Born and (mostly) raised in Calgary, Karl has been taking courses on and off at AU since 1999. At one point, he changed his major from Computing Science to Computing Science because the new program requirements fit what he’d already taken better. Since then, he switched to English and graduated (w/Great Distinction he likes to add) proving along the way that it is entirely possible to complete an entire AU course within a three week period. If only he had done this at the beginning of the course instead of in the last extension.
This is not something he advises unless you are desperate, masochistic, or, ideally, both.
He is currently the managing editor of The Voice Magazine, where he tries to put his education to use helping other students as they provide content for The Voice
Much Ado About Nothing I thought I’d adopt a theme of nothing this week. Why not? The federal government seems to have decided it needs to do research into nothing (http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/hpfb-dgpsa/tpd-dpt/npi_notice_e.html). Or to be more specific, Health Canada is funding research into placebos. If you don’t already know, a placebo is “an inactive substance (or… Read more »
Education over Regulation In Nova Scotia, they’ll be conducting a peer led program (http://www.gov.ns.ca/news/details.asp?id=20050113004) for people aged 19-24 about the dangers and risks of gambling. The program, called Know the Score, will be conducted at six post-secondary institutions across the province. Things like this have always confused me. For instance, Marie Mullally, president and CEO… Read more »
Become a Master of Criminal Arts Well, it sounds good, doesn’t it? In reality, it’s a Master of Arts in Criminal Justice, the first applied studies Master’s level degree that British Columbia is offering (http://www2.news.gov.bc.ca/nrm_news_releases/2005MAE0001-000002.htm). British Columbia is pleased to also now be offering degrees in hospitality management and business administration. Maybe it’s just me,… Read more »
What’s in a Name? Currently in the United States there’s a bit of a controversy about whether to call this time of year “Christmas” or the “Holiday Season.” I could make various suppositions about why the American media is more concerned with that than it is about Diebold, the maker of their election counting machines,… Read more »
British Columbia: The Land of Forgiveness The provincial government of British Columbia is expanding (http://www2.news.gov.bc.ca/nrm_news_releases/2004MAE0060-001036.htm) their loan forgiveness program. Under this program, students in certain courses of study can have their loans eliminated by agreeing to work in locations that have a high need for those types of professionals. The program used to apply only… Read more »
Nova Scotia Students Gain New Deal The Provincial Government of Nova Scotia has signed a deal (http://www.gov.ns.ca/news/details.asp?id=20041207002) with the local universities that will cap tuition increases for the next three years with the promise of guaranteed increased provincial funding. While many students and student organizations cry for tuition freezes like this, they often neglect to… Read more »
The Late Returns Regular readers of this column probably noted that it was missing last week and may be wondering why. The reason is my own fault, as I was eagerly awaiting the new Alberta Cabinet appointments to inform you all with the latest news about what this meant for you and me. Unfortunately, I… Read more »
International Education Week Were you aware that November 15 – 19 has been designated as the International Education Week? If not, then you’re not alone. In my weekly run through of the Federal and Provincial government news releases, only two provinces held any mention of International Education Week. So if you live in New Brunswick… Read more »
We Remember Veterans Day, or Remembrance Day, if you prefer, is here again. For many of us, it is a day of formality, but not feeling. We wear the poppies because it is the thing decent people do. We pause for a moment, out of respect, or to give thanks, to those people who fought… Read more »
Elections, Elections Everywhere The US Election is over and once again George W. Bush has received the presidency. While this seems to be the wrong choice to most of the rest of the world (http://217.160.163.211/globalvote2004/), it’s the one that Americans have made and, unlike in the 2000 elections, they have done so quite clearly. Not… Read more »