Feb. 24, 2016

SAVING ENERGY

GLOBAL WARMING

TRAINING CAMP

TRU to install LED lights on campus

Consulting on B.C. climate change

WolfPack baseball team hits Arizona

TRU aims to replace all fluorescent lights with LED ones in an effort to conserve energy • Page 2

TRU law student Peggy Mills helping the B.C. government’s climate action initiative• Page 4

The team took training camp to Arizona to finish off spring training • Page 11

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TAKE YOUR MARKS

Greek myth brought to life on stage in AWT’s latest

WolfPack swim team races at Western Canadian Open in Winnipeg

T

Stephanie Morrison as Queen of Athens Zeuxippe, Avery Reid as Philomela, Kuup Peters as Tereus. (Marlys Klossner/Ω) • Page 8

RYAN REYNOLDS KILLS IT

COMING TO CJS

Film review: Deadpool

Interview with Canadian band Monster Truck

The latest highly-anticipated installment in the Marvel franchise hit theatres this month • Page 5

Lead singer Jeremy Widerman discusses the band’s roots and its promising future • Page 9

wo athletes from the TRU swim team dove back into the water this past weekend, competing at the Western Canadian Open.

Greg Petersen and Jagdeesh Uppal went to the competition in Winnipeg hoping to record times that would be fast enough to qualify them for a spot in the Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) swim championships that take place in Laval, Que. from Feb. 26 to 28.

The competition was open to swimmers from both club and university teams, and with both athletes competing in the open age group category they were in the pool doing battle with some of the elite swimmers in Canada. Many of the swimmers in the competition have Pan-Am or Olympic games experience, or were using this competition to try and prove that they belong on the Canadian team that will head to Rio de Janeiro for the Olympics this summer.

CONTINUES page 7

NEWS

2

FEBRUARY 24, 2016

TRU Law takes second place at competition B.C. Law Schools Competitive Moot features eco-terrorism scenario Jim Elliot NEWS EDITOR Ω A team of TRU law students placed second at the B.C. Law Schools Competitive Moot on Feb. 13 in Victoria. UBC took first and UVic placed third. The annual competition sees teams from each of the three B.C. law schools compete in a mock trial known as a competitive moot.

“Two of the three judges made very explicit comments that members of our team were excellent, with a specific comment that one of our team members was better than many counsel who appear before her regularly,” said TRU Dean of Law Brad Morse.

The TRU team consisted of law students Ravneet Arora, Taylor Topliss, Sean Manery, Erik Thorsteinsson and Nicole Chang, who acted as a researcher.

The team was coached by Kamloops lawyer Shawn Driver and Vancouver-based lawyer Greg Pun, who is Queen’s Counsel.

The hypothetical legal

problem being argued at this year’s competition involved the complicity of a charity in the illegal release of bluefin tuna and was meant to simulate an appeals court, Driver said.

TRU won last year’s competition which featured a privacy matter involving J.K. Rowling, and placed third in 2014.

The hypothetical cases are derived from real cases that took place overseas but are then applied to the Canadian legal system, Driver said.

TRU students argued both sides of the case against their counterparts from other universities. Arora and Topliss competed as respondents and Manery and Thorsteinsson acted as appellants.

“The teams were selected the first week of October, then the problem comes out in the middle of October and then it becomes a mass panic research moment,” Driver said.

“For those that want to go into litigation, this is the only opportunity, and the best opportunity to show them how to actually do

Coach Shawn Driver, TRU law students Ravneet Arora and Taylor Topliss and TRU Dean of Law Brad Morse at the BC Law Schools competitive moot. (Photo courtesy of TRU Newsroom) the job day-to-day once they get into the real world. They learn tips as to factum writing and oral advocacy and get feedback from judges that they will never get in any class or even for the

remainder of their career,” Driver said.

There are several other opportunities for TRU law students to participate in legal competitions, including the Wilson

Moot, which ran from Feb. 19 to 20 in Toronto.

“I think there is a desire to give as many students an opportunity to moot as possible,“ Driver said.

LED lights to be installed across campus TRU aims to replace existing fluorescent lights with LED lights Wade Tomko NEWS EDITOR Ω Earlier this year, TRU replaced 450 outdoor lights, leading to a 33 per cent reduction in energy costs.

The project, which saw street

lamps and light standards in TRU’s parking lots changed from fluorescent bulbs to LEDs, cost the university $90,000.

Now, TRU’s sustainability department is looking to take on a larger project. In order to cut energy costs even further, TRU will have nearly all existing

Director of Environment and Sustainability, Jim Gudjonson.

(Wade Tomko/The Omega)

fluorescent light fixtures converted to LEDs. This isn’t a new idea. Director of Environment and Sustainability Jim Gudjonson has said that his department has been observing lighting technology for years and said that now may be the best time to make the switch.

“Lighting companies have all been going through different generations of LED so quickly that you almost needed a new one every year because it of it,” Gudjonson said. “Now it seems to have settled down, where now we have 12-watt LED lights available.”

For comparison, most of TRU’s current lights are either 28 or 32 watts. Gudjonson predicts that the changing from the old fluorescents to the new LEDs could cut indoor lighting costs by a third of what they are now.

Though $75,000 a year is predicted to be saved in energy costs and around $40,000 a year will be saved in maintenance cost avoidance, the project itself will cost $620,000.

However, TRU is not without help, as BC Hydro has pledged to cover a third of the costs as part of their Demand Side Management program. With this program, which gives companies around B.C. incentive to cut energy costs, Gudjonson expects the university to pay back the costs of the project in three and a half years.

Work on the light fixtures has already begun, though

Gudjonson has promised that the approximately two-monthlong project will not affect class schedules.

“The contractors will work

around our schedules. So they will be doing lots of work in the evening and they’ll be working on the weekends too,” Gudjonson said.

OPINION & EDITORIAL

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Unsafe crossing remains

Summit jaywalking makes for an accident waiting to happen, so why is the problem still unaddressed?

Sean Brady EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Ω Jaywalking across Summit Drive remains a problem. It’s been just over two lucky years since the issue was last discussed in the media. Why lucky?

Because somehow no one has been killed at the illegal crossing during that time.

The last time the issue came up, a number of solutions came with it. None of them have been implemented, however. The last plans on record are contained within the City of Kamloops Pedestrian Master Plan, a document from March 2013. That plan mentions a Summit Drive overpass with a value of $5.5 million.

So far, two kinds of deterrents have been used. First, a sign warning of a $121 fine for illegally crossing was put in place on the median. Second, in November 2013, RCMP came on campus to do some enforcement, handing out 52 tickets and four warnings. But as reported in The

Omega shortly afterwards, even those caught and ticketed said they’d continue to cross illegally.

Some were at it again the next day.

An overpass is a permanent and expensive solution, but it’s not necessarily the best solution.

If the proposed Summit overpass is anything like downtown’s 3rd Avenue pedestrian bridge, it could go largely unused, with people instead walking right underneath it and crossing on flat ground. If pedestrians won’t walk an extra 200 meters to cross safely, they might not bother taking the stairs, either.

The solution after the fact (or with some foresight) then, would be to build a fence on the median or on either side of the road, forcing pedestrians crossing at ground level to walk around it.

So if the construction of a fence is inevitable, and I can’t think of a solution that doesn’t include one, why not build it now? Why wait until a bad accident or a fatality forces the city’s hand?

It’s a problem that has needed a solution for some time. It’s also

a problem that should have been anticipated. Dalgleish Drive and the Upper College Heights area is one of the denser residential areas in all of Kamloops. It’s also a fairly affordable area and right next to the university, so easy access to the university from the east should have been planned for. Instead, the only legitimate access onto campus is on the southeast corner, where a path goes from the sidewalk along McGill towards the Clock Tower.

Paths and signs are simply not enough to make people take the safest route, and a lack of legitimate convenient routes means people will take risks, like crossing a busy four-lane divided road. The city, the university and even building owners and renters around Dalgleish Drive area and Upper College Heights need to work together to create a solution that makes sense and is safe. Those crossing illegally will hate it if a fence goes into place, but without anyone willing to invest in a practical alternative, it seems to be the only real option. editor@truomega.ca

Ω

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NEWS

4

FEBRUARY 24, 2016

Consulting on B.C. climate change TRU student helps promote B.C. government’s climate action initiative Wade Tomko NEWS EDITOR Ω This spring, the B.C. government will release its new Climate Leadership plan. The new plan, which was announced in May of last year, has undergone both public consultation and private review by the government. Before any ideas are finalized however, the public will get a chance to voice their thoughts one more time before the consultation period ends on March 25.

Through this period of public consultation, the B.C. government is hoping to garner ideas from across the province on reducing greenhouse gases and how to live and work sustainably.

At the time of the province’s release of their January 2016 Consultation Guide, 6,000 individual surveys had already been submitted. One student at TRU is hoping to increase this number as well as bring recognition to the public consultation process.

Both a law student and an avid environmentalist, Peggy Mills started the promotion of the climate action survey here at TRU as a way to get students to start thinking green.

“This is just a really positive idea.

It’s getting people thinking, ‘maybe

I could get a green job for myself somewhere, maybe there could be a new industry, maybe Kamloops could get involved,’” Mills said. “I want to get the students who are bright and full of ideas working on this stuff, because it is their future that is going to be affected by these changes in climate.”

Though she doesn’t work for the government, Mills is hoping to create a green and sustainable future by spreading word of the survey around campus. Mills has already been actively involved with TRU’s Environment and Sustainability department in informing people on campus about the B.C. government’s climate action initiative.

Although success on campus can’t be accurately measured, Mills has said that her own initiative will be successful as long as the word gets out.

“To me, any success is just talking about it. Just having any interest whatsoever, sparking some ideas, getting it on people’s minds that we can be creating a low-carbon future for ourselves,” Mills said. “That is the real success to me, not just having people fill out the survey.”

Mills also believes that the survey offers TRU students a unique way to learn about public consultation.

“I saw this as a really cool

opportunity to get students learning about public consultation,” she said. “I think that that is the future of democracy and this online consultation process is really quite interesting.” Mills says that with online consultation, ideas from rural B.C. that may have never been heard otherwise can finally be voiced.

TRU isn’t the only university that Mills is promoting the survey at either. As a former student of both UNBC and UVic, Mills has worked to promote the climate action survey at those institutions as well.

Though she has been actively engaging in informing students for the past month, Mills says her work is far from done and hopes to get TRU students voicing their ideas right up until the consultation period ends. On Feb. 26, Mills will be on Student Street in Old Main offering information on the Climate Leadership Plan and the survey.

“I just want to see people on campus learning about climate change and about how we can make a difference.” Mills said. “I want to see healthy communities. I want to see diversified economies.

I want to see the students engaging in the public consultation process and learning about that democratic role, because they are the future of this province.”

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Cooperation is key TRUFA and admin to use committee recommended by mediator NEWS EDITOR Ω Following the resolution of the long labour dispute between TRU and the TRU Faculty Association (TRUFA), both sides are confident that they can find a way to cooperate in the future and repair the damage that has been done to their working relationship.

“We’ve settled on what we could agree on, and what we could agree on were things like the distribution of the 5.5 per cent [salary increase over five years]. One of the things we did is we increased the pay rates for the sessional instructors and so their salary by the end of the agreement would have seen a total of an 11 per cent increase,” said TRU President Alan Shaver.

TRUFA President Tom Friedman said that his union was originally bargaining for sessional instructors to receive the same pay as other faculty, but that he was happy with the improvements that were made.

Although many contentious issues were resolved during the contract bargaining, both sides said that they were constrained by the provincial government’s

bargaining mandate and still had things to work on.

At the centre of the newfound cooperation promised by both sides is a committee on best practices which will have representatives from TRU’s administration and faculty association.

“In order to address some of the things we couldn’t agree to, we set up a best practices ad hoc committee made up of deans and chairs of departments and it’s going to look at how we assign and distribute the academic duties within the university,” Shaver said.

“If there’s a willingness to address these with the needs of departments and programs in mind then I think it can succeed.

From the faculty association perspective, we’re more than willing to commit to this,” Friedman said when asked if the committee could address the issues that remain outstanding after bargaining.

According to Friedman, university governance issues, particularly unilateral decision making by administration, remains an issue in the eyes of TRUFA members, but he’s still hopeful that the problems can be solved.

“Our proposals at bargaining

would have seen faculty playing a larger role in [decision making] and transparency on the part of administration decisions. If this committee’s recommendations go at least part way towards what we’re looking for then we’ll be pleased and our members will feel that their voices are going to be heard,” Friedman said.

Friedman also said that the strained relations and improper resolution of grievances between the administration and the faculty needed to be addressed.

“We have a strong need to create a better labour relations environment on campus and I’ve made it clear to senior administration that TRUFA is willing to start repairing some of the damage that I think has been done over the last couple of years,” Friedman said.

“It will take some open-mindedness and we’re approaching this with open minds and I’m optimistic that as we sit down and spend more time talking about how we can address the needs of the faculty and the needs of the administration, that we can start to work more closely as a team.” Shaver said.

Film review: Deadpool The merc with a mouth comes to the big screen Wade Tomko NEWS EDITOR Ω In what may be the most unique superhero movie in years, 20th Century Fox’s Deadpool shows audiences the raunchier side of the Marvel universe.

After years of production and Ryan Reynolds’ willingness to bring Deadpool to the big screen, audiences around the world are left with a movie that would no doubt make Wade Wilson happier than a free chimichanga buffet.

Though the movie has a simple and formulaic plot that isn’t hard to follow, if that is

(20th Century Fox)

Deadpool’s only downside, it is definitely made up for. Being the first R-rated superhero movie in quite a long time, Deadpool has no shortage of blood, guts and action, as our hero (or more realistically, antihero) slices, dices and shoots his way across New York.

Deadpool’s success doesn’t hinge only on the splatter factor, but Reynolds’ excellent portrayal of the clinically insane Wade Wilson. Not even five minutes into the film and Reynolds is already blasting out profanities and cheesy one-liners while shoving cigarette lighters down bad guys’ throats.

Though many of the jokes in the movie can at times seem childish, they all help to build the character of Wade Wilson.

Marvel’s Deadpool even steps into unknown territory with a plethora of sex- and drug-related jokes that you’d be hard-pressed to hear in any other superhero movie.

Perhaps what makes the film so special is Wade Wilson’s breaking of the fourth wall. Deadpool literally throws quips and pop-cultural references at the audience knowing that they’re watching him and that he’s his own comic book and movie character.

Reynolds even proves he has no shame and goes as far as making fun of his own acting while playing the enigmatic mercenary.

The film also does well in poking fun at other actors such as Hugh Jackman, other superhero movies such as the Avengers and the X-men, and in respect to the opening credits, even Hollywood itself.

Though the portrayal of Deadpool’s origin may be different from what fans of the comic books are used to, there is no doubt that the premise of the story works.

Though the film is mostly humorous, the few serious roles played in the film, notably by Ed Skrein as Ajax and Gina Carano as Angel Dust, do much to reveal the darker side of the Deadpool universe.

Most assuredly, Deadpool strays as far away as possible from being a kids’ superhero movie and of course that is what the fans have been wanting all along.

In Deadpool you’ll find jokes about cocaine told by old ladies one moment and merciless point-blank murder the next.

For anyone who has ever read the comics, that is exactly what Deadpool is all about.

Though Reynolds’ take on the character may not net him another sexiest man alive award, his role as Wade Wilson has earned him the praise of Deadpool fans the world over and probably the fourth-wall-breaking merc with a mouth himself.

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CELEBRATE THE NEW BRAND WITH US. Be part of the movement to Find Your TRU. TRU potential. TRU calling.

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COME FOR A SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT, MEET THE STUDENTS BEHIND THE CAMPAIGN AND GET FREE TRU GEAR!

February 25 10:30 am Student Street, Old Main, TRU No RSVP necessary.

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ARTS

8

FEBRUARY 24, 2016

The Love of the Nightingale brings Greek myth to life The latest play in TRU’s Actors Workshop Theatre touches on the struggles within a patriarchal society Marlys Klossner ARTS EDITOR Ω TRU’s Actors Workshop Theatre’s next show, The Love of the Nightingale, is an adaptation of a tragic Ancient Greek myth about Philomela, who is raped by her brother-in-law and King of Thrace Tereus, and plots revenge with her sister Procne. TRU’s rendition stars Avery Reid as Philomela and Kuup Peters and Tereus.

“Philomela is a young princess, and she is very trusting and naive, and very adventurous. She just wants to see the world and explore and just wants to know everything, but the thing is she’s very sheltered so she doesn’t know how dangerous the world can actually be. As she goes to Thrace with Tereus to see her sister who had been married off, she begins to see that not everyone is as good as she wants them to be,” Reid said.

Tereus, on the other hand, is a man used to getting his way.

“This is a very challenging role for me and it took me a while to settle into the fact that this is a tragedy. I am a very comical guy, and Tereus is a character with a lot of power and he has this sense of entitlement that was a very difficult shift for me,” Peters said.

The play views the myth in a feminist light, exploring the power struggle between men and

women in a patriarchal society.

“Looking at an ancient myth and how it relates to our times now, it speaks to the part that women could play and should play in our society,” Peters said.

As their character arcs progress, they must also decide whether some questions are worth asking, or if it is sometimes better not to know the truth: a lesson Philomela learns the hard way.

“You’re not going to be able to

figure everything out about the world. There are some things that there is no concrete answer to, and also playing with what is right and what is wrong. Is there really a right and wrong? It all comes down to perspective and choices,” Reid said.

The Love of the Nightingale runs Feb. 26 to 28 and March 3 to 5 in TRU’s Actors Workshop Theatre. Tickets can be purchased at the door or at the box office outside the theatre.

Undergraduate Research Experience Award (UREAP) program Receive a $4,500 scholarship to complete your own research project.

Deadline: Feb. 29, 2016 at 4 p.m. tru.ca/myresearch

ARTS

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Interview with Jeremy Widerman of Monster Truck The Hamilton band will perform at Cactus Jacks Friday Marlys Klossner ARTS EDITOR Ω Monster Truck began as a side project but soon blew up. The band is comprised of Jeremy Widerman on guitar, Jon Harvey on Bass, Brandon Bliss on keys, Steve Kiely on drums and everyone on vocals.

“It kind of formed out of some down time we had with these different bands. We just wanted to keep playing and do something a little more self-indulgent, just for us. It was kind of to fulfill our own desires of what we thought was missing from some of the bands we were seeing in Hamilton, and it kind of just spiraled out of control,

in a way,” Widerman said.

Monster Truck won a Juno for Breakthrough Group of the Year in 2013, following the release of their first album Furiosity, and released their second album, Sittin’ Heavy on Feb. 19. Sittin’ Heavy is a continuation of the classic rock sound they burst onto the scene with in their first EP. “There are a lot of similarities, I think. More similarities than differences, really. We did that kind of intentionally knowing that we had a lot of success with our last record and we wanted to keep it going. We spent a lot of time thinking about ways that we could take the things that worked, and make those elements even better,

By Levin C. Handy (per http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/cwpbh.04326) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

You don’t have to sit in school to stand among greatness.

and then adding some things to make it more of an evolution to a slightly more mature album,” Widerman said.

Although Sittin’ Heavy is the focus for the time being, Widerman says the band is always keeping ideas for the next album in the back of their minds.

“That’s how it’s got to be if you want to stay relevant and keep your fans interested,” Widerman said.

Monster Truck’s songs have been used in video games NHL 13 and Rocksmith 2014, as well as in an episode of BBC’s Orphan Black.

While Widerman loves that that their songs have been introduced to new audiences through these different media, his favourite place to hear Monster Truck’s music has a slightly more Canadian tilt.

“My favourite is being at the hockey arena and hearing it play as the team gets ready for a big power play or something like that,” Widerman said.

Since the band’s inception, Monster Truck has opened for rock icons Alice in Chains, Slash and Deep Purple, and they’re just getting started.

“There’s lots of other bands we’d love to tour with: Airborne in Australia, Rival Sons. Rival Sons we had a short ride with, but that’s something we’d love to

Monster Truck’s latest album, Sittin’ Heavy, is a continuation of their classic rock sound with an “I do what I want” attitude. (Mascot Records) revisit because it felt so comfortable. It felt like there was something special happening there where there was no competition.

We felt this comradery and felt like we were all working towards the same goal which is making people realize that the rock scene worldwide is healthy,” Widerman said.

For Sittin’ Heavy, Monster

Truck expanded their distribution to European and UK markets by releasing with Mascot Records, as well as their Canadian label Dine Alone Records.

Monster Truck will play at Cactus Jacks Friday, Feb. 26. This is the third stop on their Canadian tour, which will be immediately followed by a tour through Europe and the UK.

Winners of playwriting competition announced Marlys Klossner ARTS EDITOR Ω

› Thomas Edison: The world’s most extraordinary failure never gave up.

Thank goodness.

open. online. everywhere. go.athabascau.ca/online-courses

Of the twelve scripts submitted at the end of TRU’s 24 hour playwriting competition, third-year theatre student Erik Stephany’s “That One Time Mark Blew His Brains Out” took the prize.

The 24-hour playwriting competition had 18 participants shut themselves in the Actor’s Workshop theatre for 24 hours starting Jan. 9.

Stephany’s winning play is a drama about a family and community dealing with the impact of suicide.

“It feels great. Honestly, I was not expecting to win,” Stephany said. “I had seen their work put on stage, so I kind of went into the competition with the mindset that these other guys have it in the bag. To have my play come first, mainly I’m just looking forward to what comes next.”

What comes next is not yet clear, but it will more than the TRU Drama and Theatre Club initially planned when organizing the competition.

Originally only the first place winner was going have their work put into production, but after discussing with the judges, TRU’s Drama and Theatre Club is

planning to put on a festival with between three and six of the plays actually being performed. The festival is still in the planning stages, but Allandra Barton, President of the Drama and Theatre Club said the festival would likely take place “later this year, or early next year.”

This news is especially exciting for the six runners-up.

Second place went to Arron Butowski for “Love and Creation,” and third to Rebecca Binder for “I Wanna Be the Berry Best.” Honourable mentions include Ashley Hibner with “7 Years of Polaroids and Caramilk Bars,” Kara Pare

with “Making Monsters” and Omega contributor Peter Navratil with “Jellyfish.”

The first step for TRUDAT in determining which of the winning plays to put on and when is to plan workshopping and staged readings starting with Stephany’s play. All dates are still to be determined.

“The competition was incredibly fun and it was great to be in that atmosphere of people working together all trying to accomplish something. I really hope it happens again,” Stephany said.

Erik Stephany displays his winning script in front of the Actors Workshop Theatre. (Marlys Klossner/The Omega)

COMICS & PUZZLES

10 Puzzle of the Week #16—Left over Candy Valentine’s Day is well over, and the local candy store is clearing out the last of the Valentine’s Day candy. There are some packages of chocolate hearts; candy cinnamon hearts; chocolate-foil roses; and pink, red, and white jelly beans remaining with a total of 40 packages of the four item types.

The number of packages of each of the item types is prime and unique. There are fewer packages of the jelly beans than any other item type and more packages of chocolate hearts than of chocolate roses. The packages are split evenly between chocolate and non-chocolate items. How many packages are there of each item?

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/). Come visit the Math Centre (HL304): we are friendly.

YOUR COMIC HERE WE’RE ALWAYS LOOKING FOR STUDENT CARTOONISTS. WHY NOT GIVE IT A SHOT? EMAIL EDITOR@TRUOMEGA.CA

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Lessons learned in Arizona Spring training comes to an end for TRU baseball Cameron Doherty SPORTS EDITOR Ω While pitchers and catchers from across the MLB reported to their spring training camps throughout Florida and Arizona, the TRU men’s baseball team participated in a little spring training themselves. The team left the cold of Kamloops behind and took their annual trip down to the sunny southern U.S. playing ten games in the state of Arizona between Feb. 10 and Feb. 18.

The team flew down to Las Vegas for a couple days of practice before travelling to Arizona to play games against various teams from the club, junior college and university ranks throughout the state.

The ‘Pack finished their trip with a record of 2 wins and 8 losses, scoring victories over the Chandler Gilbert Community College club team, as well as Mesa Community College.

Although the team’s record while down south may not look great, the competition across the border is quite strong.

“It’s a totally different world compared to what we’re used to playing up here. We are playing teams that are ranked in the top 10 in the U.S., but that helps our guys learn and helps our guys hopefully get better,” said assistant coach Alex Reid.

This is going to be a year of transition for the ‘Pack, as most of the starting nine from last year have graduated and TRU has over 20 rookies on its roster. With all of those younger players on the team, the play and leadership of the veterans

Evan Douglas, seen here playing last spring, had two RBIs in TRU’s victory over Mesa Community College during their spring training trip to Arizona. (TRU Athletics) becomes even more important says Reid.

“Huge, our game pretty much revolves around Evan (Douglas).

If he does well, our team does well, we saw it down in Arizona.

It’s also going to take guys like Tony (Tabor), John (Young) and other guys to step up and help Evan because he can’t do it all himself. It’s going to take a lot of guys stepping up, Evan hitting the ball and that will give us the best chance to win.”

Douglas, the team’s starting catcher, had a strong showing

throughout the trip. The reigning all-star began to prove that he was more than capable of leading the way offensively for the ‘Pack, especially in TRU’s win over Mesa, when he collected two RBIs on two doubles in the contest.

Of course, the trip is about more than just the results on the field. The opportunity to go on a road trip with teammates for over a week is one that will lead to the ‘Pack becoming a closer team both on and off the field.

“You can’t just go down there

and solely think about baseball, you have to go down there and enjoy yourselves. Especially with the younger guys, learning each other and getting to know each other off the field is important. It helps you on the field because now you understand each other,” Reid said.

With spring training behind them the team can now turn their focus toward achieving something that they haven’t accomplished since 2009: taking home the crown as the Canadian Collegiate Baseball Conference

(CCBC) playoff champions.

That isn’t to say that the team has been without success however. The ‘Pack has finished either first or second in the regular season for the past six seasons running, and has three regular season first place trophies during that time span.

The CCBC regular season gets underway March 19, when the ‘Pack welcomes newcomers to the league, the Fraser Valley Collegiate Baseball Group in a double-header played at TRU’s home-field, Norbrock stadium.

TRU swimmers compete at Western Canadian Open

Despite personal best times, TRU athletes won’t make it to CIS nationals Cameron Doherty SPORTS EDITOR Ω CONTINUED (COVER) Despite not being able to record the times quick enough to qualify for the premier event of Canadian university swimming, both athletes posted some positive results throughout the competition, including setting multiple personal best times.

One of the keys to succeeding in athletics is being able to achieve peak performance at just the right time and Petersen was on fire in the pool all weekend long. The swimmer from Kamloops achieved personal best times in every single one of the events that he competed in. His best results came when he finished 10th overall in the

200-metre breaststroke event coming across the line second in the “B” final with a time of 2:29.57. Petersen also qualified for the “B” final in the 50-metre fly event, where he finished sixth and 14th overall with a time of 26.55 seconds.

Uppal, who, like Petersen, attended Sa-Hali Secondary, had his best result of the weekend in the 200-metre breaststroke. He finished in 21st place with a time of 2:39.73. Uppal also competed in the 50- and 100-metre breaststroke events. Uppal achieved personal best times in two of his three events.

Overall the team of two managed to score enough points to finish 43rd out of 54 in the team competition. While the goal of qualifying for the CIS nationals may have proven to be a little bit too much for the

Greg Petersen with his arms extended during butterfly. Petersen placed 10th in the breaststroke at the Western Canadian Open. (TRU Athletics) athletes from TRU to achieve this year, the knowledge that they can swim their best when it matters the most is sure to add fuel to their competitive fire as

they continue their swimming careers.

The two swimmers will now return to Kamloops, where, despite their CIS season coming

to an end, they will continue to work in the pool with preparations for the B.C. Open. That event will take place March 12-13.

THE OMEGA

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FEBRUARY 24, 2016

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