January 15, 2003

editor-in-chief Matt STEWART

production manager/graphics Thomas LLOYD

copy editor Catherine SWEET

news editor Laura FANNING

entertainment editor Brodie MACRAE

sports editor Alex FIELD

photographer Brad DEIGHAN

reporter Mariéve MACGREGOR Julie VEINOT

advertising manager Natasha MACKINNON

distribution manager Lennie MACPHERSON

contributers Kelly BUTLER Johnathan SMITH Steve DURANT

The Cadre is the official newspaper of the UPEI Student Union. 2,000 copies of The Cadre are printed 10 times per semester. There are meetings open to anyone Mondays at 4:30 in room 213 in the new Student Union Centre.

The deadline for submissions is Friday at 4:00 PM.

The opinions expressed within The Cadre do not necessarily represent the views of UPEI or the UPEI Student Union Inc.

Letters to the editor: mjstewart@upei.ca

page 2

Editorial 12: ...And Now It's Too Late

For the second time this school year I'm writing an editorial in my head. It's cold outside. Very cold. And I find myself dreading the moment that I will have to step out into the winter chill and actual- ly get something accomplished.

That seems to be the feeling in the air. The cold weather has arrived, and it has slowly, but sure- ly, started to — literally — suck the life out of me. It's become too easy to miss classes. Too easy to avoid confrontation. And too easy to stop paying attention to the world around me.

It's like that dream I used to have when I was a kid. I'm swim- ming, only a few feet from shore. It's a beautiful day and I can feel the sun's warmth shining down on my back. I take a deep breath, kick towards the sky, and dive for the sea-bed below.

As I rise to the surface I am horrified to see that I've entered a riptide, or an area of strong current, and have been carried into deeper water. I struggle to claw my way back to the shore, but am unable to do so. I've failed to pay attention to my surroundings and now it's too late. I'm in way over my head and

there's no turning back.

I find myself in a similar situation now — as I begin to jot this editorial on the page. It's a situa- tion I see other students falling into when I look around the library, the concourse, and The Wave. We've only been back at school for a few weeks, but the unfriendly weather, the added workload, and the lack of urgency that appears this early in the year has caused me, and others, to fall behind.

It's important to pay atten- tion to what's happening around you. This is certainly not a new piece of advice. It's one that we've all heard many times before. But in the context of student life, it's a lesson that is too often learned too late.

This semester be sure to pay attention to what matters — your schoolwork, your relationships with others, and your place in the world around you. It's important to pay attention to all these things so we don't have to say, "Now it's too late."

Editor-in-Chief, Matt Stewart