Latest news with #Sul
Winnipeg Free Press
03-07-2025
- Business
- Winnipeg Free Press
U of W governance concerns cited
Twelve days after a University of Winnipeg board member resigned in protest over governance concerns at the cash-strapped campus, his ex-colleagues approved a balanced budget that rests on continued austerity measures. The board of regents — a group of appointees who are alumni, administrators and public representatives, among others, and in charge of policy making at U of W — approved a $175.5-million budget on June 24. Domestic tuition is increasing by 3.5 per cent overall. International student rates are up seven per cent. MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS FILES The province has injected another $2.5 million at the University of Winnipeg to help boost the post-secondary institution's finances. The new blueprint starts to phase out 'low rate' tuition labels for some courses that have not traditionally required extensive marking or equipment costs. Former regent Cory Sul stepped down before those decisions were made. Sul submitted his resignation letter on June 13 to board chair Bruce Miller and Advanced Education Minister Renée Cable. 'Manitobans rightfully expect transparency, accountability, and proper governance of their public institutions,' he wrote in a statement to the Free Press on Wednesday. Sul, a practising dentist, was appointed to the volunteer position by the provincial government in 2019. Citing his role as a representative of public interest on the board, he said he took 'the responsible step' of notifying the province about his personal concerns. 'Serious concerns about governance at the University of Winnipeg have been repeatedly raised by multiple individuals and groups over the past couple of years,' he noted. The university's faculty association penned an unusual letter to regents in July 2023 to express concern about an exodus of senior employees in a short timeframe and the subsequent loss of institutional knowledge. Senior administration faced criticism in 2024-25 for failing to consult community members before cutting its women's soccer team, discontinuing its English language program and introducing a new campus access policy. More recently, an employee at the U of W submitted a whistleblower report to the Manitoba ombudsman in April that called for a probe into institutional transparency and leadership decision-making. Sul refused to share his resignation letter, saying it was intended only for Miller and Cable. Miller declined to discuss the matter. He deferred comment to Caleb Zimmerman, executive director of communications at the post-secondary institute. 'Since the board of regents is an independent governing body, any further comment or discussion regarding its membership would rest with the board itself,' Zimmerman said in an email Wednesday. Multiple current regents told the Free Press in separate interviews they've been hearing increasingly from community members who are frustrated by a perceived lack of transparency related to decision-making. Two board members confirmed the group was not informed prior to senior administration announcing in January that it was scrapping soccer and the English language program. President Todd Mondor has defended his leadership style, which he describes as transparent and collaborative, citing numerous town halls organized during his tenure. Mondor hosted his latest such event on June 25 to share details about the 2025-26 budget. He debriefed community members about the persistent financial challenges — which he has repeatedly attributed to a drop in international enrolment and what he maintains is an unfair provincial funding formula — during the event. Attendees also learned about an eleventh-hour injection of $2.5 million in funding from the province. A government spokesperson said the two parties have been working closely 'to understand student needs.' The province has set aside extra funding this year to support them, the spokesperson said. Provincial operating funding is increasing by five per cent in total, the equivalent of about $4 million, as per the U of W's budget news release. Wednesdays Columnist Jen Zoratti looks at what's next in arts, life and pop culture. Faculty association president Peter Miller said his members were initially informed that U of W had to find $13.7 million in cost savings in the 2025-26 budget to get out of the red. His top concerns? The fallout of increased vacancy management and the teaching assistant budget being frozen at last year's levels, despite the fact these employees recently negotiated higher salaries through their union. 'Effectively, we have fewer TA hours, so I'm hopeful that the $2.5 million goes right to the front line, the core mission of the university — i.e., let's support instructors and then let's hire contract staff when we need them,' the professor of classics said. Zimmermand declined to share the U of W budget slide-show presentation Wednesday because the current version has yet to be updated to reflect the last-minute funding announcement from the province. Maggie MacintoshEducation reporter Maggie Macintosh reports on education for the Free Press. Originally from Hamilton, Ont., she first reported for the Free Press in 2017. Read more about Maggie. Funding for the Free Press education reporter comes from the Government of Canada through the Local Journalism Initiative. Every piece of reporting Maggie produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press's tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press's history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates. Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber. Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
Arab News
27-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Arab News
Meet Saudi-Irish DJ-producer Moving Still ahead of the release of his new EP
JEDDAH: DJ-producer Jamal Sul, aka Moving Still, was raised in Jeddah by a Saudi father and Irish mother, and his music combines both sides of his heritage. For the latest updates, follow us on Instagram @ At 14, he moved to Dublin, a shift that shaped both his identity and musical journey. Now, after a decade in the industry, he's making waves internationally. 'For every song that I've ever recorded, I always try to embody an emotion—whether it's unconditional love, fear or excitement,' he tells Arab News. 'Most of the time, I never really get a chance to explain the emotion in a song — it just happens through people dancing.' The birth of his daughter last year profoundly influenced Sul's latest EP, 'Close to the Shams,' which will be released March 7. On it, he captures the intense emotions of parenthood and the quiet heartbeat of his child, which he used as inspiration. 'The first time I got to hold my daughter in my own house, she was just sleeping on me and I had my earphones on. I could sense her heartbeat,' he says. 'Weirdly, there's a lot of studies about how your heart rate can influence your child's and vice versa. So I feel like I captured that moment in song, and it was really nice.' A post shared by Fidelity (@fidelitydublin) It was Sul's mother who first got him into dance music, sparking his deep connection to house and disco beats. 'I was very lucky that my mom was very, very into music,' he says. 'I remember (her) cassettes, is like 'Now 41' or 'Now 42' — basically all the (chart toppers) for dance music. A lot of the stuff I make now is nearly resembling this era.' He also has a love for rock, inherited from his Irish uncles. 'I listened to (Led) Zeppelin, Jimi (Hendrix), Korn, Slipknot, all those type of bands,' he says. 'But even though I liked rock music, I still had this feeling towards dance music; it was kind of like a guilty pleasure, the same with pop music — like Backstreet Boys.' His father also shaped Sul's diverse taste, being a fan of Bob Marley and Michael Jackson, as well as Arab artists. But Sul says his father's relationship with music was complicated. 'My father was in and out of music; either he loved it or hated it. And I don't blame him; he had a very tough upbringing. His father was quite religious — he was an imam. So obviously (my father) was very torn between the life of what people would like in the West versus his actual life.' That's not a struggle Sul has faced. Music is a constant in both his personal and professional life. He works in the field of immunology, and while his day job is rooted in science, music remains his own way of healing and expression. His sound spans genres, blending house, disco and Arabic influences. 'When people ask what kind of music I make, it's so hard to pinpoint,' he says. 'It's a mix of genres.' A post shared by Moving Still (@moving0still) His tracks have gained support from respected industry figures like Palms Trax, Hunee and Laurent Garnier, and he has performed at the likes of Boiler Room and Electric Picnic. Mixmag named him among its Ones to Watch for 2025. His first EP, 'Ouddy Bangers,' was heavily inspired by the scent of oud — the dark resin of the agar tree. 'In order to write the music, I would put oud on my hands, just to experience that full memory of my granny's house. I couldn't believe that a smell could ignite that type of memory so quickly,' he says. The EP was a success, and spawned a second volume. In 2024, Sul hosted 'Sukar,' an event of contemporary Arabic music. 'I wanted to showcase our beautiful culture,' he says. He plans to take the idea further with Klub Sukar this April, inviting international acts to Ireland while providing opportunities for emerging artists — especially young Arabs. Sul's moniker, Moving Still, was inspired by his hometown. 'I used to love swimming and snorkeling and I used to see a lot of jellyfish there,' he says. 'I remember my wife asking what I wanted to be called and I was, like, 'Something about jellyfish really resonates with me, because it reminds me of Jeddah.' I just really love that they're moving all the time, but they almost look like they're still. That's what generated the name. I wanted to have something that was like a love letter to Jeddah.'
