Mohamed Sheriffdeen
False idols: Putting athletes on a pedestal for the wrong reasons
September 16, 2013It has become an enduring image: Ray Lewis, two-time Super Bowl Champion, legendary middle linebacker and motivator extraordinaire, driving his troops in a variety of colourful (and family friendly) ways with eyes popped, veins bulging and sweat glistening under lights. His love affair with the public eye has become a crutch for NFL Films. After his Baltimore Ravens flipped the New England Patriots in the AFC Championship game last year, Lewis wobbled out like a man suffering from heatstroke before collapsing to the turf at Gillette Stadium and kissing the grass as he was besieged by a phalanx of cameras.…
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Hypocrisy and the Great American Game
September 16, 2013In the Line of Fire The thirtieth overall pick in the 2008 NFL draft, tight end Dustin Keller, had a solid and somewhat productive career with the New York Jets before finding a limited market for his services after hitting…
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Public nursing can still be private
September 9, 2013I first want to point out that I don’t have a problem with breastfeeding, nor with women who do so in public. I don’t think that breastfeeding is a pre-programmed act in mothers and infants, so the pride and accomplishment…
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Justice gone South
July 22, 2013It feels almost as if you’ve heard the plot of a made-for-TV movie about a plucky underachiever with outsized dreams. Old George, eyes sparkling with a desire to improve his community and help people, filled with regret at unrequited teenage…
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Glass house, meet stone
July 15, 2013I am a staunch supporter of same-sex marriage because I believe in equal opportunity and freedom of expression and choice. My feelings on the subject are grounded in the interlocking confluence of reasons that compose my psyche. The biggest reason…
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The terrors of immigration
July 1, 2013My family immigrated to Canada two months before the towers fell in New York. That Tuesday morning, horrible as it was, has become a cultural landmark in more ways than one: a classic “where were you at that moment?” moment.…
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SFU one of Canada’s top 100 employers?
June 10, 2013By Mohamed Sheriffdeen The Burnaby campus has been the only post-secondary institution I’ve ever known since I started my undergraduate career. I slogged through my degree before enrolling in graduate school and joined the Teaching and Support Staff Union as…
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Voting is not irrelevant, but it sure feels like it
May 27, 2013Average voter turnout from 1945 to 2001 within the G8 nations By Mohamed Sheriffdeen Photos by Eleanor Qu As is often the case given an article on this subject, I should preface it by stating that I did vote in…
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The division of equality
May 5, 2013By Mohamed Sheriffdeen Photos by April Alayon The popular perception of Western feminists is of militant misandrists — chips firmly lodged in shoulders — perpetually decrying societal repression both real and imagined. Perhaps this is an unfair designation, and most…
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Moral arguments against same sex marriage don’t have legs to stand on
March 31, 2013Our legal system must acknowledge modern standards of moral behaviour By Mohamed Sheriffdeen Photos courtesy of Marcin Marklewicz / flickr The ongoing hearings regarding the legal validity of California’s same-sex marriage ban have re-raised several questions regarding legality and gay…
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