Posts tagged AroundSchool
A Concordia Student Association Publication
The Hidden Side of Edmonton: Complete
By: Llanna Blacke
I come from the dark side of the city of Edmonton. I also come from a low income, single parent family, and I live in McCauley, one of the seediest areas in town. If you walk past the Commonwealth Stadium and go west on 111th Avenue, you will hit an intersection at 95th Street. To your right you will see Norwood School, look to your left and you have found McCauley.
A typical evening in McCauley doesn’t include me sitting on my deck, enjoying the cool evening breeze. I stay inside and double lock my 1 ½ inch thick door, distancing myself from drunks, drug dealers, prostitutes, and the homeless. My bedtime lullaby includes blaring music, roaring engines, and people banging and kicking the sides of my house. When I leave in the morning to go to Concordia, I occasionally have to push a stray shopping cart out of my driveway. Sometimes, I have the pleasure of picking up used condoms that end up in my yard. When I drive through McCauley, I seem to forget where I am, so decayed is the area. One tidy, older house has a pristine lawn; the house next to it is dilapidated with mattresses leaning against one side and ruined pieces of furniture laying amongst the thistles in the front yard.
Philosophy Club This Year
By: Rachel Whipple
As most of you Concordia students know, Paul Beach is a philosophy professor who runs Concordia’s Philosophy Club. Beach’s plans for the club this year includes bringing in experts from various fields of study and asking them philosophical questions. For example, he may be interviewing a professor of mathematics and asking him basic questions such as “What are numbers?” In hearing responses from said experts, audience members and the student body are free to examine how different people think about basic concepts. A Theoretical Physics student would typically have a different view of numbers compared to an English student. These “Q” and “A” sessions would show the essence of what some philosophers do.
Introducing Innocence Lost: A Play About Steven Truscott
By: Rachel Whipple
Blissful childhood memories, concerned families, secrets behind closed doors, a murder case, and a whole lot of military men wanting to cover it all up. This semester Concordia’s Theater Department is producing Innocence Lost, by Beverley Cooper. The youngest man to ever be convicted of murder and sentenced to death in Canada is the basis for the play. This semester’s main stage production is based on the real life, tragic tale of Steven Truscott and Lynne Harper. The audience is guided through the story by the main character Sarah, a young girl who went to school with the accused and the victim. Sarah will be played by the lovely and talented, Lauren Tamke. She will take us into the world of the everyday people who surrounded the main court case. Usually with sensitive and shocking murder trials such as this one, the media focuses heavily on the court drama and the serving of justice. But what about the family and friends who are involved? Innocence Lost portrays intimate conversations portraying what Steven’s parents had to endure while their fourteen year old son was tried for murder, what classmates thought of this scary situation, and how awful it was for Lynne’s family to lose a child. This will be an interesting and entertaining show for all but it could be especially interesting for Psychology students who love to delve into the mind of others.
Poetry Corner With Rachel
By: Rachel Whipple
To most English-speaking Canadians, this poem may seem unconventional or even offensive. What could be easily misunderstood is that this poem was written as satire based on personal experience. Dejan Misovic immigrated to Canada in 1996 from the former Yugoslavia with only 200 Canada dollars in his pocket. When he had his immigration interview at the Canadian Embassy he was asked, “young man what do you want to be in Canada.” He replied, “I want to become the future President of Canada, and if you vote for me I will increase your salary by 10%.” The interviewer, being concerned about Dejan’s knowledge of Canadian politics, tried to explain to him that in Canada we have a different system of government and that we are not like the United States. Dejan’s response to this was “this is all just constitutional laws and I could change that too.” The man who interviewed him was very helpful and friendly, considering the embassy had a five kilometer line up and on average receives approximately 5000 immigration applications a day. However, the man needed to do his job and asked seriously if Dejan had any real political intentions. He said no and that he was just trying to make a joke in his broken English. Dejan knows perfectly well that there is no such thing as a president of Canada. He was just trying to make a good impression in his new home country by trying his best to be funny.
By Dejan Misovic
I had a sweet dream
To make me happy almost to scream,
I will be the future President of Canada, no more King, no more Queen,
USA will be our Southern province.
I have to be respectable and fair.
No more Queens, except Queen’s donair.
For the political promises I will give you a list,
I will introduce a successful economy and democracy, instead of an iron fist.
I will make education
Accessible to a new generation.
Even from heaven it will come as a blessing,
For our incredible time of progressing.
Ottawa will replace Washington, D.C.
Everybody will enjoy singing and dancing in Beautiful BC.
I hope this change
Will not be too strange.
I hope you will vote for me.
Please do not call me Yankee or DP.
The smartest on the planet we will be
The strongest,
And the longest
Power as Alexander the Great.
Please vote for me, do not let me wait …
