Opinion pitches!

Hey everyone! Hope you're having a great day and enjoying the snow. Here are some story pitches if you're interested in writing this week! First drafts should be about 500-550 words, and will be due to me by 5pm Friday evening (but if you want to send them earlier, that's amazing). 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.

Racist Jack O'Lantern left in front of the Faculty of Native Studies

A pumpkin adorned with feathers (seemingly designed to look like a makeshift headdress) was left outside of Pembina Hall, home to the Faculty of Native Studies. Over the course of the same day, posters stating "It's ok to be white" were also found on the door of Pembina Hall, and on bulletin boards around campus. There's a lot to talk about here. What do these things say about racism on our campus? What kind of responsibility do we have as university students to address this kind of behaviour? What is the role of the administration in this? You can read Turpin's response here. Has he done enough?

A guy phoned the province's Environment Minister and made a death threat over the carbon tax

The Crown has since dropped the charges against the guy, but he was obviously pretty fired up. Is the carbon tax something people should get fired up about? It's been about six months since the tax program was put in place - why is this guy so angry now? How do people generally feel about the policy six months in? On the other hand, should there be legal repercussions for making death threats to someone over the phone?

Significant budget cuts may be coming to the U of A

The budget planning currently underway assumes cuts of up to 9% in order to handle the $14 million deficit. Lots of programs have already been whittled away, and as of now it isn't entirely clear where these cuts will be coming from. If the U of A has to cut something, what should they cut? Some say these cuts are in response to uncertainty about provincial post-secondary funding. Who should be held responsible here? Would it be preferable to stop the tuition freeze, rather than to endure budget cuts?

Group Commentaries on CALM and your experience on election night

I'm looking for people to contribute to two Group Commentaries! A Group Comm is an amalgamation of 50-100 word blurbs from various writers on a given subject. The first one is about Career and Life Management, a high school course designed to prepare you for the real world. If you took CALM in high school, did you learn anything from it? Did it prepare you for budgeting or finding a house or taking out student loans? Is there anything you felt was missing from the course, or ways you thought it could have been executed better? The second one, since it's almost been exactly a year, is about your experience of election night 2016, watching Trump take the presidency. Were you drunk? Did you cry? How did you feel in the morning vs how you felt going to bed? How did the people around you react?

Edmonton's first legal grow-op is opening

With a licence from Health Canada, Gren Ex Pharms Inc. can start to grow pot, signalling the beginning of changes resulting from marijuana legalization in Canada. Is this an emerging market that Edmonton should be eager to participate in? How will this impact our city, and our country?

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. - 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).