Vol. 5 Issue 18

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August

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2013

News and culture for Kwantlen Polytechnic University, by the students, for the students since 2009

The case against ex-KPU president John McKendry:

/06/ Former employee sues university over alleged “erratic, abusive and violent behaviour�

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Masthead

The Runner

August 30 / 2013

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A new Political Science degree The Runner is student-owned and operated by Kwantlen Polytechnic University students, published under the Polytechnic Ink Publishing Society. Arbutus 3710/3720 12666 72 Ave. Surrey, B.C, V3W 2M8 778.565.3801

This fall semester will see the launch of a new political science degree at Kwantlen Polytechnic University (KPU). The Ministry of Advanced Education has recently approved this Bachelor of Arts degree, according to a KPU press release. The majority of the courses in the program will take place at the Surrey campus, with some-lower course at the Langley and Richmond campuses. These courses include “American Foreign Policy; The Politics of Multiculturalism in Canada; War, Crime, and Violence – Contemporary Political Conflict; Comparative Politics of Asia; and International Peacekeeping.” Students will also have the option of participating in a semester-long Model United Nations.

www.runnermag.ca Vol. 05, Issue no. 18 August 30, 2013 ISSN# 1916 8241

EDITORIAL DIVISON Coordinating Editor / Matt DiMera editor@runnermag.ca / 778.565.3803

News Editor / Sarah Schuchard news@runnermag.ca Culture Editor / Bianca Pencz culture@runnermag.ca Media Editor / Sasha Mann media@runnermag.ca

Production Editor / Roland Nguyen production@runnermag.ca

Associate News Editor / Brian Evancic Associate Opinion Editor / Hannah Ackeral Cover. Roland Nguyen

BUSINESS DIVISION

RBC donates $30,000 towards aboriginal education

The Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) has donated $30,000 to help fund the Adult Aboriginal Basic Education program provided by the Phoenix Kwantlen Learning Centre (PKLC), according to a Kwantlen Polytechnic University (KPU) press release. The PKLC, located in the Whalley area of Surrey, offers tuition-free classes for Math and English that incorporate aboriginal teachings and concepts to any student over 19. The Philosophy behind the donation is based on a coalition between RBC and the Council for the Advancement of the Native Development officers (CANDO). CANDO is a federally registered, Aboriginal run non-profit organization which seeks to fortify “Aboriginal economies by providing programs and services to Economic Development Officers,” like those at RBC.

Operation Manager / Victoria Almond office@runnermag.ca / 778.565.3801

The Runner recognises that our work, both in and out of the office, takes place on unceded Coast and Strait Salish territories, specifically the shared traditional territories of the Kwantlen, Katzie, Semiahmoo, Sto:lo and Tsawwassen First Nations. Our name is inspired by the hun’qumi’num meaning of Kwantlen, which is tireless hunters or tireless runners. Just as Kwantlen is adaptable and changing so is The Runner.

THE

RUN

NER ROUND-UP


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The Runner

News

August 30 / 2013

Kwantlen

KSA KSA votes no more secret meetings

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Sarah Schuchard News Editor

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For the first time in a year, the Kwantlen

A new plan to boost Kwantlen’s reputation

Student Association (KSA), allowed Kwantlen students to be present when voting in the new director of student services, who will replace Chris Girodat.  During a special meeting of council on July 26, Arzo Ansary, former director of external affairs, was elected into the position. Girodat had requested that the meeting take place ex-camera, which would make it different from previous times where the meetings were held in secret. Girodat stated that he thought it was best for transparency.  Although Jennifer Campbell, the Langley campus representative, was recommended to council by the previous director of student services, other council members including Melinda Bige, Director of Student life, voted in Ansary’s favour. Ansary abstained from voting for or against Campbell, but Campbell chose to vote against Ansary during the meeting.  Ansary is not new to the workings of the KSA. She is currently the women’s representative for the KSA, and has been involved in the student association since 2011, when several previous directors were impeached for a breach of duties and misuse of student fees. Ansary assumed her position on August 14.

Alan Davis posing with the KSA’s Arzo Ansary.

Alan Davis outlines KPU’s new academic vision.

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Hannah Ackeral Associate Opinion Editor

On June 7, Alan Davis, president and vice-chancellor of Kwantlen Polytechnic University (KPU), unveiled the University’s five year strategic plan. Called Vision 2018, the plan focuses on maximizing Kwantlen’s relevance, reputation and quality as a University serving Metro Vancouver. Davis says that the reputation of the University begins internally. Vision2018 stresses clearer and more frequent communication between the multiple faculties and campuses that make up KPU. He recognizes that KPU has many areas, which distinguish it from other post secondary institutes, such as the Horticulture department and the soon-to-be-built School of Design, and wants to make sure the community does as well. Faculty reports on research and current events will be compiled in a community report, which will be published as inserts in regional newspapers. The first will be published this September. “The more people know about you, the better they think of you, and the better your

reputation will be,” Davis explains. A large focus of Vision2018 is non-traditional learning, which includes reassessing the role of both KPU and the students. Davis said he would like to see a shift into a personalized learning style, which puts a heavier emphasis on the knowledge of students than on meeting strict curriculums. It would allow for more flexibility in scheduling, relying on both online and on-campus classes, as well as providing students with the opportunities to approach faculty members and design courses based on their interests which will work in tandem with University accreditation requirements. “It puts students in the driver’s seat,” says Davis.

“The more people know about you, the better they think of you, and the better your reputation will be.” He further explained that with the wealth of information available to students online, the role of the university is changing. Instead of “shovelling out the content,” universities must now work with students to make that content applicable. Vision2018

also details the introduction of experiential learning into every faculty, blending theory with practice. Personalized learning will also benefit students who have different learning requirements. Through Vision2018, Davis hopes to see the development of an anagogical approach for mature students whose life experiences deserve “recognition and respect” in the classroom, as well as making sure the abilities of all students are being addressed. “We assume we’re inclusive [...] we have open admission and we try to work with people who need extra support or different approaches but just assuming we do that isn’t enough,” Davis says. “You have to constantly check that you’re not leaving people behind.”

Fall 2013 Semester Student Publication Fee Opt-Outs Available In Person Sept 10-24 Mon-Fri 10 a.m - 4 p.m. Contact Operations Manager Rm A3710/3720 Surrey campus

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News

The Runner

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August 30 / 2013

Pride

KSA Kwantlen Student Association loses another one

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SARAH SCHUCHARD NEWS EDITOR

It has proven to be a tough summer for

Super queer geeks take the streets for Pride Justin Saint organizes queer cosplay float.

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Chloe Smith CONTRIBUTOR

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Celebrations for Vancouver Pride were given serious geek credentials this year. A new organization of “queer geeks and their allies,” the B.C. Super Friends, kicked off their first year participating with a cosplaythemed bus and a sold-out party at EXP, Vancouver’s go-to gamer bar. The group was put together by Justin Saint — cofounder of the Vancouver Gaymers, a makeup artist and a cosplayer — who has connections to both the queer and geek communities of the city. After being asked on a number of occasions, “Hey what’s happening for Pride?” Saint decided to use his connections to assemble a float and event that would appeal to all queer nerds in Vancouver. “I guess I’m like Nick Fury of queergeek Vancouver,” says Saint. Saint says that putting everything together was strenuous, but for the BC Super Friends’ first time at Pride, he is happy with how well it turned out. The event and float were crowd-funded through an Indiegogo

campaign, which Saint says was ambitious, since the campaign ended up about $400 short of their original $1000 goal. Luckily, the group had other generous backers to save the day. The BC Super Friends plan to continue participating in Pride as the group’s main annual event, as well as, to “have a queer presence in most if not all the conventions” in the city. Saint says that cultivating a place for queer geekdom is necessary, because keeping these communities separate allows for individuals to miss out on the positive qualities of both. “I think having this community specifically for us and having spaces where we can be geeks in the way we like — in however dorky way we want — I think that’s really important,” says Saint. For geeky queers at Kwantlen, Saint has advice for anyone looking to build their own safe spaces, in which they can be themselves. “Our generation has a different way of speaking up than we used to. If you want your voices heard, make them be heard. University is great because you are in a place with a lot of different people who are probably thinking the same things. You can and do have the capacity, the time and person-power . . . use what you have.”

BC Super Friends make their debut at the Vancouver Pride Parade. Photo courtesy Kasi Altair

the Kwantlen Student Association (KSA), as the association loses another one of its council members. Jennifer Campbell, KSA Langley campus representative, has resigned from her position as of August 31. Along with serving as the Langley representative, Campbell was also chairperson for the standing committee on student services and chairperson of the standing committee of finance.  Campbell has decided to leave her position at the KSA to peruse a higher wage, which is closer to her degree in human resources at a dance studio. “My experience (with the KSA) has been up and down,” says Campbell.  Campbell has been involved in the KSA for the past five years and has maintained her position as Langley representative since the elections in February of 2008.  Maintaining a position on KSA council, Campbell has also been the KSA’s Langley director, director of academic affairs, and was also involved in the academic issues committee.  Campbell has witnessed the KSA go through controversial times. She has a wellrounded knowledge of what the KSA was and what it is now.  On November 30 of 2011, 12 KSA directors were impeached for alleged mismanagement of money and the neglect of their financial duties. Kwantlen students voted unanimously 352 to 0. Along with the impeachment of the 12 directors, another 13 former staff members and students were put in bad standing.  During the time of the impeachment, Campbell was one of the four council members who were not voted out by Kwantlen students.  When asked what her parting words were to the KSA, Campbell responded by singing Anna Kendrick’s Cups.

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The Runner

Opinion

August 30 / 2013

05

Kwantlen takes style over substance University unveils new design school plans.

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Sasha Mann MEDIA EDITOR

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The first artist renderings of Kwantlen’s Chip and Wilson School of Design have been shown to the public. Bruce Kuwabara, an architect for the project, calls the $36-million building plan “open,” “airy,” and loft-like. In reality, it looks pretty boring. There’s a lot of glass and a bit of wood panelling. Nothing striking. But an overhyped, underwhelming building seems appropriate given that the initial funding for the Kwantlen design school was donated by lululemon athletica. Chip Wilson — the founder of lululemon — and Shannon Wilson, his wife and also a lululemon designer, have a lot to answer for. Their company’s combination of corporate values and new-age yoga culture is a large part of why people sneer at Vancouverites behind their backs. Vancouver has the potential to be a great, innovative city, but first it has to lose its ad-

diction to overpriced yoga pants, new-age bullshit and cultural appropriation. Yoga, as it’s generally taught in Vancouver, is a culturally insensitive fiasco. It strips the meaning from a traditional South Asian spiritual practice, until all that’s left are a set of stretches and poses. Even when yoga has some of the spirituality is left in, such as a meditation practice, it is still marketed to a largly white audience who are more-than-happy to adopt the trappings of a culture they will never understand. This is orientalism at its worst.

Vancouver has the potential to be a great, innovative city, but first it has to lose its addiction to overpriced yoga pants, new-age bullshit and cultural appropriation. It would be amiss to pretend that yoga — even in a Westernised, diluted form — hasn’t positively affected the lives of many people though. Of course it has. In an article for Decolonizing Yoga, Andi MacDonald, a Vancouver based yoga

teacher, writes that after having unmanageable anxiety and panic attacks, going to a yoga class allowed her to sleep through the night for the first time in months. Some people who say yoga saved their life are not exaggerating. But MacDonald recognizes that her white, middle class, thin privilege makes her the key demographic for yoga in Vancouver. Other people are made to feel unwelcome in yoga spaces. Fat people are body-shamed in yoga studios. Poor people can’t afford it. Disabled people aren’t accommodated. Even people of Indian descent often feel culturally fetishized in mostly white spaces. MacDonald is the co-founder of Community Yoga Vancouver, which strives to create a yoga experience that doesn’t include classism, racism or ableism. Although Community might not completely save yoga from appropriation and general flakiness, it’s a start. On the other side of the spectrum are Chip and Shannon Wilson. They’ve recently started up Whil, a branded sixty second

meditation practice, which smugly calls itself “the new face of meditation.” Whil’s vibrant trailer shows affluent-looking white people living “in the moment.” This is not what Vancouver needs. This is not what Kwantlen needs. Kwantlen does not need a $36-million design school, that will be an “economic engine for the creative sector in British Columbia.” We need more affordable tuition. We need a daycare for students with children. We’re told there isn’t enough money at Kwantlen to keep a psychology lab open. But suddenly, the university has enough money to cough up $12 million towards a new posh design building, built by some of Canada’s top architects. The prioritizing of image over substance is what gets Kwantlen in trouble. It’s also exactly what is wrong with Vancouver’s corporate new-age, yoga-inspired culture that allows lululemon to make millions.


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News

The Runner

August 30 / 2013

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Legal

Fired employee accuses former president of ‘erratic, abusive and violent behaviour’ Lawsuit alleges that university failed to provide a safe workplace.

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Matt DiMera

COORDINATING EDITOR

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A long-time former employee filed suit against Kwantlen Polytechnic University (KPU) last month, alleging that interimpresident John McKendry was abusive and violent towards her and that the university allowed it to happen. A civil claim was filed in the B.C. Supreme Court July 26 on behalf of Sandra Kuzyk, who worked as executive assistant to several KPU presidents before she was fired by current president Alan Davis on March 27, 2013. The lawsuit alleges that starting in 2011, McKendry’s behaviour was “increasingly erratic, violent, intimidating and harassing towards various employees of the University and, in particular, [Kuzyk].” It also claims that McKendry “repeatedly yelled, berated, and otherwise terrorized, threatened, abused and harassed [Kuzyk] at her desk, in his office and in front of other employees of the University. He threw various objects, including but not limited to files, documents, and binders at [Kuzyk] and others.”

McKendry started at KPU as a special advisor to the president in 2008 before becoming provost and vice president academic in 2010. He stepped in as interim president in July 2011 after David Atkinson resigned to take on the presidency of Grant MacEwan University in Edmonton. McKendry left KPU at the end of August 2012, when Davis took his post. Kuzyk first started working for Kwantlen in the mid ‘90s.

“The university set out on a systematic termination of employees who had raised concerns over President McKendry’s abusive, harassing and violent behaviour ...” Kuzyk claims that in May 2012 McKendry confronted and forbade her from cooperating with an RCMP investigation into an alleged privacy breach relating to a student’s personal information. The suit also claims that two other employees who also complained were later fired, alleging that “the university set out on a systematic termination of employees who had raised concerns over President McKend-

ry’s abusive, harassing and violent behaviour and rewarded members of the Executive who failed to stop President McKendry.” According to the notice of claim, former provost and vice president academic Anne Lavack was fired without cause by McKendry shortly before he left KPU. The suit alleges that in August of 2011 McKendry’s behaviour towards Lavack became increasingly hostile and his overall behaviour erratic. Former special advisor to the president Mary Jane Stenberg was also allegedly put on administrative leave in July 2012 before being fired without cause in October. Kuzyk’s suit alleges that both women complained about McKendry’s behaviour: Lavack to the then-chair of the board of governors Gordon Schoberg in December of 2011; and Stenberg to Harry Gray in March and May of 2012, and to Schoberg in June of 2012. The lawsuit also makes related serious accusations about former and current members of KPU’s administration, including the deputy-provost and associate vice president academic, Jane Fee, and the associate vice president human resources, Harry Gray.

Kuzyk’s suit alleges that Fee began harassing her in August 2012. It also claims that Fee “continued to harass, abuse and utter untrue and derogatory comments about [Kuzyk], her character, job performance and reason for termination ...” According to Kuzyk, Fee worked with McKendry at Simon Fraser University (SFU) and McKendry ostensibly recruited her from SFU when he chaired the search committee for her position. Fee declined to speak with The Runner about the allegations made against her. “This is a matter that is before the courts and at this point we just have to wait until that plays out,” she says. The suit also alleges that Gray witnessed “McKendry’s abusive and violent behaviour” and that although Kuzyk asked him to act, Gray “allowed the abuse and harassment to continue.” He also allegedly warned Kuzyk “against making a formal complaint or proceeding further with any other actions against the President.” None of the claims made by Kuzyk have been proven in court. A copy of a June 13, 2012 email from Gordon Schoberg to Alan Davis, obtained


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The Runner

News

August 30 / 2013

Legal

Kwantlen Polytechnic University’s president Alan Davis (left). KPU’s associate vice president human resources Harry Gray (above). Photos courtesy KPU Kwantlen Polytechnic University’s former-interim-president John McKendry (far left). KPU’s associate vice president academic and deputy-provost Jane Fee (middle). KPU’s former provost and vice president academic Anne Lavack (left). KPU’s former special advisor to the president Mary Jane Stenberg (above). Photos courtesy KPU

University disputes workplace harassment claims McKendry ‘emphatically denied’ allegations.

by The Runner, suggests that Schoberg and other board members were aware of allegations made against McKendry, among them Advanced Education Minister Amrik Virk. “Last night I had Amrik over to the house and we talked this out,” writes Schoberg. “Apparently Sandy has a bucket under her desk and frequently vomits after her interactions with John. The staff have been fearful of coming forward thinking that their careers will be in jeopardy. I think you and I know that there could be a couple of others with similar fears.” The email also mentions that human resources apparently felt helpless to deal with the issue. Requests from The Runner for interviews to John McKendry and Harry Gray went unanswered. In an emailed statement to The Runner, university spokesperson Joanne Saunders replied that KPU does not tolerate inappropriate action in the workplace. “There were very serious allegations in the claim and we have responded to them fully,” she writes. “Because this is now a legal matter, we cannot discuss the details at this time.”

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Matt DiMera

COORDINATING EDITOR

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Kwantlen Polytechnic University (KPU) denies that former president John McKendry and current deputy provost and vice president academic Jane Fee “terrorized, threatened, abused, harassed,” or “intimidated,” a former assistant, according to their response to a lawsuit filed last month. The university filed its written response in the B.C. Supreme Court on Aug. 16, 2013, to a July 26 civil suit filed on behalf of Sandra Kuzyk, who worked as executive assistant to several KPU presidents before she was fired by current president Alan Davis on March 27, 2013. KPU claims that McKendry “emphatically denied” allegations of harassment when he met with board members Gordon Schoberg and Amrik Virk in June 2012, and that Kuzyk and McKendry knew each other well and their families were friends. The university denies that any of their employees were dismissed because they raised concerns regarding McKendry’s behaviour or that other employees were rewarded because they failed to act to stop McKendry, calling those allegations “frivolous, vexa-

tious, and entirely without foundation.” According to the university, KPU restructured the president’s office and Davis no longer needed as much administrative support and was “diligently searching” to reduce costs. Davis now uses a junior level assistant and a graduate intern. KPU also claims that it was within its rights to terminate Kuzyk’s employment without cause, and that it offered her the maximum severance allowed by provincial law. The university’s written response also argues that the court has no jurisdiction over Kuzyk’s claim and that it should be handled by WorkSafeBC. KPU also states that it has several policies in place to deal with harassment, discrimination and violence in the workplace and that Kuzyk was very familiar with all of them. The university also offers confidential counselling services to employees regarding workplace family and other issues. The university says that Kuzyk was encouraged to discuss her concerns directly with McKendry and Fee, but that she never did. It also alleges that she never made any formal complaints or asked for any formal investigations. KPU spokesperson Joanne Saunders declined to comment on the lawsuit.

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Culture

The Runner

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August 30 / 2013

Theatre

Kwantlen student plays on the fringe of acting and academia

FrAcTured cast members Sara Vickruck, Chanel Klein, Rachelle Tomm, Evan Hall and Amanda Graham Photo courtesy Seacoast Studios

Rachelle Tomm discusses her role in the Vancouver Fringe Festival’s FrAcTured.

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Chris Yee

CONTRIBUTOR

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“It’s probably the most frightening thing I’ve ever experienced,” confesses Rachelle Tomm, speaking about her role in Seacoast Studio’s production of FrAcTured.  Opening on September 6 at the Vancouver Fringe Festival and written by Robinson Wilson, FrAcTured is about a fictional school shooting, and a group of classmates who now have to cope with its aftermath.  Tomm, a third-year psychology and sociology major at Kwantlen, is an improv comic and an actress. In FrAcTured, she plays a character who is paralyzed from the neck down. For the athletic Tomm, who is also an avid fisher and hunter, it’s not surprising that she found getting into the state of mind of someone who becomes quadriplegic challenging.  Not long ago, though, Tomm’s acting career was far from her mind. When she graduated high school, she wanted to be an architect. But as Tomm was sending applications to engineering schools all over Canada

and making arrangements for housing out of town, something like fate called.  “Last minute, a friend of mine calls me and says, ‘Hey Rachelle, you’ve got to take a class with this acting teacher,’” Tomm says of her first nudge into the world of professional acting. That teacher was Scott Swan, director of West Vancouver’s Seacoast Studios.  “I called him and he said, ‘I’m offering full-time studies in the fall,’ and I ended up [saying], ‘I’ll give it a shot.’ It’s snowballed since then, and I just want to take more and more acting classes. I definitely want to [break into] the film industry.”  Acting wasn’t entirely new for Tomm. She was an enthusiastic high school drama student and event MC, as well as vice president of her school’s student council, where putting on events was her passion. Tomm says, “I like that social aspect of live entertainment.”  It’s little wonder, then, that her next step into acting was improv comedy. With six of her classmates, Tomm started an improv troupe called Unscripted Chaos in 2010.  “At first, I was terrified to go up in front of an audience and not have any lines or mate-

rial,” Tomm says. “But once you’ve started doing it, you get comfortable. You have to live in the imagery of the situation, and it all just comes out.”  Living in the imagery of her surroundings informs Tomm’s acting, as well as her approach to education.  “I did just acting for my first year and I was so hungry for something else — I wanted that learning aspect that comes from being in a classroom. After a year, I decided to take whatever classes interested me,” she says.  “I ended up falling into psychology because, as an actor, you have to know so well how people think. When you’re acting, you’re not being someone else, you’re being yourself. But you have to change yourself to what that character would have had, [in terms of] similar experiences.”  Tomm needed this outlook nowhere more than in her preparation for FrAcTured, especially after spending most of her time in improv comedy.  “It’s a hard world to prepare for. You never feel as though you’re ever going to get it right, and I always had a lot of anxiety

around it because I didn’t want to be offensive. I strived to get everything as real as it possibly could be,” Tomm says of her role, which involved painstaking research into the physiology of her character’s injuries, and explorations of her character’s psyche.  “She’s lost everything, her entire way of living is lost and all her dreams . . . she’ll never be able to experience [them] again,” Tomm said of her character.  All this work makes Tomm’s schedule snugly-packed. It’s a challenge to get everything done, especially when rehearsals run late. Time notwithstanding, Tomm advises students to “not get bogged down.”  “Try to figure out what the big picture is, the ultimate theme of that class,” she explains. Above all, she advises students to look up and step out once in a while.  “Take the earbuds out and listen to people’s conversations,” she says. “Pay attention to what’s happening around you and don’t try to soften harsh moments and heighten good moments.”  “Live in the moment and don’t try to hide who you are.”


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The Runner

Culture

August 30 / 2013

09

Environment

The Great Canadian Shoreline Cleanup still going strong

A volunteer at Iona Beach Regional Park. Photo courtesy Facebook

After twenty years of the annual event, it’s more important than ever.

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Alex Hawley CONTRIBUTOR

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It isn’t easy to witness turtles with sixpack rings strangling their necks, or seagulls with stomachs bloated with garbage. And nowadays, these images are more common than ever before.  This September 21-29, there’s a chance to make a change with the annual Great Canadian Shoreline Cleanup. Those sad seagull pictures aren’t creations of Photoshop. Last year’s cleanup documented 45 animals trapped in garbage along Canadian shorelines, mostly fish, several birds and even a fox.  Wildlife isn’t the only thing impacted by shoreline litter. It poses safety risks to humans as well when it dirties our water and causes imbalances in the ecosystem that we rely on. And nobody likes cutting their foot on a pop can tab.  Jill Dwyer, manager of the Great Canadi-

an Shoreline Cleanup for the past five years, says, “I was quite surprised that the majority of shoreline litter is actually land-based items from recreational activities.”  It accounts for 38 per cent of the garbage picked up. That percentage doesn’t even include the largest perpetrator of shoreline litter, with 54.1 per cent being cigarettes and its packaging. Only 4.3 per cent originates from water activities.  “It’s definitely changed how I think about shoreline litter and aquatic debris,” Dwyer says.  This year, the Great Canadian Shoreline Cleanup is celebrating its twentieth anniversary. As one of Canada’s largest direct action initiatives for environmental protection, Dwyer wants to stress how easy it is to participate.  “The program doesn’t cost anything; it’s available to anyone and everyone who wants to participate,” she says. Shorelinecleanup.ca provides all the information on joining one of the many cleanups already recruiting around Metro Vancouver, as a

volunteer or even as a site coordinator.  Paul Richard, an environmental program instructor at Kwantlen Polytechnic University (KPU) who has organized some shoreline cleanups himself, agrees that the event is a good initiative.  “It’s a social event. You get to meet people and talk in a relaxed fashion,” he says, and because all the events happen around the same time, “The data is useful.”

“While you probably didn’t contribute to last year’s peculiar items list — which includes a dishwasher, a bathtub and a gargoyle statue — almost everyone contributes in a small way.”  Richard speaks positively about KPU students and their awareness of environmental issues, but people continue to litter.  Summer is the pinnacle time of shoreline gatherings with friends. People can get lazy and forget the environmental implications

when they don’t clean up after themselves. So, while the average beachgoer probably didn’t contribute to last year’s peculiar items list — which includes a dishwasher, a bathtub and a gargoyle statue — almost everyone contributes at least in a small way.  Fortunately, everyone can also be part of the solution. A change in attitude is necessary for any permanent solution, and it’s okay to start small.  Remembering to pack up and leave with everything you brought to your favourite outdoor hangout is the most basic fix, and it ensures those places will be maintained in the future. And taking reusable items to your next beach barbeque, like metal forks instead of plastic, diminishes the size of the litter pile.  When asked what she wanted to come form the Great Canadian Shoreline Cleanup, Dwyer responded, “Our ultimate goal is that we won’t have to hold cleanups anymore, because our shorelines are already clean.”


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Procrastination

If you have any feedback we’d love to hear from you, tweet us @runnermag and join the discussion today!

The Runner

Across

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The Runner

No. 77

Easy

3

5 8 7 9 7 9 8 1 6 5 3 2 6 2 1 3 2 1 7 3 6 4 5 7 5 4 4 3 2

5 9 5

2 4 8

11

SUDOKU Previous solution - Medium

5 7 1 9 4 9

2

7 You can find more help, tips and hints at www.str8ts.com

© 2011 Syndicated Puzzles, Inc.

5

1 2 4 5 6 7 3

3 4 2 4 3 6 3 8 7 5 7 8 4 7 6 8 9 8 1 2 6 9 2 1 7 6 5

No. 77

Tough

4 7 3

Previous solution - Medium

5 9 8 1 3 6 4 7 2

2 3 5 4

5 1 4 5 8 4 3 9 9 6 7 2 8 6 8 3 6 2 7

How to beat Str8ts – Like Sudoku, no single number can repeat in any row or column. But... rows and columns are divided by black squares into compartments. These need to be filled in with numbers that complete a ‘straight’. A straight is a set of numbers with no gaps but can be in any order, eg [4,2,3,5]. Clues in black cells remove that number as an option in that row and column, and are not part of any straight. Glance at the solution to The solutions will be published here in the next issue. see how ‘straights’ are formed.

© 2011 Syndicated Puzzles, Inc.

STR8TS

Procrastination

August 30 / 2013

7 2 3 4 9 8 1 5 6

4 6 1 2 7 5 9 8 3

8 5 4 7 6 2 3 1 9

1 3 6 9 5 4 7 2 8

2 7 9 8 1 3 6 4 5

6 8 2 3 4 1 5 9 7

9 4 5 6 8 7 2 3 1

3 1 7 5 2 9 8 6 4

To complete Sudoku, fill the board by entering numbers 1 to 9 such that each row, column and 3x3 box contains every number uniquely. For many strategies, hints and tips, visit www.sudokuwiki.org If you like Str8ts check out our books, iPhone/iPad Apps and much more on our store.

The Runner cover contest is just around the corner, just submit a photo and it may be featured in a future issue. Selected photos will be rewarded with hugs and shrugs, or both, whichever you want! Horoscope

Sagittarius Nov. 23 - Dec 21

Capricorn Dec. 22 - Jan 20

Sometimes you’re not as funny as you believe yourself to be. Rethink those Facebook comments.

We see a lot of corn in your future. It could mean a pet pigeon, or Halloween... you’ll have to find out for yourself.

Write a musical about Jack the Ripper and watch the emotional and financial rewards come rolling in.

Aries Mar 21 - Apr 19

Taurus Apr 20 - May 20

Gemini May 21 - Jun 20

Orange is the New Black may be over, but don’t despair. You had a life before it.

Take a deep breath, and realize that the world is not going to end just because you didn’t scrub your toilet today.

It is possible for humans to get fleas. Remember this information.

We’d tell you to stop being so sensitive, but you’re too sensitive to handle it.

Virgo Aug 24 - Sept 23

Libra Sept 24 - Oct 23

Scorpio Oct 24 - Nov 22

Have three birthday cakes this year. You deserve it — every bite.

Start drinking a nice warm cup of milk with honey every night before bed, and watch your life transform.

If something’s too good to be true, it isn’t. Stop falling for those pyramid schemes.

Leo Jul 24 - Aug 23

Start trying to love the people in your life as much as you love yourself.

Aquarius Jan 21 - Feb 19

Pisces Feb 20 - Mar 20

It’s time you faced up to your anime addiction.

Cancer Jun 21 - Jul 23


W : runnermag.ca

The Runner

August 30 / 2013

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