Chris Palliser's Presentation

Chris Palliser – Sarah Cousineau – March 26, 2019

Chris Palliser braves the dark winters of Fort McMurray to get started in radio, and eventually becomes an on-air personality at Victoria’s Virgin Radio station. Against all odds, this is where he is reunited and paired with Brittany King, an old colleague he worked with up north.

Originally named “Cool Radio”, Virgin Radio is now revamping its branding with the arrival of  Palliser, a key person in this fresh start. Despite the pressure felt by the change, Palliser is incredibly excited and honoured to be a part of it.

“We popped a bottle of champagne, and said let’s go get it,” says Palliser.

Palliser worked solo for over 15 years before he is paired up with King as part of Virgin Radio rebranding scheme. Some adjustments were needed but above all, Palliser and King needed to connect.  

“I went for numerous secret Penny Farthing pub dinners, and we just chatted,” says Palliser.

After chatting in person, conversing for hours on the phone, and doing it all over again, Palliser and King become the official morning team at Virgin Radio.

“Brittany and I, we seem to be bouncing the ideas from each other, our work ethics matches up, “ says Palliser.

The content on Virgin morning shows with Brittany and Chris has to be partly prepared beforehand. A topic is chosen the night before or morning of, and the two hosts have to come up with a show that seems as candid as possible, despite being rehearsed. Sometimes, one strays too far from the topic and have to come back to it, or choose to play a song abruptly.  After their show, Palliser and King discuss how the show went and how to adjust their performance to make it better. Working with another person this way is a constant work in progress, says Palliser.

“There is a certain amount of ego, personality you need to have to be ‘entertaining’,” says Palliser.

Palliser’s and King’s are both charismatic and great at working with people. This is a solid foundation to ensure their personality and chemistry will keep developing over the years.

As Palliser’s boss says, “give it time”.

The energy and the ‘community’ focus of Virgin’s radio station, as well as Palliser’s excitement for the radio’s revamp and his growing connection with teammate King, are looking promising for ratings to go up once again.

Steve Webb's Presentation

Steve Webb – Sarah Cousineau – Tuesday, February 5, 2019

After tens of thousands of dollars worth of mistakes, former promoter Steve Webb is now the proud owner of Metropol Industries and has revived Victorian’s love of Pinball in opening the retro Quazar’s Arcade.

Webb’s ambitious journey started with posting posters, promoting the various nightclubs in Victoria. He got to consolidate every nightclub’s poster service under one central poster system. He provided a fair representation for all the local nightclubs and solved a important ongoing problem in event marketing in Victoria. Following his success, his poster business turned into a full blown print business including self-print posters, stickers, business cards and so on.

16 years later, founder of Metropol Steve Webb has become an accomplished businessman. Webb prides himself by being an island operated business and by sourcing his products locally. Owning a growing business is not without its challenges though. Mistakes can be costly.

“In any business, you got to own your mistakes,” says Webb.

He explains that experience has driven him to take better decisions, make better assumptions and look further ahead. Thus, avoiding making expensive errors.

The online printing services has impacted negatively every single printing company, says Webb.

“What we have done, is find a thing that those online sellers can’t provide and that thing is customer service,” says Webb.

Besides Metropol, Webb keeps busy with his newly opened Quazar’s Arcade in Trounce Alley, in Victoria.  Webb’s love of machines rekindled the amusement arcade scene in Victoria.

“I stuck around for Pinball,” says Webb.

“It’s amazing to me that someone 30-40 years ago, or even going back further, made an entire world in a little box,” says Webb with passion.

The number of Pinball machines being made today is more than it ever was 20 years ago, says Webb. They are resurging and we are about to see a drastic influx of machines.

Webb’s words of wisdom to anyone starting their own business, is to start small with something you truly enjoy. 

“Become that business,” says Webb.

Webb intends to bring unseen innovations to Vancouver Island.

Stay tuned.

Analyzing Jeff Atwood's Blog Post

Analyzing Blog Post – Sarah Cousineau - January, 13^th 2019

            Jeff Atwood’s article is written with simple language and is easy to understand. This is an indicator his audience seem to be moderately educated and likely middle-class working people. With the easy access and low-cost of Internet, online articles can now reach most individual in the community. The author’s audience is probably between 18-40 years old. This age group is familiar with the media and usually comfortable surfing the web, reading blog posts and commenting.

            The introduction of Atwood’s piece was confusing. It did not draw me in as it was unclear what the author meant by the “number next to your name”. The author is trying to demonstrate people should spend more time listening (reading) as opposed to talking. He used the Ars Banana Experiment and the Slate Experiment to prove his point. Results show most people only read 50% of an article before commenting or simply moving along. The experiments are relevant and support his point well.  

            Atwood’s solution is to value listening as much as talking within the community. He says it would promote better conversations. He proposed four solutions. First, he recommended removing interruption while reading, such as pagination. That way, online articles would be a better flow. Second, he suggested measuring and displaying read times. This way, your worth would be evaluated and taken into consideration when engaging with the article’s authors. Third, he proposed a reward system such as giving a badge after reading a 100+ post topic. Fourth, Atwood emphasized on the importance of updating in real time. He explained it would encourage conversations to stay lively and engaging.

            Atwood’s piece introduction needs to be rewritten in a different way. A few simple and descriptive sentences would make for a smoother introduction, instead of an image and bullet points. On the other hand, his article is well supported with the two experiments described earlier. They helped prove his point as the results were surprising and in correlation with it. Furthermore, the images in his article add a strong and appealing visual. Lastly, his solutions are creative and would be worth a shot.

Opinion Piece - Ineffective BSL

Ineffective BSL – Sarah Cousineau – March 21, 2019

Every year, countless of dogs are being destroyed. Families are being crushed and many dog owners feel uneasy, simply because their dogs are deemed “dangerous” by the way they look. Politicians, worried about their public relations, are attempting to fix a complex problem by enacting discriminatory laws, known as breed specific legislation (BSL). Their intended goal is to reduce dog attacks on humans and other dogs. These laws either ban or regulate ownership of targeted dogs based only on their appearance. Over and over, those laws have proven to be ineffective. Non Profit Justice for Bullies founder Chantelle Mackney believes in breed neutrality, and a “discriminatory free future”. Through education and advocacy, she is fighting relentlessly for the end of BSL in Canada. 

As mentioned in theAmerican Society for the Protection of Animals (ASPCA) policy and statement position, breed identification in dogs is very difficult. There is inconsistent data on breed population and bite rate. Animal advocate and reference in the dog world Steve Barker firmly believes breed identification is inaccurate and unreliable. Dog owners, victims, animal control staff, police officers, and members of the media may speculate on the breed without possessing any official documentation to prove their labelling. Barker says that even if a dog’s identification were to be right, the circumstances surrounding an incident are far more important. Many factors can affect a dog’s aggression tendencies. Amongst many factors, genetic predisposition, improper socialization, poor animal management and care, neutering status, and careless handling can affect a dog’s behaviour (Mackney, 2018). 

As quoted in the American Veterinary Medical Association peer-reviewed summary, “the substantial within-breed variation… suggests that it is inappropriate to make predictions about a given dog's propensity for aggressive behavior based solely on its breed."

In 2013, researchers at the University of British Columbia (Animal Welfare Program) conducted a study comparing data from Canadian municipalities with BSL and without it. The results demonstrated no decrease in dog bite occurrence in cities with BSL. In cities where breed neutral laws were in place, a decrease in dog bite was noted. Breed-neutral laws target dangerous dogs and irresponsible dog owners, as opposed to targeting specific breeds and appearance. In 2015, a similar study, based on Ireland’s dog bite related injuries data for the last 15 years, was conducted. Researchers concluded that dog bite frequency has increase despite the enactment of BSL. Consequently, this study rejects BSL. It is important to note that BSL are not evidence-based. To this day, there has been no peer-reviewed scientific research done that links a dog’s breed or physical characteristics with aggressive tendencies. 

Ironically, BSL laws can compromise the public’s safety as opposed to boosting it. After the regulation of specific breeds, criminals who favor aggression in dogs are likely to utilize other unregulated breeds instead. Such patterns took place in Winnipeg in the 1990’s. After the pit bull ban, rottweiler bites increased. Ten years later, Winnipeg enacted BNL. The total pit bull and rottweiler dog bites have since declined drastically, another proof that targeting specific breeds is the wrong approach (ASPCA, 2019). 

“There is, however, evidence that such laws unfairly target responsible pet guardians and their well-socialized dogs, are inhumane, and impede community safety and humane sheltering efforts.” (ASPCA, 2019)

In the United States, Prince George Maryland alone, Animal Control destroys 500-600 animals annually in the name of the pit bull ban. But eighty percent of these dogs fall in the category of “nice, family dogs,” says the ASPCA.

In conclusion, dog identification is difficult and inaccurate. Dog aggression depends on many factors that go way beyond a dog’s breed. BSL is not based on science and dog bites have not decrease after the enactment of such laws. Additionally, BSL has pushed malevolent individuals to pick another breed of dog to exploit. Above all, studies have shown BSL is ineffective. Furthermore, irresponsible ownership has been proven to be the primary cause for most dog bite related injuries and deaths. Recommendations such as installing a secure enclosure for loose dogs, as well as supervising children and their interactions with dogs would have prevented 88% of the dog attacks related-deaths in Canada between 1983-2017. Like Mackney, The International Association of Canine Professionals believes in teaching people and children on dog bite prevention skills as well as proper care, training and socialization of dogs. The ASPCA supports breed-neutral laws that hold dog owners accountable for their dog’s conduct. A dog should be judged according to his actions and behaviour, not its physical characteristics. This powerful quote sums it up, “Punish the deed, not the breed” (author unknown).

Reference

ASPCA (2019) ASPCS Policy and position statements. American Society for the prevention of cruelty to animals. Retrieved on March 6, 2019 fromhttps://www.aspca.org/about-us/aspca-policy-and-position-statements/position-statement-breed-specific-legislation

AVMA (2014) Dog bite risk and prevention: The role of breed. American Veterinary Medical Association Animal Welfare Division. Retrieved on March 6, 2019 fromhttps://www.avma.org/KB/Resources/LiteratureReviews/Pages/The-Role-of-Breed-in-Dog-Bite-Risk-and-Prevention.aspx

Barker, S. (2019) Dog bite related fatalities in Canada. Retrieved on March 6, 2019 from http://www.chicobandido.com/dbrf-canada/

Mackney, C. (2019) Justice for bullies. Retrieved on March 6, 2019 from https://justice-for-bullies.myshopify.com

Raghavan, M. (2008) Fatal dog attacks in Canada, 1990-2007. The Canadian Veterinary Journal49(6) Retrieved on March 11, 2019 from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2387261/

RSPCA (2019) What happens to banned dogs? Royal Society for the prevention of cruelty to animals. Retrieved on March 6, 2019 from https://www.rspca.org.uk/getinvolved/campaign/dogownership/bsl/whathappens/-/articleName/CAD_BSL_Case_Studies

Author unknown (2019) Breed specific legislation (BSL). Facts over fear. Retrieved March 20, 2019 from https://www.pitbullinfo.org/scientific-studies.html

Opinion Piece - The importance of free tuition

Free tuition – Sarah Cousineau – February 17, 2019

Canadian students are in the midst of a 28 billion dollar debt crisis. Meanwhile, the Government of Canada is generating millions of dollars from student loans.

Tuition should be free or to say the least, affordable. Today’s students pay more interest on student loans than many people do on their mortgage. By the end of their studies, students without up-front money will end up paying thousands of dollars in interest, and that’s not including their tuition fees.

An educated population goes far beyond the monetary aspect. Former U.S. Undersecretary of Education Martha Kanter draws a parallel with education and several other aspects of life. 

“It’s about crime reduction, it’s about health, it’s about happiness,” she says. 

Ultimately, it is directly linked with national security.

Director of state relations and policy analysis Tom Harnisch said education contributes to jump-starting the economy and aids filling crucial positions in high-demand fields. 

Former President of the United States Barack Obama also believes in affordable education for every citizen of his country. 

“No hardworking student should be stuck in the red,” he says.

A solid foundation of education and training are pillars for worthy work opportunities. 

Canadian Alliance of students association executive director Michael McDonald explains how an educated population is key to a strong labour force. The expertise and aptitudes of post-secondary graduates brings valuable contribution to the communities. McDonald reiterates the importance of accessible education for everyone despite a person’s financial status. 

CASA’s produced a paper which included different solutions to remedy students monetary struggles. Access to financial aid during the studies as well as lowering the interest rates of students when studies are completed. The Canadian Federation of Students pointed out that the federal government could provide interest-free loans to students, such as they currently provide to Bombardier.

Other solutions have been proposed to make education affordable such as lower-cost online degree programs. Florida Senator Marco Rubio proposed to restore vocational schools in an attempt to get people straight in their field of work after high school. 

In conclusion, an educated population boost the national security and benefit the economy of the country. It contributes considerably to the labour force as well as enhance the quality of life of each and everyone.