Daily Bulletin

Co-op jobs were really in co-op -- reported by Barbara Elve

In response to a requirement that they make a presentation at the end of the fall co-op term to show the department what they've done and what they've learned in their placements, they decided to collectively produce a 35-minute video about their stint in co-op. The screening will take place today at 11 a.m. in Needles Hall room 1020.

Lack of acting, video editing or production experience was no deterrent to the determined students, who each wrote a script and performed a scene to describe the co-op experience. Tying the production together was Crystal Luxmore, a third-year history and applied studies student who played the "investigative reporter", determined to ferret out the answer to the question on the minds of all co-op staff: "Were students a benefit to the department, or just a waste of space?"

Leah Sims borrowed her family's video camera for the taping, the film was taken to the high school of another co-op student, Joni Yarascavitch, for editing, and members of the video club at Wilfrid Laurier University helped dub in the music. In the final scene, the eight students gather in the Bombshelter to toast their adventure and wave farewell.

"At the beginning, we had no idea what we'd do," recalls Cara Francis, an English rhetoric and professional writing student on her second work placement in the co-op department. "But we all pulled together." The teamwork was a success, adds Luxmore. "There were definitely no bad feelings after this project. It just brought us closer together."

For Luxmore and Francis, the work term in co-op offered a whole new perspective on the department. "It's nice being behind the scenes," says Francis. "You realize how much work goes on and how many people are involved." Both students end their term with a better understanding of the challenges of balancing the needs of the employers with those of the students. "After this experience, you tend to view students differently," says Luxmore. "You find there's two sides to the story," she says about student complaints.

Francis, who was a communications associate for co-op, is interested in pursuing a career in the sort of work she was doing with the department's employer publication, the UW Recruiter. Luxmore, one of four assistant co-op advisors, was delighted to be part of a such a friendly team after two previous work terms in a solo placement. Despite the challenges, she's even keen to work with students in the future.

Oracle is back The shutdown of the Oracle financial system, which began December 4, lasted a little longer than expected, but things are fine now. "The system is up and running, and we're satisfied that it's operating up to par," said John Jaray of central stores yesterday. He's one of the key people in the financial systems project that involves keeping Oracle up to date. Information in the system was being updated yesterday to reflect transactions that happened during the shutdown, he said. His advice to users across campus: "Carry on as usual."

The nuts are out there

But not all the garbage is harmless, says a Queen's University professor who studies racists and hatemongers and has found them moving to the Web as a powerful means of communication that governments can't intercept. From a recent Queen's news release:

By providing organized hate groups with an unregulated, international forum, the Internet has increased their credibility and legitimized racist messages, says Dr. Michael Mehta, a policy analyst with Queen's School of Policy Studies.

As the prospect of radical global change fuels the fears of individuals already susceptible to hate messages, organized hate groups are exploiting the Internet to recruit members and co-ordinate activities, he says.

"The creation of a deregulated, globalized, digital economy leads to social dislocation, fear and anxiety and, ultimately, the scapegoating of immigrants and others perceived to be stealing jobs. These are the same forces that have created the emergence of technically sophisticated and more strongly organized hate groups."

Mehta's research included an examination of more than 250 web pages of hate groups and a content analysis of the images and ideologies they contained. He also conducted an analysis of regulation theory. Like most western world countries, Canada's criminal code provisions strictly prohibit hate and genocidal speech. The only exception is the United States, where the right to freedom of speech exceeds these concerns. Today, hate groups are no longer constrained by criminal code sanctions.

In the past, they would surreptitiously leave pamphlets and booklets in bathrooms or rely on graffiti and word of mouth. Now they have highly complex web pages with sound files from their leaders' speeches embedded in them; they have videos they can download; their manifestos and ideologies are clearly spelled out; they have links to other organizations; they use video-conferencing technology and text-based video-conferencing technology; they can communicate and plan meetings. . . .

Several dozen hate groups world-wide use the Internet to recruit new members, maintain contact with existing members and coordinate activities. They include Aryan Nations, Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, Stormfront, The Watchman, Skinheads USA, Christian Identity Online, Zundelsite, Canadian Patriots Network, Digital Freedom BBS and Odin's Law.

According to Mehta, most hate groups express a strong distrust of government, industry and especially the mainstream media. They view the Internet as an alternative to regular channels and resist all forms of censorship and state control. Their perspective on such control is libertarian in nature, yet they are paradoxically highly-centralized and hierarchical and hold strong conservative beliefs.

Student senators are wanted

Nominations are requested for the following undergraduate seats on the University Senate. At least five (5) nominators are required in each case.

One (1) full-time Faculty of Engineering undergraduate student to be elected by the full-time Faculty of Engineering students, term May 1, 1999 to April 30, 2001.

One (1) full-time Faculty of Mathematics undergraduate student to be elected by the full-time Faculty of Mathematics students, term May 1, 1999 to April 30, 2001.

One (1) full-time at-large undergraduate student to be elected by the full-time UW undergraduate students.

Nominations should be sent to the Chief Returning Officer, University Secretariat, Needles Hall, Room 3060, no later than 3:00 p.m., Tuesday, January 19, 1999. Elections will coincide with the annual Federation of Students' elections (February 9 and 10, 1999). Nomination forms are available from the Secretariat, Needles Hall, Room 3060, or from the Federation of Students' Office, Student Life Centre.

'Twas a week before Christmas

The geography department has announced a series to run during the winter term: "Contemporary Perspectives on Tourism". Lectures will be held on Friday mornings at 9:30, starting with Jafar Jafari of the University of Wisconsin (Stout), the editor of Annals of Tourism Research, on January 15. Everyone is welcome; the series can also be attended as a credit course. "There will be two evening round-table sessions," a poster adds, "one on tourism issues and opportunities in Canada and the other on tourism issues and opportunities in Waterloo Region."

The Hagey Lecture committee tried, but failed, to get consumer activist Ralph Nader to speak at UW this year. There were "lengthy and ultimately unsuccessful negotiations", says a report from the committee to the faculty association's recent general meeting. "This was to coincide with the 25th anniversary of the founding of WPIRG. The cost of bringing Nader to campus proved to be beyond our budget." The committee is now hoping to have a Hagey Lecturer during the winter term, the report says.

The local Volunteer Action Centre has opportunities, as always, for people to make the world a better place. Currently it's looking for many volunteers to help with the New Year's Eve party held by the city of Waterloo -- "you could be a face painter, greeter, room monitor, decorator, craft helper or parking attendant." Across the city boundary, Kitchener is also having a New Year's Eve party: "Activities you could help with include selling food and merchandise, providing hospitality services, security, assisting at the stage, setting up events, coordinating the ice sculpturing, helping with the children's fun." Call the VAC at 742-8610 to find out more.

CAR

Editor of the Daily Bulletin: Chris Redmond
Information and Public Affairs, University of Waterloo
credmond@uwaterloo.ca | (519) 888-4567 ext. 3004
| Yesterday's Bulletin
Copyright © 1998 University of Waterloo