Pink Ribbons, Inc. opens February 3rd at a theatre near you! Pink Ribbons, Inc. looks at the pervasive impact of breast cancer fundraising. Every year, millions of dollars are raised, but where does all the money go, and what is actually achieved? The film offers a completely different take on the pink ribbon “success” story that has overtaken North America, with insight from leading doctors, activists and social critics, as well as women diagnosed with breast cancer. Produced by the National Film Board of Canada www.nfb.ca/pink

Take an epic global journey in search of the secrets of our distant past. Since 2005 Spencer Wells, National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence and director of the Genographic Project, has led a team of scientists in collecting hundreds of thousands of DNA samples from participants around the world. Wells is creating a detailed, genetically-based map of human migration, using clues in our own cells to show how modern humans came to populate the planet after leaving the cradle of Africa some 60,000 years ago.

This is the 38th year of the Great Northern Concrete Toboggan Race (GNCTR). The event was conceived in the 1970s as a way for engineering students to apply their knowledge in a fun and practical way. The Alberta Chapter of the American Concrete Institute (ACI) originally proposed the idea as a competition between the University of Alberta and the University of Calgary. It was seen as the equivalent to the Concrete Canoe Race in the United States, but incorporating snow made it uniquely Canadian. The first event in 1972 was funded completely by the ACI however they chose not to fund future races and the event was officially cancelled. In 1975, a group of students decided that GNCTR was not going to be dismissed so easily. The event remained within Alberta and teams from the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (SAIT) and the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT) were invited to compete. The event in 1975 was held in Red Deer, Alberta. GNCTR was reborn and is, to this day, completely run by students or recent alumni. Teams from universities across the country took an interest in the competition and it soon became one of the largest engineering competitions in Canada. Because it is student-run, sponsorship is essential for teams to afford the costs of attending the competition. This provides excellent exposure for companies and a great place for student recruitment. Today, there are several aspects of the competition that are judged, including concrete mix design, toboggan safety, team spirit and race performance. The judging panel is comprised of industry representatives who are determined by the GNCTR Executive Committee. The Technical Exhibit (Tech Ex) is a one-day event where teams display their toboggans for all competitors and judges. With team spirit and theme in mind, the toboggans are shown on displays that are up to 10’ x 20’ x 10’ high in area. As this event is open to the public and is almost always on the host university’s campus, there are many spectators from outside the competition who gain exposure to what GNCTR is about. It also provides for an excellent opportunity for industry representatives to approach teams and/or individuals to create relationships for possible recruitment.

This is the 38th year of the Great Northern Concrete Toboggan Race (GNCTR). The event was conceived in the 1970s as a way for engineering students to apply their knowledge in a fun and practical way. The Alberta Chapter of the American Concrete Institute (ACI) originally proposed the idea as a competition between the University of Alberta and the University of Calgary. It was seen as the equivalent to the Concrete Canoe Race in the United States, but incorporating snow made it uniquely Canadian. The first event in 1972 was funded completely by the ACI however they chose not to fund future races and the event was officially cancelled. In 1975, a group of students decided that GNCTR was not going to be dismissed so easily. The event remained within Alberta and teams from the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (SAIT) and the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT) were invited to compete. The event in 1975 was held in Red Deer, Alberta. GNCTR was reborn and is, to this day, completely run by students or recent alumni. Teams from universities across the country took an interest in the competition and it soon became one of the largest engineering competitions in Canada. Because it is student-run, sponsorship is essential for teams to afford the costs of attending the competition. This provides excellent exposure for companies and a great place for student recruitment. Today, there are several aspects of the competition that are judged, including concrete mix design, toboggan safety, team spirit and race performance. The judging panel is comprised of industry representatives who are determined by the GNCTR Executive Committee. Race Day is the real test, the day when teams race the toboggans that have been months in the making. Each toboggan must meet three main criteria: all of the toboggan’s running surface must be made of concrete, there must be a roll cage, and there must be braking and steering systems. All other design aspects are up to the interpretation and imagination of the teams. The evaluation process takes into consideration the use of recycled content in their concrete mix design. With the construction industry leaning more towards “green building,” this is an incentive for teams to test different concrete mixtures and materials. Teams get a minimum of three runs down the course with five people in the toboggan. Upon braking, all five riders must still be in the toboggan and failure to complete any run (because of loss of a rider, steering, brake or material failure) disqualifies the team for subsequent runs. The third run is a slalom course and teams must have a steering mechanism to maneuver around gates. Final scores are determined by maximum speed reached, braking distance and elapsed time per run.