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Contact: Mercedes Deutscher, News Editor
Minews@theotherpress.ca

What to expect 1n Fall 2015

» A preview for a new school year at Douglas College

Mercedes Deutscher
News Editor
© news@theotherpress.ca

At semester of classes
is underway at Douglas
College, and it will be the first
for thousands of new students.
Several annual events are
scheduled to take place in the first
few weeks of September, both to
acclimatize students to their new
environment and test necessary
safety procedures for the school.
Hundreds of students showed
up for New Student Orientation,
which took place on August 18
and 20 at Coquitlam’s David Lam
campus, and from August 25 to 27
at the New Westminster campus.
All of the orientations taking place
at New Westminster reached full
capacity attendance. In addition
to the regular orientations,
mature students also received
an orientation of their own on
August 20 at David Lam, and on
August 27 at New Westminster.

as FROSH, will be taking place
from September 17 to 19. Over
the course of three days, students

: who register will be invited to

: participate in ice-breakers, team

: challenges, socials, and more.

: Any new students who started

: attending Douglas College in

: Winter, Summer, or Fall 2015

: are welcomed by the Campus

: Life Department to participate.

: Registration for the E.D.G.E. costs
: $10.

Campus lockdown drills

: are scheduled to take place in

: mid-September on a yet to-be-
: announced date. In the days

: leading up to the drills, instructors :
: and personnel will be informing

: students about what to do during
: the drill and any emergency

: that would require the campus

: to be placed under lockdown,

: depending on where they are

: situated at the time.

There are several financial

: deadlines that occur through

: September. From September 8
: until September 20, students

: will still have the opportunity
: to receive a 50 per cent

The E.D.G.E., formerly known; reimbursement for their tuition

: in the event that they drop out of
: aclass. After September 20, no

refunds will be given.

September 21 will be the

: next fee payment deadline,

: applicable to courses that were

: added between August 20 and

: September 20. If fees are not paid
: in full by September 21, a student
: will not be de-registered from

(¥ Multiple bus zones no more

(Y Acurrent election summary and party update

(Y Pressure to repay student loans intensifies

And more!

: their course; however, they will
: receive a $25 late fee per registered :
> course.

There will also be a variety of

: Opportunities for students, such
: as several bursaries available from
: September until October.

Although available year

 

: round, as a note, the Douglas

Student Union will continue

: providing several services and

: amenities, including free agendas
: for students, computer services,

: spaces for studying and club

: meetings, and the student food

: bank.

 

Fierce winds and rain cause damage,
outages to Greater Vancouver

» Storm most power-disruptive in BC history

Cazzy Lewchuk
Staff Writer

 

fierce storm rocked the

Greater Vancouver area
during the weekend of August 28
to 31, causing power outages to
almost 50 per cent of BC Hydro
customers for some duration, as
well as disruptions in cell phone
and transit service. The storm
was the most damaging to hit
the area since December 2006.
At its peak on August 29, winds
reached speeds ranging from
80-100 kilometres per hour. Many
of the power outages were caused
by falling trees and power lines,
particularly in the Maple Ridge
and Coquitlam areas. Hundreds of
trees and fences were uprooted by
the storm.

At the storm’s peak, over
400,000 residents of the area were
simultaneously without power.

: According to a press release by

: BC Hydro, they estimated that

: “710,000, or 50 per cent, of its 1.4
: million customers on Vancouver
: Island and the Lower Mainland
: lost power due to Saturday’s

: windstorm.”

In addition to the vast power

: disruptions, a significant amount
: of debris caused by the upheaval:
: led to additional damage. Notably, :
: the tent-based area of the Surrey:
: Night Market was completely

: destroyed and is now closed until
: next season. Most of the debris,

: particularly the largest and most

: dangerous pieces, was cleared by
: BC Hydro within 48 hours of the

: storm. However, full clearance

: is not likely to be in effect fora

: couple of weeks.

In their press release, the

: company stated: “Crews have
: managed to restore power to more :
5; than 705,000 customers over a

: span of 72 hours [...] As of 2 p.m.
: on Tuesday, about 3,500 BC Hydro:
: customers, primarily in Surrey

: and Coquitlam remain without

: power. Some of these outages are

: new outages within the last 24

: hours.” These outages were mostly
: caused by additional winds and

: rising water levels post-storm

: on September 1. On the night of

: September 2, BC Hydro’s twitter

: account confirmed that there were
: just over 100 customers without

 

: power remaining. The remaining
: service calls were often the most

: disruptive incidents, requiring

: individual site visits and extensive
: work,

Executive vice-president

: of BC Hydro Distribution and
: Customer Service Greg Reimer
: stated to CBC that the storm

: was the biggest disruption to

Image by Darryl Dyck via CP

: customers since the company’s

: inception. “It’s been a real

: challenge for us—it is probably

: unprecedented in our history in

: terms of customers impacted.” For
: comparison, the December 2006

: storm of similar size left 240,300

: customers without power at its

: peak—almost half of the users

: affected by the weekend storm.