Mount Allison’s forty-two year old Barclay chemistry building is getting some much needed updates this year. With $4.3 million awarded to Mt. A over the summer as part of the Knowledge Infrastructure Program, the building has been a zoo of activity all semester.

Starting on Friday and continuing sporadically into early this week, 'out of order signs' were posted on the doors of all washrooms in the library and in the Wallace McCain student centre. However, there was nothing in fact wrong with the washrooms. The signs were part of a campaign by students on campus to press the issue of gender-neutral washrooms.

The hype generated around Mount Allison University's big announcement last week ensured a full crowd of students, staff and outside media to receive the news of the appointment of a new University Chancellor. The role is to be taken on by Peter Mansbridge, chief correspondent of the CBC's 'The National' and host of "Mansbridge One on One." A widely recognized name, face and voice throughout Canada, and amongst journalists throughout the world, Mansbridge said that he was "humbled," and "honoured to have been considered" for the position.

Some Mount Allison students are worried about the safety of those in residence this year, after residence fire procedures were changed and fire training for Residence Assistants (RAs) was postponed. Mt. A administration is stressing personal responsibility when it comes to fire safety.

Restorative justice is a community approach based on having all people who are affected by a crime engaged in the process of reconciliation, including the victim, offender, families and communities. From November 15 to 22 Sackville has joined cities across the country in holding a Restorative Justice Week with the theme of “communities responding to human needs.”

This week’s SAC meeting commenced with CRO Darren Mercer explaining the upcoming elections procedures. Surprisingly enough, only one of the presidential candidates, Trevey Davis, was in attendance while the council was discussing matters pertaining to the election. The other candidate, Mike Glover, eventually arrived after a short recess in the meeting. It was clear by the tension in the room that his tardiness was noted by the members of council. Mercer noted that the last election was a fail due to spoiled ballots and demanded that none of the election officials let the ballot boxes out of their sights at any point. Otherwise, he noted, this election, “will be a fail” as well. However, as the meeting progressed there were bigger problems to address regarding the SAC election than who would be watching the ballots from hour to hour.

Presidential Candidate: Trevey Davis

Debate about the development of wind power within the town of Sackville has been widespread in the last two months, as the introduction of bylaws by the planning commission were tabled before the town council. The by-laws cover both turbines for individual use, and wind farms, with a generation capacity exceeding three megawatts. At the council meeting on November 9, the by-laws passed by a vote of 4-3, setting regulations for both single turbines in Sackville's rural-residential zones, and wind farms in the agricultural conservation area.

While the SAC elections at the beginning of the year were fraught with complications and frustrations, this next and decisive round of voting looks to be more straightforward.

Obama petitions Burma on democracy advocate