Fight for your right...

NewsSpeak is continuing the School theme (see previous story) and the battles that students undertake to secure decent grades.

 In this story, however, the students from a Canadian University take their fight all the way to an Canadian Court of Appeal in a bid that will have serious implications for free speech via social media. In this case, a University punished a set of twin students who openly criticised their Professor on Facebook.

The students fought back and took it all the way to the high levels of the legal establishment, ensuring that students have the right to disagree with a school's policy and slag off their teachers...just what Facebook was invented for! Taken from the 'Globe and Mail' --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Alberta’s highest court is siding with two University of Calgary students who say their Charter rights were violated when the school punished them for criticizing a professor on Facebook.

 The Court of Appeal upheld Wednesday a lower court ruling that found the Charter of Rights and Freedoms do apply when universities are meting out discipline to students. 

 The case involved twin brothers, Keith and Steven Pridgen. In 2007, both posted critical remarks in a Facebook group devoted to complaints about one of their professors, Aruna Mitra, who was teaching a law and society course for the first time. 

 The court decision describes how the comments were highly critical of Prof. Mitra’s qualifications and teaching skills. She was described as “inept,” “illogically abrasive” and “inconsistent.” One post suggested Prof. Mitra should be “drawn and quartered” for all to see. 

 Steven Pridgen complained about a mark. “Somehow I think she just got lazy and gave everybody a 65 … that’s what I got. Does anybody know how to apply to have it remarked?” he posted. Keith Pridgen posted how he was excited when he learned Prof. Mitra wasn’t teaching any course the following semester. “I think we should all congratulate ourselves for leaving a Mitra-free legacy,” he wrote. 

 Prof. Mitra complained to university administration and the school went after 10 members of the Facebook group, including the Pridgens. 

The university found all of the students guilty of non-academic misconduct. Keith Pridgen was put on probation and he and Steve were told to apologize. “I want to state emphatically that you are not being sanctioned for expressing your opinions on this site. You are at liberty to do so,” read the letter sent to Keith Pridgen. “It is important, however, that your views are not based on false premises, conjectures, and unsubstantiated assertions that are injurious to individuals or institutions and their hard-won reputations.” 

After being rebuffed by the university appeals process, the brothers appealed to the Court of Queen’s Bench, arguing they had a right to free speech. When the judge agreed with the brothers, the university took the matter to the Court of Appeal. 

 The school, backed by the Association of Colleges and Universities Canada and the Governors of the University of Alberta, didn’t dispute that the brothers’ rights had been violated. It argued that a previous Supreme Court ruling precludes the application of the Charter to public universities. 

 The three judges on the appeals panel all agreed to dismiss the appeal, although each of them wrote their own reasons for arriving at their decision.

 Justice Marina Paperny said that the Charter does apply to university discipline. Justice Bruce McDonald ruled that the university’s findings were unreasonable, but that there was no need to involve Charter rights to come to that conclusion. 

And Justice Brian O’Ferrall sided with the students, citing the university’s failure to consider their civil liberties. “I was a little bit worried when I first read the decision because I thought it was a split decision, but then I realized that it was only a split on the reasons for the decision,” Keith Pridgen said when reached by phone Wednesday. “Right from the get-go, for me, we didn’t do anything wrong … It’s been good broad-based support across the whole country and I think I’ve been feeling pretty affirmed in my position, just even from public opinion.” 

 The university did not immediately respond to a request for comment, nor did the Association of Colleges and Universities Canada. Keith Pridgen graduated last spring from the University of Calgary with a degree in political science. 

He worked for the Wildrose party in last month’s Alberta election and wants to go to law school. His brother transferred to Mount Royal University in Calgary and earned a criminal justice degree. He is now doing his masters degree in California. Keith Pridgen said he’s still happy to hold a degree from the school he fought through the courts. “I don’t hold anything against the university,” he said. “I think that there’s a big difference between a lot of the faculty that taught me and the administration who made, I think, some poor decisions along the way.”

Schools Out...

Newsspeak suspects that most readers during their school days often dreamt of punishing teachers when expected grades didn’t materialise, or just punishing them for the fun of it. Well, in West Midnapore, India, a group of disgruntled students’ deicide to take matters into their own hands when the school failed them in a recent exam. Taken from Asianage.com ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Class XI students of a school in West Midnapore district who had failed in the annual examination, on Thursday locked up the all the 50-odd staff and secretary after their meeting failed to yield any result.
 The students of the Nayabasan Janakalyan Vidyapeeth at Gopiballabhpur said they would not open the gate till they all were promoted to class XII, said Ashok Pattanaik, secretary of the school's managing committee.

Altogether 90 of the 247 students of Class XI of the school had failed in the annual examination conducted by the West Bengal Council of Higher Secondary Education. The school authorities could not do anything in this regard due to norms of the Council, he said.

The question papers of Class XI are set by the Council but the assessment of answers scripts are done internally.

 The results of the Class XI examination are to be declared by the end of this month across the state. The meeting between students and the authorities including the secretary began at 9 am but failed to resolve the issue till 10.30 when the school was closed for the day, Pattanaik said.

 When students of all the others classes left, these 90 students locked the outside gate keeping inside 52 persons - all the teaching and non-teaching staff and Pattanaik. Sources in the local police station said they had been informed by the school about the incident but were hesitating to take any action as a large number of school students were involved.

Ice Ice Baby

Yes readers, it has been a while and NewsSpeak has no firm reason as to it's absence, but the aim now is to update this Blog regularly (whole point of a blog really) and though there will be lapses, NewsSpeak will strive to deliver you interesting, humorous and thought-provoking news you won't find from any of the mainstream news outlets. It's a thankless task, but NewsSpeak takes on this responsibility with a real conviction.

Speaking of which, the following story centres on a upcoming court case in Melbourne, Australia, which features Australia's largest airline' Qantas which has yet to recover from industrial unrest with it's unionised workforce and the drug' Meth now part of popular culture thanks in part to the highly acclaimed TV show 'Breaking Bad'.

Taken from the 'Sydney Morning Herald'

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A VETERAN Qantas airline steward has been charged in Melbourne and later accused in court of using his job to import suspected ''ice'' from Los Angeles worth about $260,000.

Samuel Berl Kaufman, 49, was arrested last Friday in the basement car park of his South Yarra apartment on his return from the US after police received an anonymous tip.

A member of a Victoria Police divisional response unit told a court on Monday that Kaufman was found in possession of about 250 grams of methamphetamine.

Senior Constable James Howden said Kaufman's 17-year career with Qantas had included numerous long-haul flights and he had developed ''connections'' in the airline industry.

In opposing bail, Senior Constable Howden said Kaufman may know people in customs and other ''areas of airports'' that made it easy for him to bring drugs into Australia.
He told prosecutor Ashley Bird that Kaufman, who has no prior convictions, had worked for Qantas as a long-haul and domestic airline steward and was a risk of reoffending if bailed.

He said police executed search warrants on his home and car in which he admitted the latter contained drugs, ice and GHB.
Senior Constable Howden said the drugs were found in a plastic bag with associated items that included an ice pipe, several ''deal'' bags, plungers and empty glass vials.

Along with two small amounts of white powder that tested positive for methamphetamine, Kaufman admitted that liquid in two small bottles was GHB, he said.
Senior Constable Howden told the court that on arrest Kaufman produced two heavily taped, plain-packaged envelopes from his pants he said held cash a friend in the US had asked him to give to someone in Australia.
Kaufman allegedly said he collected the envelopes in Los Angeles that had possibly contained between $US10,000 ($9435) and $US20,000 that he had not declared to customs.

But Senior Constable Howden said the envelopes contained two blocks of ''white crystal'' substance that weighed 250 grams. He agreed with defence lawyer Kelly McKay there was no evidence Kaufman had paid for the larger drugs.
Kaufman faces nine charges, including two of importation and one of trafficking a commercial quantity of methamphetamine.

A Qantas spokesman contacted The Age on Wednesday afternoon to say that Kaufman had tendered his resignation.

Magistrate Jan Maclean yesterday bailed Kaufman with ''some reluctance'' on strict conditions - that included a $20,000 surety, reporting to police and surrendering his two passports - she felt would reduce the police fears to a manageable level.