Grande Prairie Regional College Magazine

SPRING2003

THIS ISSUE

The Man in the Red SuitAn Interview withDouglas Cardinal

The Unrecognized Epidemic: Preventable Injuries

Celebrating Our Past; Building Our Future - Cardinal Dinner

110, rue McGill, Suite 202, Montréal (Québec) H2Y 2E5

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e-mail: braq@videotron.ca

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Montréal, February 14, 2003

Grande Prairie Regional College

Grande Prairie, Alberta

T : 780-539-2905

F: 780-539-2731

E : lness@gprc.ab.ca

Re: Opening Reception, Cardinal Exhibition

Dear Friends, Faculty, Students and Alumni of GPRC:

I would like to express my regret that I am not able to attend the opening reception for the Cardinal

Exhibition, celebrating the architectural achievement of Douglas Cardinal and honouring the late Dr.

Henry Anderson.

I had the honour of serving on the Board of Governors as student representative during the 1972-73

session at the college. It was there that I had the pleasure of working with and getting to know Dr.

Anderson. I remember his intelligence, his good humour, his devotion to the students and his drive and

dedication to Grande Prairie Regional College. The passion that Dr. Anderson felt for the development

of the college was only matched by his passion for the new campus that was soon to be. I remember

looking over the working drawings of the building with him, as he explained the functions of the spaces

and the details of the forms. He even asked for my opinion on certain elements. Of course, I was

thoroughly impressed. For an 18-year-old farm kid whose most significant architectural experience had

been going to the grain elevators in Sexsmith, these flowing shapes were the most fantastic, the most

exciting thing imaginable. I already had a certain interest in architecture, and looking at these

remarkable plans and elevations only strengthened it. I guess I must have told Dr. Anderson about my

interest because he took the time to show me a model and some of the preliminary sketches and plans.

I remember Dr. Anderson’s unwavering support for the architect of those plans, Douglas Cardinal.

I met Douglas Cardinal at the signing of the contract for the construction of the college. Tall, handsome,

hair past his shoulders, he wore a bright red suit. Cardinal red, I guess you could say. My meeting with

him was brief, but my budding interest in architecture was now confirmed. That was what I wanted to be.

I wanted to be an architect. My path to that goal took a couple of turns after leaving GPRC, but I

eventually got my Bachelor of Architecture from the Université de Montréal. I met Mr. Cardinal a second

time at a conference on computer-assisted design while attending school here. His was one of the very

few offices at the time that were producing all their work on computers. His ground-breaking work in

architectural form also extends to the technology of its making. I decided to stay in Montréal and went

into partnership, shortly after graduating and articling, with a colleague from school. And I still often think

of those two men who first inspired me.

Thank you Douglas Cardinal. Thank you Dr. Anderson.

My best wishes to Mr. Cardinal, to the family and friends of Dr. Anderson and to all at Grande Prairie

Regional College.

Yours truly,

Wade Eide, Architect

Wisdom is published three times annually as a service to themany constituents of Grande Prairie Regional College, by theDepartment of Advancement.

Executive Director Carmen HaakstadEditor-In-Chief Lynne NessAdvertising Director Sharifi HoussianDesign and layout Trina Irons, Irons DesignAdvertising sales & design Image Design Professionals Inc.Photography Lena Gilje Photography

Rob Ganzeveld, FX PhotographicMark Mennie PhotographyPaul Pivert, Studio on the Park

Contributors this issue: Wade Eide, Dr. Phil Johnson, Lynne Ness, Jerry Petryshyn

Wisdom invites your advertising, letters, and comments onthis publication. Please direct your correspondence toWisdom Magazine, Department of AdvancementGrande Prairie Regional College10726 – 106 Avenue, Grande Prairie AB T8V 4C4

Editorial content 780-539-2951Advertising 780-539-2719Fax 780-539-2731Email wisdom@gprc.ab.ca

Postage for the Wisdom magazine is paid under a CanadaPost Corporation Canadian Publication Mail Agreement No.40048553

Material deadline for next issue: May 15, 2003

THIS ISSUE

1 In Our WisdomCurves, Contours and Curiosities

2 Sense of CommunityDouglas Cardinal Dinner

4 Donor ProfileLyle Carlstrom and Shannon NelsonDiamond Legacy Donors

6 ConversationsThe Man in the Red SuitDouglas Cardinal

10 Faculty ProfileNancy Campbell

12 Sharing KnowledgeThe Unrecognized Epidemic: Preventable InjuriesDr. Phil Johnson

14 With UsAlumni Updates

14 Alumni ProfileRichard Podsada

In Our WisdomCurves, Contours and CuriositiesInsideIn the early

1980’s I hadthe privilegeof represent-ing Alberta onthe HistoricSites andMonumentsBoard ofCanada. We

would meet in Ottawa biannually toreceive and consider recommenda-tions respecting the commemora-tion of people and places of nation-al significance. As it happened, oneof the first individuals that I got toknow on the Board was Dr. GeorgeMacdonald, renowned archaeolo-gist and Director of the CanadianMuseum of Civilization.

Curiously, our conversationsalways seemed to come back to onesubject – Grande Prairie RegionalCollege. Dr. Macdonald wasintrigued by the ‘Cardinal Building’both as a functioning construct andas an esthetic work of art. He had amultitude of questions about thestructure – from its spatial charac-teristics, and the physical and psy-chological environment it created,to issues of maintenance and heat-ing!

At the time I didn’t ponder toodeeply the reason for Dr.Macdonald’s solicitous inquiries butin retrospect his probing questionshave taken on a sharpened clarityand meaning. I was unaware thenthat plans were being developedfor a new Museum of Man to show-case the Canadian experience andthat Douglas Cardinal was a primecandidate for the job. Only later didit dawn on me that GPRC wasviewed as a model, perhaps even atemplate for the proposed museum.

It was obvious that Dr.Macdonald was impressed with theimagination and creativity of aninnovative architect who could penand execute such a free – flowing,graceful design of brick and mortar.Our visually striking institution withits intrinsic qualities and air of unin-hibited spirit was precisely the kindof “out of the (rectilinear) box”thinking that appealed to plannersof Canada’s most ambitious muse-um project to date.

Mr. Mcdonald also wonderedabout our institution’s inner space.How efficient was it? What kind ofambience and atmosphere pre-vailed? I can’t recall my specificresponses (other than telling him

that the circular gym tended to dis-orient basketball players) but uponreflection powerful impressionscome to mind. GPRC has alwaysbeen a people place, open and withno boundaries. The design was suchthat the major componentsappeared to swirl out of the centralconcourse in a curvilinear fashionand disperse into one another with-out formal passages or defining par-titions. This seemingly seamless inte-rior layout formed part of Cardinal’s‘organic concept’. The overall resultwas a public facility in harmonywith the environment, integratedinto the community and readilyaccessible to all. More to the point,however, is that it functions asintended; a legion of students con-tinue to comment on the sustainingvalue of the academic and personalexperiences they received here andtheir intimate attachment to thesehallowed halls.

To be sure, the edifice has gonethrough major renovations andadditions. However, care has beentaken to preserve the integrity ofthe original so that the new mesheswell with the old. GPRC remainsCardinal’s enduring signature piece.

This then brings me to my finalthoughts on curiosities. Dr.Macdonald clearly saw our buildingas an archetype, a micro progenitorof a larger national endeavour (onewith international impact). In thissense, GPRC is an artifact of notableimportance to Canada’s heritage.Thus, some day in the not too dis-tance future, I wouldn’t be surprisedto see a Government of Canadaplaque located prominently on oneof our crooked brick walls proclaim-ing the College a national historicsite.

– Dr. Jaroslav (Jerry) Petryshyn

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A Sense ofCommunity

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Above: Brenda Quinn joined DouglasCardinal for the unveiling of a por-trait honouring her father, Dr.Henry Anderson, as first Presidentof Grande Prairie RegionalCollege. Ms. Quinn travelledfrom Texas to attend theCardinal Dinner and to acceptthe tributes to her father. “Ihope this building willalways stand as a tribute tomy Dad, to his commitmentto his vision, and his com-mitment to education for itsown sake.”

Right: Hoop dancerPetie Chalifoux.

Patron Sponsors, Cardinal Dinner• Daily Herald-Tribune• Doug Marshall Motor City• Gateway Wine & Liquor• Darlene Horseman-Dee’s Enterprises• Kay Shipley McVey & Smith

• Menzies Printers• Morris Financial Group• Weyerhaeuser

New Brenwood BursaryBeginning in January 2003, BrenwoodMaster Builder announced a generous bur-sary program for GPRC students. Brenwoodhas pledged to contribute $100 from everynew home sold in Grande Prairie towardsthis bursary.

RecentGifts

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Left: Board of Governors Chair FletcherBootle chats with Mayor Wayne Aylingand MLA Gord Graydon at theOpening Reception of the CardinalExhibit.

Above Right: Emily Carlstrom, 11 years,sang O Canada to a sold-out crowd ofover 270 guests who assembled fordinner at the event. Communityfriends, former administrators andretired faculty returned to GPRC tohelp us Celebrate Our Past. SukumarNayar spoke in touching tribute to thelate Dr. Henry Anderson, who he called“a true visionary.”

Below: Alumni/Foundation BoardChair Lyle Carlstrom introducedarchitect Douglas J. Cardinal toguests at the Cardinal Dinner heldat Grande Prairie RegionalCollege, February 15.

Above: (l-r) Jim Henderson, President, Douglas J. Cardinal, andCarmen Haakstad, Executive Director Advancement. Douglas Cardinalwas pleased to be inaugurated as an honourary member of thePresident’s Council of Grande Prairie Regional College. Pictured at farright is Herb Wyness, former Vice President College Services, whoreturned to Grande Prairie for the event.

President Jim Henderson welcomed Douglas Cardinal on behalf of thecommunity. Douglas Cardinal told dinner guests that “I owe every-thing to the people of this community, and particularly to HenryAnderson, because this was his vision.”

Below: Sukumar and Nalini Nayar, former GPRC faculty.

Alliance Pipeline Gift Announced at DinnerAlliance Pipeline has pledged $100,000 toGPRC $50,000 to the Alliance PipelineBursary, and the other $50,000 to the Dr.Henry Anderson Innovation Fund. Theannouncement of this exciting gift wasmade during the Cardinal Dinner.

Wayne Wood of Brenwood Homes presents the firstproceeds of his new bursary program to Sharifi Houssain,accepted on behalf of GPRC.

GPRC President Jim Henderson was pleased to accept thecheque announcing the $100,000 gift from AlliancePipeline.

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Generations of the Carlstrom-Nelson family have demonstratedtheir strong belief in education asthe essential additive to improvethe future. Shannon Nelson’sgrandmother worked very hard,fighting the odds, to ensure thather children emerged from thepoverty of their childhood with aneducation and an opportunity fora better life. Lyle Carlstrom’sgrandparents, immigrant farmers,believed strongly in education fortheir children and grandchildren,even though it usually meantdeparture from the rural lifestyleand the farming communities –often forever.

Lyle Carlstrom and ShannonNelson are among the DiamondLegacy planned gift donors toGrande Prairie Regional College,and with their three young chil-dren are closely involved with theCollege as part of their communitylives.

“It has always been compellingto me to encourage education,”says Shannon Nelson. “I encourage

learning every day because I thinkthat is what makes us so unique ashuman beings. My motivationbegan with my grandmother, whoenabled my mother, my aunts anduncle to graduate high school andgo on to higher education.

“I strongly believe in the collegeand university system - I believe instudying liberal arts – this is soimportant because it opens oureyes to so many things, makes usbetter people and more able tounderstand how other peoplethink and behave.”

Lyle Carlstrom, a Grande Prairielawyer who is now Chair of theGPRC Alumni/Foundation Board,came to GPRC from schools in BearCanyon and Fairview. He is vocalabout the importance of post-sec-ondary education in general, andabout the benefits of a College inthe Peace Country in particular.

“Growing up in a remote com-munity, we were very aware thatyou either made the decision tostay and work the land or in theoil industry, or you got an educa-tion and left. I guess that gradualdeparture was part of the culture.Having to stay away in Fairview forhigh school, coming here forCollege – each step in my educa-tion was farther away.Interestingly, those steps sort ofbrought me back full circle.”

Two years at GPRC in liberal

DonorProfile

“Our whole family has closeties to the College.”

Diamond Legacy Donors:Lyle Carlstrom, ShannonNelson and Family

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studies prepared Lyle Carlstrom forhis years at the University ofAlberta where he completed hisBachelor of Arts and began lawschool, and later McGill where heearned his Bachelor of Laws. Hisappreciation for his GPRC educa-tion has never faltered.

“I think coming to GPRC proba-bly kept me in post-secondary edu-cation,” he says. “For a kid comingfrom a small community, the biguniversities, with tens of thousandsof students, were totally over-whelming. GPRC had classes thatwere similar to those in highschool – a good step in terms ofsocialization of education. Also,the quality of education was asgood as anywhere I have seenbefore or since. Because of smallclass sizes, instructors spent moretime with students, students hadthe opportunity to delve into thethings they were most interestedin, and students had the opportu-nity to do their absolute best.Sometimes that meant re-writingan essay 2 or 3 times; sometimes itmeant re-writing a test, but every-one had the chance to do theirvery best.”

Shannon Nelson grew up inWestlock, and took her final yearof high school at CamroseLutheran College where she alsostudied piano. She was completingher Bachelor of Commerce at the

University of Alberta when shemet Lyle, and the couple moved toGrande Prairie in early 1990, gotmarried, and started a family.

“Since our own children havebeen in school, I have seen evenmore of a need as a parent to beinvolved,” says Shannon. “Parentshave quite a lot of power as alobby group, and I have seen posi-tive results. I have been involvedwith Alberta Home and SchoolAssociation, as well as CanadianParents for French. I don’t haveany agenda other than I want agood education for my children.

“Our whole family has close tiesto the College. We make a pointof bringing our children with uswhenever possible so they under-stand why it is important for momor dad to be away some times.They have experienced manyevents, including the recent visit ofarchitect Douglas Cardinal. Ourtwo older children take classes atthe Conservatory, they spend timein the Climbing Gym, and we bringthem regularly to performancesand events at the College.

“It is my hope as a mother thatmy children all have the opportu-nity to go to a college or universityand reap the benefits that I have.I feel so fortunate, and I mustthank my parents and my grand-mother who so strongly believedthat we were worth it.”

Lyle Carlstrom agrees. “All threeof our children understand this is abig part of our lives, and they havemade it part of theirs, too,” hesays. “It works both ways.

“My personal tie to GPRC wasstrengthened by the other educa-tional experiences I had, becausethough U of A and McGill are fineuniversities, I found them big andpretty impersonal. I didn’t feel thatI had had any better educationthere than I had had at GPRC.When I came back to GrandePrairie to practice law, I had anopportunity to teach forAthabasca University and ultimate-ly for the College.That was anexperience that many professionalsdon’t have, and that experience,because I was teaching in the areaof my profession, kept me sharpand on top of everything I neededto know. I think the ultimate testof knowledge is conveying it toothers.

“That experience is one I highlyvalue”, says Lyle Carlstrom, “and Ifeel I owe it to the College andhigher education to becomeinvolved, to volunteer and givetime and money back to the sys-tem.”

– Lynne Ness

Diamond Legacy$200,000+

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Conversations

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The radical, activist youngCanadian native who was hired todesign and build Grande PrairieRegional College in the early 70sstood out in the board roomwhere the contracts were signed.He did not blend in. He was anative; he was an artist; his blackhair fell beyond his shoulders; hewore a red suit. And he had justdesigned a spectacular building,which would be built on the banksof the Bear Creek reservoir, abuilding architectural critics havedescribed as “a giant earth sculp-ture.”

Architect Douglas Cardinal saysnot fitting in is part of the pricewhich must be paid in order toreveal one’s creativity. He hasstrong ideas about the source andthe strength of creativity – and hehas found his own unique path asan architect, one which drawsdeeply on his ancestry.

“Creativity by its nature is not agroup experience, it is an individ-ual experience. Creative people inthis hierarchical Western system inwhich we live have a tough time.Creativity is the force of change, it

upsets us, it rocks the boat. Itdoesn’t come from reason andlogic, it comes from feeling andintuition, and is beyond that whichis already known. It comes fromlooking within.”

As an architect, DouglasCardinal may find his creativitywithin himself, but his buildingsare also the realized dreams of hisclients, and the artist’s response tothe location. “When you go to thesite, the building is already there.You just have to un-conceal it.”

The buildings of DouglasCardinal are recognizable world-wide. Each of them has exceededthe boundaries of what was“known” and drawn its engineers,bricklayers, and computer technol-ogy over the edge of secureknowledge into the realm of the“impossible.” His buildings are astunning balance of an age-oldoneness with nature and the mostmodern technology. “You don’toperate from reality on somethinglike this; you operate from com-mitment.” Cardinal designs havenecessitated their own technolo-gies, their own building methods.

Most of all, they have required cre-ative response from all disciplinesinvolved.

“All of man’s creativity was theresult of people looking inwardinto themselves,” Cardinal pointsout. “They never got it from text-books. Like Einstein, for example,lived in a Newton’s world. He hadto ignore what everyone elsearound him knew and believed.He looked inward, and there hediscovered all these theories of rel-ativity, which changed forever ourwhole way of looking at theworld.”

The native elders teach that allknowledge is within yourself, thatan individual is the product of allthose who have gone before, theoutcome of millions of years oflife, so within you is all of the past.But you are also the grandparentof all the generations that will

The Man inthe Red Suit

Signing the contract: Back row (l-r)Robert Bird, President of BirdConstruction; Douglas Cardinal;Beryl Hastings; Dr. Henry Anderson;and Board Chairman, H. K. Hanson.Seated in front is a representative ofBird Construction. Source: GPRCArchives. Photo Credit: Dr. Frank Kozar

them,listening to

them, hearingwhat they said resonat-

ed in me. They awakenedthe knowledge that is alreadythere in me. I do not look at learn-ing as something that you pourinto your ear and eventually youare completely filled up withknowledge. I have never looked atit that way. I think all knowledge iswithin yourself. And some peopleawaken that knowledge withinyou.”

“It is a different way of knowl-edge. I appreciate the differentworld views – the hierarchical, thewestern world view, and theindigenous world view that isquite different, as expressed in lan-guage, culture and philosophy.

“My profession has me operatein a hierarchical world view whichis very left sided – based on logicand reason. It is fine for me, carry-ing out architecture and workingwithin the structures that arethere, but I have affinity more tothe indigenous way of thinkingwhich is based on the belief thatevery person is noble, everyone,every thing is to be respected.”

Cardinal firmly believes thatbuildings affect us, that we areproducts of our environment. “If

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theprofession.

It was an experi-ence that could have silenced a

creative nature.Then, when he was 21, he was

in a major car accident, broke hisback in 3 places, and ‘wasn’t there’for a while. “That made me realizethat life is pretty tenuous. Thenwhen I came back, I couldn’t buyinto the common belief that weare almost immortal. I could notaccept the way we waste our lives,the way we treat other people. Isuppose I was lucky to realize at 21that I had no time to fool aroundwith all that fear and all that non-sense. I realized that no matterhow I tried to protect myself, byaccident I might meet my maker atany moment, so why not go for it!

“I think that made the differ-ence in my life.”

Douglas Cardinal studied withgreat architects, and he studiedwith native elders. He learnedfrom them; he worked with them.“But it is not that they taught meanything. It is that being with

comeafter you, so the future is withinyou already. Within each of us isthe past, the present and thefuture.

“All great inventions, all thegreat achievements of man, havecome from individual insights.And where did they have theseinsights? It came from themselves,at a moment when they weretotally there, at the past, presentand future, and they got a glimpseof the future. And then theybrought that into the world.”

Cardinal learned as a youngman that he alone carried theresponsibility for what he woulddo with his life, how he wouldnurture his creative potential. Hehad already excelled in school andbeen accepted at the age of 18 tothe faculty of Architecture at UBC,only to be discouraged from con-tinuing by a Dean who toldDouglas Cardinal he had the“wrong family background” for

Douglas Cardinal and son Brett (left) who is anarchitect and partner in Cardinal Architecture, witha portion of the Cardinal Exhibit displayed at GPRCin February 2003

Edmonton SpaceSciences Centre

Canadian Museumof Civilization

you create an environment likeNew York or Detroit you will cre-ate brutal people because that is abrutal environment. I believe weare products of our environmentbecause that is how we haveevolved. If you created an environ-ment of boxes, you will start think-ing like boxes, and categorizing. Ithink it is a responsibility to createan environment that is more nat-ural for people.”

The building he created asGrande Prairie Regional Collegehas now inspired learning andteaching for three decades. It is abuilding that fulfilled the dream ofa community, a dream led by thefirst President of the College, Dr.Henry Anderson, who insisted that“An educational institution musthave a soul.” It is a building thatfulfills the architectural vision ofDouglas Cardinal, whose beliefthat “people should celebrate lifeand nature, and enjoy its forms”has resulted in a career of build-ings which celebrate those forms.

The important teachers, the

mentors in Douglas Cardinal’s life,as well as native elders, includethose who have awakened thebuildings within Douglas Cardinal -his clients. “I learned so much fromeach of these clients – and particu-larly from this community (GrandePrairie.) The trust they had in sucha young ‘character’, with radicalideas. Without their trust, I reallydoubt I would be doing the work Iam doing, you see.”

What Canadian architectDouglas Cardinal is doing, what hehas been doing in the 30 yearssince he signed those documentscommitting his creativity to thebuilding of Grande PrairieRegional College, is changing mod-ern architecture world-wide, chal-lenging accepted boundaries ofwhat is possible. He is exploringthat unlimited possibility of whatwe do not know; he has learnedthe secret of creativity.

“I think my greatest building isstill inside me.”

– Lynne Ness

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10

Nancy Campbell thinks teachingmay be genetic. It’s not somethingshe discusses with her studentsduring bio lab, but she has goodreason to contemplate the factthat despite having at one timemade a conscious decision not tofollow the family tradition, she is,it seems, a “born teacher.”

“I absolutely love teaching. It isa dream job to be paid for some-thing you love to do,” says Nancy.“You know how children playnurse or store – I used to pretend Iwas a teacher, play with chalk anda blackboard! My grandparentswere teachers. My mom taught atUBC, my dad taught at NAIT.Maybe it was inevitable that Iwould teach too. When I startedout though, I said, no, I’m notgoing to be a teacher. I enrolled inthe medical lab program at UofA –and then immediately got specialpermission to take educationcourses as options!”

Once she got to GPRC, theinevitability factor seemed to be atwork again. The College hiredNancy Campbell as chemistry labtechnician 18 years ago in August– but just before the Septemberlong weekend, she was asked toteach Chemistry 20 as well. “I’vegone from washing test tubes tobeing department head (early1990s) – and I am now teachingBiology high school equivalent.”

One of the things Nancy’s stu-dents say they like about her isthat she is a student too, so she

knows what they’re goingthrough. Nancy Campbell is takinga degree in Adult Education. Forthe past three years she hasenrolled in spring and summer ses-sion, taken courses by distance,and one sabbatical year became afull-time student again.

“I was really scared to go backto school,” Nancy admits. “First Ispent a whole year thinking aboutit. Finally, I enrolled in a distanceeducation course, where I could bejust a faceless entity. I needed toget my own confidence backbefore I could put myself out thereto be graded by someone whodidn’t know me. By the end ofthat course, I began to believe,yes, I can learn. Yes, my brain cellsstill work. I got my confidence up.

“Many of our students inAcademic Upgrading are in exactlythat space. I can definitely relateto people who are taking the riskto make another life for them-selves. Over the past years I havedeliberately taken courses via dif-ferent methods, so that I wouldknow what our students experi-ence. I’ve done the distancecourse, the modular course, thesmall classroom and the large lec-ture hall. One thing about the lec-ture hall – I still went up to thefront and introduced myself to theinstructor – I made sure I was areal person to him. I really recom-mend that to any students. (Butno, I would never have dared dothat as an undergrad.)

“These past years have definite-ly helped me to understand whatmy students go through. I thinkevery instructor should take acourse for credit every now andthen, put themselves through theexperience of assignments, andbeing evaluated by someone else.I appreciated those instructors whogave me a clear idea of theirexpectations – what they neededfrom me in a particular assign-ment. I realized how much I appre-ciate a timely response from myinstructors when I have completedan assignment or an exam. I liketo give my students immediatefeedback if I can. I am very awarethat it is their life goals that are atstake. I don’t take it lightly.”

Nancy Campbell also knowsfrom personal experience thatthings happen in life that arebeyond a student’s control.“Students have lives and familiesand challenges outside of theCollege too. I think it is veryimportant to be flexible enough togive students every opportunity tobe successful. My advice to all stu-dents is to make sure your instruc-tor knows you, thinks of you as anindividual. In my own case, a per-

Nancy CampbellDepartment of Academic UpgradingBiology instructor, high school equivalent

FacultyProfile

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sonal situation made it impossiblefor me to write a final exam onthe scheduled date. Because myinstructor knew who I was, I wasable to discuss the situation withhim and gain permission to writeat a later date.”

Her personal experiences havehelped to make Nancy Campbellvery aware of the emotional needsof her students. “I keep in mymind that I am teaching someone’schild; somebody loves that studentsitting there in my class,” she says.“That thought helps me to treateach and every student as an indi-vidual, as a person, not just part ofa group. One thing this seconddegree has done for me – I havereally learned to be reflective.Now, everything I do, I stop andask myself ‘Okay, what will thismean to my students? To theirunderstanding?’ I have becomereally student focused.”

It is an attitude that is a greatbenefit to Nancy Campbell’s stu-dents.“Quite often people havebeen told ‘You’re a slow learner.

You can’t learn.’ I try to collapsethat whole thinking and get stu-dents to feel differently aboutthemselves and about what theyneed to learn,” she says. “I lovethe “aha” moments when I’vebeen explaining chromosomesuntil I am blue in the face and sud-denly they look in the microscopeand they see chromosomes! I lovethe moments when I open up anew world to them.”

“I occasionally get calls from peo-ple who have been my students. Onestudent called me and said “Thanksfor putting us on Web CT – I amdoing Nursing now and was able tostep right in to this course becauseyou taught us a course using WebCT.” Another just left a note on mydesk one day “Sorry I missed you –I’ve now got my own physiotherapyclinic in BC...” it is truly humbling tosee how much some of these stu-dents are able to achieve.

Nancy Campbell’s students say ‘I’llnever look at life again the sameway.’”

– Lynne Ness

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For many years, the population ofAlberta has been exposed to a healthproblem that has largely gone uniden-tified or been ignored. It is a problemof epidemic proportions, resulting inmore than 6,700 deaths, 140,000 hospi-talizations and 1.5 million emergencydepartment visits between 1993 and1997 with a subsequent cost toAlbertans of many billions of dollars.

Each year this disease is the leadingkiller of Albertans aged 1-44 years, andresults in more childhood deaths thanall other diseases combined.

The fight against this epidemic hasbeen undertaken by only a few peopleand organizations within this province,and minimum funding and resourceshave been provided by legislative bod-ies. Given the current Government phi-

SharingKnowledge

Dr. Philip Johnson is an instruc-tor in the Science department atGrande Prairie Regional College,and has had a keen interest in thecollection of injury data since asabbatical to complete his MSc inPublic Health and Epidemiology in1993/94. “I chose an injury courseas an option,” he explains, “andwhat I learned really piqued myinterest.”

Dr. Phil Johnson served one termas the Western Canada representa-tive on the Board of Directors ofCanada’s Safe CommunitiesFoundation and has been involvedin the local Safe Communities sinceits inception here in 1996. GrandePrairie and Area Safe Communitiesrecently awarded Dr. Johnson withthe Community Safety Award inthe individual category. This awardrecognizes his commitment anddedication to injury prevention toreduce the impact of illness andinjury in our community.

The UnrecognizedEpidemic: PreventableInjuriesBy Dr. Phil Johnson

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losophy regarding health care costs inAlberta it is difficult to understand itslack of effort in combating the prob-lem. It is generally accepted that almostall cases of this disease can be prevent-ed, therefore a relatively small financialinvestment in prevention and controlwould, without doubt, result in majorreductions of health care costs.

In comparison, the recent epidemicof meningitis was recognized withinweeks of its appearance, and mass vac-cinations were organized for the popu-lation at risk from the disease. It wasunderstood that the financial cost ofthis prevention campaign was a soundinvestment in terms of improvinghealth and easing the fears ofAlbertans.

The unrecognized epidemic is thatof injuries, and the difference betweenthis and meningitis is simply one of per-ception. Injuries are perceived as beingthe result of ‘Accidents’, and as such arethought to be unpredictable andunpreventable. In fact, injuries need tobe considered as a disease, but onewith multiple causes. Just like an infec-tious disease, when a particular type ofevent becomes identified or associatedwith injuries, measures can be devel-oped and implemented to preventmore of the same injuries from occur-ring. Introduction of the child-proofcap on medications has reduced thenumber of unintentional poisoningsamong children by 85-90%. However,whereas an infectious disease outbreakcan be identified and effectively elimi-nated in a matter of months, the fightagainst injuries is a long-term effort ofmany years and requires a combinationof introducing safer products, legisla-tion, and behavioural change.

The problem that has faced personsworking in the field of injury preven-tion has been one of information. It isessential for any prevention program,be it for injuries or infectious disease, tohave timely data on which to base aresponse. Because injuries have been alow priority for many authorities,mechanisms of tracking injuries havebeen unable to provide relevant andup-to-date information. This has meantthat many prevention programs havebeen based on data that is a numberof years old, and may not represent thecurrent situation, thus reducing theeffectiveness of the program. Imaginethe effectiveness of the meningitis vac-cination campaign if it had begunthree years after the initial outbreak.

It is for this reason that I, on behalf

of Grande Prairie and Area SafeCommunities, have been working withthe Mistahia Health Authority to orga-nize a system of tracking injuries in thisregion, and to provide that informa-tion to interested parties in a timelymanner. It is now possible to quantifythe types and causes of injuries in theMistahia within months of their occur-rence rather than years, and it is likelythat the time between injury-causingevents and their reporting will bereduced even further in the nearfuture. As far as is known, this surveil-lance system is the most expedient inAlberta and possibly Canada, and willallow the Health Region and otherlocal organizations to identify andrespond to local problematic issues inan effective and efficient manner.

A database has been establishedwhich contains information on allinjury-related hospitalizations andemergency department visits withinthe Mistahia Health Region, but at pre-sent does not contain data on injuryfatalities. The absence of fatality data isdue to a number of reasons. Firstly, thedata is compiled by Alberta Health andWellness and is not available as soon asnon-fatal data. Secondly, the numberof injury fatalities within this region isrelatively small (approximately 50 peryear) and therefore yields little signifi-cant information that could be used toprioritize prevention targets. Use ofhospitalizations and emergency depart-ment visits provides sufficient numbersto draw conclusions, and does not pre-sent any disadvantages. For the devel-opment of an effective preventioncampaign, it is the causative event andnot the severity of the injury which isimportant. A single traffic fatality on astretch of highway will not alert any-one to potential safety hazards, buttwenty non-fatal collisions in the samelocation will be noticed and establishthe location as probably presentingdangers to motorists.

To establish the injury database, acomputing specialist of Mistahia devel-oped a program that extracts recordsof injured patients, omitting any per-sonal information which could be usedfor the purpose of identification. Theserecords contain details of gender, age,injury diagnosis and treatment, loca-tion where the injury occurred, report-ed cause of the injury, and the hospitalwhere treatment took place. Theserecords are extracted on a regular basisby Health Records personnel, and afterslight modification are then compiled

into a second, injury-related databasewhich can be used for analysis.

Currently there is information avail-able on injuries that occurred duringthe period April to September 2002,with more recent data to be added inthe near future. The objective is tohave a full year of information by June2003, with a comprehensive reportbeing released soon after. In the mean-time, the available data can be ana-lyzed and provided to interested per-sons.

Because the information in the data-base is local and can be provided notonly for the Health Region as a wholebut for each hospital, relevant data canbe provided for a number of individualcommunities so that they can respondto issues which are affecting their resi-dents. This is especially important forsmaller rural communities with fewerresources for development and imple-mentation of programs. The data isdirectly relevant to residents of thesecommunities and can be used toincrease awareness of the injury issuesthat are arising. These injury-causingevents have happened to them, their

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Zielona Góra, and came to Canadawith his parents when he was a childof four years. While he was still a stu-dent at Grande Prairie CompositeHigh School he began doing webpages for friends, and took on somesmall contracts.

“When I got into high school myparents got me a new computer – itwas powerful enough to use AdobePhotoshop, had a colour monitor.That’s when I really started to getinto digital design. I was in grade 11when I really started focussing on artas a possible career. I took art 10, 20,and 30 from Mr. Henderson, took amarketing course, and learnedmechanical drafting, introductorydesign, and lots of other great stufffrom Mr. Barton.

“I took a lot of classes in highschool that related to design. Duringthose years I learned the process,everything from sitting down tomeet with the client to the finalproduct.

In 1998 I met Delvin Kosik. He wasa programmer, but didn’t have anyartistic background. We paired upand started Internet Concepts Ltd.and GrandePrairieOnline.Com.Recently we helped SUN FM redevel-op their web site.”

Once he was a GPRC student inFine Arts, Richard was interested tofind that most of his fellow studentsweren’t programmers or “techno-geeks,” but artists. “At Collegeyou’re going to learn whether youreally are an artist, a scientist, a tech-no-junkie. Before coming to College Ihad not realized that there was somuch traditional art in the digitaldesign program. It was a good foun-dation – strengthened my wholelove for graphic design and two-dimensional art.

“All the stuff about personal con-tact with instructorshere is true. I still dropby just to talk withmy instructors. Youwouldn’t get thesame learningexperience

“I think life as a work-ing artist is still as muchfun as being a student –now I can do the samethings all day long andget paid for it!”

The manner in which GPRC alum-nus Richard Podsada spends his dayshas really not changed much overthe past few years – whether he isworking for a client or for his ownenjoyment, he is busy at his comput-er, designing for the Web, writingprograms, trying new things.

“People ask ‘How can you spend10 hours straight in front of a com-puter? I guess if you can’t see your-self doing that, you should neverconsider a career in digital design.”

Years before Richard Podsadaenrolled in the Digital Design pro-gram at Grande Prairie RegionalCollege, he would daydream aboutsome day redesigning the GPRCwebsite. Only weeks after graduat-ing with his Fine Arts diploma, hewas busy doing just that, as a specialconsultant to the development pro-ject, on a recommendation from FineArts Chair Lane Borstad.

The Advancement department atGPRC, having assumed responsibilityfor the redevelopment of websitecontent, had been exploring the ideaof hiring an external consultantwhen they were introduced toRichard Podsada. A preliminary pro-ject was so satisfactory, that allthoughts of looking outside theregion for exper-tise vanished.

Richardwas born inPoland, in acity called

AlumniProfile

Richard Podsada

GPRCalumni

14

MA

ILBA

G

’73 Wade Eide, Architect. Montreal. GeneralStudies. My budding interest in architecture wasconfirmed through my experience as student repon the Board of Governors during the year Dr.Henry Anderson and the Board hired DouglasCardinal to design the new College for GrandePraire. I still often think of those two men whofirst inspired me. Thank you Douglas Cardinal.Thank you Dr. Anderson.

’80 Helen Henderson. Calgary.General Studies ’78-80. I was the deputy directorof Radio for CBC in AB until a couple of monthsago. I’m on a secondment as a Consultant in ourLearning department now. I had a great time atthe college and made a lot of life-long friends. Iwas quite young at the time (16), so for me it wasa great transition to university.

’90 Denise Soroka (nee Stone), Business Administration ’89-90. Denise is livingand working in Manning and is married toTharen.

’91 Laura Hancharuk (nee Duperron). PhysicalEducation ’89-91. After GPRC I transferred to U ofA to finish my degree. My most memorablemoment at GPRC was accidently lighting a picnictable on fire during Leigh Goldie’s OutdoorEducation course. They did not hold it against mehowever because they hired me! I have beenmanaging the GPRC Be Fit For Life Centre since1995 and instructing for the PEAK Department’sFitness Leadership Diploma Program since itsinception. I am married with 2 beautiful kids.

’95 Farrell Backus, Power Engineering ’94-95.Farrell owns his own business and lives in CherryPoint, Alberta

’97 Denise Ostaszewski (nee Hudak), EarlyChildhood Development ’95-97. Denise is living inBow Island and working as an Education Assistant

’97 Tina Nelson (nee Thomlinson), I spent 2years at GPRC in general studies. The smaller class-es gave me the opportunity to get to know myinstructors and benefit from one on one attentionthat prepared me for my move to Edmontonwhere I graduated with a diploma from the LegalAssistant Program at Grant McEwan CommunityCollege. I’m now married with a beautiful daugh-ter, Brennah (19 mos) and working asCommunications Assistant on the AdvancementTeam at Grande Prairie Regional College. GPRCwas a wonderful experience on an educationallevel but it is also a great place to be employed. Ilove my job and the people I work with.

’01 Dawn Marie Segstro, Office Administration’99-01. I graduated with a Computerized OfficeProfessional Diploma and ComputerizedAccountant Assistant Diploma. GPRC was a won-derful experience for me. I have met many lifelong friends through my years here. I now work inthe Financial Services Department here at GPRC.

’01 Anna Perra, Intensive Diploma in OfficeAdministration in 1994. Certificate inAdministration in 2001. I have been employed atGPRC as Executive Assistant to the Vice PresidentAcademic since 1994.

’01 Kathy Schneider. IntensiveDiploma-Office Administration’01. I am married and working atGPRC in the Vice President’soffice. My favourite memories ofmy time at GPRC are TackySecretary Day, and creating pack-ages for the Canadian CancerSociety.

Contact us at www.gprc.ab.ca

15

Tel 780.532.4400Toll Free 1.800.645.3684

email: morrman@telusplanet.net

• Investments• Estate planning• Employee benefits

Doug MorrisGPRC Alumni ’80

Wolves Wall of FameCharter Member

“Planning for Success”

without that personal contact. Ienjoyed it a lot. My favourite classwas Ed Bader’s print media class. Welearned so much good informationthat applies to any graphic medium,not just print.

“I feel the most important thingthat will determine your success inthis industry is how much you lovewhat you do. You’ll hear very oftenthat traditional art skills are #1, or aBFA, or a strong portfolio, or lots oftechnical experience. I believe that ifyou start out loving what you aredoing, everything else will naturallyfollow. You just have to give it perse-verance and time. Be prepared forlong hours!

“Going to school, or reading abook alone, will not teach you every-thing you need to know about thisjob (but they can definitely help).Many of the best designers in thisfield are self-taught and rely solelyon their past experience when prob-lems and challenges arise. The tech-

nology underlyingthis medium is aboutas stable as a corn-flake in a tornado,and you’re teachersaren’t always goingto be there to helpyou. So don’t goand learn webdesign – learnhow to learn!

“What I likemost about thisprofession isthat you neverstop learningnew things. Inthis profes-sion you canbe at the topof yourgame one day, and thenthe next day new software comesalong and you have to start learningall over again.”

– Lynne Ness

www.gprc.ab.ca

16

family members and neighbours, andas such take on a greater degree ofimportance and significance.

The database has already yieldedsome interesting and important infor-mation. For example, it has beenknown for many years that theMistahia Health Region has an inordi-nately high number of injuries relatedto motor vehicle collisions, and manytraffic safety programs have beenimplemented in response to this.However, we now know that betweenApril and September 2002, more peo-ple were hospitalized due to incidentsinvolving all-terrain vehicles than motorvehicles. We also know that a largeproportion of these injuries were tochildren under the age of 15 years. Thisreveals not only an activity that isresulting in a large number of injuriesbut also identifies a target age groupwhere prevention and education pro-grams could be directed to have thegreatest overall effect.

In motor vehicle collisions in Alberta,male drivers are more often involvedthan are female drivers, especiallyamong the younger age groups.Interestingly, our data indicates that, inthis region, among the 14 to 29 yearage group, almost 60% of the injureddrivers were female. It was initiallyassumed that this was a reflection ofgender differences in attitudes towardsseeking health care. However, whenlooking at the severity and types ofinjury, it was found that there was nodifference between those incurred by

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males and females. A slightly higherpercentage of female drivers receivedtreatment for injuries to the head, faceor neck (62% vs. 56%).

Not only can injury-causing eventsbe identified, but very specific actionsby the patient can be revealed. Forexample, self-inflicted injuries areamongst the leading causes of hospital-ization in our region. Not only is it pos-sible to identify that segment of thepopulation which is most likely toattempt suicide, but the most likelymethod can be ascertained, againallowing development of a cost-effec-tive awareness and prevention pro-gram with a specific target, increasingthe likelihood of prevention success. Inthe six month period under study, therewere a total of 73 patients treated inemergency departments and 38 per-sons admitted to hospital as a result ofattempted suicide. In terms of emer-gency visits alone, this is the equivalentof one attempted suicide every 2-3days in the Mistahia Health Region.More than 80% of the attempts wereby the use of poison or excess medica-tions.

It is the intention to continue updat-ing the database so that not only annu-al reports can be issued but trends ininjury causation will be identifiable.This will provide the informationrequired for the future development ofproactive programs rather than havingto react to events which have alreadytaken place.

Tee it upJune 6

College Classic 2003

Grande Prairie Golf andCountry Club

780.539.2905

BOOKSDuff Crerar, Instructor, Arts,Commerce Education“Where’s the Padre? Canadian Memoryand the Great War Chaplaincy”, forthcom-ing in Doris Bergen (ed.), The Sword ofthe Lord: Military Chaplains From theRoman Era to the Twenty-First Century.University of Notre Dame Press, 2003“Quest for Independence: the AchomerCrerars’ Migration to the Canadas”, inBarbara Messamore, Ed., CanadianMigration Patterns from Britain and NorthAmerica, International Canadian StudiesSeries, University of Ottawa Press, 2002.

ARTICLESGeorge Ding, Instructor, ScienceG.L. Ding, and S.N. Tewari, Dendriticmorphologies of directionally solidifiedsingle crystals along different crystallo-graphic orientations, J. Crystal Growth,2002; Vol. 236: 420-428Cellular Array Morphology duringDirectional Solidification, S.N. Tewari,Y-Hsuan Weng, G.L. Ding and R. Trivedi,Metallurgical and Materials TransactionsA, 33A, (2002), pp. 1229-1243.

Louise Saldanha, Instructor, Arts,Commerce, EducationWhite Picket Fences: At Home WithCanadian Children’s Literature? SSHRCResearch Project. University of Winnipeg.Forthcoming.

CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONSChris Nicol, Men’s Basketball Coachand Instructor, Physical Education,Athletics and Kinesiology Basketball Skills, Drills and Strategies ses-sion for coaches and teachers Health and Physical Education Conference(HPEC) held in Banff in May 2002North Central Alberta TeachersConvention held in Edmonton in February2003

Aum Nicol, Instructor, TeacherAssistant, Human Services “ Within, or Go Without”. Session focus-ing on Postive Self-Talk presentedat North Central Teachers’ Convention,Edmonton Shaw Centre, Edmonton,Alberta, Canada, February 2003.

Recently Published WorksFaculty of GPRC

Louise Saldanha, Instructor, Arts,Commerce, EducationPresented at the Rural LibrariesConference, Grande Prairie, Alberta,Canada. September 2002. “ReadingMulticultural Children’s Literature.”Presented at the Postcolonialism andPedagogy Conference, University ofOttawa, Canada. May 2002. “The Politicsof Cuteness: When Race and Happily EverAfters Collide.”

EXHIBITIONSEd Bader, Instructor, Fine ArtsVisiting ArtistUniversity of Lethbridge, Lethbridge,Alberta January 27thMcMaster University, Hamiliton, OntarioFeburary 13th

Tina Martel, Instructor, Fine ArtsSolo Exhibitions:Frieze, Prairie Art Gallery, Grande Prairie,Alberta, March 2003