Vol. 29 Iss. 38

Volume 28, Issue 38 - 09/24/2021

How The Pandemic is Harming People with Disabilities

Shannon Heroux, a deaf woman from California, recently went viral on TikTok after trying to bring attention to the struggles of the deaf and hard of hearing community during the pandemic.  In her videos, Shannon can be seen crying in her car after being denied service at Dunkin Donuts because she was unable to communicate… Read more »

Seven Steps for Self-Reflection on Creating Your Happiest Life

To truly form habits that pave highways to our happiest life, we need self-reflection.  At least fifteen minutes a day should be spent on self-reflection.  But what do we reflect on specifically? Here is a formula for self-reflection guaranteed to develop ourselves professionally and personally. Step 1: Consider where our thoughts weren’t happy, focused, and… Read more »

The Study Dude—Reading Textbooks

You’ve got a 1000-page textbook staring you down.  You are on page one.  And you’ve got six months to finish it.  Where do you begin? Last week, I covered taking notes using a variety of systems.  This week, let’s focus on how to read an enormous textbook in a short period of time.  If you… Read more »

Music Review—Shout it Out Loud

Artist: The Cocktail Slippers Album: Shout It Out Loud The Cocktail Slippers, the raucous five-piece all-woman rock band from Oslo, Norway, released their fifth full length album Shout It Out Loud on September 17th, 2021. The band is comprised of Hope on lead vocals, Vega on guitar, Rocket Queen on guitar, Sugar on bass, and… Read more »

Dear Barb—The Usual Meaning of Distance Learning

Dear Barb: My son has just moved away to university.  He is a six-hour drive from home, so it’s not that easy to hop in the car and visit.  He’s always been a good kid and did well in school and never caused his father and me any problems.  However, I noticed a change in… Read more »

Editorial—Election Reflection

So.  That was the election. In some ways, it’s nice that we have elections that are so uneventful, and at the same time have meaning.  Many people around the world only wish they could have the same. I’ve seen some talk about how it was a waste of money, but I tend to disagree.  The… Read more »

Exploring Cancer and Promising Medical Breakthroughs

It is expected that 1 in 2 Canadians will develop some form of cancer during their lifetime, and about 1 in 4 Canadians will die of cancer. The conversations around cancer have traditionally centered around genetics and lifestyle choices as the root of the risk, but there are equally important linkages with environments that should… Read more »

AUSU’s Virtual Food Assistance Program

If you’ve been to a brick-and-mortar campus, one of the sad things you may note is that many universities now have food banks right on campus.  The simple act of having enough food to eat is so difficult for many students that it makes sense for there to be a food bank present. AU has… Read more »

AUSU Update!

Discover why you should cast your vote in the federal election in the latest AUSU Executive Blog. Your participation has a bigger impact than you may know! AUSU teamed up with FYidoctors to bring some great preferred partner savings on eyewear to our membership! You can get up to 40% off! FYidoctors has more than 280 locations… Read more »

The Vintage Voice

Punctuation matters when crafting academic assignments, and September 24’s National Punctuation Day offers you an opportunity to brush up on your skills. Avoiding apostrophe catastrophes.  Tamra Ross Low demystifies the apostrophe with four simple rules.  “Unlike pluralization and spelling, the rules for using the apostrophe are simple, concrete and consistent.”  The Vexing Apostrophe, October 2,… Read more »

Scholarship of the Week

Scholarship name:  AU Community Leadership Award Sponsored by:  Athabasca University Deadline:  October 15, 2021 Potential payout:  $1500 Eligibility restriction:  Applicants must be AU students enrolled in any undergrad program, must have completed at least 15 AU credits, and have a cumulative GPA of at least 3.00. What’s required:  A completed application form, a letter of… Read more »

Students Sizzle—AU Social Media

AthaU Facebook Group Seasonal surge.  September brings several posts from new students, trying to navigate their way through course selection, time management, and textbooks.  Plenty of responses with great tips. Discord Isn’t anyone studying?  Several non-academic conversation threads, including housing prices and mortgages, exercise bikes, video doorbells, and iOS 15.  Now, back to the books!… Read more »

AU-Thentic Events

Learning to Learn Online MOOC Sept 26 to Oct 30 Online Hosted by AU news.athabascau.ca/events/learning-to-learn-online-athabasca-universitys-massive-open-online-course-mooc-sept-2021/ Register through above link MBA Application Webinar Tue, Sept 28, 10:00 to 11:00 am MDT Online Hosted by AU Faculty of Business news.athabascau.ca/events/online-mba-application-webinar-20210929/ RSVP through above link Faculty of Business Undergrad New Student Webinar Wed, Sept 29, 12:00 to 1:00… Read more »

Fly on the Wall—Feelings and Actions

As you read these words in this moment how do you feel real? Words can bore us or they can carry us away; words can push and pull our minds and it’s up to us to decide how we feel about them.  Our university education teaches us to think beyond the boundaries of our predilections. … Read more »