Simon Yackulic , News Staff With cranes and construction crews a common sight around campus, University of Alberta students are constantly reminded of the money the University is pouring into improvements. As President Indira Samarasekera noted in her town hall meeting on October 19, this has helped the University to achieve 59th place on the Times Higher Education rankings. read more

Antony Ta , News Staff A proposed downtown arena district may soon transform Edmonton’s city centre, and, as the list of potential construction features rise, development interests at the University of Alberta and other postsecondary institutions are piquing. read more

Sean Steels , Senior News Editor A group of students and teachers from the University of Alberta took a literal stand against climate degradation on Wednesday outside the office of Conservative Member of Parliament Rona Ambrose. read more

Jonathan Taves , Deputy News Editor Students opposed to the University of Alberta’s discontinuation of credit cards as a payment option in July 2008 will soon see that option returned to them, but not on behalf of any U of A decision. Third-year business student David Murray is launching Pay4u on December 4, a third-party website set up to let U of A students use their credit cards for fee ...

Sean Steels , Senior News Editor Routine reports, people-mover problems, and bus business: all in this week’s Council Forum. read more

Lucy Scholey, The Dalhousie Gazette (Dalhousie University) HALIFAX (CUP) — Close to $30,000 being put towards a survey of Canadian students by the Canadian Alliance of Student Associations is coming from a settlement with a McGill University student association. CASA national director Arati Sharma explained the survey’s details at the alliance’s annual general meeting in Halifax last week. read ...

Jacob Serebrin, CUP Quebec Bureau Chief MONTREAL (CUP) — Immigrants make less than their Canadian-born counterparts, and are more likely to work at jobs they are overqualified for, according to a new report from Statistics Canada. However, the study found that these gaps shrink over time, and are felt the strongest by immigrants who have recently arrived in Canada. read more

Sean Steels , Senior News Editor The Graduate Students’ Association convened on Monday night to hear a specially called presentation from the University’s Provost and Vice President (Academic) Carl Amrhein, deputy provost Dru Marshall, and Vice President (Finance and Administration) Phyllis Clark concerning upcoming increases to graduate student tuition and instructional fees. read more

Brendan Cavanagh , News Staff In an effort to close the University’s 2010/11 $59-million funding gap, members of the Association of Academic Staff, University of Alberta agreed on November 16 to begin negotiations for a maximum of six furlough days — that is, six days off without pay. Although discussions are ongoing, these days would likely not fall on class days, and won’t interrupt student ...

Krista Allan , News Writer Alberta is going green, but not in the way some might think. Just outside the town of Vegreville, the Alberta Research Council is working to add hemp farming to Alberta’s list of lucrative industries. read more

Andrea Luft , News Writer The University of Alberta's Faculty of Arts is thrilled to open the new Kule Institute, made possible by the generous $4-million donation from local philanthropists Peter and Doris Kule. read more

Sean Steels , Senior News Editor CAPTCHA confluence Potential postsecondary students applying within Alberta will no longer have to blanket institutions with applications thanks to the opening of a new website that will allow them to submit multiple applications with a single form. read more

Ashleigh Mattern, The Sheaf (University of Saskatchewan) SASKATOON (CUP) — Students who received a free copy of Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species on the University of Saskatchewan’s campus this month might be surprised to find an introduction by intelligent design proponent Ray Comfort. read more

Ashley Gaboury, CUP Central Bureau Chief WINNIPEG (CUP) — Universities across the world are facing a slew of phishing scams, with both students and staff falling victim to spammers who trick them into divulging personal information, including university webmail usernames and passwords. read more

Lucy Scholey, The Dalhousie Gazette (Dalhousie University) HALIFAX (CUP) — A national survey being conducted this month is hoping to generate hard data to aid student associations’ lobbying efforts, though its scope extends to only five provinces. read more