Tidings Winter 2006-2007

T H E U N I V E R S I T Y O F K I N G ’ S CO L L E G E A LU M N I M AG A Z I N E | W I N T E R 2 0 0 6/2 0 07

TIDI NGS

A New Tradition Alexandra Hall Goes Co-Ed pus and changes at the Chapel PLUS: A look at Christmas on cam

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SPECIAL PULL - OUT SECTION: 2006 STEWARDSHIP REPORT * * * *

TIDINGS

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Winter 2006/2007 Letter from the Alumni Association President & Advancement Director

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Letter from the Editor

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Award Winners

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Classic King’s Photos

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Alumni Profile: David McGuffin The Action Heats Up

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Update: Capt. Trevor Greene

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FYP Texts Column ...nec nate, tibi comes ire recuso

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Christmas at King’s Exploring our Holiday Traditions

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Postcard from Taiwan A Word from a King’s Grad Working Abroad

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EDI TOR

Jonathan Bruhm (BJ ’04) EDITORIA L COM M I T T EE

Sherri Aikenhead (BJH ’85) Tim Currie (BJ ’92) Greg Guy (BJH ’87) Kyle Shaw (BSc ’91, BJ ’92) Kara Holm DESI G N

Morgan Rogers Kate Sinclair www.coandco.ca POSTAL ADDRESS

Tidings c/o Alumni Association University of King’s College 6350 Coburg Road Halifax, NS B3H 2A1 (902) 422-1271

Alumni Profile: Jeremy Copeland Ask and Ye Shall Receive

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Music I’m Listening To Dr. William Barker

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KING’S WEBSI T ES

Calendar of Events

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www.ukings.ca and www.ukcalumni.com

The King’s College Chapel Breaking Down the Walls

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The King’s Seminar

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Cover Story Alexandra Hall

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Books I’m Reading Dr. Steven Boos

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Nominations for Honorary Degrees & Hudson Award

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Encaenia

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Jay Ferguson & Patrick Pentland From King’s College to Kings of Canadian Rock

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Reunions & Doull Endowment Fund

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Annual Golf Tournament

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Alumni Profile: Tom Regan Online News Pioneer

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King’s Alumni Association 2006—2007 & Branch Briefs

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New Faces

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Coming Full Circle A fourth-year student revisits the Foundation Year Programme

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Alumnotes, In Memoriam & Lost Sheep

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EM A I L

tidings@ukings.ns.ca * * * * Stories in this issue of Tidings were written by students and alumni of the School of Journalism. Submissions were also provided by faculty members.

Tidings is produced on behalf of the University of King’s College Alumni Association.

We welcome and encourage your feedback on each issue.

Letters to the Editor should be signed.

We reserve the right to edit all submissions.

The views expressed in Tidings are those of the individual contributors or sources.

Mailed under Publications Mail Sales Agreement # 40062749 ON THE COV ER

Alex Hall residents Denise Gow and Orion Keresztesi, photographed by Scott Munn (FYP ’96)

LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT Dear Fellow Alumni and Friends of King’s: This is my first message to you as President of the University of King’s College Alumni Association, a position that I will hold for two years. Thanks to the hard work of my predecessor Doug Hadley (BA ’92) and the entire Executive team, I have inherited a very solid operation with a clear focus.

As you may recall we began a planning process more than a year ago. In the Winter 2005 issue of Tidings, we outlined the recommendations arising from the planning session. I am pleased to report that the Association’s Executive has been continuing this process and last spring endorsed a document prepared by an ad hoc committee known as the Alumni Future Planning Committee. This report can be found on the Alumni Association’s website, www.ukcalumni.com. Among other things, this document recommended that the Association become planbased, multi-locational to reflect the geographic distribution of its alumni population, and strengthen the already close ties with the University. It was also recommended that the Executive provide a more strategic and guiding role in its work while encouraging the branches to assume an enhanced role in connecting and relationship building with alumni.

Prior to the Annual General Meeting in September, the Executive met with leaders from formally constituted branches

and informal groups. This was a productive meeting with representatives from Vancouver to London, England and points in between.

For 2006/2007, Alumni can expect to see a more focused effort in areas with alumni concentrations in developing a branch structure. We are also working to identify people around the globe willing to serve as points of connection for alumni traveling or relocating. The Registrar has sought support from the Alumni Association for the College’s recruiting efforts. There are roles for alumni in this important process. Alumni are also becoming more organized in their mentoring efforts.

It is now my task to support the Association’s Executive and Branch Leadership, and individuals like you as we bring the vision of a dynamic international alumni network to life. We hope you will see a role for yourself in the Alumni Association. You may not think of yourself as an active alumnus or alumna, but I suspect that most of you are in the sense that you continue to connect with people you met while at King’s.

Enjoy this issue of Tidings and please accept my best wishes for a happy holiday season.

Steven K. Wilson (BA ’87) President, UKC Alumni Association

LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT Greetings!

Someone was telling me a story the other day. It was about a student who found the buzzer announcing the close of the Library objectionable and asked the Librarian if they could find an alternative. Our Librarian, Drake Petersen, of course embraced this challenge and is now exploring options with the students that will serve the needs of the Library (ensuring students leave) as well as the needs of the students (a smooth transition from studying to the outside world).

This story encapsulated what I have come to understand to be one of the defining features at King’s: the willingness of the Faculty and administration to incorporate the suggestions of the students and make them part of the culture. It seems to

me, as I meet with alumni, that this has always been a feature of the College life—that the student experience is at the core of what is offered.

Perhaps this is why our cover story, Alexandra Hall going co-ed, caused few blips on campus this year. I think this is one of the reasons that King’s has survived for 217 years—there is a culturally willingness to evolve but a respect for the traditions.

I hope your enjoy Christmas traditions with friends and family.

Best wishes, Kara Holm Advancement Director

TIDINGS | WINTER 2006/2007

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L E T T E R F R O M T H E E D I TO R I’m not sure who coined the saying “the more things change, the more they stay the same,” but whoever first spoke those words deserves a great deal of credit for inspiring the theme of this issue of Tidings.

Our cover story depicts the changing of the guard at Alexandra Hall, the University’s largest dormitory, which has finally opened its doors to male residents. Many of our alumni have already caught wind of this story and have displayed a broad range of emotions—from sadness to surprise, excitement to outrage. But, would you believe that there’s not a hint of scandal on campus, and that it really is what President William Barker refers to as a “non-event”?

Then, there’s the King’s College Chapel. Father Gary Thorne maintains some of the chapel’s time-honoured traditions, but has also made it his mission to ‘break down the walls’—to show

King’s and the greater college community that everyone is welcome.

And, as far as the holiday season is concerned, some traditions have fallen to the wayside. But, for the most part, there’s a very good chance that some of your favourites are still being observed again this year.

It’s an unstoppable phenomenon: as in life, things are destined to change at a University. However, while some of the familiar faces from your time at King’s may be long gone, isn’t it nice to know that some of your memories live on today through the new class?

Best wishes for a happy holiday season, and happy reading!

Jonathan Bruhm, BJ ‘04 jonathan.bruhm@ukings.ns.ca

Correction In our Summer 2005 issue, we incorrectly listed the name of Donica Pottie’s husband. His name is Scott (Slessor), not David.

AWA R D W I N N E R S

Congratulations!

The University of King’s College and the Alumni Association would like to express its congratulations to the following alumni: 2006 Alumni Award Recipients • Michael Elliott Awards: Will English & Chris Parsons • Beaver Club Award: James Legge • Sandra MacLeod Awards: Alexis Paton & Carol Ross • New Brunswick Award: Leanne Flett • Michael Saunders Award: Jessica Ross • John F. Godfrey Journalism Book Award: Shannon Leah Fay Inglis Professor Dr. Walter Kemp was presented with an Honorary Life Membership with The Royal Canadian College of Organists during the RCCO Festival in July 2006.

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King’s soccer star Alexandra Akers (4th year BSc) has been named the Most Valuable Player of the Atlantic Colleges Athletic Association for the second consecutive season. Akers lead the ACAA with 14 goals this season, and was also named an All-Canadian with the Canadian Colleges Athletics Association (CCAA).

Akers was also named to the ACAA All-Conference team, alongside fellow Blue Devils Whitney Van Blarcom, Katie Gleason-Mercier and Marnie Chown. Our men’s team was represented on the All-Conference Team by Sam March, Mike Smith, Chris Etamanski and Greg Bathe.

ACAA MVP Allie Akers (right)

Did we miss you? Make sure you let us know of your achievements—e-mail at alumni@ukcalumni.com or add an AlumNote at www.ukcalumni.com with your personal and professional accomplishments.

YO U ’ V E I D E N T I F I E D YO U R S E LV E S …

Winter Water Fight, late winter 1983–1984 Front four: J. Roderick MacQuarrie (’83-’86), possibly Chris Dowell (BA ’91), John Hamm Jr. (BScH ’87), Jon Archibald (BSc ’86) Back five: D’arcy Richardson, (’85), Steve Gruchy (BA ’85), Andrew “Dougie” MacDougall (BAH ’87), Geoff Douglas (BSc ’84), Richard Findley (’84) Far back: possibly Marcus Snowden (BAH ’84) Thanks to Jon Archibald (BA ’86), Patti Dunn (FYP ’85), Alan McLeod (BA ’85) and Steve Wilson (BA ’87) for their assistance

…C A N YO U I D E N T I F Y T H E S E A L U M N I ?

If you know who these alumni are, please contact us at alumni@ukcalumni.com.

Do you have photographs from your time at King’s that you would like us to have?

Please send them to the Advancement Office at King’s, 6350 Coburg Road, Halifax, Nova Scotia, B3H 2A1. We’ll appreciate your contribution.

TIDINGS | WINTER 2006/2007

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ALUMNI PROFILE

David McGuffin:

The Action Heats Up

by Reid Southwick

“These guys were on their way to crack heads at a demonstration and we became the warm-up act.”

David McGuffin

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ENSIONS WERE RISING in Sudan when David McGuffin (BJ ‘95) and his CBC News crew landed in the nation’s capital to cover the mounting conflict in mid-September 2006. Security officials locked down central Khartoum as thousands of Sudanese staged massive demonstrations in the city’s streets, protesting a rise in gas taxes with many calling for a regime change.

Two days after their arrival, McGuffin and his crew were swarmed by a horde of plain-clothes security officers while walking to their hotel. The officers snatched the crew’s camera and tape, and beat the cameraman before throwing him into the back of a pick-up truck.

“These guys were on their way to crack heads at a demonstration and we became the warm-up act,” he says, from his office in Nairobi, Kenya. “There was a sense that they could do whatever they wanted; that they were working with impunity.”

CBC producer Stephanie Jenzer, who fled the scene when the confrontation began, returned with an Arabic-speaking hotel security guard. The man was able to defuse the dispute and the officers got back into their trucks and headed toward the demonstration.

The event was “single-handedly the most terrifying” that McGuffin had ever

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experienced in his 11 years of reporting since he graduated from journalism school at the University of King’s College. He’s been stationed in Washington, D.C., Moscow, Beijing and now Nairobi, where he serves as the CBC’s only English-speaking correspondent for the African continent.

In total, he’s covered stories in 27 countries.

Following the incident in Khartoum, the cameraman left the country to recover from his injuries. Then, McGuffin and Jenzer combined their experience, talent and training to break one of the biggest stories that emerged from Sudan in the fall.

The pair traveled to Darfur where they planned to gather material for a series on the state of the crisis. There, McGuffin and Jenzer uncovered the news that Pulitzer Prize-winning American journalist Paul Salopek was being released from a northern Darfur prison. They were the only reporters in the world with the story, and provided updates to CNN. “There we were, with one less person, and we came through with class,” says Jenzer.

While the journalists completed their assignment, Jenzer says she became impressed with McGuffin’s knowledge of Africa and the current situation in Sudan.

“His know-how just brought so much to that story,” she says.

But what Jenzer doesn’t understand is how the Ottawa native carved his instinct and training into a skill that has allowed him to gallivant around the world with a camera and a press pass.

Following his graduation from King’s, McGuffin landed an internship with PBS’s MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour in Washington. After doing a lot of “grunt work,” he became the foreign editor of the show’s award-winning website and his contract was extended.

While in Washington, McGuffin met Simon Marks, chief correspondent for independent broadcast agency Feature Story News (FSN). Following his term with PBS, Marks hired him on as one of FSN’s foreign correspondents in Moscow. After only a few months in the Russian capital, McGuffin became the agency’s bureau chief at the age of 29, just two years out of journalism school.

One of McGuffin’s Moscow colleagues says his lack of experience had little bearing on his professionalism and nose for news.

“David is one of the best journalists that you’ll come across,” says Alastair Wanklyn, a current producer for Fox News in London, England. “It was hugely instructive for those of us who worked with him to see how competent he was at such an early stage.”

Wanklyn, who also graduated with a journalism degree shortly before working for FSN, says he was impressed with McGuffin’s commitment to accuracy, factchecking and finding reliable sources for stories. He says these disciplines weren’t given as much emphasis at London’s City University, where he was educated.

“David was more meticulous and careful,” he says. “And, he would often, ever so gently, suggest that what I had written wasn’t exactly accurate.”

Life in Russia following the economy’s collapse in the late 1990’s was tough for McGuffin. Frustrated with bank closures and stores that were consistently out of stock, he and his wife moved to Beijing in 2000, opening FSN’s first Chinese bureau.

Around the same time, FSN began to realize that it had expanded too quickly and money became tight. After the Kosovo war ended, the broadcaster found it harder to sell foreign news to its American client base, which it relied heavily upon.

Although FSN offered him a job back in Washington, D.C., McGuffin wanted to stay in China and he joined ranks with CTV News, who hired him as their Asian correspondent.

For two years, McGuffin traveled the continent, covering the political hotspots of China and North Korea. He remembers spending several days trying to uncover North Korea’s epidemic of malnutrition while dealing with two government-minders who watched his every step.

“The UN was feeding a quarter or more of the population and I was trying to talk to the UN coordinator, which wouldn’t be very hard under normal circumstances,” he recalls. “Getting that interview took me two full days.”

Following his stint in Beijing, McGuffin and his wife moved to Rome where he covered the Vatican for ABC and NBC. He remarks that his experiences in China prepared him for the post.

“It struck me how similar it was getting stories out the Vatican to getting political stories done in China,” he says. “Everyone was just so close-lipped in the Vatican and the media meant nothing to them.”

The slow pace of Italian culture made him miss the thrill of covering hard news, so he pursued a job with the CBC, and began serving as their only English-speak-

ing correspondent in Africa in November 2004, where he’s been ever since.

McGuffin says his time at the King’s School of Journalism formed his launch pad for his career. “Michael Cobden was the director at the time and he was a big help with just giving advice,” he says.

Cobden told him that the days of jour-

nalists working their way up through a Canadian news organization and getting posted overseas were essentially over. The best method to secure a correspondent position, according to Cobden, was to find a post where he could speak English and make the best go of it.

“That’s basically what I did.” ∂

McGuffin interviews Salva Kiir, President of South Sudan

CAPTAIN TREVOR GREENE

Captain Trevor Greene On March 4, 2006, Capt. Trevor Greene (BJH ‘88) was ambushed and suffered a near-fatal axe attack during his tour of duty in Afghanistan. Now recovering from his injury in Vancouver with his fiancée and daughter at his side, he is frequently visited by many friends, including Barb Stegemann (BA ‘91, BJ ‘99).

She recently gave Tidings an update on his condition: Trevor and I have stayed in touch for

20 years, since our days rowing on the Arm at King’s. Our families have grown close and my kids endearingly refer to him as Uncle Bubba (he was nicknamed Bubba while at King’s). Trevor inspired me to take Journalism at King’s, and we would continue to have long talks about his books over the years. We’ve remained the best of friends, and visiting him in the hospital is a continuation of that friendship; being there for him unconditionally as he has always been for me comes naturally to me and his other close friends.

It’s going to be a long healing journey for him, as this is a very serious injury.

Brain injuries are challenging, as each case is unique and we continue to observe him to ensure that we are doing everything he needs from us. The best times we have are when we can make him laugh—I do imitations for him and crack inside jokes. Trevor has always had

this amazing sense of humour, so we have a lot of good times and memories to reminisce about. Now, with his lack of mobility, it is challenging for him to carry on communications as he used to, but he can say some words and has methods of communicating by moving his arm, or squeezing your hand. By working towards his recovery each day, he makes small progresses and that’s important.

His fiancée, Debbie Lepore, says that there is no clear prognosis for his recovery. “It really is a wait-and-see game with brain injuries,” she says. “Some people recover and other don’t. Trevor’s injury is really very serious and complicated, but we are still holding out hope for a full recovery.”

A trust fund for Capt. Greene and his family is currently being arranged by his friends. For more information, please contact Barb at bstegemann@shaw.ca TIDINGS | WINTER 2006/2007

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FYP TEXTS COLUMN

...nec, nate, tibi comes ire recuso

by Tom Curran, Ph.D., Senior Fellow, Foundation Year Programme

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IRGIL’S LATIN EPIC The Aeneid occupies a very special place in the Classical heritage of King’s College, and in particular of the King’s Foundation Year Programme. Apparently an unfinished masterpiece when Virgil died in 19BCE, this saga of Roman origins occupied and dominated the greatest years of Virgil’s poetic maturity. Virgil’s Aeneid was plotted and composed according to the revered standards set by Homer’s incomparable Greek epics, The Iliad and The Odyssey.

A commonplace of Virgilian interpretation is that Virgil’s genius gave him the freedom to reverse the Homeric chronology, so that the Roman epic begins with Aeneas’ Odyssey and ends with the Latin warfare of The Iliad.

Those who remember their Divine Comedy will also recall that Virgil is Dante’s guide through both the underworld and the Christian Purgatory, by which means a link is forged through 2,000 years of human history: from the first transcriptions of the Homeric songs via Aeneas’ sufferings as described by Virgil, through to the year 1300 in the High Middle Ages. In the figure of Virgil himself, seen both as poet and ethical guide, we achieve a unity of perhaps the three greatest poetic cycles in our entire history. These three epics are what we would nowadays call masterpieces of “intertextuality”, which is to say huge poems which are suffused in every incident and scene with references to these earlier works, and without which they cannot be done justice. What is this but another way of pointing to the deep benefits and satisfactions of an “interdisciplinary” education, one which (at King’s) tries to begin with Homer’s Achaeans and only breaks off with the dawning of the recent millennium?

Another crucial unifying aspect of these three great epics is their strongly “ethical” component; in Dante this component is so prominent that he will himself describe his Divine Comedy as belonging to that branch of philosophy called ethics, since its purpose is to move the reader from a state of misery to bliss in this life.

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In order for this work of ethics to begin, it is necessary that Virgil be sprung from his long absence in the underworld and charged with the divine work of leading Dante all the way down into the pit of hell, and then leading him up Mount Purgatory back to the Earthly Paradise. Virgil’s awesome assignment is then to conduct Dante from misery to bliss in this life.

For all these reasons, The Aeneid must occupy a special place in our programme of studies. We emphasize its intertextuality, its fusion of the highest poetry with the most deeply philosophical principles, its profound ethical examination of the content of the just life, and its sublime attempt to provide a complete and coherent world view, even in the face of the most appalling suffering. Virgil has written an epic to persuade his world and all of posterity that there can be a link between duty and providence: for that also this poem may be the most perfect textual expression.

The Aeneid is required to work its magic on us in the description of the most abject horrors, and weighed down both by inexpressible brutality and the crushing weight of the Latin fatum (destiny), which seems to sweep the actors off the stage in great floods of insurmountable strife. But Virgil wants us to see that the whole of this horrific history is tied together according to the strictures of amor, which is to say that the action of this recapitulation is initiated by Venus, the mother of Aeneas, but in a more complete sense by the love (amor), which will rearrange itself in the settled form of its anagram, in the founding of the eternal city, Roma.

Here we have another immediate tie to Dante’s Divine Comedy, also a work of amor, and a hymn of praise to love.

First this amor appears in the person of the too soon departed Beatrice, but then also in a quotation from Aristotle, which is how the 100 Cantos of Dante’s Comedy end. At the conclusion of this fateful journey, the pilgrim was able to behold, just for

an instant, and only in Aristotle’s formulation, “the love that moves the Sun and other stars”.

The Aeneid is concerned with the origins, first foundations, the purpose and destiny to be found in the realization of Aeneas’s journey. Perhaps the poem, as this foundational document, can also serve to recall King’s to its own founding charter as “the mother of a university” dedicated to learning in all the arts and sciences, combined with a godliness of living. Aeneas is, after all, in Virgil’s description of him, always remembered as “pius Aeneas”, that is to say the hero, who through his steadfastness and piety, is able to realize the world-historical end, which is his fateful destiny.

King’s College has woven all these ideas above into the very fabric of its structure. King’s has done so, I would like to assert, as a constant reminder of this founding piety. There is an unforgettable reminder of these struggles of Aeneas above the door of Middle Bay in our stately Quad. The picture placed above the lintel is not a happy one, describing as it does a dejected Aeneas fleeing the burning ruins of Troy, and thus abandoning every hope and comfort of home. (This is a kind of physical enactment of what King’s itself had to endure after abandoning its burnt-out buildings in 1920.) Perhaps like Aeneas, King’s had to desert its old home in Windsor in order to fulfill a larger and more lasting destiny, now as the partner of Nova Scotia’s premier university. ∂

THE AENEAS-KING’S CONNECTION

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LL OF VIRGIL’S THEMES are perfectly realized in the group of figures we find represented as statues above the entrance to Middle Bay. In this tableau, now very nearly 150 years old and transported to Halifax after the calamity in Windsor, we have an emblem of past and future perfectly united. Aeneas (The Aeneid Book ii, lines 700ff.) is carrying his aged father on his back to escape the conflagration of Troy. But Aeneas tells us that this act of duty is no burden. In the same way at King’s, it is a privilege to acknowledge our heritage: it is so much a

Penates

part of what we are, we experience it as virtually weightless. Then Aeneas grips tightly the hand of his son Iulus, so that the Trojan past and the Roman future are perfectly united in the person of Aeneas himself. Behind this group, caught up in the shadows of the tableau, is the shrinking figure of Creusa, Aeneas’ beloved wife, who gets lost in the urgency of the flight and the commotion of the city’s destruction. There is great realism here because every change for the better, every change we desire in this life, can only be achieved at great personal cost; sometimes the cost

is so great that, had we known what was entailed, we would never have initiated the change in the first place.

But finally, what is most significant about this amazing classical grouping is the fact that Aeneas’ father, Anchises, is made to carry the so-called Penates, “the ancestral gods” of their now lost and abandoned Trojan home. I suppose this is the feature of our tableau that is now most alien to us. Yet these small figurines, clutched firmly in the hand of the ancient father, do belong to this awesome spectacle, which is there before us every time we enter the King’s Quad. These Penates, the last physical remnants of the glory that was Troy, are our reminder that however we shape the College’s future, it can never be at expense of what we were. Our College is a living inheritance, and the symbol of the Penates in our Quad are a constant reminder that we did not build this College but inherited it from others; we move ahead, but never by turning our backs on our founders and benefactors, who have made us what we are.

This tableau from Virgil’s Aeneid was originally set in the gable of Convocation Hall, erected in 1861 in Windsor, Nova Scotia. It was provided with a motto from Book ii, line 704: “...nec, nate, tibi comes ire recuso”. Anchises, the father of Aeneas, is speaking, and has just witnessed a meteor fall from the sky. His response to this omen indicates that he is now ready to leave Troy forever. This motto, chosen for King’s Convocation Hall, turned out to be more prophetic than anyone could possibly have realized. From the conflagration in Windsor, Anchises seems to be speaking to us directly: “I am ready to go with you, my son, as your companion.”

TIDINGS | WINTER 2006/2007

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CHRISTMAS AT KING’S Exploring our Holiday Traditions

by Caroline Wagner

Dr. Neil Robertson reads a passage from A Child’s Christmas in Wales during Campus Christmas ’05

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HETHER YOU GRADUATED in 1965 or 2005, chances are high that you might have memories of singing carols in the candle-lit chapel, decorating with strings of cranberries and popcorn, and listening to Christmas stories next to the fireplace.

Many of the traditions that were a part of your holiday season on campus are still celebrated today at King’s, as part of the annual College Christmas festivities.

“It would be much less of a season if College Christmas wasn’t there,” says Margo Pullen Sly, who worked as Assistant to the President at King’s for 20 years. The festivities usually occur on Advent Sunday, which is the first of four Sundays before Christmas. Although it seems early for a Christmas celebration, Pullen Sly says the idea is to allow students to celebrate together before they begin their exams.

“You can see the mood and sense that people are getting excited,” she says, noting that the season really begins when the decorations start to go up.

Today, Christmas College begins with a brunch in Prince Hall. It is open to all students, and takes into account the dietary needs of vegetarians and students of other religious affiliations.

There used to be a formal dinner, but it was changed to a brunch when the college became too populous for all the students to be seated.

Some may recall starting the day decorating the Christmas trees in the lobby of the Arts and Administration building.

Nowadays, students will need to go outside to catch a whiff of a fir tree—after a student had a severe allergic reaction to a Christmas tree, they were banned from the lobby. Nevertheless, a Christmas tree still graces the back of the chapel, which is decorated a few days before Advent Sunday to ensure the

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chapel is prepared for the Lessons and Carols service, a staple of the College Christmas tradition.

The Lessons and Carols service is an opportunity for the University community to gather for a nighttime observance of the holiday season. The service consists of readings from the Old Testament and carols that look forward to the birth of Christ, but followers of all religions are welcome to attend.

Following the service, high tea is served in the President’s Lodge, where revelers nibble on sandwiches and drink tea and coffee to energize themselves for the final event of the day, Frivols. The annual evening of Christmas stories told by the fireside is hosted by the University’s Haliburton Society, the oldest literary society in Canada.

Frivols made such an impression on David Jones (BA ’68), who wrote a description of his memories for Christmas in the Maritimes, an anthology of stories and memories that was recently released by Canadaeast.com’s Elaine Ingalls Hogg and Nimbus Publishing. In “Christmastime in the City” he describes an evening filled with stories, poems, songs, and companionship.

He says that he wrote the story because he wanted to convey the difference between Christmas at home and Christmas in a different setting. To him, Christmas at King’s was certainly a contrast from the large family gathering he remembers as a child growing up in Glace Bay. However, in spite of the contrast, he adds that “at the end of it, home is still there, and you’re still connected with it.”

Frivols is so steeped in tradition that today’s version of the event is probably difficult to distinguish from that of Jones’ time.

Mulled wine, cider and dainties have always been served, and the room is lit by candlelight. There are also a few stories that are told or recited almost every year. Among them are Dylan Thomas’ A Child’s Christmas in Wales, A.A. Milne’s King John’s Christmas and Alistair McLeod’s To Every Thing There is a Season.

Ben Frenken (BAH ’05), the president of the Haliburton Society, says that Frivols is the Haliburton’s biggest event of the year, drawing people from beyond the society’s circle. However, in spite of the event’s popularity, it remains a simple gathering.

“There just isn’t actually that much to it,” he says. “It’s the atmosphere and memories you get sitting around the fire listening to Christmas stories.”

In the last paragraph of “Christmastime in the City,” Jones sums up his feelings about the important role of College Christmas plays in the life of a homesick King’s student: “Cookies and hot cider were served, and I found us all clutching our mugs and reaching out to each other. I thought, as others must have, that we might just survive this awful experience called ‘education.’ Too soon, it came to an end. Somehow though, our university—acting as our absent parents—had given us the courage to go on until we could be re-united with our families...” ∂

POSTCARD FROM TAIWAN A Word from a King’s Grad Working Abroad

by Mark Ferguson (BJ ’04)

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MOVED TO TAIWAN a few months after graduating from King’s. Jet lag struck me hard on the way over, and my first morning started a little too abruptly—to the tune of hundreds of firecrackers and bottle rockets exploding simultaneously. It sounded as though they were under my bed, as opposed to down on the street, 13 floors below me. I was already questioning my decision to teach English overseas.

The fireworks at dawn stopped bothering me, eventually.

It turns out that the Taiwanese sometimes use fireworks for religious festivals to scare away evil spirits and to call on helpful gods. Other times, they are used to bring good luck to a politician or a hopeful business endeavour. But, in general, the Taiwanese love to blow stuff up.

There is no place that this is more apparent than at the Yenshui Fireworks Festival, where you don’t watch the fireworks —you’re actually in them. For two whole days, an entire town ignites millions of fireworks and rockets in the middle of the streets.

During the first full moon of the lunar calendar, usually in February, Yenshui is engulfed in a mass of lights, perpetual popping and burning, and speeding projectiles that can (and,

Mark Ferguson clad in his ‘protective gear’

do) hurt. The reason for the festival, so the legend goes, is that the town was ravaged by a horrible Cholera epidemic for more than 20 years. In 1885, the townsfolk called upon Kuan Kung, the God of War, to rid the city of the awful plague by parading through the streets, lighting fireworks and rockets. The plague disappeared shortly thereafter, and the festival has continued ever since.

Every year, the 30,000 residents of Yenshui and scores of visitors parade through the explosions in the streets. Most of the fireworks are shot from carefully constructed palanquins, some as big as a large shed, each one filled to the ceiling with bottle rockets aimed to the left, right, up, down, and directly at your head, torso and legs.

Protective gear is highly recommended, and most people sport motorcycle helmets and heavy, full-length work gear to protect and cover the skin. A scarf is also necessary to keep a stray rocket from flying up into your helmet. Every year, more than 100 people are injured from burns or worse. Still, this doesn’t cross your mind once you’re engulfed in the chaos.

Yenshui is not a pyromaniac’s pandemonium. Instead, it’s a beautiful religious experience. Regardless of age or race, everyone becomes a part of the beacon call to Kuan Kung. The mood is not one of fear and chaos—it’s hope and excitement. I was fearful for a moment, when the first barrage of bottle rockets whizzed past my helmet. But then, like everything in Taiwan, curiosity took over and I didn’t want to miss a second of it. ∂ Mark Ferguson lives in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, where he teaches English, plays music, and lights firecrackers on his balcony. He plans to travel throughout South-East Asia in 2007 and work internationally.

The bright lights of the Yenshui Fireworks Festival TIDINGS | WINTER 2006/2007

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ALUMNI PROFILE

Jeremy Copeland:

Ask and Ye Shall Receive

by Neil Ozano (BJ ’04)

“We’re not Osama bin Laden’s Network”

Jeremy Copeland with a soldier in Kashmir

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ANT TO BE THE HEAD producer of Aljazeera International’s North American operations in Washington, DC? All you have to do is ask, says Jeremy Copeland (BJ ’96).

“I ended up there because I wanted to end up there,” he says. “It’s a pretty rare opportunity to be part of the startup for an international TV channel; especially one that’s going to be watched so closely, and in many ways be controversial.”

While speaking with Tidings, he’s taking a short break from producing a stockpile of material for the Washington bureau of the soon-to-be-launched Aljazeera International, a Middle East-based global television network that is expected to rival CNN. The news network, which plans to begin broadcasting across the globe by year’s end, hired him after two meetings —both of which he had initiated.

“I basically cold-called them and worked my way in that way,” he says. “I went to Doha [AJI English’s headquarters in Qatar] to meet somebody and then they offered me a job during my trip to Washington.”

Copeland has quickly climbed the journalism ranks since his first gig as an editorial assistant in CBC Toronto’s television newsroom. However, his foray into the working world wasn’t an easy one and included a stint at a Vancouver casino to

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make ends meet. When he wasn’t dealing stud, he read biographies of reporters and took unpaid internships and volunteer positions with local media outlets to build his skills.

“If you would have told me that it was going to take 18 months to find [my first] job, I probably would have cried,” he says. “That was pretty grueling and pretty frustrating. I didn’t know [it would take so long] at the time, so I just kept sticking with it.”

At CBC, he began writing, pitching ideas and doing anything that he could to stand out. This led to a job as a chase producer and he eventually moved on to a staff position with CBC Halifax before becoming a senior writer and line-up editor in Toronto.

When his wife, Anna Wieselgren, was awarded a prestigious Commonwealth Scholarship for her Masters of Fine Arts in London, England, Copeland cold-called the one contact he had at the BBC. He wrangled a position as a senior broadcast journalist for BBC World Television, lining up newscasts and directing breaking news coverage.

“I ENDED UP THERE BECAUSE I WANTED TO END UP THERE” —Jeremy Copeland But by 2003, his third year with the BBC, he had decided it was time to go out on a limb again. He bought a television camera and hopped on a plane for New Delhi, India.

Over the next two years, Copeland uncovered the stories the rest of the Western world wasn’t seeing. Using translators, he followed the rise and fall of India’s peace process with Pakistan, investigated medical tourism as an option for westerners too sick or too rich to wait for Canada’s ailing medicare system and explored the

cultural trend in India of aborting female babies.

He was one of two Western journalists in a nation of more than one billion people and finding amazing tales wasn’t difficult. He sent back reports to CBC and BBC radio and television stations, while freelancing columns to the Globe and Mail and London’s The Independent.

Then, an unexpected e-mail brought him back into North America. Darren Boisvert (BJ ‘99) was head of the International Organization for Migration (IOM)’s out-of-country voting programs, and he asked Copeland to apply for a position.

He did and had a new job the next day.

In 2004, during Iraq’s first democratic election, he served as the voice of IOM, which planned the balloting for Iraqis living in the United States. After four months of explaining low Iraqi voter turnout and other vagaries of out-of-country elections to the American public, he returned to the CBC before accepting a position in Baghdad, teaching the Independent Electoral Commission of Iraq to credibly run the country’s first democratic election.

Following the Iraqi election, Copeland began his stint with Aljazeera, what he says is possibly his most challenging assignment to date. While he had no trouble landing the job, he says the stigma of xenophobia hangs over the young TV network’s Washington Bureau. Aljazeera reporters—mostly American or British, are often met with less respect as than their counterparts.

“A lot of people just laugh at you,” he says. “They don’t believe you and don’t want to have anything to do with you.”

He says that Aljazeera International employees are often discriminated against —one co-worker was turned down for apartments once the landlords discovered who she worked for. Copeland himself says his border crossings from Canada to the U.S. have also become much slower and

more involved. In mid-October, he was stopped, searched and interrogated while agents tore his car apart.

Nevertheless, despite the crackdowns and discrimination, he admits that he appreciates his current opportunity with Aljazeera.

“Hopefully, once we go on-air, people will realize we’re not Osama bin Laden’s network,” he says.

While he’s traveled all across the world, he’s been able to do his job with-

out an in-depth knowledge of the local languages. He says that translators are easy enough to find, and since he’s working for the Washington Bureau of Aljazeera International, Arabic isn’t mandatory – it’s not up to him to translate his material for Middle Eastern audiences.

As his DC head office prepares to cover the Americas for the Middle East’s first 24-hour English language news channel, Copeland offers some advice: “Create your own opportunities. I

could have been sitting around for 20 years waiting to be a videojournalist. Instead, I just went off and did it. If you’re lucky enough to have someone hand you an opportunity, even if it seems scary, go for it.

Even that out-of-country voting program job was terrifying for me, as was getting on the plane from London to Delhi. I thought I might be getting in over my head, and it was a huge struggle, but I’m glad I did it.” ∂

MUSIC I’M LISTENING TO

Dr. William Barker, President and Vice-Chancellor of the University of King’s College

Dr. William Barker I recently acquired an iPod Nano. I hesitated for a long time. My main concern was the sound, because the old mp3 files are not generally very good quality. But, there are now many different formats for loading and for listening. The sound can be excellent if you don’t use excessive compression and you run the sound through a good set of earphones. I am now again thinking about music and I am listening more carefully.

The usual question is “what’s on the iPod?” My answer, after I’ve pulled out the phones, is any one of the following: Mozart (four complete operas), Bach

(three versions of Goldberg Variations), Handel (some choral work, suites for keyboard), Tallis, Dvorak, Philip Glass (piano), Steve Reich, Keith Jarrett, Leonard Cohen, Bob Dylan, Mark Knopfler, Kraftwerk, Van Morrison, Bob Marley, Iris Dement, Doc Watson, Leadbelly, the Ennis Sisters from Newfoundland, and poems read by Allen Ginsberg and Robert Frost. I even have, because of an inexplicable pleasure, bits of flotsam and jetsam from popular entertainment that no contemporary music snob would allow to rub shoulders in one place.

There’s certainly enough on my iPod for a desert island, or the modern-day equivalent in unoccupied loneliness, a massive flight delay in an airline terminal.

The iPod is a truly extraordinary invention. I still have enough room left for the entire Ring of Wagner and the Odyssey read by Ian McKellen. And, the thing is the size of small cookie.

I guess you could call my tastes eclectic. But, that’s because I have relied on others to help me find the music. The Mozart operas come from my parents: my father listened to opera all the time, and the only ones I really liked when I was young were those by Mozart (I now enjoy watching others, but for listening, Mozart is still tops). Patrick Kearney, my roommate in college, got me hooked on the Goldberg Variations, insisting I pay attention to differences in performance (on the iPod, I have Glenn Gould and Murray Perahia on piano, and Trevor

Pinnock on harpsichord). My wife helped me find Iris Dement, whose album My Life is a classic. One of my daughters got me onto Mark Knopfler; the other two got me listening to some things I still find amusing, like City High, Shaggy, and Shiny New Toys. A niece has me listening to Architecture in Helsinki, Sufjan Stevens, The Decemberists, and others.

Since moving to King’s, I have found new things. Tom Curran has been a big influence: through him I found the Philip Glass piano solos, Steve Riech’s 18 Voices, and recently the Thomas Tallis 40-part “Spem in alium numquam habui” (which I first heard in Ottawa in the amazing sound installation by Janet Cardiff). Chris Elson, our Vice President, now has me listening to Billy Bragg.

A few things, I have found on my own: Leadbelly, Woody Guthrie, Doc Watson, Jimmie Rodgers, and old time country music are big favourites; the Leadbelly and Woody Guthrie date from college days. There was an easy transition to Bob Dylan, and I came into Van Morrison late in his (and my) career, about ten years ago.

As you can see, I stumble into things and my taste, though influenced by others, is hopelessly eclectic and utterly lacking in the cool factor. You will learn nothing about music from me, but if you are musical psychologist or a sociologist of taste, you will have learned more about me that I would like you to know.

So, let’s talk books instead.

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KING’S 2007 CALENDAR OF EVENTS December 31

The King’s Seminar: The Ancient World begins

December 31–January 2

Men’s Atlantic Coast Classic Basketball Tournament

January 11–13

KTS Presents: Krapp’s Last Tape

January 18

Series On Popular Aesthetics Lecture

January 25

Trust In Science Lecture Series: Inside Out—From Test-Tube To Dinner Table

February 2

KTS Presents: The Laramie Project

February 7–10

KTS Presents: Marat/Sade

February 8

Series On Popular Aesthetics Lecture

February 21

Armbrae Dialogue: Affluenza featuring Peter Dalgliesh

March 1

Trust In Science Lecture Series: Whose Business? Science And The Corporate World

March 1–3

KTS Presents: The Rocky Horror Picture Show

March 8

Series On Popular Aesthetics Lecture

March 15

Trust In Science Lecture Series: Our Business—Science And The Public Trust

March 29

Series On Popular Aesthetics Lecture

May 17

Encaenia

May 25–27

1985—1989 Reunion

June 30–July 1

Mid-’90s Reunion

August 16

Annual Alumni Golf Tournament

Please visit www.ukings.ca for more information on these and other upcoming events at King’s

Top left: Kyle Ferguson, (BA ’89), James Hubbard (BSc ’88, HC ’90), Sarah Hubbard (BA ’86, BJ ’91) and Steve Wilson (BA ’87) at the First Annual Fall Classy (November 2, 2006) Top right: Harvard’s Dr. Stephen Shapin speaks to a packed Alumni Hall at the first Trust In Science Lecture Series (October 26, 2006) Left: President William Barker with “The Four Graces”—Kathleen Soares (BA ’74), Valerie Pike (BA ’73), Patricia Lewis (’72) and Faye Campbell (’71) at the Atlantic Jazz Festival (July 20, 2006)

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Top left: Stephen Warburton (BJ ’85), Gregor Ash & Pam Sullivan (BJ ’97) share a laugh at the Alumni Annual Dinner (May 13, 2006). Top right: King’s Alumni and members of Halifax pop band The Heavy Blinkers on Canada Day in London, UK. Clockwise from top right: Chris MacNeil (BA ’94), Karen Morash (BAH ’96), Katherine Stanley (BA ’85), Ilenka Jelowicki (BA ’96), Graeme Stanley (BA ’85), John Stiles (BA ’89), Jason MacIsaac, Trevor Forbes (’95), Dave Christensen, Jenn Grant, Andrew Watt (July 1, 2006). Middle: Gail Chiasson (Dip J ‘58), Jennifer Feenstra (BA ’83), Rachel Herschman (’01), Giancarlo Salvo (BA ’02), Sam, Matt Aronson (BAH ’01), Duncan, James Ross (BAH ’98) and Amanda Margison (BJH ’01) pose with the newly-signed Montreal Branch charter (July 5, 2006). Bottom left: Current and prospective students relax at the Toronto Send-Off (August 12, 2006). Bottom right: Fun in the sun at the Alumni Association Family BBQ (July 15, 2006).

TIDINGS | WINTER 2006/2007

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THE KING’S COLLEGE CHAPEL Breaking Down the Walls

by Caley Baker

Father Gary Thorne welcomes one and all to the King’s College Chapel

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HEN CHARLES INGLIS, the first Bishop of Nova Scotia, founded King’s in 1789, he created a school that would produce a large number of clergymen trained in the religion of the Church of England. For this reason, enrolment at King’s was initially limited to Anglicans.

This was changed in 1830, when students of all denominations were permitted to enroll at King’s. However, 176 years later, the Chaplain is not certain that everyone knows the chapel is a gathering place for people of all faiths.

After spending 15 years as the Rector of St. George’s Round Church in Halifax, Father Gary Thorne began his appointment as Chaplain of the University of King’s College and Dalhousie University in January 2006.

“[THORNE] IS EDUCATING THE CONGREGATION TO WHAT OTHER FAITHS ARE DOING AND BRINGING THE UNIVERSITY COMMUNITY CLOSER IN THAT WAY” —Taunya Dawson His new challenge is to build upon the traditions of the King’s College Chapel—to meet the needs of the University community, and to show students, faculty and alumni that our chapel is much more than a place for Anglicans to worship.

“I think the chapel’s for everyone,” he says. “As long as it’s seen to be for pious Anglicans, people aren’t going to go there.

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That’s the attitude that I think we have to break.”

Myra Bloom, a fourth-year student who serves as the president of the King’s College Chapel Choir, says the chapel offers relief from the stress of university life. According to Bloom, who is Jewish, the chapel is “a place where people can come to be reflective, regardless of their affiliation.”

Thorne, whose official title is The Major Rev. Canon Dr. Thorne, says he would like all students and alumni to be open to the possibility of exploring the various events that take place inside the chapel. The door is often (literally) left wide open and anyone who goes inside may find much more than traditional prayer services taking place.

“We have a lot of Anglican services there,” he says. “That’s because it’s the tradition of the chapel, but also other faiths and other people are using it for various forms of meditation.

There’s a practical philosophy class, the Jewish students are lighting their Sabbath candles on Friday night, and we invite people from other faiths to use the chapel in whatever ways they feel comfortable with using it as a sacred space.”

He regularly recruits guest preachers and representatives from community groups to speak at the chapel, and a new initiative is the monthly Chapel Concert Series, which aims to bring the King’s community closer through music.

Taunya Dawson (BAH ’85) says she revisited the King’s College Chapel after returning to Halifax, partly because she was seeking “a good traditional sermon, with lots of traditional rituals and good music.”

She says it isn’t difficult to fit services into her schedule,

as they are held five times a day from Monday to Wednesday, and four times on Thursday and Friday. Increasing the number of services was one of the first changes that Thorne made after assuming the role of Chaplain, hoping to create a “rhythm of prayer” at the University that might inspire students to develop patterns in other aspects of their lives.

“University is the time when young people begin to develop rhythms of friendship,” he says. “Rhythms of care for others, rhythms of community service.”

Nicholas Hatt (BAH ’03), the residence don of Middle Bay, began attending the chapel as an undergraduate student in 2000. He says the Chaplain encourages people to see past their own difficulties to greater problems in society.

“Father Thorne has a great gift for breaking into those shells —for breaking down walls and really extending our world,” he says.

Thorne is certainly no stranger to the Quad. He first became involved with King’s 30 years ago, when he moved into Cochran Bay as a graduate student in Dalhousie’s Department of Philosophy. In 2004, he received an honorary Doctorate of Divinity from King’s in recognition of his outstanding contributions to his parish and his community, and he’s also a King’s parent – his daughter, Chelsea, graduated with her Bachelor of Science in 2005.

Bloom, Hatt and Dawson all note that Thorne urged the chapel congregation and student body to fast for a day during Ramadan at the invitation of the University’s Muslim population.

Dawson says Thorne “is educating the congregation to what other faiths are doing and bringing the university community closer in that way.”

In his short time as Chaplain, Father Thorne has become a

visible figure on campus. Through his open office door, he calls greetings to people as they pass by, and he quickly notices and approaches newcomers at the chapel to introduce himself.

“WE INVITE PEOPLE FROM OTHER FAITHS TO USE THE CHAPEL IN WHATEVER WAYS THEY FEEL COMFORTABLE WITH USING IT AS A SACRED PLACE” —Father Gary Thorne “Primarily, my mandate at the University is to be with the students,” he says. “It’s to care for all the students, to be available to them.”

Hatt says the students he works with have taken note of Thorne’s presence.

“You see him all the time,” he says. “So, when his name comes up, they know who that is; they know him as someone they can approach for whatever.”

Attendance figures at the chapel are on the rise, but Thorne hopes to continue his outreach efforts to all students, alumni and friends of the University.

“The college as a college needs to gather there,” he says.

“Not just in the lecture hall, where it’s head knowledge, but in the chapel, where the head and the heart come together.” ∂ Thorne’s appointment is not the only change at the King’s College chapel: the choir will welcome its new director, Paul Halley, in July 2007. In the next issue of Tidings, we will explore more changes at the chapel over the years.

KING’S SEMINAR THE ANCIENT WORLD

* Did you ever wonder how it all fits together? * Is the Ancient World still present in the Modern? * Are there classics you have always wanted to read ... or re-read?

Starting in January 2007, King’s is pleased to present The King’s Seminar: The Ancient World. Organized by former King’s President and Foundation Year

Director Dr. Colin Starnes, The King’s Seminar will offer a series of lectures and tutorials on the Ancient World that will begin, as a pilot project, in Halifax and Toronto. In response to demand, these lectures will be available for downloadonly for people living outside of these two cities.

The King’s Seminar is a not-for-credit course of 11 lectures, delivered in audio, text, and images over the Web. Following the very successful approach of the Foundation Year and King’s upper-year programmes in Early Modern Studies, Contemporary Studies and the History of Science and Technology, The King’s Seminar is an interdisciplinary consideration of primary texts, of key events and customs, and of art and architecture.

Tutorial groups with the lecturer and/or Dr. Starnes will meet nine times in each city—or, roughly once every two weeks

from January until April.

This is your chance to read—with expert help and with the encouragement of your peers—a handful of the most beautiful, enduring, and influential books in the history of western civilizations. We will consider The Epic of Gilgamesh, the Iliad, Oedipus the King and the Bacchae, the Republic and the Aeneid—devoting about a month to each of the three big works. The course will also attempt to connect the insights of Sumer, the Hebrews, Greece, Rome, and Islam.

The tuition is $1,000 plus applicable taxes and $250 for each additional household member. Downloaded lectures only will be available for $500 plus applicable taxes for each household.

The first lecture, Before Civilization, and program details can be found at www.ukings.ca.

TIDINGS | WINTER 2006/2007

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Alexandra Hall: The Big Switch to Co-Ed Alexandra Hall has been the only all-female residence at the University of King’s College since it opened in 1962. However, in the fall of 2006, its doors were opened to male residents as well. Michael Landry finds out why.

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HEN KING’S ALUMNA Mary Barker (BA ‘67) first arrived at King’s in 1964, Alexandra Hall had recently replaced Cochran Bay as King’s newest female residence.

The top floor was an attic, and the basement was a recreation room with a grand piano and soft couches. She was 18 years old, and there was no shortage of guys for the girls in those days. However, getting caught with a boy in your room was a serious taboo.

Reminiscing about her three years in a strictly female residence, Ms. Barker says she never minded the hassle of life in Alex Hall. It even had some advantages.

“Say your date was not working out,” she says. “Having the curfew was a nice polite way to end a terrible date.”

And, of course, there were always ways to get around the rules. As long as you were signed in before curfew, it didn’t mean that you had to go to your room immediately. There was always the Passion Pit, which was the girls’ recreation room in the basement by day. Once the lights were out, it became the garden of gossip.

Always more the exception than the rule, boys did manage to find their way into the girls’ rooms. They would sneak in through windows, or hide until the curfew had passed. Ms. Barker says she can remember more than a few boys being discovered in the elevator.

These traditions were laid to rest under the oak trees in the Quad this past September when boys moved into Alex Hall, the largest residence on campus with the capacity to house 150 students. Male students now occupy the west wing of the first floor, along with every second room in the basement. There’s no longer any sign-in policy and even the girls’ residence (the top three floors) is always open to boys who live in the residence.

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photo: Angie (Krabbe) Barton, Germany

COVER STORY

Alex Hall girls (including Mary Barker, centre) scope out the boys’ rooms during a 1966 Bay party

“I personally think it’s a bit of a loss,” says Ms. Barker, exasperated at the news of the residence’s switch to co-ed. “It’s sort of nice to have a place on campus that’s yours. You always could run around in a towel or in your panties, and I didn’t care what the girls thought, but I would’ve died if a boy saw me running around with my hair in rollers.”

Gone are the days of annual panty raids, where boys would sneak into Alex Hall to steal the girls’ underwear. *

“I

*

*

*

T’S A LITTLE MORE LIKE REAL LIFE ISN’T IT?” remarks Christine Oreskovich (BA ‘95), when asked about the switch. She says her year in Alex Hall felt like she was away at camp.

“Some nights, it felt like a sleepover and some nights there was lots of door-slamming,” she recalls. “There were parties some nights and sometimes you’d end up talking all night in the washroom. It felt like we were all in it together. You won’t get that again—not in a big group dynamic.”

Although some of the mystery is gone, Alex Hall President Judy Booth says the feeling of being in it together hasn’t changed at all.

“Honestly, Alex Hall is still Alex Hall,” says Booth. “It’s essentially still the same establishment, just more open and more communicative. The atmosphere is different in how residents see their residence. Throughout Alex Hall, the feeling that the space belonged to you is now gone. It’s not necessarily a bad thing—it’s leading to people taking more responsibility for their actions.”

In the earlier years, Ms. Barker says the residence’s strict rules

“I WOULD’VE DIED IF A BOY SAW ME RUNNING AROUND WITH MY HAIR IN ROLLERS.”

photo: Scott Munn

—Mary Barker

Co-Ed students hanging out in Orion Keresztesi’s crowded room

were a way to help ease the transition for young women toward life on their own. However, Leigh Gillis, the Dean of Residence says a new norm has been established with regard to how students will be expected to discipline themselves in Alex Hall.

“There’s always a sense of nostalgia that creates the feeling of loss for an experience,” she says. “But, those experiences can be found in new a new environment. New students will have the same experiences as alumni; they’ll just happen in a different environment.”

Dean Gillis decided to make Alex Hall co-ed to stop the steady decline of residence applications. Last year, some male students were denied rooms in residence due to lack of space, while the female-only residence still had 20 vacant beds at the start of the 2005-2006 academic year.

Dr. William Barker, President and Vice-Chancellor of King’s, approved the change because he felt Gillis had the experience to make it work. Before coming to King’s in 2005, she worked in housing at the University of New Brunswick, where co-ed rooms were the norm.

Unlike the 1994 referendum to reform Alex Hall’s sign-in policy, the decision to go co-ed was an administrative one. Dr. Barker says he would have brought the issue to vote if he felt it needed to, but focus groups involving students were held and there was no resistance to the decision at any point.

“If alumni are worried about the feistiness of King’s students, they should look at the recent debate over the appointment of John Hamm to the Board of Governors,” he says. “Students here are still very, very willing to speak their mind. Going co-ed was a foregone conclusion.”

Opening Alexandra Hall to all students this year failed to

improve the number of residence applications. Once again, there were empty beds when the academic year began. However, the silver lining to what Dean Gillis calls a long-term effort, is that the co-ed environment seems to be working.

Thus far, there haven’t been any major complaints from the residents of Alex Hall. Dr. Barker says the success of going co-ed was to be expected, because the social relationships between young men and women have changed a lot since he grew up going to all-boys schools.

“The school is already co-ed, so now the residences are too,” he says. “People learn to live together. The experience has been when you mix the students together something happens in the social dynamic. People are much more respectful. Rather than men finding women obscure objects of desire, they’re calmer, orderly and more thoughtful.” *

*

*

*

E

ARLIER THIS YEAR, FIRST-YEAR STUDENT Orion Keresztesi participated in a residence ice-breaker: an Alex Hall-wide game of hide and seek. Seeking shelter in a washroom stall on the third floor, it occurred to him that the girls on this floor might not yet be accustomed to boys in their washroom. He thought about it and figured that if he was going to survive a full year in the residence, he had better find a new hiding spot.

The game was one of the many baby steps being taken towards making it a fully functional co-ed residence. The students are taking on the responsibility of trying to make the right choices, and like most of his peers, Keresztesi is taking co-ed life “as it is.”

“My sister went to King’s too and she used to be in Alex Hall when it was an all-girl residence,” he says. “I didn’t know what that would mean for me this year, [but] it’s good. I don’t have that much to compare it to.”

Keresztesi says his first-floor room is a perfect example of how co-ed works in the residence. With its open-door policy, his room quickly became the hangout spot for the guys. He says most guys rarely spend time in the girls’ wing and the more reserved girls tend to keep to themselves.

“It’s a personal thing for me,” he says. “I tend to be lazier, so I don’t go to the girls’ side. But, there’s also a higher concentration of social guys here, whereas it’s more of an eclectic bunch TIDINGS | WINTER 2006/2007

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photo: Angie (Krabbe) Barton, Germany

New Year’s Pyjama Party in one of the rooms in 2-West. Mary Barker (lower right) and her roomate Angie Krabbe (middle left, with horn)

of girls who come and hang out. It’s not that conscious of a decision. It just happens, because their doors are usually closed and it’s quiet. Oh, and the Dean’s room is on their end.”

To him, the co-ed living space works because the Manning Room divides the two wings. This allows the guys to maintain their personal space, while being open to the girls, and vice-versa.

“The main reason it’s not a big deal is because there’s more of a feeling of ‘co-edness’ in our culture,” he says. “There’s no sense of forbidden territory. So, if you went and stole someone’s panties, it would just be weird.”

This is not to say that pranks have disappeared altogether.

Earlier this year, when it was discovered that credit cards could unlock people’s doors in the basement, a prank war began. Before the doors were fixed, the contents of one girl’s dresser were

taped high up on the wall so she couldn’t get them.

“It wasn’t done in any vicious way,” explains Sidra Martin, the basement’s floor rep. “You knew who it was and you could get back at them. It was just friends picking on friends.”

Booth says it’s the little things, such as the game of hide and seek, that are proving to be the most difficult. She says her biggest problem is trying to organize Alex Hall Christmas; how to include boys in a traditionally girls-only event.

“It’s usually characterized by, this is going to sound sexist, female bonding activities, like decorating, baking and other girly Christmas things,” she says. “What was once a traditional bonding experience among girls now has to be a co-ed bonding among people who live together.”

Dean Gillis has yet to sit down and re-evaluate what will be done next year to fill the empty residence beds, but says she will be talking with students to figure out what should be done. She will not speculate whether Alex Hall will remain co-ed, insisting that she has to wait and see what happens the rest of this year.

“We have to find out what’s working, what didn’t work and what we can do different for the next year,” she says. “We just have to be open to asking the right questions.”

Dr. Barker calls the co-ed move “one of the biggest nonevents at King’s,” and says if it brings upper-year students back to residence, being co-ed will help to keep continuity and traditions alive at King’s. He initially expected resistance to the idea of a co-ed Alex Hall, but has yet to hear a complaint from students, parents, or alumni.

“Usually, when I hear nothing back, it means it’s working.” ∂ What do you think about the Big Switch? Whether you lived in residence at King’s, are a parent, or just want to throw in your two cents, we’d love to hear from you. E-mail us at alumni@ukcalumni.com.

BOOKS I’M READING

Dr. Stephen Boos, Director, Contemporary Studies Programme and Associate Professor, Humanities and Social Sciences is impossible to forget—the portrait of an unfit mother who suffers from delusions of poetic genius and the lurid account of Bookman the pederast, the recollections of Burroughs’ numerous misadventures with members of the Finch/id household will make you laugh and cry in rapid succession. I will be surprised if the film version of the book preserves its aura. I am also on Chapter 21 of Nik Cohn’s classic AwopboDr. Stephen Boos paloobop Alopbamboom. This is the most Like many of my colleagues, I am working recent in a series of books and articles I’ve my way through several different books been reading on the history of popular at the moment. I first became a fan of music lately. The title, as I (re)discovered Augusten Burroughs in the summer when early on, is from the song “Tutti Frutti,” I read his collection of “true stories” in

by Little Richard. Awopbopaloobop is an Magical Thinking, and am nearly finished insightful snapshot account of rock ‘n’ roll reading his childhood memoir Running in the 1950s and 1960s. The book capwith Scissors. Burroughs’ childhood was so tures the essence of a fleeting but formatotally chaotic, perverse and bizarre that it tive moment in the history of rock music 18

TIDINGS | WINTER 2006/2007

from the point of view of a 22 year-old “rock snob” writing in 1968. Needless to say, I am constantly devouring academic books, so I’ll only mention one I purchased recently: Richard Wolin’s The Frankfurt School Revisited investigates what is living and dead in Critical Theory. The Frankfurt School was established in 1923 as a Marxist Institute. The first part of the book considers the contemporary relevance of firstgeneration Frankfurters such as Benjamin, Adorno, Lowenthal, and Marcuse as well as their appropriation by the cultural Left.

The second part turns to a critical discussion of contemporary social and political events, including the fall of the Berlin Wall and 9/11, and the identity crisis of the Left. From what I can tell so far, Habermas emerges from this book as the rightful heir of Critical Theory.

NOMINATION FOR HONORARY DEGREE All Faculty and Alumni, all members of the Board of Governors, excepting undergraduate members of the University, all Bachelors of Divinity and Masters and Doctors of the University, all Fellows and all Inglis Professors of the University of King’s College are invited to submit nominations for honorary degrees (DD, DCL, DCnL) and honorary fellowships (HF) (the honour of Fellow of the University may be conferred by the vote of Convocation upon any friend of the University for noteworthy services rendered in its behalf).

Nominations should be submitted to the Clerk of Convocation, in care of the President’s Office, by noon on Friday, January 19, 2007. Convocation meets at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, January 31 in the Boardroom, Arts and Administration Building. Alumni of five years’ standing are eligible to attend Convocation and vote. All members of Convocation have a vote.*(see below)

Nominations should come in three parts: • The first part should be a letter to the Clerk of Convocation, in care of the President’s Office, stating the full name of the candidate that you are proposing, the person’s address, any relevant contact information, and the honorary degree or fellowship for which you are nominating the person.

• Attached with the letter should be a 300-450 word statement explaining why this person would serve as an outstanding candidate for the honour. You should explain their achievements with details and why the nomination is relevant to the University of King’s College.

It would be helpful if this were provided in electronic form. This statement will be presented to the Honorary Degrees Committee and, if the candidate’s name goes forward, may serve as the basis for a statement to be read aloud to

Convocation as information for their vote. Please ensure the statement is no longer than 450 words or it cannot be used by the Committee.

• To your letter and statement you may append relevant supporting material such as articles about the person or other information that can be used by the Honorary Degrees Committee in their judgement of this candidate.

It is important to remember that not all candidates nominated can be put forward to Convocation for a vote. The Honorary Degrees Committee will provide the best possible slate for consideration

by Convocation.

If you are in doubt about this procedure, you may contact the President’s Office (422-1271 x 121) and we will provide you with assistance in preparing your nomination.

*As Taken From The Blue Book of By-Laws, Rules And Regulations of the University of King’s College CONVOCATION Composition 35. (1) Convocation shall consist of: (a) the Chancellor and ViceÐChancellor of the University; (b) all Bachelors of Divinity and Masters and Doctors of the University; (c) all Masters of Arts graduating under the Agreement of Association between the University of King’s College and the Governors of Dalhousie College, dated the first day of September, 1923, or the fifth day of November, 1954, who may have been enrolled in King’s College or who may hold the Bachelor’s Degree therefrom; (d) all members of the Board of Governors of the University, excepting undergraduate members of the University; (e) all current members of the King=s Faculty and Inglis Professors; (f) all other Bachelors of the University of five years standing; (g) Fellows of the University.

(2) All members of Convocation shall have a vote.

CALL FOR NOMINATIONS The Alumni Association Awards Committee is seeking nominations for the Judge J. Elliott Hudson Distinguished Alumnus/ a Award.

This award was established in recognition of the outstanding contributions Judge J. Elliott Hudson made to the University of King’s College, to his profession as Family Court Judge and to his volunteer commitment This award recognizes King’s alumni

who, like Judge Hudson, have made significant contributions to their discipline, community, charitable or volunteer work.

• This award will be presented at the Alumni Annual Dinner held in Halifax.

• All alumni of the university are eligible to be nominated for this award.

• Any member of the Alumni Association may submit nominations. * Awards will not be presented posthumously.

• Only one award will be presented annually and only if there is a suitable candidate.

Please send submissions including name of candidate, reasons for recommending this candidate and references to the Advancement Office 6350 Coburg Road, Halifax, NS B3H 2A1 or by email to rachel. pink@ukings.ns.ca by Friday, March 16, 2007.

TIDINGS | WINTER 2006/2007

19

ENCAENIA

Congratulations to the Class of 2006!

W

E COULDN’T HAVE ASKED for a nicer day on Thursday, May 18 as King’s graduated the largest class in its 217-year history. Lead by a traditional bagpiper, 248 students strolled down University Avenue to the historic Cathedral Church of All Saints, and were joined by their friends, families and five notable Canadians who were distinguished with honorary degrees. Gwendolyn Davies, MA, PhD, FRCS; the Honourable John Godfrey, PC, MP, DPhil; John Hobday, C.M.; and J. Christopher Wilcox became Doctors of Civil Laws, while The Rev. Canon Eric Beresford received a Doctor of Divinity.

Dr. Godfrey, former College President and current Member of Parliament, gave the Convocation talk on the environment, and Brendan Morrison (BAH ’06) and Jordon Lester (BJH ’06) delivered the highly entertaining Valedictory address.

Karen Aagaard Jessica Abraham Baha Abu-Shaqra Katrina Annand Ruth Annis Katherine Archibald Ariane Asselin Richard Aucoin Jane Baldwin Erin Balser Paul Barrette Kyra Bell-Pasht Elliott Bent Zoe Bercovici Eric Beresford Ian Bickis Rachael Black Amy Blanding Lydia Bogert Alexander Boulos Moira Brady 20

Matthew Briggs Meredith Brooks Mara Brotman Oliver Brown Suzanne Burchell Bruce Burns Anne Calder Laura Callahan Peter Carrington Lisa Chaffe Alexa Cheater Falice Chin Jennifer Choi Andrew Church Katherine Churchill-Smith Emily Claydon Natasha Conde Hillary Connolly Annamaria Corfu Kathleen Creelman Kathryn Crooks

TIDINGS | WINTER 2006/2007

Leah Cross Sean Crutcher Meredith Dault Gwendolyn Davies Danielle Derks Amy Dove Laura Dowling Krister Dunbar Terra-Lee Duncan Sonjel EirikssonVreeland Matthew Elliott Jennifer Elvidge Chloe Ernst Paul Everest Eleanor Eville Sherri Farber Kristin Farr Rachel Fisher Cameron Fleming Christina Flemming

Min Hun Fong Brian Fortune Dana Fountain Victoria Fowler Amanda Fraser Holly Fraser Jessie Fraser Holly Fraughton Adam Freedman Kirsten Gallacher Matthew Gardner Caroline Gaston Clare Gibbons John Godfrey Lori Goldberg Michael Goldlist Michael Goodfellow Janani Gopalakrishnan Holly Gordon Peter Gorman

Brendan Gray Rachael Griffin Shauna Guth Ron Haigh Luke Harnish Mary Harrison Jane Harwood Adam Hawboldt Jennifer Heatley Adina Herbert Tyler Hnatuk John Hobday Gregory House Beatrice Houston Sarah Hoyles William Hughes Charles Humphrey Jonah Hundert David Hurlow Rhianna Jackiw Katrina Jacot James Jennings

Paul Johnson Jennifer Johnston Johanna Kalkreuth Heather Keachie Lindsey Keilty Matthew Kelly Martha Kenney Hannah Kenney Kristin Kent Christina Keys Matthew Kimber Michael Kimber William King Kristine Kozicki Sarah Kromkamp Courtenay Kyle Meredith Lapp Nadine LaRoche Andrew Law Carrie Lawton Christopher Lee Gillian Lee

ENCAENIA

Jordan Lester Elling Lien Romy Lightman Cindy Locke Simon Loeb Jonathan Logan Shannon Long Patrick Lowe Christina MacDonald David MacEachern Heather MacLean Ainslie MacLellan Janet MacLeod A. Aeneas Maddalena Melissa Madden Jena Martin Samuel Martin Graham Matthews Chryssa McAlister Sean McCarroll

Luke McCormick James McEwen Rebecca Medel Rachel Mendleson Allan Milligan Cecily Milne Kevin Milne Kimberley Milne Victoria MohrBlakeney Patrick MoodyGrigsby Deirdre Moore Zoe Morawetz Brendan Morrison Adriann Moss Tamara Moss Bryan Mrezar Kieran Mullally Sean Mullen Trevor Murphy Nicole Myshak

Richard Newman Sean O’Brien Cliona O’Brien Erin O’Halloran Ruth O’Kelly-Lynch Rory O’Sullivan Jennifer Otto Rebecca Pate Benjamin Pearlman Matthew Pearn Jennifer Pelley Natalie Pendergast Reuben Penner Vanessa Perry Sonya Poller Adam Popper Louie Porta Stephanie Potter Daniel Rattner Jodey Reeves Maya Reiss

Robert Richard Barbara Richardson-Bryson Michal Roberge Timothy Roberts David Rodgerson Nathalie Rothschild Benjamin Saifer Theresa Salah Tor Sandberg Mary Schlosser Megan Sears Kimberley Sedgwick Matthew Seely James Shaw Shawna Shulman Kathryn Siegel Aaron Siegner Lindsay Sinyard James Smith

Takuya Sogawa Ariele Sokol Elena Sosa Lerin Victoria Spence Michael Stacey Matthew Stasyna Devin Stevens Samuel Stewart Benjamin Stewart Heather Stilwell Carly Stringer Kerrilyn Strothard Alexa Swift Kathryn Swift Karley Tabak Susannah Taylor Ashley Taylor Brodie Thomas Sara Thompson David Thornton Ezabell Tilley Paul Tobin

Peter Trainor Mary Tucker Kathryn Turnbull Trevor Tynan Mark Ulett Nayeli Urquiza Haas Sarah Van Wilgenburg Christopher Vaughan Aaron Veinotte Noemi Westergard Jason White J. Christopher Wilcox Anna Wilson Kathryn Wilson Brendan Wright Kathryn Yeats Christopher Young Jonathon Zacks

TIDINGS | WINTER 2006/2007

21

JAY FERGUSON & PATRICK PENTLAND From King’s College to Kings of Canadian Rock

by Zoë Morawetz

J

the first time in the band’s hisAY FERGUSON (BA tory that one of his songs was ’89) sets the scene for the first track to hit the radio one of the first ‘shows’ airwaves. performed by his old band, Chatting from Toronto, Kearney Lake Road: It’s 1987, Ferguson and Pentland are three guys drive into the Unienjoying some down-time folversity of King’s College Quad, lowing a six-week trek across unload and set up all of their the country – a tour which ingear, run an extension cord into cluded a couple of brawls in the dorms and start playing. northern Ontario.

“We didn’t really have any “We were in Timmins, this place to play so we just wanted little tiny town,” says Pentland. to go and set up where there “Basically, every person who would be a bunch of people,” Jay Ferguson, Chris Murphy, Patrick Pentland and Andrew Scott of Sloan lived there was at this show. says the guitarist.

All these firemen just started They got through about two and a half songs before security came out to see what was beating each other up. It was weird.”

“Yeah, it was kind of the fight tour,” says Ferguson. “[It] was going on.

“We said: ‘Oh, someone asked us to come and play,’” recalls terrifying to see—these huge men pummelling each other.”

Despite the fight scenes, and the mugging of opening act Ferguson. “We gave them some sort of official title and they went and checked. We kept playing and they came back and Yoko Casionos’ guitar player in Calgary, the tour was a familiar, yet still exciting experience for the band. And, they’re just getsaid: ‘You guys are idiots, get out of here.’”

The band also played another (sanctioned) gig on King’s ting started on the promotion of their current album – they’re property in The Pit, the University’s theatrical space—which planning to shoot a video for their latest single before their album comes out in the U.S. this January, and they embark upon ended up being one of their final shows.

“It still smells like a barn?” Ferguson asks, 20 years later. (Yes, another tour south of the border and through Australia.

The momentum for their Canadian tour began to build in it still does). Though the punk band broke up shortly after that gig, two of its members, Ferguson and Chris Murphy, went on to mid-September, when they returned to Halifax to open for The form power-pop group Sloan in 1991 with NSCAD student Andrew Rolling Stones in front of a drenched hometown crowd of more Scott and King’s student Patrick Pentland (BA ’91), a frequenter than 25,000. Although, opening for the Stones isn’t a first for Sloan, either. of the Halifax punk rock scene during his King’s days.

“We did a couple of shows with them earlier this year, so, oh yeah, playing with them again was a complete bore,” laughs “I REALLY ENJOYED PLAYING THE MORE Ferguson. “Of course, to play with them was exciting, but doubly UNCONVENTIONAL SPACES. LIKE THE PIT to play with them in Halifax, on the Commons, it was a thrill.

AT KING’S OR THE WARDROOM.” I remember the first time I ever practised in a band was basically kitty corner to the Commons, over on Pepperell Street in a —Jay Ferguson living room. It’s funny—playing Stones covers across the street from the Commons, and there we are, 20 years later, playing In an impressive display of longevity, Sloan is still making with them.”

The band has played a wide variety of venues across Halifax music, 15 years, eight full-length albums and a group move to Toronto later. Their latest release, the 30-track Never Hear The over the years, from Dalhousie’s McInnes Room and Grawood End Of It, came out in September with new songs from all four to Birdland, the Double Deuce, the Flamingo, Reflections, the members, including a milestone for Ferguson: The release of Seahorse and even Citadel Hill. However, their first official lead-off single “Who Taught You To Live Like That” represents performance in February 1991 at NSCAD was the kind of quirky

22

TIDINGS | WINTER 2006/2007

experience that Ferguson remembers from the college scene.

“I really enjoyed playing the more unconventional spaces, like the Pit at King’s or the Wardroom,” he says. “We even played the Green Room at Dalhousie. Another great place was the cafeteria at NSCAD. There’s no stage and everybody’s just right in front of you. It’s more exciting.”

Throughout their University days, the band members were all huge parts of the Halifax music scene—which they would later help to elevate through their independent record label, Murderecords, which they still work on today.

Pentland recalls that the University music scene was where a lot of things came together for the group. “I met Chris and Jay during that time,” he says. “I knew people who had radio shows at CKDU, and we met [electronic music scenester and fellow King’s student] Andrew Duke (’90). It was an enjoyable time.

“We kind of just knew people,” he says. “It’s all politics; it was even back then...knowing people, getting gigs. Being part of the college scene. Networking 101, basically.”

He says that a contest on CKDU was a major impetus behind getting them to make their first record, 1992’s Peppermint EP. “I think that college radio coming out of Dalhousie was a really big influence on the music scene in general,” says Pentland.

“Certainly in the late ’80s where we were exposed to a ton of music just based on people coming from other towns to Halifax, just bringing their records with them and playing them on the radio.”

Meanwhile, all this time, they were also studying and going to classes, right?

Ferguson remembers liking the way Foundation Year was set up—the lecture and tutorial in the morning, so that everything was finished by lunch time. Though, he says he was mostly at King’s looking for people to play music with.

“I wanted to hang out with people,” he says. “I basically went to school, went to class, went home—and played music.”

Pentland, too, says that schoolwork was not his primary focus during his time at King’s.

“I didn’t really take University that seriously,” he admits.

“I remember one time I wrote this essay—I hadn’t even read the book, and I got an ‘A.’ I was just such a terrible student and so preoccupied with music. I had no idea how I got through Foundation Year.” ∂

T E N S LOA N S O N G S T H AT YO U ’ V E P R O B A B LY H E A R D • Coax Me • Everything You’ve Done Wrong • If It Feels Good Do It • Money City Maniacs (from Future Shop and Molson commercials)

• Rest Of My Life • Sensory Deprivation (from a popular Molson commercial) • The Good In Everyone • The Other Man • Underwhelmed • Losing California

REUNIONS 1985-1989 REUNION Mark your calendars! A group of King’s alumni is planning a spring on-campus reunion for grads from years 1985 through 1989. The event will take place the weekend of May 25-27, 2007 and will be open to alumni and their guests. Preliminary plans include a Wardroom Night and an 80s-themed dinner/dance at Prince Hall.

Please watch the King’s online newsletter for further details, including information on residence bookings.

If you would like to help with the reunion planning, please con-

tact Brian Cormier (BJH ‘86) bcormier@bristolgroup.ca; Cathy Krawchuk-Donaldson (BA ‘87, BJ ‘88) ckdonald@nbnet.nb.ca; Sheila Cameron (BSc ‘86) sheila@actuslaw.com; Jonna Brewer (BJH ‘87) mcjb@nbnet.nb.ca; Greg Guy (BJH ‘87) gguy@herald.ca or Kathryn Collet (BSc ‘87) Kathryn.

Collet@gnb.ca.

MID-’90S REUNION Did you attend King’s in the mid-’90s?

Merrin Sandilands (BA ‘97) and Meredith Woodwark (BAH ‘97) are plan-

ning a reunion during the 2007 Canada Day weekend (June 30–July 1). Potential activities include: a family BBQ, a picnic, a pub crawl, a chapel service, a campus tour to see the changes since 1997 and possible trips to Point Pleasant Park, a nearby beach and Peggy’s Cove. Please watch the King’s online newsletter for further details, including information on residence bookings.

If you are interested in attending or would like more information, please contact Rachel Pink at rachel.pink@ukings. ns.ca.

DOULL ENDOWMENT FUND An endowment fund in memory of James Alexander Doull and in tribute to his work as scholar, teacher, and philosopher has been established in the University of King’s College Library. Income from the James Alexander Doull Memorial Library Endowment Fund will be expended for the purchase of books in the Platonic and Aristotelian traditions throughout their

histories. Those wishing to contribute to the memorial endowment should send cheques made out to the University of King’s College, with the notation that they are for the James Alexander Doull Endowment, to: Kara Holm, Advancement Director, University of King’s College, Halifax, Nova Scotia, B3H 2A1. Receipts for tax deduction will be provided.

James Doull at his home in Chester, 1983 TIDINGS | WINTER 2006/2007

23

A N N U A L G O L F TO U R N A M E N T

T

HE KING’S ANNUAL ALUMNI GOLF TOURNAMENT was our most successful golfing event to date. A record 96 golfers were treated to a spectacular day in the sun at the Ken-Wo Country Club, helping to bring in more than $8,000.

The proceeds from the tournament help to fund the Alumni Journalism Scholarship and other Alumni Association activities. This year’s scholarship was awarded to Jodie Barnaby (Listuguj, Quebec) from our One-Year Bachelor of Journalism Programme.

Many thanks to all of our players, volunteers and sponsors —we hope that you’ll return for next year’s tournament, to be held on August 16, 2007 at the Ken-Wo Country Club.

For more photos from the event, please visit: http://www.ukings.ca/kings_3936_8970_gallery1.html.

Top right: King’s Maintenance Workers—Rodney Parsons, Gerald Wilson, Dave Quigley, Dave Lavers Top left: Gordon Read (BA ’50) Middle left: Judy Pinead, Jeanette Laba, Pauline Reid, Irene Phinney Bottom left: Trevor MacKay, Tasya Tymczyszyn (BA ’05), Daniel de Munnik (BScH ’02) 24

TIDINGS | WINTER 2006/2007

ALUMNI PROFILE

Tom Regan

Online News Pioneer

by Alison Lang

“I think the Internet is going to save journalism itself”

I

N AN AGE WHEN DVRs, HDTV and iPods are quickly becoming the norm, today’s youth are often amused by thoughts of the ‘cutting edge’ technology of yesteryear, in the form of 8-tracks, record players and typewriters.

Tom Regan (BA ‘84) once laughed at his father for suggesting that one day, people would be able to read the news on their TV screens.

“I thought he was just crazy,” he laughs. But, as it turns out, his father was merely ahead of his time.

In a strange twist of fate, Regan himself would be one of the first journalists in Canada to put the news on a screen that anyone could access—on the Internet.

In the early ’90s, Regan was a columnist with The Daily News in Halifax. He first heard about the Internet through his sister, a student at Saint Mary’s University, and wondered if he could use its resources as a reporter.

“I thought you could only get an Internet account if you worked in government or were a student,” he recalls.

Regan investigated the matter and eventually connected his Mac to the Internet account for $300. Soon thereafter, he and his fellow columnists began including their writings on a listserv that would be e-mailed out to subscribers every week.

In the summer of 1993, the World Wide Web was beginning to take shape and he downloaded his first web browser, Mosaic.

“I took one look at that browser and I thought: this is the future of media,” he says. “It was brilliant, having text and pictures together online, and it could be read anywhere in the world.”

Not every journalist shared Regan’s excitement.

“It’s hard for print people to take [the Web] seriously today,” he says. “In 1993,

we were a fad—we were the new kid on the block.”

Luckily, the editors at The Daily News, Bill Turpin and Doug McKay, were “big computer geeks” and gave him the goahead to put The Daily News online in the fall of that year.

“My editors could have laughed me out of the office,” he says. “It never would have happened without Doug and Bill.”

There was one small problem: Regan didn’t know very much HTML—the computer language needed to bring it all together. He solved this problem by looking back to the University community.

“There were four very tall, very pale, very thin young men who lived in the basement of the Dalhousie computer centre,” he recalls. “They taught me HTML in exchange for four Daily News coffee mugs and $40.”

“I TOOK ONE LOOK AT THAT [WEB] BROWSER AND I THOUGHT: THIS IS THE FUTURE OF MEDIA” —Tom Regan After months of work, The Daily News Worldwide was launched in April of 1994 to surprisingly little fanfare. The newspaper was mired in ownership changes and Regan feels the site’s impact was somewhat dulled as a result. However, he’s not concerned with being recognized for his work in the long term.

“The important thing was that it was done,” he says.

The Daily News was only the beginning of Regan’s online career. In 1995, he moved to Boston with his American wife, and was hired to introduce The Christian Science Monitor to the online world. De-

Tom Regan

spite its name, The Christian Science Monitor is not a religious newspaper. Instead, it is an important name in International news with a strict mandate towards accuracy.

“It’s a very fair organization, not sensational,” he says. “For a news person, it’s like working in utopia. I’ve never been told not to write anything.”

As one might expect, Regan is a big fan of online news in general, and counts the Guardian and the Sydney Morning Herald as two of his favorite online sources.

Nowadays he’s certainly not alone in his preference for news on the Web—he says that his four children share his ardor for computers. “[My kids] are my little test group,” he laughs. “It’s through them that I see the future.”

Regan says his children’s preference for computers over TV reflects the shifting interests of society as a whole.

“In the end, I think the Internet is going to save journalism from itself,” he says.

“One day, print will be one of only a variety of choices for people to use to receive their information. The most important thing is getting the news and information to our audience. I don’t think it matters one iota whether the news is encoded or crushed ink on dead trees. It’s just a choice.” ∂

TIDINGS | WINTER 2006/2007

25

UNIVERSITY OF KING’S COLLEGE A L U M N I A S S O C I AT I O N 2 0 0 6 — 2 0 07

Executive Members POSITION

NAME

TERM

President

Steven Wilson (BA ’87)

2006–2008

Vice President

David Jones (BA ’68)

2006–2008

Treasurer

Andy Hare (BA ’70)

2006–2008

Past President

Doug Hadley (BA ’92)

2006–2008

Secretary

Harry Thurlow (BA ’95)

2005–2007

Board of Governor Representative

Daniel Logan (BAH ’88)

2005–2007

Board of Governor Representative

John Stone (BAH ’65)

2005–2007

Board of Governor Representative

Daniel de Munnik (BScH ’02)

2006–2008

Committee Member

Lara Morrison (BAH ’95)

2005–2007

Committee Member

Elizabeth Ryan (BA ’69)

2005–2007

Committee Member

Kyle Shaw (BSc ’91, BJ ’92)

2005–2007

Committee Member

Des Writer (BJ ’02)

2006–2008

Committee Member

Gregory Guy (BJH ’87)

2006–2008

Committee Member

Sarah Hubbard (BA ’86, BJ ’91)

2006–2008

Committee Member

Robert Mann (BA ’01)

2006–2008

University President (Ex-Officio)

William Barker

Advancement Director (Ex-Officio)

Kara Holm

Alumni Officer (Ex-Officio)

Rachel Pink

Students’ Union President (Ex-Officio)

Dave Jerome

Chapter Leaders (Includes formally constituted branches and informal associations)

26

PLACE

NAME

EMAIL

Fredericton

Kathryn Collet (BSc ’87)

kathryn.collet@gnb.ca

Ottawa

Wendy Hepburn (BA ’05)

hepburn.wendy@tbs-sct.gc.ca

Montréal

Amanda Margison (BJH ’01)

kingsalumnimontreal@yahoo.ca

Toronto

Daniel Logan (BAH ’88)

dlogan@osler.com

Vancouver

Kathy Wood (BAH ’94)

kathywood@shaw.ca

Boston

Mark Fleming (BAH ’94)

fleming@post.harvard.edu

New York

Emanuella Grinberg (BJH ’04)

e_grinberg@hotmail.com

Europe

Chris MacNeil (BA ’94)

chris@ebooster.co.uk

Australia

Johanna MacMinn (BA ’89)

jomacminn@optusnet.com.au

TIDINGS | WINTER 2006/2007

BRANCH BRIEFS

OTTAWA The Ottawa Branch of the Alumni Association has had a busy year, and is currently in the midst of identifying enthusiastic alumni who are interested in welcoming new King’s students and visiting with other King’s grads.

“It has been truly amazing to reconnect with grads who haven’t been in contact with the University for years, and who are excited to reminisce about the University and chat about what they have been up to,” says branch executive member Wendy Hepburn (BA ’05).

In conjunction with the Registrar’s Office, the Ottawa Branch helped out with several events to welcome new King’s students, including an end of summer BBQ at Colin Burn’s house, where new students had the opportunity to chat with recent alumni. In addition, more than 60 alumni and friends attended a fascinating lecture

by Dr. Colin Starnes, entitled “Prelude to FYP: Before Civilization.”

In the year to come, the Ottawa Branch plans to host a pub night, a BBQ off of the Rideau River, and several other activities. If you would like to help out, please contact Wendy at Hepburn.wendy@tbssct.gc.ca or David Jones (BA ’68) at commadore@sympatico.ca.

we knew where to find Clayton Park and Musquodoboit Harbour.”

Once the snow starts to fly, the Montreal Branch hopes to host a curling game.

Please contact Amanda for more information on this or other Montreal-based events at kingsalumnimontreal@yahoo.ca.

TORONTO On October 11th, the Toronto Branch of the Alumni Association hosted an evening with Jim Rankin (BJ ‘92), a renowned and award-winning photographer at The Toronto Star. Rankin’s presentation brought some of the most powerful images in modern photography to life, as the context of the images and their composition were analysed through a photojournalist’s eyes.

Images were projected onto large presentation screens at a venue kindly supplied

by Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP. At the conclusion of the presentation—and after an informative question & answer session—alumni, recent graduates and visiting faculty walked the short distance to BCE Place to view the World Press Photo Exhibition, a stunning collection of images currently traveling the globe.

For more information on alumni events in Toronto, please contact Daniel Logan (BAH ‘88) at dlogan@osler.com.

MONTREAL VANCOUVER About a dozen eager King’s Alumni made their way down to CBC Montreal’s Studio 12 in late September to attend a jampacked taping of CBC Radio One’s Routes Montreal. The show featured an intimate performance by the pride of Dartmouth, The Joel Plaskett Emergency.

“We were front row, loud and enthusiastic,” says Amanda Margison (BJH ’01), the president of the Montreal Branch.

“The Plaskett melodies took many of us back to days at the Birdland and The Marquee Club and the lyrics reminded us of many local landmarks. We also got to swoon with the band after the show, all of whom seemed very surprised to know

In October, members of the Vancouver Branch attended the closing night staging of Halifax-based playwright Michael Melski’s (BA ‘91) production “The Fly Fisher’s Companion” at the Gateway Theatre in Richmond, BC. Other upcoming events in the area include a Christmas Party in early December and a lecture

by Dr. Elizabeth Edwards, followed by a reception for alumni and prospective King’s students.

Any alumni in British Columbia who would like to be more involved in the chapter are encouraged to contact Kathy Wood (BAH ’91) at kathywood@shaw.ca.

BOSTON Do you live in New England or upstate New York? King’s is planning to start a branch in the Northeastern United States and wants to hear from you. We will start planning events in 2007 and want to be sure you’re included. For more information, please contact Mark Fleming (BAH ‘94) at mark.fleming@wilmerhale. com or Rachel Renton (BAH ‘94) at rrenton@comcast.net.

NEW YORK Following an inaugural dinner at NYC’s Cornell Club in June, the New York Branch of the Alumni Association has evolved at a slow but steady pace. Small bonds are already being forged—members have helped others move into new apartments and attended parties in their homes. If you are interested in arranging an event in the New York tri-state area, please contact Emanuella Grinberg (BJH ‘04) at e_grinberg@hotmail.com.

EUROPE The European Branch closes out 2006 on the heels of several important highlights: an event around the Oxford-Cambridge boat race and football (soccer) match, welcoming three recent grads traveling through London, being well represented on at the Study Canada! booth at London’s first ever Canada Day on Trafalgar Square, and the formalization of a Branch constitution and executive.

In 2007, we are looking forward to more events, more networking with other Atlantic Canada University Alumni, welcoming UKC staff and students alike all to get our Alumni reconnecting. Stay tuned for an event on the Continent, too.

For more information on the European Branch, contact Chris MacNeil (BA ‘94) at chris@ebooster.co.uk.

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KING’S WELCOMES NEW ALUMNI OFFICER

On November 8, 2006, King’s welcomed Rachel Pink as its new Alumni Officer.

Born and raised in Halifax, Rachel graduated from McGill University in 2001 with her Bachelor of Education. There, she

was a three-time recipient of Academic All-Canadian Award for participation in Level 1 Varsity Sport – the Conference Champion Women’s Swimming Team.

“I had a great university experience,” she says. “I like the feel of universities —the camaraderie, watching relationships develop and seeing groups of kids who come from various places coming together because they’ve chosen to study at the same place. I went to a big university, where I knew maybe two per cent of population. I appreciate the idea that King’s is a small college, and see the benefits of being a part of a small community. I can imagine that every face becomes familiar after eight months and nobody’s really a stranger.”

Rachel comes to King’s following work experience as an elementary school teacher and as a Tour Guide and Trip

Specialist with Backroads Active Travel Company, where she designed and led five-star active multi-sport vacations throughout North America, Central America and Europe. She says that her first priority in her new position is to try and increase alumni involvement, but also to find out what King’s grads want from their Alumni Association.

“With Backroads, I had to really be aware of everyone’s needs and understand what they were looking to do,” she says. “That really applies to King’s, because everyone has a different willingness to be involved—some people are going to want to spend a lot of time, and others are only going to spend a little.”

Get in touch with Rachel via e-mail (rachel.pink@ukings.ns.ca) or call (902) 422-1271, ext. 152

THE KING’S BOOKSTORE One of the biggest developments on campus over the summer was the construction and opening of the King’s Bookstore. King’s Students’ Union president Dave Jerome spearheaded the initiative as one of his campaign promises, and thanks to the summer-long work by the Maintenance department and the Bookstore Creation Committee, the bookstore opened for business in the lower floor of the New Academic Building on August 14, 2006. According to Jerome, the project has been a success from day one.

“We had 100% faculty enrolment on the first day that we opened,” he says.

“As far as we know, every single professor has given us their reading list and is sending students to our bookstore as the official source of textbooks. This is great because a lot of professors have relationships with various independent bookstores within the community, so it was great to see them rally around the King’s bookstore.”

The new bookstore is not only home to all of this year’s textbooks, but it is also an on-campus source for office supplies and official King’s merchandise (formerly 28

TIDINGS | WINTER 2006/2007

sold through the Advancement Office), and will soon be a one-stop shop for a wide variety of campus-related items.

“A lot of different aspects of the King’s community that were, in some ways, lost before will be centralized in the bookstore,” says Jerome. “All of the academic journals that the students put out will be sold there, and a number of societies make t-shirts throughout the year and they can use the bookstore to sell them. As well, the Athletics department created merchandise for the first time ever, specifically to be sold in the King’s bookstore.”

The bookstore is staffed entirely by students, with the exception of manager Carolyn Gillis—one of our other new faces on campus. Before working at King’s, she was a sales representative, working with publishers from across the country and bookstores in Eastern Canada and the Eastern Seaboard.

“I wanted to get off the road, and this was my dream job,” she says. “I enjoy it.

I’m really having a lot of fun. My vision is that the bookstore becomes an essential part of the social fabric of King’s, and that it becomes a part of the surround-

ing community—we’re not just selling textbooks. We want to be the neighbourhood bookstore.”

Jerome says that The King’s Bookstore is the only official University Bookstore completely owned and operated by students. And, that’s just the tip of the iceberg: “As soon as it breaks even for the year, the profits are going to be re-invested within the bookstore,” he says. “We haven’t figured out how that’s going to happen yet, but ideas that we’re throwing around include a direct subsidy for all books for all King’s students, or we may also do a book bursary or a whole bunch of other ideas.

It’s something that we’re going to discuss openly with the students.”

NEW FACES ON CAMPUS

Hers’s a look at some of the new faces on campus for the 2006—2007: Dr. John Baxter has longstanding connections with King’s—he has sat on committees and given several lectures in the Foundation Year Programme over the past two decades, two of his children are King’s alumni, and he and his wife attended the King’s College Chapel for several years. In January, he will become a more regular face on campus as he participates in an exchange program between King’s and Dalhousie’s Department of English—he will be teaching a Renaissance Poetry and Rhetoric course through the Early Modern Studies Programme, while Dr. Dorota Glowacka from the Contemporary Studies Programme will teach a course in their Graduate Programme.

“It’s a chance to learn some of the central principles of rhetoric,” he says.

“Some them still kicking around, occasionally in a semi-disguised form, and it’s a chance to read some great poems.”

Sarah Clift spent several years in Germany before returning to Canada and is currently teaching in the Foundation Year Programme. She is in the process of completing her PhD dissertation, “Committing the Future to Memory,” in the Department of Social and Political Thought at Toronto’s York University, and holds a Doctoral Diploma in German and European Studies through the Canadian Centre for German and European Studies.

Pamela Dean Pamela Dean, the new Assistant to the President, spent numerous years in the private sector, most recently for the

Nova Scotia Liberal Caucus. She is an alumna of Mount Saint Vincent University and has two daughters—her youngest is a student at Dalhousie and her oldest studies at King’s.

Terra-Lee Duncan holds the distinction of being the first King’s student to graduate with combined honours in Journalism and Early Modern Studies. The winner of several awards during her time as a student, including the KSU Award of Distinction, Terra-Lee graduated in May, worked with the Dean of Residence over the summer and was subsequently hired on a recruitment contract through the fall. This lead to her current position as a Recruitment Officer with the Registrar’s Office.

“Recruiting is more of a personal interest than it is a job,” she says. “I genuinely care about this institution and I mean it when I recommend it to potential students. For me, it isn’t about going out there and recruiting as many people as possible – it’s about connecting with students and recommending King’s to the ones who have that spark and that drive that can only be nurtured by the King’s community.”

Luke Franklin completed the Foundation Year Programme in 1999 and graduated with his Combined Honours in Contemporary Studies and English in 2003.

Now, after earning his Master’s from the University of Cambridge, he’s returned to King’s as a FYP tutor.

“I accepted work at King’s for so many reasons, not least a lingering feeling that I didn’t apply myself enough to Foundation Year as a student, and stood to benefit enormously from revisiting the material as a teacher, and with other students.

This is a welcome escape from the lonely side of academic work, allowing close work with the text at hand and a chance to learn material through discussion.”

Dr. Jure Gantar is certainly no stranger to King’s. A professor in Dalhousie’s Theatre Department since 1992, his specialties include classical, early modern and modern theatre along with dramatic theory, particularly the theory of comedy, humour, and laughter.

“This is the third time I’ve been teaching a class for Contemporary Studies and the second time doing the same class on Semiotics,” he says. “I hold the position of an Associate Fellow at King’s and I’m delighted any time King’s asks me to do a lecture or a class.”

Doug Kirkaldy has lived and worked in the media all over the world, from China and Europe to The Far North. Now, the 30-year veteran of CBC Radio, Television and Online has joined the School of Journalism as a sessional assistant professor.

“At the CBC, I did a lot of in-house training and enjoyed it,” he says. “I often thought of training full-time, and when the opportunity came along to come to King’s, I jumped at the chance. I was ready for a new challenge. The time was right, and I’m glad I did.”

Kelly Toughill, a former senior editor, reporter and Atlantic Canada bureau chief with the Toronto Star, joined the King’s School of Journalism in July.

“The transition has been even better than I anticipated,” she says. “My colleagues are thoughtful, dedicated, helpful and funny. My students are bright, energetic and committed. I’m delighted to be here.”

Dr. Jeff Wigelsworth comes to King’s from Calgary, and holds a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) Postdoctoral Fellowship in the Department of History at Dalhousie. Dr. Wigelsworth, who is working with Dr. Stephen Snobelen (Director of the History of Science and Technology Programme), studies science and its integration into society in the early-modern era.

“When Steve asked me to teach ‘Science and Religion: Historical Perspectives’ at King’s, I readily agreed,” he says.

“The students are every bit as eager and keen as I was told.”

There are also new faces in residence this year—the new Dons include Michelle Bourbonniere, Caroline Butt, James Giacomantonio, Crystal Lawrence and Shannon Parker.

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COMING FULL CIRCLE

by Arwen Kidd

It’s been three years since Arwen Kidd, a fourth year Bachelor of Journalism (Honours) student, experienced the University of King’s College’s Foundation Year Programme (FYP). We sent her back to audit a lecture and re-live the FYP experience for a day.

F

OR ME, STEPPING INTO ALUMNI HALL is like a journey back through time. However, aside from a slight increase in the number of laptops around the room, FYP lecture is exactly as I remember it. Professors and fellows line the back wall, students show up wearing their pyjamas—some, no doubt, have stumbled straight from their residence beds and through the underground tunnels to class—and warm applause follows each announcement and lecture. I even sit in my old favourite seat, halfway up the amphitheatre-style rows, along the wall where the morning sun shines in.

Looking up, I see what I have come to think of as “Apollo’s Circle,” the round, raised area in the ceiling, which is often used by lecturers to illustrate everything from the Greek world view to the perfection of circular motion.

“This is such a beautiful book, and such a beautiful building,” the girl next to me says to her friend, flipping through her copy of the Holy Bible. “How could anyone not love learning here?”

I silently agree with her. However, as Dr. Elizabeth Edwards begins her lecture, “The Birth of Christianity,” my mind skips back to my very first FYP lecture in 2003. This was the day that I discovered, to the shock and amusement of my new friends, that the program included not only classical literature and psychology, but philosophy and—even worse—the history of scientific thought.

I should have looked at the course description more carefully.

But, for me, FYP was simply a compulsory start to a four-year Bachelor of Journalism Honours degree. Other than my failed attempt to make it halfway through the 594 pages of Homer’s The Iliad, FYP’s suggested summer reading, I had no idea what I was getting into.

Luckily for most incoming students, however, FYP is exactly what they have been led to expect. Founded in 1972, the Foundation Year Programme is indeed, as the University’s website claims, a truly interdisciplinary program, giving “a seamless survey of Western civilization from its ancient-world beginnings to contemporary times.”

During her lecture on Christianity, Dr. Edwards talks of secrets. Referring to the Book of Mark, she explains the belief that it doesn’t matter whether certain truths are voiced aloud, because only those with a predisposed heart will hear. As she puts it, “You can tell everybody, but only a few will be able to understand.”

Dr. Daniel Brandes has experienced FYP from both sides.

After completing the program with one of the few (legendary) A+ distinctions, he returned to King’s, and is now an Assistant Professor of Humanities and Social Sciences teaching in FYP.

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He says that although almost everyone who graduates from the program recalls it very fondly, there are, naturally, horror stories passed down from year to year. Now, I fully admit to having purposely confirmed the worst fears of nervous newcomers on topics such as oral exams—but that’s just part of the lore that gives the program its almost magical quality.

“The upper year students seem to take a certain malicious glee in suggesting to the frosh that it’s just going to be a mountain of work,” he jokes. “But, that’s just fun. I think that by October or November, [students] get a rhythm and they get a sense that it will be manageable.”

Another alluring aspect of FYP is the program’s small size.

Students are encouraged to feel comfortable voicing their opinions through small tutorials of with around 14 other students in each. Sitting in with Dr. Brandes’ new tutorial group, I appreciate his way of not only encouraging questions and thoughts, but also “combative” discussion. It reminds me of how much I gained from such sessions, having myself been part of a particularly lively and enlightening tutorial.

Students also bond over shared experiences including monthly formal meals and a wide variety of campus societies and activities. As well, the weekly general tutorial gives students another chance to further discuss the week’s topics with the lecturers who present them.

Having never actually attended a general tutorial as a FYP student, I find it interesting to see the G. Peter Wilson room filled with between 30 and 40 first-years—many sitting on leather couches and in windowsills, but several left standing or squatting on the floor—who have, embracing the ideals of FYP, given up an hour of their Friday afternoon to discuss and debate great texts.

I have heard FYP described as an extremely elitist program.

Dr. Brandes, however, chooses to refer to the student body as “self-selecting;” that most students who apply to FYP love reading, and come with an already strong desire to study and understand great works. And, as I look around Alumni Hall today, I see the same thing I saw three years ago when I first entered it—a room full of eager faces, all wanting to understand. ∂ *

*

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Editor’s note: Apollo’s Circle, as Arwen refers to it, is described as a “generous coffer” by Roy Wilworth, an architect with Duffus Romans Kundzins Rounsefell, Ltd. who worked on the design of Alumni Hall. “It gives interest to what would otherwise be a plain ceiling,” he says. “A coffer like that creates all kinds of opportunities, lighting being one of them.”

Dr. William Barker entertains and instructs the FYP crowd with Praise of Folly

Why FYP Enhances the School of Journalism For years, King’s students wishing to complete the four-year Bachelor of Journalism Honours program have been required to take FYP. Rather than a ‘weeding-out’ tool, School of Journalism Director Kim Kierans says that this decision is based on the firm belief that a strong liberal arts background covering the development of Western civilization makes students better

journalists. Kierans, who quit her job at the CBC in order to take FYP herself, jokes that any reluctant Journalism student should view the program a bit like Buckley’s Cough Syrop—although the idea may not be very tempting, you’ll definitely be better off having taken it.

A L U M N OT E S / I N M E M O R I A M THE ’70S Andrew Graham (BAH ’79) was appointed a Master of the Superior Court of Ontario. Andrew and his wife Béa Gonzalez live in Toronto with their two soccer-playing sons, Will and Andre.

THE ’80S Dr. Jennifer Balfour (BScH ’88) and husband Harry Hunt are pleased to announce the birth of their daughter, Isla Rose Hunt, on March 20, 2006. Jennifer is now practicing pediatrics in Victoria, BC. Fellow alumni can contact her at balhunt@telus.net.

Taunya (Padley, BAH ’85) and Peter Dawson (BAH ’85) have returned to Halifax with their children William (11) and Catriona (6) after ten years in Annapolis Royal. Peter continues to be on the faculty of the Pearson Peacekeeping Centre, and

is also serving as a Major with the Princess Louise Fusiliers. The Dawsons are always happy to hear from fellow Alumni at pdawson@peaceoperations.org.

Greg Dennis (BJ ’83) has started his own production company, DGMedia Video Productions, after years of working in broadcasting in the Maritimes and Toronto. Greg and Robin Smyth have two boys, Jack, 12 and Henry, 9, who keep them hopping from hockey rinks to baseball fields.

Brian R. Edwards (BSc ’88) and his wife Elena Bifolchi are pleased to announce the birth of their son, Alexander, on March 3, 2006. Brian is currently a Managing Principal at Stantec Consulting Ltd., and his family live in Palgrave, Ontario, north of Toronto. He can be reached at bedwards@stantec.com.

Kyle Ferguson (BA ’89) returned to Halifax in September after more than a

decade in Toronto. Kyle continues to work as Communications Manager with WWFCanada’s marine conservation program in Atlantic Canada. He invites friends to contact him at kferguson@wwfcanada.org.

Alan McLeod (BA ’85) is working as the senior legal counsel with the City of Kingston in Ontario, where he lives with his wife Ellen Taylor and his two children Abby, 7, and David, 6. Alan maintains a couple of blogs in his spare time, including A Good Beer Blog http://beerblog.genx40. com), which gets more than 75,000 hits each month from 1,400 people per day. He also wrote a chapter for an academic text called Beer and Philosophy, which is being published by Pennsylvania’s Bloomberg University.

Edward Joseph Mróz (BAH ’82) will take up duties as Catholic Chaplain at St Mary’s University on January 1, 2007.

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THE ’90S Cheryl (Ciona) Arkison (BAH ’96) and her husband Morgan are pleased to announce the birth of their daughter, Mila Skye on June 14, 2006. Mila is keeping her Mama busy while on break from environmental policy work at Climate Change Central in Calgary.

Nadine (Archibld) Arnold (BA ’97) and her husband Drew are pleased to announce the birth of their daughter, Sofia Elizabeth, on May 12, 2005. Nadine is teaching and living in Truro, Nova Scotia. Fellow alumni can reach her at nrarnold@nstu.ca.

Patricia Brooks Arenburg (BJH ’97) was married to Alan Arenburg on February 12, 2005 at St. Michael’s Protestant Chapel, 12 Wing Shearwater in Shearwater, NS. The couple welcomed their son, Hayden Reid Brooks Arenburg, on March 26, 2006.

Patricia covers the Supreme Court beat for The Chronicle Herald in Halifax.

Rebecca (Moore) Brown (BA ’91) is an artist and lives in Horseshoe Valley, Ontario, with her husband, Glenn Brown and their daughter, Maggie. Fellow alumni can contact Rebecca at: gbphoto@sympatico.ca.

Megan Jones (BSc ’96) received her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine from the Atlantic Veterinary College, in 2005. In August of 2006, she started a residency in veterinary pathology, specializing in zoo and wildlife species, at the University of California, Davis, and the San Diego Zoological Society.

Dan MacEachern (BJH ’98) and his wife Alexandra are pleased to announce the birth of their daughter, Molly Joy, on July 6, 2006.

Jennifer (Smiley) Mallory (BAH ’97) and her husband Don are pleased to announce the birth of their daughter, Bronwyn Violet, on March 5, 2004 and son, Rhys Morgan James, on August 5, 2006.

After her time at King’s, Jennifer pursued her MA in Labour Studies and then on to teacher’s college. She now teaches high school history in Hamilton, Ontario, and is looking forward to seeing friends at the upcoming King’s Reunion.

Christie Chisholm (BA ’90) graduated from Mount Saint Vincent University in May 2006 with a Bachelor of Education.

She was class Valedictorian and received the Faculty of Education Award.

Lorna (Upham) McSheffrey (BA ’90) is now married and living in the Ottawa region with husband Terry and their one-year old twins, Madison and Cole.

Lorna is currently working with General Electric.

David Gossen (BA ’99) recently joined the London office of global law firm White & Case, who practice international finance in Europe, Asia and Africa.

Eshun Mott (BA ’95) and James Dann are pleased to announce the birth of their daughter Moira Rae, on October 3, 2006.

Susanne Hiller (BJ ’95) was married to Brad Dobbin in 2002, and they moved back to their hometown of St. John’s in December 2005 from Toronto, where Susanne had been working as a reporter with The National Post for eight years.

They are pleased to announce the births of their daughters, Lucy Rose, on July 2, 2004 and Kate Elizabeth, on October 19, 2006. Susanne is currently on maternity leave from her position as the Director of Communications for the provincial department of Tourism, Culture and Recreation, and Brad is the president of the QMJHL’s St. John’s Fog Devils hockey club.

Troy Jollimore (BAH ’93) has been awarded a fellowship by the Stanford Humanities Center at Stanford University in 32

Palo Alto, California. He will spend the 2006-2007 academic year at the Center, writing a book about the philosophy and ethics of loyalty.

TIDINGS | WINTER 2006/2007

Stephanie Nolen (BJH ’93) and Meril Rasmussen (’91-’93) are pleased to announce the birth of their son, James Darragh Rasmussen Nolen, on September 17, 2006.

Daragh Russell (BAH ’94) and Michael Pick are pleased to announce the birth of their daughter, Anthea Margaret, on December 20, 2006.

Jennifer (Raynard) Rhyno (BJH ’99) and her husband David are pleased to announce the birth of their twins on August 23, 2006. Megan Abigail weighed 6 lbs.

10 oz. and Justin Donald weighed 7 lbs.

1 oz. Megan and Justin join big brothers Brandon (March 2000) and Dylan (August 2003).

Liz Rigney (BJ ’94) wrote and edited

a documentary titled “Sentimental Journey,” which won a 2006 RTNDA National Edward R. Murrow Award for News Documentary, Television Small-Market on October 16, 2006. “Sentimental Journey” told the story of 300 Maritime war veterans who traveled by train to Ottawa to participate in the National Remembrance Day ceremony marking Canada’s Year of the Veteran. The documentary originally aired on CTV in the Atlantic region on December 23, 2005.

Jacqueline Roberts-Amos (BJH ’96) and her husband Robert are pleased to announce the birth of their son, Robert Liam, on April 30, 2006. Fellow alumni can contact Jackie at jackieis@hotmail.com.

Tony Sekulich (BJ ’93) graduated from the Canadian Film Centre’s Professional Screenwriting Programme in 2002, and has since written an episode of the CTV series Robson Arms and is adapting Stevie Cameron’s best-selling non-fiction book Blue Trust into a feature script.

Matthew Sherrard (BAH ’99) is working as a clerk in the Trial Division of the Federal Court of Canada until September 2007. Following this term, he will resume his legal articles at the Halifax office of McInnes Cooper.

John Simpson (BAH ’95) was married to Cleo Kirkland on September 30, 2006 at the Church of the Holy Trinity in Toronto, with a reception afterwards at the University Club. Timothy Wright (BAH ’95) traveled across the pond from London, UK for the wedding and Erik Penz (BAH ’95) was an usher in the wedding party.

Hilary (Gibson) Terhune (BScH ’97) and her husband Peter are pleased to announce the birth of their son, Benjamin Alexander Reiche, on August 21, 2005.

Fellow alumni can contact Hilary at lreegrrl@yahoo.com.

THE ’00S Constable Megan Apostoleris (BJH ’04) completed her RCMP training in August 2006 and is currently serving in Sherwood Park, Alberta.

Frances Anne Black (BAH ’05) began her MFA in Theatre Management at the Yale School of Drama in September 2006.

Only seven students are admitted each year, and Frances Anne is the first Cana-

dian in the history of the program.

Michael Dick (BJ ’04) was married to Jennifer Richards on September 30, 2006.

They currently reside in Toronto where Michael is a videojournalist and reporter with CBC Television.

Jennifer Evans (BJ ’02) is currently in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, working as Deputy Editor in the Books Division of Motivate Publishing House, the largest book publisher in the Middle East.

Brooke Gray (BA ’05) recently accepted the position of Constituency Assistant with Vicki Conrad, MLA for Queens County, Nova Scotia.

Jeff Green (BJ ’01) became the Communications Co-ordinator with the Division of Marketing and Communications with Memorial University of Newfoundland in St. John’s in June 2005. He was also nominated for an Atlantic Journalism Award in May 2006 for an article he wrote for Saltscapes magazine. He and his fiancée Amanda Murray will be married in August 2007. Fellow alumni can contact Jeff at jeffgreen1@hotmail.com.

Meghan Jamieson (BA ’00) and her husband Alan Wilson are proud to announce the birth of their daughter, Morag Wilson, in January 2005. Meghan may be contacted at meghan_j_ca@yahoo.ca.

Gillian Lee (BA ’06) will begin her Masters in Library Information Sciences at Dalhousie next year.

Laura MacDonald (BJH ’00) has earned an MSc in International Politics from the University of Edinburgh and an MA in Drama at the University of Toronto, and is currently pursuing her PhD in musical theatre at the Central School of Speech and

Drama in London, England. Laura can be contacted at l.e.macdonald@gmail.com.

Greg Morrow (BJ ’04) was married to Suzanne DeLorey in August 2006. They are living in Fall River, Nova Scotia, and Greg is currently a reporter and weekend anchor with Rogers News 95.7.

Rhiannon Mosher (BAH ’04) began her PhD studies in Social Anthropology at Toronto’s York University in September 2006. Her degree will be fully funded by the university, as well as a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council Canadian Graduate Scholarship.

Jennifer Paterson (BJ ’05) is working in communications and public relations with the Ottawa Health Research Institute.

Ananda (Duquette) Peters (BJ ’01) worked for CBC Radio for two years in Saskatchewan and PEI, as both reporter and associate producer. In 2002, she married Joe Peters, a salesman from Nebraska.

The couple now live in Billings, Montana and have two young children, with a third due April ‘07.

Stephanie (Simard) Potter (BA ’06) was married to Timothy Potter in Halifax on October 7, 2006.

Maya Rasmussen (BAH ’04) taught ESL at the Pacific Language Institute and at Hansa Language Centre, and completed an editing internship with Knopf Canada following her graduation from King’s. She subsequently entered the Master of Publishing program at Simon Fraser University, where she currently TAs Introduction to Magazine Publishing. Maya is also working on a book for Lyricalmyrical Press.

The Rev. M. Elliott (BA ’02) and Wendy Faye (Harrison) Siteman (’89 –’92)

are pleased to announce the birth of their daughter, Magdalene Ester, on December 31, 2005. Elliott was ordained a Deacon in June 2004 and a Priest in November 2004 and is currently the Rector of the Parish of Neil’s Harbour with Ingonish. Wendy Faye is keeping busy caring for Magdalene (and Elliott). Fellow alumni can contact the Sitemans at sta.stj@ns.sympatico.ca.

Did we miss you? Please send your AlumNotes to alumni@ukcalumni.com!

IN MEMORIAM George Bain (DCL ’86), the first Director of the School of Journalism at the University of King’s College, passed away on May 14, 2006 in Mahone Bay. Margaret Blandford passed away on January 4, 2006.

William Gurnham (HF ’89) passed away on August 23, 2006 at his home in Halifax.

The Rt. Rev. Bishop Henry Hill (’43) passed away on October 21, 2006 in Toronto.

Shelagh MacKenzie passed away on September 25, 2006 at her home in Halifax.

The Rev. Samuel Miller (’52) passed away on June 10, 2006.

The Rev. Robert Pratt (’54-’55) passed away at the DVA Hospital in Fredericton on June 16, 2006.

David Rodgerson (BA ’06) passed away on September 17, 2006 at the Queen Elizabeth II Heath Sciences Centre in Halifax.

Mary Trynor passed away on October 17 at her home in Halifax.

LOST SHEEP We’ve lost touch with some of our alumni, which means that they may not be up-to-date on the latest King’s alumni news and events.

Here’s a look at some of the recent graduates with whom we’ve lost contact.

If you have any information regarding these, or any of the “Lost Sheep” listed on http://ukcalumni.com/lostsheep.php, please send us an e-mail at alumni@ukcalumni.com

Sabine Audette-Hall (BAH ‘05)

Karen MacAlpine (BAH ‘05)

Alan J. Howell (BA ‘04)

Eleanor Beaton (BJ ‘03)

Jennifer Bethune (BA ‘05)

Ashleigh Malan (BA ‘05)

Lauren Kolodziejczak (BJ ‘04)

Sharron Brisebois (BJ ‘03)

Sarah Bradford (BA ‘05)

Jillian McTiernan (BJH ‘05)

Kathleen McDonald (BJH ‘04)

Christina Brooks (BAH ‘03)

Jon Brooker (BAH ‘05)

Nina Musanovic (BA ‘05)

Anita McNamara (BJH ‘04)

Mark Burke (BAH ‘03)

Brendan Brosius (BA ‘05)

Paul Richardson (BJH ‘05)

Kathryn McPherson (BA ‘04)

Nathalie Gionet (BSc ‘03)

Susan Cruess (BAH ‘05)

Sarah Stewart (BAH ‘05)

Diana Payton (BAH ‘04)

Shaunessy Harper (BA ‘03)

Joseph Herschorn (BAH ‘05)

Myka Tucker-Abramson (BAH ‘05)

Melissa Pretty (BA ‘04)

Kenneth MacIntosh (BJ ‘03)

Jeremy Hull (BAH ‘05)

Michael Barnable (BA ‘04)

Anna Ripley (BAH ‘04)

Alisa MacLean (BA ‘03)

Courtney Irwin (BA ‘05)

Bree Hagan (BJ ‘04)

Christina Robson (BAH ‘04)

Norma Jean MacPhee (BJ ‘03)

Timothy Kunz (BSc ‘05)

David Herbert (BScH ‘04)

Diane Woolley (BJH ‘04)

Kimberly McKay (BJH ‘03)

Emily Lannan (BAH ‘05) TIDINGS | WINTER 2006/2007

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An affinity for service Home and auto insurance for members of the University of King’s College Alumni Association

Preferred group rates and exceptional service Insurance program supported by

UNIVERSITY OF

KING’S COLLEGE • HALIFAX

As a member of the University of King’s College Alumni Association, you are entitled to our red carpet treatment, with exceptional service and preferred group rates† for your home and auto insurance. Take advantage of your privileged status today!

1 888 589 5656 TDMelocheMonnex.com/ukings

Contact us today!

Our home and auto insurance clients are automatically entered.

† Group

auto insurance rates are not applicable in Newfoundland and Prince Edward Island. Due to provincial legislation, our auto insurance program is not offered in British Columbia, Manitoba or Saskatchewan. The home and auto insurance program is underwritten by Security National Insurance Company and distributed by Meloche Monnex Financial Services Inc. *No purchase necessary. The contest is open to residents of Canada who have reached the age of majority where they reside.

The approximate value of each vehicle is $35,000. The contest runs from January 1 to December 31, 2006. In order to win, each entrant, selected at random, must correctly answer a mathematical skill-testing question. For more details on the contest rules and on our company, visit TDMelocheMonnex.com/ukings.

RETURN UNDELIVERABLE CANADIAN ADDRESSES TO: TIDINGS C/O ALUMNI ASSOCIATION UNIVERSITY OF KING’S COLLEGE 6350 COBURG ROAD HALIFAX, NS B3H 2A1