Big trouble in little Downsview

I didn't pay much attention to the circling news helicopters for the first couple of hours, but when one of Toronto EMS's bus-sized ambulances pulled up in front of my apartment building, it seemed wise to investigate.

Dozens of police cruisers, the Emergency Task Force, several regular ambulances, one tactical ambulance, the aforementioned huge ambulance, four or more satellite news vans, two news choppers hovering and at least one small aircraft circling overhead make for an awfully busy scene just a block south of my home. The cause? A 'lockdown' at C.W. Jeffries, the neighbourhood public high school.

Apparently a 14-year old student was shot inside at 2:30pm, and later died at Sunnybrook. CityTV's News at Six had a couple of really tasteless video clips of the victim's mother (and others) screaming and collapsing outside the hospital when informed of his death.

Thankfully, it seems like it was 'only' a murder, rather than a spree shooter. There seems to be some confusion has to how a nearby indoor pool fits into the scenario, with The Star reporting that "police at first responded to what was initially reported as a drowning at a pool near the school."

Coverage a-plenty:

• ETF enters high school after fatal shotting at indoor pool [CityNews]
• Boy killed in school shooting [Toronto Star]
  
• Teen dies after Toronto school shooting [CBC]
• Student dies after being shot in Toronto school [CTV]
• Teen shot dead at Toronto high school [Globe and Mail]
• Toronto school in lockdown after shooting [Canada.com]

School rules as class warfare

Unlike in public schools, where phones are now banned, NY's private school kids tote BlackBerries for fun status and profit success:

"Gil received a hand-me-down Palm Treo six months ago, when his father upgraded his smart phone. Since then, the 16-year-old has been using the PDA to stay on top of his homework assignments, appointments, and extracurricular activities. "I'm definitely more organized," he said, reaching into his pocket and pulling out his camera- and multimedia player-equipped Treo."

[New York Sun via Gawker]

Stay in school, kids

It's hard to remain optimistic about one's own job prospects when Softchoice wants Facilities Assistants (whose duties include: "restock toilet paper, hand towels and soap", "Clean fridges every two weeks", "Wipe glass surfaces with Windex") to have a "College or University Degree", the "ability to multi-task", and "Working knowledge of MS Word, Excel, Outlook".

Perhaps at Canada's 8th best workplace (2006), BA-wielding janitors are expected to simultaneously email revised spreadsheets tracking office-wide TP use statistics to their supervisors while re-filling the liquid soap dispensers.

Troubles Grow for a University Built on Profits - "According to federal statistics and government audits, [the University of Phoenix] relies more on part-time instructors than all but a few other postsecondary institutions, and its accelerated academic schedule races students through course work in about half the time of traditional universities. The university says that its graduation rate, using the federal standard, is 16 percent, which is among the nation’s lowest, according to Department of Education data. But the university has dozens of campuses, and at many, the rate is even lower." [New York Times]