THE UNIVERSITY OF SASKATCHEWAN’S MAIN CAMPUS IS SITUATED ON TREATY 6 TERRITORY AND THE HOMELAND OF THE MÉTIS.
THE UNIVERSITY OF SASKATCHEWAN’S MAIN CAMPUS IS SITUATED ON TREATY 6 TERRITORY AND THE HOMELAND OF THE MÉTIS.
By Michael Cuthbertson January 20, 2012
Aristotle once said that “no great genius ever existed without some touch of madness.” People are rarely surprised when they hear an artist took copious amounts of drugs or committed suicide. And when it happens, the media loves to mythologize that artist as “a misunderstood genius.” As a result, we end up thinking that creativity and mental illness are inevitably linked.
Perusing my bookshelf and music collection, I do see overwhelming evidence that artists are more susceptible to mood disorders. But are their illnesses making them creative, or are mood and creativity not causally linked; or could mood disorders actually stifle creativity?
By Canadian University Press January 19, 2012
Sometimes I envy all the Lisa Smiths and Mark Williamses of the world. Your dull and generic names protect you from the all-seeing eye of Google. To an employer, a search of your name may just prove an exercise in tedium as millions of your generically-named brethren are displayed. Your cookie cutter names shelter your awkward drunk Twitter updates and DeviantArt page of “artistic” macro photography.
I’m not that lucky.
Google my name and you only get me. And speaking as someone who learned to build websites at an early age and possibly once had a thing for fan fiction — don’t judge me — that’s a damn dangerous thing. I’ve learned some tricks for keeping my online entity clean; for my fellow uniquely-named users, these may prove invaluable.
By Fatuma Adar January 13, 2012
As I venture into another semi-productive academic term, I am once again forced into the post-holiday banter with “insert name here” acquaintances. Now I can handle the occasional “Did you go back home for the break?” or “Did you get any good presents?” But it’s the question “So what’s your new year’s resolution?” that I find most irritating. This is when our mouths go dry and we meticulously pick our minds to come up with a perfect answer to such a question.
By Michael Cuthbertson January 12, 2012
“I’m only here for the girls.” I’ll never forget reading this graffiti on my desk years ago. It was like some great poem; phrased with elegant simplicity and delivering a telling message about the human condition.
Our classes are filled with attractive, intelligent and — most importantly — available students. It’s one of the major perks of attending university. But from my personal experience, it’s actually quite difficult asking out classmates.
By Alexander Quon January 12, 2012
U.S. presidential candidate Mitt Romney has described Iran as “the greatest threat that the world faces over the next decade.” Surprisingly this is the first time that I have agreed with something a Republican candidate has said in as presidential campaign.
For numerous years, Iran’s continuing development of a nuclear program has been cause for concern to the international community, with condemnations coming from the EU, U.S. and Canada, among others.
By Bryn Becker January 11, 2012
The web’s hyperlink structure works kind of like the synapses in your brain, or the blood vessels in your circulatory system. Everything is interconnected, designed to pass information back and forth, sometimes in multiple directions simultaneously. It can be mind-bogglingly complex but it works because there are relatively few blockages. People can traverse the web how they see fit.
But imagine what would happen if massive swaths of these connections suddenly blinked offline. This is the risk posed by the Stop Online Piracy Act, a bill introduced in the U.S. Congress in October of last year that is scheduled to be voted on by Jan. 24 this year.
By Ishmael N. Daro January 5, 2012
They say that in politics, a year is a lifetime. This certainly seems true every four years when the United States goes through a presidential election.
Although the year has just begun, and the election isn’t until Nov. 6, Democrats and Republicans have been eyeing the 2012 election almost since Barack Obama took the last one. As a result of this perpetual campaigning, politicians in both major parties shirk actually making hard choices and governing their country, focusing instead on short-term rhetorical victories and getting the best talking points on TV.
By Michael Cuthbertson January 4, 2012
I hate the mall. Given the choice between going to the mall and taking an anal suppository, I would take the bum pill. It seems better to literally stick something up my ass than feel the deeper, more metaphorical ass-probing I’m treated to at the mall.
I don’t believe a fun trip to the mall exists. When I find the product I came for, I leave with buyer’s regret; when I leave empty-handed, I feel I wasted the day — brainwashing myself by staring at consumer goods for hours on end. I always leave thinking I would have been better off spending my time reading, walking or, yes, even inserting a pill up my bum.