The University of Manitoba Bisons took to the pool this past weekend for the 2021 Canada West swimming championships. The event headlined a three-day meet with races staggered throughout the weekend. The Bisons were well represented all three days by swimmers in the men’s and the women’s categories.

The University of Manitoba Bisons women’s hockey team split a two-game series against the University of Alberta Pandas Nov. 26 and 27, winning game one 2-1 and losing game two 2-0.

The faculty of agricultural and food sciences is hosting its mentorship program for a fifth year. The program is run by Siobhan Maas, program coordinator, and Annemieke Farenhorst, professor in the department of soil science and the associate vice-president (research) for the University of Manitoba.

Joshua Lindal, an anthropology PhD student at the University of Manitoba, is part of a research team that has proposed a new species name for a human ancestor that lived half a million years ago. Unsatisfied with the monikers of Homo heidelbergensis and Homo rhodesiensis, Lindal’s research group has argued for their retirement.

The Liberal Party of Canada pitched itself as the progressive option on the campaign trail, but the speech from the throne on Nov. 23 lacked bold new ideas. Instead of emphasizing challenges of Canadians — such as the absence of universal pharmacare or ending fossil fuel subsidies — the new Liberal government presented a plan that lacks vision and heavily relies on past promises that have yet to be fulfilled.

Historically, Manitoba has treated Lake Winnipeg as a sink for resources, citing the lake’s economic value as motivation to maintain its ecological integrity. But this approach means sustaining the bare minimum of environmental standards to ensure its supposed value does not diminish. The result of this approach is a policy of perpetual catch-up — pollute as you go and fix the problem later. That is exactly what the PCs are doing when they blame the sustainability practices of fishers for the lake’s pollution and utter humble praises for Manitoba Hydro in the same speech.

Why attend the University of Manitoba? It’s a question that can be asked in two contexts: why does the U of M seemingly feel weighed down by political decisions of the provincial government? And why should a student come to the U of M despite these struggles?

The Good Will Social Club was lit purple on the night of Nov. 20 for the first live showcase of the House of Wonders roster.