TUESDAY
EXCUSE HIM WHILE HE KISSES THE SKY: Simon Karrer flies off a jump at the Kamloops Bike Ranch in Juniper. The Prince George teenager spent the spring break week with a buddy in Kamloops and got lots of ride time at the track, which was one of the driest places to ride — until the freak Saturday snowstorm covered its hills. Fret not, mountain-bikers, the bike ranch is in riding shape once again. Dave Eagles/KTW
K A M L O O P S
THIS WEEK
Tuesday, March 25, 2014 X Volume 27 No. 34 www.kamloopsthisweek.com X 30 cents at Newsstands
TRU dean says he has no stance on mine By Dale Bass
STAFF REPORTER
dale@kamloopsthisweek.com
“I was speaking in the voice of my students.” So said Lindsay Langill as he explained why he appeared in a KGHM-Ajax video promoting the proposed copper and gold mine south of Aberdeen. Langill, the dean of trades and technology at Thompson Rivers University, said he has no position on the mine proposal, but does see the value in the creation of jobs that will keep graduating students in Kamloops. His faculty continues to grow. In 2012, there were 1,350 students in its foundation and applications programs, while the budget figures he’s working on now show 1,522 students. “These are students who are here for the best-quality education and they see possible jobs in the mine or in the industries that will support the mine,”
Langill said. “I have no stand on the mine, but I’m all for the process. Let’s get some research done. I’m all for the process.” Langill’s participation in the video led to a backlash at TRU, according to Christopher Seguin, the school’s vicepresident advancement. He clarified to KTW that, while administration is not allowed to take public stands on controversial issues, academic freedom allows professors to do so. Langill is both part of administration in his capacity as a dean, but also a professor. Robin Bartlett, a spokeswoman for KGHM, said the company never anticipated any fallout from Langill’s participation. “We asked several people in the community to be in it,” she said. “Some said yes, some said no.” X See ‘I’M SPEAKING’ A4
KTW excited to continue Christmas Cheer Fund By Dale Bass
KTW Christmas Cheer Fund 2014
STAFF REPORTER
dale@kamloopsthisweek.com
Gregg Drinnan received an email recently from a former colleague at the Regina Leader-Post. In it, Irene Seiberling told him the Christmas Cheer Fund he started in 1992, when he worked there, has now taken in more than $2.5 million. Last year alone, she wrote, the $289,000 collected was split between four women’s shelters in the Queen City. Seiberling continued: “I mention you every year in my stories and when I speak to groups about the Cheer Fund. You got the ball rolling. Over the years, many lives have been helped as a result.” Drinnan brought the idea with him when he became sports editor at the Kamloops Daily News, helping a variety of local organizations, including the Marjorie Willoughby Snowden
Help us help Kamloops charities. Watch for the nomination period to begin later this year.
Memorial Hospice House, the New Life Mission, the Y Women’s Emergency Shelter and the Kamloops Food Bank. It was important to him the mission and women’s shelter always be a beneficiary, Drinnan said, and a committee helped decide others to be included each year. The annual campaign is as much a part of Christmas in Kamloops as is the Santa Claus Parade and it simply made sense for Kamloops This Week to continue it following the clo-
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sure of the Daily News, said KTW publisher Kelly Hall. Hall said as KTW grows to continue providing news, the Christmas Cheer Fund will remain a defining pillar to what Kamloops is all about. Drinnan said the campaign was never about setting a goal, noting the first one in Kamloops brought in $21,891.37. “I thought, ‘That’s good,’ ” he said. The next year saw $23,424.50 collected. “I thought well, we’ll get to $25,000 next year and that’s fine,” Drinnan said. “The next year, it jumped another $10,000.” By 2012, the donations topped off at more than $101,000. Drinnan said the committee received up to two-dozen applications annually, weeding out any that receive funding from national organizations. Charities also have to be able to issue tax-deduction receipts. In the fall, KTW will begin asking for nominations for charities to be helped wth the 2014 Christmas Cheer Fund. Anti Reflective Lenses reduce glare that causes eye fatigue and helps you see more clearly.
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