March 6, 2013

VOLUME 22 ISSUE 21

MARCH 6, 2013

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TRU transition struggles

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Health survey coming your way 5

Womens soccer prepares to go CIS

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Celebration of Aboriginal generations

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TRU’s Independent Student Newspaper

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March 6, 2013

Feature Research or teaching?

Initial and on-going challenges continue as TRU transitions into a research university Samantha Garvey

The school evolved from University category in which TRU’s funding falls College of the Cariboo (UCC) in 2005. short of other research universities. The According to McKay, one of the reasons major research grant councils in Canada Andrew McKay remembers sitting the school wanted to change into full are Natural Sciences and Engineering in class as a University of British university status was to introduce Research Council of Canada (NSERC) Columbia (UBC) freshman. The lecture graduate programs. Master of science and Social Sciences and Humanities hall was large, he said, with capacity for in environmental science, master Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) 400 students. The professor told each of of education and master of business and they are responsible for major them to look to his left and to his right administration were subsequently contributions to research in Canada.

In a study by the University of Ottawa and know that only one of three people added.

However, TRU graduate studies get published in August 2012, TRU ranked would make it to graduation.

It was a daunting sentiment and not an no extra funding from the provincial 55th out of 55 Canadian universities in uncommon one. McKay did make it to government. McKay said this was funding from NSERC in sciences and graduation, as well as further graduate agreed to between the government engineering research. In social sciences studies and now serves as TRU’s and university when creating the new and humanities, the school ranked 46th out of 55 in funding from SSHRC. These associate vice president of research and school.

“It’s a base grant to fund all direct, low ranks in funding were indicative of graduate studies.

UBC is a research university. There indirect and support costs of the school,” the rankings for research output (54 in sciences and humanities and 36 in social are four in total in B.C., including he said.

Even through a declaration of sciences and humanities).

University of Victoria (UVic), Simon Royal Roads University in Victoria is one of the six members The school may have declared intent Fraser University (SFU) and University intending to become a research of the Research Universities Council of B.C., which TRU joined of Northern British Columbia (UNBC). university, there is no immediate boost to increase its research status, but There are five other universities that are of government funding to match the government funding, grant funding and in October 2011.

—PHOTO COURTESY MUHAMMAD GHOURI/WIKIMEDIA COMMONS research output are major challenges to classified as teaching universities. TRU research school level.

“TRU is starting out and doing well change focus to overlook the university’s Although the level of funding from the overcome. is not classified as either. The school Research Universities Council of in those competitions,” Littler said. commitment to teaching. is not even included in the province’s B.C. government has increased by 20.7 Faculty at the school also came from a “TRU is a relatively new university and University Act, which outlines and per cent since 2005, this is still far less B.C. In October 2011, TRU joined the you don’t go into it… at first place. It’s research-void environment. defines the purposes and procedures of than that of other research universities “There is untapped research capacity in the province. (From 2001 to 2011, Research Universities Council of B.C. a gradual process. You’ve got to start B.C.’s universities. in many faculty,” McKay said, noting TRU’s technical classification UBC’s government funding increased (RUCBC), a group that consists of the somewhere.” that many might feel uninvolved in is a special-purpose university and approximately 77 per cent, UNBC’s four research universities in the province research but the school has the ability to The research university transition its legislation is the Thompson approximately 58 per cent and Royal and the other special-purpose university, change that. So far, the institution set up Rivers University Act. The defining Roads University approximately 93 per Royal Roads (specialized in applied and The Thompson Rivers University Act an internal research fund for faculty of characteristic of the institution is its cent.) TRU is funded by taxpayer dollars professional fields). Membership in the Centre for B.C. Open Learning, the in accordance with teaching universities RUCBC has no bearing on provincial was written to include graduate studies $150,000 provided in $3,000 to $5,000 in addition to baccalaureate, post- grants. flagship of courses and degrees offered in B.C., according to a spokesperson government funding.

Because the school evolved from an secondary and adultin the online format. Up until 2011, with the ministry of basic education. Under undergrad-only institution, there is a lot of TRU has had no identity in the research/ advanced education. its purpose it also states research being done at the undergraduate teaching division of B.C. universities. In the 2010-11 school that the school is “to level. Garrett-Petts said TRU has been But in October 2011, TRU joined year, TRU received undertake and maintain successful in incorporating research the Research Universities Council of a p p r o x i m a t e l y research and scholarly into undergraduate programs. The British Columbia (RUCBC), a council $8,800 per student, school has set aside $160,000 to fund activities...” that supports and collaborates with which is similar In a 2005 meta- undergraduate research projects through research universities to improve the to that of teaching analysis by the Canadian its UREAP program (Undergraduate quality accessibility and coordination universities in the Council for Learning, Student Research Experience Award of university education. Through this, province (Capilano a review of 30 articles Program).

TRU declared its intentions of its future University received “By the time you get to third and on the subject found a approximately course.

—Will Garrett-Petts, associate VP of research, TRU common observation fourth year you should be engaged in But what does this mean for students? $6,700, University among quantitative, research,” Garrett-Petts said.

Does becoming a research university of the Fraser Valley, According to the same meta-analysis, “The government decides on qualitative, editorials, reviews and mean TRU undergrads will sit in a 400- approximately $7,937). Research undergraduate students who participate seat lecture hall and expect two of every universities UBC and UNBC each allocation of funding based on (the reports: “Institutions appear to have realized with faculty in research are more likely three students to flunk out? Probably received more than $13,000 per student school’s) program mix,” said RUCBC that there is, at least in perception if to pursue graduate studies. vice-president Blair Littler. not, but the transition to a research in the 2010-11 school year.

“If you’ve got a medical school, not fact, too much emphasis placed on According to Will Garrett-Petts, university will not be a simple or easy Going forward associate vice-president of research your funding will be higher than just research, which may be detrimental to one. and graduate studies at TRU, the undergraduate programs,” he said. undergraduate students’ educational Garrett-Petts said the office of research needs,” the study stated. government grant is altered to add “Research is a different kettle of fish.”

The story up until now Garrett-Petts said this dichotomy and graduate studies is beginning a new What membership in the council approximately $20,000 per graduate TRU is in its infancy as a Canadian student at other research universities. He does provide to TRU is linkages to between teaching and research does strategic research plan over the next university; the institution is still added that TRU has approximately 170 similar universities, better sharing of exist, mostly in large research-intensive nine to 10 months to increase the level information and best practices. For universities, but is not yet a concern to of research done at the university. The developing its identity and future in the graduate students.

The government grant is not the only example, “there’s a committee of VPs TRU, which is much smaller and has a plan will include an examination of what landscape of post-secondary education. kinds of research should be done and of research that meet every six or eight long history of teaching.

“We’re nowhere near that kind of how to balance that with a long-standing weeks. There’s a learning process commitment to teaching. from each institution of what activities scenario,” he said.

He said there are not definitive “It is incumbent upon all of us… to are going on, discussion of granting councils which allows to TRU to better ensure that the learning environment of answers to what the strategic research students does not start to slip,” McKay plan will conclude, but some obvious apply,” Littler said. areas of discussion. One is infrastructure It was TRU that approached the said.

Other findings of the study indicated and what kind of external funding council to join. According to GarrettPetts, this serves as “a public declaration that “faculty believe themselves dutifully to bring in to support new facilities. engaged in their simultaneous roles as Another is which areas to develop of our intention.”

The member schools fund the educators and researchers.” However, it graduate programs for based on what council. Littler estimated that TRU also concluded that “the reward system areas are already established in research contributes approximately $60,000 to at research universities favours research output. Finally, the plan will look at $70,000 per year, made up of a small and publication over teaching” and creating a collaborative research culture base fee and then allocated based on the “the attempts of institutions to change that connects those already conducting research with one another to become curriculum and focus are often met by school’s budget and government grant. mutually supportive. resistance from faculty.”

Despite TRU’s low rankings in Garrett-Petts said he recognizes the Garrett-Petts said there is always funding from granting councils and research output, Littler said he thinks the hesitation with change but he feels the shortfall in graduate studies funding school is doing well in its applications faculty is very supportive. He added that from the government.

Huge lecture halls, like this one at UBC, are common at large “Those are real constraints, but it for a new university. He explained the incentives, rewards and recognition research universities, and some worry TRU is on a path tothat funding from organizations like for faculty based on their teaching doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be involved in merits is an indication that TRU will not research,” he said.

NSERC and SSHRC are competitive. ward that fate. —PHOTO COURTESY LEOBOUDV/WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

Ω Contributor

“By the time you get to third

and fourth year you should be engaged in research.”

ON THE COVER: Flagbearer Ben Gonzales (left) stands with family eagle staff bearers Oly Bent and James Paul during Friday’s grand entry at the 3rd Annual TRU Tiny Tots Powwow. See story page 7 — PHOTO BY SEAN BRADY

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The Omega · Volume 22, Issue 21

THE

MEGA

www.theomega.ca

March 6, 2013

Volume 22, Issue 21

Published since November 27, 1991

editorialstaff EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Mike Davies

Editorial/Opinions Entertainment and responsibility in the coming few weeks, we’ve got you covered

editor@truomega.ca

250-828-5069

@PaperguyDavies NEWS EDITOR

Devan C. Tasa

news@truomega.ca @DCTasa ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR

Brendan Kergin

arts@truomega.ca @roguetowel SPORTS EDITOR

Adam Williams

sports@truomega.ca @AdamWilliams87 ROVING EDITOR

Courtney Dickson

roving@truomega.ca @dicksoncourtney COPY/WEB EDITOR

Taylor Rocca

copy@truomega.ca @manovrboard

omegacontributors Samantha Garvey, Mark Hendricks, Travis Persaud, Sean Brady, Karla Karcioglu, Owen Munro, Michael Potestio

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EDITOR-IN-CHIEF * Mike Davies BUSINESS MGR * VACANT 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.

Editor’s Note Mike Davies Ω Editor-in-Chief Welcome once again, fellow TRUbivores, to The Omega.

I seemingly exhausted my evaluation and assessment juices with my feature-length piece last week in this spot.

Either that or I somehow managed to go a week without seeing the world around me in a negative enough light to respond, because I’ve just decided to update you this week on what you can look forward to (as far as Omega coverage) in this week’s paper and upcoming editions.

To your right you will see an alltoo-rare opinion piece from our news editor, Devan Tasa, disappointed in the amount of female representation in

post-secondary student politics. This is especially relevant as we gear up for another round of elections here on campus in the coming few weeks, so give it a read.

Courtney Dickson has some information regarding an upcoming health survey that you should check out.

You’re likely to have some questions if one of these random surveys shows up in your inbox, because the questions are apparently pretty personal. Filling it out could net you $500, though.

The 17th annual Kamloops Film Festival is previewed back there in the arts and entertainment section. The Omega is one of the event’s sponsors (being the fans of film that we are) and we encourage everyone else who loves that artistic medium to get out and see a few shows while it’s on. (Ps. If you’d like to attend a flick for free, follow us on Twitter @TRU_Omega, because we’ll be giving away tickets throughout the week.)

That film festival will also be getting full-scale coverage over the upcoming two editions of the paper. We’ll be trying to get to every film (and ancillary engagement attached to the event), so watch for that coverage to hopefully be going up online throughout the 10-day event so you can see what you’re missing and convince yourself to get downtown for a show before it’s done.

We are also hoping to get informa-

tion on who is going to be running for the various positions in the upcoming student elections to give you another resource to aid in your decisions regarding electing your representatives when you go to the polls at month’s end (almost — the elections are scheduled for March 25).

Speaking of student elections, will you people please go out and vote in them this year? Better yet, run for a one of the positions — you know those people get paid, right? — so that you can have a direct hand in affecting the change you want to see happen to your campus.

There was only one nominee for each of the students union positions last year, so the option was “this person or try to hold the election again later,” and the voter turnout was atrocious — which is not an encouraging sign for this year’s running — but this year’s TRUSU AGM had the biggest turnout in memory, so maybe a decent number of you will bother to cast a vote this year.

As you start to gear up for the end of the winter 2013 semester (it might not feel like it, but the end is only a few weeks away now), keep your eyes here, because I definitely haven’t revealed the best of what’s to come in the upcoming editions.

We’ll talk again next week, but for now, I have to get back to work. editor@truomega.ca

Slack, shackle or standards?

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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 2012.

Cariboo Student Newspaper Society (Publisher of The Omega) TRU Campus House #4 Box 3010, Kamloops, B.C. V2C 0C8 Phone: 250-372-1272 E-mail: editor@truomega.ca Ad Enquiries: managerofomega@gmail.com

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TRUe Thoughts Taylor Rocca Ω Copy/Web Editor Is it just me or are people generally taking less pride in the things they do these days?

I’m talking about work, school, friendship and just life in general.

I look around my classroom and I see some people being just okay with simply “meeting the minimum requirements” rather than doing their best work.

I look around the workplace and I see people being okay with simply “meeting quotas” rather than doing their best work.

I can testify that this is happening, because in some instances, I am one of those people. I know on a few occasions this year I have said to myself, “You know what, it isn’t my best work, but it will have to do.”

Why does this seem to be a growing trend?

Is it that our generation is lazier? Is it that our generation is more apathetic? Is it that our generation doesn’t take its responsibilities as seriously?

More often than not I find myself frustrated, both with myself and those around me, for simply putting in the minimum required effort.

So who (or what) is to blame for the seemingly increased slack efforts these days?

Most days I would say to you, “People aren’t held accountable often enough these days,” or, “People just don’t care about anything anymore because there is

little to no incentive to strive to do your best.”

But the more I think about those two statements, the more I realize they aren’t necessarily true all the time. I certainly know most students in most programs are held accountable by grading systems.

If you don’t put in a respectable effort, you aren’t going to get a respectable grade. That alone should keep people accountable and give them incentive. Two birds with one stone, you might say.

Unfortunately, you sometimes have to wonder if the grading system is even enough to keep people accountable or give them incentive.

At the end of the day, unless you plan on going to graduate school, once you, the stellar 4.0-GPA student that you are, receives your expensive piece of paper, you look exactly the same on that piece of paper as the 2.3-GPA student who “did the minimum requirement.”

Heck, now that I think about it even more, check out the lacking effort from The Omega’s own editor-in-chief, Mr. Mike Davies.

Right above this piece you’re reading, our reliable and fearless leader has penned an eye-opening editorial piece summarizing the stories that you are about to read on the coming pages. Talk about tough work.

Still, being a full-time student who works and has numerous extra-curricu-

lar activities to help fill out my resume, I got thinking a little bit deeper about this (mostly because I was trying to make myself feel better about my sometimes less-than inspiring efforts).

According to Robert Ballingall, PhD candidate in political science at the University of Toronto, “Recent studies have found a causal relationship between higher post-secondary tuitions and student employment rates, particularly since 1990 – a period in which average tuitions in Canada have risen faster than inflation. Research also shows a negative relationship between higher student employment and academic performance.”

Take a look at the numbers posted above. It’s no wonder students are overwhelmed and left trying to accomplish as much adequate work rather than quality work. Any other means is almost unachievable for the average student with student loans and increasing tuition.

So after all my frustration and disappointment in the slouching efforts of my generation, perhaps I should be more frustrated with the shackles that have been forced upon us as the generation riding off into the sunset leaves its successors at the bottom of a deep and difficult hole.

Then again, it could just be human nature to be adequate if adequate is all that society requires. copy@truomega.ca

Time to fix TRUSU’s gender imbalance Devan C. Tasa Ω News Editor

For those following student politics, the past year has been great for taking action to ensure underrepresented groups like the LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered, queer and questioning) community and graduate students have a voice at the table.

But there’s one group that’s underrepresented in TRUSU’s halls of power – yet that group is the majority on campus.

Approximately 55 per cent of the on-campus population is women. Yet only 27 per cent of TRUSU’s elected council – three out of 11 positions – is female.

When one looks at the executive, the top four positions of the students union, the number of women becomes zero.

The numbers are similar for student representatives on the senate and board of governors. On the senate, a woman holds only one of the four positions. On the board, the number is once again zero.

There is a way to solve this problem. On Monday, the twoweek nomination period to run for a position on the students union in March 25 and 26’s election began.

It goes without saying that if there are going to be more women representatives on TRUSU council more women have to run.

(As an aside, hopefully more people run period – last year’s election only saw one person run for each position.)

Why should there be more women active in student politics? There are some issues that aren’t as noticeable or important to somebody that doesn’t belong in a certain group simply because they don’t have the same types of experiences.

For instance, as a young Caucasian male, I have little fear of walking down a Kamloops street after dark. Yet quite a few different women have told me that they do experience that fear.

I think the same type of thing can happen in student politics.

There could be entire issues that aren’t being addressed in the proper manner not out of malice, but because the council as it is currently composed simply just doesn’t think about them.

Looking at students unions at other B.C. public universities shows that it’s possible to do better. We are doing way better than the B.C. Institute of Technology Student Association, where there’s only one woman on an 11-member council. At most of the other students unions where information was available, the percentage of women ranged from 20 to 40 per cent.

However, the students unions of the University of Victoria, University of Northern B.C., Capilano University and Vancouver Island University have more than 55 per cent women.

That’s why I’m hoping to see more women run in these elections – and see six or seven of them win on TRUSU’s expanded 13-member council.

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March 6, 2013

News Beverage industry, TRUSU discuss plastic bottles Devan C. Tasa Ω News Editor

The students union wants plastic bottles to be banned on campus, while the bottling industry wants them to remain.

TRUSU and the Canadian Beverage Association (CBA) made an oral presentation to the university’s beverage container review chaired by Tom Owen, TRU’s director of sustainability, on Feb. 27 in the students union’s boardroom.

Each presentation discussed at length the plastic polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles used commonly in campus vending machines.

“PET material in these bottles can be easily recycled and reused to create new PET bottles or create other consumer goods,” said Brandon Ashmore, the CBA’s communications co-ordinator. “We believe any sort of ban or restriction against plastic beverage containers would be unproductive in reaching our shared goal of increasing recycling rates at TRU – and across Canada – and improve environmental sustainability.”

Ashmore told the review that there was a well-established system that was effective in recovering PET bottles for recycling. According to the 2011 annual report of Encorp Pacific, a non-profit that manages beverage container recycling, 75.8 per cent of all PET bottles are recovered.

He added that PET bottles are light, take up less room than other containers and are hard to break.

“This means you can have more bottles per truck and less spoilage, reducing greenhouse gas emissions by fitting more containers on the trucks that ship our beverages around,” Ashmore said.

The CBA presentation also compared PET bottles with glass containers and reusable stainless steel water bottles. Ashmore told the review that a PET bottle used 42 per cent less energy to produce than a glass one and that a steel water bottle, when the impacts of production, shipping and dishwashing after every use were calculated, would have to be used 80 times before it produced less carbon dioxide than a PET container.

“A typical PET container, its carbon footprint is about 122 grams of CO2, while a typical stainless steel container has a carbon footprint of 590 grams of CO2,” he said.

Aluminum cans weren’t compared in the presentation.

The students union presentation said petroleum needed to create PET and what happened after the bottle was recycled needed to be considered.

“We are confident that when these impacts are taken into account, TRU will find that disposable plastic containers are less sustainable than other viable options,” said Dylan Rob-

TRUSU elected members Leif Douglass, arts, science and education representative and Dylan Robinson, VP external, present at TRU’s beverage container review oral presentation March 27.

—PHOTO BY DEVAN C. TASA

inson, TRUSU’s vice-president external.

While the students union agrees 75.8 per cent of PET bottles are recovered in recycling, when a new PET bottle is produced, it says less than 30 per cent of it will be made of recycled PET material.

The PET not reused in bottles is used for fibre in clothes, carpets and strapping material.

As for aluminum cans, around

B.C. Generations Project draws nearly 29,000 participants to province’s largest long-term cancer prevention study Vanessa Hawk

The Martlet (UVic) VICTORIA (CUP) — Adults in B.C. have one more month to join nearly 29,000 people who have signed on as participants in the province’s largest longterm cancer prevention study.

The B.C. Cancer Agency began recruitment for the project in 2009 and hopes to include 40,000 adults aged 35 to 69 across B.C. by March 31.

“If you’ve ever considered joining the B.C. Generations Project, now is the time to do so,” said Dr. John Spinelli, B.C. Generations Project principal investigator, in a press release. “By taking a few minutes to join the study online, you can contribute to a healthier future for our province’s children and grandchildren.”

The B.C. Generations Project aims to create a health database for researchers studying causes of cancer and the impact of genetics, environment and lifestyle on developing cancer.

The study asks participants to complete a health and lifestyle questionnaire and to submit blood and urine samples over the course of several years to the nearest LifeLabs medical laboratory.

The B.C. Generations Project represents one of five regions across Canada taking part in the same study in association with the Canadian Partnership for Tomorrow Project, a national cancer control strategy entering its second phase for 2012–2017. As of March 2012, over 200,000 people have joined the study across Canada, and 61 per cent have submitted bio-samples.

The questionnaire, consent form and personal information form take roughly

45 minutes to complete.

Questions cover family and personal medical history, employment and residential information, as well as lifestyle habits like diet, exercise, smoking and drinking.

The B.C. Generations Projects hopes that tracking this information across a significant portion of the population will shed light on why some people develop cancer and other chronic diseases, such as diabetes and heart disease.

Aside from the basic survey and samples, participants can also make appointments to provide more in-depth health information such as bone density and per cent body fat.

Assessment centres have been temporarily set up in cities like Kamloops and Victoria.

Though the project is largely dependent on long-term involvement, participants have the opportunity to withdraw from the program at any time and are asked whether or not the Generations

Project can contact them in the future at each stage.

Age is the only restriction on joining the study; only adults aged 35 to 69 are eligible to take part. For all types of cancer, greatest incidence is seen in adults over the age of 50. Seventy per cent of new cancer diagnoses and 61 per cent of deaths occur among Canadians between the ages of 50 and 79, though the highest proportion of cancer deaths occurs among people over the age of 80.

Cancer is the leading cause of death in Canada, and almost 40 per cent of these fatalities are due to lung and colorectal cancers.

The Canadian Cancer Society estimates that 186,400 new cases of cancer (excluding non-melanoma skin cancer) were diagnosed in 2012, and the rate of new incidence cases in Canada is rising slowly, particularly among some types of cancer, such as liver and thyroid cancers for both men and women.

50 per cent of the can is made of recycled aluminium. Aluminum is also more likely to be recovered.

According to Encorp Pacific, the recovery rate is 83.9 per cent. For glass, the recovery rate is 93.3 per cent.

“The data is pretty clear, said Nathan Lane, TRUSU’s executive director.

“Plastic is not recycled as much as other materials.”

Besides holding oral presenta-

tions, the TRU review will also be looking at the scientific literature.

After Owen has considered all of the information from the presentations and literature he has gathered, he’ll present his recommendations to the university’s president, vice-presidents and the board of governors by the end of April.

“My job is to get to the truth, not anything else,” Owen told both sides.

We gave out tickets to the Kamloops Film Festival last week via Twitter.

More prizes to come, so you should probably follow us.

@TRU_Omega

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5

The Omega · Volume 22, Issue 21

News

National College Health Assessment comes to TRU

Courtney Dickson Ω Roving Editor

The American College Health Association (ACHA) will be emailing 5,000 TRU students, asking them to complete the National College Health Assessment (NCHA) on March 11.

The email that will appear in students’ inboxes will be from the address NCHA-WEB@acha.org.

Chelsea Corsi, wellness coordinator, wants to ensure students the email will be safe to open.

Results from the survey will be analyzed and compiled into a report by the ACHA and sent back to TRU. In order to ensure that students’ information will be kept confidential, the IT department teamed up with wellness and counselling to create 5,000 fake email addresses that the surveys will be sent through. This way, personal information (personal email address and names) will not be attached to the surveys. This means that the American government will not be able to access personal information about participants.

No one will be able to see who said what.

Corsi had to seek ethics approval from the TRU research ethics board to distribute the survey due to the private and personal nature of some questions.

The NCHA is broad. Questions about mental health, exer-

cise, nutrition, sexual practices, alcohol and drug use and what demographics students belong to appear in the survey. Corsi said there is even a question about whether a student has been a victim of stalking. For a sample of the NCHA visit achancha.org.

The goal of the survey is to get a representative random sample of various student demographics from different TRU campuses about their overall health, so the university can have a better idea of what’s happening on campus.

Corsi is a member of the Canadian Organization of University and College Health (COUCH).

At the June 2011 annual general meeting for COUCH, they asked as many Canadian institutions as possible to take part in the survey.

The wellness centre and counselling services hope at least 900 students will participate.

“If we don’t have that, we don’t have enough information,” Corsi said.

According to Corsi, the NCHA has never been done at TRU. The survey can be filled out until March 31 and there will be two reminders sent to chosen students during the 20 days. The survey will only take between 20 to 30 minutes to complete.

“It’s a very important 20 minutes to us,” Corsi said.

As a bonus to filling out the survey, each student that participates will be entered into a draw to win a prize of $500 in cash.

International Intonation

Printing a car, rats communicating telepathically and aid to Syrian rebels from the U.S. Mark Hendricks Ω Contributor

Printing a car Imagine being able to press a button, leave and then come back to a complete car. That’s exactly what is happening at Kor Ecologic, owned by engineer Jim Kor. Kor’s new car, the Urbee 2, is a hybrid car that is created using 3-D printers. The entire process takes 2,500 hours of printing time but is fully automated.

Once the production process starts there is nothing to do but wait as the printers fabricate the car with computerlike precision and with fewer individual parts.

By having full control over the thickness and combining what typically are multi-part components like a dashboard into one piece, Kor Ecologic is able to reduce weight while maintaining strength.

Kor plans on taking his new prototype on a trip from San Francisco to New York on only 38 litres of gas. That’s the equivalent of driving from Vancouver to Montreal on less than a tank of gas.

Where you can find out more: www.wired.com Rodent telepathy Duke University scientists led by neuroscientist Miguel Nicolelis have electronically connected

the brains of two rats, allowing them to sense what the other is thinking.

The experiment used two rats that were in separate rooms.

When a light went on, the rats were able to press a lever to get food. The catch was the light would only turn on in one of the rooms.

sent electronically to the other rat.

This was also attempted over longer distances – North Carolina to Brazil – and other than the signals taking longer to be sent over the Internet, the exact same result happened.

When one rat saw the light, the other knew.

The experiment had a success rate of 85 per cent.

Where you can find out more: www.popularmechanics. com U.S. giving aid to Syrian rebels

— IMAGE COURTESY CHRISTIAN

FISCHER / WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

By linking the brains of these two rats, when the lights went on in one rat’s room, the second rat was able to sense this, press his corresponding lever and get food.

This works because the rats have electrodes implanted in their motor cortices, so when one rat sees the light, it triggers certain neurons. That signal is then

Rebels in Syria are currently engaging President Bashar alAssad’s forces. The rebels have fought every step of the way and now they can count on one thing they didn’t have before: U.S. aid.

The U.S. government has pledged $60 million in non-lethal aid, which includes medical supplies and MRE (Meal, Ready-to-Eat) rations.

Another $60 million will also be given to aid the anti-Assad coalition in providing basic services and training so the rebels can play an active role in the country’s governance after Assad is removed from power.

This aid is in addition to nonlethal aid provided by Britain that includes vehicles, bulletproof vests and night-vision equipment.

Where you can find out more: www.nytimes.com

Energy-efficient phones could assist Canada’s aging population Amara Janssens

The Peak (Simon Fraser)

Fill out your health assessment survey and be entered to win $500. —PHOTO COURTESY ALEX E. PROIMOS/FLICKR CREATIVE COMMONS

Puzzle of the Week Puzzle of the Week #17 – Bombs

“The secret is to take a bomb on board with you – the odds of there being two bombs on a plane are astronomical.” – Ted Frank Of course, this is fallacious reasoning. Why is it fallacious?

This contest is sponsored by the Mathematics and Statistics department. The full-time student with the best score at the end of the year will win a prize.

Please submit your solution (not just the answer but also why) by noon next Wednesday to Gene Wirchenko <genew@telus.net>. Submissions by others are also welcome. The solution will be posted the Wednesday after that in the Math Centre (HL210A). Come visit: we are friendly.

BURNABY (CUP) — Alexandra Fedorova, an associate professor in computing science at Simon Fraser University, along with her team, have been awarded $442,000 over the next three years from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) to help lead the way in smartphone development.

According to Fedorova’s proposal, smart phones are becoming increasingly available to the world, “with over one billion users projected by 2013.” She has observed that mobile technology is becoming very powerful and could have larger societal benefits.

Fedorova’s team has recognized that the use of smartphones in the health care sector could reduce costs, as the phones could be used to automate certain tasks that employees would otherwise conduct.

“The advantage of this device is it can do a lot of things, like measure your heart rate, or detect if you’re falling, if you’re unstable, if you’re off balance, it can help you navigate,” Fedorova said, “and it’s with you all the time.”

Having smartphones with highly sensitive applications for health care providers could help navigate patient’s homes and automatically take records.

In order for these applications to work in this capacity, smartphones need to be operational for 24 hours a day, not the nine hours at best they last today.

To combat this challenge, her team will study where smartphones are expending their power and energy.

“The main culprits right now are radio, wi-fi, or cellular radio, and cpu and screen,” Fedorova said. “We want to understand how to manage these components better so they don’t use as much energy as they are using now.”

Fedorova further explained that the algorithms that decide when an application can “go in a low power state” are not very well tuned. It proves challenging for her team to finely tune these algorithms, as certain applications need to stay on longer than others.

According to Fedorova, the algorithms would need to be “very dynamic,” and must allow for the “cooperation

between the system and the application.”

Another area of development her team will research with the grant is how to allow for “fall detection algorithms” into smartphones. This would help Canada’s aging population who are most likely to fall.

These fall detection algorithms would use the phone’s accelerometer to perceive if the user has or is falling. The phone could then automatically call for emergency or medical services to assist.

However, this would require reworking the current systems used in smartphones, to detect slight accelerometer variations.

Through the redesigning of the system, a myriad of potential health care applications could be developed.

—PHOTO BY MAR K BURNHAM/THE PEAK

6

March 6, 2013

MARCH7-16,2013 7-16,2013 MARCH

KAMLOOPS KAMLOOPS KAMLOOPS FILM FILM FILM FESTIVAL FESTIVAL FESTIVAL

MARCH 7-16,2013

at the Paramount Theatre

at the Paramount Theatre

at the Paramount Theatre

“SmASHed” iS l o w - b U d g e T, R e A l i S T i c , w e l l- A c T e d , A n d S H R e w d .” philadelphia daily news

“THiS iS A SeRioUS movie AboUT dRinking bUT noT A d e p R e S S i n g o n e .”

WatcH trailer

Roger ebert

Only

Smashed

$5 per ticket Special TRU student price only available at the TRUSU desk A l s o a v a i l a b l e a t m o v i e m a r t , b o o k l a n d & a t t h e d o o r (n o S t u d e n t d i s c o u n t)

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7

The Omega · Volume 22, Issue 21

Life & Community

Sean Brady Ω Contributor

Three Aboriginal TRU students were honoured at the third-annual traditional powwow March 1 in the TRU gymnasium.

Graduating students Carl Archie, Nicole Cahoose and Renee Narcisse walked together around the gym’s open space as the host drum circle played an honour song to congratulate the students for what they had accomplished.

Each student was also given an eagle feather as a gift.

“Take a good look at them and always help them out wherever they go,” TRU Gathering Place elder Mike Arnouse told the crowd.

“It’s very significant. I’ve never received an eagle feather,” Archie said.

“It’s been a journey I never expected.”

Archie said when he first arrived at the university in 2007, there wasn’t much Aboriginal programming available. But after he attended the Pathways to Aboriginal Success conference that year, he saw things begin to change.

Now, Archie sits as the first aboriginal student elected to the TRU board of governors and as he prepares to leave the university, he said Aboriginal students are much more visible on campus.

“We’ve tripled Aboriginal gathering space and doubled staff,” he said.

With 38 First Nations bands in the university’s catchment area, Archie emphasized that it’s extremely important to have powwows on campus.

During Friday night’s events, band royalty led the grand entry as elders, flag bearers, tiny tots and chiefs danced into the gymnasium.

“Honouring Our Tiny Tots” marks the second time the traditional powwow has been held at TRU. The night’s theme was calling attention to the next generation of Aboriginal peoples.

“It is such a great honour to see the young people dancing out there,” elder Evelyn Camille told the crowd as the tiny tots, clad in traditional regalia, danced in the center of the gymnasium. “I thank the committee and TRU for giving me this honour.”

“Everything we do, especially within our Aboriginal community, is for our younger generations,” Cahoose said. “We’re trying to make things better and easier. Always.”

Three years ago, Tk’emlúps elder Gerald Carter had a vision of the tiny tots dancing at TRU. With the help of Shelly Johnson’s decolonizing social work class, non-Aboriginal students partnered up with Aboriginal students to make the powwow a reality.

“Whenever there’s a traditional powwow, we commit to hosting it for four years,” Cahoose said. After next year’s powwow, another family or group will have to take on organizing duties in order for it to continue.

“It’s a reciprocity sort of thing,” she said.

The powwow was organized by a group of about 30 Aboriginal students with the additional support of some TRU staff.

theomega.ca

TRU traditional powwow honours tiny tots and TRU grads

Atlan Anthony dances at the TRU traditional powwow.

—PHOTO BY SEAN BR ADY

Promise rings as ambiguous as romantic for many students Kayla Byrne

The Aquinian (St. Thomas) FREDERICTON (CUP) — Last winter, Aly MacIsaac and her boyfriend, Matt Estey, jokingly told friends about a glittering promise ring that they were about to pick up. With mock wide-eyed excitement MacIsaac gushed about taking her relationship to the next level.

Their friends believed the tall tale and responded largely with an uncomfortable ‘Oh, really?’ or ‘How nice’.

The couple then burst into laughter.

“I didn’t even know promise rings were still a thing outside of high school,” said MacIsaac. “There would always be an over-excited girl skipping around the hallways showing off her new ring. I just assumed most girls begged their boyfriends and he probably begged his parents to foot the bill.”

In the usual promise ring fables, after a young girl is presented with the sparkler, she goes home and later that night might change her MSN instant messaging display name to ‘I love you babe- one month, two weeks, six days…always and forever, no matter what!’ This is usually followed by a line of hearts and squiggles. A week later, the same girl would be single.

“That was just never my thing. I can for sure see why people see promise rings as corny or dramatic,” said MacIsaac.

The concept of the promise ring has been around for centuries. The ring can have different meanings from religion, purity, faithfulness or the most common, the pre-engagement promise.

In biblical times, a lot of marriages were arranged. The not-yet couples would be betrothed and would promise to marry their chosen partner when the time came. The girl would usually

wear a ring as a physical symbol of the agreement she made years before.

In Shakespeare’s era of prose, the promise ring was used as an ‘I owe you’. A man who couldn’t yet afford a life with wife and child would give his future bride a ring to show his intentions.

Last month, MacIsaac and Estey celebrated their one-year anniversary over dinner.

“I have no idea if I’ll marry my girlfriend, but I did get her a promise ring.”

—Megan Hayes

After a stomach full of fettuccini, MacIsaac received her own promise ring — a simple band with tiny diamonds.

“For someone who had never wanted a promise ring I was pretty excited when I opened that box, but then I was like jeepers, what does this mean?” said MacIsaac.

“I thought it would be a good way to show my love for her and that I’m serious about our relationship,” said

Estey.

“This isn’t high school anymore and we’re adults so it’s time to start making those big decisions.”

For this smitten couple the promise ring holds a traditional meaning.

“I know I want to marry this girl, but I also know we’re still young and can’t afford all the ties that come with marriage. I bought the ring to show her that I’m willing to wait until we are both in the right position to go ahead with our future together,” said Estey.

In the 1990s, somewhere between grunge and boy-bands, the promise ring became modern. It’s not all about engagement parties and wedding vows. People started handing out rings for a slew of reasons. I promise to take care of you, I promise to be your friend, I promise to quit smoking, and the list goes on.

“I have no idea if I’ll marry my girlfriend, but I did get her a promise ring,” said Megan Hayes.

Hayes was living in a world of partying and unfaithful relationships when she met her girlfriend.

“She knew my track record when she started dating me and was feeling insecure when we started to get serious. I wanted to prove to her that my partying days were over so, I got her a ring as a promise to stay faithful,” said Hayes.

“I just picked out a ring that I thought she would like. Turns out it’s an engagement ring, but we both know it doesn’t hold that kind of seriousness.”

There is no set style for a promise ring. Some are simple, inexpensive trinkets while others drip with diamonds.

Allie Christensen recently received her own ring. It wasn’t bought at a store and it didn’t cost hundreds

—PHOTO COURTESY JIM HAR PER /WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

of dollars. All it took was digging around the utensil drawer. Her boyfriend melted down a spoon and made a unique ring alternative.

“I think because it was handmade I give it a lot more of a symbolic meaning. If it was just a ring someone gave me, I’d treasure it and all that, but I feel more of a connection to this one because he put the thought and the time in and made it for me,” said Christensen.

The stigma that promise rings are only for couples who are thinking about marriage has shifted and alternatives are constantly cropping up.

The Claddagh ring is a traditional Irish ring given as a token of love, friendship, and loyalty.

“My boyfriend and I are very close friends. I feel that the tradition behind the Claddagh ring really embodies the bond that we share,” said Holly Cairns.

“I feel that giving a promise ring is a bit more serious than giving a Claddagh ring. I think a promise ring is a symbol of one’s dedication and promise to stand by a significant other,” said Cairns.

“Personally, I’ve always thought of a promise ring as something that is a step below an engagement ring, therefore something that should be done in a very serious relationship in which you can see yourself with this person for a long time.”

The definition of a promise ring has changed a lot from its start in biblical times. Today it is interpreted by each couple who chooses to partake in the tradition.

A promise ‘ring’ doesn’t even have to be something that lays embedded in the creases of your finger. It could be a necklace, a song, or spoken word poem.

Today’s promise ring is just a symbol between two people who care for one another.

8

March 6, 2013

Arts & Entertainment

Bowie returns!

Dave Selsky

The Griff (Grant MacEwan) EDMONTON (CUP) — “Where Are We Now?” is David Bowie’s first offering of fresh material since 2003’s Reality, and it is a most welcome offering indeed.

The single was released on Bowie’s 66th birthday (Jan. 8), along with the announcement that a full-length album, The Next Day, would be released in March.

I, for one (but I can’t be alone in this), am just thrilled that Bowie is not only happy and healthy, but, perhaps most importantly, still making music.

The song is a ballad (no attempt at an explosive comeback — very classy), both sad and not, and includes a scattering of memories of the artist’s time Berlin.

Bowie spent a few years in Berlin (1976-79, to be more precise), and made three records (Low, Heroes and Lodger) absolutely flapped on coke and booze in the company of friends — Iggy Pop, Lou Reed and Tony Visconti, among others — who posed as a sort of lost generation for the seventies.

Though the track may, at first, appear to be a personal narrative, the particular elements of Berlin that Bowie chooses to represent betray a much bigger agenda than mere personal reflection.

Potzdamer Platz, for starters, is a public square in the center of Berlin, a former crossing point in Berlin, that was only redeveloped after the fall of the wall.

BöseBrücke (literally “Evil Bridge”) was another checkpoint in the Berlin Wall, and the crossing that Bowie refers to in the third verse happened on Nov. 8 or 9, 1989 — months before the wall itself came down.

The lifting of travel restrictions from

East Berlin, the subsequent exodus of some 20,000 people and the final demolition of the physical wall itself in October 1990, bracket one of the most significant social changes in recent history.

Like “Heroes” before it, “Where Are We Now?” is about Berlin, indeed, but a Berlin that is simultaneously deeply personal and deeply affected by its political climate.

On which side of the wall do the lovers stand in “Heroes”? Where exactly is the shame? It could go either way, really, and the appearance of KaDeWe in “Where Are We Now?” seems to indicate an added socio-economic (on top of the socio-political) thread moving through the song. KaDeWe, the second largest department store in Europe (only Harrods of London is bigger), was symbolic of West Germany’s wealth and prosperity, in stark contrast to the poverty of the East.

But is KaDeWe a shameful emblem of garish capitalism (were the lovers in “Heroes” East Berliners?), or does it represent, for Bowie, a light to shine against the shameful dark of communism? This might be going over the deep end a bit, but it can’t be denied that Bowie has ever been a social commentator, even if I did geek out a little just now.

So where are we now? It’s not entirely clear, which, like the first two-thirds of the track, starts to make us think sad thoughts, mostly, until the almost melancholy retrospection gives way to perhaps the most positively uplifting words this man has ever sung to us: “As long as there’s sun/ as long as there’s rain/ as long as there’s fire/ as long as there’s me/ as long as there’s you.”

Hearing that, I get that wherever we are now, so long as these remain, that maybe where we are, or where we’re headed, won’t be so bad.

Canadian Music Corner Travis Persaud

Ω Resident Music Guy Recording a debut album is a precarious feat. The enormity of a band’s first sonic impression can have rather large implications for the future of a band.

That in mind, scrambling to record an album in a week might not seem like the best way to introduce talent to the world.

Yet, as with everything, there are exceptions to the rule. With certain method to the haste, indie rockers Close Talker have slid nicely into this exception clause.

With the February 2013 debut release, Timbers, Close Talker has the

Brendan Kergin

Ω Arts & Entertainment Editor Celtic punk may not be revered by critics and hipsters, but what it lacks in acclaim it makes up for in enthusiasm. It’s the underdog with heart, the try-hard that succeeds in the end, the working-class hero of musical genres.

The Stanfields are exactly that.

From Halifax, the group is one of the most recent arrivals on punk’s national stage. Started in 2008, the band had a decent showing with the single “Ship to Shore” in 2011 off of the album Vanguard of the Young and Reckless, a mandolin-fueled, bass-

steam to be the next heavy hitting band out of Saskatchewan. Timbers is a very smooth listen, oozing a maturity that would seem well beyond the scope of a debut album, let alone one recorded in a week. With two of the band members attending school outside of their home province, the band had the pressure of recording over the holidays.

Playing with a weathered patience and a collection of welldirected guitar hooks, Timbers is a very listenable album that will find resonance with fans of Half Moon Run. Front to back, Timbers is an impressive feat deserving at least a short list nod from the Polaris Prize jury. heavy punk rock barnburner.

From there the band continued mixing working class themes, hard rock, some punk attitude and spiced it with Celtic flavours. This mix has sent The Stanfields to the front of the genre.

A new album hit the streets in September and continues the favourite themes; it’s titled Death and Taxes.

While classic rock has normally been the genre of choice with plumbers, construction workers and similar careers, this quintet make an argument for leaving their predecessors behind with music relevant to today’s hard worker.

Not sold on that? Try out “Dirtiest Drunk (In the History of Liquor).”

Kamloops Film Festival returns for 17th engagement Jessica Duncan Ω Contributor

The 17th annual Kamloops Film Festival kicks off this upcoming Thursday, March 7 at the Paramount Theatre (503 Victoria St.).

This year’s festival features 14 promising films. Among the wellknown titles, like The Perks of Being a Wallflower and Amour, lay some productions from closer to home, like Camera Shy, which is based in Vancouver.

TRU professor and Kamloops Film Society board member Mark Wallin stressed the importance of local events bringing the community closer together.

“The film festival tends to focus on the downtown core and downtown businesses,” Wallin said. “There has been a lot of academic research in the role events play in the life of a community, the more external recognition an event has the more house proud the community becomes.”

When asked what films he is anticipating he said size matters.

“The smaller production films I’m very excited about; Blood Pressure, a small scale Toronto thriller, I’m also excited about Camera Shy which is a Vancouver-based film. We’ve had very good success with provinciallymade films in the past; smaller production films mark us as unique,” he said.

The festival starts off strong with the Best Canadian Feature from the 2012 Hot Docs festival, The World Before Her. Director Nisha Pahuja will be introducing her film and attending the filmmakers’ roundtable during the opening party at Hotel 540 (540 Victoria St.) afterwards.

The World Before Her explores two utterly divergent paths chosen by young Indian girls. The film shows a group of girls striving to become Miss India while another group are trained as Hindu Nationalists.

On Saturday, March 9 at 3 p.m., Camera Shy, directed by Vancouver’s very own Mark Sawers, will be shown. This dark comedy depicts the life of a Vancouver city councilman who begins to be terrorized by an unidentified cameraman. Sawers and his movie crew will be attending the screening.

Blood Pressure, directed by Winnipeg’s Sean Garrity, will be shown on Saturday, March 16 at 3 p.m. A woman in her early forties receives

—IMAGE COURTESY STORYLINE ENTERTAINMENT

an anonymous letter and decides to pursue a relationship with the author.

A couple films showing at this year’s fest have gained recognition worldwide.

Amour, directed by Michael Haneke, is a French drama-romance and will be shown on Monday, March 11 at 7 p.m. It tells the story of retired Parisian music teachers Georges (Jean-Lous Trintignant) and Anne (Emmanuelle Riva). After Anne has a stroke their marriage changes significantly. Amour received the Palme d’Or (for best film) at the 65th Cannes Film Festival.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower is a coming-of-age film starring Harry Potter’s Emma Watson. This film is an adaptation of the 1999 novel of the same name. Stephen Chbosky wrote and directed Perks, which won Favorite Drama Movie at the 2013 Peoples Choice Awards.

On Saturday, March 16 at 7 p.m., the festival will be closing with Boy, a 2010 comedy-drama based in 1984 New Zealand. Boy, the highest-grossing New Zealand film of all time tells the story of 11-year-old Alamein or “Boy.” Boy is fascinated with Michael Jackson and dreams about his jail-ridden father breaking out and taking him to see Jackson live.

The closing party for the Kamloops Film Festival will be taking place at the Noble Pig Brewhouse (640 Victoria St.) following the last showing of Boy. Kelowna musician Devon Coyote will be performing.

This year’s festival features a wide variety of film, assuring there will be something for everyone. Tickets for this year’s festival are $5 for TRU students and are available at the TRUSU desk.

Bob McDonald, host of CBC’s national science program Quirks and Quarks, speaks to a packed house in the Grand Hall of the Campus Activity Centre March 4. Ending on a hopeful note, Mcdonald touched on many scientific subjects, including the effect of Canadians on their environment. Check out full coverage of the event in next week’s Omega. —PHOTO BY MAR K HENDRICKS

9

The Omega · Volume 22, Issue 21

Arts & Entertainment Songs from the Canadian North with Elisapie Saturn De Los Angeles

Book review: No More Mac ‘n’ Cheese!

The Concordian (Concordia)

MONTREAL (CUP) — Google “Elisapie” and you’ll discover Navvaatara, Inuk and “Life is What You Make It” on the front page. Then you’ll see various names such as Elisapie, Elisapie Isaac and Taima. Confused?

Just call her Elisapie (as in E-leh-suhpee).

“My name is actually Elizabeth,” said the artist. “I have many common names … and it’s really complicated because everybody doesn’t know how to say my name. I don’t wanna change it on my fifteenth album.”

Travelling Love is Elisapie’s latest album. It’s upbeat and pop in flavor and deviates from the dreamy northern folkrock ambience in There Will be Stars.

The album is a creative offspring from a difficult time in her life, and she turned to making music as a kind of therapy that freed her from her inhibitions.

“I was going through a separation, and I was questioning my beliefs in love.

I feel like I was sidetracked and I asked myself what am I going to do with the passionate and spiritual side of me,” she said.

The album represents her state of mind at that time. It aims to tell a story, and it reaches out to listeners who might be going through a difficult time too, as long as they can acknowledge the situation.

“It’s amazing to be able to go [to the studio] and realize right after [recording], you’re not saving a life, you’re making an album. But once it’s done, it’s there. You cannot be in that state of mind all the time. You’re out in the real world [and you have to move on]. Because love is moving constantly and it’s mysterious.”

Salluit is a small Inuit community on Quebec’s far-northern shore. It is your average town — isolated, no technology, tight-knit, according to Elisapie. She grew up as a vocalist for her uncle’s former rock band of the town’s same name

—PHOTO BY K ARLA K ARCIOGLU

Karla Karcioglu Ω Contributor

called Salluit Band. “I sang since I was a little girl … It’s like breathing,” she said. “[My mom] always encouraged me to sing. But I stopped because I don’t see myself seriously doing that.”

Elisapie was a youth counselor before she left the North, did a year of college and got involved with many projects in various mediums, such as film-making.

She spent a year working on a TV production about young people living near the North Pole.

But the beauty of sound is something that preoccupies Elisapie nowadays. When performing live, “It’s not just about the music, it’s what you have to say — how you use your voice and how you’re gonna find a way to make a story.”

She admits that she has a lot of things on her plate right now, but she’s taking

—PHOTO COURTESY R APHAEL OUELLET

it one thing at a time. “I need to learn to say no,” she said.

“I can easily say yes to everything and I can’t do well when I do too much, so I don’t multitask. I wanna do another album; I have leftover creativity, it’s just so liberating for me.”

That liberation continues to allow her to move forward. “It was through Travelling Love that I realized I can write songs, and I’m not doubting that anymore, and I feel so free. I can be myself and say what’s on my mind.”

But for now, she may consider taking a break and go back to film-making. By that time, we’ll know for sure that the next break-out film will be produced and directed by Salluit’s own folk rock superstar.

By that time, we will know how to say her name - Elisapie.

Got a live show or event you’d like to get some traffic to?

“Many young adults of today are better educated than their parents,” said Lise Andreana, author of No More Mac ‘n’ Cheese!: The Real-World Guide to Managing Your Money for 20-Somethings.

“Education takes time. This means that today’s young adult is entering the job market later in life and more often is graduating with student loans and credit card debt.”

As a certified financial planner for more than 15 years, Andreana has helped more than 1,200 clients with their finances. She is a retirement planning expert who graduated from Sheridan College.

Published in 2011, No More Mac ‘n’ Cheese is a valuable book for young adults of any age from high school graduate to university graduate. The book is short and simple but it will help guide readers through the big financial decisions of their twenties.

The book explains to readers to consider finances thoroughly. It discusses the benefits of living at

March event listings Brendan Kergin

Graham Clark w/ Kevin Banner and Joey Jack – March 8 and 9

Prevail will again lead the charge. Well known for their on-stage physicality, these guys are veterans now with hits and new material. Don’t count them out yet.

The Dirty Jersey, show at 8:30 p.m., $10

Slynk w/Nouveau and Hunter – March 21

Ω Arts & Entertainment Editor

listings in the

With a successful podcast called “Stop Podcasting Yourself,” beard painting and some T.V. credits, Graham Clark is all over comedy. Really, he’s all over the place. YouTube and Twitter too. With fellow Vancouverite Kevin Banner and local comedian/CFBX radio host extraordinaire Joey Jack on the bill as well, word from hosts Kammerce Productions is that tickets are going quickly.

first paper of

Acres of Lions w/ Van Damsel – March 16

We print a monthly event

each month (see right).

Email: arts@truomega.ca (Brendan)

home, the reward-to-cost-ratio of post-secondary education, navigating the job market, total compensation, how to set goals, how to budget, calculating net worth, how to begin saving money, the differences between bad debt and good debt, investing, buying a home and how to manage relationship finances.

There are several accompanying exercises found on the book’s CD-ROM. The book helps you consider how money spent in the past and present can dramatically impact your future.

For example, by skipping a $4 latte each day and adding another $1 to those savings, one would be able to save $150 per month. By year 10, at an inf lation rate of two per cent, that saved money would amount to $32,000.

Student loan debt should not exceed half of your future annual income, according to Andreana. If you expect to earn $40,000 annually, you should not borrow more than $20,000 in student loans.

If you are earning $40,000 annually and are able to make monthly payments of $166, it would take you 20 years to pay off $20,000 at an interest rate at eight per cent.

“By establishing goals and developing a long-range strategy to achieve your goals, you will be amazed at the results that can be achieved in one short decade,” Andreana said.

The book is written to accommodate both Canadian and American readers with financial references to resources in both countries.

For an investment of $14.40 at Chapters Indigo, this book has the potential to save you money now that can amount to a small fortune in the future.

Bailey’s Pub, show at 8 p.m., $8 Kamloopsian band Van Damsel is opening for one of Vancouver Island’s favourite pop-indie rock acts. Acres of Lions set lists are full of up-tempo, bouncy, fun songs in the same genre as Hey Ocean! and Said the Whale.

Swollen Members w/Immaculate, James Hughes, DJ Virtue – March 20 Cactus Jacks, doors at 9 p.m., $20 in advance, $25 at the door No, they aren’t dead. They’re back and are bringing the battle-axes with them again. And rappers Mad Child and

Cactus Jacks, doors at 9 p.m., $5 Australian Slynk will be bringing the funky beats to Kamloops’s dance floors.

He’ll be playing at the electronic superfest Shambhala this year, but the Tournament Capital gets an early preview.

Dope Soda w/Voodusa – March 23 The Dirty Jersey, show at 10 p.m., $10 Ska-punk can be a divisive genre, but for those on the side of high-tempo, fun music, Dope Soda is the wasp’s shins, or however that phrase goes. Trumpets and trombones round out a traditional punk lineup. Voodusa are starting the night out with some heavier tones.

The Stanfields – March 27 Blue Grotto, doors at 9 p.m., $10 Haligonians The Stanfields will be coming to town just as the crunch before the end of semester hits. For the students looking for a more physical experience with their music, this would be a good chance to blow off some steam. It’s going to be punk, but with that Maritime flavor.

10

March 6, 2013

Sports

Move to CIS offers WolfPack womens soccer new opportunities, expectations Owen Munro Ω Contributor

After a great year that included a PACWEST championship and a fourth-place finish at nationals, the women’s Wolf Pack has a new challenge on the horizon: a move to the Canadian Interuniversity Sport’s (CIS) Canada West conference. The long awaited move will be in place in time for the 2014 season.

The move from the CCAA to the CIS for TRU’s soccer programs is not a shock to many in the TRU Athletics Department, both programs have been stocking the shelves with CIS-quality players in anticipation of the move.

Wolf Pack women’s coach Tom McManus has been coaching for more than 15 years and his guidance and experience will hopefully ease the transition for both coaches and players.

The move to the CIS not only brings increased exposure, but increased expectations as well.

McManus noted that playing a club like the University of Victoria instead of Capilano University would be different, but intriguing.

“Clubs like UBC-Okanagan and Langara are clubs that have improved the past few years,” McManus said. “But it’s not like playing UVic or UBC.” The transition will also be eased by the presence of veteran players, of which TRU is not lacking. Twotime PACWEST MVP Alanna Bekkering led the league in scoring last season, netting eight goals in 14 games played. The team will also benefit from the sophomore play of hometown players like Kelsey Martin, Courtney Daly and Olivia Rasmussen. Familiarity is important, especially when playing the possession style TRU does.

“Everything is bigger, faster and tougher,” McManus said. “In order to combat this, it’s important to recruit girls who fit that mould.”

McManus believes the move to the CIS will be beneficial with the style of play he employs. Because the competition in the PACWEST isn’t of the same calibre as the CIS, TRU often plays opponents who just play “kick and run” soccer, firing the ball down the field and chasing it.

The Wolf Pack women, on the other hand, play an attacking style but also want to retain the majority

of possession. To do so, the fullbacks are active moving forward and provide the width required to possess the ball. McManus hopes the style of play in the CIS will match the Wolf Pack’s.

“By playing with width, we open the field up and that helps in keeping possession,” McManus said. “I’m not interested in playing kick and run.”

On-field, McManus prefers three different formations: the 4-4-2, which is a standard formation throughout all levels of soccer, the 4-5-1, which promotes the width game McManus prefers and the 4-3-3, another traditional formation, most commonly played by clubs like Spanish giants Barcelona and Real Madrid.

The 2013 season will not only be a farewell season to the CCAA for the Wolf Pack, but a year to strengthen the squad physically and mentally to better handle the rigours of a CIS-quality schedule.

McManus and his staff will need to accurately assess the strengths and weaknesses of his roster, while making sure not to overlook the season they have ahead of them in anticipation of September 2014.

Until then, the Wolf Pack are hoping they can ride the wave of success in the 2013 season.

Though Abbey McAuley (above) will no longer be with the team, the WolfPack will have plenty of experience in the lineup to smooth the transition to the CIS. —PHOTO BY ADAM WILLIAMS

A truly Canadian experience Michael Potestio Ω Contributor

Last month international students shared their cultures with campus for International Days 2013 and on Feb. 27 a group of TRU students from around the globe got a dose of Canadian culture.

During the intermission of the Kamloops Blazers game against the Vancouver Giants, 22 international students got on the ice to play

hockey for the first time, after just three practice sessions.

Craig Engleson, activities, events and housing manager for TRU World and hockey coach for the students, said that for about 70 per cent of the participants, the first practice session was their first time skating.

“The main thing I tried to go over was the line changes,” Engleson said. “But at the start we just had them skate circles and just go right back to the basics.”

Nadine Luetticke, a student from He also said this year’s group of participants seemed to take Germany, said she was able to score to skating much faster than last several times in practice, even though she’s never played hockey. year’s group.

“It is amazing when they had Her sport of choice is softball, prebasically four hours of ice before ferring the bat and ball to the stick tonight’s game and that’s all many and puck. She played in the hockey of them have ever had,” Engle- game because she wanted to try son said. He also noted stopping something “really Canadian.”

“I love sports and I wanted to try seems to be the one move most of it. I’m always open for these kinds the students still can’t do.

The students were divided into of events,” Luetticke said.

Before the game Gontran Nzotwo teams – blue versus grey – bonimpa, from and as they Burundi, Afwalked out rica, said he was onto the ice, the excited to play crowd of 4,172 and looked forpeople cheered ward to trying for them as if something new. they were the Though he’d nevBlazers themer played hockey, selves. Though Nzobonimpa did they couldn’t get some expeskate like the rience skating Blazers, the

—Kunal Mehta, last year when students defihe first came to nitely put their TRU international student Canada. hearts into it, “Coming to one player even Canada wasn’t made a diving only about coming to study but stick check to stop a breakaway.

Some fell and others couldn’t also do[ing] different things,” Nzostop, but every goal and opportu- bonimpa said. “So for me I’m alnity to score was met with a jubi- ways looking into trying things that lant roar from the crowd. At the I haven’t done before.”

Afterwards, Nzobonimpa said he end of the game the students made their way back to the dressing was nervous when the game started room and passed by fans reaching because he was on the first line.

He was met with a positive reacout for fist bumps.

Business student Abhinav Shet- tion from the crowd though and he ty said hockey is a very tiring said it encouraged him to continue game, one which isn’t as easy as it learning the game.

For Kunal Mehta – a student looks. Shetty, who is from India, said he didn’t expect to see such from India – his participation in an enthusiastic crowd during their the game stems from the saying, “When in Rome, do as the Rogame.

“Because I thought people are mans do.”

“So when we’re in Canada do going to go for a break at this point of time but there were a lot like the Canadians do, so play of people here cheering for us,” their national sport and have fun,” Mehta said.

Shetty said.

“When in

Rome, do as the Romans do.”

Exchange student Oriol Salvador bumps into an opposing player while fans take in the action with smiles.

—PHOTO BY MICHAEL POTESTIO

theomega.ca

International students lace ‘em up at Blazers intermission

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The Omega · Volume 22, Issue 21

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Across 1. Cores 6. Tacky chic 10. Enhances 14. Courtyards 15. Sea position 16. Hawaiian tuber 17. Mags 20. Increase, with “up” 21. Poetic palindrome 22. WWII battle site 23. Crackers 26. Mandela’s org.

27. Stimulant ingredients 29. Kuwaiti, e.g.

31. Land of leprechauns 35. Profits 37. Indonesian roamer 39. Australian runner 40. Rags?

43. Addition 44. Affectation 45. Cow fuel 46. Some beans 48. Campaigns 50. Some bays 51. Family dog, for short 53. Psychoanalyzed?

55. Cooling-off periods?

59. Bit in a horse’s mouth 60. Ripen 63. Mags

66. Algonquian Indian 67. Brown shade 68. Fat units?

69. Frau’s partner 70. Blabs 71. Nobel, for one Down 1. Perry Como’s “___ Loves Mambo” 2. Any thing 3. In Aruban fashion?

4. Cool 5. Vendor’s mistake?

6. Linked series of writings 7. “Aladdin” prince 8. Exec’s note 9. Gotcha moments 10. Immediately 11. “Two Years Before the Mast” writer 12. Attracted 13. Bean used to make miso 18. Time piece?

19. Time div.

24. Catch 25. Alain Robbe-Grillet novel, with “The” 27. “Who ___?”

28. Kind of molding 30. Aardvark’s tidbit 32. Worthy of comment

33. Candidate’s concern 34. Certain posers 36. Quail food 38. Disney workers 41. Fed. construction overseer 42. Brio 47. Sirhan Sirhan, e.g.

49. Fuse mishaps 52. Back when 54. Churchill’s “so few,” (abbr.)

55. Creep 56. Bird beak part 57. The America’s Cup trophy, e.g.

58. Gull-like bird 61. Neuter 62. To be, to Tiberius 64. Paranormal ability

G A L A

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M A I S O N E T T E

U L E S H T A E A R I T L A P U R I T E T P A L S L I I C H A H E E E R

A S S O S T O P S A F E B A R E R O N D N S E S U A L M E T U I H E R P D E E S E A V Y R N I E S S E N

S E A T A X L E A T H E R T A R M T G U T S I L S R A T E S E D I U M S O R E O N O W U S C H O P S H E A R T A H O Y F U S E

LAST WEEK’S ANSWERS

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MYLES MELLOR AND SALLY YORK

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“Waiting room distractions”

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March 6, 2013

TRUSU Membership Advisory Post-Secondary Education Fact:

International Women’s Day Celebrate International Women’s Day with a screening and discussion of Pixar’s Brave

In 2009, only 31% of tenured professors in Canada were women

March 8 at 5:30PM TRUSU Lecture Hall

ELECTION NOTICE: Nominations are now open.

Nomination packages are available at the Members’ Services Desk in the Students’ Union Building

This Week: • Job Fair • International Women’s Day • Council Meeting Check out the Events Calendar at trusu.ca for details!

For more information visit

trusu.ca March 14th at 5:00PM TRU Grand Hall

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