U of T TAs underpaid and overworked
On Monday, 6,000 University of Toronto teaching assistants (TAs) went on strike after having rejected a last-minute deal from administration with proposed wages still below inflation.
“Members are tired of living in poverty and precarity,” said Erin Black, CUPE 3902 chair. “The package has not increased since 2008 and, as costs of living have increased, this means a decline in real income.”
TA Lama Mourad added, “Under these conditions, where we have to work an excessive amount of hours to be able to live at the poverty line, we won’t be able to teach students well or dedicate time to our research.”
With files from The Varsity
U of M gets out in the snow, plays
Students in the Faculty of Kinesiology and Recreation Management at University of Manitoba organized an informal winter carnival as part of the Developmental Games and Activities course.
The event, called UMWinterFest, was meant to celebrate Manitoban culture. The event included snow-centric traditional indigenous games like snowshoeing, sloosh boarding, a snow snake toss, and snow sculpting. It also featured a high kick competition and a tag game called Métis wheel.
“It’s a bit of a break — when you’re playing these games you kind of forget everything going on around you. We live in Winnipeg. It’s a cold place, so let’s get out there and forget about winter and let’s just have some fun,” said U of M student Alex Park.
With files from The University of Manitoba News and Events
US university offers Harry Potter sex ed
Our neighbours to the south have figured out a way to make learning about safe sex a bit more magical, taking inspiration from J.K. Rowling’s popular Harry Potter series.
“At this event, half-bloods, house-elves, and muggles [sic] alike will learn the proper way to get consent to enter one’s chamber of secrets and how to snog without getting hogwarts,” so said the event description, offered at Boston University.
Graduate student and organizer Jamie Klufts explained that the theme was simultaneously a way to tap into a new audience, and to address issues that Klufts feels Rowling did not adequately cover in her novels.
With files from Huffington Post
