Female empowerment sliding as universities cancel/change women's studies

Woman's Studies is on the decline at Canadian universities. That's the consensus after several schools have dropped or re-named the program in hopes of creating new interest. The most recent, being Queen's University who no longer has a Woman's Studies program, but allows students to take courses in"Gender Studies."

"This is the way the world is moving," says Bev Baines, the program's chairwoman. "If we want to bring the younger generation into study, we have to move."

Nippissing has also gone into re-marketing the program, now offering "Gender Studies & Social Justice." The University of Guelph has taken it one step further, canceling the program all together. The rationale behind it stems from both a lack of funding and the program's popularity. The program cost the university $73,000, according to the former coordinator.

In addition, on a National level the federal government has declared the fight for equality is over. It has recently shut down three-quarters of its Status of Women offices and cut off any group advocating for equality.

With this in mind, women are still under represented on all major fronts. Roughly 6 per cent of Bay Street, 13 per cent of universities and 22 per cent of parliament is made up of women.

With cuts to Woman's studies programs and a lack of funding put forth by the Canadian government, this grass roots movement may start to fade. That being said, I'd like to think that gender equality is fluent throughout all programs (excluding engineering!) The education surrounding these issues and the integration of this thinking into 21st century programs may be the route to take. That being said, the fight for equality continues as women strive to be viewed on the same playing field as men.

University of Montreal uncovers new findings on Men and Porn

For all of you anti-porn elitist out there (I don't really know any - but I'm sure they exist), you're finally being put in your place today. A new study from the University of Montreal has found that porn does not turn men into twisted individuals with revolting sexual fetishes.

The study, headed up by Associate Professor Simon Louis Lajeunesse at the School of Social Work was able to find no correlation between pornography and angry or aggressive behavior towards women.

"Not one subject had a pathological sexuality. In fact, all of their sexual practices were quite conventional," says Lajeunesse.

Furthermore, all of the participants studied said that they supported gender equality and felt "victimized by the rhetoric demonizing pornography." All of the individuals were able to separate fantasy from reality. In addition, they did not want girlfriends who dressed or acted like porn stars.

"All the guys said, 'oh, my God, never!' " Lajeunesse recalls. "The fantasy is broken in the real world and men don't want their partners to look like a porn star."

"Pornography hasn't changed their perception of women or their relationship which they all want as harmonious and fulfilling as possible," explains Lajeunesse. "Critics who claim porn negatively influences male behaviour simply don't understand how men watch porn."

Many anti-porn feminists believe that porn degrades all women because it "prompts men to objectify women," says Simon Fraser University criminologist Sara Smyth.

But "no causal link has ever been found between porn and harm," she says.

The consensus is that, at most, it's possible porn reinforces some already existing misogyny, she adds.

I think North American society has come to recognize it as a healthy habit that all men partake in. That being said, I'm sure there has to be some sort of link between psychological issues and pornography. Too much of one thing is never good, especially when it comes to sex.

However, I question the research conducted. There has to be some sort of association, doesn't there? Ultimately these scenes of violence and objectification are in demand due to men who have some interest or hidden fantasy in taking part in this type of behaviour. Furthermore, there was no mention of how many men took part in the study and no real comparison in terms of violent men who hadn't watched pornography vs. men who were violent and had watched pornography.

Lajeunesse states, "We started our research seeking men in their twenties who had never consumed pornography - We couldn't find any."

With this being said, how should we view these results? With sex being naturalized within North America, the continual promotion of sexual behaviour is bound to grow.

At this point it's such a cultural norm, that it can't be blamed.

Our $3 Mil facility vs. Ryerson and their $60 Mil Maple Leaf Gardens Reno

So wait. Something's not right here. I'm going to play the jealous University student/8 year old boy card and say "Why does Ryerson get a 60 Million dollar renovated Maple Leaf Garden's as their athletic facility and we don't?!"

It's true though. Ryerson university will be contributing $20 million to the $60 million dollar facility at Carlton and Church Street. The facility will receive a renovated ice rink and athletic complex, in addition to a Loblaw's grocery store.

"In the life of a university, there are many announcements. But this one is special. It is one of those 'moments' that will be defined as, 'Do you remember when?'" said Ryerson president Sheldon Levy. "We're bringing Maple Leaf Gardens back to life."

This comes after a $126 increase per student was put in place this past year, to fund the project.

The development, Levy said, is becoming a reality because of the students, who voted "overwhelmingly" in a referendum last year to increase their student fees for a new athletic centre.

Loblaws, which bought the Gardens in 2004, will pay about $20 million to build a 70,000-square-foot store at street level and new underground parking. It also donated $5 million to Ryerson, which is trying to raise the additional $20 million to fund the Gardens' revitalization.

In addition to the school's contribution, the government will be investing roughly 40 million dollars. The project is apart of the national stimulus plan set in place this past year. The project is currently expected to create between 500 and 600 jobs.

Federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty was in attendance at yesterday's announcement at the Gardens.

"This building was one of the original infrastructure stimulus projects in 1931," Flaherty said. "It employed a lot of people and got built very quickly during the Depression."

With the restorations moving forward, Levy and Loblaw's CEO Galen Weston has promised that the heritage and aesthetic of the Gardens will not be destroyed. The new Gardens is also set to include a Gardens and Leafs memorabilia museum.

"The idea here is preserve and build upon the integrity of this facility and to embrace the history, not to wipe it out," Weston said.

Where do Ryerson student's stand on the issue I wonder? Will the new athletic facility live up to everything students are hoping for? I know there has been mixed reviews here at Western after we finally open the doors to our new athletic facility.

Of course, the bigger nightmare has now been "What to do with the old athletic facility?" With the referendum being rejected last year, the USC seems to be scrounging for ways to renovate the old area.

None the less, this project seems to create new passion for the city, along with a number of projects to stimulate the economy. I, for one, am quite jealous of Ryerson students for having the opportunity to use a legendary facility. At the same time however, I can already see the hordes of people making their way into the facility, along with the corporate extortion and profiteering that is bound to take place.