Going barefoot Second in a series on the region’s running culture. Page A3
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Poultry farm proposed for Gordon Head Twice denied rezoning, farmland owner opts for 12,000-bird facility Kyle Slavin News staff
A Saanich property owner plans to open a sizable poultry farm amid a residential neighbourhood after the district twice denied his family’s plans to redevelop the land as housing. Gordon Alberg is proposing to build four barns, which would house 12,000 birds (laying hens, broiler chickens and guinea fowl), an administration building and an equipment maintenance building, on his four-acre property at 1516 Mount Douglas X Rd. “(Building a poultry farm) wasn’t our plan. It wasn’t our first choice, it wasn’t our second choice,” Alberg said. “It’s the only alternative that we have left to do. It’s what council is telling us they’d like to see because it’s farmland.” The Alberg property, not far from the southern tip of Mount Doug Park, is within the provincial agricultural land reserve (ALR), while most of the neighbouring properties have long been carved off for single family homes. “If you want to save farmland you have to live with it being farmed,” remarked Saanich Mayor Frank Leonard after learning the land has been proposed to become a poultry farm. PLEASE SEE: Farmland, Page A8
Re-wiring the brain Edward Hill/News staff
UVic neuropsychology professors Kimberly Kerns, left, and Colette Smart demonstrate an EEG cap that measures the brain’s electrical activity. The pair hope to develop therapies to improve the cognitive abilities of people with fetal alcohol disorders.
Researchers to use ‘plasticity’ of the brain to help ease fetal alcohol disorders Edward Hill News staff
Head trauma from a car crash and ingesting alcohol while in the womb may look like two distinct insults to the body, but when it comes to the brain, it can be hard to tell the damage apart. To varying degrees, victims of traumatic brain injuries can experience behavioural and cognitive changes, such as impulsiveness, shortened temper, and impaired focusing, thinking and memory. Two University
of Victoria researchers realized that these symptoms appear similar to people suffering from fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD). And where people with brain injuries can help repair their brain through training and mental exercises, UVic neuropsychology professors Colette Smart and Kimberly Kerns suspect that children and adults with FASD can do the same. But unlike treatment for traumatic brain injuries, there is little in the way of therapies and intervention for fetal alcohol disorders.
“You can think about FASD as a prenatal traumatic brain injury,” Kerns said. “We see many of the same behavioural issues with both populations.” The researchers have a $65,000 grant from the Canadian Foundation on Fetal Alcohol Research to conduct a twoyear project with teenagers and adults already diagnosed with a FASD, an umbrella term that includes fetal alcohol syndrome. The Sooke School District and the Greater Victoria School District are are also participating in the study.
The underlying concept is that the brain has plasticity. With proper training, a person can rewire their brain – its circuitry can be altered with a positive impact on mood, behaviour and cognitive ability. It’s difficult to know how many youth and adults have FASD, but researchers estimate 300,000 Canadians live with impairment from the disorder, and about 3,000 babies a year are born with fetal alcohol effects. PLEASE SEE: Mindfulness, Page A11
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