Oct. 12, 2016

REPRESENT

PANTSUITS, TOO

LOT N HERE WE COME

MLA candidates quizzed on post-secondary

Calling attention to missing and murdered

Parking spots are prime real estate

The election isn't until May, but it's never too early to start asking questions – so we did • Page 4

Red dresses and pant suits hung in trees to call attention to missing and murdered • Page 5

New campus construction means fewer parking spots on campus • Page 2

OMEGA Ω THE

ISSUE NO. 06

THOMPSON RIVERS UNIVERSITY’S INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER SINCE 1991

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VOLUME 26

OCTOBER 12, 2016

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FALL 3-ON-3 ACTION A ribbon cutting and a 3-on3 tournament marked the opening of TRU's courts. Pg. 5

The Duke and Duchess aboard a tall ship in Victoria with students from Jack.org. (Photo courtesy Eric Windeler)

TRU student talks mental health with visiting Duke and Duchess of Cambridge

A TRU PRODUCTION

DO SOMETHING!

The latest from the Actors Workshop Theatre

October has plenty of activities to offer

Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike is coming soon to the Black Box Theatre • Page 8

From the Ghost Train to the Zombie Walk, there's plenty to do this month • Page 9

The tall ship Pacific Grace set sail from Victoria with Thompson Rivers University student Nicole Phillips and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge aboard on Oct. 1. Phillips was one of 19 student representatives from Jack.org chosen to speak with the royals about mental health.

William and Kate met with the mental health advocacy group to share ideas with some of Canada's youth, and to then bring new concepts back to the UK. Jack.org's mission aligns with that of the Royals' new Heads Together campaign.

Both campaigns aim to end the stigma surrounding mental health.

Phillips, along with each of the 19 students, got time alone with William and Kate.

“They were super personal, they were so connected with everyone,” Phillips said.

CONTINUED page 2

NEWS

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OCTOBER 12, 2016

TRU student has a royal encounter with a purpose Visiting Duke and Duchess talk mental health with Canada's youth Sarah Kirschmann STAFF WRITER Ω

CONTINUED (COVER) The Royals asked Phillips about TRU specifically, and discussed how open our students are to conversations about mental health.

Mental health is an issue close to Phillips' heart. She struggled with depression and anxiety during high school and felt that she couldn't open up to anyone about it.

“I really felt like I suffered in silence. I was so afraid. I didn't really know who to talk to,” she said.

Phillips found Jack.org through friends who attended a Jack Summit, where 250 students from across Canada met to discuss mental health.

Phillips applied to attend the following summit and has been involved with the organization ever since.

Founded in memory of Jack, a Queen's University student who

committed suicide after struggling with mental illness, Jack. org is a nationwide network of students. Their goal is to transform discussions about mental health from taboo topic to commonplace.

“One in five people develop a [mental] illness, such as depression...but it's also important to remember that five in five of us can get really sad, and really anxious, and really stressed out,” Phillips said.

Phillips is the founder and president of TRU's Jack.org chapter.

Created last year, it is just getting off the ground. So far, they have attended events like the Back-to-School BBQ and started up conversations with passing students about mental health.

“We're going to be doing a lot more on campus this year, so watch out for us,” Phillips said.

So far, students have responded positively. Phillips says talking about mental health is a new concept for some international students in particular.

The Duke & Duchess of Cambridge set sail from Victoria with students from Jack.org. (Photos Eric Windeler)

“They say, 'Wow, you can talk about this in Canada?'” she said.

Although Canada has come far, she wants us to remember that

we still have a long way to go.

Her royal encounter has motivated her to work even harder to end the stigma against

discussing mental health.

As Phillips put it, “[this trip] was definitely the coolest thing that I've ever got to experience.”

Construction will reach into campus parking space New campus developments are planned to be built on existing parking lots Jared MacArthur STAFF WRITER Ω

Construction on new residential buildings on campus, set to start in the spring of 2017, can be expected to take away up to 170 parking stalls from students in Lot A behind Old Main – one of the busiest parking lots at Thompson Rivers University..

According to the Campus Master Plan implemented in 2013, there will be an extensive build-out of the campus for the next 60 years, with the first major development to be known as The Reach. The building projects will be a combination of academic buildings, residential housing and mixed-use facilities.

The decision to build on existing lots close to the campus core and push parking out to the fringes of campus has been a part of the plan since its inception, said Matt Milovick, TRU’s vice-president of finance and administration. It was a decision that was made by the planning committee that included faculty, staff and students, Milovick said.

“The idea was that once all this is built out, the university will have no more or no less parking stalls than what it has today,” Milovick said. “What we don’t envision as part of the master plan is adding more parking.

What we want to do is maintain the number of stalls we had in 2013.”

Milovick believes this will

have minimal impact, considering the amount of free spaces available on any given day, despite growing disdain from students with regards to the parking situation on campus.

Milovick does, however, recognize that the decision to move parking to the fringes of campus does come at the price of the “perceived inconvenience of people.”

In 2015, parking was one of four main areas of concern for students according to TRUSU’s Student Budget Consultation report. The report indicates that many of the respondents from the student population were concerned about the cost, the limited space available during peak times and that segregated staff and student parking was not an efficient use of space.

From this report, the TRUSU Student Caucus drafted a proposal to address student concerns and submitted it to the Parking Appeals and Advisory Committee, who in turn sent their own recommendations to the office of the VP Finance and Administration. TRUSU has not received any feedback since those recommendations were made in May 2016.

When asked about the recommendations, Milovick said his office will announce changes to parking in January and it will deal with the parking situation behind Old Main. Milovick said there has been no response to the committee’s recommendations or announcement of

Building Site B will contain up to 79 residential units. Parking for these units will be underground, but the number of student spaces the new buildings will take up is up to 170. (TRU Community Trust Request for Proposals) parking lot closures because they wanted to be sure the construction was going ahead.

According to the most recent request for proposals, the first development will be going on parcel E, site B, which is currently parking lot A, a student lot behind the Old Main and International buildings.

Due to construction operations, other areas of Lot A may be used as well, to store building materials, which may take up to

60 more stalls, Milovick said.

The loss of these parking spaces will be accommodated by the extra space in Lot N, behind the new student residence building.

“When we built Lot N, we added 142 spaces. We expanded Lot N anticipating this future development, so those spaces [being lost] have essential been replaced - mind you not as conveniently as people would like,” Milovick said.

Lot N now holds approximately 550 spots.

“I think [the development is] very exciting for TRU and this campus, it’s the realization of a vision that’s been on this campus for about ten years. There will be some short term pain around parking; people getting used to the idea that you’re not necessarily going to be able to park steps away from your building, but that’s part of the campus evolving,” Milovick said.

OPINION & EDITORIAL

WWW.TRUOMEGA.CA

3

Trump made the claim that if he had been president at the time, U.S. war hero Capt. Humayun Khan would still be alive. (US Military)

If what Trump said mattered...

Donald J's coffin sure has a lot of nails in it, though nothing changes Sean Brady

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Ω It’s almost perfect that the final nail in the coffin of Trump’s campaign would be a recording of his sexist remarks against women.

“Perfect” because his opponent is Hillary, the first woman to earn the nomination for president from a major political party, and “almost” because this probably isn’t really the final nail in the coffin. At this point, it’s not unreasonable to think there won’t be a final nail in the coffin, at least not one that causes Trump to drop out of the race.

You see, if the things Trump said mattered, he wouldn’t have been nominated by the Republican party. If the things Trump said mattered, he wouldn’t have survived calling Mexicans rapists, who bring drugs and crime to the United States. He wouldn’t have survived insulting John McCain for being captured in Vietnam. He wouldn’t have survived mocking

a physically disabled New York Times reporter at one of his rallies. He wouldn’t have survived saying that he could get away with murder and still get votes. He wouldn’t have survived insulting the family of dead American war hero Capt. Humayun Khan (and later saying that Khan would still be alive if he’d been president at the time). And he wouldn’t have survived saying that his political opponent would be jailed if he was elected.

Of course, that’s only the shortlist of offensive things Trump has said throughout the course of the campaign. His misgivings go back much further, including his most recently revealed “locker room” talk where he described how he used the position his money and power bought him to abuse women.

No, if what Trump said mattered, he’d have gone back to reality TV and aggressive and exploitive attempts at business long ago. Sure, some Republicans are now dropping support for

him, but to do so at this point feels more like a last ditch attempt for them to save face than a rejection based on morality.

If Trump is truly failing in his bid now, he was always going to fail at this point, regardless of what he said or didn’t say.

The New York Times has provided extensive fact-checking for each of the two debates so far – he has an astoundingly bad record when it comes to the truth. But unfortunately their work, I think, is for naught. Donald Trump supporters and New York Times readers are two very separate camps, and with the reactionary atmosphere and sharp, targeted rhetoric coming out of both sides of this campaign, there is simply no one left who is actually listening.

My reaction to both debates has been the same, a mix of awe and disappointment. Perhaps it’s too cynical, but all I could think after watching the debates was, “Damn, I wish this mattered.” editor@truomega.ca

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NEWS

4

OCTOBER 12, 2016

Provincial MLA hopefuls talk TRU in election lead up B.C. Liberals face a nomination race and are being challenged by current opposition and other parties Martin McFarlane STAFF WRITER Ω

The next provincial election is not until May, but those vying for seats in the legislature are coming out of the woodwork in both of Kamloops’ electoral districts.

Currently in place representing Kamloops are B.C. Liberals Todd Stone (Kamloops–South Thompson) and Terry Lake (Kamloops– North Thompson). Both are cabinet ministers, in transportation and health respectively.

Stone is seeking re-election in the South Thompson, but the B.C. Liberal candidacy is up for grabs with Lake’s announcement in August that he will not seek another term.

Three people seek the nomination in that riding: Kamloops Mayor Peter Milobar, developer Michael Grenier, and Steven Puhallo, executive director of the North Shore Business Improvement Association.

The other parties are turning their gears towards election season too, with TRU co-op coordinator and former city councillor Nancy Bepple seeking the nomination for the B.C. NDP in the South Thompson.

When discussing post-secondary education, Bepple said she was “distressed” by funding cuts to programs, particularly to the Adult Basic Education (ABE) program which allowed adults to earn their high school diploma and take courses to prepare for undergraduate programs tuition-free.

In 2015, under the B.C. Liberals, the system changed so that students who already have a high school diploma must pay tuition on their upgrading courses.

“It puts up a barrier to people who probably need the most opportunities for education. In terms of their future, if they’re the least educated, they are probably the least employed and the least paid,” Bepple said, adding that she believes TRU needs to add more programming that supports the local economy and communities.

Retired teacher Lillian Kwan has also announced that she is seeking the B.C. NDP nomination in the South Thompson, though she made that announcement after the deadline for this article.

Barb Nederpel, president of the Kamloops and District Labour Council and the B.C. NDP candidate in the North Thompson, wants to provide additional funding to post-secondary education in B.C., and would like to see a return of need-based student grants.

“It's shocking that B.C. is the only province that does not offer grants based on financial need,” Nederpel said in an email, also adding that she believes it is unethical that the B.C. Liberals are charging interest on B.C. student loans once students leave school.

“An NDP government will open the dialogue with TRU administration about current and future programming and work with TRU to properly fund post-secondary education in B.C.” Confirmed as the candidate

B.C. heads to the polls on May 9, 2017, to elect new members of the provincial legislature. (Ryan Bushby/Wikipedia) for the B.C. Greens in the North Thompson, Anglican minister and housing co-op founder Dan Hines said that TRU would play a major role, locally, for transitioning the province to “the new economy.”

City councillor Donovan Cavers is seeking the Green nomination in the South Thompson.

“We are looking to any places that can help make the changes we’re making,” Hines said, adding that he believes the Greens are the party that are taking the shift to a decarbonized economy most seriously.

The Communist Party of

B.C. is running candidates in Kamloops as well. Peter Kerek and Beat Klossner are candidates for the north and south respectively.

Klossner, a local baker at Swiss Pastries downtown, told The Omega that he would demand that tuition fees be abolished, universities be fully publicly funded, and would end corporate involvement in the system.

“Education has been underfunded by the Liberal and NDP governments for decades and the trend is towards privatization,” Klossner said in an email, claiming that if corporate taxes

were restored to 2001 levels, it would give the province $2.5 billion in extra revenue that could be used for post-secondary education.

“It is essentially not a question of money, as we are made to believe, but a question of political will.”

The potential B.C. Liberal candidates in the North Thompson refused to comment before the candidate selection meeting on Nov. 19, though Puhallo did say that he has always been a strong advocate for growing TRU. Cavers, Stone and Kerek also did not respond to requests for comment.

David Suzuki Foundation chair presenting lectures at TRU PR veteran and author James Hoggan will discuss the state of public discourse and the dangers of polarization Martin McFarlane STAFF WRITER Ω

One of Canada’s top public relations professionals and environmentalists is coming to TRU to explain the dangers of public dialogue today and how people can fix it.

James Hoggan is the author of the book I’m Right and You’re an Idiot: The Toxic State of Public Discourse and How to Clean it Up. It explores how dialogue in the public sphere is “polluted” by polarized conversations and why these messages are dangerous in a democratic society. The book was released earlier this year in May. Speaking from his office on Salt Spring Island, Hoggan told The Omega that the aim of his lectures is to bring to light how discourse by figures in the media is often designed to shut down discussion and to demonize opposition.

One of the reasons Hoggan

decided to look into the state of public discourse by writing his book was because he had noticed that while society is aware of the dangers of climate change, it is “alarming” how little is being done about it.

“Instead of thoughtfulness and reasonableness, what you see is ad hominem attacks on environmentalists, and vice versa,” Hoggan said. Ad hominem attacks are arguments based on a debater’s character rather than addressing the facts at hand.

“Instead of reasonableness and action, you see inaction and increasing levels of unreasonableness.”

According to Hoggan, in order to heal public discourse, both individuals and groups must learn to discuss ideas in a way that is more open and does not demonize the opposition.

“We need to get a lot better at telling our stories in a more pluralistic way so that we don’t fall into the trap of polarizing

the hell out of these issues that shouldn’t be polarized,” Hoggan said.

His second lecture, Foreign Funded Radicals, looks into how oil industry spokespeople, and later politicians following that same message, demonized environmental groups opposed to oilsands development, invalidating their arguments by calling them radicals.

“They were even comparing them to terrorists. We had federal ministers saying that they were un-Canadian,” Hoggan said.

Hoggan has spent the last decade as the chair of the David Suzuki Foundation’s board of directors and uses both climate change and politics in his book as examples of dialogue filled with what he believes to be toxic discourse. The book also features interviews from top scholars and spiritual leaders worldwide, including MIT professor Peter Senge and the Dalai Lama.

Hoggan has also spent decades in crisis communications and runs Hoggan & Associates, a successful public relations firm in Vancouver that has assisted organizations with issues from food poisoning to taser death scandals.

Before writing I’m Right and You’re An Idiot, Hoggan also wrote two other books, one on climate change and the other on how to ethically get public support. He also runs the blog DeSmogBlog, which aims to demystify claims by anti-climate change campaigns.

Hoggan’s lectures are presented by TRU’s Office of Environment and Sustainability, TRU Faculty Association and the Kamloops chapter of the Council of Canadians.

Hoggan will be holding the first lecture starting at 7 p.m. in the Alumni Theatre on Wednesday, Oct. 12. His second lecture will be held on Thursday, Oct. 13 at 2:30 p.m. in AE 162.

NEWS

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Student installation calls attention to Canada’s missing and murdered Red dress and pantsuit installation shows solidarity with Families of Sisters in Spirit Sarah Kirschmann STAFF WRITER Ω

Red fabric fluttering from the trees caught the attention of students passing through the campus commons on their way to class last Tuesday. The red dress and pantsuit installation, set up by TRU social work students, represented Canada's missing and murdered Indigenous women, transgender and two-spirit peoples.

It was one of the many vigils showing solidarity with families of the missing and murdered, which took place across the country on Oct. 4. According to an RCMP report, there were over 1,100 reported cases of missing or murdered Aboriginal women from 1980 to 2012. A national inquiry into the issue is currently underway, and although many are hopeful that solutions will come out of it, the process has been criticized.

TRU's installation was in solidarity with Families of Sisters in Spirit, a grassroots group that advocates for the families of Canada's missing

and murdered. Sisters in Spirit gathered for their 11th annual vigil on Parliament Hill on Oct. 4, calling for the inquiry to be more inclusive of transgender and two-spirit peoples, along with more cross-examination within the process.

“It's about visibility, just engaging with people and community members around the issue of violence against gendered indigenous bodies, in addition to showing support for a bigger protest,” Kiara McLean said.

McLean is one of six fourth-year social work students who organized the installation. They were inspired by the work of Métis artist Jaime Black, whose REDress project was exhibited at TRU in 2011. Black collects red dresses and displays them in public places with the hope that “the dresses allow viewers to access a pressing and difficult social issue on an emotional and visceral level, before they put up their guard, before they dismiss,” according to UBC's Indigenous Foundations website.

One key difference between the original REDress project and this

TRU social work students show their support of the vigils for Canada’s missing and murdered indigenous peoples which took place across the country. (Sarah Kirschmann/The Omega) installation is that this one included pantsuits as well as dresses.

The pantsuits symbolize the transgender and two-spirit peoples, a gender which embodies both masculine and feminine characteristics in many Aboriginal cultures.

Those who don't fit neatly into the gender binary are at higher risk of violence, along with Indigenous women.

The social work students asked passers-by to engage with the issue on social media, in addition to

calling attention to it through the installation.

“So far, [public response] has actually been fabulous...we actually had to print more handouts because we weren't anticipating as many people,” McLean said.

Ribbon cut on TRU’s outdoor courts with 3-on-3 tourney Subway-sponsored event by TRU Recreation marks official opening of new courts TRU’s new outdoor courts are officially open, following a ribbon-cutting

by TRU President Alan Shaver on Wednesday, Oct. 5. Following the ribbon-cutting was a 3-on-3 basketball tournament sponsored

by Subway. Winning teams took home $500.

Far left column: (1) Alan Shaver speaks before cutting the ribbon to officially open the courts.

(2) First place team “The Invincibles” receive their cheque with Wolfie at their side.

(3) Second place team “Age Before Beauty” (4) Third place team “The Kardashian Dream Team” Photos by Marcela Arévalo

NEWS

6

OCTOBER 12, 2016

Attention entrepreneurs at work on campus From Hummingbird Drones to state-of-the-art language learning platforms Jared MacArthur STAFF WRITER Ω

In the basement of the House of Learning students are quietly working away at developing innovative business ventures, with the help of the TRU Generator.

Since 2014, the venture accelerating project has helped individuals bring their ideas to life and prepared them for the tough realities of the marketplace.

Robert Atwood and Richard Sullivan made headlines last year for their Hummingbird Drones project and are now working with Kamloops Innovation, furthering their business venture. In 2014 they worked with BC Wildfire Service to test the application of the drones in wildfire fighting operations.

This year, Yalei Zhou, an international student from China, and her business partner Aliaksei (Alex) Yeusiukou, a computer engineer from Poland, are working on an interactive language learning platform called Spelld that was created to make teaching Mandarin more accessible, interactive and efficient.

“Essentially what we are doing is building the biggest language school in the world,” Yeusiukou said.

“Right now we are targeting Mandarin as a start. Later we can target Japanese and Korean because the Mandarin, Japanese and Korean language [systems

are] based on characters,” Zhou said.

“The problem we’re solving is [that] we have millions of people in China who are able to teach, but they cannot target foreign students because they’re not in China,” Yesiuku said. However by using Spelld teachers can create virtual classrooms with students from around the world and teach interactively in an online classroom.

Zhou said it differs from other language platforms in the way that it allows instructors to share information and deliver lessons in personalized ways.

Built into the platform is an enormous database of learning materials that teachers have access to and can use in the classroom.

“Think of it as an app store for learning materials,” Yeusiukou said, which is meant to help teachers to personalize courses for individuals depending on learning outcomes.

As a Chinese language teacher, Zhou was having difficulty preparing for the lessons because she could not personalize them in a classroom setting to reflect individual learning outcomes for students. With Spelld that is made easy and she believes it will make teaching the language more effective.

Complex Chinese language has more than 20,000 characters, and Spelld breaks each one down into individual strokes for writing and

Spelld founders Yalei Zhou and Alex Yeusiukou outside of the TRU Generator lab. (Jared MacArthur/The Omega) also displays the tone changes that change the meaning of a word in Mandarin.

Yeusiukou said it has taken a lot of work to get Spelld to where it is today – roughly six months of work so far.

The platform will be free for teachers to download and use, but students will have to pay a tuition fee to join the classroom. A certain percentage of the tuition fees from each class will be paid to Spelld for use of the platform.

“I would say that it’s still in the early stages and we have a

long way to go, but we are pretty confident and we feel that with the Generator, we are able to do it,” Yeusiukou said.

Lincoln Smith, director of research partnerships and enterprise creation at TRU, has been involved with the Generator since it launched.

The partnership with the two organizations allows students the opportunity to continue developing their projects even after they have left TRU, Smith said.

“There is no requirement of program, no requirement of

stage-of-company and we will work with alumni with our mentors there,” Smith said.

In the last year, only four of the roughly 10 individuals who filed their ideas online through the Generator have gone on to work with mentors and develop their ideas through the program, Smith said. One of the reasons this number is low is simply because a lot of the business ideas that are brought to the table at the Generator don’t survive after being evaluated for their viability in the market.

Info session provides tips to avoid “midterm madness” TRU Experience provides students with scheduling dos and don’ts Jared MacArthur STAFF WRITER Ω

It seems to sneak up on students, first- and fourth-year alike, as if it was our first experience with mid-September exams or assignments. Students can relate to the feeling of having a significant portion of their grade that either is safely locked down in an instructor's Moodle submissions-folder, or is causing them to scowl at a blank Word document while pulling out what is left of their hair.

Last week, TRU counselors, learning strategists and fellow students were trying to bring attention to this issue a time management information session from TRU Experience. Experts asked students what planning habits they had and offered ways of improving those skills.

Do you use an agenda, phone, laptop or do you just avoid time management altogether?

Keeping an organized and manageable schedule doesn’t come easy to most, and it can really cause a lot of stress. The National College Health Assessment survey conducted at TRU

last March revealed that 90 per cent of the 1,500 students who responded felt overwhelmed during the school year and that 40 per cent said stress had adverse affects on their academics.

But there are ways to avoid that ugly, stressful side of a disorganized, procrastination-laden schedule.

Meaghan Hagerty, coordinator for the Wellness Centre on campus, says they see a lot of students come by that just need to escape the busyness, relax and drink some tea.

Finding at least one outlet of self-care is really important, Hagerty said, adding that we also need to realize our own limits.

The reality is that students, just like anyone else, are experiencing all kinds of stress in their lives and schooling is just another piece on the pile, according to TRU counselor Mary Ann Mochizuki.

When it comes to procrastination there are usually some underlying pressures that are at play – not just the new episode of Narcos teasing you at the back of your mind. “The really tough part, is managing that impulsive,

emotional reaction that you have when thinking about a task,” because we naturally want to avoid those kinds of stresses, Mochizuki said.

Her advice for people who are struggling with procrastination is to, “make a plan at the beginning of the day that is both realistic and manageable… and as much as we say have a balanced life, we mean it.” She says that the basic self-care and a balanced lifestyle is the first to go when students start feeling overwhelmed.

Speaking to TRU counselor Cliff Robinson, and learning strategists Evelyne Penny from the disabilities and counseling department, they said it was very common to see an influx of students in October and in February.

Penny says it’s often the case that people will not give themselves the time to plan in the first month of the semester and then when due dates start to approach students don’t know how to handle it. Her advice for students is to always be looking ahead either to the next day or the next week. Instead of waking up and making a plan half asleep

The TRU Experience team talks to students. (Jared MacArthur/The Omega)

and dreaming about coffee. “[Make] sure you always schedule in your emotion time, your exercise time and time when you can socialize, so that you have that whole balance going on because it shouldn’t all be about just the work,” Penny said.

“If we can get ahead of it just a little bit we are going to have a slightly healthier community,” Robinson said.

Penny and Robinson both agreed that the biggest focus for them with these help sessions is to get ahead of the problem and change the behaviour of students to reduce the number of individuals feeling so overwhelmed by their studies.

“The student game is won and lost on organization,” Robinson said, putting a strong emphasis on how important working off of a schedule is.

NEWS

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7

Pro-life, pro-choice groups line streets outside downtown church A local church group protests abortion, assisted suicide and euthanasia and a see a protest in return Jennifer Will

ARTS EDITOR Ω Pro-life and pro-choice groups will be outside the Sacred Heart Cathedral well into November to spread their messages. What prompted the clash of opinions was the start of a pro-life campaign by members of the Sacred Heart Cathedral church, who began their “40 Days for Life Vigil” on Sept.

28 and plan to keep a continual presence in front of the church.

Kathy Dahl from Sacred Heart Cathedral said that a 40-day event helps make a routine for people, and she believes that it will create a stronger community message.

“40 days is actually biblical.

There was the 40 days of rain and there was the 40 days in the desert.

So 40 days is a long time. It’s a test, more or less. If you can actually do it for 40 days, in many ways it becomes a habit. So this is 40 days of pretty heavy praying for our country, for individuals, for people who have really difficult decisions

to make,” Dahl said.

And tested they were. A group of local activists took up camp on the same street in order to create a presence for people who support pro-choice ideals.

Marina Taoke, a third-year nursing student at TRU, said that it’s important for people to know that it’s their body and their choice. Taoke said pregnant women should be supported no matter what they decide with regards to abortion. “[We want] to show the

Pro-life and pro-choice protesters mix in front of Sacred Heart Cathedral. (Jennifer Will/The Omega)

Ashley Gribble protesting against the pro-life group. (Jennifer Will/Ω) community to not be intimidated, to not be scared or upset by what these people are saying, to show support to women who might be pregnant and might be thinking about abortion and to women who want to keep their babies. We are all for choice,” Taoke said.

Among those protesting on the pro-choice side of things was Ashley Gribble, who appeared topless outside the church. She said that she made the appearance to drive home the fact that it’s her body and she can do whatever she wants with it, regardless of other opinions. Gribble said that making abortion illegal would be a step backwards.

“Abortion is legal here, and we want to keep it that way because it’s a really important issue. We don’t need backyard abortions.

We don’t need more children in

the adoption system. We don’t need more babies with drug problems. We need to keep it legal, and people spreading hate is not okay with me,” Gribble said.

“We just want to inform people that pro-life means from conception to natural death. Now that we have some new legislation in Canada, where people can choose to die if they fulfill certain requirements, we are just encouraging people to really educate themselves so that they know all of their options,” Dahl said.

The 40 Days for Life campaign will end on Nov. 8 and both sides of the issue are encouraging people to come out and peacefully show their support. The groups will be standing outside of Sacred Heart Cathedral from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. on the corner of 3rd Ave and Columbia Street in downtown Kamloops.

UPPER COLLEGE HEIGHTS Located at 704 McGill Road, Kamloops, B.C. (Across the street from TRU & Superstore) Our office is open Monday to Friday from 9am-1pm & 3pm-5pm. Come in & view our Show Suite on site! *Discounted Summer Student Rooms available for immediate rental May 2 –Aug 5/16 only $1075 *Fall/16 & Winter/17 semester (Sept 1/16 to April 21/17) $3800 (*plus $250 security deposit).

For payment due dates and more information please visit our website www.uppercollege.com Email: uch@uppercollege.com. Phone: (250) 372-0207 during office hours

HOUSING STUDENTS AND FAMILIES FOR 25 YEARS!

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

Deadline: Oct. 19, 2016 by 4 p.m. tru.ca/myresearch

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OCTOBER 12, 2016

Photo by Marcela Arévalo/The Omega

Coming soon: Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike

A sneak peek of what can be expected from the latest production by TRU's Actors Workshop Theatre Jennifer Will

ARTS EDITOR Ω TRU’s Black Box Theatre is starting its season off with the production Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike. This dramatic comedy works to deal with the contemptuous relationships of sibling drama after parents have passed away. Written by a New Jersey playwright, Christopher Durang’s work seems to be in good hands with this cast and crew.

Directed by TRU faculty member Heidi Verwey, the production is about three middle-aged siblings and their relationships with one another.

Starring TRU’s own Erik Stephany as Vanya, Shannon Cooper as Sonia, Pamela Tulliani as Masha and Berlin Msiska as Spike.

Pamela Tulliani, a fourth-year psychology major and theatre minor, playing the role of Masha, says that this story begins when her character decides to come home for a visit after many years.

“Masha is this glamorous, worldly actress who left the family house right off the bat.

Leaving [behind] her two siblings Sonia and Vanya in the dust to pursue her own acting career.

She becomes a B-list actor. She thinks she’s wonderfully famous and she finally comes back to the house to visit her siblings after years. So that’s where this story takes place, right after she comes back. At first she doesn’t really fit in, but she forces her way back into the family and what unfolds is this play around the

Film review: The Girl on the Train Jonathan Malloy

CONTRIBUTOR Ω Adapted from last year’s bestselling novel by Paula Hawkins, The Girl on the Train takes an intriguing premise and authentic, and at times breathtaking, performance

by Emily Blunt and culminates in a jumbled, claustrophobic, indifferent product.

Starting off with the character of Rachel (Blunt), an alcoholic on the verge of a mental breakdown due in part by her recent divorce, who rides the train into Manhattan on a daily basis before witnessing something that may or may not link her into the disappearance of a young woman. The intrigue of the plot is best left undiscussed as to keep the mystery intact, yet, as someone who had not read the novel, it did come across as somewhat disappointing. A large factor of this may be the fault of the screenplay crafted by Erin Cressida Wilson, which switches tones on a whim while never truly committing to a certain structure to help guide the film along.

Director Tate Taylor keeps the film moving at an extremely rapid pace, never letting the story take a moment to settle, instead going for a “page turning” feel that struggles to keep the audience completely informed before the credits roll. While the film does look quite attractive, it is framed in such a way that never gives the story a chance to shine, boring coverage and ideas that allow for the actors to develop their characters in interesting ticks and rumination but never feels like more than the bare minimum.

Coming off the massive success of a film like 2013’s The Help, it is a shame to see a director of such promise flounder in creating a truly gripping atmosphere even as his prowess with character actors still is apparent.

Emily Blunt provides such an utterly compelling performance as a destructive alcoholic unsure of what she may be capable of that she soars above the admittedly safe direction and an unbalanced screenplay. Rachel is convincing, terrorized by her actions and unable to escape

the house-fire of a life she lives.

Both Hayley Bennett and Rebecca Ferguson are also quite well rounded in their performances.

Sadly Ferguson is not given much screen time and is often relegated to the simple wife character the material seems to try and shy away from.

Many people, including myself, have unjustly compared this film to that of Gone Girl, another huge novel about a woman and her possibly unfaithful narration.

This stands to work against the film as The Girl on the Train is not nearly a transgressive of the medium as the other book. In terms of the films quality Tate Taylor squanders any female empowerment in favour of scintillating sexy stars revolving solely around the men in their lives.

While the intrigue does help propel the movie to its expected and short conclusion, it is mainly for the incredible performance given by Blunt that can have any recommendation. Her towering performance is one that should have been given greater justice in terms of the rest of the film.

family drama and love,” Tulliani said.

Tulliani adds that the themes within the production are ones that most people will be able to relate to.

“It’s very real. It’s a realistic play about family, siblings and how sometimes family doesn’t get along but usually they can make it work in the end,” Tulliani said.

Tulliani believes that students, staff and community members alike will love the show and definitely be in for a laugh.

“This is such a fun show! I think that a lot of people like comedies, especially in this tough exam season, this show will definitely have you laughing. I think it’s a show that everyone will enjoy,” Tulliani said.

Cast and crew of the production are hard at work preparing for their opening night on Oct. 13. The production will run from 7:30 to 11 p.m. from Oct. 13 to 15 and Oct. 20 to 22. Tickets are $14 and can be purchased at the box office in Old Main or by calling 250-377-6100.

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Theatre review: Blithe Spirit Jennifer Will

ARTS EDITOR Ω

October packed full of activities to cause a fright Pumpkin spice, big cozy sweaters and a variety of events that will scare your socks off this October Jennifer Will

ARTS EDITOR Ω Now that it's October, the leaves are changing colour and leaving branches bare. It seems like every farm within a 10-mile radius has a pumpkin patch and local businesses are scrambling to come up with a spooky appeal.

There are so many great fall and Halloween things to do that it would be nearly impossible to do them all. So in no particular order, here are five fall events you won’t want to miss this month.

1. Tranquille Farms While this isn’t technically just one activity or event, it is one location that has several options, offering up their classic corn maze and pumpkin patch.

They’re open on the weekend from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. until Oct. 30. Tickets for this corn maze are $8 each.

From Oct. 28 to 30, they will be hosting their Corn Maze Extravaganza and Dr. Padova’s Haunted House. The maze will have participants wandering around in the dark, wondering what scary thing could be around the next corner. The haunted house will take attendees through the old doctor’s house, leaving them to meet its spooky inhabitants.

The maze and haunted house will run from 5:30 to 10:30 p.m. and tickets are $15 each.

Finally, if you’re in for a real scare, dare to go on a Tranquille Tunnel Tour. Back again this year with their newest production “The Disordered Mind” that will run until Oct. 30. Tickets are $28 each with multiple tours running every night.

2. Ghost Train Get ready to get spooked on this steam train filled with

haunting characters and ghastly events. Packed-full of casket fittings, exorcisms and fortune telling, there is sure to be something for everyone on the Kamloops Heritage Railway.

The train will depart at 7 p.m. and run on Oct. 21, 22 and Oct. 27 to 29. Tickets are $29 and can be purchased at http://www. kamrail.com/.

3. The Zombie Walk This is a chance to walk among the undead, or rather transform into one of them. The tenth annual event will be happening on Oct. 29 from 2 to 4 p.m. in downtown Kamloops. The walk is open to everyone, undead or otherwise.

4. Sakred Skin & Studio Haunted House

The fifth annual haunted house at Sakred Skin & Studio promises to be bigger and better this year. Taking place on Oct. 28 and 29 from 7 to 10 p.m. at their downtown location on 320 Victoria Street. Admission is by canned goods or a donation to the Kamloops Food Bank.

5. VASA Halloween Party Put on by TRU’s Visual Arts Student Association, this party includes all of the classic Halloween favourites. From pumpkin carving to candy to dancing with your friends, this party will be a boneyard bash.

Located in the art gallery on student street at Old Main, the party will run from 5 to 8 p.m. on Oct. 28.

October is sure to be a funfilled month, with tons of other spooktacular events to spark your interest, such as Art in the Dark, the Murder Mystery at the Old Courthouse, Oktoberfest at the Dunes and the Fake Flesh Film Festival.

Straight from the stages of Ontario comes a ghostly comedy production perfect for the month of October. From playwright Noël Coward, this 1920s comedy is given a classic, yet hilarious, interpretation.

The play follows the misadventures of the wealthy Charles and his new wife Ruth, after the spirit of his first wife comes back from the dead. The simple living room set is used in great effect to infuse laughter for the majority of its run time, while providing various opportunities for each of the cast members to shine.

Charles Condomine played by Stephen Gartner, is a man who has found a new love after the passing of his young first wife Elvira. Unfortunately, he is the only person able to see the ghost of his former lover, providing the actors many hysterical instances to switch from casual conversation to horrific confusion in a matter of seconds. Elvira is

back from the land of the dead and wishes to take Mr. Condomine for herself, believing that Ruth is an unfit wife for him.

The rest of the cast works well to immerse the audience in Elvira’s translucency. With Anita Wittenberg as Madame Arcati, a psychic hired by Mr. Condomine for inspiration for his new book, Wittenberg steals the show. She draws the audience in with her unusual electricity that lures them in with her bonkers attitude and love of cucumber sandwiches.

Becoming one of the best running gags came with her inability to fully understand the rituals she was regularly performing, leaving most of the consequences u confusion p to everyone else.

Coward’s script does end up dragging in the first half of the show as the setup becomes finalized and the characters get ready to jump into the comedy material. The second act serves as an almost non-stop equally funny and witty climax that allowed for some genuinely surprising dark humour. The blocking and direction were all well done

by Ashlie Corcoran, fully using the one set by incorporating objects and pieces of furniture that fit the aesthetics of the century.

One of the many glowing performances to arrive from this production is the part of Edith played by Kelsey Gilker. Her almost mime-like performance as the Condomine’s server became the heart of the laughs as each of her scenes gained momentum.

Blithe Spirit is Western Canada Theatre’s second show of the season, and was produced in association with Thousand Island Playhouse. The production will run until Oct. 15 with a pay-whatyou-can matinée on Saturday. The student price for tickets is $19 each.

CFBX TOP 30 CFBX 92.5 FM Campus & Community Radio Kamloops, B.C. Music Director: Steve Marlow Charts to October 6, 2016 * indicates Canadian Content ** indicates a local artist 1) Sunday Wilde* - Blueberries and Grits (Hwy 11) 2) Coco Love Alcorn* - Wonderland (Independent) 3) Ross Neilsen* - Elemental (Independent) 4) Bear Mountain* - Badu (Last Gang) 5) Tropic Harbour* - Glowing Eyes (Independent) 6) Glass Animals - How to Be a Human Being (Wolf Tone) 7) TUNS* - TUNS (Royal Mountain) 8) Jason Sharp* - A Boat Upon It's Blood (Constellation) 9) Ghosttrain 3000** - The Longest Moment is Now (Bush Party) 10) Hot Panda* - Bad Pop (Bandwagon) 11) Delhi 2 Dublin* - We're All Desi Remixed (Westwood) 12) Royal Canoe* - Something Got Lost Between Here and the Orbit (Nevado) 13) L CON* - Moon Milk (Independent) 14) Hidden Roots Collective* - Come Up, Honey (Independent) 15) Flatrock* - The Hill (Independent) 16) The Archaics* - Soft Focus (Sweetie Pie) 17) JPNSGRLS* - Divorce (Light Organ) 18) The Pack A.D. - Positive Thinking (Cadence) 19) Old Cabin* - Saturn Return (Label Fantastic) 20) Adrienne Fenemor's Kiwi Blues - Blues Jam (Independent) 21) Beautiful Nubia* - Iwa (EniObanke) 22) Fictionist - Free Spirits (Harbour) 23) Taylor Holden* - Home (Independent) 24) Dzambo Agusevi Orchestra - Brass Like it Hot (ARC Music) 25) Off World* - 1 (Constellation) 26) GOMS** - Chain Reaction (7”) (Slow Death) 27) Dale Watson - Live at the Big T Roadhouse (Red House) 28) Shirantha Beddage* - Momentum (Independent) 29) Drive-By Truckers - American Band (ATO) 30) Red Arms* - Let Every Nation Know (Yeah Right!)

COMICS & PUZZLES

10 Puzzle of the Week #5 — More Marbles You have some marbles each of one colour of red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and violet.

The number of red, yellow, and blue marbles are each even.

There are more red marbles than blue marbles, and there are more blue marbles than violet marbles.

The number of orange, green, and violet marbles are each odd.

The number of orange marbles plus the number of violet marbles is equal to the number of yellow marbles.

There are more marbles that are yellow than of any other colour.

There are at least two but no more than nine marbles of each colour. Each colour has a different number of marbles.

How many marbles are there of each colour?

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.

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

OCTOBER 12, 2016

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WolfPack week in review: soccer splits, baseball wins Sean Brady

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Ω Both soccer and baseball saw action this week, and teams in both sports saw some favourable results.

The WolfPack men’s soccer team faced off against the UBC Okanagan Heat twice this weekend, once at home and once on the road in Kelowna.

At home on Oct. 6, the men put away one goal from Justin Donaldson (2nd year, midfield), his seventh of the year.

TRU outshot UBCO 22-3 to earn that one goal.

“We had our chances. That is sometimes the way it goes sometimes they go in and sometimes they don’t. What I liked is that the guys kept battling and battling. Finally, their patience pays off,” said head coach John Antulov following the game.

The defeat is one that must have felt good for the team, considering the WolfPack and Heat rivalry that has developed over the years.

“Ever since I can remember it has been Kelowna vs Kamloops and it has always been a back

and forth battle. It is great to be on the winning side of it,” Donaldson said.

The men tidied things up in their second match and with goals from Justin Donaldson and Ryan Glanville, managed a 2-0 victory over the Heat on Oct. 8.

The women’s soccer team also saw some action, but less favourable results, losing both of their weekend matches, also against the Heat at home and away.

The “perfect storm” of a season continues for the WolfPack women, though they did manage a rare goal this weekend in Saturday’s game.

TRU’s Marisa Mendonca (2nd year, midfield) put up her first goal of the season and tilted things towards TRU before the half.

In the second half, however, UBCO put two on the board after the 80-minute mark to take the game 2-1.

WolfPack baseball faced the University of Alberta club team twice on Thursday at Norbrock Stadium. They took the first game 9-2 and the second 14-3, bringing the club’s record up to 5-12-1.

Justin Donaldson came through for the WolfPack big with two goals in two games against the UBC Okanagan Heat on Oct. 6 and 8. (TRU Athletics)

MEN’S SOCCER 5–6–1

WOMEN’S SOCCER 1–9–0

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL* 1–2–0

Next game: Oct. 15, Hillside Stadium

Next game: Oct. 14, Prince George

Next game: Oct. 15, TCC

WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL* 0–5–0

MEN’S VOLLEYBALL* 2–1–0 WINS, LOSSES, TIES

BASEBALL 5 – 12 – 1

WINS, LOSSES, TIES

Next game: Oct. 14, Langley, B.C.

Next game: Oct. 14, Calgary, Alta.

Next game: Oct. 14, Kelowna

WINS, LOSSES, TIES

WINS, LOSSES, TIES

MEN’S BASKETBALL

Starts Oct. 6

WINS, LOSSES, TIES

WINS, LOSSES, TIES

* DENOTES EXHIBITION REORD

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THE OMEGA

OCTOBER 12, 2016