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Hunger Games fans switch arenas from page to screen
What is it about The Hunger Games that has made it the hottest teen fiction series since Harry Potter and Twilight? We went to the source and found three avid and articulate fans — ages 17 to 74 — to tell us. They love Suzanne Collins’ best-selling dystopian trilogy about a future dictatorship in which teens, primped by stylists and costume designers, are forced to fight to the death on TV. And they’re just as excited about the highly anticipated movie version of the first book, starring Jennifer Lawrence as heroine Katniss Everdeen. It opens Friday.
Read more in THE VANCOUVER SUN here.
BY BOB MINZESHEIMER, MCT MARCH 19, 2012
Susan Lambert wins election, stays BCTF president
The BC Teachers’ Federation executive committee elections this morning saw incumbent President Susan Lambert keep her position, beating out challenger Rick Guenther by 429 votes to 238.
Lambert, a teacher librarian who began her teaching career in Prince Rupert in the early 1970s, has been president of the teachers’ union since 2010. Lambert ran as a part of “The Coalition,” a slate that includes 1st Vice President Jim Iker, who also retained his seat, and 2nd Vice President Glen Hansman, whose seat is being challenged by Stephen Zlotnik, a teacher from Boundary.
Challenger Rick Guenther, an independent member of the BCTF executive, had hoped to unseat Lambert telling The Vancouver Sun the Coalition had been in power for 10 years and it was time for a change. Guenther campaigned on the platform that the BCTF wasn’t engaging with the government or teacher-associated groups like the BC Coalition of Parent Advisory Councils, and that the teachers’ public image was in need of repair.
Teachers’ rejected that position, however, in favour of Lambert who has received strong support from both teachers and fellow public sector unions like the BC Federation of Labour, the Canadian Union of Public Employees, and several national and international teachers’ unions, during the BCTF’s fight against the Education Improvement Act, which legislates teachers to return to the bargaining table with their employers, and a government approved mediator, to reach a net zero contract agreement by the end of June.
Teachers are supposed to decide today or tomorrow the next steps in their fight against the legislation, which could include everything from withdrawing from extracurricular activities to a full-scale illegal walkout that could cost the union up to $20 million a day in fines.
By Katie Hyslop March 20, 2012 10:42 am – The Tyee Hook Blog
Katie Hyslop reports on education and youth issues for The Tyee and The Tyee Solutions Society.
Opinion: B.C. Liberals want nothing less than a makeover of the education system
By Vaughn Palmer, Vancouver Sun March 12, 2012
VICTORIA – As the legislature entered the sixth day of debate on Bill 22, the B.C. Liberals wielded their legislative majority to cut off debate on one of the most controversial aspects of the legislation, the form of mediation that will be used in the teachers’ contract dispute.
The measure at hand was an Opposition amendment favouring the appointment of “an independent mediator to resolve the dispute without legislation,” and with no strings attached in terms of what the mediator could and could not address.
It contrasted sharply with the Liberal approach of a mediator hand-picked by Education Minister George Abbott and acting on restrictive terms of reference.
Some of those terms were to be expected. Having secured more than 130 public sector contract settlements on the net-zero mandate — including 30 in the education sector — the Liberals weren’t about to make an exception for the teachers.
The mediator has the option of helping the teachers to explore the option that other unions have taken, which is negotiating trade-offs that can then be costed to pay for a wage increase.
Read THE VANCOUVER SUN full article here.
vpalmer@vancouversun.com
© Copyright (c) The Vancouver Sun
Teachers to plan anti-Bill 22 measures Sunday
The legislature gave final approval Thursday to the controversial Bill 22 and it will become law Saturday. That’s the same day teacher activists from around the province will gather in Vancouver for the B.C. Teachers’ Federation (BCTF) annual general meeting at the Hyatt Regency.
The main business at this year’s meeting will be crafting a response to Bill 22 that will demonstrate teacher anger while not splitting the union or alienating the public. It will be a difficult balance. BCTF executive members spent long hours this week drafting recommendations for action, and those will be presented to the 700 delegates Sunday for an in-camera debate. The decisions during the AGM are expected to be taken to the broader membership for ratification.
We know delegates will discuss the possibility of BCTF members withdrawing from extracurricular activities, such as coaching sports teams, directing drama productions and sponsoring student clubs. Some locals are already moving in that direction. I’m told some teachers are pushing for a wildcat walkout, but I doubt that will fly, given the bill’s stiff penalties for illegal job action. There could also be proposals for political action to defeat the Liberals during the 2013 election, although the BCTF, as a union, does not usually get involved in that way. At least, not officially.
There will also be a leadership vote Tuesday, with Rick Guenther challenging Susan Lambert for the presidency. There is a third contender – Chris Drouillard, a teacher from 100 Mile House – but he’s not well known and won’t win (although he might draw support from Guenther). Read my story here.
I asked Guenther on Thursday what change he wants to see in the BCTF leadership.
Read THE VANCOUVER SUN full article here.
By Janet Steffenhagen, THE VANCOUVER SUN
March 15, 2012. 6:17 pm • Section: Report Card, STAFF
© Copyright (c) The Vancouver Sun
UBC may use Grade 11 transcripts to assess applicants
VANCOUVER SUN MARCH 13, 2012
The University of B.C. says it might use Grade 11 transcripts this year in assessing B.C. applicants who do not have a Grade 12 report card due to teacher job action.
But it’s reassuring students who didn’t do as well last year as this year that Grade 11 marks will not replace Grade 12 marks.
“No student will be disadvantaged by the use of Grade 11 grades,” Andrew Arida, director of undergraduate admissions, said in an interview. “If the substitution of Grade 11 grades works and gets you in, great. If it doesn’t we will not make a final decision on you until we see your full Grade 12 grades in May so there is no detrimental effect of this change in policy – if it’s approved.”
The UBC Senate is expected to decide Wednesday whether the university should accept students based on Grade 11 marks. A similar decision will be made for the UBC Okanagan campus.
As a result of job action, B.C. teachers have not written report cards this year. Their union, the B.C. Teachers’ Federation (BCTF), says students who need marks for post-secondary or scholarship applications need only ask for them.
Read The Vancouver Sun full article here.
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