Do you have a written submission or a story you'd like us to write about for the INside? We're always interested in your ideas, so let us know. The INside is published the first Tuesday of every month; deadline for submissions is 10 working days before publication. Send WordPerfect 6.1 or MS Word 6.0 files on disk to Tracey Winters, INside editor, CMO, Room 4700, New Westminster Campus; e-mail your story or idea to winterst@douglas.bc.ca; or call 604-527-5325. Awards of Educational Excellence winners announced Douglas College is pleased to announce the winners of the Awards of Educational Excellence. The awards, which recognize student success and employee contributions to student success, will be presented at the beginning of the Douglas College Board meeting on December 20. Friends and family of the award recipients are welcomed to the presentation to cheer the recipients on. This year’s winners are (with nominator’s comments following): Award of Student Excellence: Leadership: Cara Fisher, Douglas Students’ Union “Cara possesses personal qualities which are integral to her leadership: a very natural buoyant energy, warmth, modesty and unembroidered clarity when communicating her thoughts.” Award of Staff Excellence: Dave Neilson, Laboratory Technician, Geography “Dave offers more than academic support; he is readily available to students as a sounding board for suggestions to improve the department, listening to concerns outside the purview of the department, acting as a resource person for students trying to balance studies with other responsibilities, and helping to teach life skills as well as academic skills.” Award of Faculty Excellence: Alan Chin, Sports Science “He brings an understanding of the student as a whole being — emotional, social, intellectual and physical with strategies to nurture all areas of their learning and personal growth.” Award of Faculty Excellence: Dave Burgess, Child, Family and Community Studies; John Fleming, Criminology “Together, John and Dave have led the way and have pioneered an interactive collaborative relationship between their two faculties which stands as an exemplar of interdisciplinary collaboration for other potential dynamic partnerships between disciplines and between Faculties at Douglas College” Foundation wine fest a December 6 is Canada’s National success Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women in It was another great year for A Class Act, the Foundation’s annual fund-raising wine memory of the 14 women killed on December 6, 1989 at LEcole Polytechnique in Montreal. festival. “Close to 400 people attended and while final figures are not yet available, To commemorate this tragedy and to keep the light burning in we are confident that we memory of those who have lost have exceeded last year’s total of just under $20,000,” says Myrna Popove, Executive their lives to violence, Douglas College is holding three memorial ceremonies: New Westminster Director of the Foundation. “Eight hundred of that goes to the CKNW Orphan's Fund, while another portion Campus concourse, from 12:15- 1pm; David Lam Campus goes to bursaries for students in the Hotel and Restaurant Management Program (HORM) and Athletics programs.” Several members of the Douglas HORM suidents workedac College Foundation Board and the event, doing everything College administrators joined the from selling tickets and crowd of mourners at a memorial service to say good-bye to Judge Tom Fisher. gathering prizes to serving and helping with the cash. “They did a phenomenal job, and at the end of The Honourable Justice Tom evening were very excited Fisher died in hospital on awithiOumolwous ciccess.” November 4. Described as “a true says Popove. New Westminster son,” his death leaves a big hole in the community because he was such a staunch supporter of the city Honour lives of women at December 6 memorials Atrium from 1:15-2pm and the Thomas Haney Campus Rotunda from 1-1:45pm. Everyone is invited to attend. The organizers would appreciate your involvement in this public recognition of the Montreal tragedy and other acts of violence against women around the world. For more information, contact Carolyn Jerome of the Douglas College Women’s Centre at 604-527-5148. Foundation Board Member Judge Fisher remembered at memorial and many charitable organizations. Judge Fisher was a longtime member of Board of the CKNW Orphans’ Fund, and joined the Douglas College Foundation Board in 1999. “Not only will we remember Judge Fisher’s enormous contributions to the city; we will remember his infinite charm, wit and caring,” says Myrna Popove, the Foundation’s Executive Director. BC Benefits student speaks out for Douglas College Douglas College President Susan Witter (left) and student Andrea Vollans appeared before the Select Standing Committee on Education in October. College President Susan Witter travelled to Victoria with Board Member Sandra Boyle and student Andrea Vollans in October to address the Select Standing Committee on Education. This 10- member MLA committee is charged with hearing public opinion on public education. “One of the government programs that appears to be threatened is the BC Benefits program which supports students who are on income assistance,” says Witter. “Our presentation focused on access and success for our multi-barriered students. Andrea spoke very eloquently on her personal difficulties in returning to learning at Douglas College as a single mother who had not completed high school, and who came to the College with a number of barriers that made it difficult for her to learn. I am very grateful to Andrea Vollans for speaking as a Douglas College student in a personal and passionate way, which clearly had impact on the MLAs sitting on the committee.” The full text, including discussion, questions and Andrea's personal story, is in Hansard (Thursday, October 25", 3 presentation am), available on-line at http//www.legis.gov.bc.ca/CMT/37thParl/edu/ index.htm. Send us your College kudos Have you, your department/program/service, or someone you know at the College won an award or received special recognition within the last five years? If so, the Communications & Marketing Office would like to know. We want to remind the College and tell the community about the great people who work here and the innovative programs/services we offer. To give you an example of what we're looking for, some of our recent award winners include Bob Browne of the Chemistry Department and Joy Fletcher of the Health Information Services Program. Awards won by a department/ program include the Outstanding Program in International Education award from the Canadian Bureau for International Education for our joint degree in Capital Markets program in Shanghai, and the Environmental Star Award from the City of Burnaby to the Institute of Urban Ecology Green Links program. Please send your kudos to Tracey Winters at winterst@douglas.bc.ca.