Job search panic, fat acceptance & birth control scare

1. It’s panic time for new university graduates, at least according to newspapers across the country, which are printing reports about students who apply to hundreds of jobs and get few interviews. Globe and Mail columnist Margaret Wente decided to add to the angst by pointing out how the unemployment quickly turns into underemployment. She spoke to a 29-year-old English and Women’s Studies graduate who hands out towels in a gym for a living because she can’t find a white-collar job. But, hey, there’s a bright side fellow BA-holders. “People who can’t find the jobs they want are settling for something less, pushing the less qualified down the ladder,” writes Wente. “The biggest losers are the people at the bottom, who get pushed out.” So at least you’re not among the biggest losers. And if you’re really desperate for work, you could always try a Computer Science degree. The University of Windsor Comp Sci program told CBC it has low enrollment despite a perfect placement rate for graduates.

2. Jodie Layne, a sex columnist writing in The Manitoban student newspaper, discusses fat people’s complicated relationships with society and sex. “It’s hard to find clothes that fit us that don’t resemble a 60-year-old retiree or a version of a 90s television mom – sorry, Jill Taylor,” she writes. “We are often openly mocked and snickered about in public, comedians who would never make a gay or a racist joke make easy jokes about us, and we face unsolicited health and fitness advice from friends and strangers alike.” Also worrisome, she writes, is how fat people put themselves at risk by engaging in unprotected sex. “Start believing that you have a voice that deserves to be heard, even if it’s just asking to use protection or voicing your displeasure or—even better—asking for exactly what you like and how you like it,” she concludes. “We’re worth it.”

3. The Lance student newspaper was granted the opportunity to print one more issue this term but the University of Windsor Students’ Alliance (UWSA) says there won’t be any more print editions unless the paper submits a satisfactory operating plan by April 30. The university president’s office has made an offer of one-time debt relief to help the paper become profitable again, reports The Windsor Star. Last week, the outgoing board of the UWSA voted to immediately stop publishing the print edition because the paper had a $24,000 debt as of the end of February. This followed a front-page article about accusations of voter fraud and mismanagement in the UWSA’s elections.

4. Students in Langara College’s Aboriginal Studies course demonstrated against Bill C-45 instead of writing final exams. Aboriginals, most notably hunger-striker Theresa Spence, have been critical of the federal law, which they say limits protection of Canada’s waterways. Course instructor Justin Wilson told The Ubyssey student newspaper that the goal of the assignment was to get students to apply what they learned in class. I wonder what the Conservative supporters in that class thought of such a partisan assignment? Oh wait. There probably weren’t any Conservatives in that class.

5. Birth control pills marketed as Alysena-28 have been recalled because they may contain two weeks of placebo pills instead of one, which could lead to unplanned pregnancies. The code on the packages is LF01899A and they were distributed in all provinces except Saskatchewan and Alberta.