A very slow system...

It's the start of a new year. For university students this means that it is also the start of a new semester. New classes and new activities have already started. But it is not quite the breath of fresh air for everyone at Trent University.

One of the most anticipated events of the end of the past semester is the release of grades. But Trent is notoriously slow in posting such things. This has spurred quite a bit of concern among some of Trent's students. And justifiably so.

Many of the courses taken in the past semester are pre-requisites for courses some students are taking in the second semester. Unfortunately, these students do not yet know whether or not they have in fact passed the pre-requisite course, leaving them in quite a little dilemma. They have spent the past week attending lectures, signing up for seminars and purchasing books for courses they may not necessarily be able to attend. More importantly, they're missing out on the opportunity to attend alternative classes, which is becoming increasingly limited as they fill up.

In a different case, but equally as frustrating, is the situation in which at least one student athlete at Trent is involved in. Because of his grades from the previous year, he was unable to play for his team in the first semester, but would be allowed back onto the team in January provided his marks show some notable improvement. However, the season begins again during the first few days of January, well before the marks are released. Despite the full confidence that his marks are well above the requirement, he can not officially play without the consent of the Athletic Director who doesn't seem to have the authority to overide the university and acquire this particular athlete's marks.

Such a slow system is not only frustrating for students, but can also have serious implications for their academic and extracurricular performance. Trent should really smarten up. But it appears as though they're doing quite the opposite. Several days ago, a message from the university was posted stating that marks would be available by the Friday. A day later, the availability of marks was moved to the following Monday. Good grief.

Pierre McGuire is slowly ruining hockey...

Ugh. If any of you have been watching the World Junior Hockey Championship, or watch any hockey games broadcasted on TSN or NBC, you've been exposed to the long-winded and often ill-timed rants of one Mr. Pierre McGuire.

Considered to be an expert analysis, McGuire is far more annoying than even the likes of Don Cherry. Sure, McGuire knows his stuff, but his analysis during gameplay is often completely unnecessary. I'm quite sure he simply likes to hear himself talk. 

Apart from his silly "expert analysis", I have one primary bone to pick with McGuire. Now Pierre, I know it's very important that the viewer gets detailed information about the players, but it's way over the top when you mention a player and tell us their home country, junior league team (and former teams if you're really on a roll) and who they've been drafted by, especially when you give us the information before telling us about what the player might just have done. That information would be nice if it were given every once and awhile. But for each player everytime they're mentioned? Come on. 

And it is not as if he stops to talk about this information. He speeds through it as if the information is part of the players name. You'd think he had the info right in front of him. Perhaps he does...

In any case, as experts on junior league hockey go, McGuire may simply be trying to outdue his more respectable TSN colleague, Bob McKenzie. I hate to say it, but trying to impress us by adding in these unnecessary quips concerning the players certainly doesn't win you respect in my books; it simply irritates me to the point whereby I cherish the wonderful times when McGuire is silent. Even the repetitive and annoying Tim Horton's ads are less intolerable, and that is really saying something.