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Telling Tales Out of School

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Using a water fountain 101

By: Nick Martin

21/12/2009 3:44 PM | Comments: 4

I was in the Duckworth Centre the other day for an interview, and noticed a spiffy large sign above the drinking fountain in the lobby.

Yes, my life is such that things like this pique my interest.

The large, professional-looking sign was encased in clear plastic, and included an image of gurgling water, and read:

You of W
Water
Bottle
Refill
Station

Yes, seriously.

I know what you're thinking, students who could meet Lloyd's high academic standards could maybe be expected to figure out the purpose of a drinking fountain... though maybe their major is leaning to theoretical, rather than applied.

But I was thinking, I'd really be intrigued to see what kind of instructional signs U of W has in the washrooms.

Speaking of U of W, it's a while since I whined and ranted about the transparency of the university's governance. Faithful readers will recall that U of W's board of regents stopped making agendas available at meetings back in the days when they were buying out former president Connie Rooke's contract. That was also when the regents in their wisdom also decided that they would only release agendas of public meetings after several days of vetting by the senior administrators.

That got relaxed several years ago when, for a very brief period, I was able to get the same sort of thick agenda packages I get from UM board of governors and senate, and BU board of governors, chock full of information.

Then U of W decided to stop distributing agenda packages, and put 'everything' on-line.

So here's what the latest available on-line board of regent's report looks like, Oct. 5, and all the news it contains:

1. Approval of Agenda
D. Radi tabled the Agenda. On a motion by M. Bayer and seconded by G. Salmon:
RESOLVED THAT the Agenda is approved.
Carried.

2. Approval of Minutes of the Meeting of September 21, 2009
D. Radi tabled the Minutes of the Meeting of September 21, 2009, and requested a motion for the approval of same. On a motion by J. Penner, and seconded by L. Kakegamic:
RESOLVED THAT the Minutes of the Meeting of September 21, 2009 be approved.
Carried.

3. Remarks of the Chair
D. Radi welcomed the new Regents to the Board, and extended a special welcome to the new Chancellor of the University, R. Silver, who is to be officially installed as Chancellor at the October 18, 2009 Fall Convocation.
She requested that if any Regents had not yet signed their confidentiality and conflict of interest agreements, to please do so.

4. Reports
(a) Report of the President and Vice-Chancellor of the University
L. Axworthy gave a brief report on enrollment statistics for the fall semester.

5. In Camera Discussion

6. Adjournment
As there was no further business to come before the meeting, on a motion by M. Bayer:
RESOLVED THAT the meeting be terminated.
Carried.

Doesn't that tell you absolutely everything you want to know about how a major Manitoba institution is being run?

Meanwhile......

The annual Ed Fair at U of M's faculty of education goes Feb. 1 to 3, with graduating education students being recruited by school divisions throughout Manitoba, across Canada, and internationally.

So far, not that many have committed to coming. There's Sunrise School Division, which usually gives away frisbees, Red River Valley S.D., Seine River S. D., Lord Selkirk S.D., St. James-Assiniboia S.D., and Seven Oaks S.D.

Also coming are Linden Christian School, Gava Educational of Mexico, Saskatoon public schools, and an outfit called Impact Teachers, which is presumably an overseas placement service.

That's a few dozen short of the usual turnout.

I remember the year we had a huge story about the schools in LA coming here to recruit teachers, and offering comparable salaries but in U.S. dollars back when our buck was worth maybe 66 cents American. The recruiter, who I recall had moved to California from Winnipeg, was like so totally eager to be interviewed. And afterward, checking to see how many teachers he signed here, I called, and I called, and I called, always getting voice mail and never hearing back from him.

And no, I'm afraid there's no sign yet of Morden-based Western S.D., which always lays out enormous slabs of apple pie.

Meanwhile, I know I've ranted about this before, but since they're back on TV again, those smug, smirking guys doing the slow hand-clap to accept some new member into the Society of Uncompromising Men... seriously, uncompromising, guys who sully a fine whiskey with ice? Why not put some pop in it too, while you're at it?

Sigh.

Yes, I want to see Avatar, though it looks as though it will attract far more than just the nerd crowd. But speaking of maintaining my geek status, those Daybreakers trailers look really awesome -- a world run by vampires, and the handful of humans organizing resistance. Cool.

On to another topic... you may have to call me Dr. after the holidays. I received an email from a group offering to help me get a PhD simply by clicking on a link. It wasn't signed -- maybe they just want to help people, without asking for any glory in return, really selfless giving from the heart. Gosh, do you think I'll have to, you know, like send along a few dollars?

Total change of topic, but it's looking pretty official, Leafs Nation is smitten with The Monster.

Finally, counting the hours until the kids come home from university for Yule.

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4 Commentscomment icon

Thanks Nick for the well-placed kick at the University of Winnipeg's current governance style. It's about as transparent as a black hole!

I can't help myself!

ManitobaResident: You needn't capitalize the word "division." It's not a proper noun by any stretch of the imagination. If you work for Seven Oaks School Division, for example, you can capitalize it when writing it out in its entirety. However, when you refer to it by the word "division" alone, you can do so in lowercase. For confirmation, please refer to either The Canadian Press Stylebook, The Canadian Press Caps and Spelling or The Little English Handbook for Canadians.

Yes, I'm picky. Cheers.

The education fair at the U of M is always a hoot! All those eager young teachers, desperate to find a job and practice what they have been taught...bright young idealistic minds... about to be crushed by the bureaucracy that is the reality of under-funded, under-reasourced, under-appreciated and under-staffed rural divisions.

Our Division has had over 20% turnover yearly for the past 4 years...we can't keep teachers. Our PAC has repeatedly asked the Division what it can do to attract quality teachers who will stay in the region, but alas, the resources, funds and benefit packages of the southern divisions and Winnipeg beat us out. We are but the launching pad for careers, and our students almost never get to see a Master Teacher at work.

I'm not surprised that our Division is not on the list.

Mr Martin;

I just want to say I think the sign by the water fountain is less an educational campaign as it is another way the UoW can show how "green" they are. Instead of only selling water in disposable bottles they now have a BRAND NEW WATER BOTTLE REFILLING STATION!

~sigh~

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