Concerns expressed by some commentators that feminism and queer politics is emasculating men and creating a new generation of sissies is resulting in a “Menaissance,” according to a Faculty of Education professor.

The phenomenon is characterized by males trying to recapture their lost masculinity, however the fear that men are becoming increasingly effeminate is nothing new, says Chris Greig.

“The same sorts of arguments came up around the turn of the twentieth century and following the Second World War,” says Dr. Greig, who will appear on CJAM today to discuss the recurring trend. “But the solutions that are offered up to this perceived crisis in masculinity are often very simplistic and misguided approaches.”

Along with colleague and Western University professor Wayne Martino, Greig has edited a new collection of essays called Canadian Men and Masculinities: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives. Greig wrote one of the book’s essays and co-authored another.

One chapter analyzes the responses to this perceived crisis in masculinity found in everything from popular literature to mass marketing campaigns, while the other examines how the education system responds boys’ underachievement in school.

Efforts that involve men getting in touch with their inner masculine essence are misguided, the authors argue, because there has never been a “monolithic, universal, ahistorical masculinity.” In fact, they say, masculinity has always been “unstable, shifting, contested, fluid, and in a constant process of being made and unmade.”

“The book came out of a concern around the way popular commentators, educators and popular psychologists have been discussing issues of gender, in particular when it comes to men and boys,” explains Greig.  “In the popular press, in popular magazines and mainstream texts there’s often a concern expressed that men’s identity has been undermined and that it needs to be shored up. This is a response and a critical interrogation of those ideas.”

Greig will appear today on Research Matters, a weekly talk show that showcases the work of University of Windsor faculty and student researchers and airs every Thursday at 4:30 p.m. on CJAM 99.1 FM.

Film student Samuel Pollock was uncertain when his classmate Matt Bendo first pitched the idea of making a documentary about Canadian boxer Justin Hocko.

But after meeting Hocko, says Pollock, he realized: “This is a story that has to be told.”

The two third-year communications majors started work on the project and watched it grow into something much bigger than they originally thought. Their 30-minute documentary, Rise of a Champion: The Justin Hocko Story, will enjoy a test screening Saturday, January 19, at Lakeshore Cinemas.

Bendo calls Hocko one of his best friends, dating back to their days together at St. Pius and St. Anne schools in Tecumseh.

“We thought we would follow him through maybe three days to give a little glimpse into what it’s like to be a national champion,” Bendo says. “Instead, we followed him every day for months.”

After their film was voted one of the best in professor Tony Lau’s documentary production class last semester, he suggested they submit it to film festivals. Saturday’s screening is just a lucky happenstance.

The manager of the Lakeshore Cinemas offered to Hocko to help with efforts to raise funds for him to compete in the Independence Cup tournament, February in the Dominican Republic. He agreed to show the student film for free—all proceeds will go to Hocko’s expenses.

The screening will begin at 11 a.m. Lakeshore Cinemas is located at 164 Commercial Boulevard in Tecumseh, just north of Essex Road 22. Admission is $10 at the door. For advance tickets or more information, visit a Facebook page for the film.

A questionnaire to be distributed this month will ask all UWindsor employees to indicate the location of their preferred parking, with responses to determine spots for all permit-holders.

The new parking garage will open by September. The parking garage has two entrances/exits, one on each of California and Sunset avenues, to ensure efficient movement in and out. The garage has unimpeded sight lines to ensure security along with surveillance cameras, emergency phone system, and bright lighting. Both Campus Community Police and Parking Services will be housed in the new Integrated Parking and Innovation Centre.

The opening of the garage and the closure of Sunset Avenue has resulted in the closure of several surface parking lots. This transformation of the parking system on campus has prompted the reorganization of all permits for faculty and staff, says Anna Kirby, executive director of Campus Services.

As a result of closing Sunset Avenue and to ensure the safety of pedestrians, the following existing lots are scheduled to close prior to the opening of the garage:

• Lot K - west side of Sunset between Wyandotte and Fanchette
• Lot W - east side of Sunset between Wyandotte and Fanchette (except for spaces adjacent to the Medical Education Building)
• Lot L - east side of Sunset between Wyandotte and Fanchette
• Lot D - northwest corner of Sunset and Wyandotte
• Lot T - west side of Sunset south of the Music Building
• Lot O - Maintenance Building parking lot south of Union Street

Under a transition plan developed by the Parking Operations Sub-committee, which includes faculty and staff representation from areas across campus, all parking assignments will be allocated based on the employee’s seniority using their University Continuous Service Date and lot preference.

“Launching the new parking structure will allow us to close seven parking lots, including the temporary lot on the old Cody site,” says Kirby. “Faculty and staff holding permits for lots that are not directly affected are also expected to complete the questionnaire to ensure that all individuals’ preferences are considered. Best efforts will be made to accommodate each person's request.”

The committee plans to distribute the questionnaire shortly, asking employees to rank their parking lot preferences. Parking assignments will be announced by the spring to take effect in September. Kirby hopes that employees who do not wish to purchase campus parking will still respond to the invitation to confirm that they will not require a parking assignment.

“That way, we can measure the demand and balance the needs of staff and faculty with those of students,” she says.

Those who respond within the two-week deadline will have the first opportunity at preferred lots; late respondents will be assigned spots based on the remaining availability.

The questionnaire will go to all employee UWindsor e-mail accounts in the next few weeks; a printed version will be provided to staff that do not have access to a UWindsor e-mail account.

Professors at the University of Windsor are very supportive, says Mattheus Zanivan. Here on a one-year study abroad experience, the Brazilian engineering student attributes his academic success to their help.

“They knew I was having difficulty working in English and were very patient with me,” says Zanivan, one of six study abroad participants to make the dean’s list in their respective programs last semester.

He says he enjoys the way courses are taught in Canada, with assignments, tutorials and labs spread through the term, rather than dependent on a final examination.

“It helps you to keep learning all the time,” he says.

Zanivan was one of dozens of visiting students welcomed to campus at a reception Tuesday night, which also served as a homecoming for Windsor students returning from international exchange and as a send-off for those about to embark on exchange.

Vice-provost, students and international, Clayton Smith told attendees that international experience is a key part of being a university student.

“Our hope is that by students meeting students from other places, we create a more peaceful world,” he said.

Zanivan has taken advantage of the opportunity to see some Canadian culture, travelling to Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa and Quebec over the holidays, and making day trips to Pelee Island, Niagara Falls and Oktoberfest in Kitchener.

“I’m going to be sad to go home,” he says.

Aquatic invasive species are a problem worldwide and the single biggest threat facing the Great Lakes, according to ecologist Hugh MacIsaac.

“I believe that it’s the leading issue in the Great Lakes today,” said Dr. MacIsaac, a professor in the university’s Great Lakes Institute for Environmental Research and director of the Canadian Aquatic Invasive Species Network.

“It’s a global issue though,” said recently on a Detroit television show. “If we look at aquatic ecosystems throughout the world, San Francisco Bay, the North Sea, the Black Sea, the Baltic Sea, the Caspian Sea, the Mediterranean Sea, all of them are being inundated with species that don’t belong there, so it truly is a global problem.”

MacIsaac made his comments on Great Lakes Now Connect, a program created by Detroit Public Television and The Nature Conservancy to focus on issues facing the lakes and the impact they have on the people living around them. He was part of a panel of experts focused on how they arrived and what’s being done to eradicate the problem and control their spread.

Watch the program here.

Smartphones, computers, laptops and tablets—being plugged in all the time can drive you crazy.

As a finale to Mental Health Awareness Week, Screen Free Day invites members of the UWindsor community to take a break from electronics on Friday, January 18.

The technology fast is a project of Campus Ministry, which has arranged other activities to keep people’s hands busy, including board games all day in the Assumption University lounge.

“Everyone I spoke with about the idea is very excited, but I am quite sure no one realizes how hard this will be,” says chaplain Chris Valka.

The idea has won support from the Educational Development Centre and the University of Windsor Students’ Alliance. Learn more on the website of Mental Health Awareness Week.

The campus community is reminded to be cautious near construction zones and to observe and obey posted safety signs.

“We have a great deal of construction taking place on campus right now and though operators of construction vehicles are vigilant about accident prevention, we ask everyone to take an active part in protecting their own personal safety,” says Mike MacKinnon, director of Campus Police. “Common sense, looking both ways before crossing the street, and obeying warning signs will go a long way in preventing accidents.”

He reminds pedestrians that sidewalks are closed adjacent to the parking structure construction south of Wyandotte Street—on the east side of Sunset Avenue and the west side of California Avenue. Posted signs redirect pedestrian traffic to the opposite sides of both streets.

“These are small inconveniences for long-term gain and we hope people will remember to stay alert and take sensible precautions in these areas.”

When someone reasons to a conclusion by weighing factors favouring that conclusion against those telling against it, and in the end decides that the pros outweigh the cons, do the cons remain as weighing against the conclusion, thus making the argument weaker than it would have been had there been only the pro factors to consider?

This seems to be the position of those who consider this type of reasoning different from standard deductive or inductive reasoning, calling it “conductive,” says philosophy professor emeritus J. Anthony Blair, a senior fellow of the Centre for Research in Reasoning, Argumentation and Rhetoric.

He will discuss a major challenge to this feature of informal logic launched by Jonathan Adler in a free public lecture, “Are Conductive Arguments Really Not Possible?” at 3 p.m. Friday, January 18, in room 207, Essex Hall.

Adler argues in a recent paper that if a conclusion of such reasoning is accepted as true, then the cons cannot remain as a weakening factor, and so conductive reasoning and arguments are not possible. Prof. Blair will analyze and assess Adler’s arguments and their implications.

Campus Community Police are investigating the theft of laptops, cell phones and personal electronic equipment left unattended in the Leddy Library. Officers remind students, faculty and staff not to leave their personal belongings unattended in any campus building.

Read the entire crime advisory on the campus police website. The investigators invite anyone with information relating to these thefts to contact Campus Community Police at 519-253-3000, ext. 1234, or report anonymously to CrimeStoppers at 519-258-TIPS.

The crime prevention office recommends registration in its Laptop Theft Prevention Program, which permanently affixes a metal tag to equipment to identify it as stolen property and eliminates resale value. Check it out.