Features

<p>María Leiva is a third-year political science and international relations student at St. Thomas University. She&#8217;s from Tegucigalpa, Honduras.  It&#8217;s December 2017 and almost a month has passed without news of Honduras&#8217;s November election. Honduras is a complete disaster. Businesses are being looted and people are taking to the streets. The main avenues are literally on fire. That was [&hellip;]</p>

<p>Fredericton psychic Shianne Doucette said her first paranormal experience was when she was six or seven. She recalled looking over at the chair next to her bed and noticed her book, Alice in Wonderland, when the energy in the room changed and a woman appeared. Doucette said a feeling of light, wonder and coziness emitted from the book [&hellip;]</p>

<p>If you&#8217;ve heard &#8220;trick-or-treat&#8221; sung on your doorstep every Oct. 31, you&#8217;re probably from Canada, the United States or Ireland, countries that all participate in the annual costume parties, candy routes and pumpkin carving of Halloween. For some international students at St. Thomas University who didn&#8217;t grow up with the tradition, like Victor Paura, it [&hellip;]</p>

<p>Digby Neck, N.S. is a weird place.   The Bay of Fundy and St. Mary&#8217;s Bay almost cuts Digby Neck from mainland Nova Scotia. The Neck ranges from the end of Brier Island and stops before the town of Digby. Most who live on Digby Neck are fishermen. There’s a man who drives around the [&hellip;]</p>

<p>St. Thomas University grad Olivier Hébert emotionally addressed the crowd of about 100 people protesting the closure of Clinic 554, New Brunswick’s only private abortion clinic, on Oct. 11. “Our doctors and our province and our health care system need to step up to the plate and educate themselves and understand that not providing health care [&hellip;]</p>

<p>Between classes, extracurricular activities and jobs, university students are burnt out. According to a 2015 study by Western University, more than 56 per cent of student stress is related to academics and almost 31 per cent of student stress is connected to employment issues. St. Thomas University psychology professor Wendy Borque said she&#8217;s seen many students [&hellip;]</p>

<p>Third-year St. Thomas University student Emilia Gutiérrez was in the middle of class last week when a notification popped up on her phone screen. She picked it up and saw something so unbearable she had to leave class to cry outside. It wasn&#8217;t the first time Gutiérrez had heard about civil unrest in her home [&hellip;]</p>

<p>Mackenzie Lynn Acheson is a second-year psychology and criminology major from Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. She enjoys reading, music, running and collecting plants. My first year at St. Thomas University was not going according to plan. The random aches and pains I&#8217;d been accustomed to for most of my life became more pronounced in September. By December, I [&hellip;]</p>

<p>On Sept. 18, Instagram announced they would prevent users under 18 from seeing ads and sponsored posts promoting diet and weight-loss products with the introduction of a new policy. Anna Jackson, the dietician at the University of New Brunswick Student Health Centre, said anyone with a following on social media can promote weight-loss products without [&hellip;]</p>

<p>For some non-binary students, coming out is an ongoing experience. AJ Alward, a fourth-year English major at St. Thomas University, said being misgendered makes them feel invisible. “I exist. I’m here. I’m just trying to live my life like everybody else and I would appreciate it if people try and make it a little bit [&hellip;]</p>

<p>Dance is the purest form of expression, according to Dustyn Forbes. “When we can’t speak any longer, we sing and when we can’t sing any longer, we dance,” the fourth-year St. Thomas University student said.  “It’s communicating emotion and story and plot with an audience member, or with a group of people, without needing to [&hellip;]</p>

<p>Political scandals are at the forefront of some students&#8217; minds for the upcoming federal election.&nbsp;While political party leaders try to put the past behind them by apologizing for their actions or acknowledging them, students at St. Thomas University aren&#8217;t quick to forgive. Sidney Trites, a first-year student,&nbsp;said she was shocked to see the photo of [&hellip;]</p>

<p>While waiting for the bus in the summer of 2018, I overheard a stranger talking about how trans people &#8220;ought to be hanged.&#8221; His language was more derogatory and graphic but I won&#8217;t describe it here for the safety of folks reading this. I became hyper-aware of how trans I look. A few nights later, [&hellip;]</p>

<p>Note: A name correction was made on Sept. 26, 2019.  &nbsp; Take Back the Night organizer Andie Marks said one of the most important aspects of allyship is telling a survivor of gender-based violence, &#8220;I believe you.&#8221; On Sept. 20, Frederictonians gathered to acknowledge and celebrate the theme of allyship and march in solidarity with [&hellip;]</p>

<p>Kyra Wilson is a fourth-year St. Thomas University student honouring in psychology and majoring in Great Books. She enjoys reading, gardening, hanging out with kids and playing the Sims.  My mental illnesses feel like there&#8217;s a computer in my mind that keeps flashing error messages whenever I try to do something.    I was first diagnosed [&hellip;]</p>

<p>During her first year at St. Thomas University, Olivia Ishimwe worked night shifts at a Sobeys on Fredericton’s northside. Ishimwe lived in Harrington at the time and said she had to call a cab to get home, which resulted in some uncomfortable experiences. “I feel very unsafe,&#8221; the second-year psychology student said. &#8220;I’ve had three [&hellip;]</p>

<p>Ramen is a signature dish for any university student. When you&#8217;re broke and hungry, it’s cheap and easy to rip open a packet of Mr. Noodles and throw them into a pot of boiling water. But after eating at Tokyo Ramen, I don’t know if I can eat packaged noodles again.  Located at 502 Forrest [&hellip;]</p>

<p>Social media allows anyone to become famous, including serial killers. But journalists shouldn’t help them. We should have the responsibility to limit or at least reduce the amount of coverage killers get. It might discourage more killers from following in the footsteps of their predecessors or even provide them with a lesser appeal to the [&hellip;]</p>

<p>When she was 15, first-year St. Thomas University student Taylor Galbraith said she started vaping. She googled some of the effects vaping and thought it would help with her anxiety. She stopped in 2017 when she realized that wasn&#8217;t the case. “I quit because I realized I needed to grow up,” Galbraith said. Still, Galbraith [&hellip;]</p>

<p>When St. Thomas University grad Dempsey Perry was in his first-year at STU, he and a group of friends were walking to McDonald’s after a house party when one of them said they had to pee. But they didn’t find a nearby bush or wait until they reached their destination, they peed on a familiar [&hellip;]</p>