UNews - Detroit

Eastern pilgrimage

trevor.kenney — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 21:13:22 +0000

It's here, in the centre of Sana'a, the oldest, most vibrant and energetic part of the city, that U of L alumnus Matthew Salmon (BA'09) has made a home.

Salmon graduated with a degree in religious studies, finishing with an impressive 4.0 average, and an applied study to his credit – he served as the co-ordinator for the Religious Studies Annual Conference in 2008. He says he always knew he'd travel to further his learning, but wasn't always sure where he'd go.

"I wanted to find a place where I could immerse myself in the culture and history, and also in interesting political situations," says Salmon. "Without that, the trip would be nothing more than a glorified holiday."

In Yemen, Salmon found what he was looking for in spades. He arrived in September 2009 with the intent of staying one year to work and study. He admits now that his stint will likely last much longer, largely because the goals Salmon set for the trip have changed since he got there.

"I came with two goals in mind: to understand a culture completely misunderstood in the West, and to provide a window into that culture for people back home."

Salmon's priorities have since expanded to contributing to and nurturing Yemeni culture – a society he's grown to love, despite what he says are its obvious shortcomings. He felt the focus of his trip evolved when he took jobs with both the Yemen Special Olympics and the Yemeni Observer, a local English newspaper.

"I've seen two different sides of Yemen – one hyper political and one overwhelmingly compassionate," says Salmon. "Through the Special Olympics, and just through everyday interaction with people on the street, I've seen the very best of Yemeni spirit. The traditional lifestyle is intoxicating, as is the good-natured disposition of the people."

Salmon's work as an editor and freelance journalist with the Yemeni Observer opened many doors for him across the country, a few of which Salmon concedes have caused unsettling results. Threats aren't unusual, and Salmon and the rest of the paper's staff have had occasion to change behavioural patterns for the sake of their own security. To make matters more tense, Salmon is also a student at the Sana'a Institute for Arabic Language – a school that Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab attended – the man involved in the botched terrorist attempt on a Detroit-bound flight in December 2009. Salmon expresses sadness and disbelief at the situation, but finds extremist actions of this nature more reason to expose the complete picture of Islam.

"I am no longer content to just observe and report. I feel a need to be engaged and active. I'd rather be part of the solution than part of the problem. There is beauty and goodness mingled with Yemen's darker side."

Salmon says that his planned one-year stay will likely be extended to two or three, depending on the political climate. Learning Arabic is taking longer than he anticipated, and the more he delves into the culture, the more compelled he feels to remain there to assist in the country's growth and betterment. Graduate study in Canada, however, is the ultimate goal.

"I want to apply what I'm learning in a liberal university setting," says Salmon. "My time in Yemen is a direct manifestation of the critical thinking and liberal education I got at the U of L."

To view the entire issue of SAM in a flibook format, follow this link.

Salmon's eastern pilgrimage

trevor.kenney — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 19:36:02 +0000

The ancient city of Sana'a in Yemen is a place of paradoxes. People in long robes with covered heads and veiled faces line the busy streets, while adjacent shop windows showcase western mannequins sporting the latest in high fashion. Luxury vehicles veer stealthily around four-wheeled relics that by all accounts shouldn't be able to move. Street vendors hawk pirated Hollywood movies long before they've reached theatre screens in the West, while calls to prayer resound across the city fives times each day.

It's here, in the centre of Sana'a, the oldest, most vibrant and energetic part of the city, that U of L alumnus Matthew Salmon (BA'09) has made a home.

Salmon graduated with a degree in religious studies, finishing with an impressive 4.0 average, and an applied

Alumnus Matthew Salmon immerses himself in the culture and history of Yemen.

study to his credit – he served as the co-ordinator for the Religious Studies Annual Conference in 2008. He says he always knew he'd travel to further his learning, but wasn't always sure where he'd go.

"I wanted to find a place where I could immerse myself in the culture and history, and also in interesting political situations," says Salmon. "Without that, the trip would be nothing more than a glorified holiday."

In Yemen, Salmon found what he was looking for in spades. He arrived in September 2009 with the intent of staying one year to work and study. He admits now that his stint will likely last much longer, largely because the goals Salmon set for the trip have changed since he got there.

"I came with two goals in mind: to understand a culture completely misunderstood in the West, and to provide a window into that culture for people back home."

Salmon's priorities have since expanded to contributing to and nurturing Yemeni culture – a society he's grown to love, despite what he says are its obvious shortcomings. He felt the focus of his trip evolved when he took jobs with both the Yemen Special Olympics and the Yemeni Observer, a local English newspaper.

"I've seen two different sides of Yemen – one hyper political and one overwhelmingly compassionate," says Salmon. "Through the Special Olympics, and just through everyday interaction with people on the street, I've seen the very best of Yemeni spirit. The traditional lifestyle is intoxicating, as is the good-natured disposition of the people."

Salmon's work as an editor and freelance journalist with the Yemeni Observer opened many doors for him across the country, a few of which Salmon concedes have caused unsettling results. Threats aren't unusual, and Salmon and the rest of the paper's staff have had occasion to change behavioural patterns for the sake of their own security. To make matters more tense, Salmon is also a student at the Sana'a Institute for Arabic Language – a school that Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab attended – the man involved in the botched terrorist attempt on a Detroit-bound flight in December 2009. Salmon expresses sadness and disbelief at the situation, but finds extremist actions of this nature more reason to expose the complete picture of Islam.

"I am no longer content to just observe and report. I feel a need to be engaged and active. I'd rather be part of the solution than part of the problem. There is beauty and goodness mingled with Yemen's darker side."

Salmon says that his planned one-year stay will likely be extended to two or three, depending on the political climate. Learning Arabic is taking longer than he anticipated, and the more he delves into the culture, the more compelled he feels to remain there to assist in the country's growth and betterment. Graduate study in Canada, however, is the ultimate goal.

"I want to apply what I'm learning in a liberal university setting," says Salmon. "My time in Yemen is a direct manifestation of the critical thinking and liberal education I got at the U of L."

Well-grounded, well-rounded

trevor.kenney — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 22:10:44 +0000

We think we know Mike Babcock by who we see on our television screens. He comes off as a steely-eyed competitor, a taskmaster who pushes and prods his players to strive for an on-ice perfection that, by the nature of the game, is unattainable. In the end, we see a hockey coach and a man who has won at virtually every level of the sport – a champion.

That Mike Babcock is for public consumption. He is the button-down, blazer-wearing Stanley Cup champion and coach of Canada's 2010 Canadian Olympic Men's Hockey Team. He is just a sliver of the true Mike Babcock. For as much as Babcock strives to be at the pinnacle of his sport, his upbringing and family values tell him that true success is measured off the ice.

"My wife always laughs — she sees me wearing a suit behind the bench and wonders who that is because I'm wearing shorts and a t-shirt and ball hat most of the summer; I'm just like everybody else," says Babcock. "It's just that when people see me, they have me in that different light – my kids don't know who that guy is, either."

That guy is the one who never saw himself as a hockey coach but rather an academic and educator. He's the guy who resurrected a seemingly stalled coaching career by rejuvenating an on-the-ropes hockey program at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge and guided the Pronghorns to an unlikely 1994 national title.

"I never dreamed I was going to be a coach in the first place. I thought I was going to be in the college world the rest of my life. I thought I'd go on and get a PhD and teach," says Babcock, who has an undergraduate education degree and graduate degree in sports psychology from McGill ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ. "I liked being in the college environment. I thought it'd be a great job to be around young, excited people getting better and going places. I thought I'd always be a part of that."

After previously taking Red Deer College to a national final, Babcock accepted a coaching challenge at the U of L. The 1993-94 Pronghorns were not considered a championship contender. The program itself was in trouble and faced the prospect of being cut from the U of L athletic landscape. The Horns had never made the playoffs or even finished a season above the .500 mark.

"When I came to the U of L I had a pretty strong belief in how I thought hockey should be played and what we needed to do to have success; we instilled that from day one," says Babcock.

"I believe there's a right way to play the game and there's a right way to approach life, and I tell that to my kids all the time. I'm not a very cautious person; I'm not a very careful person. I believe in living and getting the most out of every day, and I believe that's also how you play the game."

It's a philosophy that has stood the test of time. Following his one-year stint with the Horns, Babcock guided the Spokane Chiefs for six seasons, twice advancing to the WHL championship series. In 1997, he led Canada to a World Junior Championship gold medal. Two years later, after a brief stop in the American Hockey League, he was coaching the Anaheim Mighty Ducks in the National Hockey League. In his first season he took the Ducks to the Stanley Cup final and in the five years since, he's been to two more Cup finals with the Detroit Red Wings, capturing hockey's Holy Grail in 2007-08.

"You have to get better each and every year if you're going to be successful in all walks of life," he says. "It's all about lifelong learning. The things I did at the U of L, technically I might not do anymore, but believing in people and getting them to work hard, to commit to one another and to the team are exactly the same things we talk about today in Detroit."

With the 2010 Olympic opportunity just around the bend, Babcock's approach will not vary. Why would it?

"What a great thing, eh? I'm excited like you can't believe. It's a dream come true to have the chance to be an Olympian," Babcock says, relishing the expectations of, and pressure from, a nation of rabid hockey fans.

"The reason we have expectations is because we have a chance. The tournament now is going to be closer than it's ever been, everybody has a chance to win; we're just big believers that we're going to find a way to get it done. I don't know exactly how we're going to do that, I just know we are."

It's been 15 years since Babcock guided the U of L Horns to that national title, and while everything around him has changed, he still sees himself essentially as the man he was in the fall of 1993, hunting in the foothills every day following practice, looking after his family and striving to be a better person and coach.

"I've always been a little fearful of not being good enough, so that gives me a little bit of drive to try and be better," says Babcock.

Born in Manitouwadge, Ont., Babcock spent much of his childhood in the Northwest Territories, where his father worked as a mining engineer. When Babcock was 12, his family moved to Saskatoon, Sask., where his father still lives today. In the off-season, it's also the area where Babcock, his wife and three children call home.

"I want my kids to be grounded," says Babcock. "My kids are growing up different than I did, but in saying that, we're hoping to raise really good people who are confident and who are going to be difference-makers in the world. That's how my mom spoke to me, and that's how I speak to my kids."

He lost his mother to cancer in 1992, but the lessons she taught still resonate with him today. They are part of the values with which he raises his family and that he also takes to the rink.

"I always say I learned to work hard from my dad, and I learned to talk to people from my mom," says Babcock.

His growth as a coach has garnered the respect of the hockey world and allowed him to work with the most talented players and personalities in the game. Still, despite his rise in professional status, he manages to stay true to the principles by which he was raised.

"It's been a work in progress, and I like to think that I keep getting better, and I'm going to be a better coach next year than I was last year," says Babcock. "You have to be in a constant stage of development if you want to be the best you can be.

"Am I still the same person? I'd sure like to think so. I tell people all the time, the measure of me as a man isn't going to be about the number of games I win, it's going to be about the family I raise."

UNews - Detroit

Eastern pilgrimage

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Salmon's eastern pilgrimage

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Well-grounded, well-rounded

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