“Ramadan is actually a whole month in the Muslim calendar,” explained Bilal Khan, the President of the Muslim Student Society. “It’s described as a holy month and it’s characterized mostly by the practice of fasting for a specified amount of time,” he added. “[Ramadan] consists of Muslims typically waking up before the sunrise, having a pre-dawn meal, prayer, […] and then throughout the period of the day, or when the sun is up, not eating or drinking until sunset,” Khan elaborated. He also explained that Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, which is the month when the Islamic religious text, the Koran, was revealed to the Islamic prophet, Muhammad. Ramadan is therefore also known as the month of revelation, which is why there is significance to fasting whenever it occurs, which changes year-to-year. Khan also pointed out that religious fasting can be seen in many other religions as a way to convey their spirituality, including during Yom Kippur in the Jewish culture.

This year, Ramadan started on the evening of March 22, and is slated to end on the evening of April 20. Although Ramadan is recognized by all Muslims, it is acknowledged that fasting could be harmful or dangerous to certain types of people.

“The process of fasting, it’s pretty physically taxing, so there are obviously exceptions for the elderly, for children, for pregnant women, and anyone who has a serious illness, [like] eating disorders,” said Khan. “It’s a practice that’s strictly self-enforced. […] [It’s an] act of worship that’s about self-discipline and challenging yourself to not eat or drink in the name of spirituality,” Khan described.

Several events and accommodations have already been planned for those participating in Ramadan, including arrangements made by Jennings Dining Hall to allow residence students to properly break their fasts at the beginning and end of each day. An email sent out on March 7 by Donna Hurley, the Director of Administrative Services, and Ellie Hummel, the Multi-Faith Chaplain and Spiritual Coordinator, explained that Muslim students in residence would be able to access meals at appropriate times during Ramadan. It also announced that Muslim students who were planning on fasting were required to contact Jennings by March 17 to take advantage of the arrangement. Khan elaborated on this accommodation:

“The evening meal, which happens after sunset, is within Jenning’s opening hours, so students can just come in and dine if they want to after the sun sets at night,” he reported. “If they don’t want to, Jennings is accommodating by creating packages, like take-out boxes, that have that day’s meal and specific items according to what the student wants to take out and eat as they please,” Khan added.

“The one that was more difficult to plan was the morning meal, which happens before the sun rises and is obviously outside of Jenning’s normal operational hours,” said Khan. “For that, they also plan to have takeout boxes that have typical items that are offered to students like hard-boiled eggs, baked goods, and whatever breakfast items they’re making that morning, but just have them separated out in a box for students to take home the night before so they can eat whenever they want,” he explained. “I’m pretty pleased with them for taking those steps and the fact that they were proactive. Even though there aren’t very many [Muslim] students on campus, they were willing to go to that extent to help accommodate as many students as possible,” Khan stated.

In addition to the accommodations being offered by Jennings Dining Hall, Khan added that other accommodations may be available to Muslim students partaking in Ramadan.

“There were some discussions about potential accommodations from the academic side of [things] because [Ramadan] will fall during exam week [this year],” he noted. “One example was if a student had a 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. exam writing time, [which] falls within the sunset, it would be difficult for [them] to break their fast during that time. So I think there was a bit of discussion about if that’s the case, professors or the university will be able to reschedule or accommodate those students to give them a more flexible time,” Khan remarked.

Mt. A students and staff participating in Ramadan are invited to attend weekly prayer sessions that will be held every Friday at 1:30 p.m. in the Multi-Faith Centre. Khan mentioned that this time is allotted specifically for Muslim individuals on campus to pray and reflect but added that there will be an educational Q&A session being held for the public on Wednesday, March 29, from 12 p.m. to 1 p.m. on Teams. This meeting is intended for those interested in learning more about Ramadan and will be led by Reverend Ellie Hummel, Postdoctoral Fellow Dr. Sharifa Patel, and Khan himself. To receive the Teams link, you can email spiritualcare@mta.ca.

As President of the Muslim Student Society, Khan is grateful that the university faculty and others that he has talked to have welcomed discussions about Ramadan and accommodation ideas for Muslims during this time. He explains that the goal of the Muslim Student Society is to “create a space for Muslim students to socialize and interact amongst each other and advocate as a collective for the community at large.” Although the COVID-19 pandemic lapsed previously established societies for Muslim students on campus, Khan hopes that this current iteration is here to stay. “The goal [of the Muslim Student Society] is to create a foundation and a sense of community among Muslim students that will hopefully be expanding as the population continues to grow, and be there for any new Muslim students who are coming to Mount Allison,” Khan concluded.

Mount Allison was lucky enough to host Megan Mitton last Wednesday, March 8, from 4:00 pm to 5:00 pm in Tweedie Hall. Mitton is the provincial representative for the Memramcook-Tantramar region and our local MLA. The event was organized by Ngoc Huynh, the VP of External Affairs for Mount Allison’s Student Union (MASU).

“I actually learned this idea from our university neighbours – Saint Thomas University and UNB Fredericton,” Huynh explained. “They were the ones [who] started this initiative first, […] so I contacted them, asked for their tips, and we went from there!”

The talk was originally arranged to give students the opportunity to share their views on topics like affordability, environmental sustainability, and healthcare with MLA Mitton. Housing was a particularly pressing topic, Huynh commented, since “lately in Sackville, there are [rising] concerns about housing affordability and lack of options.” New Brunswick is currently facing a housing crisis, with the number of homeless people in the province reaching a record high last winter, according to Global News. The housing crisis has been a point of concern for many Mt. A students due to high rent prices in the area, which can make it difficult to afford other necessities as well as expensive university fees. Unfortunately, the costs of living keep increasing; some landlords in Sackville have decided to raise their rent for the 2023-2024 school year.

The Red Barn, an apartment complex popular among students on Salem Street, is increasing its rent from $1,425 to $1,650 for three-bedroom apartments starting in May, meaning that monthly payments will increase from $475 to $550 for students living in those units. “It’s a pretty significant increase,” says Liam Grunau, a third-year physics student who currently lives in a three-bedroom unit in the complex. “Hopefully the extra fees will get put to good use by the landlords,” he added.

Huynh was initially skeptical about the student engagement towards this session but noted that the students were very engaging and eager to talk with MLA Mitton. In response to the students’ concerns about affordable housing, MLA Mitton suggested that students “bring the problem [to the] Housing Hearing session next Thursday, and challenge the tenant rights in this province,” Huynh reported. The Housing Hearing session will be held Thursday, March 16, from 6:00 pm to 7:30 pm at the Sackville Commons Co-op at 18 Lorne Street, but will also be broadcast via Zoom. According to Tantramar’s Facebook page, “the event is an opportunity for renters to learn about their rights and responsibilities, available resources, and understand the role of the Residential Tenancies Tribunal.” The Residential Tenancies Tribunal tries to resolve conflicts between landlords and tenants in the province and is a particularly valuable resource, considering there is no legal aid for tenancy issues in New Brunswick.

In addition to discussing housing, students were able to talk to MLA Mitton about topics such as affordability, healthcare, the environment, the impacts of COVID-19, and anything else that sparked their interest. Huynh said that “[the students] learned more new things through MLA Mitton’s explanations,” but recognized that “there is a need for this kind of session more – [for] the representative of different kinds of government to speak informally with the student body.”

In July 2020, the Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction began the process of updating Canada’s Low-Risk Alcohol Drinking Guidelines, which was issued in 2011. Critical changes were made, and it was replaced with Canada’s Guidance on Alcohol and Health earlier this year.

Canada’s Low-Risk Alcohol Drinking Guidelines suggested no more than 10 drinks a week for women and 15 drinks a week for men in order to reduce long-term health risks. It was also recommended that women consume no more than three drinks per occasion and men no more than four in order to “reduce your risk of injury and harm.” The government has recently reduced these numbers to only two standard drinks a week for everyone, regardless of gender, due to studies that have linked alcohol with cancer and other negative health effects.

Based on the new guidelines, those who drink three to six standard drinks per week have an increased risk of developing several types of cancer, including breast and colon cancer, and those who drink seven or more standard drinks per week have a significantly increased risk of developing heart disease or experiencing a stroke. Each additional standard drink after this “radically increases the risk of alcohol-related consequences,” according to Canada’s Guidance on Alcohol and Health. In this context, a standard drink means 341 ml (12oz) of beer, coolers, or ciders that have a 5% alcohol content, 142 ml (5oz) of wine that has a 12% alcohol content, and 43 ml (1.5oz) of spirits, like whisky, vodka, or gin, that have a 40% alcohol content. The new guidelines also emphasize reducing the risk of harm to yourself and others by consuming no more than two drinks per occasion. Although these guidelines are intended to support people in making informed decisions when they consume alcohol, the “none is better” mindset is stressed. Canada’s Guidance on Alcohol and Health states that “research shows that no amount or kind of alcohol is good for your health.”

“This reminds me of the ongoing issue of mixing politics with [very specific personal affairs,]” comments one student who wishes to remain anonymous. “I just don’t think the government needs to be in people’s business like that,” they said. “People aren’t going to care and [the new guidelines] aren’t going to change much. There are bigger fish to fry.”

Angus Hussey-Taillon, a second-year English major, had a similar opinion about Canada’s updated alcohol guidelines. “I feel like they make sense but they’re also not attainable,” he said. “I do appreciate the idea they’re going for but I don’t think it’s reasonable. If you’re already drinking more [than the guideline suggests], then you’re going to keep doing it and you’re not going to care that the government told you to stop,” he explained. “[I think it’s aimed at] more consistent drinkers rather than people who want to have a few drinks on a Friday night. […] [The new guidelines] might act as a wakeup call [for people who are normalized with drinking,]” Hussey-Taillon commented.

An anonymous second-year Arts student, who will be referred to as Brandy for sake of clarity, said that she wouldn’t have even known about the new guidelines had she not been interviewed. Like the previous students, she claimed that the new guidelines would not affect her drinking habits.

One of the key differences between the 2011 alcohol guidelines and the updated guidelines is that the variety of ways alcohol can affect your health, including increasing the risk of certain cancers, heart disease, and strokes, are on clear display. Interestingly, alcoholic beverages have been classified as Group 1 carcinogens since 1988 by the specialized cancer agency of the World Health Organization, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC).

 “I think this is the same situation [as] when cigarettes were popular,” Brandy said. “We’re always going to have people who smoke and we’re always going to have people who drink even though it’s a common, known fact that both are really bad for you and cause cancer,” Brandy explained. Hussey-Taillon also commented on this. “I feel like [that] specific [information is] concerning, but I don’t think [it’s] shocking [or] surprising,” he remarked. “But also, everyone knows alcohol isn’t apple juice – you shouldn’t be downing a couple [of] beer every day with your breakfast,” he said. The anonymous student was more carefree about this news: “Anything’s risky at this point; people tell you staring at the microwave is going to give you cancer!”

The general opinion here seems to be that the new alcohol guidelines won’t affect student life that much, but could it affect the bar scene?

“In theory, yes; in practice, absolutely not,” said a bartender from Mt. A.’s campus bar, The Pond. “It’s good that it’s out there, but to be perfectly honest, I don’t think anybody’s going to follow it,” they stated. “I feel like we already know that alcohol is bad for you. No one really takes [the warnings] seriously,” they commented.

On another note, could the new guidelines affect how much alcohol can be served to students at the bar? The bartender mentioned that customer safety is the number one priority.

“You’re supposed to be responsible for not only making sure that they don’t get drunk at the bar that you’re working at, but also trying to make sure that they don’t get drunk elsewhere,” they stated. “Generally speaking, the rule of thumb is four to five [drinks per person.] If the guidelines are lower, maybe [we would serve less than that;] like two or three [drinks per person,]” the bartender explained.

The student who wishes to remain anonymous brought up a nice concluding point. “[People] will think it’s fine until [alcohol makes them sick.] Right now, they don’t care because it’s not applicable to them in  the moment. They’re not going to care unless they’ve seen someone go through it, then they’ll care because they care on a more personal level,” they noted.

If you are struggling with substance abuse or addiction, you are not alone. Wellness Together Canada provides immediate, free, and confidential mental health and substance use help. You can call them at 1-866-585-0445 or text WELLNESS to 741741.

You can also contact Drug Rehab Services at 1-877-254-3348 for free, confidential, and professional help for drug and alcohol addiction.

This website lists all services offered by the government of Canada:

https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/substance-use/get-help-problematic-substance-use.html

On January 11, the New Brunswick Department of Health released a new online feature that allows residents to personally access their blood test results. This program has been implemented during New Brunswick’s ongoing healthcare crisis, and at a time when 85% of New Brunswickers believe the healthcare system is in either fair or poor condition, according to a survey done last fall. Access to primary caregivers is also a growing concern in the province. Those with the privilege of having a family doctor have to wait up to three weeks to be addressed for an urgent need, based on the same survey. With that being said, how could this new service alleviate these problems? Here’s what two fellow Mt. A. students had to say.

“The biggest advantage to this new program is [that it gives New Brunswickers] the opportunity to be […] more involved with their health,” says fourth-year Political Science student Grace Tarrant, from Fredericton, NB. “The state of the healthcare system is frail and New Brunswickers are finding it more and more difficult to both keep a family doctor and get in touch with their family doctor given the increased wait times and backlog,” Tarrant continued.

On the other hand, Jasmine Ouellette, a second-year student from Edmundston, NB, “[doesn’t] think there is anything beneficial about it.” One feature of the system is that it can identify whether components of your blood are within specified normal ranges, but Ouellette says that seeing these numbers can still produce anxiety.

“Even if people see the results online, you’re not a doctor, so you won’t know how to interpret them. What might be normal for some people might not be normal for other people,” she remarks. “You are going to jump to conclusions, unless they specifically say there is nothing wrong, and assum[e] the worst even if it’s not a big deal,” she explains. “So yeah, I don’t think it’s really a good idea to see them; I know I would jump to conclusions seeing results.”

Ouellette is also particularly concerned about how this feature might complicate the already overloaded healthcare system and result in less attention to sick people.

“All the [medical] staff are going to be answering phones from people panicking about their results online,” Ouellette says. “They’ll try to reassure them and spend a lot of time doing that instead of taking important phone calls,” she added. “I think it will make the healthcare crisis New Brunswick is experiencing right now worse,” Ouellette commented.

Although the feature was designed to help give New Brunswickers some control over their own health, it won’t necessarily decrease the number of people who need access to their healthcare provider about their blood test results. Adam Bowie, a spokesperson for the program, mentioned that it is always important for patients to discuss results with their family doctor or nurse practitioner like you would after any test or examination. Unfortunately, access to healthcare is still a huge concern, with Tarrant explaining that “there are many people in the province that do not even have a family doctor.”

Another point of concern shared by Tarrant was the wait time for bloodwork results. “I have had bloodwork done many times and while it is easy for me to get in contact with my family doctor, I often have to wait a few weeks to get an appointment over the phone to discuss the results,” she says. “The longer wait times definitely do not help with my health anxiety,” Tarrant added.

So, could this new service improve wait times? Ouellette doesn’t think so.

“One of the advantages could have been that it would save time,” she mentions. “I don’t see how it would make your results come in faster. The doctors or nurses are going to take your [blood] to the lab, and the results come back when they come back. The doctors are either going to call you or put it online,” Ouellette elaborates. “If it was faster, then I’d be all for it, for sure, but I don’t see how it could take less time. It would be great if you could get [results] within a week. […] I just don’t think it’s really possible with our healthcare system right now.”

Another important aspect of the new program is accessibility. The online blood test results can be accessed on MyHealthNB, which was originally created for New Brunswickers to view their COVID-19 PCR test results. Ouellette explains how technology could be a barrier for some.

“First of all, not everyone is good with technology, especially older people. Older people are going to get a lot of blood tests, so they should be able to access it,” she mentions. “Also, there are a lot of glitches with technology, which just adds technical issues on top of it,” she adds. “I’m all for technology and I think we should take advantage of it when we can. In this case, I don’t think the system will make [healthcare procedures] any simpler,” Ouellette finishes.

Alternately, Tarrant finished her interview with an optimistic outlook. “I think that there are many benefits that come with the advancement of technology, such as being able to advocate for yourself and your health more quickly and easily,” she describes. “I think [the new feature] could help New Brunswickers feel a little more in control of their health during a time of crisis. It also helps individuals keep better documentation of their health results to [more easily] address future concerns if they arise,” she concluded.

The Department of Health hopes to add more personal health information to MyHealthNB in the future, including immunizations, medication profiles, and other lab results.

Grunau had two flights booked: the first, a flight from Moncton to Toronto on December 20, then a connecting flight to Calgary. He landed in Toronto with no issues, but his connecting flight to Calgary got cancelled after he had already boarded the plane.

Grunau was told by Air Canada staff that there was a “malfunction in the de-icing equipment [at] the Calgary airport, due to it being -30 degrees Celsius in Calgary at the time.” He elaborated: “I was told […] that the equipment could not be fixed anytime soon, and planes in Calgary could not take off, so there were no free spots for planes to land or dock to the airport until the de-icing equipment was fixed.”

With this news, the passengers unloaded from the plane and were tasked with their next mission: finding their bags. “When I got off the plane in Toronto that was supposed to head to Calgary, I went to go find my checked bag that was unpacked onto the carousel,” Grunau said. “The carousel area was very crowded,” he added. “Between two of the carousels, there were at least a hundred bags lined up. I finally found my bag after about 40 minutes of looking and waiting.”

Unfortunately for Grunau, there was more trouble to come. “Upon cancelling the flight, Air Canada staff stated [. . .] that they would not be providing hotels,” the student recalled. “It would have been nice if Air Canada had provided hotels for all of the passengers like me that had their flights cancelled,” he continued. “[Since] the issues experienced were almost all weather-related, they were out of any airline’s control.”

Luckily, he was able to get a room booked in a nearby hotel that night, “as just about everyone else in the airport needed a place to stay the night, too.” He was picked up the next day by his family living in Newmarket and managed to get a new flight booked for the following day. “I am very grateful that I was able to make it home before Christmas,” he concluded.

Sophie Tsaltas, a second-year chemistry student, had a similar experience with flight cancellations.

Tsaltas and her family had originally planned to go to Florida over the winter break for a holiday. On the morning of December 21, they were supposed to fly from Halifax to Toronto, then from Toronto to Fort Lauderdale. Their vacation plans were ruined before they had even started. She explained that “the storm out West meant that no planes were available to do the Halifax to Toronto flight.” To make matters worse, their airline didn’t properly reschedule their flights. “They would reschedule the first flight to Toronto, but forgot about the Fort Lauderdale flight completely,” she said.

Tsaltas and her family tried to fix their flight schedule but had no success. “[WestJet’s] phone line was so busy that we were on hold for 10 hours and after that time we still didn’t get anything resolved,” she said. “I wish they had better management of the phone line, and I wish they had properly rescheduled our flight,” she continued.

No longer able to go to Florida, Tsaltas’ family decided to go to Saco, Maine, “just to get somewhere” for the Christmas holidays. Little did they know, this alternate trip proved to be just as challenging as their flight fiasco.

“When we got there, there was a news crew outside our AirBNB reporting on a large storm that was happening the next day,” Tsaltas recounted. “There was a road outside our AirBNB that was right next to the ocean,” she added for context. “We left to go shopping the next day before the height of the storm, and when we came back [. . .], the road outside was gone, one of the doors was off its hinges, there was sand everywhere, and we had to evacuate the AirBNB and go elsewhere.”

Even after all that hassle, Tsaltas decided to look at her experience in a positive light. “My winter break was definitely more interesting and exciting! I definitely have a story to tell now,” she concluded.

Sleep is often neglected during the exam period, but ask any upper-year student and they’ll tell you that sleep is your best friend. There is no worse feeling than walking into your exam running on an hour of sleep and realizing that you would know how to answer the questions if you just weren’t so tired! To avoid staying up too late, try to get most of your studying done during the day and start studying well before your exam so you don’t have to cram the night before. If you do decide to stay up late studying, I would recommend going to bed as soon as you start to feel groggy; most topics you review after this point won’t be properly remembered the next day. Rather than studying for hours while fighting the urge to doze off, try waking up early and reviewing the content once your brain has had time to rest. Several studies have found that sleep correlates to better test-taking, so the takeaway is to not underestimate the importance of sleep during exam season.

Another way to take care of yourself during exam season is to prioritize doing things that you love, even  if only for a little bit at a time. When you begin to feel bogged down by work, take a break and let your mind relax by doing something you enjoy. For some, this could mean going for a short walk between study sessions or reading a chapter of your favourite book.

One popular study method, the Pomodoro technique, reflects the importance of taking frequent breaks while studying. Simply pick a task, set a twenty-five-minute timer, and work until the time is up. Then, take a five-minute break and restart the cycle. Every 4 pomodoros, take a longer break of 15 to 30 minutes. This technique can help combat procrastination by breaking difficult tasks into manageable sections and is also a good study method if you are easily distracted.

If you don’t know yet what strategies work best for you during exam season, it can be helpful to see what other students do. Sawyer Stanley, a second-year computer science and physics joint major, describes some tactics that help him get through exam week.

“I try my best not to get bogged down in the preparation for exams,” he said. “I definitely avoid cramming. I find it stress-inducing, draining, and, in the grand scheme of things, doesn’t make or break a performance on an exam,” Stanley explained. “Well, ahead of an exam, I’ll brush over my notes, maybe do a couple [of] practice problems, and get LOTS [of] rest,” he added.

Stanley has overloaded his semester, meaning that he is taking six courses instead of the usual five. As you would assume, this would normally mean an extra exam, but luckily, not in Stanley’s case. “Even with six courses, I ended up with only five exams/final projects,” he said. “Still, having five exams to write is one more than I was accustomed to writing from first year,” Stanley elaborated.

To help cope with the stress of exams, Stanley agrees that it is beneficial to step away from schoolwork every so often. “I enjoy working on passion projects for a creative outlet to decompress. The FIFA World Cup is happening over the exam period as well, so I’ll watch plenty of soccer,” he explained. Stanley added that he would also “catch up with family,” highlighting the importance of maintaining connections during this time.

Exam season is intimidating, but arguably more so for first-year students who haven’t yet experienced university exams. “If I have any advice for a first-year student, then it would be to hold your head high and enjoy the opportunity to see how you’ve grown,” Stanley suggested. “I think perspective is crucial,” he continued. “Positive results are, of course, validating, but doing worse than you hope [or] expect is reassurance that whatever degree you’re chasing isn’t easy. That’s something to be proud of regardless,” he concluded.

Post-secondary education is expensive for many students around the globe. Tuition, housing, and food are costly enough that many students have to take out loans to afford their schooling, and it doesn’t help that some professors require hundreds of dollars worth of textbooks for a single course.

With this in mind, Oluwalopeye (Lopsii) Olagoke, Senior Research Technician and Programmer at Mt. A., decided to create Tosmos (T-oz-mos), an online platform that enables users to sell their used textbooks to other students for a discounted price.

“We decided to create Tosmos because we found that there were two needs: the need for cheaper and affordable education materials and the need to reduce the amount of books going into landfills,” explains Olagoke. “In a survey, we found that 46% of students here at Mount Allison find it difficult to buy books. […] [In addition,] we are looking at 680,000 tons, which is the weight of two Empire State buildings, that goes into landfills annually due to textbooks. So, if there is such a huge waste, and people can’t afford [textbooks], there must be some correlation,” Olagoke elaborated. “What Tosmos is doing is connecting the students who have those books to the buyers who need those books, who can now buy them cheaper than those at the bookstores,” he said.

Tosmos was created in August 2021 and currently tailors to four post-secondary institutions in Atlantic Canada: Mount Allison University, Crandall University, Saint Mary’s University, and Acadia University. The platform is owned by Ooreva Software & Technology Inc., which is owned by Olagoke, and comprises a team of six, himself included. Ooreva and Tosmos were not created as part of Olagoke’s job as Senior Research Technician and Programmer, but rather, as a personal project. “We can’t call it a side hustle [anymore] because it’s expanding a lot faster than we thought […] and there’s a lot of dedication,” Olagoke explained.

When Tosmos was first created, it operated a bit differently than it does now. A year ago, Tosmos was simply a collection service on behalf of the students at Mt. A. Olagoke and his team would receive donated textbooks and repurpose them by either selling them back to other students or recycling them through the company Eco360. “Eco360 is a company that helps us properly recycle the books that students use on campus that they don’t want anymore. They decompose it and their facility generates electricity based off waste, so we have contributed from the waste that we’ve received on campus for them to generate electricity,” Olagoke elaborated.

Although Tosmos has evolved into a marketplace application for textbooks, Olagoke’s team is planning on partnering with Textbooks For Change to continue to recycle textbooks donated on campus. “We’re trying to get their boxes on campus so we can have those boxes of textbooks shipped to Textbooks For Change so that they can facilitate that. We don’t want to facilitate the part where we’re collecting books anymore because we want to give the power back to the student,” said Olagoke. In addition to recycling unusable textbooks, Textbooks For Change sends textbooks that are in good condition to developing countries. As of now, Tosmos has been able to impact over 500 post-secondary students in Kenya by repurposing used textbooks through Textbooks For Change.

So, how does Tosmos work?

“Tosmos is meant to be a marketplace that provides a close community for post-secondary students to buy and sell books within their institution,” Olagoke explained. If a Mt. A. student wants to sell a textbook through Tosmos, they must first register with their Mt. A. email. Similarly, if a student from any of the other three institutions wished to sell a textbook, they would also have to create an account with their school email. This feature guarantees that the person wanting to sell a textbook is, in fact, a real student, and not someone pretending to be a student. In addition, since Tosmos acts as a closed community application, it does not allow students from other institutions to buy or sell textbooks to students attending different schools. “We’re protecting the student, and that’s why we made it a closed-community,” said Olagoke.

Tosmos also acts as a mediator between the buyer and the seller to reduce the chances of getting scammed. “Our application guarantees a 100% refund. The money stays with us and if the buyer doesn’t get [their textbook], they get their money back,” he continued. “Here, we control it so much that you can’t really rip off anybody because the money doesn’t go to [the seller] until [they] can fulfill all the duties of delivering the book and making sure that the condition [they’ve] stated it as is good,” Olagoke added.

Furthermore, prices are not regulated on Tosmos, meaning that students can sell their textbooks for what they believe they are worth. In many cases, students will sell their textbooks cheaper than they are available on other platforms, such as Amazon or university bookstores, to try to earn some profit. Tosmos requires the buyer to pay a minute service fee at the end of every transaction “to help keep the application and the team going,” as Olagoke put it; however, it is a profitable organization with social impacts in mind. To keep these outside costs minimal for students, Tosmos has been sponsored by the MASU Green Investment Fund.

At the moment, Tosmos is only allowing textbooks to be sold on its platform, but Olagoke and his team hope to expand to other school materials soon. “[We are hoping to allow] anything that will be used by students within the institution in the next few months,” Olagoke explained. This could include course notes, lab goggles, lab coats, printers, and other course materials. When asked about the possibility of students selling exam questions, he responded, “if anything goes against our policies at that period of time, then we’ll make sure it’s not sold.”

By March, students attending St. Thomas University and l’Université de Moncton will be able to use Tosmos’ services as well. Olagoke’s team is also hoping to expand to other parts of Canada and to the United States in the future. “We’re hoping in the next two-and-a-half years that our platform will be accessible to all students in all post-secondary institutions in Canada,” Olagoke concluded.

To check out Tosmos, here is the link to the online website: https://tosmos.ca/.

Mount Allison University’s independent student newspaper, The Argosy, is celebrating its 150th anniversary this year. Since its establishment in 1872, Mt. A. students have been reporting on highlights in news, arts, and culture, as well as writing other creative pieces. Considering that The Argosy is one of the oldest student publications in Canada, it is unique that we can take a trip into the past through our school’s very own student newspaper.

In contrast to how The Argosy operates now, in the early days of its publication, issues were published monthly instead of weekly. The 1876-1877 volume of The Argosy, which is the oldest volume of the paper available on the Mount Allison Library Archives website, consisted of 16 pages per month and was published from September 1876 to April 1877. Advertisements were sold to local businesses and were displayed on either the first or last pages of the paper, depending on the monthly issue. It cost $1.00 for a quarter column, $1.60 for a half column, and $3.00 for a full column.

Unlike The Argosy’s cover pages today, which display student artwork, the early editions of each paper contained a double-sided cover page including general information about the school and the newspaper itself. The 1876-1877 edition included the name of the school, the names of the professors, and the different degrees offered on the front page. Interestingly, Mt. A. was originally referred to as the Mount Allison Wesleyan College and Academics and included three different degree options. The programs listed on the front page include the familiar Bachelor of Science and Bachelor of Arts, as well as a Bachelor of Divinity, which focused on the study of theology. The College also included a male academy and a ladies’ academy.

The back of the cover page specifically provided information about The Argosy. The newspaper was published by “the Eurhetorian Society of Mount Allison Wesleyan College;” a fancy way of saying that The Argosy was managed by the school’s student population, as it is now. The paper itself was “printed on superior toned and tinted paper, and published at the extremely low price of fifty cents per collegiate year.” This was displayed on every monthly cover of The Argosy, suggesting that the staff took great pride in the quality of their printed work. 

In a short 150 years, however, printing on paper has become less prevalent than it once was, with digitalization becoming a popular practice in the late 20th century. Currently, The Argosy is printed every other week, but all articles are uploaded online. One thing that I find particularly interesting about the publication of The Argosy in its early days compared to now is the debate between paper and digitalization. The description of the quality of printing paper is not something that you would see often today; instead, those descriptions would most likely be replaced by those about computers and programs. Since The Argosy is one of the oldest student publications in the country, it is a privilege that we can observe how society has changed through our small newspaper.

Furthermore, the 1876-1877 edition of The Argosy included a religious poem at the beginning of every monthly issue. In its early years, Mt. A. was a Wesleyan College, meaning that it was a religious school linked to Wesleyan Methodism. Wesleyans believe in one God, who is the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. These poems were therefore fitting when Mount Allison was considered a Wesleyan College, but there is no longer a need to publish religious material in The Argosy or in any other public newspaper. With secularism becoming a widespread concept in the early 20th century, the publication of religious articles became less important compared to news articles, which were usually written about hot topics of concern.

Students wrote about more than just news in the early editions of The Argosy, however, creative submissions, such as poems and short stories, were much fewer and far between. The older editions of The Argosy contain more professional pieces; writing was more formal and subjects were scholarly. Although news has the same meaning as it did back then, arts and culture has greatly changed as society has changed. As society has progressed, there is less of a need to appear a certain way and more of an emphasis on expression. Now, our arts and culture reporters have the liberty of writing about whatever their hearts desire, whereas in the past, they may have been limited in some senses due to controversial topics.

Even as societal norms have changed and elements have been added and taken away from The Argosy, its core goal as an independent student newspaper has remained the same for 150 years. To quote the 1876 paper: “The objects of The Argosy are, as heretofore, to give expression to the views of the Students of Mount Allison on college questions, and to furnish subscribers with local and general college news.”

You can access the 1876-1894 and 1922-1928 editions of The Argosy on the Mount Allison University Libraries & Archives CAUL-CBUA Atlantic Islandora Repository Network.

Although shark sightings are uncommon, the aquatic animals are not strangers to the waters of Atlantic Canada. Aquatic specialists have identified several shark species that are known to occupy the waters of Atlantic Canada, such as the mako, greenland, basking, and porbeagle. The most sighted shark in this area of Canada is the blue shark.

On the other hand, it is rare for great white sharks to be spotted in these waters. There have only been about 40 recorded sightings documented in Atlantic Canada since 2009, which has led to many suspicions regarding the two great white sharks that have washed ashore on New Brunswick and Nova Scotia beaches within such a short time span.

What adds to this mystery is that the only predators of great white sharks are orcas and humans. Orcas are rarely spotted in Atlantic Canada, with the latest orca sighting occurring in 2018 off the coast of Cape Breton Island. In addition, great white sharks are listed as an endangered species in Canada’s Species at Risk Act, meaning that people are prohibited from harming the animals listed or touching them after they are dead. Refusing to abide by the rules detailed in this act can lead to fines of thousands of dollars or jail time.

Warren Joyce, a member of the Bedford Institute of Oceanography in Dartmouth, NS, was one of the specialists who performed a necropsy on the great white shark found October 16. He said that it seems like someone removed one of the washed-up shark’s pectoral fins as a trophy, but that there were “no obvious signs the shark was caught in fishing gear or nets.” There were also no signs of trauma that would constitute a collision with a ship. With no other signs of trauma to be found by the end of the necropsy, the team is suggesting that the shark was healthy before it died.

After the second great white shark was found in Nova Scotia on October 26, Fred Whoriskey, the executive director of the Ocean Tracking Network at Dalhousie University, agrees that it is unlikely the two great white sharks died due to attacks. “We’re probably looking at natural causes for both of these animals,” he stated in a CTV News interview. He added that the sharks could have died from a virus or bacteria, but that since scientists don’t have a good idea of what types of diseases affect white sharks, they could be investigating a disease organism that has not yet been identified by science. Contrarily, Joyce and his team theorized that the first great white shark had died trying to feed on seals close to the shore, which led to an accidental stranding.

On October 13, Dominic Cardy posted a tweet revealing that he would be resigning as New Brunswick’s Minister of Education and Early Childhood Development after four years in office. Cardy represents the Fredericton West-Hanwell electoral district for the Progressive Conservative (PC) party of the province.

The Premier of New Brunswick, Blaine Higgs, met with Cardy at the beginning of October, planning to remove the MLA from cabinet because he felt there was a lack of improvement in the province’s education system. It was during this meeting that Cardy handed over his letter of resignation, implying that the official may have been planning to resign as the Minister of Education in the near future.

Since being sworn into cabinet in 2018, Cardy has been dedicated to improving New Brunswick’s French Immersion system, and although the former eEducation mMinister and Higgs once saw eye-to-eye regarding the program, the Premier’s change of stance ultimately pushed the two officials apart. A look at Cardy’s resignation letter to Higgs explains the MLA’s motives for resigning and gives us a rather dire perspective of the procedures happening in our province’s political system.

“Serious changes to our French second-language education system are required. Change requires care, not a wrecking ball,” Cardy wrote in his resignation letter. “Your recent efforts to pressure [Education and Early Childhood Development] to abolish French Immersion by September 2023 […] [were] not shared or approved by cabinet or caucus,” the MLA elaborated. “[It] would place a huge stress on the education system and damage the education of our province’s anglophone young people.”

In an interview with CBC News, the former mMinister of eEducation claimed that Higgs’ advocacy to eliminate French Immersion was “part of a much bigger problem.” Cardy elaborated:

“Politicians keep on thinking they can get away with not being clear and transparent with people. It’s the responsibility of people involved in politics in that system to take a stand when they see that behaviour; to say ‘this is not good enough.’ It’s not worth any sacrifice of my principles to carry on with a government where, unfortunately, the leader is acting against the principles of the party.”

Cardy added, “if we don’t start treating each other as people working on a common project, then I think that our democracy is going to be in grave danger.”

Aside from their misalignment of political ideas, Cardy also commented on the working conditions he experienced while being in office alongside the Premier in his letter of resignation. “You cannot change deadlines on large systems based on your emotional state, without undermining the quality of the work, or morale of your team,” Cardy wrote. The former Minister of Education then went on to say that he had “worked tirelessly” to prepare the education system for changes, but that due to Higgs’ “micromanagement,” many changes had been stalled. Cardy then stated that “government is not the same as building oil tankers,” referring to Higg’s past position as a senior executive for Irving Oil.

Perhaps one of the most serious allegations in Cardy’s letter of resignation involved the Premier’s actions in a recent meeting. According to Cardy, Higgs yelled “data my ass” at a senior civil servant when he “didn’t like what the data showed [him].” Cardy said that this was “the end of [Higgs’] political project in [his] eyes.” In an interview with CBC News, the former mMinister of eEducation concluded that he had “lost confidence in the Premier,” which is why he decided to resign, but that working with the folks involved in education “was the greatest honour of [his] life.”

Following the debacle, Higgs asked the PC caucus at the legislature to expel Cardy, which “is not usually the premier’s prerogative,” Cardy explained. Dominic Cardy has since been expelled from the PC caucus and is now the only Independent MLA of the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick.

So, what lies in the future of New Brunswick’s education system?

Since Dominic Cardy’s resignation, Bill Hogan, MLA of the Carleton district, has been appointed the Minister of Education and Early Childhood Development. According to Global News, Higgs and Hogan have decided that the French Immersion program will be replaced with a new program “that focuses on ensuring a basic level of conversational French.” Hogan plans to finalize the new program within the next three months and explained that this doesn’t mean “there won’t be opportunities to take courses that will be more advanced in the French language.”

Before joining the Legislative Assembly in 2020, Hogan was part of the town council of Woodstock and was the principal at Woodstock High School (WHS). Former WHS student Hannah MacFarlane shares her thoughts.

“I didn’t know him very personally, but I found that he was [a] good [principal],” said MacFarlane. She also added that Hogan was “stern” during the three years that he was her principal at WHS, but not all the time. “In my grade ten year, he shaved his head for cancer research and did the baby shark dance in a shark onesie. That’s pretty memorable,” MacFarlane explained. “I think he will do good [as Minister of Education] because he has that background knowledge of students and the educational staff, which a lot of our other Ministers don’t have. I think that’s a really pivotal part of his role,” she commented.

On the other hand, MacFarlane, who started French Immersion in grade six, thinks it’s a mistake that Hogan has decided to scrap the existing French Immersion program in place for another, whose format is yet to be determined.

“I feel like my French Immersion experience was a really great experience for me. I got a lot out of it – not just my knowledge of French, which I believe is really important to a province like New Brunswick – but it also helped me out in a lot of other aspects with my schooling,” MacFarlane elaborates. “I think bilingualism is really important, so I think we should be encouraging French Immersion even more than what we have been doing in the past; not abolishing them,” she mentioned. “I think Bill Hogan was a French Immersion teacher, so I thought he’d be a really strong supporter of French Immersion,” MacFarlane concluded.