VIU News & Experts: January 24, 2024

Snowpacks and strikes: need an expert? 🗣️

In this issue of VIU news & experts: 

• Snowpacks on Vancouver Island: what's in store this year? 
• Vancouver transit strike: pressure at the expense of public opinion?

Featured experts

How are our snowpacks on Vancouver Island? 

The January 1 Snow Survey and Water Supply Bulletin reported provincial snowpacks are extremely low, averaging 56% of normal across the province. Dr. Bill Floyd, Director of the Coastal Hydrology Research Lab, just returned from the field where he was measuring snowpack levels last weekend. He says snowpacks are low, but not the lowest they have been and not much lower than this time last year at many of his measurement sites. However, this might be changing …   

Metro Vancouver transit strike

More than 180 workers with CUPE Local 4500 walked off the job early Monday morning as part of a 48-hour strike. But while they are back at work, the two sides are still far apart. The sticking point in negotiations, say union reps, is concerns over wage discrepancy between Coastal Mountain Bus Company transit supervisors and other supervisors in the transit system. Dr. Evan Hoffman, a VIU Faculty of Management Professor with expertise in conflict resolution and negotiation, has been following along. He says employee job actions can pressure employers for a new deal, but weighing potential benefits against cons, like losing public support, is essential.

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VIU news

VIU launches redesigned Jazz diploma

"From the moment you walk in the door, we treat you as a musician." VIU's redesigned Jazz diploma gives students the musical grounding to thrive in life as a working musician in different music genres. Read more.

VIU in the news

VIU student is Nanaimo's Youth Poet Laureate

Congratulations to VIU Education student Paige Pierce on her appointment as Nanaimo's newest Youth Poet Laureate! In this role, Paige "hopes to develop a community of aspiring and practicing poets." Learn more. 

Hearing loop system benefits

VIU Access Specialist Mary Stasiuk recently spoke to Nanaimo News Now about the benefits of audio loop, or hearing loop, systems. A pilot project designed to bring assistive hearing technology to city buildings is moving ahead.

Happening at VIU

bailey macabre exhibit

Vancouver Island University’s (VIU’s) View Gallery is honoured to host ᐹᑭᒋᐦᒉᐤ" pâkicihew (she has swollen hands), an installation by Nanaimo-based artist bailey macabre, organized by the Nanaimo Arts Council and curated by Amber R. Morrison. This suite of powerful cyanotype imagery printed on jacquard cotton is a meditation on healing, grief, family and the enduring ties that bind generations together. The cyanotype process, which captures the ghostly forms of objects through the play of light and shadow, mirrors the way our memories are formed, imprinted with the indelible impressions of our ancestors. Read more.