INside IN Douglas College Welcome to the Mouse Pad Distributed Learning Services (DLS), Systems and Computing, and Douglas Development officially opened the new Employee Development and ‘Training Centre, room 3142 at the New Westminster Campus, on Monday, March 12th. This six-seat lab is designed for educational technology training. Most Systems and DLS workshops are now housed in the Mouse Pad, where participants can face each other and discuss the hows and whys of technology use as well as the keystrokes. Some intensive training sessions are planned for the spring and summer. People will be able to spend a few days exploring how they might use different software, and actually create a module for their own work. Showing colleagues their module and using feedback to improve it will allow people to leave the workshops with some tangible applications ready to use with their co- workers or with their students. As well, people will learn how to hook up their computer to the LCD how to present their material effectively, leaving the session with confidence in their ability to connect and use the technology in their work. The room is available for bookings by individuals whenever DLS is open and the room is not in use fora class. People can practice . their computer skills with software and hardware that may not be available in their offices. Self-paced computer applications have been ordered for individuals who prefer to work at their own pace and in their own time. Susan Greffard of Distributed Learning Services and Kerry Wong of Systems and Computing check out one of the computers in The Mouse Pad: Employee projector mounted from the ceiling. They'll learn Development and Training Centre. Great night for College sports It was a great night for Douglas College at Sport BC’s 35th annual Athlete of the Year banquet March 15. First, Douglas College Wrestling Coach Dave Mckay won the Sport BC Coach of the Year award. Then, former Douglas College student-athlete Daniel Igali won the Senior Athlete of the Year and Overall Athlete of the Year awards. Wheelchair basketball player Marni Abbott, who trains at Douglas as part of our partnership with the National Sport Centre - Greater Vancouver, was a finalist in the Athlete With a Disability category. That category was won by Pier Morten, a judo athlete who used to train at Douglas College. And finally, our own Chris Johnson was honoured in a ceremony prior to the banquet with a prestigious President's Award by the Coaches Association of British Columbia. The honour was presented to Chris for his years of tireless service to the coaching community in BC and in Canada. Congratulations to everyone! How do you say “quake” in Japanese? Rose Mohoruk, Modern Languages Faculty member, reports that it’s been a busy winter for Japanese as a Second Language (JSL) students (and herself!). For five weeks, JSL students joined 24 English as a Second Language (ESL) students from Japan in a special bilingual program. Each JSL class meets with the ESL class once a week for two hours, having one hour of JSL time and one hour of ESL time. In addition, many JSL students have joined the ESL students on socio-cultural field trips after class to the Vancouver Aquarium and Granville Island, and to on-campus events such as the Grab-a-Java discussion circles. To also offer Modern Languages students at the David Lam Campus the opportunity of a bilingual experience this term, Japanese volunteers were recruited for a five-week program. Mohoruk says that the “double role of JSL and ESL teacher has been challenging but rewarding. The afternoon of the earthquake we learned how to say in English and Japanese ‘Where were you when the earthquake hit?’ and in a recent discussion about weddings in Japan, no one even looked at their watch when the end of the class came and went, and everyone chatted on.” College celebrates Earth Week with free events Plan to attend Earth Week at Douglas College where you'll discover information about environmental issues that matter to you and your community. Through a series of displays, presentations and workshops, the Douglas Students’ Union Environment Committee and the College’s Green Team hope to encourage environmental responsibility throughout the college and the community. Earth Week takes place April 2-6. For more information call Cara at 527-5113. Earth Week Ecofair Information and interactive displays all week in the New Westminster Campus concourse Mon-Fri, 9:30am-2:30pm including: Better Environmentally Sound ‘Transportation, Burns Bog Conservation Society, Elaho Research Committee, Sierra Legal Defense Fund and many more. Creating Backyard Habitats Learn how to create a natural west coast garden that will attract birds, butterflies and other wildlife. Monday April 2, 12pm, Boardroom Wild Landscapes of Coastal BC Captivating slide show presentation by renowned BC mountaineer and environmental educator, John Clarke. Tuesday April 3, 12pm, Room 1620 Stumpage Sellout How forest company abuse of the stumpage system is costing BC taxpayers millions. Mitch Anderson, Sierra Legal Defense Fund Tuesday April 3, 2pm, Room 1620 Temperature Rising Learn about climate change in BC and what you can do about it, with Doreen Dewell, Douglas College Biology department Wednesday April 4, 12pm, Boardroom The Pacific Salmon Forest Panos Grames of The David Suzuki Foundation will be presenting this CBC Nature of Things documentary about rainforests of Canada’s Pacific coast. Discussion and Q&A session to follow. Thursday April 5, 12pm, Room 2203