Durham Chronicle issue 11

See page 10, Alzheimer’s

See page 9, Solve your way

Volume XLII, Issue 11

FEBRUARY 17, 2015

By George, he’s got it!

Ridgebacks veteran forward Kevin George scores the second goal for the UOIT Ridgebacks during a 5-2 playoff loss on February 11 at Campus Ice Centre. The breakaway goal was George’s second career playoff goal for the Ridgebacks.

See story on page 20.

Kelsey Fran

Focus on the fun, not the image Eva Matys-Wright The Chronicle

Imagine yourself in the shoes of Kristy Bryan.

The Oshawa cosplayer, someone who dresses up to look like fictional and non-fictional characters, puts hours of work into her costumes only to be judged on her darker skin tone.

Bryan is one of the many cosplayers who face social judgment based on their physical appearance.

Many people face bullying or judgment based on their personal looks as a result of social media becoming more involved with cosplay. Some cosplayers, like Bryan, have Facebook pages with intention to show their cosplays and instead receive comments on their physical appearance.

“Since I am mixed [race] I face the issue of cosplaying dif-

ferent skin tones,” says Bryan who goes by the cosplay name Krizteeanity. “People always seem to judge based on different skin colours and sexes.”

Body shaming is a slang often used in the cosplay community to represent someone who judges a person based on their skin colour, weight, or gender.

With cosplay rising in popularity in Oshawa a large community of seasoned cosplayers, many have thoughts or experiences on this issue.

“I believe cosplay is an art form. Just because your skin color doesn’t match a character you’re trying to cosplay, it doesn’t mean you can’t or shouldn’t do it. The main focus should be on the quality of the costume and the fun you have doing it,” says Dave Croitoru of Urashima Cosplay. “We, as cosplayers, need to be accepting of situations like this in the

Darryl Malloy

COSPLAY: Kristy Bryan is dressed as a character from the video game .//hack. good spirit of the community we have all built for ourselves and continue to make this a fun

hobby for the veterans and new cosplayers alike.”

Cosplay photographers, who see many different types of cosplays in a short period of time, also have strong opinions.

“For me, cosplay has always been about putting in all your creative efforts into making a gorgeous costume,” said Cameron Nicoll from Phantom Photos. “At the end of the day, it doesn’t really matter to me what your skin colour, weight, gender or age is because you’ve already accomplished something.”

Some cosplayers, such as Bryan, identify with characters that have similar visual resemblance and choose to cosplay those types.

“I do tend to choose characters with darker skin colours because I like to cosplay characters that I not only love, but resemble,” says Bryan. “I am

not choosing to cosplay characters that other people say I should anymore, no one should have to defend their cosplay choice.”

Oshawa cosplayers encourage people to drop the body image issue and concentrate on supporting the community and one another.

“What’s encouraging is seeing all sorts of other cosplayers supporting one another at conventions and the like,” said Hannah Manders from Inky Sannin Cosplay. “Witnessing people so excited to just see people cosplaying their favourite characters and all the varieties of that character. I hope one day the stigma disappears.”

Bryan is currently working on a cosplay of Alvin from the videogame Tales of Xillia 2, and is not going to let the fact that he is a male or Caucasian stop her from the hobby she loves.

Check us out at chronicle.durhamcollege.ca

2

The Chronicle

February 17, 2015

DC-UOIT students chase their careers Sean Sutcliffe The Chronicle

More than 1,500 students attended DC-UOIT’s annual job fair all in search of their dream job, or at least something that pays enough. A wide variety of organizations filled the gym Feb. 4. Health services, police services, financial companies and even a summer camp expressed interest in students.

The majority of organizations in attendance are local businesses but some students are willing to travel great distances for work.

“I would go to Antarctica if they pay me enough money,” said Vatsal Agarwal, first-year mechanical engineering student at UOIT. “As long as I’m making a difference doing something.”

More than 50 employers offering job opportunities for students attended DC-UOIT’s annual job fair.

Target was due to attend but cancelled after announcing its closure of its Canadian locations.

An addition to the job fair was introduced this year called the Mentoring Lounge where students could meet local entrepreneurs, business leaders and alumni.

“They’re looking to hire our

graduates. They’re very specifically looking for people that are trained in an area that suits their business model,” said Louise Stiles, career services outreach co-ordinator at Durham College. “With that said, we did have a couple of employers there that were hiring for summer and part-time in addition.”

Some lesser-known businesses attended the job fair as well. Milestone Foster Homes is a private foster care agency that aims to find loving homes for at-risk children.

“We have a number of foster homes in the GTA area and we’re looking to employ more people to open up their homes for fostering. Obviously in the college environment it’s unlikely to find too many people that can, we actually have contract workers,” said Sue Mitchell, recruiter for Milestones Foster Homes.

“We match them with individual kids and look at the individual needs of those children and if we feel those children would benefit from having somebody who would go out and spend some time and work on a particular area, then we match them up,” Mitchell added.

Both UOIT and DC also offer year-round career services that students are encouraged to

Campus

Hazel Ejercito

MENTORING: Stephanie Kalpalais (left), a computer program analyst student, talks with Nicolai Siramai from Celestica, an electronics manufacturer.

Sean Sutcliffe

SHOWCASING: Potential employers filled the Campus Recreation and Wellness Centre. More than 1,500 students met about 50 business representatives. use. Both schools also have indepth information available for students online.

DC students have access to the Hired Portal and UOIT students have access to the Stu-

dent Experience, both of which include access to job resources, advisors and a variety of other services.

DC and UOIT’s online platforms also offer registration for

employers to showcase job opportunities.

Additional information can be found at hired.durhamcollege.ca and studentexperience. uoit.ca.

The skills they don’t teach you in the classroom Derek Dolstra The Chronicle

College is a great way to get all the technical skills to get that dream job, but the market today expects more than just a diploma.

Employers want the person who can impress in an interview and keep going above and beyond long after they’ve been hired.

“They (employers) are looking for that well-rounded individual,” says Louise Stiles, career services outreach coordinator. “They want somebody who’s got the technical skills as they relate to the program but they want that person with the personality and common sense.”

When applying for a job, students don’t just need the skills they learn from the program but they need the soft skills to make them an appealing candidate for the job.

“You can’t just be the whiz kid in class but you’re pretty

mute and socially awkward,” says Stiles.

This starts with being able to create a cover letter and a resume.

“Your resume and cover letter, at the end of the day, all you need those two pieces of paper to do is get you the interview,” says Stiles.

The interview is all about showcasing who you are.

“It’s so important that students who have the skillsets, knowledge, and experience are able to showcase those skills by demonstrating good etiquette,” says Fatima Di Valentin, an etiquette facilitator.

So what skills are employers looking for other than the ones learned from a specific program?

According to Lorie Blundon, manager, return to work and employee relations human resources for DC, being able to receive feedback and improve upon it is imperative.

“One thing is being open to feedback, constructive feedback. Sometimes I think when

we go from a school environment to a work environment that we think we need those “A”s so in a performance review we still want those “A”s but it’s very different,” says Blundon.

“We have to think about it as not getting “A”s but professional development.”

She believes employers are looking for soft skills. Before coming to Durham College she spent 15 years working at law firms and looked for those specific traits when hiring people.

A positive attitude is important because employers want to work alongside someone that makes them feel good. Respect and professionalism go hand in hand and can be as simple as showing up on time, dressing professionally, and having a good handshake.

Flexibility is also a good skill. Some employers will have different procedures for completing a certain task, which are different from what the student learned in school. Blundon says the best way to handle this situation is to say one simple line.

“I’ve never done that before but I want to learn,” she says.

Blundon also says time management, a strong work ethic, and the ability to work alone as well as with others are also crucial skills.

One of the most important soft skills is being able to properly communicate in both oral and written forms.

“I think it’s really important when they hit the job market that they (students) have a really good awareness of communicating with another individual and building that rapport, the importance of that and how to do it successfully,” says Di Valentin. “Otherwise it may not be the best person for the job but the person who performed the best at the interview.”

Once a student gets the interview it’s important to follow some simple rules to make the interview process go smoothly.

One of the most important rules to follow is showing up on time and dressing properly.

Blundon has a simple saying to determine whether you’re

dressed inappropriately.

“If you can see up it, down it, or through it, you probably shouldn’t be wearing it to work,” she says.

Other simple tips are turn off your cellphone, avoid chewing gum, bring your resume, and send a thank you follow up email.

The best way to pick up these soft skills is simple and it’s right on the Durham College campus.

“Students should be using Career Services because we’ve been imbedded into the tuition,” says Stiles.

Career Services can help with resumes, cover letters, portfolios, job searches, and mock interviews to help develop communication skills.

When students apply for jobs and get the interview it’s important for them to remember to work on their soft skills before relying solely on their diploma.

“If we have the person with the right soft skills, the rest we can train,” says Blundon.

Campus

The Chronicle

February 17, 2015

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Free speech on campus threatened?

Kyle Brown The Chronicle

Do you have the right to say what you believe in? It’s a question being asked more often as studies find freedom of expression is less tolerated on campus grounds.

A report measuring the state of free speech at 52 Canadian public universities conducted

by The Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms (JCCF) in 2014 found that 24 out 52 universities campuses earned at least one ‘F’, meaning the institutions engaged in the censorship of student expression on campus.

Only three grades of A were awarded in the JCCF study, meaning these universities defended free speech even in the face of public pressure.

“The problem is universities have a built-in incentive these days to protect their reputations,” said Michael Kennedy, the JCCF’s communications and development coordinator.

“They will do that at all costs, whether that means shutting down a controversial speech by a lecturer that’s unpopular or stopping a graphic display from happening on campus.”

According to Tony Doyle, assistant to the president, certain types of expression like flyers, rallies, events and clubs must be pre-approved by the college and the Student Association, and that if any form of expression is deemed offensive or if a complaint is voiced, the college will take action against it.

Don Lovisa president of Durham College said occasionally the college has done this.

“We had a collection of nudes that were put up by a private collection,” he said. “We put the art up and there were people who took offense to that from cultures that aren’t as

Kyle Brown

BALANCING FREE SPEECH: Durham College president Don Lovisa thinks the student experience should come first. liberal as Canadian society (…) so we removed the art because even though it wasn’t intended to be offensive, it was offensive in their world view.”

Kennedy says policies put in place by campus administrators or student unions that govern what kind and where posters can be put up and what clubs and events can be held, are being used to censor speech in Canada.

He adds that campuses are also failing to uphold the rule of law that is meant to protect events or speeches from being shut down by protestors.

“There’s also things like harassment policies, which do have a legitimate place on campus, but what you often see in Canada is those universities are redefining the term so they can censor speech that would oth-

erwise be legal off campus.”

Kennedy says colleges and universities using a discrimination policy to shut down speech over hurt feelings or offensive views is not a legitimate reason to stop expression.

But Lovisa says that while people have the right express themselves freely, that right comes along with certain responsibilities.

“We all have the right to express ourselves freely,” he says.

“But, we also have the responsibility to not discriminate.”

Lovisa says it’s important for the student experience to come first, and while openness, dialogue, and expression are a part of that, those things need to be respectful, lawful, and socially acceptable for an academic environment where students are being prepared for employ-

ment and life.

“If there are things happening on campus that are affecting your experience, that you’re feeling belittled or criticized, or harassed, or discriminated against then we have policies that address that, too.”

But Kennedy says the best way to deal with offensive speech is to get it out in the open so it can be appropriately criticized in a peaceful manner.

He explains that so long as nobody is being threatened or defamed by a fellow student they should be able to express themselves freely.

“The reality is in Canada, we live in a free society, people are allowed to say things that offend people and we don’t have a right to be not offended, we have the right to speak freely,” Kennedy says.

Despite this, Lovisa says the college does its best to encourage free expression within the framework of its policies.

Doyle pointed to a discussion that took place on Durham College in 2009 where the existence of god was discussed by two opposing camps of students and guest debaters.

“It made them really think and challenged them, but the other side felt just as strongly so it was a very good discussion where free speech was front and centre,” Doyle said.

“We are trying to foster that discussion, but also trying to keep it controlled in that we don’t want students to feel intimidated.”

It’s these types of views, and less socially accepted ones, that Kennedy says he wants to see on Canadian campuses.

He adds universities historically have always had a special role to play in the preservation of freedom of expression.

Campuses, Kennedy says, allow controversial ideas to be discussed, debated, and criticized.

And through that process truth is eventually found and creates good public policy or good ideas for society, due to universities being “training grounds” for young leaders who become engaged in politics.

“It’s important that universities instil a culture of free expression and remind students of why it’s so important,” Kennedy says.

“And if the university isn’t allowing that sometimes uncomfortable conversation to take place then they are putting a wrench in that academic process.

So universities need to veer away from that knee-jerk reaction to censor something simply because we find it distasteful.”

Networking more important than a good resume Frank Thickett The Chronicle

Getting a job can be a full time job itself but Durham College and UOIT’s FastStart program, aimed at getting students prepared for entrepreneurial careers, is trying help students get there.

Robert Weese, a sales strategy advisor from Spark Centre, a local business centre that helps new and emerging businesses that has partnered with FastStart, came to UOIT and Durham College to help reveal what employers are looking for.

In a seminar titled “Find a job in 10 resumes or less” Weese used his experience as an interviewer and consultant to explain the best way to make an impression.

“Think of your resume as

an after thought,” Weese said, “if you do it right people will be more interested in you. You don’t want the resume to find you a job, you want it to be all about you.”

The three key steps Weese outlined are preparation, execution, and a follow up.

Weese says instead of firing off resumes to hundreds of employers through sites like Monster or Indeed, students should choose 10 to 15 companies they might specifically want to work for.

From there it’s important to know key players in the industry, the competitive landscape, and where the industry is headed, he says.

“If you can sit across the table and have a good conversation about the job and what you’re all about, it makes more of an impression,” Weese said.

Step two is about knowing people in the company, making initial contact, and networking with people within the company.

Buying a cup of coffee for someone and discussing the business, the person’s career path, and how to break into the business are good ways to network with people.

“Being on time, calling ahead if you’ll be late, smile, and be prepared,” Weese said, “know about the job and the business and show interest.”

Finally, the follow up involves making contact with people after meeting them, he said.

Send thank you cards to people within a company who help you to really stand out and only send a resume if it’s requested of you.

Another thing to be aware of

is how businesses do preliminary screening of job candidates.

Weese said a common tactic is to delay an interview on purpose and have a receptionist pay attention to how a potential hire acts.

“Do people read pamphlets in the office? Do they try to strike up a conversation? Or do they stand around doing nothing?,” Weese said.

He also said that some places have been leaving out newspapers to see if potential hires will pick up the paper on their way in or leave it behind on the doorstep.

Another tactic he uses is letting scheduled calls go to voicemail to see how people react to leaving messages or waiting for calls back.

“It’s like a game,” Weese said.

According to Mary Noble, an employment advisor at Durham College from Career Services, talks like Weese’s are important for students.

“We support everything that was said here,” Noble said, “now we’re going to help students go deeper.

Career Services help put all this to practice.”

Attendance was low at the talk, approximately 10 students of the 30 student limit were there, and Noble says events like this have an issue drawing people in.

She stressed that while students might get the information.

Weese offered from other sources they should make more of an effort to attend these guest speaker seminars.

“You have to come to get more out of it,” Noble said.

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The Chronicle

February 17, 2015

Publisher: Greg Murphy Editor-in-Chief: Brian Legree Ad Manager: Dawn Salter

TO CONTACT US

Editorial Page

Newsroom: Room L-223; Ext. 3068 E-mail: Chronicle.News@dc-uoit.ca Advertising: Room L-223; Ext. 3069 E-mail: dawn.salter@durhamcollege.ca

Closing textbooks opening minds New sexual education curriculum should help young students in Ontario Attending elementary school when the Internet was a new tool and books still reigned supreme, sexual heath was something our generation understood only out of an old and out dated textbook.

Of the eight years we attended elementary school, many of us were never allowed to flip to the pages that explained human genitalia or anything that depicted or explained sex.

Feeling rebellious we might flip to those pages only to gasp and giggle at the content so restricted to us.

It is safe to say that many of us were uneducated on sexual health and when we finally got our hands on the Internet, we found out more than we had in all those years of school put together.

Lets face it: kids are growing up faster and reaching maturity years ahead of past generations. It is easy for a child to find information – or misinformation – with social media or the Word Wide Web. Pornography is easy to find with stealth sites that mirror hard-core pornography sites, sites that use innocent words to bring in unexpected traffic.

So, if a child goes looking for explanations to their sexual questions, it’s easy for them to stumble onto one of these sites.

Premier Kathleen Wynne recently announced a new sex-ed curriculum and it is causing a lot of debate.

As controversial as it may seem, this program is not only needed but will benefit younger generations.

It’s a revamped version pulled from former premier Dalton McGuinty, who put it on hold after many parents raised concerns about the material.

Ophea, a non-profit organization that supports healthy living in schools, has called on the Ontario government for the last four years to finalize, release, and support the idea of sexual education curriculum.

According to Ophea, sexual education does not increase the frequency of sexual behaviour or the number of sexual partners, and may actually result in delayed sexual activity.

Ontario’s new sex curriculum will provide students starting in Grade 1 with information about the idea of consent and how to study facial expressions to better understand relationships.

They will also learn how to identify body parts including genitalia.

Mary Pulido, executive director, the New York Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, says using the real names for body parts can be beneficial

Cartoon by Raechel Bonomo

in cases of teaching safety.

“Make it an on-going topic of conversation. I recommend that the anatomically correct names for body parts should be used such as penis, vagina, buttocks and breasts,” wrote Pulido in an article for Huffington Post Parents. “That is the ideal.

Children should learn the names of their private parts at an early age.”

From Grades 3 to 6, they will learn about selfdevelopment, identity, and sexual orientation.

These kinds of morals will better prepare kids for their futures and the world outside of their school doors and help kids identify themselves.

In Grade 7 students will learn reasons for delaying sexual activity for both vaginal and anal sex to pre-

vent sexually transmitted infections and pregnancy.

According to Statistics Canada, sexually transmitted infections are a growing heath concern in Canada.

Young Canadians have the highest reported rates of sexually transmitted infections and in 2010 94, 690 cases of chlamydia were reported in Canada. Increasing numbers are also being reported now in middle aged and older adults.

According to Planned Parenthood, 82 per cent of parents have talked to their children about sexuality but a recent poll shows that when it comes to tougher subjects, many Canadian students are not getting the information and support to help prevent sex or pregnancy.

The poll, named “Lets Talk: Are Parents Tackling Crucial

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ditors: Brittany Bonaparte, Raechel Bonomo, Amy Bridges, Kyle Brown, Sarah Chan, Christian Coulombe, Olivia Da Silva, Derek Dolstra, Karen Edwards, Hazel Ejerecito, Kelsey Fran, Jennifer Gordon, Miranda Green, Darryl Jennings, Jennifer Lavery, Shannon Liverpool, Eva Matys-Wright, Jessica Maxwell, Emma Nicholls, Connor Pringle, Brittany Rout, Emily Saxby, Sean Sutcliffe, Frank Thickett, Venessa Whitelock.

Publisher: Greg Murphy

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Conversations About Sex?”, showed that 72 per cent of parents are talking about consent and 60 per cent are teaching about safe sex.

The idea of consent is important to help students better understand what consent to sex means – other than a simple ‘yes’ or no.’

Students have a right to learn about their sexual health, especially if it is something that can better prepare them for the future.

With a growing generation of children with access to so much multimedia information, we beg of parents to not let them ‘giggle at the textbooks’ and allow their children to get a proper academic sexual education.

Eva Matys-Wright

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T

he Chronicle is published by the Durham College School of Me-

dia, Art and Design, 2000 Simcoe Street North, Oshawa, Ontario L1H 7L7, 721-2000 Ext. 3068, as a training vehicle for students enrolled in Journalism and Advertising courses and as a campus news medium. Opinions expressed are not necessarily those of the college administration or the board of governors. The Chronicle is a member of the Ontario Community Newspapers Association.

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The Chronicle

Opinion

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February 17, 2015

Eva Matys-Wright

SCRATCH-N-SNIFF: The bathrooms at Durham College and UOIT are left in poor condition after student use.

Please be sweet, wipe the seat DC-UOIT washroom cleanliness is a royal flush

Who doesn’t love a beautiful washroom?

There is nothing lovelier than walking into a washroom that not only looks good, but also makes you feel good.

With the recent instalment of a brand new washroom near Riot Radio, I propose a new challenge – how about we take better care of the old ones?

Imagine you were eating in a lovely restaurant only to find that once you entered the washroom it was a disaster zone.

Would you still feel comfortable eating there?

I am no sanitation expert, but I do believe students have a right to a clean and useable washroom in a college or university environ-

ment.

Why is it that when I walk into the washrooms at Durham College, I find myself feeling depressed, kind of sluggish, and eager to get in and get out?

It is because most washrooms on campus are dark, smelly, and have a horrible visual environment.

According to Daryl Roland, writer and blogger for Cleaning Deans of the Midwest, employee productivity can be determined based on washroom cleanliness.

An unsanitary washroom can lead to germs and bacteria, which can cause allergies, or even diseases.

Ergo, the washrooms are in desperate need of some serious revamping.

This means no overflow-

Eva Matys-Wright ing garbage bags and no stall doors missing.

A clean and tidy space we can feel comfortable in.

Granted I am not expecting the royal palace of washrooms, but something nice enough that students feel better being in it.

“It doesn’t look like they clean it a lot,” said Victoria Etherington second year Arts and Animation student.

“There is a lot of leftover toilet paper, the ground is all messy, and there is spots from water on the floor.”

GDI Services is the company in charge of cleaning Durham College’s washrooms.

It is an American and Canadian-wide service company that deals with a variety of public places.

GDI has a notice posted

within the restrooms asking students to report dirty washrooms to an extension pasted on the page. Calling this number is supposed to end with the washroom being cleaned.

eliminated if students take more care and clean up after themselves.

It begs the question at what point is it up to the cleaning services to clean our messes that we make.

‘

There is a lot of leftover toilet paper, the ground is all messy and there is spots from water on the ground.

Victoria Etherington “I think that they honour it but I don’t think anyone calls them everyone mostly just complains,” said Etherington. “But it is really small and no one really looks there either so no one would notice that.”

Although washroom cleaning is the job of the cleaning faculty, students are primarily at fault for their messes.

Flushing the toilet, throwing paper in the trash, and not leaving soap all over the counter tops can be easily

’

To get more of an understanding about GDI Services, I unsuccessfully attempted to contact the director of housekeeping at Durham College several times.

I filled out a long contact request sheet but it only offered me a number for the Toronto address.

GDI Services should be easier to contact for student pleas, however students who complain about the washroom should do the right thing and clean up their messes.

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The Chronicle

February 17, 2015

Diversity

Campus

in Durham

Durham Region is one of the fastest-growing regions in the country. The population, around 650,000, is expected to reach one million by 2031. Most of those new residents will come from elsewhere – from other countries, cultures, and communities. The Chronicle is exploring the changing face of this region in a special series, Diversity in Durham.

A life of changing cultures After living in England and France, she has settled in Durham

for Michelle Liu

I’m used to the environment of people with different backgrounds, and I’ve always had this interest to know more about them.

Kyle Brown

Michelle Liu

The Chronicle

A life of changing cultures and constant travel is nothing new to Michelle Liu. She was three years old when she made her first move from the city of Yue Ying in China.

Her father Guan-Zhi Liu, a solider in the Chinese military and member of the Communist party transferred between military bases, bringing Liu into contact with people from different parts of China.

“I think that may be a reason why I wanted to go abroad in my 20s,” Liu said. “I’m used to the environment of people with different backgrounds, and I’ve always had this interest to know more about them.”

Liu was 25 when she left China in 2000, leaving behind her parents, siblings, and career at a national bank to move to France, where she studied business management and received her master’s degree.

“That was the first time I went abroad, and directly from China to a western country, so it was very different,” she said.

“I liked everything there. Every day I explored a different culture and learned the language.”

She stayed in France for eight years before going to England. She only planned to visit before moving back to China, but she saw an opportunity for work, meeting her husband and giving birth to son and daughter in the process. And opened a small Chinese restaurant called the Golden Gate.

“I got to know all types of people by customers coming to my restaurant. All different professions and life experiences. I got to talk to them and that was a good way to know the culture,” she said. “So we started that business, although not very successful, but we didn’t

‘

Kyle Brown

RESIDENT OF MANY COUNTRIES: New immigrant, Michelle Liu, finds purpose helping fellow Chinese newcomers adapt to life in Durham Region. lose money.”

But while Liu loss no money to the venture, she did lose something else during her time in England.

“There were some violent activities from my ex, so I’m glad now my children don’t have to face that anymore,” she said.

“We loved each other, we didn’t come together for financial purposes, but the difference of personality brought us apart, and he became violent.”

After deciding to leave her husband permanently, Liu and her children were forced into a shelter, or into a ‘hotel’ as she told her daughters to lessen the impact on them.

“It was hard,” she said softly.

Liu visited Canada several times to gain permanent residency status in both countries.

However, she ended up choos-

ing to live in Canada over England because, as an immigrant, she found it was easier for both herself and her children, who are now ages eight and six. It was also easier to find friends and merge into Canadian society during her stay. She arrived here permanently in 2011.

“They are happy. I encourage them to be positive, especially when there are difficult things or something they’re not very good at,” Liu said of her children. “Naturally, they tend to play with their friends in the Chinese community, but also they get along with their Canadian friends very well.”

When Liu finally settled in Durham Region, she started working for Scotiabank, but because most financial banking jobs are in Toronto, she quit so she could spend more time

with her two daughters as a single parent.

“It’s very hard to find balance because I have to provide for them and I also need to do all this housework,” Liu said.

“Their dad is not even in this country. They mention they miss him and I do my best to try and fill that hole in their lives.”

Liu now works as a data energy analyst for a steel company in Whitby, studying the plant’s past use of energy to save on future costs.

Liu has also integrated into the community through King Street Church in Oshawa.

“I know church is a very important part of western culture.

In England I tried to go to a church in my neighbourhood but I didn’t feel that warm acceptance there,” she said.

’

However, when Liu established herself in Durham, a friend introduced her to King Street Church, and she instantly felt welcomed by everyone there.

Though she has yet to be baptised, she describes herself as a ‘Christ follower’.

Being raised in a communist country, where she said atheism could be considered the national religion, Liu found herself fascinated by the church because of how it has shaped western culture and remains significant despite development.

“I don’t feel any conflict, now that I’m a Christ follower, between these two cultures, because they both promote the kindness in normal life,” she said. “Although my father is a Communist party member, he thought as long as this is a good group, and as long as I’m happy, they’re happy.”

While Liu may travel to many different places and cultures across the world, in the end she believes she will always return to where she began.

“China is always home for me, but Canada and England are like second homes. During these years our family has lived here, I’ve made friendships,” Liu said.

“So when I raise my children, I choose the good parts of each culture and use that way to educate them.”

And while China may be her home, what keeps Liu here is working with local Chinese communities to help new immigrants integrate into Canadian society.

“Beyond that, they want to promote the Chinese culture, not just to Chinese immigrants but to wider society,” Liu said.

Campus

Diversity

The Chronicle

Febuarary 17, 2015

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in Durham

Durham Region is one of the fastest-growing regions in the country. The population, around 650,000, is expected to reach one million by 2031. Most of those new residents will come from elsewhere – from other countries, cultures, and communities. The Chronicle is exploring the changing face of this region in a special series, Diversity in Durham.

Kelsey Fran

HERE AND BACK AGAIN: Harvey Singh, 22, has a beer at his favourite pub in Pickering, The Stone Corner. Singh moved back to Durham two years ago after growing up in England.

U.K. native finds home in Durham But Singh wishes the soccer was better here Kelsey Fran The Chronicle

It’s wing night at the Stone Corner, yet 22- year-old Harvey Singh opts for the twopiece fish and chip meal with ketchup, malt vinegar and tartar sauce, an ode to his home.

To drink, he politely orders a pint from one of the servers, who all know him by name and order – a Stella or a double gin and tonic.

Singh moved to Canada from England two years ago, leaving behind friends, family – and his accent.

Dressed in a clean grey sweater with stylish thick-

rimmed glasses and a tuque, the elaborate art that covers his forearms peaks out from under rolled up sleeves.

He peacefully watches a soccer game on the closest TV amid the chaos of the busy restaurant.

His favourite team: Liverpool FC in the Barclays Premiere League.

“It’s like a religion there,” he says of England’s soccer fandom.

Singh was born at Scarborough Grace hospital in 1993 to Gurdeep Saini, a private banker from London, and Paul Singh, a financial advisor from Leeds. Although he was born in Canada, he grew up in Harrow, England. The suburban town in north London is home to roughly 244,000 people.

“It’s the opposite of here,” says Singh. “There’s more housing developments there than condos…and there’s not a lot of space. It’s very small.”

After completing elementary school, high school and a twoyear college program for interactive media and web design in England, Singh was accepted to

the University of Toronto’s finance and economics program and made the trek back across the pond.

“I like the environment here,” he says. “It’s not as congested as London, or fastpaced.”

According to Singh, his family moved here “for better opportunities: business and career wise.”

Singh’s maternal grandparents, Avtar and Jit Saini were natives of Punjab, India, and moved to London, England, where Singh’s mother was born, before finally settling in Pickering. The Sainis arrived in Durham Region in the early90s with Saini Electric, a business they began back in England.

A Statistics Canada census from 2006 found 21 per cent of Durham Region’s population is made up of immigrants.

The census also mentions that of the total immigrants to Pickering specifically, 15 per cent are native to the U.K. and 5 per cent are from India.

Upon his arrival two years ago, old friends and family

members welcomed Singh back to Canada.

When he was younger, Singh came back to Pickering every summer to visit his grandma Avtar and his aunt Debbie, making friends and spending time with the neighbourhood kids. It is the same house on Pine Creek Court he now lives in.

As for his lack of accent, Singh credits the time he spent in Canada during his youth with his ability to drop it.

“I was really young when I went [to England], but I learned to speak here and I came back every summer,” he says. “My parents both have harsher accents.”

Childhood friend Shane Goodman, who grew up on the same dead end street in Pickering, fondly remembers the summers with Singh during their youth.

Goodman describes an eerie night of bike riding, ending at Singh’s house.

“We were sitting in the living room drinking juice,” he recalls.

When Goodman wasn’t pay-

ing attention, Singh quickly drank his juice.

“When I asked him what happened, he said a ghost drank it. We went on about it for the rest of the night. He never admitted that he actually drank it and was just trying to trick me.”

On top of leaving behind both parents in England, the cultural aspect he misses the most from home is good fish and chips.

“I miss the food, definitely, and sports too, just the atmosphere of the soccer games,” he says. “[TFC] is nowhere near the same.”

Although he feels the soccer here isn’t up to par, he says Canada also has a lot to offer that England does not.

“The poutine is definitely up there, for sure,” he says with a laugh.

For now Singh is here to stay, but he hasn’t committed to forever yet.

“I’ve never ruled it out,” he says of going back home one day. “It’s a possibility. There’s still a lot of opportunity there too.”

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February 17, 2015

Campus

From baristas Cutting the cord on TV to bartenders Eva Matys-Wright The Chronicle

Starbucks is brewing a new evening menu that includes beer, but it won’t be arriving on UOIT or Durham College soil.

‘Starbucks Evenings’, a new menu to be served that includes beer, wine, and late night tapas, has been officially announced in select Canadian cities.

Currently, there are Starbucks evening menu concept stores in some U.S. cities.

“We are currently looking at expanding this experience to Canada in select stores by the end of the year,” said Luisa Girotto, director of public affairs at Starbucks Canada.

Starbucks Evening menu starts after 4 p.m. to regular closing times.

However, according to John Kerr, food service director for the DC-UOIT library café, the evening menu will not be arriving at the school.

“The Starbucks on campus is not a licensed Starbucks, it’s a licens-

ee agreement called ‘We Proudly Brew’,” says Kerr.

According to Kerr, a licensed Starbucks is on the wish list for DC-UOIT but there are no official plans yet.

There are currently three Starbucks locations in Oshawa, but the company hopes to open 100 stores a year over the next five years.

According to Girotto, Starbucks Canada will be making significant investments in innovation this year due to coffee sales falling flat.

According to a media report, NPD Group, a market research firm, McDonalds Café, bumped Starbucks to the third largest coffee player by market share in Canada after Tim Hortons.

“I think it’s going to be a huge hit here, creating new job opportunities and a new place to go,” says Derek Laschuk, shift supervisor at the store on Thickson road in Whitby.

Starbucks evenings will arrive in Canada by the end of the year but no locations have been confirmed at this point in time.

Escape To Our Florida Home

For informa on please visit ourfloridaescape.com

Sean Sutcliffe The Chronicle

The joy of watching a TV show from start to finish with no breaks was an occasion seldom found in the past.

There might be a couple of times a week when you taped your favourite show, a few commercial-free holiday specials, or in more recent times, there was PVR – until the device became full and shows started piling up like drivers in a snowsquall.

With the blossoming market of streamed TV, consumers are cutting their traditional cords and diving into the stream – web stream, that is.

The pioneer behind the colossal market shift is Netflix.

In 2007, the company delivered its billionth DVD and began its departure from its original business of being a rental company to the contemporary video-on-demand service.

Fast-forward to the latter end of 2014 and Netflix boasted more than 50 million subscribers worldwide all paying a monthly fee for its video services.

Users have access to thousands of titles of various movies and TV shows.

Now the traditional megamedia conglomerates in Canada have released their own video-on-demand services in

response to Netflix.

Rogers Communications and Shaw Communications came out with Shomi in November 2014 offering 1,200 movies and 340 TV series.

A month later Bell Media released CraveTV with a library of 10,000 hours of content on its launch date.

Rogers On Demand, a videoon-demand service, was Rogers’ main straming service until the release of Shomi. Customers had to pay a minimum of $3.99 to rent one movie for a 48-hour period. Netflix subscribers have been paying the same monthly $7.99 for years to access thousands of titles at anytime.

The four big telecom conglomerates - Rogers, Bell, Quebecor and Shaw Communications - have long enjoyed free rein over the television market in Canada.

“These four media conglomerates together own Canada’s most significant conventional TV broadcasters, cable networks, specialty channels and web platforms,” said Tanner Mirrlees, assistant professor for UOIT’s Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities.

He added that Netflix was able to infiltrate the Canadian TV market by offering a service the telecom giants were lacking at a more efficient cost.

“It likely took them so long to get involved with the transi-

tion because they didn’t see the transition as a significant threat to their bottom line,” said Mirrlees.

“Facing little genuine competition and enjoying their extraordinary market power, they perhaps did not see Netflix as a serious rival and thus, failed to innovate.”

Canadians are now able to bypass these conglomerates for a product more beneficial to the consumer than previously available.

“The people who tend to be switching over to streaming multi-platform TV are typically the 18-36 year old ‘millennials’,” said Mirrlees.

The traditional workweek is a thing of the past in today’s innovation driven economy. Students and many working people have varying, unpredictable schedules.

Video-on-demand services have given them previously unheard of flexibility for television consumption.

“Between going to school and the amount of hours I spend at work I don’t really have time to keep up with television. Netflix is just really easy to put on a show before I go to bed,” said college student Janiece Gray.

Netflix has revolutionized the way television is consumed.

The company is now creating its own content, with some shows even receiving Academy Award nominations.

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Solve your way to a graduate degree UOIT introduces the option of a master’s or PhD in forensics

Sarah Chan The Chronicle

At last, the long school day is over.

Time to go home and do some homework.

Or plop yourself down on the sofa and turn on the television. That sounds more like it, doesn’t it?

Another Criminal Minds marathon is on. Perfect.

Do you dream of being the next Derek Morgan, the main character in the hit television series?

Beginning in Sept. 2015, UOIT will be able to turn those dreams into a reality for six lucky people. The university will be offering a new master’s and PhD program for forensic psychology.

“We have received a lot of inquiries from interested applications, indicating that these programs will be quite popular,” said Amy Leach, director of both programs.

Currently UOIT only offers a bachelor of arts with honours in the field, but Leach says it was time for the university to add these graduate degrees to its roster.

“UOIT has been designated as a university that has the capacity to grow at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. Currently, UOIT is expanding graduate program offerings.

University of Rochester/AP Images

PROBLEM SOLVER: Brian Cutler, professor involved in creating the forensics graduate program at UOIT, and teaching in it.

‘

We have received a lot of inquiries from interested applications, indicating that these programs will be quite popular.

Amy Leach

’

Our programs in forensic psychology are consistent with the university’s mission and with the existing master’s program in criminology in that they add to the focus on applications of research to the justice system and national security issues,” said Leach.

Two students will be accepted at the master’s level, four at the PhD level.

Applicants with exceptional

transcripts may be admitted to the PhD program without requiring prior completion of a master’s degree.The master’s program is two years, versus the four years required to complete the PhD program.

For students accepted to the PhD program without a master’s degree, the program is five years.Leach estimates the cost per year for the program to be approximately $8,200 per

year for domestic students and around $17,000 per year for international students.

Despite the growing opportunities for students wanting a career within this field, she says the new program will not result in any new job opportunities for faculty wanting to be hired by the university.

“We are not hiring any new faculty or staff members in the near future because there are over 15 existing faculty members who are affiliated with the program,” said Leach.

Brian Cutler will be one of UOIT’s existing faculty members who will be teaching in this program, and was heavily involved in its development.

“I have supervised forensic psychology doctoral and master’s students and taught graduate courses at Florida International University… I look forward to working closely with forensic psychology graduate students at UOIT, in both the laboratory and classroom,” said Cutler.

Classes will be housed primarily within the Faculty of Social Science located at the downtown campus.

Applicants interested must apply by March 1.

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February 17, 2015

Everyone feels the ripple effect of Alzheimer’s disease

Karen Edwards The Chronicle

More than 8,500 local residents are currently living with Alzheimer’s disease or some form of dementia and Denyse Newton, executive director of the Alzheimer’s Society of Durham Region, says this number could possibly be higher.

The organization hosted its annual Walk for Memories at the Durham College Oshawa campus at the end of last month to raise funds and support for the disease. More than 150 people showed up and the walk raised more than $40,000 - an $8,000 increase from last year.

“All the money raised today will remain in Durham Region,” says special events and communications coordinator, Jessica Scheffee. “It will go towards our programs and services, whether it’s one on one support, group support and we also offer public education so it will contribute to all those things.”

January was Alzheimer’s Awareness month and Scheffee says it’s important to note that Alzheimer’s is not just a disease that affects the person living with it.

Campus DC student dies in accident Connor Pringle The Chronicle

Karen Edwards

MUSICAL MEMORIES: Jeff Spence, 52, an Oshawa resident, speaks about how his mother used to play the piano before she was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease.

“It really does impact the care network. Whether it’s the person working with them, family members or friends,” she says.

Jeff Spence, 52, from Oshawa, knows this impact all too well.

Spence’s father, Cecil, passed away from Alzheimer’s last May and his mother, Leola, is currently living with the disease.

Spence says the hardest part about taking care of someone with Alzheimer’s is watching the slow progression of someone getting worse from a dis-

ease which has no cure.

When Spence’s father was first diagnosed in 2003 Spence became his primary caregiver.

In 2011, Spence’s father became too ill and went into a retirement home in Whitby, The Village of Taunton Mills. That same year, Spence’s mother Leola was diagnosed with the disease as well.

Not long after her diagnosis, Spence’s mother was registered into a nursing home in Oshawa, Hillsdale Terrace. Spence tried to get his father in the same nursing home with his mother in Oshawa, but when he was finally able to, Spence’s father

passed away.

He says watching his father live with Alzheimer’s is one of the hardest things he has ever been through.

“It’s something that you don’t get better from,” says Spence. “That’s the thing with this disease, you seem to lose them in stages, his good days were gradually becoming worse.”

Spence continues to visit his mother at Hillsdale as much as he can.

“Sometimes she knows who you are and sometimes she doesn’t, but I got over that a long time ago,” he says.

A Durham College firefighting student died after falling through the ice on the Saugeen River in Hanover on February 8th.

The accident happened around 1 p.m. Hanover police responded to a man falling through the ice under fast flowing water, while on a training exercise for an ice and water certification course.

Police say the course was unrelated to his program. Police say Adam Brunt, 30, of Bowmanville was trapped under the ice for about 15 minutes.

Hanover police, local fire service, the course instructor and other course members worked to free him, according to police.

Brunt was transferred to Hanover hospital, where he died three hours later.

Hanover police are investigating with the coroner’s office and the Ministry of Labour.

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February 17, 2015

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Movie magic using kids’ toys Making a movie with Legos Derek Dolstra The Chronicle

Brick by brick a new batch of moviemakers were built at the Clarington Public Library when they hosted the Make Your Own Lego Movie program.

Armed with iPads, Lego kits, and their imagination, the kids learned how to make their own minute long movie trailer.

“Using Lego kits the children come in and they’re put in sets of pairs and they build the different Lego kits from the movie,” says Stephanie Webster, library technician.

‘

Using Lego kits the children come in and they’re put in sets of pairs and they build the different Lego kits from the movie.

’

Stephanie Webster

About 14 kids, from ages eight and up, spent the last four Tuesday nights using the iMovie app to make their ideas a reality.

The app uses templates to show what type of camera shots to use and lets them create their own credits.

“My favourite part was how it made it look like a real trailer.

It made it look a bit more professional,” says Aiden Beatty.

Aiden worked with his partner Ruben Firing to make a comedy style trailer called Planet Cow. They came up with the idea together to have a team of heroes go down to a planet of cows to fight their enemy.

“He (Aiden) thought of a planet or something from space but then I thought of Planet Cow, with cows, because I like cows,” says Ruben Firing.

After building their characters and all their props, Webster tracked down some books with the kind of pictures which could serve as the perfect back

drop for all the different movie trailers in the works.

As the kids were putting the final touches on the trailers their attention to detail showed just how much fun they were having.

For some, the details were the best part.

“The stuff with the book for backgrounds, where you set up all the people and I liked that we get to build and use what we built,” says Firing.

There may have been some young faces working away and having fun but they sure got the job done.

“Once they start, they catch on so quick,” says Webster.

“They’re just natural with anything to do with computers and technology.”

Plenty of the children would love to keep making their movies at home as long as they can get a hold of the app.

“I want to make some really funny trailers and who doesn’t want to do that?” says Beatty.

The trailers were played on the projection screen like a small film festival because this February 3 was the last session.

With their parents looking on, the children crowded up close and watched excitedly as their trailers played on the big screen.

This is the third time the program has run. The program runs for four weeks with the children meeting once a week for an hour.

The program has seen success with each session filling to its 14-child capacity. The library plans on running it again over the March break and in April and May.

Derek Dolstra

PLAY: (Clockwise from bottom left) Lucas Baron, Jenna Baron, Hayden Vanhuss, and Noah Logan crowd around their Lego kit to build the props and characters for their movie.

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Campus

Concerns piping at Oshawa city council

Discussion about prosposed pipeline along Highway 407 Raechel Bonomo The Chronicle

Concern over an oil pipeline is leaving Oshawa council members, and possibly residents, in muddy waters.

The proposed route, planned to run along Highway 407 and to be built in 2016, raised alarm at the council meeting on Jan. 26.

Councillor John Neal believes the Highway 407 construction has already disrupted the area enough and only more trouble will come from the TransCanada pipeline. He, among other members of council, is apprehensive that the pipeline may disturb the aquifers and water wells in the area.

“Someone may be on the same well for 100 years and then all of a sudden it’s gone,” says Coun. Neal.

According to Enbridge’s website, the pipeline construction planning to create thousands of jobs. Despite this, the council is concerned for the health and happiness of the residents it could affect when construction starts.

No one wants a pipeline running through their backyard, says Neal.

“To knock on someone’s door and say ‘would you be interested in a pipeline?’,” says Neal, shaking his head.

Coun. Neal proposed the possibility, when construction occurs, of the council receiving water assessments from a test well on a regular basis. This

would help monitor any contamination that may occur during or after construction.

Council discussed keeping the public as informed during the planning and eventual construction of the TransCanada pipeline.

Councillor Amy England suggested that a public meeting be held to discuss the pipeline in greater detail. This motion was approved by nine out of 10 members of council. Councillor John Aker was the only one to oppose.

The pipeline is expected to carry up to 300,000 barrels per day of crude oil throughout the Durham Region.

Council is concerned a spill could occur similar to the detrimental 2010 event in Michigan when an Enbridge pipeline ruptured and polluted the Kalamazoo River with more than 19,000 barrels (3.3 million litres) spilt of oil.

More than 50 households in the surrounding area were evacuated and hundreds went without drinkable water. It cost Enbridge more than $765 million in cleanup expenses by June 2012. Parts of the river are

The Chronicle

still recovering from the spill.

Not only are aquifers and wells a concern, the city is worried a similar spill may occur from the large volume of oil passing through daily.

As a precaution, TransCanada have indicated that thicker pipe will be installed around sensitive areas like rivers and wetlands.

Councillor Doug Sanders suggested TransCanada use this piping all throughout Oshawa to limit the chances of a spill.

“Any time that you run a pipeline through a community it raises some concerns on safety,” says Mayor John Henry.

“We want to make sure that it is the absolute best for residents of the city and that we don’t have to worry down the road that there is a problem. We’re expressing those concerns now to the pipeline.”

Although definite route is established, council is preparing to fight for residents that may be affected by the pipeline, before and after it is constructed.

“We want what is going to be best for Oshawa,” says Coun.

Neal.

February 17, 2015

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Raechel Bonomo

OIL IN WATER: Councillor Amy England wants to ensure the public is informed about the TransCanada pipeline.

Everyone's a Local Somewhere

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Entertainment Amy Bridges

GET YOUR CULTURE ON: Sam Mogelonsky, RMG’s communications and social media coordinator (pictured right), is excited more people are coming to view and celebrate art and music every month.

Mixing media: Music and murals Amy Bridges The Chronicle

Loud music and an art gallery are two things you wouldn’t normally put together. The Robert McLaughlin Gallery (RMG) is changing that. The gallery introduced RMG Fridays in 2011 and has been meshing the two for the last four years on the first Friday of every month.

RMG Fridays incorporates two live bands and the opening of an exhibition during the night.

“It’s a celebration of art and

music right here in the gallery,” said Sam Mogelonsky, RMG’s communications and social media coordinator.

RMG Fridays marked its fourth anniversary on Feb. 6.

“RMG Friday has now gone to kindergarten and its learning it’s A-B-C’s, it’s kind of figuring out life and getting through things,” said Norah O’Donnell, manager of community and volunteer development at the RMG. The celebrations were met with a varied crowd of people, ranging from those who have been going to RMG Fridays when it started to newcomers,

including people of all ages.

“There’s always a new diverse art install and the different bands that come really draw different crowds. So sometimes it’s really young and there are some teenagers here, whoever’s following the crowd which is really fun to see,” said Pam McColl a frequent attendee. “It’s nice to come and see the different people especially the people coming with their children, lots of little kids and exposing them to the art and to the music.”

McColl has a standing date with friends at the RMG Fridays who she only gets to see at the event. McColl decided

she was going to bring Roger Prescott to the event as well.

Prescott doesn’t normally go to the gallery by himself.

“This is my second time here she’s trying to expose me to the art and music too,” laughed Prescott.

One of the youngest attendees was two-year-old Ivy Manuel. Her goal for the night was to find a snowman in the artwork. She didn’t find any but her older sister Ella Manuel made her one in the kid-friendly art room. Ella’s only concern was that she couldn’t find another eye for her snowman.

“If I could make one sugges-

tion, it would be that I could drink my wine in this childfriendly room but otherwise it’s nice to have a night out and bring the kids and they seem to like the art,” said Sarah Manuel, the girls’ mother.

Among others at the event included the mayor of Oshawa John Henry and MP of Oshawa Colin Carrie.

Carrie gave RMG CEO Gabrielle Peacock, a scroll to honour her work including helping to raise more than $500,000 for the gallery. There was also another scroll for the recognition of the fourth anniversary of RMG Fridays.

Nintendo struggling to meet collector demands

By Frank Thickett The Chronicle

Cabbage patch kids, beanie babies, tickle me Elmo, and now Amiibo.

Collectible toys and figurines have been driving people into shopping frenzies for decades and Nintendo’s new line of products is having a tough time keeping up with demand.

Amiibo are small figurines of Nintendo characters and they are selling out even before they hit store shelves. In fact, people are selling them online for inflated prices.

Amiibo figures retail for $13.99 and while some popular Nintendo characters like Mario and Luigi are still on store shelves more obscure characters are harder to find.

Characters like the Villager, from the game Animal Crossing, are being sold for $60 online and even characters who haven’t been released yet are having their prices inflated.

Mega Man, for example, releases on February 13 but is already listed on Amazon for almost $60.

Another product with prob-

Frank Thickett

COLLECTIVE CRAZE: Toon Link, a popular Amiibo character, sits in front a WiiU GamePad ready to play Super Smash Bros. lems meeting consumer demand is the special edition of the new remake of The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask.

The game, originally released on the Nintendo 64 in 2000, had a limited run of special editions that came with a figurine of the villain, Skullkid.

The bundle is already listed on EBay for $130 even though it doesn’t release until February

13.

A new version of the Nintendo 3DS will also be launching with a Majora’s Mask theme and Best Buy has recently had to cancel some of its pre-orders for the product. A statement released by Best Buy says they can’t fill the quantity of pre-orders they received.

According to Ingrid Brand, the program co-ordinator of

Durham College’s marketing program, it could be a strategy to drive up a frenzy but it’s a risky one.

“Some people may say it’s a false restriction to create a frenzy,” Brand said, “it’s not a good strategy though, it can cause frustration and could result in a backlash.”

Brand also said that the resellers aren’t much different

than ticket scalpers, noting it’s a risk for them to be buying up these figures to inflate prices with no guarantee of being able to sell them all off.

She also said it demonstrated how impatient people are who may be willing to pay these inflated prices instead of waiting for more stock to reach shelves.

In a statement from Nintendo not all characters will be restocked once sold out of their initial launch. This factor, according to brand, drives up the perceived value of these collectibles.

“Limiting production increases value but it’s interesting that they aren’t trying to meet such a demand,” Brand said.

Nintendo has a history with supply issues, however. The Nintendo Entertainment System, was released in North America in 1985 and became so popular that it was difficult to find them in stores.

This cycle repeated with the more recent Nintendo Wii which sold more than 100 million units worldwide. When the Wii was first released it too was difficult to keep in stock.

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The abuse of being a ‘girl gamer’ Frank Thickett

movies and their treatment of women. After running a successful Kickstarter campaign to fund a series called “Tropes V.S. Women in Video Games,” which earned more than $158,000 out of a $6,000 goal, the abuse began.

Sarkeesian has received death threats, rape threats, and calls for her to commit suicide.

In a recent blog post Sarkeesian collected a week’s worth of abuse from Twitter and the tweets were beyond counting.

She even had to cancel a talk at Utah State University after someone threatened a “Montreal Massacre style attack” if the talk wasn’t cancelled within 24 hours. She had originally

planned to continue the talk anyway but according to Utah’s concealed carry laws it wasn’t possible to stop someone from bringing a gun to the event.

According to Elliott, the overarching issue lies in people not thinking before they speak.

“People say stuff and they say it without even considering how the other person’s going to take it,” she said. “They just think it’s the context they’re saying it in.

Even if you say it as a joke and you’re not insinuating anything, someone could take it the wrong way and you wouldn’t know.”

She believes people who make these sexist remarks may not actually believe what they are saying but are only joking.

She still thinks it doesn’t excuse such behaviour.

“The important thing that needs to happen is you need to show what people are doing and set those boundaries and that people need to not even give [abusive] people the time of day,” Elliott said.

Another issue comes from the perception of gaming as a ‘boy’s only’ club, which Durham College student Denielle Lewis says is a part of the problem.

“There’s a lot of good games but they’re more male based,” Lewis said. “We need more games with strong female leads who aren’t sexualized.”

said Cody Thompson, a Beatles fan who says she knows every song.After the short break, the auditorium came alive, and many people barely used their seats. Clapping, dancing and singing resonated throughout the arena.

Even the band acknowledged the noise, and told the crowd to take care of the lyrics for a few of the best-selling songs.The newest Beatles songs were saved until the end of the night, with an encore performance including ‘Back in the USSR,’ ‘Hey Jude’ and of course ‘Let it Be’.

With a few exceptions, this band played the Beatles to a tee. The costumes were on par with outfits worn by the band years ago, and the sound would have made the Beatles proud.

‘Hey Jude’ was probably the crowd’s favourite given

the amount of applause and screams when the music started.

However, a few of the songs played were enough to give you goose bumps – depending on how big of a Beatles fan you are.

The band announced after the show they’d be available for autographs.

In what seemed like no time, the four performers made their way to a table in front of an eager line of fans – a rarity at this venue.GM Centre security stopped several people from taking photos with the Beatles impersonators, but group members were overheard telling people to wait until the line was empty and they’d be happy to oblige with a quick snapshot.

The group goes on to perform six more shows in Ontario before continuing their tour in the U.S.

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Video games have become a communal hobby where people play together, talk online, and compete. As much as gaming, has become more socially acceptable in the realm of gaming the people who were once bullied have become the bullies.

The abuse people experience is varied. Some experience death threats while others may get sexist jokes. For Erin Elliott, a Durham College student in the game development program, it has mostly been the latter.

“People thought I was pretentious, I was stuck up, that I thought I was better than everyone or that I didn’t know as much because of my career background,” she said.

Elliott, who has done modelling work in the past, has felt snubbed by other gamers and frequently surprises people when she says she’s in the game development program.

Within her own program, fellow students have told her she is “the hottest girl in game development” or hit on her.

“I’m here to learn, go away,” Elliott said. “There are two sides. You don’t feel like you’re being taken seriously all the time because either people are looking down on you or they’re trying to hit on you.”

Frank Thickett

FROM MODEL TO MODELLER: Erin Elliott, a second year Video Game Design student at Durham College, has been teased while gaming over being a woman.

She says she also receives a lot of online abuse. In fact, her parents didn’t want to buy her a headset for her Playstation because they feared the abuse she would get online. She didn’t get one until she was 18 and, while playing online, she set off another player simply by being a woman.

“I was playing this game and I had said something to another player and they found out I was a girl and started going off saying things like ‘you should go do what women do’ and ‘do your job for your man,’” Elliott explained.

In a straw poll of 10 random female students on campus, seven reported being abused or

teased online solely based on their gender.

Eight of 10 also reported they are teased offline as well, or thought of as less ‘girly’ when people find out that they play video games.

While the abuse Elliot and many other female gamers have suffered online and in person is severe, the worst cases go far beyond. Perhaps the most extreme example of sexism in gaming revolves around Internet personality and media critic Anita Sarkeesian.

Sarkeesian is a CanadianAmerican feminist who started a YouTube channel called Feminist Frequency where she examined video games and

You can’t love me but you can sing it Emma Nicholls The Chronicle

More than 35 songs later and you’re still humming on your way home.

Let It Be, a Beatles cover band from the U.K., performed at the General Motors (GM) Centre to several generations of fans Tuesday night.

Despite their famous predecessors, the venue saw a lot of empty seats.

“There needs to be more advertising,” said Crystal Peard, who said she had trouble securing tickets to the one-night event. “I thought the show was sold-out.”

The performance started quite plainly with simple white lights for the first three songs.

As the night progressed, so did the amount of colour emulating from the small stage.

Large screens sat on either side of the stage in the shape of old television sets.

Every few songs, footage played featuring Beatles’ performances and their adoring fans. A few costume changes brought nostalgic commercials, including Carnation instant breakfast, Covergirl, and an ad for cigarettes.

After the band’s rendition

Emma Nicholls

HEY JUDE: Beatles cover band from the U.K., performing at the General Motors (GM) Centre. of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, the stage emptied and the arena lights came on, leaving some fans confused as to whether or not the show was finished.

Several GM centre employ-

ees were overheard assuring guests there was an hour left in the show after a 20-minute intermission.“I think the volume needs to be turned up and the people need to get up.

It’s the Beatles dammit,”

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Sports

Ridgebacks are true underdogs Kelsey Fran The Chronicle

UOIT’s men’s hockey team is in for a battle during the opening round of the playoffs.

To continue to the next round, the seventh-seeded Ridgebacks must beat the second place and nationally-ranked Carleton Ravens, who are 20-5-1 on the season.

The two squads have only met twice in regular season play this year, each time resulting in a loss for the Ridgebacks.

Head coach Craig Fisher says in order to win the team must be disciplined, putting an emphasis on strong goaltending and not taking penalties.

“We win with an A+ or A level game, where maybe they could win with a Bgame,” he says, referring to Carleton’s elite level of play.

Campus Ice Centre hosted the first game of the best-of-three series on Feb. 11.

The Ridgebacks fought hard trailing by one goal halfway through the third period, but ultimately fell to the Ravens 5-2.

“I think it was a fairly winnable game for us – we had it at 3-2 – again our margin of error is so small,” said UOIT head coach Craig Fisher in a separate interview after the game. “It’s the mental mistakes (that led to the goal). We have to force Carleton to beat us, we can’t beat ourselves at all.”

Having to beat a nationally-ranked team twice in a row doesn’t intimidate Fisher.

“We are the classic underdog story,” he says. “In those types of stories it just means we don’t have a tremendous amount of wiggle room if we’re going to win. In one sense it’s a lot more rewarding.”

Ridgebacks forward Mike Robinson says the players also know what it’s going to take to win games.

“The only way we’re going to beat teams is by playing together and following the systems the coaches have given us,” he says. “We’re playing the best teams in the league so, to beat them we have to win every race and want it more than they do.”

A first year communications student from Stouffville, Robinson finished the regular season with 16 points in 26

Kelsey Fran

WIN EVERY RACE: Ridgebacks forward Mike Robinson beats Ravens defencemen David Weckworth to the puck and maintains control during the 5-2 playoff loss at Campus Ice Centre on Feb.11. games.

“The feeling in the dressing room is excitement, everyone’s getting ready to get going,” he says. “I’m playing with Stoughty and Jarvy right now, I’m not sure but we’ve been together for the past couple games, so I think [Fisher] is keeping us together.”

Robinson’s linemates are Jesse Stoughton and Connor Jarvis. A strong line, considering the three players combined for 42 points this season.

“We truly need everybody, our depth is how we will win. It has to be wave after wave of all 20 players buying in and playing the same way,” says Fisher. “We want to make sure that we, as a group, are prepared and ready to give everything we have and have no regrets when it’s over.”

At Chronicle deadline only one game of the playoff series was completed. Go to www.chronicle.durhamcollege.ca for the up-to-date information.

Hot yoga: Hot or not?

Brittany Rout The Chronicle

Sean Sutcliffe

ROAD TO THE PLAYOFFS: Durham’s Jonathan Jealouse reaches for the ball during a 3-1 win over Algonquin Feb. 6.

Lords are perfect!

Sean Sutcliffe The Chronicle

Perfect during the regular season, now on to the playoffs.

The Durham Lords men’s volleyball team is off to the provincial championships after finishing the regular season with an undefeated record, 180.

By clinching the number one position in the East Division, the team automatically receives a bye into the Ontario championships, Feb. 27-March 1 at St. Clair College in Windsor.

Both the Lords men and women’s teams swept Sir Sandford Fleming’s Knights in their final regular season matches Feb. 12 at Durham.

The men’s team dominated in their game, winning 25-18, 25-16, 25-11. Erik Janssen had

14 kills, Jeremy Hoekstra seven and Nick Coleman six.

“The Oshawa- Peterborough rivalry it’s alive and well with Fleming,” said George Matsusaki, men’s volleyball head coach. “We got a veteran team, a lot of guys have been here before so we knew we had a good squad coming in.”

The Lords are ranked fourth in Canada entering provincials.

“They know going into the OCAA championships that it’s not going to be a cakewalk,” said Scott Dennis, Durham’s sports information and marketing officer.

The Durham women also cruised to victory, 25-15, 25-17, 25-16. The women are in the playoffs and learned their playoff schedule after our deadline.

(Check the Chronicle website for updates.)

A room full of yoga enthusiasts, some seasoned, some new to the practice, fill the 98-degree room of Power Yoga Canada in Oshawa. Sweat drips from every inch of their bodies as they perform various poses.

The beginners, asked to position themselves at the back, are given a helping hand from instructors who travel the room correcting form.

Brianna Henry, new to hot yoga, collapses under the weight of her own body. She has practiced yoga before, but the overwhelming heat causes her to give up far before she normally would.

“I needed to catch a breath and felt as though I couldn’t,” says Henry, recalling her first and last experience with hot yoga.

Brittany Rout

STRIKE A POSE: Certified yoga instructor Tejanna Olfert says she prefers regular yoga to hot yoga.

Kelly McCoy, at 200-hour certified hot yoga instructor, recalls cases of people feeling lightheaded or short of breath during preliminary visits to Power Yoga Canada, where she teaches Baptiste Power Yoga.

“Sometimes people will get dizzy because of the heat, but that will pass. It takes a couple of times to get used to it,” she says.

Founded by yoga teacher Baron Baptiste in early 1980 this form of yoga is practiced by people around the world and focuses not only on teaching, but living yoga.

Having taught both hot yoga and yoga without heat, McCoy supports and prefers the hot version. “It really helps you detox your body through sweating as well as relax your

muscles.”

Tejanna Olfert is also a certified yoga instructor, with 200 hours of professional training. Unlike McCoy, she prefers yoga without the heat.

“I used to practice hot yoga and I felt that I was losing what I was going to the classes for. It makes you more flexible, but I found myself sweating so much that I had to concentrate much more on the pose, as opposed to being able to just be in the pose,” she says.

Besides joint and muscle injuries from unfamiliar poses and movements, heat exhaustion is also a risk factor for those who practice hot yoga.

According to a fact sheet provided

by Health Canada, “health effects can occur as a direct result of exposure to excessive heat.” These effects include cramping, weakness, dizziness, nausea, vomiting and fainting.

Sports

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February 17, 2015

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DC hosts OCAA Men’s Basketball Meet the Durham Lords team...

Ajahmo Clarke # 22 Position: Guard

Anthony Batchelor Assistant Coach

Taurell Coutou # 15 Position: Forward

Saliym Cadogan Team Manager

Aaron Hayles #4 Position: Guard

Dylan Pellissero # 55 Position:Centre

Ticket prices

Tickets will be sold around Durham College’s campus and at the OCAA event.

Adult Tournament Pass $15 Student Tournament Pass $10 Adult Day Pass $7

Herold Excellent Assistant Coach

Darian Rowe # 21 Position: Forward

Kur Ngong # 44 Position: Guard

Desmond Rowley Head Coach

Marc-Anthony Small

Kedar John # 34 Position: Forward

Aaron Wiseman #2 Position: Guard

Eric Smith # 23 Position: Forward

Roynelle Meredith # 24 Position: Guard

# 12 Postion: Guard

OCAA schedule

Friday, March 6

Saturday, March 7

Sunday, March 8

Quarterfinals

Bronze Quarterfinals Game 5 - 1 p.m.

Game 6 - 3 p.m.

Bronze Semi-Finals Game 9 -10 a.m.

Game 10 - 12 p.m.

Semi-Finals Game 7 - 6 p.m.

Game 8 - 8 p.m.

Bronze Medal Game Game 11 -5 p.m.

Game 1 - 1 p.m.

Game 2 - 3 p.m.

Game 3 - 6 p.m.

Game 4 - 8 p.m.

Student Day Pass $5 100 Spirit T-Shirt and Student Pass $15

Gold Medal Game Game 12 - 7:30 p.m.

OCAA Championships from March 6-8 Jessica Maxwell The Chronicle

Durham College is hosting the OCAA Men’s Basketball Championships from March 6-8.

The top eight teams in Ontario will be competing for the provincial title and to win a spot in the national championships.

It will be hosted by Mohawk College in Hamilton from March 19 to the 21.

Durham College last won the OCAA and CCAA championships in 1997. They last hosted the OCAA in 2007 and hosted the CCAA in 2011.

Durham College’s men’s team has already qualified for the OCAA because they are the hosts.

They also hold the first seed in the OCAA East region.

The team was recently honoured with Team of the Week by the OCAA. Eric Smith plays forward for the team and is pleased about receiving this news.

“It feels good. It was a big accomplishment beating the two teams that beat us the first half of the season. Me being back in the line-up made a big difference playing two of the top teams in the east,” says Smith.

The men’s team worked

hard to get where they are but the head coach, Desmond Rowley says they don’t do it just to get the team of the week award.

“We’re just playing and we do a good job and people recognize what we’re doing,” says Rowley.

Rowley adds that there are no star players on the team and that the whole team should be celebrated.

“I don’t like to say we have star players. That doesn’t talk

about the other guys. We just have a good group team effort,” says Rowley. “Everyone gets involved, getting things done as a team.”

The team plays their next game against Loyalist College in Belleville on Friday, 20 at 8 p.m.

The first Durham Lords game will be on March 6 at 8 p.m. and they will be having a special ceremony for Kate Beirness of TSN SportsCentre,

as she is the former DC Lords Commentator.

Scott Dennis, sports information and marketing coordinator at Durham College, hopes to have the Raptors dance pack and mascot at the game as well and hopes the turnout will be great.

“We hope to have a pretty good student presence out supporting the team,” says Dennis.

The gold medal game will be on March 8 at 7:30 p.m.

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