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National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women

Public invited to participate in remembrance events at Douglas

      

Kristina Mameli
editor

news

s part of the National Day of
A enone and Action on
Violence Against Women, the
public is invited to join Douglas College,
the Women’s Centre, the Douglas Students’
Union and New Westminster MLA Dawn
Black in honouring and remembering the
14 women who lost their lives on December
6, 1989 at Montreal’s Ecole Polytechnique
University.

The 20" anniversary of the senseless
tragedy in which a gunman targeting female
students took the lives of those 14 students
will be commemorated with a series of
events taking place at both Douglas College
campuses all week long.

Today, from 2:30-4:30 in room 1313 at
the New Westminster campus, there will be
a free women’s self-defence class.

From today until December 3,
there will be a banner to be signed in the
concourse of the New Westminster campus.

On Thursday, December 3, New
Westminster MLA Dawn Black, who
introduced a bill in the Provincial
Legislature to make December 6 a
permanent National Day of Remembrance
and Action on Violence Against Women,

 

  
   

will be a guest speaker at a vigil starting
at 10:30 a.m. in room 2201 on the New
Westminster Campus. The vigil will also
include a remembrance video.

Also on the 3 at the New Westminster
campus, a guest speaker from the Battered
Women’s Centre of Vancouver will be on
hand from 1-3 p.m. in room 2804.

On Monday, December 7, the David
Lam campus will host a vigil starting at 11
a.m. in the Atrium.

A free, artist-facilitated community
event to remember the women and girls
who have been murdered around the world,
hosted by ROSE (Remember Our Sisters
Everywhere), will take place on Sunday,
December 6 at Thornton Park on Main
Street and Terminal Avenue in downtown
Vancouver. The park is the site of the
women’s monument Marker of Change.

MP Hedy Fry will be the event’s
mistress of ceremonies. The event is
intended to contribute to a shift in Canadian
consciousness and to help people move
from denial to healing and societal change,
according to the group’s press release.
Attendees are asked to gather at 10:30am
for a ceremony which commences at 11.

In the release, the group also mentions

that in the lead up to the event, the ROSE
website Dialogue Forum will be used to
facilitate the exchange of ideas, information
and cultural

expression surrounding the loss of women
in society. The forum can be found at http://
www.rememberoursistersevery where.com/
forum/topics/creative-process-for-december.

For more information, or to volunteer,
contact rememberoursisterseverywhere@

gmail.com.

 

Douglas graduate reaches her dreams

The opening of a bookstore marks another dream that has come to fruition for this Douglas grad

 

 

TOMES
& T ALES Used Books

 

 

 

By Knowlton Thomas

icole Skutelnik graduated from
Now College in 2008—and has
already reached her dreams.
“Tt all started when I read the first chapter

of the first Harry Potter book when I was 12
years old.” At that point, Nicole knew her

love for reading would direct her career. But

she didn’t know it would happen so fast.

Less than two years after graduating
from Douglas’ Print Futures: Professional
Writing diploma program in April of 2008,
Nicole is poised to accomplish all the long-
term goals she had set for herself prior.

“T always said that I wanted to write
novels, open my own used book store, and
write book reviews for kids,” Nicole says.
“T graduated in 2008. And already I have
done every single one of those.” Well, not
quite. Her bookstore, Tomes and Tales, isn’t
open until December 5, but that’s close

enough. Nicole says the original plan wasn’t

6

to set up shop until after retirement, but
“the opportunity came a little sooner than
expected... [it] was the next piece of the
puzzle.”

Although she already has published
kid’s books under her belt thanks to the
Douglas program’s work experience, the
bookstore won’t restrain her eternal passion
for writing. “I can write while I’m at the
store,” she explained. “It’s the perfect set

up.”

Nicole owes much of her successes to
her time at Douglas. “Print Futures was so
much more than a writing program,” she
says. “I see the effects of that program in
my everyday life. It has helped me during
the writing and editing process of my
novel; it has helped me to understand the
competitive nature of the writing world; and
it has helped me in the business world. But
more than anything, it showed me how to
approach the real world with confidence.”

Douglas has got her this far. Now she

ee

must up the ante of her business-savvy and
keep the store afloat. How? Nicole says
there will be the incorporation of other
products like sterling silver jewellery,
handmade cards and journals, metaphysical
gifts, magazines, and some scrapbooking
supplies. On top of that, Nicole says, “I
don’t have wall-to-wall books. Instead,
there’s room to move and it’s wheelchair
accessible. I have a fireplace and chair [and]
a chair in the kids’ room, along with a train
table for little ones to play with while their
parents shop.”

As Nicole reflected on the journey
she took while studying at Douglas, she
offered some sound advice to students
with ambitious aspirations: “Focus on your
dreams, and don’t listen to the people who
tell you they’re impossible. Face rejection
head on, and keep trying.” She says that the
only way to achieve your dreams is to work
toward them every day of your life—even
in college.

Tomes and Tales is located in Pitt Meadows

(Unit 103—19141 Ford Road) and officially

opens December 5 at 10 a.m. (and closes

at 6 p.m.). Visit the bookstore’s official
website at www.tomesandtales.com

Read the interview with Nicole in full at

www.knowltonthomas.wordpress.com