September 5, 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 28 · ISSUE 01 · SEPTEMBER 5, 2018

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WORKING WITH WILDLIFE IN AFRICA

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LAW FIRM HOSTS TRU ART EXHIBIT

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NEW SEASON OPTIMISM

TRU and City sign memorandum of understanding Wade Tomko EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Ω TRU and the City of Kamloops have entered into a memorandum of understanding (MOU) that will build on their current relationship and establish a “commitment to ongoing collaboration.”

While only a philosophical agreement between the two parties, the MOU serves to guide both the city and the

university in their efforts to identify and pursue opportunities for collaboration.

“TRU grew with this community. We employ more than 2,100 people, have 15,000 students on campus and another 15,000 who study through Open Learning,” said TRU president Alan Shaver in the release. “Beyond that, we have thousands of alumni who call Kamloops home. It makes sense that we continue to collaborate with the city and region. This MOU says we are dedicated to increasing this collaboration.”

The official signing took place on Thursday, August 23 at the Tournament Capital Centre (TCC). The TCC is perhaps the community’s most visible representation of the relationship between TRU and the City of Kamloops, home to many of TRU’s athletics programs and city offices as well.

See MOU Page 5

While TRU and the city have partnered together on many previous projects, the MOU formalizes that both parties work together for their mutual benefit and the benefit of the region. (TRU)

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SEPTEMBER 5, 2018

NEWS

Nipping legalization in the bud TRU moves to prohibit cannabis on campus ahead of legalization Wade Tomko EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Ω Though cannabis will become legal on October 17, you might not be able to light up on campus. That is of course, if TRU’s passes it’s proposed policy on alcohol, cannabis and tobacco.

While medicinal cannabis will still be allowed on campus, albeit with a physician's prescription and only in areas designated by the university, recreational cannabis will be prohibited. The proposed policy also states that the “promotion, advertising or sale of any cannabis products” is also prohibited.

While this is only a proposed policy and one which likely won’t take effect until right before legalization, according to TRU’s executive communications officer, Darshan Lindsay, the policy itself has been in its consultation period since the end of May. “It has been out there and it is there for people to look at and provide comment. There is a link there where they can send feedback on the proposed

policy. Cannabis is a portion of it,” Lindsay said. “Essentially what the university is doing is merging the previous policies on alcohol and tobacco into one and also including cannabis, recognizing that recreational cannabis will be legal this fall.”

TRU reached out to other universities in Canada before drafting its policy, she said.

Back in March, minutes from TRU’s joint health and safety committee showed a unanimous vote to classify cannabis as an “intoxicant” and oppose the smoking of it on campus. Furthermore, those minutes state that as TRU is “private property”, the university can set its own guidelines.

Joint health and safety committee co-chair and school of trades representative, Pat Barringer, said the banning of the substance is simply a safety concern.

“As far as I’m concerned it is a safety thing. What people do in their own spare in their own time is up to them,” he said. “I can’t have people in here using saws and drills and being under the influence of anything.”

While Barringer sees curtailing the use of cannabis at TRU as primarily a safety issue, he notes that passing the policy and enforcing the ban is completely the responsibility of TRU administration. Even then, he isn’t sure exactly how TRU will enforce the ban.

“If it’s legal, how are you going to punish someone for it? Security doesn’t even talk to smokers who are within 25 feet of a doorway,” he said. “Students, even if they don’t smoke it, will go against the ban as they see it’s an infringement of their rights.”

Despite this TRU is committed to enforcing the ban and taking disciplinary action if necessary once the policy is passed, says Lindsay.

“It is a combination of education about the policies,” she said.

“If it is noted that someone is on campus with recreational cannabis, addressing that, often these policies are complaint driven. If there is a complaint.”

While cannabis is certainly the most significant part of the policy, there have also been changes regarding alcohol and tobacco. Both of which were due

Come October 17, while you may be able to smoke marijuana elsewhere, you probably won't be able to “toke up” on TRU’s campus. (FILE PHOTO) for an update, says Lindsay.

“Alcohol was undergoing a review just to ensure that it was still in alignment with provincial regulations. So there have been some more recent changes in regulations,” she said. “So it was just ensuring that the policy was up to date and so the smoking or tobacco policy was due for a review within the next six months.”

Though the proposed policy states that events may not “promote alcohol as the focus,” a similar clause can be found in

TRU’s current policy on alcohol, says Lindsay.

As well, there is still time to provide feedback on all parts of the policy, Lindsay adds.

“It is a proposed policy at this state, so there is the opportunity to provide some feedback,” she said. “This is proposed, a proposed policy with proposed language.”

You can provide feedback on the proposed policy by sending comments to secretariat@tru.ca before 4:30 p.m. on September 14.

Trinity Western drops controversial covenant After losing legal battle with the Supreme Court, TWU has dropped the mandatory signing of its covenant Wade Tomko EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Ω Last month, Trinity Western University (TWU), a private Christian university in Langley, dropped its mandatory requirement for students to sign a controversial covenant containing a promise to abstain from sex outside of heterosexual marriage.

In June, TWU lost a battle with the Supreme Court, in which the court upheld the right of provincial law societies to reject the graduates of the university’s proposed law school. Law societies in both B.C. and Ontario argued the mandatory covenant discriminated against LGBTQ students.

In their 7-2 decision, the Supreme Court said the limit on religious freedom was minor and that accrediting the school would have threatened the integrity of the Canadian legal system.

Despite this, TWU had previously received preliminary approval from the Federation of Law Societies of Canada to create a law school in 2012.

TWU president Bob Kuhn said the change to university’s covenant, which doesn’t apply to faculty, wasn’t influenced by the law-school controversy. Despite removing its requirement to sign the covenant, Kuhn said that the

university has no plans to pursue opening its law school.

Though TWU still stands behind the religious perspective of its covenant, Kuhn said the university dropped the requirement in the name of inclusivity.

“In furtherance of our desire to maintain TWU as a thriving community of Christian believers that is inclusive of all students wishing to learn from a Christian viewpoint and underlying philosophy, the Community Covenant will no longer be mandatory as of the 2018-19 Academic year with respect to admission of students to, or continuation of students at, the University,” Kuhn said to the university’s board of governors on August 9.

While signing the covenant is no longer mandatory for those wishing to study at Trinity Western, the covenant itself hasn’t been changed. Students who still do want to sign it are asked to agree that they will abstain from “sexual intimacy that violates the sacredness of marriage between a man and a woman.”

Given that the covenant itself hasn’t been changed and that staff and faculty are still required to sign it, LGBTQ organizations across Canada still have concerns.

As well, if TWU wants to revive

its law school proposal, it will now require provincial approval to do so, said B.C.'s Advanced

Education Minister, Melanie Mark. However, even if TWU’s law school is approved, law

societies in B.C. and Ontario are unsure if they would now accept law students from the university.

Looking for work on Campus??

HAVE AN APPROVED student loan or have demonstrated financial need?

Want to Earn $12.65/hr?

Check Out the TRU WorkStudy Program Positions Include:  Research & assist with projects & campus initiatives  Schedule and plan for events and festivals  Sell tickets and usher guests at the Theatre  Act as a student peer resource/tutor

Find these jobs – and over 100 more at the TRU Student Awards & Financial Support Office (Old Main Building) Open to all full-time students currently approved for a government student loan or have demonstrated financial need, the Work Study program provides students with valuable paid work experience.

Applications and eligibility guidelines are available at www.tru.ca/awards/work-study, or visit the TRU Student Awards & Financial Support Office (OM 1629, 250-828-5024).

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OPINION

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

NOW

HIRING FOR SEPTEMBER START

STAFF WRITER As a staff writer for the paper, you’ll take assignments from section editors and pitch your own stories, too. You might explore different beats like science and technology, campus life or city and community news. Currently, there are two positions open.

To apply, send your resumé and samples of your work (published or unpublished, academic work accepted) to editor@truomega.ca.

Positions will be filled as soon as possible. If a position is still posted on this page, applications are still being accepted.

To be eligible for any of the above positions, you must be a student at Thompson Rivers University while you work. Students who will be employed by the TRU Students’ Union during their employment period may not be eligible to work for the newspaper in order to avoid any conflict of interest. Applicants are asked to disclose all potential conflicts of interest.

Re: HOW I STOPPED WORRYING AND LEARNED TO ACCEPT WILDFIRE SEASON I read an editorial by Mel Rothenburger recently that provoked me to write this responsive opinion piece. His view was that the smoke rolling through town in the late summer shouldn't be considered the “new normal”.

Sure, it is rare for consecutive years to better each other in the record books. The wildfires of 2018 just bypassed the damage toll of 2017, after all. As a bornand-raised Kamloopsian though, the fear from watching water bombers fly by all day and night made me aware of what kind of natural disaster lived in my backyard. He acknowledged the problems caused by the smoke's effects but offers no solutions other than focusing on unspecified climate-stabilizing and wildfire control methods. These were statements that made me wish I was back in New Orleans, wellprepped for hurricane season Let me dwell a bit about how I stopped worrying and learned to accept the worst. Four full months passed before my first hurricane experience in 2004.

When it came to leaving my apartment and taking important belongings, blessings-in-disguises kept me safe. The hotel I worked at in the French Quarter housed and feed any employees and their immediate families.

Arriving there with a suitcase with three days worth of clothes, my ukulele and a framed picture of my father was an immense reality check.

In 2005, Hurricane Katrina made history. It was the first time I took a “hurri-cation”. Flying to

Florida, at the urgency of friends, three nights before eighty percent of the city flooded was a life-changing move. Now — my Katrina-caused PTSD kicks in when mixed messages related to the smoke issue makes the news.

The ripple effect of poor leadership is nothing but revealed cons from unprepared liars. The city's mayor called for a mandatory evacuation a day before the storm made landfall, which led to thousands dying unnecessarily. Politicians ignoring the domino effect that climate change will lead to more storms, hence coastlines and levees requiring re-enforcement funding. (New Orleans in 2005 and Houston in 2017 paid the price massively for neglecting the weak barriers.) Text messages and emails directing confused and scared folks to safety became unreliable due to overloaded satellites (a post-Katrina realization I had when trying to reach lost friends). Kamloopsians don't deserve a headache bigger than the one from the irritating haze.

Summer smoke in B.C will connect itself to the River City in one way or another. ANNUALLY! Previously, as a major refuge hub, currently as a reason for canceled events and forever in monuments. Unless your electric scooter doubles as an air-tight bubble, your lung damage is unfixable and/or think wearing autumn-weather attire on Labour Day weekend is O.K. — get creative and make a checklist.

A number of pluses are can grow from these times. Depression specialists will be studying

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the area's summertime cabin fever syndrome. Locals might congregate at D.I.Y. tiki bars, including fake tropical flowers and umbrella drinks. Movie fans can make a marathon out of uplifting stories, such as Forrest Gump and The Wizard of Oz. The unemployed should be hired to do any avoided garage cleaning. Satirical memento-makers of “Burning British Columbia” novelty license plates are in line to profit as well.

Exciting dishes are bound to appear from bored cooks stuck indoors. Playwrights and musicians surely are inspired with phoenix-type stories. Masks-designers' creations could become chic seasonal accessories. K.I.B.T could include Ribfest.

The facts are inhale-able. The EXPERTS aren't sugar-coating the numbers attached to the poor air quality. “Worst than Beijing” is a level which makes me strategically plan my day of how I'm to complete errands on my bicycle.

The PROFESSIONALS send their messages of caution through the media. Hopefully, the public absorbs the words of the PROS and not of MEL. If the man was still active in politics and/or a young person with a threatened future, his optimism could be swallowed with a pebble-sized grain of salt. Instead, I rather take the piece of salt and put it under his nose, wishing for an awakening. *Gabe Salvatore is a former Omega writer who has fucked and been fucked by Mother Nature*

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SEPTEMBER 5, 2018

NEWS

Science professor awarded Industrial Research Chair Lauchlan Fraser awarded Industrial Research Chair in Ecosystem Reclamation worth $2.675 million Wade Tomko EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Ω Since coming to TRU in 2004 as a Canada Research Chair in Community and Ecosystem Ecology, biology professor Lauchlan Fraser’s work has made TRU a recognized leader in ecosystem reclamation.

Last month, Fraser was awarded a Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) Industrial Research Chair (IRC) in Ecosystem Reclamation,

valued at $2.675 million.

“TRU is recognized as a leader in ecosystem reclamation research thanks to the work of Dr. Fraser and his colleagues and students,” said TRU president Alan Shaver in a press release. “This award and the funding that goes with it, will allow Dr. Fraser, in conjunction with students and industry partners, to continue to understand ways in which we can restore our ecosystems.”

Industrial Research Chairs are often awarded with the intention of creating mutually beneficial

Fraser received the IRC in TRU’s horticulture gardens on August 22, 2018.

The grant is one of the largest in TRU’s history. (Wade Tomko/The Omega)

collaborations between universities and private or public sector partners. These prestigious awards aren’t handed out lightly and Fraser’s IRC in Ecosystem Reclamation was three years in the making.

“This is something that started over three years ago, I was finishing up my Canada Research Chair and Tom Dickinson and I were sitting in his office wondering about the next steps,” Fraser said. “This is when the Industrial Research Chair that NSERC offers was a natural fit.”

Fraser had previously landed funding from Genome BC to investigate genomic solutions for ecosystem reclamation following mine closures, as well as an NSERC Discovery Grant to test the effects of productivity, grazing and drought on grassland plant biodiversity.

As such, applying for NSERC’s IRC was a logical next step.

However, the process of getting such a prestigious grant is not without its own challenges. Fraser largely thanks the late vice-president of advancement Chris Seguin for obtaining industry support.

“Chris Seguin just jumped on this, he was my champion. He really pushed for it,” Fraser said.

“He really generated that critical industry support. You can have ideas, but if you don’t have cash to go along with those ideas then you’re not going anywhere.”

With the help of Seguin, Fraser began a period of constant backand-forth talks with industry partners in order to gain support.

“It started with Genome BC, I knew Genome BC had a program that supported charity. It wasn’t well known, but because of my involvement with Genome BC, they came on board first,” Fraser said.

“That really helped, it was like a magnet. The New Afton was next.

Then things started to pick up.”

By the time Fraser received his IRC, TRU had garnered the support of seven other partners, Metro Vancouver, Teck Highland Valley Copper mine, the Real Estate Foundation of BC, Arrow Transportation, Geoscience BC, Kinder Morgan Canada, and the BC Cattlemen’s Association.

Industry and community pledges for Fraser’s IRC totalled $1.8 million, with the federal government contributing an additional $875,000. The grant is one of the largest in TRU’s history.

With this money, Fraser and his team will be able to study ways to

limit the environmental impact of industry. More specifically, the grant will allow TRU to set up a Centre for Ecosystem Reclamation, which will support the development of reclamation technologies, tools and protocols.

Ecosystem reclamation research has already started at the New Afton and Highland Valley Copper mines.

“We have our soil amendment project, several of them,” Fraser said. “One of them is to sample soils across a gradient of time following reclamation at different mine sites. So we extract, take soil samples and do various measurements.”

Though Fraser has a lot of important research ahead of him, he says that perhaps the most critical part of this grant is that it demonstrates that TRU is a true research university.

“The fact that this is a senior NSERC chair that is supported by this university towards a centre for ecosystem reclamation that pulls in UBCO and UNBC, it demonstrates that we do research,” he said.

The grant, which last fives years, will be eligible for renewal at the end of its term.

TRUSU launches new housing registry Saudi Arabian students New housing registry connects landlords ordered to leave Canada with students looking for places to rent following rising tensions Wade Tomko EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Ω Earlier this month TRUSU launched its new independent housing registry service. The service, which is free of charge, is meant to connect landlords with students.

Created by Vancouver web design and development company Forge and Smith, the housing registry also contains a few features that you won’t be able to find on Kijiji or similar listing sites, says Samantha Baker, TRUSU’s vice-president services.

“It gives landlords the opportunity to only talk with students specifically. So it opens the floor to them,” Baker said. “It also lets students see the distance from TRU to the house, which is a great option.”

In addition to letting students see the distance from the university to the rental unit, the registry also shows all the bus routes in the city and the best way to access them. This gives students without a vehicle the opportunity to properly see if their house or apartment of choice is a good fit, says Baker.

Though TRUSU had a housing registry in the past, that service’s programming became old and was eventually shut down by the

company that operated it. That was about three years ago says Cassandra Ring-Hall, TRUSU’s services coordinator.

Despite this, the previous service was incredibly successful and the creation of a new housing registry was only a matter of time. Yet creating a new program and learning from the flaws of the old one isn’t easy, says Baker.

“It takes a long time to create a program that works specifically for students that is effective,” Baker said. “A lot of research from the previous program was used to see what students were searching for. The key searches were price and distance from campus. Knowing those features, we had to research and look into it, which takes time as well.”

In addition to the new service’s updated features, TRUSU has also taken to stringently screening all prospective landlords.

“We screen all our landlords that come through,” Baker said. “Any housing that they want posted on there, it goes through a screening process so that there is more security. That way students aren’t running into scams and other strange people messaging them for those reasons.”

Landlords who wish to post on the registry must first send the

Students’ Union all the information on the unit they wish to rent out. Then, TRUSU conducts research by looking at ads for the property on other sites to confirm it isn’t a scam.

The housing registry also allows students to look for roommates as well, says Baker.

“It is also for roommates too, not just rentals. So room shares with other students, and it gives you the information of the people you might room with,” Baker said. “So if it’s like a 50 year old couple who are looking to share a room with a student, then they know it’s two males and one female and gives them an idea of the dynamics and what they are going into before even emailing them.”

Though the program has only been active for just over a month, it has already seen significant use. According to Baker, the registry has about an average of 18 ads running consistently.

“We’ve had a huge influx, because as soon as somebody posts, they rent it out and then they delete their ad,” she said.

“But when one leaves, another pops up, so we’ve had about 25 ads throughout.”

You can check out TRUSU’s housing registry here: https:// trusu.ca/news/services/trusu-launches-independent-housing-registry/.

Morgan Hunter CONTRIBUTOR Ω Saudi Arabian students have been recalled from Canada due to rising tensions between the two countries after the Canadian government made public statements against the imprisonment of female protestors.

The conflict began when Canadian Foreign Affairs took to Twitter to urge Saudi authorities to release women's rights activists after they were detained back in early August.

The Foreign Ministry of the KSA (Kingdom of Saudi Arabia) responded back, considering the tweet “an attack on the KSA and requires a firm stance to deter who attempts to undermine the sovereignty of the KSA.” The Saudi government then suspended all new trade and investment relations with Canada and expelled the Canadian ambassador, Dennis Horak, as "persona non grata" and gave him 24 hours to leave the country. Saudi Arabia also said it would recall its envoy to Canada temporarily.

The country also announced on August 8 that it would put a halt to its medical programs in Canada and move all Saudi patients receiving care in Canadian hospitals to hospitals in other countries.

Saudi students attending universities around Canada were ordered

to leave Canada by August 31st.

Most notably for TRU, Saudi students studying in Canada on Saudi Arabian scholarships were ordered to relocate to another country or risk losing financial assistance.

Roughly 16,000 students were sponsored by such scholarships at the time of the announcement.

“We anticipate the majority, if not all, that are currently enrolled are impacted by this decision,” said TRU’s executive communications officer, Darshan Lindsay. “[TRU’s goal] is to support them and make their transition home go as smoothly as possible,” Lindsay added.

Lindsay went on to provide the following statement: For the summer term, TRU had 23 students from Saudi Arabia on campus. TRU World staff met with affected students to assist with their transition back home.

While the situation is unfortunate, we have heard from students that they feel very supported by TRU and that their experience here has been good.

TRU World hosted a farewell event for the students in August.

It was an opportunity for them to meet with staff and faculty, to say their goodbyes and for us to wish them well. They were in good spirits.

At this time, the majority of Saudi students have left Kamloops to return home.

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NEWS

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TRU student travels to South Africa to work with cheetahs TRU biology major Brittney Hein given the chance to work with exotic animals through Loop Abroad Wade Tomko EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Ω There likely aren’t too many students here at TRU who can say that they’ve seen a cheetah. There are probably even fewer that can say that they’ve fed one, but Brittney Hein, a first-year biology major in TRU’s science program, is one of them.

Hein, who describes herself as an animal lover, has always been interested in the field of animal health.

As such, volunteering to work with animals is simply something that made sense to her.

“I was really interested in doing a career in medicine and I wasn’t sure if I wanted to do people or animals.

I really love animals, so I decided to go with animals,” she said. “I also find animals more interesting and you get more of a variety, you can do so much and work with so many different kinds of species.”

Earlier this summer, Hein signed

up with study-abroad organization Loop Abroad to travel to South Africa and volunteer at the Feracare Wildlife Centre. There, Hein and a small group of other students cared for cheetahs, as well as other African wildlife.

While Hein’s trip to South Africa is her most recent adventure with this veterinary-focused studyabroad organization, it isn’t her first. Last year Hein travelled to Thailand to work with both elephants at a nature park, as well as dogs at an animal rescue shelter.

“I travelled with them last year as well,” she said. “I went to Thailand with them and volunteered at the animal nature park and the ARK (Animal Rescue Kingdom) dog shelter for two weeks. That was really cool, we got to help with some neuters and spays and help do treatments on the dogs there.”

Hein enjoyed her stay in Thailand so much that after she came back home she immediately followed Loop Abroad on Facebook and kept

Here, Hein is seen feeding a cheetah. Hein says in order to feed the big cats you must walk to them with your arm behind your back. Then you get the cheetah to sit and look away. Finally, you put the bowl down and back away. Hein says it was one of her favourite experiences. (Submitted)

an eye out for future opportunities.

When she saw the opening for a program in South Africa, she knew exactly what she wanted to do.

At the Feracare Wildlife Centre, Hein’s time was split between caring for the animals and lectures on conservation rules, knowledge, animal anatomy, animal behaviour and animal welfare.

Hein and her fellow volunteers also performed enrichment projects on Feracare’s various animals, as well as performing genetic testing on the cheetahs, something the wildlife centre specializes in.

“We got to help with some cheetah genetic testing. Feracare is required to do it yearly because they need to make sure they aren’t taking cheetahs from the wild, it’s their regulations,” Hein said. “They are trying to maintain the cheetah population because farmers kill them off. They are trying to educate the farmers around South Africa that they can call places to rescue cheetahs instead of just killing them.”

While most people would be scared to be around big cats, Hein marked the experience as “surreal.”

“We got to go in the enclosures and feed them. Because they are wild, you have to be careful, you have to hold your arm a certain way or they would attack you,” she said.

“That was a really cool experience.”

Though Feracare specializes in the care and maintenance of South Africa’s cheetah population, they do have other big cats on site. Hein helped with one lion named Halo who was paralyzed after pinching a nerve in her spine.

While cheetahs and lions may seem intimidating, Hein says what she was most afraid of was in fact, poachers.

While Feracare specializes in cheetahs, they are a safe haven for many animals including zebras, giraffes and even ostriches. (Submitted) “It’s kind of scary being around with the lions because there are so many poachers in South Africa,” Hein said. “Kim, who runs Feracare, has bars set up all around her house, she has video surveillance all around her house and the lions are right beside the house because of the poachers.”

While in South Africa, Hein also went on a safari in Kruger National Park, one of her favourite parts of the trip. However, she adds that being able to work with veterinarians who work with African wildlife regularly was highly beneficial to her studies and a learning experience like no other.

Hein is even thinking about travelling with Loop Abroad next year.

“I really enjoyed it and I would

do it again,” she said. “I’m really interested in their Galapagos Island one.”

Unique among study-abroad organizations, Loop Abroad brings students who love animals on adventures to exotic locales to see the world and experience animal care and conservation in a new way. Started by Addam and Jane Stine in 2009, Loop Abroad has since expanded to offer multiple two-week programs and even an entire 14-week veterinary semester abroad.

If you yourself are interested in taking a trip with Loop Abroad or want to learn more about the organization, you can visit them on their site at https://www.loopabroad.com/.

MOU paves the way for future collaboration between TRU and City CONTINUED (COVER) Shaver specifically noted how the TCC has served as an example of how the municipality and the university can work together to strengthen the region around them. Yet the university can also help the city in other ways too, such as research activities.

“When the City built a state-ofthe-art water-treatment facility in 2005, TRU was included as a partner for research and training,” the release reads.

However, commitment to the agreement by both parties is essential to its success, said Kamloops mayor Ken Christian.

The MOU simply formalizes that committee structures, such as the Joint Steering Committee, review initiatives that advance the shared goals of the City,

TRU and the broader Kamloops community.

“The City and TRU have a long history of working together for the benefit of our community,” said Christian in the release.

“This MOU formalizes the relationship and signals our intent to continue to pursue opportunities that support our respective goals and areas of common interest.”

Some of those possible areas of collaboration include educational programming in support of the public, community-focused research, land-use planning for the campus and planning leading to environmental, social, cultural and economic sustainable development.

The newly signed MOU remains in place indefinitely with a review to occur every five years.

TRU president Alan Shaver and Kamloops Mayor Ken Christian signed the MOU at the TCC on August 23. (TRU)

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ARTS

SEPTEMBER 5, 2018

Local law firm hosts TRU Visual Arts exhibit

Chahal Priddle LLP partners with TRU Visual Arts to put students’ work on display Wade Tomko EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Ω If you find yourself downtown between now and October, make sure to drop by the Victoria Street Professional Building, 635 Victoria St. and check out the student art exhibit outside the Chahal Priddle law firm.

Earlier this year, Chahal Priddle LLP partnered with TRU’s Visual Arts

program to make their downtown office building corridor available as an exhibition space.

Though this exhibit and partnership between TRU and a Kamloops business is the first of its kind, Chahal Priddle is no stranger in supporting the university. Since 2016, the firm has been a sponsor of TRU’s WolfPack.

“Hardeep [Chahal] is really into sports and I’m really into art,” said

Chahal Priddle's office and the exhibit is on Victoria St. (Wade Tomko/Ω)

firm partner Kerri Priddle. “My office has many original paintings in here, they are all my father's. I’ve always grown up with contemporary art in my own home. So this is important to me and I wanted to support the arts in town.”

Priddle, who has been an art aficionado for most of her life, has been to many events in town put on by the Kamloops Art Gallery and the Kamloops Art Council. However, she admitted that she hadn’t been seeing enough up-and-coming art from new artists. This inspired her to push for a student exhibit outside her firm’s office.

“Everyone has heard the expression starving artists and I wanted to provide more support to artists,” she said.

Priddle originally pitched the idea for an art exhibit to the late vice-president of advancement Chris Seguin at the 2015 Mayor’s Gala for the Arts.

Unfortunately, Seguin passed away before anything could come of it.

However, Priddle was in attendance at this year’s Mayor’s Gala for

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"Rock Tree Sky” by Elizabeth Sigalet, is a favourite of Priddle’s. (Wade Tomko/Ω) the Arts back in January. There she made contact with the TRU Foundation and by the following Monday was put in contact with TRU’s Visual Arts department.

“Diana Major helped facilitate it, she was a huge part of it,” Priddle said. “Then they came and made it real. They put together a task force and made it happen.”

With help from family and friends, the area outside the law office was transformed into space more fitting for an art exhibit.

“We wanted the space to be more conducive for this sort of thing,” Priddle said. “My husband Jason came in, painted the wall and put in new lighting. We put in specially designed lights to accent the art and Dr. Jeevyn Chahal's husband, Evan, also put a planter in the solarium to add to the effect.”

The art exhibit also doubles as a contest. The public has a chance to vote on which piece is their favourite, with the winner receiving a $2,000 bursary sponsored by the law firm.

The winner of the “Chahal Priddle Arts Prize” will be announced at a black-tie fundraising event held later this October.

“They offered a new partnership where they are generously donating a $2,000 scholarship to the winner of this voting contest on the artwork,” says Erin Jensen, an event coordinator with the TRU Foundation.

In addition to this, students will have the chance to auction off their

work at the associated black-tie event.

They will receive 50 per cent of the profit from the auction, with the other half going to an endowment scholarship program award for TRU Visual Arts. However, students aren’t required to sell their art, they can keep it if they want.

To Priddle, allowing the public to come in and view art at no cost is perhaps the most important part of hosting this exhibit. She adds that it is an excellent opportunity to view and possibly own an original piece of art.

“People feel really intimidated if you are a member of the public and aren’t particularly involved in art,” she said. “But being able to come here, there is no membership. It takes away the exclusivity of art and allows you to just appreciate it.”

When asked about future partnerships between the university and businesses in town, Jensen said that this is only the beginning, as this exhibit and the associated event serve as a platform to build other successful partnerships.

“This is just a great platform for events like this or similar to this to really build success upon,” she said.

“We are hoping to make this particular one an annual event, so new students every year have a chance to showcase their particular works of art.”

You can vote for your favourite piece at https://tru.ca/vote4art. html?PageMode=HTML.

While many of the pieces in the exhibit are paintings, there are a few obscure works of art like "Building Blocks" by Josh Allan. (Wade Tomko/Ω)

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7

SPORTS

High hopes for 'Pack Cross country teams looking women's soccer team

to grow in upcoming season

Head coach Carmin Mazzotta talks about the new season and expected challenges Alvin Mutandiro SPORTS EDITOR Ω The ‘Pack's cross country teams have had a good summer of recruitment for the upcoming season.

Over the summer the WolfPack cross country team has recruited strongly to the women’s roster and head coach Carmin Mazzotta is looking forward to what will be a rebuilding season for the men.

“I’m really excited for the women’s team. Not only have we recruited several women, we have a mix, we have some women who are coming out of high school who are strong runners, coming out of the trail running scene,” Mazzotta said.

“We have women going back to competitive running after a few years of coaching and we have an athlete who was an assistant coach of the Edmonton Golden Bears, who are an established program,” he added.

Mazzotta also mentioned the fact that the team had female athletes who struggled with

injuries last year and were not able to compete much, but who are healthy now and eager to run.

“Our women’s side could be the strongest it has ever been,” he concluded.

Mazzotta is very curious to see how his women’s roster will stack up against rivals UBC Okanagan, who recently joined Canada West.

Mazzotta also made it clear that a lot of the team’s goals for the upcoming season were about developing leadership and the potential for future successes for the program.

“For the women’s side, it is about seeing what we can do in terms of building cohesion as a team and new leadership,” Mazzotta said.

For the men’s team, Mazzotta explained that this year will be a rebuilding year.

“You lose five guys in any program, let alone an emerging program like ours, it becomes a rebuilding year,” he concluded.

Mazzotta also spoke on the loss of Conlan Sprickerhoff, former men’s team captain, who had been with the team for four years.

“Losing Conlan is really tough,

look at the number of awards he won with the WolfPack over the years, he is really irreplaceable. It’s a matter of nurturing and fostering that leadership in an emerging athlete now,” Mazzotta said.

Despite this, he stated his excitement at developing young talent and leadership on the men’s roster as well.

Mazzotta also talked about how the poor air quality Kamloops had affected athletes over the summer.

“I think it’s always tough for B.C. athletes in conditions like this summer, especially in the Interior, it is tough to train,” he said.

He revealed that there will be several new coaches coming in to help as well. All of them have lots of experience competing in tough cross-country races.

Mazzotta also mentioned that TRU will be developing a strong strength and conditioning program that will help the ‘Pack athletes immensely.

However, he will be taking a brief hiatus from the team due to personal reasons, but he is very confident things will run smoothly.

Alvin Mutandiro SPORTS EDITOR Ω The WolfPack women’s soccer team will be looking to make a big impact in the new season and head coach Kelly Shantz has high hopes for his players.

The team won all their games during the pre-season, despite the fact the games were not against top opposition. This will help the ‘Pack develop a positive atmosphere in the camp.

Coach Shantz, like always, is very optimistic going into the new season and he is very excited to see how his new recruit’s turnout.

“Pre-season is like Christmas, you unwrap the presents and the things you ordered and you hope that they came out well,” Shantz said. “I’m super happy with our pre-season.”

Shantz acknowledged that the poor air quality didn’t help his team’s preparations for the upcoming season, but he jokingly felt better about the situation because most teams in the league were affected too.

The one thing that is noticeable with this team is that there is less experience. On one hand, it’s positive because it means scars from past failures won’t play a role in the team's psychology, but

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on the other the hand it could be problematic when the going gets tough.

“My goal is to set the bar higher and train them to work together,” Shantz said.

Shantz himself acknowledged a lack of experience in the team.

“No question. We are missing that experience factor,” he said. “I have no fifth-year players, but two fourth-year captains, Marissa and Natalie. Both are good captains and are doing a great job of leading.”

Despite the lack of experience, Shantz spoke highly of his team’s character.

“The character of the people here is good. A lot of the second-years are still young, but they learned from us last year and are stepping up and becoming leaders at a very young age,” he said.

Shantz further explained that age doesn’t define leadership and that the program is developing a strong team culture that will help the players cope in tough circumstances.

With a positive pre-season behind the team and lots of new faces, there are lots of positives to look forward to going into the new season.

The WolfPack community and fans are optimistic and hopeful that this year they will get to see their girls in the playoffs.

8

SEPTEMBER 5, 2018

THE OMEGA

BACK-TO-SCHOOL EVENTS 2018 visit trusu.ca/events for details!

Back-to-School

BBQ

Live music, FREE food giveaways, and more!

Sept 7th 10AM-3PM

Outside Old Main September 12th 11:30AM - 3:00PM

Outdoor

Sept 13th at 12:30PM Outside Old Main

NIGHTS

Sept 20th 4PM – 11PM in the Campus Commons

Diamond Sponsors

Gold Sponsors

Silver Sponsors Banking Partner

Sustainability Partner

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TRU Study Abroad Shaw Cable Interior Savings Credit Union Scotia Bank Kipp-Mallery Pharmacy

/TRUStudentsUnion

@TRUSU15

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