At Home: Ottawa college may cut some trades programs
The federal government has been promoting apprenticeships and training in the trades, but one Ottawa college may cut two of its trade programs. As the CBC reports, Algonquin College ?is considering cutting programs in trades such as horticulture and toolmaking.?
Although teachers and others familiar with those trades say the move would ?leave local businesses in those fields high and dry,? some observers note that the cuts could be the result of higher demand for other programs like video game development.
Doug Wotherspoon is a member of Algonquin’s program review steering committee, and he told reporters that the college has 27 existing programs it wants to increase, as well as 51 new programs it would like to initiate.
?For that to take place,? Wotherspoon said, ?we do have to take a look at the programs that . . . aren’t meeting either the demand or that have a lower relevance.? One factor in the possible cuts to the horticulture program is that It’s expensive to run but student applications are low compared to other programs.
However, with more than 1,000 horticulture businesses in the region, nursery owners and landscapers say Ottawa’s existing horticulture programs ?can’t keep up with demand as it is.? Algonqiun College is expected to make a decision on its trade programs before the September semester begins.
In Foreign News: Unmade beds could be good for your health
don’t want to make your bed in the morning? don’t worry?an unmade bed could be good for your health. As the BBC reports, research shows that untidy beds could prove unappealing to dust mites that are ?thought to cause asthma and other allergies.?
As many as 1.5 million house dust mites could live in the average bed. The tiny creatures are ?less than a millimetre long, feed on scales of human skin and produce allergens which are easily inhaled during sleep.? The good news is that a Kingston University study found the bugs can’t survive in the ?warm, dry conditions found in an unmade bed.?
The dust mites thrive in warm, moist conditions; the kind created when people climb between the blankets for a long cozy night. Using a computer model, the scientists tracked how ?changes in the home can reduce numbers of dust mites in beds.?
One of the researchers, Dr. Stephen Pretlove, noted that ?mites can only survive by taking in water from the atmosphere using small glands on the outside of their body.? Leaving your bed unmade during the day can help eliminate moisture in the sheets, making it a much less inviting place for dust mites. The drier atmosphere could also cause existing mites to ?dehydrate and eventually die.?
Further studies are planned, and researchers will be looking at how changes in insulation, heating, and ventilation could affect dust mites in homes.
