Tidings
The University of King’s College Alumni Magazine
J-School celebrates 25 years Hurricane headache Canadian Idol finalist Richie Wilcox
Winter 2004
ALUMNI MARKETPLACE 1 2 3
7 5 4
6 8
9 11
13 10 14 12
15 16
SWEATSHIRTS Ladies Full Zip Hooded $45.00 1 . Available in Navy and Light Blue, Zip Neck $53.00 13 , Crew Neck $42.00 16 & Hooded $50.00 (not shown). Available in Navy and Grey
DEGREE FRAMES
2
Gold metal frame, blue matte and King’s College crest embossed in gold at the bottom: BJ, BJ Hons., BA, & BSc prior to 1994, 18 x 24 ($75.00); BA & BSc from 1995 and BJ & BJH from 1996, 15 x 18 ($65.00). Dark wood frame, blue and gold double matte and King’s College crest embossed in gold at bottom: BA & BSc from 1995 and BJ & BJ Hons. from 1996, 15 x 18 ($85.00). Italian wood, triple blue matte with King’s College crest embossed in gold at bottom: BA
& BSc from 1995 and BJ & BJ Hons. from 1996, 15 x18 ($155.00)
BACKPACKS $40.00
3 Navy Only
KING’S MUGS Stainless Steel Travel Mugs $18.00 4
Ceramic Coffee Mug $10.00 5 Ceramic Beer Stein $23.00 6
SHORTS Grey with KING’S screened on the back or with the logo screened on the front left leg (as shown) #19.50 10
MINI PHOTO ALBUM Navy with gold crest. $12.00 11
KING’S SCARVES AND TIES Ladies Scarf bearing the King’s crown and St. Andrew’s cross $19.50 (not shown), silk/polyester tie with the same design $23.00 12 & 100% Silk tie striped with King’s crest $43.00 (not shown)
T-SHIRTS Unisex with screened University Logo full front or on left chest $17.50 7 , Ladies ribbed with embroidered logo $19.50 8 . Available in Navy and White
KING’S HATS
SWEATPANTS Navy with KING’S screened on the back (as shown) or with the logo embroidered on the front left leg $42.00 9
Toques $15.00 14 Navy with White lettering only Baseball Caps $15.00 15 Beige with Navy lettering or Navy with White Lettering (not shown)
ALSO AVAILABLE
PENS Metal $10.00 or Plastic $2.75
KEYCHAINS Pewter with University Logo $12.00
LAPEL PINS University Crest $6.00 or Alumni $9.00
CAR DECALS clear with White writing $2.50
LIMITED EDITION PRINT Peter Bresnen’s watercolour of the A&A Building $80.50, also available as a Notecard $1.15 each
FOR MORE INFORMATION or to order any of the above items, contact Jen Laurette in the Alumni and Public Relations Office at 422-1271, ext. 128. Cheque, VISA or MasterCard accepted. Cheques should be made payable to the Alumni Association, University of King’s College, Halifax, NS, B3H 2A1. Prices include HST. Shipping is extra.
2
Tidings
Winter 2004
Inside COVER STORY — JOURNALISM SCHOOL AT 25 5
14 Media milestone Twenty-five years since the journalism school’s inception, its grads can now be found in top positions across Canada. The school has long asserted its role in training working reporters, not media observers. But it faces challenges of expansion and a continent-wide debate over the role of journalism education. We look at the evolving story of the school and some of the alumni who have strengthened its reputation.
ON CAMPUS
‘Juan’ big headache King’s installs 22nd president King’s MVP named Athletics Co-ordinator
20 New school director Managing enrolment boom, strengthening industry ties are priorities for Kim Kierans
Formal meal returns
13 $6,000 raised at 2003 Alumni Classic Golf Tournament
22 ALUMNI PROFILE Rev. Ian MacKenzie (LTh ’60)
24 Capital campaign exceeds
23 No plans to remain ‘Idol’ for Richie Wilcox
$6.7M goal
Top 11 finalist says ‘surreal’ experience on hit CTV series has opened career doors
COVER: Halifax Herald Deputy Managing Editor Frank DePalma (BJ ’82) and Assistant Managing Editor Sheryl Grant (BJH ’80). Story on page 14. Photo: Michael Creagen
Winter 2004
Tidings
3
Business Card Ads Get yourmessage out!
Tidings Winter 2004 Managing Editor
A Business Card ad in Tidings is an inexpensive way to advertise your business to more than 5,400 King’s alumni, friends and family.
Editorial Assistant Postal Address
The cost is only $100 per issue, payable by cheque or VISA.
If you’re interested, send us a sample business card along with your payment to: Alumni Association University of King’s College 6350 Coburg Road Halifax, NS B3H 2A1 Cheques are payable to the University of King’s College Alumni Association
Alumni and Public Relations Officer
Tim Currie (BJ ’92) Rhia Perkins (BJ ‘02) Tidings c/o Alumni Association University of King’s College Halifax, NS Canada B3H 2A1 (902) 422-1271 Bev Mahon
King’s website: www.ukings.ns.ca E-mail: paula.johnson@ukings.ns.ca
This issue of Tidings was written
✁
by fourth-year students in the Bachelor of Journalism Honours
What’s
New?
Have you changed jobs? Are you moving? Have you married recently?
programme.
Tidings is produced on behalf of the University of King’s College Alumni Association.
Send us your news and we will pass it along to your classmates in our next issue. Mail it to the address at right, e-mail: <paula.johnson@ukings.ns.ca>, or enter it on the Web at: <http://www.ukings.ns.ca/for/alumni/alumni.htm> NAME
programme, and students in the one-year Bachelor of Journalism
(MAIDEN NAME AT KING’S)
We welcome your feedback on each issue. Letters to the Editor should be signed and typed.
DEGREE (EG. BA ’63) OR YEARS AT KING’S
HOME PHONE
We reserve the right to edit all submissions.
E-MAIL ADDRESS
The views expressed in Tidings
ADDRESS
are those of the individual
YOUR NEWS
contributors or sources. Mailed under Canada Post Publications Mail Sales Agreement No. 1493094
4
Tidings
Winter 2004
OnCampus
‘Juan’ big headache Three-day power loss during hurricane forced university to scramble. Cooking for 280 students on two butane burners was just one of the challenges By Keitha Clark
T
he night hurricane Juan hit Halifax, BJ student Shannon McCarthy was typing an assignment in the King’s journalism school. At around 11:30 p.m., Sunday Sept. 29, her computer went dead and the room fell into darkness. McCarthy tightened the hood of her rain jacket and tried to push through the torrential rain to her downtown apartment. She was almost at the stone fence behind Alexandra Hall when she heard a loud crack. Blinded by the rain, it took her only seconds to realize a large tree limb had fallen a mere 10 feet in front of her. Aborting her homeward journey, McCarthy ran back to the women’s residence and spent the rest of the night sleeping in soggy clothes on a lobby couch with four other stranded students. Like most Haligonians, McCarthy paid little attention to hurricane warnings on the radio. “I remember joking with the taxi driver earlier in the day that the media blows up everything — that it
Winter 2004
wasn’t going to be anything. And then it turned out to be THE storm!” Kelley Castle, dean of residence at King’s, says it wasn’t until the power went out that she realized the hurricane was going to cause a significant problem on campus. “Our emergency lighting only lasts for about 20 minutes. It’s meant to allow people to evacuate the building, it’s not meant to replace the regular lighting system.” While the generator was still on, Castle distributed flashlights and appointed students to guard the candles being lit in common rooms. “We ran around and tried to make sure all the dons knew. We warned the students not to go outside. Some people seemed to take it as a rain storm and some people thought it was going to be the emergency it turned out to be.” At 11:30 p.m., just after the generator died, the fire alarm went off. It continued to scream for several hours because emergency services couldn’t get through the debris on the streets. Fifty-two students from three of the bays were evacuated and spent Sunday night in common
Tidings
rooms or with friends in residence. When food services chef Colleen MacDonald walked into Prince Hall at 6 a.m. Monday morning, the first thing she did was run for candles. The next problem was how to feed 280 people with no power. The solution included a team of dedicated kitchen staff and two butane burners. MacDonald and other staff boiled eggs, put out bagels, and served coffee and tea for breakfast. At lunch MacDonald and another chef stood by a window in the main dining hall and made 280 grilled cheese sandwiches, one at a time, on the burners. MacDonald says the grilled cheese was a big hit. “You couldn’t ask for a better bunch of students, they were appreciative of what we were doing and didn’t mind the wait.” MacDonald has worked in the King’s kitchen for 28 years and enjoyed the break in routine the hurricane brought on “You have to remember that many of the staff have been here for
A work crew removes a familiar blue spruce tree from in front of Dalhousie’s Chemistry Building in October. King’s escaped relatively unscathed. Photo: Stan Cameron / Courtesy Dalhousie News
Continued on next page
5
OnCampus
Broken window, flooding, only damage HURRICANE / Continued from previous page
10 years or more. So even though it’s a disaster, it’s a change and you always welcome change, if you know what I mean.” On top of preparing food for King’s students, the staff made sandwiches to send to soup kitchens and nursing homes without power. Community spirit was a bright spot during the three-day blackout. About 45 King’s students helped with a barbecue at a seniors’ home, folded blankets at a shelter and volunteered with the Red Cross to do emergency relief work. Ken Newman, head of maintenance at King’s, praised students for their patience during the aftermath of the storm. “God love King’s students for putting up with no power the way they did,” Newman says with a smile. Newman says a committee has been formed to discuss the power outage and other problems that arose from hurricane Juan. He says
(Top) Residents of Henry Street, a few blocks from King’s, survey the damage. (Right) Fallen trees in front of Dalhousie’s A&A Building. Right Photo: Bob Cleveland / Courtesy Dalhousie News
the university is looking into purchasing several small gas-powered generators that would maintain electricity for a longer time. Newman says that besides the threeday power loss, hurricane Juan left the campus relatively unscathed. A lost roof window, minor flooding and broken branches were fixed for under $3,000. For Wendy Hepburn, a fourthyear political science student, the cost of the hurricane was felt for weeks. Hepburn says it was stressful to make up for the week-long school closure. Her assignments were pushed closer together and she had four exams crammed into one weekend. In all, McCarthy says coping with the storm — inside and outside the quad — was an extraordinary experience. “Trees were uprooted, grass was hanging from the roots of huge trees like Astroturf. The waterfront was ripped up, masts were sticking out of the water. It was surreal and unforgettable.”
Former King’s MVP named Athletics Co-ordinator By Rhia Perkins
Trish Ryan
6
The King’s athletics department got a little bigger this fall, as Trish Ryan, a King’s graduate (BA ’00) and basketball coach since 2001, came on board as Athletics Coordinator. Working closely with Director Neil Hooper, Ryan assists with preparations for team trips, compiles and maintains team rosters, provides scores and other information to the media, communicates with the other schools in the conference about games and schedules, and helps maintain and oversee the fitness centre, gym and weight room. “Choosing Trish was an easy decision to make,” says Hooper. “Trish was a local student athlete who knew our programmes and who has made a commitment to King’s athletics long before she was hired on in her current position.”
Ryan has been part of the King’s athletics community since 1997, when she transferred from Dalhousie to complete a philosophy degree. “I decided to come to King’s because a friend of mine told me I could play on both the soccer and the basketball teams,” she says. And play she did, going to nationals with both teams, making MVP twice on the soccer team, and once for basketball. She also played on ACAA All-Conference teams for both sports several times over her university career. After graduating in 2000, Ryan became assistant coach for the women’s basketball team, before heading to Mount Saint Vincent University in 2001 to continue as the assistant to former King’s coach Dyrick McDermott. Ryan returned to King’s in 2002, working with fellow King’s grad
Tidings
Kellie McMullin as co-Head Coach for women’s soccer, a job that still keeps her busy today. “It’s our second year coaching together and we made it to playoffs,” she says. “It’s exciting, because we haven’t made the playoffs in a long time.” The road back to King’s, however, started a long way from Halifax. “I was living in Australia for eight months and saw the job posting on the Internet,” says Ryan. “So I applied from there.” And she’s thrilled to be back, though she says between this job and coaching, spare time is nearly a thing of the past. “I love being in the gym and I love working for Neil, and being around the teams,” she says. “But it really does keep me very busy. I wouldn’t be doing it if I didn’t love it.”
Winter 2004
OnCampus
King’s installs 22nd president Journalist Fraser and Father MacKinnon honoured as well Dr. William W. Barker was installed as the 22nd president and vice-chancellor of the University of King’s College at a formal ceremony held Oct. 3 in the King’s quadrangle. Chancellor Michael Meighen presided over the installation ceremony in the presence of the Visitor, the Rt. Rev. Frederick Hiltz, Bishop of Nova Scotia and P.E.I., local dignitaries, students, faculty, staff and invited guests. The official ceremony traces back to 1789 with the installation of King’s first president, the Rev. William Cochran. Dr. Barker is the former head of the Department of English Language and Literature at Memorial University of Newfoundland and past Director of the Graduate Program in Humanities at Memorial. He was educated at Dartmouth College (AB 1968) and at the University of Toronto (MA 1970; B Ed 1971; PhD 1982). He assumed office on July 1, 2003. Two honoured As part of the installation ceremony, the university conferred honorary degrees on two distinguished Canadians, the Rev. Dr. Gregory MacKinnon, past president of St. Francis Xavier University and John Fraser, well-known journalist and Master of Massey College at University of Toronto. The Rev. Dr. Gregory MacKinnon, a devoted teacher, scholar and theologian,was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Divinity for his service to his church, his university and his province. Father MacKinnon devoted his life to teaching at St. Francis Xavier University and, for 12 years, served as its 15th president and vice-chancellor. During his presidency, the university moved from a regional institution to a national one and continued to
Winter 2004
evolve from the denominational institution of the ‘50s and ‘60s to the more open and non-denominational university of the ’80s and ’90s. While in office, from 1978 to 1990, student enrollment increased by nearly 40 per cent and a major fundraising campaign was conducted enabling the university to double the size of its library, complete a new science building and build a new student residence. John Fraser was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Civil Law in recognition of a distinguished career that combines great skill as a journalist with academic, cultural and artistic achievement. In his position as Master of Massey College, following in the footsteps of Robertson Davies, he has advanced the cause of the arts and humanities and interdisciplinary studies in Canada. Fraser attended universities in Newfoundland (Honours BA. Memorial University) and England (M.A., East Anglia). He began his journalism career at the now defunct Toronto Telegram where he was the last music and dance critic and then briefly at the
Tidings
John Fraser
Rev. Dr. Gregory MacKinnon
Toronto Sun as an arts writer. Between 1972 and 1987 he worked at the Globe and Mail as dance critic, theatre critic, China correspondent, Ottawa bureau chief, national columnist, national editor and London correspondent. He also wrote a general column for the Toronto Star and is now a featured columnist commenting on the news media for the National Post. He was the twelfth Editor of Saturday Night magazine before being elected the fourth Master of Massey College in 1995. Father MacKinnon delivered the convocation address.
(Top) Chancellor Michael Meighen installs William Barker as King’s president with Clerk of Convocation Susan Harris attending. Photo: Michael Creagen
7
OnCampus Monthly format expected to be more popular FORMAL / Continued from next page Students at formal meal: “There’s no other university in Nova Scotia where students can sit down and eat with faculty,” says Alumni Association President Tim Rissesco. Photo: Dina Bartolacci
where most people lived on campus and ate together every evening. For the kitchen staff, the return of formal meal means a lot of extra work. Chef Colleen MacDonald estimates formal meal requires about a day and a half of preparation, in addition to preparing regular meals served in Prince Hall. For example, MacDonald says November’s formal meal involved the peeling of more than 100 potatoes, preparing 175 pieces of chicken, washing and slicing all the fresh vegetables and baking 30 handmade pies for dessert. “This is different from everyday cooking,” says MacDonald. “Nothing can be overcooked. It’s all in the timing. You’re preparing up to the last minute.” Tim Rissesco, president of the King’s Alumni Association, remembers formal meal as an event that brought together the university community.
“Students got to chat with faculty,” explains Rissesco. “It made you feel like you were part of a community. There’s no other university in Nova Scotia where students can sit down and eat with faculty.” However, Rissesco remembers times when enthusiasm for formal meal wasn’t always in abundance. He says students would often forgo the meal and head out for pizza instead. “The three years I was in residence, it was more of a drag,” he
Basketball Schedule
Administration helping students with finances The registrar’s office, the King’s Students’ Union and the bursar’s office have undertaken to deliver workshops that help students better deal with their financial situations. The sessions aim to help students avoid and minimize debt, manage their money better and gain full benefit of available funding options. The first seminar, held in November and called “Think Outside the Loan,” provided students with information on scholarships, awards and bursaries, and other resources to acquire funding beyond traditional student loans. Future sessions will include workshops on the following topics: • Debt Management and Budgeting Tips • Taxes • Student Loans • Eating Well on a Budget
8
says. “But the year I wasn’t in residence, I made an effort to get to it.” Rissesco is confident the dinners will be more successful now that they’re only being held once a month. “I’m happy it’s coming back,” he says. “It’s the kind of thing you miss when it’s gone, I think.” Reid says student turnout has been great and they seem happy with the changes. “Formal meal makes King’s a special place,” he says. “And it keeps it from becoming just like any other school.”
Tidings
Wed, Jan. 21 Fri, Jan. 23 Sat, Jan. 24 Sun, Jan. 25 Wed, Jan. 28 Sat, Jan. 31 Wed, Feb. 4 Fri, Feb. 6 Sat, Feb. 7 Wed, Feb. 11 Wed, Feb. 25
NSAC U de M UNBSJ STU @ MSVU @ STU @ Sexton ABU STU Sexton @ MSVU
6 p.m. 6 p.m. 6 p.m. 2 p.m. 6 p.m. 6 p.m. 6 p.m. 6 p.m. 6 p.m. 6 p.m. 6 p.m.
March 6
ACAA CHAMPIONSHIPS @ NSAC
March 18
CCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS @ DAWSON
8 p.m. 8 p.m. 8 p.m. 4 p.m. 8 p.m. 8 p.m. 8 p.m. 8 p.m. 8 p.m. 8 p.m. 8 p.m.
Winter 2004
OnCampus
Formal meal returns Event ‘retains some of the tradition but introduces new elements’ By Dina Bartolacci The smell of sweet sherry and the sound of familiar chatter fill the Senior Common Room, marking the return of formal meal to King’s College. After being cancelled for the 2001-2002 academic year, the meals are back, but not without some minor adjustments. First, formal meal is no longer held on a weekly basis, but once a month. “We realize there are so many conflicts for students,” says President William Barker, who decided it was time to bring back the meals. “Some have classes and other commitments in the evenings.” So rather than being held every Wednesday, formal meal is now only one Wednesday each month. The second change is that each meal will be hosted by a different guest speaker. Barker says he’d like to have an interesting member of the community attend formal meal each month. For example, King’s alumnus and leader of Nova Scotia’s NDP party, Darrell Dexter, dined with students and faculty for the Nov. 12 formal meal. He also treated everyone to a short speech during dinner. Third, and perhaps most important, the event will be quick — not
Winter 2004
long and drawn out as they sometimes have been in the past. Beginning this year, dinner and dessert will be served promptly and guests can begin to leave well within an hour. Dean of Residence Kelley Castle says, like any issue, there are different opinions surrounding formal meal. “Some students find it fun — a harkening back to the old days,” says Castle. “Others find it a bit archaic and disregard general rules of when to leave and how to behave at the dinners.” Castle says she thinks formal meal will be more successful with the revisions. “I think that in the end, a modified version that retains some of the tradition but introduces new elements will be the most popular,” she says. Former King’s president Colin Starnes made the decision to discontinue formal meal in the spring of 2001, attributing its demise to poor attendance and frivolous theme nights. KSU lobbied for its return Jim Reid, president of the King’s Students’ Union, says students greatly missed formal meal during its absence. They even formed the Formal Meal Society and lobbied
Tidings
extensively for its return. “The topic was regularly raised at council meetings and board of governors meetings,” says Reid. “And they finally brought it back.” Third-year microbiology and immunology student Mary-Pat Schlosser is happy about the return. “Formal meal should be preserved,” she says. “You don’t get that tradition at other places.” Not only do the meals set King’s apart from many other schools, but Schlosser says its also gives students a chance to meet each other. “It’s the mixing of students,” she explains. “Not just those who live in residence.” Castle says the response to the return of formal meal has been positive. “The students I have spoken with are enthusiastic about Dr. Barker’s idea to invite speakers to the events,” she says. “We had just over 200 people at the last meal, which was a good size.” Ariel Nasr helps organize student attendance at the meals. “I’m just grateful for Dr. Barker,” explains Nasr, a fourth-year classics student. “He’s the perfect combination of tradition and laid-back. And it beats cooking for yourself!” Formal meal is based on the traditions of the old Oxford colleges
Nova Scotia NDP leader Darrell Dexter, sitting with King’s President William Barker, was the guest of honour at the Nov. 12 formal meal. Photo: Dina Bartolacci
Continued on previous page
9
University of King’s College Stewardship Report 2002-03 The University of King’s College is fortunate to have so many committed alumni, such as those listed on the following pages, who realize the importance of supporting higher education, especially in these critical times. This lists all alumni, friends, corporations and foundations who gave to the University between April 1, 2002 and March 31, 2003, except those who wish to remain anonymous. Every effort has been made to list names accurately. If your name has been omitted, or displayed incorrectly, please accept our apologies, and notify King’s Development Office, 6350 Coburg Road, Halifax, Nova Scotia, B3H 2A1 or call (902) 422-1271 ext. 128 or e-mail Paula.Johnson@ukings.ns.ca
$600,000
$500,000
Other $8,900
Bequests/ Gifts-in-Kind $247,835
$400,000
$300,000
Capital Campaign $1,077,824
Annual Fund $7,215
$200,000
$100,000
0 Special Friends/ Parents
Alumni
Family
Corporations
Foundations
$571,316
$177,261
$51,147
$275,550
$266,500
Who donated The 1958-59 Postprandial Society
Geoffrey Atherton Laura Auchincloss
A Martin Adelaar Joan Aitken JoAnn & Mark Alberstat Alexandra Society Alexandra Society Dartmouth Branch Bob & Cathy Allison John Alward Melissa Andrew Dennis Andrews Anglican Church Women of All Saints Cathedral C. S. Archibald S. B. Wallace Archibald
B David Baker Bank of Montreal Mary Barker Margaret Barnard Angela Bate George Bate T. F. Baxter Jonathan Bays Robert Bean Wilson Beaton James Bennet Paul Bent Gilbert Berringer Lewis Billard
10
How they donated The Birks Family Foundation William Bishop Anne Blakeney J. Ewart Blanchard* David Blom Deborah Boltz M. Alberta [Bertie] Boswall Hani & Anne Boulos Margaret Fairweather Bourne Eric Bourque Malcolm Bradshaw Jamie Briggs Bristol Group Stephen Brooke Lawrence Bruce-Robertson & Jane Reagh BruceRobertson Fredrik Bruun
Tidings
Peter & Patricia Bryson Don & Joan Buck Basil Buckland Ronald Buckley Lawrence Buffett C. W. Bugden Valerie Bullock C Chantal Caille Robin Calder Anne Cameron Neil Cameron Sheila Cameron David, Kathy, Nicole & Christopher Campbell Canadian National Railway Company
John Carr John Carruthers Carman Carson Helen Pullen Cathcart Cerescorp Company Patricia Chalmers Elizabeth Chandler Chere Chapman & Gordon Cooper Paul Charlebois Janet Charlton Carolyn Chenhall Nancy (Martin) Chipman Fred Christie CIBC Charitable Foundation Lyssa Clack John & Lynn Clappison Alma Clark*
Winter 2004
Ginny Lewis Clark Dolda Clarke Marguerite Clarke Mary Lou Clarke Maxwell Clattenburg Joan Clayton Hope Clement James & Charlotte (Graven) Cochran Peter Coffin David Coleman Heather Collins John Cook George Cooper H. Rhodes Cooper John & Ruth Cordes Armand Couture James Cowan Kathleen Cox John Crace & Pamela Scott Crace Robert Craig James Creaser Marilyn & Richard Cregan Anne & Hugh Crosthwait Robert Crouse Cundill Foundation Lucille & Patrick Curran Thomas & Jane Curran Tim Currie David Curry Lorn Curry & Joanne Wall Brian Cuthbertson Arthur Cuzner D Diane Daly Monica Dashwood Meredith Davis S. Allison Davis Wendy Davis L. Ann Day Nicholas Day Melville Deacon* Jack & Eleanor Dean Kenneth Dekker Kerry DeLorey Lisa Dennis Amy Densmore Marilyn & Fraser Dewis J. Mark & Rachel DeWolf Alan Dick Andrew Dick Lisa Dobbin Susan Dodd Floy Doull Dover Mills Limited Duffus Romans Kundzins Rounsefell Kathryn Dundas Rick Dunlop Paula Dyke E Gordon Earle Margaret Earles EastLink Cable Systems Sarah Eberts Elizabeth Edwards C. Russell Elliott Estate of Dorothy Heighton* Estate of Elsie Crickard* Estate of F.C. Manning* Estate of Jen MacKenzie Douthwaite* Estate of Marguerite Vernon*
Winter 2004
Estate of Mr. Forrester* Estate of Robert Morris* Estate of Theodore Burton* J. Trevor Eyton F Jean Fairn Kenneth & Jean Faulkner Martin Feaver Barbara & Fergus Fergusson Finnegan Timothy & Margaret Fleming Brian Flemming Mark Flemming Nick & Sally Forrest Margaret & David Fountain Maria Franks J. Rod Fraser Linda & Gregor Fraser Rowland Frazee F. Melvin French Paul Friedland Friends of King's College, Halifax Inc. Marion Fry Sarah Fulford Gillian (Charlton) Fullilove G General Motors of Canada Limited Ed Gesner Elizabeth Anne Gesner Lloyd Gesner Jack Gibbons & Mary Lovett Marie Gibson Ed Gigg Sara Gillis Dorota Glowacka Barbara Goodman H.Bruce Gorrie John Gorrill Grant Thornton Roselle Green Beverley Greenlaw & Sylvia Hamilton Anne Gregory Charles, Anne, Graeme & Cameron Gunn H Ann, Alec, Amy, Mary & Elizabeth Hadfield Doug Hadley Geraldine Hamm Glenna Hanley Elizabeth Hanton Anne & Andy Hare Mary Beth Harris Ronald Harris Susan Harris Walter Harris Harrison McCain Foundation Marnie Hay E. Kitchener Hayman Annette Hayward C. William Hayward David Hazen F. Harold Hazen Mark & Shirley Hazen Cecil Hebb Ian Henderson Mary Henderson Hepburn Family H. Douglas Hergett John & June Hibbitts
Joshua & Paige Hochschild Larry & Joan Holman Annemieke Holthius Neil Hooper Dennis House Bruce Howe Robert Walker Howe Caroline (Bennett) Hubbard M. Ruth Hudson Ronald Huebert Ian Hugill Kiara Hum Jean Humphreys I Erin Iles Robert Inglis Gilbert Inkpen Deborah Irvine Anderson J Jackman Foundation J.Robert Jackson Roland Jamieson Philip & Ruth Jefferson Peter Jelley Charlotte Jewczyk Paula Johnson Angus Johnston & Sandra Haycock David Jones & Ena Gwen Jones K Lynn Kean Heather (Carmichael) Kearney Deborah Kempton Sheryl & David Kerr Ken Kierans Kim Kierans Stephen Kimber C.Erin King John Kinley W. J. Tory & Margaret Kirby Stephen Kirkpatrick Stephen Knowles Robert Kunz L Lafarge Canada Inc. Paulette Lambert Mary Lane Peter & Mary Lannan Karen Lawrence John & Nancy Leefe George Lemmon W.Ralph Lewis Matthew Lister Penelope Lockhart Aleah Palmer Lomas Ruth Loomer Iain Luke M Elizabeth MacArthur* Sandy MacDonald David & Margaret (Currie) MacDonald Jane MacDonald Spiteri Monique MacEwan Catherine MacGregor Ken & Mary MacInnis Keith MacIntyre Daniel MacKay David MacKay Eric MacKay
Tidings
Ian MacKenzie Mark MacKenzie Lina MacKinnon Leslie MacLeod Susan MacMillan Donald MacQuarrie J.Roderick MacQuarrie Jennifer (Smiley) Mallory Adrienne Malloy The Maritime Life Assurance Company Ronald Marks Rene & Carmen Martin Keith Mason Susan Mathers Heather Mathis Elizabeth Matthews Mr. & Mrs. R. B. Matthews Garth Maxwell Lottie McAlpine M. Ann McCaig G.Wallace McCain Gillian McCain Kim McCallum D. Scott McCann T.A. Guy McCarthy Bob McCleave Dennis McCluskey Glendon McCormick Peter McCormick Peter McCreath Gretchen McCurdy Michael McDonald Anne (Wainwright) McGaughey Ross McGregor McInnes Cooper Karyn McLean Cal McMillan Janet McMillan Dempsey Judith McPhee Stuart McPhee Kelly & Michael Meighen David Millar Lois Miller Joyce Millman J.W.E. Mingo Catherine (Rhymes) Misener Janet Mitchell The Molson Foundation Melinda Montgomery Penny Moody-Corbett Moosehead Breweries Limited Robert Morris Andrew Morrison & Jennifer Morawiecki Joan Madeleine Morrison Michael & Sandra Moss John Mullowney Camela Murphy David Murphy Terry Murphy Robert Murray N Hilroy & Fannie Nathanson Peter Nathanson National Life Nova Scotia Power Inc. Theresa Nowlan Suart O Cheryl O'Shea Bruce Oland David Olie
Juliana Ott* Jean-Eudes & Marielle Ouellette Marco Oved Sandra Oxner P Robert Pace Elizabeth Page John Page Owen & Elizabeth Parkhouse Nancy Parks Charlotte (MacLean) Peach LeRoy Peach Mary Pendergast David & Tamara Perlmutter Arthur & Elizabeth Peters Drake Petersen George Phills Chuck Piercey Andrea Pilichos Cynthia Pilichos Harold Pippy Brian Pitcairn Ann Pituley Sarah Powell Morton Prager Frances Prowse Margo Pullen Sly Mary Puxley* Q Peter Quinn R Tom Raddall III & Cathy Raddall Bob Rae & Arlene Perly Rae Reader's Digest Foundation of Canada Charles Reagh Elizabeth Reagh Tracey Reeves Earle Ripley Timothy Rissesco Patrick Rivest Amy Rizner Neil & Patricia Robertson Ronald & Sheila Robertson Edward & Isabelle Robinson Anna Ruth Rogers George Rogers Henry Roper Gillian Bidwell Rose Rothmans, Benson & Hedges Inc. John Roy Merv Russell S Melvyn Sacks Mary Sargeant Barry Sawyer Seamark Asset Management Limited Jill Stanfield Sears David Secord Marnie Shaw Clifford Shirley Norman & Judy Silver Nora Simpson Norman Sinclair The Sir James Dunn Foundation William Sitland William Skinner
11
Patricia Sliwak-Grinberg Barbara & Heather Smith Ben Smith H.Deryk Smith Joy Smith Joanne Snair The Sobey Foundation Elizabeth Bayne Sodero Norman Sorge James Stacey Colin Starnes Geoffrey & Jane Steele Detlev Steffen Janice Stein Donald Stevenson Sarah Stevenson Dave Stewart Stephen Stewart Thomas Stinson Kevin & Janice Stockall Rodney Stokoe Carmon Stone Geoff Strople Steven Sutherland & Holly
Conners Rick & Jan Sutin John Swain T Catriona Talbot Brian & Sheila Taylor Laurie Taylor TD Canada Trust Kelley Teahen Lionel Teed The Edper Foundation The Pepsi Bottling Group The Telegram Don & Mary Thompson Judith Thompson Shirley Tillotson Mary Anne Tomes Keith Townley Don & Gloria (Teed) Trivett Randolph & Judith (Banks) Tsang Nicholas Twyman
U UKC Alumni Association UKC Society of the Students' Union Brian Underhill Gary Ursell & Helen Kearns V Nancy Violi Nancy Vondette W Isabel Wainwright Philip Walker Brenda Walsh Luanne Walton Stephen Warburton Bruce Wark Gary & Ruth Anne Wasserman Anne Weaver Heidi Wells William Wells Suzanne Wheeler
Christopher White Peter & Mary White Glenn Williams Michele Williams David Wilson R. Blair Wilson Rose Wilson Wilson Fuel Company Limited J.Robert Winters Susan Wood Faye Woodman John Timothy Wright Patricia Wrin Des Writer Charles Wurtzburg
* deceased Donations were also given in memory of the following people:
Y George Yates Elizabeth Yeo Robert Yeo and those donors who wish to remain anonymous
Wayne Campbell Dixon Chant Hal Connor George Earles Michael Elliott Mrs. Grafstein Margaret Gladys Budd (Small) Hebb Pamela Herod Sheila Jones Denise Ouellette Andrew Pitcairn Harry Smith Peter Wilson
King’s Classic Golf Tournament A very special thanks to our generous sponsors HOLE SPONSORS CMHC – Coastal Restoration - Duffus Romans Kundzins Rounsefell Ltd. - The Home Depot Canada – Internet Solutions – Kerr Heating – Maritime Northeast Pipeline – Meloche Monnex – Pepsi-Cola Canada Beverages – Rector Colavecchia Roche – Scotiabank, Coburg & Robie – Seamark Asset Management Ltd. – Sobeys Inc. – Sodexho Canada – Surrette Battery Company Limited – Wilson Fuels PRIZE SPONSORS 14 Wing Greenwood Golf Club Annapolis Royal Golf & Country Club Atlantic Lottery Corporation Atlantic Theatre Festival Avondale Golf Course - PEI Bacardi Bell Bay Golf Club Bristol Group Inc. Brookfield Golf & Country Club Canadian Broadcasting Corporation CanJet Airlines CanMed Carsand-Mosher Photographic Ltd. CCL Group Charm Diamond Centres CIBC Clare Golf & Country Club Cleve’s Sporting Goods Ltd. Comfort Inn Truro Cox Hanson O’Reilly Matheson The Dartmouth Sportsplex Don Bretons
12
Dugger’s Quality Men’s Wear Ltd. Dundee Resort & Golf Club Eden Golf & Country Club Fairmont Algonguin Hotel Fairview Hills Golf Centre Fiddlers Green ForeWinds Golf Club Glasgow Hills Resort & Golf Club Glen Arbour Global Television Golf Links PEI Golf Central Goodwood Family Golf Centre Grand & Toy Greenfield Golf Course Grinner’s Food Systems Limited The Halifax Herald Limited Healy Sales Agency Inc. Helly Hansen Canada Ltd. Honeywell HP Golf Shop IKON Office Solutions Jo-Mac Golf Ltd. Jost Vinyards
Ken-Wo Golf & Country Club Kent Building Supplies King’s Alumni Association King’s Public Relations Office KPMG Lake Loon Golf Centre Linacy Greens Golf Club Lost Creek Golf Club Maritime Campus Maritime Travel McInnes Cooper Meloche Monnex Minas View Golf Links Moirs Chocolates Ltd. Molson Canada Mother Tucker’s Neptune Theatrem Northumberland Links Golf & Country Club Nova Scotian Crystal Nubody’s Fitness Center Oland Breweries Limited Owens Corning Canada Patterson Palmer Pepsi-Cola Canada Beverages Pete’s Frootique
Tidings
Piercey’s Building Supplies Pin-Hi Golf Club The Pines Resort Golf Club Pricewaterhouse Coopers Print Atlantic Rant Promotions Rogers AT&T Royal Bank of Canada Royal LePage Russell House Marketing Rustico Resort Ryan Duffy’s Sackville Golf Course & Driving Range ScotiaMcLeod The Shaw Group Springhill Centennial Golf Club Sunrise Beach Golf & Country Club The Links at Montague Theriault Financial West Pubnico Golf & Country Club Wood Motors Ford Yarmouth Golf & Curling Club
Winter 2004
MESSAGE FROM THE ALUMNI GOLF COMMITTEE
2004 King’s Alumni Golf Tournament to be held Aug. 12 Tourney introduces new ‘gallery’ feature Your Alumni Association at King’s sponsors an annual golf tournament in Halifax to raise funds for Alumni Scholarships awarded annually to deserving King’s students. In 2004 we would like you, as a King’s alumnus, to get involved in this tournament and help raise money for this very worthwhile scholarship. If you are a golfer, at any level, please come and participate. This is a best ball, fun event for golfers of all abilities. In 2003, 86 golfers participated in the shotgun start followed by a reception and barbecue. We urge you to contact some of your former classmates and put a group together, or bring other friends you have made since leaving King’s. Plan a trip back to Halifax if you don’t live in the area. We guarantee you will have a fun-filled day for a very worthwhile cause. Can’t be there in person? Why not join the gallery! If you can’t be here to have some fun in person we want you to be in the gallery watching from one of the holes. How can I do that, you ask? Very easily! Simply send us a picture of yourself or your entire family. Your photo will be mounted on a board with pictures of other King’s alumni from your year. The cost of gallery participation in the Alumni Golf Tournament is $25.00 per picture with this entire amount going directly to support the Alumni Scholarship Fund. Whether you can be here in person or not, please be a part of this fun event to
Winter 2004
raise money for this important Alumni Scholarship. Our first choice is that you mark your calendar for August 12, 2004 and plan to golf with us, but if that’s not possible please consider being in the gallery for the day. The cost for golf, prizes, BBQ and lots of fun is $125.00. The cost of gallery participation is $25.00. If you would like to receive regular updates on this event please send us your e-mail address and we will keep you informed. You can also get information on the King’s website. We will send information to you as plans progress. Contact the Alumni Office at 902422-1271 ext 128 or email paula.johnson@ ukings.ns.ca We are also looking for companies to purchase hole sponsorships for this event. If your company is interested or you know of another company that might sponsor a hole, please let us know. The cost of a hole sponsorship is $250.00. The company name or logo will be clearly visible for all to see at this scholarship fundraiser. Ask anyone who has participated in the past! This is a must-attend event for anyone who can work it into their plans.
Tidings
86 golf at 2003 event The 10th Annual King’s Classic Golf Tournament, held Aug. 14 at Sherwood Golf and Country Club, raised more than $6,000 in support of the Alumni Media Scholarship. The shotgun start saw 86 golfers tee off for a round of 18 holes followed by a barbecue supper and prize awards — including a trip for two anywhere CanJet flies and a golf weekend for two at the Fairmont in beautiful St. Andrew’s by the Sea. Everyone was a winner! New for 2004 is the introduction of ‘The Gallery’ for those alumni who can’t be there but want to support this important fundraiser. For a $25 donation, alumni can have their photo posted at one of the holes.
13
COVER STORY
Media milestone Halifax Herald Deputy Managing Editor Frank DePalma (BJ â&#x20AC;&#x2122;82) and Assistant Managing Editor Sheryl Grant (BJH â&#x20AC;&#x2122;80)
14
Tidings
Winter 2004
Twenty-five years since the journalism school’s inception, its grads can now be found in top positions across Canada. The school has long asserted its role in training working reporters, not media observers. But it faces challenges of expansion and a continent-wide debate over the role of journalism education. We look at the evolving story of the school and some of the alumni who have strengthened its reputation. By Chris LaRoche
G
enevieve MacIntyre remembers reading the comments on her first marked assignment in August and thinking that her story had more red ink on it than black. The one-year BJ student had been warned about Professor Eugene Meese’s meticulous criticism, but she thought the fussy professors who taught her undergraduate English at St. Francis Xavier University had toughened her up. Still, Meese’s criticism was alarming. “Looking at my assignment at first was pretty shocking,” she says, sitting on one of the school’s couches as she prepares to embark on a four-week internship in November. “But it was all constructive. Eugene’s [course] was definitely one of the most beneficial ones.” MacIntyre and her classmates aren’t much different from those in previous years. Meese has gained a reputation for covering new stories with red ink since he came to King’s in 1979 as the journalism school’s first full-time hire. “The only vision I ever had is that journalism is something you do and we should teach it that way. We’re not, and never have been, a place of mass communication studies where you have theories about journalism,” Meese says at his office desk on the third floor of the A&A Building. “You go do it, and I’ll criticize it.” The school’s mission of training reporters not media critics has helped place its 1,072 graduates in senior positions at Canada’s top national and regional news outlets — including the Globe and Mail, the Toronto Star and the CBC.
Winter 2004
Photos by Michael Creagen
In August, Malcolm Kirk (BJH ’89) became editor-in-chief of the Calgary Herald. Five years ago at age 30, he was thought to be the youngest managing editor in Canada when he took charge of the Vancouver Province. Earlier this year Stephanie Nolen (BJH ’93) took over the African affairs beat for the Globe and Mail, where she works with investigative reporter Peter Cheney (BJH ’84). On the broadcast side, John Vennavally-Rao (BJH ’95) is finishing up his second year in Halifax as CTV’s national reporter for the Atlantic region. “I can’t imagine there is a paper in Atlantic Canada without people from King’s,” says former Halifax Daily News editor-in-chief Bretton Loney (BJH ’84). More than half of “Hi. I’m going to be on TV in 60 seconds. Could you call me tomorrow?” Andrew Willis asks. Appearing on television to comment on business is one of the many ways in which the Globe and Mail reporter practises his career as a business journalist. Willis has worked at the Globe, where he writes a regular business column, Streetwise, since 1995. Later, in less of a hurry, Willis says he knew he wanted to be a business reporter before he came to King’s, because he had already worked in the financial industry. While studying at King’s, he worked for CBC Radio and the Financial Post. “The only way I was able to have those opportunities is because my professors encouraged me and introduced me to people,” says Willis. After graduating in 1988, Willis interned for the summer at the Financial Post. The Financial Post then hired him as a general-assignment reporter. “They expected good copy,” says Willis. “They expected you to get your numbers
Tidings
the Daily News’s staff is former King’s students. *** Meese was hired in the summer of 1979, one year after the journalism school was officially created by King’s president John Godfrey (’77’87) and David Oancia, the school’s first director, a former Globe and Mail foreign correspondent to China. In the 1960s and 70s King’s had attempted to create a distinct role for itself by teaching adult education classes in journalism. Dr. J. Graham Morgan, John Godfrey’s predecessor, had filed for a licence to teach jourContinued on next page right.” Since then, Willis has worked at The Financial Times of Canada, Dow Jones/Wall Street Journal and Maclean’s magazine. He appears on Report on Business Television and CBC Newsworld. Willis also co-wrote a 1997 book, The Bre-X Fraud. Willis says his favourite stories are those in which he tells the public what’s going on behind the scenes. In 1998, for example, he scooped other news outlets when he wrote a front-page story on TD Bank’s and CIBC’s planned multi-million-dollar merger. Willis says the most challenging aspects of journalism are getting the story right and deadlines. “I wish I would have learned to be better on deadlines,” he says. “So do all my bosses.” And his advice to new journalists? “It’s a great career. You’ll have a lot of fun.”
ANDREW WILLIS (BJ ’88) BUSINESS REPORTER, GLOBE AND MAIL
– Kathleen Renne
15
nalism with the Maritime Provinces Higher Education Commission at the same time Mount St. Vincent University applied for its public relations licence. When Godfrey became King’s president in 1977, the commission had already granted the licence to King’s with a “use it or lose it” expiry date, prompting Godfrey to launch the school in his first year as president. Godfrey, now a Liberal MP for Don Valley West in Toronto, began setting the school up in the basement of the Arts and Administration building. The space had only a single
JIM RANKIN (BJ ’92) REPORTER, TORONTO STAR
Reporter Jim Rankin compares writing his best story to being hit by a bolt of lightning: “If I ever get struck again, I’ll be lucky,” he says over the phone from his desk at the Toronto Star. “Or unlucky,” he adds as an after-thought. That big story was one Rankin wrote with five reporters on the subject of racial profiling by Toronto city police officers. In the series, the Star looked at a police database of charges laid between 1996 and 2002 and concluded that, in some cases, blacks were treated more harshly than whites. “For the black community here, it was not really news,” he says. “But they were content to see the story come out. I don’t know of any other paper in Toronto that would have stuck with it.” Rankin has worked full-time at the Toronto Star since 1994, two years after he graduated from King’s oneyear BJ degree program. He had some prior experience with the Star and the London Free Press, where he had worked as a student reporter-photographer during summers. The New Brunswick TelegraphJournal took on Rankin immediately after graduation. A year later, he moved to the Star, where he prefers researching features to writing daily news. Rankin says not many of his stories are assigned, which is both good and bad: “If something looks interesting, I can go get it. The downside to that is sometimes it means I am caught behind my desk. A week goes by, a couple of months. For that racial profiling story, we were devoted just to the one project for a year.” Rankin feels fortunate to have the option of doing what he loves, even if it is sometimes stressful: “It’s great when there’s the staffing, money, resources to do that — especially when you know you are right.”
– Lis van Berkel
16
narrow room with “proportions that were all wrong,” says Godfrey. When Meese flew down for his interview in 1979, the drywall for the school’s walls hadn’t even been cut. In the meantime, Godfrey and Oancia had established the blueprints for how the school would be run and what kind of programs it would offer. ‘We wanted a well-rounded kind of journalist’ “We decided on a four-year honours program with the Foundation Year Programme as a requirement,” says Godfrey. “We had the view that we wanted a very literate, very welleducated, well-rounded kind of journalist. I wanted to make sure that before people started writing stories that they had a good academic programme. I also insisted that if we were going to produce national students there should be a French requirement.” Although French competency tests were later dropped from the curriculum, the two programmes implemented between 1978 and 1980 — a four-year honours degree with the Foundation Year Programme and the one-year bachelor’s degree —
remain the journalism school’s primary degrees today. Kerry DeLorey (BJH ’80), now a Halifax photographer, remembers Oancia as a “hard-drinking, hardsmoking Lou Grant-like figure.” DeLorey, who was alphabetically the first-ever King’s journalism grad, says the school had “absolutely no technology at all,” but if there were growing pains he didn’t see them. “We didn’t know what a journalism school ought to be like,” says DeLorey. “It seemed to work John Godfrey fine. The classes were on time. The Photo: Courtesy professors seemed Government of Canada to be doing their jobs. It was great.” Oancia decided to leave the school at the end of that first year, leaving the director’s chair vacant. “We managed to get the whole thing set up under the deadline, but it didn’t work terribly well,” says Godfrey. “I think David realized this Continued on next page
Then acting director Eugene Meese (left) discusses the student newspaper The Monitor at a session with the King’s Alumni Association (Bruce Archibald pictured at right) in the late 1980s: “There’s always been a big debate over whether journalism schools belong in a university.”
Tidings
Winter 2004
wasn’t his calling. He got the place going, though, and that was the main thing.” It was at this time — the summer of 1979 — that Godfrey hired Meese and brought in Arthur Andrew, a retired diplomat. In order to fill the director position, Godfrey and Andrew invited renowned political journalist George Bain to the university. Bain had been spending time in France after working for the Toronto Star and the Globe and Mail. According to Godfrey, the two “wooed him appropriately” and considered it a coup when Bain accepted. “Because of his reputation, name and stature, he really put the place on the map,” says Godfrey. Meese adds, “The mere fact he would come here gave the school credibility.” In its first year of operation under Bain, the school was made up of 25 students in the one-year BJ program, a few honours students who were taking classes at Dalhousie, 25 typewriters, Meese, Bain, a secretary and a few sessional lecturers, including Andrew. Soon after, the school hired Ian Wiseman, a broadcast journalist who helped expand topics of study to television and radio. The school also resurrected the Watch and eventually began putting out its own publications, including the Monitor, as an outlet for student work. Halifax Herald Ottawa bureau chief Brian Underhill (BJH ’80) remembers the school as it was just after Bain became director. “The programme seemed to fit pretty well with King’s, although it was a bit weird being in the basement,” he says. “There wasn’t a lot of technology available in those days. I remember doing some TV projects and we shot them on film — yes, film, no video, limited editing — using resources from outside the university.” Underhill worked part-time for the Halifax Herald while attending King’s, later getting a job as court and legislative reporter, making him the first student from the school to be hired by a paper. Four more classes would graduate from the school before George Bain would leave the director’s chair, leaving the position in 1984 to former managing editor of Maclean’s and author Walter Stewart.
Winter 2004
“We were lucky in those first directors — they put us on the national map in a way that nobody else could have,” says Meese. In 1986 Meese was charged with the responsibility of finding a system of computers that would work at the Daily News managing editor Sherri Aikenhead credits two of her professors in particular for shaping her newspaper career: the school's first director, George Bain, and magazine professor Stephen Kimber, currently a Daily News columnist. “Stephen knew I was working in a bakery to put myself through university, and he told me to stop it, to start writing for a living,” she recalls. “Then George, who was a columnist for the Globe and Mail, used his contacts to get me a job at Maclean’s.” As the youngest reporter on staff at the Toronto-based national magazine, Aikenhead says she was awed by her colleagues. She used the experience to become a political and legislative reporter at the Edmonton Journal, where she covered politicians such as Brian Mulroney and then-mayor of Calgary Ralph Klein. “My biggest story was a political scan-
Tidings
school, settling finally on the Macintosh platform the school still uses. Two years later, King’s hired Michael Cobden as director, a South
Students work in the j-school’s basement computer lab in the late 1980s.
Continued on next page dal in the Mulroney cabinet,” she recalls. “I even remember what I was wearing— pink pants and white sandals — and I climbed over a farmer’s fence to get an interview, through all the muck, and Sinclair Stevens gave it to me.” After a brief stint in Ottawa, Aikenhead decided to move her young family back to Halifax to edit the new Life section at the Daily News in 1985. “I thrive on starting things,” she reflects. “That's why I like managing people — I like helping them develop.” Aikenhead does that at the school, participating in the Ian Wiseman Mentorship Programme. “At 40, I have to say that juggling my career and family has been really important. I proved you can push for flex-time, for a four-day week. It’s important to have women and mothers on staff. Women are half the readership.”
SHERRI AIKENHEAD (BJH ’85) MANAGING EDITOR, HALIFAX DAILY NEWS
– Lis van Berkel
17
SHERYL GRANT (BJH ’80) ASSISTANT MANAGING EDITOR, HALIFAX HERALD
Sheryl Grant was working the assignment desk at the Halifax Herald on Thursday, May 7, when three young men shot four employees of a Sydney River McDonald's restaurant in a bungled robbery. Two days later a spark inside the Westray mine ignited methane gas, triggering a massive explosion that trapped and eventually killed 26 miners. Grant remembers co-ordinating the paper’s coverage those hectic few days as some of the busiest and most exhilarating moments of her career. “That weekend really stands out,” she says. “It was quite exciting.” Grant had started at the Herald in November 1980, a few months after graduating with the first-ever King’s journalism class. She worked as a reporter for six
African-born journalist with an education degree from the University of Toronto who had worked as a reporter and editor with a number of daily papers, the last being the Kingston Whig-Standard. “King’s was a very strange mixture between a practical, almost vocational journalism program and the Foundation Year Programme, which was all King’s had back then,” says Cobden. “After a while, I realized this wasn’t as strange a fit as I
years, covering city hall and the provincial legislature before moving to an editor’s chair in 1986. “If people ask me ‘Do I miss reporting?’ I say no,” she says. “But I miss being in the thick of things.” She says she has witnessed Halifax become a less conservative place than it was when she started. “I think it used to be smaller town — much more cautious,” she says. “Five years ago you never would have seen reporters interviewing people on the steps of the courthouse. Now it’s commonplace. It’s much more aggressive. Some people don’t like it. They say it’s much more American-style than they would like it to be — more invasive, more sensational. But I’d say it’s better.”
had thought. Foundation Year makes people learn how to read difficult material and it teaches you how to think,” he says. “Nothing is more important than that, especially for a journalist. Journalism is, par excellence, a thinking job.” Nevertheless, Cobden felt the journalism school didn’t do enough to take advantage of the rest of the university. The King’s administration and staff were disinterested in the school, he says. Although this
In her position, she sees many students interested in journalism — many King’s interns, but also high school students. She tells them they have to be passionate about asking questions — and also to be able to juggle tasks. “I always jokingly ask high school students when they come in if they can watch TV and do their homework at the same time — which I know parents would hate,” she laughs. If they can do that, she says it’s a great job. “I love it. I wouldn’t do anything else,” she says. “It’s always fun. Even when things happen that aren’t that fun, there is always some enjoyment to be had in it.”
– Tim Currie
allowed the school quite a bit of independence, it didn’t encourage the school’s growth. “We had to struggle to get equipment, we had to struggle to get staff. That was a bit discouraging.” At the same time, the school pondered whether it should build a television studio, ultimately deciding it was unnecessary. To improve relations between the academia of King’s and the practicality of the journalism school, the uni-
Former broadcast professor Ian Wiseman helps students edit a radio story in the late 1980s.
18
Tidings
Winter 2004
versity introduced the combined honours degree available to four-year honours students. The program gives students who apply the opportunity to take upper-level courses in subjects at Dalhousie. Because journalism is such an “unusual” endeavour, exposing students to another field — history, sociology, political science — better prepares them for the journalism world, Cobden says. During Cobden’s tenure as director the construction of a new King’s library allowed the journalism school to move to its current location on the third floor of the A&A building. The school, until then known primarily for its strengths in print journalism, expanded its broadcast offerings by hiring radio professor Margaret Daly in 1991. The school started producing a half-hour current affairs show on Dalhousie’s radio station and continued other recent initiatives — the North End News community newspaper and a weekly news show on Halifax community TV. The school also continued its involvement with the Atlantic Journalism Awards, begun by Bain and Imperial Oil in 1982. The journalism school co-ordinated the judging for 20 years before ending its involvement with the successful event in 2001. The school was sub-
Winter 2004
ject to criticism over the fairness of judging from media outlets that disagreed with the list of finalists. “We simply decided it wasn’t worth it anymore,” says Meese. Stephen Kimber, hired in the mid-80s, took the director’s chair in 1996. Kimber, a magazine writer and author, taught newspaper and magazine courses. He also launched the first course in online journalism at a Canadian university at King’s in 1995. Under Kimber’s direction, the school shifted away from course-oriented curriculums, introducing sixweek workshops in the one-year BJ programme and the final year of the four-year honours program in the 1998-99 academic year. “The workshops were part of an idea to get students more into the hang of practising journalism rather than learning about it, and focusing on what they wanted to do,” says Kimber. Students now choose three workshops in two or more fields of study — newspaper, magazine, online, radio and television. The school also introduced a minor program in the new millennium that allows students who aren’t in either of the existing journalism programs to take first, second and third-year journalism courses.
Tidings
Linda Kelly remembers anchoring CBCTV’s news coverage live from Peggy’s Cove during the Swissair disaster as one of the major points of her career. “There were parts of it that were very difficult,” says Kelly. “Especially when the families arrived. It was very poignant.” Kelly, now host of Canada Now in Halifax, has worked for CBC Television since graduating from King’s in 1990. While a student, Kelly worked at a Sydney radio station and ATV News. “That is the first sense I got of deadline,” says Kelly, recalling her stint at the radio station. “Daily, hourly, day after day deadline.” Following graduation, Kelly interned for a summer at CBC Television. At the end of her internship, CBC hired Kelly as an editorial assistant. While there, she did relief reporting. “I did whatever reporting I could scrounge,” says Kelly. Two years later, Kelly became a reporter for CBC Television in Sydney. Within a year, however, CBC asked Kelly to fill in as anchor in Halifax, a position that soon became permanent. “I never did return to reporting full time,” says Kelly, laughing. Kelly says she prefers anchoring to news reporting. “The best thing about the anchor job is the live show every night,” says Kelly. “It’s great being able to do interviews, to meet new people.” Kelly has never worked in print since leaving King’s, but she remembers print class fondly. “I always remember those nights putting together the newspaper, putting the paper to bed,” says Kelly. Kelly pauses a long time before giving her advice to new journalists. “Be prepared to work your way up,” says Kelly. “Any experience you get is valuable. And never underestimate the value of hard work,” she adds.
LINDA KELLY (BJH ’90) HOST, CANADA NOW, CBC-TV HALIFAX
– Kathleen Renne
“The idea is to allow people who don’t necessarily want to be journalists, but are interested in journalism and the media, to take classes here,” says Kimber. ***
(Top) Esso’s Tim Taylor and George Bain review entries for the first-ever Atlantic Journalism Awards in 1982.
Today, the journalism school has three computer labs, 50 computers, several digital cameras, a dozen Continued on next page
19
FRANK DePALMA (BJ ’82) DEPUTY MANAGING EDITOR, HALIFAX HERALD
Frank De Palma surveys the newsroom of the Halifax Herald. Reporters are busy in their cubicles. Piles of paper are everywhere. There is a buzz of activity. “I look around this newsroom, and there are tons of King’s grads,” he says, smiling. DePalma knows his way around this newsroom. He has worked for the Herald ever since he graduated from King’s in 1982. “I did literally everything,” he says, recalling his days as a junior reporter working in a local bureau. “Agricultural fairs, political stories, breaking news and photography.” Between 1988 and 1991, DePalma became the Toronto–based reporter for the Herald. While there, he covered one of the most difficult stories of his career - the murder of a young Nova Scotian woman. “I had to respect her family, yet portray the gruesomeness of that horrific event,” says DePalma. “That was difficult.” But he says he remembered his role as a journalist.
minidisc recorders and cameras, seven full-time professors, three technical staff members, a dozen part-time instructors and a student enrolment of nearly 200 students among the three programmes.
“If you’re unable to tell a story, people live in ignorance of such events,” he says. In 1999, DePalma became the Deputy Managing Editor at the Herald, a position he has held ever since. “Twenty years ago, people said, ‘Why get into newspapers? They’re dinosaurs,’” says DePalma. “But 20 years later, they’re still going strong.” DePalma says the University of King’s College gave him a good introduction to journalism. But DePalma says some of the best training is working in the business. “There’s nothing like having an editor say, ‘You have an hour and a half to finish the story, otherwise we won’t run it,’” he says. And what’s DePalma’s advice to young journalists? “Get involved in student newspapers, community weeklies, go to lectures, talk to people, be confident, believe in yourself, be persistent,” he says.
– Kathleen Renne
Kimber decided to call it quits as director earlier this year, handing the position over to radio professor Kim Kierans, hired after Daly stepped down in 1997. Within the next few years the
school will face major changes: three of its full-time staff are to leave on early and regular retirement. Physical limitations of the King’s campus prevent the school from growing much larger — and the debate over whether journalism schools belong in the academic setting of a university still rages on — at King’s and across North America. As well, the school is positioning itself against a continent-wide trend to teach journalism as part of mass communications or public relations programmes — a development both Cobden and Meese find particularly worrisome. “There’s a big debate — there’s always been a big debate — over whether journalism schools belong in a university, and if so, how they belong and how they will make themselves legitimate partners in academic enterprise,” says Meese. “And that debate is going to continue to go on. The school is going to face some substantial changes in the next few years.” Although the direction the school will take in the future isn’t clear, the school’s impact on Atlantic journalism is much more certain, says the Daily News’s Bretton Loney.
New director takes on challenges of growth Managing enrolment boom, strengthening industry ties are priorities for Kim Kierans By Neal Ozano At times Kim Kierans wonders what she has gotten herself into. She’s doing her masters in Atlantic Canada Studies, works for the CBC, and is raising three children. She also started July 1 as the new Director of King’s Journalism programme. “And I write a column in the Sunday Herald, she adds.” She twirls her finger around her ear, as a physical representation of her insanity, and laughs sincerely. “[I’m] a happy, crazy woman.”
20
Tidings
Kierans has spent the last seven years as King’s radio professor. She began her tenure as director a week before the Bachelor of Journalism students arrived in August, after spending the summer working with a Vancouver-based non-governmental organization to improve coverage of the national election campaign in Cambodia. Stephen Kimber, who was director of the j-school for six years before her, says this put her at a disadvantage at first. “It’s like being smacked in the face,” says Kimber. “All of the things that have to be decided by
Winter 2004
“Investigative reporting is not something I thought I liked,” explains a surprised Peter Walsh on the phone from Winnipeg. Walsh is a reporter for Disclosure, CBCTV’s investigative news magazine show. Four years ago, Walsh had a consumer column on CBC-TV in St. John’s, Nfld. “People who felt ripped off would call me,” he says. “I really, really enjoyed that. It was daily advocacy work, and it was extremely rewarding — much, much more than I thought when I began.” Walsh graduated from the one-year Bachelor of Journalism programme in 1994. From there, he moved back to his
hometown of St. John's, working first in radio and then for television. Most of his stories were “small consumer stuff,” Walsh says. But he’s most proud of the story in which he uncovered a financial scam in central Newfoundland. The perpetrator was running a “ponzi” scheme that attracted more and larger investors by paying off other investors with the new money. Walsh says the unsuspecting man had scammed people across the United States out of millions of dollars when he confronted him. The man turned himself in and is now serving four years in jail.
“King’s gives people a good solid grounding in the craft. When they come out, they know what to do,” he says. “I would certainly recommend the school to aspiring journalists,” says Brian Underhill. “Unlike my era when most reporters were hired off the street or with English degrees, journalism school is pretty much an imperative these days.” *** At the end of this year Eugene Meese will take early retirement, 25 years and
the director suddenly all come crashing down on you, so you’re suddenly trapped in it.” Now that she’s here, there’s a pile of changes to deal with in the dynamic journalism programme, says Kimber. Two professors, Eugene Meese, who teaches reporting techniques, and Bob Allison, who teaches television, are retiring in the next year. Newspaper professor Michael Cobden will follow the year after. They’ll all need to be replaced. As well, the new minor programme is growing quickly. It offers a taste of the trade through many of the same courses first- and secondyear BJ Honours students take, and some specially designed third-year courses. “It’s mostly for students who are taking one of the other programmes from King’s or Dalhousie and who have an interest in journalism,” says Kierans, “[but] not necessarily in becoming journalists.”
Winter 2004
After five years in St. John's, Disclosure lured the Newfoundlander to Winnipeg. "I definitely moved for the job," says Walsh, who was in the middle of another move in late November, this time to Toronto. "You don't think about it all the time — and you can't — but the media is very powerful,” he insists. "You learn how to treat a story before you get onthe-job experience because, in the newsroom, there's really no patience for teaching.”
– Lis van Berkel
more than 20,000 stories after being hired in “that great yawning space in the basement.” The direction the school will take after staff members leave will be up to those who are hired to fill the vacancies, Meese says. He sees the school as a democratic work in progress: the administration of the journalism department has never been top down, he says. Professors and staff meet monthly and discuss issues concerning every element of the school: curriculum, students and long-term plans. “There has been a constant attempt
She says it teaches them life skills such as writing clearly and thinking critically. But it’s become so popular that it’s pushing the limits of staff and facilities. “We’re expanding in ways we haven’t anticipated,” says Kierans. “That’s one of the challenges we’re going to have in the next few years.” Demand for the first-year minor program is requiring the school to offer two classes. And this year’s second-year group was so large, the school also divided it in two, says Kimber. He expects the minor program to have 120 students next year. The same course in the BJH program had been capped at 40 for years. Finding money to cover the growing program, as well as maintaining the school itself, is a constant quest, says Kierans. “We’re looking under every rock that’s available,” she says. “We’re going to the industry, we’re also going to foundations. We’re in the process of putting together a strate-
Tidings
PETER WALSH (BJ ’94) REPORTER, DISCLOSURE, CBC-TV
here at King’s to make the school work — to make it more relevant, to see what students need, to see what we should be doing. It’s different now from what it was 10 years ago and I’m sure that five years from now it will be different again,” Meese says. “The school is like a story: A story is the best available version of the truth. The school is like that: it’s the best available version of journalism education that we can do, and it’s probably going to get better later on. It’ll certainly be different.” ■
gy to do this in a smart way.” Continuing the school’s efforts to reach out to working journalists is one initiative Kierans wants to concentrate on. “There are all kinds of opportunities to grow in different ways in the wider community down the road.” Kierans wants to plan a party for the school’s anniversary and a symposium. She hopes both will draw alumni. “We hope to tie it in to the 200th anniversary of Joseph Howe’s birthday,” she says, “and we’re hoping that journalism alumni from across the country will think about coming.” Kierans says the director’s job is tough, but it’s stretching her in ways she never thought possible. “I have this philosophy that, whatever you do — if you don’t have fun at it, you shouldn’t do it.” So is she having fun? “Ask me in three years,” she chuckles.
21
A life ministering to First Nations Anglican minister Ian MacKenzie (LTh ’60) is working on memoirs that will recount more than 30 years of work in West Coast communities By John Perry
(Bottom) MacKenzie (middle of the back row, bearded wearing a big hat) with the Indian Ecumenical Conference steering committee in 1971.
22
In November, Reverend Ian MacKenzie was leaving Saint Andrew’s Church in Laxgalts’ap, British Columbia. Chuck Davis, a parishioner, approached the reverend and asked if he would mind putting aside one week in July next year. Davis, a Nisga’a Anglican, wants Reverend MacKenzie to renew his marriage vows to his wife Norma. It was MacKenzie who married the Davises 25 years ago. MacKenzie is 69 now. He says he is retired, but that is hardly the case. The reverend is busy writing his memoirs. It will be a personal account of the social conflicts faced by First Nations people and their relationship to the church. MacKenzie has developed very close ties to the First Nations community. He was adopted by the Haida in 1975 and the Nisga’a people in 1979. He continues to be an active member of the Raven tribe. MacKenzie also enjoyed the rare honour of being a non-native person appointed to the Nisga’a Tribal Council as a voting member for 21 years. “We have in Ian MacKenzie an unconventionally conventional Anglican priest and archdeacon,” says Terry Anderson, professor emeritus at the Vancouver School of Theology (VST). “A high church” charismatic, a red Tory … a loyal opposition [and] an anti-institutional rebel who con-
stantly launches creative institutions.” Reverend MacKenzie’s memoirs will no doubt explore his contribution to some of these creative institutions. His pioneering work within the First Nations Anglican community has shaped who he is today. “He is tough politically,” says Anderson. “He is a scrapper and a fighter, but always sensitive to individual persons.” Starting in 1969, MacKenzie was a consultant to the National Anglican Church of Canada. He helped implement the 1969 Hendry Report, which caused the church to change its approach toward First Nations people. Its primary task was to bring together Christian leaders and traditional medicine men so that both sides could share the problems they faced in their respective communities and villages. “The Hendry Report was instrumental in rejuvenating and giving exposure to medicine men and native religious leaders,” says MacKenzie. “Up to this point, they had been severely persecuted by Christians.” MacKenzie is drawn to grassroots campaigns that challenge the system, be it the church, education or politics. One outcome of the Hendry Report was that the church had to take advocacy in support of First Nations endeavours. In 1969, Pierre Trudeau’s White Paper was close to being passed in Parliament. The paper would have seen municipalities imposed on native villages; a move that MacKenzie says would have seriously threatened First Nations traditional culture. MacKenzie travelled the country working with Indian groups and non-Native organizations to galvanize support against the White Paper. Trudeau and his cabinet finally gave into this pressure and changed their course. One of MacKenzie’s greatest achievements was the founding of the Indian Ecumenical Conference in 1971. As a member of the steering committee he helped spur a cultural revival among Native people. The pri-
Tidings
mary task was to organize grassroots meetings that focused on the conflict between tribal and Christian traditions in Canada and the U.S. This inter-religious dialogue is what contributed to the Conference’s success. It managed to bring about social change without conflict. The Ecumenical Conference grew into the Centre for Indian Scholars. The centre is an educational and religious institution that fosters scholarship by First Nations people. MacKenzie currently sits on the board. At home in Terrace, B.C., MacKenzie continues to minister in neighbouring communities. “You’re living and working with people whom you baptized, whom you married and whose parents you bury.” MacKenzie continues to tutor for the Masters of Divinity by Extension program at the Vancouver School of Theology. The programme is run in or near students’ home communities and taught in such a way that it considers the students’ background and culture. It makes it possible for First Nations students to look at the western tradition in a culturally familiar environment, without becoming assimilated. It is hard to imagine MacKenzie has any time left for hobbies. Some mornings you will find him trout fishing along the shores of Kitimat and Skeena Rivers. Or you might find him canoeing on any number of lakes around the B.C. interior. Setting up a time to interview MacKenzie meant scheduling around a weekend road trip up to a cabin in Hyder, Alaska. He travels here so that his wife, Reverend Paula Sampson, can still vote in her home state. “I would find it difficult being away from the West Coast,” he says. “After a while, I would miss the mountains and the water.” Even in retirement, you can be sure that MacKenzie is always moving. If he finds the time, he hopes to finish his memoirs by the spring of 2005.
Winter 2004
No plans to remain ‘Idol’ for Wilcox Top 11 finalist says ‘surreal’ experience on hit CTV series has opened career doors By Rhia Perkins Free glasses and clothes, all-expensepaid trips to Toronto, a taste of the star treatment, renewed self-confidence and a better understanding of the workings of the music business. Those are just some of the things Richie Wilcox (BAH ’02) took from his experience as a Top 11 contestant on CTV’s hit reality series Canadian Idol. A busy actor and director, Wilcox is no stranger to the public eye. But he still describes his months with the Canadian Idol cast and crew as “surreal.” “I knew a lot of people who were auditioning for the judges that day and I knew how well they could sing. So I thought, ‘Well, I’ll just go in and do what I can,’” he says. “I didn’t even prepare the song they showed on TV for my audition — Two Princes, by the Spin Doctors.” He said the judges asked him to sing another song and it was the one that came to mind. “It was just one I sing at Karaoke,” he says. Two Princes proved to be the ticket for the 23-year-old from New Waterford, N.S. — the coveted golden one, that is. But right after winning a trip to Toronto and the chance to be a top 100 star, he went back to his job at a Halifax deli. “After getting this gold ticket, it was like, ‘I’m going to Toronto! What kind of sandwich would you like?’” he says, laughing. Top that off with the stares on the street, the speechless teenagers, and the people stopping him in restaurants to tell him stories of viewing Canadian Idol, and it’s hard to argue for normalcy. Still, given the chance to do it over, there’s probably nothing he’d change. So far for Wilcox, any publicity is good publicity. But he does
Winter 2004
wish the media hadn’t made him out to be a Dalhousie grad. “I said I had graduated from King’s in a lot in interviews,” he says. “But I talked about Dal Theatre, because I was involved in that. They just decided to say I graduated from Dal. Throughout my years at King’s and going to Dal’s theatre department, I was very vocal about how I was a King’s student.” ‘Intense’ experience While he doesn’t like to focus on the negatives, the hardest part for the proud Cape Bretoner with a warm personality and infectious laugh, was not losing his spot in the top 10 — he’d never expected to get that far. It was preparing for the finale, which required the top 11 finalists to put together four numbers in three days. “It was a bit intense,” he says. “With my theatre background I’m used to it, whereas a lot of people aren’t. [And] some people had decided they didn’t have to work as hard any more because the competition was over. So it was a little frustrating for me.” The best part of the experience for Wilcox, though, was the friendship. He’s still in regular contact with many of his co-stars, especially Newfoundland contestant Jenny Gear and runner-up Gary Beals, from Cherrybrook, N.S. While he feels a little guilty for capitalizing on his Idol success, he’s worked hard and is ready to use the exposure to his advantage. Wilcox has already auditioned for musicals in Toronto, has upcoming auditions with Neptune Theatre in Halifax, and most important, he says, has gained the confidence to go into people’s offices and ask them to help him out.
Tidings
“I think right now it opens up doors; or at least I can open them myself,” he says. “My direction’s all kind of haywire right now. There are just so many opportunities to pursue.” And he’s got a healthy dose of cynicism about how far his ‘Idolhood’ will get him. “I always kept in mind that it’s going to be ripped away very soon,” he says. “So I might as well just enjoy it, and work it while I can.” Besides the inevitable public appearances and singing jobs, Wilcox has earned himself a column in the Halifax Daily News’ weekly entertainment supplement, HFX, reviewing reality shows. He’s also deeply involved in Angels and Heroes, the theatre company he founded with fellow King’s grad Heather Davis (BAH ’02) and friend Tara Patriquin. In the days to come, he’d like to focus more on his passion for theatre, his passion for Cape Breton, and his budding literary career. It’s all about just being Richie Wilcox. “The travel co-ordinator of the whole show said I was one of three people in the top 11 who came into the competition knowing who they were, and left the competition the same person,” he says. “If I can keep that, then I’ll be really happy.”
Wilcox: “I might as well just enjoy it, and work it while I can.” Photo: Courtesy CTV
23
C A P I T A L
C A M P A I G N
C L O S E
Building on a Strong Foundation BSF capital campaign exceeds $6.7M goal The Building on a Strong Foundation capital campaign was a resounding success, surpassing the $6.7-million goal to reach a final total of more than $7.1 million. Before the campaign was launched, experts told the university that it wouldn’t expect to raise more than $4.5 million. But as construction costs for the new buildings were mounting and provincial government budgets shrinking, the campaign team threw caution to the wind and set the target at $6.7 million, all of which was to be raised from the private sector. National campaign chair George Cooper attributes much of the campaign’s success to the strength of the King’s community. “In any university campaign it is essential that you have the support of the inner circle before going out to industry and asking for their support,” says Cooper. “And we did. A total of $2.5 million was raised even before the campaign was officially launched.” Former King’s president Colin Starnes gives a lot of credit to the campaign team. “The amount of work that has to be done to keep our case and our story in front of potential donors is just mind boggling,” says Starnes. The BSF campaign focus was to raise funds for construction of the New Academic Building and Link; expand scholarship and bursary funding, provide equipment upgrades for the School of Journalism and increase library holdings. Since the campaign launch, the university has completed construction of both buildings and has done extensive renovations to the JSchool radio room. On the main level of the New Academic Building (NAB) is Alumni Hall, a 275-seat lecture hall and home to the
24
The campaign raised money for a number of projects, including the New Academic Building (right), the Link, which connects it to the A&A Building (top), and equipment for the School of Journalism.
Foundation Year Programme. The NAB’s upper levels provide muchneeded classroom and faculty office space as well as a student/faculty lounge and theatre/lecture hall. The Link, which connects the Arts and Administration Building to the NAB, includes Alumni and King’s Students’ Union offices and more seminar rooms. In early 2004, the Building on a Strong Foundation Campaign donor wall will be installed in the foyer of the New Academic Building.
Tidings
Winter 2004
AlumNotes the
50s
LeRoy Peach (BA ’59) was awarded the Queen’s Golden Jubilee Medal for community activism since his retirement from teaching in 1989. He currently resides in Cape Breton.
the
60s
Mark DeWolf (BA ‘68) and Rachel DeWolf-Swetnam (‘70-’71) are once again living in Halifax. Mark has recently been appointed Head of Studies at Halifax’s Armbrae Academy. Mark and Rachel can be reached by e-mail at dewolfjm@eastlink.ca
the
80s
John Harris Stevenson (FYP ’83) has been appointed Information Technology Officer of the International Development Research Centre in Ottawa. Fellow alumni can contact John Harris at: jhstevenson@tranquileye.com Kevin Little (BA ’83) ran in the 2000 federal election for the Liberal Party. In 2002, he moved to Ottawa to serve as a United Church minister. He and his wife Kim adopted a baby girl, Lucy Mae Guo Qiu Little, from China in 2002. Judy MacLean (BA ’84, MLIS ’88) has accepted a part-time contract position at the University of New Brunswick Science Library. In her spare time, she entertains students at the local elementary school. Her sons often help her provide enriched library programmes which include puppet plays, dramatizations and music. Judy is married and has three sons, Ben, 12, Tommy, 10, and Daniel, 6. Fellow alumni can contact Judy at: macleana@nbnet.nb.ca Leslie (Fyfe) Golding (BA ’85) and husband Martin welcomed the arrival of a daughter, Elizabeth, on Nov. 14, 2002. Brian Cormier (BJH. ’86) rejoined Bristol Group, Atlantic Canada’s premier communications firm, in December 2003 after 19 months working for ShiftCentral Inc., an agency specializing in competitive intelligence. Brian will serve as Senior Public Relations Counsel and will be based in Moncton. Brian previously worked for Bristol from 1995-1998 and 1999-2002. Fellow alumni can contact Brian at: bricor@nbnet.nb.ca Kate (Brooks) Oland (BA ’89) and husband Brooke have moved to an old farm in Middle River,
Winter 2004
Malcolm Kirk (BJH ’89) was named editor-in-chief of the Calgary Herald in September. He plans to make changes to attract readers from groups that have traditionally not shown much interest in the paper. “We’re going to retool our news agenda to make sure we’re writing stories that are attractive to young people and to women,” he says. “Calgary is a young city, and very diverse, and we want to make sure we’re serving those readers.” Since he graduated from King’s, he’s been a copy editor at the Montreal Gazette, and sports, news and managing editor at the Vancouver Province. “One of the reasons I’m here is that I come from a paper in Vancouver where we made a lot of gains in those markets,” he says. – Rhia Perkins Cape Breton with their children Linnaea, 4, Liam, 2 1/2, and Eben, four months. Brooke is a naturalist for a local resort, and Kate is an athome parent, part-time freelance writer, and novice chicken caretaker. Kate’s long-term plans include building a retreat on her property for writers and artists. Fellow alumni can contact Kate at: oland@ns.sympatico.ca
the
Robinson in 2001. Ingrid currently teaches in Edmonton, Alta. In January she is moving to Brisbane, Australia, for a year-long teaching exchange. David Price (FYP ’92) passed his CFA exams and received his CFA designation. He is a merchant banker with Schroder Ventures in Montreal. Dan Trivett (BA ’92, MLIS ’96) and Vanessa BurnsTrivett (BA ’91, BPR ’94) are pleased to announce the birth of their second daughter, Lily Diana, born Aug. 14, 2003. Lily is a sister for Olivia who is 5. Dan is a Senior Youth Services Librarian at the Ocean County Library in Manchester, New Jersey, and Vanessa is a full time stay-at-home mom. Kelly Bourque (BA ’93) and John Tsiptsis (BA ’92) are pleased to announce the birth of their son, Owen Kenneth, born Dec. 26, 2002.
Calendar of Events May 20
Encaenia
Please call the Alumni Office for further details (902) 422-1271 ext. 128
90s
Michael Melski’s (BA ’91) first feature film as screenwriter, “Mile Zero,” was an internationally acclaimed drama screened at festivals worldwide. The film won multiple awards for Best First Feature. “Mile Zero” was the only Canadian feature screened last year in Janet Maslin’s Town Hall Series in New York. Michael’s second feature, “Touch and Go”, was a sold-out hit at the 2002 Atlantic Film Festival and shown also in Edmonton, Victoria, Kingston and Los Angeles. He directed the film “Lift Off,” an awards finalist at the Delta Film Festival in California. He recently published his fifth play, “Caribou,” and is writing for the new CBC-TV series “Political Animals,” as well as directing “Souls Lake” for the Bravo television channel. Patrick Vandermeulen (BA ’91) has returned to Sobey’s in New Glasgow in a new role as Director of Corporate Performance Measurement. He and his wife Erin are also pleased to announce the birth of their daughter Kate, a sister for three-year-old Peter. Fellow alumni can contact Patrick at: vandermeulens@eastlink.ca Ingrid (Kampe) Robinson (BA ’92) married Daniel
Tidings
... giving bright and talented young minds a place to grow
University of King’s College Annual Fund 2003
25
on Now sa le
AlumNotes The University of King’s College Chapel Choir Adoramus Te, the new CD release by the King’s Chapel Choir under the direction of Dr. Walter H. Kemp, makes a perfect Holiday Season gift all the year round. Including choral arrangements and compositions from the British College and Cathedral repertoire, it recreates the atmosphere of the annual Carols by Candlelight of the traditional King’s College Christmas. The price is $15.00 per copy and is available from the Kings’ Alumni and Development Office 902-422-1271 ext. 128.
NOMINATIONS ARE BEING ACCEPTED for the Judge J. Elliott Hudson Distinguished Alumnus/a Award for 2004 Alumni of the university are eligible for nomination. The successful candidate will have made a significant contribution to one or all of the following areas: their discipline, community, charitable or volunteer work. All submissions will be held in strict confidence.
Submit nomination with supporting documentation by Jan. 31, 2004 to: Award Selection Committee c/o UKC Alumni Office University of King’s College 6350 Coburg Road Halifax, N.S. B3H 2A1 Tel: (902) 422-1271 Fax: (902) 425-0363 paula.johnson@ukings.ns.ca
The Judge J. Elliott Hudson Distinguished Alumnus/a Award In Memoriam Jonathan Ewart Blanchard (‘40) died August 22, 2003 in Halifax, N.S. The Rev. Canon Thomas Hubert Drillen (BA ’42, M.S.Litt. ’44) died Oct. 24, 2003, at the Queens North Health Complex, Minto, N.B. Jack Lusher (DpJ’49) died Oct. 12, 2003, in Ottawa, Ont. Helen (Densmore) Cleary (BJ’84), died Nov. 19, 2003, in Halifax, N.S. Alexander Daniel Mollin (’95), age 28, of Quispansis, N.B., died August 2, 2003 in Saint John, N.B. Nordau R. Goodman (BSc ’04) died July 17, 2003, in Halifax, N.S. Alma Ruby Clark, 93, died Nov. 26, 2003, in Toronto. Alma was the Dean of Women at King’s from 1967 to 1971; made a life member of the University of King’s College Alumni Association in May, 1964; was Honorary Life President of the Class of ‘68 and ‘72; acting Registrar from 1961 to 1974 and Registrar from 1974 to 1978.
26
Tidings
Suzanne Wheeler (BA ’93) married David Romeo on Aug. 9, 2003, at St. John’s Anglican Church in Truro. They are currently living in Boston where Suzanne is an Assistant Vice-President at Wellington Management Company and David is a middle school science teacher. Fellow alumni can contact Suzanne at: suzanne_romeo@hotmail.com. Karen Hebb (BJH ’95) and James Pritlove will be getting married in August 2004. Karen and James currently live in Ottawa and own a Tim Hortons. Fellow alumni can contact Karen at: khebb@sympatico.ca Dianne (Shiels) Kapral (BJH ’95) and Michal Kapral (BJH ’95) were married in June 2001. Dianne and Michal are the proud parents of Annika Jane Shiels born Jan. 8, 2003. Dianne is Communications Officer at TSN/OLN/NHL Network/ESPN Classic Canada/Sports on CTV and the former WTSN. Michal is Senior Editor for Captivate Network. Natalie Blitt (BJ ’96) and Josh Feigelson are pleased to announce the birth of Jonah Peter, born Jan. 16, 2003. Natalie, Josh and Jonah are spending this school year in Jerusalem where Natalie is attending the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies and Jonah is learning to love hummus. Fellow alumni can contact Natalie at: natalieblitt@yahoo.com Elizabeth Lloyd (BA ’96) and Jono Nemethy (FYP ’94) were married Aug. 1, 2003, in Wolfville, N.S. Hugh A. McKay (BSc ’96) received a PhD in Physics from Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh. Michele Osmond (BJ ’96) is now Communications Coordinator for the Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science at Memorial University. She provides communications and public relations support to the Faculty, the Centre for Computer Aided Engineering, the Industrial Outreach Centre and the Ocean Engineering Research Centre, and others. Mark Reid (BJ ’96) has been appointed the associate director of communications for the University of Calgary. Mark had been working as senior City Hall reporter for the Calgary Herald. Fellow alumni can contact Mark at: mrei@ucalgary.ca Nathalie Atkinson (BAH ’96) was appointed Canadian correspondent to Publishers Weekly, the New York-based book industry bible. From her tiny Toronto home office, she is a regular contributor to National Post, Broken Pencil and Toronto Life. Steve “Beav” Smith (BJ ’97) is now living in Montreal. Fellow alumni can contact Steve at: ssmith@ichrdd.ca. Mark Richardson (BA ’99) and Sarah-Lee Hine (BJH ’97) are moving to Quito, Ecuador, for three years. Mark has accepted a position as a trade officer at the Canadian Embassy. SarahLee is taking a leave of absence from her communications job at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. Fellow alumni can contact J. Mark and Sarah-Lee at: sleerichardson@hotmail.com Barb Stegemann (BJ ’99, BA ’91), owner of Acclimatize Communications, has been contracted as the Tourism Director for the City of Coquitlam. Coquitlam is an “urban forest” where the tallest trees in Canada take root in its pristine watershed just 25 minutes outside of Vancouver. Fellow alumni can contact Barb at:
Winter 2004
AlumNotes alumni can contact Laura at: lpatrick@hfx.eastlink.ca. Leah Fitzgerald (BJH ’02) and Bill Duncan of Sherbrooke, QC were recently engaged. They will be married next July. Leah can be contacted at leahfitz@hotmail.com. Neil Acharya’s (BJH ’03) documentary “Endless
barb@acclimatize.ca Anne Totten (BA ’99) and Alexis Antonakis were married on Sept 13, 2003, in the King’s College Chapel. The couple met in England and now reside in Halifax. Alan Hall (BAH ’99) has been hired as Teaching Fellow at King’s for the 2003/04 academic year.
2 0 0 2 – 2 0 0 3
00s
the
Winter” was selected from a large number of entries to be screened at last year’s Atlantic Film Festival. Glenn Woods (BAH ’03) is Vice-President, Finance of the Dalhousie Students’ Union for the 03-04 year.
Alumni Award W I N N E R S
Kelly Elizabeth Jeffreys (BA ’00) and Dr. Sean Chavarría were married on June 1, 2003. They are currently residing in Halifax, N.S. Fellow alumni can contact Kelly Elizabeth at: kelly_jeffreys@hotmail.com. Meghan Jamieson (BA ’00) was married to Alan Wilson on Aug. 30, 2002, in Halifax. She is now living in Upper Kennetcook, N.S., and working for the Nova Scotia Museum. Friends can contact Meghan at MeghanJamieson2@hotmail.com Lauren Freeman (BAH ’01) received her Masters degree from the University of Chicago in December 2002. Laura is now working on her PhD in Philosophy at Boston University. Laura Patrick (BA ’01) completed her Advanced Diploma in Public Relations from NSCC in June 2002. She is currently working on a contract basis with Omnifax Bristol in Halifax. Fellow
The Michael Elliott Award Heather McLeod & Sabrina Bandali The Sandra MacLeod Award Kate McKenna & Karen Hayter
The Michael Saunders Award Courtney Kyle The Beaver Club Award Matt Fegan The New Brunswick Award Liz Hatfield The John Godfrey Journalism Book Award Patricia Corbett
YOU REMEMBERED! Thanks to H. Rhodes Cooper (BA ’46, BSJ ’48) for helping identify some of the faces in our photo we ran in the last issue of Tidings. There are still some faces we need to put names to, so if you have any suggestions, please send them along to the Alumni, Development and Public Relations Office. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9.
1
Winter 2004
5
8
7
16
10 14
17
10. Doug Sherren (STh ’49) 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. Woodie Le Vatte 18.
6
9
12 13
11 15
4
3
2
– – – – – – – Art Mifflin (1947) Archie Drillen
18
Do you have any old calendars, yearbooks, photographs, theatre publications or literary publications in your basement? King’s College Archives gratefully accepts King’s materials of any kind.
Tidings
27