Summer in review

If you missed The Gateway‘s coverage of summer news, here’s a quick recap of the top stories that we covered.

Former Dean on leave after plagiarizing speech, July 11

Aaron Yeo

Following allegations of plagiarism, Philip Baker resigned from his position as Dean of the Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry at the University of Alberta, while retaining his position as a faculty member.

Baker gave a speech at the faculty’s graduation banquet in June, which contained striking similarities to one given by Atul Gawande, which was published in the New Yorker, and is available online. The key phrase that gave it away for those in attendance was “velluvial matrix,” a term that Gawande had fabricated to illustrate that doctors are always afraid of not knowing the latest medical vocabulary.

When Baker used the same phrase, it caught some people’s attention, and the news spread through the crowd via text messages and emails, and later through Facebook. Students present at the speech described Baker’s speech as almost identical to Gawande’s, with only small changes such as substituting the University of Alberta for Stanford.

Over the following weekend, Baker sent an apology email to the graduating class, and said he made the mistake of not properly attributing parts of his speech. The University of Alberta launched an investigation after receiving formal complaints, and within a week of the speech, Baker tendered his resignation.

“As dean of the faculty, this incident made it difficult for him to maintain his moral authority,” University President Indira Samarasekera said in a press conference on June 17, explaining that Baker will continue as a faculty member after he returns from a four-month leave of absence.

Samarasekera said that the investigation is still ongoing, and any further outcomes are considered a separate matter.

Vice-dean of Faculty Affairs Verna Yiu is serving as interim dean until the university finds a replacement for Baker. The university is following regular procedures in the search for a new dean, a process that usually takes nine to 12 months.

Grad student commits to hunger strike, July 11

Aaron Yeo

A graduate student was on a hunger strike and had been camping in front of SUB for almost two weeks, claiming that the University of Alberta refused to take him back as a graduate student.

Salah Rahmani had been trying to find a professor to be his supervisor after he transferred last fall to the Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology.

“The situation is getting worse. They are not co-operating,” Rahmani said. “Some of them told me, ‘we don’t have space,’ or ‘we don’t have funding.’ ”

Rahmani spent just over two weeks outside the SUB east entrance, with signs that say he was a victim of social undermining, dehumanization, aggression and bullying, among others, and he accused the U of A of discrimination and “denial of opportunities.”

Other professors he asked exercised their right of “academic freedom,” and refused Rahmani without citing a reason. Rahmani called their actions “discriminatory” and “dishonest,” and an abuse of academic freedom.

Vice-dean of the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research Rene Poliquin said the faculty was been working on his case and are trying to find a solution, though he is concerned for Rahmani’s well-being.

New real estate chair to bring in more courses on the industry, July 25

Justin Bell

The School of Business at the University of Alberta will be offering more real estate-related courses in the future and could eventually turn real estate into a major or minor option for commerce students, thanks to the introduction of the Stan Melton Chair in Real Estate.

David Dale-Johnson will take over as chair and is already expanding the number of real estate courses offered. Previously, only a survey course was offered. Starting this fall, commerce
students will be able to take a course on real estate finance and investment.

While Dale-Johnson will take over those two courses this fall, he wants to introduce two more next year. Those would include one course on real estate law, covering everything from transactional regulations to getting approval to build. The other would have students form teams to act as consultants for clients, gaining real-world experience.

While there will be more retail courses for students in the next few years, both Murray and Dale-Johnson said the addition of a major or minor in real estate will dependent on demand from students.

First spring/summer u-pass run a success, august 15

Alex Migdal

More than 75 per cent of graduate students at the University of Alberta had been using the spring/summer U-Pass, indicating that its first implementation in the summer months has been successful.

The U-Pass was only offered to research-based graduate students and those enrolled in a spring/summer course, and came about as the result of a survey of grad students done in 2009, where many showed support for a transit pass for May through August.

In March 2010, students voted in favour of the pass in a referendum and the GSA worked with Edmonton Transit System to fully implement it as a pilot project for summer 2011. The cost was a mandatory fee of $91.67 to all those eligible, identical to the cost of the Winter 2011 U-Pass.

Korassa indicated that the majority of feedback about the program was positive, although more formal feedback will be required for the U-Pass’ long-term prospects.

“Once the GSA has that information, we’ll be able to design a strategy for the continuance of the spring/summer U-Pass program and also be able to look into options for annual graduate student passes.”

Korassa also believes that the success may open the door for undergraduate students to implement a similar program. Students’ Union Vice-President (Student Life) Colten Yamagishi is heading up the initiative for an undergraduate option, but the plan is only in its infancy.

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