Dr. Michael Mehta: Follow me on Twitter @mehta_michael

On Remembrance Day 2011 a special CBC-Radio broadcast was aired featuring Annie and her research on post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Annie is a professor in the Department of Philosophy, History and Politics and she has been conducting historical research on this phenomenon. A podcast of her interview which starts around 31:30 into the segment can be found here.

In her radio interview she discusses the concept of mental loops and how the brain tends to recall memories of trauma as perhaps a coping mechanism – even if unconsciously.

According to Annie, PTSD has existed under different appellations for many centuries and her work is yielding new insights into how we historically and culturally contextualize trauma.

Annie shared with me the following image of a 17th Century painting by Hieronymus  Janssens that depicts a barber and a surgeon attending to soldiers.

She also sent me a photograph of a fascinating device used during World War I in France to detect if French soldiers were faking blindness (”ocular malingering”).

Congratulations Annie for getting your research into the public sphere, and keep up the great work.

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Driving at night on dark, two-lane, undivided, winding roads has become even more challenging in recent years. The introduction of super bright high-intensity discharge (HID) headlights in the mid-1990s has created an interesting transfer of risk and benefit between different users of the road.

Driving at night pushes our visual skills to the limit, and increased glare combined with reduced illumination impairs vision. The intense white (and sometimes bluish) light emitted by HID headlights is quite different from the yellowish, lower intensity light from older gas-filled filament-based incandescent headlights.

HID headlights allow owners to see farther down the road and to spot pedestrians and animals from a distance, but at the same time they can create visual chaos and temporary impairment to on-coming drivers, pedestrians and cyclists…

To read more click here.

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I read was fascination about the artistic reconstruction work done by the Ontario Provincial Police to help identify human remains. An article in the Globe and Mail profiles Constable Rachel Zuidervliet and her work to figure out how a dead person might have looked while alive. Similar kind of work is done by forensic anthropologists and other social scientists with ancient remains, and this kind of artistic work is part-art and part-science and relies heavily upon an understanding of anatomy including detailed knowledge of the aging process and how human features change when weight is lost or gained.

With information provided by the coroner on a dead person’s age, height and weight, she can calculate the proportions of their face. She takes a cast of the skull and plants small rubber pegs (called “tissue depth markers”) on it, each one showing the estimated thickness of the flesh. Then, she sketches, using the markers to guide her as she fills in facial features. When the drawing is done, she scans and e-mails it to fellow experts, who offer critiques. Constable Zuidervliet makes digital alterations accordingly. The entire process can last months.

This is an excellent example of real-world, interdisciplinary work that many students might find fascinating.

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Altitude sickness is an acute illness that often manifests itself with symptoms like disrupted sleeping patterns, fatigue, and shortness of breath. Although I can’t testify that Dr. Kathleen Scherf from the Department of Journalism, Communication and New Media experienced these symptoms while writing her newest book, it does seem likely that the topic and speed by which she wrote this book was a dizzying experience.

Kathleen’s newest book is on our own Sun Peaks community. An article in the Kamloops Daily News stated:

“I realized there was an opportunity here for a really good cultural history to be written. It’s not just a mountain resort, of course. It is also a very strong sense of community there. That was a very interesting aspect that caught my ‘writerly’ attention.”

A student in her seminar on mountain culture was so inspired by her work that he produced the following video on Youtube.

Congratulations Kathleen, and we look forward to organizing a book launch for you.

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In my newest newspaper article I wrote:

Can you imagine the expressions on the faces of archaeologists one thousand years from now when they stumble upon the mortal remains of 21st century people and find bone shards, silicone breast implants, artificial hips, implanted insulin pumps, pacemakers, and plastic lenses in the eye sockets of calcified skulls? Although a gruesome characterisation on some levels, there’s something profoundly fascinating about how modern technology is merging with the human body.

In the 1970s, fictional television character Steve Austin – the Six Million Dollar Man – likely inspired many to dream about an era when bionic limbs and implants could allow you to run at speeds of 100 km/h, see things from a distance with eyes that could zoom in, and lift extremely heavy objects. Based on the success of the initial series, the Bionic Woman was introduced in the mid-1970s, and fictional character Jaime Sommers was surgically repaired – following a serious skydiving accident – with an artificial arm, legs, and an ear that could rival the hearing of dogs.

There are likely many deeply rooted cultural, social and psychological reasons why such fictional characters resonate with many of us. The incorporation of technology into the human body offers hope and tangible benefits for those with broken, aging and diseased bodies. For example, brain implants for people with epilepsy can detect and block seizures, hip replacement with a prosthetic implant offers renewed mobility for those with arthritis or hip fracture, and people with progressive eye disease like Keratoconus (a thinning of the cornea) can have their vision improved and stabilised by implanting special inserts made of medical plastic to re-establish the dome-like structure of the cornea.

To read more, click here.

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Today is tie-pie day at TRU and senior leaders and others are walking around campus ready to get a trimming for the United Way. Here’s a fresh photo of Dr. Will Garrett-Petts (Associate Dean, Faculty of Arts) with Marliss Bot.

Let the games begin!

Will Garrett-Petts and Marliss Bot

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Today the community at TRU remembered together the thousands of brave men and women who have died or been injured serving our country. The Master of Ceremonies for this event was our own Chaplain Narayan Mitra. Chaplain Mitra led the group assembled in the Old Main Building through a special ceremony that had many eyes wet, including my own.

Chaplain Mitra

Our President Dr. Alan Shaver spoke about the importance of remembering, and reminded everyone about the sacrifices that current and past students of TRU have made, and continue to make.

The keynote speaker was Captain Mike Oviatt from the Rocky Mountain Rangers. I was delighted to learn that Captain Oviatt was a student in Sociology at TRU.

The ceremony ended with the “Last Post” played by 4th Year Psychology student Devin Udsen, followed by a minute of silence, and then the “Reveille” by Devin.

Captain Mike Oviatt

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Much is owed to the many community activists who have raised concerns about the possible health impacts and privacy implications associated with BC Hydro’s Smart Meter technology. Through your hard work and grassroots mobilisation efforts, you have convinced many to attend public forums, place “No Trespassing” signs on existing meters, and have rallied mayors and councils to support a moratorium on Smart Meters under the Public Health Act. Too bad you missed the big picture, and have diverted attention away from the real issues associated with wireless smart metering and its cousin time-of-day pricing…

To read more click here.

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On Friday November 4 2011, the Faculty of Arts combined its efforts with the Kamloops Symphony Chamber Orchestra to hold a special fundraiser for student scholarships and bursaries. There were approximately 100 people in attendance from all parts of the TRU and Kamloops communities, and the event involved a silent auction for art work and other donations, followed by two segments of glorious music by the Kamloops Symphony Chamber Orchestra in the Barber Centre of the Brown Family House of Learning.

The Kamloops Symphony Chamber Orchestra plays in the Barber Centre, conducted by Bruce Dunn

The acoustics in the Barber Centre were wonderful and all assembled enjoyed the music. We were treated to a special solo by Kamloops operatic tenor Peter Collins whose voice filled the room with beautiful notes.

My wife Kathy and I were honoured to host Ron and Glenda Miles at this event. Ron and Glenda donated recently $100,000 to the Faculty of Arts. During the evening my secretary Marliss Bot presented a special TRU bowtie to Ron. Marliss was Ron’s secretary when he was Dean of Arts many years ago.

Marliss Bot, Ron and Glenda Miles

Thanks to everyone who helped make this night a success.

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Tyler Olsen. Photo provided by this mother Julie Orobko

TRU Journalism alumnus Tyler Olsen is recipient of the Jack Webster Award for Community Reporting. Tyler graduated from TRU in 2006 and currently resides in Chilliwack.

Congratulations Jack. Your proud mother Julie Orobko also sent me the following from this source:

Chilliwack Times reporter Tyler Olsen has pulled off one of community journalism’s rarest feats by winning a Jack Webster Award for his series “Growing Concern” to cap off a triple crown of newspaper industry awards.

Olsen previously won both the Canadian Community Newspaper Association and the British Columbia and Yukon Community Newspaper Association’s top news story awards for “Growing Concern,” a series that looked into marijuana grow operations in Chilliwack.

“The Chilliwack Times couldn’t be prouder of Tyler’s amazing feat,” Ken Goudswaard, Times editor, said. “It’s indeed rare that a journalist wins all three of the top honours in a single award season, which is a true testament to the quality of the ‘Growing Concern’ series.”

Times Publisher Nick Bastaja was also pleased to see Olsen’s hard work and effort pay off with what many call “the Oscar” of British Columbia journalism.

“This is also exciting news for our business partners in the community,” Bastaja said. “Quality journalism drives readership which in turn ensures that their advertising investment in the Times will provide an expected return.”

Olsen received the Jack Webster Award for Community Reporting at a gala awards ceremony held at the Hyatt Hotel in Vancouver on Monday night.

The Jack Webster Foundation was established in 1986 to recognize excellence in journalism in British Columbia.

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Over the past weekend I had some time to finally explore the small BC community of Walhachin BC. Recently on a drive back from Lillooet with my department chairs, Karen Hofmann (Chair, Department of English and Modern Languages) had me spellbound with a story about the history of this community. I simply had to learn more and visit it in-person.

Sign on HWY 97C/1 for Walhachin

Walhachin is approximately half way between Savona and Cache Creek, and if you’re heading west turn left and follow the road across the old single-lane bridge crossing the Thompson River.

Looking in the general direction of Walhachin from HWY97C/1

The history of Walhachin is both inspiring and tragic, and there are some interesting videos on Youtube about it. In a nutshell, Walhachin was settled around 1907 by English gentlemen farmers and their family who were lured to the area with the promise of rich fertile land. Large apple orchards were planted in this inhospitable area and the new immigrants built a ridiculously long wooden irrigation system (a flume) to transport water from a creek north of the current highway (you can still see parts of it in the hills). I was puzzled about why they would do this until visiting the site and seeing that access to the much closer and abundant water of the Thompson River was almost impossible with the technology of the era due to the river being several hundred meters below.

Even with modern days pumps and virtually unlimited access to electricity, getting water up here would be difficult

With World War 1 coming many of the men of Walhachin responded to the call of service and returned back to England. Around 1913 a large storm damaged the irrigation system and the orchards either withered away in the summer heat or were blown over by the winds.

Walhachin was doomed and became a virtual ghost town until the Great Recession of the 1930s when dislocated families looking for low-cost housing settled there.

Isn’t this an interesting story? I would like to invite my colleagues in Arts at TRU to let me know if you’re interested in working with me to collect data and historical facts on Walhachin. I’m interested in the environmental history of the area, the relationships between the English settlers and the First Nations people and Chinese labourers who built the town, and the tale of survival and ultimately demise of the community. I’m also interested in its revival. A play about this would be incredible too. ANY TAKERS? Let’s do some academic work together on this topic and use theatre as a vehicle to communicate our findings to the general public.

Some of the houses still in Walhachin

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Today I learned about a new book co-edited by Dr. Charlie Webber – our Dean of the Faculty of Human, Social and Educational Development.

With Judy Lupart, Charlie has unpacked the important, yet complicated, area of student assessment. Published by Springer, the book is summarized as follows:

This book presents a new and refreshing look at student assessment from the perspective
of leading educational theorists, researchers, and practitioners. The authors call for
boundary-breaking assessment that reflects clear understandings of the purposes
of assessment, a balance of assessment creativity and realism, the ability to detect
solutions for assessment challenges, and the capacity to question and imagine assessment
alternatives. The 14 chapters offer school and district educators, policy makers,
researchers, and university teacher preparation faculty with a comprehensive, current
overview of the state and art of student assessment. Key questions are posed about
assessment and critical challenges are presented along with sound evidence-based
solutions.Student assessment is analyzed in terms of its relationship with classroom
instructional practices and large-scale testing programs. Formative and summative
assessments are compared and contrasted. The role of psychological assessment in
informing classroom practices is profiled along with the need for student voice in fair
assessment practices. Readers will be challenged to consider the ecology of student
assessment, that is, the impact of assessment in classrooms and schools through to the
macro level of globalized societies. The underpinning values and assumptions of student
assessment are highlighted. Finally, a rationale is offered for reconceptualizing and
redefining assessment.

Congratulations Charlie and Judy.

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Today I would like to profile the work of Professor Shawn Thompson from the Department of Journalism, Communications and New Media. Shawn is a pioneer in research on Orangutans and is also a journalist who spends considerable time and effort communicating about his research to the public.

Most recently Shawn has been working on an interactive video web forum to raise awareness about this noble yet endangered animal. Shawn wrote to me:

With my current broadcast project, I want to create an audience for a series of worldwide interactive video forums. What is new about this is that the audience will be able to see each other, talk and ask questions, and post instant messages during the broadcast for everyone to read. In other words, the communication is not one way, but two way and the audience can participate. I am hoping that the newness of this event and the newness of the technology will itself be an attraction and help to draw people to a forum about orangutans.

He is an active tweeter, Facebooker, blogger, and columnist.

To help raise awareness of the experiences, theories, and observations about Orangutans and human behaviour as discussed in his book The Intimate Ape…, Shawn uses many other approaches including the use of Youtube.

Congratulations Shawn and thank you for showing us how to magnify the impact of our scholarly work and activities.

Miri and Shawn Thompson

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Many universities around the world have been using lecture capture technology to perform multiple functions. Students often benefit from having the opportunity to listen/re-listen to lectures, and such technology is a simple and cost-effective step in the direction of blended learning.

A brief report made available through the Chronicle of Higher Education on lecture capture and blended can be downloaded here.

If any Arts faculty are interested in becoming pioneers in this area, please contact me or your department chair.

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Over the weekend I attended the Second Annual Meeting (Canadian Chapter) of the Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society in Richmond BC.

This event featured prominent Canadian and American physicians specializing in diving medicine, clearance divers from the Canadian Navy, and a host of other experts including an interesting chemist named Saul Goldman from the University of Guelph who talked about issues related to algorithms used by dive computers to calculate decompression routines.

The conference focused on diving disorders, hyperbaric chambers, dive medicals, the aging diver, and psychiatric/psychological fitness to dive. I was particularly interested in the mortality and morbidity statistics and am now planning a research project on diver perceptions of risk.

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As a member of the Board of Trustees for Western Canada Theatre I am delighted to advise the TRU community about an upcoming production of  “Tuesdays With Morrie.” If you’re a fan of M.A.S.H., you might remember the iconic cross-dressing soldier “Klinger” played by Jamie Farr. Jamie is starring in our production, and we would love to see a large and diverse audience  in attendance.

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In June of 2011 TRU signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the DigiPen Institute of Technology located in Redmond Washington. DigiPen is one of the world’s best known developers of gaming and simulation software and their university in Redmond WA has approximately 950 matriculated students who are completing a variety of undergraduate and graduate degrees. They also have campuses in Singapore and Spain.

The MOU is a non-binding agreement for each party to explore in principle the possibility of developing joint programs in conjunction with DigiPen’s B.Sc. in Real-Time Interactive Simulation and Bachelor of Fine Art and Animation degrees.

Yesterday DigiPen executive Raymond Yan met with faculty across campus and also with a range of community actors from School District 73, Venture Kamloops, the Interior Science Innovation Council, and other organizations. I would like thank Brenda Thompson, Chair of the Department of Journalism, Communications and New Media, for organizing Raymond’s visit. It was a wonderful success, and the opportunities to develop joint international programming including dual degrees between our two respective institutions are strong. This particular initiative fits the Faculty of Arts Five Year Plan well since it includes elements of interdisciplinarity, international student opportunities, and could be a possible pre-animation program with a certificate laddering to a degree. I welcome continued faculty support, and suggest that faculty contact Brenda Thompson for additional information. Brenda is chairing a group of faculty from across campus who are interested in moving this forward.

Raymond Yan from DigiPen

Over the past few years Sahali Secondary School has been offering to highschool students DigiPen curriculum. With highschool students already primed and interested in animation, gaming and simulation, excellent opportunities  exist to use an already established pipeline to populate possible new programs at TRU. Furthermore, since such programming builds upon core skills in drawing, painting, sculpting, video editing, etc., the Faculty of Arts in particular is well-positioned to enhance our programming in the Department of Visual and Performing Arts and the Department of Journalism, Communications and New Media. I can even see a strong role for our program in Theatre since a lot of animation work involves motion capture of human actors and voice overs.

Raymond Yan from DigiPen delivered an inspiring lecture last night at the Barber Centre here on campus to 40 or so interested individuals. Thank you Raymond, and thank you President Shaver and Dr. Uli Scheck for your interest in exploring these brave new frontiers.

Raymond Yan from Digipen with Dr. Alan Shaver, President, TRU

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Today was a wonderful day for the Faculty of Arts at TRU. I was proud and honored when one of our own – Ron Miles – donated $100,000 to support students in the Arts.

At today’s foundation breakfast Ron and Glenda presented the cheque.

Ron and Glenda Miles with Dean Michael Mehta - photo by Bart Cummins

An article in the Kamloops Daily News stated:

“Forty years ago, we drove down the highway to a new job in Kamloops, wondering what we would find,” Glenda Miles said.

That was when Cariboo College was first built (it was pointed out earlier in the event that the Old Main building was designed by a prison architect). Ron Miles was one of the college’s first English teachers. He eventually became chairman of the English department and then dean of arts, education and social work before taking a medical leave.

The couple watched the college blossom into a university-college, and then achieve full university status. Their two children spent two years at the campus before heading elsewhere to complete their studies — one in architecture, one in information technology.

One thing is still the same, 40 years later, said Glenda Miles. The need for financial support for students.

THANK YOU Ron and Glenda for your generosity. It will make a significant difference in the lives of students at TRU.

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