The YouTube age takes over

Personal video becomes part of university application

“Hey University recruitment peoples, I just cranked out this wicked sweet vid you should check it out because its sooo cool. Youll really like it for sure i know, so ya just look at it, and ill be seeing you ‘round in Sept!” Oh the wonders of being a part of the generation that grew up on the internet. This year, as thousands of high school students across the nation compose essays and fill out lengthy applications to post-secondary institutions, a few are getting out their webcams. They’re doing what...

Athlete’s assault conviction raises questions about StFX’s judicial process

As we learned during first semester when a StFX student en route to a football game in Halifax was caught shouting homophobic epithets out the window of the fan bus, students’ inappropriate behaviour, both on campus and off, reflects poorly on our university. One would think that when a student’s bad behaviour was not only inappropriate but also criminal, it would be considered especially heinous by officials at StFX. Such a standard would apply to most of us, no doubt. This past week, StFX X-Man and convicted criminal Will Donkoh...

I thought we were supposed to “Own the Podium”

Unrealistic goals overshadow athletes’ positive performance

On Day 8 of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games Canada’s performance has been mediocre at best (note that you are reading this on Day 16 of the games). As of now we have 8 medals: 4 Gold, 3 Silver, and 1 Bronze; a performance for which I congratulate all of the medallists. However, I thought we were supposed to be “owning the podium.” All the hype surrounding the games being on our home turf has lead the country to believe that we would be winning gold, and winning often....

Strike averted? A very lucky outcome for the U

StFX students likely let out a collective sigh of relief on Tuesday afternoon upon receiving the news that the administration and StFXAUT had reached a tentative agreement. Apart from some minor selfish aspirations for more time to work on my thesis, I too was relieved by this update. Most students had concerns about losing class time, or paying to stay longer in Antigonish if the semester was extended. My primary concern about a potential strike, however, and boy, did it become apparent this week, was that students wouldn’t be represented...

The National Post is still with us

Last week, Canada’s daily right-wing rag, The National Post, ran an editorial lamenting the perseverance of women’s studies programs in universities across the country. “Women’s Studies is still with us” offered a skeptical take on reports that women’s studies programs are in decline, saying “We would wave good-bye without shedding a tear, but we are pretty sure these angry, divisive and dubious programs are simply being renamed to make them appear less controversial.” The Post’s editorial board seems to be erroneously conflating two important changes to women’s studies departments: one,...

Survival of the humblest

How our distance from tragedy is our greatest weakness when it comes to potential disaster

One key characteristic of our everyday world is that it is so fragile, and yet fails to realize its own fragility. I get it, I’m a little late writing on the issue. The earthquake happened over two weeks ago by the time this will hit print, and for most people, the only association that this disaster will still have in to their lives will be attending a series of fundraisers in support of the people of Haiti. I get that. However, that only makes my point all the more convincing,...

Oh, U: $20,000 Inn allocation should have been discussed with students

Two weeks ago, StFX Students’ Union President Sandy MacIntosh delivered a presentation to council about the financial status of the Inn, a talk that concluded with a request to allocate $20,000 for upgrades to the campus bar. After a little debate and an unseconded motion to table the issue until constituents could be consulted, council decided almost unanimously to fork over the cash for the minor renos. The upgrades include new lighting fixtures, a foot rail for around the bar, new laminate counters, and a painted wall behind the stage....

The rewards of being a student

Unless I fail all my courses or decide to go on to graduate studies, I only have four months left of being a student. Boy, am I ever going to miss the discounts. It’s pretty much an unwritten rule that students are supposed to straddle the poverty line while in university. In fact, it’s this perception that gives students the same benefits as senior citizens and makes buying tickets for movie theatres, museums, and Acadian Lines all that cheaper. Even our Student ID is like a magic pass of pity:...

Distractions

Who is this Xaverian?

ANSWER: Sandy Vennor

Letters to the Editor

To the editor: An Open Letter from a Waitress to the Men of MacPherson. Dear Douche Nozzles, I will, with some reticence, keep this as simple as I can. Perhaps it was one too many concussions on the football field, perhaps it was that extra keg stand, perhaps it was just one too many rounds of clap-killing antibiotics that made you and your brothers go soft in the head. Regardless of the reason you behaved so abominably the other night (and the fact that I am indeed being far too...

Nothing buys like FREE

Buy Nothing Day was started 20 years ago by the non-profit, anti-consumerism organization known as Adbusters. The day was started as a radical concept to promote awareness of the largely negative impact of consumerism. Last year, 65 countries participated in recognizing the dark side of our material society. While awareness continues to grow, the edge is becoming dull. Humanity is facing crises of ecology, psychology and faith. As technology increases, human interaction depletes. We need to take action and reanimate the revolt with a new intensity, purpose and scale. Buy...

Four years in the making

It’s about that time when students are having their bi-annual “oh-good-God-where-did-this-semester-go” freakout, when it takes every available ounce of focus to not think ahead to the break. It’ll get even more difficult come exam time when we’re feeling torn between studying for that final for that class we couldn’t pay attention in all semester or watching A Charlie Brown Christmas (The latter usually wins out for me). With paper deadlines looming, we start to wonder if our professors have all gathered to conspire against us by making the due dates...

A scam of Olympic proportions

Like many students, I headed out to the SUB parking lot this past Tuesday to witness the arrival of the Olympic torch on the StFX campus. If there ever was an event that could single-handedly solidify my position on the 2010 Olympic Games, boy was that it. Prior to the arrival of the Olympic flame, the crowd was entertained by two distinct performances: one by Coca Cola, and one by RBC, the official sponsors of the Torch Relay. When I say entertained “by,” I don’t mean “supported by” as if...

Bridging the generational divide: Young people and Remembrance Day

It’s not unusual for young people to have values different from older citizens. Our generation demands more rights, believes in God less, and gets married later, if at all. We inhabit a post-materialist world that encourages us to stretch our youth for all it’s worth, one that says we don’t have to get a job now, or go to grad school now, or settle down really ever. We are distinct from our elderly counterparts who sought life-long employment at a young age and who bore multiple children by the time...

In search of an equitable X-Ring

The January 2009 issue of National Geographic magazine explores gold mining and states that the production of one gold wedding band creates on average 20 tons of mining waste. I immediately thought about the X-ring that I was soon to order and wondered how much waste will be produced to make it? Due to its size I estimate at least 40 tons. That means the roughly 1000 rings that we as StFX students purchase every year result in 40 thousand tons or 80 million pounds of mining waste. If we...