News Briefs

Posted by admin on Mar 21, 2007 in News | 0 comments

Overpass opened both ways

It was a special moment for fourth year student Connor McRae and third year student Mark Wall on March 12, as they drove south across the Glover Rd. overpass outside of Trinity Western University.

After months of construction and single-lane traffic across the overpass, the roommates were the first people to travel the newly restored, two-lane bridge.

“We were honoured,” McRae said jokingly. “It was like we were paving the way, pun intended.”

The pair left campus on the evening of Monday, March 12, to study at Denny’s in Walnut Grove and experienced the one-lane scenario crossing the overpass. But by the time they came back from the restaurant at about midnight, the students saw a truck full with equipment driving away; the two-lane overpass was now open.

While McRae laughed off the “honour” as no big deal, he did get a kick out of telling his friends about the event.

The Ministry of Transportation-owned overpass was first changed to single-lane traffic early last fall, after being struck three separate times by different vehicles traveling on the Trans-Canada Highway below, said Ministry representative Max Walker.

Mars’ Hill wins awards

Trinity Western University’s favourite student newspaper, Mars’ Hill, has been recognized in the world of journalism with two top awards.

The newspaper won second place in the Outstanding Campus Newspaper category of the Canadian Community Newspaper Association competition last week. Mars’ Hill won the prize for its March 22, 2006 and Oct. 4, 2006 issues. First place in the category was awarded to Wilfrid Laurier University’s The Cord Weekly and third place went to University of Waterloo’s Imprint.

TWU’s student newspaper was also recently recognized at the annual Associated Collegiate Press conference in Portland, Oregon from March 8-11. With hundreds of campus newspapers from the United States and Canada, Mars’ Hill received an Honourable Mention in the less-than-weekly category.

Lights, Camera, Action

Trinity Western University transformed from a university to a movie set this reading break, as a production company came on campus to film its latest project.

Insight Productions, a company that films small budget movies for the Showtime television channel, chose TWU as its set for scenes in an upcoming film, Storm Cell.

Filmmakers shot scenes at various locations around campus, including Reimer Student Centre, Freedom Hall, Block Hall, Strombeck, and the Welcome Centre. Filming took place from Feb. 28 to Mar. 1, while the majority of students were gone for reading break.

Insight chose to film at TWU because of its small campus feel, which is hard to replicate at bigger schools such as Simon Fraser University, said Director of Housing Brad Wallbank, who worked as the point man for the university.

He also attributed their choice to Insight’s previous positive experience filming on campus last summer. “They liked us and we were cooperative,” he said.

“I think it’s a good thing,” said Wallbank. “We want to forge relationships with companies for further opportunities for sponsorships and donors.”

There are also potential benefits for the theatre department if the school has friends in the film industry, he added. The rewards are “not much for today, but for the future,” he said.