Having a strike in the summer would actually affect students much less than during the school year.

And why wouldn't a strike be a possibility? Since my first year the treatment of sessionals has gotten progressively worse. Their pay is quite low and their benefits, if they get any at all are pretty terrible. There is no job security. etc etc.

Originally Posted by kokosas

Now there are rumors, and I stress the word rumors, that the new Liberal Arts building is actually going to be used for psychology (brain wave testing, how peoples brains react to music etc) but that cannot be confirmed yet...

Yeah, that idea's been bounced around for a long time now, and some sort of partnership does seem likely. The groundwork has already been laid - look at the McMaster Institute for Music and the Mind (http://mimm.mcmaster.ca/), which is a collaborative effort between Psych, the School of the Arts, Engineering, etc. (and is pretty fascinating, if you ask me). Now, it's not like the entire building would actually be for psych, though - it would seem that the logic they're using is that if you're building a concert hall anyway, why not wire it up so that you can monitor the physiological responses of the audience to the music they're hearing? Kills two birds with one stone. On the other hand, the jaded part of me suspects that the only reason the arts are getting funding in this case is because they've found a way to tie it to science...but I digress.

Peter George did state that one goal of the big fundraising campaign they're currently undertaking ("The Campaign for McMaster University") would partly focus on "Liberal Arts for the 21st Century", unlike previous campaigns which were more science/engineering/business-oriented. You can read more about that here:
http://www.mcmaster.ca/mcmastercampa...beralarts.html

Maybe philosophy just isn't 21st-century enough for them

Originally Posted by lorend

Having a strike in the summer would actually affect students much less than during the school year.

And why wouldn't a strike be a possibility? Since my first year the treatment of sessionals has gotten progressively worse. Their pay is quite low and their benefits, if they get any at all are pretty terrible. There is no job security. etc etc.

You answered your own question

Sessionals don't want to screw over students...their aim in striking isn't to prevent people from taking courses...it is to get the point across that they are under-appreciated and underpaid.

starting wage for a tenured professor is 40 000. that's 10 years of university education, plus at least a few years of teaching work. starting wage for a highschool teacher (full-time) is about the same, and requires half the education.

Well, in class today (I'm in summer school right now) the prof said that the union has the right to strike if no deals are reached by Sunday.

I know the MIMM has been looking for a place for some time now. They originally wanted a section of Thode but there wasn't enough space.

I understand the fact that hiring sessionals are a lot more economical than giving tenure, but ultimately it comes down to whether the university should be run like a business or not...

My prof tonite said the same thing as well.

Originally Posted by Cippi

Maybe philosophy just isn't 21st-century enough for them

Oh no! I'm screwed!