T NAI NUGGET Thursday, December 6, 2018 thenuggetonline.com Volume 56, Issue 7 @thenaitnugget 2 The Nugget NEWS & FEATURES Thursday, December 6, 2018 NestBy YUSUF AHMED is Bestreflected in The Nest’s success. Bar None The Nest claims the “Best Campus Bar” title for the Dirksen believes there is still an issue of people believing third straight year, earning Best Bar None accreditation and heavy regulations for bars is ruining the fun, but The Nest has People’s Choice Award, which after 2200 votes, the Nest won done a good job navigating this potential issue. by 30. “Safety and surpassing industry standards does not mean “We are extremely pleased and proud that our hard work no fun…all Best Bar None establishments believe safety and efforts showcase us as industry leaders — we could not be equals fun — let’s break the stigma,” said Dirksen. prouder,” said The Nest’s General Manager Michelle Dirksen. And the General Manager doesn’t think The Nest is any- The competition was fierce with all the local campus bars where near finished winning. eager to secure the title. Notables included Grant MacEwan’s “With powerful vision and consistent behaviour, we will Towers on Fourth and the U of A’s Dewey’s. continue to win. Our goals are simple; we intend to succeed All participants were rated on safety, food, and by giving all of our guests a combination of excellent and atmosphere. trendy food and beverages, in an environment that appeals to Dirksen wishes to congratulate all of their competitors in all,” said Dirksen. “[The Nest] will focus on maintaining high the category, but she does believe The Nest is a “step above” quality and establishing a strong identity in our community.. other campus bars. She states it comes down to her employ- [and] create an appealing and entertaining environment with Server Trinity Hopf poses with the Best Photo by Aaron Wilmot Campus Bar award. ees having a passion for what they do, and that principle being unbeatable quality.” Leading the Ooks life By TORA MATYS handing out the popcorn at the monthly Pop-up Popcorn graphic of the students on campus,” said Eklund. NAIT is leading Edmonton’s schools in the future of events and brainstorming new and exciting free events for Every year between May and April the CAB refreshes partytechnics. With weekly game nights at The Nest, pop- students to have fun and relax. their team. Check naitsa.ca for more information on how up petting zoos and video game tournaments there’s mul- “Our goal is to plan an event that interests every demo- you can be a part of the team and represent the Ooks life. tiple categories of events for all students. None of these events would be possible without NAITSA and the Campus Activity Board (CAB). CAB is a panel of 12 students that work to keep the activities excit- ing, new and ensure they cater to everyone. They fund and organize over 130 events a year. With an average of 15 events a month. The latest events are posted on bulletin boards all over campus and can also be found online at naitsa.ca/events. NAITSA has been representing the student body for over 50 years, providing student aid and organizing enter- tainment. NAITSA has recently seen an increase in student turnout to their events. The annual trick-or-treat food drive hosted in October saw 52 students volunteer to collect over 3000 pounds of non-perishables for the NAIT Food Centre. Event coordinator, Rachelle Eklund, said this is due to a new approach. “This past year, we have switched up the design of our posters and introduced ‘Ooks Life’,” said Eklund. “I believe that has had a huge positive impact on event turn- out and student involvement.” Eklund explained that the constant new variety of events is due to the Campus Activity Board and the group of students who are the action behind the events. They are NAITSA Petting Zoo NAITSA Puppy Yoga Photos courtesy of NAITSA Senators receive pay increase By JOE LIPOVSKI utive Council lifetime access to athletic department for funds from the grant for the to have Peer Support open earlier next fall For the first time since 2005, the sen- facilities. Peer Support Program. on a more permanent basis. ate has increased their pay per meeting for Senator Claire Sao asked Vice Presi- When the grant was first requested from Senator Essex filled a seat on the Senators. A unanimous vote at the Nov. dent Student Services, Willow Shelly, if the government in 2017, the Peer Support Finance subcommittee. A position occu- 21 NAITSA Senate meeting resulted in a NAITSA has secured funding from NAIT’s portion of the grant was for research and pied by former Senator Kyle Prince is now change from $50 to $60 per meeting; rais- Mental Health Grant dedicated for the Peer had no dollar figure attached. Currently open as the Engineering Tech and Aca- ing Senators’ overall pay to $600 over the Support program. Shelly confirmed she will NAIT doesn’t have the funds available for demic Upgrading Senator has left NAIT entire school year. The increase will take be meeting with Clint Galloway, Director Peer Support. However, now that Peer Sup- entirely due to personal matters. Tech. And effect in fall 2019. of Student Well-being and Community, to port is open, Shelly said NAIT is looking Academic Upgrading. Prince’s position is The senate also voted to remove bylaws discuss the $800,000 grant. Shelly has been for a way to make funds available from the expected to be filled in January. introduced in 2003 which granted the Exec- repeatedly asking NAIT’s Campus Life grant. Shelly hopes to receive $15,000 and Thursday, December 6, 2018 NEWS & FEATURES The Nugget 3 Counselling services The Nugget Room E-128B 11762–106 Street Edmonton, Alberta increase T5G 2R1 By ZACHARY FLYNN 15 counsellors have Media Operations 780-952-3570 The demand for NAIT’s counselling ser- been able to keep www.thenuggetonline.com vices has roughly doubled over the last two wait times to around 2 Senior Editor years, yet wait times remain low. weeks. The 2017-18 school year was the busi- The University of Jory Proft est year in over a decade but early numbers Alberta’s team of 20 [email protected] for the 2018-19 school year suggest that staff have been able to Assistant Editor appointment numbers will continue to rise. keep wait times below Eryn Pinksen Stress and anxiety still remain the num- 3 weeks, but during ber one reason for students seeking coun- busy times of the year, Sports Editor selling says the lead of NAIT’s Counselling wait times to see one of Conner Toffan services, Tanya Spencer. She explains that their psychiatrists can [email protected] the lack of an “exam week” at the end of the reach 6 to 8 weeks. The Counselling Centre is located in W111PB Twitter semester could be a leading contributor. All four post-secondaries open their students can receive mental health support Assist. Sports Editor “People don’t have anything to attach doors for students in crisis and they all have in areas like eating disorders, sexual trauma, Peter Go their stress to anymore. If it were a week of walk-in times. relationship issues and addictions. hellish exams, they would just say ‘well I “Because we have walk-in slots through- Spencer says the one difficulty her office Entertainment Editor feel terrible because it’s exam week’,” said out the day, I’ll often joke that our wait time faces is the lack of psychiatry support avail- Nikita Eleniak Spencer. “When there’s no ‘exam week’ is 10 minutes,” said Spencer. able to students. She says that in some cases, [email protected] anymore, they tend to blame themselves Spencer says that NAIT’s counselling they might recommend a student try medi- Assist. Entertainment Editor more and tend to wonder what’s wrong with services are seeing an increase in return cli- cation but they must refer them to a family them.” ents. She says that this is due to the types doctor, a psychiatry office or a walk-in Emily Keller Spencer also says that evidence shows of difficulties that students are facing when clinic. Video Editor that reading breaks do not reduce appoint- they come in for counselling. She says that this can be a barrier for Spencer Shortt ment numbers for counselling offices. “Typically the presenting problems students because of NAIT’s busy class “A break tends to be built-in recovery we see are much more in-depth than you’d schedules. Photo Editor time but not necessarily to restore you to expect in a clinic like ours and I think that “Even skipping over to the [Royal Alex- Aaron Wilmot your full potential,” said Spencer. seems to be the theme across post-secondar- andra Hospital] is prohibitive for a lot of our [email protected] Data collected from NAIT’s counselling ies,” said Spencer. students,” said Spencer. office shows a higher number of appoint- She says that they are seeing an increase Spencer says that they are currently Social Media Editor ments booked in March compared to Nov- in students with diagnosable mental con- working to bring psychiatry services to the Serena Deschner ember last year — the time when other post- ditions like generalized anxiety disorder, campus so students do not have to go out of Media Operations Mgr. depression and bipolar disorder. their way to receive the treatment they need. secondaries in Edmonton have a reading Nicole Murphy break.