By James Keller
I’m about to start my fifth year of university and I plan to continue school after convocating. I was raised in a Calgary suburb, and was born to middle class parents. While I had mostly white friends when I was younger, there was always a mix of different ethnicities in all facets of my life.… Continue reading I am unlabelled
By James Keller
Advertising. A world full of intrigue and creativity, the possibility of evoking so many emotions, so many images to push whatever product or cause you’re behind. With the visual pushed to the forefront in print and television, the power to captivate and convince is markedly more dramatic. Unfortunately, the ability to fail, to cross the… Continue reading Violent commercials rejected
By James Keller
The centerpiece of popular culture and current bastion of pop music, American Idol, came to an end this week. By the time this column hits the stands, the second American Idol will have been chosen, and one lucky soon-to-be star–if only for 15 minutes–will be the latest random nobody with a contract and a record.… Continue reading Idol provides pretention-free viewing
By James Keller
The past 12 months have amounted to what seems like an exceptionally bad year. And sadly, I don’t foresee things changing in the future. While we still have many trials and tribulations to look forward to (I still haven’t had my quarter-life crisis), recently I’ve faced real, adult problems I’ve never had to deal with… Continue reading Taking Stock of Personal Tragedy
By James Keller
What are you buying when you pay your tuition? Instruction? A quality education? Unfettered access to experts? According to Associate Dean of the Faculty of Engineering Dr. Michael Collins, we are paying for the latter and nothing more. After a number of student complaints, Collins sent out an e-mail to students in the faculty addressing… Continue reading As tuition rises, does quality go up?
By James Keller
Metaphor is a powerful thing. In literature, it can invoke powerful imagery or emotion. In common discourse, it can express the inexpressible, breathing life into the abstract. And in advertising, it can say so much with so little, reinventing the familiar. It is a powerful little thing like metaphor that may–and that certainly should–debase the… Continue reading Image is everything
By James Keller
It’s a consequence of celebrity. People have long used the famous to live vicariously, taking part in lives much more exciting and intriguingly more scandalous than their own. However, we no longer want to peer into the world of the famous from our comfortable couches in suburbia. As MTV has successfully proven, we don’t want… Continue reading Reality television has hit a new low
By James Keller
I am short at least one textbook as I finish my second week of class and I’m not alone. The University of Calgary Bookstore, which has proudly charged students retail prices for already overpriced books since the beginning of time, has let students down once again.To be fair, most students had most of their textbooks… Continue reading Wrinkles in the system
By James Keller
Last month, Catholic Priest Rev. John Maes did an about face, refusing to marry Medicine Hat resident Celina Ling and her fiancé Robert Symmonds. The decision came after Maes’ discovery that Ling is employed by Planned Parenthood, which among other things, is Canada’s largest pro-choice (read: abortion) advocacy group.Pointing to well-known Catholic doctrine issued by… Continue reading How far do one’s religious freedoms extend?
By James Keller
It’s always been in the back of our minds: something we all knew was a possibility but never really thought would happen. However, in keeping with the editorial policy of Izzy Asper-owned CanWest Global Communications, the company fired Ottawa Citizen Publisher Russell Mills after he ran an editorial calling for Prime Minister Jean Chrétien’s resignation.For… Continue reading The fall of the Aspers