October 14, 2005

Check out
out
Check
the results
results of
of
the
the touchtouchthe
football
football
tournament
tournament
See page
page 21
21
See
What’s inside
Celebrate
National
Pasta
Month.
See page
19
Come out and join the party, German-style
Spotlight
on:
Gun
registration
Page 14
Sports:
Niagara’s
volleyball
veteran
takes over
as head
coach
Page 20
Body &
Health:
quick, easy
and
nutritious
pasta
recipes
Page 19
Music:
taking a
closer look
at the
Satellite
State
Page 18
Onkel Hans makes his way down King Street at the 37th annual Oktoberfest–Thanksgiving Day Parade in the Kitchener-Waterloo area on
Monday, Oct. 10. See additional coverage on pages 12 and 13.
Photo by Amanda Reynolds
2006–07, get ready for increase
By ROBIN HEALEY
Staff Writer
“McGuinty is looking for
more room to reach into students’ pockets,” said Jesse
Greener, Ontario chairperson
for the Canadian Federation of
Students (CFS).
On Sept. 30, Ontario Premier
Dalton McGuinty said the provincial government would lift the
current tuition freeze at colleges
and universities. He expects fees
to increase when the freeze ends
in the fall of 2006. For some students, that could be bad news.
Greener, from Toronto, said
by phone, “[The] tuition
increase is not a done deal.” He
said high fees have damaging
effects and that many Ontarians
have shown their support for
keeping fees frozen.
Prince Goka, 21, a first-year
student in Police Foundations,
from Brampton, is concerned
about how he will raise extra
money for tuition. He said he
will “probably find a part-time
job during the school year,” if
fees increase.
He thinks he will likely need
to “find two jobs” for the summer. “I’ll need to get a job that
pays well,” added Goka, who
does not receive OSAP funding.
“People are saying [a tuition
increase will] unhinge the world
around us, and the sky is going to
fall,” said Blake Turner, Student
Administrative Council president,
Welland campus. He said these
people “need to get a little bit
more informed.”
Turner, 22, from St. Catharines,
in his second year of studies as a
Social Services worker, said
McGuinty is following the deadline of a two-year freeze set in the
fall of 2004.
“McGuinty wants to put
tuition back into a natural state,
where it increases along the
same lines as before,” said
Turner. He added this is “not a
hugely bad thing.” He notes that
the government will give postsecondary education $6.2 billion over the next five years.
Bryan Hicks, Brock University
Student’s Union president, said by
phone, “I hope that tuition will not
rise beyond inflation.” Hicks, 22,
from Belle River, Ont., doesn’t
expect fees to increase significantly next year, but he is unsure
of what will happen in the following years.
Although Hicks said he
believes it is reasonable to see
tuition rise with inflation, he said
it would be “politically unwise to
lift the freeze and increase tuition
in the same year.”
Continued on page 2
Niagara wins bronze medal
By JEFF FORAN
Staff Writer
Niagara College won the bronze medal at the Ping
Ontario Colleges Athletic Association Open golf
championships at Lakeridge Links Golf Club Oct. 3
to Oct. 5 in Brooklin, Ont.
Humber College, of Toronto, received the silver
medal, while Durham College, of Oshawa, Ont.,
came away with the gold playing on their home
course.
The best four players’ totals gave Niagara College’s team its final 604 score.
Humber College had 599, while first-place winners
Durham College tallied 591.
Ray Sarkis, co-ordinator of athletics and recreation
at Niagara College, says it was “very evident” that
Durham’s team members were used to the golf
course’s fast greens.
“They had a distinct advantage over everyone
else.” Three of Durham’s golfers also came away as
individual winners at the open.
Three-year veteran of the Niagara golf team
Andrew Walpole, from Fort Erie, shot 163 over
the two-day event, while Andrew Egerter, of
Thorold, had the best overall score for Niagara
with 148.
Continued on page 20
Welland
College Connection
Page 2, news@niagara, Oct. 14, 2005
Community
service
options for
students
Students
talk about
the end of
tuition
freeze
Niagara’s
president
goes to
South
Africa to
help
economy
Volunteer Opportunity Fair offers opportunity to help
By STEVE FRANCIS
Staff Writer
Niagara College wants to
help you finish up that volunteer
component of your program.
The college hosted its nowannual Volunteer Opportunity
Fair on Sept. 29.
More than 30 organizations
set up tables and handed out
information at lunchtime in
the cafeteria foyer and the
hallway by the Job Centre at
the Welland campus.
Organizations varied from
the Beamsville Strawberry
Festival to the Canadian
National Institute for the
Blind to the Head Injury Association of Niagara, among
other service agencies and
festivals.
The 2005 edition of the fair
was the second. Janet Forfar,
consultant – graduate services
at the Job Centre, says she is
“very pleased” with the fair.
Forfar added, “Evaluations
from exhibitors showed their
pleasure,” indicating the fair
was a success.
The fair did face a modicum
of controversy when a group
of five students protested the
presence of the St. Catharines
Right to Life organization.
The peaceful protest was
staged quietly in front of the
Right to Life table.
Mike Roy, Janine Klepey,
Amy Giofu, Tammy Milutinovich and Angel Smith led the
demonstration.
“That’s not knowledge.
That’s a belief,” says Klepey,
19, a first-year student in the
Broadcasting – Radio, Television and Film program.
For their part, Marlene Tersigni and Phyllis Bonomi, the
representatives from Right to
Life, were good natured about
the protest. They said some
students apologized for the
presence of the protesters.
Tersigini said Right to Life was
at the college “looking for volunteers like every other agency that
relies on volunteers.”
“We did not come here for
confrontation.”
Still, Forfar would not let the
protest spoil her three-month
project. “I tend to see the rights
of both sides,” she said.
In the end, Forfar says the
purpose of the fair was to offer a
“broad opportunity” of volunteer options to students.
Sustainable
Skills Development
project going strong
By PATRICIA RODRIGUEZ
Staff Writer
On Sept. 24 Niagara College President Dan Patterson travelled to South
Africa to support the third year of the
college’s Sustainable Skills Development (SSD) project, designed to help
reduce poverty in the Eastern Cape
Province of the nation.
By building strategic partnership
networks in education, government,
industry and the community, the project intends to increase access for better income and employment. Patterson
said the target is to work in an area with
high unemployment and social issues.
“Our job is to encourage and provide knowledge and information, so
they can improve their community.”
This project, in partnership with
the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), the Association of Canadian Community
Colleges (ACCC) and South
Africa’s Department of Labour, is
not only working on sustainable
development with local partners in
South Africa but also providing
opportunities for professional
development of recent Canadian
graduates.
“The job is to improve employment and to expose students to
opportunities,” said Patterson.
Darrell Neufeld, manager,
corporate communications, said
Patterson’s two-week visit to
South Africa has been designed to
encourage strong work relations
between industry and education to
try to help the local economy.
Niagara College and Eastern Cape
Technikon (ECT), including the
merged institution of Walter Sisulu
University (WSU) of Technology
and Science, are working together to
emphasize sustainable tourism and
entrepreneurship.
“The economy has been struggling in the area. We’re trying to
give them [ECT’s graduates] skills
to take to start small enterprises,”
said Patterson.
The ECT will develop industrybased training strategies to connect education and work, to
enhance individuals’ skills and to
facilitate their access to incomes
through jobs.
Vice-President Niagara International Martha Casson said for several years the ECT has worked
with the college, and throughout
the years they have become
“friends.”
“There is a real affinity between
Canada and South Africa.”
Patterson said the college is providing the project with resources in
the form of “expertise” of co-op students and knowledgeable faculty
and staff members.
“I’m going to try to share my
experiences with the educational
institutions, not to say that our
way is the best way, but to share
best practices, to learn from one
another,” said Patterson.
Jim Ryan, chair of the college’s
Board of Governors, is also in South
Africa and involved with the project.
“He is representing the voice of
industry,” as he will be sharing his
experiences about the value of
industry and educational partnerships, said Patterson.
“This is not a one-way experience,
where we know all the answers, but
it’s a learning experience for both,”
said Patterson.
“Our goal is to continue to foster
strong relationships.”
Casson said she thinks Patterson
and Ryan will be able to present a
“unique set of experiences” to the
people of the ECT as they will
demonstrate the “richness of
strong relationships between education and industry.”
“I can’t think of better people than
President Dan Patterson and Chairman Jim Ryan for the project.”
Niagara College hosted its annual Volunteer Opportunity Fair Sept. 29. More than 30 organizations from
the Niagara Region were looking for volunteers.
Photo by Steve Francis
Tuition freeze ending by 2006
Continued from page 1
Greener said the freeze originally
was to be in effect for “at least” two
years, until the student funding system
was fixed. However, he believes the
system is flawed.
In a media release, Greener urged
McGuinty to use the $1.5 billion the
federal government will distribute to
provinces over the next two years for
education to keep tuition frozen.
Turner worries that the quality of
education will deteriorate if tuition is
frozen indefinitely: “You pay for
what you get.”
He is hopeful that government
grants, scholarships and bursaries
will counteract a tuition hike while
allowing the colleges to maintain
quality with the extra revenue from
higher fees.
He suggests that if the provincial
government were to forward more
money in grants to Niagara College for
every student who attends, effectively
supplementing tuition, students may
actually pay the same as before or less,
while tuition itself may have increased.
Turner said the tuition thaw “only
will be positive if the government steps
in and helps,” but he has “no qualms
about the government aiding students
if tuition is unfrozen.”
“It doesn’t make sense to give grants
and claw [the money] back with tuition
fees,” said Greener. “The first steps
towards improvement will be undone
if fees increase.”
Greener is unconvinced that the government is taking the right path to
amend student funding. Many of the
changes to student funding come from
Bob Rae’s report to the government,
published in February as Ontario: A
Leader In Learning.
Greener said the report is “either
pure rhetoric or a complete misunderstanding of the situation.”
According to Greener, the report
mistakenly divides students into two
groups: low-income students who
receive grants and loans and highincome students who can afford to pay.
Greener worries that the changes to
student funding are servicing a narrow
faction of students and said that fees
should be lowered to avoid the
headache of the student loan system.
He believes middle-income students, who, he said, “comprise 80
per cent of students,” are getting
shut out of the system.
Tiffany Nenadovich, 23, from
Ridgeville, Ont., a first-year student in
Law and Security Administration, said
the prospect of higher fees and large
loans “de-motivates some people from
coming to school.”
Grimsby native Lea Bucci, 19, in her
second year of Early Childhood Education, said, “Some of us can’t afford
college, especially 18-year-olds who
don’t have thousands of dollars.”
Nenadovich said higher tuition is
“OK for people who have someone
backing them up but not for people
who don’t.” She said people who wish
to attend college or university but do
not have parental or other sources of
support are being denied access.
Greener said there is a “greater need
for post-secondary education,” adding,
“75 per cent of jobs need it.”
Greener notes that post-secondary
education is nearly a universal necessity and that people should look at it like
high school or health care, not as a
commodity.
He added that there is a “growing
sentiment in Canada that there should
be no tuition fees at all.”
However, Greener said the CFS is
“not calling for free tuition at this
point.” He said the next step should be
to reduce fees.
Hicks said it is “wrong only to talk
of the tuition freeze.” He notes there
has been talk that the government will
do away with the Ancillary Fees Protocol (AFP), which requires students
to vote during a referendum to add
ancillary fees.
Hicks is concerned that colleges and
universities will add deferred maintenance costs or wages to ancillary fees
if the government removed the AFP.
He said it is unreasonable “to put these
costs on the backs of students.”
He said Brock University has its
own ancillary fees agreement that will
remain effective even if the government discards the AFP. Nevertheless,
he worries that a large increase in
ancillary fees would drive students
away from higher education throughout the province.
Rather than asking how much an
increase in tuition would affect enrolment, Greener said, “The real question
is how many more people could we
get through the doors if funding were
not a barrier?”
Glendale
College Connection
news@niagara, Oct. 14, 2005, Page 3
Apprenticeship
training for
skilled
trades
Continuing
education
offers
improved
certificate
program
Tourism
industry
will
continue
to grow by
40 per cent
Funding upgrades
Interpreter program
By KAESHA FORAND
Staff Writer
Continuing education will
provide an improved Language Interpreter certificate
program as the result of the
province recently providing
additional funding.
Ontario Minister of Citizenship and Immigration Mike
Colle was at the college’s
Glendale campus on Sept. 26
to announce a $210,000 grant
to improve the current
program.
“This is going to co-ordinate
the curriculum so they are all
essentially teaching the standardized curriculum of a professional level, so that the interpreters are of a high quality and
all have the skills needed,
whether it be in the hospital setting, medical setting, legal set-
ting or the private sector,” said
Colle.
Niagara College, St. Clair
College in Windsor and
Mohawk College in Hamilton all offer a basic 90-hour
Language Interpreter certificate program.
Information Niagara and
the Colleges of Ontario Network for Education and
Training will work together
to
establish
a
new
standard, high-level, 180hour, six-course curriculum.
Niagara College and Information Niagara will be the
benchmark for the program,
which will be available as
early as 2006.
“Through
consultations
with stakeholders, the need for
more comprehensive training
and consistent standards of
language interpreters
was revealed,” said
Rosanna Thoms, executive director of Information Niagara, a
community-based
information referral
service.
Colle said the government wants to con- Niagara MPP Kim Craitor (left), Rosanna Thoms, Mike Colle and
tinue to encourage the Alan Davis were all in attendance for a $210,00 grant announceintegration of newcom- ment benefiting the Language Interpreter program at Niagara
ers
into
Ontario College’s Glendale campus.
Photo by Kaesha Forand
because “every year we
welcome 125,000 newofficer in the continuing college tries to respond to the
comers from 169 countries, education and distance- needs of its community,” said
speaking 300 languages.” He learning department here. Alan Davis, Niagara College’s
emphasized, “Their success is She adds that the new pro- vice-president academic.
Ontario’s success.”
gram will be the standard for
Niagara College was the
“The new program is more the profession.
first to introduce the procomprehensive and it gives
Information Niagara offers gram in 2002. To date, 125
people an opportunity to interpreter services in 21 people have graduated from
upgrade their skills,” said languages.
Niagara College’s program
Sue Tallon, the development
“It’s an example of how the as certified interpreters.
Tourism will skyrocket by 2007 Many Hands project will assist
Women’s Resource Centre with
renovations, accessible entrance
By JAYLENE POIRIER
Staff Writer
Think how fulfilling your life
could be if your education led you to
cruise around the world and continually experience different cultures.
David Veres, chair of the
Hospitality and Tourism division at
Niagara College’s Glendale campus
in Niagara-on-the-Lake, says the
tourism industry is “one of the
fastest growing and in-demand businesses” and “will continue to grow
by more than 40 per cent by 2007.”
“You could learn the trades to
gain stronger strategic planning
and to gain knowledge through a
diverse
interactive
co-op
opportunity,” says Veres.
During the first year, the
Tourism
Marketing
Systems
program offers students an event
planning class that will prepare them
for the Cruise Course, as it has been
nicknamed by students and faculty.
It is offered in second year and
taught by Christine Blaine.
The purpose is to prepare them for
different cultures and make them
more knowledgeable about other
heritages, local attractions and different food they may come across on
their stops on the trip.
This term, the second-year
students are looking forward to a
Caribbean cruise in January.
“The students will learn about
what the impacts are going to a
Caribbean island as well as learning how to be a tour operator, and
how tours are actually conducted,”
says Veres.
“It’s also a good way for
students to learn about the many
international ways, just like the
international students are excited
to learn about our area (Niagara),”
says Veres.
Apprenticeship works at Glendale
By ELISABETH BAILEY
Staff Writer
Some people get their education by
spending much less time in the classroom than others.
Apprenticeship training for skilled
trades is done 10 per cent in the classroom and 90 per cent on-the-job.
The Job Centre at Niagara College’s
Glendale campus assists youth interested in apprenticeships who are
between 16 to 24, who are unemployed
and out of school. Florence Macdonald, who works at the Job Centre at
Niagara College’s Glendale campus,
says, “We work with the client and the
employer to try and find a match.”
MacDonald says the first, and hardest, step in apprenticeship training is to
find an employer who is willing to hire
and train an apprentice.
MacDonald says that the government promoting skilled trades as a
career choice is good because it shows
there is another option open to people.
She says that her “only caution” to
those interested in doing apprenticeship training is that one shouldn’t go
into it just because a job could be
potentially high paying.
“It has to be that the person has a
genuine interest and aptitude for a job.”
By MELISSA TOPP
Staff Writer
The Women’s Resource Centre in
Beamsville is the new recipient for
the Many Hands Project.
The Women’s Resource Centre
offers programs and services to
women and children in West Niagara.
It gives access to professional counselling, legal assistance, workshops,
support groups, respite for women
with children, community kitchens
and early literacy programming. Serving about 2,500 women and 240 children annually, it is open weekdays
from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m.
Event Supervisor Julie Densham,
39, of Grimsby, says the Women’s
Resource Centre was chosen because
“we felt [it] best contained the criteria
from the application.” Canadian Tire
Financial Services accepted the role
of lead sponsor for the Many Hands
Project once again.
The project is a joint undertaking
by the students in the Event Management (Graduate Certificate) program
and the Construction Engineering
Technology Achitecture program.
Students and volunteers from the
community take one day and
improve the facilities of a non-profit
organization.
This year’s project includes renovation of two bathrooms, making a
wheelchair-accessible entrance and
news@niagara is back Oct. 28
painting and doing interior renovations, as well as other changes.
The criteria are strict. The applicant
must be a not-for-profit group located
in the Niagara region. The organization must be able to provide a level of
resources, and the necessary material
expenses for the project must be
between $8,000 and $10,000. The
organization must demonstrate it went
to other sources to look for funding
but was unable to obtain it. It must
own the property or have a long-term
lease for the property with a public or
government body.
The organization must also demonstrate that this project is of benefit to
the community and project completion must be achievable in one day by
a maximum of 100 volunteers.
The host agency must provide written documentation outlining specific
goals and objectives for the project as
well as detailed project specifications.
The project must also endorse an
agreement for media coverage and the
production of a promotional video.
The project must be special-event
oriented and include such items as
environment enhancement, site
improvements, organization awareness and client-group-based activities.
To become involved as a sponsor or
a volunteer, call 905-641-2252 ext.
6404 or e-mail [email protected].
Your link
to the community
Community Connection
Page 4, news@niagara, Oct. 14, 2005
Pasta
fundraiser
for Katrina
relief
Page 4
Missing
ornaments
Page 4
Business
done in 2.5
minutes
Page 4
Transit
system bus
pass
Page 5
Business meetings Resident ‘hurt’ by lawn theft
reaching a new level
of efficency
By PATRICIA
RODRIGUEZ
Staff Writer
Crystal Parson, the
owner of Lasting Impressions Consulting Co., held
Niagara’s first Business
Speed Networking with a
focus on local business
interaction and promotion
on Sept. 22.
Each business had 2 1/2
minutes “face to face” with
participants and got a
chance to meet and
exchange information.
The cost was $25. It was
held at Laurie’s Orchard
Café in Vineland, Ont. The
entry limit for this first
event was 40 businesses.
They were encouraged to
bring as much material as
possible to share as they
were asked to provide
each person with information. Parson said the
capacity for the first year
had been set at 40 businesses to avoid overcrowding the location and
the event itself.
The concept is patterned
after speed dating, in
which people have 2 1/2
minutes to learn about
each other and themselves
before a bell rings and
they move on to the next
lucky person in the controlled meeting place. Parson said the meeting was
designed for people to
move around every 2 1/2
minutes.
“It’s a very fast-paced
environment,” and people
“don’t have to spend time”
with someone they “don’t
want,” said Parson.
She said the event will
probably become a semiannual event.
She said the business
promotion is designed so
“you can stay local” since
“it’s directly in front of
your face.”
A huge variety of businesses were present to
reinforce business promotion. These included the
representatives of Know It
All, one of the sponsors
for the event. All businesses, however, had to be
local and from the Niagara
region and had to bring
promotional materials for
distribution.
Local Italian community
holds charity dinnner,
raises $2,000 for Red Cross
By JOSHUA BOYLE
Staff Writer
Welland’s Italian community gathered on Sept. 30 for
a Hurricane Katrina benefit
that raised approximately
$2,000 for the Red Cross
relief effort.
The dinner and dance
affair drew approximately
90 guests to the Casa Dante
Lodge on Lincoln Street
after volunteers had spent
the last two weeks preparing
for the event.
While local students
served the meal, Luciano
DiMario, president of the
lodge, joked about those
who spent the past few
days rolling gnocchi for
the lodge dinner.
“The average age in the
kitchen is around 70,which
makes the whole thing just
mean a lot more.”
Initially founded as a
“mutual benefit society” in
1937, the Casa Dante Lodge
has held similar fundraising
occasions over the decades,
furnishing a room at the
Welland County General
Hospital, sponsoring an
atom baseball team and
most recently holding a benefit dinner nine months ago
to aid the victims of the
tsunami that devastated
countries like Indonesia and
Sri Lanka.
They will likely hold
more benefits to support
relief efforts in the future,
according to event organizer
Bambi Ventresca.
“We are all people,”
Ventresca explains, “but
when it is [the United
States], our neighbours, it
is even more important to
help them.”
The Casa Dante dance
was one of the many Katrina benefits in Welland
that continued more than a
month after the hurricane
killed over 1,000 people in
the southern United States.
Local churches, cultural
centres and schools all
held their own events to
support the Red Cross
efforts, as the agency
announced on Sept. 30 that
total
donations
had
exceeded a billion dollars.
By ELIZABETH HAWKSWORTH
rent rooms in the houses in it. Tinney says
and AMANDA REYNOLDS
that most people enjoy the students being
Staff Writers
part of the community, but that they need to
The small college-side community of Nia- show more respect to the residents here.
gara-on-the-Green has been missing some
“We don’t mind them here, we would just
lawn ornaments lately.
prefer them to not make trouble.”
Angelina Tinney, of Niagara-on-the-Lake,
“These kids live here, renting from somesaid that she recently discovered that her body. This is their neighbourhood too, and
beloved ceramic puppy was missing from they should show some respect. If they want
beside her front door. The puppy is made to us to respect them while they’re walking
hold her newspaper, and she was saddened by around and being a little loud, then they
the discovery that it was gone. She replaced should return the favour.”
the puppy with a black jug, and that was
Tinney says that she has never had problems
taken as well. Her friend from the neighbour- with students in the neighbourhood before.
hood also experienced a loss: a small garden
“I have never had to report anything like
fairy was taken from her lawn. The homes are this in my life,” she says. “The persons who
located adjacent to Niagara College’s Glen- have been robbed tried to come up with a credale campus.
ative way to get the students’ attention.
Tinney said that her friend told her that That’s why we contacted [news@niagara].”
whoever had taken the fairy had gone so far
Tinney and the community of Niagara-onas to replace it with a small bundle of wood, the-Green say that they do not wish to single
to hide the hole. Tinney mentioned that anoth- out the people that took their items. They just
er neighbour had a metal shopping bag taken wish to have their items returned.
from the yard.
“It is my hope that the people that have
Tinney says that she is “hurt” by this prank. taken items from the homes would be moved
“I am certain that those who have been to return them as inconspicuously as they
doing this think that it is great fun; however, took them.”
for the older persons of this community, these items are cherished. They
hold memories of family and of
friends of their life that may not be in
their life anymore,” she says. “Such
pranks come too close for comfort, as
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news@niagara, Oct. 14, 2005, Page 5
International students enjoy homestay living
By KAESHA FORAND
Staff Writer
Tony and Toni Mule have
opened their home to the
world.
The Mules have been
homestay parents throughout the last four years for
international student studying at Niagara College.
A homestay family provides three meals per day, a
furnished bedroom and full
access to the house. They
also provide guidance and
assistance and help students
learn
about
Canadian
culture.
International students are
matched with a Canadian
family and live as part of the
family at a cost of $550 per
month. About120 homestay
families are in the Welland
area and about 40 in the Niagara-on-the-Lake area to
serve both Niagara College
campuses.
Tony Mule underwent
spinal cord surgery because he
was paralyzed from the waist
down and was unable to walk.
The surgery was successful
and after his recovery he was
able to resume full duties. The
Mules chose to take in international students to help
financially.
Mule has now healed
from the surgery and can
walk without assistance.
The Mules continue to
house international students
because "it's a very rewarding experience of the different cultures and a different
way of thinking," he said.
They have five men living
in their six-bedroom, fourbathroom house: Kazeem
Odunsi, 19, from Nigeria,
Yusuke Tamura, 29, from
Japan, Pako Jiminez, 17, from
Mexico, Chang-hoo Ahn, 25,
from South Korea, and
Yuheng Xu, 20, from China.
Odunsi is in the Computer
Engineering Technology coop program, and the rest are in
the English as a Second Language program.
Mule said he doesn't see
the men on the weekend
because they are "very independent and not afraid."
Having supper together at
6 p.m. is important to the
Mules. He said they spend
between one and two hours
talking together. Ahn said he
likes suppertime because
they have a lot of conversation and it has helped him
learn
about
Canadian
culture.
Every student who lives
in homestay is provided
with a booklet filled with
information about living in
Canada. Issues such as customs, greeting people, eating habits and other small
Canadian differences are
identified.
The Mules try to offer a
varied menu. Their cupboard
is filled with cookbooks and a
book of favourite recipes.
Mule said they eat a lot
of rice, vegetables and
hot sauce.
Rules are established for
the students. They ask that
everybody help with the
dishes after supper, that they
clean their rooms and shared
space once per week, that
there be no parties and that
it's quiet after 10 p.m.,
among
other
basic
house rules.
When students arrive in
Canada, the Mules give them
a tour of the area and take
them to the college, the mall,
the bank and the grocery store.
They also provide a small
welcome gift of personal
hygiene products. The Mules
provide each student with a
coat for the winter, if needed,
and a bicycle, lock and chain.
He adds that he teaches each
student about how to recycle
Students of all ages and origin are all smiles on the
front porch of the Mules residence.
Photo by Kaesha Forand
and how to use the shower
and toilet.
If a student celebrates a
birthday in Canada, the
Mules will cook them the
students's favourite meal
and make a birthday cake.
They also try to incorporate
international
holidays
throughout the year.
Not every student chooses
to live in homestay. Odunsi,
who has now lived with the
Mules for nine months, originally wanted to live in residence, but there wasn't
enough room.
"It's been fun. I've
enjoyed myself immensely,"
he said of his homestay family experience.
On the other hand, Tamura
said he lived in residence for
four days and asked the international housing co-ordinator
if he could live with a homestay family.
The Mules keep in touch
with most of the students
who
have
lived
in
their house.
"Our lives have really
become enriched just from
knowing people in our
lives...It gives you a deeper
appreciation of the world
and everybody is the same,"
he said.
They were veterans too
By JENNIFER GIBBONS
Staff Writer
October is all about the ladies.
On March 9, 1992, October officially became
Women's History Month in Canada.
Past themes have included Yes, Women are Persons!,
in 2004, and What Do You Mean, Women Couldn't
Vote?, in 2003.
The theme for 2005 is Women and War – Contributions and Consequences. Although veterans are usually
thought to be male soldiers in the war, women did serve
and contribute to the causes. Their positions were mainly
as nurses, stenographers, camp cooks, mechanics and
airplane pilots until they were allowed to serve in combat situations in the 1980s.
Women's History Month is dedicated to the women
who sought equality and the opportunities they opened
to future generations. It affords people the chance to
learn about past and present contributions that made for
women by women.
The highlight of Women's History Month is Persons
Day, the day when five women fought for the right to
have women serve in the Canadian Senate.
Emily Murphy, Nellie McClung, Irene Parlby, Louise
McKinney and Henrietta Muir Edwards petitioned the
Supreme Court of Canada and became known as the
Famous Five. On Oct. 18, 1929, Canadian women were
declared qualified as persons to be appointed to the Senate.
This was known as the Persons Case.
Six recipients are awarded the Governor General's
Awards in Commemoration of the Person Case on this
day. These women helped advance equality for women in
their communities.
Status of Women Canada gives the Governor General's
Awards in Commemoration of the Persons Case. This
award will be given on Oct. 18. Women have been doing
their part in the majority of past wars. More than 2,800
women served in the Royal Canadian Army Medical Corps
in the First World War. In the Second World War, more than
45,000 women were enrolled in military services other
than nursing. The first time Canadian women took part in
combat was during the Gulf War. These are just a few of
the wars in which women played a role and helped fight for
the causes of their country. More information is available
from the Status of Women Canada website at
http://www.cfc-swc.gc.ca/.
Women have fought for their equality and, because of
those pioneers, women today have the choice to vote, to
be a stay-at-home mother, to work or to do just about
anything else a women can dream of doing.
As Susan B. Anthony once said, "Men, their rights, and
nothing more; women, their rights, and nothing less."
Canadian author Margaret Atwood asks, "Does feminist
mean large unpleasant person who'll shout at you or someone who believes women are human beings? To me it's the
latter, so I sign up."
College students angered by spiking public transit fares, irregular service
By ROBIN HEALEY
Staff Writer
Many Niagara College students who rely on the public
transit connection between St. Catharines, Niagara Falls and
Welland are unhappy with the cost of bus passes and the
gaps in bus service.
Khamphiene Phommisai, 20, in his second year of Broadcasting – Television and Film Production here, is from Hamilton
but lives in St. Catharines during the school year and commutes
to the Welland campus. He paid $530 for bus passes, one for St.
Catharines and one for Welland, and that only covers him for the
fall semester.
Stephen Fekete, 20, a second-year student in Computer Engineering Technology from St. Catharines, is frustrated with the
Welland/St. Catharines connection, which he said is "impractical for student schedules."
From 9 a.m. to 12:55 p.m. no buses arrive at the Welland campus from the Brock University transit hub in St. Catharines,
which connects the St. Catharines, Niagara Falls and Welland
transit systems. That is nearly a four-hour gap in service. In the
afternoon, buses don't leave Welland for St. Catharines from
1:30 p.m. to 4:40 p.m., a gap of over three hours.
Phommisai said that buses should run at least every two
hours to eliminate the long gaps in service. He plans to get
a car for the winter semester, despite the cost, to avoid the
inconvenience of the bus schedule.
Fekete depended upon the transit system last year, but now he
carpools to and from Niagara College three to four times a week
and only takes the bus when he has no other options.
Students who travel between cities by bus may be eligible
for the City to City Bus Bursary of up to $250 per term.
Those who wish to apply for the bursary must visit the
Financial Aid office at either campus to show proof that they
have purchased two bus passes, for St. Catharines, Welland
or Niagara Falls and to complete a financial information
statement to determine if they qualify for the bursary.
Both Phommisai and Fekete like the idea of the U-Pass, an
integrated bus pass that allows Brock University students to use
the transit systems of Niagara Falls, Welland and St. Catharines.
Brock University charges students $126 in ancillary fees to pay
for the U-Pass. Students cannot opt out of the fee, and every student must pay it even if they don't ride the bus.
Phommisai said Niagara should provide a bus pass that
covers the transit systems, adding that the $126 cost added
to every Brock University student's ancillary fees is better
than making individual students pay $530 per semester.
Fekete said, "Those who don't need [a U-Pass] will fight
it." Nevertheless, he thinks the introduction of a U-Pass at
Niagara College would be "excellent."
Amber Morrison, 22, a first-year student in General Arts
and Science University Path, is from St. Catharines.
Although she commutes to the Welland campus by bus and
thinks better service is needed, she is hesitant as to whether
Niagara College should introduce an integrated bus pass.
Blake Turner, Student Administrative Council (SAC)
president, Welland campus, 22, in his second year of studies
Students wait for a ride from Brock University.
Photo by Robin Healey
as a Social Services worker, said a U-Pass "would never
happen this year." However, he would consider a referendum on a U-Pass during the SAC elections at the school
year's end, if the bus companies asked.
Turner said that there are logistical difficulties in getting
an integrated bus pass. "Which municipality do we get it
from? Do we get them all? Last year's president [of SAC,
Welland campus] was talking about getting one." Turner
added that if enough students were to advocate on behalf of
better bus service, they might be able to bring about a
change.
Page 6, news@niagara, Oct. 14, 2005
Editorials
Publisher: Leo Tiberi
Managing Editor: Phyllis Barnatt
Associate Managing Editor: Gary Erb
Photography Consultant: Andrew Klapatiuk
Editorial Consultant: Nancy Geddie
Technology Support: Kevin Romyn
Composing Consultant: Paul Dayboll
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Editor
Associate Editor
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Assistant Editor
Jennifer Gibbons
Photo Crew Chief
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Your opinion is welcome
E-mail: [email protected]
Mail: V10, 300 Woodlawn Rd., Welland,Ont. L3C 7L3
In Person: Room V10, Welland campus.
Policy: All letters must be signed and include a day
and evening phone contact number for verification
purposes.
news@niagara is a practical lab for Journalism-Print students studying at Niagara College. Opinions expressed in editorials and columns are not those of news@niagara
management or the college administration. Columns, identified as such, reflect only the writer’s opinion. Readers are welcome to respond to columnists by e-mail at
[email protected]
Tuition costs no longer frozen Home life skills need support too
Higher education may soon be a
thing of the past.
For as long as many of us can
remember, we have been taught
the importance of education and
its relevance to achieving success.
Parents, teachers and government
have strongly promoted education.
They say it plays a crucial role in
defining a nation.
However, it seems as if government has forgotten how difficult
and stressful it has become for
many students to afford college.
For those of you who don’t know
yet, Ontario Premier Dalton
McGuinty just announced the lifting of the highly popular two-year
tuition freeze.
The announcement, made on
Sept. 30, made a high number of
students infuriated. Most alarming
of all is the government’s uncertainty about the actual amount that
tuition will increase.
Having tuition costs swell might
become so unbearable for students,
and the parents who assist them,
that it could easily result in a
decrease in enrolments and an
increase in financial headaches.
This outrageous situation could
easily force students to put their
dreams of attending college aside.
This will affect their future careers
while the demand for quality education will never cease.
This is just the beginning.
Interesting events are still to
come as students’ awareness of
this dilemma rises.
PATRICIA RODRIGUEZ
What’s your
opinion on
the
potential
rise in
tuition
costs?
For many students, living
arrangements usually consist
of rooming with several people or sharing a room with
one or two people. This can
prove to be difficult, posing a
number of problems.
When your roommate
starts leaving dirty dishes all
over the counter or parties
until 4 a.m. leaving beer bottles throughout the house,
you might find yourself in a
tense situation.
Frequent questions we ask
ourselves are “Should I say
anything?” or “What can I do
to stop this?”
Niagara College is number
1 in student satisfaction in
last year’s provincial survey.
For this to be entirely true,
we think that the college
needs to be reaching out to
students in areas beyond
school life.
Problems at home can distract students from their
schoolwork and leave them
feeling
anxious
with
nowhere to turn.
Though the college provides one-on-one counselling for students who have
personal problems, we think
workshops would address
the issue more effectively.
These workshops could tackle topics such as assertiveness versus aggressiveness,
interpersonal life skills, and
one’s legal rights as a tenant.
Some students are illequipped with the skills
needed for living with people
besides their parents. Others
find it hard living in student
housing because they may be
used to living in more comfortable conditions.
For starters, the college
might think about compiling
a pamphlet for students to
refer to. The information for
the pamphlet may provide
students with alternatives
and solutions to the most
common housing problems.
Has a survey ever been
done on student satisfaction
with accommodations while
at college? A quick and easy
survey might allow the
school to see what’s really
going on with students. Students might also find surveys
as a way for them to express
feelings they might find hard
to communicate.
Bring in speakers from all
aspects of student living. A
legal aid clinic can help students who are in a financial
bind and lack any knowledge of tenant rights. An
expert on interpersonal
communication could provide insight for students
who have trouble communicating their grievances in a
positive and effective way.
A student has a test at
8:30 a.m. on a Friday and
his/her drunken roommates
come home at 3 a.m. with
energy to burn. Are there
any temporary accommodations available to that student for the night? A helpline might also assist in situations like this when the
student feels as though
there is nowhere to turn.
A number of links could be
provided on the college website that provide solutions for
frequently asked questions.
Maybe all of these support
systems exist but, if they do,
why don’t I know about
them? Do you?
BAILLIE ADCOCK
Clarification
Letter to the editor
Daniel George, 20,
Broadcasting – Radio,
Television and Film,
Year 2
"The government's
screwing college kids
once again ... once
again.”
Kham Phommisai,
20, Broadcasting –
Radio, Television
and Film, Year 2
"What are they doing
with it?"
Patricia Gillett, 29,
Office
Administration, Year 1
"It's gonna make it
more expensive for
the government in the
long run because students will borrow
more money."
Sarah Degelman, 18, and Kate
McGarrigle, 18, Recreation and
Leisure Services, Year 1
"It should be a lot cheaper ... it
doesn't allow people to come here
so they can get a better job in the
future."
Dear Editor and Staff of news@niagara:
I picked up your recent edition (Friday, Sept. 30,
2005) and enjoyed most of it.
I really enjoyed page 25, the art story and photos on the artist. (“Niagara teacher exhibits his
work, Summer Supplement, on James Gielfeldt.)
I think the paper should include more art, art
photos and stories on local and afar artists. Art is
part of everyday life and I’m glad to see your
paper gave it recognition.
It was a well-written article and I enjoyed the
read and the photos. Please let the author
(Melissa Mangelsen) know that it was a great
story and to keep stories like that coming.
Good Job.
Jon Brody
Via e-mail
In the news@niagara edition of Friday, Sept. 30 (Vol. 36, No. 1), incorrect
attribution occurred on page 7 in a
report headlined “Bands from Niagara
Region featured in free double album.”
A quote attributed to Sandor Ligetfalvy states he likes to see “the big picture and be creative in a variety of mediums, kind of like cameraman versus
director. I want to be the director.” The
reference is to Ligetfalvy’s personal
long-term goals, not his goals for
news@niagara.
He also did not say that he was “a
brainchild” but was referring to the
noise@niagara compilation CD project
that he initiated.
In a separate report on page 5, about
Carolyn Gould, the college nurse, incorrect information appeared in the headline. Gould is not retired from the college. As a nurse here for 14 years, she
remains employed by the college, but is
on an authorized leave from her job.
It is the policy of news@niagara to correct errors of fact.
Blackboard should be
mandatory for every class.
Columnist
The system is designed so
that students can access their
assignments, grades and course information at
any time from any computer. This, by itself, is
more than enough reason for teachers to set up
their courses on Blackboard. It saves the teachers’ time because all the information that you
would normally have to obtain in class or in the
teachers’ offices is readily available from any
computer anywhere.
When it comes time for tests, reviews can be
posted online to save class time. The test results
By AndyBurt
being posted online provide hassle free retrieval.
Students with the highest workload appreciate
Blackboard the most. Balancing school, work and
caring for children is a common problem for many
Niagara College students. Having the ability to log
on any time of the day to see what’s happening in
your program is a great asset.
Discussion boards are helpful if you missed a
class or just want to clarify or discuss a topic covered in class. Students helping students saves
teachers’ time; it saves everyone’s time, in fact.
Some of the other Blackboard features make
planning and keeping track of your school life very
easy. There’s a calendar you can use for daily plan-
ning or reminders. The “my tasks” tab lets you
track and categorize projects by user-set priority
and date.
Doing these things electronically is not only
faster but also easier than using a book planner or
your binder to keep organized. You can edit everything with ease, and it’s all stored safely on the site
so you don’t have to sweat losing it.
An all-in-one college resource for teachers and
students like Blackboard should be used for every
course. It’s functional and accessible, and it
makes a hectic college life easier to handle. It’s
the perfect crutch for the always-hobbling student.
Make it mandatory in 2006.
Wordstock seminars beneficial for Journalism-Print student
What’s in a word?
I recently had the opportunity to
experience journalism at its best. I
accompanied The Tribune’s editors to
Wordstock, a one-day journalism seminar at Ryerson University in Toronto.
Having spent some time in Welland at
The Tribune throughout the summer,
George Duma, the managing editor, presented me with an offer I couldn’t refuse.
Wordstock had three separate seminars offering a choice of 18 different
topics. I chose how to take accurate
notes, getting the most from your inter-
views and big stories from
a small town. Speakers
from around Canada with
magazine, newspaper and
freelancing backgrounds
led the seminars. They
were all informative and, I
believe, were the right
choice for a novice
reporter.
I learned how to break
the mould and be different By Kaesha Forand
Columnist
in my interviews. The
speaker made me think about how the for making
Reality TV ‘cheesy, senseless garbage’
By Patrick Hall “Stupid TV, be more
funny.” — Homer
Columnist
Simpson
To this day, I cannot for the life of me figure out how millions of North Americans
can tune in to the same, mind-numbing
“reality” television programs week after
week, season after season.
On any given weekday evening, you can
choose from a buffet of the cheesy, senseless
garbage that has flooded the airwaves in
recent years. These would include small
screen gems such as Who Wants to Marry a
Midget, The Real Gilligan’s Island and the
groundbreaking Biggest Loser.
Is this really what people want to see after
a hard day’s work? Contestants competing
to lose weight to, in the end, win the crown
of biggest loser? Apparently, yes.
I can understand how someone would
first be intrigued by the concept of shows
like Survivor and The Bachelor.
I cannot, however, comprehend why
viewers still tune in to the same plot twists
and “shocking” character revelations a
thousand times over, by a hundred different spin-offs.
Oh right, because it’s real. I honestly get
Available on newsstands and at
http://www.newsatniagara.com
Friday, Oct. 28
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Friday, Nov. 25
Friday, Dec. 9
Friday, Jan. 20, 2006
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Friday, March 24
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Friday, April 21
more reality watching an episode of South
Park or reruns of The X-Files.
“I think reality TV has totally overdone
itself,” says Jennifer Krok, 20, of Selkirk,
Ont. “At first, it was something new and
interesting to follow, but it’s so predictable
now. I don’t consider lame acting reality.”
It’s hard to remember the last time a truly
original series came around that lasted
longer than a season or two. It seems creative television storywriting has taken a
backseat to cheap, tired stereotypes.
Marc Ricci, a third-year philosophy student at Brock University in St. Catharines,
says he feels these shows are a “plague” and
“an insult” to basic intelligence.
“I find it disturbing that it’s referred to as
reality. It’s a perfect ploy for ratings because
producers know TV junkies will watch it.”
“There’s nothing real or genuine about it,”
says 20-year-old Justin Kellawan of the
Broadcasting — Radio, Television and Film
program at Niagara College. “That crap is
just an easy cash-grab.”
Overall, it seems television has left me in
the cold, as far as quality entertainment is
concerned, but, hey, at least I have football
and hockey to keep me warm this winter.
interviewee feels and
how to adequately prepare myself.
Wordstock, a yearly
event, is a refresher for
editors and writers. The
event also allows them to
mingle with their colleagues from local newspapers in the Osprey
Media Group.
I would like to thank
the staff at The Tribune
me feel welcome and for
giving me the opportunity to learn with
them.
The event was provided by Osprey
Media Group and cost $75 per person.
The day included a hearty lunch,
snacks throughout the day and a book
on tips for becoming a better journalist,
three seminars and a guest speaker.
There was also a book table offering
many useful books to buy.
I felt like a sponge, trying to soak up
as much information as I could. It was
the best way to begin my second year
of the Journalism-Print program here.
Sleep the Season plays
at the Merchant Ale House
What we think
Blackboard fast, easy way to save time for students
Columns .
news@niagara, Oct. 14, 2005, Page 7
The reality
of reality TV
Page 7
Journalism
at its best
Page 7
Making
Blackboard
mandatory
Page 7
What would
you do for a
kidney?
Page 8
d
a
e
R
Balancing
school and
workloads
Page 8
Want to advertise in news@niagara?
please contact Laura Tait, advertising director
for the Welland Tribune at 905-732-2411
ext. 281 or e-mail [email protected]
Greg Goertzen of Sleep the Season plays cello at the
Merchant Ale House in St. Catharines on Oct. 9.
Photo by Ariel Elliott
Students in the Journalism-Print program at Niagara College are taught their reporting and
column must be balanced, fair and objective. The feelings and opinions of column writers are welcome,
but balance, fairness and objectivity must never be disregarded. Our columns, which are clearly
identified as such, do not reflect the opinions of Niagara College administration or
news@niagara management. They reflect only the writer’s opinion.
Living with
roommates
Page 8
Page 8, news@niagara, Oct 14, 2005
Government pulls plug on man’s second chance at life
Some people feel the gift of life
is priceless. These days the Internet is putting a price tag on
everything from brides to babies.
I recently read in The National
Post that a Montreal man was
refused a kidney transplant
because doctors had a suspicion
that the kidney wasn’t given to
him, but sold to him.
Shree Dhar is a cotton exporter
from India who offered dying 61year-old Baruch Tegene a kidney
as an altruistic gesture. Unfortunately, Montreal doctors pulled the
plug on the idea before Dhar could
fly to Canada.
The practice of selling organs in
Canada is illegal. According to the
Canadian Institute for Health
Information, 55 patients died while
waiting for a kidney transplant last
year. It also says that the average
waiting period for a kidney from a
deceased person in the province of
Quebec is 2 1/2 years.
You be the judge. Should the
rich be allowed to purchase
organs, or should they be forced to
wait in line like everyone else?
Personally, I think that the rich
should have the right to buy
organs. The more organs sold to
rich people means there are more
donated organs for people who
can’t afford to buy them. This may
By John Misiti
Columnist
even shorten the waiting time for
receiving an organ.
If you ask me, this is yet another flaw in our justice system. Our
government should pay more
attention to the state our health
care is in and not worry about
people buying organs. Who cares
if someone used their financial
power to their advantage? We
should just be happy that another
life was saved.
I say be happy a man with
money has the initiative to help
himself rather than rely on the government. I compare this to receiving welfare when you are more
than capable of finding employment yourself. Paid for or not, this
is one less kidney taken off a waiting list from a poor person that
needs it more.
Tegene ended up getting a kid-
ney from the waiting list for
donors. Let’s say you were next in
line after him, and you died before
another kidney was found. I bet
your family would be upset that
the rich man before you wasn’t
allowed to buy a kidney, thus taking the last donated kidney you
could have used.
It’s time for our government to
wake up and start letting people
live their lives. Our health care is
in complete shambles, tuition
costs are on the rise and we are
all taxed to death. If this is all
that our government is capable
of, I am not impressed with the
results.
Renting a house with friends might be more than you bargained for
No one said living in a house
with five people would be easy,
but living with five best friends is
harder.
Recently, my five best friends
from first-year college and I rented
a house together.
I moved in a week earlier than
the rest and I tried as hard as I
could to turn the cesspool into a
biohazard-free area.
My landlord had been slacking
on the renovations that we had
agreed he’d complete before
move-in day. It didn’t help that the
previous tenants loved to throw
parties and couldn’t have cared
less if the place looked less than
presentable.
Living on my own in this house
was a big challenge.
When my first roommate, also
my best friend, moved in, it was a
welcome change. I loved spending
time with her because we hadn’t
seen each other since last April.
It wasn’t until the long weekend
of September that I began to get
nervous about my other roommates.
Those three roommates (one
happens to be my boyfriend)
moved in right before classes
started.
Things were going well as we
had all decided on certain “house
rules,” simple things such as rinsing dishes and no loud music on
By: Jennifer Gibbons
Columnist
school nights.
By the end of the first month I
learned some new and disturbing
things about myself. The most
prominent was I am a very anal
person and become slightly irri-
tated when things are not to my
liking.
This is a very selfish thing, I
know, and I am working on getting
some help.
Other things crept in, like not
being able to do my homework
because I felt I was missing out on
what was happening in the living
room or not wanting to party when
everyone else did. These things are
controllable but still stressful.
My best friend told me to “relax
and by the end of the second
month we will either kill each
other or be one big happy family.”
On a good day I agree with her
and see how well we work together. On the rare occasion when I am
feeling a little tired, however, my
roommates now know to back
away slowly and not to make any
sudden movements.
We are still on the landlord’s
case to make our hellhole a little
more livable, but that issue has
been placed on the back burner
because of our busy everyday lives.
I don’t know if living with
friends has taught me to be more
accepting of other people’s habits
or just confirmed that I would
rather live alone.
What I know for sure is that my
favourite time of the day is when
we all gather around our little TV
and laugh, make fun and be silent
together — just like a family.
Bringing home the bacon harder at college as a full-time student
College tuition: $3,030. Books:
$270. Rent: $390. A healthy bank
balance as well as a healthy body:
priceless.
With tuition prices rising from
year to year, often students in postsecondary education have to take a
part-time job to meet expenses. I
was one of those students.
For the first four years of my
post-secondary career, I couldn’t
get Ontario Student Assistance
Program or any student loans
because of my parents’ income.
When I first took a job babysitting two children for $8 an hour, I
agreed to work about 20 hours a
week, give or take.
This worked out to approximately three or four evenings a
week — enough, I thought, to pay
rent and keep me in food while
giving me enough time to study
and get my work done.
The boss seemed nice enough,
the kids were definitely cute and I
felt that I was a pretty lucky girl
for landing such a sweet deal.
Well, things didn’t really turn out
as I had originally thought. Instead
of 20 hours a week, I found myself
working close to 35 hours — and
this was on top of school and my
sporadic leisure activities.
I would go to work for 4:30,
often skipping a class to make it,
and then baby-sit close to seven
hours a night, not getting home
until 12:30 a.m. or 1 a.m.
My boss kept pushing me to
work more and made ridiculous
demands, and the kids were constantly sick with colds and flu that
made my already-taxed immune
By: Elizabeth Hawksworth
Columnist
system weaken horribly. I got
about five hours of sleep a night.
Instead of being happy and
healthy, I was extremely stressed
and worried about being fired
because my boss made me feel as
if I couldn’t do anything right.
I also worried about money,
since rent and bills worked out to
more than I’d bargained for.
I became an insomniac, started
hallucinating from lack of sleep
and lost a lot of weight because I
was too worried and sick to eat.
Eventually, I ended up going to
the doctor at the college, who told
me that students should only work
18 hours a week, at the most, and
diagnosed me with exhaustion.
Eventually, I lost the job
because, on doctor’s orders, I had
to ask for a week off.
My boss didn’t appreciate that
idea at all and so she fired me. I
feel it was all for the best.
Now I work 15 to 18 hours a
week at my new job and feel a lot
better.
Balancing is everything with
school, which is like a full-time job.
If you find yourself suffering from
exhaustion, then talk to your boss.
If he or she is not understanding
of your needs, then look for a new
job, preferably at the college or
with a corporation that hires a lot
of students.
Your health and your progress
at school are a lot more important
than any job, even if you have
financial issues.
There are always the food
banks and financial aid services at
school to help you if you find
yourself in trouble.
Counselling is also an option if
you find you are depressed and
feeling desperate.
School can be the best experience of your life if you only
remember to balance everything
and take care of yourself.
Agreement ratified by support staff in colleges across Ontario
By PATRICIA RODRIGUEZ
Staff Writer
Support staff members across
Ontario’s 24 community colleges
ratified a collective contract on
Sept. 22.
The three-year deal was supported by 72 per cent of the voters who
turned out, preventing a strike of
more than 6,000 members of the
Ontario Public Service Employees
Union (OPSEU). Seventy-three
per cent of the eligible voters cast
ballots.
“Our message to management in
this round of bargaining was that
support staff contribute as much to
the success of the colleges as faculty do,” said Rod Bemister, chair
of the OPSEU bargaining team.
OPSEU represents about
15,000 academic and support
staff workers for Ontario’s community colleges of Applied Arts
and Technology.
Bemister said they started negotiations in February. However, it
was not until Sept. 2 that talks got
serious.
The highlights of the deal, which
will expire on Aug. 31, 2008,
include a three per cent staged
wage increase in each of the three
years, amounting to a 9.4 per cent
total increase; a recognition
allowance of $400 per year for
support staff with 10 years of service or more (or the average support worker it will be an one per
cent increase); a drug benefits
card; the withdrawal of the wages
and benefits comparison letter; and
improved time-off provisions for
union business.
Niagara College has about 200
full-time support staff members,
who provide many of the services
to the college, said Darrell
Neufeld, manager, corporate communications.
“It was a good and fair deal.”
He said the college is pleased
the parties at the bargaining table
were able to reach an agreement.
“The support staff plays a vital
role in the college system.”
The wide range of services provided by the support staff includes
information technology, maintenance, technical, early childhood
education, clerical support for student loans, library, registrar’s
office, and accounting.
Bob Holder, chief steward for
the Local 243 support staff of Niagara College, says the negotiations
have been a “fairly lengthy
process.” However, he said the
agreement touched the key points
the bargaining team was expecting
to achieve.
He said the bargaining team successfully addressed many of the
recommendations and demands of
the 24 colleges in Ontario.
Page 9, news@niagara, Oct. 14, 2005
Mission to
Sri Lanka
Photo by Sheri Webber
By SHERI WEBBER
40 degrees Celsius most days.
Staff Writer
“Sometimes it got so hot that I would
Tsunami devastation humbled Niagara just lay in bed, the mattress sheet
Without Borders and Caitlin McLachlan.
soaked with sweat, loathing the bug net
Niagara College Journalism-Print that kept the breeze of the ceiling fan
graduate McLachlan, 19, of Smithville, as well as the mosquitoes away from
recalls her days in Sri Lanka this past my skin.”
summer.
For a journalist, the Internet is a
She and five other program graduates — communication tool and “an inteBrandon Prouse, of Construction Engineer- gral part of your job that isn’t
ing Technology; Eric Berard, of
abundant in Kalutara.”
Environmental Management
Writing was difficult.
and Assessment; Katherine
“I sat in tears before the
Mead, of Ecosystem Restorarest of the group because
tion; Pamela Graham, of
I could not find the words
Tourism Marketing and Operathat could describe what
tions; and Patrick Vandersluys,
had happened,” says
of Construction Techniques —
McLachlan.
headed to Sri Lanka on May 12.
“Brandon Prouse, 21, of
They all left the same day
Tillsonburg said, ‘Write
CAITLIN
and arrived back in Canada
what you want to. Tell the
MCLACHLAN
mid-July to early August.
truth. I’ve got your back. I
“I’m standing in the Indian Ocean,” may not be there beside you when
she says. “It is surreal to be standing in you’re taking risks, but I’ll be on the
the waters from which thousands of sidelines watching out for you.’ Everypeople ran.”
one else agreed they believed in me
Seeing the state of the buildings and and that was such a powerful thing.”
landscape four months after the tsunaRunning the day camp and the safemi “humbled” her, says McLachlan.
ty of the children were the central wor“I had arrived ready to rebuild, but I ries at Kamp Katukurunda.
did not fully grasp the randomness of
“Our main concern was keeping the
the devastation until I stood next to it.” children away from the ocean due to the
Luxuries were gone, replaced by a current monsoon season and the dangers
bed, a lamp, a wardrobe and a fan, and of violent undertows,” says McLachlan.
sharing a public washroom by day and
“Because we operated on the beach,
using an empty bottle as a washroom we also provided water to avoid dehyby night with temperatures up around dration during sport.
Aftermath in Ampara District of Kalmunai in Sri Lanka.
“We encouraged parental observation to promote a sense of community.
Our main objective was to provide a
psychosocial rehabilitation program
that focused on play. This way children
were free to express themselves and, if
they felt the need to, could share their
concerns regarding the tsunami.”
If given the opportunity to go back,
would she? “In a heartbeat,” says
McLachlan.
“There is still so much to be done.
The program that we initiated has the
potential to grow beyond the basics
and become a strong aspect in community life. Now that the reconstruction
phase has gathered speed and progress
is being made, a focus needs to be
directed towards psychologically rehabilitating the victims, and education
needs to be made a priority.”
Leaving was difficult when she
watched the faces of those left behind.
“After having said our final goodbyes
and passing out the last piece of paper
with our addresses on it, I stood to leave
and the children huddled closer.
“They crowded around me and
begged me to sing for them. ‘One
song! Please, just one song!”
“How could I say no? I managed to
choke out You Are My Sunshine.”
“I remember walking away and
hearing them shout goodbye as they
waved wildly at our backs.”
Katherine Mead draws on the camp sign with Dilum
(left) and Judeth.
Photos submitted by
CAITLIN MCLACHLAN
Eric Berard demonstrates construction of a nametag
Group picture including Pamela Graham (sitting), Katherine Mead, Patrick Vandersluys, Eric Berard and Brandon Prouse.
Patrick Vandersluys sings The Weight by The Band
while in Sri Lanka with Niagara Without Borders.
Your connection
to the world
Niagara International
Page 10, news@niagara, Oct. 14, 2005
Making
friends
from
different
cultures
Page 10
Reducing
poverty and
boosting
tourism
Page 10
Destination:
Alberta
Page 11
Not all
students
can work
Page 11
College reaching abroad through interns
By AMANDA STREET
Staff Writer
Niagara College’s reach is worldwide as its students and staff are
involved in education projects as
interns and specialists.
The International Projects department
receives funding by writing successful
project proposals to the Association of
Canadian Community Colleges, the
Canadian International Development
Agency and various multilateral development banks.
The college has been active in projects in more than 30 countries. The
International Education Development
Division (IEDD) is in its third year of
a five-year project in South Africa to
reduce poverty and boost tourism.
Naomi Anatol, an international project specialist, has been working in the
IEDD for the past nine months after
returning from South Africa. Anatol
was working on sustainable skills
development focused on entrepreneurship training and tourism development.
The department sets up international internships through the Canadian
government.
Since 1999 the department has
placed 75 interns in 12 countries.
Every year the department hires new
interns.
To become an intern you must be
between the ages of 19 and 30, be a
Canadian citizen and a college or university graduate. Although you do not
have to be a graduate of Niagara College, students of the college are
encouraged to participate.
The internships are often tourism
related, but the South Africa project
also provides AIDS and HIV education to the population there.
“The International Education
Development Division is very active
in international development projects
which exemplify the college’s commitment to providing global opportunities for students and communities
worldwide,” Anatol says.
Lexa Djoleto, 26, of Mississauga,
Ont., and a graduate of the International Development program at Dalhousie University in Halifax, NS, left
for Brazil on Oct. 9. She also took
Spanish at Dalhousie, and completed a
Public Relations program at Humber
College, in Etobicoke, Ont.
She is taking part in the IEDD’s
Brazil project, and she will be staying
in Natel, to help implement a Prior
Learning Assessment (PLA) program
and educate trainers. The program
looks at skill sets that someone might
have to match them with the right
training.
She has been in the working field
for the past two years doing marketing
at a travel agency.
“What better time than when I don’t
have children or a family to do this?”
says Djoleto on the experience she is
about to begin.
Brazil has two economic classes:
either the “rich, rich, rich” or the
“poor, poor, poor,” says Djoleto, and
the project is designed to give the less
fortunate access to schooling.
Brazil has cefets, which are similar
to high schools here but which also
have a technical side. Each province
has cefets. Most impoverished people
in Brazil do not have access to the
cefets. The project is trying to educate
more people in Brazil.
The Brazil project is in its second
year, and the focus right now is on
women.
The main concern is to create relationships with the women of Natel “so that
we can empower them,” says Djoleto.
They plan to tackle this at soccer
games for children from poor areas
held every Saturday at the cefets and
by talking to the mothers to interest
them in the program.
“It’s hard to believe that a college in
the Niagara area is making such an
impact on the international community. I’m incredibly excited to have this
opportunity to spend six months in
Brazil.”
When she arrives in Brazil, Djoleto
will plan logistics for a conference on
Oct. 21. Jos Nolle, the director of the
IEDD, and Marti Jurmain will attend
the conference. Jurmain is the college’s director of research and innovation.
The conference is on “Train the
Trainer.” They will be training people
from the cefets on the PLA methodology.
There are also a number of winery
and viticulture program graduates participating in these internships working
in wineries in various countries.
For more information on the internships, visit the IEDD office at S100 at
the Welland campus or visit the IEDD
website
http://www.international.
niagarac.on.ca.
Lexa Djoleto stands with Naomi Anatol at the International Education
Department.
Photo by Amanda Street
news@niagara, Oct. 14, 2005, Page 11
International students ineligible to work
By MIKE LIKONGE
claim at the end of the year.”
Staff Writer
Kangwa, 18, of St. Catharines, is
Every international student has a a student from Zambia. She said
different perspective of the Cana- she would like to work so she can
dian education system.
support herself, but said the govSome critics, such as Mary ernment does not allow foreign
Kangwa, a secondstudents
to
year student in the
work
unless
Hotel and Restauthey’ve been
rant Management
granted co-op
(Co-op) program,
work permits,
say it’s ridiculous
which
allow
that international
them to work
students should
only
during
pay more than
certain specithree times the
fied dates.
— Mary Kangwa
tuition that Cana“I
don’t
dian students pay.
know why they
“I don’t think it’s fair for us to can’t give us work permits,” Kangpay that much,” she said. “I pay wa said. “By working, not only are
$10,500 per year for my tuition we supporting ourselves, but we
and that does not include books or are also helping enhance the Canatransportation. I can’t even go to dian economy.
hospital if am sick because am not
She said if the government
covered by OHIP. On top of that, won’t allow them to work even
we pay taxes to the Canadian gov- part time, there’s no need for them
ernment which we can’t even to pay taxes because that’s not
‘I don’t know
why they can’t
give us work
permits.’
helping them at all.
In May, Kangwa said she was
given a four-month work permit
for her co-op and was not allowed
to work before the specified date.
She got a job in April as a night
auditor at Embassy Suites Hotels
in Niagara Falls but had to wait a
month since her permit was from
May to September.
“I had six weeks left on my
work permit when I was told I
could no longer work because my
permit expired,” she said.
Today, Kangwa said she braids
people’s hair to enable her to pay
her bills. She said she would like
to work part time if she could, but
because she does not have a work
permit, she doesn’t want to risk
being deported by working
illegally.
Kangwa said she hopes one day
the government will realize how
important it will be for the country’s economy if every foreign student is permitted to work.
Great place to have fun!
The Banff Gondola provides a wonderful view of the entire
city of Banff.
Photo from www.dragonslairproductions.com
Social activities help international students integrate
Opportunities continue to grow throughout the college for students to socialize
By TAKAHIDE EGUCHI
Staff Writer
She says she hopes these activities help students understand more about Canada and its
culture.
Susan McLachlin, social activities co-ordinator and English as a Second Language
(ESL) instructor in the International Education and Development at Niagara College,
says the International department offers various social activities to the international students. Movie Time, International Gym, Activity Hour and Conversation Club are the main
ones that take place every week or second
week.
As the weather starts getting colder, she
says, she will be arranging more indoor activities. McLachlin says she is presenting the
first Movie Time since last February this
month.
For Movie Time, on Oct. 21, she will let the
students choose the films, all of which have
Halloween themes, by posting selection
sheets on the activity board outside S100 at
the Welland campus.
She says she “always has to make sure the
films have copyright.” She says she tries to
get the most recent films.
International Gym is a specific time that is
booked just for international students.
The gym has to be shared by all of the international students, she says, adding, “The
biggest challenge for us it the fact that we only
have that one hour.”
If anyone wants to play organized sports,
she says, “come and see me” and she will try
to arrange his or her request.
Activity Hour is the opportunity during
which the students can “relax while practicing their English.” The students can play
English games or teach a game from their
country, she says.
Conversation Club is held twice a month.
Although the club is only for ESL students,
she says Canadian students sometimes join.
“It’s also a great time. Both of
these are great times for students
to meet people from other levels
and classes.”
She says she outlines to the
students all the activities that
are happening in every term.
“I really do want to know how
they feel about activities,”
McLachlin says, mentioning that
she gets “very little feedback.”
“I want our students to have a
good time, and I want our students
to get involved in Canadian culture and Canadian customs.”
She says activities give the students a break from their studies
and let them practice their English
“in a more relaxing environment.”
McLachlin says she uses Nia- From above, Min Yi Wong, Ai Date and Abdullar
gara this Week and two webAreef pose in the main foyer at the Welland campus.
sites – http://www.insideniPhoto by Takahide Eguchi
agara.com
and
http://www.tourismniagara.com – as came to the college this May and particireferences for what activities she pated in activities. She’d like to go camping because it’s “very special and fresh,”
should select.
For additional information, or to adding she doesn’t have this kind of
convey any concern or request, e-mail activity in her country.
Pointing out the time constraint and the
her at [email protected] or
go to see her in the international office. quality of the hotel, she says she didn’t
On Oct. 15, the students will go like the three-day trip to Ottawa, Montrehiking at Ball’s Falls and visit Jor- al and Quebec.
Twenty-one-year-old Abdullah Areef,
dan Village, where they can buy
of Saudi Arabia, says he’d like to go on a
Inuit artifacts as souvenirs.
“My interest is making the students trip with Canadian students and wants to
have an organized soccer team.
happy,” says McLachlin.
“It’ll be great if we have our international
Prompted by the co-ordinator’s
interest, five ESL students tell their team and play against Canadian students in a
experiences about activities they tournament.”
Ernesto Maragall, 18, of Venezuela, says,
attended.
Chia-Hui Chu, 27, of Taiwan, says “They should keep doing it (activities)” after
she went to Niagara Falls on Sept. 3 as joining in the Wine Festival Parade last
month. Maragall says social activities give the
her first activity.
She says she’d like to go to places students a chance to get out of school and
engage in a “new experience.”
she’s never been.
Ai Date, 28, of Japan, says she took part in
“If I stay at home on weekends, I
an activity every weekend last year.
will feel bored.”
“I prefer both Canadian and internaChia-Hui says it would be enjoyable if the office could hold a con- tional students to join in the activity. It
cert of popular music bands at the gives me a good opportunity to learn
about Canada and to make new friends.”
college.
As a suggestion to the office, she says
She says there are enough interesting activities, and if she has when the office calls off an event for any
time, she wants to “try everything.” reason, the office should rearrange it at
Min Yi Wong, 27, of Taiwan, another time.
Page 12, news@niagara, Oct. 14, 2005
news@niagara, Oct. 14, 2005, Page 13
It’s that time again, so grab your beer steins and celebrate Oktoberfest in Kitchener/Waterloo.
Pictured are two celebrants in the Grand Ceremony on Oct. 7 at city hall. Traditional
Germanic dress, food, beer and music mark the 10-day festival. Oktoberfest originated in
1810 in celebration of Princess Therese, who married the Bavarian Crown Prince Ludwig. The
celebration also gave thanks for the past year’s crops.
Photo by Amanda Reynolds
Photo
Photo crew
crew AMANDA
AMANDA REYNOLDS
REYNOLDS
and
KAYLA
RICHARDS
and KAYLA RICHARDS
Page 14, news@niagara, Oct. 14, 2005
Gun
Registry, Bogus
By JOSHUA BOYLE
Staff Writer
On Aug. 31 the Canada Firearms
Centre announced that three more
sections of the Firearms Act due
this month would not be implemented on schedule, instead pushing back their implementation
until at least November 2006.
Citing a lack of support that critics have claimed typifies the problems associated with the act and
federal gun registry, the centre
reported that the sections associated with marking regulations, public agencies and gun shows would
have to be deferred.
The history of the Firearms Act
goes back to the 1994 shooting of
24-year-old Georgina Leimonis
in Toronto’s Just Desserts café. A
physically attractive young
female, Leimonis became a cause
célèbre in the media, just as
Natalee Holloway and Pvt. Jessica Lynch would become a decade
later. Now under pressure from
the public and media to prevent
similar murders in the future,
then-Minister of Justice Allan
Rock quickly introduced Bill C68, more commonly known as the
Firearms Act, with intentions to
gradually implement it. Eleven
years later many feel that it is no
closer to a practical application
than it was when first proposed.
Since it was publicly announced
in 2002 that the registry was greatly over budget, many politicians
and citizens have come forward
and questioned whether the billion
dollars spent on the registry had
been wasted and couldn’t have
been better invested in saving lives
through another avenue.
Since its introduction more than
10 years ago, the Act has raised a
storm of controversy, as the majority of Canadian firearms remain
unregistered and unaccounted for.
Some groups, such as the 25,000
members of the Edmonton-based
Law-abiding
Unregistered
Firearms Association, make it a
matter of pride to refuse to register
their weapons, while there is simply no reason to believe that present and would-be criminals of the
country would ever be foolish
enough to volunteer their names to
a federal registry.
For those legitimate gun-enthusiasts who would obey the law in
registering their firearms unnecessary wait-times and hassle, coupled with the possibility of being
jailed or fined for an improper registration, has limited their willingness to step forward and account
for their firearms or to report
stolen firearms to the police.
Local gun-enthusiasts claim
that the federal government isn’t
their only source of grief, however. The media and general
public also contribute to the per-
D
E
R
E
T
S
I
G
E
R
UN
secution and unfair stereotyping commits a heinous crime with a unfairly categorized if the public, or
government, assumed that, since
firearm.
that surround their sport.
The most unfair treatment, how- they owned a computer, they should
St. Catharines resident Gerry
Gamble, who led the 900 mem- ever, Gamble says, comes from all be stereotyped as pedophiles
bers of The Sporting Clubs of university and college students. downloading child pornography.
Guns enthusiasts do not largely
Niagara (SCoN) until two weeks While he considers them a fairly
intellectual lot by nature, post-sec- fit the common stereotype as unedago, agrees.
“It’s all bogus,” he says, speak- ondary students frustrate him most ucated rural hillbillies. The SCoN
ing of the negative light under by their apparent refusal to ratio- comprises men and women from
which the media have largely por- nally examine arguments and all ages and walks of life, from
logic, skills they hone every day in contractors to police officers.
trayed legitimate gun-owners.
Gamble, a retired geography
On a local level, Gamble points the classroom, in the gun-control
to the recent media coverage sur- debate. While ignorance of demo- teacher at regional high schools,
rounding the shooting death of graphics, legislation or statistics has two sons that were raised to be
aware and respectful of
eight-year-old Jordan Smith,
firearms from a young age.
who was struck by a stray bulThe trouble with raising
let while sleeping in his bedchildren in a gun-free environroom. The event made headment, he says, is that it gives a
lines for days, as fear mongercertain mystique to guns, that
ing based itself around a sinas young children they will
gle tragedy. Children who
find
more
dangerously
drown in swimming pools, or
intriguing, and later in life
are hit in traffic, or otherwise
learn to attach to a certain
meet an early end typically
rebellious image that can be
find few headlines.
highly sought.
In another example, GamWhen Toronto Mayor
ble argues, there is a level of
David Miller spoke on the
hypocrisy between public
recent spike of gang-based
perceptions of gun violence
shootings in the city, he was
and drunk driving. When the
quick to shift the blame outmedia report an innocent
side the Canadian borders,
victim of a drunk driver, the
thereby implicating the Unitblame is solidly on the
ed States for firearms smugshoulders of the person at
gled across the international
fault. The driver is villanized
border. As Gamble points
as being a drunk driver,
rather than having continu- St. Catharines resident Gerry Gamble, out, arms smuggling is nothing statistics attributed to 57, wishes that the government and pub- ing new and there’s no evisocio-economic classes, the lic would realize the only Canadian gun dence that any more firearms
ready availability of alcohol owners likely to register their firearms are are being illegally imported
into the country than in the
or the inanimate car.
the ones who should never have to.
past. The root of gang shoot“Nobody ever calls for a
Photo by Joshua Boyle ings, he says, doesn’t lie in
ban on cars or alcohol, in
these cases.” Gamble explains
that there is a double standard;
the public will not condemn
everybody who drives as reckless, or everybody who drinks as
an alcoholic, since millions of
people share the common recreation faultlessly. This is not the
case for gun-owners, who are
under increased scrutiny and legislation every time a criminal
surrounding gun-enthusiasts in
Canada is always bound to exist,
it’s a slap in the face when the villanization and stereotypes are
being propagated by students who
claim to be liberal, tolerant and
accepting of cultures other than
their own.
As though to demonstrate his
point, Gamble asks critics of his
hobby whether they would feel
inanimate guns, but in the Toronto people who seek them for violent capabilities.
While the public, law and media
all focus on the actual guns used to
murder approximately 150 Canadians annually, Gamble says they
miss the larger picture of why there
are killers behind the guns in society in the first place. Whether the
victims are shot, stabbed, beaten to
death with a tire iron or battered by
something as common as a napkin
dispenser, there have to be underlying reasons why the crime was
committed and why Canada has
not suffered the same debilitating
firearm murder rates.
While many like to portray
Canada as lacking a “gun culture,”
there are millions of guns registered across the country, suggesting that guns play a role in a significant number of Canadians’
lives. However, Canadian gunenthusiasts are typically collectors,
hunters or target-shooters, not purchasing their firearms for purposes
of self-defense.
According to Gamble, the difference lies in higher levels of social
inequity across the border, that gun
violence is often directed against
upper/middle-class persons as the
lower class’s method of bridging the
gap between their social statuses.
“If a person is poor enough, they
will do anything,” he explains.
With the violent class of criminals
preying on the upper/middle-class,
they push the general population to
arm themselves as a means of
defense, ultimately opening a rift
between two armed classes that
despise what they believe the other
class is doing to them, resulting in
an astonishingly higher firearm
murder rate than Canada’s.
Despite the government’s continued insistence that gun registration is a tool towards public
safety, mistrust still runs high
among many gun-enthusiasts
who fear the federal gun registry
is not meant as an effective
crime-fighting tool, but as a
means of further restricting the
citizen’s rights to autonomy.
Turning Martin Niemoller’s
quote around, Gamble quotes a
SCoN axiom: “First they came for
the automatic rifles, but I didn’t
speak up because I didn’t have an
automatic rifle. Then they came
for the semi-automatics, but I didn’t speak up because I didn’t have
a semi-automatic. Then they came
for the handguns, but I didn’t
speak up because I didn’t have a
handgun. Then they came for the
hunting rifles.”
With vague government mentions of banning certain types of
knives, or the already-banned
chemical defense sprays, Gamble
fears this may represent a slippery-slope of how far Canadians
are willing to let the government
tell them what they may or may
not possess. The paranoia is only
fuelled by the federal shift from
simply licensing owners, to registering individual weapons.
“There’s only one reason they
need to know that,” says Gamble.
“So they can make sure they’ve
got them all, when they come to
try to confiscate them.
news@niagara, Oct. 14, 2005, Page 15
Changes in student funding
Blake Turner says that balancing school and his responsibilties on SAC is
one of his goals for this year.
Photo by Elisabeth Bailey
President also a student
By ELISABETH BAILEY
Staff Writer
There’s some new blood in the Student Administrative Council’s (SAC)
top spot at the Welland campus.
Blake Turner, 22, of St. Catharines,
is the new SAC president.
Turner, in his second year of the
Social Service Worker program, has
been a member of SAC since 2003.
“I wanted to have a say. I wanted to
have a voice. I wanted others to have
a voice.” Turner has served in every
role on the council except vice-president. “I’ve sort of moved up through
the ranks.”
Turner says that balancing school
and his responsibilities to SAC is one
of his goals for this year. “It’s a tough
experience,” He says he’ll have to
balance the two the same way other
students have to balance school with
having children or a part-time job.
As for his goals after graduation,
Turner says he is deciding between
starting his career or continuing with
more education.
Turner’s goals this year as a SAC
president include transferring his
knowledge to the other members of
SAC. “They’re professionals in training.” Turner says the professional
development that he has in his role as
SAC president is “outstanding.”
Turner’s advice for first-year students also relates to balance in that
they too must have some balance
between work and fun. Turner says
that students are at college to learn.
“A lot of first-year students get
overwhelmed by their freedom.”
Turner also says that first-year students should be themselves. “The difference between college and high
school, depending on where you’re
from, is about 2,000 students. You
have the freedom to be yourself.”
Turner has some advice for people
interested in joining SAC: “Go ahead
and do it. We don’t bite. We’re students
too.”
Planned for this year, says Turner,
are events, entertainment and “the
same great service we’ve always had.”
When asked what he wants students
to know about him, Turner says, “I still
have to walk to Mackenzie. I know
there are long lines at the bookstore. I
have to wait in OSAP lines.
“I’m a student too.”
October’s events at After Hours (Welland campus)
Monday, October 17
Horror Movie Trivia @ Noon
Wednesdays, October
Comedy Night @ 8:00 p.m. AllAges
Thursday, October 20
Octoberfest Pub @ 9:00 p.m.
Monday, October 24 - 28
Nintendo Gamecube Tournament
Sign-up in SAC Office
Thursday, October 27
Halloween Party @ 9:00 p.m.
$300 in Cash Prizes
for Best Costumes
Thanksgiving’s rich history
By CHERIE BORHO
Staff Writer
On Oct. 10, families
gathered to celebrate
Thanksgiving together
over dinner, just as they
did the year before.
The first Thanksgiving
occurred in Newfoundland in 1578 when Martin Frobisher, an English
navigator, gave thanks
for surviving the long
ocean journey.
Years later, explorer
Samuel de Champlain,
along with other French
settlers, had a huge feast
of thanks after crossing
the ocean to Canada.
They shared their food
with natives and formed
the Order of Good Cheer.
The next Thanksgiving occurred in 1763
when citizens of Halifax
held a special day celebrating the end of the
Seven Year’s War.
Thanksgiving didn’t
become a true tradition
until after the American
Revolution when the
Americans
who
remained faithful to the
government in England
moved to Canada to
share their traditions.
After the First World
War, both Armistice Day
(now known as Remembrance Day) and Thanksgiving Day here were
held on the Monday of
the week in which Nov.
11 occurred. In 1931, the
two events became separate
holidays,
and
Armistice Day was
renamed Remembrance
day.
Dan Delledonne, 20,
of St. Catharines, is in
his second year of the
Police Foundations program. He says his grand-
parents “came over and
they eat things such as
turkey, stuffing, and
ham.”
“I like turkey,” says
Delledonne. “I’m a big
eater.”
Matt McIntosh, 19, of
St. Catharines, in his second year of the Computer Engineering Technology program. McIntosh
says every year his relatives take turns hosting
the dinner, and the family comes over and
spends the evening eating and talking.
Courtney Baylis, 24,
of St. Catharines, is in
her first year of the
Office Administrative –
Executive program and
says she “loves Thanksgiving.” Baylis says she
likes to spend time with
her family, eat good food
and get a day off school.
By ROBIN HEALEY
Staff Writer
The provincial government has introduced
some changes to the student financial aid system, including increases in student funding.
The changes follow the February release of
Ontario: A Leader In Learning, a report with
recommendations on post-secondary education
by former Ontario premier Bob Rae.
In the report, Rae advised the provincial
government to provide more students with
greater funding by introducing grants and
increasing the money available through student
loans.
Eric Silvestri, manager, Financial Aid and
Scholarships at Niagara College, agrees that
the provincial government should “increase
funding for Ontario students.”
He said, “The government is starting to work
in that direction,” noting that students are eligible for $75 more a week in OSAP loans than
last year.
In August, the Ontario Ministry of Training,
Colleges and Universities announced that the
Millennium-Ontario Access Grant for lowincome students would pay up to half the cost
of tuition to a maximum of $3,000.
When combined with the federal government’s Canada Access Grant, another lowincome grant, eligible students can receive the
full cost of their tuition to a maximum of
$6,000.
Silvestri, 43, from Welland, believes the new
grants used to offset loans are a “good step”
towards better student funding. Unlike loans,
the grants do not have to be repaid.
Despite the changes, Stephen Fekete, 20,
from St. Catharines, in his second year of studies in Computer Engineering Technology,
decided not to apply for student assistance.
“I am too young to take on a large debt,” said
Fekete. Instead, he has opted to work during
the school year to pay for his education.
Silvestri said that OSAP allows students to
earn up to $1,700 during their study period. If
a student earns more than that amount, the
ministry will reassess that OSAP application
and may reduce funding to the student.
He said, “The amount of change, if any,
depends on the amount of income over the
$1,700 and student information on the application.”
Students’ expected contributions from summer earnings have dropped as well, according
to Silvestri.
Once students were expected to contribute a
dollar amount equivalent to what they would
earn if they worked 35 hours a week at minimum wage over the summer. OSAP lowered
that expectation to 31.5 hours per week this
year.
Silvestri said that expected parental contributions are lower too and that OSAP has added
a $500 allowance for a computer.
With all the changes to financial aid Silvestri
believes, “Students should look into every
source or opportunity for funding they are eligible for.”
Students launch website for buying, selling used textbooks
By CHERIE BORHO
Staff Writer
A group of students has
launched a free website called
booskforschool.ca. Students
can sign up and sell their used
textbooks to other students
who need them at a fair price.
Mike Lavine, 22, of Toronto, is the president and cofounder of booksforschool.ca.
Lavine, in his fourth year of
the Information Technology
program at Ryerson University in Toronto, says the website
started when he tried to sell a
textbook back to the campus
store but was offered only 20
per cent of the price he paid.
Lavine says he wasn’t
happy with that price, so he
approached Paul Lavine
(unrelated) and Lawson Hennick about an idea for a free
website on which students can
sell and buy used textbooks at
decent prices.
The website has over 1,000
users and over 5,000 books
listed for sale. A student’s
average savings on textbook
purchase is 30 per cent.
Booksforschool.ca is also
affiliated with Amazon, so
students have an option of
buying new books from the
website, as well as used ones.
There is a points system you
have to pay for, which allows
you to do things such as add
pictures or boldfaced text to
the listing.
Cayla Cherry, 22, of
Orangeville, is in her third
year of a bachelor’s degree
with honours in Sociology at
York University, in Scarborough. “I think it’s a great idea,
and it helps us poor university can save money, and it’s also
students out a lot.”
helpful in finding students in
Cherry says she has been the same program as you are.”
using booksforschool.ca for a
Agnes Hodgson, the bookmonth, bought four books store manager at Niagara Colusing the website and is sav- lege’s Campus Store, advises
ing her money.
students to be careful when
“It’s free to sign up. It’s an buying used books online
excellent way to
meet people from
your own school and
they
[booksforschool staff] email you to let you
know that you have
a message from
someone.”
Prexa Patel, 23, of
Toronto, is in her
third year of the
Information Technology Management
Telecomm and Networks Option program at Ryerson
University and has
been using booksforschool.ca since Niagara College student John Thom
shows how much of a burden college
September 2005.
“Buying books textbooks can be. The burden to his
from
books- wallet might have been lighter if he had
forschool.ca is sav- known about booksforschool.ca.
ing me money. I can
Photo by Baillie Adcock
buy the used books,
which are in good
condition, (like) new, at (a) because they don’t always
lower price, rather paying come with the complete packmore for new ones.”
age or you could get the
Patel bought two books wrong edition.
from booksforschool.ca withThe Niagara College Camin two hours of registering for pus Store will buy back books
the website.
for half of what students paid
“Everything is good about for them, providing the book
booksforschool.ca,”
says was bought at the store.
Patel. “Thanks to Ryerson stu“Students like to see used
dents who made such a great books,” says Hodgson. “A lot
effort for this website helping of students will use the store
students all over Canada. You as a convenience.”
Movies, music
and more
Entertainment
Page 16, news@niagara, Oct. 14, 2005
Bringing a
magical life
into
Niagara Art
Gallery
Rocky
Horror has
classic
horror/
science
fiction,
sensuality
and
outrageous
fantasy mix
The Niagara
Art Gallery
and the
Folk Arts
Council
hold art
Show
All nationalities featured
By MELISSA MANGELSEN
Staff Writer
International or Canadian, they all
have one thing in common: they’re
artists. The Niagara Art Gallery in
Fonthill is holding an Arts Show until
Oct. 15 in partnership with the Folk
Arts Council Multicultural Centre
(FACMC) of St. Catharines.
The Folk Arts Festival was started in
1969 to provide an opportunity for cultural expression and to share cultures
with citizens of the region. It has
become one of Canada’s oldest heritage festivals.
The organizer of the Arts Show,
Malika Mounir, from Morocco, has
been living in St. Catharines for the
past 10 years. She is part of the Immigrant Woman’s Network of Niagara.
The Arts Show is a partnership with
Crossroads Initiative, a project funded
by the United Way of St. Catharines
and District.
Mounir says the program ran for six
months when they found they had five
artists involved and wanted to link them
with the community and other artists.
“It’s a program that increases visibility in the community for immigrant
women as artists and as businesswomen,” she says.
The program helps find mentors for
of immigrant women and helps to integrate them into the community. Crossroads Initiative also works with volunteers.
Mounir says this is their first time
doing the Arts Show, but they plan to
hold it annually.
“We expect more artists to join and
develop a core of artists.”
The FACMC offers a variety of programs, including a job search, workshops and English classes.
“The festival is just part of the whole
council,” says Mounir.
Matthias Bork, from Bingen, Germany, lives in St. Catharines. He says
the Arts Show is “very interesting” and
he would like his own gallery but does
not have the space for it.
Bork is formerly the owner of Spicy
Thai restaurant in St. Catharines but
retired two years ago and is now a fulltime artist.
He says art has been in the family since
1927. His family owns and operates the
family business Malergeschaeft Bork in
Germany.
Bork has professional education as a
pastry chef, patissier and food artist. He
has worked in first-class hotels in Germany, Sweden, Thailand and Canada.
An allergy to starch forced him to
change professions from food art to
German artist Matthais Bork stands with his wife Marbella Bork at the Arts
Show, which runs until Oct. 15 at the Niagara Art Gallery.
Photo by Melissa Mangelsen
acrylic and oil paintings.
Kotarski says she was happy with
He says he is influenced by Hagem, the college’s program but now as she
of Vietnam, Pablo Picasso, Salvador searches for work it is difficult to find.
Dali and others.
Kotarski wants to see more available
His art includes furniture, abstract, jobs for artists. She would also like to
sculptures, paintings, wall installations see events such as the Arts Show and
and canvas.
exhibitions held more frequently.
Bork’s wife, Marbella Bork, from
She says she has respect for anyone
Mexico, is also an artist whose passion who is creative and loves all artwork
is crafts. She focuses on belts, jewelry and wants to see more of it.
and wedding favours.
Kotarski says her paintings come
Niagara College graduate Gische Anna from her feelings and soul. She loves
Kotarski is from Poland and now lives in to create the human body and express it
St. Catharines. She says she has been in her own vision.
painting since she was a child.
“Each piece is special to me because
She attended Niagara College’s each piece is different,” she says.
Graphic Design Production – Arts and
She designs all her pieces in her head
Design Fundamentals program.
and brings them to life on canvas.
Rocky Horror on stage for AIDS charity Tedesco brings life to Niagara Art Gallery
By BAILLIE ADCOCK
Staff Writer
It’s just a jump to the left and then a
step to the right. With your hands on
your hips, you bring your knees in
tight. Nevertheless, it’s the pelvic
thrust that really drives you insane.
Let’s do the Time Warp again with Oh
Canada Eh?! Productions.
Stumble into the castle of Dr. FrankN-Furter, a transvestite holding the
annual convention of visitors from the
plant Transsexual. It’s at 8585 Lundy’s
Lane, Niagara Falls from Oct. 27 to
Oct. 30 at 8 p.m. with a Saturday midnight bonus feature.
For the past three years, Oh Canada
Eh?! Productions used the mix of classic horror/science fiction sensuality
and outrageous fantasy to bring in a
growing audience.
Oh Canada Eh?! Productions had
been looking to attract different audiences of various demographics to their
performances. They chose Lou Adler
and Michael White’s 1975 musical
production of The Rocky Horror Picture Show to take a jump from their
normal audience.
“Our other shows were more
squeaky clean and fun for the family,”
says Eric Hitchcock, general manager.
Hitchcock’s job is to manage the
promotion, budgeting, sales and
marketing for the firm. “Because it’s
our third year with this production,
there is less preparation work, allowing us greater success with the
advertising.”
The first year of the production, they
brought in $4,000 with another $5,000
last year for AIDS Niagara. This year
they are hoping to bring in $10,000.
AIDS Niagara is selling interactive
packages with water guns, rice, noisemakers, party hats and more for $7 to
enhance audience involvement. It gets
the profits from these packages and $5
for every ticket sold.
Oh Canada Eh?! plans to fill 250 seats
per show for a total of over 1,000 seats.
They have already sold 300 tickets.
Kevin Jacobi, director of the production, says they’re mostly “fine tuning”
this year. He is also performing as Riff
Raff, the castle butler. They’ve added
two new people to the cast, so they’re
also “reworking some blocking and
musical numbers.”
Brandon Fletcher, of Wainfleet, used
to work for Oh Canada Eh?! Productions and has returned this year to play
Dr. Frank-N-Furter. He’s also a Tim
Curry fan. Curry played the Doctor in
the original film.
Jacobi says they’ve chosen The
Rocky Horror Picture Show because
it’s a bit of a “guilty pleasure for the
actors and singers.”
“We weren’t old enough to experience the show when it first came out.
It’s all about dancing to your own
drummer.”
They are encouraging everyone to
come dressed in “Rocky” attire or a costume of any sort to get involved with the
show. There are prizes for participation.
“People in their 60s came dressed up
last year and had a great time. It’s a
great atmosphere,” says Jacobi.
“Don’t sit back and be a prude. Get
ready to dance in the aisles.”
Hitchcock says he’s seen generations of family come together.
“Last year a 70-year-old woman
came to see the show for the first
time ever and she loved it. Come on
out, have a great time. It’s all about
raising money for a good cause.”
Individuals under the age of 18
must be accompanied by an adult as
it is a licensed event. There are also
nachos and wings available.
For tickets call 905-374-1995 or toll
free 1-800-467-2071.
Tickets must be purchased with a
VISA or MasterCard and can be picked
up anytime between purchase and the
show date.
Visit the Rocky Horror website at
http://www.rockyhorror.com for Rocky
etiquette and costume ideas.
By MELISSA MANGELSEN
Staff Writer
The dedication, devotion and desire
of the free-spirited Dean Tedesco has
brought a magical life into the Niagara
Art Gallery.
Tedesco, curator of the Niagara Art
Gallery, 1948 Hwy. 20, Fonthill, Ont.,
says this is the gallery’s third season of
operation. Several senior homes bring
in small groups of visitors, since the
gallery is fully wheelchair accessible,
to experience a culturalistic change.
The Niagara Art Gallery’s admission
is free and anyone is welcome to stop by.
Tedesco says as curator he is a decipherer and an interpreter of an artist
and works with the artist directly to
help discover what he or she is trying
to get across with art, including visual
art, musical art and any other medium.
He helps the artists with the “three
p’s,” of art, which are presentation,
promotion and performance.
He is the facilitator. Tedesco says
he has a “passion for art” and therefore a passion for the gallery and
bringing art to the general public.
That also includes involvement in
art and its formula. Tedesco says he
encourages all artists who “have a
passion” to come to the gallery and
set up a show with him.
He became involved with the gallery
because of his involvement with art.
Tedesco has been an artist all of his
life. He attended Sheridan College in
Oakville, Ont., Brock University in St.
Catharines and Niagara College’s
Welland campus, where he studied art.
“If it wasn’t where I was meant to be
at this time in my life, if what I was
doing here wasn’t magical, I’d go back
to my band or something,” he says.
He also displays his art at the gallery.
He is a performing artist who enjoys
exhibiting his work. “Music is art.”
He will often play one of his latest
songs for visitors.
“Art on a wall is final, but with
songs you can always change them
once they are complete,” he says.
The lawn of the Niagara Art Gallery
has been transformed into the Sculpture Park, exhibiting a range of various
artists’ work. The park will undergo
additions to allow for performing
artists, photographers and artists from
all mediums to display their work.
Tedesco says the new Sculpture Park
is going to be a culture centre for the
Niagara region. He says with the
development of this within the next
two years, it will become Niagara’s
first culture centre.
Tedesco says he does not live a linear life, “like get a job fresh out of high
school, work till you are 55 and then
start living.” He lives his life every day
and hopes that even after his death the
Niagara Art Gallery will live on.
Tedesco says between 70 and 90
artists deal with the gallery. There is a
new show displayed every two weeks
on the main floor. The site is actively
involved with second-year students
from Niagara College enrolled in the
Graphic Design Production – Art and
Design Fundamentals program.
Two annual shows are held, showcasing a variety of mediums for Niagara College’s art students.
The students hold a Christmas show
and another show in the middle of April.
Over the summer an exhibition of
Gielfeldt’s artwork was held. He is the
professor of life drawing, art and
design fundamentals here.
Tedesco says it “takes the students
beyond the educational institution and
allows them to present their work and
put on shows.”
“It gives them a chance to put it on
the wall and say, ‘Look. Here’s me.
I’m the artist.’”
The gallery also offers art rentals,
commissions and consulting, art
lessons, meeting room facilities,
video productions, photography, life
drawing, live performance space and
website design.
The on-site Niagara Gallery Café
offers afternoon tea and dessert or an
evening buffet.
news@niagara, Oct. 14, 2005, Page 17
By: Natalie Ventresca
Columnist
Dear Ms. Johansson, I
read your comment and
I’m not pleased.
Sitting silently in a dark
room
surrounded
by
strangers who are all
watching the same images
onscreen, everyone is
experiencing something
different.
While some laugh, others
cry. What some find amusing, others find disturbing.
Either way, for the length
of the movie, viewers are
pulled out of their world and
brought into another.
Movies have a way of
altering your perceptions
and teaching you lessons.
They have a way of generating debates and dialogue
between family, friends and
strangers.
Movies are important.
Movies matter.
That conviction is the
reason I was angered when I
read a quote from actress
Scarlett Johansson in Movie
Entertainment magazine,
where she said, “I don’t
believe that movies should
deliver messages. I never
pick films based on whatever messages they’re delivering. When I come out of a
film that I’ve just paid $10
to see and spent $15 on popcorn, I just want to have
been entertained. I don’t
think that films necessarily
have to deliver the big picture. That can be so preachy
and boring.”
Because she herself is
involved in the movie industry, I was surprised by her
naïve comment.
Being a former film student, I’ve learned that every
film has some type of message or meaning, regardless
of how overt or subtle it is.
You can find a message in a
movie if you are looking for
Family Guy hits video stores
By NATALIE
VENTRESCA
Staff Writer
Movie Review
Christmas has come
early this year for all Family Guy fans.
The greatest gift any
fan could ask for has just
arrived at video stores:
Stewie Griffin – The
Untold Story.
This straight-to-video
release shows how Family
Guy was really intended
to be: uncut, uncensored
and commercial free.
Freed from television’s
restricting
censors,
Stewie Griffin – The
Untold Story takes full
advantage of its new
medium. The characters
swear, the sexual humour
is much more crude and
Peter takes his love for
farting to a new level.
In addition, nothing is
safe from being made fun
of. Anything from Indiana
Jones, Roseanne and Blue
Man Group, to Ray
Charles and Jesus are victims of Family Guy. You
really must be a popular
culture buff, however, to
identify all the pop culture references in this
movie.
In Stewie Griffin – The
Untold Story, fans of Family Guy, particularly fans
of baby-genius Stewie,
will be more than satisfied.
The hilarity unfolds
after Stewie has a neardeath experience when
one of his schemes goes
wrong. Frightened that he
was sent to hell instead of
heaven, he decides it’s
time to change his ways,
sort of.
Finding it too hard to be a
nice person, he has to fake
it. When he finds faking is
too hard, he turns to drinking martinis to put him in a
good mood.
When his drinking runs
out of control and he
crashes a car through the
town watering hole, The
Drunken
Clam,
he
believes that his only
chance to get to heaven is
to find someone just like
him who can show him
the right way.
If you didn’t think a
drunken baby was crazy
enough, what comes next
is crazier. Thankfully, it is
only a cartoon.
Not only does Stewie
find someone who looks
identical to himself, he
discovers that it’s he,
himself, who’s visiting
from the future.
Curious about his future
self, baby Stewie goes
into the future to see what
has become of his family.
In the future, Chris is a
cop and Meg has had a
sex change operation.
What Stewie is most
shocked about, though, is
himself in the future: a
lonely, 35-year-old virgin
who works at a Circuit
Shack.
To change his future and
prevent himself from going
to hell, Stewie has to stop his
near-death experience from
happening.
Does Stewie return
from the future in time to
do that?
Will he ever stop his
plans to kill Lois and take
over the world?
Rent Stewie Griffin – The
Untold Story to find out.
one. It is simply up to you.
You can be an active
moviegoer who looks for
meaning beyond what you
are seeing, or you can be a
passive moviegoer who just
wants to be entertained.
The latter is obviously
Johansson, but what she
fails to realize is that every
movie – from any Disney
movie to The Godfather, to
Garden State – delivers a
message. Even her own
movie, Lost in Translation,
is jam-packed with meaning. Does she think it’s
preachy or boring? Scarlett,
wake up and smell the popcorn. While you’re out
being entertained for $25, I
was analyzing your movie
in my film class. Guess
what? There was a message,
and I was entertained.
Kimberly Delaney, 19, a
Pre-Health Sciences student
here, says she believes that
movies do matter and don’t
necessarily exist to entertain.
“They give good messages. You can learn from
them, grieve from them.
They make you look outside yourself.” She provides the example of
biographies like the movie
Ray. “How could that not
affect you in some way?”
she asks, yet she says she
believes that anyone can
interpret the message in a
film depending on that person’s personal perception.
What’s exceptional about
movies is that over the
years the meaning in them
changes and some just grow
more relevant. Think about
To Kill a Mockingbird.
Movies matter because
they are the most popular
form of entertainment of
our time, a form of entertainment that has the ability
to reach millions of people
and to change lives.
To Ms. Johansson, I recommend she educate herself
about the industry she works
in and stop considering
movies as only a form of
entertainment. They are
much more.
Move over, Jackie Chan.
Tony Jaa is here
By ANDY BURT
Staff Writer
Movie review
Tony Jaa is the new alpha
action star.
Let’s get the technicalities
out of the way first. Any
semblance of plot in this
movie is an excuse to set up
the biggest, most ridiculous
obstacles for Jaa to overcome. He jumps over, slides
under, swings around, flips
off and dives into everything and everyone. To do
so with such grace (read:
effortlessly) is unheard of.
The story is that a Buddha
head is stolen off a statue in
Ting’s (Jaa) village and he
must get it back. This is
hardly important as it’s just
used to link the action scenes
in an almost logical way. Jaa
and his ability are the reasons to watch Ong Bak.
His strikes are of Bruce
Lee calibre, quick without
any wasted movement. The
difference is that he connects. Jaa rains blows on his
stunt team, and the director
made sure you could hear
and feel them.
Prachya Pinkaew, the
director of Ong Bak, was
even so kind as to show
most big moves three or
four times, often in slow
motion, via mid-movie
replay. You’ll thank him on
consecutive
viewings
with friends.
Some of the most memorable stunts involve Jaa and
his environment. Panes of
glass, spools of barbed wire
and baskets of knives balanced on a stick are all being
innocently carried through
the streets of Thailand as a
gang chases Jaa. The foot
chase scenes have been done
before a la Jackie Chan, but
Jaa does something innovative in every scene.
One more thing the movie
promises and delivers is the
lack of computer animation,
wirework and stunt doubles.
Jaa does every stunt himself without the aid of wires,
which a lot of other martial
artists rely heavily upon (Jet
Li most prominently) for
their stunts. When you see
him jump over a car or run
on the heads of gang members, realize that it’s really
happening.
Jaa is the evolution of the
action star, and Ong Bak is
his playground.
Jaa has said he grew up in
Thailand watching Bruce
Lee and Jackie Chan
movies. Well, he’s blown
past both of them with his
skill, but you can clearly see
their influence in his work.
If you can look past the
shallow storyline this movie
is a lot of fun, even if it is
just a resumé for Jaa.
Check out our Halloween edition for The Reel
Deal’s Top 10 Halloween movies.
Who will make the list? Who will be No. 1?
Pick up a copy on Oct. 28.
Bad acting,
bad dialogue,
bad movie
By NATALIE VENTRESCA
Staff Writer
Movie Review
Warning: watching this movie
may cause drowsiness.
Don’t let this movie’s genre
fool you. It might be found in the
comedy section of video stores,
but there’s
nothing funny
about it.
It’s difficult to tell what’s
worse in Monster-in-Law: the
dialogue or the acting.
With such cheesy lines as “Can
I get you anything?” “Yes, one of
him on a platter,” your eyes
begin to hurt from rolling them
so much in sheer disgust.
In addition, Jennifer Lopez’s
comedic performance is as much
fun to watch as watching
paint dry.
This movie evokes no emotion.
It’s supposed to be funny and sentimental. Unfortunately, it fails.
The tagline for Monster-inLaw reads, “She met the perfect
man. Then she met his mother.”
With the title and the tagline, the
plot of this movie seems pretty
obvious and funny, yet it’s not.
In Monster-in-Law, you’re not
rooting for one character to outwit the other. Instead, you find
yourself rooting for the movie to
get better, but it never does.
It starts off on a dull note and
ends on the same note. There are
actually a few funny scenes
sprinkled here and there, but not
enough to sustain the movie. The
funny moments are too far and
too few between.
When the words “The End”
finally appear onscreen, it’s the
best part of the movie.
If you see this movie in video
stores, do not even make eye
contact with it. Keep on walking,
and for your own good, never
look back.
New Releases
The Sisterhood of
the Travelling Pants
Four friends of various shapes and
sizes find an unusual pair of jeans
that fit each and every one of them.
They pledge to look after the jeans
one week each hoping they will
bring good luck.
Starring Amber Tamblyn and
Alexis Biedel.
House of D
David Duchovny (The X–Files)
stars and directs this film about a
grown man who looks back at his
youth.
Also starring Robin Williams.
High Tension
Just in time for Halloween, this
slasher movie, directed and
written by French filmmaker
Alexandre Aja, deals with a
homicidal delivery man who
goes on rampage.
Entertainment - The Reel Deal.For all movie lovers
Wake up and smell the popcorn
Review:
Monster in - law
Review:
Family Guy
Presents
Stewie
Griffin –
The Untold
Story
Review:
Ong Bak
Do movies
matter?
Listen to this
Entertainment - Music .
Page 18, news@niagara, Oct. 14, 2005
Paul Weller
takes the
stage at
the Kool
Haus
David
Gray’s
North
American
Tour begins
Taking a
closer look
to
the Satellite
State
and
This b s on
r
appea IAGARA
The Satellite State
excited for future
By LESLEY KERR
Staff Writer
"No punk, we're definitely not
punk," says Jordan Thomson, bassist
of The Satellite State.
"More like aggressive rock," says
Jordan Menear, the vocalist of Satellite
State, known also as "No Fear," a
humorous name to avoid confusion
with the other Jordan in the band.
The five-member band includes
Patrick MacLean on vocals and guitar,
Justin Jennings on guitar, Jordan
Thomson on bass, Shane Turner on
drums and Jordan Menear on vocals.
The Satellite State has evolved
through a number of band members. Menear, the new vocalist, is
the latest edition.
Their first album is called Division
and Concurrence, for which MacLean
was lead singer.
MacLean says, "I still sing, but
the old stuff was more chill, and it
is hard to concentrate on guitar
and sing."
In a previous interview, MacLean
said the "earlier stuff" had more
emphasis on the music.
"We didn't put much time into
vocals. There was, like, one or two
minutes of intro for some of the earlier
songs. It was good at the time but still
a bit much."
The members of Satellite State are
young, at 17 to 18 years old, but
focused, for they have managed to
come up with a modern way of writing
music.
Thomson says, "We make up the
name of the song first. Then we figure
out what the name means and what it
should sound like."
In a previous interview, Turner said
it's guitar first and lyrics last but they
try for a pretty full sound.
"It's got substance to it; it's not airy.
There is a lot of sound comin' at ya."
"We start with a small riff, and then
Shane comes in with the structure of
the song and then come in the lyrics,"
MacLean says.
Menear says he writes a lot of
the lyrics. "I watch movies and
elaborate on them."
Menear has been to one band practice so far.
Justin says Mars Volta and Sleeper
Set Sail influence them.
In an earlier interview, MacLean
says, "We want to create something
different, something that's fresh and
not like everything else out there.
When we write, we write riffs, and
someone will be, like, that sounds like
Sleeper, so we change it."
The band shows dedication to its
music by dealing with the obstacle of
having a long-distance member. The
five members are all from St.
Catharines except Thomson, who has
left for university but still manages to
fully participate in the band.
Thomson is going to McMaster
University in Hamilton for engineering, but says he comes to St.
Catharines every other week for band
practice. Although he is not around,
he says he still takes part in the songwriting by e-mail. The band sends him
NOIS
E@N
ite State
The Satell
ht Calmly
ig
“As the L
Flickers”
9
, Track
Disc 1
om
A.c
NiAGAR
NOISEat
you by
Brought to
ar
ag a
news@ni
The Satellite State poses following their news@niagara interview. Sitting, left top, are Pat MacLean, Jordon Thomson, Shane Turner, Jordon
Menear and Justin Jennings.
Photo by Lesley Kerr
what they come up with, and then he but it's for the sake of the music."
sends his feedback.
Thomson says, "It's really hard to
All the members have been in a band step outside of yourself and think, 'If I
or playing their instruments for six to didn't write this music, would I still
eight years.
like it?'"
Thomson says, "We've all had our
Turner says they write the music and
bad experience in another band."
then critique it.
Menear says he once played in a
Everyone agreed they get into
Weezer cover band as well as a the music once they start playing.
Vines cover band.
They continue to build from one
"Oh yeah, we fight," says the another's sound.
band.
Turner says laughing, "Justin gets
MacLean says he thinks they're really into it. You can't touch him."
getting to know "where to tick
The band plans to continue playeach other off and where not to ing in shows for the next year and
tick each other off."
sell merchandise. Otherwise they
"The first start-off practice is usually can't yet afford to record another
crappy, but the second half is good."
album.
Thompson said in a previous interThey've play ed at the Red
view, "It's constructive arguing Square and some school gigs
because we all want it to sound as good before.
as possible."
Turner says, "St. Catharines has a
"We all let each other know how lot of good musicians, but there
we feel."
aren't too many great promoters,
Turner says, "There are arguments except for Bedlam."
Gray still knows how to kick it with fans
By JEFF FORAN
Staff Writer
The Air Canada Centre Best Buy Theatre was the
venue for the kick-off of David Gray's North American Tour on Oct. 2.
Gracing the stage in a stylish black suit with a fivepiece backing band, Gray strapped on an electric guitar and started his set with his current hit single, One
Love.
The 6,500 sell-out crowd swayed and sang along.
"Just because we're here (Air Canada Centre) doesn't mean we condone ice hockey," Gray said jokingly. "We think it's vicious."
Switching from guitar, piano and even the harmonica throughout the 95-minute concert, Gray was
never at a standstill.
His set included many songs from his White Ladder
album, such as Please Forgive Me, This Year's Love,
Sail Away and Silver Lining, which were all given
massive applause from the audience.
It was newer songs such as Hospital Food, Lately
and the set closing Disappearing World from Gray's
latest album Life In Slow Motion that made up the
rest of the concert.
Gray returned to stage for a five-song encore. The
song everyone was waiting for was finally played,
Babylon, his biggest hit.
For the first time during the entire night, the whole
crowd was out of their seats, many dancing in the
aisles and embracing their loved ones.
"This is the biggest venue we've played in a while,"
said Gray. "Probably all the basketball players," he
joked again.
Ending the night with the song Freedom, Gray
thanked the crowd and quickly jogged off the stage to
end a beautiful night of music.
SAC interested in sponsoring noise@niagara
By SANDOR LIGETFALVY
Promotions Staff
Noise@niagara, the compilation album of 31 Niagara-region
bands brought to you by
news@niagara, may be about to
get bigger and better — if student council, who meets this
week, decides to sponsor the
album.
If the bid is successful, 500
copies of the two-disc compilation album will be professionally manufactured and available
for early November.
The vote took place Thursday,
Oct. 13, at the Niagara College
Student Administrative Council
Inc. (SAC) board of governors
meeting.
This edition of news@niagara
was producd by the second-year
Journalism–Print
class
on
Wednesday. At the time of production, it was not known what
the results of the vote were.
The arrangement may mean
the bands on noise@niagara
will be invited to perform at
concert events at student pubs
The Armoury (at the Glendale
campus) and After Hours (at the
Welland campus).
The entire compilation album,
featuring almost two hours of
music by local talent spanning
the genres of acoustic, rock,
hardcore and hip-hop, has been
available for free on the web
since Sept. 30.
Read the Oct. 28 edition of
news@niagara or visit the
noise@niagara website for
news on this exciting sponsorship possibility.
local and vocal music from niagara region
Acoustic, Rock, Punk, Hardcore, & Rap
news@niagara
presents
a double cd
& online album
On Disc One
FEATURING
Shade, The Morning
Announcements, The Strange, Groovy
Food, Brett Friesen & The Great Lakes,
Flatlined, The Mute, Outlier, The Satellite
State, Mark Vida, Sleep The Season, Cue
The Crowd, Anthony Sweet, Cold Trail. On
Disc Two Ceremonial Snips, Murder Thy
Maker, Senate, Rad Affair, A Prime Time
Tragedy, Defence Mechanism, Slang, For
Your Information, Contrastincredible!,
Instruments of Lusty and Fury, The
Marantz Project, Jonny Dark Eyed Ft. Mark
Moffre, Ambience, Cigar Face, Slick, Anubis 5, & Swamp Siccness Ft. Deep Lash.
Entire Album Online
http://www.NOISEatNIAGARA.com
news@niagara, Oct. 14, 2005, Page 19
By: Kate Jefferies
Columnist
Inexpensive, convenient to store and
easy to make — pasta is an ideal
addition to any student’s cupboard.
This National Pasta Month, otherwise known as October, is the perfect
time to talk about this favourite food.
Pasta has come up against some hard
times lately with the sudden
influx of low-carb dieting practices.
Contrary to popular belief, pasta is not
a carb-monster, just itching to attach
itself to your thighs. It’s actually one of
the complex-carbohydrates, a “good”
carb, the source of most of the body’s
glucose and fuel for the brain, red
blood cells, muscles and organs.
Pasta is an excellent way to include
healthy foods in your diet. Plate partners can be vegetables, fish, olive oil,
cheese, tomato sauce, beans, poultry
and meat. By pairing any kind of pasta
with these ingredients, you can easily
create a complete, nutritious and satisfying meal on a tight budget.
For the budget-conscious, uncooked,
dry pasta is the perfect way to keep
dinner costs low. Simply adding frozen
veggies and some of your favourite
Italian Vegetable Pasta Bake
salad dressing to cooked pasta is a
cheap, easy weeknight meal.
Uncooked, dry pasta should be kept in
a cool dry place for up to one year,
whereas its fresher counterparts should
be used up in a few days. Also, pasta
almost never requires a meat ingredient to be great tasting, which is great
news when the rent is due.
Remember vegetables bought in season are always at their best and cheapest, but frozen veggies are a great alternative to make sure you get your
greens during the winter.
Stirring up something creative is as
easy as emptying your fridge of leftovers and throwing it into the pot. The
possibilities are endless, so go ahead
and experiment. With surprisingly few
ingredients, you can put together some
delicious results.
• The Chinese are on record as
having eaten pasta as early as
5000 BC.
• There are more than 600 pasta
shapes worldwide.
• To cook one billion pounds of
pasta, you would need enough
water to fill nearly 75,000
Olympic-size swimming pools.
• One cup of cooked spaghetti
provides about 200 calories, 40
grams of complex-carbs, less
than one gram of total fat and no
cholesterol.
• Cooked al dente (al-DEN-tay)
literally means “to the tooth,”
which is how to test pasta to see
if it is properly cooked. The
pasta should be a bit firm, offering some resistance to the tooth,
but tender.
— Source:
The National Pasta Association
Penne Parmesan Pasta
A quick meal for a busy school day
A delicious break from regular tomato sauce
Prep Time: 5 minutes • Ready in 20 minutes • Serves 4
Prep Time: 10 minutes • Ready in 25 minutes • Serves 4
Directions
Stir together vegetables, pasta
sauce and pasta in large
baking dish.
Top with cheese.
Bake at 350°F for about 15
minutes.
Ingredients
1/4 cup Italian dressing
1 cup sliced mushrooms
1 medium zucchini
1 large tomato, chopped
1/3 cup chopped green onions
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
2-1/2 cups penne pasta
1/2 tsp black pepper (optional)
Directions
Heat dressing in fry pan on mediumhigh heat. Add mushrooms and
zucchini. Cook 2 minutes until soft.
Add tomato and green onions.
Cook 1 minute more.
Toss vegetables with cheese and
pasta. Sprinkle with pepper. Serve
immediately.
Healthful eating plus fitness
crucial for busy college students
By NATALIE VENTRESCA
Staff Writer
As busy college students, we tend to
think only of our classes, homework,
part-time jobs and, of course, our
social life.
What that all leaves us with is
fatigue, stress and a hangover.
Taking a backseat is our health.
Our eating habits change for the
worse and our participation in physical
activities becomes nonexistent.
As college students, specifically
women, it is important to make the
right choices.
Welland’s Ultimate Woman’s Fitness
Studio Ltd.’s manager, Debbie Iannizzi, 54, of Wainfleet, who has been
working in the fitness industry for over
30 years, says she doesn’t think some
students make the right choices,
especially when it comes to eating.
Because students are so busy during
the school year, priorities begin to
shift, but, Iannizzi stresses, the issue of
health and fitness “has to be a priority.”
Being away from home, away from
parental supervision and buying your
own groceries are significant factors in
making the right choices when it
comes to your health.
Iannizzi is displeased at the fact that
“junk” is cheaper to buy than more
healthful foods, when it should “really
be the other way around.” As a result,
students tend to purchase cheaper
items to save money.
Iannizzi stresses that too many
young people miss breakfast, which
still is “the most important
meal of the day.”
If going to the gym simply won’t fit
into your daily routine, but you still
want to stay fit, Iannizzi says she
would recommend students “walk as
much as you can.”
She emphasizes that you have to stay
active. To do this, ladies, you have to
occasionally pass on a car ride or bus
ride every now and then and walk.
That is not to say that all college
women don’t care about their health
and fitness. There are women who
keep active. If you are one of those students, there’s a place in Welland exclusively for women that helps bring the
focus back to health and fitness.
Ultimate Woman’s Fitness Studio
Ltd., which has been in business for
five years, is a fully equipped, full-service women’s gym that offers an alternate environment for women to work
out in. Iannizzi, who has been working
at Ultimate Woman’s Fitness for five
years, says this all-woman environment is beneficial for women because
it makes them feel more comfortable
and not as intimidated.
“They feel they can come as they
please and they don’t have to worry
about appearances or other people
judging and looking at them. It’s a
whole different atmosphere.”
Iannizzi describes this different
atmosphere as softer, quieter, friendlier
and more comforting.
“You can come in and really
feel good.”
You can find women of all ages
working out, Iannizzi says, adding
Feel the burn! Members of Welland’s Ultimate Fitness Studio Ltd. warm
up during a tone class, one of the many aerobics class offered there during the week.
Photo by Natalie Ventresca
members are anywhere from 20 to 55 interest in physical fitness. She says,
years old.
“It’s sad that we are living in the 21st
Certified instructors, in addition to century and the number 1 killer will be
circuit weight training and cardio obesity because it’s an issue that we
equipment, offer members a variety of can do something about. We can
classes such as step, tone, and cardio- stop obesity.”
kick boxing.
On a positive note, Iannizzi says she
While keeping fit is applauded, Ian- feels that the image of women has
nizzi cautions women who do work out changed over the years and for the betthat they must not forget about strength ter, and the mass media are the first to
training using weights. She says that explore this. She uses the Dove soap
women put too much emphasis on aer- commercial as an example. In it,
obics and not enough on strength train- women of various shapes and sizes are
ing, which is also “very important.”
filmed in their underwear to show how
To many, fitness is an issue that can women are now happier with their
be brushed aside by excuses. You’re bodies, regardless of their size.
too busy or too tired. Health and fitness
As college students, we might seem
are important issues that should be overwhelmed with schoolwork, but we
explored at an early age. Today, obesi- must remember to put our health
ty in children is a problem in schools, before anything else. We have one
but the educational system can only body, so we need to take care of it.
teach the basics.
Ultimate Women’s Fitness Ltd. is at
Iannizzi says that she believes health 222 East Main St., Welland. Informaand fitness are issues that should also tion is available by phone at 905-714be taught in the home. She says she 7801 or by e-mail at http://www.ultionly hopes to see women take more matewomensfitness.com.
Taking care of Mind,
Body and Soul
Ingredients
2 cups frozen mixed vegetables
1 jar (750 mL) pasta sauce
3 cups of any small pasta
(rotini, bow-tie, penne)
1/2 cup grated cheese
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
(optional)
Body & Health
Pasta, tasty start to any meal
Pasta’s Press Room
Pasta,
pasta,
pasta:
celebrating
National
Pasta
Month
Exercise
and the
college
life:
staying
active
while in
school
Golf team brings home bronze medal
Continued from page 1
The rest of the team consisted of John
Holmes, of Erin, Ont., who shot 150,
Mike Mottola, of Niagara Falls, with 153,
Stephen Grano, of Port Colborne, who
shot 155 and Sean Scott, of Niagara Falls,
with a score of 156.
Katie Van Vliet, of London, was
unable to play in the tournament as she
was scheduled for an MRI on her knee.
All of the members on the team are
in the Business Administration – Professional Golf Management (Co-op)
program, with the exception of
Stephen Grano, who is in a business
administration program.
Sarkis says that the golf team is for
What’s going on in the
World of Sports
Sports .
Page 20, news@niagara, Oct. 14, 2005
Volleyball
veteran
takes over
women’s
volleyball
team
Page 20
Niagara’s
golf team
wins
bronze
Page 20
Sports fans
tune in to
FAN590
Page 20
Coverage
of Raptors’
training
visit to
Brock
University
Page 21
Stephen Grano, a member of Niagara College’s golf team, hits from the
fairway at the Ping Ontario Colleges Athletic Association Open golf Championship on Oct. 3 to Oct. 5 in Brooklin, Ont.
Submitted photo
men and women students and “wishes”
women would try out for the team. He
encourages any woman with golf experience to come out.
Niagara College will compete next
at the Canadian College Athletic Association National Championship on Oct.
19 to Oct. 22, in Windsor, Ont.
Sarkis says he’s “very pleased.”
“[Niagara College] kicked off the
season with a medal, primarily made
out of rookies. Four-fifths [of them]
will be back next year.”
He adds Niagara College is considered to be “one of the top three golf
programs in the country.”
“I’m proud of that.”
The Niagara College Varsity golf team took home the bronze medal at the
Ontario Colleges Athletic Association Provincial Championships. From left
are coach Frank Campanelli, and golfers Andrew Walpole, Mike Motolla,
Andrew Egerter, John Holmes, Stephen Grano and Sean Scott.
Submitted photo
Injury forces veteran basketball Fresh start for varsity volleyball
player to sit on sidelines
By LIAM MCPHERSON
Staff Writer
Because of an ACL injury, Lindsey Norris, former starter of the
women’s college basketball team, will be sidelined until possibly
December if all heals well.
Norris, 19, who is in her second year of Early Childhood Education,
was a starter on the women’s basketball team last year and is the team’s
new voice on the bench. She’s the manager in the meantime.
Norris says she “really loves” the game of basketball and “will do anything to get back in the game.”
She said, “I love the game of basketball too much to sit out a whole season and
watch from the sidelines.”
She will have a strong voice to back her teammates and inspire them to do
their best. Norris said, “I hope I can use my experience to help my new and
fellow teammates while I have to watch.”
The Knights have five veterans on the team: Abby Cass, Jaylene Poirier, Lindsay Cloughley, Christina Hitenberger and Paula Shaver. The rest
are new, promising faces.
Norris said, “I think the team is really starting to come together and play
as a unit. There is no “I” in the word team.”
The women’s first exhibition game begins against Toronto’s Humber College at 6 p.m. on Oct. 18.
By PATRICK HALL
Staff Writer
With the new season on the horizon
and a fresh set of players, change is in the
air for this Niagara volleyball veteran.
Kerby Bentley, 28, of Caledon East,
Ont., has taken over as head coach of
Niagara’s women’s volleyball team for
the first time in his varsity coaching
career.
“I found out officially during the first
week of August about the change,” says
the college’s athletic recreation assistant.
“I’m definitely excited for the new challenges in the months ahead.”
Bentley, who also teaches physical
education in the Police Foundations
program, is no stranger to the varsity
volleyball program. He played for the
Niagara Knights from 1995 to 2000
and has coached the men’s team since
the 2000/2001 season.
During his tenure as head coach, the
Niagara College resident led his teams
to the Ontario Colleges Athletics Association championships four different
times, taking home two provincial
titles.
Past accomplishments and successes
aside, Bentley says his focus is on hard
work and constant dedication in order to
compete in the 21-team league. Thirty
hopefuls are vying for a position on the
12-woman roster. There are only four
returning players.
“I see lots of potential for this year’s
crew, but it will be tough. We face a lot
of good teams early on, which will set
the tone for the season.”
The Niagara Knights open their season
today, facing the Canadore Panthers in
North Bay and square off tomorrow afternoon against Nipissing University. Overall, the Knights’ coach says he expects
healthy competition from every team this
season, especially against rival schools
Humber College of Etobicoke and
Redeemer University of Ancaster.
“This team should medal at the provincials, but the colour of that medal will be
up to them. You can lead a horse to water,
but you can’t make it drink.”
FAN590 and OCAA to produce college radio show for Ontario varsity athletic season
By MICHAEL MCCLYMONT
Staff Writer
The FAN590 sports-radio show has combined with
the Ontario Colleges Athletic Association (OCAA) to
produce the College Radio Show for the 2005-2006 varsity athletic season. The half-hour segment debuted Sept.
18 and will air every Sunday at 9 a.m.
David Grossman is the host of the segment that
will feature college athletes, coaches and athletic
directors. Ray Sarkis is Niagara College’s co-ordinator of athletics and recreation, and he is also OCAA
president. Sarkis says the partnership with the
FAN590 is “fantastic.”
“For the longest time, the OCAA has been fighting for
media coverage. We’ve been trying to get the national
media to recognize our players and teams. The only one
that has been supportive has been the Toronto Sun and its
weekend columns, but it’s not consistent. Local coverage
has always given great support.”
The OCAA and the FAN590 have worked out a
one-year contract. For the show to have a long-term
future, it needs the support of all the colleges and,
most of all, their students.
Sarkis says the OCAA was “a little hesitant as to
the time of the show,” and that getting college students to tune in may be the show’s biggest challenge.
“The people that are going to listen are the athletes
and their friends and their families. Hopefully, more
interest will spread through word of mouth.”
The 9 a.m. time slot used to be occupied by the
Ontario University Association. The College Radio
Show will precede the High School Show on the FAN.
A future OCAA segment on television is not an
impossibility, but, Sarkis says, they’re focusing on
one thing at a time.
“We’ve tried with TSN and Sportsnet to even get
just a college banner across the bottom of the
screen.” Sarkis says most Ontario sports networks
are “pulling away from all college coverage. Now
they only cover the U.S. schools.”
Sarkis says he’s hoping the connection with
Grossman will lead to other media partnerships.
“David Grossman is an outstanding gentleman that
knows the business. What I’m hoping is that because
he works for the Toronto Star, this may influence
them to take a chance too.”
Tune in to the FAN590 Sunday at 9 a.m. for the latest on Ontario colleges’ varsity teams and players.
news@niagara, Oct. 14, 2005, Page 21
Knights in search of third
consecutive championship title
By MICHAEL MCCLYMONT
Staff Writer
The Niagara College Knights began their
touch football title defense with a strong
showing in an exhibition tournament at
Durham College Oct. 1 in Oshawa. This was
led in part by an end-to-end kickoff return
touchdown and an impressive showing by
the Knights’ defense.
With a team loaded with first-year players, the Knights went 2-1 and grew more
confident as the tournament went on. However, their first contest started quickly as the
Knights fell behind 18-0 in the first half versus rival Mohawk College of Hamilton.
“That game was 18-0 before we knew what
touch football was,” said Head Coach Randy
Conlon in defense of his club. “We have 15
guys that have never played (touch football),
and the rest of them have limited experience.”
The Knights would recover though. After
falling behind Mohawk early, Niagara’s
defense buckled down and forced five
turnovers. First-year players Josh Cassolato
and Brandon “Cheech” Meglacic each had
two interceptions, and team veteran
Jonathan Marshall added the other.
First-year Knights Quarterback Travis
Chase hooked up with two-sport star Anderson St. Valle for the team’s lone touchdown
as the Knights were defeated in their first
exhibition game of the season, 26-6.
Chase, 19, a first-year student in the Construction Engineering program, says he
grew more comfortable in his second game.
He was the starting quarterback for his high
school tackle football team but touch foot-
ball is a completely different sport.
“It was faster than I expected, going from
tackle to touch. After the first game, I got a
better grasp of it.”
The Knights went on to rout St. Lawrence
College Cornwall 30-7 behind Chase’s four
touchdown passes.
Mike McClymont, 21, a second-year
Journalism-Print student, received two of
Chase’s touchdown throws and added a onepoint convert. Marshall and touch football
veteran Matt Thompson were the recipients
of the other two touchdown passes.
The Niagara defense was strong again as
Geoff MacLean, 19, a first-year Electrical
Engineering student, intercepted two Cornwall passes and Jeff Fazekas, 23, added
another interception.
The Knights capped off the tournament
with a 33-0 shutout of the host team,
Durham College. The defense again intercepted five passes, but the play of the game
took place before the first snap.
On the opening kickoff, Cassolato, 19, in
Hotel and Restaurant Management,
retrieved the football in his own end zone
and ran untouched to the opposite end of the
field for the opening score. Considering the
fact that it takes a touch from one hand of
any player on the opposing team to end a
play, Cassalato’s kickoff return is even more
impressive.
Thompson, 21, in Graphic Design Production – Art and Design Fundamentals,
exploded with three touchdown catches and
a convert, and “Cheech” Meglacic returned
an interception for a touchdown to end the
Raptors’ rookies impressive
By NENAD SRDJENOVIC
Staff Writer
After the Brock University portion
of Toronto Raptors’ basketball training
camp wrapped up with the annual
intra-squad scrimmage Saturday, the
Raptors are ready to start the pre-season on a high note.
The annual intra-squad scrimmage
was the first chance for the public to
see the new Raptors’ squad in action.
The scrimmage was watched by a full
house at Brock University’s Bob Davis
Gymnasium in St. Catharines. The
newcomers stole the show as Rookies
Charlie Villanueva, Joey Graham, Jose
Calderon and new point guard Mike
James all looked impressive.
Head coach Sam Mitchell says he
wants a chance to see all the club’s
training camp invitees in game
action before he starts making personnel decisions.
“They all deserve a chance to get
some minutes, so I’m going to try to
give them some minutes,” Mitchell
says. “I like these guys. I wish I could
keep all 19, I really do. These guys
work hard, they work well together,
they pull for each other.
“It will all unfold once we start to
play some games,” Mitchell says,
about the roster. “Why make that decision when I don’t have to?”
Concerning the leadership responsibility of the team, Mitchell says, “Veterans Jalen Rose, Chris Bosh and Morris Peterson – they all have to share it.”
Fifth-year pro, 28-year-old Morris
Peterson says he seems to have more
responsibility this year than ever
before in his career.
“I’ve worked all off-season to keep
the form I had the last six weeks of the
season. I think I played the best basketball of the whole year.”
Peterson says being ranked last in
the National Basketball Association by
ESPN makes the whole team work
harder, himself included. He hopes to
prove all the critics wrong by trying to
make the playoffs.
“We have a good chance of making it if everyone plays well for us,”
says Peterson.
Joey Graham, 23, says, “I can
come in and play offense or defense.
It depends on what coach expects
from me.”
Graham says he’s prepared to play in
front of large audiences “because I
love playing for the fans.”
With training camp complete, the
Raptors are looking forward to their
pre-season schedule and the regular
season. Although there are a great
number of doubters, the Raps are keen
on proving many of them wrong.
The Niagara Knights Men’s and Women’s basketball
teams begin their 2005 home schedules with
exhibition games against Humber College Tuesday,
Oct. 18. The women’s game is at 6 p.m. and the
men’s game follows at 8 p.m.
Come cheer on the home team!
tournament positively
for Niagara.
“We progressively
got better. At this stage
of the game, that’s
what you want,” said
Conlon. Chase echoed
his coach’s sentiments.
“The first game, I wasn’t too happy with the
way I played, but the Niagara Knight defender Jeff Fazekas gets ready to make
second half and the the touch against a Mohawk College receiver at an exhibinext two games, we
tion tournament at Durham College in Oshawa Oct. 1.
stepped it up and
Photo by Michael McClymont
played like a championship team.”
The Knights’ next tournament is the
The Knights are in battle this
Ontario Colleges Athletic Association
weekend in the OCAA
(OCAA) Provincial Championships Oct. 14
Provincial Championships
to 16 at Durham College. The Knights will
at Durham College.
be looking for their third consecutive chamBring home
pionship. They swept the provincials last
the gold, Knights!
year and earned a trip to New Orleans to
play in a flag football tournament. Conlon expects the
Knights to contend once
again.
“You never coach not to
Any Service
win, so I’m coaching to win.
Because we won last year, we
26-200 Fitch Street
when you present
have a favourable schedule,
Welland, ON L3C 4V9
your Niagara College
so we have more time to
grow and learn as a team.”
or Brock University
Tel: 905-788-9993
Fax: 905-788-1947
With one tournament now
student card.
Email: [email protected]
under their belt, Conlon says
Expires April 30, 2006
he “couldn’t be happier” with
his team’s progress.
10
%
OFF
Page 22, news@niagara, Oct. 14, 2005
Student’s art helps bring positivity into her life
By MELISSA MANGELSEN
Staff Writer
Inspired by various artists, Janet
Ullon Riano reflects through her
paintings how beautiful and positive life is.
Originally from Colombia,
Riano now lives in St. Catharines.
Her artwork was displayed at
the Arts Show at the Niagara Art
Gallery, in Fonthill, as part of
the Folk Arts Council Multicultural Centre of St. Catharines.
“My English isn’t so good,”
she says while her 10-year-old
son, Camilo Riano, assists her
with translations.
She is taking English classes as
well as creating art.
Riano previously studied in
Colombia at La Sabana University
in Bogota, the country’s capital.
Her art focuses on abstract and
impressionism.
“Many things inspire me to
paint,” she says. “I look at how
beautiful life is and I always try to
see life in a positive way.”
Riano says she is conscious of
life and aware that sometimes it’s
difficult.
“People need support to take
life easier.”
Inspired by mythology, she
experiments with colour and different forms.
She says she paints as a path for
her country. She also paints symbols and the heritage of Colombia.
“Paintings painted in Canada
have a different look to them,” she
says.
Riano has painted in California
and other states as well as in
Canada and Colombia.
When she came to Canada she
realized many things were very
similar traditionally.
Her most personally significant
painting was done in 2002.
“It looks for human pain,
reflects sacrifice in life. It reflects
more of this moment.”
Riano has spent her life painting
although she previously worked in
advertising.
“My art is on display all the
time. People come to view my art
all the time.”
She has many influences, such
as Pablo Picasso and Kim Pollard.
She says she likes any artist and
doesn’t have one that she likes
more than another.
With her son Camilo, 10, at her side, Janet Ullon Riano displays her
Riano travels to show her art
art at the Niagara Art Gallery during the Arts Show.
and to view others’ artwork.
Photo by Melissa Mangelsen
Many international students making Canada their home
By PAUL FROSINA
Staff Writer
Many international students who come to
Canada for school often decide to return
home after they graduate to begin a career.
However, one student has decided that he
wants to make Canada his home.
Alexandre Larkine, 26, from Moscow,
Russia, moved to Canada in 1996 when
his mother finished computer training in
London.
“My mom was working and learning how
to use computers in London and was going
to go back to Russia to work for an American company but decided to stay in England
because she likes the lifestyle and the people
there,” said Larkine. A few years passed and
Mrs. Larkine was offered jobs in Canada
and Australia.
“It was a tough decision to make, but we
chose Canada because the climate here is a lot
like Russia,” said Larkine. The Larkines got a
house in Toronto and lived there for three years
until Alexandre got his Canadian citizenship.
By doing so, Larkine was able to move to
Utica, N.Y., and open up his own small, independent graphic designer business for three
years. His jobs included maintaining computers, buying software, doing graphic layout
and maintaining websites.
“I enjoyed my time in America. I made
and had a lot of good friends down there.
Working on my own was great, too. I was
my own boss,” said Larkine.
Although many people have heard of Russian immigrants having difficulties fitting in
with the American society, Larkine says that
the American people treated him with respect
and kindness. “The Americans never disrespected me ... a lot of people I met thought it
was cool to meet a Russian.”
Larkine moved back to Canada at the end
of the summer and settled in Oakville, Ont.,
where his mother had recently bought a
house. He was accepted into the Graphic
Design Production – Art and
Design Fundamentals program at
Niagara College and is now living
in the Residence on Campus in
Welland. When asked why he
chose Niagara College, Larkine
laughed and explained, “They
were the only ones to accept me.”
Four other colleges including
George Brown, in Barrie, Ont.,
and Seneca in North York, didn’t
accept him, although Larkine
thinks he knows why.
“I don’t really have that much
knowledge. I never took graphic
design courses in high school so I
had no records. Everything I know
Nurse positive on outcome
By CHERIE BORHO
Staff Writer
Carolyn Gould, of Fonthill, is on
sick leave researching non-Hodgkin’s
lymphoma, a type of cancer. She has
not retired from her post as nurse at
Niagara College.
“I’m positive the outcome is going
to be positive,” says Gould. “I’m looking forward to getting on with my life.
This is just an interruption.”
“Since I’ve been sick, Niagara College staff and faculty and administration have been absolutely wonderful,”
says Gould, adding they’ve given her
“overwhelming support in a very positive way.”
Gould has worked at the college
for 14 years.
“I love working in a learning environment,” says Gould. “[It’s a] great
place to work. Everybody is pulling
together to make a great college environment for our students.”
Gould says she loves gardening,
reading and curling during the winter.
“One of my goals is to get back on that
curling rink.”
Gould has one daughter, who lives in
northern British Columbia. Gould is a
grandmother-to-be this coming January or February.
Christine Philbrick, of Jordan, says
that she and Gould have been “friends
and co-workers for 12 years.”
“She is an excellent nurse, and she is
a wonderful person,” says Philbrick.
Sharon Moukperian, 51, of St.
Catharines, met Gould at a welcome back
breakfast for the staff. It was Moukperian’s first staff breakfast, after being off
campus for five years, and Gould told
Moukperian to sit with her and they
would be the first to get to the food.
“We bonded over food,” says
Moukperian. “Some people you just
know are going to be your best friend,
and I just knew she was going to be a
good friend.”
Moukperian says Gould “has a huge
heart, so much compassion and caring
for everyone.”
about computers I have learned on my own.”
When asked why he chose graphic design
from the programs dealing with computers,
Larkine said that he believes he has a special talent and he can contribute something to his field.
“I think that this is my talent. I am a very
visual person. If I were to see an advertisement, I look to see how I could make the
graphics and the idea look more appealing.”
When asked if there is anything about
his course that he doesn’t particularly like,
Larkine says that all work should be done
on the computers.
“I wish it could be done just on the com-
puter. I’m not that great of a drawer so for
me it would be a lot easier.”
When Larkine isn’t working sharpening
his design skills, he enjoys going to the
gym, having a night out at the bar and relaxing with friends. “I went to The Moose and
Goose last week and I really enjoyed it.”
Larkine hopes that in the next few years
he will be able to start a business of his own
and build an empire that people will trust
and rely on.
“When people see my work, I want them to
smile and laugh and be happy with the product
I produce.”
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news@niagara, Oct. 14, 2005, Page 23
Canadian chefs defeat U.S.
team in cooking competition
By SHERI WEBBER
Staff Writer
“Canada defeats San Francisco in
celebrity cooking competition” the
headline read on May 2.
Mark Hand, corporate chef of the
Niagara Culinary Institute at Niagara
College, travelled to San Francisco with
team members Roary MacPherson, of
Newfoundland, and Chef Tobias MacDonald, of British Columbia.
“I was honoured to be asked to be
on the Canadian team. It’s always
great to travel, meet new colleagues
and show off the fact that there is a
vibrant culinary scene in Canada,”
says Hand, “a scene that many people
are not aware of, especially certain
people from California.”
The Second International Conference on Culinary was presented in
partnership with the Canadian Tourism
Commission.
“The idea that the chef from the
Niagara Culinary Institute was asked
to play a part in representing Canada
abroad speaks more to the successes
of our college and that reputation that
we are building.”
“Having said that, I would like to
think that I have helped us establish that
reputation along the way. Winning
against a Californian team in their home
state in a very pro-American setting was
fun and, although well deserved, did
come as a bit of a shock.”
BRTF reunites at After Hours
By JOHN MISITI
Staff Writer
The memories were emotional and
the beer was flowing. It was as if they
never left.
Niagara College’s Broadcasting –
Radio, Television and Film (BRTF)
alumni got a chance to look back on
fond memories at their reunion at the
After Hours Pub at the Welland campus on Sept. 24.
The event, at which about 50 were
expected, ended up hosting over 60
graduates and several past faculty
members. The evening included a slide
show, a live band and a tour of the new
broadcast facilities in the Voyageur
Wing of the Welland campus.
Julie Densham, the alumni and
events officer for the college, says the
evening “went well,” adding she has
received several e-mails from those
who attended expressing “how much
fun they had and how wonderful it was
to see each other and catch up.”
In her post for two months, she says
it was a challenge locating the alumni,
referring to them as “lost sheep.”
Before the event, Densham
explained her role in organizing this
event: “I put press releases in the
paper, build a slide show of old photos for them and generally facilitate
their planning needs. I will then be
there to welcome the folks and say a
few words.”
Sofa King Kool, a local band, played
at the event, performing early 1990’s
songs from bands such as Our Lady
Peace, Creed and some later songs
from Aerosmith.
Kent Chambers, 40, of Oakville, is
an alumnus who attended the college
in 1985, graduating in 1988. He is
working with 97.3 EZ Rock in Toronto. Chambers was the program director
in 1988 and says he “loved it.” He has
many fond memories of the college.
“Just being in the course itself, I
tried to involve myself as much as possible in all aspects of radio, TV and
film. By selling advertisements, we
were able to buy some new speakers
for the college, but I think the camaraderie stands out mostly in my mind.”
Chambers commented on the
changes the college has gone through
over the years. “The college has
changed dramatically. The pub that
we’re standing in wasn’t here. The residence wasn’t here, and the BRTF
facilities that are here now weren’t
here. We were still cueing up records
back when I was here back in 1988, so,
yes, there has been big changes.”
Chambers also reminisced about such
topics as tuition at the school, which cost
“$600 and change back in 1985 for one
year of BRTF.” Chambers commented
that he chose Niagara over other colleges because he “liked the idea that you
could get radio, television and film all
together in three years, which wasn’t
offered by colleges such as Mohawk or
Conestoga at the time.”
That was also the selling point for
Vic Kerr, an alumnus who works with
the CBC. Kerr attended the college in
1988 to 1990.
“To this day I think that is a huge
selling point for the college. It gives
you the ability to decide what you want
to be, because when you’re getting out
of high school there is a lot of pressure
to pick a field of study in college. By
being able to try all three aspects of
broadcasting, you get to pick the one
that best suits you.”
Densham says that she encourages all
programs’ graduates to constantly
update their addresses with the college
Alumni Office so they will be contacted
when an event of this scale is occurring
for them.
This Date in History
Oct. 14, 1773 - Revolutionary War: Britain’s East India
Company tea ships’ cargo are burned at Annapolis, Maryland.
Oct. 14, 1947 - Chuck Yeager flies a Bell X-1 faster
than the speed of sound, the first man to do so in level
flight.
Oct. 14, 1812 - A digest of Pennsylvania laws could not
bring itself to print the word “buggery,” instead printing it
as “B_GG__Y.”
Oct. 14, 1939 - Birthday of Ralph Lauren, American
fashion designer.
Mark Hand is back at the Niagara Culinary Institute after having travelled to San Francisco
for the celebrity cooking competition.
Photo by Sheri Webber
Skills Centre improves its reputation
By EDMOND YEBOAH
Staff Writer
The Skills Centre is gearing
up at Niagara College. The man
in charge and leading the crew
is Harry Lewis, the program coordinator.
Lewis, 50, from Fort Erie,
says he has always loved cars
and everything about them. He
worked at Niagara College
from 1983 to 1991 on a parttime basis teaching the evening
apprentice course.
“That’s what got Niagara
involved,” says Lewis. He says
the evening apprenticeship course
“really got things booming” for
Niagara College.
In 1999, Lewis started on a
full-time basis at Niagara as the
program co-ordinator. He says
he chose Niagara so he could
“give something back to the
community.”
Lewis has taught high school
auto classes and has given lectures at various institutions
including the University of Buffalo, Niagara University in
Lewiston, N.Y., as well as the
Society of Auto Engineering.
Lewis says the two-year coop diploma program here gives
students a chance to prove
themselves.
“There has been an increase
in enrolment since last year,”
says Lewis. Students will be
able to enrol in January for the
first time when a January Start
launches for the first time.
They are always trying new
things in the automotive
department. Lewis says there
will be new and improved
things coming out of the Skills
Centre this year.
It’s Trivial Pursuit done the college way
It’s trivial pursuit time again.
Teams of six to eight players are invited to a
night of tough questions on a wide range of topics.
The second annual Trivial Pursuit Party at Niagara College will be held at the Glendale campus
in Niagara-on-the-Lake on Saturday, Nov. 12.
Cost is $25 a person or $20 for a Niagara College student. All proceeds go to the Niagara College Foundation, the money-raising arm of the
college in support of student financial assistance.
Oct. 17, 1888 - Thomas Edison files a patent for the
Optical Phonograph (the first movie).
Oct. 17, 1937 - Huey, Dewey and Louie, Donald Duck’s
three almost-identical nephews, first appear in a newspaper comic strip.
Oct. 19, 1873 - Yale, Princeton, Columbia and Rutgers
universities draft the first code of American football rules.
Oct. 19, 1985 - The first Blockbuster Video store opens
in Dallas, Texas.
Oct. 19, 2003 - Mother Teresa is beatified by Pope John
Paul II.
Oct. 21, 1879 - Using a filament of carbonized thread,
Thomas Edison tests the first practical electric light bulb.
It lasted 13 1/2 hours before burning out.
Larry Fedoruk, of radio station 610 CKTB, and
Lori Love, of radio station 105.7 EZ Rock, will
serve as the event’s hosts. Questions begin at 6
p.m. A light buffet will be provided by the Niagara Culinary Institute. There will be a cash bar.
More details are available at http:// www.niagarac.on.ca/trivia. You must download the registration form. More information can be obtained
by telephoning Julie Densham at 905-735-2211
ext. 4102.
Oct. 21, 1997 - The government of Singapore
announces in a widely publicized “toilet alert” that the
drive for toilet cleanliness is a great success; five toilets
were selected by citizens as toilet role models.
Oct. 24, 1945 - Founding of the United Nations.
Oct. 24, 1947 - Walt Disney testifies to the House UnAmerican Activities Committee, naming Disney employees he believes to be communists.
Oct. 24, 1992 - The Toronto Blue Jays become the first
non-US team to win the World Series. This is also known
as the first real “World” Series.
Oct. 24, 2002 - Police arrest spree killers John Allen
Muhammad and Lee Boyd Malvo, ending the Beltway
sniper attacks in the area around Washington, DC.
Page 24, news@niagara, Oct. 14, 2005
Kiss me you fool
– it could set a
world record
Lock Lips @ Lock 7 hoping
for record length of kiss
By JEREMY LAFORTY
Staff Writer
Pucker up for a chance to be in the Guinness Book of
World Records.
On Saturday, Oct. 22, at noon, contestants have the opportunity to Lock Lips @ Lock 7, in Thorold, to beat the
world’s longest kissing record. This event is being hosted by
Thorold’s Department of Tourism at the Lock 7 Viewing
Complex in Thorold.
Last year’s winners, Alan Weatherhead and Cindy
Schapoks, of St. Catharines, took the competition, locking
lips for a total of nine hours, three minutes and 58 seconds.
This year the hope is that contestants beat the world record
of 30 hours, 29 minutes and 27 seconds by Rich Lagley and
Louisa Almedovar, who competed for the record live on the
Ricky Lake show.
Terry Dow, director of tourism services for the city of
Thorold, says that there will be lots of prizes for the winners.
Last year’s competition involved only three couples.
“This year we’re really hoping for 20. Get out here and get
in the Guinness Book of Records,” says Dow.
Dow says last year’s event went “worldwide” receiving
international coverage, appearing on the front page of various Canadian newspapers.
The rules of competition are set in place by Guinness and
Sweet treats for United Way
The United Way College Campaign’s dessert
auction raised $860.15. This is the second year
for this event, which was held in the lobby of
Niagara College on Oct. 7.
The funds support the South Niagara community. From left are Zoé Siskos, from the Public
Relations (Graduate Certificate) program, Carolyn Ambrose, English as a Second Language
professor, and Chelsey Spinosa, also from the
Public Relations program.
Photo by Jennifer Gibbons
must be followed. These include making sure couples’ lips
are continuously touching at all times, couples must be
awake at all times, standing is mandatory and no propping
devices including pillows or cushions are allowed. No rest
breaks are allowed and couples must not leave the venue
during their attempt.
Dow said if she could give contestants a tip it would be to
“grow beards now to ensure a long soft kiss.”
Contestants must be pre-registered for the event. Log on
to http://www.thoroldkissingrock.ca for location information or clarification of contest rules. Registration forms are
available at the Lock 7 Viewing Complex.
“Come out and get famous.”
Welcome students
to London Arms
No Cover
For Ladies
Come early!
Avoid the lineups!!
Come early! Avoid the lineups!!
Sure, poker’s popular, but know when to fold ‘em
By JOHN MISITI
Staff Writer
Poker is raising the stakes as far as
card games are concerned.
Over the last few years, Texas
Hold’em has gained popularity so
quickly that casinos have been finding themselves renovating old poker
rooms.
Poker is now a widely televised
sport.
The young and old alike have been
basking in the experience of the
game, honing their skills to try to earn
the respect of their opponents and
maybe a little pocket change on the
side, just to keep things interesting.
The stereotypes of who’s sitting at
the table are all there. There’s the selfproclaimed expert, usually a beerguzzling, cigar-smoking guy. Then
there’s the nervous guy who never
knows when to hold or when to fold.
And there’s always someone who
seems to be clueless about the game –
most likely a woman – who outsmarts
Even if you have pocket aces, you’ve got to know when to draw the line
when gambling.
Photo by John Misiti
the entire table.
Brendan Gordon, 21, of Brantford,
Ont., is a student in the Outdoor
Adventure Studies program at Algonquin College in Pembroke, Ont. He
says that he got into poker because of
the National Hockey League (NHL)
lockout in 2004.
“I started getting into poker because
it was on television in place of hockey.
If there had been hockey, I probably
wouldn’t have watched poker and
never taken it up.
I think poker’s recent surge in popularity in Canada at least is almost
directly the responsibility of the NHL
lockout.”
Gordon says he finds himself playing poker more frequently at college.
Poker and college have been teaming up a lot lately.
Some websites have even started
rewarding college students with tournaments to pay their tuition. Gordon
isn’t alone in his addiction to the game
at college.
Emily Szabo, 20, of Dundas, Ont., is
a Broadcasting – Radio and Television
Presentation student at Niagara College. She makes it a point to play at
least one poker game a week.
“I love playing poker while I’m at
school because it gives me a break
from schoolwork and it’s an excuse to
get all my friends together.”
No matter what your skill level is, or
how much you’re willing to wager,
poker should be fun, and you should
know how to gamble responsibly, and
know when to draw the line. After all,
it’s just a game. Or is it?
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