As fears intensify that the benchmark price for Alberta’s oilsands crude could drop below zero, we dig into what’s behind the crash, the phenomenon of ‘homeless crude’ and why new pipelines ultimately won’t solve the problem   By Sharon J. Riley for The Narwhal The headlines don’t...

By Hector Chapa, for The Conversation With the coronavirus pandemic quickly spreading, U.S. health officials have changed their advice on face masks and now recommend people wear cloth masks in public areas where social distancing can be difficult, such as grocery stores. But can these masks be effective? President Donald...

Does anyone without an economist's education understand how vast sums of money are "created" when Western, highly-developed economies are in crisis? In 2008/09, trillions of dollars seemed to be conjured out of nothing, to rescue banks, corporations, and finance capitalists in the USA. Then, Wall St. nearly ruined our world...

Dear Editor, My name is Amy and I am a recent Selkirk College graduate. When I say recent, I mean recent. I graduated February 28, 2020 and, within days of said graduation, COVID-19 started its climb to the pandemic that it is currently. I am writing to you because recently-graduated students have been forgotten in the emergency...

Let’s come together in these physically distancing times. These are difficult times, especially for people who lack safe shelter, food and other necessities — and for those on the front lines. Even though we must maintain physical distance, we need to come together more than ever. As bad as things are, and could get, compassion...

By Linda Gomez I first understood the power of pet therapy when I was a student at UBC working on my BSN. In my fourth year, in a course that focused on chronic illness, I was challenged to identify something unique that a set of patients at Pearson Hospital needed. They were mostly a younger population, and they suffered...

I began composing this edition of The Arc on February 29, but I didn’t get very far in my writing before unimaginable events in Canada overtook my topic.  This is how I began: ______________________________________________________ Can Being an Elder have meaning in our accelerated era? [My envy of seniors in times and cultures...

Editor: Two points about the  response of some people to the Covid 19 pandemic: In the US, one decides one's response on the basis of party-political identification. I say this on the basis of polling by Pew Research. “Is it raining?” you  may ask an American. “I will get back to you, once I know how the Party formulates our...

If you look at a forest top from above or below, you might see a pattern of nicely spaced pathways twisting between the trees. This phenomenon is known as “crown shyness.”  Attempts have been made to explain it, with most experts concluding it’s due to many factors. Initially, it was thought to be wind making the upper branches...

OPEN LETTER: UBCIC demands immediate release of all non-violent offenders as part of COVID-19 pandemic response and emergency state of Indigenous incarceration Dear Ministers, Dr. Ivan Zinger, Canada’s Chief Correctional Officer, has called the current rates of Indigenous incarceration in Canada a national travesty, with...