March 18, 2015

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Volume 24 – Issue 24

www.truomega.ca Ω @TRU_Omega

INTERNATIONAL DAYS FASHION, LANGUAGE, CULTURE AND FOOD – ALL INSIDE

Photo by Kim Anderson

Keeping culture through kendo, p. 15

TRUSU president passing the torch, p. 10

March 18, 2015

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NEWS

March 18, 2015

C-51 “Day of Action” protesters gather in Kamloops

TRU saw over 200 people pass through its library doors March 5 for the Long Night Against Procrastination. (Jim Elliot/The Omega)

Jim Elliot

CONTRIBUTOR Ω

The controversy surrounding the proposed anti-terrorism legislation, Bill C-51, manifested itself on the

streets of Kamloops as opponents of the bill gathered outside the local Member of Parliament’s office.

Approximately 150 Kamloops residents assembled in front of Cathy McLeod’s office and then marched down Victoria St. to the Kamloops

Art Gallery. The protest was one of many that took place across the country on March 14 as part of what organizers called a “day of action.”

C-51 is a five-part legislation package that alters the laws surrounding information sharing, air travel, and

immigration. The bill also gives new powers to judges and the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) to investigate and prosecute terrorist activity. The bill’s opponents say it is overly complex and broad, especially in its definition of what constitutes a terrorist or terrorist activity.

Kamloops federal NDP candidate Bill Sundhu, who was present at the protest, called bill C-51 “complex, convoluted, overly broad and far too intrusive.”

NDP Foreign Affairs critic Paul Dewar said, “We are concerned Conservatives have steadily given CSIS more powers while ignoring calls from experts and commissions of inquiry that our intelligence and security agencies also need better oversight.”

The green party has been the most vocal in their opposition to the bill.

Party leader Elizabeth May spoke at the Toronto “day of action” protest.

The Liberal party has chosen to support Bill C-51, with party leader Justin Trudeau remarking: “This bill can be improved, but on the whole, it does include measures that will help

keep Canadians safer. As such, we will support it.”

The protest was organized by Liam Bass and TRU student Nikki Ford.

“The bill doesn’t recognize the difference between political involvement and terrorism,” Bass said when asked why he was protesting.

Ford called the bill “unconstitutional” and an “infringement on freedom of expression and freedom of assembly [that] undermines the ability for people to have a free life.”

Another protestor, Louise Richards said that she was “not convinced that the bill is necessary considering all the other anti-terrorism laws we have.”

Ford and Sundhu addressed the assembled protestors and then opened up the microphone for others to voice their opinions.

TRU professor Wilson Bell, who attended the protest but did not address the crowd, said “any step towards a police state is a step in the wrong direction” and noted that threats of terrorism were a common justification for enacting stricter laws in the Soviet Union, his area of study.

New policy puts price tag on adult education

Tuition to be charged for adult basic education next year, but not everyone agrees Alexis Stockford NEWS EDITOR Ω

Students hoping to upgrade their high school courses at TRU will have to open up their chequebooks come September. The formerly free adult basic education (ABE) courses will cost up to $1,600 a semester, according to TRU administration.

“We need to recover the cost it takes to provide the program,” said TRU vice-president of advancement, Christopher Seguin.

ABE in British Columbia has been tuition-free since 2008. Last December however, the provincial government announced that post-secondary institutions could start charging for

upgrading programs. At the same time, funding for individual student grants increased to $7.6 million a year, a 33 per cent jump.

According to Minister of Advanced Education Andrew Wilkinson, the new policy will make ABE programs more sustainable for universities while still providing aid to low-income students.

“Low-income students will be eligible for upfront, non-repayable grants to cover the cost of their tuition and other education-related expenses such as supplies, textbooks, transportation and childcare,” Wilkinson said in an email to The Omega.

The provincial government has also committed $6.9 million to help institutions make the transition from tui-

tion-free ABE. Despite an increase in individual grants, critics of the new policy have warned that charging tuition for ABE might dissuade enrolment in ABE. The Canadian Federation of Students (of which TRUSU is a member) has officially protested the policy, pointing to a sudden decline of ABE enrolment following the introduction of tuition in 2002.

According to data provided by TRUSU, ABE enrolment at TRU fell by 31 per cent in the two years after ABE tuition began to be charged in 2002. ABE enrolment began to rise again after 2008, but as of 2010 had yet to reach its pre-2002 levels.

Seguin would not comment on whether the new tuition charges would

decrease ABE enrolment at TRU, saying only that they would have to wait to see how the numbers played out come September.

He stressed, however, that ABE is a valuable part of TRU. “These people are re-engaging with their learning process, and many of them go on to [post-secondary] training in traditional academics, in trades and dozens of other pathways, so adult basic education is important to us and we want to do it well,” he said.

The majority of respondents to TRUSU’s recent student budget consultation were also against the new policy. Just over 66 per cent of respondents said they “agreed” or “strongly agreed” to the following statement: “TRU should allocate all necessary

resources to continue to offer ABE courses tuition-free, keeping in mind that TRU has limited resources to allocate amongst programs and services you may access.”

According to Seguin, the December decision meant TRU could have begun charging tuition already this semester, but the university wanted to give students a chance to adjust to the new policy.

“We tried to think of the people that may be affected who were making plans to take these programs in summer and we wanted to respect their path and empower them, but this gives people time to plan for the realities that now present themselves,” he said.

TRU’s new ABE tuition policy will be finalized over the summer.

Still ground to cover on community garden

Students want to cultivate green thumbs at TRU, but it’s been tried before Alexis Stockford NEWS EDITOR Ω

The six students hoping for a community garden on campus have reached their $1,000 fundraising goal, but there’s still a ways to go before the project breaks ground. The garden, which would rent plots for students to grow their own produce, still needs the university’s stamp of approval.

“Right now what we’re working on is tracking down who exactly is in charge of making that decision so that we can get a better idea of who’s holding the project back,” said Emmalie Louwerse, one of the students on the project.

The garden, which began as a group class project, is largely based off a 2012 proposal by TRU Horticulture co-ordinator Kevin Scol-

lon that had to be abandoned after funding was pulled.

Scollon said his proposal was not the first time a garden on campus has been suggested. The idea of a community garden has come up several times in the last few years, but has always been turned down.

“It’s a great idea,” he said. “We just can’t get past the continuity issue [with summer caretakers], the aesthetics issue and the placement issue. Unfortunately, there’s never a good answer to any of those.”

In this latest bid, Louwerse’s group has suggested three possible locations for the garden: beside Lot N by the Residence and Conference Centre, behind Culinary Arts, or behind the veterinary building. The TRUSU Roots and Shoots Club has also agreed to manage the garden over the summer.

Beyond their goal, but not their budget

$1,000 of financial leeway in case of unexpected costs.

While the group has already raised $1,130 through their Indiegogo crowd-funding site since March 2, the six students say they still need donations.

“It’s really important for the campus to become involved in this and we need all the help and support we can get,” Louwerse said. “One thousand dollars was our goal, but it’s only going to cover part of the costs of what a garden would be.”

Besides breaking ground, equipment and seeds, Louwerse says most of the fundraised money would go to a security fence around the garden.

Scollon’s original proposal called for a six-foot-tall chain link fence to keep out deer and other wildlife. The fence’s $10,000 price tag included all material, contract labour and over

Despite the obstacles, Scollon, Louwerse and TRU Sustainability’s James Gordon all say that there is demand for a community garden.

According to Scollon, the Horticulture department has seen a dramatic rise in students interested in growing their own food in the last five years.

“I think people are just getting in tune with where food comes from,” he said, adding that more and more students are looking for local, pesticide-free produce.

Over 130 people have signed to show their support for the project, Louwerse says.

The group will be accepting funds through their Indiegogo campaign until April 1.

Student demand

Emmalie Louwerse campaigning. (Alexis Stockford/The Omega)

The Omega Thompson Rivers University’s Independent Student Newspaper Published since November 27, 1991

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EDITORIAL STAFF EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Sean Brady @iamseanbrady editor@truomega.ca NEWS EDITOR Alexis Stockford @AlexisStockford news@truomega.ca ISSUES EDITOR Ashley Wadhwani @ashwadhwani issues@truomega.ca SCI-TECH EDITOR Ryan Turcot @RyanTurcot sci-tech@truomega.ca ARTS EDITOR Kim Anderson @K_AndersonSays arts@truomega.ca SPORTS EDITOR Tayla Scott @taylascott3 sports@truomega.ca COPY EDITOR Rachel Wood @rachelwoood copy@truomega.ca CONTRIBUTORS Zain Bakhtiar, Carli Berry, Mason Buettner, Jim Elliot, Nikki Fredrikson, Aliya Hussein, Steve Leahy, Hope Mikal, Courtney Ranger, Nathan Weissbock

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OPINION

The Omega Ω Volume 24 • Issue 24

Budget consultation an important step towards collaborative governance Sean Brady

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Ω

We’ve been using the same system of government for a long time.

But government hasn’t really matured like it should.

Despite the fact that we’ve long had access to online voting systems, we still don’t really use them.

Despite the fact that a ton of political discussion takes place online, many in power ignore online circles of debate. Despite the fact that voter turnout among youth is at an all-time low, little progress has been made to spur engagement. We live in the age where a technological solution is the answer to everything from a better taxi system to a way to find a partner (or something more fleeting).

Why not government, too?

It’s not for a lack of trying, and there might be a good example of a more serious effort right here on campus. In Alexis Stockford’s story on page five of this week’s paper, you can read about how TRUSU has taken the step of reaching out to find out how students feel about

how university money should be spent.

The budget consultation might look boring. It might look unimportant. It might look like a token gesture to the student population, but it’s actually an important step in the right direction towards more collaborative government for everyone.

Student elections are rarely taken very seriously – even at universities where important issues are on the table or where things are a complete mess, the voter turnout is never too impressive. In 2013, TRU’s voter turnout was a measly 10.5 per cent. In 2014, things were only slightly better, with a voter turnout of 15 per cent. We don’t seem to particularly care about student elections.

But we should care. There have been some impressive people running TRUSU during my time here (one of them, Dylan Robinson, is featured in a Q&A this week on page 10).

Like a lot of things at university, student elections are a bit of a test run for the real world. But better still, they’re a place to try out new

ideas or improve on things without having to navigate the sticky web of bureaucracy encountered in the real world.

That’s why the budget consultation is a big deal, because this is something that will one day carry over, in some form, into our provincial and federal governments and something that fosters the very idea of more collaborative governance.

It only makes sense. Why should democracy start and end with an election? Sure, we don’t want referenda for every little thing, but that’s thinking in the old model.

An annual consultation, for a budget, for priorities, for planning, is not unreasonable. The City of Kamloops holds its own version of this kind of consultation, but it seemed to suffer from the same problem as TRU: low turnout.

Whether we care or not, it’s our responsibility to show up to things like this. Attendance begets attendance. Show up and bring someone with you. You might find more that you care about than you thought you would. editor@truomega.ca

Academic writing desperately needs some humanity The typical impersonal style is more isolating than educational Kyle Darbyson

THE FULCRUM (CUP)

It’s getting to be that time again when the writing and submission of dry, tedious academic essays is at an all-time high. I would know, having written plenty of them myself.

This is not the fault of students.

From the first day of university—or high school, for some people—they have been taught to maintain a flat, totally detached tone throughout their scholarly writing. The world of academia claims that this kind of writing style is used to cultivate an objective voice, which is supposed to make your paper more persuasive and compelling.

Instead, all it succeeds in doing most of the time is eliminating any trace of humanity or accessibility from your text.

Much of this problem can be summed up through the debate over the use of personal pronouns. Such a thing is heavily frowned upon, especially for those who teach in the sciences.

But more expressive language can enhance the clarity of your text. By using the first person in a few strategic spots you can avoid awkward constructions and instances of vagueness, allowing you to take a more authoritative stance on the subject at hand. It’s especially effective when you want to avoid something like the passive voice, an evasive construction that makes you sound like a weak-kneed public relations drone.

Little touches like this can also help inject a spark of humanity into your research paper, which, despite what many academics will suggest, is not a bad thing. Writing a short personal

anecdote or stating your own opinion in relation to others can allow you to connect with the reader on a human level and encourage them to keep reading.

Exercising empathy is another thing that’s lost in academic writing, mostly because it encourages writers to get lost in complicated terms and “10-dollar” words. While this language might appear to be more professional on the surface, it is also alienating, and it runs the risk of creating a barrier between the reader and the subject matter. So, while it is tempting to try and dazzle readers with fancy wordplay, simplifying language and taking the time to explain things to readers is always better.

For the most part, scholarly articles are rife with lifeless jargon, loose punctuation, and unnecessarily complex sentence structure, almost like they were written by an emotionless computer or some kind of observant extraterrestrial.

This is a real shame because the driving force behind any academic research—to explore evolving ideas and concepts—is an inherently worthy enterprise. As such, this kind of literature should be comprehensible to as many people as possible.

By sticking to this convoluted, inaccessible writing style—and passing it down as scripture to impressionable young students—it seems like academics are only interested in showing off their own smarts to their insular group of similarly informed specialists.

Now, I’m not suggesting that academic writing should be severely dumbed down, or that students should start to include hashtags to highlight parts of their text. But there ought to be a happy medium between cold, factual analysis and personalized critique.

Besides, anybody can open up a Word document and fill it with terms and phrases. It takes quality writing to make those words clear and engaging – so much so that they leap off the page.

TUNE IN/TUNE OUT Steve Leahy

CONTRIBUTOR Ω

Philosophy rant time!

I’ve been studying Nietzsche of late, and I’m thinking that this guy’s a little out there, but nowhere near as out there as people think. Sure, like all philosophers he’s got his head in the clouds, but he’s also got both feet firmly on the ground.

But honestly, the first thing people think when Nietzsche is mentioned is nihilism, the rejection of everything. And people think that the man himself champions this idea. But he doesn’t; Nietzsche hates nihilism. He invented the thing just so he would have something to rage against.

Let’s begin at the beginning, or near enough as we can get. For starters, one of Nietzsche’s central ideas is the ‘eternal return of the same’ or, in simpler terms, everything’s going to happen again. It’s definitely one of the harder concepts to wrap your head around. Believe me when I say well studied philosophers still struggle with it. But the trick is to not read too much into it.

Everything’s going to happen again, exactly the same way it happened the first time around. Consider this, you reading this, then heading to class, or heading home, has already happened before, and will happen infinitely times more. So the real idea is to live your life in such a way that you would enjoy the hell out of living it again.

So where does nihilism fit in? Well, that’s what happens when you live your life in such a way that you don’t want it to happen again. If once was enough, and you’re saying ‘please stop the world, I want to get off ’ then you are a nihilist. Life is something you’ve got to struggle through, and find success and achievement through overcoming that struggle. And if you can do that, if you can succeed through life, then why wouldn’t you want to do it all over?

But if you can’t manage that, and you just want to throw in the towel, I feel for you. It’s a cruel world out there, but a lot of people assume there’s some cosmic balance out there, called karma, that will even things out eventually. That’s nihilistic. There is such a thing as karma, but it’s not something you can sit back and take advantage of. Karma is the return of things (wink wink); if you’ve been good, good things will come to you.

But if you wait for good things to come through karma, then the only thing coming back is waiting.

Be proactive. Just get up and do that thing, you lazy sod. It’s not like someone else will do it for you, and even if someone else does, what have you accomplished? Nothing, you little nihilist you. And don’t wait for heaven to come and save you, cause then you’re still waiting. Get up and do that thing! You want heaven? Make your own. Don’t argue, just do it. leahys112@mytru.ca

Give us your words!

Rémi Yuan/The Fulcrum

We’ve got room for you. If you’ve got an opinion on a weekly basis, why not pitch it to us and put it on paper?

Politics? Social issues? Student life?

Tell us all about it and you might find yourself on this very page. If you’re interested in hearing more, write to editor@truomega.ca.

4

NEWS

March 18, 2015

Where there’s culture, there’s style Fashion takes centre stage in IDays showcase Aliya Hussein

CONTRIBUTOR Ω

“We encourage students from different ethnic backgrounds to showcase their culture,” said Staffen Liu-Calver, a student advisor with TRU World.

Staffen was talking about the annual fashion show that is part of the International Days showcase, where 109 students from around the world represented their cultures through dress on Friday, March 13. Chinese, Indian, Nigerian, and Colombian cultures, among others, were exhibited in the 45-minute show.

The international showcase started 21 years ago, with the fashion show being added in the early years. It started off as a small initiative from TRU World to bring cultures together, and “grew up” into a big event with a live stream. Students either get authentic, homemade costumes from their families or purchase them on their own.

They also have the option to apply for financial aid from TRUSU, and if granted, receive financial aid from TRU World as well.

“The outfits are custom made for special activities and interests relating to the wearer’s culture,” Liu-Calver said.

Fashion show host Blessing Chiduuro, who was wearing a traditional Saudi outfit that he had bought off of one of his friends, expressed his excitement for the fashion show.

“I love travelling and learning about different cultures, so the fashion show was a perfect way to gain knowledge and get entertainment at the same time,” he said.

Events like the fashion show give international students a chance to involve themselves with school events and learn more about each other. The IDays showcase and fashion show are opportunities to network, find support and add to the diversity of Canadian culture.

Some of the students who participated in the fashion show described what their attire looked like and where it was from.

“I brought my dress over from India because I knew about International Days,” said Gunveet Narang. “It’s traditional royal North Indian menswear – the royal kings of India used to wear this maroon achkan centuries ago, so we wear it on special occasions to honour them.”

A Japanese student named Cherry, adorned in a kimono, talked about her outfit, too.

“It’s a Japanese traditional costume, usually made of cotton and silk. This one is pink and made of silk, and someone made it for me.”

The models mesmerized the audience with their good looks and refreshing outfits from around the world. The fashion show ended on a comforting note, when international student Polina Slepukhina sang “Hallejujah” and all the models gathered around her, while the spectators waved whatever light they had to add the serene atmosphere.

With all the hard work put into the fashion show, it paid off by providing a beautiful and breathtaking experience.

Photos by Sean Brady/The Omega

NEWS

The Omega Ω Volume 24 • Issue 24

5

Union reaches out for university budget input Course offerings, advising and parking top consultation feedback Alexis Stockford NEWS EDITOR Ω

TRU’s course offerings, student advising and on-campus parking will be at the top of the priorities list when TRUSU makes its Student Budget Consultation Report to the university later this year.

According to TRUSU’s online Student Budget Consultation Survey, students care more about educational programming, academic services and facility services than campus life and engagement or support services. Within those top three categories, 50 per cent of students prioritized course offerings, 42 per cent looked to academic advising and 28 per cent said parking.

Survey results were weighted in terms of both importance and general satisfaction.

About 300 people responded to the survey, which TRUSU president Dylan Robinson said he hopes will build in coming years.

“I’m sure as we start to make this more of an annual thing on campus we’ll be looking at additional ways we can reach out to more students and get them to participate,” he said.

Among the issues raised was parking. The student caucus already tackled the problem last year, bringing in a $4 per day rate in Lot N, a half-day rate in Lot E, and more carpooling spots in September.

Despite the changes, parking still claimed the highest dissatisfaction rating of any other survey category with over 60 per cent of respondents saying they were “dissatisfied” to “very dissatisfied” with parking on campus.

“You have to look at these things from kind of a long-term perspective and it’s true that in the previous caucus year we were able to make some progress behind the parking issue … I think there’s still work to be done and I think the survey indicates that there’s a lot of work that students want to see done on that issue,” Robinson said.

Combined with an importance rate (over 60 per cent of respondents said parking was “very important”), parking boasted a priority rating of 5.3 out of a possible six in the survey results. In comparison, course offerings scored 3.5 out of six while academic advising rated 3.7 out of six.

According to Matt Milovick, TRU vice-president of administra-

tion and finance, the new student consultation allows student opinions to be addressed sooner in the budget process.

“We wanted there to be an opportunity for TRUSU, which represents the student voice, to have a voice in the budget process because in years past their concerns always seemed to come to the budget table way too late for any real consideration,” he said.

Milovick further sought to reassure students that the TRUSU report will be taken seriously by the administration.

“What we told TRUSU from the beginning is that they may ask for certain things and there may be reasons why we can’t deliver on those things in a particular year but … we do have an obligation to respond formally to the things that the students have asked for and that was commitment then and it remains my commitment now,” he said.

Town halls are set for March 17-19 to present the results of the survey and collect specific student suggestions on how the survey’s priority areas can be improved. All information will be presented to TRU for the 2016-17 budget.

Sign language explored at IDays

Interactive booth presents culture of sign language Ashley Wadhwani ISSUES EDITOR Ω

When considering a new language to learn, most think French, Spanish or maybe Mandarin, but not sign language. A booth on Student Street in Old Main took a twist on the theme during International Days, sharing the culture of sign language from around the world. With over 80 different sign languages practiced globally, students could pick up sheets of sign alphabets in different languages including ASL, Japanese and Spanish.

The aim of the booth was to educate students on the history of sign language in an interactive and engaging way, while also teaching students a few basic signs between their classes.

Nationally, Canada acknowledges five different types of sign language: American Sign Language (ASL), French Sign Language (QSL), Maritimes Sign Language (MSL), Inuit Sign Language (ISL) and Signed language, a form that follows a word-forword translation from spoken English.

Sign language has similar cultural components to spoken languages with accents and dialect. If anything was to be learned at the booth, it was that sign language is not a translation of spoken languages, but a language of its own. According to Tammy and Neil Monsen, this concept is often misunderstood.

“People think [deaf people] can just read a doctors note or read a book. A lot of deaf people don’t comprehend English because English is not sign language – they’re two different languages,” Tammy said.

Both Tammy and Neil Monsen picked up sign language in support of their hard-of-hearing and deaf friends. It took them 16 weeks to learn ASL through a once-a-week course, and they have honed their signing through practicing with friends. Since learning to sign, their circle of friends has grown.

“It’s opened up a world of friendships for us that we would never have had the opportunity to ever meet,” Tammy Monsen said.

“That can never be over-emphasized,” Neil Monsen added. “The one thing I found is how much this one friend, an older gentleman, is like me.

I would have never met him because I couldn’t communicate with him.”

Another misconception of deaf people is the wide range of hearing capabilities between deaf and hearing, and how this disability translates to someone’s ability to speak. According to the Canadian Hearing Society, “Some deaf individuals have clear and modulated speech. This does not preclude them from having a hearing loss or being deaf.”

“I have friends from both spectrums: ones that have gone to university and ones that have not graduated

Neil Monsen, Coral Richards, Corrina Matthews, Tammy Monsen and Chantal Hogbin sign “Very nice to meet you,” in ASL. (Ashley Wadhwani/The Omega)

high school. Their comprehension levels are pretty much the same – sometimes you have to explain it to them four or five different ways to try to grasp the concept,” Tammy Monsen said.

The many cultural misperceptions of hearing disabilities leave those who are deaf very limited to who they can communicate with. The Monsens have friends who face this social exclusion every day.

“They like to talk about world events, the problems that are going on

with ISIS and what’s going to happen in the future,” Tammy Monsen said.

“Most of their families don’t know sign language. They have no one to communicate with. It’s a lonely, lonely world for most of them.”

For Neil Monsen, learning ASL has introduced him to a new world of friends and in turn made a few lives a little less lonely.

“One deaf person [told me] they starve for communication,” Neil said.

“The fact that you’ll take the time – because it takes time – to stop and

spell, or whatever it takes, makes them really happy.”

If you aren’t familiar with ASL signs known as “classifiers,” Neil suggested simply using the alphabet to spell the word in sign. Most of the time, they’ll respond by showing you the appropriate classifier. The Monsens agreed that ASL was quick to pick up on with little practice.

“It’s their world. It’s their language.

It’s their culture,” Tammy said. “If you let them teach you, they’ll love it. They love to teach their language.”

6 SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY Tales from the top of Everest with explorer Wade Davis March 18, 2015

Ryan Turcot

SCI-TECH EDITOR Ω

This year’s IDays opening ceremony kicked off with a fresh look on the history of the British Mount Everest expeditions, as told through world-renowned anthropologist and former National Geographic explorer-in-residence Wade Davis.

“Tonight I thought I’d tell the story of my own culture,” said Davis, who has extensively researched and published literature on the Everest expeditions. “It’s really a story of modernity as we know it. Everything you know of your life, every sense of being modern, was in some sense born in the mud and blood of Flanders [France] during the First World War. [The war] is the backdrop of this era.”

In the 1920s, just two years after the First World War ended, England undertook three reconnaissance expeditions¬ – in 1921, 1922 and 1924 respectively – to scope out and reach the summit of Mount Everest, Davis said.

“England, an empire of explorers, famously lost the race to the North and South Poles,” he said. “Looming large over their main colony, the Raj, was Mount Everest, which soon became seen as a kind of ‘third pole.’

Having lost the race to the North and South Poles, they became obsessed with reaching the summit of Everest.”

Throughout his keynote presentation, Davis retold the stories of the men who ascended the mountain – most of whom were veterans of the First World War, already hardened to harsh and uncertain conditions, he said.

Two of the most prominent climbers mentioned in Davis’ research were George Mallory and Sandy Irvine.

“On June 8, 1924, George Mallory, the most famous climber in the British Empire, together with his young protégé Sandy Irvine, were last seen cresting the northeast ridge, going strong for the summit, when the mist rolled in and enveloped their memory in myth,” Davis said. “The question that has haunted mountaineers and historians since that moment was whether Mallory and Irvine reached the top.”

There are three prominent rocky steps on the northeast ridge of Everest, and it is commonly thought that the second one was impassible to Mallory and Irvine, Davis said.

“It’s unlikely that they reached the summit…save for one incredible, en-

Wade Davis presents the keynote presentation at the 2015 IDays opening ceremonies. (Kim Anderson/Thompson Rivers University)

ticing possibility,” he said.

“The snows that had carpeted the mountain that season – which we now understand was not the early onslaught of monsoon but a rare low pressure system – are being studied by scholars at the University of Toronto to this day. The system created historic levels of snowfall that, had those snows accumulated on the northeast ridges, it would be conceivable in October 1986 that it formed a ramp that actually buried the second step, allowing them to reach the summit.”

Davis also talked about some of the unorthodox approaches he took in undergoing his research. At one point, he mentioned Australian climber George Finch, who was rejected from the expedition team.

“Not two weeks before they were scheduled to sail from Mumbai, both [Mallory] and [Finch] were asked to take a medical exam,” he said. “Mallory passed with flying colours, but Finch failed.

“But curiously, a week later, Finch, unaware he’d been kicked off the team, goes up to Oxford and sets records for endurance in the oxygen

deprivation tanks. That summer, while Mallory was up on Everest, Finch sets records in the Alps. So the question that haunts mountaineers is: why was Finch kicked off the expedition?”

“Sometimes when you do research, the public record office and the national archives are very helpful, but the really juicy stuff is found in the ‘poor sport records,’ and this was a history that haunted the literature, but I solved it just by looking into Finch’s marital record, of sorts.”

The backstory to Finch’s failed test was long, but with a humorous punchline, Davis said. It began with Finch marrying an aspiring actress in 1915, leaving for the war, and coming back to find his wife pregnant with another man’s child a year later. In the wake of these events, Finch left again for war, impregnated a nurse in Salonika, decided he did not love the nurse anymore, and fell in love with another actress.

“It was no wonder he failed, because events on the very day of that medical examination, this is how things stood: Finch was ordered back to the bed of a woman he disdained who was about

to give birth to a baby of his blood, out of another disastrous relationship comes a child who went on to become the famous British actor Peter Finch, and he’d taken the obligation of paying that woman 100 pounds a year for the rest of her life, and on the very day of the medical examination, he was scheduled to commit public adultery in a hotel.”

“So I wrote in my book,” Davis said, “it’s no wonder he lost his appetite, or that his doctors wrote that his complexion was sallow. What happened to Finch was a huge mystery, and all you had to do was look into his sex life.”

Davis also recalled the uncanny way he stumbled onto Canadian climber Oliver Wheeler’s rare written account of the expeditions.

“At the Whyte Museum in Banff, they told me that his son John Wheeler was still alive and living in Vancouver. Well I found John, living five doors down from the house I was born in. I went to see him, and according to all British historians, only one journal was kept in 1921 and, in the middle of my interview with John, he pulled off his bookshelf these two fat diaries kept

by his father as he walked across Tibet with Mallory.”

“I was too Canadian to ask to borrow them, but it turns out I had climbed all these mountains that he had surveyed, and he went to the same boarding school that my father had gone to in the 1930s. As I left his house he simply took these journals and said, ‘you know son, I think these might be helpful to you.’ And I kept those journals for 12 years, and the family never asked what had become of my project. And that’s why I’m writing a book right now on Oliver Wheeler. When you read that book, you’re going to see that there was a Canadian hero that was never heard of that was an extraordinary man of the last century.”

Davis concluded the presentation with a clear message to the audience: “These were men of a character the likes of which we will never know again. And the most important thing to recall, is that these men were our grandfathers. That is something you should never forget this year, at the hundredth anniversary of the outbreak of the Great War.”

Apple Watch won’t be worth its weight in gold Ryan Turcot

SCI-TECH EDITOR Ω I’m not saying that the Apple Watch isn’t innovative, or that people won’t buy it. I know too many critics who were burned when they said the same thing about the iPad a few years ago.

If nothing else, the fact that Pebble’s “Pebble Time” Kickstarter campaign spiked to a $16,000 hourly yield after the Apple Watch was announced is proof enough for me that there is a strong consumer appetite for smartwatches.

However, given the same mon-

ey it costs to buy an Apple Watch, are there not better and more useful things we could be putting that money towards?

I mean, is there really a lot that smartwatches offer that smartphones don’t? (That is, aside from enabling us to spam the heck out of Shazam on roadtrips and nights out on the town?)

Okay, fine. There is a legit case to be made. If you’re an athlete of any kind, that Apple Watch is basically a Fitbit or Nike+ FuelBand on steroids. If that’s your cup of tea, go ahead and track analytics and stuff about yourself.

And yes, there are also arguments to be made about having

Apple Pay on your wrist, making use of the Apple Watch’s time management alerts, or simply wanting to be an early adopter of something new and exciting.

That’s all fine. I just fear that “smart” is beginning to become a buzzword of sorts.

The smartphone was an innovative concept because it was the first piece of tech to give us onthe-fly and constant access to a full-fledged computer. We had laptops before, but we still had to be sedentary to use them. The birth of smartphones meant that we could now apply computers to problems that we would only encounter on the go, like finding

last minute directions to an important destination.

But it seems everything “smart” that came after the smartphone only duplicates or extends the smartphone’s functionality – save for a few niche scenarios, like surgeons using Google Glass to access vital info while they operate on patients.

In a world where we already complain we don’t have enough “me time” in the day, and where we are constantly bombarded with emails and social media updates, is an extension to our smartphones really warranted?

I’ll let you decide for yourself, as long as we can agree on one

thing: Apple Watch Edition is the dumbest concept (and name for a product) ever.

For those who don’t know (a.k.a. have been living under a rock), the Watch Edition is Apple’s high-end line of 18-karat gold watches that will range from $13,000 to $22,000 in Canada, according to the online Apple Store.

Anybody who spends $22,000 on an Apple Watch is a complete chump, especially since, unlike a Rolex, which will still be stylish and valuable decades from now, an Apple Watch will surely become obsolete in the next few years when Apple Watch 2 drops.

NEWS

The Omega Ω Volume 24 • Issue 24

7

Pitching a Model UN at TRU

A Q&A with a TRU lecturer who wants to bring the club to campus Ashley Wadhwani ISSUES EDITOR Ω

Robert Hanlon, a political science lecturer, is forming a Model UN club – if enough students join. Hanlon, whose background focuses on international relations, previously worked at Kwantlen Polytechnic University in Surrey, B.C., where he acted as the faculty advisor for their model UN club.

“I’ve been here [TRU] about a year and a half, and the fact that there was no Model UN club was always a bit of a question in the back of my head,” Hanlon said.

The Omega spoke with Hanlon about what he wanted to accomplish with the club.

Ashley Wadhwani: What activities will the Model UN club be doing?

Robert Hanlon: We will be looking at models of how teams have won Model UNs by looking at case studies on how successful Model UN’s worked, how unsuccessful ones worked—some of the barriers. We are going to be working on things like public speaking, diplomacy skills, networking skills and the rules and regulations. This is a competitive UN so the goal is to have a team that will compete as a TRU club so the training will be absolutely essential to this.

AW: Would students be competing against other universities?

RH: The plan, if it all works out, is to start with a local competition—going to places in the lower mainland.

We have our eyes set on a mock UN in the fall at Kwantlen. There’s one at University of British Columbia and Simon Fraser University as well.

AW: How many students are needed for a competitive team?

RH: A team will generally be between four and eight. If we have enough we could do our own model UN here. At Kwantlen, there were roughly 60 students participating in the Model UN club so we did a Model UN on campus.

AW: What exactly is Model UN competition?

RH: Essentially it’s a simulation of how the real United Nations works.

A competitive team is given a country and students are to research and learn everything about the country’s policy and foreign policy. They are given [the country] ahead of time. Then they go and role-play as official representatives and diplomats of that country.

It’s carried out over several days. The first day [the students] will have a resolution or theme that they’re trying to deal with.

AW: What sort of resolutions or themes would students be working with?

RH: This year, the Model UN at Kwantlen had [a gender-based violence] theme. It also had a UN Se-

curity Council reform, so they talked about how to think about the countries that have the most power, and there’s five of them, and think about how to make the UN a more equitable agency. So they’ll spend one day negotiating and talking about policies and then they’ll create a resolution.

Teams will sometimes work through the night. Depending on the Model UN, sometimes there’s an emergency crisis that can happen. The next day there’s voting procedures and then, hopefully, the goal [is] to have a final product or resolution and present it.

AW: What skills can students take from competing in the Model UN club?

RH: It is an initiative that requires a lot of teamwork—a lot of preparation. It’s a lot of networking and public speaking. It’s an opportunity for students to not only learn about the world, but [also] meet people with similar interests around campus and other universities. [Students] certainly have to do quite a bit of research beforehand. Often [students] will have to write resolutions, drafts or research reports depending on the Model UN. There are also opportunities to get involved in the community.

My ultimate hope is that model UN can be used as an outreach to high schools. There’s a whole range of skills that are done in a very fun and collaborative way.

The greatest race never won – or something like that Alexis Stockford

THIRD PLACE CANADIAN Ω You know that feeling when you’re about to do something totally immature? That’s kind of how it felt lining up at the start line of the All-Canadian Run last Wednesday.

A maze of balance boards, hockey nets and Timbits lay in front of me, a setup the likes of which I hadn’t seen since high school freshie week. On the sidelines, three of my fellow Omega editors stood, cameras and voice recorders at the ready and shit-eating grins fully in place. I hadn’t been able to talk a single one into running with me.

The starter raised her whistle and I crouched down, flanked by my competitors.

“On your mark, get set, go!”

And we were off.

I was a little slow out of the gate, probably held back by the lingering feeling of “I can’t believe I’m doing this.”

I rushed to the first table, jammed a hockey helmet on my head and made for the log run. Skipping across the narrow board, I saw the competitor on my left fall off. Second place was mine.

The next station was a hockey shootout. Two shots in net and you were past. Reaching down, I grabbed a hockey stick an instant after my competitor in the blue t-shirt and lined up my shot.

A swell of victory hit me when I was the first to sink the ball into the net. This was it! I was owning this thing!

The pressure must have gotten to me, because I missed the next three, one really embarrassingly from about two feet away.

I could hear my editor, Sean Brady,

Alexis Stockford does the All-Canadian Run during IDays (Sean Brady/The Omega)

laughing as he gleefully snapped shots.

What can I say? Wayne Gretzky I am not.

By the time I got to the next station (panhandling fake coins out of two Rubbermaid buckets filled with muck) my two competitors were far ahead. One was already past the station and onto the last challenge.

Frantically grabbing the pan, I was momentarily confused by the lack of holes. I was pretty sure there were supposed to be holes. How was the water supposed to drain out if there were no holes?

In the end, I ended up just scooping muck into the pan and feeling around with my hands. Not pretty, but it worked.

Finally, I was at my last obstacle, the final chance to make up some ground.

Five Timbits sat waiting for me. I had barely stopped moving before shoving the first one in my mouth.

My hands were covered with rust and shiny with metal flecks when I looked down at them. I wondered how much metal I was eating with the Timbit, but didn’t think about it too hard.

“What’s a little iron oxide between friends?” I thought, not willing to give up on the race for the sake of a little rust.

Chewing frantically, I snuck a look at my competitor’s plates. Both were farther than me, but I was catching up. I picked up a third and fourth Timbit. The competitor beside me still had three to go. For one glorious moment, my cheeks full to bursting with Timbit like some demented chipmunk. I was sure I had it in the bag.

All the sugar must have absorbed my saliva though, because the third

Timbit went down harder and the fourth and fifth I almost choked on. By the time I swallowed my last mouthful, the others were past.

I spun and ran, crossing the finish line only a few moments late.

Still fighting slight nausea brought on cramming fat and sugar into my mouth, I walked over and collected my medal. Hey, third place is third place.

Sharing a glance with Sean on the sidelines, I couldn’t help but laugh. It was ridiculous, it was childish, but it was the most fun I had all day.

8

March 18, 2015

For more reviews of this year’s film fest lineup, visit www.truomega.ca.

When the Ocean Met the Sky After six years apart, three brothers Daniel (Philip Thomas),Tyler (Spencer Foley) and Jordan (Aren Buchholz) are reunited following the sudden passing of their parents.

Directed by Lukas Huffman, the film sets the trio off on a hiking trip planned by their late parents for the brothers to complete in order to receive their inheritance. The three men set out on what is much more than just a family vacation, as they must work through conflicts from the past. The Holmes boys go through a whirlwind of anger, hate, laughter and finally hope as they work together to find the treasure they are searching for.

Originally the prize the trio sought was an inheritance, however the plot shows us it’s the adventure in between that’s the true treasure.

The hiking trip forces the brothers on a path of self-reflection as well as personal triumph. This film has fantastic scenery, maybe because it was filmed in beautiful British Columbia, our backyard.

The film left me in awe, I had goose bumps and tears from laughing so hard. The relationship Daniel,Tyler and Jordan have is one that any viewer with siblings can relate to. The brothers struggle with Daniel’s need to control, Tyler’s indecisiveness and youngest brother Jordan’s resentment. During the film, viewers get to see each brother’s relationships from each others’ points of view. This is one of the reasons I fell in love with the film, it created a family dynamic that I could relate to.

We saw Daniel and young Jordan struggle to

bond with Tyler because of his independence.

Then the close bond between Jordan and Tyler was shown in a way that made viewers sympathize with Daniel for not having that bond.

The brothers have a relationship dynamic at the beginning of the film that develops into one that we could only dream of. In the beginning, they were mere strangers and by the end they have reconnected and formed a bond only family could share.

Huffman took a story of sibling rivalry and created the ultimate family development story.

This is a film I would recommend to any audience. The journey and growth of the brothers’ bond will inspire, the cinematography will awe and the acting will leave you with a need to call your loved ones.

Big News from Grand Rock

In this straight-faced comedy about a smalltown newspaper, truth isn’t stranger than fiction, because it is fiction!

This movie stars Leonard Crane (Ennis Esmer), a small-town newspaper editor working for the town of Grand Rock. He finds his newspaper business is not as hot as it used to be years ago, and the owner Stan (Gordon Pinsent), is on the verge of trying to sell it. Leonard is passionate about his work and will do anything to save it, which leads him into trouble.

Leonard devises a plan to steal real-life movie plots and feature them as non-fiction stories on the cover of each week’s paper, and hoodwink the rest of the town. Eventually a big-city news organization becomes attracted to one of these (fake) stories Leonard produces and sends one

Rosewater

Rosewater is the directorial debut of Jon Stewart, the longtime host of The Daily Show. Stewart tells the story of Maziar Bahari, an Iranian-Canadian journalist who worked for Newsweek when he was jailed and tortured by the Iranian government during the country’s 2009 election protests. He was held for 118 days, accused of being a spy.

The film is well constructed and covers a lot of ground. From the politics of an election scandal to a man longing to see his pregnant wife once again, to the history of that man’s father and family. Stories are woven throughout, and you’ll care about all of them.

Trying to make a case against him, the Iranian government confronted Bahari with the evidence, trying to force his confession. One piece of evidence used against him was an interview by The Daily Show in which correspondent Jason Jones jokingly calls him a spy. The government “specialist” (his torturer) turns out to be as humourless as the government that arrested him.

The portrayal of Bahari’s torture is refresh-

of their own reporters, Lucy, (Meredith MacNeill) to work side-by-side with Leonard to help him investigate the “so-called” scandal. Lucy soon learns about the hoax through Leonard’s unconvincing and silly cover-ups, and is publically called out on it.

However, through a series of events, she becomes convinced that “his” most fabricated story may not be as false as everybody else believes.

The duo work together and discover that there is something to this story after all. As the two begin working together, their chemistry grows and romance ensues. God forbid a movie doesn’t involve a female supporting character falling in love with the main character!

One problem with this movie’s plot is that even in such a small town, you would think that

Review by Nikki Fredrikson

Review by Nathan Weissbock

at least one civilian would have spotted such an iconic movie plot that has been played off as a news story. Movies like Caddyshack and Cutting Edge are not exactly unfamiliar movies.

Writer and director Daniel Perlmutter keeps the flow nice and smooth, balancing a steady stream of small laughs with a story that engages the viewer. The acting skills by all the performers are impeccable, which assists with the comedy.

The script can be goofy at times, but as outrageous as things get, the ending brings things back down to reality while still providing the audience with chuckles. It is a good, clean belly-grabber that is acceptable to bring the whole family to, aside from a few sexual innuendos.

This movie receives 8.5 Nathan Stars, which closely resembles 8.5 regular stars out of 10.

Review by Sean Brady

ingly real. It’s not the over-the-top torture porn seen in TV shows like “24,” or in action movies.

There’s no needles pushed under fingernails, fingers and toes chopped off or heads stuck in vices.

The usual intent behind graphic torture in films is to make the audience almost as uncomfortable as the victim, but Stewart took a risk with this film and didn’t turn the screws, as it were. As a result, the audience is no less uncomfortable, and Bahari’s pain, both physical and psychological, is no less real during the scenes where his torturer is screaming in his ear, beating him or conducting a mock execution.

The film is also laced with humour and wellused irony – not surprising to anyone who knows Stewart’s work, but maybe a relief to those who thought his first foray into directing might be too serious a departure. Stewart is such a master of levity that he could make an audience laugh at anything, though – no matter how serious or bleak the situation.

That’s not to say that serious matters aren’t handled well, though. The film also manages sto-

rytelling on a macro scale, explaining how Mahmoud Ahmadinejad stole the 2009 election and how people felt after he did so. Much of this storytelling takes place through the lens of Bahari himself, who is in Iran in the first place to cover the election.

The film is more than Bahari and the election’s story, though. It’s also a beautiful picture of the people of Iran. One of Stewart’s motifs in The Daily Show’s Iran segments is the humanization of the Iranian people, meant to show how similar their values and lifestyle are to those in Western nations. That is certainly something that is carried over into Rosewater. While the characters have political and religious beliefs that are not relatable to many in a Western audience, there is an immediate comfort with everyone who appears on screen – well, at least those we’re meant to be comfortable with.

With Stewart soon leaving The Daily Show, let’s hope his next line of work has him producing more work of the same high caliber as Rosewater.

9

The Omega Ω Volume 24 • Issue 24

Maps to the Stars

Nothing is light and airy about Maps to the Stars as the characters pop pills, commit murders and develop schizophrenia.

Havana Segrand (Julianne Moore) is a narcissistic, drug-addicted, washed-up celebrity who attempts to make a comeback by playing a role that was once her more famous mother’s. She’s a cruel woman, and she will do anything to get the role.

The Hollywood dream turns into a nightmare as the characters struggle with drugs, stardom and dark hallucinations (or are they hauntings?) from their pasts.

Benjie Weiss (Evan Bird) is a 13-year-old movie star who has already been to rehab.

Trash talking by day and haunted by night, Weiss questions if he carries the schizophrenia his sister has. His character swears profusely, back-talks elders and makes you want to punch him in the face. Rising that much emotion out of you is a sure way to say Bird

Review by Carli Berry

does an excellent job portraying the arrogant, stereotypical kid-celebrity.

Our third character, Agatha Weiss (Mia Wasikowska), is a recovering schizophrenic who moved to L.A. to find a job and reconnect with her family. It is later discovered that she was sent away to a mental institute for setting her family’s house on fire and nearly killing Benjie, her younger brother.

She is the creepiest character, bearing burn scars, a mild voice and a blank expression that makes you wonder what she is going to do next.

The movie is well paced, but at first, one is confused at the relevance of each character.

It is not revealed until about halfway through the 111 minutes how they are tied together.

The score of Howard Shore does not stand out, but is not noticeable either as he delivers the right tune at the right time, but it is nothing like his work on Lord of the Rings.

It is dark, it is bleak and you leave the theatre thinking there is not much hope for humanity, at least not for the upper class.

Directed by David Cronenberg, this drama adds a new twist to an old message: Being a celebrity is not all what you see on the surface. The film watches a family tear each other apart in an attempt to withhold a dark secret from the press, and the shark pit that each character faces as they lie their way to the top only to come smashing down to rock bottom.

Maps to the Stars will keep you questioning what happens next and leave you satisfied at the unhappy ending. Not for the romantic comedy types, it will leave you with some new thoughts on Hollywood, which is apparently much darker than the surface glitz and glamour.

What We Do in the Shadows

From a coffin emerges a pale hand, groping in the dark to silence an alarm clock. So begins What We Do in the Shadows, a 2014 horror-comedy directed by Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititi.

The mockumentary-style film follows four undead housemates in New Zealand. Viago (Taika Waititi), Vladislav (Jemaine Clement), Deacon (Jonathan Brugh) and Petyr (Ben Fransham) are vampires ranging from 183 to 8,000 years old. The documentary crew, adorned with crucifixes, records daily life in the house leading up to an all-monster event called The Unholy Masquerade.

The quartet has typical “roomie” problems. The orderly Viago struggles to make his roommates clean up discarded skeletons, wash sinks full of bloody dishes, put towels down before devouring a human or sweep the floor with something other than a body.

Even meals prove to be complicated. Isn’t it

the worst when someone drains a victim who was clearly meant for another housemate?

When Petyr transforms an intended victim, Nick (Cori Gonzalez-Macuer), the dynamic of the group is threatened. They are introduced to Nick’s best friend and human, Stu (Stuart Rutherford). Of course, having a human around such a group proves to be unwise.

The brilliance of What We Do in the Shadows is two-fold. It spoofs both vampire stories and reality genres at once. Too often, parodies try to force laughs and fall flat. Rather than mocking particular scenes of bloodsucking romance, the film trusts the conflict of its characters and environment to carry the show. It works, all without running short on material.

Watching the vampires navigate modern nightlife is nothing short of hilarious. They take public transit in clothes centuries old.

In traditional vampire fashion, they must be

Two Days, One Night Dusan Magdolen, Kamloops Film Festival Chair, shared his excitement with a full house at Thursday night’s viewing of Two Days, One Night.

“This is the film I have been waiting to see all festival,” Magdolen said.

These were not empty words, as the audience was immediately captured by Sandra Bya’s (Marion Cotillard) personal struggles at Solwal, the solar panel factory where she worked. Award-winning French actress Cotillard was nominated for “Best Performance By An Actress In A Leading Role” at the 2015 Academy Awards for her outstanding performance in the film. In 2007, she won the same award for the film La Mome. Cotillard is well known for her work in Dark Knight (2012), Inception (2010), and Big Fish (2003).

Sandra is faced with life-changing news when she returns to work after a leave of illness. The operating manager and supervisor informs her that she has been let go while her 17 coworkers receive a bonus of $1,000 €. The viewer then fol-

Every year since I moved to Kamloops I’ve reviewed at least one film during the Kamloops Film Festival, and every year I am pleasantly surprised by the quality of films screened. This year was no exception.

Last year I reviewed That Burning Feeling written and directed by Jason James who also happened to produce Mountain Men. Not surprisingly, I thoroughly enjoyed both films.

Mountain Men was written and directed by Cameron Labine, brother to one of the co-stars, Tyler Labine. The duo grew up in Vancouver and spent plenty of time in the outdoors, which was Cameron’s inspiration for the film.

The film was shot on location in and around Revelstoke. I’ve always been fond of seeing familiar sights in films, and I am especially fond of when films are

invited into dance clubs so they don’t burst into flame.

Yes, the film mentions Twilight by name. It even boasts a pack of reluctant werewolves helmed by Anton (Rhys Darby).

To deem this film “horror” is a bit misleading. Never is there a moment that scares more than it delights. The bloodiest scenes prove to be more awkward than frightening.

Humour permeates every scene without running out of steam by the final credits.

The style of comedy may not be universal.

From the makers of television series Flight of the Concords, What We Do in the Shadows appeals to a particular brand of comedy. Thankfully, the appeal of the film is broadened by the overlapping genres. Its humour blends the dark, the outrageous and the goofy.

For a fresh comedy with more bite than anything else, take a look at What We Do in the Shadows.

Review by Hope Mikal

lows Sandra on her personal journey to win over each coworker’s favour before Monday morning swiftly arrives.

As Sandra is still living with a severe case of depression, she experiences intense panic attacks and fights off her own insecurities by coping with Xanax. This film is a snapshot of her nuclear family’s life, as Sandra’s two young children begin to pick up on the irregular actions of their mother and father (Fabrizio Rongione) who himself tries his hardest to assist his wife in any way that he can.

Glimpsing into the lives of her coworkers, the viewer sees snapshots of domestic abuse between a husband and wife, physical violence between a father and son and so many other family units struggling financially and coming to terms with this moral dilemma. With a large sum of excess funds on the line, each coworker deals with the situation differently, struggling to come to terms with agreeing to vote anonymously in

Mountain Men

Review by Courtney Ranger

Sandra’s favour or remain silent for a new patio deck or to send a child to university.

The film’s theme discusses the growing amount of the global population living in poverty or on the cusp, while the term “middle class” rapidly disappears into a prominent reality. Highlighted throughout the film is an empathic yet irresolute community trying to remain true to morality in an almost autocratic culture. Directors JeanPierre and Luc Dardenne have truly lifted the blanket on short-term workplace contracts and non-unionized labour.

One could say there is no happy ending, however Sandra comes to terms with her unemployment as this does not define her, nor her family’s future. With her head high, the last words spoken by the main character are, “We put up a good fight. I am happy.” With English subtitles, this stunning film is mostly in French with some Arabic, which creates moving and thought provoking experiences around a major societal issue.

Review by Mason Buettner

shot in Canada and don’t pretend it’s somewhere else. Take that Colorado!

Last year James successfully wrote and directed a romantic comedy about a sexually transmitted infection and this year he produced a film that expertly blended comedy and drama. Most of the recognition should be given to Cameron for his writing and directing, however.

Somehow I’ve managed to write half of the review without actually talking about the film. I digress. The film follows brothers Toph, played by Tyler, and Coop, played by Chace Crawford as they journey to their family’s remote cabin to evict a squatter. Sounds simple, right? Wrong.

At the beginning of the film Toph is portrayed as the drug dealer screw-up and Coop seems to have it all together with his big city job and bombshell girlfriend,

but things may not be as good as they seem for Coop.

Trouble follows Toph around every corner as this harmless trip to the cabin turns into a wilderness survival story. The two brothers, who have barely spoken at all over the last three years, need to set aside their differences and work together to make it out alive.

Mountain Men is filled with hilarious quirks and one-liners from Toph, such as suggesting Coop got the good dick and bad sense of direction from their mom’s side of the family and he has a good sense of direction and bad dick from their dad. Toph also used weed cookies as medicine numerous times throughout the film.

I don’t want to give too much away, but I highly suggest watching this film whenever you may get a chance. The audience, myself included, seemed to love Mountain Men.

10

FEATURE

March 18, 2015

TRUSU president set to pass the torch Now finishing his final year, Dylan Robinson takes a look at the road behind him Alexis Stockford NEWS EDITOR Ω

After three years with TRUSU, two as president, Dylan Robinson is getting ready to put on the cap and gown. We caught up with him on his time at TRUSU – what he’s proud of, what he’s learned and what’s next.

Alexis Stockford: So looking back to when you were entering the position, did you know what you were getting into or was there anything that really surprised you?

Dylan Robinson: Well, I think getting involved in any organization ¬– on-campus, off-campus, in life – you don’t really know the full extent of what you’ve been involved with until you sign up, so I was really surprised to see the variety of different issues that I’ve been involved with and issues that I never expected to be working on.

AS: Can you give me an example?

DR: Well, some of the things that I’ve been really proud to work on have been equity work for various constituency groups on campus, specifically groups that weren’t really represented very well before I would say. People like LGBTQ students – who I identify as a member of that community. Graduate students on campus are another good example.

I’ve been really privileged to be a part of the board to approve those equity/advocacy rep positions and have starting doing a lot more work – the annual Pride Parade is an example of that – for those constituency groups as well. Never thought I’d be doing that when I signed up.

AS: Looking back on the last couple of years, has there been anything you would say has been a defining moment as far as your leadership at TRUSU? DR: I would probably point to the annual general meeting that approved the LGBTQ rep and the graduate students rep.

Getting involved in my first two years on campus before I was elected to the board, I’d always gotten the impression that Kamloops was too small or too conservative or whatever a place to really accept LGBTQ students having a really visible role [on campus].

People were saying, “Oh, we think that people oppose it, people don’t want that, it’s not the right time, et cetera, et cetera,” and so I was really moved when I was sitting in that meeting and everybody put up their

cards to approve the positions and there was not a single vote in opposition. Everybody was just really supportive and it was such a good moment for me.

AS: Is there anything you would say you’ve learned about yourself in the course of this position?

DR: Oh, absolutely. You can’t get involved in an organization like the student’s union without developing personally and professionally in terms of the skills and types of things you kind of pick up along the way. I think the mentorship that other board members and staff people have provided me have definitely made me a more confident person in terms of my technical skills and abilities.

Like, I never really knew how to read a budget before I got involved with TRUSU and now I can kind of go through life reading those and understanding them.

Before I got involved in the student’s union I couldn’t call and order pizza on the phone because I couldn’t talk to people…So, you know, getting these skills of going out and talking to people and talking publically in front of large [groups of ] people, but also just one on one with people who I never knew before is a great skill that I’ve acquired in my time here at TRUSU. AS: Is there anything that you now feel that you’re passing the torch on that you really wish you could have seen to completion?

DR: Oh, so many things. The list would go on and on. You want to finish all the projects that you really care about and have been involved with for a number of years but I would say, in terms of the caucus, the new budget consultation process that we’ve launched this year, which is a really exciting and unprecedented I would say out of any Canadian institution.

It’s a direct line for students to have a voice in the budgeting process at the beginning of the process instead of at the end when everything’s all decided – “It’s too bad, you should have participated earlier” type of deal.

So it’s going to be really interesting as time goes on to see that process get more and more fleshed out and to see kind of what students really want to see, to have the data to back that up, about what the members want to see on campus.

The CUEF transition has been a really big topic of discussion and a victory that I’m particularly proud of in terms of more money actually

Dylan Robinson served on the TRUSU board for three years – two of them as president. (Alexis Stockford/The Omega)

going towards direct student initiatives. It’ll be interesting to see on campus – I probably won’t be here – but what people start building: the conferences, the lectures, the events on campus that they are able to host with more resources and having more control by students of students’ money that they pay into that fund.

So that’ll be a really positive change I think.

AS: So is there any advice you would give to the person who’s going to be replacing you?

DR: The only real requirement I think you need for being involved in the student organization and TRUSU is just a willingness to sit down, work together with people from diverse backgrounds and kind of find that common ground about how you can make campus just a little better for students.

Sometimes it might not be glamorous work. You might not be out there with a megaphone on campus leading a big parade or a big march,

but you might be in the office doing administrative work, making sure a member’s health and dental plan is fixed, activating their UPass and things like that.

So I think just having that patience to be able to sit down and work collegially with everyone on campus in order to make things better for members on campus is really the most important aspect of this work I would say.

AS: So for you personally, what’s next? What program are you graduating out of ?

DR: I’m graduating with a BA – a major in philosophy and a minor in political science, so pretty deep stuff but really enjoyable to study, really great faculty here.

So I don’t know. It’ll kind of depend where things take me.

I’m really interested in not-forprofit management, similar to the work I’m doing at TRUSU. I find it really interesting because you get to have that variety I was speaking of.

One day you’ll be doing services development and talking about health and dental plans or UPass, the next day you’ll be out on campus handbilling, doing campus outreach, talking to students about a budget consultation process that’s happening right now. Then the next day you’ll be doing media work, something that I never thought I’d be doing, and then the day after that you’ll be doing, I don’t know, equity work and learning about issues that are impacting equity groups on campus.

It’s like every day the work is different and changing and I kind of enjoy that. I would like to continue doing work like that at a community organization, food bank, NGO – United Way would be really cool – Amnesty International, something like that. So I’m keeping my options open and just looking nationally for work.

The vote for the 2015/2016 TRUSU board of directors takes place March 25 and 26.

ARTS

The Omega Ω Volume 24 • Issue 24

11

Anderson: The pursuit of a magical, mythical beast Kim Anderson ARTS EDITOR Ω

The traps, snares and nets are set.

You’ve baited them with desirable rewards, a night out, liquor or romantic solo Netflix time.

“Any minute now,” you assure yourself.

Your breathing is slow and deliberate, your palms are sweaty. You’ve been waiting days, weeks to capture this elusive and desirable beast. It’s a trophy that’s sought after by all, escaped by most and caught by a select few. You’ve been hunting it for so long, it’s starting to seem like an unattainable mythical creature. It’s a unicorn.

Suddenly, there it is! Out of the corner of your eye you spot it, nibbling at the bait. Then, disaster strikes. It eats the bait and gallops into the distance, sparkly tail swishing and disappearing into the horizon.

Before you know it, you’ve just gotten home from the bar, you’re drunk, eating a grilled cheese and watching an entire season of Archer on Netflix.

Alas, it has evaded your grasp yet again.

It snuck in, stole the bait from your carefully constructed trap, fooled you, and pranced off into the woods, awaiting the next hunter to begin pursuit.

This mythical unicorn is of course, motivation.

Like all things in life worthy of chase, motivation is not obtained with-

out a fight. To help put things into perspective, this column was supposed to be printed last week. Whoops. Evidently, I wasn’t diligent enough when setting my trap. That terrible monster tricked me. I neglected my deadline as he fed me Jameson’s and good times.

What a jerk.

The most troublesome part about hunting motivation is that you are the only one who can catch it. There are no teams. There are no hunting buddies on motivation safaris. You can’t rely on someone to share his or her motivation unicorn. Who would?

Often we make a pact with ourselves. We promise to have a reward upon completion of a task. It’s a grand idea, but all too often it is just that, an

idea. We are foolish.

Promises to oneself are the easiest to break. We swear that we’ll leave our phone alone, turn off the TV and stay in, all in order to nab that tricky little beast. Then we get lazy and take the reward before the hunt is over.

As university students, we all can relate to that intoxicating moment when we catch the highly sought after prize.

There’s a fire in your head, an intangible force dictating your every move and an inextricable beam of focus, pointed at the task at hand. Your actions are deliberate and your attention is razor sharp.

The question is, how do we snag motivation when we see and feel it? Clearly I’m still working through that myself, even after four years of post-secondary.

What we need to come to terms with is the fact that motivation hunting is a catch-and-release system. No one can possess the animal at all times, that will only lead to burnout. After staking out our prey and capturing it, we must cut a lock of its mane, use it and release the magical beast back into the wild.

Then, a celebration is in order.

If we don’t protect our motivation as the endangered species that it is, the population will die out and we’ll never see it again. So take this master of procrastination’s word for it. Chase your motivation with a catch-and-release mindset. Keep a lock of its majestic mane, but let it return to the wild.

It will come back eventually, it always does.

Kim Anderson Ashley Wadhwani MEATLOVERS Ω

We are two girls who like to eat.

In four days, we sampled cuisine from six different countries each presenting their most famous dishes for IDays at TRU. A well-balanced diet?

Not really. For us it was just another day at the office. We took enough time between inhaling our dishes in order to write these reviews. Bon appetit!

Disclaimer: Hot sauce was automatically added to every meal, because, hot sauce.

The chicken samosa had a crisp, golden-brown outer skin. The layers of pastry underneath were soft and light. The ground chicken was salty, with the peas adding the classic compliment of veggies. The side sauce, a tangy plum, was delicious, but more sauce would have been nice.

Day Two: Taste of Thailand

Day One: Taste of Greece

The curry coconut chicken was plentiful, with a heap of red sauce.

The chicken was soft and moist. The lemon cilantro rice was a tad bland (even with hot sauce added). The grilled flatbread was dry and tasteless. Overall, the chicken could have been complimented with vegetables or a light coleslaw salad.

The beef souvlaki was cooked at ideal tenderness – a tasty blend of salt and garlic. Unfortunately, it was served cold. The potatoes were soft and subtle. The “Greek salad” was lousy, with too many cherry tomatoes and vinaigrette with feta processed into the dressing instead of crumbled on top.

The dark meat of the jerk-chicken was tender and hopping with spices. The side dish of rice, black beans and sweet kernel corn was a perfect balance to the spicy chicken. We eat like two rabid hyenas, that said, there wasn’t much meat on the chicken for us to devour.

Day One: Taste of India

Day Three: Taste of Jamaica

Day Four: Taste of Vietnam

Elizabeth Arden (neé Florence Nightingale Graham), 1939 (b/w photo) / Creator(s): Fisher, Alan, photographer / [Public domain], via Library of Congress

Eating our way through IDays The spring rolls were cheap, around two bucks, but were bland when eaten alone. The Thai chilli sauce was the game changer. I wanted to order pho, the famous Vietnamese noodle soup. I was told, with authority, they were “out of FOE.” PSA: Pho is pronounced “fuh.” Let’s end this pronunciation travesty now.

Day Four: Taste of China

The chow mien noodles were cooked perfectly and served with broccoli, but unfortunately lacked other veggies like celery, carrots and bean sprouts. The broccoli was overcooked and didn’t bring that desirable crunch. The egg roll was the real MVP, with a savoury and lightly spiced filling of veggies and pork.

The takeaway points

1. Don’t be shy with the protein.

2. Sauces over everything.

3. Keep limbs and loose change away from our perimeter while we are eating.

4. Pronounce cultural dishes to the best of our ability.

5. Let feta be what it was meant to be – crumbled.

Five voices, zero instruments Zain Bakhtiar

CONTRIBUTOR Ω

Eh440, the Toronto-based a cappella group brought a combination of crazy beatboxing, killer harmonies and sassy rapping with a twist of fresh, urban and R&B compositions.

Large amounts of concertgoers, including TRU students and outsiders, huddled behind the back row seats, as the Alumni Theatre in the Clock Tower was filled to the brim. Approximately 150 were in attendance.

The group of five voices and zero instruments stepped on stage in a string of dashes, walking in a straight line like ants as the lights in the theatre dimmed. Beatboxer Luke Stapleton a.k.a. “Human Record” walked out first, followed by lead and back vocalist Mike Celia, also known as “The Bearded Wonder,” and finally Stacey Kay and Janet Turner. Bass vocalist Joe Oliva was the last one to join the team on stage.

Stapleton opened the show with the classic beatbox sound of the kick drum

and the hi-hat with his teeth clenched.

Celia, stretching the back sections of his tongue, posturing his face with yawn-like sighs, grabbed the crowd’s attention following a long silence. The audience seemed deep in the moment with the soothing singing of blues scales by Kay and Turner. Oliva sustained consistent bass sounds in the background, letting his voice fall into his chest. The medley ended with all five vocalists fading out their different pitches of sound at the same time.

The group brightened the atmosphere of the room with their next number. Kay and Turner took the lead in vocals while Stapleton and Celia came through with the back vocals.

Oliva continued to focus on the bass.

The group performed “Don’t Run Away,” their much-anticipated new single, featuring Canada’s accomplished musician and songwriter Serena Ryder. Oliva performed Ryder’s chorus.

The audience cheerily applauded with hooting and chants. Some guests stood up from their seats, acknowledging the a cappella masters.

“This is the second greatest show I have attended since Earle Birney in 1971, 44 years ago,” said concertgoer Ron Miles, former department chair of English Literature, back when TRU was the University College of the Cariboo.

“We thought it would be crazy for any band to go on the television show ‘Dragon’s Den,’ as we are an a cappella group. It is a niche market thing but we went on anyway. Our sales pitch was changing the theme song for the show to a song we created,” Oliva said.

“In the middle of it, Kevin O’Leary, the mean guy, was fighting over us.

David Chilton and Arlene Dickinson sided on one team and they were intensely bidding.”

Eh440 has performed all over the world including the United States and Germany.

“Kamloops is our last stop in B.C. before we head back home to Toronto,” Kay said.

The group is no doubt an example of a mix of five people from five very different backgrounds coming together to form a great Canadian band.

“Our only limitations are those which we set up in our own minds, or permit others to establish for us.” › Elizabeth Arden: Self-Made Maven In a time when women dare not wear make-up or run their own businesses, Elizabeth daringly did both. She was not a trained chemist, yet she pioneered the concept of scientifically formulating cosmetics. She was not a business graduate, yet she created a global empire. Curiosity and drive were her teachers; the world, her classroom.

We think Elizabeth would have simply adored AU, giving people all over the world the chance to make their mark, on their terms, in their time. Beautiful.

open. online. everywhere.

Learn more at business.athabascau.ca

12

TRUSU ELECTION

March 18, 2015

TRU will go to the polls next week to choose the next student union board of directors. The Omega put two questions to each candidate. Here’s what they had to say.

Cast your vote on March 25 or 26 in the TRUSU boardroom down the hall from the members’ desk.

(1) What do you hope to accomplish if elected?

(2) What do you think need to change with your student government?

Hlazo Chansa VP internal

Meshari Alanazi VP internal

(1) Create a better entertainment program for more students to be engaged with one another. Promoting activities that foster a safe, supportive and inclusive campus community that values diversity. Promoting opportunities to share experiences and diverse perspectives among campus members.

(2) Candidate did not respond.

(1) Tuition-free Adult Basic Education; improve academic advising; build community on campus; get international students on the health and dental plan and as the VP internal I will do my best to meeet all students’ expectations and also be always there for them.

(2) the students’ union is doing fantastic job in providing the best services, entertainment and advocacy.

I would like to support that and add my own touch in developing them, supported by the board of directors and the amazing stuff of the students’ union.

The following candidates did not provide complete responses to our questions. Further information on these candidates may be available on TRUSU’s website.

-Dasha Kalachevskaia, Position: International students’ rep

-Prateek Chaudhary, Position: International students’ rep

-Rami Alzahrani, Position: Graduate students’ rep

-Eunice Aniogbe, Position: Director-at-large

Melissa Gordon President

Assetou Coulibaly President

Jordan Robinson President

Ryan Makar VP finance

Mwansa Lembalemba Kaunda VP finance

(1) If elected, I wish to include international students on the health and dental plan, advocate for tuition-free Adult Basic Education, improve the academic advising process for students, and work towards a more integrated, equitable campus community with the experienced and dedicated team, Your Vote = Your Voice!

(2) The students’ union does an exceptional of supporting students on campus. Everyone’s perspective within student governance is valued, and I would like to see more students on campus that have concerns to express them, to become more engaged, and to take action collectively with the TRU students’ union.

(2) If elected I hope to breach the barriers of communication between students and students and the TRU Board of Governors. This would allow a more united campus to flourish and increase student involvement. I would also like to tackle some issues we have on campus and hear more from students.

(2) I believe that students need to comfortable coming to TRUSU reps with their issues, so communication is key. The sense of community is quite lacking and we need to address that as well as the several political issues that our campus is facing.

(1) Redirect funding from business into science and arts, enhance local business on campus, establish a art gallery with art students’ art for sale, take parking regulation back into TRU students’ hands and enhance culinary arts’ food supply throughout campus.

(2) Making the changes needed to provide care and good health to our students. Without us there would be no school.

(1) If elected, I would like to see improved integration of the campus with the broader community, tuition-free Adult Basic Education for students wishing to upgrade qualifications and improved academic advising for students so that students have an accurate idea of what courses they need to take at TRU. (2) The students’ union currently does an excellent job of providing advocacy, services and entertainment for its members. However, I would like to see a more community oriented board where we are able to use the resources of out members collectively for positive change on our campus.

(1) As with my slate, TRU Synergy, I hope to enhance campus experience, be transparent and accountable at all times, and finally, try and make sure that education is affordable.

(2) The issue of communication and creating an environment where promises are kept as opposed to being pushed to the side.

Kenna Sim VP external

Amber Storvold VP External

Christopher Herbert VP External

Dana Prymak International students’ rep

Tsungai Mhembere International students’ rep

(1) I would like to help TRUSU play a larger role on campus when it comes to supporting student activities and events, along with achieving greater student participation in TRUSU. (2) In my experience, many students don’t know what TRUSU exactly does and feel like board members aren’t very approachable. I think there needs to be an improved dialogue between the Board and the student body so students feel like they really have a voice in TRUSU.

(1) If elected, I hope to keep Adult Basic Education tuition-free, improve academic advising, get international students on the health and dental plan, and build a more inclusive, engaging campus community.

As VP external, I will work directly with student representatives of the campaigns committee to accomplish these goals.

(2) The student government works hard and effectively in providing advocacy, services, and entertainment to the students of TRU, however it would be beneficial to take a more positive, collective action as a membership of the students’ union, while engaging as many students as possible in the process.

(1) If elected, I will work along side other executives to bring about positive reformation to the student union and use my position to challenge current policies and practices, which are contradictory to the needs of the student body.

(2) The student union represents the largest population on campus, yet holds very little influence within the institution. The student union needs more power within this school.

These powers should include participation in decision making, as well as having jurisdiction concerning student issues, including discrepancies with the registrar’s office.

(1) If I would have the honour to be elected, I will improve: tuition-free Adult Basic Education; academic advising; build community on campus; get international students on the health and dental plan; represent the valuable perspectives and interests of international students and ensure the improvements for international students at TRU. (2) I will definitely say no drastic changes are needed. The students’ union team has been doing an amazing job in representing and improving conditions for the student comunity. The only wish I have is to involve even more students on campus in order to provide more powerful collective action.

(1) To be able to address the needs of all students regardless of where they come from and to encourage international students to celebrate their differences and embrace diversity, not only during International Days but in the different clubs and societies that they are in.

(2) The issue of transparency is one that definitely needs to change in our student government. Students need to be able to question decisions made and see progress from all the different members that make up the board.

TRUSU ELECTION

The Omega Ω Volume 24 • Issue 24

13

Ivan Egorov Graduate students’ rep

Julian Simpson LGBTQ rep

Paige Bernard Women’s rep

Rayne Wilson Aboriginal students’ rep

Sonya Lil’Fawn Charley Aboriginal students’ rep

(1) If elected I will make lowering tuition fees for both domestic and international students my priority.

I will represent students’ interests on and off campus and advocate for their rights. I also find it important to improve the university spirit through organizing various events.

(2) To me Student Union should have an open-door policy where every student can contribute and provide their feedback. I believe that apart from organizing evens, TRUSU could help unite the international and domestic student bodies as well better promote the services they offer.

(1) I’m hoping to accomplish tuition free adult basic education, improve academic advising, get international students on the health and dental, create a happy, more connected campus community and also promote more education of LGBTQ issues and hopefully some gender neutral washrooms!

(2) The Student’s Union is doing an amazing job so far with advocacy and entertainment. They were also able to lower parking rates and offer half-day rates to some parking lots, which is really amazing! I’m pleased so far, but I’m ready to move even further.

(1) If elected, I plan to continue promoting positive body image as well as educating students about gender issues on campus. With Your Vote = Your Voice, I will be fighting to bring back tuition free ABE and get international students included on the health and dental plan.

(2) The students’ union already provides the students with some excellent services, entertainment, and advocacy. My focus will to be on making sure more students are engaged and feel that they are being properly represented by the board of directors.

(1) If I get elected I hope to enhance campus experience for both domestic and international students.

This process would include increasing school spirit. Another issue that I would like to addressed is the rising tuition and living costs for students.

(2) I think that the most pressing issue with the student government is the lack of communication and information with all different entities on campus. Many students of Thompson Rivers University are not educated on the responsibilities and actions of the students’ union.

(1) As an Aboriginal Representative I am running as a new slate member for YOUR VOTE = YOUR VOICE and I intend to improve academic advising. It is also important to keep the Adult Basic Education tuition-free, introduce international students to the health and dental plan and build community on campus.

(2) I find that the students’ union already seems to have the insight as to what is needed on campus and is doing an exceptional job of providing advocacy, services and entertainment to the students on campus!

Abdullah Aloshaiwan Director-at-large

Alex Hanna Director-at-large

Cameron Staff Director-at-large

Eric Rankin Director-at-large

Hope Mikal Director-at-large

(1) Tuition-free Adult Basic Education; improve academic advising; build community on campus and get international students on the health and dental plan. My goal is to speak for the students of TRU and make decisions based on the good of the whole student body.

(2) First of all, I appreciate all that the students’ union already does in terms of providing advocacy, student services, as well as entertainment and events for the students. I would just like to build on what the students’ union already does and focus on a more positive and collective action.

(1) As a member of the Board, I would like to see a re-working of the food services at TRU, to have wider variety, more flexible hours and greater cost-effectiveness. I would also like to address the parking issues at the university.

(2) The largest factor that can provide the biggest change would be the implementation of a more opendoor policy. The student body needs to ensure that anyone is welcome to voice their concerns with any member of the board and that they integrate with their fellow students.

(1) I want to create university experiences worth remembering for ALL students and be a part of making them proud of TRU! As my bio mentions, there are several platforms my slate, YOUR VOTE = YOUR VOICE, will work to accomplish if elected. These will aid in creating good experiences for students.

(2) TRUSU already does an awesome job of providing advocacy, services and entertainment! But, if elected, I will work to insure that campus becomes more inclusive, enjoyable and overall more conducive for ALL students. I want people to be proud of their student government and encourage more involvement from the students.

(1) If elected, I will advocate for tuition-free Adult Basic Education, improvement of academic advising, the construction of a stronger community on campus, and the addition of international students onto the health and dental plan. I hope to promote diversity on campus and work towards building a more inclusive campus!

(2) The students’ union already does an awesome job of providing advocacy, services and entertainment for students. I will focus on strengthening relationships among the student body so that I am able to best represent their needs and wants. I want TRU to be a safe, inclusive place for all students.

(1) I am really excited to learn more about the Thompson Rivers University students’ union from an operational and management perspective, as well as to hopefully participate on the entertainment committee again.

It’ll be great to see TRUSU events from behind the scenes and help make them even better!

(2) I am specifically worried with the general student body’s awareness of TRUSU operations. After all, the Student Union is made up of students for the students, I hope to see more engagement and feedback from our members, as well as educational opportunities on current programs and events.

WHERE TO VOTE

Robert Wisla Director-at-large

Noel Braganza Director-at-large

Santi Swain Director-at-large

Sierra Rae Director-at-large

(1) I hope to work with the campaigns committee and the other students’ unions across B.C. to advocate for a five year moratorium on tuition increases as has been put in place in four other provinces. I also hope to use every dollar in the budget as effectively as possible.

(2) I believe that we need to make a student government that is more open and not cliquey. We need a government that supports clubs in all their endeavors. We also need to have a student government that keeps balanced budgets so as to keep us out of debt.

(1) Being an international student, getting all international students on the heath and dental plan is my most important goal to accomplish along with other priority areas such as tuition fees. I would ensure that students support our movement and also talk to us about any issues they face on campus.

(2) The students’ union is doing a wonderful job on providing advocacy, services and entertainment to the students on campus. My focus will definitely be on taking more positive, collective action as a member of the student union and getting students involved in our movement.

(1) I would like to help the board in planning events on campus that unite students, increase school spirit, increase student interest and activity in TRUSU. (2) The student government needs to have more visibility on the campus and be more approachable to the students of TRU. We are here to serve the students and make their lives much easier, the only way this is possible is if the student body feels the same way.

(1) If elected, I hope to accomplish an interactive relationship between the students’ uwnion members and the student community. As part of my campaign, I will focus on communications and connected diversity.

(2) Our student government needs to have a better perspective on the how to communicate throughout the student body, making it easy for students to speak out and feel comfortable asking for change.

TRUSU Boardroom Voting will take place on March 25 and 26 in the TRUSU boardroom.

14

COMICS & PUZZLES

March 18, 2015

C R O S S W O R D Ω

Each of the spaces in a three-by-three grid has one of the integers from one to nine. Each value is used once.

In the movies (lately) Name: Name: Name:

1. The three values in the top row sum to 15, and none are prime.

by Sean Brady

Complete the crossword below Complete the crossword below 1 Complete the crossword below 1

4. The three values in the middle column are 7, 8, and 9, in some order.

5. The three values in the right column sum to 6.

2 2

How are the integers arranged in the grid?

4

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 my blog (http://genew.ca/) and in the Math Centre (HL304). Come visit: we are friendly.

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SPORTS

The Omega Ω Volume 24 • Issue 24

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WolfPack teams knock stem cell clinic out of the park Baseball men and basketball women join forces to buff up donors list Tayla Scott

SPORTS EDITOR Ω

A successful team effort by WolfPack athletes and TRU philosophy students added 248 potential stem cell donors to the Canadian Blood Services OneMatch Stem Cell and Marrow Network program.

The registry clinic ran on March 12 at the Tournament Capital Centre, where WolfPack baseball players and philosophy students volunteered to help people through the registration and mouth-swabbing process required to be entered into OneMatch as a potential stem cell donor.

Alex Reid, pitcher for the baseball team, wanted to organize a registry clinic in hopes of finding a stem cell match for his sister Karlee Waight.

“They need to replace her immune system to hopefully help the fight cancer, along with the chemo, so that was my original boost to do it,” Reid said.

But it turned into much more for Reid when he realized how many people he could help.

Even though there are 350,000 registered potential donors in Canada, there are still approximately 1,000 Canadians waiting for a match, said MaryLynn Pride, the patient and transplant liaison specialist with Canadian Blood Services OneMatch program.

“Stem cell transplantation in actuality can be a source of treatment for up-

wards of 80 diseases,” Pride said. “It’s really an opportunity to give back to the global community because we are linked internationally.”

“The probability is, if they’re even asked to donate, they would only be asked to donate once. The likelihood of them matching more than one patient in their lifetime is very rare,” Pride said.

Once matched, a donor’s stem cells can be removed either surgically from bone marrow or non-surgically from blood, depending on the patient’s needs.

While Reid was looking into setting up a registry clinic at TRU, Michelle Bos and Angela Clarke of the WolfPack women’s basketball team were looking to do the same thing for a philosophy class project. It was the perfect opportunity for them to join forces as organizers.

The clinic was advertised on CBC radio, around the TRU campus, on social media and by word of mouth, which brought in 248 people from the campus and the community to register.

Waight was especially proud of her brother’s effort.

“This is more than I could have asked for. Someone in this room is going to help save someone else’s life,” Waight said. “I guess all the WolfPack has come out so to them, thank you.

Just thank you to everybody.”

Among the registrants were WolfPack volleyball’s middle blocker Nic Balazs and team captain Matt

Basketball captain Jorri Duxbury was among those swabbed and registered to be a potential stem cell donor. (Tayla Scott/The Omega)

Krueger, who encouraged all his teammates to register.

“I just kind of pictured what would happen if my little sister had something like this happen to her and I just couldn’t even imagine it,” Balazs said.

“There’s people from different teams

out it’s really good to see everybody else pulling together to help the baseball team and help Alex.”

Reid, who will return to TRU as a pitching coach next season, was thrilled to surpass his goal of 100 registrants and is strongly considering

running the registry clinic again next year.

“It was so incredible to feel the support from the community, the school and the athletic department,” Reid said. “I would love to thank every single one of them.”

Keeping culture through kendo

Students meet on campus to master the art of kendo Ashley Wadhwani ISSUES EDITOR Ω

The TRUSU Ancient Martial Art Studies Club, also known as TRU Kendo, gave an “armour and blade” presentation on the history and advancement of East Asian weapons and protections as part of IDays last week. Showcasing replica swords and metal armour, Zihe Zhou, a second-year chemistry major, shared his passion for traditional Chinese and Japanese martial arts.

According to the presentation, Chinese swords have continued to develop for over 3,000 years, with an increase in length.

“The traditional Chinese sword is supposed to be long and narrow.

Due to films and TV shows, people think that the Chinese sword was broad and thick, which is actually not the traditional swords of the Chinese people,” Zhou said.

The club practices kendo, or Japanese fencing, on campus every Sunday afternoon. Six to eight people attend regularly, all with different experience levels.

“Kendo means ‘the way of the sword.’ Once upon a time back in Japan, the samurai would practice kendo to get familiar with the timing of a strike,” Zhou said.

Within kendo, the group practices Kenjutsu, or “sword techniques.”

Today, the practice of kendo is a recreational sport widely practiced in China and Japan. The shinai, or sword, is made of bamboo.

“The gear is composed of the helmet, body armour, gloves to protect your forearms and the tare, a garment that kind of works like a belt but you put your name on [it].

When you put your helmet on people can’t see your face but then you have your belt,” Zhou said.

The body armour is made of plastic and the helmet has a metal grille to protect the face.

Zhou practiced kendo and Chinese kickboxing for three years in a dojo in Japan before creating the club this year.

“It’s a funny thing that I’m majoring in chemistry, but I find this history and cultural stuff very fascinating,” Zhou said.

Leading to the creation of the group, Zhou noticed that recent East Asian generations are losing sight of their culture.

“I figured it’s quite important to know what our ancestors were capable of and what they were thinking. I hope I can understand them through practicing kendo and martial arts,” he said.

According to Zhou, there are misconceptions on the seriousness

and purposes of traditional martial arts.

“People think martial arts is a dance with flips that they do when they’re performing. From my point of view, that’s actually gymnastics,” Zhou said. “Traditional martial arts is supposed to be for military purposes … instead of doing flips on the battle field.”

This Japanese version of fencing is often compared to that of traditional European.

“European fencing is more about thrusts and stabbing,” Zhou said.

“The Japanese style is more East Asian style, and is not just thrusting but also hacking and slashing.”

With the help of the more experienced kendoka, or practitioners of kendo, Zhou has helped newcomers with no previous experience learn the fundamentals.

“They progress really soon. Martial arts is a quick guide from no experience to well-trained. That’s what the whole purpose of martial arts was,” Zhou said.

Although it’s quick to learn the fundamentals, “It’s extremely hard to master,” Zhou added. “Mastering the craft takes decades.”

The club practices between 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. on Sundays in the TRU Gym dance studio. They have extra gear for anyone interested in joining for a trial practice.

Newcomer Gabor Ohm and club founder Zihe Zhou. (Ashley Wadhwani/The Omega)

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March 18, 2015