September 7, 2011 by The Omega

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Thompson Rivers University’s Independent Student Newspaper Sept 7, 2011

Time to focus 3 TRU orientation team urges students to get involved

PHOTO BY COLEMAN MOLNAR

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Kickstart your semester

Two first-time 7 2 Ironmen

September 7, 2011

News

TRUSU gives semester rocking start

Jack Layton, who visited Kamloops in April, left some inspiring words for the youth of Canada when he passed away on Aug. 22. —Steve Shi

One of the best ways to get prepared for the upcoming semester — aside from registering, buying books, making a schedule, and organizing your entire life — is to party hard for the entire first week of school. Thompson Rivers University’s Student Union (TRUSU) is once again making this an easy mission to accomplish with their annual Kickstart Campaign. Dustin McIntyre, the vice president internal of TRUSU, says he’s stoked to see the annual free concert, Tunes Against Tuition, back on campus this year. “We are really excited to have a great line-up for Tunes Against Tuition, and we hope that everyone comes out for the free concert and the free BBQ,” he said. “Bring your lawn chairs, bring

some snacks, come out and hang out and have a good time.” The concert will take place on the campus commons on Saturday, Sept. 10 from 2 to 6 p.m. and will feature Daniel Wesley with opening performances by The Zolas, 41st and Home, and Young Pacific. The commons will also play host to the back to school BBQ on Friday starting at 11 a.m. Tunes Against Tuition is put on by TRUSU at the beginning of each school year as a way to get students thinking about how much they pay to be here. “It’s just to bring awareness to the fact that tuition goes up for students every single year and we want to make more of a profile and get students involved,” said McIntyre.

‘I believe in you’ Jack Layton imparts inspirational message for youth in final letter CUP National Bureau Chief TORONTO (CUP) — Less than a month after announcing a break from federal politics to focus on cancer treatment, NDP leader Jack Layton has died at the age of 61. Layton, who became leader of the Opposition this spring after the NDP won a party-best 103 seats in the House of Commons, died in the early hours of Aug. 22, according to a statement from his family. “We deeply regret to inform you that The Honourable Jack Layton, leader of the New Democratic Party of Canada, passed away at 4:45 a.m. today, Monday, Aug. 22,” read the statement from his wife, NDP MP Olivia Chow, and children, Sarah and Michael Layton. “He passed away peacefully at his home surrounded by family and loved ones.” On July 25, Layton announced that he was stepping back from leadership duties to focus on treatment for a new form of cancer. He said that he was expecting to return to the House in the fall. Despite a prostate cancer diagnosis in early 2009 and a broken hip earlier this year, Layton campaigned relentlessly in the weeks leading up to the May 2

federal election and successfully led the NDP to their historic 103-seat showing. NDP MP Rathika Sitsabaiesan is one of the many rookies who ascended the Hill this year. The young Scarborough MP — also the party’s new post-secondary education critic — recalled first meeting Layton as a volunteer in the 2008 election. “I remember when I met Jack; it was as if I was meeting an old friend,” she said. “He was so easy to connect with, easy to have a conversation with … He was not the important MP that’s too busy or too big to talk to a new volunteer on the campaign. That’s the type of politician I wanted to see and that’s the type of politician I wanted to emulate.” Early Monday afternoon, a letter from Layton and dated Aug. 20 was released. Alongside paragraphs addressed to his party, his caucus and all Canadians, Layton had dedicated an entire section to Canadian youth. “As my time in political life draws to a close I want to share with you my belief in your power to change this country and this world,” he wrote. “There are great challenges before you, from the overwhelming nature of climate change to the unfairness of an economy that excludes so many from our

collective wealth, and the changes necessary to build a more inclusive and generous Canada. I believe in you. “Your energy, your vision, your passion for justice are exactly what this country needs today,” the letter continued. “You need to be at the heart of our economy, our political life, and our plans for the present and the future.” To Sitsabaiesan, Layton’s words highlighted perfectly his commitment to young people. “When he was doing talks across the country, he would talk about the youth he had running on his team and was very excited about the change and being part of the dreams of so many of us. He was a great source of inspiration,” she said. “He’d say that we, the youth, were an inspiration for him, but he probably doesn’t realize how much of an inspiration he was — or he is — for us.” Layton ensured that inspiration would last by concluding his final message with profound words dedicated to all Canadians. “My friends, love is better than anger. Hope is better than fear. Optimism is better than despair. So let us be loving, hopeful and optimistic. And we’ll change the world.”

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Sept 7, 2011

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MEGA

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September 7, 2011

Volume 21, Issue 1

Published since November 27, 1991

editorialstaff EDITOR-IN-CHIEF (Outgoing) Coleman Molnar

editorofomega@gmail.com/250-372-1272 EDITOR-IN-CHIEF (Incoming) Mike Davies

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

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

Cory Hope

SPORTS EDITOR

Nathan Crosby Copy Editor

Larkin Schmiedl Photo Editor

Cory Hope News Editor

Brendan Kergin

omegacontributors Emma Godmere

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

letterspolicy

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.

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

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

Want to get involved in covering campus news? Apply to contribute to the Omega.

ABOVE: Just a handful of the many people available to assist scared or lost first-year students. Look for the friendly t-shirts. —TRU Marketing RIGHT: Orientation kicked off on Tuesday morning in the Tournament Capital Centre. —Cory Hope

Successful learners get involved: dean of students Don’t be among the 33 per cent of first-year dropouts Coleman Molnar

Outgoing Editor-in-Chief If you’re a fourth-year student, maybe you’ll just sail into the school year on a summer breeze, drifting into a classroom of familiar faces. But if you’re a first-year

student, the process of getting into your education may be a little more jostling. September marks the return to school and one of the busiest times of year for students, but Thompson Rivers University staff would like to let learners know they don’t have to go it alone.

Here’s a statistic that, as intimidating as it is, needs to be thrown around this time of year: according to Matthew Kennedy, a research analyst at TRU, approximately one third of all first-year students at TRU drop their classes in the first semester and never return. TRU’s Dean of Students, Christine Adam, knows just how important it is for students to reach out for the help provided. Adam has two simple pieces of advice for firstyear students: “go to class,” and “don’t only go to class.” The fist bit of advice is pretty self-explanatory. “Attendance is one of the greatest predictors of how well a student will do in a course,” said Adam. “If you look at the breakdown of students who are getting A’s, B’s, C’s, D’s and F’s, you can almost follow the line of their attendance as well.” This should come as no surprise to anyone — of course attendance is important — but the significance of Adam’s second piece of advice is less obvious. “Being a student isn’t just about being in classes,” she said.

“There are lots of other things that go on in a student’s life that can affect how they do in school.” “Your university experience isn’t just about going into classrooms and returning to your dorm room or apartment and reading your textbooks,” said Adam. “University life is so incredibly rich. It’s this time of your life when you pay to go to class, you pay for an education, but there are all of these other things that are going on that are part of the community — I think sometimes [students] miss out on a lot of opportunities to enhance their education.” Some of the opportunities Adam is talking about include joining the student union or any of the many student-run clubs, participating in intramural sports or activities, writing for your campus newspaper (pardon the shameless plug), or attending supplemental learning sessions. This spring a group of upperlevel arts students joined forces to create a mentoring program for new arts students. “We phoned every incoming [arts] student and told them about this program and some other things arts was offering for the upcoming year,” said Jessica Lee, one of the arts mentors. “We are here to give practical, real advice to new students on everything from how to survive university life, to paper writing — basically, we take the mystery out of university.” If you’d like more information on arts mentoring program or any of the other services offered on campus, visit www.tru.ca. And if your first year of university has got you stressed, know that there are plenty of people here to help get you through it. Use the great services here on campus and don’t become a dropout statistic.

September 7, 2011

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8/30/11 1:18:30 PM ART DIRECTOR/DESIGNER:

The Omega · Volume 21, Issue 1

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Welcome to another year I’m literally the only carry-over Welcome back friends — both present and future — to what should employee from last year, and am be another great year at Thompson happy to be serving in my new caRivers University here in beautiful pacity as your editor-in-chief. I look forward to the opportunity Kamloops, B.C. Those of you returning to your to put together a publication that studies will notice some significant will both inform and entertain, and I once again urge you all to get inchanges. That massive building smack volved and tell us what you want to hear from us. dab in the middle Do you want of campus — the more information Brown Family on upcoming events House of Learning so you know what to — is open and in attend on your limfull use. ited student budget? In it you’ll find Maybe you want not only a new Tim hard-hitting, invesHortons (prioritigative journalties right?), but also ism — taking the computer labs, pristudent union and vate group-study university adminrooms (like the ones istration to task in the student union on spending your building attached to money. the Campus ActivMike Davies Let us know what ity Center that are Editor-in-Chief you want us to do seemingly always booked), as well as the largest in- for you. We’re your paper after all — the-round lecture theatre in British we don’t just put this out every week for our own amusement. If we hear Columbia. There’s also a huge revamp of Old from enough of you often enough, Main happening, and you can see not only can we gear the paper more what all that work will turn into at towards what you want it to be, but we’ll be able to put in a “letters to www.tru.ca in the newsroom blog. Here at the Omega we’ve had the editor” section as well, and some pretty significant changes, as you’ll see your words in print. I’ll gladly introduce you to the well. The physical circulated paper has rest of the team next week — when been reformatted, obviously, and they finally all get to town and start we’re also continuing to develop our working (just kidding guys). So get your books and get to class, website, theomega.ca, so follow our progress on that throughout the year and know that we’ll be on the stands and don’t be afraid to chime in and every Wednesday to tell you what’s tell us what you think we can im- going on. You can contact us by going to prove on. We’ve also changed buildings www.theomega.ca and commenting — we’re in house four now — and on our stories or email me directly at turned over our entire editorial and editorofomega@gmail.com. management staff.

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The Virtue for September is: Peacefulness: Peacefulness is being calm inside. Take time for daily reflection and gratitude. Solve conflicts so everyone wins. Be a peacemaker. Peace is giving up the love of power for the power of love. Peace in the world begins with peace in your heart.

Our Trained Montessori Teachers provide a Montessori Pre-school, and full day Childcare program. Studies include world geography, culture, math, language, art, music and much more!

September 7, 2011

Coffee Break 8

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46 Football game 49 Test 51 Observe 52 African river 53 Girls’ playthings DOWN 1 Unable to concentrate 2 Shoe parts 3 Feminine, for short 4 Big car race 5 Nothing 6 Collections 7 Fad 8 Controls 10 Cooking place 14 Athletic competition 15 Top experts 16 Munchy snack 17 Lord of the Rings character 18 Qualified 20 Kid’s home play 21 Goes with Ken 22 Auras 23 Kid’s reward 26 Kids’ futures 30 Expert 31 Football for

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Andrew McLachlan — The Peak (Simon Fraser University)

The Omega · Volume 21, Issue 1

Sports Two first-time Ironmen ride very different paths Mike Davies

would, “help motivate some of [his] friends and family to keep some kind of physical activity When truck driver Joe Lagos in their lives. Maybe one of my decided to quit smoking a few kids will years ago and get back in shape, even try [a he had no idea that decision would t r i a t h lo n] eventually lead him to Penticton one day.” to participate in the 2011 Subaru W h e n Ironman competition. asked about Lagos quit smoking in 2008 afhis expecter 15 years of use. He realized tations for he needed a goal to help him get the event itin shape, and living on Vancouself, Lagos ver Island, he chose the “Victoria was honest 10K, deeming it motivational and and realisrealistic. tic with his When I found out he was goal. signed up for the Penticton Iron“I’m just man, I caught up with him and hoping to asked him a few questions. finish it,” he I wanted to know what made said. him decide to pursue such a goal “I’m try— especially knowing he hasn’t ing to keep always been a big fitness fanatic an open — and what he hoped to get out mind as I of the experience. have never “Well Mike, I was a fitness done a trifreak through my younger years athlon before, let alone an Iron— at least up until I broke my man.” back in 1997. At that point it was For those of you who don’t impossible for me to continue know the difference, a triathlon is any race involving three different endurance events, done sequentially. The most popular is the swim/bike/ run. According to the International Triathlon Union, the standard verintroductory offers: sion of a triathlon is a 1.5 km swim, unlimited yoga: $20 for one week and/or $50 for one month 40 km bike and for first time clients 10 km run. great student pricing: class cards, unlimited monthly memberships, An Ironman $50 per month for 6 months unlimited yoga triathlon, however, consists of trade program available: receive unlimited yoga classes when a 3.8 km swim you trade your time working at the studio followed by a 180 (Email: trina@kamloopshotyoga.com for more information on this program) km bike, and finishes with a maropen every day: 27 classes per week— athon of 46.6 km. see website for schedule of classes Thompson Rivers Lagos hoped University his training regiALL WITHIN TEN MINUTES ad ill Ro men of running McG WALKING DISTANCE OF TRU M cG ill Roa d for an hour threetimes a week and ALL CLASSES SUITABLE biking and swimFOR BEGINNERS ming in the same frequency and r D e m r e a Not D e Dame Dr otr duration would 954-Unit C Laval Crescent be enough. (beside Cliffside Climbing Gym) nt sce r “I worked in Web: www.kamloopshotyoga.com re Email: info@kamloopshotyoga.com the tar-sands industry in Fort 7 y9 wa McMurray, and Phone: (250) 374-7426 my job had me on

Incoming Editor-in-Chief

with any kind of fitness activity, I more or less had to learn to walk again. “I have found over the years that having a goal really helps with motivation, so I signed up. “Si x-hu ndred-eight dollars for the entry, $2500 for the bike and gear to go with it, and another $300 for a wetsuit that I couldn’t buy until shortly before the race as I knew I would lose a few pounds [during training]. “I had a pretty significant goal — don’t waste all that money.” He was hoping that his actions

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the clock for 12 hours a day, 21 a ‘must do,’ rather than a ‘love to days in a row, which left me little do,’” as he put it. I was curious as to whether time to train,” he said. “Some days eating was the big- these two would recommend othgest chore because all I wanted to ers to pursue an Ironman, and any advice they had for those do was sleep.” Brent Friesen of Williams who decided to. “I would recommend this to Lake, who attended TRU when it was still the University College anyone, said Friesen. “It is an awesome experience of the Cariboo, has a different and one of the only sports where story. He owns a pilates studio and you are on the same piece of he’s been in good shape his entire pavement as the pros and can be that close to them and that level life. But on Aug. 10, 2010 he had of athlete.” His advice would be to join open-heart surgery shortly after registering for the Penticton race, a triathlon club and get profesand was told he’d never be able sional training, but warns that to get into the condition neces- it’s the kind of thing that has to sary to participate, as his heart, take priorities away from other specifically his new valve, sim- aspects of your life for you to be ply would not be strong enough successful. “The time commitment takes to train. so much time But he away from my and his family, or else n e w l y I would do it str uctured every year.” heart took Lagos had a that as a similar piece challenge. of advice: “I ave al“When takways been ing on a goal active in of this magnidifferent tude, you need forms,” he to have the said. highest level “I did of dedication. b o d y bu i ld “The training when I ing for this was youngtype of event er, and went takes up most on to teachof your free ing fitness time — or in classes and my case, all of doing permy free time. sonal trainYour social ing. It is a life and family lifestyle I time both take have always ABOVE LEFT: Joe Lagos starts the quite a hit,” he lived.” The doc- biking section of the 2011 Subaru agreed. As for tors said Ironman in Penticton. —Megan Lipp-Lagos whether he’d he’d have recommend it to cut out ABOVE: Brent Friesen awaits the to others, he the weight start of the race in Penticton. said he defitraining af- —Renee Friesen nitely would, ter the surgery, as it would put too much but that, “this is not a task that stress on his heart, so he turned should be taken lightly.” “I would have done a Halfto endurance training exclusiveIronman first if I had the choice ly. “I tried to get in two long rides to start this over again,” he said. The results of their respective [of 100 km or more] and two short rides a week with two months to races isn’t important — I’ll just say that one of them finished it, go. “I swam twice a week from the other has already committed January until the pool closed in to returning in two years for anWilliams Lake at the beginning other try, and they’re both very proud of what they accomplished, of July.” The running was more of a as are all their friends and famchore than a pleasure for Friesen, ily. or more precisely, “the running is

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September 7, 2011

TRUSU Membership Advisory

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