it's with no small help from Eeland111 on Youtube, that we have the following clips of the song's performance: SOCAN, be advised.]

[The rally was then set up for another march around the university's perimetre by Dr. Stephen Pender]

Stephen Pender: I play chess. I cook my dinner. I teach English literature, I'm the research leadership chair, I am the head of the HRG, the Humanities Research Group, I do all these things. But today, I'm a member of my union. And what could I do as a member of my union? What could be better than to join with my brothers and sisters in other unions in a march around campus? This is what we're going to do, and if anyone asks, it wasn't my idea. Behind that sign, which is moving right now, a couple of our members will assemble that sign at the front of this group.

We will then do, as we did on Wednesday, with our members and supporters, we'll move from this space, down Sunset, along University, up Huron Church, along Wyandotte, back here, back to the WUFA Factuly Association for a ... something. Maybe a glass of water, a bad hot dog. Members of these unions are absolutely crucial to our support. Before you leave, we have two things;

One - for anyone who's been here today and who's been here all week - we've arranged drink specials in a local tavern for a strike social tonight. Just tell them you're a member of WUFA, and you all are, today. Dominion House Tavern, 7 p.m., be there or be there.

There is something very cool right here, right now. So don't put your cameras away, you'll want to catch it.

[...]

[then the University Players poured out from behind Chrysler Tower in costume - dancing around in a skit.]

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Next, The Lance had a chance to interview James Winter, the brain child behind the earlier posted videos, The Mike Gasher Show and No Maquiladora U!.

What were the intentions behind the videos?
Winter: It was just to draw some broader attention to what's happening here both on campus and off campus. Get some of the issues out and do it using humour, and clarity and satire and so forth.

Why'd you choose satire to make your points?
Winter: I think it works very well. People enjoy the humour, and they're willing to sit down and watch the piece, so we thought that might be an effective way. The students were fabulous. All of the animation was done by a graduate student in our program, Danielle Sabelli, she's a genius, as well as an original song was written and performed by another graduate student in our department, Travis Reitsma. All I did really, was to write the script on that animation, and they did everything else.

When did you decide these were something you wanted to do?
Winter: It was really as the strike was beginning to happen. It all took place within about a week. I know nothing about animation really, and people just said to me, 'How in the world did they do that in a single week?' And it's just because they worked so hard, it was something like 65 hours.

Now the other interview, we're recording another interview today. So there'll be more of those up, there will be a series of them.

Who are you interviewing next?
Winter: We're going to stick with Neil Gold for a little bit here, and then we're going to branch out from there and probably go to the president and some of the other characters involved.

It's going to be another interview-style video with Mike?
Mike Gasher, he's a free-lance journalist, does his own show.

How'd you meet Mike Gasher?
Uh, he did an interview with me a little while back. And I thought, here's a guy who asks penetrating questions, so enjoy his show.

What's the feedback been from people?
Oh, I can't believe it. Walking along the streets today, and of course there's a lot of people I don't know, and they say, "Saw your video, loved it." And of course the reaction online which has been fabulous and on Youtube.

- - - - - - - - -
And as promised, the latest installment of the Mike Gasher Show

Day 04 - update 10

2008-09-20T14:32:00.014-04:00

WUFA Strike: Day 04 - update 10
An email sent by Clayton Smith, vice-provost, students and registrar has sent out an email indicating that classes are already canceled for Monday, September 22nd.

--Forwarded Message Attachment--
From: dumala@uwindsor.ca
Subject: Classes and laboratories are cancelled for Monday, September 22nd.
Date: Sat, 20 Sep 2008 11:47:45 -0400

TO: ALL STUDENTS

All University of Windsor classes and laboratories are cancelled for Monday, September 22nd.
_____________________________

Clayton Smith, Ed.D.
Vice-Provost, Students & Registrar
University of Windsor
401 Sunset Avenue
Windsor, ON N9B 3P4
Phone: 519/253-3000 Ext. 3879
Fax: 519/971-3692
Email: csmith@uwindsor.ca
http://www.uwindsor.ca/sas

As for Friday's rally, here's a transcipt of much of what happened.
As a crowd assembled, there were chants of "No justice, no peace." They also chanted "Shame."

There was a broad media presence, as everyone was fully aware that a major rally had been planned. Here you can see a French member of the flying picket talking with a CBC reporter.

[The rally began with WUFA president Brian Brown introducing many of the flying pickets who had come out to support the strike.]

Brian Brown: We have people here from across Canada who have flown in to help support out cause, they will be speaking in a few minutes. I want to say that we also have MPs here as well. Our tireless negotiating team is here. All the locals on campus, I want to say thank you to each and every one of you. The solidarity from the campus unions has just been incredible. To everyone at the Windsor University Faculty Association thank you immensely for your support. And I want to say thank you to the Windsor and District Labour Council. They have been fantastic in this strike for justice at the University of Windsor.

I want to start out this rally with the president of the Defense Fund Flying Picket of CAUT, Larry Hale, who can take the mic.

Larry Hale, president of the Canadian University of Associated Teachers Defense Fund, or CAUTDF, came forward to introduce the flying pickets. Each flying picket brought with them financial support to WUFA, money which is intended to provide whatever support necessary. You can read more from an earlier post regarding the CAUT's Defense Fund.

Larry Hale: Hello, University of Windsor. My name is Dr. Lawrence Hale, I'm from the University of Prince Edward Island, Charlottetown and I'm the president of the CAUT Defense Fund.

And we're very proud that you, the professors and librarians and faculty of the University of Windsor have taken this stand and taken this action, because the working conditions of the faculty are really the backbone of what a university is all about. If you don't take care of those people, then the university really suffers. You're taking a stand to make sure that that doesn't happen.

I'm here with some colleagues from Ontario, Quebec, Atlantic Canada, I'd like to introduce some of them. I also represent the University of Prince Edward Island, and proud to be solidly behind the faculty of the University of Windsor and we're happy to bring a donation to your cause of $1000.

Universities that made financial donations: University of Western Ontario; Wilfrid Laurier University; University of Guelph; York Univeristy; Laurentian; Trent; Carleton; Concordia; Nova Scotia; Acadia and the University of Newfoundland.

[There was one other, but the tape was inaudible. Sorry.]

Joe Comartin (NDP), the Windsor-Tecumseh riding Member of Parliament was next to speak.

Joe Comartin: You're now in a leadership role with this fight. And it's a fight that goes beyond just this administration. It's a message that has to go to all the provincial governments and the federal governments about underfunding in our post secondary institutions right across the country.

I want to say to the members of the faculty, library, all of you who are on strike. Solidarity is absolutely crucial here. We can't have people crossing the line, we have to remain solid, abosolutely solid, behind the people who are our on the line. So I'm saying to the students as well, be supportive of this strike, it's in your future best interests.

I want to recognize Gary Parent [the president of the Windsor and District Labour Council] and the Labour Council for the support that they're giving to the strike. The whole city, represented by the labour movement is behind this strike, and we'll stay behind it until we get justice.

Brian Masse (NDP), Windsor West Member of Parliament, was next to speak.

Brian Masse: Thanks Brian [Brown, WUFA pres], first I want to recognzie Brian by coming up to Ottawa to lobby for all of these years. You need to be acknowledged for that because you've been one of the voices out there that's been leading this country.

You know it didn't have to be this way. It's a decade and a half of neglect that has brought us to this moment and I say to the powers that be in Ottawa, we're going to turn this around and give our education back to our students and also have the right training for them in the future.

There's a lot of talk of the economy and about what we need to do to get through it. I can tell you that it's the work that happens here every single day in and day out that is our future and this is why this is so important to get the right contract right now. Like Joe [Cormartin], I also want to acknowledge Gary [Parent] and everyone else in this city that's supporting this [the strike] because it's so important for our future, our post secondary education. Not only in terms of our young people getting the education, but also our local economy and having pride in this city. This university is the corner stone for our future, let's make sure it's done right and have accountability and justice for all.

The negotiating team was next to be introduced. Emily Carasco, professor of law and Chair of the negotiating team, spoke on their behalf.

Emily Carasco: This very impressive showing of support and solidarity is very, very much appreciated by your negotiating team and by WUFA as a whole. When I look around here, I know that your negotiating team is both inspired and energized by your presence. This helps us strengthen the resolve that we have had for the last four months, and it was a very strong resolve in the first place. But mostly today, we are going to do our very best to ensure that the next collective agreement will contain no clawbacks, improved working conditions and fair compensation.

We have asked only to be treated like others in our sector have been treated, and for no more than that. But we've been going through this for a few months now, we've described ourselves as badgers; benign until provoked.

I need to ask something more of you - your support, your solidarity has been amazing. But we're in this for the long haul, this may well be only the beginning. And we're in it together, we're both doing the same thing. The negotiating team is working with the membership for the same goal. And so we're counting on you to hang in there, to not hang up, to make the message to the administration very, very clear. We want a fair and equitable collective agreement.

To our friends from other unions, both in this city and all over the country, to our friends from the community, to our political leaders who are supporting us today, thank you. It is this type of solidarity, that makes the labour movement such a strong positive force for social justice. A very special thanks to all of the other unions on campus, to our national organization, CAUT and CUFA. Finally, to all students, who have walked with us in spirit, and physically on the picket lines, thank you for your recognition that ultimately the goal for all faculty and librarians is accessibility to high quality post secondary education for all Canadians. We have a wonderful team that are all here. We have worked four months and we will work as long as it takes to get the type of collective agreement that we believe we, WUFA, deserves, and that it will have a positive impact on negotiations for other faculty associations across the country. Help us to do that.

CAW president Kenny Lewenza spoke next, taking direct jabs at University of Windsor, provost Neil Gold.

Ken Lewenza: I am joined today by the hundreds of CAW members that are in the audience, CAW represented workers at the University of Windsor, sending a message of solidarity, and sending a message to the University of Windsor, in particular to Neil Gold, the writings that you - the letter that you sent the faculty association and to the students prior to the deadline of negotiation borders on bad faith bargaining, and you underestimated the determination of the faculty. I mean, you though that people would run into the workplace and the students would turn their backs on their teachers and the faculty associations, you thought the faculty association would turn their backs on each other. In the last two days you've seen a bond of solidarity and friendship that you never anticipated, and our message to you today on behalf of the Canadian Auto Workers Union, and this is emotional for us in this particular community, because the Canadian Auto Workers Union has built some of the foundations of this particular community through the generosity of our members.

And we believe that the university of Windsor and the Faculty and the students that are participating in these actions are the backbone of this economy. So I say to you Mr. Neil Gold, on behalf of the Canadian Auto Workers Union, what you've seen is a bond of solidarity from the faculty associations themselves. From one end of the country to the other. You've seen a financial commitment to the faculty association, so they don't get discouraged on the picket line, but what you've seen from the Canadian Auto Workers Union is a mobilization in support of justice, in support of collective bargaining, in support of getting back to the bargaining table.

[... I had to turn the tape over - missing some of Lewenza's comments]

So to the Windsor University Faculty Association, to all of the associaitons, I know that we've got to find a resolve in collective bargaining, but it can only be done through the means of getting back to the bargaining table,

[...] desire to be one of the premiere universities in this country and the only way you can do that is to respect the faculty association, where you respect the students. So on behalf of the CAW I implore you to get back to the bargaining table and bargain in good faith.

To the students that are out here today, this is incredibly important as we watch this media and follow the University of Windsor, you have no idea how much pride you put in trade union values and social values, when you get on that news and say 'I support my teachers, I support the right to good education. I'm prepared to defend the conditions of my teachers. I'm prepared to defend the conditions of my researchers. I'm prepared to defend the faculty association.' I want to say to the students in particular today, you inspire the Canadian Auto Workers Union with your defense of collective bargaining and your defense for social justice and collective bargaining rights.

[Gary Parent of the Windsor and District Labour Council was then invited to speak]

Gary Parent: Believe me, your struggle is our struggle, and we'll be with you, shoulder to shoulder to shoulder until a resolve is met.

[They donated $5000.]

WUFA president Brian Brown returned to the mic.

Brian Brown: There's an awful lot of people to thank for this now, the people who are working diligently, not at the table, but over at the Faculty Association House. The people behind the scenes who are taking care of the people on the line, delivering food, delivering water, whatever it is they need, those people are doing it, and thank you to them.

This is an all-out effort by our association to send a message loud and clear to this administration that we want a collective agreement, but we want it to be fair, and equitable and just. And we do not want to be at the bottom of the scale of Ontario universities. We want to be only in the middle, that's all. Isn't that the Canadian way? We only want to be in the middle.

We want to thank again, all of the campus unions who have come forward with all of their support. It is just fabulous what is going on here at this institution from our various locals on campus, so thank you once again.

We are fighting for the quality of education and we have to keep fighting and to help us keep fighting, I'd like to call back up Larry Hale, the president of the CAUT defense fund, Larry:

Larry Hale: The defense fund. We're not just people who come from other universities to show support, we're the body that make sure that every WUFA member will have strike pay, every day, tax-free for as long as you need it, so stand behind your bargaining team and stand behind your executives. We're right there for you.

We will make sure that the health benefits while you're out are covered. And to make sure that the administration can't throw any curve balls as you that you can't respond to ... that you have the resources that you need to respond to any challenge that can be thrown at you by the administration, the defense fund will stand behind the Windsor University Faculty Association with a line of credit of up to $1 million.
UWSA president Tiffany Gooch was called up to the stand, and she pledged support to WUFA.

Tiffany Gooch: Can I hear the students that are out here right now? I stand here elected by the students to tell you right now, that we the students the undergraduate full-time students of this university support the faculty. We want to see you reach an equitable and fair agreement. We want to help you support and, I say secure, the quality of education at this university through this. What we've learned today is these buildings are not the university, these people in this building particularly [refering to Chrysler Tower - where President Alan Wildeman's office is] are not the univeristy. We are the university. And we stand behind you and we really hope they're listening right now, and that they will get back to the bargaining table so we can get back to class.
GSS president Sajid Rashid Ahmad spoke next.

Sajid Ahmad: On behalf of the graduate society, we always support the WUFA. And today I encourage all the Grad Student society to come and support the WUFA.

[It was lastly concluded that there would be a new campaign directed at Jeff Watson's constituency office at 4 o'clock on Monday afternoon. Watson is the Conservative MP for the Essex riding. Brian Brown then moved on to say one final thing.]

Brian Brown: I want to say this one thing. And that one thing has to do with the former president of this university. The last 10 years from 1997 to 2007, he had a 185 percent increase in his salary. And that is a shame, that is a shame. The administration somehow has money for those types of things, to hire more administrators, but they do not have the money to pay our faculty, library and sessional members a proper wage, especially our sessional members. Especially our sessional members.

Every member of WUFA is equal. Every member. And we will fight to make sure you get the proper wage you deserve. I want to say, to wrap this up ... thank you.

[More to come - the rally finished with its formalities, and moved on to really get the ralliers motivated to picket]

Day 04 - update 09

2008-09-20T14:29:00.005-04:00

WUFA Strike: Day 04 - update 09
Sorry for the odd posting structure last night. There was some glitch or error in the posting software and it seemed that all the late night posts were being published at 8:22 a.m.

I promise I wasn't time traveling. I respect the laws of time and space.

No new updates from the Administration or the Faculty Association. Neither of their sites have updates - but the Windsor Star's Craig Pearson covered the rally from yesterday. You can find that here.

Craig Pearson is a former sessional instructor at the University of Windsor and reporter for the Windsor Star.

I'll have some transcripts, notes, pictures and thoughts on the rally later on today.

Day 03 - update 08

2008-09-20T14:26:00.001-04:00

On the first day of the strike, the Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT) responded to an email sent by Provost Neil Gold, which drew attention because it jeopardized the signing of research grant applications.

Today, it was reported by one-time sessional instructor for the University of Windsor, Craig Pearson, in the Windsor Star article, Rules relaxed for striking profs, that two of the three main federal grants will "will extend deadlines and temporarily waive the requirement of school support for project proposals in order to accommodate striking University of Windsor faculty members."

In response to the email from Prof. Gold, the CAUT's president Jim Turk threatened to motion for a letter of censure at the next CAUT Council meeting - which was today [Friday].

What would a letter of censure mean to the University of Windsor?

Peter Simpson, the secretary to the CAUT, Defense Fund, explains.
There's a couple of issues here. A motion of censure has to appear before the CAUT Council, and it's not exercised very often, but it's essentially a denunciation of the practices of the university. In this case threatening people with not signing their research grant applications. You understand the concept here, if you apply for one of the three federal research grants, one's medical called the SERC, one's for science and engineering, called NSERC, and one is for humanities and social sciences called SHERC, and those are acronyms. But they're federal monies made available to university faculty. They're what is called application cycles, you can't constantly apply - certain NSERC will have a due date for application, say the 21st of September. So the Friday before that you have to get an application, which in some cases can take up to a year to prepare. Gather data, and justify in very intense ways the claim to money because these are peer reviewed and a committee evaluates the different applications. It’s an intense process. The university receives them in advance of the deadline with the granting agency and what the university does is it reviews the application, makes sure it’s consistent wit the practices of the university and then signs them. Until it signs them, they can’t go in, they can only go in when the university has endorsed them because one of the things the application does is it makes a claim to university resources and the university has to acknowledge that it approves the plan and will make those resources available and so on.

There are deadlines coming up and the university determined for reasons that are best known to it, that one of the ways it wanted to respond to the strike, was to say it would not sign those applications. This seems an extremely unfortunate move, since one of the things about a strike is it can typically can be resolved without any permanent damage to anyone. For example, there’s never been a term sacrificed by a Canadian university. People experience short-term discomfort, but there’s no long term damage. The refusal to sign these applications can have a negative impact on people’s careers. It also has a negative impact on the university, by the way, because if a person applies for a $1 million grant and is successful, the host university gets another $300,000 over and above that million dollars called overhead money and that’s to build research infrastructure in the university. It’s a very strange move. It’s unprecedented in our experience and very disturbing.

When they set the strike date, they were aware of these applications, right?

Peter Simpson: But there’s no reason why! Let me give you another example, say I’ve got a laboratory experiment going on with animals and there’s a strike. Are you going to lock the doors on my laboratories and let the animals starve to death?

There is a pass that allows members to cross the picket lines in this situation.

[In cases where failure to cross a picket line will cause animal suffering, a strike pass can be obtained from the picket captain, allowing you to enter the campus for a specified reason.]

Peter Simpson: In every other university in Canada, you’ve got a pass to get your grant signed. In other words, it has not been an issue at any other university. That’s the extraordinary issue that’s at stake here.This is not a practice that we’ve seen at any other university [his emphasis].

Are there any other consequences to having a letter of censure?

There are a number of consequences primarily, it’s an alert to people who would consider accepting a teaching position at the University of Windsor. That these are practices, these are the kinds of practices that the university participates in and ways in which is punishes faculty. In effect, that’s part of the goal, to identify and expose the practices that are harmful to faculty and students who would be working on the research project and students and faculty who would benefit form the 30 per cent overhead money. The scope of the consequences here are significant. I want to make sure that that’s clear.

The Public Affairs and Communications office at the University of Windsor is fielding questions regarding the strike for the time being. Senior executive Kevin Doyle responds to the threats of a letter of censure from CAUT.

What was the impetus behind the email sent out by Gold?

Kevin Doyle: I’m not being difficult, but I’m not going to comment on Neil’s letter. It was written before the strike and it was written to provide as much clarity as it could to the people it went to. And then the president wrote a letter yesterday.

The CAUT called for a reversal. Has this been considered?

Kevin Doyle: I know that in Alan’s letter, I forget his exact words, he said “We’ll evaluate our position on this and other issues related to the university’s operations during the strike.” I don’t know what stage reevaluation is at. [Below is the statement in its context - with the particular quote]

The second matter of concern to WUFA members regarding research was that one of the consequences of them withdrawing services would be that while they are on strike the University would not sign applications for research funding.

The University understands that research funding is critical for the support of current and future graduate students and other researchers, and will re-evaluate its position on this and any other issues related to its operations during a strike.

It is worthwhile to point out that the concerns of faculty regarding the long-term impact that missing a grant application deadline might have on their research is comparable to the long-term impact that their strike action might have on undergraduate recruitment in the future. The reality is that in a strike, the consequences can be complex and long term, and for that reason it is in everyone's best interest that a settlement be found as quickly as possible.

What would a letter of censure mean to the University of Windsor?

Kevin Doyle: I frankly don’t know. I’m not I’m really not plugged in on the internal politics of all of that. We certainly wouldn’t welcome it and don’t think we deserve it, and I just hope it doesn’t happen. I don’t think anyone’s really considered what the impact would be.

Day 03 - pre update

2008-09-19T15:05:00.003-04:00

I've got dozens of photos and plenty of audio of today's demonstration outside Chrysler Tower.

To be brief, there were hundreds of supporters out today - including members from faculty associations from universities all across the country including York, Trent, Laurentian, Concordia, New Brunswick, and many, many more. I'll try and provide a complete list later on. They all contriuted donations between $1000 and $1500 to help support the WUFA.

The CAUT, as reported earlier, donated $1 million towards the efforts of the WUFA.

Kenny Lewenza (CAW) spoke, along with Brian Masse (Windsor West MP) and Joe Comartin.

Many students were in attendance. The Drama studnets came out in costume and put on a small play - pictures to follow.

UWSA president Tiffany Gooch dedicated their support to the WUFA's efforts against the University of Windsor.

There's so much information to go through, so many pictures, and so much audio, that it's going to take me a while to sort through this all, but I'll get it to you in parts as the evening goes on - and then hopefully have some more news for you tomorrow.

- - - Also, I have an interview with "Mike Gahser" who promises to have more interviews available on Youtube shortly.

Day 03 – update 07

2008-09-19T08:22:00.011-04:00

The Lance interviews Peter Simpson, secretary of the Canadian Association of University Teachers Defense Fund, to help you understand the symbolic $1 million donation that was made to WUFA this afternoon.

Brian Brown (right), president of the Windsor University Faculty Association, receives a cheque from Larry Hale (left), president of the Canadian Association of University Teachers' Defense Fund earlier today at a rally outside Chrysler Tower at the University of Windsor.

Who is the CAUT Defense Fund?

Peter Simpson: It’s actually an organization called the CAUT Defense Fund, it’s a strike fund, effectively, for CAUT members. We do something called ‘flying pickets’ out to an association that is on strike. That’s one of the things we’re doing. We’re sending flying pickets from across the country.

Peter Simpson: CAUT as an organization represents 65,000 academic staff across the country, that includes full members which is about every university with the exception of francophone universities in Quebec … but we have, I’d say, close to 20,000 federated members, which is a slightly more distant relationship, that would be all of the members of OPSEU, who function as academic staff colleges in Ontario and a similar group of Federation of Post Secondary Educators.

I heard the donation is $1 million

Peter Simpson: It’s hard to describe, but in a nutshell, the Defense Fund, like any strike fund, seeks to make up for the hits people take when they go on strike. In effect, what happens is when you go on strike there’s an immediate cessation of wages and benefits. Everything is cut off by the employer. So what happens is, it’s a kind of insurance fund, you pay in on a monthly basis, and if your union is ever on strike, you collect benefits. It doesn’t match your salary, it’s considerably less, but it’s a significant enough amount that people don’t go get off into trouble.

It [the fund] pays a certain amount per day to each member, but it also makes available to the striking union the money to cover the cost of some limited benefit coverage. So certain kinds of benefits are not available to you when you’re on strike. Others are. The fund pays money to the association in order to continue restricted benefit coverage. Then there are often particular costs involved with ending the strike. Say the employer were to write a letter that misrepresented what the union was doing in collective bargaining and published it on campus. The union could decide that that was contrary to the Labour Relations Act in and retain legal council to pursue the matter in front of the Labour Relations Board. The Defense Fund would cover the cost of doing that. Say the union decided that the mediator appointed by the provincial government wasn’t equal to the task, the union could approach the employer and seek to hire a private mediator. People who do this and who charge money for doing it, and the Defense Fund would cover that as well.

The million dollars is a symbolic cheque, it’s like the cheque they show you when you go and get your winnings in the lottery, it’s a giant cheque.

So the fund can provide for WUSA up to a million dollars?

Peter Simpson: Should they need $2 million, they cold have it. There’s approximately $20 million in the fund. The point is to symbolize by exceeding what they need right now, is to symbolize the extent of support.

Day 03 - update 06

2008-09-19T08:22:00.007-04:00

Strike is still on.

According to Kevin Doyle, the executive director of public affairs and communications for the University of Windsor, and Peter Simpson, head of the Canadian Association of University Teachers Defense Fund, both confirmed that the administration and faculty had not met since the strike began, as of 3:30 p.m. yesterday afternoon.

Considering the enormous rally that WUFA is planning for this afternoon at 12 p.m. outside of Chrysler Tower, I would imagine that they won't meet until after that. CAUT is expected to present a ceremonial cheque of $1 million to WUFA. Simpson says that it is a symbolic cheque - CAUT will actually provide as much money as WUFA requres, they have millions upon millions of dollars in a fund that was established to support striking faculties across Canada.

There wouldn't be much point in rallying if they managed to sign an agreement, would there?

[UPDATE:

Regarding this comment on your BLOG yesterday:

"The CAW lot, the main one by the Assumption Church, is still charging for parking. Don’t park there, you can park ANYWHERE else, and it won’t cost you $5."

This lot is owned and operated by Assumption Church, and this lot has a staff that relies on the income they make working in this parking lot. If the Church were to keep the lots open and free during this strike, the staff who rely on the income would not be paid, and that would not be fair to the staff. Many people have chosen to pay to park in this lot regardless of the strike, and the lot continues to operate as business as usual

- John Hansor

- - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Here's some more stuff that came across my desk that I didn't quite have time to fit in yesterday.

Neil Gold controversy update:
The controversy surrounding the university's stance on not signing grant applications for profs who won't cross the picket lines has been resolved by The Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC), as well as the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC). The councils extended their deadlines in support of the professors whom may be unable to get their applications in on time this year.

You can read much more on the decision from the Windsor Star in, 'Grant rules relaxed for striking profs.'

Rumours:

There was a student sit-in or occupation of Neil Gold’s office during the first day of the strike. If I can confirm it, I will.

Students update:

Some students are not honouring the strike – to the ire of other students. While University Players has decided the show must go on, Bea Jolley (a fourth year Drama in Education student) has spoken out denouncing her student representation in SODA, the president of which is Jeff J. Galad.

Despite [the faculty's strike], our student organization, Club SODA is choosing both to continue to hold the shows and continue to hold the show parties. The following is a letter I addressed to them about this:

As a student in the society that you profess to represent, I would like it known that I do not agree with the continuation of the events aforementioned in your statement. This is a time to stand up for what is right and to stand beside the professors who are making a grave sacrifice for our betterment, as they do every day in this, their chosen career path. I think that it is ludicrous that this organization will continue with our productions and with parties while those that worked to create this program and everything that we are celebrating are out on the streets for us. I do not support this decision and I will consider it crossing a picket line to attend these events. Sincerely,

Bea Jolley

UWSA update:

From the blog of Tiffany Gooch, your student president:

By early evening I was sitting in a meeting with the UWSA exec brainstorming ways by which we each can personally show our active support to WUFA. We decided to serve pizza to WUFA on Thursday (Vegetarian for Pender) and construct witty signs to rally with everyone on Friday at 12pm.

I spent a little time stressing about whether the UWSA was doing enough to serve students and support the faculty in their plight. After a few conversations I came to the conclusion that while there is no way to please everyone - the action that is being taken by the UWSA elected officials and UWSA members this year is electrifying. UWSA students are mobilizing in support of WUFA in great numbers - Kudos to my grade school friend Emily Wunder for her essential role in this movement.

I understand that they did in fact provide pizza - though I can't confirm whether or not the signs were in fact witty.

The World Outside...

2008-09-18T16:32:00.003-04:00

Because there actually is one.

We got a biography of Sarah Palin in at work today. It was 150 pages long. Quite a storied career, there. In other news, Anonymous is claiming responsibility for the hack on Palin's Yahoo!Mail account that went down the other day. ArsTechnica asks the important question: why the hell is a state governor using free web-based email to conduct state business?

Related: John McCain = a little confused on Spain's geographical location. Damn you liberal media!

Oh right, we're having an election, too. Yawn. On that front, Stephen Harper is saying he'll stick by Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz, despite Ritz making jokes about the 17 listeriosis deaths resulting from the Maple Leaf tainted meat scandal. Ritz referred to the incident as the 'death of a thousand cold cuts.'

This is why I can't do Canadian politics. Americans make asses of themselves so much better than we do. Canadian politicians all seem like your creepy uncle.

Speaking of your creepy uncle, some Liberals are begging Stephane Dion to go the way of those who came before him, and shift his focus from the environment to the economy.

After a collective 'huh' from the peanut gallery over his VMA performance [and subsequent leaked studio version] Mr. West goes back to the lab to retweak his upcoming single 'Love Lockdown.' That's more like it, Yeezy.

In what will be the last item I post on the subject, the New Yorker has an obit for David Foster Wallace, as well as links to stories he wrote for the magazine from 1994 to 2007.

Now why did it take me this long to find the New Yorker's fiction page? Not bright, Windsor.

Strike update: Day 02 - update 05

2008-09-18T12:50:00.002-04:00

Interview with Dan O’Connor, picket captain.
Dan O’Connor, picket captain, and professor of Sociology and Anthropology.

By Ryan Rogers
Lance Editor in Chief

WINDSOR (The Lance) - - A major rally is expected in the WUFA strike which will bring in pickets from all across Canada in show of support for the faculty association’s stance for “quality education.”

Dan O’Connor, picket captain and professor of sociology and anthropology, said “Tomorrow there will be a big rally with a lot of the unions from around Canada coming to support us. We’ll have some flying pickets coming in and different representations from all the different unions and all the different universities across Canada, and members from the Canadian Association of University Teachers and that’s where they’ll present us with our $1 million cheque to help us stay on strike if we need to.”

“None of us want to be on strike,” he was quick to add. “None of us want to be out here. We’re hoping that we’ll get a quick resolution. And we think that the more support we show early on, the faster this will get resolved,” said O’Connor.

The Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT) was brought into the equation when an email from University of Windsor Provost Neil Gold was sent to the faculty association. It outlined the procedures for faculty members during a strike, and what actions should be taken if a union member was interested in crossing the picket line and returning to work.

“Yes, everybody received Neil Gold’s letter,” said O’Connor, “and CAUT’s response.” CAUT was made aware of the email when it mentioned that any professor interested in getting a grant request signed by their dean would have to fill out a “Notification of Intention to Continue All Normal Duties In the Event of a WUFA strike” form.

Jim Turk, the executive director of the CAUT has commented, “I am speechless that any university would, in a short-term dispute over a collective agreement, threaten the long-term future of the faculty and of the university by blocking new research grant applications.” Turk has threatened a motion of censure against the University of Windsor at the upcoming CAUT council meeting.

Faculty has refused to cross picket lines, and cannot agree to these terms if they wish to continue to apply for grants. “We wouldn’t enter university property [while on strike] ‘cause that would mean crossing the lines,” said O’Connor.

The picket captain said that some people are supporting the WUFA’s efforts.
“We have incredible support from the community. I think the community knows that the university is an important institution in this community. A lot of manufacturing going on in this community, but we also have a big university, and a major university, and a first-class university, and we want to make sure it maintains its first-class status,” said O’Connor.

In particular, a group of students rallied at 2 p.m. yesterday to show their allegiance to the faculty. “It was very good,” said O’Connor. “We were very impressed by that. We think there was about 300 students. Quite a good showing, we were really happy to see support from our other unions and the campus.”

Yet some workers have opted to cross the picket lines despite the strike.
Construction at the St. Denis Centre and the new medical building are continuing as scheduled, despite the demonstrators on the sidewalks. O’Connor arrived an hour early for the 7 o’clock shift, to lend support to picketers by the St. Denis Centre.

“We came in a six o’clock. We’re doing about five hour shifts because we have to support some of the people down at the St. Denis Centre. The construction that’s going down there, most unions will honour a line if there’s a line, so we try to make sure there are lines up.”

As for the medical building construction, he says that WUFA is attempting to make their point to the workers. “We’re engaged in on-going negotiations with the unions that are at work in the medical building and the other unions that are at work at the St. Denis Centre trying to work out some kind of deal between the two unions. Hopefully tomorrow we’ll be able to have enough union presence to make people think twice about crossing the lines.”

Strike update: Day 02 - update 04

2008-09-18T11:25:00.006-04:00

Administration update:
My source at the admin says that there have been no new negotiations since the strike started on Wednesday. Reports from WUFA are that the negotiations are “on-going,” but that doesn’t appear to be the case. The administration also asked WUFA if they were interested in a media blackout regarding the bargaining table. WUFA said they were uninterested in a media blackout.

I will confirm this if and when I can reach WUFA pres Brian Brown. Yesterday, no luck. Today he was talking with CBC instead.

The University of Windsor strike page, www.uwindsor.ca/strikeinfo is not yet updated today.

Profile of the strike:
It’s getting noticed – and tomorrow, it’s going to get bigger.
The Brantford Expositor, The Victoria Times, The Chronicle for High Education, MichiganLive.com, The Globe and Mail, and surly more to follow - are all covering this event. The union's efforts at spreading their message are succeeding.

And the exposure is going to get a whole lot bigger by tomorrow at noon, when they have their big rally. Reports indicate that they're flying pickets in from all over the country. More to follow in this post in my interview with Dan O'Connor.

Negotiation update:
As reported in the Windsor Star yesterday:

Rumoured to be among the most contentious issues the university's desire to increase the number of teaching-only professors, something new university president Alan Wildeman addressed in a statement posted on the school's website Wednesday afternoon.

"Many universities have done this, and hired excellent teachers who contribute to the quality of education, so that faculty members heavily engaged in research and the training of graduate students have more time for those activities," Wildeman wrote.

"Nevertheless, in response to WUFA concerns about this, the university withdrew this request from the bargaining table. WUFA's negotiating team knows this."

Yet, that message doesn’t appear to have been conveyed to picketers. The earlier-mentioned video from James Winter indicates that Neil Gold himself was petitioning to have educator positions that were exclusively for teaching - freeing up space for research and training among other profs. While this was an item on the agenda, it has, as stated by the president of the university himself, been negotiated off the table. This is no longer an item for considertaion.

To recap - this item is no longer on the bargaining table, which WUFA has not returned to since talks broke off Wednesday at 2 a.m. Granted, they have been bargaining since June 3.

Neil Gold issue:
A big hiccup that occurred the other day when faculty received an email from University of Windsor Prvost Neil Gold. It was first reported in the Windsor Star.

Meanwhile University of Windsor vice-president Neil Gold sent an e-mail to professors, librarians, sessional lecturers and instructors informing them that anyone with a research grant application to be signed by a dean would require them to fill out a form declaring they are abstaining from the strike.

The e-mail was also forwarded to Brian Turk, the executive director of the Canadian Association of University Teachers, who was outraged.

"I am speechless that any university would, in a short-term dispute over a collective agreement, threaten the long-term future of the faculty and of the university by blocking new research grant applications," Turk wrote in an e-mail to Brown.

"Should the University not reverse their position today, CAUT will bring this matter before the top officials in Canada's granting councils tomorrow, will highlight for media across Canada the short-sighted and destructive position of the university, and will discuss the matter at its Executive meeting this Friday to see if it warrants bringing a motion of censure against Windsor at the upcoming CAUT Council meeting."

The documents are here for you to evaluate yourself. And I have attached some pictures of them I took earlier today at the Great Lakes Institute of Environmental Research (GLIER).

Here are two of the pages of the Gold email, the third page was a “Notification of Intention to Continue All Normal Duties In the Event of a WUFA strike” form. Decide for yourself if this is would leave you "speechless."

Basically, it’s not business as usual during a strike – and if you want to continue to do business, you have to report to your dean, and obviously, you’d have to cross picket lines. The memo seems to outline all of the consequences of going on strike, and how to cross the picket line should you want to.

As for CAUF, you can learn more about who they are at their homepage. To quote:

Windsor goes on strike

The University of Windsor Faculty Association (WUFA) went on strike on September 17, 2008, after a breakdown in bargaining. Key issues include salary, teaching only positions, working conditions for sessionals and employment equity.

Expressions of solidarity and support can be sent to WUFA, 366 Sunset Avenue, Windsor, Ontario, N9B 3P4. Their email address is wufa@uwindsor.ca. Additional information is available on WUFA's web site.

That address may get mail, even though Canada Post refuses to cross the picket lines. If that is the address of WUFA's headquarters, The Kerr House, Canada Post should still be able to deliver mail without crossing any picket lines.

Members of other unions on campus show their support on the steps of the Kerr House, the home base for the WUFA.

Overview and CAUT Profile: Founded in 1951, CAUT is the national voice for academic staff. Today, representing 65,000 teachers, librarians, researchers and other academic professionals and general staff, CAUT is an outspoken defender of academic freedom and works actively in the public interest to improve the quality and accessibility of post-secondary education in Canada. CAUT has always counted notable figures among its members. Former CAUT presidents and activists include past Supreme Court Chief Justice Bora Laskin, MPs Pauline Jewett and Howard McCurdy, and Manitoba Premier Howard Pawley.

Strike update: Day 02 - Update 03

2008-09-18T09:41:00.003-04:00

Lots more to come -

I just wanted to kick something out there while I'm prepping everything else for posting.

Coming up: Interview with a picket boss, Dan O'Connor, the Neil Gold email that has everyone so upset, and an update on how negotiations are going (you'll be surprised to hear this, I'll bet).

A press release from the WUFA:

Faculty, librarians, and sessionals strike for quality at the University of Windsor

Windsor, Ontario — Over 1000 members of the Windsor University Faculty Association [WUFA] are on strike after months of negotiations broke down late last night. Members of WUFA, which represents faculty, librarians, and sessional instructors at the University of Windsor, had voted 96% in favour of job action prior to talks collapsing. WUFA’s collective agreement expired 30 June 2008.

“Quality is at risk at the University of Windsor,” said Brian E. Brown, president of WUFA. “Parents should be worried. Do we want an excellent university, and a fair employer, in this city? Do we want a comprehensive, research-based institution that respects faculty and librarians? Or do we want a university that relies substantially on casual labour and pays these instructors the lowest wages in the province? This has to change.”

Brown called the university administration’s current contract proposals an “attack on quality.” “Research and teaching will suffer if the administration’s current proposals win the day; that is precisely why we have been forced to strike.”

He said that WUFA is seeking “sector parity” with respect to working conditions for its faculty, librarian, and sessional members. “Windsor deserves an innovative, world-class university.”

For more information, contact Brian E. Brown, president, WUFA, at 519.253.3000, extension 3365.

Brian E. Brown
President, WUFA
President, OCUFA
University of Windsor
Kerr House, 366 Sunset Ave.
Windsor, Ont. N9B 3P4

E-mail brown2v@uwindsor.ca
Telephone (519) 253-3000 ext. 3366
Fax (519) 977-6154

Now you see what we in the press see. While it's not much of an update, this was what they sent out at 6:42 p.m. yesterday evening. Almost a full day after it was old news.

ALSO - from a man who knows something about propaganda

James Winter presents:
"James Winter Theatre"

and

WUFA Strike: Still Ongoing

2008-09-18T05:52:00.000-04:00

Rogers will update you if anything dramatic happens. I'm off to work.

WUFA Strike: Online Organizing

2008-09-17T17:20:00.004-04:00

If you're looking for more ways to stay on top of the strike [and to take the temperature of student opinion regarding it], a Facebook group went up this afternoon in support of WUFA [login required].

It actually does the best job I've seen so far of explaining why the faculty went to the picket lines in the first place, as well as hosting numerous discussions on the issues, including the UWSA's 'official position': in short, they support the faculty, but it's business as usual [spoiler alert: the comments that follow are not complimentary].

If Rogers or I hear anything else, you'll know about it here, Windsor.

Paper Trails

Closing up Shop

Two to Go: On Windsor

Three to Go: On Music

Four to Go: Salve in the Wounds

Five to Go: Here Come the Bile

Counting to 900

Mutiny

Canadian Government: Still Boring

Of Bangs and Whimpers

Unofficial: Popping My Cherry

Prince of Persia + Sigur Ros = Awesome

Ten to Go!

One Down, Eleven to Go

Dead Man Walking

We're #8! We're #8!

A Ponderous Day on the Internet

Another One Bites the Dust

Something Like the State of the World

Love Robots Now. They'll Go Easier on You When They Rise Up

*Yawn*

My Shot at Greatness

Your newspaper. In full 3D

The Trails Discuss Animals

Steve Jobs is On Notice

One of Them, Likes

Through the Wire

Quick Links

A Few Words About Last Night

Deeper Underground

Zombies!!!

Late Night Stuffs

Monday, Monday

Check Your Apples for Razorblades!

The American Presidential Election In Two Minutes and Twenty-Five Seconds

Tightening the Strings

Boo, Yo

Thanksgiving With Shatner and Other Stories

Edit

Like Bunnies, I Tell You!

A Personal Moment

Downward is Heavenward

Holy Crap, The World!

Composed on the Jesus Box

Reviewed: W.

Reviewed! The Trail vs. The Jesus Box

Late Night Culture

A Bit o'This and That

A Nooner

Aftermath

Cat v. Toothbrush: FIGHT!

Feeling the Itis

Radio Silence

Back to School, Back to School....

Quick Shots: Nick and Norah's Infinte Playlist

If My Traffic's Fallen By Half, It Must Be The State of the World

Finally!

Day 16 - update 31

Day 16 - update 30

Day 16: Update 29

Strike Aside: When the Blame Comes

Day 15 - update 28

Day 14 - update 27

Day 14 - update 26

The Weekly Digest

Day 13 - update 25

A Brief Respite

Day 13 - Update 24: Talks to Resume?

Day 13 - udpate 23

Day 12 - update 22

Day 10 - update 21

Day 10 - update 21

Day 10 - update 20

Day 08 - update 19

The View From the Outside Looking In

Day 07 - update 17 [Updated Thursday, 12.16 p.m.]

Day 07 - update 16

Day 07 - update 15

Day 07 - update 14

Day 06 - update 13

Yawn