Social Justice Synonyms #6: “Slut”
Welcome back to Social Justice Synonyms! In honour of Hallowe’en, and the problematic conversations that may likely be happening on campus today, this week’s word is slut. The word “slut” has been kickin’ around since about 1450. Though its exact origins are unknown, it started appearing in Middle English around that time. It began as […]
Hip vs. Horrible Halloween Outfits
I get very excited about Halloween. Without a doubt, my favourite part is seeing fun and creative costumes. The one part that has never appealed to me is the horror, because I get scared way too easily. Fortunately, I can usually avoid all things scary. Unfortunately, the most frightening sight is one that is more […]
Students Vote for Action Against Tuition and Residence Hikes
This afternoon, UBC’s student association – the Alma Mater Society (AMS) – held its Annual General Meeting. This historic meeting was the first AGM to meet quorum in almost forty years. At the meeting, UBC students voted overwhelmingly in favour of giving the AMS a mandate to oppose the university administration’s recent proposals to increase […]
3 Talon-approved Events this Week
1. AMS Annual General Meeting This year’s UBC Alma Mater Society Annual General Meeting is crucially important due to the recent tuition and residence increases. The meeting will feature votes on student action against these hikes as well as an opportunity to discuss the increases as well as other issues affecting UBC students. A quorum […]
March Against the (neoliberal) Machine: Students Unite Against Fee Raises
On Friday October 24th, angry students gathered at the Koerner Plaza to demand fair tuition and housing costs. The university, in a move of callous money-grabbing, has recently announced that it will raise international students’ tuition by 10 percent and residence fees by 20 percent as well as adding new costs to the residence meal […]
Why all students should oppose fee increases
Post-secondary education has to navigate two contradictory identities: as both a basic right and a purchasable commodity. This leads to some strange situations. For example, an international student can pay up to five times as much for their education as a domestic student. Imagine being asked to present your passport every time you shopped for […]
Social Justice Synonyms #5: “Reverse Racism”
This week’s phrase is reverse racism. The general understanding of reverse racism is “racism” towards white people, by people of colour. Proponents of reverse racism also liken it to oppression of white folks and compensation/revenge for centuries of oppression against people of colour. However, reverse racism does not exist. It does not exist because there […]
Meet the Editors: Urooba Jamal
They said I would get addicted. That once was not enough. That it would lead to more and more as I craved more and more. They were right. As soon as I had my first hit, I haven’t been able to stop since. Feminism was my gateway drug to social justice. It all began when […]
Multiculturalism and Tuition Hikes: How National Branding Rhetoric Works in the University’s Favour
Names and details have been changed to ensure confidentiality. While recently conducting an interview for a sociology course, a respondent happened to illuminate ideas that I felt were especially relevant to ongoing discussions surrounding UBC’s fee increases. In the past couple of weeks, UBC’s proposed tuition hikes aimed at international students and on-campus residences have […]
