[AelyaS]

Originally Posted by mcmasterrrrr

Which library has the ps3's and wii?

I wanna play D:

Mills, 4th floor.

[anon491]

Originally Posted by arathbon

I dunno what people are talking about with curriculum getting easier....

My brother is in Grade 8 and doing way more than I remember doing... Although I was in a gifted class and so is he.

I really wouldn't be able to tell for high school either. My high school had a special "self-paced" program and our courses were often set up very differently from other schools. But talking to my friends still in high school I haven't noticed a difference at my old high school.

Part of the problem is EVERYONE wants to go to University.

westmount?

actually that's not really true, the everyone wants to go to university thing.. or at least not at my school x(
In our class of about 200 graduates, only 25 went to university. about 50 went to college, and the rest are post-grad/taking a year off for work/doing apprenticeship etc.

[anon491]

Also, I'd argue that the curriculum is getting easier for these kids. Take into consideration also that Mac accepts marks on upgraded courses, where other schools like U of T don't. I know someone who got a 66% in grade 12 biology and upgraded it to a 99% in summer school >| this system can easily be abused and hence more students will get into university.

[AelyaS]

My high school had some ridiculous number of kids going off to university, something like 83% of the graduating class. The rest were off to college, with a very small fraction doing work. There were also kids who deferred their offers because they wanted to work a year (going to McGill, Queens, and Dalhousie)

[BlakeM]

Originally Posted by ooburii

Also, I'd argue that the curriculum is getting easier for these kids. Take into consideration also that Mac accepts marks on upgraded courses, where other schools like U of T don't. I know someone who got a 66% in grade 12 biology and upgraded it to a 99% in summer school >| this system can easily be abused and hence more students will get into university.

I don't see why its abuse. My first year in Grade 12 my average was about a 60. Second time it was ~ 89/90 overall. And now I am here instead of Mohaawk for Eng or some other program. How is that abuse? O_O

Also, they do have a quota. Higher # of applicants with higher grade averages probably just increases admission marks.

[britb]

Originally Posted by BlakeM

. Higher # of applicants with higher grade averages probably just increases admission marks.

Sure, but I'm saying there too many spaces in the first place. The university does not have the infrastructure to handle so many people, but they keep pushing and keep raising tuition anyway.

[Mahratta]

Originally Posted by britb

Sure, but I'm saying there too many spaces in the first place. The university does not have the infrastructure to handle so many people, but they keep pushing and keep raising tuition anyway.

Precisely. The university needs to tighten up admission to programs like Life Sciences, Social Sciences, and Engineering, those are the ones which bring in the bulk of students. Obviously, this will mean higher marks to get in - that's not too bad, considering that programs like engineering only require low to mid 80s at Mac, and there's plenty of other schools which have significantly higher requirements.

[taylojl]

Well apparently they need to raise tuition to pay for video games? And common, with all those video games they need to make more money. Low admission averages equals more students, even if they flunk out after first year. It's a money grab.

Who was responsible for the media/video game floor? This whole thing makes me sick.

[thompson]

Originally Posted by Mahratta

Precisely. The university needs to tighten up admission to programs like Life Sciences, Social Sciences, and Engineering, those are the ones which bring in the bulk of students. Obviously, this will mean higher marks to get in - that's not too bad, considering that programs like engineering only require low to mid 80s at Mac, and there's plenty of other schools which have significantly higher requirements.

The funny thing is that I feel that the Eng requirements allow Eng I to be a huge money grab.

Many anecdotal cases of people dropping out of Eng to take something else (or dropping out all together), in addition to many having to take a year off due to probation, going to Mohawk, and then coming back again to retake courses.

[Marlowe]

Originally Posted by Marlowe

Wouldn't building a new building actually detract from fixing up the arts quad? The university is only going to allocate so much money to classrooms for the arts- if they spend that money on a new building it means it won't get spent on renovating the arts quad. If they get funding for both I suppose that isn't an issue, but I'm not sure how likely that is.

Or did you mean they can put the classes that would otherwise use classrooms from the arts quad in the new building?

I felt I should comment on this now that I have a bit more information. It turns out the University is very optimistic about getting the funding to do both. So its very unlikely that this new building would detract from renovations to the arts quad.

Also, there really isn't a way for Mac to get funding for this building without highlighting the fact that it would allow them to enroll more students. Increasing the number of students in PSE is a pretty big goal of Ontario, and that's where most funding is going.

The university also wants to put another large lecture hall (think MDCL 1305) in this building, so all faculties would have at least some benefit, now that they have another place to hold some of the ridiculously large first year classes.

I'd also love to see more opinions from people in SocSci, Humanities, or Arts and Sciences, as they're the ones whom this will impact the most.

[TTHX]

Originally Posted by Kathy2

They took out HUNDREDS of desks/individual studying spots and replaced it with like 4 Mac computers, TVs and a Wii. Not impressed :(

Actually 12 Mac pros in the main area (taken from Thode actually). There is a gaming room with 3 flat screen TVs with all 3 consoles on each. Two edit suites with 2 more mac pros, one has a dynamic mic and a midi keyboard, other has a flatscreen tv, vcr, dvd, and laser disc player. Also there is a classroom with a smart board, 12 mac book pros, green screens and 3 studio lights. A glass consultation room as well for students to book to have group meetings in there.

This is a new media centre, targeted mainly at students in the multimedia program.

If there's a gaming course that requires you to play video games, then why shouldn't there be resources spent on that? In the grand scheme of things it's just one room. You don't realize how little resources multimedia kids actually have to utilize.

[RyanC]

Originally Posted by TTHX

If there's a gaming course that requires you to play video games, ...

@Andrew: Thanks for that; it really alters my perspective. I just don't like the idea of adding more students, while conditions, the way they are, will only worsen with the addition of more.