Up front: Newcomer challenging Kent for Duncan mayor’s chair On stage: Lightfoot muses on the twilight of his iconic career
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Wednesday, October 22, 2014
TED Talks come to Brentwood
Duncan approves Dakova Square
Transformation switched on: Students inspired by Cowichan debut of popular series
Divided council: New building going ahead on longvacant corner
Peter W. Rusland
News Leader Pictorial
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Peter W. Rusland
News Leader Pictorial
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Student Garey Chia Wen Gan demonstrates some of his talent after his TEDx speech The Power of a Yo-yo Oct. 17 at Brentwood College.
your own self-transformation.” to spring, and our part in that change. While yo-yos transformed Gan, Personal change touted by TEDx author Zak Ebrahim morphed by real- speakers fed student Benny Jean Cyizing the futility of religious violence trynbaum’s career curiosity. preached by his father. That led Ebra“It opens our minds to lots of things. him to write his book The Terrorist’s I’m really fascinated about what they Son. say; they give us insight into what their “Inspiration can come from an job is.” unexpected place; I’m tired of hating While some stress about finding a people,” said Ebrahim, one of several work-life balance, speaker Brent BaTED speakers on the Bunch’s screen rootes advised listeners to chill and mix between guests. both to avoid blue Mondays. Consultant and zipline designer “It’s got to be a work-life integration; Andrew Higginson told students to a work-life balance doesn’t exist. ‘Ask why?’ and gain new opinions on “We work harder for success, but old problems. we’re bothered because we’re not “A variety of viewpoints allows us spending enough time with family and to solve old problems in new ways. friends,” he said. “You don’t make up You can solve problems using different lost time.” thinking than what created them.” Student Jaclyn Childs agreed TEDx Gan’s slick yo-yo tricks were reflected offered ways to make the most of life. in wisdom from student slam poets “If I was a TED speaker, I’d talk th Scragg stabout Claire Attridge and Katlan just doing everything you like to reciting And Fall. do. Hopefully everyone can find someYouwinter are invited come celebrate It echoed nature’s switch from thingto they’re good at, and enjoy life.”
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Non-profit TED talks, held annually in Vancouver and Whistler, are based on ‘ideas worth sharing,’ under the acronym for Technology, Entertainment, Design. Bud Patel, Brentwood’s headmaster, said his debut TEDx licence allowed 100 in the audience. He hoped to stretch that to 500 next year, and invite citizens into the private college’s T. Gil Bunch theatre to enjoy TED’s energy. Valley horsewoman Michelle Atterby was one of the speakers. She gains inspiration from her genuine, equine friends. “Horses tell us when we’re not being authentic, and show us how to be authentic. “Ninety per cent of communication is non-verbal,” she said of positive body language, and the strength of stillness that calms ourselves, others and horses too. From horses, Atterby learned empathy spawns vulnerability, and leads to compassion. “The gift you have to give is that of
Peter W. Rusland
entative rezoning of a five-storey building proposed for downtown Duncan’s main corner was narrowly passed in a 4-3 council vote Monday. Final approval for the $11-million Dakova Square residentialcommercial project at 15 Canada Ave. could come Nov. 24, pending highways ministry approval, Mayor Phil Kent said. The rezoning allows Dakova to go to five stories instead of the currently permissible four and add more condo units. The Alberta developer plans 36 strata units for sale. Councillors Sharon Jackson, Michelle Staples and Michele Bell, opposed the rezoning. “In my opinion, it will negatively alter the face of Duncan for the next 60 years,” Jackson said. “This building is mammoth.” Kent, and councillors Joe Thorne, Martin Barker and Tom Duncan, saw Dakova’s attributes. more on page 13
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o-yos make Garey Chia Wen Gan happy. The Grade 12 Brentwood College student doesn’t care if others share his thing for the string toy he’s mastered. Making oneself content, while disregarding others’ negative opinions, was the trick he shared with 100 classmates and guests during Friday’s slate of speakers — including Breaking Bad director Michelle MacLeod, and war amputee Daniel Riley — at Cowichan’s first TEDx symposium. Gan’s yarn about yo-yos lending him direction deftly matched Brentwood’s TED talks urging students to Switch On Transformation. “The world of yo-yos was so much bigger than what I thought,” said energetic Gan. “We have let the opinions of others affect what we think of ourselves, and what makes us happy,” he said, creating a star shape with his yo-yo string. “We fear social rejection; while you may look perfect, how do you really feel? “Why sacrifice our happiness to make others like us?” Gan asked, noting individual differences make us real. And we have real power to control how we respond, and to forget fear of judgement. Steering fear into an evolved sense of self-confidence and success drove hundreds of other TEDheads — from billionaires to students, scientists to cancer survivors — to TED stages that have drawn widespread audiences on YouTube.