News

(From left): MET students Graciela Manaois, Eleanor Pangilinan, Tessa Feeleus, Qi Zhao and Marielaine Palileo, with the Stirling engines they built as class assignments.

For decades, mechanical engineering technology has been something of a male-dominated field. But with more and more women now entering the field, enrolment at Red River is reflective of the changing times.

“What’s really unusual about this is I don’t think we’ve had more than about five female graduates in this program — ever,” says Kathy Davis, Technical Communication instructor and co-op coordinator for RRC’s Mechanical Engineering Technology program.

“And now we have nine women enrolled between first and third year. And they’re all doing well, despite the fact that they’re in a tough program, and despite the fact one of them has a very young daughter, another is fresh out of high school, one has English as a second language issues, and another is working full time. How they’re doing it, I don’t know!”

While she’s careful to point out that many of the program’s male students face similar pressures, Davis says it’s great to see more young women currently enrolled, since it suggests a reversal of a decades-old trend in which women have avoided the field in favour of civil or electrical engineering technology. Read More →

The first weeks of a new semester can be hectic times, so it might be easy for students to lose track of a critical event that’s occurring this Fall: the 2011 provincial election.

While it may be tempting to disregard the issues facing our province, it is an important time to consider how the many decisions made by our provincial government directly impact a student’s life. The province funds transportation systems that students use to get to campus, regulates the rent on their apartments, determines the minimum wage for their part-time jobs, and even sets operating rules for their favourite pubs or restaurants.

Unfortunately, many students don’t seem to make that connection, and decide not to participate in our democratic process. In a typical election, over half of all people aged 18-29 do not cast a ballot. An even smaller number listen to debates, attend candidate forums, or volunteer with political parties. Read More →

After a perfect 2010/11 season that saw them go 14-0, with just four set losses, the Red River College Rebels men’s volleyball team did one better this weekend, dismantling a talented squad from Alberta in the CMU Challenge Cup final.

The CMU Challenge Cup, a non-MCAC tournament which took place on campus at Winnipeg’s Canadian Mennonite University, featured two men’s teams who will take the court in MCAC action this year: the Red River College Rebels and the CMU Blazers.

It also saw talented teams in the eventual-finalist Lakeland Rustlers from the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference and the Lakehead Thunderwolves, a club team from the Thunder Bay school.

Red River College defeated Lakeland in straight sets in both the final and the round robin match between the two. Lakeland has nine Manitobans on their roster.

“Defeating Lakeland was great for our program and the conference,” said Dan Gilbert, head coach of the Red River men’s volleyball team. “With dozens of Manitobans currently playing college volleyball elsewhere, this shows that many players are still looking abroad for something that may be available in their own back yard.” Read More →

Red River College is pleased to welcome Keith Doerksen as the new Manager of its Winkler Campus.

Doerksen, a longtime resident of the Morden-Winkler area, takes over for former campus manager Isabel Bright (now Chair of Life Sciences at RRC), and relieves Joanne Gonda, who’s been serving as Acting Manager since Bright’s departure over the summer. Read More →

Red River College has a brand new home in Portage la Prairie.

The newly-opened Portage campus, located at 32 5th St. S.E. (the former site of Victoria School, built in 1916), doesn’t just provide far more space than the former site, it also seeks to improve accessibility issues for students from the city and surrounding area.

The College has maintained a presence in Portage for years, but for the last decade, the campus itself has been located just outside the city — approximately six kilometres away, at nearby Southport.

“There’s no bus service in Portage, so the only way that students without their own vehicles could get out (to Southport) was by cab,” says Campus Manager Lori-Ann Grenkow. Read More →

Red River College (RRC) faculty and students will benefit from $97,500 to conduct innovative research projects in 2011 and 2012.

The Research Innovation Fund (RIF) is provided by Applied Research & Commercialization (AR&C) to encourage faculty, staff, and students to engage in research activities at the College. Read More →

Red River College is proud to recognize International Day of Peace: September 21. RRC is also a proud supporter of the International Day of Peace Concert, Winnipeg — which will be held on Friday, September 23 at The Forks.

International Day of Peace was established in 1981 by resolution 36/67 of the United Nations General Assembly. In 2001, the United Nations unanimously established September 21 as an annual day of non-violence and cease-fire.

The free concert honouring International Day of Peace will take place at the Forks Market Canopy, from 6-9pm on September 23rd. It will feature a performance by Sierra Noble, along with special guests Lisa Marie Tucker, Sheena Grobb, Melvin Star, and others.

For more information, click here.

A pair of Red River College instructors have launched a new website aimed at helping Manitoba voters make an informed choice in the upcoming election.

Earlier this week, RRC instructors Kyle Geske and Jody Gillis — also the co-founders of Open Democracy Manitoba — launched ManitobaElection.ca, a comprehensive resource for information on the pending provincial election.

Read More →

With the collegiate sports season gearing up, and the launch of its new soccer program, Red River College has added four new coaches to its athletics department this fall. Doug Lawrie and Paul Thompson will coach women’s and men’s soccer, respectively, while Jaenas Pangilinan  will coach women’s basketball and Lea Romanchuk will coach women’s volleyball.

“With their experience and enthusiasm, our new coaches will definitely play a key role in leading our Rebels teams to great success,” said Ryan Ratushniak, Red River College Director of Athletics.

For more information on RRC Rebels Athletics, visit www.rrc.ca/athletics

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It’s back to school week at Red River College, and as always, students are marking their return to class with a few extra-curricular celebrations.

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