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image - A graphic novel co-created by artist Miriam Libicki and Holocaust survivor David Schaffer for the Narrative Art & Visual Storytelling in Holocaust & Human Rights Education project

A graphic novel co-created by artist Miriam Libicki and Holocaust survivor David Schaffer for the Narrative Art & Visual Storytelling in Holocaust & Human Rights Education project. Made possible by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC).

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Tag: libraries

Nieces enjoy new kids books

Nieces enjoy new kids books

I review a lot of books for the Jewish Independent. Over the years, that has included many children’s books. I do my best in these instances but, as much as I like to let my inner child run free occasionally and as much as I’d one day like to create a children’s book or two, I’m a grown-up. What do I really know about how enjoyable the single-digit-age set will find a publication? Well, for my latest two reviews, I turned to a couple of experts for advice.

With COVID-19 causing the shutdown of schools, my youngest nieces – Fae, 8, and Charlotte, 6 – were suddenly available to be put to work. With their parents’ blessing, nay, encouragement, I scanned and emailed them two recent books published by Intergalactic Afikoman (see jewishindependent.ca/new-publisher-set-to-launch). The assignment was to read Asteroid Goldberg: Passover in Outer Space by Brianna Caplan Sayres and illustrator Merrill Rainey and Such a Library! A Yiddish Folktale Re-imagined by Jill Ross Nadler and illustrator Esther van den Berg. As my nieces were new to the reviewing world, I gave them a handful of questions to answer: What did you like about the books? What did you not like? What did you learn? Would you recommend the books to your friends?

Their mother, Deborah Weiss, sent me summaries of their answers, as well as Fae’s handwritten responses – I’d asked her to be the family’s scribe for the job.

They started with Asteroid Goldberg, which features Asteroid and her parents on their way home from Pluto for the Passover seder. When the family gets to earth’s orbit, they are not allowed to land (for an unstated reason), so they must make alternate seder plans on the fly (pun intended). A few of Jupiter’s moons for kneidl, a piece of Saturn’s rings for matzah, the Milky Way as their pantry. Who to invite? Family members close by, including Grandma Luna, who was biking on Venus, and Uncle Cosmos, who was hiking on Mars. When they come to the Mah Nishtanah, Asteroid asks, “What makes this night so different?” to which the answer is “Everything!” Caplan Sayres couldn’t have known how relevant her Passover story would be this year.

photo - Fae’s note on what her mother, Deborah (D.), thought of the book Asteroid Goldberg: Passover in Outer Space
Fae’s note on what her mother, Deborah (D.), thought of the book Asteroid Goldberg: Passover in Outer Space.

Both Fae and Charlotte loved the story and the artwork. Even though Charlotte found it a bit too long, Fae recommended it for kids 7 and under.

“I like this book because it was a rhyming book and because it had lots of play-along words,” wrote Fae, who explained to her mom that “play-along words are words with multiple meanings.”

As for lessons learned, Fae “did not learn anything.” However, her sister, who can be a pistol, said she learned that one should “never go on a rocket before Passover.”

As for their mom’s thoughts, Deb said, “I really liked this book. As we get ready for a Passover that will be very different this year, I loved reading about a family that had to change their Passover plans and still had lots of fun and found new ways to celebrate. This really resonated with me!”

Deb and the girls also enjoyed Such a Library! “I thought this was a really clever and imaginative take on a well-known folktale,” said Deb, who noted, “Both girls liked the funny text, the story and the artwork. We also liked the clever name of the librarian.”

In Such a Library!, Stevie heads to the public library to read his book – “With three brothers, two sisters and a baby at home, Stevie’s house was never quiet.” As he starts to read, though, he hears pages turning, computer keys tapping. He tiptoes to the librarian, Miss Understood, and says, “This library is too noisy.” He tells her, “It’s like a party in here.” Thinking that a party sounds like a wonderful idea, she opens a book: “Hundreds of colourful balloons flew from the pages, followed by party hats and horns.”

image - Such a Library! book coverEach time Stevie goes to Miss Understood to complain, she opens another book and the library becomes a zoo, then a circus, as the characters jump out of the pages of the books she opens and take over the library. Only once the characters are all returned to their books can Stevie enjoy reading his, to the relatively quiet sounds of the pages turning, computer keys tapping.

Such a Library! is an interpretation of the Yiddish folktale about a man who thinks that his small house is too crowded with his wife and many children. The rabbi recommends that the man also bring into the house the family’s cow, chickens, goats, geese and ducks. When the man can’t take it anymore, the rabbi tells him to kick out all the animals, after which, the small house seems quite big and spacious.

Fae would recommend Such a Library!, once again, to kids age 7 and under, while Charlotte really liked it and would recommend it to anyone.

As for what the girls learned, Deb said, quoting Charlotte, “We learned that, if you’re looking for a quiet place to read, to not to go to the library when it’s full of acrobats!”

To order either book, visit intergalacticafikoman.com/books.

Format ImagePosted on April 3, 2020April 2, 2020Author Cynthia Ramsay with Fae and Charlotte Ramsay and Deborah WeissCategories BooksTags children's books, Intergalactic Afikoman, libraries, Passover, Yiddish

Words of praise for libraries

We have a lot of interesting Jewish educational opportunities in Winnipeg, where I live. If you made a big effort, you could be busy learning, attending lectures, events and classes much of the time. It might be possible to find something to do nearly every day of the week, but most of us don’t or can’t.

Maybe you can’t get out due to health issues or because you’re the caretaker for others. Perhaps it’s just too dark and cold right now, and you aren’t all that keen about going out after dinner. (I hear you!) There are many reasons to say no, we can’t manage something.

The last few weeks, I’ve found myself in this situation. Someone in my household got sick, or I did. The weather was just too cold. I wanted to hibernate. I wasn’t sure the car would start or the event cost too much or … you get the picture.

However, I found a solution that has really enriched this season. There were some books on Jewish topics that friends suggested online, and even a book written by someone I knew. I couldn’t afford to buy them all, nor did I know yet that I wanted to own them. This is where the public library is an amazing resource. I had all the books delivered to one library, where they sat on the holds shelf with my last name on them.

When I checked them out, I worried that I would not be able to finish them in time. Maybe I was being overambitious. Not to worry, it turns out. Most of the books were finished long before they were due – they were that good.

What were they? Well, now that I’ve read these books, I’m happy to make a couple recommendations! The first was Sacred Treasure – The Cairo Genizah: The Amazing Discoveries of Forgotten Jewish History in an Egyptian Synagogue Attic. Genizahs are where some Jewish communities stored their old (both holy and mundane) documents for many centuries. Written by Rabbi Mark Glickman, who I studied with at summer camp as a teenager, this book was the Jewish equivalent to an Indiana Jones story. I love reading about Jewish social history and, to be honest, it made Shabbat and several sick days absolutely a joy. I told all my friends I was geeking out on the genizah book!

The second book I loved was The Unorthodox Match by Naomi Ragen. Ragen is a beloved American-Israeli novelist, and this book didn’t let me down. It was both a love story and a realistic account of how some Chassidic and ultra-Orthodox communities operate. There’s a great divide. These groups both encourage ba’alei teshuvah (those who “return” to more traditional Judaism), but they also ostracize them, as not being the same as those who were raised from birth in these communities. The novel emphasizes the differences between what Judaism teaches about accepting converts and strangers and how communities actually act, sometimes alienating those who seek to be included.

After reading these books, I was struck by how I was able to enrich my Jewish learning simply by using the library and the couch when it was so cold out. Yet, if cities like mine cannot figure out their finances, it’s possible that some of our public libraries (along with wading pools, swimming pools, arenas, etc.) will soon be closed due to budget cuts.

We can choose to read at home and learn more about Jewish topics this way, but only if the public libraries remain open and they can afford to buy these books. We may complain about our taxes, but we are given a great gift when we can access these literary “riches” for free.

Canadian winters are long. I count myself lucky that, when I couldn’t go out, I was able to sit by the fire and read and learn this winter. If we want that learning option to be available, we all have to commit to doing our share to keep libraries (and all the other benefits of a tax-paying society) open and thriving.

Joanne Seiff has written regularly for CBC Manitoba and various Jewish publications. She is the author of three books, including From the Outside In: Jewish Post Columns 2015-2016, a collection of essays available for digital download or as a paperback from Amazon. Check her out on Instagram @yrnspinner or at joanneseiff.blogspot.com.

Posted on March 6, 2020March 4, 2020Author Joanne SeiffCategories Op-EdTags books, education, geniza, history, libraries, lifestyle, Mark Glickman, Naomi Ragen
Many milestones for Wosk in 2019

Many milestones for Wosk in 2019

Dr. Yosef Wosk, right, with Max Wyman, 2017. (photo by Fred Cawsey)

The Yosef Wosk Poetry Initiative at the Jewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver, which began in 2009, marked its 10th year with a celebratory gathering of artists and poets and with the publication of a commemorative book earlier this year. In addition, the Yosef Wosk Poets’ Corner, along with the adjacent Poet Laureates Garden, was inaugurated on the newly renovated top floor of the downtown central Vancouver Public Library – it was named in recognition of Dr. Yosef Wosk’s decades-long support of the VPL.

Wosk was an early major donor to the redevelopment of the eighth and ninth floors and the roof of the central branch of VPL and was asked to serve as honourary chair of the VPL campaign in 2018/19. The architect for the renovations, as for the library itself, was Moshe Safdie, while Cornelia Hahn Oberlander designed an extensive garden to complement her roof garden that crowns the award-winning structure.

In the library world, Wosk – who has established more than 400 libraries on all seven continents over the past 20 years – was able to fund more than 50 new initiatives in 2018/19, including 20 libraries in remote Himalayan villages and 37 in Jewish communities throughout the world.

As a writer and publisher, Wosk’s work has appeared in a number of publications. Most recently, these include having curated and written the preface for Memories of Jewish Poland: The 1932 Photographs of Nachum Tim Gidal, featuring photographs by Gidal from Wosk’s and the Israel Museum’s collections (Gefen Publishing, Jerusalem and New York, 2019). He also initiated and funded a biography, written by Christopher Best, of Faye Leung, the effervescent pioneer in the Chinese and real estate communities, affectionately known as the Hat Lady (Warfleet Press, 2020).

Wosk’s essay “On the Wings of Forever” was published in the online Ormsby Review this year in collaboration with the Canadian Academy of Independent Scholars. The editor’s preface notes that: “With prose as profound and learned as it is clear and accessible, here Wosk examines and appreciates the role of museums and museum workers in the digitizing modern world. It’s not gloom ’n’ doom. Instead, he outlines what he calls ‘a stirring vision, one of innovative technology on a human scale, heart-centred and soul-sized.’”

In collaboration with the Canadian Museums Association, Wosk helped transform the President’s Award into the President’s Medal; he also commissioned the medal and wrote the introduction in the booklet that accompanies the honorific, which was first awarded in 2019.

The province-wide Max Wyman Award for Critical Writing in the Arts, which was inaugurated by Wosk in 2017, formed an alliance this year with the VIVA Awards (the Shadbolt Foundation), which will begin in 2020.

In academia, Wosk was reappointed this year as an adjunct professor in humanities at Simon Fraser University and completed four years as a Shadbolt Fellow at SFU, where he was recently named a Simons Fellow.

During the year, Wosk served on 11 boards in the Jewish and general communities in areas such as education, medical research, museums, libraries, literature, business and the arts. These boards have included the Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre, Schara Tzedeck Cemetery Board, CHILD Foundation, Museums Foundation of Canada and Pacific Torah Institute. He was also an ambassador for the Vancouver Sculpture Biennale and is completing a second term with the B.C. Arts Council.

Format ImagePosted on December 20, 2019December 18, 2019Author Community members/organizationsCategories LocalTags arts, culture, libraries, Max Wyman Award, museums, philanthropy, poetry, SFU, Simon Fraser University, VPL, Yosef Wosk
Preserving written word

Preserving written word

Pinkas Kehillat Frankfurt am Main contains records of the membership dues and other payments made by the members of the Frankfurt community between 1729 and 1739. It also contains copies of records from the 17th century. The pinkas contains 384 leaves and is written in German in Hebrew letters. (photo from National Library of Israel)

Many know that Shavuot, which we just marked, commemorates the receiving of the Ten Commandments. Less well appreciated, however, is that this holiday is the Jewish people’s beginning as the People of the Book. In this regard, it should come as no surprise that, within two weeks of Shavuot, throughout Israel, we celebrate Book Week, Shavuah Hasefer. But enough about new books.

Since the 1970s, in a tucked-away corner of the National Library of Israel, a small, skilled team conserves and restores the books and documents, not just of the Jewish people’s long and complicated heritage, but those of Muslims and Christians.

Timna Elper heads this department, which currently comprises four full-time and one part-time staff. Until I visited them, I did not understand how challenging it is to physically preserve a written legacy – archival materials face a battery of foes, such as fungus, insects and rodents.

So, here is an admission: I naively believed the term bookworm just meant someone who loves to read books. While this does describe a certain kind of person, bookworms are actually an enemy of old books. Moreover, bookworms aren’t even worms – they’re the larvae of several species of beetles. And they have their preferences; that is, they generally leave newer books alone. If unchecked, they start their voracious dining on the spines of older books, moving on to feast on the pages. The sad result leaves books riddled with small holes and badly frayed covers and edges.

photo - Pinkas Kehillat Frankfurt am Main before conservation efforts at the National Library of Israel
Pinkas Kehillat Frankfurt am Main before conservation efforts at the National Library of Israel. (photo from National Library of Israel)

The repair work carried out in Elper’s department is, in a number of ways, similar to work done in hospitals. As in a medical facility, staff members must be highly trained in a number of fields. In the case of the library, we are talking about knowledge of fibres and textiles, entomology, chemistry, etc. To avoid contagion, sanitation is constantly checked: the library, for instance, closes during Passover and Sukkot in order to carry out fumigation of the entire facility. Tests are routinely carried out for fungal and insect damage. Temperature and humidity are monitored. Special care is taken to avoid stacking books too tightly, as this could endanger their physical stability when removed from their shelves. Attention is also paid to lighting (and not just sunlight), as improper or excessive lighting likewise harms books.

As for surgical procedures, library staff members carefully choose the materials for the restoration process, so that the book will accept, rather than reject, the repairs. The staff has to match the materials composing the old texts, be they parchment, animal skin or paper. However, no staff person is engaged as a scribe, as the department does not deal with restoring the text, no matter how faded or distorted it may be.

Along the way, the staff learns a lot about the old books. They learn about the community from which a text originated. They learn about the building of a book and what might have been involved in producing it. They explore questions that deal with the book’s content, as well as its cover. Was the book covered immediately or later in its life? Was the cover added where the book was written or was it put on in another country? And, if it was added in another country, what does this tell us about cooperation between historic Jewish communities?

Sometimes, to complete the restoration process and return the book for use, the staff employs specially developed machines, such as the Leafcaster, a machine that was developed by the department’s first director, Esther Alkalai. The Leafcaster helps strengthen a page by adding pulp to it.

Once the restoration is complete, the materials are available for study or for exhibition. To a degree, this action puts the texts at risk for contamination or physical damage. Thus, when the National Library loans rare items for temporary display, the restoration and conservation lab goes into full swing with a complicated process of ensuring the articles travel safely. The condition of the items is meticulously inventoried before they leave the library and when they are returned. In addition, a staff person from the lab accompanies the items in order to review the state of the pieces with the receiving institution and to help make sure that the loaned materials are being shown in a way that will not cause harm. When the exhibit closes, a staff person returns to the hosting facility to safely bring the valuable books and manuscripts back to the library. The library also makes special security and customs arrangements. An agreement is signed stating that the loaned articles will all be returned to Israel.

photo - Pinkas Kehillat Frankfurt am Main after conservation efforts at the National Library of Israel
Pinkas Kehillat Frankfurt am Main after conservation efforts at the National Library of Israel. (photo from National Library of Israel)

The restoration process is expensive, and the waiting list for repairing these treasures is in the thousands. While there are donors willing to underwrite the cost of digitizing archival material, few people are willing to contribute to the cost of the restoration.

Elper would love to have people adopt archival material, so that it could undergo restoration at the National Library of Israel. Such a program, she said, has been instituted at the British Library and other institutions. Reportedly, at the British Library, the funds raised through its Adopt a Book program have supported the conservation of thousands of items – books, manuscripts, maps, photographs, stamps and works of art on paper. The possibilities are numerous; one of Elper’s suggestions is to approach different ethnic communities or individuals to adopt or sponsor the repairs needed on an article from their community of origin.

Asked what was the library’s most difficult project to date, Elper said all projects have their challenges. While difficult was not her choice of word, she admitted that preparing for the arrival of a large external (out-of-the-library) archival collection required painstaking attention to removing any known contaminants and, stage-by-stage, safely transporting these acquisitions to the National Library’s archives.

Among the most satisfying projects for the team, Elper said when asked, was the preparation for the recent exhibit at New York University’s Institute for the Study of the Ancient World, called Romance and Reason: Islamic Transformations of the Classical Past. The library lent the institute exquisitely scripted and illustrated manuscripts dealing with the story of Alexander the Great.

The repair of items (donated and purchased) creates a living testimony of history. It is the hope of the National Library of Israel that these rare and cherished books will receive even more attention when the library moves to its new facility in 2020.

As a closing note: if you have old books you love, keep them away from direct light and, to protect them from dust and other grime, store them in archival-quality, acid-free envelopes. Don’t do as yours truly had been doing, keeping them in various Ziploc bags. In closed plastic bags, the books have limited ability to breathe.

Deborah Rubin Fields is an Israel-based features writer. She is also the author of Take a Peek Inside: A Child’s Guide to Radiology Exams, published in English, Hebrew and Arabic.

Format ImagePosted on May 25, 2018May 24, 2018Author Deborah Rubin FieldsCategories IsraelTags books, history, Israel, libraries, restoration
ספריה מתורבת

ספריה מתורבת

ספריה מתורבת: צפייה בפורנוגרפיה מותרת אך להירדם על הכיסא או לדבר בקול אסור (צילום: ParentingPatch)

המדיניות של הספריות הציבוריות הפרושות ברחבי קנדה נראית לפעמים קצת מוזרה, בעיקר עבור הורים לילדים. זאת כיוון שמותר ואפשרי למי שמבקר בספריות לגשת לאחד מעמדות המחשבים הפנויות ולצפות בחומרים פונגרפיים. פשוט וקל.

אמא לשתי ילדות קטנות הופתעה לדעת כי בספריה הציבורית “גרין בורו” באוטווה הבירה הצפייה בפורנוגרפיה, חופשית, שרירה וקיימת. ג’ניפר סנט-פייר לקחת את בנותיה (אחת בת 11 והשנייה בת 13) אל הספריה הציבורית כדי שישאלו מספר ספרים לקריאה. אחת הבנות בדרכה לבחור את הספרים הבחינה פתאם שמישהו שיושב ליד המחשב, צופה במשהו “לא ראוי ומטריד” כדבריה. היא קראה לאמה שנעמדה מאחורי הבחור ונדהמה לראות שהוא צופה בחומר פונוגרפי. האם המופתעת הוציאה את שתי בנותיה מהספריה ונסעה הישר הבייתה. לאחר מכן היא החלה לחקור את הנושא לעומקו והופתעה עוד יותר לדעת שהנהלת ספריית “גרין בורו” מודעת לתופעה, והיא אינה מתכוונת לנקוט בשום פעולה כנגד למי שיושב ליד עמדות המחשבים וצופה בחומרים פונוגרפיים, כל עוד הוא לפחות בגיל 18. וכל עוד לא מדובר בפעילות שהיא נגד החוק כמו פורנוגרפיה קשה, התעללות, ניצול ילדים או חומרי שינאה.

סנט-פייר אמרה: “אני מאוד מופתעת ומאוכזבת שהנהלת הספריה מאפשרת לצפות בפורנוגרפיה. עלינו לשמור על הילדים שלנו שמבקרים בספריות ולמנוע את חשיפתם לחומרים מסוג כזה. אני מקווה לפחות שהנהלת ספריית “גרין בורו” תרחיק את עמדות המחשבים מספרי הילדים, או לחילופין שתבנה קיר הפרדה ביניהם. הפרשה הזו אילצה אותי לפתוח בדיאלוג עמוק ולא פשוט עם בנותי על מהות החומרים הפונוגרפיים ומדוע אנשים צופים בהם. אני מציעה להורים אחרים להיות מודעים על מה שקורה בספריות בהן מבקרים ילדיהם ולפעול באחריות”.

בהנהלת ספריית “גרין בורו” מציינים כי זה לא מתפקידם להיות הצנזורים לגבי מה שמותר או מה אסור לצפות בו. ההנהלה מנסה לשמור על איזון בין הזכות לפרטיות וחופש המידע האינטלקטואלי, לבין הביטחון והבטיחות ברחבי ספריה ובעיקר כלפי ילדים. בהנהלה מודעים כי לפעמים נוצר מצב שקשה לשמור על האיזון בין השניים, זה לא שטח של שחור או לבן אלא של אפור, ולא כולם יסכימו עם המדיניות הזו. חשוב להדגיש כי מחובתה של הספריה לאפשר נגישות הציבור למידע חופשי ללא שום צנזורה. בהנהלה אמרו עוד כי הם מצפים מהורים לילדים קטנים שמבקרים בספריה, שיגיעו ביחד עם מבוגרים כדי שישמרו עליהם. אז האפשרות להעמיד את הילדים במצב של סיכון תרד משמעותית.

ספריות אחרות בקנדה בהן למשל בערים כמו טורונטו והליפקס מנהיגות מדיניות דומה לזו של הספריה באוטווה, ולא מפעילות צנזורה על החומרים הנצפים באינטרנט כל עוד הם חוקיים. בהנהלת ספריה בטורונטו אומרים כי הפעלת צנזורה על החומרים הנצפים באינטרנט, יכולה למשל למנוע מהציבור הרחב לקרוא על סרטן השד. החוק הפלילי בקנדה לא מתעסק ישירות עם הנושא, אלא מתייחס לספריות כמו לכל גוף ציבורי אחר, והוא מאפשר להנהלות להפעיל שיקול דעת ומעניק להן חופש פעולה מלא בנושא, תוך שמירה על חופש המידע ללא צנזורה, כל עוד ילדים לא נחשפים לכך ולא מדובר בחומרים אסורים.

כתב החדשות שפרסם את הידיעה בדבר האם ובנותיה, בדק את תקנון ספריית “גרין בורו” ומצא כי אכן מותר לצפות בחומרים פונגרפיים. לעומת זאת בהתאם לתקנון מי שמרעיש או מרים את קולו, נרדם על הכיסא או משתמש בתרסיסים חזקים על גופו, יחוייב לעזוב את הספריה.

Format ImagePosted on October 4, 2017October 3, 2017Author Roni RachmaniCategories עניין בחדשותTags libraries, pornography, ספריות, פורנוגרפיה
הפסידה בתביעה

הפסידה בתביעה

אישה שזכתה בעבר בלוטו הפסידה במשפט נגד חברתה שלא החזירה לה הלוואה, ונהנתה מעליית מחירי הנדל”ן בוונקובר. (צילום: lotto.bclc.com)

תושבת ונקובר שהרוויחה בהגרלת הלוטו 6/49 שהתקיימה בחודש ינואר 2007 למעלה מארבעה מיליון דולר, הפסידה בתביעה שנדונה בית המשפט נגד חברתה הטובה, שסירבה להחזיר לה הלוואה בגובה ששת מאות אלף דולר.

אנון רוסאס ילידת הפילפינים, הסכימה לעזור לחברתה הטובה איסבל טוקה, שגם היא מהפילפינים, לאחר שזכתה בהגרלה הגדולה. שתי הנשים הכירו בבית ספר בקנדה בשנת 2004. רוסאס העניקה לטוקה הלוואה בגובה ששת מאות אלף דולר, ובנוסף נתנה לה שלושים אלף דולר כמתנה. כל זאת כדי לעזור לה ברכישת בית במזרח ונקובר. טוקה הבטיחה להחזיר את שש מאות אלף דולר לרוסאס כעבור שנה, אם כי היא לא קבעה בתאריך המדוייק. לאור ההיכרות העמוקה והאמון ההדדי בין הצדדים שום מסמך לא נחתם בין שתי החברות מהפיליפינים.

בתום השנה הראשונה טוקה לא החזירה את הכסף לרוסאס אך היא הבטיחה לעשות זאת כעבור שנה. וכך מדי שנה טוקה עמדה בסירובה להחזיר את הכסף ושוב חזרה והבטיחה להחזירו בשנה שלאחר מכן. לרוסאס נמאס לבסוף מהסחבת הארוכה של טוקה, שדחתה את בקשתה להחזיר את השש מאות אלף דולר מדי שנה בשנה. בחודש יולי 2014 הגישה רוסאס תביעה נגד טוקה לבית המשפט העליון של מחוז בריטיש קולומביה. בכתב ההגנה טענה טוקה כי רוסאס העניקה לה את השש מאות אלף דולר במתנה, ולכן יש מקום לדחות את התביעה. בית המשפט דחה לבסוף את התביעה של רוסאס בטענה שלא נחתם הסכם בין הצדדים עם תנאים מפורטים, והיא לא יכלה להוכיח כי נתנה את הכסף לטוקה כהלוואה. בית המשפט ציין עוד כי ממילא רוסאס יכלה להגיש את התביעה נגד טוקה (במסגרת הדין האזרחי) לא יאוחר בתום שבע שנים, מיום ביצוע העברת הכסף בין השתיים, דהיינו עד ינואר 2014. אך התובעת הגישה את תביעה באיחור של חצי שנה (כאמור בחודש יולי) ולכן נסגר בפניה חלון ההזדמנויות להגיש את התביעה. רוסאס הפסידה כידוע במשפט וכן גם את חברתה הטובה טוקה. ואילו טוקה אמנם הפסידה את חברתה הטובה רוסאס, אך היא הרוויחה מעליית מחירי הנדל”ן בוונקובר והבית שהיא רכשה בששת מאות ושלושים אלף דולר, שווה כיום כמליון וחצי דולר.

תאי שינה בספרייה: ואיזה מסכנים הסטודנטים שלומדים עכשיו בחוץ

סטודנטים כידוע לומדים שעות ארוכות ביום ובלילה וקורה לא מעט, שהם תופסים תנומה קלה בשיעורים ובעיקר נרדמים בספריות. לאור זאת החליטה הנהלת המכון לטכנולוגיה של בריטיש קולומביה (בי.סי.אי.טי) להציב שני תאי שינה בספרייה שאחד’ מהקמפוסים שלה (שנמצא בברנבי). אם הניסוי יצליח יוצבו תאי שינה נוספים בחלקים אחרים של הקמפוס.

תאי השינה עשויים מפלסתיק מעוגל ומזכירים קפסולות גדולות שלקוחות מסרטים בדיוניים. בתאים הפשוטים כיביכול מותקנים: דלת שננעלת מבפנים, מזרון נוח ותאורה. הסטודנטים יכולים לנוח בתא עד עשרים דקות כדי שיוכלו להתאושש ולחזור ללמוד במלוא המרץ. עלות רכישת תא שינה מוערכת בכאלף ומאה דולר, והמימון מגיע ממכירת משקאות ודברי מאכל במכונות האוטומטיות שבקמפוס.

תגובת הסטודנטים חיובית. אחד מהסטודנטים אף הרחיק לכת וציין בדף הפייסבוק שלו, כי אפשר אפילו לעשות סקס בתאים בעשרים הדקות. תגובת הנהלת המכון לא איחרה לבוא: “תאי השינה נמצאים בפיקוח מצלמות כל הזמן והם ממוקמים קרוב לדלפק הצוות בספרייה. בכל מקרה התאים צרים מדי מלהכיל שני אנשים”.

Format ImagePosted on October 10, 2016October 10, 2016Author Roni RachmaniCategories עניין בחדשותTags BCIT, lawsuit, libraries, lottery, Philippines, Rosas, sleeping pods, Vancouver, בי.סי.אי.טי, בספריות, בתביעה, ונקובר, לוטו, פילפינים, רוסאס, תאי השינה
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