OPEN ACCESS WEEKStudents and faculty gather to examine open access tools, opportunities, p. 9

A QUICK DEGREEHow a student veteran is breezing through his post-secondary, p. 2

REINSTATE HOCKEYOur sports editor talked to the man working to reinstate WolfPack Hockey, p. 11

Volume 24 – Issue 9 www.truomega.ca Ω @TRU_Omega October 29, 2014

KamloopsVotes2014Who are you voting for?Candidate responses to our questions, part 2

Polls open Nov. 15

What you need to know about the council and mayoral candidates looking for your vote.

New faces at TRUSUUnion still searching for VP finance, but it has found a new LGBTQ representative

An OL student union?A petition has been launched to start a student union for open learning, but is there any demand?

CHEER GYM NOW OPEN IN KAMLOOPS LOOKS TO HELP THE SPORT GROW –FIND OUT HOW IT ALL STARTEDP. 11

2 October 29, 2014NEWS

Students at TRU may have noticed something different in Student Street on Thursday, Oct. 23. The Education and Skills Training program (ESTR) has opened a new student-run kiosk as part of its retail workers program. The kiosk will be mainly open Tuesdays and Thursday with hours of operation varying.

Products on offer include items from the TRU Bookstore and from seven small business entrepreneurs, including a TRU student that makes homemade jewelry.

The ESTR program trains students with cognitive disabilities with the skills needed for entry-level employment. This includes both on and off-campus work experience and partnerships with various employers in Kamloops.

The retail pilot project in Old Main is thanks to a $10,000 grant from the Robert L. Conconi Foundation, which the seven students enrolled in the retail program used to purchase a cart and point of sale system.

“[The kiosk] is a great opportunity for students to connect classroom the-ory to real employment training. It’ll develop student confidence and inde-pendence in addition to specific retail skills,” said ESTR instructor Leanne Mihalicz.

Students are also eager to learn en-trepreneurial skills through the project.

“I’m excited to learn what people with small businesses have to go through to get to where they are now,” said ESTR student Autumn Greenaway.

Since the project is a pilot project, Mihalicz said she hopes any profits made will help sustain the kiosk over time.

“We want to use it for student training,” she said. “We have worked on marketing, pricing, packaging and monitoring inventory, all things that the students don’t get an opportunity to work on in an outside store.”

“I’m really excited about it and I want it to see us to success,” Greenaway said.

The kiosk will run until Christmas break and open again in January and run until April. Mihalicz encourages students interested in consigning items to email her at lmihalicz@tru.ca.

New student-run kiosk calls Old Main homeRetail students with cognitive disabilities get some real-world business experienceCarmen RuizCONTRIBUTOR Ω

Paul Niedonovich served in the Canadian Armed Forces for 14 years in both the primary and sup-plementary reserve, and the private sector. Two years ago he suffered an injury and was deemed un-deploy-able. However, Niedonovich want-

ed to find a way to still serve his country, and with the sponsorship from Veteran Affairs Canada, was able to return to a post-secondary institution of his choice in order to graduate with a degree and work in a government sector job.

Choosing to obtain a dual degree in general studies and business, Niedonovich, who currently re-sides in Yarmouth, N.S., registered

at TRU Open Learning because of its flexibility with Prior Learn-ing Assessment and Recognition (PLAR) courses. PLAR courses allow students to gain credits three ways: pre-assessed training from employees or selected organiza-tions, creating a portfolio of doc-umented learning that fits within a courses learning outcomes or chal-lenging each course through one final exam.

“I have done a lot of self-study, reading books watching documen-taries and just basically absorbing as much information as I could like a sponge over the [14] years,” Nie-donovich said.

The ability to self-study is something Niedonovich suggests in order to successfully complete this kind of testing.

In order to challenge a course, students must pay $100 per credit, or roughly $300 per course. Nie-donovich decided to try a fourth option that costs roughly $150 per three credits. Dantes Subject Stan-dardized Test (DSST) and Col-lege Level Examination Program (CLEP) are prior-learning assess-ments created across the border that are often used in the military for those interested in continu-ing their education while serving. Niedonovich was told about these options when he first joined over a decade ago, and since then both assessment services have become widely used by college students across the country.

Niedonovich spoke with a TRU Open Learning advisor to deter-mine what courses he needed to graduate, and shortly after con-tacted the DSST and CLEP test-ing center attached to University of Southern Maine. Since then, he

has completed 48 credits worth of tests within 25 calendar days.

His DSST and CLEP credits will be transferred to his degree through Open Learning as PLAR credits, which means he receives a pass or fail for the credits. Nie-donovich already has one year of prior experience and previous col-lege courses he took before serv-ing, leaving 90 credits to complete. Niedonovich has saved $2,400 and said he spent roughly 30 to 45 hours studying for each test.

The tests are created in a format similar to the Scholastic Aptitude Tests (SATs) that are widely used across the U.S. Upon registering, tests are based off of specific re-sources that can then be accessed through libraries or found online. With roughly 100 to 125 ques-tions, tests take 90 minutes to 3 hours to complete. Niedonovich has done well so far, and his grades are currently in the process of be-ing accepted by TRU Open Learn-ing.

His sponsorship through Veteran Affairs has allowed him two years to complete his degree, which is one of the main reasons Niedonovich decided to not attend classes on-site for his required courses. The last time Niedonovich traveled to the University of Southern Maine he decided to take nine tests within five days. During the eighth test, Niedonovich passed out from fa-tigue mid-exam.

“First, my depth perception kinda went out and I could see the screen going to two feet away to three feet away, then it was an inch in front of my eyes and then it would zoom back and forth,” Niedonovich said. “I slumped down in my chair. I was basically done for the day.”

Niedonovich received a D on that exam but was considered a non-credit pass. He is currently waiting for the 180-day wait pe-riod to pass before he can retake the test.

When asked if he plans on tak-ing another group of tests in the same week again, Niedonovich said he most likely would not.

“My brain was fried,” he said. Niedonovich wanted to challenge himself and actually finished a semester (four courses) worth of credits in a single day.

Niedonovich believes this cost-effective and time-saving strategy could be useful for oth-er students to consider, but does want to take on-site courses to feel the campus experience.

“It ’s not for everybody. If you are a person who has a difficulty in basically going and learning on your own, or if you typically need a structuralized environment for learning and an established set schedule, to enable yourself to learn, then these kinds of exams may not be to your thing. They rely on you to independently study,” Niedonovich said.

Niedonovich first looks at the content guide for a course before registering to see if he thinks he’ll need help with the course from a professor.

He also suggests trying one course out first before registering for many to make sure this kind of testing structure is right for the student.

DSST and CLEP testing might be the alternative choice for those just looking to complete credits for their courses, but the classroom experience is always something to be considered.

Paying for credits through prior learning assessmentsTests for credit afford opportunity to veteran looking for quicker route to degree Ashley WadhwaniISSUES EDITOR Ω

Leanne Mihalicz (left) and Autumn Greenaway proudly show off the kiosk cart that was purchased through a Robert L. Conconi Foundation grant. (Carmen Ruiz/The Omega)

Paul Niedonovich hopes to finish his degree quickly and get a govern-ment job so that he can continue serving his country. (Submitted)

3The Omega Ω Volume 24 • Issue 9

The Omega

www.truomega.ca

/TRUOmega

@TRU_Omega

Thompson Rivers University’s Independent Student Newspaper

Published since November 27, 1991

EDITORIAL STAFF

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

NEWS EDITOR

ISSUES EDITOR

SCI-TECH EDITOR

ARTS EDITOR

SPORTS EDITOR

COPY EDITOR

CONTRIBUTORS

Sean Brady@iamseanbradyeditor@truomega.ca

Alexis Stockford@AlexisStockfordnews@truomega.ca

Ashley Wadhwani@ashwadhwaniissues@truomega.ca

Ryan Turcot@RyanTurcotsci-tech@truomega.ca

Kim Anderson@K_AndersonSaysarts@truomega.ca

Tayla Scott@taylascott3sports@truomega.ca

Rachel Wood@rachelwooodcopy@truomega.ca

Carli BerrySteve LeahyCarmen Ruiz

PUBLISHING BOARDEDITOR-IN-CHIEF

INDUSTRY REP

FACULTY REP

STUDENT REP

STUDENT REP

STUDENT REP

Sean Brady

Christopher Foulds

Charles Hays

Travis Persaud

Adam Williams

Hugo Yuen

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

COPYRIGHTAll material in this publication is copyright The Omega and may not be reproduced without the expressed consent of the publisher. All unsolicited submissions become copyright The Omega 2014.

Cariboo Student Newspaper Society(Publisher of The Omega)

TRU Campus House #4900 McGill Rd, Kamloops, B.C. V2C 0C8

Phone: 250-828-5069Advertising inquiries:

accounts@truomega.ca

PUBLISHING

/tru_omegaIn an event like the shooting at

Parliament in Ottawa, people like Michael Zehaf-Bibeau rightfully lose their identity. Zehaf-Bibeau became “the gunman” or “the shooter” and little more than that. Canada’s heroic Sergeant-at-Arms Kevin Vickers did not shoot Mi-chael Zehaf-Bibeau, he shot and ended a threat to our democracy.

But now, “the gunman” is dead and Michael Zehaf-Bibeau lingers. While it ’s tempting to let him die, too, we need to do our due dili-gence first and try to understand the murder and violence he com-mitted.

The details of Zehaf-Bibeau’s possible motives are slowly emerg-ing. On Sunday, Oct. 26, the RCMP released a carefully word-ed statement saying that he was “driven by ideological and political motives,” and that he “prepared a video recording of himself just pri-or to conducting this attack.” Later that evening, CBC reported that in the video, Zehaf-Bibeau refer-ences “foreign policy as motivation for his actions and that he praises Allah in the recording,” though it only cited “a source familiar with the investigation.”

But before that, it was reported that three years ago, Zehaf-Bibeau asked a B.C. judge to put him in jail to help him break the cycle of his drug addiction. In the psycho-

logical assessment that preceded his trial, he is quoted as saying “If you release me what’s going to happen again? Probably the same loop and I’m going to be right back here again,” and “I’m a crack addict and at the same time I’m a religious person… I want to sacrifice free-dom and good things… so when I come out, I’ll appreciate the things of life more and be clean.”

A psychiatrist found Ze-haf-Bibeau fit to stand trial and the judge agreed to detain him, even wishing him good luck in his recovery.

A person’s mental health histo-ry is pretty difficult to nail down if they never seek help through conventional means. But it ’s clear that Zehaf-Bibeau did seek help and that he found himself in a desperate situation, one he like-ly knew he’d gotten himself into. Homelessness and drug addiction tend not to happen in a vacuum and there are reasons why mental illness is so common among street people.

So how does this explain the disgusting murder and violence he committed in Ottawa? I don’t think it does – at least not directly. Mentally ill or not, it ’s clear that Zehaf-Bibeau was a vulnerable person on the margins of our soci-ety, and now it appears that he was later radicalized; he was pushed to the edge of his religion and then outside of it into extremism.

Radical Islamism is very much something we have externalized.

When the news of the shooting first broke, our inclination was to look at where he came from and why. He didn’t come from any-where – he was born in Canada. It became increasingly difficult to externalize Zehaf-Bibeau and his actions and we all grew more and more uncomfortable with the story.

If Zehaf-Bibeau had turned out to just be a run-of-the-mill terror-ist, it would have been much more convenient, especially to those looking to pass legislation in the wake of the shooting.

There’s cause for reservation in doing so. On Friday, Oct. 24, just two days after the shooting, the Security Intelligence Review Committee, the body that oversees CSIS, tabled its report criticizing the spy agency for delays and mis-leading behaviour.

The timing of the report is cru-cial, since it came just before the government introduced legisla-tion that expands CSIS powers in tracking suspects abroad.

On Monday, Oct. 27, the govern-ment tabled Bill C-44, or known by its more defensible name, the “Protection of Canada from Ter-rorists Act.” Who would ever op-pose a bill with a name like that, especially after what the country has been through?

If Zehaf-Bibeau’s acts of mur-der and violence are going to be used for any political purpose, how about better support for those with mental illness and substance abuse problems? editor@truomega.ca

OPINION & EDITORIAL

What we need to remember before we forget his namePause is needed before using shooting as legislative boonSean BradyEDITOR-IN-CHIEF Ω

TUNE IN/TUNE OUT

Well, we had a national trage-dy last week. Some idiot thought he would off the Prime Minister, but, not surprisingly, failed and got himself shot. Now, I’m not entire-ly sure what the public reaction to this will be way out here on the West Coast, but I’m thinking this won’t be happening again anytime soon.

Crazy people will do crazy things; no way to avoid that. I mean, can you really blame some-one for holding the Prime Min-ister accountable for bad things the government does? No, sure can’t, but you can blame the hell out of him for killing a soldier and wounding four other people. But crazy people are as crazy people do. I’m not afraid of that happen-ing again, I’m more afraid of the response to this tragedy.

This was not a terrorist attack (okay, it was, but not organized terrorism like ISIS or some other unified group) this was just one guy, but I get the feeling that this will be treated like an insurgent group operating on Canadian soil. What I’m most afraid of is the government stepping in, and, like in America, stripping away our freedoms in order to guarantee us peace. First, you can’t guaran-tee peace, there are always going to be stupid people that do stu-pid things, like the guy who shot up parliament. How many of you were actually afraid of terrorists in Canada before this happened? Not a whole lot, I’m guessing. But now? Probably lots, I’d wager.

So what happens now? I got no clue on that one. I’m just a member of the public, I got no say in what the government does. But wait, isn’t the government beholden to the people? Yes, but the majority of people are reactionary and quick to jump to conclusions. That’s why we have a government in the first place; cooler heads should prevail in times of tension. But that’s not how it works most of the time. The government’s beholden to the people, so if the people are reactionary, then the government will be the same. Where’s these so called ‘cooler heads?’ They’re the commentators, the people offering their opinions, not the ones dictat-ing terms.

So where does this lead us? No-where good, I’ll tell you that for free. For five bucks I’ll tell you that this really isn’t a big deal. Our security is relaxed because we’re not a nation people really have beef with. It was exposed because of this, but that doesn’t mean we need more sanctions on security, it just means we need to tell our security dudes; ‘you know, just because nothing happens doesn’t give you an excuse to nap on the job.’ My fear is that our securities going to get cranked up to the nth degree, like airport security after 9-11. There was a man who once said; “they who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.” But what does Ben Franklin know about modern democracy?

leahys112@mytru.caStephen Leahy is a third year philos-

ophy student who has been attending TRU since 2011. He has been living in Kamloops for 21 of his 23 years.

Steve LeahyCONTRIBUTOR Ω

Editorial cartoon “Shooting on Parliament Hill” by Bruce MacKinnon. Courtesy of The Chronicle Herald.

Editor’s note: McKinnon’s now iconic cartoon is available for sale, with proceeds from each sale going to the family of Cpl. Nathan Cirillo of Hamilton, Ont. Prints can be purchased online at the link below.

http://shop.thechronicleherald.ca/Cartoon-Reprint-of-Cpl-Nathan-Cirillo_p_5034.html

October 29, 20144

5The Omega Ω Volume 24 • Issue 9 ARTS

I could see my breath forming in small white puffs in the chilly winter air. I slowly and carefully climbed the little mountain of snow in my friend’s front yard. It was a calm, crisp win-ter night (or maybe morning at this point). I was holding her thoroughly unimpressed white and grey cat safely in my arms.

Once I reached the top of the snow pile I looked at my group of friends, huddled together like penguins on the patio, all eyes were on me. I hoisted her sassy, but non-objecting cat into the sky with both hands and belted out my best intro to “Circle of Life” from Dis-ney’s The Lion King.

I gave it my all and sang a jumbled mix of consonants and vowels to that unmistakable tune. I looked up the lyrics later, out of curiosity. The lyr-ics “nats ingonyama bagithi Baba” are actually sung in Zulu, an African lan-guage. What I sang couldn’t have been further from that language, yet every

single one of my friends got the refer-ence.

Like a few Disney movies, certain films stay with us as we grow older and some references and quotes just won’t die. For instance, in the 19-25 age group, Mean Girls is a film that is constantly quoted.

I challenge you to toss out a: “she doesn’t even go here,” “on Wednesdays we wear pink,” “the limit does not ex-ist” or “get in loser, we’re going shop-ping” and NOT elicit a reaction from those around you. Did I really just sug-gest that Mean Girls is an iconic film for my generation? I think I did…

Perhaps one day we will get tired of quoting the bright-eyed Lindsay Lo-han in her pre-rehab days, but I don’t see that happening anytime soon. As a matter of fact, just a few days ago a friend captioned an Instagram post with “he doesn’t even go here!” I liked it.

On the other end of the spectrum are the quotes that really should be put to rest. The ones I hear most often, that really touch a nerve with me now are from Titanic.

Who hasn’t seen Titanic? It is over-referenced for that very reason. I remember watching it in a theatre with my family and my mom literally jumping and scrambling over the seats to cover our eyes during the sex scenes. Pretty sure I had already taken sex edu-cation courses by then, but I appreciate the gesture, mom.

The tragic love story is too easy to quote. Well look at that, you found a restraining fence, I know what hap-pens next. Or maybe you’re leaning over the railing on a boat with your arms spread. With a devilish grin you wave frantically to your friends and an-nounce: “Jack, I’m flying!”

Are you flying, Rose? I don’t think you are. I think you’re taking advantage of that poor, defenceless fence or rail-ing and need to stop. To all the cap-tains out there who have had to suffer through this, I offer you my most sin-cere apology.

Since I don’t draw or paint, I haven’t experienced this one firsthand. But I bet that all you artists out there have had enough of it: “I want you to draw me like one of your French girls” (exag-gerated eye-roll).

So you want them to draw you nude, sprawled out on a couch wearing a gi-ant gem? Is that what you truly want? Or do you want them to laugh at your

clever link between a pencil, paper and nudity reference?

My guess is the latter, but hey, to each their own I suppose. On a semi-related note, is a hand drawn nude portrait the hipster version of nude selfies? A hard copy like that would be safe from hacks into the cloud… But, I digress.

Please enjoy films for what they are. But please, people, let us all agree to toss these overused quotes into depths of the sea, just like Rose did with the heart of the ocean necklace.

If these exhausted Titanic quotes keep going “on and oooonnnn” (sorry Celine), don’t expect my patience or friendship to follow suit.

Despite student and musicians’ frustrations with 21-plus policies at some clubs in Kamloops, own-ers and operators are standing by their rules and explaining why things are the way they are.

The Blue Grotto enforces a strict 21-plus age restriction for their patrons. This prevents le-gal-to-drink 19 and 20-year-olds from going into the club and from seeing live music acts over the weekend. However, sometimes during the week they host 19-plus music acts.

Owners want to appeal to an older crowd and are proud to of-fer a different club atmosphere in Kamloops. It often doesn’t sit well with younger patrons.

“They’re just throwing mon-ey away, I think,” Tyler Dempsey said regarding 21-plus age limits. Dempsey is the drummer of Fal-city, an alternative rock band that plays in Kamloops.

“I really can’t wrap my head around why there would be an age restriction on any show because the people who spend the most money and people who enjoy mu-sic the most are in their teens,” Dempsey said.

Falcity has been playing shows in the Kamloops region for the last nine months. They appeal to a range of 18 to 30-year-olds.

“You’re cutting out more people who would come to our shows,” Dempsey said. “If they were to tell me it was a 21-plus show that I was playing I would be really upset.”

Don Garrish of Business and Licencing with the City of Kam-loops said that the 21-plus limit doesn’t have anything to do with the City of Kamloops. He said that it is up to the individual busi-nesses to determine age policies.

“Nothing in the records says they can or can’t do it,” Garrish said.

According to Rob Medves, manager of Cactus Jacks Night-club, although there is nothing officially written in the liquor regulations regarding age restric-tions in clubs (other than the drinking age in B.C.) there are many laws that nightclubs must follow. Among them are the hu-man rights code, the terms and conditions of the liquor act, ca-pacity restrictions, proper ID regulations, providing a safe en-vironment and not promoting over-service of alcohol.

Beyond those laws, a club is free to create and enforce house policies. House rules like dress codes, cover charges, mandatory coat checks and age limits are at the discretion of each individual club. Medves explained how cer-tain house rules will attract and deter different types of clientele.

Teri and Kathy Willey, partial owners of the Blue Grotto, are adamant about their 21-plus pol-icy.

“We wanted something differ-ent than just the regular club. We wanted to create a more relaxed, mature atmosphere opposed to the other clubs,” Teri said.

The Willeys have owned the Blue Grotto for eight years along with other partial owner Kevin Willey.

They compared their club to Cactus Jacks and Shark Club, saying they want to give an older crowd a place to dance.

“We get couples in here in their 70s dancing the night away,” Kathy said.

“Would you take your parents to a nightclub? Would you take them to Cactus Jacks?” Kathy and Teri both said.

The Willeys don’t believe there are drawbacks with the 21-plus policy for their business.

“Never has it been a decision we’ve regretted,” Kathy said.

The Blue Grotto’s policies have been called into question before.

The Willeys said in the past there was a case with a man not following a house rule regarding the dress code. According to The Daily News, the man was asked to leave because he was wearing a tank top. He argued that women with similar looking tops were al-lowed inside. He took them to the Human Rights Tribunal of Brit-ish Columbia for discrimination. The Blue Grotto won the case.

The Willeys stick to their poli-cies. They have refused family and even had a band threaten to leave because they would not let a band member’s daughter in to see the show.

“We will not make an exception for anyone for any reason,” Teri said.

Jim Elliot is a 20-year-old jour-nalism and political science stu-dent at TRU. He has also been a resident of Kamloops for 12 years.

There were certain shows Elliot was unable to see at The Grotto due to his age.

“The Stanfields played there and I would have liked to go,” Elliot said. “I’m just a little bit disappointed that I can’t bring my business there.”

Elliot also felt “frustrated be-cause while the average 19-20 year old may be a drunken mess most of the time, I’m not, and I feel like I’m being unfairly pro-filed based entirely on my age.”

For now, it seems The Blue Grotto will stick to their policies and continue enforcing their 21-plus age restriction.

“Just because it ’s the minimum drinking age in B.C. [it] doesn’t mean we have to do that. It ’s what we want for our club,” Teri said. “Technically it is discrimination, but it ’s our club and we can have our own rules.”

Frustration over 21-plus shows

I know Rose promised to “never let go” but it’s time to let Titanic movie quotes sink to the ocean floorKim AndersonARTS EDITOR Ω

Carli BerryCONTRIBUTOR Ω

Based off of Gillian Flynn’s best-selling 2012 novel, “Gone Girl” is a movie dedicated to suspense, plot twists and ultimately surprising the audience in every way, shape and form. It’s a mystery, thriller and drama film all wrapped into two-and-a-half hours of screen time.

Now, before you start question-ing whether or not you’ll be able to sit through a movie that long, let me help you out. Director Da-vid Fincher has made “Gone Girl” a lengthy production, but it is in no way excessive. Each moment is fabricated so well that by missing even a minute, you are in danger of missing a critical piece to the puz-zle that is the plotline.

Enter Nick Dunne (Ben Affleck): A bar owner in Missouri who leads a rather bland life, aside from his deteriorating relationship with his wife, Amy (Rosamund Pike). When Amy suddenly disappears on the morning of their fifth wedding anniversary, the insanity begins.

The movie follows Nick on his quest to prove his innocence, as well as to find out what really hap-pened to Amy. The riddle is slowly pieced together as Nick finds his

way through Amy’s inexplicable disappearance, but it is not simple. With each development in the plot, what seems like the obvious answer becomes increasingly cloudy. Is Nick to be blamed for this tragedy, or are there other forces at play?

Supporting characters also give the movie greater depth. Amy’s ex-boyfriend Desi Collings (Neil Patrick Harris), Detective Rhonda Boney (Kim Dickens) and Nick’s twin sister Margo (Carrie Coon) weave in and out of the plot. The cast is a mix of high-profile ac-tors and actresses, as well as less-er-known ones who all tie the mov-ie together.

Aside from the cast, the movie’s soundtrack increases the intensity of the experience. Coined as “dark ambient” by the soundtrack produc-ers Trent Renzor and Atticus Ross, every note plays a role in keeping the audience on its toes. The mix-ture of calming orchestra music and harsh, rhythmic electronic sounds made my pulse quicken and hands sweat at times.

“Gone Girl” is a film that does not lack shock value. Twists and turns are inevitable at each passing minute, resulting in the audience not knowing what will come of the characters until the credits roll at the end.

Film review: Gone GirlRachel WoodCOPY EDITOR Ω

Alexis Stockford/The Omega

6 October 29, 2014ELECTION CANDIDATES

(1) Livability and Beauty-A beautiful, clean city becomes a destination

many people look forward to visit,-Becomes the source of community pride and it

is more livableFiscal accountability-Complete openness, transparency and 100 per

cent financial accountability at every levelSustainability-Quality management with a fondness for inno-

vation willdeliver consistently high value services and civic

projects destined to last for ages.

(2) People from all over the world are studying at TRU and I welcome that beautiful diversity. TRU and the city can co-operate to stage cultural events to leverage that diversity in a mutually beneficial cultural exchange. Let there be art to integrate us while safeguarding cultural identities!

(1) I’m introducing new ideas to the area. Some of my ideas revolve around the Kelowna Rockets arena with its second bowl of seating. I’m also ask-ing people for their ideas.

I want to look at the financial records of the city and I want to responsible for every nickel, and if we’re in debt, hopefully I can pay it off within four years and then be responsible.

(2) I know tuition is very high and I’d like to do something about it. I’d like to sit down with the university administration and work out possibly a deal. So, what I’m going to suggest is a second Lafarge plant, which will build concrete masonry

columns and, in return for selling products and opening up new industries in Dallas and Val-leyview, that money will pay for local student tuition. We’ll work out the numbers, but I was thinking 50 per cent. If you show your birth certificate, your student fees might be waved.

Pierre FilisettiMAYORAL CANDIDATE

Dallas PaisleyMAYORAL CANDIDATE

With the 2014 municipal election less than a month away, The Omega has created a multi-week rundown of your choice for mayor and city council. We put two questions to each candidate. See last week’s issue or our website for more candidates’ responses.

The city will go to the polls Nov. 15. More informa-tion can be found on the City of Kamloops website at www.kamloops.ca.

Who will you be voting for?(1) What is your platform and why should TRU students vote

for you?

(2) What do you feel is the role of TRU and its students in Kamloops and, if applicable, how do you feel the university can become more integrated with the city?

(1) I support Kamloops growing sustainably, such as increasing density and preserving farmland. I will advocate for services for people of all abilities such as wheelchair accessible facilities. I support making Kamloops a diverse, vibrant city including the downtown core. Finally, we need to invest in infrastructure like storm drainage.

(2) Through its students, TRU increases the number of skilled, educated people in Kamloops. This helps the individuals as well as the community. The research done by TRU and its student helps organizations grow.

TRU and its students also enhance the city eco-nomically. Money spent by TRU and its students helps local businesses thrive.

TRU speakers and cultural events benefit the en-tire community. As well, students support a vibrant local live music scene.

Integrating TRU more with the community includes enhancing city services, like addi-tional transit, as well as building partnerships, like further community-based research. It also includes collaborating on projects such as cultural events and conferences.

(1) Marg is a dedicated volunteer who loves Ka-mloops, green spaces, and preserving parkland. She advocates for seniors, people with disabilities, and children off the side of her desk.

This past session Marg developed and put on two workshops for locally elected leaders on un-derstanding budgets, as well as a session in May on best practices to recruit and retain family phy-sicians. Six Kamloops doctors were the result of working with government and recruiting agencies.

(2) Marg made supporting TRU’s international program as an economic engine one of three pillars of her platform in 2008.

A recent study has shown that the Trades and Technology sector will require thousands of work-ers by 2017. Perfect timing for TRU to continue

the good work of expanding this sector and investing in the students who will replace the baby boomers as they retire. This coupled with the new law school, research capabilities, means that TRU is and must be considered an economic force in Kamloops. We need to support and advocate for TRU funding so that students can continue to rely on an excellent education in a safe, healthy environment.

Nancy BeppleCITY COUNCIL CANDIDATE

Marg SpinaCITY COUNCIL CANDIDATE

(1) As city councillor, I will strive to maintain a high level of fiscal accountability and responsibility to all tax payers. Our tax dollars must be spent pru-dently and wisely. Furthermore, we must make an on-going sincere effort to find efficiencies in cur-rent spending to better allocate available funds and minimize tax increases.

(2) TRU is a community within our wonderful community. It plays a significant role as an em-ployer, cultural and arts contributor, helping young people become qualified, confident new members of our work force. TRU has put Kamloops on the map in a very positive way and needs our contin-ued support to ensure its students have a positive

experience in our sunny city. By engaging in more events and activities that draw community members to the campus, such as open houses and hosting events presented by students, residents of Kamloops and TRU students will be more connected. Furthermore, working towards more opportunities for job shadowing with local companies will foster a better transition to the workforce.

(1) I am dedicated to Kamloops. My approach is community focused and business minded. I support a Performing Arts Center, a focus on affordable housing and business attraction.

(2) Thompson Rivers University is truly a gem. This world-class institution is a magnet for cultural and social diversity. It attracts invaluable opportu-nities for our city in business, tourism, education and the arts.

The students of TRU encourage our communi-ty to think outside the box, to welcome new ideas and to be proud of the opportunities it provides its

graduates.I would be honored to formally represent Kamloops as a destination of choice for educa-

tion, business, healthcare, quality of life and tourism, but mostly as home.

Tanja HaslerCITY COUNCIL CANDIDATE

Bernadette SirackyCITY COUNCIL CANDIDATE

All candidates were given two weeks to submit material to The Omega. The following candidates did not submit material before deadline: Patricia Wallace, Glenn Hilke, Benjamin James, Peter Milobar.

7The Omega Ω Volume 24 • Issue 9 ELECTION CANDIDATESDon’t forget to vote on Nov. 15. More information: www.kamloops.ca

(1) Students should vote because it’s their God-given right. It doesn’t matter where they are, they have to follow the city council and make sure they do not overspend like this city is doing. Without proper authorization, this city is building round-a-bouts, they are building parkades—spend-ing $100,000 with no authorization, just by some-body saying “Let’s do it.” You need to get involved in politics and learn what your city is doing so your taxes don’t get increased.

(2) The role of TRU is to show Canadian friend-ship. There should be more advertising on TRU’s

International Days. That is a fantastic show and it should be opened up so the public really gets to know what it is and what happens in the whole world.

(1) As a city councilor, I feel I would be able to represent TRU students in a meaningful manner. I work at TRU and think I have a good understanding of their needs and wishes. I am a part of the Vision Kamloops Alliance and we have a progressive set of core values and principles. Details of that platform can be found at our website, VisionKamloops.ca.

(2) I think TRU is integral to the health of Ka-mloops, economically, culturally and socially. Coun-cil should lead the way in encouraging major play-ers such as Interior Health, School District 73, the Thompson-Nicola Regional District, industrial part-ners and TRU to work collaboratively in an effort to make our city a more dynamic, sustainable place to live. If these important groups joined forces on a regular basis, the sky is the limit.

I feel that the students of TRU will take a significant lead within the city and region in building a prosperous and sustainable future. The skills and energy they have will encourage emerging industries such as high-tech, tourism and green energy to locate here. That translates directly into jobs.

Reo RocheleauCITY COUNCIL CANDIDATE

Brad HarrisonCITY COUNCIL CANDIDATE

VISION KAMLOOPS

(1) My platform focuses on a vibrant and inclu-sive community for all residents of Kamloops. My key areas include:

- Focus on the long term future of the city- Expand multi-sectorial collaboration for eco-

nomic growth and diversification- Foster civic participation- Enhance quality of life and social connected-

ness

(2) I feel that TRU and its students represent innovation and growth, not only for the city of Ka-mloops, but also for our region. Having graduated from TRU, I feel we can further bridge partner-ships between TRU, the city and various industries

and organizations. These ongoing partnerships would expand student experiences and also strengthen job creation and retention within our city.

(1) Students at TRU make up a significant portion of the Kamloops population. There is a need for greater public engagement in shaping Kamloops and enhanc-ing and protecting our quality of life.

As a former Councillor, I see the potential for a pos-itive change on Council.

I believe your choice this election should be based on who has the best skills, common sense, and who will be mindful of your tax dollars... not simply name rec-ognition.

(2) I would like to see more accessible alternative transportation options for everyone. This would be for transit, walking paths, safe biking lanes and other modes to get easily and conveniently from point A to B.

If elected, I would discuss with my colleagues on council the benefits of increasing the options, the regularity, and extended hours for transit service.

As my most important initiative, I would encourage regular transit riders such as TRU student to form a powerful transit lobby group to represent the people that really know what is wrong, what is right, what we need, what we want, and how it will benefit our community.

Jenny GreenCITY COUNCIL CANDIDATE

VISION KAMLOOPS

Denis WalshCITY COUNCIL CANDIDATE

VISION KAMLOOPS

(1) My platform follows:Beyond the status quo: fiscally responsible, so-

cially conscious.-Approach City Council with a progressive per-

spective: Decide based on new information, not status quo.

-Challenge Kamloops mindset about labour: Specialized workers will create long-term employ-ment in emerging industries.

-Budget in a way that makes sense for Kamloops residents: Gain commitment from citizens prior to large capital expenditures.

-Embody social responsibility: Understand bar-riers of Kamloops citizens and create a connected city.

(2) TRU plays an integral part in the future of Kamloops as I see it. There needs to be continued diversification of our economy, but we also need to take into account the health of our community. Educated and specialized workers will create long-term employment opportunities in sustainable, emerging industries, such as those highlighted by Venture Kamloops: green energy, high-tech and tourism.

(1) My platform is about building community resil-ience through the retention of current business, contin-ued pursuit of sustainable industry, fiscal accountability and equitable taxation, addressing the challenges of a changing environment and depleting resource base, and promoting health living programs while develop-ing infrastructure to support them. These issues will affect students more than any other segment of society. I believe I can offer a fresh perspective while working with the student body and the public.

(2) The role of TRU is to educate and prepare in-dividuals to enter the workforce as highly trained in-dividuals in specific fields, ensuring strong economic stability and growth. The challenge is to create oppor-tunities that accommodate the training students have received while attending this fine university. This rests

with the city. In concert with university staff, students and economic development agencies, council can identify emerging markets, industrial opportunities and independent business opportunities. I believe in connections and feel that the university could be part of a larger group made up of mem-bers from other agencies such as Interior Health, Chamber of Commerce, and Venture Kamloops and ultimately be instrumental in determining a long-term vision for the city.

Daphane NelsonCITY COUNCIL CANDIDATE

VISION KAMLOOPS

Dieter DudyCITY COUNCIL CANDIDATE

VISION KAMLOOPS

(1) I have a proven record of dedication to our community through my many years of volunteering including working with the Serv1000 program at TRU. I will equally represent all geographical areas of the city and promote public consultation focusing on issues relevant to social, environmental and well-ness issues by building on the strengths, opportuni-ties and diversity that exists in Kamloops.

(2) I feel that we have just started to open the doors of communications and the possibilities for partnerships between TRU and our community. We already have partnership between TRU and the city’s water treatment technologies, as well as TRU and TCC, which allows to the city host to many sporting

events while giving tourism students practical experience. Partnerships between TRU, New Gold and Highland Valley Copper allow training and employment within our local area. As a city councillor I challenge you to look at ways to engage yourselves within our community. The last and most important item that you as students must ensure is that you vote on Nov. 15.

(1) If I am elected I promise to be myself ! A successful business person, a bold decision maker. The councillor you can count on to ask the tough questions. Thrifty with finances and not afraid to say no. I am a three-term councillor with proven abilities to plan effectively for the future.

(2) I believe TRU is the jewel of Kamloops with positive benefits economically, culturally and socially. The students give our city vibrancy and diversity while making a critical contribution to our economy. Locals can get a first-rate education without moving away. Our city is more desirable to move to and invest in because we have university.

Council looks for synergies with TRU, such as putting our Tournament Capital Centre beside the campus and our present negotiations with the university to locate a downtown satellite campus at Stuart Wood School. As a councillor, I make decisions considering the effect on the whole community including TRU.

Andy PhilpotCITY COUNCIL CANDIDATE

Tina LangeCITY COUNCIL CANDIDATE

8 October 29, 2014NEWS

A former distance education stu-dent says TRU Open Learning (OL) should have its own student union, but he may be fighting an uphill bat-tle with little support.

Two weeks ago, Mark Swarek launched an online petition to TRU’s dean of students, Christine Adam, advocating the creation of an OL student union much like TRUSU. The university would collect a union fee from each student, which would then be funnelled to the union for advocacy, services and entertainment.

Swarek argues that the current sys-tem excludes OL students, since they are not members of TRUSU and do not benefit from its services such as advocacy, student saver discounts and health and dental insurance.

“It takes a lot of self-discipline and a lot of commitment and dedication to be an open learning student, es-pecially if you’re pursuing a program that way,” Swarek said. “So we need every support and every advantage that’s available to us.”

According to Adam, the demand for what Swarek is proposing is low.

“Many OL students are actually members of student unions else-where and they are taking a course through TRU OL, so they’re receiv-ing benefits and other sorts of ser-vices connected to their affiliation with another institution,” Adam said.

Only seven people have signed Swarek’s petition so far.

TRUSU president Dylan Robin-son said that, while he is not opposed

to a separate student union, OL stu-dents must collectively approve the idea.

“We’ve spoken to open learning about this issue in the past and more recently as well and, at this time, we don’t really believe that there’s wide-spread interest amongst open learn-ing students to join a student organi-zation,” he said.

He added that, if there ever were widespread agreement among OL students, TRUSU would be happy to be part of those discussions.

Swarek said he attempted a similar movement while he was a student at TRU OL, but support for his move-ment was limited then, too, with only about 10 people interested in his cause.

A union all his ownWhile Swarek said he still en-

visions a student union associated with the university, he is also taking matters into his own hands.

Only a few days after launching his petition, Swarek announced the Open Learning Students Alliance (OLSA), his own independently formed organization separate from the university.

“I realized that perhaps the best way to demonstrate to [the ad-ministration] that there is support from open learning students is to go ahead and form an organization, gather members and start delivering services,” Swarek said.

According to Swarek, he hopes his organization can eventually provide members with health and dental insurance, advocacy and stu-dent discounts on items specific to

an off-campus education such as software and technology. At the mo-ment, however, membership benefits are mostly related to forming the organization’s framework and voting in the first board of directors.

In order to provide health insur-ance and other standard benefits, Swarek said he plans to become a member of the Canadian Federa-tion of Students (CFS), a national organization that regulates student unions across Canada, including TRUSU.

According to Zachary Crispin, spokesperson for CFS British Co-lumbia, there are several Canadian universities with a separate union to represent a specific group of students. He added, however, that any union applying for CFS membership must be able to demonstrate that it rep-resents all students in that group, in this case, OL. The organization must also be ratified under the B.C. So-cieties Act, which requires each ap-plicant to have a constitution, bylaws and at least three directors.

Christine Adam said that getting the OLSA to represent all TRU OL would be a challenge, since distance makes it difficult for students to or-ganize. Adam added, however, that sending an email to all OL students “wouldn’t necessarily be an unrea-sonable thing to request.”

She also said that the OLSA would have to be ratified by the Societies Act before the university would consider an arrangement sim-ilar to TRUSU.

Swarek’s organization is currently an unincorporated society outside of the act.

Petition to start a new student union receiving a lukewarm response, effort has been made before

Alexis StockfordNEWS EDITOR Ω

The TRUSU board of directors gained an LGBTQ representative and lost a vice president of finance last Tuesday.

Trad Bahabri was removed from his post on Oct. 21 after exceeding his limit of meeting absences ac-cording to TRUSU bylaws. Baha-bri left TRU after accepting a job offer and is now living in his home country of Saudi Arabia.

“It ’s really not that uncommon for folks to leave the institution, like Trad has done in this case, whether for job opportunities or to take advantage of study abroad or co-op or go back home for a semester,” said TRUSU president Dylan Robinson.

Applications for Bahabri’s posi-tion are being accepted until Nov. 5 with the new vice-president of finance announced Nov. 18.

“We’re not looking for any sort of special requirements,” Robin-

son said of the position. “You don’t have to be an accounting student or something to be the vice presi-dent of finance; it ’s open to every-body and everyone.”

LGBTQ rep vacancy filledDuring the same meeting, Me-

gan Graham was announced as the new LGBTQ representative, a post that has been vacant since Nic Zdunich resigned Sept. 23.

Initially, Graham said the LGBTQ position was not some-thing she was going to pursue.

“Apparently there wasn’t a whole lot of interest and I was ap-proached by Dylan Robinson to step up because I have a lot expe-rience in speaking and leadership roles and I felt that I could con-tribute something useful,” Graham said.

Graham, who is in her fourth year of interdisciplinary studies, has been working with the TRU Pride Club for the last year.

As LGBTQ representative, she said she plans to take up some of

her predecessor’s projects, such as integrating the pride community into the city with pride-friendly businesses downtown, as well as pursue some of her own priorities. Gender-neutral washrooms on campus are one item on her list, since she says the issue is import-ant to the transsexual community and is relatively easy to solve.

“I know that there’s a lot of flex-ibility in the role and I can kind of do what the community needs to be done or what I’m interested in and that’s really exciting,” she said.

“I guess I’ll be a little more visi-ble and in your face… I’m not here to be shy and we’re not going back in the closet,” she added.

“We’re really excited about hav-ing her on the board,” said Melissa Gordon, TRUSU vice president internal. “We look forward to working with her for the equity plan.”

Graham will be the second per-son to sit as LGBTQ representa-tive since the position was created in 2013.

Staffing changes shake up TRUSU board of directorsStudent union will see some new faces in the coming weeksAlexis StockfordNEWS EDITOR Ω

Megan Graham is TRUSU’s new LGBTQ rep. TRUSU will also announce a new vice president of finance by Nov. 18. (Alexis Stockford/The Omega)

Open learning student union fails to gain traction

Alexis Stockford/The Omega

9The Omega Ω Volume 24 • Issue 9 SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

Canada has so far been spared a case of Ebola in this most recent outbreak, but as the United States sees more cases appear, our senses have been heightened on the need to be prepared and understand the virus.

Students with concerns about the spread of Ebola can attend a public forum on Oct. 30 to learn more about the outbreak. TRU professor Michael Mehta will speak about complexities associ-ated with a public health scare, and answer questions that people may have.

“We now live in a world where risk has become a dominant

framework for understanding is-sues from the local to the glob-al,” Mehta said. “Many people are challenged with navigating their way through this risk society, and a key goal of the public forum on Ebola is to help us contextualize risk more fully and to understand the nuances associated with liv-ing in a world where technology, globalization, and the products and processes of modernity create risks unlike what we’ve ever faced before.

“In many ways Ebola is a test run to see how well our societies can manage and demonstrate re-silience in the face of likely larger and more terrifying future risks.”

The forum will take place at 7 p.m. on Oct. 30 in the Arts and Education building, room 162.

University to host public forum on EbolaOct. 30 forum will discuss the spread of virus that has ravaged West Africa and now appears as isolated cases in North America

Ryan TurcotSCIENCE & TECH EDITOR Ω

Digital content services like iTunes and Netflix are changing how people consume music and entertainment, so what stops uni-versities from using technology to make education cheaper and more accessible?

This question became a hot topic at TRU during Open Access Week, which took place from Oct. 20 to Oct. 26. The TRU Library spon-sored a series of workshops and seminars to give faculty, staff and students insight into how existing but under-adopted digital tools could improve the student learning experience at TRU.

“This is the third year in a row that TRU Library has sponsored Open Access Week events,” said li-brarian Penny Haggarty. Open Ac-cess Week, which started in 2007, is an event that universities around the world acknowledge annually.

Last Tuesday, Haggarty and Brenda Smith spoke about open access journals, which are pub-lished online free of cost and allow users to copy and distribute the contents freely (with proper attri-bution, of course).

“Journal price increases have far exceeded increases in library bud-gets,” Haggarty explains. “Not even the largest and richest academic li-braries in the world have been im-mune from these pressures.”

In the wake of cancelled sub-scriptions and compromises in other scholarly resources, Hag-garty sees open access journals as

“a means for institutions to provide access to their scholarly work with-out the burden of expensive journal licensing programs.”

TRU Library is also involved with the BC Institutional Repos-itory Network and considering de-veloping its own repository.

“Should TRU choose to fund and implement an institutional re-pository, the institution would be able to manage, store, preserve and provide access to digital content, including…open access journals,” Haggarty said.

The open access conversation later shifted away from libraries – TRU’s director of innovation, Bri-an Lamb, spoke about how existing and readily available open access tools could improve the classroom.

“There’s a provincial open text-book program here and a lot of faculty don’t know about it,” Lamb said. “A lot of students don’t know about it.”

The program Lamb is referring to is BCcampus’s Open Textbook Project. It is funded by the B.C. Ministry of Advanced Education and works to provide faculty and students with free, digital copies of openly licensed textbooks as well as low-cost hard copies.

Lamb notes that the student voice will play a significant role in the success of an open textbook system.

“If students don’t make it un-derstood that they would like to see this happen, it won’t happen,” Lamb said.

He urges students to do so re-spectfully, and “recognize that there isn’t an open textbook for

every course, or that there may be a good reason for instructors doing what they do.”

When Lamb spoke about the Learning Management Systems TRU currently uses in its classes (Moodle and Blackboard), a weak-ness became clear to librarian Eliz-abeth Rennie: “Teaching students to become proficient in Moodle or Blackboard…is only of so much use if they’re never going to use the systems again [after they gradu-ate].”

Lamb believes this presents a missed opportunity for students to learn employable skills. During his seminar, Lamb demonstrat-ed how an online learning envi-ronment could be created using WordPress, the content manage-ment system that powers over 20 per cent of websites on the world wide web. Lamb also noted that TRU implemented its own wiki earlier this year, and MediaWi-ki is a collaborative tool based on the same source code that powers Wikipedia. By learning tools like these, Lamb said “these students will have something to point to. If they’re applying for a job in an office, they can say ‘I can build a website. Here’s an example.’”

Carolyn Teare, who also attend-ed Lamb’s seminar on Wednesday, is working on her own open access project for the TRU Open Learn-ing OERu.

OERu.org allows students to register and take online courses for free, then apply for formal ac-ademic assessments to get credits towards a credential.

Lamb concluded the Open Ac-

cess Week events by giving faculty, staff and students a chance to try various open education resources for themselves.

He said that feedback will play an important role in TRU’s open access innovations.

“I really depend on student feed-back to tell me whether what I’m doing is helpful,” he said.

“If one student tells me they find

something confusing, there are probably 10 to 100 others who feel the same way. If there are things students want to do that I am not doing now or planning to do, I can guarantee I won’t do it if a student doesn’t ask for it. I can’t promise I will implement everything a stu-dent asks for, but I can definitely promise that I’ll listen carefully, take it seriously and investigate it.”

Cheaper, more accessible open access learningOpen Access Week highlights promising tools, hopes to raise student/faculty awareness, adoptionRyan TurcotSCIENCE & TECH EDITOR Ω

Brian Lamb demonstrates how WordPress can enhance a digital class-room. (Ryan Turcot/The Omega)

10 October 29, 2014COMICS & PUZZLESPuzzle of the Week #7 – Haunted Yard Plans

You are planning a haunted yard for Hallowe’en. You have a lot of whatyou require already, but money is tight. You have $20 to spend. You havecome up with a list of scary stuff with each item’s cost and scariness (peroccurrence):

1. haunted doorbell (one only): $3, 2 scary points

2. tombstone: $2, 1 scary point but doubled if 5 or more tombstones

3. scary tomb: $10, 5 scary points

4. vampire figure: $15, 5 scary points

5. vampire costume and makeup: $10, 10 scary points

6. small, carved pumpkin: $3, 1 scary point

7. large, carved pumpkin: $5, 2 scary points

You do not want an insipid haunted yard so it must have at least threeitems and at least 20 scary points.

How many different haunted yards can you come up with if you do notrepeat any items? How about if you can repeat items as much as you canafford (except for the one marked “one only”)? (You do not have to spendall of the money.)

This contest is sponsored by the Mathematics and Statistics department. The

full-time student with the best score at the end of the year will win a prize.

Please submit your solution (not just the answer but also why) by noon next

Wednesday to Gene Wirchenko <genew@telus.net>. Submissions by others are

also welcome. The solution will be posted the Wednesday after that in my

blog (http://genew.ca/) and in the Math Centre (HL304). Come visit: we are

friendly.

11The Omega Ω Volume 24 • Issue 9 SPORTS

Since WolfPack hockey was cancelled in July due to a funding shortfall, Trevor Bast has been working diligently to get it back.

Bast was surprised by the cancellation. He had no idea that the team was strug-gling with funding. Bast’s son, Desmond, was recruited by the WolfPack 12 days before the cancellation was announced.

“I was just disappointed that he had perhaps his last competitive hockey game last spring and didn’t even know it. It was kind of pulled out from under him,” Bast said.

Bast immediately began trying to raise the money in a last ditch effort to help the team play for the season. Bast estimates between $25,000 and $30,000 would have been needed to get the sea-son on track. He couldn’t raise the funds in time.

Bast, who lives in Victoria, now has his sights set on getting the team rein-stated for next season. Former WolfPack player Cam Weir has been working with Bast on this project.

“We’re going to have to come up with a plan that shows that we can get this team back, and the TRU athletic department and university will not have to step in and provide funding to bail us out,” Bast said.

“They’re not interested in the sen-timental side of it because they had to bail out the program for a couple of the years when it was struggling and they didn’t have that in their budget. I get where they’re coming from to a degree, but I also want them to be extremely open-minded when it comes to allowing the program back.”

So far, Bast’s financial plan includes raising player fees from the previous $1,500 to $2,000. It also includes “really pounding the pavement” to find spon-sorship.

This will mean the WolfPack players finding sponsorship, as well as Bast.

“They were able to fundraise around $20,000 for last season. That’s pretty good for student athletes to be able to do that for their program,” Bast said. “We’ll hit up other areas of TRU. Maybe vari-ous faculties within the school will bene-fit from having those students.”

Bast is confident that sponsorship will

be found to fund the team for another year, but that might not be enough.

“TRU isn’t interested in what we can do for one year. They want to know what we can do for five years,” Bast said. “That’s a lot to ask for sponsors and do-nors but that’s what we’re up against.”

Bast hopes to have sponsorship com-mitments by early December.

Bast will present his financial plan at a B.C. Intercollegiate Hockey League meeting, to receive critique and sugges-tions before he presents it to TRU.

“It’s not just the athletic department

who has the final say on this. There’s a few different departments and heads that have to sign off on it,” Bast said. “There’s a process we have to go through to re-apply to get in and under the um-brella of Thompson Rivers University.”

Bast hopes to present the plan right before Christmas break.

“I’ve picked this time frame because we don’t want to get behind in the re-cruiting game. I would like to be recruit-ing players by January because that’s when players start picking universities,” Bast said.

Along with the financial plan, Bast will also be presenting his petition to reinstate the WolfPack hockey team. Bast posted the petition online on Oct. 18. He set a goal of 5,000 signatures. So far more than 390 people have signed it. Bast addressed the petition to the uni-versity and president Alan Shaver.

“The petition is a venue for showing, in the comments section, what the team means to different types of people who have either played in the program, have children in the program or who have children coming up who might be able to play in the program,” Bast said.

“Money will run the program, but there’s passion for the program. I want to show that there’s passion for hockey at TRU and passion for university hock-ey in general. It’s important and lots of these kids don’t go to school if they’re not playing hockey,” Bast said. “I don’t think you can put a dollar value on the program.”

Bast hopes that if the program does get reinstated it will be run differently, with more attention paid to the business side of things. But more than anything, Bast is hoping that WolfPack hockey will be back on the ice for next season.

TRU alumnae Keri Lewis and Aly Bradford are adding to the progression of cheerleading in Kamloops, hoping to continue the growth of a sport they’ve seen an increasing interested in.

“Now Kamloops is a big enough city and people are more aware of the sport,” Lewis said. “The rate of growth that we saw when we were working at KGTC was just phenomenal. It was packed in there. There wasn’t enough room for the growth that Aly and I had envisioned.”

Lewis and Bradford were the main cheer instructors at Kam-loops Gymnastics and Trampoline Centre (KGTC) before they de-

cided to start their own business. They opened a gym called Freeze Athletics in September, the first gym in Kamloops only for cheer-leading.

Lewis attributed the spike in attendance at KGTC to free cheerleading demos and pro-motional activities she had done while working at the there.

“We saw that kids were loving it and they were amazed that it was even an option in Kamloops,” she said.

The WolfPack cheerleading team has also seen growth in the past few years, going from 12 ath-letes in the 2011-12 season, to 30 athletes in the 2014-15 season, more than doubling its roster. Bradford coached the team before graduating in 2008.

“We’ve got a good relationship

with them. We like to cheer them on and they cheer us on when they can. It ’s pretty good to see the sport progressing,” Lewis said.

“The big competition of the year is called Sea to Sky [Inter-national Cheerleading Champi-onships] in Vancouver. It ’s a big competition because they hand out bids to the Summit Champi-onships,” Lewis said.

WolfPack cheerleaders will also compete at Sea to Sky on April 17 and 18.

“Every team that goes out has a two and a half minute routine. You’re trying to pack all of the things that you need to hit on your score card into that two and a half minutes,” Lewis said.

“It ’s pretty cool to see the origi-nality that comes out. [Each] rou-tine looks completely different.”

Emma Humphrey, who is on the junior team, has been in cheerleading for seven years.

“I wanted to get into cheerlead-ing because I used to dance and do gymnastics and cheerleading is a combination of both. It ’s ex-ercising and dancing and every-thing. It ’s awesome,” Humphrey said.

Cierra Gallagher is also on the junior team. She has been in cheerleading for three years.

“I tried it during summer a few years ago and I really liked it. It was really fun and I plan on do-ing it until I can’t be in cheer any-more,” Gallagher said.

Lewis regards the future of cheerleading in Kamloops bright-ly.

“Kids are looking for it, they’re looking for something glittery and sparkly but also super athlet-ic,” Lewis said.

The man with a plan to reinstate WolfPack hockey

New cheer gym in Kamloops looks to continue growth of sport

Petition and financial plan serve as boons to reinstatment of shut down pay-to-play teamTayla ScottSPORTS EDITOR Ω

Tayla ScottSPORTS EDITOR Ω

Trevor Bast and his son Desmond. (Sandra Bast/Submitted)

Liv Crane, Bailey Smode and Emma Humphrey stunting in the air at their cheerleading practice at Freeze Athletics. (Tayla Scott/The Omega)

October 29, 201412