Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Speeding is catching up to Drivers
Over the long weekend, the Alberta Sheriff’s Department and the Provincial RCMP doled out an astonishing 2,426 speeding tickets. Just a few days’ earlier Edmonton police handed out 1,123 tickets in a span of 24 hours! These numbers seem completely outrageous. It is easy to see that our roads are extremely dangerous by simply taking a drive across our city, or down our highways. It is good to see that enforcement agencies are cracking down on this problem, but they claim that awareness and education are still vital parts in getting our province to slow down.
One important statistic that could help raise awareness is that speeding does not actually save a noticeable amount of time. If we take a trip that is 20 miles long, when travelling at 60MPH it takes 20 minutes to reach your destination. Now when you increase the speed to 70MPH, in the same distance, you only arrive around 3 minutes sooner. Now this is without traffic or lights. If you take into account those factors, you may only be saving yourself a minute or two. Is that really worth the risk of a fine and demerits? Or that you are endangering yourself, anyone who might be in the car and the other innocent people on the road? Plus, if you are pulled over, you will end up losing those minutes you so recklessly managed to obtain by speeding.
Close to 80 drivers were caught exceeding the limits with speeds upwards of 50km/h! That means on the Yellowhead they would have been going at least 120km/h, on 170th it would have been around 110km/h, and on the outskirts of the Henday their speeds would have reached 160km/h! Now anyone of those speeds is enough to take a life. The data we have on the toll speeding takes on human life is also shocking. Forty percent of drivers killed in crashes where speed was a factor were aged 16 to 24. Speeding is increasing in people aged 45 or older than it is in those 45 and younger. Eighty percent of individuals killed in speed related collisions were speeding as well. All of this information is very troubling, seeing as the main demographic of people being killed in car crashes are my age. These could be my friends, or siblings.
Speeding decreases your reaction time, and increases the chance of serious injury or fatality to those involved. Until we have learned the devastating effect that this simple action has on our society we won’t be able to correct it. You can always pay back a fine, but you can never pay back a life you ended.
Links:
http://www.tc.gc.ca/eng/roadsafety/tp-tp2436-rs200807-menu-158.htm
http://www.edmontonjournal.com/life/Police+Edmonton+area+speeders+hours/2469469/story.html
http://www.edmontonsun.com/news/edmonton/2010/03/31/13430846.html
http://www.modot.org/northeast/SpeedChart.htm
One important statistic that could help raise awareness is that speeding does not actually save a noticeable amount of time. If we take a trip that is 20 miles long, when travelling at 60MPH it takes 20 minutes to reach your destination. Now when you increase the speed to 70MPH, in the same distance, you only arrive around 3 minutes sooner. Now this is without traffic or lights. If you take into account those factors, you may only be saving yourself a minute or two. Is that really worth the risk of a fine and demerits? Or that you are endangering yourself, anyone who might be in the car and the other innocent people on the road? Plus, if you are pulled over, you will end up losing those minutes you so recklessly managed to obtain by speeding.
Close to 80 drivers were caught exceeding the limits with speeds upwards of 50km/h! That means on the Yellowhead they would have been going at least 120km/h, on 170th it would have been around 110km/h, and on the outskirts of the Henday their speeds would have reached 160km/h! Now anyone of those speeds is enough to take a life. The data we have on the toll speeding takes on human life is also shocking. Forty percent of drivers killed in crashes where speed was a factor were aged 16 to 24. Speeding is increasing in people aged 45 or older than it is in those 45 and younger. Eighty percent of individuals killed in speed related collisions were speeding as well. All of this information is very troubling, seeing as the main demographic of people being killed in car crashes are my age. These could be my friends, or siblings.
Speeding decreases your reaction time, and increases the chance of serious injury or fatality to those involved. Until we have learned the devastating effect that this simple action has on our society we won’t be able to correct it. You can always pay back a fine, but you can never pay back a life you ended.
Links:
http://www.tc.gc.ca/eng/roadsafety/tp-tp2436-rs200807-menu-158.htm
http://www.edmontonjournal.com/life/Police+Edmonton+area+speeders+hours/2469469/story.html
http://www.edmontonsun.com/news/edmonton/2010/03/31/13430846.html
http://www.modot.org/northeast/SpeedChart.htm
Friday, March 26, 2010
Look at the stats!
The upcoming cuts to the University of Alberta funding and increases in overall tution will leave many people wincing when the dust settles. To start, the professional degree programs are looking at upwards of 66% increases in tution. That averages out roughly to $4,000 extra for students looking to enroll in medicine, on top of the tution they are already paying! This could force many students to have to withdraw from their programs without even recieving the degree they have worked so hard for. This situation also applies to the staff, as the U of A is hoping some it’s staff will take voluntary retirment packages, and take unpaid days off. But that won’t cover the entire deficit either, so layoffs are in the near future. Some faculty positions won’t be filled either, which will likely result in seats in certain classes becoming very valued since some classes may be offered less due to lack of staff.
All of this seems to be leaning towards the thinking that education is a privilage not a right. Students may be forced to work full time throughout the whole year just be able to pay for the tutions and the cost of living. It should never come to the point where what class you are in will decide if you are eligible for post secondary education. There are other, less expensive choices of schools throughout Alberta, but individuals looking to get a degree in a professional field must know be able to provide the institution with an obscene amount of money. As I am looking to continue on into business, these increase will affect me and my family. But once my emotions subsided and i started thinking about this situation. The price increases seem discriminatory towards the professional programs but on avergae, students graduating with a degree in medicine, business, or dentistry will likely make more than someone with an arts degree. But this would increase would have to come with a special form of student loan, which I saw mentioned in the recent SU elections. The idea was for a student loan repayment program that was based upon how much money you were making after you received your degree and had a job. You would be paying in accordance to how much you were making at your new job. I think this could alleviate some of the pressure that is being felt by students who will have troubles paying their loans back.
I went and did some comparing to other Universities in Canada and around the world to see how we rank in tuition. Bear in mind that I was only able to obtain the data from these schools for the 2009 fiscal year, so I have no idea if they will be looking at increase too. McGill, the number one rated Canadian university has a student population of 34,000. That is only 3000 less than the U of A! Comparing our 2009 tuition to McGill’s 2009 tuition showed that we were paying, for a domestic student, on average $USD 700 more than McGill! That is 16% more than a school ranked number one in Canada and 18th worldwide! The U of A on the other hand is ranked 59th. Now it is possible that the cost of tuition for a domestic student there is pulled down by a higher population (43% higher) of international students. But tuition for international students is only $100 higher (not including living costs, ect.) at McGill. Graduate student statistics are nearly equal in population (domestic and international) and in tuition. So with looking at this data, McGill must either receive better provincial funding than our fine government has managed to supply us with, or they operate much more efficiently than the U of A. I will leave you with one final stat for you to look over; although these numbers are from 2007, they will still be relevant today. The highest paid university president in the country was our own Indira Samarasekera with a whopping $591,000 salary! The next closest is the president of McMaster at $504,790. All the while the president of McGill is nowhere to be found in the top 5. Needless to say, that would pay for a couple of students wishing to become doctors!
If you wish to see the sites I collected my data from here are the links:
Monday, March 15, 2010
Murky Mukherjee
The ending of The Tenant leaves room for much discussion. What Ashoke Mehta's last words to her mean? What he meant by having to take care of his vices? All of this is debatable since Mukherjee leaves the reader with only scraps for what will happen with Maya.
To start, Ashoke claims he had to take care of some "vices". Now these vices could be anything. But looking back to their first conversation, Ashoke states he is a man of temptation, and some temptations he does not try to resist, combined with him taking out an ad to meet people solely for sex. I interpreted this combination as Ashoke being a sex addict as well. With the vices he had to take care of were a few more flings before contacting Maya again. When he tells Maya that she has a problem too, it seems like she told him that she was addicted to sex too, which is why she will come back to him. Mukherjee even slightly foreshadows a marriage between them when Maya states that, "He knows how to come across to a stranger who may end up a spouse." So since Ashoke has satisfied his vices, it seems he is ready to settle down with Maya and get married.
It's really hard to overlook the cultural implications attached to the ending as well. Maya is constantly attempting to evade the fame that her family has back home in India. That seemed to be the motivation for her not desiring a relationship with an Indian man. When she finally met Ashoke, her whole view point seemed to change instantly. For me, this symbolized that no matter how hard you try, you will have to embrace your roots one way or another. I am not implying that the only way for Maya to embrace her roots is to marry an Indian man, but it seems like the most logical choice for a character such as Maya.
Overall, this ending is extremely debatable and from what I read and noticed this is what I believed Bharati Mukherjee meant. With both Ashoke and Maya being sex addicts it makes some sense that they would end up being a couple. Along with the cultural implications, this point of view on the ending makes sense.
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Small Murders
This poem is by Aimee Nezhukumatathil. What first attracted me to it was the title. It left me curious about what the poem would be about. The entire poem focuses on the sense of smell and how it can affect the relationship between two people. It centers around a girl on a date with a new boy, but still in the grips of her former relationship. It really brings out the physical part of a change in a relationship. The author truly brings out the minds senses throughout the poem with her terrific descriptions of every smell she wants the reader to imagine. Each time I read it my mind kept trying to process all the different angles of imagery that Nezhukumatathil is able to portray. She also includes some famous relationships from the bowels of history, like Napolena and Josephine and Cleopatra and Antony. This really managed to pull me into the world that Nezhukumatathil was creating. "Your mark on me washed away with each kiss," perfectly expressed how anyone feels after leaving a heavy relationship. At the end, the girl finally shows her guilt of leaving her former lover. This part somewhat confused me, since she had been so enamoured with original boy. You would think she would feel as though she was "murdering" her former lovers hold on her. Everyone should read this since many people can relate to this situation, and because of the beautiful imagination used by Nezhukumatathil throughout the poem!Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Dollars for Gold!
The Olympics only come around every two years (Summer & Winter), and to have them come to your home country is the chance of a lifetime for all of these athletes competing. The "Own the podium" campaign was started when it was first announced that Vancouver would host the 2010 winter games. This program has been taking some heat for being too competitive, and un-Canadian like. Many people believe that it is strictly focusing on the medal count, when really it was a program started to help financially aid Canadian athletes so that they could be at the top of their game to represent their flag when the games rolled around. And yes, a result of this program would be more medals, but of course we want to do well at our own games. If you were to host a party, wouldn't you want to be nicely dressed? The Canadian government wanted to provide these athletes with the experience of a lifetime. It is quite an accomplishment to say you are an Olympian, but to say you won an Olympic medal puts you in a whole other category. We just wanted our athletes to have the best shot at winning in their sport.
But with all this hype has come immense pressure on many of the athletes. We have seen already when an athlete has a disappointing performance; they feel the need to apologize for letting down the nation. When really, there is no need for an apology. It just seems to be a Canadian way to apologize when things go wrong, even if it isn't our fault. But I believe that Canada is turning the corner from neutral, passive nation to a dominating one, in the world of sports! I think it's time the world starts to recognize Canada as a major power in something other than the production of wheat. Why not have it be in sports?
Sunday, February 7, 2010
Indo-Pak "Friendship" Series
The first thing this article reminded me of was the Summit Series between Canada and the former USSR during the height of the Cold War in 1972. It pitted the best Soviet ice hockey players against the best Canadian players in the world. The purpose was to finally decide which country held world hockey supremacy. The entire Canadian team was well known because they all played in the National Hockey League. Due to the “Iron Curtain” in the Soviet Union during that time period, nearly the entire Soviet team was unknown; with only rumours or myths circulating about them. Canada went on to win in a spectacular finish.
This series was originally dubbed the “friendship” series, but that is little known today. Hearing about this same concept coming to life between two countries that are currently experiencing some serious conflict seemed like the right idea. Especially since sports are seen as a universal connection. Just look at the Olympics for global unity around sports. But once I started to think more about it, there seemed to be an ever increasing amount of problems that could crop up. No one has stated that this sporting event would be geared towards creating a better connection between the two nations by having their field hockey teams start the connection. This could result in most people seeing it as a point of national pride, which could just end up heating up the friction between the two countries. I know when the Summit Series occurred, there was national pride on the line, but neither Canada nor the USSR had a previous history of war with each other. Along with the geographical location of Pakistan and India, combined with their history, this could just result in pitting the two nations against each other in another area. Hopefully I am completely wrong in my speculations, as I am naturally a tad bit of a pessimist. With any luck, this could result in a peaceful competition and lessen tensions between these two countries.
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Monsoon Wedding
Monsoon Wedding was a very entertaining film once I had sorted out the plot and all the surrounding sub-plots. Once I had found my bearings on the story, I quickly found myself immersed in a hectic Indian family's dilemmas of hosting a wedding for their daughter. It was extremely interesting to see an authentic Punjab arranged marriage by a middle class family. Since, unfortunately, the stereotype of India is that of poverty. But to see the wedding in full form was quite elegant and beautiful. The director Mira Nair does a terrific job of reminding you that the story is still based in the poverty stricken city of Delhi with transition shots of the slums and crowded markets of the city. I think that really helped keep the film in context with the fact that you are still in India, given that all the sub-plots would be expected from an American produced romantic comedy.
Just as a final remark, who wouldn't want to be paraded into their wedding with a marching band?
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Kumbh Mela
When first hearing that this religious ceremony was the largest gathering of humans on the planet, I was astonished that I had never heard of it before. To think that over 6 million people could gather at one time is amazing! After looking into the Hindu religion, and why they celebrated this sacred event, I became very interested in the mythology of their religion. The story of why they celebrate it is very unique and different from the religions in western culture. The story goes that the Gods and Demons fought for 12 days over Amrit, which is the nectar of immortality. The Gods were chased around the world by the demons and four drops of Amrit spilled from the urn it was contained in, and splashed onto the Earth. They were said to have landed in four bodies of water located throughout India. This celebration also involves astrology and the positioning of the planets, which also corresponds to where the ritual will be hosted that year.
The bathing in the Ganges are believed to cleanse oneself of any sins committed since the last Kumbh Mela. This instantly reminded me of the Catholic practice of confession, although confession can occur at any time. Every religion has a form of purification, where someone is able to relieve themselves of any sins they have committed. I think it is very symbolic, this ritual, for the purpose it is serving. They wish to "wash away" their sins, and the ritual has them bathe in the holy water of the Ganges. I believe if I were to practice this religion I would definitely participate in a ritual of this size. But I would have to be living in or near the country. I don't think I have the devotion of some of these individuals who travel by foot from thousands of miles away to participate in this gathering. I do not see it as a superstition, since every religion has a form of this celebration.
The one dark spot of this beautiful practice is that every year people are trampled to death during the ceremonies, usually women and children. News like this really seems to take the shimmer off this ancient tradition.
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