Community has the chance to shape Thunder Bay culture

Amy Szybalski

News Writer

For the first time, the city of Thunder Bay is forming a municipal plan to direct the cultural path the city will take over the next ten years. Municipal culture planning is a process that leverages a community’s cultural resources to support economic development and integrate culture across all facets of local planning and decision-making.

The process will try to look at every aspect of Thunder Bay culture, both from the point of view of an outside consultant and through the eyes of its citizens. It will then be decided what steps need to be taken to protect and develop our culture to highlight the great diversity that exists here.

On March 29^th and 30^th, public forums were held in the Community Auditorium. The event on the 29^th was an open house where community members came to hear speakers discuss what course the plan would take.

“It’s wonderful to see the members of our community out and supporting our cultural centres,” said Leah Bayly of the city’s Cultural Services department in her opening speech.

Mayor Lynn Peterson was also thrilled to see so many people come out to the event. The mayor described the municipal culture plan as “an exciting project for our city that will serve to identify needs and priorities relating to culture, and understand the role of the cultural sector in sustainable development.”

Peterson continued that the city “is thrilled to extend the opportunity to the public to engage early in the planning process to help create shared vision for the future of culture in Thunder Bay.”

The next step in the plan is dealing with the “seven drivers for change” identified by the steering committee. These elements will dictate the direction taken in the next stages of the plan. These include enabling leadership, fostering arts heritage, and attracting youth and young professionals, among others.

In addition to the speeches, attendees at the open house also took part in an interactive panel session. Participants got to tell the committee what cultural assets they see in Thunder Bay, as well as what assets they believe could be better highlighted in the future.

This community input, as well as what came out of the sessions that followed on the 30^th, will help to form the foundation of the strategic plan. A draft of the plan should be drawn up in the fall, and the city is hoping to launch the plan next spring.

Photo by Cole Breiland

Budget ratified and CUPE challenges board

Stacey Goyan

News Editor

Vice-president finance drama erupted at board on Thursday night when issues surrounding VP finance-elect Chris Vaillant’s ability to fulfill his term were brought to light.

Outgoing Chief Returning Officer, Tomas Valiquette, distributed packages to the board containing emails received from Dr. Phillip Allingham, an associate professor in the Faculty of Education.

The emails revealed that because Vaillant did not complete one of his crucial education courses, he is required to retake it before being allowed to do his teaching placement.

While Vaillant would be permitted to take courses as a LUSU executive, if he took his placement later than March 2011, he would be forced to graduate in November of that year and be unable to teach until September of 2012.

Valiquette presented the board with two options: first, the board could vote to allow Vaillant an additional 15 days of holidays above the 10 that are allotted, and the second option would be for Vaillant to either put off graduation or resign the position of VP Finance.

Vaillant argued that he felt able to fulfill his responsibilities as VP finance despite having to complete his placement.

President-elect Mike Snoddon admitted he was torn regarding the situation, but stressed that the board should think of students when making their decision.

Concern was raised around the precedent set if Vaillant was allowed the additional time off. Some members of the board argued that if Vaillant were permitted the additional time off, then this would allow both present and future executives to have extended time away from the office.

The board explored various options, including revoking pay for the days off, or requiring Vaillant to make up the time. Once the question was called, the board decided in a tight vote not to allow Vaillant the additional days off. The vote was 7 for, 6 against, and 1 abstention.

Vaillant agreed that he would notify LUSU of his decision by Monday.

CUPE talks back

In response to last week’s decision to revoke their space, members of CUPE came to board to question their decision.

CUPE president, Ron Berg addressed the board, offering that they were willing to share space with the chemistry club, despite concerns about confidential documents that the union houses.

VP finance, Josh Kolic, admitted that he did not know that a chemistry club existed prior to the controversy. Kolic noted that he had not received a constitution or club package from a chemistry club, or permitted them to have the space.

Despite this, the VP Finance revealed that after meetings with the chemistry club, it was agreed that the two groups would share the space until the end of the year. LUSU would then look into a new space for either the chemistry club or CUPE. Kolic said this would be decided when the two clubs meet with LUSU to discuss the issue.

Berg retorted that the chemistry club has been using the space for study purposes, while CUPE has used it to run their day-to-day operations. He argued that not all faculties have access to exclusive study space.

Vice-president student issues Trevor Cava felt that it was inappropriate to privilege CUPE’s work over the chemistry club’s work.

Budget frozen, approved, but not available online

Kolic presented board with next year’s operating budget to be ratified. The VP Finance stated that despite small increases, the budget will be frozen, or relatively unchanged from last year. Kolic noted that any increases in the budget were made to reflect the actual costs of the budget lines, as opposed to what had been projected.

One exception was a substantial cut from $50,500 to $18,000 in the sustainability budget. Sustainability’s budget returned to the original $18,000 that was provided by the referenda, after a $27,000 grant that allowed the initiative to operate full-time expired.

Director Louise Haukeness argued that the board should take a week to review the budget, because many board members had only received it a few hours before the meeting.

Kolic pointed out that with the last meeting of the year taking place the following week, board could risk ending the year without a ratified budget. The board voted and accepted the budget.

Representative from BDO Dunwoody, Blair Smith, attended the meeting to discuss the feasibility of putting LUSU’s operational budget online.

Smith said that it is not common practice among student unions and non-profit organizations to put operational budgets online, because it could release confidential information such as wages, which are protected by privacy laws

As well, Smith pointed out that making budgets for The Outpost, and The Study available online could give important information away to competitors, hurting business.

The board voted down the motion to put the budgets available online later in the meeting.

Photo by Cole Breiland

Lakehead’s president reflects on the last twelve years before stepping down

Stacey Goyan

News Editor

After twelve years at Lakehead University, President and Vice Chancellor Dr. Fred Gilbert will be stepping down at the end of July 2010.

Since Dr. Gilbert took office in 1998, Lakehead has seen the introduction of the Northern Ontario School of Medicine, the Advanced Technology and Academic Centre (ATAC), the Orillia campus, and a strategic plan for Lakehead’s future. At the same time, Gilbert’s term has not gone without controversy, including international attention regarding the “Yale Shmale” campaign and the ban of wireless technology on campus, and local criticism regarding the land swap deal in 2007.

Love him or hate him, Dr. Gilbert has had a profound effect on Lakehead University. The Argus sat down with Lakehead’s fifth president to reflect on the last twelve years.

Argus: So how do you feel coming to the end of your term?

Fred Gilbert: Mixed emotions I think anyone would have. A sense of both relief and disappointment I guess, disappointment that it’s over, because it has had its moments, no question about it. Relief that I can actually do something different and not have the obligations, and there are an awful lot of obligations that go with the position that are always there and always part of my personal agenda.

A: Do you feel that anything has been left unfinished?

FG: Well the one thing that’s still unfinished is the law school and there’s no question that it’s going to happen sometime. It would have been nice to have it in place by now. The other thing we’re still working on is research building. So in terms of the kind of agenda that I had set out in terms of my expectations of finishing major things before I step down, those are the two important ones, in my mind, that are still outstanding.

A: What are your plans for retirement?

FG: I don’t have any. I think the worst thing you can do while you’re still working is plan for your retirement. I don’t intend to stop working. I’ll find something else to do. I’m not someone who’s not going to go into a life of leisure now. I’ll find some things that I find personally attractive and put my energy into those. Some of those may be consulting opportunities, some of those might be opportunities to engage in things that I find particularly relevant and important to pursue.

A: What do you consider your greatest accomplishment over the last twelve years?

FG: The University has changed over the last twelve years. I think its more confident institution. I think that the expectation that the university now has is perhaps greater than it was when I first arrived. I do believe that all relates to people. Not to say there’s anything wrong with the people who were here when I arrived, it’s just that they had different expectations at that time than they might have now. So [my] greatest accomplishment might be attracting people, including students, to the university.

A: How would you describe that change in thinking?

FG: We’re now truly a research-intensive university. I think we’re a full dimensional university. The university always had broad programming but it was predominantly undergraduate. To ensure that you have all of the attributes of a fine institution, you have to have that research component. You don’t put it above the teaching, but you have an expectation that your faculty are engaged in meaningful research. I think we’ve reached that and we’re still looking to grow even more in that direction.

A: Looking back, if you could have done something differently, what would it be?

FG: I would like to have been able to fully explain tri-party proposal for the high school on the Thunder Bay Country Club, and in effect, the provision of some land temporarily for the country club. This is the key component that we couldn’t make public at the time, with the expectation built into any legal arrangement, that the university would have the first right of refusal on any country club when it went up for sale and in some time in the future its’ going to go up for sale.

What that would have done was two really important things for the university. One was land for expansion, land that would meet any needs that we could foresee for the institution for any time in the future. Secondly since much of that land is flood plane land, it would allow the opportunity to grow the natural area on the campus. [What] most people could see at that point in time was the short term potential losses opposed to the long-term gain. Since it was tied up in the legal discussion at the time, I couldn’t make that part public. It would have been nice to have been able to somehow get the full message through to both this community and the Thunder Bay community in terms of what the long-term benefits were.

That’s one. Other things that I might do differently… this position engages so much of your time that you don’t have the opportunity to spend as much time just interfacing and interacting with individuals around the campus. In a less fraught and less demanding environment it would be nice just to go around on a regular basis and interface with people on the campus. Most of what I get is a “hi” to people as I walk around campus from one meeting to another meeting, as opposed to dropping in and seeing how things are going in particular labs and in classrooms. I think that’s the part that maybe I find most disappointing in terms of the last twelve years.

A: So on this topic, you’ve had your share of controversy, including the land swap deal, wireless, the faculty closure. Do you think students will remember you for your successes or your controversies?

FG: People tend to remember the things that impact them the most. I suspect that it’ll likely be the wireless controversy that I’ll [be] remembered for, primarily with the students. I think that history will determine whether the president was right or whether the students were right. I feel very confident that we did make the right decision in invoking the precautionary principle, because all the evidence has simply mounted to indicate that there are long-term health issues that are there. If you can do some things that avoid the accumulating exposure that people are having to EMF microwave radiation, then you’re doing a service. All the students [can see], for the most part – and there are exceptions– that we’re making things inconvenient, and in their minds there isn’t an issue. I can assure you there is an issue, and the issues will become more clear and more pronounced as we start to get into litigation just as we did with tobacco in the early days.

A: What’s something that student’s don’t know about you?

FG: They don’t know a lot about me, some of them don’t even know who I am. At the end of the day we are all individuals with our own foibles, our own strengths and our own weaknesses. I don’t think very many students got to know me as a person, and for whatever it’s worth, I think that I’m not ogre, I’m not a egomaniac. I’ve done what I’ve done hopefully to try and make Lakehead University a better place everyone.

A: Any parting words for students?

FG: You’ll never have the level of freedom and opportunity for growth in your life again, whether it’s at the graduate and undergraduate level, that you’ll have as a student. So many students don’t appreciate that and don’t take advantage of that. The social opportunities, the learning opportunities are wonderful and you don’t’ realize just how important those opportunities are until you are locked into a job later on. All of those freedoms tend to become constrained by the job itself. So the advice to students is to appreciate, enjoy and take advantage of the opportunities, whether they’re academic or social, that you have as a student.

Photo by Cole Breiland

Anyone lost a pair of Dora the Explorer socks?

Ian Kaufman

Features Editor

The last howl of winter subsided just in time for a group of volunteers to perform a cleanup of the McIntyre River on Sunday. But the cleanup, for those who participated, was much more than a warm and fuzzy do-gooder mop-up job. It was also a de facto archaeological study of the McIntyre River, a sociological experiment in kitsch. What did this investigation reveal about the river’s “user group?” The answers were equal parts hilarious, puzzling, infuriating, and disheartening.

Some finds were predictable: the cornucopia of marijuana paraphernalia showcased the inventiveness and ingenuity of Lakehead students. Discarded beer cans, water bottles, and candy wrappers testified to the impatience of travellers in search of a garbage can. One of the most common finds was clothing left over from impromptu camps set up in the fall, pointing to the popularity of the area with Thunder Bay’s homeless. The origins behind other debris were more difficult to deduce: a roasted boot, children’s toys, a pair of ‘Dora the Explorer’ socks discovered in the brush, and a plastic lobster.

The cleanup was organized by students in the Lakehead Leaders program, a new initiative designed to “empower [students] through skills-based seminars, community engagement activities, and specialized leadership training.” It was a small-scale effort, acknowledged student ambassador Chris Zaiser, but he believes these kinds of small initiatives can add up to foster a culture of volunteering and involvement. And if any of you cynics needed proof, the cleanup proved that it pays to do good deeds – one girl happened upon a cool $10.

New scholarship program provides assistance to students who have lost parents in war

Erin Collins

Argus

In 2009, the idea for the Project Hero Award Program was created. Project Hero is a national scholarship program which recognizes post-secondary students who have lost one or both parents in the Canadian Forces.

General Rick Hillier and Honorary Lieutenant Colonel Kevin Reed were responsible for the program`s beginnings and its advocation to Canadian universities. Last September, Lakehead was one of the first universities on board.

Both the Thunder Bay and Orillia campuses will participate in the project until the end of August 2014.

“We provide free tuition and housing to those that qualify for the program,” explains Dr. Laurie Hayes, Lakehead’s Vice-President (Academic) and Provost.

“Students are required to fill out an online application which is then review by the Office of Financial Aid.”

Several members of the Thunder Bay and Orillia communities are members of the Canadian Forces. By participating in this program, Lakehead hopes to make an effort to “give back” the gift of military service our soldiers continue to provide.

When asked why she had chosen to become involved in the program, Dr. Hayes answered, “Lakehead believes in making post-secondary education available to all applicants-the loss of a parent may make a potential student unable or unwilling to consider post-secondary education as a possible option. This program is one way to make university accessible to these [students].”

Dr. Hayes explains that while she wishes those that do qualify continue to benefit from the program, she hopes that the program doesn`t grow.

“As a citizen of this planet, it is my hope that the number of qualified individuals for the Project Hero Program does not increase as the means by which students qualify for the award are very unfortunate.”

“While I hope those individuals who have suffered through the loss of a parent active in the military will choose to attend university and will benefit from the program, I do not wish the number of those who qualify for the program to increase. It is certainly not a competition between universities of who has the highest number of recipients.”

Dr. Hayes goes on to describe a major dilemma of the Project Hero Program, which is how to recognize the recipients.

“Many students may not want their tragic loss to be publicized. While we hope those recipients to benefit, we need to respect their wishes as to how they want to be recognized.”

For more information, please visit the homepage of Project Hero, http://www.jarcreative.com / project hero/program.html . Additional information for potential applicants is also available at the Office of Financial Aid.

Civil students go on to U.S. to fight for finals

Amy Szybalski

News Writer

Bridges are one of the most innovative and important structures that a civil engineer will ever build. Lakehead students have proven for the eleventh time – in the past thirteen years – that they are the best of the best.

The Lakehead steel bridge building team took first place in the 23rd Annual American Society of Civil Engineers Mid-West Student Steel Bridge Competition.

The competition takes place as part of a conference hosted by the American Society of Civil Engineers. As the winners of the competition, the LU team won the privilege of returning to the states to compete for the national finals in May.

Students in the competition are challenged to design and build a 21-foot model of a steel bridge, conforming to the lengthy manual describing what conditions the bridge must be able to withstand.

Each year the specific conditions the bridges change. This year the bridges were built to withstand arctic conditions. They would be used for access to a new oil field located in the Arctic tundra and must span a river and adjacent floodway.

Students consider the costs associated with the proposed bridge, along with the bridge’s ability to hold the load and stand up to that load. The bridges are then marked for a number of factors including speed of construction, construction economy, lightness, stiffness, structural efficiency and aesthetics.

The Lakehead team placed well in all of the categories, including fourth in aesthetics, second in construction economy and lightness, and first in construction speed, stiffness and structural efficiency.

“Our team faced strong competition from eight other teams from North and South Dakota, Iowa, Minnesota, and Wisconsin, and especially from the North Dakota State University team,” says Dr. Timo Tikka, Associate Professor of Civil Engineering at Lakehead University and also one of the faculty advisors for the Lakehead team.

Although the bridge competition is the highlight of the conference, there was also an academic paper competition where Kristin Myles, a third-year Civil Engineering student from Lakehead, took 2^nd place among the nine participating universities with her paper “Ethics and the Civil Engineer of 2025: A Case Study of Urban Slums.”