Volume XLIII, Issue 13
chronicle.durhamcollege.ca
March 15 - 21, 2016
We might be able to get some of our students to India, to do practicums in country.
page 3
New faces at the SA page 3 Photograph by Andrew Brennan
A story about inaccessibility
page 7
Photograph by Andrew Brennan
Life with Degrassi in Oshawa
page 19
Photograph courtesy of Jordan Todosey
UOIT faculty strike decision coming this week
page 3
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March 15 - 21, 2016
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KCAB FRONT
Campus
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DC journalism students look at Durham College and UOIT, and beyond, by the numbers and with their cameras
The Chronicle Sudoku 9
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To Play Sudoku fill each 3 x 3 box with numbers 1-9. Each number can only appear once in each box set and once in each column and row. Sudoku by Sean Heeger and Michael Fletcher
Photographs by Tabitha Reddekop
New and improved The door to room G 107 has been enlarged to new heights as Josh Sparrow (above) demonstrates. Recent construction improved access to the room. Before, in a Chronicle photo from earlier this semester, Cameron Diskey had to duck to get into the room, which previously served as a squash court.
Campus
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March 15 - 21, 2016
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UOIT profs could strike Monday Mediator could be called in to help with negotiations Alyssa Bugg The Chronicle
Students should know by Thursday whether UOIT tenured and tenure-track faculty (TTTF) will strike on Monday, March 21, according to UOIT Faculty Association (UOITFA) president, Gary
Genosko. UOIT administration and the UOITFA were scheduled to meet Monday (after The Chronicle’s press deadline), Tuesday and Wednesday of this week. According to Genosko, a provincially-appointed mediator will be present on the final two days of negotiations. If UOIT and the UOITFA reach an agreement at these meetings, the UOITFA will bring the proposed collective agreement to the faculty for a ratification vote to approve or reject the deal. Genosko says the UOITFA is prepared to strike if necessary.
“Either we will be accepting from our national association, Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT), a cheque for $1 million to support the strike, and calling in the support offered by our brothers and sisters in Durham-based unions, or we will be calling in our members for a ratification vote,” says Genosko. Genosko adds that many students have spoken with him over the past week and expressed their frustration with the UOIT’s lack of preparedness and communication about the situation. The university has not released
whether they have a contingency plan in the case of a strike. “The parties are following the bargaining process that is used in Ontario, and are focused on concluding a new collective agreement as soon as possible,” says Melissa Levy, manager of communications at UOIT. “The terms of the agreement are still being negotiated by both parties. The university will communicate with the campus community if needed.” At the end of February, the UOITFA held a strike mandate vote with a result of 77.17 per cent of faculty showing their support if the union
feels a strike is necessary. According to Genosko, among the issues concerning the UOITFA are the university’s initial proposal of a zero-zero-zero wage increase over the next three years and budget concerns. The UOITFA represents both the more than 170 TTTF and 55 teaching faculty, which have separate collective agreements. The 55 teaching faculty will not be involved or affected by the potential strike. (The Chronicle will update this story on our Twitter @DCUOITChronicle and on our website chronicle.durhamcollege.ca)
'Student Voices' heard in SA election Andrew Brennan The Chronicle
Reem Dabbous is the new president of the Durham College and UOIT Student Association. All ten members of the Student Voices slate were elected to their respective positions, according to the unofficial election results released Friday. Dabbous led the charge and is the new SA president. She earned around 40 per cent of the presidential vote, with 656 votes. Incumbent president and Students Unite leader Jesse Cullen was unsuccessful in his re-election campaign. He finished second with 529 votes. Cerise Wilson finished third with 210 votes, Charlie Qaqish fourth with 176 and Parastoo Sadeghein was fifth with 59 votes in the race for president. In the race to become the vice-president of university affairs, Ramez Moussa earned 558 votes. He defeated Students Unite newcomer Mariam Abo Nokerah, who had 471. Vianney Nengue, the current AVP of college affairs at the Whitby campus, is now the vice-president of college affairs. He earned 308 votes and narrowly defeated Mike Guerard, who had 285. Student Voices representatives Israel Nieto and Robyn Walter were elected as
votes, while Jamila Alleyne was third with 295. Other positions were filled as follows: Vice-president of international affairs – Jankhan Patel Board director for DC media, art & design – A ndrew Budden Board director for DC health & community services – Bushra Khan Board director for DC business & IT – Chris Carey Board director for DC justice & emergency services – Helen Bradbury Board director for DC science & engineering technology – Asha Abdulwahab Board director for Whitby campus – Michael Liang Board director for UOIT business & IT – Ashank Menon Board director for UOIT engineering & applied science – Temi Oduyale Board director for UOIT science – Siddiq Moolla Board director for UOIT health science – Gabe Rose Board director for UOIT energy systems & nuclear science – Gabriel Photograph by Andrew Brennan Betlen Board director for UOIT social Newly elected Student Association VP of college affairs Vianney Nengue (left) sciences & humanities – Sara Venand President Reem Dabbous pose for a photo after the SA elections. tura Board director for graduate studies – Terry Price vice-presidents of the Downtown In another close race that saw dent of equity with 676 votes. She Overall, voting numbers in and Whitby/Pickering campuses about 1,600 students vote, Toritse defeated the current VP of equity the race for president were up by respectively. Ikomi became the new vice-presi- Reina Rexhmataj, who had 630 around 400 students.
New plans to develop higher quality education in India DC signs on to provide teachers with training Sachin Bahal The Chronicle
Durham College president Don Lovisa and UOIT president Dr. Tim McTiernan have signed agreements to help develop and deliver educational programming to India. The agreements were signed with Indian education company, Modi Edutech. They are looking to Durham
College to help train individuals in early childhood and early years education and UOIT to help with teacher education and curriculum development. In turn, those individuals will be able to work in the schools that are run by Modi Edutech in India. Modi Edutech is going to begin with 70 of its schools and then soon ramp up to 500 over the next few years. Mark Herringer, the executive director of international education at Durham College, is going to be fleshing out the details of this new agreement. He says early childhood education, “is not a common area of new, effective ways to implement.” training in India, so it’s kind of a The agreements were signed new area that they’re trying to find while both presidents were visiting
There is a need for training in India...
India as part of Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne’s 10-day India trade mission. Herringer and Lovisa said Durham’s participation on the trip was to express interest that the college wanted to work with Modi Edutech. He also says Modi Edutech already has some strong ties to Canada and has a sense of what the Canadian education system is like. Herringer also says this partnership will also give Durham College faculty some experience as to understanding what some of the needs are in India and which they can reflect on their own experience and teachings. “Ideally, if things move along well enough, we might be able to get
some of our students to India, to do some practicums in country, which is great experience for students to be able to get over and experience how other countries do things and be able to apply that to their learning and ideally when they graduate, they have that experience to draw on,” Herringer says. It can take a long time before Durham’s involvement in India begins, because of all the things that need to be checked off, according to Herringer. Those items include agreements on all the financial pieces and being able to have a sustainable plan and be able to adjust the plan to tailor the needs of the partners in India, Herringer says.
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March 15 - 21, 2016
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Editorial
PUBLISHER: Greg Murphy EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Brian Legree AD MANAGER: Dawn Salter
CONTACT US NEWSROOM: brian.legree@durhamcollege.ca ADVERTISING: dawn.salter@durhamcollege.ca
Students should have an answer by Thursday, March 17 whether UOIT tenured and tenure track faculty will strike on Monday, March 21. See our story on page 3.
Assault is assault: The Ghomeshi trial
The defense in the Jian Ghomeshi Trial asked for an acquittal as the testimonies given were “riddled with lies”. But what they fail to understand is that an assault is an assault; it cannot be ignored or shun away based on the consent of a victim. The Jian Ghomeshi trial has changed the way people look at sexual assault cases. In her crossexaminations, the defense lawyer Marie Henein tried to prove to the court that consent of victims does not make an assault harmful. The trial had some great twists and turns. The credibility of all three victims were questioned and proved uncertain. But none of the evidence found against the victims and their statements does anything to prove that Jian Ghomeshi is an
innocent man. The defense lawyer did an extremely good job protecting Jian Ghomeshi and bringing down the victims and their allegations. But what was done so well did not seem right. Is putting down the credibility of the witnesses the only way to prove that the abuse was untrue? This approach was disrespectful and disgusting. While the first witness described how she was punched repeatedly, all the defense could take from it was how she tried to contact Ghomeshi afterwards. The trial failed to highlight Ghomeshi’s wrong-doings and instead tried to focus on playing with the testimonies of the witnesses. It is natural for victims of abuse
EDITORS: Deen Albertini, Sachin Bahal, Andrew Brennan, Alyssa Bugg, Ryan Burden, Logan Caswell, Megan Chase, Bill Christou, Michael Clark, David Conti, Alexander Costa, Jordan Edmonds, Alyssa Erwin, Michael Fletcher, Jordyn Gitlin, Sean Heeger, Kyle Johnson, Shane O’Neill, Mariah Pardy, Sherise Peart-Kent, Reba Pennell, Remona Maria Pillai, Cameron Popwell, Taylor Prest, Cody Quinney, Amanda Ramlal, Tabitha Reddekop, Christopher Rego, Alexander Ross, Justin Stewart, Marina Tyszkiewicz, Sandhya Visvanathan, Taylor Waines.
to make decisions in haste, but it does not mean that the crime has not happened and the victim has not suffered. The 8-day trial was used to prove that all the three victims made contact with Ghomeshi after the assault. But what it should have focused on was the fact that a large number of women were being physically abused and assaulted by Ghomeshi. Eight of the victims came forward, how many more were there? And did he feel any remorse for his actions? This is something that has not yet come to light. Lucy DeCoutere, the only victim who does not have a publication ban, and has openly accused Ghomeshi for slapping her and choking her in the summer of 2003, was
vigorously questioned and crossexamined by defense lawyer Marie Henie. DeCoutere was the only one who came to the media with what happened to her and openly accused her assaulter, Jian Ghomeshi. As a result, she was scrutinized and accused for providing wrong information to the court and media. If nothing else, the court proceedings gave women a rough idea of how they would be treated by the court if they brought forth charges of an assault whether sexual or not. Outside of the court, DeCoutere inspired the hashtag #Ibelievelucy. She was the reason many victims came forward to express their grief and came out with their stories on assaults that they have faced. Her bravery started a national conversa-
tion about sexual assault. After taking so many steps to bring out the monster in Jian Ghomeshi, DeCoutere was treated as a scheming woman who used Jian Ghomeshi to make a scandal out of nothing and boost her acting career. It can be concluded that instead of giving women the confidence to stand up and tell the world of what they go through on a daily basis, instead of telling the stories that loom in the darkness, they will now shun away and hide from the justice system to avoid losing their dignity and pride in the process. Let us hope this is not the outcome.
Remona Pillai
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The Chronicle is published by the Durham College School of Media, Art
and Design, 2000 Simcoe Street North, Oshawa, Ontario L1H 7L7, 7212000 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.
Publisher: Greg Murphy
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March 15 - 21, 2016
Opinion
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Photograph by Tabitha Reddekop
Anastasia Lessard, 3, enjoys playing with her Barbies at her home in Oshawa. But do her dolls need an upgrade?
The beef about Barbie Is Barbie's new shape better for self-esteem of girls?
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wo small girls grasp Barbie’s slender figure with their chubby fingers. The girls pull the doll’s bodies into shimmering pink evening gowns and plastic ballet flats. Excitedly, they babble amongst themselves as they twist the doll’s bodies into pirouettes and twirls. Looking down at the girls happy upturned faces, it’s hard to imagine how such innocent fun can be considered harmful, but Barbie has been blamed for issues from low self-esteem to eating disorders among girls since her creation in 1959. After years of accusations from angry mothers and a loss of profits, Mattel, the company that produces the controversial doll, announced a new line of Barbies. This may curb some of the criticisms. The new Barbie line incorporates many body types including tall, petite and curvy dolls. The new line, which first appeared on the shelves this month, has been making headlines since its announcement in February. The newest dolls even graced the front cover of a February edition of Time magazine. Although this is a revolutionary step for Barbie, the new collection shouldn’t be regarded as a messiah in the toy world as there has been little evidence to suggest girls expect to look like the doll or whether there’s any lasting affects of playing with her. Barbie’s new bod may win over previous naysayers, but it’s unlikely her
Tabitha
Reddekop evolved form will affect anything other than product sales. If Barbie were a real woman, she’d be forced to walk on all fours. This is one of the many facts that are cited on parenting blogs to Tumblr posts as a case against Barbie and her impossible proportions. The argument is Barbie’s proportions are so unrealistic that a real woman with the same proportions wouldn’t even be able to hold herself upright. The Huffington Post took the facts a step further, listing exact measurements for every part of Barbie as if she were an actual person, including her wrists and ankles. Although these are interesting observations for adults, what child compares their own wrists with the wrists on a doll? Just as children who play with Lego people don’t expect their own body to take on the same blocky form, the same is likely for those who play with Barbie. This is the same viewpoint of the Barbie Project. The project was started by a group of moms across North America as an effort to encourage other parents to share the unique moments they have observed between their children and Barbies. The point of the project is to show
how differently children view the world as compared to adults and to combat the negative view many have of the doll. Although there is nothing wrong with creating a more realistic doll, for many girls whose dolls might take on the role of a ballerina and a superhero simultaneously, the added realism won’t be noticed. One of the reasons people react so strongly to Barbie’s unrealistic proportions is because of the fear her body will cause self-esteem issues amongst girls who aspire to be like her. A body image study done at Rutgers University in 2009 had girls play with the dolls before surveying their self-esteem. This study found little difference between those who played with the doll and those who hadn’t. Another study done in 2011, which surveyed adult women who played with Barbies growing up, found no difference in self-esteem between those who had and hadn’t played with Barbie during childhood. According to Dr. Leslie Sim, clinical director of the Mayo Clinic’s eating disorder program and a child psychologist, this is because parents have more of an influence on children’s self-esteem than their toys do. This has also been a long held view of Mattel in defense of its dolls. Even though the newest dolls may appear better for girl’s self-esteem at first glance, in the end nurture will make the real difference on how girls feel about their bodies.
Although this new doll may resurrect Mattel’s suffering sales, on the empowerment scale it is not likely to have a long-term effect. Outside factors, such as parental affection, have a more lasting impact on how a girl feels about her body. So instead of barring Barbie from your home or running out to buy the new collection, try giving your daughter a hug and letting her know she is beautiful.
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March 15 - 21, 2016
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UOIT students hungry for change Shane O’Neill The Chronicle
A company started by a pair of nuclear engineering students at UOIT is one of the start-ups to watch in 2016, according to the Spark Centre for Innovation in Durham. The pair wants to wants to help bring agriculture into cities and urban centres, and they believe they have the system to do just that. For most residents of Durham and the GTA, getting fresh fruit and vegetables is as simple as going to the nearest grocery store or farmers’ market. In remote communities, however, access to fresh food can be difficult and costly. High transportation costs make everyday staples expensive. The Nunavut Bureau of Statistics reports that in March 2015, the average price for 1kg of carrots in Canada was $1.98. For Nunavut, the price was $6.17. A falling loonie makes the price of imported produce unpredictable and residents in Canada’s urban centres are starting to feel the same pinch that residents in small, northern communities feel everyday. Michael Veneziano and Timothy Sarvendran are the founders of Turnkey Aquaponic Solutions. It’s a company the pair started as a business pitch project for the Spark Centre’s Ignite Durham Start Up pitch competition, which they won in the student category. “A lot of our groceries are imported from places worldwide,” Sarvendran said. “We think that aquaponic technology can help to grow food in our cities and reduce the footprint of agriculture.” Turnkey has built a fully func-
Photograph by Shane O'Neill
Michael Veneziano (left) and Timothy Sarvendran are the founders of Turnkey Aquaponic Solutions, which helps bring agriculture into cities.
tional growing system with a something called a “Combined Power and Heat Generator” (CPH) that has a special bio-digester and turbine that generate electricity to run lights and create heat. It’s a fully self-sufficient system that can grow almost anything, anywhere. Here’s how it works.
- Aquaponic systems grow plants in water with no soil. This water is fertilized using naturally occurring bacteria cultures and waste produced by fish. The bacteria convert the fish waste into nitrites, a critical ingredient in farm fertilizer. - This fertilized water is then pumped into growing beds where
the roots of plants pull nutrients directly from the water, more efficiently than in soil. The water then goes back into the system and fish tanks to begin the cycle again. - It’s a closed loop system that uses less than 10 per cent of the water required by traditional agriculture, making farming faster, cheaper, eas-
ier on the environment and more accessible in remote communities. Veneziano explained that their business isn’t centered on growing plants primarily, “We’re looking at how does our system fit into the larger ecosystem of agriculture,” he said. Once operational, Turnkey will be one of only a handful of aquaponic systems in Ontario. As of 2016, just one other company markets aquaponically grown food in the GTA. Aqua Greens is Ontario’s largest commercial aquaponic system. They grow produce at a facility near Pearson Airport to sell to restaurants and caterers, and at farmers markets like Wychwood Barns in Toronto. For co-owners Craig Petten and Pablo Alvarez, getting into the food business was not without its challenges. While Petten and Alvarez say that municipalities across the GTA have expressed interest and encouragement in the project, getting certified as an approved “farm” was met with mountains of paperwork. But, after starting in 2013 and a successful kickstarter campaign in 2014, they plan to expand Aqua Greens later this year. “We want to be socially oriented.” Alvarez said. “How do we feed our communities? How do we increase the economic benefit [of growing] greens for our cities?” Aqua Greens hope to help address these questions as food security becomes a bigger issue. For the time being, Veneziano and Sarvendran spilt their focus between Turnkey and their nuclear engineering studies at UOIT. But, they hope to have a system ready to market by next year.
Conversation is lacking with students Tabitha Reddekop The Chronicle
For Eric Gustavsen, starting a club for Durham College students to practise their English skills is a dream come true, but the low student turnout has left him disappointed. The Durham College ESL specialist says the weekly meetings of the Conversation Circle have attracted only one to three students since it started in January. “It becomes less of a conversation circle and more of conversation line or triangle,” he says. The club meets every Tuesday and Wednesday from noon to 1 p.m. at the Student Services Building in room SSB204T. Gustavsen says he started the club this year so students could have a place to practice their English skills on campus. “A lot of times students who are coming here from other countries, whether they came recently or years ago, have trouble entering the culture,” he explains. He says these students sometime struggle with forming friendships and getting jobs. “I’ve seen how nervous they are about their future in terms of employment. I’ve seen how hard it is
for them to join with English speakers in any capacity.” He says the biggest challenge has been getting the word out about the club and finding a time that works with the largest majority of students. He says 10 people attended the first session but attendance numbers have dropped since then because of the scheduling issues or student forgetfulness. Gustvsen says the school used to have a club for ESL students in the past, but he is hoping to revitalize the idea. He says he was encouraged to start up the group again because many students have approached him looking for ways to improve their English skills. “I don’t think the need [now] is different than before. I think the need exists all the time.” A similar club, called the Conversation Café already exists on the UOIT campus. The club, started by Catherine Lee in 2010, is exclusively for UOIT students and averages 15 to 25 students attending each weekly session. Gustavsen says he is open to inspiration from the Conversation Café that he can adapt for his own club.
Photograph by Tabitha Reddekop
Eric Gustavsen is disappointed with student turnout for the 'Conversation Circle.'
“I can see it (The Conversation chance to meet, talk to each other pends on the students. Circle)…evolving more into a social and network,” he says. “If students recognize the benefit thing so students from any backHe says ultimately what direction of it [the club], I think there is more ground could come in and have a the club takes and where it goes de- of a drive to get there.”
News
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March 15 - 21, 2016
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Inaccessibility in Durham Region Andrew Brennan The Chronicle
S
un peers over the horizon. As Carly Hippern’s neighbours sleep, she frantically calls Durham Region Transit (DRT) specialized services. The dispatch picks up and she explains her grandfather is in the hospital and doesn’t have much time to live. She needs to get there quickly. Every minute is critical. Hours later, the driver arrives. Hippern reaches the hospital just before noon. Her grandfather had died 20 minutes earlier. Hippern says the driver was never even notified of her situation. “They just don’t care,” Hippern says with frustration. “But maybe they would if they had to spend a day in a wheelchair.” That sentiment is echoed by almost every person in this story: Carly’s husband Paul Hippern, Michelle Marhsall of Participation House, as well as members of the Whitby Abilities Centre, Tim Van Leeuwen, Bill Thompson and Haris Farid. Durham Region has a population of around 650,000 and according to Statistics Canada, approximately 70,000 are living with a disability. That means one out of every ten people in the region requires wheelchair accessible bathrooms, ramps, elevators and automatic doors. Yet these are in short supply. At the core, the problem is not the hardware. It is humans. Michelle Marshall, executive director at Participation House (PH), explains the biggest barrier for individuals with disabilities is the community’s attitude towards them. Participation House is a non-profit organization that supports and provides a range of services to individuals with physical and developmental disabilities throughout Durham Region. People wrongly accuse non-profit organizations of being nothing more than charities. Participation House is battling that idea and changing the paradigm with its Thank You Durham campaign. The purpose of Thank You Durham is to show appreciation for people making a difference in their community. It also functions as a way for persons with disabilities to show how independent they can be. Individuals supported by Participation House will deliver the awards to the recognized nominees. In its first year, Thank You Durham, which began on January 26 and runs until April 30, works to bring the community together. Participation House plans to turn it into an annual celebration,
Marshall says. In addition to the various services it offers throughout the year, Participation House also holds the Life Readiness program. PH partners with Durham College and UOIT to provide adults with disabilities (18-years-old and older) the opportunity to live independently. The South Village residence becomes their home for the month of July. Those who join the program at a younger age can then act as mentors for new members, Marshall says. The purpose of these initiatives is to create a cultural shift in order to change the ideas people have about physical and developmental disabilities and inspire a total inclusive community, Marshall says. Tim Van Leeuwen, a member of the Whitby Abilities Centre, also works to find a solution to the barriers facing people with disabilities. Van Leeuwen has addressed accessibility in letters and emails he’s sent to Clarington mayor Adrian Foster, Durham MPP Granville Anderson, DRT general manager Vincent Patterson, DRT deputy general manager Martin Ward and more. Van Leeuwen says the problem is people don’t get it and for those who do, they just don’t care. He says every city councillor, politician and/or policy maker should spend a day in a wheelchair to see how their policies truly affect everyone. Van Leeuwen believes a problem for persons with disabilities is their vulnerability. He’s witnessed people he knows breaking down in tears after missing funerals because they lack accessible transit. Carly Hippern is not the only person to experience that loss. She won’t be the last if changes to the system aren’t made. In his email to Adrian Foster, Van Leeuwen references this lack of transit and explains persons with disabilities still have responsibilities and social lives that are “paramount to [their] mental health.” Van Leeuwen says waiting for transit at night is particularly dangerous because he’s a “sitting duck” in the street. However, he explains he doesn’t send these letters and try to find a solution only for himself. Van Leeuwen does it for his friends at the Abilities Centre and the 70,000 people in Durham Region living with a disability. One of those friends is Bill Thompson. He says one of the greatest problems with DRT specialized services is the advanced planning it requires. According to their website, DRT specialized services takes “next day trip reservations”. These trips, according to the
Photograph by Andrew Brennan
(From left) Tim Van Leeuwen, Bill Thompson, Chris Quinn and Rick Nehring at the Whitby Abilities Centre.
Carly and Paul Hippern come together at Participation House in Whitby. site, may be booked up to seven days in advance. However, Van Leeuwen and Thompson say they must book seven days in advance if they hope to reserve a vehicle. Thompson says it’s impossible to know those details so far in advance. What do you do when you want to go somewhere?” he asks. The restrictions on booking stop individuals from truly living their lives, says Thompson. For Carly Hippern, they stopped her from witnessing the end of a life.
Someone needs to plant the tree today so tomorrow someone can sit in the shade. DRT specialized services (formerly known as Handi Transit) implemented no-show/cancellation policy around a year ago. Any trip cancelled with less than 12 hours of notice is considered a late cancellation and the customer is penalized with one demerit point. Customers must be ready 15 minutes before their scheduled pick-up time, and drivers are only required to wait five minutes before leaving. If the customer is not available at the scheduled pick-up time and location, they are considered a “noshow” and are given two demerit points. Both numbers are doubled if the late cancellation or no-show is for a round trip. The creation of these rules was supported by approximately 2,500 special services reserved trips being wasted in 2014 because passengers didn’t show up, or only cancelled when the driver arrived. Regardless of the rationale behind them, these policies limit the freedom of DRT specialized services passengers. Tim Van Leeuwen and Bill Thompson use public transportation rather than specialized ser-
vices because of these restrictions. However, they still face issues such as extended waiting periods, public buses only having two wheelchair accessible spots and simply traveling to bus stops in adverse weather conditions. Snow is especially challenging. Oshawa by-law states residents must remove snow from their property and attached sidewalk by midnight of the first day following the end of a snowfall. The Whitby by-law also says the clearing of driveways, including the snow windrow left by plows (road and or sidewalk), is the responsibility of the property owner. Even with these bylaws, a lack of accessibility to these sidewalks still causes problems for those in Durham Region who use wheelchairs. For Haris Farid, living in Toronto before moving to the Durham Region has exposed these weaknesses. He notices a particular lack of accessibility during the winter. Farid jests that you can’t control the weather but you can control snow removal from sidewalks and roads, and general upkeep of both. Unfortunately, it isn’t only in winter that sidewalks aren’t accessible. Farid remembers a time his wheelchair got caught in the raised sidewalk where an opening should have been. He fell forward, facefirst. His wheelchair rolled back into traffic. There are many sidewalks in Durham with that problem, Farid says. To avoid falling face-first from his chair again, Farid travels on the road. The Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA) says Ontario will be completely accessible by Jan. 1, 2025. That’s becoming increasingly difficult for some to believe. Many sidewalks still have curbs rather than slopes for wheelchairs to enter. David Lepofsky is chair of the AODA Alliance. He’s been an advocate of persons with disabilities and has practiced law in Ontario for over 30 years. His experience consists of work in constitutional, civil, administrative and criminal law. He formerly led the Ontarians with Disabilities Act Committee. That committee’s tireless effort led
Photograph by Andrew Brennan
to the passage of the Ontarians with Disabilities Act in 2001 and the AODA in 2005. Lepofsky says the provincial government hasn’t made significant progress in making Ontario fully accessible in the ten years since the AODA passed. If changes aren’t made to Ontario’s accessibility, today’s youth will suffer. As Tim Van Leeuwen says, “someone needs to plant the tree today so tomorrow someone can sit in the shade.” He’s planting that proverbial tree for individuals such as Kurtis Venhoven. Venhoven, only in his early 20s, sees the weaknesses with DRT specialized services. He’s arrived at Participation House an hour before it opens and has been left alone and forced to wait until staff arrives to let him in the building. Venhoven has also been forgotten at his home with no warning. However, he still says his overall experience with DRT has been positive. But it’s impossible to ignore the system failing him, just as it has with Carly Hippern. Hippern never said goodbye to her grandfather because the system failed her. Durham Region’s lack of accessibility has left and continues to leave everlasting imprints on its residents. In Whitby, the Abilities Centre smashes the physical barriers while Participation House fights to change the stigma behind the attitudinal barriers. Initiatives such as Thank You Durham and the Life Readiness Program provide individuals with disabilities an opportunity at independence while simultaneously working to unite the community. The AODA promises to make Ontario accessible by 2025. But the residents of Durham Region must also make a promise, one which doesn’t take ten years to fulfill. Carly Hippern knows full well what is lost when time ticks on. She missed seeing her grandfather by 20 minutes, after waiting hours for transportation. For those who still don’t see the importance of an accessible community, maybe it’s time to heed the advice of Hippern, Van Leeuwen, Thompson, Farid and Venhoven. Spend just one day in a wheelchair and see if your perspective on accessibility in the Durham Region changes.
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New voting system needed to bring Canada to 21st Century Michael Clark The Chronicle
Maryam Monsef, the Canadian Minister of Democratic Institutions for the Trudeau government, says that while a first-past-the-post (FPTP) electoral system has its advantages, a mature democracy like Canada can do better. While flawed, a FPTP electoral system would be great for fledgling democracies like Afghanistan, the country Monsef fled as a child. But Monsef says Canada is a strong and modern country and so the system now seems outdated for many Canadians. It’s now Monsef’s job to make sure the 2015 federal election is the last election to use the outdated system. The goal, she says, is change the system so that voters can get engaged again, improve turnout, and make Canadians feel that their vote matters. Meanwhile, the Conservatives are open for change in the electoral system but want Canadians to make the final decision with a nation-wide referendum on electoral reform, instead of the Liberal’s soon-to-be-constituted, special all-party committee. Monsef has almost dismissed the idea of a referendum but hasn’t ruled it out yet saying, ”We need to consider different ways of voting, yes, but we also need to consider online voting, we also need to consider the voting age… So to reduce this national conversation to a simple ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ is taking a short cut and doing a great disservice to Canadians.” Referendums for electoral system change have been shot down in the past. Provincial electoral reform proposals in B.C., Ontario, and P.E.I. have lost, while a national referendum would be even more difficult, with any proposal on this issue having to have a significant support in all regions, if not all provinces. Some polls have even shown that many Canadians don’t want their electoral system changed. The FPTP system is familiar and simple. If a candidate gets the most votes, then he or she wins the seat. Although this victory has usually ended with less then 50 per cent of the vote for the winner as was the case for last year’s federal election, with the Liberal’s only gaining 39.47 per cent of the total national vote. Conservatives have also accused the Liberal government of potentially rigging the system to ensure stronger Liberal victories for future elections. Accusation by the Conservatives is because Trudeau is in favour of a ranked ballot, which would rate preferences and trailing candidates’ second choices are counted until one emerges with more than 50 per cent of the vote. Conservatives believe this will favour centrist Liberals, who are most likely to be the second choice of other parties’ supporters. However, Trudeau has asked Monsef to search for other options as well, including proportional representation, electoral system that are used in Germany and New Zealand.
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Science stems from curiosity at UOIT Taylor Waines The Chronicle
What do thermocouples, wind-turbines and heartbeats all have in common? Each is a one of the topics young scientists have explored for the Durham Regional Science Fair (DRSF). The University of Ontario Institute of Technology (UOIT) has hosted the fair since 2005, with half of the projects from Durham moving onto the Canada-Wide Science Fair (CWSF). Scientists are geniuses is far from
the truth, according to one of the most notable scientists, Albert Einstein. “I am not a genius I am just passionately curious,” Einstein once said. To many this is an absurd statement. Lauren Reid, a past competitor in the Durham, Canada-wide and international fairs, says science isn’t about being a genius. In her TEDxYouth video Science is for everyone, Reid says science is a natural instinct. “We are naturally curious, we need to know…science is just being curious and asking why, two things
we do naturally,” Reid says in her video. Reid not only competed in previous years, but also continues to promote science and even founded the science fair at her school, O’Neill Collegiate and Vocational Institute. Reid says terms such as ‘genius’, ‘prodigy’ and ‘whiz kid’ are misleading, and can stop some students from competing, thinking they are not smart enough. It’s all about asking why and then doing something about it, she shares in her video. Reid has been named one of Canada’s ‘Top 20 under 20’.
So maybe your IQ isn’t as high as Albert Einstein’s. But according to Einstein and Reid, science is not about a number on a standardized test, but rather curiosity to know
and the drive to ask. The fair is open to students in Grades 7 through 12 and the winner receives an all-expenses paid trip to this year’s CWSF in Montreal
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Building bridges for graduates
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Mariah Pardy The Chronicle
Finding a job straight out of college can be hard to think about when balancing schoolwork and meeting deadlines, but with some help, you’re sure to get where you need to be. Outreach Coordinator, Louise Stiles, works at Durham College as support staff. Her duties involve getting students to where they need to be career-wise once their post-secondary experience is beginning to come to an end. “Part of my role is to facilitate connections between employers, faculty, and students whether it be for placement or part-time work,” said Stiles. Stiles’ work focuses on resume and cover letter preparation as well as organizing the job fairs on campus and says that overall many of the highlights fall into place when students let her know that they have found work. “In addition, I meet one-on-one with students to discuss resumes, cover letters, career planning, future paths and potential of further education,” said Stiles. “And overall, helping a student to think about what might make a career meaningful means asking the right questions and letting the student do the homework.” If you visit hired. durhamcollege.ca, there are a num-
Photograph by Mariah Pardy
Louise Stiles, Outreach coordinator for Durham College. She works with students to help them find employment during threir time at DC. ber of options you can choose from regarding employment information and opportunities. Here, you can choose options as an employer, student, faculty and alumni. As a student, you are able to search for job postings, sign up for
targeted job posting e-mail notifications and book appointments to have your job search better fit your skills and assets. Even as an employer searching to hire, you are able to connect with students and alumni about job postings, advertise and manage
job postings and book information sessions for on-campus. Faculty can even access hired. durhamcollege.ca to book in-class career education seminars and to find job postings for students who are looking for employment. For those who are interested, the
next job fair is Wednesday, February 3rd at the Campus Recreation and Wellness Centre. For more information, visit hired. durhamcollege.ca or contact Outreach Coordinator Louise Stiles, at 905-721-2000 ext. 2322 or by email: louise.stiles@durhamcollege.ca
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Still time to vote in School Cup Challenge Students have a chance to win prizes Ryan Burden The Chronicle
Durham College is pitting each academic school against one another in a friendly competition to see which has the highest student participation. Students can participate in the third annual School Cup Challenge (SCC) online by answering a three-question survey on Durham College’s website. The survey allows students to reflect on their favourite memories during college, as well as the opportunity to win a variety of prizes including $500, a FitBit, and a pair of Maple Leafs tickets. This competition is open now until March 18 to all students graduating in 2016. The winners of the draw will be announced March 21. Alumni operations administrator Sally Hillis says there are plenty of other great benefits for participating. “[Students also get] free pizza and pop,” she says. “What’s not to like about it?” In participating, students also give their academic school the opportunity to win a large bursary. The school with the highest number of students participating in the challenge will win a $1,000 bursary, and the runner-up will receive $500. This money will be given to a student in 2017, which coincides with Durham College’s 50th anniversary. “That’s the nice thing about this competition. It’s a way for students to give back to other students so they can enjoy the same great experience,” Hillis says. The schools participating in the challenge include Business Information Technology Management (BITM), Media Art and Design (MAD), Centre for Food (CFF), Continuing Education, Health and Community Services (HCS), Interdisciplinary Studies (IS), Science and Engineering Technology (SET), Justice and Emergency Services ( JES) and the School of Skilled Trades, Apprenticeship and Renewable Technology (START). CFF had the highest participation last year, while START won the first year. The trophy has not been claimed within the Oshawa campus yet. In addition to the survey, students were welcomed to a “Party in the Pit” event hosted by the Alumni Association on March 3. The event will be hosted again on March 14. Further, students have the opportunity to attend the fifth annual Countdown to Grad, a pre-graduation party that allows graduates to find out information on convocation, employment services and the benefits to being an alumnus. Students do not have to register for this event.
“I encourage [students] to participate because they’ve worked very hard and it’s fun to celebrate that they’re almost at the finish line,” Hillis says. “What better way to celebrate than to think of all the memories you’ve earned here and shared here – and have a chance to win $500 to celebrate!” Students interested in the individual prizes do not have to be a part of the winning academic school. All graduates have equal opportunity to claim the prizes in a draw. “They can use [the money] to have a big party, or use it to help with the next step in their development and career,” she says. “Like a suit for that upcoming interview.” Participants will receive an alumni association gift and a free pizza lunch. This event was held on March 8 at the Oshawa Campus, March 9 at the Whitby Campus, and will be held March 15 at the Pickering Learning Site.
Living the Flex life
Tabitha Reddekop The Chronicle
For Angie Wood, fitness is more than just a passion. It is her job. She has been the Durham College’s and UOIT’s fitness co-ordinator at the Flex for almost six years, but she didn’t always want the position. “I said no. I’m really happy where I am but I’ll help you out while you look for somebody,” she recalls. Wood was a fulltime teacher working with disabled students but her passion for fitness kept her in the gym. She often could be found working out or leading group fitness classes. “I would run, change my clothes and put my dress clothes back on and go to my other job,” she says. When the fitness co-ordinator position opened up, she was asked to apply for the position. She declined the offer but said she would help out until they could find a replacement. But a month later she
Photograph by Tabitha Reddekop
Angie Wood at the Flex.
was hooked. She says it was nice to be in one place and not have to rush in and out. She also enjoys the atmosphere in the gym. “People are usually at the gym because they want to be here,” she explains.
Part of her job includes managing the flex staff and planning fitness schedules but the opportunity also let her continue to explore her love of group fitness. Since she started working as the fitness co-ordinator, the number of fitness classes has expanded from five per week to just over 35 per week and the flex now continues to offer classes throughout the summer. She teaches some of the fitness classes herself but her favorites are the spin classes. “The intensity of spin…the music and the people in the class are all reasons that make me want to keep teaching it.” But there is more then just spin classes available. Wood says there is something for everyone – from dance to athletic training. “One of my favourite things is seeing non-gym users or people who previously thought they couldn’t use the gym, come and find a place. here,” she says with a smile.
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Photograph by Alex Ross
Cale Crowe, a second year music business management student at Durham College, performing at a fundraiser held by the public relations program at the Tudor Arms pub in Pickering.
Students band together to raise money Alex Ross
The Chronicle Alex Salzmann knows all about the efforts that Sick Kids Hospital puts into its work. Salzmann was admitted to Sick Kids when he was one year-old after a complication with a severe burn that led to loss of circulation to his hand. The doctors said he was at risk of losing some of his fingers and possibly his whole hand. Thankfully the work they did with him helped him recover and is now repaying Sick Kids by using his hand to play guitar in a local band, Sight by City. Salzmann is more than pleased to donate his time to help Sick Kids. Durham College students in the public relations program hosted a
music night to raise money for Sick Kids and the Humane Society of Durham Region. There was live music all night with performances by Cale Crowe, W4KE, Sight by City and Stranded Cruiser at the Tudor Arms pub in Pickering. All the performers are local and based around the same age group of people the group had hoped to draw out. “It’s really for both us and the people coming out to support the cause,” says Lisa Presta, one of the group members who organized the March 4 event. The class voted as a whole to decide which charities were most deserving to raise money for, according to Eddie Rhodes, another group member. Despite this class
vote, these two charities have had a great impact on the community with the bands having associations with them. “It has a personal connection for me,” says Salzmann. Although many bands work hard to get money to support themselves, they often end up puttering out due to lack of cash flow. Salzmann says it’s worth the time to play a fundraiser with no profit. “I like the cause. I’m not going to ask for money for a good cause,” says Salzmann. This show at the Tudor Arms pub wasn’t Sight by City’s first fundraising event. They recently played at The Bear, another Pickering bar, for Transsexual Awareness month. Another of the performers also
has a connection to Sick Kids and charities in general. Cale Crowe, a solo performer from Durham Region and also a second year music business management student at Durham College, was born on a First Nations Reserve and grew up in a low-income community. Crowe doesn’t just have an appreciation for charities and the work they do, he has a special connection to Sick Kids as well. “I’ve had a lot of friends go in and out of Sick Kids and they’re around today because of Sick Kids,” says Crowe. Crowe was able to start his music career because of charity work and a donation given to him by a local business, which wishes to remain anonymous, to help pursue his pas-
sion. The owner of the business saw Crowe play at a show in the summer of 2014 and wanted to help him start his career by supporting his first album. “I was fortunate enough to receive a grant and I was able to do this EP,” says Crowe. The work done in the PR program at Durham College helped the community come together as a whole with a common goal of raising money for these charities. The charities chosen by the class are very well-known and people are pleased to donate money, especially in return for a night of fun and entertainment. “Everybody has a special place for Sick Kids,” says Dylan Cooper, member of the organizing group.
and hosting bigger bands for the Oshawa community to watch as entertainment. To remember the legacy of Mike Star, a tribute concert is going to be held. On April 2, 2016 at branch 43 of the Royal Canadian Legion, a tribute concert for Star will be held featuring bands like Chalk Circle, and U.I.C., which previously played at the Star Club shows. The show is meant to remember Star’s legacy, and to help promote music as a career choice for those with a passion for it. The shows proceeds, which consist of the concert, silent auction and merchandise sales, a raffle, and community donations, will all go to-
wards a scholarship for one student in Durham College’s music business management program. Greg Murphy, dean of Media Arts and Design at Durham College, says that although Oshawa lost an inspirational man, remembering him by giving opportunities to students is a good way to remember Star’s legacy. “Well I think any time you take a business-man’s legacy and you convert it into educating people about the progress that he or she made, and you make that available to students who have already shown that’s what they want to do, and you support them in their pursuit, well then I think it’s a very good use of those funds for an event like that.”
Will McGuirk, one of the organizers of the Star tribute and Durham College graduate, says that it’s great that he can help out a student financially. “If I can contribute in some way to some student, I think it’s fantastic, and the opportunity to help a student, at least financially, to achieve their goal in the music industry and business, I think Mike would be thrilled at that.” With a show that will bring together generations for Mike Star’s tribute, and a scholarship to help educate someone who is eager to learn about the music industry, it seems the legacy of Mike Star isn’t quite done being built, even after his passing.
Oshawa remembers big star in the music scene Star Records store owner passed away last year Bill Christou The Chronicle
Oshawa lost one of its biggest supporters of its music scene on September 11, 2015. Mike Shulga, more commonly known as Mike Star, opened Star Records in 1974, giving constant access to vinyl records even after popular music mediums changed to cd and then to digital downloads. Star was known for heavily supporting the Oshawa indie/punk
scene, and his store is still open on Simcoe St. S. despite his passing. Star, who not only managed his own record label, but also put together concerts known for giving Ontario bands an opportunity to be heard. The “Star Club live shows,” which ran frequently from 1978 until 1992, featured both popular and new bands. The shows were an integral part of the ever-growing music scene in Oshawa, giving new bands opportunities to prepare for bigger shows,
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A Degrassi star's story Oshawa-born and raised actress got her big break at an early age Amanda Ramlal
JOB TITLE: Canadian Actress
As a young girl Jordan Todosey loved acting out different scenarios she saw on TV. She pretended to be the people in movies and the animals around her home. The love for pretending bloomed early for her when her mom began putting her in commercials, her first for Tropicana orange juice. Todosey is 21 and though it seems like she’s achieved her dreams to be on TV she still has a lot to look forward to. At the age of eight Todosey appeared on a popular Family Channel TV show Life with Derek. Nothing has stopped the Oshawa born and raised actress staying true to her passion for performing in front of a camera. Todosey says once she realized she could make a living out of pretending to be someone else she knew that’s exactly what she wanted to do. She has earned a Gemini Award for Best Performance in a Children’s Youth Program/Series for her role as Adam Torres, the first transgender character in Degrassi. Todosey has also won a Golden Sheaf Award for Best Female Performance in the movie Santa Baby. Growing up with the love to act
WHY SHE’S A 2016 TOP 40: Jordan Todosey is a Top 40 because she proves that no matter where you’re born you can make your dreams come true and aspire for more. Todosey has made her appearance on many home TVs on popular Canadian shows.
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created challenges in Todosey’s life as a child. Teachers weren’t able to understand why she wasn’t at Durham Christian Academy or why she was an eight-year-old with a job, she says. “They didn’t give as much lenience as one would hope,” says Todosey. But Todosey stuck to her plan and has managed to hit the TV screens of popular Canadian TV shows like Degrassi, Rookie Blue and Life with Derek. She has also starred alongside actor Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson in The Pacifier for her first big role. Todosey has never taken an acting class in her life but never gave up on achieving what she wanted to pursue in life. “Since I first started auditioning all I heard were ‘no’s’, I got used
Photograph courtesy of Jordan Todosey
Canadian actress Jordan Todosey poses with her Gemini Award for Best Performance in a Children's Program.
to the ‘no’ before the ‘yes’s’ and it made the ‘yes’ much more exciting,” says Todosey. She also says she takes away inspiration from a lot of people to help
motivate herself as well as finding peace in yoga. “It’s inspiring seeing my generation, people I went to school with doing the same kind of creative art
pieces that I do,” she says. Todosey says her breakthrough would be making it onto American TV shows and expanding her fame North American-wide.
Xbox One backwards compatibility still needs improvement to run smoothly Playing Sean old Xbox Heeger games on the latest system When Microsoft announced that Xbox One was going to be backwards compatible with Xbox 360 games, fans present at the announcement, and on message boards everywhere went nuts. This meant one of the most requested features was finally coming to the Xbox One. But three months into the backwards compatibility program and there some issues that have been brought up by gamers that Microsoft needs to address. The first and probably biggest problem is the lack of quality games being offered in the program so far. When Microsoft announced the program at E3 2015, they told people that they would get to play their favourite games and that the launch would “ just be the beginning.” However, when it launched
on Nov. 12, 2015 the backwards compatible lineup of 104 games was less than stellar. The highlights of the launch included games like Assassins Creed 2, Fallout 3, and the entire Gears of War game series. These titles, while great, lacked the star power that such a hyped up program launch deserves. Depending on who you are and how big of a gamer you consider yourself to be, you may only be able to count the number of great 360 titles released to the program on one hand. Now, even with three “major updates” to the lineup, the biggest game to come out so far is December’s launch of Halo: Reach. Instead of getting the fan favourite titles promised, Xbox players are supposed to live off of games like Zuma, Bejewelled, and Plants vs Zombies. These games are meant for a phone in the bathroom, not a vid-
eogame system. Another issue with the program is the fact that many of the titles released in the first batch came with the August release of the game Rare Replay. This 30-in-one game features the best games released by developer Rare and highlights such titles as Banjo-Kazooie, Perfect Dark, and Viva Pinata. These games were released and playable months before backwards compatibility was launched, but at least 10 per cent of the launch titles were a part of that Rare Replay list. Finally, the biggest problem with the program is the lack of feedback Microsoft is taking from their fans. Microsoft released a survey months before the program launched asking gamers what titles they would like to see return in the form of a backwards compatible title. To date there have been millions of votes for games that fans would actually like to play, like Skyrim and Red Dead Redemption, however, from the top ten most requested titles only Call of Duty: Black Ops has been confirmed as “coming soon.” Microsoft has taken a big step by bringing back old games, but if you
Photograph by Sean Heeger
Xbox One allows compatibility between the old Xbox 360 games on the new system. rate their success by the complaints There are some games coming on message boards around the that show promise, but as of right world, it hasn’t been the homerun now it looks like they have a ways they wanted. to go.
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Gaming and cultural beliefs The game industry's portrayal of countries can enforce stereotypes Cultural representation in gaming is something that has been handled with a wide spectrum of effort and care. Each unique example reflects the priorities of the developer to maintain accuracy in their work. The first and easiest example of mishandling a culture is Infinity Ward, the developer of the Call of Duty series. Infinity Ward has become notorious for the ethnically disagreeable undertones in their titles in recent years. Their games often pit “good
guys” vs. bad guys. The good guys are almost always American in these stories. The “irredeemable” villains tend to come from Eastern European nations such as Pakistan or Russia. An example of cultural insensitivity can be found in Infinity Ward’s “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2”. This game represents several regions, dialects, and cultures of Pakistan. Street signs, random books, and the language people in the city speak in MW2 are all Arabic.
Cameron Popwell Yet the official language of the country is Urdu, a fact that is easily available with a simple Google search. Mistake comes notwithstanding of the game’s antagonists (a fictional Pakistani terrorist group) having shown no motivation for their actions in the narrative outside of a blatant disposition against imperialist and Western culture. However, failures to properly represent a culture such as Infinity
Photograph by Amanda Ramlal
A combination of health food trends can make you a delicious popsicle delight.
A superfood tasty treat Amanda Ramlal
Blood pudding was crowned the new superfood earlier this year but in 2014, coconuts joined chia seeds, kale and blueberries as the latest health food trend. Popsicles are a fun way to mix things you normally wouldn’t eat into a tasty frozen treat. It’s a great way to provide children with nutrition they might not otherwise like. In this popsicle recipe, dairy is replaced with the alternative coconut milk for a tropical island taste. An interesting fact about coconut is that it’s the most abundant natural source for lauric acid, which is the same fatty acid found in human breast milk. Lauric acid is used to help fight viruses and any bacterial or fungal infections the body might face. Virgin coconut oil, which maintains the coconut flavour, contains the most lauric acid but dried coconut (refined coconut) is
still considered an excellent source. this recipe please go to: https://youThe benefits of coconut are lim- tu.be/Ym4BVj3qph4. itless. Coconut is a great source of iron. In one cup there is 1.79 Ingredients: milligrams of the total eight • Frozen mixed berries milligrams men need daily. Coco(blueberries, raspberries, nut milk has been embraced by black berries) people following The Paleo Diet, also known as the Caveman Diet • Coconut milk because it claims to follow the way our ancestors ate to achieve strong, • Coconut water sickness free, athletic bodies. Lean meats, seafood, nuts/seeds, and • Honey fruits and vegetables can all be eaten on the Paleo diet. • Coconut shreds For this recipe, dried coconut is added to the base of the popsicles. Instructions: Dried coconut is great for various 1. A cup of mixed berries to reasons. Coconut gives you the blender energy to make it through the day. Dried coconut also fights against 2. A cup of coconut milk disease and helps to maintain healthy tissue in the body because 3. A tbsp of honey of the iron it contains. Just an ounce of dried coconut will boost your iron 4. Blend until mixture is smooth intake by 0.94 milligrams. This popsicle will boost your 5. Pour into popsicle molds overall health. Maturing from the cocos nucifera palm the coconut 6. Add shredded coconut to is rich in vitamins, minerals and the base of popsicle calories. To check out a video tutorial on 7. Freeze for a couple hours
Ward’s aren’t necessarily commonplace in the games industry. A company well known for their portrayal of other countries and cultures is Ubisoft. The developer’s bestknown franchise is Assassin’s Creed, a series about exploring a variety of historical set pieces (Caribbean Slave Trade, Italian Renaissance, the Crusades, etc.) through the eyes of an outsider. Ubisoft is quick to remind players of the effort they put into properly researching not only the regions and time period that their games take place in, but also the cultures involved in events during those times. Ubisoft does this by preceding their games with screens bearing the text, “Inspired by historical events and
characters. This work of fiction was designed, developed, and produced by a multicultural team of various religious faiths and beliefs.” This shows an effort on Ubisoft’s part to pay respects to the events, people, and settings in their games. Cultural representation is not the only societal issue one could find in video games (the topic of gender politics would require an entire series of articles to drudge through). Properly handling how an audience sees the people a developer attempts to portray should be seen as more important than it is. As it stands now, the mistakes can potentially enforce prejudices and stereotypes and can cause more harm than intended.
Taboo art: Durham artist puts on an exhibition about dying An accident that influenced DC graduate, Janice McHaffie's career
Deen Albertini
The Chronicle
A Durham Region artist thinks it is never too late to talk about death and dying. Janice McHaffie, 60, is a gradate of Durham College’s fine arts program. She had an exhibition at Robert McLaughlin Gallery in January and February. The theme for her exhibit was on the process of dying. McHaffie says she painted portraits of death because she believes it is still a taboo subject people need to talk about. “I believe people don’t talk enough about death and dying to remove some of the fear and the clutter of emotion behind it that can make us ill,” says McHaffie. Even though McHaffie is an art-
ist, she has also been a nurse at a nursing home where she had numerous experiences with death. “I have worked for years in a nursing home and I have always thought what holds you to the earth and life are all the responsibilities you face,” says McHaffie. McHaffie adds that her brother and his wife both have a terminal illness and what has made them persevere and stay alive is the responsibility they have towards each other. What made McHaffie get into painting was a severe accident that happened to her in the year 2000. McHaffie says while staying at a hotel a light fixture hit her on the head. The head wound left McHaffie with a short term memory which affected that influencedher career goals. “I have had so many different jobs I never knew what I wanted to be when I grow up and the only thing that was consistent from childhood until now is that I want to learn everything there is that I have time to learn while I am here,” says McHaffie. McHaffie added that how she got into painting was by writing down all the jobs she has done such as being cook, seamstress, waitress, and professional ballroom dancer. She says after asking God what she should be next, McHaffie said God told her to become an artist.
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The Pilo Family Circus Dark and twisted tales from the circus Taylor Prest Author Will Elliot taps into coulrophobia, which is the known fear of clowns, in his first novel, The Pilo Family Circus. The clowns in Elliot’s novel are twisted and so is the plot. The Pilo Family Circus hovers in a dark dimension, right next door to hell. From there, the clowns seduce brainwashed humans - before the circus steals their souls. The story is written from the perspective of Jamie, a modern twenty-two year old man living in Brisbane, Australia. He is an arts graduate who works a minimum wage job and lives in a house with a playboy and a drug addict: a twisted fairy tale, as he lightly puts it. Driving home one night, Jamie is forced to slam on his brakes. Something is standing in the centre of the road. Looking straight ahead in a flowery shirt, striped pants, and big red shoes, the clown’s eyes glare out of a white-painted face. Then he simply walks off the road, into the distance.
Photograph by Taylor Prest
The Pilo Family Circus does nothing to improve the image of clowns. The next day it happens again, except there are now three clowns: one the size of an egg, one who limps with legs as skinny as straws, and one whose snarl could stop
traffic, despite the cute animals printed on his shirt. Jamie’s first mistake is stopping his vehicle, because now the clowns now know who he is.
After being tormented daily for the next few days, amid the wreckage in his trashed home, Jamie finds a card addressed "For a Special Guy". Scribbled handwriting laces
the inside of the letter: "You have two days to pass your audition. You better pass it, feller. You're joining the circus. Ain't that the best news you ever got?" It's signed Gonko, Doopy and Goshy, on behalf of the Pilo Family Circus. The one in charge of the circus is a man named Kurt Pilo- a seven-foot giant with talons for nails and fangs for teeth. As the days drag on in the underworld, Jamie is shown what he would have become in reality: an alcoholic living most of his days in a cubicle, with a disabled son whose mother pesters for more child support. The only thing saving Jamie from this life is smearing on some white face paint and sticking on a big red nose. However, the more Jamie changes, the more he begins to lose himself to JJ, the sadistic clown inside. Can Jamie kill off JJ without destroying himself? The novel allows those who indulge in dark fantasy to be absorbed by the horrifying tales of the circus. Elliott’s written imagery is stronger than his characterization. It’s the descriptive writing that sets the atmosphere for the reader. Though the plot can become dull due to the lack of character growth, the settings make up for these weaknesses. The Pilo Family Circus won the Aurealis Award for best horror novel in 2006 but it might have made a better horror movie or violent computer game. Nonetheless it is worth a read for any horror-loving fanatic.
Same story, different cover Jordyn Gitlin Ever hear the saying ‘don’t judge a book by its cover’? This means you should not judge a person by their looks. However, a person is like a book. And books change their covers all the time. Authors and publishers tend to change the covers of their novels to sell more books by an updated feel. This draws new readers in to a series or gives current readers a chance to update their bookshelves and buy new covers, according to Cassandra Clare, author of the Mortal Instruments series. Cover changes are not always the author’s fault. According to Wesley King, author of The Vindico, publishers are the ones who choose the cover scheme. So the authors, mostly, do not have a say about the style of their books. Sometimes the changes happen after the series has already been published and sold many copies. Two such series include the Harry Potter series by J.K Rowling and The Mortal Instruments/ The Infernal Devices series by Cassan-
dra Clare. And some covers get changed because they have been turned into a film and the novel has a movie front cover of the actors. However, some cover changes happen in the middle of a book series, once a cover theme has already been established. For example, Across the Universe by Beth Revis changed its cover scheme with the last book causing an outrage by readers about how different and ugly the trilogy looked on their shelf, according to a Goodreads.com review. If the covers get changed after the series is done, that is fine. But if it is right in the middle of the series or even with the last book, there is no going back. Now book readers who love to make their shelves look good with the pretty covers they own may have to go out and buy the new covers of the first couple books. However, when stand-alone novels get cover changes, it is to increase sales as well as show a new vision of the story to the reader, according to thecreativepenn.com’s post about cover changes. Russell Blake, the author of Fatal Exchange, has changed the cover of his novel four times in the span of two and a half years. According to thecreativepenn.com, Blake said he changed the cover in order to
Photograph by Jordyn Gitlin
Two different covers of the 2010 book, Clockwork Angel. “find one that resonates with my reader to the story as well as visually readership – as expressed in in- let readers know what the story is creased sales.” about, according to Russell Blake. Covers are supposed to draw the In general, cover changes draw
readers to the book in the bookstore. So, next time you think about judging a book by its cover, remember that looks always change.
Entertainment
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Photograph by Jordyn Gitlin
The Hunger Games, a novel by Suzanne Collins, was first published in 2008 and turned into a film franchise in 2012.
From books to the silver screen Many books become films with great ratings, such as the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling and The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. But some made of books flop. Some films fail because directors take the plot in a different direction. Other films come out with high ratings because the movie follows the plot or goes beyond and takes on a life of its own. The Hunger Games was a huge hit on the big screen when it first came out in 2012, making $400 million at the box office. The film has risen in fame and profits since.
Jordyn Gitlin The film franchise was popular because the plot was similar to the novels. On the other hand, a film that changes things around may spawn negative reactions from the novel’s fan base. According to Susie Rodarme’s post on bookriot.com, some adap-
tations fail because many directors go into the film in a wrong mindset and try to, in their terms, improve the book by adding their own creative power. This can turn into a mess. Another note Rodarme touches upon is the fact that some books do not adapt into film easily. Film is mostly made for visuals, dialogue, and action whereas books describe what is going on throughout the character’s world and head. Novels can also be over 500 pages of descriptive language. A film technically has a time limit of two and a
half to three hours’ of visuals. Most of the time, a novel is too long to fit into the time span of a film and so many things are cut from the novel. This has a huge impact on the characters and the story line. An example of a film franchise that did not continue despite a solid fan base is the Percy Jackson series by Rick Riordan. The film premiered in 2010 with the first movie Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief, this film adaptation did not stick to the ori-
ginal story. The sequel film, Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters was released in 2013 with a higher rating than the first. Because it followed the plot a little bit more than the first, however a third movie never followed up. When having a book-to-film adaptation, directors should either think about staying true to the story or listen to the fans. Book readers want a movie they are going to fall in love with. Movie adaptations can take on a life of their own and become better from the book. But not always.
Tasting the spicy flavours of Tangerine in Whitby
Photograph by Remona Pillai
The Bombay Chicken is just one of the many dishes that Tangerine has to offer.
Finding Indian cuisine in Oshawa is not that difficult but finding Indo-Chinese food around Oshawa is. Indo-Chinese cooking blends spicy Indian food and tangy, adventurous Chinese cuisine to create a new flavour. If you love Indo-Chinese cuisine, Tangerine is a good choice. Tangerine is a restaurant that does justice to this cuisine. Located at 30 Taunton Rd. W. in Whitby, the restaurant is quite a hub for college students around Durham Region. With lunch specials ranging from $5.99-$7.99, Tangerine proves to be an affordable place to enjoy good food and ambience. The seating arrangement, whether it be for a couple on a date or a kid’s birthday party, is always comfortable and the environment is peaceful and pleasant. The chef has in-depth knowledge about authentic Chinese cuisine and his presentation skills are worth seeing. There is a large variety of Chinese dishes to choose from.
Remona Pillai The taste is exquisite and can be made according to customer preferences (i.e) mild, hot and extremely hot. Bombay Chicken, Chilli Chicken and Veg. Manchuria are a few of the large variety of dishes served here. If you drop in during lunch, between 11 am and 3 pm, you’re sure to receive soup/spring roll and a portion of rice with your meal. You also get a fortune cookie after every meal. When you enter the place, it might take a little long for you to get a seat due to the line of customers. If you are lucky, the wait won’t be too long. Next time your stomach rumbles and yearns for some good food, drop by at Tangerine to try some Spicy Schezuan Fried Rice or Bombay Chicken.
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Varsity badminton at UOIT New sport comes in as tennis program ends Jordan Edmonds The Chronicle
As varsity tennis at UOIT has been disbanded, varsity badminton is set to be the newest sport for varsity athletes to compete in. Wayne King is the recently announced head coach for the new program. He has extensive experience around Ontario and has attended camps as far as Nova Scotia and in the U.S. to improve his coaching skills. King has been coaching badminton since 1972 and created the Harwood Badminton Club in Ajax for children with learning difficulties. “I was there for 13 years, in 1978 we made the club public and in 1985 we had our first national champion,” said King. King then got involved with the Ontario junior team program and in 1998 became the coach of the University of Toronto badminton program and was there until last year. Badminton at UOIT has been
Photograph by Jordan Edmonds
Riley Davies gets ready to serve as he plays badminton for fun at UOIT. proposed for many years, as there has been a large demand for it from many players and students at the university. The UOIT tennis program was disbanded due to the campus tennis centre having its courts converted into turf, but that has enabled badminton to be introduced.
“I’ve been pushing and asking why there hasn’t been a badminton program,” said King. “I’ve been in contact with both Michael Duggan and Scott Dennis for many years, Scott got in touch with me last fall and we’ve been working together since.” There was a badminton team at
All-star games continue to lose popularity in pro sports All-star games have lost their shine. To be clear, the “skills competition” segment of the all-star weekends are still enjoyable. It’s the actual game that is no longer entertaining. In leagues like the NHL and the NFL, the status of the all-star game has been steadily declining, according to stats from Nielsen. Though the games still sell out, the viewership has gone down in recent years. It seems plenty of players show a lack of interest, as well. Over 50 per cent of the NFL’s “all-stars” declined the invitation to the league’s pro-bowl, according to ESPN. Major League Baseball (MLB) has the perfect format for an allstar game. The MLB uses a format that includes incentive, other than money or new cars. The MLB’s mid-season celebration offers homefield advantage in the World Series, for whichever side of the league comes out on top. The incentive makes it more interesting to watch, but the MLB’s all-star games have dropped around 4 million viewers in the past 10 years, according to FOX. The all-star game doesn’t translate well from rink to television. According to a recent online arti-
David Conti
cle from CBS Boston, the National Hockey League’s (NHL) all-star game’s ratings dropped 14 per cent from the 2012 game, and almost 25 per cent from 2015. This is the first year the NHL has changed the all-star game format, which may be because they realized their numbers were slipping. The all-star game borrowed the new format from regular season overtime games, which is 3-on-3 hockey. The change was a success. The 2016 allstar game – clouded by fan voting controversies, and NHL morale – saw the ratings for the game go up by 24 per cent, which equaled a 1.17 rating, from 0.94 in 2015, according to NBC Sports. The National Basketball Association (NBA) all-star games usually draw in around seven million viewers. Compared to the NHL and
MLB, the most recent NBA all-star game only went down 4 per cent from the year before. NBA all-star games play out like neighbourhood pic-up, with the superstar athletes combining talent for some sweet passes, creative dunks, and overthe-top alley-oops. The NBA knows what is has to do to keep its fans. The National Football League doesn’t. Over 50 per cent of the players invited to the NFL all-star game declined the offer. This resulted in the B and C list players going to Hawaii for a game that consistently drops ratings. Since 2013, the Pro Bowl has dropped over 2 points in ratings, according to Nielsen. Professional sports leagues must rethink the all-star game. Fan voting, the inability to bring in A-list superstars, and overall gimmicks that attach themselves to all-star games cloud the event to where the sport is not the main focus. If the leagues want to make this an important event, they must forget the gimmicks and add incentive to make the players want to be there. If changes aren’t made, the all-star games may no longer have a spot in professional sports.
Durham College in the 1970s but it was discontinued. King has a close relationship with the college as he runs DC summer sports camps during the summer months along with Duggan, who is the sports coordinator for Durham College. The job of head coach was a nat-
ural fit for King, as he already has a strong relationship with faculty members. “They were aware of who I was because of the relationship I had built with them and my involvement with the University of Toronto,” said King. “It was a perfect fit both geographically and because they knew I was extremely interested.” UOIT tryouts are set to take place in September but recruiting for the team will start now. “I will be going to high school tournaments and looking at top junior players around Ontario,” said King. King has also made every university and college team aware that the program is set to start at UOIT. In recent years, Western has won ten of the last 19-team events. King and his staff will schedule a series of competitive events, as the team work its way towards the OUA championship in February or March of 2017. Every OUA team creates its own schedule leading up to the OUA championship tournament, as there is no regular season. At the OUA championship, the UOIT team will have two men’s singles players, two women’s singles players, two men’s doubles teams, two women’s double teams and two mixed doubles teams. They will then play round-robin matches in a five-team pool and the top teams will play for medals.
Gens still popular through rebuild Reba Pennell The Chronicle
There’s a world of difference for the Oshawa Generals between this year and last season. A year ago, the team was poised to go on a run that ended with a Memorial Cup championship. This year, with just a handful of games left in the 20152016 regular season the Generals are just trying to qualify for the playoffs. Yet, the Generals have somehow managed to maintain their popularity during what has been called a ‘rebuilding year.’ Andrew Gilbank, the digital marketing coordinator for the Oshawa Generals said that despite where the Generals are in the standings, fans are still coming in and almost filling the General Motors Centre on most nights. For the 2015-2016 season, the Generals average attendance is third best in the Ontario Hockey League, averaging more than 5,200 at home games. This is just after the London Knights who have the most with more than 9,000 and then the Kitchener Rangers who have just under 7,000. Gilbank said one thing the Gen-
erals do is, “don’t build up a specific player.” So although there are players like the new captain Anthony Cirelli and Kenny Huether, Eric Henderson who they could focus on, the Generals try to maintain building the team up as one, and not just one player. The Oshawa Generals official Twitter page has more than 20,000 followers and contests are incorporated into their Twitter page. This is to keep the fans engaged, even when the Generals aren’t playing. Some of the prizes include Generals merchandise and tickets. Gilbank said that even though keeping the fans coming to games hasn’t been a problem it is still important to make sure fans are taking part in game days and making sure intermissions are “interactive and engaging for fans.” Despite where the Generals are in the standings, the passion and support from fans of the team has made this year the most successful in attendance at home games. There are only three games left in the regular season. The Generals are away March 16, playing against Mississauga. The puck drops at 7p.m.
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