November 26, 2008
2
Peter Gardner
Contributing Writer
While walking through CookStreet Village recently, a memberof the Green party tried to stopand talk to me about what theirplans were for the recent federalelections.
I kept walking and said, “Sorry,
I don’t vote in this riding.” He ob-viously only heard the rst half of that sentence, and replied, “Well,if you don’t vote, you can’t bitch,man!”But ever since I was young I’ve
been interested in politics. In Grade
3, for a show and tell presentation, Itook in the previous night’s federalelection. And when I could vote for
the rst time in this year’s federalelection, I was actually excited.But the more I talked to people
about who they were voting for, the
more apparent it was that fewerpeople were actually voting tosupport someone. Instead, a lot of people were voting
against
some-
one, in this case, the Conservatives.
There were even websites set up toinform people how to strategically vote against Harper.Strategic voting is perhaps thescariest trend; it’s getting to bealmost as common as voting forthe party you want in power. Andlook where strategic voting hasgotten us.Harper, a prime minister less
than half of this country is in favourof, is in power because people were
sick of the Liberals. And it’s even more obviousin BC, where the Liberals are in
power largely because of anti-NDP
sentiment. It’s nearly impossibleto nd anyone who likes GordonCampbell and what his Liberalshave done.
By voting against someone, you
just end up with another personwho you dislike, perhaps evenmore.I’m also nding it increasingly difficult to decide what to do forthe provincial election in the New Year. I’m not happy with any of thecandidates; the sad reality is they are just too similar.
The Liberals have had an awful
track record lately, and if you lookback a few years, the NDP has aswell. For the rst time in my life,I’m really disappointed with thesystem. Not voting is becomingrather appealing.
It’s not because I don’t care, and
not because I’m lazy. It’s because
I’m angry and I’m tired of the same
thing all the time. I’d rather votefor no one than vote for someone Idon’t believe in.In the recent US election, wesaw a man elected not because of people being afraid of the otherguy, but because people actually believed in him.I don’t see anyone here to be-lieve in.
Next publication date: Dec. 3, 2008Deadline: noon Nov. 26, 2008
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Come out to our weekly Nexus editorial meetings, whereall Camosun students can get involved in their studentnewspaper. Meetings take place every Tuesday at 11:30am in the Nexus ofce, Richmond House 201, Lansdowne.Call 370-3591 or e-mail nexus@nexusnewspaper.com formore information.
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Open Space
DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS
In the article
War movies bringrealism and reflection
[Nov. 12issue] we incorrectly stated that
Saving Private Ryan
won BestPicture at the Oscars in 1998. Al-though the lm did win ve awardsthat year, best picture went to thetruly awful
Shakespeare in Love.
Way to go, Academy!
N e x u s E d i t o r i a l
tessa CoGman
Staff Writer
Sex, drugs, and rock and roll has
been the theme of Nexus lately, butshock value isn’t the only thing the
Nexus staff is aiming for.
We allow open-mindedness and
try to provide a voice to all students,
and if this means a student who’s
into kink, then so be it; we’re going
to have an interesting story on ourhands, cuffed or not cuffed. We aren’t trying to be different,but we are. This is a student-runpaper, which means there’s goingto be a very large variety in stories.It’s very rare that we turn away a
story idea from a Camosun student,
because this is your paper.Nexus writers try to shy away from overused topics and attempt
to tackle stories that no other paperhas thought of, and if they have, we
go with a different angle.Smoking up with local pot ac-tivist Ted Smith, studying whileworking as an escort, ridiculouspredictions, and kink groups have
all made students pick up the Nexus
in awe and ask, “Can they actually do this?” Yes, yes we can.Guy Alaimo and Donald Ken-
nedy’s
food review columns,
Worth
the Trip
and
Look Who’s Eating Too,
have them swearing theirheads off and eating like there’sno tomorrow.
But instead of hate mail describ-
ing disgust for such vulgar terms,
Alaimo and Kennedy are very close
to having a fan club of their own.Sometimes we do get lettersto the editor complaining abouta recent article, feature story, or
cover photograph. It’s unfortunate
these readers didn’t enjoy what they
picked up, but they’re still readingit, aren’t they?Good reaction or bad, our goalis for students at Camosun to read
Nexus, discuss the topics with other
friends, and possibly write for us.
We provide important news like
any other student newspaper, butwhat those papers might lack ispackaging news in an entertainingway like we do at Nexus.It’s nearly impossible to rep-resent every student on campus,but that is why we ask for youropinions.If you’re not happy with some-thing, tell us, and if you can’t getenough of Nexus, feel free to letus know. We never get sick of compliments.The staff members at Nexusthis year are opinionated, ballsy,and ambitious. We like our jobs,we have fun, and we enjoy seeingyou pick up this paper.
So don’t expect to see anything
less than what you’ve read so far,and definitely expect our writ-ers to do even more outlandishmaneuvers.Don’t be offended; beimpressed.
Jason motz
Contributing Writer
Barack Obama’s historic elec-tion win on Nov. 4 was not just awatershed moment for race rela-
tions in the United States. Obama’s
victory over Senator John McCainwas a repudiation of eight years of George W. Bush.In their sound rejection of Mc-
Cain, with his close ties to Bush, the American voters have succeeded inrenouncing the contemptuous and
inept leadership of the RepublicanParty.For their part, most Canadians
will not shed a tear in remembrance
of Bush.The presidency of Bush was acancer upon the American people.In promulgating the so-called Waron Terror, Dubya saddled US tax-payers with unprecedented eco-nomic baggage while cripplingrelationships with nearly every G-8 country.
Under his leadership, the adage
of “a government for the people,by the people” was underminedfor the sake of prot and executiveprivilege.Bush’s monosyllabic buffoon-
ery endeared him to comedians like
Jon Stewart and Michael Moore,who saw Bush as the second com-ing of his father’s vice-president,Dan Quayle.Bush and his eight appalling
years of wire-tapping, war-monger-
ing, and torture-sponsoring gov-ernance tarnished the nobility of historic American presidentslike Washington, Lincoln, andJefferson.Now, as Bush prepares to jointhe ranks of the unemployed, shift-
ing his focus to retirement in Texas,
the rest of the world looks forwardto 2009 when Obama assumespower in Washington.The expectations he faces arestratospheric. Obama’s slim butathletic shoulders bear a stagger-ing weight. As the rst African-American
president Obama must contend notonly with the moldy leftovers of the
Bush regime (two ongoing wars, arecession, and damaged credibil-ity on the world stage), but must
convince his detractors his relativeyouth and political inexperience are
not a hindrance, but the recipe formuch-needed social change. What does this shift in powermean for Canada? Despite the
buddy-buddy relationship between
Bush and Prime Minister StephenHarper, Bush is a reviled figurein Canada. His hound-dog face,car-salesman sense of decency,and pathological mangling of the
English language are attributes that
only inamed Canadians’ aversion
to his endorsement of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Will Canadians embrace
Obama? If the changes he promises
are slow to come, will the honey-moon be brief?Even if Obama fails to deliver
the change his campaign promised,
it’s unlikely Canadians will turnon him.
Thanks to George W. Bush, the
bar of standards has been set sopathetically low it’s impossible to
imagine someone as articulate and
eloquent as Obama could not sur-pass him in terms of popularity.
Whether Obama can be a more
productive president remains tobe seen.
Yay for Obama, boo for Bush
Obama’s slim butathletic shoulders beara staggering weight.
Voting losing its power
Strategic voting isperhaps the scariesttrend; it’s getting tobe almost as commonas voting for the partyyou want in power.
Oh Nexus, you so crazy
Nexus staff tackles risqué topics
Students pick upNexus in awe and ask,“Can they actually dothis?” Yes, yes we can.
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