By Keri Sculland

PETA, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, has a history of embellishing facts for its own interests. PETA spends millions of donated dollars on the making of videos exploiting animal cruelty, their distribution and advertising, yet disgusting stories have emerged of PETA euthanizing animals and leaving them in dumpsters. Numerous law suits for inappropriate discarding of animals that have been filed against them.

By Beth Sweet

Our Father who aren't in council, hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will won't be done...if McGuinty has his way. Amen.
The Lord's Prayer has opened meetings since Ontario's inception. Now Dalton McGuinty, Premier of Ontario, is taking steps to remove this time-honoured tradition, or perhaps even change the prayer itself.

By Marina Osmond

Although there are negative side effects, the oil sands in Alberta are a necessary and vital part of Canada's economy, which allows our economy to expand. Oil feeds the engine that drives the world economy, yet the environment is suffering from it. But the environment price is a short-term pain we must endure for prosperity in the longer term.

By Monique Glenn

Mayor Neil R. Ellis is expected to propose to city council on April 14 a tax on drive-thru use. Under the proposed tax, every purchase made by drive-thru would have an additional five per cent tax, with the funds going to the city. This is a bad idea because it is out of sync with how people live, it is inconvenient for customers, and it is bad for business.

By Andrew Austin

When the Olympics are done, will we lose interest in the human rights in Tibet?
With the Olympics Games starting on Aug 8 the host country China is in centre of international media's attention. China has been in the news recently also because of the turmoil in Tibet. Reporters have been banned from Tibet and the "Great Fire Wall of China" doesn't really allow for Tibetans to communicate with the outside world, so it is very hard to know what exactly is going on inside that country. The Chinese government has been blaming the riots on the Dalai Lama, the Tibetan spiritual leader in exile, claiming that he has instructed Tibetans to create chaos. With the Chinese government in control of media reports coming out of Tibet, how can we trust anything that their officials say?

By Michelle Newlands

People need to rethink their reasoning for purchases of products and consider what their choices are doing to our local economy.
As consumers strive to survive, we look for goods at the best price. Sometimes that may mean the money we spend may not be coming back into our community, or even staying in our country. With the cost of living in our community on the increase with things like gas, rent and tuition fees, it's becoming nearly impossible for people to buy locally, especially students.

By Kelly McKinnon

The Ontario Student Assistance Program does not offer students adequate funding to allow them equal opportunity to attend college and live on campus.
OSAP was designed to provide students who have a financial need with the funding they require to get through school and pay their living expenses, but they are not raising their loan packages in accordance with the cost of living. This along with flaws in their screening system means that many students are falling through the cracks and need to find alternative ways to fund their schooling.

By Maxx Lennox

The Canadian political scene, recently, has not been something to be proud of. While in the past, parties have disagreed with each other and the people have disagreed with them, yet there was still an underlying respect towards and among our elected leaders. Now, our politicians seem more concerned about making verbal cheap shots and acting like national buffoons, while Canadians seem to be losing what little faith they had in the leaders they elected.

By Bradley Grant

Cutting costs, solar rays, splitting atoms; those are the direction the future of Canadian energy generation could take. The Ontario government is pro-nuclear and plans to begin construction of two new nuclear power plants in the near future and refurbish six more. Considering the alternatives, it's the best route to go.

By Caitlyn Craggs

The worst thing for a non-smoker is to walk outside and find smokers are standing right in front of the door smoking. Walking through a cloud of smoke is not the highlight of a non-smoker's day. The nine-metre smoking rule is not enforced at Loyalist College consistently, so most smokers continue to smoke in front of the door with no consequences. Second-hand smoke is unpleasant and unhealthy and non-smokers should not have to suffer because smokers don't know how to follow the rules. Smokers have the right to smoke, but non-smokers have the right to not breathe smoke. This is an important issue and it is not really being addressed at Loyalist College; it seems like no one can do anything about it.

By Brittany Kelly

Because of the small town atmosphere, many people in Belleville may have a false sense of security, unaware of the high assault rates in the community.
According to Statistics Canada in 2006, there were 69,991 assaults at three different levels of violence in Ontario. Level one assault in Canada means physically attacking someone without their consent; level two is using or threatening to use a weapon, and level three is wounding, maiming, disfiguring or endangering the life of the victim. In 2006, 740 reported assaults took place in Belleville. The Belleville Police Service's Annual Report from 2006 showed assaults were the second most frequent crime to occur in the city. With a population of only 91,518, 740 in one year is a high rate of assault.

With the growing use of search engines and networking sites such as Facebook amongst many, people need to be more aware of what information they are posting online.
Facebook may offer an easy and convenient way to expand a social network and keep in touch with friends and family, but what users assume to be private within their network of friends may not be so hidden.

Hydro One has recently asked for changes to the utility's distribution rates, which could send costs shooting up over 30 per cent over the next four years in many smaller area communities, such as Brockville and Deseronto. Hydro One has applied to the Ontario Energy Board requesting approval to generate $1,067,000,000 in revenue and to consolidate delivery rates through a four-year phase-in plan. With many residents and businesses already struggling to keep up with the rising electricity rates, consumers may have a difficult time handling the increases.

By Carolyn Kuipers

The Parti Quebecois, desperate for something that resembles success, celebrates the recent decision made in Kosovo's Parliament to secede from Serbia as though it is the key to independence for Quebec.

By Brittany Kelly

To accomplish its goal, the Ontario Student Assistance Program, and other tuition assistance programs, should better reflect the actual costs and realities of students' lives and should better accommodate those students who do not receive parental support.