Camosun hiking club wants you
A new club on campus is looking for people to join them on their journeys to the great outdoors. Work off some of that beer belly, meet some new people, and get close to nature with fellow students. Contact Forrest Kilgour at forrestkilgour@gmail.com to learn more. Space is limited, so don’t hesitate. And, yes, we know about your beer belly.
Alumni awards
Camosun College is seeking nominations for its annual distinguished and promising alumni awards. In order to be selected, distinguished alumni nominees must have graduated more than 10 years ago, demonstrated exceptional service to their community, made outstanding contributions to their field, and offer inspiration to those around them. The award grants $1,000 for a Camosun project or student bursary of the winner’s choice. The promising alumni award also recognizes outstanding alumni who’ve graduated within the decade. Nominees must be able to advertise career accomplishments with a clear prediction of future success and a commitment to their community. The winner will receive $500 to put towards a Camosun library purchase. Nominations for both awards close April 5.
BCGEU ratified
The board of the Post-Secondary Employers’ Association has approved two vocational faculty agreements reached under the 2012 Cooperative Gains Mandate. The two-year agreements provide adequate wage raises, paid through savings within existing budgets, as required under the 2012 mandate. Approximately two thirds of BC’s public sector employees currently have pending or ratified agreements settled under the mandate, which represents more than one third of all agreements.
UVSS expelled from CFS
On March 11, at a meeting of the Canadian Federation of Students-British Columbia (CFS-BC), members voted to expel the University of Victoria Students’ Society (UVSS) from the student organization. In a March 2011 referendum held at UVic, UVSS members voted overwhelmingly to leave the national wing of the Canadian Federation of Students (CFS). The majority of UVic students thought the referendum would end their membership in all components of the CFS, including its provincial organization, the CFS-BC. The CFS-BC requires all members to hold membership in the CFS and since the March 2011 referendum ended the UVSS’s membership in the CFS, the UVSS decided to end its affiliation with the CFS-BC. In August of 2012, a ruling was made that required the UVSS to be a member of the CFS national. However, the March 2011 vote didn’t automatically terminate membership in the CFS-BC, and following this decision students at the University of Victoria gathered thousands of signatures petitioning to trigger a referendum to leave the CFS-BC. Instead of facing a referendum, the CFS-BC opted to expel the UVSS, claiming that approximately $160,000 is owed in past underpayments for membership fees from the past 20 years. The UVSS denies that any membership fees are outstanding. A referendum on the question of termination of CFS-BC membership is scheduled for March 25Đ27.
Chromebook Pixel
A few weeks ago, Google unveiled the newest addition to its line of Chromebook laptops: the Pixel. The new $1,299 base model Chromebook has a touch screen with 239 pixels per square inch, making it the highest pixelated laptop on the market. This high-tech machine only provides the user with 32GB of internal storage, although Google provides every Pixel with a terabyte of cloud storage. That may raise an eyebrow, but consider that this computer is meant for users who’re always connected to the internet and “in the cloud.” According to Google, the Pixel is meant “for what’s next,” meaning the search giant wants to attract developers to innovate in the WebStore so that eventually the Chrome OS can offer enough unique features to rival Microsoft and Apple in the computer market. Currently, Google’s OS is still underdeveloped, given that the user can only install content from the Chrome Web Store. That means programs like Adobe Creative Suite and Microsoft Office, for example, can’t be installed on the Pixel.
Hugo Chavez dead
On March 5, Hugo Chavez of Venezuela passed away from a complex fight with cancer. In 2011, the former president had an abscessed tumor with cancerous cells removed from his pelvis. On July 9, Chavez announced to his nation that he had fully recovered from his operation and was ready to resume presidential affairs. However, Chavez returned to the hospital in November for more cancer treatment. Doctors later found more lethal cancer cells in Chavez’s body, which led to a range of respiratory lung infections that inevitably led to his death in early March. Chavez was a controversial world leader. His rivals describe his policies as economically destructive, provocative, and archaic, while his supporters will remember him as an agent of the poor and impoverished. Chavez was famous for his “new-era socialist programs” and for calling former US president George W. Bush a “donkey” during his UN speech.
Give a hoot, vote!
Or, wait, we got that wrong. Anyway, students are voting types, right? Right. So don’t forget, a provincial election is coming up: the big day is May 14. Head over to elections.bc.ca to register if you haven’t already. And you know the rules: no complaining about the state of the province unless you’ve cast your ballot. Then, complain all you want.
-damen korkoras and greg pratt
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