November 7, 2012

VOLUME 22 ISSUE 10

NOVEMBER 7, 2012

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Job hunters treated to extravaganza 4

July Talk at Bailey’s Pub

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‘Pack basketball off to a good start 10

Pride in veterans for helping where we can not

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TRU’s Independent Student Newspaper

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November 7, 2012

Feature

A flag that I know and a flag that I trust

Veterans that could be — and are — walking among us every day.

Courtney Dickson

TRU, said, “the vast majority of soldiers being deployed are in their early 20s.”

He also points out that soldiers Rarely does one think of a war veteran as someone as young as have more education today than they did during World Wars I and 24 years old.

Rarely is a war veteran thought II. “I’m actually surprised by the of as a student walking the halls number of reservists I’ve taught.”

Cpl. Max Birkner enlisted of TRU. Max Birkner is an intelligent, when he was only 17 years old.

Now 24, he looks back on the well-spoken young man studying experience with a positive attijournalism.

He doesn’t argue with his pro- tude.

“There was a constant fear fessors or draw attention to himthat you lived self. He meets up with over there. with his friends But Afghanistan for a drink every was not a negaThursday aftertive experience. noon.

It was the most Kieran Van impactful and Wagoner is important time spending his in my life.” university days Birkner spent studying hisseven months, tory and enjoyOctober 2009 to ing time with his May 2010, lookgirlfriend. ing for Taliban His smile is in Kandahar contagious. province.

Nothing about From June him seems out of 2011 to March the ordinary, ex2012, officer Kicept for the cameran Van Wagouf lage patch on the back of his —Nicholas Gammer, TRU ass’t oner, 25, spent more than nine Team Canada hockey baseball professor of political science months in Kabul teaching cap.

Afghans how to These two men walk the halls of Thompson look for Taliban. He joined the Rivers University without dis- military when he was 21 after closing their histories or identi- working as a pilot for two years.

Both student soldiers lost ties.

You could be sitting next to friends and colleagues while one of them and you might never serving in Afghanistan.

Van Wagoner keeps a photo of know.

It is only in speaking with a fellow soldier carrying the body them privately that one can begin of a fallen soldier and friend. to try to understand the impact The image serves as a poignant the war in Afghanistan has had reminder of the harsh realities of war. on Birkner and Van Wagoner.

“I have vivid memories of Nicholas Gammer, assistant professor of political science at waking up the day or night of an

Ω Roving Editor

“The vast majority of soldiers being depolyed are in their early 20s.”

Young men making friends in a time of war.

—PHOTO COURTESY KEIR AN VON WAGONER

Kieran Von Wagoner (Right) in active duty in Afghanistan.

—PHOTO COURTESY KIER AN VON WAGONER

operation thinking today is the day, today I will die,” Birkner said, “and imagining the shock of being in an explosion and waking up in a chopper, f lying over the fields with bone splinters and dirt and blood surrounding my knee with a black nylon tourniquet keeping me from bleeding out.”

Makes you wonder what you thought about this morning.

“I’m just afraid that the Afghanistan war efforts are going to be forgotten. We’ve done great things and Canadians should be proud of what we did,” Van Wagoner said.

On Remembrance Day, these men will be remembering those who have died for our country, but also for those who are left behind. “I won’t think about myself, or one person — parents, families — I respect what they’ve been through,” Van Wagoner said. “I remember those lost, injured and affected all the time.”

“I will think about those who were injured and the people who have given up loved ones, those were left behind,” Birkner said.

During the Afghanistan war, 158 Canadian soldiers and four civilians have been killed overseas, according to CBC. “This does not even come close to the number of people wounded mentally and physically forever,” Birkner said.

This number obviously does not account for the people directly affected by the deaths of their loved ones. If each of those 162 casualties had 50 friends and family members that had to deal with the struggle of losing a loved one to war, that is 8,100 people affected by the war in Afghanistan.

The Afghanistan war is the longest war Canada has been involved in to date — 11 years.

Gammer believes the Afghanistan war is not recognized as making a strong impact on Canadians because, “this is not a traditional war. It would be better defined as a stabilization mission. The nature of war has changed.”

“I have vivid memories of waking up... thinking today is the day, today I will die.”

—Cpl. Max Birkner On the contrary, Gammer said, “This war has raised the profile of Canada’s military for Canadians.” Canada has spent more than $20 billion on this war and that number continues to rise according to Gammer.

The last Canadian soldier fatality happened just more than a year ago and the soldier was a member of Van Wagoner’s taskforce. “I called everyone to see how they were. I spent a good part of the day on the phone.”

The camouf lage patch on the back of his Team Canada baseball cap was made to commemorate the soldier lost that day.

Though a Canadian has not

been killed since that time, Van Wagoner has worked with soldiers from all over the world that have been killed since then.

“Just because Canadian soldiers haven’t been killed [lately] doesn’t mean we aren’t losing friends,” Van Wagoner said.

Birkner and Van Wagoner are both interested in deploying again, someday.

Birkner would like to combine his military experience and education in journalism and become a war reporter.

“We are mentally prepared so well that by the time we are deployed, we want to go out and do the job,” Birkner said.

Both Birkner and Van Wagoner are both actively involved in the Rocky Mountain Rangers, a primary reserve infantry regiment, in Kamloops.

They train and develop skills necessary for soldiers to survive work overseas or in Canada.

Birkner and Van Wagoner will be attending both the TRU Remembrance Day ceremony on Nov. 9 and the City of Kamloops ceremony on Nov. 11.

Canadian Forces training Afghan soldiers.

—PHOTO COURTESY KIER AN VON WAGONER

ON THE COVER: Canadian Forces see some horrors, but they also have the opportunity to engage on a level most of us could never dream of with these war-torn communities — PHOTO COURTESY KIERAN VON WAGONER

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The Omega · Volume 22, Issue 10

THE

MEGA

www.theomega.ca

November 7, 2012

Volume 22, Issue 10

Published since November 27, 1991

editorialstaff EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Mike Davies

Editorial/Opinions Why we don’t vote: perceived lack of accomplishment leads to apathy

editor@truomega.ca

250-828-5069

@PaperguyDavies BUSINESS MANAGER VACANT NEWS EDITOR

Devan C. Tasa

news@truomega.ca @DCTasa ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR

Brendan Kergin

arts@truomega.ca @roguetowel SPORTS EDITOR

Adam Williams

sports@truomega.ca

@AdamWilliams87 ROVING EDITOR

Courtney Dickson

roving@truomega.ca @dicksoncourtney COPY/WEB EDITOR

Taylor Rocca

copy@truomega.ca @manovrboard

omegacontributors Allison Declercq, Chris Albinati, Courtney Dickson, Jess Buick, Mark Hendricks, John King, Travis Persaud, Sean Brady,

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EDITOR-IN-CHIEF * Mike Davies BUSINESS MGR * VACANT INDUSTRY REP * Mike Youds FACULTY REP * Charles Hays STUDENT REP* Sadie Cox

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Literary and visual submissions are welcomed.

All submissions are subject to editing for brevity, taste and legality. The Omega will attempt to publish each letter received, barring time and space constraints. The editor will take care not to change the intention or tone of submissions, but will not publish material deemed to exhibit sexism, racism or homophobia. Letters for publication must include the writer’s name (for publication) and contact details (not for publication). The Omega reserves the right not to publish any letter or submitted material. Opinions expressed in the Letters & Opinion section do not represent those of The Omega, the Cariboo Student Newspaper Society, its Board of Directors or its staff.

Opinions belong only to those who have signed them.

Editor’s Note Mike Davies Ω Editor-in-Chief Devan Tasa has brought an interesting discussion forward this week regarding the interest level that we as an educational community take in our own governance (see editorial below).

While I completely agree with him that we need to take more of an interest and engage more with the bodies that decide how our school is run, I don’t necessarily agree with where he’s pointing his finger in disgust.

I agree with him that there need to be reforms in the electoral process — but unfortunately, I don’t think the changes suggested will affect voter turnout or student engagement in the process.

Why would I say such a thing?

Because we have no idea what these people do, and as such, it’s hard to care about who is doing it.

Devan rightly points out that the TRU senate is capable of

All material in this publication is copyright The Omega and may not be reproduced without the expressed consent of the publisher. All unsolicited submissions become copyright Omega 2012.

Cariboo Student Newspaper Society (Publisher of The Omega) TRU Campus House #4 Box 3010, Kamloops, B.C. V2C 0C8 Phone: 250-372-1272 E-mail: editor@truomega.ca Ad Enquiries: managerofomega@gmail.com

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Do it.

Seriously.

“symbolic representation” that “can’t get anything done” is?

Based on the figures Mr. Tasa has provided — specifically the 0.85 per cent of us who chose to participate in the last round of elections — we don’t.

And I’d say we don’t for good reason.

Most of us are too busy trying to learn what we came here to learn to worry about who is representing us symbolically in some room somewhere where nothing gets accomplished, or at least nothing we can see.

I’m not just talking about the senate here, either.

We don’t seem to care who represents us in our students union, either. The voter turnout at those polls is almost — but not quite — as weak as that of the senate elections.

Again, I would speculate that it’s because for all the ranting and raving that they do about escalating post-secondary cost, it continues to march upward.

And no matter who we elect to that body next year, I can allbut-guarantee we will have a back-to-school barbeque, an outdoor concert, an outdoor movie night, and a student-run coffee shop.

I mean no offence to those in these positions; it’s just a matter of what we see as the student public.

That’s what we base our voting habits on, and that’s why we don’t bother.

The perceived lack of accomplishment leads to our apathy. editor@truomega.ca

Let’s take our elected bodies seriously

copyright

(Correspondence not intended for publication should be labelled as such.)

creating, removing and altering degrees and other credentials offered here.

But how many of you are in a program you don’t want to be in just because the one you want isn’t offered? Wouldn’t you go to a school that offers the one you want rather than attend this institution and take something you don’t?

I’m going to trust that the senate bases decisions like what credentials are offered on enrolment figures, statistics and financial viability. I assume this, of course, because no one tells us how they make these decisions.

Will those statistics and figures change if we elect person A over person B? Of course not.

Will both these people come to the same conclusion based on the figures and financial statements? I would guess so.

But wait — would it even matter if they came to different conclusions?

In the April 4, 2012 edition of The Omega, student senator Dylan Robinson said that the senate is, “a hodge-podge, ad hoc, thrown together system,” and because of the overwhealming number of faculty and administration members sitting in the senate, the elected student representatives, “can’t get anything done.”

Chris Albinati, another student representative echoed these feelings, saying, “In the way they have limited us, they’ve made us a symbolic representation.”

So why do we care whom our

TRUe Thoughts Devan C. Tasa Ω News Editor One body makes the major financial decisions of the university; the other, academic ones.

Both TRU’s board of governors and senate have elected student members, elected by their peers.

As a part of the board of governors, student members can vote whether or not tuition fees will change. As a part of the senate, they can vote to add, modify and delete entire degrees.

With this type of power, one would think that both students and the university’s administration would take the elections for student members seriously.

It seems not.

First of all, let’s look at the Winter 2011 joint board of governors-senate elections that were held online.

A problem with the voters’ list

was found and the registrar’s office, which runs the elections, decided it would be better to restart the process rather than continue with the original election dates taking place from Nov. 22 to Dec. 5.

However, the election rules were so rigid they required the elections take place from Dec. 8 to Dec. 22, right smack in the middle of exams and holiday break. There was no ability to delay the election until January when students returned to school.

The results: voter turnout for the elections was approximately 2.2 per cent. 13,689 eligible voters cast 304 votes to elect one representative on the board and 414 votes to elect four representatives for the senate.

The less that is said about the media frenzy caused when a controversial figure suing the school was elected to both the board and senate, the better.

Nor did things get better. In the spring board elections that took place Mar. 20 to Apr. 2, only 0.85 per cent of voters chose to participate.

Now the nominations for the Winter 2012 joint board of governors-senate elections ended Oct. 22 – and there are only two students running for the senate’s four seats.

That’s correct: there were less students running for a position than there were seats.

In the face of all of this evidence, the need for some type of

change to the election rules is apparent.

Yet there’s no sign of willingness from the university senate’s steering committee to change them.

It’s not like there has been any lack of suggestions to fix the problems. For instance, one common suggestion has been instead of having an online vote than could be missed by students, the elections use the old technology of pencil and paper that’s physically present and in your face.

TRUSU has gone one step further, suggesting that the university contract the elections out to it so that all student elections, TRUSU, board and senate are held together at the same time, unavoidable to miss.

It would even be nice, if none of those actions are possible, if there was an all-candidates forum held for those running for election, so the candidates can answer to the students before getting election. It may also show students that an election is happening.

But students shouldn’t be blameless in this. There has to be some responsibility to keep an eye on the university at which we learn, some responsibility to find out about, vote and even run in these elections.

Either way, we should all take the board of governors and senate seriously. news@truomega.ca

Are we willing to sacrifice our dignity for shoes?

Eric LeBlanc

The Argosy (Mount Allison) SACKVILLE (CUP) — An investigation by a Chinese non-governmental organization recently exposed child labour at an east coast factory owned by Foxconn, the manufacturer behind forty per cent of all consumer electronics, including the Apple chain, the PlayStation 3 and the Xbox 360. The company would later admit to finding interns as young as 14, working as part of a school program that employs them for up to six months, and promised to rectify the situation as soon as possible.

But this isn’t the only major controversy involving the Taiwanese giant.

Foxconn is internationally known for its overall treatment of employees, which includes demanding work up to seventytwo hours a week at little pay, over-discipline on the part of management and excessive and forced overtime. These conditions have led to so many employee suicides that the company was forced to install “suicide-prevention netting” at some of its factories. In Mexico, workers were told that their buses would be late and that they would be required to work overtime without pay. It was later revealed that those buses were directed

by Foxconn management to delay their route, a finding that incited a riot at the plant.

What makes this plant so appealing to the tech giants in the West, however, is just how cheap production costs are. An iPhone currently generates $452 in profit for Apple through Foxconn, whereas, if produced in the United States, that number would drop just under $300. But shouldn’t Apple be satisfied with such a profit margin anyway? Isn’t the small drop worth the benefits in advancing human rights? Apparently the answer is no.

Apple isn’t the only one: Nike is known for employing workers, sometimes under the age of 16, in environments with similar or harsher conditions overseas, and faces much criticism to this day for improperly addressing the issues. And then there are the numerous chocolate companies purchasing cocoa from countries like Côte d’Ivoire, where the use of child labour is prevalent and well-known.

The reality of the world, however, is that it is highly unlikely that consumers will refrain from purchasing these products over these issues. The concept “Made in China” has found a place in popular culture and has desensitized us all to what exactly that implies. Indeed, I honestly don’t see myself holding off from the next new phone or television over this, but that’s not because I don’t care – it’s because consumerism has become a lifestyle for us, such that the next best thing is a need rather than a desire.

That’s the downside of advancing consumer technology.

That doesn’t mean this must remain as the status quo, though. Governments have the power to push legislation to discourage companies from outsourcing manufacturing labor to locales that don’t satisfy a certain workplace standard.

It should be in their best interests to do so – manufacturing is a huge job-andwealth-generator. In this economically unstable era of our history, it seems that’s just what we would need. Not to mention we have the capacity with existing giants like Flextronics, Celestica, Sanmina-SCI and Jabil Circuit, each based out of North America.

If we pride ourselves for being so above everyone else, perhaps it’s time we stopped exploiting the hardships of everyone else.

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November 7, 2012

News

News Briefs

B.C. Job Fair comes to TRU Jess Buick

Ω Contributor The B.C. Job Fair that took place in the Grand Hall on Oct. 30 had an impressive turnout according to Lucas Segar and Hannah Seraphim, B.C. Job Fair staff.

Numerous people from the community attended the event, resumes prepared, looking for new careers. “[The fair is] important for the community as well as for students who will be looking for work after graduation,” Seraphim said.

Sitting at 36 unique booths, local employers and large industry professionals from across the province aimed to recruit and educate job-seekers.

“I find it comforting that some of these companies like Bechtel come out to recruit employees.

Even if I leave without a job I know I have new information

about what these employers are looking for and how I could get a job in the future,” said an unemployed gentleman, 28.

This year’s B.C. Job Fair began in late September in Richmond and continues until Nov. 30, hitting 24 communities across the province. The intention of the fair is to provide people with insight about various occupations and encourage exploration of new opportunities.

“We send out invitations to companies all over B.C. to attend this event, and make sure we have some local employers to encourage various members of the community,” Segar said.

In addition to educating attendees on the current job market, some companies have been known to conduct interviews and hire new employees at the event.

“We’ve seen interviews happen and PetroWest has been known to hire new employees on the spot,” Seraphim said.

Devan C. Tasa Ω News Editor

Strike officially over

Students have a chance to network, apply for jobs or just find out more information about possible career paths at the 2012 B.C. Job Fair in the Grand Hall Oct. 30.

—PHOTO COURTESY B.C. JOB FAIR

Police tape and broken windows at House 4

The Omega house becomes a crime scene for police and justice studies Courtney Dickson Ω Roving Editor

The police and justice studies program at TRU turned House 4 on campus into a crime scene on Oct. 31, also known as All Hallow’s Eve. When Brian Cassell, instructor and program consultant, arrived at The Omega House on the afternoon of Halloween, his first reaction was, “Perfect.

This looks like a crime scene already.”

Corporal Terry Harink, forensic identification specialist, led three groups of 10 through the house, asking them to point out things that seemed out of place.

Though they had a tendency to step on the broken glass, stu-

dents were very observant and able to identify and record what was significant about the scene.

Icing sugar (fake cocaine), liquor bottles, syringes and rubber vomit covered the table. Police tape was set up around the perimeter of the building and there was a microwave strewn across the front steps.

Former students Megan Kovacs and Jen Tate and The Omega’s Mike Davies played dead victims. Both Kovacs and Tate graduated from the program in April 2011 and are working in commercial loss prevention to combat in-store theft.

Cassell, who put together the program, designed the exercise to give students an idea of how it feels when an officer walks into a crime scene.

Park somewhere else: businesses

Olivia Von Pander, a student in the police and justice studies program, surveys the “crime scene” at The Omega.

—PHOTO BY COURTNEY DICKSON

CRTC looks to create national standards for mobile providers Jane Lytvynenko

CUP Ottawa Bureau Chief OTTAWA (CUP) — To help consumers avoid surprises on their cell phone bill, the Canadian Radio-Telecom Commission (CRTC) is looking to develop a national and mandatory code for providers to follow.

After requests from Rogers and TELUS, the CRTC is also asking the

public to provide input, receiving over 700 online responses so far.

“What we’re consulting Canadians about is the specific language and things that could be in that code,” said Denis Carmel, spokesperson for the CRTC. “We don’t have a spelled out code at this point in time and that’s why we want the code developed.”

The code would be a national set of rules for mobile service providers to follow, touching on issues such as

Ottawa looks to standardize cell rates.

—IMAGE COURTESY SCALLOP HOLDEN/FLICKR

Students no longer have to fear going to school and finding a picket line blocking their way into class.

Members of Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Local 4897, which represents support workers at the university, decided to accept a new contract which will see zero per cent increases for the first two years and two per cent increases for the last two years in a vote that took place Oct. 29 and 30.

The four-year contract is backdated to 2010 and will last until April 1, 2014.

Of the union’s 607 members, 53 per cent cast a ballot. Of those voters, 85 per cent voted in favour of the contract.

The union was working without a contract since 2010. It was concerned about stagnant wages in the face of inflation and increased costs like parking and job security.

Since 2010, inflation has made the general cost of goods and services go up 4.36 per cent.

The union is expecting to be back in bargaining for the next contract as early as next year.

contract cancellation fees and accurate advertising prices, among others.

“It’s mostly about providing the tools for consumers to understand what they’re paying for, like termination costs and what happens if your cell phone is stolen and the costs and charges associated with that,” said Carmel.

“All these issues have to be spelled out clearly … so the consumer knows what he or she is getting into.”

Carly Suppa-Clark, senior manager of public affairs at Rogers, said the provider is already doing a lot of the things it outlined in their proposal to the CRTC. “Rogers took the initiative to actually draft the code earlier this year as a starting point to help define a single set of national standards,” she said. “These standards would make it easier for Canadian consumers to do business with service providers in every part of the country.”

Suppa-Clark said Roger’s began to provide mobile phone unlocking, allin pricing in advertising, and alerts to notify customers of charges, such as roaming charges. Carmel said another reason why the code should be developed is to avoid a mosaic of regulations across the provinces. ”If there’s a law in a specific prov-

ince … our code would not make that void, it would be a superposition of that code,” he said, adding that Manitoba and Quebec already have their own mobile regulations.

Steward Lyons, president and chief operating officer for Mobilicity, said it’s important the CRTC follows through with regulating mobile providers and making the code mandatory.

He added a national code is necessary and Mobilicity will likely be submitting its own suggestions to the CRTC. Public comments can be submitted on the CRTC website until November 20. After that a new phase of collecting feedback will begin.

“There will be another method for people to give their input and encourage dialogue,” he said. “We are going a little further this time [in asking the public for input] because it’s strictly a consumer issue. From a regulatory standpoint it’s nice to understand the issue and frankly we are not confronted on a daily basis with the challenge of negotiating and getting what you pay for.”

Public hearings on the issue will take place in January in Gatineau, with only those who provided their input being allowed to attend. Carmel said the code will be in place by summer 2013 if all goes smoothly.

Those trying to avoid paying the increased fees at TRU parking lots by parking at nearby businesses may get a nasty surprise.

Summit Shopping Centre, home of stores such as Winners, Sport Mart and Taco Del Mar has informed the university that it will tow any vehicles that have been there for an extended period of time, obviously not doing business at any of the stores.

This isn’t the first business to give such a warning. The shopping centre that contains Wal-Mart and the Tournament Capital Centre has also sent notices to the university.

“By parking offsite you’ve dodged the increased price of parking at TRU,” said a press release from the university, “but one tow could wipe that out.”

As of September of this year, parking fees at TRU have increased from $3 to $4.

University wants drivers to slow down Those students rushing to class in their cars Sept. 11 were observed by Kamloops Speed Watch – and about 40 per cent of those vehicles were going above the 30 kilometres per hour speed limit.

Between 10 a.m. to 2 p.m, 644 vehicles entered campus. At the university’s East Gate, 47 per cent of the 330 vehicles were going over the speed limit. At the West Gate, 34 per cent of the 314 vehicles were over.

The fastest speed at the East Gate was 67 km/h while at the West Gate, it was 61 km/h.

“This highlights the need for all drivers to slow down, drive the speed limit and watch for pedestrians,” said Stacey Jyrkkanen, TRU’s manager of health and safety and emergency management in a press release. “With the weather conditions making driving treacherous at times, it is even more important to slow down and drive for the road conditions.”

The numbers are an improvement from October of last year. Of 282 vehicles at East Gate, 62 per cent were over.

Of the 218 vehicles at West Gate, 45 per cent were over.

5

The Omega · Volume 22, Issue 10

News Late exam schedule releases causes concern Justine Cleghorn

The Fall 2011 final exam schedule was posted one week before the final exam period started.

After TRUSU lobbied these conFor 38 per cent of the TRU student body, the late posting of exam cerns to Alan Shaver, TRU presischedules is not only affecting their dent, he promised to make prompt scheduling, but their wallets as well. final exam schedules a priority.

Following TRUSU lobbying, the According to the 2008 TRU Institutional Planning and Analysis registrar posted the Winter 2012 Factbook, 38 per cent of students at exam schedule, in the third week TRU are not from the Thompson- of February. TRUSU considered its Okanaga region, meaning flights are lobbying efforts effective since the required for many to make it home Winter 2012 exam schedule was released earlier. for the holidays.

In the future, the registrar aims “There’s only so long you can wait,” said Alexie Pertich, a third- to have more consistent and timely year student studying respiratory exam schedule postings by improvtherapy. “You’re expected to be on ing technological procedures.

“TRU is going through a process time for school fees, but the school to purchase class and exam schedulisn’t on time for us.”

Pertich doesn’t want a repeat of ing software,” Acreman said, “which last year. She is concerned with in- would allow consistently early procreased flight costs when booking duction of an exam schedule.”

The goal of the new program on shorter notice. She paid more for a flight home to Grand Prairie be- would be a system where students cause of the delayed posting of the know their final exam schedule exam schedule last year. Had the when they register for courses, Mcexam schedule been posted in Sep- Intyre said. The registrar hopes to tember rather than late November, implement the new program in two Pertich could have saved $300 on years.

Prompt exam schedules are still her flights. a priority for According to TRUSU, which Dennis Acreis engaged in man, acting open commuregistrar, the nication with university is Acreman to concerned that resolve the isstudent flight sue. “It is a costs are inc a m p u s -w i d e creasing. problem so it’s The registrar something we tries to have will continue to the December work on,” Mcexam schedule Intyre said. posted by the Compared to middle of Ocother univertober, but it is sities, TRU is “unusually late posting exam this semester,” schedules late. according to Simon Fraser Acreman, who University fisaid delays nalized its Fall within the reg2012 semester istrar are the

exam schedule cause for the late posting of —Alexie Pertich, the first week of July, said inforthe final exams. third-year respiratory therapy mation assistant Justin Lepitzki.

A poll taken The Univerby The Omega of 50 students surveyed in Old sity of Victoria (UVIC) posted its Main, the International Building, the finalized exam schedule on Oct. 24, Brown Family House of Learning said UVIC Takako Kitagwa of unand the TRU Residence and Confer- dergraduate records and graduation ence Centre discovered 80 per cent services.

The University of Lethbridge of students from that sample were frustrated with the delayed posting (UL) publishes student exam schedules before the start of semester, acof the Fall 2012 exam schedule.

TRU has a history of having irreg- cording to Penny Secretan, a superular final exam schedule postings. It visor at the UL information centre is uncommon for the exam schedule registrar. The Winter 2013 exam to be posted by the end of October schedule is already posted, Secretan said. at TRU. The TRU preliminary Fall 2012 Late in October 2011, Dustin McIntyre, TRUSU president, was exam schedule was posted on Oct. approached by students concerned 31, 2012. Since the exam schedule that the final exam schedule had not has not been finalized, it is still subject to change. been posted.

Ω Contributor

“You’re expected to be on time for school fees, but the school isn’t on time for us.”

Got a beef with administration?

Tell us, and we’ll look into it.

International Intonation

Bulgarian ruins, a thought-controlled prosthetic and energy from deserts Mark Hendricks Ω Contributor

Ruins in Bulgaria believed to be Europe’s oldest

Thought-controlled prosthetic put to the 103 f light test By the time you read this, Zak Vawter will have either succeeded or failed in his attempt to climb Chicago’s Willis Tower with a prosthetic leg controlled by his mind.

One moves the prosthetic by thinking about moving it, the same way we move our leg by thinking about it.

“With my standard prosthesis, I have to take every step with my good foot first and sort of lift or drag the prosthetic leg up,” said Vawter in a news release. “With the bionic leg, it’s simple, I take stairs like I used to and can even take two at a time.”

Where you can find out more: news.cnet.com

As an ancient urban settlement in Bulgaria is being unearthed, interesting details are coming to light. Evidence points to this being the oldest urban settlement in Europe.

The settlement is beTurning the deserts into a lieved to be dated between renewable energy plant 4,700 and 4,200 BC according to radiocarbon A new renewable energy dating and was home to project called “Desertec” around 350 people. is being pushed forward by This ancient settlement the German, French, Italian, is being unearthed by a Spanish and Moroccan govteam of archaeologists ernments. led by Vasil Nikolov from The proposed plan – an Bulgaria’s National Instiagreement of intent is expecttute of Archaeology. The ed to be signed November – excavation has been onwould create a €600-million going since 2005 but only wind and solar energy plant recently has there been in the Moroccan desert. enough evidence to claim The energy generated a date. would be split among the This ancient civiliza— IMAGE COURTESY CHRISTIAN FISCHER participating nations. Cables tion -- which predates the WIKIMEDIA COMMONS have already been laid from Greeks -- is believed to Morocco to Europe to transhave been built around salt fer the power. production. “For millenThe Desertec Industrial InitiaNov. 4 will mark the first pubniums, salt was one of the most valued commodities, salt was lic test of this new prosthetic. tive (Dii), which is spearheading the money,” Nikolov told Asso- Vawter’s prototype prosthetic the project, has as a long-term works thanks to an operation goal of turning desert lands in ciated Press.

“They boiled brine from salt which reroutes nerves that pre- North Africa and the Middle East springs in kilns, baked it into viously controlled a limb to into renewable sources of solar bricks, which were then ex- different areas of the body. In and wind energy.

Dii plans to be able to provide changed for other commodities Vawter’s case the nerves that with neighbouring tribes,” Niko- controlled his leg now go to his 15 per cent of Europe’s power needs with renewable energy by hamstring. lov said.

This new prosthetic gives 2050.

Where you can find out more: Where you can find out more: more natural control of the limb www.aljazeera.com www.worldcrunch.com than standard prosthetics.

Letter to the editor: Why not pay per credit?

“Amazing experience,” were the first words I spoke at the winter ’12 international student orientation at TRU. The welcoming faculty, supportive volunteers, well-organized campus and facilities immensely satisfied me. My dream of transferring from India to Canada as a student had finally come true.

TRU was totally worth the hard work I put into this new venture of my life. Registered as third year Computing Science student, I waited eagerly to begin my studies at TRU; however, the course registration totally crushed my enthusiasm.

The limited intake, fewer course sections and choices, and “no refund” policies perplexed me.

Unable to figure out the new pattern of education, questions arose in my mind: Is TRU only concentrating on its business from international students and ignoring their financial backgrounds?

Should quality of education not be its first priority? Why is there no fair pay per credit system at TRU? Is this policy increasing the burden of student loans on international students?

During my first semester, I registered for five courses: C Programming, data structures, math, composition, and animation. My

animation instructor refused to accept me in his class due to a limited intake. I planned to withdraw from the course and request for a fee transfer or refund. While I worked on my plans, the admissions officer said that refund policies are open only to final year international students.

Don’t they realise that if a student does not finish the required courses, she/ he will not make it into their final year? Being an international student, I paid $7,500 for five courses per semester, which is approximately three times the fee of a Canadian student and 400,000 Indian Rupees, which is more than an average man’s yearly savings in India.

We have to take five courses if we were to utilise every bit of the money we pay. If one doesn’t want to study five courses per semester, she/he still has to pay for them.

With that in mind, I took my life’s most ill-advised decision: I registered for the music course.

Surprisingly, it had three sections with eighty students per class. An instructor cannot practically pay attention to eighty students. The music class failed to teach me anything, and it is commonly referred to as a “GPA booster.”

The fact that I got an A+ in it

and three credits cannot be denied though. I reject the idea of low intake for the core courses and very high intake for elective courses like music. I firmly believe that it is unfair to make someone pay for what one doesn’t get or want.

To avoid complaints and satisfy international students, I strongly feel that TRU should revise its policies and consider the financial backgrounds and the academic requirements of international students.

More sections for core courses will not only let students pursue their interests but also increase their knowledge and efficiency, which in turn would help them get good jobs easily.

If unavailability of the good professors results fewer sections, then TRU must modify its refund policies: If a student withdraws from a course, she/he should be refunded or the fee should be transferred to the next semester. With that, an international student could take courses as per his/her capacity, and pay only their fair share.

I would have happily waited for the next semester to learn animation rather than learning nothing from the music course.

-Sonam Nathani

6

November 7, 2012

Life & Community Landmark ruling in cyberbullying case

Tia Low

The Martlet (UVIC) The Supreme Court of Canada set a new precedent in cyberbullying court cases on Sept.

27 when it ruled a Nova Scotia teen is allowed to remain anonymous while she seeks legal action against her cyberbully. She also requested a publication ban, which was denied. The 17-yearold, who is identified simply as A.B., found a fake Facebook profile page two years ago that included a photo of her, a slightly modified version of her name and other details identifying her. The profile contained defamatory claims about her and sexually explicit references.

A.B. and her father requested to have the Internet provider reveal the identity of the person who published the Facebook profile. In their application to the court, they asked for anonymity and a publication ban on the profile’s contents. The Nova Scotia Supreme Court and Court of Appeals denied both requests, citing lack of evidence that the girl suffered harm at the time the fake profile was online.

Federal Supreme Court justice Rosalie Abella, decided differently, saying, “It is logical to infer that children can suffer harm through cyberbullying given the psychological toxicity of the phenomenon.”

The judge also said the harm of failing to protect young victims outweighs the minimal harm caused to press freedom, but saw no reason for a publication ban of non-identifying content from the

Facebook profile.

Out in the open The B.C. Civil Liberties Association (BCCLA) intervened in this case, arguing that a publication ban would conf lict with freedom of information and the open courts principle, which is the idea that all of the court process should be open to the public.

“There was no justification for it,” says lawyer Marko Vesely, who represented the BCCLA in the case. “Once her name is hidden, it doesn’t matter what the words are because they won’t know who they’re being said about.”

The BCCLA’s concern with protecting the open courts principle comes down to democracy.

“You can have all the rights in the world you want, but ultimately if you are tried behind a closed door, and no one can see what happens to you, then those rights don’t mean much,” says Vesely.

“What keeps our justice system the envy of the world is that it’s transparent and conducted in the open.”

The BCCLA was also concerned about a publication ban on the defamatory speech itself.

“So if you or I said those words, we would get in trouble, but the public wouldn’t know what those words are,” Vesely says.

Avoiding re-victimization The Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada also intervened to speak to A.B.’s right to privacy and the possibility of

Anonymity and privacy are at the forefront of the cyberbullying discussion, and now the Supreme Court of Canada has set some precedent on the matter.

her re-victimization if identified.

It argued that privacy has to be balanced with the open courts principle, particularly given the context of cyberbullying.

“Victims willing to go to court face the extremely daunting prospect that, because information can now live on forever on the Internet, it can follow them around for the rest of their lives,” says privacy commissioner of Canada Jennifer Stoddart. “This decision

—PHOTO BY HUGO WONG/THE MARTLET

shows that the courts understand the realities of today’s technology and society, and that they will not allow those who seek justice to be re-victimized.”

“The decision also confirms that there are some instances where a court can conclude that an individual has suffered harm by applying reason and logic; the victim need not provide specific evidence of the harm suffered,” says Heather Ormerod, senior

communications advisor of the Privacy Commissioner’s office.

Vesely says cyberbullying, as an emerging social issue, is a growing concern, and this case sets the tone for similar ones in the future.

“When the Supreme Court of Canada decides the case, it doesn’t just decide for the case before it; it’s setting the rules for how other cases will be decided,” he says.

Where does the Quebec student movement stand today?

Erin Hudson

CUP Quebec Bureau Chief MONTREAL (CUP) — This time last year, the buzz around Nov. 10, the first full-f ledged day of action planned by the student movement, was reaching a fever pitch.

The 30,000-strong protest was the first step in what would become North America’s largest student protests in decades with over 200,000 students bringing Quebec’s government to its knees over the course of the seven-month-long strike.

Though emerging from the strike largely victorious, students, once united in the struggle against the government, stand divided and no longer hold the same sway over.

“We dictated the political agenda for the last seven months prior to the election,” said CLASSE executive Jérémie Bédard-Wien during an event held at McGill in late September. “The election was the first time that we, students, lost control.”

After the summer’s provincial election, the incoming Parti Québécois government froze tuition for the 2012-2013 year, rolling back the Liberal’s tuition hike while maintaining their $39 -million increase to student aid.

After the PQ came to power, the largest organization representing Quebec students throughout the strike, the tem-

porary coalition known as CLASSE, disbanded, its personnel and projects returning to the folds of its parent student association, ASSÉ.

Members of ASSÉ now work independently of university and cégep student federations, FEUQ and FECQ, though the latter two federations continue to work together.

“The unity [between all of us] was to achieve the fight to have a tuition fee freeze and, since we won, now we’re going back to fighting for our ideas,” said Martine Desjardins, FEUQ president. “We don’t have the same ideology as ASSÉ and so it’s more complicated to work for the same objectives and the same purposes.”

ASSÉ advocates free education and the abolition of tuition fees whereas the federations push for accessible education and do not attack the existence of tuition fees.

For FEUQ and FECQ, a close and collaborative relationship with the government serves as the means for the federations’ to make progress on issues like the promised summit on higher education. Desjardins is often in communication with Pierre Duchesne, the newly appointed minister in charge of post-secondary.

“The minister [is] listening to what we have to say and asking a lot of questions and I think it’s a good thing,” she said.

Demonstrators outside Montreal’s city hall on November 1.

But directives from Duchesne’s ministry have been slow and concrete details on initiatives like the summit on postsecondary education have yet to be released.

Both McGill and Concordia received directives officially cancelling the Liberal’s tuition hike on Nov. 2, nearly two months after the PQ announced their government would cancel the increases.

While the student federations work in tandem with the gov-

ernment, ASSÉ is calling for its members, numbering over 100,000 students, to continue mobilizing.

“In reality, though the tuition hike has been cancelled, teaching institutions are not sheltered from other dangers such as the commodification of knowledge,” stated an ASSÉ press release.

ASSÉ organized demonstrations such as the Nov. 1 solidarity march for former-CLASSE spokesperson Gabriel NadeauDubois after he was found guilty

—PHOTO BY ERIN HUDSON (CUP)

of contempt of court, and the Montreal contingent for a global day of action against the corporatization of education.

The day of action demonstration on Oct. 18 resulted in three arrests and the injury of one demonstrator, Emmanuel Denizon, from a rubber bullet.

An international week of action is set for the week of Nov. 14. Department associations at five Quebec universities so far have adopted strike mandates for the week.

7

The Omega · Volume 22, Issue 10

Life & Community Music Makes Meals goes bigger

Local bands come together to support the Kamloops Food Bank Oriol Salvador Ω Contributor

In its seventh year, Music Makes Meals presents a lineup of local talented musicians to raise funds for the Kamloops Food Bank.

Saturday, Nov. 10, three local bands -- Solara, Matt Stanley & The Decoys and Henry Small Band -- plus special guests No Sinner from Vancouver, will be playing a show at the Kamloops Convention Centre.

The event started six year ago, according to Kamloops This Week’s Dale Bass.

“The food bank in Kamloops was having significant problems,” Bass said. “We ran a story in our paper where the executive director said they may have to shut down.

“Two friends of mine [TRU alumni Joey Jack and local singer-songwriter Danie Pouliotte] e-mailed me and said, ‘We need to do something, let’s do it with music.’ We called up a few friends and put together the first Music Makes Meals night at The Blue Grotto, where we had been until this year.”

Henry Small, of the Henry Small Band, describes his live performance as “a bunch of guys getting together and having fun.”

Solara is a local world-music ensemble with an international feeling. Matt Stanley & The Decoys “is a younger band with old roots, coming out of the Tom Petty and Bob Dylan school, even they’re all in their twenties,” Small said.

Small got the headliner of the night, No Sinner “because he is awesome,” Bass said.

“Colleen Rennison, the lead singer, is the real deal, a combination of Janis Joplin with Amy Winehouse,” Small said.

Rennison is also a successful actress with appearances in movies such as The Story of Us, with Bruce Willis and TV series such as Stargate SG-1.

“Her persona on stage is very authentic and her band is very authentic, which is something that translates to the rest of the bands,” Small said.

Anna-Lilja Dawson The Sheaf (U of S)

The Gateway (U of A) EDMONTON (CUP) — Fragments of male DNA have been found in the brains of human females, according to a recent study coming out of the University of Alberta.

The study, Male Michrochimerism in the Female Human Brain, was recently published under the direction of lead author William Chan, a researcher in the U of A’s Department of Biochemistry.

“We looked into various regions of the brain of our subjects, and we found the foreign [male] DNA in many different places,” Chan explained. “For example, it’s not just stuck in the forebrain or the hindbrain — it seems to be scattered everywhere. We don’t know if there’s a reason for that yet. For now, we can only say that there seems to be a random distribution.”

Chan said the foreign DNA is also untranslated, meaning it serves no discernible function.

Wheeler said that when indigenous languages die, cultures are lost with them.

“The older people will tell you that all the philosophical reasonings, the world view, the value systems are ingrained in the language,” Wheeler said. “The language is the vehicle through which you learn a people’s world view.”

Wheeler marks the residential school system as the beginning of the massive decline of indigenous language speakers.

“Out of fear for their children and in attempt to protect their children, many did not teach indigenous languages to their children for fear that their kids would suffer the same things they suffered,” Wheeler said.

But Peter Brand, manager of FirstVoices, believes that the creation of the FirstVoices Chat application is the dawn of a new era for indigenous languages in Canada.

The developing team went beyond the original 32 dialects of B.C. to include all of the indigenous languages in Canada, Australia and New Zealand, as well as some in the United States.

The app also allows the user to copy and paste a large body of text from supported chat programs into Microsoft Word and email platforms. This feature allows users to communicate in indigenous languages outside of Facebook Chat and Google Talk.

Brand said that it tends to be 20- to 30-year-olds who spearhead efforts to revive indigenous languages.

“It was those young people who first asked us for that app and they use it on a daily basis as a normal part of their daily life,” Brand said.

“There’s no doubt that their language is really a wonderful example of what can transpire when that generation takes an interest in maintaining the language for their children’s sake.”

Brand said that creating the FirstVoice Chat app was an excellent way of getting the younger population reconnected with their indigenous languages in the written form. In the past, programs to revive indigenous languages put in place by the government have been short-lived without creating longterm results of language retention.

In 2002, the federal Liberal government set aside $172 million to be spent over 11 years on preserving indigenous languages in Canada. Five years later in 2007, the Conservative government cut the funding.

Currently, the Department of Canadian Heritage provides $5 million annually to fund community-based language preservation projects under the Aboriginal Languages Initiative.

The FirstVoices Chat app is free to download from the App Store.

SASKATOON (CUP) — An indigenous language chat application for mobile devices has created a shimmer of hope for the survival of aboriginal culture across the country.

FirstVoices Chat is an iPhone application with over 100 keyboards for indigenous languages compatible with Facebook Chat and Google Talk.

The B.C. based app may be just what Saskatchewan’s indigenous languages need to recover their lost speakers.

The total number of indigenous language speakers in Saskatchewan fell by 0.94 per cent between 2006 and 2011, a difference of over 2000 people.

Winona Wheeler, head of the department of native studies at the University of Saskatchewan, explained that lack of support for these languages led to the decline in speakers. She said the federal and provincial governments, as well as universities and colleges, need to provide more indigenous language programming for small communities before it is too late.

“Compared to other provinces, the state of native languages here is faring [well] but the reality is that native languages disappear real quick,” Wheeler said.

Within the province, the two lessspoken languages, Lakota and Dakota, along with more widely-spoken ones like Dene, are not receiving enough support from the government and other No Sinner (pictured) headlines the Music Makes Meals coninstitutions to keep them from disapcert benefitting the Kamloops Food Bank.

pearing, Wheeler said.

She said that even at the community —PHOTO BY ERIC CAIRNS

level, the Lakota and Dakota languages are receiving very little support to keep For the first time this year, Mu- mloops, who are doing their own a consistent number of speakers. Dene sic Makes Meals put together an thing in so many different ways is prominent in northern Saskatchewan album with a taste of the local mu- and styles.” as a spoken language but does not have CDs, called Feed the Soul cost many institutionalized literacy prosic talent, including the performing bands, with funds going to the $10 and will be available at the grams. concert, the food bank, Kamloops Kamloops Food Bank.

“It is absolutely vital that the Univer“We put out a call for musicians This Week offices, The Smorg, sity of Saskatchewan puts the resources to send us their stuff,” Small said. The Art We Are, the Golden Bud- that are required into developing lan“We got a really well balanced dha and Caffe Motivo. The con- guage programming at this university CD, which really shows off the cert starts at 7:30 with tickets at that will benefit communities,” Wheeler amounts of talent we have in Ka- $10 as well. said.

The lack of resources going into language curriculum development is the major hurdle Saskatchewan faces in its efforts to sustain indigenous languages.

Currently the only indigenous lanHowever, he added that prior to er’s, revealing a plausible link guage offered at the U of S is Cree.

Wheeler said that Dene, Michif and his study, nothing was known between microchimerism and a Anishinaabe would all benefit from about whether or not the human lower rate of the disease. “[But] you can’t just ask vol- having courses offered at the university. brain could actually harbour forunteers to give up a part of their Indigenous languages were traditioneign genetic material. ally used only for oral communication “The brain is supposed to be brains for study,” he said.

“You basically have to [get and have been passed down through a more important or privileged place — like your eye, for ex- samples] from cadavers. We hope families through storytelling. ample,” he said. “You don’t want that other people with better reyour immune system to go into sources would be able to potenyour eye and mess around with tially look at our phenomenon it. That’s why we have a barrier and, one, reproduce it, two, if around these privileged organs, they are interested in looking at [and] this made us wonder wheth- the relationship between the pheer that would make it harder for nomenon and human diseases, potentially do a larger study, look foreign cells to get in there.”

Chan’s study focused on find- at the correlation, and see if they ing male DNA because it was the could find something that agrees most straightforward method of with what we found.”

Chan said his research into determining foreign genetic mamicrochimerism has come to an terial in the female brain.

“We could not use the same end, and future researchers will method to look for foreign female have to take things one step at a genetic material in a female, for time.

“Without knowing whether the example, because the method we used depended on looking for ge- phenomenon occurs or not, we netic material from the Y chro- can’t ask about why it’s there.

If we do find it’s there, the next mosome,” he said.

Chan added he and his team step is to ask why,” he said. “For

looked at the correlation between now, we don’t really have any —IMAGE BY SAMANTHA BR AU N/THE SHEAF microchimerism and Alzheim- evidence.”

Human brains can harbour foreign genetic material Nick Ong

Chat app strengthens Canada’s diminishing indigenous languages

8

November 7, 2012

Arts & Entertainment

Album Review: Welcome to Miami Bad luck continues for Montreal metal band

Travis Persaud Ω Contributor

From the pulsing horns throwing the listener into the opening track, “Can’t Stand It,” to the record’s conclusion 37 minutes later, Slam Dunk’s sophomore album Welcome to Miami is very much a party album.

This sound comes as no surprise given the conditions the Victoria-based band formed under.

The five members of Slam Dunk assembled in 2009 as a house music side project. If ever there was a record to follow the example set by Hollerado’s confetti-filled packaging of Record in a Bag, Welcome to Miami would be that record.

By track seven of 10, “Runner,” it becomes clear that Slam Dunk utilizes formulaic emphatic highs and introspective lows. Yet, every breakdown is as refreshing as the one that preceded it. This clearly is Slam Dunk’s signature and they do it well.

Cemented by the final track “Fantasy” is the band’s ability to fabricate the most infectious of indie-pop guitar hooks.

The album is rambunctious, commanding and ultimately reveals a very dynamic musical arrangement.

Slam Dunk is equally com-

fortable contrasting torn male vocals with a delicate female swoon over a fanciful piano backing seen on the latter half of “Runner” as they are hammering through the punk tendencies of “Sass.”

Although Welcome to Miami is officially categorized as garage rock, it would be a shame to the album if it was pigeon-holed by the term. Fans of Titus Andronicus’ The Monitor would be partial to giving the record a listen.

—IMAGE COURTESY FILE U NDER: MUSIC

Sean Brady Ω Contributor

Already stranded in Kamloops, Montreal-based metal band Endast was struck another blow when its equipment was stolen from a trailer Oct. 31.

Three of the band’s guitars were stolen from a locked trailer in the Holiday Inn Express parking lot. Among them were a oneof-a-kind prototype and a guitar that had been used to record every Endast album to date.

“It was a pretty emotional moment,” said band frontman James Arsenian.

“You develop a familiarity you can’t get with a brand new instrument,” he added. “It melds with your hands. It’s a big deal.

We can replace guitars, but we’ll never get those ones back.”

Following the theft, the band immediately released a YouTube video with the news that said the completion of the band’s tour was in peril.

In it, Arsenian described the guitars and asked viewers to spread the word and report any sightings in Kamloops.

The response on social media

wasn’t something that the band was expecting.

“Word is spreading so quick right now that I’m starting to look up,” Arsenian said. “Someone’s got to know something.”

Endast had been stuck in Kamloops due to vehicle problems since its Oct. 25 show at Bailey’s Pub. The band finally departed for Calgary on Nov. 2.

Despite the car trouble, the band was able to continue its tour after its show at Bailey’s Pub because of a devoted fan who drove them to their other B.C. shows in Vancouver and Prince George.

The band missed tour dates in Edmonton, Grand Prairie and Red Deer. Thanks to a supporter and help from the Kamloops Long & McQuade, Endast was able to continue on its way to Calgary to play a scheduled stop.

The band is still working to sort out permanent replacement instruments.

Editor’s note: I you have any information about this or any other crime, contact Crimestoppers at 1-800222-TIPS (8477) or the RCMP.

Halloween with July Talk Travis Persaud Ω Contributor

Canadian Music Corner Taylor Rocca

Ω Copy/Web Editor Calling Charlottetown, P.E.I. home, Two Hours Traffic is an alternative pop rock group that has been hanging around the scene since the release of its 2003 EP, The April Storm.

Despite recording music for nearly a full decade, Two Hours Traffic has just started to make noise within Canadian music over the past five years.

The release of 2007’s Little Jabs featured the single, “Heroes of the Sidewalk,” a catchy acoustic pop track reminiscent of late-1990’s Goo Goo Dolls material. This was the band’s first work with The Bumstead Recording Company.

The group continued its surge

Brendan Kergin

Ω Arts & Entertainment Editor One of the latest genres to really take form is space pop.

It’s not a style that has even really coalesced into anything, but bands in this area have noticeable similarities.

Often a female vocalist, plenty of electronica and trance inf luences, high production value, some synth, some symphonic references, these are all hallmarks of the genre so far.

One of the first bands to really embrace a lot of these points was Crystal Castles, though the group doesn’t self-describe as space pop. A studio duo/live

with 2009’s Territory, a strong follow-up to Little Jabs.

After three years of relative silence, Two Hours Traffic returned in September 2012 with the release of the four-track EP, Siren Spell. “Amour Than Amis” is the newest single from the EP, a heart-felt track about a young couple who are more than friends but not quite in love. Frontman Liam Corcoran belts out, “We are more than just amis, but lovers we are not.”

The new EP also features the track “Audrey,” which rolls in with a commanding drumline.

Fans of Hamilton rockers the Arkells will most definitely appreciate the efforts of Two Hours Traffic as they continue to emerge onto the every expanding Canadian music scene. trio based in Toronto, the band formed in 2004 and has been riding a moderate wave of success since the 2010 album Crystal Castles (all the albums are called Crystal Castles, so this is often referred to as Crystal Castles II ), which included the single “Not In Love” that featured The Cure’s Robert Smith on vocals.

The most recent album, Crystal Castles III, continues the electronic pop hooks and thumping beats and dreamy vocals.

The new single, “Wrath of God,” has been doing well on CBC Music and received positive reviews from across the Internet by the likes of the cuttingedge music website Pitchfork and music magazine Fader.

“Let’s all band together and have a good Halloween,” Leah Fay, the lead female vocalist of Toronto-based July Talk, said to the crowd at Bailey’s Pub just as the band delved into its set.

Between the slamming guitars, blues riff, catchy hooks and off-mike howls, July Talk had no problem winning over the crowd.

Despite the small audience and limited dance floor space, the ever energetic Fay and frontman Peter Dreimanis coaxed the crowd into letting loose in front of them. Pleased, Dreimanis thanked those dancing audience members, telling them, “it’s so much better when you dance.”

Fay and Dreimanis playfully established the tone for the set as Fay yanked on Dreimanis’ hair and coyly placed her scarf around his neck. In itself, Fay and Dreimanis’ on-stage interactions are a show.

As the music consumes them, Fay and Dreimanis come to embody the tensions presented by Fay’s delightfully sweet voice contrasted with Dreimanis’ growls. In one motion Fay grabs Dreimanis luring him only to turn around and promptly reject him.

Regardless of a flu making its rounds in the band, July Talk delivered a lively show spry with commitment to the music they made. The band delivered a balance of confidence and vulnerability making them accessible as performers. Encouraging and feeding off the crowd’s energy, July Talk’s presence was captivating.

The Bailey’s Pub show was July Talk’s second time playing in Kamloops since the beginning of September. Different from July Talk’s first Kamloops show, they returned with a new tour van and temporary replacement drummer in tow as the band’s stalwart had commitments abroad.

Peter Dreimanis and Leah Fay of July Talk at Bailey’s Pub on Halloween night.

—PHOTO BY TR AVIS PERSAUD

After playing at TRU for Tunes Against Tuition, the band had a tight schedule of just more than two days to make it back to Toronto for a hometown show. Unfortunately the band’s van died forcing them to abandon it in Schreiber, Ont. On their trek back westward Dreimanis explained they paid a visit to their recently deceased van, stopping to see if it would start for them to no avail.

The unlikely vocal pairing had an equally unlikely meeting in Toronto a few summers ago at a candlelit bar during the Ossington Avenue Blackout Party held as a commemorative anniversary to the 2003 blackout that left much of Ontario and the eastern United States without power. Fay caught Dreimanis’ attention as she

sung a song about her ex-boyfriend.

Before the night was through Dreimanis approached Fay, asking her to accompany him for some fries. Fay casually declined his offer describing how she was off-put by his deceivingly young appearance, his voice that she recounted to sound as if he’d been smoking cigarettes since he was eight and the bottles he broke during her impromptu performance. As luck would have it, Dreimanis was able to track Fay down later, ultimately uniting them to form July Talk.

July Talk released its self-titled debut album on White Girl Records on Oct. 16, 2012. In the new year the band hopes to tour Australia. “When it happens I’ll believe it,” Fay said of the upcoming tours.

9

The Omega · Volume 22, Issue 10

Arts & Entertainment

Performance brings music from another place, another time

Morgan Whiteford Ω Contributor

Cappella Artemisia wowed a 130-person audience at the Alumni Theatre on Nov. 1.

A musical group founded in 1991 in Bologna, Italy, the group sings and plays songs that were written for nuns during the 16th and 17th centuries in Italy.

The cloistered nuns during this time period had to find ways to perform the music given to them, which created challenges like not having men to sing the low keys and using instruments they weren’t allowed to.

“Who’s on bass?” singer Candace Smith asked ironically about the music produced and how it was meant for nuns.

This didn’t seem to be a problem for the musical group. Though Cappella Artemisia’s set list is tra-

ditional music in Italian it can be an intriguing performance for anglophones.

One doesn’t need to know the lyrics to be able to tell when there are sad or joyful parts of each song.

The way it is sung, the performers expressions tell the story.

At the Kamloops performance there were eight women and one man. Five of the performers were vocalists. Two others were cornetto players with one harpsichord and one bass viol (a string and bow instrument similar to a guitar) player rounding out the group.

The harpsichord in Cappella Artemisia was actually electric which also made for an interesting contribution to an older style of music.

With each song – sometimes in the middle of them – came a quick switch with the press of a button to a different sound on the piano-like instrument. “It could imitate hu-

Capella Artemisia at the TRU Alumni Theater Nov. 1.

man voice better than most instruments,” said Bruce Dickey, a cornetto player.

The cornetto is an instrument that went out of use in the 19th century when it was taken over by violin.

Its revival only began in the 1950s. In the 17th and 18th centuries it was the most popular soprano instrument explained Dickey. Both cornetto players added a different sound to the performance than a regular violin. They kept up with the wide vocal range that the ladies could sing. The gifted travellers put on a unique and compelling show, both from the perspective of the songs sung and instruments used.

Cappella Artemisia has some amazing talent in both its singing and its instruments. The crowd showed its appreciation with a welldeserved standing ovation.

TRU grad joins Kamloops Art Council board Brendan Kergin

Ω Arts & Entertainment Editor A recent TRU fine arts graduate is jumping right into the local arts scene in more than one way. Oil painter Jo Wyers, a 2012 bachelors of fine arts grad, has been elected to the Kamloops Arts Council (KAC) board, a local organization involved with a variety of the arts.

Wyers, born and raised in Kamloops, is new to the board and organization and is excited to be involved with it.

“It feels excellent, it feels great to actually have a seat and be able know that you can be a contributing factor,” said Wyers, who spent five years at TRU. “So I think that’s kind of exciting, but I’m kind of nervous about it, but it’s definitely excited.”

The KAC, established in 1968, supports a variety of the arts, including visual arts, writing and performance.

The recent Writers Fair was one of their events and they have organized a series of Saturday morning arts workshops for the fall.

“It’s supportive to artists, emerging artists, established artists, artists in the community, in the region,” Wyers said.

“They do events that are associated with the community such as Art in the Park and they just had the children’s event this summer.

“It’s a very in depth organization, we

have a lot of people that working behind the scenes to make a lot of things happen in the community, art related.”

A press release from the Kamloops Arts Council announcing the recent board elections described Wyers work as centring on the animals in Knutsford, where she lives.

“I’ve worked a lot with regionalism and aspects of survivalism as well in relation to wildlife, area and location,” Wyers said. “My backyard is my muse.”

Regionalism is a style of painting that looks at rural lifestyles.

Her interest in the KAC stemmed from friends recommending the organization as a proactive aspect of the community the recent grad could get involved with “It was recommend by friends that this was a great organization to get involved with and I’ve had a lot of experiences with non-profit organizations in the past,” she said. “With the positive attitude I’ve been hearing about the Kamloops Arts Council I thought why wouldn’t I try and contribute.

“They have a great business statement involving the idea that it’s about artists, it’s about business, it’s about government, it’s about everybody working together,” she said.

Wyers is working on a show of her own featuring other artists. Green will be showing at the KAC Wilson House Gallery from Jan. 8 to Feb. 7, 2013.

—PHOTO BY MORGAN WHITEFORD

We’re still looking for a distribution/ adsales manager.

Want a parttime job with incentives?

Got a car and a license to operate it?

Contact editor@ truomega.ca for details.

—IMAGE COURTESY JO WYERS

Puzzle of the Week #9 – Gene’s Greasy Spoon Caf´ e Welcome to Gene’s Greasy Spoon Caf´e. The breakfast special is six choices from eggs easy over, eggs sunny side up, poached eggs, scrambled eggs, two pieces of sausage, three pieces of bacon, one pork chop (counts as two selections), hash browns, brown toast, white toast, one apple, and one orange. You may choose an item more than once, but there are limits: 1. You must select at least one piece of fruit.

2. You can not choose more than three selections (not pieces) of meat.

3. Fine then. You can choose four selections of meat, but then the other two must be fruit.

4. You can have up to three eggs, but they can not be prepared in more than two styles.

5. You want both white and brown toast? No, that would be silly.

6. You must select at least four different items.

How many possible breakfasts are there? (Remember that the order of the items does not matter.)

This contest is sponsored by the Mathematics and Statistics department. The full-time student with the best score at the end of the year will win a prize.

Please submit your solution (not just the answer but also why) by noon next Wednesday to Gene Wirchenko <genew@ocis.net>. Submissions by others are also welcome. The solution will be posted the Wednesday after that in the Math Centre (HL210A). Come visit: we are friendly.

10

November 7, 2012

Sports

WolfPack basketball take three of four over opening weekend

Adam Williams Ω Sports Editor

The Wolf Pack basketball program won three of four game against the University of Northern B.C. (UNBC) Timberwolves this weekend at Tournament Capital Centre. The women won both of their games and sit at 2-0 after opening weekend, the men at 1-1.

Women’s basketball coach Scott Reeves was happy with the results of the weekend, especially in a high-pressure situation.

“It took us a little bit to get going,” Reeves said in a TRU Athletics press release. “I think there was a little bit of nerves with lots of family around ready to watch the young kids. We had our veterans step up.”

The women won their Nov. 2 game by a score of 78-61 and followed it up Nov. 3 with a 83-62 victory. Post Diane Schuetze led the team with 46 points on the weekend and was trailed closely by point guard Jenny Ju who had 42 points.

“That is what your fifth year seniors are supposed to do,” Reeves said. “ [Schuetze] is our captain, she is our leader. She has great hands. She has worked on her game for a long time and

she is definitely a big talent. She stepped up for us.”

The men lost a close match to UNBC Nov. 2 night, 69-67 but bounced back with a 73-68 win Nov. 3. The Wolf Pack’s ability to bounce back from a tough loss shows the heart the team has.

“It’s nice to get [the first win],” Wolf Pack head coach Scott Clark told TRU Athletics. “ I am just happy for the fellas. We would like to be 2-and0 obviously. It is great to get in week number one. We can relish on this for a little bit before we move on.”

Guard Brett Rouault lead the team with 25 points and 3 assists in 37 minutes of game action on Nov. 3.

“He made some good shots,” Clark said of Rouault. “Most of them were open looks. When he has his feet set, it’s a good shot and he made them. He has been pretty good all this year. Yesterday, the stats weren’t that great but I thought today he played the way he is capable of playing.”

Both teams will now head to Vancouver to face off against the University of B.C. Thunderbirds.

The Thunderbirds were the Canada West women’s basketball champions in 2011-12.

Gold in Rio on the horizon for Victoria swimmer Alex Curial

The Martlet (UVIC) VICTORIA (CUP) — For Vikes swimmer Richard Weinberger, the past year has been the most demanding and rewarding of his life. Weinberger sought to achieve the dream of athletes around the world: to compete in the Olympics. The marathon swimmer got his chance and was rewarded with a medal at the London 2012 summer Olympics.

Weinberger has enjoyed success in marathon racing in the past few years.

In 2010, at the age of 20, he took home bronze in the 10-kilometre open water swim at the Pan Pacific Swimming Championships in California.

Weinberger followed this up at the 2011 Pan American Games in Mexico by winning gold in the 10-kilometre marathon, edging out American Arthur Frayler by 3/10ths of a second.

But for Weinberger, the ultimate goal remained the Olympic Games.

Weinberger had to dedicate himself fully to his training as he prepared for the Olympic qualifiers.

“The sacrifice was my life,” says Weinberger. “It’s not a sport anymore when you get to this level, it’s a lifestyle . . . Throughout the year, we did 80–100 kilometres [of swimming] a week. I trained 10 times a week.”

He is quick to credit his friends for support, especially Zachary Parkes and Rachael Newman. “They were training with me through the whole summer. That was really sweet of them . . . It really helped me.”

Weinberger also had the guidance of Vikes swimming coach Ron Jacks, a former gold medallist at the 1966 Commonwealth Games and coach to several Olympians. “He’s a good guy. He knew what he was doing,” says Weinberger, who credits Jacks with being able to take his energy and focus it towards an Olympic goal.

Despite all the training, Weinberger’s dream was nearly cut short in the quali-

fiers due to a fluke accident. Just metres after diving into the water, Weinberger went to take off his cap (he is not a fan of swim caps). During this process, his goggles flew off as well, leaving him unable to swim in the salt water. Weinberger was forced to flip over and replace his goggles, dropping him from an early first-place position to dead last.

This put him down, but far from out.

“I just kinda chipped my way back into it, focused on my physical and mental training,” Weinberger says of the setback. He charged back into the race and ended up placingsecond. Not only had Weinberger staged an amazing comeback; the result was also good enough to send him to the Olympic Games in London.

The Serpentine lake in Hyde Park was the stage for the 10-kilometre marathon swim on Aug. 10. Weinberger was among the favourites for a medal going into the race, along with Spyridon Gianniotis of Greece, Thomas Lurz of Germany and Oussama Mellouli of Tunisia, who had beaten Weinberger in the qualifiers. And as predicted, it was the four of them in contention as they neared the finish line.

“I knew we were going to break away at some point and that was going to be the race,” Weinberger recalls. “I knew I had a three out of four chance to get a medal.”

After a grueling 110 minutes of swimming, at a time of 1:50:00.30, Weinberger crossed the finish line in third place, earning him the Olympic medal he had dreamed of.

He was edged out by Mellouli, who recorded a 1:49:55.10, and Lurz with a 1:49:58.50. Amazingly, the top three swimmers finished within seconds of each other.

Weinberger was proud that he could help out his country. “I’m happy with my bronze,” Weinberger says. “Swimming as a Canadian athlete on the national team...it’s really rewarding. It makes you feel like you’re doing something for your country.

“It’s a great feeling.”

TRU’s 2012-13 women’s basketball team.

—PHOTO COURTESY TRU ATHLETICS

Be relieved the Winter Classic was cancelled Adam Williams Ω Sports Editor

Since its first Heritage Classic at Commonwealth Stadium in 2003, the NHL has been in love with the idea of outdoor hockey games.

And hey, why not? The now annual Winter Classic has become a “cornerstone event” that draws huge ratings (4.6 million viewers when the Capitals played the Penguins in 2011) on the NHL calendar, features throwback jerseys that can be sold for outrageous prices and has become the annual subject of the HBO 24/7 series adored by fans.

But this season there will be no Winter Classic.

The NHL, mired in yet another lockout, cancelled the event Nov. 2, stating, “The logistical demands for staging events of this magnitude made today’s decision unavoidable.”

While I think it is entirely unacceptable that this lockout has gone on as long as it has, I have to say I’m a bit relieved the Winter Classic has been cancelled.

Not because the idea of watching the Leafs play in front of 115,000 fans during a prime-time NHL event makes my stomach turn -- which it does -- but because I think it will be better for the event in the long run.

For a long time now I have argued that making the Winter Classic an annual event was a mistake.

Sure, it’s great for the markets involved, regardless of how often the game occurs those fans will turn out in droves.

But for the rest of the NHL, especially those whose teams aren’t classified as worthy of being involved, the game has lost a bit of its lustre.

The first Heritage Classic in Edmonton was a spectacle.

Two teams playing outdoors, in

the freezing cold and snow, iconic NHLers participating in an alumni game; it was really something to behold.

But now, it has become just another part of the yearly schedule.

I’ll watch the game if I’m free, but I certainly won’t plan my day around it like I used to and I know I’m not alone.

Not only that, but with the current state of the NHL and its labour negotiations, does anyone really want to see the Winter Classic played this year?

As Greg Wyshynski, editor of the Puck Daddy blog on Yahoo!

Sports points out: “Did you really want to see the players going through the motions of an HBO series and an outdoor game and promotional events after the NHL denigrated them as cattle and took money out of their pockets? To hear ‘lockout angst’ replace ‘ice conditions’ as the media obsession?

“Did you really want to stomach Bettman spewing platitudes about a game that had been reduced to a bargaining chip and about the importance of ‘the greatest fans in the world’ who ranked somewhere behind the price of massage therapists on the NHL’s lockout radar?”

Postponing the Winter Classic is not something that any NHL fan hoped for this season, it’s a sign that time is quickly running out to save the season. Now that it’s happened, I can objectively say I think it will be better for the event in the end.

Fans from markets around the NHL will look forward to it, players will celebrate it with the same vigour as days gone by and the focus of the event will be the game itself and not the conclusion of the lockout.

Now all we have to do it get Fehr and Bettman to put aside their egos and make a deal, before fan animosity turns towards the 2014 Winter Classic.

Matt Hendricks plays a shot for the Washington Capitals during the 2011 Winter Classic.

—PHOTO BY JAIME SQUIRE/GETTY/AFP

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The Omega · Volume 22, Issue 10

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Notice anything wrong with The Omega? Bring it to our attention and win a prize. We may have done it on purpose just to keep you on your toes...or you might just be helping us get better. Either way...you win!

12

November 7, 2012

TRUSU Membership Advisory Looking for a place to relax between classes?

Students in BC receive 70% less needs-based grants than the national average

The Students’ Union Building has a games room with ping-pong, fooseball, and tv.

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8AM-10PM M-F

DISPO L L S A

Post-Secondary Education Fact:

Drop by the Members’ Services Desk or the campaigns table this week!

This Week: • Politics, History, & Philosophy Beer Conference

Check out the Events Calendar at trusu.ca for details!

Log on to trusu.ca and get connected!

Things getting tight at the end of the semester?

The Students’ Union runs a food bank for members in need. Call 250.828.5289 or drop by the Members’ Services Desk in the Students’ Union Building.

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