Smoothie operators: If you were wandering around the Interurban campus in September 2001 looking for something a little more exciting than coffee, tea, or pop, students in Camosun’s Basic Food Services Training program had you covered. In our September 28, 2001 issue, we visited the Mixt Greens Juice Bar, where students prepared smoothies, fruit juices, chocolate-dipped bananas, and the occasional truffle while gaining work experience. The eight-month program combined classroom learning with job placements in restaurants, cafeterias, hospitals, and senior-care centres. Student Kuan Oake said the program taught him “a sense of responsibility and how to manage my work.” Honestly, if someone wants to reopen the juice bar and start selling chocolate-covered bananas at Interurban again, I see no downside.
Waitlist woes: Registering for classes can still be stressful, but students in 2001 had an additional enemy: Camosun’s new Camlink registration system. In this issue, writer Celeste Gust reported students struggling with system issues, confusing waitlists, registration difficulties, and the dreaded problem of required classes filling up. Camosun Registrar Kate Ross acknowledged that the system had experienced “many glitches,” while one student said that because she couldn’t register she had no books for her classes as she waited to find out if she was actually in them. Technology has changed, but the timeless tradition of staring at a required course that’s all filled up and wondering what exactly to do next remains alive and well.
Reality TV, island edition: Before Love Island gave us beautiful people making questionable decisions in villas, Vancouver Island had The New VI. The newly launched television station promised local programming alongside familiar shows including The Simpsons, Frasier, and Ally McBeal. In this issue, we reported that its Victoria headquarters would produce 26.5 hours of original programming each week, including news and morning programming. The station also celebrated its arrival with launch parties across Vancouver Island. Twenty-five years later, local television may look very different, but The Simpsons is, somehow, still making new episodes.