Opinion pitches!

Hey everyone! Welcome back to another great semester at the Gateway. Can't wait to read more of your spectacular writing! Sorry for such a long email, there's a lot of stuff I want to pitch to you guys. 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!

Purity Test meeting this Friday at 4:30pm

Every year The Gateway publishes a Purity Test, a fun quiz for students to find out how pure they are. This year's theme is Edmonton, so it'll also be a great opportunity to make fun of that ridiculous silver ball statue, the slow LRT, etc. etc. We'll be brainstorming in the office (SUB 3-04) at 4:30pm, so come on down to meet other volunteers and eat some pizza!

Meetings are now at 1pm, not 2pm

You guys indicated via doodle poll that 1pm works better for you this semester, so I hope to see lots of you at Opinion meetings! If you're not available at 1pm, please don't hesitate to still drop by the office to say hi (I'll usually be there at 2pm as well!), or pick up pitches via email. If we've never met in person, I'd love a chance to put a face to the names that are making such quality content.

SU elections are coming soon

One of the biggest jobs of the Gateway is to cover SU elections, since we're the only news source that can! This is a really cool opportunity to get involved with student politics, meet lots of interesting people across campus, and do some super-cool, hard-hitting journalism. If you're interested, but worried you don't know anything about the SU, fear not! Sofia (the News Editor) and I will be going over some SU basics with everyone, and giving you all the background you need. You're also welcome to come with us to Student Council sessions in the lead-up to elections! There's free food and we have fun group chats where we meme and have a good time. Here are the dates for the next few council sessions:

• Tuesday January 23rd

• Tuesday February 6th

• Tuesday February 13th

Council is held at 6pm in Council Chambers, right next to Van Vliet. If you don't know where that is/are afraid to go alone, never hesitate to email or text me (587-437-8583) and I will show you the ropes.

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.

March magazine content

The theme of the March magazine is P R I D E which is very exciting! I'm looking for people to pick up either side of the Point-Counterpoint for this month, looking at the issue of including or not including police officers in pride parades. This is a pretty important topic, so I'm hoping to get started on it early. Please let me know if you'd be interested, and I'll set you up on a Google doc with someone writing for the opposing side!

The U of A has the second-highest number of "sugar babies" in Canada

The website Seeking Arrangement, a dating service that links people up with sugar daddies, released its annual report on "Sugar Baby universities," and weirdly enough the U of A is in second place. Is this proof that tuition is too high? Does this suggest that the U of A is just more open-minded than most Canadian institutions? More resourceful? More broke? Give me your hot takes!

FAMF-apalooza

If you've never heard of a FAMF, it stands for Faculty Association Membership Fee, and it basically means the amount of money tacked on to students' tuition each semester that goes to their Faculty Association. In the past two months, lots of faculties (Engineering, Arts, Education, and CSJ) have been looking at either implementing a new FAMF, or increasing their current FAMF. This has been pretty contentious on the SU, with exec members often equating FAMFs to "taxing students" and suggesting that other means of funding should be pursued before resorting to a FAMF. I'm interested in how you guys feel about this, on a philosophical level. Does it seem like a natural extension of the social contract within a university environment to pay a fee every semester? Is taxation theft? Will this just further the gap between richer students, who might have more time to access things like clubs and extracurricular resources, and poorer students who are paying for that stuff despite never being able to use any of that stuff because they're busy working to pay tuition? Let me know what you think!

#TimesUp vs Ivanka Trump vs "freedom to seduce"?

At the Golden Globes this week, both men and women wore black as a statement of solidarity for those who have experienced sexual assault in the film and TV industry. During their acceptance speeches, lots of women, including Oprah, called for Hollywood to end its culture of sexual harassment. Ivanka Trump tweeted her support for the gesture, and was promptly criticized for posing as a supporter of survivors while also supporting her father as President. 100 women from the French entertainment industry signed an open letter stating that the movement towards calling out men's advances is overstated and reactionary, and that "this liberation of speech turns today into its opposite." There's a lot to dissect here, and lots to write about!

Should Oprah run for President?

After her impassioned Golden Globes acceptance speech, the Internet has been ablaze with rumours that Oprah is going to run for President in 2020. What do you think? Would Oprah be a good candidate? Is it a problem to pit one TV star against another for the highest office in the land, or is her star power exactly what it will take to beat Trump?Alternatively, I'd love to know what other celebrities you would (seriously or satirically) endorse for President and why. If political experience is no longer relevant, it's fair game for anyone!

The Google manifesto guy is suing them for discriminating against conservative white men

You may remember James Damore from his memo entitled "Google's Ideological Echo Chamber," where he essentially presents an argument that the gender gap in tech isn't due to sexism, it is a result of a variety of factors, including inherent differences between men and women. I won't try to summarize his argument, but you can read the memo and his thoughts on the whole thing here, on his website. Damore was fired from Google after writing the memo, and has since filed a class-action lawsuit under the basis that the company "discriminates against conservative white men."

Land acknowledgements before campus events

It has become very standard to acknowledge that the U of A is on Treaty 6 territory before any event or meeting. Sometimes specific Indigenous groups will be mentioned, and sometimes the importance of decolonization efforts will be mentioned. What makes a good land acknowledgement? Is it harmful to do a land acknowledgement without putting proper thought into it?

Alberta Party leadership race is...weird?

Stephen Mandel (a former Edmonton mayor) is said to be joining the race, which has some left-leaning NDP voters worried. And yet at the same time, Rick Fraser, a former Conservative MLA, has also declared that he will run. Does the leadership race mean that Alberta Party supporters are going to have to choose which way to lean? Is it possible to actually be the centrist voice they claim to have? Is a centrist party the answer to an increasingly polarized political landscape?

Albertan judge makes racially insensitive remark during a guest lecture

In a law class at the U of C, Kristine Eidsvik referenced her fear of "big dark people," leading many people to call for her removal from the bench on the basis of racial bias. Another Albertan judge, Robin Camp, was removed from the bench for remarking that a sexual assault victim should have "kept her legs closed," so it isn't unprecedented for a judge to be removed as a result of public backlash. Do you think Eidsvik should be reprimanded in this case?

Edmonton Eskimos name change

Since 1949, Edmonton's football team has been playing under the green and gold banner of the Eskimos, but calls to update the team's name are increasing. Does the name need to change? What should it change to? Will this have an impact on lifelong fans, or give the team a chance to update its image? There's a lot of important stuff to write about here, but if you want to write something more lighthearted it would also be funny to brainstorm some silly new names for the Eskimos (the Edmonton Emus? the Edmonton Electricity? the Edmonton Ehhhh?).

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 discuss 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. - Streeters: I'll match you up with a Photo volunteer and you'll hit the mean streets of campus, armed with a question and a camera, to survey some U of A students. Past questions have included: what should the university's logo be, what was your worst live music experience, and where do you poop on campus.- 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).