Media releases

• Early signs suggest more applicants are looking at Brock University

  Wednesday, January 18, 2017 | By Brock University

  MEDIA RELEASE: R00009 – 18 January 2017

  Brock officials are cautiously optimistic after an early indicator showed rising numbers of potential first-year students have expressed interest in attending the University this fall.

  Though it will be months before universities have a clear picture of their enrolment for September, the Ontario Universities’ Application Centre (OUAC) says applications for admission to Brock are up by more than two per cent from a year earlier.

  OUAC tracks applications received by the Jan. 11 deadline for aspiring first-year students to identify their Top 3 choices of Ontario universities to attend this fall. The applicants are from two categories: those who will be graduating from Ontario secondary schools this year; and those who come from other sources, including transfer students from colleges or other universities, and from outside Ontario.

  Apart from the OUAC numbers, Brock’s own data tracking suggests increases in the following categories: number of applicants who made Brock their first choice; applications to Brock from Niagara secondary schools; applications from international students; and the number of international applicants who listed Brock as their first choice this year.

  Jamie Mandigo, Brock’s Vice-Provost for Enrolment Management and International, said he is “heartened” by the OUAC news, “although this is just one very early report in what is a lengthy admission cycle for universities.”
  “Brock is certainly holding its own in an increasingly competitive environment,” said Mandigo, “but we all need to keep working to convert this initial interest into confirmed registrations.”

  A shift in Brock’s messaging to potential students has also contributed to increased interest in applying to the University.

  “Over the past several months, Brock’s marketing efforts have focused on telling the unique ‘Brock Experience’ story,” said Gord Hunchak, Brock’s Executive Director, Marketing and Communications. “Some of Brock’s many strengths are found in the exceptional experiential learning opportunities embedded in its programs, and in the highly rated campus and student-life experiences Brock students enjoy while working towards their degrees.”

  In the coming weeks, Brock staff will continue to engage high school students, who have until June 1 to decide which university they will attend in September, said Brock Registrar Geraldine Jones.

  Recruitment staff will organize campus tours for prospective students and their families throughout winter and spring, and on April 2 the Spring Open House is expected to draw up to 4,500 people.

  “We already had record attendance at our Fall Preview Day, which probably contributed to the encouraging picture we see in these new numbers,” said Jones. “Our admissions staff has been aggressive this year in promptly getting offers out to high school students who applied early. The feedback tells us that these students are extremely excited at the prospect of their admission to Brock.”

  For more information or for assistance arranging interviews:

  * Dan Dakin, Media Relations Officer, Brock University ddakin@brocku.ca, 905-688-5550 x5353 or 905-347-1970

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  Categories: Media releases

• Brock professor says media portrayal of iPhones misses the e-waste end story

  Wednesday, January 18, 2017 | By Brock University

  MEDIA RELEASE: R00008 – 17 January 2017

  Ten years ago this month Steve Jobs announced an electronic gadget that would turn into a cultural phenomenon: the iPhone.

  Since then, the release of each generation of the device has been surrounded by media buzz. But Brock University researcher Jennifer Good says the media pays alarmingly little attention to the other end of the line — when billions of electronic devices become trash.

  That lack of awareness-raising, she says, is largely why the public remains indifferent to an environmental nightmare that should be setting off alarm bells.

  The United Nations Environment Program says that, in 2017 alone, consumer goods like computers and smart phones will likely generate more than 50 million tonnes of e-waste around the world, contributing to the planet’s towering “waste mountain.”

  And because most of it is illegally dumped to avoid the cost of safe disposal, e-waste poses a serious threat to human health and the environment due to the hazardous elements it contains.

  Good, an associate professor in Brock’s Department of Communication, Popular Culture and Film, studies how the media covers electronics consumption, and shares her findings in “Creating iPhone Dreams: Annihilating E-waste Nightmares,” published in a recent issue of the Canadian Journal of Communication.

  Her studies show a stark contrast between the media fixation on hyped product launches, versus apparent media indifference to the threat created when these goods are recklessly discarded.

  She says people aren’t more worried about the situation because they’re ignorant to it.

  “Stories that make connections between iPhones and electronic wastes are annihilated,” says Good, “but these stories need to be told, since every stage of electronics’ life cycle takes a huge toll on humans and the environment.”

  In its conclusion, Good’s study in the Canadian Journal of Communication concedes that people cannot know about or be interested in issues that they’re not reading or hearing about.

  “In the absence of the manufacturing corporations and news outlets putting our voracious electronics consumption in a context of human and environmental suffering, perhaps we need another institution to help. Perhaps education is the bridge between iPhone dreams and environmental nightmares.

  “Education can help us make sense of not only electronic waste but also the entire life cycle of our electronics,” she says.

  For more on Good’s research, including more detailed facts and figures, see the story on The Brock News.

  Associate Professor Jennifer Good is available for interviews to discuss her research.

  For more information or for assistance arranging interviews:

  * Dan Dakin, Media Relations Officer, Brock University ddakin@brocku.ca, 905-688-5550 x5353 or 905-347-1970

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  Categories: Media releases