Monday, May 14, 2012

Monday, May 14. 2012

Today's schedule is A-B-C-D

A Block Social Studies 11 - Today and tomorrow we will work on the history of Quebec “nationalism” and the roots of the separatist movement (Chapter 8 pages 190-204 in the Counterpoints textbook). We'll go through pages 198 – 204 as a class and then we will watch Canada: A People’s History episode “Years of Hope and Anger” chapter 12 "October 1970". This deals with the Front de Libération de Québec (Quebec Liberation Front) whose actions culminated with the kidnapping of James Cross (who was released) and Pierre Laporte (who died while in FLQ custody) in the province of Quebec. The Canadian Prime Minister (Pierre-Eliott Trudeau) responded by imposing the War Measures Act in Quebec (suspending civil liberties). You'll need to work on questions 4 a & 5 a from page 194. The Parti-Quebecois came to power in 1976 and in 1980 held a referendum in the province of Quebec to determine if there was a desire to pull the province out of confederation (really it was a convoluted form of independence where the province would still maintain Canadian currency but be able to make its own laws). To help understand this we'll watch Canada: A People’s History “In an Uncertain World” chapters 3 “The Choice”. In the end the province voted 59% "non" and 40% "oui". Since it was somewhat close the government of Canada reopened constitutional talks and "repatriated" the constitution from Great Britain. In this, however, Quebec once again felt "betrayed" or left out. In order to understand this we'll watch the Canada A People's History "In an Uncertain World" chapter 6 “The Night of the Long Knives”. After you'll need to work on the following questions 1, 3, 4, 5, & 7a from page 200.


B Block Law 12 - Today you again have the block to work on your case study project. The Insurance Bureau of Canada has a great webpage to help with Occupier's Liability called Slip/Trip and Fall. On this site it indicates:

As an occupier, you and/or your organization are required to keep areas such as aisles, stairs, ramps, walkways, driveways and parking lots reasonably safe for persons who are using them. Some common hazardous conditions include:
  • ice and snow that has not been cleared
  • unexpected elevation changes
  • uneven surfaces (e.g., cracks, gaps, potholes)
  • slippery surfaces (e.g., wet floors, tile flooring)
  • missing or loose handrails on stairs
  • debris on walking paths (e.g., boxes in aisles)
  • inadequate lighting.
An occupier may be held liable for slips, trips and falls if he/she/it fails to provide a reasonable standard of care in keeping the premises free from hazards. In cases where there is more than one occupier – such as a landlord and a tenant or in the case of shared spaces – it is possible for liability to be shared. Who is held liable depends on the circumstances of the loss. The following are some of the criteria used to determine whether or not the appropriate standard of care was applied:
  • Whether the danger was foreseeable.
  • Whether the occupier’s conduct was in accordance with acceptable standards of practice.
  • Whether there was an adequate system of inspection (considering the risks involved) in place and carried out.
  • Whether the danger was allowed to exist for an unreasonable amount of time.
  • The ease with which the danger could have been prevented.
I would highly recommend that you check out some web pages to help with your project:
Occupiers Liability Act [RSBC 1996] Chapter 337
Products Liability Act
Doing Business in Canada (Product Liability)
Family Compensation Act [RSBC 1996] Chapter 126
Medical Malpractice Canada
Lawyers BC Medical Malpractice
John McKiggan Medical Malpractice Informed Consent (minors and)

C Block Geography 12 - Today we'll continue our look at severe weather focusing on hurricanes. We'll look at the conditions necessary for hurricane development and then look at the Saffir-Simpson scale (wind speed, storm surge, and damage to structures). Your activity will be to track (plot out the path) of Hurricane Diana from 1984 and answer two questions (including question 18 from page 248 of your Geosystems text). For more on predicting Hurricane Landfall check out: Predicting Hurricanes and the NOAA Predicting Hurricanes site too.

While you are working on the questions I'll show you some footage of Hurricane Ike and the damage done to Galveston Island (on the Raging Planet Hurricane episode)


Raging Planet: Hurricane (2009) - Part 1 by bigcenterprises 

If there's time today we'll start watching National Geographic's Inside Hurricane Katrina.

The tragedy of Hurricane Katrina is very personal to me. Although I was not directly impacted by the hurricane (I did not lose loved ones; nor did I lose property in the storm) my wife and I were married on August 5, 2005 just north of New Orleans. We spent time talking with the people of New Orleans and making friends there. We traveled the Gulf Shores road (Highway 90) through Pass Christian, Bay St. Louis, Long Beach, and Gulfport. Three weeks later after a clear warning from the director of the National Hurricane Center, Dr. Max Mayfield (someone who I met at a professional workshop five years earlier), Katrina made landfall along the border between Louisiana and Mississippi. Now it wasn't as if politicians didn't know about the potential disaster that could befall New Orleans if a major hurricane was to strike. Dr. Ivor van Heerden ran a simulation (Hurricane Pam) the previous year at Louisiana State University. His test results were provided to FEMA, state, and local officials. People knew. People in power knew. Heck, I even knew and I'm just a geography teacher living on the opposite end of the continent. The DVD asks some hard questions and I hope to begin a lively discussion with you about them.

D Block Criminology 12 -  Today we will have the opportunity to get caught up on our journal work. So far you should have three entries: personal theory of crime (Monday, April 23rd), crime trends and rates (Tuesday, April 30th) and the short and long term effects of being a crime victim (Monday, May 7th). Today should be your fourth entry and I'd like you to find out as much information as you can about two notorous Canadian murderers... Clifford Robert Olson Jr. (Serial) and Marc Lépine (Mass). For this assignment I'd like you to tell me what they did and why they did it....use Levin & Fox's typology of serial and mass murder to explain motives. Do not use Wikipedia as your source for this assignment use the links on the names above. Aside from answering what they did and why they did it, also try to answer what can we learn from their horrific actions and is it ever possible to stop people like this in Canada? Why or Why not?

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