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SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2010
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◗ ON THE HUNT
Stopping shopping out of town BY ANDREW FLEMING REPORTER afleming@royalcityrecord.com
By now, many people have heard of The 100-Mile Diet: A Year of Local Eating, the bestselling book written by Vancouver authors Alisa Smith and J. B. MacKinnon that gave sustenance to a growing movement toward eating locally. The concept of the 100-mile diet has also given birth to something called the “100mile rule,” where people only purchase things, including food, produced within 100 miles of where they live. Local freelance writer and editor Sheila Keenan is taking it one step further. Starting Oct. 1, Keenan plans on putting her money where her house is by shopping only within the borders of New Westminster – call it a seven square-mile diet – and sharing her experiences through her blog, My Year of Shopping Locally (www.new west-localshopper.blogspot.com). ◗Local Page 8
Larry Wright/THE RECORD
A year of shopping locally: Sheila Keenan, a local blogger and freelance writer, will be recording her efforts to shop only within the boundaries of New Westminster for one year, starting Oct. 1.
College enrolment at all-time high
BY NIKI HOPE REPORTER
nhope@royalcityrecord.com
Douglas College is right in line with the booming enrolment trend at colleges and universities across the province. According to the Ministry of Advanced Education, a record number of students – more than 440,000 – were enrolled in 25 public post-secondary institutions last year, and those figures are expected to increase this year. At Douglas College, which has campuses in New Westminster, Surrey and Coquitlam, enrolment this year is the highest it’s ever been, Dave Taylor, director of
marketing and communications, told The Record. It’s up almost six per cent, Taylor said. Taylor believes the economic downturn is partially the reason for the post-secondary boom. “Generally, around slow economic times people re-tool,” he said. Another enrolment draw, Taylor said, is that an increasing number of people want to upgrade their skills to be more competitive in the job market. “We are looking at a bit of a change in education. People are finding it’s not enough to go to school and get a degree,” he said, adding that education is becoming
a lifelong process because of the rapidly changing times. “We are looking at changes in the way we communicate, changes in business and marketing and technology changes also. People want make sure to advance their career, that they have the skills,” he said. Under the direction of Douglas College president Scott McAlpine, who took over the position a year ago, the college recently crafted a five-year plan. One of the areas of focus will be attracting more students to international education. The number of international students – more than 24,000 – at B.C. public post-secondary institutions has also risen to a record number.
At Douglas College, there are more than 800 international students currently, Taylor said. “Douglas College is seen as a friendly and welcoming place for a lot of international students because it’s not as intimidating as a large university, the classes are smaller and there is a lot more personal attention,” Taylor said. The school is also focusing on providing more hands-on training and greater flexibility, by offering more night classes, online classes and more opportunities to transfer classes when a student switches programs or schools. An estimated 20,000 students are enrolled at Douglas College.
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