All Posts Tagged With: "Gregor Robertson"

Osheaga lineup, Cuddle Parties & #upeimentalhealth

March 12th, 2013 • Josh Dehaas

What students are talking about today (March 12th)

Robert Smith from the Cure (Orator/Flickr)

1. The headliners of Montreal’s much-anticipated Osheaga Music and Arts festival in August will be the Cure and Mumford & Sons. If those two bands don’t impress you, at least a couple of these other acts probably will: Beach House, Diamond Rings, Azealia Banks, New Order, the Lumineers, Phoenix, Kendrick Lamar, Vampire Weekend, Alt-J, Hot Chip, Tegan and Sara, Ellie Goulding, We Are Wolves,  A Tribe Called Red and Wild Belle. That variety makes the $235 general admission pass look a lot more affordable. I highly recommend all students go to at least one big show at Parc Jean-Drapeau while they’re still young enough to get away with it. It’s a special place.

2. Some strange people in Toronto are paying $40 each to attend “cuddle parties,” a trend that has also been reported in Calgary. They’re just like they sound. Strangers get together in big groups and then cuddle, spoon and hold hands. Everyone wears pajamas and they all hang out together on pillows on the floor. Clothes stay on and it’s apparently non-sexual. Jessica Maxwell, a doctoral student at U of T who researches relationships, tells The Grid newspaper that cuddling stimulates production of the chemical oxytocin, a sort of love drug that relaxes us when it’s released.

3. Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson is proposing to bury a tunnel between Commercial Drive and the University of British Columbia to make way for a $2.8-billion subway line to the far-flung campus. According to CBC News, Broadway is North America’s busiest bus corridor with 110,000 riders traveling through it daily. Certain businesses say they would prefer trams, but I bet students would prefer to get to school without buses passing them by. Here’s hoping the subway prevails.

4. The Ryerson University campus bookstore is no longer selling a type of padlocks after a Ryersonian student newspaper investigation showed how easy they are to pry open with a tool made from an aluminum drink can. Check out their video showing just how easy here. Ryerson security officials told the student journalists that more than 30 lockers were broken into already this semester. The lesson here is that students should never really trust lockers, even when locked.

5. The University of Prince Edward Island is holding its first Mental Health Week. The events include workshops, a health fair, yoga and puppy therapy. The school has also managed to make the #upeimentalhealth Twitter handle catch on. It makes sense. Reading that our colleagues are stressed, anxious or sad is a simple way to help us realize we’re not alone. Here are some examples:

What students are talking about today (November 2nd edition)

November 2nd, 2012 • Josh Dehaas

Smart elephants, aggressive panhandlers & the Whitecaps

Elephants are smart (Tambako the Jaguar/Flickr)

1. An elephant in a South Korean zoo is using his trunk to mimic human words. Koshik can reproduce five words by tucking his trunk inside his mouth to modulate sound. He can mouth, in Korean, hello, sit down, no, lie down and good. It’s not clear whether he understands the words.

2. Unlike in the past, students at Kwantlen University will now only be allowed to vote for a single student association “constituency representative” that they self-identify with, according to the student association’s chief returning officer, Corey Van’t Haaff. The KSA has positions reserved for “seven groups who have historically faced unique challenges.” The seven groups are mature students, queer students,  international students, students of colour, those with disabilities, aboriginal students and women. Read up on the latest in identity politics in The Runner.

3. Alcohol has been linked to deaths and assaults on Canadian campuses. Ken MacQueen goes deeper into what universities are doing to fight risky drinking, like butt-chugging (which is no joke).

Continue reading What students are talking about today (November 2nd edition)