Columns

From My Perspective

Starting a new job is exciting, but just a bit scary too. For me it means leaving something secure and familiar for a job that is new and challenging, one that requires implementation of a different and yet untried skill set. So I had mixed emotions when I was advised that I had been successful… Read more »

FED WATCH!

Summer Jobs Even though Athabasca University has a non-traditional school year, the government programs for student jobs still fall mostly around the summer. While many Athabasca University students are already working full time, for those of you that aren’t, there is always the possibility of getting a job in the federal government. If this strikes… Read more »

FED WATCH!

Biosciences Growing in Ottawa The Government of Ottawa is investing thirty million dollars [SEE: http://www.premier.gov.on.ca/english/news/Ottawa071602.htm] in building space for 1,500 more students at the University of Ottawa. This means that these seats will cost approximately $20,000 per student, actually, the cost is somewhat less as some of that money will be going into the renewal… Read more »

From My Perspective

As AU students, most of us are working towards a degree with the hope that we will find a new career, a job in a field that we enjoy, where our talents and abilities are utilized to the maximum. Many of us have experienced the daily grind of having to work at a job we… Read more »

Fed watch!

Students Need More, Government Pays Less The Government of Canada has released an Actuarial Report (http://www.osfi-bsif.gc.ca/eng/office/actuarialreports/index.asp?) on the Canada Student Loans Program. This report is designed to predict what the Student Loan program will cost up to the year 2025 and what kind of effects it will have on students. The results are not pretty…. Read more »

Fedwatch!

You’re a Thief At least, that’s what the music industry believes. They’ve organized into a group calling themselves the CPCC, or Canadian Private Copying Collective (http://www.cpcc.ca/English/english.html), and have already successfully lobbied the government to change the Copyright Act so that they can claim fees on blank cassette tapes, CD-R/RWs, and removable hard drives. Now they’re… Read more »

Fed Watch!

Costs of Kyoto The Alberta Government has released a study (http://www.gov.ab.ca/acn/200202/11952.html) showing that the cost of Kyoto could be as high as $40 billion dollars, with the Alberta economy suffering as much as 5.5 billion dollars per year. Reading through the press release though, it quickly becomes apparent that this damage also includes estimates of… Read more »

Fed Watch!

BC’s Hike Beats Alberta’s Another province is starting to address the supply side of the health-care difficulties that Canada is going through. British Columbia has announced (http://os8150.pb.gov.bc.ca/4dcgi/nritem?5027) a program which will almost double the number of doctors that they graduate each year. The government is chipping in the $134 million that it will cost to… Read more »

Fed Watch!

Canada Taking Steps against Third World Debt The Honourable Minister of Finance, Paul Martin, has announced that Canada is cancelling the debt owed to it by Tanzania. One of the poorest countries in the world, Tanzania owed Canada approximately 83 million dollars. This debt cancellation means that Tanzania can now use the interest that would… Read more »

Fed Watch!

Dumbing Down in Ontario Over twenty-three million dollars was given to Ontario Universities this year based on their performance as judged by the Ontario Government. The performance of the Universities was measured on three key indicators: the graduation rate of students the six month employment rate of graduates from undergraduate programs the two year employment… Read more »