York continues to see high numbers of sexual assault

York University was the site of a series of sexual assaults during the first week of July.

On July 9, Toronto police arrested a 20-year-old male on three counts of sexual assault, two counts of assault and two counts of criminal harassment.

Police subsequently announced that a total of five women came forward to report sexual assaults.

On June 17, Toronto Police announced they had arrested a 22-year-old male on unrelated charges. The suspect allegedly broke into two homes near York, including that of a young woman who woke up to find him in her bedroom on July 12.

York’s faculty union organized a town-hall meeting to discuss the problem of gender-based violence on campus.

Sexual assault isn’t unfamiliar territory at York. In 2007, two young women were raped after two men entered their unlocked dorm rooms; another man sexually assaulted two women in their York dorms in 2011. In April 2011, the body of a 23-year-old York student was found after she had been sexually assaulted and murdered by three men, which prompted the Federation of Students to demand increased security. Earlier this year, several students reported a peeping Tom.

York commissioned a safety audit in 2009, and found that a third of students didn’t feel safe on campus. In response, the University invested $9 million on 2011 on security. According to Queen’s Campus Security, one sexual assault occurred on Queen’s campus in each 2010 and 2011, and four in 2009. Since 1998, four has been the most sexual assaults that occurred in any year.

At Queen’s, security alerts are posted on the Campus Security website and Twitter. Important alerts are emailed to all students, and anyone else can sign up to receive the emails on the Campus Security website. Alerts are usually posted within a day of the incident.

The most recent sexual assault in the area occurred on the night of Jan. 28, and an alert was posted on Jan. 31.

– Holly Tousignant

Carleton maintains ban against group that prevents gay males from donating blood

Student leaders at Carleton University voted to maintain the school’s ban on working with Canadian Blood Services (CBS).

The Carleton University Students’ Association cited CBS’s policy on not accepting blood from men who have had sex with other men.

The policy was introduced in 1983 and covers all men who have ever had sex with another man since 1977, as CBS argues they are at higher risk for HIV. In 2011, they considered a shorter deferral period, but no changes have yet been made to the policy.

The motion to overturn the ban was brought forward by student council member Gina Parker, who became involved with CBS after her brother was diagnosed with leukemia. The ban prohibits CBS from using space owned by the Carleton University Students’ Association (CUSA) and from working with CUSA to host or promote blood drives.

Following two and a half hours of debate, the motion was voted down 13 to 11.

Queen’s doesn’t have any similar restriction in place. The Queen’s University Blood Team (QBUT) works alongside the CBS to promote blood donation on campus.

— Holly Tousignant

U of T joins Coursera

The University of Toronto was one of 12 schools to recently announce its partnership with Coursera, an American company that offers free online courses to students around the world.

The courses are open to anyone and don’t count for credit. According to an April 2012 press release, previous classes have received over 350,000 enrollments from 172 countries. According to the Coursera website, the classes are designed to boost resumes or career skills or to simply allow people to expand their knowledge.

Coursera was created in 2011 by professors of computer science at Stanford University. The company allows students to watch lectures taught by professors through the partner schools and participate in discussions, quizzes and assignments.

The University of Toronto will offer five classes through Coursera, including Aboriginal Worldviews and Education, Neural Networks for Machine Learning, The Social Context of Mental Health and Illness and two computer programming courses. Coursera marks a trend in companies offering “massive open online courses” (MOOCs), such as Udacity, which was launched shortly before – Holly Tousignant

Funding’s integrity at Carleton questioned

Carleton University is renegotiating the funding for its graduate level political management program amid claims that its creation defied the University’s policies and integrity. The full-time, ten-month master’s program began with the help of a $15 million donation to be distributed over 10 years from businessman and Calgary Flames’ co-owner Clayton Riddell.

The Clayton H. Riddell Master of Political Management was launched in fall 2012 and is headed by Riddell’s friend, former Reform Party leader Preston Manning.

On June 29, Carleton yielded to a year-long clash over freedom of information request made by the Canadian Press.

According to the Canadian Press, the released contract reveals the Riddell Foundation appointed three of the five members of the committee that oversaw the program’s faculty hiring, curriculum, executive director and budget.

Riddell has expressed that he will be willing to rework the problematic aspects of the donor agreement.

– Holly Tousignant