I was looking into the issue of Quebec’s dentists opting out of the provincial health care plan, and I ended up on the web site of Dr. Maddahi, a Beverly Hills cosmetic dental professional you may have seen on Oprah or Extreme Makeover, among other shows. Being as he’s not a local dentist I normally wouldn’t have taken the time to look around his site, but something made me stay and look around. I learned a lot about dentistry today!

While the dentists I know are all still using the old fashioned uncomfortable methods, Dr. Maddahi has tea with his patients and employs a gentleman who does soft tissue therapy (a kind of facial massage.) The local guys use drills and syringes, and other tools that make going to the dentist feel like keeping an appointment with the inquisition (or an Old West barber, at best.) Dr. Maddahi uses an air drill that makes anæsthetic unnecessary, and he’s got a ton of other neat gadgets too. You can see video of them on his web site (choose “Tour the Office” to see the whole package if you’ve got the time, or watch short clips of individual “Services” that you want to learn about.)

Dr. Maddahi’s catch words are “Harmony ~ Balance ~ Beauty.” Considering the current situation in Quebec, these are words I wish more dentists would take to heart.

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Concordia University in Montreal is facing a series of rotating strikes beginning Monday, 31 March 2008. Part time faculty have been without a contract for six years - yes, I said six years. The instructors are members of Concordia University Part-time Faculty Association (CUPFA) and they teach 40% of the university’s classes. With only three weeks left in the semester, this is a serious matter for students.

According to a CTV news report the university doesn’t expect the strike to affect many classes, however a Gazette report quotes direct of media relations Chris Mota as saying, “[I]t’s difficult to say what impact a walkout would have on students and day-to-day operations at the university.”

CUPFA is looking for pay equity with their peers. Lecturers at both Montreal’s French speaking universities earn $7,000 for a 13-week course, whereas CUPFA members earn only $5,400 for the same work. In addition, the university had signed a letter of agreement that would grant full time faculty exactly the same wage for teaching “reserve” or extra courses, as was granted to the part time faculty. Despite the agreement, the university is paying $6,800 for these reserve courses - a full $1,400 more than they should. The union has already filed a grievance, which was won at the Quebec Court of Appeal in June 2007. They have yet to receive any wage adjustment or retroactive pay.

CUPFA points out that since its contract expired their class sizes and workloads have both increased, and their wages have been frozen. They are also looking for benefits such as medical and disability insurance, a pension plan, parental leave, and dedicated office space. They also want job security.

There doesn’t seem to be any end to the disruption of educational services in Montreal this year. No matter how much I empathize with employees who are denied pay equity with their peers and who work without benefits or job security, I can’t shake the feeling that they are holding the students hostage when they decide to strike so close to the end of a semester. And as much as I would like to sympathize with an underfunded university that seems eager to explore financial alternatives (e.g. tuition deregulation that would see students who expect to earn higher wages charged higher tuitions,) I can’t help but wonder how the university can allow its staff to go so long without a valid contract.

This is not the first time, either. The clerical staff was 5-1/2 years without a contract when they finally settled, and not so very long ago it was the teaching assistants who were fighting for their contract.

Best of luck to the Concordia students. I urge you to show up for your classes as usual this next few weeks, and let both the faculty and the university know how you feel when a class is cancelled. It may feel like it’s a nice break, but you’ve paid for those classes with your good money, and you were promised an education in return. When your classes are cancelled, both your professors and the university are failing you.

This work was created by Ruby of Freehold 2, and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 Canada License.

Excerpts copyright quoted authors. Please visit their sites to read more, and respect the terms of their copyrights. Thanks to the Gazette and CUPFA for the details.

Earlier today I was saying that home educators should attempt to offer our kids information about non-traditional jobs. Have you discussed green-collar careers? How about operating their own business? With the forecast recession in the United States and the very real possibility it will trigger what has been called a “global slump,” career planning should include not only backup plans but a look at jobs that are not as likely to be affected by the recession.

ActionCOACH is a business mentoring service whose web site offers a number of resources suitable for career planning education. Check out their news page or sign up for a newsletter. There are also a ton of free e-books that you might find useful for media arts or consumer education, as well as career planning. Learn how professionals make flyers and brochures, for example, or how to design a business card or letterhead. It would be great fun to make a project of setting up an imaginary (or projected) business using what you learn about marketing and promotion.

One of the things I liked best about the site is that coaches’ identities are highlighted. Each article has the photo of the author, and a link to their web page. There is also another link that allows you to contact the coach directly. So many of the articles I’ve been reading lately come from some nameless faceless press service, and don’t even have the byline of the person who wrote them. Despite the fact that internet makes communication easier and we have more training than ever for journalists, it seems a greater proportion of what we read and watch is just a carbon copy or a quick rewrite of text spit out by some anonymous copywriter. (I’m getting images of a desk in some dark dank corner, piled high with file folders!)

I’m not usually a fan of inspirational speakers and their outlines - so many steps to success, so many principles of XYZ business, so many mantras or slogans or catch phrases. As if their way of doing things is the only one….

That being said, I do think that the founder of ActionCOACH has some interesting things to say. He’s pretty to the point, and tends to focus on the positives. Take advantage of the free videos offered at ActionCOACH - they might even inspire a reluctant high schooler. The goal is not success in business alone, but success in life. And in some ways, what is said resonates a good deal with the attitudes of many homeschoolers.

This work was created by Ruby of Freehold 2, and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 Canada License.

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Our computer went berzerk again today. Actually last night, but I was so exhausted by the time it happened I wasn’t even thinking about it when I went to bed. It was in hubby’s capable hands, and I didn’t think about it again until I got up this morning. It seems to be OK now. No guarantees, but it finally rebooted normally, and my anti-virus software and firewall are running normally. For now. Time to start saving up for a new computer….

In the process of trying to resolve the malfunction hubby discovered that our ISP is throttling bandwidth during peak traffic hours. That might explain why I can’t even get my own blog pages to load some evenings….. So much for the promise of 6M bps! I think it might be time to start shopping for a new ISP too.

Christine Saint-Vil disappeared and reappeared in the space of a couple hours yesterday - at least that was the way it seemed from what little media coverage she got. The 15 year old autistic girl had actually been gone for over 24 hours when she was found. Very little coverage has been given either to her disappearance or her safe return. Despite the concern for her family’s privacy, it would be nice to hear that she has returned home without further incident and that police have closed the case.

At the Freehold the Little Commandant has begun to learn the Greek alphabet, thanks to another viewing of Steve Demme’s video and some encouragement from Daddy. Dojogirl had a blast with it. Like a cartoon character, she threw her arms up high and proclaimed, “Ha ha! Take that, public school! The Greek alphabet is so easy a 3 year old can do it!” (A bit of a simplification, but it was cute!)

I have a good many subjects to be blogging about in the near future: the Quebec dentists opting out of the provincial health plan, front of package nutritional labelling for pre-packaged foods (a subject that has raised much concern from the girls & one that we plan to cover through a group project,) and a look at the issue of student rights in public schools. And, of course, the promised review of Geography Trails! No rest for the wicked blogger….

I continue to have a dozen or more visits each day from folks looking for footbinding (or foot binding.) Still no clue why that subject is such a draw. If any of those visiting would care to shed some light, I’d love to hear from you….

This work was created by Ruby of Freehold 2, and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 Canada License.

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Rosemary just seems to be popping up a lot this week! On web sites, on my shopping list, in other odd places. It is one of my favourite herbs, and as I was saying just yesterday to another blogger, my Mom grew lovely rosemary plants in her fairy garden. These lines from Hamlet came to mind today, triggered by some odd comment I half-heard from the television in the next room. I thought it might be nice to share
This work was created by Ruby of Freehold 2, and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 Canada License.

Excerpts copyright quoted authors. Please visit their sites to read more, and respect the terms of their copyrights. Rosemary bush image public domain, courtesy of Fir0002 and Wikipedia. Thanks!