Lucaiah Smith-Miodownik
January update on SFU’s contract workers
January 12, 2026By: Lucaiah Smith-Miodownik, News Writer Students returning to campus this week will be greeted by a new year, a fresh semester, and an updated syllabus. For the university’s contracted workers, however, the push for better wages continues. While the idea of being a living wage employer has been a topic of discussion for over a decade, it was not until July 2022 that SFU announced it would begin taking steps to obtain a living wage certification. Most recently, the university provided an updated statement in January 2025, stating that “Simon Fraser University continues to implement a living wage for employees…
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Community-Engaged Research Initiative celebrates fifth anniversary
January 5, 2026By: Lucaiah Smith-Miodownik, News Writer SFU’s Community-Engaged Research Initiative (CERi) marks its five-year anniversary of “community-driven research.” The organization focuses on “the capacity of SFU’s researchers and students to engage respectfully and ethically with community organizations, Indigenous Nations, community members,…
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Environmental concerns lead Burnaby to reject off-campus student residence
December 20, 2025By: Lucaiah Smith-Miodownik, News Writer Securing housing can be a serious struggle for university students, and those at SFU are no exception. SFU recently broke ground on a new residence building, with the additional 445 beds increasing the university’s housing…
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First Nations Health Authority reports on phase one of “Indigenizing Harm Reduction” study
December 20, 2025By: Lucaiah Smith-Miodownik, News Writer Content warning: mentions of substance use and death. Across Canada, the toxic drug crisis persists as a social issue faced by thousands of citizens each year. In BC alone, over 14,500 people have died from…
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Freshet News flows through community
December 18, 2025By: Lucaiah Smith-Miodownik, News Writer When snow begins to melt and gives way to spring, rivers in BC rise and rush in response. This high water phenomenon is known as a freshet. Now, in the Tri-Cities and surrounding areas, a new…
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Vancouver to require exempt staff in-office five days a week
December 18, 2025By: Lucaiah Smith-Miodownik, News Writer For Vancouver city employees, pyjama bottoms at work may no longer be feasible. CTV News reported that on October 21, workers received an email from city manager Donny van Dyk informing them that “effective January…
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Monday Music: Gloom and grey
December 18, 2025By: Lucaiah Smith-Miodownik, News Writer “Past Lives” by Jay Som & Hayley Williams “I’m stuck in the mud, I’m spiraling up [ . . . ] it’s falling apart.” Som and Williams come together on “Past Lives” to deliver a…
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Student organizations hold strike for Palestine at SFU
December 18, 2025By: Lucaiah Smith-Miodownik, News Writer On October 23, chants echoed across convocation mall as SFU community members gathered for a campus strike in solidarity with Palestine. Organized by the climate justice organization SFU350 and the anti-Zionist group Independent Jewish Voices…
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Dining workers speak to poor working conditions
November 11, 2025By: Lucaiah Smith-Miodownik, News Writer On October 7, a Reddit user posted to r/simonfraser concerning the possibility of a dining worker strike across SFU’s Burnaby campus. The message, which is from Contract Worker Justice (CWJ) @SFU, asserted that SFU “hasn’t…
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BEEDIE BRO: Ghosts, goblins, ghouls, and great investment opportunities
November 11, 2025By: Lucaiah Smith-Miodownik, Entrepreneur Yes, I still go trick-or-treating, just not for the candy. What a lot of people without the Beedie mindset don’t realize is that Halloween is the perfect networking opportunity. See, while everyone else is going door…
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