is getting ready to rock and roll. Okay, hideously bad jokes aside, there are some and exciting courses being offered in the ence department, Upper leve ogy courses are being offered i in open enro. ne to contribute he geology department at Douglas College itish Columbia and the Univerticy of Victoria's rh and Ocean Sciences departments ane the h Science program is a two urses dis buted over three years xe their fs two years at Douglas College and nsfer to: complete a traditional degree. courses offered this year were Mineralogy e Solid Earth, the first of which was enrolled capacity. Unfortunately, The Solid Earth, the. dy of rocks, was underenrolled, but what we lack bers we make up for in enthusiasm and hard . These courses will be offered again in two and haven't been offered since 1989. Hope- more students will get hooked on geology and ¢ the courses offered in the fall, Environmental ology/Natural Hazards and Geology 420, Life rough Time {Paleontology). In the winter ester the cou eecloay ¢ 200 Ancient vironments (st be offered. This ctedit would apply to a biology degree at problem. At the beginning of the semester a Douglas College is working in conjunction with the biology department at UBC to grant credit for a third year historical biology or evolution course. UBC but not a geology degree, Both the paleontolgy and stratigraphy courses will be taught by Dr. Micheal Wilson, a geoarchaoelogist who has taught geology, geogra- phy and archeology at the University of Calgary, the University of Lethbridge and, most recently, at SFU. The new courses are modeled after the SFU curriculum so transfer credit there is easily granted. There will be prerequisites for the new courses: Life Through Time requires Geology 120 (Introduction to Geology) or 121 (Historical Geology) and highly recommends Biology 110, and Ancient Environ- ments requires either Geology 120 or 121. Other courses required for an associate degree in science are the basic science courses: biology 110 and 210, chemistry 110 and 210, math 120 and 220, physics 107 and 207 or 110 and 210 and two English courses. Other suggested electives are Science 100 (Environmental Issues), Science 107 — (Introduction to Environmental Science).and Geography 220 (geomorphology) The lower level courses will probably be offered at both the David Lam and New Westminster campuses, but due to the lack of lab facilities and teaching space in Coquitlam, the upper level courses will only be offered in New West. The system now in place offers an open lab for the students to work at their own pace and on their own time, after lectures and structured lab classes. This open lab system encourages teamwork and the sharing of knowledge with students helping each other — necessary because of the lack of a teaching assistant in the lab. The open labs work well for busy students but security is becoming a bigger was stolen from. the lab in New West : : college to Douglas just because of the geology courses being offered. The oth college doesn't offer enough geology for the student and the DC program can give “her the first two years of her degree. A definite advantage that the college has over the universities is that the classes are comparatively very small, which allows for more one-on-one contact between the teachers and the students. This facilitates more questions asked by the students and a deeper understanding of the material. Other related programs offered at DC are the Habitat Restoration Certificate Program and the Environmental Science Associate Degree Program. The latter is eligible for transfer to SFU and Royal Roads University. At Royal Roads, the program is compressed into a calendar year so only one more year of schooling is required to complete a degree, These programs require extensive fieldwork composes + can provide valuable experience. Why do students opt to take p' phy and geology courses— sical geogra- dtrips of ~ course! Part of the allure of geol gy and geogra- phy is the chance to escape the school for a few hours and learn something e surrounding area from aboard a big yells Geology offers the opportunity to spend ti oors, doing fieldwork and research. A geology student can get exciting summer jobs that involve camping, hiking and flying around in helicopters, even with only a few courses. Some other students take geology for different reasons-—-one student took Introduction to Geology this semester because he was doing a ceramic glazing program at an art college and a knowledge of rocks and minerals helps with the techniques. In the near future, many older tists will retire and the job market will pen up for young scientists. For several years, few people were getting involved in geology _ because there were few job openings, but now Your average student? page 5 BC budget + page 3 Environmental issue + page 6—7 Athletic awards « page 11 Canada can hardly keep up with the demand from industry. There are only about 500 bachelor degrees granted in geology each year in Canada and the demand for these students is increasing. Exploration and developmental activity is increasing, particularly in the oil and gas fields in the private sector, but unfortunately the provincial government cut back on the energy and resource department by 20% in the latest budget. Students can still find summer jobs with private companies such as Cominco, Placer Dome and Shell Oil. After graduation, entry level jobs for geoscientists start at around $53,000 and can involve extensive travel across the country, to the United States, overseas or on the seas on drilling rigs such as Hibernia. With the new Forest Practices Code in effect, many geoscientists are required to perform slope stability studies, terrain analyses, biological invento- ries and habitat studies before the geoengineers can start to plan and map the access roads for logging. With all these studies being done, many new jobs are opening up for geoscientists. There are many fields that a student of geology can go into—paleontology, volcanism, earthquakes and desertification, to name only a few. Geology is an exciting career choice and DC can offer an excellent beginning to an adventurous life.