Law school applicants, two-tier athletics & Arun Smith

1. It’s not just teacher’s college where the number of applicants is falling. Law schools in the United States are in crisis mode after statistics from the Law School Admission Council show that the number of applicants dropped 20 per cent from last year after falling 14 per cent the year before. In Canada the number of applicants is down four per cent, which is certainly not a crisis and may even be good news considering there is a small shortage of articling positions. Bill Flanagan, president of the Canadian Council of Law Deans, offered Canadian Lawyer Magazine his assessment. “On average, tuition at Canadian law schools is much more affordable than many U.S. law schools,” he said, adding, “the job market for Canadian law grads is better in many Canadian legal markets than it is for U.S. law grads in many U.S. legal markets.”

2. Ahead of Quebec’s much-anticipated higher education summit, the Concordia Student Union is seeking input from students, even though it’s clear the executives have already got their minds made up about a few things. CSU VP External Simon-Pierre Lauzon said at a town hall kicking off week-long online vote, “there’s a job to get done and if we don’t do it, the people who were proposing 150 per cent increases are going to do it.” While such a consultation is a welcome idea, most of the proposals ask the government to spend more money, which is unrealistic considering the government has no money to spend. The proposals range from a network of drop-in daycare centres on campuses to more research opportunities for students. And, of course no tuition.

3. Warm Bodies, the zomcom (zombie romantic comedy) film about a zombie who falls in love in a post-apocalyptic world is getting positive reviews from critics, like CBC’s Eli Glasner, and students like Ken Kongatong of The Varsity at the University of Toronto. “Warm Bodies has everything that one could want from a zombie film, namely blood and gore, but it also offers something more profound,” writes Kongatong. “The film is a darkly comical and earnest reflection on the lack of empathy that all too often characterizes our interactions with one another. In the words of John Malkovich’s character, people nowadays are ‘uncaring, unfeeling and incapable of remorse.'”

4. The Carleton University Students’ Association passed a motion last week declaring seventh-year human rights student Arun Smith’s destruction of a free speech wall “an act of vandalism.” The council will also support any disciplinary action taken by the university administration and has called for Smith’s resignation from the Carleton Academic Student Government where he is a human rights representative, reports The Charlatan. Smith destroyed the free speech wall erected by Carleton Students for Liberty because he didn’t like statements people wrote like “traditional marriage is awesome.” Immediately after the meeting Smith tweeted “I will not be resigning, and I find it interesting that CUSA won’t take a similar stand against Zane’s racism.” Zane Colt, a former representative on Carleton’s Board of Governors resigned after a tweet about an Arab keffiyeh.

5. Outgoing Canadian Interuniversity Sport president Leo MacPherson is worried about a “talent drain” in varsity sports after a number of prospective Canadian student athletes went to play in the to the NCAA and Simon Fraser University ditched CIS for the league. However, MacPherson is skeptical about a proposal for a two-tiered league to make it more attractive. “We have a very, very broad geographic land mass that we have to cover in Canada. I just don’t see the financial feasibility of that happening, but it is provocative dialogue,” MacPherson told McMaster’s Silhouette.