Opinion pitches!

Hey everyone!This is the last opinion pitch email of the semester, and therefore the last opinion pitch email you'll ever get from me! It's been an absolute pleasure working with all of you this year, and I'm really going to miss being email friends with all of you. You'll be in good hands with Andrew McWhinney, the incoming Opinion Editor, who is going to do a great job helping you guys continue to do excellent work next year. Please feel free to stay in touch! I'll still be around campus, and I'd love to stay in contact with any of you - even if we've only even gotten to know each other by email. Don't be a stranger! My non-Gateway email is [email protected], so you can always get in touch with me that way. For now, here is the last set of pitches I have for this week! The Opinion inbox will stay open over exam break (and over the summer), so if you have other article ideas or submissions, feel free to keep sending them in! Like always, these articles should be 500-550 words and are due Friday at 5pm.

FAB security town hall today at noon

This has been a big topic on campus (and we've already seen some great Gateway content on it!), and the Music Students' Association is holding a security roundtable today at noon in FAB 1-23. You can see the Facebook event here. I'll be there if you want to come, learn more, and maybe form some opinions!

Getaway content

Twice a year, the Gateway publishes a bunch of satirical articles that we fondly call "The Getaway." In the style of The Beaverton or The Onion, these posts use a similar format to standard Gateway articles (although they're usually shorter), but parodying something about student life or the U of A. Here is the compilation of last year's Getaway articles. The Getaway is basically a place to be a little silly and ridiculous and have a good time with satirical content! Even if you're worried that your articles won't be funny, I guarantee you that you are funnier than I am, and I promise I will laugh at all your jokes. They're also published with fake names, so you don't have to worry that your cringy jokes will come back to haunt you! We've got you covered. If you missed the meeting on Monday, you can still pitch satirical articles! If you really want to write one but have no ideas, we can brainstorm together!

L'Express is closing :( :( :(

The contracts for the SUB food court are expiring, so the food vendors are changing up, and the SU-owned L'Express is taking the hit. No more garlic bread or green onion cakes, which personally breaks my heart. They will, however, still provide catering. You can read about the closure here. Are you going to miss L'Express? Do you think this is a good financial decision? The new food vendors going into SUB are still TBD for now, but stay tuned.

PLLC needs $9 million

The opening to this Edmonton Journal article reads "the University of Alberta says it needs to find $9 million to cover its elite leadership college after the NDP government suspended funding for three years," which I think says it all.

Province announces limits on university executive pay and compensation

A lot is happening in university news these days, but one of the biggest announcements of the week is the provincial government's introduction of new regulations on university executive salary and benefits. You can read The Gateway's coverage of that here.

U of A nepotism #exposed???

This story surfaced yesterday about a researcher at the U of A whose daughter and son-in-law were hired to work at the University without actually applying for the jobs. Some people are pretty mad about it, so I would love to hear your takes!

SUB renovations to continue despite failure of the SEI referendum

Students voted against paying semesterly fees to cover the Student Events Initiative, which would have involved some large-scale renovations to SUB, as well an increased granting program for students. The Students' Union is going forward with some of the renovations, however, and allocating money from its own budget to do so. You can read more about that here.

Jason Kenney abstains from abortion clinic safe zone vote in Legislature

The UCP caucus sat out of the debate and vote on implementing safe zones around abortion clinics to prevent demonstrators from protesting in the area. You can read about that here. How do you feel about their decision? Is it a good thing that MLAs can choose to abstain from certain votes, or should they be forced to participate? How do you feel about the bill itself?

Kinder Morgan is scaling back the Trans Mountain Pipeline

There is a lot happening with the Trans Mountain Pipeline right now. Kinder Morgan has halted expansion of the pipeline, primarily due to opposition from the provincial government of BC. Protestors in Calgary yesterday called on BC to back down. Trudeau has vowed that the pipeline will get built. Notley is entertaining the possibility having Alberta buy the project from Kinder Morgan. What do you make of all of this?

New provincial legislation outlines more cannabis regulations

The proposed bill sets out rules like not having kid-friendly advertising of pot, banning words like "medi" or "pharma" for pot shops, and opening up some of the regulations around edibles. You can read about those regulations here.

Simpsons responds to criticisms of Apu

There has been a lot of criticism of the Simpsons character Apu following a documentary released by comedian Hari Kondabolu titled "The Problem with Apu." The Simpsons (which is still running??? I did not know this) incorproated its response into a scene, which you can see embedded in this article. Many people have also criticized the scene, which essentially instructs viewers to chill out and "not have a cow."

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).