January 2006
TRU Board announces winter semester public meeting schedule
January 4, 2006,
The TRU Board of Governors has set its public meeting schedule for the coming semester. Community members and other interested persons are invited to attend meetings which will be held on the following dates:
Wednesday, February 8, 2006
Thursday, March 30, 2006
Thursday, May 25, 2006
The Board of Governors holds four to five public Board meetings per year. Meetings are normally held in the Panorama Room of the International Building from 3:30 - 5:30 pm. The confirmed location and time will be noted on the agenda. The agenda will be posted approximately one week prior to each meeting. For enquiries, please contact the Executive Assistant to the Board of Governors, Maryanne Bower, by email.
Free talks at TRU by acclaimed citizen-scholar
January 7, 2006
Dr. Alex Michalos, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) gold medalist for research achievement whose significant contributions to research in his field have helped to improve the human condition, will deliver two talks at TRU this month.
At 7:30 pm on Monday, January 16th, he will speak on Canadian Well-Being, and on Tuesday, January 17th, he will deliver a talk at 11:30 am on the Canadian Commission for UNESCO. Both talks will be presented in the Alumni Theatre located in the TRU Clock Tower building, and are free and open to the public.
Dr. Michalos, who established the now-32-year-old international, interdisciplinary journal for quality-of-life measurement, Social Indicators Research, is the author of 17 books, 88 scholarly articles and 180 book reviews.
He served as a consultant for both governments and non-governmental organizations in North America, Europe and Africa on quality of life issues and social indicators, and in 1993 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, where he served in a variety of positions, including President of Academy II, Chair of the Annual Program Committee, and as the Royal Society?s representative on UNESCO.
Dr. Michalos has also been elected to a number of other key posts, including President of the International Society for Philosophy and Technology from 1983 to 1985, President of the International Society for Quality of Life Studies from 1998 to 2000, and President of the Canadian Commission for UNESCO?s Sectoral Commission on Natural, Social and Human Sciences in 2004.
He received a TRU honorary doctorate last June.
For more information, please contact Derek Cook at 828-5244 or by email.
Wear orange for the 'Pack
January 10, 2006
The TRU WolfPack is offering fans a winter bonus this semester: wear visible orange clothing to selected WolfPack games and get in free!
"We'd like to encourage people to come out to games," said TRU Athletics Director Ken Olynyk.
"Once people come and see the high level of play and how much fun it is in the stands, they come back, but the first step is getting fans out in the first place," he added.
The WolfPack fan base has been all over the map in the past semester, with as many as 800 at the men's volleyball home-opener last fall to as little as 40 at a women?s volleyball match this winter.
The WolfPack has also initiated a $20 flat rate for teams wishing to come to games as a group. The price includes admission for team chaperones.
Seeing fans out in the bleachers wearing WolfPack orange and hearing them cheering for the home team is great for student-athlete morale," explained Olynyk. "These athletes give up a lot of time and energy for schoolwork and their sport, with not much left over for a social life. Having community and campus support means a lot to them."
Fans can "Wear Orange and Get in Free" on Friday, Jan. 13 and Saturday, Jan. 21.
On Friday, Jan. 13, the men's volleyball team plays at 6:00 pm followed by women's volleyball at 7:30 pm vs Trinity Western University. On Saturday, Jan. 21, the women's basketball team plays at 6:00 pm followed by men's basketball at 8:00 pm vs UBC.
For more information, please contact Aaron LeBlanc at 377-6116 or 318-1912.
Call for Skilled Students
January 11, 2006
High school students in the Cariboo-Interior enrolled in trades and technology courses like automotive service, carpentry, culinary arts, electronics, welding, computer automated design (CAD) and joinery should be thinking about entering this year's Skills Canada competition, says coordinator Cindi Thompson.
The regional high school competition is coming up soon: the annual event will be held March 25th, and will mark the 12th year UCC has hosted the competitions, which will be held throughout that day in TRU's Trades & Technology Centre and Culinary Arts Building.
By bringing Canadian youth into the competitive spotlight, Skills Canada helps raise awareness of current and emerging skilled trades and technology careers. It also exposes students to best practices in these career areas, and allows them to see the various educational and employment opportunities available to them, all the while bolstering their confidence and interest in their chosen field.
All competitors at the regional level will receive a t-shirt and certificate of participation. The top three in each contest will be awarded a gold, silver or bronze medal and will have earned the right to compete against other regional secondary school winners at the provincial BC Skills competition, with the winners going on to compete nationally.
2006 is also a "World Skills" qualifying year, so students who win gold at the national competition will be eligible to compete against students from around the world in Japan in 2007.
Skills Canada, a national, not-for-profit organization, is serious about professional opportunities available in skilled trade and technology fields. The average age of a fully qualified tradesperson in Canada is over 48 years, which means that in the next seven to ten years there will be an almost-100% turnover in many skilled trades, accounting for an estimated 40% of new jobs.
TRU is also very aware of this looming trades and technology skills shortage, which is one reason it has long been involved in Skills Canada at both the secondary and post-secondary levels, hosting regional high school competitions on campus, and mentoring university students who choose to compete at the post-secondary level.
TRU students have done very well in the past. Last year, Computer Automated Systems Technician diploma student Greg Hibbert, who won national gold in 2004, competed internationally, while TRU joinery student Graeme Herman, who also competed while in high school, won a provincial gold medal.
High school students interested in entering Skills Canada competition please contact Cindi Thompson at 250-828-5207 or by email. For more information, please contact Cindi Thompson at 250-828-5207.
New coach for WolfPack
January 11, 2006
There'll be someone new on the bench for the TRU WolfPack men's volleyball team's first league matches this semester.
Jonathan Newman-Gonchar, who most recently coached the Northern Arizona University women's volleyball team, came to TRU this winter to assist with drills and practice, compile team stats, present strategies and otherwise help out the team, was hired as Assistant Men's Coach over the holiday break.
Newman-Gonchar, an award-winning high school volleyballer when he graduated from Claremont High School in California in 2001, has since played club volleyball for Northern Arizona University (2002-2005) while earning his Bachelor of Science degree in Health Sciences at that institution.
In his last year of university studies, he was also head coach of the High Altitude Volleyball Club, training a girl's 18-Elite team for tournament play. In the fall of 2005, he was assistant coach for Flagstaff High School girls' volleyball. During his time at NAU, he was assistant coach for a number of other youth volleyball teams, and also earned his USA Volleyball certification.
For more information, please contact: Jonathan Newman-Gonchar at 909-260-7721 or Patrick Hennelly at 250-377-6118.
Nine students, six plays, one motel room
January 18, 2006
Local theatre company Project X's upcoming production, Suburban Motel, billed as "Six plays . . . One motel room," will feature nine current TRU students and six TRU alumni among the 21-member cast.
"We're pretty lucky to have the TRU theatre program to draw talent from," said co-artistic producer Derek Rein, a TRU theatre graduate himself.
His remarks were echoed by co-producer Samantha MacDonald, who was one of the university's early theatre students, involved in the first production staged in the university's Clock Tower theatre.
"We're lucky the students are here and have such great training," she said. "Our mandate is to essentially enrich the creative development of emerging artists in our community. The students are already getting a great education, and Project X gives them an opportunity to enrich their education and allow another step of experience."
Featuring six one-act plays by acclaimed Canadian playwright George F. Walker, the production will stage two one-act plays per day from January 23rd to January 29th, and a "Motel Marathon" with all six on January 29th.
The plays, set in "a seedy, cheap motel room out on the edge of things," feature "some of the most desperate people you'll ever meet," including a dirty cop, a kidnapped chef, a serial killer, a greedy widow, and a grandmother-gone-bad.
TRU actors and alumni direct all of the plays. Current students Dusan Magdolen and Adrian Mancini direct "Featuring Loretta" and "Risk Everything," while the others are directed by TRU alumni Derek Rein ("Problem Child"), Melissa Thomas ("Adult Entertainment") and Stewart Cawood ("Criminal Genius" & "The End of Civilization").
"With this production, Project X is giving four new directors a chance to spread their wings and practice their directing skills," explained Rein.
The directors also act in each other's plays, along with current students Kaitlynn Dewhirst, Chris Cooley, Jessica Pattinson, Alexander Ross, Gisella Guzzo, Tara Zanella and Chris Fofonoff, and alumni Harmony Maher, Claire Covington and Brendan Methot.
Peter Evans, Gayle Heinrich, Desiree Maher-Schley, Lindsay Galbraith, Kim Bennett and Andrew Foster round out the 21-member cast.
All performances will be presented in the Pavilion Theatre beginning at 8:00 pm, with the exception of the marathon, which starts at 3:00 pm. Tickets, available at Kamloops Live! Box Office, are $12 for each performance, or all six plays for $30, which includes any three evening performances or the marathon.
For information, please contact: Derek Rein 250-377-7277 Samantha MacDonald 250-377-8818 Kaitlynn Dewhirst 250-574-3472