President’s message As educators priming our learners for the challenging worlds they’ll find waiting upon graduation, we expect them to climb some pretty steep learning curves during their time with us. We know how they feel: we’re facing some sharp slopes of our own these days. Many of us still have chalk dust embedded in our fingerprints. Of course, we’ve evolved with the technology, transitioning from blackboard to BlackBerry, amazed at each new leap forward, but generally able to keep pace as we hurtled into the digital, wireless connectivity of this technological frontier. We have to: our students deserve and demand it. But if the last two decades have brought massive change to the mechanics of learning, it is now creating options for delivery. The traditional concept of students in neat rows with an instructor at the front of the room is not gone, but it has been joined by other, exciting possibilities that provide enhanced learning, greater flexibility of time and scheduling, and alternatives for interaction between instructor and student. And that’s a mere fold in the fabric of postsecondary education, still unspooling from the loom on an almost daily basis. On page six of this issue, you’ll hear from Thomas Frey, a futurist from Colorado who raised eyebrows and questions on a visit to our campus last spring when he shared his predictions with our faculty and staff.
Imagine, suggested Frey, a marketplace where the world becomes your catalogue, your mall. You see a person wearing an item you admire, snap a photo, and order it from your iPhone, all within seconds. Transfer this concept to education, and you suddenly understand how we here in the bricks-and-mortar world of Lethbridge College find ourselves on that incredible learning curve. Fortunately, we are not hidebound fogies who can’t spot the opportunities and necessities of change. As a college, our stock-in-trade is still our ability to offer practical, relevant experience, hands-on education, which for most of our students is the principal reason they trust their post-secondary education to us. But while we will continue to rely on our strengths, we are ever mindful of the climate in which we live and the need to watch the barometries of change. We exist to serve our learners. We will do this without sacrificing the standards for which we are well known. We will enhance their experiences and rise to meet their expectations. We have exceptional faculty and staff who live our vision of excellence and innovation. We will be the institution of choice for our learners, whether they sit in our classrooms, connect with us online or find us in some fashion not yet devised.
Libraries without books? Students able to choose from an educational smorgasbord, forking onto their plates courses from a variety of institutions in order to make up their degrees? An educational universe so vast and comprehensive that holding a muchvalued doctorate will become the starting line rather than the podium? As I say, many raised eyebrows and, ultimately, raised questions. Dr. Tracy L. Edwards, Lethbridge College president & CEO
What’s inside Vol. 4, No. 1, Fall 2010
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28
Higher education a buyer’s market
A helping hand for Haiti
Pulling up her socks
Technology continues to take education out of the “stone age” of bricks and into cyberspace, giving students the keys to the car.
A Lethbridge college alum/ instructor leads a team from the Blood Tribe Department of Health to aid in the earthquake’s aftermath.
Nursing instructor Karen Kennedy filed Lethbridge College’s first patent application.
Undressed for success ..................................................... 2 Earn a college diploma in your pajamas? Well, almost if our Educational Enhancement Team has its way. @ your fingertips ............................................................. 24 Our Web Services team rocks the Internet with a new site to put all things Lethbridge College a mouse click away from students, regardless of how many clicks they live from campus. iSee the future ................................................................. 32 Yes, there will be books. But a revamped Buchanan Library will become an information centre wired for tomorrow. “It’s like heaven here”..................................................... 37 High school students from the worl.d’s trouble spots study English at Lethbridge College, and find their voices in freedom. Trades route .................................................................... 40 Lethbridge College plans a trades centre that fosters innovation among students, instructors and industry partners. Power to the people ........................................................ 44 We started training technicians to keep the blades turning. Now, we have a plan and the money to be the catalyst for a wind-energy industry in rural southern Alberta.
In Every Issue
Wider Horizons is Lethbridge College’s community magazine, celebrating the successes and accomplishments of its students, employees and alumni by promoting them throughout the community and around the world. This publication aims to educate its readers, engage stakeholders and recognize donors through compelling stories and images that relate to, and resonate with, its readers. Wider Horizons is published three times a year by the Lethbridge College Advancement Office. We thank you for picking up this copy and we hope you enjoy the read. If you would like to recommend story ideas for future issues or would like to find out more about our magazine, contact us. Wider Horizons c/o The Advancement Office 3000 College Drive South Lethbridge, AB T1K 1L6 email: WHMagazine@lethbridgecollege.ca publisher: Steven Dyck manager: Carmen Toth chief writer: Peter Scott photographers: Hope Litwin, Rob Olson designers: Hope Litwin, Shawn Salberg magazine staff: Imarú Baquero, Leeanne Conrad, Michelle Stegen contributors: Nichole Bach, Christine Boese, James Frey, Megan Shapka
In addition to free distribution to our regional community, Wider Horizons is also mailed to all Lethbridge College alumni. Alumni are encouraged to stay connected to the college by updating their contact information at the Alumni Relations website: lethbridgecollege.ca/alumni To share this issue with others, visit us at widerhorizons.ca
Perspectives....................................................................................... 8 Q & A.............................................................................................. 20 Office Intrigue.................................................................................. 26 My Life............................................................................................ 48 Widen Your Horizons ....................................................................... 50 College Kudos.................................................................................. 51 Where Are They Now?...................................................................... 52 1
Going the
2 • WIDER Horizons/Fall 2010
distance Lethbridge College is preparing for the next wave of learners who want their education available 24/7 and don’t particularly enjoy classrooms. By Megan Shapka When Justin Shigehiro first cracks a textbook at Lethbridge College this month, it’s likely he and other recent high school grads will fully expect any traditional classroom instruction to be spiced by dashes of electronic razzle dazzle. Like most of his generation, the Lethbridge Collegiate Institute grad is technologically savvy and eager to incorporate all the gadgets and wizardry into the process of learning. Students, especially those who are as much at ease with Hewlett-Packard as they were with Fisher-Price, expect to have choices in how they access education. They anticipate Lethbridge College will provide flexible delivery options, such as blended and/or online courses, in addition to traditional classroom settings. They expect instructors to use technology in the classroom. Fortunately for Shigehiro and his i-generation mates, Lethbridge College’s instructors are keeping up with the times. Gone are the days of blackboards and stand-alone lectures; most instructors now integrate some level of “e-learning” into their teaching repertoire. Technology is now front and center; in some cases teachers and students never meet face to face. Online learning is the medium of choice for many pursuing post-secondary education, and instructors are responding in flexible ways. Delivery of instruction is flexible, accessible and personalized. So what is Lethbridge College doing to keep pace with the trend? Well, as it turns out, everything. Lethbridge College has offered courses under the title of distributed learning for many years, but when the opportunity to review campus practices arose, the college discovered a learning medium of enormous depth with huge growth potential. Distributed learning is an umbrella term that encompasses all delivery methods at the college. It isn’t just online, distance delivery or the use of innovative resources in the traditional classroom. Distributed learning is a multifaceted instructional model that includes any type of learning where some resources can be accessed independent of time and space. Distributed learning can be used in combination with face-to-face classroom and traditional distance-learning courses. It can also be an exclusive online environment.
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In the fall of 2008 the Distributed Learning Operations Team embarked upon a journey to analyze the state of distributed learning on campus and to develop recommendations for improvement. After a year of extensive research, the college launched the development of “Roadmap to the Future: Lethbridge College’s Distributed Learning Strategy,” which will improve the model for each program area independently.
might include posting presentations, quizzes and resources, and facilitating online discussions. Some are also using student response systems and SMART Board technology to engage students in their lectures and labs.”
The goal is to enhance the student experience and increase engagement. The college will recruit new learners who seek flexible access to programs and courses. An important component is the provision of support to instructors while flexible learning models spread across campus.
“Most classrooms incorporate Internet resources, learning management systems, projectors, email and a host of other options that a decade ago would have been considered “technology.” Now, it can be hard convincing people who use these things that they are in fact using technology. Technology has evolved very quickly over the last few years,” says Goble.
Education is in a transition period, says Karen Harker, chair of the Educational Enhancement Team. Set foot in a few classrooms and you will see methods ranging from the traditional face-to-face lecture model with some online enhancements, to use of iPods and scenario-based learning or practicum opportunities. Many use a blended strategy.
“This is a huge opportunity for instructors, programs, and Lethbridge College. There is no way of knowing what the face of education will look like five or 10 years from now, but it is a very exciting time to be a student and an instructor.” - Karen Harker
“Lethbridge College strives to meet the needs of today’s student,” says Chris Goble, instructional technology manager.
The goal of the Distributed Learning Strategy is to increase the flexibility in courses and programs, and choices in delivery. Every course at Lethbridge College has different learning outcomes and objectives. The needs of the students in each program are different. Therefore, the Distributed Learning Strategy will in itself be flexible. It will be molded for each course and program in a manner that provides optimum enhancement. The implementation will happen during the next three years and has started with discussions on the state of delivery in all programs on campus. A marketing plan will focus on identifying and recruiting learners who seek the convenience and opportunities of flexible delivery. Organizational structures and staffing models will be investigated and revised as necessary.
“About halfway through the development of the Distributed Learning Strategy, we realized that it had become much bigger than the traditional online and print courses,” says Harker. “What we found is the lines are becoming less distinct between online learning and the classroom. More instructors in the classroom are using the online environment to enhance learning, and more DL instructors are adding online synchronous components that bring students together in ways similar to being in a classroom.” The research conducted by the Distributed Learning Planning Team found that 58 per cent of distributed learning students registered in the fall 2009 semester were also taking courses on campus in a face-to-face format. The research also found that 65 per cent of instructors who answered the survey are interested in teaching online or in a blended format. In fact, most instructors are using a form of distributed learning without even realizing it.
“I think one of the things that is new with Lethbridge College’s Distributed Learning Strategy is its focus on learning as a whole rather than just online or distance learning,” says Goble.
“Most now use an online learning management system to support their activities in the classroom,” says Harker. “This
The evolution continues.
4 • WIDER Horizons/Fall 2010
“As we plan for the future it is important to be aware that effective learning will always incorporate and adopt the most appropriate strategies. Adding blended components to all classes builds upon what is already happening and provides the chance to find what is most appropriate. It’s definitely not based on a one-size fits all plan for all classes.” The Distributed Learning Strategy launched last April. “This is a huge opportunity for instructors, programs, and Lethbridge College,” says Harker. “There is no way of knowing what the face of education will look like five or 10 years from now, but it is a very exciting time to be a student and an instructor.”
Gas King boss pumps up campaign Brent Morris decided to celebrate his 25th by opening doors for students. Most folks receive gifts on their 25th anniversaries; Brent Morris decided to give one. The president of Gas King Oil Co. Ltd., long a supporter of Lethbridge College, is making a substantial donation toward the final $1 million of its Kodiak House student residence project. “We thought it fitting, as we are marking 25 years in business this year, to celebrate by giving $25,000 to the college,” says Morris. “I’m not an alumnus, but I’ve always been interested in what the college is doing for the community. Many of my buddies went there, and we employ students as part-timers.”
into the retail fuel business in Lethbridge in 1985 with Gas King. The firm now owns four stations in Lethbridge and one each in Picture Butte and Medicine Hat, and also operates under the brands Crown Car Wash and SnacKing Convenience Stores. Morris is pleased his donation will help the college complete funding for its newest residence. “The residence will allow more students from outside the area to attend Lethbridge College, students who will buy locally,” says Morris. “Plus, we wind up with an educated work force once they graduate.”
In 2004, Lethbridge College was planning its first Spaghetti Western fundraising evening. Tony Rose of Coco Pazzo Italian Café, Morris’s brother-in-law, roped him into serving on the organizing committee. It was just a taste, but Morris was hooked. He’s helped organize the Spaghetti Westerns since, and served on the college’s foundation board for three years, all while growing his own business.
Total cost of Kodiak House is $13.5 million. The remaining $12.5 million came from the college’s reserves, a government loan and a $2-million contribution from the city, part of its initiative to create affordable housing.
Morris’s parents, Don and Georgia Morris, founded a bulk fuel business in Shaughnessy in 1960. Don and Brent diversified
For more information on the Kodiak House campaign, call the Lethbridge College Development Office at 403 320-3457.
Brent Morris, Gas King owner, is a strong Lethbridge College supporter.
The college is a major driver of the region’s economy, contributing some $380 million annually.
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A slice of ‘Kansas’
6 • WIDER Horizons/Fall 2010
Lethbridge College’s new Kodiak House helps students hone their ‘away game.’ The views from the fifth-floor lounge are outstanding: the green Lethbridge College campus stretching to coulees, the Milk River Ridge and the Rockies. When Kodiak House, the college’s new residence, opened to students in September, it became a home away from home for 100-plus young people, most of whom are spending their first time away from the arms of mom and dad. Ask Chris Eagan, the college’s director of Facilities Management, and he’ll tell you about the psychology of creating student residences that welcome, rather than simply house. Kodiak House, with its five-storey limit, variations in room configuration, landscaping and proximity to sweeping southern views, is such an accommodation. “A 25-storey tower sends a message to a student that says ‘you’re not in Kansas anymore,’” says Eagan, who notes the college’s abundance of land allows for such development. “Kodiak House presents a small-town feel, one that is pleasing to students and, just as importantly, their parents.”
“A student can feel this is their own space, rather than a cutout of the other 108.” - Chris Eagan Lethbridge College was also cognizant of the need to fit into the surrounding community and the city. The residence presents no greater mass than any other college building and, when additional trees are added to the mix, will not overwhelm the eye. The building features 109 single rooms, unlike the campus’s other two residence developments, made up mostly of apartments for two, townhouses for four students, and family suites. Each room
contains a grill, microwave, fridge and enough outlets to allow for other appliances. The hallways are staggered to avoid long, empty passageways. Eight variations of window layout, three colour schemes and the ability of students to move beds and desks, allows for individuality. “A student can feel this is their own space, rather than a cut-out of the other 108,” says Eagan. Each of the four lower floors contains three accessible units with roll-in tubs in larger bathrooms, lowered kitchen cupboards, and sinks under which wheelchairs can easily move. They are unique on campus. The building contains no air conditioning. Instead, it uses prevailing west winds to cool, along with concrete blocks that store heat and release it as the day cools. In winter, under-floor heating kicks in, adding physics to psychology, says Eagan. “When your feet are warm, you feel warm all over,” he says. “You’re less likely to head for the thermostat.” Eagan says the single-unit style will attract students who prefer to live alone, especially older learners. The student lounge will allow for socializing, and, as time progresses, students will have a say in the furnishings provided. When the building is empty in summer, it will be rented out, as are other college residences. However, Eagan notes the college is not in competition with the city’s hotel/motel industry; the building will be used for major events, such as tournaments, once commercially available spaces are full. 7
Student perspectives
Wider Horizons
asked:
What type of learning do you prefer as a student, traditional learning or distance learning?
8 • WIDER Horizons/Fall 2010
As a single mother of two who works a full-time job with the public school district and a part-time job on weekends in a residential FASD (Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder) foster home, I did not have time to be going back in a traditional setting. However, I really wanted to add to my Special Needs Educational Assistant certificate I received seven years ago, and the FASD program was something that I knew would enhance my current skills. Distance education ensured that I could work on the courses when I had free time, but could access help from my instructors as well by email or using Angel [Lethbridge College’s online learning management system]. Web conferencing in Angel was used for my presentations and my marks and work were all submitted through there as well. I have graduated from programs at Lethbridge College in both settings now and while having one-on-one instruction can often be beneficial, the freedom of distance education has been a great experience for myself and I would recommend it to anyone. Nikki Gordon educational assistant Lethbridge Outreach High School As a high school student, I have had limited experience with online learning, as the majority of the courses are in a traditional classroom setting. The traditional classroom can be beneficial. You get one-on-one time with your teacher, as well as hands-on experience such as in science labs. You’re also able to ask questions face to face, and if you are having difficulties, the teacher is readily available to help. However, traditional learning can also be quite restrictive. If you miss a class you will find yourself behind and may have trouble catching up. Also, you may be receiving the teacher’s biased opinion as it is difficult for people not to show their feelings on a topic they care about. During my time at Lethbridge College, I am looking forward to experiencing a combination of the flexibility of online learning, as well as the structure of a traditional classroom setting.
Justin Shigehiro Grade 12 student Lethbridge Collegiate Institute
Shigehiro started Civil Engineering Technology at Lethbridge College in September.
I am a distance-learning student enrolled in the Correctional Studies - Bachelor of Applied Arts program. I live in Yellowknife and unfortunately don’t have the opportunity to attend a campus with traditional classroom instruction. It would be preferable to have contact with instructors and other students. There certainly are challenges I face with taking courses through distance learning. It, however, gives me the opportunity to advance my career goals, work full-time and be a mom. The benefits of taking a course by correspondence mean I don’t have to attend scheduled classes and don’t have strict deadlines other than exam week. I certainly like the traditional classroom instruction, but what I lack from being in front of an instructor and classmates is made up by the college’s Angel [learning management] system. I like that I can easily get in contact with my instructors who are eager to answer my questions by email or phone. Sally Card Correctional Studies Student Legal Services Board, Yellowknife 9
Higher education:
10 • WIDER Horizons/Fall 2010
a buyer’s market The selling and consumption of almost every commodity on Earth has changed dramatically in the last decade. Why, asks futurist Thomas Frey, should education be any different?
August 1965: if you were a teenager that summer, especially if you were a girl, you might well have spent time lining up outside your local record store, one sweaty palm clutching $5, waiting your turn to buy Help!, the latest album from The Beatles. (If you need a definition of record, album or Beatles, please skip this story.) After securing said album, you would likely have sped home, torn off the cellophane wrapper, gently opened your prize and laid the vinyl treasure on a 33-45-78-rpm record player and swooned as John Lennon explained to you – only you – that he required “somebody, not just anybody.” After listening to Help! for, say, 1,000 times and memorizing the lyrics, chord changes and who sang which song, all the while gazing lovingly at the Fab Four on the 12-inch-square cover, you likely filed it under B and alerted anyone who cared about your eternal happiness that Rubber Soul would make a great Christmas gift upon its release that December. By now, of course, your original Help!, like most of the albums from your youth, has been repurchased as a compact disc and, if you’re keeping up with technology, later created as an MP3; 45 years later, the music remains the same, but the way it’s bought, played and stored has unbelievably, and perhaps irrevocably, altered. Chances are, before you, too, “leave the building,” you’ll have yet another technical configuration to unravel. Or at least be able to ask your granddaughter to unravel it for you. Now, step back to August 1965 again and change the commodity. You’re not buying music this time; you’re buying education. You’ve waited weeks for the acceptance letter from your school of choice in hopes that it’s willing to sell you that which you want to purchase, and now here you are in line again, inching closer to the registrar’s office to sign up for the prescribed courses in your program, high school transcript clutched in sweaty palm and hoping you have $5 left over to buy the latest Beatles album. The line-ups might no longer exist, thanks to online registration, but the general concept of obtaining an education from a single post-secondary institution hasn’t changed much since Newton was a student at Cambridge.
That, says futurist Thomas Frey, is about to change. Invited to Lethbridge College in April to present his ideas at a forum for faculty and staff, Frey furrowed a few brows with his predictions on how students will one day soon access postsecondary education. Already, universities such as Excelsior College in the United States are packaging courses from a variety of sources and offering them online. Excelsior believes “what you know is more important than where or how you learned it.” If that sounds a direct challenge to academic gold standards such as Harvard, it likely is, and that philosophy will make higher education more accessible as it gains acceptance.
“We will transition from a product-based society to an experience-based one. The future: it’s important to us because it’s where our kids will live and we want it to be a better place.” - Thomas Frey The standard model for purchasing and obtaining education is one of what Frey terms “Roman numerals.” The Romans, experts at conquest and organization, were lousy mathematicians thanks to a clunky numbering system, used mainly today to designate Super Bowl games rather than for any type of serious calculation. While Arabic numbering flourished, Roman numerals became yesterday’s news. Frey uses the term to label commodities or systems which today are at best archaic and at worst stifle progress. He lists fax machines, cheques, invasive surgery, “drill-and-fill” dentistry, keyboards, wires, power cords and cable hook-up among the dead and dying. “Ink and paper, too, is in decline,” he noted, brandishing a Kindle as evidence. “Within 10 years, the majority of libraries will hold no books. But they will have much greater access.” That’s good news for students forced to pay king’s ransoms for texts they will one day be able to download onto electronic book readers at a fraction of the cost, saving money, natural resources and waste.
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“Our image of the future determines our actions today,” Frey says. “The future creates the present.” That tenet, he says, has been borne out from Leonardo DaVinci to George Lucas. Society escaped the Me Decade of the 1970s, only to stumble into the present iDecade. “We live in an age of hyper-individuality,” says Frey. “We have 100 million products to choose from and we believe there is something out there to solve everything.”
The divorce rate will climb, Frey suggests, as couples disconnect raising children from the concept of marriage. Women will no longer be financially dependent on spouses and their numbers will rise in the workforce, as will those of older employees. And what types of jobs will be in vogue in, say, 20 years? Only partly tongue in cheek, Frey lists off his envisioned careers: body-part maker, organ agent, memory therapist, time broker, waste-data manager, space-tourism guide, urban agriculturist, landfill miner, plant psychologist, avatar designer and augmented-reality architect.
We’ve moved from “atoms to electrons,” a universe where waiting 30 seconds for a microwave to warm a muffin is intolerable. We are addicted to instant communication as we are to instant gratification. “Digital and virtual is much faster than physical,” says Frey. “We text images now; one day we may text smells, tastes and textures. We are diminishing the value of proximity.” The virtues of working from home, with its inherent flexibility, are being replaced, says Frey, with the concept of co-working spaces in which like-minded people, not necessarily from the same company or industry, gather daily, thus avoiding isolation and cabin fever. “We are creating the ‘empire of one,’ in which a single person holds increasing influence over their work world,” says Frey. “Everything can be outsourced. In the future, there will be no human-resources departments.” Frey envisions “business colonies” in which workers come together for single projects, dispersing when they’re completed.
“We are creating the ‘empire of one,’ in which a single person holds increasing influence over their work world.” - Thomas Frey
A global population shift has already begun, he says, which will leave Africa as the only continent with positive growth. In the rest of the world, populations will continue to drop as we approach 2050, and growth might even slip into negative numbers.
Futurist: Thomas Frey
The rise of the middle-class, he says, will create the need for on-demand transport, a futuristic taxi service. Without an alternative to today’s automotive extravagance by 2030, 2.5 billion vehicles will have created a shortage of roads, parking and fuel for an item used three to four per cent of the day. “We will transition from a product-based society to an experience-based one,” says Frey. “The future: it’s important to us because it’s where our kids will live and we want it to be a better place.” See related story on page 26.
12 • WIDER Horizons/Fall 2010
Be part of the roar When our Kodiaks take to field and court this fall, make sure you’re in the crowd to cheer them on to victory. Watch our men’s and women’s teams take on the rest of the ACAC in soccer, basketball and volleyball. Save this schedule and catch all the home action:
Kodiaks Home Game Schedule for Fall 2010 Basketball Oct. 22 Oct. 30 Nov. 12 Nov. 13
Kodiaks Kodiaks Kodiaks Kodiaks
vs. vs. vs. vs.
SAIT Mount Royal University Grande Prairie Regional College NAIT
6 6 6 6
p.m.(W) p.m.(W) p.m.(W) p.m.(W)
8 8 8 8
p.m.(M) p.m.(M) p.m.(M) p.m.(M)
Volleyball Nov. 5 Nov. 6 Nov. 20 Nov. 26 Nov. 27
Kodiaks Kodiaks Kodiaks Kodiaks Kodiaks
vs. vs. vs. vs. vs.
SAIT SAIT Mount Royal University Augustana University Augustana University
6 6 6 6 1
p.m.(W) p.m.(W) p.m.(W) p.m.(W) p.m.(W)
8 8 8 8 3
p.m.(M) p.m.(M) p.m.(M) p.m.(M) p.m.(M)
Soccer Sept. 12 Oct. 2 Oct. 9 Oct. 10 Oct. 16
Kodiaks Kodiaks Kodiaks Kodiaks Kodiaks
vs. vs. vs. vs. vs.
Mount Royal University SAIT Lakeland College Red Deer College Medicine Hat College
12 p.m.(W) 2 p.m.(M) 12 p.m.(W) 2 p.m.(M) 2 p.m. (W) 4 p.m.(M) 12 p.m.(W) 2 p.m.(M) 12 p.m.(W) 2 p.m.(M)
Cross County Oct. 2
Lethbridge Run for the Pumpkin
gokodiaks.ca
W= Women’s M= Men’s
photos by: Lan Ngo
A helping hand for Haiti When the earthquake struck the Caribbean country in January, many responded with financial aid and boots-on-the-ground assistance. Among the latter was a group from the Blood Tribe, led by paramedic Lan Ngo, a Lethbridge College alumnus.
Lan Ngo is at the top of his game. A paramedic, the elite of the emergency medical corps this side of the hospital doors, he’s also a trained nurse. The combination of knowledge and experience allow him to earn a healthy wage in a profession he loves. For 10 days last spring, though, Ngo was paid in a much difference currency: the smiles of gratitude flashed by Haitian children he and his team from the Blood Tribe Department of Health were able to help in the post-earthquake mayhem engulfing the Caribbean island. He came back far richer for the experience. “Those smiles were the only thanks I needed,” says Ngo. “There were a lot of orphans and children who were dropped off by their parents in the hope we could help them. Many had never had someone ask them if they needed help before. We brought them happiness.” The Blood Tribe knew in February it wanted to reach out to Haiti in the aftermath of the earthquake that had destroyed most of the poverty-stricken nation’s infrastructure the previous month. It would be the community’s chance to even the score after the assistance it received from the Red Cross during the southern Alberta flood of 1995. “The position of the department was ‘we’re always taking; here’s our chance to give back for once,’” says Ngo. “We had no money to send, and others were taking care of that anyway. But we had our expertise to lend.” Ngo and Dr. Esther Tailfeathers, who works in Standoff and in emergency at Cardston and Fort Macleod, envisioned taking a four-member team to Haiti, but when word got out on the reserve, the number of those wanting to help grew dramatically. Finally, 13 made the cut, including non-medical personnel who provided vital logistical support in Port-auPrince. “We selected them not for what they knew, but for how they approached the task ahead,” says Ngo. “We knew things they would be seeing in Haiti would be traumatic.” WestJet chipped in the flights from Canada to Haiti, a major contribution which allowed the team to spend donations from other sources on medical supplies, from gauze bandages to
16 • WIDER Horizons/Fall 2010
antibiotics. Dearest to Ngo’s heart was a $700 donation from students of Standoff Elementary School. Team members used a lot of their own money, and took vacation time or traded shifts to make the 10-day journey in late March. Under the guidance of the Quisqueya Crisis Relief Centre, the team established a medical beachhead close to the shattered presidential palace in Port-au-Prince, a MASH-style unit amid a sprawling tent city built by Haitians now too frightened to enter buildings. They worked alongside German, American, Spanish and other caregivers who had responded to the tragedy. The U.S. military provided protection, while the Mexican navy impressively ferried in daily medical teams to provide wound care.
Before the first patient is seen, everyone knows the day will end with that heartbreaking moment 12 hours later when those at the end of the line must be told there is nothing left to give them. Bureaucracy could make one weep at times. Ngo witnessed truckloads of food stuck in warehouses, private hospitals closed for want of funding, and a burgeoning black market selling necessities that should have been available from the proper authorities. Profiteers jacked prices to where a box of Advil sold for $20, more than most can afford. Garbage was everywhere, spawning parasites, and portable toilets, erected in a long row by the U.S. army for those in the tent city, stood full and overflowing into the street. For the team, the major foe was infection, compounded by its allies - scabies, lice, roundworms, STDs and other nasty sideshows - just in case injuries suffered in the earthquake weren’t enough to devastate the populace, some 46,000 crammed into a one-kilometre radius. Imagine the enormity of the problem facing the Blood Tribe team in its tiny slice of this damaged nation. It’s 5 a.m. and already the daily line-up stretches down the block outside the tent. Team members have awakened from their own tents and have made the trip to their medical station in the back of a truck, caged, much like prisoners for their security.
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Before the first patient is seen, everyone knows the day will end with that heartbreaking moment 12 hours later when those at the end of the line must be told there is nothing left to give them.
Lan’s team in Haiti:
Orphans, some five years old, need medicine, but are too young to comprehend the instructions for its safe ingestion, or easy victims for black marketers who will steal the drugs for resale. Many are dehydrated and require electrolytes through IV drips. Those can be established, but once they’re rehydrated, they have to leave; the required continuous care is impossible amid the size of the problem.
Veronica Oka-Wells medical documentation expert and team treasurer
Children missing limbs are a common site; those in wheelchairs are in danger of having them stolen and sold on the black market. People wear high-end clothing – Lacoste, DKNY – raided from the local factories in which they’re made for sale to the affluent elsewhere who can afford them. Perhaps that’s just karma at work. The day’s care begins. Patients are sorted by their needs and funnelled to the caregivers. Sometimes, translation runs through English to French to Spanish to Creole, which can make crucial understanding at best chancy. The team knows the lack of ongoing care will, in many cases, hinder healing, but members soldier on through the heat of the day. “You always have to remember you are a guest in their country,” says Ngo. “You’re there to help, but you must always show respect.” The team met a Haitian medical student who missed classes the day the earthquake killed many of his friends and classmates; he took on 300 patients. Ngo and his team assess patients without access to lab work such as blood tests and ultrasound. Because of the stringent Catholic beliefs here, they are unable to hand out condoms or other birth control. Teens form the heads of many households, their parents dead or missing. Some will go three days without food or water, the rain their only source of safe drinking water. Modesty is a forgotten luxury. Some resort to selling the Canadians’ free drugs for food, the more important commodity; often, their customers buy the wrong prescriptions. The day creeps toward 5 p.m. and the team begins to prepare to return to its tents. Patients remain in line, only to be told there is nothing left for them. Still, there is a sense of accomplishment; spirits remain high. After returning home, Ngo recounts his experiences for Lethbridge College EMT students, stirring in them a desire to one day be involved in similar mercy operations. For Ngo, the largest question left in Port-au-Prince is unanswered. “When all the aid leaves, what will happen? It’s a question the world has to ask.” 18 • WIDER Horizons/Fall 2010
Dr. Esther Tailfeathers, MD family medicine and rural ER
Wayne White wilderness emergency training, medical supplies and cargo organizer Barbara Williams Freeman, RN infection control Cheason White, RN orthopedics Paulette Anulis, RN Foothills Hospital ICU (a native Haitian who lost family) Suzanne Pecht paramedic, rural emergency Sara Hunt, EMT rural emergency Matt Down, EMT rural emergency Doris Iron Shirt, LPN wound care and rural home care Joanne Wells community health representative, infection control and tuberculosis Eldon Jon Davis, EMT rural emergency
A one-man paramedic crew Lan Ngo added a nursing diploma to his repertoire to broaden his understanding of the system. Now he takes his expertise to the street, the hospital ward and the classroom. Perhaps he considers it a tribute to his past. At four years old, Lan Ngo arrived in Canada, one of the “boat people” who fled Vietnam after the communist takeover of the south. Raised in Lethbridge, at 20 he harnessed his self-described “type A” personality to become a paramedic, graduating from SAIT in 2000. Ngo (the “g” is silent) worked the streets of Calgary for five years, repeatedly picking up the same people he knew would not receive the care they required to keep them safe. “I kept wondering why these people were not being looked after,” says Ngo. “I decided to become a nurse to see where they were falling through the system’s cracks. Part of the reason for this in Calgary is there is no holistic approach to healing, unlike that found in Lethbridge.” He graduated from Lethbridge College’s Nursing program in 2006 and became intrigued with psychiatric nursing, a position he says allows him to take a broader approach to client care. In Lethbridge, patients receive assistance with finances, housing, spiritual care and coping mechanisms, thus reducing the drain on health care. “I find I can use my nursing skills on the street as a paramedic,” says Ngo. “At the end of the day, in Lethbridge the patient gets the care required.” His career as a paramedic affords him a different role every day, a diversity he needed to keep his focus. “Our office is outside, where a nurse’s office is in a hospital,” says Ngo. “One day I can be transferring a patient to Foothills, or pulling someone from a ditch at 40 below. I love the challenge.” Ngo works as a paramedic for the Blood Tribe Department of Health, as a nurse in Fort Macleod, as a psychiatric nurse at Chinook Regional Hospital, serves with the Pincher Creek and Coaldale EMS units and teaches a course at Lethbridge College.
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Q&A
With Lethbridge College’s Green Leadership Office In the past few months, Lethbridge College’s efforts to increase and promote sustainability on campus have been spearheaded by its Green Leadership Office (GLO), the collective noun for Leona Rousseau and Dave McRae. The two instructors (Rousseau, Interior Design; McRae, Environmental Science) were seconded to carry out a campus sustainability audit and to report their findings by the end of June. With a month to go, they sat down with Wider Horizons to discuss their findings.
WH: If you had to give your report card today, would you give Lethbridge College a passing or failing grade on sustainability? Leona Rousseau: I’d say it’s a light shade of green, turning slowly to a rich, darker shade with time. Dave McRae: There’s a lot of effort being made, but it’s all unco-ordinated. Still, I see good things happening. The college administration should be applauded for taking these first steps in the process. WH: Can you list a few success stories you’ve discovered? DM: At our convocation ceremonies 20 • WIDER Horizons/Fall 2010
in April, staff used decorative plants instead of flowers, and bamboo plates at the receptions. People seem to be more conscious. A lot of people are doing a lot of little things people don’t know about. It’s not an obscure concept. I’ve even had discussions with Facilities Management about building hawk nests as part of an integrated pest-control system, using the birds to control gophers. And in our Carpentry program, scrap wood, once hauled away, is now being used for other purposes. LR: College administration has made a concerted effort to promote sustainability. Faculty are trying to get more sustainability content into their curriculum. They’re coming up with new ideas and options. If there’s been a
problem, it’s that finding the information we need to do a proper audit has been a bit of a scavenger hunt, such as recycling info and hazardous waste info. DM: It’s been a bit of a hunt, but at least everyone has been accommodating and on board. WH: Your mandate was to end June 30. What’s the next step for Lethbridge College to take? LR: We need a one- to three-year strategic plan to be able to implement the findings from the audit. We’ve implemented much in the original proposal. Now we need a plan that’s in line with the campus development plan and provincial guidelines. And, there’s
Leona Rousseau and Dave McRae take a measure of campus green
a cost factor. We require a priority list of items such as alternate energy and changes to the curricula. It’s a three- to five-year process to get to mid-green. WH: Are you finding students are caring more about the environment? DM: They seem to be. We have the Eco-Collective club on campus, although it’s only a few students. Recycling facilities for our student residences are often inadequate. Students need more information on what they can do to recycle. LR: Students elsewhere are pushing the sustainability agenda. It seems there are three types of people: those who
just don’t care; those who will recycle if it’s convenient and those who will walk half a mile out of their way to recycle an empty bottle. Young people seem to be endowed with an attitude of care for the planet’s well-being. Many campuses, for instance, want to ban bottled water. WH: Besides its audit responsibility, the GLO has been the catalyst for some on-campus events to raise awareness. LR: Well, it’s hard to say we’re only going to do number one and two and not number three. When a good opportunity comes along, you hate to turn it down.
WH: What do you think needs to happen now? LR: The audit is just the foundation for real change. We have to carry on. Lethbridge College signed the PanCanadian Protocol for Sustainability (developed by the Association of Canadian Community Colleges), so it needs to make a consistent effort. We need to explain the financial value of sustainability. Companies will do it because it makes financial sense. It has to be environmentally, socially and economically responsible.
21
Putting their trust in Lethbridge College First Nations trust officers will soon be investing band funds based on advice from Lethbridge College.
22 • WIDER Horizons/Fall 2010
When the National Aboriginal Trust Officers Association (NATOA) provides its members across Canada with the skills they need to wisely handle billions of dollars in First Nations investments, it will be using a curriculum made at Lethbridge College. The endeavour is another success story for the Lethbridge College Business Training and Development (BTD) office at the Terry Royer Institute. NATOA was formed four years ago, when the federal government transferred responsibility for trust accounts to individual bands. NATOA exists to provide Canada’s First Nations communities with resources and information to help them “efficiently create, manage, and operate trusts as a means to ensure the seven generations yet unborn can benefit from the goals and dreams of the present generation.” When the organization sought to establish a curriculum to fulfill its mandate, the TD Bank, a NATOA advisor, suggested tapping the expertise of the college’s BTD centre. “The TD Bank thought of Lethbridge College first and we are really pleased that our previous work has created such a positive reputation,” says Sean Miles, BTD program administrator. “We have worked closely with a number of Aboriginal communities, including the Blood Band, the largest land-based reserve in Canada, and look forward to furthering those relationships.” NATOA unveiled the curriculum in May at its AGM in Kelowna, B.C. Miles expects upwards of 100 trust officers will make up the first enrolment in the four-month online course, developed by Lethbridge College’s Educational Enhancement Team.
says Miles. “Our role is to analyse the needs of the client groups, and when necessary, turn the projects over to the EET to create the training solution.” As Aboriginal governments, organizations and communities establish trusts to manage funds from land claims, businesses and other sources, they require training to ensure the money is properly managed. Investments stand at close to $5 billion nationally. Trust officers are not related to band councils. Their education levels run from masters degrees in business administration down to some high school. “This program will provide participants with the critical thinking skills and foundational knowledge to differentiate good investment opportunities from bad ones,” says Miles. “Trust agreements differ greatly; they’re not cookie-cutter deals.” Students register for the program through NATOA, but then are directed straight to Lethbridge College online. The initial cohort will include trustees, at the lower end of responsibility, and, later, trust managers. Miles envisions developing an accreditation system which would allow students to apply the course to other post-secondary endeavours. Ever the wily marketer, Miles also sees an opportunity to export the Lethbridge College program to Australia, a nation with a similar aboriginal system, and customizing it for other countries. “Canadian First Nations communities have been in need of this training for quite awhile,” says Miles. “We’re happy to be involved in the collaboration in such a significant way.”
“The EET’s instructional designers, formatters, editors and media specialists did the majority of the work on this project,”
23
Hot on the web There’s a whole new user-friendly look at lethbridgecollege.ca
24 • WIDER Horizons/Fall 2010
By Christina Boese (Communication Arts ’08) Lethbridge College’s desire to interact with the community it serves hasn’t changed since it was founded more than five decades ago. But the technology available to achieve that goal would be unrecognizable to those who opened its doors in 1957. Facebook, Twitter and YouTube have dramatically altered the entire concept of social interaction, and the changes just keep on coming. To keep pace, Lethbridge College relaunched its website this summer to maximize the visitor experience and meet the needs of current and prospective students while tapping into the social networking world on which many have come to depend. The college’s web realignment process began in the fall of 2008 following requests from senior leadership for a new look and concept. “What has brought the project forward is the ongoing recognition that the web is a primary source for getting information,” says Mike McCready, manager of Web Services. Research, he says, indicated students are more influenced by the web than other forms of media such as brochures and other print material. “About 80 per cent of our applicants use institutional websites to determine what school they’re going to go to,” says McCready. Steven Dyck, executive director of Advancement, says the new site is vital to the college’s survival in a technologically advanced world. “We have gained a very strong reputation internationally and we are continuing to make strategic investments that allow us to do more,” adds Dyck. “If harnessed correctly, the web allows us to expand our reach and to continue to position the college to grow.”
“One of the features of the new website is a cost estimator,” says McCready. “Out of all the research we did, we found the primary piece of information that students want to know is how much school is going to cost them.”
“If harnessed correctly, the web allows us to expand our reach and to continue to position the college to grow.”- Mike McCready Another feature is an improved search experience. Students can filter searches based on the specific information they’re looking for, whether it be course information, news releases, programs and even blog posts from actual students. “We tried to position the site in a way that students will look for the information they want, not what we think they want,” says McCready. “We always wanted it to be student based.” He also notes, since nearly every educational institution has an online presence, it’s vital to be authentic and stand out. “We wanted to get away from the traditional marketing messages and provide a genuine glimpse of what student life is like at the college.” Dyck agrees. It is, he says, all about making a positive and lasting impression. “We want to engage students’ minds, emotions and intellect,” he says. “We know they have a multitude of choices on where they can go to build or advance their career. We want Lethbridge College to be their first choice.” To achieve this, the site has made use of social networking by having an active presence on Facebook, YouTube, Flickr and Twitter.
“This is an absolutely critical investment in our long-term sustainability and ability to attract the best and the brightest from around the world. From the web architecture to the rich media, the site had to be an experience rather than a chore.”
“One of the key pieces of using social media tools is really about the outreach and having the opportunity to engage students where they’re comfortable,” says McCready. “On Facebook, there are 400 million active users, so it becomes ‘are we going to try and engage them on our website, or where they spend most of their time?’”
Incorporating advice from a trio of consultants (web design, live videos and advertising and marketing) into the concepts developed by the college’s Web Services team, the new site is geared mainly toward prospective students, focusing on increased accessibility, and maximizing accessibility to information on college life, including tuition.
McCready says the main goal of the site is to provide information and invite students to take the next step, whether it’s to book a campus tour or simply inquire about the college. “We also want to make sure our online activities, whether through the website or Facebook, help raise the brand and spread the brand message.”
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Office Intrigue: Rock Climbing Guide Book for Southern Alberta, written by Goble
Statue from trip to Mexico
Photo of trapper/writer grandfather Frank Goble in Waterton
Video of Goble’s first whitewater kayaking experience
SMART Board clips and pens
Dual monitors for effective work
Grandfather’s book on Waterton bears, soon to be republished.
Chris Goble, Lethbridge College’s Instructional Technology manager, is a believer in using gadgets for a purpose. “My goal is to ensure technology makes a difference, to build on things that work,” says Goble. He came to Lethbridge College a year ago from the Westwinds School District in Cardston where he was involved in training teachers on classroom technology. His history with Waterton National Park is reflected in his office. chris.goble@lethbridgecollege.ca Favourite books from his master’s in educational change design models
New laptop
Copy of New Scientist
Photo of Chief Mountain area, his former morning commute.
Pulling up her socks Instructor Karen Kennedy scores Lethbridge College’s first-ever patent, providing a greater reality for nursing students everywhere.
Colleen Ward, left, and Karen Kennedy demonstrate Simleggings. 28 • WIDER Horizons/Fall 2010
By Christina Boese (Communication Arts ’08) Karen Kennedy has developed an impressive resume during her nursing career: a registered nurse working in a variety of healthcare environments, and obtaining her masters in education to teach in a hospital and school setting. But the co-ordinator of Lethbridge College’s Simulated Patient Health Environment for Research and Education (SPHERE) surprised even herself when she was recently able to add “inventor” to her list of achievements. Soon, nursing students will be pulling her “socks” up. “I wanted to get more involved with education. Working in simulation at the grassroots level has been a really excellent opportunity for me,” says Kennedy, part of the Lethbridge College family since 2006. “I didn’t realize how much I enjoyed teaching; it’s just a wonderful feeling.” Kennedy, with her friend and business partner Colleen Ward, filed a patent for Simleggings, a teaching/learning product designed to zip over the ankles and lower legs of a human patient simulator, such as the one used in the SPHERE, to display pitting edema, a symptom resulting from an abnormal accumulation of fluid in body tissues. Part of the satisfaction of teaching for Kennedy is ensuring her students get the most realistic experiences possible. Simleggings allow students to use sight and touch to understand what pitting edema is actually like. In the past, students using the SPHERE had no way to view the effects of the condition. “Up until this point, I was using a sticky note that said, ‘pitting edema’ that I would stick on the mannequin’s leg,” she says. “But I wanted something more real.” In addition to being used on human patient simulators, Simleggings are also being used on “standardized patients,” people taught to mimic illnesses and conditions with pitting edema. Along with educational environments on mannequins and standardized patients, the leggings can also be sold to medical facilities and simulation centres. Kennedy says she has been thinking about simulating pitting edema for several years. “I had researched some of the materials I thought would work best, but I wasn’t really sure how we were going to make it all come together,” she says. I approached my friend Colleen who was involved in teaching sewing to elementary students and asked her if she wanted a new challenge. I explained what I was trying to achieve, gave her my stash of materials and let her create.” The two have been working on the project for almost a year and it is still ongoing. 29
The next step for Kennedy and Ward was completing and filing a patent application, which can be tricky. So, the duo enlisted the help of Lorne MacGregor, Lethbridge College’s director of Applied Research and Innovation, to guide them through the process. MacGregor was eager to take on the task: he’s been involved in the patent world for the last 16 years. “I liked that Simleggings filled a real need which could lead to better educated healthcare professionals,” says MacGregor. “The concept is simple but it may save lives.” But, he admits patenting is a lengthy process which must be pursued carefully. First, the team did extensive research to ensure no similar invention was patented. Then, a description of the product was produced in a proper patent application. Lastly, the necessary documentation was taken to a patent agent and the application was filed. Now, the team is awaiting approval.
the near future to obtain feedback on the product which will guide future development.
I point, e s i h t l i not nt “Up u ng a sticky ’ dema si was u d, ‘pitting e the n ai that s ould stick o I t w eg, bu re l that I s ’ n i mo equ mann something d dy wante aren Kenne -K real.”
But, Kennedy says that hasn’t stopped her from making use of Simleggings in the classroom. “Students love this form of teaching because it’s so interactive,” she says. “They have an opportunity to learn more about working in a team, and learn how to give and receive feedback. The simulations really do translate to the real world and that gives me goose bumps.”
However, they have received calls from people asking if they could manufacture something to fit over the arms, and Kennedy feels it might be an exciting avenue to pursue. “We’re looking at the best way to be able to do that,” she says.
While Kennedy and Ward have managed to sell Simleggings in Canada and the United States so far, she says it is still too early to expect much feedback from customers.
Kennedy says this project has given her a new perspective on achieving her goals and believes if she can do it, others can too.
“We’ve only been selling them for the last six weeks or so, so I don’t feel that people have had the opportunity to use them enough to have any sort of reaction yet,” she said in May, adding they will be sending out a form to every purchaser in
“If you’ve got an idea, don’t think it can’t happen,” she says. “I was kind of hesitant to move forward with this, thinking ‘what’s the big deal?’ But it has turned out to be a very interesting experience.”
30 • WIDER Horizons/Fall 2010
How to patent your creation So, you’ve built that better mousetrap, solved the puzzle of perpetual motion, or created the next great Christmas fad. You might want to consider obtaining a patent to protect your invention. First, your creation must meet three criteria: it must be unique, useful and inventive. Beyond that, your imagination is your only restriction. A Canadian patent rewards ingenuity and grants you exclusive rights to your invention for 20 years. However, be aware the information you include in your patent application will be made public 18 months after you file. This disclosure allows industry and educational institutions to conduct research on your creation. Of the 5.4 million patents in force globally, 150,000 are Canadian. Interestingly, of all applications filed, 90 per cent are for improvements to existing inventions; hence, the “better” mousetrap. There are patents for the mundane (automotive floor mats) and the miraculous (medicine for congestive heart failure).
Patents can include processes, such as methods for teaching mathematics. Some are beyond common understanding, such as a patent for “methods of forming amorphous ultra-high molecular weight polyalphaolefin drag-reducing agents.” Others, not so much: “double chip sauce delivery system.” The Canadian Intellectual Property Office recommends using a patent agent to help you complete your application. Wording can be tricky and time is of the essence: Canadian patents are awarded to the person who files first.
Applications should be sent to: The Commissioner of Patents The Canadian Intellectual Property Office Place du Portage Phase I 50 Victoria Street, Gatineau, Que. K1A 0C9
For more information, visit: cipo.ic.gc.ca
17 31
At the heart of learning
2
Books may be on life-support, but with a little rehabilitation, the library will continue to deliver knowledge.
Many of those who heard him declare it looked to their seatmates for confirmation they had heard him correctly. There, at a Lethbridge College staff refresher earlier this year, stood futurist Thomas Frey predicting a day was swiftly arriving on which libraries would contain no books. Some in the audience required immediate medical care. OK, he also predicted driverless cars would one day replace the hemi. But with electronic book readers proliferating almost monthly, does anyone doubt that bookless libraries deserve at least a modicum of consideration as a future possibility? Lethbridge College is positioning its Buchanan Library to be a learning centre of the future, the campus’s heart of information. Fiona Dyer, manager of Library Services, wants to change the image of the librarian as information gatekeeper to information facilitator. Along the way, a planned facility renovation will bring that, and other positive changes to fruition.
“Thinking that the library is somehow distinct and different from the rest of the college is another of the changes we need to make.” -Fiona Dyer At the same event where Frey predicted the death of print, Dyer and her colleagues outlined trends that are forcing change in North American libraries. Part of their job is to assist the Buchanan’s staff plan for the library of the future. Many of the changes which lie ahead are being driven by young future library users and their rapid acceptance of, adaptability to, and dependence on, new technology. As they become conversant with (and, some might suggest, addicted to) each new communications gadget, they quite naturally expect the infrastructure to adapt to accommodate their needs.
32 • WIDER Horizons/Fall 2010
33
Here’s what Dyer and crew see on the horizon: • “Open 24/7” - the new generation of learners demands greater flexibility in accessing information. For this cohort, the World Wide Web never sleeps, so they want technology-rich environments with access to information around the clock. • “20 minutes or it’s free” – new methods of delivering education are afoot. Collaborative, social network-style learning is increasingly supplanting traditional classroom instruction. E-learning is also making things much more flexible and individualized for students and giving them more responsibility for their education. • “The place to be” – the library is being increasingly used as a locale to access student services, resources and supports, making it increasingly necessary to look at alternatives. • “I saw it on TV” – technological literacy is vital to give students, inundated with information, knowledge on how to separate the product from the packaging. • “We have it in your size” – as the number of paper books is cut in half, and more magazines and publications are available online, e-books will become the norm. This will change the way books are borrowed. The Buchanan Library is already loaning e-book readers. Dyer says iPads will likely do for books what iPods did for music 10 years ago. • “Fries with that?” – most libraries allow students to eat and drink on site, much like Chapters. Competing with mainstream bookstores has become a necessity as libraries look for ways to retain clientele. • “Rooms by the hour” – Students want more open spaces with greater access to small breakout rooms for group work. Multimedia production rooms allow for student-generated content. This flexibility will give the library additional cachet among students.
Fiona Dyer, manager of library services: information literacy is critical 34 • WIDER Horizons/Fall 2010
Dyer sees these and other changes forcing librarians to do some soul-searching. “The librarian has become the facilitator in the education process,” she says. “Information literacy is critical in dealing with the data smog.” That “smog” is the giga- and terabytes of data flowing through the web. As most content is added in real-time, being able to help students filter all that information is a role of the modern librarian. “It’s all about focusing on evaluation rather than finding and retrieving,” says Dyer. “Retrieving is as easy as searching on Google. Whether that information is helpful is another matter.” The changes Dyer sees in store for the Lethbridge College library are not radical. Most libraries are coming to grips with them. In the future it may be difficult to say whether the library is part of the college or the college is part of the library. “Thinking that the library is somehow distinct and different from the rest of the college is another of the changes we need to make,” she says. With notes from James Frey.
Visit our Wildlife Sanctuary
the hubbard collection
Let us show you our wild side The Hubbard Collection is one of the largest displays of wildlife in Western Canada. Badger us for a tour by calling 403-320-3202 ext 5594 Species are also viewable online at
lcvirtualwildlife.com
We want you to edit our magazine You’re holding the 11th issue of Wider Horizons, a publication we created for you way back in the fall of 2007. For three years we’ve been selecting stories and features we thought you’d enjoy reading. Now, it’s your turn to tell us what you’ve found intriguing, what you’d like to see changed, what we could do better.
Oh, no, not another survey. Well, yes, but we’ve made it as interesting, involving and quick as we could, while still gleaning your valued input. Complete the survey, and we’ll enter your name in a draw for an iPod Touch. So, ready to start your stint as editor of Wider Horizons? Visit whsurvey.com and give us a piece of your mind by Dec. 17. Draw winner will be contacted Dec. 20.
36 • WIDER Horizons/Fall 2010
‘It’s like heaven here’
Refugees come to Canada seeking freedoms Canadians take for granted. Having walked in their shoes, their children are unlikely to become complacent about the democracy they’ve found here. Meet the students in Lethbridge College’s Youth in Transition program. The first thing you notice are the smiles, some tentative, the others fever-bright with the peace of mind and freedom they’ve recently discovered in Canada. Listening to them tell their stories, you almost forget they are all between 16 and 24 years old, some still in high school, and have been though an adult portion of terror in their short lives. The students in Lethbridge College’s Youth In Transition program come from a newscast of world trouble spots, places where the humanity runs as thin as the food supply and each day requires a degree of luck to be alive at sundown. Yet, when they begin eagerly explaining their class project, the students don’t focus on their own histories. Instead, they want you to know about Aung San Suu Kyi, the Burmese dissident now in her 14th year of house arrest, and the subject of their letter-writing campaign to the United Nations calling for her freedom. (See related story on page 39.) Despite their disparate backgrounds and varying levels of English, they can spell her name aloud and quote her philosophy. Suu Kyi has become their lightning rod, their project an avenue for them to flex their new-found freedom to speak their minds and be heard by those who matter.
Watch out, Stephen Harper: these young folk are about to become Canadian voters. The activism project, designed by instructors Candace Lewko and Tobiah Goldstein, was intended merely to give the students a vehicle to develop their English reading and writing skills. While all are intelligent and have learned to speak English, some have never been to school and have low literacy in their own languages, let alone ours. “I have so many freedoms here I can’t even explain them all.”- Youth in Transition student, Cecilia Akpaloo-Nyavor But somewhere along the route, the students embraced the project as their cause célèbre, and the tribulations of a political prisoner on the far side of the world became their own. “All Suu Kyi wants is freedom for her country,” says Mandy Thai, a Vietnamese whose family left the communist country for increased freedoms of their own. They are slowly learning to test the right of free speech accorded to them in Canada, where they are all landed immigrants. 37
“I have so many freedoms here I can’t even explain them all,” says an expressive Cecilia Akpaloo-Nyavor, whose family fled Togo for a refugee camp in Ghana after her father became a target for state reprisals. “In the camp, you are classified as a nobody. You can’t concentrate on school because you’re too worried about whether there will be food for supper.” Of the Burmese situation, Akpaloo-Nyavor remains puzzled how a government can treat its own citizens so shabbily, but she and her classmates are learning they have the power to have their voices heard.
“If you can stand up, you should take the hand of someone who has fallen down.” - Abdulla Lutfulla
“I had no idea about activism before,” she says. “Here, I can take a step without being punished. “This guy [Burmese dictator Than Shwe] has to hit the road. I don’t think his mother is very proud of him. What we have done on our Wiki is so fantastic (and that’s a big word for me).” Sara Azizi has lived in Canada nine years, coming from Iraq as a small child. But she remembers life spent under the rule of Saddam Hussein and can compare it to life in her adopted country. “I was naïve when I was younger,” says Azizi. “As a woman, I have the freedom to go to school here. There, people were afraid to speak out about the government. Someone like Suu Kyi inspired me. I realize one person can turn a country around.” All allow themselves a smug giggle when asked to comment on the “hardships” faced by Canadian-born friends, interrupted cellphone service or a poor selection at the shoe store, for example. But Azizi cuts them some slack. “It’s natural to not appreciate what you have when you always have it,” she says. All seem to understand the emotional roads others have traveled to be here. They commiserate with each other and have formed a bond from their participation in the YIT program.
38 • WIDER Horizons/Fall 2010
Eva Moran’s geographical journey might have been the shortest, but has taken a heavy emotional toll. She is mindful of how and why her family fled El Salvador; recounting the details is still painful and brings a hitch to her voice. “Our project reminds me of home because Suu Kyi is not allowed to talk about the government,” says Moran. “That’s the situation in El Salvador. I am so glad I’m here. I love to write in my journal. There, I had no freedom to talk. Here I can express myself. There is no opposition in my country; we have to advocate for ourselves. I have that freedom now. We have learned that persistence connected to activism is powerful. That has inspired everyone.” Abdulla Lutfulla grew up knowing nothing but a country embroiled in war. Born in Pakistan to a doctor in the Afghani army, he crossed borders several times before the family fled to neighbouring Tajikistan. “If you can stand up, you should take the hand of someone who has fallen down,” says Lutfulla. “If we are free, others should be, too. If we come together, we can do good things.” Khatere Azimi, also from Afghanistan, also moved from place to place during her time in the country where, she says, under the Taliban there was no work, no school and no freedom. Now, she has heard reports Iran is hanging refugees from her country, some mere children. She, like the rest, displays no eagerness to return to the land of her birth. “I am so happy here, I can’t even imagine living in the past,” says Thai. Many Vietnamese dream of coming here.” “I’m here to stay,” declares Akpaloo-Nyavor. “I’m going to get married, become a nurse and live here.” When Azizi gets her citizenship, she plans to take part in democracy’s most powerful act and vote. “Sometimes I’ll wish I was back home because I’ve had a bad day and think ‘this was the worst day of my life,’ but it’s not true. Here is like heaven.” The Youth in Transition program was profiled in the Fall 2009 issue of Wider Horizons.
Suu Kyi: freedom fighter
After returning to Burma in 1988 to lead a pro-democracy movement, The Oxford-educated Aung San Suu Kyi was democratically elected prime minister in 1990. However, the ruling military junta refused to relinquish power. Under its repressive rule, she has spent 14 of the past 20 years under house arrest. Ironically, her father is credited with establishing the modern Burmese army. He negotiated independence from Britain in 1947, and was assassinated by rivals the same year, when Suu Kyi was two.
Denying Aris an entry visa after he contracted cancer in 1997, the Burmese government was willing to allow Suu Kyi to leave the country to be with him, but she feared it would not allow her to return.
In 1972, she married Cuban Michael Aris, recognized as an expert on Nepalese and Tibetan culture. Aris died in England in 1999. Due to Suu Kyi’s arrest, the couple had not been permitted to see each other for the last four years of his life.
Suu Kyi is still under house arrest as a possible threat to “community peace and stability.” Several nations have called for her release, and that of more than 2,000 other Burmese political prisoners.
Suu Kyi won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991, accepted on her behalf by her sons. She used the prize money to establish a health and education trust for the Burmese people. She also won the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought in 1990.
39
Lethbridge College is going back to the drawing board, this time to design a centre of learning in trades, technologies, applied research and innovation to serve the changing educational landscape in southern Alberta for generations to come. The new facility will become a centre that fosters cross-over innovation among students, instructors and industry partners, a major facet of the college’s academic vision. The college envisions a facility of far greater impact than mere steel and glass, one which will create enhanced learning and encourage students to seek solutions for tomorrow’s challenges. It’s an ambitious project, one of the largest in the city’s history. Yet, the outcomes will be rich in reward, training future generations in a modern location that wrings every drop of advantage from the dollars spent. “This is not a want, it’s a need,” says Steven Dyck, Lethbridge College’s executive director of Advancement, whose department will be responsible for digging up the dollars. “No longer will the entrance to our trades wing be at the back of our campus. In fact, the facility will anchor a new ‘main street’ to the college’s south entrance and improve circulation, student spaces and campus navigation.” The project represents the next generation of trades and technology careers and is part of a much larger picture for the
transportation and construction industry, says Peter Leclaire, Lethbridge College’s vice-president academic and chief learning officer. “It incorporates a new academic vision in industrial training, blending trades and technology to help drive the economy in southern Alberta,” says Leclaire. The multi-disciplinary space, designed for flexibility in use, allows the college to meet the fluctuating needs of the economic climate. “Right now, our existing facilities do not easily support the re-purposing of shops as instruction and learning models change,” says Leclaire. “The new facility will allow us to respond to those fluctuations in demand for specific training.” Rather than merely replacing its shops, Lethbridge College will explore new models of apprenticeship training to make best use of the money spent. “It will create a learning facility that is highly functional and designed for optimum utilization,” says Leclaire. As a centre for innovation, the project will include a “living” laboratory, focused on developing and teaching innovative ideas and initiatives, many of which will focus on sustainability in alternative energy, transportation and building construction technology.
Artist’s conception of proposed trades and technologies facility at Lethbridge College
40 • WIDER Horizons/Fall 2010
As a centre for innovation, the college’s proposed trades and technologies facility will include a “living” laboratory, focused on developing and teaching innovative ideas and initiatives, many of which will focus on sustainability.
As such, the building will be constructed in a sustainable manner, built to embody Lethbridge College’s commitment to leadership in reducing its environmental footprint. Last September, Lethbridge College signed the Pan-Canadian Protocol for Sustainability as a member of the Association of Canadian Community Colleges. The protocol calls on all signatories to maximize their contribution to a sustainable future and be committed to their roles as leaders and their onand off-campus communities. Why all this now? Lethbridge College is a major player in the province’s trades training mandate, yet the physical condition of its trades building has created challenges for instructors to improve learner outcomes and support emerging technologies. This comes as technology is on the wing (literally, if one considers wind turbine technician training) and modern facilities and equipment will be key to maintaining Alberta’s educational advantage. This new facility will also house the college’s International Wind Energy Academy, placing it in proximity to a newly erected training tower just south of the existing building. Other programs to be housed in the building include the Crooks School of Transportation, Welding and Electrical programs, Civil Engineering Technology, Geomatics Engineering Technology, Engineering Design and Drafting Technology and Interior Design.
“We can encourage spontaneous interaction between students and instructors to stimulate activity, learning and synergies,” says Sandy Vanderburgh, dean of Applied Arts and Science. “The project will optimize the sharing of many resources and physical areas such as shops, shop support, classrooms, offices, meeting rooms, informal learning and lounge facilities.” This initiative neatly corrals programs related to construction, now spread out on campus. Drawing them close provides an opportunity for cross-program pollination. An example of multi-disciplined student collaborations is The Living Home constructed by Lethbridge College, the City of Lethbridge and Cedar Ridge Quality Homes. The project also enhances Lethbridge College’s initiatives to partner with southern Alberta industries. “We’ve always sought and encouraged these types of collaborations, which we feel work in both directions,” says Leclaire. “Our faculty and students get an opportunity to tackle real-world problems for industry and therefore enable us to tailor our curriculum to fit a changing skill set. We also benefit from industry’s expertise and, in many cases, its largesse. This type of innovation ensures that we are creating the workforce of the 21st century.” The next step in the process is to secure the funding, which will require a significant investment from industry and government. Ground could be broken within two years after the money is in place.
41
42 • WIDER Horizons/Fall 2010
Career Conference 2010
Lethbridge College’s annual event will draw students and employers together for a day of speed-dating Nov. 24.
For nearly 30 years, Lethbridge College has brokered an annual fall exchange between its students and employers, the former seeking employment, the latter new, educated talent. Once termed a “fair,” the Lethbridge College Career Conference, one of the largest in Western Canada, has become a day in November on which the campus, the community and, yes, the competition gather to swap ideas for the benefit of students. “The event was put in place to help our students,” says Pamela Crawshaw-Pragnell, supervisor of The Works, the college’s job and career service which produces the event, this year set for Nov. 24. “Whether it’s to directly connect them with employers or for further educational opportunities, we are here to serve the students and the community.” Career fairs are fairly common among post-secondary institutions. The province’s recent labour shortage highlighted interest in these by both industry and job seekers in these events. Last spring, Lethbridge College added a second day geared solely to careers in the trades. What sets Lethbridge College’s effort apart is its repurposing of the event into a conference involving community partners. “Even calling it a ‘conference’ sets us apart from most,” says Crawshaw-Pragnell. “We also open our doors to the public and local high school students. It’s not just for our own students. Very few institutions will do that.” That difference, says Crawshaw-Pragnell, is based on the college’s extreme confidence in the skills of its students and the potential they offer employers. “Of course, employers will benefit from hiring our students, but we are part of the community and running this as an event for the employers in the community is important to us.” While details are still being refined, college departments will also host workshops and events in
the days leading up to the conference. One of the latest additions to the 2010 edition is the involvement of other post-secondary ‘transfer’ institutions. Terri Ann Fitz-Gibson, Educational Liaison co-ordinator, says their involvement is another service provided students. “We can’t operate in isolation,” says Fitz-Gibson. “We need to present as many opportunities as possible to help our students succeed.” That means presenting them with information on furthering their education elsewhere. “Many of our distinguished alumni have gone on to higher levels of education at other colleges and universities, thanks to the start they received here,” says Fitz-Gibson.
What sets Lethbridge College’s effort apart is its repurposing of the event into a conference involving community partners. On the day of career conference, Fitz-Gibson also hosts a lunch for local high school counsellors, many of whom look forward to this annual trip to the campus. “We not only treat them to a great meal prepared by our Culinary Careers students, they get to see and hear about the latest things at the college. It’s a great way to maintain a positive working relationship.” The 2010 conference is generating a little excitement with the college’s School of Liberal Arts High School Challenge, a friendly competition between local students in a quiz-show format. The 2010 Career Conference will cap off months of planning for the college. Details are available at careerconference.ca. “Of course it just sets us up for how we will improve things for 2011,” says Crawshaw-Pragnell.
43
In the eye of the hurricane With its prowess in wind power, Lethbridge College is helping communities plug in emerging technology to harness this new industry
By now, most of southern Alberta knows of the virtues of wind power. It’s clean, it doesn’t inconveniently run out like fossil fuels, and there are to date no videos of it inking through the Gulf of Mexico on its way to wash over fragile wetlands, or fouling West Coast wildlife. OK, that’s the basic altruistic environmental highlight reel, one voiced over placid fields of pure white turbines spinning silently amid southern Alberta’s pasture land. But there is far more to be derived economically from wind power than mere electricity and a clear conscience. Rather, a gold rush is about to begin, one that, if properly assayed, could bring a shot of prosperity to rural communities in need of an economic break. Lethbridge College is poised to be the vanguard of that gold rush. Seeded with a $1.2-million grant from the Rural Alberta Development Fund (RADF), the college is gearing to help establish southern Alberta as a world leader in the wind-energy sector. The turbines springing up across the plains must be installed, operated and maintained, creating an entire service industry with its inherent jobs, centred primarily in rural communities. In partnership with several Canadian and international energy companies, Lethbridge College will use the $1.2 million to develop long-term training programs, educational products and stakeholder coalitions. What does that mean for the folks in Pincher Creek, Barons, Vauxhall or any other town in the wind tunnel of the south? Through access to high-quality employment, their young people can find work at home. They’ll realize increased income diversification, economic sustainability and development of educational programming that can be adopted by other regional industries across Alberta. The Canadian Wind Energy Association has determined that wind energy could well be Canada’s next great economic opportunity. That prediction is mirrored worldwide: between 2005 and 2008, employment in wind-related industries almost doubled to 440,000; by 2020 it’s estimated almost $1 trillion will be invested globally in new wind facilities and more than 1.75 million new employment opportunities will be created. (How much is $1 trillion? If you had started spending $1 million a day since AD 1, you wouldn’t run out of money for another 730 years.)
Anyone who has lived more than a fortnight in southern Alberta knows it has wind. But wind without infrastructure is useless. Ours is close to transmission lines, giving the area potential to outstrip any area in Canada and rank among major wind-energy countries. On that upbeat note, Lethbridge College began establishing the International Wind Energy Academy (IWEA) in 2005 to provide applied research and development for “next generation” employment. It also provides wind energy information and outreach programs for regional, national, and international communities. IWEA’s experience has positioned it for the next strategic advance: transforming southern Alberta into Canada’s premiere training and service centre for a sustainable windenergy industry. Through this $3.5-million project, people, communities, organizations and institutions will be able to take advantage of the emerging opportunities. Lethbridge College is collaborating with SouthGrow Regional Initiative, Economic Development Lethbridge, and the Alberta Southwest Regional Alliance to promote the region as a leader in alternative energy production and manufacturing. These three groups represent 39 municipalities and some 177,000 area residents. IWEA has the muscle to make things happen. Lethbridge College remains the leading institution in Canada certified by the Educational Centre for Renewable Energy (BZEE) in Germany, which represents the European and North American standard for wind turbine technician training. It has developed partnerships with key industry partners in Canada and internationally, and has the support of Edmonton and Ottawa. This critical mass has the potential for a multitude of benefits within the region, including economic diversification and increased quality of life through employment, retention of young people, broadened tax bases, entrepreneurial opportunities and power generation, expanded learning and skill development. IWEA’s goal is to spread benefits beyond the immediate region through delivery of hands-on learning, developing mobile wind-energy training technologies and a large wind demonstration site to transfer knowledge to other communities. Lethbridge College’s partnership-based network of video conference sites and its links to industry will provide rural residents access to the latest changes in curriculum and new learning programs dedicated to wind and solar best practices. The college plans to deliver five industry training courses, including the BZEE Wind Turbine Technician course, in three rural and one Aboriginal community by the end of 2012. Lethbridge College is poised for its starring role in making southern Alberta a land of renewable-energy opportunities.
46 • WIDER Horizons/Fall 2010
47
My life
Nicole Bach (Environmental Assessment and Restoration ’99) respected the outdoors as a southern Alberta kid. Now she knows how to separate the cows from the fish. Here’s her story. Growing up in Lethbridge so close to the mountains brought out a real love of being outdoors. I had a strong love of biology and chemistry; I didn’t know what I wanted to do with either, but I knew I needed a technical learning atmosphere.
Fishing on the Oldman in the foothills with a group of friends one year, I can recall the water level so high we couldn’t wade easily. It became more like a swimming hole to us that year. A few years later we returned to the same spot and couldn’t believe the change of the water level; it was exponentially lower than our previous visit. The questions started flying around in my head: why the fluctuations? How can we keep the water from one year to the next? What caused this drastic change? Is there a field in which I can study this?
48 • WIDER Horizons/Fall 2010
In field That brought me to the Environmental Assessment and Restoration program at Lethbridge College. It was such a natural fit, with approachable instructors, a busy workload, frequent field trips studying what we’d learned, and a close and supportive group of students. It opened doors to a career I could love. Within two weeks of graduating I was hired by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Prairie Farm Rehabilitation Administration. My recently gained knowledge all came to life; I was hired as a soil technician and was the assistant to the district soil conservationist. My work focused on the permanent cover program, water quality testing, using ArcView for pasture management, surveying for excavation of dugouts and networking with others in this field. Soon I was introduced to people who work with a program we had studied in school. Their calling card is “Cows and Fish,” the nickname of the Alberta Riparian Habitat Management Society. It was somewhere I could make a difference.
and stream My greatest accomplishment has been learning to listen, really listen, to people and put myself in their shoes, and creating allies through shared concerns. - Nicole Bach
Cows and Fish is a voluntary stewardship group that increases knowledge through ecological awareness of the watershed we live in and its riparian areas. It’s about creating relationships between landowners, agencies, neighbours and communities to create a better understanding of our land uses for both the rural and urban audiences. In the beginning, my primary role was collecting riparian inventory data working on the field crew. Packing enough food for a week in a cooler, long work days and many weeks living in a tent on Alberta’s creeks and rivers were truly satisfying. I got to meet so many wonderful people from all parts of the agriculture world that shared in my enthusiasm and love of the landscape, and also those whose opinions differed greatly from mine. It wasn’t always sunshine and fun, a lot of controversial topics come up with those who make their livelihoods off this land and dealing with the nuisance of beavers and floods is no walk in the park. But if anything, helping others who want to understand how these riparian areas function differently from their uplands can be such a big part in the evolutional way of thinking. These riparian areas, if healthy, can improve water quality by trapping sediment, which reduces erosion, storing water for those years of drought. They can provide healthy livestock, clean drinking water and wildlife habitat. Proudly, I am celebrating my 10th year with Cows and Fish. I’m thankful for the education and knowledge I have received through Lethbridge College. It gave me the appropriate tools to make this career an incredibly rewarding one. For more information, visit cowsandfish.org
photos by: Cows and Fish
49
Widen your horizon
Wider Horizons has supplied readers with insightful tips from Lethbridge College instructors in many previous issues. This edition, we introduce Widen Your Horizon, where our best give their best advice to you. Look for more great tips in future issues.
How to write a letter to the editor
D’Arcy Kavanagh is a veteran journalist, freelance writer, and instructor in Communication Arts.
Successful letter-to-the-editor writers aren’t defined simply by getting published. They’re successful because they made people either aware of a newsworthy situation or they offered a viewpoint that, in turn, prompted others to consider their position and to reply thoughtfully.
Since you get to offer opinions, avoid contradictions, exaggeration, bad taste and innuendo.
The first step is to ensure your argument is strong with good support. When you start writing, keep the sentences short – 30 words maximum – and to the point. Say something of value in the first sentence and ensure the reader knows exactly what you’re talking about. Ensure you have your facts right.
As for length, shorter is better. A 500word letter has little chance of being published because an editor will have to spend valuable time cutting it down to a reasonable maximum length of maybe 300 words. If you can write an effective letter in 100 to 200 words, you have a better chance of being published.
When you edit, make sure you don’t repeat your message. Say it well, say it once, then move on. Also, understand that your letter will be edited for length, taste and libel.
How to tell whitetail deer from mule deer
Terry Kowalchuk is chair of the School of Environmental Sciences. 50 • WIDER Horizons/Fall 2010
They’ve perhaps grazed on your tulips, scared you witless bounding across the highway, or added a flash of excitement to your walks in the coulees. Lethbridge is home to many deer of the whitetail or mule variety. Here’s how to tell the difference:
•tails – whitetails: white tips; mule deer: black tips
•ears – they’re called mule deer for a reason. If the ears are longer than the head, they’re mules
Mule deer, the larger of the two, are native to the western prairies; whitetails migrated from eastern forests due to human encroachment. Mule deer are the dominant species in Lethbridge as they’ve become less afraid of humans. Whitetails will always jump fences; mule deer will sometimes crawl under, much like pronghorn antelope.
•antlers (males only) – whitetail antlers start on each side of the head and curl around and forward in two main branches from which the tines extend; mule antlers have a definite fork almost immediately after they leave the head and generally a second fork
•stride – mule deer often run in a “stodding” – or stiff-legged – motion, making them appear to be bounding on pogo sticks.
College kudos Kodiaks on course, instructors honoured, students shine and more Spring weather was iffy in southern Alberta, but just fine for runners Willy Kimosop and Kip Kangogo. The two left thousands of runners in their wakes, including international athletes and Canadian Olympians, as they ran to victories in Toronto, Vancouver and Victoria. Willy, the Kodiaks’ national cross-country champion, chosen 2010 Lethbridge Kinsmen Sportsperson of the Year in April, won the Toronto Sporting Life 10-kilometre Run for Cancer May 3, finishing 30 seconds ahead of an international field, on the same weekend Kip, a Kodiaks alumnus, won the BMO Half-marathon in Vancouver. The previous weekend, Kip won the Victoria Times-Colonist 10K with Willy third. They finished in the same positions May 9 in the Vancouver Sun Run. In April, English instructor Richard Stevenson had a new book Windfall Apples, a collection of tanka and kyoka Japanese five-liner imagist forms and sequences, published by Athabasca University Press. Congratulations go out to our spring recipients of Service to Learners awards: Brenda May, Disability Services; Jean Schnarr, Registrar’s Office; Candace Lewko, English Language Centre; Cheryl Regier, Applied Arts & Science; Martina Emard, Communication Arts;
Gail White, Facilities Maintenance; Lacey Holoboff, Centre for Health, Justice and Human Services; Judith Averell, Buchanan Library; Stephen Klassen, Culinary Careers; Allen Clampitt, Culinary Careers; Ute Perkovic, The Works. Jeremy Hummel, instructor in the School of Agriculture and Natural Sciences, was named Rookie of the Year in March. Tasha Diamant, School of Liberal Arts, and Hugh Richards, School of Justice Studies, won the LCFA/SA Teaching Excellence Awards, presented to instructors who demonstrate teaching excellence, stimulate intellectual curiosity, and assist students and colleagues. Four Business Administration students and their coaches put in a glowing performance in March at the Alberta Deans of Business Case Competition at SAIT. While they narrowly missed an award, word received back from the event indicates all were solid ambassadors. Competitors included Chelsa Larson, Courtney Quenneville, Katie Wood and Kelly Thompson. Instructors John Russell and Dave Kennedy coached the team. Lethbridge College President’s Awards were awarded in April by
President Tracy Edwards to Karen Kennedy and Keith Dys. Kennedy, co-ordinator of the Simulated Patient Health Environment for Research and Education (SPHERE), was honoured for filing the first patent from Lethbridge College (see page 28). Dys, who stepped down this year as chair of the Lethbridge College Board of Governors, was thanked for his years of service to the college. Jase Jensen, a first-year Culinary Careers student, captured a bronze medal at the Provincial Skills Canada competition in Edmonton May 12 and 13. The competition includes postsecondary students from across Alberta. Jase competed against eight other students who qualified for the event. Three Communication Arts students have been recognized for their work by the Alberta Weekly Newspapers Association (AWNA) in the campus division of its annual awards competition. AWNA will present excellence awards to Endeavour students Scott Schmidt (’09) for best news story; Joey Sugai (’10) for best feature story; and Ashley Charron (’10) for best photograph. The awards were presented in Edmonton June 4 at the conclusion of the AWNA spring meeting.
Your career can have a higher purpose
Your career can have a higher purpose, too. Visit higher-purpose.ca to learn more.
Wouldn’t it be great if your career allowed
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Lenora Lynn (Yalow oski) instructor and a use of Carriere force different big game spe instructor. I have been cies within moved ove Therapeutic Recreati travelling a 21,000-s r to the Calgary Fire on quare-kilometre all ove r Can ada teaching Management ‘81 Department for the las concession area. Durin t four Cu sto ms and Immigration g 13 After successful comple years and now repair the years with the concessio tion at fire employees how to sho n, I me t Lethbridge Communit equipment. ot and countless hunters from y College, pro per tac all tical training through over I returned to my home the world. It was a ver province scenarios along with con y fullfiling of Manitoba for a few Cameron Johnson trol and lifestyle, rid months. I ing horseback defense tactics. then travelled all over Bu siness Administratio through the mountain Canada, n ‘97 s, and settling in British Colum I moved to Edmonton flyi ng bia for to after rem ote lakes. I left Gerry Campbell five years. I met my hus graduating to complete this lifestyle behind las band my Agricultural Techno t year, there, and we moved to degree through the Un logy ‘90 and now fly Alberta iversity bus hplanes full After graduating, I wo in 1986. I have been em of rked at Lethbridge. My wife and time. I often think of my ployed I are odd jobs before gettin time at with the Alberta govern the owners of California g a job with Lethbridg ment Closets e Col leg a gin e , and keep seng company in Lillooe since (currently as a com in Ed mo nton; we bought it six t, in touch with other gra munity B.C. in 1991. I moved aro duates of resource manager) in years ago and have tak und my class. various en sales to diff ere nt areas of British rewarding and progre from $300,000 in our ssively first year Columbia within the com responsible roles. to $2.5 million last year. pany. Christa A. Carpente Much of In spring of 2009, the r the inspiration I had to company Renewable Resource become ceased operations, so Mike Sherry an now one ent repreneur came throug Management ‘95 h year later I am finishing Meat Cutting and some of my business cla a sixI work for my parents’ sses at mo nth sm cou all rse in business and Merchandising ‘83 Let hbr idg e College. business in excavation will looking for a job in and I started with Costco as the near construction. I am inv a meat fut ure olv . ed in cutter, moved to the ser Tim Vanderpyl many environmental issu vice es and deli as a manager, transf Criminal Justice eve nts erred , and hav e worked in my Tamara (Fudra) Ne to Medicine Hat as nig – Policing ‘00 lson field, but I am still hop ht Communication Ar ing to merchandising manag Since graduating, I hav ts ‘91 app er. I was ly my e travelled pas sio n Aft and knowledge extens er graduating from just promoted to adminis ively with a Christian as a “green developer” tration Let hbr one idg e day Col . lege, I went on manager after 13 years Missions organization at Costco. to manag (YWAM) e several retail stores and went on to comple Ch arl es te my We lls in Lethbridge for about Todd K. Shury bachelor of professional eight Civil Engineering arts years before having a Renewable Resource in criminal justice throug family. Te ch no log h y ‘96 My communication/mark Management ‘85 Ath abasca University. I the eting My Lethbridge College n bac kgr oun edu d cat fro ion m college gave I am a wildlife veterin went on to finish my ma afforded me a chance arian with sters me the experience I nee to work Parks Canada based out of art ded s in to leadership through in a challenging career of the become successful in bus field Western College of Vet Trinity Western Unive iness. (engineering) and pro erinary rsity and Pre sen vid tly ed I work for Junior Medicine in Saskatoon am working on my doc opportunities for emplo . I’m torate Achievement, an organi ym ent , embarking on a M.Sc. in stra zation tegic leadership throug travel and personal dev /PhD in h tha t tea elo che pm s stu ent dents in epidemiology. Regent University in Vir which I may not have ginia. I grades 4 to 12 basic fina gained als o nce/ ach ieved a Certified Huma without it. Thanks to all n business skills and enc thoses Jim Brouwer Resource Professional ourages who helped me learn the (CHRP) ent rep ren eur ship. I have also Therapeutic Recreati des ign atio n in December 2009. material. on ‘85 run a successful cosme I worked at Medicine I work as the human res tic/ Hat ources ski nca re bus ine ss out of my Hospital as a recreation advisor for the Lethbr Kimberley (Morriso therapist home the pas idg e n) t five years. from 1985 until 1999, facilities of Covenant He Wilson then alth, went back into carpen St. Michael’s Health Cen Therapeutic Recreati try for a tre. Craig M. Yakiwchuk on while, then went to Me Previously I worked for Ge dicine ron tol several og y ‘96 Re newable Resource Hat College to get a cer non -profit organizations in I am at home raising my tificate in Management ‘92 two computer-aided draftin Lethbridge. daughters, (Brittanie, g, worked After gradua 10, and ting from in that field for two yea Kennedy, 7). After gra rs, then Lethbridge College, I mo duation, drove city bus for four Brad Joly ved to I ma years and rrie d Greg and started Watson Lake, Yukon. now am teaching carpen Criminal Justice – I started wo rki try at ng at the Ext a car end eer in logging, both on icare in Medicine Hat College. Policing ‘01 Vulcan. After three yea the technical side with rs of Co rrectional Studies ‘02 timber wo rking, Brittanie came cruising/block layout, into our After leavin Les Kraeker then g Lethbridge College, live s. We mo ved harvesting. After three out to the farm Criminal Justice – I decided to pursue a car years in New Brigden about eer in of sel f sev em en plo yment, I took a Policing ‘89 policing. My travels led years ago. We are hap me to job as a forest officer in py rai sin g I started with Canada We st tha Edmonton Mall where t our family on the farm. Customs community. I then had right out of college in I was employed as a sec the 1989 and urity opp ort uni ty to follow my dream worked in southern Alb officer. As time went by, G. David Fajnor erta in I found of outfitting, and went all aspects of Customs tha into t I really enjoyed the sec Agricultural and He . In 2006 urity bus ine ss avy wit h a partner with I started training and field and decided to sta Equipment Technic learning in Lone Wo y at ian ‘96 lf Outfitting. I really put Ottawa. In 2007 I was We st Edmonton Mall. Durin I moved to Calgary in certified g my RRM education to 2001 and by the RCMP as a basic the years, I was promo work by I worked for Calgary Tra firearms ted to managing the harvest nsit the of seven ran ks of sergeant, staff repairing buses and tra ins. I -sergeant and my curren t rank
52 • WIDER Horizons/Fall 2010
38 • WIDER Horizons/Winter 2010
Where are they now? of operations manager. I oversee an operation of 5o em ployees who are in charge of the safety and security of West Ed monton Mall. I credit the educat ion and instructors from Lethbr idge College for my success. Alexander L. Swan Engineering Design & Drafting Technolog y ‘03 After graduation I lan ded a great job with a small engine ering firm in Pincher Creek. After moving back to the Edmonton area, I quickly found a good job as a drafter with Universal Surveys Inc. Thank you, Lethbr idge College, for the skills nee ded to continue my new career .
General Studies ‘06 After taking General Stu dies and a semester of Business , I started Aztec Masonry & Landsc aping. Three years into my bus iness, we service Ashcroft Home s, Daytona Homes, Palmer Home s, Charick Homes and others. We have also been busy with comme rcial work such as The Gardens, a large retirement community behind the west-side Safeway. We landscape 40-plus hom es a year, and continue to rapidly grow. Our success is in part to the great teachers at the college. Thank you for all you did for us.
huge support when I nee ded it. I love this school so mu ch that I decided to work here, so I can contribute my knowle dge back to my school. Solana Ott Child and Youth Ca re ‘07 I have had many jobs in the field of CYC since completin g the diploma program. I hav e worked at group homes, homele ss shelters, day cares, and for the school board. I am an educational assistant for the Victor ia School Board and I love it.
Adam James Cole Engineering Design & Drafting Technolog y ‘09 I am happily working in Saskatoon as a draftin g technologist. I have to thank all of the teachers I had ove r my two-year course for ma king me over-qualified for my cur rent position.
Carmen Thirsk Interior Design ‘07 After graduating from Interior Design, I went directly to SAIT for a diploma in archit ectural technologies, majoring in building development . After graduation I was hired by PCL Construction Managem ent Inc. as a field co-ordinator .
Lorelei Huang Nursing ‘07 General Studies ‘05 Bret Wolfer I graduated from the NE Business Administra SA tion ‘03 program and worked at Chinook After graduation I mo ved to Regional Hospital for Medicine Hat and soo a while. n after Now I’m working as an started work in the fina RN at ncial the Let hbridge College Health services industry. I hav e been Centre. I also teach firs working with Servus Cre t-year dit students in the Practic Union for four years now al Nursing and, pro gram. When I first cam after some moving aro e to und, I have the colleg e, my English wasn’t returned to Lethbridg e to open ver y good and I needed lots our new Uplands locatio of n. I am help from my instructo excited to be back in Let rs and hbridge. my cla ssm ates. Mary Coles, Tyson Leavitt Health Centre manager, gave me
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Thank you to participa ted in our lostalumni.ca campaign by updating your contact information with us an d sharing the contest page with friend s. Congratulations to Laine Ripley, Fish an d Wildlife Technology 81, winn er of the $500 Visa gift card. Thanks to all of you, we were able to get back in touch with more than 500 ‘lost’ alu mni connected to Lethb ridge College stay informed about col lege events, alumni dis counts and services.
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