It's easy being green in Whitby - Digilog at UOIT and DC - Durham ...

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16 The Chronicle November 29, 2011 Campus Helping students legally is what he does Bobby Perritt The Chronicle The Bill of Rights grants Canadians the right to legal counsel without delay. But given the cost of a lawyer, your budget as a student may object to that right. That is why the Student Association offers free legal services through an on-campus lawyer for all students of the college and university. Attorney Bill Reid is available to meet with students for up to half an hour each Wednesday between 8:15 a.m. and 12:45 p.m. in the SA office above E.P. Taylor’s. On some occasions where anonymity was a priority, students have met with Reid off campus. Whether it be labour violations, slips and falls, issues with Immigration Canada, or a child custody nightmare, Reid can offer 30 minutes of his time in person a week and advise students via email to educate them in approaching legal matters confidently. Reid, who has an MBA and studied law at the University of Western Ontario, has done the same for students at York, Ryerson, Mohawk, George Brown Bobby Perritt The Chronicle ‘You can’t evict an idea’ read a large sign, displayed in St. James Park on the night of Nov. 21. On Nov. 22, the crowd of occupiers in Toronto evaded eviction for one day, after Justice David Brown ruled that protesters were not exempt from bylaws which don’t allow people in parks between 12:01 a.m. and 5:30 a.m. and prohibit unpermitted tents and structures from being erected. It wasn’t until around 6 a.m. on Nov. 23 that city police enforced the eviction by throwing out tents and dismantling structures, but allowing lawabiding protesters to stay, in compliance with city regulations. Even the section of the park that is owned by neighbouring St. James Cathedral was subject to the same rules, after the church declared that it wanted to fully co-operate with the city’s wishes. Nov. 21 was filled with anxiety and anticipation in St. James Park as protesters packed up their tents and possessions (much of which had been there since Oct. 15) in anticipation of a police raid some time in the early hours of the next morning. A small sign was placed at the front entrance of St. James Cathedral, which read ‘What would Jesus do?’ Dick Johnson, 27, was at A MAN OF LAW: Bill Reid in his office working hard to help all students. home sleeping off a case of pneumonia he had developed after 36 days of sleeping in the park, when he woke up to the news of eviction on the TV, prompting him to return. “Everyone here believes in non-violence,” he said. Johnson said he was disgusted by the decision to shut down a movement that authorities hadn’t come to understand. At a general assembly around 6 p.m. a marshal (a committee position within the park) announced a phone number for a pro bono lawyer, and and Sheridan colleges and universities for 17 years. The College Student Alliance (CSA), a provincial student lobby group, referred him to the SA, bringing him to the campus last year. Reid calls himself a “generalist” in terms of knowledge, because of the vast range of cases that he works on. “But my expertise…is being a generalist in this context,” he says. He considers it a developed skill to work with the SA and the CSA and deal with student issues. Campus clientele are different from what most lawyers are used to, he said. The most common types of cases Reid addresses at the campus are problems concerning social assistance and personal injury, along with provincial infractions and minor criminal offences such as minor assaults, mischief and driving violations. Family law is a common issue on all campuses. Reid also sometimes offers mediation. Mediators, who are not always lawyers, intervene in a conflict as a knowledgeable voice of reason, looking to find common ground. encouraged the exchange of personal information, in an attempt to ensure that no occupiers would be forgotten about if they were arrested. “I believe tonight should be an artful revolution. Life is artful. Be creative in your expression,” one speaker said to motivate the crowd. Occupiers were encouraged to create “break-out groups” which were three colour coordinated groups to categorize what they would do in the event of an eviction. The red break-out group And while Reid doesn’t represent students in court or outside of the legal services program, referrals are readily available to attorneys with expertise to handle the particular type of case. If matters do extend to a courtroom, students can find out if they are eligible for financial assistance at legalaid.on.ca. Reid only offers his expertise to students and doesn’t work for clients in court. But he said that even if he did, “I would never see a student privately who I had seen (on campus) because there Protesters upset at being Bobby Perritt forced out of Occupy camps Bobby Perritt IN THE NAME OF PROTEST: People hold their signs to promote their protest. was committed to protecting the library, the media/medical yurt and standing ground in the park despite the threat of being arrested or harmed. The yellow group were people who would consider being arrested, and the green group was for people who could not afford to risk arrest. “Greens” were encouraged to stay on the outskirts of the park during an eviction and bear witness to the events, capturing photos and videos if possible. Two “reds,” one being Jor would be a potential for a conflict of interest there,” explaining he wished to avoid having two different types of student clients – paying and non-paying. Donna Judson, SA office coordinator and administrative assistant for Reid, said the legal services program grew quickly when it was introduced to the campus two years ago. “We hit the ground running (last year),” as Reid remembers. Judson has seen the program grow in the second through word of mouth and the SA website. The next step is for legal services to be extended to the Whitby and downtown Oshawa campuses on a rotating basis. Students can find out more under “services” at www.yoursa.ca and make appointments by emailing www.sa@dc-uoit. ca. Or stop by the SA office across from the Tuck Shop on the second floor of the student centre. Confidentiality is a priority. Details of students’ cases do not have to be disclosed with administration, and legal and personal documents are not saved or observed by anybody other than Reid. don Walsh, 20 of Newcastle, nailed together a makeshift barrier of skids and scrap wood around them and chained themselves to each other and the structure. Walsh chose to protect the library because of the thousands of books that were burned when the Occupy movement in New York City was broken up. “I refuse to let that happen (here),” said Walsh. The St. James Cathedral clock tower chimed as midnight came and went, but marked police officers made no appearance at the park and only monitored the surrounding area in modest numbers. Numbers began to dwindle around 2 a.m. but the park stirred for hours after that, with people staying up in the event that police were waiting for campers to go to their tents, before moving in. “I just hope everyone realizes this is about our freedom of speech, which we can’t lose,” said Robin Luona, 34, of Barrie. Luona had visited the camp several times before and was pulling an all-nighter to oppose the eviction. Occupiers had already publicized a peaceful rally in Nathan Phillips Square planned for Nov. 26, to decide on a new location to occupy. Toronto is following suit with other cities, which have cracked down on occupy camps across the country, since the movement launched globally on Oct. 15.
Campus The Chronicle November 29, 2011 17 Teaching by example Kim Moreau The Chronicle Kim Moreau THANKS TO GRANNY: Dan attributes his patience and demeanour to his grandmother, who taught him many life lessons through music and food. As a boy, it’s unlikely that Dan Walters, practicum coordinator for UOIT’s Faculty of Social Science and Humanities would have understood impact a heaping spoonful of tuna salad would have on his life. His grandmother’s lesson taught him you can have too much of a good thing. A sociology graduate from McMaster University, Walters embraces the knowledge and life experience he has acquired since graduating in his teachings, refusing to use irrelevant material with no real-life counterpart. “I love teaching,” said Walters, who recently won the 2011-2012 Cupples Cup Award for his ‘energy, enthusiasm, and high social involvement’ in the Canadian Association of Career Educators and Employees for this year. Walters career allows him to blend roles within the educational field with roles within the community, which he enjoys. He has always been an active member of the community and a huge fan of volunteerism, and promotes the same engagement for students. “I think if students simply focus on academics, they are really short changing themselves,” said Walters, recalling later the challenges he faced when exiting university and realizing that the piece of paper in his hand wasn’t a “guarantee to great things in life.” It was Walters involvement in the UOIT community and his extra curricular involvements through his humanitarian activities that led him to the winning of the 2011-2012 Cupples Cup Award. Walters was the host of the 2009 Songs Revealed competition for Durham College where he now serves as a Music Business Management professor, was the chair of UOIT’s Accessibility Committee and continues to be an advocate for accessibility within the community, worked with the Let Them Be Kids Coalition to build a playground at Oshawa’s Radio Park, works with people who have special needs, and works hard on his music career as well. “I get to be amphibious,” said Walters who loves that rather than being stuck in a classroom all the time he is able to network in the community and promote the integration of UOIT in downtown Oshawa. His accomplishments and involvement go back to his Granny, who he said was the most influential person in his life. Walters, who was enthusiastic about music as a child with his “stinky, old records,” spent much of his time playing the organ with his grandmother. He recalls that while others were puzzled by his eccentric, troublesome days as a hyper, young boy, his grandmother embraced it. She taught him to play songs by Buddy Holly, one of his heroes. At first, when he had a turn to play the keys he would smash all the keys at once as many children do – open fisted and eager rather than patient and careful. It was when his grandmother shoved a pile of tuna salad in her mouth that he learnt pushing all of the keys at once wasn’t appropriate. He remembers her shoving the unmanageable forkful of salad into her mouth and realizing that she was teaching him that too much was not necessarily a good thing. Walters says that he keeps going back to that day with his grandmother who has since passed, and adds that his education has had the same lasting effect. Whitby campus Phase 3 begins Cameron McDonald The Chronicle Phase 3 of Durham College’s Whitby campus is breaking ground in a little over two weeks from now. The new phase will add a facility for the new Hospitality and Culinary programs, and will bring roughly 950 more students to the campus. On top of this it will provide a full-service restaurant and lounge and offer meeting space for students studying culinary arts, food sciences, safety, design and other tourismrelated topics. It will be located on the southern end of campus. One of the biggest changes that the new phase will bring to the campus is a more equal gender ratio, which has been dominantly male up until now. Darrin Caron, the Dean of the Whitby campus, is hopeful that the gender ratio will even out and make the campus more diverse. “With a more even split between men and women, the campus will certainly feel more diverse and welcoming for our female students.” The construction should be complete by the fall semester of 2012. Crash course on student insurance A need to know for students Larissa Frankevych The Chronicle Insurance can be hard to understand especially for young students trying to figure out their coverage for medical expenses like glasses, prescriptions and the pill. There is a website called wespeakstudent. com designed to help explain DC’s and UOIT’s insurance coverage to students. Wespeakstudent.com provides students with the knowledge of their insurance policy, access to the proper insurance forums. Students can also create a profile to track the status of their insurance claims, find a local medical or dental practitioner and online assistance from a live agent. Full-time students who chose not to opt out from the insurance plan are covered from the start of the year, Sept. 1 until Aug. 31. The policy is one year, for every year the student is enrolled in the school year. Students who graduate this year in June are still covered until the end of August. Students are covered up to a maximum $3,000 for prescription drugs. The policy covers 80 per cent of most prescriptions, insulin injectables, and insulin supplies up to a maximum of $200. Contraceptives like the patch or oral medication is covered up to a maximum of $175. Allergy medication, acne medication and the Nuva vaginal ring are also covered. The policy also offers dental coverage, and if students use a dentist from the dentist network on the site they can receive up to 100 per cent of coverage depending on what is being done. For example, if a student is receiving “basic and preventative” work like one examination and consultation, that includes any X-ray, and or one cleaning and one unit of polishing, the student is fully covered. Students who go to their own dentist not a part of the insurance policy dental network will be covered up to 80 per cent for a maximum of $500 per year. Extractions and oral surgery is covered for 60 per cent, which includes a limit of two wisdom teeth per policy year. Other oral surgery is covered up to 10 per cent for endodontics, periodontics, and major restorative surgery. Students can get a higher percentage of coverage for extractions and oral surgery if they use a dentist from the dental network. Orthodontics like braces or Invisalign is not covered by the insurance policy. Students are also covered for vision care up to a maximum of $60 for one eye examination every two years. Students who are prescribed glasses or contact lenses are covered up to a maximum of $80 for every two years. Accidental death & dismemberment coverage is also included. A student who dies, the beneficiary will receive $7,500 from life insurance. Coverage also includes ambulance rides, transportation of the deceased up to $2,000 and medical coverage. Dismemberment coverage includes any home or vehicle modification up to a maximum of $10,000, rehabilitation coverage up to a maximum of $5,000, hearing aids up to $3,000 and accidental dental coverage up to a maximum of $2,000, to name a few. Travel insurance and extended health care options are also covered under the policy. For more detailed information that students can easily understand, visit wespeakstudent. com.
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