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Lewis a perfect fit for Alumni post

trevor.kenney — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 22:02:36 +0000

Joking that some might call her career path "checkered" – she prefers eclectic – retired nurse, Kathy Lewis (BN '83, MEd '99) is both nervous and excited to take on the role of ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge Alumni Association (ULAA) president this year.

Lewis began her nursing career in the early 1970s after receiving her RN certificate from the Holy Cross School of Nursing, but a phone call from a ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ recruiting officer would lead Lewis to explore a whole new world of possibilities.

"I was married, had two young children and was working as a nursing sessional instructor at the Lethbridge Community College. The ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ was just starting the nursing program and I was asked to enrol. I remember thinking, 'Gee, why are you contacting me?' I really didn't feel that I had what it took academically, but you know the old saying: success breeds success. I found myself completing courses and did very well. I surprised myself," says Lewis, who completed her BN (with distinction) in 1983.

With an undergraduate degree in hand, Lewis says doors opened to her that had formerly been closed. She landed a job as a discharge planning co-ordinator for St. Mike's Hospital and eventually began working as a home care co-ordinator for the Lethbridge Health Unit. Working as a sexuality educator and counsellor in the 1990s, Lewis decided to pursue her master's degree.

Kathy Lewis sees the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ as a positive force in the community.

"I had always liked the teaching part of my job so I opted for a master's in education at the U of L. My supervising professor was Dr. Cynthia Chambers. She was such an inspiration; she had a lot of life experience as a wife, mother, educator and writer and she brought that experience to the classroom," says Lewis. "By coincidence, Ron Chambers taught me my last class, which was a drama elective. It was one of the most rewarding classes I had in all my ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ time. Here I was, almost 50, and I found myself in class pretending to be a cow.

"That is what the university does; it gives you that opportunity to open up to a broad range of ideas, people, experiences and possibilities."

Despite her busy schedule with family, work and schooling, Lewis has always made community service a priority in her life. She has served on various boards, including the Southern Alberta Art Gallery, the Lethbridge Community Band Society and the Allied Arts Council, and has been a canvasser for a variety of different organizations such as the Canadian Diabetes Association. In 2002 she was nominated to the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ Senate to which she dedicated six years of service. In 2008, while attending a Senate meeting, Lewis volunteered to join the ULAA.

"It was not in my life plan to be on the Alumni Council, but the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ is such a positive force, certainly in my life and in the community. It is a major employer in the region, we have excellent research going on, wonderful fine arts and contribute to educating our population. I often say that Lethbridge is a different place because people in the 1960s had a vision. We can be proud of that and proud of the people who made all this happen," says Lewis. "Being a part of the ULAA is a valuable opportunity. I am very much a believer in working together; where we may have shortcomings in experience or knowledge, others fill in. Together we all contribute to the betterment of our society."

During the past two years the ULAA has revised its constitution and by-laws to ensure that the association continues moving in the right direction, maintaining its focus on building relationships with the community, students and alumni.

"In Spring 2012, thanks to the hard work of Cheryl Meheden and her committee, we will be launching a Fiat Lux ring as part of our 45th Anniversary celebration at the U of L. We hope every alumnus will want to have one and wear it with pride," says Lewis. "Our alumni chapters are essential. Together we are over 32,000 strong. We are represented on the Board of Governors, the Senate and many ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ committees. Our voice is at the table of decision-making and our participation is vital to the success of this institution. I would encourage each alum that when the timing is right and the opportunity to get involved knocks – open the door."

GET THE FACTS

· Lewis is a proud mother and grandmother.

· A member of ULAA since 2008, she served as ULAA vice-president from 2009 to 2011.

· Lewis plays clarinet with the Lethbridge Community Band Society, and is also a former concert planner.

· Lewis is a former ESL tutor with the Lethbridge Public Library.

· In 2009 she completed her RN re-certification through Grant MacEwan ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ.

This story first appeared in the September issue of the Legend. For a look at the Legend in a flipbook format, follow this link.

Geography students take city hall

trevor.kenney — Mon, 27 Jun 2011 20:54:13 +0000

A team of Geography students recently received a high-profile lesson in public affairs by presenting their research to Lethbridge City Council.

As part of an Applied Studies project, five students from Gary Weikum's Geography 2535 Introduction to Planning and Geography 4500 Sustainability Issues in Planning classes spent the academic year conducting research on the sources and quantity of greenhouse gases produced by the corporate operations of the City of Lethbridge.

Craig Wiebe fields media questions with support from (l to r) Jordan Vine, Leo Chow, Andrew Malcolm and their instructor, Gary Weikum. Missing from the photo is Nicole Gergely. All students are in their third or fourth year of study.

Weikum, a sessional instructor at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ and former city planner, introduced the project to the student group as a means to complement their classroom knowledge with hands-on experience. He says the students demonstrated their commitment to the project and desire to promote the management of greenhouse gases even after the course was complete by presenting their findings to city council and discussing greenhouse gas issues with the media.

"This was a great opportunity for the group to put their knowledge to action and theory to practice by preparing a professional report for a real client," says Weikum. "The students can now go back to the classroom with an enhanced perspective and better context for classroom instruction."

Weikum adds that the project also benefits the students as they are exposed to potential work situations that may be available after graduation.

"The key elements acquired by the students include; the ability to manage large projects with firm deadlines, work in a team environment, and build successful relationships with a client," says Weikum. "They also participated in several workshops to examine their preferred working styles, and strengths and weaknesses of the project management component. These insights will help them refine their career plans."

Craig Wiebe, a team member who intends to pursue a master's degree following graduation next year, says the project will help him should he continue on as a community planner.

"Gary deliberately structured the project to be similar to one of the many projects he had worked on as a planner for the City of Lethbridge," says Wiebe. "He even included a presentation to council, which is common in projects that planners work on. Working on this project as a team, with the amount of
external data sources and research that we needed to collect and analyze gave us all important work experience. Members of our project team have already found employers to be keenly interested in the experience that we gained."

Weikum said that with the success of this project, he plans to initiate further client-based ventures that relate classroom study to community issues.

The student group conducted an extensive review of all City of Lethbridge operations to assess the level of the city's greenhouse gas emissions. The final report is expected to be used by city council and administration for future planning.

The students found that overall, city operations produce more than 130,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalents from such activities as heating and lighting buildings, providing transit service, road maintenance, etc. It was discovered that the city-owned landfills (one operating site and two closed sites) account for more than 80,000 tonnes of the total. It was also noted that half of the electrical and gas demand for the wastewater treatment plant is supplied by the combustion of methane gas produced from municipal sewage.

"The most surprising item we discovered during our research were the enormous amounts of greenhouse gases – in this case, mostly methane – being emitted by the city's three landfills," says Wiebe. "Much of the methane emissions are produced by paper and cardboard, which can conveniently be taken to recycling centres throughout the city."

Wiebe says that landfills were included in the corporate survey, as they are the city's responsibility, but their share of greenhouse gas emissions is disproportionately high in their report, because the entire community contributes to the emissions.

"A community survey would likely find both transportation and landfills to be leading sources of greenhouse gas emissions," he says.

While the quantity of greenhouse gases produced by Lethbridge municipal operations are similar to other prairie cities that were benchmarked, the students were able to make several recommendations for future planning to reduce the amount of equivalent CO2 emissions. The recommendations included more detailed studies, public consultation and input into community greenhouse gas reduction and other similar suggestions.

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

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Lewis a perfect fit for Alumni post

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Geography students take city hall

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