When Students Are Smarter Than Teachers

One of the big news stories around here this week is how Dawson College expelled a student for exposing a security flaw in the online course management software they use.  The software, called Ominvox, is used in many CEGEPs (junior college) in Quebec.

Here's the gist of the flaw:  Pages containing sensitive information about users (students and teachers) are given encrypted URLs, but apparently the URL still contains pieces of the staff or student ID number.  Simply by changing those numbers, anyone logged in to the system can have information about any other user.

The student in question Hamed Al-Khabaz, immediately reported this gaping security hole to the College's head of IT.  He got a pat on the back.  After few days, he ran a program to see if the vulnerability was still there.  Good follow-up on his part.

The College then threatened to press charges and ultimately expelled the kid.

Morons.

The correct course of action should have been:
1.  "Holy crap - thanks for finding this really serious problem with our system, we'll get that fixed right away."
2. "Here's your diploma. You can go home now."

Seriously.  This kid is smart, thorough and above all HONEST.  This first thing he did when he found the problem was tell a grown up.  And then he got expelled.

I thought that the mission of a college - or any other school for that matter - was education.  I didn't think that this mission was restricted to the classroom.  Well what the hell do the administrators at Dawson think they are teaching this student, and all their students, by their actions?

They are teaching him to toe the line, to cover his ass and never trust anyone in a position of authority.  Clearly these are superb lessons.

THESE PEOPLE ARE FUCKING IDIOTS.

I hope that my own children can act with the clarity of thought, integrity, thoroughness and honesty that Hamed Al-Khabaz did.

This whole incident started back in September of 2012, and we're only hearing about it now, because the company behind the software, SkyTech (not Skynet) forced Al-Khabaz to sign an NDA.  In my capacity as a teacher, I used Omnivox everyday, and I have not heard a thing about it - including whether or not the vulnerability has been repaired.

In an interesting about-face, SkyTech has now offered Al-Khabaz a scholarship so that he can complete his studies at a private college.  They should hire him.

Institutions of all kinds, governments, companies, schools, and parents, need to remember that the example we set by our actions often provides a more powerful lesson than anything else.

Watch this clip of Al-Khabaz being interviewed on CBC News.


You can sign a petition to encourage Dawson College to reinstate Hamed Al-Khabaz here.

Magic Ingredient In Breast Milk Protects Babies' Intestines

Researchers Queen Mary, University of London have discovered that an ingredient in human breast milk protects and repairs the delicate intestines of newborn babies.

The ingredient called pancreatic secretory trypsin inhibitor, or PSTI, is found at its highest levels in colostrum - the milk produced in the first few days after birth.

The lining of a newborn's gut is particularly vulnerable to damage as it has never been exposed to food or drink. The new study highlights the importance of breastfeeding in the first few days after the birth.

Read more (ScienceDaily)

This Week in Science

1. Growing Years Cut Short For Toddlers From Poor Families

Continuous poverty during toddler years can curb the height of children by the time they reach kindergarten, even in industrialized countries, according to new research from the Université de Montréal. Regardless of hereditary factors such as maternal height and education level, according to the finding published in the Journal of Epidemiology Community Health, children from poor families are more likely to be shorter than their peers.

N Z Ehounoux, M-V Zunzunegui, L Séguin, B Nikiema, and L Gauvin. Duration of lack of money for basic needs and growth delay in the Quebec Longitudinal Study of Child Development birth cohort. Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health, 2009; 63 (1): 45 DOI: 10.1136/jech.2007.072157


2. Breastfeeding May Prevent Breast Cancer

 Dr. Michael Lisanti and colleagues at Thomas Jefferson University found that extended lactation protects again mammary tumor development.

Sotgia F, Casimiro MC, Bonuccelli G, Liu M, Menezes DW, Er O, Daumer KM, Mercier I, Witkiewicz AK, Minetti C, Capozza F, Gormley M, Quong AA, Rui H, Frank PG, Milliman JN, Knudsen ES, Zhou J, Wang C, Pestell RG, Lisanti MP. Loss of Caveolin-3 Induces a Lactogenic Microenvironment that is Protective Against Mammary Tumor Formation. Am J Pathol, 2009, 174: 613-629

3. School-based Physical Activity Has Benefits Even If It Doesn't Help Lose Weight

School-based health and exercise programs have positive outcomes despite having little effect on children's weight or the amount of exercise they do outside of school, say Cochrane Researchers who carried out a systematic review of studies on physical activity programs in schools.

Dobbins M, De Corby K, Robeson P, Husson H, Tirilis D. School-based physical activity programs for promoting physical activity and fitness in children and adolescents aged 6-18. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 2009, Issue 1. Art. No.: CD007651 DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD007651

 

New look. More Ads

Well, once again I'm trying to make a concerted effort to post more regularly. If you look around you will also see that I'm trying to make a bit of cash. I'd love to move to philosopherdad.com and maybe be able to spend more time blogging.

So go ahead, click on an ad. You know you wanna.

Two months since the last post........jeez!

All of a sudden it's mid-(end of) July, and it's been two months since my last post! How did that happen? On a personal note, things have been well. I've been enjoying my first real holiday in years. Zen Girl continues to live up to her name, and her MSPI seems to be waning. She can now eat soy, legumes, cheese and beef. We are loath to try milk outright, because the introductions of some of the other foods have not been perfect. No blood or anything, just a return of mucous and diarrhea, which then subsided. Her iron levels have returned to normal as well. We have a GI follow up in two months, and we'll see what the story is then. I'm hoping to return to more normal posting as the summer wanes.

Parental Behaviour Affects Quality of Child's Sleep

A new study done at Montreal's Sacre Coeur Hospital and set to be published in Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine shows that parental behaviour can dramatically affect the way kids sleep.

Parents also reported their behavior at children’s bedtime (including whether they lulled children to sleep, laid them down awake or stayed with them until they fell asleep) and during nighttime awakenings (including comforting children in bed, taking them out of bed, giving them food or bringing them to the parental bed for cosleeping).

“Early (age 5 to 17 months) sleep disturbances predicted maladaptive parenting behaviors (e.g., mother present at sleep onset, giving food/drink after child awakens) at ages 29 and 41 months,” the authors write. “Some parental behaviors in turn predicted future bad dreams, total sleep time of less than 10 hours per night and sleep-onset latency [delays in falling asleep] of 15 minutes or more. However, most relationships did not remain significant in adjusted models that controlled for early sleep problems.” Cosleeping after nighttime awakening remained associated with more than 15-minute delays in returning to sleep, while the mother’s presence at the beginning of sleep appeared protective against such delays.

The results support the notion that some parental behaviors develop in response to early sleep problems, the authors note. However, they also indicate that such parental behaviors could have negative effects. “Parental strategies that were effective for early sleep difficulties (e.g. giving food or drink) may later become inappropriate to the child’s age and needs. Mothers might adopt the inappropriate response of giving food or drink to 29- to 41-month-old children awakening (which is associated with bad dreams and shorter total sleep time at age 50 months) because they commonly attribute infant cries to hunger and come to believe that infants cry only when hungry,” the authors write.

“Our findings clarify the long-debated relationship between parental behaviors and childhood sleep disturbances,” the authors conclude. “They suggest that cosleeping and other uncommon parental behaviors have negative consequences for future sleep and are thus maladaptive.”

This last paragraph surprises me. My understanding, from my experience with both kids, and from reading the article, is that the real problem is that parents fail to adapt their behaviour as children get older. Cosleeping with infants is one thing, cosleeping with a toddler or young child is another. Parents need to remember that their kids needs change, sometimes very rapidly and it is important to be aware when a strategy is no longer working.

Two sick babies makes blogging challenging for local man

First him, now her. I wish they would coordinate.

Back soon.

2007 in Review

As 2007 rapidly draws to a close (WHOOSH!). Oh. Right. Missed that one. I have been deliciously unplugged since my last post, which means that I have managed to miss all of the stupid top ten lists and falling disco balls. It also means that I haven't been able to keep letting you know how we've been doing.

Actually quite well, thanks.

Zen Girl can now safely eat carrots, applesauce, squash and pear. Her iron levels have stabilized and she's sitting rather nicely.

Monday is a pivotal day. We are going to introduce lamb into her diet. She needs a source of protein, fat other than breast milk, but the iron in it is critical.

If she can tolerate lamb, than we are essentially out of the woods for the time being. As Zen Girl's palate broadens, so hopefully will Philosopher Mom's (who is carrying on as valiantly as ever).

Kids-on-a-Plane: WestJet forgets about an unaccompanied minor

The first time I travelled alone on a plane, I was 12. I'm glad I WestJet wasn't around at the time.

The parents of a five-year-old girl travelling alone are furious with WestJet for breaking its own guidelines and allowing a stranger to accompany the child off a flight.

Sara-Maude St-Louis, 5, was taking her first plane ride Thursday from Edmonton, where she lives with her mother, to Montreal to see her father. The parents paid a special fee to ensure someone from the airline would look after her.

Read m0re (cbc.ca)

The Continuing Story of Zen Girl's Food Intolerance.... the iFood Edition

We are declaring that carrots are a success. We saw two pinprick-sized spots of blood in Zen Girl's diaper this week, but there was no corresponding change in behaviour and the blood was not persistent and did not worsen.

This means that it's time for a new food, and I wanted to be sure that we could give it to her for a few days before the holidays (when speaking to/seeing an actual staff physician is impossible).

So tomorrow moeining, applesauce.. here's hoping.

Weekly Science Round Up

Excessive Tantrums In Preschoolers May Indicate Serious Mental Health Problems

ScienceDaily (2007-12-13) -- Certain types of tantrums in preschoolers may be a sign of serious emotional or behavioral problems. Although temper tantrums are common and normal in young children, the researchers found that long, frequent, violent and/or self-destructive tantrums may indicate the presence of psychiatric illness.

Even Low Lead Exposure Linked To ADHD

ScienceDaily (2007-12-06) -- Very low levels of lead in the blood -- previously believed to be safe -- could be contributing to attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. The research findings support a growing body of national evidence suggesting there is no safe level of lead in the blood. Other studies show a link between low-level lead exposure and lower IQ.

Heavy Traffic Makes Breathing A Burden In Children

ScienceDaily (2007-12-14) -- Exposure to traffic pollution may increase respiratory problems and reduce lung volumes in children with asthma, according to researchers who studied the effects of road and traffic density on children's lung function and respiratory symptoms in the border town of Ciudad Juarez in Mexico.

The Continuing Story of Zen Girl's Food Intolerance.

The squeaky parents get the grease. In spite of Dr. L.'s threat that getting a second GI opinion for Zen Girl would take six months, we had our care transferred to a new GI this week (same hospital). It seems that our letter to the Ombudsman helped move things along.
Our new doctor, Dr. M. (GI), was kind, thorough, respectful and explained a great deal. We decided together that in order to help ZG develop her oral motor skills etc, we would start trying foods again. In stead of any cereals, we skipped right to carrots.

Today was day 4 of carrots. We saw a speck of blood yesterday - literally a pinprick, that we had to look very hard to find - but we decided to persist. If the blood is due to food sensitivity, it should persist or increase, and if it does we will stop the food and she will have to have an endoscopy. However, today there was no blood in her stool. If she continues blood-free over the weekend, we will try apples on Monday.

Food Allert: Undisclosed Milk in Holiday Fuit Loops

ALLERGY ALERT - UNDECLARED MILK IN KELLOGG’S HOLIDAY FROOT LOOPS

OTTAWA, December 6, 2007 - The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) and Kellogg Canada Inc. are warning people with allergies to milk proteins not to consume Kellogg’s Holiday Froot Loops. The affected product may contain milk protein that is not declared on the label.

The affected product, Kellogg’s Holiday Froot Loops, is sold in 425 g package bearing UPC 0 64100 15208 3 and Best Before code 2008 SE 24 KCB002.

This product has been distributed nationally.

There have been no reported illnesses associated with the consumption of this product.

Consumption of this product may cause a severe reaction to those individuals with allergies to milk proteins.

The manufacturer, Kellogg Canada Inc., Mississauga, Ontario, is voluntarily recalling the affected product from the marketplace. The CFIA is monitoring the effectiveness of the recall.

For more information, consumers and industry can call one of the following numbers:

Kellogg Canada Inc. at 1-877-675-8777 (8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Eastern time, Monday to Friday) or via e-mail at cpc.canada@kellogg.com.

Weekly Science Roundup

Prenatal Arsenic Exposure Detected In Newborns

ScienceDaily (Nov. 23, 2007) — MIT researchers have found that the children of mothers whose water supplies were contaminated with arsenic during their pregnancies harbored gene expression changes that may lead to cancer and other diseases later in life. In addition to establishing the potential harmful effects of these prenatal exposures, the new study also provides a possible method for screening populations to detect signs of arsenic contamination.

Rapid Response Teams Save Children's Lives At Pediatric Hospital, Study Shows

ScienceDaily (Nov. 22, 2007) — Gut feelings can save lives, say clinicians and researchers at Lucile Packard Children's Hospital and the Stanford University School of Medicine.

Canadian Parents - babble.ca without the drugs?

Clint over at dadventure.ca pointed out that Canadianparents.com just launched. While my initial impression is neutral - the site looks like babble.com, but no one is drunk or on drugs - I'm going to join Clint in decrying the total lack of dad-related content. In an era when more and more fathers are taking an active role in parenting, it would be nice for the mainstream print and online media outlets to take notice. In case anyone from Candianparents.com is reading, I know at least one dad blogger who wouldn't mind helping you overcome your daddy-deficit.

I guess we're getting popular...

The site got it's first bit of comment spam today. Comment moderation is now in place. I've decided to take the spam as flattery.

It's all French to me

Now that grad school and paternity leave are done, I'm back at work - and somehow I still can't find time to post.  

Quoi de neuf alors?

First, an update on Zen Girl's health:  Philosopher Mom remains on a  very restrictive diet, having eliminated dairy, beef, soy, nuts, fish eggs and legumes.   She tried introducing eggs a few weeks ago but there was blood in ZG's diaper almost immediately. Very frustrating.  ZG is such a good kid, and sleeps so so much that she was only feeding four times a day, and as a result started to lose weight.  She now eats about seven times a day, and is gaining nicely.

Autre chose:  I've decided to speak French exclusively to the kids.  We live in Quebec, and I want them to be as bilingual as possible.  The ZG is having no problems.  At 5 months old, she doesn't understant much anyway.  With Curious Boy though, it is a challenge.  The kid loves to talk with us, and all of a sudden, he doesn't understand a word I say.  Frustrating for both of us.  He's already starting to pick up some words.  I have a feeling that this will get easier very quickly.

And We're Back

For those of you who have been paying attention, it's been about six (6!) weeks since I last posted.   In that time, I finally finished grad school and got my Ph.D. So now I'm back and better than ever.

Thanks for waiting.

What? A parenting magazine with substance? Well, one issue at least.

On our first visit to the pediatrician with Zen Girl, we were handed a massive lump of coupons. Somewhere in that lump was a copy of ParentsCanada magazine. It was immediately tossed aside. I figured it was an ad-driven, poorly written junk mag. Some time later, while preparing to blue-bin it, I actually looked at the cover.

Behind the requisite "15 Accidents That are Killing Our Kids" headline,
there's smiley Olympic rower, children's rights activist, Canadian icon and single mom Silken Laumann looking right at me.

It gets better.

Interviews with same-sex parents about their experiences becoming/being parents.

And then the real kicker. An excerpt from Freakonomics.

Wow. It's amazing what we take for granted in the Great White North. I remember a controversy in the last year or so where a parenting magazine was forced off the shelves of many an American store because it showed a breastfeeding baby.

We get single moms and gay parents and I nearly over looked it.

Kudos to ParentsCanada! Keep up the good work.

Getting the posts in... diaper watch edition

Ever since we found blood in the Curious Boy's diaper when he was 3 1/2 weeks old, we've paid close attention to what comes out of his butt. Same goes for Zen Girl now. The day we came home from the hospital, the ZG all of two days old, we found blood in her diaper. Not the pretty red uric acid crystals that you learn about in prenatal classes. Drops of blood.

Cue the freakout.

A few deep breath later, PhilosopherMom remebers hearing about a friend's sister who had the same thing early on with one of her newborn girls (she has five, and one on the way). Turns out that estrogen from the mom can cause newborn girls to have a little menstruation.

WTF?

Closer inspection revealed that ZG had swollen breasts to boot. As many as 10% of little girls have this (LINK).

The spotting stopped later that day.