Spaces, Places and Faces » Social Justice

March 17, 2011: Israeli Awareness Week

SPF — Fri, 18 Mar 2011 00:46:09 +0000

Descalier’s 1550 World Map, detail of Australia. Hear about the map in this week’s Madgical moment. Credit.

This week on the show we heard the other side of the issue from last week’s feature on Israeli Apartheid Week, had a feature from first time SPF contributor Chris Boerger, and our 7th episode of the Madgical Moments series, on a 1550 world map.

Emile Scheffel: Israeli Awareness
By: Robyn Penney, Regular SPF Contributor
Last week we had a feature from the organizers of the Israeli Apartheid week, and this week we had Emile Scheffel on to discuss the opposing viewpoint to the week’s events. He discussed some present issues that face pro-Israel students on campus, and the desperate need for some understanding and acceptance of opposing views on both sides.

Local Foods In Ottawa
By: Chris Boerger, Guest SPF Contributor
This morning we heard a feature from first-time SPF contributor Chris Boerger, a 2nd year environmental studies student who completed a radio documentary for one of his courses last semester. He looked at local foods in Ottawa, and interviewed the owner at Absinthe Cafe in Hintonburg.

Madgical Moments, Episode 7: 1550 World Map
By: Sue Pinard, Map Specialist in the Madgic Department
In this seventh episode, Sue discusses a map made by Pierre Desceliers in 1550, an interesting blend of old and new information in a time of rapid exploration in North America. You can see this map in the MacOdrum library, on the second by the elevators.

March 17, 2011: The Environmental News
By: Henry Hawkins, Regular SPF Contributor
In this week’s environmental news, Japan continues to recover from the 9.0 earthquake that devastated the country last friday, sales of electric vehicles get off to a slow start in the US, LEED certifications come under fire, and wind power gets a break in a recent Ontario court case.

January 20, 2011: The Yes You Can! Conference, Episode 2

SPF — Thu, 20 Jan 2011 17:46:09 +0000

This week on the show we heard a review of the Yes You Can! conference that took place this past week at Carleton, and a summary of Robyn’s presentation that she gave at the event. We also had a report from special guest Greg Boyle on the South March Highlands rally to protect Beaver Pond Forest, and had our 5th episode of the Madgical Moments Series, on cartograms.

Yes You Can! Conference Review
By: Henry Hawkins & Robyn Penney, Regular SPF Contributors
Robyn and Henry both attended the conference this past week, and shared their thoughts about it in a brief discussion on the show this morning.

Robyn Penney: Yes You Can! Conference Presentation Interview
By: Henry Hawkins, Regular SPF Contributor
Robyn gave a presentation at the Yes You Can! conference this past week, titled ‘Greening Your World’. She talked about the concept of being ‘green’, and ways people make connections with others to create vibrant, green communities in urban centres. She also talked about her involvement with the Biosphere Eco-City project, and the initiatives they’ve been working on.

South March Highlands Rally to Protect the Beaver Pond Forest
By: Andrew Lindstrom, Regular SPF Contributor & Special Guest Greg Boyle
Andrew and Greg attended the rally for the South March Highlands in Kanata last week. They gave us a short report this morning, talking about the rally they attended to protect the Beaver Pond Forest and the cause itself. You can find out more about the efforts, and their cause at the website.

Madgical Moment, Episode 5: Cartograms
By: Monica Ferguson, Map Specialist in MADGIC
This episode looks at a particularly large and colourful map of the world that doesn’t quite look like any world map you normally see. It is called ‘The Population Map’, and is presented as a cartogram, that represents statistical information in visual form. You can see this map in the SPF display in the Madgic Department, on the second floor of the MacOdrum Library.

The Environmental News
By: Henry Hawkins, Regular SPF Contributor
In this week’s environmental news, scientists predict the existence of a dark matter galaxy orbiting the Milky Way, 2010 has been one of the warmest years on record, the Mariana trench in the Pacific ocean is determined to have a greater role in climate regulation than previously thought, Carleton introduces new water bottle filling stations on campus, and La Nina has peaked, after floods have plagued Australia, Sri Lanka, the Phillipines, and Brazil.

December 2, 2010: Peter Singer Lecture

SPF — Thu, 02 Dec 2010 18:57:26 +0000

Philosopher Peter Singer delivering a lecture; hear about his approach to climate change ethics in this week’s feature. Picture Credit.

This morning on the show we heard the first feature from new SPF’er Kathy Lopez, and played the first episode of the Canadian Youth Delegation’s podcast series from the UN climate conference in Cancun.

Peter Singer: Ethical Dilemmas of Climate Change – Lecture Analysis
By: Kathy Lopez, Regular SPF Contributor
On November 18th, 2010, the Department of Philosophy at Carleton University hosted professor Singer as he delivered a lecture entitled “Climate Change: The Moral Wrongdoing by the Developed World”. He approached the issue of global warming through an ethical perspective, and based on three moral principals that give different solutions to the problem. He also explored the moral obligations of governments and individuals in addressing climate change. Singer showed that climate change is not only an problem for international politics and economies, but a moral issue based on underlying ethical dilemmas.

The Canadian Youth Delegation: Cancun Conference Podcasts
By: The CYD
The Canadian Youth Delegation are a group of volunteers from around Canada who focus on increasing awareness of climate change, and seek to engage youth in the fight for solutions to current climate problems. They are in Cancun right now, attending the 16th UN conference for climate change. The conference brings together representatives from countries around the world, to try to reach an agreement on future policies to address climate change. The Youth Delegation has been making daily podcasts of their experiences so far, and we played one of their episodes on the show this morning.

The Environmental News
By: Andrew Lindstrom, Regular SPF Contributor
In this week’s environmental news, scientists develop a prototype that converts co2 into gasoline, governments act to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, Nova Scotia introduces the first anti-idling act in Canada, and new research sheds light on the largest mammals that ever lived.

November 11, 2010: GIS Day At Carleton

SPF — Thu, 11 Nov 2010 13:56:03 +0000

This morning we heard all about GIS Department in Madgic, the upcoming GIS Day at Carleton on November 17th, and talked to Greg Macdougall from Organizing for Justice, a conference being held this weekend to promote social, environmental, and economic justice. You can visit the Carleton GIS Day website, or the worldwide website for more information.

Madgical Moments, Episode 3: GIS Department
By : Joel Rivard, GIS Specialist in Madgic

This morning Joel gave an introduction to the wide array of geospatial resources available in the Madgic GIS department. They have over 2 terrabytes of data available for students, with very high resolution of the Ottawa-Gatineau region, Ontario, and all of Canada, and some coverage of the rest of the world. Topographic and thematic data, satellite and 3 dimensional images are all available, covering many years and the Ottawa-Gatineau region. You can visit the GIS department online here.

GIS Day: CUGA & The Madgic Department
By: Henry Hawkins, Regular SpF Contributor

Joel Rivard from the Madgic Department in the Library talked about what the history of the GIS Day event at Carleton, and what the Madgic Department will be contributing to this year’s event. These include a student mapping contest, a display for visitors to pin their place of birth on a large paper map, and some door prizes that will be available for those who come by and check out the event.

Josh Chisholm from the CUGA gave us a brief introduction to what they are planning for this years event, with the geocaching event (sort of a treasure hunt with a GPS unit), a map folding demonstration by Steve Prashker, and the many organizations that will have booths set up on the day. It will be a great chance to stop by and find out about how GIS is used, and meet some people from NRCan, Statistics Canada, Agriculture and Agri-Foods Canada, and more.

Organizing For Justice: Greg Macdougall
By: Henry Hawkins, Regular SpF Contributor

This morning we had Greg Macdougall from Organizing for Justice, who talked about the conference this weekend. It will feature a keynote address on Friday evening, and a full day of workshops and lectures on Saturday. Greg talked about the concept behind the conference, effects of the G20 summit in Toronto this summer, and how to move from discussions and toward active participation. You can see the full list of events at their website, or through Facebook and Twitter.

The Environmental News
By: Veronica Tang, Regular SpF Contributor

In this week’s news, we heard about Jim Prentice resigning as Canadian Environment Minister, the truth behind a decomposing McDonald’s burger, geoengineering has been banned after a conference in Japan, the BP oil spill has been found to have done more damage than previously thouht, and electric car chargers go cordless.

July 1, 2010: Maude Barlow Q&A at the Mayfair

SPF — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 12:30:17 +0000

Liz Marshall and Maude Barlow at the screening of Water On The Table at the Mayfair.

A couple of weeks ago, The Mayfair put on a special screening of Water on the Table, a film about the worldwide fight for recognizing water as an essential human right, and not a commodity to be bought and sold to those who can afford it. Maude Barlow, chair of The Council of Canadians, former consultant to the UN, and water activist was at the screening, along with the director of the film, Liz Marshall. After the film they did a short question and answer session, discussing some of the issues surrounding the film. We come into the conversation while Maude is discussing Canada’s role in a recent UN meeting on the human right to water.

Later in the show, we went to the archives to hear a Green Routine from Brittany Boychuk, on how to have a ‘green’ vacation. We also had this week’s Environmental News, looking at the bp oil spill, news from Syncrude, and a recent report on scientists’ views on anthropogenic climate change.

A couple of weeks ago, The Mayfair put on a special screening of Water on the Table, a film about the worldwide fight for recognizing water as an essential human right, and not a commodity to be bought and sold to those who can afford it. Maude Barlow, chair of the Council of Canadians, former consultant to the UN, and water activist was at the screening, along with the director of the film, Liz Marshall. After the film they did a short question and answer session, discussing some of the issues surrounding the film. We come into the conversation while Maude is discussing Canada’s role in a recent UN meeting on the human right to water.

March 25, 2010: Homelessness In Ottawa

SPF — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 12:37:14 +0000

This week on the show, Henry Hawkins spoke with Fran Klodawsky, a professor of Geography at Carleton, about her research on homelessness in Ottawa. She spoke to some of the many myths of homelessness; why people become homeless, why it is not so easy to get out of, substance abuse and mental illnesses, and what kinds of people are typically homeless. Professor Klodawsky also discussed some of the social programs in Ottawa that work on supporting and preventing homelessness. The report from the Alliance to End Homelessness will be found here.

Later, Henry also spoke with the three participants of the recent 5 Days campaign for homelessness on campus. The 5 Days campaign in a Canada-wide effort, supported here at Carleton by the Sprott School of Business, that seeks to raise awareness in local communities on the prevalence of homelessness, and what people can do to get involved. Eric Berrigan, Michael Fleming, and Jessica Karam were the three participants, and they spoke about their experiences at the halfway point of the event, the reactions they faced from students, and why they got involved in the event.

March 11, 2010: Water in the West Bank & Green Buildings

SPF — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 14:07:32 +0000

Today on the show Carol Hunsberger spoke with Ilaria Giglioli about water vulnerability. Ilaria recently finished a Master’s degree in Geography at the University of Toronto, where she studied the different political approaches and priorities that have influenced water management in the West Bank. Carol had a chance to catch up with her while she was in town last week as a speaker for Israeli Apartheid Week.

Later, Robyn Penney had a report from last weekend’s Green Building competition held on our campus. Sponsored by the Green Building Council of Ottawa, students were put into groups and given 24 hours to create a finalized design and present it to the judges. Robyn spoke with many people, including Teresa Hanna, the coordinator of the competition, Andrew McClellan, a member of the winning team, and other students about their experiences.

January 28, 2010 – Derek Smith & The Peace Dove Campaign

SPF — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 20:27:21 +0000

This morning on the show Henry talked with Derek Smith, a Geography Professor here at Carleton University about his research in Newfoundland and the Honduras. His current research project looks at a small fishing community in the Change Islands, and focuses on topographic names of places, their spatial distribution, and the identity and cultural meaning those names convey.

Then, Robyn spoke Ten Thousand Villages store manager Judy Lincoln on the company’s Peace Dove campaign, selling artisan-crafted peace necklaces to raise money for the Cambodian people who have been left disabled as a result of war. They also discussed Ten Thousand Villages’ positive impact within developing nations across the world and how their established connections with Haitian artisans will help get some people get back on their feet.

Finally, we had a couple of visitors, Pat and Steve, from the Carleton University Geographic Association drop by the studio. They talked about their work within Carleton, and some of their upcoming events. You can contact them for more information at cugeogclub(at)gmail.com

January 21, 2010: Proroguing & Apartheid

SPF — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 22:34:13 +0000

This week Robyn Penney spoke with Carleton political science professor Jonathan Molloy about how proroguing is likely to affect us and what concerned citizens can do to be heard and respected. They discussed the dynamics of citizen interest in Canadian politics, and how social networking tools and other forms of media can impact the decisions of our country’s political powers.

Then, Carol Hunsberger talked with Rachel Gurofsky from OPIRG at Carleton about a conference being held this weekend on global apartheid in its many forms, including struggles faces by Palestinians, immigrant workers, indigenous people, and more.

Finally, Robyn spoke with Carleton professor John Tunnicliffe’s fieldwork with Environmental Impact Assessments. His work includes some key factors of designing and implementing and EIA and how this lengthy process can have positive outcomes.

November 19, 2009: Voter Representation and Environmental Justice

SPF — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 13:28:08 +0000

On today’s show we looked into the geography of voting. Many of us take “one person, one vote” for granted, but Stewart Fast explained how our votes can make more, or less, of a difference based on where we cast them. He spoke with Andy Blair and Yannick Carrière of Fair Vote Canada.

Then, we heard about environmental justice and the Alberta oil sands. Clayton Thomas-Muller from the Indigenous Environmental Network gave a keynote speech on the topic at the Power Shift Canada conference few weeks ago. We played a slightly shortened version of his address. Thanks to Greg Macdougall for recording the speech.