GDMA grads swap cupcakes for beer

The Graphic Design for Marketing program is once again raising funds for the 2010 GDMA grad show, and this time beer is on the menu.

The GDMA will host a Pub Night at Hudson’s Landing Pub on Southwest Marine Drive on Friday, Nov. 13.

Tickets are $15, and include admission, a burger and a beer.

Vanessa Klassen, chair of the GDMA grad class, hopes to raise $1,000 at the pub night, as well as host a good night out for Kwantlen students.

“It gives people a social opportunity, a chance to mingle and chat,” said Klassen.

GDMA grads have been busy selling everything from cupcakes to T-shirts and graphic agendas this year. They also hosted the fourth annual Halloween costume contest, which took place on Oct. 29 at the Richmond campus.

Proceeds from their fund-raising will go towards a week-long exhibition at Kwantlen that will showcase the grads’ work. They will also be throwing a party in Vancouver where the design industry professsionals will get a chance to see the work of the Kwantlen students.

The GDMA grads are planning for another pub night on Dec. 10 at Ceili’s Irish Pub in downtown Vancouver.

For more information about the GDMA pub night check out their blog.

School not just for the kids

For Maryanne Rayburn, the Third Age Learning at Kwantlen program (TALK) has become a major part of her life these past eight years.

The 79-year-old retired nurse has made it a regular part of her routine and she looks forward to getting the course calendar.

The program, which is coming up to its 10-year anniversary this Saturday, is geared toward people over the age of 50. It offers seminars on a broad range of topics, such as cultural studies, digital photography and biology.

Rayburn, whose favourite course to date was on human genome research, is living proof that growing older doesn’t mean having to disengage.

“I don’t think we can just sit and vegetate, and the courses give me new ideas,” said Rayburn.

Dr. Andrew Sixsmith, director of the gerontology research centre at SFU, is a firm believer that mental stimulation is essential for good quality of life as people age.

“There’s a lot of emphasis on the staying physically active, but staying mentally and socially engaged as we age is extremely important,” said Sixsmith.

Unlike regular courses at Kwantlen, there are no credits, no homework, and the courses only last for two to four sessions at a fraction of the regular course cost. Membership in TALK costs $10 a year and individual seminars are about $20-$30. Money goes towards scholarships for Kwantlen students.

$4.9 million in renovations for Surrey campus

Kwantlen’s Surrey campus is getting a facelift, funded by $4.9 million from the federal and provincial Knowledge Infrastructure program.

The money will first be put towards the replacement of cladding and windows of building C, said James Meschino, associate director of planning and construction. After that is finished, in January, the rest of the money will go to upgrading other buildings on Surrey campus. According to Meschino, the building has been well maintained over the past 20 years, but wear is starting to show and the cost of maintenance is more then the cost of replacement.

Windows will be replaced with more energy-efficient ones and stucco will be replaced with metal cladding made of zinc, which has a 40-100 year lifespan and will not require painting or maintenance.

Maintenance costs and energy efficiency are not the only goals Kwantlen has for the building. According to an overview of Kwantlen’s Building Expansion projects, Kwantlen wants to reduce its natural gas consumption by 25 per cent and its electricity consumption by 45 per cent for 2010. All of this is in the hopes of getting LEED certified and LEED gold ratings.

LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) is a program created by the U.S. Green Building Council that certifies buildings that are built in an efficient and sustainable manner. The awards range from LEED certified to LEED silver, gold and platinum.

Kwantlen’s Cloverdale campus achieved LEED gold status, while the new library at Surrey campus is shooting for the platinum award, said Meschino. He is aiming for LEED gold status for building C.

Building C will be the first to receive a facelift, mainly because it is an administration building and students will not be disturbed. Meschino is treating this project as a test for when construction moves to other buildings. As for what this means for students at Surrey campus, Meschino said they are hoping to create as little disruption as possible and the worst of it will be looking at scaffolding from now until January.

“There’s going to be noise just like any other construction project, but we’re going to work with both the users of the building and the contractors to make sure those noisy activities can happen either off hours or at times that will be less of an issue for users.”

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