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etsy Volume 144 · Issue 22 • March 2, 2011
www.thebruns.ca
brunswickan canada’s oldest official student publication.
Chlamydia campaign for NB
Riding the Black Turkey
Hilary Paige Smith News Editor The department of Public Health has launched a new campaign informing young New Brunswickers about Chlamydia. Incidence rates of the sexually transmitted infection are 30 times higher among people ages 15 to 29. University students are considered a high-risk group. Along with launching a prominent advertising campaign with ads splashed on Facebook homepages, the department is also promoting self-testing kits for the infection. People can pick their testing kit up at any of the locations outlined by the health department as well as drop them off at these locations. The kits, which require a urine sample, are tested by laboratories and results are sent to a doctor. If results come up positive, the doctor will call the patient in for treatment. Test results are confidential. Karen Wilson, communicable disease co-ordinator with Public Health, said, if people are still anxious about their negative result, there is a list of numbers they can call on the government of New Brunswick’s “Who Knew?” STI campaign site. “(The kits) make testing easily accessible to the population because some of the population may not have a family doctor or may not be comfortable going to a family doctor, may have had some risk activities in the past and may just be wondering if they exposed themselves to something,” Wilson said. The campaign aims to increase the number of people getting tested and let people in the 15 to 29 demographic know they are at risk for the infection if they have unsafe sexual practices. Dr. Alban Martin, clinical chief at the Student Health Centre, outlined the reason for high infection numbers among students. ”The answer is simple - tendency to have multiple partners and lack of condom use. There is a sense of invincibility and assumption they will not get infected. In the end, it’s simple math. The more partners you have, the higher the probability you’re going to be exposed to an STI,” he said. Martin said he is hopeful the home kits will encourage people to get tested. For a list of places to pick up a testing kit, as well as more information about Chlamydia, visit www.gnb.ca/whoknew.
Owen Steel, Doug Macnearney and Will Fitzpatrick will be heading down to Texas later this March to check out the SxSW festival.The group will also try and perform their own music over the course of their trip. Mike Erb / The Brunswickan Matt Belyea Arts Reporter Owen Steel is hoping his delicate ride will survive the 2,400 mile trek to the South by Southwest (SXSW) musical festival in Austin, Texas. Steel calls his 1999 Toyota Tercel “The Black Turkey.” “She’s got one blue wing on the left side, the other is black. I love her to death. Most turkeys can’t fly; this one can.” Steel’s upcoming show at the Wilser’s Room in Fredericton on March 10 will act as a fundraiser for his trip, helping him gas up and get on the road. Steel is a born and raised Maritime folk musician whose musical experiences run deep into the rural area around St. Andrews, NB and across P.E.I. Some of his earliest memories include the folk culture circulating St. Andrews when he was a boy. “That part of the province was/is full of draft dodgers and they brought along the spirit of folk music with them,” said Steel. He joined in on music circles and pot-
lucks and was in contact with many musicians through a local inn that his father ran. “They were always on the porch playing, out back in the school house smoking, in the middle of the living room writing or in the kitchen cooking.” Steel found himself caught in the touring circuit of many musicians. “The songsters kept passing through town, and I think on a more subconscious level I was studying them. Not only their music, but their way of life.” He adopted the bohemian qualities he witnessed in other musicians at his father’s inn and these days he enjoys getting on the road himself. He’s done two tours with Via Rail where they paid his travel and accommodation in exchange for song. He said that performing on the train was a great experience and a good way to meet other musicians. “On our way back from Austin, we’ll probably be staying with a musician from Virginia who I met on the train from Vancouver to Toronto.” Steel’s folk rifts and lyrical driven mel-
odies have become a Fredericton favourite over the years. “I spent close to three years living there [Fredericton] and it was a pretty big step in my development as a live performer. I’ve noticed a lot of bands who come through Fredericton always claim it as their favourite place to play.” “I’ve experienced many great places as a musician and Fredericton is up top, no question! And that has a lot to do with the crowd: good, fun people who I find are well aware of the arts and are keen to support it.” His Wilser’s Room performance will be complimented by percussion king Mike Humble and the renowned Joel LeBlanc. After leaving Fredericton, Steel is making one last stop in St. Andrews before his pilgrimage down south. Joining Steel on the trip down to Texas will be fellow musicians, Doug Macnearney and Will Fitzpatrick. “We may also be meeting up with an old friend of mine named Nico and our friend Babette Hayward is flying down ahead of us.” His trip will take him through New York
and Kentucky in a three to four-day stretch that will leave him seeing a large part of the United States. “My main priority is to take in as much music as possible, as well as to play some whenever possible. There are apparently a ton of free shows and barbeques, and so I’m hoping to stumble across a bunch of new acts and get some good southern eats.” Their goal is to arrive in Austin by the middle of March and stay until the end of the festival. “After SXSW, we’ll take our time getting back, hopefully head into Louisiana, Alabama, and then get up to stay with a friend in Virginia. If the car lives, we’ll aim to be back by early April.” The risks and obstacles the trio will face are inevitable, but Steel maintains that the company of music will keep them on their feet. “It is a trip based on luck, hope and spontaneity and is ultimately being driven by the music,” said Steel. He’s confident that the trip will continue with or without ‘The Black Turkey.’