KAMLOOPS – Town and gown meet at the Thompson Rivers University campus next week in a variety of public events.
Thursday, Oct. 12, the university invites the community to a free public lecture by political and economic insider David Frum, a Canadian acclaimed by The Wall Street Journal in 1996 as one of the leading political commentators of his generation. Frum, one of the leading political intellectuals in America with a profound influence in politics, and his opinions and advice are widely respected, will speak on “Understanding the Middle East” on Thursday, October 12th at 7 pm in TRU’s Grand Hall as part of the President’s Lecture Series.
Friday, Oct. 13 features the TRU Distinguished Alumni Awards Banquet, the McDonald’s Desert Classic Men’s Basketball Tournament, and an art opening.
The TRU Alumni Association hands out its Distinguished Alumni Awards at a banquet beginning at 6 pm in TRU’s Culinary Arts Building. The public is invited to attend this banquet. Tickets are $50/person, available by calling 250-371-5711.
Honourees for 2006 include: Deanna Howell (Award for Service to the Community), who has contributed greatly to her community, particularly in the areas of the development, education and well-being of children; Alan Corbishley (Award in Arts & Culture), an accomplished baritone whose vocal ability, exciting stage presence and innovations in the performing arts have brought him international success; Shelly Johnson (Grace Chronister Award), who has made a significant contribution to the profession of social work through her employment and her involvement in community service; Sue Carpenter (Award for Professional Achievement), an exemplary nurse whose innovations and initiatives have been instrumental in bettering health care and nursing education in a significant way and; Don Avison (Award for Public Service), a creative and innovative leader whose record of excellence in public administration, program implementation and strategic planning is highly respected.
Also on Friday, the TRU Art Gallery will open a Trilateral Print Exchange Exhibition, “Re-identification: Japan, Canada, and the Netherlands” in conjunction with the Japan Studies Association of Canada annual conference to be hosted by TRU from Oct. 12 to 15.
The McDonald’s Desert Classic will see the TRU WolfPack men’s basketball team host the University of Great Falls, the University College of the Fraser Valley and Simon Fraser University in exhibition action with games at 5:30 and 7:15 pm Friday and Saturday.
Three events Saturday make for a full day on campus: the Desert Classic continues, the Japan Studies Association Banquet features guest speaker Ambassador Joseph Caron, and the public is invited to an open house.
Starting at 12:30, curious minds of all ages are invited to experience and explore the wonders of science and technology at the TRU Science, Nursing, Trades & Technology Open House. For four hours, TRU faculty and students welcome the public for an afternoon of hands-on activities, live demonstrations, interactive displays with faculty and students, the renowned Wonder of Chemistry show (1pm) beetle races (3 pm), fish pond, live lung display, sumo wrestling robots, nail driving contest and more.
That evening, the public is invited to a banquet featuring a keynote address by His Excellency Joseph Caron, Canada’s Ambassador to Japan entitled, “The new Japanese government: New directions and implications for Canada,” as part of the Japan Studies conference. Over 100 presenters, including more than 30 from Japan, and others from Malaysia, the United States, the U.K. and Finland, will give talks on a variety of topics such as trade, education, language, business, foreign affairs, minorities in Japan, and history at the multidisciplinary conference, which is Canada’s largest conference related to Japan.
For more information:
David Frum:
Please contact Maryanne Bower at 250-828-5318.
Photo available by request.
Japan Studies conference and Ambassador Caron:
Please contact Thomas Waldichuk at 250-371-5718 or by email.
