Sept. 10, 2014 by The Omega

ISIS recruitment Campus forum held after former student recruited by terror group

www.truomega.ca Ω @TRU_Omega

CAMPUS TUNES TRUSU’s Tunes Against Tuition concert reviewed + JULY TALK Q&A

September 10, 2014

TUNES AGAINST TUITION 2014

Volume 24 – Issue 2

Longboarding park It’s being called a world’s first – find out what local boarders think

THE KAMLOOPS LONGBOARDING PARK IT’S BEING CALLED A WORLD’S FIRST

NEWS

September 10, 2014

Terror group recruiting is a “war of ideas” Forum held to discuss terror group’s recruitment after former TRU student joins ISIS Ashley Wadhwani ISSUES EDITOR Ω

After a CBC article uncovered that a former TRU student had apparently gone to fight with terror group ISIS, a TRU professor is asking why it happened and what can be done to stop it from happening again. In his search for answers and in an attempt to start a dialogue, TRU political science professor Derek Cook held a forum on ISIS recruiting in the West on Thursday, Sept. 4. Cook is also the chair of the TRU Faculty Association’s human rights committee. Collin Gordon, a TRU student up until 2009 and former member of the WolfPack men’s volleyball team, recently made headlines for joining ISIS alongside brother Gregory. It was suggested to Cook by the university that his forum not focus on Gordon, citing privacy concerns. ISIS has been justifying violence

and mass murders as part of a religious ideology, when really, Cook said, it’s a political ideology. Before opening the room to feedback and questions from attending students, faculty and public, Cook aimed to disillusion the extremist group’s use of religion in order to gain followers. “The main thing I’d like to emphasize is that the story they’re being given – the inducements for joining – it’s a con. It’s a phony story. It’s not as advertised and people need to know that and this group needs to be confronted for what it is,” Cook said. “So how is it that so many Western young people are joining them? Someone suggested that Western culture advocates violence; we see violence all around us. These people are simply reflecting our culture back at us.” ISIS has used online propaganda on social media as a way to recruit. The access to that information may be doing more than just informing young people, which is a concern to Annie St. John-Stark, chair of

On the left is an image uploaded to Collin Gordon’s Facebook page on April 12, 2014. On the right, Gordon’s WolfPack headshot taken when he came to TRU from SAIT to play volleyball in 2008. (Facebook, TRU Athletics)

the philosophy, history and politics department. “The Internet and social media make it very clear to us when we wouldn’t have had it clear to us 30 or 40 years ago on what is going on. I think that, in a sense, encourages the attractiveness,” St. JohnStark said. “I think that that type of access may be in general principal a good thing that we can look at all of that. I’m not sure if there’s a way to stop that connectivity.” “The question is if we can get into the dialogue and see if we can Derek Cook called ISIS’s recruiting attempts a “con” based on a “phony steer people susceptible to ISIS story” at the Sept. 4 forum held at TRU. (Ashley Wadhwani/The Omega) propaganda in a different direction, to show them that they are not be him. a young person (and let’s keep in being conned,” Cook responded. “If we tried to persuade him to mind we’re talking about a very Gordon’s Twitter account shares come back, what would happen? small number of people) decides a glimpse into the extremist cul- He’d be killed,” Cook said. “Unfor- to travel halfway around the world ture in 140 characters or less. A tunately, he’s lost.” to become a fundamentalist killer,” tweet dating back to October 27, Whether the account remains Bass said via email. 2011 said “Am doing color com- Gordon’s personal account or is Greater influences might be mentary for the @TRUWOLF- being used by ISIS, his story has targeted messages being delivered PACK Kamloops Volleyball Home created recent media waves. Does through fundamentalist-controlled Opener this Friday Nasocial media and Intertion wide broadcast on net recruiting sites, he canadawest.tv!” added. In April 2012 he beThe forum ended with gan to quote the Qua message from Cook in ran, the religious text of reflection of our own poIslam. On August 21, litical system. 2014 he tweeted “10/10. “It has to be more The video of James Fothan a military response. ley losing his neck is the It has to be a fight of beperfection of ‘Terrorism’. Derek Cook, TRU professor, political science lief systems. It has to be #IS #JamesFoley #Cashowing young people liphate #Iraq #Sham who want to do some#Gaza #FreeGaza,” referring to the this coverage combat ISIS recruit- thing about injustice that their Aug. 19 murder of U.S. journalist ment propaganda, or encourage it? concerns are recognized,” Cook James Foley. TRU journalism professor Alan said. The person using Gordon’s Twit- Bass believes that the line between “This is a war of ideas. And it ter account has responded to those reporting and aiding the spread of needs to be taken on by those who who tweet to him, and follows six propaganda can be a difficult one engage in ideas, like universities other active accounts consistently to find. and colleges, so that we can stop tweeting similar radical messages. “Where that line is drawn of- the tide of young people who are In an interview with CBC, Cook ten depends on the gravity of the headed towards ISIS,” Cook said. said that those attempting to com- news event itself. However, I sus- “Once they get under ISIS, they municate with Gordon over social pect mainstream media has virtu- do what they’re told or they get media should be aware, as it may ally no impact on whether or not killed.”

“Once they get under ISIS, they do what they’re told or they get killed.”

Smokers get designated areas around campus Those lighting up will have to find one of nine designated smoking areas EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Ω

Where can I smoke?

Smoking is permitted in Designated Smoking Areas outside of: 1. Arts & Education (AE) 2. Campus Activity Centre (CAC) 3. House of Learning (HL) RESIDENCE

CAC TRADES

4. Human Resources (HR) 5. Library 6. Old Main (OM) 7. Science 8. TRU Residence 9. Trades

1 IB

OM 4

TRU has changed its policy on smoking on campus to restrict smokers to nine designated areas. The policy went into effect on Sept. 1, and restricts smoking to areas outside of Arts & Education, the Campus Activity Centre, House of Learning, the human resources building, the library, Old Main, the science building, new residence and trades. Smoking outside of these designated areas will not be permitted. Locations were chosen “based on volume, proximity to building entrances, and time allowances between classes,” according to a TRU press release. “To fulfill its responsibility to provide a safe and healthy environment, TRU endeavors to control and reduce exposure to harmful substances by restricting tobacco use on the University’s property,” the policy reads. The revised policy is the product of a committee “representing a

cross-section of students and employees from all areas” that has received the support of TRUSU. Respiratory Therapy students and TRU Wellness were also involved in the policy’s creation. Beginning on Sept. 11, Respiratory Therapy students will be at Tobacco Education kiosks around campus taking feedback on the new designated areas and their locations. The Omega first reported on Janine Chan’s efforts to bring designated smoking areas to TRU in January. That report cited two studies conducted by TRU that showed support for the change. The first was a 2009 survey that showed a majority of the 549 responses wanting a smoke-free environment implemented. In 2011, another survey showed that 71 per cent of 370 respondents wanted to see a change to TRU’s tobacco use policy. In 2013, TRU was the recipient of the B.C. Champions for Tobacco-Free Living Award, presented by the B.C. Lung Association and the Heart and Stroke Foundation.

5 LIB

SCIE

TCC

NCE

Policy ADM 05-2

This map, provided by the university, shows the locations of all nine of the designated smoking areas.

MC119127

Sean Brady

EDITORIAL & OPINION

The Omega Ω Volume 24 • Issue 2

The Omega Sessional faculty can’t be the solution Thompson Rivers University’s Independent Student Newspaper Published since November 27, 1991

www.truomega.ca /TRUOmega @TRU_Omega

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 ARTS EDITOR Kim Anderson @K_AndersonSays arts@truomega.ca SPORTS EDITOR Tayla Scott @taylascott3 sports@truomega.ca SCI-TECH EDITOR Vacant

COPY EDITOR Rachel Wood @rachelwoood copy@truomega.ca CONTRIBUTORS Carli Berry Want to contribute? Email editor@truomega.ca

PUBLISHING BOARD EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Sean Brady INDUSTRY REP Christopher Foulds FACULTY REP Charles Hays STUDENT REP Travis Persaud STUDENT REP Adam Williams STUDENT REP Hugo Yuen

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LETTERS POLICY Literary and visual submissions are welcomed. All submissions are subject to editing for brevity, taste and legality. The Omega will attempt to publish each letter received, barring time and space constraints. The editor will take care not to change the intention or tone of submissions, but will not publish material deemed to exhibit sexism, racism or homophobia. Letters for publication must include the writer’s name (for publication) and contact details (not for publication). The Omega reserves the right not to publish any letter or submitted material. Opinions expressed in any section with an “Opinion” label do not represent those of The Omega, the Cariboo Student Newspaper Society, its Board of Directors or its staff. Opinions belong only to those who have signed them.

COPYRIGHT All material in this publication is copyright The Omega and may not be reproduced without the expressed consent of the publisher. All unsolicited submissions become copyright The Omega 2014.

Overuse of sessional faculty can’t be the answer to creating opportunities for an affordable education Sean Brady

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Ω

We all want an affordable education, but the overuse of sessional faculty just can’t be the answer. It only leads to a poorer quality education and unfair working conditions for those who teach us. Your favourite professor has taught the classes you’re taking for years. Not only does she know what she’s talking about, she knows how to teach it and cater to your learning needs. She’s the most valuable piece of the puzzle in your learning. Every year, however, she has to reapply for her own job because she’s a sessional faculty member. This year, the university has decided not to renew her contact. Now what? It’s a situation that can lead to stress from students and professors alike, and it’s one that can greatly affect the quality of education, and it happens all the time. “The reality for many is having to reapply every term for a course they may have taught for years. Often they don’t know with any certainty from one semester to the next whether they’ll have a contract at all,” Moira MacDonald wrote in a Jan. 13, 2013 feature for University Affairs. Last year, TRU cut approximately 60 per cent of its sessionals in the faculty of arts, citing a drop in enrolment.

Michael Crawford, a full-time social work instructor, said in an April 2014 interview with the CBC that sessional faculty are being referred to almost like retail clerks, hired only to cover demand at peak times. Crawford also noted that retired tenured faculty are being replaced by sessional faculty. I almost understand TRU’s actions here. They’re facing dwindling government funding and have to make up the difference somewhere. But again, this can’t possibly be the solution. What would happen if TRU ended up as a revolving door for sessional faculty? Knowing your stuff is all well and good, and I don’t distrust the qualifications of sessionals, but what about the wisdom? Where does the continuity come from? Two students also spoke with the CBC about the cuts at TRU, including how it affected their ability to graduate on time and receive a quality education. “We’re seeing a 28 per cent decrease in the sessional staff in upper level credits, which means these students are going into their final year of education excited to graduate, and we are having to draw out our degrees for 3-4 years just to get the credits to graduate,” Casey Helgason said. “We have four tenured professors, currently. As of this fall one of them is going on maternity

leave and her classes are just being dropped and other teachers are being expected to pick up the slack for that. I have two classes I was going to take next year and they’re just not available anymore,” Braydon Wilson told CBC. At the end of the 2014 winter semester, when students found out that TRU had decided not to renew the contract of political science professor Robert Hanlon, a petition was posted around campus asking for signatures. The petition asked TRU to overturn the decision to “keep political science a healthy and educational department” and it was signed “Political Science Students.” The petition appears to have worked, as Robert Hanlon is listed as teaching four courses in the 2015 winter semester. The voice of students may have played a part in the case of this professor, but what can be done for the rest? Students aren’t typically aware of the employment situations of their profs, so how can always be expected to know what’s going on? Despite this bit of progress, the problem seems to be one that isn’t going away. As of Sept. 8, there are 46 job postings for sessional faculty at the TRU campus in Kamloops. Compare this with 19 non-sessional faculty currently being hired. Let’s hope this isn’t a good indicator of where things are going. editor@truomega.ca

The ups and downs of celebrity feminism Jessica Eritou

THE FULCRUM (CUP)

Viewers of the celebrity award show double-header in late August will surely have a lot to say about what went down, but perhaps most important to the conversation is how the VMAs and Emmys contributed to the conversation around feminism. Let us remind ourselves what the VMAs were like last year. Miley Cyrus. Robin Thicke. Foam fingers. Twerking. It was embarrassing, to say the least. Flash forward to this year, and we have Beyoncé accepting her 2014 MTV Video Vanguard Award and making a whole other statement. Beyoncé made the news by flashing the word “FEMINIST” behind her as she stood there with her hands on her hips, hair blowing in the wind machine, while she performed a snippet of “***Flawless.” The song features a sampling of writer and activist Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s TEDxEuston speech, “We should all be feminists.” Like many others, if it wasn’t for “***Flawless,” I would not have found Ngozi Adichie and broadened my knowledge on the subject of gender justice, so I thank her for that. Beyoncé’s media team was smart to have her husband and daughter join her on stage to shun away her supposed divorce rumours. But what it also achieved was a projection of herself as an independent, feminist woman who still feels comfortable

Raz Birkshaw Photo

in the traditional maternal role. Jump to the next day at the Emmys. Not even 12 hours later we have Sofia Vergara on a rotating pedestal, who along with American journalist Glenn Greenwald, spoke for a pseudo-PSA about diversity in the media. Jokes aside, the display of Vergara promotes sexism in the entertainment industry, rather than changing it. On the contrary, Vergara disagreed. She told Entertainment Weekly, “I think it’s absolutely the opposite. It means that somebody can be hot and also be funny and make fun of herself.” But this is not the case for Vergara’s skit. It is not like we cannot joke about feminism – we certainly can. Despite its attempt at humour, Vergara and Greenwald’s skit was tawdry and in poor taste regarding diversity. As the viewer, it was extremely uncomfortable to watch her be spun around for us to view all

her assets ever so slowly pretending to be the Male Gaze. There can be other ways of entertaining people, besides pretending to be oblivious. This style is quite tiresome. Celebrity culture has finally entered the feminist conversation. As the Guardian‘s Jessica Valenti wrote, “Feminism is no longer ‘the f-word,’ it’s the realm of cool kids: Beyoncé, Lena Dunham, Amy Poehler, Kerry Washington, and Joseph Gordon-Levitt all call themselves feminists.” Recently, Christina Hendricks of Mad Men collaborated with the White House and Funny or Die to spread awareness about the wage gap for female employees. Celebrities are continuing to spread feminist messages. Let’s hope those messages are a proper representation of feminism, rather than vanity and objectification in disguise. Celebrity gossip certainly isn’t the best way to talk about it—but at least it gets the conversation going.

Burger King - Tim Hortons merger causes national culture shock Ryan Mallough

THE FULCRUM (CUP)

Canadians from Beaver Creek, Yukon, to Cape Spear, Nfld., have been taking long, deep looks into their morning coffees as news of the Burger King-Tim Hortons merger has hurtled the nation into a major identity crisis. The merger comes at a time when Hockey Night in Canada no longer airs on the CBC, the country’s largest export is Rob Ford news stories, and pleases and thank-yous are down more than 70 per cent nationwide. “Tim Hortons used to be a place that embodied everything about small-town Canada and quintessential Canadian values,” said Andre Deveraux, a U of O sociology student and part-time Starbucks barista. “It was the easiest answer to the question, ‘What is Canadian?’ Now it’s just another coffee chain.” He continued, “It’s one thing when you culturally dominate our film, music, television, automotive, fast-food, news, clothing, retail chains, and technology industries, but coming after our national coffee is crossing the line.” The Burger King-Tim Hortons merger is another sad chapter in a series of defects and defeats Canada has suffered at the hands of corporate America, on par with the departures of Wayne Gretzky, Paul Anka, the Montreal Expos, and Ryan Reynolds’ abdominals. Rumours continue to circulate about the changes that could be coming to the Canadian institution, including the beloved “double-double” order switching from “two cream, two sugar” to “two sugar, two cream.” “What about the health impact?” asked Deveraux. “Timbits, danishes, and honey crullers are one thing, but now I hear they’re experimenting with Reese’s cups. Where does it end?” The menu isn’t the only cause for concern among Canadians. “It’s a question of sovereignty,” said U of O political science professor Janet Mackenzie. “They could have sent a burger ambassador, a burger minister, or even a burger lieutenant governor, but they sent a monarch instead—a clear challenge to our national autonomy.” “Burger King has been in Canada since 1968 and that’s ample time to learn our ways and customs,” Mackenzie added. “It’s quite possible that this corporate invasion will be so seamless that average Canadians won’t even notice it’s happened, and by then it may already be too late.” Further research reveals that foreign operatives have been cultivating Tim Hortons for nearly two decades. The iconic Canadian company was purchased by the Canadian-esque, if American-owned, fast food chain Wendy’s in 1995, and sold its centralized baking operation, Maidstone Bakeries, to Swiss investors in 2010. Admittedly these Swiss investors hail from a nation that shares several Canadian values, including choice of flag colours, so many will be able to at least pretend that Maidstone is still a Canadian-owned company. Since Tim Hortons holds more than 60 per cent of the Canadian coffee market, Burger King has plans to expand the quaint Canadian company into an international coffee chain. “It’s manifest destiny for the 21st century,” said Mackenzie. “You think you’re entering a nice Canadian store and then bam—you’re hit with an Angry American Whopper right between the eyes.”

ARTS

September 10, 2014

IN REVIEW: TUNES AGAINST TUITION 2014 ACT ONE

WINDMILLS

LAUREN MANN AND THE FAIRLY ODD FOLK

ACT THREE JULY TALK

Kim Anderson

Carli Berry

From behind his sunglasses, Cory Myraas of Windmills opened up the annual Tunes Against Tuition concert at TRU on Saturday, Sept. 6. Windmills performed for a small crowd, at first (at one point it was a lone fan in front of the stage). As the show went on, more students flocked to hear what the commotion was. Myraas’ performance style is unique. He strikes a note with his guitar, drums, or keyboard and that note loops, creating a seamless, flowing and complete sound. What begins as a single note transforms into a medley of sounds that flows like a river. Anyone who wasn’t dancing to “Face to a Name,” wasn’t paying attention. Myraas tells a story involving liquid courage and becoming James Dean. His vocals began repeating and looping along with the notes, creating a hazy, foggy feeling that mirrored the story told in his song. His vocal ability was most notable during his version of Coldplay’s “Clocks.” For his entire set, Myraas made the stage his own. Between swapping instruments and commanding the attention of the audience, Myraas demonstrated why Windmills works and why he is able to continue as a thriving and charismatic one-man band.

Lauren Mann and the Fairly Odd Folk came charging in, tambourines in hand, after Windmills left the stage with a request for everyone to join them and dance. Lauren Mann and the Fairly Odd Folk consists of Lauren Mann on lead vocals, piano and ukulele; Jay Christman playing drums and guitar; Jessica Christman playing bass and additional keys; Josh Akin playing electric/acoustic guitar; Zoltan Szoges playing additional keys and percussion; and Hammer Clark, the front of house tech. The Calgary, Alta. natives kicked off their set with “Through Your Eyes,” “Let’s Make Our Escape,” “Over Land and Sea” and “Dance With Me.” The six-piece folksy indie band held the students of TRU in the palm of their hands while they played their innovative and emotionally-charged set. Mann possesses a remarkable vocal range that can be both delicate and wispy and then suddenly shift to strong and powerful. For part of the show, she used a classic, old-fashioned microphone. Rarely was Mann just singing. She rotated between playing the piano, strumming the ukulele and vocals. The most impressive aspect of their performance was their ability and desire for audience involvement. Near the end of their set, Szoges began tossing out tambourines, small noisemakers and a cowbell to the crowd. Before any of the fans knew how to react, he re-appeared, this time with an enormous drum he handed down to the crowd. He then tossed out an armful of drumsticks. The crowd reacted with pure, childlike joy and began striking the drum to the beat of their stunning finale, “How it Goes.” Lauren Mann and the Fairly Odd Folk finished their set and left the audience cheering, ecstatic and wanting more.

Canadian indie-rockers July Talk brought TRU a show unlike any other. Lead singers Peter Dreimanis and Leah Fay acted out a romantic relationship on stage. There was constant flirting and playfulness throughout the performance that ranged from locking eyes to Dreimanis biting Fay’s shoulder. July Talk thrived off of energy from the audience. Fay even took off her high heels and leapt down into the audience, all while singing the song “Let Her Know.” Audience members clapped and whooped as Fay sang and danced with them before returning to the stage. Members of the band include singers Peter Dreimanis and Leah Fay, guitarist Ian Docherty, bassist Josh Warburton and drummer Danny Miles. The fashion ensemble of the band was basic, with Dreimanis and Fay wearing contrasting black and white colours that stood out from the rest of the band’s black outfits. This may have been to reinforce the actors’ on-stage relationship. The 13 songs performed were a mix of new and old, ranging from hits like “Guns + Ammunition,” “Paper Girl” and “Summer Dress” to a newer song, “Blood and Honey” that has yet to be released. It was not the first time July Talk played at TRU. In 2012 they performed at Tunes Against Tuition with the Arkells, Young Pacific and Good For Grapes. Early in the show, Dreimanis told a story of the last time July Talk was in Kamloops. It involved Dreimanis falling asleep after a party in a pile of puppies, which received riotous laughter from the audience. After the last song, audience members screamed for an encore and were rewarded with “Black Lace,” a song that Fay joked was sexy and wished the audience a very sexy time in school.

ARTS EDITOR Ω

ACT TWO

ARTS EDITOR Ω

CONTRIBUTOR Ω

All photos by Kim Anderson/The Omega

NEWS

The Omega Ω Volume 24 • Issue 2

JULY TALK: FACE TO FACE A September conversation with July Talk Kim Anderson ARTS EDITOR Ω

After the concert I lingered around in hopes of getting five minutes of face time to chat with July Talk. They did not disappoint me. In-between snacking on fruit, tortilla chips and hummus, they answered my questions. Q: You guys put on an incredible show. The audience participation factor is huge. So, Leah, did you plan to jump down there? Leah: I just felt like doing it. It’s not a thing that we ever think about. It would be so boring if we just went up there and did the same thing every night. We are a band that believes in that. We don’t try to miss notes or words, or plan that. But the spontaneity and rawness is something that we thrive on and something we need. Peter: We want to create an environment where the audience isn’t just watching us. We are watching them a bit. They are under as much pressure as we are. Whenever that tension is created they

aren’t in this safety net. We’ve all gone to shows where you can sit in the back of the room and not really be noticed. For us, we want to have that feedback and participation from all of them. Q: If you couldn’t be musicians, what would you end up doing? Peter: I’d be making films. Josh: A filmmaker as well. That may still happen. Danny: I did paramedics in school. Leah: I’d be working in the realm of contemporary dance, or choreographing hip-hop videos. Because that’s where the money is. Ian: I’d be doing the same thing, but more ballet oriented. No, I have no idea. I’d probably have to be making music. Q: Your lead vocals are incredibly contrasting. When you started, did that happen organically, or did you have to work at it? How did this dynamic come about? Peter: We started really simple. It was like verse for Leah, verse for me, or open on the chorus. Like “In the Garden,” for instance, it’s pretty simply oriented. What Josh

brought up early on that was really cool about the voice contrasting, is when we broke the sections down into a one-line. It’s more conversational and back and forth. It never came together as trying to push our voices apart, they just were that far apart and we decided to use it. Peter: A lot of it is born out of necessity. When we started, the reason our band was dynamic was because we had a really shitty sound system and we couldn’t hear Leah when she sang. So when Leah sang, it meant that Danny played differently, we all came down a little, so we could hear her. It helped us create music that we wouldn’t have otherwise. It was the same with the voices. It was about creating a conversational atmosphere and letting the band’s dynamic mimic how different our voices are.

For more Q&As with the 2014 Tunes Against Tuition bands, find a copy of last week’s issue of The Omega or find us online at truomega.ca.

COMICS & PUZZLES

September 10, 2014

Puzzle of the Week #1 – Binders Welcome to a new year of puzzles. You are taking five courses this semester: one English, one Math, and three Computing courses. You bought six binders for notes, one for each course plus one for general notes. How many ways can you allocate binders to courses and general notes 1. So that each binder colour is used for only one course subject? 2. So that each course subject has only one binder colour? for these scenarios: 1. You bought three red, two blue, and one green binder. (Yes, “binder” is correct. My thanks to Sara Wolfe of the Writing Centre. Have you been to the Writing Centre yet? OM 2674.) 2. You bought two red, two blue, and two green binders. For each question, the general notes binder is not for a course, and each course in a subject should be considered distinct, but the binders of each colour are not distinct from each other. 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.

JOKES

SUDOKU

Because obviously you’re probably not doing enough math

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

A skeleton walks into a bar, and orders a mug of beer and a mop. - Submitted by Alexander Wong “MY FIRST DRINK WITH MY SON”

I was reading an article last night about fathers and sons, and memories came flooding back of the time I took my son out for his first drink. Off we went to our local bar, which is only two blocks from the house. I got him a Miller Genuine. He didn’t like it – so I drank it. Then I got him a Fosters, he didn’t like it either, so I drank it. It was the same with the Coors and the Bud. By the time we got down to the Irish whiskey, I could hardly push the stroller back home.

PARALLEL LINES HAVE SO MUCH IN COMMON

It’s a shame they’ll never meet.

WHAT DID THE PIRATE SAY ON HIS 80TH BIRTHDAY?

Aye matey.

You got a better idea? Your work could appear on this page! We’re always looking for contributors, so if you’ve got something to contribute, whether it’s a comic, a joke, a riddle or anything otherwise entertaining, we want to hear from you! Let’s hear it! Email editor@truomega.ca

SPORTS

The Omega Ω Volume 24 • Issue 2

(Tayla Scott/The Omega)

Kamloops longboarding park being called a world’s first Tayla Scott

SPORTS EDITOR Ω

Kamloops’ new longboarding park isn’t officially open yet, but that hasn’t stopped local longboarders from enjoying it. “It will be officially open as soon as we get safety signage up,” said Mike Doll, Kamloops parks planning and sustainability supervisor. Doll is aware people are already using the park. “We recommend wearing a helmet. We expect the safety signs to be made by the beginning of next week.” Among the early adopters are Ben Peacock and Patrick Mutrie, current and former TRU students. Peacock, a bachelor of business administration student, has helped run the Kamloops Longboarding Club for two years. “The park is great. Before this, the street has been the only option. Now it’s safer and gets kids off the street. It gives them an en-

vironment to practice their skills while not at risk of serious injury or death,” Peacock said. The park has gained a lot of attention, being featured on longboarding sites and groups across the world. It’s being called the world’s first longboarding park. Landyachtz, a Vancouver-based longboard company, called it the world’s first longboarding park during its visit, where it handed out prizes to kids and competitors. Mutrie, a TRU alum, has been longboarding for seven years and has raced in longboarding competitions. Mutrie has been involved with the park since the beginning. “We have one blue run and we have one black run. They’re very different. On the blue run, you can grip several of the corners so you don’t have to engage into a drift and you can kind of surf down,” Mutrie said.

“The black run, it’s quite a bit steeper and the turns are a lot tighter. You have to engage in a drift to make it around and it’s a lot more challenging. You need different skills on each run.” “[The park] is everything we thought it would be.” Safety signs won’t be the finishing touch on the park, however. “We’re planning on adding a grassed area with picnic tables, a pit toilet and a drinking fountain,” Doll said. “We’re pushing to get that done by the end of September.” There will be an official grand opening on Oct. 3 at 11:30 a.m. The park is located at 2350 Pacific Way, just south of Pacific Way Elementary. The land was already owned by the city, which made converting it to a longboarding park a simple process. “It’s a great location. There’s not a lot of city-owned land that has that topography,” Doll said. Harisson Ross/Contributed

Pre-season bodes well for WolfPack baseball WolfPack team has played eight and won seven Sean Brady

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Ω

Athletics director Ken Olynyk helps out at the 2014 Back to School BBQ. (Image courtesy TRU Athletics) (Have a better caption for this photo? I think you might! Why not let us know? Send it along to editor@truomega.ca)

Since Friday, Sept. 5, the WolfPack baseball team has played eight games and won seven. On Friday, the team faced a double header in Alberta and started their preseason with a disastrous 14-6 loss to the University of Calgary Dinos, but later redeemed themselves in Okotoks against the Okotoks Dawgs (midget) with a 7-2 win. The following day, the team faced the Dawgs four more times, winning 9-2, 4-2, 10-8, 9-1. On Sunday, Sept. 7, the team put one more win against the Dawgs in the bag with an 8-1 victory before facing the U of C Dinos once again. Looking for redemption, the team found it, with a decisive 10-0 victory against the Dinos, taking their preseason record to 7-1. Erik Herbranson pitched for the win and Brendan Reid went two for four with two runs batted in. The WolfPack men will return to the field on Sept. 13 for their home opener against the UBC Thunderbirds at Norbrock Stadium.

Erik Herbranson pitched for the team’s win on Sept. 7. (Allen Douglas)

September 3, 2014