International students can govern at U of T

The first amendment to the University of Toronto Act in 37 years has made it so international students may now hold positions on the university’s Governing Council. This now allows students, faculty, and staff who are not Canadian citizens to run for seats and have a say in the way the university is run.

Many student groups are happy to see this development, as the act has been untouched since 1978.

With files from The Varsity

Retention rates are high at UBC

According to a report by David Farrar, UBC’s former VP Academic and Provost, the University of British Columbia boasts high retention rates across its faculties, from 72 to 100 per cent. What this means is that a high rate of first year, full-time students return for their second year and go on to complete their degrees.

Kate Ross, UBC associate VP of Enrolment and registrar, said, “The university is really putting a lot of focus in terms of how things are taught. It makes a difference in terms of how students perform.” She compared it to the national average across the United States, which is believed to be between 60 and 65 per cent.

With files from The Ubyssey

U of S students stifled by forest fires

Forest fires in Saskatchewan have affected University of Saskatchewan students, as the school’s Wellness Resources department reported that simply being outdoors posed a risk.

Toddi Steelman, executive director and professor of Environment and Sustainability said, “We are at the mercy of mother nature right now, so until the weather shifts, until we see some rain or until temperatures cool down a bit, we are not going to see a whole lot of relief from it.”

With files from The Sheaf

Five men were taken to the hospital after a vehicular accident at Simon Fraser University’s Burnaby campus early on a Saturday morning.

“During the morning of Saturday, July 11, there was a motor vehicle crash at the roundabout located where University Drive East and University High Street intersect,” stated Katey Scott, the Communications Officer and central media contact for the SFU Safety & Risk Services.

According to CBC News, the driver of the Honda CR-V sped into the roundabout, but missed the turn and drove right into the center of it. Fortunately, all five men survived the crash. Officers at the site said that speed and alcohol were factors in the collision.

“BC Ambulance, BFD, RCMP and Campus Safety & Security Services (CSSS) staff responded to the crash,” Scott said. “Minor injuries were reported and all occupants of the vehicle were taken to hospital to be checked. The RCMP are further investigating the cause of the crash.”

The SFU Campus Safety and Security Services consider the public awareness of motor transportation safety to be a very important issue. In a statement on their website, the CSSS asserts that it is “dedicated to providing the best public safety and resource protection services to [the] University community.”

Scott confirmed that motor vehicle accidents on campus are a fairly common occurrence, despite various logical steps to prevent them. “There were 40 reported [motor vehicle accidents] in 2010, 56 in 2011, 69 in 2012, 51 in 2013, 55 in 2014 and 33 currently for this year.”

While these accidents “include occurrences, from minor fender benders to more serious crashes with persons being taken to hospital for treatment,” the statistics remain rather high for the CSSS.

“Campus Safety & Security Services want to remind motorists that the decisions drivers make while travelling on campus roads affect the safety of vehicle occupants and the public,” Scott stated.

She offered tips from the CSSS on how to stay safe while travelling in and around SFU. “Make good choices by following traffic signs posted along campus roadways. The speed limit within the campus core is 30 km/h.

“Be aware that the Burnaby RCMP actively enforce traffic violations on campus,” Scott continued. She hopes awareness of the increased attention from the RCMP will lead to a more concrete obedience for traffic rules, which in turn creates more careful driving.

“Watch for pedestrians and cyclists travelling along and across campus roads, and leave the phone and other handheld devices alone while operating a vehicle. These distractions cause crashes.

“Plan ahead,” Scott reminded potential partygoers. “Don’t drink and drive. Designate a sober driver to get to your destination safely.”

SFU PhD candidate in the faculty of Resource and Environmental Management Brent Loken has co-authored a study which describes a new method for estimating orangutan density using camera traps.

According to census data gathered in 2003, there are about 45,000 to 65,000 of these apes remaining and are all found in either Borneo or Sumatra. The large margin between those figures is attributed to how difficult it is to count orangutans that are on the move, often monkeying around in the treetops.

To study the density of animal populations, researchers previously have relied on methods that convert nest counts to species densities. These methods require a substantial effort for reliable results, and researchers are especially challenged to study species which are endangered or in low densities.

Loken explained that obtaining more definite numbers will help with conservation efforts:

“It’s extremely difficult to protect an endangered species if we don’t know how many are there.”

Over the period of the study, which lasted for six months, 70 cameras captured a sample of 7,320 trap days, which resulted in a total of 658 photographs.

There were some repeats of the individuals or groups of orangutans due to the fact that three photos were captured per trigger. The photos were analyzed to determine whether the orangutans captured were the same individual apes they had seen before or different ones based on a number of different indicators such as body size, facial features, and secondary sexual characteristics.   

In addition to nest count surveys, data was collected using camera trapping and spatial capture-recapture (SCR) models, which, although imprecise, allow for a better estimate of orangutan encounters.

The results suggest that with methodological adjustments, camera trapping and SCR modelling could be successfully used to estimate the densities of orangutans and, potentially, other elusive primates.

Loken says that this is the first time this method has been used for orangutans and it has the potential to greatly improve our knowledge about the number of orangutans left in the wild.

“This is a big step forward in helping to better understand how many orangutans remain in the wild and where they live,” he said.