All Posts Tagged With: "Halloween"
What students are talking about today (November 1st edition)
Happy Movember, #BaldforBieber & Save the Wesmen
Kelly Finnamore/Flickr
1. Movember, one of the most popular fundraisers on Canadian campuses, began today. Perhaps taking a cue from Saskatchewan premier Brad Wall, who challenged his fellow premier Robert Ghiz of P.E.I. to a grow-off, students at the University of Regina’s Carillon student newspaper are asking readers to bet on who can grow the best mo. $5 to vote. Proceeds fight cancer.
2. The 2013 Maclean’s University Rankings are finally here! The 132-page guide includes stories on class size, the viral videos phenomenon, expensive textbooks and, of course, the rankings. Who took home the gold may not surprise you, but the performance of schools like the University of Northern British Columbia, New Brunswick and Trent probably will.
3. A false rumour on Twitter that Justin Bieber had cancer caused a number of fans to shave their heads and tag them under #BaldforBieber. Rachel Herscovici of the Queen’s Journal disapproves.
4. More than 800 people have “liked” a Facebook page called “Save the Wesmen.” The University of Winnipeg is considering changing the name of its Wesmen athletics teams to be more inclusive.
Continue reading What students are talking about today (November 1st edition)
What students are talking about today (October 26th edition)
Red Bull, Frankenstorm, Pippa, STEM & Toronto Fashion
Alex of Gothenburg/Flickr
1. A Korean student at Cape Breton University is expected to be deported today after an outburst involving threats to a residence adviser. The decision is despite arguments from his lawyer that the incident was the result of drinking too many caffeinated Red Bull energy drinks, reports CBC News. Red Bull may yet give this guy wings—in the form of an airplane back to Asia.
2. For the first time, the fossils of feathered dinosaurs have been found in the Americas—dug up in the Alberta badlands by a Canadian team, reports Maclean’s science scribe Kate Lunau. The bones are from the same ostrich-like dinosaurs that famously appeared in Jurassic Park.
3. Frankenstorm, a.k.a. Hurricane Sandy, could merge with another weather system just in time to do serious damage to Eastern Canada and the U.S. on or before Halloween. Scared yet?
Continue reading What students are talking about today (October 26th edition)
What students are talking about today (October 25th edition)
Supreme Court, Halloween costumes, & UBC “dimes”
daniel.richardson0685/Flickr
1. The Supreme Court of Canada has ruled that Conservative MP Ted Opitz legitimately won his seat in the Toronto riding of Etobicoke Centre in the 2011 federal election, but the court was split 4 to 3. Opitz appealed an Ontario Superior Court ruling that set aside his victory over Liberal incumbent Borys Wrzesnewskyj because of procedural irregularities with 79 ballots. The Supreme Court overturned the ruling, deciding that 59 of those votes should count, reports The Canadian Press. The lesson: every vote matters.
2. A Twitter account dedicated to highlighting “dimes” and referencing “sluts” at UBC Vancouver has been removed. University officials told The Province newspaper that several varsity athletes, including hockey players, were behind the @UBCDimeWatch handle. “Dime” is a slang term for a woman whose appearance might be called a “perfect 10.” Photos were apparently posted without women’s permission. That’s a bit creepy.
3. The UK Border Agency’s decision to revoke London Metropolitan University’s license to sponsor overseas students strengthened the image of UK higher education, says Jason Kenney, Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism. He told Times Higher Education that Canada intends “to go the same direction,” noting what he calls, “many sub-par institutions that are not providing quality programmes, and which are mostly facilitating various forms of legal migration.”
Continue reading What students are talking about today (October 25th edition)
What students are talking about today (October 22nd edition)
A pipeline protest, a really bad cartoon & black cats
Tambako the Jaguar/Flickr
1. Critics of the Northern Gateway pipline project are hoping at least a thousand people will turn up today for a protest rally at the B.C. legislature in Victoria, reports The Canadian Press. The protests have been endorsed by unions such as the the Canadian Auto Workers, the B.C. Teacher’s Federation and the Canadian Union of Public Employees, plus celebrities including actor Ellen Page and singer Dan Mangan.
2. A student newspaper cartoonist has been fired from the Arizona Daily Wildcat after an anti-gay comic strip prompted thousands of complaints. The comic shows a father telling his son that if he’s gay, he will be shot with a shotgun, rolled into a carpet and thrown off a bridge. The boy says, “Well I guess that’s what you call a ‘Fruit Roll Up.’”
3. Animal welfare advocates say they no longer ban adoption of black cats at Halloween—a practice that stemmed from fears the animals would be harmed. In fact, the Ontario SPCA is now offering a discount on the adoption of black, orange and calico cats, reports The Canadian Press. How cute.
Continue reading What students are talking about today (October 22nd edition)
What students are talking about today (October 18th edition)
Snoop Dog, Mulcair, Halloween, Movember & study space
Snoop Dog
1.Snoop Dog (Snoop Lion?) is now endorsing that gooey microwavable student staple known as Hot Pockets. In a video advertisement that already has three million views, he’s reworked his 2004 hit “Drop It Like It’s Hot” into “Pockets Like It’s Hot.” He may be a sellout, but that bicycle with a microwave attached is a wicked idea.
2. Speaking of ridiculous advertisements, Anne Kingston tears apart Brad Pitt’s new commercial, in which he says: “It’s not a journey. Every journey ends, but we go on. The world turns, and we turn with it. Plans disappear, dreams take over. But wherever I go, there you are, my luck, my fate, my fortune. Chanel No. 5, inevitable.” Uhhh… What?
3. In an interview with the University of Regina’s Carillon, NDP leader Thomas Mulcair said some notable things. His assertion that “the average student finishes university with over $40,000 in debt,” doesn’t match any estimate I’ve seen. (Even the debt warriors at the Canadian Federation of Students peg the average at $27,000.) He also says youth are mostly concerned about the environment. “Most young people are a little bit less concerned about the economics, except for the fact that they realize that consistent failure to invest in post-secondary education is playing tricks on them,” he added, suggesting the federal government “get back to the level of [PSE] funding that we saw before the 1990s, before the Liberals started downloading to the provinces.”
Continue reading What students are talking about today (October 18th edition)
