Western Alienation Rides Again
Looks like Conservative Finance Minister Jim Flaherty isn't the only one with a shaky grasp on the part of the country on the 'other' side of the Rockies. The opening lines of a letter I received today:
Now, if it had been a fundraising letter for the Geography department, it would have been clever, but no such luck. Instead, it reads, "I would like to invite you to a uniquely 'Vancouver' tradition - SOAR 2007." I'm not sure why Vancouver is in quotes - maybe because it is the province of Vancouver that is being referred to? And how can SOAR 2007 be a tradition? - I know it often seems like I'm reliving the same year over and over gain, but surely this will be the first instance of SOAR 2007.
One last thing, because I know you are wondering. SOAR? It stands for Southern Ontario (does Laurentian qualify?) Alumni Relations. It's a good job 'alumni' doesn't start with 'U' - that's all I have to say about that.
"Dear UW Alumnus:
Hello from the Office of Alumni Affairs. Did you know that you are among the nearly 4000 alumni currently residing in the province of Vancouver?"
Now, if it had been a fundraising letter for the Geography department, it would have been clever, but no such luck. Instead, it reads, "I would like to invite you to a uniquely 'Vancouver' tradition - SOAR 2007." I'm not sure why Vancouver is in quotes - maybe because it is the province of Vancouver that is being referred to? And how can SOAR 2007 be a tradition? - I know it often seems like I'm reliving the same year over and over gain, but surely this will be the first instance of SOAR 2007.
One last thing, because I know you are wondering. SOAR? It stands for Southern Ontario (does Laurentian qualify?) Alumni Relations. It's a good job 'alumni' doesn't start with 'U' - that's all I have to say about that.
posted by Declan at
Thursday, May 31, 2007
2 Comments:
Oops, we made a mistake. Sincere apologies to those living in beautiful British Columbia. You can bet we won't make that mistake again.
UW's Office of Alumni Affairs
By
Anonymous, at 8:30 AM
Not to worry, I was only poking fun, more amused than annoyed. SOAR is still a lousy acronym, but much you can do about that, I suppose.
By
Declan, at 7:12 PM
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