THE THIRD ANNUAL VOICE MAGAZINE WRITING CONTEST! $1000 in scholarships to be awarded $500 each in the fiction and non-fiction categories Write for The Voice and win money for your education. The Voice is launching its third annual writing contest, with categories for both fiction and non-fiction. Non-Fiction: In 1500 words or less, write about… Read more »

AUSU Job Posting – Chief Returning Officer Deadline – January 17th The Athabasca University Students’ Union (AUSU) represents AU students and their interests. The Union strives for a fair and accessible election process for members to the Students’ Council. To this end, AUSU is seeking a student to fulfill the role of Chief Returning Officer… Read more »

We are all familiar with the major political parties in Canada today. There are the Liberals, who by most standards actually represent the middle of the political spectrum; the ever present and opposing Conservatives; the Bloc Quebecois with their unrelentingly French vote; and the New Democrats with their electorate of die-hard socialists. And then, there’s… Read more »

Athabasca University behind the Times Once again, it seems Athabasca University (AU), supposedly the premiere home of distance education, is caught having to play catch-up in the very field it supposedly specializes in. Early in December, the provincial government of Alberta announced that NAIT was training welder and electrician apprentices through videoconferencing — something that… Read more »

Well, it’s certainly been a week, all right! I have been doing some outside reading for my due-any-day-now Communications 321 (Computers and Human Experience) paper about the Information Revolution. I have to tell you, reading what some “?experts’ thought was going to happen, and what some of them still think is going to happen, makes… Read more »

AU has launched an exciting new initiative to assist students and more efficiently utilize AU resources. “Electronic letters (e-letters) is a new feature that will enable undergraduate students to view certain letters online – registration, withdrawal, extension, exam, and final grade, to name a few. The process took more than a year, was worked on… Read more »

Stereotypes and the binary number system consist of similar principles. Both categorize elements by an “either/or” determination, thereby allowing for maximum efficiency. Yet, both are limited by that very same “either/or” quality. Problems can arise from such narrow limitations resulting in a mechanical and unwavering bias. However, the benefits provide balance with “either/or” limitations allowing… Read more »

Last night marked the official arrival of the Christmas season in our home. It came a little later than usual for us this year, due to an abnormally hectic work schedule. But we finally found the time to head to the tree lot at the elementary school near our house to pick out a Christmas… Read more »

We are unwilling allies, the smiling woman and I. At our bi-monthly meetings, she never fails to beam happily at me, a fit, healthy and apparently wealthy icon of youth and beauty. She is number 837, Natural Golden Brown, and with each appointment that I keep, I become ever more determined to cut her out… Read more »

There was an interesting news item a couple of weeks back about Dan McTeague, the Toronto Member of Parliament (MP) who wants to keep “bad boy” rapper 50 Cent (also known as “Fiddy”) out of Canada (Pedwell, 2005). As his reasoning, McTeague cites the fact that Fiddy has a criminal record. There is concern that… Read more »