Opinion pitches!

Hey everyone! Sorry this is coming to you so late, reading week has been nuts. Hope you're all having a good break and getting to relax a little! Here are the pitches for this week - if you need extra time because this email is so late, just let me know! There's lots of good stuff in here to write about. Just reply to this email if you want to pick up any of these pitches, or if you want any more information about these stories. And as always, if you have an idea for an article, feel free to send it my way.  

Last chance to sign up to cover SU elections!

Election season starts Monday, so if you want to write election coverage, please let me know ASAP! This is a great way to meet interesting people, learn a ton about student governance, and gain some really valuable journalism experience.

Gateway hiring is coming soon

If you're interested in working at the Gateway next year, now's the time to start thinking about applying! I cannot recommend it enough. I'm super happy to talk to you in detail about the Opinion Editor position, or any of the other jobs at the Gateway, so feel free to reach out if you have any questions or want more information. If you're serious about applying, I highly recommend reaching out. I'd love to meet up with anyone who is interested in the job.

Provincial tuition review is behind schedule

The review, which was supposed to happen in the fall of 2017, outlines the funding framework that could either raise or lower tuition in the future. Some advocates are worried that after the tuition freeze ends, tuition will increase dramatically. More info here.

Complaints of racial profiling and excessive force in incident at train station

Last weekend, an African-Canadian teenager claims he was "pushed down, handcuffed, and injured" after being accused of loitering while waiting for the bus at Belvedere LRT station. The teenager has filed complaints against the officers involved, and many are suggesting that their conduct was a racially motivated. More info here.

Alberta Health Services to start using Alexa

The plan is to make emergency wait times available via Alexa, so anyone who is considering checking themselves in can see what they'll be getting into, just by asking. It will also be used to provide updates on general AHS news. More info here.

Kent Hehr to stay on as Calgary Centre MP despite sexual harassment allegations

In January, Hehr resigned from the Liberal cabinet after allegations of sexual misconduct surfaced on Twitter, but this week he announced that he does not plan to resign from his position as a Member of Parliament. An investigation is being conducted into the allegations. More info here.

Outdoor pools in Edmonton will be free for the summer of 2018

City Council voted this week to keep outdoor pools free again this year, due to the popularity of the program last summer. When interviewed about it, Mayor Iveson also stressed the fact that low-income passes are available at any rec centre in Edmonton. More info here.

Edmonton Riverwalk development

City Council is looking at making some pretty dramatic changes to the river valley, including a Riverwalk project that you can see in the photo above. Iveson is super supportive of this project, which you can read more about here. This is a pretty major undertaking, so what do you think about it?

City Council to vote on lifting combative sports ban

In December, the city passed a bylaw preventing the Edmonton Combative Sports Commission from giving out event permits following the death of a former UFC fighter. On February 27th, they're voting on whether or not to lift the ban and start allowing sports like boxing to take place in Edmonton again. More info here.

Will future Olympics have a future team representing Indigenous North American athletes?

Two chiefs from Treaty 6 nations met with members of the International Olympic Committee to propose having a team exclusively for Indigenous athletes, so that they wouldn't be representatives of Canada or the United States, but would instead be representatives of a separate olympic team, which is a really interesting proposal. More info here.

Parkland school shooting sparks teen activism

After a gunman shot and killed 17 students at a Florida high school, survivors of the attack (as well as lots of high school students across the country) have been calling out politicians on Twitter, and staging protests demanding gun reform. These students are starting a lot of conversations about activism, how political change works, and who can make a difference in the world, and so I think there's a lot of cool stuff to write about here.

In Norway, kids don't keep score

Norway is killing it at the Olympics right now (and kicking America's ass) and some are speculating that their success has to do with the fact that Norwegian kids playing sports don't keep score until age 13. I think that's a really interesting theory, and I'm really curious what you guys think about the whole culture of winning and losing in sports, and how that influences the success of athletes.

Canadian marijuana use has more than doubled in the past thirty years

According to Statistics Canada, pot use is on the up and up in Canada, and it's not even legal here yet. More info here. Do you think this will change when weed is legal?

Is Justin Trudeau wearing traditional Indian attire ok?

The PM has gotten some criticism for the way his family is dressing on their trip to India. They've been wearing traditional Indian garments, which has caused people to complain that the Trudeaus are making the clothes seem like a costume, or that they are making Indian people seem like a caricature of who they really are. You can read one of those critiques here. What do you think?

The Gateway Presents!

As you may already know, every second Friday from 5:30-6:30pm, CJSR airs a segment of our radio show, The Gateway Presents. Each segment includes an Opinion piece where two people debate on a hot-button issue. Along with pitching Opinion stories for the website or the magazine, please also feel free to pitch me content for The Gateway Presents! Whether you know someone who'd be interested in debating on the show, you have a topic you'd like to see presented, or you'd like to produce a segment all by yourself, let me know and we'll make it happen.

Shorter segments

Don't have time to write a whole 500-word article this week but still want to write something? Write one of these! They're about 200-300 words and a really good time. - Burlap Sack: Rant about something that bothers you! - Marble Pedestal: Rant about something you love! - Adulting 101: Either tell us how to do something adult (how to use an iron, how actually make food, etc.) or tell us about a time you failed to do something adult (like that time you put the red sock in with the whites and now everything is pink).