Normally, when people think of Christmas, they think carolers, parades, food, presents, and Christmas specials. Lately in Fredericton, the cheery christmas atosphere has been vacant from the minds of its residents, partially do in part to the warm and wet weather, and the lack of that cold white stuff on the ground, making some residents question the prospect of a white Christmas.

VO – It’s been so incredibly snowy in Fredericton in the last couple of winters. It’s hard to believe there won’t be some sort of repeat of that. However, I have had many Fredericton winters where there has been no snow by Christmas, so…

To a certain degree the blame can be put on the amazingly mild November we had. In fact, this November the capital district has averaged temperatures of 9.7 Degrees Celsius, which is almost 3 degrees higher than last year at this time. In November 2007 the average was 5.8 degrees Celsius and in 2004 it averaged 5.9. As you can see there is quite a jump in temperature.

VO – Very skeptical about that, because it’s raining, and tomorrow is December 1st. When this happens home [sic], it’s a green Christmas.

O/C – As you can see, the weather here right now has been dreary. In fact, this whole month has been warmer than normal. The mean temperature this month compared to November 2008 is two degrees higher, and three degrees higher from November 2007. Will it be a white Christmas? Well, December 2008 saw 10 days of snowfall, and December 2007 had snow on the ground the whole month.

Hey! It snowed yesterday, so maybe there is some hope. MS. STU J. Fred.

Construction on the Old York Street Railway Station had begun to repair the roof an prepare the building for the comming snowy months.

VO:

The construction began two weeks ago in an effort to replace the roof trusses and cover the building to protect it from the harsh wintewr weather.

The property is owned by JD Irving Limited and has been vacant for several years, only to be seen as an eyesore to the community.

The Irvings are paying for thr Initial repairs to the delapated building.

The renovations are expected to cost around $2 million dollars and is expected to be completed in August 2010.

NB Liquor has agreed to sign a 20 year leaseand pay for any repairs nneeded during that time.

Adding a pet to your life can be an uplifiting experince, but for some students vet fees and buying pet food can be a difficult. Joanne Goodall has more on this story.

VO:

Students cand resist their adorable eyes and their company through the stressfull nights. But for some students its not allegeris keeping them away from these furry friends but the cost and responsibility to raise them.

Amanda Wilson is fourth year university student. She is very fimiliar with student loans and paying rent. However, she doesnt let that get in the way of loving her two cats Meiko and Kiwi, and her new hampster.

Amanda Interview:

Amanda:

Between food and litter is about 20 bucks a moth but we treats and toys and stuff too so there is at least 30 or 40 dollars that go into them monthly. So it just kind of gets looped in with our groceries and stuff and its all put togeather.

Joanne:

Allright and what kind of responsibilities do you have takeing care of them?

Amanda:

Well you can be in a big kerfuffle everymorning you have to feed them and make sure there is water in their dish and clean their litter box for them and everything. You have to keep them clean you can just have cats and let them sit in their own filth thats just mean.

VO:

Buying a new cat or dog from a pet store or breeder will run between $500 and $2,000 depending on the breed. One alternative is is checking the local classifieds of a webstie like Kijiji. People will post ads if the can no longer take care of their pet or if they are moving out of town.

The Monthly cost of keeping a pet varies depending on which pet you choose. A small animal like a bunny will cost about $20 per month plus the $90 cage. Birds Will cost aproximately $20 per month as well as their cage which run over $100.

Bard Janes, manager of Animal Essentials, a family owned pet stoer in Devon Plaza on Frederictons North Side. saids the cost of a dog or cat can be pricy but the responsibility, care and upkeep can be difficult for a student.

Brad Interview:

Umm becomming a pet owner is huge responsibility including time, in terms of budgatery things i have been a student before and i know its not n easy thing to do when you paying for books clothing heating and light and then you add a pet that needs to eat and be maintained. Weather its litter or a consistant diet, whatever it is a lot of things need to be taken into account in terms of immediacy of someone saying i want to get a pet or i have three roomates lets get a pet kind of to pass the time. But there is a lot more that goes into so you really almost have to sit down and do a budget and say can I do this.

Stand Up:

Brad Janes advises students to draw up a budget before purchasing an animal. He also recommends buying pets from your local SPCA because they are pre-vacinated and netured which cuts donw on vet costs. He also recommends picking up a reserach book or checking out websites on the animal before youe make a responsibility commitment. Just remember its you responsibility to clean te stinky cat litter, not your mothers. This is Joanne Goodall for STU Journalism.

The play has men playing women and women playing men, and uses overtly mature subject matter to portray some very serious topics.

James Dunn was busy on Friday for the third night of Caryl Churchill’s highly political play.

“I think overly. We’ve done plays that have had mature content before, but this is more sort of in your face, isn’t it? And for a reason, to show what colonialism is like and gender repression is like and racism. It deals with a lot of heavy duty issues and in kind of an engaging and entertaining way.”

This year is the 30th anniversary of Cloud Nine, which was first performed in London in 1979.

“I picked it because it was that, and I picked it because we’d actually done it 17 years ago, we’d already done the production. Also, I thought I’d had the cast to do it, like to actually get the people to play those parts.”

The play ran for five shows and students as well as locals were eager to experience this provocative and highly entertaining play.

“Oh, it’s been hugely successful critically and production values are very high, and the acting is very good. Everyone is really enjoying the play, so it’s been a success.

For STU Journalism, I’m Emma Smith.

This week marks the end of the month-long challenge to withhold from shaving, for some men.

It’s called Movember. Mo ,for mustache, and November join to make Movember.

The Saint Thomas Men’s hockey team a charity social to bring a close to Movember.

Interview with Matt Eagles

Host Close: The money raised will be donated for prostate research, awareness, and education.

VO: This is the composer…Dr. Martin Kutnowski. What you are listening to is a selection from “Five Tango Etudes” a piece the Fine Arts professor composed in 2001.

VO: One doctor composed the music, another, Doctor Janet Hammock, played it. Hammock was recently named one of the top 50 performers in Canada.

VO: She was new to Tango when she started learning the piece and took some time to adjust.

Clip: I started listening and listening and listening, and I started reading. And I started playing around with the stuff and I started not being afraid to play with the tangos a little bit.

VO: The recital was part of a cycle called “Portraits of Sound”

VO: The cycle celebrates the 50th anniversary of the Canadian Music Centre.

She waved to the crowd, posed for pictures and sang our national anthem with children.  This is something her father Darryl Knowles will never forget.

Darryl Clip “Right on…. Very proud!”

She was nominated because of her involvement with you in her hometown of Bathurst, New Brunswick. She organizes and runs youth camps throughout the summer. Her boyfriend Keith Wynn says this is something she deserves, and was proud to be a part of the event.

Keith Clip “This is something I’m getting to take part in by association and it will be just as exciting for me to be there as it is for her to be carrying the torch.”

Her run lasted only 300 metres and she says it felt like it was over before it even started.

Kelsey Clip “Oh my gosh, it went by so fast that I’m glad I have the pictures because it was so overwhelming it’s going to be hard to remember each little incident that’s for sure, but I have the torch…you get to buy your own torch so I’ll have that to look at.”

Stand up I’m here outside Moncton where Kelsey Knowles just finished carrying the torch. She is one of 12 000 torch bearers that will take it on its 100 day trek across Canada. On day 26, I’m Jason Cassidy in Riverside-Albert.