Where’s my fancy
I’m sure you know about this conundrum if you spend any time shopping on sites that have student discounts. Every single time you sign up for a student account at an American company, it asks for a .edu email address. Surely UFV, as a proper university, should have access to this domain, right?
Nope! Since 2001, the .edu domain has been awarded solely to American educational institutions, because they’re apparently more stringent about their educational regulations than everywhere else in the world. Because of this pointless grandstanding, every student who doesn’t study their post-secondary in America has to submit forms and sometimes intrusive information to the sites that offer these discounts just so they can get 10 per cent off their order. Even community colleges are allowed to use the .edu domain now.
I wouldn’t consider American universities necessarily better than ones in Canada or other countries. I firmly believe that the .edu domain should be available to all post-secondary institutions accredited in their respective countries. Then maybe I could sign up for Amazon Prime in the States!
Cat Bell
Indoor shades not just for tools
People wearing shades inside has always gotten under my skin. I could never see a reason to wear such a thing inside other than just to look cool. Personally, I always thought it had the opposite effect; wearing sunglasses indoors was, in my eyes, how many see pairing socks with sandals — an abomination of fashion.
This is one of my many pet peeves, but I have since gained a new perspective. With maturity and heightened savviness, I’ve come to know that sunglasses worn inside might mean the person has black eyes, heightened light-sensitivity, general despair, or any number of other reasons. Now, I still don’t doubt that some of us do, in fact, wear them aesthetically, but I think the lesson here is to not be so quick to judge. Judgment stems from insecurity after all, something we can all do without.
Scott Stromquist
Everyone else is ignorant
There’s this increasingly prevalent trend of entertainers transitioning into roles of authority and influence, particularly in the realm of politics. Roles that are often expected to be filled by someone clad in the conventional qualities of leadership such as confidence and commitment have been lent to the likes of bigoted businessmen and television personalities. Of course this is the beauty of democracy — anyone can “work” their way into office. But in this world of overstimulation of information a voice needs to become louder and more unique to stand out in the torrent of noise. We ask how someone could be so pious, so ignorant. Then we wonder how such lunacy inspires an equally crazy, yet large group of followers. Are they not appalled by their own reflection?
We mock and wonder at the oddity of their beliefs, but how often do we ask which notions or beliefs we refuse to let go of? What are our key assumptions? Even if they aren’t so radical or polarized, perhaps we could more often re-evaluate our convictions. Everyone believes themselves to be open-minded.
Joel Robertson-Taylor
Thanks for the WiFi!
I swore off stupid student newspapers like The Cascade a few months ago, after they banned me from writing for them. But ban or no, I’m writing what I want, when I want, to whomever I want!
Anyway, I prefer to read papers of real journalistic quality like the Abbotsford News now, so I just wanted to share with you all what the Abby News had to say the other day.
The City of Abbotsford has partnered with Shaw to bring free, working wifi to several venues across town! This includes the Reach Gallery Museum, the Abbotsford Recreation Centre, and, finally, UFV’s own Student Union Building! What a relief! Now I won’t need to leave to pointedly read the Abbotsford News online!
Now, you probably don’t believe me. Whatever. No one ever does. So go ask SUS for yourself when the wifi’s coming. I’m sure they’ll love the sudden surge of student engagement!
Scott Protter
