features

NASH 2012,

PART Il

Over the Edge staff were able to explore and
enjoy the sights of Victoria on their nights off,
often walking by the lit up Parliament building,
as well as the port side marina located directly
across the street ffam their hotel.

JESSICA N SHAPIRO
COPY EDITOR

ASH 74’, the Canadian University

Press journalism conference in Vic-

toria this year, featured many interest-
ing and eminent speakers, who in turn inspired
student journalists from all over the country.
One of the more popular presentations of the
last days of NASH 74’ was Tasha Diamant’s
‘Human Body Project’, which she has been
publicly presenting in the nude since 2006. “At
Human Body Project events I appear unscripted
and use my naked body to create a felt, visceral
experience of shared vulnerability. I have learn-
ed that being naked is much easier than being
openhearted. But I have also learned that being
openhearted is easier when I am naked. Vulner-
ability makes me more able to be heartful,” Dia-

mant explains. Perhaps her promised nakedness
was what enticed students to show up, but once
the doors were closed and her clothes were off,
the giddiness quickly evaporated, and the stu-
dents started to seriously consider the issues of
individual and global vulnerability, and Tasha’s
commitment to consciousness and action. “It
now feels intensely urgent to me that we humans
address the amputation of empathy and connect-
edness from our existence. I use my own human
vessel--my self, my body--as a vehicle to teach
and to learn,” Diamant states. She mentioned
at the beginning of her talk that people in her
audiences usually come up and join her in the
nude, but it wasn’t until the end of the hour that
slowly, but consistently, half of the delegates
in the room de-robed in
the name of the human
body, and the feelings of
vulnerability that we all
face.

The last day featured an
encouraging and informa-
tive round table session
called
ism to Communications’,

V Y

ATIONAL CONFEDH nal.
20 - Via ! Journal

‘From
where three women in the
field of communications
spoke about the technical

skills they acquired as student journalists that
helped them achieve jobs in their field. They
reminded us that we have gained years of valu-
able
by being student
that
we could not have

experience
journalists

acquired by com-
pleting a simple
journalism degree.
Lien Yeung start-
ed her career as a
journalist at The
Peak Newspaper
at Simon Fraser
University, and is
how the — senior
communications
officer at CBC.
She affirmed that
with the vast array
of skills, technical
and interpersonal,
that student journal-
ists acquire in their universities, they emerge as
very ‘hireable’ in the field of communications
and media relations. Great news!

Despite the Norovirus outbreak that put a

damper on the tail end of the weekend in Vic-

february 01, 2011 - Over the Edge

toria, this conference was enjoyed and celebrat-
ed by all the student delegates who attended,
and our team of Over the Edge editors left feel-

ing motivated and full of useful tricks and skills
in the world of journalism.

Lien Yeung, the senior communications officer at CBC, and Amanda McCuaig, the communications coordinator
at Science World in Vancouver, gave an inspirational round table session, stressing to delegates the usefulness of
all the hands-on experience they have gained as student journalists to the field of communications.