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T H O M P S O N R I V E R S U N I V E R S I T Y ' S I N D E P E N D E N T S T U D E N T N E W S PA P E R
VOLUME 27 · ISSUE 17 · JANUARY 31, 2018
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TRU’s own Donald Lawrence honoured with Artist of the Year Cailyn Mocci ARTS EDITOR Ω On Jan. 20, the award for Artist of the Year was awarded to TRU faculty member Donald Lawrence at the 11th annual Mayor’s Gala for the Arts. After years of dedication to the Kamloops art scene, Lawrence has gained the community’s encouragement to continue his commitment.
“It’s encouragement to maintain my level of involvement in the arts in Kamloops,” Lawrence said of his award. The Mayor’s Gala for the Arts is a collaborative partnership that brings together all forms of artistic expression in Kamloops, including the Kamloops Art Gallery, Kamloops Symphony, Western Canada Theatre and the City of Kamloops. The goal of these awards is to acknowledge and celebrate the budding art scene in Kamloops.
The Kamloops Art Gallery is well-known for its ability to bring in crowds and artists alike. The gallery is publicly funded and well-recognized in Canada for its success. Lawrence has worked extensively with the Kamloops Art Gallery, from solo exhibitions to sitting on the board. “I’ve had good support at the city level,” Lawrence said.
See WORK CONTINUES Page 5
Donald Lawrence, the mind behind the Camera Obscura, won Artist of the Year for his dedication to the Kamloops art scene at the 11th annual Mayor's Gala for the Arts. (Cailyn Mocci/Ω)
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NEWS
JANUARY 31, 2018
Province’s review on sexual violence policies ends TRU’s second round of consultation on its own policy will continue for another month Wade Tomko CONTRIBUTING EDITOR Ω Students had until Monday to share any thoughts, concerns or suggestions about TRU’s sexual violence policy to the B.C. government. The process, which originally began on Dec. 4, asked all post-secondary institutions in the province to review their policies on sexual violence and misconduct. Despite many of B.C.’s universities having fairly new policies, as the Sexual Violence and Misconduct Policy Act only came into effect last May, many students and staff have been eager to submit feedback. Here at TRU, Saprina Chandi, TRUSU women’s representative, believes that both TRU’s second round of consultation, which will run until Feb. 28 (with two general consultations on Feb. 1 and 6) and the government’s will allow students to voice their opinions if they couldn’t before. “The policy review is giving students, staff and faculty, the university community, the opportunity to give feedback regarding the policy,” Chandi said. “So maybe students who didn’t have the opportunity to participate in the construction of the policy prior have the opportunity to share their thoughts and opinions on the policy now.”
Though TRU’s current policy was finalized after a lengthy consultation process, the effort to educate students, staff and faculty on sexual violence and misconduct is ongoing. While Chandi believes that the policy is currently sound, she does understand the need to involve the entirety of the TRU community in such an important discussion. “Reviewing it, I feel it does a good job of addressing those issues,” she said. “The important thing is that the community is participating. It’s a safe opportunity to give your feedback.” Amber Huva, TRU’s sexualized violence prevention and response manager, agrees with Chandi’s sentiment, but is also interested to see how students are reacting to the policy given that it’s still less than a year old. “People have had a little bit of time to get used to the idea of this topic being talked about on campus, being more visible on campus, spending the year encouraging people to go read the policy,” Huva said. “What will they think about it now versus the first round of consultation?” In addition to this, Huva wants students and staff to know that anyone, even if they are not a survivor themselves, can participate in these policy reviews. “Sometimes people feel like they can’t participate in the
conversation because they are not an expert or survivor, anyone in this policy can participate,” Huva said. Huva, who worked on the development of the original policy, has been instrumental to TRU’s effort to prevent sexual violence on campus as well as educate the campus community on the topic. In the future, she’d like to see TRU dig even further into the education and prevention side of things, with more collaboration with community experts. “I would like to see further collaboration with community experts, that’s a big piece of the puzzle,” Huva said. “I would like to see more conversations around connecting the dots between sexualized violence, racism, homophobia, transphobia and sexism.” Huva would also like to make students aware that every Tuesday from 8:30 a.m. to 12 p.m., a victim services worker from the Kamloops Sexual Assault Counselling Centre, Jody Beesley, is on campus to provide her services. “It’s a service completely separate from TRU and it’s important for people to know that if they share something with Jodie or access that service while they are here, that doesn’t leave Jody,” Amber said. You can contact Jody to book an appointment at 250-372-0179 or drop by Student Services.
TRU's sexualized violence prevention and response manager, Amber Huva, helped develop TRU's Sexual Violence Policy. (Submitted)
Parking rate increases frozen until at least 2019 Due to the parking sustainability plan TRU will not be increasing parking fees for 2018/2019 Wade Tomko CONTRIBUTING EDITOR Ω
Though Lot N may not be as busy as it was last September, the lot still nears its max capacity on a daily basis.. (Wade Tomko/The Omega)
TRU’s parking sustainability plan, which was introduced last February, is having its intended effect. According to Matt Milovick, TRU’s VP administration and finance, there are fewer cars on campus and transit use for the August 2017 to December 2017 period is up 24.5 per cent when compared to the previous year. In addition to this, because of the strength of TRU’s 2018-19 operating budget, the university is not in a position where it would require additional revenue to offset costs, says Milovick. “The university intends to maintain the rate increase strategy it announced in February 2016 for implementation at a later date depending on the success of our parking sustainability plan and the demand for on-campus parking,” Milovick said. “However, for 201819, no increase will be applied.” Despite TRU’s commitment to not raise parking rates this year, daily usage numbers in regards to revenue are down about $17,000 from last year for the August 2017 to December 2017 period, according to Glenn Read, TRU’s director of ancillary services. Yet during the same period, TRU
earned more revenue through parking passes than last year, Read said. “When I look at the passes from this year compared to last year we are up slightly to the tune of $30,000,” Read said. “But if you look at the price increases that were implemented at the beginning of this year, I don’t think there was an increase in passes despite the slight increase in revenue.” Overall, Read says that this year’s parking revenue is slightly up from last year’s, with the main reason for this being the $100 increase to passes in reserved lots. Read also added that gated premium-premium lots previously never existed before and as such have had a significant impact on this year’s revenue. While many of the premium lots are currently sold out, Read admits that some of the lots aren’t seeing as much use as they used to. “The changes that we’ve seen were Lot S, which is the one directly behind the Science Building, that one is not being utilized the way it used to,” Read said. Read mostly attributes this to the greater utilization of Lots N, W and T. Lot N is especially seeing greater use because of the construction of the Reach, something TRU anticipated. “What would now be referred to
as Lot A2 is where the first Reach property is going in, that has impacted approximately 119 stalls and those have been removed,” Read said. “In anticipation of this happening and as we build and develop stuff out, well over a year ago we added 136 stalls in Lot N to anticipate this.” While other lots have also been impacted by construction, Read says that the effect has been minimal. However, Read admits that preparation for the Nursing Building has affected both the lots on the south side of the clock tower, as students may have noticed. With Lot N’s higher-than-normal utilization, many students who park in that lot have decided to forgo purchasing tickets. Though this may seem more noticeable to those students who utilize Lot N frequently, Read doesn’t actually believe more students are skipping out on buying tickets. “I think there has always been a percentage of students that roll the dice and take their chances, not something I recommend, but the patrollers can only do so much in one day,” Read said. “They will continue to do their work and it’s only a matter of time before the people that don’t have the appropriate ticket in their car will get ticketed and or towed.”
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4
NEWS
JANUARY 31, 2018
Compost has big impact on campus sustainability TRU has halved the amount of waste that would originally go to the landfill Jennifer Will NEWS EDITOR Ω
Help make TRU greener, make sure you always dispose of your waste in the correct bin. (Jennifer Will/Ω)
Sustainability has been noted as a strategic priority by students, staff and faculty on campus. It was identified as such back when TRU was in its infancy as a university in 2007. Compost, in particular, has made a huge impact on campus reducing landfill waste by around 400 tons. Jim Gudjonson the director of the TRU Sustainability Office says after it was identified as a priority, one of their initiatives was to bring in the recycling stations and place them all over campus. These stations separate recycling, cans, landfill waste and compost. “We generate from around 1000 to 1200 tons of waste and back when we started the composting program the organics was quite a large portion of the tonnage because it’s heavier,” Gudjonson said. “So our overall landfill is about 500 to 600 now.” The composts journey starts by being collected by a dedicated janitorial staff that manage the organic part of the waste. After the compost is collected from the bins around campus it makes a journey over to the c-can which is next door to the Sustainability Office. “In there, there are two in-vessel composters, those will handle 100 liters of materials a day. So, they are
quite large,” Gudjonson said. The compost is then mixed in with wood pellets and wood shavings which is used to add nitrogen to the mixture. “Then it goes into the first chamber and it all gets mixed together with the existing compost in there. After a week or two, the augers take it into the next chamber where it looks more dirt-like. The process then with the added nitrogen, mixing, adding air and all of that stuff turns that banana peel into dirt in about six weeks,” Gudjonson said. Gudjonson says that having a compost system on campus is important because of the environmental implication of not having a compost system. “When you throw organic waste into the landfill it gets buried and it rots essentially, and it creates methane. From an emissions perspective, methane is 20 times more harmful in the atmosphere compared to carbon monoxide for example,” Gudjonson said. The compost material made at TRU stays at TRU and is used in the flowerbeds and gardens around campus. Gudjonson adds that keeping compost on campus saves emissions from the organic materials being carted off to a landfill and even more emissions than buying compost and having it shipped to campus.
TRUSU approves three special Upcoming panel to resolutions at annual meeting
discuss Indigenous water rights Panel discussion will be hosted by experts in law and conservation from both Canada and Australia Jennifer Will NEWS EDITOR Ω A TRU hosted panel discussion looks to open up the topic of Indigenous water rights and environmental concerns. The Sacredness of Water: Securing Indigenous Water Rights panel discussion will hear from Australian author and lawyer Virginia Marshall, conservationist Paul Marshall, who is also from Australia, Chief of the Skeetchestn Indian Band Ron Ignace and TRU’s own executive director of Aboriginal education Paul Michel. Virginia Marshall will speak about her new book Overturning Aqua Nullius: Securing Aboriginal Water Rights, as well as her expertise as an Aboriginal lawyer. Paul Marshall will discuss possible threats to water from mineral mining and exploration.
Ignace and Michel will use the remarks of the Australian experts to connect with issues regarding Indigenous water rights in our own region. The panel looks to tackle the issue of water purity in rivers, lakes and oceans, as risk of contamination becomes a bigger issue. They will also discuss that the idea of water contamination goes against spiritual beliefs of many Indigenous peoples around the world. The panel will also open up to a public discussion and Q&A, the event will be moderated by Arjun Singh, a member of City Council. The event will take place downtown from 7:30 to 9 p.m. at St. Andrews on the Square on Feb. 6. Tickets are $5 each for students and seniors and $10 each for general admission. Tickets for the event can be purchased online at https://httpswwwartsimmensuscatru.ticketleap. com/.
This year’s TRUSU annual general meeting saw three special resolutions pass as students came together and had their voice heard in decisions that will affect how the union operates next year. Three special resolutions were on the table this year. Special resolutions can only be voted on at annual or special general meetings. The first proposed that the Aboriginal representative position be renamed to the Indigenous representative and that the LGBTQ representative be renamed to the LGBTQ+ representative. The proposal also called for these titles to be replaced in TRUSU’s policy manual and bylaws. The second special resolution called on students to approve the renaming of the student caucus steering committee to the
“university affairs committee.” In the third, the union was looking to change its honoraria policy. The current policy, which was last amended in 2015, says executive members, advocacy representatives and directors-at-large should be paid $11 per hour. The proposed replacement policy specified that members will be paid the province’s minimum wage, no matter what it is. It also specified that executive members can now only work a maximum of 40 hours per bi-weekly period, down from 50 hours in the current policy. All three special resolutions were approved by the membership. The union also showed off its accomplishments in its 2017 annual report, noting campaign activity like its Fund the Future campaign
to increase provincial funding for the university, its provincial and municipal budget consultation ventures, its activity around the 2017 provincial and municipal elections and ongoing campus outreach work. In terms of services, the union noted that it had 4,742 members enrolled in its health and dental plan, up from 4,258 in 2016 due to the fact that international students can now use the plan as well. The annual report also notes that the UPASS transit pass had an activation rate of 84.5 per cent. In terms of grants, the union funded 404 conference attendance grants ($156,048), 32 general event grants ($24,662), 11 educational events ($45,310) and nine guest lecture grants ($11,777).
Students at this year's TRUSU annual general meeting passed three special resolutions. (Juan Cabrejo/Ω)
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ARTS
5
Lawrence's Gala award
Work continues on Camera Obscura CONTINUED (COVER) In 2005, Lawrence hosted a solo exhibition at the Kamloops Art Gallery called Kayaks and Caissons. The exhibition was shaped around underwater pinhole cameras and illustrated journals from his kayak journeys. More recently, Lawrence acted as the principal researcher for the Midnight Sun Camera Obscura; a project that started in the Dawson City, Yukon. Lawrence has also been working on plans to continue the collaborative nature of his Camera Obscura project, extending the collaborative invitation outside of Canada to further inspiration and perspectives. As for a dream future, Lawrence would like to see a Golf Island tour of his project the Floating Camera Obscura. “I’d like to acknowledge and thank the various people at TRU, you wouldn’t get an award like this if you were working completely alone,” Lawrence said. “It’s all built on collaborations with many people.”
Ben (Allen), Gail (Lipman) and Earl (Jarvis) in The Birds and the Bees (Stephen Wild/Submitted)
Innuendo-filled The Birds and the Bees comes to Kamloops
Light-hearted romantic play filled with uncontrollable giggles and inappropriate jokes Cailyn Mocci ARTS EDITOR Ω Western Canada Theatre opened up Thursday night with a gut-busting comedy, The Birds and the Bees. Audiences took a leap into the relatable misfortune and chaos of the characters’ busy lives. The Birds and the Bees is a Canadian play written by playwright Mike Crawford. Crawford’s first production of the Birds and the Bees premiered at the Blyth Festival in the summer of 2016. Kamloops’ production of The Birds and the Bees is directed by WCT director Ashlie Corcoran. WCT is producing the show in association with Thousand Islands Playhouse,
Gananoque. All four of the main characters gave a deeply relatable and simultaneously light-hearted performance that left the audience in stitches throughout the play. Viewers were enticed into the chaotic lives of Gail (Nicola Lipman) and her adult daughter Sarah (Naomi Wright), who showed up on her mother’s doorstep following the crumbling of her marriage. Their dry love lives are tested with romance and unexpected twists that keep the audience giggling and engaged. Gail, a divorced mother of two adult daughters and keeper of thousands of bees, is a spitfire and shy around the topic of sex even though it’s kind of hard to ignore the not-so-subtle innuendos that blanket
the performance. Lipman gave a performance the audience craved with her fiery character and quick wit. Her daughter Sarah follows pretty close in her mother’s footsteps with her witty comebacks. After the crumble of a marriage to her longtime husband, she goes out in search of the attention she’s been craving for the long months of loneliness. Wright’s portrays a hilariously realistic modern, middle-aged woman in her search for love, attention and family. Other characters include the blunt, inappropriate neighbour and renter of Gail’s farm, Earl (John Javis). Earl is also divorced, but living to the best of his bachelor life, or possibly just waiting for the right lady to fill the place of his ex-wife. You can’t forget
the lovable, rambling grad student and bee researcher Ben (Christopher Allen) either. His fast-paced, high energy rambles make you fall in love with his scattered brained approach to life. The Birds and the Bees gives the audience a look into what it can be like to find love at different stages of your life, even if a love life doesn’t seem possible. With so many twists and turns, the audience will be absorbed in this light-hearted romantic comedy. Full of sex-positive comedy, The Birds and the Bees isn’t your typical stuffy theatre production. The Birds and the Bees will run Jan. 31 to Feb. 3. Tickets can be purchased at the WCT Live! box office at (250) 374-5483.
TRU hosts the 14th annual Kamloops Bridal Fair
TRU continues to contribute resources and space to the third-party event Elizabeth Nygren CONTRIBUTOR Ω Last Sunday, January 28th, the 14th Annual Kamloops Bridal Fair took place in the TRU Campus Activity Centre (CAC). The event was planned by the TRU Conference Centre and Brielle Hwalstad was the leading coordinator of the event. Although Thompson Rivers University isn’t the full force behind the bridal fair, it does provide the fair with much of its help. For the past 14 years, the bridal fair has taken place within the CAC and will continue to do so in the future. Although the fair has been sold out to vendors the last three years, with a trailing waitlist behind them, they will not move the location. This is because TRU offers the space to the TRU Conference Centre at no cost. By hosting the event in the CAC, the TRU Conference Centre has the opportunity to save some money, as well as to show off the building as a potential wedding venue. The bridal fair is also very helpful to the students at TRU, especially those needing volunteer and/or
work experience. The TRU Conference Centre hires three students in late August to fulfill different coordinating roles. The students this year included Stephanie Tate, Volunteer Coordinator, Jessica Cooper, Fashion Show Coordinator and Jordyn McCrea, Marketing Coordinator. Hwalstad noted that they regularly have upwards of 25 TRU student volunteers each year. The PCMA (Professional Convention Management Association) club, a TRUSU club, also regularly volunteer, as the club helps students gain real-world experience in the event planning and tourism industry. All volunteers and employees are TRU students. TRU gives back to the fair, just as much as the fair helps TRU and its students. Hwalstad acknowledged that TRU Facilities are an important contributor to the event, as they make sure doors are opened and unlocked, provide extra garbage cans and signage and help regulate the temperature due to the extra traffic of people. Hwalstad also mentioned the Print Shop on campus as a contributor to the fair, which does its part by making posters and signage for the event. Over 1000 people come in and
Adrianna Sieracki is one of the student volunteers who helped make the bridal fair a reality. (Elizabeth Nygren/Ω) out of the Campus Activity Centre during this event, which goes to show how large and indispensable all volunteers and workers are to the fair. Hwalstad says that the bridal fair
was originally created because the TRU Conference Centre wanted to unite all the different bridal sectors in Kamloops and says that it created a “One-stop shop event” for couples planning their big day. Hwalstad
hopes that the fair continues to sell out and that more couples continue to see what Kamloops has to offer in terms of their wedding, as well as to provide fresh content each coming year.
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Puzzle of the Week #14—Buckets (in the January 31, 2018 issue of The Omega)
You have two buckets. One will hold five liters of water, and the other will hold three liters. They have no markings. If you fill a bucket from the faucet, you must fill it full. If you pour from one bucket into the other, you can stop only when the first bucket is empty or the second bucket is full. You can also discard all of the water in a bucket. How can you end up with four liters of water in the five-liter bucket? 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.
JANUARY 31, 2018
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SPORTS
Empty seats cause problems for WolfPack Athletics director looks to implement strategies to increase game attendance Alvin Mutandiro SPORTS EDITOR Ω Crowd attendance for WolfPack games have been low and games are often played to half-empty arenas. Sports are not just about the athletes or coaches who play, but the people who come to watch and support. Imagine if the Super Bowl was played in an empty stadium or if a boxing match took place in an empty arena, it wouldn’t be as exciting. The attendance for WolfPack games is not great for most programs, the men’s soccer team had a high attendance this season, but that was largely because of the team having a great season. It’s hard to measure attendance and the only way one can really judge that is by looking at the amount of people in the stands and the number of empty seats. Is it a lack of quality product? Bad marketing? Or are people just not interested enough? New program director Curtis Atkinson was gracious enough to speak with the Omega, he was appointed as WolfPack director at the start of the year after the departure of Ken Olynyk. Atkinson believes that low attendance is not just a TRU problem but a challenge that all Usports programs face. Atkinson
believes it an issue that leaves room for growth. “As an initial priority, we have to find more ways to engage the campus community – students, faculty, and staff – and then begin to reach out to the broader community,” Atkinson said. Atkinson made it clear that the product at TRU played no part in the low attendance. “Our product is great,
student-athletes are terrific people to support,” he said. Atkinson gave some examples of the kind of events that can attract a bigger crowd. He referenced the Crowchild Classic hockey games that took place in Calgary, between Mount Royal University and the University of Calgary. Atkinson believes there are many other benefits to these
types of events, such as bigger media coverage and much-needed exposure for university programs. “Partnering with student groups, community organizations and aligning with social causes can also be an effective way to get more eyes on our product,” he concluded. Atkinson also made it clear that strategies to start improving
The "Pack has had a hard time filling seats at games both inside and outside of the TCC so far this semester and last. (Juan Cabrejo/The Omega)
game attendance are underway. “One of our focuses for this off-season will be to do a full review of our ticket prices, ticket packages and ticket strategy,” he said. Atkinson also emphasized the need to continue marketing the WolfPack brand in the correct manner. “With advances in technology, we have to make sure we are executing a marketing strategy that connects with students effectively and connects with the other markets we want to engage,” he said. Atkinson also acknowledged the role winning plays in attracting a larger audience. “We have had some very successful teams here, and winning is certainly a part of building the brand and attracting more people to our games,” he said. “We want to consistently compete at a high level. Sustained success is important and winning certainly helps with the spectator experience.” Game attendance is a hard problem to deal with, especially in a community where people have different likes and interests. Those associated with the WolfPack program will be hoping that the strategies implemented will lead to larger crowds attending sports events at TRU. They hope that these strategies will help the games to become more of a spectacle as well.
The challenge in balancing both school and sports Michelle Bos talks about how she manages both basketball and homework Alvin Mutandiro SPORTS EDITOR Ω Michelle Bos is a fourthyear guard with the WolfPack women’s basketball team from Surrey, B.C. Being a student-athlete can be a tough but positive experience. It presents challenges for students mentally and physically. Student-athletes must deal with the pressure of performing both in the classroom as well as in the sports arena. They must deal with the expectations of coaches, teachers and teammates. TRU has plenty of student-athletes, one of the biggest challenges they have is managing time. Recently the Omega caught up with Bos to discuss what life as a student-athlete is like. “Surprisingly I find being a student-athlete is actually good for my mental health. Basketball is a nice break from school and school is a nice break from basketball. So they even each other out really nicely,” Bos said. Bos has been a part of the women’s team for four years and
is an integral part of the team, she was a CIS rookie all-star in her first year at TRU and has continued to be a big performer for the team. “As a nursing student I spend 12-16 hours a week in the hospital working at the ward plus at least 12 hours of classroom work,” said Bos in relation to her hectic schedule. “Clinical days begin at 6:30 am when I have to take the bus to the hospital. Afterwards, around 3:00 pm, I bus directly to the gym for practice,” Bos said. “After practice I might shoot or lift for 30 minutes then head home to make a quick dinner, an hour of homework and then head to sleep.” As an athlete, Bos must eat smart and healthy. She told the Omega she eats a high protein diet, largely because high protein diets tend to keep her full for long periods of time. Her meals are well thought out. “ Egg whites with veggies for breaky, chicken salad for lunch, greek yogurt as a snack, a protein shake after my workout/ practice and homemade pizza for dinner is a pretty normal day
for me,” Bos said. Bos also acknowledged the fact that as an athlete she has to eat a lot more than the average person due to the demands of her body. One of the biggest challenges she faces is fitting in time for group projects as they require multiple people’s schedules to line up. “The biggest challenge is group projects,” Bos said. “I am arguably the worst group member because I am often gone from Thursday afternoon to Sunday morning for away games, and my evenings after class are busy with practices; finding times to meet as a group is next to impossible. I adjust by doing a lot of my work separate from the group and emailing it to them as I complete it.” The life of a student-athlete is as difficult as one would expect, but it also allows students to escape from the stress of everyday life. As well it allows them to enjoy something different. The impression one gets from Bos is that being a student-athlete allows there to be a finely tuned balance, mentally and physically, for students.
TRU Athletics
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THE OMEGA
JANUARY 31, 2018
TRUSU Awards of Excellence Do you know someone who goes above and beyond to make TRU an awesome place to work and study? Nominate them for a TRUSU Award! Winners will receive a $2,000 tuition fee credit or professional development grant.
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