September 2006
TRU, City, celebrate BCNET high-speed global connection September 5, 2006
KAMLOOPS-Thompson Rivers University (TRU) and community leaders in education, research and business kicked off the fall semester today with the launch of accelerated, super high-performance connectivity for research and higher education communications through
BCNET’s Kamloops transit exchange.
The
BCNET connection, up to 10,000 times faster than the commercial Internet, will expand teaching, scholarly activity and research opportunities without being limited by network capability, enabling partnerships and collaborations using state-of-the-art applications from networks across Canada and around the world.
TRU’s capacity to produce top-level research will be significantly enhanced by BCNET connectivity, said TRU President and Vice-Chancellor Roger Barnsley, as will the university’s teaching and training capacity.
“Connecting to BCNET will mean superb network connectivity for staff and students, allowing the university to engage students both in the classroom and distant locations, and to increase access to course, library and research materials as well as collaborative research projects, allowing the highest quality of student engagement possible,” he said, adding that TRU recently joined a network of other institutions that will share their resources and experiment with using remote nodes to manipulate laboratory equipment in labs around the continent, allowing chemistry students in distant areas to gain “virtual” experience using specialized equipment that is not readily accessible in their community.
On the research side, Barnsley noted, “Our population health researchers will now have much more effective access to the databases they use and our collaborators in drinking water quality research will now have 'real time' access to monitoring data that are linked to several ongoing experiments.”
“Kamloops has always been an important hub, and the Internet heralds a new trade route for commerce, redefining how we do business. Through the Kamloops Community Network, our city has built an on-ramp to the information highway, providing businesses and citizens with low-cost, high-speed communications via a publicly owned and operated utility,” said Kamloops Mayor Terry Lake.
Michael Hrybyk, BCNET President and CEO, spoke of the value of networks, communities and sharing data. “Staying connected to each other and to the world is very important,” he said. “Research and teaching require bits of data-it can be tens of terabits, or 10 trillion bits. This data is only good if it is shared with someone; therefore, the value of networks is our ability to share data among faculty and staff and the local and global research and education communities.”
The Kamloops transit exchange, part of the BCNET 2010 Project launched in 2005 with capital funding of $3.15M from British Columbia’s Ministry of Advanced Education, uses high capacity, "super" broadband links to connect universities, institutes and communities across the province, and is linked to similar networks across Canada and throughout Europe and the Pacific Rim.
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For more information, please contact:
Tamara Klein (Manager, BCNET Communications & Client Services)
Phone: 604-268-7865; Cell: 604-505-8455 or
by email.
Brian Mackay (Associate Vice President, TRU IT Services)
Phone: 250-828-5326 or
by email.
Jeff Putnam (CEO, Venture Kamloops)
Phone: 250-828-6818 or
by email.
Background:A global system of education and research networks involves 42 nations around the world; all European and Pacific Rim countries have research networks.
Canada connects to the worldwide research network through the Canadian national advanced network, CA*net4, operated by CANARIE, with each of the 10 provinces responsible for building and managing an optical regional advanced network, which in BC is built and managed by BCNET.
The BCNET 2010 Project, launched in 2005 with capital funding of $3.15M from the British Columbia Ministry of Advanced Education, aims to deliver a next-generation network using high capacity, "super" broadband links connecting universities and institutes across the province.
Partnering closely with
CANARIE, BCNET built 10-gigabit intercity links connecting new communities to the provincial Optical Regional Network (ORAN) which connects to the national CA*net4 network and the global research network.
Advanced networks, often called research networks, are super-high-performance networks, highly flexible and customizable for specialized projects, designed exclusively to connect the world's universities and other research and education institutions to support experimental and collaborative efforts in education and research. Up to 10,000 times faster than the commercial Internet, these specialized advanced networks provide the backbone for innovation in research, education and science in British Columbia.
Using lightpaths, which are direct point-to-point channels or dedicated wave signals, researchers can transmit massive quantities of data at the speed of light, and enable interconnection between scientific equipment, instruments, sensors and databases.
Through advanced research networks and data exchange centres, called transit exchanges BCNET brings unprecedented capacity for science, research, business development and innovation, which will enable campuses in BC communities to connect to a local exchange, greatly enhancing the network speed and bandwidth available, with the ability to connect to colleagues across the province, the country and around the world.
BCNET has built new transit exchanges in Surrey, Kelowna and Kamloops through partnerships with universities, communities, government, research and private organizations, which saw the potential for super-broadband networks to bring a new communication information highway to foster economic development, research and growth for the information technology market.
Today’s launch celebrates this new connectivity in Kamloops.
In Kamloops, BCNET worked closely with the City of Kamloops and the Kamloops City Network (KCN) to deliver fibre and a central Transit Exchange or data hub where the community can connect.
In March 2006, BCNET lit up the Transit Exchange in Kamloops and today, Thompson Rivers University is connected to the BCNET Optical Regional Advanced Network (ORAN).
Danger: No (Chemical) Trespassing
September 8, 2006
KAMLOOPS-Community members are invited to attend two free talks on chemical exposure and health next Thursday in the Alumni theatre located in TRU’s Clock Tower building.
Environment and social justice activist Mae Burrows will speak on cancer-smart consumer choices in Becoming a Cancer Smart Consumer: the Issues, at 12:30 pm, and on Chemical Trespass and preventing Cancer: the Pesticide Connection, at 7:30 pm. Both talks are sponsored by the TRUFA Occupational Health and Safety and Human Rights committees and CUPE.
Burrows will give an overview of chemical trespass and occupational and environmental exposures to carcinogens and other chemicals, and the high cancer rates occurring in Canada. She will also talk about workplace rights, the toxins-free schools initiative and the need for right-to-know labelling of carcinogens in consumer products, in particular, cosmetic pesticides.
The evening presentation will also feature Dr. Warren Bell, member of the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment and integrative healing medical doctor, who will talk about the Ontario College of Family Physicians report indicating that children's health is adversely affected by exposure to pesticides, and Kathryn Seely, of the Canadian Cancer Society, who will talk about the CCS position calling for a ban on cosmetic pesticides, also covering cosmetic pesticide bans enacted in many Canadian cities and of the strategies used by citizen groups to win these bans.
Burrows, author of the CancerSmart Consumer Guide, holds a master degree in applied science from SFU. She is president of Reel Change Productions, Inc. a video production and educational consulting company, and Executive Director, Labour Environmental Alliance Society, with over 15 years of experience in environmental consultation.
She was a recipient of the Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment Pollution Prevention award, and the Western Canada Wilderness Committee Eugene Rogers Activist of the Year award, and was named Canadian Labour Congress Environmentalist of the Year.
There is no admission fee for either of the talks, but there will be a donation box for LEAS at the door.
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For more information, please contact Mae Burrows at (604) 669-1921 or
by e-mail.
TRU greets first f2f water tech studentsSeptember 8, 2006
KAMLOOPS-The first cohort of students enrolled in the TRU Water Treatment Technology Program’s face-to-face delivery format will meet their instructors and each other at a “meet, eat ‘n greet” breakfast to be held at 8 am on September 11th at the city’s water treatment facility on Lorne Street.
The first cohort of students, 25 First Nations students from around the province, will attend classes in four one week sessions occurring over the fall 2006 session, starting in September and ending in November.
The classes will be held at TRU’s Trades and Technology Centre and in the educational facility located at the new Centre of Water Quality, created through a partnership between the City of Kamloops, Zenon Environmental Inc. and TRU to provide current and future training and research opportunities in the water treatment industry.
“This initiative is a slice of our first semester,” explained Steve Benoit, coordinator of water education programs at TRU. “The entire two-year program consists of 20 courses. What we’re offering this time is the first section from each of the first five courses.”
Benoit, a 1980 electrical grad from TRU who taught at the university for 15 years before getting hired as water education coordinator in January, 2005, explained that the abbreviated program is aimed at allowing First Nations water systems operators to get the required training they need to become certified operators and also participate in an institutional credential system.
“This is a model program under TRU’s mandate to provide open and accessible education relevant to expressed needs,” he said, noting that “The current four-week face-to-face program represents a unique hybrid training opportunity for First Nations water treatment operators for the Department of Indian and Northern Affairs.
“It’s designed to provide operators with a flexible combination of in-class lectures supplemented by hands-on practical training, and other smaller regional water treatment facilities will also be used in order to ensure that a wide range of technologies will be represented in our program so that operators will not only enhance the skills necessary to operate and manage treatment facilities, but will be able to access a laddered institutional credential system through the university.”
The program has been running in distance-delivery format for just over a year, with 20 students currently enrolled. Just as the university anticipates attracting students for the program from all over the world, the current distance cohort is all over the map, too, said Benoit.
“Some of the students are just out of high school, some have been working in the water industry for some time, while some are looking for a career change,” he noted.
The Water Treatment Technology Program supports a progressive credential structure (certificates, diploma, degree) in keeping with the laddering concept the university pioneered in the province, and also allows for prior leaning assessment and recognition, as well as a flexible distance delivery format.
Those wishing further information on the program may call Steve Benoit at 250-314-6749 or email: sbenoit@tru.ca, or check out the TRU water education and research centre
web page.
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For more information, please contact Steve Benoit at 250-314-6749
WolfPack MBB loses key returnee
September 8, 2006
KAMLOOPS-WolfPack post Greg Stewart, who was named TRU’s 2005/06 most improved player and ended the regular Canada West conference season 3rd in field goal percentages and 4th in blocked shots, will not be playing for the ‘Pack this year.
After two successful seasons with the team, the 7’2” player from Kamloops has decided that he needs some time away.
"After considerable thought, I have made the difficult decision to take a break from basketball and school,” said Stewart. “I would like to sincerely thank my family and friends, the people of Kamloops, and Nevin Gleddie for all of their support and generosity."
"This was a shock to all of us,” said WolfPack men’s basketball head coach Nevin Gleddie. “I hoped that Greg would have completed his eligibility here as he was just getting to the point where he was an impact player in the league. I would love to have seen how good he could be in his 4th and 5th years. That said, I am excited about the young group that is here. We aren't overly big in the post but will be a better shooting team and better defensive team than last season, so now we will move on and put our effort and attentions toward those that are here."
The men’s basketball team plays its first home games of the season when the WolfPack hosts the McDonald’s Desert Classic exhibition tournament October 13th and 14th at the TRU gym. The team plays its first CIS game at home in the TRU gym on October 28th vs CIS newbies UCFV Cascades.
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Greg Stewart does not with to be contacted by media.
For more information, please contact Nevin Gleddie:
250-828-5272
250-318-8733 (cell)
250-371-5672 (fax)
Home tour highlights community-education partnership
September 12, 2006
KAMLOOPS-The fourth residential construction Project Home to be constructed in Williams Lake will be on view this week when Thompson Rivers University, School District #27 and the Williams Lake Construction Association celebrate the hard work of students, faculty and association members with a tour of Project Home 2006 on Thursday, September 14th, at 1:30 pm at Boe Place, just off Broadway Avenue.
Built under the auspices of TRU’s Residential Construction Program, the Project Home represents an ideal partnership between secondary educators, the private sector and TRU, explained Dr. Martin Whittles, Dean of TRU’s Williams Lake campus.
“TRU provided the instructional component, the school district provided classroom and shop space while underwriting the cost all of tools and equipment used on site ($20,000), and the Williams Lake Construction Association operated as the project underwriter, assuring funding and access to regional sub-trade skills in order to build the house,” he said. “This is the fourth year the programme has been offered, and a total of four homes have been completed, with this year being the most complicated design to date.”
When complete, Project Home will be sold, with all profits to be used as start-up funds for the next project and for scholarships and bursaries for apprentices.
“A number of school districts across the province have reviewed the joint TRU, Williams Lake Construction Association and School District #27 model, and attempted to duplicate its success. BC Ministry of Education officials have also identified it as a model for the education of future construction trades workers,” Whittles added.
Whittles applauded the efforts of TRU’s partners in the training enterprise.
“The Residential Construction Programme was born out of the imagination, enthusiasm, and energy of Mr Gord Mireau from the Williams Lake Construction Association, Mr Gordon Armour, and TRU, to provide hands-on carpentry training in Williams Lake,” he said. “By offering an opportunity for regional high school students to begin their trades education prior to leaving school, the programme has jump-started a dozen new residential construction careers.”
Touring the home Thursday will be representatives of the Williams Lake Construction Association, School District #27, Deans Ralph Finch of TRU Trades and Technology and Martin Whittles of TRU Williams Lake, and the 12 regional high school students who have built the home from the ground up.
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For more information, please contact:
Dr Martin Whittles, Dean
TRU-Williams Lake
250.392.8001
Williams Lake Construction Association
250.392.4808
School District #27
250.398.3800
TRU site of Campus 2020 public consultationSept. 22, 2006
KAMLOOPS-TRU will host one of 13 Campus 2020 speakers’ forums presented by the BC government to engage the public in a dialogue about a future framework for higher learning in BC Sept. 27 at its Kamloops Campus.
The forum will be held from 6 to 8:30 pm on Wednesday, September 27 in the Panorama Room, located on the third floor of the university’s International Building.
Written submissions are also encouraged, and the government has set up a
website in order to allow people to submit their views.
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For more information, please contact Paul Woolley, Communications Director, Ministry of Advanced Education, at 250-952-6508 or 250-213-1171.
TRU race amazing in many waysSept. 26, 2006
KAMLOOPS-When racers line up for the annual TRU Amazing Race this Friday, they’ll be getting ready, set, go for much more than a run around town.
The race was created to give international students at the university an opportunity to meet Canadian students in a fun way, and to help them get acquainted with the city, explained co-organizer Kari Pavlovich.
“The Amazing Race gives international students a chance to meeting each other as well as Canadian students, and to realize that they’re studying at a special place,” she said. “The race also increases their awareness of local businesses, attractions and historical sites available in our community.”
Organizers have capped the race at 15 teams of two international and two domestic students each. So far, students from 16 countries, including Finland, The Netherlands, Japan, Norway, Russia, Austria, Germany, China, Hong Kong, Switzerland, Colombia, Venezuela, Mexico, Australia, Sweden and Brazil have signed up.
These student participants in the TRU version of the popular TV reality show, The Amazing Race, join forces with Canadian students to finish the wacky course through Kamloops, running, taxiing, and even riding tricycles to get from one destination to the next.
Guided by clues, racers go to local businesses, restaurants, and parks to complete such diverse challenges as bowling backwards, dancing, gobbling chicken wings, shooting hoops, and binding their legs together to hop awkwardly along.
“This event is part of the realization at TRU that internationalization of a campus is really about the people,” said Pavlovich. “Our university offers study abroad, international program content, and a huge diversity of cultures, but personal relationships and networks are really key.”
“We know, from direct student feedback, that our international students (800 on average per term) are here not only because of academic considerations, but social and cultural ones as well,” says Pavlovich. “They rate “making friends and meeting Canadians” as a top goal when they speak of what they want to get out of TRU. So we try to help them make that happen.”
Canadian students are often as eager to meet international students as the other way around, since they, too, are part of a world where cross-cultural ease and relationships are important assets, added Pavlovich.
New this year is an electronic timing system donated for the day by the Sage Orienteering Club.
“This year, the race will use a system called Sportident which is an electronic timing and punching system that identifies participants at different locations,” explained Pavlovich. “It will help us to easily identify teams and to manage the timekeeping, and the racers will be able to see which areas they did well and other areas that they didn’t do well in.”
Warm-up for the race begins at 2 pm Sept. 29, at TRU’s International Building, with the race beginning at 2:45 pm, and winding up back at the university around 6:30 pm with prizes for the top three finishing teams.
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For more information, please contact Kari Pavlovich at 320-5728 or
by email. Video Footage from last year’s event can be viewed
here.
First Fall Convocation for TRU Features First TRU Master Degree GradsSept. 25, 2006
KAMLOOPS-It’s a fall of firsts for Thompson Rivers University.
The university’s first-ever Fall Convocation Ceremony, scheduled to begin at 3:00 pm on Thursday, Oct. 5 in the university’s Campus Activity Centre Grand Hall, is not as big as the Spring Convocation, but it’s every bit as meaningful, explained Josh Keller, TRU’s Director of Marketing and Communications.
“We decided to hold a convocation ceremony in the fall for a couple of reasons,” said Keller. “We have always had students who finished their programs during the summer semester, and then had to wait almost a full year to cross the convocation platform. Now, however, we also have a fairly broad contingent of Open Learning students who complete their programs after the spring ceremony, and on top of this group, we have students graduating from programs with January intakes, like nursing, computing and electronics.”
This year, that makes a potential 285 grads. As is the case with the spring ceremony, not all will attend, but one class will take advantage of this historic occasion: TRU’s first graduating class from its newly minted Master of Business Administration degree program.
The ceremony’s valedictorian was selected from that group. Addressing his fellow graduates will be Kevin Hewins, Master of Business Administration degree graduate.
Kevin Hewins was born in Campbell River, and graduated from high school there in 1998. After completing a Bachelor of Business Administration degree at TRU in 2005, he immediately enrolled in the new master degree program, while he held down a part-time job, at the same time maintaining a 4+ GPA for the duration of his intensive, 16-month program, where he was named to the Dean’s List and received the Convergys Scholarship. Kevin’s future plans include earning a PhD in organizational behaviour and becoming a university professor.
After the ceremony, which is expected to last about an hour and a half, grads, guests and dignitaries will make their way to the horticulture gardens, located just west of the Campus Activity Centre, for a graduate reception, to be held indoors in the event of inclement weather.
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For more information, please contact Josh Keller at 828-5008.