Drew McLachlan
The Navigator
The impression that Vancouver leaves on visitors is a blunt disparity to its reputation with the locals. Many tourists leave the rainy city with an image of a West Coast haven made entirely of glass condos and Expo 86 relics, with an attitude and energy not too foreign from any other city its size. But many who call the city home have half-jokingly dubbed Vancouver a “polite but unfriendly city.” The idea of a “Vancouver freeze” has been around for years with bloggers spending the past half-decade discussing whether or not Vancouver truly is a city full ...
Lindsay Sheppard
The Lance
Windsor (CUP) — Anyone who has ever seen the movies Sorority Boys, Legally Blonde, or Old School has an idea in their minds of what it is like to be part of a fraternity or sorority. Most people associate these groups with excessive alcohol consumption, elitist social groups, and lots of hazing.
Sororities and fraternities are known collectively as (more…)
Tamara Russell
Contributor
The Navigator
Last year I was awarded a scholarship to spend a semester abroad from VIU in Arctic Norway. I ended up studying at the Universitetet i Nordland for six months in Bodø, a modest town in the Arctic Circle and the jumping off point to the spectacular Lofoten Archipelago. Near the end of the semester, I got together with some of my classmates to discuss the importance of hands-on education. That is when we came up with the idea—how amazing (more…)
Drew McLachlan
The Navigator
The 7-10 Club, which operates out of downtown Nanaimo, provides clothing, bag lunches, and over 80,000 cooked meals every year. Founded in 1985, the organization was aptly named after its own morning hours of operation. Gordon Fuller has served the 7-10 Club as a chairperson since 2004. (more…)
Chantelle Spicer
Contributor
The Navigator
The waters surrounding Vancouver Island mean different things to our planet. They are beautiful, awe-inspiring, a source of recreation and employment, a habitat, a food source, a driver of climate and weather, and the background of our lives. Billions of organisms depend on the Pacific Ocean and the Georgia Strait, from micro-bacteria to whales and humans, to support their lives and generations to come. Among these organisms are the wild Pacific Salmon, which serve as a figurehead of many things as well. They are an icon of local First ...
Blake Deal
The Navigator
VIU graduate Evan Falck’s invention has given him the opportunity to go to Toronto for a shot at getting on CBC’s Dragon’s Den.
Falk, a graduate of VIU’s BBA program with a focus in Management, said he had the idea for his invention, “the Hillow,” in 2008. (more…)
Adam Feibel
The Fulcrum
Ottawa (CUP) — Admission to the program was frozen for the current academic year after a 2012 report to the university senate called the program “deeply troubled” and suggested its elimination. In August, it was revealed the program would be suspended in order to undergo improvements and would be reopened for the 2014–15 school year. (more…)
Blake Deal
The Navigator
VIU Bachelor of Science graduate Larissa Richards placed first in the Chemical Institute of Canada’s student presentation contest held at the University of Victoria.
Richards’ presentation on detoxification of chemical warfare agents led her to win the $150 prize and the recognition of some experienced researchers.
(more…)
Blake Deal
The Navigator
VIU’s Deep Bay Marine Field Station is inviting the public to learn about fossils of Vancouver Island, owls of BC, and penguins of the Antarctic.
These are just a few of the topics covered during a new spring film and speaker series at VIU’s Deep Bay Marine Field Station. (more…)
Janeane MacGillivary
Contributor
The Navigator
Nanaimo might have a science centre one day thanks to Liz DeMattia, co-founder and executive director of NS3, the Nanaimo Sustainability and Science Society.
Since proposing the idea to the City of Nanaimo in 2010, DeMattia and society president Sue Durnin have never doubted it will happen. (more…)
Leah Myers
Editor-In-Chief
The Navigator
The Vancouver Sun is in the midst of publishing a six-part story series titled “From care to where? Aging out of the foster system.” The story examines BC’s policy of abruptly ending care for foster children on their 19th birthdays. The series thus far is a wonderfully informative research piece that laces the personal journeys of kids in (more…)
Drew McLachlan
Associate Editor
The Navigator
Last month saw the introduction of a controversial amendment to the Canada Elections Act. The Conservative bill, titled the Fair Elections Act, has already seen much criticism on Parliament Hill, with the NDP and some Liberal MPs even equating it with “voter suppression.” Green Party Leader Elizabeth May spoke out in the House (more…)
Philip is a VIU student majoring in Creative Writing, with a focus on poetry. His favorite poems to write are love poems, but he also enjoys introspection and novelty of form in execution as well. He spends most of his time reading and writing, but also plays a few instruments, and occasionally dabbles in video games. (more…)
Kim Kemmer is a third year Creative Writing major at Vancouver Island University. Her work has been featured in the 2013 of Portal magazine and will be featured in the upcoming 2014 edition. In 2012, Kim won the Kevin Robert’s Poetry Award Scholarship. “The Falconer” was inspired by Mongolian golden eagle hunters. (more…)
Ben Chessor
The Navigator
The VIU Mariners’ women’s volleyball team finished up their regular season exactly how they started it: by sweeping a weekend series over their Island rivals, the Camosun Chargers.
The first game of the weekend between the two teams was Thursday, February 13 at the VIU gym. The Mariners picked up the victory in the first set 25-17. They followed that up with a convincing 25-11 win in the second set. VIU made sure the third set of the match was also the final set as they picked up the 25-20 set victory and the 3-0 win in the match. (more…)
Ben Chessor
The Navigator
With only one game left in the 2014 PacWest regular season, the VIU Mariners are trying to secure a top two spot in the standings. A top two spot would give the team a by in the first round of the PacWest provincial championship. The Mariners only have one game left to play in the season, as the team finished their home schedule on February 15 against Douglas College. (more…)
Ben Chessor
The Navigator
It may not have been the end of the season that we’re looking for, but the PacWest regular season came to an end for the VIU Mariners’ men’s volleyball team on February 15. The Mariners were on the losing end of the season’s final game, falling 3-0 to their Island rivals, the Camosun Chargers.
The game was an extremely hard-fought one, with Camosun taking a highly contested first set 25-22. In the second set, the Mariners were once again on the short end of a very close set, losing the second set by a score of 25-23. In the third set, the Chargers completed ...
Ben Chessor
The Navigator
The VIU Mariners’ women’s basketball team is one game away from a perfect season. The Mariners wrapped up the home portion of their PacWest regular season schedule on February 15 and only have one game left in the regular season on Friday, February 21 against the Camosun Chargers. The Mariners’ record is a sparkling 20-0.
The Mariners kicked off their final home stand of the season on Friday, February 7 against the Capilano Blues. The Blues played the Mariners tough and managed to keep the game close in the early going. At halftime, the Mariners held a slim ...
Ben Chessor
The Navigator
It took a few tries, but the Nanaimo Clippers have finally guaranteed their spot in the BCHL playoffs. The Clippers secured their spot with an 8-2 win over the Chilliwack Chiefs on Friday, February 14. It was the fourth straight game Nanaimo could have clinched a playoff spot with a win; the Clippers had dropped their previous three contests. Nanaimo will finish the (more…)
Ben Chessor
The Navigator
It’s been an up-and-down season for the Nanaimo Buccaneers. The team got a red-hot start, winning their first 12 games of the season. In fact, through the first 16 games of the Vancouver Island Hockey League season, the Buccaneers had a record of 14-2, which gave them the best record in the entire league. (more…)
Ben Chessor
The Navigator
The PacWest volleyball is finished, and the 2014 playoffs are just around the corner, scheduled for February 20-22 in North Vancouver. For Dillon Collett, VIU’s only fifth-year player, this season marks his last chance at a national championship.
Collett has been a force on the court for the Mariners this season. His 193 digs make him the team leader in that category. His average of 1.83 digs per set puts him 12th in the entire PacWest. Collett is also sixth in the PacWest in total offense with an average of 4.07 points per set. (more…)
Ben Chessor
The Navigator
Photos courtesy VIU Mariners.
The VIU Mariners’ women’s basketball team has had a phenomenal season. The team currently has a perfect 21-0 record and has clinched first place in the PacWest standings. The team has been led on the court by a large senior contingent. Three of those senior players, Shayna Worthington, Jenna Carver, and Heather McCarthy sat down for an interview with The Navigator to talk about their connection to the game and how it feels to be leaders on the court this year. (more…)
