June 29, 2016

TURNING UP

NEW MANAGEMENT

BREXIT STAGE LEFT

Turnout surges among young voters

McGill Residence acquired by university

TRU prof weighs in on EU referendum

The 2015 federal election turnout numbers are in, and youth brought the biggest gains • Page 2

Acquisition marks the end of private ownership for McGill on-campus housing • Page 2

With the UK voting to leave the EU, what will the fallout be? • Page 5

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HOT AND SUNNY

Summer in full swing on campus

See what’s happening on campus and in Kamloops in July, p. 5 RECLAMATION

NOT OUT OF YOUR ELEMENT

ATHLETES TO CHEER FOR

New Gold latest sponsor for research spot

Industry veterans behind new music fest

Two to watch from TRU at the Olympics

Company behind mind becomes the latest contributor to creation of a research chair • Page 4

B.C. has a brand new music festival, created by event and music industry veterans • Page 4

Two former WolfPack volleyball players are headed to the Olympics • Page 7

NEWS

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JUNE 29, 2016

Big gains for youth turnout in 2015 federal election, Elections Canada data shows Sean Brady

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Ω Voter turnout was up across all age groups, but none more so than in the 18 to 24 and 25 to 34 categories, according to data released by Elections Canada.

The biggest gain was among the 18- to 24-year-old group, which saw an increase of 18.3 percentage points to 57.1% turnout. Despite the bump, however, the 18-24 group was still least likely of age groups to cast a ballot. The next age group, 25- to 34-year-olds, turned out at 57.4 per cent.

B.C. bucked the Canadian average in 2011 and 2015, but much more so in 2015, with a

second-best-in-Canada turnout in the age group of 63.9 per cent, trailing New Brunswick’s showing of 65.2 per cent.

Elections Canada also released the results of its 2015 National Youth Survey, a survey they first conducted in 2011 to determine how to increase youth voter turnout. This year’s findings found a few problems still to be addressed.

Results show that youth voters weren’t as aware of voting methods other than at the polling station on election day. Compared with 65 per cent of older adults who were aware of other methods, only 34 per cent of youth voters were aware of voting advance polls.

Elections Canada also found that while youth were generally just as politically engaged as older adults, they were much less likely to be contacted by a party or candidate. Only 29 per cent of youth told Elections Canada they were contacted, compared to 59 per cent of older adults.

by the NUMBERS Voter turnout by age group, 2011 and 2015 federal elections Source: Elections Canada

2015

2011 38.8%

18 - 24

57.1%

25 - 34 35 - 44 45 - 54 55 - 64 65 - 74 75+ 0

25%

50%

75%

McGill Residence acquired by university On-campus housing purchased by TRU for $9 million, will continue operating Wade Tomko

NEWS EDITOR Ω As of July 1, TRU will acquire full-ownership of the McGill Road student residences from the Sanesh family. The $9 million used to purchase the building comes directly from TRU’s capital project reserves.

“It is coming from the accumulated surpluses of our capital reserves. So we are not taking any debt over the purchasing of this property,” said Matt Milovick, TRU’s VP Finance.

The buildings, which were previously owned by the Sanesh family, were 27 years into a 60-year lease. After the death of Josephine Theresa Sanesh last September, her three children inherited the business.

Bruce Gysel, husband of Theresa Sanesh (Gysel) described Josephine Sanesh’s passing as the “trigger

point” in the decision to continue on or sell to the university.

It wasn’t until late September 2015, when Bruce Gysel was at TRU for a business kickstarter speaker series, that TRU made any real moves to discuss the nature of the arrangement.

“My wife and her two brothers went through the pros and cons of continuing on. None of them are particularly young anymore,” Gysel said. “They determined that it was a fair and reasonable offer by the university and that they would take it. So now the university will own the residences as of July 1.”

Campus Living Centres, the company TRU contracts to run the TRU Residence, will begin managing the McGill Residence as well come July.

“The advantage we see with Campus Living Centres contracting out, is that we have a fairly robust residence life program at the TRU

Residence. It works well with our dean of students and we wanted a continuation of that program at the McGill Residence,” Milovick said.

Though the residences don’t exactly fit in with the university’s master plan and TRU’s idea for a university village, Milovick believes they will remain standing for another five to ten years.

“The buildings are actually in very good shape,” Milovick said.

“It is an older design, you certainly wouldn’t build them like that today.

But they are safe – they have been well-maintained.”

Once TRU takes possession on July 1, they will survey the buildings to see what improvements may need to be made. One of the first things to be done by TRU will be the improvement of the residence’s high-speed internet, Milovick said.

Though the university may eventually tear down the 28-year-old residences in order to redevelop the

site and construct something more modern, Milovick wants to make sure that TRU has the inventory to replace all the beds and other furniture that will be lost.

“When it is time to knock it down, we will knock it down and build something more contemporary.

Until then it is business as usual in the meantime,” Milovick said.

The McGill Residence buildings will stand for another 5 to 10 years, according to TRU. (TRU)

New Gold contributes to creation of research chair position Mining company the latest to put funding towards national chair position Sean Brady

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Ω New Gold, the company that operates the New Afton copper and gold mine just outside of Kamloops, has pledged $200,000 towards the creation of a research chair position in ecosystem reclamation at TRU. New Gold’s pledge is the third towards the position, following contributions from Genome BC of $250,000 in December 2015 and the Real Estate Foundation of BC of

$150,000 in April.

To qualify for matched funding from the federal government, the position must first receive $1.5 million.

The research chair position would likely be filled by TRU’s Lauchlan Fraser, who has been researching how land impacted by mining, forestry and ranching can be repaired and reclaimed.

TRU has bigger plans beyond the position, as well, with hopes to one day create a Centre for Ecosystem Reclamation, which would be the first of its kind in Canada.

“These investments speak to the value of the research being undertaken at TRU. This research will not only solve local challenges, but it will also have an impact at an international level,” said TRU President Alan Shaver.

New Gold has supported research at TRU before, including Ann Cheeptham’s research into White Nose Syndrome, a disease caused by fungus that has killed bats all across North America. The company is allowing TRU researchers to use the bat hibernaculum (cave) on its property.

Lauchlan Fraser (left) is a candidate for a NSERC research chair position in ecosystem reclamation. (Thompson Rivers University)

OPINION & EDITORIAL

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In considering mandatory work co-ops, we must remember that not everyone is learning for a job Sean Brady

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Ω The province of Ontario is considering making work co-op programs mandatory for all high school and post-secondary students. The idea was recommended by a panel of “highly skilled workforce experts” that was started to come up with ideas that would strengthen the link between workforce needs and education.

There are clearly a lot of good reasons to implement such a program. Creating a system where students automatically get a foot in the door with potential employers means a lot more opportunities to network and gain valuable experience while still in school.

Students would need to have at least one experiential learning opportunity in K-12 and another in post-secondary in order to graduate.

The panel that made the recommendation to the Ontario government was tasked with coming

up with ideas to further link education and job training. It was made up of five members, some CEOs and some policymakers, so both education and business were represented.

If the idea here is to further improve the usefulness of post-secondary education in modern society, combining business people and educators makes sense. But in doing so, you’re only going to come to one conclusion: that education and business should be more closely linked. The conclusions of this panel and the likely implementation of its recommendation only reinforce the idea that universities are meant to be mere job factories rather than institutes of higher learning.

Pragmatists probably think that’s a good idea, that the marriage of education and business is a foregone conclusion. After all, producing skilled workers and innovators can only be a benefit. An engineering student pushed towards an engineering firm makes a lot of sense for both

parties. But what about philosophy students? Political science students? Artists? Where do we push them? Of course there are opportunities for them, too, and some career paths available, but as we continue to base institutional funding on labour demands, we might be pushing these students places they don’t really want to go as their “good fit” options dwindle.

The problem with placement isn’t enough to forego the idea altogether, but among those considering this change there are few who pause before expressing their support. We see post-secondary education as a mechanism for increasing employability and decreasing unemployment, but we should remember that there are passive benefits to educating people, too, and that we’re still pumping out a lot of critical thinkers and people pushing for social change alongside specially-trained technical workers. Let’s make sure there’s room for everyone. editor@truomega.ca

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NEWS

4

JUNE 29, 2016

New outdoor festival seeks to provide a uniquely B.C. experience Organizers looking to provide a uniquely B.C. experience with a freshly built venue Sean Brady

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Ω A group of industry veterans have come together to bring music lovers a brand new outdoor festival. Located on a 157-acre piece of property between Princeton and Merritt, the Element Music Festival will bring 14 acts from around Canada and the United States to its stages in late July.

On stage will be a broad selection of musicians playing roots, groove, funk, folk, jam, jazz, reggae and live electronic performances. The lineup is a curated group of artists handpicked by festival organizers, who are music and event industry veterans.

“We’re all huge music lovers.

We’ve been going to festivals since we were teenagers. We’re all fans of live music, but we’re huge fans of live music where the musicians have serious chops,” said organizer Keith Duggan.

The festival lineup includes

prog rock five-piece Genetics out of Denver, Colorado, Vancouver’s Five Alarm Funk, Kytami with Phonik Ops, Adham Shaikh & the Outworld Okrestra and more.

“We didn’t want hip hop. We didn’t want country music and we didn’t want heavy metal.

Everything else is fair game,” Duggan said.

Duggan is one of five main organizers. He started out in the industry as a “guy with gloves” with a concert company, eventually working his way up and going back to school to attain a degree in entertainment business management. Along with contracts with record labels, working in radio and further event work at large Vancouver festivals, his accolades also include a tour with Iron Maiden.

Now Duggan and the other founders who bring a similar level of experience want to create something of their own that they love and provide festival-goers with a uniquely B.C. experience at the same time.

“We wanted an outdoor venue

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Kinder Morgan’s proposed route for its pipeline expansion through Kamloops. (Kinder Morgan) with campgrounds, a big stage, rigging… a real, true outdoor venue that operates four months of the year. We figured that all it really takes is to find the right piece of property, some money and some elbow grease. That was the birthing of the idea,” Duggan said.

The venue is a 157-acre

property that was purchased with the festival in mind about a year ago. It features a lake, forests, hiking trails and creeks, with plenty of space for camping and music.

According to Duggan, the festival will set itself apart with “incredible sound, in an incredible spot with breathtaking views.”

“Does it get any better than that?”

The Element Music Festival will take place from July 29 to 31 at 750 Pike Mountain Forest Service Road off Highway 5A between Princeton and Merritt.

More information and tickets can be found at www.elementfestival.info.

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NEWS

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TRU economics prof weighs in on EU referendum results B.C. to see minimal fallout over economic uncertainty brought by UK decision to leave Sean Brady

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Ω On June 23, the United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union.

While a majority of England and Wales voted to leave the EU, only 38% of Scotland and 44% of Northern Ireland voted to leave. In Scotland’s case, there’s already talk of another separation referendum to gain independence of its own.

The results have created a time of uncertainty. UK Prime Minister David Cameron has resigned and will leave it up to his successor to invoke Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty, the official means to a British exit from the EU. As a result of this uncertainty, the British Pound took a nosedive – dropping from $1.50 U.S. dollars to $1.31 in the days that followed.

The Canadian dollar dropped as well, but only slightly from $0.78

U.S. down to $0.76. This marks a 31-year low for the pound.

“In uncertain times, people look for safe assets, and in this case the U.S. dollar was safe, so it went up and the gold price went up,” said Hasnat Dewan, chair of the Thompson Rivers University economics department.

“Exports and imports and the tourism industry will be affected based on the change in the Canadian dollar and based on the change in other currencies, but I don’t expect a big change in the Canadian dollar against the U.S. dollar.”

The drop in currency value brings to mind the 2008 financial crisis, which brought similar dips in currency around the world, but Dewan says that the two shouldn’t really be compared.

“In 2008, that problem started from the financial markets.

This time, it’s more political than financial. Yes, we saw an

EVENTS AROUND TOWN

immediate effect on the financial markets, but that will settle down and whether or not we see any big effect on unemployment, inflation and growth rates, that depends on how world leaders and the central banks deal with it,” he said.

If the British exit goes ahead in the coming years, the future of the UK’s economy will depend on how and what it manages to negotiate in terms of trade agreements.

“If they keep the same terms that the EU had, they won’t see any big impact. For example, Norway and Switzerland, they’re not in the EU, but they have free trade relationships with other EU countries. Whether Britain will follow that path or not, we’ve yet to see, but the problem with following that path is that they’ll have to allow foreign workers to go there and work, which they don’t want to do – that was a main reason why the Leave campaign won.”

Dewan said that the problems perceived by the Leave campaigners were overstated, however, and that there was no evidence that increased immigration caused unemployment and the wage rate to go down.

Back here in Canada, Dewan says it’s unlikely B.C. will feel an economic hit, since only three per cent of Canada’s trade with the UK is through the province. Ontario, on the other hand, accounts for 83 per cent of Canada’s trade with the UK, so they may feel the effects of uncertainty.

But overall, Dewan is optimistic that Canada and the rest of the world will weather the storm.

“We are more prepared now after seeing the 2008 financial crisis. The central banks around the world and the governments are more prepared. The U.S. central bank and the Bank of England have earmarked $250 billion pounds to handle any

potential crisis,” he said.

“We’ll survive. There’s nothing to be too worried about.”

Hasnat Dewan, Chair of TRU’s Economics Department.

(Thompson Rivers University)

July 9 LEAP Penticton Canal Float Float down the Penticton Canal with LEAP (formerly ISAP). Email isapcoordinators@yahoo.ca for info.

July 11 to 30 X Fest at Prince Charles Park Enjoy theatre in the park with The Wizard of Oz, adapted by Dusan Magdolen and Munsch Upon a Time, adapted by Debbie Patterson.

July 14 to 16 Kamloops Komedy Festival Kamloops’ own comedy festival is having its inaugural year at the Sagebrush Theatre. Tickets at kamloopslive.ca.

July 23 to 24 Canadian National Downhill Championships Sun Peaks Resort hosts the 2016 downhill mountainbike championships

July 24 Kamloops Marathon at McArthur Island Park 3km, 8km, half marathon, marathon relay or marathon – runner’s choice.

More info kamloopsmarathon.ca.

July 29 Freudian Slips Improv Show at Prince Charles Park The Freudian Slips improv comedy troupe is touring town and on July 29 they’ll be at Prince Charles Park.

COMICS & PUZZLES

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SPORTS

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Wolfpack veteran lands pro contract in Sweden Josh Wolfram heads to Umea BSKT in one-plus-one deal Sean Brady

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Ω As a WolfPack forward, Josh Wolfram played 58 games with the team across three seasons, averaging 16 points per game.

Now he’s off to Sweden to play as a pro.

Wolfram’s career with the ‘Pack includes being named a Canada West all-star, being named Basketball BC’s Male University Basketball Player of the Year and being part of the WolfPack’s first foray into the CIS playoffs this past season, which also included a division title.

Wolfram is off to join Umeå BSKT, a pro club in the 11-team Sweden-Basketligan league.

Wolfram said he’ll be a “go-to” guy for the team. The team will also have the option of picking him up for a second year.

“It will definitely be a step up from the CIS but I will be ready,”

Wolfram said.

“We are very excited to have inked a contract with Josh for next season,” said Umea BSKT head coach Jesper Gustavsson.

“We are looking forward to seeing him in Sweden next season and being a big part of our team. I’ve heard only good things about him and he should fit great into what we’re doing on and off the court.”

Before heading over to Sweden, Wolfram will be featured as a guest instructor at the Olynyk Klynyk, a 4-day basketball camp lead by Kamloops native Kelly Olynyk, who currently plays for the Boston Celtics.

Wolfram will have his work cut out for him. Umea BSKT went 4-26 last season, finishing last overall, but the Wolfpack veteran will have help, being joined by another import, American George Valentine from Winthrop University, who was signed at the same time.

Josh Wolfram, seen here being acknowledged as first team Canada West all-star. (David Moll/UC Dinos)

Two from WolfPack volleyball to watch for at the Olympics Volleyball duo becomes the first WolfPack athletes to play in the games Sean Brady

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Ω Former WolfPack volleyball players are headed to the 2016 Rio Olympics. One for Canada, another for France. The two are the first from the WolfPack to go on to play in the Olympics.

Gord Perrin played three seasons for the WolfPack from 2007 to 2010. The Creston, B.C. native took the WolfPack all the way to a bronze medal in the CIS Championship, where he was also named a tournament all-star. In 2009-10, Perrin was named TRU’s male athlete of the year.

Following his time at TRU, Perrin joined a pro club in Turkey that won a championship in his second season. He also grabbed a bronze medal with Team BC at the 2009 Canada Games.

Kevin Tillie played two seasons with the ‘Pack from 2009 to 2011. He’s since played professionally overseas, and recently for Team France, which, with his help, qualified for the Olympics at a tournament in Japan in early June. During his time at TRU, he was named a CIS Rookie of the Year.

The games open on Friday, August 5.

LEFT: Gord Perrin helped Team Canada qualify for Rio. (TRU)

RIGHT: Kevin Tillie will suit up for Team France. (TRU)

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JUNE 29, 2016