i dont wanna wait, for our lives to be over

i love politics students.

no really i do.

its great how seriously we take ourselves. its as if THIS right NOW is our chance to make LIFE ALTERING PROGRESS. regardless if progress is actually necessary or not. i mean, we've already made one of the greatest changes in life we could - going off to uni - so why not see how much more change we can accomplish in one fell swoop? why not keep our fingers crossed for an election? why not hold multiple ineffective protests for a cause that is relatively unimportant in the big picture? and why not ask completely USELESS and POINTLESS questions in the middle of lecture just to get the bonus points the prof promises? now that is what i call making a diference!

i want an effective government just as much as the next pol sci major. i would love it if tuition fees weren't sky high. it would just make my day to get bonus points in class. pick your battles people! (sorry im not deeply vested in the role of slaves in old greece, girl on my left who keeps asking dumb questions)

so call me a bad politics student, but hey, we're not all NDP junkies.

when i get older, i will be stronger

This is the kind of thing that shouldnt be happening any more.

Being back at school, my friends and i have found the opportunity for a lot of political debate (ie. election in the fall? Laytons mustache should go? Students leaders of tomorrow?) but for some reason, the focus is on our little sphere of the national capitol region, and never on how to solve problems like CHILDREN DYING because they dont have electricity in schools.

You could say I'm a little frustrated.

Its disgusting how electricity powers the laptop I use to write this, and the website i use to read articles, and the lights in the rooms where i go to school.

Yet no one can think to translate that ability internationally? I realize the situation is a little more complex, but i dont see anyone defending why that school SHOULDNT have electricity...

bars are lame.

ok, well, they can be pretty sweet.

but in smalltown hometown they are lame. especially if you just turned 19.

i just love how the dim lights hide the wrinkles from years of working on the family farm, or the scars and bad facial hair from being trapped in the plant. its especially entertaining to listen to the guy in the corner shouting a beatles cover, in a "new" key (dont worry his guitar is stilled tuned to the right one). theres nothing quite like watching the mother of a friend perched at the bar with a guy half her age, gee what a role model to strive to be. or better yet, how the washed up waitresses wont serve you on the patio out back because its too cold. though, i could be wrong, it might just be too far to walk. and there really is nothing like getting hit on by a scraggly 40-something to celebrate the legal drinking age. whoop whoop. 

and parents wonder why the city has such allure?

the money i dont have is burning a hole in my pocket!

Read this:

http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/article/625639

and then read this:

WHAT THE HELL. as if university fees werent shitty enough, the U of T has decided that regardless of the number of courses you're taking (which currently dictates a portion of what tuition goes towards) theres just going to be ONE fee. the fee for FIVE courses. 

so what? the university just doesnt want to do as much math now?

the best part of the article is that they admit the point is to make money. if i have to hear one more thing about "these troubling economic times..." im going to scream. i recognize that university is not a charity (my financial aid rejection letter definitely says that loud and clear) but they could have atleast come up with a few feeble lines about how this helps students. even they realize in no way would a student be happy with the change. unless they're one of those crazy wunderkinds who take six courses a semester, in which case, score! you are more hated now that ever before!

its annoying. plain and simple. annoying that a school would forget that it was established to pass on knowledge, not the stress of debt. annoying that students would be disregarded by the administration. annoying that a university is DUMB ENOUGH to think its ok for someone to pay for services they DONT WANT. 

and why do you ask am i concerned, as i do not attend u of t? because, like the swine flu, stupid seems to be catching in the post-secondary world. 

The Undeveloped Story

Re: "Profs Blast Lazy First-Year Students"
http://www.thestar.com/news/ontario/article/614219

As a first year student at the University of Ottawa, I can't help but be offended at the gross generalization presented in this article. I am shocked to see that students and professors alike would assume that, en-masse, first year students are lazy and unprepared for university.
Throughout high school I knew I would be attending university and from that certainty was the understanding that there would years of hard work ahead. Not only did the school re-enforce this understanding, but so did my peers. The reading, writing, and research skills necessary to succeed in first year were drilled into me in high school, and yes while the transition was difficult to begin with, I would not want anyone to say that it was a result of lack of preparation on my part.

For those professors and students who would make such an assumption, I wonder if they considered what their university does for its new students within the first weeks of school. Consider the traditions of frosh week where socializing seems to be the primary focus as opposed to tours of the libraries or an effort on the part of teachers to discuss expectations with students. Had we a better grasp on the ACTUAL reality of university, perhaps professors and older student would see the maturity and seriousness I recognize in my peers every day.

As midterms and final projects come to a close here, students have already begun preparations for final exams. We draw up study plans, cancel evenings at the pub, and crack down on ourselves to ensure that we complete our first year with a sense of pride. What should be noted is that no matter what a high school does, or does not do, to prepare its students for university, once said students enters the halls of higher education it is that institutions responsibility to mold them into what is needed for their role in the world in years to come. Never should first year be a "sink or swim" experience, though I would say, this is slowly what first year at university is becoming. What the profs and students in the article have noticed is not a failure on the part of first-year students or on the part of their high schools, it is the inflated ego and expectations of post-secondary institutions that leads them to believe that its ok to throw students in to the whirlwind of university without first informing them of what exactly the institution requires of them.