The Strand

VUSAC holds re-elections for all positions

Thu, 01 Apr 2010 04:00:00 GMT

Victoria College is having a re-election for all positions in the Victoria University Student Council, the Board of Regents, the Victoria College Council and the Victoria University Senate amidst claims of ballot tampering during the election.

Addition of Large Hadron Collider slows Goldring construction

Thu, 01 Apr 2010 04:00:00 GMT

The Goldring Centre - a most mythical and wondrous place that has yet to exist. So when will it? Recent information has come to light that pinpoints the cause of the delays. The truth, unfortunately, may shock you.

Goldring: no taxation without gratification

Thu, 01 Apr 2010 04:00:00 GMT

Students shelling out tuition fees for Victoria College's new Goldring centre might see their money back, given the current paceof the construction.

Moving Stephenson House

Thu, 01 Apr 2010 04:00:00 GMT

After a vote by the Campus Life Committee (CLC), Vic's student-run co-op is facing a possible move in to the RJ mansion. At a CLC meeting on Mar. 23, the administration's proposal for Stephenson House's future met with approval, with eleven votes in favour and five against.

Student admits not going north of Bloor in months

Thu, 01 Apr 2010 04:00:00 GMT

"I remember it like it was yesterday," mused Mark Smith about the events of one fateful day in January. "I was walking to Whole Foods to get some artisanal root beer. I just started to feel somehow unsettled. When I left the store with my organic, micro-brewed beverages a sense of malaise started to spread over me. I started to walk faster, and by the time I got back to my room in Rowell Jackman Hall I was flat-out running. I didn't go outside for the next three days, and I haven't been north of Bloor since then."

VUSAC 2009-2010 report card: B-

Thu, 01 Apr 2010 04:00:00 GMT

VUSAC's goals for 09-10 reflect a strong desire for relationship and openness showing a direction and passion for establishing the council at the heart of student life at Vic, resulting in high goals, but their success has been mixed.

I chew therefore I am

Thu, 01 Apr 2010 04:00:00 GMT

Recently, I decided to stop eating. Yes, I made the willful and conscious decision to stop consuming food.

All hail Stephen Harper, King of Canada!

Thu, 01 Apr 2010 04:00:00 GMT

Lately I've been feeling a little sick of the democratic process. Keeping up with political issues, dragging myself to a polling station to vote every few years, holding governments and MPs accountable - it's all way more responsibility than I'm comfortable with. I get a sense that my sentiments are shared by a majority of Canadians, given that our current government steps outside the bounds of democracy on a regular basis and is never punished that severely in public opinion polls. For that reason, I'd like to put forth the suggestion that our current prime minister, Stephen Harper, be made King of Canada.

Does Vic favour equality over equity?

Thu, 01 Apr 2010 04:00:00 GMT

The 18th century notion of equal access is fundamental to our Canadian identity, and sets up powerful expectations for every individual to have the same opportunity to share in our democratic discourse and the fruits of our society. But when cities like Toronto are stratified into different socio-economic groups, when our poverty level is 10% higher than the national average (despite a GDP bigger than 29 U.S. states) - those promises ring empty. The definition of equality is fairness: equal access and opportunity through uniform distribution.

Getting our priorities straight

Thu, 01 Apr 2010 04:00:00 GMT

Right now, if you turn on the nightly news, open a newspaper, or, god forbid, peruse the blogosphere or tune into an insipid 24 hours news channel, then chances are that you will only hear about which politician made which gaffe, and which parliamentary secretary had sex with what early hominid. It's almost a relief to read the pseudo-informative horse-race coverage of the latest polls and focus groups. But Ignatieff finally making inroads with Mormon Filipino-Canadians between the ages of 42 and 47 isn't news: it's filler. Shouldn't the news media provide the public with the knowledge they need to understand the world instead of just offering mindless entertainment?

The shifting global paradigm: understanding interdependence

Thu, 01 Apr 2010 04:00:00 GMT

In the last issue of The Strand, Dev Shahani spoke of embracing complexity, asking whether we were any closer to understanding the world than the Sumerians were. Unlike Dev, I think the answer is an unequivocal yes.

Latest VUSAC election exposes flawed constitution

Thu, 01 Apr 2010 04:00:00 GMT

Over the past year, in interviews and in casual conversation, I've been reminded by various VUSAC members that VUSAC has a fiduciary duty to Victoria College students - as seems logical, the College's council must act in the students' best interests at all times. However, recent events have undermined the credibility of this stated goal. The bungling of the Spring election, with its many subtle flaws easily apparent only to those students intimately familiar with their Council's constitution, illustrate the larger problem facing the current VUSAC: an unacceptably vague constitution.

Farewell Letters from the Editors

Thu, 01 Apr 2010 04:00:00 GMT

Sean MacKay, Brunny Scum First, a confession: I'm drunk. Drunk on love for The Strand (and whiskey!!). But this only serves to make my farewell editorial that much more personal, a whole lot more honest and a helluva lot more sexual (aww yea...) Where am I going with this? I don't really know, I have a feeling I may regret this in a few years when I'm stickin' it to President Palin in a New York Times op-ed (or when I'm a high school civics teacher).

Strand squanders student levy

Thu, 01 Apr 2010 04:00:00 GMT

Scandal rocked Victoria College yet again this week, as it was revealed that those dastardly Strand editors have spent their levy money, a healthy $2.3 million, on luxury goods, extravagant Kensington mansions and high class prostitutes (none of that NOW Magazine business).

Silhouettes pushed, pulled, and pirouetted to perfection

Thu, 01 Apr 2010 04:00:00 GMT

Considering the time of year, I'm sure you know this feeling: the steady pressure on your temples and behind your eyeballs. Endless aspirin and coffee cocktails. The constant feeling in your stomach that might be anxiety but could very well be hunger pangs. Forget the menace of alcoholism - the threat of end of the year essays, labs and exams are the reasons for this new student hangover. Students commiserate in libraries, sharing stories of ridiculously late assignments and nightmare tests. Sleep is considered a luxury. What about the mere suggestion of entertainment? How frivolous!

A mezzo performance

Thu, 01 Apr 2010 04:00:00 GMT

Vic Chorus presented Trial by Jury by Gilbert & Sullivan on March 26. It was considered a tribute as it celebrated the 90th anniversary of Gilbert & Sullivan performances at Victoria College.

Dawn: A Story of Love and Brains

Thu, 01 Apr 2010 04:00:00 GMT

#1.These story snippets are nothing like Twilight.

#2. This story is completely true, which is why it's in a newspaper.

Don't believe me? Then fuck you.

If he could list the ways

Thu, 01 Apr 2010 04:00:00 GMT

On Mar. 30, 2010 Professor Northrop Flush discovered the Norris Immortalis Manuscripts. Flush claims this find is one of the biggest archaeological discoveries since King Tut's tomb, Pompeii, Sutton Hoo, or the Terra Cotta Warriors. In fact Flush isn't quite sure which great archaeological find to compare his discovery to. He says people should choose the one they find the most extravagant and make the appropriate connection.

Summertime, and the living is easy:

Thu, 01 Apr 2010 04:00:00 GMT

Fringe Festival
Toronto's largest theatre festival takes the stage from Jun. 30 to Jul. 11, with over 150 performances from companies around the globe. "Unjuried, unexpected, unforgettable" - and all for under ten dollars a show.
www.fringetoronto.com.

Game over in The Wild Hunt

Thu, 01 Apr 2010 04:00:00 GMT

The Wild Hunt is one of those movies that ends so far from where it started that you don't quite know what to make of it. That's not because of ambiguity- it has more to do with genre. The film begins in comedy (or efforts at comedy) and ends in a mash of horror-drama-tragedy that doesn't really work.

Can't get enough of MuchMusic!

Thu, 01 Apr 2010 04:00:00 GMT

Aaron Carter - "Aaron's Party" Aaron Carter's story is the singularity in hero paradigms. He's a young man of humble beginnings, rising from the harsh anonymity of the inner city ghetto to world renown, and facing challenges of every sort along the way. Here, we have Aaron Carter facing one such challenge: the oppressive parents.

Fred Penner finds his place at Hugh's Room

Thu, 01 Apr 2010 04:00:00 GMT

Forget Joel Plaskett and Great Lake Swimmers. If you want to see folk music in a venue with roots in the local folk community, you cross the tracks and go to Hugh's Room.

MILEY CYRUS vs. TAYLOR SWIFT

Thu, 01 Apr 2010 04:00:00 GMT

H. Humbert Beerbelly Traitorous Former Editor Hello, people of Victoria College.That's right, I have condescended to return to your newspaper. 'But Dr. Beerbelly,' you might ask, 'what could possibly make you abandon the bed of VarsityTM-minted thousand dollar bills you sleep on each night to revisit our humble shitrag of a paper?' Well, friends, I have been invited to revisit my Alma mater to continue my public, ongoing feud with my life rival, Too Manly For-this.

Strandshine Girls!!!

Thu, 01 Apr 2010 04:00:00 GMT

The promise: no Strandscest - at least they'll try

Last Vicoodle Ever :(

Thu, 01 Apr 2010 04:00:00 GMT