So, as mentioned in the rules for the Voice Writing contest, the entries were gone through and adjusted to standard margin sizes, removing identifying information, removing pictures, and sent off to the judges. With close to 50 entries total, the judges have their work cut out for them. But all that formatting work means I got a sneak peek at the entries, and I have to say I was amazed by the variety of things submitted. From science fiction to poetry, from a single paragraph to taking up every word allowed by the word count, there’s such a huge range.
Fortunately, deciding among that range isn’t my problem.
In the meantime, we’ve got another issue of The Voice Magazine this week, and it’s got some stuff that’s kind of fun.
This week, we seem to be all about books. Whether that’s our feature book review looking at a book from our own Barb Godin, a new Women in Fiction column taking a look at Matilda Wormwood from the works of Roald Dahl, or our March reading list, just in time to get you started in April.
But maybe, given COVID-19, you’re already tired of books, and want to actually deal with people? Well, have you considered Dungeons and Dragons? Jeff Shermack thinks you should, and he’s written an article explaining exactly why.
Of course, our feature article is an interview with AU student, Cassandra Mackay. For her, AU is a stepping stone on her path to becoming a teacher, one that she needs because of how the flexibility lets her keep taking courses even with some significant medical issues. She’s another student who’s mentioned the AUSU Night initiative as being something that’s enhanced her AU experience quite a bit. I’m starting to think I’m going to need someone to do up a report on the next AUSU Night so that we can all see what we’re missing.
Meanwhile, here in Alberta, Jason Kenney’s UCP government seems to be starting to feel the heat, recently backtracking on its initiative to have to pay less to physicians, noting that it’s something they shouldn’t have pursued in the first place. That doesn’t explain, however, why they continued to pursue it for so long since absolutely nothing about the people’s response to that particular issue has shifted much over the past several months, nor does it answer the question of why the Minister who made a move that “we never should have pursued in the first place” remains the one in charge of dealing with physicians. The only thing that’s changed is that a number of polls have come out showing that the UCP is on a downward trend in the polls, while the NDP is on an upward one. And if that’s all it takes, maybe there’s hope to swing them on the cuts to post-secondary education as well.
But don’t forget our normal selection of reviews, events, scholarships, advice and more! Enjoy the read!