IMO, one of the better student publications out there. Its nice to see that the editorial team aren't complete lefttards, like is the case with most campus newspapers. What do you think?
While I do agree with its quality, I question some of the editors' judgment sometimes. Example: Running that opinion article about how the author though the Dalai Lama was useless as the cover story.
While I do agree with its quality, I question some of the editors' judgment sometimes. Example: Running that opinion article about how the author though the Dalai Lama was useless as the cover story.
Yeah... freedom of speech is so unneeded in press.
What's wrong with running an article about the uselessness of the Dalai Lama?
I think it's a rag personally, its often not entertaining and the editors are just irritating and spoiled. Like this week, someone complaining about their open scholarship being reduced, or not being made aware of it.
I also think 4 pages for a sports section is way excessive, I get sad when I get near the end of the paper as I know a giant part of it is just filler near the end. Just drop the comics and sports section altogether.
I think it's a rag personally, its often not entertaining and the editors are just irritating and spoiled. Like this week, someone complaining about their open scholarship being reduced, or not being made aware of it.
I also think 4 pages for a sports section is way excessive, I get sad when I get near the end of the paper as I know a giant part of it is just filler near the end. Just drop the comics and sports section altogether.
Yeah, that article was awful. The guy sounded way too entitled. As somebody who won one of the major entrance scholarships, I'm dumbfounded why anyone would want to complain about the school paying a fair chunk of your tuition. It's a huge slap in the face to people who worked their ass off to get one, but barely missed it or were rejected. Just be thankful you got the chance to receive it.
And I also don't really read the last bit. I read some of the humour section, but most of the time it's pretty terrible.
i thought the dalai lama was a great read... adds a little spice in my otherwise gloomy depressing days up on sfu.. perhaps it wasn't exactly the greatest idea to put it at the front page but people are getting wwwaaayyyy too serious about some harmless cynicism.. i read some of the feedback from this week's issue and some ppl are just.. not fond of cynicism in general? =\
i don't read much of anything else besides the humour section just so i can get a good laugh once in a while.. makes the day go by easier..
The guy sounded way too entitled. As somebody who won one of the major entrance scholarships, I'm dumbfounded why anyone would want to complain about the school paying a fair chunk of your tuition.
He wasn't complaining about the major scholarships. He was complaining about the open one: http://students.sfu.ca/financialaid/scholarships/index.html#openschol You don't even apply for that one. You just need a good GPA. If I had gotten a certain amount every semester for doing well, I'd be pretty annoyed if the amount was reduced without being told in advance.
Hey guys, thanks for the feedback. For those who don't know, I am the Opinions Editor of the Peak. I also wrote the Dalai Lama article. :p
I actually sort-of agree that it shouldn't have been the cover, but that's not my decision, and it being the cover is only a minor thing, anyway.
I've been trying to incubate some conservative writers of late, to keep the section balanced, and magically, all the lefty writers disappeared. Now the section seems downright Republican. I'm going to have to start needling the lefties out there to get writing, again.
I appreciate the feedback, please keep it coming. The good, and the bad.
well.. i think it would be wise to just leave the humour section as is.. i would've gone as far as suggesting to have the humour section be replaced by a cynic section.. the dalai lama served as a stress test for that and judging the feedback it got.. i don't think SFU students are ready (or perhaps too conservative) for a cynic section? some might jump off the cliff or roll down the mountain with the type of blasphemy it's capable of generating.. =P
that said.. cynicism is a great thing and we definitely need more cynics out there..
Well, one thing I'd appreciate is The Peak making more of an effort to reinstate the specific "letters to the editor" column that was more or less expunged when JJ McCullough was on the Peak, as he got into the habit of paraphrasing peoples' letters, and I've noticed that practice continuing in recent issues.
It would be a lot more welcoming if people could know their letters wouldn't be published selectively (aside from cutting for space) and not being used in furtherance of an ideological agenda. Leftie the Peak may have been in previous years but at least when I wrote the occasional letter, damn it, it either got in or didn't.
He wasn't complaining about the major scholarships. He was complaining about the open one: http://students.sfu.ca/financialaid/scholarships/index.html#openschol You don't even apply for that one. You just need a good GPA. If I had gotten a certain amount every semester for doing well, I'd be pretty annoyed if the amount was reduced without being told in advance.
It's an award, not an entitlement, how about they just not give anything?
I’d like to talk about another issue for the moment, and that is the open scholarship itself. Since I began receiving it in my third semester, it has covered a little over two-thirds of my tuition at $110 per credit. It doesn’t take a genius to realize that the scholarship has a huge impact on a student’s finances. This past summer, however, it was reduced to $70. I found out about the reduction not from Financial Aid and Awards, but rather from a small article tucked at the bottom of a page in The Peak. Alright, I wasn’t enrolled in any courses this summer, so perhaps I’ll receive official notice when I enrol again.
Nope, didn’t happen. The only official confirmation of the reduction was in an email notification that I had received money. Even then it wasn’t explicitly mentioned as a point to note, the amount $110 was simply replaced with $70 in the paragraph explaining the scholarship. And that brings me to the one complaint I do have: notification, or lack thereof.
I will agree with him that SFU should have notified all its open scholarship students of the reduction in paying their tuition. I'd be pretty pissed off to know that I have to pay more then I intentionally thought I would. It doesn't seem fair that the university changes the amount without notifying in advance so students can prepare to change their budgets if needed.
I will agree with him that SFU should have notified all its open scholarship students of the reduction in paying their tuition. I'd be pretty pissed off to know that I have to pay more then I intentionally thought I would. It doesn't seem fair that the university changes the amount without notifying in advance so students can prepare to change their budgets if needed.
I agree they should have notified him. It can really cause banking problems for students if they just pull a fast one. But there are much better ways he could have presented the article... by making himself sound way too entitled it is hard to take his opinion seriously.
"As a self-indulgent scholarship recipient, I deserve to have my every whim completely satisfied by the university, even if that means the diminishment or perhaps loss of education for other students. They’re merely students, after all, and not distinguished geniuses like I, who deserves all the attention. Imagine my horror, then, to discover that a privileged individual such as myself would have to compete with the mere regulars for a seat in classes this fall. To make matters worse, my tuition is now a full third less cheap than it used to be. Oh, the humanity!"
I know he used it to attempt to be humorous, but it makes him sound snobby. But hey, if that's what gets him off...
It's an award, not an entitlement, how about they just not give anything?
You're missing the point. Sure, his article made him sound like an entitled tool, but it's a perfectly legit complaint to want to be notified that the amount you've been receiving for a few years is going to decrease so you can prepare for it budget wise. Not everyone can produce that extra amount easily.
I publish opinions pieces based on space, and only paraphrase when there is an overwhelming response on a single topic. Even then, I try to do as little restating as possible, and keep things more quote-heavy, for the reasons stated above.
In general, I would say that I publish about 3/4 of the submissions I receive.
You're missing the point. Sure, his article made him sound like an entitled tool, but it's a perfectly legit complaint to want to be notified that the amount you've been receiving for a few years is going to decrease so you can prepare for it budget wise. Not everyone can produce that extra amount easily.
It says on the website that the qualifying GPA goes up or down based on the amount of qualifying individuals-- so you would figure in light of the above people would check the website every semester. I have a very strong feeling most of these people never check the website to even see if the qualify because they assume their GPA is high enough, missing other kinds of updates on the scholarship.
How are they even going to tell everyone? There is no mailing list for certain GPA students, unless its sent to everyone in the university. Which I guess they could have done, although that might not help all those scholarship students (it might create more competition). I know people who have gone through their entire degree not knowing about the open scholarship, who said they would have tried harder having known.
You can use the reverse argument to say that if this money is so important to people they would confirm all the details every semester, to ensure their planning is correct.
I publish opinions pieces based on space, and only paraphrase when there is an overwhelming response on a single topic. Even then, I try to do as little restating as possible, and keep things more quote-heavy, for the reasons stated above.
In general, I would say that I publish about 3/4 of the submissions I receive.
Blowed if I can tell the difference between a student letter to the editor and contributions from Peak people though. Twould be nice to make that distinction a little more noticeable mmkay
It's called the Opinions section, and they are letters to the University, not to me. There's no reason to separate the editors' content, especially when that content is so clearly demarcated. Bear in mind: it's ALL student content. There are no professionals, anywhere in the system. There's nothing gained by creating two different sections for exactly the same things, simply based on who's writing them.
Comments
What's wrong with running an article about the uselessness of the Dalai Lama?
I personally don't find the Dalai Lama particularly useful myself, but something about that cover just didn't sit well with me.
I also think 4 pages for a sports section is way excessive, I get sad when I get near the end of the paper as I know a giant part of it is just filler near the end. Just drop the comics and sports section altogether.
And I also don't really read the last bit. I read some of the humour section, but most of the time it's pretty terrible.
i don't read much of anything else besides the humour section just so i can get a good laugh once in a while.. makes the day go by easier..
The comics range from mildly amusing: (couldn't find any in recent issues)
to not funny:
to just plain bad:
That guy should be banned from writing comics ever again.
http://students.sfu.ca/financialaid/scholarships/index.html#openschol
You don't even apply for that one. You just need a good GPA. If I had gotten a certain amount every semester for doing well, I'd be pretty annoyed if the amount was reduced without being told in advance.
I actually sort-of agree that it shouldn't have been the cover, but that's not my decision, and it being the cover is only a minor thing, anyway.
I've been trying to incubate some conservative writers of late, to keep the section balanced, and magically, all the lefty writers disappeared. Now the section seems downright Republican. I'm going to have to start needling the lefties out there to get writing, again.
I appreciate the feedback, please keep it coming. The good, and the bad.
that said.. cynicism is a great thing and we definitely need more cynics out there..
*wow, this word passed the spell check.
It would be a lot more welcoming if people could know their letters wouldn't be published selectively (aside from cutting for space) and not being used in furtherance of an ideological agenda. Leftie the Peak may have been in previous years but at least when I wrote the occasional letter, damn it, it either got in or didn't.
"As a self-indulgent scholarship recipient, I deserve to have my every whim completely satisfied by the university, even if that means the diminishment or perhaps loss of education for other students. They’re merely students, after all, and not distinguished geniuses like I, who deserves all the attention. Imagine my horror, then, to discover that a privileged individual such as myself would have to compete with the mere regulars for a seat in classes this fall. To make matters worse, my tuition is now a full third less cheap than it used to be. Oh, the humanity!"
I know he used it to attempt to be humorous, but it makes him sound snobby. But hey, if that's what gets him off...
In general, I would say that I publish about 3/4 of the submissions I receive.
How are they even going to tell everyone? There is no mailing list for certain GPA students, unless its sent to everyone in the university. Which I guess they could have done, although that might not help all those scholarship students (it might create more competition). I know people who have gone through their entire degree not knowing about the open scholarship, who said they would have tried harder having known.
You can use the reverse argument to say that if this money is so important to people they would confirm all the details every semester, to ensure their planning is correct.
I'm not sure how we could make it any more plain than that.