Make me into a bird

I've had it. I'm finished. I give up.
No overtime. No concessions. No more.

Make me into a bird so that I can fly away.

Perhaps I would fly to the west. I would soar over the great ocean until I reached a new land...






...Or not.

Perhaps I would fly to the North. I would navigate the grand coastline and see the majestic mammals that are elegant and extravagant and....





...endangered.

Perhaps I would fly to the south.








But I would rather not live in the states.


Perhaps I would just stay put, open a bottle of wine and build a nest. It's not that bad here. See:











And in case I needed one more reason to stay:










Everything is relative. Keep it in perspective.

VIU Job Action

Welcome back. Sorry that it's been so long. I suppose that you could call me an "intermittent" blogger. If you were trying to be nice, that is.

It's quite an interesting time here in Nanaimo. The Faculty Association at VIU has been on strike since March 10th. While many of us are hoping for a speedy resolution, we are planning to be out of classrooms for a looooong time.

This has been a fantastic lesson for VIU students on the integrity and credibility of information. I am in the science program, so I am familiar with information in the scientific community. Let me put it this way: scientists are anal. They question EVERYTHING. There is a process called "peer review" which takes place before an article can be published in a reputable journal. The author submits his article to a group of peers, who question EVERYTHING and subsequently annihilate any questionable conclusions. Any portion of the article that survives this process is dubbed "peer reviewed" and the reader can have an increased level of confidence in this piece of literature. It's kind of like this:


Unfortunately, junk still finds its way through this process and so scientists are ever vigilant about what they read. Scientists who truly believe in what they are writing try to make it as clear as possible. The very few scientists who have something to hide often will not lie, but they will be vague and misleading. Sometimes they take a nucleus of bonefide fact and use it to drum up false conclusions. They may use terms and not define them and hope that the audience assumes an incorrect meaning.

To complicate things even more, on any side of an issue there is not a "good side" and a "bad side." The terms "good" and "bad" are subjective, so there may be both acceptable and questionable information coming from both sides.

What does this have to do with the VIU strike? As students, our information is limited to rumors and the odd communication from the Faculty Association (VIUFA) or the University Administration. If you support either one of these parties more than the other, it does not ensure that their every word is gospel. Scrutinize everything.

Many students want to be taken seriously during this strike. We can facilitate this by being informed and showing everyone that we are intelligent and reasonable.

1. Get informed. Check the labour updates on VIU's webpage and then read the VIUFA's updates at viufa.ca. When reading ANY communication, ask questions about anything that you are unsure about. Email the VIUFA and labourinfo@viu.ca if you need the definition of confusing terms. Ask what statistics mean. When a party has received a "40% compensation increase" ask "with respect to what?" and "what does that look like? a raise? why did they decide to increase funding?"

2. Send letters to VIUFA, Dr. Ralph Nilson, Dr. David Witty, the board, MLAs, Christy Clark, your Student Union, and the media. Students have a voice, so let's use it. Attend or organize student rallies.

3. Our situation is bad enough as it is; we don't need to exaggerate. This is not a "hostage situation", it is a labour dispute. If we refer to ourselves as hostages, we lose credibility.

4. Ask tough questions. Why are the communications to students from both VIUFA and VIU so confusing and misleading? What are they hiding? Do they think students are stupid and we won't figure it out? We want to be a part of this process, but we can't be if we are only given junk information. Demand clear information.

5. If you should speak to the media, please kindly remember that you are representing the student body. We want to be taken seriously, so please act accordingly.

6. ENCOURAGE DISCUSSION! If people are speaking up but you feel that they are misinformed, consider it a teachable moment. Most people who post untrue comments on facebook do it because they are upset and because they believe that they are correct. They should be commended for using their voice while correct or contrasting information can be communicated. This is not a student vs student battle. This is a labour dispute between VIUFA and VIU. While factions of students may support different parties, we don't need to be fighting each other. Please exercise tolerance.

Careful digestion of information is useful in ANY context. This is a lesson that we are learning outside of the classroom today.