Law Times

Page 16 September 22, 2014 • Law Times www.lawtimesnews.com TUITION-RELIEF PROJECT PLANNED Osgoode Hall Law School says it will launch a five-year pilot program that will allow law students to defer tuition pay- ments until they've graduated and their income allows them to repay the debt. "If their income never reaches that point, the loan will be completely for- given," according to a news release from Osgoode. The offer, called an income-contin- gent loan pilot program, will start in 2015. The school has yet to work out key aspects of the program such as eligibility and selection criteria. "This program will provide an entirely new way to access legal education, and when combined with bursaries, scholarships, and graduation awards, will advance our goal that every admitted stu- dent should be able to obtain legal education at Osgoode regardless of financial means," said Osgoode dean Lorne Sossin. Sossin said the pilot program would receive $1 million in initial funding. Over the five-year period, Osgoode will assess the program to see if it's furthering accessibility and inclusion. But not everyone has been quick to celebrate the news. A blog post on the Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance's web site, written by Brandon Sloan, says students who earn lower incomes in the future due to wage discrimination could ultimately end up paying more for their education. "The Equal Pay Coalition places the average wage gap for women in Ontario at 31.5 per cent — a number that will in fact be even higher for aboriginal or racialized women. Sometimes referred to as the femi- nization of debt, gendered and racialized pay inequities in Ontario's labour market can result in women and racialized students being saddled with significant debt loads for longer periods than their male counterparts, as they will require lengthier repayment periods to pay off an [income-contingent loan] given their lower wages," wrote Sloan. "As a student's repayment period drags on, so does the interest that student will pay on their loan, meaning that those students earning the lowest wages will in fact pay more for their education than those who are not disadvantaged by wage inequities." MAN ACCUSED OF FEEDING EX HER DOG PALO CEDRO, Calif. — Talk about a case of tak- ing revenge much too far. A northern California man is in hot water after allegedly stealing his ex-girlfriend's pet dog, cooking it, and feeding it to her, police said. Police arrested Ryan Watenpaugh, 34, of Palo Cedro and charged him with counts of do- mestic violence, false imprisonment, stalking, and cruelty to animals, according to records from the Shasta County jail. Watenpaugh's ex-girlfriend called the Red- ding, Calif., police department and reported Watenpaugh had been stalking her, police said in a statement. According to Reuters, she told law enforce- ment officials their relationship involved bouts of domestic violence but noted the two had at- tempted to reconcile their problems over a meal he cooked. Following the meal, which contained meat, Watenpaugh sent her text messages asking how her dog tasted, police said. A few days later, he left a bag on her porch that contained two dog paws. The victim's dog, a Pomeranian named Bear, had been missing since August after she f led the apartment to escape one of Watenpaugh's assaults, police said. Police said they interviewed Watenpaugh and he admitted to menacing her and leaving the paws on her porch but denied killing or cooking the animal. KID'S MUSIC PRACTICE SPARKS GUN INCIDENT GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. — You may not like listening to a kid practising for music class, but that's hardly an excuse for taking out a gun. But according to Reuters, a Colorado woman appears to have thought otherwise. Sheriff 's deputies in Colorado arrested a 60-year-old woman who pointed a rif le at her neighbour's 11-year-old son as he played his clarinet in the backyard, authorities said. Officers responded to an address in Grand Junction after Cheryl Pifer allegedly told the boy, who was doing his music class homework for school, to "get his ass back inside," the Mesa County sheriff 's office said. According to an arrest affidavit, there were five other children aged one to 11 in the back- yard at the time of the incident. It said the boy's grandmother told them all to return to the house. "When they were coming inside, they saw Cheryl at the door with the gun aimed at them. [The boy] stated Cheryl yelled, 'Fire in the hole.' He stated all of the kids ran into the house and called 911," the affidavit added. Police booked her on four counts of felony menacing, seven counts of reckless child abuse/ no injury, and one count of prohibited use of a weapon. COPIED BOOK SPICED UP WITH SEX, AUTHOR CLAIMS SALT LAKE CITY — Plagiarism of your work is bad enough, but it must be especially frustrating when someone takes a Christian-themed novel and adds sex scenes to an allegedly similar story. Christian novelist Rachel Ann Nunes said in a suit filed in a federal Utah court that Tiffanie Rushton's "eerily similar" story, The Auction Deal, plagiarized her book, A Bid for Love. None of the allegations have been proven in court. Nunes' book, described as a love story about two art collectors who meet at an auction for an Indian Buddha statue, was registered with the U.S. copyright office in 1998 under the title Love to the Highest Bidder, according to the suit. It remains in print, according to Reuters. Nunes said Rushton's story, published ear- lier this year under her pen name of Sam Tay- lor Mullens, came as a shock when she learned about it, according to the suit. "In converting Ms. Nunes's work into The Auction Deal, [Rushton] added several graphic sex scenes and other adult content to what was originally a Christian novel," the suit said. LT Get more online Canadian Lawyer | Law Times | 4Students | InHouse | Legal Feeds lawtimesnews.com • canadianlawyermag.com Fresh Canadian legal news and analysis every day Visit Us Online 1-8-5X.indd 1 2/28/11 2:37:34 PM u Bizarre Briefs By Viola James u The InsIde story CLIFFORD HART JOINS BLG Borden Ladner Gervais LLP says labour and employment law- yer Clifford Hart has joined its Toronto office as a partner. The former Miller Thom- son LLP lawyer brings more than 20 years of experience in his field, said BLG, calling Hart "a heavyweight" with "experi- ence in a myriad of industries." "We have made significant strategic moves to build Can- ada's best labour and employ- ment team and adding Cliff is another important, timely step, particularly for our unionized clients," said Matthew Certosi- mo, partner and national leader of labour and employment law at BLG. NEW FELLOWS AT CIGI The Centre for International Governance Innovation has announced the appointment of two new research fellows. A new senior research fellow with the think-tank's interna- tional law research program, environmental law practitioner David Estrin of Gowling Laf- leur Henderson LLP looks at the effectiveness of international environmental law regimes, including in areas such as the governance and regulation of the extractive and energy sector. He'll work with the think-tank on a part-time basis before tak- ing a full-time role in Waterloo, Ont., in May. Also appointed was Bassem Awad as a research fellow. "Bassem's expertise in inter- national intellectual property law and international trade law will contribute significantly to CIGI's focus on innovation, global governance, and inter- national law," said Oonagh Fitzgerald, director of the think-tank's international law research program. LT Lorne Sossin "It's the certified specialists in corporate and commercial law Pride parade!"

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