Month: May 2007

By Ændrew Rininsland

Are we done yet? Please? Pretty please?The sixth season of American Idol has just finished and Jordin Sparks took top prize: a recording and management arrangement with Sony/BMG. This means she’ll produce a single, it will be atrocious, she will fall from the limelight and the great fame machine will recycle another celebrity.Unfortunately, this tripe… Continue reading Editorial: American Idol is decadent and depraved

By Darren Young

Protest the Hero has been captured by vampires—on film! The Canadian progressive metal band recently shot a video for the song “Divine Suicide of K” in which a group of lesbian vampires kidnap members of the band and force them to play the song, while the ladies sit around and make out. Of course, this… Continue reading Heroes protest lesbian vampires

By Jeff Clemens

To the majority of musiclovers, Canada is a vast, barren wasteland full of Nickelbacks, Three Days Graces and Bryan Adamses. Thankfully, a new wave of bands is finally giving the world a reason to love Canadian music, including Victoria’s Hot Hot Heat.Formed in 1999 and influenced heavily by ’80s acts like the Clash and Elvis… Continue reading Burning down the house

By Ryan Pike

People often associate certain times of year with certain events. While May in Calgary typically signals a slightly diminished risk of snow and the student migration from campus to the workforce, it also marks the dawn of the festival season with the Calgary International Children’s Festival. A staple of Calgary’s cultural landscape, the Children’s Festival… Continue reading These tricks aren’t just for kids

By Katy Anderson

Rising environmental concerns and soaring gas prices mean changes in energy management are becoming increasingly necessary. The Canadian District Energy Association, the Canadian Urban Institute, and the Toronto Atmospheric Fund have partnered to create a national research initiative that will study the implementation of district energy systems in municipalities across the country. Along with the… Continue reading District energy presents alternative to grid system

By Katy Anderson

City-savy drivers often strategize every time they jump in their car, planning the fastest way to their destination. Few, however, take it as far as Dr. Alex de Barros, a civil engineering professor at the University of Calgary. De Barros is looking at ways to help drivers commute more quickly by processing raw traffic data… Continue reading U of C researcher studies ways to avoid traffic

By Katy Anderson

The Council of Alberta University Students picked Mike Selnes, the University of Calgary’s Students’ Union vice-president external, as its new leader last week. CAUS is a student-driven organization that provides a unified voice for the province’s three universities. “It was formed in 1986 when the individual student unions recognized that they would represent their students… Continue reading U of C to lead provincial lobby group

By Sara Hanson

Two Conservative MLAs from Calgary are fueling the fire between the University of Alberta and the University of Calgary with claims that the provincial government’s funding scales are tipped in favour of the northern institute. Calgary-Nose Hill MLA Neil Brown has been examining the funding inequality between the two universities for over two years and… Continue reading MLAs speak out about PSE discrepancies

By Jon Roe

By Cam Cotton-O’Brien

Insanity, cold sweats, nausea… While all these may seem to be symptoms more akin to rabies than functioning democracy, all are potential results from the recent French election, perhaps to the misfortune of the country. In France’s eminently interesting presidential election on May 6, conservative Nicholas Sarkozy took on socialist Segolene Royal. The election proved… Continue reading Foreign politics are so much cooler than ours