Ontario college students abandoned their instructors > Status quo prevails once again Jake Wray News Editor olleges are nothing without students. When Ontario colleges and the union representing college instructors began a bitter collective-bargaining dispute this fall, the students had most of the leverage because both the colleges and the instructors need them. The students could have heavily influenced—or even decided—the outcome of that dispute. They could have stood up for the worthy cause their instructors fought for. Instead, the students sat back and allowed the Ontario government to pass back- to-work legislation that crippled the instructors’ bargaining power. Instructors were striking—in part—to reduce problematic part-time employment contracts. RM Kennedy, chair of the OPSEU college faculty division, said the union is fighting to reduce unstable contract employment for instructors, according to a CBC News report published October 30. He said 75 per cent of Ontario college instructors are precariously employed. “That’s simply not viable, it’s not feasible,” Kennedy told CBC News. “There’s no operating model in the world that can operate a quality service and a quality product when 75 per cent of the workforce is on short-term contract.” For years, professors across North Douglas College should Spread the Net > Rick Mercer challenges schools to raise money for malaria prevention and education Jerrison Oracion Senior Columnist fter 15 seasons, Rick Mercer Report will end this season. Mercer explained politics to Canadians in a fresh and memorable way. His show looks like a travel show more than a political comedy show because he does special reports on various aspects of Canadian culture. One of the features of his show is an initiative that he and Belinda Stronach created in association with Plan International called Spread the Net. In the challenge, various schools raise money to reduce the spread of malaria in affected countries around the world. The elementary, America have been speaking out against increasing precarious employment, which causes stress and reduces education quality. Kimberly Hale, a part-time instructor at Wilfred Laurier University, had to re-apply for her job every semester for 16 years, according to a CBC News report published in 2014. “I never imagined myself in this position,” she told CBC News. “Every four months I worry about how I’m going to put food on the table.” The Ontario government used the well-being of students as justification for using legislation to end the strike. Deb Matthews, Ontario’s minister of advanced education, said in a government press release that students have “have borne the brunt” of the strike. “After five weeks out of class, a significant number of students face the risk of not completing their academic studies if the strike were to continue,” Matthews said. “The public interest requires the government to take action to end the strike.” If the government really cared about students’ well-being, they could have pressured the colleges to offer a fairer employment bargain to the instructors, which would have bolstered education quality in the province. Instead, the government chose to back the colleges (powerful institutions) and maintain the status quo (the raison d’étre of white liberal governments). secondary, and post-secondary school that raises the most money will be seen in an episode of the show and Mercer will visit the winning schools. The mosquito is the second deadliest animal in the world because they can spread diseases to other people, including malaria. They do this by the mosquito sucking up the virus from a person that has it and passing it to another person by biting the person and infecting them. While malaria is treatable, it is incredibly dangerous to pregnant women and young children. A way for someone to prevent getting malaria is by using a net that covers them. Hence, Spread the Net. One net costs $10 and it saves lives because it reduces the amount of malaria The students, being the justification for the whole thing, could have stopped it by saying “No, we don’t support this legislation. We want a fair deal for our instructors.” The students could have gone on strike themselves by refusing to return to class once the legislation had passed. Instead Photo by Nathan Denette via The Canadian Press they allowed themselves to be used as pawns, providing another victory for penny-pinching bureaucrats who control Canadian institutions collecting large bonuses while the labourers of those institutions languish as wages stagnate and job security evaporates. Does this story sound familiar? Lhd MERCER REPORT SA THE NET that is being spread by the mosquitos. The money that is raised in the challenge will be used to buy nets and teach everyone how to use them and how to prevent themselves from getting the disease. So far, Simon Fraser University and Langara College are the only post-secondary schools in the Lower Mainland to win the challenge. Langara College won the post- secondary school section of the challenge last season raising $14,695. During Mercer's visit to the college, he talked to the students and everyone that was in the college’s student union, Langara Student Union, which made it possible. Since the show will end this season, I believe Douglas College should participate in the challenge. We could raise the most Image via CBC money in the post-secondary school section of the challenge by the Douglas Student Union accepting donations, doing a bake sale, etc. The plays that are performed in the college could give proceeds from ticket sales towards the challenge; we could hold a benefit concert and the sports teams in the college could raise money for it as well. If we raise the most money, Mercer will visit the college and we can provide lots of nets for malaria prevention and education. If anyone in the college would like to do the Spread the Net challenge, feel free to ask me about it. You can contact me through the Other Press office.