Reducing the number of cigarette smokers has been the aim of several public health forums for years now. In 1989, smoking was banned from all flights, and in 2001 designated smoking rooms were installed in restaurants and bars. This was accepted until 2004, when smoking in public places was banned altogether. Today, smokers are not permitted inside a public place, and they must maintain a minimum distance from the building.

Of course for many people, these mandates make a lot of sense. Smoking cigarettes is known to cause a variety of health problems,  with second-hand smoke causing many of the same issues for non-smokers.

People between the ages of twenty and twenty-four have the highest rates of smoking as compared with all the other age groups, and the maritime provinces are known for having the highest rates of smoking per capita. As a result of this, Canadian provinces are starting to ban smoking on campus all together.

As opposed to half a century ago, we’re now taught from a young age that smoking is bad for you. We’re told that you don’t look cool doing it. Rather, it is increasingly the case that smokers are put into a light that is unattractive and disgusting.

“I often get told that I’m too young to smoke,” says one student who describes herself as a habitual cigarette smoker. “Or someone tells me that I look unattractive. I’ve never been told ‘oh you look cool,’” she laughs. “And for some reason, I get a lot of people telling me it’s bad for my health, as if I didn’t know.”

So why is it that cigarettes have such a bad reputation, but marijuana has flown under the radar?

“If my parents found out I was smoking cigarettes, they’d be really mad,” says one Mt A. student. “But they know I smoke weed and they weren’t really fazed.”

The British Lung Foundation found that seventy-eight percent of teenagers believe that marijuana isn’t harmful, especially not in comparison to tobacco. They report that while there is a wealth of research and studies examining the effects of cigarettes, there are relatively little facts on the effects of marijuana.

We’ve all heard someone say it – “weed isn’t bad for you. It’s a plant. It’s not like drugs that are chemically manufactured.” This might be true, however, what people forget is that you are inhaling smoke; regardless of it’s from a cigarette or a joint. And what many don’t know is, smoking marijuana is actually more harmful than smoking cigarettes.

In a study conducted by the British Lung Foundation, it was found that marijuana causes many of the same health issues as cigarettes. Habitual marijuana smokers were found to have a significantly higher prevalence of chronic and acute respiratory symptoms. They were also found to be at a higher risk for heart disease and various forms of cancer. In addition, while smoking cigarettes is known as a relaxer, smoking marijuana causes many psychological symptoms that cigarettes do not. The main effects of marijuana are having a distorted sense of time, being paranoid, random thoughts, short-term memory loss, and anxiety. Long-term psychological effects in chronic users show deficits in connection with the learning and memory area of the brain, especially in those who started smoking weed in their teens.

In terms of respiratory and cardiac health issues, it was found that these are actually compounded in marijuana smokers. The British Lung Foundation study reported that smoking three to four joints a day would cause the same damage as smoking twenty tobacco cigarettes. This is because marijuana tends to be smoked in a way that increases the puff volume by two-thirds and the depth of inhalation by one-third. Additionally, breath-holding time is four times longer when smoking a joint, than if you are smoking a cigarette. It has also been estimated that smoking weed results in a fourfold greater amount of tar inhaled. Again, this is due to the longer breath-holding time and differences in filtering characteristics.

So, while dangers of tobacco are highly publicized and well known, it doesn’t mean the dangers of marijuana are non-existent. At the end of the day, neither substance is good to put into your body. So next time you go to light up, keep in mind what you’re risking, regardless of what’s rolled in the papers.

For many of us, March 17, 2013 has been marked on our calendars since the groggy haze of last year’s St. Patrick’s Day finally wore off. The day where the partying starts in the wee hours of the morning and goes late into the night and green food is totally acceptable. Ironically enough, this day started out as a religious holiday, but the North American meaning of the day could not be farther from it’s original definition.

Most people may not know that St. Patrick was an actual person, or what achievements propelled him to sainthood. Born in Ireland in the fifth century, the young St. Patrick was kidnapped by the British when he was sixteen and taken to England as a slave. While there, he became a devout Christian and when he escaped back to Ireland he brought the religion with him. St. Patrick has since been credited with the spread of Christianity in Ireland and the anniversary of his death, March 17, became one of the most important Irish religious holidays. The Irish have been celebrating the day for thousands of years and treat it primarily as a sacred occasion. Interestingly, one of the most well known symbols of St. Patrick’s Day, the shamrock, is a Christian symbol. The three leaves represent the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. It was an analogy that St. Patrick used during his teachings. Traditionally, to celebrate the day, Irish families would attend church in the morning and then feast in the afternoon.

The holiday made it’s way into Canada in 1759 when Irish soldiers who were serving in the British army celebrated it. It spread further with the arrival of Irish settlers. It’s not exactly known when St. Patrick’s Day went from a religious holiday to a day with connotations of heavy drinking, but the phenomenon seems to be entirely North American. The day is recognized as a national holiday in Ireland, meaning that school and places of work are closed. In Canada, it is recognized by the provincial governments, however it is not an official holiday in any province except for Newfoundland and Labrador.

In 1995, the Irish government realized that they could use the popularity of the holiday to promote tourism and Irish culture. Originally, pubs were closed in Ireland on the holiday; however, the government allowed them to open in order to capitalize on the North American fanaticism for the drinking culture of the holiday. Every year, nearly a million people celebrate St. Patrick’s Day in Dublin. The celebrations last for days and feature parades, concerts, outdoor theatre shows and fireworks. Guinness, the famous Irish stout, has also marketed itself as the official beer of St. Patrick’s Day. While on any given day, five-point-five million pints are consumed worldwide, on St. Patrick’s Day, that number more than doubles to thirteen million pints worldwide.

Globally, St. Patrick’s Day is celebrated in many countries, including Japan, Singapore, and Russia. However, it remains most popular in Canada, the United States, and Australia. Over four million Canadians are of Irish descent, with nearly four hundred thousand living in Atlantic Canada, making up a significant per cent of the total population. Many of these people with Irish heritage see the holiday as a way to celebrate the history of the country and their shared culture. Canadian celebrations often feature green beer and other forms of green mixed drinks. Many partygoers even go so far as to mimic the Irish flag by dressing in green, orange, and white. Large cities often seize on the opportunity to throw a parade to celebrate the date, and the contribution of Irish settlers to Canadian culture and history. The largest of these celebrations occur in Montreal and Toronto, which have two of the largest Irish populations in the country.

While celebrations in Sackville might not be to the scale of a big city, you can still expect to see formidable Irish spirit this weekend. So, get out your bright green clothes, be sure to purchase some green food-dye and remember; everyone is a little Irish on St. Patrick’s Day!

Anyone who works in the service industry knows that you don’t survive on your salary; you survive on your tips. Most industry workers are paid minimum wage, regardless of their rank, and so their tips become their main source of income.

In Canada, there are several service jobs where tipping is considered an obvious obligation. Servers, bartenders, and room service workers are all in this category. Generally consumers know that by accepting these services, they are going to be expected to tip at least fifteen percent. In fact, many restaurants simply add a gratuity to the bill to ensure that the servers are paid. Other jobs have less obvious tipping standards, like cab drivers, salon staff, concierges, and doormen. Many consumers get confused about which of these people to tip and what the appropriate percentage is.

GoCanada.com stated that, in general, fifteen percent should be the norm for all service employees. However, there is some variation. For example, cab drivers should be tipped ten to twenty percent, depending on the timeliness of arrival and their level of friendliness. Servers should expect fifteen to twenty percent, although many people believe that eighteen percent is a more appropriate minimum. Bartenders usually go by the “keep the change” rule as long as the change is an adequate amount. Tossing the bartender a quarter after having purchased a five-dollar drink is not considered appropriate. Coat check employees generally get a dollar to two dollars and salon employees expect the same as servers (fifteen to twenty percent) unless it is a particularly long appointment, in which case twenty to twenty-five percent is the norm.

In Sackville, there are many businesses where service employees make their living. Bridge Street Café, Joey’s, Sackville Cab, and Mane Attraction are just a few. The employees at these businesses offer considerable insight into what they generally receive in terms of tipping.

“I don’t really expect tips,” says Josh Carr, who works at Bridge Street Café. “I consider them a bonus.”

Carr says that he personally will tip someone at least fifteen percent. He says that even if the person didn’t perform to his expectations, he will still tip them this amount out of respect for the work that they do.

“There’s sometimes the excuse that someone shouldn’t get a tip because they’re just doing their job,” Carr says. “People say ‘why would you tip someone for something they’re supposed to do?’”

This might be a valid question. Does someone working an office job get tipped? No, of course not. But they call it the service industry for a reason. You’re paying someone to do a job for you that is time-consuming and usually consumer-interactive. In this way, the bill represents the payment of the object received (the meal or the haircut), whereas the tip is the payment for the employee’s friendliness and helpfulness.

Carr says that at Bridge Street Café, they pool their tips and split them equally amongst who was working. He noted that they usually only receive five percent each.

“I’m not usually bothered by that amount,” he says. “But there are situations where a customer was particularly needy and I felt that I should’ve received a tip and I didn’t.”

Maria Wilson is a third year student who spent much of her high school years working at Subway. She says the experience has taught her a lot about tipping.

“I think that people should really tip fast food employees,” she says. “They usually don’t make a lot in tips, but they’re the ones who put up with the most ridiculous customers and situations.”

Wilson says that her tipping philosophy varies not by the service, but by the quality of the service.

“I usually tip at least fifteen percent or more if the person did a good job,” she says. “If it wasn’t a great experience, I’ll tip ten percent. It would take a lot for me to tip nothing.”

Jake Vecia is a server at Joey’s. He says that when tipping, consumers should also consider that many workers tip-out some of their earnings to the house.

“Tip-outs generally range from two to five percent,” says Vecia. “To quantify that, if your dinner cost 100 dollars before tax and the tip-out is four percent, the server must take four dollars of their earnings and give it to the restaurant, regardless of whether you tipped them or not.”

Vecia says that as long as your server worked hard and was friendly, you should tip them.

“I’ve read that on an average shift a server can travel anywhere from eight to twenty kilometres,” says Vecia. “I don’t know many other jobs where you complete almost a half-marathon while on shift.”

It’s interesting to note that there are service employees who have found a way to combat bad tippers. Upon receiving a bad tip, some servers will ask the customer if there was anything wrong with their experience. Bartenders have been known to split bills into coin when giving back change in order to encourage customers to give them a better tip. Non-confrontational methods like this are usually considered acceptable.

We, as Mount Allison students, know all too well how small this school really is. Everyone knows everything about everyone. And so, it’s hardly a surprise that after the weekend ends, students are abuzz with the drama that took place, who got “totally wasted” and particularly, who hooked up with who. “Hooking up” is a phrase that is used so often today, we barely even stop to think of what it means. Which is intentional. The phrase itself is supposed to be vague, because it means something different to everyone. While some people might regard a simple make-out session as hooking up, others see hooking up as nothing less than sex. Regardless of what you think it means, one can’t deny that it’s one of the most prevalent aspects of university life.

It seems that traditional dating has taken a back seat to this more non-committal, alcohol-fuelled culture. Indeed, by fourth-year, seventy two per cent of students will have had at least one hook-up, with the average amount being ten for men and seven for girls. In fact, many relationships start out as a hook-up. This doesn’t seem surprising considering that ninety per cent of Canada-wide student housing is now co-ed, as opposed to the more old-fashioned same-sex houses.

But what do students really think of this culture? Do they like the idea of casual sex with a stranger, or do they go along with the trend reluctantly? The Argosy interviewed four Mt A. students to get a better idea: two female and two male students had varying feelings towards hooking-up across the board.

When asked how they defined hooking up, all of the students agreed that you couldn’t just assume that there is one definition.

“I think anything more than making out can be considered a hook-up,” said one of the female students, “some people think that it’s just a pub make-out though.”

Both male students agreed.

“If someone says ‘I hooked up with someone’, I have to ask what that means,” one commented.

Both groups also agreed on whom this trend is more oriented towards. They said that at Mt A. it seems like hooking up is more about what guys demand from girls.

“I just feel like because the ratio is so skewed here, it seems like the girls are fighting for guys, and they feel like they have to do stuff for guys in order to lure them in,” said one of the female students.

“I think it should be fair,” one male student added, “although, just because there are fewer guys here, doesn’t necessarily mean that they’re going to hook up every time they go out. I feel like since there are fewer guys to pick from, you really have to stand out.”

Despite this, both of the women felt that they personally don’t necessarily have to “put out” in order to get a guy’s attention. Both also noted that if that’s ever the case, then it’s definitely not worth it.

“To me, it’s all about expectations,” said one girl. “There’s nothing wrong with flirting, but I think your intentions should be clear. If you’re not planning on going home with someone, don’t lead him or her on.”

All of the students involved in the interview agreed that the worst part of hooking up at Mt. A is that word spreads like wildfire.

“It’s amazing how quickly people find out,” said one student. “And it’s a small campus, so it can be awkward. It all depends on the maturity level of everyone involved and what happened.”

Not one of the interviewees felt that this hook-up culture could have extreme adverse effects. The general consensus seemed to be that if both parties are being safe and responsible, then hooking up is a great way to learn more about yourself and it can be fun.

“I think anything is good as long as you’re doing it for yourself,” said one of the female students.

Even when it came down to the controversial use of the word “slut”, the parties were on the same page for the most part.

“I think the label definitely exists,” said one female student. “But I wonder why people judge it. I think that if people judge you based on your sexual experience, then it can largely stem back to jealousy and their own lack of self-esteem.”

“People are nosy in Sackville and people know who hooks up the most often,” added one of the men. “It’s easy to call someone a slut because you know all the details and you can put a name and a face to the stories.”

On a lighter note, all of the students had interesting tips to contribute when it came to the question of hook-up etiquette. All four agreed that you should keep your hook-up details on the down low unless the other person is okay with you telling people. They also advised against getting too attached to someone, especially if you know it’s just a hook-up. As far as morning-after etiquette, one student suggested getting your partner a drink of water to help with the hangover, or offering to walk him or her home.

“At the very least give a girl a pair of your sweats,” one of the guys said. “Don’t let them do the walk of shame in last night’s dress.”

“And remember their name,” one girl laughs. “That way you don’t have to wake up in the morning and be like, ‘hey… you.”

All four students considered it rude and awkward to leave before the other person wakes up. And on a campus where you’re bound to see the other person, increased amounts of awkwardness is the last thing you need.

“Have an excuse to leave if you feel weird,” one of the male students said. “Say that you have a meeting or that you have a lot of work to do.”

“But make sure that you don’t just ignore their existence after that,” added one of the girls. “Just say hi when you see them or even a simple smile.”

“Just be friendly,” a third student concluded. “Don’t be a jerk about it.”

So whether or not you participate in the hook-up culture that is ever-present at university, there seems to be some very clear-cut rules. Don’t make someone else feel uncomfortable, be safe, and don’t judge anyone who chooses to participate. In the end, it’s all about having fun and judgment from anyone else should never get in the way of that.