Vol. 15 Iss. 31

Volume 15 Issue 31 - 08/24/2007

Editorial – The Next Big Thing

Fads and fashions come and go. From multi-hued mohawks to zoot suits to Elizabethan ruffled collars, every era has its peculiarities (remember the Pet Rock?) And after watching the styles and crazes of the past four decades rise and fall, I’ve figured out what the next big thing is: nothing. Not that people will be… Read more »

AUSU This Month – Coalition for Student Loan Fairness; AUSU Frappr – Show Us Where You Are!

Coalition for Student Loan Fairness AUSU is currently investigating the Coalition for Student Loan Fairness (CSLF) to determine if participation with this group would be advantageous to our members. The group, a grassroots movement of student loan borrowers from across Canada, supports fairness in the loans repayment process. The CSLF notes that Canadian students are… Read more »

From Where I Sit – Speak Up

Increasingly I’m being asked to say grace at functions–the company Christmas party, family dinners. Prayers are like any other writing. To be effective they need to be relevant, appropriate for the occasion, and aimed at the specific audience. The words need to connect on an emotional level and be free of hypocrisy. In other words,… Read more »

Lost & Found – What We Choose To Believe

Love is a pop song. It’s sentimental and radio friendly. It’s smooth and slick and bright and shiny. That’s what some people believe. In truth, though, It’s a graveyard song, a drunken chant, a rising wail. It’s a Transylvanian dirge played on out-of-tune cellos. It’s a country and western song about train wrecks and widows?… Read more »

The Good Life – Resisting Fear

It’s a sunny afternoon in early July, and I’m lying on my back in the tall grass of a neighbourhood park while my 10-year-old daughter climbs a tree. I’m starting to drift off when I hear her calling me, asking me to look up. I know that she wants me to try and find her… Read more »

Health Consciousness – Apply Bamboozlement Directly to The Forehead!

You’ve seen the commercials, starting with the now-classic ?HeadOn, apply directly to the forehead!? obnoxiousness. A more recent incarnation–?I hate your commercials, but your product is amazing!?–is a similarly crass, low-budget mess in which some schlub rants about the lameness of the very commercial you’re subjected to (?Wow, I can’t stand this commercial either,? you… Read more »

Spotlight On . . . – Juno Beach Centre, Normandy

The Juno Beach Centre, Normandy, France In 1944, the beaches of Normandy saw the landing of thousands of soldiers during the Allied war effort. Today, those same beaches are the site of the Juno Beach Centre, ?a place of commemoration and discovery dedicated to the Canadians who fought in the Second World War.? The Centre… Read more »

Click On This – 100 Words

It’s a good, round, solid number that can mean nothing, or everything. See for yourself. 10×10 http://www.tenbyten.org/ ?10×10? (‘ten by ten’) is an interactive exploration of the words and pictures that define the time. The result is an often moving, sometimes shocking, occasionally frivolous, but always fitting snapshot of our world. Every hour, 10×10 collects… Read more »

Education News – NDP Calls For Student Loans Ombudsperson

In an August 20 news release, the NDP has stated something that student-loan recipients have known for a long time: the system is broken and desperately needs to be fixed. Specifically, Denise Savoie, the NDP Postsecondary Education Advocate, is calling for ?an advocate to deal with the flawed and rigid student loan system.? This release… Read more »