Good deals a magnet

LINDA HOANG
Issues Editor

Welcome to Linda’s Tech Talk. Each week in this column I’ll be highlighting technology trends and student-relevant tech for you, the NAIT student population.

I kick this semester off with Groupon.

It’s a daily deal that encourages Edmontonians to explore the city.

The marketing company has teamed up with local businesses in the city to highlight something “cool to do at an unbeatable price.

“We see ourselves as a city guide that pushes you off the couch and makes you want to try new things in Edmonton,” said Julie Mossler, Groupon consumer marketing manager. “The great discounts are the catalyst.”

Groupon made its Edmonton launch in August and so far the response has been overwhelming.

It’s the ultimate online coupon book and it’s a must-sign up, a must-bookmark, for all money-conscious, starving students – myself included.

The first deal – pay $20 for $50 worth of food and drinks at Sabor Divino Restaurant and Lounge was bought by 522 Edmontonians in the 24-hour time limit.

Hundreds bought into a deeply discounted indoor rock-climbing pass to Climb Edmonton and nearly 2,000 people bought a deal for Famoso Pizza. A deal for a $50 coupon to the Gap for $25 even crashed the server because there were so many people trying to grab the bargain.

I’ve been monitoring Edmonton Groupon since it started and although I haven’t bought one yet myself – I am really, really, money-conscious – I know that it’s only a matter of time before the perfect deal pops up.

Mossler tells me Groupon has three months of local business deals lined up for Edmonton and more continue to sign up. From restaurants to bookstores, spas and adrenaline-pumping activities, if you have an e-mail address, sign up for Groupon.

The deal is sent in an e-mail each morning or you can check bargains via a handy iPhone application.

Not only can this company do wonders for local businesses, I just think it can be so beneficial for poor students.

Save your money for these deals everyone, it’s worth it.

You can sign up at http://groupon.com/edmonton.

There’s room at the top

LINDA HOANG
Issues Editor

The search for NAIT’s new president and CEO is on after current president Dr. Sam Shaw announced his retirement in July.

“The search has begun and it will be a long and thorough search before we have the right person,” said Doug Goss, chairman for NAIT’s Board of Governors.

In an internal letter sent on July 12, Shaw said he would be leaving his position after 13 years – and 35 years working in post-secondary education – though he gave no reason for the retirement.

“I have asked Mr. Doug Goss, chair of the Board of Governors, to commence a national search for candidates for the position of president and CEO,” Shaw wrote.

Goss said the search for Shaw’s replacement is an international one – and potential leaders for the institution could come from across the globe.

“It’s really an international search to find the right person,” Goss said. “We think this process will take two to three months and we’re well into it.”

But Goss admits a replacement for Shaw won’t likely happen anytime soon.

“We’re nowhere close to deciding who (the replacement) is,” he said.

In his letter, Shaw highlighted his achievements as president of the institution, including re-positioning NAIT’s brand in the marketplace with a new logo and crest, establishing major applied research and innovation initiatives and launching two baccalaureate programs.

“NAIT has evolved into one of Canada’s leading technical institutes,” wrote Shaw.

NAITSA president Timothy Jobs says that Shaw has been “a pleasure to work with.”

“I wish him the best in his future endeavours,” Jobs said.

For now Shaw will remain as president until a replacement has been announced and Goss said the transition period shouldn’t negatively impact students.

“Sam’s committed to being here until we find a successor,” Goss said.

“(And) we’re absolutely going to find the best person possible to take NAIT to the next level.”

Shaw’s retirement comes after NAIT administration’s controversial proposal in April to suspend 13 programs in order to save the institution $2.8 million.

The administration had proposed the cuts as part of a plan to try and balance a $12.3-million budget shortfall.

Shaw was unavailable for comment about his retirement.

So I applied for the Young & Free Alberta Scholarship put on by Servus Credit Union. You had to make a short essay or a video clip talking about your dreams and ambitions and how you are going to help your community and/or the world.

I made a short video talking about how with my journalism diploma and this year finishing my television broadcasting diploma, would enable me to report breaking news, highlight extraordinary people (and ordinary people doing extraordinary things) as well as highlighting community events. I want to use my video shooting, editing, and reporting along with new and old media to help positively impact the community. Some people say journalism is a dying and with emerging new media and citizen journalists, the line between reporters and people online posting news updates or reporting their own news is making is blurring. While some reporters are rejecting new media and the digital technologic convergence that is taking place in newsrooms around the world, I am happily embracing it and hope to use the ever-changing media platforms in journalism to continue to deliver news and interact with people around the world!

There are 30 scholarships of $1,000 and there’s also a “Big Bucks Bonus” which involves a voting round where three of the top most voted applicants can win iPads!

Anyway, I am not really happy with my video — I know I could have made a better one but I left the video to the very last minute (I literally did the video about two days before the deadline!) so it’s not something I am proudly brandishing around. (If you are looking to hire me or looking for my video production demo reel examples, please don’t base your decision on this video, lol go to the “Demo Reel” section of the website! ;]) Still I think I did a good job expressing how my ambitions and career would help benefit the community so I hope that, along with my transcripts, gets me the much-needed scholarship!

I also think that in a lifetime, someone only has one big chance to annoyingly ask for people to vote for them and unfortunately for me, I used that up back during my The Best Job in the World days in 2009. So I don’t particularly want to bombard people with messages and reminders to vote for me so I figured I’d just make a blog post and direct people here and if they are interested, they can vote!

It is unlimited voting until September 26th and again the votes would win me an iPad, not the actual scholarship! Hopefully I win the scholarship based on my meeting the grades and other criteria — but winning an iPad too would be fantastic!!

So please vote for me! Vote as many times as you want, every day until the end of the month!

Let me know if you’ve voted so I can thank you endlessly! ;)

Thanks everyone!!

Thank you!!!

Linda

Calgary.

On Monday we took off to Calgary. This was my first time ever visiting Calgary which is shocking for many people to hear — an Edmontonian living mere hours away from Calgary for 21 years of her life, never having actually set foot in the city? Strange. I just preferred to travel further away in prior years I guess! ;) Our main vacation event in Calgary was to visit the Calgary Zoo, which we had heard is lightyears better than Edmonton’s Valley Zoo. And so it was! What a great zoo! It is HUGE — we had the best walking workout of our lives. The zoo is gigantic and the animals there — so many and so varied.

First time I’ve ever seen a giraffe or a hippo up close! A camel, bears, even peacocks! The peacocks were just walking around the grounds like they owned the place, it was great. They weren’t caged or anything. Which was somewhat a problem because a saw a few kids on more than one occasion chasing them and trying to touch them when there are signs up all over the place saying leave the wild birds alone, they like to make the zoo grounds their home.

We also checked out the dinosaur section of the zoo but we didn’t really want to spend too much time or too much picture-taking-energy there because the next day of our Alberta roadtrip would feature a trip to the Royal Tyrell Museum in Drumheller where there are REAL dinosaurs galore! Anyway, after our several hours looking around the awesome, super-spacious zoo, we checked into the hotel, took a brief break and then headed to the new outlet mall just outside Calgary — Cross Iron Mills!

I had heard about this mall a couple weeks before when another reporter at the Sun showed me her new cross-body Coach bag, saying it had only cost her $80. I was amazed at the price and asked her if she goes down anytime soon to get me one as well. It just so happened that she took a trip down to Calgary/Cross Iron Mills again just a week before I went on my vacation – so she got me the bag and then I realized, hey! I’ll be down in that area, I can check out this much-talked about outlet mall for myself now. It’s a very nice mall — it’s split into certain sections/themes for whatever reason, but each section “start” has a really cool ceiling! I was only able to take pictures of three of the ceilings because I didn’t realize there were cool ceilings until near the end of our trip there.

We spent a lot of time at the mall. I bought a lot of clothes at great prices!! — that had been my intention, to back-to-school shop at Cross Iron Mills. So I considered it quite the success. (I bought my new favourite pink dress for only $15! Suh-weet). We checked out the food court which was also very nice — had some korean BBQ and then headed out.

Safe to say our day in Calgary left our feet extremely sore — my heels were slightly blistered too!

Onto Tuesday!

Drumheller.

Mike drove from Edmonton to Calgary so on Tuesday we decided to give me a hand at long-time highway driving. I drove us to Drumheller and it went very smoothly. I even discovered the wonders of Cruise Control!! This was not my first time in Drumheller but the last time I was here I was probably about five years old and with no memory of it (I only know because my parents told me they took the family there years ago) — I was very eager to visit! I love dinosaurs! I don’t remember if I tweeted about Mike and my day trip to Jurassic Forest in Gibbons, Alberta but we visited in July and checked out all of the cool FAKE dinos there which was satisfying enough but to see all of the REAL dinosaurs at the Royal Tyrell Museum in Drumheller (which is the world’s largest dinosaur museum by the way! Woo hoo!) — WOW! So cool. So fun! I asked Mike multiple times, “This is real???” I really can’t stress how cool that museum is. And big.

I was so sad when we had looped through all of the prehistoric time periods and were out at the gift shop. We got the coolest pictures though! Mammoths, T-Rex’s, crazy gigantic prehistoric sea creatures! SO COOL!

I recommend the museum to anyone — people who aren’t even interested in dinosaurs. A trip through the Tyrell Museum will turn you into a dino fan. Have I said ‘so cool’ yet?? I want to go back! We were planning on taking a walk throughout the Badlands as well but after our major walking day in Calgary the day before we decided to opt out of the badlands walk and just explore Drumheller a bit more before heading to Sylvan Lake. While exploring the rest of Drumheller we came across the World’s Largest Dinosaur!!

A giant dinosaur attached to the tourism/chamber of commerce information building of Drumheller, it cost us $3 each to head up the many, many stairs and sit at the top of the dinosaur in it’s mouth. Well worth the money!

Sylvan Lake.

We had really wanted to spend a day at Wild Rapids the outdoor waterpark in Sylvan Lake but unfortunately the weather did not co-operate with us. We didn’t do much in Sylvan Lake — the motel we stayed at was right across from the lake which was nice so the weather co-operated long enough for us to wade around in there for a bit. We checked out the ice cream shop (made me feel like I was in California or something! Heading to a beachside ice cream shop after wading around in water!), we checked out a restaurant (Fireside Restaurant & Lounge, nice place and good food!) We played some pool there after our meal. We walked around and tried to check out a bowling recreation centre but it was closed for renos. Then we spent the rest of the night very quietly watching TV. Overall it was a pleasant Sylvan Lake trip — we’re planning to go again next summer when the outdoor water park will actually be open — but to make up for not going to Wild Rapids we ended up heading to West Edmonton Mall’s indoor World Water Park!!

West Edmonton Mall World Water Park.

We considered this still a part of our vacation even though we were back in Edmonton. I hadn’t been to the waterpark since elementary school. I don’t like to go swimming that much because I can’t wear my glasses and I don’t wear contacts so I’m virtually helpless and blind in the water. But I wanted to risk it this time for the sake of all those cool water slides!!! I went on every non-kiddie waterslide the indoor water park had to offer and it was FUN. Mike and I also went on the two-people/three-people tube slide rides. Also super fun. We spent quite a bit of time in the wave pool (I caught a LOT of probably-pee-laced water in my mouth) and we went in the last 3 hours of opening so the admission rate was reduced. Not reduced all that much — regular price is $38 per adult, the reduced hours price is $28 per adult — still very steep, but I definitely recommend anyone who wants to take a trip to the waterpark to go during the last three hours because we didn’t even spend the full three hours there, $38 would have been such a waste for 2 hours of water splashing. I don’t see us going back there anytime in the near future but it was fun to experience and I’m glad I conquered all of the slides — tropical typhoon was the COOLEST! After we went to change I ran back in to snap a couple photos with my phone. ;)

Thus Ending the Alberta Roadtrip.

And that brought our Alberta roadtrip to an end. It was a lot of fun and I think it was pretty cheap? We didn’t really tally how much we spent afterwards — we probably should — but it was nice to be pretty close to home and find cool things to do. It was a nice, short, vacation (staycation?) and next time we will plan for something out-of-province… or out-of-country! ;)

Here’s some more photos from our trip:

[View with PicLens]

12►

As you, my blog readers know, I worked at the Edmonton Sun over the summer as a freelance reporter. I was lucky enough to basically work five days a week (so I like to think I was actually a staff reporter ;)) and over the months got a number of opportunities to report on breaking news, homicides, community events, softer pieces, and highlighting ordinary people who did extraordinary things. I had a great time, I received a ton of great industry experience, and I met some great people — both newsroom co-workers as well as other reporters, camera people, and people I interviewed!

Here are a few things that sum up what I learned working at the Sun:

• The industry is changing. Multi-platform skills are a must.
  I won’t be the first to have written that the industry is changing and that one reporter having to do multiple tasks in order to deliver the story through multiple platforms is the new reality. As a print reporter this summer, I still had to file online versions of the story for the website, I had to e-mail or call in quotes, I had to shoot my own pictures on some occasions and on top of that I had to shoot video for video packages for the Sun’s website. This included doing my own stand-ups (and mastering the good ol’ tripod). Heading into working for the paper I didn’t really know just how many videos or how many stand-ups I’d be doing. The answer: a lot. As I’m in school for TV Broadcasting, I was fine with shooting video and doing stand-ups. In fact I enjoyed doing it (although I’ll admit at times multitasking was stressful). But I very quickly became comfortable with the process and I adapted very quickly. This is something reporters need to understand. You have to adapt. You have to be okay with dipping your feet into multimedia tasks that you might not think is part of the job description but the reality is that it is part of the job description now. I know that QMI Agency (which the Sun is under) is really pushing for their print reporters to produce video content for the website (new job postings now include “shooting video” and “multimedia” in their qualifications/requirements descriptions). I also read that the big boss man who took over the Journal envisions multimedia and video as part of the former-Canwest paper’s future. Beyond that, many reporters are now being encouraged to tweet. Live-tweet news conferences, tweet to engage readers, tweet to generate story ideas or find sources. I mean, more so than just tweet even — just really embracing new media and the Internet to add to the success of your story at the end of the day. And that goes for not just print but the radio and television industry too. I saw more and more local reporters getting on Twitter this summer and not just signing up and leaving their accounts sitting — but really using it in relation to that day’s stories. Videos, the Internet, tweeting, that’s just how things are now and those going into the industry need to really embrace it if they’re going to be successful. So I must thank my time at the Sun for really opening my eyes to this new reality (although I knew that was the case before, even our J-School teachers at MacEwan warned us of the upcoming new media/multi-journalist trends). I think I go back to NAIT now with a better grasp of doing stand-ups and the understanding that you really need to be v-e-r-s-a-t-i-l-e! Sell yourself as the person who can do it all because that will get you the job.

• It doesn’t matter what medium it is, it’s still all about telling a story.
  I know some people who look at working in print as having no relation to the work that is done in the television news industry. That is wrong. Whether you are working at a newspaper or a television station, you’re all going to the same press conferences, you’re all trying to get in touch with the same family of the same person who might have just been murdered or died in an accident (sorry if that sounds insensitive), you’re all doing coverage on the same festivals — you’re all working to tell a story, and to tell it by a deadline. Wherever I went to cover news throughout the summer, there were reporters from CTV, there were reporters from Global, there were reporters from radio stations. While it’s delivered in different mediums, (so yes there are different aspects that reporters in print and reporters in TV or radio have to cover) — the process is still the same — getting out to those places, interviewing those people, and getting what you need to to write that story.

• You have to be able to write.
  Tacking onto the above, I have to say that no matter which medium, in order to tell that story — you have to be able to write. I have been a strong advocate and a firm believer of that since before I entered into the Journalism program at MacEwan years ago and my summer writing for the Sun only reaffirmed that belief. You can’t tell a good television story if you’re a poor writer. I guess “you have to be able to write” can even boil down to “you have to be able to tell a story.” I believe I went into working at the Sun with a strong grasp of how to write a news story and I believe I leave with an even better understanding thanks to the number of stories I had to write and the number of opportunities I had to try out different kinds of writing. I thank my editors for allowing me to be a little more creative for certain stories as opposed to just the super hard news-to-the-point kind of leads to stories. I also thank my editors for giving me tips on how to improve my writing (and my photography) but I’m also very proud to say that nearly every article I wrote for the Sun this summer remained unchanged as it made its way through the slot and onto the actual paper. Yes there were Canadian Press style things that were tweaked here and there (words that should not have been capitalized, the spelling out or shortening of things like ‘kilometre’, etc.), but the stories ultimately remained as my story, written my way. *pats self on back*

• A positive attitude goes a long way!
  I really can’t stress this enough. Working with a positive attitude — smiling — being agreeable and optimistic, those traits really make or break your working environment. I found that my summer working really flew by and I credit that to the fact that I had fun every day! Even if some days the stories weren’t front page news, or even near-front-page-news, approaching the stories and the people you interview with just as much respect or as much importance as with front-page-news-stories, goes a long way. If you think that the story you’re assigned that day is crap, then it’s going to be crap, and your day is going to be crap — so why do that? Also — little conversations with your co-workers and the people who sit by you, really add to the day. Saying good morning, good bye, and asking how people’s weekends were — also go a long way :) It is safe to say that I didn’t just make co-workers during my time in the newsroom, I made friends! And along with just the personal happiness you’ll get by going to work being positive — the future benefits are there too. I’m not scared or worried to ask my editor for a reference letter, or to be listed as a reference, for any job I may apply for in the future — and all because I had fun at work. P.S. Have a Fun Shirt Day in the newsroom! It’s tons of fun!

• Good working relationships are key.
  In this industry journalists and media relations people have to work together — a lot. Maintaining a positive, working relationship with each other is so, so, so important. I felt that had I not approached the media relations people I worked with with a positive — and understanding — attitude, then they would not have been as receptive (or just friendly) in helping me with stories I was working on. If a media relations person doesn’t get back to you as quickly as you want them to — that sucks yes, but don’t take it out on them. Sometimes their “as soon as possible” calling you back — could very well be the entire day. Who knows what is going on on their end. Be understanding! Also realize sometimes throwing a story and interview requests onto them may be completely out of left field and they aren’t prepared for it so they will need time to gather information or gather the people who can talk to you. Maybe some media relations people also suck at giving you good quotes — if they are the person who are speaking on behalf of a story. I say take what you can get and be happy you’re getting it. Of course that’s not always the case. I am lucky that I never encountered any person who was an absolute horror to me. In fact I am lucky that I never encountered anyone who was even remotely horrible. So in that sense it was pretty easy for me to be positive and understanding and maintain those good relationships that are key — maybe I’ll be singing a different tune when I do encounter the media spokesperson from hell but to date that hasn’t happened so I’m grateful for that! ;)

I’m sure there are more enlightening things that I picked up over the course of the summer but at the moment of writing this post nothing else is really coming to mind. Should have made notes throughout the summer ;)

But as a side note, as those are the more serious/journalisty things I learned – here are some lesser serious and non-journalisty things I learned: Having a Quiznos and a pho place SUPER close to the newsroom means you will eat there a LOT. Edmonton offers many a Monster Burger and Monster Burgers are best eaten shared! No matter how well you think you know the city, YOU WILL GET LOST! Working at a newspaper will make you read the news and watch the news a whole lot more than not working at one. It can be tempting to the take elevator up and down 3 floors but hurrah! Taking the stairs each day can keep you semi-fit! Press conferences with food are always a better press conference than one without… ;) And more ! But I don’t want to dig into my memory to figure out more points, lol.

Apologies for the messy hair.

All in all I am super stoked that I got the opportunity to work so many shifts at the Sun this summer and I am so grateful for all of the experience that I’ve received and I’m looking forward to heading back to NAIT for my last leg of Television Broadcasting and I’m looking forward to what opportunities will come in the future! Do I see myself back at the Sun sometime in my future? If they’ll have me back, I definitely wouldn’t rule it out, but for now I’d like to focus on the television/broadcasty side of journalism! :)

Linda

Edmonton Sun

• August 28 2010. Foreign worker’s bank draft uncashable in Vietnam. News.
• August 28 2010. Cat killer on the loose?. News.
• August 28 2010. Gaga fans apply their poker faces. News.
• August 27 2010. 47 low-income families get hope for homes. News.
• August 27 2010. Help tackle hunger at Esks game. News.
• August 26 2010. Bring out your diapers!. News.
• August 25 2010. Reprieve for kindergarten. News.
• August 25 2010. Cops top charity goal. News.
• August 25 2010. Parents rally to save Riverdale kindergarten class. News.
• August 21 2010. 24 residents now homeless after north-end fire. News.
• August 21 2010. Cops camping out for special kids. News.
• August 20 2010. Smoke sparks health alert. News.
• August 20 2010. Big jump in drunk-driving charges. News.
• August 20 2010. ‘It’s been a long struggle’. News.
• August 19 2010. Abused but ‘adorable’ dogs up for adoption. News.
• August 18 2010. Computer program makes scents. News.
• August 18 2010. Summer cold, cough, could be signs of meningitis. News.
• August 17 2010. Child falls from balcony. News.
• August 17 2010. Alberta donating $500k to help flooded Pakistan. News.
• August 15 2010. Animal group cashes in. News.
• August 14 2010. Marriott hotel in works for Edmonton Int’l Airport. News.
• August 10 2010. Injured soldiers ‘Soldier On’. News.
• August 10 2010. Some Edmonton kids back in class. News.
• August 7 2010. Teenager gets close to heart. News.
• August 7 2010. Firms vie to revamp muni lands. News.
• August 6 2010. Geeks gather for Fragapalooza. News.
• August 2 2010. Capital Ex cleans up nicely. News.
• August 1 2010. Unique fireworks show planned for Capital Ex finale. News.
• August 1 2010. Parents appreciate EX’s sticker program. News.
• July 31 2010. Hypnotist credits craft with saving his life. News.
• July 30 2010. Kiddie Commando section under fire. News.
• July 30 2010. Touring mosaic painting comes to Capital Ex. News.
• July 29 2010. ‘Carnie kid’ always returns to midway. News.
• July 29 2010. Seniors relive K-Days at Capital Ex. News.
• July 28 2010. Food maven shares expertise at Capital Ex. News.
• July 28 2010. Capital Ex rides a scream. News.
• July 26 2010. Capital Ex on $25. News.
• July 26 2010. Flair in the air for bartender. News.
• July 25 2010. Sweet dreams at Ex. News.
• July 24 2010. Super Dogs return to Capital Ex after eight-year hiatus. News.
• July 20 2010. Stained glass windows restored. News.
• July 17 2010. Cops seize nearly 150 pounds of pot. News.
• July 16 2010. Dad thankful after son survives fall into Arctic Ocean. News.
• July 16 2010. Local space camp kids launch mission Aurora. News.
• July 14 2010. Son makes emotional plea. News.
• July 13 2010. Missing couple’s motorhome found burnt. News.
• July 9 2010. Gaga tix put to use. News.
• July 8 2010. Germany fans feel pain from final-bound Span. News.
• July 1 2010. No private manner. News.
• July 1 2010. New Canadians take in Canada Day. News.
• July 1 2010. Beware of bugs in your bag. News.
• June 25 2010. New provincial riding for city. News.
• June 23 2010. E-town earns green spot in Monopoly: Canada. News.
• June 22 2010. Victim of blast had smelled gas, says grieving fiancee. News.
• June 21 2010. Touching tribute. News.
• June 18 2010. Teen girl hopeful to meet idol. News.
• June 16 2010. Daily tears after 25 years. News.
• June 12 2010. No funds for special needs kids. News.
• June 9 2010. From dousing to delivering. News.
• June 6 2010. Hip hop dancers hope to hop a jet to Vegas. News.
• June 5 2010. Poets take on military life. News.
• June 5 2010. Cats for the taking. News.
• June 4 2010. Student overcomes blindness to get university degree. News.
• June 3 2010. Push to punt plastic. News.
• June 3 2010. Indy honchos upbeat despite slow ticket sales. News.
• June 2 2010. Canadians building trust with Afghans. News.
• June 1 2010. Bad checks scam. News.
• May 29 2010. Reflection of Canada. News.
• May 26 2010. Second man eyed in ’81 homicide. News.
• May 20 2010. Space medicine awakens dream. News.
• May 20 2010. Better care for dying. News.
• May 18 2010. The cycle of life. News.
• May 15 2010. Boys family needs help. News.
• May 14 2010. Youngest Alberta lung transplant recipient. News.
• May 14 2010. Wildfires spark E-town air alert. News.
• May 13 2010. Champs rally for a cause. News.
• May 13 2010. Grits would reward voters with tax credit. News.
• May 12 2010. Marking your territory. News.
• May 7 2010. Public gets peek at arena. News.
• May 1 2010. Provincial pact makes for “economic powerhouse”. News.
• April 30 2010. City beats own homeless goal. News.
• April 30 2010. LRT a budget buster. News.
• April 29 2010. Students hop on energy bus. News.
• April 28 2010. $19M windfall for Alberta charities. News.
• April 28 2010. Province to liase with Somali-Canadian community. News.

Foreign worker’s bank draft uncashable in Vietnam

Andy Yap is frustrated.

His friend Lu Nguyen, who had worked as a temporary foreign worker in Edmonton for two years, is back in Vietnam and out $7,000.

Before Nguyen’s work permit expired in July, she went to her TD branch to cash out her savings.

Because the amount was so large, tellers instead gave her a bank draft and told her she could cash it when she returned to Vietnam.

But when Nguyen, 43, went to cash the cheque back home, every bank in Vietnam she approached said they couldn’t do it.

“No one in Vietnam knew what TD bank was,” Yap said.

Yap approached the TD branch at 6527 118 Ave. on behalf of Nguyen. Managers weren’t able to say which banks in Vietnam could take the TD cheque.

“You say you can cash it anywhere in the world, but then you can’t give people the address of where to cash it out,” the frustrated friend said.

While it’s been over a month since the problem was first reported to TD, a spokesperson said Friday that the bank is currently working to solve the issue and give Nguyen back the money she worked for years to earn.

“We’re working with her branch in Vietnam to work it out,” said Jacqueline Burns, media relations with TD’s Alberta branches. “We’re doing everything we can to help.”

She adds that Nguyen’s Edmonton branch was not at fault for the bank draft error.

“TD is an internationally recognized bank. It’s not something we had expected,” Burns said. “The issue stemmed on the Vietnam side. We didn’t cause the problem.”

Burns said for client privacy reasons, managers at the branch weren’t able to work with Yap.

But while the bank is now working as quickly as they can to resolve the problem, Yap said it’s six weeks too late.

“Now they say they are doing something. Why not six weeks ago?,” he said. “It’s ridiculous.”

Nguyen is missing the money she spent two years saving, he said. “Seven-thousand dollars is a lot of money over there,” Yap said. “Hopefully they do something right away now.”

Cat killer on the loose?

Cat owners are being warned to keep a closer eye on their pets after three more cases of dismembered felines recently popped up in the city.

The Edmonton Humane Society (EHS) is issuing the critical warning after police alerted them that three cats were found dead and partially mutilated between Aug. 19 and 27 on the southside.

“It is so important for people to be watching their cats,” said Shawna Randolph with the Edmonton Humane Society.

“No cat is safe unless they are under the careful eye of their owners.”

The three cases bring the total recent number of cat killings city police are investigating to eight since the end of May.

“People are thinking ‘my cat is fine,’ but cats cannot safely fend for themselves,” Randolph said.

She said the number of dead and mutilated cats being investigated by city police is a huge concern.

“It is definitely alarming to us.”

However, Dean Parthenis, communications supervisor for the EPS, said some investigation results coming back from the cases dont appear to be linked to a human killer.

“We havent seen anything so far in these cases in the southwest that would indicate something other than an animal attack just yet,” Parthenis said.

But he adds a cat killer has not been completely ruled out.

“There are still some cases which have not yet been resolved,” he said. “(But) we would hate for people to jump to conclusions.”

A particularly gruesome find was made in July when half of a cat was found in southwest Edmonton. Two weeks later the lower half of the cat was found nearby, followed by a series of other maimed cats in the area.

While some cats injuries were consistent with being hit by a car, in other cases vets were unnable to say what caused the wounds.

Whether it is animal killings or humans harming the cats, Randolph said owners should still keep cats indoors.

Police are currently working on solving the rest of the cat killing cases to see whether the felines were intentionally killed.

Gaga fans apply their poker faces

Hundreds of Lady Gaga fans spent the two days the pop star was in town getting done up Gaga-style.

Fans who didn’t show up at the concert with their own homemade make-up flocked to cosmetics stores to get wild designs done professionally.

“It was crazy,” said Kasha Mark with Mac Cosmetics in West Edmonton Mall.

“We were booked solid for make-up appointments for the concert.”

Kerris Yarmuch, a colour specialist at the mall’s Sephora said specialists worked constantly throughout Thursday applying Lady Gaga-specific make up on fans.

“We were doing eyes, doing lightning bolts, sparkles, glitter, all kinds of different glamour looks,” Yarmuch said.

“It was pretty cool.”

She adds employees weren’t surprised by the big turnout of fans hoping to look like Gaga.

“We kind of saw it coming,” Yarmuch said. “Everyone was prepared.”

Mark said the concerts proved to be an opportunity for women — and men — to go out of “their comfort zone.”

“A lot of people got stuff they normally wouldn’t,” she said.

“Makeup they wouldn’t wear normally but did because it’s Gaga.”

Yarmuch says while the crowds of fans at Sephora wanting extravagant make-up done wasn’t shocking, she says it was “definitely different.”

Along with colourful make up designs, many loyal fans of the eccentric singer dressed up — and down — in Lady Gaga-inspired outfits.

At Thursday night’s show, a number of Gaga’s “little monsters,” which is the term she affectionately calls her fanbase, came decked in sequins, fishnet stockings, and sparkling dresses.

Some fans even began lining up at Rexall Place for the last of the two sold-out shows as early as 3 p.m. on Friday.

Edmonton is Lady Gaga’s final Canadian stop in her North American tour.

47 low-income families get hope for homes

Forty-seven low-income families will soon have homes to call their own.

At a ceremonial sod turning on Thursday, Habitat for Humanity Edmonton launched its largest home build in the city.

The organization announced 47 new homes would be built for low-income families in the Bergman neighbourhood of northeast Edmonton at 123 Avenue and 41 Street.

“We are very excited,” said Yassin Duale, who, along with his wife and five children, will be living in one of the Habitat homes once it’s completed.

“If you buy a house and you have low income, sometimes maintaining that can be difficult, so we are quite happy about this, we’ll be paying something we can afford.”

“I’ll be happy to move in,” said Duale’s 10-year-old daughter Sofiya.

Along with being the largest home build in the city, the project — which has been named Anderson Gardens, after the Anderson family who owned the parcel of land — is also the biggest Built Green project in Canada.

When the 47-unit development was first proposed several years ago, many community residents and at least three city councillors were against it, fearing the project would attract crime into the middle-class neighbourhood.

But Mayor Stephen Mandel said Thursday that the project will positively impact Bergman residents.

“People don’t like to see a lot of change but hopefully at the end of the day, when they see the people moving in here with young families and the participation they’ll have in the community, they’ll see this is a great advantage to have in the area,” Mandel said.

Stacey McLean, who lives in a Norwood-area Habitat home, says her life has been “changed forever” since moving in two years ago.

“My standard of living jumped over a thousand per cent,” McLean said. “I know that doesn’t seem real, but it’s true.”

“Housing is not a concern anymore,” said McLean’s husband, Ian.

Anderson Gardens will be built in three phases over the next three years.

The first phase featuring 17 homes is to be completed within the first year.

Habitat also announced Thursday its goal to begin building 100 homes each year starting in 2012.