Recognizing that respect for diversity extends to diversity in parenting status, a UWindsor psychology professor has added a child-friendly policy to her course syllabi, and encourages colleagues to do the same.

“None of my students should ever have to decide between being a parent and going to class,” says Onawa LaBelle. “I think it’s important to be inclusive of all students.”

She recalls that as a student, she saw friends miss out on opportunities because they had to decide between school and parenting.

“That was one of the things that brought home to me the reality of gender disparity,” Dr. LaBelle says. “Women are already at a disadvantage and we have the chance to support them in their struggle dealing with childcare.”

Her policy draws on the example of anthropologist Melissa Cheyney from Oregon State University. It allows students to bring a child to class in an emergency, asks that they sit close to a door, welcomes breastfeeding babies, and calls on all students to create a respectful environment.

The policy was put to the test this semester, when a student brought her seven-year-old son to class.

“To be honest, I didn’t even know he was there,” says LaBelle. “After class, he came up to me and presented his lecture notes, complete with a sketch of the UWindsor logo. I wrote A+ on them — he was so happy!”

She invites other faculty members to consider adopting a similar policy for their course outlines, and suggests Dr. Cheyney’s policy is a worthwhile model; read it on the OSU website.

A University of Windsor engineering professor is turning to nature to inspire his research.

Jalal Ahamed and his team in the Micro Nano Mechatronic Research Lab are working on technologies that replicate the stabilizing, rapid wingbeats of a bee and the echoes bats use to navigate and forage.

The research group has designed a microchip with microscopic wings that flap at high speeds at a set frequency when electrical wires apply voltage. When a change in orientation or motion is detected, the thin, gold-coated, silicon wings will alter their flapping speed.

“This allows the sensor to register a change in frequency and process it in relation to the target physical parameters,” Dr. Ahamed says. “We can detect any physical parameters that change by the frequency of the buzzing wings.”

One chip houses nine sensors that can simultaneously track orientation, acceleration, velocity, position, temperature and elevation of a moving object. Less than half a centimetre in size, the chip can be used in many applications from detecting motion and orientation of virtual reality headsets to airplanes.

Unlike most navigation systems, which rely on a GPS satellite signal, the research team’s wearable smart device uses motion and acoustic wave sensors to detect nearby objects — the same way bats use sound waves to navigate.

“The design, testing, packaging and miniaturizing have been done,” says Ahamed. “At this point the accuracy is good enough for consumer grade applications, but not quite precise enough for airplanes. We can improve it for high-grade applications, however consumer-grade products are the biggest market.”

Read the full article in the 2019 issue of Windsor Engineering (WE).

In July, the Law Commission of Ontario released its final report of the Class Proceedings Act: a two-year project led by Windsor Law professor Jasminka Kalajdzic.

The report made over 40 recommendations to update the Act to reflect current best practices and to improve the system for its users. In the fall of this year, the Attorney-General of Ontario introduced legislation to amend the Act. Bill 161, Smarter and Stronger Justice Act, is omnibus legislation that amends almost two dozen statutes that affect the delivery of legal and court services in the province, including the Class Proceedings Act.

“I was pleased to see that most of the recommendations were, in fact, adopted,” says professor Kalajdzic. “However, one proposed amendment — the introduction of a predominance test — would make class actions far less accessible in Ontario than in any other province, and is inconsistent with the statute’s access to justice objectives.”

Kalajdzic says the predominance test comes from U.S. law but notes that the Class Proceedings Act was originally drafted specifically to avoid the restrictive analysis used by American courts. Where the US Supreme Court frames class actions as the “exception to the usual rule that litigation is conducted by and on behalf of the individual named parties only,” the Supreme Court of Canada has repeatedly stated that the Act “should be construed generously to give full effect to its benefits.”

The proposed changes to the certification test are inconsistent with the long-standing Canadian approach to mass harm redress, says Kalajdzic.

“This is a major step back for Ontarians,” she says. “It is a change that is clearly intended to reduce access to class actions on the part of consumers. The change disrupts 30 years of Supreme Court of Canada jurisprudence, and positions Ontario as the outlier in a more or less consistent national approach to class certification.”

To read Kalajdzic’s full commentary on the proposed changes, visit the Class Action Clinic blog.

—Rachelle Prince

Even kids too young to attend university can show their affiliation to UWindsor, thanks to a sweatshirt sized especially for them.

The youth hoodies are charcoal coloured with “University of Windsor” stitched in white on the breast. They come in a range of sizes, from a children’s 6 to 14, with an easy zip-up front enclosure.

The Campus Bookstore is selling them for $22.95. Find this and a bunch of apparel and giftware in the store, located on the lower level of the CAW Student Centre.

The Windsor chapter of Sigma Theta Tau International Honour Society of Nursing will host a Boxing Day dinner on Dec. 26 at Craft Heads Brewing Company, 89 University Ave. W.

The event is open to anyone, say organizers: students without families, newly relocated residents, those lacking the financial resources to cook a holiday meal, or those who would like to share a meal with others.

“Our goal is to help decrease the food insecurity and social isolation experienced by community members within our city around the holidays,” says Donna Manlongat, co-chair of the chapter social events committee and an instructor in the Faculty of Nursing.

Sponsored by Sigma Theta Tau International, Craft Heads, and 30mL Coffee Co., the meal will run 1 to 4 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 26. Volunteers will also distribute some non-perishable food items, toiletries, hats, mittens, and socks to those who may benefit, says Manlongat.

To learn more, contact her at donnamanlongat@gmail.com or 519-253-3000, ext. 7407, or co-chair Amanda McEwen at amcewen@uwindsor.ca or 519-253-3000, ext. 2248.