McMaster University was the scene of a boisterous rally today as pro-Israel and pro-Palestine took to the microphone to condemn or support Israel.

The event wasn’t good or bad – at least it didn’t break down into a physical confrontation. The “after-rally” was very hardline. Even this was kept under control by the prompt action of McMaster security to keep the two sides apart.

During the open session, the moderator (left) cut the mic of a pro-Israel speaker who continued to make his point by shouting over the moderator.

Heather Kere of the Ryerson Students’ Union told the assembled crowd that McMaster University and the McMaster Students Union were wrong to ban the poster by the Israel Apartheid Awareness Week group.

York Federation of Students Vice-President Gilary Massa lead the York delegation to attend the rally at McMaster.

Most people in the crowd were not actually students. …

The Quebec government announced a cap on extra fees charged to students on top of tuition. The move is intended to monitor ancillary fees at universities and close loophole that allowed universities to raise fees despite strict regulation of tuition costs.

Education minister Michelle Courchesne noted that ancillary fees differ by as much as $1000 between schools. Now universities will be required to provide an outline of fees at the beginning of the year and a report at the end of the year. Universities who charge more than $700 in extra fees will only be allowed to raise this by $15 without consent from student government. Schools with lower fees may raise their fee by up to $50.

Student groups applauded the move, but acknowledged that the real problem is the underfunding of universities.

Students in Ontario have also been calling on the government to crack down on ancillary fees. Two college students filed a $200-million class action lawsuit in June, claiming that schools have been charging fees banned by government. Post-secondary institutions in Ontario are banned from charging fees that should be covered by tuition. …

A decade after it was created, the Canadian Millennium Scholarship Foundation will be replaced by a new needs-based, non-repayable grant program to be called the Canada Student Grant Program.

The Conservative government says that, after a year-long review of student aid, it found the Foundation had limited success in encouraging more people to attend post-secondary education and did not provide students with predictable year-to-year funding. The new grant program will replace the Foundation which expires in 2009.

The Canada Student Grant Program will distributed according to income levels. Because the grants will be awarded each year of study, students will know how much to expect in support from year to year. The grants will range from approximately $250 per month for low income students to $100 per month for middle income students. 245,000 studens will benefit from the program each year.

Student groups were split on the issue. The Canadian Alliance of Student Associations, the second largest student lobby group in the country, was disappointed in the dissolution of the Foundation, but welcomed the dedication of its funding to a needs-based grant system.

“Today’s announcement marks the end of Canada’s tenure as one of the few western industrialised nations without a national system of grants,” said Amanda Aziz, chairperson of the Canadian Federation of Students. “It was long overdue.”

“We are cautiously optimistic about the delivery mechanism for the announced grant program and will move forward bearing the responsibility of ensuring that the Canada Student Grant Program is delivered in an efficient and transparent manner,” said David Simmonds, president of the Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance. …

The 2008 federal budget had been widely expected to contain several major initiatives in higher education, but what the Conservative government delivered on Tuesday was instead a modest tinkering with the status quo, with some additional money for research, and housekeeping changes at two major student aid programs.

Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said in the budget speech, “We must ensure that the next generation of Canadians has the opportunity to excel in this increasingly competitive world.”

Post-secondary initiatives announced in the budget will see the Canadian Millennium Scholarship Foundation replaced with a similar program; administrative changes to student loans; new scholarships for graduate students; money to help secure university laboratories and new funding for medical, automotive, and environmental research.

COMPLETE BUDGET 2008 EDUCATION COVERAGE

COMMENT Is giving less money to more students really victory?

COMMENT Good works (Paul Wells)

COMMENT Student loan borrowers keep propping up system (Julian Benedict)

NEWS Millennium Scholarship Foundation to be replaced

NEWS No interest rate cut for student loans

NEWS New funds for university research

NEWS New grad scholarships aim to attract international talent

The Canadian Millennium Scholarship Foundation, which provides $350 million a year in needs and merit based scholarships, is to be replaced in 2009 by a new, $350 million Canada Student Grants Program. Students will see little difference between the two programs. Grants will be given out based on an income assessment. Low-income students will get $2,000 a year and students from middle-income families will receive $800 for each year of study, guaranteed during the entire course of their university or college degree. …

After a year long review, the Conservative government announced only administrative changes to the Canada Student Loans Program in the 2008/09 federal budget.

Although sources close to government expected an interest rate cut, the Conservative government did not set student loan interest at prime. The federal rate will remain 2.5 per cent above prime, unlike Nova Scotia and Alberta that have recently announced plans to lower their provincial student loan interest rate to either prime or below prime.

The 2008 budget included plans to reform the administration of student loans but did not provide many details.

Monte Solberg, Minister of Human Resources and Social Development Canada, said in November to expect major policy changes. The announcements came as a disappointment to student loan advocates who participated in this year’s review.

“The federal budget completely ignores the key issue of reducing sky-high interest rates on borrowers in repayment. Our interest rates remain amongst the highest in the G8,” said Julian Benedict, co-founder of the Coalition for Student Loan Fairness. “The plan also ignores Canadians’ call for a national student loan Ombudsperson Office.”

The government plans to implement a “new service delivery vision” for student loans and increase the ability of students to manage their loans online from initial application until final repayment. The government will spend $23 million over four years to achieve this. The goal is to create a national portal for student loans where students from any province can apply for their loans and upon graduation, students will be able to use the site as a “one-stop” service to repay and track their loans. …

The Hamilton Spectator ran a story on Saturday about a recruitment trip by Hamilton’s Mohawk College to Moose Factory in northern Ontario.

The story itself is very interesting. It is also nationally relevant – it speaks to a wider issue, the need for all post-secondary institutions to actively recruit in disadvantaged communities. (The sad fact of Canada is that some of our most disadvantaged  are isolated First Nations communities.)

The Spectator sent up one of their best photographers along with its post-secondary reporter to cover the story. The pictures add much to the story; take a look at the PDFs of the print edition for those: page 4 and page 5.

The Spectator has a web-extra multimedia slideshow to go with the story. …

Colleges Ontario put out a news release at 11am this morning about its "Obay" viral marketing campaign. The campaign involves advertisements for a fictional mind-control medicine which stops young people from thinking for themselves. The goal of the campaign is to encourage parents to stop discouraging their children from pursuing a college education.

The Colleges Ontario campaign opened up a great opportunity for the Canadian Federation of Students which sent out their own release entitled "Students to Colleges: "Obay" the Law."

Now, that’s a news release. …

I am going to play “tourist” today in Ottawa. (I’m really meeting with people in preparation for tomorrow’s budget but checking out the sights on the side)

So, while this blog plays dead for the next 6 hours (expect posts about 5pm eastern), you can visit Paul Wells who is discussing post-secondary education on his blog today. …

This Friday, McMaster University will be the scene of a Toronto-organized protest in favour of useless rhetoric.

McMaster University denied the Palestinian “solidarity movement” the ability to hang banners screaming “Israeli Apartheid.”

This attack on inflammatory and inaccurate words cannot be tolerated. How dare the university require truth in advertising!

Not to worry, the York Federation of Students (Canadian Federation of Students Local 68) and the Ryerson Students Union (Canadian Federation of Students Local 24) will not tolerate this action.

They are paying for buses to ship protesters from Toronto to McMaster University on Friday to let the administration of McMaster know what they think.

Great, just what McMaster needs, outsiders coming in and spreading their intolerant rhetoric.

This year has been different from past years in terms of the actions of the “Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights” group. In previous years, they stuck to spreading their literature, hosting nights condemning Israel, but always maintained a level of decorum.

This year, the leadership is more radical and in your face. It’s a shame, I used to be able to respectfully disagree with them. I used to be able to accept them spreading their propaganda as they were careful to not make other students uncomfortable. This year, that seems to be their goal.

In terms of the decision by the university Provost to not allow the display of the phrase “Israeli Apartheid,” I believe it was the right decision. Israel is not an apartheid state. We all know that. There must be some standard of truth on a campus. …

I’m presently at the University of Ottawa campus. I have been wandering around Ottawa since about 6am. Managed to get myself lost on a bus into Hull. I couldn’t seem to find a breakfast place that looked decent downtown. I figured that since I planned to visit UOttawa later in the morning anyway, I should grab breakfast here – BIG MISTAKE!

I arrived on the campus, went to the information booth and asked "Where’s a good place to grab breakfast on campus?" The lady replied by suggesting a restaurant just off-campus. I said I was looking to eat at a university food outlet. She advised me that I may want to reconsider. I knew I was in trouble then.

I grabbed breakfast from the university food service outlet in the student centre – wow, I haven’t had a breakfast this bad since…. while, since I was eating rations during army training exercises and I’m tempted to think they were better. …

We here at Maclean’s On Campus believe in understanding the student experience – hence we eat the best and worst of cafeteria food, report on the best and worse of campus politics, randomly visit campuses asking all sorts of questions and have a limited travel budget – Greyhound or bust!

I am writing this post from Highway 401 leaving Toronto on my way to Ottawa to cover the budget. I’m on the 0005 departure from Toronto which makes its way to Ottawa via Peterborough. The bus is packed (all 53 seats filled) with Trent, UOttawa, and Carleton students returning to classes after reading week. (There are a few other people whom are clearly not students but you can count them on one hand.)

The Toronto bus terminal was packed tonight – I would say there were at least 250 people trying to get back to Ottawa who were thinking the same thing as me – take the overnight and sleep. (Also thinking about the cost – it’s only $56 each way! You can’t beat that.)

As with any bus trip, there are the people who think they are entitled to one seat for themselves and another for their bag. We had one of those on the bus. She ended up being forced to move her bag and is now sitting with one of the non-students beside her – and this person is what people may call "shifty."

The person beside me is quiet, just reading the British version of Cosmo.

I used to visit a magazine store to purchase British military magazines and a friend would make me pick up a British Cosmo for her. …

USAToday reports on what appears to be a first in the United States: mandatory alcohol education for students living in an off-campus sorority house. …

As a starving student, I don’t have cable. Instead, I grab things over the internet that interest me and watch CNN online. …

CIBC announced an additional $2.8 million for their Youthvision Scholarship Program Friday. The program provides financial assistance to low-income students who would not be able to access post-secondary otherwise.

The program awards 30 scholarships annually valued at up to $34,000 each. Recipients also receive summer internships at YMCA branches.

“Since the CIBC Youthvision Scholarship program was created, we have awarded scholarships to 270 Grade 10 students,” said Gerry McCaughey, chief executive officer of CIBC. “This program provides teens with the opportunity to build strong futures. It is part of our commitment to investing in the education, development and growth of Canada’s youth.” …

Turkish President Abdullah Gul approved amendments to the Constitution Friday that will allow women to wear Islamic head scarves on university campuses.

Although the president and parliament have signed off on the changes, the secular opposition party has promised to bring the issue to the courts. …