This is official notice that for the month of December, blog posts will not be published on a regular schedule due to both exams and the holiday season. Posts will begin to follow every other day posting beginning in the new year. Still continue to check for updates and I will continue to still write, just not as often.

To fellow students: good luck on finals!

For those who are unaware, a Markham home invasions occurred earlier this month in the town of Markham. In a quiet residential area, three young men entered a home without force and demanded money. Their invasion resulted in the shooting and death of an elderly woman and the critical shooting of her husband. The daughter had been reported to have been bound upstairs but left unharmed while the brother was away at university.The father was taken away and treated for his serious injuries.

Burial ceremonies took place in the following weeks for the mother, lead by her children. The three men responsible for the direct shooting are still at large and later in the month, the daughter Jennifer Pan was charged for the crime, including a first degree murder charge. She has been held in custody since.

When this crime first made headlines in the Toronto and GTA area, my initial concern was the safety of my own family and home as we live in the same vicinity. A seemingly random yet deadly crime committed in my own neighbourhood sent alarm bells off in my mind. But as we’ve come to find out, the actuality of totally random crimes such as these happening are quite rare.

If that wasn’t news enough, I’ve come to discover that I once roamed the halls of high school with Jennifer Pan herself. I distinctly remember seeing her in band classes, our only common ground. I never spoke to her but she never stood out at anyone extraordinary. She was a young, fairly shy, talented girl from what I could tell.

It’s bad enough to kill someone but to seek to kill your own family is another story. No motive has been released yet but it’s hard to imagine any motive that deemed suitable enough to resort to murder. At 24, Jennifer Pan is at an age to have a completely separate life from that of her family. If it were money woes, I’m sure there are possible jobs out there for her or family/friends willing to help out. If her parents were abusive in any way, she was old enough to leave her home and settle far away from them. If it were for insurance money, I suspect that a sizable amount of that money would go towards her older brother and if it was just plain vengence, well then…she probably deserves what she’s about to get.

It’s a scary thought when you have to consider your safety around family. As a parent, to foster a home and provide what you could to nurture an individual only to die at their hands is the most sickening thought of all. To realize that the little child that once said ‘momma’ and ‘dada’ turns on you for whatever reason should send a chill down your back. And yet, it’s not as rare as one would think. There are certainly far common ways to die but death by family member isn’t a freak accident that happens once a year.

I could even understand if in some fit of complete rage, she attacked her parents resulting in death for which she could claim utter insanity such as the attack of the Greyhound incident a few years ago. Even though we aren’t aware of her exact role in this incident,  it is evident that she was the mastermind behind this (or else charges such as the ones given to her wouldn’t have been laid) which leads one to believe that this crime was something that was thoroughly explored before its implementation. A calculated act of a cold-hearted daughter.

I don’t know how I would continue to live if I were in the position of the brother or father. How does one continue on with life knowing that someone so close to you wanted you gone for whatever reason? If, for example, my younger sister did such a thing, I don’t suppose I could ever bring myself to sleep again.

Jennifer Pan is in custody and awaits trial. The search for the three men continues. Mr. Pan continues to recover and under police watch as he could be the sole identifier of the men-at-large.

Related Articles

• Daughter charged in Markham home invasion (thestar.com)
• Daughter charged with murder in Markham home invasion (thestar.com)
• Markham woman dies in ‘random’ home invasion (cbc.ca)
• Daughter charged in deadly Ont. home invasion (theprovince.com)
• Daughter arrested in Markham home invasion: reports (thestar.com)

In summary, a mid-term had been given out for a senior statics management course of approx 600 students. The test had approx about 50 question. Through various means, it came to the attention of the professor, Richard Quinn, that the results of the mid-term were significantly different (and overall higher) than it had ever been before. After running more statistical information, along with other sources, he deduced that about a third of the class had cheated. They did so by accessing the test bank in advance which held all the questions and answers, and using that to improve their scores. Investigations through academic affairs were launched and Internet traffic was monitored to try to figure out the original source of the cheating and all those who had become involved. Their investigations were going so well that Prof. Quinn would be confident enough in providing a list of names as to who cheated exactly on the test.

The grades from the test were tossed and TA’s (teach assistants) worked round the clock to write a completely new and original midterm and final. Prof Quinn provided the guilty with an opportunity to confessing, stating that failure to do so could result in an inability to graduate. Confessing would require the student to take an ethics course, remain in the class and have any allegations dropped from their records. Those who did not comply could face failure or expulsion as mandated through academic affairs.

I have done my best to educate myself since reading this article the prevalence for cheating in the school system. I have tried to read the comments from both students and educators but ultimately I can only truly understand one side of the argument; the side of students.

———–

First let me state that I do not condone cheating nor do I believe that the students involved were completely within their rights to do what they did, however I feel that the voice of the students who cheated have not been properly heard or completely understood. I believe that Prof. Quinn is being given too much praise for his efforts in discovering these students. There are two sides to this situation and I think both sides should be held accountable accordingly for their participation in the matter.

As students, we have a severe amount of pressures placed upon us regarding the completion of our degrees. I assume that this class was a senior level class due to the general threats on their degree and their inability to graduate (plus the course name was MAN 4720, a 4th year level course I presume). I would also be willing to put it out there that many of these students are facing other demands outside of this course: other midterms, assignments, jobs, homes, families, future careers, extracurriculars, basic living. Therefore as students trying to juggle our various responsibilities, we do our best to cope and make life easier. I do not mean to imply that we resort to cheating. In this case, what I am referring to is the test bank that some students managed to access.

Test banks are provided to educators with the textbooks that they intend to use. It is typically a databank of questions based from the textbook that the professor can use or refer to for teaching or testing purposes. They are standard questions from the text and I recall from some of my own textbooks that they are often included within the book, minus the answers.

I feel that very little attention is paid towards the fact that Prof Quinn decided, perhaps in poor  judgment, to take the same questions from this test bank for his mid-term, under the assumption that his students would not have access to it. However this test bank is legitimately accessible to the students. It is not as if there is one single copy which was placed in his office, only to get stolen by the students. The students had access to such information if they looked for it and in attempting to ease their lives, presumably used it as a study guide to narrow down their focus and use it as examples for what they would expect. It is irrelevant whether or not the whole class gained access to it or not. Perhaps if students had access to full listservs of the class, they may have distributed it to help each other out; instead its distribution was probably based through word of mouth and passing it along to a friend in need.

In an article on the incident, a student is quoted for remarking that upon receiving the test bank, they assumed that it was to be used as a study guide. No one (at least from the knowledge of the reporters and articles I have read) has come forward claiming that they knew with completely certainty that the test bank was to be the exact test that they would later receive. It is pretty impossible to predict that the professor is going to use those same questions; knowing that goes beyond cheating – that’s seeing into the future. Prof Quinn is originally quoted in his early lectures to having told his students that he is the sole creator of all the questions they shall encounter during the course. Being explicitly told that, how are the students supposed to assume that he would resort to using the test bank?

Prof Quinn, like his students should be questioned for his teaching practices. He has every right to use the questions from the test bank if he so chooses but he must be held responsible and be aware that doing so could lead to complications such as the one that unfolded. Professors are paid an enormous sum thanks to their students who enrol in their class hoping to enhance their education further. As students we expect our professors to do what they are paid to do – teach, and part of that includes testing us with original content that the professors deems important to our overall understanding, not what the test bank thinks is important. If that was the case, then the course is better set in an online environment where questions like those can be churned out for every test.

I do not pay $1000 (higher I’m sure in the states) a course so that my professor can slack off and pick questions out of a hat. It is his responsibility to uphold the standards of education and when he slips, how is he supposed to expect the same moral values from his students? If your life is so demanding you couldn’t come up with original questions then be sympathetic towards our own demanding lives and understand that we too will try to beat the system by finding whatever we can to help us and that does not imply cheating.

At the university I attend, a test bank is accessible to students. In it, students are able to see mid-terms and final exams for courses from previous years. Answers are not given; just the original exams as you’d receive them had you been tested that year. Students are sometimes encouraged to access these files to help understand the structure of the exam and the possible questions given. It is used a study aid. In this same respect, if a professor of mine decided to use the exact same questions he had previously used, it is not the fault of the student for doing well but rather on the professor who clearly did not have the time or means to change the exam. It is also not our responsibility to raise our hand, as Prof Quinn had suggested, to make it known that we had previously seen these questions in our studying. As students we take that as good fortune or good preparation and revel in the thought that we will do well on the exam. Cheating discussion aside for a moment, the students did in fact study as memorizing and understanding 700 possible answers from the test bank does require some actual brainpower. I do not wish to imply that what they did was the right way to go about studying or that it is the most useful kind of studying. However, at the end of the day it is studying, regardless of how loosely you want to use the term. The students spent x amount of time putting this concepts to memory and were successful in answering it on the exam.

Prof Quinn goes on in his lecture to inform the students that the TAs and lab assistants are working tirelessly to create a completely original exam, as though the students should be grateful for their hard work and be guilted into knowing that they placed an added burden on these people’s lives. Excuse me but I believe that if you had done your job in the first place, maybe this whole situation would have been avoided. Those TAs and lab assistants are also paid to educate and clearly were given a free ride when the professor decided to take questions out of the test bank. What they are doing now is no added burden but in fact, their original purpose.

I cannot help but feel that these students are victims of someone else’s injustice. They stand alone, judged not only by their professor, their peers and the university but now an entire nation watching. Prof Quinn’s deal to escape heavy punishment is being viewed as an easy way out and therefore the students should be once again thankful for their second chance. The administration of course stands behind their faculty member, unwillingly to question his own practices and are quick to blame the student for complete wrong-doing. Reading about this incident as it unfolded brought to mind the concept from the movie “Matilda” in which the administration is bigger, better, smarter and the students are merely dumber, weaker and wrong on all accounts.

I cannot blame the students for coming forward after receiving such hefty threats on their degree. In their position, I may have done the same but as an outside student I can’t help but feel wronged by the actions of this particular professor and administration. It upsets me to think that the students must be the only party to face punishment, when it is their professor who enabled and created a situation suitable for their actions. Had his teaching practices been different, the situation would have been avoided and therefore, he stands as the root of the cause in my mind.

Related Articles

• Cheating and the Generational Divide (UCF Today)
• 200 Students Admit To ‘Cheating’ On Exam… But Bigger Question Is If It Was Really Cheating Or Studying (techdirt.com)
• Professor Gets 200 Confessions to Cheating (outsidethebeltway.com)
• “Professor Catches Cheaters, Offers Them a Deal” and related posts (bagofnothing.com)

For those who haven’t had the opportunity to read this article, I’d suggest that you do as it has sparked a significant amount of interest in the last little while. At the time of its popularity I was much too upset at the article and its author to give a clear-headed and calm analysis so after taking some time, talking to several people, I was able to reflect the situation better.

I wanted to write a response to this articles, the comments its received, the publicity it has gotten and to the author. I feel it is important for me to discuss the issues brought up as I feel closely connected and deeply offended by the comments made. But first, a summary to outline the keys points and the most alarming statements.

The article, with its already insulting title Should “Fatties” Get a Room? (Even on TV?), was published online on Oct 25. After becoming aware of a television show by her editor (which Maura Kelly the author admits to have never watched because “most television shows are a kind of junk food for the mind and body. The boob tube gives us an excuse to turn off both our brains and our bodies and probably does a helluva lot to contribute to the obesity problem”) featuring the romantic adventures of a couple dealing with their weight issues, Maura felt the need to address the question “Do you really think people feel uncomfortable when they see overweight people making out on television?” posed to her. Her response was anything but tasteful.

He article proceeds to tear apart the lines between obese, overweight and fat to blur them into one arena meant for people to be socially outcasted. She picks at the character’s in the T.V. shows appearance, claiming that there was no way they could be healthy and then making the horribly insulting comment “I think I’d be grossed out if I had to watch two characters with rolls and rolls of fat kissing each other … because I’d be grossed out if I had to watch them doing anything.” She continues right after with an equally insulting statement “I find it aesthetically displeasing to watch a very, very fat person simply walk across a room”.

Other disturbing comments include:

• I think obesity is something that most people have a ton of control over. It’s something they can change, if only they put their minds to it.
• I’m happy to give you some nutrition and fitness suggestions if you need them
• I have a few friends who could be called plump. I’m not some size-ist jerk.
• In her apology: I feel just as uncomfortable when I see an anorexic person as I do when I see someone who is morbidly obese, because I assume people suffering from eating disorders on either end of the spectrum are doing damage to their bodies, and that they are unhappy.

Her bigotry is downright sickening. How is it that such a woman with such an opinion managed to get herself a platform for public opinion? What’s more sickening is that there are people out there  that somehow agree with her opinion and the way she expressed it. I completely understand free speech and being entitled to your opinion but what she did was take her private opinion into her public position. She works for a woman’s magazine, one that tries (and undoubtedly fails) to promote self esteem, positive outlooks and the complete well being of the women who buy it. This article does nothing to support those sort of ideals. It degrades women who are of bigger or different forms. It provides no positive information or encouragement besides Kelly’s own condescending advice on health and exercise; a woman who later defends her position by saying that she too has struggled with eating habits at the other end of the spectrum.

Obesity of every level is an individual experience. Our world suffers from lumping people together into categories and insisting that they experience it all the same. There are medical reasons, financial reasons, emotional reasons…etc behind weight and being overweight that must be factored in. Not taking those into account is highly insensitive. Yes, we are all in control of ourselves and our bodies but situational circumstances often have even greater control and you cannot fault people for that. Genetics and metabolism, things that you are inherently given when you enter this world play a huge factor as well. As I witnessed on one comment in the responses the article, you’re just as wrong to tell a ‘fat’ person to eat less and run more as you are to tell a ‘skinny’ person to just go eat a burger or two.

Her opinion is simply not a disliking for people of bigger sizes but a complete and utter disgust at anyone she deems ‘fat’. She tries to rectify her opinion by claim that she too has ‘plump’ friends so she shouldn’t be regarded as a ‘size-ist jerk’. I don’t know about you but I do not classify my friends according to their size and weight. I don’t make remarks like ‘ Oh, have you met my plump friend, Lisa?’ This just goes to further show how judgmental Kelly really is. She doesn’t view people as individuals, and when you cannot see people as that, you run into the risk of being overtly insensitive as Kelly demonstrated. Mike & Molly may be fake character’s in a show but the are real people, actors who aren’t pretending about their size and certainly actors who represent a percentage of the population as a whole.

She later updated the post with an ‘apology’ which has been highly questioned as being insincere and forced. Even in her apology she continues to spread her unnecessary opinion.

I think the thing that puts the icing on the cake for me is that the magazine’s editor in chief, Joanna Coles was  not at all unapologetic for the article and the offence it inevitable created for hundreds of people. She is quoted as saying “Maura Kelly is a very provocative blogger. She was an anorexic herself and this is a subject she feels very strongly about.” I also recall seeing statements elsewhere that both the magazine and Maura are ‘excited’ about the response the article has received. Marie Claire remains supportive behind Kelly’s words despite the backlash and proves further Marie Claire’s stand to support poor journalism instead of standing behind the hundreds or thousands of their consumers.

If you look at other articles Kelly has written you will find similar traces of biased, hateful, bigoted opinions. He word choice is appalling and certainly not at all what I would expect from a person in  journalistic position. She is quick to judge and make comments left and right with no sense of understanding as to the repercussions of her words. It sickens me deeply to think that she is paid to spread her vile opinions.

I’ve tried my best to read the comments that support Kelly, though is angers me to no end. A lot of the support comes from people who are quick to hate as well, further agreeing with Kelly’s incorrect statements. Some suggest that Kelly has done the right thing by bringing light to the obesity epidemic that plagues most of the Western world and although I agree that bringing up such issues is vital in educating people, her article did very little to educate anyone on anything. Telling ‘fat’ people that they ‘sicken’ you is by no means constructive but rather destructive. And I would be willing to claim that a lot of overweight people are aware of their situation. I’m sure a vast majority of them do not go about their day/lives thinking that they are ‘skinny’. So adding insult to injury by pointing your finger at them to express your unnecessary disapproval for their live gains nothing for anyone, except make you (yes, you Kelly) look like a bigoted, size-ist jerk.

This isn’t the first fail I’ve seen from Marie Claire. The NYC Fashion Week coverage from the beauty guru Fowler sisters was also another fail due to their poor coverage, over-insertion of their preferences, severely poor writing and lack of actual talk about the collections. I don’t need to go find a strike three from Marie Claire to know they’re out. And I’d suggest you do the same!

Final Comments: I do not wish to spread more hate in the fight against hate but a stand must be made and an understanding but be garnered to know the difference about when its appropriate to share such opinions with the world. If you’d like to express your disgust over lunch with some friends, do so but when you bring it to a public platform, get ready to be thrown exactly what you dished out. I think Kelly’s biggest fault is that she is quick to judge. Maybe if she took the time to research more into what she’s writing about, it would save her and the rest of us from having to deal with this sort of mess. I think the real culprit in this is Marie Claire who not only supported her after the publishing of this article but before by allowing it to be posted. The could have saved Kelly the embarrassment and the offense they cause against their readers.

What’s your opinion?

I came across this while reading someone else’s blog and was instantly intrigued with the idea. Energy usage doesn’t always come immediately to mind when you think about blogs. After all, we’re saving paper by keeping it vitural right? Yes, but you do use up a significant amount of energy via your laptops which can lead to carbon emissions and a steep carbon footprint at the end of the year. This awesome website (don’t be thrown off by the German words, there is English on there) is helping to reduce the carbon footprint of blogs by planting a tree for each blog submitted.

According to the website, it works something like this…

“How much carbon dioxide does your blog create?

According to a study by Alexander Wissner-Gross, PhD, physicist at Harvard University and environmental activist, an average website causes about 0.02g (0,0008oz.) of carbon dioxide for each visit. Assuming an average blog gets 15,000 visits a month, it has yearly carbon dioxide emissions of 3,6kg (8lb.). This can mainly be tracked back to the immense energy usage from (mainframe) computers, servers, and their cooling systems.” – How It Works

If you want to participate, here’s how:

Here’s how you can participate!

Just write a short blog post about our programme “My blog is carbon neutral” and include one of the buttons below on your site (ideally in the sidebar). Send the link to your blog to CO2-neutral@kaufda.de and we plant a tree for you, neutralising the carbon dioxide emissions of your blog. The trees will be planted planted from spring of 2010 through late summer of 2010 by the Arbor Day Foundation. After the reforestation of the Plumas National Forest the tree planting will be continued in another National Forest. So for now, you can confidently state that your trees are being planted in Plumas unless you hear differently from us! For more information about how and where the trees are planted, see the NEWS section.

Just a few easy steps to make it green:

1. Write a blog post about the initiative + insert your favourite button
2. E-mail the link to your post to CO2-neutral@kaufda.de
3. We plant a tree for your blog in Plumas’!

Note: We plant a tree for each domain. Please copy the html-code and paste it in your blog. Make sure the carbon-neutral button works, the html-code must not be changed. Use the carbon-neutral-white button for a white background or the carbon-neutral-transparent button for different colored backgrounds. If you need help, please contact CO2-neutral@kaufda.de. We are looking forward to planting your tree!

I’m doing my part by writing about it and sharing this with you guys and I sincerely hope you’ll join in. Carbon Neutral or not, planting trees is just a beautiful way to enhance our world. Without them, we’d live in pure concrete jungles and that’s just not pretty to look at. You’re gonna blog anyways, might as well blog about this :)

Article Facts:

This short article speaks with regards to the case of Caster Semenya, a gold medal track winner and the dispute over her genetic origins. Within the article it suggests that there is potential in women, athletes and specifically Semenya, to exude too many male genetic characteristics to classify her as a full woman, possibly making her ineligible to compete in the women’s division. The uncertainty pertaining to her gender led to debate over whether she should be able to keep her medal and ways to go about determining where Semenya stood on the male/female line.

According to the article, such an investigation would require reports from a gynaecologist, endocrinologist, psychologist, internal medicine specialist and an expert on gender. Genetic traits can often be misleading, as there are instances of males physically appearing more like women yet having both the X & Y chromosome. It would be conducted with the co- operation of International Association of Athletics Federations at the request/challenge of another athlete.

The article goes on to briefly talk about the reactions to such allegations, stating that Semenya’s privacy had been violated during a time when she should be celebrating her victory. Claims such as these “only serve to portray women as being weak”. Issues of race also came into light when a remark was made “if this were a European person, would these questions be raised?”

Caster Semenya (image from Google)

My take:

Issues such as these remind me of my course last year which was an intro to feminism, a course that not only did I excel in but one that affected me profoundly. Another part of the article that I missed on mentioning talked about Semenya’s co-competitors who stated that they felt like Semenya didn’t seem to be at their level. They felt like she was beyond them, male-like in her dominance over the track.

Merely looking at her on a first glance, you may be quick to think she’s a man. She’s certainly got quite the muscular and defined body. But why is it that society instinctively equates muscles to manly strength? Does that define one as a man? Then on the other spectrum, only those with large  breasts and voluptuous bodies can consider themselves women? Certainly the latter gets an immediate no and yet the former goes often uncontested.

What does it really mean to be male or female? Is tracing back to our genetic, chromosomal identities the only way to distinguish ourselves anymore? Why is her strength and agility so easy to question just because she is a woman? Instead of applauded and admired by others, she is quick to be criticized, blaming some unearthly reason for her unnatural speed as a woman.

Personally, I find it a tad disrespectful to make such allegations. After passing doping/drug tests, critics still wanted some outside reason for her abilities.Have we become so quick to cross of the simple possibility that she just might be that amazing of an athlete, man or woman issues aside.

And even if for whatever reason, the reports showed otherwise, that her genetics predisposed her an advantage over other women, is that really something to blame her for her? As stated in the articled, “it’s a God-given thing”, not something she manufactured for herself and to punish her for it would be morally wrong.

Men’s division, women’s division, nothing else inbetween. There’s no separate race for the biologically unsure and why would there be? I feel like people are just looking for faults in others instead of praising them, especially when it comes to women who remain passively viewed in society as the weaker of the human species.

My courses for the fall term are as follows:

POLS 280 – Intro to Women, Gender, and Politics
POLS 264 – World Politics in Historical Perspective
POLS 366 – The United Nations

As such these will be where the main bulk of subject matter for the next following months will come from. When time allows, I will hopefully endeavour into other branches of politics.

Now that the school year has begun and my reading lists of articles for my courses has been laid out before, I found it fitting to start. I’d like to hope that I’d be analyzing, reviewing and arguing the following works but to be perfectly honest, I think all I’ll manage to get around to doing is highlighting the important information to make my life easier come exam time. So this endeavour will work in multiple ways; make notes, keep track of readings, review political works for public view, enhance my reading lists, use for future reference and prep for my looming final exams. I don’t know why I didn’t think of this sooner!