Show 530 Monday 15 October

Watch today’s show at YouTube or BlipTV.

Hi, I’m Sarah, welcome to The Daily English Show.

Today’s guest is the president of Acadia University. Her name is Gail.
We were quite lucky to score an interview with her because she’s pretty busy. We caught up with her just before she left on a trip to China.
I asked her about the trip and she said that she was going to 5 cities in 10 days and she was going to be meeting Alumni and visiting schools.

We do have many Chinese students now and we would like more students to come from China. So I will be visiting different schools who have sent students to Acadia and I want to thank them for sending students to Acadia.

STICK NEWS

Kia Ora in Stick News today the Chinese government announced an extra 4 million people will be relocated from their homes to make way for one of largest dams in the world. Around 1.4 million people have already been displaced.

In 1919, some people in China decided to build a huge dam. The project suffered delays due to factors such as war and limited resources.
Construction finally started on December 14th, 1994.
It is now the largest hydroelectric river dam in the world.
So far the government has helped an estimated 1.4 million people move to make way for the dam.
On Saturday, they announced an extra 4 million people need to move.
Wikipedia says it’s still uncertain when the dam will be fully operational.
When it’s completed, it will be the largest hydroelectric power station in the world.
If it was fully operational now, it would support about 3% of the total electricity consumption in China.
When completed, it’s expected to lessen the frequency of big downstream flooding from once every 10 years to once every 100 years.

And that was Stick News for Monday the 15th of October.
Kia Ora.

conversations with sarah
#328 What does your job involve?

Step 1: Repeat Sarah’s lines.
Step 2: Read Sarah’s lines and talk to Gail.

Sarah What does your job involve?

Gail Well, I’m in charge, in a sense, of the daily running of the university. And ... but I have a team, of vice presidents and directors to assist me in that. Because the job of the president has changed. in many regards, over the last few years. And, for instance now, we’re in the middle of a 50 million dollar campaign.
And a big piece of my job is, is asking for money. So, I travel to where alumni are. And ah, I also do a lot of student recruitment. Because when a president shows up at a high school, high schools will let you in, which they won’t do if just a recruiter shows up. So I very much enjoy – I used to teach high school, so I very much enjoy visiting different high schools, visiting with our alumni around the world. In China, in Beijing, I’ll be meeting with a group of alumni. And I’m going to be visiting schools, who have been sending students to Acadia for many, many years. So it’s the perfect kind of trip for me.

Sarah You’ve worked at many different universities. What do you think is special about Acadia?

Gail I think the very close interaction faculty and students have. And the opportunity for students to do research as undergraduate students. Ah, most places you just can’t do that. And our students get that opportunity, the honours students get that opportunity to do significant publishable research – whether in science or the professional areas or the arts. And that’s one of the most special things for me.
I think the location is also wonderful. I think the small town lets you, lets you form friendships that you keep for your lifetime.
Ah, it’s not like going to school in a big city which sometimes even resembles high school where you commute. You know, go on the subway, show up, take a class, and leave.
Here people are very, very engaged all the time. Both inside the classroom and out.
And I think that’s what’s special about it.

Sarah Why do you think it’s a good place for international students?

Gail Again, because of the small town environment, it’s very safe. Ah, Wolfville welcomes international students. Um, I mean, you can walk down Main Street, you know, we have two streets, but you can walk down it and you’ll see a mix of international students as if you’re in downtown Toronto. And ah, and again I think it’s a place where international students can meet others from around the world, as well as Canadian students. And be able to concentrate on their studies. Not have to worry about all the different things, I mean, if they live in residence – and we’d like to see more of the international students living in residence - you get a wonderful experience and don’t have to worry about cooking. And, ah, and get to know people that you’d never get to meet anywhere else. So I think for international students in particular, it’s , it’s a wonderful place to come.

Sarah What is your vision for Acadia for the future?

Gail Um, I think our niche and an important niche for Canada is that we remain a relatively small undergraduate university. It’s good to have a few graduate programs.
But I think as an undergraduate university which concentrates on traditional age students. Gives them a wonderful classroom experience, gives them a very rich life outside the classroom. I mean, we have, we’ve got something like 65 clubs. We tell the students if you don’t find a club you like, create your own. A few years ago some girls ... wanted to ride and they created an equestrian club. Because there are horses you can rent nearby. And now we have 60 students in our equestrian club.
And, so, it’s a place where you can discover yourself, it’s a place where you can try things and you don’t have to be afraid of failing. And that’s what I think Acadia should always be.
Ah, we want, again, more students from around the world. I’d like to see our Acadia students travel the world as well, as part of their educational experience. Go away for the semester, go away for the summer. Have the chance to travel.
So, those are my visions for the future.

notes

Her name is Gail.

Gail Dinter-Gottlieb would normally be called "Dr. Dinter-Gottlieb" or "Dr. Gail Dinter-Gottlieb". TDES style is to use first names, so I stuck with that.

links

today's news
today's STICK NEWS pictures

Dr. Gail Dinter-Gottleib
Dr. Gail Dinter-Gottleib at Wikipedia

music

show start
artist: AdHoc
album: Toutes directions
track: La note en cage
from: Annecy, France
album at Jamendo
artist at Jamendo
artist site

cws start
artist: San Sebastian
track: Happy Sad
artist site

qa start
artist: Manu Cornet
album: Distance & Temps
track: Silk Road
from: Paris, France
album at Jamendo
artist at Jamendo
artist site

qa bgm

artist: Carlos Rives
album: Improvisaciones
track: Noesis 1
from: Andratx, Spain
album at Jamendo
artist at Jamendo
artist site

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