This is a guest blog by JP, blogUT founder and former editor, who has gone on to do bigger and better things, like uh… open an online store to sell condoms.

So, by now, I’m sure you’ve all heard about the general uproar over the pope’s comments regarding condoms during his visit to Africa. Here’s a recap of what he said, according to The Times Online:

In his first public comments on condom use, the pontiff told reporters en route to Cameroon that Aids “is a tragedy that cannot be overcome by money alone, and that cannot be overcome through the distribution of condoms, which even aggravates the problems”

As it turns out, the issue is always more complicated than it appears at surface level. What if I were to tell you that: the pope didn’t exactly say what you thought he said; condoms aren’t exactly “safe”; and I’m writing about all this as a subject matter expert on condoms after having done a whole bunch of research in the process of opening an online condoms store?

Well, I’m about to tell you exactly that. So please read on. (more…)

Alumni Guest Blogs is a new series of blogs written by various awesome U of T alumni. We give them a rough outline of things they could write about but the rest is completely up to them.

Who is this guy?

Shawn Huynh graduated from Civil Engineering in 2004. He is involved in all sorts of competitive sports activities. We met about 8 years ago when I was a student at Kumon and he was working at the same centre that I attended. He’s probably the most laid-back person I know, including myself (and I’m quite laid-back).

Why should I read his blog?

Shawn often shares with me valuable advice. Now you get to take in a bit of his alumni wisdom about the real world, find out what U of T was like for him 4-8 years ago and discover what he’s up to these days. Enjoy!

———–
(more…)

Yuan is a recent U of T graduate currently working at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health. She is involved in the Blue Sky Project, a project examining depression in young adults. Creating awareness of Blue Sky Project is a challenging task, but she is hoping to reach out to post-secondary students who may be experiencing symptoms of depression.

Rates of depression among university students are rising, and are now higher than in the general public. A recent survey conducted by the American College Health Association found that a staggering 45% of university students reported clinical levels of depression symptoms. Suicide is now the second leading cause of death among university students.

It is therefore important to intervene as early as possible. Young people with depression have an increased risk of academic difficulties, school drop-out, disrupted relationships with family and friends, and medical problems that persist into later adulthood. An early intervention may help prevent what can be a lifelong pattern of illness.

(more…)

While surfing the net, getting an x-ray, or driving to school, have you ever wondered: “What have all these technologies got to do with my rights and responsibilities as a Canadian?” Probably not, eh?

However, Darin Barney, who recently spoke at the 2007 Hart House Lecture, argues that we should be asking ourselves this question. If we believe that as Canadians we should have some say about new technologies, then we are exercising citizenship in our rapidly developing technology state. If we don’t care, he says, Canada and other nations will still have to address the unintended consequences caused by the speed and unregulated growth of technology.

To read the full article on Darin Beany and the technological state,
(more…)

I met Shamir back in first year of undergrad. It wasn’t much of a surprise really: he literally stood out in the crowd (imagine a brown Yao Ming, and you’ve got a pretty accurate picture). He’s hard to miss and you may have spotted him around campus in his efforts to raise awareness for Darfur. I asked Shamir to contribute a guest blogger article to blogUT about his efforts and the Darfur issue. Thanks to Shamir for contributing this article.

About: Shamir is a 4th Year Electrical Engineering student and he’s actively involved with STAND (Students Taking Action Now: Darfur)

So tell us about STAND. First, what’s the goal of the organization in two words?
Education, Advocacy (more…)

We’re excited to introduce the new column “Guest Blogger” here at blogUT. Guest Blogger will consist of a series of informal interviews with people who are involved with U of T campus groups, organizations, and clubs (and who knows, maybe even U of T administration). We hope it’ll be a great way for our readers to find out more about a specific part of campus life.

Amidst the unrolling of mattresses, painting of banners, and pinning down of tents in preparation for the Freeze The Fees Campout on Wednesday, Emily Shelton found the time to sit down and have a brief chat with me. Thanks a ton to Emily for finding the time to do this with us!

About: Emily Shelton is our current VP External of UTSU (University of Toronto Students� Union, formerly SAC), graduated 0T6, majored in Political Science and minored in Sociology and Bioethics. So what does Emily do for you as an exec at UTSU? (more…)