Open Space: Keeping cats indoors not a solution

When I first heard about the movement to keep domestic cats indoors because of their impact on the bird population, I thought it might be a joke. But it’s not. For as long as I can remember, there have been cats in my family. Various cats have lived their lives with us, and their constant […]

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Open Space: Camosun staff and faculty need to commit to Indigenization

Not enough staff and faculty at Camosun are committed to Indigenization. Indigenization workshops to make classrooms and courses safer for Indigenous students are strictly voluntary, so staff have no incentive to take opportunities to deconstruct their biases and improve their classes. And it’s needed: both of us have either witnessed or been subject to anti-Indigenous […]

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Open Space: Terms “fem-presenting” and “masc-presenting” need to go

I often hear people use the phrasing of “fem-presenting” or “masc-presenting” as shorthand for women and feminine people or men and masculine people. However, this phrasing still tends to flatten gender to one of two categories, while also being insensitive to the way non-cis people are treated based on how they are perceived, regardless of […]

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25 Years Ago in Nexus: April 5, 2023 issue

Happy hempin’: In the April 6, 1998 issue of Nexus, we reported on the decriminalization of industrialized hemp production. Hemp production for commercial purposes was prohibited in Canada in 1938 under the Opium and Narcotic Drug Act, but environmentalists and farmers were pressuring the federal government to lift the act because hemp production was more […]

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Open Space: Euphemisms worse than honesty

The English language is one of the more challenging languages to learn. English is loaded with rules, with teaching methods that don’t always apply or even make sense. For instance, “i before e except after c” is one of the first grammar laws we are told to memorize, yet there are plenty of times when […]

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25 Years Ago in Nexus: March 22, 2023 issue

Travelled: In our March 23, 1998 issue, we reported that a few Camosun Nursing students travelled to Bolivia to volunteer at orphanages; their instructor Dianne Perry had volunteered there and encouraged her students to do the same. The Nursing students spent 10 weeks cleaning, cooking, and getting the children ready for school. Nursing student Kerri […]

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Open Space: Camosun needs to improve course descriptions

Students are wasting their breath complaining about Camosun College’s tuition and fee deadlines when there are better solutions. As we previously reported, on July 12 of last year, in a survey sent out by the Camosun College Student Society (CCSS), 52.5 percent of students said the changes that Camosun were making to their fee deadlines […]

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25 Years Ago in Nexus: March 8, 2023 issue

Sounds fishy: In our March 9, 1998 issue we reported that a number of Camosun students had volunteered to work on damaged creeks in Victoria. Several creeks were having issues with salmon numbers dropping, so the students supported this effort by mapping out riparian areas alongside the creeks for vital research being presented to the […]

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Open Space: Victoria hates renters

If you’ve tried finding a suite to rent lately, you’ve been slapped in the face with the reality of living in Victoria. Whether it’s the exorbitant prices or the proliferation of short-term rentals, the fact remains that Victoria residents, and that includes a lot of students, are struggling to find, or keep, a roof over […]

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25 Years Ago in Nexus: February 22, 2023 issue

Mothpocalypse: In our February 23, 1998 issue, we reported that the problematic gypsy moth (now known as the spongy moth) population problem in Canada had a controversial solution: to aerially spray the insecticide Foray 48B to kill them at their larvae stage. This particular insecticide has been known to kill harmless moths and butterflies and […]

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