Sarnia's Lambton College Having Good Week.

From Tyler Kula, Sarnia Observer.

For a second straight year, Lambton College is the third-best research college in Canada.

That’s according to the annual top-50 list of research colleges from Research Infosource Inc.

The recently released list, based on survey results and financial statements, again has the Sarnia-based school on the podium.

“I don’t think it was a surprise because I knew we had done really well in terms of revenue and projects and student numbers and faculty numbers,” said Judith Morris, Lambton College’s president and CEO.

“But it was still very pleasing,” she said. “We were all thrilled to maintain it for the second year in a row.”

Research focuses at Lambton College include bioindustrial, alternative energy and advanced manufacturing, among others.

The college’s applied research department was formed in 2007, and since then Lambton has received more than $33 million in funding from federal and provincial agencies.

Link to the rest here.

Image. Zach Neal

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Foreign Students Feel Welcome.

 

From Troy Shantz, The Sarnia Journal.

Andres Bustamante is no longer afraid to go outside at night.

The International student at Lambton College said wandering around Sarnia after dark is not like venturing into the treacherous streets of his home in Caracas, Venezuela, a city of 4.5 million.

“Barely anyone goes out on the street after 6:30 (p.m.) because you will get mugged, you will get killed, you will get kidnapped,” said Bustamante, who is studying information technology.

The 28-year-old who arrived last year and is the midst of a co-op placement said he has been made to feel welcome.

“That feeling, that you can actually feel secure,” he said.

Sarnia’s reputation as a safe city is a major draw for students from abroad, along with relatively low tuition and living costs, the college says.

Enrolment has more than doubled in just three years, with 974 international students studying at Lambton this fall.


Link to the rest here.

Image. http://www.bms.co.in/happy-international-students-day-2014-hd-images-wallpapers-greetings-free-download/


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Immigration: When Is It Too Much of A Good Thing.

From Don Pittis, CBC News.

A well-known economic theory says that when it comes to people, you can get too much of a good thing.

As thousands of asylum seekers come across the Canadian border from Trump’s America, there are many Canadian voices, including mainstream Conservatives, who believe we may have reached that point.

A glance at internet comments and letters to the editor shows that some Canadians are reacting emotionally to media reports on the influx of new arrivals. But what about the economics?

Diminishing Returns.

In the economic principle sometimes called the law of diminishing returns, there is a text book example which describes an increasing number of workers coming to help dig in a garden of limited size.

Link to the rest here.

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Opinion. If anyone had ever asked, we would have said that something like 280,000 to 300,000 people immigrate to Canada each year. It is also true that the country could probably absorb 500,000 immigrants each year without major social disruption. It is also our opinion that immigration is a good thing for all of the reasons stated in the story above.

 

Image Credit. Above: Sikh New Year, by Joel Friesen - originally posted to Flickr as Sikhs on the move!, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=4655560



 

Lambton County Invests in Bioindustrial Innovation.

From Paul Morden, Sarnia Observer.

Lambton County is set to become an investor in a not-for-profit agency helping new bio-chemical companies set up their first manufacturing sites.

County council recently authorized finalizing a $2.5-million five-year loan and a $2-million investment in a Bioindustrial Innovation Canada's investment fund so it can fully access $4.5 million in matching federal funds.

The loan includes $1 million advanced to the Sarnia-based agency in March after it approached the county for help.

In 2016, Bioindustrial Innovation Canada was approved for $5.5 million in federal matching funding but only $1 million of its own funds available, so it asked Lambton County to loan it the remaining $4.5 million.

The $1-million advance by the county allowed the agency to secure matching federal funding set to lapse March 31.

John Innis, general manager of the county's finance division, said that when county staff were looking into details of the loan it became clear a loan of $2.5 million was the most the agency's cash flow 'could reasonably be expected' to support.

Link to the rest here.

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