This weekend, we Fresh Fest folks have been staying up late and putting in some crazy poster hanging, banner making, art’s and craft’s hours. Which is wicked. Wicked because of Ringo, Ringo the (unoffcial) office cat. His super cute distraction is what makes a Sunday afternoon in the office.
Cute right? We know.
Yes, the last week has been crazy and Fresh Fest is going to be so so so amazing. Havent signed up yet? www.ulsu.ca. Hit that.
Jenn Prosser, VP Academic
Today the Alberta Government announced $115 million dollars to go to upgrades and building maintenance to post-secondary institutions across Alberta. While this is very welcome, UofL will not receive any of this funding as none of our building or infrastructure projects made the high priority list. Double side to every coin right? The news release also gave no mention of any money going towards residences which have historically seen the worst of the negative side of deferred maintenance. As it stands right now, residences do not qualify for Alberta Government funding for building and maintenance as they are ancillary services and are considered to be a university responsibility solely.
CAUS – Council of Alberta University Students- ULSU’s provincial lobby group, responds to the recent infrastructure and maintenance funding announcement from the Alberta Government. For the Alberta Government release, follow this link.
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August 29, 2008
Government makes a start on campus maintenance
Edmonton, AB – Students are welcoming the announcement by the Government of Alberta of $155 million for maintenance at Alberta’s post-secondary institutions, but note there is a great deal of work still to be done.
“Students cannot help but notice the need to invest in on-campus infrastructure, so this is good news,” said Beverly Eastham, Chair of the Council of Alberta University Students (CAUS) and Vice President (External) at the University of Alberta Students’ Union. “The needs go well beyond new coats of paint and deal with the health and safety of our universities. We are glad to see some action, but more work will still need to be done.”
Of the $155 million announced today, $82.5 million is allocated to high priority projects including $41.2 million at the University of Alberta and University of Calgary. The current Government of Alberta Capital Plan identifies $357 million in maintenance funding for post-secondary institutions between 2008 and 2011. Deferred maintenance at Alberta’s universities, colleges and technical institutes is estimated to be over $1 billion.
“This year, addressing on-campus deferred maintenance is a top priority for CAUS and we are going to be pressing the government to do more, especially in our residences,” added Eastham. None of the announced funding is going towards university residences where much of the necessary maintenance is needed, as universities are expected to find the money for such maintenance from other sources. “In addition to this welcome contribution to the academic space at our institutions, we need the government to step in and help with the maintenance in university residences. Maintaining student residences is just as important as maintaining our classrooms.”
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The Council of Alberta University Students (CAUS) represents the interests of students at the University of Alberta, the University of Calgary and the University of Lethbridge.
For more information contact:
Beverly Eastham
CAUS Chair
tel: 780-492-4236
cell: 780-237-1707
More spaces for students?! As I curl up to my computer this morning, in my inbox one of the first things I saw was this little ditty which made my head cold seem slightly more bearable.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
News Release
ALBERTA
Creating Opportunity
August 27, 2008
Campus Alberta system grows to meet the needs of Albertans
Number of new spaces reaches 2,447
Edmonton… By providing $73 million in funding for student spaces, Alberta has added 2,447 new spaces in universities, colleges, and technical institutes across the province. In addition, funding for 1,989 spaces will be provided to Mount Royal College and Grant MacEwan College to convert their existing university transfer and applied degree programs to bachelor’s programs. This brings the total number of added funded spaces in 2008 to 4,436.
“Alberta’s post-secondary system continues to be responsive to the needs of our economy and the priorities of Albertans,” said Advanced Education and Technology Minister Doug Horner. “Building a knowledge-based economy takes educated, innovative and highly-skilled people and our Campus Alberta system is taking a strong leadership role in realizing Alberta’s future.”In order to meet the demand and labour market needs set out in the Health Workforce Action Plan, 40 per cent of the new spaces are in the health care sector, including registered nurses, doctors, licensed practical nurses, x-ray technicians and medical laboratory technologists, to name a few.
This year’s funding also addresses demand and capacity issues across the province, specifically in Calgary and Edmonton. The government was able to work with and fund most of the expansions institutions proposed. Approval of proposals is based on criteria outlined in the Alberta Access Planning Framework, which includes data on labour market demand and student demand.  Some other factors that are considered are institutional capacity and resources, and the readiness of the program.
The total number of spaces being created in Calgary is 1,824 and in Edmonton 2,135, which includes the new bachelor’s degree programs at Mount Royal College and Grant MacEwan College. As capital projects are completed in the Calgary region in the coming years, they may have an opportunity to receive more post-secondary spaces than the Edmonton region.
“With both the Roles and Mandates Policy Framework and its accompanying Alberta Access Planning Framework we will continually address access issues,” said Horner. “Our focus is on providing all Albertans with a full range learning opportunities and today’s announcement reflects our commitment to our three clients, learners, taxpayers and society,” added Horner.
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Media inquiries may be directed to:
Rachel Bouska
Communications
Alberta Advanced Education and Technology
780-427-5450
To call toll free within Alberta dial 310-0000.
Today, the Alberta Government announced another hike in the projected surplus from their first quarter’s reprot bringing the projected surplus to a whopping $8.5 billion. Despite this government being cast as a spendy one due to their last budget release, oil revenues and overall increases in resource revenues have been bumping up our surplus since the budget was announced.
Money is set to be used to increased Carbon capturing and storage projects, public transportation initiatives, infrastructure and to go to savings. No news yet about any of that money going towards education, post-secondary or otherwise.
On August 25th, The Honourable Monte Solberg, Minister of Human Resources and Social Development announced the changes at Kitchener’s Pathways to Education Program.
“Because of the changes our Government has introduced, the dream of a post secondary education will be open to every Canadian regardless of their level of income,” said Minister Solberg. “What a tremendous opportunity for students and for their potential, and what a powerful advantage for Canada.”
The changes in student financial assistance programs include a new up-front Canada Student Grant of $250 per month for students from low-income families and $100 per month from students from middle-income families; a new repayment plan to help students who are having difficulty paying back their student loans, as well as improved services for students to simplify the whole loan process; and greater support for students with permanent disabilities.
“Minister Solberg’s commitment to help improve access for low and middle-income students and the government’s new initiative to help relieve student debt is reassuring for those who are faced with the burden of such barriers,” said Zach Churchill, National Director of the Canadian Alliance of Student Associations.
By creating this plan to improve access to post-secondary education, the federal government has “opened doors‟ for a portion of students in Canada. That said, there are still groups that remain largely underrepresented in the current PSE system, such as Aboriginal students, rural students, first generation learners and students with disabilities.
As the CSGP is solely income-based, students from other under-represented groups, including those who received funding from the Canadian Millennium Scholarship Foundation (CMSF), may no longer be eligible to receive assistance. Aboriginal learners and rural students, for example, will no longer have access to targeted non-repayable grants. Further, by cutting all of the needs-based funding formerly provided by the CMSF, many students will find themselves with little or no support when trying to manage their debt loads. Needs-based assistance has played a vital role in helping students to complete their post-secondary education, as well as meaningfully participate in the economy upon graduation. Studies have shown that the more debt students take on, the less likely they are to finish their programs. In order to be truly accessible, financial assistance programs for higher education must address the issues of high student debt and target those with the greatest need. Considering that the average student graduates with over $25,000 worth of debt, any effective federal grant program must address both access and persistence, by providing a mix of both income and needs-based grants.
There is additional concern that unlike the CMSF, the new CSGP will not contain a research component. Research is an essential component of informed policy decisions. Without a third party research component, the government will not have the necessary tools to evaluate the success rate of the program or develop new and innovative approaches to student financial aid. It is CASA’s position that this research element is of great importance, and that the federal government must work to address the existing knowledge gap in understanding barriers to access by allocating funds to establish a national research program on post-secondary education issues.
The University of Lethbridge is a proud member of The Canadian Alliance of Student Associations. There website can be found here
You can find the HRSDC release at this link
Brodie
Hedley is Playing Fresh U Jamboree
Hedley is coming to Lethbridge for Fresh U Jamboree!
We have been hinting at it for a while now and the ULSU is proud to announce that Hedley will be the headlining act of Fresh U Jamboree.
Tickets are available on-line now for $25! (Click Here or on the image above to purchase)
Please note: If you have already purchased your Fresh Fest package, this includes a ticket for Fresh U Jamboree. If you have not purchased a ticket for Fresh Fest or Fresh U Jamboree, what are you waiting for?! Do it now!
You can purchase Fresh Fest tickets here.
You can purchase Fresh U Jamboree tickets here.
The final Fresh U Jamboree line-up looks like this:
Sleeping with Tuesday
Mahoney
Vacation on Mars
Hedley featuring a special guest
Michael Bernard Fitzgerald
Hot Little Rocket
Dan Mangan
Cheers,
Eric
VP Internal
From July 16th – 19th, 2008 in the city of Córdoba, Spain 5 female University of Lethbridge students along with fellow rugby players from across Canada competed in the 3rd University World Rugby Championship. Playing against the likes France, Spain, Great Britain, and Italy, our girl played hard and placed second, earning a silver medal.
Team Canada - Silver Medallist, Spain 2008
Back L-R: Matt Parrish (coach), Tiffany Dautremont, Michelle Joslin, Annika Errikson, Ashley MacDonald, Ghislaine Landry, Dana Stoughton, Andrea Letal, Brittany Orr, Sue Chalk (coach), Carrie Smith (therapist).
Front L-R: Shannon Court, Cass Wendzich, Amanda Matchet, Jessie Wall.
The ULSU would like to extend congratulations to all our Canadian players, but in particular; Ashley MacDonald, Shannon Court, Tiffany Dautremont, Brittany Orr, and Andrea Letal who are all from the University of Lethbridge.
Well done girls and here’s to the University of Lethbridge continuing to be excellent in Women’s Rugby! A national championship and now a silver medal in a world competition.
Cheers,
Eric
VP Internal
This year, Lethbridge Alberta gets a little representation in the big bad International Olympics. An athlete who is a common site in our fitness facility and well renowned for his incredible skill, be sure to watch for him at this year’s Olympic games. Some stat’s for ya (courtesy of CTV)
Jim Steacy
Category: Hammer throw
Birthdate: May 29, 1984
Birthplace: Saskatoon, Sask.
Hometown: Lethbridge, Alta.
Height: 6′ 3″ / 1.92 m
Weight: 268 lbs / 121.56 kg
Olympic record: Beijing will be the first Olympic competition for Steacy.
” Jim Steacy, a young hammer thrower from Lethbridge, Alta., will head to Beijing to compete in a sport dominated by Europeans. He will be the first Canadian to compete in the hammer throw since 1924, when John Murdoch finished eighth.
While the Beijing Olympics will be Steacy’s first Olympic appearance, it is his 11th turn on the national team. Although he hasn’t received much media attention in Canada yet, that could change at the Games.
His track record is already impressive. He has won the senior men’s hammer throw title for five consecutive years at the Canadian Track and Field Championships. Including his junior wins, he has seven consecutive titles.
Steacy has also been successful on the international stage. He won the 2007 Pan American Games in Rio de Janeiro and finished second at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne.
In May he smashed the Canadian record by throwing a distance of 79.13 m. That was well over the Athletics Canada A+ qualifying standard of 78.50 m. It also comes very close to the benchmark of 80 m that hammer throwers try to achieve (comparative to the ‘four-minute mile’ for middle distance runners).
Steacy picked up hammer throw in 1999, only nine years ago. It’s a relatively short amount of time for the sport, in which most athletes start in their early teens. It means the 24-year-old will be matched up against men who have been throwing for 15 or 20 years.
Knowing the competition he will face, Steacy’s Olympic goals are long-term. He is hoping to make it to the finals in Beijing and will be striving for a podium finish at the 2012 Games in London.
Those are goals he is quite capable of achieving. In the last year, Steacy’s average throw was 76.50m. If he throws that distance during competition, he will be in a good position to reach the Olympic finals.
His average for this year was also a two-metre improvement over the previous year. If he continues to make gains like that, Steacy will be a strong contender for the 2012 Games.
Along with being a top-performing athlete, Steacy also attends the University of Lethbridge, where he is studying kinesiology and psychology.”
( CTV for the arcticle and for much more!)
Jenn Prosser,
VP Academic
Boys! Girls! Everyone!
Fresh Fest is coming up well fast and you DO NOT WANT to miss your opportunity to participate!
The ULSU had three wicked days filled with fun time things and awesome sauce ways to meet tons of people, have a bunch of fun or at least appease your worried relatives with a bona fide school sponsored event!
Curious as to what events we will have to entice your lovely selves to get your butt into gear? Well! Let me tell YOU!
Thursday Sept 4th: “Fresh Flix” – An outdoor movie in the park brought to us by Movie in the Park. The flick has yet to be decided so any suggestions will be considered!
Friday Sept 5th: “Fresh Factor” and “How Fresh is Your Talent?!” – That’s right, whole day of fun times and wickedness. “Fresh Factor” is a challenge of epic proportions. Some of UofL’s finest clubs and organizations are setting up challenges and obstacles that your team (you and 9 other people) will have to complete in order to qualify for wicked prizes! All over the UofL campus, you will get the chance to go to places I bet you didn’t even know existed on this campus… “How Fresh is Your Talent” – First, a little BBQ dinner to sort out your hungry bodies and then compete against other teams to show off your talent! A guest panel of celebrity judges will be there to, well, judge your team’s talent. Prizes abound once again. All teams who participate will be entered to win one mega awesome prize but don’t worry, there are many prizes to be given out throughout the night! Food and talent? Whats up!
Saturday Sept 6th – “FRESH U JAMBOREE!” – Woah, first ever done! The ULSU is putting on a day long, outdoor music fest with tons of great local and non-local acts, guaranteed to rock you out. More details on ticket information and who’s playing to come!
So, three days packed with amazing events and an opportunity to get to know a schawk of really cool people all at once.
Want to be involved?
Two ways:
1. Be a Fresher! $50.00 gets you all three days, the music festival pass, a wicked Fresh Fest kit (with tons of very cool stuff inside…), meals and of course, a great first week at the University of Lethbridge. You could spend that much at the Duke but I guarantee if it lasts three days, it will be in the bad way…
2. Be a Fresh Fest volunteer – Three ways to do this: All around volunteer (put in as little or much time as you want….just let us know which day you want to help with!), Fresh U Jamboree volunteer (get into the festival for free, only volunteer this one day, awesome!) or Fresh Fest Group Leader (Clearly, the coolest choice! Hang out with the Fresh Fest peeps and head up a group of 10 Freshers, a wicked chance to impart knowledge of your university experience to some new UofL’ers and participate in all these wicked events!)
So if any of this sounds like your cup of tea, go the www.ulsu.ca to sign up, or e-mail our lovely Fresh Fest coordinator, Ashley, at reedm.ashley@gmail.com or get in touch with one of us Exec types at 403 329 2222.
See you in September!
Love,
Jenn Prosser, VP Academic
Have you always wanted to rub shoulders with UofL’s finest? Desire to learn the process of following procedure and enacting democracy? Want a say in student affairs at the administration level? Want an equal voice to your department head? Ever curious about the selection of tea’s available for the Administration at the University of Lethbridge?
If you answered yes to any of the above, you should sign up for a committee! That’s right boys and girls, the University of Lethbridge offers a bevy of committee’s, all with the purpose to make decisions and facilitate change that affects you the student. Every committee created here at the UofL must have at least one sitting student representative, often has multiple, which means YOUR voice and YOUR vote is pretty fundamental to the operations of the committee and a strong student voice means good decisions for students.
This is a pretty awesome way to get involved and most committee’s has a very small time commitment, maybe 2-3 hours a month, with great perks such as resume building, committee experience, a chance to meet influential university sorts and most importantly, am opportunity to truly make an impact on student affairs and your university experience.
If you are interested you should check out the ULSU website for a full list and description of committee’s and/or just give me a shout at su.academic@uleth.ca or 403 329 2770!
Jenn Prosser, VP Academic
