In short, the public forum seemed to be a roast of the government’s proposed sale. This seems odd, because to my mind, many of the issues that were raised have already been addressed. In my opinion, the Victoria citizens who voiced concerns are overlooking the purpose of the Official Community Plan (OCP), which applies to the lands in question and ensures a proper amount of public consultation.

Do you ever get the sneaking suspicion that maybe summer classes aren’t, well, real classes? Does the prospect of enrolling in a condensed iteration of “fifth-year foot-drumming” (yes, we’ve finally moved on from the hand-drumming jokes) give you pause?

In my experience, the failure of B.C. law enforcement agencies to gather, monitor and retain intelligence on gangs has created a dangerous climate.

The popular response to Ignatieff’s comments about the inevitability of Quebec sovereignty was comical — it was as if the separatists gained momentum in a soccer match after the team captain on the federalists’ team kicked the ball into his own net. But Ignatieff was simply stating the obvious.

Victoria and Vancouver consistently rank as the two most expensive cities in Canada to buy property. What do these high housing costs mean to university students? Should they forget their dreams of owning a home?

“You work all your life to pay a mortgage,” said Blake Hodgim, a UVic graduate student. “Instead of being the fulfillment of a dream, buying a house in today’s market can end up being a kind of death sentence.”

We often ask children, “What do you want to do when you grow up?” With the progression of time and age, this question does not change, but the answer to it does. A survey of 22 UVic students showed, on average, students change their minds about future careers between eight and 10 times before they have even graduated from university.

Kailey Willetts is the author of the March 29 Martlet article “Focus on Women’s Rights.” This piece is both a response to and an expansion of that article.

Bill 22 — the Education Improvement Act — has been passed into law. Bill 22 prohibits teachers from striking and limits their collective bargaining rights, restricting changes to their contracts. Teachers have implemented limited job action and refused to do extra administrative work, like writing report cards, since September. With the introduction of Bill 22, teachers will be fined if they strike. Similar legislation, passed in 2002, was eventually ruled unconstitutional and invalid by the B.C. Supreme Court, because it prohibited bargaining on class size, class composition and the teacher-to-student ratio. It remains to be seen how the courts will view Bill 22.

Cameron Côté and Catherine Shenton are members of the pro-life group Youth Protecting Youth.

One of the announcements made during the federal budget last week was the shocking funding cut to Katimavik, a program that matches youth with volunteer opportunities, community involvement and cultural discovery. Participants typically live and volunteer as a group in one or two Canadian communities for six months at a time.

Many Canadians feel unease about the functioning of the current post-secondary education system in Canada. They have reason to worry. The system has evolved out of a half century of incautious experimentation, as a handful of universities for the elite transformed into a sprawling system of colleges, universities, CEGEPS, polytechnics and private vocational schools.

Meghan Jezewski is an MA, Studies in Policy and Practice (SPP) student.

Books. I know what you’re thinking and don’t you dare whip out your e-reader to show me how you’re reading The Hunger Games and why you wouldn’t do it any other way. Don’t tell me books (those physical beings in which we can turn and crease pages) are dead — they’re not.

“Tipping is not customary in Australia, and cab drivers and bar staff don’t generally expect anything. In fact, cab drivers often round the fare down rather than bother with change. In cafés and restaurants, you might leave the change, or ten percent, if the service is exceptional.” – The Rough Guide to East Coast Australia

On the Line is a Canadian documentary about the Northern Gateway pipeline proposed by En- bridge. The film is based on a 50-day trip taken by two outdoor enthusiasts along the proposed pipeline route. Frank Wolf and Todd McGowan biked, hiked and rafted the entire route from Bruderheim, Alberta (just north of Edmonton) to Kitimat, B.C. They also kayaked part of the inlet which tankers would use to transport bitumen from Kitimat to China and filmed the whole 2400-kilometre journey themselves.

This year the UVic Student Society did something that has not been done for at least 25 years — they managed to start a cam- paign with student societies from across B.C. including UBC and SFU all without the help of an external organization. The “Where’s the Funding?” campaign now encompasses over 160 000 students making it one of the larg- est student led campaigns in B.C. history. For those who campaigned to leave the Canadian Federation of Students, this should be seen as a great accomplishment for students on the UVic Campus. However, I was not all that surprised to read at least one person argue differently.

MP Steve Woodworth wants to see this country taken back 50 years, to when elected officials didn’t trust women to make decisions about their own bodies. Woodworth, a cis man with no uterus, wants to re-open the “abortion de- bate.” Motion 312 would strike a parliamentary committee to review the definition in Canada’s criminal code that “A child becomes a human being within the meaning of this act when it has completely proceeded, in a living state from the body of its mother.” However, Woodworth has made it very apparent that the purpose of this committee is to pursue fetal personhood and, ultimately, criminalize abortion.

The week before last, Environment Min- ister Peter Kent went on record in support of changes to the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act, a piece of legislation that falls under the jurisdiction of his office. The proposed changes will gut the effectiveness of the Act to protect fish habitat, begging the question: who does Peter Kent work for?

Each year, the Martlet produces a “spoof issue,” an issue in which we make fun of another publication by imitating it in the first and last two pages, or just producing something a little differ- ent and less serious. While the reasons we do this include tradition, fun and proximity to April fool’s day, there is another reason that is more deeply rooted in the traditions of journalism. It’s called satire and it’s an extremely effective way to illustrate a point or illuminate an issue.

The Internet is the best at what it does, but what it does isn’t very nice. For those who aren’t up to speed with the Marvel Universe; The Internet is essentially Wolverine. Why? Why not. Everyone loves Wolverine. Both are easily accessible and while the Internet is not Canadian, 83 per cent of Canadians access it. The Internet’s true origins are unclear to most; however, it is common knowledge that a chapter of the Internet’s dark past involved a secret military facility.