Promoting voting
The BC municipal elections will be held on Saturday, November 15 and Canadian voter turnout is at an all-time low, with some cities’ turnout rates as low as 33 percent. Promote the Vote is a non-partisan campaign asking citizens who are known to vote to speak with their family and friends about doing the same in order to keep the discussion of the importance of voting alive. The campaign was started in BC to increase votes for this year’s election, but the hope of organizers is that it spreads across Canada and increases voting in all elections. Visit promotethevote.ca for more information; find out where you can vote at elections.ca.
Drop-in basketball for Camosun students
A group of Sports and Fitness Leadership students have started up a free drop-in basketball night that will be hosted at the Pacific Institute for Sports Excellence at 4371 Interurban from 8:30 to 9:30 pm on Tuesday nights during the month of November. Drop-ins are open for all Camosun students to play some ball together. You will be required to present your student card upon arrival, so be sure to have it with you. Access to change rooms and showers will also be available during this time.
Chargers volleyball teams strong
The Camosun Chargers women’s volleyball team has remained undefeated after six straight wins heading into the fourth week of the PACWEST 2014-2015 season and is currently tied for first place with the University of the Fraser Valley Cascades. The women’s team has proven its adaptability and growth this season, using various new plays throughout each game and succeeding time after time. Both the Camosun women’s and men’s volleyball teams defeated the Columbia Bible College Bearcats over doubleheader Halloween weekend home games. The Chargers men’s team is continuing to work on its lineup and standing in fifth place amongst PACWEST teams.
Camosun’s new trades and innovation complex
The TRADEmark of Excellence campaign plans to raise $5 million within the next 10 months and to partner with the community, local businesses, and industry in order to continue work on the new trades and innovation complex, already under construction at Camosun’s Interurban campus. The 80,000-square-foot project is the largest of its kind currently underway in British Columbia, and the provincial government has made an investment of $30 million. The Camosun College trades program fuels the local economy by educating 2,700 trades and technology students yearly, and the new facility promises to enhance the experience and provide state-of-the-art equipment to instructors and students. Donations to the TRADEmark campaign are appreciated. Find out more at camosun.ca/foundation.
Apprentice job match is go!
A new online tool aims to match students with suitable apprenticeships in a convenient way. The Apprentice Job Match is a really boring name, but the tool, which was launched across postsecondary campuses on November 7 in association with the Industry Training Authority, is located on the WorkBC website at workbc.ca, it lists over 37,000 registered apprentices in BC, and is a veritable hub for finding career opportunities in many job fields.
Give back this holiday season
Russ Hay’s Bicycle Shop is looking for community donations of used bicycles for their third annual charity event, Bikes for Kids. The shop will refurbish donated bicycles, and cash donations will go towards helmets and other gear. Please donate gently used bicycles to the Victoria Russ Hay’s location at 650 Hillside Avenue before December 15. If you are unsure if the bike you wish to donate is “gently used,” email a photo to bikesforkids@russhays.com or call the shop at 250-384-4722.
Affordable campus entertainment for students
In an effort to make entertainment on campus accessible and affordable for students, UVic’s Farquhar Auditorium has launched the $10 student-rush program. On the day of select shows, event updates will be posted on social media and signage around campus stating whether special pricing will be available 10 minutes prior to the event with the presentation of a valid student ID.
Local poet wins prestigious award
Susan Musgrave, a renowned poet who has spent many years on Vancouver Island, has been awarded one of Canada’s most prestigious writing prizes: the $20,000 Matt Cohen Award. Musgrave received the award in Toronto at a gala ceremony at the Glenn Gould Studio as part of the Writer’s Trust Awards. The award recognizes a lifetime of distinguished work, which includes her novel, The Charcoal Burners, and poetry volumes, A Man to Marry, A Man to Bury and Origami Drive. Her work was first published in The Malahat Review when Musgrave was 16, and her first collection of poems, Songs of the Sea Witch, was published in 1970 when she was just 18. Musgrave now resides in Haida Gwaii, where she continues to write and runs the Copper Beach Guest House.
True crime told by Victoria journalist
Victoria journalist Paul Willcocks, once a publisher for the Times Colonist, has written a book called Dead Ends: BC Crime Stories. The book recounts 40 true crimes throughout British Columbian history, with at least six of the crimes having occurred in Victoria. From con men and political scandals to bank robberies and multiple killings, Victoria seems to have quite the history. This book, part of a series recounting misdeeds in Canada, has been published by the University of Regina Press and is available in paperback at Munro’s and Chapters.