End of semester means book-shedding time

With one semester ending and another set to begin, a lot of students are scrambling to rid themselves of textbooks from this semester as they prepare to lay own cash for those required in January.

Not all of the expensive textbooks from this semester are getting bought back by the university’s bookstores, and this does not sit well with some students.

“It’s ridiculous how they don’t buy my book back because they aren’t being used (in future semesters), then they come out with version 12 or whatever the next year,” said Scott Mckenzie.

According to Usha Gupta, a clerk at the Richmond bookstore, the university does not necessarily buy back all the text books out there. They will pay 50% of the cover cost for text books needed in future semesters. But the bookstores’ buyback program isn’t the only way students can recoup some of their costs.

The Kwantlen Student Association has bulletin boards at all the campuses, but according to Richmond campus director Kareem Elmassary, all postings have to be run by the KSA. “Any posting or advertisement that is not stamped would be torn down.” While students may not get approval to advertise their books for sale on the official bulletin boards, ads wind up taped to walls throughout the campuses, and particularly in common areas for some programs.

Elmaasary said that the KSA encourages students to use websites such B.C. Bookworm, which is run by Kwantlen business student Mike Robson, to sell their books if they do not want to sell back to the bookstore.

Book buyback dates at the bookstores are:

Richmond and Surrey campuses — Dec. 15-17 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Dec 18 from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

Langley campus — Dec 15 and 16 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Dec 17 from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

Students are required to have their ID card with them.

Badminton battle

The whir of birdies and squeaking shoes echoed through Capilano University’s gymnasium Saturday afternoon, as local universities badminton teams swung-it-out during the first rounds of a two-day tournament.

Peter Hawn and Tony Lee of Kwantlen defeated Langara’s Terrence Tung and Danny Luu in the men’s double to clinch a spot in the finals which begin Sunday at Capilano University.

“We’re doing pretty good as a team,” said Lee. “We’ve so far won all the team events – although we haven’t played Douglas yet.” The players looked confident and relaxed, ready for the next round which will consist of winners from today’s game.

Like their male counterparts, Tuyen Pham and Michelle Zhang of Kwantlen blew past Capilano in the ladies doubles, effortlessly advancing to tomorrows finals.

In other events, women’s single player Grace Wang is favoured to win against Sandy Neil of Langara, in a match that will be held in the late hours of Saturday.

From the looks of things, Kwantlen may be poised to win most of the events in this two-day tournament.

Wet days ‘time to get stuff done’ for some students

Meteorologists are forecasting more heavy rains resuming Monday and continuing through Remembrance Day and into Wednesday. 

In addition, there will be some strong winds tomorrow, starting from western Vancouver all the way through to the north, according to the local weather network.

Sean Kramer, a second-year business student at Kwantlen, thinks students should see these wet days as an opportunity to buckle down and catch up on late assignments. 

 “I don’t think it’s bad at all. I am just going to take it easy, finish up some chapters and finish hard for the remaining few weeks of the semester. I am kind of behind school a little bit, so I see the rainy days as the time to get stuff done, since I can’t really do much outside in the rain,” Kramer said.

According to Brian Crowe, an assistant engineer for City of Vancouver, the problem right now is fallen leaves clogging up sewers. “Leaves are always a problem at this time of the year, but we have street crews who do their best to clear the basins,” he said.  

Crowe added it would be helpful for the city and every one else, if folks would clear leaves in front of their houses and businesses to prevent clogged drains and flooding.

Sports big draw to student lounge

Richmond Kwantlen Campus might not have the sports and recreational facilities most campuses around the country enjoy, but with the introduction of a new plasma TV and already existing pool table and other attractions, at least some students are making good use of the KSA student lounge.

Brandon Cobb, a specialist for member services at the KSA, said there are lot of students using the lounge this semester.

“Students are always asking me to put the television on a sports channel, so they can see their favorite teams play,” he said.

“I saw the Canucks whip Detroit last night. It was awesome,” said Sean Greenman, a philosophy major and a regular at the lounge. ”A bunch of us gathered here and it was pretty sweet.”

Nick Ho, a criminology major, is excited about the coming basketball season.

“I will watch most of the games here with my friends. It is kind of nice because you don’t have to run home to see the games, plus I get to watch with most of my friends,” he said.

According to Amanda Luong, the lounge is a great place to hang out with classmates, since the Richmond campus has no other recreational and entertainment facilities where students can gather.

“I watched the Canucks game the other night here. It was really great,” the 20-year-old undergraduate said.

Profile: Taminder Dhaliwal

(First in a series of occasional profiles of Kwantlen Eagles’ team members.)

Name: Taminder Dhaliwal
Number: 15
Position: Point guard
Age: 20
Zodiac: Cancer
Favourite basketball player: Michael Jordan. “I like Jordan because he makes everybody around him better.”

 

Taminder Dhaliwal of the Eagles basketball team is a third-year criminology student at the Surrey campus. Like every student athlete, she combines post-secondary learning with a demanding sports time table.

“I really don’t know how I do it, but I guess you have to take it day-by-day,” said the 20-year-old point guard, who worked vigorously on her game in the off-season.

“Our goal this season is to make a difference,” she said. The team looks to improve this season to match Kwantlen’ new university status, and improve on its record from last season.

Asked what to expect from her this season, No. 15 said fans should look for her jump shots and passing. “I have been working on my jumpers, and definitely would be setting up plays.” She also talks about being vocal and more aggressive on the floor to help her team. “We have a pretty good team, and if we continue to do the little things, there is no doubt we will go very far.”

She’s also looking forward to finishing her degree in criminal justice. “I want to work with the criminal justice system, and help shape the future of our youth.”

Bringing tennis to the table

A selection of photos from Saturday’s Canadian Chinese Table Tennis Federation tournament, held at Kwantlen.