For many students, traveling to conferences is the highlight of a university experience, though sometimes a very expensive highlight. The Students’ Union has offered financial assistance to students traveling to academic and non-academic events for years now, but recently changed the funding structure to close a loop-hole. Last year, each conference was capped at $1250… Continue reading New rules to clubs applying for SU conference and events funding
Month: September 2010
SU and school work to end couch races
Senior administrative officials at the University of Calgary and the Students’ Union met this summer to work on eliminating the much beloved but often risky annual couch races. Couch races, a notorious tradition that takes place at St. Andrews Heights on Bermuda Shorts Day, was shut down by police last year. Typically, teams of students… Continue reading SU and school work to end couch races
Women’s Centre changes concern students
Members of the University of Calgary campus community are upset with what they see as plans to change the Women’s Resource Centre from its original intent. For the past several months the U of C transitioned the WRC, located on the third floor of MacEwan Student Centre, to include a new Centre for Community-Engaged Learning… Continue reading Women’s Centre changes concern students
The war on drugs
It is no secret that America devotes an exorbitant amount of money on its war against drugs. With 2010 three-quarters over, $35 billion has been spent to stop the spread of marijuana, cocaine and other narcotics. Since Felipe Calderón became president of Mexico, a similar drug war has been raging there, but the situation is… Continue reading The war on drugs
Bathrooms are too hard to find
As a mature student I often find myself having to make frequent trips to the washroom, and even though I’m now comfortable with the layout of the school and the location of the facilities, I consistently struggled with my incontinence when I first came to campus. Why are the washrooms hidden in some U of… Continue reading Bathrooms are too hard to find
Whatever happened to religious freedom?
Xenophobia: intense or irrational dislike or fear of strangers, foreigners or anyone perceived as different. Albeit a social faux pas, it is quite possible that this fear of “the other” was of evolutionary value, making it a psychological trait that was selected for in our ancestral past. Phewww. I thought the angry Americans protesting against… Continue reading Whatever happened to religious freedom?
Bill 44 is a hymn to absurdity
Think of some human rights. Some of them involve freedom from certain things, like discrimination based on sex or religion. These are often referred to as negative rights because they involve inaction to be fulfilled. In contrast, positive rights are things like the right to a fair trial — an action has to be performed… Continue reading Bill 44 is a hymn to absurdity
Counting the cost of change on campus
It happened quietly, with little fanfare and little information. University administration have decided to split space that had been for the sole use of the Women’s Resource Centre into two, with the WRC as part occupants and the Centre for Community-Engaged Learning the other. While administration has promised that the quality of service at the… Continue reading Counting the cost of change on campus