Of seven year olds and pole dancing

I came across this thanks to the Toronto Star.



I'm going to start by saying that I do not endorse this style of dancing by girls so young, but I found the whole controversy surrounding the issue quite interesting. Parents are outraged that their children, usually daughters, are learning erotic moves and wearing smaller, sexier outfits.

The more interesting question that this whole scandal has raised (for me, anyway) was at what age is it appropriate to teach these moves and introduce these costumes? When is it okay to teach girls that grinding, groping yourself, and doing moves that would usually require a pole are dance moves that are competition or dance-floor appropriate?

We'd like to think that kids can be kids until they have to grow up, but is 7 years old really the time for them to have to grow up?

Why the PR Game Shouldn't be Played by Science

Wired posted this great article on Monday "Why Science Needs to Step Up Its PR Game" and while I find the premise quite intriguing, I have to disagree strongly. As a PR professional myself, it's quite easy to get frustrated with the lack of success in persuading public opinion that science often has.

The point, however, is that the purpose of science is not for persuading. The facts should be unbiased and speak on their own. It is the job of activists and PR-type professionals to persuade, it is the job of scientists to provide the material with which persuading will occur. If scientists were to start employing PR professionals to "sell" their ideas, the objectivity of the scientists would be lost and their information would be biased. If information can be argued to be biased, it can be dismissed and, despite the potential validity of this information, it will not be able to be used as for further research purposes and therefore will be ignored and valuable resources will be wasted.

I would argue that instead of using PR to promote science, we should be using PR to change the perception of scientific research and to help the public to better understand just what it is that science really is.

Where have the writers gone?

An article in The Toronto Star caught my eye recently, it was written by a member of the Associated Press regarding a new study that found that a jockey's riding style can cut a horse's race time by 5-7%. Although the topic is very interesting to me, what really caught my eye was the fact that the scientific paper in question was briefly summarized but the most important part was left out: how does a jockey *actually* do it? (The answer, by the way, is by balancing their weight and springing with the horse, a jockey is able to propel the horse forward, much like a child on a swing.)

After some sleuthing on my part, I finally came up with a similar article from the New York Times, written by a staff member, which actually details the findings of the paper and even delves a little into the practical implications of the findings. I guess it boils down to this: why did The Star decide that it was okay to print an incomplete article quickly instead of taking the time that the New York Times invested and having a complete, well-rounded article?

The argument could be made that money is the main problem, but all that I seem to be hearing in the news is about the job cuts that are being made to American papers. So why was this acceptable? The geographic area for the Toronto Star includes two large race tracks: Woodbine and Mohawk, so it's not as though racing wouldn't be of interest.

So I find myself questioning again, why is this acceptable?

Happy (belated) birthday Darwin!

Did you know that Darwin's 200th birthday was on February 12th, 2009? A smorgasbord of events were organized in honour of one of the most important scientists in history, not to mention the slew of articles that were released.

One article in particular caught my attention, or rather the related material that was listed after the article. The link provided led me to a site called "Dissent from Darwin" and was a petition from a number of "scientists from prominent organizations" who are "skeptical of claims for the ability of random mutation and natural selection to account for the complexity of life."

This petition was started by the Discovery Institute, which puts itself forward as a "forward-thinking" organization wanting to make "a positive vision of the future practical." All of this sounds great on the surface, until you read further into how the organization functions. Now the truth comes out.

Discovery Institute was founded on the beliefs of "God-given reason" and "the permanency of human nature." Does this really sound like the beliefs of a science-oriented, logic-based organization? I would have to disagree.

What's puzzling is that the proposed alternative to Darwin's theory is intelligent design. That's right, intelligent design. Again, I have to question what the real reasoning behind this organization is. Could this be a new form of creationists' arguments against evolution? Who knows. All I know is I'm not sold on intelligent design. I think I'll keep curling up by the fire with a glass of wine and read On the Origin of Species.

Queen's playing the name game

It's a little known fact that Queen's University was nearly bought out by the University of Toronto in 1878 after losing nearly all of its money after their bank made some bad investments. An also little known fact is that Robert Sutherland, the first black man to graduate from a university in North America and a Queen's graduate, donated his entire estate to the university in 1878 and saved it from bankruptcy.

In March 1998, after decades of students lobbying, Queen's finally named a room after Sutherland. Students were pleased for the time being, until more recently, they began again lobbying for a building to be named after Sutherland. The value of his estate in 1878 was enough to constitute the university's entire budget for that year. Students are frustrated that the university refuses to name a building after the man who saved the university so long ago.

Alternatives to naming a building have been suggested including making a statue of Sutherland, which is impossible because no images of him exist. After pressure was applied by the media, Queen's has decided to consider the proposal to name a building after Sutherland but require "more research" before they can come to a decision.

I'd love to know exactly what kind of research naming a building after someone requires. It seems like a no-brainer to me, but I guess that's why I'm still a student and not in management.

From Shylock to the workplace, a pound of flesh can cost a lot

According to a recent study done by Professor Cawley of Cornell University, for every 7.2 pounds that a woman gains she will earn 1% less than a female colleague whose weight remained the same. Weight is often closely tied to first impressions and the overall image of a person. Being in PR, image management is a really important part of the industry, so this article got me thinking: does a company have the right to ask their employees to manage their weight?


The immediate answer would be no, but I think it should depend on what company it is that we're talking about. If a company makes money almost solely from the physical appearance of its employees, say a modelling agency, then it's reasonable to expect that the company would have a weight clause in the contract that a model signs. Is it reasonable to think that a company where the revenue is based other streams should be concerned with their employees weight? I'm not so sure.


Is it infringing on an employees' rights when a company promotes the skinny and holds the not-so-skinny down? It's not really a clear-cut issue and I'm not really sure as to how I feel - all I know is that I'm outraged that weight gain can play a part in my future wages. Being so early in the new year, I'm still on the eating healthy and working out more track from my New Year's resolutions, so I'm still thinking along the lines of losing weight, but it has nothing to do with a job. And that's the way it should be.

Future voters unite! ...with bracelets?

I was Christmas shopping today and trying to find something to get for stocking stuffers for my Mum. Naturally, I went into Claire's, which always has bracelet charms and other nifty things to stick in stockings. Unfortunately, I didn't find anything, but on the plus side, I found these.

The first thing that I thought was "Why would these be here? Voting in the States is done." Then I almost slapped myself upside the head after realizing what I had thought. I consider myself to be politically active and I like to keep up to date with politics, but what does it say when voting is mentioned that I automatically think about the US?

It's probably a good thing that Michaëlle Jean agreed to prorogue parliament on December 4th, because with the mess that we're currently facing, I don't even want to think about voting again.

Your soul for a plastic bag, Mr Miller

After a meeting with Galen G. Weston, Toronto mayor David Miller is proposing to move the plastic bag ban deadline back from December 2009 to February 2011. I find myself reminded of the spring bear hunt fiasco that went down with Mike Harris.

In 1999, Mike Harris was persuaded (read: given money) to discontinue the spring bear hunt. Bear populations have since risen to the point where it's common to see a black bear within city limits in Northern Ontario.

Miller is showing his true priorities beautifully by catering to large corporations within Toronto who really have no excuse when it comes to environmental issues.

Since taking over as executive chair in 2006, Weston has focused on promoting the environmentally-friendly line of products. In talking Mayor Miller into pushing back the dates for the plastic bag ban, Weston is showing his true colours. Weston is obviously more interested in making a profit than helping to reduce the environmental impact that his stores make.

If the biosphere is destroyed because of your lack of involvement, who will you sell your products to Mr. Weston?

IABC rubs elbows with Dostoevsky and Tchaikovsky

The latest Toronto IABC event e-mail was sent out today and I browsed over it thinking that the holiday event was an awesome idea. Who wouldn't love celebrating the holiday season at an authentic Russian bar stocked with over 70 different types of vodka?

I kept reading the brochure that was sent out and finally came to the bottom where something seemed a little odd. The tag line for the event read "Join the Communist (cator) party" with the 'st' crossed out and 'cator' written in.

I've got two issues with this:

1. Communism isn't really something to joke about - especially not where Russia is concerned. They've got a long and somewhat ugly history with communism.

2. There's a Communist Party of Canada. Why cause confusion by seeming to endorse the party?

I'm assuming that someone on the design team was trying to be cute and play with Pravda's tag line (Join the communist Pravda vodka bar party - with communist crossed out)but, in my opinion, it failed miserably. I'm left wondering at the appropriateness of using that as a tag line and whether or not the IABC is sending out exactly the message that they want to be sending. Perhaps IABC should think their tag lines out a little more carefully for next time.

As they say in Russia, chtob vse byli zdorovy!

Dance Piper, dance!

Many people are familiar with the Brothers Grimm story, the Pied Piper of Hamelin. What a lot of people don't know is that it's based off a true story from Hamelin, Germany, dating back to 1284.

Interestingly enough, history seems to be repeating itself. Hamelin is experiencing a boom in the rat population unfortunately, the Pied Piper has yet to show up. An abandoned garbage dump has fostered a burgeoning population of rats, which are now flooding into the city and causing problems.

Ironically enough, the 725th anniversary of the Pied Piper is coming up soon and with the city finally admitting that they have a rat problem, maybe they're hoping that the Piper will show up again to help out?

I can't really criticize Hamelin about their image; the city is famous for having a rat problem. I guess I can only hope that the city pays the Piper this time.

Cities against Toronto? Jealous, jealous, jealous!

Toronto is the city that everyone loves to hate, right? Wrong! Since November 2007, the Toronto Star has been running a column called Acts of Kindness that highlights random acts of kindness that are "committed" around the GTA. Articles are submitted by readers who want to share any acts that have happened to themselves or someone that they know.

After reading last month's stories, I started wondering why David Miller doesn't try to capitalize on this column and use it to improve the image of Toronto? Toronto as a brand is recognizable world-wide and positively received, so why is it that the opinion of Toronto within North America is so negative?

I guess it doesn't really matter right now. What does matter is that nothing is being done to make the brand image a more positive one or to find out why Toronto has become the butt of so many jokes.