Children’s movie filmed in New Westminster By Garth McLennan, Acting Staff Reporter ew Westminster is currently playing host to the N ise of The Diary of a Wimpy Kid, a children’s movie based on a book series written and illustrated by Jeff Kinney. Production teams for the movie could be seen setting up and designing realistic snow banks for various sets on the movie, despite it being a hot September day. The movie is due to be released in theatres on April 2, 2010. It is produced by 20" Century Fox and is being directed by Thor Freudenthal (Hotel for Dogs) and stars a number of little-known child actors, including Zachary Gordon and Chloe Mortez. It also features Richmond’s Samantha Page, 11. So far, Kinney has released three Diary of a Wimpy Kid novels, with a fourth due out in October and a concluding fifth volume planned for a publishing sometime in 2010. The series follows the middle school life of character Greg Heffley (played by Gordon). The bulk of New Westminster shooting has been done so far on the 200 block of Second Street, with mobile dressing rooms set up in the heart of Queens Park beside the baseball stadium. While Vancouver is regularly known as Hollywood North, New Westminster has its own history of film projects as well, although they generally tend to be of a lower budget and stature then their counterparts. The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause, starring Tim Allen and Martin Short, was filmed here in 2006. Earlier this year another children’s movie, The Tooth Fairy, was filmed on Queens Avenue. It is set for release in January 2010 and stars Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Billy Crystal. New Westminster also is regularly home to shooting for a number of television shows like Fringe, Smallville and Supernatural. Queens Park and Friendship Gardens are their typical filming locations, although Smallville has shot all over New Westminster. Douglas College Wrap-Up By Kristina Mameli and Liam Britten Deadline for fall awards and bursaries Oct 1 The deadline to apply for Douglas College awards and bursaries is October 1. These awards and bursaries are an opportunity for the community to financially aid Douglas students through the Douglas College Foundation and the Financial Aid Office. Some of the awards are restricted to certain programs or students involved in the community but most are general. For a complete listing of awards and bursaries, visit http://www.douglascollege.ca/calendar/general- information.html, Fill out an online application at http://registrar. douglas.be.ca/. Douglas College says goodbye to Susan Witter Although she’s been retired for a month now, it was only last week that Douglas College truly said goodbye to former president Susan Witter. On Wednesday, September 23, a dinner function was held for Witter in the newly renovated cafeteria of the New West Campus. Many member of the College community were in attendance, as well as dignitaries such as Mayor Richard Stewart of Coquitlam and Mayor Wayne Wright of New Westminster. The function was an opportunity for those who knew Witter to honour her and say goodbye, and there was even a video camera set up by CEIT staff member Chris McDowell for guests to record goodbyes to Witter. “We’ve seen the College grow phenomenally under the 12 years of her leadership, we’ ve seen 400 new bursaries and scholarships added under her watch,” said College Board Chair Andrew Taylor. “We want to celebrate Susan’s lifelong commitment to accessibility and to students. We want to celebrate her achievements here at the College.” Taylor added that he will particularly remember Witter as a proponent of those who struggled and someone willing to “fight for the underdog.” Harper to make good on promise to pull troops out of Afghanistan by 2011 Obama calls on allies to send more troops to the region. By Kristina Mameli, Acting News Editor rime Minister Stephen Harper has P= that Canada will remain firm in its decision to withdraw all troops from Afghanistan by 2011 despite a recent NATO report urging allies to send more troops to the war-torn region. Harper noted that by 2011, the allies will have been in Afghanistan almost as long as they were in both World Wars combined. General Stanley McChrystal’s 66-page Could we be close to an HIV/AIDS vaccine? Promising results in Bangkok indicate we’re a step closer P : - By Kristina Mameli, Acting News were given condoms, counselling and Editor treatment for any STI’s contracted during the trial. They were also tested for HIV every six months and were given free report was sent to U.S. defence secretary Robert Gates at the end of August. The report said that the situation in Afghanistan is deteriorating, and that success will not be guaranteed even if more troops and resources are sent. McChrystal, who has been working on the report since President Barrack Obama commissioned it in June, also warned that lack of resources could mean an extended conflict and loss of support in Afghanistan and NATO countries. McChrystal commands 103,000 NATO troops, and Obama has already ordered an additional 21,000 this year. 4 (tireless There are currently over 2,800 Canadian troops in Afghanistan’s Kandahar province and Harper said Canada will focus on putting more resources towards development and humanitarian aid and less on security as Canada slowly withdraws from the country. hai and American scientists have [= testing a vaccine in Thailand that appears to have reduced the risk of contracting HIV/AIDS by 31 per cent. The promising results have not yet been published, but as the scientific community watched with baited breath, the results of the three year study were revealed Thursday. Researchers tested a combination of two vaccines, ALVAC and AIDSVAX, neither of which have been effective in individual trials. More that 16,000 HIV negative Thai men, women and children were followed for three years after being vaccinated. All of the studies participants medication if they contracted the disease. New infections resulted in 51 of the 8,197 people given the vaccine and in 74 of the 8,198 given the placebo. Hoping to see a 50 to 60 per cent reduction, researchers achieved a 31.2 per cent. The results are still extremely encouraging after more than 20 years of relatively unsuccessful experimentation. The United Nations estimates that worldwide 7,500 people are infected with HIV every day. Details of the study are expected to be announced in October.