Opinion Welcome Email Sept 2017

Welcome Back to the Opinion section!

Welcome back to Opinion!

In case we haven't met yet, my name is Emma Jones and I'm the Opinion Editor for the 2017/2018 school year. I'm writing to invite you to the first Opinion meeting of the year, this Tuesday (September 12th) at 2pm in SUB 3-04. Bring a friend, bring a pitch, or just bring yourself! Hope to see you there. If you can't make it to the meeting, or if you just want to start writing before that, below are some pitches I have for you guys. 

Increased enrolment of international students

University of Alberta Associate Vice-President says that Trump is the reason more international students have chosen Canadian universities. More info here.

Canadian universities giving staff naloxone kits

To address the increasingly dramatic opioid crisis, Canadian universities have started providing university staff with naloxone kits. More info 

The City of Edmonton is considering a similar policy for transit drivers. You can read more about that

Do you think this is a good way to deal with the opioid crisis? What is the role of the university in handling student safety in matters like these? Let me know in an Opinion article! 

Choosing the School Act vs the Education Act 

This article might take a little more research, but the Education Minister Dave Eggen is in the process of reworking the School Act, as opposed to adopting the Education Act. This will potentially impact things like the high school drop-out rate, the amount of freedom school boards have, and the cost of post-secondary education. A good article to get you started can be found here

Métis leader starts a protest with his hair 

Métis elder Bill Loutitt has declared that he will not cut his hair until Métis rights are respected in Alberta. You can read more here. Is this an effective protest strategy? What does this say about the state of Métis rights in our province? Should the government be doing more? 

November magazine content

Each edition of the magazine includes two recurring Opinion pieces. The Gateway is a well-oiled machine so we're already working on our November content! Shoot me an email if you'd like to write a Worth It/Not Worth it or a Point Counterpoint for the magazine. 

Worth It/Not Worth It

These are short pieces (100-150 words) evaluating anything campus-related, from going to a frat party, to dropping a course after the deadline, to drinking Wicked Panda beer. Let us know if it's worth it or not worth it. 

Point Counterpoint

Choose a topic you feel passionately about (short answer vs multiple choice questions? taking laptop notes vs taking notes by hand? dodgeball vs any other sport?) and I'll pair you up with someone who disagrees with you so that you can duke it out on paper. 

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.