What students are talking about today (November 21st edition)

1. In case you needed more evidence that binge drinking is a pervasive problem on Canadian campuses consider this: SAIT in Calgary is imposing a new rule on the student-owned pub that limits patrons to two drinks before 3 p.m. and outlaws mid-day shooters, reports CBC.

2. Ryerson is the latest school to deal with a bedbug epidemic in student residences. The university has eight confirmed cases so far this year, reports The Ryersonian. As Maclean’s discovered two years ago, the problem is fairly common across Canada. Here are five things you should know about these biting beasts.

3. Despite the fact that Hamas, the terrorist group that runs Gaza, celebrated the bombing of a city bus in Tel Aviv that injured 22 people, a cease-fire with Israel was announced Wednesday in Cairo.

4. Western University has joined a growing club of schools that offer fall reading breaks in addition to February breaks. It’s an effort to keep students mentally healthy. But there’s at least one reason it might not work: the October break is only two days long and, as the Gazette points out, it falls right before Halloween, so it will "give students an excuse to begin the festivities early."

5. Walmart, notorious for low prices and low wages, is attempting to stop the protests outside its stores by accusing the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union of illegally trying to disrupt its business. Some Walmart workers are preparing to strike on Black Friday, typically the busiest shopping day of the year in the United States.

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6. Tufts University plans to rescind the honorary degree it gave to cyclist Lance Armstrong.

7. The Council of Alberta University Students has successfully convinced the provincial government to introduce a bill that would allow students to cast votes either in the electoral district they reside in while attending school or the one they live in during the summer. More in The Gateway.

8. New research from UBC and Simon Fraser University estimates that British Columbians use between $443 million and $564 million of marijuana each year. Washington and Colorado both plan to legalize pot and collect tax revenues. Economists say B.C. should consider a similar plan.

9. Tuesday was the 14th annual Transgender Day of Remembrance and students across Canada took part in acknowledging the violence Transgender people have faced. At Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, Ont. there was a film screening and a candle light vigil, reports The Argus.

10. Writers at Alberta’s The Gateway think group work sucks. Annie Pumphrey is especially put off by the "clingers." She writes: "Group projects are bad enough as it is. There are unequal workloads, scheduling conflicts and the frustrating task of having to agree with each other. The last thing anyone needs is a clinger. We’ve all been clung onto by a clinger at some point in our lives. They are those unsettlingly cheerful people who appear beside you whenever you’re alone, who stare at you with overly large smiles, who are far too interested in your personal life." How true it is!