SAMANTHA CHIUSOLO
TAs bare all to the newspaper page 6
the newspaper
Since 1978
U of T signs copyright agreement on the QT
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The University of Toronto’s Independent Weekly
VOL XXXIV Issue 19 • February 9, 2012
Inside this issue...
Administration makes deal for new royalty license, includes digital copying Shiraz Noor On January 30, the University of Toronto quietly signed an agreement with licensing agency Access Copyright that defines copying to include “posting a link or hyperlink to a digital copy.” The expanded definition equates link sharing to photocopying a document, subjecting both forms of copying to similar restrictions. To enforce the new regulations, the agreement authorizes the electronic surveillance of correspondence among faculty members, librarians, and stu-
dents for possible infringement of terms. U of T signed the agreement in spite of a recent Supreme Court ruling that hyperlinking does not constitute copying, disregarding the Court’s pending clarification on the educational use of copyrighted works. The agreement imposes a $27.50 incidental fee to all fulltime students, which replaces the current fee of $3.38, and does away with the 10 cents per page currently paid to Access Copyright for coursepack copying. The University’s previous agreement with Access Copy-
right expired at the end of 2010. In a memo sent out that December, Provost Cheryl Misak wrote that U of T was united with many other Canadian universities in opposing Access Copyright’s proposals at the time. Since then, the University has followed “fair dealing” guidelines outlined in copyright law. At some point, however, the senior administration succumbed to concerns about facing legal repercussions of possible copyright infringements. The result of this change of heart was the decision to abide by a contract
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UBC wants to get to know you Andrew Walt For at least one major Canadian university, prospective undergraduates may soon need more than just good grades to enrol. Starting in September, the University of British Columbia will implement a “broad-based admissions” process at its Vancouver campus. The new method requires students to answer four to six “personal profile” questions as a complement to their secondary school transcripts, enabling the university to learn more about the calibre and integrity of their applicants. “Universities will probably look at whether [UBC’s broad-
based application process] can be proven to add to the predictive value of marks when it comes to predicting the success of students at university,” said Merike Remmel, Assistant University Registrar and Director of Admissions at U of T. While U of T as a whole does not consider broad-based criteria when conducting enrollment, such as details regarding the life and experiences of prospective students, both Trinity College and Victoria College have required student profiles from its applicants for several years. “This provides us with information on the student’s extracurricular involve-
ment and special interests and accomplishments,” said Susan McDonald, Victoria College Registrar. “Students who do not submit the VIC Profile are not considered for admission to Victoria College. It’s mandatory.” Similar to the student profiles expected by applicants to Trinity College and Victoria College, specialized faculties such as Music and Engineering also require specific supplementary material in addition to secondary school grades. “That’s simply part of the process,” Remmel explained. “By and large admission to the university to the Faculty of Arts and Science, except
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BODI BOLD
New admissions process looks at more than prospective students’ marks
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