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Volume M15, Issue No. 13, November 16, 2015

Intercom is published regularly and serves to inform Vanier staff and teachers of notices and special events. It is posted on the Vanier College Website and distributed electronically. Submissions should be sent to intercom@vaniercollege.qc.ca. Submissions should be in WORD, and sent as an attachment. No formatting or bullets. Deadline: 4:00 p.m. on the Wednesday preceding publication.

Honours Social Science and Commerce Recruitment Campaign

Please encourage your strong first semester students (ID number begins with 15) to apply to the Honours Social Science and Commerce program. Over 97% of Honours students were accepted in their first choice of program and university last year. Your referrals are important. Over 65% of applicants apply because their teacher suggests they are good candidates. They need to have an 80% average and be presently taking 6-7 classes. Applications can be found in A-286. You can also send me the names and ID numbers and I will contact the students directly. The deadline to apply is Wednesday, December 9th, 2015. If the teachers or the students have any questions they can contact me: Loris Peternelli, Honours Coordinator at peternel@vaniercollege.qc.ca. See the application at the end of Intercom.

Loris Peternelli, Psychology Department

Vanier Collective Gardens – Great News to end the season!

I am delighted to announce that our gardens have been granted the "CERTIFICATION for BIODIVERSITY" from the city of Montreal given the large variety of vegetation we have all around! And that’s not all! We have also received the “CERTIFICATION for MONARCH OASIS” for the various native plants that promote the sustainability of Monarch butterflies such as the milkweed of the Sports Complex flower planter. Finally, thanks to Evelynne Barten’s initiative and hard work to create the Bird Habitat in front of the N-building’s main entrance (see photo), we have also qualified for the “CERTIFICATION for BIRD GARDEN”! Here is the actual message from the City of Montreal: Dear Gardeners, We thank you for your interest in the My Space for Life Garden program and your actions in favour of biodiversity. Your green space has fulfilled all the conditions required to qualify for My Space for Life Garden certification. Attached you will find

certificates corresponding to the theme garden you have created. Your garden is now on display in the online Gardenaut Gallery, so it can inspire others to act like you. http://espacepourlavie.ca/en/my-garden/vanier-gardens Creating or maintaining a green space, no matter what size, constitutes concrete action to preserve biodiversity and make the cities and towns greener. The entire Montréal Space for Life team salutes your efforts. Find all three certificates at the end of Intercom. See you in the spring!

Myriam Mansour, Geography Department

English Exit Exam Information Sessions

The Learning Centre is holding English Exit Exam information sessions for any student who is writing the English Exit Exam. Please encourage your students to attend one of these sessions, as they provide valuable information in helping them prepare for the exam. This session will give information about the exam: what it looks like, what one will be asked to do, how it is assessed and suggestions on how to approach the task it. We will also discuss tips on what to do to pass the English Exit Exam.

Wednesday, November 18th, 12:30pm, A316

Thursday, November 19th, 5:00pm, D507

Friday, November 20th, 2:30pm, D221

Wednesday, November 25th, 12:30pm, A316

Wednesday, December 2nd, 12:30pm, A316

Kim Muncey, The Learning Centre

In-Class Information Sessions

The Learning Centre is also available to come to your class and deliver the Information Session to your students. This can be useful for students who aren’t available for the scheduled sessions or for students who may not realize the importance of the sessions. If you would like to schedule an Information Session for your class, please contact Kim Muncey, munceyk@vaniercollege.qc.ca

Kim Muncey, The Learning Centre

English Exit Exam Practice Workshops

This workshop will actually have students practice analyzing a short story from a previous English Exit Exam. It is recommended that students attend one of the "Preparing for the English Exit Exam workshops prior to one of these. Registration is required, which can be done online. These three workshops are the same.

Tuesday, November 24th, 5:00pm, K322

Thursday, November 26th, 5:00pm, D507

Friday, November 27th, 2:30pm, D221

Kim Muncey, The Learning Centre

PEER TEACHING COURSE

The “Peer Teaching” course is a special B-Block English course (603-HS course) open to students in all programs and offered every winter semester. Every fall, I recruit students with strong English language skills who are interested in learning how to teach and help other students. This course is a good opportunity for exceptional students to gain valuable peer tutoring experience while also obtaining a grade for the B-Block English course. Please encourage motivated and interested students in your classes to apply for my course by Friday, November 20th, 2015. The students who apply must have taken two English courses and passed them with a grade of 75% or over. Furthermore, they must be students who have not yet completed a B-Block English course. Application forms are available at my office (N-554) and at the office of the Faculty Dean of Science and General Studies (B-208). Applicants will be interviewed during the week of November 23rd and selected according to their level of excellence, commitment, and responsibility. Selected students will then be pre-registered into my course in January. If you require additional information, please do not hesitate to contact me at extension 7271 or to send me an email at photopos@vaniercollege.qc.ca Thank you in advance for your help.

Spiridoula Photopoulos, English Department

Mathematics & Science Centre

DIRO HACKATHON 2015 Edition During the weekend of November 7th and 8th, sixteen Vanier students stemming from the Pre-U Science and Computer Science Technology programs joined another thirty-two students from CEGEP Maisonneuve and CEGEP Bois-de-Boulogne to compete in a 15+ hour Université de Montréal hosted Hackathon. During the programming competition, all teams were given a set of objectives that they needed to complete. The end goal was to add as many features as possible in order to build a playable first level of the Mario Bros NES video game. Although the competition proved to be a great challenge for the competitors, the experience was well received as it provided students with great learning opportunities as well as a small taste for video game development, a popular computer science and software engineering field pursued by many undergraduate students. The following four teams of Vanier students took part in the competition:

Team Tea Mates: Kalvin Sweeney-Levesque, Arthur Rakov, Jeremiah Tiongson, and Hoang-Nam Kevin Trinh

Team Zero Sum: Maksim Sen, Adrian Todorov, Connie Luu, and Amandeep Singh Multani

Team Super Game Engine: Uly (WenBin) Pang, Mark Beiline, Hao Li Zheng, and Jérémy-David Deneault

Team Byte Me: Viveka Anban, Ferdousara Parvin, Nicola Grenon Vinci, and Jiaxuan Lin UB Reviews for Math & Science Teacher run reviews will take place during most universal breaks. The following will take place during the coming weeks: Nov. 18th – Mechanics and Waves (D-506) with Prof. Rhys Adams Nov. 25th – Calculus 1 (D-508) with Prof. Ellen Cooper Nov. 25th – NYA / B Chemistry (D-505) with Prof. Mauro Di Renzo Dec. 2nd – Linear Algebra (D-508) with Prof. Ellen Cooper Interested students can sign up at: http://bit.ly/hVuZ4y Biology 1 and 2 Mini-Tutorials Throughout the fall semester, Professor Stephanie Felkai will be offering topic based Biology 1 and Biology 2 tutorials. The following sessions are taking place shortly in the coming weeks: Diversity of Life (Bio 1) - Monday, November 16, 13h-14h (F-540, MSC) - Tuesday, November 17, 13h-14h (F-540, MSC) - Friday, November 20, 13h-14h (A-475) Thank you for passing on the information to your students.

Haritos Kavallos, Mathematics & Science Centre

Student engagement and the STAR program

As the semester nears its’ end, it is a good time to remind your students that those who are regularly engaged in volunteer work or other extra-curricular un-remunerated activities are likely eligible to have their involvement recognized on their transcript through the STAR program.

Please bring your student’s attention to the STAR program web page at: http://www.vaniercollege.qc.ca/star-program For information contact: Richard Dugas, Student Engagement Advisor, Student Services, ext. 7888.

Richard Dugas, Student Services

Fundraising for ECE German Exchange Program

On Wednesday, November 25t(h (N building foyer) during Universal Break the students from the Early Childhood Education program will be selling star lanterns to raise funds for the ECE German Student Exchange program. The stars make a great addition to any room and also make great gifts for teachers, hostesses etc.! Stars sell for $5.00 & $10.00 and come in a neat package for easy shipping! They can also be ordered through the ECE Dept. Come support our students and get a jump on your holiday shopping! For further info please contact Charlotte Marcella or Cathy Mott (ECE).

Cathy Mott, Early Childhood Education

Annual Holiday Craft Fair

Our annual Holiday Craft Fair will be taking place on Wednesday,

November 25th, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the Student Mall.

Don't miss out on the chance to buy handmade jewelry, natural botanical cosmetics, lavender sachets, Christmas ornaments,

dried herbs and more - all made by our very own faculty & staff.

Great gift ideas for the holidays and special occasions.

We accept cash or cheque only. A portion of the money will be donated to the Vanier College

Foundation to help a needy Vanier student.

Hope to see you there!

Nora Soukiassian, FSSCAL

New Show in the Henry Lehmann Gallery

Invitation to a new show in the Henry Lehmann Gallery

November 16th to November 20th

Reflection

Featuring works by Aaron Asuncion Brooke Brimo

Ranee-Inez Henegan-Comeau Sabrina Iacono

Wendy Alexina Vancol

Opening Wednesday, November 18, 12:30 to 2PM Room B-305

Ashley Lebeau Palmer

Director, Henry Lehmann Gallery

Climate change awareness

The week of November 23rd is climate change awareness week. Students have been working on mobilizing around climate change before the UN Paris climate conference of early December. Here is how our week is developing: Monday we are doing a flashmob at 11.15 in the Student Mall. Tuesday we’re holding a water scarcity relay. Wednesday the students from the Sustainability in Action class are launching their “twenty things you can do about climate change” infographics. Thursday and Friday are Vegan days. All

week, from 10 to 4, we will be holding a kiosk in the Student Mall to raise awareness about climate change. People will be invited to test their carbon footprint and draw their vision of the future. On Sunday, November 9th, our Student Association, the VCSA is renting a bus to bring 56 students to the big climate march in Ottawa. Tickets will be on sale at the kiosk. Finally, a small crew of students are offering a brief presentation in as many classes as possible about climate change in order to promote our week and the bus to Ottawa. If you would like them to visit your class, then please let us know!

Marya Grant, Student Services

French Writing Clinics For all Vanier College employees

Fall 2015

Monday and Thursday 2:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.

Room K-307

Does sending a letter, a memo or an e-mail in French makes you a little nervous? Well, you don’t have to worry anymore! That’s right. You can now use the services of a professional French teacher to help make your French writing a perfect piece of art! Come to our French Writing Clinics, where a Vanier French teacher will help you write the professional business correspondences you have been dreaming of! These clinics will be held every Monday and Thursday from 2:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. in room K 307. For more information, please contact: Isabelle Rivest, French Department, K 307, at extension 7853.

Isabelle Rivest, French Department

Capsule de français

Bonjour a tous et a toutes! Vous desirez verifier vos connaissances en francais? Rien de plus facile avec les capsules linguistiques. Voici l’erreur incluse dans la phrase de la semaine dernière : "Ils nous reverrons un jour, puisque l'année prochaine, il y aura une grande réunion internationale, dans un pays qui ne connaît pas la guerre." Il fallait plutôt écrire : "Ils nous reverront un jour, puisque l'année prochaine, il y aura une grande réunion internationale, dans un pays qui ne connaît pas la guerre." Le sujet du verbe n’est pas necessairement le mot place immédiatement avant le verbe. Lorsqu’un mot s’intercale entre le

sujet et le verbe, on parle d’un « mot-écran ». Il faut se rappeler que le sujet du verbe répond à la question « qui est-ce qui ?» ou « qu’est-ce qui ?» fait l’action. Ici, le sujet du verbe « revoir » est le pronom « ils » et pas le pronom-écran « nous ». Il fallait donc accorder le verbe « revoir » à la troisième personne du pluriel. Voici la phrase a corriger de la semaine : Niveau de difficulte : avancé « Elles étaient toutes enthousiastes, car ce projet leur plaisait énormément. » Vous devez trouver et corriger la faute contenue dans cette phrase. La semaine prochaine, vous obtiendrez la réponse ainsi qu’une brève explication. Bonne chance!

Isabelle Rivest, département de français.

Teaching Tip: Plagiarism Quiz

Take the Plagiarism Quiz The following Plagiarism Quiz was received from the Université de Sherbrooke and inspired (with permission) by quizzes from the universities of Concordia, McGill, Laval, Montréal, UQAM, Université du Québec (head office), and Ottawa, 2015. Please choose True or False (except when indicated Yes or No) for the following statements: 1. Plagiarism includes quoting oral statements from public

presentations (e.g., films, interviews, and lectures) without mentioning sources.

2. Leah has not yet begun a course assignment that is due in one

week. One of her friends, who has already taken the course, suggests that Leah use her work, word for word. Since Leah has her friend’s permission, this is not a case of plagiarism.

3. Khalil copy-pastes a few sentences from a website into his

work. Since the website mentions no author, publisher, or date, Khalil may use the content without needing to use quotes (“”) or give a reference for the website.

4. Yes or No? Guillaume has a graded individual assignment to

do. He gets together with two other students in his class to

Image courtesy of jesadaphorn at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

prepare for this work. The three students discuss and exchange sources, texts, etc. Each one hands in an individual assignment, but all three assignments have parts that are similar, bordering on identical. Is this a case of plagiarism?

5. Yes or No? Three students have a graded assignment to do as

a group. They agree on who will do which section. When the teacher hands back corrected assignments, he informs these students that he found plagiarism in their work. Two of the students argue that the plagiarized excerpts are all in the section written by the third student and that they were unaware plagiarism had occurred. Can these two students be accused of plagiarism?

6. Handing in the same assignment in two different courses is a

form of plagiarism. 7. It is not plagiarism to copy-paste a passage found on the

Internet, then replace a few words with synonyms and flip one or two sentences around.

8. To avoid being accused of plagiarism in a written assignment,

a student must use quotations (“”) and give references for any and all statements, writings, or ideas of which he or she is not the author.

9. Yes or No? Maryse finds an English-language article containing

an argument that could support her own work (in French). She chooses to translate this argument and include it in her text, and provides a reference, but without quotes (“ ”). Is this plagiarism?

10. The information on the Internet (writings, ideas, images, videos, etc.) is public in nature and consequently belongs to everyone. Accordingly, it is unnecessary to cite Internet sources.

11. When referring to facts that are common knowledge (e.g.,

Apple manufactures iPhones), it unnecessary to cite the source.

12. Yes or No? In a presentation made at an international

colloquium, Kevin, a doctoral student, uses a chart based on the research of Sonia, another member of his research group, without mentioning her work. Is this plagiarism?

13. An individual found guilty of plagiarism may be subject to

more than one disciplinary measure. Answers to the Plagiarism Quiz . . .

The answers to this Plagiarism Quiz will be available in the next Teaching Tip.

For further information about pedagogical support and ideas, please contact Wilma Brown, or view other Teaching Tips online on the PDO web page.

Wilma Brown, Pedagogical Development Office (PDO)

Reach Your Potential Become an Honours Student

FIRST SEMESTER SOCIAL SCIENCE AND COMMERCE STUDENTS

Honours students are enrolled in four sections of courses (QM, RM, IP and one Humanities) that

are part of their Social Science or Commerce Program. You will be in classes with motivated and

involved peers. You do not take extra courses, but are expected to graduate in two years, with

the possibility of taking intersession courses, and summer courses in your first year. You will

also have the possibility of going on trips (ex: New York, Boston) and participate in activities

with other Honours students. Please note that it is possible to be enrolled in both a Social Science

or Commerce Major and the Honours Program. Honours students will receive special recognition

upon graduation, including a certificate.

Note over 97% of Honours students are accepted in their first choice of

university and program.

Fact:Being in Honours does not negatively impact your R-score. The grades you receive in the common classes you take with other Honours students will be

compared to all other students in the college taking those courses.

If you think you will achieve an average of at least 80% this semester, we invite you to apply to

the Social Science and Commerce Honours Program. Just fill out the application form and return

it to Loris Peternelli room A319A, or Dean’s office, Room A282 by Wednesday December 9th,

2015.

If you need further details email Loris Peternelli PhD, Honours Coordinator A-319A

peternel@vaniercollege.qc.ca

*HONOURS SOCIAL SCIENCE AND COMMERCE PROGRAM APPLICATION FORM*

Name: ___________________________________ Student Number: ______________________

Program (and Major if applicable) _________________________________________________

Telephone No.: ( ) Number of courses you are presently taking__________

Alternate Tel. No. (if not at home during January break) ( )_____________

Signature: _____________________________________ Date: _________________________

*APPLICATION DEADLINE: Wednesday December 9th, 2015

Bring this application toLoris Peternelli A319A or Dean’s office, Room A 286

For further information, contact Loris Peternelli, Honours Coordinator. office A 319 (744-7500 ext.7282), e-mail

peternel@vaniercollege.qc.ca

into my homeI’m inviting

CertificateMy Space for Life Garden

We certify that

has fulfilled all the required criteria to qualify for the status of

Bird garden.

This green space constitutes a concrete action to help improve biodiversity in Québec and contributes to making our cities greener.

Charles-Mathieu Brunelle Executive director,

Space for Life

Signed at the Montréal Space for Life, the

CertificateMy Space for Life Garden

We certify that

has fulfilled all the required criteria to qualify for the status of

Biodiversity garden.

This green space constitutes a concrete action to help improve biodiversity in Québec and contributes to making our cities greener.

Charles-Mathieu Brunelle Executive director,

Space for Life

Signed at the Montréal Space for Life, the

into my homeI’m inviting

into my homeI’m inviting

CertificateMy Space for Life Garden

We certify that

has fulfilled all the required criteria to qualify for the status of

Monarch oasis.

This green space constitutes a concrete action to help improve biodiversity in Québec and contributes to making our cities greener.

Charles-Mathieu Brunelle Executive director,

Space for Life

Signed at the Montréal Space for Life, the