April 4, 2018

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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 25 · APRIL 4, 2018

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DOMESTIC TUITION INCREASES

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STUDENTS VOICE CONCERNS

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DIRECTOR'S FESTIVAL STARTS NEXT WEEK

Shred Kelly rocks the stage at the Blue Grotto Cailyn Mocci ARTS EDITOR Ω B.C. based folk band Shred Kelly hit the stage at the Blue Grotto in a lively show playing their fourth and newest album, Archipelago. Crowds packed the small venue on a Tuesday night to enjoy folk vibes with a kick of modern Rock and Roll.

Shred Kelly recently released their fourth studio album,

Archipelago, three years after their third album Sing to the Night in 2015.

Warming up the stage for Shred Kelly was Kamloops born rock band Friday Night Fires. Friday Night Fires pumped up the stage with a heavy dose of Canadiana and Rock and Roll. Crowds gathered and danced to the indie rock vibes of their song “How Far I’d Go.” Friday Night Fires’ lead vocalist, Jon Chow’s raspy yet smooth voice caught the audience’s attention as he

transitioned through the highs and the lows of each song.

As Friday Night Fires closed up and the crowd waited eagerly for the main show, Shred Kelly started to trickle onto the stage, one by one. The anticipation for this show was met with energy many wouldn’t expect from a crowd on a Tuesday evening.

See SHRED KELLY Page 5

B.C. bands Shred Kelly and Friday Night Fires rocked the Blue Grotto last Tuesday. Shred Kelly is currently touring across the world promoting their new album Archipelago. (Justin Moore/Ω)

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NEWS

APRIL 4, 2018

Awards of Excellence recognizes those making TRU better

Awards given out to staff and students for making TRU a better place to learn and work Jennifer Will NEWS EDITOR Ω The first annual TRUSU Awards of Excellence recognized students, staff and faculty across six categories. The awards look to honour members of the TRU community that represent the things that make TRU a great place to go to school.

The event took place on March 27 in the Mountain Room and recognized eight students and staff, who were nominated by their peers and were then picked by the board based on how nominees exemplified TRUSU’s mission and values.

“In setting these awards one of the things we did is we sat back and decided on the kinds of behaviour the Students’ Union wanted to see on campus that we wanted to reward and that we wanted to see exemplified from staff, students and faculty,” said Nathan Lane TRUSU’s executive director.

The Student Empowerment Award for a staff member was awarded to Craig Campbell and the Student Empowerment Award for a student was awarded to Gabby Fisher. The Student Advocate Award

for a staff member went to Brenda Smith, while the Student Advocate Award for a student was received

by Grace McDonell. Tony Bell was the staff member who received the Student Support Award and

Yasir Khan was the student who was awarded the Student Support Award. The Teaching Award went to Robert Hanlon and the Club Leadership Award went to Jesse Biddlecombe.

Grace McDonell, is a third law student at TRU and says that receiving this award is an incredible honour.

“I feel so grateful and I think that this is a huge reflection of my faculty

Grace McDonell won the Student Advocate Award for advocating on behalf of LGBTQ+ students. (Jennifer Will/Ω)

Fund the Future campaign continues to gain support

at the law school and my fellow students as well,” McDonell said.

Dylan Robinson, TRUSU’s Equity Coordinator, says that McDonell was nominated and selected for work done advocating for the voices of LGBTQ+ students in Ottawa at a Supreme Court hearing.

“As Grace’s numerous nominators describe, ‘her work inside and outside the classroom ensures diverse voices are welcome and creates a consensus for community building and social change that is inspiring to fellow students, faculty and staff.’ Her strong voice for equity and respect represents our TRUSU values in practice,” said Robinson.

McDonell added that this type of work has been super rewarding in terms of personal and career growth.

“I think that I have a voice and that I feel a duty to use that voice to help people and I think that is what I have always tried to do during my law school career. Not just be in the classroom, but in the community as well and that kind of led me to the Supreme Court of Canada,” McDonell said.

After classes are wrapped up in a April, McDonell will start articling with a law firm in Vancouver.

CEOs and entrepreneurs speak at The Biggest Business Conference of the Year

TRUSU’s campaign gets support Event provided students an opportunity to learn from community organizations from and talk to industry leaders and innovators Jennifer Will NEWS EDITOR Ω TRUSU’s Fund the Future campaign continues to gain steam as it gets letters of support from local MLA’s Todd Stone and Peter Milobar and the City of Kamloops.

These letters of support, among others from various non-profits, businesses and municipalities across the region will help show support for the fight against TRU’s underfunding by the provincial government.

TRUSU vice president external Cole Hickson says that over the past five years TRU’s underfunding amounts up to $80 million when compared to other universities around the province.

“TRU still ranks 20th out of 25 universities in per-student funding in B.C. Until there is a reason as for why that is or a re-evaluation to see if that’s fair, we are in a bad situation, not only in our Thompson Nicola region, but also in B.C.,” Hickson said.

The campaign’s organizers have made 45 community presentations since they started doing outreach in October. The letters of support from the City of Kamloops, local MLA’s and others in the region has been instrumental in helping to build up momentum.

“We’ll have a community behind us for when we go to the government to say can we get this

addressed. So, it’s not just an issue for the TRU Students’ Union, it’s an issue for the Kamloops Chamber of Commerce, Thompson Nicola Regional District, municipalities surrounding our regions and so on,” Hickson said.

The campaigns committee members have presented and gained support from every municipality in the region, excluding Logan Lake.

“I would say that the broad majority have been successful. It’s kind of a scandalous issue however you look at it, so we haven’t really had any negative responses,” Hickson said. “Every person that we’ve talked to however, has been supportive in one way or another of this campaign.”

Hickson and his fellow campaign members plan to continue getting the word out by making even more community presentations.

“That’s still a very high priority, but we want to have everything in order by April because that’s when we want to go the Ministry of Advanced Education,” Hickson said.

Hickson says that the best outcome would be that the ministry agrees to re-evaluate TRU’s funding and make a formula for how TRU should be funded.

You can pledge your support to the Fund the Future campaign by visiting TRUSU’s website at http:// trusu.ca/advocacy/fundthefuture/.

Morgan Hunter CONTRIBUTOR Ω On March 28, The Biggest Business Conference of the Year was held in hopes of providing an opportunity to learn and hear from some industry leaders.

The event included Tai Tran, who launched Apple’s first branded social media account on Twitter as @AppleMusicHelp, Amanda Hobson, the CEO and vice president of the British Columbia Lottery Corporation, and VK Lakkineni, an Amazon Best Selling Author. Four other innovators also came to give their stories of success, as well as advice to students attempting to break into the business world.

Manu Goswami, the CEO of SuperFan Inc, advocated the importance of social media as well as networking a brand and continuously attempting to create multiple entrepreneurships.

Amanda Hobson paid more attention towards the differences of generations as well as the individualized placement of workplaces.

While she continued to hail the differences among the ages, she believes that unity will only come with patience for change.

“Those who choose not to adapt, are resistant or are slow to change will suffer dire consequences,” she said.

Matthew Burns, who is the Human Resources Director for

JYSK, a clothing distributor, talked about the problems surrounding the profession and the issues that are not being tackled around the disconnect between HR and the business.

“I would really advise you to look at discomfort as a negative because discomfort is a doorway to opportunity,” Burns said.

Burns continued to talk about his experiences in the retail industry and the customer services industry, which included Wal-Mart and JYSK. He revealed that a slow gaining of experience was more helpful than gaining a formal education.

“I found that if I could transfer an idea slowly, yet at a continuous rate, it was more beneficial to me rather do that than attempting to follow a status quo that was given by a superior,” he said.

The speakers continued on the tone that formal education cannot stop you from attempting to grow as an innovator. The skills that were principal among the speakers were an openness to a learning mindset, transparency and diversity. Burns also touched on this fact.

“It’s not something nice to have, however, its a requirement,” he said.

The aptly named Biggest Business Conference of the year included presentations from many industry leaders. (Juan Cabrejo/The Omega)

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NEWS

Domestic tuition set to Policy concerning accommodation increase for 2018/2019 for disabled students has changed Tuition for domestic students The policy, which governs the academic to increase by two per cent at accommodation for TRU students with the beginning of fall semester disabilities, hasn’t changed since 2009 Wade Tomko

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Ω Tuition for domestic students will increase by two per cent in the 2018/2019 school year. The increase was approved at the March 23 TRU Board of Governors meeting.

According to TRU’s Provost, Christine Bovis-Cnossen, this work’s out to $81.70 more a year for domestic students with a full course load.

This increase is in line with previous increases to domestic tuition

by TRU and other universities across B.C., with two per cent being the maximum rate of increase per year. In 2007, the B.C. government capped tuition increases at this rate.

The board believes that there is no competitive disadvantage to increasing tuition, as it is a practice that all B.C. universities engage in. This proposed increase will

help offset inflationary costs at the university.

At the board meeting, vice president administration and finance, Matt Milovick, explained that the risk to TRU in not increasing tuition fees is that the Ministry of Advanced education does not let universities catch up. Therefore, TRU wouldn’t be able to “double-up” on tuition in subsequent years.

Though there are no increases to international tuition scheduled for the 2018/2019 year, TRU has seen a major increase within the last year in international enrolment, and as such revenue from international tuition.

Compared to last year’s budget, TRU anticipates that revenue from international tuition will be $22 million higher this year, leading to a surplus of approximately $24 million. The university’s expects much of this money to go to capital projects.

Wade Tomko EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Ω Policy BRD 10-0, Academic Accommodation and Services for Students with Disabilities has been recently changed to Academic Accommodations for Students with Disabilities. In addition to this, several other changes to the policy were approved at the Dec. 8, 2017 TRU Board of Governors meeting.

Multiple titles and names have been updated in the policy, with Disability Services being changed to Accessibility Services.

This updated version of the policy also clarifies the definition of documentation in regards to the appropriate amount of academic accommodation given to student with a disability, says Dean of Students Christine Adam.

“Something that we clarified in the policy was in the definition section and it was around documentation,” Adam said. “So this is just based on our evolving understanding of what documentation we should be asking for in order to assess what would be appropriate academic accommodations for a person with a disability.”

The original policy was created in 2009. Though it was supposed to be reviewed in 2014, the process was delayed until 2017.

“There are just a lot of policies that require review and updating, so it was just in the works and we got to

a point where it could be revised and brought to the board,” Adam said.

“So at any given time there are all sort of policies that are under review.

So some reviews move more quickly than others.”

Though some of the changes to policy BRD 10-0 may seem minor, the policy's review was delayed for three years. (Wade Tomko/The Omega) According to Adam, the reasons for such delays can be multifold.

“Mostly because you are watching case law in other jurisdiction or you’re waiting on colleagues at other institutions to make similar decisions and you want to get it right,” she said. “We have had leadership changes in disability services, now

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Rising tuition is in line with the maximum rate of increase. (Wade Tomko/Ω)

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accessibility services, over the past few years. We have had 3 different managers since 2015, so it’s been a little challenging.”

Despite the delays, Adam notes that policy BRD 10-0 is important

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from a human rights perspective and that the changes needed to happen eventually.

“This policy basically ensures that students rights under the human rights code of British Columbia are met by the university,” she said. “So it lays out the procedure to make sure those rights are met.”

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APRIL 4, 2018

NEWS

Students voice their concerns at budget consultation town hall Students give details on TRU’s top 5 major issues as outlined in the budget consultation Wade Tomko EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Ω As the second part of their budget consultation, TRUSU hosted a lively town hall discussion open to all of its members last Wednesday in the TRUSU Lecture Hall. Students were given the opportunity to expand upon their responses to the budget consultation survey held back in February.

The survey, which took place between Feb. 5 and 16, garnered 391 responses from across TRU and highlighted parking, food service,

study space, academic advising and course materials as the top five issues as TRU this year.

“The whole purpose of the budget consultation is to give students an opportunity to contribute their experiences,” said Alex McLellan, TRUSU’s university governance coordinator.

The two-hour long event was divided into five twenty minute sections (as per the five categories) and saw students in attendance give anonymous responses in order to assure them that they could say as much as they wanted. Many TRUSU representatives were in attendance,

with 30 students at the town hall in total.

The first issue on the table was parking, a recurring theme in the budget consultation. Very few students admitted they were satisfied with the current parking situation at TRU, while no student in the room thought that parking on campus is priced fairly.

Between a lack of spaces, blocked off spaces in Lot N from shipping containers and buses and construction, students weren't overly happy with the parking situation at TRU. Matt Eriksson, who was elected to serve on TRUSU’s University Affairs

TRUSU executive director Nathan Lane moderated the budget consultation town hall on March 28. 30 students attended the two-hour event to tell of their experiences with some of TRU's major issues. (Juan Cabrejo/Ω)

Committee in September, went on record to voice his concerns over the Lot N space counter specifically.

“They installed that counter in N lot, people would leave and it wouldn’t go down,” Eriksson said.

“You end up seeing people parking illegally.”

Nicholas Warner, recently elected to TRUSU’s campaigns committee, told of how construction near the Clock Tower affected his girlfriend’s commute to class.

“My girlfriend purchased a reserved spot by the Clock Tower. The construction made her walk to class that much longer,” Warner said. “She feels she was pretty much robbed for paying for that spot. When she talked to anyone at TRU about parking, they said that they couldn’t do anything about it.”

Warner added that if his girlfriend knew that would happen, she would have never spent over $1000 on parking in the first place.

When it came to food service, students weren’t much happier. Many complained of a lack of variety, a lack of vegan options and high prices.

Some students brought up the fact that TRU wastes way too much food in catering events.

“Is there any service that is going to be rolled out regarding food waste at these events?” said vice president external Cole Hickson, who also gave permission to be quoted. “We live in a society where people are hungry, many of those people are students, we need a service or app so that we can accomodate the wasting of food with the hungriness of students.”

As with food service and parking, the entire Lecture Hall was

unanimous in their opinions. While some students said that TRU has an adequate amount of study space, many students believe there is a lack of quiet space where electronic plugins can be found.

TRUSU’s executive director Nathan Lane even admitted that plug-ins have been a concern for the last three years.

“For three years students have said there isn’t enough plug-ins and they are in the wrong spots,” he said.

On academic advising students were once again unanimous, with few admitting that they had had good experiences, with those that did say they had good experiences admitting that their friends weren’t so lucky. Hickson even proposed a “rate my advisor” website similar to the already existing Rate My Professors.

Went it came to the final category of the town hall, course materials, students in attendance made it clear that textbooks at TRU are too expensive. However, many believe the biggest problem lies with underutilized textbooks.

“I have had professors put required texts in the course outline that we never used,” admitted one student.

Despite this, many students thought the idea of Open Textbooks is a great one and needs to be expanded upon.

While the data collection portion of the budget consultation is now finished, TRUSU still has a long way to go. Throughout the next few months, the Students’ Union will work to put student experiences on these issues into reports, which they hope to submit to TRU’s administration this fall.

University of Alberta professor presents findings on oil sands

Environmental Science Seminar Series examines the oil sands' impact on climate change Farrah Johnson CONTRIBUTOR Ω An Environmental Science Seminar Series on the topic of Action on Climate Change and the Oil Sands, was held in the Ken Lepin Building on March 29.

The seminar featured Dr. Andrew Leach, a professor from the University of Alberta, who presented findings based on his studies of the theme.

His research examined the connection between global and domestic climate change policies, anti-oil sands procedures, international monetary declarations and the viability of oil sand investments.

Leach explained that while more attention is paid to the potentially harmful impact oil sands development can render domestically, he found that particular policies that lessen market accessibility are more likely to have a material impact on global oil sands development.

“Stopping tar sands is a choice that we have to make because the oil economy, like Canada’s tar sands destroy the planet, while a

green economy help saves it,” he said.

Leach said that the debate has led to people making bad decisions on both sides.

“I’ve spent two to three years working on a concept known as the carbon bubble which shows the disconnection that exists between the country that participates in resource exploitation and the beliefs around climate change,” he said.

In his presentation, Leach also referenced Mark Caney, the Governor of the Bank of England, and the former Governor of the Bank of Canada, who said: “The final and most important climate change risk channel involves transition risks which could result from the adjustment towards a lower-carbon economy.”

Leach also explored the potential impact domestic and global actions on climate change can have on oil sands assets.

He introduced the four pillars of stranded asset risk in the oil sands, which include global climate change policies and induced technology and market changes, domestic climate

change policy, proxy battles on issues such as market access and global access to capital and the perceived risk of long term oil sands investments.

“The world is still going to use oil, but the question is just how much. The current evidence shows that the world will not act as aggressively on climate change yet, but some measures will be taken,” he explained.

Leach said another growing concern is the technology conversation because the change in technology induced by climate concern and energy policies have the power to shift the entire landscape.

“The world view on oil has changed tremendously because costs keep dropping and projects keep growing. That’s why I asked the oil companies if they are going to be the next coal industry,” he said.

Leach also said that in the wake of growing climate change concerns, big businesses have been placed under a ton of pressure to cooperate.

“I think the challenge for companies, governments and businesses is for them to ask

themselves if they are planning for a world they expect to see or a world they would like to see,” he said.

Leach explained that oil sands are a marginal resource with the potential to be significantly affected by environmental efforts, global actions on climate policy technology and access to capital, which are likely to be the most important risks.

He insists that the problem isn’t necessarily a left versus right issue and explained that while market access and domestic energy policies are important, they are less significant than the global oil market capital.

“There can be a role for oil sands in a world acting on climate change, but we need to assess and mitigate the risks not put our heads in the sand,” he said.

Leach believes that while the oil sands still have a role in today's world, we need to start moving to sustainable energy. (Howls Art Collective/Flickr)

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ARTS

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Shred Kelly shreds their new album Archipelago CONTINUED (COVER) Shred Kelly mastered upbeat guitar riffs, fantastically folky “shredding” on the banjo and enticing lead vocals.

They opened their unbelievable set with a track from Archipelago, “Don’t Ever Look Back,” which warmed the crowd up for what was to come.

The audience continued to rattle the floorboards of the Blue Grotto as Shred Kelly transitioned into Archipelago’s title track.

This intimate show brought you up close and personal with two amazing B.C. based bands worthy of acknowledgment in the Canadian music industry.

Archipelago is Shred Kelly's fourth album after Sing to the Night. The five-member band is currently on tour and will be in Germany next. (Justin Moore/Ω)

B.C. author discusses new book at Arts Colloquium TRU arts faculty member shares thoughts on her book, What is Going to Happen Next Elizabeth Nygren CONTRIBUTOR Ω Karen Hofmann, published author and English faculty member at TRU, discussed and read segments of her new book What is Going to Happen Next, at TRU’s Arts Colloquium Series last Thursday, March 29.

At the reading, Hofmann discussed how the book came to be. She admitted that one of her writing interests is rural British Columbia and said that she had decided on the province as a setting partially because she grew up in rural B.C. “I’m interested in the whole culture,” she said. “You get recluses and renegades and ruffians in

rural B.C., the cowboys if you’d like.”

Hofmann noted that she wanted to write about the culture and those people because it’s what she personally finds interesting. In the question and answer session afterwards, she also added that she writes about B.C. in comparison to other places because it’s what she knows.

“Parts of this book are a little bit borrowed from my experience growing up in rural B.C.,” Hofmann said. “Most of it is stories I’ve gathered from other people in other conversations”.

When discussing the title, Hofmann said that it was originally a “joke working-title” and that she had just been simply calling it What is Going to Happen Next,

Karen Hofmann with her new book What is Going to Happen Next.

(Elizabeth Nygren/The Omega)

but the publisher’s loved it and it just stuck.

The book itself is in the perspectives of Cleo, Mandalay and Cliff, 3 of 5 siblings in the Lund family.

It follows their lives as adults after they have all become separated as children because of a tragic event.

In the novel, they meet again after being apart for so many years and learn about each other once again.

During the reading, Hofmann read 5 different excerpts from her book, each near the beginning to avoid giving away too many spoilers. Hofmann read back and forth through the different perspectives, from Cleo as a young girl to her as a mother and to the different successes and struggles of Mandalay and Cliff.

When Hofmann finished

reading, there was a short question and answer period for the audiences’ inquiries. When asked about the complications of changing perspectives in a novel or short story, Hofmann said that “[as writers] we teach our readers how to read our novel or short story in the first few pages or segments”.

She also noted that writers will establish patterns in their writing so that the reader can realize “this is how the story works, technically”.

Hofmann’s book is available at Chapters in Kamloops and it is the third book she has published thus far. Her first novel, After Alice, was published in 2014. She also had a book of poems published in 2008 titled Water Strider.

Laughter and love end AWT’s 2017-2018 season 11 shows hit the stage in Actors Workshop Theatre’s 19th annual director’s festival Elizabeth Nygren CONTRIBUTOR Ω Every year, TRU’s theatre program showcases the work of the students in the directing class and the talent of both senior and beginner acting students in a week filled with many performances. This year’s festival has 11 different plays being

showcased from April 9-14, with Night A performances on April 9, 11, 13 and Night B performances on Apr il10, 12, 14.

Night A begins with Hannah Allen’s show The True Love Story of My Parents written by Elizabeth Meriwether. When asked why people should come, Allen said that there’s a lot of variety as “you get a taste of eleven different shows if you

Emily Whalen and Grayson Norsworthy star in The Gift. (Submitted)

come both nights”.

Next is Sure Thing directed by Selena Tobin and written by David Ives.

“It’s about a guy who gets to have second chances at his first impression,” Tobin said. “It’s super cheap and you get to expose yourself to a ton of theatre”.

The third show of the evening is directed by Kelsey Launier called Insect Love, written by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa. Launier explained that people should take interest in her comedy simply for its silliness.

“It’s a cooky, kind of corny comedy that is very refreshing and it will leave people feeling content and happy,” Launier said.

Following Launier is Joel Feenstra’s show Perfect Pitch, written by Frederick Stroppel. Feenstra said that his play is a dark yet comedic look at the debate between morality and money and that people should see it to laugh and smile about something serious.

Concluding the Night A performances is Louis and Dave, written

by Norm Foster and directed by Jeff Daniels.

“All the shows are different and really unique and it’s kind of a reflection of the department that we have here,” Daniels said of the festival.

Starting off Night B is Mariana Makulkina’s show The Gift, written

by Simon Fields. Makulkina’s show is the only dramatic play in Director’s Festival.

“It explores topics of being lost, love, death, depression and suicide,” Makulkina said.

The second show of Night B is Your Mother’s Butt, directed by Elizabeth King and written by Alan Ball. This year’s festival is filled with comedies, in which King added that every show this year is quite light-hearted for the most part.

After that is Brittney Martens show Love Always, written by Jim Fagan. Martens show follows the life of two soul mates falling in love with months going by in seconds throughout the play.

The fourth show of the night is Shannon Cooper’s show I do, You die, written by Carrie McCrossen.

“It challenges love and what happens when you fight with the

one you love [and with that] a lot of people will be able to relate to the content,” said Cooper while talking about her show.

Following Cooper’s play is The Rental written by Mark Harvey Levine and directed by Jennelle Young.

When asked to describe her show, Young said “what do you get for a girl who seems to have everything, except a love life? Try and get her a boyfriend.”

The last show of director’s festival 2018 is none other than Ashley Hiibner’s show, Blind Willie and the Talking Dog, written by Shel Silverstein. Hiibner gave 3 distinct reasons why people should come to her play.

“A, because it’s awesome. B, because it’s the only one with musical elements, and C, it’s really really funny,” Hiibner said.

There are many opportunities to catch these shows. Tickets are available at the door or you can pick them up at the AWT box office in Old Main from April 9-13 between 11:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. Tickets are $15 for one night or $20 for two.

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APRIL 4, 2018

ARTS

Ready Player One Review: Cueing up the Hits

Prepare to enter of a world of nostalgia if you go see Ready Player One this weekend Jonathan Malloy FILM CRITIC Ω Steven Spielberg’s newest film is a syphon of popular culture.

A vortex that grabs references from the 80s, 90s and now as if it were a radio DJ attempting to fill two and a half hours with the greatest playlist of all time.

If any creator is apt to take on the challenge of adapting Ernest Cline’s referential novel who better than the man who partly inspired the author’s childhood?

From Back to the Future to King Kong and many highlights in between, the films amalgamation is a sight to behold, bursting at the seams with callbacks and shoutouts to as many (legally obtained) references as possible that, at times, fails to sustain its long runtime with meaningful substance.

The best possible way to approach this film is as giddy spectacle. As with Spielberg’s recent Oscar nominated The Post, he once again holds nothing back when it comes to the pure cinematic craft of camera movement

that is simply astounding. It is here where the source material and adaptation by Zak Penn and Cline himself never truly raises itself to the level of the directors prowess. The fairly paper-thin characters are given worth dependent on their prowess at film trivia and survival horror games without any sense of progression from within.

This dystopian tale follows Wade Watts as he and a growing assortment of in game avatars attempt to find three hidden keys inside the Oasis, a living video game world created by the late James Halliday. Find all of the keys and Halliday’s unimaginable wealth and the rights to the Oasis itself are yours. Tye Sheridan as Watts seems to have fun in the role but unfortunately comes across as bland due in part to his limited world reach outside of the Oasis and his brief interaction with what remains of his family. Thankfully Mark Rylance as Halliday is fairly brilliant in his Brian May looking eccentricity and the on-fire Olivia Cooke carries the breezy feeling of the film with heart

and an infectious smile, even if the writer’s attempts at positive gender associations gets lost in the spectacle.

The 140 minute runtime does make itself felt at points in the film, but these hiccups can be somewhat forgiven by the sheer unadulterated exuberance to be had by the film's set pieces. From a 100 character plus race set in New York City, that features a late game entrance from King Kong, to a final battle that somehow incorporates BattleToads, The Iron Giant and crazy long takes, it's hard not to giggle with excitement. The standout by far is the middle sequence involving a certain haunted manor that will no doubt be lamented for how blasphemous and undeniably amazing it is.

While it is unfortunate that the problems of the book carry over into the film, the propulsion felt from the filmmaking is enough to sit back and enjoy watching these references collide in what will probably be the last time we see Spielberg attempt something this batshit insane.

Simon vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda takes readers back to high school Coming of age novel sure to rekindle your memories of youth and its struggles Morgan Hunter CONTRIBUTOR Ω Simon vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda is a coming of age story that makes readers fall in love with the main character in a way that will take you right back to high school.

The book focuses on Simon, who is coerced into helping an unlikely ally in order to keep his secret conversations with his e-mail pen-pal Blue from getting out. The one thing that separates this book from a lot of others is both its devotion to

grows between Blue and Simon.

Their relationship is awkward, yet somewhat becomes arousing and touching all-in-one, making two individuals with major differences fall for each other through their attempt to understand their sexuality.

The book is broken up into two different writing styles, with half of the book being written in the first person and the other being the emails between Blue and Simon. It also carries a lot of comedy with it that flows with the personality of Simon, who often attempts to be cynical.

It also does raise good points

not censor the main character, leaving him that much more likable.

Everything Simon goes through in this book are likely things that a good portion of readers have felt, though the author makes it a point to give Simon as much personality that she can. The book also somehow makes every one of its side characters both understandable in their motivations, yet it doesn't let these motivations be their only personality traits.

Though, the main positive that will always stand out in this book is the relationship that

on sexuality, yet never deflects the conversation towards anything remotely heavy as a theme. The ending did seem a little less realistic than the book had been up to that point tone wise, however it fits due to the narrative style that is carried throughout the book.

The book is written by Becky Albertalli, who is a clinical psychologist, this is her first novel.

The author treats its readers with respect, never pulling punches towards the material and due to this, it makes the experience of reading it that much more enjoyable.

Tourism students fundraise for Humane Society Students earn credits and experience while fundraising for a local charity Jennifer Will NEWS EDITOR Ω Fundraising for Nonprofits is a class in the tourism management program that is raising money for a local cause, the Kamloops and District Humane Society’s (KDHS) spring Big Fix Spay and Neuter Program.

Vance Fode is a second-year student in the Sport Event Management Program and he is just one of the many students in the Fundraising for Nonprofits class. The class is aimed at helping students get real life experience in fundraising and

developing a digital crowdfunding campaign.

Students picked between five local charities and voted based on the charities mission, values and its effectiveness. KDHS won the popular vote and the students got to work.

“Right now, they needs as much help as they can get because they’re doing their spring spay and neuter, so they need lots of help and lots of money. It’s a really busy time for them, so we just took a vote and that was just what everybody picked for their first choice,” Fode said.

The same class has run in

previous years and in 2016 students in this class raised nearly $2,000 for the Ashes to Dust Mountain Biking Camp for at-risk youth. In in 2017 they raised over $2,500 for Adaptive Sports at Sun Peaks. This year’s class hopes to raise $2,000 for KDHS. “My experience has been really good, it’s a really awesome class and I suggest taking it,” Fode said.

If you’d like to make a donation to the students' campaign for the Kamloops and District Humane Society, you can visit their website www.students-forpets.causevox.com.

Big Fix Spay and Neuter program helps pet owners who could otherwise not afford the surgery to have their pets sterilized. (Jennifer Will/Ω)

WWW.TRUOMEGA.CA

7

SPORTS

WolfPack recognizes its best at Athletic Awards

Annual banquet seeks to reward TRU's best athletes for their committment Alvin Mutandiro SPORTS EDITOR Ω The annual sports banquet has become a tradition at TRU, a tradition that recognizes the excellence of some of the program’s best student athletes.

For one night each year, athletes, coaches and faculty dress formally to honour athletes that have distinguished themselves in the sports arena and in the classroom.

This year the TRU men’s soccer program, which has improved by leaps and bounds, got strong recognition for their performances which led to them winning a bronze medal at nationals.

Mitchell Popadynetz, (fourth year, midfield, Nelson, B.C.), was named the athlete of the year.

Popadynetz was the Canada West player of the year, a Canada West first team all-star, USPORTS first team allstar and an All-star at the USPORTS nationals at Hillside Stadium.

Popadynetz was also the leading goal scorer in Canada West and third overall in USPORTS. Popadynetz was chosen over volleyball player Tim Dobbert, (fourth year, outside hitter, Aichelberg, Germany) and basketball player Luke Morris, (fifth year, forward, Mission, B.C.).

“This award is well deserved and icing on the cake for the season that Mitch has had for our program,” said head coach John Antulov to TRU athletics.

“This season has been a culmination of the work that Mitch has put in the last four years at TRU and it’s great to see him reap the rewards for the time and effort he has put in to become the player that he is today,” added Antulov. “His performance this season helped put TRU men’s soccer on the map and shows that outstanding players will come to Thompson Rivers and excel in USPORTS athletics and potentially the highest levels.”

Rachel Windhorst played two seasons with the WolfPack women's

volleyball team after transferring from St. Mary’s University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, was also named player of the year.

She finished sixth in the Canada West in total kills (327) and eighth in kills per set (3.41).

Windhorst finished in the top 20 in digs (238), good for 2.43 per set while playing in all 24 matches for the WolfPack this season.

“Her willingness to put in the time in the off season and her high level of competition were great additions to our program and she will be missed as we move forward,” stated coach Chad Grimm to TRU athletics.

Runners up were basketball player Michelle Bos (fourth year, forward, Surrey, B.C.) and Marisa Mendonca (third year, midfield, Penticton, B.C.).

Ryan Glanville (fifth year, midfield, Williams Lake, B.C.) and Kendra Finch (third year, outside hitter, North Vancouver, B.C.) both won the Doctor Roger H. Barnsley Scholar Athlete award.

Glanville is a multi-winner of the

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USPORTS Academic All Canadian award.

“Ryan was and is the standard bearer for TRU men’s soccer,” said head coach Antulov to TRU athletics.

“As a three-time all-star and three time Academic All Canadian, he has led the way for our current and future student athletes in men’s soccer to understand what it means to play for our program and what the standard is to achieve,” Antulov told TRU athletics.

“Ryan really helped set the tone three years ago for what we wanted to achieve in this program. We were a new USPORTS team and finding our way, but with his leadership and will to win, it brought the players to the standard that we were looking for as a program that we'll challenge in the upcoming year,” Antulov said.“This award is the pinnacle for Ryan on what he has accomplished and I could not be more pleased that he has completed his fifth year with this award.”

The WolfPack also recognized the Corryn Brown Foursome: Samantha Fisher, Dezaray Hawes, Pincott and

Brown for winning a third USPORTS silver medal earlier this week at nationals.

Popadynetz won athlete of the year at the awards. (TRU Athletics)

Women's curling takes home silver medal at nationals

TRU loses gold medal game at nationals to University of Alberta Pandas for third year in a row Alvin Mutandiro SPORTS EDITOR Ω For the third straight year TRU won a silver medal at the curling national championships.

The WolfPack women’s curling team is arguably the WolfPack program’s most successful team and they continued to prove that by winning a silver medal at the USPORTS nationals.

TRU lost to the University of Alberta Pandas on March 28. TRU has lost to the Pandas for the third straight year after having lost to them in the 2014/15 and 2015/16 seasons.

It seems a rivalry might be brewing between the TRU women’s curling team and the Alberta Pandas.

The WolfPack had the hammer to begin the game and scored one in the second and stole another in the third end to jump out to a 2-0 lead.

University of Alberta scored a deuce in the fourth end to tie things up and then stole in the fifth and sixth ends to move up 4-2.

The ‘Pack added one more in the seventh end to cut the deficit to 4-3 but The Pandas scored another two in the ninth end to take a three-point lead.

The Pandas had a team percentage of 85 in the gold medal match, while TRU curled 81

percent.

The WolfPack foursome consisted of lead Samantha Fisher (who curled 81 percent), second Dezaray Hawes (90 per cent in the final), third Erin Pincott (81 per cent) and skip Brown (71 per cent).

This was the last go-round for Brown and her rink at the University level. Brock University Badgers captured the bronze medal with a 12-2 win over the Mount Allison Mounties.

That game went only six ends.

University of Alberta captured both the men’s and women’s championships and not only captured the USPORTS title, but will also be representing Canada at the World Universidad games next March in Russia.

Three members of the WolfPack were named All-Canadians.

Lead Samantha Fisher was named to the first USPORTS allstar team.

Third Erin Pincott and skip Corryn Brown were named to the second team, USPORTS All-Canadians.

It might not have been the end that the TRU curling team hoped for, but a silver medal at national level is something to be proud of.

Losing to the same team three times in a row must be frustrating, but as the saying goes it’s not about getting knocked down, but rather what you do to get back up.

8

APRIL 4, 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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