Tofu-pie terrorism?
Liberal MP Gerry Byrne says that throwing a pie in the face of the fisheries minister by a PETA seal hunt protestor should be seen as a terrorist act.
On Monday, an American woman pushed a tofu cream pie in Gail Shea’s face while the minister was delivering a speech at the Canada Centre for Inland Waters in Burlington. Emily McCoy, 37, is charged with assault.
In a press release PETA said that this act was part of a strategy “to stop the government’s ill-advised sanction of the slaughter of seals.”
“A little tofu cream pie on her face is hardly comparable to the blood on Ms. Shea’s hands,” said PETA executive vice-president Tracey Reiman.
“When someone actually coaches or conducts criminal behaviour to impose a political agenda on each and every other citizen of Canada, that does seem to me to meet the test of a terrorist organization,” said Byrne in an interview with radio station VOCM in St. John’s, Nfld. The member from Newfoundland and Labrador plans to call on the federal government to investigate whether PETA is acting as a terrorist organization under Canadian law.
Shea says the event has further strengthened her resolve to defend the hunt.—Carolyn Arnett
Sources: Toronto Star, National Post
More fees, please!
To help out their cash-strapped school, two Queen’s University undergraduate students are proposing a new $70 fee with the choice of opting out. The university’s 2009-10 operating budget has a projected $8.3-million deficit.
Morgan Campbell and James Simpson say that Queen’s would reap more than $1 million in three years if half of its undergraduate students paid the fee.
Campbell, a trustee, said contributions would help pay for TA salaries, classroom maintenance, and teaching materials, making a difference in the quality of education at Queen’s.
The fee’s proponents won’t take the issue to referendum just yet: a survey suggested that students have little awareness of the proposed fee. To pass, the motion would need a vote of 50 per cent plus one, or around 5,000 students.—Jane Bao
Phishing scams target York, Concordia
York University and Concordia University email accounts have received messages asking for users’ log-in information. The sources of the fraudulent messages appeared to be authentic university accounts, such as [email protected]. The accounts of those who replied with their personal information were used to send spam email.
In the past, phishing attempts that resulted in extensive emailing of spam led external e-mail services to temporarily hold back messages coming from York University accounts.
Students at York and Concordia have been advised not to reply to these messages, as genuine emails coming from the universities would never ask for passwords or other personal information.—Kimberly Shek
Sources: York and Concordia news releases
McMaster expands labour studies program
McMaster University unveiled plans to start a school of labour studies on Tuesday, expanding its program. Approved last year, the expansion was first recommended by an external review of McMaster’s undergraduate programs in 2008.
“Labour studies has become so much more central to the major changes that are going on,” said Don Wells, chair of the labour school, in an interview with the Hamilton Spectator.
Currently there are 1,400 students enrolled in first-year labour studies courses. McMaster has said it will continue to offer non-degree certificate courses affiliated with the Canadian Auto Workers union and Mohawk College.—Kari Vierimaa
