Live Music in Sackville, NB: Stereophonic Music Lineup Announced

For anybody interested in live music in Sackville, NB, the lineup for the Stereophonic Music festival has been announced. Highlights include Sackville favourites Julie Doiron and Pat LePoidevin. More information is below.

For current information on live music in Sackville see We Can Build in Pieces, an online listing maintained by CHMA 106.9 FM.

2011 STEREOPHONIC MUSIC FESTIVAL LINE-UP ANNOUNCED

December 15, 2010 in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

For Immediate Release – Dec 15, 2010

(SACKVILLE, NB) - The 8th edition of what has been called one of the Maritime’s “best independent music festivals” recently announced its line-up.

The Stereophonic Music Festival, a fundraiser for CHMA 106.9 FM, Sackville’s Campus and Community Radio Station, will take place January 19-22, 2011 with a special show on Jan. 29.
The festival will feature performances by Snailhouse, Julie Doiron, Olenka Krakus, It Kills, Baby Eagle, Pat LePoidevin, Tanya Davis and a rare solo appearance by $100’s Simone Schmidt,

The festival will bring an eclectic mix of Canadian musicians to Sackville and while the full schedule won’t be officially released until January, Sackville legend Shotgun Jimmie recently gave local concert goers the highlights of the line-up in song.  A performance of this song can be viewed Here and more information on the festival will soon be available here, on this blog.

According to festival organizers, the following musicians will be performing at Stereophonic 2011:

B.A. Johnston,   Babette Hayward,   Baby Eagle,   Bad Vibrations,   Bedroom Sessions,   Bette & Wallet,   Construction & Destruction,   Cousins,   David Simard,   El Ron Maltan,   Gianna Lauren,   Hot Donna,   It Kills,   Jon McKiel,   Julie Doiron,   Klarka Weinwurm,   Landon Braverman,   Long Long Long,   Lucas Hicks,   Marine Dreams,   Mike Evin,   Molly Babin,   Mount Whatley,   Olenka Krakus,   Olympic Symphonium,   Paint For Barns,   Pat LePoidevin, Simone Schmidt,   Skies, Slate Pacific,   Snailhouse,   Splooge,   Tanya Davis,   Tupperware Remix Party,   and Wooden Wives.

Sackville, NB's Stereophonic Music Festival Ropes In Julie Doiron, Snailhouse, Baby Eagle

By Alex HudsonFor a small town in the Maritimes, Sackville, NB plays host to a surprising amount of music festivals. In addition to the annualSappyFest, the town will soon welcome the eighth instalment of theStereophonic Music Festival, which will take place from January 19 to 22 with an additional date on January 29.

Among the performers who will appear at the event are Julie Doiron (pictured), Snailhouse, Baby Eagle (aka Constantines guitarist Steve Lambke), Tanya Davis, Olenka Krakus and $100's Simone Schmidt.

The festival is a fundraiser for Sackville's campus and community radio station CHMA 106.9 FM. The final schedule and venues are yet to be announced, but if you click on the embedded video below, you can watch Sackville's own Shotgun Jimmie sing about some of the highlights of event. The clip was filmed on December 3 at George's Roadhouse in Sackville, and it features Baby Eagle on cue cards.

You can read a list of the performers currently booked for the festival right here. 

Unmoderated, Anonymous Commenting in Order to Facilitate Open Discussion

In order to facilitate more freely flowing discussions, I have disabled comment moderation and have allowed for anonymous comments on all blog posts. If you have any comments or questions feel free to share them below any post on this site. Although this will inevitably lead to more spam posts it will allow for immediate gratification by commenters in an age where waiting for approval has become an almost unacceptable obstacle. Enjoy your new freedom responsibly.

Mount Allison Professor James Devine

In regards to my previous post about going to school in Canada, McGill University in Montreal was mentioned as an institution many Americans attend. However, smaller schools are usually not included in such mentions primarily due to size...but this does not say anything about quality. For those who are stuck on this connection to larger institutions, new Mount Allison professor James Devine has lectured at Concordia and earned his PhD at McGill. Here's a recent spotlight on one of Mount Allison's newest faculty members.




Five Questions with Political Scientist Dr. James Devine
2010-12-08 13:21:01
Dr. James Devine is an assistant professor in political science at Mount Allison and received his PhD from McGill University. His research areas include: international relations and foreign policy in the Middle East; the politics and foreign policy of Iran, international rivalries and protracted conflicts; democracy and authoritarian politics in the Middle East.


1. Why do you like studying the Middle East?
It is endlessly fascinating. The Middle East is also in the headlines so I feel that I am engaged in something important. I think students react to it very well also. Even students who are not pursuing degrees in political science are interested in the region and its politics.

2. What are some of the challenges of researching in the Middle East?
One of the main problems with doing research is access to information. Getting into some countries can be difficult and in many countries the press is very restricted. However, I have been fortunate in my work on Iran. I have been able to spend time in the country and the press in Iran is, by regional standards, still very active.

3. What are the consequences of the recent leaks of numerous confidential American diplomatic cables on the web site WikiLeaks?
These leaks provide us with a glimpse of what goes on behind closed doors. Even if they do not really tell us anything we did not already know, the quotes, and the details, make for fascinating reading. Of course, many people have also taken satisfaction from the way governments and world leaders have been embarrassed by the disclosures. Political voyeurism aside, leaks such as these also provide an added degree of political transparency. Transparency in politics is necessary for an informed public and is therefore an essential feature of liberal democracies. So, the more transparency, the better — or so it may seem.
The problem is that, in practice, effective diplomacy often needs a degree of secrecy, or at least privacy. Perhaps the best example of this is the beginning of the peace process between the Palestinians and the Israelis in the early 1990s. The two sides were only able to start talking, and make progress once they moved secretly to Oslo, where they could negotiate out of the spotlight.
In the current situation, the leaks complicate efforts to maintain some stability in the Persian Gulf. The Iranians know the Saudis do not trust them, and vice versa. However, they have both managed the relationship very carefully and refrained from the type of rhetorical warfare that we saw through the 1980s and parts of the 1990s. With the Saudis’ comments now public, the Iranian government somehow has to react to them. Although Tehran has played down their significance, the leaks have put extra pressure on a political accommodation that is already strained by events in Lebanon, Iraq, and Gaza, etc.

4. What led you into academics?
I was raised in an environment where politics and history were important. My father was born in Belfast in a mixed Protestant-Catholic family and had to move to the Republic in the 1920s. He also served in the Second World War and had a library filled with books on politics and history. So, I was exposed to these topics at a very young age. Also like many academics, I have never really been able to picture myself doing anything else.

5. What are you interested in outside of work?
I have turned into a “computer geek” over the years. When I got my first computers they were very expensive and if they broke, it was the end of the world — or so it seemed. So, I had to learn how to fix them myself. I really began to enjoy working on them. Even now I still enjoy building and repairing systems. I find it very relaxing. At any given time I will have a bunch of computers around the house in various stages of repair. Also, since I have moved to Sackville, I have been cycling around the countryside a great deal.

How Mount Allison Helped Me Decide to Apply to the Peace Corps Master's International (PCMI) Program

In my last post I listed the major reasons I have found that Mount Allison provided me the great base of support and experience needed to be prepared for graduate studies. I now turn to how this relates to my decision to apply to the Peace Corps Master's International Program.

During the long drive from Squamish, British Columbia to Libertyville, Illinois I took between my Junior (grade 11) and Senior (grade 12) years in high school I've been thinking fairly seriously about joining the Peace Corps. It was encouraging when President Obama expanded the program (although it hasn't reached the levels of enrollment he had proposed). Over this past summer I had the chance to reconnect with an old manager and mentor I had years before. We discussed future plans and in a flow of consciousness moment I talked about what I wanted to do with my life in a holistic way. I talked of being somewhat disaffected by the idea of making just 'making a living' and wanted to make a difference. Although I had not done very much research into the area (outside of classwork) at the time I said that I wanted to do something that would make a sustainable contribution to developing countries.

I had heard of sustainable development in Dr. Frank Strain's ECON 3501: Economic Growth and Technological Change (a requirement for all International Relations majors at Mount Allison) but had not put a lot of thought into it since then. When I was forced to thinking of what Mount Allison meant for me and my future I realized that he helped give me the idea of what all these classes meant.

Last year, as part of Mount Allison's Year of International Engagement at Mount Allison, Kiva.org co-founder Jessica Jackley came to Mount Allison to speak about micro-financing. She came to our class to speak about her work with Kiva. It was an interesting talk and the perhaps the first time I had heard directly from someone who was working in development. 


In just over a year, Mount Allison's Kiva team's 58 members have lent $6,900 to worthwhile causes. Although a...financially impaired college student I was was able to make my first loan with a christmas gift to an entrepreneur in El Salvador.

I had always been interested in being engaged in local and international issues. In high school I led my school's Amnesty International group and organized a film festival on spotlighting different issues of concern, including input from a first nations group discussing the disappearance of native women across Canada and specifically on the "Highway of Tears" in Northern British Columbia.

I have for a while known I've wanted to work with an NGO and went about looking at different routes I could take to do that and eventually seemed as though earning a Master's degree in Public Administration (MPA) would be the most efficient route. I wanted to also include Peace Corps service and found that the Peace Corps has partnered with a number of schools throughout the US to provide graduate students a way to incorporate Peace Corps service in their studies.

In the fall I will be applying to a number of schools throughout North America. I believe that my increased interest and qualification for graduate level work in general and Peace Corps service in particular is due in large part to being able to be involved in campus groups and have a solid working relationship with professors, which is not the case with many other schools in North America.


Because I won't be applying to Graduate school and the Peace Corps for a number of months, I will post sporadically on the topics I promised earlier, those being:

• the Peace Corps application process 
• preparing to take the GRE,
• thoughts about graduate school
• and moving back to the United States (going home 2.0?)

The Top Three Reasons Why You Should Go to Mount Allison University in Sackville, New Brunswick, Canada for Your Undergraduate Degree

While many American schools admissions deadlines passed or are very quickly approaching, the deadline for admission to Mount Allison University, is months away (March 15 for Scholarship Consideration, April 1 for Preferential Consideration for September enrollment). For years, many Americans have been going up north for education that is both more affordable and of a similar quality of education to many American schools. As I am now seeing the impact my choice to come to Mount Allison has had on my future job and education prospects, I thought I should write about why you (the Canadian/American/other international high school senior) should consider going to Mount Allison along with other top schools in North America.

For background, here's an NBC story on why many Americans are going up north for college.

Mount Allison in Winter

In my previous post, I mentioned the new marketing campaign Mount Allison has recently begun...and I mentioned my hopes that future advertising would move beyond just its ranking.

For me it was personal recommendations and a visit to campus that more or less made the decision for me. The Macleans and other rankings simply confirmed everything that I had already heard about the school and eliminated any doubts I had about Mount Allison's national reputation (and more importantly if a Mount Allison degree would be respected back here in the United States. There are intangible aspects that may be hard to put into marketing material. It is knowing that you're going to be treated as an individual and not a number like students at larger Canadian universities commonly report. My three reasons at the time (which have been validated over three years of study) for going to Mount Allison University were:

1) You are able to feel comfortable from the first day.
2) You can be as active as you want to be in student groups.
You can develop a working relationship with your professors.

Quite possibly the first aspect of Mount Allison that made me want to come here was the sense of community I found even when visiting in the dead of winter. People seemed to enjoy being there and were genuinely friendly. This sense of community was confirmed during the first weeks here where I met some of the most interesting and caring people I've ever met. I'm still friends, if not close friends, with many of the people I met here during frosh week. Although it is difficult to accurately quantify a sense of comfort, it has been a major factor contributing to my success here. Even in times of anxiety I still have felt at home at Mount Allison.

Secondly, I saw that there was a vibrant student community with over a hundred active student groups. During my first semester at Mount Allison I joined different Students' Administrative Council Committees, became a blog writer for the school, and published an article about the US election in the Argosy, Mount Allison's independent student newspaper. I don't think there are many other schools of Mount Allison's calibre where a new student would be able to get so involved.

When I got back form the airport on the car ride back home I talked to my parents about the school year so far and they noted how my academic writing has improved over the years. I wrote earlier about how sometimes the intense stress of large assignments over a long period of time can make you refocus your priorities. It can make you a more efficient student and writer and after receiving my grades I'm even more convinced this is true.

This semester in four third-year courses I wrote in excess of 125 pages. Now a ten page assignment that seemed like a hassle in first year seems like very little after the gargantuan amount of work I completed this semester. I owe this success partially due to the Honors and AP courses I was able to take in high school that prepared me for university but it is the high expectations, excellent teaching, and advice from professors that forced and aided me in writing multiple 20+ page A-quality research papers. I firmly believe Mount Allison provides one of the most solid foundations anyone can have when applying directly for employment or to a graduate program.

Mount Allison University: Touting its #1 Ranking on Macleans

It looks like the new branding/advertising campaign is underway. Here is the first advertisement for Mount Allison I have ever seen. Looks like it's using good keywords in it's doubleclick ads: on an article about Rankings there is an ad about Mount Allison coming first. It's a good start but hopefully it'll move beyond numbers soon...maybe taking into account some of the information garnered from the expensive branding effort that is scheduled to end its first phase by the end of January.

You searched for Geoff Campbell, did you mean Geoff Campbell?

From my name being constantly misspelled I figured Geoff Campbell couldn't possibly be that common of a name. Looks like I was wrong.

For most people, when they look themselves up on google to find their Doppelgänger or and hope that they aren't unfortunate enough to have the same name as a notorious criminal. Most of the time you expect to see people more famous or infamous than you or at the very least someone who has bought yourname.com. I found that in a real estate agent from the Carolinas, a visual effects expert, and an illustrator...none of which were surprising, but what was interesting is that an former character on an Australian soap opera appears before this site even from searches from the US. Only months after admitting that he recorded a sexual encounter on his cell phone and then showed it to cast and crew of the show, Lincoln Lewis 'voluntarily' left the cast of Home and Away but not before denying that the rampant culture of sex and drugs surrounding the show actually exists.

I've included a couple related posts about the "soapie" (in Aussie talk) below for context. Does anyone out there have unfortunate or surprising Doppelgängers like this imaginary Geoff Campbell?

 

Lincoln Lewis' sex tape was not as bad as having cancer, says mum

• From:

• The Daily Telegraph
 
• June 05, 2009 3:39PM

THE mother of soapie star Lincoln Lewis has come out swinging at her son's sex-tape partner, comparing her with Monica Lewinsky.Lewis, son of NRL legend Wally Lewis, admitted last night filming a sex tape with a teenage TV starlet then showing the footage to his Home and Away colleagues.
His mother, Jacqui, said on radio today the girl in question was equally to blame."Can I be honest with you? I am glad he is not with that girl any more. I don't want that as a daughter-in-law,'' she said.
Jacqui told Nova's Ryan, Monty and Wippa she was disappointed with her son but he had to face the consequences of his actions.
"He is an adult and he was an adult when he was doing this. He was 20 and she was 18. She must have said she was willing, to do it,'' she said.
"I think as a female, I wouldn't be doing any of that because do you know what? Females keep things. Have a look at Monica Lewinsky, she kept the dress. You've got to get smart.''
The footage in question was on Lewis' phone. Jacqui said it had now been deleted.
When her son called to confess, Jacqui said her main concern was for his safety.
"When he actually said it was a sex tape it was a bit of a relief as a mum,'' she said.
"I did tell him, 'How many times I have told you that things will come back and bite you if you do the wrong thing'.''
The network and his current girlfriend So You Think You Can Dance finalist Katrina Risteska will both have him under closer scrutiny so he doesn't put a foot wrong – on and off the show.
Lewis said he and Risteska "hit it off" after she did a guest role on Home and Away. "We're mates ever since," he said in an interview last month. "Then it just started to happen."
Lewis split with former Home And Away actor Indiana Evans last year. Evans has since relocated from Sydney to the Gold Coast after landing a role on Network Ten's popular kids show H2O: Just Add Water.
There is precedent for Lewis to go well on Dancing With The Stars this year. Last year's winner was Home And Away heart-throb Luke Jacobz.
Lewis will join another Brisbane identity on the dance floor – congenitally blind paralympian Gerrard Gosens.
The other celebrities signed on are: world champion surfer Layne Beachley, swimsuit model Emily Scott, Morning Show presenter Kylie Gillies, Packed to the Rafters actor Jess McNamee, comedian Fiona O'Loughlin, footy legend Peter "Spida" Everitt, singer and actor Rob Mills, Today Tonight's Matt White, and country music star Adam Brand.
Insiders are understood to be taking the sex tape matter extremely seriously.
Seven programming director Tim Worner said the network stood by the young actor. "Lincoln is a young man of tremendous character," Worner said.Earlier, Lewis' mother told a radio station she had worried her son was gravely ill when he phoned saying he needed to tell her something important."He said, 'Mum I've got something I need to tell you and you're the last person I wanted to tell,'' mum Jacqui Lewis told Brisbane radio."I was like 'mate what's wrong' - I'm thinking sick, I'm thinking all these horrible things."Lincoln finally fessed up - and mum was furious, especially because she had warned him not to mix work with pleasure when it came to the girls of Home and Away."As we see - men's brains," his not-so-amused mum said.Channel 7 has disciplined Lewis and it is understood he will undergo counselling.
"You do stupid things when you are young," a remorseful Lincoln Lewis said yesterday."But your learn from your mistakes, that's part of growing up. This mistake, and what I have learnt, will contribute a lot to making me a better person in the future."Channel 7 insiders are understood to have taken the matter extremely seriously and are expected to have Lewis - who today was announced as part of the line-up for the upcoming Dancing With The Stars' TV series - undergo counselling.Lewis, a rising star at the network, is understood to have filmed the act on a mobile phone last year.Sources said he showed the footage to cast members and crew on the family soap, who were unimpressed with his behaviour and urged him to get rid of the footage. It is believed the footage has since been deleted.Lewis won a Logie award last year as the best new male talent on TV.

Geoff CampbellPlayed by Lincoln LewisThe loss of his parents at a tender age and the very firm hand of his fire and brimstone grandfather have shaped Geoff into a very responsible boy who is black and white about right and wrong.
Like his sister, Annie, Geoff has been shaped by spending his formative years on a farm run by his strict Baptist grandfather, with little interaction with the outside world. Unlike his sister, however, Geoff was sent to a traditional boys' boarding school from Year 7 to Year 9, where he received a good education. But even this interaction with his peers did nothing to knock Geoff out of his belief in hard work and strict morality as a way of life.
Sensible and serious, Geoff has no room for 'fun' or 'frivolity' in his grim, hard-working life and the occasional smile he cracks can only be raised by Annie. But there is an underground passion in Geoff's life... at school he played rugby and showed a lot of natural talent. His grandfather, however, would never approve of playing sport as a serious occupation.
After his Grandfather died and they lost the farm, Geoff and Annie moved in with Irene. He is enjoying school and life in the Bay, but constantly clashed with Aden Jefferies. He is now maturing and became a hero when he saved Nicole's life when they were both stranded on an island. He and Nicole became intimate on the island and then Geoff was wracked with guilt as it went against his Christian upbringing. He decided the best solution was to propose to Nicole who was less than impressed. After being apart for a while though, the two realised they had strong feelings for each other and dated again but he did not completely trust her so they broke up which left them both reeling for weeks. Now that Martha has their old farm, he frequently helps her fix it up.
Relationship status:Currently single, but has some chemistry with Ruby.
Past relationships:Dated Melody, Nicole, and thought he was father to Claudia's baby, but she finally admitted she had lied.
Family:Annie is his sister and Bruce was his grandfather.
Friends:He's close to Ruby, and has a love hate relationship with Aden.
Living arrangements:He's living with Annie and Irene.

Canadian Culture and the Group of Seven (musical group)

As I mentioned before I took a class about Canadian Culture...and it almost entirely was based on the Canadian search for/lack of a national identity. Then a friend of mine sent me this link about the Canadian band the Group of Seven (named after the best-known Canadian artist group). I listened to Passport a few times and it covered almost all of the themes of the course.


When they refer to getting identity from beer commercials they mean things like this:





...extraordinarily nationalistic considering Molson Coors is half American-owned.

Wikileaks and U.S. National Security

Despite many people, including the Secretary of Defense saying the impact of the leaks are minimal, and many of the leaks turning out to be things we already know (including one UNCLASSIFIED commentary about Canadian views of the US), and one (ex-National Security Council member) Columbia University professor even mandating International Relations students view the original documents, I don't see how anybody can honestly defend leaks like this, which made public a list of overseas facilities that are crucial to U.S. national security. The unfortunate fact is that these leaks can't be undone, but that doesn't mean they should be taken as uncritically 'good' for free speech or freedom of the press. Some things really should be kept secret. From the L.A. Times:

U.S. denounces WikiLeaks' release of list of crucial overseas facilities

Making the list public has threatened national security, officials say. Named are vaccine makers, undersea communications cables and mines that supply key metals.

By Andrew Zajac, Los Angeles Times
December 7, 2010
Reporting from Washington

U.S. officials on Monday denounced a WikiLeaks posting that catalogs hundreds of crucial overseas facilities that, if attacked by terrorists, could harm American interests — including vaccine makers, undersea communications cables and mines that supply key metals.

Officials said the Internet posting of the list — compiled by the Department of Homeland Security with the assistance of the State Department and other government departments — threatens national security.

The scope of the list, and the wide range of facilities that have potential national security implications, also highlights the U.S. dependence on foreign suppliers, and the near-impossibility of making the country fully immune from the consequences of a terrorist attack.

America's reliance on foreign vaccine makers appears to be a particular vulnerability, according to Randall Larsen, an advisor at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center's Center for Biosecurity.

"Would we rely on the Chinese or the Brazilians to make our next-generation fighter jet?" Larsen asked. "In the 21st century, that capability to produce vaccines is just as important as the ability to produce our own fighter jets."

Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano on Monday condemned the disclosure, saying it contained information that could "jeopardize our national security."

U.S. Atty. Gen. Eric H. Holder Jr. said America's espionage act is just one of the laws the U.S. could use to prosecute those involved in the WikiLeaks releases. He declined to say which others might come into play. Possibilities include charges such as the theft of government property or receipt of stolen government property.

Also Monday, a lawyer for Julian Assange told reporters in London that he was arranging for the WikiLeaks founder to speak to British police seeking to question him in a sex crimes probe.

The Department of Homeland Security list on overseas sites, known as the Critical Foreign Dependencies Initiative, includes oil and gas pipelines, telecom cables, rare-metal and other mines, military contractors, ocean navigation chokepoints, and such obscure facilities as an Australian laboratory described as the sole supplier of Crotalid Polyvalent Antivenin — an antidote to rattlesnake venom.

The list, "whose loss could critically impact the public health, economic security, and/or national and homeland security of the United States," according to the leaked cable that contained it, is maintained by the Department of Homeland Security, which was seeking to update it in February 2009 by getting recommendations from State Department diplomats.

The February 2009 cable instructed diplomats to focus on key energy and telecom links, sites that produced hard-to-get goods or raw materials important to U.S. industry, as well as maritime bottlenecks.

The list includes graphite, tungsten and rare-earth metal mines in China, military components makers in Britain, Germany and Israel, and a Siemens plant in Germany described as responsible for "essentially irreplaceable production of key chemicals."

It also includes many of the world's key ocean passageways, including the straits of Gibraltar, Hormuz and Malacca, the Panama Canal and the landing points of numerous undersea telecom cables crisscrossing the globe, plus oil and gas pipelines, including one in Russia described as "the most critical gas facility in the world."

The list underscores heavy U.S. dependence on foreign pharmaceutical firms, including European producers of vaccines for rabies, whooping cough, flu, typhoid and smallpox.

azajac@latimes.com

Brian Bennett in the Washington bureau contributed to this report.

Atlantic International Studies Organization January Conference: Keynote Speaker: Ian Smillie

 Noted Blood Diamond Expert Ian Smillie will be the Keynote Speaker at the Annual Atlantic International Studies Organization (ATLIS) January Conference. He will be discussing the research from his book published in August on the diamond trade in Africa.

Blood on the Diamond     

ATLIS Initiatives for 10/11
’10/11 Theme!
ATLIS’s theme for this year is ‘Alternative Solutions: Looking to a sustainable future’. We are looking for presentations that would explore a particular idea or innovation, evaluate its potential, and critique its effectiveness in the context of an ongoing issue. This includes a range of diverse, global issue, from health, justice, bio- conservation, security, to technology. We are hoping by emphasizing on a multi-disciplinary approach, we can gain new perspective and insight to persistent issues

Dear Mount Allison Students,

The Atlantic International Studies Organization (ATLIS) is requesting submissions for its annual conference on January 21-23, 2010. This year's theme is "Alternative Solutions: Looking to a Sustainable Future". This is a wonderful chance to experience presenting an academic paper and to receive feedback on your work and research.

The deadline for submissions is at November 21, 2010 at noon (e-mail to atlis@mta.ca). We encourage students from all years and all disciplines to submit their work for consideration.

Class papers, honours theses and individual research are all eligible for submission. An abstract of your work is sufficient for the submission deadline.
Work does not have to be complete by the time of presentation but should be sufficiently well developed as to allow for discussion.

Presentations will be 20-30 minutes in length, followed by questions and a round table discussion with conference attendees and faculty. Please note that all presenters are guaranteed to be published in our spring academic journal if they so wish.

All students (whether presenting or not) are invited to attend the conference, which will include social events, roundtable discussions about sustainability, and a keynote speaker Ian Smillie.

Smillie is an Ottawa-based consultant and writer and has worked for more than 30 years in international development. He will speak on the subject of implementing sustainable practices around conflict-free diamonds in Africa.

Please kindly confirm your attendance by November 21 and conference fees must be paid by December 5, in order to qualify for our early bird special.

Go to our website to see examples of previous years' presentations and for information on our year-long events: www.atlismta.org

Also join our Facebook group:
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/group.php?gid=81172322054&ref=ts

Thanks, and please feel free to contact us with any questions.

The ATLIS Staff

About

The Atlantic International Studies Organization (ATLIS) was created in the winter of 2003 at Mount Allison University with the purpose of fostering informed undergraduate participation in international issues through scholarship and social and political involvement.

The ATLIS Organization is committed to finding new and innovative ways to engage students with the world around them. Our peer-reviewed journal is one of the first of its kind in the region, and provides a much-needed venue for high- quality undergraduate essays.

In attempts to promote scholarship and develop invaluable professional skills, ATLIS hosts an annual conference relating to a major issue facing the international community as an opportunity for students to present their own papers to their peers and professors. The conference also draws NGOs and government agencies from across Canada to speak, participate in discussions and present their activities.

The ATLIS Organization is a dedicated group of students from many disciplines. We are united in the common goal of promoting undergraduate involvement and scholarship in international issues. ATLIS actively seeks partnerships with other organizations and clubs, other universities, and faculty and experts in the diverse fields of international studies

John Reardon: Mount Allison University All-Star Football Player (1993-1997). Oh yeah...and he's in Tron: Legacy

For all those all-star athletes studying Marine Biology...you might want to find a fall back career...like acting.

Halifax native making a mark with Tron: LegacyHalifax native John Reardon, now living in Los Angeles, is part of the big-budget Tron reboot.
The 35-year-old is starring in Tron: Legacy as Young Kevin Flynn and Clu Performance Double. Oscar-winner Jeff Bridges, who starred as Kevin Flynn in the original Tron, is reprising his roles as Kevin Flynn and Clu from the 1982 movie.
Reardon has a B.Sc. from Mount Allison University where he was a receiving star for the football Mounties for five years.
The six-foot-one actor’s credits include the movies White Chicks (2004) with the Wayans brothers, Scary Movie 4 (2006) and Merlin’s Apprentice with Sam Neill. .
Next up is the TV movie Bringing Ashley Home with A. J. Cook, formerly of Criminal Minds.

John Reardon
Biography

Born in Halifax, Nova Scotia, John Reardon is one of three children, and is part of a large extended family. In fact, he estimates he has over 300 cousins living in Canada’s Maritimes. He returns to his hometown as often as his busy schedule allows, but spends much of his time working in Hollywood and Vancouver.

During his school years, John performed in many plays, but he had never considered going into acting professionally until he saw a riveting cinematic performance. “I was just finishing high school when I saw Paul Newman in the movie ‘Cool Hand Luke’ and decided he had the best profession in the world, “says John. “Paul Newman has definitely been a very big idol for me--not only in acting, but also in the way he lives his life. He is an incredibly talented performer with great range and can do comedy and drama. He also has been married to the same woman for the last 40 years, runs a charity that makes over $200 million a year and is also a professional race car driver at the age of 75. He is pretty cool.”

Although motivated to follow in the footsteps of his idol, John choose to complete his education first. He studied marine biology at Mount Allison University where he was an all-star football player, an academic All-Canadian and Scholar Athlete of the Year.

Upon graduation, John pursued his ambition of becoming an actor. He performed with a few improv comedy groups, and then studied acting at Second City in Toronto. His first break in showbiz came in 2001 when he was cast in an episode of “The Chris Isaak Show,” in which he was credited as John Henry Reardon. He followed that by appearing in an episode of “The Twilight Zone” and in the TV series “Andromeda” as well as in the TV movie “1st to Die.”

After shortening his name to John Reardon, he found continued success, playing the recurring character Josh Wyatt in the CBC series “Edgemont” and playing Randall Thompson in three episodes of the series “Tru Calling.” In 2004, he also landed his first movie role, playing Heath in the Wayans Brothers’ outlandish comedy, “White Chicks.” After a turn the lead character, Greg, in the horror movie “Severed,” John went on to spoof the genre, appearing in “Scary Movie 4,” along with a star-studded cast that included Leslie Nielson, Bill Pullman, Molly Shannon, and Michael Madsen.

Meanwhile, John began to land major roles on TV, playing the title character in “Merlin’s Apprentice,” a Hallmark mini-series that also starred Sam Neill and Miranda Richardson. In the series, “Painkiller Jane,” John had a continuing role as Brian, the boyfriend of the tile character, played by Kritanna Lokens (“Terminator 3”).
A leading man in the TV movies “Valentine’s Carol” and “7 Things to do Before I’m 30,” John also played the lead in another mini-series, “Son of the Dragon,” filmed on location in China and set to air on the Hallmark Channel in April of 2008. Here he demonstrates his athletic skills in his convincing portrayal of D.B, a young man who trains under a martial arts master played by David Carradine.

In the upcoming dance movie, “Make It Happen,” starring Mary Elizabeth Winstead, John plays her brother, Joel. The conflict centres on his disapproval of her desire to be a dancer.

As a working professional, John has continued to hone his acting skills, studying with Michael David Simms and Jeff Seymour in Vancouver and Chris Fields in Los Angeles. A great humanitarian, John supports a number of charities including Save the Oceans, Sharkwater, Amnesty International, the Canadian Wildlife Fund, and he also sponsors a child in Africa. For many years he was a volunteer in an aviary to help save and rehabilitate injured birds.

An all around athlete, John has competed in several adventure racing events in Vancouver, including the Nike Five Peaks and Sea to Summit races. John has traveled to more than 30 countries and has a passion for SCUBA diving. He would like to explore all five oceans of the world. Meanwhile, John is riding the wave of success in his acting career and spends much of his spare time writing. He is currently trying to develop a TV series he’s written to be shot in Halifax and is also looking to produce his screenplay about the civil war in Cambodia.

News

Actor John Reardon stars in the mini series ‘Son of the Dragon’, premiering on the all-new Hallmark Movie Channel HD April 2nd

Watch for John this summer in the feature film ‘Make It Happen’.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - March 2008 - An accomplished actor, John Reardon, continues his surging success in 2008 as the lead character in the exciting mini-series ‘Son of the Dragon’ scheduled to premiere on the all-new Hallmark Movie Channel HD April 2nd. Filmed on location in Hengdian, China, this Asian martial arts epic borrows its storyline from ‘The Tales of the Arabian Nights.’ The U.S. television premiere of ‘Son of the Dragon’ HD will be featured on two nights: night one, Wednesday, April 2 (8/7 c) and night two, Thursday, April 3 (8/7 c).

In this lavish production, John portrays the youthful hero, D.B., who studies the skills of deadly combat under the guidance of the master, played by David Carradine. The
international cast includes Rupert Graves, Desiree Siahan, Eddy Ko, and Bollywood star, Nitin Gantatra.

Later this summer, John can be seen on the big screen as one of the leads in the upcoming feature film ‘Make It Happen.’ The movie depicts the trials and tribulations of an aspiring young dancer, Lauryn, played by Mary Elizabeth Winstead (Lucy McClane in the Bruce Willis thriller ‘Live Free or Die’). Produced by The Mayhem Project and the Weinstein Company, ‘Make It Happen’ is a fine vehicle for John Reardon, who is cast as Lauryn’s older brother Joel who stands in her way as she pursues a dancing career. John’s other feature film appearances include ‘White Chicks,’ ‘Severed’ and ‘Scary Movie 4.’

Now in the prime of his career, John has already delivered stellar performances with leading roles in romantic comedies and TV movies such as ‘7 Things to do Before I’m 30,’ and ‘Valentine’s Carol.’ He has also appeared in the title role of the 2006 mini-series ‘Merlin’s Apprentice.’ Other television appearances and recurring roles include ‘Painkiller Jane,’ the role of Josh Wyatt in the CBC series ‘Edgemont,’ ‘Tru Calling,’ ‘The Chris Isaak Show,’ ‘The Twilight Zone’ and the TV series ‘Andromeda.’

When not on set, John loves to travel, has a passion for scuba diving and supports a number of charities, including sponsoring a child in Africa. John also spends much of his spare time writing and is currently trying to develop a TV series he’s written to be shot in Halifax. He is also looking to produce his screenplay about the civil war in Cambodia.

Update: Mount Allison University Branding Campaign

An update on the branding campaign I wrote about earlier. A brand concept should be coming out in late January. Story from Sackville Tribute Post.

Staff at Mount Allison is currently working to identify the university’s greatest strengths and assets in order increase their competitive edge when it comes to attracting top students.

Mount Allison looking to distinguish itself from competitors

Staff at Mount Allison is currently working to identify the university’s greatest strengths and assets in order increase their competitive edge when it comes to attracting top students.

Published on December 23rd, 2010
Katie Tower


What makes Mount Allison unique? What differentiates it from its competitors? And how exactly does a small-town undergrad university vie for the best students and faculty in an increasingly-aggressive market?

These are just a few of the questions being explored as part of a branding project that aims to provide a snapshot of the university’s greatest strengths and assets.

The purpose of the initiative is to provide Mount Allison with its own distinct identity, says Tony Frost, director of marketing and communications for the university, “so students really know what they’re getting when they come to Mount A.”

This will help pave the way for the university to distinguish itself more clearly from its peers, he says.
Today, universities need to be more competitive than ever in their efforts to attract top-notch students, faculty and donors, says Frost, and Mount A has to keep up with the best if they want to attract the best.

But with the number of high school students declining in the Maritimes, that poses a significant challenge for universities in the region that rely on 50 per cent of their students coming from the Maritime provinces.

“There’s a demographic challenge here in the Maritimes,” he says, “so we need to start looking outside the region.”

Through the brand positioning project, Mount Allison will be taking a “more integrated approach to who we are and what we are saying,” in order to market the university to a wider audience outside the Maritimes.
Fortunately, he says, the good news is that students, both national and international, are now more transient than they were 20 or 30 years ago and many of those students are looking for an experience outside their home university.

“So this is an opportunity for us to say, ‘hey, why not an Atlantic experience, why not a Mount Allison experience?”

The research phase of the project has just finished up, with a number of participants involved, including current, past, and prospective students, as well as business and government leaders.

“We spent time revisiting who we were and what it is that makes us different . . . and how we can market that to an external audience,” says Frost.

Of course, the size and the reputation of the school were the two key distinguishing features that were brought up time and time again during the discussions, says Frost.

But also gaining attention is the “experience” that comes with attending an institution in which students are treated to a “personal , intimate environment” where they can become their own individuals.
“That’s something not found anywhere else.”

The strategy development phase is now under way with the university expecting to come up with a proposed concept in late January, followed up by the creative development stage of the project.