David Lam Gets a Personality, Finally

Thirty-six-million-dollar expansion to turn campus into health-sciences Mecca

Brandon Ferguson, News Editor

hanges abound at the David Lam
( campus, where Douglas College

has begun its $36.1-million
expansion that will house up to 1,500 new
fufl-time students in the health-sciences
department. With the approval of a new
Bachelor of Science (BSc) in Psychiatric
Nursing, which goes along with the
already adopted BSc in Nursing, Douglas
hopes to forge a vibrant community at the
long-neglected Coquitlam campus.

Some day, there may even be a pub
night held out there.

The Honourable Ida Chong, former
Minister of Advanced Education, said,
“New construction will provide class-
rooms, labs, academic offices, and library
and study space to create more learning
opportunities for students at Douglas
College.”

Former MLA Richard Stewart, in one
of his last acts as an employed person,
added, “I’m excited to see the additional
student spaces right here in Coquitlam.
And this new state-of-the-art learning
facility will allow Douglas College to take
a leading role in educating future health
practitioners.”

The expansion will also create more

jobs in food services, administrative

The HRGC-S Casual Labour Program: Who knew?

Max Hilland, Summer Employment Officer

   

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Susan Witter (left), Ida Chong (right)

duties, and school maintenance—Stewart
may wish to fire off a résumé, after being
bounced by NDP candidate Diane
Thorne.

To make this 9,720-square-metre proj-
ect happen, Douglas chipped in $4.1
million to go with the province’s $32-mil-

lion contribution as part of their “Golden
Decade” and “25,000 new seats by 2010”
public-relations campaign (I mean, strate-
gy to solidify the future health of BC).
College president, Susan Witter,
gushed over the province’s generosity.
“This is such wonderful news,” she said,

 

“The commitment made by the provincial
government to provide funding for this
building, along with 1,500 additional full-
time student spaces here and in New
Westminster, will be an enormous benefit
to our students and the community.”

Provincial Liberal bullshit aside,
Douglas has taken it upon themselves to
restructure the sense of community in the
College and correct the schism that exists
between the two campuses. Of the 1,500
new student spaces coming to the college,
794 will go to the Lam, along with some
626 spaces in current health-science pro-
grams. Miss you already Megan.

Blaine Jensen, vice-president of edu-
cational services for Douglas College and
noted snappy dresser, told slack-jawed
student-union-meeting attendees that the
changes were being made with the inten-
tion of “creating a more vibrant and
enjoyable atmosphere” on the David Lam
campus.

Ahem...pub nights...ahem.

The new building—to be built on the
south side of Lam where, right now, total-
ly useless grass grows—will be completed
in November 2007, and open for January
2008.

ith highschools
, \ / across the Lower
Mainland — breaking

for summer holidays, students
will soon be eagerly searching for
jobs in order to make some extra
cash. As any student knows, the
summer is a very competitive
time for job hunting, often tak-
ing several weeks of searching to
find anything. In order to help
students avoid this frustrating
reality, the Human Resource
Centre of Canada for Students
(HRCC-S), open since May, is
offering a program designed for
those facing this barrier.

The program, which is called
the Casual Labour Program (or
the Odd Job Squad), is one of
many services offered by the

HRCC-S, and has a specific
objective: to offer flexible, casual
(up to five days) labour to stu-
dents. Because of the casual
nature of the program, it is a
perfect opportunity for those
who are in the midst of search-
ing for long-term employment
and need to make some quick
cash. As part of the Youth
Employment Strategy, the target-
ed age group for the program is
15-30. Those with little or no
experience need not worry, as
the program is designed to be
suitable for everybody. Because
of the wide range of jobs avail-
able—from gardening to data
entry—the Casual Labour
Program helps you become a
more versatile employee and

strengthens your résumé.

On the students’ end, all you
have to do is sign up at the
HRCC-S office. The employer is
responsible for setting the pay
and hours of work, and is
required to abide by all of the
Canadian Labour Laws. There
are a number of returning stu-
dents who successfully found
work through the program, and
have built relationships with
employers who were pleased
with their excellent work.

The HRCC-S office is located
at 100-624 Agnes Street, New
Westminster, and is open from
9am—4:30pm, Monday-Friday.
For more information, call
604.666.1200.

July 13/2005