Pretend you are born in the dark of night in a cold room in the shadow of an overpass. Pretend there is a single naked light bulb hanging from the ceiling. Say your mother is always pulling the thin pink blanket over your shoulders with hands still shaking from delirium tremens. In the room next… Read more »

Dear Barb: Another year has begun and I find myself at a loss for how to do my taxes. I am a single mother and do not have much money. I cannot afford to have someone else do my taxes for me. Do you have any tips? My taxes are very basic. I have student… Read more »

AUSU Election, Now Under Way The 2006 AUSU election is now open, and members can expect to see campaign materials from candidates on this website and in our forums. Below is the candidate sheet, as approved by our Cheif Returning Officer, Bevan Iwaskow. Candidates will be invited to create campaign posters for you to view,… Read more »

A recent poll has revealed that Germany is the world leader in childless women, a statistic the country is not proud of. 30% of German women have chosen to remain childless, a fact which has prompted some radical proposals for a population boost and exposed some underlying tension in women of child-bearing age. Emma Pearse… Read more »

I believe it was Bernard Shaw who said “As it is impossible to say exactly what one means, it follows that it is impossible to mean exactly what one says.” Aside from using this statement as a defense when someone misconstrues your declarations, it provides a good deal of insight into a question that I… Read more »

Last Saturday night, a group of us got together to celebrate the arrival of the lunar new with a good old-fashioned Chinese banquet. We gathered at 5:30 p.m. at our favourite Chinese eatery, a spacious dining room with red and gold veined wallpaper, crisp white tablecloths, and voluminous paper lanterns hanging from the ceilings. From… Read more »

You don’t get to choose how you’re going to die. Or when. You can only decide how you’re going to live. Now. — Joan Baez January 23, 1789, Frances Brooke, author, died in England. Frances wrote The History of Emily Montague. She is said to be the first novelist in North America and The History… Read more »

I take distance classes because they fit into my life, but I also take them because I’ve attended campus-based schools and found Athabasca University classes to be as challenging and as productive. I’ve had to apply myself, and work as hard as a student who attends classes. There are, of course, certain elements of campus-based… Read more »

Well, it’s a week or so apres-election and the world hasn’t come to an end with the handing of the mandate to the Harper Conservatives. Most of the political commentary that I’ve heard, in fact, is painting the election outcome as amongst the best of all possible worlds. The Conservative minority is not too strong,… Read more »

Ah bones, we hear a lot about them. Drink milk for your bones, exercise for your bones, and take hormone therapy for your bones. They get a lot of press, these 206 pieces of rigid material hanging out inside the human body. Of course, they are pretty handy things. Linked together with admirable engineering skill,… Read more »