U of A students excited about Chitter

[EDMONTON] — A new board-based app, Chitter, has caught U of A by storm, with downloads at 200 times per day. The team of six U of A students and alumni started the project in May, releasing the app in the fall. On Chitter, students post to a board exclusive to the University of Alberta, with content ranging from photos to dirty jokes.

Users must register using their campus email, and may remain anonymous. Users can make comments, linked to Facebook rather than being anonymous as well. “[Chitter] is a way for shy people to connect with people who aren’t shy,” commented developer Mark Galloway.

With files from The Gateway

Queen’s students party too hard

[KINGSTON] — During a ‘homecoming’ street party earlier this month, Queen’s University students swarmed and rocked a car with the driver still inside, causing about $800 in damages. Incidents range from the vehicle’s spoiler being ripped off to a beer bottle being thrown at a police cruiser. Many tickets and arrests were made.

Students took it upon themselves to clean up the mess and have criticized the offenders on social media. They have also raised funds to cover the damage to the car. Principal Daniel Woolf, in an email, calls these incidents an “embarrassment” to both Queen’s University and the city of Kingston.

With files from The Journal

Alberta implements a tuition freeze

[ALBERTA] — Fulfilling their election promise, the NDP has frozen tuition fees for the next two years and promised an increase in funding in post-secondary institutions.

Navneet Khinda, the Students’ Union President at the University of Alberta, is happy with the move, commenting that she has “never seen such large changes come all at once” and is “delighted to see the results.” The freeze will last for the 2015–16 and 2016–17 school years.

With files from University of Alberta Students’ Union, and CTV News Calgary

McGill on unceded territory, is delivered notice of seizure

[MONTREAL] — Kahentinetha of the Bear Clan from the nearby Kahnawake Mohawk community sent a notice of seizure to McGill University, claiming there is “no evidence” that McGill had permission to build the university on the land.

One of the numerous allegations is the university was formed with a foreign royal charter rather than from the law of the land, and McGill is violating Kaia’nere:kowa (the law of Great Turtle Island)  “by staying on [their] land without [their] permission.” The notice also demands the school’s military programs are halted, and the university pays its debt $1.7 billion back to the Six Nations Trust Fund.

With files from The McGill Daily