Charity snowballs Cedar Hill students bring in mounds of food and cash. Page A3
NEWS: Former Saanich priest grilled at trial /A5 ARTS: Breakout year for singer Georgia Murray /A12 SPORTS: A triathlete’s transition to cycling /A14
SAANICHNEWS Friday, December 21, 2012
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UVic hit with layoffs Kyle Slavin News staff
Cutbacks at the University of Victoria has resulted in the layoff of at least 24 employees so far, as departments seek to cut four per cent from their budgets this year. Melissa Moroz, labour relations officer for the Professional Employees Association, calls it a “very sad situation” that UVic handed pink slips to two dozen of their full-time workers, including some who’ve been employed at the university since the 1980s. “It’s devastating to these people’s lives, and it will directly impact services to both faculty and students,” Moroz said. “There’s only so much people can do.” The lost jobs will come from a variety of places, she said, adding many of the employees work in technical support, scientific support and research support. Some of those laid off are already gone, while others will continue to work until spring 2013. Moroz called this an “unprecedented amount of layoffs.” She’s seen one-off job losses in the past due to organizational changes, but never anything near to this many at once. “There’s a lot of uneasiness and fear that’s been generated as a result of these layoffs.”
Arnold Lim/News staff
Paul Zehr, a UVic professor of neuroscience, led a recent study that showed stroke victims who trained their stronger leg had roughly equal strength gains on their leg more impacted by the stroke.
A new hope for stroke victims Unexpected gains on weak side of body for patients in recovery Arnold Lim News staff
PLEASE SEE: Janitorial to be reduced, Page A10
Attention readers: To avoid having our newspaper carriers deliver on Christmas or Boxing day, the Saanich News will publish on Monday, Dec. 24 instead of Dec. 26. The usual publication schedule resumes on Dec. 28.
Research at the University of Victoria has demonstrated that weight training by stroke victims in recovery can have twice the benefit to their bodies. A study led by UVic neuroscientist Paul Zehr showed that showed that a stroke patient exercising the strong side of their body will have roughly equivalent muscle gain on their weak side. “One of the things that is a big prob-
lem after a stroke is one side is more affected,” Zehr said. “We are trying to understand what has happened after the stroke, and take that information an use it to guide interventions … to help push the system back (to normal).” The study focused primarily on the lower body to help patients regain strength and mobility. Overall, people who participated in the six-week study regained about 30 per cent muscle mass. Cross-education of strength, or the idea that training one side of the human body can have benefits to corresponding muscles on the opposite side, has been known for decades – but typically the cross-benefit is only five to 10 per cent.
“The really important observation was when we went to see what happened to the leg not trained, we found the same strength gain which means 30 per cent (gain) on both sides,” Zehr said. Nineteen post-stroke patients ranging in age from 26 to 81 and averaging 84 months post-stroke, completed the full six-week program that involved highintensity exercises, such as lifting a fitted block of wood with their unaffected ankle and foot. While more tests are being done, the results of the study, completed with PhD student Katie Dragert, startled even the professor. PLEASE SEE: Strength gains, Page A8
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