UNews - cellular telephone

Grass fire burning west of city

trevor.kenney — Mon, 10 Sep 2012 20:17:58 +0000

UPDATE, Tuesday, Sept. 12, 10:02 a.m.
Classes are running and ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge operations are back to normal today after the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ ceased non-essential services late Monday afternoon in response to the grass fire event west of the city.
Everything at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ is fully operational today and the U of L expects no further interruptions of service related to the grass fire. The decision to shut down non-essential services and to cancel evening classes was made to help alleviate traffic to and from the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ, allowing emergency services personnel clearer travel so that they could deal with the grass fire.
For further updates on the grass fire event, continue to monitor the City of Lethbridge website by following this link.
9:55 p.m.
Fire is now under control but fire crews will be working through the night. Evacuation orders are still in effect and will continue until it is safe to return. Estimated size of the fire is 4,800 hectares. Over 100 responders from Lethbridge and surrounding communities. Number of tanker drops by Alberta Sustainable Resources - 1 Bird Dog Plane, 2 Helicopters, 3 Tanker Planes.
9:45 p.m.
With the grass fire now under control and Lethbridge Fire overseeing hot spots, the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge has lifted its Emergency Alert notification.
Normal operations at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge will resume on Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2012. All classes will take place as scheduled.
For regular updates of the fire please continue to visit the City of Lethbridge at http://www.lethbridge.ca/NewsCentre/Pages/Grass-Fire-Sept-10.aspx
For further updates pertaining to the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge please visit UNEWS at http://www.uleth.ca/unews/content/grass-fire-burning-west-city
9:34 p.m.
Lethbridge Fire is reporting that the grass fire is now under control but that they will be monitoring hot spots through the evening.
9:10 p.m.
Fire crews will continue to work through the night to control hot spots.
8:45 p.m.
Local state of emergency is still in affect for the City of Lethbridge. Fire and wind conditions will continue to be monitored through the evening.
8:35 p.m.
Hot spots are still burning and fire crews continue to work in various areas. Last air retardant drop has taken place for the night.
8:10 p.m.
Air operation will be making a second drop before nightfall. Ground crews continue to battle on the ground. All posted evacuations and alerts are still in place.
7:25 p.m.
Winds continue to gust and crews still working on ground and in the air. Evacuation alerts and evacuations remain in place.
6:05 p.m.
Fire crews continue to monitor the weather and are working on the fire west of Lethbridge. Planning at the Emergency Operations Centre is ongoing.
6:01 p.m.
RCMP have confirmed that Highway 3 remains closed between Lethbridge and Coalhurst.
5:54 p.m.
The City of Lethbridge has ordered a mandatory evacuation for Bridgeview Campground.
5:53 p.m.
When preparing for an evacuation, remember to take photos, important papers, ID, passports, pets & medications. Evacuees with pets are asked to register at the evacuation centres and leave the animals in the car until arrangements can be made.
5:21 p.m.
The ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge is suspending all non-essential services and cancelling scheduled evening classes for tonight. At this point, ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ classes are scheduled to go ahead Tuesday, Sept. 11.
This is being done to help alleviate road congestion for emergency crews who are dealing with the current local state of emergency due to the wildfires burning west of Lethbridge. NOTE: THIS IS NOT AN EVACUATION OF CAMPUS.
Food services in ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ Hall will continue to operate to serve students residing on campus and staff members who are unable to leave campus.
This does not affect classes scheduled at our Calgary and Edmonton campuses.
For regular updates of the fire please visit the City of Lethbridge at http://www.lethbridge.ca/NewsCentre/Pages/Grass-Fire-Sept-10.aspx.
You can follow us on Twitter at @ulethbridgenews for the latest. You can also follow news from the City of Lethbridge at this link.

5:07 p.m.

The City of Lethbridge has order a mandatory evacuation for the Westside Trailer Court. These residents are asked to go to family and friends if it is safe to do so. They can also go to the Fritz Sick Centre or the ENMAX Centre. Bus is en route to help residents evacuate.

4:48 p.m.

Residents are asked to limit cell phone use during this time to keep lines clear for emergency services. As well, residents are asked to check on elderly and disabled neighbours and on those whose first language is not English.

Once again, no evacuations currently for the City of Lethbridge. Residents in Indian Battle Heights, Heritage Heights & West Highlands are to prepare for a possible evacuation.

3:52 p.m.

The City of Lethbridge has declared a local state of emergency and is preparing to evacuate residents of West Highlands and Indian Battle Heights.

3:50 p.m.

Emergency Alert Alberta has officially issued an evacuation notice for the Town of Coalhurst.

3:48 p.m.

Multiple news sources are reporting that the grass fire has jumped the river and the Town of Coalhurst is now being evacuated.

3:33 p.m.

There is currently no evacuation order issued for anyone within the City of Lethbridge. Official notifaction for evacuations will come from Emergency Alert Alberta.

3:02 p.m.

Coalhurst residents have now been put on alert in case they are asked to evacuate. The County of Lethbridge has declared a local state of emergency.

Parents of children who are currently in schools north of Whoop Up Drive are advised to pick up their children now, as these children are being sent home early.

2:51 p.m.

Lethbridge Fire Department is reporting that it has called for assistance from Nobleford and Coaldale to help battle the grass fire west of the city. The department has also staged heavy equipment west of Burnco in the event the fire progresses across the river and closes in on the city's west side. It has not yet jumped the river.

2:39 p.m. Update

The fire continues to progress rapidly as winds helped it jump Hwy 509. Residents of Mountain Meadows, Sunset Acres and Township 8-22 have been advised to evacuate immediately.

A grass fire burning west of the City of Lethbridge has crews from the Lethbridge Fire Department responding. Thick smoke is wafting over the Lethbridge area.

Bright speaks to a safer Internet

trevor.kenney — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 16:47:43 +0000

Tuesday, Feb. 7 is International Safer Internet Day.

International Safer Internet Day promotes the positive use of the Internet among children and youth.

Dr. Robin Bright, a ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge Faculty of Education researcher has been looking at the effects of bullying, and now, cyberbullying for a number of years.

Bright can be available to discuss how parents can be more aware of their children's internet use.

In addition to a general overview of the challenges faced by those being cyber-bullied, the relevant facts Dr. Bright is able to discuss are as follows:

• 84 per cent of parents believe that their children will confide in them if they are being cyberbullied, but only 8 per cent of kids actually speak to an adult about the issue

• Kids are reluctant to report online problems to parents for fear of losing their Internet and cell phone privileges, despite the fact that only 2 per cent of parents react this way. This speaks to the misconceptions between kids and parents

• There is a critical need for parents to talk with their kids and help them make safe and responsible decisions online. Apparently, kids say they want adult involvement

• Educators are acting to deal with cyberbullying, but the reality is that many students will never turn to adults in authority to help them with online dangers

• In these cases, it would be more helpful if educators work to develop in students self-confidence and critical maturity to be able to apply critical judgments

• Kids under the age of 10 do not have sufficient critical thinking skills to surf the Net alone so supervision is still Important

• One study showed that 25 per cent of kids in grades 4-6 were completely unsupervised online.

• Parents can acquaint themselves with Internet places and tools kids use -- like using instant messaging, trying out a webcam, playing a game online, downloading music and creating a social networking site.

• Great sites for parents to know about and check out: www.media-awareness.ca; www.bewebaware.ca

Grassfire now contained

trevor.kenney — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 02:33:33 +0000

A grassfire to the west of the city of Lethbridge that forced road closures as well as evacuations of some westside neighbourhoods has been contained.

Following are updates from the City of Lethbridge website. For more information on the fire and possible further evacuations and road closures, follow this link.

Classes at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge will run as scheduled on Monday. Further updates will be provided when available. You can also follow us on Twitter @ulethbridgenews

9:09 p.m.
Reception Centre made ready 'just in case' for west Lethbridge residents (Soccer Centre) is now being closed as fire is contained. Fritz Sick Centre remains open for County residents.

8:19 p.m.

The fire came across river before 3:30 p.m. today from the Westside Blood reserve area. The fire is contained and the City of Lethbridge is now containing hot spots. The City of Lethbridge is confident the fire is contained.

Westside residents have not been asked to evacuate. The City of Lethbridge is sending resources to blood reserve to work with their resources on the fire.

6:51 p.m.
Lethbridge Regional Police are advising the public that travel along westbound Whoop Up Drive as well as westbound and eastbound ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ Drive is restricted. Unless it is absolutely necessary residents are advised to stay off these roads and remain indoors. Motorists who must travel along these roadways should expect delays. In addition, Highway 3 to West Lethbridge is currently closed by the RCMP.

6:40 p.m.
Whoop-Up West Bound is restricted to residents needing to get into the area. West bound Highway 3 is closed. Residents can still drive East Bound.

6:16 p.m.
Residents of Indian Battle Heights and West Highlands are asked to prepare for possible evacuation. Residents are asked to go to family and friend's houses or to the Soccer Centre at 2501 28th Ave South) as a reception centre.

Cell phone use is intermittent and residents are asked to use land lines where possible. Residents SHOULD NOT call 911 to ask for evacuation updates, but save that line for emergency calls. Current updates can be found on Facebook or Twitter or on our website.

StatsCan Research Data Centre a valuable resource

trevor.kenney — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 17:35:32 +0000

It's a tiny, plain research space, with four small workstations and no Internet access. It requires, among other things, an RCMP security clearance to access the information located within it, and has steel reinforcement built into the walls – so forget about cell phone use. Card key access is tightly controlled and someone is on-site to monitor attendance and carefully screen all notes and results that leave.

So, with all this fuss to access, why is Abdie Kazemipur (sociology) so happy? He and other approved researchers now have access to the entire Statistics Canada (StatsCan) database system – a new initiative that will help ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge researchers gain significant ground as they work on projects that require raw data sets normally not available to the general public.

Dr. Abdie Kazemipur, (l) and graduate student Martin Russenberger (r) are the people to contact if your research project requires extensive Statistics Canada data.

The U of L recently flipped the 'on' switch to launch a StatsCan Research Data Centre (RDC) Branch, one of just two dozen all-access points in Canada – mostly in larger institutions – for people who are working with data provided by StatsCan for approved projects.

U of L administration (VP-Academic, VP-Administration, and VP-Research) and the dean of Arts and Science supported the $70,000 project. It also received significant input and assistance from the library, campus facilities and IT departments as the space was created.

Kazemipur, the academic director of the U of L Research Data Centre and a sociology researcher who uses StatsCan data in his work on immigration, says the chance to access rich individual and household data in Lethbridge saves both time and money, offering an opportunity to significantly increase research productivity.

"I would previously have to go to Calgary, and spend intense days analyzing the data," he says. "There were many limitations on my time, and on what I was able to do during the time I had."

Kazemipur says the new centre should expand research opportunities for many faculty members in social sciences, health sciences and management who, like him, want to go deeper into their research and beyond the data available for public use.

Local access should also be an enticement to other researchers to come to the U of L to work or conduct research, in particular the 22 research affiliates of the Prentice Institute for Global Population and Economy, which is expected to be one of the more frequent users of the facility.

"Researchers in the Prentice Institute – more than 20 faculty, post-docs and students – are delighted to have access to micro-level data in our new Research Data Centre," says
Dr. Susan McDaniel, the institute's director. "Our mission is to examine population change in shifting economic environments. One of the best ways to do this is to follow individuals over time rather than compare different sets of people at two points in time."

McDaniel says that the RDC enables researchers in one of her SSHRC-funded projects to follow Canadians at seven points of time as they move from mid-life into their older years.

"It is really, as famous hockey player Wayne Gretzky was fond of saying, skating to where the puck will be. I am certain that having the RDC here will help us recruit new faculty and junior research chairs to work in the Prentice Institute."

The process to gain access to the data is not as challenging is it might first sound, Kazemipur says. Projects must go through several steps, including an
online application to the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC), which triggers a request to StatsCan for access to the appropriate dataset – and that's where the security checks come in.

Once approved, a researcher gains access to the data centre with a swipe card, and can sign in and out as needed to complete their work.

Anyone wishing to use the centre, or who has a project they feel could benefit from access to the StatsCan data, can contact Kazemipur for more information on the process.

Contact him at 403-329-5132 or e-mail abdie.kazemipur@uleth.ca. Or, you can contact site supervisor Martin Russenberger, a part-time StatsCan employee and current Geography/Economics graduate student at the U of L (rdc@uleth.ca).

This story first appeared in the Legend. To view the Legend in a flipbook format, follow this link.

5 Days campaign on this week

trevor.kenney — Mon, 14 Mar 2011 19:56:36 +0000

A number of ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge students - and faculty members - are going to be homeless for a good cause this week.

The 4th annual 5 Days for the Homeless group will be living on the south plaza of the Students' Union Building on the U of L campus to help Woods Homes, a local organization that provides emergency shelter for youth at risk.

As part of the 5 Days process, they are not to be indoors other than for classes. They also have no income, are allowed no food or drinks, other than donated items, and are given just a pillow and a sleeping bag. Washrooms can only be accessed when campus buildings are open, and they must sleep outside unless inclement weather becomes a health risk.

As well, the group must attend all classes, including student organizations and teaching positions.

The big challenge? The students must avoid personal communication media. Participants will be expected to not use cell phone or online social networking websites (Facebook, etc) for personal use during the 5 Days campaign.

This year, in addition to the students, the organizers have asked faculty and staff to join them, even for a few hours, to show their interest and commitment.

The first faculty member to sign on for an all-night visit is Cheryl Meheden (Management) who will spend the night on Wednesday, Mar. 16.

Donations can be accepted in person at their outdoor home, at tables set up in the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ Hall Atrium and other locations on campus or online at:
http://www.5days.ca/region/index.php?option=com_content&view=section&layout=blog&id=17&region=alberta&Itemid=77

Youth Science to get boost from recycling program

trevor.kenney — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 15:34:31 +0000

Trust Kristy Burke (BSc '08) to find a way to benefit both the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge's Youth Science Program and the environment.

Her idea is a recycling initiative that calls for people on campus to drop off used ink cartridges and old cell phones, which she then ships to a recycling depot. In return, the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ collects payment for qualifying items and she funnels the money into the Youth Science Program.

"I stumbled across this while I was looking up ideas for fundraisers," Burke, co-ordinator of youth programs for Conference and Event Services, says. "I have a degree in environmental science so I am pretty conscious of recycling and this really appealed to me."

She signed on with Think Recycle (www.thinkrecycle.com), a company that offers free recycling programs for schools and non-profit organizations. The company supplies boxes, shipping labels and promotional materials (posters, letters and brochures) and it's simply up to the school to package the items and send them off for a rebate.

"I am the only full-time staff for these programs so it's pretty difficult to take on any labour-intensive fundraising initiatives," Burke says. "With this program, I just have to set up the drop boxes, try and spread the word that they're available and collect and ship the items. It essentially runs itself."

Think Recycle partners with the Tree Canada Foundation and American Forests and has been in operation since 1995.

"There is a huge list of items they accept for a refund but they take virtually everything, including digital cameras," Burke says. "Even if we don't get a refund for a particular cartridge or phone, they still recycle it and it stays out of the landfill."

Burke has set up drop boxes in both Piikani and Kainai House lobbies, as well as the Airport Lounge. She plans to add other locations around campus, including the Atrium and Students' Union Building, and to make the event an ongoing program.

"My hope is to make enough money to pay for our Science Club supplies on an annual basis and maybe one day co-ordinate an annual cell phone drive, as they carry a much bigger refund price than the cartridges."

UNews - cellular telephone

Grass fire burning west of city

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