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Feature
Sports
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Opinion
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ateway October 31st, 2012
THE
Issue No. 9
Volume 103
TH E O F F IC IA L STUDE NT NE WS PA P E R AT TH E UN I V ER S I T Y OF A LBERTA
admission requirements
Arts & Culture
Faculty of Science raises admission bar to 80 per cent Katelyn Hoffart
staff reporter @katelynhoffart
Check out our video preview of Studio Theatre’s
The Memorandum at www.thegatewayonline.ca/MemorandumVideoPreview
selena phillips-boyle
theatre preview
The Memorandum puts a comedic twist on workplace communication Charlotte Forss
arts & culture writer Language has its limitations — just try to compose a sarcastic text or decipher the tone of an e-mail and you’ll experience its shortcomings firsthand. But it’s not just written communication that’s difficult: whenever we speak to each other, the potential for misunderstanding looms large. And if you think linguistic ambiguities are annoying in your personal life, just imagine the inefficiencies they cause in the business world. Written by the Czech playwright, activist and politician Václav Havel, The Memorandum revolves around a company that invents a new language called
Ptydepe in an attempt to make office communications clearer. There’s only one problem — Joseph, the play’s protagonist, doesn’t understand Ptydepe, and when he receives an indecipherable memorandum in the new language, he must search the office building for someone willing to help him translate it. Why doesn’t Joseph understand this new corporate speech? It’s up to him to find out as he navigates a web of office politics on a quest to translate the memo and keep his job. Director Trevor Schmidt thinks the predicament facing the play’s main character is one audiences will easily relate to — though perhaps not for the happiest of reasons. “I think that we always assume that
when someone is speaking another language in front of us that they’re speaking about us,” Schmidt says. “And I mean, when (Joseph’s coworkers) are pointing at him, you know they’re talking about him and we all laugh because we know how uncomfortable that situation can be.” The irony of Joseph’s inability to understand a language meant to improve comprehension lends humour to the play — an important aspect, given Studio Theatre’s decision to approach The Memorandum as a comedy despite its nods to political and surrealist playwrights like George Orwell and Franz Kafka.
PLEASE SEE memorandum PAGE 23
The admissions average for the Faculty of Science will go up to 80 per cent for students applying in 2013. Citing an overabundance of students, the faculty will be upping its admissions average requirement by four per cent from the current level of 76 per cent — and to 85 per cent for students seeking an honors degree. Although raising this percentage was not something Dean of Science Jonathan Schaeffer was keen on doing, he says it was necessary to control sustainability of the program. “To me personally, it’s not something I want to do — it goes against everything I believe in. But the reality is the only way I can control admissions is through this average,” he said. “If I want to reduce the numbers to be more in line with our financial expectations, that’s what I have to do.” Provincial base funding helps cover the costs for 6,100 of the 6,700 students currently enrolled in the Faculty of Science. However, this leaves the faculty to cover the price of the remaining 600 students. The faculty has undertaken
other initiatives in recent years, like combining smaller classes and taking out a $5 million dollar loan over five years to increase staff. But with more students flowing into the sciences, it has become difficult to manage certain costs where courses — especially labs — are required to meet specific enrolment demands.
“To me personally, it’s not something I want to do — it goes against everything I believe in. But the reality is the only way I can control admissions is through this average.” jonathan schaeffer dean of science
“Those labs only accommodate 20 students at a time. 21 students in a lab means one more lab section with one more teaching assistant who has to manage it and one more set of supplies or equipment that has to be purchased. So there’s real costs involved,” Schaeffer explained.
PLEASE SEE science PAGE 4
file photo: amirali sharifi
“Hey, university vending machines: They’re called coins. Learn how to recognize them.”
#3LF
page 11