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Busting myths at TRU open house

The doors at Thompson Rivers University in Williams Lake were open to the community for an entertaining and unique event last week.
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TRU anthropology professor Beth Bedard talked about aliens and pyramids with Claire Munroe

The doors at Thompson Rivers University in Williams Lake were open to the community for an entertaining and unique event last week.

Various departments in the university held ‘myth busting’ games, puzzles and activities, with door prizes and a lucky horse shoe.

Questions were posed and answered, such as ‘Can the flu shot give you the flu?’ and ‘Can lint build-up in your clothes dryer result in a house fire?’ and ‘Did aliens build the pyramids?’ as well as ‘Does the government keep insects in our food?’

The event included opportunities to walk under an open ladder, open an umbrella indoors and throw salt over your left shoulder.

Myths included ‘Everyone has the freedom to read whatever they want’, ‘Food cannot be refrozen after it was been thawed,’ ‘Grammar saves lives’ and the ‘Myth of big numbers.’

The TRU nursing program had a puzzle game where people matched symptoms to either the cold or the flu.

They did things like listen to ‘patients’ breathing with a stethoscope to hear the differences between a cold and bronchial pneumonia, experience proper hand-washing technique to avoid the spread of colds and flues and see the myth that a flu shot can give you the flu thoroughly busted.

Professor Beth Bedard addressed the myth that aliens built the pyramids, entertaining guests of all ages with facts about archeology, history and engineering.

Participants enjoyed the opportunity to learn new facts, dispel myths and interact with staff and teachers in a university setting.

Coming up at TRU on March 2 is the ‘Splash of Colour’ gala fundraiser for local bursaries for students.