Vol. 22 Iss. 30

Volume 22 Issue 30 - 08/01/2014

This Product Not Tested on Animals

Standing in the shower reading the label on my hair conditioner, it occurred to me, as I’m sure it has to many other humans, that at some level we are the guinea pigs who hair care products are tested on. At a common sense level the hair conditioner chemicals are harmless, of course, yet there… Read more »

Dear Barb – Keeping Things Hidden

Dear Barb: I have been involved in a serious relationship for five years. My fiancĂ© and I mostly get along great. Our problems are related to communication issues. Michael is very quiet and rarely initiates conversation. He becomes very uncomfortable when I try to talk about his past relationships. Because of his reactions, I wonder… Read more »

From Where I Sit – Not the Best Diversion

As I write this the countdown clock on our website says it’s only twenty-six days, fourteen hours, and three minutes until the start of the second annual Babas and Borshch Ukrainian Festival. As Festival Coordinator the buck ultimately starts and stops with me. In many ways I have a better grip on things this year… Read more »

Gregor’s Bed – Scatter My Ashes

Where Multiple Streams of Inspiration Joyously Meet and Mingle Album: Scatter My Ashes Composer: William Susman “. . . Scatter my old bones. I am keeping the young ones fresh, strong the blood circles and weaves me into a whole piece with long slender red thead buried under my skin.” – from the poem by… Read more »

The Writer’s Toolbox – Grammar Police

You might be an editor if at least five people posted Weird Al Yankovic’s “Word Crimes” music video on your Facebook page. You might be an editor if it made you laugh and cringe all at once. You might be an editor if the silly satire stayed with you for weeks. Word Crimes If you… Read more »

Primal Numbers – Car Hacking

For the most part, car problems are predictable. A new set of brakes one month, maybe a new exhaust system the next. But now that our cars are getting more like driveable computers, there’s a new headache for drivers to face. It’s car hacking, a type of cyber attack in which hackers target the computerized… Read more »

In Conversation With . . . Susan Malmstrom, Part I

Susan Malmstrom is an artist specialising in digitally produced photography. She grew up and studied in California, received a Master of Fine Arts in Visual Arts from the University of California at Irvine, and has lived in Canada since 2004. Her life’s work manifests a sense of wonder, curiousity, a love of memorablilia, an obsession… Read more »

Enliven Your Mind – Choose Courses that Feed your Brain

The signs are everywhere. It’s getting harder to ignore. Summer is half over. August has begun, the birds are preparing for their fall migration, and the stores are bulging with back-to-school supplies. The deadline to register for AU courses for September is only days away. Are you ready? It’s time to put down the daiquiri,… Read more »

Editorial – Summer Sizzle

I’m trying something a bit different this week in The Voice Magazine. Our feature article, by Jason Hazel-Rah Sullivan, is a bit more challenging of a read than I typically publish. His look into the relations between humans and animals touches on philosophy, physiology, and our own psychology, but has done so through an unusual… Read more »

Click of the Wrist – Fun and Games

Who needs vacation? Summer is all about fun and games, and some of those good times may be hidden in your living room right now. This week has some fun (ahem!) with books, games, and toys. Inside the Toy Chest Have you ever looked inside a toy? This innovative x-ray photography shows you a few… Read more »

Did You Know? – Staffing Changest at AU

Dr. Cindy Ives has become the new Vice-President Academic of Athabasca University, succeeding Dr. Alex Kondra as the previous Acting Vice-President Academic, as an interim position which will run until June 30, 2016, and is renewable. If the name seems familiar it is because Dr. Ives was fairly active in the etext discussions in the… Read more »

International News Desk – At Home and Abroad

At Home: Windsor University Faculty Asssociation holding Strike Vote On August 14th, the Windsor University Faculty Association(WUFA) will be holding a vote to see if they will proceed with a strike in response to the university’s move to implement a new contract that has been rejected by the staff and faculty. The CBC reports that… Read more »