Opinion pitches!

Hey everyone! Here are the pitches for this week. 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. Articles should be 500-550 words and are due Friday at 5pm.

A second student protest will be happening Friday

In response to the recent decisions made by the Board of Governors to increase international student tuition, raise rent in residence, and implement an unpopular meal plan, students protested at the Campus Forum last week. There is another protest scheduled for outside the administration building this Friday at 1pm. The Facebook event is here if you're looking for more information.

Sikhs in Alberta will no longer be required to wear helmets while riding a motorcycle

Sikh men, who must wear their hair long and wrapped up in a turban, are (as of April 12th) going to be exempt from laws that require all motorcyclists to wear helmets. While both British Columbia and Manitoba have made similar exemptions, Ontario decided not to, citing safety concerns. You can read more here.

Harassment reports at the U of A are going up... but it might be a good thing?

This Edmonton Journal article reports that the number of harassment allegations provided to the Office of Safe Disclosure and Human Rights have more than doubled over the past two years. Interestingly, the article (or at least the guy interviewed in the article) generally portrays this as a good thing. It suggests that the increase in reporting is a reflection of improvements in the reporting system, as opposed to an increase in incidents that require reporting. This is a super relevant issue to campus, and I think it's a really interesting example of how numbers are powerful, but how people interpret numbers is even more powerful. Do you think the Journal got it right with their angle? Or is there another story to be told here?

The dilemma of self-driving cars

There's a chance Edmonton could have a trial-run of self-driving cars by January of next year, which is pretty wild. There have been a lot of headlines lately (including this one) about the woman in Arizona who was killed by a self-driving Uber, so some people have concerns (although people are killed by human-driven cars all the time soooo.....). It's also interesting to consider some of the ethical dilemmas surrounding self-driving cars, as programmers have to dictate how they will act in emergency situations or accidents, and whose lives they will prioritize. This website, launched by MIT, allows people to weigh in on a variety of situations and how they think self-driving cars should be programmed to behave. What do you think about self-driving cars in general? What do you think about self-driving cars in Edmonton? How do you think we should approach these moral dilemmas, and what principles should we stick to?

"Sweet Jesus" ice cream is coming to Edmonton

Two Sweet Jesus ice cream shops are planned to open in Edmonton, one at Southgate and another at WEM. Critics say that the name is blasphemous and disrespectful to their religion. As pictured above, their logo also includes upside-down crosses. More info here. What do you think? Should the brand change its name? Are there any grounds for the criticism?

Carding practices in Edmonton

Ward 12 Councillor Moe Banga, a former police officer, answered questions about carding during a Facebook live interview last week, and defended carding as a "very valid tool for police." The Edmonton chapter of Black Lives Matter, alongside many other local advocacy groups, has been vocal in their opposition of the practice, saying that it is inherently racist and creates a divide between the police and the communities they are supposed to serve. You can read more about Banga's remarks here, and see the carding statistics collected by BLM here.

Should you delete Facebook?

#DeleteFacebook has been trending in the wake of the Cambridge Analytica scandal and other revelations about the exploitation of user data (although this article suggests that it hasn't really lead to people leaving the site). Is removing yourself from Facebook the way to combat the problems it's facing? Has Facebook become a necessary tool in the modern world, or would your life be just as good (better even?) without it? Are you going to delete Facebook?

Increased concerns about security in FAB

Security issues in FAB aren't exactly a new topic (in fact I first pitched this story in December), but the conversation about safety in the building has been reignited after two men were reportedly found weighing cocaine on a scale in one of the bathrooms last week. Why do you think FAB has these problems? Should students be concerned for their safety? What do you think administration/student leaders/UAPS/other stakeholders should be doing to address these concerns?

Study shows that 36% of university students don't have enough to eat

It sounds like the study was limited to American students, but this article provides some really interesting statistics about the food security (and overall financial security) of many students. This is particularly interesting in light of the U of A's recent budget choices.

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).