CODEN UPEL STUDENT NEWSPAPER editor-in-chief sean BRADY | copy editor aimee ARSENAULT production manager adam MacISAAC advertising manager matt O'HALLORAN news editor : nick STEWART sports editor steve MCMANUS arts and entertainment editor alec O’-HANLEY reporters (national/international) ryan GALLANT (provincial/regional) allan MANLEY (campus) robert MacPHERSON jonathan SMITH sandra EDMISTON contributors : joel GILLESPIE rebecca SHORTEN The Cadre is the official newspaper of the UPEI Student Union Inc. Opinions expressed in columns or letters are those of the authors and not necessarily that of The Cadre, its staff, or the UPEI Student Union Inc. All” materials contained herein, except advertising or where indi- cated otherwise, are Copyright 2004 by The Cadre and pro- tected under Canadian Copyright laws. Materials herein may not be reprinted without the expressed written permission of The Cadre. There are meetings open to anyone Mondays @ 4:30 and on Fridays @ 4:30 in room 213 in the W.A.Murphy Student’ Centre. The deadline for submissions is Thursday at midnight. The Cadre is a full member of Canadian University Press (CUP). The Cadre is represented by Campus Plus for multi- market advertising. Campus Plus can be reached at 1-800- 265-5372. The Cadre UPEI 550 University Ave. Charlottetown PE C1A 4P3 Tel: 566-0629 Fax: 566-0979 Ads: upeinewspaper@yahoo.ca’ upeipapertrail@hotmail.com Room 213 SUB Another winter has come and gone. ‘Bout time isn't it? I know I'm getting sick of the snow. While I wasn't busy cursing at the fact that I've still got a drift, which no longer supports weight, in my driveway, I spent a bit of time reflecting on the school year. I was going to write an article on the best and worst of 03/04, but I stumbled out of the gate for a simple reason - more than my average fre- quency of celebrations over the past semester have left a greater-than-usual number of memories faded (regrettably, too much of those blanks cen- tered in calculus -- what's the derivative of — sin(cos(x)) again?), so any "best" sam- pling would most definitely be heavily tainted. So I guess the list is simple. The fact that I enjoyed myself more is my "best of 03/04." Everyone's bound to have at least one year at uni- versity where they let it hap- pen to them. Maybe it's by accident or maybe it's sadisti- cally intentional. Either way, as long as you come out the other side safe and without having caused irreparable damage to anything important — (ie. relationships, credit rat- ings, grades, etc.), why not? I've heard more than one pro- fessor tell me this year that "grades will only get you so far," "grades might get you your first job if you're lucky," or "only the exceptional mat- ters -- the exceptionally good or the exceptionally bad." The moral: you're only young once. Don't invest ALL your time in building your future. Waste some of it having some fun and rounding yourself out. In five years I doubt I'm going to remember much from most of the classes I've had this semester. Actually, I'll be happy if I can remember the class material for two more weeks without going nuts first (I've begun waking up in a cold sweat hearing the echo of calculus derivative rules being listed from my sleep). Not that all these core courses weren't stimulating, thought provok- ing, and/or enlightening, but when it comes right down to it © they're never going to stand out as the highlight of the year. Seriously though, I've seen it proven more and more lately that grades aren't the be- all and end-all of what one should hope to achieve in uni- versity. Proving oneself aca- demically is important but par- UPEI Cadre April 5, 2004 page 2 ticipating in a diversity of activities and growing as a person, becoming a full- fledged and/or more well rounded adult, and seeing what's available in the world are equally as important facets of university, if not more so. Bottom line? Study, but also eat, drink and be merry — for tomorrow, who knows? Worst? Through the fog that is my memory, one thing stands consistent - the weather blew (groan). Between the sheer amount of snow that fell, the never-ending winds which played "the shifting dunes" across my yard all season, the bitterness in the house, and the sting of the bill for electric heat, a hectic schedule was made absolutely miserable. The possibility that this "worst of 03/04" may have been the cause of much merriment and thus my "best" is actually quite likely, a testament I'm sure a number of others could attest to as well. So I leave you all with this: study hard, but not too hard. Good luck on exams and have some fun, but be careful. And don't do anything I wouldn't do - which pretty much leaves the door wide open.