Students welcome debt cap, slam other budget moves

http://thechronicleherald.ca/NovaScotia/1237054.html

The article itself was interesting but I felt that the comments below were even moreso.

Comment 1...

Post-secondary education is a privilege and not a right. People seem to forget that... what happened to the days when you only buy what you can afford.
I am someone that went to university and graduated debt free. My parents did not help me. I worked through high-school to save up money. I worked through university and full time in the summers to pay for my school. I didn't qualify for loans but my parents weren't able to help me either.. so I did what I had to do! I took three courses in a semester that I could only afford three courses..
And let's face it. A tuition reduction doesn't make sense. We are below the national average, and if you compare our tuition fees to the States, well, there is no comparison. Not everyone needs a tuition reduction - there are plenty of rich people attending universities. Why would we save them money? What we need is exactly what was in this budget, student assistance.

Comment 2...

How in many European countries, post-secondary education IS a right for those that academically qualify, as are trade schools and technical colleges. It is considered part of the education system and is tuition-free. Countries such as France and Germany also pay a stipend to the students.
Now are France and Germany richer countries? (other than an educated populace)No. Do they have more natural resources? (other than an educated populace)No.
Well, what's the difference? They have an advanced, proportional social democracy that stresses the well-being of the citizens over the needs of a soulless multinational.
Strangely, we can always find an extra billion or two to let our Dear Leader's narcissism and fascist fantasies play out, or 100 billion + to support toys for big boys and the military-industrial complex, but for the people? No. We can build prisons to slake the mouthbreathers bloodlust, but think, THINK. I
If there was a fairer education system, maybe we wouldn't need the prisons. Maybe we wouldn't need more welfare, maybe our taxes would be lower, maybe we'd be a better country.

Comment 3...

I wish university students would quit complaining about funding..if you cant afford it ..DONT GO! Go to Community college..we need more trades people than lawyers anyway.Right now the only loans to ''forgive'' would be med students IF they go to rural areas to work it off.

I thought that these were all really interesting and different views and reactions to this article. With a lot of work and support from my family I was able to pay for my whole first year without requiring any student loans. 

Bullied kids ‘reaching out for help,’ says longtime teacher

http://thechronicleherald.ca/NovaScotia/1236912.html

Four Nova Scotia teens have committed suicide in the past 3 months due to bullying, especially online forms. At least that has been what has made the news. A girl in my own community where i grew up almost committed suicide two weeks ago for the same reasons, although this did not make the news.

I liked this article because it was of a different perspective than a lot of other bullying articles that have been in the news.

Teens Killers Kruse Wellwood, Cameron Moffat Sentenced as Adults, Get Life in Prison for Kimberly Proctor Murder

http://www.timescolonist.com/news/Teen+killers+Kruse+Wellwood+Cameron+Moffat+sentenced+adults+life+prison+Kimberly+Proctor+murder/4556638/story.html?id=4556638

I thought that this whole case is rather disturbing. Since when are 16 and 17 year old boys aggressive sadist necrophiliacs? Ones that act on it?

I really agree with the decision that they get charged as adults, the crime that they committed is horrific and definitely deserves to be treated as such.

Big strides, but is it a woman’s world?

http://thechronicleherald.ca/Front/1231869.html


I actually didn't know that it was International Women Day today until I had seen a few Facebook postings about it and then the article being front page of the Chronicle Herald. 


I just think it's interesting because I can't imagine not being able to vote and things like that. I remember in one class I had in high school, our teacher said to us that although feminist is a word that people frown on today or are reluctant to use that if you believe in that women have equal rights, then you are indeed a feminist. 


A lot of the comments on this article were actually really positive. I find that usually people make ridiculous comments on articles and blame everything on Peter Kelly but the comments were light hearted and kind for once. 

Wedgeport mom fights IWK to keep baby on life-support

http://thechronicleherald.ca/Front/1230948.html

I thought that this was a really interesting article because it really brings up some issues. It was explained here that the doctors at the IWK want to take this woman’s baby off of life support and she doesn’t want it to happen. It made me think about life support and at what point should the plug be pulled on life support for certain people.

The fact that the doctors say that Bryson (the baby) has significant brain damage and won’t recover also brought up some questions. The mother of the baby stated that Bryson has been responding to sound and touch. Does this mean that eventually the baby could recover? To what extent though? Would the baby have a fulfilling life in this state? Is there a point where recovery options shouldn’t be looked at because of this concept of life fulfillment? 

Nunavut tuberculosis rate decried

http://thechronicleherald.ca/Canada/1227801.html

Government-provided, one-room houses with no bathrooms, or cramped shacks cobbled together from construction debris, provided ideal conditions for the disease to spread.

I thought this was a really interesting article because I thought that tuberculosis was pretty much gone in Canada. At least, I know I've never met anyone or have heard of anyone having it.  I couldn't believe that TB is an issue in Nunavut because it seems like it'd be very preventable and curable. 

"We are a rich, developed nation that has the resources to solve the problem in Nunavut if we choose to employ them," says Dr. Matthew Stanbrook, a respirologist at Toronto Western Hospital. "The fact that we have failed to do so, not just once but over a century, should be an embarrassment to every Canadian."

I felt that the quote above from Dr. Matthew Stanbrook is a good one. It really speaks out to how as a country we've failed to do a lot of things and this is one of them. 

Fans of Games unhappy with lack of TV coverage

http://thechronicleherald.ca/Front/1227408.html


I do not watch sporting events myself, but it does seem really odd to me that the Canada Games is not getting more coverage. What decided this? What's this channel that it's on? I've never even heard of it before. For people who's friends and family are involved in the Canada Games, it must be disappointing to not be able to watch it, especially if you're from far away or are physically incapable to attend. What a shame. 

"I didn’t know grandson would starve" — grandma

http://thechronicleherald.ca/Canada/1226189.html


Jeffrey, who weighed just 21 pounds when he died in November 2002, was treated like a dog. He ate out of a bowl with his fingers and often drank from a toilet when he was thirsty, her trial heard.


I felt that this was a really interesting article in the Chronicle Herald. A grandmother unknowingly starved her 5 year old grandson to death. In the article it says he was semi-comatose for several weeks and died weighing 21 lbs. Later on in the article, it says that the grandmother's IQ is only about 69, which borders on "mental retardation" and makes her less intelligent than around 98% of the Canadian population. 


This raised a lot of questions that weren't answered in the article. How did this grandmother get in charge of her child if this was the case? If she wasn't capable of raising her grandson then how did she ever raise her children and why did they give her their son? At the end they mention that the child was abused by his birth parents but what made the grandmother a better choice? Especially since he was apparently treated like a dog and she unknowingly starved him? 


Very strange indeed.

Tuition hikes limited to 3%

http://thechronicleherald.ca/NovaScotia/1225264.html


"I’m glad to see they listened to the opposition and they listened to students," Regan said Monday evening.


I was rather relieved to read this article yesterday. Being a student in Nova Scotia I'm obviously very concerned about the price I'm paying for university. The report that Tim O'Neill released was interesting, but I don't think that deregulating university tuitions would do anyone any good. If tuition was going to go up as much as 86%, I, along with many others would have probably ended up at schools like M.U.N, and the enrolment numbers would have plummeted. 


I didn't qualify for a student loan for my first year and so with the help from many members of my family but especially my father who is a painter, we managed to pay for my entire first year in cash. This definitely would not be possible next year or the following years if the tuition drastically increased. 


Nova Scotia is really moving around it's education budgets this year. Increases to tuition fees and that funding cut of about 22% to public school systems. I don't think this funding cut is going to be particularly useful or satisfy Nova Scotians if it isn't done properly, which often it doesn't seem to be. 

100 Sled Dogs Slaughtered

http://thechronicleherald.ca/Canada/1225190.html


"Tour operator got workers’ comp cash; he was traumatized from shooting them"


I really don't understand how someone can be "forced to kill" like this man claims he was. To kill ONE HUNDRED dogs seems super excessive. I can see how it could be traumatizing, but I really do not understand.  I worked at the S.P.C.A. in Burnside, and I remember once when we went into a puppy mill breeder to take his dogs away, the man killed his dogs so that we couldn't take them. It was horrifying to think someone could do that. What would ever be someone's reasoning to slaughter 100 dogs? I read that he tried to find homes for them, and it would be hard finding homes for 100 plus dogs, but I still find it hard to believe that he was pressured by anyone else but himself to kill those dogs.


Just horrifying

New bill to help plain folks catch a thief

http://thechronicleherald.ca/Canada/1223566.html

"Chen made national headlines last fall when he was acquitted of assault and forcible confinement after catching and tying up a shoplifter in Toronto."

I can't imagine ever having the gall to catch and tie up a shoplifter, but as the article says, you need to actually catch a shoplifter for them to get charged with the law. I thought this article was interesting because when I at first saw the headline, I was initially like oh jeez. I thought it was going to be something super ridiculous. I don't know if that thought was valid or not though because I felt though that the article didn't share that much about the law that was going to get passed but was focused on Chen and Chan. The only real thing said in the article that alluded to what the amendment to the criminal code may be is what Harper said: "Let’s make sure that hard-working store owners won’t get punished if they try to defend their stores because that’s totally unfair." 

I can see the point of making sure they don't get punished for defending their stores, but I hope this doesn't mean we're going to have some crazy vigilante store owners harassing those who they suspect to be shoplifters but aren't. I remember a few years ago my dad's work van was stolen and used in a robbery of a store and the store owner actually chased after the van and beat it all in with a baseball bat. I understand that he was trying to defend his store, but the damages done to the van weren't covered by anything and came out of my parents pocket which I didn't think was fair.