TRENT is published three times a year in June, Septemberand February, by the Trent University Alumni Association.Unsigned comments reflect the opinion of the editor only.

Trent University Alumni Association, Langton House, Traill College,

Trent University,Peterborough, Ontario, K9J 7B8;

call 705-748-1399 or 1-800-267-5774fax 705-748-1785

e-mail: alumni@trentu.caweb: www.trentu.ca/alumni

EDITORLiz Fleming ’77

EDITORIAL BOARDMartin Boyne ’86Marilyn Burns ’00

Jan Carter ’87Kathleen Easson ’78

Tania Pattison ’84Dale Rodger ’77Tony Storey ’71

GRAPHIC DESIGNTrent University Design Office

PRINTING AND BINDINGRicter Web Printing Ltd., Brantford

TRENT UNIVERSIT Y ALUMNIASSOCIATION COUNCIL

HONORARY PRESIDENTT.H.B. Symons

HONORARY VICE-PRESIDENTJohn E. Leishman

PRESIDENTRod Cumming ’87 / Maureen Brand ’89

PAST PRESIDENTCheryl Davies ’68

VICE-PRESIDENTAdam Guzkowski ’95

SECOND VICE-PRESIDENTDenis Desjardins ’76

COUNCILLORSJan Carter ’87

Georgina Galloway ’91Susan Underhill ’87

Lenaee Dupuis ’91Mark Gelinas ’89

Iain MacFarlane ’95Jennifer Mercer ‘91Holly Morrison ’95

BOARD REPRESENTATIVESDan Coholan ’77Kate Ramsay ’71

CHAPTER PRESIDENTSGreg Burnett ’90 (Golden Horseshoe)

Fran Cooney ’77 (Kingston)Yancy Craig ’95& Kevin Brown ’90 (National Capital)

Caleb Smith ’93 (Niagara Region)Vicki ’69 & Garry ’67 Cubitt (Oshawa/Durham Region)

Nordra Stephen ’75 (Belleville/Quinte)Vacant (Peterborough)

Neil Thomsen ’86 (Southwestern Ontario)Gord ’93 and Joanne ’97 Stencell (Toronto)

Kerry Tomlin ’95 (Calgary)Jim Doran ’73 (Edmonton)

Andrew Hamilton ’87 (Vancouver)Andy ’85 & Liz ’87 Rodford (Vancouver Island)

Francois Senecal ’83 (Montreal)Mary Elizabeth Luka ’80 (Halifax/Dartmouth)

Richard Gardiner ’73 (London/Middlesex)Jim Barber ’87 (Georgian Triangle)

Gretchen Rosenberger ’95 (York Region)Patrick Lam ’86 (Hong Kong)

Mas Dati Samani ’82 (Malaysia)Aznan Abu Bakar ’93 (Singapore)

Andrew Homer ’86 (Tokyo)

DIRECTOR OF ALUMNI AFFAIRSTony Storey ’71

ALUMNI AFFAIRS ASSISTANTKathleen Easson ’78

In This IssueEditorial . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Association Co-president’s Message . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

President’s Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

A Life Less Ordinary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Cover story : The Double Cohort Opportunity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Trent Summer Sports Camp : Connecting with the Community . . . . . . 12

Three Generations at Trent University . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Forecasting Fate and Effects : The Big Picture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Teaching and Learning in Cyberspace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Sierra Leone Adventures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

CSI Trent! DNA Forensic Summer Camp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Storeyline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Sunshine Sketches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

In Memoriam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

It’s Natural . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Chapter News . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Distributed in accordance with Canada Post Canadian Publications Mail Sales Product Agreement #40064326

FEBRUARY 2004

VOLUME 35, NO.1

Cover photo: First-year students.Back row: Pat O’Brien, Melissa

Deacon, Erica White; front row:Danielle Leighton, Edna Carloss.

The other day, while listening tothe radio, I heard a rather pompousradio announcer listing his ten wishesfor the New Year. They included suchthings as a ban on all broadcasting ofrap music and an end to fast foodchains (my son in the passenger seatneeded oxygen!) While few of theannouncer’s wishes appealed to me, Iloved the idea of the list, so I’vedeveloped my own.

If I could bestow ten small goodwishes on my friends, they would be:• That the dog barking behind the

door turn out to be a Pekinese,and never a Pit Bull.

• That your children play basketballand not hockey, so the practicesare after school in a warm gymand not at 5am in a cold arena.

• That the five pounds you thinkyou’ve gained really be the fault ofa broken scale, just as you’ve beentelling yourself.

• That you get a letter from RevenueCanada saying that a mistake hasbeen found in your tax return …and you’ve paid too much!

• That your in-laws live closeenough that they can enjoy thegrandkids, but far enough awaythat you still enjoy them!

• That someone in your aerobicsclass has more trouble followingthe routines than you do.

• That one day, your son says toyou, “I think I need a haircut”, allon his own.

• That the radio wakes you at 6amone cold winter morning to reportthat everything’s closed and can-celled because of the snow. (It’sgood to be Canadian.)

• That your friends be too many tocount and your enemies be toofew to matter.

• That you believe with all yourheart that family, and not money,is what really matters in life.

May 2004 bring you much joy!Liz Fleming ’76

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you…

EDITORIAL

Come Home to the Spirit of Trent!Trent Celebrates its fortieth teaching year.Be sure to return for:

☞ The TIP 21st reunion

☞ Champlain early 80s reunion

☞ Trent Week Oct 11-17 featuring Black Tie and Birkenstocks on Friday the 15th and “The Big Party” on the 16th

☞ Original Classes (’64–’66) reunion

☞ Aquatics Staff Reunion at Head of the Trent

☞ 40 Dinners for 40 Years – a global celebration of Trent’s 40th on Saturday, October 16. To organize a dinner in your region, contact alumni@trentu.ca

☞ Peter Gzowski College and First People’s House of Learning Opening

☞ Head of the Trent Rowing Regatta

A year of Celebration: come join us!40th

If you’re a member of Trent’salumni e-mail list, you’ll already knowall about our fabulous showing thisfall in some pretty important publica-tions. (If you missed that e-mail, youshould get hooked up on our AlumniE-Directory at www.trentu.ca/alumniso it never happens again!)

From that happy e-mail, you wouldhave been one of the first to find outthat, in the annual Maclean’s rank-ings, Trent:a) was ranked number one as

Ontario’s primarily undergraduateuniversity;

b) was ranked number one for stu-dent retention, medical/scienceresearch funding, AND scholar-ships and bursaries;

c) had ten other top-ten rankingsincluding placing ninth in Canadafor alumni support! Also contained in that e-mail was

information that students themselvesranked Trent number one of 38Canadian universities. Something wehave known for a long time, currentstudents who responded to a largeGlobe and Mail sponsored surveyplaced us ahead of the pack in termsof the “Quality of Education” theyreceive at Trent.

AND, as if all this wasn’t enough,Trent AGAIN took top honours whenthe National Post declared that wewere the number one primarily under-graduate university named as aResearch University for the Year for2003.

We knew all of this great stuffabout Trent all along - what took therest of Canada so long?Congratulations to everyone in theTrent community who has alwaysworked so hard to keep Trent amongthe best in Canada and the world!

OUTREACH, BENCHMARKING,

CONSULTATION, CITIZENSHIP,

SUPPORT

2002-03 was another important &impressive year for our alumni associ-ation.

A complete list of highlights isincluded in the Association’s annualreport, but we did wish to touchspecifically on the five themes listedabove.

OUTREACH

This past year was special because avery special Trent person retired, andthen promptly went to work for theAlumni Association. Paul Wilson’s 36year career as Athletics Director mayhave concluded, but his role as analumni relations ambassador acceler-ated in 2002. On our behalf, Paul metwith alumni in Vancouver, Victoria,Calgary, Edmonton, Peterborough,Toronto and Kitchener/Waterloo. Andjust how did our alumni respond, youmight ask? Consider the following:over 300 alumni & friends madedonations to the PSB Wilson Fund forAthletics and Recreation, a record 90golfers attended a Port Hope tourna-ment, the Association filled twotables at his induction into thePeterborough Sports Hall of Fame,180 guests turned out for thePeterborough Community Dinner andanother 125 alumni attended theregional receptions. The newly estab-lished Wilson Fund quickly becameone of the university’s most success-ful named endowment fund cam-paigns. Although we did allow Paul& Gillian a two-month break inEngland, Paul was back on the alum-ni circuit recently with a successfulevening in Oakville.

BENCHMARKING

Consistent with our Association plan-ning priorities (2001-05), 2002became the year of measurement. Wetracked meetings, activities, events,programs, volunteerism, financialsupport, and e-mail, phone and mailtraffic. Reports on all these areas areincluded in this annual report. Wewill continue to measure our vitalityin 2003 and 2004, so that we canmeet the Association’s goals. Pleasetake the time to review these reports.We believe they paint a picture of anengaged and dynamic association.

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BY MAUREEN BRAND ’89

AssociationCo-president’s

Message

continued on page 30

Alumni are likely familiarwith the term “double cohort” bynow, the first-ever influx of two highschool graduating classes to universi-ties across the province of Ontario.You may be less familiar, however,with the double cohort’s extraordi-nary effect at Trent University. Theanticipation and the preparationinvolved in the accommodation ofthese students, has enlivened ourcampus and enriched our community.

This fall, Trent successfully wel-comed an unprecedented number offirst-year students – slightly morethan 1,700. This figure, though pre-liminary at the time of writing thiscolumn, constitutes a 52 per centincrease over 2002 / 2003. This year’sgrowth was on top of a 40 per centgrowth in students the previous year.As this year’s class assumes its acad-emic journey over the next four tofive years, and additional classesembark on theirs, the peak of the“double cohort effect” will see thestudent population crest at close to7,600 a year from now.

In keeping with its tradition ofexcellence, Trent has welcomed morethan 78 new faculty (29 full-timetenure-track positions) and over 30staff members, added state-of-the-artequipment, expanded and enhancedfacilities and is putting $1.2 millioninto IT infrastructure. The doublecohort class is experiencing an evolv-ing Trent, but in the most importantsense, these students are experienc-ing the University the way thousandsbefore them have. Countless faculty,staff and student groups have workedintensely to ensure these studentsexperience the Trent that values themas individuals and encourages themto reach their own unique goals. Thedouble cohort students are experienc-ing a Trent that is focused on currentexperience that will prepare them forthe future.

Speaking of the future, Ontariouniversities have entered a decade of

the greatest growth in enrolmentssince the 1960’s. Over the next eightyears, student populations in theprovince are expected to increase byan additional 90,000. As we grow, itis important to note that investmentin universities is key to innovationand productivity, but a report by theCouncil of Ontario Universities tellsus that Ontario lags behind mostother provinces and the U.S. in gov-ernment funding for post secondaryeducation.

Regardless, Ontario universitieshave been responsive to the doublecohort, having ensured that qualifiedstudents receive offers of admission.Eighty-five per cent of secondaryschool applicants in 2003 receivedoffers of admission from an Ontariouniversity – the same percentage asin 2002, regardless of the 45.7 percent increase in applicants. Also apriority for Ontario universities, is thegrowth of needs-based financial sup-port. At Trent this year, we willdevote more than $6 million to finan-cial aid.

Looking ahead, the election of anew government in the province thispast fall offers opportunities to worktogether for the future and as thedouble cohort class progresses in itsuniversity career. Among its supportto post secondary education, theprovincial government must con-tribute to the expansion of graduateeducation in preparation for the “sec-ond double cohort” in three yearstime.

By providing sufficient graduateeducation opportunities and graduatestudent financial assistance, Ontariowill be able to meet the demands forhighly skilled labour by the province’sknowledge-intensive industries andensure a supply of high-quality facul-ty for our post-secondary system inthe future. At Trent, where there areapproximately 250 graduate students,a key focus for the future will begrowth in graduate education. Thecorresponding growth in researchopportunities will promote innova-tion, providing economic spin-offs forour region and enhance the socialand cultural environment in whichwe live, learn and work.

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A Year toRemember

PRESIDENT’S PAGE

PRESIDENT BONNIE M. PATTERSON

number of faculty and studentawards achieved by those at Trentalso continues to grow.

Externally, the University was rec-ognized this fall with top rankings inthree surveys examining Canadianuniversities. • Trent ranked number one nation-

wide for “quality of education” inThe Globe and Mail’s UniversityReport Card – a survey based onstudent responses.

• Trent was named “UndergraduateResearch University of the Year”for 2003 in a national survey rank-ing Canada’s innovation leaders inthe National Post.

• Trent ranked first in Ontarioamong primarily undergraduateuniversities in the Maclean’s mag-azine 2003 annual ranking ofCanadian universities.These rankings have highlighted

Trent’s strengths, particularly in thetwo core areas that are fundamentalto a university’s mission: teachingand research. The information wehave gleaned from these surveyresults also serves another purpose.As additional sources of data, theyare also useful to us in identifyingtrends and in some cases, areaswhere we need to improve. Externalfeedback has aligned very closelywith what we know from internalreviews and surveys, and as such, wecan take steps to improve in certainareas as resources allow.

Published in the November 10,2003 issue of Maclean’s, theCanadian university ranking sawTrent move from sixth to fifth placein the country in the overall rankingof primarily undergraduate universi-ties. The results also ranked Trentfirst out of 21 primarily undergradu-ate universities nationwide in a num-ber of key performance areas includ-ing student retention, medical/sci-ence research funding and scholar-ships and bursaries. Trent alsoexcelled in a number of other impor-tant categories, including top ten per-formance in research awards per fulltime faculty, class sizes and facultywith Ph.D.s.

The Peterborough DNA ClusterProject is an excellent example ofsuch a scenario. GroundbreakingDNA forensic research at Trent andour evolving partnerships with theMinistry of Natural Resources and SirSandford Fleming College, has createda unique economic niche for theregion. The project will ultimatelyencompass a wide range of partnersin the public and private sector.Trent’s expertise in DNA has also ledto the creation of a new degree pro-gram that will further fuel the successof this initiative. The B.Sc.F.S., anundergraduate degree in ForensicScience, will be offered in September2004, to train the skilled workers andgraduate students who will make theircareers in the evolving field both inthe Peterborough community farbeyond our local economy.

Clearly, Trent has defined itself,along with the other 17 universities inOntario, as an essential contributor tothe social, cultural and economiclandscape locally, nationally andinternationally.

And at a time when there isincreasing competition for superiorstudents, the calibre of our first-yearclass, in combination with our strongretention of returning students,should be noted. The number of newhigh school students with enteringaverages over 80 per cent hasincreased as a percentage of ourentering high school class numbers,and those with entering averagesunder 70 per cent has decreased by14 per cent. This is a good newsstory as we grow.

Meanwhile our reputation forexcellence in research and teaching isincreasingly demonstrated in a num-ber of ways. The number of applica-tions to Trent grew by 134 per centand first choice applications grew by58 per cent this year, and Trent’snewer degree programs in Nursingand Consecutive Teacher Educationmore than surpassed their targets ashighly qualified students chose Trent.Research funding secured by our ownfaculty through competitive process-es, has increased year over year, anddoubled over the last five years. The

The addition of the student reten-tion category in this year’s rankingadds an important reflection of theTrent experience. More first year stu-dents continue on into second year atTrent than at any other primarilyundergraduate university in the coun-try and we believe it is because of ourfocus on the success of the individualstudent.

Published November 4, 2003, asan insert to the National Post, theCanada’s University InnovationLeaders survey named Trent one ofthree “Research Universities of theYear” for 2003, ranking Trent numberone in comparison with other primari-ly undergraduate universities nation-wide. The results, by ResearchInfosource Inc., were based on acombination of factors. According tothe scorecard, the top performing uni-versities “demonstrated superiorachievement both in earning researchincome and in publishing research inleading Canadian and internationaljournals.” Ranking 32nd overall in afield of over 90 universities in Canadais a testimony to the quality of ourfaculty.

This designation came fresh onthe heels of Trent’s number one rank-ing for quality of education in theUniversity Report Card, releasedOctober 15, 2003 as a special reportin The Globe and Mail. The reportranked 38 Canadian universitiesbased on online student responses toa more than 100-question survey.Within the quality of education cate-gory, Trent ranked first in three of theseven sub-categories including quali-ty of teaching, faculty subject knowl-edge and effectiveness of teachingmethods. Trent is also a leader in sev-eral other areas, according to the stu-dents who responded. The Universityis ranked in the top half of the resultsin atmosphere on campus, off-cam-pus environment, and financial assis-tance categories.

While these rankings do not repre-sent all of the pieces of the academicpuzzle, these are harbingers for con-tinued achievement at Trent. The

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continued on page 30

Well … If they catch you theywill probably kill you.”

Not what I really wanted to hear atmy induction training but this wasthe unfortunate answer I receivedwhen I asked what would happen if aband of terrorists spotted us, spottingthem, at close range.

I still keep hearing this answer inrepeated my head as I stand on amountain ridge along the Republic ofGeorgia and Russian Federation(Chechen Republic) border with a$70,000 piece of night infrared imag-ing binoculars in the pouring rain at 4a.m. I think it has finally sunk in thatthere is an element of danger here,especially with an officer near meholding a Kalashnikov automatic rifleto secure my location. “But hey, itsstill cool and boy, wont it make forgreat stories down at the pub when Iget back?” is my next thought. Sowhat exactly am I doing? Technically,I am a border monitor for the OSCE(Organisation for the Security andCooperation of Europe) Mission inGeorgia for the next 12+ months.(See www.osce.org)

The OSCE Border MonitoringOperation in Georgia currentlyobserves and patrols the Georgianside of the northern border alongabout 235 kilometres of the Caucusesmountain range focussing on thepolitical and military security inagreement of both nations. Patrols are

carried out by foot, skis, and heli-copter patrols – day and night. Weare to report on any irregular move-ments by either country or by ‘others’who may cross the delineated borderarea. ‘Others’ being the RussianFederation claim of Chechen rebelswho may take refuge and hide in thisregion.

This is not your ordinary borderwith customs officers and a signpost.It is a rocky mountain range whichwe climb each day. No roads here andno crossing allowed. We have to takea helicopter from the capital city,Tbilisi, to our own base at 2000meters elevation. For our patrols, weclimb to 3000 meters along moun-tain-goat paths about 6 inches inwidth with average inclines of 70degrees. On occasion, we get luckyand jump out of a hovering helicopterto our observation points. Theseobservation points are 2 to 10 kilome-tres away. Often we take a tent, food,and supplies for up to 3 days at atime. Lugging the 20+ kilos on yourback for 2-5 hours is not the best partof the job but when you reach a sum-mit, the view is spectacular. I manageto get well paid for what naturalisttourists and alpinists pay thousandsof dollars to do. However, the ele-ments can also be cruel and you canbe encased in a very cold and wetcloud at which point worldly caresseem to minimise as the anticipationand luxury of a hot shower take overmany thoughts. (You take your goodwith your bad I suppose.)

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BY DONAL DOYLE ’91

A Life LessOrdinary

“

Almost all border monitors areserving or once served as military,occasionally even from their respec-tive special forces (I seem to be a bitof an exception). As monitors onpatrol, we travel in groups of 2 or 3from our main base that houses abouta dozen of us in total. We are pro-tected, since we do not carryweapons, by Georgian military guardsand we always travel with a doctorand a ‘self-trained’ patrol dog. Godhelp you if he doesn’t like you. Thedog that is … I suppose that goes forthe doctor as well.

It is all very surreal and new to mesince I am not military myself,although I have been involved withmilitarily in the past. So how did I gethere? Well, I transferred positionsfrom the OSCE Bosnia-HerzegovinaMission where I was situated foralmost 4 years assisting with politicalpower sharing negotiations, goodgovernance, and institution building.

So why am I doing this?? Whynot? I suppose I am putting my Trentpolitics degree to good use and felt aneed for a life less ordinary. After all,it’s a nice change from the usualpace, I get to see the world, I get anice tan, I am getting fit, and I amhelping out a sensitive situation of 2countries.

❦ Donal Doyle graduated in 1996and went on to MA in InternationalStudies in Ireland. He can be reachedat donaldoyle@yahoo.com.

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Despite dire predictions inthe media of long line-ups, classescontrolled by teaching assistants andcrowded dorms, administrators atTrent suggest good strategies andplanning prevented a crisis.

“This has been a positive event forus,” says Susan Salusbury, UniversityRegistrar. “The awareness of theimportance of a post-secondary edu-cation as a whole has never beenhigher. The public may have had aninitial negative impression of the‘double cohort,’ but it certainly raisedthe profile of a university education,and that’s a good thing. It got thepublic’s and the government’s atten-tion.”

This year’s first-year class at Trentwas the largest ever at over 1,800 stu-dents, with a 52 percent increase inthe number of students direct fromhigh school. Trent’s overall studentpopulation actually increased by only

16 percent, with the increase infirst-year students partly offsetby a decrease in out-of-provinceand transfer students.

This year, both colleges anduniversities found themselves ina guessing game as to whichstudents would apply to whichschools. The Ontario govern-ment encouraged universities toopen their doors to as manystudents as possible who metuniversity admissions stan-

dards. This could have resulted in adoubling of admissions, somethingmost universities would not be ableto handle structurally or academically.

It will continue to be a challengefor universities to assess their applica-tion numbers over the next few years.

“In the past, we weren’t compet-ing directly with the colleges,”explains Salusbury. “Those in OACapplied to the universities, and thosein Grade 12 went to the colleges.Now it will be difficult to second-

guess Grade 12 students. No one hasany idea how the numbers will workout.”

Trent received over 12,000 applica-tions for 1,800 positions this year, upfrom 3,100 applications for about1,000 positions in 1999.

Community colleges acrossOntario applied for and receivedfunding to add buildings in order toaccommodate some of the fall-outfrom the “double cohort” – studentswho chose to attend college eitherbecause they weren’t accepted byuniversities or because they opted foran alternative education. Pressured bythe provincial government, universi-ties made space for all applicants who“qualified”, thereby eliminating a lotof that potential fall-out.

Trent University took over avacant Bible college on a four-yearlease in order to accommodate ‘dou-ble cohort’ students; they are affiliat-ed with the new Peter GzowskiCollege, which is not yet built. It willsit between Otonabee College andthe river on the East Bank of the cam-pus; however, it won’t be finisheduntil Spring 2004.

The registration process changedthis year, in part to accommodate thetask of processing so many more stu-dents. For the better part of twodecades, first-year Trent studentswoke up early on the Friday ofIntroductory Seminar Week (ISW) tostagger into line-ups to register forclasses. Hardest of all was getting theright tutorial – and of course, if one

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BY JAN CARTER ’87

The DoubleCohort:

more anopportunity

than a crisis

ABOVE: David French ’80 (Senior Tutor,Champlain College), Wendy Kleinfeldtand Lara Harmon. RIGHT: Nathan Pritula.OPPOSITE: Trent Central StudentsAssociation at Clubs & Groups Day dur-ing Intro Week.

Boyne says the ASC has been busysince the third week in September –“slightly earlier than normal.” Hecontinues: “Many of our appoint-ments have been process-oriented,i.e., looking at the big picture insteadof asking us to proofread.”

While some Ontario universityadministrators have suggested thatthe ‘double cohort’ concerns weremore hype than reality, others saythat preparation and planning madethe potentially disastrous transition asmooth one.

The ‘double cohort’ didn’t becomea crisis at Trent, because administra-tors, staff, and faculty have beenplanning for it since the mid-90s. AsBoyne says, “Now that we’re in ‘it,’ Ithink it is business as usual.”

MEET A FEW OF TRENT’S

NEWEST STUDENTS

Lara Harman is 17 and graduatedfrom Grade 12 at Muskoka LakesSecondary School. She now lives inC-House at Otonabee College. Shedoesn’t feel disadvantaged by eitherher age or her education.

“I was an honours student, andmost of my upper year courses werewith OAC students anyway,” shesays, “so I feel pretty confident in myabilities.”

“I love it here,” says first-year,Champlain student Danielle Leighton.“There’s a lot of spirit. I love thecampus: I especially love looking at

were in Arts, the goal was not toschedule anything on Fridays!

This year, over 1,500 new studentsand parents took part in registrationand orientation programs held overthe summer. As a result, more than87 percent of first-year students knewtheir schedules and majors beforethey stepped onto the campus. Thetraditional information seminars stillran during ISW, though attendancewas reportedly down.

One of the biggest questions so farof this ‘double cohort’ is whetherthey will make the grade. With half ofthe students coming from Grade 12,and the other from OAC, educatorsand parents had been concerned thatthe Grade 12 graduates may not beable to function at the academic levelexpected of first-year university stu-dents. Fortunately, these fears havenot been realized. In fact, Salusburysuggests that the quality of the stu-dents has gone up, even with govern-ment pressure to accept hundredsmore students than usual.

“Some faculty members have beenquite delighted,” Salusbury says. “I’veheard them say that students havebeen coming to every class preparedand ready for it.”

Salusbury thinks, as do many oth-ers in the academic community, thatbecause of the media focus on the‘double cohort’ and the increasedawareness of the precariousness ofuniversity acceptance, that thenewest group of students knowswhat’s at stake. They are aware thereare others waiting in line to take theirplace should they not be able to per-form.

Martin Boyne, Trent Alumnus andDirector of the Academic Skills Centre(ASC), says that he and ASC represen-tatives spoke at every registration ses-sion; they talked to parents as well asstudents, and sold many essay-writ-ing and study-skills publications.

“There’s no reason to say that theGrade 12 students will be less pre-pared than their OAC counterparts,”he says. “They’re younger, and maybe more vulnerable, so when thecrunch hits, I think their parents willplay a key role.”

Champlain when I’m out on thebridge … it’s so cool!”

Leighton reports that she spends23 hours a week in classes or labs –she’s in the sciences – and feels quitecomfortable with both the workloadand the level of performance requireddespite the fact that she graduatedGrade 12 from a small boardingschool in Nova Scotia.

Despite being warned by schoolofficials not to be optimistic for anOntario-university acceptancebecause of the ‘double cohort,’ sheand friend Edna Carloss made Trenttheir first choice.

“I knew someone who went here,”explains Leighton. “He didn’t reallyhave to say anything – the change inhim was incredible. He blossomedhere.”

Both Leighton and Carloss enjoyTrent so far, and their opinions mirrorthose of other Trent students accord-ing to The Globe and Mail’s Univer-sity Report Card of October 2003.

Through an on-line study orches-trated by The Globe in April and Mayof last year, over 276 Trent studentsreported on everything from qualityof education to student services andfinancial aid. Experts ranked studentanswers to more than 100 questions,divided into ten main and 58 sub-cat-egories.

Students voted Trent first in themain category of “Quality of Educa-

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workload. “I have about three or fourhours of homework every night,” sheexplains. “Most of my friends areunderage … they seem to be manag-ing well [but we] spend most of [our]social time here at Gzowski.”

“I talk to my family every nightonline and make occasional phonecalls on Sundays when my sister ishome,” White adds.

These students’ experiences don’tmean that underage drinking doesn’thappen in the new millennium,though. For those who are underage,many engage in the age-old traditionof drinking at house parties.

“There are parties happening everyweekend,” says Nathan Pritula, 18.“Where the Toga parties go on,drinking is a must … or so I hear frommy friends at Trent. I’m just happythat I don’t have to feel nervousabout sitting with the older studentsat lunch. Everyone here just wants tobe a friend and help each other; thisschool is definitely awesome.” Heand friends think the new drinkingage should be 18 to keep in tune withthe changing ages of first year collegeand university students.

“As for being prepared for univer-sity,” Pritula says, “so far so good.However, that is only because I amworking ‘my ass off here’ (pardon thelanguage). I was prepared for univer-sity only because I wanted scholar-ships.” The Grade 12 graduate is con-fident in the skills he learned atNiagara Falls’ Westlane SecondarySchool, and knows that his hard workwill pay off.

tion;” however, the campus didn’t doso well when it came to technology.Leighton and Carloss agree.

“It’s terrible,” confesses Leighton.“Everyone had the Internet alreadywhen we moved into the dorms athigh school. We’ve waited all weekfor it here.”

“We waited in line for two hours,”adds Carloss, “and the Internet andphone still don’t work.” It took untilthe end of the first week at school forthem to be “connected”. For theirgeneration, this is just “too long” towait. Instant access is a reality else-where, and they expected it at Trent.This class of students is probably incloser contact with family members –daily rather than weekly, throughinstant messaging software – thanany previous generation.

They do agree on the high qualityof the faculty. As to workload, shesays, “my workload hasn’t been badso far, keeping in mind that the pro-fessors are trying to ease us into uni-versity life.”

The bartenders and owners ofdowntown pubs and bars are alsowell aware that more than half of thefirst-year class is underage.

Carloss says, “The Rooster haswet/dry night on Wednesdays andthe Vibe has wet/dry night onFridays. I’m 17, so it limits me partial-ly, because those are the only twonights that I can go to the clubs.”

“It’s surprisingly hard to find goodwet/dry nights at places,” saysLeighton, “especially when you go toclasses, but it’s not that bad.”

Erica White, a 19-year-old PeterGzowski College student, says thatwhile her age is an asset, she doesn’tusually go out at night because of the

As for residence life, Nadia Jaffersays that she “was expecting prison… oatmeal and green sprouts” andthat she’s been pleasantly surprised.“The people here are amazing, and Iabsolutely love my Dons…and thefood.” The 19-year-old OAC graduateis just hoping to “balance outbetween homework and hanging outwith friends.” She too admits towalking slowly across the bridgebecause she loves the views of theriver and the campus.

“It’s beautiful,” she smiles. “Forme, if I find the atmosphere to begreat, my attitude is much happier. Ifeel that I’d actually want to go toschool, if not for the work, then atleast to see the beautiful scenery.”

Jaffer is one of the few studentswho admitted to not knowing whatsubjects she wanted to study. “Icame to Trent with no idea of what Iwas going to study. I’m still unsure ofwhat I want to do,” she says. “I musthave changed my schedule at least 20times.”

“I’m so glad I chose Trent, and I’msure this will be a great year,” shesays. “I’d have to say I LOVE thisplace, and I honestly could not havewished for anything better.”

CHANGES AT TRENT

The heightened public and govern-ment awareness of the needs of thisdouble-cohort class resulted in capitalfunds becoming available for newbuildings and upgrades to existinginfrastructure.

“Universities haven’t seen capitalspending like this on campuses sincethe 1970s,” Susan Salusbury, Univer-sity Registrar explains. “The ‘doublecohort’ will be a group of studentswho arrive and leave, but the newand improved buildings will stay.”

This has resulted in many changesto the face of Trent. New chemistryfacilities and a new college – PeterGzowski College – are midwaythrough construction on the East

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ELEFT: Rolando Plaza. OPPOSITE: EricaWhite, Teresa Cheng, Nadia Jaffer andFatima Kamalia.

Slated to open in May 2004 on theEast Bank, Peter Gzowski College’srust-red steel beams and 5-storey greywalls provide the view from BataLibrary now, instead of OtonabeeCollege. It will become home to thenew Consecutive Teacher Educationand Nursing programs, as well asBusiness Administration, Economicsand Mathematics, the Office ofResearch and Graduate Studies andThe First People’s House of Learning.Like the other colleges, lecture hallswill share space with performancespaces, classrooms and residencerooms.

The new Chemical SciencesBuilding will be attached to theScience Complex on the East Bank,near Wenjack Theatre. New labs forresearch and teaching were targetedfor completion this winter, while ren-ovations to the Science Complexhave also been finished. Physics,Biology and Environmental Sciencesstudents now have access to new lec-tures rooms and classrooms.

The student pub The Trend atTraill College has opened a new caféand the former squash court atChamplain College is now a computerlab. Former TSU offices have beenturned into Sculler’s: Deli and a TimHorton’s outlet.

The Arthur, the Trent Women’sCentre, the Trent Queer Collective(TQC) and the Ontario Public InterestResearch Group (OPIRG) now occupyStratton House, at former PeterRobinson College.

Bank of the Otonabee River. Studentsliving in the former Peter RobinsonCollege townhouses now callCatherine Parr Traill College home,and the university leased a formerBible college on Argyle Street for fouryears to cover the ‘double cohort’.According to a Toronto Star report,over 50 percent of Toronto-based highschool students went back for Grade12.5 this year, and university officialsexpect the ‘double cohort’ to affectadmissions numbers at least until2007-2008.

Change has always been a part ofTrent University’s landscape. Thecampus has been evolv-ing ever since the firstgroup of studentsstepped onto the scenein September 1964.

Back then, studentswore their robes daily,and took classes and ateat a Rubidge Street loca-tion. Male students werehoused at PeterRobinson, while femalestudents resided atCatherine Parr Traill. Intime, the main campuswas built, and co-eddorms became the norm.The Rubidge Streetbuilding was sold, and departmentsand facilities moved up to whatbecame Champlain, Lady Eaton, andOtonabee.

How many alumni remember “TheCrypt” in the Bio/Geo building? In the1980s, this building became the tem-porary “Staging Building” and housedadministrative offices; it has sincebecome a permanent fixture on cam-pus and been named Blackburn Hall.The Environmental Sciences Building– until now the most recent majoraddition to the campus – was built inthe early 90s.

New buildings, though, haveappeared on the Trent skyline thanksto the influx of new students and thefirst injection of capital funding in adecade.

Academically, the university hashired 28 new tenure-track faculty, andthere are more than 40 contract facul-ty filling in for the next few years oftemporary influx of students. Trent @Durham has extended their courseofferings, and seven of the new facul-ty members will teach at Trent @Durham.

New programs such as the TrentConsecutive Teacher Education pro-gram and the Trent University-SirSandford Fleming College Nursingprogram have met and exceeded theirtarget enrollments and promise to bea big lure to incoming students in the

future.“I actually think

it is the changes atTrent that are moreprofound, and hav-ing more of animpact than thefact that some ofthe students areyounger,” saysDavid French, Don,Senior Tutor,Fencing Coach,and Alumnus. “Ilament a lot of thelosses … but[these students]know it as it is

now, and they love it. So who am I tosay they are missing something?”

For many alumni, the physicalchanges at the campus may come asa great surprise. For others, perhapsthose who attend the annual Head-of-the-Trent reunion faithfully, thenew buildings have slowly becomepart of a now-familiar landscape.

Nothing truly ever stays the same:the students of the 60s missed outon much of the main campus; thoseof the 70s and 80s were too early forthe ERS building and upgraded facili-ties; and the students of the 90s wereunable to experience either the funki-ness of the “Crypt” or the heyday of“The Hangman.” New students thinkthe concept of having one collegeDon is “cool,” while many alumnicannot imagine a college with onlyone Don. There are those who will beaghast at the idea of a Tim Horton’s

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or Pizza Pizza franchise on campus,while others may lament never havinghad quick and easy access to theperennial student favourites of pizzaand coffee.

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Privacy

You have the right to know how we protect your personal information. The Alumni Officeinvites your help in ensuring that we are honouring your wishes.

We do provide name, address and phone information to our Alumni Association approvedaffinity partners (currently MBNA Bank Canada, IA Pacific term life insurance, Liberty MutualGroup Savings Plus home and automobile insurance and Canadian Scholarship Trust RESP) forthe purpose of marketing the affinity plans & products to Trent alumni.

Trent may release this data to a third party mailing or telemarketing agent under a signedagreement of confidentiality for a specific marketing initiative. A few alumni have asked us NOTto share their information with these partners and we are ready and willing to accommodatethose preferences. JUST CALL 1-800-267-5774 or e-mail and tell us you wish to OPT OUT ofaffinity marketing plans.

You also have the right to state your preferences regarding how the University uses your per-sonal information. Currently, the Alumni Office will share alumni names and contact informa-tion with University departments and officials for the purposes of alumni reunions, facultytenure reviews, special University events, fundraising, testimonials and guest speakers.

Once again, if you would like to OPT OUT of these communications, please contact us.Trent University’s Policy on the Management of Personal Information in Commercial

Activities can be found at www.trentu.ca/secretariat/policy01.html.

Champlain College Reunion ❦ Classes of 1983, 1984 and 1985

Has it been almost 20 years since you slept in a “staircase” and ate “Beaver Foods” in theGreat Hall? Do you remember when the most pressing issue on your mind was how to getthat essay written while not missing a pub night at the Ceilie or the Commoner?

Return to a time when 80s music was not “retro”, when you could buy a draft beer for $1.00,and when an afternoon could easily be spent discussing life with your floormates.

We hope that you will join us for a nostalgic afternoon with your fellow Champlain alumni.Get reacquainted with old friends, and catch up on the years that have passed since you firstarrived at your new home on the shores of the Otonabee River.

Plan to attend the 2004 Head of the Trent, during which this reunion will take place. Furtherdetails will be provided to you by mail in early 2004.O

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Ultimately, the newest first-yearstudents are attending Trent for thesame reason as generations of otherstudents: to learn.

“I’m really enjoying the challenge,”says Peter Gzowski student Teresa

Cheng, 18, who graduated fromGrade 12 at an American school inTaiwan. “I find myself surrounded byintelligent people, and it’s absolutelywonderful!” ❦

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You may have visitedSymons campus during the summerexpecting to find a quiet communityof staff and faculty preparing for theSeptember rush of students, only tosee an abundance of little bodies,dressed in white t-shirts and buckethats porting water bottles aroundcampus. Each summer, more than600 children from five to 15 years ofage descend upon Trent for eightweeks of fun and friendship. TheTrent Summer Sports Camp (TSSC)was introduced in 1993, and hasquickly become a significant connec-tion between the Trent and Peterbo-rough communities. The camp wasintroduced by then Intramural-Coordinator Chris Kitchen (or ‘KitKat’ as he is still known at camp) asan ideal way to maximize the use ofthe athletic facilities during the springand summer, and as another impor-tant source of revenue for the depart-ment of Athletics. Eleven years later,it has become the camp of choice formany young peo-ple, drawingcampers from thelocal region, otherprovinces, theUnited States, andoverseas. In oureleven short yearsof operation, wehave developed astrong reputationamong students,staff, alumni, andthe Peterboroughcommunity.

This positivereputation is theresult of many fac-tors. Uniqueamong day camps,all of our campsessions are two-weeks long, which give us the timeto develop a special bond with ourcampers. We have a wonderful com-

bination of indoor and outdoor facili-ties. The camp virtually takes overthe PSB Wilson Athletic Complexduring the summer, but also benefitsfrom the many fields, forests, andnumerous trails within the Trent envi-ronment. What sets us apart fromother camps is the camp staff, themajority of whom are upper-year uni-versity students or graduates. Weenjoy mature, experienced and dedi-cated staff who make every momentspecial for our campers. Our campfamilies recognize this quality anduniqueness. Over the last three years,we have filled most camp spaces byMarch break.

The camp has always been fortu-nate to have a great number of quali-fied and talented applicants from theTrent student body. We do not sufferfrom a lack of physical education orkinesiology programs to attract ourideal staff members. Among some ofour Trent-student staff are manyEducation students, varsity athletes,intramural captains, outdoor enthusi-asts, ERS and geography majors (ournature and outdoor programs are

always the first to fill), and, like theTrent student population, the majori-ty of the staff brings a broad base ofexperiences and interests to camp.Competition is stiff – there are alwaysover 100 applicants for approximately

BY BRUCE EMMERTON ’97

TrentSummer

Sports Camp:Connecting

with theTrent

Community

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Echildren build self esteem throughdeveloping their physical and socialskills.” And it’s not just sport skillsthat are applicable to everyday life,remarks Barry van Dompseler ’96.“I have spent considerable time in myclassroom using techniques I learnedat camp to build our class communi-ty, to teach respect for ideas, and torecognize the importance of the indi-vidual,” says Barry, who just finisheda third season at camp. For JustinKerr ’96, who spent one of his sea-sons at camp as the Program Director,remembers that camp “required flexi-bility and the need to extend oneself.No matter what career you choose,camp shows us that work and excite-ment can really connect, and ulti-mately teaches you to be a passion-ate contributor to society.”

Staff and faculty of the Universityfind the camp not only a convenientsummer experience for their children,but also a unique opportunity fortheir children to connect to the Trentenvironment. Director of Communi-cations Marilyn Burns ’00 has senther son and daughter for the pastthree years, and sees the camp as anideal place for her children to try newthings and learn from well-roundedrole models. “My two children eager-ly look forward to the opportunity tobe a part of the Trent communitythrough the camp each year. As aparent, I find it’s enormously benefi-cial for them to be on this beautifulcampus with all it has to offer.Already, they have a comfort levelwith being in a university setting thatother people don’t get until muchlater in life. What a great privilege!”says Marilyn. A substantial numberof our campers started their Trentconnection at the Trent Day CareCentre, and have since continuedtheir ‘studies’ at the TSSC, includingthe son and daughter of SpecialNeeds Accommodations Coordinator,Grace Mahoney ’86. (see “Trent’sOther Alumni”, summer 2003).“Sending my children to TSSC is notjust about convenient summer care –the magic that this camp creates is sopowerful because the camp is astrong vibrant community. My kids

15 new positions each year (over halfof the 30 staff return each year),which confirms one of the camp’sfundamental beliefs: the camp envi-ronment is as beneficial to the staff asit is to the campers. Mike Halloran,’96 (or Tank, as he is known at camp)who now teaches high school andreturns to camp each summer,describes his seven years on staff as“the greatest learning opportunity forpersonal and professional develop-ment I have experienced.” Studentswho work at camp still endure theregular scorn of their peers who askquestions like “when they’re going togrow up and get a real job”, and thetough decision to accept a job thatmost often only amounts to nineweeks of work. They know a veryimportant fact, however, somethingthe camping community has been try-ing to tell people for years. Camphelps everyone to develop interper-sonal and problem solving skillswhich are important in both our pro-fessional and personal lives. The envi-ronment we enjoy every summer isfull of many opportunities, like learn-ing how to lead, to teach, to commu-nicate effectively to people of all ages,and ultimately, to be a supportive andactive member of a community.

Our staff alumni are full of praisefor the skills and attitudes they devel-oped while at camp, whether involvedin teaching or other careers. GeraldMcKinley ’94 credits his time atcamp, and the opportunity to developeffective leadership abilities as a majorfactor in his decision to return nextyear to pursue a Bachelor of Educa-tion degree at Trent. Sandy Earl ’92who spent two seasons at camp (andbecame known as ‘Yuri’) remembersthat “planning activities and learningskill development was a great lead-upto my teaching career. I still use manyof the activities and games in myclasses today.” Susan Munderich(Vatter) ’92 is also one of the manycamp staff who have pursued a careerin teaching, and remembers howcamp life taught her the importanceof “breaking down activities intoteachable chunks, and how to help

have explored the entire beautifulcampus, it’s a place they feel at homein and are recognized as members”says Grace.

Alumni form a large part of ourcamp-parents and supporters. KarenSisson ’78 and her husband Brucehave been sending their three boys tocamp since 1998. “We’ve tried othercamps,” says Karen, “but this is theirfavourite. It’s all they talk about allyear!” Karen wants her boys to beinvolved in programs at Trent, saying“it exposes them to what was a bigpart of my life, particularly to theactivities in Athletics.” In addition tobeing camp parents, Michael Cullen’82 and Lisbeth Shaw-Cullen ’83have been sponsors of the campthrough their business, TrentPhotographics, since 1995. Theirinvolvement, and that of their threechildren (who have been coming tocamp since 1996) is a solid exampleof the connection between the campand alumni. Lisbeth jokes that send-ing her kids to her alma mater makesher feel old, but also says that theyare “proud to be involved as sponsorsand as parents. It’s a highlight of thesummer for the kids, and we enjoysharing stories of our time at Trentwith them.” The connection goeseven further. Lisbeth has recentlyreturned to teaching, and has adopt-ed some of her kids’ favourite campgames in her classes!

As we prepare for our 12th seasonof camp, we continue to celebrate thesuccess of the camp and its activities.In 2000, the Share Camp Fund wasestablished to help bring kids tocamp who for financial or family rea-sons, might not normally have thechance. In partnership with theDevelopment office, this charitablefund has raised over $8000, whichincludes over $2500 raised by thecamp staff who donated their wagesfor a day (a staff project co-initiatedby Nora Scott ’98). We have wel-comed campers from all over Ontario,Quebec, Nunavut, British Columbia,the United States, Germany, France,and Switzerland, and our own alumni

continued on page 30

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BY JOE TEFT ’99

ThreeGenerations

at TrentUniversity

This past September the thirdgeneration of Carter women startedher undergraduate degree at TrentUniversity. Jenny Carter, married tothe late mathematics professor CyrilCarter, started her Trent career in1969. Previously she had studied atthe University College of London andobtained a degree in French. With theacademic freedom that she found atTrent, she continued to study lan-guage. She enrolled in a variety ofclasses including German, Spanishand even took a class on nuclear war.Trent University gave Jenny theopportunity to study what interestedher most without imposing a strictschedule for her to follow. After com-pleting her degree in the 80s shedecided to pursue a master’s degreein Canadian Studies. Jenny hadalways admired the founders of TrentUniversity, and since it was theirdesire that Trent focus on CanadianStudies, she took up the challenge.With great professors like JohnWadland and Bruce Hodgins, hermemories are nothing but pleasant.

Jenny sees Trent University as aninteractive environment. While study-ing at a university in London, shefound there was no informal interac-tion with the professors. All the

teaching was done in a lecture style.When she came to Trent, she realizedthat the faculty and staff were bothapproachable and insightful. “Thefaculty members are very enlight-ened. To see that kind of knowledgeand attitude passed on is incredible”With an emphasis on informal inter-action, Jenny felt truly educated.

Both Jenny and Cyril’s daughters(Margot Bassman ’77 and JanineCarter ’74) attended Trent Universityas well. Her eldest daughter, Janine,studied mathematics like her father.After completing an HonoursBachelor of Arts in math, she contin-ued her studies eventually earning aPh.D. Her youngest daughter, Margot,completed a general degree in Englishand economics.

Math seems to be an importantfocus for the family, as Margot’sdaughter Amy, is attending Trent. Sheis studying Concurrent Education aswell as math. As Trent nears its forti-eth anniversary, this family has threegenerations who have been part ofTrent University.

Trent’s emphasis on informalteaching and community is whatimpressed Jenny the most. With thethird generation of her family attend-ing the school, she has faith that asTrent grows these qualities willremain. ❦

Marion Wylie (left) 2003 recipientof the Cyril and Jenny CarterScholarship in Environmental

Studies, with Jenny Carter ’69.

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Chris Warren, a PhD. candi-date with the Watershed EcosystemsGraduate Program (WEGP) was one of143 recipients to receive the presti-gious Canada Graduate Scholarship(CGS) from the Natural Sciences andEngineering Research Council (NSERC)of Canada. Netting $70,000 over twoyears will assist Mr. Warren in realiz-ing two of his long held goals –researching the fate and effects ofchemicals in the environment using amass balance model approach andthe opportunity to teach science atthe undergrad and graduate level.

The mass balance model is a pow-erful analytical tool that helps scien-tists understand and predict the fateand effects of chemicals in the envi-ronment – the “big picture”approach. Once the appropriate datais collected and analyzed, quantativelinks are established betweensources, exposure and risk of effects.Furnished with this information, sci-entists, policy makers and practition-ers can then make informed decisionsto aid in the control of excessivesources of contamination on onehand and avoid uneconomic, unnec-essary regulations on the other.

Chris is currently involved in a col-laborative research project withUnilever examing the fate and effectsof “down the drain” chemicals suchas laundry detergent, dish soap, andshampoo. Using a model he devel-oped, the collaborators will be able todetermine both the movement andconcentration of these chemicals inlakes and river basins. In addition tohis research in freshwater, Chris isalso interested in the marine environ-ment, particularly off the coast ofNewfoundland. According to Chris,there has been little work in the fieldof modelling that examines both thechronic and acute, fate and effects ofoil in the marine environment. Themodel under development will beused to look at marine oil spills, aswell as process water released froman oil-drilling platform. Once com-pleted, the model can be used to pre-

dict potential environmental damage,in addition to outlining steps neces-sary to minimize environmentaldegradation.

Chris completed his undergraddegree in environmental science at SirWilfred Grenfell College at MemorialUniversity located on the west coastof Newfoundland. It was on thissmall campus that Chris acquired adesire to continue his studies at theMasters level in environmental mod-elling and particularly in a smallschool setting. According to Chris, he“chose Trent because they have thegraduate Program in Applications ofModelling of the Natural and SocialSciences and the CanadianEnvironmental Modelling Centre(CEMC). The CEMC mission statementis exactly what I wanted to do – itreally fit with my interests, so that,along with the small university, itproved to be an exact fit for me.”While completing his M.Sc. in Appli-cations of Modelling under the super-vision of Professor Don Mackay, Chrisrealized he wanted to continue tohave the opportunity to work withDr. Mackay. Now in his second yearof doctoral work, the fit has provento be right for Chris – working withProfessor Mackay, a pioneer in envi-ronmental modelling, liking Trent,teaching and the opportunity toattend conferences and lectures ismoving Chris closer to his desire forpreserving the environment.

Chris’s early interest in science canbe credited to the Canadian sciencejournalist, Bob McDonald, host of theCBC children’s science television pro-gram, Wonderstruck. “I used to lovethat show, a science show that wasbased on everyday science for kids.What he found really wonderful washaving the opportunity to meet Bobtwo years ago when he was invited tospeak at Trent University.” Chris alsocredits two professors from MemorialUniversity for developing his interestin environmental studies and his pas-sion for teaching. Chris’s undergradthesis supervisor, Dr. Julian Dust, an

BY M. DALE RODGER ’77

ForecastingFate and

Effects: TheBig Picture

continued on page 30

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BY ALICIA DORIS

Teachingand

Learning inCyberspace

Like the World Wide Web,education that is accessible to allcrosses borders and boundaries – pri-marily those of place and time. So,what better complement to teachingand learning in the classroom thancyberspace? On-line learning has dis-tinct advantages, though teachingtechniques and the way we conceptu-alize on computer continues to beexplored.

Trent University’s Special NeedsServices and Interactive LearningCentre are contributing to this explo-ration through national post-sec-ondary school initiatives such as LaTrousse, e-Kit and facultydevelop-ment.ca. While the objective of e-Kitis to develop an electronic toolkit forstudents learning on-line, facultyde-velopment.ca will be an Internetresource for faculty members instruct-ing on-line. One of 14 institutionsinvited to participate, Trent – knownfor its past performance in adaptabili-ty – will contribute and benefit fromthis bilingual resource collection.

“On-line learning is the way of thefuture. It will be a way of coping withthe growth factor and the changingdemands of the students,” saysEunice Lund-Lucas, of Trent’s SpecialNeeds Services. “Trent’s work ininnovative teaching by professors likeJim Parker, John Earnshaw, andJonathon Swallow gave us the recog-nition that allowed us to be a partnerin this exciting project.”

CANARIE Inc. announced thefunding of the University Collabora-tive Communities for E-learningAdoption (UCCELA) project, whichincludes the e-Kit and facultydevelop-ment.ca. Meanwhile, the 14 institu-tions are partnering with the Societyfor Teaching and Learning in HigherEducation (STLHE), its 3M TeachingFellow program and the publisherMcGraw Hill Ryerson Publishing.

One of the tools Trent has pre-pared for posting on e-Kit is a ques-tionnaire that will allow students toassess their readiness for on-line

learning. The questionnaire will mea-sure compatibility of the student’slearning style as well as their hard-ware. Once they’ve completed thequestionnaire, students can get aprintout that will show them whythey are or why they’re not ready forInternet learning. Ms. Lund-Lucasnotes the tool will also assist facultymembers by facilitating the transitionin teaching, from the classroom tocyberspace.

“This tool may help teachers tailortheir teaching methods to utilizetechnology,” says Ms. Lund-Lucas,adding Trent is working on a numberof submissions for the site. Slated tolaunch later this fall, the studenttoolkit will be on-line at www.e-kit.info/ while the faculty resourceswill be posted at www.facultyware.ca.Former Trent professor AlineGermaine-Rutherford is one of theteam members spearheading the fac-ulty resource portion of the initiative.

The combined force of the two ini-tiatives will be a unique experiencebringing together, under the leader-ship of the University of Ottawa,McGraw-Hill Ryerson Publishing Co.,Carleton University (Centre forInitiative in Education), Queen’sUniversity, Trent University, Societyfor Teaching and Learning in HigherEducation (STLHE), its 3M TeachingFellows, University of Guelph,Laurentian University, ConcordiaUniversity, University of WesternOntario, University of Toronto,Collège Saint-Boniface (Manitoba),University of Moncton, UniversitéSte-Anne, la Faculté Saint-Jean(University of Alberta), University ofPrince-Edward Island, ConsortiumNational de Formation en Santé. ❦

BY LIZ FLEMING ’77

SierraLeone

Adventures

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Rod Matheson ’76 hasbeen in Sierra Leone for the past sixmonths, as a part of the CanadianArmed Forces support initiative.Below is the first instalment of hisfascinating chronicles.

OPERATION SCULPTURE

Operation SCULPTURE is theCanadian Forces commitment to theInternational Mission Advisory andTraining Team in Sierra Leone.Canada sends over a team of sevenpersons to support a British lead con-tingent of about 130 professional offi-cers and senior non-commissionedofficers who are trying to rebuild theSL forces so that they can, eventually,autonomously secure the peace oftheir nation and allow SL to moveahead in its economic development.

PART ONE: THE TRIP

Gathering In OttawaWe assembled in Ottawa, 8-10 June

2003, to go through the final briefin-gs (intelligence, operations and poli-cies) for Op SCULPTURE. We werehoping that by meeting, the entireteam would be able to get to knowone another because the key in suchan operation is to get along well withthe people in your small team.

Particularly when and if one were tobe called upon to support someonein a crisis situation!

God Bless the Air ForceA long-standing critique of theAirforce is that they are unreliable(don’t fly in poor weather) and oftenunable to meet planned schedules. Inaddition, the Airforce is well knownfor its ability to demand and find thefinest stopovers and living accommo-dations in their flight-planned stop-overs. Well they lived up to theirbilling. We bussed all night to meet avery early departure flight (earlydeparture in order to make it to theCanary Islands) only to have theflight be delayed seven hours – dueto not having completed the manda-tory pre-flight checks (too early forsome of the crew). We (the Armyand Navy passengers) waited out thedelay by sleeping on the very uncom-fortable terminal benches, regularlywakened to be told of another delay.The repeated messages of delay weredelivered by a well practiced series ofsmiling and apologetic terminal staffwho after pausing to console theexhausted and frustrated (stranded)passengers offered another homebrewed coffee whilst ensuring theyordered their own Tim Horton’s, near-ly out of earshot of the growinglydesperate cargo (read passenger).God bless the casual and nonchalantAirforce!

The HerculesPicture the Hollywood film where onesees a pirate or two who operate adilapidated aircraft (with a question-able service record) that transportsanything and everything (make abuck!) to anywhere = Air America (aMel Gibson movie). The ‘Hercs’ areaging/old military cargo aircraft wide-ly used by western airforces. They areconstantly criss-crossing the globesupporting the military and humani-tarian activities of the world.

The aircraft was fitted with an air-craft galley and 15 old, thin 707seats. It was so full that one had tosqueeze between the wall of the fuse-lage when walking around the plane.

Rod Matheson ’76 (above centre), shownhere with Dan Coholan ’77 and

Jamie Fleming ’76.

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Picture parts of plastic bags, corrugat-ed steel sheets, rusted from age andtwisted from gunshot strapped andbent over thin frames that were oncetrees. The buildings are barely highenough to accommodate a humanand they look as though a LakeOntario wind would blow them awayin minutes. Now picture a family offive to eight people living in the 200hundred square foot structure. Thekitchen is just outside the frontentrance and is made of a circle oflarge rocks under which they burnwet wood (the kind that producesheavy, choking smoke). Their caldron(perhaps the most important andonly kitchen tool) is used twice a dayto make the food – usually rice andbits and pieces of meat, chicken orfish. Not too many overweight peo-ple here!

Ramshackle huts line the roads.The lucky landowners are the peoplewho have a house beneath a largetree and use the tree’s wide canopyas a tent tarp. There are 60 year oldEuropean-built structures that peoplehave moved into. There are oftenthree or four families in suchdwellings. The only problem is thatthe buildings have not been main-tained for the last 50 years – imaginethe condition of plaster walls andceilings in a county that suffersthrough 85–100 percent humidity for6–8 months of the year.

Ten minutes from the Airport is arecently erected refugee camp. Therefugees were two days ahead of theLiberian Army soldiers who had fledthe conflict in Liberia some 150 milesfrom Lungi/Freetown. In fact, therefugees were better looked after bythe UN and Non GovernmentalOrganizations (NGOs) than were theSierra Leone soldiers outside therefugee compound – supposedlyguarding the refugees. What irony.Sierra Leone soldier guards trying tosurvive in complete squalor while theLiberian former-soldier-now-declared-refugee only meters away is well fedand cared for with UN money. Daysbefore these same Liberian troops hadthreatened the very existence ofSierra Leone.

Hercs are very loud. They moan,groan and seem as though they areabout to fall apart; nevertheless, theyare reliable – hence the nickname,‘trashhaulers’.

The Final Leg It was as if the aircraft was a timemachine! Transporting us from theopulence of our travel mecca to thedepths of raw despair of one of theworld’s most poverty stricken coun-tries. We left the European flair ofTenerife at 0800 hrs and flew fivehours to Lungi Airport near Freetown,Sierra Leone only to be startled,despite all of our previous intelligencetraining, into sensing the ‘shock’ ofthe third world.

As we approached the DarkContinent, we could not help butthink what the next six monthswould bring.

Meeting Sierra LeoneAs we taxied to a halt on the Lungiairstrip and the fuselage door wasopened we immediately felt theextreme humidity and fragrance ofequatorial West Africa. Ten minutesafter our landing I was whisked awayby LtCol Ian Hunt, the man I was toreplace, to a Liberian Army intern-ment camp. We raced through theshantytown surrounding the airport.Over the next 20 kilometres my sens-es took in the novel experience of thethird world in all its desperate glory.The images were extreme and ever-lasting. Meeting Salone was both ashock and a pleasure, one that wehoped would continue over the nextsix months of duty.

PART TWO:

‘QUARTERED SAFE OUT HERE’

Shanty Town and RefugeesImmediately out of the front gates ofthe Freetown/Lungi Airport the shockof the Third World comes to life! Ihave been in the poverty stricken bor-oughs of Juarez, Mexico and havetried to avoid smelling the pungentodour of open gutters of humanwaste in Europe but this was a newand more dramatic experience.

The Lungi FerryFreetown, the capital of Sierra Leone,is across a wide river mouth from theLungi Airport. The only connectionbetween the airport, other than afive-hour drive around the broad riverestuary, and the capital is a bent andbanged up ex-eastern European ferrythat is always over-crowded andputrid smelling. The trip on that ferrywas unique – there we were thewealthy ‘white men’ amongst utterpoverty. We were the minority but allwould bow to our eye contact. Wewere the elite of society – beingwhite and in military uniformequalled regal status. People werepushed out of the way by their ownkind in order not to even appear to bein our way. Being only on of about12 whites on board, and western sol-diers at that, we were the main attrac-tion of curiosity. In fact, I found outlater that the Sierra Leonean is bothterrified and awed by the British orwestern soldier. I guess that’s theway you become when you sufferthrough 12 years of a civil war causedwhen your army revolts against itsown people.

KissyAs much as we had seen already, themost dramatic sight was yet to come.Kissy, the wharf-side borough, wasshocking in its rawness – the fullspectrum of the third world was herein all its varieties. There were peopleeverywhere. There are no sidewalksand no rules of the road – just a con-stant, serious traffic jam, minglingpeople and tired old cars (most ofwhich are either discarded or stolenEuropean diesel stink pots). Peoplewere right up beside your vehicle asyou ‘ploughed’ your way through thesea of humanity. The pedestriansseemed to think nothing of carspushing them into the gutter or near-ly driving over their toes. Despite theclammy weather, the putrid smell ofhuman waste, burning wet wood andchoking diesel exhaust, the peopleseemed to go about their business

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BY DAVID FLEMING

CSI Trent!DNA

ForensicSummer

Camp

This past summer I had the greatopportunity to attend the very firstDNA Forensic Summer Camp at TrentUniversity. Although I had notplanned on attending, my mothersigned me up without telling me, Ihad a really great time and learnedlots of really interesting things.

During the time I spent at the DNA

Forensic Summer Camp I learnedmany new things such as how to doa DNA profile, what DNA profiling real-ly was and the proper way to conducta crime scene investigation. I learnedthat forensic investigation is not justfor people but that forensic profilingcould be done on animals. I alsolearned about forensic anthropologywhich is the study of human remains.Forensic anthropologists are oftencalled upon to help determine whathappened to a person by examiningthe remains of a body. I found itinteresting that the age, gender,stature and population affiliation ofremains could be determined by look-ing at the formation of bones, skullsand dentures. For instance, malestend to have a square-shaped chinswhile females chins are more round-ed.

I attended the session that wasoffered at the beginning of the sum-mer, from July 14th to July 18th. Wespent the first couple of days learningexactly what DNA was and even gotsamples of our own DNA! That wasreally cool! Then the fun started. Wegot to investigate a “real” crimescene! It was a murder crime sceneand it was very realistic. We weresplit up into teams to investigate thecrime scene and gather evidence. Wehad to make sure that we didn’t dis-turb the crime scene while we collect-ed our DNA evidence. We also had tobe very careful not to contaminatethe evidence. We wore gloves andput all the evidence in plastic bagsand labeled it. Once all the evidencewas gathered we went back to the laband got the DNA profiles for the evi-dence that we gathered. The DNA evi-dence would point us to the suspect.

We learned that there are other foren-sic methods used for crime sceneinvestigation. These methods aid theinvestigators in determining the timeof death and body identification.

I think that one of the most impor-tant things I learned about crimescene investigation was that you can-not assume anything. That is whyDNA profiling is so valuable. It helpsinvestigators find the right answerswithout assuming anything. I spentthe fourth day of the camp workingwith my team to develop a case usingDNA profiling and the evidence thatwe found at the crime scene. Wewere having a mock trial on the lastday of our camp. During the trial wewould talk about the evidence wegathered. Based on the evidence, wewould try to convince the jury that acrime was committed by a particularindividual.

I really enjoyed the DNA ForensicSummer Camp at Trent. The weekreally flew by quickly. I had a greattime, made some friends and learneda lot that I would not normally havethe chance to learn. I would recom-mend the DNA Forensic SummerCamp at Trent to anyone who has aninterest in science, especially if youthink that you want to have a careerin the Forensics field.

By the way, the DNA that wasfound at the crime scene did convictsomeone. Me!! You can imagine mysurprise when I found out that myown DNA, that I had collected on thefirst day of the camp, incriminatedme!

❦ David Fleming is a grade 10 stu-dent at Crestwood High School inPeterborough.

Yann Martel ’81 and Shelagh Grant’76 accompanied Governor GeneralAdrienne Clarkson and John RalstonSaul on State Visits to Russia, Finlandand Iceland to discuss topics sur-rounding “The Modern North”.

After writing several articles andshort stories, Phillip Quinn ’73 haspublished his first novel, The Double,a psychological thriller that takesplace in the Danforth region ofToronto.

Fox 2000 bought the film rights toYann Martel ’81’s Booker winningnovel, The Life of Pi.

Frozen Dreams, a play involving TrentAlumnus Jack Roe ’73, and friend ofthe Alumni Association GillianWilson won the Cultural Achieve-ment Civic Award by the city ofPeterborough.

After a bad relationship, a boy headsdown to New Orleans where hemeets up with a woman who offersmore than he wants. Rapid Descentby Steve Nicholls ’76 won the ShortFiction Category of the WritersFederation of New Brunswick awardin 2003.

George Meanwell ’70 releasedAnother Street. Meanwell, formerlyfrom Short Turn and Quartetto Gelatois pleased with his new solo-project.

Author and peace activist TimothyWatson ’83 is returning from Koreaafter teaching at several universities.

Trent Professor Joan Sangster ’70has been elected to the Academy ofHumanities and Social Sciences of theRoyal Society of Canada. She hasbeen recognized due to her excep-tional scholarship contributions.

Darren Murphy ’96 is thePeterborough Examiner’s new adver-tising director.

Brooke Davies ’91 had an astonish-ing summer. Her family won five mil-lion dollars on Lotto 6/49.

Work Creatively, a business thatcoaches individuals for Career Equitywas founded by President Mary-Frances Fox ’73

Phillip Panter ’76 dedicated his lifeto science. This teacher and radiationsafety officer has been making a differ-ence in the Kawarthas for 47 years.

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BY TONY STOREY ’71

Storeyline:Alumni inthe News

above: Friends of the late Mark MacLeod’77 gathered at Otonabee College quadduring Head of the Trent 2003 to dedicatea memorial plaque (left) and tree. Manythanks are expressed to organizer WandaMarkham ’77 and Jeff Holba ’77 for hisRemembering Mark ode. Mark’s friendssalute the Trent University grounds crewfor their detailed and thoughtful attentionto the memorial tree, bench and rock.

May Day! May Day!Come celebrate May Day and Spring with fellowTrent alums! Join us for the second annualTrentAlumni@gc.ca event. Here is your chanceto meet other Trent alumni working in the federalpublic service. Drop in and see old friends andmeet new contacts. This will be a great chance toshare stories and make connections. Everyone iswelcome! Cash bar, munchies provided, courtesyof the Trent University Alumni Association. Formore information please contact Holly Stardom’95 at (819) 997-8373 or StardomH@inac.gc.caWHEN: Thursday, April 29, 2004 5:30–7:30 pmWHERE: D’Arcy Mcgee’s Irish Pub, 44 Sparks St.WHO: Trent alumni in the National Capital region

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Coholan ’77Rowing Bursary are

Lauren Chewter’02 and Peter Van

Rooijen ’01.

Holly Stardom ’95 (above, right) invites National Capital region alumni to join her and others at the 2nd annual alumni@gc.ca net-working reception, Thursday April 29, 2004.

By using seed oils, such as canola orflax oil, rather than petroleum-basedproducts, Dr. Sursesh Narine ’91 iscreating biodegradable industrialproducts from renewable resources.

After a decade of helping studentscreate personal professional teachingportfolios Deborah Berrill ’69 hascreated an evaluation technique. Sheis also heading Trent University’s

School of Education and ProfessionalLearning.

Susan Yager ’93 dedicates herself tolife long learning, as she turns fiftythis year she also receives her thirduniversity degree.

Bermuda Member of Parliament JohnBarritt ’68 has called on Bermudanpolice forces to protect informers who

take a stand against crime in theirneighbourhood.

Peter Elliot ’73, Dean of the dioceseof New Westminster and rector ofChrist Church Cathedral in Vancouverwas elected Deputy Prolocutor ofGeneral Synod.

The Hastings and Prince EdwardRegiment Remembrance Day Dinnerinvolved Ray McGill ’82 and PadrePaul Gemmiti ’83.

Edwin Alonzo Boyd: The Life andCrimes of Canada’s Master BankRobber is Nate Hendley ’85’s firstbook.

Nancy Laton ’86 was called to thebar on July 17, 2003.

The University of Nebraska Presspublished Ruth Landes: A Life inAnthropology by Sally Cole ’69. ❦

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The 2003 winners of the annual Alumni Golf Tournament were Brian McGregor ’66,George MacDougall, John Casserly ’72 and Tom Phillips ’74. The 2004 tournament isscheduled for Saturday, September 11 at Port Hope Golf & Country Club.

Shelagh Grant ’76, Yvette Scrivener ’88, Mindy Willett ’88 and Stewart Wheeler ’88at the Nunavut Youth Abroad Program reception, June 30, 2003, attended by Trent alum-ni involved in the program. The reception was hosted by Her Excellency AdrienneClarkson, Governor General of Canada at Rideau Hall.

ABOVE: Champlain alumni Tony Storey’71 and Ted Code ’75.

81964

Tim MacLeod, youngest son of Dr.Alan MacLeod, keeps the traditionalive by entering Trent in September2003 as a first year student, 39 yearsafter his father entered as a memberof Trent’s first class!

1966A Gordon Research Conference onAtmospheric Chemistry was held inBig Sky Montana in early September,2003. Trent was well represented byConference Chair, Barbara J.Finlayson-Pitts ’66 from Universityof California-Irvine and two otherTrent chemistry graduates William J.Mills ’79 from University of Illinoisat Chicago and Peter J. Popp ’88from the NOAA Aeronomy Lab inBoulder, CO. All three Trent graduateswere one time students of Prof. RayMarch and sent a post card to himthanking him for his part in gettingthem to the workshop. As a specialbonus, it was announced during theconference that Dr. Finalyson-Pittswill be receiving the AmericanChemical Society’s Award for CreativeAdvances in Environmental Tech-nology at the ACS National Meetingin Anaheim, CA in March, 2004. Drs.Finlayson-Pitts (bjfinaly@uci.edu),Mills (wmills1@uic.edu) and Popp(ppopp@al.noaa.gov) would enjoy

1990Stephanie Brymer and MichaelWarner are very pleased to announcethe birth of their first child, SaraIsabel Warner born July 25, 2003.Stephanie and Michael have beenmarried for 4.5 years and are living inToronto. PHOTO #3

First friends and roommates. Thensisters-in-law. Now new mothers. Karen (Dielman) Moore ’91 andJamie Moore were married July 6,1996. Jen Rantz ’91 and Bob Moore(Jamie’s older brother) met at Karen& Jamie’s wedding and they weremarried on June 26, 1999. Now, Jenand Bob, and Karen and Jamie arevery pleased to announce thearrival of their little ones: Erin Gracewas born to Karen & Jamie on June30, 2003. Karen is on maternity leavefrom her teaching position inKitchener, while Jamie is an I.T.Professional with Stantec ConsultingLtd. in Kitchener. Dylan Jeffrey wasborn to Jen and Bob on August 8,2003. Jen is on maternity leave fromher position as Human Resourcesmanager with Bridgewater Systems inKanata. PHOTO #4

1991Anna Kemble received a Mastersdegree in Somatic Psychology fromNaropa University in Boulder, CO, in2001. She has since been working asa Dance/Movement Therapist. Thereare only about 1000 Dance/Move-ment Therapists worldwide, and veryfew in Canada. Anna works in provid-ing a combination of psychotherapy,physical/developmental therapy, andcreative arts experiences and states“This work really began for me whileworking with an Ecuadorean women’sorganization in Quito through theCDS year in Ecuador program. So, Ireally have that experience and thosewomen with whom I worked to thankfor sending down this completely fas-

SunshineSketches

hearing from any of their formerclassmates. PHOTO #1

1973Philip Quinn has published his firstnovel! Double is a psychological mys-tery and uses Toronto’s Danforth areaas setting for story.

Peter Elliott, Dean of the diocese ofNew Westminster and rector ofChrist Church Cathedral in Vancouversince 1994 has been elected DeputyProlocutor of General Synod. He is adirector of the Vancouver Interna-tional Film Festival and has reviewedmovies for the Anglican Journal.

1979Anna (Bunting) Simmonds hasmoved with her husband Martin toFenelon Falls, Ontario and has begunher degree in Theology throughDistance Education at LaurentianUniversity.

1984Jacqueline Buchanan ’91 andAndrew McDonald welcomed theirfirst child, daughter Emma Skye, on26 September 2003. Jackie andAndrew were married in 1998 andcurrently reside in Vineland, Ontario.

Sandy Wallace and his wife Sharonwelcomed their first child, MeaghanLeslie Wallace, on June 28, 2003.Sandy owns a design firm, Image inDesign, in Waterloo, ON and Sharonis on maternity leave from Manulife.

1986Samantha Connor Smith and DonSmith are proud to announce thebirth of their Daughter Jennifer Graceon July 8th 2003. PHOTO #2

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cinating career path! Someday soon, Iwill get back to Vancouver (my home-town) and hope to start a CanadianInstitute of some sort for movementor body-centered therapies. I lookback on my years at Trent with muchadmiration!”

1992Hayley Millington was awarded theGolden Jubilee Medal recognizingexcellence in customer service andinteraction with the clients and col-leagues. The award, commemoratingthe Queen’s Golden Jubilee, was togiven to nine individuals throughoutHuman Resources DevelopmentCanada (HRDC).

1994Conner David James was born on July3, 2003 to first time parents, Jessica(Brown) Ainsworth and her hus-band Bryan. PHOTO #5

Sarita (Gautam) and Jeremy Elliottare thrilled with the safe arrival ofMaya Lakshmi Elliott on August 25,2003, a little sister for Jacob. To checkout the family website, please visitmembers.rogers.com/saritaelliott or e-mail ritaelliott@rogers.com. PHOTO #6

Julia McKenzie married DerekLegault on August 30, 2003 in Mus-koka. John Smith ’91, FrancesWilbur ’91, Laurie Boal ’95, TashaMcKenzie ’95, Matt Desjardine’94, Jim McKenzie ’68, Cheryl andJohn Clarke ’69, and DaynaAtkinson ’88 were among the alumniin attendance. In the photo are Sarah(Hughes) Desjardine and TonyaMorgan. PHOTO #7

1995Kristina (Michaud) Wilson and herhusband Wade are thrilled to

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announce the arrival of their firstchild, Catherine Fiona Rose Wilson.Katie was born on Aug. 3, 2003 atWinchester District Memorial Hospi-tal. Kristina and Wade met in Wolf-ville, Nova Scotia, in 2001, where shehad begun work on her Mastersdegree in English. Kristina is currentlyon maternity leave from her job as areporter/photographer for her home-town newspaper, The GlengarryNews, in Alexandria, Ontario. Shehopes to complete her Masters thesison re-examining the writings ofCatherine Parr Traill while Katie naps.Wade is a graduate of AcadiaUniversity’s biology program and

works as a lab technician for PrinceFoods in Cornwall, Ontario.The Wilsons can be reached by emailat wkcwilson@hotmail.com.

Goodison ’70, delivered a beautifuland touching eulogy at a Mass forthe Living and Memorial in theGuardian Angel Church, Orillia onSeptember 4, 2003. Scott’s recollec-tions took us back to grade four,when he first met Mike, through theHalls of Champlain College andbeyond.

All who knew him will truly missMike and we thank him for the friend-ship, humor and memories he gaveus over the years. His life will contin-ue to touch others through his threebeautiful daughters who will carry-ontheir father’s traditions, spirit andmemory.

Aaron D.C. Smith ’95 passedaway suddenly inKingston, Ont onNovember 2, 2003.Aaron married KariFraser ’94 on June8, 2002 in PortCarling, Ont. After

graduating with an AdministrativeStudies degree from Trent, Aarongraduated from Queen’s Universitywith a Master of Industrial Relationsdegree in November 2002. The cou-ple resided in Kingston with theirdog, a Fox Terrier named Reily. Aaronenjoyed working with computers, bik-ing, camping, spending time at thecottage and taking long walks withKari and Reily. Aaron, along withKari, was a volunteer with the St.John Ambulance Therapy DogProgram. He was an energetic youngman with a passion for life. Familyand friends will cherish memories ofmany joyful times with Aaron.

Aaron is remembered by the manyfriends he met as student don of F-house at Otonabee College, a mem-

It is with great sadness that welearned recently of the death ofYonas Bisrat ’90 (BSc, HonoursPhysics and Mathematics, 1994) inJuly, from an asthma attack. At thetime, he was living in Seattle WA,working at AT&T, and playingEritrean music in a band. Yonaswalked out of Eritrea at the age ofnine to escape the conflict there, andfinished his schooling in Sudan,Egypt, and then on scholarship at theUnited World College of the Adriaticbefore coming to Trent on a CIDAscholarship. At Trent, Yonas was onthe Dean’s Honours list every year,and won a number of awards includ-ing the Physics Lodge Scholarship for1990-91. Those who knew Yonas willnever forget his brilliant mind andquick smile.

I announce, with a heavy heart, therecent and sudden passing ofThomas Michael (Mike) Devitt ’69B.A. CMA on August 30, 2003 at hishome in Orillia, Ontario.

Mike was a great husband, father,son, brother and friend who leavesbehind his wife Susan, daughtersKim, Wendy and Katy, Mother VelmaDevitt, sister Kathy Collins ’70 andbrother-in-law Bob Collins ’70.

Mike had developed a successfulaccounting business in Orillia andwas just about to see his youngestdaughter Katy finish university thisyear. Mike was also passionatelyinvolved with several communityorganizations, giving freely of histime and expertise for the benefit ofothers.

Friend and fellow alumnus, Scott

ber of the Otonabee College Counciland as a student in the administrativeStudies programme.

Aaron Smith touched many peo-ple’s lives in the Peterborough com-munity, most of whom may not evenrealize that they have benefited fromhis vision and work. While employedwith the Community Opportunitiesand Innovation Network (COIN) heplanned the launch of reBoot North,which is now providing affordableaccess to computers for charities andlow income individuals across centraland northern Ontario. He helpedorganize COIN’s Youth Team Entre-preneurship program, which will sup-port 60 young entrepreneurs over thenext 3 years – making it possible forso many young people to build liveli-hoods for themselves in their owncommunity. As well Aaron helpedorganize the Peterborough CAP

Network which is ensuring thateveryone in the Peterborough areahas access to the internet. AaronSmith was committed to his family,his community and to the building ofa better world, we are all the poorerin his passing.

Hugh McEachern ’72 passed awaysuddenly on June 5, 2003 as a resultof heart failure. He received his B.A.in Canadian Studies in 1975 and wasassociated with Champlain College.Hugh was an employee of ParksCanada, Trent-Severn Waterway for25 years and UCTE Local #00056Union President for the past fiveyears. He was the husband of BethMcLachlan (Trent University 1978-1980) and adoring father to Alec andAnna.

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In Memoriam v

committed to providing a high qualityliberal education in the humanities,social sciences and natural sciencesfor generations to come. We plan tobe here a hundred years and more,perpetuating the same values younow appreciate and support.

Some of our alumni and friendshave established endowment funds atTrent. They want their name andsome of their resources attached toan organization that will communi-cate their values to future genera-tions. Generations of students whowill help to make the world a betterplace.

Building Endowment It’s Natural

It is quite natural to want our lives tocontinue to count for good after weare gone. We don’t want our valuesand influence to evaporate into thinair.

One of the reasons parents andgrandparents seek to instill their val-ues into the younger generation is sotheir influence will stretch into thefuture through these family membersto help shape the world of tomorrow.

Trent University is preparing forthe future because we will be here,

Your own endowment fund will behere long after you are gone ... andwill ensure that you will not be for-gotten.

Endowment funds may be estab-lished to support financial assistanceto students, to create a scholarship torecognize and encourage excellence,to help fund a specific program, toadvance research. There are manypossibilities we can explore to helpyou invest in your area of interest.You can create one now and add to itwith an estate gift, or make arrange-ments to establish one through abequest in your will. You can name afund after yourself, your family or inhonour of a loved one. You can addto an existing fund in your area ofinterest or create multiple funds. Wewant to hear what you want to do.

To learn more about Trent’sendowment program, please contact:

Katie BrownPlanned Giving CoordinatorTrent University 1600 West Bank DrivePeterborough, ON K9J 8A7Telephone: (705) 748-1011 x 1046E-mail: kabrown@trentu.ca

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TRENT UNIVERSITY FOUNDATIONA Bridge to the Future

Looking for new career opportunities?

The Trent University Career Centre uses workopoliscampus.com, Canada’s biggest job sitefor students, to advertise job postings. This is where we direct all Trent students to searchfor online jobs. The Trent Career Centre occasionally receives calls from employers seekingalumni to fill available positions and we advise them to post on workopoliscampus. Did youknow, that as Trent Alumni – you can use this job search site too? All you need to do is reg-ister by simply logging on to www.workopoliscampus.com, click New Job Seekers Click Hereand fill in the appropriate information. You’ll be asked for an Access Code and, for Trent, it’strentworks. Once registered, you can search jobs by keyword, location, or type of job. Keepin mind that many of these jobs might be directed only to students, but once in a while youmight find a gem! Happy searching!!

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CHAPTER NEWS

Greetingsfrom

Dawson City,Yellowknife,Victoria and

Montreal

Trent University is well represent-ed in this small Yukon community ofDawson City. • Peggy (Peebles) Amendola ’74 aLady Eaton graduate, is nowDawson’s friendliest ambassador assupervisor at the Dawson CityVisitors Reception Centre for TourismYukon. • Paula Hassard ’78 Traill, is cura-tor and acting superintendent forParks Canada, National Historic Sitesin Klondike. • Justine MacKellar ’96 Traill, isspreading the word on Dawson asMarketing Assistant for the KlondikeVisitors Association.• Lynda Hutcheson ’95 Champlain,has just completed the summer sea-son as Parks Canada HeritageInterpreter.

• Carly Sims ’00 Traill, joins Lynda as Parks Canada Heritage Interpreter. Over the years we have migrated to the North and to this special community

of about 2000 people. You realize what a small world this is when so manyTrent Graduates fall in love with such a far away place. But, its got to be morethan coincidence that “fate” finds us all here. After spending some of the moreinfluential years of our lives at Trent, we have all found a place in the Norththat fills us with a similar sense of inspiration. So come visit us, and see whywe love it so much. We promise that you will have a Trent Welcome !!!

Carly Sims, Justine MacKellar conventions-kva@dawson.net

MONTREAL CHAPTER INVITES ALL TO MONTHLY APERITIFS

As you will note elsewhere in this magazine, and be reminded of on numerous occasions throughout thecoming months, Trent is approaching the venerable age of 40. The Trent community and its alumni chaptersthroughout the world will be holding activities throughout the year to celebrate this momentous anniversary,culminating in 2004 Head of the Trent.

The Quebec chapter, not wanting to be left out of a good celebration, has organized a series of informalget-togethers over the first months of 2004. Thus, on the first Tuesday of March, April, May and June 2004(March 2, April 6, May 4 and June 1 to be exact), we will be assembling for “apéritifs” at Brutopia Pub at1219 Crescent Street (south of Ste-Catherine) street from 5:30pm to 7:30pmish. These little events to allow usto interact with fellow alumni, make and renew friendships and plot other celebratory events. Of particularinterest is the planning of a world wide Trent dinner.

Trenties everywhere will gather together on the same night in various locales around the world to toast theuniversity and our own good fortune.

We hope to see you at one or all of these events

OPPOSITE: The Vancouver Island Chapterhosted Trent’s Varsity Rowers at a

November reception in Victoria.

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Alumni in Yellowknife celebrated Headof the Trent North on Saturday October4, 2003.

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CONSULTATION

Throughout 2002-03 the Universitytook repeated steps to inform andconsult your alumni leaders. TheAlumni Council accepted thePresidential Review committee’s invi-tation to comment on an existing andnew mandate for that position.President Bonnie Patterson was a fre-quent guest at Alumni Council meet-ings. We learned in detail why firstyear course pre-registration would beintroduced. Our Board and Senaterepresentatives kept us informed andallowed us to express our perspec-tives to those bodies. And even clos-er to home, we were asked to com-ment on potential names for Trent’snewest college, now officially con-firmed as Peter Gzowksi College. TheAssociation’s hope that the namePeter Robinson College might bebrought forward was partially fulfilledas we approved the naming of thenew college’s dining room - RobinsonHall. This provides the Associationwith the opportunity to stage a com-memorative and permanent exhibitoutlining the Peter Robinson Collegeheritage. We have many ideas abouthow to do this, but welcome sugges-

tions from alumni. It will be a veryimportant undertaking, one that wemust do well.

CITIZENSHIP

We have always worked to be full-fledged citizens in the Trent commu-nity. At our most recent Convocation,both Chancellor Roberta Bondar andPresident Patterson touched on theaccomplishments of Trent alumni. Atuniversity open houses, the alumnibooth demonstrates our pride andloyalty. And once again, ourUniversity president is the first speak-er to tell high school students andtheir parents to watch for the peoplewith the little white lapel stickers thatproclaim “Trent Alumni.”

SUPPORT

And now, may we have the envelope,please! In 2002-03 Trent alumni andtheir spouses gave $523, 946 to ourbeloved alma mater. This is the sec-ond consecutive year we have toppedthe half million mark. Can the mil-lion-dollar year be far off, now? Let’sdo everything we can to get there assoon as possible. It will benefit TrentUniversity immeasurably. ❦

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opening of the University’s newchemical sciences building and inte-grated college will complete an evolv-ing picture of Trent in 2004. The newPeter Gzowski College now encom-passes leased premises on ArgyleStreet as well as the new college onthe east bank of the Symons Campus.This brand new college is abuzz withactivity and, if the intensity of cheer-ing and fierceness of competition dur-ing introductory seminar week wasany indication, a healthy sense ofcommunity has already sprung upthere. An impressive array of visitorsand guests to the college, is alreadyadding value to the student experi-ence at Gzowski College and indeedat every College at Trent.

As new elements of our institu-tional history are created, this yearwill be remembered not just for thedouble cohort, but for all of the excit-ing initiatives that are putting Trentand its surrounding community onthe map – provincially, nationally andinternationally. It is wonderful to be apart of its success.

As Trent University’s ninthChancellor, Dr. Roberta Bondar, statedduring her first convocation last May,“There is a tremendous movementhere at Trent to be recognized as theworld leaders they already are,” shesaid. “Through Trent, Peterboroughhas an opening to the world, to theseyoung minds and the future of ourcountry.” ❦

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environmental scientist introducedhim to different techniques ofresearch and what it is to be aresearcher. He also gave Chris Trent,“I knew I wanted to look at chemicalsand their fate in the environment,however at that time I didn’t know itwas environmental modelling. Dr.Dust pointed me to Trent and thework of Professor Don Mackay at theCanadian Environmental ModellingCentre.” Another professor, Dr.Geoffrey Rayner-Canham was anexemplary teaching role model.“Professor Rayner-Canham put a lotof work into teaching, that was oneof his goals: he encouraged my loveof learning and ignited my interest –this is one of the things I want to do,

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I want to be a teacher – I want tocontinue to do research and combinethat with teaching. This is why I wantto stay in the university setting andthe scholarship is going to help meaccomplish this goal.”

Chris’s wife Joann, also fromNewfoundland is very involved in theTrent community. Joann is the CollegeDon for Otonabee College and hasjust begun her Masters degree inApplications of Modelling of theNatural and Social Sciences. Joann isworking with Dr. Jim Parker examiningaspects of emotional intelligence.When not studying, Chris and Joannenjoy cycling, skiing, camping, naturephotography and sea kayaking inNewfoundland. ❦

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SPRIN

G 2004

Rental, Seaspruce Seaside,June & September 2004Handsome cottage, pine interior,2 bedrooms, study, large living-dining room & Kitchen, 2/3 acrelot, Stanhope, PEI, insideNational Park. Weekly cleaning.Sleeping, 1 Queen-size, 2 singles,2 bunk beds. Fully equippedkitchen and bathroom, washer &dryer, colour cable, electric heatplus Vermont Intrepid airtightstove, gas barbecue, wild roses,500 meters to excellent seashorebeach, walking distance to forgiv-ing Stanhope Golf Course; deep-sea fishing & fresh seafood @nearby harbour; 35 minutes toCharlottetown and 45 minutes toCrowbush Golf Club. June andSeptember only. Preference tolonger rental. $1000 Weekly –contact Professor (rtd.) JimMacAdam in excile – 705-742-5222 or jmacadam@trentu.ca.

list now contains over 5000 names.Some of our first campers are nowcoming back to camp as staff, likeBrayden Hamilton-Smith ’02 whowas a camper during our inauguralyear, has just finished his third sum-mer on staff, and who is in his sec-ond year of a science degree at Trent.Being at the helm of a relativelyyoung camp, and working with peo-ple like Brayden has given me a clearperspective on the positive connec-tions we have made inside and out-side the Trent environment, and thepotential to showcase the Universityto many more young people. ❦

ibly intense African rains, just daysbefore. The mud structures wereclean and cool and were completelyliveable. It was as though I was look-ing at something one would see inthe museum of civilization. Thedetailed work was equivalent to thatof a master of masonry, work onesees in the great European edifices.

All alone the roadside you wouldpass what looked like a neighbour-hood ‘kool aid’ stands. Under thethatched canopy of palm tree leavesthese stands offer coconuts, pineap-ples, mangoes and other exotic fruitsthat were harvested only hours beforeand metres away. Normally, thestands are manned by mothers whoare supervising the very young, somebare breasted, some nursing whilefarther down the road there is aparade of older children movingtoward the stand with freshly pickedreplacements balanced on a wideplate on their head.

Driving in Sierra LeoneIf you are faint of heart, driving inSierra Leone is not for you! No rules,no markings, except the odd 40-year-old sign, and certainly no safetychecks. The roads are red clay dust inthe heat and glassy slippery in thewet season. The rain and natural ero-sion washes roads out in about half aday. You require a kidney belt to holdyour guts together when travellingacross heavily potholed roads.

Being in a white Land Rover (theUN and IMATT vehicles) and being a‘white man’ gains you immediate andtotal right of way except in the opin-ion of the Lebanese community whouse and abuse these people and theirresources.

Often slower vehicles are passedat anytime at anyplace regardless ofthe danger the action imposes oneveryone else. Many of our BritishIMATT counterparts seem to believe itis their right to be very aggressiveand to drive dangerously too fast.Although we have been frustratedwith some traffic jams we have, sofar, not adopted the obnoxious dri-ving habits of the majority of BritishIMATT members.

with a sense of poise and pride. Whatwere shantytowns in the suburbswere, in Kissy, far worse. It was here,more than ever, that I reflected on thecultural differences between thewealthy west and the third world.

Mud Huts and MangoesEarly on we managed to get out intothe country, up country as they callit. This was another new and mostinteresting experience. People livewith much less stress and a moreorganized, clean environment. Onedoes not see nearly as many rundownbuildings because most of the build-ings are made from natural materialsand therefore must be re-built regular-ly because of the impact of the cli-mate. Up Country, there was nowherenear the pollution or the complica-tions of the poverty stricken boroughof the old European structures ofFreetown.

One of the most amazing thingswas to see a military compound andHQ building, complete with officesand furniture made out mud hut andbamboo furniture. Apparently thestructure was not complete and onlya few days old since the last one wascompletely washed out by the incred-

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Hill Cot FlatsMost of the IMATT members live in arecently built compound perched onone of the peaks that is the topogra-phy of Freetown. Not surprisingly, theBrits call their ‘patch’ Leicester Square.Previous Canadians, however, optedto live with the ‘add-ons’ (almost as acolonial wish) in a place about fourkilometres down from LeicesterSquare – an apartment building calledthe Hill Cot Flats.

The Hill Cot Flats are the 1940sstyle European designed apartmentbuilding that does not hold up well tothe very humid climate (peeling wallsand plenty of mildew). We Canadianstake up two of the eight flats wherewe live amongst some Brits and aGhanaian officer.

For all the warts of Hill Cot Flats,rest assured compared to what itcould be and is only meters from ourbuilding; we are all ‘Quartered SafeOut Here’ in Freetown. ❦

Gifts go twice as farNow’s your chance to make your donation go even further! For a limited time,the Ontario Government will be matching all donations to student financial aidendowments, thanks to the second phase of the Ontario Student OpportunityTrust Fund (OSOTF). Trent has been awarded $4.2 Million in available matchingfunds. As a result of the matching nature of the program, Trent’s Endowmentcould grow by an additional $8.4 Million which would generate close to$400,000 in student aid per year.

With the unprecedented increase in students attending colleges and univer-sities, due to the elimination of grade 13 in Ontario and the demographicincrease in the number of students, financial need has never been higher.Through OSOTF, pledges are being accepted until December 31, 2005 and pay-ments on these pledges can be made until March 31, 2011.

This program gives our donors a chance to make a real difference in the livesof students. These funds are endowed, which means only a portion of theinterest is used, so your gift will continue to give perpetually into the future.

Donors now have the option to set up their own Named Awards or Bursariesfor students in their own area of interest. For example a $25,000 Award or$12,500 Bursary could provide $1000 or $500 respectively in aid to a worthystudent.

Donations of any size are eligible to be matched. For your convenience, weaccept monthly donations through credit card or pre-authorized debit, whichmakes giving more affordable.

For more information about making a donation or naming an endowed fund,please contact Sherry A. Booth, Coordinator of Annual Giving at (705)748-1011 ext. 1593 or by email at sbooth@trentu.ca.

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32•

TR

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TEAM TREND ALUMNI

28TH ANNU AL

WEEKEND RE-UNION

The 28th annual Team Trend Alumni Weekend is scheduled for March 19-20, 2004. The weekend will follow the now-traditional format witha mixed hockey game on Friday night at 8:30, before adjourning to The Trend

for the evening. Saturday will see a return “gentlemen” challenge matchagainst long-time rival Peter Robinson alumni from 4:00-5:30.

Dinner will follow at Scott House and Ted Packer is to be this year’s centrepiece for “Honouring Our Own”.

Please contact John Kennedy tjkennedy@nexicom.net

Brian Purcell Brian.Purcell@freedom55financial.comBill Fields dmi@allstream.net

David Wright dwright@ptbo.igs.netOr Trent’s Alumni Office – alumni@trentu.ca or 1-800-267-5774

If you have any questions or want to help with the logistics.