v-T-U ir VOL 1 fiis NO 23 VANCOUVER COMMUNITY COLLEGE r-ir," ''ra) ' ¦< ACCC Conference Inside New perspectives, strong alliances T Drive right— watch for cyle his year's ACCC conference took place in Victoria from June 4th to 6th and was attended by over one thousand representatives from com¬ munity colleges across Canada. The theme was "Strategic Alliances," which provided a basis to explore our links with business, industry, commuters communities, governments and other educa¬ tional institutions. The theme was especially relevant as we envisage the reduction in the federal transfer of payments to the provinces and the consequent reduction of funding to Tips 'n Tricks for PageMaker 5.0 In recognition of Diane Thompson post-secondary education. The message was loud and clear—that we need to respond to these external forces and start planning now. Many of us attended special group sessions on Sunday, June 4th, before the "real" conference began on Monday. The Presidents, Board Members, Vice Presidents Finance, Students, Faculty, and "College Contacts" were all rep¬ resented in these network groups by representatives from VCC. Tony Manera 24-hour relay—a first hand view Celebrating so Years The first keynote speaker on Monday was Tony Manera, no stranger to many of our VCC com¬ munity. He spoke about his experience at CBC, the importance of strategic alliances between the CBC and the U.S. broadcasters, between the CBC management and the emloyees and between the CBC and the communities it serves. He also emphasized the need for flex¬ ibility in employees and the necessity and inevitability of life-long learning. "Dealing with stress/distress in the colleges of the 90s," "Internal partnerships: creating har¬ mony and improving quality," "Making change work," and "Transforming community colleges through strategic networks" are a few randomly selected workshop titles, but they indicate two issues most widely discussed at this conference: change and partnerships. Three of the workshops involved VCC partici¬ pation. John Cruickshank and Dalton Kremer presented "Two Presidents in Search of Better Governance," Linda Thomas was involved in a panel discussion on "Sharing First Nations Education" and Donna Barreca and Mel Felker gave a presentation on the VCC "Peer Helper Program." AH in the same boat One of the greatest benefits to attending the conference is the opportunity to network and to meet and learn from colleagues across Canada. It will come as no surprise that we are all facing similar issues and concerns, but it definitely helps to get another perspective. For your information, next year's ACCC Con¬ ference will take place in Toronto. The theme is "Building Learning Communities," and al¬ ready ACCC is calling for proposals for presentations. They are asking for a prelimi¬ nary expression of interest to be submitted by June 30, 1995 and from these ideas they will shortlist and request more details. If you are interested in presenting, please call me at 7158 for more information. Sarah Lucas Rules of the road for the other 95% Drive right, share the road (Editor's note: After the article "Rules of the road" appeared in the May 18 edition, I received a number of requests from cycle commuters who felt that drivers of automobiles could stand to bone up on their driving etiquette, particularly when it comes to sharing the road with cyclists'. The following information and graphics are taken from the "Drive Right, Cycle Right" pamphlet, published by the Ministry of Transportation and Highways Motor Vehicle Branch,) Think small Parsing a cyclist A cyclist requires enough Don't just be on the lookout for other cars and trucks... be sure to watch out for bikes too! %?#' Look out room to control the bicy¬ cle and avoid road hazards. Provide the cy¬ clist enough room when you pass. Ensure that you are well ahead be¬ fore you pull back in. Passing a car When a cyclist is in your On hills & through blind comers lane or is coming towards" Slow down. you in the opposite lanS, pass the car in a way that all three vehicles will not There could be cyclists or other slow meet at the same time. ,- J moving traf¬ Left hand turns fic just beyond your view, all using the same 7 You've trained yourself to watch for other motorists. lane. Be prepared to give the right-of-way. Now you must learn to watch for cyclists, too! Be particularly alert for cy- X clists who are momentarily hidden by other Be bike alert You may have to rethink old driving habits and adapt to the presence of cyclists on the road. Don't be a road hog - share the road traffic. Right hand turns instead. Always be sure to check Open door policy the right blind spot before Before opening your door into traffic, look for cy¬ clists, pedestrians and other vehicles. Failure to making your turn. After passing a cyclist, be aware that the cyclist may have caught up and could be proceeding straight through do so could cause serious injury to someone caught Intersections When stopped at an inter¬ section, check carefully for cyclists and pedestrians. PAGE 2 -1ZH3EEB r SO by surprise. JUNE 1 5 1 995 Lane positioning Railway crossing a) Expect cyclists to keep Cyclists may require addi¬ out of right-tum-only lanes through. tional room to manoeuvre when crossing railway or streetcar tracks. b) -Except cy¬ clists to turn Many cyclists travel at speeds of 30km/hr. left in the or more. Please take this into consideration, same way especially when turing in front of a cyclist. when going straight Gauge speed cars do by signalling and moving left before the intersection. V":\ -< % } I-> niques, developed for the production of bike parts, paved the way for the mass production of cars. Tips 'n Tricks—PageMaker 5.0 Crop before you import To save printing time, you should crop graphics before you import them into PageMaker. Graphics you crop in PageMaker take longer to print than graphics cropped before being imported. Wrapping text around text To wrap text around another text block, such as a caption, create an unfilled rec¬ tangle with no line weight or color, VOL 1 NO 2 3 specify a text-wrap option, and position the rectangle behind the text arouond which you want to wrap other text. Prevent constant text rewrap When you are customizing a text wrap around a graphic, hold down the spacebar as you adjust the text boundaries. When you release the spacebar, the text rewraps. PAGE 3 VCC's best kept secrets In recognition of excellence ecoming head of an English De¬ bestows the Diane Thompson Writing Award partment, and becoming a to a promising young writer. published author/scholar hardly seemed a possibility to a young Diane Thompson, whose large family barely made ends meet financially. Poor but deter¬ mined, Diane's parents knew the best hope of a better life for their children was through Q a good education. Therefore, Saturday morn¬ ings, it was common to see the entire uick Thompson clan spread out to every comer of the Saint John, New Brunswick Library. Here uote the Thompsons loaded up on their quota of The reason you get into politics is because you don't want to be governed by people who are less good than yourself. —Pierre Elliott Trudeau books, which were to be their chief source of entertainment for the week. Diane took de¬ light in escaping to far away places and living vicariously through the heros in the novels thologies of Canadian Literature will publish an article which Diane wrote while working at the College. The essay is entitled "Cana¬ dian Women Over Four Centuries." Diane believed history concentrated on the "hero" and how the great man was always at centre stage shaping our destiny. She wrote to "lift the veil" which has masked the heroic efforts of women, and to acknowledge Canadian women's rightful place in history. Anyone interested in receiving a copy of Diane's ar¬ ticle should contact Brenda Appleton at 7318. by Barbara Hammond she read. Small wonder then, when she gradu¬ ated from high school she did so with honours in English and received the much coveted Beaverbrook Scholarship. Winning the schol¬ arship meant a lot to Diane. It was the only hope she had to go on to university and pur¬ sue the love of her life—literature. As a young teacher Diane taught in Trinidad and Tanzania with CIDA. Returning to Canada, she chose to complete her Master's Degree in Education at UBC. Simultaneously she began teaching English at VCC, quickly moving up to the position of Department Head in the English Department. Sadly, her promising young life ended in 1983. Her students were always struck by her pas¬ sion and enthusiasm for poetry and the English classics. As a result, the Humanities Department for Literature or Canadian View¬ points gives the Diane Thompson Memorial Scholarship each year. Also, each year in hon¬ our of her memory, McLean's Magazine PAGE 4 VCC has recently learned that the Norton An¬ Counsellors offer success skills workshops This fall the counsellors at City Cen¬ tre will once again offer "in class" workshops at the invitation of the classroom instructors. Workshops will focus on fundamental success skills such as "Study Skills" and "Stress Management", Scheduling of workshops will generally be limited to Mondays and Wednesdays de¬ pending on availability of counsellors. Requests for work¬ shops should be made well in advance to avoid disappointment. To book your workshop, contact Ian Fonsyth at local 8454. J U N E 1 5 1995 Midsummer Madness— The 24 Hour Relay for the Kids. "Thanks," as he swings away up the small 2:00 a.m. on the far side of Bumaby's Central Park. The only incline, as graceful as a thoroughbred, and disappears into the darkness. "I'll be okay?" sound is the your heart It's a wet andthudding chilly 7ofdegrees at you think. The irony of it is staggering as and the wet slip-slap of running shoes as other you run on two sound legs up that same in¬ runners slog past you in the rain. It's as far away as you can get from the noise and glare of Swangard stadium's track, with only your cline. Realizing that this small distraction was just enough for you to catch an invaluable second wind, gratitude overwhelms you. Gratitude that he was there in the dark just laboured breathing to keep you company. Your knees ache and your shoes fill with rain¬ as you wanted to quit. water that squishes with every step. You could slow to a walk, but that would mean this lap would be slower. Slower means fewer laps, fewer miles, fewer dollars! Have to keep Even at 2:22 a.m., several familiar faces will be watching you make it back into the sta¬ going! Only one more run after this, at 6:00 a.m. By then the sun will be up and it will be dium. They'll cheer as if you had just won the gold medal as you finish those last few easier after a few hours sleep. Just have to finish this one. torturous metres. You know you'll finish, because even though he wasn't on your You've centred all your concentration on that one thought—"just finish"—when you hear people strong, united in the common goal to raise as much money as possi¬ a different cadence approaching from behind. ble in 24 hours for children with disabilities. No adrenaline high, or Team spirit team, you are both parts of a team 10,000 The breathing is the same, but this time it's accompanied by an irregular step—slap from one shoe, thump, than slap again. It's just strange enough to break your concentration. As the runner pulls even with you, the gleam aching knees; no sleep deprivation or strained muscles will match the feeling when the last lap is finished, the gun goes off, and more than a million dollars is on the of metal crutches bounces off the lights of scoreboard! Your knees will recover after a the Patterson St. Skytram station. One foot hits the pavement and then two crutches lurch ahead for the second "step." The runner is hot bath. After a sound sleep, the muscles will unkink. You, unlike the kids in braces, in wheelchairs and on crutches, will stand not wearing any prosthesis; his stump is up and walk away. swinging free. He slows to pace beside you as you both en¬ ter the last hill before the entrance to the track. Christmas lights twinkle in an arch overhead to illuminate the darkness of the bike path. "You're doing okay," he says, "you're almost there, last quarter mile, last hill—just take it easy! You'll make it!" You manage to wheeze A bit of history For the last 16 years, on every third or fourth weekend in June, approximately 10,000 peo¬ ple, their partners, children and relatives gather in the lingering light of the summer solstice to push themselves to the limit. Some have never run farther than a block, while continued on the next page VOL 1 NO 2 3 PAGE 5 Midsummer madness (continued from page 3) others think nothing of 15k before breakfast every day. Usually a team of visually im¬ paired runners and a team of wheelchair athletes participate. Each of the 160 teams comprises 20 runners, who will run a series of 2.5 mile relays out of Swanqard stadium, around Burnaby's Central Park. Once back into the stadium, each runner will pass the baton to the next member of their team. At any time in that twenty-four-hour pe¬ riod one runner from each team is on the circuit. An assortment of volunteers will water, cheer on, clock laps and massage their team-mates. The volunteers keep the runners going and on the track. All the la¬ bour, equipment and material are donated. All For the first nine years of this craziness Van¬ couver Community College fielded a team for this event. It unfortunately is no more, but the craziness continues. I run with a mot¬ ley pack called "The Lapdogs," who would be grateful for any support that you could put their way. Donations of more than $10.00 will receive a tax receipt. You can enter a pledge by the mile or in a lump sum donation. Give me a shout at local 7010 or 871-7010. Hurry, we'll be running rain or shine! Every year when I do this people ask me the same question—why do I do it? (Certifiable, maybe?) I can't take you there to feel that tre¬ mendous rush of pride or make you feel the low of a 2:00 a.m. run, so this is my best shot. Be part of it — you can make a difference on June 18 and 19, 1995. the money goes to the BC Lions Society for Children with Disabilities. Steph Jewell, local 7010 CNC on-line The Computer Needs Committee (CNC) The CNC users' group, by meeting and shar¬ would like to hear from VCC computer us¬ ers who have a VCC e-mail login address and ing information, is here to extend its support to VCC employees in their computing en¬ deavour. The group also serves as a conduit to pass information to and from the Educa¬ password, but are not actually using the sys¬ tem. Also, we'd like to hear from you if you already use e-mail, but would like to learn how to access educational re¬ sources and sites on the Internet. If you're ready to get started on e-mail or "surfing," and need a little assistance, or want to ask a question, please direct your inquir¬ ies in writing or by telephone to Raymonde Jabaji, ESL Vocational Department, at local 7435, fax: 251-8435, e-mail:ijabaji@vcc.bc.ca; or post your question to cnc-users@sfu.ca. Let's mentor each other electronically! PAGE 6 tional Technology Committee chaired by Casey Sheridan. The next meeting will be held at City Centre Campus, at 12:00 noon, on June 16. Bring your lunch and questions! New members welcome. Included on the agenda will be re¬ vising our mandate. Direct inquiries about the meeting should be directed to Carol Tulper at VCC, 7347, e-mail ctulper@vcc.bc.ca or Brock Elliott at CC, local 8547, e-mail belliott@vcc.bc.ca. J U N E 1 5 1995 You Ye invited! To a retirement and full-time studies. Further information party for Sonja Alton, Tuesday, June 20, 1995, in the staff cafeteria. Please con¬ tact Joan Burnett at 871-7278, office 3218, to sign the large card for Sonja. You are also welcome to contribute towards a is available from Vivienne (local 7159) or Sarah (local 7158). Applications are available by phoning Chelene Koeing, Program Advisor, at (604) 864-4621. Scholarship fund in honour of Sonja. Please contact VCC Educational Foun¬ Love golf? Love volunteering? dation. The Vancouver-Bumaby Branch of the The VCC Computer Needs Canadian Mental Health Association is looking for 90 fun-loving volunteers to help with their annual Stephen J. Cannell CMHA Golf Tournament on Wednesday, July 19th, at the University Golf Committee will meet at City Cen¬ tre on Friday, June 16 in Room 824. New members welcome. Bring your e-mail or other computing questions! For more in¬ formation call Carol Tulpar at 7347 KEC or Brock Elliott at 8547 CC. Earn your BA in Adult Edu¬ cation: Applications are being ac¬ cepted for the BA in Adult Education degree program offered by the University College of the Fraser Valley in collabo¬ ration with Open University. Students intending to start in September 95 should apply before July 15. Applications for a January 96 start can be submitted begin¬ ning October 3. This degree program is designed to accommodate both part-time Club. There are prizes and lots of active roles for volunteers! Interested? Call 872-4902 to register as soon as possible. The Canadian Mental Health Association is a registered charitable organization committed to pro¬ moting positive mental health for all individuals and the community. The KEC Book Club meets on June 30, at 12:00 noon at Not Just Des¬ serts to discuss Smylla's Sense of Snow by Peter Hoeg (originally written in Dan¬ ish). New members welcome. Please con¬ firm your attendance the day before with Carol Tulpar at 7347. See you there! The new ABE Literacy Connections distribution Learning Centre, located at the has been cut down (to save pa¬ new Vancouver Public Library, 350 West Georgia St. will open this fall. For more information phone Rene Merkel, Depart¬ ment Head, Basic Education Dept, 7371. per). Therefore, departments at City Centre will receive only 2 copies—one for faculty VOL t NO 2 3 and one for staff. Extra copies (if needed) can be picked up in the mailroom. PAGE 7 Attention Commuters who use the Oak Street Bridge: The bridge is undergoing a major rehabilitation Connections project. One lane in each direction will be closed, Editor, Design and Layout: effective June 10 through Dale Rasmussen, PR Dept Campus Contacts Vickki Montigny (CQ, Manijeh Golkhizi (KEC) Communications Coordinator Sarah Lucas, local 7158 Connections publishes every Thursday, and the deadline for submissions is September 4,1995. Work will be conducted around the clock. These lane clo¬ sures will affect traffic flows, particularly at peak travel times. To minimize delays: • adjust your working hours • van or car pool • take transit • travel during off peak hours • use alternative routes (see map) New e-mail address: Canada Day reminder: Janice Hansen, Human Rights Coordina¬ As Canada Day falls on a Saturday this tor, is on e-mail. Her new address is: year, the College will be closed on Mon¬ 3:00 pm on the previous Friday. Please supply your article to h umanrights @vcc.bc.ca. day, July 3 in lieu of the Statutory Holi¬ Manijeh or Vickki day. Therefore, the College will bt closed in a simple,wordprocessed format Saturday, Sunday and Monday, July 1, 2 and 3,1995. (text only is best) on an IBM- compatible disk, and include a hardcopy. Please recycle this newsletter. JOB POSTINGS Department Head, Community and Career Education. Closing: June 26. Media Services Coordinator II. Closing: June 23. Secretary (Admin, KEC). Closing: June 21. Temporary part-time Library Assistant (b). Closing: June 21. FOR SALE Roller blades: black with purple laces; Bauer; worn only once. Size 4 men/5 ladies. Asking price $35 (paid $90 plus taxes). Reason for selling: wrong size. Call Mimi at 874-9923. VWWestfalia: 1993, red, loaded, low milage, extra clean; $29,900. Phone: 464-4041. Office Clerk (a), Continuing Education, KEC. Closing: June 21. PAGE 8 J U N E 1 5 1995