News briefs are fun for the whole family. This week: the Provost gets a new advisor, Roy Romanow shakes things up with Air Canada and Canwest newspapers on the auction block.

Experiential learning advisor appointed to Provost

Western College of Veterinary Medicine professor Baljit Singh was appointed special advisor to the provost on experiential learning.

Singh was chosen because of his dedication to students’ learning experiences. He developed “biomedical rounds” for the Doctor of Veterinary Medicine curriculum to combine traditional classroom-style learning with equally useful practical experience.

The appointment, which is to last 30 months, began on Jan. 1.

Canadian newspaper chain to be auctioned

The newspaper-publishing unit of Canwest Global Communications is set to be auctioned to the highest bidder in the next several weeks.

Since parent company Canwest Global filed for bankruptcy in October 2009, the company’s newspaper sector has been in the hands of its creditors. These include Canada’s Big Five banks — the Royal Bank of Canada, TD Canada Trust, Scotiabank, Bank of Montreal and CIBC — and various international bankers. The auction has garnered at least four potential bidders, including Torstar, the parent company of the Toronto Star. Canwest hopes that a bid between $1 billion and $1.5 billion ”“ less than half of what was paid for its acquisition back in 2000 ”“ will be made sometime in the next six to seven weeks.

Canwest is the largest newspaper chain in Canada — it controls the National Post and daily newspapers in 10 major Canadian cities, including Saskatoon’s StarPhoenix.

Operations at the papers are not expected to change in the near future.

Former Saskatchewan premier named to Air Canada board

Roy Romanow, who served as NDP premier of Saskatchewan from 1991 to 2001, was named to the Air Canada board of directors on Jan. 22.

Following a cost-cutting deal in 2009, the council of union leaders won the right to a seat on the board. They chose Romanow to hold the labour representative seat.

Romanow, who is a senior fellow in public policy at the University of Saskatchewan, is also a director of the newspaper publishing company Torstar.

Snow day!

With the cancellation of school buses, limited city buses, and cars stuck in the bank or snowed into driveways, Monday, Jan. 25 became an unofficial snow day for many Saskatoon residents.

Faced with 25 centimetres of snow from a weekend storm, getting to work and school proved too challenging for a number of students..

Saskatoon Transit offered limited service from Sunday to Wednesday, sticking to main streets that had already been cleared.

Some residents took full advantage of the snow day, with reports of people using cross-country skis, snow mobiles and snowshoes to get around.