Monday, June 25, 2007
quit your whinning sara jane
Social Planning Council of Winnipeg has continued to release important information about poverty in out city, and help interpret how policy is really influencing poverty rates. The March 2007 fact sheet repeats all too common themes of poverty, however, if you are not already familiar with poverty issues in Winnipeg, these facts could be surprising.
Perhaps the most alarming fact is that welfare rates for many single people have been frozen for 15 years, and that single parents only receive $803 per month, approximately $10,000 per year. A single parent of 1 child requires roughly $30,000 annual income just to remain at the poverty line (LICO's 2005 rates).
So why do whine about my financial situation so much? Why can I not feel OK making $400 a month. So many people live with less. It makes me frustrated that I sit here feeling sorry for myself.
Wednesday, June 06, 2007
you can't buy my loyalty...or can you?
This past year has drawn me into the library at the University of Manitoba, giving me a new relationship with this place. I actually like it here, I feel at home in this library. But what could make it better? Probably a Starbucks. The U of M Elizabeth Dafoe Library has proposed to hosting the coffee chain giant in the library by 2008. Perhaps in an effort to make the Elizabeth Dafoe library and its services more appealing to students and draw the masses in, I found others have already chosen this path. This article on a university trying to use a coffee house to get students back in the library and away from their personal computers seems like a good idea, but will it accomplish what they hope?Would your favourite coffee chain make you more studious? Would you use the library (university or public) more if you knew that a venti caramel macchiato is ready for you in between reference isles?
