CAUT has called on McMaster University to reverse one of its policies that threatens academic freedom. The policy, adopted by the McMaster senate in 2003, prohibits academic staff from referring to their affiliation to McMaster when expressing an opinion to the media that is unrelated to their area of "academic or professional expertise."

At the request of the York University Faculty Association, CAUT has appointed an ad hoc investigatory committee to look into allegations of threats to freedom of expression and to academic freedom at York as well as allegations of inappropriate governance practices at the university.

At the end of 2004 CAUT launched its Freedom to Publish campaign based on the need to protect the freedom of academics to publish and disclose risks. This protection can only be achieved by negotiating appropriate language in collective agreements and by having senates adopt policies to refuse funds from research sponsors who insist on limiting the right to publish research findings.

A new book called Institutional Racism in Higher Education (editors Ian Law, Deborah Phillips and Laura Turney), Trentham Press, (was) published (last) summer. It is produced by the Centre for Ethnicity and Racism Studies, at the University of Leeds, and makes for shameful reading: documenting situations where black and Asian colleagues in UK universities are routinely undermined, "cut out" of the loops of academic communication and subjected to crude racism inside and outside of the classroom.

When Parliament's Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage released its interim report on copyright reform last year, Myra Tawfik says her first reaction was shock.

According to an internal government document, the federal government is spending about $1.7 billion less on transfer payments for post-secondary education today that it did a decade ago.

A study released by Statistics Canada in February shows that female professors have made strong gains in closing the gender gap at Canada's universities in the past decade, but still have a long way to go.

In this fast-paced and lively account, Jim Lang asks - and mostly answers - the questions that confront every new faculty member as well as those who dream of becoming new faculty members: Will my students like me? Will my teaching schedule allow me time to do research and write? Do I really want to spend the rest of my life in this profession? In anyone awake in the back row? Lang narrates the story of his first year on the tenure track with wit and wisdom, detailing his moments of confusion, frustration and even elation - in the classroom, at his writing desk, during his office hours, in departmental meetings - as well as his insights into the lives and working conditions of faculty in higher education today

Risk and Morality examines how decisions about risk and uncertainty relate to moral principles and ethical conduct. In this volume editors Richard Ericson and Aaron Doyle have brought together a selection of original essays on the topic by renowned scholars in the disciplines of philosophy, sociology, law, political science, geography, criminology and accounting from Canada, the United States, England, France and Australia. Presenting cutting-edge theory and research, the essays analyze the broader social, political, economic and cultural dimensions of risk and morality. The concept of risk has become pervasive in recent years in political discourse, popular culture, organizational communications and every-day life. The contributors' respective research projects on risk and morality in politics, business, legal regulation, crime prevention, insurance, extreme sports and biotechnology provide original empirical evidence to substantiate their theories and address the ideological and policy relevance of their work. Collectively, the contributors explain why risk is such a key aspect of Western culture and demonstrate that new regimes for risk management are transforming social integration, value-based reasoning and morality. Further, they illustrate that these new regimes do not necessarily foster more responsible conduct or greater accountability in institutions.

Decisions for War focuses on the choices made by small coteries in Austria-Hungary, Germany, Russia, France, Britain and elsewhere to address a common yet perplexing question about World War I - why did it happen? Several of the usual causes for the war are reviewed and discussed

Whatever happened to the leisure society? How did the new communications technologies turn from time-saver into time sink? Such questions worried communications expert Heather (Whose Brave New World?) Menzies into writing her latest book on society, technology and the effects of global digital networks. With their 24/7 octopus embrace and rising tide of expectations for quick turnaround times, e-mail and the Internet are, perhaps, less blessing than curse, she suggests.

After years of funding cuts, Alberta plans to invest more than $3 billion in post-secondary education in an effort to make its residents the most highly educated in the country.

There were some interesting tax changes proposed by the federal government in its Feb. 23, 2005 budget. Among the more significant changes were the following:

The Harry Crowe Foundation will launch itself publicly with a North American conference on "Academic Freedom Post 9/11" to be held in Toronto, October 28-30, 2005.

We live in a time of great change in the Canadian post-secondary education sector. Our classrooms are bulging with students, government financing is increasingly being tied to research performance, commercialization is on the rise, a remarkable percentage of tenured and continuing academics will retire in the next 10 years, and the list goes on.

Former Ontario NDP premier Bob Rae, who was appointed by the Ontario government last year to review the province's post-secondary education system, has concluded the system is underfunded.

In 1984, the Canadian Labour Congress declared a National Day of Mourning for workers killed and injured on the job. April 28 commemorated the enactment of Canada's first comprehensive Workers' Compensation Act in Ontario in 1914.