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 »

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 »

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 »

MONTREAL (CUP) — A McGill University researcher has developed a non-invasive technique that may hold the cure for diabetes. Dr. Lawrence Rosenberg and Dr. Arthur Vinik, a University of Michigan colleague, have completed new work that hinges on the INGAP gene, which the two discovered in 1997. The gene produces the INGAP protein that apparently… 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 »

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 »

MONTREAL (CUP) — Nuclear war between India and Pakistan isn’t likely, India’s high commissioner to Canada told students at Concordia University this week. “The question is not whether there will be war, because a proxy war on India has been continuing for decades,” said Rajanikanta Verma. “The question now is: will India’s action result in… 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 »

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 »

(CUP)Victoria physician Mary Conley is concerned. After devoting her entire medical career to providing women with access to safe abortions, she wonders if there will be someone to take her place when she retires. “I’m from a generation that saw first hand the effects of unsafe abortions performed in back alleys or on the kitchen… Read more »