In the light of the pending teacher strike, former Athabasca University student Mark Gueffroy is advocating for a strike of post-secondary students demanding that institutes of higher learning lower tuition fees. Mr. Gueffroy says, “The price of a post-secondary education has become ridiculous, while a degree is becoming mandatory to obtain a position that is… Read more »
Perception is its own form of reality, and the public’s perceptions concerning the postsecondary system and the K-12 system are quite different. A report from America’s “National Centre for Public Policy and Higher Education” explains why. The report, “Doing Comparatively Well: Why the Public Loves Higher Education and Criticizes K-12” by John Immerwahr came out… Read more »
The other day someone asked me to recall the most embarrassing moment in my life. Instantly, two episodes leapt to my mind and they still make me blush when I think of them. The first occurred when I was about eight years old and my mother had taken my siblings and I to swim in… Read more »
Practice what you Preach The Canadian International Development Agency (or CIDA) has just released (http://www.acdi-cida.gc.ca/cida_ind.nsf/852562900065549a85256250006cbb1a/6568a53e432d532485256a8e006133dd?OpenDocument)an Online Learning Course about Gender Equality. Now what we need to do is get Prime Minister Jean Chretien to sit down and take it. After his last cabinet shuffle, some Liberal members have taken the Prime Minister to task for… Read more »
The last decade has seen a sharp increase in the number of television ads for prescription drugs. They have become so common that we might assume that these commercials are legal in Canada. In fact, Canada prohibits direct-to-consumer drug advertising but because so many of our available television stations are based in the US we… Read more »
Complaining always seems so easy – most of us tend to speak up when we don’t like something, and at times it’s very important that we do so. Some people take this to extremes and seem to do nothing but complain. Fortunately, most of us complain only when necessary, using the process in a constructive… Read more »
Election Platform for James Baird-Foley My name is James Baird-Foley and I have offered my name for consideration for election to the Athabasca University Students’ Union for the 2002 election. I have been a student of Athabasca University since 1999 pursuing a Commerce Degree while serving full-time in the Canadian Armed Forces. I am married… Read more »
Welcome to the Voice’s newest column – Nature Notes: From the Backyard to the Biosphere. The title is deliberately broad, representing my attempt to link environmental issues at the largest scale with natural goings-on at the smallest scale. Check in each month for a quick nature fix – a highlighting of a few of the… Read more »
Why is it that we haven’t heard a thing in the Voice from the AUSU Council representatives about the upcoming revisions to the SUP? Keep in mind that the projections, proposals and statements that AU administration will be making in the SUP will have a direct bearing on the services that you, as students, will… Read more »
“If we would have new knowledge, we must get a whole world of new questions.” –Suzanne Langer