Toban talkback
Brianne Lang, University 1
Robert Forde, Commerce III
Taryn Nepon, University 1
Ryan Birdsell, Science
Mike Pagtakhan, city councillor
Raena Baker, University 1
Where is the best place to pick up girls & guys in Winnipeg and why?
"The bar. The alcohol makes it easier and you're more flirtatious. The Beach is where all the university people go."
"I think just in everyday situations, like school. Some people might like to pick up others at bars. If you have a job, then [pick up] people that you work with."
"I play on a couple of sports teams, so after playing a game, [meeting] in a social setting [such as] the bar is good."
"I think just meeting them through mutual friends. University is probably a good place too. The bar is just a bad scene to meet someone. You rarely hear about people meeting and staying together that way, at least not anyone I know."
Does school spirit exist at the University level and if so in what ways?
"I would say yes, it does. It does because you see it with the University 1 seminars. I saw that the first time I came here. I thought that everyone was very hyped up. They were totally excited, running around and everything was just very high energy. Lots of people were involved in that."
"It does to some, in the form of athletics and sports. But to people like me who don't care, it doesn't."
"The only school spirit so far has been at orientation. I definitely thought that was good but I haven't really noticed that much other than that. [The people at orientation] were talking about the good things about U of M like "Rise of the Bisons" and why it's good to be a part of U of M. There were cheers and whenever the person that was talking said U of M and Manitoba, most students got all excited about it."
"When I was in university, yes, it did exist. We had morality plays. We did them on AIDS and AIDS awareness. We had all kinds of dances like the commerce dance and the arts dance."
"I don't really participate in a lot of things here. I'm not involved in a lot of the activities here at the school. I do think there's pride within the faculties. Of course when we talk to U of W students we always think we're better. I guess there's still school spirit there. I don't see a lot of it around U of M while I'm at the school. A lot of it takes place outside [of school]."
"Yes, for some people, especially those just out of high school, they might be more into the whole school spirit thing. For me, I've been out of high school for four years and I have jobs and other things to worry about. I have other commitments and I think I have probably less school spirit now mainly because I don't really care anymore. It's a lot more about academics for me now. I don't have any school spirit. I'm broke because of this school."
Do you think people should be allowed to sue fast food companies for obesity?
"No. Just because it's easy, it doesn't mean you have to overindulge in it. There are lots of other choices - you can go to the grocery store very easily and buy some vegetables."
"It's their own damn fault they're fat. I go to the gym maybe three times a week and that keeps me from getting fat. It's not that hard. Americans are fat and lazy people."
"I think that it's ridiculous. I think that it's your choice. Most people know that fast food is fattening. It's an excuse. Instead of blaming themselves they're blaming fast food [restaurants]. It's so easy to do that but I think it's so stupid. It's made so that it's greasy so that people can enjoy it every once in awhile. But then if they have it everyday, they know what's going to happen. They just want to get money out of it."
"I make a choice to go to McDonald's because it's fast and I need it but I don't really crave it. That's a choice you make."
"No, it's their fault. People should take their own life in their own hands. People who spill coffee on their laps shouldn't be suing McDonald's [either]."
"No, that's ridiculous. People are grown up and they are in charge of their own bodies. McDonald's is not responsible for the individual. McDonald's is not going to stop doing what they are doing for a group of individuals that are addicted to McDonald's. While I'll agree that McDonald's is addictive for some people, it's no more so than cigarettes, which our own government produces and we're not suing our government."
What's your opinion on Winnipeg Drivers?
"As we saw yesterday, [the day after the first snowfall], they're retards. You'd think that living in Winnipeg they'd learn to drive given that our conditions are very extreme. People still drive like it's summer when it's winter. We have so many accidents it's ridiculous."
"We're all nuts. There are very angry, aggravated drivers in this city. I mean, the city has cruise night every Sunday, which is just an excuse for people to get out and drive their car, which isn't very environmentally friendly at all."
"I think that when compared to the big cities, they're very polite - they'll let people in. When you cut somebody off they don't usually honk. But [Winnipeg drivers] are mostly polite. There are not that many aggressive drivers either."
"They need to signal more."
"People need to learn how to use merging lanes. So many people just stop when they come to that bend before going into the lane. That's something that ticks me off all the time. Otherwise I don't think driving is terrible in Winnipeg."
"Oh god, they're awful. They're slow and they have no common sense as far as I can see. These stupid red light cameras just make them dumber. [Drivers hold up traffic by] driving 10 km under the speed limit [just] so that they don't get a red light ticket. When the snow starts that's the worst because that's when everybody loses common sense."
If you could change anything about Winnipeg to make a more enjoyable place for you to live, what would it be and why?
"Legalize pot because I like pot. Generally I like Winnipeg, I don't really have too many problems with it."
"Get an NHL hockey team. That would be better."
"More stuff to do at night. Basically the only thing to do in Winnipeg is eat and go to movies."
"I'd put some mountains in Winnipeg so we could do some downhill skiing. We've got to mix it up a bit - have some prairie, [and] have some mountains right in the city. What Winnipeg has that I wouldn't change, is the great people."
"Warm weather year round. If there were heaters on every corner then that would be good. [Also] I think Winnipeg should have a more conservative mayor."
"Lower taxes. I have a house. I pay property taxes. Better modes of transportation. The bus sucks."
What's your opinion on Glen Murray's "New Deal" tax plan?
"It seems kind of sketchy. With the whole getting rid of the entertainment tax, if he actually did it but I don't think he will, then that would be amazing. We'll actually get some good shows in the city. I don't think he's going to do it though."
"It doesn't really affect me that much. I don't have to pay taxes."
"I like the dialogue that's happening with the town halls and getting out there. What I'm trying to do first is get a young person's viewpoint of this New Deal. We organized a talk here with University of Manitoba students just to get a flavour of what young people have to say about the New Deal because I haven't had the chance to speak with [young people] or hear their views. Most of the people going to these town halls tend to be older senior citizens. It's good to get some balance. You guys are the future and you inherit the city so I want to hear what you guys have to say about it."
"The city sales tax is sort of a fair tax. It's more progressive than the property tax system. The city sales tax will tap into people who don't live within the city and use our roads, and use our services like the ambulance or paramedics. Right now we have about 1.2 million people that come through the city every year. Tourists use our services but they don't drop a penny. We need to have a mechanism that will stop that. They're using our roads and it's causing wear and tear on them, so we're saying that we need a system that's [more] fair. A one per cent CST can help us do that. This city sales tax is going to go into the city as a revenue. It will help us grow our city to become more vibrant and more exciting."
"I think he's trying to hide extra new fees on it. I think there's a hidden agenda behind it. He's trying to get more money from taxpayers than he would otherwise under the current system."
"I don't even pay attention to that stuff because I think he's a crackpot."
What's your opinion on our neighbours to the south (U.S.) and how they handled the Iraq war?
"Didn't they basically start the Iraq war? They had no business going there in the first place. They somehow think they can be the police officer of the world, yet as soon as another country all of the sudden has weapons of mass destruction - they freak out. Like, 'Oh no, somebody has what we already have. Let's kill them and take their oil wells while we're at it.' I really don't like Americans very much."
"I'm not really strongly sided to either. I'm just kind of neutral. I don't really have an opinion. I kind of went both ways. I wanted to support them [the U.S.] because they can protect us, but if there was another way without war then I'd rather have that."
"They're not through obviously. They're probably misleading the public. It seemed like mostly a PR game. However I don't think the Iraq regime [was] the nicest. It might be better off in the end to get rid of the leader but I don't know if the means in this case justified the end. It's hard to say. There will never be hard data on the effects of the war before and after."
"I think they honestly thought they did what they had to do. For the most part they did the right thing but I don't have all the facts so I can't speculate too much. Their intentions were genuine, if not right. I don't like bashing Americans because we're going to need them someday."