March 28, 2018

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THE

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 24 · MARCH 28, 2018

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TRU HOSTS TRC FORUM

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SNOWBOMBING IS BACK!

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WOMEN'S CURLING AT NATIONALS

Tatiana Gilbert gets candid about being TRUSU’s president Jennifer Will NEWS EDITOR Ω In the race for TRUSU president there was a face off between current president and PSA affiliate Tatiana Gilbert, who sought reelection, and Yours Truly affiliate Gagandeep Singh. Gilbert was successfully re-elected and secured 53.7 per cent of the vote, with a total of 861 votes.

“I was really excited, really happy and very honoured

that students wanted to see me serve another term and continue to fight for them,” Gilbert said. “My heart was just so full when I found out that I won and I was so happy for my slate as well because it was an incredible win.”

Gilbert first ran for office back in the spring of 2017, with ambitious ideas and a lot of student issues at TRU that she wanted to address. However, Gilbert says the role was hard to step into and navigate at first.

“I don’t think anyone is ever fully prepared for stepping

into the role of president,” she said.

Before running in the election, she read the job description and had a basic understanding of what would be expected of her.

See TRUSU PRESIDENT Page 3

Tatiana Gilbert, recently elected to serve another term as TRUSU's president, sat down and talked with The Omega last week about her re-election, as well as what's next. (Juan Cabrejo/Ω)

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NEWS

MARCH 28, 2018

Scholars launch Whose Land is it Anyway? A Manual for Decolonization Book tackling decolonization and reconciliation launched by Indigenous authors Farrah Johnson CONTRIBUTOR Ω The book launch for Whose Land is it Anyway? A Manual for Decolonization was held in the Mountain Room of the Campus Activity Centre on Mar. 19.

Launched by Indigenous academics and authors, the work was inspired by the late Arthur Manuel, who was described as Canada’s version of Nelson Mandela.

The book, sponsored by the Federation of Post-Secondary Educators of BC, also contains two of Manuel’s essays.

Nicole Schabus, TRU Law Professor and Chair of the TRU Faculty Association’s Human Rights Committee, said she would like everyone to realize the importance of decolonizing Canada from colonial concepts that have been indoctrinated in laws and policies for years.

“Before we can move to

reconciliation, it is crucial that we continue to hear and face the truth of colonial practices that are still present today,” she said.

Schabus also said that it is their vision to move in a direction towards decolonization, which she believes can only be attained through acknowledging the atrocities of the past.

“Many of us wrote from a heartfelt place, especially given the unexpected loss of Arthur Manuel,” she said speaking on behalf of the book’s contributors.

George Davison, FPSE President, also paid homage to Arthur Manuel by talking about his legacy. “[Arthur Manuel] went on tours all over, emphasising the important role secondary and post-secondary educators have in teaching on decolonizing,” Davison said.

Russ Diabo, a leading Indigenous policy analyst was another contributor, who said he believed that the poor treatment of First Nation

people stemmed from the judiciary system.

“The Indian Act is the foundation of discrimination against First Nations in Canada, because there is no acknowledgement of the Indigenous people in them,” he said.

Diabo said he believes this is the reason why many Indigenous people never receive justice.

Kanahus Manuel, one of Arthur Manuel’s daughters, said we need to expose the abuse of Indigenous people that comes at the hand of the B.C. and the Canadian government.

She explained that Indians own 0.2 per cent of the land base, yet 99.8 per cent of the land within Indigenous territories are exploited and destroyed for government wealth and many Indigenous people remain impoverished.

“Many of us are trapped in the 0.2% mentality, but decolonization points the fingers at us to try and make more solutions and be less

Educators and leaders talk Truth and Reconciliation at TRU forum Speakers discussed issues surrounding Indigenous communities, reconciliation Elizabeth Nygren CONTRIBUTOR Ω The TRU Truth and Reconciliation Forum took place over the course of 2 days, March 23-24 and was filled with many presentations, discussions, keynote speakers, and sharing circles/break out sessions. The goal of the Truth and Reconciliation Forum was to teach people about colonization, decolonization and Indigenization. The event was put on by TRU Aboriginal Education and Thompson Rivers University.

The forum opened with a reception, with welcoming remarks from TRU President Alan Shaver and TRU Aboriginal Education Director Paul Michel. On the opening night of the event, there were panel presentations given by four TRU educators and community leaders: Bonaparte Indian Band Chief Ryan Day, TRU Dean of Social Work & Education Airini, Secwépemc Elder Garry Gottfriedson and TRU Law Student Jamie Gagnon.

Day began the presentations by discussing how important homes are to everyone and how the Secwépemc people were removed from their land, facing much trauma because of it. “[Intergenerational trauma] is something that’s inside each and every one of us,” Day said. “Our parents aren’t perfect, they each went through something, their parents went through something and these things get passed on.The grief was not necessarily dealt with and this has been passed on and

down the line.”

These words helped much of the audience understand another reason why reconciliation is so important.

was being lost, and that there is less than 2% of fluent speakers in the nation.

“Our language holds our worldviews, our philosophies, our whole

Bonaparte Indian Band Chief Ryan Day. (Elizabeth Nygren/The Omega) Airini had a different approach when giving her presentation. She discussed how we need to look to the future after we’ve learned from our past, and discussed her current venture called ‘The Coyote Project’.

The goal of the project is to have 13 per cent of the TRU education program be Aboriginal students, as only 5 per cent of the program are Aboriginal students currently. She discussed how there is work to be done and that there are still 94 calls to action that need to be completed in order for reconciliation to truly occur. Airini stated that “it is our responsibility to do more as power holders in the university sector.”

Gottfriedson discussed how the language of the Secwépemc people

essence of who we are in this territory,” Gottfriedson said. “Our connections to our land, our connections to each other and our connection to absolutely everything we know in our world.”

Gottfriedson also discussed the need for community-based programs, so people can learn the language and said that “it can’t be talk, it has to be real.”

Lastly Gagnon mentioned how TRU needs more Indigenous law programs and faculty to go along with these programs.

“It would be ideal for TRU to have Indigenous academics on staff, teaching these topics, supporting the students and supporting the faculty,” Gagnon said.

dependent,” she said.

Manuel said she believes that decolonization means going back into the mountains and territories and learning about native songs and local plants.

“My dad was an activist, so we couldn't separate politics from our family life, it is in our DNA,” she said.

Manuel also said that when Indigenous people go out into the land, they tread lightly to respect the blood and bones of their ancestors which make up the soil.

“I don’t want to be a part of Canada, this is not crown land, this is our land,” she said.

Sharon McIvor, Dean of Academic Partnership & Development at Nicola Valley of Institute of Technology, was another one of the book’s contributors.

McIvor said that they have had a difficult time convincing other colleagues that there is a problem with the system.

“The history that they get of Canada is one that is selectively put together to erase the history of the First Nations,” she explained.

She said she believes that this is one of the main reasons that Indigenous communities in Canada are disrespected.

“We come across people who have preconceived notions of us and only believe that we are living off the taxpayer’s dollar,” she said.

McIvor said she believes that until both non-Indigenous and Indigenous people learn about the true history, nothing will change.

She said she also believes that education and the socialization of where First Nations people sit within the whole scheme of things, needs to be taken into consideration.

“This particular book is not really telling you what to do, it's here so people can read it and learn that there are a lot of things that they don’t know about,” she said.

10,000 years of Secwépemc history told in new book Ron and Marianne Ignace discuss Secwépemc People, Land and Laws Elizabeth Nygren CONTRIBUTOR Ω Ron and Marianne Ignace’s new book Secwépemc People, Land, and Laws explores 10,000 years of Secwépemc history, from before traders and settlers came to their land, to the hundreds of different stories within the Secwépemc culture.

When discussing the book, Ron Ignace described it as a 3-legged stool.

“A book to re-engage our people back into our history,” he said.

The second leg of this book is “to inform non-Shuswap people about Shuswap people and our land.” The last leg “is written in such a way towards winning our title back for Secwépemculecw.”

The Ignaces also discussed their own personal experiences when living on the Secwépemc land and honoured all the Secwépemc elders who taught them.

“We have the many elders and storytellers, and we acknowledge them name by name in the first part of the book,” Marianne Ignace said.

“We wanted to make sure everyone that shared their knowledge was included. It turns out there are 150 elders”. “[Of the elders] many unfortunately are gone, but we are lucky to have captured their voices through this book and were able to give them a voice,” Ron Ignace added.

Marianne Ignace also focused on the legacy they wanted to leave with this book.

“The long ago legacies [the ancestors] left behind as they were settling the land, occupying the land, getting to know the land and shaping

the land as the land shaped them,” she said.

Along with this, Ron Ignace talked about the different stories they wanted to remember with this book as well. He talked about how the stories are written on the land with physical markings and that these stories connect the land to its creatures, meaning humans, history and everything that surrounds it.

Marianne Ignace noted that “those stories are written on the land in the landmarks they left.”

The Ignaces went detail on hundreds of these stories in their book, all of which are unique and captivating in their own way.

The Ignaces said that the theme of their book is how Secwépemculecw was created.

Ron Ignace added that if you want to learn or “ find the boundaries of our nation, you have to go to our stories.”

Secwépemc People, Land and Laws. (Ellizabeth Nygren/Ω)

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NEWS

TRUSU president talks about past experiences and looking forward CONTINUED (COVER) “A lot of the things that you’re not prepared for are more on an individual basis, how to work with other board members, how to work with other people that you maybe don’t agree with or they don’t see the same vision for students as you do. That’s something I’ve learned a lot about and how to work cooperatively with those individuals.”

She says that the job tends to require a lot more than just what’s on the job description and there are just some elements that you can’t prepare for and you just have to learn as you go.

“Once you step into the role, you really see how different of a world and how different of a role that you’ve taken upon. You really have to take your time to learn the position, learn all of the things you’ll be handling and working with and the people you’ll be working with.”

Learning these skills, meeting new people, advocating for students and figuring out the logistics of job can take some time, Gilbert said.

“I know it took me half a year to remember some people’s names at TRU and what they do and what we really need to focus on. So, now that I’ve been re-elected, I’m absolutely ecstatic because I don’t feel like I’m starting at square one anymore.

I’m already running, I’m already on my way.”

Even though being president is big role with a lot of responsibilities and requires a lot of time and hard work, Gilbert says that she sought reelection because it’s something she loves doing.

“I really am just so passionate about fighting for people and fighting for things that students

deserve. I love advocating for students, for our community and I’m really passionate about putting that voice in places where maybe students don’t have a voice,” Gilbert said. “Like I said, it took half a year for me to really assume the role and figure out how everything works and I just felt as though it wasn’t enough time. It is such a large role that I felt one year was not enough time to make all of the change I wanted to see.”

Her position in TRUSU has helped her to find new passions and learn new skills, as well as becoming more involved in the campus and aware of other students’ experiences.

“Until you’re really involved in the student’s union, then you don’t really get to know every little thing that’s going on on campus. Some of the injustices, some of the things that you maybe don’t agree with, some of the problems you think aren’t getting addressed. As well as some of the incredible things that are going on that you don’t know about, because it’s either not promoted or you don’t directly get to be apart of it.”

During her first year in office, Gilbert says that TRUSU has had a lot of successes with events, student outreach and campaigns. Although if she had to narrow it down to just one thing, she would say the Hungry for Choice campaign was probably the most successful.

“We’ve really put all of our blood sweat and tears into ensuring that every student knew about the food service contract expiring. We presented to TRU's Board of Governors and we were so thrilled– it was a bit of an early Christmas gift, when they sent us an email saying that they agreed and there will be

a full and meaningful campus consultation around any new or renewed campus food services contracts.”

Before her initial election into office, Gilbert, in a 2017 interview with The Omega, cited that money was one of the big issues she planned on addressing. Addressing the issue of money came to fruition through a variety of TRUSU campaigns that have advocated for open textbooks and ultimately TRU’s lack of government funding.

“The Fund the Future campaign has been going really well,” Gilbert said. “They’re almost at 50 presentations, which if you think about it, is unreal with the amount of influence and people they’ve sat down to present to about how underfunded our university is.”

Looking forward to her next term, Gilbert says some of her goals will be to have a larger impact within the community and to see more involvement and participation from the TRUSU board of directors.

“I’d really love to increase board attendance and committee attendance,” Gilbert said. “More than anything, I just want to ensure that our board of directors are not just individuals that get together every two weeks to discuss what’s on the agenda, but really become friends and rely upon one another. So that way we can really be the best we can for students and that's really what we’re all here for.”

As for what TRUSU’s priorities will be for the upcoming year, those decisions will be made once the new board has stepped in and done their strategic planning over the summer months.

“I know that a bunch of the

new team that we have elected here have their own individual ideas and ideas for the committees and committee events, I’d really love to see those reflected in the upcoming year.”

However, Gilbert says that there are three things that she knows will for sure be continuing on for next year, the first is the Hungry for Choice campaign.

“TRU has committed to a full and meaningful campus consultation and that will take a year to consult their community. So, we’ll definitely be helping them

The Biggest Business Conference of the Year is coming to Kamloops on March 28th. This is an opportunity to connect with industry leaders like: -Manu Goswami (Canada's 20 under 20) -Tai Tran (Forbes 30 under 30) - Amanda Hobson (VP and CFO, BCLC) -Matthew Burns (Forbes HR Council and CHRO, JYSK) - V. Krishna Lakkineni (CEO, ROI Media Works) -Inayat Ur Rehman (Founder, Your Edu Connect) -Jeff Torrans (certified coach and speaker) The conference will be followed by networking games and social with food, soft drinks and door prizes!

- Dress code is business casual - $10-$15 for community professionals - Limited free tickets for students by registration https://www.picatic.com/educonnect

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E-mail info@youreduconnect.com for any questions/ concerns.

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Letters Policy

Literary and visual submissions are welcomed. All submissions are subject to editing for brevity, taste and legality. The Omega will attempt to publish each letter received, barring time and space constraints. The editor will take care not to change the intention or tone of submissions, but will not publish material deemed to exhibit sexism, racism or homophobia. Letters for publication must include the writer’s name (for publication) and contact details (not for publication). The Omega reserves the right not to publish any letter or submitted material.

Opinions expressed in any section with an “Opinion” label do not represent those of The Omega, the Cariboo Student Newspaper Society, its Board of Directors or its staff. Opinions belong only to those who have signed them.

News Editor Jennifer Will

Arts Editor Cailyn Mocci

Sports Editor Alvin Mutandiro

Photographer Juan Cabrejo

Distribution Jonathan Malloy

Contribuors Justin Moore Farrah Johnson Morgan Hunter Elizabeth Nygren Teshu Agarwal Robert Wisla

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out and working with them throughout this entire process to see this through.”

The second campaign that will continue into next year is Fund the Future.

“I know that is something that the campaigns committee wants to continue and wants to see through because TRU demands and deserves the funding that they should be getting.”

The last TRUSU priority that Gilbert confirms will continue to be a priority in the fall is World University Service of Canada (WUSC) referendum.

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MARCH 28, 2018

NEWS

Elementary school students visit TRU TRUSU Eco Club to Kids given chance to explore TRU while show documentary on helping in education student's practicum the effects the fashion Teshu Agarwal CONTRIBUTOR Ω Nineteen elementary class students from School District 73 visited Thompson Rivers University campus as a part of a field trip. The aim was to acclimatize the students with university life and inspire them.

“My students are very important to me and this was my way of showing them where and what I came from,” Chapman said. “Where I found my passion to teach and why I ended up in their classroom.

I hope my students have a spark of inspiration that can have a positive influence on their lives” After the field trip, the students shared with Chapman that "TRU was

Students received moose dolls after the trip (Nolan Chapman/TRU World) Nolan Chapman, bachelor of education student at TRU, arranged the field trip during his certification practicum. Chapman is a TRU teacher candidate. His motivation to bring them to TRU stemmed from his passion for teaching.

like a city of its own". Chapman took some time to discuss scholarship opportunities and how they could receive money for achieving high grades. A day at TRU piqued the students’ interest in post-secondary education, especially programs like

trades and technology, law and fine arts.

Chapman and his students made two stops at TRU to talk to people from the university. First, Aaron Wiebe, Research Assistant from the Sustainability Office, talked to the students about the zero waste stations, the solar sidewalk and the solar compass. Second, Ana Carolina G. Bovi Diogo, Auxiliary International Marketing Coordinator at TRU World, talked to the students about what her job was and about the students' future possibilities at TRU. “My advice for prospective TRU students is that university is a place where you can receive a quality education at the same time as finding your true passions” said Chapman, “At university, especially TRU, there are so many opportunities for personal and professional growth. Look at university as the step in the right direction in discovering yourself and increasing your skills for your future career.”

The Omega also spoke to an international student, Safwat Musthafa, a computer science student from Abu Dhabi, who chose TRU after attending an information session on the institution at his school back home.

Just like an info session made the decision for Musthafa, Chapman’s field trip might make the decision for a few of these kids!

industry has on water Robert Wisla CONTRIBUTOR Ω

When I go shopping, like most people, I look for the best prices, be it at H&M, Gucci or Hugo Boss this remains the goal. To get as stylish as possible while not breaking the bank, even I as an environmentalist barely thought about the effects that buying a new coat had on the environment. This lack of knowledge is something River Blue Documentary Producer Lisa Mazzotta wanted to solve when she started on the crusade to investigate the effects of the fashion industry on the environment globally.

Mazzotta takes us down into the heart of the Indian Subcontinent where the fashion industry has built massive factories across India and Bangladesh to take advantage of the extremely low wage workforce and less restrictive labour and safety regulations. River Blue documents interviews with locals who have dealt with the effects of the factories on their

local communities and through looking at the minimum effort of stopping harmful chemicals from entering water systems, which the film pays special attention to.

The films shows us the effects of the chemicals have on the rivers and deltas which have become devoid of all aquatic life, where people are harmed by various diseases and illnesses from the chemicals that are pumped out into the water. The people who regularly bath, wash and drink daily this water daily simply have no other options.

“It wasn’t easy to tell this story,” Mazzotta said. “We faced an uphill battle, it was hard to get a professional narrator because the fashion industry said they would blacklist any narrators that did our film's narration.”

The TRUSU Eco Club will be putting on River Blue today at 7 p.m. in the Clock Tower theater.

The club will also be putting on a clothing swap as part of the showing and will be in Old Main from 12 – 1 p.m. to gather clothing that people want to get rid of.

EmpowerHER opens up conversations of female safety in Kamloops TRU student and Australian scholar bring together social justice and public art engage dialogue Cailyn Mocci ARTS EDITOR Ω TRU student Emily Dundas Oke and visiting scholar Marnie Badham are taking on Kamloops’ women’s safety with a creative look at shared experiences by mapping the city. EmpowerHER invites the women of Kamloops and T’Kemlups to make their perceptions of safety, memory, beauty and other attachments to place visible.

EmpowerHER is the work of Oke and Badham. The duo is partnered with TRU and United Way. Badham spends most of her time teaching and studying public places, community development and contemporary art. She also has a long history working with art in the respects of social justice and working with underserved and underrepresented communities.

“This project is a part storytelling project, part urban planning and part visual art,” Badham said.

EmpowerHER is tasked with opening dialogue with the women of Kamloops, revolving around asking these women to reflect on three questions: Where do you feel safe? Where do you feel unsafe?

Where do you see beauty?

“EmpowerHER is helping to visualize women’s perceptions and experiences in Kamloops,” Dundas Oke said. “The project is helpful in fostering dialogue about how we experience the city.”

The visual aspect of this project helps open up the conversations of safety with Kamloops’ resource providers and aids in creating a safer environment for women, especially those who are more likely to be in need of services such as shelters.

“By doing creative projects, people feel more comfortable sharing their experiences,” Badham said. “This project really focuses on the lived experiences of women.”

Badham estimated that about 500 women have participated in the project.

EmpowerHER is meant to act as a knowledge-sharing and experience-sharing project with the hopes of creating functional resources for the city. Badham describes the project as “socially-engaged art”.

“It’s always about pulling out salient issues, but at the same time it has some sort of usefulness for the community you’re trying to serve,” Badham said.

As for the future of EmpowerHER, both Dundas Oke and Badham are invested in compiling their data and presenting their findings to those resource leaders

Scholar Marnie Badham and TRU student Emily Dundas Oke collaborated on EmpowerHER. (Cailyn Mocci/Ω) in the city in hopes of creating safer environments throughout Kamloops.

The two have envisioned a public

art display of their findings on the side of the United Way in Downtown Kamloops and also possibly on campus at TRU.

For more information on EmpowerHER or where to get involved check out the project’s website at unitedwaytnc.ca/map.

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ARTS

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Snowbombing returns to Sun Peaks next month

The EDM festival promises to bring the party to the powder with top-tier artists Justin Moore CONTRIBUTOR Ω The mother of mountain music festivals, Snowbombing, is back this April 5 to 9 at Sun Peaks to much delight of avid festival goers. This is the events second run after hitting the Sun Peaks village last April, attracting fans of the EDM genre to see internationally famous artists perform sets on a local stage.

This year, Snowbombing is expecting to have another enthusiastic turnout.

“The level of collaboration and goodwill that we have experienced provides motivation to ensure the 2018 event is even bigger and bolder than last year,” spoke Alexander Bennett, the Director of Festivals at Broadwick Live.

Bennett and his team recently visited the mountain to check out the venue for this years festivities.

“The reception that we received

last year and during our most recent site visit was remarkable,” he said.

Some of this year's performers include Odesza, Daniel Caesar and Nghtmre, each bringing with them a unique set of music that is sure to rock the village all weekend.

In addition to bringing a larger art and music scene to the Kamloops area, Sunpeaks has also been able to reap the benefits of the Snowbombing Music Festival. The economic impact of last years event bringing in an estimated $6 Million based on spending on accommodation, travel, meals and bar operations.

Sunpeaks will also see an extended winter season, bringing with it a longer employment period for the mountains many employees, as well as the jobs created for the event itself.

“The location breathes an extraordinary atmosphere into the festival, the mountains, snow and skiers and takes you to a level far beyond the dirt pits of normal

Meet up online, go out offline

Last year, Snowbombing brought in around $6 million for Sun Peaks and the Kamloops area. (Submitted) summer festivals or the indoor warehouses of winter festivals,” said TRU student Megan Cary,

reflecting on last year's event.

Tickets for Snowbombing are still available through the

website, with shuttles to and from the mountain running all weekend for an extra fee.

Soulful Calgary vocalist Ellen Doty shares her latest album

New app Joiiin connects strangers together for outdoor adventures Doty performed her new album Come Fall at Justin Moore CONTRIBUTOR Ω Hot on the heels of the controversy behind the transparency of apps such as Facebook or the chronological absence of Instagram, comes a new contender to the social media race.

Vancouver based app Joiiin (that’s no typo) comes as a response to the addictive behaviours of online media centred platforms. Joiiin instead focuses on the social aspect, allowing users to create their own outdoor events where other users can link up through the interface and participate.

The outdoor focus comes from creator Dustin Vioen’s passion for the natural world that exists beyond the digital world.

“On the west coast it makes a lot of

Joiiin can help you find new friends in a new area. (Justin Moore/Ω)

sense, we want to facilitate in person connections through activities,” Vioen said.

Rather than meeting up for the common cup of coffee, Joiiin allows users to find an activity that has a mutual appreciation, such as hiking or snowboarding, creating a more inviting and comfortable environment for connections to grow.

“The whole idea with meeting over coffee is kind of date-y, I’m not going on Bumble BFF to swipe guys to go for coffee with,” Vioen said, commenting on the difference between Joiiin and similar meet-up applications currently on the market.

While Joiiin has already seen movement in the Lower Mainland, Vioen voiced hope for success in smaller towns such as Kamloops mentioning the number of unique activities smaller areas hold, in which Joiiin will collect and add to a roster of recommended activities.

While the app is still in ongoing development, current users have already found like-minded people to visit waterfalls, grab tacos and watch sunsets together all over British Columbia. One user has even started planning a trip to Iceland through Joiiin’s unique interface.

“We want to create an app that supports people becoming the best version of themselves,” Vioen said, “Our whole goal is to build those deeper connections.”

The team behind Joiiin is currently working out the kinks for the alternative style social app, planning a large marketing push for the near future.

The beta version of Joiiin is currently available on IOS and Google Play app stores.

the Rex Hall as part of her 2018 Canadian tour Juan Cabrejo PHOTOGRAPHER Ω Calgary jazz/soul singer Ellen Doty performed her latest album Come Fall at the Rex Hall last Friday as part of her 18-show cross-Canada tour.

“I’m excited about the new album, it’s great to be able to share it with people and to perform the music live,” she said.

Doty takes much of her inspiration from the timeless records of Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra and Billy Holiday to emulate the classic sound

Ellen Doty preformed at the Rex Hall last Friday. (Juan Cabrejo/Ω) “I’m really excited to play here, it’s been quite a while since I’ve been here to perform,” she said. “We just played our first show of this Canadian tour last night, so we still have energy.”

Her latest album Come Fall has garnered noteworthy attention, debuting at number one on iTunes in the jazz category along with receiving outstanding reviews from fans and media.

in her music. This vintage style was much more pronounced in her first feature album Gold, which also received numerous acclaim.

“I think the first thing is the subtlety and smoothness of the voices from that time, they all had such classic sounds, so I try to pull from that soft and beautiful sound; that’s always something I love about those recordings.”

After her previous success, Doty

decided to take a new approach with her latest album.

“We left a lot of space on this album for the music to breath, the whole thing is just piano, voice and drums,” she said. “It’s very empty and naked without the extra layers of bass and background vocals, but I think it fits the emotion of the music very nicely."

Doty began singing at the early age of four, with much of her vocal training coached by her mother and introduced to many soul and R&B standards.

“My mom was a choir director, so she had me singing when I was young, and my first performance was at my grade one talent show,” she said. “We had a book called Hits of the Seventies, so I used to sing lots of Marvin Gaye, Roberta Flack and Otis Redding.

As an artist on the road, Doty shares some of struggles with balancing her personal life with her musical career.

“It’s tough as I am away quite a lot, my friends and family are very understanding with me missing a lot of events, my boyfriend is also a touring musician, so you have to be with people who are understanding of that lifestyle," she said.

Regarding Ellen Doty’s plans for the future, she intends to continue touring in other parts of the world.

“I’m doing jazz festivals this summer in Canada and I’m doing my first tour in Europe in October,” she said.

There is no doubt that Ellen Doty is a one-to-watch artist for the next few years to come.

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MARCH 28, 2018

ARTS

The Freudian Slips open their 2018 in an explosion of neon Audiences were treated to the hilarity of Kamloops’ favourite improv group Cailyn Mocci ARTS EDITOR Ω Chimera Theatre welcomed back roaring laughs with Kamloops’ favourite improv comedy troupe, The Freudian Slips and an 80’s themed night. The show was filled with raunchy comedy and neon spandex.

Saturday, March 23 marked the opening night for the troupe’s new 2018 season. The night was nothing but pure comedy gold with both

new and familiar faces. With the evening’s theme of “80’s Tight n’ Bright,” audience members were treated to throwback comedy scenes and a plethora of neon spandex outfits that left nothing to the imagination.

This season’s troupe includes some familiar faces to the Slips’ family, including Andrew G. Cooper as the host as well as Brendan Law and Taylor James McCallum. The troupe is also welcoming back Allandra Gardner and Dan Ondang from previous seasons. Also,

making their debut on the Freudian Slips’ stage for the 2018 season is Kennedy Crane and Jamie Mason.

The evening started off with a parody version of The Barenaked Ladies hit song “If I Had a Million Dollars,” but with a more modern twist. The trio, including former Slips member Brooke Ballam, poked fun at the current economic status of today’s world, with the opening lyrics being “if I had a million dollars… I’d still probably have to work.”

Long time Freudian Slips host

Andrew Cooper kept the audience cheering and giggling with his quick wit and fun games that kept the troupe going strong from start to finish.

The evening was filled with short improv games that kept both the audience and the troupe on their toes. The games included a raunchy mash up of telephone and charades, LCD (Location, Career, Death) and the Dating Game.

The audience was encouraged to get as interactive as they pleased, with audience suggestions that

set the scene for most games. The tables turned when members of the audience were invited on stage to get a taste of being a part of the Freudian Slips in games such as Helping Friends.

Kamloops is looking forward to all the comedy that the Freudian Slips are sure to bring.

Missed the show? Don’t worry you can catch the hilarity live on April 21 for Sheer Luck, an Improv Mystery. You can get your tickets to the improv murder mystery online at thefredianslips.com.

Local music festival emulates the feeling of Burning Man Last week TRU was treated to a case study on Bass Coast and it's impact Morgan Hunter CONTRIBUTOR Ω On March 21, co-founders, Andrea Graham and Liz Thompson of the music festival Bass Coast presented the history of the festival, as well as their personal experiences with creating it and to show other innovators how to create their own event.

Graham and Thompson started out with creating a variety of festivals and said they were personally inspired by the feeling of community they found at Burning Man. “The focus was to inspire participation of all the attendees in an artistic way that made them feel comfortable,” said Bass Coast production manager Anna Hilliar.

The first few years, the event was first held in Squamish, B.C. Thompson stated that they hoped that “the feelings that you’d experience would correlate with the event itself, thereby letting the memory being associated with Bass Coast”.

“We did not intend to become a role model for feminism, but due to the fact that we're in a male-dominated industry, we hope that the event can transcend beyond gender,” added Thompson.

The event has a major focus on the community ethos, attempting to give many positive experiences, but still infuse a sense of artistry.

The group also then created an arts grant program that gave local artists the opportunity to share their creations at the festival.

One of the hardships that was faced was when the founders had to move the site of the festival due to a few disappointed neighbors with the sound to enforce a bylaw.

The event was then moved to Merritt, where two years later the community was growing larger with international artists showing interest in the event and having local artists collaborating with others in order to show scope.

When asked about the process of marketing for the event, Graham stated that there are no

external sponsors.

“It’s more centered around a low budget, in order to gain a personal relationship with the community,” Graham said. “It was a very trial and error basis, but we wanted to keep the focus on community.”

The one main concern that Thompson had was the problem on associating their brand without permission.

"We haven't had too much of a problem, we just ask them politely not to use our brand and they are very apologetic about it, but that seems to be more of a present problem," she said.

When asked what advice they would give to someone who also wanted to start their own festival, Thompson advised them to continue to keep taking risks and too not let things that aren't planned stop you.

“You always have to take that opportunity to make that no into a yes," Graham added.

Bass Coast will be taking place on July 6-9, in Merritt, British Columbia, Canada.

Bass Coast co-founders came to TRU last Wednesday to present on the festival, to drum up interest and gather volunteers. (Justin Moore/Ω)

A review of Midnight Sun and the need for mediocre movies Film critic Jonathan Malloy looks at why not every movie needs to be a blockbuster Jonathan Malloy FILM CRITIC Ω Paint me unamused when I looked Wednesday morning to see what releases would be coming to Kamloops’ theaters this week only to see the one film that I truly couldn’t wait to see, Wes Anderson’s Isle of Dogs, not coming here or anywhere near my vicinity. So what did I decide to see this week? The new Bella Thorne tearjerker that my girlfriend wanted to see. I would like to say I was hesitant, but honestly the trailers made me more tempered than anything else. I mean it couldn't stand up to the time and care put into years of stop animation Japanese dogs, so how can you even compare? You can’t and that is okay.

A recent trend seems to have surfaced lately where films are judged on a spectrum of either good or bad. You have your Mad Max: Fury Road and your Fifty Shades, but those films that rest in the middle are often seen as the worst of the bunch. The discussion around these mediocre films typically is spoken to an empty room as it can be hard to say something about a film that seems to have so little to say itself.

This is where Scott Speer’s Midnight Sun enters the picture.

Staring Bella Thorne and Patrick Schwarzenegger, yes there is a relation, it follows Thorne’s Katie as she meets a boy and falls in love. Oh and she also has a skin disease that will kill her if she so happens to look at a ray of sunshine. The movie never attempts to overexert its themes past the surface level of ‘wow that’s kind

of sad’ to deliver really any meaning by its end. This lack of ambition would kill any momentum a film would normally carry and yet this movie somehow trucks along at a fine enough pace. This is possibly due to the father/daughter chemistry added

by Rob Riggle’s performance or the fact that Bella Thorne can, at times, really make you feel for her character. It most certainly is not aided by the unfortunate performance of Schwarzenegger as Katie’s beau. He certainly attempts the sympathetic jock but is hung up on a cheesy (read manipulative) script and wooden delivery. From the editing to the cinematography there are many aspects that coalesce into what feels like a student film that was given the green light and suffers all the misgivings one would expect from

that undergraduate wet dream.

What is unexpected is how much feeling they would pack into such a mishandled product. By the end I was having a hard time keeping away the tears myself. Yes the film is over-manipulative, but God damn if it isn’t effective in the way it tugs at those open heartstrings. Hushed crying drew on from the crowd as the credits played and it was astounding seeing these people be affected on such a level by a film that is flawed and by most accounts fairly bad, but held a certain emotional ‘umph’ to move these people. This is the power of films like this, like Mama Mia, those crappy Nicholas Sparks adaptations, the bargain bin Jennifer Aniston/ Vince Vaughn hook-up movies. They make people feel and isn’t that worth something?

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SPORTS

Creating better scholarships the biggest challenge for recruitment TRU's athletic director believes the current scholarship model is worth revisiting Alvin Mutandiro SPORTS EDITOR Ω Scholarships are key to attracting quality athletes from all over the world, the challenge is on how to create more funding, something which is complicated by the fact USPORTS doesn’t allow programs to offer full scholarships.

Scholarships have become a major a part of the lives of student-athletes. In America, universities are permitted to give students a ‘full-ride,” basically an all-expenses paid four year education in university, a luxury which unfortunately isn’t available in Canada.

Most Canadian universities offer partial scholarships to student-athletes.

The biggest challenges in relation to scholarships is creating more funding and attracting more donors so that there is enough money to offer better opportunities to student-athletes.

So, the question you may be asking is why would it be so important to get more funding? What difference will it make?

It’s simple, the more funding a program receives, the more scholarships a program can offer and it can lead to universities offering better scholarships.

There is a reason why the NCAA, warts and all, is more profitable than USPORTS schools. That is down

largely to the fact they have more money invested in college sports.

Offering better scholarships means the best athletes will be more willing to stay in Canada instead of heading to the States.

“A robust and effective scholarship model is a critical ingredient in building a successful athletic program in Canada,” said TRU athletic director Curtis Atkinson.

“We have strong support from our institution and run some well-established fundraisers to raise money for athletic scholarships, but we are always in need of more funds to support student-athletes,” he concluded.

Atkinson also stated that the limits placed on the type of scholarships given out depend largely on what USPORTS deems acceptable.

“All USPORTS schools in the country are governed by USPORTS athletic financial awards policies that specify the eligibility requirements and maximum number of scholarships available for each sport,” he said.

Atkinson remarked that he believes that the USPORTS policies on scholarships are worth revisiting and that a model should be created that allows USPORTS programs to give out full scholarships.

Atkinson also presented an example of instances when USPORTS allowed certain sports to give out full scholarships.

“In recent years, USPORTS did a

pilot project in women’s hockey that allowed members to offer full-rides (which included tuition, fees and room and board costs) and I believe this was effective at keeping some of the best women’s hockey players in Canada. I would like to see this expanded to other sports in the future,” he said.

Such examples create hope that something could possibly change down the road that could help take the USPORTS to the next level.

Atkinson was also very eager to emphasize the importance scholarship funding to TRU. “Funding student athlete scholarships is a priority for the WolfPack.

We need to do an effective job in this area to continue to have a successful program,” Atkinson said.

“Our annual Sports Task Force Golf Tournament and Scholarship Breakfast are major fundraisers for this cause and we will continue to look for ways to fund athletic scholarships at a high level,” he added.

Creating more scholarship opportunities for student-athletes will be key for TRU to become a major program in the country.

A big part of the problem is the limitations with which USPORTS places on programs, such limitations don’t allow programs to attract the best athletes.

Until those issues are all addressed creating scholarship opportunities will continue being a major challenge.

Athletic director Curtis Atkinson believes the university, and to a greater extent USPORTS, should relook at scholarship policies. (TRU Athletics)

Corryn Brown's curling quartet splits opening games at nationals The 'Pack curling team scored a remarkable victory against unbeaten team Alvin Mutandiro SPORTS EDITOR Ω The ‘Pack curling team is currently attending the USPORTS nationals after having won the Western Canadian University Championships.

The team, captained by Corryn Brown, consists of members Erin Pincott, Dezaray Hawes and Samantha Fisher to complete the quartet.

Thompson Rivers opened with a 10-7 win over the Queen’s University Golden Gaels, at the Ken’s Furniture Arena in Leduc, Alberta.

On Saturday night TRU were beaten by the host foursome: The University of Alberta Pandas.

The Pandas, led by Kristen Streifel, stayed unbeaten by beating the TRU 10-5.

The Pandas scored three in the third end and had a four ender in the 10th end to grab the victory.

TRU had a 1-0 lead after the second end. They added a single in the fourth, two in the sixth and one more in the 8th.

As a rink, the WolfPack curled 78 per cent. Brown curled 78 per

Draw 3 of the WolfPack women's curling team against Brock University. They would win 8-2. (TRU Athletics)

cent on her own.

Pincott shot 80 per cent, Hawes 73 per cent with Fisher curling with an 81 per cent success rate. Alberta had an 89 per cent success rate.

TRU then beat the Brock University Badgers led by Terri Weeks 8-2 on March 25.

The loss was the first for Weeks and the Badgers and a remarkable win for the WolfPack women's curling team.

TRU, along with Alberta, Mount Allison and Laurier are all leading the round robin standings with two wins and a loss.

TRU scored single points in the second, third and fourth ends to move to a 3-0 lead after five ends. Brock added one in the sixth end to cut the deficit to 3-1.

The WolfPack added one point in the seventh to move to 4-1.

The Badgers closed the deficit to 4-2 with a single point in the eighth before TRU added four in the ninth to get the win. Brown curled 86 per cent in the game.

Third Erin Pincott was at 78 per cent, second Dezaray Hawes curled 72 per cent and lead Samantha Fisher had a 92 per cent success rate.

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MARCH 28, 2018

THE OMEGA

TRUSU Awards of Excellence 2018 Award Winners

Student Empowerment Award (staff)

Craig Campbell

Student Empowerment Award (student)

Gabby Fisher

Student Advocate Award (staff)

Brenda Smith

Student Advocate Award (student)

Grace McDonell

Student Support Award (staff)

Tony Bell

Student Support Award (student)

Yasir Khan

Teaching Award (staff)

Robert Hanlon

Club Leadership Award (student)

Jesse Biddlecombe

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