RE: A new vision for Northdale

I wasn’t expecting much from that meeting so agreeing to make a plan that will make another plan at some undetermined future date sounds about right.

I was more concerned, however, that in a discussion almost entirely centered around students and an area heavily inhabited by students only UW decided it was important enough to have a representative from their student union present.

There was a great show of joint support from both UW...

RE: Flaherty defends G20 costs, May 28

Should have held it at CFB Trenton or just had a week long event of teleconferences (to make up for time differences).

Torontonians need a billion dollars of their taxes going towards developing a subway system. They don’t need it wasted on an overblown photo op.

– Keith Marshall

Picture this. You are an Ahmadi Muslim.

By law you cannot call yourself Muslim.

By law you cannot greet others with “Assalaamo Alaikum”.

By law you cannot call your mosque a mosque.

By law you cannot declare the Muslim declaration of faith.

By law you cannot proliferate your religion.

By law you cannot gather for the sake of discussing your faith. This is all punishable by imprisonment and even death.

Even if you refrain from all that, there’s still nothing...

Re: “Cuts hit sciences,” March 24

While the article detailing cuts to science courses was truthful, it is perhaps not fully informed.

I understand the sentiments that the interviewed student expressed; however, I would like to provide further insight into this matter.

Yes, 25 courses have been cut from the biology department for the upcoming year; however, the majority of courses removed were ones that had not been run in some time, as the current faculty structure did not easily...

Re: “Dear Life,” March 10

I’d like to address the past few editions of “Dear Life” and the apparent concerns of the student(s) so unsatisfied with our Foot Patrol program.

I would like to ask that individual if they understand that labeling an entire group of unpaid volunteers in such a derogatory way is not only ignorant, but completely discredits their concerns.

I am 100 per cent proud of our Foot Patrol volunteers and everything they have done this year....

Re: “The Politicization of a country’s historical events”, March 17

I want to thank Amalia Biro for covering the recent recognition of the Armenian genocide by the Swedish parliament.

However, the article claims that the massacres were not previously labelled. In actuality, the term “genocide” was coined in 1944 specifically to describe the attempted extermination of the Armenians in World War I and the Jews in World War II.

Secondly, the article claims that Canada and Sweden are following the...

Re: “Five stages of grief”, March 17

I just wanted to say thanks for publishing the article “The five stages of grief.” A friend of mine committed suicide last year in April, and after that I could not function.

I didn’t write my exams in April ‘08, and fall semester this year (second year) I failed some courses.

Back in December I was so anxious and stressed about school and exams that I couldn’t eat anything.

I pushed everybody away...

Re: “Principled pluralism is needed today,” March 17

Brian Bork seriously does not understand the concept of separation of church and state. Freedom of religion also means freedom from religion.

You do not have the right to push your religious beliefs from the platform of a public institution. I know he works at a university, but I’m beginning to wonder if he has ever attended one. His entire argument is basically a false equivocation of secularism with state atheism. Secularism...

If the School of Business & Economics at Laurier would like to end homelessness, it should stop graduating capitalist peons who promote an omnicidal system of mass exploitation and destruction.

–Dr. Michael Truscello, Assistant Professor

I am writing in regards to the Five Days for the Homeless Campaign currently taking place outside the Terrace. As a struggling student, I was appalled this afternoon when I was heckled by volunteers representing the charity. While passing by in conversation with several...

Re: “Naked snow woman is not controversial,” March 3

I am appalled at the ignorance and disrespect in this editorial. A headless woman with her legs open facing Albert Street, which has thousands of cars passing by daily, not only makes an issue of student behaviour, but is also a huge disrespectful act to women.

Families with children and other university students shouldn’t have to see atrocities such as this on their way to school. I ask that in the...

Re: “Voluntourism in Africa is too trendy,” March 10

I’m sick of people dismissing any form of “volunteering” as self-serving and self-righteous.

Yes, I can personally think of a few obnoxious people who like to tout their volunteer expeditions to Africa, as they wait for the applause. But really, who cares? 

It’s human nature to factor in all benefits to any decision. Devon Butler says that non-religious volunteer organizations promote international ventures as “a way to ‘find’ oneself, gain real...

Re: “A week of dialogue and debate,” March 10

I was really disappointed with the coverage of Israeli Apartheid Week.

I was hopeful when I saw that there was a whole page devoted to the week; however, I soon realized the article was very one-sided.

Although Laurier for Palestine put on several events with Students for Palestinian Rights, none of the events were covered. I understand that the speakers Israel on Campus called in claimed to not be representing anyone...

This letter has been selected by the editor to offer commentary on the role of a students’ union. The letter was in response to the March 3 article “Stage two completed in market research project.”

The purpose of a students’ union

Many thanks to The Cord for reporting on the progress of the students’ union’s market research project. The results, as reported, show that advocacy is the top priority for the surveyed student body.

These results should not be surprising...

As parliamentarians get back to work, let’s remember the conservative government continues to stall in calling for a full independent public inquiry into Canadian complicity in torture in Afghanistan.

Richard Colvin, former Canadian diplomat in Kandahar, testified on Nov. 18, 2009, that: “According to our information, the likelihood is that all the Afghan [detainees] we handed over were tortured.”

It is time to demand a full independent public inquiry into Canadian complicity in torture since 2002.  

–Luke Stewart, Kitchener-Waterloo...