Six years ago, I sat in a computer lab at my rural high school in southwestern Ontario for a mandatory course that the majority of my grade considered mind-numbingly dull: Civics and Careers. This one-credit program instructed 10th graders on ethics, resume-writing, and surviving the post-2008 labour market. Our assignment that day was to research… Keep Reading
After the recent controversy surrounding Cambridge Analytica’s massive data collection from Facebook users, the public has spoken out against the social network and called for a boycott. A popular Twitter campaign demanded Facebook users #DeleteFacebook. Following the campaign, a series of prominent companies and personalities deleted their Facebook pages, most notably Playboy, Jim Carrey, and… Keep Reading
When I first read Patricia Edmonds’ cover story on Millie and Marcia Biggs—half-black, half-white fraternal twins—for National Geographic’s April 2018 Race Issue, I felt conflicted. As a person of mixed race, with a father from Hong Kong and a mother of largely Scottish descent, I was happy for this family’s opportunity to share their experiences.… Keep Reading
The “Change My Mind” meme emerged this past February, when a conservative commentator named Steven Crowder set up a table outside the campus of Texas Christian University with a sign reading “Male privilege is a myth, change my mind.” Crowder has a YouTube page and a podcast where he frequently engages others in discussions on… Keep Reading
Montreal is a wonderful city for walking—not only because of its pedestrian streets, quirky architecture, and beautiful street art—but because of the eclectic array of pedestrians strolling down the streets. There are arm-swingers, head-bobbers, aggressive J-walkers, and many others. Some types of walkers are unsettling, however, particularly during the slush-filled spring. In the weeks to… Keep Reading
Returning home for reading week often comes with the usual barrage of concern from my family over my choice to pursue journalism as a career. “Journalism is a dying field,” my family members say. “Anybody with a blog can be a journalist.” Yet, I could scarcely go a day without one of my friends or… Keep Reading
You’re at Café Santropol on a Sunday afternoon. Visibly focused on your work, headphones in, you become aware of a turtlenecked, tiny-hatted, vaguely stinky entity behind you. He won’t tap your shoulder, but as seconds stretch into minutes, you begin to turn your head, not quite toying with the idea of removing a headphone— Hey!… Keep Reading
Since 2015, the fentanyl crisis has taken Canada by storm: The Public Health Agency of Canada estimated that over 4,000 Canadians lost their lives to opioid-related overdose in 2017. On Jan. 12, Dr. Carole Morissette, Montreal Public Health medical chief, delivered a public health warning to recreational drug users, signalling that the crisis had reached… Keep Reading
It’s no secret that finding steady, full-time work as a young person in Canada is becoming more and more challenging. Gone are the days where an undergraduate degree alone could land you multiple job offers in your field of study. Now, for many students, an undergraduate degree holds as much clout as a certificate from… Keep Reading
Last week, I finally watched the 2015 sci-fi and artificial intelligence (AI)-themed movie, Ex Machina. Providing viewers with an in-depth look at the possibilities of AI in a not-so-far future, the film centres around the relationship between a young programmer named Caleb and a seductive robot, Ava. Caleb is mandated to administer the “Turing test”—essentially testing… Keep Reading
