April 3, 2019

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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 25 · APRIL 3, 2019

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TRU HOSTS NOURISH 2019

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CONNECTING LIFE'S ORIGINS AND SPACE

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DIRECTOR'S FESTIVAL STARTS NEXT WEEK

Modern Marketing Association hosts third annual Business Gala Juan Cabrejo BUSINESS EDITOR Ω The TRU Modern Marketing Association held the third annual Business Gala last Friday, providing an opportunity for students to converse with local business professionals in a formal setting. Levi Dunn, co-president of the club, hoped to allow networking to foster between the two communities.

“We think it’s really important to bring the students to the community and the community to the students, so we spent quite a bit of time going and meeting business owners in town and getting to know them,” he said.

“There’s much work behind finding out how we can make them [business owners] benefit from what we’re doing, so it’s really about finding what everybody wants and how we can deliver that to make everybody come together and enjoy this event.”

In addition to providing a networking opportunity, the event was also raising funds (through 50/50 raffle tickets and a silent auction) towards a digital studio on campus.

The event included virtual reality sets and a photo booth, painting a picture of what the studio could entail if made a reality. Tatiana Gilbert, co-founder of the association, shared the group’s vision for the creative space.

See BUSINESS GALA Page 3

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Modern Marketing Association co-presidents Levi Dunn and Tatiana Gilbert hope that they made it possible for students and local professionals to network and converse at the gala. (Juan Cabrejo/Ω)

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APRIL 3, 2019

NEWS

The Kamloops Food Policy Council brings Nourish 2019 to TRU

The session featured panel discussions which tackled the root causes of food insecurity in the province Farrah Johnson CONTRIBUTOR Ω Nourish Kamloops hosted a day-long session which addressed the strong link between food insecurity and factors such as poverty and decolonization in the Mountain Room of the Campus Activity Center on March 29.

The session facilitated interactive dialogue among community members and featured two-panel discussions on the topics: Indigenous food sovereignty and household food insecurity and poverty as one of the root causes of household food insecurity.

Cynthia Travers, a local Indigenous advocate, discussed the implications of food insecurity from her own lived experience.

“Food security was off the

table,” she said. “I didn't even know what that meant. It wasn't until I was in my 40s that I actually found out that we were raised on welfare food banks.”

Travers added that food security is not a reality for “homefree” people —a term she used to characterize the homeless, because people in that position need housing and security before they could ever address their food issues.

“For me to say I have food security means I need to go back to the land and I'm growing it myself,” she added.

Travers also explained that food security is difficult for many to obtain without support.

“With the loss of JUMP (a volunteer not-for-profit organization on the North Shore) and our food share from JUMP and the farmer’s market, about 80

per cent of my food is now gone,” she said.

Adding to those sentiments, Melanie Kurrein, the provincial manager for food security at the BC Centre for Disease Control, stated that everybody should have the right to food.

Kurrein insisted that everybody should have the income they need to access “whatever food they need, in a way that works for them and supports their needs and culture.”

“Whether it's to buy seeds for your garden, whether it’s to buy the things that you need to go and hunt or fish in your traditional lands (or) whether it’s to go to a grocery store because that’s your choice,” she added.

The panel also featured Trish Garner, the community organizer of the BC Poverty Reduction Coalition, who said that food

BC Transit reaches out to public for improvements Cailyn Mocci ARTS EDITOR Ω BC Transit opened their ears to the general public on Wednesday in a two-part open conversation of improvements currently in the works, as well as those community members would like to see. City of Kamloops city planner Cheryl Fraser as well as BC Transit city planner Bronson Bullivant were present to answer any questions regarding public transit in the community.

BC Transit and the City of Kamloops have been continuing to work on the 2012 Transit Future Action Plan (TFAP). The TFAP focuses on the visions and improvements the community would like to see in the region.

The goal of the current TFAP is to contribute to a more environmentally sustainable Kamloops, integrate with other transportation modes and make transit in Kamloops more attractive compared to private vehicles.

The Sustainable Kamloops Plan, adopted by Kamloops City Council in 2010, sets a target to increase transit ridership by 50 per cent

(from 2008 levels) by 2020.

“We do recognize that it can be an issue, especially for some less-utilized routes like the #17. A lot of these routes that don’t necessarily get as much attention as the bigger ones like the #1, the #7 and the #9,” said Bullivant. “That’s something that we recognize and are giving the people the opportunity to speak up if something is really bothering them.”

Kamloops currently is not functioning as a Frequent Transit Network (FTN) used by medium to high-density communities. These trips are meant to be reliable and frequent (15 minutes or less and often running between 7 a.m. to 11 p.m.), which on many of the less common routes is not the case. Due to the population of the Kamloops and the ridership, increasing the frequency of these trips is a major priority for the current TFAP. One of the goals of the Sustainable Kamloops Plan is to reduce automobile usage in Kamloops, particularly single-occupant vehicles, by increasing the use of alternate modes of travel and integrating land use and transportation planning.

BC Transit and the City of

Kamloops have been working with TRU and local high schools to create a schedule that easily incorporates the start and end times of classes.

“A lot of the time these trips are not only aligned with the university but also the secondary schools, and their bell times change quite often, so we have to make sure we’re hitting those while also staying on-time for university,” said Bullivant. “We do our best, we work with TRU quite a bit to make sure we’re hitting those main times.”

Among the proposed improvement include tailoring routes to fit where the population has settled, making trips as direct as possible by reducing the number of deviations in transit routes. This would include introducing a separate route through Battle St. and keeping the #7 strictly through Bestwick Dr. to keep wait times short and frequent.

All plans made in the TFAP are staggered in short-term, medium-term and long-term duration to maximize the effectiveness of the improvements. Some improvements could be actualized in as little as five years. For more information on the current TFAP go to letstalk. kamloops.ca/transitaction.

The Sustainable Kamloops Action Plan looks to increase transit ridership by 50 per cent by 2020. (Christian Varty/Ω)

insecurity must be addressed collaboratively.

“We need to take care of all of us in the community in a very broad sense of community,” she said. “It means that we need to work very hard to get over this divide between ‘them versus us’ that is set up both on an individual level, on a neighbourhood level but also on a structural systemic level through our policies and practices.”

Garner emphasized that in order to combat food insecurity, the underlying causes of the issue must be addressed at the root.

She shared that there are currently 487,000 people struggling, including children and single adults.

“You see it most visibly in the homeless population in our communities on an increasing level,”

she said. “These are really the tip of the iceberg measurements of the issue, it’s very deep.”

Getting to the root of the issue, Travers said the best way to address food insecurity is to educate the younger generations.

“To fix the bridge plain and simple, you start when they’re born,” she said. “They need the support and they need the help. It must be ingrained in the school system, it must be ingrained in every part of our being that we must help our children first,” she stated.

The 2019 Nourish Program is an opportunity for participants to learn about existing initiatives as well as ways they can contribute to the national vision aimed at addressing the root causes of household food insecurity.

TRU undergrads show off their hardwork at 14th annual conference 14th annual Undergraduate Research and Innovation Conference a good opportunity to showcase knowledge Cailyn Mocci ARTS EDITOR Ω TRU undergraduate students showed off all their hard work and research over the past year in the annual Undergraduate Research and Innovation Conference. This two-day event was chalked full of a wide array of topics.

The 14th annual event is an opportunity for students no matter their program, department or area of study to showcase and share the knowledge they’ve gained over the past academic year.

Among the nervous and excited faces were students from programs such as Tourism Management, English and Modern Language, Biological Sciences and Interdisciplinary Studies, to name a few.

Fauve Garson-Stewart, a student of tourism management kicked off the lecture portion of the conference on Saturday morning with a dive into responsible tourism and natural events that draw tourists in droves.

“While tourism has numerous positive impacts, it is also capable of damaging communities and environments irreversibly. This is particularly prevalent in the context of natural events, which are often extremely fragile by nature,” said Garson-Stewart about the abstract of her research.

Through her research,

Garson-Stewart focused on the 2018 Salmon Run at Adams River in the Shuswap. By surveying just over 400 adult salmon run participates and wildlife specialists, she was able to collect personal accounts of these tourists and their efforts, or lack thereof, towards responsible tourism.

“I started looking into the salmon habitat, realizing that pollution, farming and unfortunately tourism is a huge stressor to their environment,” said Garson-Stewart.

Heidi Nolin, a biological sciences student, presented a reading called Mingling with Nature. Nolin beautifully played with the poetic and technical terms while describing the beauty and human-need for nature.

English and Modern Languages student Reagan Wilkinson presented her essay, White Women: The Unseen Agents of White Supremacy, that dove deep into the leaders of the KKK. Students of lecturer Blair McDonald’s communication class, Role of the Critic in the Digital Age, presented a panel of a variety of leading critics, writers and experts within the fields of art, music and popular culture.

The 14th annual Undergraduate Research and Innovation Conference successfully brought together the new research and ideas from those that will be creating the future.

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EDITOR-IN-CHIEF As the editor-in-chief of The Omega you'll be responsible for managing the newspaper's print, online and social media components. You will serve as the executive director of the CSNS Publishing board. The position of editor-in-chief is also the only salaried employee of the organization.

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Business Gala a formal opportunity for students to network with professionals CONTINUED (COVER) “There is no hub or space on campus where students can come together and create, and that is what we’re trying to fundraise for in this event today; we would like to see a digital studio created on campus,” Gilbert said. “When that will happen, we don’t know, but we would like to get it started and get that ball rolling so we can all be as students, authors in our own education through creativity.”

Dunn adds that most of the proceeds will go towards the studio and some of it will be saved for next year’s gala.

“Most of the proceeds will be going to the digital space, we're going to retain a small amount for next year because this is such an expensive event and it took us quite a long time to get all of our sponsors this year,” he said.

The evening also featured guest speakers including global search engine optimization (SEO) expert Chris Raulf and TRU marketing professor Julio Viskovich to share their professional development and what they’ve acquired along the way. Viskovich was one of the early employees of Hootsuite who initially brought up the social media managing platform to where it is today. Through his time working for the start-up as a sales and global social media trainer, he was contacted by major corporations to implement social media strategies for them.

“I then got a chance to work with IBM, Microsoft, Oracle, SAP, with all of the major companies on how they should implement social media into their everyday working schedule,” he said. “As a result of that, by the age 32, I was named by

Forbes magazine as one of the top 30 social sales influencers.”

With a new pool of students arriving every year, it can be a challenge to manage a new group of team members. Levi Dunn adds how the club is always open to new students who want to be actively involved.

“We are always open to having new people, they kind of self-decide if they want to be involved or not. We invite anybody who's interested into our weekly meetings and some people are a little bit scared of the idea, it seems like too much or they are just not into it and leave,” he said. “Some people's eyes widen and say, ‘No way that’s amazing, how can I be a part of it,’ those usually stick around, so it’s just a matter of finding people who are interested in it and want to be involved.”

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

Interviews by the publishing board will be conducted at the end of the semester. 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.

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TRU Marketing professor Julio Viskovich described his time working for Hootsuite. (Juan Cabrejo/The Omega)

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APRIL 3, 2019

NEWS

The science behind the origin of life Lastest Films for Change and humanity's future in the stars brings New Zealand's Juan Cabrejo BUSINESS EDITOR Ω As part of the Science Seminar Series, University of California Santa Cruz Biota Institute associate researcher Bruce Damer was invited to speak last Thursday on his research exploring the origin the life and its direct parallels with applications for life in space. Growing up in Kamloops, Damer’s passion for biology was fostered through Kamloops’ ecosystems and landscapes in addition to his curiosity for astronomy.

“There’s so much vision in Kamloops and for me when our family moved here in 1968, we went from a suburban Victoria-lifestyle to suddenly these open skies and trees and sagebrush hills,” he said. “It was a really big moment for me because then I walked for five miles in any direction and see nature and different ecosystems, that’s where my passion for biology and life started.”

Damer began his undergraduate studies at TRU (Caribou College at the time) in 1980 and would give presentations on his conceptions of what life in space could entail.

He completed his BSc in computer science at the University of Victoria and further pursued a master’s in electrical engineering and Ph.D. In August of 2016, Damer and his fellow UCSC colleague David Deamer conducted fieldwork at the hydrothermal fields of Bumpass Hell, California, to conceptualize a model for the origin of life and publish the Terrestrial Origin of Life Hypothesis. Their research consisted of identifying the conditions necessary to synthesize

monomers into polymers, the fundamental building blocks of life and determining the requirements for a protocell (an RNA replicase and fatty acid membrane) to reproduce and grow into a living organism.

Hypothetically, if this recipe for polymerization and encapsulation could be perfectly replicated, life could exist on any planet in the universe. However, on top of the ideal conditions for life to proliferate, combinatorial genetics plays a significant factor in determining success.

Given Damer’s background in computer science, his Ph.D. thesis was on using computers to simulate emergent lifelike phenomena.

Damer compares the combinatorial mechanisms to a roulette wheel, how the chemical compounds are like the balls spinning around.

“You could make the polymers of life in a natural setting and you could get them inside the little protocells, you set off a natural roulette wheel that has all the little balls rolling around on it, landing on the green thing or wherever they’re supposed to land for you to win something,” he said.

Connecting his biological research to space applications, from 1999 to 2009, Damer’s company, DigitalSpace Corporation, was contracted by NASA to build an open-source 3D modelling platform for simulating space missions. Recently he has completed a 30-year effort with the help of astronomy and aeronautics colleagues to design a viable concept spacecraft known as SHEPHERD, a fabric-structured vessel capable of harvest resources from asteroids by encapsulating them. He elaborates

the SHEPHERD concept further in his TEDx talk, saying it may be the key to open civilization into the solar system.

permaculture to town

The 85-minute film allowed people to think critically about their local sustainability efforts Justin Moore STAFF WRITER Ω

Growing up in Kamloops, Bruce Damer’s passion for biology was fostered by local ecosystems and landscapes. (Juan Cabrejo/Ω)

Around the world, there have been instances where individuals, families and businesses large and small have changed the way they think about their daily routines. Specifically, of the impending danger around climate change and our impact on a heating, resource-depleting Earth.

On the island of New Zealand, filmmakers Jordan Osmond and Antoinette Wilson got to work documenting the lives of such people making that change, from starting up a community-wide composting program to initiating and integrating permaculture approaches to their lives.

Which is what caught the attention of Permaculture Kamloops, leading them to host the film at TRU's Films for Change in the Clocktower last week.

The 85-minute documentary bounces around New Zealand interviewing many different groups of people like Tom and Sarah Nicholson, a couple that lives in a farmhouse not bigger than a living room with their young

daughter. When Tom doesn't work as a General Practitioner, the Nicholsons tend to their organics farm to pay for their accommodations.

Another memorable segment of the film was the tracking shots from inside Robert and Robyn Guyton's forest garden, home to numerous native plants and animals contributing to the greater circle of life inside of the permaculture habitat.

At the end of the film, participants of the TRU screening were asked to provide questions and comments to a lineup of guests brought in by Permaculture Kamloops that lead their own sustainable and permaculture focused lives.

Conversations were brought up around our provincial recycling programs, local zero-waste stores, sustainable farming and other permaculture initiatives around Kamloops.

In addition, Kamloops participants were asked to share what they were doing, big or small to live a more sustainable life.

While many shared their ideas and habits, others took note and took ideas from the film to share with the group.

Collaboration and polite conversation: a fine arts grad exhibition Four graduating fine arts students bring a collaboration twist to the fine arts grad exhibition Elizabeth Nygren NEWS EDITOR Ω For this year’s fine arts grad exhibition, the four students graduating each have their own pieces in the exhibit, but also have collaborated with one another. As far as the students know, this is the first time a collaboration has been done for the

graduating fine arts exhibition.

The students also have a collaborative show coming out in the fall.

“I just feel like every piece that I did with someone else was better than the piece I created in the first place,” said Deb Fong, one of the graduating students.

This is also a smaller graduating class than usual as well. Usually, the graduating class is around 10

students, so four is unusually small.

The small class contributed to the title, A Polite Conversation, which came about as all the students were very polite when critiquing each other's artwork.

Fong’s work in the exhibit focuses on still life. Fong says her pieces are “very large boxes with dioramas in them.”

“The dioramas are based on famous

Fine Arts grads Deb Fong (left), Kazia Poore (right) showcase their collaborative piece. (Elizabeth Nygren/The Omega)

still life paintings. I will also have some two-dimensional paintings,” she added.

“I’m very interested in still life,” Fong said on why she chose the work.

“It’s a genre of artistic endeavour that’s often seen as a lesser genre, [but] it really excites me.”

Once Fong finishes with the fine arts program, she hopes to do an artist residency in Spain.

Josh Allan, a fine arts graduate, has focused on creating a comic book that will be on display during the exhibition.

“It’s my first full-length book that I’ve ever made so this year has been a bit of a learning process for me,” he said. “I thought this would be a great time to experiment.”

When Allan graduates, he will hopefully self-publish his own comics on Vancouver Island.

Another graduate, Kazia Poore, has been working with film and has created large prints in her works, all focusing on hands.

“I’m developing photographs from 35mm negatives to 42 inches by 64 inches,” Poore said.

Poore has a strong love for film and created these pieces specifically for the show. Poore said the idea “kind of crept up on me around this time last year.” Poore thought about “the

concept of touch and what is a portrait,” when deciding on this exploration of art. Once Poore graduates she will continue working and creating art in the Kamloops community.

The last fine arts student, Elizabeth Sigalet, says her body of work is called transmission lines and she’s working in digital photography.

“I am using digital manipulation to give a different perspective of transmission lines,” she said.

Sigalet’s background in engineering has lent a hand in her process of creating her transmission lines works.

Sigalet added that she wasn’t entirely sure what she was going to do coming into this year.

“The transmission lines started from the idea of seeing the red and white marker balls hanging along the valley [and] thinking they’re quite beautiful,” she said.

After ending the program, Sigalet will spend some time working with the Kamloops Printmakers Society and continue creating photographic works.

A Polite Conversation opens Thursday, April 18 and will have art pieces in the art gallery, the fourth-year studio, the painting studio and the fine arts hallway in Old Main. There will be a reception at 7 p.m. free to everyone.

The exhibition runs until May 3.

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ARTS

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Every DC movie ranked: what to watch before Shazam Wondering what to watch before Shazam comes to theatres, check out our list below Morgan Hunter CONTRIBUTOR Ω With Shazam coming out this week, it was time to catch up on the DC Extended Universe (DCEU). But with so many films that are objectively terrible, some films should be skipped before seeing the man-child-god in theatres. Here is every DCEU film ranked from skippable to must-watch. #6: Batman V. Superman: Dawn of Justice A movie where Batman fights Superman that’s based on one of the best comics of all time should be good. It's literally built in, yet this movie is so boring that it's incredible how bad it is. With such bad writing, such as the now infamous “Martha” scene to the ugly looking Doomsday to Jesse Eisenberg making viewers cringe every time he opens his mouth, this movie fails at every turn. Stay clear of this picture, it doesn’t hold any details that

become important so it should die where it stands. #5: Suicide Squad Suicide Squad is stupid-type fun. It’s badly written (with some great lines such as "This is Katana, her sword traps the souls of its victims," to "What are we, some kind of suicide squad?"), poorly edited and downright weird at times. It's saving graces are the comedic values of the cast who are trying their best.

It’s a fun ride but like Batman V. Superman, it can be skipped. #4: Justice League Justice League is moderately fun. It is a recommended watch just due to its plot, and the Flash is a treat of a character to watch, but nothing more than that. The plot is basic, the villain is weak, the interactions are awkward to watch (with most people not wanting to be there), etc. The story of how this film was made is far more interesting than the movie itself, but in the end, it is worth a watch.

#3: Aquaman This show was recently in theatres and it was entertaining.

Jason Mamoa tried so hard with this character and you could see the love he had for this film. And honestly, it's pretty good for a fun action flick. The only problem is that it tries to fit several stories into a two and a half hour run time and it becomes too much too fast. A regular viewer will be exhausted 30 minutes in, and it just goes on from there with so much exposition that it drags the film down to the depths of the ocean it's trying to portray.

It’s not needed for any tie-ins, but the passion for this adventure can be felt and that alone deserves the time of day. #2: Man of Steel The film that started it all, Man of Steel is good for what it is. It holds a good amount of plotholes, but for an origin story for one of the most powerful characters ever created, it's damn good at showing a defining Superman. To get into this

universe, it’s almost required to start here. The acting is top notch from everyone involved and it's enjoyable for people who aren’t comic book fans. #1: Wonder Woman This film is the definitive film for the DCEU thus far, with it being the only film in this series that holds a great plot and a great main character at the same time. Wonder Woman is

so charismatic and compelling that it holds the film up further than any other film in this cinematic universe. The theme alone is worth viewing, holding such a powerful message that describes the issue of a black and white perspective of evil and the dangers that it brings. Wonder Woman is fantastic and gives DC’s heroes a worthwhile chance of making an impact on film and for that, it’s a must watch.

Catch the DCEU's latest, Shazam, in theatres across Canada on April 4.

Madison Olds debuts her new album Former TRU student and Kamloops local releases Blue Tristan Semeniuk CONTRIBUTOR Ω A talented singer/songwriter here in Kamloops, Madison Olds writes and performs a mix of pop, folk and adult contemporary music. She has been making a name for herself as an individual on the national music front and has really taken off in her music career. On February 22, she released her first album titled Blue, and by February 28 she was one of the top 10 finalists for her hit song Thank You, in the Canada-wide 2019 CBC Searchlight competition.

Her and her band, Bees and the Bare Bones, won the national Chevy Tailgate Find the Next Local Legend competition back in 2016, which took them to Nashville to record their original song Fool. Her band consisted of two other members, Abby Wale and Chloé Beauchamp.

After a couple of years playing together, the trio disbanded to pursue their own goals. Playing together in her band is where her music career really started.

As an independent artist now, she has played quite a few local gigs around the city. This includes Match Eatery, Privato Winery and Chances Barside Grill. She also played at the Back-to-School BBQ on campus last year and has opened for a few other singers, one of them being Scott Helman at his sold-out concert a couple of weeks ago at the Blue Grotto downtown.

The 21-year old singer has been playing music since she

was four years old but started taking it seriously about seven years ago.

“I started playing music when I was four, but really took off seriously when I was fifteen. So about seven years! My parents inspired me to start writing music actually,” she said. “They are both musicians and singers, and they have always been super supportive of me to chase my dreams. Growing up I felt like I had something to say, and the only way to do that was through lyrics.”

The title of her debut album Blue means a lot to her and is personal.

“Blue was titled after my first

guitar, which was also blue,” she said. “I thought because this was my first album and this last year was a lot of firsts for me, it felt fitting.”

On the topic of her music resonating with students at TRU, she says that because she often writes on real-life experiences, “the majority of students will be able to relate.”

Her next live show will be this Saturday, March 30 at Chances Barside Grill and Lounge at 7 p.m. After that, she will have a couple live events in Kelowna the weekend after at Match Eatery that will both start at 8 p.m., one on Friday night and the other on Saturday night.

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APRIL 3, 2019

ARTS

Five students explore their passions at the AWT The 20th annual Director’s Festival showcases the work of five directing students and many acting students Elizabeth Nygren CONTRIBUTOR Ω Next week, starting April 10, many students of the theatre department at TRU will showcase their directorial, acting and technical skills. For many of the directing students, this marks the beginning of their next journey after exploring aspects of their education in theatre.

The first of the directing students is Zack Fernstrom. After Director’s Festival, Zack will hopefully be attending TRU once again as a Bachelor of Education student.

“It signifies the end of an era,” Fernstrom said of the Director’s Festival. “It’s very special that way.”

Fernstrom’s show is called Throws of Love by Amy Staats, which follows the story of three thirteen-year-old girls who go out with the intention of TP'ing the house of a boy they like. Unexpectedly, his mother comes out and she’s a little bit drunk, which is when the hilarity ensues.

“It’s funny but in a very human kind of way,” Fernstrom said. “It’s about all woman and I’m not a woman, so it was kind of a challenge to tackle that.”

Grayson Norsworthy, a theatre student at TRU, also hopes to

become an educator in the future.

Once this semester ends, Norsworthy said that he’s “moving forward with his arts minor,” as he needs to complete it to graduate.

Norsworthy’s show is titled A Roz by Any Other Name by Brett Ryback. This story is based on what happens to Rosalind, or "Roz," after her boyfriend Romeo leaves with Juliet at the end of the ball in Romeo and Juliet by Shakespeare.

“I thought this piece really kind of brought modern dramatic comedy and Shakespeare together in a really nice way,” Norsworthy said on why he chose the show.

Kalika, the only woman in the directing class, chose a dramatic play in comparison to her classmates' comedic ones. Realer Than That by Kitt Lavoie follows the story of two high school sweethearts when they go to a motel room to “hook up” after a friend's wedding, but very quickly things go awry.

“It’s an important play. It shows two different perspectives of [rape culture],” Kalika said. “It’s just very honest. Hopefully, it will spark dialogue about the issue itself.”

After this semester, Kalika will be beginning her second degree at TRU as a social work student.

Brendan Law, an aspiring actor and excited director, hopes to travel to Vancouver after finishing

Movie review: Us

A good mind-trip that fumbles a bit too much Morgan Hunter CONTRIBUTOR Ω Jordan Peele has made two movies so far. The first being Get Out, a movie with such an impact on both viewers and society itself that it won an Oscar for Best Screenplay. Us, is his second and although interesting as a psychedelic movie, doesn’t compete with his first due to some problems with its script and pacing.

Us follows a family that goes on vacation to a small cabin.

They are soon tormented by their supposed doppelgangers who wish to take their place when the family soon realizes that it goes much further than anything they could imagine.

The positives of Us do outweigh the negatives. Lupita Nyong'o plays both the mother of the family and her evil twin, and her performance is fantastic. She really captures the horror that comes from seeing your doppelganger and plays both characters so differently that they both feel very distinctive. The rest of the cast also did this, however, not as well as Nyong’o which does show in the film.

The main concern comes with the fact that the plot would only work if it was a short horror story.

And that’s a problem because it wasn’t advertised as such and isn’t depicted as such. When an audience goes in to see Get Out, they understand they’re watching a thriller with some sci-fi themes because that was the tone it was aiming for. Us feels more like it wants to be a commentary on something, but can’t figure out what. It also doesn’t help that it takes turns that, albeit interesting, devalues any sense of horror for an abnormal sci-fi piece.

The shift isn’t justified. It can’t be eight different things while at the same time hoping that people will watch if some mediocre comedy is sprinkled around those eight things. If this was any other director, it’d be fine to just claim this as something to not think about and to turn your brain off.

But the film has dialogue that suggests that it should be looked at in a critical fashion and you can’t be a trippy sci-fi anthology show while also wanting to be a social commentary without having the audience feeling overwhelmed.

Us is a good movie and it deserves to be watched, however, it also doesn’t keep up a consistent theme and shifts so much it doesn’t feel focused, which does hurt the rewatchability of the film.

Megan Polacik plays Angela (left), Aaron Foster plays St. Francis (centre), Jakob Kopytko plays Mike (right). (Submitted) to gain more acting experience there.

Law is excited to have people see his show St. Francis Preaches to the Birds by David Ives. The show follows St. Francis and how his new injury causes him to have an existentialist conversation with some vultures in the desert. Law said this show is “very wacky and weird and funny and it’s very me.”

“It’s just a show that spoke to me

instantly when I read it,” he added.

The last director in the class is Caleb Mpyet, another student who has gone through the theatre program. Mpyet’s show is titled I’m Not Stupid by David Rodrigues.

This One-Act play follows the lives of Roger and his mother, Mrs. Fletcher, who visit Dr. Green, a psychiatrist, to talk about Mr. Fletcher’s death. Drama ensues when Mrs. Fletcher thinks her

CFBX TOP 30 CFBX 92.5 FM, 350 Watts Kamloops, BC Music Director: Steve Marlow Charts to March 28, 2019 * indicates Canadian Content ** indicates a local artist Artist - Album (Label) 1) Abigail Lapell* - Getaway (Coax) 2) Anemone* - Beat My Distance (Luminelle) 3) FIDLAR - Almost Free (Dine Alone) 4) China Syndrome* - Hide in Plain Sight (Independent) 5) Homeshake* - Helium (Royal Mountain) 6) Motherhood* - Dear Bongo (Forward) 7) At Mission Dolores** - Cool World (Factotum Co.) 8) Katherine Rondeau - Unfortunate Point of View (Independent) 9) Whitehorse* - The Northern South Vol. 2 (Six Shooter) 10) The World Provider* - Old Dreams (Ting Dun) 11) Vin Mott - Rogue Hunter (Independent) 12) Praises* - In This Year: Ten of Swords (Hand Drawn Dracula) 13) All Hands on Jane* - Animal Worship (Independent) 14) Elza* - Nothing's Wrong (Independent) 15) Brave Shores* - La Hoo La La (Universal) 16) Rusty Creek* - Looking Back (Independent) 17) Royal Canoe* - Waver (Paper Bag) 18) Daryl Shawn - Safe in Sound (Independent) 19) Golden Grey* - 8-Bit Machine (Independent) 20) Tallies* - Tallies (Kanine) 21) Lee Harvey Osmond* - Mohawk (Latent) 22) Yves Tumor - Safe in the Hands of Love (Warp) 23) Night Prowler* - Crucible of Power (Slow Death) 24) Lenore* - Every Once in a While (Independent) 25) The Gregories* - Offal Truth (Independent) 26) Cosmic Range* - The Gratitude Principle (Idee Fixe) 27) Kaelan Mikla - Nott Eftir Nott (Artoffact) 28) Ace of Wands* - Lioness (Be My Sibling) 29) Old Firm Casuals - Holger Danske (Pirates Press) 30) Adam Wendler* - All of Nothing (Independent)

mentally disabled son is at fault for her husband's death and Dr. Green decides to make a home visit.

These shows premiere at the Actors Workshop Theatre in Old Main on Wednesday, April 10 and will run until Saturday, April 13.

Tickets are available at the AWT Box Office in Old Main, in person or by phone (250-377-6100) or can be bought online at www.brownpapertickets.com.

WWW.TRUOMEGA.CA

SPORTS

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MSOC hosting fundraiser to provide opportunities to deserving students WolfPack men’s soccer team will be hosting their annual Wild Guide to Wine and Food Fundraiser next week Alvin Mutandiro SPORTS EDITOR Ω On April 11 the WolfPack men’s soccer team will be hosting the Wild Guide to Wine and Food Fundraiser.

The event will be hosted at the TRU Culinary Arts Centre.

This year will mark the second annual dinner, it is an event that they hope will be around for a long time to honour the legacy of the late former TRU soccer coach Errol Wild.

Errol Wild was a mentor to many members in the coaching fraternity, especially current WolfPack men’s soccer coach, John Antulov.

“Errol Wild was an integral part in my life and for TRU soccer, he was a manager and in 2007 he was my coach here at TRU,” Antulov said.

“When he passed away, we wanted to do something in his honour. So we decided to start a scholarship fund.”

Antulov also explained that it was very important for him to get Wild’s family involved, his sister Carly and brother-in-law Claude, he felt that their involvement would give the fundraiser a stronger connection to Wild.

Antulov added that the fundraiser suits Wild’s character perfectly. He describes Wild as a very giving and caring person who went above and beyond for other people.

He reminisced about the way Wild would go out of his way to give cleats to players or provide finances to those who were hardworking

and talented but didn’t have the resources.

Antulov has a clear vision of the kind of players he will be giving scholarships too.

“We give scholarships to players in Errol’s name that we feel will meet the standard of what Errol was like,”

he said.

Antulov holds a strong belief that his players will benefit the most from this kind of event and hopes the spirit of giving and selflessness will be pressed upon them.

“We want are our players to learn about giving back and being a part of

a community and a team,” he said.

The event will feature a wine tasting and dinner which begins at 6:30 p.m. and doors will open at 6 p.m. Tickets are $80.

It is always a great thing seeing a community that tries to give back and honours the legacy of those who

had a profound impact, something which can be attributed to Errol Wild.

The hope will be that many young players will look at this event as a learning experience, an experience that makes them better teammates and members of society.

(TRU Athletics/Andrew Snucins)

Men's volleyball coach full of praise for Tim Dobbert Pat Hennelly full of praise for Dobbert after his All-Canadian selection becoming KSCU Athlete of the Year Alvin Mutandiro SPORTS EDITOR Ω The men’s TRU volleyball program is among the university’s best. It is a program that has produced consistent results and quality players.

The program is very welcoming to international students, international

students who usually contribute greatly to the overall success of the team.

Tim Dobbert is a perfect example of that, and his three years here at TRU showed consistency and growth throughout.

Recently he was named in the All-Canadian team, he is considered one of the top players in the country;

no small feat.

He was also named a candidate for the Kamloops Sports Council University (KSCU) Athlete of the Year.

Dobbert has been coached by Pat Hennelly at TRU, a man who has seen three players before this named as All-Canadians; Dobbert being the fourth.

Hennelly has been very effusive

when discussing Dobbert’s achievements and his abilities.

He expressed the fact that the three previous players to have been named in the all-Canadian team have all gone on to represent the senior national team, a massive accomplishment for the program.

Hennelly explained that the team made a concerted effort to get

Men's volleyball head coach Pat Hennelly (left) and Tim Dobbert (centre), KSCU Athlete of the Year and All-Canadian. (TRU Athletics/Andrew Snucins)

Dobbert a higher volume of balls, efforts which were met with great execution by the German.

Reiterating his pride at having coached a talented player like Dobbert, Hennelly stated that he is now among the top six players in the country.

Hennelly didn’t deny that the attention Dobbert is receiving benefits the program and acknowledged that it will help in the recruitment of future talent at TRU. He also recognizes that replacing the German’s productivity will be no easy task, but he has an idea in mind.

“We are going to have guys going into their fifth year of eligibility stepping up,” he said.

Expecting the remaining players in the team to step up and provide similar production is an example of Hennelly’s strong belief in his players and the coaching at TRU. Hennelly also stated that he will still be on the lookout for international talent, as they have always been huge contributors to the program.

A lot has been said about Dobbert and his accomplishments since moving to TRU and the praise has been well earned.

Hennelly and his coaching staff will be pleased about that but they will be hoping that someone else will be receiving that praise this time next year.

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APRIL 3, 2019

THE OMEGA

Donate any left-over non-perishable food items

Donation bins will be available in the TRU Residence, Upper College Heights, and McGill Housing lobbies:

APRIL 15-30, 2019 /TRUStudentsUnion

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