Real History News and Gateway YEG-GA
Prologue: The Investigative Travels of S.W. and Gateway YEG-GA
Consistent with a few other diminuitive works conceived by the School of One Carver for Project Y150 YEG-GA, this piece was sculpted from a portion of a larger, soft Brazilian stone obtained by the School of One Carver from the enterprising rock merchant Asad (now retired) on 118 Avenue, Edmonton. The patriotic lineage of the rock was confirmed when another carving from the larger stone was commissioned as one of the gifts for a Chinese government delegation to Canada associated with the visit of the artist Fan Zeng by the Provost of the University of Alberta in Fall, 2013. The carving is inspired by the student newspaper called the Gateway, a publication which first owes its origins to the opening decades of the twentieth century. Gateway YEG-GA is dedicated to the individual agency, accomplishments and contributions of campus reporters, past, present and future, especially those who have been passionate supporters of Human Rights at the University of Alberta.
Following discussions regarding current events in and around campus as well as the larger World, Gateway YEG-GA was presented to J.S. in Summer 2016. J.S. is from a large community in Northern Alberta and maintains an eclectic interest in both the Hard Sciences and the Liberal Arts, a refreshing outlook made possible as an Open Studies student at the University of Alberta. J.S.'s collaboration in Project Y150 YEG-GA is also enriched by an association with the Gateway newspaper and a deep-seated interest in issues central to the larger university community, as she clearly reveals in her first vignette found below.
Dateline September 23: Sexual Assault Issues, Fall 2016
Policy Discussions, University of Alberta
September 23, 2016. 14°/7°C
Earlier this week I arrived in South Academic Building (SAB) to listen to university "bigwigs" discuss the first draft of the institution’s upcoming sexual assault policy. The policy will be finalized some time in 2017.
I was pleasantly surprised with the discussion I heard in SAB. The higher-ups really picked the draft apart to make it more user-friendly. Some people were concerned that it was too wordy and confusing. Some people wanted the policy to make reporting easier for victims while others in attendance said that the document needed to do a better job outlining the procedures that would be followed in the event of a sexual assault. A female administrator complained of a case where university protective services didn’t take a victim seriously. A male administrator replied to her that was the result of a procedural problem, and not a policy problem. The female administrator retorted that it was definitely a policy problem because protective services should have had a clear guidelines which outlined the proper way to handle disclosures of sex crimes. In the end, the male administrator agreed and rescinded his critique.
The numbers published by Protective Services seem to suggest that sexual assault on campus is infrequent at the U of A. According to their figures, there were two incidents of sexual assault on campus in 2015 and three in 2013 as well as in 2014. But a comparison to national statistics indicates that the numbers of cases are probably much higher because many of them go unreported, an aspect of this serious issue acknowledged by the committee.
I’m skeptical of how the policy will work in practice, but I think it’s important that this pressing issue is on the table. Anyone I’ve talked to who has been through the U of A’s current response to sexual assault calls it a joke. Usually, they cite cumbersome judicial processes, confusing policies, and the associate problem with low reporting rates. But maybe a "standalone" policy will improve this situations.