Feb. 11, 2015

PRIVACY DAYPrivacy and Security Awareness Day comes to TRU, along with new campaign, p. 4

VALUES EXPLOREDAboriginal values explored during CommUnity Innovation Lab, p. 4

OOH! KABSANew middle eastern restaurant across from TRU reviewed for you, p. 7

Volume 24 – Issue 20 www.truomega.ca Ω @TRU_Omega February 11, 2015

WolfPack women take basketball division title, p. 11

Urban planning expert Gil Penalosa speaks at TRU, p. 8

RIVER CITY MAGICExposure, local bands, and the trouble finding places to play

PAGE 6

2 February 11, 2015NEWS

Promised anti-terror measures are in the House, but experts are waryCSIS upgrade is too “secret police” for TRU prof

Youth vote is hard work for little payoff, say experts

A TRU law professor says he is concerned that Bill C-51, tabled in Ottawa on Jan. 30, gives Canada’s spy agency, CSIS, powers similar to a secret police force.

According to Robert Diab, who specializes in national security, hu-man rights and constitutional law, the bill allows CSIS to actively dis-rupt suspicious activities as opposed to gathering information and pass-ing it on to the authorities to act on.

“The idea was that there should be a clear division between the role of CSIS, which is a civilian intel-ligence gathering agency and the RCMP, which is a law enforcement agency,” he said.

Bill C-51, or the Anti-Terrorism Act 2015, follows the shootings in Ottawa last October. An earlier bill, C-44, also amended CSIS powers, but was set to be tabled the same day Michael Zehaf-Bibeau began shooting on Parliament Hill.

The federal government later warned Canadians to expect more security legislation.

According to local MP, Cathy McLeod, the new CSIS powers are similar to intelligence services in other democracies and will make the orgnization more efficient.

“When CSIS conducts an inter-view as part of an investigation, the sole purpose of the interview must

be to collect information, not to dissuade the subject from actions that threaten the security of Ca-nadians,” she said via email to The Omega.

“With its new mandate, CSIS could take measures, at home and abroad, to disrupt threats when it had reasonable grounds to believe that there was a threat to the secu-rity of Canada.”

McLeod added that safegaurds come with the new powers, includ-ing the need for a warrant in cases where intervention might interfere with Charter rights (such as wire-taps or suveillance within a home), a higher standard of belief and a limit of 120 days for disruption warrants.

CSIS would also have to report to the Minister of Public Service and Emergency Preparedness and be overseen by the Security Intel-ligence Review Committee (SIRC).

The new powers also do not ex-tend to disruptions that would cause bodily harm.

While Diab acknowledged these safeguards, he is concerned over what he calls limited CSIS over-sight. He pointed out that the SIRC only reports to Parliament once a year, has only limited powers to address concerns that come up on a case-by-case basis and relies heavily on CSIS’s self-reporting.

“The trouble with this new power of CSIS to prevent threats is that while the government has expand-ed the scope of what CSIS can do,

it has not expanded the oversight mechanisms to make sure that this power is not abused,” Diab said.

Diab’s concerns were echoed by B.C. Privacy Commisioner Eliz-abeth Denham during TRU’s law student conference last week.

“Robust surveillance needs robust oversight and I think we have insuf-ficient oversight,” she said, adding that Canada lags behind its demo-cratic allies (including the U.S. and U.K.) when it comes to overseeing intelligence organizations.

“There’s no parliamentary over-sight. There’s no civilian oversight. There are some specialized groups like the SIRC committee and the CSEC [Communications Security Establishment Canada] commis-ioner, a retired judge who does one annual report,” Denham said.

She added that a specialized parliamentary committee could be formed to provide more consis-tent oversight and “could acutally examine what is happening on the ground and compliants or issues when they come up.”

Who has the data?Critics of Bill C-51 have said an

upgraded ability for government organizations to share confidential information is a breach of privacy and violates civil liberties.

The Bill allows organizations like Canada Customs, Canada Bor-der Services, the Canada Revenue Agency and other public organiza-

tions to share confidental informa-tion if it is relevant to “activities that undermine the security of Canada.”

According to Diab, this is anoth-er area with insufficient oversight and room for abuse.

“They’re supposed to be exchang-ing information if it’s necessary to prevent threats to national securi-ty and so forth, but whether they are in fact passing information for these purposes and whether there are adequate safeguards built into the passage of this information is something that we don’t really have a major oversight body to police,” he said.

“There are oversight bodies for each of these little agencies… but there isn’t a sort of ombudsman or ombudsperson for the web of the agencies.”

McLeod refuted Diab’s concern, saying that there are limits to infor-mation able to be shared.

“Information can only be shared with designated Canadian Govern-ment institutions when it is relevant to their national security responsi-bilities,” she said. “Furthermore,

only those officials within the insti-tution who require the information to carry out their duties will be del-egated to receive this information.”

The bill also includes adds a “glo-rifying terrorism” offence the the Criminal Code, making any actions encouraging or promoting terror-ism punishable by up to five years in prison.

Critics argue that the new of-fence might have a chilling effect on free speech.

Likely to passLast week, Liberal leader Jus-

tin Trudeau announced that, while his party would like changes to the document (inlcuding greater CSIS oversight), the Liberals would sup-port the Bill, CBC reported Feb. 4.

Green leader Elizabeth May has formally denounced the Bill, but with Liberal support and a Con-servative majority, Diab says it will likely get through the House of Commons.

“It seems likely to pass in sub-stantially the same form in which it has been tabled,” he said.

Politicians will have to hope for the best but expect the worst when it comes to voter turnout among post-secondary students in Cana-da, according to a panel of experts on Canadian politics.

The Maclean’s on the Hill pod-cast paid a visit to the University of Ottawa this past week, inviting the university community to attend a taping of their show as it celebrates a year on the digital airwaves.

Maclean’s invited Conservative MP Pierre Poilievre, NDP MP

Jean Crowder, Liberal MP Irwin Cotler, Equal Voice’s Nancy Peck-ford, and journalists Paul Wells and Susan Delacourt to debate women in politics, the new Conservative terrorism bill, and the looming fed-eral election.

Wells, Maclean’s political editor, and Delacourt, the Toronto Star’s senior political writer, closed the show, offering up predictions for October’s election and discussed how student issues will play into the coming month’s politics.

“I think (the parties) feel burned by all the effort they put into trying to get out (the) student and youth vote, and then finding that only a

third of them vote,” said Delacourt.In the last federal election in

2011, only 38.8 per cent of Cana-dians aged 18 to 24 voted.

“The first thing you’re going to see in the next campaign is people trying to get those people to turn their passion for issues … into a vote at the ballot box,” said Dela-court.

Wells said the answer depends on “how you define student issues and how you define students,” cit-ing examples of initiatives that ca-tered more to college students than those attending larger universities.

He and Delacourt agreed that politicians tend to target the voters

they know they can count on.“Every political organizer is

keenly aware of the sorts of votes that they can sock away because they’re almost certain to have those votes come out,” said Wells.

Delacourt, author of the book Shopping for Votes, brought up how the voter-politician relation-ship has begun to resemble the way corporations treat shoppers, but said this might not be the case in October.

“I think it’s going to be a real test for marketing-style politics,” she said, after the strategy failed in the Ontario provincial election.

The podcast taping is among a

number of events and initiatives seeking to drive up youth voter en-gagement.

On March 25, NDP leader Thomas Mulcair, Liberal leader Justin Trudeau, Green Party leader Elizabeth May, and Conservative MP Michael Chong will come to campus calling on young voters to get engaged, as a part of the iVote series that also took place on cam-pus last year.

Last spring, former Liberal sen-ators created the Your Question Period initiative hoping to appeal to Canadians across the country by giving them the opportunity to pose questions to their senators.

Alexis StockfordNEWS EDITOR Ω

Jasmine van SchouwenTHE FULCRUM (CUP)

Law professor Robert Diab says more CSIS powers should mean more oversight. (TRU)

B.C. Privacy Commissioner Elizabeth Denham speaks about oversight and Bill C-51 at TRU on Feb. 4. (Alexis Stockford/The Omega)

3The Omega Ω Volume 24 • Issue 20

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@[email protected]

Alexis Stockford@[email protected]

Ashley Wadhwani@[email protected]

Ryan Turcot@[email protected]

Kim Anderson@[email protected]

Tayla Scott@[email protected]

Rachel Wood@[email protected]

Jim ElliotShelby PurchaBrittany Sing

PUBLISHING BOARDEDITOR-IN-CHIEF

INDUSTRY REP

FACULTY REP

STUDENT REP

STUDENT REP

Sean Brady

Christopher Foulds

Charles Hays

Kim Anderson

Mason Buettner

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:

[email protected]

PUBLISHING

/tru_omega

OPINION & EDITORIAL

An outbreak of measles shouldn’t bring back the vaccine debate – it should end it

It spreads through schools, through neighbourhoods, through meetings and in recent years, it spreads through the Internet. The “debate” over whether or not to vaccinate likely originated from bored, affluent, pseudo-intellec-tual parents who were skeptical and paranoid, but not quite smart enough to tell the difference be-tween a credible study and a load of fear-mongering garbage. At least that’s the impression I get after reading some peoples’ justifications not to vaccinate their children. The fear is so real to some that it’s as if by vaccinating, we’re all still roll-ing drops of mercury around in our bare hands and licking the lead paint off of our walls.

How much can we really pile on to these anti-vaxxers, though? The past is filled with examples of science gone wrong and mis-inno-vations that ended in folly. Lead-ed paint and gasoline certainly did some damage, we were wrong when we thought trepanation, the practice of drilling a hole in your head, did… well, anything at all. We sure got it wrong with blood-letting.

But that was then and this is now. Never have more eyes read more scientific papers. Never has information been so accessible and so scrutinized. Never has more re-search been done.

Some of that research is actual-ly pointed to finding out just how well we’re doing. Remember po-

lio? If you’re the average student at TRU, you probably don’t, and there’s a reason for that. Accord-ing to Immunize Canada, in 1955 there were more than 76,000 cases of polio reported in Canada, the U.S., the U.S.S.R., Western Eu-rope, Australia and New Zealand combined. Twelve years later, there were only 1,013 cases in those same countries. By 1991, polio was completely eliminated in the west-ern hemisphere, and it’s all because of vaccines.

And then there’s measles, the disease that should be eliminated, but isn’t, thanks to pockets of peo-ple who refuse to get their children vaccinated. According to a June 12, 2014 article in the Canadian Communicable Diseases Report, measles is the most infectious dis-ease known. In a fully susceptible (unvaccinated) population, every

infected person would infect an av-erage of 17 others – a vaccination rate above 95 per cent is therefore needed to eliminate the disease.

We’ll never get there if this opt-in paranoid ignorance continues. These days, there’s simply no ex-cuse not to vaccinate. The science isn’t only “out there,” it ’s flat out unavoidable. It’s also widely cor-roborated and its opponents are refuted with rational scientifically backed arguments. The choice not to vaccinate is the choice to be ig-norant, and while ignorance might have been an excuse 60 years ago, it ’s not an excuse now.

So yes, we can pile on, and we should pile on, because how many more outbreaks of preventable in-fectious diseases do we need to go through before everyone finally gets it?

[email protected]

Sean BradyEDITOR-IN-CHIEF Ω

TUNE IN/TUNE OUT

What is existence? Exactly that; ex-istence. How can you expect to have quantifiable knowledge of something that you aren’t even aware of? Except we have awareness of our existence, right? Possibly, but it isn’t as easy as that.

So far, all we know is that we exist as we are, as we were, as we will be. Past, present, future. But; can you tell me of the time you did not exist? Of course not, you didn’t exist then, how could you possibly have knowledge of it? There-fore, we have nothing to compare ex-istence against, at least nothing sound, based on logic and reason we humans hold so near and dear.

So; it’s only feasible to know existence and not non-existence. Take a moment and let that sink in. Like so many deep philosophical ideas, it’s simple enough until you think about it.

Now, consider Descartes; that guy who’s famous for saying ‘I think, there-fore I am.’ The reason he said that is because he couldn’t be sure of his own experiences. Think of it like the Ma-trix; sure you perceive things and feel things, but can you be ultimately sure that you’re not stuck in some pod with your brain plugged into a fake reality? Descartes couldn’t, which is why he took such solace in knowing he existed because he could think. But really, does that work?

Let’s say it does. All you need to do to exist, is to think. About anything you want; it’s your existence after all. How-ever, does that actually change anything? It’s not like we can stop thinking. I dare you, try to stop thinking. Good luck.

So Descartes’ theory is blown out of the water; if thinking is enough, then we’re already doing it. So where’s the problem? Well, because there has to be a meaning. That’s the way we think. Cause, effect. If the effect is existence, is the cause thinking? But then that means our existence is in our own hands, which it can’t because we didn’t choose to come into existence, which was our parents’ job. They brought us into the world thanks to their own thoughts.

So how about the cause being exis-tence. Well then where’s the effect? Can it be existence again? Is it possible we exist merely to exist? And if that’s the case, what’s ‘mere’ about it? Existing only to exist is the greatest freedom I could imagine. That means there’s no great answer to find, no great mystery to solve, nothing to do except be yourself.

Now that’s kind of a scary thought, especially if you aren’t prepared to be yourself. I mean, almost everyone wished they could be someone else at least once in their life. But in order to be someone else, you have to stop being yourself, to think like someone else, and stop existing as you are, were, and will be.

Once you can exist exactly as you are, then you can start to figure out exactly who and what you are. Seems a little backward, but that’s philosophy for you.

[email protected]

Steve LeahyCONTRIBUTOR Ω

Want to have your voice heard?

We’ve got room for you. If you’ve got an opinion on a weekly basis, why not pitch it to us and put it on paper? Politics? Social issues? Student life? Tell us all about it and you might find yourself on this very page. If you’re interested in hearing more, write to [email protected].

An iron lung ward filled with polio patients in a California hospital in 1953. Do we really need to repeat this? (Image courtesy U.S. FDA)

Anyone can be a victim of domestic abuse

Last summer, Hope Solo—one of the most recognizable faces in women’s soccer—was arrested on domestic abuse charges for alleged-ly assaulting her half-sister and 17-year-old nephew.

Last month, the charges laid against Solo were dropped. Throughout the entire affair, Nike and the U.S. national soccer team stuck by Solo.

The case stands in stark contrast to many of the high-profile domes-tic abuse cases that permeated the NFL last year. For example, when Adrian Peterson was accused of hit-ting his son with a switch, the me-dia and the public condemned him immediately, resulting in a costly suspension and the loss of his cor-porate sponsors.

Even though organizations like the NFL are just now taking these cases seriously, the divide between the public reaction to Peterson’s and Solo’s case highlights the fact that there is a double standard on how we view domestic abuse.

When it comes to domestic vio-

lence, all victims should be treated equally. But for the most part, do-mestic violence against men—es-pecially at the hands of women—is viewed as a myth or an urban leg-end. Many believe it simply doesn’t happen, or at least not frequently enough to be considered a signif-icant problem. Research suggests this is definitely not the case.

A 2005 study by Statistics Can-ada found that approximately 7 per cent of the women and 6 per cent of the men they surveyed considered themselves to be victims of domes-tic violence in the past. A more re-cent report published by Parity, an equal rights charity from the Unit-ed Kingdom, found that two in five victims of domestic abuse are, in fact, men.

However, even though there is ev-idence to suggest that a significant portion of domestic abuse victims are men, these incidents go largely unreported. While unreported cas-es of domestic violence are a harsh reality for women as well, police are still less likely to believe men when they claim to be victims of abuse.

Why? Because people treat do-mestic abuse against men like it’s a complete joke. This is not surpris-ing, since we live in a society that

has a very narrow view of what constitutes being a “real” man. We expect adult men to act like macho douchebags.

Because of this, any man who is caught being abused by his wife or girlfriend—as documented in sev-eral social experiment videos that can be found on YouTube—is auto-matically deemed a wimp or some kind of weak-willed individual who “had it coming.”

The Jay Z and Solange Knowles fiasco back in May shows that the general public is not above extend-ing this logic to a high profile celeb-rity. The now famous video of Sol-ange physically lashing out at Jay Z in an elevator led to more sniggering and joke memes than actual serious conversations about assault. Imag-ine if the genders were reversed, this security cam footage—much like the Ray Rice video that came about four months later—would have be-come another catalyst for nation-wide discussions on domestic abuse.

Domestic violence should be tak-en seriously, no matter who the vic-tim is. We simply cannot turn our backs on victims of abuse because they don’t fit into our pre-conceived notions of what abuse is supposed to look like.

Moussa Sangaré-PonceKyle DarbysonTHE FULCRUM (CUP)

4 February 11, 2015NEWS

Privacy and Security Awareness Day comes to TRU, along with new campaign

CommUnity Innovation Lab host to integration discussion

Who’s looking at your information?

Exploring Aboriginal values and successes

Social media, environmental net-working technologies and the univer-sity’s own security concerns were in the spotlight during TRU’s first ever Privacy and Security Awareness Day on Feb. 5. Approximately half of the 40 professionals attending the event came from TRU, with the remain-der representing the RCMP, Interior Health, B.C. Lottery Corporation and other local organizations.

The event was organized as part of the BC AWARE campaign by ISA-CA, a non-profit advocacy group for information technology professionals.

TRU’s David Hill, assistant pro-fessor of geography, kicked off the day with network technology’s role in environmental sustainability. He argued that a network of connected devices could streamline day-to-day operations of institutions, such as TRU, making them more energy ef-ficient.

“In the near future, the primary producers and consumers of data will be things, not people,” he said.

Hill added that the only missing step to such a system is a lack of trust due to the possibility of privacy and security breaches.

Social media issues also took the stage with Krista Lussier, chair of nursing at TRU, speaking on how to

educate people to behave responsi-bly online. Lussier highlighted a few “near miss” events in which nursing students threatened to discredit the TRU nursing program through in-appropriate Facebook and YouTube posts. These events, Lussier said, led to her incorporating social media et-iquette into the nursing program as well as the creation of a social media policy.

Lussier added that the common element of all her mentioned com-plaints was the students’ assumption that their social media accounts were private.

The day continued with a discus-sion panel of chief information offi-cers (CIOs): Lynette DuJohn from the B.C. Lottery Corporation, Lau-ra-Lea Berna from Camosun Col-lege and Brian Mackay from TRU. The topic of discussion was “what keeps us up at night,” with informa-tion officers discussing challenges of keeping an institution’s computer systems secure while maintaining ef-ficiency and user-friendliness.

Other panel topics included cloud storage, disaster recovery and pre-serving freedom of expression in the face of increasingly tight security.

When asked about his worst case scenario for a security breach at TRU, Mackay envisioned a breach that “compromised student informa-tion on the enterprise resource plan-ning system.”

Information on TRU’s servers in-cludes student grades, financial in-

formation and educational records such as transcripts. Mackay stressed that there is security to protect this information, including off-site back-up storage, but added that errors can occur, such as an incident at UBC last fall that displayed sensitive user information to other users of the stu-dent service centre.

Mackay said the best way for stu-dents to secure their information is to not share or write down their passwords to myTRU or any other secure service, advice that “can never

be broadly communicated enough to students,” he said.

After the formal portion of the seminar, a workshop on smartphone security was provided for TRU staff, and information was provided to students at a table on Student Street. The smartphone “boot camp” al-lowed TRU IT staff to instruct oth-er staff members on securing their smartphones. Guidelines for secur-ing included, passcode protection, disengaging Bluetooth and how to update a phone’s operating system.

Aboriginal values, law and the resource industry hit the discussion table together last week as the Com-mUnity Innovation Lab ended its first day with a multicultural flair. In-tegrating and Celebrating First Na-tions Values and Successes, a public talk with panel discussion, filled the CAC Grand Hall Feb. 3.

Keynote speaker Beverley Ja-cobs, former president of the Native Women’s Association of Canada, argued Aboriginal values of balance, respect and land stewardship could enhance Canadian law.

“[Aboriginal] law is about being responsible… We are responsible as human beings in our laws, and when we start talking about Eurocentric laws, we start talking about rights,” she said.

TRU president Alan Shaver called the session a validation of TRU’s policies and values, adding that the institution hopes to increase inter-cultural understanding over the next five years.

“One of our priorities is facilitat-ing aboriginal education,” he said. “We’re also facilitating internation-alization by bringing people from all over the world as students and then,

of course, we’re also serving our local students and we’re bringing them all together to listen to each other, to learn from each other.”

Jacobs was followed by a panel with representatives from Tk’emlups te Secwepemc cultural heritage, the B.C. Ministry of Aboriginal Rela-tions and Reconciliation, the B.C. Ministry of Forests, Lands and Nat-ural Resource Operations, TRU and Kwoiek Creek Hydroelectric Project.

Patrick Michell, eco development officer for Kanaka Bar First Nation, said his community is set to benefit financially and socially from their partnership with the government and private energy company, Innergex, to put in a hydroelectric project.

According to Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada the Kwoiek Creek project provides energy without building a dam by diverting 7.2 kilometres of the riv-er through a powerhouse on reserve lands.

Other panel topics included cul-tural heritage at resource develop-ment sites and traditional methods to ecological research.

Title troubleThe theme of the evening may

have been co-operation, but the ses-sion name led to friction. Chief Ron Ignace of the Skeetchestn Indian

Band rose at the end of the evening to warn the audience against the word “integration.” Ignace said the word evokes the policies and abuses

of the residential school system and may cause offence.

“We have to be careful about our terminology,” he said.

The CommUnity Innovation Lab was a three-day community engage-ment event held at the Campus Ac-tivity Centre.

Jim ElliotCONTRIBUTOR Ω

Alexis StockfordNEWS EDITOR Ω

Drummers Vernie Clements and Marissa Eustache open the evening with traditional music. (Alexis Stockford/The Omega)

Rien Okawa and Narayan Mitra show off their newly secured smartphones at the BC AWARE event on Feb. 5. (Jim Elliot/The Omega)

TRU IT services employee Amy Sampson instructs Karl Fultz on Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity. (Jim Elliot/The Omega)

5The Omega Ω Volume 24 • Issue 20 NEWS

Eighth annual PHP conference a successFrom Jan. 15 to 18, TRU host-

ed its eighth annual Philosophy, History and Politics (PHP) un-dergraduate conference.

For two full days in the Arts & Education building and Inter-national Building, students from TRU and other universities across Canada presented on topics rang-ing from oppression, to art and gospel, to witchcraft. The con-ference had a $70 registration fee which included snacks, breakfast/lunch and the wine and cheese

event. It was waived for TRU stu-dents, but there was an additional $35 fee if you were attending the limited seating event at the Plaza Hotel.

With their chosen topics, armed with extensive hours of research and practice, students argued, moved, charmed and convinced their audiences with eye-opening presentations, leav-ing the audience amazed. At the end of the first day, there was a special presentation in The Ter-race, where attendees were graced by the presence of guest speaker Colin Bennett from the Univer-

sity of Victoria, and shortly after the presentation, the wine and cheese event began.

After the second day of student presentations, a ‘20s theme event at the Blackwell Room in The Plaza Hotel began. The night started with conversation and drinks, followed by a presentation by TRU’s Tina Block on Reli-gion and Youth of the ‘60s, right before dinner and dessert were served, finally ending with a DJ and dancing.

Block discussed how soon after the Second World War, church-goers began using the church as

a form of status, and later on in the ‘60s, churches began reform-ing their services in order to en-tice the youth to take a step back from drugs and open sexual rela-tionships and to allow religion to enter their lives again.

Those who attended this year’s PHP conference agreed that it was a resounding success. Rooms were standing-room only and stu-dents who weren’t even registered for the conference still popped in to check out many of the presen-tations throughout the two day event.

Individuals who are interested

in helping with the 2016 ninth annual PHP conference should look for information on the PHP website, as some positions in the committee may be opening up. Those looking to support the conference can even purchase a shirt or sweater from the site.

Be aware, if you are not a major in philosophy, those who are ma-joring in it will try to convert you!

Congratulations to the students who presented and thank you to the students and volunteers who made the event possible, and thank you to the faculty who also made the event possible.

Brittany SingCONTRIBUTOR Ω

The flag is turning 50. What does it mean to you?On Feb. 15, 1965 the Canadian

flag was raised on Parliament Hill for the first time. After a year of looking over designs of prospec-tive flags, three finalists were in the running to be Canada’s na-tional emblem. Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson was in favour of a design that had three red ma-ple leaves and two blue borders, according to the federal govern-ment’s Canadian Heritage web-site. Imagine if Canada’s national colours were red, white and blue – sound familiar?

The red and white we are as fa-miliar with as well as orange and black, green and red, and red and pink were “proclaimed Canada’s

national colours by King George V in 1921,” according to the fed-eral government’s Canadian Her-itage website. Now the red maple leaf is a symbol of pioneers, di-verse (cold) landscapes and end-less stereotypes of riding polar bears, living in igloos and too many “sorrys.”

Clarence Schneider is the sec-retary and poppy chair at the Ka-mloops Legion. He was 15 years old when the flag was official-ly deemed our national flag. He doesn’t remember the exact events following the birth of the flag, but does remember what the flag meant to Pearson.

“I can certainly remember John Diefenbaker fought tooth and nail over that, and there were a lot of conservative elements with-in the country that tied to the old

country,” Schneider said. “The liberals under Pearson looked at us being ahead of the game – we had to have our own flag, our own identity.”

A country’s national identity is recognition of sovereignty both within Canada and international-ly. According to Schneider, Cana-da’s own identity has been grow-ing since before its change in flag.

“Pearson was a little bit more progressive and looked at it [as] we had to have our own identity, and we’ve been slowly doing our own identity probably from Vimy Ridge where we made a name for ourself in the First World War and then the Statute of Westmin-ster in 1931,” Schneider said.

The Canadian flag is recog-nized internationally as travellers choose to sew the flag onto their

backpacks and are often treated a little nicer in return. Similar-ly, historical landmarks from the Second World War include the red and white flag in honouring fallen soldiers.

“In 1993, I went into the town of Dieppe in France; there were more Canadian flags in that town than French flags. Canadian flags all over the place,” Craig Thom-son, president of the Kamloops Legion said.

Stepping over the border, one will see American flags hang-ing from storefronts, houses and stuck on car bumpers. The Ca-nadian flag seems as though it ’s not flaunted nearly the same as the American one, but Schneider, who flies a Canadian flag off of his house, doesn’t believe we are any less patriotic than our neigh-

bours to the South, just maybe not as “gung ho.”

“If push comes to shove, [Ca-nadians] will show up – certainly you see it on July 1,” Schneider said. “I think we’re just as patriot-ic as anybody.”

“We’re just subtle. We’ve always been more subtle…we’re just qui-eter about it,” Thomson added. “We just don’t show it in the same way as [Americans] do.”

Whether we fly it off our porch, tag it on our backpack or only bring it out on July 1, the strong and singular maple leaf with bold red borders can best be described by Maurice Bourget, speaker of the senate, as “The symbol of the nation’s unity, for it, beyond any doubt, represents all the citizens of Canada without distinction of race, language, belief or opinion.”

Ashley WadhwaniISSUES EDITOR Ω

Shelby Purcha/The Omega

6 February 11, 2015ARTS

River City Magic casts a spell on Zack’sZack’s coffee house is making a name

for itself as a venue for the local music scene

A double shot of Kamloops talent, The Caspians and River City Magic, filled Zack’s coffee house with original music on Feb. 7.

The Caspians are a young band that just radiates coolness. They played a mix of original tunes like “I drank the wine,” which is a song about getting wine drunk at a house party (I can’t express how much I relate to this song).

There are certain bands that are near impossible to cover properly. Whether it’s karaoke night or friends rehearsing in a basement, if you choose to attempt a Red Hot Chili Peppers song, you’d best know what you’re doing and you better do it right. The Caspians, however, abso-lutely nailed it. Keep an eye and ear out for big things from this young group.

River City Magic took the stage after The Caspians and rocked out with all original songs. As with many bands, it’s tough to fit them neatly into one genre.

“We have influences from rhythm and blues, country, western and old rock ‘n’ roll and try to make it somehow relevant now. It’s not a derivative,” guitar-wield-ing frontman JP Lancaster told me. “You’ll never do those old genres better than they did, so you have to find ways to be influenced by them and make it modern.”

A respect for the genres and artists who have come before them fuels the group’s earned sound. An array of musi-cal tastes and talents have come together and united them for a common cause: to rock.

River City Magic is at an interesting point in its life as a group. Each of the band members has an established career and is pursuing music solely out of pas-sion and commitment.

“We all have career jobs now. I’m 31, so the likelihood of us doing this full time at this stage in our lives is pretty minimal,” Lancaster said. “But, I love playing music. I want it to be in my life whether I’m 31, 51, 61, right?”

The love of the craft is evident from the get-go with this group. River City Magic has been playing together with its current lineup for about two years, but their chemistry suggests a longer rela-tionship. Throughout their set, they were

perfectly in sync and seamlessly on pace with one another.

Despite the tight space, they managed to get the crowd dancing and jamming along with them. A small pack of fans gathered in front of them, fearless-ly rocking out. Their contagious tunes spilled out onto the street, and several pedestrians stopped, filmed them for a while, danced, applauded and head-banged on the sidewalk.

The low-key venue provided fans an opportunity to stand feet from the band and get as close as they wanted. Lancast-er is grateful for Zack’s and the opportu-nities the venue provides for local artists.

“Venues are a bit of a challenge. It’s awesome to have a space like Zack’s. The owner, Andrew, is very knowledgeable of music. Outside of a place like this or the Grind, Kamloops is sorely lacking a good venue. The people are there, the community is there, we just need a few more places [to play],” he said.

With no shortage of homegrown tal-ent in Kamloops, local artists are in need of more venues to accommodate them. There is a sharp divide between smaller, intimate shows and the step up to the larger venues in town.

Exposure is often the most challeng-ing aspect of playing in a local band. At-tempting to reach as many ears as possi-ble is not easy without a label. Recording, promotion, management – all tasks are divided among the group.

Local shows, like this one that feature admission by donation, no alcohol sales, small merch tables (with stuff you can actually afford to buy), and people who make the journey out purely for the love of music, are a far cry from the shoul-der-to-shoulder crowds, spilled drinks, rowdy fans and bank-breaking expenses that generally are attached to big-name talent and large venues.

There is something fascinating about being able to stand just feet from a per-former and watch them do their thing. It’s rewarding and charming to visit with and shake a musician’s hand following a show and express a genuine appre-ciation for their work. Live music fans in Kamloops should take advantage of these smaller scale shows and embrace the growing community that is the local music scene.

As long as River City Magic continues to play their own brand of high-energy, upbeat and groovy jams, they should have no problem keeping up and build-ing their fan base here in Kamloops.

Kim AndersonARTS EDITOR Ω

Photos by Kim Anderson/The Omega

7The Omega Ω Volume 24 • Issue 20 ARTS

ANDERSON: I WANT TO SEE YOUR FRONT SEAT

Cold sweat begins to form on your brow, debilitating panic grows and your heartbeat quickens.

“Oh yeah, I can give you a ride, for sure!”

Every student with a driver’s li-cense has experienced this frantic moment. You start shovelling piles of garbage from the passenger seat into the back, adding to the already substantial trash heap.

You pretend there is some excuse for your filthy behaviour. “Oh yeah, I um. I was in a hurry” – but we all

know the truth. You bomb around in your old Toyota, belting out Pearl Jam, scarfing down your breakfast, chugging coffee, probably late to wherever you’re going.

You toss the wrapper/apple core/banana peel/coffee cup/napkin/tupperware on the floor of the pas-senger seat, because that is where garbage belongs. You park the car, check your teeth in the mirror and off you go, to tackle the everyday beauties and horrors that are uni-versity life.

All of this is fine, absolutely, until you have to give someone a ride. Re-member that cold sweat? Yeah, this is where that comes in.

You laugh nervously while your friend stands awkwardly, frozen, with the passenger door ajar, peer-ing into your garbage can on wheels. They look at you with a concerned gaze, a mix of incredulous shock and amazement.

In between frantic shoveling and shifting of junk you spout out non-sensical excuses.

The worst is when they get in be-fore you have finished the process. They nestle into your little pigsty and in the corner of your eye you see something on the floor. You think, “Oh god, please don’t step on that apple core.” The remaining car ride is a delicate dance consisting of you

pointing out the window and trying to keep their attention out there, not at what is orbiting them in the gar-bage galaxy.

Never do you realize how dirty your car is until you have to drive someone. How long has this quarter inch of dust been here on the dash? How much of this is skin? A Raoul Duke-esque inner monologue starts unraveling in your head, intolerable vibrations surround you. There is no escape.

“Filth, filth everywhere. What’s the score here, what’s next? We can’t stop here, this is apple core country. Jesus, did I say that out loud? Can they hear me?”

To everyone who has a designated plastic bag in their vehicle for gar-bage, and a little container of special cloths to wipe your skin off of the dashboard: I have so many ques-tions. How did you get this way? What is your origin story? How do I become you?

Perhaps one day I’ll be like you. But for the time being, I’ll continue to speed from point A to B in my nasty family sedan, because I know I’m not alone.

Nonetheless, I say, bravo to you! You are an anomaly, an exception to the rule, one of society’s own special prototypes, too neat to bike, too rare to bus.

Kim AndersonARTS EDITOR Ω

You can learn a lot about a person by examining their trash, said every serial killer ever. (Kim Anderson/The Omega)

Restaurant review: Ooh! Kabsa

We bet you’ve noticed that new joint across the street on McGill Rd. Ooh! Kabsa popped up, seem-ingly overnight, after the closure of TRU Spirits Lounge. We were cu-rious and hungry, a deadly combi-nation. So we stopped in for lunch at 1:00 p.m. to find out what Ooh! Kabsa was all about.

MenuThe menu offers a variety of

items, platters, sides and sand-wiches with the options of lamb, chicken, fish and vegetarian falafel. The prices are a bit steep for the average university student’s bud-get, so for a splurge-type meal, be prepared to spend within the $20 to $25 range. Ooh! Kabsa’s menu dives into Saudi culture, but un-fortunately it doesn’t offer descrip-tions of the various dishes. For

those unfamiliar with these tradi-tional items, looking at the menu without descriptions can be a bit overwhelming.

The Kabsa lamb for example, includes red rice, a basic side salad and a piece of lamb on the bone. A clarification in the menu would be nice, as they do serve three kinds of rice: red, white and yellow. We or-dered a platter that came with four falafels, a mixed salad, a side of fries, pita and homemade hummus.

The foodAlthough the price is a tad

steep, the dishes include a gener-ous portion of rice – roughly two and a half cups. The lamb is tender, slow-cooked and falls off the bone. The natural flavour of the lamb is balanced with the exquisite daqu-ose sauce. Impressively, the sauce is made from scratch. It’s light and spicy without being overwhelm-ing. Alongside their homemade hummus, the dips and sauces are made exactly the way they should

be, complimenting the main dishes without overpowering your palette.

The serviceThe service is great, until it gets

busy. The staff are friendly and gave us space to enjoy our meal and each other’s company while main-taining proper serving etiquette. Our server was happy to explain the menu items and to answer all of our questions. When we got our meal, the restaurant had three oth-er customers at two separate tables. Once another three tables came in, our second item, the falafel platter, took much longer than we antici-pated.

It’s clear that as a new restau-rant, they have some growing to do. But as they hit the typical learning curves, as long as they keep up with the food quality and friendly ser-vice, customers will keep coming back. Ooh! Kabsa offers a unique and authentic dining experience that fits in seamlessly with the Ka-mloops restaurant scene.

Kim AndersonAshley Wadhwani

Ooh! Kabsa offers authentic and delicious middle eastern cuisine a stones throw from TRU. (Kim Anderson/The Omega)

8 February 11, 2015SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

Urban planning advisor weighs in on local transit, bike routes and school locationsCity design specialist proposes new priorities

Last week, Toronto-based ur-ban design expert Gil Penalosa shared his ideas for making Kam-loops more sustainable with both city staff and the general public. Among other things, Penalosa wants to see Kamloops develop more cycling routes, improve its public transit system and bring residential area speed limits down to 30 kilometers to make the city more pedestrian friendly.

Penalosa’s main criticism of Kamloops was that there are too many cars on the road. Locals are relying on their personal vehicles to get from place to place 85 per cent of the time, he said.

“In Kamloops, not all trips can be done [without a vehicle], but it ’s about having options,” he said, acknowledging that the city’s hilly terrain could deter people from wanting to walk or bike every-where.

Last Wednesday, Penalosa ex-plained to a full house at the Com-mUnity Innovation Lab why he

thinks Kamloops should be driv-ing less. He made the economic argument that two-car households spend between 25 and 30 per cent of their annual incomes on mobil-ity, and that this expense would decrease if people had better alter-natives to driving. He also believes that better pedestrian infrastruc-ture is necessary to accommodate children and seniors in the com-munity, and emphasized the need to prepare for a spike in Canada’s aging population. According to Statistics Canada, seniors make up 15 per cent of the Canadian popu-

lation now, but this number could rise up to 25 per cent by 2063.

It would not be practical for people to stop driving unless they could reach key locations (like schools and grocery stores) with-in 15 minutes using alternative modes of transportation like walk-ing, cycling or public transit, Pe-nalosa said.

Speaking specifically to the public transit system in Kamloops, Penalosa asserted (to a roaring ap-plause from the crowd) that the system would be more intuitive if “the decision makers” had to use the bus service for a week once ev-ery year.

“It’s hard to have real base knowledge of something without experiencing it, in my point of view, so I think that’s a great idea,” councillor Donovan Cavers said. “I take the bus all the time. I always encourage other councilors to take the bus, and I know a few who do.”

According to Cavers, many of Penalosa’s suggestions were already on the city’s radar, but “it ’s the rate at which they’ve been implement-ing them that could be quicker.”

“One of the quotes [Penalosa] had that I thought was really in-teresting is based on the argument that … you don’t look at where to build a bridge based on where peo-ple are swimming across the river, so we can’t expect to see a lot of people cycling around the city if we don’t have the infrastructure for them,” Cavers said.

Penalosa also spoke to the im-portance of having a public school in the downtown core – a touchy subject in the wake of Stewart Wood Elementary’s upcoming closure. To Penalosa, having a school in the downtown core sim-ply makes sense – it is one of the key resources that people would

want access to within 15 minutes – but TRU political scientist Derek Cook said things are not quite that simple.

“In the particular case of the downtown school, Stuart Wood, that was an election issue. But, the school board felt constrained by budget priorities they were given by the province. They were sort of boxed in -- it was one school or the other,” Cook said.

In addition to a public school, Penalosa wants to see TRU de-velop a presence in the downtown core.

“We have to have a department of the university right in the heart of the main street,” he said.

According to Cook, “if we’re going to teach courses downtown, we could rent space, sure, but we would need more faculty.”

Penalosa concluded his keynote presentation with a call-to-action for his audience: get more involved with local politics.

“When I became Canadian, I loved everything about Canada except one of the myths that you have to be politically correct,” he said. “That’s ridiculous. You have to be respectful, but ‘politically correct’ is not saying what’s on our mind.”

In reference to the Stuart Wood closure, he said, “we have to go to the Board of Education and fight. The councilors and the mayor, they have to fight.”

“That’s the big thing,” Cook said. “Does our city council have a political will to improve things?”

“This guy [Penalosa] was great at making arguments on what makes sense, and showing the huge difference when you do make things more palatable for pedestri-ans and cyclists … but it ’s a matter of follow-up now.”

Ryan TurcotSCIENCE & TECH EDITOR Ω

Turcot: Do you really need to buy that new computer?

Over the holidays, I was tempt-ed to buy a new laptop. The one I had was just shy of two years old, but two years is a long time for a computer if you factor in planned obsolescence. It ’s kind of like how dogs have “dog years” – a comput-er is pretty much kicking 80 in “computer years” when year two comes around. That ’s what I told myself, anyways. Things weren’t

working as fast as they used to, and because I work from home and rely on my laptop, I felt like I had a legitimate reason to up-grade.

In reality though, this was like saying I needed to buy a new car every time the one I had expe-rienced mechanical problems. Sometimes it makes more sense to simply take your car into a me-chanic, and sometimes the prob-lem is simple enough that you can fix it yourself (if you’re mechani-cally inclined).

In my case, it was just a matter of taking better care of my com-puter. I typically consider myself to be computer savvy, but with the pressures of exams creeping up, I just stopped caring. I would make rookie mistakes, like forgetting to turn off my computer at night, or forgetting to defragment the hard drive. (If you’re not computer sav-vy, all you need to know is that this is the digital equivalent of not taking your car in for oil changes. If you’re not car savvy, you should probably ask yourself when yours

last got an oil change).Of course, sometimes you gen-

uinely do need to upgrade to something better, and I’m not completely against the idea of doing so. There’s a way to tell if you legitimately need to replace your tech: make sure you’re fixing a specific problem if purchasing something new. If you’re buying a new computer based on the vague idea that more RAM and hard drive space will make a huge difference in your life, the up-grade will probably not be worth

your money. On the other hand, if you’re getting into high-end video editing, gaming, or [in-sert your hobby here] and your current computer doesn’t have a good enough graphics card to ac-complish what you need it to, you have a solid case for upgrading.

In my case, I ended up finding a way to make my laptop useable again. It ’s still not in its prime, like when I first bought it, but I should get another year or so out of it before I really need to up-grade.


Gil Penalosa delivered a keynote presentation on Feb. 4 as part of his participation at the Community Innovation Lab.Top: A panorama view of the packed room where Gil Penalosa delivered his keynote. (Ryan Turcot/The Omega)

9The Omega Ω Volume 24 • Issue 20

App of the week – reviewed for you

Crossy RoadAndroid, iOSFree (in-app purchases)

Why did the chicken cross the road? To beat your high score and collect coins to unlock new characters – duh.

Imagine Frogger, but with a chick-en: that’s basically what this game is. You cross roads, dodge traffic, and hop

logs to cross rivers. Actually, this game is even simpler than Frogger, because Frogger had an end goal and there were actual levels that you played through. In Crossy Road, you just keep crossing roads until you mess up. It’s Flappy Bird-meets-Frogger, but with a chicken.

You can also collect coins to un-lock other characters that replace the chicken. Why did Epoch the killer robot cross the road? I have no idea, but it’s a character you can be, and it shoots at stuff sometimes. I think you can also be a frog.

The game’s pretty addicting, and it’s

blowing up the app stores right now.Be wary of the in-app purchases

though. For $1 apiece, you can buy the unlockable characters instead of winning them. Doing so won’t change your gaming experience whatsoever, it will just mean that instead of being a chicken, you’ll be a chicken with a Santa hat.

There are also ads in the app, but you’re not forced to watch them. If you do, however, you get coins to-wards unlocking new characters. Let’s face it, your time isn’t that valuable if you’re playing this game – you may as well watch the ads.


Shubham Rana

What’s your favourite meal?

First year, Human Resource Management

I love burgers – the B.L.T.

I completed a bachelor’s degree in psychology and then took a year off preparing for exams, and doing the usual boring stuff that other kids do.

Playing the guitar and singing. I’ve played the guitar since Grade 9.

Ed Sheeran - Thinking Out Loud

I’m a winter baby – I like the winter. I’m from India and we have snow but I live in the West so currently during the winters I like to hang out with my friends, eat all day and hit the gym.

What did you do between high school grad and TRU?

What’s your favourite hobby?

What’s your favourite song right now?

What’s your favourite season and seasonal activity?

WHAT ABOUTYOU?

February 11, 201510 COMICS & PUZZLES

SUDOKU 2 5 1 6

9 7 1 3 4

3 2 9

6 7 3 8

4 2 7

8 4 9 1

6 5 9

9 2 8 6 3

4 3 7 2

Because you’re probably not doing enough math

Puzzle of the Week #15 – Bob’s Bookshelf

Bob has a bookshelf containing 25 textbooks, 11 picture books, and 6foreign-language books. There is at least one book in each of the sevencombinations of categories. If there are more foreign-language textbooksthan picture textbooks and more picture textbooks than foreign-languagepicture books, how many books are on the bookshelf?

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 <[email protected]>. 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.

Down

1. Adjective meaning uptight; a real tightass

3. “You know how many foods are shaped like

______? The best kinds.”

4. 'Phone before you come, I need to shave my

_______.'

5. The most intense, exciting, or important point of

something; a culmination or apex

7. Two is a pair, but add one and...

8. Rubbing foreplay, may involve oil

10. 'Kiss me through the phone'

11. A sexual fixation or obsession, usually with a non-

sexual object

15. Anastasia Steele is brought into the world of...

Across

2. Preferred attire during sex, but not necessary

6. Sex on The Big Bang Theory

9. Oysters, chocolate, watermelon, even chili peppers

12. When the dreamworld spills over

13. 'Safe sex is great sex, better wear a ________

'cause you don't want that late text, that 'I think I'm

late' text.'

14. Key in 5,318,008 on a calculator, turn it upside-

down

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9 10

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Created on TheTeachersCorner.net Crossword Maker

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LAST WEEK’S CROSSWORD ANSWERS:Across:6. FAMILYGUY7. CONAN8. ARCHER10. PARKSANDRECREATION11. 12MONKEYS13. SUITS 14. COMMUNITY15. MADMEN

16. ARROW

Down:1. TOPGEAR2. GAMEOFTHRONES3. HOUSEOFCARDS4. MARCOPOLO5. MYTHBUSTERS9. WALKINGDEAD12. GIRLS

by Ashley Wadhwani

xkcd.com

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11The Omega Ω Volume 24 • Issue 20 SPORTS

Soccer will see new division and playoff formats in 2015-16, and there may be more changes to comeLeague changes for soccer format, maybe basketball

Canada West has changed the league format for its soccer programs for the 2015-16 season, while a de-cision about changing the basketball league format is still up in the air.

Since 2005, seven universities, in-cluding TRU, have been added to the Canada West University Athletic As-sociation. This has put a strain on the league structure for most sports and has sparked debate over new formats, with travel costs and rivalries to be considered.

Canada West representatives met with athletic directors from the 17 universities involved during the week of Feb. 2. It was decided to keep vol-leyball’s competitive format, change soccer’s format and continue debate over basketball.

“I think that everybody would like to see more opportunity to play one another [in basketball]. It’s just a mat-ter of looking at different formats,” TRU’s athletic director Ken Olynyk said.

Olynyk sits on the basketball com-mittee for Canada West. Along with five other committee members, he has had to sort through almost 50 proposed basketball formats over the last few years and decide which ones should be put forward at the Canada West meetings.

Olynyk said the struggle comes with trying to keep competition be-tween historical and regional rivals, while adjusting for the high amount of teams and trying to keep every-thing cost effective.

“It’s difficult for everybody to al-ways separate what’s best for me ver-sus what’s best for the conference,” Olynyk said. “Just my opinion, not speaking for Canada West, I think it would be in our best interest not to make a change [for 2015-16] only be-cause we’ve looked at budgets already and we’re trying to book facilities and book our games and we’re trying to mesh that with volleyball.”

The annual general meeting be-tween Canada West representatives and athletic directors will take place in May, when a decision on whether to change the basketball format will be made.

There was one sport that all athletic directors agreed on changing: soccer.

This year, women’s soccer was in two divisions: pacific and prairies. TRU played six other B.C. universi-ties in 12 regular season games. How-ever, the high amount of teams in the women’s league (16), and a low variety of competitors in the regular season, spurred the division change.

Beginning September 2015, wom-en’s soccer will have a 14-game regular season and will be split into two re-gions, temporarily being called pacific and prairies. Each region will have two divisions and each division will be made up of four teams.

TRU will be placed in a division with UBC Okanagan, University of Northern British Columbia and one unannounced school from Alberta that will play in the division for a two-year rotation. The ‘Pack will play each school in its division twice and will also see interlock play against the teams in the other division in the pacific region. Interlock play will also

include four teams from the prairie region, which will alternate each year. This will incorporate a wider range of opponents in regular season play, including teams from Saskatchewan and Manitoba. It will take two years for the WolfPack to play all oppo-nents.

Men’s soccer, which currently has 14 teams in two divisions in Cana-da West, will see changes as well, but

only in the post-season. The new for-mat will take the top four teams in each division and play them against each other in a crossover format. From there, a final four will advance.

WolfPack men’s soccer finished this season at the bottom of the pacific division. Head coach John Antulov had been hoping for a change in the competitive format for 2015-16.

“For us personally, having the 12 games, it’s a bit disappointing be-cause we were supposed to go to a 16-game schedule this year,” Antulov said. “It’s nice for a student athlete to do a little bit more travelling and play different schools. It just gives a more rounded athletic experience.”

Antulov hopes to see format changes in men’s soccer for the 2016-17 season.

Tayla ScottSPORTS EDITOR Ω

Kindra Maricle, seen here, and the WolfPack women will have a new league format going into next year. (TRU Athletics)

The ‘Pack claims their division’s regular season title after 14 wins in a row

WolfPack women take basketball division title

Thanks to a weekend win over Mount Royal University, the WolfPack women have secured first spot in their division.

“Hosting a playoff spot was one of our goals and after all the work we have done to get here, it felt amazing to have won that game,” said guard Michelle Bos.

The win also gave them the explorer division title since they are now unable to fall out of first place, despite there being two games of regular season play left.

Gaining the division title also gives the ‘Pack a bye into the quar-ter finals, which they will host for the first time in the team’s history beginning on Feb. 27 and ending on Mar. 1.

After such a long winning streak, the weekend win didn’t

come as a surprise, but it still took teamwork and strong offence to achieve it.

The top scorers of Friday night were Bos with 25 points, Sarah Malate with 11 points and team captain Jorri Duxbury with 10 points.

“The entire team added to that win. I couldn’t have scored 25 points if my team hadn’t been setting me up and making the passes,” Bos said. “That ’s what I love about our team, every win is a true team effort.”

The team’s ultimate goal is to make it to nationals, but they are keeping smaller goals along the way, like winning their last two regular season games, which would put them at 19 and 1.

“We still have some work to do with finishing off the rest of the season. We’re not giving up on that yet. We still want to play well next week but we’re pretty excit-

ed,” said head coach Scott Reeves. “We’re just fine tuning our of-fence and taking care of the bas-ketball and defending hard and rebounding.”

The ‘Pack will play their last two games of the regular season on Feb. 13 and 14 against the University of Fraser Valley Cas-cades, a team they beat twice in November.

After the regular season wraps up the ‘Pack will have a weekend to rest while they wait for the quarter-finals.

MacEwan University and the University of the Fraser Valley will also move on to the playoffs, having clinched the second and third spots in the explorer divi-sion.

The Universities of Alberta, Regina, Saskatchewan, Calgary, Winnipeg, Victoria and UBC will be moving onto playoffs from the Pioneer division.

Tayla ScottSPORTS EDITOR Ω

Team captain Jorri Duxbury scored 10 points on Friday night against Mount Royal. (TRU Athletics)

February 11, 201512

Feb. 11, 2015

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