GradzetteThe universiTy of mAniToBA’s GrADuATe sTuDenT mAGAzine

JAnuAry 2015

Multimillion dollar Active Living Centre nears completion Page 3

Gradzette The universiTy of mAniToBA’sGrADuATe sTuDenT mAGAzine

Gradzette c/o The Manitoban Newspaper Publications Corporation 105 University Centre University of Manitoba Winnipeg, MB, R3T 2N2 General inquiries and advertising Phone: (204) 474.6535 Fax: (204) 474.7651 Email: editor@gradzette.com Editor: Ryan Harby Copy Editor: Bryce Hoye Designer: Marc Lagace Contributors: Rachel Wood, Katy MacKinnonCover: Ryan Harby

The Gradzette is the official student magazine of the University of Manitoba’s graduate student community and is published on the first Monday of each month by the Manitoban Newspaper Publications Corporation.

The Gradzette is a democratic student organization, open to participation from all students. It exists to serve its readers as students and citizens. The magazine’s primary mandate is to report fairly and objec¬tively on issues and events of importance and in-terest to the graduate students of the University of Man-itoba, to provide an open forum for the free expression and exchange of opinions and ideas, and to stimulate meaningful debate on issues that affect or would oth-erwise be of interest to the student body and/or society in general. The Gradzette serves as a training ground for students interested in any aspect of journalism. Students and other interested parties are invited to contribute. Please contact the editor listed above for submission guide-lines. The Gradzette reserves the right to edit all submissions and will not publish any material deemed by its editori-al board to be discriminatory, racist, sexist, homophobic or libelous. Opinions expressed in letters and articles are solely those of the authors. The Gradzette is a member of the Canadian University Press, a national student press cooperative with mem-bers from St. John’s to Victoria. All contents are ©2014 and may not be reprinted with-out the express written permission of the Manitoban Newspaper Publications Corporation.

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january 2015

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U of M Active Living Centre set to open in FebruaryStudents and staff at the University of

Manitoba can finally prepare to say “adios” to the Gritty Grotto. February 2015 will bring about the long anticipated opening of the new Active Living Centre.

The faculty of kinesiology and recreation management’s new facility broke ground in October of 2012 after the centre’s plans were presented in February,2011. The 40-year-old locker rooms of the Frank Kennedy Centre were already renovated in 2012, as a first step in the construction process.

Located on the corner of University Crescent and Dafoe Road, the leading edge 100,000 square foot building features a 200-metre indoor and elevated running track, a group work-out area that includes 1,000 pieces of weights and accessories, 160 pieces of cardio equipment, 64 pieces of resistance machinery, 49 of strength equipment, food service options, an area for social gatherings,

studios, and a 40-foot climbing wall. This equals double the equipment currently in the Grotto, some of which is 20-years-old.

The centre also includes a research space, taking up 10,000 square feet of the large facility. Gordon Giesbrecht, faculty of kinesiology and recreation management professor, told the Manitoban that this Applied Research Centre will provide space to “design and evaluate programs that will actually get people active.”

The building was designed in collaboration by Cibinel Architects and Batteriid. Cibinel, a Winnipeg based consulting office, has been commonly employed by the University of Winnipeg, Brandon University, and Red River College, and is currently working on the new U of M Vision (re)Generation Development Plan for the Southwood Golf Course land obtained by the university, though the actual plans have not yet been presented.

Rachel Wood

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Cibinel describes the main architectural goals of the Active Living Centre as “contrast[ing] the existing Frank Kennedy Recreation Centre by creating a building that is extroverted, communicative, and engag[ing] the community and users at a pedestrian as well as vehicular scale.”

Further, the architectural firm states that the prominent location of the facility on the campus will create an “important icon” by attracting staff and students, along with the public, to the U of M campus.

Currently, the U of M states that more than “7,800 students and 1,000 staff and community members use the faculty of kinesiology and recreation management’s[facilities annually].”

“The building seeks to maintain existing flows, contribute to the inter-connectivity of the campus network, and become a conduit that increases the general public’s exposure to the idea of active living,” states Cibinel.

Batteriid is an Iceland based consulting architectural firm whose projects are mainly in Norway and Iceland. The company has a connection with Winnipeg, however, as they were also used for the Polo Park Stadium Site Redevelopment project.

The Icelandic company describes the Active Living Centre as supporting the “promotion, teaching, and research of active living in a variety of formats and at varying levels of intensity [ . . . ] It will bear testimony and promote active living principles and practices for all Manitobans.”

The new centre replaces the both loved and loathed Gritty Grotto, anunderground facility that currently houses the U of M’s exercise equipment. The Grotto is surrounded by gravel and resembles the remains of an underground parking lot, with a chain link fence around the perimeter of the space.

Director of active living Gary Thompson told the Manitoban in January of 2014 that “the primary driving factor of the new Active Living Centre was to get out of the Gritty Grotto, which he said “looks, smells, and feels like a basement.”

According to Thompson, the new centre was a priority in order to encourage physical activity, which positively affects mental health.

Research has shown that regularly exercising three to five times a week can improve thinking, learning and judgment skills. Studies on mice have shown mice that ran

Active Living Centre construction from January, 2014. Photo by Beibei Lu

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learned new tasks, such as a water maze, faster than those that did not run. Further, monkeys who regularly ran on a treadmill learned twice as fast than those who were sedimentary.

The U of M aims to support individuals who do not regularly exercise by providing a “getting started suite” that offers a smaller and more private space to learn the basics of exercising, such as how to use the equipment.

Click to open a virtual tour video on YouTube

Other aspects of the design contribute to creating an open and inviting atmosphere in the facility, such as the airy design and three walls of floor-to-ceiling windows.

“It’s an open and welcoming space for everyone,” said Simon Wang, facilities manager for the faculty of kinesiology and recreation management.“We strategically placed the equipment to keep it open and welcoming. You don’t want to have the strength equipment right in your face when you first walk in.”

The centre cost a total of $59 million. The federal and provincial government provided joint financial support of $20 million through the Provincial-Territorial Base fund, a federal initiative launched in 2007 under the Building Canada plan. The fund has $2.275 billion that “provides predictable funding to provinces and territories to address core infrastructure priorities” that include “cleaner environments” and “strong

and prosperous communities”.

The City of Winnipeg also contributed to the cost of the Active Living Centre with$2.5 million provided by the sale of the old Polo Park stadium.

The university provided the remaining $36.5 million.

The opening of the new Active Living Centre arrives among a recent surge in health

initiatives in the area. The new ACCESS Fort Gary will be constructed as the sixth ACCESS centre in Winnipeg. This new primary care clinic will allow residents in the community to receive services from physicians, nurse practitioners, and primary care nurses, as well as utilizing community development spaces, including meeting rooms and a kitchen.

Moreover, gym expansions at École St. Avilia and Fort Richmond Collegiate are set to occur.

Memberships to the new facility will now be included in tuition under the sport and recreation fee, at $75 per term for full time students, prorated for the Winter 2015 term at $56.25.

Students will be required to activate their memberships in order to access the facilities, both at Fort Gary and the Bannatyne campus.

Career fair 2015 Annual event forges connections between students and employers

The University of Manitoba’s annual career fair is a convenient method

for students to connect with prospective employers, practice interview techniques, and learn about the diversity of organizations recruiting in Manitoba.

On Jan. 21 from 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. students can wander through the booths on the second floor of University Centre and meet with 94 employers, like GoodLife Fitness, Kumon Canada, and NYGÃRD International.

Registration is required and attendance is free. Students will be provided maps of the booths so they can organize their route accordingly.

“It’s important that [students] get a sense of the employers in Winnipeg that are hiring,” said Sonya Penner, event coordinator. “It’s a wide variety of companies from different industries; we have social sciences right to engineering.”

According to Penner, the conversations between students and employers at the fair are like “mini interviews,” since many of the people working at the booths work in human resources. Students should dress well and make eye contact, as well as be prepared with multiple resume copies.

Career fair prep

Penner said that the career fair is an “active” fair, and according to feedback from previous years, employers want to see resumes and want students to be able to have a conversation about prospective job opportunities.

For further preparation, the U of M’s Career Services is holding a number of workshops throughout January. Pre-registration for career month events begins on Jan. 7 at 9:30 a.m. in University Centre, and refreshments are included.

First-time career fair attendees would benefit from the Career Prep workshop on Jan. 14, 15, and 16. This workshop will offer advice on personal presentation to employers while highlighting strengths.

Penner says it’s important for students to do background research and think about why students want to work for specific companies before speaking with them.

On Jan. 15, the workshop titled “Know Yourself, Know Your Career” will help students organize their thoughts about potential career opportunities that would match best with their personalities and strengths.

As many careers require strong writing skills,

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Katy MacKinnon

the “Get an Edge” workshop on Jan. 15 will help students do just that. This workshop has an academic focus, with advice on developing a thesis and conducting research.

For last-minute prep right before the event, the “Resume Blitz” workshop on Jan. 19 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. will assist students with sharpening their resumes. Career consultants will help students tailor their resumes to best match prospective employers.

Workshops catered towards international students will help to ease the transition to a foreign workforce. Service Canada is on-site on Jan. 8 to issue social insurance numbers for international students with the correct documentation.

International students can learn about working in Canada at the “Canadian Workplace Culture” workshop on Jan. 20. This workshop helps to assess cultural differences in the workplace, and talks about how to experience success with diversity.

“I think a person at university is going to get a great education, a great degree,” said Penner. “[Companies] would be lucky to have a graduate.”

Workshop times and locations can be found at: www.umanitoba.ca/student/careerservices/lte/index.html

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Are you a graduate student eager to promote your research and provide exposure for your work in the master’s or doctoral program? The Grad-zette is looking for individuals interested in participating in our ongoing

“Researcher Profile” column, which seeks to showcase important and exciting U of M research for a larger audience.

If you would like to be featured in an upcoming “Researcher Profile,” please contact editor@gradzette.com with details regarding your field of study, a short blurb about your current research, and any pertinent con-

tact information for interview purposes.

Get your research featured in the Gradzette

some women students believe it’s cheaper to travel back to their home countries in order to have basic procedures, according to Fehr.

“They miss all these facts[ . . . ] and we’ve had a couple that have gone home for something as simple as a yeast infection. [Here] it’s an over the counter [medication] or maybe they go through a doctor, but [it’s] not known how simple it is,” Fehr said.

The data has also shown a disconnect between Western uses of certain medications and other cultural beliefs or practices. According to Fehr, some Chinese students bring an extra bag of luggage filled with traditional medicines from home such as teas and herbs.

“They don’t have any trust with the Westernized system. There is no bridging between the kinds of [medications] we have offered here and their stuff [ . . . ] when they go and see a doctor, they’re worried that they’re going to be given medicine that isn’t safe,” Fehr said. “They have a different way of looking at medications and treatments and antibiotics, too.”

Other cultural differences found in the data include the concept of 911. In mainland China they have several emergency numbers for specific emergencies, according to Fehr.

“Some have phoned 911 not knowing what to expect on the other side and have panicked,” she said.

Other misconceptions Fehr has noticed through the interviews have been the role a pharmacist plays in prescriptions, how breastfeeding clinics work and a struggle adjusting to Canadian food leading to skin and stomach issues.

The group has mostly interviewed female students from China and India, but the pilot study is looking to expand to all groups on campus.

“It’s very preliminary, just understanding the basic expectations and experiences these women have had thus far,” Perry said.

Perry hopes this opens doors for more research.

“At this point we’re just collecting data. We need more answers and we definitely need other cultures,” Fehr said.

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KAMLOOPS, B.C. (CUP) — A pilot study looking at the current health care accessibility and use by female international students is being conducted on Thompson Rivers (TRU) campus. The researchers, senior lecturer Florriann Fehr and co-investigators Kim Munich and Wendy McKenzie are collecting data through interviews with women on their experiences with Canada’s health care system.

The interviews are focusing on the “specific cultural and religious influences [that] may influence unaddressed health care needs while attending Canadian post-secondary programs,” according to the description of the study currently being handed out to international student women interested in participating.

“The little information we have has been largely on mental health,” said Allison Perry, fourth-year nursing student and assistant researcher in the study.

Perry has always been interested in being culturally competent and culturally safe in health practices. This research allows her to pursue both her passions of anthropology and nursing.

According to Fehr, the data is already showing insufficiencies in Canadian health care, particularly maternity care. For example, international students, specifically women from Saudi Arabia, are having babies in Kamloops, but where these women are getting post-pregnancy care from is unclear.

“There’s this big disconnect. The nurses are saying ‘we don’t know where they’re going afterward,’ and public health is having issues contacting them, too” Fehr said. “As educators and ethical people, we think ‘well I hope that they’re getting the services they need because they’re here going through TRU.’”

Fehr completed her PhD with a focus on students raising children while they’re in post-secondary programs.

“My whole interest is making sure that this transition, of coming here on campus and having their academic life, is balanced with all the other stuff they need to have done outside of school. There’s this vulnerable group or unknown group of TRU international students, females in particular,” she said.

The data is already revealing a misunderstanding on the insurance coverage that international students have, where

How do women in the international student community fare with health care in Canada?Ashley Wadhwani — The Omega (THOMPSON RIVERS UNIVERSITY)