See Basketball on page 47
See Students on page 24
Volume XL Issue 17
Ap ril 16, 2013
Ninth year of Pangaea success
Aleksandra Sharova
PANGAEA: Members of the Durham College Punjabi club dancing the Bhangra at the ninth annual Pangaea cultural show on March 21 in the Campus Recreation and Wellness Centre gyms at Oshawa campus. More on page 18.
Students’ vote ousts SA president at AGM
Many issues plague the SA for the end of term Brad Andrews The Chronicle
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achel Calvelli is the first president of the Student Association to not complete a term after students voted to remove her from office last Wednesday. The vote to oust Calvelli at the annual general meeting received the required two-thirds support of those attending and was done early in the five-hour meeting. The motion to oust Calvelli cited her use of SA funds for her
rent, and transparency issues. The vote was postponed at the first AGM in October while an investigation into possible violations by the SA president occurred. That investigation was completed in February but the details of that report were not made public at the meeting. A statement by the board said the president had committed no violations deserving an ouster. Before the vote Calvelli had said her term as president had been “challenging” and added she had only 27 days left in her term. “Not even business days,” she added. Current board member Sriharan Thiyagarajah was critical of Calvelli’s removal. “I don’t think this is a democratic way of doing business at the end of the term,” he said. He felt some had ignored the facts and were biased against Calvelli. Chantel James, an incoming board member for UOIT,
said she had worked on Calvelli’s campaign but was “disappointed (the SA) couldn’t have functioned better”. She said students were “missing a big chunk of the story”, and criticized the report’s findings and the lack of transparency at the SA. “There’s a lot we didn’t know as students,” she added. Josh Bickle, a member of the board and incoming vicepresident for Durham College, had one word for his reaction to Calvelli’s ouster: shocked. He was concerned because her removal leaves no elected officers on the SA executive before the new officers and directors are sworn in on May 1. Bickle said the problems this creates for the Student Association seems like par for the course this year. Calvelli’s removal is just one of many problems facing the SA this year.
See Proxies page 2
DC lobbying for change in apprenticeships Chris Burrows The Chronicle
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eadership attitude and movement of the apprenticeship system. These are the issues Durham College president, Don Lovisa, has been lobbying various levels of government to come to terms with in the need for reform in Ontario’s skilled trade gap, the shortage of skilled workers in Ontario versus the number of jobs requiring skilled labourers. There are two parts that need to be accomplished to change the apprenticeship program in Ontario, said Lovisa in an interview. The first part is getting various levels of government to do more promoting around
the need for skilled trades and the value of a career in a skilled trade. “We look across this country and there’s a shortage of skilled people right across the country,” he said. “It’s about trying to change the bias that there is in a lot of homes and a lot of schools. You know ‘I don’t want my son or daughter to be a trades person. I want them to be a doctor, a lawyer, whatever,’ and we have a massive need in this country. “Our federal government just changed our immigration rules to allow qualified trades people to come into Canada through fast track to try and accommodate some of the gaps.”
See Lovisa on page 3
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The Chronicle
April 16, 2013
Campus
Sheldon Kennedy visits DC Former pro hockey star speaks out on sexual abuse Austin Wilson The Chronicle
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ormer NHL player and sexual abuse victim Sheldon Kennedy visited Durham College on April 1 to answer questions from students and faculty members about how he survived years of sexual abuse from Graham James, his junior hockey coach while playing for the Swift Current Broncos in the 1980s. Kennedy, the former rightwinger who played eight seasons in the NHL with the Calgary Flames, Boston Bruins and Detroit Red Wings, expressed how the public needs to be more aware of the psychological trauma sexual abuse survivors go through, and how difficult their lives have been. “We do have a responsibility not to be a bystander,” said Kennedy. “No matter what.” Kennedy emphasized how hard it is, and most likely will continue to be, to catch sex abusers.
Graham Jolicoeur
KENNEDY SPEAKS OUT: Sheldon Kennedy, the former NHL player, spoke and answered questions to a packed lecture hall at Durham College on April 1. “I don’t believe we’ll ever stop child abuse entirely,” said Kennedy. Kennedy stressed how difficult it was to deal with himself while going through the abuse, saying he used drugs and alcohol to control himself because he didn’t know how else to do
it, or who he could turn to for help. “I was trying to live one day at a time because I was filled with fear,” Said Kennedy. A few students in attendance were recognized for showing courage in sharing their stories about sex abuse, and talked
about how Kennedy inspired them. The difference between being a sexual abuse survivor and a victim was also something Kennedy touched on. “You need to work hard to get out of being a victim; it’s about taking a risk to trust
again,” he said. “The goal is to get people from victim to survivor but I don’t believe you’re a survivor until you’ve got your power back.” Psychology instructor Ruth Martin came up with the idea to invite Kennedy to Durham when she was hired at the college roughly six years ago. “Term after term I would continue to read these horrific stories about abuse. Not just physical and sexual abuse but addiction of their own and addicted parents. I was shocked to think along with the pressures of school, these students were having to deal with adversity outside of class,” said Martin. “Because I teach psychology on campus, I would find that some students would personally want to meet with me to share their stories and one began to sound identical to the other; the only difference was the different face. So, I took it upon myself to address some of the issues such as sexual abuse because it was high on the list.” Martin knows the audience gained something from the experience, even those who didn’t speak out. “I am guessing but I would think there were many survivors in the audience. Some told their stories where others only sat in silence. I hope those that could not muster the courage to stand, will now walk away knowing there is help out there and they too can rise above adversity.”
Proxies play key role in history-making AGM Continued from page 1
Resignations such as that of Jeff Everingham, as chair of the board, are another. He confirmed his resignation to the Chronicle and said the pressures of exams, graduating and searching for a job led to his decision. He added the SA was “not what it used to be” and the attitude within it was “a lot more destructive than constructive.” Following Calvelli’s removal, both she and Everingham, who was supposed to chair the AGM, left the meeting and Bickle was approved to chair the meeting instead. Later in the meeting Jeremy Baarbe, vice-chair of the board, also resigned. His decision followed a motion by Bickle to prevent Baarbe from making amendments. Baarbe called it “the last the straw”, adding the move was “completely preposterous” and said Bickle was “purposely trying to silence (him)”.
“There have been a number of issues I’ve had with the way the SA has been run, and nothing I’ve said has stopped or changed that,” said Baarbe. Amendments to the bylaws dealt with a variety of issues, including proxy votes and quorum requirements. A proxy is a vote given by one student to another to vote in their absence and proxies are counted as attendees at a meeting. Due to a change made before the AGM, the meeting wouldn’t have met the required 1 per cent of the 17,000 student members needed for a meeting to happen without the proxies. Only 51 students attended in person but there were almost 400 proxy votes present. Before her ouster Calvelli had said it was “unfortunate there are a few students holding a couple hundred proxy votes.” An attempt to limit to one the number of proxies a student could hold was defeated in favour of a limit of 50. Vinayak
Ethiraju, president of the Social Science and Humanities Student Society, spoke against that limit, saying: “We should have a cap but not limited to one.” Fifty is also the number of students needed for a meeting to happen, also called quorum. “It’s ridiculous to think one person could be your AGM and make the decisions for everyone,” said Tyler Pattenden, a student in the Concurrent Education program. Others defended proxies as part of the democratic process. Proxies collected for the October AGM could be used at April’s meeting but had to be validated by the SA. That process led to a complaint from Ethiraju, who held more than 100 proxies, when he learned the president had been in the room where the validating happened. “If someone has a motion against them at the AGM, that seems like a giant conflict of interest for them to be validating how many votes and proxies
Brad Andrews
OUSTED: SA president Rachel Calvelli (right) and former board of directors chair Jeff Everingham before the vote to oust the president. they have,” said Ethiraju. Bickle said the president was sorting papers rather than taking part in the validation process. He and another board member took part in a revalidation of the proxies the day of the meeting, meant “to ease the student concern and ensure the integrity of the process.”
Calvelli said she understood the concerns, adding: “Perception is everything” but “the only reason I was doing it was to help.” The board of directors appointed a three-person committee of Josh Bickle, Kyle Kellar and Carly Valchef to act as president before May 1.
Campus
The Chronicle
April 16, 2013
Lovisa looking for reform Continued from pg 1
“So I think that a positive message is one that will help to create more demand for apprenticeship spaces and help to fill the gap employers are experiencing. It’s not a temporary gap either. It’s something that’s been around. It’s getting worse and worse all the time.” Lovisa adds this message is about public relations. It’s about letting people know “these aren’t your grandfather’s trades” anymore. They’re more complex and modernized. They take a high level of education and complexity to be successful. The second part is the need to reform Ontario’s apprenticeship program. With a completion rate of 15 per cent, Lovisa said the government needs to figure out why this is and solve the problem. The government needs to also analyze the journeyman to apprentice ratios. Some trades require only one journeyman to one apprentice, but the demanding trades have a 4:1 ratio and this can make it hard for apprentices to find work and for small businesses to hire apprentices. “If you’re a small business person you’re not going to have four journeymen so you can never take on an apprentice,” Lovisa said. “So it limits the number of opportunities for apprentices to work in small businesses and for small businesses to have that development.” “I can’t say enough how challenging it is to find an apprenticeship,” said Darrin Caron, Dean of the School of Skilled Trade, Apprenticeship and Renewable Technology. “So much of it is (as an example) you want to be a plumber, you
Chris Burrows
LOBBYING FOR CHANGE: Durham College president Don Lovisa has been lobbying for reforms in the way the provincial government handles its apprentices. know someone who is a plumber, you have an uncle. It’s so much networking through family ties or through neighbours, but it really is networking because there’s much more demand than there is jobs.” “My challenge to the federal government was,” Lovisa said, “the federal government often announces major infrastructure projects, so my question was do you make it a requirement of those contracts that
that person hires a certain percentage of apprentices? The answer is no, they don’t. But yet, if you go to either Saskatchewan or Manitoba you have to take on a certain percentage of apprentices to a contract. So that would encourage people; are you going to get that $100-million contract to build that bridge that you have to take on X-number apprentices within that contract.” The federal government
modate student needs. Although many students will admit they enjoy the quality and quantity of the machines they do not want to have their experience ruined by a gym that is full of people. Jakub Czyzowski, a second year biological science student at UOIT and a committed member to his gym, “I like going to The Flex. There is a lot of fresh, new equipment to work out with. Unfortunately, I think there are too many people in a small space for me to get in a comfortable workout,” he said. Czyzowski recently switched to the newly opened LA Fitness in Oshawa. Many students share the same feelings, including Caroline Rudnicki, a pre-health student at Durham College, “The Flex is a great gym just depending on what time you go, unless it’s close to closing time you’ll
most likely find yourself fight- conventions and other activiing over the equipment and ties at the CRWC. personal space,” she said. Despite negative feedback Students may find the from students, Babcock recrowding of the mains positive CRWC frustratthe CRWC is truing but Durham ly a treasure to the campus and College & UOIT students should athletic direc- The Flex is a great take advantage of tor Ken Babcock gym just depending the opportunity loves to see how on what time you to use such a fanmuch it is being tastic facility. He used. “I think it is go.... a great thing that raves about the it is busy, there is work ethic and a feeling of enercustomer service Caroline Rudnicki skills of his staff gy in the building soon as you open and he says he the doors and has never personthere is a real positive vibe to ally received a piece of negative the facility,” he said. feedback. He receives positive Babcock acknowledges the feedback often and says if you fact that it can become busy, but have a question or concern The CRWC averages 30,000 to ask staff and they will have student visits a month between an answer within 24 hours. The Flex and the gymnasiums, CRWC has surveyed students not including sporting events, in the past to identify areas of
seems to have taken the challenge to heart and announced in the 2013 federal budget in March it will be encouraging the use of apprentices in infrastructure projects funded by the federal government to help increase completion rates and reallocate federal funds to increase apprenticeship opportunities. “I am very pleased to see the federal budget has introduced significant steps in that regard
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through a focus on new opportunities for skilled workers and training, in particular the Canada Job Grant and new apprenticeship measures,” said Lovisa in a press release in March. Another problem Lovisa is trying to change is a jurisdictional problem between the federal and provincial governments. The federal government promotes skilled trades in Canada through their Canada’s Action Plan commercials, said Lovisa. But he adds they don’t run the apprenticeship system. The provincial government does. In Alberta and Saskatchewan they’ve already reformed their systems and have a waiting list of apprentices to get jobs, Lovisa adds, but in Ontario there are section that can’t get any apprentices. Lovisa also adds, because apprentices fall under the jurisdiction of the provincial government part of the reform needs to be that they’re moved under the jurisdiction of the colleges. “It is my belief that like the post secondary system, the apprenticeship system should be under the colleges because that’s what we do, and allow us to work with the industry to make sure that we help the apprentice be successful,” said Lovisa. Caron adds, unlike Durham College which keeps track of its graduates for six months, the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities tracks apprentices. If apprentices drop their trade without letting the ministry know, it may never know what’s happened to that apprentice or why they dropped the trades.
Students frustrated over packed gym The CRWC averages 30,000 visitors each month Sean O’Leary The Chronicle
Many Durham College and UOIT students say the school gym is too crowded, and is lowering their will to attend the state of the art gym The Flex is the highlight of the Campus Recreation and Wellness Center and, although busy, it is attempting to accom-
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improvement in the wellness centre. The school has added new equipment in the gym and plans to add a lounge area for studying and a place to socialize while at the CRWC. With the stress school provides, working out is a benefit for all students. Physical activity is one of the best ways to relieve stress and helps clear the mind. The Anxiety and Depression Association of America says physical activity can increase alertness, concentration and is the best way to relieve stress. Ultimately, Babcock and staff want the students to feel comfortable and enjoy the positive space that the CRWC offers. The gym is inevitably busy at times but he recommends coming in the morning, evening or on weekends if you want more freedom with your exercise.
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The Chronicle
April 16, 2013
Publisher: Greg Murphy Editor-in-Chief: Gerald Rose Ad Manager: Dawn Salter
To contact us
Editorial Page
Newsroom: Room L-223; Ext. 3068 E-mail: Chronicle.News@dc-uoit.ca Advertising: Room L-223; Ext. 3069 E-mail: dawn.salter@durhamcollege.ca
Don’t judge a book by the ink on the cover
You’re promiscuous because you wear tight clothing, you’re a Goth because you prefer dark colours, you’re a prude because you dress modestly and you scream for attention because you wear mass amounts of make-up. Almost all of us have had these thoughts at some point in our lives. It makes you stop and think, what must people have thought about my appearance? It’s human nature to judge others for the way they look. It’s risky business being expressive with one’s appearance because society tends to make assumptions from a person’s physical appearance. Once we make our judgment we tend to stick people into certain categories: Goth, prep, prude and jock – just to name a few. It’s natural for us to judge others but what gives us the right to decide what is normal? We create invisible guidelines for people to meet in order for them to be classified as socially acceptable. The GTA would be quite the boring place if everyone looked exactly alike. Being unique is an attribute to strive for. People tend to remember
individuals that don’t fit social norms; but sometimes they are the ones who surprise us the most. A tattooed man approached me the other day as I was struggling to get my bags onto the bus. We made eye contact and he dropped all of his belongings on his seat and got off the bus. I immediately became nervous, this tattooed, bald-headed rough looking character - full of piercings - was headed right for me. I was judging and as bad as it sounds, if it were anyone else I would have been more comfortable. The rough character was actually a gentleman in disguise. Not only did he help me carry my things onto the bus, he then proceeded to move all of his belongings and gave me his seat. In that moment I truly had to shake my head at myself, I had judged that man because of his looks. I felt horrible because I was actually scared when he approached me. Afterwards I felt foolish because the man in fact was such a gentleman and because of his looks I slapped a stereotype on him.
“Can I help you with that?”
Cartoon by Richard East
Some people’s physical appearances don’t do their personalities justice. Colleges and universities are difficult places for people to adjust, especially if they feel
uncomfortable because of their looks. UOIT and Durham College have a variety of students. Everyone has their unique look, and should not be judged because of it. So before marking
them with a stigma, think of a saying we’ve heard since childhood: “Don’t judge a book by its cover.”
Katrina Owens
The Gates are open to a rubber revolution $100,000 grant for condom idea
It’s been on TMZ, so you know it’s for real. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s Grand Challenges Explorations has a $100,000 USD grant available for anyone who can
come up with an idea for a “next generation condom.” And yes, that includes you. That may seem like a somewhat feasible project, but there’s a catch. Not only do these new generation condoms have to be just as safe as the condoms we have today, they also have to make men want to wear them. I remember in Grade 8 health class with the appropriately named Mr. Love, our gym teacher. When asked about novelty condoms, Mr. Love rhymed off a list from the top of his head. “There’s flavoured,
Samantha Daniels ribbed, glow-in-the-dark, scratch and sniff…” Although I’m fairly certain scratch and sniff wouldn’t be a huge seller, that list gives some insight into how marketing companies have tried to rework a 400 year old product that many men aren’t that fond of. Even though the condom has
moved beyond its animal intestine days, the technology hasn’t improved much in terms of pleasure, especially in the past 50 years. Sex isn’t just for making babies anymore. Pleasure is playing a larger role in sex, so it’s no wonder men aren’t jumping at the chance to use them. As Dane Cook so eloquently put it, “it feels like I hate you” when compared to sex without a condom. Instead of trying to distract men from dissatisfaction with pointless features, manufac-
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Will McGuirk, Kelsey Braithwaite, Matthew Jordan, Chris Burrows, Samantha Daniels, Brad Andrews, Catherine Legault, Rebecca Watson, Shane MacDonald, Kate Hussey, Trisha Godfrey, Sarah Chan, Brittany Bonaparte, Reshanthy Vijayarajah, Gurpreet Bhelay, Sadia Badhon, Catherine Meunier, Richard East, Sarah Pugsley, Steph Morrison, Kathryn Boyle, Aleksandra Sharova, Shannen Courneya, Kayla Scaringella, Stephanie Arbour, Shakyl Lambert, Erika Altomare, Andrew Fliegel, Jesmarnin Lafuente, Kelly Beck, Giorgio Berbatiotis, Amy Lai, Austin Wilson, Matt Mazer, Charlie Roach, Riyad Ali, Ryan Verrydt, Sean O’Leary, Luke Callebert, Schae Dunston, Dan Cearns, John Gooding, Kyle Ritchie, Francis Viloria, Colin Lack, Tim Morrell, Dylan Cooper, Sinead Fegan, Katrina Owens, Courtney Williams, Teanna Dorsey, Sam Baker, Charlotte Hand-Ross, Gerard King III, Miranda Davis, Matt Popoff, Venessa Whitelock, Gavin Davidson, Jennifer Lavery, Serena Jackett.
Pu b lis h e r: Greg Murphy
turers should be spending the time to revolutionize the design. Instead of glow-in-thedark condoms, they should be manufacturing condoms that are effective without sacrificing pleasure. However, as it is the safest and only means of contraceptive defense against sexually transmitted diseases and infections from intercourse, condoms sell and will continue to without any changes. The Gates are here to change that. Let’s hope someone takes them up on their offer.
dvertising sales:
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dvertising design: Carson Barteaux,
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he Chronicle is published by the Durham College School of Me-
dia, Art and Design, 2000 Simcoe Street North, Oshawa, Ontario L1H 7L7, 721-2000 Ext. 3068, as a training vehicle for students enrolled in Journalism and Advertising courses and as a campus news medium. Opinions expressed are not necessarily those of the college administration or the board of governors. The Chronicle is a member of the Ontario Community Newspapers Association.
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Opinion
The Chronicle
True dat! Trudeau reaches out to the young generation Matthew Jordan Opponents of Justin Trudeau cast him as a mirthless politician, someone who rode superstardom to the top ranks of the Liberal party. Touted as ‘clueless’ in regards to what is needed to run Canada, he is often ridiculed for his thin answers on policy, the wave of fanaticism carrying him to an election win, and lacking the leadership qualities a party needs to run on a federal level. “Trudeaumania 2.0” as it has been so scathingly dubbed. But Justin is not his father, nor is his father what the Liberals need in 2013. The federal leadership race for the Liberals is a chance to exceed the boundaries of conventional politics. Justin Trudeau is a leader the Liberals need to regain the national spotlight, a leader who can polarize a nation so desperately torn between big business oligarchs, a struggling middle class, and a poverty line that is so dangerously close to being crossed, with viable career paths be-
ing replaced with part-time positions. Politics has been somewhat stale in this country for some time. According to Statistics Canada, the most recent federal election saw just 61 percent of the population come out to vote, the third lowest turnout in election history. Furthermore, the majority of the voters who did show up are grouped in the 55 and older bracket, while youth turnout wallowed at barely half of that. If Trudeau can achieve one thing in his run, it will be to get youth interested in voting, as they are a demographic that is so poorly represented in today’s government. Trudeau’s run alone has brought in 150,000 registered liberals to the Liberal party, numbers that now rival those of the NDP and are inching ever more close to the Conservative stranglehold as election front runners. It’s statistics like these that have the opposition scrambling to produce attack ad campaigns. But while they’re sniffing through old media footage for gaffes, let’s examine Trudeau’s qualifications. Trudeau has been an elected member of parliament for his riding of Papineau since 2008, a seat that was incredibly difficult to obtain, as the Bloc had long dominated it. A democratically elected official,
he immediately achieves the same qualification all candidates for federal leadership are required to meet. He chaired Katamavik, an organization geared at engaging youth across the country, and maintains his working life in teaching. These things may not come across as something sought after in a prime minister, but they may be much more realistic foundations than the corporate backgrounds that have consistently appeared in Canadian leadership, and have put the country where it is today. This is a chance for the Liberals to evolve into a party that can carry Canada forward. In the Liberal leadership debate in Toronto, former candidate Marc Garneau chided Trudeau by saying, “…pulling people together is also very important, I agree with you, but you also have to have a track record of making tough decisions.” Trudeau quickly responded by saying, “You have to have a track record of winning.” Canada needs a prime minister who can bring together this country for the benefit of every citizens, and that may just be overly judged, under tested, yet totally exciting Justin Trudeau.
The return of BlackBerry is welcome news for all Canadian entrepreneurs Luke Callebert After foolishly being counted out of the smartphone race, Canadian owned and created BlackBerry has re-entered the game in a big way. The BlackBerry 10 software (BB10) and Z10 smartphone are polished, revolutionary and already succeeding. The company ditched the Research in Motion branding, choosing to take the name of the phone that’s known worldwide by almost 80 million users worldwide: BlackBerry. BGR, an online mobile phone news site, reported in February that despite BB10 and the Z10 launch, there was “no line of sight to profitability” for BlackBerry. Rumours of BlackBerry being sold off or bought out have run rampant in that time. Countless reports that BB10 was not even going to make it to store shelves and that the company was out of money and bankrupt also plagued BlackBerry. BlackBerry has over $2 billion (CDN) in cash in the bank, when all their assets and patents are accounted for, the company’s worth adds up to $20 billion (CDN). The company just finished developing a brand new operating system, something no smartphone maker has had to overcome. They have a new CEO, CMO
and basically all new upper management. BlackBerry is a company on a rebrand rebound, not a company near death. BlackBerry has seen Z10 sales explode since its release in the United Kingdom and Canada. Phones 4u in the U.K has announced that 55 per cent of its 680 locations sold out of its initial shipments. In Canada, Bell announced that the Z10 sold more than any other BlackBerry at launch, while TELUS and Rogers, according to Crackberry.com, described the launch as “very positive.”
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BlackBerry is a company on a rebrand rebound, not a company near death
Luke Callebert
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The Crackberry.com online Z10 review described the phone as “they’ve come up with the most built-fortouch interface in the mobile market” and the virtual keyboard is “BlackBerry 10 touchscreen keyboard is so good, even diehard physical keyboard users will grow to love it.” This is all for the first real all touchscreen phone BlackBerry. The Z10 has been quite a momentum builder,
without even releasing the phone that targets the core BlackBerry user. Enter the Q10. The BB10 phone that will include a keyboard for the first time. The BlackBerry that’s supposed to have the most powerful and long lasting battery ever been included in one of their phones. The BlackBerry that will draw in core users, draw the phone carrier upgrades and keep current platform users from leaving for iPhone and Android phones. This is the BlackBerry made for the core users. The keyboard diehards, they consider touchscreen phones to be toys, and they need tools not toys. The extended battery combined with the new features of the BB10 operating system will have the core BlackBerry users drooling in line waiting for their new super communication device. BlackBerry is on the rebound. It might not be the fastest, quickest rebound in corporate history, but for a company with a reported “no line of sight to profitability” the earning report for the last quarter announced at the end of March shows BlackBerry making an unexpected profit. For a company that’s been written off so much in the last year, watching this rebound should inspire Canadians and show our companies can and will compete on the international stage. Welcome back Canadian innovation. Welcome back BlackBerry.
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April 16, 2013
No one is really ever that special Gurpreet Bhelay Discrimination is already a problem today but with a growing multicultural population things like affirmative action need to end. It is not the matter of hiring or enrolling more minorities to seem diverse. Diversity shouldn’t be forced upon a company or college in that manner. Some people fail to realize that targeting a specific race will always be discriminatory. Although they feel they are adding more diversity with things like affirmative action, they are still discriminating against a certain race by segregating them. Some police forces, including the RCMP, are trying to improve diversity by hiring more non-white, non-male officers. But the result may be that white male officers become the minority.
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Everyone deserves a chance, no matter what, and should be equally looked upon
Gurpreet Bhelay
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Jobs shouldn’t be given out because of race or gender; jobs should be given out on skill and qualification. It seems pretty pathetic to see this happening in our society today. By segregating the institution, it loses out on people who are perfect for the position. If you’re not including a certain race in your company, or limiting them just to seem more diverse, it sounds absurd. Not only is the company losing out on qualified workers, but it may not be getting people who are properly qualified. Bringing back the example of the RCMP, say you have a white male applying for the position and he graduated with honours. He may have all the qualifications needed and 20 years experience but may not be accepted. In comparison a minority with similar qualifications but little experience may be hired to be more diverse. Since the RCMP wants minorities they might hire the minority when clearly the white male would have gotten the job if it weren’t for affirmative action. Technically that’s how it would work. It makes sense that companies want to be more diverse, but there is no need to cross the line by hiring people just to look more diverse. It should come naturally. It seems ironic to think that we thought we got past the racism and segregation, and after everything that has happened throughout history we still go back to it is pathetic. People may just be blind to the fact that affirmative action technically is reverse discrimination, but that’s why we need to educate people. Students working so hard in school shouldn’t have to worry about not getting a job because they are either a minority or not. Everyone deserves a chance, no matter what, and should be equally looked upon. Being diverse shouldn’t involve forcing diversity; diversity should be put into the company naturally without degrading and losing out on people who could benefit the company.
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The Chronicle
April 16, 2013
Campus
State of the art auto lab Sarah Pugsley The Chronicle
Important research towards modern automotive safety is being done in our own backyard. UOIT’s Automotive Engineering department, established in early 2003, is improving the quality and safety of vehicles on the road while providing future engineers with the skills to succeed in a demanding profession. Professors and students work together on a practical level to produce new automotive systems and to develop research with global appeal. Automotive engineering students at UOIT also have access to the Automotive Centre of Excellence (ACE), an innovative, world-class testing centre for the research and development of automotive manufacturing. The 16,300 square-metre facility features a climactic wind tunnel that supports automotive-related undergraduate and graduate teaching, along with industry-sponsored research. The school also provides research projects on request to national and international recognized organizations such as Volvo and the Canadian Department of National Defense. Dr. Moustafa El-Gindy, associate professor for the Faculty of Engineering and Applied Sciences at UOIT, has also done testing for the United
Sarah Pugsley
TEST LAB SIMULATOR: An Automotive Engineering student demonstrates a typical scenario of the Test Lab simulator at UOIT. States federal government at the University of Pennsylvania. With a long history of contributions to the fields of vehicle design and tire mechanics, he is one of many qualified professors teaching the program. The success and reputation of the faculty is solidified by the amount of professors with extensive backgrounds in the field of automotive mechanics. “I started here in 2010, and already we have a very strong name worldwide and a very good collection of professors,” said Dr. El-Gindy. “Some professors are editors of international journals and we write for
the largest number of scholarly publications.” One of the key research achievements for the faculty and students is the Test Lab simulator, developed with funding from General Motors and UOIT. The simulator is used to advance in-house research and assist transport companies, such as Mackie Transportation, with training their drivers for extreme weather conditions by means of supervised evaluation. The system consists of five computers that graduate students program to produce any driving condition they choose. Whether it is a massive hail-
Police called to SA
Samantha Daniels
responsibility of the SA to have these policies to The Chronicle assess the risk of violence in the workplace as well as implement a program to deal with the Just before 11 a.m. on Friday, March 22, the risks. This is mandated under provincial legislaDurham Regional Police Service arrived at the tion. Durham College Oshawa campus to respond to a According to the SA’s governance policies, the complaint of a threat, according to Jodi MacLean president will not allow staff to be unprepared of DRPS corporate communications. No arrests to deal with emergency situations, and will not were made but someone was given a caution. endanger the organization’s public image, credAlthough MacLean could not disclose who ibility, or its ability to accomplish its “ends”. that was, William Lin, spokesHowever, Calvelli stated the SA person of the Ontario Ministry of has approved two sets of policies Labour, received a complaint of a and procedures to deal with viothreat of physical violence two days Due to the confi- lence, discrimination, and harassearlier, related to the Student Asso- dential nature of this ment in the workplace as items ciation (SA). According to Lin, the discussion for the SA board of visit I cannot disclose of threat occurred nearly two weeks directors. An email from Reisha prior to the complaint, on March any more information Prasad, SA news and media co-or8. The ministry was on campus to at this time. dinator, said these policies will not speak with staff members the same come into effect until May 6, two day as the police. months after the incident. Later in the day, former SA Calvelli said that after the incipresident Rachel Calvelli sent an dent the SA ensured a safe space Rachel Calvelli email to staff stating the police and for all staff internally by making the ministry were on campus to speak with a few special arrangements. staff members. “It is nothing to be personally According to Prasad, the SA has had its ups concerned about as I will remain in contact with and downs like any other organization, but they the appropriate parties as deemed necessary,” all work together to ensure that students get the she wrote. “Due to the confidential nature of this best service and support they deserve. She said visit I cannot disclose any more information at the incident on March 22 was isolated with no this time.” impact to the community at large. According to Lin, the Ontario Ministry of LaDirector of campus security Tom Lynch, and bour received a prior complaint on March 14 re- Donna McFarlane, vice-president of communilated to the SA not having a workplace violence cations and marketing, had no information on and harassment policy in place. He said it is the the incident.
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storm or dangerous floods, the simulator will react to specific commands set by the programmer, providing a realistic experience. Ran Vir Dhillon, an automotive engineering graduate currently pursuing his Masters in research and development, explains the simulator benefits both the companies they work with and their own research at the test lab. “It allows us to test drivers in the harshest of conditions and assess their ability to adapt,” said Dhillon. “It also helps us restructure our program to suit the problems that we see.”
Hossam Raghep, also an automotive engineering graduate, is pursing his PhD in chemical engineering. He explained that the mechanics behind the simulators computer system allow them to create any type of scenario. “Even outside of weather systems, we can create barriers or other vehicles trying to cut you off and we can even adjust the weight of the simulated vehicle,” said Raghep. According to automotivecrossing.com, automotive engineers can expect an average salary of $77,000 per year as current trends show. Average automotive engineer salaries are 21 per cent higher than salaries for all other job postings nationwide. Prospective engineers must have a strong interest in motor vehicle design, possess creative approaches to problem solving and excellent technical knowledge. UOIT is also the first automotive school to introduce mandatory business and management courses in order to meet the increasing need for engineers with leadership skills. With an average grade cut off of 70 per cent in order to be considered for the program, it has become a highly competitive area of study. “Students come to our program at UOIT to gain handson experience through simulations and practical work,” said Dr. El-Gindy.
Childcare centre moves to serve Francis Viloria The Chronicle
The Campus Childcare Centre at Campus Corners is moving to Adelaide Avenue and Simcoe Street near downtown Oshawa. The centre moved closer to the downtown area so it will be between the two campuses and it will be able to serve the downtown campus as well. Since it moved, there is no childcare on campus. “Some parents are fine, others have concerns which is normal,” said the assistant supervisor of the centre Diann Marshall. “For the most part, the parents are concerned that the staff will be staying because it’s staff and the families that make the centre not the building,” she added. The Campus Childcare Centre (CCC) is a child day care for busy parents. The Campus Childcare Centre is licensed by the Ministry of Children and Youth
and operates under the regulations of the Day Nurseries Act. The supervisor of the daycare is Carrie Knapp. The staff consists of educated childcare workers. To become a staff member, Marshall said that the teacher needs an Early Childhood Education (ECE) diploma. To be a head teacher, the staff needs a minimum of two years of ECE. The activities the teachers have for the children range from art to physical activity to science and math. “All the learning is based on the children’s interest,” said Marshall. If the children like dinosaurs, the teachers will incorporate dinosaurs into their activities, she said. The centre accepts all kinds of children, including those with special needs. “Some children are high needs and require more assistance than others,” said Marshall. The child will be assessed and staff will work with the parents to provide the best care, said Marshall.
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Solving DC’s growing pains Ryan Verrydt The Chronicle
The halls are bustling. The Market Place is full. The buses are packed. It comes as no surprise to anyone who spends time on the Durham College campuses, the school is growing quickly. This poses a serious problem for a school with limited expansion potential. According to school president Don Lovisa, Durham College has grown by 14.5 per cent since last year. Other schools have grown on average by 3 per cent. The college had 7,600 students as of November 2010. There are 8,818 students enrolled in full time studies as of the winter 2013 term. “Our plan is to grow to 10,000 students by 2015, but we actually expect that we’ll reach that goal next year,” said Mary Blanchard, associate vice-president of academic planning. The college also expects to expand its international program by 85 per cent, to a total of 500 students. Overall growth is expected for the next two years, with it reaching a plateau in the next three to four years, according to Lovisa. This surge of new students does not come as a surprise to Durham College. Although it did not expect it to happen so quickly, Lovisa says the school has been targeting growth by developing new programs to increase the selection for prospective students. Over the past
Ryan Verrydt
GROWING: Durham College Centre for Food is set to open in September, 2013 at the Whitby Campus. three years, 24 programs have been started. “You can’t build infrastructure fast enough based on unanticipated growth. We never anticipated our growth to be so quick. So we’re always catching up to the students coming in,” said Lovisa. The addition of the Student Services Building at the Oshawa campus in 2011 and the Centre for Food at the Whitby campus, scheduled to open in September 2013, has allowed for Durham College to expand to this point so quickly. “We’re at a point where we
thought we would be two and a half years down the road,” said Ralph Aprile, associate vicepresident of facilities and ancillary services. The Student Services Building allowed for old office space to be renovated into classrooms, while the Centre for Food allows for entire programs to be relocated. Eight programs in the culinary, hospitality and office administration streams, totaling approximately 900 students, will be relocated to the Whitby campus once the building is complete. “Just by moving those pro-
grams, it has moved us from being at a hundred per cent capacity in our IBM labs for example, to being in the high eighties,” said Blanchard. “We’re not totally maxed in our classroom space for next year. We have a buffer of about ten per cent.” Specialty labs are a concern according to Blanchard. Some programs, such as dental and nursing already have already been extended to finish at 8 p.m., but more could be extended if expansion continues. “Even though there may be general space, there may be
specialty space that really is at a premium,” said Blanchard. One of the key focuses is making sure there is enough student study space. Durham College is spending about two million dollars a year to upgrade and outfit existing buildings, according to Aprile. Aprile acknowledged that parking at the Oshawa campus has become an issue. He said that some possible solutions included adding parking space north of Conlin Rd. or building a parking facility in the existing lot, but nothing has been analyzed yet.
College welcomes future students Gurpreet Bhelay The Chronicle
On March 23 Durham College held a spring open house for students to come see the campus and learn more about their programs. About 4,700 students visited the Oshawa, Whitby and Pickering locations. Students learned more about the campus by speaking to people. Booths were set up for each different school explaining each program in The Pit, as well as information booths on residence to meal plans set up in the I-Wing. Students took tours of the campus from inside, as well as a tour outside run on a charter bus that drove through the campus, including the Ice and Tennis Centres. Throughout the day students visited short seminars and met with instructors and got to learn more on the program that they have applied to. Presentations on helping students understand what to do after they have applied to how to pay for college were available through-
Gurpreet Bhelay
OPEN HOUSE: Hundreds of students and their family members attended the spring open house. out the campus all day. Students were also able to meet the president, Don Lovisa. Students got to enter to win a tuition certificate for $2,500 by completing a survey. Students who entered or
visited the I-Wing of the campus got to get free popcorn as well as enjoy a cup of coffee, if needed. Students were happy with the school itself, and liked the campus. The students seem
very interested, said Kerry Doyle-Brownell, who is a part of the School of Media, Art and Design. Overall many who visited were excited and interested in coming to Durham College in
September. The challenge for most students is the transition from high school into college. Many students agree the change will be scary, and a big jump from high school. “It’ll be interesting,” said Matt Ellis, who was interested in taking part of the Computer Program Analyst. Ellis was interested in computers, so decided the course would suit his interests. Ellis is certain he will confirm his offer. Many students chose the campus because of proximity. Lindsey Osmond lives in Oshawa and is planning on taking Accounting as well as Children Mental Health. Osmond thinks that Durham College is the most interesting campus. “The staff are kind and are knowledgable,”said Elisha Foster, a potential Contemporary Media Design student. Brennus Elmsile, who wants to take the Business Music program knows that college will definitely bring on more responsibilities, more work, as well as many college parties, he joked.
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Campus fire safety not a drill Aleksandra Sharova The Chronicle
Catherine Meunier
UOIT SCIENCE FAIR: Students present their projects to parents and visitors at the Durham Regional Science Fair, Saturday, April 6, at UOIT.
Students show passion at UOIT science fair Catherine Meunier The Chronicle
Heaven is a science fair. The excitement that hides behind Bristol boards of facts is easy to find. It showed up in the eyes of one young man, as he excitedly explained why he wants to be a storm chaser. He is one of the many children who expressed passion at the Durham Regional Science Fair on April 6 at Durham College. The Grade 8 student built a tornado, a project that took hours to make but was easy to assemble. Students gathered around and marveled at the tornado that spun inside a box. He used a fan, some plastic wrap, a pool ornament, a pan he found in his kitchen and a box. There were two slits on the box allowing airflow. If he were to cover them the tornado would stop. The director of the Durham Regional Science Fair, Rupinder Brar, spoke about the passion of students like this. He said he hopes the fair builds interest in children toward science. “Last year,” he said, “one winner was sent to PEI. He actually had an innovation to help physically challenged persons open jars. He ended up winning there. His teacher made him do it that time, now he is doing it on his own.” The student was registered to participate again in this year’s science fair. Brar wants to spread a love of sci-
ence with the fair. He hopes eventually there will be more community involvement. Brar explained the fair is somewhere between the elementary school level and “the real thing” and supports all students. The fair is run in conjunction with Youth Science Ontario and Youth Science Canada. Throughout the day judges listened to the presentations of each student. After lunch they began deliberation to pick a winner. An hour after the scheduled time, Brar walked up to the stage and everyone gathered to hear the results. There were several winners in different categories, but the overall winner was Lauren Reid, a Grade 11 student from O’Neill Collegiate and Vocational Institute. Reid started working on her project almost six months ago. In October she said she decided to do her project based on grapheme after searching for ‘good science fair project ideas’. Graphene is thought of as a revolutionary material composed of carbon, scientists believe it will have many uses. Reid looked into ways of making graphene a more efficient conductor. As winner she will be sent to Lethbridge Alta. to participate in a countrywide science fair. Reid has participated in previous science fairs. “I am more interested in do-
ing it for the science, I’ve been here three times before,” says Reid, adding she ads she enjoys talking about science with other young scientists. She likes to explain her research and learn the other projects. She wants to pursue science to become an engineer. Some students at the fair said they saw it as a goal to achieve, while others wanted to try something new. Katelyn Davis, a grade 8 student said her father always praised her ringette skills and she wanted to try something else. “I wanted to see if I could be good at anything else,” Davis said. Davis won a Simcoe Lake award for her idea to plant trees around waterfronts to prevent pesticides form leaking into rivers when it rains. Her idea rested on having the tree roots soak up the pesticides. She didn’t take into consideration that the pesticides may kill the trees. For Dimitri Boodoo, this was his first science fair was for experience. He presented facts about oil spills and new ideas from around the world being developed to stop the spread of oil following a spill. He decided on the subject after hearing that oil is harmful to aquatic life, as he is fond of water animals. He said this year’s fair was to check out the competition and “next year is the big one.”
The fire alarm went off, making a hideously loud noise. It reverberated through the Simcoe Village student residence. Students filled the hallways, walking at a leisurely pace toward the exit. “What’s happening? Is it a drill?” asked a girl as residents crowded in the safe area outside the residence. “Somebody must have done something, so smoke alarms went off,” answered another girl with a bored expression on her face. A student with a frying pan in his hand sat on a curb contemplating whether he should start his meal or not. A few minutes later, a fire truck’s flashing lights and sirens announced the arrival of Oshawa Fire Services. Three firefighters fully geared up disappeared inside the building. They inspected the building and switched off a fire alarm. Firefighters packed their gear in the truck with ‘Smoke alarms save lives’ written on it, and left. The same scenario repeated a couple of times. Thankfully, each time it was all smoke, no fire. But what if the next time a bored student decides to stay inside or continue cooking assuming it’s just another false alarm? People tend to think that fire happens to somebody else. It always happens to the other person, but let’s say to your neighbour, and you are the other person. Canpages lists more ads on security
systems and burglar alarms than on fire prevention and protection equipment. Perhaps residents are more concerned about protection of their property than their lives. Last year DurhamRegion.com reported on three separate Oshawa fires where there were no working smoke detectors. Residents neglect to install a simple smoke alarm, although non-compliance fine ranges from $235 to $50,000, according to the Ontario Fire Code. Traces of apathy are apparent. However, ten out of ten students interviewed on DC campus are aware of fire prevention methods. They said they evacuated a building during fire alarms. Many consider fire drills to be a necessary part of their personal safety. “By law, both Durham College and UOIT are required to conduct fire alarm exercises annually. In October of 2012 the Oshawa Fire Department attended at the north campus and conducted building by building evacuations,” said Tom Lynch, director of office of campus safety. “All buildings were evacuated in a timely manner and that all of the fire department officials that were on site reported no issues.” Still, only a few students pay attention to emergency signs and plans and are familiar with emergency sites around the school. “They don’t really give explanation on how to ensure them,” said Melanie Fortin, a Commerce program student at Durham College.
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April 16, 2013
DC students celebrate pride Pride Day features keynote speaker Katrina Owens
The Chronicle
Durham College and UOIT students showed their support at the annual gay pride celebration on April 3 with events at two campuses. The LGBTQ Centre’s third pride celebration opened with the showing of a movie called But I’m a Cheerleader. The film is about an all-American teenager who is sent to a reform school by her parents in hopes that she will be turned straight. Festivities shifted to the north campus in the evening. The celebration started with a talk and a short monologue from keynote speaker Waawaate Fobister. This is the first time the pride celebration has heard from a guest speaker. Fobister is an aboriginal who left a reserve when he was a teenager to attend theatre school in Toronto. He has since won multiple awards for his productions that include six Doras.
Katrina Owens
POSITIVE MESSAGE PINS: Liam Svirk and Ethan Ranally making custom pins during the Pride Day festivities. Fobister discussed how he believes people can be twospirited which means they can have both a female and male spirit within themselves. His
Dance troupe dreams big and achieves bigger
most well known production, Agokwe, is based on his personal experience about the hardships that come with being in love with the same sex. He
has been quite persistent in his journey. He says to reach goals and dreams, people just have to get there no matter what obstacles.
DC/UOIT team heads to Toronto for finals Reshanthy Vijayarajah The Chronicle
The award-winning Oshawa Titans are gearing up for their biggest competition of the year. They’re heading to the 2013 dance final taking place at the Metro Toronto Convention Center’s John Bassett Theatre on June 22. The Tamil South Asian dance troupe from UOIT and Durham College has been recognized by the Student Association as an official club within the two campuses. The Titans currently have 29 dancers in the 2013 competitions, and because of the large number of turnouts, they actually had to turn down more
than 30 participants. The troupe was founded by Jananie Baskaran and Srini Logendran. In 2009 they formed the troupe with 21 dance participants. The main focus was to form a Tamil South Asian dance troupe to compete at a local completion called Kalaikal. Two years later they competed at the Annual Inter- Canadian University dance competition called Thaalam, hosted by the Arts and Culture Council of Canadian Tamil Youth Alliance in Toronto. The troupe had a rocky start. It faced many challenges and there were many obstacles that ranged from gathering participants to form the troupe on campus to getting the ap-
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Students had time to mingle with each other while the music performers set up. There were about 50 to 60 people. The most popular table of the evening was the button-making table, which was hard to get to because everyone wanted to make one. Students had the opportunity to showcase their pride by creating pins with positive messages on them. Jeff K, who did not want to be named, a Durham College student said as soon as he heard that there was going to be a drag show he had to come, especially when he heard there would be two performers. “That’s one more than awesome,” he said. Elephant Shoes, a one-woman band, got everyone in the mood for the drag show. Drag queens Miss Ivy and Talyah Sky caught everyone’s attention by spicing up the celebration with scandalous dance numbers and risqué outfits. Their choice of footwear was reason enough to keep eyes planted on them. The ladies were showing off their 9-inch heels off to the audience. Talyah Sky is one of Durham College’s very own, a first year in the Criminology program. “Pride is different for different people but everyone should have a sense of pride,” said coordinator of outreach services, Barbara Bryan. That was the centre’s goal for the evening for people: to express their pride in a safe place.
Courtesy of 3D Media
GIVING THEIR ALL: The Oshawa Titans, a Tamal South Asian dance troupe from UOIT and Durham College, gears up for the final competition in Toronto. proval of the SA to perform for the shows and represent the schools. “We practiced in campus hallways, UOIT & DC dancers’ basements, and the dance studios whenever it was available for us. We also designed the sets, designed and stitched costumes and somehow found ways to financially support our troupe,” said Ananthini Thayarpan, coordinator for 2012 and 2013. After all the struggles this club faced being the first Tamil South Asian dance troupe,
members say their perseverance, patience and hard work have finally paid off. Stealing second place two years in a row with best costume, best theme, best cheer squad and with a huge amount of publicity in 2011 the SA granted Oshawa Titans official club status. “To dream is the most important step! It’s important to dream big and achieve bigger. The satisfaction of following someone else’s dream never fulfills your own. Create your own path with the rage to succeed
and it will result in true happiness,” said Baskaran.“Being a co-founder and a former coordinator for this dance team has taught me a lot. It gave me the skills to take up a challenge and overcome it with a lot of patience and to never give up.” Tamil students have said they chose UOIT and Durham college not only for the programs but also because it has a Tamil dance troupe which they can take part in. “The stage is our universe!” is the motto the Oshawa Titans stand by.
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Password safety is key Kate Hussey The Chronicle
Durham College is taking steps toward making password management easier for students. Passwords can be so difficult to remember that they often lead people to password retrieval options, perhaps even numerous times a week. It’s easy to fall into the habit of choosing short, simple passwords. “The word “password” is a popular one,” said Jim Ferr, Durham College technical coordinator and server specialist. “You choose passwords that are different and hard to crack so that you can protect your digital identity because so much of what you do is online. Having someone steal it is not a good thing.” “If you’re just using letters and numbers and it’s relatively short, six to eight characters, it’s not very strong and it’s vulnerable to root force attacks where someone uses a computer to try every combination of letters and numbers to attack a particular service or device. They’re not very hard to break,” he said. According to Microsoft, passwords should be eight or more characters in length, utilize parts of the entire keyboard, and be changed often. Microsoft recommends never using the same password for multiple accounts to avoid being hacked.
The Chronicle
There are many types of counseling offered on campus other than just at the Campus Health Centre by the gym. If a student needs help with just anything from academics to addiction, there is somebody available. “There is also the Centre for Students with Disabilities for people who have either physical or emotional challenges in the way that it could be impacting their lives. There’s the Student Career Services which offers more of an advisory role and can help with employment searches,” said Dan Keeley, a counselor at the Campus Health Centre. Keeley said there are cases of students who come to counseling when it poses a threat to their academic future. If they are attending to issues other than academics, there may be a bigger risk. These types of cases are common according to the Campus Health Centre’s website.
Campus
Set a safe password Kate Hussey The Chronicle
Creating strong separate passwords for each online account is important to protect yourself, according to Jim Ferr, technical coordinator and server specialist at Durham College. Below are a few tips suggested by Microsoft to create a safe and memorable password.
Kate Hussey
password safety: Durham College student Brandon Colvin in the computer commons. More than 90 per cent of user-generated passwords are prone to hacking in a matter of seconds, according to Deloitte’s Canadian Technology, Media and Telecommunications Predictions 2013 report. Mac computers have a password management system called Keychain. One password is needed to access a whole list of other saved passwords. This is an available option, according to Ferr. Keeping passwords on a sheet of paper, however, can be risky according to Fabian Tapp, manager of technical operations and datacentre at
Counselling services available Matthew Mazer
Among the most common reasons people come to counseling are relationship issues, whether it be a boyfriend or girlfriend, or family relationships, addiction counseling and getting over things in their past that may have been difficult or traumatic. Students who are also unsure of where to go in life and have uncertainties about their future careers are also seen. There are benefits of having the Health Centre here on campus. The biggest one is convenience because it can be difficult to travel off campus for the same thing, especially since a student’s schedule may be sporadic between classes, Keeley added. On March 26, the Ontario Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities announced that it is putting $27 million over three years into mental health support for post-secondary students. Keeley said the money would go towards expanding the Campus Health Centre’s services to help more students.
Durham College. “It’s definitely not a good idea to write a password down on paper. You are best to come up with something memorable and have it reset if needed than to risk writing it down and having it lost or stolen,” said Tapp. In the near future, Durham College will take steps to combine password systems. There are two password systems at Durham College. “Everything uses your network ID except for My Campus,” said Tapp. “Eventually they’ll become one, and may even be in place for next semester.”
Students may have noticed that when they come back from the December break, their passwords have been reset. According to Tapp, this is because 120 days is currently the life of the password. “We’re going to adjust that interval,” said Tapp. “Instead of 120 days, the interval will be lengthened or shortened to eliminate the conflict, since it currently coincides with the semester changeover.” When students request a password reset, they are also directed to a website that allows the student to reset it: https:// mypassword.dc-uoit.ca.
-Since difficult passwords are the safest, it’s best to begin with a sentence: Lets go skate today -Delete the spaces and join the words together: Letsgoskatetoday -Incorrectly spell a word on purpose: Letsgoskaytetwoday -Add numbers that are significant to you personally: Letsgoskaytetwoday2002 -Change your password about every three months to prevent hacking -Create a locked spreadsheet or Keychain to record your passwords -Do not share passwords with others Source: www.microsoft.com
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April 16, 2013
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The need for food in Durham Shane MacDonald The Chronicle
“Shelly, for the first time ever, walks through the doors of the food bank for help. She feels uncomfortable, the palms of her hands are sweating. She looks around hoping she doesn’t see anybody that she knows as she enters the reception area.” At a UOIT event last month, Katharine Schmidt, executive director of Food Banks Canada began with that story about a mother who doesn’t have the means to provide for her family. Shelly could be any one of the 50,000 Durham residents who are food insecure, meaning they don’t have access to enough food to sustain them each day. Food Banks Canada and other food bank agencies gathered Thursday, March 13 at the UOIT Regent Theatre to speak about the need for food banks and the struggles they face as not-for-profit agencies. Nearly one million Canadians a year access food banks. “Not having enough food to eat three meals a day is a reality for thousands of Canadians each and every day, “ said Schmidt. Food banks first appeared in Canada about thirty years ago during the recession as a shortterm solution to meet the need for food. Since then the need for food banks in Canada has increased dramatically. “It’s not a Band Aid anymore and it’s not going away overnight. It’s here to stay,” said Julien LeBourdais executive director of Feed the Need Durham, another agency that spoke at the seminar. Food Banks Canada is the
Shane MacDonald
FEED THE NEED: A look inside the Campus Food Centre storage room. Nonperishable food items line the walls beside a refrigerator. national organization that governs and supports the entire food bank sector across Canada. They have organizations in 10 provinces, with nearly 500 food banks, and they support 4,000 different food programs with Feed the Need Durham being one of them. LeBourdais spoke about food banks at the local level. “I always like some sort of opportunity like this, just to kind of increase public awareness,” said LeBourdais. Feed the Need Durham is a distribution and storage agency. Their Durham facility is
outfitted with a walk in freezer and two trucks allowing them to carry perishable foods. “It’s also good I think, for people in the community to be aware there are other people in this community who aren’t as well off,” said LeBourdais. “Is there anything as basic as enough to eat?” asked LeBourdais. The speakers opened the floor to questions and comments to get the public involved in the conversation. Barbara Bryan, coordinator of outreach services for the Student Association, was present at the semi-
nar and thanked the speakers and Feed the Need Durham for supporting the Campus Food Bank, which is part of the Student Association. “There is a food bank at the university for university students because people who don’t have enough to eat are of all age groups and of all walks,” said LeBourdais. The Campus Food Centre gives away nearly $9,000 worth of food each year. Bryan said there is a “huge demand” for a food bank on campus. “Last year the food bank was
accessed 450 times, not the biggest number considering the size of population on campus but you have to remember we also aren’t that well known.” Bryan said students are unaware of what the Student Association can offer to them. “It’s a lot about spreading the word.” The Campus Food Centre raises awareness through orientation, setting up in vendor’s alley, class talks and various food drives. They also hand out brochures to different places on campus. “The campus health centre and the Financial Aid are two huge places where we promote to so they know because they obviously deal with struggling students,” said Bryan. The Campus Food Centre also gives away non-food items such as tampons, condoms and baby diapers. “Anything we can get our hands for free, we give that to them,” said Bryan. The majority of food that the Campus Food Centre receives comes from food drives such as Trick ‘or Eat, a Halloween event where students go trick or treating in the community for non-perishable foods. Last year the Campus Food Centre collected $5,000 worth of food from the Trick ‘or Eat food drive. Clear the Shelves is another food drive that focuses on campus residence. They collect all the clothing and food that students leave for them when they go home for the summer. The Campus Food Centre is a member agency of Feed the Need Durham and as a member agency they receive food from them. They are also allotted a budget from the Student Association of approximately $3,000.
Centre for Food comes to Whitby New perspectives for students
Kelly Beck The Chronicle
The Durham College Whitby campus has been undergoing construction for the last few months and the result is going to make a huge difference next fall. Durham College has been expanding its programs and this means less room for students at the Oshawa campus, so the college is expanding south to Whitby. But what applicants might not know is how the brand-new Center for Food and the new programs will go
hand in hand. New programs at the south campus including Culinary Management and Horticulture Food and Farming are both going to benefit from the building. There will be a student ran restaurant that the public can access so students can get more hands-on experience. The Food and Farming class will be able to broaden their horizons by actually harvesting their very own vegetables in a new crop field that Durham College is placing right beside the new Food Centre. Students will even have a beehive on the roof of the building for honeybees so they can collect their own honey. Horticulture technician professor Shane Jones says the new building is not just for profit, but also more for students so they can learn better of their positions in a restaurant. “It’s not about the profit as
Kelly Beck
NEW HORIZONS: Horticulture technician professor Shane Jones in front of the construction site of the future Centre for Food building in Whitby. much and by the end of it all there’s not a huge amount of profit that comes out of it. And it’s really more about learning the management techniques being either in the front or in the back so they learn all the different ways of managing
a restaurant from preparing meals and putting together a menu that’s sustainable,” said Jones. The culinary skills course has always been a program offered at Durham College, but the students have had no place
to cook so they’ve been using hotel kitchens in the past. The new Durham College Centre for Food will be up and running in time for next fall and both culinary programs will be able to have a kitchen to call their own.
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Campus bars take precautions Brad Andrews The Chronicle
Campus has policies in place so students can walk safely on campus and what to do during a lock down but there is no policy on how to prevent drunk driving at the campus bars. The campus doesn’t have a unified policy for preventing drunk driving and the bars, E.P. Taylor’s and Shagwells, deal with it in different ways. The Durham Regional Police Service (DRPS) recently changed their RIDE programs from set locations to more mobile units to improve their efficiency. The growth of both Durham College and UOIT could lead to questions if changes are needed on campus as well. Jaime Beagan, senior manager of hospitality for E.P. Taylor’s, said the bar keeps a strong security presence at the entrance and exit as part of their prevention efforts. Security is trained to talk to people as they leave the bar and, if a customer is seen taking car keys out, staff engage the person in conversation. “People are very on-guard when they are drunk,” according to Beagan. Beagan has held people’s keys overnight to prevent them from driving drunk. They are never taken by force and are handed over willingly. “Most are pretty co-operative when the word ‘police’ comes into play,” said Beagan. A customer once refused to hand over their keys and, despite security’s efforts, got into his to car to drive before bar security caught up with him again. Two guards stood behind the vehicle to prevent it from leaving. In the end, the police were able to stop the driver. Shagwells has different approaches to prevention as it has it’s own security force separate from both campus and E.P. Taylor’s. Ian Hills, restaurant manager at Shagwells, says he likes to give people options besides driving. There are several
Brad Andrews
THEY’RE WATCHING YOU: Security monitors the line at Shagwells Thursday night. The pub night is popular for students and can lead to long lines for entry. advertisements in his bar for services geared towards people who want a ride home but don’t want to leave their car. For a fee, the services drive both a person and their car home. If one service is busy, Hills is willing to call other services for someone who shouldn’t be driving. When dealing with a group where one person may want to drive Hills tries talking to that
person’s friends. “Sometimes it’s easier for a friend to convince his friend or her friend not to drive then it is for a bartender, server, or a manager,” said Hills. Still if that person insists Hills make it clear he will call the police. Hills added if someone is asked to leave Shagwells he may call other bars in the area, to give them a heads up. There’s
no obligation for Hills to do that but he does it as a courtesy. “If I know where they are going to try to go afterwards then I try to let [the bars] know.” Tom Lynch, director of campus safety, said there is no need for a campus policy as federal and provincial laws outline how bars on campus should prevent drunk driving. “As much as there’s formal policies
out there or campaigns I really think the informal enforcement of it is what keeps us ahead of the game out here.” Campus security responds to calls for assistance from both bars and would question someone suspected of being impaired before that person could drive. Lynch only remembered one incident in his fifteen months on the job of someone being stopped for impaired driving on campus by the police, and that person was coming onto the campus rather than leaving it. He trusts the security at the bars to handle those situations but also credited the changing attitudes about drinking and driving. “We’re in the generation where drinking and driving is just not tolerated.” Michelle Crabb, a member of Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) Durham chapter, disagrees that young people are intolerant of drunk driving. She agrees the message against drunk driving is there but says people find reasons to drink and drive. MADD took part in the Festive RIDE program put on by the Durham Regional police over the holiday season where forty drivers with G1 and G2 class licenses breached the no alcohol rule. According to Crabb a policy would be great but she said she couldn’t see how it would work on campus. While the campus’s proximity to rural roads could be a cause for concern Det. Const. David Ashfield, of the DRPS Traffic Services unit, said the area was no different than the rest of Durham Region. He added police are “well aware” of events on campus and that those events are well organized by the bars and security. He did single out the campus in one area, as being “above average in how they serve and deal with customers as compared with other establishments across the region.”
Officials urging young people to drive safely Sadia Badhon The Chronicle
For young people between the ages of 15 to 24, the leading cause of death is motor vehicle collisions and the numbers peak in the warmer months, according to Statistics Canada. Police and safety officials urge students to be safe on the road this season. The Think and Drive campaign in the Durham Region is striving to make the roads safer by advocating good driving behaviours. The
organization focuses on three areas that are most prevalent in collisions: speeding, distracted driving and impaired driving. “There is more tendency to speed on a nice day. That’s when the more serious collisions are occurring mainly because of the speed,” said Lori Ullius, a public health nurse from the Durham Region health department who is also part of the Think and Drive campaign. “The faster you’re going the more time it takes to stop so if you
are in a collision the impact is that much greater so the consequences are that much more fatal,” she added. A third of deaths and injuries of young people in Canada are a result of motor vehicle collisions. Distracted driving plays also a big part in motor vehicle collisions. “Sometimes it’s hard to resist the temptation of cellphones in the car but driving is a very complex task,” she said. “Mentally, it requires concentration and coordination. The brain
is working really hard to focus on driving and adding in something like a phone doesn’t mix.” “We go to so many crashes that could’ve been fairly minor but because the person wasn’t wearing a seatbelt they were injured, sometimes severely or fatally,” said OPP Const. Shayne Simpson, who has also worked with Think and Drive. It is important to keep these simple things in mind, he added. “I showed up at a family’s house at three in the morning
to tell them that their 19-yearold son was killed in a car accident because he was drinking,” he said. “There was a kid who had a promising career ahead of him and he was killed in a crash because he was drinking and driving,” he said. There are also several severe consequences when it comes to impaired driving. It can affect your insurance, your driving record and that in turn may factor in on whether or not you can get a job or perhaps even lose a job, said Simpson.
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April 16, 2013
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Sexual health day dominates ‘
Stephanie Arbour The Chronicle
The real twist to this year’s annual sexual health day by the Sexual Health Centre was the Kink 101 workshop. Kink 101 looked at the world of bondage, discipline, domination and submission, sadism and masochism (BDSM). The workshop started with a real life dominatrix, Jane “D Meaner” and her assistant Candace. “D Meaner” started the presentation off with a bang, literally, by using one of her whips to pop a balloon, then proceeded to talk about a variety of BDSM techniques, safety procedures and types. Kink 101 ended it with “D Meaner” letting students to look in her suitcase, which was filled with different BDSM toys, such as whips and flogs. When asked why the BDSM workshop was included in this year’s event, Marisa Mei, the director of the Sexual Health Resource Centre on campus, said “It’s a risky sexual act people do and they should know how
It’s a risky sexual act people do and they should be safe while doing it. Marisa Mei
Stephanie Arbour
Sexual Health Day: Two real-life dominatrices, Jane “D Meaner” and her assistant Candace at this year’s Sexual Health Day. to be safe while doing it.” Alongside the Kink 101 workshop was the “How to Get What You Want” workshop hosted by Carlyle Jansen.
But before it started, students were able to participate in a game of “naughty” Twister where Mei asked students questions about sexual health
and whoever had the most right answers won a prize of either and Oshawa Centre gift card or a something off the prize table which was full of things one
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would find in a stag shop. Once Jansen’s workshop begun, she talked about getting the sex you want by being comfortable in your own skin and not being afraid to communicate with your partner about what you want. She used a mix of visuals, which included a PowerPoint presentation as well as hands on props. “Sexual health day is meant to bring students together to talk about sexual health and dismiss any myths in a positive environment,” said Mei, who was in charge of organizing the workshops. Sexual health day happens every year and is hosted by the Sexual Health Resource Centre but has different workshops held each time.
Focus on your schoolwork Yogurt munchies at new Menchie’s with sleep, food and fun After a work out, we crave better and healthier food and feel less compelled to pick up a chocoThe Chronicle late bar or a bag of chips. A healthy diet is generally a good idea to keep With the end of the school year coming, what- fit physically but also it can help mentally. ever focus we have left is almost gone. The healthier you eat, the more energized you We all know what it’s like to sit down in front feel. of our textbooks and notebooks thinking of evYou wouldn’t feel that sluggish feeling you’d ery possible distraction to keep us from studying get if you were to eat a meal from McDonalds. because of the lack of focus. The key to having The first thing I look at when someone comes good focus? to me with focus issues is their sleep, exercise, Living a healthy lifestyle. diet, and timing of eating,” says Finigan. Treating your body right can “You should eat every three to be a huge help when it comes to four hours, it helps regulate blood focus. sugar levels.” You should eat Treating your body properly Another important aspect to look means exercising on a regular every three to four at when it comes down to bettering basis, eating healthy and wellfocus is sleep. hours, it helps reg- your balanced meals and getting the We all love sleep; we all love how ulate blood sugar we feel when we’ve had a goodnight’s right amount of sleep. Exercising contributes to betsleep. Usually when we don’t get a levels. ter focus. goodnights sleep the next day we feel While exercising, your brain irritable and just want to go back to releases a chemical called dosleep, making paying attention very pamine that helps control the Michael Finigan difficult. brains pleasure center. “Sleep is key for anyone willing to Dopamine can help by infocus,” says Finigan. What the key to creasing energy and bettering focus. a goodnights sleep? When dopamine is released another chemical A pitch-black room. Finigan also says “Any called serotonin is released, the more serotonin kind of light will prevent you from falling into a that is produced the happier you feel. deep enough REM cycle.” Is there are certain type of workout that can The REM (rapid eye movement) is important benefit to better focus? Strength coach and per- because while that is occurring your body is resonal trainer Michael Finigan in Whitby says storing and renewing itself, but only if it’s havweight lifting helps contribute more to better fo- ing a comfortable well rested sleep. Good focus cus compared to cardio, is achieved by three simple things exercise, eat “Generally speaking, weight lifting will in- healthy and sleep! crease dopamine for the long run and with carLiving a healthy lifestyle can help contribdio, and dopamine is only produced afterwards.” ute increase focus and can go along way when Not only does it make us feel happier when we it comes down to studying and getting better work out, we feel healthier. grades.
Stephanie Arbour
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something new.” The club holds events The Chronicle where students can gather and enjoy frozen yogurt and If there’s enough student hope to make it a biweekly interest then there will be gathering as soon as they get a club for it at Durham Col- approval from the Student lege, even if it’s something as Association. obscure as the love for frozen She says despite a lack of yogurt. awareness the club has 45 Students at members, and Durham may has been putI tend to look for ting up postbe unaware but the colleadership roles on ers to promote lege does have campus and want- their club. The its own frozen has even ed to try something owner yogurt club agreed to give new. following the a student discraze of the count. new Menchie’s “The purbuilt in Whitby pose of the last year. The Menchie’s Club Rachel Mackey club was creatisn’t just to eat ed in October Menchie’s froafter a number of students zen yogurt in Whitby but to asked Michelle Lee, vice- bring students from UOIT president of campus clubs, and DC together based on if they could have their own the common love for yogurt club dedicated to Menchie’s. and then explore other inRachel Mackey, a third year terests they may share,” says student in math and physics, Mackey. “It is a great way to took the initiative to be the meet new people and you’d club’s president after sharing be surprised how many peothe same interest. ple love Menchie’s.” “I figured there were goMackey is hoping to parting to be enough people that ner with Menchie’s to create would enjoy it as much as I a fundraiser at Durham Colwould,” says Mackey. “I tend lege to support the school to look for leadership roles and is waiting for approval on campus and wanted to try from the SA.
By Richard East
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Long-lasting problems of binge drinking Professors warn students of bad partying habits By Kate Hussey The Chronicle
Binge drinking has become a social trend among both men and women but in a college or university setting in particular, it’s possible that binge drinking for some people could be a mask for deep-rooted issues the drinker is not even aware of, according to mental health specialists. Randy Uyenaka, professor and program co-ordinator of the Social Services Worker Program at Durham College, said mental health problems often become more evident and pronounced in the late teens to early twenties, which is the majority of the college population. “There may be some preexisting genetic predisposition toward developing a mental health condition like anxiety or depression, and then it could be coupled with all the other factors,” he said. Response to stress and the ability to cope with struggles is a big factor while pursuing an education, according to Uyenaka. “People may genuinely think that they are just partying and drinking for fun reasons, but then they come to a later realization, ‘Maybe I have been depressed,’ or, ‘Maybe I am very anxious,’” said Uyenaka. About nine per cent of students in Ontario, an estimated 83,300 people, report harmful drinking and elevated symptoms of anxiety and depression, according to a 2011 Ontario Student Drug Use and Health Survey by the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health. Females were found to be more likely than males to report these co-existing problems. “We know patterns around drinking and substance use are usually established during adolescence-late teens into early twenties. It can be incorporated into your lifestyle and become a difficult habit and lifestyle to alter or change,” Uyenaka said. Developing alcohol dependence from long term binge drinking could also be a possibility, but not necessarily, a certainty. “It is possible if somebody has a genetic predisposition, if it runs in their family, that they
RAISE YOUR GLASS: UOIT students binge drinking with red solo cups. are more susceptible to developing a dependence on alcohol, but even that isn’t black and white. It’s not to say that if they start binge drinking, that’s it, they’re done for,” said Amanda Cappon, mental health worker at Durham College. While a risk of dependence is something to consider, the possible negative effect on memory is another concern, according to several studies. William Thies, chief medical and scientific officer of the Alzheimer’s Association, found binge drinking could decrease cognitive function. Tina Hoang of the Veterans Health Research Institute in San Francisco is co-author of a study that found heavy alcohol consumption earlier in life is associated with higher risks of mental decline. As well,, according to Statistics Canada, heavy drinking increased for both males and females from 17 per cent in 2010 to 19 per cent in 2011. “In hindsight, someone in their adult years who has an issue with alcohol might look back and say, ‘Yeah, I used to drink a lot in college,’ so they might trace the path, but it’s not an inevitability,” said Cappon. “When working with youth, you have to focus on the immediate future. They don’t often look long term. With smoking and getting wrinkles when you’re older, somebody who’s young probably wouldn’t really see that,” she said, adding youth don’t always see the long-term consequences because they haven’t happened yet. Taylor Burkholder, a networking and IT security student at UOIT said, ”I think a lot
of students don’t even see binge drinking as an issue. They may just see it as part of the college experience.” According to Uyenaka, just moving on to the next step in life is enough to encourage change in most people.
Kate Hussey
“We do know that most young people when they get in the position where they are living on their own or having to pay bills, that will be a motivating factor to change their habits and lifestyles, and most of them do it successfully,” he said.
Burkholder said binge drinking is very easy to leave behind after graduating. “It’s the environment of school that would provoke a lot of the drinking, and after graduating there will be less to prompt someone to binge drink,” he said. Joe Meawasige, an advertising student at Durham College, said if someone is coming off of a binge-drinking spree, it makes for a hard habit to break. “I think binge drinking is very serious when it comes to one’s education. You really have to keep your head in it, otherwise you lose focus and you wind up failing,” he said. A sign that a student might be overdoing it with drinking could be as simple as waking up with regular hangovers, according to Uyenaka. “It’s kind of like our bodies and our minds have these little built in gages to give us messages as to when we should maybe think about changing our behaviour,” he said. Binge drinking is not an issue for everyone, but it could be a battle for some. “If you’re a student and you’re noticing some things happening regarding your drinking that you’re concerned about, addressing the issue as early as possible is recommended,” said Uyenaka. “We have great counselors available through the Health and Wellness Centre.” Another option is Pinewood Centre of Lakeridge Health.
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April 16, 2013
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Don’t just blame the book store By Richard East The Chronicle
Richard East
TOO EXPENSIVE: Sarah LePage looking through her textbooks she will need to purchase for next year.
Post-secondary students expect tuition fees to be expensive but the rising prices of textbooks, which must purchased, can be a shock. The reaction is typically to blame the school for high priced books. Many still remember the atrocity of Ontario College of Art and Design University in Toronto where students were forced to buy art history books for $180 without any art. Unfortunately, it isn’t always so clear as to who is to blame. Lisa Kowal has been ordering books for the school for two years now and says that she has seen book prices raised by a few dollars all the way to $20 at a time, but that it isn’t because of the bookstore. Kowal says Durham College makes a small increase in price to cover shipping costs and that she orders books in June to avoid markups in the fall, yet the bookstore still gets plenty of complaints about expensive books. “That’s the most frustrating part. It’s not our fault,” says Kowal. Certain faculties have been trying to bring more eBooks in to the bookstore, which can be cheaper than hard covers. They cost an average of $60 but tend to not be as popular. Kowal says until high schools start using eBooks college students will continue to feel uncomfortable with them
and demand hard covers. Professor Mark Perry, a teacher of economics at the University of Michigan, has found that textbook prices have been increasing by almost seven per cent every year over the past three decades and current major publishers are to blame. He says the lack of competition has put the publishing market in to an unsustainable market. With little competition against them, he says publishers have more power over their pricing leaving an unfair situation for who should be their main consumers, the students. New editions of books are coming out with only small changes to their content and are costing more because of included digital software, making students search for second hand books. Sarah LePage, a Durham College student in her first year of Police Foundations is one of the many students who have been affected by the new digital software craze. LePage bought her four books second hand, which would normally cost her four $400 in total, only to find out that she needed a site access code that could not be reused. “It’s a little unfair how expensive it is to buy the codes separate when it takes forever to get them to work properly,” says LePage. It places students in a tough situation. However, Perry believes that the market is in transition and that something
better will emerge in the years to come. With no restrictions to keep people from joining the market, new alternatives are being created. “The smell of profits has a strong odour and attracts entry and competition,” says Perry. Some alternatives are not just eBooks but renting books, buying single chapters, Kindle versions and free online textbooks being the most extreme. Companies such as Boundless Learning have started to emerge, creating a popular and free alternative to textbooks. They take public information from sites such as Wikipedia and organize it to meet the standards of professional textbooks and then release it for free. Several publishers have begun to combat against such practices, but Perry says it looks like the age of the Internet is beginning to take over with free information. “To a certain extent that is becoming a reality,” says Perry. “The standard textbook model might survive but with many alternatives.” Calls to several of Canada’s largest textbook publishers, including Nelson and McGraw, were not returned. It remains unclear as to how publishers set prices for their books. According to the Canadian Roundtable on Academic Materials (CRAM), the reason may be because they do not put the students at the centre of the debate.
Unused potential right next door Samantha Daniels
The Chronicle In 2004, the city of Oshawa bought a 100-acre plot of conservation land from the Central Lake Ontario Conservation Authority, located just south of Durham College Oshawa campus, and renamed it Cedar Valley Park. After two years of land analysis, research, consultation, and planning, a master plan was created in 2006. Durham College and UOIT were asked for input on the master plan, but did not provide any. Little has been done with the land, and the city has nothing in the works for future uses. One of the opportunities identified by the report was educational potential, and it looked at the conception of an outdoor classroom. Durham College Science and Engineering Technology dean Susan Todd said the land has areas of potential opportunities for the horticulture technology, environmental technology, and
Samantha Daniels
POTENTIAL: Cedar Valley Park is located just south of campus and can be accessed by a trail behind the softball diamonds. water quality technician programs at Durham College. However, she added it would have to be championed by someone in the college and brought forward to the city. “It
has to be driven by the city of Oshawa,” said Todd. “I often am trying to do labs outside but I find out campus is highly manicured, with not much natural area, so it makes
it difficult,” said Corrie Stender, a Durham College environmental technology instructor. “So somewhere where there could be a naturalized area which we could access right from campus
would be amazing to have.” Cedar Valley Park is accessible from the south parking lot via the trail system. According to the city’s 2006 master plan of the park, “the site is rich with ecological opportunities.” The plan also states the area contains diverse vegetation and is part of the historic Lake Iroquois shoreline, a significant geological feature. Sarah MacKay also teaches courses in the environmental technology program, and she uses Camp Samac a couple times a year as an outdoor classroom for her first year ecology students. She said, “Ideally I would take my class outside once or twice a week.” She says a partnership with the city to use Cedar Valley as an outdoor classroom would be preferred. “Outdoor exposure is better than pictures or overheads, especially one within walking distance,” said MacKay. “There are so many things that are difficult to show on a PowerPoint or in a drawing.”
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Students weigh in on protest Aleksandra Sharova
it.
The Chronicle
It’s January 25, 2011. Images of tens of thousands of protesters waving Egyptian flags and carrying ‘We want the change’ and ‘Mubarak, game over’ signs flooded the Internet. A 24-yearold Egyptian student in Electrical Engineering at UOIT read and heard every piece of information there was about the protests, but kept looking for more from familiar Tahrir Square. Emad Abdelrahman came to Canada in 2010. During the revolution events in Egypt, he kept in touch with his friends via Facebook and Skype. They told him everything about what was happening on Tahrir. A few days later the Egyptian government cut off nearly all access to the Internet and shut down cellphone service. He no longer could contact his mother who stayed in Cairo. The only place where cellphones were still working was Sharm el-Sheikh. Abdelrahman called a friend there who told him his mother was all right. “My mom was there, so at that time I had to know everything. I knew my buddies were going to Tahrir. I’ve always been talking to my friends about it, like seriously we need to do something. Once I left, everybody went. This is kinda funny. I started watching news like crazy. I had a midterm – didn’t even go,” said Abdelrahman.
UOIT Nuclear Power program More than 50,000 protest- students and members of Hiners occupied Tahrir Square at du Y.U.V.A. (Youth for Unity, the beginning of the revolu- Virtues and Actions) club spoke tion. In the following days, ac- about how things have changed cording to Stratfor analysis, the in India since the fatal sexual number of demonstrators had assault and nationwide progrown up to 250,000. tests that followed. Aslam wished he could have “There is a lot of police gone to Tahrir, but admitted roaming around to ensure that his parents probably wouldn’t girls are safe. Public and local have let him do it. “Parents transportation are also cooperwere really worried; lots of ating,” said Kaianathbhatta. people were dyRegardless of ing. A friend told those measures, me how parents It used to be much an Indian tourist used to lock their ... simpler, people don’t industry survey sons’ rooms, showed the numcare about each other ber of foreign made them stay at home, but they any more. Seeing this tourists travelling jumped out of the is really worrying, to India dropped windows to go to especially with youth by 25 per cent Tahrir,” he said. this year, with Indian tour opAt that time, doing all this. erators reporting he said, it was many cancellaeither go to TahKhanjan Patel tions. rir Square or “I am scared to stay to protect homes from thieves. “Security go back. It can happen to any was gone; there was no police. girl out there,” said KaianathFriends told us how they used bhatta who plans to go to Into camp all night outside their dia in July or August. She was buildings to catch thieves,” shocked by the news because women in her family are given Aslam said. Even though the future of a lot of respect and authority, Egypt is still uncertain, both and because no one helped the students agreed they want to go victim. Patel agrees that life in India back and see the country after is becoming “more risky.” the revolution. “It used to be much more A year later, a young woman’s gang rape triggered a wave simpler,” he said. “People of protests across India. People don’t care about each other any were demanding better treat- more. Seeing this is really worment for women and the death rying, especially when youth doing all this.” penalty for rape. No one expected to see Alekhya Kaianathbhatta, 21, changes being made on TV. and Khanjan Patel, 23, both
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Aleksandra Sharova
FAR AWAY: Top: UOIT Indian students and members of Y.U.V.A. (Youth for Unity, Virtues and Actions) Khanjan Patel (left) and Alekhys Kaianathbhatta (right). Bottom: UOIT Egyptian students Emad Abdelrahman (left) and Hammad Aslam. He wasn’t the only one who became a news junkie following the events. Hammad Aslam, 20, a UOIT student in Software
Engineering program, used to gather with his friends to watch broadcasts from Egypt in “a revolution place”, as they called
Girls get creative at DC seminar Reshanthy Vijayarajah The Chronicle
On March 24, UOIT and Durham College held its first ever “Girls, Spark your Imagination” event. More than 550 registrations poured in for the event with some girls showing up at the last minute. It was the first of its kind, aimed at getting girls interested in science and technology at a young age. It was also an opportunity for parents to see the potential activities that can be done together at home. “Historically girls are not represented in technology and science,” said Laura Benninger one of the organizers and a professor from School of Science & Engineering Technology at Durham College. Parents gathered with their daughters. The excitements built up when they entered the gym at Durham College. Some of the volunteers in their assigned compartments wore white
Reshanthy Vijayarajah
GETTING COLOURFUL: Hannah Gibbons (left) and Madhu Arasaratham enjoying the “Sharpie tie dye” experiment at the Girls, Spark your Imagination held on March 24. coats, while the others dressed in red t-shirts and directed the families inside the gym. There was everything you can
imagine, from robots made out of Lego to slime made out of cornstarch and water. “The most popular is the lip
gloss, strawberry DNA, iPad station to the Lego Robotic,” said Sheila Rhodes, one of the organizers, and also an instruc-
tor and faculty advisor at UOIT. Handwriting Analysis, an exercise with an investigative twist, was one the many interesting experiments at the event. Another experiment involved finding what type of pen the robber used to write the letter left behind. “We’re dying to go see the robots,” said Madison Havay and Machenzie Williams. The girls were all hyped up after finishing up with, “Make Your Own Twister.” Who you would imagine what a test tube filled with three quarter water and couple of drops of liquid soap can create a twister when swirling the tubes? As a matter of fact, it wasn’t only the girls getting involved, as the parents were excited the same way. A small meeting in January led to this event and was successful with the help from the volunteers. The organizers Sheila Rhodes, Laura Benninger and Anna Rodrigues are pleased with the event and hope to do it again next year.
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Smoking policies promoted, not enforced
Daniel Cearns The Chronicle
When it comes to the enforcement of the smoking policies on campus, the college says it will “promote compliance of this policy and bylaw” instead of directly enforcing it. “I don’t feel that heavy enforcement of this accomplishes anything other than upsetting our community,” said Tom Lynch, director of campus safety for Durham College and UOIT. “In general, we use security here to create awareness of these laws and they will approach people who are in breach of that and ask them to step outside the thirty metre line.” Durham College’s smoking policies state that nobody can smoke “within 10 metres of any college building entrance, loading dock or fresh air intake” nor anywhere inside the college. Even though he has seen these policies as a success, some students have a different view. Six out of ten students surveyed said that the college has not done enough. “There’s yellow paint and lines,” said Durham College student Cindy MacIsaac “not
really much else.” Animal care student Korah Owens said that it just isn’t working right now. “ When I walk around the entrances I can still smell smoke heavily and can see butts of cigarettes close to the entrances,” she said. According to the Canadian Cancer Society, each year 1,000 Canadians die from second hand smoke exposure and that at least 70 chemicals in second hand smoke have been proven to cause cancer. Second hand smoke has also been proven to cause other effects such as headaches, sore throat, and can make people more likely to get a cold. It can also trigger asthma attacks. As well, a report put out on May 2012 by the Durham Region health department states that outdoor tobacco smoke can be detected from “distances 7-8 metres away from a lit tobacco product” depending on weather conditions. Despite this, Cancer Society Spokesperson Sara McMillen believes that Durham College is on the right track. “This really isn’t about direct enforcement,” said McMillen “It is about changing social perception.” She says it is about targeting
Daniel Cearns
FOLLOW THE RULES : Katrina Owens in front of a smoke-free area at Durham. the people that are struggling with addiction to tobacco rather than directly policing the issue. “When the signs are paired with the education [from security or bylaw officers] we have received positive reports,” Mc-
Millen said. Dalhousie University in Halifax is one of the few in Canada to go completely smoke free, going that route in 2003. Those wishing to smoke there are “asked to leave university property.” As well, Dalhousie
has gone completely scent free, looking to eliminate all colognes, sprays etc. “When I studied their approach, enforcement was not a key piece in it,” said Lynch “It was more pure community pressure.”
Throw away the pack, get your life back Kelly Beck The Chronicle
According to a survey from Health Canada, young adults between the ages of 20 to 24 years old have had the highest smoking rate in Canada for the past eight years. But Durham College is now trying to change the numbers with the program Leave the Pack Behind (LTPB). Fourteen years ago, in 1999, not a lot was done to help students quit smoking or prevent them from starting. Maybe there were a few posters on the wall or a reminder from teachers that smoking is unhealthy. Since then the government of Canada has worked with universities to create LTPB. Its “wouldurather” contest lasts six-weeks and it has something for everyone. Its main goal is for students to ‘leave the pack behind,’ but they also have other options like ‘Don’t start and win,’ or ‘Keep the count.’ Lindsay Taylor, assistant manager of LTPB at Brock University, says they wanted everyone to get the chance to participate. “They might want to quit a different way,” said Taylor, “We just want to make sure there’s options out there for anyone, no matter what category they sign up for.” She says attracting people to the program is easy. Each
Kelly Beck
PREVENTING THE POISON: Throw away the pack to send cancer years back. campus has a pure health team to help support, encourage, advertise and hand out booklets to students. Taylor herself used to be the volunteer who walked around campus, giving people books. She says the goal is to never approach people in a judgmental or negative way, but to talk to people with open conversation. She also said they would never tell anyone to quit and because of that, people
don’t get upset. “Everyone is unique and everyone is an individual. We don’t ever really get people who are offended,” said Taylor. Not every student who joins can successfully quit smoking, but the ones who do have told Taylor all the same things. “They’ve said they felt like this was their year,” said Taylor. Campuses all across Ontario also give every LTPB contestant
a Quit Kit, a bag full of helpful guides, tips and relievers like gum or play-doh to keep hands busy. Some campuses even offer students the nicotine patches and gum for free. “The most successful people are ones with a plan and a significant factor is what they used to quit smoking,” said Taylor. Since it originated at Brock University in 2000, several campuses across Ontario have
adopted LTPB. Even campuses in the United States have taken interest and have created something similar. “The Yukon government is now doing their own version of Leave the Pack Behind and it runs a little separate, but together. We consult them and help them out,” said Taylor “There’s definitely interest because it really works.” There is one winner for each category of LTPB. The grand prize is $1,000 and the lowest cash prize is $250. The money for the winners is funded by Pfizer Canada. “They are very supportive in helping Canadians quit,” said Taylor. LTPB also offers tips, guidelines, support, managing stress, running and quitting with QUITRUNCHILL.com, a website that helps someone keep track of their weekly progress. People often have questions or need support, and that’s why LTPB has its own Facebook page. Stephen Agnew, research coordinator and web and graphics for LTPB runs it and he says inquiries often filter through him. “The questions that do come to us on this page are usually general inquiries about how the contest works or what LTPB does,” said Agnew. This year’s LTPB grand prize Quit for Good winner is Nikita Soukhov from University of Guelph.
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Tanning ban for youth under 18 Ontario supports Skin Cancer Prevention Act
tal to his business financially. However, many tanning users The Chronicle do start young and progress to lifetime users. Teenagers are Many provinces across Can- known to be prone to risky beada have banned indoor tan- havior and tend to want instant ning for youth under 18 and gratification when there’s an Ontario is not far behind. The instant reward said dermatoloprovince recently introduced gist Dr. Julia Carroll. “It will the Skin Cancer Prevention prevent people getting in when Act, a bill similar to one pro- they’re not that great decision posed previously by a private makers and might help prevent member. That bill died when them from becoming lifelong the legislature shut down last tanners,” says Carroll. fall. An analogy that came from Now provincial health min- both Gilroy and Carroll was ister Deb Matbetween tanthews is hoping ning and smokto see the law It will prevent ing. “You have to finally pass, and breath the air and this has once people getting in when walk around with again left doctors they’re not that great pollution but you and salon own- decision makers and choose to smoke ers at odds with might help prevent a cigarette. It’s messaging over them from becoming the same with safety. tanning. In daily Bill 74 will pre- lifelong tanners. life you are exvent youth under posed to sun but 18 from using Dr. Julia Carroll you choose to go indoor tanning to a tanning bed,” beds, require said Carroll. proper identification from anyGilroy sees the analogy anone who looks younger than 25, other way. He says Vitamin D and will give inspectors rights is a necessity to humans and to inspect salon businesses. As moderate UV exposure can be well, the law will require salon good to boost vitamin D and owners to post signs with warn- enhance quality of life. “Is goings of cancerous risks. ing on a sunny vacation going Steven Gilroy of the Joint to hurt you? Is a couple of sesCanadian Tanning Association sions of tanning going to hurt explained that the percentage you?” said Gilroy. of tanning salon users under An increasing number of 18 is about 4 to 5 per cent of all studies suggest a link between users so creating a law to ban indoor tanning and increased young people is not detrimen- rates of cancer. While some go
Rebecca Watson
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Rebecca Watson
Banning Tanning: A tanning bed at Fantastic Tan, cooling after being used tanning before prom or socially with others, many feel the need to get a little sun kissed before heading on vacation. Carroll says a common myth is that a base tan will help to prevent sunburn when it will only create, at most, an SPF of 2-4. “Any colour your skin gets after tanning is damaged skin,” says
Carroll. “All tanning, even from the sun, is bad for you.” Yet there is no proof indoor tanning is the sole cause of melanoma skin cancer, explained Gilroy. “We need to learn to do things in moderation.” He has never even heard of someone passing away solely from tanning.
But Nancy Falconer of the Canadian Cancer Society said, “There is really no way to get a safe tan.” Falconer explained there are many things that minors cannot do like smoking and drinking and the Canadian Cancer Society is definitely pleased about the ban.
Bringing together the continents of the world Aleksandra Sharova The Chronicle
Aleksandra Sharova
PANGAEA: Suba Thambirasa performing at Pangaea.
It happened fast. Four continents, five countries flashed before the audience’s eyes in the blink of an eye. From North America to Africa and Asia, from traditional songs to hip-hop and reggae – everything came together Tuesday, March 21 to celebrate the ninth annual Pangaea cultural show at the Campus Recreation and Wellness Centre gyms at the Oshawa Campus. “It’s a really exciting event, and it’s easily one of the most important events that our campus holds every year because we are celebrating a really diverse campus that I don’t think is captured on as many campuses in Ontario as
could be,” said Josh Bickle, vice-president of college affairs. The event, hosted by the Diversity Office and the Student Association, started at 4 p.m., giving students and guests of the show two hours to visit all food stations and sample food from seven different regions before the live performances began. Matthew Naraine, a DC student in the Electronics Engineering Technology program, tried all the foods. “I thought it was a great way for students to embrace their cultural diversity. The food wasn’t 100 per cent authentic, but there was a good variety, which exposed students to a lot of new tastes,” he said. When the culinary journey was over, DC and UOIT stu-
dents went on stage to share their cultures with the audience. The performances varied from a colourful African fashion show, passionate merengue and salsa to melancholic Mexican songs, mesmerizing Indian and Afghani dances, including one celebrating Afghan New Year (Nowroz), which the show coincided with. More than 200 students gathered together to celebrate the diverse cultures on campus. No boundaries or limits. Just like millions of years ago when all present continents were together and collectively known as a supercontinent or Pangaea. Bickle thinks Pangaea has the potential to be as big as other campus events that attract a lot of people.
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Irish eyes smiling on Durham grads
Turn a diploma into a degree at institute in Ireland Sarah Pugsley The Chronicle
For students, travelling the world while studying can be a costly venture. Living expenses, tuition and course materials alone can make the idea of international study unrealistic. But there is an answer for those with the itch to travel. On March 28, Dr. Noreen Carney of the Dundalk Institute of Technology (DkIT) in Ireland spoke to students at Durham about the opportunity to study abroad and turn diplomas into degrees. Graduates of two-year diplomas from Durham College can receive an honours bachelor at Dundalk in two years, while graduates of three-year advanced diplomas can receive an honours bachelor in only a year. The degrees offered range widely from the creative arts to engineering and the applied sciences. The campus is home to 5,000 students and offers many amenities such as sports,
activity clubs and an international student society. And with only a 45-minute bus ride to Belfast and Dublin, there is no shortage of things to do. But cost is key. Expenses for those wishing to partake in the diploma-to-degree program at Dundalk range from $10,000 to $12,000 a year. There are several scholarships available for Ontario college students and from the society of Institutes of Technology Ireland. The school is also approved for student loan purposes in Ontario, which allows students to carry over OSAP funds. Many organizations that issue student awards also provide additional grants for students in international study. Students can also seek employment in Ireland while studying. DkIT permits students to work 20 hours a week during study time and 40 hours a week during vacation time. Although minimum wage in Ireland is about $11 CDN, Carney emphasized the importance of balancing study and free time. “Especially in an area as beautiful as this, if you’re only there for a year or two, you want to be able to stay and experience the country,” said Carney. Students interested in the program can visit the International Office in the Student Services Building.
Sarah Pugsley
DURHAM’S IRISH CONNECTION: Fiona Richards (left), Durham College’s director of International Business Development, and Dr. Noreen Carney of the international office of the Dundalk Institute of Technology.
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The whole truth about plagiarism Andrew Fliegel The Chronicle
When students hear the word “plagiarism” echoing in the halls of Durham College, they may ask themselves a number of questions: Why do we do it? Have I plagiarized? Can I stop it? In order to answer all of these inquiries, one must know exactly what plagiarism is. According to Merriam-Webster’s dictionary, plagiarism is the act of using another person’s words or ideas without giving credit to that person. Durham College classifies plagiarism as a breach of academic integrity. What exactly is academic integrity? Durham College’s policy on academic integrity states, “academic integrity refers to the pursuit of scholarly activity in an open, honest and responsible manner.” “It’s an interaction with ones personal beliefs and values, our interactions with each other and with the larger communities that we live in that contributes to any particular decision of whether one would or would not engage in plagiarism,” says Lynn Taylor, principal investigator for the University of Manitoba’s Plagiarism Research Project. Taylor along with several other university professors took part in a Canada wide research project to learn about and know how recognize plagiarism. “As teachers, we don’t talk enough about the values of research,” says Taylor. “I think it’s pretty obvious that there is a disciplinary issue we haven’t done a good job of.” Taylor doesn’t mean to blame it solely on teachers, but to stress the importance that academic integrity needs to be grounded, and embedded in
Andrew Fliegel
BIGGER ISSUE: Mary Blanchard, Durham College associate vice-president of academic planning, talks about how easy it is to catch plagiarism using technology and the process of dealing with those who are caught plagiarizing. academic learning. There are other issues that can constitute a student’s bad decision. “It’s hard for students because there are so many incidents in politics and sports and peoples personal relationships where they know that there is a lack of integrity in many facets in contemporary life,” Taylor explains, “but that still doesn’t make it ok.” Does this mean that plagiarism will ever take a turn? “It seems to be becoming more prevalent today,” says Mary Blanchard, associate vice-president of academic planning. “Often you can tell a student’s writing to information that has been lifted from a
source.” Blanchard explains how easy it is to catch acts of journalism today. There is a program called Turnitin which is used in many institutions, including Durham College and UOIT. It runs an assignment or essay through and ensures that sources are properly accredited and not lifted without attribution. Blanchard says, “I think if students knew how severe the penalties are, they wouldn’t do it.” According to Durham College’s Procedure on Academic Integrity, a first breach of academic integrity [plagiarism] can result in a zero on an assignment, temporary bans on
use of campus resources, an academic performance contract and potential removal from the course. Second time offenders can face penalties including removal from the course or even removal from a program. In the rare case there is a third time offence, it will result in a dismissal from the college for three academic years. “It’s always disappointing meeting with a repeat defender,” says Blanchard. “Nobody wants to dismiss a student.” Students may have a different hunch when it comes to classmates performing an act of plagiarism. “Plagiarism simply relates to fear. Humans naturally have the fear of failure. All
they want to do is succeed and some feel that plagiarism is a good method of doing so,” says Juan Bendana, a general arts student at Durham College. Juan explains that students are far too focused on actually getting the grade than earning it. They fear the outcome of a mark and decide to use someone’s professional work to ensure a high grade. Taylor says the competition to get good grades is higher because students are competing against more people. “Postsecondary credentials have become the requirement for most career paths in Canada,” Taylor says. “The idea that we really have to do well on everything and that it’s about the achievement puts such a pressure on contemporary students.” Blanchard believes education is the key to instilling academic integrity in a student. “We want to make sure that they understand that using someone else’s work is dishonest. We consider this a teachable moment,” she says. When the associate vice-president was the dean of the School of Interdisciplinary Studies and Employment Services, (ISES) she would send offenders to plagiarism workshops to further educate them on the matter. In Taylor’s study, she found that most students said if there was a very positive classroom dynamic and the professor cared about learning, they were less like to cheat or plagiarize. “You just haven’t signed up for a course, you’ve actually joined a community of people who generate, critically evaluate, examine and try to create the best knowledge we can to solve real life problems. That’s a privilege, and all we ask in return is for produced work we can trust,” Taylor says.
‘We Will Rock You’ in Oshawa musical Gurpreet Bhelay The Chronicle
Gurpreet Bhelay
MUSICAL DIRECTION: Director John-Charles Coolen conducts the Durham Community Choir during their rehearsals for their spring musical titled ‘We Will Rock You.’
Durham Community Choir has been hard at work at Durham College, rehearsing for its upcoming spring musical ‘We Will Rock You.’ It will be performed in late April at the Kingsview United Church and feature songs from popular rock musicals. The musical is directed by John-Charles Coolen. The choir is sponsored by Durham College and there are no auditions for roles. The choir is open to everyone 16 and up. There are more than 90 members in the choir who have devoted their time and effort into putting on this musical. The Members have been preparing for the event during rehearsals held on Monday from
evening at Durham College as well as three Saturdays in the morning. “We’re expected to do work at home,” said Joanne Hawthorne, a choir member who also takes part in the publicity for the choir. She then explained how they are able to listen to their part of the song on their website for practice at home. At rehearsals, members go through the lyrics and are told what areas they should work on. ‘We Will Rock You’ will feature songs from Rent, Jersey Boys, Rocky Horror Picture Show and many more. The event will raise money for the choir to purchase sheet music for future performances. Members of the choir also put together a cookbook that includes a vast array of recipes all arranged into one book. The
cookbook was auctioned off at a silent auction held April 5 - 6. The choir usually has two musicals a year, a spring musical at the end of April and a fall concert during November or December. Members of the choir usually hold a dinner potluck at the end of their season where members converse and voice ideas for their next musical. The choir was founded by Wendy Hedderwick-White in 1994, and the choir is now is a Continuing Education course for Durham College. The musical will be held on Sunday, April 28, starting at 3 p.m. at Kingsview United Church located at 505 Adelaide Avenue east, Oshawa. Admission prices are $20 for adults and $14 for children 12 and under.
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Students are struggling with budgets Catherine Legault The Chronicle
With many students living away from home during their pursuit of post-secondary education, students may find themselves dipping into the financial red occasionally. According to Alison Griffiths, a financial journalist and host of the show Maxed Out, the time of year a student is most likely to fall short financially is actually right now: the end of a semester. “All the more reason to have a budget,” said Griffiths. “Follow the guide monthly and you won’t have seasonal dips.” There are a variety of possible reasons for a student to run short of funds. One, is simply not being aware of all the financial help out there, said Elaine Catell, student awards officer at Durham College. A second reason students may find themselves experiencing financial difficulty is because they didn’t establish their budget properly. “Eight months seem long,” said Griffiths. “[Students] fail to budget for the full year. It can be hard because there’s a lot of upfront costs.” Griffiths suggested a variety of things students can do to save money and spend it better, but she focused heavily on the importance of students establishing a working budget. Elena Jara, director of education at Credit Canada Debt
Catherine Legault
PLANNING YOUR FINANCES: Some students aren’t seeing scenes like the one above, as they often fail to properly prepare and plan for their expenses. Having a thorough plan can be of great benefit to anyone, especially students. Solutions Inc., and Catell also agreed that not preparing a proper budget is one of the most common mistakes students make with their finances. Catell says a student should establish their budget in the summer so if they see themselves falling short they have time to find more funds. To learn how to make a proper budget and maintain it, it’s important for students to keep track of their spending and monthly expenses. Jara recommended that students
keep track of their daily expenses for at least a month. According to Griffiths, this can be done using paper, a worksheet or even one of the free apps downloadable for smartphones. Griffiths has a spreadsheet available on her website for this purpose. Credit Canada Debt Solutions Inc. also has a budget tracker on its website as does Durham College on their financial planning and counseling page. Another mistake students make is putting lump sums of
money such as OSAP in their chequing account where it could be spent, said Griffith. Instead she recommends putting the money into the savings account and then moving it to the chequing account every month as needed. Griffiths said another savings trick is a psychological one: earmarking. By earmarking a dollar for savings, students are consciously making the decision to save it and are that much more likely to save it. Another trick is how to think
of a budget. Jara doesn’t call it a budget but a spending plan. “We all spend,” she said. “Many think a budget is a limiting tool and they get frustrated and go back to their old ways.” Jara also said to remember that a budget can be changed on a monthly basis as needed. For example, if students receive extra money one month, they can adjust their budget accordingly. Griffiths recommended removing the savings account from debit card. She says this does “make it more awkward , but it’s a much better way to take your hands off the money.” Griffiths also recommended guaranteed investment certificates. This allows students to save money based on a certain amount but also restrict their access to it. Griffith described it as a piggy bank with a lock. The student can break the lock to get at their money, but it would take a lot of effort. However, Griffiths points out it’s important to establish a functioning savings program and not over save. A savings program is functioning when you don’t have to touch it except for the emergencies it exists for, said Griffiths. If a student saves 50 to 60 per cent during the school year, that’s plenty. The summer is the time to save roughly 75 per cent because often students are living at home and don’t have as many expenses during the summer months, or they work extra hours while school is out.
Innovative students have winning idea Courtney Williams The Chronicle
An idea to build a website that could help young people find volunteer positions won the inaugural Durham Ideas Den competition on March 28. The competition asked young people to come up with big, bold ideas for changing their community using categories such as climate change, poverty, transportation, and youth engagement as their guideline. The Durham Ideas Den, sponsored by Durham College, the Community Innovation lab and the Ministry for Economic Development, Trade and Employment gave students the chance to dream big, and have the opportunity to watch their dreams come to life. The event featured six groups of finalists who pitched their ideas to three industry professionals in hopes of winning the first place prize of $5,000 to help kick-start their dreams and bring them into reality. “This is the dugout,” said Lon Appleby, a professor in the School of Interdisciplinary Studies & Employment Services, as he opened the event. “You are the players. This is the game. It’s time to play.”
Each group had three minutes to pitch to judges Jason Vassell, Petra Kassun-Mutch and Omar Ramroop. Afterwards, they were given six minutes of deliberation time in which judges could ask them for clarification or any questions they had. The room was full of family, friends, and event supporters including the president of Durham College, the mayors of Pickering, Clarington, and Brock, as well as the provincial minister. Among the winning ideas introduced at the Ideas Den was the online youth volunteer finding program, as well as peer– to–peer mental health, and a big belly compacter designed to reduce waste and waste management costs in Durham Region. The winning team members included DC students Dana Murray, Sandra Young, Jennifer Russell and Elizabeth Willatt. They christened their idea “Durham Involves Youth,” and described it as a program developed to “engage Durham College students in building a platform, sharing skills and facilitating volunteer relationships to help high school students better engage and find volunteer opportunities in the community.” The women developed a
plan to create a website that high school students could log onto and enter information about their personality and interests. Using these facts, the website would then match the student with volunteer opportunities in Durham region applicable to their skillsets. The website would help them complete their mandatory community volunteer hours. Murray, a Paralegal Studies student at Durham College, said the experience taught her a lot, and to trust herself and push her way out of her comfort zone. “The experience itself taught me to never doubt anyone or anything, which is a very important lesson that I will treasure forever,” she said. Murray also said winning the competition was one of he best experiences of her life. “Honestly, I almost cried,” she said. “We were all holding each others’ clammy hands in nervousness. When they announced the second place team and it hit the group that ‘oh my God, we actually won this’. It was exhilarating.” The group’s next step in implementing the idea is to work throughout the summer with businesses and entrepreneurs to make a plan and attend
Courtney Williams
THE WINNING TEAM: From left: Dana Murray, Sandra Young and Jennifer Russell. These three paralegal students were the winners of this year’s Ideas Den. workshops to learn more about the business they are going into. “It will be quite a hectic summer for all of us, but it’s really exciting to begin taking the next steps to really get our idea
moving forward,” Murray said. Students who are interested in competing in the Durham Ideas Den competition next year can visit their website at www.durhamideasden.com to get more information.
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Students have had enough of Simcoe Res lot
Kelly Beck The Chronicle
Many people are getting frustrated with the unavailability of parking in the Simcoe Residence lot. Students at Durham College and UOIT are paying $500 per year for a parking lot that doesn’t guarantee a parking spot every day. The Simcoe Residence parking lot is the smallest one on campus, and it is also the furthest away from both schools. In storybook terms, the Simcoe Residence parking lot would be known as the ugly duckling. What other lots do have, the Simcoe Residence lot seems to lack. From Commencement lot to the main Simcoe lot, students and faculty members need a card to gain access to parking. In the Simcoe residence lot anyone can drive in and find a spot – if there’s one available. It isn’t known whether or not they have paid, because no one requires a tag in their window proving they’ve paid for a permit. Second year business marketing student Shawn Hawley has had more than a few
Kelly Beck
STUDENTS ARE FED UP: Students are beginning to take matters into their own hands by leaving their thoughts displayed on their dashboards. problems with the Simcoe Residence lot, one resulting in a parking ticket and a failing grade. When Hawley came to school one day and found out there were no available parking spots, he immediately complained to the parking office employees. They suggested he park in a different lot on campus. After realizing there would be no one at the gates to let him out after class, he returned back to the office and complained again. The parking employee went on to tell him he was out of luck. Hawley parked in the Shoppers
plaza across the street, desperate to do his mid-term exam, even though he was already late. “I was running super late by this time and parked in the Shoppers plaza. I was twenty minutes late for my mid-term and flunked it with a 30 per cent - my lowest grade I have ever received at this school by far,” he said. “Of course when I got back to my car, I had a new ticket from the rent a cop that sits in that plaza. So I had over $70 in tickets in a lot I had already paid for and when I needed the spot most, nothing was there.”
Jassodra Bednarski, a student in the social services worker program, said it’s ridiculous having to pay $500 just to be stuck parking behind the residence building. “The pathways are not clean and it’s muddy,” said Bednarski. She added for the amount of times she’s been stuck parking there, she would want a refund if she found out that part was for day passes only. Ralph Aprile, associate vicepresident of Facilities and Ancilliary at Durham College, says he has been experiencing issues with the Simcoe Residence lot. “Because it is not gated we
have people trying to park there without paying,” said Aprile. Even people who have already paid for a permit in the Simcoe lot have gotten ticketed because they’re desperate for a better spot that’s closer to the school. Aprile also said ticketing people in the parking lot has been an attempt to help prevent people from illegally parking. According to Aprile, that’s all going to change next year when Durham College takes action and they put an addition onto the Residence Lot. “Next year we will be gating the area designated to permit holders.” But even if there are problems in the Simcoe Residence parking, doesn’t mean there aren’t still issues with other lots at the school. Danielle Levac, a third year Durham College student who parks in Founders lots two and three, says she has seen people sneak into her lot. “I always see people that will wait for other people to scan their card to open the gate and then go through the gate right after,” said Levac. She also said she hasn’t seen any parking enforcement in the Founders lots whatsoever this year.
OSAP loan vs. bank loan: Which is more beneficial to students?
Which loan is the better loan? Matthew Mazer The Chronicle
Not all students are able to pay for tuition by themselves. Students may have to apply for an Ontario Student Assistance Program (OSAP) loan, or a bank loan. But which is the better option? Both OSAP and bank loans have processes which may be confusing to students, by which the application goes through. “OSAP does have a long and complicated process, but as long as all information isa disclosed then everything should go smoothly,” according to Chris Rocha, the director of financial aid and awards at Durham College. Paul Fabro, an advisor at TD Canada Trust says “Banks take everything into account when a student applies for a student line of credit. Income status, marital status, your program everything.” Forty-seven per cent of students at Durham College are attending school on OSAP loans. There are statistics on the number of students at Durham College attending post-secondary on bank loans, but they were unavailable at the time. No matter which loan a student takes out, there is going to be interest buildup. With OSAP, the interest starts to compile six months after graduation. With bank loans, the
interest on the student line of credit starts a year after a student is done school. The fact that interest builds after a certain time amount is similar, however, the amount of interest that gets compiled is different between the two loan systems. “The interest that builds on the student line of credit is 1 per cent,” according to Fabro. The interest rate on OSAP is 5 per cent. According to Rocha, stu-
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OSAP does have a long and complicated process, but as long as all information is disclosed then everything should go smoothly.
Chris Rocha
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dents have struggled with getting and paying for OSAP as long as it’s been around. An example of that would be Durham College computer systems technician student Kelly McCarthy missing out on the grants of $2,000 he should have received for being a student with disabilities. Fabro says that some students have had problems with bank loans and being able to make minimum payments towards the loan, but he cannot recall any as of recently. Rocha said if studentsare having problems making these payments, they could cut down on unneeded expenses and
move back home, especially if they are living on their own and paying rent. Another issue for many students would be paying back their OSAP loans would be finding a job after graduation.
If they cannot find a job, they cannot make the payments. In contrast, Fabro said since the interest rate on the student line of credit is so low students rarely have issues making the
payments. Whether a student decides to take a loan from OSAP, or a bank loan, is dependent upon the personal situation. Bottom line, it needs to be paid back.
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UOIT group sponsors orphan Sadia Badon The Chronicle
‘Helping you, help orphans’ is the motto of the Orphan Sponsorship Program (OSP) at UOIT, and that’s exactly what its members are doing. The idea came to Abid Syed, president, after he volunteered with his friend who was the group leader in the same program at Ryerson University. Syed then brought the idea to UOIT. The group initially started off as a mini club as part of the Muslim Student Association in 2008 but branched off last year as its own group. The OSP group has sponsored two orphaned girls, one from Sri Lanka and the other from Pakistan this past year with their partnership with ICNA Relief Canada and has many fundraising events underway. It takes $365 a year to sponsor an orphan. The money goes to providing education, health-
care and living costs for the child. With its bake sale during Islamic Awareness week, the group raised $260, which will be sent to ICNA Relief at the end of the year. Currently the OSP’s main
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We are fortunate enough to be where we are right now. This program is a way for us to be thankful.
Rayan Mohamed
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goal is to re-sponsor the two children and sponsor a child from every country in the world in the long run. “We are not specifically targeting any race, ethnicity or religion. Orphans come from everywhere,” said Fatima Seyed, an executive
member of the OSP. In future, the group hopes to work with many other charitable organizations. “I think it’s important going forward that we maintain what we have and we try to grow,” said Rayan Mohamed, another executive member. They are also looking for more people to sponsor their work. “We are fortunate enough to be where we are right now. This program is a way for us to be thankful,” he added. By the end of this year they are hoping to sponsor three or four orphan children with the money they raise. “Our motivation is just basically having a good heart and right intentions. Doing something like this you are really changing the life of somebody even though you don’t know them on a personal basis,” Seyed said. ICNA Relief is a grassroots charity in Canada. It has charity projects internationally and locally that include education, health care and water for life
projects. The organization currently works in about 78 countries in Asia and Africa. As part of its domestic projects, it has eight food banks all over Canada and also youth leadership development program as well as senior programs.
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Doing something like this you are really changing the life of somebody, even though you don’t know them on a personal basis.
Fatima Seyed
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“Whenever there is emergency or calamity we are there to give assistance to the people who are in need,” said Agha Syed, director of domestic projects who has been working with the organization for 11 years. ICNA Relief specially
focuses on countries where the majority of the population lives in poverty. According to a 2003 UNICEF report, there are between 143 million to 210 million orphans worldwide and everyday almost 6,000 more children become orphans. Abid Mir, manager of sponsorship program, recently went to look over operations in Islamabad, Pakistan. “Children get taken off schools because they can’t afford it, we are trying to put them back in the education system,” he said. With funds raised, the organization is able to pay for these types of programs. Syed is graduating this year but he wants to continue being in touch with the group and help it grow. There are currently six executive group members and 20 volunteers starting off. They are looking to expand and have more volunteers. For more information contact them at uoitdcosp@gmail.com.
DC students explore 2015 PanAm Games
Matthew Jordan The Chronicle
The biggest event to come to southern Ontario just became a little more inclusive as Sports Management students were treated to the workings of the Toronto 2015 Pan/Parapan American Games courtesy of CEO Ian Troop. “He [Troop] is leading the charge to create one of Canada’s largest sports competitions and cultural festival in Toronto during the summer of 2015,” said professor Jan Robinson. “To execute such a massive endeavor, on behalf of three levels of government, he’s drawing upon his worldwide business experience, as well as his passion for community, growth, and sport.” In the seminar presented to the Sports Management program, Troop discussed the merits of bringing the world to southern Ontario, from its community and cultural impact, to the long-term experience garnered by the events 17, 000 volunteers. Thousands of athletes from across the America’s compete in the Pan Am Games every four years in what are seen as Olympic qualifiers, but have a life of their own. The event will stage 36 professional sports taking place at venues from Welland to Oshawa, where the GM Centre will host boxing. Troop deems the games to be the biggest thing to happen to
Canada, bigger than the Olympics. “What I hope we can do [today] is give you a perspective on what the Pan/Parapan games are going to be like in 2015,” said Troop, “so you’re in a better position to understand how you want to get involved to be part of making this a great event for our community and use these games to help give you new life experiences you can take with you after the
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What I hope we can do is give you a perspective on what the Pan/Parapan games are going to be like in 2015.
Ian Troop
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games are over.” Troop began the presentation with a reflection on the most recent games in Guadalajara, Mexico, comparing the excitement and energy it had to what is being created in Toronto. He highlighted the need for accessibility, affordability, and intimacy in creating an event that caters to families in southern Ontario, while bringing together the immense cultural diversity in the region. The games have a record high construction budget of
nearly 2.4 billion dollars, with nine new buildings under construction, from the athlete’s village in Toronto’s West Don Lands to the velodrome in Milton. The Toronto games has amassed twice the amount of fundraising seen in Guadalajara, allowing for the organizers to invest in local infrastructure, and give something back to the communities hosting the games, who will retain ownership of the buildings. “We contribute 56 percent, 56 cents on the dollar to every facility and the owner contributes 44 percent,” said Troop, “so generally speaking it’s municipalities or it’s institutions like universities.” There was also strong encouragement for the participation by students in all regions. The Pan American games has a youth advisory council in place, composed of youth age 16 to 24, including three from the Durham region. Troop’s call is aimed at getting students to get their clubs and groups involved in the cultural dynamics of the games, to connect with youth across Southern Ontario and gain experience in what it means to be a part of the games. This is done through the Ignite program. “Ignite is a program that allows you as a community, organization, school program, [or] an after school club to take part in the games in a way that matters to you, but that celebrates
Matthew Jordan
CEO IAN TROOP HOLDS SEMINAR: Sports Management students were given a presentation on the planning that’s going into the upcoming Toronto PanAm games. and recognizes the games,” said Louise Lutgens, senior vice president of community and cultural affairs with the games. “It can be a program that celebrates sports [and] culture, ensures inclusivity and diversity of your community in the program and celebrates and brings awareness to the games as well.” The event will be staffed by volunteers from all communities, providing ample opportunity for students, including here at Durham College, to gain valuable experience working large scale sporting events. “When you talk to people
in Calgary who were part of the [1988] Olympics, they said ‘those volunteers changed our city forever’, because they had that experience, they went back to their communities with new capabilities and really made a difference,” said Troop. “With 17, 000 in our region, I think we can expect a similar impact.” The Toronto Pan American games will begin staffing in 2014, with a number of major events being held in the Durham region, including softball and baseball in Ajax, and tickets are expected to be priced at family value.
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DC wants student feedback Christopher Burrows The Chronicle
Durham College wants its students to know it cares about them. Launched in mid-January as part of a student communication project, DC Cares is more than a just another way for students to make comments or complain about their school. It’s a way for everyone, students, faculty and the public to quickly and easily get the information they need and for the college to gather information that can be used to help improve the student experience as a whole. “We wanted to provide the means for students to contact the college, get the information from the correct place and also to have a means of tracking the feedback so that we can identify themes or areas of concern that we need to address,” says Chris Yeo, the web content coordinator for the college who worked on the program. “So part of the project is to not only address the individual concern but also to gather the information, look at it on a monthly or on a regular basis and then draw some conclusions from things we can improve upon.” When students send a question or concern through DC Cares, whether from email, online or drop box, it goes to
Christopher Burrows
DC CARES: Katrina Owens is picking up a comment card to give feedback to Durham College. web specialist Brandon Carson who then forwards it to the appropriate department where it’s addressed and a response is sent to the student within one business day. “Provide as much information as possible,” Carson says, so that students receive the most accurate response to their question. Carson also added
that anything sent to DC Cares is kept confidential. Since its launch, Yeo and Carson say DC Cares has been well received by students, faculty and the public and gets numerous queries every day from not just students but the public as a whole. Carson adds that since January DC Cares has received
about 382 responses. “It has become one of the most visited pages on the (Durham College) website since its launch,” says Carson. Yeo adds, “It’s a full spectrum of questions that comes through.” These questions range from whether the college is open on a specific holiday to questions
about supplies a first year student needs for their courses. A high school trades teacher used DC Cares to ask about bringing his class on a campus tour recently, but the most common questions are regarding admissions, Yeo says. Though DC Cares is intended to be helpful to all, and there were emails sent out to students and faculty, it’s still not widely known among the students. In a quick survey done on campus only one student out of the 12 asked had heard of DC Cares. The most common response being “What’s that?” “I think if you had a complaint or if you had an issue and you were trying to figure out how to, where to send that, that you would find this (DC Cares) because it is in a number of areas,” says Yeo. “But if you’re not looking to provide that sort of feedback then maybe you’re not finding it. But it’s on MyCampus, it’s on the website, there was emails sent out about it, there are physical drop boxes around the campus, there’s signage that goes with them and it’ll be a word of mouth thing too. It’s a new thing so some students haven’t heard about it but it’ll definitely spread that way too.” A link to DC Cares can be found at the top of every page on the Durham College website and at the top of the page on MyCampus.
Students learn to tie a turban Dan Cearns The Chronicle
On Thursday March 28, the Sikh Activist Network held its second annual Turban Tying Day at the Student Centre lounge. The event was aimed at giving people an idea of who Sikhs are and ending any preconceived notions about them as well, according to organizer Ravnit Dhillon. “On top of crushing preconceived notions, we are getting close to exam time so we want to give students some opportunity to come out, enjoy some free food, and have some fun activities to do,” she said. As well, Dhillon mentioned there is a lack of information out there about the faith and that causes people to jump to conclusions about the faith. “Because of the lack of information and because of the lack of education, people don’t realize that you’re looking at a different set of people, a differ-
ent religion in total, a different community,” she said. The event showcased a vegetarian menu of rice, chickpea curry, plain yogurt and rice pudding. As well, there were four areas where people could get turbans tied while listening to a network member talk about the religion. “There is that whole identity of being terrorists, being militants,” said Mani Bhatti, fifth year UOIT student and network member. “It is all about people having a positive engagement.” As well as learning about the religion in those specific areas, there were audio lessons playing in the background about Sikhism, and members were on hand to answer any questions. “We want you to know that we are here, ask us questions, don’t just jump to conclusions,” said Dhillon. For some students, it was all about the cultural experience. “It’s pretty fun to see diversity at this university and to
Dan Cearns
TRYING ON A TURBAN: Mani Bhatti teaches Liz Backman how to tie a turban on her head at the Sikh Activist Network at the Student Centre lounge on March 28. experience other cultures,” said UOIT student Soroush Torkian who also got a turban tied. “It felt good,” said UOIT student Gabrielle Owusu. “It’s nice to know about other people’s culture and what they have to go through. She also mentioned there should be these kinds of events for all religions on campus, citing that Canada is a “very culture oriented place.”
The Sikh Activist Network is a student association group that promotes “a message of love for all and the equality of all people regardless of their caste, colour, creed, gender or sex.” It is also a small branch of a group that has bases in several colleges and universities in the Peel region. The Sikh religion itself was founded 500 years ago in In-
dia and the devotees follow the principles of “truthful living, equality of mankind, devotion and remembrance.” According to Dhillon, the network still has work to do. “We would like to see on campus maybe holding more events in the future, hoping to see this event grow,” she said. “I would like to see more younger people getting involved as well. I think that’s the main thing.”
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Student hackers win at event Francis Viloria The Chronicle
UOIT hosted the first practical network and security operations event on March 23. It was a networking event where students had to build, grow and secure a mock network using enterprise level hardwire with a team of fellow students. The events offered an opportunity to practice hands-on networking skills as well as learn security tips and tricks while responding to increased challenges and reacted to changing networking conditions. Dawson Carruthers is a third year Networking and Information Technology Security student at UOIT and he organized the event. He is the president of the networking and security student society, or NETsoc. This is the first time this event has taking place. The idea of the event started in September, and it wasn’t organized until January. There were two teams, red and blue, and the team that earned the most points won a trip to the CISCO facility in Toronto. The points were determined based on the challenges they completed and the strength of their network.
Francis Viloria
The winning team poses : Blue team members from left to right Eric Packer, Kyle Sugrue, Alex Viman, Jason Whelan. “The idea here is to get a first world experience, not just focusing one individual aspect
of IT,” said Carruthers. “Rather than focus on just servers, just networking, just security, we
focus on everything all at once, all at the same time as in a real world environment.
“At the beginning of the event, each team had nothing on their desks and we gave them a router, a switch and a server. Throughout the day they’ve been adding new devices, adding new servers, adding new switches and they would have to build everything from the ground up”. Each network was unique. The challenge was to troubleshoot or fix a computer that was not working, and each challenge was worth points. “The winner is not necessarily the best network, but it will be the best team,” said Carruthers. “The team with the most points will be the team that has completed the most objectives, hacked the most of the opposing network and defended their own network.” The blue team won, members include Eric Packer, Kyle Sugrue, Alex Viman, and Jason Whelan. “It’s pretty good, it was a lot of fun, definitely not a one person thing. Jason did a lot of it (networking), so did Alex and Eric,” said Sugrue. The most difficult thing about networking was memorizing the protocols, he added. “Everyone took something they were good at and then just worked from there.”
St. Louis moves in next door to DC A prime location for wings
such as average household income, the number of people per house, traffic in the area and future development. “We got the best of all worlds. We got the college but we also got residential and a lot of traffic,” said Sherwin. He said as a franchise they have the benefit of brand recogShane MacDonald nition and more exposure, but The Chronicle Sherwin made it clear St. Louis isn’t going to go off reputation A new St. Louis Bar and Grill alone. is moving into campus terri“This business will be built tory. St. Louis is the only res- on service and food, it’s as simtaurant other than E.P. Taylor’s ple as that,” he said. and Shagwells on the Ridge Sherwin expects St. Louis that is walking distance from clientele to be very diverse as the campus, putting the three opposed to E.P. Taylor’s, which in direct competition. caters mostly to students. St. Louis is “In terms of what I’m going to located at 1812 look to do differSimcoe St. N., a We got the best of ently, I’m going residential area all worlds. We got the to look to maralongside the college. college but we also got ket and attract A lot goes into residential and a lot of and cater to all choosing a locademographics, tion, says Kyle traffic. from students to faculty to families Sherwin, owner to hockey teams,” of the St. Louis said Sherwin. North location. “My goal and He says the deKyle Sherwin focus is I don’t mographic of an want to live and area is one of the die by students. Students will first things the company looks help me live but without them at. I won’t die.” “We do a full breakdown before we go into a location,” said Ian Hills, operations manSherwin. ager of Shagwells, isn’t worried St. Louis looks at factors about St. Louis moving in on
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Shane MacDonald
new off campus eatery: The new St. Louis Bar and Grill in North Oshawa next to Durham College. campus territory. “One thing we have on St. Louis is we’ve been here for six years,” said Hills. Shagwells hosts a college/ university pub night on Thursdays that fills the 225-person capacity bar, often with students lined up the stairs to get in. “We started doing Thursdays and it took off and has just exploded over the last three
years,” said Hills. The college/university night is just one of the events that Shagwells holds. Shagwells has hosted a variety of events including live music, birthday parties and even a wedding reception. The UOIT Ridgebacks hockey team also plays in the arena. It’s like the Leafs. “If they’re winning, it’s busy; if they’re not winning its not as busy,”
said Hills. “A lot of our business comes from minor hockey, men’s group, things that are already in the arena.” Shagwells offers free Wi-Fi and most of its tables have outlets for students who want to sit and do work. St. Louis and E.P. Taylor’s also offer Wi-Fi but there are minimal power outlets. A spokesperson said E.P. Taylor’s is “unaware” of how St. Louis will affect business.
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Learning the trade of becoming a teacher Helping part-time instructors
Catherine Legault The Chronicle
With approximately 400 part-time instructors, Durham College has multiple ways to help those who may be arriving with no idea how to teach. According to Chris Hinton, director of the Centre for Academic and Faculty Enrichment(C.A.F.E.) at Durham College, a lot of part-time instructors are hired because they have current industry knowledge. This means many of them are coming straight from the field and may not be trained teachers. Helping parttime instructors learn those teachings skills is part of what the C.A.F.E. does. The C.A.F.E. and Durham College help part-time instructors even before the semester begins by offering a weekend orientation called Jumpstart, offered twice a year. “[Jumpstart] is basically a full weekend that looks at teaching methodologies, curriculum development and assessment. We also do a morn-
Catherine Legault
THE RESOURCES: Chris Hinton, director of the Centre for Academic and Faculty Enrichment (C.A.F.E.) ing on technology,” said Hinton. “They get a sampling of all the challenges.” Lyndal McDonnell, a part time instructor at Durham College in the Early Childhood Education program, found Jumpstart “extremely beneficial” when she started out a little over a year ago. McDonnell has continued to use the resources provided by C.A.F.E. beyond Jumpstart, including some of the workshops provided. “If you can’t make it to the scheduled times [for work-
Feeling empowered and the ‘V’ word Jennifer Lavery The Chronicle
Founded in 2007, The Women’s Centre was created to empower women on campus about specific issues. Barb Bryan started as a volunteer in 2007and by 2009 she became a paid office worker. Bryan is the co-ordinator of Outreach Services. She oversees everything concerning The Women’s Centre to help students, not only with issues, but also with placements and volunteering. The Women’s Centre runs on volunteers. There are about 15 volunteers. They have an email list of about 200 people at the ready to help out at events in any way they can. “Our volunteer training is quite intensive if you want to do office hours because you have to be confident in being able to respond to things like sexual assault and domestic violence.” Bryan called them ‘active’ volunteers. They can work in the office, or just at events. Depending on what role they play for the Women’s Centre, the numbers can vary greatly.
The Women’s Centre also plays host to many events during the school year. Two of their most recent events include The Vagina Monologues and ‘Celebrate Yourself’. “The Vagina Monologues is all about embracing the vword, creating awareness about the v-word. That could be vagina, or violence, or victory,” said Bryan. Women come to the centre and share their experiences. She says some make you laugh, but the others are sad stories, mostly about sexual violence. ‘Celebrate Yourself’ allows women to be pampered just before the exam season starts. Hairstylists, waxers, massage therapists, manicurists and makeup artists are brought in so women can come and be treated. “It’s all about letting women feel empowered,” said Bryan. Support groups on things like budgeting and time management are offered through the Women’s Centre. “We’re not given lessons on this stuff and then we forget to prioritize things or pay our bills,” said Bryan. “[These seminars] give you tips and tricks about how to handle those things.
shops], you can call, make an appointment and they do a one-on-one,” said McDonnell. When it came time to input her grades for the first time, McDonnell did just that. They gave her an outline detailing how to upload the grades but someone was right there with her if she needed help. Many other post-secondary institutions offer services similar to those provided by the C.A.F.E. The Centre for Pedagogical Innovation (CPI) at Brock University in St. Catharines has workshops, online guides, support for Brock’s eLearning Ini-
tiative and an online Wiki that contains a guide to help teachers. Niagara College provides some aid through its library and learning commons. The C.A.F.E. also has online resources to help instructors. The C.A.F.E. has a YouTube channel, cafedurhamcollege, with videos showing learning strategies and other help videos. Some more recent videos include showing dental techniques and grammar modules. The channel was created in December 2010. There are 107 videos posted on the channel and the channel has just over 50, 000 video views as of
March 21, 2013. Durham College makes additional efforts to ensure its parttime faculty know about available resources that could help them transition into teaching. Inside the downloadable version of the faculty handbook is a detailed table of contents organized by before the first day, first three weeks, first semester and first year. The handbook details carefully procedures concerning grades, course outlines and performance reviews to name a few. Multiple times the handbook refers to the C.A.F.E. if additional help is needed. McDonnell says she has received help from within her own program from the moment she started teaching parttime and “really felt there’s been a tremendous amount of support.” Within her own program McDonnell says she was immediately set-up with a mentor. She can go to the year co-ordinator or the associate dean if she needs help regarding specific issues she does not know how to handle. When she teaches a class, she says, she’s given the name of the full-time instructor who usually teaches the course and together they sit down and go over the material. “It’s tough. Teaching is a tough profession. Coming in from the industry when you have no experience, you gotta work really hard,” said Hinton. “We want to put the supports in place so they’re able to do a good job teaching.”
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Kelsey Braithwaite
DIVERSE STUDENTS: The students at Durham College sit down and study quietly. Many students represent different ethnicities.
Diversity of faculty and students at DC Kelsey Braithwaite The Chronicle
“It’s something not a lot of people are talking about,” says Allison Alexander. At Durham College and UOIT students are surrounded by it, but may think very little of it. “It” being each other, whether Russian, gay, black, disabled, or Islamic. A walk in the Gordon Willey building is a testament to Durham’s diverse student body. However, the staff may not always reflect this. Alexander is the diversity officer to both UOIT and Durham. Her job is “creating a culture that welcomes, that accepts, and that celebrates diversity, in a nutshell.” She conducts class talks about culture competence and classroom management for staff. She’s one of the main faces behind the “Respect” campaign. “It’s always important,” she said about diversity on staff. “We can’t just focus on the visible piece either, right? There are all the other areas as well that we cannot see but we know they are there. So in terms of diversity, I think we’re at a good place. But is there work to be done? Definitely.”
Margaret Greenley, vicepresident of student affairs, said over her 27 years of working on campus, she has seen much growth in diversity. The population of students with disabilities, or different ethnicities, ages, and genders is expanding. The Durham College website says students from more than 18 countries attended the college in the last year. There is some diversity among staff on campus as well. Students passing out of the Market Place cafeteria can overhear two maintenance women speaking in their native Polish tongue. The security desk rarely hosts one demographic. But when it comes to faculty, some schools are more diverse than others. Alexander said for students this is important. “Personally, I think you need to interact and see people sometimes that you think have probably been through a similar experience as you,” she said. “It’s easier to connect with someone who has gone through a similar process and similar challenges as you because you see them being successful and you think ‘I can be successful as well.’” For her, if there is even one
diverse person to identify with, it may make the student experience that much better. “Although it is changing a lot, Oshawa is predominately white-Caucasian. So I think there’s still that adjustment piece happening because there is so much diversity. So I think that needs to be taken into consideration of where we’re at and how far we’ve come.” Durham has developed both in student and faculty diversity. Vice-president of human resources, Scott Blakey, says the hiring process is the same for all potential employees. “The criteria first and foremost is to hire the best qualified candidate that you possibly can,” he said. “All candidates get asked exactly the same set of questions.” However, he would tweak the process by asking for more background on employees. When he formerly worked in Toronto for TTC’s human resources, all employees were given the opportunity to self declare any facts and identities about themselves. Durham and UOIT don’t collect that sort of information. “From a standback position, when I look at the faculty I think we have a pretty good population mix.”
But without numbers, he explains, it’s not possible to know the proper ratio of students to staff. The campus’ senior leadership team holds more women than men but he believes it’s “extremely important” for students to see diversity. Greenley added diversity allows everyone to hear a wide variety of ideas and create a larger spectrum of role models. “The last thing you need is ten people with the same way of thinking.” But based on a look of some of Durham programs, there are some homogenous areas. Blakey isn’t sure why that is. “There are a whole bunch of studies that say a lot of people’s education and a lot of people’s selection for jobs is based on what their parents did. So, some of it is heredity,” he said. “But that’s changing.” He believes Durham wants to be an open and diverse society and is slowly getting there. Alexander believes it would help to mature from old traditions. “We have to move away from talking about tolerance and talking about embracing and accepting and celebrating the uniqueness,” she says. “And you are always going to have people who are not ready yet but I think as a community
we are working and we see that the majority of us are ready and we’re embracing and we’re learning cause we’re asking the questions. I think others will follow suit. At least that’s my hope.” Jamilla Lowe, a UOIT student, said, “I do believe that diversity is very important for staff and students because I believe it helps people feel as if they belong to a larger community outside of themselves, or their race.” But she also feels that the diversity is proportionate on her campus. “Some people do feel fine. But others don’t. It’s as real for the people who don’t and you have to address that too,” said Blakey. Some other post-secondary institutions are taking strides towards diversity. For example, the University of Calgary maintains a Workplace Diversity and Employment Equity Strategy. The webpage states, “Traditional employment practices have been successful in managing a relatively homogeneous work force. However, as the workplace becomes more diverse, new approaches may be needed to ensure practices are fair and that staff have the skills to work successfully.
No flying cars in the year 2030, however science could evolve Schaé Dunston The Chronicle
On a recent night in downtown Oshawa, the future of the world was reached without the use of a time machine. “Research Matters - Life in 2030,” was held at the Regent Theater on April 3. It was one of the many sessions held by universities in Ontario that come together to help educate people about now and the future. People from as young as two to people in their 70s attended this evening at Regent Theater. “This is a unique opportunity to hear from world class people,” said audience participant Glenna Raymond. Some students like Hilary Jandricic, a UOIT student in the Forensic Science program talked about how she
doesn’t know what to do with her life in the future and hoped it would help her find answers. “I work for UOIT, so I got the notice and decided to check it out… it’s nice to support events downtown Oshawa,” said Stephanie Orfano, a librarian at Charles Building. Out of the 21 universities working together on this project, four were at this event. Linda Duxbury from Carleton University, Rena Upitis from Queen’s University, Suresh Nanne from Trent University, and Carolyn McGregor from UOIT. All the professors talked about a unique perspective about the future like demographics, science, music, or health care. “Tonight we get a good cross section of the ideas from across our campuses,” says UOIT
president, Tim McTiernan. Duxbury was the first to talk and her speech was on the demographics and changing world we live in. She talked about how people with skills in the future will get the jobs and if you don’t, life is only going to get more difficult for you. Also, from the time of baby boomers, birth rates have dropped drastically. When the baby boomers are retiring, for every two that retire, there will only be one person replacing these retired employees. Baby boomers make up 40 per cent of the work force and 7 million of them will retire in the next two decades. The next person to hit the stage was Rena Upitis from Queen’s University to talk about the benefits of music. She talked about the fact that
kids outside of school who study music are more engaged in school. Later Suresh Nanne talked about how science will affect our future. He started by talking about a spectrum of problems including money, food crises, oil crises and the climate crisis. One subject he focused on was the use and harnessing of carbon-to-carbon bonds. These bonds could become vital in the future for making oils, food, and material but “these uses will compete for our crop uses,” said Nanne. He says carbon will become the central commodity in the future and it is easy to do since it relies on agriculture, water and land. These bonds will help the havenots of the world become equal with developed
countries. We could soon run into issues of food vs. materials. These carbon-to-carbon bonds may even help the end of petroleum. Twenty-five per cent of the world uses up 85 per cent of the worlds energy. The last presenter was Carolyn McGregor who spoke of our future health. She talked about devices on our iPods and watches that tell us our heart rate and other numbers. They don’t tell us if we have infections or sicknesses. Currently there is a project at Sick Kids Hospital called “Artemis” which captures info from babies in the neonatal section and helps us learn how to improve help for premature babies. The future looks bright with healthcare any time and anywhere.
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Sex pub night at E.P. Taylor’s Kelsey Braithwaite The Chronicle
It was a night, taboo to some, simply advertised with a black poster and the word “SEX” in the centre. March 27 was Durham and UOIT’s annual Sex Pub night hosted at E.P Taylor’s Pub. A quick look may have shocked an unassuming clubber. The table at the entrance held vibrators, fuzzy handcuffs, and many different lubes, all aesthetically displayed. Sexual Health volunteers offered many information pamphlets. Ones on how to properly use a condom, another for HPV, and many for safe sex regardless of sexual orientation or identity. A group of students said they were grateful for the booklets and the exposure, but they’d rather remain unnamed. Some curious types approached the SA side of the dance floor where it had a Playboy table. Free prizes could be won by spinning a huge wheel. If a contestant landed on a particular phrase they could win a blue dolphin – a male accessory - or maybe a free Playboy t-shirt that said, “Think before you act”. Among other items the table had the game Dirty Minds and an “I Rub my Duckie” vibrating rubber duck. The line up to spin the wheel grew as the night went on.
Kelsey Braithwaite
SEX PUB: Melissa McCreadie, SHRC volunteer, demonstrates safe handling of sex toys to a curious clubber. More people seemed hopeful to win something they could giggle about – or maybe put to use – later. At quarter past, the dance floor began to fill up and more
The pains and rewards while in placement Kathryn Boyle The Chronicle
According to the Ontario Power Generation website, internships and placements provide the opportunity for students to compliment their academic background with the valuable professional work experience relating to their field of study. Although lengthy, placements give students the experience and the tools they need to excel in the real world. Anjli Mehta is currently working at the York Durham Aphasia Centre helping adults who have been involved in accidents or have experienced other health issues that have taken away their ability to communicate verbally. “I do like working with adults,” she says. “But I like working with children more.
Children have so much to learn still, and I find it so sad that adults have had the ability to speak taken away from them.” Paige Panetta agrees that placement is beneficial and rewarding. “Being out in the workplace and learning is so much better than learning from a book.” “It’s tough work,” Panetta says. “But it’s the best.” They say that without placements, they would not only be bored, but would not acquire the skills they believed to have been taught while on the job. According to the Durham College website, there are 100 programs being offered at the Whitby and Oshawa campuses. There are thirteen placements currently open for Spring and Winter of 2013, mostly pertaining to the health programs.
people became bold enough to approach the SHRC table. The Student Health Resource Centre and the Student Association hosted the event. Melissa McCreadie, a SHRC
member, felt positive about the night. “I think it was a definite success,” she said. “We educated the vast majority of people as we handed out instructions on how to properly put on a
condoms.” Despite some that most wanted behind closed doors, promoted safe sex formed choices.
material to keep the night and in-
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DC expands children’s camps Sinead Fegan The Chronicle
With 25 years of experience, Durham College offers summer camp programs for children from ages 7 to 17 and participate in fun activities, giving them a chance to learn while also making new friends. Over time, Durham College has expanded to three different types of camps, running from July to August. At sports camp, children can show off their athletic side by picking a specific sport that they’re interested in such as basketball, badminton, baseball, soccer, and volleyball. If children want to participate in a variety of sports they can register for the multi-sport camp. This summer Durham College has eliminated golf, while adding a new sport, floor ball. “It’s like an upscale version of floor hockey,” explained Michael Duggan, camp coordinator, who is excited to see the program expand. School of Rock gives kids the opportunity to study the history and culture of music while also experiencing the fun side of it through learning to play different instruments. If they already have experience playing instruments, they can form their own band. At the end of the week students perform live in front of their families at the “Festival of Rock”. “I couldn’t think of just one favorite memory. It’s really cool being able to decide as a group on a song you all like and then
Sinead Fegan
ATHLETIC SUMMER ACTIVITIES: Children stay active this summer in one of DC’s camps, the multi-sport camp. getting the chance to perform that song in front of your parents at the school’s pub,” said Zach Elliot, a regular camper who has been attending School of Rock for the past three years. For older children, ages 13 to 17, with a creative artistic side, Summer Shorts camp is a way for them to explore their imagination through animation and photography and movie making. This summer, with new lev-
els of creative workshops, kids have the chance to develop at their own pace. Whether the kids start at beginner, intermediate and advanced, they can create personal portfolios by the end of the week and showcase all the work they have done. “It’s not a full portfolio but it’s work where they have all the files to put towards their creative portfolio for entrance to Durham College, to prove that
they actually did it,” explained Megan Pickell, co-ordinator for Summer Shorts. The main highlight for this camp is game development, where students develop their own level of a video game, using all of the state-of the art equipment offered at the school. By the end of the week the kids get the chance to play the video game they created. No other camps or workshops in the area offer this pro-
gram, according to Pickell. With members of faculty, recent graduates and former students working together, children really get a feel for the “college life” as it gives them the opportunity to think about what they may be interested in taking in their future, according to Pickell. “The camp is pretty well a stepping stone to the programs offered here at Durham College,” says Pickell.
the U of T School of Interprofessional Studies, a guest blogger for the Health Council of Canada, and other varieties of projects focused on health and community engagement. “I spent 25 years manufacturing mass market wall art,” says Press. “I jumped out of that business and got into using the performing arts to affect health outcomes.” As executive director of Patient Commando Productions, Press has partnered with the Toronto Fringe Theatre Festival’s Creation Lab and presented the Canadian Comedy Award winning one man show, Cancer Can’t Dance Like This, starring Daniel Stolfi. He has also presented Laugh Therapy workshops with Second City alumnus Brian G. Smith. “Having infused myself into community engagement activities I said, here’s a space I have,” he says. “Here’s an urban centre and I began to think of (urban studies theorist) Richard Florida’s creative class theory: essentially bring the performing arts, graphic designers, advertising agencies-- bring them
to urban centres and they will generate economic development.” Press says the ReNew Newcastle was such an economic success that it grew into a ReNew Australia and is now used as a model right around the world, including the Empty Shops Network in the U.K. Press is hoping artists, crafts people and those who work in entertainment, animation and media will occupy the available building. He is conducting meetings with individuals and representatives of arts organization to explore possibilities and to tour the available space. He is open to all ideas for the best use of the building, but suggests the space suits music performances, gallery exhibits, lunchtime gatherings and quiet spaces for student activities such as studying or group work. His hope is to turn the space into a hub for artists through collaborative efforts that can make projects sustainable. All of this will catalyze change in the downtown core, he says.
Initiative to revitalize Oshawa Will McGuirk The Chronicle
Will McGuirk
RENEW OSHAWA: Zal Press, founder of the ReNew Oshawa initiative, wants to revitalize city buildings using local artists’ work.
Zal Press wants to renew Oshawa. The Toronto businessman, landlord and impresario is offering a building located in downtown Oshawa to local artists for a gallery and performance space. A former comic book store at 19 Simcoe St. N. sits empty. Press is hoping the city’s creative community can re-imagine its purpose. Press calls his initiative ReNew Oshawa which was inspired by ReNew Newcastle in Austrailia. “In researching, it occurred to me that there was already a model: The ReNew Newcastle organisation in Australia that took open spaces in transitioning urban centre and brought in artists to work with landlords to help revilatise these spaces,” he says, “to bring in energy into the centres.” Press is the co-organizer and executive producer of TEDx Mississauga, a health mentor at
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Campus
Keeping campus a safe place Steph Morrison The Chronicle
Sexual assault on campus is a growing concern among students. With a recent incident on March 9, students are concerned about their safety on the school grounds. A number of students were polled about how safe they felt on campus at night. Just over half of the students polled said yes they did. “I normally walk at night,” says Police Foundations student Rebecca Wood. UOIT student Keshia King says she parks near Niagara St and her classes usually end late. However, with the recent assault near the campus, some students do not feel as secure. “Being a girl walking in the dark is not always safe,” says Business Administration Marketing student Amy Sproat. “It’s dark and there’s not many people around,” says business student Pamela Ketheeswari. Director of Campus Security Tom Lynch says the campus has 24/7 security. In the 15 months that Lynch has been at Durham College, he says there have only been only four reported sexual assaults, two off campus and the other two on. With 24-hour security and code blue stations set up throughout the parking lot and residence, student safety is taken very se-
riously, he says. Lynch discourages students from going out alone at night in poorly lit areas or the parking lot. Using the buddy system is one of the best ways to prevent being targeted. Students can also utilize the Safewalk program, where a security guard will walk the student or faculty member to their car. If an assault does happen on or near Durham College, Lynch says security will support the victim in whichever way they wish. If the victim wishes to report the assault, Lynch says security will take them to the police and offer whatever resources are available, such as the Women’s Club, which is located in the Student Services Building. Another service available for assault victims is the Durham Rape Crisis Center (DRCC). “We try to support them in as many ways as possible,” says Lynn Cohen, counselor and public education coordinator at DRCC. Cohen says DRCC has two primary types of counseling for victims of assault: individual counseling and group counseling. DRCC also takes part in a youth program, where Cohen says she will go to schools and talk about sexual assault, how to support friends or family who have been assaulted. Like Lynch, Cohen says women should be mindful of their surroundings. “Unfortunately
Steph Morrison
DIRECTOR OF CAMPUS SECURITY: Tom Lynch has been working with Campus Security for 15 months and says during his time here, there have been four sexual assaults - two on campus, two off. there isn’t always a way to protect yourself,” Cohen says. DRCC will also provide advocacy to an assault victim and accompany them to the police
and to court if they so choose. According to the Ontario Women’s Directorate, one in three Canadian women experience sexual violence.In that
same statistic, it said women between the ages of 15 to 24 are 18 times more likely to be assaulted as opposed to women over the age of 55.
DC’s school of continuing education
Catherine Legault The Chronicle
Durham College has some hidden secrets, courses you may never learn of unless you go looking for them. The caretaker and administrator of many of these hidden programs is the School of Continuing Education. Through the School of Continuing Education you can learn to sew by night course. You can also get a community advocacy certificate after completing courses on social programs and laws such as victims’ rights and the Residential Tenancies Act. You can take a workshop called “Create Your Style & Wardrobe” and learn to dress to suit your lifestyle or learn how to improve your speed reading skills for about $200. You can learn new skills online from anywhere in the world. A lot of the continuing education students are older, many in their 30s and 40s, said Val Gilham, the Business, IT and Management program officer for the School of Continuing Education. The School of Continuing Education offers programs
Catherine Legault
CONTINUING EDUCATION: From left - Laurel Higgon, Kim Sharpe, Marisa Cassar work in the School of Continuing Education. both online and offline. Sewing, for example, is available offline only. The workshops such as
speed reading and create your style & wardrobe are offered in person at specific locations on a
specific day. Community advocacy is offered through online through distance education.
The most unique programs offered might be the ones offered online because of who enrols. The School of Continuing Education sees enrolment in their online courses from outside of Canada. “The majority [of students] are local, or from North America for sure. A lot of GTA. But we do have people from all over the world [enrolling],” said Gilham. These online courses not only have students from near and far, but the instructors are not all members of Durham College. Durham College is one of many colleges that pool together to jointly administrate online courses through OntarioLearn. According to its website OntarioLearn is a partnership between 24 Ontario community colleges to increase online learning opportunities. “Some of the courses you would take if you registered here for the Accounting diploma online, some of your professors may be from Algonquin, some might by from Mohawk, some might by from Fleming, they could be from all over,” said Gilham.
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Volunteer for future success Samantha Daniels The Chronicle
Samantha Daniels
VOLUNTEERING CAN BE DREAMY: Alix Chasse, a career adviser at the Durham College Career Services office, talks to students about how volunteering may be the extra edge you need to grab your dream job.
It’s getting harder to find a job after graduation, let alone the dream job. With more people looking and fewer jobs available, the competition can be fierce. Volunteering can provide that little edge on the competition, making the difference between being overlooked and getting hired. Volunteering provides hands on experience for a future career, and looks great on a resume to potential employers, according to career advisor Alix Chasse of Durham College Career Services. She says finding a volunteer opportunity that will give students specific career-related skills can be difficult unless they know where to look. School resources, such as the Career Portal have volunteer opportunities listed among the job opportunities, as well as a breakdown of resources based on program of study. If a suitable volunteer position isn’t there, taking the time to think of less obvious options is key, according to Chasse. “Look at the connections all around you, and start with the people you know.” Neighbours, relatives, or family friends can provide excellent opportunities for networking, she says. “You never know who you’re going to run into,” she adds, so creating a career-specific resume and
keeping it on hand will prevent these potential opportunities from falling to the wayside when they present themselves. Having a working knowledge of potential networking opportunities and taking advantage of them will make finding an ideal volunteer position easier, says Chasse. Not everyone has an uncle at Apple or a neighbour in Parliament, but it is still possible to find a volunteer placement without these connections. Using Internet resources is the best way to find positions within the not-for-profit sector, according to Chasse. As government-funded organizations, not-for-profits are much more likely to accept a variety of volunteers. “Because they’re not-forprofit or are funded by government grants, they sometimes don’t have the budgets to pay someone,” says Chasse. “So you could go to any of the organizations, approach them and say ‘this is my background, do you need any type of volunteer for this skillset?’ Chances are, they’re going to say ‘yes, we do’.” Within large private companies it is more difficult to access volunteer positions, but cold calling has the potential to yield results. A better choice is to look at local businesses for opportunities, says Chasse. She points out that you are more likely to find a career-related position.
Ontario students provided less financial aid
Matthew Mazer
The Chronicle Ontario students appear to face tougher pressures than their counterparts in Alberta and British Columbia when it comes to financial aid for postsecondary education, according to several interviews conducted with students from the western provinces. There are many differences, but also many similarities, between these three provinces with respect to financial aid. One such difference is in how much financial aid is received. Kelly McCarthy, a student in the Computer Systems Technician program at Durham College says, “[There was] one thing I noticed at the end of my application. I noticed for all the four or five years I’ve been going to school taking OSAP, I’ve been checking that I was a student with disabilities and providing the proof I was a student with disabilities but they (OSAP) never included that. So I have been losing out on a
grant of $2,000-$3,000 for every year that I’ve been going to school. It turns out that there’s no way they can undo that so I’m never going to be able to get that fixed.” Despite average tuition in Ontario being $7,180, McCarthy says tuition should not be lowered. “The more we pay in tuition, the better our facilities are. The better the teachers they’ll be able to give us. The better things they’ll be able to provide for us. So, if we want to say ‘Oh. We’ll take less money’ then we can’t complain when they provide less services, less things. So I think for the level of service we’re getting right now, if we were to get less, I think that would be a problem,” McCarthy says. McCarthy says there should be the possibility of an extension on the six-month interestfree OSAP payment period. “If they have things like that in place, then I think that that should do.” Chris Schneider, a student
from Alberta, had a different experience from McCarthy. “Yeah. I’d say that it was enough to get me by. It’s been a couple years so I don’t remember exactly how much I had more than my needed expenditures but I definitely remember being able to live comfortably.” When asked about things that were not covered by financial aid, Schneider says, “I don’t really feel like I was short changed at all but I guess it does change from province to province depending on where you go. But I also had a split one where I had so much out of Alberta Student Loans and I had so much out of the federal student loans.” Average tuition for this school year is $5,883 in Alberta. “Tuition should be lower? Absolutely. I think that is a problem all across North America not just Canada, or even just comparing BC to Ontario,” says Schneider. When asked about loans being paid back after six months, Schneider says, “I don’t think
it should go too much further, maybe a year so add six months.” According to the British Columbia Ministry of Advanced Education, Innovation and Technology’s website 30 per cent of students in British Columbia are using financial aid. Schneider said that it just goes to show that parents are willing to help their children through school. According to Darrell Winwood, spokesperson for the Alberta Ministry of Enterprise and Advanced Education, 27 per cent of students are using Alberta Student Loans. This statistic is for the 2010-11 academic year. James Coomber, an undergraduate advisor at the Vancouver campus of Simon Fraser University, is a former student who was on British Columbia government student loans when he was in post-secondary education. Coomber said, “As a student, sure, yeah. I had a combination of student loans, student awards, outside schol-
arships and work.” Coomber says he did not feel that he was short-changed from the British Columbia government in regards to his financial aid either. Coomber agreed that he felt tuition should absolutely be lowered to make it easier on students and their wallets. He said the university being in financial distress is a key reason that tuition has risen. Average tuition in British Columbia for this school year is $5,015. Coomber said many students aren’t comfortable talking about their financial situations and that sometimes little is known about the circumstances that led up to receiving financial aid. Coomber agreed with both McCarthy and Schneider about loan repayment. He said six months was an appropriate time to start paying back the loans and that it was a method that worked for him. One commonality between the students an extension on the six-month repayment would benefit everybody.
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Campus
DC’s Green Team Initiative
Group of students sets out to help DC go green Gurpreet Bhelay The Chronicle
The DC Green Team, a group aimed at making the campus more green, has big plans for the betterment of the campus, and to bring awareness to the students with things like the Earth Day event. The team started off September 2012 since it is just starting out the team is trying to reconstruct to be better for next year. “Today, being green is good, and it’s great for businesses”, James Webb, sustainability coordinator for the Green team said, “which is why it’s a great reason to have it on campus and allow students to take part and help the sustainability of the campus.” The team is volunteer-based and focuses on campus issues. Many members come from public relations, environmental studies and some are members of the Student Association. Not all the members are from Durham College, as some come from UOIT as well. The team is open to members from any program; they just need to have a passion for
the environment. “Initially this year was a test run”, said Webb. “The team wants to rewrite its club format over the summer and create specific roles for team members either gathering information or writing material and getting the student voice about what needs to be done around campus, Webb explained. The team will also work on its marketing strategy to be bigger and better. “This year was kind of just about finding out feet.” Webb said. He says next year it will be bigger on promoting the green team and create much more awareness on sustainability issues on campus. Last fall the team applied for the Sustainability Tracking Assessment and Rating System (STARS) program which is a score calculated upon the sustainability initiatives and education towards a green community compared to several other colleges and universities. Durham College received a bronze, which is very good for the first time, Webb said. The score for the campus is valid for three years, and after it expires
the campus must reapply for a new score. The team’s main goal is raising awareness to students in hopes to make the campus more green. The team is open to student suggestions and are here to allow the student voice to be heard. The team paired up with the Engineers Without Borders
well as electronic waste.
The Green Team has already held several events of their own such as Earth Day. The event had members from Habitat for Humanity, Durham Region Transit, and the City of Oshawa to speak as well as Student Association clubs on campus speaking about green issues, or
‘
The thing is: To get the knowledge is the first step; to apply that knowledge is the second step.
Maria Roussakis on March 15 and organized a recycling event which helped the publicity of the team and helped raise money to send an engineering student abroad to work on African programs. The program has volunteers live and work in certain areas to help with improving access to clean water to helping with business opportunities. The event encouraged students to recycle by donating their recyclables like bottles as
’
anything about sustainability for that matter. The event was held on April 4 to accommodate the fact that most students will be writing exams during Earth Day. Also, by the end of the semester, the team will hold a campus clean up on April 21 from 10 a.m. - 12 p.m. The team has big plans for the remainder of the semester and are exited for upcoming events.
The team plays documentaries at an event on campus every month to help raise awareness on outside organizations like the Foundation for Building Sustainable Communities (FBSC). DC Green Team is helping them by promoting them with bringing back grown foods into the community. The documentaries will discuss food problems around the world. Maria Roussakis, a Medical Laboratory Science student from UOIT says she’d like to see the group grow. Roussakis said that people should educated on the environment and that the team is really about educating the students. “...The thing is to get the knowledge is the first step, to apply that knowledge, is the second step,” Roussakis said. The team discussed some plans for next year such as reaching out to high school students to come co-op for the Green Team, as well as starting a terracycle for collecting cigarette butts and turning them into plastic.
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Entertainment
April 16, 2013
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Music legends in the midst By Kate Hussey The Chronicle
Cole Arthurs and Jordan Pike took home first prize at Durham College’s Songs Revealed songwriting competition Thursday April 4, never expecting the songs they wrote a few weeks ago would win them first place. The judges of Songs Revealed, part of Reel Music Festival said they were impressed after the winning performance of “The Name” and “Conscious Decision.” According to Arthurs and Pike, the songs were written in a short amount of time. “We wrote Conscious Decision in two days,” said Arthurs, “and we only started practicing a few weeks ago.” They both agreed they never expected to win. “Our first time performing was at E.P. Taylor’s last week,” Pike said. Host Ryan Long of The Johnstones opened the night with one of many jokes. “Mom gave me some advice, ‘You need to write more like The Beatles.’ I said, someone else already did that mom, The Beatles.” Long had the crowd laughing in the smokey marketplace, transformed into Woodstock
Kate Hussey
WINNERS CIRCLE: Ryan Long of the Johnstones announces the first, second and third winners of Songs Revealed. 1969 with flowers and peace signs on the walls. First year
Music Business Management students worked the event in
tie-dye shirts. Music industry profession-
als Ivan Evidente, Marissa Dattoli, and Durham College’s own former Music Business Management student, Dan Hand, all sat at the judge’s panel. “The performers were good,” said Hand. “There was a lot of talent up on stage tonight.” According to Hand, the competition changed a lot since he graduated in 2008. “It wasn’t as much of an event then,” he said. “It’s good to see how it has grown.” First runner up was 17-yearold Tali, who sang “People in Cars” and “Stop Thinking with your Heart.” Dead Nouveau placed third with songs “The Bed that you Lay On” and “Brother.” First place prize offers Arthurs and Pike two NXNE delegate passes, $150, two songs recorded at Push Play Studios, a music video recorded by Shattered Video, a photo shoot with Backstage Photography, and an interview with MBM TV and Volume 11 Magazine. “Everything we got, we’ll utilize,” Pike said. “It’s awesome,” she said. “We did a lot of online advertisements and posters, and more people are hearing about it and attending because it’s a yearly event.”
Young Jackson X wins demo derby By Matthew Jordan The Chronicle
A 15-year-old Oshawa boy was the surprise winner Saturday night during the Reel Music Festivals’ annual Demo Derby. This year’s Derby went to Jackson X of Oshawa for his track “Black Widow”. Jackson enthralled the audience with the rock track he had written and produced himself with a guiding hand from his father. As a prize, Jackson received the services of Eric Alper, eOne music producer, in creating a bio for promotions, and a Skype session with James Linderman, owner of theharmonyhouse Music Studio. Jackson was praised for his song structure and ability to write music. “You’re absolutely correct that your idea is to write your story, then figure out how to write other peoples stories,” said Linderman, of Jackson X’s demo, “Start to write life stories, start to write world stories, then start looking for great stories.” The Demo Derby is a playthrough of one-minute sound bites of songs from aspiring musicians across southern Ontario. Presided over by a panel of judges made of music con-
Matthew Jordan
JUDGMENT DAY: (L to R) Ian Stanger, James Linderman, Eric Alper, and Dan Hand critique a performance during the Reel Music Demo Derby. noisseurs, including Linderman, Alper, Dan Hand, Mitch Masters, and Ian Stanger, the demos are given a 60-second play through followed by a critique on style, creativity, and marketability. It was an intimate event, with guests experiencing a talk
show like atmosphere with the panel, sampling music from various genres, and receiving thoughtful feedback from industry experts. The Music Business Management program (MBM) hosted the event, which provides the rare opportunity for artists to showoff their cre-
ations to people who can help push them to the next level. The Demo Derby is seen as a success for both the MBM and the participants. “Loved it. I wish I went to the school because I would have loved to have been a part of this so I could work confer-
ences and festivals,” said Masters, A&R director of Track Avenue Music. “The Demo Derby is great because it gives the artist the chance to get their music heard by industry professionals, especially face to face… it’s [a] really cool, neat idea and opportunity so I look forward to coming back next year.” The competition was strong and the judges were ambivalent over choosing just one winner. Eventually, after taking a moment to leave the room, they returned with their decision, crowning young Jackson X as the most promising. The judges were excited about the considerable talent he produced at such a young age. They encouraged him to come into his own by maintaining his dedication to music and experiencing more of life. “I’m shocked to be honest, any time I hear – no offence – a 15-year-old, it’s like I really did not expect something that sounded that good, so kudos to that,” said Hand, of Underground Operations. Panelists later mingled with the participants, sharing their knowledge of the industry and thoughts on the music. The night ended with salute from the impressed panel, and a nod to the efforts.
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Entertainment
April 16, 2013
Follow your dreams
Katrina Owens
The Chronicle One of Durham Region’s very own is making serious strides in the music industry. The local solo artist formally known as ‘Aceshiiigh’ is making a name for himself in the most competitive career field out there: music. Being one of the top five unsigned artists in Toronto and being just 21 years old, Andrew White has accomplished more than many his age. Coming from a broken home, struggling in school and being bullied has given White motivation needed for success. He isn’t a stranger to Durham College, having graduating from the alternative high school program back in 2009. White says academics were never his specialty, he mainly focused on getting his music out there and known by the public, a task that hasn’t been the easiest. White grew up in Oshawa but can’t stay away from his hometown roots of the Mississauga area where he currently resides. “I wasn’t the most fortunate kid growing up. No fancy houses, always lived in an apartment and had little but we got by and I respect my mother for obviously trying to keep a roof over our heads,” he said. His childhood residence was in a co-operative home complex on the Oshawa-Whitby boarder. “That’s where I met my two best friends that I could ever ask for, Tyler and Jacob.” The three gentlemen are co-founders of Faded Incorporated. Their mission is sending positive messages through music to young people. This past year has been full of extraordinary experiences for White. Being able to com-
Reel Music Festival rocks DC
Courtney Williams
Katrina Owens
Musician: Andrew White is one of Toronto’s top five unsigned musicians and is only 21 years old. pete in a showcase in Miami and opening for Machine Gun Kelly are two of the most impressive achievements on his list. White hopes that his journey can be inspirational to others.
“I was always that kid in the back of the class faded in the background. Hopefully the kids in the back of the class relate and listen to the music. As my music grows hope-
fully the people that do listen to my music and follow what I’m doing, they’ll be able to understand and put it towards their dreams and their goals. If you’ve been faded in the background, don’t fade out.”
The Chronicle April 3 was a big day for Durham College’s Music Business Management students as they kicked off the first day of the student organized event Reel Music Festival with the fifth annual Prescription 2 Rock (P2R) workshop. The P2R workshop was hosted by Peter Walker of KX96 and featured guest artists Counterparts, Myke Pulito, Onez!e, and Before the Curtain. Students, faculty and music enthusiasts stopped into the Marketplace to listen to the artists perform their songs and host Q & A sessions with the audience. The main focus of the event is to give music fans and aspiring musicians a glimpse of what goes on behind the scenes of different music genres. Brendan Murphy, the lead singer of featured band Counterparts, said that he was excited to have the opportunity to talk to students about his genre and experience in the music industry. “It was really cool to be able to talk to kids that actually cared. They were listening to what I had to say,” he said. “That was the coolest thing.”
Magician turned his passion into career Pickering teenager was selected to perform in Las Vegas seminar Riyad Alli
The Chronicle Pickering magician Neil Croswell is turning his childhood passion into a full-fledged career. Since the age of six, Neil has been fascinated by magic and since has nurtured his childhood passion into a fullfledged career. “I remember when I was around 6-years-old my mother bought me a Kinder Surprise which had a magic toy in it. Since then, it’s pretty much been a wrap.” Croswell explains.
The first magic show he attended was hosted by a magician named Cliff Harden, who went on to mentor Croswell, and helped shape him into the phenomenal performer he is now. At the age of 13, Neil was selected among 11 other teenagers to perform at the World Magic Seminar in Las Vegas, which launched him onto hundreds of more stages across North America. As Croswell grew older and developed as a magician, he continued building a name for himself in Canadian magic and
caught his first big break when YTV hired him for commercials
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Entertaining people has always been my true passion and I’m blessed to have come as far as I can.
Neil Croswell
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which aired in 2009. In 2012, he made an appear-
ance on the Italian television show La Grande Margia The Illusionist, essentially an Italian magic rendition of American Idol. The show was well received across Italy, premiering to over 4.5 million viewers and was the most watched show in the country. Croswell was the only Canadian magician on the show and he was able to make it all the way to the finals solidifying his name in the worlds’ magic community “I just want to keep growing and building my act. The most important thing I feel like I can contribute to magic is to
continue modernizing it and bringing it to as many people as I possibly can. Entertaining people has always been my true passion and I’m blessed to come as far as I have”, Croswell said. He has been praised by notable Canadian icons such as Martin Short, who said after watching a performance, “There is not one trick that I had a clue how you did.” The most unique part of Croswell’s act is the way he infuses Hip Hop music into it and transforms his performance into something that captivates younger audiences.
Entertainment
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April 16, 2013
Bringing drama to Durham Andrew Fliegel The Chronicle
March ended with another great season for the Durham College/UOIT drama club, but this one was a little more special than the years prior. For the first time ever the actors had the opportunity to put on their first production at UOIT’s Regent Theater. The show, A Contemporary American’s Guide to a Successful Marriage ©1959 was directed and produced by the drama club’s president, UOIT criminology student, Amber Vibert. It’s been three years since she started the club at Durham and UOIT. After being exposed to music and theatre prior to post-secondary enrollment, Vibert thought it would be a brilliant opportunity to start a drama club with the student association. “I wanted to bring it here because there is no theatre at the school,” said Vibert. Why exactly is there no theatre at Durham College? Greg Murphy, the dean of the School of Media, Art and Design had some answers. “Could we fit theatre in here?” Murphy asked. “The unfortunate thing about theatre is that the physical infrastructure required to be able to have a comprehensive theatre program is enormous.”
Andrew Fliegel
FIRST TIME AT THE REGENT: Cast of the DC/UOIT Drama Club performing A Contemporary American’s Guide to a Successful Marriage. Murphy said he had run an effective theatre program with a colleague back at Fanshawe College before working as the dean at Durham. He said the infrastructure was there and the budget was there. “If I had some kind of magic budget, I could put one together,” said Murphy, “but starting from ground zero, it would be very hard to kick start it here.” Murphy explains to run this kind of program the college
would need a black box theatre, a green room, prop rooms, costume rooms, dressing rooms and possibly a larger auditorium. Plus the school would need sound and lighting equipment. Would Murphy like to bring theatre here? He said it would be fantastic to have it incorporated into the school. It would benefit both aspiring actors but the education of the college as a whole. “You can imagine how powerful it would be for some-
one who is going into law, or real estate or public relations or going into any field and learn fully how to present your ideas effectively using your body as an instrument of expression and using your voice as a vessel of expression,” Murphy explained. Is there hope for a theatre program? “The moment theatre becomes possible, is when someone says, ‘You know what we need, we need a general
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auditorium or theatre for the college,’ which we don’t have,” said the dean, adding even if Whitby or Oshawa created a theatre that could lend its facilities for educational use, it would make a huge difference. “I think it would be awesome locally, because there are not a lot of theatre programs in the Durham Region. You have to go to York, U of T, Ryerson or even further,” explained Vibert. “I know there are a lot of people in the area who would love to teach in theatre. They have done a lot of it and have the credentials to become a professor.” “When I finish my bachelors or masters, I would definitely audition.” Vibert explains her love for theatre but says there are just not enough opportunities in the field. The dean also agrees. “I don’t think that any program in Ontario can sustain a stage craft program and actually get people employed,” says Murphy. According to the website, it is in fact Durham College’s initiative to get students employed when they graduate. Although a theatre program is absent from Durham now, there is support there could be one in the distant future. “It’s an essential ingredient to a palette of engagement with other humans,” said Murphy.
Online comics may pose threats Samuel Baker The Chronicle
There has been a cultural shift in the comic book industry, and Tim Simms, owner of Oshawa’s Worlds Collide comic book store for over 30 years, knows what it takes to keep up and stay successful. These changes aren’t always easy to recognize and respond to. In recent years, Simms and other storeowners have responded to the explosion of online comics, and those who haven’t may be forced to soon enough. Simms says his customers are mostly young adults, with fewer being in their thirties and forties. He adds the lack of young people frequenting the store could be attributed to the growth of online comics. “That’s part of it,” Simms said. “I think there’s a number of factors. Comics aren’t as cheap as they used to be. They can read them for free and there aren’t as many part time jobs available for students. And correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t the first priority for any teenager’s money their phone?” It very well could be that young people’s interests have shifted from comics to
technology. People can easily download comics onto their phones and spend less than they would purchasing a physical copy. Online comics could be seen as stiff competition for stores that sell print comics, but that’s not exactly the case. Sites such as Comixology have deals with Marvel and DC to sell their comics online, and the site even does deals with comic book stores. Storeowners can sign up for free, put a link on their website and if they direct traffic to Comixology, they get a slice of the profit. “So they’re supporting the brick and mortar stores because they know that that’s where the comics are actually promoted,” said Simms, who has a link to Comixology on his Worlds Collide website. “People can come in and look through all kinds of things a lot easier and faster than you can online. It’s a better experience.” Peter Birkemoe is the owner of The Beguiling comic book store in Toronto. He recognizes comics have a large online presence, but he doesn’t see it as a threat at the moment. “I think more people are reading comics online,” says Birkemoe, “But the increase in total number of comics read-
Samuel Baker
OSHAWA’S WORLDS COLLIDE: Long-time loyal customer Brian Bettencourt (left) makes another purchase from comic book store owner Tim Simms. ers has been significant enough that I don’t think the effects of that are being felt for me at a retail level yet.” It is early to predict the pros and cons of the budding medium that is online comics. If new readers download a
comic online, they could enjoy it so much they would want the hard copy, and in turn head to a store and buy it. On the other hand, young people want to do things faster and cheaper, so they may abandon print comics all together. Who knows?
“You lose some things in not having a physical object, but you gain others.” Birkemoe said. “In the long run, I suspect, 20 years from now, things will be very different, but at the present things are going very well.”
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Entertainment
April 16, 2013
From criminology to stand-up comedy
UOIT student Kyle Lucey says he ‘always wanted to make people laugh’ Samuel Baker The Chronicle
The comedy scene in Durham has been growing over the past decade, and Kyle Lucey, a Criminology student at UOIT, has been in the thick of it for over three years now. “I’ve always wanted to make people laugh,” said Lucey. “In Grade 8 I started doing improv. Then I joined a professional improv company, Durham Improv, in Grade 10.” Joining a professional comedy group, made up mostly of adults in their 30s and 40s, was a little bit daunting. Although Lucey says once you’re in, the community is nice and accommodating. While the scene may not be difficult socially, it is competitive. Comedians constantly need to be reshaping their material, and one of the challenges is appealing to particular crowds. “It took a while to transfer from what kids thought was funny, my peers in grade 10, to what a club would think was
funny,” said Lucey. “So it took a good six months of shows, but then I started to get an idea.”
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“It’s presented as a dog-eat-dog world, but essentially we do help each other out, because we know it’s a grind.”
Kyle Lucey
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However, the difficulties don’t last forever. A comedian will have proven material that he or she will use on larger stages and more notable performances. The open-mikes at bars are where a comedian tests out new material and feels around for what people think is funny, as they are often among friends and fans who already know their proven material. “I try to go to Toronto as
much as possible to work on my proven material. There’s some clubs around here that I’ve been to for a long time, and they know me,” said Lucey. “I’m doing a show tonight at Stuttering Johns, but I’ve been doing this room a lot in the past year, so I work on my new material in a crowd that knows all my proven jokes. You kind of have to be doing both.” It’s definitely an exciting time for comedians getting into the scene in and around Durham Region. Anyone can try an openmike, and Lucey said more people should try, the worst that can happen is a little bit of embarrassment. Or, one could find out that they are actually funny. To make it though, a person has to be somewhat committed. “It’s better if you really want it. I bombed for a long time before I could find out what adults would think is funny,” said Lucey. “Now, I can just go in front of a crowd and just be me, and it’s good enough, it’s fine.”
Will McGuirk
HE’S BRINGING VINYL BACK: Durham Music Management instructor Abel Renton releases a fourth vinyl record with his local band Micronite Filters.
Chasing Ghosts is a dream come true for DC teacher Local band releases fourth vinyl Will McGuirk The Chronicle
As an instructor in the Music Management Program at Durham College, Abel Renton knows a thing or two about the future of the industry. For his own band however he has reached back into the past. Renton’s band, the Bowmanville based Micronite Filters have released its fourth album on vinyl. Releasing music in the older format has long been a goal for the lead singer and guitarist. “I’ve always listened to vinyl,” he says. “That’s how I got into rock’n’roll - my dad’s record collection. And I never stopped listening to it. It was cheap in university. It’s always been a dream,” says Renton. Chasing Ghosts is being released on Renton’s own label Get Bent Records in a limited edition of 500. Get Bent Records is co-
owned by the Micronite Filter’s drummer Dan Reiff. The other two members of the band are Myke Pulito on bass and Bruce McKinnon on horns. The album was recorded with Jimbo Matus at his studio Sand Dog in Mississippi. Mathus had worked with blues legend Buddy Guy and also the Squirrel Nut Zippers. It was important for the Filters who play country Blues to go to reach into the past and record with Mathus. To ensure the experience was captured for the listener, the band chose to release on the original format the Blues came on, vinyl. While sales of physical music have dropped of substantially, according to Soundscan, vinyl has had a resurgence in the last couple of years. Many acts release on vinyl and even major labels have gotten on board. Independent bands have found a source of revenue and older such as the Beatles have also cashed in with limited edition releases and boxsets. The process of recording for vinyl is not the same as it is for CDs or MP3s, says Renton. “Why vinyl “sounds better” is because it’s mastered differently,” he says. “Everything isn’t all maxed out like modern digital masters.”
Entertainment
New venue to open in Oshawa
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The Moustache Club promises the best in local and touring bands Matthew Jordan Chronicle Staff
Downtown Oshawa is about to get a little louder via The Moustache Club – a music venue that boasts the “best in sound and lights” from some hometown talent. Located at 15 Simcoe St. in the heart of the downtown, The ‘Stache promises the best in local and touring bands presented by owners Nate Beatty and Jacob Hamayda of JMS Audio. The idea came to fruition while the two were looking for production space downtown. The Moustache Club is a place where music comes first, and showcases the rich art community in the Durham Region. It’s a call to arms to any and all that cherish the local music scene. “It’s arts and music first,” said Nate Beatty, “and if there are artists and musicians at Durham College that are looking for a place that is focused on them first, we’re that place.” The club is an intimate venue, and something of a rarity in Oshawa. With
little to no music outlets in the city that focus attention solely on music, The Moustache Club promises to be a sorely needed hub for the creative arts. The extent of live music in the city is limited to bars and pubs, where the business of the restaurant overtakes the music. At the The Moustache Club it’s just the band, the fans, and a stage. Both Hamayda and Beatty have worked as sound engineers for the world’s top record companies, and have experience touring with renowned acts such as I Mother Earth. But it’s not the big names they’re after, but local groups that have inspired the opening of the clubs doors, such as The Standstills, Patrick Dorey, and The Stables. The Moustache Club is a 19 plus venue that will serve alcohol, and will be open seven days a week, rotating its music presentation from folk nights to blues, deejays to live bands and much more. The Moustache Club opens in April, presenting to Oshawa the unique experience of listening to band perform live in an intimate setting.
Matthew Jordan
GET READY TO ROCK: Nate Beatty, the owner of the Moustache Club in downtown Oshawa located on Simcoe Street.
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April 16, 2013
DC main campus is ready Trance: Film starts for a zombie apocalypse quickly but Steph Morrison The Chronicle
They want to eat your brains. The zombie apocalypse has arrived and you don’t know what to do. Luckily for students who want to survive this reign of the undead, there is a club at Durham College that specializes in what to do when the zombies take over. It’s called the Zombie Apocalypse Preparation Club. “It’s a unique club for unique people,” says the president of the club Pascal Zois, who formed the club for
something fun for students to do. “We play hard and work hard.” Zois talked about the major event the club hosted last year, which was a zombie invasion. He said the invasion took a lot of preparing, which included getting permission from the Student Association and the professor of the class weeks before For the invasion itself, 15 people dressed up as the walking dead and literally invaded a lecture hall in the Regent Theatre. “A lot of the students were pretty chill because they instantly figured it was a flash-
mob but some people found it great and entertaining,. Not many people actually got scared or took action, thankfully, otherwise someone could get hurt!” says Zois. Next year Zois said he’d like to hold a Call of Duty Zombie Tourney, which would cost $10 for a four-person team buy in and would give one of those teams a chance to win $100. The average meeting includes debates and discussions on different types of zombies, be it slow moving, brain craving monsters, or the really fast, rabid maniacs. The best survival plan is
also discussed during these meetings. “The zombie apocalypse is going to happen one of two ways; it’s either going to be biological like Resident Evil or it’s going to be completely unknown,” Zois says and hopes that should the apocalypse of undead arrive, the zombies will be really slow and easy to kill. The club meets Thursdays at 2 p.m. on 61 Charles Street, on the second floor of the downtown campus. It is open to the public.. Zois says students can join by e-mailing zap.uoit.dc@gmail.com, or to walk in.
fades off
Aleksandra Sharova The Chronicle
Trance is a mind-bending film directed by Danny Boyle, the author of Trainspotting, The Beach, 28 Days Later, the Oscar-winning Slumdog Millionaire and 127 Hours. Trance opens in a London auction house, the stage for a heist of the $27 million Goya’s masterpiece Witches in the Air (in real life, the painting is on display in Madrid’s Prado Museum). The film starts like many other robbery movies. An auction house employee Simon Newton (James McAvoy), who has become involved with some gangsters led by Franck (Vincent Cassel), steals the painting to pay his debts. Simon doublecrosses his partners in crime and hides the painting, but after a head injury he suffers from amnesia and can’t recall where he has hidden the stolen masterpiece. Franck insists on Newton consulting hypnotherapist Dr. Elizabeth Lamb (Rosario Dawson) to recover his memory to get the painting back. At this point, Boyle wouldn’t have been the award-winning director had let the film unfold according to standard Hollywood movie rules. A heist movie transforms into frantic psychological thriller where all the action takes place on the edge of dreams and reality. Trance was filmed in London while Boyle was working on the opening ceremony of the 2012 Olympics. “That’s such a kind of family-friendly, responsible job, that it’s nice to do a twisted, evil … kind of film — which you can’t do in the Olympics,” Boyle said in an interview with the Los Angeles Times, referring to R-rated Trance as a getaway from his Olympics position. Anthony Dod Mantle’s vibrant cinematography helps set and hold film’s psychedelic effect: dim set lighting, shoot through distorting glass and atypical compositions. The original soundtrack was written by Rick Smith, the founder of Underworld, a popular British electronic band of the 90s, also lives up to film’s name. Co-written by Joe Ahearne (the director of the original TV movie of the same name) and Boyle’s Trainspotting screenwriter John Hodge, Boyle’s Trance, like Inception, is a difficult film to explain without giving much of the plot’s twists and turns away. The film is great at the beginning with fast and energetic storytelling, but seems to lose its pace as the action unfolds.
Entertainment
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RMG free cultural event Free friday each month at gallery
Rebecca Watson The Chronicle
Rebecca Watson
RMG FRIDAYS: Jacquie Severs is the Manager of Communications and Social Media at Oshawa’s Robert McLaughlin Gallery.
The Robert McLaughlin Gallery’s RMG Fridays continue to be a success, celebrating the program’s two-year anniversary this past February. According to Jacquie Severs, media manager at the gallery, traffic has increased substantially since the gallery started the event. “When we first started we were happy to have 50 people here, then it’s just grown and grown and we’ve had as many as 400 people,” says Severs. RMG Fridays brings out a variety of performers and patrons with a broad range of art and music showcased on the first Friday of every month. Rock, rap, folk, jazz and con-
temporary dance are just a few of the diverse genres the gallery has offered. At first the event was expected to attract university and college students. Severs says that has happened but the free Friday night also brings in young families and a variety of different social groups.
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We have senior citizens, we have children, we have teenagers, and we have college/ university kids.
Jacquie Severs
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“We have senior citizens, we have children, we have teenagers, and we have college/university kids. It’s really a huge decorative range of people that come out,” says Severs. People of all ages can come to look at art and enjoy live music as a community. She says there are really no other ongoing free cultural events in Durham. The Gallery has now become
experimental with the kinds of shows it puts on. The huge venue allows for bigger audiences and, in turn, creates more opportunity for different types of shows. Networking has played a big role in the success of the event and has created a place where people in the arts community can get together. “I’ve definitely seen interesting projects develop out of it like the Film Collective,” says Severs. The Film Collective is a group of people who met at the gallery and have since collaborated their videography initiatives. Another example is when bands will have people from labels meet them at the gallery to have conversation and build active networking relationships. Now, because of it’s success, a sister event has even started on the second Sunday of every month. Targeted at families, Second Sundays is a free family crafts night. “Some people come just for the art, for all those traditional reasons people think people come to an art museum. But some people need reasons to come. They need motivation,” says Severs.
Student film hits local theatre
Blue Phoenix debuts its first short film Teanna Dorsey The Chronicle
Kai Ajayi, a Forensic Psychology student at UOIT is the screenwriter and director behind the new short film Frozen Echoes that premiered in Oshawa on April 4. The film is the first short film produced by Blue Phoenix Productions, a photography and videography company that was started in summer of 2012 by
Pascal Zois. Ajayi is the creative director at Blue Phoenix and developed the idea to produce an independent film. Frozen Echoes is a romantic drama inspired by real life experiences. The relationship between the main characters in the film was a version of a real relationship Ajayi experienced in his past. Blue Phoenix Productions was supported by the government-funded program Summer Company. Ajayi is the company’s creative director and came up with the idea to do the independent film because many other production companies did short films. “Blue Phoenix was just starting up and beginning to expand, so I thought a short film
Teanna Dorsey
Film Genius:Kai Ajayi, screenwriter and director behind the new short film Frozen Echoes, which is about a romantic drama based on real experiences.
was the best thing to do.” Ajayi said. The writing of the screenplay for Frozen Echoes began last April and was not finalized until September. Ajayi developed his writing experience as a writer and editor of DUYTV, a high school run news channel. Frozen Echoes is the first screenplay that Ajayi has written. Frozen Echoes was funded by donations gathered from a
video pitch and an account on www.indiegogo.com, a website that allows people to donate to support a cause. Pascal Zois, the CEO and producer of Frozen Echoes as well as Ajayi put their own money into the film and supplied dinners for the cast and crew. The film debuted in April for a one-time screening at Cineplex Odeon theatre in Oshawa. Mayor John Henry attended the debut showing where
the audience was also given free popcorn. The proceeds of the film will be donated to the Veenera’s Care Circle, a charitable organization created by a 14-year-old girl to help young children with cancer. An action film is currently being written and is the next major project from Blue Phoenix Productions. However Frozen Echoes isn’t over, a sequel is in the mix and will use the same cast as the original film.
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April 16, 2013
An old ‘wolf ’ with some new tricks Wolf Gang leader takes charge in third album to hit the shelves By: Shakyl Lambert The Chronicle
Ever since exploding onto the scene in 2011, Tyler The Creator, and his consistently controversial collective Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All have been known as some of the most creative voices in hip hop. Since then, the crew has greatly expanded its brand, releasing multiple albums and a clothing line, as well as creating their own record company and even a hit TV series. Two years after the release of his last album Goblin, front man Tyler The Creator returns to the spotlight with the release of his third solo album, Wolf. The album’s storyline is a prequel to his previous two albums, Bastard and Goblin. It follows two characters, Sam and Wolf, and their rivalry during summer camp. The 18
ODD TRACKS: Tyler the Creator’s new album is most personal album yet, mixing his trademark synth-heavy beats and creepy yet clever wordplay with more jazzinfluenced production and more radio-friendly beats. tracks chronicle both characters during specific events, such as Wolf trying to contact his father to Sam’s heartbreak
over losing his girlfriend. Lyrically, if you’re accustomed to Odd Future, you know what to expect. Tyler’s are dark,
vulgar almost nihilistic lyrics contrast with hilariously clever pop culture jabs. Tyler delves a lot more into personal events
such as the loss of his grandmother, which takes the bulk of the final track of the album, “Lone.” Production-wise, this album is top notch. Tyler takes sole production credit for the whole album. Every song has its own individual feel, with no two songs seeming remotely alike. However, with the song containing so many shifting styles, the transition between certain songs feels jarring and unsatisfying. For example, the song “Trashwang” is an insane, over-the-top parody of gangsta rap featuring many nonrapping members of the group, complete with gunshots and explosions blasting every 10 seconds and heavy thumping drums. Immediately following that is the complete opposite “Treehome95”, a jazzy, breezy love song featuring appearances by soul songstresses Erykah Badu and Coco from Quadron. There’s no real proper flow to ease the listener to each song. It feels a little chaotic. Wolf is a great showcase of Tyler’s growth as an artist, and especially as a producer. The album never really has a consistent tone, but it’s still definitely an album that will satisfy fans looking for more antics from the Odd leader.
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Sports
April 16, 2013
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UOIT rowing dominates Ryan Verrydt The Chronicle
“It’s a wonderful time of year for sports,” said Ken Babcock, athletic director for UOIT. It wasn’t a reference to the iconic NCAA March Madness tournament, or the start of the 2013 MLB season, or even the push to the NHL playoffs. He was talking about the seventh annual UOIT athletic banquet, held March 28 at the General W. Sikorski Polish Veterans Association Hall in Oshawa. Rowing was the big winner, taking home both athlete of the year awards to cap off an exciting night. “Shocking,” said Allison Demaiter as she described hearing her name announced. “Walking from the back to the front, it just gave me tingles,” said male winner Nik Vantfoort. There was plenty else to celebrate. The banquet comes at the end of a highly successful year for UOIT. The women’s soccer and hockey teams earned their first playoff appearances, helping the school set an all-time high. The rowing teams medaled multiple times. Multiple athletes earned recognition on the provincial level, and men’s hockey goalie Bryce
Ryan Verrydt
BIG WINNERS: Allison Demaiter (left) and Nik Vantfoort, both rowing athletes, took home the UOIT female and male athlete of the year awards. O’Hagan was named a Canadian Interuniversity Sport AllCanadian. “UOIT’s legit,” said Babcock.
“It’s proving it every day.” The building was buzzing with excitement as students took pictures and talked before
the event. Normally seen in tracksuits or equipment, athletes were formally dressed this evening. Elegant dresses, suits
and even a few tuxedos were spotted around the room. The event started with Babcock, school president Tim McTiernan and others addressing and praising the athletes for their hard work and dedication. “Year after year we continue our success. You continue your success,” said McTiernan. The award show started as rookies of the year, most valuable players and leadership awards were presented to members of each varsity team. It was easy to determine where each team was seated as cheers and applause erupted every time a teammate received an award. The year in review video let athletes relive highlights of the season, and showcased the talent UOIT student athletes have. Then it was time for the freshmen of the year, team of the year, and athletes of the year. Bryce O’Hagan took home male freshman of the year, while Kylie Bourdeleau of the women’s soccer team was female freshman of the year. The women’s soccer team took home team of the year honours after it made the playoffs in its first season of existence. “Students are doing amazing things,” said Babcock.
Lord athlete looms large Luke Callebert The Chronicle
The 43rd annual Durham College athletic banquet was held Thursday evening. On a night where Lords athletes gathered to honour and celebrate athletic achievements, one athlete stole the spotlight. Melissa Semeniuk, a dual athlete in women’s fastball and volleyball, was at the podium four times. Semeniuk was the Overall Female Athlete of the Year and won the Female Bonnie Ginter-Brown Leadership Award for her contributions to both of her teams. Her fastball team then rewarded her with the Team MVP and Leadership awards. “I really was not expecting this,” said Semeniuk. “It’s probably the best thing that could ever happen.” Jim Nemish, head coach of the women’s fastball team, spoke of Semeniuk’s success. “Well deserved. For her to get all those awards was outstanding. You know, I’m proud of her. She had an outstanding year,” said Nemish. “She deserved everything she got.”
Photo courtesy of Durham Athletics
LORDS SUCCESS: Durham athletes of the year Melissa Semeniuk (second from left) and Riley McAllister (right) pose for a photo with school president Don Lovisa (left) and retiring vice-president of student affairs Margaret Greenley. It was a terrific night for the women’s fastball team, who dominated the awards ceremony. The squad won the Team
of the Year award and Samantha Bryant-Officer took home the Female Freshman Athlete of the Year award. Those two
awards, plus Semeniuk’s, gave the team every award they were eligible to win. “It’s fantastic and the girls
all deserve it, they worked hard right from last year all through the year,” said Nemish of the Team of the Year award. “They worked well as a team, they supported each other.” “It’s amazing, it’s like a family,” said Semeniuk of the fastball team. The night wasn’t all women’s softball though. Riley McAllister, men’s volleyball, won Overall Male Athlete of the Year. Men’s soccer took home the last two awards, with Marco Trotta winning Male Freshman Athlete of the Year and Duncan Mitchell winning the Male Bonnie GinterBrown Leadership award. The night was also used to honour coaches and staff that will no longer be with Durham College next season. Head golf coach Mike Duggan is retiring after 16 years and the rowdy crowd of athletes chanted, “Let’s go Duggan.” Margaret Greenley, vicepresident of student affairs, will also be retiring and when she was introduced she got a long standing ovation from all the athletes and coaches in attendance.
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Sports
Shane MacDonald
UOIT RIDGEBACKS VICTORIOUS: UOIT Ridgebacks soccer team pose with the Charity Cup trophy after defeating the Durham Lords 9-4, held at the Campus Wellness and Recreation Centre.
Giving children a hand up Shane MacDonald The Chronicle
Students, parents and local sports teams gathered to watch the UOIT Ridgebacks and Durham Lords soccer teams play in the second annual Charity Cup. The Ridgebacks won 9-4 over the Durham Lords in a competitive match at the Campus Wellness and Recreation Centre on March 23. The game was held to raise awareness and donations for the charity, Their Opportunity. Their Opportunity is an organization that provides families who can’t afford to enroll their children in local sports programs the means to do so. It believes that giving children the opportunity to play sports will develop their social skills, character, life skills and physical activity, therefore enhancing their lives, their family’s lives and the community as a whole. Their Opportunity supports children aged eight to 16 and it
works on a ‘pay it forward’ approach, meaning children who are sponsored must give something back to their community. “The kids aren’t just getting a hand out but a hand up,” said Randy Gill, president and CEO of Their Opportunity. “They’ll do a community service like going to a seniors home or soup kitchen. So they’re not just getting sponsorship but they’re getting involved in their community,” he said. “Generosity needs to always have a snowball effect, so they’ve been given generosity and help and they need to keep continuing that cycle of generosity,” said Gill. Their Opportunity sponsors children in all types of sports for both genders, even sports like gymnastics and dance. This was the second year the Charity Cup has taken place at Durham College and last year the event raised $900. “As a result of this last year, one family got to have all four of their children placed in soc-
cer for the first time,” said Gill Their Opportunity and Durham College look forward to growing their relationship and improving the Charity Cup. “I’m so grateful that as a university and college they’ve adopted the charity,” said Gill. “One of the things we had a vision for is to involve the girls
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What we do is help kids and what you can do to help us is to spread the word.
Randy Gill
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which has happened this year.” “The reality for us is we want to see this expand so more people know about the charity and the need that there is in the region for kids to get in sports.” Gill spoke about the benefits
of putting children in sports and the importance it can have on their well-being. “It’s of utmost importance because it develops character, teamwork, and life skills and especially helps with self esteem.” The Oshawa Kicks under 12 Vortex soccer team was at the Charity Cup and played during the half time. Their coach and technical director, Steve Simmons, added his view of the importance of sport in children’s lives. “Ninety-nine per cent of character building skills are more solidified in sports because it is the kids elective opposed to school,” said Simmons Angie Allin, head coach of the Oshawa Kicks under 16 Energy, was also at the event. She said sports were hugely important to her growing up. “I played sports all my life and it kept me out of trouble. Kept me from being idle and with too much time on your hands you get in trouble,” she
said. During an intermission Gill took the floor and addressed the audience. “What we do is help kids and what you can do to help us is to spread the word,” said Gill. Their Opportunity holds another event at Durham College and UOIT every February called Dimes for Time. With the help of the Athletic Department, Their Opportunity brings in professional athletes and holds a ball hockey day for public school kids. “We brought in Rob Pearson from the Leafs, Brad May from the Toronto Maple Leafs and then the Oshawa Power basketball players,” said Gill. “We’ve got to remember why we’re here. We’re here to have fun and to be competitive and play but it always has to be about the kids.” Admission was a suggested $2 donation. There was popcorn, drinks, a raffle for Blue Jay tickets and all the proceeds went to Their Opportunity.
School and a life? Who has the time? Sarah Chan The Chronicle
Trying to balance a job, extra-curriculars and a social life all while attending school is a challenge that many students face. No one knows this better than UOIT’s Sean Corrigan. A fourth-year forensic science student, Corrigan has his hands full trying to keep up with his course load in order to achieve the best grades he can in his
final year of school. But that’s not all he has on his plate. From the age of 18, the now 23-yearold student has been competing regularly in Ironman triathlons. His father sparked his interest in the races. Corrigan says his father began training to get in better shape. The two have bonded over their love for racing and they both have matching Ironman symbol tattoos. Each summer Corrigan participates in both half-iron races, which consist
of a two-kilometre swim, a 90 kilometre bike ride and a 21-kilometre run as well as full-iron races which are double the distance in each of the three fields. When he is not in class or training for a race, Corrigan volunteers as a coach for the Ajax-Pickering Triathalon Club where he trains children who want to compete in triathlons. “It’s cool seeing kids interested at such a young age,” he said. Somewhere in between his jam-
packed schedule, Corrigan still manages to find time to cater to his other passion, music. He and his friends have a pop-punk band called “Freedom 35” in which he plays guitar. With graduation right around the corner, Corrigan continues to train for his next race, a half-iron triathlon held in Syracuse, New York. Once he leaves UOIT, the ambitious athlete hopes to get a job doing lab work for crime scenes. Now that is a full plate.
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Ridgebacks are riding high Sinead Fegan The Chronicle
Al Fournier
MIKE DUGGAN: Durham’s golf coach retiring after 16 years.
Mike Duggan retires Charlie Roach The Chronicle
The Durham Lords varsity golf team has a huge hole to fill. When the 2013 season begins this spring, it will be the first time in 16 years that head coach Mike Duggan won’t be at the helm. Since Duggan became head coach in 1997, the Lords have enjoyed tremendous success at both the provincial and national levels. In 2010, Duggan received the inaugural Canadian College Athletic Association Coach of the Year Award, as well as the Ontario College Athletic Association Coach of the Year award. One of the standout players Duggan has worked with over the years is a young bomber named Shea Varty. “To me Mike was a great coach to have in our corner. The guy is decorated as a coach, plenty of medals and that makes you feel confident that you have a good coach pushing you to work harder, someone who knows what he’s doing,” said Varty. “And it will be tough to replace a coach like Mike. He’s a coach that will stand up for his players and make sure we get what we should. And that everyone gets a fair chance to play for their position,” said, Varty. Durham’s athletic director, Ken Babcock, has known Duggan for more than 20 years. The two went to college together, and shortly after Babcock signed on as athletic director for Durham College. One thing is for sure. Trying to replace Mike Duggan, one of the most decorated coaches in school history, is no gimme.
The team may be small, just three riders, but UOIT’s equestrian team showed well at it’s first-ever Ontario University Equestrian Association finals in Newmarket in late March. UOIT has three regular riders, Emma Skinner, Rachelle Hardy and Sharon Trauzzi, the team captain. They practiced all year round, at Homestead Hills in Orono. All the universities across Ontario are divided into two zones, east and west. Throughout the year, each university hosts at least one show. Two riders from each division, open, intermediate novice and entry are selected to be points, the point riders collect points for your team. However, every individual rider still collects individual points. Then, the top eight riders from each division go to the finals. Hardy couldn’t make it but her teammates did well in her absence. Competing in fences, Skinner finished in fourth place in the open division while Trauzzi finished eighth place in that class for flats. After both the fences and flats competition on Saturday, the riders then travelled to Aurora, where they had a chance
Sinead Fegan
EQUESTRIAN TEAM: Emma Skinner competes in the fences portion of the OUEA competition. Skinner would also finish fourth in the flats portion. to relax and have a dance. The end of the year awards took place March 24, Hardy finished ninth place overall in novice, Trauzzi seventh place in entry and Skinner was third place in entry. “I’d say that we did really well overall. For only having three consistent riders all year, I would say we had a very successful season. I can’t say if that
was what I expected - obviously we just go into it, hoping for the best and trying our hardest. As long as we put in our best efforts,” said Trauzzi. She explained that since they only had three regular riders, their focus for next years season is to make sure the riders are committed and to reach a larger member base. “We now know what to ex-
pect during the year and finals so we will be more prepared,” said Trauzzi stressing the team needs to get its name out there so people know about the opportunity for them to ride with the program. UOIT’s team will be advertising for new riders and will be holding auditions at the beginning of the year to make sure riders are up to par.
UOIT is the place to play Despite being a relatively new school to Ontario University Athletics, campus varsity is succeeding Ryan Verrydt The Chronicle
Since filing for official Ontario University Athletics (OUA) status in January of 2006, UOIT has been working hard to market its athletics and grow the varsity program to compete against established schools. UOIT is just over ten years old, with athletics going into its seventh year. This makes the school a baby compared to many of the schools in the OUA. “One of the things we have going for us, it’s a really neat school. Its technology based, it’s brand new, and it’s leading edge. The faculty are incredible,” said Ken Babcock, director of athletics for UOIT. While having brand new infrastructure and technology helps, it doesn’t solve all of the school’s problems. One of the drawbacks at the current stage of development is a lack of academic programs. “Is it a hindrance varsity wise not to have the full roster of programs that some universities have? Yes.
Shane MacDonald
UOIT SPORTS: Bryce O’Hagan, goalie for the Ridgebacks, looks out on the ice from the net. Will it change? Absolutely,” said Babcock. The school is undergoing a period of expansion with more academic programs being add-
ed every year. Babcock says a series of liberal arts programs are next and in the next five to ten years the school will look vastly different.
One of the key aspects of attracting students is making sure prospective athletes tour the school and have the campus experience. “We have to get every family and student recruit on campus for a visit. We believe our visit, our tour and the facilities and the kind of people we put in front of the student while they’re here,” said Ken Babcock. Stephanie Spencer, a member of the women’s hockey team echoed that sentiment, “It was a program that was marketing itself well,” she said. Varsity teams are improving quickly. The women’s hockey and soccer team made the playoffs this season. The men’s team has made the playoffs three of the past four years and the curling and rowing teams have been perennial contenders. As teams continue to improve and win, more athletes will start to consider UOIT as a place to play. “If you win you develop a pretty good reputation,” said Babcock.
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Baseball legend lives among us Luke Callebert The Chronicle
Programs in any sport take time to build, to get off the ground and then slowly begin building success. Not the Durham Lords baseball program. Success seems to have come naturally for the program. In 20 years of existence, the team’s statistics are staggering. With only one losing season in their first 20, the success has been unrivaled. One national championship, seven provincial championships, nine appearances in the national championship tournament. Success has been expected from day one at Durham College. This hasn’t gone unnoticed around the Canadian Intercollegiate Baseball Association (CIBA) league. Head coaches and managers from around
the Lords division are very impressed with Durham’s consistent success. “They don’t make mistakes, they don’t hurt themselves, they play a consistent. Their teams always capitalize on the other teams’ mistakes,” said Denny Berni, head coach of the Humber College baseball program. “Being one of the newer teams to the league, we look up to a team like Durham,” said Frank Jeney, manager of the Windsor Lancers. “From the uniforms, travel and communication, Durham is a team we looked to when building our own program.” The head coach of the Lords program is and always has been Sam Dempster. “The Dempster brothers just have nothing but respect for the game,” said Jeney, referring
to Dempster and his brother Colin. “Respect for each other and the game has made the program successful.” “I think Sam always has his team playing their best, they are always up for games,” said Berni. “Besides being a very good baseball guy, he is a great person. To me, that’s huge, his team respects that and plays hard for him all the time.” Beyond the respect in the Lords’ program, Dempster’s background and expertise is what makes the program the success it is. According to the LOSSA website, Dempster won the LOSSA Championship five times and was a runner up five times as head coach of the local Eastdale Eagles high school team in Oshawa. Dempster has also been an associate Canadian scout for
three Major League Baseball teams: the New York Yankees, Milwaukee Brewers and Oakland Athletics. After being an assistant coach in 2010 for Great Britain’s national team, Dempster was recently selected to lead Great Britain into the World Baseball Classic tournament as head coach and performance director. Dempster was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Dempster was also elected to the Whitby Sports Hall of Fame in the class of 2010;.This honour for Dempster is just one in the numerous awards received throughout his prestigious career. Most recently, Dempster was named to the “Top 100 Influential Canadians in Baseball” a list that’s put together by MLB Hall of Fame member Bob Elliot. Dempster’s experience and
knowledge of the game has built a baseball program that has made Durham the class of CIBA. Ken Babcock, DC and UOIT’s athletic director, says that the baseball program is synonymous with success because of Dempster’s vision. “The success of our baseball program is really two things. One you have to have an exceptional coach who understands post secondary college athletics and the game in which they’re coaching experience-wise,” said Babcock. Berni summed up playing against Dempster and the Lords.“Coaching against Sam is always a tough one. You have to prepare your team to play against a well-disciplined team that does not make mistakes. If your team is not playing the very best, it will usually be a long day.”
Ultimate Frisbee returns Schaé Dunston The Chronicle
With warmer weather, means new activities that could not be played during winter. One of these activities is Ultimate Frisbee. Durham College and UOIT have a club dedicated to this sport. All it requires is a Frisbee to play. It is great exercise and a good activity for meeting people, says Chris Julien. Ultimate Frisbee is like football where you need to get into the end zone to score, but the trick is you can only move when you aren’t holding the Frisbee. Julien, a third year DC student in Sports Management, brought the sport to the school. After playing at All Saints Catholic Secondary School in Whitby, he was inspired to bring it to Durham College. The club’s intention was to create a way for first year students to meet. With the club growing in under two years to more than 100 members, Julien has bigger plans. In the future, he hopes to have regular times to play games weekly and have tournaments for the competitive people to compete. “Ultimate Frisbee is an easy sport to pick up, it is co-ed, simple to play and can be played anywhere. It is inexpensive and several leagues in Ontario exist, including Durham Ultimate Club,” says Julien. The club hopes to start back up in April and is always open to new members. The club has a group on Facebook, which can be found by searching DC/ UOIT Ultimate Club.
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The road to success for an athlete Samantha Daniels The Chronicle
In a world where you can’t get very far without a degree, the old adage ‘an education is never wasted’ still rings true, and perhaps varsity athletes are the ones that know best. Dedication to the sport takes more than time spent practicing. Under the threat of forfeiting their varsity career, student athletes are expected to maintain good grades while balancing a demanding schedule of games and practices. To ensure their success outside athletics, both the UOIT and Durham College faculty have several dedicated staff members to support and advise student athletes. Judy Kellar, Intercollegiate Athletic Academic Success Program (IAASP) chair and advisor, is one of the resources made available to varsity athletes by Durham College. Her job is to ensure the academic success of all student athletes, and provide support to achieve the standards set in place by the Ontario Colleges Athletic Association (OCAA), the governing body for college intercollegiate sports. At Durham College, varsity athletes are expected to exceed the minimum OCAA standards for academics. To be in good academic standing, Durham College athletes must maintain a minimum 2.5 GPA, which is 65 per cent or higher, and be considered a full-time student, which is a course load of at least 66 per cent. For example, if a full course load is seven courses per semester, varsity athletes must be enrolled in five classes to be considered a full-time
Samantha Daniels
MONEY EARNED: First-year students Jake Logan (left) and Cameron Yuill are both on the UOIT varsity men’s hockey team. Yuill was recently awarded a bursary for leadership ability. student. Kellar monitors the grades of all student athletes to ensure they are living up to these requirements. If a student is struggling, she “acts as a hub to other services for students,” including the Student Academic Learning Services (SALS) and their program liaison officer. At UOIT, similar standards are in place by the Ontario University Athletics (OUA), but athletes must maintain a slightly higher GPA of 2.7. However, UOIT athletes are eligible for
a larger scholarship than Durham College athletes. While Durham College athletes are eligible for a maximum of $500 per semester, which is paid at the end of each semester they play, UOIT athletes are eligible for a $4,000 entrance scholarship every year they play, for a maximum of five years. To be automatically considered for these scholarships provided by their respective schools, varsity athletes must maintain the academic standards outlined. UOIT student
Ken Babcock, director of athletics at Durham College, hosted the event, which included a luncheon followed by the award ceremony. Babcock acknowledged balancing school and sports takes a lot of commitment, dedication and determination. He says it is important for the few students who succeed in both to be recognized as role models. There was a lot to be proud of during the ceremony. Twentyfour students were recognized for their accomplishments on a provincial level. Durham College president Don Lovisa told the audience: “Succeeding in the classroom as much as your sport is quite an accomplishment.” Margaret Greenley, vicepresident of student affairs at Durham College, also attended the event. “You are the leaders of today, you are the ones who have
truly shown excellence,” she said to the student-athletes. Three students shared an award for having the top GPA among student-athletes at Durham College. Bradley Vanhartingsveldt, a men’s volleyball player and business fundamentals student, won the men’s award with a GPA of 4.57. Catrina Chiodo, of the women’s soccer team, and a horticulture technician student, tied with Kerri Fotherby, volleyball player and water quality technician student, with a perfect GPA of 5.0. Rogatinsky, a music business management student and a member of the women’s soccer team, said: “Between practices, games, tournaments and off-season training it keeps me healthy, fit and motivated. That ties into my focus at school. “It enhances my college experience and allows me to enjoy school even more,” she added.
athletes must also have earned at least an 80 per cent average in high school to qualify for the scholarship in their first year. These scholarships are justly deserved, according to Chris Rocha, director of financial aid and awards at Durham College. In the same way that involvement in the Student Association or other clubs provides students with community involvement and develops leadership skills, varsity athletics are a part of the building blocks that leads to a well-rounded
student, says Rocha. She helps students to build a plan that is individualized to work with each of their strengths, be it academic or athletic. Marlin Muylaert, head coach of the UOIT men’s hockey team, says varsity athletes can spend anywhere from 20-30 hours a week committed to their team, making it difficult for them to also have a parttime job. “Scholarships take a little bit of the stress off the financial burden of students paying for school themselves,” says Muylaert. While he says some graduates are looking for a career in the NHL, AHL, or a European league, he tries to help steer students towards a certain set of programs that will give them the greatest number of opportunities after they graduate. Just over half of his players enrolled in two programs. He says the criminology and justice program has the same team dynamics and leadership aspect as athletics, whereas the business program is an open-ended degree that “gives kids a lot of options.” Muylaert is currently in the process of recruiting players for next year, and says knowing their academic goals, as well as their academic eligibility, is important. “If I’m picking between two equally skilled players, I’m going to go for the great student so you don’t have to replace them after a year,” says Muylaert. “Athletics is a way of getting engaged with your institution,” says Rocha. “Varsity students are putting in the extra time, no different than any other student.”
Student athletes given national honour Sean O’Leary The Chronicle
Five Durham College student-athletes were awarded the Canadian College Athletic Association (CCAA) Academic All-Canadian Award, the most prestigious award in Canada for collegiate athletes. Chelsey Rogatinsky, Riley McAllister, Bradley Vanhartingsveldt, Marco Trotta and Kelsey Hare were the winners of this prestigious award for their accomplishments in their respective sports. Student-athletes, coaches, parents and faculty of Durham College gathered on April 9 to celebrate and recognize the students who succeed in the classroom as much as they do in their sport. To achieve the honour a student-athlete must be named to their respective Conference AllStar teams and achieve honours at their school.
Sean O’Leary
QUITE THE HONOUR: Bradley Vanhartingsveldt (right) winner of the CCAA All-Academic Award, and Kerri Fotherby (left) winner of highest GPA, pose with Durham College president Don Lovisa after receiving their awards.
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Student athletes show they can be winners in the classroom too
Bill 115 affecting DC/UOIT sports
The Chronicle
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Shane MacDonald
Awards were given out for academic success at the UOITs fourth Annual Academic Luncheon on March 26. UOIT Athletic Department faculty and members gathered to recognize student athletes who are not just successful on the field of play, but also in the classroom. Among the athletes was the curling team’s Danielle Loney. Forty Ontario University Athletics (OUA) all-academic students received awards in the upstairs of the Student Centre Building. An OUA all-academic is someone who received an honour roll status within the semester that they’re playing his or her sport. The requirement to make honour roll is a 3.5 GPA. “It’s really important to celebrate success,” said Ken Babcock, UOIT director of athletics. “The student GPAs are just rocketing.” “The overall 3.3 GPA of all our athletes is incredible and something to be proud of because the kind of commitments they have to their
Al Fournier
WINNING SMILES: Danielle Loney, Tim McTiernan (UOIT president) and Jordon Woollacot pose with awards for top overall GPA’s. program and training and traveling and representing the school. Its an amazing achievement,” he added. At the event, awards for highest GPA in each sport, and highest male and female GPA averages were given out. Danielle Loney received the award for highest GPA in her sport and the highest overall GPA for female athletes for the second year in a row. She described the balancing of school and sport as “tricky.” “You definitely need to have good time management skills, which I think is the big-
gest thing, but it’s really nice to see that it’s all paying off at things like this,” said Loney. “It helps students to see that their work’s paying off. It’s nice to have that little sort of pat on the back for everybody because they keep trying just as hard.” Last year the athletic luncheon saw 32 students receive all-academic awards, eight fewer than this year. “There’s all kinds of neat milestone stories for a young school everywhere,” said Babcock. “We’re really excited about our athletes, our coaches, and where we’re going.”
Luke Callebert
Bill 115 had many effects across the province, from the teachers and students to government and families. The question that hasn’t been asked is, what is the effect of losing an almost full season of high school athletics and what impact it will have on our college and university teams? Durham College/UOIT athletic director Ken Babcock says the school does not expect a direct impact but the effects of a lost year of athletics won’t be fully known for a while. “Not having high school sports doesn’t help [athletic levels], kids may turn away and find something else to do which will lessen the pool of student athletes coming through,” said Babcock. Despite the fact club teams are available to some high school athletes, a reduced pool of athletes worries Babcock. “It’s like when the Harris days were out, and it was work to rule and students didn’t have intramurals or recreation,” said Babcock. “They found other things to do, part time jobs.” High school students from
around Durham Region seem to have the same idea. “I only play intramurals not the competitive LOSSA and OFSAA sports, but I know a lot of the grade 12s and most seem to have just been working, hanging out, friends we’d never see usually because of their practices are around hanging out now,” said Emily McKinnon, a Grade 12 high school student in Whitby. “I know just at work, two guys who would have been training all winter ended up working a lot more.” It’s not all doom and gloom. Athletes coming to college or university to play sports likely know in advance what they want to play and would have found a way to play some form of the sport, either recreationally or with a club team in their spare time. Babcock said athletes who turn to club teams will still get noticed. He said both schools’ policies are to always try to recruit the highest level of talent possible when it comes to teams. High school teachers are returning to extra-curricular activities after reaching an agreement with the provincial government.
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Basketball ‘trots’ into the GM Centre Unique tour puts fans in control Sean O’Leary The Chronicle
Sean O’Leary
ROUND ‘N ROUND: Harlem Globetrotters guard “Dizzy” Grant spins a basketball. The Globetrotters will visit the GM Centre April 18 as part of their “You Pick the Rules” tour.
The Harlem Globetrotters world tour is making its way to Oshawa. On April 18, the Globetrotters will showcase their skills at the GM Centre as a part of their “You Pick the Rules” tour. This unique tour allows the fans to decide how they want to see the basketball stars play in a live vote during the game. According to “Dizzy” Grant, the staring guard for the Globetrotters, the most popular rules are double points, using two balls at one time and the four point shot. Grant, a native of New Jersey, is living out his dream of playing professional basketball, although he never thought it would be for the Harlem Globetrotters. “It’s an honour to
travel around the world as a Globetrotter,” he said. Like many basketball fans, as a kid Grant looked up to Michael Jordan, but the first time he saw live basketball was when he was seven at a Harlem Globetrotters game. From there he fell in love with the game. He posed for pictures with the players as a young child and, ironically, the first player he met is his coach now. Once he graduated from the College of New Jersey, Grant tried out for minor league teams in Florida. He was scouted by the Globetrotters, and made them his first professional team. He says he is very fortunate and blessed to be given the opportunity and calls it a surreal feeling every time he puts on the uniform. As much as he loves his job and his teammates, Dizzy admits it is a physically draining job. They are on the road nine months of the year and play up to 300 games every tour. Dizzy still embraces his role as a Globetrotter and knows it takes as much personality as skill to represent the team.
Balance weights, diet for a summer body Christopher Burrows The Chronicle
It’s coming. Summer will soon be here and with it all the outdoor fun you’ve been dreaming of all winter. There’s just one last obstacle in your path: that winter weight you’ve been packing on with the intent of working off closer to the warm weather. Unfortunately, summer is only 60 days away and you’re running out of time. Getting in shape for the summer is definitely doable but there are factors to take into account: physical fitness and nutrition. “It’s really hard to answer questions like what’s the best way for me to get in shape for the summer or do it quickly because everybody is so different,” says Angie Wood, fitness coordinator for the fitness centre, adding it depends on where you’re starting. “Are you starting as a 350 pound, 5’5” woman who hasn’t been off the couch for a long time? I drive here, I drive there, I don’t really do any physical activity or are you somebody who is relatively in shape? You’ve been working out but maybe want to lose five pounds. So it really depends on, it’s a huge spectrum of people and their abilities.” Having a healthy goal helps, says Wood. Are you trying to gain weight in terms of muscle, lose weight or something else? “It really depends on what path are people going to be traveling on to meet whatever goal
they have set for themselves.” She suggests making a SMART goal for yourself. Make sure it’s specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and timely. One to two pounds per week are a healthy and reasonable weight loss goal, says Wood.
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You look around and everyone seems to know exactly what they’re doing.
Angie Wood
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There are also five components to physical fitness: muscular strength, muscular endurance, cardio capabilities, body composition and flexibility. “When you look at training, I would say all of those things play a definite part,” says Wood. “So we’re doing what we can to have the leanest body composition that’s healthy for us. That’s where nutrition plays a part. “You can be at the gym 247, 365 (days) a year and then saying, you know, at lunch you have McDonald’s and at dinner you have pizza and, you know, for breakfast you have waffles and bacon and eggs and that kind of stuff and you’re ‘I don’t know why I can’t lose any weight, I’m at the gym all the
time’ and that’s where nutrition plays such a big part as well.” Sylvia Emmorey, the campus nutritional consultant, says nutrition is also very important to weight loss. Getting in shape can’t happen overnight and has to be a lifestyle choice. Emmorey suggests eating whole, natural foods such as an apple instead of apple juice. Water on its own is very important for hydration, especially in dry classrooms. When shopping she says to stick to the perimeter of the store for the natural products and read labels. “If you can’t pronounce an ingredient,” Emmorey says, “don’t put it in your body.” Students can book appointments with Emmorey all year round to get nutritional advice and the visits are covered by the student medical plan. “Take advantage while you’re here,” she says. According to Wood, about 60 per cent of our make-up has to do with what we’re fueling our bodies with and that’s why nutrition and exercise go handin-hand. “That 60-40 might not be exactly true for all people. You’ll have those people who will say ‘oh my gosh, I can eat whatever I want and still never gain a pound’ and those people who say ‘I look at a piece of cake and I put on two pounds.’ So it definitely depends on genetic make-up as well.” Wood also admits the gym can be intimidating. “You look around and everyone seems to know exactly what they’re do-
Christopher Burrows
WORKIN’ OUT: Ron Draycott, a second-year Professional Golf Management student, works out at the FLEX centre. ing,” she says. There are options for students who have never been to a gym before. Personal trainers are on hand to help people who need it. For a fee you can book time with any one of the campus’ trainers, which Wood says is a great way to keep you on track with your goals. Students can even split the cost with a friend if it will make them feel more comfortable.
If the gym is not what you’re into there are also more than 30 group fitness classes you can sign up for, from yoga for relaxation to high intensity interval training, spin or Zumba. Wood says there should be a little bit of something for everybody. A list of classes and everything the FLEX Fitness Centre has to offer can be found at their website, www.campusrecreationcentre.com.
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