Features

<p>The sound of dice on a hardwood table, the smell of freshly sharpened pencils and notebooks. Finally, the delivery man arrives at the door with four hot and ready Little Caesars pepperoni pizzas. This is a game of Dungeons &amp; Dragons. Most people would think D&amp;D is a statistical imagination game for nerds. But as [&hellip;]</p>

<p>Last year Vivien Zelazny and her husband, Matt Dinan, moved back to Fredericton for the first time since graduating from St. Thomas in 2006. Dinan was hired to chair the Catholic Studies program at St. Thomas. “We always hoped to come back to Fredericton,” Zelazny says. “We are overjoyed to be back.” The return home [&hellip;]</p>

<p>My grandfather started withering away when I was 13. He was 74 and cancer was sapping his strength. I tried to help him up from the toilet but he was stubborn and old fashioned. He screamed at me not to help. He struggled up, but crashed hitting his head on a nearby picture frame. Three [&hellip;]</p>

<p>The federal election of 2015 sparked too many controversies to list, but as a journalism student, something else caught my attention in last weekend of the campaign. Three newspapers decided to run full-front-page ads by the Conservative party on Oct. 16. I thought: surely this constitutes a “thou-shalt-not” level of offence for any publication with [&hellip;]</p>

<p>Let me start off by telling you I’m a BIG chicken. Some animated children’s movies even freak me out. I got hired on at The Ottawa House Museum by the Sea, one of the most haunted places in my home town, two summers ago. It was owned by Charles Tupper, one of the fathers of [&hellip;]</p>

<p>We have just left the time of year where we give thanks with our families, and now we are trying to scare the hell out of them. Yes Hallowe&#8217;en is almost here &#8211; the holiday synonymous with candy, costumes and horror films. As a species we like to be ‘scared.’ Not really scared, because no [&hellip;]</p>

<p>A long, long time ago… …and you know the rest. Star Wars is such a pervasive part of our culture, which it proved last weekend by shattering advance ticket sales records. Advanced sales for Star Wars: The Force Awakens tickets went live Monday Oct. 14th. By Tuesday, IMAX had reported $6.5 million in sales, which [&hellip;]</p>

<p>Outside a bustling coffee shop sits a balding man in a pair of blue short-shorts, sporting a St. Thomas University T-shirt, staring at the passing traffic and sipping a sweet, cold beverage. His legs are crossed and one arm is slung over the chair while the other rests on the table. A ladybug crawls up [&hellip;]</p>

<p>University offers so many new experiences to students. Living on your own for the first time is one of them. Students face a lot of options and have to decide which is best for them. Sam Fraser, a St. Thomas student, said, “I lived in Harrington [residence], which turned out to be more of a [&hellip;]</p>

<p>The iPhone 6S, released on Sept. 25, broke records selling over 13 million in the first three days. Their consistent ability in high sales sets Apple apart from other electronic corporations globally. So how has Apple been able to gain such a die-hard and loyal consumer base? Jamie Gillies, a marketing and advertising professor at [&hellip;]</p>

<p>Charmaine Brown has been in and out of physiotherapy for years, not because of her weight, but because her muscles can easily get overstimulated and tear. Brown is a shirt size 2XL but a pant size 13. She admits her stomach is big, but her size does not slow her down at all. “Even though [&hellip;]</p>

<p>The clock read 2:30 p.m. and everything was under control for Mary Lou Babineau. Just one last question from the audience before the debate wrapped up, giving the Green Party candidate enough time to pick her daughter up from ballet class. But panic crept upon her when she heard the moderator say, “Next up, we [&hellip;]</p>

<p>I put a smile on my face everywhere I go. Happiness is in every cell of my body. But not too long ago I was diagnosed with depression. My psychologist said I had the symptoms of reverse culture shock. I’m familiar with culture shock, which happens when people have troubles trying to fit themselves into [&hellip;]</p>

<p>While covering a major demonstration in Iran, protestors turned on Don Dickson suddenly and accused him of working for the Shah. Luckily for him, someone intervened and saved Dickson from a mauling. “Times have changed quite a bit in covering the Middle East in particular,” said the journalism professor at St. Thomas University, who reported [&hellip;]</p>

<p>I’m either too old or too young for this shit. When I get dragged into a passive-aggressive social media fight? I’m too old for this shit. When I’m sharing a hospital room with a one-legged man? I’m too young. It’s the strange dichotomy that exists when you’re a young sick person. I know how to [&hellip;]</p>

<p>Only 40 per cent of young people vote in Canada, but 100 per cent of young people vote in Brazil. That’s because voting is mandatory in Brazil. Many are desperately trying to mobilize the youth vote in the current election and the question remains: is the Canadian voting system the problem? If mandatory voting is [&hellip;]</p>

<p>With Pope Francis announcing late last week he’ll release a rock album titled Wake Up! in November, the question arises: what the hell happened to rock ‘n’ roll? What happened to albums like The Sex Pistol’s Anarchy in the UK and The Rolling Stones’ Sticky Fingers? Now the Pope seems like a great guy, but [&hellip;]</p>

<p>My left wrist was wrapped up because of a recent pit-bull attack. It’s night but the breath-sapping Florida heat only added to the tensions. I’m half drunk on Bacardi and out to prove myself. I overheard Marcus call my sister a bitch over the phone, and I was about to force an apology. He pulls [&hellip;]</p>

<p>The best thing some students can hope for in their part-time jobs is that their bosses won’t harass them during their next shift. STU alumni Ashley Fugere experienced this when she was forced to quit her job at a retail store due to her boss’ harassment. “I was supposed to be on cash, but I [&hellip;]</p>

<p>While awareness campaigns have done much to reduce the social stigma around mental illnesses recently, there are still some that are only now coming to the public’s’ attention. Misophonia is one of them. “It’s a fight, flight or freeze response to normally common audio or visual triggers,” said Shaylynn Hayes, who was informally diagnosed with [&hellip;]</p>