Spetember 19, 2012

VOLUME 22 ISSUE 3

SEPTEMBER 19, 2012

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CBC comes to

Kamloops

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Video game to sate your hockey needs?

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Ocean swells for Vancouver band

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Where will you get your hockey?

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TRU’s Independent Student Newspaper

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September 19, 2012

News

CUPE president hoping to avoid strike

we were to either go on strike or Devan C. Tasa be locked out, obviously there Ω News Editor would be some effect on students for sure.”

Job action doesn’t necessarily The president of the Canamean strike pickets in front of dian Union of Public Employees university buildings.

(CUPE), a labour union repAt the University of Victoria, resenting TRU’s support and CUPE locals taking job action teaching assistant staff is hopeare refusing to take overtime ful job action won’t be neceswork, giving out information sary. and picketing only the adminisMore than two-thirds of CUPE tration buildings.

Local 4897’s 607 CUPE 4897 is members participatconcerned about ed in a strike vote wages and job seconducted between curity.

Aug. 28 and Sept. 6.

Because there 83 per cent voted in hasn’t been any favour of strike acchanges in pay to tion. catch up with inThe union is now f lation and staff able to apply to have to pay for B.C.’s Labour Reparking like stulations Board for a dents, support staff 72-hour strike nohas actually been tice that will put it earning less, Rugg in a legal position to

—Lois Rugg said. take job action.

“It’s all meant a “Our goal is to cut in pay over the not have to strike,” “So far it seems that’s going last few years for us and at other said Lois Rugg, CUPE 4897’s to happen, so we’re relatively institutions it’s the same situapresident.

“Our goal is to actually be able optimistic that we’ll be able to tion,” she said.

As for job security, the union to negotiate an agreement with the have some good negotiations if is concerned about a post-secemployer so that we won’t have to all goes well.”

If there is a breakdown in ne- ondary review being done by the take any action, but if things were to fall apart, our membership has gotiations, there could be job ac- provincial government that could mean job cuts, as well as the unigiven us a strong mandate to take tion as early as mid-October.

“Our goal is to work with the versity hiring more workers on a action.

“The goal is to absolutely bar- faculty association and the stu- part-time, contract basis.

Keep watching The Omega gain and if we don’t have to do dent union and so forth when anything we won’t, because we are possible to have a minimal effect and theomega.ca for updates on on students,” Rugg said, “but if the possible strike. here for the students,” she said.

The university and the union have been unable to make progress on a contract since the old one expired in 2010.

Since the strike vote, the university has been talking with the union to set up a meeting to negotiate.

“The key thing is that we are anxious to get back to the bargaining table and to negotiate a fair deal,” Rugg said.

“...if we don’t have to do anything, we won’t, because we’re here for the students.”

That’s what you said For this week’s issue, we patrolled the grounds looking for your answers to this question:

How could a possible CUPE strike affect you?

Rebecca Prudy

Sabre Willard

Amoldeep Singh

“Our university would be less well run, but I would support them for trying to get a wage increase to improve their standard of living.”

“I hope I’d be able to have all of my classes all of the same and I would go and work out.”

“If part of the whole won’t work, than the whole becomes stuck.”

Fourth year economics and politics

University Prep

Second year computing science

Watch for us around campus and come chime in on an isssue...or we’ll ambush you.

Empowerment drives student senator Devan C. Tasa Ω News Editor

If there’s any constant in Chris Albinati’s life, it’s his drive to empower marginalized voices.

Albinati is one of four student members of TRU’s senate, which has power over anything academic at the university, up to and including the creation or deletion of entire degree programs.

Three years ago, Albinati lived in Montréal and worked as an executive producer at a community radio station, responsible for managing volunteers and producing journalistic pieces.

As a journalist, he focused on giving a voice to groups such as immigrants and refugees as an alternative to getting stories from those that already had power, like politicians and public relations officials.

“The mainstream media goes to those ready-made, manufactured, pre-fabricated stories and sources for stories,” he said.

“Oftentimes what the mainstream doesn’t do is it doesn’t talk to the people as much.”

As an executive producer, it was important to Albinati that

people were able to tell their own stories, without members of the media acting as intermediaries.

“By working in that field, you talk to people,” he said. “Your focus is on people and hearing their stories and getting them to tell their own stories.”

It was that desire to empower citizens that lead Albinati to apply to the TRU and McGill University law schools for the fall of 2011.

We live in a society that is structured and governed by laws, Albinati said.

“I wanted to study law so I could better understand those structures and hopefully better understand how I could advocate for people who are underrepresented in the structures,” he said. “But it requires understanding.”

According to Albinati, the law seems to benefit those that are rich enough to pay for lawyers and that’s something he would like to see change.

“If law is supposed to apply to everyone, it should also benefit everybody,” he said.

SEE SENATOR p. 5

Transcript recognition part of TRUSU recruitment effort Devan C. Tasa Ω News Editor

Being a student representative on one of the university’s committees isn’t known as a glamorous job, but TRUSU has managed to sweeten the deal.

Those volunteering on a committee will now be able to get an institutional governance co-curricular designation on their transcript. They’ll also be able to participate in leadership workshops held throughout the year.

“We want to make sure students want to be more involved in the university,” said Dustin McIntyre, TRUSU’s president, “and not only by doing that by being involved in the committees but giving them something more and by having these leadership workshops, students will be more engaged in their university.”

Participants will also receive a completion certificate signed by TRU’s president, TRUSU’s president and a dean.

The designation can be useful for students to have, McIntyre said.

“It’s something more that you have,” he said. “As well as your degree, you have another designation on your transcript.”

The designation could help a student with applying to grad school or prove to employees the student’s volunteer effort.

The designation is part of a TRUSU effort to recruit more student representatives on university committees.

This year, the student union received the power to appoint student representatives on committees from the university. Before, the institution was responsible for that task.

With this power, TRUSU is able to require student committee representatives to attend a “student caucus,” which allows the students to inform each other of their committee’s activities and co-ordinate to address university-wide issues.

Any TRU student is able to apply to be a member of the student caucus and a university committee.

“If you don’t want to be involved in a club, then this is a great way to get more involved in your university,” McIntyre said. “We’d love to have more people sign-up for this and populate all the committees.”

There are 27 positions available and students need to apply by the last week of September.

To get the designation, a student must go to all student caucus meetings, attend at least one meeting of the university’s senate and board of governors and attend one of the student union’s volunteer registry events. The student must also submit four assignments, which include a goal-planning exercise and a self-reflection paper.

The leadership workshops include sessions teaching the structure of the university, the budget process and the role of labour within the institution.

Those interested in student caucus and the designation can contact TRUSU’s campaigns co-ordinator Krystal Smith at campaigns@ trusu.ca.

ON THE COVER: While many mourn the loss of NHL hockey games (at least for a while) others will take full advantage of the WolfPack, the Kamloops Blazers and other sources (see page 7, for example) for their fix. PHOTOS BY ADAM WILLIAMS, IMAGE BY MIKE DAVIES

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The Omega · Volume 22, Issue 3

THE

MEGA

www.theomega.ca

September 19, 2012

Volume 22, Issue 3

Published since November 27, 1991

editorialstaff EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Mike Davies

editor@truomega.ca

Editorial/Opinions How is it possible that you can’t make actual energy there?

250-828-5069

BUSINESS MANAGER VACANT NEWS EDITOR

Devan C. Tasa

news@truomega.ca ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR

Brendan Kergin

arts@truomega.ca SPORTS EDITOR

Adam Williams

sports@truomega.ca ROVING EDITOR

Samantha Garvey

roving@truomega.ca COPY/WEB EDITOR

Taylor Rocca

copy@truomega.ca

omegacontributors George Menexis, Mark Hendricks, Will McDonald, Cavelle Layes, TRU Athletics, Roadrunner Records (images)

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

letterspolicy

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 It’s been pretty well documented the oil industry doesn’t care about regulations and processes that safeguard the environment. It’s also a fact we all live in an environment, and we’d like for that environment to not have oil all over it. At least I’d like to think it’s a fact — I guess some people could want that … but this isn’t for them.

When you manually turn off your systems that are designed to slow or stop the f low of oil when it’s dangerous to continue sucking it out of the ground, it tells us you don’t care about anyone but yourselves. (See the BP oil spill that has probably per-

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.

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

Follow us on Twitter: @TRU_Omega “Like” us on Facebook.

Do it.

Seriously.

want it wrecking their community, so let’s make it so it doesn’t.

I don’t think it’s unreasonable to have the people pulling those billions of dollars worth of dead dinosaurs out of the ground, are making billions of dollars off of it and have shown they don’t care about anyone else, to process that product into a usable form instead of threatening large chunks of the country’s beauty by trying to transport it for no reason other than greed.

Why not make them turn those dead dinosaurs into usable fuel before we pay them for digging it up.

Dig it up and make it into a product we can use. Make energy with it. Isn’t that what you’re digging it up for?

Do it right there.

Then we don’t need to worry about spills, because they’d be giving us actual energy instead of a line to others that will sell it back to us for more than it cost in the first place and there would be no reason to damage the regions of the Canadian environment that don’t care about the profit margins of Syncrude and Shell — even if it would cost less to do so.

It seems like there would be more to gain, wouldn’t there? editor@truomega.ca

A disenchanted view isn’t the only view

copyright

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

manently wrecked the Gulf of Mexico.)

When you see on your equipment sensors things are going wrong, and just keep on keeping-on anyway, it doesn’t make us want to trust you or believe you when you say sorry afterwards. (See the Enbridge situation from Michigan.)

By the way — what’s your rush to get it out of the ground anyway?

Where’s that oil going? That oil in the tarsands of northern Alberta — is it disappearing and do we need to get it before the aliens do?

No. It isn’t.

We can take it out of the ground at whatever rate we want and we could ref ine it into a usable energ y source r ight there in For t McMur ray if they built a place to do that. You k now, the same way that they build those places where we’re so intent on shipping the st uff we’re digging up.

Someone explain to me how a refinery where the oil comes out of the ground, paid for by the people taking it out of the ground, is a bad idea.

Everyone wants the energy provided by the oilsands in northern Alberta, but they don’t

TRUe Thoughts Taylor Rocca Ω Copy/Web Editor Too frequently I see editorial columns that are simply dripping with negative observations about the world.

Sure, there can be a lot of lessthan-awesome things occurring in our world on a regular basis.

But how about all of the great things most people either fail to, or choose not to acknowledge?

Go ahead and call me a sap or call me naive, but just because there is negativity in the world, doesn’t mean it has to be the primary focus of our lives.

Don’t get me wrong, I’ve had plenty of moments in my life where I’ve been the classic “glass half-empty” guy. But more and more these days I try to look at the world through a positive lens. And to my shock and amazement, it actually

makes life more enjoyable.

For example, earlier this week I witnessed a group of students come to the aid of a fellow pupil in need.

This young individual had lost their balance and fallen awkwardly, causing what appeared to be an excruciating injury considering how long the individual remained prone.

Before I knew it, multiple people had rushed to this student’s aid. One volunteered to call campus first-aid. Another asked the student where their next class was, offering to head up there to inform the professor about the impending absence. In the meantime, two passers-by helped the felled individual to a bench in the vicinity and continued to hang around, waiting to ensure the arrival of campus first-aid.

The response time for the first-aid was certainly not something I would have written home about.

For a while, I was far too appalled by the tardiness of the first-aid administrator to appreciate the efforts of a much larger group of caring students who took time out of their day, out their busy schedules, to help someone in need.

In hindsight, it saddens me that my foremost thought about the situation was in regards to the slow first-aid response time, as opposed to the extra efforts

put forth by people who had absolutely no obligation to help out in the first place. Without even realizing it, I was subconsciously choosing not to acknowledge the positive angle of what I had witnessed.

Eventually the first-aid arrived and the person administering the care was more than kind to the individual in need of attention. And in the end, that is what matters in a situation such as this.

What should be commended is the above-and-beyond efforts of regular, everyday people to help out someone in a time of need. Sure, it might seem like second-nature to most people to come to the assistance of someone in distress. But how often do we focus on the negativity of the experience?

Oh, the injury was so gruesome.

I can’t believe it took first-aid so long to show up.

Why did only “X” number of people stop to help? Every other person walking by without a care is such a jerk.

It might be a tired old cliché, but life truly is more enjoyable when you approach it through a positive looking glass.

I look back on the particular event described above and smile now, proud to know that TRU campus is full of individuals who genuinely care for their fellow students — and that is how it should be. copy@truomega.ca

Volunteer orientation: Drop in to The Omega office from 2:30 to 3 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 19 to learn how to get involved.

Why Canada needs more medical specialists: Addiction George Menexis

The Concordian (Concordia) MONTREAL (CUP) — According to the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, 10 per cent Canadians over the age of 15 will experience dependence to either drugs or alcohol. Though there are numerous support groups out there to help deal with this disease, the rate will likely only increase unless steps are taken to help doctors learn how to help their patients.

The health care system in this country is not fully equipped to deal with the ever-growing problem of addiction. There are barely any training programs for doctors, nurses and specialists when it comes to dealing with addiction in its many forms.

This desperately needs to change, for it is disheartening to live in a society where people can’t get sufficient treatment for such a common and difficult disease.

Dr. Evan Wood is a Vancouver medical doctor focusing on innercity medicine. This lack of training for doctors, said Wood, extends beyond the shortcomings of British Columbia’s system.

“The problem is typical of all Canadian provinces,” he said. “Dedicated and caring as they usually are, most Canadian physicians who consider themselves addiction medicine specialists assembled their knowledge about addiction treatment after completing their medical training.”

What Canada really needs are doctors and specialists who know exactly how to approach addiction and have formal training, as well as experience in the field. We need to teach physicians how to help people who are struggling with such deeply personal and psychological issues, using the latest scientific and therapeutic advances.

Wood has familiarized himself with many addiction centres in and around the country and believes that having a trained doctor when it comes to dealing with addiction can make all the difference.

“What was really eye-opening from my visit to [the Boston Medical Center’s Clinical Addiction Research and Education Unit] was the impact that a skilled addiction medicine workforce can have in turning patients’ lives around,” he said.

Canada needs to invest more time and money in the creation of programs where such skills and techniques can be taught and developed. Hope is not lost though, said Wood, referring to a new initiative — one which could prove gamechanging in the fight to improve addiction treatment.

“A potentially ground-shifting opportunity has emerged with the recent establishment of the American Board of Addiction Medicine,” he said. “The board has created guidelines for the development of addiction medicine fellowship programs enabling Canadian medical schools to create programs that are eligible for full accreditation.”

Now it’s Canada’s turn to invest more money and time in order to create effective addiction training programs — and stop ignoring the larger problem.

4

September 19, 2012

News New budget posted online for first time Devan C. Tasa Ω News Editor

For the first time, TRUSU has released its budget online – as well as previous financial statements with information dating back to 2008.

The students union announced it would start posting budgets online at its annual general meeting Jan. 25 after students expressed concerns about its accessibility.

“At the last AGM, the people [there] asked if it had been posted,” said Dustin McIntyre, TRUSU’s president.

He added the delay in posting the budget was because one wasn’t passed yet.

“We had to wait the eight months to pass the budget and it got passed this September,” he said.

The students union didn’t want to post the audits of previous years without the context provided by that budget, McIntyre said.

“We didn’t put any audits up because we wanted to make sure all our ducks were in a row and we had the budget passed so we could put everything up at one time,” he said.

This year, TRUSU is expecting to receive $2.04 million in revenues, 90 per cent of which come from student fees. TRUSU also projects to spend $1.89 million. Last year the union received $1.83 million and spent $1.56 million.

“TRUSU’s in an extremely strong financial position.

[That’s] backed by both our budget and our auditor every year,” McIntyre said.

The largest expense on the budget, at $778,000, is the UPASS, which is 39 per cent of all of the students union’s expenses.

The second largest expense, at $290,000, goes to the wages of TRUSU’s staff, which accounts for 15 per cent of the budget.

Seeing a large increase in funds this year are the international, Aboriginal and Women’s equity collectives. Last year, they collectively spent $9,324. This year, the overall combined budget for the three collectives has been increased to $28,000.

That increase ensures the collectives have the resources to properly campaign and hold great events, McIntyre said.

“Two years ago, we had no problem,” he said. “Last year, the collectives really expanded and they did really good work and we found that they went over budget, so this year we made sure that they had the correct amount.”

TRUSU has also budgeted $75,000 for this year back-toschool Kickstart events and $31,500 for this year’s Common Voice lecture. The last lecture featured CBC news anchor Peter Mansbridge.

If you want to view the TRUSU budget or past financial statements, visit: http://trusu.ca/section/271

UBC graduate Camille Cacnio given probation for role in Stanley Cup riot Will McDonald The Ubyssey (UBC)

VANCOUVER (CUP) — UBC graduate Camille Cacnio won’t be spending any time in jail for participating in the Vancouver Stanley Cup riot.

On Sep. 7, Cacnio was sentenced to two years of probation as well as community service for stealing two pairs of men’s dress pants and a tie from Black and Lee on June 15, 2011.

Cacnio will have to complete 150 hours of community service and maintain a 10 p.m. curfew during her probation.

Cacnio turned herself in to the police and pled guilty to participating in a riot after photos surfaced online of her looting Black and Lee. Cacnio later returned the items and apologized for her actions in a blog post. According to Cacnio, the post has received over 4 million views.

Jason Tarnow, Cacnio’s attorney, argued that she had already received enough punishment for her actions, since she was fired from three jobs, including one at a UBC gym, her online reputation was tarnished and she became a public face of the Vancouver riots.

Cacnio’s attorney also said she was forced to drop out of UBC due to all of the negative publicity she received.

Tarnow said she returned to UBC to finish her degree

last summer, when the campus wasn’t so crowded.

Cacnio has graduated with a degree in environmental biology, and plans to work in that field in the future.

Tarnow argued that a criminal record would seriously hinder her job prospects and her potential to benefit the environment.

Tarnow said Cacnio was a model citizen, except for the 20 seconds she spent inside Black and Lee on the night of the riot.

He cited her extensive record of community service, academic success and volunteer work (including a stint in the Philippines helping underpriveleged children). Cacnio also formerly competed on UBC’s rowing team and has worked in multiple gyms.

“I can’t picture a more wellrounded human being, save and except for 20 seconds,” said Tarnow in the pre-sentencing hearing.

Prosecution originally recommended 15 to 30 days in jail, to be served intermittently on weekends.

The Crown prosecution said jail time was necessary to show disapproval for the riot, as well as deter potential riots in the future.

Provincial court Judge Joseph Galati, who sentenced Cacnio, said the damage done to her reputation and the negative publicity she has received were punishment enough, so a jail sentence wasn’t necessary.

Your Thompson Rivers University Students Union budget.

Not a fan of how they spend your money?

Tell them. Their meetings are open.

-Graphic by Devan C. Tasa

CBC comes to Kamloops Brendan Kergin

Arts & Entertainment Editor Many nations have public broadcasters of some sort. CBC is one of the oldest and Kamloops is about to become a part of it.

The CBC Radio 1 bureau will begin broadcasts on 94.1 FM in early October. The show will be a two-and-a-half hour morningcast weekdays called Daybreak Kamloops, like Daybreak North and Daybreak Kelowna at the neighbouring CBC affiliates.

“Kamloops is on the front edge of a pretty ambitious expansion plan,” said Rob Polson, producer of Daybreak Kamloops. “(CBC President Hubert Lacroix’s) thinking is that in order for CBC to truly live up to its mandate and really, in some ways to survive, is to go back to its roots and bring the service to places that are underserved, like large populations that currently don’t get the full range of CBC services, which would include Kamloops.”

Polson, a recent arrival from Vancouver where he worked in TV at CBC Vancouver, heads a four-person team. While that’s small for most CBC radio bureaus it’s a tight team already. It includes newscaster Doug Herbert, associate producer Josh Pagé and host Shelley Joyce.

With TRU a large piece of the Kamloops community, there is likely to be some media traffic between the new bureau and campus.

“We recognize it’s one of the largest employers in town and

Radio host Shelley Joyce proudly stands in front of the new CBC Radio 1 facility downtown on Victoria Street. Joyce goes live on the air Oct. 9.

—PHOTO BY BRENDAN KERGIN

with the student body it’s one of the biggest, probably is the biggest, draw on a daily basis,” said Polson. “There are so many possible stories at TRU. From the range of experts who work there and are doing their research or just have great backgrounds in geography or poli-sci or whatever, to the large numbers of students who come from around the world who might have something to say about what’s happening in Syria or Turkey or where they’ve come from. And then there’s the cultural aspect of the university with the guests they bring in, the music that is played there. Oh yeah, it is a rich vein for us.”

Shelley Joyce is an experienced host, which is important as she’ll be taking on a larger role than normal. With the reduced team (typical CBC stations have at least seven employees) she’s

taking on board operations on top of hosting.

“I started in radio and TV in Winnipeg and did a daily talk show, weather, on the news, and pretty much everything on the radio,” she said.

She then moved to the coast before moving here, though she kept her job in Vancouver.

“I moved here and continued to voice-track my afternoon drive show for Vancouver from my basement in Kamloops in Barnhartvale,” said Joyce. “So, I was doing live-talk radio from my basement which was so terrifying because all I had was a computer screen and a producer/ director on the other side in Vancouver.”

To get the station into Kamloops took a bit of effort and faced some delays, but the team goes to broadcast Oct. 9 at 6 a.m.

5

The Omega · Volume 22, Issue 3

News amount of wealth concentrated by a small part of the population at the expense of the majority.

“They are about bringing an When Albinati found out in 2011 there were only three stu- argument for free tuition, for dents on the senate despite there free education,” he said. “Educabeing four seats, he wanted to en- tion is a right, as the argument sure in the next election all seats goes. We need educated people. would be filled, so he decided to The future generation needs to be educated in order for our country run.

“The reason that I choose to to continue to improve, to seek innovation.” represent anyThe high body, is because tuition rates I’m very passtudents face sionate about today means advocating for they have to marginalized take out loans, voices within which harms the communities their ability to that I’m part of,” participate in he said. “I feel society in the that the student future. part of [the TRU] “When they community is have to take out marginalized to heavy student an extent.” loans, they’re To prepare for only going to senate meetings, choose their edAlbinati talks ucation based with students on prospective to find out their job opportuniconcerns. ties because “I try to get a they’re going sense of what isto have to pay sues are facing people and as I STUDENT SENATOR for this education down the can I bring those CHRIS ALBINATI road,” Albinati issues before the said.

“When senate if I can or at the very least all of the mat- you start to do that, you start to ters that are raised at the senate close off fields of study.”

Another thing that drives AlbiI try to express what the student opinion is on that,” he said. “It’s nati to be an advocate for changnot my own personal opinion all es is his 16-month-old son, Theoof the time, or most of the time.” dore.

“A lot of reasons why I want But Albinati isn’t afraid to to change the world is mostly speak his mind and act on it.

Over the summer, he organized because I want to make sure the two “Casseroles Night” rallies in world is good for my kid when Kamloops, in which participants he grows up,” he said. “A lot of banged on pots and wore red parents take the stance that they patches, in support of the Québec want to prepare their kids for students that were protesting pro- the world when they grow up, while I see it as I want my kid to posed tuition hikes.

The Québec student protes- be who he is when he grows up tors are part of a movement and I want the world to be a fair that’s questioning the increasing place to live.”

International Intonations

SENATOR...from p. 2

Mark Hendricks Ω Contributor

RFID Tracking of students To combat slipping attendance records, the Northside Independent School District of Texas has approved the tracking of their students by radio frequency identification tags.

The tags are small micro-transmitters, about the size of a grain of rice, which constantly broadcast a radio signal. The tags are used for either signalling, or as is the case with the students, for tracking.

Students of two Texas high schools, as well as all special-education students, are having tags placed into their student ID cards for a trial run. These tags will allow whomever the school district has monitoring the system to instantly be able to locate any student anywhere on campus.

Some district students and parents claim this is an invasion of privacy.

The school district doesn’t see it this way. They see the tags as being akin to security cameras. The district claims the tags will help locate students during role call to get more accurate attendance records. State funding for schools is partially based on student attendance so the school district is banking on this change leading to an estimated $2 million increase in funding.

This is not a purely financially motivated move, student safety is also being considered. By knowing where every student is in the school, the district claims they can increase the safety of all students.

“Within the four walls of Jay High School and Jones Middle School during the school day, we will always know where those kids are,” Pascual Gonzalez, district

Positions Available

spokesperson, told foxnews.com.

Where you can find out more: ht t p://w w w.mysanantonio.com / news/education/ Facebook shares down nearly 45 per cent

Facebook has become an invaluable tool in students’ daily lives; it’s hard to remember a time without it. But what will the future hold for the social media giant? Investors aren’t certain, as evidenced by a down-and-up and down again stock-ride that has left Facebook shares down 45 per cent since their initial public offering in May. With nearly a billion users and revenues of $7.6 billion from the second quarter of 2010 to the sec-

ond quarter of 2012, Facebook is the heavyweight in the social media game. So why did stock prices fall? What does this mean for the future of Facebook?

The answer to why stock prices fell is two-fold.

An extra 1.9 billion shares that were locked up will soon be released for public purchase. Basic economics suggests as more shares of a company are issued it lowers the overall value of each share.

In simple terms, the more shares there are, the less each is worth.

Even though the shares haven’t been issued yet, the stock market is really about future expectations.

We’re already seeing the result of

these as-of-yet unissued shares hitting the market.

The second reason tells us how Facebook is likely to change in the future. It has to do with investor doubt in the financing model of Facebook. As Facebook is free, its revenue comes from those little boxes to the right of the news feed that are just begging to be clicked - advertisements. Companies pay for their placement and that is where Facebook makes the bulk of its money, with a little (relatively speaking) on the side coming in from those Facebook apps that ask you to spend real money.

The problem is that people are increasingly using mobile devices as their primary method of accessing Facebook. Facebook on mobile devices currently doesn’t have advertisements, which means no adrevenue.

The more people use Facebook on their phone the less visual exposure ads on Facebook get; the less visual exposure, the less that ad space is worth.

This is a problem looming over the head of Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook’s CEO. After three months of silence and stock prices plunging nearly 50 per cent, Zuckerberg told shareholders the issue of generating revenue from Facebook on mobile devices is something that needs to be addressed.

This means changes for all of us who regularly get our daily dose of Facebook from phones or tablets.

While Facebook isn’t likely to disappear from mobile devices anytime soon, the fact is the way Facebook offers its mobile service will have to change for Facebook to retain its levels of profit. As Zuckerberg said at the TechCrunch Disrupt Conference in San Fransisco: “We’ve transitioned and are now a mobile company.”

Where you can find out more: http://business.time.com/

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Position 1: Business Manager The ideal candidate for this position will be proficient in all aspects of accounting and bookkeeping.

Responsible for the financial transactions of the organization and oversight of the advertising and distribution manager, the successful candidate will likely only be required for approximately ten (10) hours per week at The Omega offices, but will be required to keep constant watch on the financial aspects of the business

Compensation and benefits: -Salary of $800 per month -Tuition reimbursement for one course (up to three credits) at TRU -$50.00 per semester textbook allowance -Reimbursement of on-campus parking fees to a maximum of $50.00 per month Position 2: Advertising and Distribution Manager The ideal candidate for this position will be a self-starter with a valid driver’s license and reliable vehicle, and a passion for marketing.

Responsible for all aspects of advertising with the publication including sales and invoicing, as well as distribution of the publication, this position will work closely with the business manager to ensure that revenue generation is at a level allowing the organization to succeed, as well as planning special events and interacting with readers through social media.

ing accounts -Tuition reimbursement for one course (up to three credits) at TRU -$50.00 per semester textbook allowance -Reimbursement of on-campus parking fees to a maximum of $50.00 per month Interested parties may submit a resume including references and covering letter to: Mike Davies, Editor-in-Chief By email (preferred) at: editor@truomega.ca Or by mail at: The Omega, TRU’s Independent Student Newspaper 900 McGill Road, TRU Campus House #4 Box 3010 Kamloops, BC V2C 5N3 Positions will remain open until filled.

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6

September 19, 2012

Arts & Entertainment Album Review: Imaginaerum

Puzzle of the Week #1 – Magic Word?

Theatrical performances mingle with heavy metal to produce an eclectic and interesting mix

You have found a piece of paper with an odd word written on it: “ALAKAZARCA”. The paper is torn at the end so this might just be the beginning. What is it anyway? Something in Arabic? A magic word?

Welcome to a new year of puzzles.

Actually, there is a quite mundane explanation for it. What?

Cavelle Layes

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.

Ω Contributor

Nightwish’s latest foray in the metal genre, Imaginaerum, has stepped away from the many others in their genre, taking a heavier style of metal and spinning it into something that you can dance to.

The music found on Imaginaerum can be best described as something that should be heard in a Cirque Du Soleil performance.

This isn’t an insult. If you’ve ever seen a Cirque Du Soleil performance, you know the musical productions performed behind the scenes of high f lying acrobats is actually quite amazing.

It is also however, very theatrical, which is exactly how Nightwish’s latest album comes across.

Every musical piece sounds like it should be the auditory backdrop of an intense play, or Vegas-style show where someone is about to swallow the knife for the grand finale.

The music itself is great, there is a lot of talent throughout the album which is showcased in a number of ways. The band doesn’t stick to the typical drums, guitar and bass but branches out to adapt the fiddle and f lute at times.

For songs like “I Want My Tears Back Now,” the band was able to completely change their sound by doing something simple such as showcasing some talented fiddleplaying.

This simple change was able to

Puzzle of the Week #2 – Another Alphabet Split The letters of the alphabet have been divided into four sets. Each letter is in only one set. Determine the membership rule for each set.

1. C, I, J, O, V 2. B, D, F, G, H, K, L, M, N, P, Q, T, U, W 3. E, R 4. A, S, X, Y, Z

transform the music from a darker dance style to something more Celtic in nature.

It takes a talented band to be able to take on so many different variations of itself and while it did show the band’s versatility, the downside is that it kept the album from having any kind of f low.

Unlike many other acts within this genre, the vocals do not scream incomprehensible lyrics at you. Lead singer Anette Olzon has a very strong voice, hitting highs and lows perfectly.

The lyrics are dark and poetic

and while not spectacular, you may find yourself singing them as the day goes on.

Overall, the album does have some good tracks, but there are too many highs and lows to recommend r unning out and buying it.

If you happen to be hosting this year’s Halloween party, this album will certainly be a great hit, with songs such as “Storytime” getting people to move.

However, based mostly on the theatrical nature of Imaginaerum, it’s hard to recommend this album for anything more than that.

This puzzle is based on the form of capital letters. It is possible to argue the sets should be a bit different. If you come up with an alternative split that is close, if you explain the differences clearly, it will be counted as correct.

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.

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The Omega · Volume 22, Issue 3

Arts & Entertainment Video game review: NHL 13 No need to reinvent the wheel, but it makes it hard to convince yourself to pull your wallet out again Ω Sports Editor

For years now, the NHL franchise from EA Sports has been unmatched in the industry - NHL 13 is no exception.

EA has made a number of improvements in the latest incarnation of the game, which should provide fans with the most realistic and exciting game-play yet.

“True Performance Skating,” which uses a physics-based skating engine, allows players to skate using more realistic animations.

“EA Sports Hockey IQ” has improved the artificial intelligence of computer-controlled opponents who should now be making better on-ice decisions.

An improved rating system has the game’s players playing more like their real-life counterparts than ever.

Every improvement in NHL 13 refines the game-play and makes it feel like you’re really there, there’s no questioning that. But taking a really close look at the game, I have to wonder, has EA become their own worst enemy with this franchise?

Now don’t get me wrong, I love this game.

I think EA has done a great job and I know I will spend a number of hours, that I should be using to study, playing PlayStation 3.

My only objection is that EA has gotten so good at making hockey games they really haven’t had to change much in the past few years.

The game’s graphics have remained largely similar, the game-play is constantly improving but with minor tweaks rather than drastic changes, animations and videos are entertaining but really only noticeable to the most hardcore of gamers.

EA has gotten so good at making hockey games that I’m starting to have a hard time justifying buying the new version each year. They’re just too similar.

It’s a little like being forced to buy the new edition of a university textbook - you crack it open for the first time only to realize it’s pretty much the same as the previous edition, just with some updated scenarios and case studies; and you paid an extra $60 for it.

I’m not trying to say that this is EA Sports’ fault. Kudos to them for creating a game that is largely incapable of being improved from year to year, but as

a fan, the price tag for updated rosters and the ability to break my player’s stick on a point shot is a bit of a stretch.

For those of you who are big fans of the franchise, I’m not trying to deter you from buying this game.

It’s the best yet from EA and if you’ve loved the game in past years this version will be no exception.

I’m simply trying to warn you EA hasn’t recreated the wheel with this one.

They took an amazing preexisting game, made some solid improvements, threw Claude Giroux on the cover and put it on the shelves.

If you’re cool with that I definitely recommend buying it.

If you’ve bought the franchise year after year as I have, this review probably isn’t news to you.

But if you were already starting to get a little frustrated with the game being largely the same from year to year, you might want to think twice about going out and investing in NHL 13; take the extra time to play the demo online and ask yourself if it’s really worth it.

NHL 13 is a great game, but so was NHL 12.

Album Review: The Power Within Nothing you haven’t heard before, but solid generic metal

—IMAGE COURTESY EA SPORTS

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Did you know

Taylor Rocca

Ω Copy/Web Editor Infamous for its international smash “Through the Fire and Flames,” DragonForce returns in 2012 with its fifth studio album, The Power Within.

Shredding their massive melodic metal riffs out of London in the United Kingdom, DragonForce became an international sensation in 2006 thanks largely in part to the inclusion of “Through the Fire and Flames” on the Guitar Hero 3 set-list.

This much can be said about The Power Within: having listened to it with a knowledge of the band’s previous studio work, there isn’t much that sets it apart from older selections out of the DragonForce discography.

Still present is the uber-fast guitar tracking and furious kick-drum. But it all sounds the same as everything that has proceeded it in the DragonForce library.

At times it’s even difficult to differentiate between separate tracks on the album.

Perhaps the band simply set the bar too high when it truly broke onto the scene with “Through the Fire and Flames.”

What leads me to believe this?

The fact that it is impossible to compare anything DragonForce does against any other track from within its discography because nothing else comes close to the ridiculousness of “Through the Fire and Flames.”

The standout track on the album is “Heart of the Storm,” as it features a great rolling guitar riff reminiscent of the aforementioned hit track.

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Finally upon reaching the ninth track of the album, “Last Man Stands,” DragonForce gives the listener reason to believe they have something worthwhile to offer.

“Light a path for the journey home.

Save a prayer for the lost alone. Find a way from the other side before the hero stands, still blinding,” preaches lead vocalist Marc Hudson.

It’s really too bad it took so long to find an enjoyable track because I found myself thinking, “Jeez, I feel sort of lost and alone after listening to the eight previous tracks.

But I guess I’m glad you’re lighting the path for my journey home.

Thanks, Marc.”

Let me be real here. The Power Within is not the biggest atrocity to ever grace the metal genre. There are certainly far worse albums wandering their way throughout the world of metal. If you’re looking for a not-so-serious, Guitar Hero-esque metal guilty pleasure, The Power Within is probably a pretty safe bet.

The lyrics won’t blow your mind.

The riffs are nothing you haven’t heard before. But all-in-all, The Power Within is a fast-paced, relatively generic metal album, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing depending on what you’re looking for.

The Power Within was released on April 15.

Wednesday, September 19

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8

September 19, 2012

Arts & Entertainment

Hey Ocean: Overnight indie-pop sensation Samantha Garvey Ω Roving Editor

The Vancouver band Hey Ocean may just well be on its way to taking over Canada’s indie-pop scene. Fans of the group will have the chance to catch the energetic trio at the Blue Grotto on Tuesday, Sept. 19, as the group sets out on a Canada-wide tour lasting until November.

One listen through “Big Blue Wave” proves why it is difficult not to instantly fall in love with the light-hearted sounds of Ashleigh Ball’s vocals. “Sing until you have no voice,” she croons in the joyful chorus.

She is also known for working as a voice actress in shows like My Little Pony and Johnny Test, but vocals is not her only talent as she is responsible for the flute in Hey Ocean’s songs.

She and guitarist David Beckingham met in grade six. Beckingham is impressive in their latest music video “Islands,” when he takes on lead vocals and another side of the band’s genres, resulting in beautiful but despair-ridden melody.

It was in 2005 when Ball and Beckingham met up with David Vertesi to form the group. Vertesi is responsible

for the bass vibes in the comfort zone of Hey Ocean, but he is equally proficient on guitar and vocals, which is evident not only from the track “Forgive and Give” but also when he performs on his own, under his own name.

The sound is starkly different from the pop band’s signature. Soul, force and risk characterize the songs that come under the David Vertesi name.

“My own music is much more personal,” he said. He comes from a musical family and started at a young age in piano lessons and musical theatre.

“Music itself never really got a hold of me until I was about 12.” He picked up guitar after he became jealous of his brother. “And I think I really wanted to impress girls. So I started playing guitar and what better way?

“As soon as I started playing guitar, I almost immediately started writing my own songs.”

And the passion for his craft has never faltered.

“I love making music. I love writing. I love performing. I love producing. This is why I do this because it’s what I love,” he said.

He added that although he likes being the boss when playing on his own, he thinks Hey Ocean is enjoyed by so many

because it is a collaborative effort.

“Learning to compromise, that’s actually an incredible strength,” he said.

“That’s a muscle that gets flexed in Hey Ocean a lot. Hey Ocean is not about the music that I want to make, or the music that Ash [Ball] wants to make, or the music that David Beckingham wants to make. It’s about the music we make together.”

In both his own sounds and his group’s tracks, the B.C. surroundings have been a huge influence.

“We all share some similar human situations that you’re singing about, and it’s always framed by where you’re from and B.C. is no exception,” he said. “It’s hard to not somehow sing about the forests and the oceans and the mountains. It’s so hard to live in Vancouver and have that not creep into almost every song you’re writing.”

It may appear to audiences that the success of Hey Ocean has been inevitable: an overnight sensation.

“It feels like we’re doing something right,” Vertesi said. But at the same time, “it feels like a slow climb, a slow, slow climb.

“Everywhere from Victoria to Halifax we’re having great, great shows. The music seems to attract really great people.”

Think you know about music?

Contact arts@truomega.ca, review an album or show for us, and prove it.

Ye Olde Canadian Music Corner

Taylor Rocca

Ω Copy/Web Editor

Brendan Kergin

Ω Arts & Entertainment Editor

Said the Whale hails from Vancouver, B.C. and while it brings its own unique indie-folk sound to the table, the music often bears a strong resemblance to that of fellow Canadian indie-rockers, The Rural Alberta Advantage.

The band has been wooing audiences since 2007, having released four full-length studio albums alongside four EPs. Little Mountain is the most recent release from the five-piece West Coast-group and it features the tracks “Lucky,” “We Are 1980” and “Loveless.”

While not necessarily the most groundbreaking or profound indie group to make its way into the Canadian music scene, Said the Whale gets by with catchy lyrics and hooks strung alongside a fun

guitar track and foot-tapping set of percussion.

Like The Rural Alberta Advantage, Said the Whale has a tendency to reference Canadian landmarks and geographical locations. For those familiar with the destinations being bandied about through song lyrics and titles, this can give an added pleasure to the listening experience.

Specific tracks bursting with Canadiana include “Holly Lake, Ontario,” “Out on the Shield,” “Emerald Lake, AB” and “B.C. Orienteering,” all of which appear on 2009’s Islands Disappear.

Said the Whale wrapped their Canadian tour in Fredericton, N.B. on Sept. 15 and have an American roadtrip in the works for the upcoming fall.

F*cked Up might have a controversial name, but they’ve earned praise from pretty much every serious music critic over the past few years.

The six-piece group from Toronto has a fairly straight-forward setup; a couple guitarists, drummer, bassist and lead vocalists. There are some female vocals sometimes too.

But, no, it’s not just that. It’s F*cked Up. It’s melodic hardcorepunk with epic metal moments and visceral screaming. It’s rough and ragged mostly, but they’re unafraid to try something new, from soft intros to something that kind of sounds tribal.

It’s curated chaos, based around the aforementioned hardcore base, but more evolved.

The style has taken them places, winning the 2009 Polaris Prize and nominated for this year’s prize (to be announced Sept. 24th).

With that success it’s a little surprising their haven’t been any notable copy cats, but it’s probably a difficult recipe to recreate.

Lead singer Damian Abrahams rips into every lyric and in live shows throws himself around like a maniac. The band had a TV performance cut short because they destroyed the bathroom they were playing in. These are crazy, interesting, talented people.

For a track recommendation, check out “No Epiphany” off of The Chemistry of Common Life.

Kergin and Rocca think they’re qualified to critique Canadian music because they have a radio show. Think you can do better? Contact Mike at editor@truomega.ca with a couple-hundred words on a lesser-known Canadian band and get in the Canadian Music Corner!

Family on the rise Samantha Garvey Ω Roving Editor

Family of the Year is the rising folk-dance-techno-anthem-rockpop band from Los Angeles, touring alongside Hey Ocean on a Canada-wide tour.

The group’s sound is diverse within a chill-out framework, with this year’s summer anthem in “St. Croix” at one end to an urgent longing in “The Stairs” at the other.

Oddly, the song that would land in the middle of the spectrum, capturing the group’s truest essence, is titled “Diversity.”

Comprised of brothers Joe and Sebastian Keefe, James Buckey and Christina Schroeter, the group formed in 2009 and in that short time has produced three EPs and two full-length albums.

“Whirlwind would be a good way to put it,” said guitarist James

Buckey. In fact, the first two EPs and first album were released by the band themselves before signing on with Nettwerk Music Group.

“Our favourite thing is, just keep writing,” he added. Buckey explained the recording hasn’t been a barrier to the band as he and Joe Keefe are both recording engineers.

“What we like to do is bang out a song in one night,” he said.

Despite being hard-working, the band’s mantra has always been to have fun. Buckey explained how the group formed in early- to mid2009, just as the United States economy was collapsing.

“Everything (was) going a little crazy, so we all got together to play music,” he said.

As for future plans, Buckey said it is simply to keep doing what they’ve been doing.

“There was no blueprint to begin with and I don’t think there is one now.”

A legend amongst a ‘Pack.

Members of TRU’s TRU’s men’s volleyball team were treated to a surprise visit from Rick Hansen, where he talked to them about his life and inspired another generation of young athletes.

Hansen was in town for a weekend clinic with his daughter’s volleyball team.

—PHOTO COURTESY TRU ATHLETICS

9

Arts & Entertainment

Film review: Lawless

Yes, it’s a period piece, but there’s plenty of genres within Brendan Kergin

Ω Arts & Entertainment Editor Set primarily in 1930, Lawless is a period piece placed in the back-country near Franklin, Va. The plot revolves around three brothers, their illegal bootlegging, romances and battle with corrupt lawmen.

If anything about those previous two lines intrigued you, you’re probably interested in this film. While a straight-forward description can be written about this film, it takes that straightforwardness and uses it to plow through and create a solid film.

The brothers are played by Tom Hardy, Shia LaBeouf and Jason Clarke. While Hardy and LaBeouf work well together as the gruff leader and over-enthusiastic youngster, Clarke seems out of place a little.

It does help that Hardy and LaBeouf look enough alike to be genetically related. Hardy’s performance is the strongest, though some moments seem out of place. However, that seems to be his character and not the acting.

Guy Pearce makes an excellent Snidely Whiplash-style villain — glossy and evil. It may be over the top, but with a plot where morality is often in the eye of the beholder, having an easy villain gives the audience someone to target, something that can get lost and leave a film unanchored without the easy-tohate character.

Gary Oldman is under-used, but solid when he appears as a tommy-gun or shovel-wielding mobster. Mia Wasikowska is a good waif-like innocent, but Jes-

sica Chastain has the meatier female role and does more with it.

The plot has a natural build, but plods at times. Early on the audience can start figuring out where everything is leading and then getting to the conclusion can take some time.

In general it works, with a few odd moments. Narration is used too sparsely; either do it or leave it out.

At times the fact it’s based on a true story jumps out with a detail that seems out of place, or scene that might work better if something else happened, but chalk that up to the filmmakers trying to keep some true history involved.

Still, jamming in back story or the random last scene might have been handled with more grace and improving the clarity of what occurred could be better.

The climactic scene is strong with a twist and an atypical finish, which is appreciated when so many films seem to pull their climaxes out of some sort of movie play book. It may feel a bit off kilter, but this film isn’t a glossy blockbuster with everything placed perfectly.

Another strength is the overall balance of the genre. Yes, it’s a period-piece drama, but there are moments of romance and plenty of action for a more rounded feel.

It’s not a character study or a historical re-enactment, but it draws from both.

There’s even a gratuitous explosion.

The filmmakers also took time for a few great shots of the hillcountry setting, which can be beautiful when shot right.

theomega.ca

The Omega · Volume 22, Issue 3

—IMAGE COURTESY THE WEINSTEIN COMPANY

Theatre review: Harvest

Western Canada Theatre relies heavily on acting performances, and receives them from its cast Brendan Kergin

Ω Arts & Entertainment Editor Harvest, a play hosted by Western Canada Theatre, has an interesting mix to it.

A touch of fringe atmosphere, as just two actors take on and share a variety of roles. A feel of Corner Gas, with two main characters that could have spent a couple episodes on the sitcom.

A local lean, with references to B.C. and shout-outs to the Fraser Valley, Nelson and other provincial marks.

It’s very Canadian in many ways, despite no hockey. The homey lead characters owned a farm, likely near Chilliwack though it’s not really stated.

They rent their former home to a shady character and shady things happen.

This is a comedy with heart at its base. Written by Ken Cameron, a playwright based in western Canada, it’s a story many western Canadians can relate to, especially older generations. It touches on the different cultures of younger generations interested in cities and digital tools compared with homesteaders of past generations, proud of what

they and their ancestors built.

The story revolves around latter. The plot discusses drug culture and touches on the movement from the idealized small towns of the mid-20th century and the less personal aspects of today.

This is all well and good, but the words don’t mean much until an actor expresses them. With this piece it takes skill, since just two people play a range of characters. Aside from their characterizations, the only major prop or costume changes used are some sunglasses, a scarf, a couple of hats and a couple of jackets.

This is where strong acting is important. Harvest relies heavily on the performances of Norma Bowen and Brian Linds. The talent here was to switch personas at the literal toss of a hat and they did a great job. Even when they shared a character, that character retained his/her “self.” To be pretentious for a moment, Linds and Bowen were one canvas with multiple characters painted into the scene.

The story is told as a recollection, with the married farmers explaining the situation they got themselves into. The play is

told as a series of f lashbacks, but with the exact same setting and the same two actors playing everyone. At first it can be a little difficult gauging age (and sometimes sex) of the character, but Bowen and Linds provide enough characterizations as to avoid most confusion, and Cameron’s script helps iron out the rest of the details.

While some characters might take some time to mold in your mind, the technique provides for some hilarious moments, with hat tossing and gender bending. A third actor does slip in for a moment, but it can be accepted as Hazmat suits are hard to jump into and he or she spoke like muff led adult from Charlie Brown. However, it would have been nice to see that dealt with off-set somehow.

Overall, Harvest is a fun performance with a heart. It’s a good play to go to with your parents, or even your more easy-going grandparents. A working understanding of B.C.’s geography and towns can provide added context and a sharp mind will keep the characters all in order.

Harvest can been seen at the Pavilion Theatre in Kamloops from Sept. 13-29.

10

September 19, 2012

Sports

A team comes together

The roster is set, and the WolfPack hockey team is ready to set the record straight

Adam Williams Ω Sports Editor

Captain Curtis Tonello stands hunched over his stick, breathing heavily. It has been a long, hard practice, with a focus on conditioning. Of the 30 or so players on the ice, he’s not the only player who looks gassed. None look to be having an easy time with the conditioning drills.

Thursday was the team’s last opportunity to practice before heading out on the road to start the exhibition season. With the roster finalized and the on-ice product taking form, the focus of practice shifted from players showcasing their skills, to preparing for the start of a long season.

For spectators of the practice, it didn’t take long to notice the hockey team has one major thing in common with most of TRU’s other Wolf Pack teams: a lot has changed since last year.

For starters, over half of the team is new to the league - that’s a pretty startling figure when you consider the Wolf Pack plan to carry 24 players. Factor in a new captain, a new style of play and a new playoff format and it’s hard to predict what the season will hold for the Wolf Pack.

“We’ve got a new look to us this year,” said Wolf Pack general manager Chris Hans. “13 new recruits. But what I like about the guys that have come in is they play with a lot of grit, a lot of heart and desire. Last year we had a preponderance of skill and I don’t think we were gritty enough and we got knocked out of the playoffs early.”

Grit and toughness was a priority for Hans in his offseason recruitment. Both he and head coach Don Schulz felt the team needed to be faster and more physical if they were to compete in the competitive BCIHL. The team will be looking to improve on their 2011-12 record of 12-8-4 and more than a few off-season additions will be counted on to help get them there.

“We’re really excited about the prospects of this year’s team,” Schulz said after practice.

“We have good speed, we’re definitely going to be a little grittier and tougher than we were last year. [The team] is really attentive at practice, they work hard. They seem to be melding well as a team and the guys that we recruited, speaking to their [past] coaches, they were all good character guys. So

we’re excited about the prospects and the possibilities of what this team can achieve this year.”

Should the Wolf Pack make a return trip to the playoffs they will get a firsthand look at the BCIHL’s new playoff format.

The league has switched from a round-robin style tournament to a more traditional play-down format. First-place will play fourth-place in a best-of-three series, while second- and third-

—PHOTO BY ADAM WILLIAMS

place will do the same. The winners will advance and play each other in a best-of-three championship final.

It’s a format used in most levels of hockey, so much of the Wolf Pack will be familiar with it and it should increase excitement and breed the “bad blood” between teams that usually characterizes playoff hockey.

The regular season will start on Oct. 6 and the team still has

plenty to work on. The last few days have focused on finalizing the roster and working on defensive zone coverage and conditioning. In the coming weeks Schulz will turn to working on the team’s systems play and the ‘Pack should be ready to hit the ground running come October.

The season can’t start soon enough for the players.

“There’s one goal,” said Tonello. “Win the league.”

2012 NHL Lockout: Two fans, two opinions Billionaires fighting with millionaires angers fans

Taylor Rocca

Ω Copy/Web Editor The NHL d-day has come and past. With Sept. 15 now in the books, the NHL has locked out its players’ association (NHLPA), bringing about the second NHL work stoppage of the past decade.

One of the more contentious issues currently driving a stake between the NHL and NHLPA is the division of hockey-related revenues (HRR). Coming out of the 2011-12 NHL season, the league raked in $3.3 billion in HRR. Under the now-expired collective bargaining agreement (CBA), the players were entitled to and received 57 per cent of that revenue in the form of salaries and performance bonuses.

The initial CBA proposal that came from the NHL head office called for the NHLPA to take a cut in their share of the revenue, from 57 per cent under the old CBA to 43 per cent within the confines of the new proposal.

While there are countless other issues complicating the CBA negotiations between the two sides, this is the one that sticks out like a sore thumb and has fans all over the world crying out in anger. I am one of those fans.

The game of hockey has seen unprecedented growth since it returned from the previous lockout in 2005.

Under the previous CBA, it has become extremely apparent that there is a wealth of problems resulting in large-market teams more-orless bullying small-market teams out of the competition for high-end

talent in the free agency market simply because the large-market teams have a bigger payroll.

This angers me.

Yes, it is business and often times the fatter cheque book or more creative marketer will win the game. But we consistently see Gary Bettman, commissioner of the NHL, platforming on TV about how the owners are looking out for the best interests of the game.

My question is, how are they looking out for the best interests of the game when they cannot even follow the rules they themselves put in place during previous CBA negotiations?

What we have is a group of billionaire business owners looking to maximize profit. Can they be blamed for that? No. But they can be blamed for being so bull-headed that they refuse to compromise on their side of the negotiations.

It’s an unfortunate circumstance and a sad, sad situation for hockey fans all over the country. I hate to say it, but I don’t expect to have NHL hockey back on my calendar until January 2013.

In the meantime, I plan on fulfilling my thirst for Canada’s game by checking out my local Canadian Major Junior club, my campus’ varsity hockey team and the local junior B squad that doesn’t get as much attention as it deserves.

I hope that all of you passionate hockey fans do the same. Don’t necessarily go crawling back to the NHL as soon as it returns.

How else will the greedy, selfish owners of that business learn a lesson if the people who provide the revenue come back at the drop of a hat?

Saving big bucks on my hockey habit

Adam Williams Ω Sports Editor

The fact that we sit in this situation again, a mere seven years later is appalling. With the NHL’s collective bargaining agreement having expired on Sept.

15, it’s become pretty unlikely that we will be seeing any NHL hockey in the next few months, as for the second time in a decade the NHL players association (NHLPA) and the National Hockey League have been unable to settle their labour dispute.

While I’d like to think things will be resolved soon and we can all get back to watching Canada’s national sport (OK, so not officially, but you know what I mean), with what I know of the dispute and the people involved, I’ll go on the record as a pessimist.

My prediction? The season won’t start until after American Thanksgiving.

The sad thing is, that prediction is on the optimistic end of the scale. Most see this dispute spilling over into 2013 and

the extremists expect we’ll miss another complete season. I can’t personally see things going that far and there’s a few reasons why: 1.

The NHL landed a gigantic 10-year, $2-billion ($200-million annually) television contract with NBC last year and majority of the league’s coverage will come after Thanksgiving. Sure, NBC will be paying the NHL throughout the lockout, but I can’t see NHL owners - who repeatedly assert that they are trying to “grow the game” in America - being willing to forfeit a year of primetime television coverage. After all, the lockout is happening because the owners assert they aren’t making enough money. Missing out on TV coverage would only exacerbate that.

2.

The men involved in this dispute are stubborn, but they aren’t dumb.

Neither side wants to see this dispute ruin years of diligent PR work and alienate the fan base they have spent so much time cultivating. Unfortunately, as soon as the owners locked the players out some fans threw in the towel on their hockey fan-

dom and who’s to blame them? None of the other three major professional sports leagues have gone through two lockouts in the past decade...

3.

The Winter Classic is kind of a big deal. As perfect a PR stunt as it would be for the NHL to open the season in January with the Winter Classic, I don’t know that an outdoor game in the bitter cold of Detroit is the smartest environment - from a player safety standpoint - to start their season in. The earlier this dispute is settled, the earlier the NHL can start promoting the event and ensuring that it’s the biggest Winter Classic yet.

So there’s my optimistic assessment of how this lockout is going to proceed.

Personally, I’ve been resigned to this happening for about a year now, so I’m not all that surprised or upset, but I’d still like to see the NHL start up before too much time is missed. Until that time I guess I’ll have to be satisfied with watching major junior and collegiate hockey, which, let’s be honest, is still a pretty sweet gig.

And hey, at least I don’t have to shell out $200 to go to those games.

WolfPack Scoreboard Women’s Soccer 1-0 Loss to Quest University Kermodes - Saturday 3-1 Win vs. Langara College Falcons - Sunday

Men’s Soccer 2-0 Win vs Quest University Kermodes - Saturday 1-0 Loss to Langara College Falcons - Sunday

Cross Country

-Chris Curl - 1st in Age group, 4th overall in mens -Rolena deBruyn - 2nd in age, 10th overall in womens -Cole Parker - 3rd in age group -Mark Tovee - 3rd in age group -Lexi Throne - 4th in age group -Dyrian Olson - 5th in age group

Bobby Armstrong - 37th, 172 strokes Natasha MacKenzie - 5th in womens, 172 strokes Tim Birk’s, Matt Gervenitis, Bobby McPeak unavailable at time of print

Golf

7-5, 7-3, and 3-1 wins and a 13-0 Loss vs Quest

Team: 7th overal - 640 strokes Chase Broadfoot - 15th, 153 strokes Blake Gozda - 21st, 156 strokes Nic Corno - 28th, 160 strokes Sean Cameron - 32nd, 167 strokes

Baseball

Hockey Lost 4-3 vs Selkirk Saints in Castlegar

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The Omega · Volume 22, Issue 3

Coffee Break 4 2 5 9 3 1 3

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9. It’s a snap 14. Blvd.

15. Female demon 16. Traversed a strait, e.g.

17. McCarthy quarry 18. Elevate 19. Rechargeable battery 20. Dangerous one 23. Cuba’s ___ of Youth 24. Bad to the bone 25. Button material 30. New York Times employee 34. Bathroom installation 37. Excitement 39. Auto parts giant 40. “Everyone knows the truth!”

44. Confess 45. One step 46. 1965 Ursula Andress film 47. Fashioned anew 50. Young’s partner in accounting 52. Lover of Aeneas 54. Every which way 58. New Guinea crooners 65. Ticket category 66. Purposeful 67. Cacophony 68. Big name in grills

69. Cut into 70. One of 100: Abbr.

71. Catch, in a way 72. Gunpowder ingredient 73. Prosecute

36. Energy source 38. Beginning to cry?

41. Restrains an infant?

42. Like some ears 43. Store posting: Abbr.

48. Linux system 49. Shogun’s capital 51. Modicum 53. As a rule 55. Thick 56. Willow 57. Rogers or Chesney 58. Wail 59. Noodle concoction?

60. Chafes 61. Prefix with scope or meter 62. Buckets 63. Tease 64. Super server

Down 1. Zoroastrian 2. Squares 3. Piano part 4. Downwind 5. Checker, perhaps 6. Arabian Sea nation 7. Light air 8. Carpenter’s machine 9. Anthropoid ape 10. Crack type 11. Shamu, for one 12. Some are green 13. 15 and 23, e.g.

21. Grasp 22. Twelfth Night, vis-à-vis Epiphany 26. Flurry 27. French vineyard 28. Refuse visitors 29. Ham it up 31. Checks 32. Colorful fish 33. Latest thing 34. Kind of tissue 35. Cover, in a way

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MYLES MELLOR AND SALLY YORK

sudokueasy

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“Animal House”

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

September 19, 2012

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