Angel >> The Mouvement pour le droit à l'éducation The people responsible for the massive student strike of 1996 are at it again. Last week, the MDE got their hands on an internal discussion paper belonging to the Federation of CEGEPs, which said CEGEPs are willing to receive private-sector funding. The MDE promptly blew the whistle. At this point, most university research is directed by the public sector; the MDE refuses to see CEGEPs turned into corporate training centres. "The mission of public education is to train people to be citizens and develop critical skills," says the MDE's Benoît Marsan, "and that doesn't always sit well with business." The MDE's answer: after another $12 million slash in CEGEP funding, it's time to stop the cutbacks.

Insect >> The Globe & Mail and its gambling advertising supplement A tone of puzzlement flavoured the gambling supplement in last Friday's Globe & Mail. Wasn't it strange, the unnamed writer wrote, how so many communities were rising up against the casino-building craze when so many other folk were lining up to spend a fortune in them? What could possibly be wrong with gambling? Features on "Caribbean gambling with a Latin flare" (sic), and the "ancient, occasionally elegant" roots of gambling in Egypt shared space with ads for casinos and publishing companies offering instructions on how to consistently win. And yes, there was an article in the back called "What to do if your gambling gets you," providing a phone number for the Canadian Foundation on Compulsive Gambling.