Editorial—Summertime Fun

A quick announcement, there will be no new Voice Magazine or articles next week, as I’ll be taking a brief holiday. So this issue is all you get until July 17.  Take your time, savour it, and spend some time outside (and socially distanced) before the next phase of our apolalypse hit.  Will it be the mega dust-storm, murder hornets, or will it be Yellow Stone Park exploding, or “the Big One” that dumps LA into the ocean? (Both of which are thought to be due at any moment, albeit a geologic moment—any time in the next few hundred or thousand years.) There’s plenty of disasters to choose from, which is why I’m taking my holiday now. I’d hate to have it banked when the world ends.

But that’s also why this issue has a couple of extra goodies in it, including our feature article about the new Indigenous Students’ Representation Committee.  What is it, why is it needed, and what’s happening with it now?  We dig into those questions and others in an interview with AUSU’s President, Natasha Donahue, someone keenly aware of the barriers placed in education for Indigenous Peoples and looking for ways they can be removed.

We’re also taking a look at the new Canada Summer Student Grants’ program, with an article about how you can qualify to get yourself up to $5,000 for volunteering and helping Canada deal with the COVID-19 crisis.  Unfortunately, things about that program may be changing as we speak, as, due to a possible conflict of interest with the government sole sourcing the contract for delivering the program to WE Charity, a charitable foundation that Justin Trudeau has long been a supporter of, the program may be changing.  WE Charity has decided it does not want to become embroiled as a political football between the Conservatives and Liberals and has decided to step away from the contract.

However, Prime Minister Trudeau has indicated that the program will continue and will honour the commitments already made for those who enrolled while it was being administered by WE Charity.  What remains to be seen is how the program will be able to be rolled out across the nation, as few charitable organizations in Canada have the breadth of contacts to volunteer groups across Canada as WE Charity does.

Also this week, we’re taking a look at a newer science known as epigenetics, where science is finding that your personal experiences may alter your genetic make-up, and that those genetic changes can even be passed on to your children.  This brings new meaning to the boast that someone will lose so badly their grandkids will feel it.  It turns out, they just might.  While it would seem at first blush this is just a science story, when taken in the context of today’s world, with the advent of #BLM and #MeToo, this is a genetic science that might have profound social implications if we stop to think of it.

Of  course, we also have a lot of other good articles to keep you busy this week, from a celebration of Canada Day and coming together, to survival skills if you’re craving bacon and eggs but are stuck in the woods with only tinfoil, to dog adopting tips, writing and business advice, events, scholarships, and more.  Enjoy the read!