RSS

By: Mr. Kaya

Concordia political science student, William Groombridge, has taken the university to court due to an incorrect letter grade.

According to The Link, Groombridge had completed an elective political science course in Energy Policy in December of 2011 with a final grade of 81 per cent after the final exam. This grade would leave Groombridge with an A-minus, as the departments grading systems grants students with a grade of 80 to 84 per cent is an A-minus

However, when Groombridge received his final grade it had gone down one letter grade to a B-plus.

Groombridge has stated that this is a violation of a contract between the student and the university, which was clearly laid out in the course outline. It is Groombridge’s belief that the department has broken that agreement. 

Groombridge had attempted to sort the situation out with Casba Nikolenyi, the chair of the political science department, before taking his issue to small claims court, however Nikolenyi told Groombridge that his grade was final.

           Groombridge continued to question several bodies at the university over the next few months however he had no luck ever reaching a solution to his problem. Groombridge tried to set up a meeting with the dean of the political science department however his attempts were not successful.

           A demand letter was then delivered to the university by a bailiff that Groombridge had paid.

           Groombridge asked for a refund for the course on April 19^th because of non-performance and failure to respect terms of agreement. Concordia’s Office of the General Council contacted Groombridge and told him he would receive a response. This never happened.

            After their deadline expired, Groombridge filed his case, which caused the university to file a defense.

            As it currently stands under Section 16.3.1 of Concordia’s Undergraduate Calendar, the university reserves the right to make corrections to a students grade at any time in case of error.

            In Groombridge’s class, roughly 45 per cent of the grades in question were in the A range. However, due to policies grades had been curved because marks were seen as being too high. In this case, the policy was not enforced properly.

            Professor Felix von Geyer, now former Concordia part-time professor who had taught Groombridge’s class claims that he took the students who were at the lowest end of the scale of an A-minus and brought them down to a B-plus.

             This is a new policy in the political science department and one that doesn’t seem to have any written form. The Concordia University Part-Time Faculty Association has requested a copy of the policy to review however one was not provided.

   Groombridge is now waiting for a court date but does not expect to see any results in the near future.

Gilles Surprenant has testified that he has met Mob boss Vito Rizzuto twice before.

According to CBC News, the former Montreal engineer met Rizzuto twice over the time he was accepting kickbacks on construction contracts.

They crossed paths in 1997 and 2002 both times while playing golf in the Dominican Republic and Terrebonne a suburb on Montreal’s north shore.

Surprenant testified last week that he accepted $600 000 in bribes over a period of ten years. In return for giving more money to construction companies through the contracts they won.

Surprenant’s testimony at the Charbonneau Commission follows that of former construction tycoon Lino Zambito. He testified that three percent of kickbacks from all construction projects went to the ruling Union Montreal party. Mayor Gerard Tremblay has denied the allegation.

The spectacle at Foufounes Electriques on Monday night was no evening with your uncle and his dusty old punk LPs talking about the good ol’ days. Vancouver veteran rockers D.O.A. catered to a crowd of fresh faces who were hip to the new modernized and refined punk-rock, and also delivered a dose of Canadian grade-A punk nostalgia to the hoards of seasoned fans.

The band revived classics like "Class War", "Police Brutality", and "World War III", and D.O.A.’s latest lineup (with Dan Yaremko on bass and J.J Heath on drums) infused the old anarchist, anti-conformist anthems that crystallized D.O.A.’s place in the hardcore movement of the 1980’s with precision and modified energy. Joey Shithead displayed equal amounts of energy and vibrancy by swinging and wailing his guitar over his shoulder and around his head as he strummed dissonant chords. He experimented with a little Hendrix-esque guitar solos, and let his dentures play a few leads.

Joey growled into the microphone while the drum and bass thumped away in the background. This reggae and ska fan found comfort in the Clash inspired ska-punk tunes among the driving and fast songs. This supplied an interesting contrast of tight bass-drum riffs accompanied by Joey’s distorted guitar strokes.

D.O.A. jammed out a fuzzed up version of "War" to build up to the set's climax, with Joey and Dan doing callbacks of "War! What is it good for?! Absolutely nothing!" The crowd was energetic and danced and moshed throughout the entire set displaying ample familiarity with the bands material. D.O.A. prematurely left the stage only to return after a passionate cry for an encore from the now broken-in crowd. Their encore further encouraged by rounds of whiskeys that numerous die-hard fans enthusiastically supplied.

The crowd spiraled into a chaos of hair, leather, and airborne fists when the band broke into their self-titled theme song "D.O.A". After another calming ska number "War in the East", Joey Shithead expressed his appreciation to the crowd, indirectly referencing their infamous mantra of "talk minus action equals zero", stating that without crowds like the one present at Foufounes there would be no punk, only talk.

The evening ended with a prophetic message from the Canuck King of Punk Rock, "Together we will... Together we must... Bring this world to a better place." Wherever that place is, it most likely is wherever the D.O.A. is traveling next.

-- Mack Mackenzie hosts Revolution 33 1/3, Mondays at 2-3 pm

A Concordia international student claims he's lost thousands of dollars in a well-documented scam.

According to CBC News, Abdul Ghaffar lost the money to a scam involving bogus cheques.

Ghaffar found a job on craigslist which called for general hone labour. The job responsibilities included cleaning a person's house while he was in the Philippines. Every week the employer sent him a cheque of which he was to deduct $300 for his salary and $200 for groceries. The remaining balance would be wired to the Phillippines.

Ghaffar found out last Wednesday that the bank had frozen the latest cheque because it had bounced. As a result they took the money out of his account and froze it.

Ghaffar's study permit doesn't allow him to work while in Canada so he looked for jobs that paid cash. The Pakistani native now faces an uphill battle to pay his tuition for next semester.

Flickr Photo by: menj