Western University 

referendum hacked

Referendum questions for Western University’s student council elections were hacked on Valentine’s Day by a prankster student who asked voters to choose a new haircut for Justin Bieber, and renamed the vote to the “university erection”. The university insists that no votes were changed but will be holding a new election as a precautionary measure in the near future.

Alberta to ease provincial loan guidelines

The Alberta government is removing guidelines on provincial student loan applications regarding parental contributions and student savings. Students will only be required to save $1,500 to be eligible for student loan funding and will not have their applications affected by job earnings or high parental incomes.

McGill student protest ends with arrests, new protocols

A five day occupation of a McGill University administration building regarding student fees ended with students being arrested by local police as well as the release of a new university protocol on student demonstrations. The new protocol limits the places, times, and manners in which students can have demonstrations on campus, disallowing similar occupations in the future.

RIM founder donates $21 million to UWaterloo

Research in Motion founder Mike Lazaridis and his wife donated $21 million to the University of Waterloo, making their total donations to the university to $123 million. This particular donation will go towards a new sciences building, two astrophysics research chairs, as well as scholarships for mathematics students.

UBC applies to build campus brewery

The University of British Columbia Alma Mater Society recently announced plans to open a beer brewery on campus by the summer of 2014. The AMS cited sustainability as one of its reasons for proposing the brewery as it would supply beer to both the Pit and the Perch campus pubs and would eventually source its ingredients from on-campus farms.

— Ariane Madden