November 30, 2011

The Ωmega www.theomega.ca

Thompson Rivers University’s Independent Student Newspaper Nov. 30, 2011

Can you see the finish line yet?

PHOTO BY JULIA MARKS

Really? I get to make another 2 pot of coffee?

WolfPack Curated exhibitions at a 11 gallery on campus, I swear 6 Sports

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November 30, 2011

Feature

Conflicted intern-ally

More students seeking internships are working under potentially illegal conditions

timization content for the network two days per week. During his shifts he would write five to six 500-word stories on major sports The Eyeopener (Ryerson) while having to include phrases for optimization.

Quarless said he received very little feedTORONTO (CUP) — Internships can put some real world experience on your resumé back on his work in the four months he was and even land you a job, but some employers working for the network. He didn’t feel that he see them as an opportunity to get work done gained any benefit from his time there.

“Basically I spent two days a week for four cheap. With students desperate to build their portfolios, working for little or no money can months cranking out 2,000 to 2,500 words of useless bullshit that no one saw, with no byseem like a viable option.

The problem arises from the fact that the line, no money, and not even something that I laws surrounding internships are vague and would put in my portfolio,” he said.

“I worked at a place that I always wanted to usually not enforced. In the case of unpaid internships, many students end up working in work at — and hated it and became completely disillusioned.” illegal environments without realizing it.

Despite his negative exAndrew Lanperience, Quarless can ungille, a labour derstand why companies and employment would take advantage of lawyer in Tofree work from eager sturonto, says that dents. internships have “It really does pay off for become a major them. It’s just so hugely dispart of the job appointing.” market transition Although the laws are that young peovague and the risk of exple go through. ploitation is always a factor, “Unpaid ininternships can be an externships are tremely effective means of being used as a gaining real world experiproxy for entryence before graduation. level positions “The thing that’s so good and they’re alabout intern programs is lowing compathat it gives people a relanies to not hire tively simple way to find out people, but to use if they want to do this stuff, a revolving door whether they enjoy it, and of unpaid interns whether they are good at to sustain the it,” said Roger Gillespie, the business and the operations,” he

—Bruno Quarless* man in charge of hiring student interns for the Toronto said.

Star, which pays its interns.

The EmployGillespie explains that student internships ment Standards Act (ESA) has a six-point definition of a legal unpaid internship. Within also serve as a way for employers to see pothat definition, it states that an unpaid intern- tential hires in action before offering a job. He ship should be the equivalent of a training pro- makes it clear that interns should not expect full-time jobs. gram and should wholly benefit the intern.

“Don’t rely on some notion that you are goLangille says that internships fall under preing to get hired here, because that’s a stupid carious employment.

“Precarious employment is where you don’t thing to do,” said Gillespie.

Last year, the Star employed 22 interns for have a lot of ties to the employer; it’s generally on a short-term basis on a contract with the their three programs and none were hired fullemployer. You may not get benefits,” he said. time. The interns themselves often set the pace “If you’re making coffee, filing papers, photo- of competition for scarce positions.

“Almost no one gets into our program who copying, inputting data and so on and so forth, it’s probably not a training program, it’s prob- isn’t prepared to give up a chunk of their life,” ably illegal and it probably violates the ESA.” said Gillespie.

Outworking your peers isn’t always the Bruno Quarless* is a senior journalism student who had a summer internship at a well- challenge, especially if you’re a business student. Sometimes staying focused on monotoknown Toronto sports network.

“That’s one of the reasons I moved to Toron- nous yet important tasks is the most difficult to, I wanted to work for them,” he said. “Then part.

Fourth-year business technology manageI found out it would be unpaid, which was OK. ment student Paul Benton interned with CIBC Most are, which sucks.”

Quarless was working on search engine op- World Markets for four months. After a rig-

Jeff Lagerquist

“I worked at a place that I always wanted to work at— and hated it and became completely disillusioned. ”

PHOTO BY Lindsay Boeckl/The Eyeopener orous three-part interview process, he found himself spending hours in front of an Excel spreadsheet filing reports for traders.

“I would say we were being exploited, but we were paid quite well. Twenty-two dollars per hour is at the higher end of the scale,” said Benton.

As boring as it was, the experience paid off.

“Getting a job is a lot easier if you have an internship on your resumé. It’s a big part of landing a position after you finish school,” he said.

Practical work experience is an important part of a resumé, but arts industries are less likely to pay for your time.

Louis Calabro is a manager of the Genie and Gemini awards for the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television (ACCT). The ACCT hires unpaid interns for six-month internships.

The workers are required to come in for 12 hours per week.

“We’re a not-for-profit organization so we don’t have a lot of excess cash floating around,” said Calabro. “The internship is a way to provide experience for somebody who’s maybe just coming out of school or who may be in school at the same time. It’s not really meant to be a situation where you’re going to be making tons of money.”

The ACCT generally hires interns from arts and science programs. The interns’ responsibilities range from labeling, filing and boxing things up to putting together screener packages for nominating committee members and organizing information for the nominating committee.

“We function like any production company would on the office side of things. So I truly believe that does provide a lot of experience,” he said.

Langille said, “In the case of internships, whether you’re going to get the minimum wage is a big question. A lot of the internships aren’t paid.”

While internships provide real-world experience before graduation, there are other ways to build a resumé and break into your chosen profession.

“There are other ways to gain professional experience and I find that increasingly many students in the journalism program are working at a professional level almost from day one and keep on doing so even if it’s as a freelancer, part-time, or contract, in their summers or spare time,” said Ivor Shapiro, chair of Ryerson’s journalism program.

Still, the job market’s demand for practical workplace experience is a reality for most Ryerson students.

“This has a wider impact on society because people are putting off life milestones, such as getting married, moving out of their parents’ home, entering into relationships, having kids, buying a house, saving for retirement,” said Langille.

“This is a phenomenon that is affecting [current] generations and will affect the coming generations that are entering the labour market.” *names have been changed

Yes, it’s unfair. But you are learning something that will help you, and padding your resume at the same time Mike Davies Editor-in-Chief

I remember being told when I was in high school (all those years ago) that future employers had a lot of respect for people that spent a lot of time working at fast-food joints when looking at resumes — even when the job they were hiring for had nothing to do with that — because it showed that the applicant could handle pressure and a fast-paced environment (not to mention that the longer they worked in those positions, the longer they had to put up with that atmosphere).

It seems to me that these “internships” that are basically like slave-

labour positions provide a similar service.

Future employers will likely recognize that you obviously had enough talent to be awarded one of these internships in the first place, and want to see that you completed it so they know you can and will complete things.

It’s the same thing with a bachelor’s degree sometimes.

My high school guidance counsellor told me that most decent jobs would require a post-secondary education — and many times it didn’t even matter whether the degree acquired related to the job being applied for. The employer wanted to see that you completed a degree program.

That you fought your way through.

That you can be dedicated to things.

Because that’s what they will want you to be if they hire you.

I have a hard time believing that these future employers aren’t going to know that many of these internships are actually “internships,” where you just do what you’re told and don’t learn anything.

That doesn’t mean they aren’t going to hold value for the people who receive them.

Yes, it would be nice if they actually taught you things that would be a benefit to you when you get a paying gig in the industry.

But the reality is that employers want to see that you can stick to something — even if it sucks — and come

out the other side.

It’s not fair, but life will do that sometimes.

The reality of the situation is that these “internships” still show up on your CV and that’s why you do them in the first place — not because you will learn something helpful for later.

I’m not saying it should be legal for people to cycle through these “interns” just for the free labour — in fact I hope they find a way to abolish this practice.

But as of right now people need to know going in — and I’m sure most do — that the possibility is there for these businesses to do this, and that they’re taking these internship opportunities to pad their resume and give

them a leg up on the rest of the field when they start competing for paying jobs.

It’s unreasonable to think that every job you take will provide you with additional skills applicable to your future vocation.

Then again, maybe you are learning something that will help you later.

You’re learning that sometimes you have to take your lumps to get where you want to go.

“What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger” is a cliché for a reason, after all.

Otherwise why would anyone have stayed so long at McDonalds?

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November 30, 2011

THE

MEGA

www.theomega.ca

November 30, 2011

Volume 21, Issue 13

Published since November 27, 1991

editorialstaff EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Mike Davies

editorofomega@gmail.com/250-372-1272 BUSINESS MANAGER Natasha Slack

managerofomega@gmail.com 250-372-1272 ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR

Cory Hope

SPORTS EDITOR

Nathan Crosby Copy Editor

Larkin Schmiedl Photo Editor

Cory Hope News Editor

Brendan Kergin Promotions Coordinator/Adsales

Amrita Pannu

omegacontributors Daron Mark, Julia Marks, Brian Wallin, Lauren Gagatek, Jeff Lagerquist, Lindsay Boekl, Amy Berard, Andrew Guilbert, Julia Wallin

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EDITOR-IN-CHIEF * Mike Davies BUSINESS MGR * Natasha Slack INDUSTRY REP * Mike Youds FACULTY REP * Charles Hays STUDENT REP* Sadie Cox

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Literary and visual submissions are welcomed.

All submissions are subject to editing for brevity, taste and legality. The Omega will attempt to publish each letter received, barring time and space constraints. The editor will take care not to change the intention or tone of submissions, but will not publish material deemed to exhibit sexism, racism or homophobia. Letters for publication must include the writer’s name (for publication) and contact details (not for publication). The Omega reserves the right not to publish any letter or submitted material. Opinions expressed in the Letters & Opinion section do not represent those of The Omega, the Cariboo Student Newspaper Society, its Board of Directors or its staff.

Opinions belong only to those who have signed them.

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All material in this publication is copyright The Omega and may not be reproduced without the expressed consent of the publisher. All unsolicited submissions become copyright Omega 2010.

Cariboo Student Newspaper Society (Publisher of The Omega) TRU Campus House #2 Box 3010, Kamloops, B.C. V2C 5N3 Phone: (250)372-1272 E-mail: editorofomega@gmail.com Ad Enquiries: managerofomega@gmail. com (Correspondence not intended for publication should be labelled as such.)

Omega is on Twitter: @TRU_ OMEGA

Editorial A bit of free advice Sometimes you can’t Have you ever wanted to reach In fact you might as well just across the table and slap the stu- say, “you look terrible today, try pidity out of someone who just harder to cover up those bags underneath your eyes next time.” won’t think before they speak?

Option two: the person is acIf you answered yes, then we tually feeling awake, alert, and can still be friends.

I swear that if I hear one more good about themselves. They are person say “you look tired,” I comfortable and happy to be in might be tempted to throw my public.

By telling them double double. that they look tired Has anyone ever you’re taking away said this stupid litthe bright outlook tle phrase to you? they had for the day.

When I hear it, All of a sudden they it makes my skin feel uncertain about crawl. The worst themselves and it part is that people sucks the energy actually think they right out of their are being helpful body. You might as by trying to sympawell have just said thize with you. to them, “you are “Awe, you poor gross, take some little thing, you look pride in your apso tired. I just want Daron Mark pearance.” to hold you close I think that it goes and cuddle you like without saying that a little puppy dog as we head into exams there will until it’s all better.”

Let me be very clear. There is be a lot of very tired, stressednever a good time to tell some- out students walking the hallways of Old Main. And I am sure one that they look tired, ever.

One of two things is likely to that most of them won’t really happen, neither of which is good: want to deal with an annoying, Option one: the person woke half-thought-through comment up feeling drained, is incredibly like this.

If they mention they’re tired tired and self-conscious. They likely did everything they could that’s great, run with it and tell to try to make themselves look them how terrible they look.

But if they don’t say anypresentable and not tired.

By telling them that they look thing about it than you probably tired you’re making them feel shouldn’t either.

Unless you like coffee in your worse. They now feel like everyone can see how gross they feel. face.

Consider This

make it on your own

Two weeks ago home court ad- there every night: volleyball, basketvantage was a factor at the TCC. ball, hockey, men and women.

The sports community here at The number-three-ranked Manitoba Bisons were the heavy favourites TRU has always impressed me with against the WolfPack. The Bisons its support for each other in the dif(wearing beautiful BROWN jerseys) ferent sports and it’s seen every weekend when the baseball team sits won both games. in the crowd and screams at the visiBut just barely.

A few better bounces and TRU tors, usually insulting their names or red hair (I let that might have won. I slide). know, no excuse, The Bisons almost that’s how it is; that’s blew their perfect seathe beauty of sports. son in the first game For example, game against the ‘Pack, gosix of the 2004 Staning to five sets. ley Cup Finals.

The next night, it The Flames had went four sets. I was the Cup on their stick in the broadcast booth and in the third peand I could hear, word riod Martin Gelinas for word, the witty scored a goal that was heckles the crowd disallowed and the was giving the BiFlames got screwed.

Nate’s News sons team. TRU lost Sometimes the Nathan Crosby the first two sets, but calls are good, someSports Editor were on pace with times they aren’t. You Manitoba in the third. have to move on.

Attendance is going up at basket- This was when the crowd was at its ball and volleyball games and the loudest. Manitoba got frustrated.

They threw the ball in anger, they team records are improving.

We have a great opportunity to put whined and they ended up losing the TRU on the map in the CIS, and the set on a yellow card.

Point being; the louder the buildway to do that is to make the TCC the ing, the more annoyed the visitors most hostile building in the league.

I’m talking the United Centre, get.

Trinity Western is in town this East Lansing, and Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge mixed in to one big ball weekend and they’re a good team.

Let’s fill the TCC and make life misof mean.

The baseball team gets it. They are erable for the Spartans.

Lower prices more often maybe Is “Black Friday” so named because of the colour of people’s elbows the day after?

Every year I look forward — in a cynical, perverse kind of way — to seeing how many Americans take consumerism so seriously that they gamble their own health in hopes of getting a deal on a luxury item (or ten) on what they affectionately refer to as “Black Friday.”

They spend the day celebrating family, togetherness and love around a table of turkey, stuffing and pie, make their way to the living room to watch a bit of football and then head off to camp overnight outside their local Best Buy or Walmart to storm the f loor with no regard to the well-being of anyone else — mere hours after unbuttoning the button of their pants to relieve the pressure on their gut after Thanksgiving dinner.

This year they didn’t even have to camp, as many big-box stores were cracking their doors at midnight to take advantage of the unquenchable greed of their patrons.

They might not have had to stay overnight to be at the front of the line — and therefore have the best opportunity to get trampled from behind — but they did have to protect themselves from the even-more-than-usual zeal of some.

I awaited word on the damage and mayhem that comes every year at this time, and was yet somehow surprised when reports came out of a middle-aged woman wielding pepper spray against someone in her dash for an X-Box. And when the smoke cleared, and “Black Friday” came to a close with people safe at home with their new electronics and appliances (those who didn’t have to spend the night in the hospital), I wondered the same

thing I wonder every year.

How can they do that to each other?

I don’t mean the people that are violently reacting to the opportunity to save money on items that they don’t really need — I mean the people who intentionally put them in that situation.

Editor’s Note Mike Davies Editor-in-Chief How can Best Buy (or anyone else) afford to make these things so cheap to cause a mass reaction like this every year?

What’s the usual mark-up on these items every other day?

Wouldn’t it be in everyone’s best interest to lower the price on these things for the rest

of the year so that people wouldn’t have to risk their personal welfare on this one day to save a few bucks? Or even a few times a year?

You can obviously afford it if you can lower them so much once that people lose their sense of humanity.

It’s almost like these places get more joy from witnessing the pandemonium in their store on “Black Friday” than the joy the people who successfully get a good deal on a video game console feel on Christmas day when their child (or spouse) opens their gift.

What else would be the point?

They must get some sick pleasure out of the scene.

I can just picture them overlooking the f loor from some glassed-in room high-fiving each other as people destroy themselves below on their way to the electronics department.

Now I feel bad for waiting for the news expectantly so I could shake my head in dismay.

Maybe next year I won’t.

Ooooh! Maybe next year stores won’t put their customers in that situation in the first place — and will give them decent prices on things more frequently so they don’t feel it necessary to put themselves in harm’s (or pepper-spray-wielding-people’s) way to have a decent Christmas without draining their bank accounts!

Somehow I doubt it though. editorofomega@gmail.com

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November 30, 2011

Do it in the Dark!

TRU dorms accept eco-challenge

“My goal for next year is to get more people committed who are Omega Contributor going to run their own events,” said Douglass.

In the Materials Handling A province-wide eco challenge called Do it in the Dark be- building, students have purchased a bike blender. gan Nov. 8, and ended Nov. 25.

“It’s a direct drive attachment University residence programs across British Columbia partici- on the [bicycle] wheel,” said pated to reduce energy consump- Douglass.

“You can even make smoothtion by taking shorter showers, keeping the heat low and turning ies on the go, just jump on and blend.” off unused lights.

Leif has Both McGill been an instruand Conference mental part of Center resiencouraging dences partook faculty memin the challenge, bers to particihowever it was pate in energy difficult for the conser vation sole challenge challenges. coordinator, “ M c G i l l’s Leif Douglass, energy usage to promote the went way up challenge as because it got widespread as colder and all he had hoped. of McGill’s Douglass doors are outhelped to orgaside entrances nize a sustainso students ability retreat lost way more between TRU heat,” said and UNBC for Douglass. gobeyond, a Competisustainability tion designers initiative, which are looking to ultimately got implement an him interested equation for in the Do it in

next year’s the Dark camcompetition to paign.

“Since I’m —Leif Douglass equalize the outside temjust one person peratures at and there are two residences, I’ve been focus- each university.

Although TRU was not the ing my efforts on the McGill residences,” said Leif Douglass. winning school for 2011, there is “Students are really burnt out always next year to strive for the trophy. right now.

“It’s important to get a critical “It would be nice to do it in a slightly different time frame mass of people engaged,” said Douglass. next year” Anyone that is interested in The challenge is quite new, running for only its second year. helping Leif out for next year’s A pancake breakfast kicked off competition is encouraged to contact him at leifdouglass@ the competition on Nov. 8th.

This year’s participation is gmail.com, or to check out the more focused on personal goals bike blender in the Materials and prizes, whereas last year in- Handling Building. volved group-based initiatives.

Lauren Gagatek

“My goal for next year is to get more people committed who are going to run their own events. ”

Sign up on

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News

Community Calendar -Cactus Jacks Nightclub welcomes Torro Torro -Inter-active Bible Study 9 p.m. to 2 a.m.

Tickets $5 and are and Prayer Time 12:30-1:20 p.m. OM2464 available at Mountain High Pizza and Cactus Lunch bags welcome.

Jacks For more info contact: TRU Chaplain Narayan Saturday, Dec. 3 Mitra 250.371.5940 or -TRU WolfPack Hockey narayanmitra@tru.ca vs. Selkirk -Cactus Jacks Nightclub 11 a.m. Memorial Arena welcomes Sweatshop -Women’s Volleyball Union 5 p.m.

9 p.m. to 2 a.m.

Tournament Capital Tickets $5 and are Center available at Mountain vs Trinity Western High Pizza and Cactus Jacks -Men’s Volleyball Van from Heroes to 6:45 p.m.

Cactus Jacks from 10 Tournament Capital p.m.-1 a.m.

Center vs Trinity Western Friday, Dec. 2 Thursday, Dec. 1

-TRU WolfPack Hockey vs. Selkirk 8 p.m. Memorial Arena -Women’s Volleyball 6 pm Tournament Capital Center vs Trinity Western -Men’s Volleyball 7:45 p.m.

Tournament Capital Center vs Trinity Western

5

The Omega · Volume 21, Issue 13

Life & Community Know your community Amy Berard

Omega Contributor If you need a study break during final exams, a great idea is to volunteer in the community.

It is your chance to get off campus, meet some new people, and add an extra-curricular activity to your resume.

A number of organizations are looking for students to get involved and interact within the community.

PIT Stop is a free community meal program that runs every Sunday at Kamloops United Church.

You can work on your master chef skills by preparing and serving dinner for people in need.

Call 250-374-5196 if you would like to sign up to help out for a Sunday.

Christmas Amalgamated is a chance for you to put hampers together for low-income families.

From Dec. 12 onwards you can

head out to Brock anytime between 10 and 3 p.m.

Call 250-376-0777 for more information.

The Salvation Army could always use outgoing, happy and friendly people to work at their Christmas Kettle stations around town.

It is your chance to get to know the Kamloops area better and make lots of connections.

Manage one of their Kettles and raise donations for the community.

Call 250-554-1611 if you would like to take on a Kettle for an afternoon.

Operation Red Nose provides free rides home to people who become a little too tipsy at their holiday party.

You could add experience to your resume by volunteering for their marketing and promotions team.

Maybe you have always wanted to wear a mascot costume?

You can do that too!

And if you are looking for event co-ordination experi-

ence, you can help manage their headquarters for an evening including their entertainment and meals.

If this sounds like you just call 250-320-0650.

The Senior’s Outreach Society would welcome your help in setting up and serving at their Christmas Luncheon on Dec. 14.

The local seniors would love to meet you and appreciate the time you’re giving.

A strong community relies on volunteers who help those in need.

So grab some friends and venture off campus!

There is no better time than the holiday season to collect volunteer hours.

Help out your fellow Kamloopsians by representing TRU and building a stronger community.

Amy Berard is a business student and the TRU campus liaison for United Way. To get connected with the community, email Amy at youth@unitedwaytnc.ca

In case you missed it, Kergin’s got you covered: Things you probably didn’t see happening around you last week Brendan Kergin News Editor Global *Durban. Normally just another foreign city. However, for the next two weeks, it’s front-and-centre in the climate change debate.

With most countries agreeing that humans are responsible for some of the current climate changes and this should be dealt with, the Durban negotiations will try to pick up from the Kyoto Protocol and Copenhagen agreements.

With Canada looking to save face, these talks should be part of the public discourse before New Years. Start talking! *The European Commission, a section of the European Union, is looking at how Facebook collects data on people.

There are concerns about how the social network site is collecting and exploiting what it knows about its users.

While the ruling wouldn’t immediately affect Canadian users, it could have a ripple effect on Facebook’s finances and online privacy in general.

National *Prime Minister Stephen Harper has said that marijuana will not be decriminalized while he is in power.

This announcement came in Vancouver where four former mayors of that city have endorsed the idea that taxation and regulation would be a better course of action than continued criminalization.

Putting pot in the hands of organized crime in a country that smokes its fair share provides shady folks working for dangerous organizations a regular income.

The point being made is that legalizing weed would financially cripple gangs while also taking away a major reason for many of their battles. *Despite budget cuts and popular opinion suggesting that libraries are a thing of the past, recent statistics suggest library usage in Canada is up.

While many other government-run/funded organizations have issues staying up with current trends and technologies, one of the reasons it seems library use is up is due to a multitude of alternatives to books.

CDs, DVDs, e-books and many other easily shared media things are drawing people back to the quietest place in town.

Provincial *A law was upheld in the BC Supreme Court this week.

While this normally isn’t the biggest news, the ruling kept in place Canada’s polygamy law.

It’s an awkward law because while it violates the concept of freedom of religion, it is justified due to the alleged harm caused by the polygamy practiced in Bountiful, BC. A precarious position, this is likely going to continue up the court system. Also caught in the crossfire are other types of polygamous relationships and other legally questionable religious practises. *Your political voice may be digitized. BC’s Chief Electoral Officer Keith Archer is recommending the province test out online voting in an effort to increase participation.

You remember that voting thing last week? Kamloops had about 30% voter turnout. The lowest participation came from the 18-24 year-olds. That’s TRU’s main demographic.

Thanks to this apathy, alternative methods are being looked at to increase participation in democracy. However, critics worry about hacking, bugs and other technologybased issues.

Local *City council is being torn apart in letters to the editor for something they almost did.

To be fair, that almost thing was more than a little daft.

A motion was put forth to ask to slash $1 billion of the CBC’s $1.2 billion subsidy to go towards water management.

Not only is CBC trying to open a station here and asking for councils support, the CBC is not at all part of municipal jurisdiction. Fans of the national broadcaster have unleashed a bit of public forum fury - an for good reason. *The raid and closure of the Canadian Safe Cannabis Society (CSCS) has led some to worry about the safety of those seeking legal, medicinal marijuana in Kamloops.

While there are those legally permitted to buy pot for medical issues, the supply of legal weed is often limited.

Compassion societies such as the CSCS work as a gobetween in a grey legal area, supplying cannabis products when legal programs fail.

Because they fill a gap in the medical system, courts often allow them to continue their work despite breaking the law.

With the closure of the CSCS store in Kamloops, those seeking a legal remedy may be forced to find alternative sources — sources which often include or at least facilitate ties to organized crime.

“Where were you when...?” This violence against women in our sociis a common question we ask each ety, and to work with others to take other about those touchstone mo- actions in my community to prevent ments that may define a generation gender-based violence.

December 6 is the National Day or that provide an opportunity to share common reactions to a signifi- of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women. cant event.

In Canada, it is the pivotal day in For me, these include the shooting of John Lennon, Nelson Man- the sixteen days of activism against dela walking out of prison, the fall gender violence (Nov. 25 to Dec. 10).

There is an event of the Berlin Wall, at St. Andrew’s on the Oklahoma City the Square from 10 bombing and 9-11. a.m. to 2 p.m. that But the one that I day. carry most closely The TRUSU is the murder of 14 Women’s Collecstudents at École tive is holding a Polytechnique on commemorative Dec. 6, 1989. My event a few days memories of that earlier on Dec. 1 day include a panin the Independent icked call from my Centre at 7 p.m. parents to see how Christine Adam I encourage all I was doing.

Dean of Students students to take “Me?” I asked.

I was studying in Ottawa – a two- time at one of those events to reflect hour drive from a random shooting and commit to take action that enin Montreal. I didn’t feel at risk. I sures that we all can live lives free of violence. was perplexed.

If you are a victim of violence, But my parents were worried there is help here at TRU and in the about how I was doing as a woman. community.

Did I feel targeted?

Contact the Counselling DepartDid I feel safe? ment in 1631 Old Main (250-828And then I got it.

The 14 students had been killed 5023) as a first step. because they were women. This was Christine Adam, TRU’s dean of not random. They had been targeted students, writes a weekly column on because of their gender.

Dec. 6, 1989 is more than a touch- topics of interest to TRU students.

You can find her in person in 1631 stone moment for me.

It is the date on which I committed Old Main and follow her on Twitter to increase my own understanding of @trudeanstudents

From the dean’s desk

10 ways you know the holidays are coming: Lauren Gagatek Omega Contributor

1. You have a calendar conveniently placed in front of your desk, counting down the days until the end of the semester. You’ve also used a bright red sharpie to signify each day that has passed.

2. Instead of the same old Justin Beiber study playlist, you’ve switched your iTunes playlist to include Silent Night and What Child is This. Yes, you’ve probably downloaded some sweet Dubstep remixes of the old classics.

3. The annoying kid who sits behind you in econ told you to stop humming Little Drummer Boy during the lecture, even though your beat-boxing techniques have been improving.

4. Your landlord threatened to evict you after you chopped down a tree from the front yard.

Let’s be honest, you needed somewhere to put your wrapped boxes of Triscuits and KD that are acting as presents.

5. Festive lights have turned your room into a colourful lair that makes studying much more enjoyable.

6. When you sit down to study, you find yourself frequenting Amazon and eBay, searching for gifts, but mostly just shopping for yourself.

7. Obviously you’ve abandoned your exercise plan and begin to indulge in various holiday sweets: cookies, candies, chocolates, marshmellowy brownies covered in fudge, gingerbread houses…You’re planning on eating everything in sight, regardless of calorie content.

8. When you call your parents, at some point in the conversation, you begin to relay to them just what kind of gift you’d like, often suggesting multiple expensive items as options.

9. Your study ambition has dropped from a five to a two.

You spend most of your time lying in bed complaining or watching the Food Network.

10. You may or may not frequent Starbucks between one to five times per day to grab a cheery holiday cup and gaze longingly at the holiday merchandise.

Sit back and relax. It’s not exam season, it’s holiday season.

6

November 30, 2011

Arts & Entertainment

A world of art at the TRU gallery TRU fine arts student curates first of likely many exhibitions Cory Hope

Arts and Entertainment Editor When visual arts student Stephanie Stevenson-Patsula moved to Kamloops from Edmonton, she was struck by how few people she met who were actually from the area.

Her fascination with other people’s stories were manifested in the TRU gallery last week as she curated Traverse.

The show featured works from both students and faculty from multiple disciplines, and conveyed “how movement has made up who they are.”

Submissions to the gallery included sculptural works, photography, video footage, poetry, paintings, an artist book, and a collection of postcards and letters sent from around the world.

The diversity of material created an atmosphere in the gallery that was intended to make it relatable for anyone walking in to have a look around.

“When you’re curating a show,” Stevenson-Patsula said, “you don’t want it to be about you.

“You want it to be about the artwork and the artists’ ideas.”

On short notice, Stevenson-Patsula was able to find over a dozen pieces relating to her topic, along with enthusiastic submissions.

“I didn’t even have to ask the adventure/ tourism students,” she said.

From the journey to the top of the Wapta glacier in B.C., to Taipei, to Edmonton, to the streets of Lisbon and to the mailbox, Traverse documents the yearning for travel and adventure felt by all of the artists involved.

Two sculptural pieces featured at the show were constructed from backpacks.

The first one was used by two generations of the artist’s family to travel around Europe, and is now adorned with an impressive canvas wingspan.

The second backpack was constructed to be a functional underwater pinhole camera.

I asked about the camera, and StevensonPatsula has assured me that it works and has been used during several projects by Donald Lawrence, the piece’s creator.

This was Stevenson-Patsula’s first opportunity to curate the TRU gallery, and she was ecstatic with the response Traverse received. She made a short speech on opening night, brief ly explaining the concept of the show, thanking the artists and the guests, and then introduced an artist, who read their poem, featured in the gallery.

The rest of the night was spent mingling, with guests who were enjoying both the art and the snacks that come as part of gallery opening celebrations.

What’s that? Free food? Yeah, you heard it right here. Or read it, anyway.

If you needed any more incentive to come out to the art gallery and see what’s going on in TRU’s arts community, that should probably be the clincher. Meats and cheeses and crackers, and some form of beverage (sometimes there’s free wine!).

Traverse was an inspiring show that celebrated the desire of people not only to travel, but to create art to document that travel.

Whether it was a professional artist creating elaborate tools to form a specific function, or an adventurer at the top of a mountain taking a photo of a friend to say “we were here,” adventure is a part of most of us and this show proves it.

PHOTO BY CORY HOPE Stephanie Stevenson-Patsula admires her collected work at the TRU Art Gallery during her curatorial debut Traverse, which runs until Dec. 2

The Sword cuts through Kamloops Cory Hope

Arts and Entertainment Editor That’s one hell of a tour bus.

Mix two parts Black Sabbath with six parts youth serum, and The Sword can be summoned.

I heard lots of excitement surrounding The Sword coming to Kamloops, with friends from Vancouver to Ottawa telling me that I must not, under any circumstances, miss this show.

“But I’ve got homework,” I said.

“Do it later.” was their advice.

“But it’s a school night,” I pleaded.

“How old are you?” they chided.

I couldn’t take the taunting, so I got myself out to Pogue Mahone for the show, and I can’t express how glad I am that I did.

Oh, wait. Yes, I can. That’s my job here, isn’t it?

The Sword hails from Austin, Texas, and is currently on a North American tour partly headlining and partly opening for metal legend Kyuss.

Their stop in Kamloops brought out so many excited fans I felt like I was trying to keep my finger on the pulse of the community by babysitting their pets while they went out on the town.

I’m up to speed now, though.

The Sword is awesome.

The Sword is that kind of metal band that gets people wrapped

up into the metal scene, building an appreciation for metal in the same way that Black Sabbath does, or Run DMC or the Beastie Boys do for hip-hop.

Opening up the night with “Archeron/Unearthing the Orb” off their third studio album Warp Riders, The Sword kept a solid yet intense pace for the duration of their set.

Having been previously unexposed to their music save for what I found on the band’s MySpace page, I was surprised by how much I got into it as they were playing.

It is one of the signs of a great band that they sound good enough live to suck you into the music.

When they were done their set, and the crowd was chanting “One more song!” in chorus, they were good enough to come back out for a one-song encore.

The opening acts were local band and metal-show regulars Shithawk and Black Cobra from San Francisco, the latter of whom has been on tour with The Sword.

Black Cobra is a two-piece band who manage to produce enough noise to sound as if they had four extra members playing with them behind the curtain.

While certainly roughersounding than the headliners, they were an impressive sight as they cracked out song after song with an intensity that while not

PHOTO BY CORY HOPE The Sword puts a good-size gash in Kamloops with their show at Pogue Mahone Nov. 24.

necessarily my bag, was certainly worth watching just to see it done.

The one frustration I had during the show was that when it was over, I found out there wasn’t a merchandise table for The Sword.

I was eager to pick up some of their vinyl, and I was told their

merchandise was held up at the Canadian border.

I have no idea why this happens, and I know it happens to Canadian bands going on tour to the US as well.

On top of being frustrating for the fans, bands make a good chunk of their money on the road from selling their merch,

and cutting them off from this source of income is detrimental to promoting music and the arts in general.

I guess I’ll have to order it online, and support them after the fact.

7

The Omega · Volume 21, Issue 13

Arts & Entertainment iPods and headphones or records and gramophones?

Andrew Guilbert

The Concordian (Concordia) MONTREAL (CUP) — In the last decade or so, the way we experience music has changed drastically.

Many now walk around with a miniature library of music in their back pockets, downloading music directly to their computers for a fraction of what they used to pay in stores.

Still others have gone retro, touting the virtues of vinyl as the superior method of music enjoyment.

But what makes a person prefer one to the other?

Twenty-four-year-old Cory Pereira, a.k.a. DJ Pinky Pereira, plays shows all over the world, but currently calls Montreal home.

Though he began his career on vinyl, he’s since moved on to using nothing but digital music for his shows.

“I know [DJs] that still appreciate vinyl, but the majority of them are digital now, including all the international DJs I know; they’re the ones who finally convinced me to switch to digital.”

He explains that digital has overtaken vinyl in its once iconic role at the turntables mainly for the ease of use and practicality the format allows.

“What made me change was cost efficiency and the amount of stuff I used to have to carry for gigs.

“Now it’s so much easier; I can travel with my laptop, my two con-

trollers and my soundcard in the same bag and that’s it.”

The other advantage, he says, is the sheer amount of music he now has access to during his shows.

“On my laptop right now, I have maybe 200 GBs of music. On vinyl, I’d only have three, maybe four, songs per record,” he says.

For some, the prospect of having thousands of songs at your fingertips is exactly what turns them away from mp3s.

“There [are] pros and cons to having the ability to access everything,” says Sam Mullen, a McGill graduate in music performance.

“If you have endless choices, it destroys your focus. I’d much rather listen to an album over and over again so I can hear the fine details of it.”

Mullen has been a record collector for years but admits that his stance on musical mediums is not for everyone. “I wouldn’t say limiting yourself is an answer for everybody — but for someone who wants to study music seriously, or wants to get to know music, it can definitely help to limit your choices.”

As a musician himself, he says that those limits are what fuel creativity and bring about new variations of music.

He believes that when you take away limitations “it leads to monotony everywhere.”

Sylvain Plourde, a professor of digital audio at Montreal’s Trebas Institute, argues that new technol-

ogy has allowed casual listeners to experience unprecedented sound quality.

“Back in the day with Walkmans, you had to deal with the horrible background noise on tapes, so mp3s are better in that sense.”

That lack of “background noise” is also what he sees as the big advantage that digital recording has over the analog process vinyl uses.

Plourde says to imagine the recording of analog vinyl as Morse code: “When you make S.O.S. ‘dot dot dot’ sounds, they can come out at the other end of the line as ‘dot dot’ and a lot of garbled noise,” whereas the digital method is like “directly writing that S.O.S. on paper,” it has no chance of getting garbled in transit like analog would.

As for the idea that vinyl sounds better?

“You’ve got to be careful not to compare apples and oranges,” says Plourde.

“If you take a $100 hi-fi record and put it on a $50,000 turntable, of course it’s going to sound better than an mp3 file.

“But take a cheap record and play it next to a song in [the audio editing software] Pro Tools, and you’ll get the same result.”

That being said, Plourde believes there will always be differences in sound quality throughout mediums for those with sharp enough ears to hear it.

And for the rest of us?

“Ignorance is bliss,” he laughs.

The Omega

would like to congratulate our sports editor Nathan Crosby on his Mcreath Scholarship for Excellence in Sports Journalism, our copy editor Larkin Schmiedl on his Journalism Faculty Scholarship and everyone who was awarded part of the $466,861 given out at the TRU Foundation Awards ceremony on Nov. 24.

WE NEED YOU! International Days 2012 is looking for volunteers for the February 6– 10 event.

It requires dozens of people doing a variety of jobs to pull of an event of this magnitude—an event amounting to more than 70 presentations, events and displays, lectures on global issues, an international tea exhibition, food fair, fashion show, and flag parade.

Among the speakers confirmed: Gwynne Dyer and Charles Moore.

Still not convinced? Still wondering what’s in it for me? Here are some perks: • • • •

Meal vouchers A volunteer T-shirt Certificate of recognition Expanding cultural knowledge

•

Helping create a globally-minded campus

• • • • •

Can count towards some program courses Adding volunteer experience to the resume Hours can be put towards a Global Competency Distinction Networking opportunities aplenty Making new friends

Email internationaldays@tru.ca to Apply today!

Visit www.tru.ca/internationaldays for information

Disappearing letters.

You might notice that our sign at the corner of Summit Dr. and McGill Rd. is slowly losing letters. This is not funny. If you have any information on this, please contact school administration or Crimestoppers. If this is you, grow up and have some respect for your campus and community.

PHOTO BY BRIAN WALLIN

8

November 30, 2011

Arts & Entertainment Put Community back in, coach!

Yeah...because A mid-season schedule shuffle ruffles feathers cable sucks know watches it, we’re not actually helping. We’re just enjoying it The Aquinian (St. Thomas) for free.”

In the era of downloading teleFREDERICTON (CUP) — vision shows and movies for free, American television network NBC it’s possible to forget that networks announced its new mid-season rely heavily on ratings to decide 2012 schedule this month, prewhere shows fit in daily line-ups miering four new series. One show as well as which ones rein particular, however, was main on air. missing from the line-up.

Cameron McLean, a Community, a series STU graduate, said while created by Dan Harmon he loves the series, its reabout a group of students cycled cheerful message at a community college in could also explain why it’s fictional Greendale, Coloon the chopping block. rado, was pulled from its “I feel that a lot of the regular time slot on Thursepisodes have a climax day. 30 Rock, starring Tina based upon inter-group Fey, will return to the line conflict that’s resolved by up to take its place. a feel-good speech deliv“I was extremely disered by [main character] appointed when I learned

—Marc Basque Jeff about camaraderie and that Community wasn’t why they should stay the put on the proposed sched“If they shelve Community, I’ll course, stick together [and] hang ule for last year. NBC is making a big mistake,” said third-year St. go on a spree of some sort,” he out more,” he said.

“I think it’s a really great show Thomas University student Liam said. “Punching spree, perhaps.”

But while Community receives regardless, but the really great epiMcGuire in an email.

But McGuire isn’t the only view- high praise from critics as well as sodes are becoming fewer and furviewers, its ratings don’t match up ther between.” er upset by the news.

NBC hasn’t yet released an ofUse of the hashtags “#savecom- with its seemingly adoring viewerficial statement about the show’s munity” and “#savegreendale” ship.

Ratings website TV By the shelving, but are allegedly vowexploded on Twitter when the announcement was released, and Numbers showed last Thursday’s ing that the series hasn’t been canmultiple Facebook pages have been Community viewership dwarfed celled and will resume at a later created to protest the network’s de- by CBS’s The Big Bang Theory — date.

The last episode before the hiathe latter had over 15 million viewcision.

McGuire said the hiatus is un- ers, while NBC’s comedy had just tus will be the show’s Christmas episode. fortunate because of the current under four million.

McGuire said he hopes that teleMarc Basque, a student at York state of NBC’s comedies.

Besides Parks and Recreation, University in Toronto, said the vision doesn’t lose another quality he said, the comedy pool is shal- problem lies in the way our genera- show like Fox’s Arrested Development. tion accesses media. low.

“Sometimes I wish shows would “Everyone who watches Com“I really hope that NBC changes its mind, because this show is too munity (i.e. young people) doesn’t stay on the air because of quality damn good to just give up on. [On] have cable,” he said in a Facebook and not be solely based on viewership,” he said. what other show would you have post.

“If it gets cancelled, I will have “We’re the streaming and downOmar from The Wire as a teacher, no reason to watch NBC on ThursChevy Chase being a racist old loading generation.

“So even though everyone you day nights.” man who owns a moist-towelette

Julia Whalen

empire and ‘Troy and Abed in the Morning?’” McGuire said, referring to the characters’ fake morning talk show.

STU student Mark Loggie said it’s a real shame that a show with such earnest humour might be cancelled.

“...we’re not actually helping. We’re just enjoying it for free. ”

Cable providers need to find a more user-friendly system Mike Davies Editor-in-Chief

“Yes please, I would like 140 channels that I will never watch so that I can have the nine that I might — and the five that I will for sure.”

Ridiculous?

Yup, it sure is.

But that’s the way that the cable companies are still running their system, and it will have to change for them to stay viable in the market.

I have refused to pay for cable for years.

And I will continue to do so until I can pay for what I want to watch without having to pay for what I don’t.

Those awesome “package” deals that come from the cable (or satellite, I’m not being discriminatory) providers are a joke.

And those providers spend millions (if not billions) of dollars a year on watching and shutting down users (read as criminals) trying to share their product with the world (because they can’t do it properly) — rather than encouraging the support of the shows that people want to watch and gauging their response based on the actual numbers of people that are watching them across all media.

I will pay for cable.

Commercials and all.

As soon as they let me purchase the shows that I want to watch — or even the channels that I might have an interest in — in a package deal.

I don’t want to have to have even 30 channels that I know I will never watch in my cable “deal.”

How’s this?

I will pay you $5 per channel I want access to — per month.

And if you grant me that I will likely pay more per month than the current premium cable package — considering I actually like about nine or ten channels — and….and….and…as soon as you do that, you’ll see where people want to put their entertainment budget, and maybe (though I kind of doubt it) you’ll have less people watching TMZ at 2:00 in the morning because they actually get to choose what they want available without having to pay a whole lot of money for bullshit that they hate.

I hate you, cable (and satellite) companies, and until you figure out a way to charge me for what I want to watch, I’ll suffer through the annoyance of finding it for free online.

T hat sou nds li ke a sh it t y busi ness model, t houg h, a nd I t h i n k it’s obvious t hat you’re i n t rouble.

9

The Omega · Volume 21, Issue 13

Life & Community

A program you Let’s end the cycle of violence don’t know about...but should Dear Editor,

Cory Hope

Arts and Entertainment Editor There is a program at TRU that you are likely unfamiliar with.

It doesn’t get the same coverage of the prestigious new law school, or participate in fundgenerating research projects that might get noticed all over the world, but it is sociologically important and we should be proud that we offer it.

The Education and Skills Training certificate program offers students with cognitive disabilities knowledge about future employment opportunities and training in a specific area.

The core classes of the program are workplace communication, workplace employability, computer literacy, health and safety and job search and maintenance.

The courses are designed to give students knowledge that will assist them in finding jobs — from learning the habits and qualities of an effective employee to learning about “nutrition, wellness, back safety, fire safety, and Workplace Hazardous Materials Information Systems.”

The courses take place, according to their website, in an “interactive setting aimed to allow the concepts covered in class to be integrated into their present lifestyle.”

Students also learn how to handle job interviews and how to find and use agencies that can help them get jobs. In short, the students enrolled in these courses are given lessons that everybody should learn before entering the job market.

That’s just the beginning, though. After completing the core courses, students are given training in various elements relevant to the fields they are training for, which currently include automotive, retail and kitchen.

Students train in both written and verbal communication as well as math. The math courses cover fractions, percentages and how to deal with money.

The job-specific training comes next — first with theory and moving on to practical lessons.

For kitchen jobs the first theory course deals with food, and emphasis is placed on safety and sanitary procedures.

The second course tests their understanding before they move onto practical training on “clean-up, sanitation, basic food preparation, and use of kitchen equipment and machines.”

Again, safety in the workplace is stressed.

This practical training takes place in the CAC cafeteria, “where they will learn to follow directions, organize work and work as a team member,” according to their website.

The second practical course gets them to the point of being ready to work in a commercial kitchen.

The automotive students learn how to use hand tools, and learn the basic functions of an automobile during the theory courses, with more in-depth details and more complicated tools taking place during the second half.

Safety is again stressed.

Their practical training is designed to introduce them to a workshop environment, which teaches them safety while simultaneously helping to “remove the fear of the unknown.”

Tasks such as tire service and oil changes are a major part of the time the students will spend in the shop. The followup course continues to enhance their proficiency with the tasks they have already learned, and more maintenance procedures are introduced.

Retail students focus on customer relations’ skills, and organizational skills including time management, numeric and alphabetic filing. Students learn how to count money accurately and count back change, teaching them to work effectively with the public.

Their practical training happens at Bookies, where they learn merchandising, cleaning, inventory, shelving, and gain experience with a Point of Sale Service computer system.

With the Education and Skills Training Certificate Program, TRU is helping those with cognitive disabilities to become productive members of society, enabling them to further their own educations and lead their lives with more confidence and independence.

We should all take pride in having this program offered at our school, and be proud of every student taking part in it.

Dec. 6 was established in 1991 by the Parliament of Canada as the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women.

It is a day that commemorates the anniversary of the 1989 Montreal Massacre.

On this date 22 years ago, a young man walked with a gun into the L’École Polytechnique at the University of Montreal, the largest engineering school in Canada. He separated the men from the women and proceeded to shoot and kill 14 female engineering students. He targeted women because, as he said in a letter, women had stolen his engineering seat and taken his rightful place in higher education.

His actions were mainly targeted at keeping the female engineering students from accessing higher education and seeking professional employment and competitive wages.

Basically, he wanted to send a message that women should be “kept in their place.”

Although the violent actions of this young man were extreme and rare, there is still a belief by some that women are taking men’s rightful place in some spheres of life.

This tragic event reminds us that women have not always been able to access the rights and privileges that men take for granted, such as securing higher education and professional employment.

Women have historically been kept out of many educational programs, and there were, as recently as 1960s, quotas that excluded women from many professions.

These rules have changed with time, but the behaviour and beliefs have been slower to catch up.

Today, women are still striving for gender equity in areas such as higher education and high-level administrative positions within the workplace. As Canadians, we need to make sure we continue to move forward on equality for all.

Furthermore, the right to education is a global issue that we must all be working towards. Although we have made progress, we have not yet reached the goal of allowing women and men to be, and to do, whatever they choose in life.

Dec. 6 is a Canadian day of mourning for all girls and women who have met with violence in their lives, including violent deaths.

Violence is on a continuum, and sexual harassment and other common forms of everyday violence, including racism and homophobia, is a daily reality in many of our schools and communities.

We need to remember that ending violence is about ending the daily acts of violence, such as school and work place bullying and other forms of harassment. On December 6th, please take a moment to remember all the violence that is perpetuated against women, youth and others, here in Canada and around the world.

Ending violence is a collective action that can start with each of us, today. Please make a commitment to do whatever you can to eliminate all forms of violence!

Trish Archibald, Natalie Clark and Gail Morong on behalf of the TRUFA Status of Women Committee.

Are they seriously going to table that bill on that day?

Julia Marks

Omega contributor Dec. 6 marks the anniversary of the tragic deaths of 14 women murdered at l’Ecole Polytechnique in Montreal in 1989.

Marc Lepin entered the engineering school with a semi-automatic weapon.

After the shooting, the 1995 Firearms Act, Bill C-68, which included both licensing and registration provisions for all gun owners in Canada was brought forth.

It also created stricter regulations on gun control, including mandatory registration of firearms.

It is possible that on the 22nd anniversary of the massacre the Harper government will propose Bill C-19 to House of Commons to scrap the long gun registry.

“Cancelling the gun registry is a regression on our rights,” said Senator Mobina Jaffer at a recent speaking engagement at TRU. “Womens rights are universal rights.”

If passed, Canadians will no longer need to register rifles or shotguns.

The Conservative Party views the gun-registry law as having no positive effect on Canada and as a burden to tax payers according to the Conservative Party website.

“Out of compassion for all those who, like me, have

felt in their flesh burn from gunshot powder, could you, Conservative members of parliament, stop pretending that long guns are not a crime problem?” said Nathalie Provost, an engineer who was shot at the Ecole Polytechnique told the Toronto Star.

Currently, to legally obtain a long gun in Canada, the potential owner must apply for a permit and the gun itself must be registered.

Permits must be renewed every five years.

Statistics Canada showed that gun registry information is used over 17,000 times per day.

Police services across the country have access to this registry, so that guns involved in crimes can be traced.

Also, police officers can check the registry in advance to responding to a call at a residence.

They then know whether or not to expect a gun and take appropriate precautions.

Handguns have been regulated since the 1930s, and are covered by different legislation.

Stats Canada statistics show a decrease in fire arm and long gun homicides over the last three decades.

TRU’s Women’s Collective will be holding a rose vigil in memory of the women of the Ecole Polytechnique shooting December 1st at 7 p.m. in the Independent Centre. Women’s Collective representative Olivia Skagos helped organize the event.

“We’re holding it to recognize where we were and where we are now,” said Skagos.

10

November 30, 2011

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1. Accord 6. Flub 10. Certain reptiles 14. Birthplace of Columbus 15. Parrot 16. Islamic division 17. Mary 20. “Mârouf” baritone 21. ____ pendens 22. Gives up 23. Turn to crime?

26. “ ______ Row” 27. Treat for the idle rich?

29. Singer Lenya 30. “Encore!”

31. Harmony 32. Andy Warhol painting 35. Jack and Jill 39. Affranchise 40. Clip 41. Whimpered 42. Beth’s preceder 44. Misrepresents 45. Presidential favors 48. Traction aid 49. 2002 film 50. Baby’s first word, maybe 51. Bow 54. Little Jack Horner 58. Cave 59. ___-Altaic languages

60. Fiats 61. Meets 62. Gerbils, maybe 63. Senior member Down 1. Eastern pooh-bah 2. Buffet 3. In a snit 4. “Sesame Street” watcher 5. Cry of disgust 6. Arctic 7. Wood sorrels 8. Law man?

9. Clock for the pocket 10. Radiant 11. Treat rudely, in a way 12. Pied one 13. Pert 18. Flamboyance 19. Lean to one side 24. Final notice 25. 007 26. Drawing medium 27. Reprimand, with “out” 28. Arch type 29. “Blue Velvet” director 31. Trades 32. Aggressiveness 33. Away from the wind 34. Goes with mobile 36. Cut surgically

37. Cutlass 38. Sinuous dance 42. Conforms 43. Balcony section 44. Alliance 45. Metallic sounds 46. Mites 47. Move, as a plant 48. Barbecue fuel 50. Beach nuisance 52. Ending for disc53. __berry 55. Fury 56. Like some socks 57. Duran Duran girl of song

last week’s answers W O R D

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Seriously, if you see things in the paper that are out of the ordinary or wrong in any way, bring it to our attention. We might have done it on purpose and you’ll win something....or we might not have, and you’ll win something anyway.

11

The Omega · Volume 21, Issue 13

Sports Men’s basketball get to .500 Nathan Crosby Sports Editor The men’s basketball team is at .500 going into the Christmas break after two home wins over Regina and Brandon.

Coming back from a winless weekend in Victoria, the ‘Pack’s offence exploded at the Tournament Capital Centre beating the Brandon Bobcats 91-84 on Nov. 25 and the Regina Cougars 110-100 on Nov. 26.

“We looked at our schedule and I thought if we could be 4-4 or 5-3 that would be great,” Wolf Pack head coach Scott Clark said.

“Championships and playoff spots aren’t won in this half of the year, but they can be lost. In order to do any damage, you have to play good basketball in January and February. That is what we are looking to do here. We have to tighten up a lot of things. If we can get better here and there we could have a chance.”

Regina came in with a bad mood having lost the previous night to the then winless UBCO Heat in Kelowna and was able to put up 100 points on the shaky ‘Pack defence despite losing. The Cougars could only muster two leads the entire game as TRU’s offence was too much for Regina.

Cougars head coach James Hillis had a stressful night trying to motivate his defence to stop Wolf Pack forward Justin King’s 35-point performance.

Chas Kok’s best point pro-

duction of the night came in the first and fourth quarters, and he finished with 22 points.

Player of the game went to Kevin Pribilsky, who finished with 15 points. More importantly, Pribilsky fed the audience some Big Macs. There was a promo that if the ‘Pack could score 100 points, everyone in the audience would get a free Big Mac. It was Pribilsky who made an easy lay-up to put the ‘Pack up 101-91 in the fourth, getting the TCC roaring in a cheer.

“We did OK on the boards at times but sometimes we had mental lapses,” Pribilsky said.

“We are happy to be four and four but there is a lot of work to do.”

The game against Brandon saw the Bobcats outscoring the ‘Pack in the second and third quarters, led by Bobcats guard Emerick Ravier’s 19-point game. TRU was led by Chas Kok, who finished with 22 points and 14 rebounds, Akeem Pierre who had 15 points and 14 rebounds and Canada West’s leading scorer Justin King who finished with 36 points and likely garnered some consideration for CIS player of the week.

“Justin is an unbelievable player, I’m super excited to have him on my team and he’s given us such a boost,” WolfPack forward Chas Kok said.

“Obviously he can score like crazy and he is a good basketball player, he is a really good guy,” coach Clark said.

Volleyball WOMEN (3-5) Nov. 25 @ Winnipeg

Sports Editor

The final weekend of the first half of the women’s basketball year had the best and worst teams in the Canada West visit the Tournament Capital Centre.

The WolfPack head into the Christmas break with a 3-5 record after beating the winless Brandon Bobcats 114-58 on Nov. 25 and losing to the undefeated Regina Cougars 83-78 on Nov. 26.

Regina is ranked number one in the country but TRU came three missed shots away from upsetting the Cougars.

“It’s exciting to know we can play with the number one team in the country,”WolfPack rookie guard Taiysa Worsfold said.

“We missed some key shots but that will come with time, I’m excited for the second half of the season, we’ll see what we can work on over Christmas.”

Coming into the weekend, the WolfPack were ranked number one in the Canada West in free throw percentage and it showed.

Against Regina, forward Diane Schuetze was a perfect 12 for 12 from the line and forward Tracy Kocs went eight for eight as well.

Schuetze finished with 21 points and 11 rebounds and Kocs had another solid outing with 17 points.

TRU was down by eight at the half and came out of the dressing room with two quick baskets from Jorri Duxburry who finished with nine points and nine rebounds, despite fouling

L (3-2)

(Osadchuk; 14/35 K)

Nov. 26 @ Winnipeg

L (3-0)

(Frayne; 7/24 K)

Chas Kok baffles the Bobcats with a move through the middle and ends up with the dunk of the season...so far.

PHOTO BY CORY HOPE

Rookie Zach Usherwood made an impact for the ‘Pack coming off the bench and contributed seven points.

The ‘Pack held off the ‘Cats in a close game to win by seven.

The play of the weekend came when Akeem Pierre made a simple bounce pass to Chas Kok. Kok cut through the middle of the key and

made the slam dunk of the night with 2:20 left in the first half.

“We’re a young group of guys and I’m pretty excited we are .500,” Kok said.

“Kev’s [Pribilsky] playing well. Will, who’s been struggling, played well. Rouault, off an injury, is playing well and things are clicking for us right now.”

Women’s basketball have historic night Nathan Crosby

WolfPack Prowl

out of the game midway through the fourth.

The last quarter had a handful of opportunities for TRU to take the lead, but they couldn’t get the ball to sink, including three missed attempts in a row from Schuetze.

“We have to shoot the ball and rebound better,” WolfPack head coach Scott Reeves said.

“If we did that better, we might have had a chance to win.”

It also seemed every time forward Kaitlyn Widsten came off the bench she was effective, contributing 14 points in 16 minutes of play against Regina. Widsten has been slowly returning to the line-up after tearing her ACL last spring.

The Nov. 25 game against Brandon was an historical night for the ‘Pack; it was the first time the women’s basketball team scored over 100 points since joining the CIS. After a slow start trailing 10-3 to the ‘Cats, coach Reeves tinkered with his starting lineup and it was the last lead Brandon had for the game.

Six ‘Pack players scored in double digits, with guard Jen Ju leading the way with 20 points.

Rookie guard Jade Montgomery was named player of the game and was part of a rookie contingent, including Britney Walton and Sarah Malate, which ate up a lot of court time once the ‘Pack got far ahead on the scoreboard.

Montgomery had 19 points off the bench and forward Tracy Kocs was also a game changer with her 12 points.

Despite putting up 114 points, TRU was undisciplined with 21 personal fouls.

MEN (2-8) Nov. 25 @ Winnipeg

L (3-0)

(Tricarico; 8/12 K)

Nov. 26 @ Winnipeg W (3-1) (Saddlemyer; 17/29 K, 3 ACE)

Basketball MEN (4-4) Nov. 25 vs. Brandon

W 91-84

(King; 36 PTS, Pierre; 15 PTS, 14 RB) Nov. 26 vs. Regina

W 110-100

(King; 35 PTS, Kok; 22 PTS) WOMEN (3-5) Nov. 25 vs. Brandon W 114-58 (Montgomery; 19 PTS, Ju; 20 PTS) Nov. 26 vs. Regina L 83-78 (Schuetze; 21 PTS, 11 RB)

Rookie Jade Mongomery burns the defender on her way to the hoop.

PHOTO BY CORY HOPE

Forward Kailey Colonna fouled out of the game in the fourth and Michelle Dimond came close with four fouls.

“We talk about that. I am hoping that our girls would be a little more professional about why they are here,” WolfPack head coach Scott Reeves said.

“This is the short half of the season, we actually have 10 games left.

“This is nothing. If they are tired right now they shouldn’t be playing at this level.”

Hockey - (5-3-2) Nov. 26 @ Trinity Western W 6-1 (Wall; 34 SV on 35 SH, Schulz; 1G, 2A)

12

November 30, 2011

TRUSU Membership Advisory December 6

th

Memorial

Each year, Canadians gather to remember the 14 university students who were killed on Dec. 6th,1989 because of they were women in a male dominated program.

Join members of your campus and community on December 1st and take a stand against genderbased violence.

December 1st, 7pm Independent Centre Refreshments provided

Stand Up Against Violence

Post-Secondary Education Fact:

In 2007, students

in BC won the elimination of tuition fees on adult basic education This Week:

• Dec 6th Memorial • Council Meeting Check out the Events Calendar at trusu.ca for details!

Log on to trusu.ca and get connected!

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