in-the-news

SFU People in the News

May 10, 2012
Print

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 8:30 a.m. Wednesday May 9 to 8:30 A.M. today, Thursday May 10.

Climate | Magic | Crime | Pipe Band | Relay for Life | Athletics

CLIMATE

  • Sustainable energy professor Mark Jaccard continued his busy week in the news, appearing in a Vancouver Sun story about the federal government’s inability to meet their “modest” climate goals.
    Jaccard is unsurprised, and says the government is giving false promises.
    “What do you do when they’re misleading people?” he asks. “When they say, ‘Oh yeah, we’ve got our promise, we care about the climate, we care about those future generations’ and yet it’s so obvious that they are working very aggressively to get more carbon out of the earth’s crust that will end up in the atmosphere?”
    “You don’t meet those promises if you are trying to accelerate the rate at which you extract hydrocarbons from the earth’s crust, whether it’s oil sands, coal, natural gas or whatever.”
    Full story: http://at.sfu.ca/cyAyCe

MAGIC

  • Jay Olson, a teaching assistant with SFU psychology, was featured in a 24 Hours Vancouver story. He is working to find out exactly why magicians are able to fool their audiences so easily.
    “Some tricks sort of exploit that sense of expectation people have,” he says. “When you take out a deck of cards, if it looks like a normal deck of cards, people will assume it’s ordinary.”
    However, he says that is anything but the case. Instead, there are some general patterns that magicians can exploit.
    “For example, the study found that when asked to name a playing card, most people chose only one of four: the ace, queen or king of hearts, or the ace of spades,” according to a recent study he co-authored.
    It all has to do with how magicians manipulate audiences by making them think they have “free will” when the choices are actually limited, he says.
    Full story: http://at.sfu.ca/bJrRfk
    SFU press release: http://at.sfu.ca/mYvzCI

CRIME

  • SFU criminologist Rob Gordon was in a CTV News story about an imprisoned sex offender who was allowed to use Facebook while incarcerated. Photographs were posted on the social networking site under the prisoner, Ernie Meigs’ name.
    Now, questions are being raised about inmates' access to social media, and Gordon raises his concern as well.
    "I have some difficulty, obviously, with the prospect of a convicted sex offender being able to put this kind stuff on a website," he says.
    "It's a security issue for anyone running a correctional facility."
    Full story: http://at.sfu.ca/CJwQNN

PIPE BAND

  • While in New York performing last weekend, the SFU Pipe Band also spent some time around the city teaching others how they got their successful sound, reports the Chilliwack Times. Pipe sergeant Jack Lee says engaging others is important.
    "Reaching out and engaging with others who are learning the craft, no matter what level they're at, is something that we as a band take seriously," says Lee. "We want to help others raise the bar for themselves and for the music."
    More than 200 young and old piping and drumming enthusiasts attending their teaching session at Archbishop Molloy high school in Queens.
    Full story: http://at.sfu.ca/ceOmAh

RELAY FOR LIFE

  • Recent SFU grad Jasmine Garcha was is in a Surrey Now article about taking a stand against cancer in the Surrey Relay for Life.
    Her mother was diagnosed with cancer in 2000, and when she Garcha came to SFU, she joined the student Club for the Cure. Since graduating however, she has become the development co-chair for the Surrey Relay.
    SFU’s Relay for Life has raised well over $60,000 for cancer research in the past three years, and Garcha is looking to make a similar impact with Surrey’s version.
    The event takes place on June 9 at Millennium Park.
    Full story: http://at.sfu.ca/EPzBKd
    Relay for Life website: http://at.sfu.ca/wDFGSX

ATHLETICS

Track and Field

  • The Simon Fraser University track and field team will send 27 athletes to Oregon to compete in the 2012 Great Northwest Athletic Conference Track and Field Championships beginning on Friday, May 11.
    Defending 1500-metre champion Ryan Brockerville will not defend his title as he will instead race in the 3000-metre steeplechase, and will be joined by Anton Humeniuk
    Lindsey Butterworth     enters the 1500-metre competition ranked second behind Ivy O’Guinn of Alaska Anchorage.
    Butterworth will not compete in the 800-metre, although she was ranked first in the conference, meaning teammate Sarah Sawatzky, who is ranked second just behind Butterworth, will enter the conference meet ranked first.
    Sawatzky will be joined in the 800-metre competition by teammates Michaela Kane and Abbey Vogt.
    Jade Richardson     leads the Clan throwers into the GNAC meet.  The sophomore discus thrower enters the championship meet ranked first in the conference in that event.
    Aisha Klippenstein and Andrea Abrams enter the women’s 100-metre hurdle competition ranked fifth and seventh in the GNAC, respectively, and Abrams is coming off a second place finish in the 100-metre hurdles at the GNAC indoor championship meet in February.
    Charlotte Crombeen will also compete in the hurdles while Klippenstein, Abrams, Crombeen and Mercedes Rhode will be the Clan’s entry in the 4x100-metre relay competition.
    Crombeen and Rhode will also take part in the long jump with teammates April Mackenzie-Cook and Jessica Padrinao, while Kim Doerkson will run the 10,000-metre for the SFU women.
    Rounding out the women’s team will be Michelle Stuart in the shot put and javelin, Ryley Carr in the hammer throw and Kirstin Stewart in the javelin.
    The Clan’s 4x400-metre men’s relay team will consist of Zach Conard, Yubai Liu, Adam Reid and Travis Vugteveen. They enter the competition ranked fifth in the conference.
    Seniors Keir Forster and Samir Dhanani will run the 1500-metre for the Clan along with Austin Trapp.
    Rounding out the Clan men’s team are Dennis Nicholas, who will run the 100-metre and compete in the long jump, Luca Molinari, who will compete in shot put and Ben Coles, who will throw javelin for the Clan.
    The 2012 GNAC Outdoor Track and Field Championship meet begins this Friday, May 11 and wraps up on Saturday, May 12.
    Clan news release: http://at.sfu.ca/WbdDfw

Volleyball

  • Brooklyn Seemann has signed a letter of intent to join SFU’s volleyball team next year, reports the Prince George Citizen.
    "I just like the idea of NCAA and the competitiveness and I also really like Simon Fraser as a school . . . my education is also very important," said Seemann, the Prince George Secondary graduate. "I just ended up visiting Simon Fraser where we had a tour and it was just awesome. It just seemed like a great fit for me."
    No URL available at this time

EARLIER EDITIONS

SFU NEWS RELEASES

MORE LINKS

Twitter? Facebook? YouTube? Flickr?
Follow us via http://www.sfu.ca/about/follow.html#fb

Comment Guidelines

*
No comments yet

Search SFU News Online:

Available Feeds

Latest Stories