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News from the Sections
News from the Sections We seem to havc reached the point where we must decide whether or not we want "News from the Sections" as a regular feature in our Jouma!. AH the English-speaking Sections were advised, earIy in November, of the need for submissions of material for this column in the January issue, but the response has been shockingly poor. News-gatherers have been appointed in each Section. Being of a charitable nature, I must assume that there is little or no news to be gathered. In the October issue, I did ask for comments from members on the need for this column and for suggestions on its treatment, ancJ, Clory Be! I got one reply, which I give below: To the Institute AHairs Editor, Dear Sir, Living a bit too far away to attend the nearest Sectiol11's meetings 0111 a regular basis, I find your "News from the Sections" one of the most valuable parts of the Jouma!. EspeciaIly interesting are the Notices of the Meetings of the Toronto, Cuelph, Ottawa and Montreal Sections - given as far in advance as possible, even if the information reported is tentative. Such information permits outlying members, such as myself, to confirm an up-conüng meeting or short course of particular interest and plan to attend. Short courses, such as those oHered from time to time at G'uelph or sponsored by the Montreal Section are also ideal leaming sessions for technicians working in research laboratorios. In order to "line things up" in time for the appropriate person to attend, the scientist in charge must usuaIly know of such courses weIl in advance. Too often, I feel, we do not hear in time. The advance notices of the forthcoming meetings of the Cuelph and Montreal Sections, as reported in the October issue of the CIFST Joumal, just received today, are good examples of what I find most useful in your news section. Yours sincerely, WilIard P. Mohr Research Scientist (Food Processing) Smithfield Experimental Farm Trenton, Ont. One swaIlow does not make a Summer, but it can harbinger its coming. So can one letter lead us to expect the arrival of many more, each giving the individual view of the writer. We probably have, connected with almost every Sectiol11, quite a number of members in similar or closely similar situations to which Mr. Mohr finds himseIf. They live just a little too far from the hub of their Section for them to decide a few days in advance to attend a meeting. Consider also the members in the Sto Lawrence and Creat Lakes area, especiaIly in the areas served by the Toronto, Westem Ontario and Cuelph Sections, the Montreal and Ottawa Sections, or the Montreal and Quebec City Sections. Advance knowledge, through our Joumal, of the subjects and speakers, along with the dates and places of the meetings of these Sectionscould be of immense value to such members, and also to the Sections. And what about the member who travels? How nice it is to meet old friends and make new ones attending meetings in other Sections.
Student Members Our members may be moribund, but our student members are very much alive. They are showing a keen interest in our Institute and we should listen to them. Too late for inclusion in the October issue carne a request from Mr. Dan Cummings, our National Student Co-ordinator, for the publication of certain of the Student Members' views, as follows: As reported in the last issue of the .loumal, student coordinators were elected by student participants in the recent C.I.F.S.T. Conference. As mentioned in that article a survey was conducted to obtain information from students who attended the Conference on student participation in the Conference in particular and the C.LF.S.T. in genera!. From the survey a number of trends became apparent. The students attending were split about equaIly between those who
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\Vere attending their first Conference and those who had been~ previous ones. For the most part four basic reasons for attendin were given - meet people from industry and other institutio pick up new science and technology; investigate and devel contacts for jobs; present papers. The majority of the studen replying feIt that their expectations for the Confe.rence wer, fulfilled. There was a feeling that not enough student mvolvemelll was in evidence. According to those who provided a reason fOI this opinion the fault is mainly with the Institute. Since these final two points are of great importance to both th C.I.F.S.T. and its student members I would Iike to discuss the in some detail. Though it appeared to sorne student de1egates tha student involvement was lacking, there has not been a previou Conference in which there was greater student participation. Th various activities were reported in some detail by T. Carlan in the last issue of the Jouma!. To recap, there was a studen~ sponsored luncheon program, information centre and hospitalit~ room, a student chairman for a technical session and approximateli 20% of the technical papers were presented by students. Muc~ preconference planning was carried out by the student member8, of the Conference Committee relative to student activities. Th~ Institute through the Conference Committee promoted student participation through a very generous student registration package. In retum, local students provided much of the technical assistance required to run the Conference (projectionists, messengers, etc.). So, to say that there was poor student involvement or that students were poorIy received would be incorrecto On the other hand, a great part of this student activity resulted from the work of local student representatives to the Conference Committees and from the desire of that particular Committee to involve students in this Conference. The amount of involvement by students (officiaJly) is not guaranteed. There is no assured continuity to the student role at conferences or for that matter even at the local level. This situation seems to be a resuIt of the attitude of both the students and the momentary local executives. Other than reduced membership fees there appears to be liule official recognition even at the National level of the thoughts or requirements of students. For example, why is there an Educational Affairs Committee upon which no student sits? Retuming to the comments specifically related to the Conference, a number of students felt they were not received socially as well as they should have been. I would point out to these students that though no special invitations were made they were welcome to take fuU part in aIl the social activity of the Conference. What is perhaps not obvious to students, especially those attending a first Conference, is that though a social attitude pervades much of the activity, a great deal of work is done over a sociable drink. It has also been suggested to me by members of Professional status that they don't reaUy know how to approách a student. Students in their tum are reticent abClut initiating contact with Professionals. There are several suggestions I would like to make to both students and Professional members that might improve interaction and student involvement. First, I think, it woulcI help to realize that most Food Science or Technology stucIents are committed incIividuals. They are aiming purposefuIly towarcI a career in the FoocI world. This goes both for undergracIs as weU as graduate stucIents but especially to the gracIuate stucIents. It is my fee 1ing that this is not weIl recognized. It would heJp if local sedions were prepared to encourage stucIent participation and if students were prepared to take fuJl advantage of opportunities at the local section level (especiall v since th's is the only level at which the majority of stunents wiJI be able to take part). To this end each local section that has a stucIent membership might encour:'lge the students to plan ancI run a meeting and the students should in tum do everything possible to ensure an interesting and informative programo I \Vould suggest to students attending both Conference and section dinner meetings that they do not banel together but rather ioin the general membership at their tables and make themselves part of the group with which they find themselves. Local student organizations should, as far as practica!, encourage their members via subsidy to participate in all C.LF.S.T. section activities. We ask for recognition from the Institute as interested and worthwhile contributors but at the same time urge students to
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J. Inst. Can. Sci. Technol. Aliment. Vol. 7. No 1. 1974
Student Members Our members may be moribund, but our student members are very much alive. They are showing a keen interest in our Institute and we should listen to them. Too late for inclusion in the October issue carne a request from Mr. Dan Cummings, our National Student Co-ordinator, for the publication of certain of the Student Members' views, as follows: As reported in the last issue of the .loumal, student coordinators were elected by student participants in the recent C.I.F.S.T. Conference. As mentioned in that article a survey was conducted to obtain information from students who attended the Conference on student participation in the Conference in particular and the C.LF.S.T. in genera!. From the survey a number of trends became apparent. The students attending were split about equaIly between those who
A6
\Vere attending their first Conference and those who had been~ previous ones. For the most part four basic reasons for attendin were given - meet people from industry and other institutio pick up new science and technology; investigate and devel contacts for jobs; present papers. The majority of the studen replying feIt that their expectations for the Confe.rence wer, fulfilled. There was a feeling that not enough student mvolvemelll was in evidence. According to those who provided a reason fOI this opinion the fault is mainly with the Institute. Since these final two points are of great importance to both th C.I.F.S.T. and its student members I would Iike to discuss the in some detail. Though it appeared to sorne student de1egates tha student involvement was lacking, there has not been a previou Conference in which there was greater student participation. Th various activities were reported in some detail by T. Carlan in the last issue of the Jouma!. To recap, there was a studen~ sponsored luncheon program, information centre and hospitalit~ room, a student chairman for a technical session and approximateli 20% of the technical papers were presented by students. Muc~ preconference planning was carried out by the student member8, of the Conference Committee relative to student activities. Th~ Institute through the Conference Committee promoted student participation through a very generous student registration package. In retum, local students provided much of the technical assistance required to run the Conference (projectionists, messengers, etc.). So, to say that there was poor student involvement or that students were poorIy received would be incorrecto On the other hand, a great part of this student activity resulted from the work of local student representatives to the Conference Committees and from the desire of that particular Committee to involve students in this Conference. The amount of involvement by students (officiaJly) is not guaranteed. There is no assured continuity to the student role at conferences or for that matter even at the local level. This situation seems to be a resuIt of the attitude of both the students and the momentary local executives. Other than reduced membership fees there appears to be liule official recognition even at the National level of the thoughts or requirements of students. For example, why is there an Educational Affairs Committee upon which no student sits? Retuming to the comments specifically related to the Conference, a number of students felt they were not received socially as well as they should have been. I would point out to these students that though no special invitations were made they were welcome to take fuU part in aIl the social activity of the Conference. What is perhaps not obvious to students, especially those attending a first Conference, is that though a social attitude pervades much of the activity, a great deal of work is done over a sociable drink. It has also been suggested to me by members of Professional status that they don't reaUy know how to approách a student. Students in their tum are reticent abClut initiating contact with Professionals. There are several suggestions I would like to make to both students and Professional members that might improve interaction and student involvement. First, I think, it woulcI help to realize that most Food Science or Technology stucIents are committed incIividuals. They are aiming purposefuIly towarcI a career in the FoocI world. This goes both for undergracIs as weU as graduate stucIents but especially to the gracIuate stucIents. It is my fee 1ing that this is not weIl recognized. It would heJp if local sedions were prepared to encourage stucIent participation and if students were prepared to take fuJl advantage of opportunities at the local section level (especiall v since th's is the only level at which the majority of stunents wiJI be able to take part). To this end each local section that has a stucIent membership might encour:'lge the students to plan ancI run a meeting and the students should in tum do everything possible to ensure an interesting and informative programo I \Vould suggest to students attending both Conference and section dinner meetings that they do not banel together but rather ioin the general membership at their tables and make themselves part of the group with which they find themselves. Local student organizations should, as far as practica!, encourage their members via subsidy to participate in all C.LF.S.T. section activities. We ask for recognition from the Institute as interested and worthwhile contributors but at the same time urge students to
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J. Inst. Can. Sci. Technol. Aliment. Vol. 7. No 1. 1974