in-the-news

SFU People in the News

April 30, 2012
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Media Matters, a report on Simon Fraser University in the news, is compiled and distributed by SFU Public Affairs & Media Relations (PAMR).
This edition is a daily roundup that lists the main items of known media coverage from 9 a.m. Friday April 27 to 9 A.M. today, Monday April 30.

Arts | Employment | Mental Health | Oil tankers | Standard of living | Education | Students | Crime | New Westminster | Sustainability | Athletics

ARTS

  • In a Vancouver Sun article about the late playwright Tom Cone, SFU professor Colin Browne was quoted as he paid his respects.
    “One of the things about Tom that everyone remembers is that he would always say: 'There is someone I would like you to meet,' “He would have encountered someone with an amazing story. Next thing you knew, you might be standing next to them." said the School of the Contemporary Arts professor. Cone, author of many plays and operas, died in early April of cancer. According to Browne, he was always experimenting and tinkering with his work.
    "He was always avant-garde, always on the edge, and proving there is an audience for that work."
    Full story: http://at.sfu.ca/aLDOLZ

EMPLOYMENT

  • Tony Botelho, manager of career and volunteer services at Simon Fraser University, was featured in a Calgary Herald article about university students and summer employment. The article stated that summer jobs can be used to explore career options and start building up the necessary experience when students graduate.
    Bothelho suggests students get the jump on their career ambitions long before they graduate, and use every opportunity you can to hunt down employment.
    “Go to events, talk to parents' friends who happen to be doing something you are interested in. . . . Find out what the opportunities are," he said.
    Full story: http://at.sfu.ca/zZIyUD

MENTAL HEALTH

  • Canadian employers have a new tool to protect the mental health of employees with the launch of Psychological Health and Safety: An Action Guide for Employers.
    The free guide, which provides a series of steps accessible to all employers to enhance mental health in the workplace, was created by Centre for Applied Research in Mental Health and Addiction at SFU.
    Full story: http://i.sfu.ca/iaSaHa

OIL TANKERS

  • Gordon Price, the director of Simon Fraser University's City Program, was quoted in a Vancouver Sun article about Port Metro (Vancouver’s port authority) and their relations with the rest of the city. The article comments on the growth of Port Metro, but does add that as the Metro Vancouver municipalities face their own growth pressures or political challenges, there will be friction between them and Port Metro.
    Price says, however important much they grow, Port Metro can't always have its own way.
    "Their definition of dialogue tends to be 'why don't you understand us?' and 'if you did understand us, you would see why we are right'," he said. "The port isn't able to see, in my opinion, the significance of regional planning. They aren't able to see there may be priorities beyond its mandate and vision that would trump them."
    Full story: http://at.sfu.ca/ccqEZK
  • Hundreds more oil tankers may soon be making their way through B.C. waters to transport oil from the Alberta oil sands to Asia via one of two very different methods, reports the Barriere Star Journal.
    One option is the controversial Northern Gateway project, which would run a new pipeline across northern B.C. to Kitimat, though many see that as a long shot.
    The more likely option, say industry experts, is Kinder Morgan’s potential expansion of its Trans Mountain pipeline, which would mean a six-fold increase in the number of tankers making their way through Burrard Inlet
    According to SFU public policy professor Doug McArthur, the pressure will be on B.C. to accept at least Kinder Morgan's proposal, if not both projects, to satisfy national strategic interests.
    "The federal government is increasingly committing itself to a high level of expansion of the oil sands and making it almost the main economic issue in the country," he said.
    "I think B.C. will be under tremendous pressure from the federal government.
    “Kinder Morgan is the much easier one for them to get in place," McArthur said. "In terms of picking the low-hanging fruit, I would think they would push very hard to get that one through. But I think they want both."
    Full story (requires subscription): http://i.sfu.ca/dqYgSX

STANDARD OF LIVING

  • With the retirement of the provincial slogan, “The best place on Earth,” the Vancouver Sun asks, if not first, then where is B.C. on the list of the best? And, if they fell, why?
    Jon Kesselman, a professor in the school of public policy at Simon Fraser University examined the effect of the abandonment of the HST. He noted that the major cost to the province is the loss of investment and jobs that the HST would have generated, estimated in one study at $11.5 billion and 113,000 new jobs through 2020.
    Kesselman also cited a 2008 study by the Centre for the Study of Living Standards that concluded sales tax harmonization was "the most effective policy to deal with the B.C. economy's lagging investment and productivity performance."
    Full story: http://at.sfu.ca/yDAqsy

EDUCATION

  • With the Fraser Institute’s annual ranking of B.C. and Yukon post-secondary schools coming today, 24 Hours examined their effectiveness.
    SFU education professor Dan Laitsch says a more effective way to determine school quality would be to take a random sample of a large body of students, ideally to avoid bias.
    "In that way you actually protect student and teacher er confidentiality by not creating a system where you may have one class in one school that's accounting ing for the entire school ranking," he said.

STUDENTS

  • SFU student Christopher Summers was named as one of the South Delta Leader’s 30 Under 30.
    When Summers was younger, he wanted to be a major politician. At 25, he’s not quite there yet, but he’s on his way. And at the end of March he was voted in as regional director of the BC Conservative Party in Delta and Richmond and got a seat on the party's board of directors.
    Summers is working on completing his graduate degree in community development at SFU.
    Full story: http://at.sfu.ca/Cdmwju

CRIME

  • After a B.C. gangster was shot and killed in Mexico, the RCMP are telling the public to be wary of their surroundings, News1130 reports.
    "We're asking the public yet again to be very vigilant in terms of their surroundings," warns Chief Superintendent Dan Malo. "We are aware through our intelligence community of some heightened conflicts amongst some of the gangs in British Columbia."
    SFU criminologist Rob Gordon, however, thinks the general public shouldn’t be that concerned.
    "It's really more a message aimed at people who are associated with this particular individual as they may end up being targeted by accident or might even be innocent bystanders in a retribution shooting."
    Full story: http://at.sfu.ca/tzaJtA

NEW WESTMINSTER

  • The Georgia Straight ran a feature on the revival of New Westminster.
    Jonathan X. Cote, a graduate student in the SFU urban studies program, was named to the city’s council years ago, despite only being 26 now. Described as “young, progressive, and well-educated,” he is seen as “emblematic” of his city, and he commented on New West’s turnaround.
    One of the main reasons we’re starting to see this upswing is actually the demographics,” Cote explained. “Younger people and baby boomers are starting to appreciate the urban environment—and that urban feel is missing from most suburban communities in Metro Vancouver. This is actually becoming a value: being able to walk everywhere, being able to take public transit, being able to jump on a SkyTrain to go downtown.”
    Full story: http://i.sfu.ca/FckvJG

SUSTAINABILITY

  • Jasmin Bhandal and Ranjot Dhanju spent three months in India as part of SFU's B.C. India Mobility Initiative working for Surrey-based Oxus Nexus, a corporate services company.
    “Their roles as feasibility analysts involved uncovering market potentials in India for the company and its clients in the biotech/clean tech industry, largely in Bangalore, and culminated in Mumbai with their address to a conference room of international delegates on clean energy concepts,” the Surrey North Delta Leader article continued.
    “Since their return, the company has been busy with a ‘deluge of leads’ and partnership follow-ups. Melissa Andruk, external relations manager for Oxus Nexus, says, ‘the students' deliverables, successes and work has been nothing less than spectacular.’”
    Bhandal is a marketing and finance major in her final year at SFU while Dhanju is a third-year finance and entrepreneurship major. They pitched clean energy alternatives to a number of companies in India, and the students said their ideas were well-received.
    Full story: http://at.sfu.ca/KGWUPR

ATHLETICS

Softball

  • The Simon Fraser University softball team won a wild affair in game one on Saturday, defeating the Montana State University Billings Yellowjackets 19–11 before dropping game two of the doubleheader 8–3.
    The split against first-place Montana State concludes the 2012 Great Northwest Athletic Conference schedule for SFU, as the Clan finish their second GNAC season in second place.
    "I'm incredibly proud of our athletes and very pleased with our team's performance," said head coach Mike Renney.  "No one expected us to be here in a one game, winner take all situation.  Everyone did what they had to do to get us to this point and at the end of the day we just ran out of gas."
    Clan news release: http://i.sfu.ca/hZmxPl
  • As reported by The Province as well, the Simon Fraser Clan took their battle for the Great Northwest Athletic Conference championship right down to the wire on Saturday.
    However, in the finale, the Clan couldn't find the bats to outscore the Yellow Jackets, land their 8–3 loss dropped them one game behind MSU-B.
    "It's bittersweet," said Clan head coach Mike Renney. "The saddest thing is that the careers of four of our seniors (Brittany Ribeiro, Megan Durrant, Kelsey Haberl, Leah Riske) have come to an end. "We struggled for parts of the year even though our record wouldn't indicate that. But I think we brought it together and we went on a championship run that came up one game short."
    The clan made a late-season dash towards first place in the GNAC, and though it fell short, Renney is still proud of the way his team played.
    "I think three weeks ago, everyone was writing us off and pretty much conceding the championship to Billings, but they faltered and we kept plugging away," said Renney, whose team closed out at home Thursday with a pair of comeback wins against Western Oregon on its Seniors Day. "I don't think anyone expected us to be in a winner-take-all at the end of the year for the conference championship. That is a tribute to our kids."
    Full story: http://i.sfu.ca/eBcFVB

Also in sports:

  • As mentioned in the Winnipeg Free Press, former Clan football star Justin Capicciotti was ranked as the 13th best draft eligible prospect for the upcoming CFL draft.
    Full story: http://at.sfu.ca/RDmeFq
  • Bruin McDonald, a recent graduate from the Western Hockey League, has committed to SFU’s men’s hockey team for next season. The defenseman spent four years in the WHL, and had a stint in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League as well.
    “Bruin’s experience and skill set will be a huge asset to our blueline,” said SFU head coach Mark Coletta. “I’m excited to see him raise the level of intensity on the ice.”

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