Let’s talk about it CSI addresses mental health with new campaign. Page 8 MONDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2017
Eating disorders take a toll BY CASSIDY FOULDS
The only thing more defeating than having an eating disorder is having it go unnoticed. That’s why there are weeks dedicated to raising awareness of these disorders, and supporting those affected by them. At Conestoga College, Eating Disorder Awareness Week ran from Feb. 6 to 10, but there’s still plenty of time to show support. During the entire month of February, a light is shone on the otherwise little-talked about topic. No one disorder is solely focused on. Everything from bulimia to anorexia athletica is acknowledged. “Eating disorders are the mental illness with the highest mortality rate. Further, they are often misunderstood and seen as lifestyle choices or something that only happens to vain young women,” said Andrea LaMarre, a PhD candidate at the University of Guelph in the Department of Family Relations and Applied Nutrition. “They take a serious toll on people’s emotional, physical and relational health.” LaMarre said our treatment systems for eating disorders are lacking, and that raising awareness can help alleviate some of the stigma many sufferers have and continue to face. As well, LaMarre said raising awareness among health-care professionals and policy-makers about helping those who suffer from eating disorders will greatly serve them and their supporters. During Eating Disorders Awareness Week, there’s an emphasis on being able to identify an eating disorder – or ED, as some people call them. The reason for the emphasis is because of how difficult it is to recognize an ED unless the one suffering from it is fairly far along in the process. Lynn Robbins White, a counsellor at Conestoga College, said people tend to look for the wrong symptoms. “I think people look for weight loss, and that’s kind of a misconception,” she said. CONTINUED ON PAGE 8
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Cosplaying builds confidence BY JOY STRUTHERS
The Holiday Inn in Guelph looked ordinary from the front of the building on Feb. 4, and if you didn’t know about the convention, seeing costumed characters standing outside the back door would have been a surprise. A man standing at the doors videotaping the characters from Judge Dredd walking down the path toward him made it feel almost like being on the set of a movie. Many people in costume as well as families and workers were in attendance at Genrecon, either talking in the front lobby of the hotel, taking part in panels, playing games or checking out the many vendors. Batman and Wonder Woman were casually conversing with people, taking a break from crime-fighting. Darth Vader, Princess Leia, Stormtroopers, Boba Fett and even droids made an appearance. A fullsize remote-controlled R2-D2 beeped and moved and played the song the Cantina Band played in Star Wars. For many people cosplay is a big part of their life. To them it is more than just a hobby. Some are members of groups such as the 501st Legion, Vader’s Fist. They are volunteers who promote interest in Star Wars by going to events and conventions and doing charity work. Some cosplayers dress individually and can be inspired from different types of media. Genrecon itself has four cornerstones – literature, gaming, film and music. Angie Poirier, the social media co-ordinator for the event, is involved in cosplay and fashion design herself. She explained that some cosplayers are invited to events as guests. “They come in based on a schedule so they are expected to appear and be social … The other cosplayers and people you see milling around are people in attendance who come in and have paid,” she said. Awards are available to all in costume at conventions and some people perform in what is called a masquerade. Poirier believes people dress up in different ways for different reasons. She thinks it
really depends on what they are interested in. “Cosplay in general allows a person to personify their favourite character or honour them in some way. It also allows people to have a chance to be something they may not be. It is inclusive and allows anyone, no matter why they dress up, to be able to be whatever they want,” she said. Katerina Primeau cosplays under the name Monkeybrow and is a first-year student in fashion and design at Fanshawe College. It was cosplay that inspired her to go into the program. “My normal everyday life is really intertwined with my hobby of cosplay,” said Primeau. She loves becoming different characters and creating costumes. “I definitely do certain characters,” she said. “I actually find I go against my personality. I do a lot of serious-type characters.” She dressed as Zen, from the mobile game Mystic Messenger, for this event. Zen is a male character in the game. Primeau feels she has grown and become more confident through cosplay. “It really has helped me get out of my bubble and I have met so many new people. I wouldn’t even be here if it wasn’t for cosplay,” she said. Another cosplayer who has found confidence is Dianne Da Rosa, or Lady Di as she is known to the community. “In real life I’m a very anxious, awkward kind of anticonfrontational person, but I like to do the big, bad-ass kind of characters, like Khal Drogo. I’ve done Iron Man stuff, and it really helps my self-confidence and my anxiety,” said De Rosa. De Rosa works in a fabric store and creates her own costumes to suit her body type. She likes to change the gender of characters and mix things up. “Crossplay is when you change your gender to be the gender of that character,” she explained. “Gender bending is when you change the character’s gender to be your gender. That’s something I’m more comfortable with.” She dressed as an Ewok for Genrecon and put her own twist on the costume, making
PHOTO BY JOY STRUTHERS
Dianna Da Rosa shows off her Ewok costume that she made. She is known as Lady Di in the cosplay community and likes to switch up her characters. it feminine and comfortable. “Something I have learned being a seamstress is making things work for you,” she said. She likes to keep some things accurate, especially when switching a character’s gender and keeps the essence of the character. Accuracy is important to many cosplayers. Some groups, like the Ontario Ghostbusters, create their own costumes and gear. Brily Lepine and Cameron Shaver were at the event representing their group. They had a large stand-up poster on display of the antagonist from Ghostbusters II, Vigo
the Carpathian, a spirit that lived on in a portrait. They also had a blow-up version of Slimer and replicas of the Ghostbusters’ equipment. They had shirts and toys, books and buttons and other items that covered their table. “We do sell things but it’s all for charity,” said Shaver. “We support the Canadian Women’s Foundation and Street Cats, which is a no-kill animal shelter.” The Ghostbusters are part of the cosplay community but consider themselves to be more of an attraction. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2
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Monday, February 13, 2017
FILBERT CARTOONS
Random questions answered by random students
If you could go back in time for one day, when and where would you go?
“I would go back in time to the 2009 Warped Tour. That was one of the best days I’ve had.” Tyler Janzen, second-year business administration and accounting
“I think I would go back and meet Van Gogh. He was never really famous until he died and I think his life would have been very interesting.” Sasha Dasilva, third-year accounting
“I would probably go back three weeks ago. I got a texting and driving ticket for changing the song on my phone. I just wouldn’t have used my phone.” Parker Shelp, first-year pre-health science
“I would go back in time to my vacation in Croatia with my family.” Selma Hasanin, second-year business administration and accounting
“I might go back to a Nine Inch Nails concert from when I was 12 or 13, when they were still good.” Tyler Cox, first-year radio broadcasting
“I think I would go back to when I was six. My dad taught me how to ride a bike.” Aline Uliana, first-year office administration
Smile Conestoga, you could be our next respondent!
Support daffodil month BY SHARON SAMUEL
Want to help people who are fighting cancer? Then, buy a daffodil pin during the Canadian Cancer Society’s Daffodil Month. Every April the charity launches its daffodil campaign selling daffodil pins and fundraising doorto-door. The Canadian Cancer Society, WaterlooWellington Community Office, is looking for site coordinators and volunteers to help raise funds. “The co-ordinator’s job is a bit more of a responsible position than any other volunteers,” said Karen Griffiths, senior manager. “They would take over supplies (daffodil pins), make sure all the stores have them at particular times for the volunteers, pick the supplies up at the end of the day and bring the money and everything back to us.” On any scheduled weekday or weekend, the volunteers would go to a local Loblaws store, Canadian Tire or Walmart and sell daffodil pins for a minimum $2 donation. “Also throughout April we have a residential campaign, that’s a door-to-door campaign,” said Griffiths. “Volunteers go door-to-door and people just make a straight donation and they get a tax receipt.” Often the door-to-door canvassers get $20 donations from people. These donations are accepted via cash, cheque or credit card, she said. Though the daffodil campaign doesn’t start until April, the volunteer work starts in January as it takes a lot of time to co-ordinate the volun-
PHOTO BY SHARON SAMUEL
Karen Griffiths, senior manager at the Canadian Cancer Society, Waterloo-Wellington Community Office, wears a daffodil pin in preparation for the daffodil campaign coming up in April. teers’ schedule and supplies, said Griffiths. People who want to volunteer should call the Canadian Cancer Society, WaterlooWellington Community Office, to register with Griffiths. “What they can then do is go to the ccschedule.ca website and pick what shift they want or pick multiple shifts,” she said. “It saves us time here to make those phone calls, having to co-ordinate that because once the schedule is set up they can just go online and just pick a shift.” The money raised through these campaigns goes into either research or supporting people living with cancer. “So, in Waterloo Region and Wellington County we have volunteer drivers who take patients to their cancerrelated appointments,” said Griffiths. “We recruit the drivers, orientate and train them locally and then they go out.” The drivers do not get paid
for driving, but they get reimbursed for mileage, she said. “They drive clients to maybe Grand River Regional Cancer Centre or to London health sciences or many hospitals in Toronto,” said Griffiths. “That’s something we are proud of. That (donation) money goes for that type of support program in our community as well as research.” Arshdeep Kular, a thirdyear public health student at the University of Waterloo, said she started volunteering at the Waterloo-Wellington Community Office because she thought the Canadian Cancer Society does a good job serving the community. “They are a group of dedicated individuals helping others who are fighting cancers, or cancer survivors. They are just like a beam of hope for everyone,” she said. For more information on the daffodil campaign or to make a donation, visit www.cancer.ca.
Ontario Ghostbusters charitable CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
They have an organized group and go to approximately 10 events a year. They also hold meetings and create items for their costumes. They run the organization like any charity.
“The key is to give fans a Ghostbuster experience with Ghostbuster gear and also offer some unique things to them,” said Shaver. For members, it comes from a childhood love of Ghostbusters and the drive to get involved in the community.
“We’ve done parades and charitable events. We’ve gone into McMaster Children’s Hospital and done a visit there,” Shaver said. “It’s all well and good to be a ghostbuster, but be ghostbusters for a higher cause,” said Lepine.
SPORTS
Monday, February 13, 2017
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The Super Bowl is not just a game
BY NICOLE CLARK
The Super Bowl, the most watched televised sports event, is about more than just the game. Though many of the viewers watch for the love of the sport, quite a few tune in for the entertainment aspect of the annual event. The halftime show is arguably one of the most anticipated concerts of the year. It is often filled with firework displays and a celebrity musical performance. Viewership actually increases at halftime. Last year, according to CNN, the peak viewership of Super Bowl 50 was from 8:30 to 9 p.m., the time in which the
halftime show took place. How many viewers were watching during this peak time – 115.5 million. The remainder of Super Bowl 50 had 111.9 million viewers. That number does not include the number of people in attendance at every Super Bowl viewing party across the world or the number of people streaming the event from a mobile device. CBS online streaming had 1.4 million views per minute last year as well. In 2015, more than 55 per cent of the Canadian population tuned into CTV or RDS through Bell Media to watch the New England Patriots battle the Seattle Seahawks
at the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona. With an audience this large, commercial advertisement space during the game comes with a hefty price tag. For a 30-second ad aired during this year’s Super Bowl, companies shelled out around $5 million for the purpose of promoting their product to the millions of viewers. This is an all-time high for advertising during the Super Bowl’s 51 years. That is $160,000 per second, yet in 1967, during the first Super Bowl, companies were paying an average of $133,000 per second. Is spending this amount of money on a short ad worth it for
Chinese Super League’s poaching continues BY ANDREW BENNEY
With Chelsea F.C. midfielder Oscar dos Santos completing his headline-making move to Chinese Super League (CSL) club Shanghai SIPG FC and rumours continuing to circulate around star teammate Diego Costa, some team’s concerns have never been higher regarding the possibility of losing members to the outrageously wealthy Asian league. Thanks to Chinese President Xi Jinping’s vocal plan to turn his country into a football World Cup competitor, unheard of sums of money have been spent on bringing talented foreign players into the league as a means to improve the overall quality, boost youth sport programs across the nation and transform China into the football superpower they hope to become. For Jinping however, it is more than just a love of the game, he also hopes to create a £550-billion sports industry in China over the next 10 years, which would allow the country to be less dependant on their manufacturing sectors. Although it is true that China’s soccer teams have not done well in the past and they are only ranked 81st in the world by FIFA, there is undoubtedly a method to the multibillion-dollar madness. Xu Guoqi, a University of Hong Kong historian, believes that the spirit of competition is so deeply rooted in Chinese culture it would not be unlikely to see soccer continue to grow in the coming years. “For decades, Chinese interest in sports as a whole has
not been about personal joy or pleasure but about politics. It is seen as a path to ruling legitimacy, geopolitical standing and projection of power,” Guoqi said in an article in the Independent in February of last year. China has the desire and drive to become great in sports, as they do in nearly everything, but they also have a national passion for soccer and a massive population working as a talent pool. All of these will add up to a surprisingly impressive industry, given time. So yes, many clubs and fans around the world have a disdain for what the CSL is doing as they watch players they love leave the spotlight for unheard of fortunes, but it does show an impressive dedication to self-expansion and promotion in the sports industry as well as improvement in what could turn out to be extremely lucrative programs. “I can’t stand watching players leave just for the money, bottom line is that you should stay where the competition is best,” said avid sports fan Andre Harsham. “But I can respect what China is trying to do. It would be great to see Canada or the U.S. put that kind of effort into bringing up our youth soccer programs, rather than just being content with the joke that is the MLS.” Although President Jinping may have long-term goals in mind for his country, former Conestoga soccer coach Geoff Johnstone, who received many accolades during his coaching career, including OCAA Coach of the Year and being inducted into the OCAA Hall of Fame, believes that it
may be hard to hang on to all these new foreign signings. “It’ll be interesting to see in a couple years time if they (the players) want to come back. The culture is so different. It’s great to go for two weeks, but you have to look at the fact that it would be 24/7 for them now. To adjust to living for an extended period of time in a place so culturally different is difficult.” That being said, Johnstone also believes it would be hard for any of these athletes to come back to the world’s most competitive leagues. “They (the players) won’t be able to come back I don’t believe. I think their skills will plateau because they’re not being challenged. You need that competition, you need that challenge, or else they will just plateau without the struggle. It’ll be too easy a time for them. And once that effort level stops, it’s really hard to kick it back in again,” he said. Hopefully that fact will dissuade other youthful talents from being hooked by the promise of wealth. The Chinese League needs to show that it can be a place for strong competition before it acquires supreme talent. Perhaps in 10 years paying a player over $1 million a week (a now common offer from the league) will make sense. Perhaps we’ll see China’s youth sports begin to shine and, in turn, their economy. Perhaps the 70,000 soccer pitches President Xi hopes to see erected by 2020 will become a reality. Or perhaps China will even be vying for a World Cup by then. Only time will really be able to tell.
the participating companies? “I would say it’s worth it because a lot of people watch it. It’s their chance to get their brand out there,” said Alannah Crocker, a Conestoga third-year financial planning student. Third-year electrical engineering student, Malek Terry, said, “Yes, for sure it’s worth all of that money. A lot of people are going to watch it.” Jessy Russell, a thirdyear tool and dye making student, said, “I don’t think it is worth it. I feel like if you are going to buy the product or see the movie that the ad is for then you already have plans to see that movie or to buy that product.
These advertisements often do not just air during the allotted time during the game. Shortly after first airing, they are uploaded to the Internet, YouTube and Facebook, to be viewed millions of more times. They are also often featured on the morning news the following day when the anchors discuss which commercials were the best and which fell below the mark. “I do think it is worth it, especially for the YouTube ads,” said Wes Thompson, a thirdyear software engineering technician student. “Everyone will go on and watch them on YouTube, even if they did not watch the game. It seems to me that ads work.”
NEWS
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Monday, February 13, 2017
Salary increases should be modest: Tibbits
Conestoga College’s President John Tibbits is one of the few college executives to speak out about proposed salary increases. In 2012 there was a freeze put on the salaries of public sector executives. At the time, the 24 publicly funded colleges across Ontario were $1.9 billion in debt after 10 years of declining enrolment, according to Deb Matthews, the minister of advanced education and skills development. So, the provincial government decided to freeze wages for five years. Now that the freeze is over,
some colleges have been proposing wage increases of 30 per cent or more for their presidents, according to a Feb. 2 CBC story. Matthews said the schools need to think of more “modest increases.” “We’ve asked them to go back to the drawing board,” she said. The wage increases will add roughly 43 per cent to the lowest salary and up to 25 per cent for the highest paying jobs. Tibbits, who is paid $410,000 annually and is one of the highest paid college presidents, is eligible for an increase of $35,000 (nine per cent). However, he said he was not going to take it. Tibbits said the 24 colleges
Education, intelligence, knowledge and experience – are these things lacking? I have to say it because I’m not sure if anyone else will. We seem to be very narrow-minded people in the 21st century. People need to try and not be so black and white with their thinking, always leaving a little grey room for curiosity. Whether we get our information from our family, friends, school, social media or simply just hearing something on the street, many people refuse to broaden their knowledge and understanding of the world around them. We constantly hear about people being uneducated, specifically those who appear to be racist, uninformed, bigoted and hateful Learning things and being
informed is what people should strive for. If people were more well-informed and educated in regards to politics, social structure, religion and common, everyday occurrences, maybe people would be able to coexist. The whole point of this is not so much to create or discuss a fix to the problem, but to simply address the issue in general. The first issue is our education system. It’s old, outdated and needs to be reformulated into something new and enlightening. Rather than enforcing basic concepts only in terms of math, science and English, there should be more social, religious and economic-styled classes at a younger age. If this means that there needs to be one or two more years added to high school,
BY BRANDY FULTON
were jointly looking at executive compensation, but five colleges decided to propose higher salary ranges. “Some of the colleges posted their wages without telling us. We had planned to agree to a modest wage increase,” he said. At each college, the board of governors sets the maximum salary allowed. Tibbits said board members should look at their community as well as Ontario and Canada as a whole, keeping in mind where the money comes from and the financial situation that the country is in. “There is a balance between the fact that the government is in rough shape financially,
the economy in Canada is uncertain with everything going on in the world, and the average person out there,” he said. “There is a difference between what you think you deserve and the actual reasonable increase.” The pay increase effects 11 executives at Conestoga. All 24 colleges are being told by the government to rethink their numbers. The salary increases are a range that will be given to each executive over the years they continue to work. Some of the lower paid executives have been stuck with lower wages over six years, despite having moved up in job positions. Matthews said the colleges
collectively erred in choosing the wrong institutions for salary comparisons. Although Tibbits agrees with the revaluation of colleges’ salaries, the comparison pay is higher than it should be. “My salary looks like minimum wage in comparison to the hydro company’s $3.8 million,” he said. Ontario Power Generation currently pays its CEO $1.5 million annually, but says he is eligible for a salary of up to $3.8 million a year. Some colleges, like Mohawk, claim they need to pay higher salaries to attract and retain top executives. Mohawk had one executive leave during the wage freeze.
articles and news videos either, they can be memes, tweets and individuals posting lies to their friends and families. Social media is and will continue to be an issue unless it cleans up its act. These sites must stop the spread of fake news and influential social media scandals. Perhaps if this were achieved, we would actually stop hearing about the war between the media and Trump from Sean Spicer every time he gets up to the podium. The third and final issue I want to address is the ignorance of some people. The word ignorance sounds harsh, but the Oxford Canadian Dictionary definition is “lack of knowledge (about a thing).” Taking this definition, friends’ and family members’
values may need to change. Those who ignore or refuse to open their minds to different ideas, should try to broaden their perspective. If more people did this, then maybe, just maybe, we could start to become more accepting and understanding of the decisions made by politicians, other countries and those around us. We would understand the reasons why we accept love for what it is and not what it should be, why others speak another language or why they worship the same God but in different ways. We may not always agree upon everything, but we could begin to understand why people believe what they believe, in order to possibly become more accepting of them.
What does it mean to be educated? James Wells
Opinion then so be it, because the first issue to being educated and informed, is what we teach youth at a young and impressionable age. The second big issue is social media. Young people are very impressionable and take to gospel stories on Facebook, Snapchat, Twitter and even Google. The presidential election, the current presidency, the Muslim ban and many other issues have in some way been influenced and twisted by fake news. These don’t just have to be
NEWS
Monday, February 13, 2017
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Waterloo man invents personal protection device BY SHAFAQ PARWEZ
For some people, talking about their problems is considered taboo. And asking somebody for help is also looked down upon. These victims never feel empowered. It has always been worse for women, who have endured being assaulted, both sexually and physically – and watching as it was shoved under the rug. It was not something that anybody liked to mention to anyone – or anybody wanted to listen to. With the rise of social media, people have found more ways to communicate and learn from stories around the world – stories of persecution and stories of blatant exploitation. These shared stories signal to the victims they are not alone. And, it has brought out the good in people and has clearly marked what should and should not be allowed to prevail in society. Female empowerment has created an environment in which women are no longer considered the weaker sex. Women are also encouraged to take the initiative when it comes to defending themselves. A local inventor is helping women with this. “I have three daughters; they shouldn’t have to put up with people who won’t go away,” said Philip Cressman, a Waterloo resident and a retired Canadian Forces captain. With an upright posture and a welcoming vibe, Cressman has the look of the average next-door neighbour you would like to chat with, whether about the numerous tasteful paintings hanging on the walls in his beautiful home, or about more serious matters. It is in his workshop in the basement that Cressman designs practical and handy devices for everyday life. He often finds inspiration from his friends. “Most of the women I’ve talked to tell me how people don’t get it,” said Cressman, talking about sexual advances on the streets and in nightclubs. “They just don’t
get it.” He wondered what he could do to make sure these women do not have to deal with anything traumatic in their lives. After deliberating for a few months, Cressman finally came up with “the Dazzeler;” a small tool with big benefits. This strobing flashlight is ingenious both because of its practicality and small size. The device fits easily in the palm of the hand and can be carried around anywhere. The device delivers three hours of flashing light before the battery needs replacing. The prototype is 10 centimetres long and is receiving good feedback from friends, family and customers. It is small and can fit into tiny clutches which women are most likely to carry to nightclubs. The dazzling flashlight weighs no more than 60 grams and has a nonslip design. “You don’t have to charge it and you don’t have to worry about the distance between you and the attacker,” said Cressman. Unlike pepper spray, which some carry in their handbags despite it being illegal in Canada, the Dazzeler does not require a certain level of proximity to be effective. Also, it comes with a small lanyard and can be hung on the zipper of any bag. With minimum effort, the victim can easily escape attack by shining the strobe light in the attacker’s eyes. Cressman said his device is a “new defence against sexual harassment” and is an effective way of avoiding harm and yet, completely harmless to the attacker. There is no permanent damage caused to the eyes. It has been found that shining the light into an assailant’s eyes for one second is all that is needed to escape. The device has a button on its lower end which, when pressed, activates a powerful strobe light. Although designed for women, the shockingly powerful light can be used by anyone who feels threatened or vulnerable. It is the safest means of ensuring no harm is
PHOTO BY SHAFAQ PARWEZ
Philip Cressman, a retired military captain and an inventor, demonstrates how his self-defence device, the Dazzeler, can be used to escape an attack. done before police or any help can reach the scene. The strobe light works in a way which temporarily leaves the human brain in a state of disorientation. Momentarily blinding the attacker, the light pulses frequently in duration to cause psychophysical effects inside the brain cells resulting in mild vertigo. The spell of disorientation lasts for a few minutes giving the victim time to escape. The device will still “dazzle” and take attackers by surprise even if they were to look away or shield their eyes and it is effective in daylight as well. The only way the strobe light can fail to deliver is if the attacker has heavily tinted glasses.
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In addition to an attack, the strobe light can be used to signal friends and family in huge crowds by pointing it straight up into the air or can be used simply to light the way in tunnels or on dark streets at night. Cressman was quick to point out it was harmless to practise with. Since it does not cause any permanent damage, he encourages customers and friends to try it. Cressman said not once has he found the device to be ineffective. In Waterloo Region, a total of 415 cases of sexual assault were reported in 2015. Many others go unreported because some victims feel just talking to friends and family or keeping quiet is the best way
to deal with it. Cressman sells the Dazzeler for $46 and has produced one batch so far. He is gathering funds for a second batch. The 71-year-old Cressman also produces folding ceramic knives and has a few designs for sale on his website www. ceramicknife.org. These can be used on yachts and ships to cut ropes. The local inventor said he was not interested in running a big business but was happy with his personal inventions. Using his experience from the military, Cressman said he will continue to come up with better and affordable products for the public. For further information, email info@ceramicknife.org.
COMMENTARY
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Monday, February 13, 2017
People protest misconduct BY ANDREW BENNEY
Romanian citizens have successfully taken on their government, forcing them to repeal an undemocratic and corruption-endorsing decree that would have seen penalties for some fraudulent political crimes be erased and the crimes made legal. An emergency edict was put into place on Jan. 31 by the government and for the six days that followed hundreds of thousands of people across Romania took to the streets to protest the proposed law. This outcry consisted of the largest anti-government crowds since the toppling of Communism in the country in 1989. The size of the crowds was not at all surprising as the suggested ordinance would mean crimes such as bribery and fraud by political officials would become legal. The laws were largely perceived as a way to keep party members out of jail and free those already serving sentences for various abuses of power. Romania has had problems with governmental misconduct in the past. “We want people to be equal before the law and no privileges for the people in Parliament. This government is organized from the high level down like a mafia and we don’t want something like this,” said Profira Popo, a protester in Victory Square in Bucharest, in an article for Time Magazine on Feb. 5. During the week of Jan. 30 crowds demanded Prime Minister Sorin Grindeanu submit his resignation and as many as 3,000 protesters kneeled in front of the political offices of the Social Democratic Party to ask members to leave office. However, they are still in power and Grindeanu survived a Feb. 8 no-confidence vote. “(The people) want a clear, democratic and transparent government and they are making sure that their protest is heard,” said David Chater, a reporter for Al Jazeera. This is a massive victory for the people of Romania and for democracy. Canadians must also take a stand and show Romanians we support them. To do and say nothing would be the equivalent of validating the government’s actions. The views herein represent the position of the newspaper, not necessarily the author.
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“No, Ron, I said 3017, not 2017.” We’ll have to get the world in order before aliens start visiting us again.
Don’t give into bullies
Bullying is more recognized today than in the past, but when did it begin? Some people believe bullying has been around since the beginning of mankind. Signs of bullying have been reported even in our closest ancestors, the monkeys. Christopher Boehm wrote in his book called Moral Origins, about how monkeys and chimpanzees regularly engage in behaviours similar to humans bullying others. The rewards for this type of behaviour include elevated social status and a higher sexual attraction. The difference between other animals that bully and ourselves is we never see any deaths by suicide in the wild. There have been rumours of animal suicide, but David Sands, an animal behavioral specialist in England, proved that they were just that, rumours. Karl Smallwood, the author of an article on the website, Today I Found Out, said Sands gave two examples of these supposed animal suicides and explained why they were wrong. One example was dogs
Riley Linseman Opinion
“committing suicide” by jumping from Overtoun Bridge in Scotland. Different sources said the number of dog deaths from this bridge was anywhere between 12 and hundreds. It always seemed to people like these beloved pets were killing themselves for no reason, but Sands conducted some research and discovered why it was happening. Dogs and most other animals act in a much more instinctual way Sands discovered. The majority of dogs jumping off this bridge were long-nosed breeds known for their heightened sense of smell and they were simply going after a nest of minks. They jumped off the bridge because they could smell the animals. So why is it that we, as humans, the most highly evolved animal we know of, give into this bullying and take our own lives? Maybe
the answer is because we are so highly evolved. Smallwood suggests that one of the reasons animals, other than humans, don’t take their own lives is because their simpler minds aren’t capable of abstract thinking – they don’t have existential feelings. Bullying has reached crisis levels, especially among youth. Cyberbullyhotline.com found in 2012 42 per cent of teenagers with tech access reported they were cyberbullied, and three million children were absent from school, per month, because of it. I can only imagine how bad those stats are today. I personally have never been one to give into bullying. I was bullied throughout school and I’m still bullied online just like practically everyone else is each day. I’ll admit that I feel depressed sometimes, but I’m still here. Life can be hard, but we can’t let the bad guys win. If you are suffering, seek help, whether it is from friends, family members or even the police. Every life is worth saving.
SPOKE
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FUN & GAMES
Monday, February 13, 2017
SPOKE Page 7
Useless Facts
Oh Cliff!
horoscope
Our eyes are always the same size from birth, but our nose and ears never stop growing.
Week of February 13, 2017
Aries
March 21 April 19 Keep working hard, for the future is filled with adventure.
Taurus April 20 May 20
Words are powerful, you must choose them wisely.
Gemini May 21 June 21
You will make a strong and lasting friendship in the near future.
Cancer June 22 July 22
Your imagination runs free; it is time to harness your creativity.
Leo
July 23 August 22 Stay positive and keep working toward your main goal.
Virgo
August 23 September 22 You will soon reconnect with someone close from your past.
In ancient Egypt, priests plucked EVERY hair from their bodies, including their eyebrows and eyelashes.
Libra
September 23 October 22 Don’t be too hesitant to take a helping hand.
Each year there is one ton of cement poured for each man, woman and child in the world. A cockroach will live nine days without its head before it starves to death.
Scorpio
October 23 November 21 If you are uncertain, now is the time to listen to your intuition.
A pig’s orgasm lasts 30 minutes. ( In your next life do you want to be a pig?)
Sudoku Puzzle
Sagittarius November 22 December 21
Fill in the grid with digits in such a manner that every row, every column and every 3x3 box accommodates the digits 1-9, without repeating any.
Listen to your heart or accept the signs that you see.
Capricorn December 22 January 19
Come out of your shell, or don’t be afraid to let others in.
Aquarius January 20 February 18
Don’t let the past linger, continue to move forward.
Pisces
February 19 March 20 Be patient and breathe, your break will come soon enough.
Ephram Strange dabbles in forces beyond mortal comprehension on a regular basis. He also enjoys young adult novels and taxidermy.
Word Search
NEWS
Page 8 s SPOKE
Monday, February 13, 2017
February shines light on eating disorders
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
“Some more health-related issues do come up. Irritability, relationships start to deteriorate, grades at school deteriorate, falling asleep in class,” said Robbins White. She also said those around people who suffer from an ED will observe stark relationships between the sufferer and food. What is meant by that is that someone with an ED may often skip meals willingly, or having an obsession with food, calorie counting, portion sizing and so on. “Sometimes it can go undetected for a very long time,” Robbins White said. “And it takes energy to do that. So there are signs, we just need to pick up on them for people who are trying to mask them.” People with an ED may only eat certain types of foods, or only eat at certain times in the day - “highly ritualized orientations to food, in other words,” said LaMarre. “It can also look like spending
many hours a day at the gym, being unable to skip a workout or a run because you are sick or injured or have a social activity. It can look like throwing up after meals – though this is often done in secret. Bulimia often also causes tooth enamel erosion, making dentists often one of the first to spot the signs.” Eating disorders develop unintentionally, which can make them hard to combat. It’s suggested that, for anyone who struggles with an ED or thinks they may be heading in that direction, that they seek ways to create a healthy relationship with food. Workshops dealing with EDs are particularly helpful as they’re geared toward specific problems and tailored to help ED sufferers fight what ails them. Robbins White also suggests taking part in cooking classes or enjoying some cooking shows. Channels like the Food Network have grown greatly in popularity for a variety of
reasons, but Robbins White is fond of how food is positively represented. The variety and the entertainment puts food in a different light, for some. “Overall,” LaMarre said, “it is important to note that no two eating disorders look and feel exactly alike. Equally, there is not a ‘one size fits all’ treatment for eating disorders. To provide adequate support, we need more systemic supports and more funding.” To help with eating disorder awareness, give it a voice. For some, that might include doing research on the different EDs. For others, that might be spreading the word, or supporting those who are victims of an ED. Whatever it is, it must be done with some finesse, as sensitivity can be crucial to some of the sufferers with eating disorders. “Tell the media what you think,” said Robbins White. “Criticize cultures that promote an unhealthy body image. Full recovery is possible.”
PHOTO BY DEEANNA ROLLINS
Counselling Services at Conestoga College’s Doon campus reminds students every day that they are not alone with the help of a collage of celebrities who have mental health issues. CSI is looking for student leaders, staff and faculty members to tell their stories of mental health in one- to two-minute videos for their new campaign entitled, Different Story; Same Page.
Different story; same page BY DEEANNA ROLLINS
Conestoga Students Inc. (CSI) is about to start a new campaign called Different Story; Same Page, and they’re looking for faculty, staff and student leaders to tell their stories about mental health. This campaign came about in light of Bell Let’s Talk Day (Jan. 25), which raised just over $6.5 million thanks to over 131 million interactions online. Bell donated five cents for every text, call and social media interaction to mental health initiatives, such as McGill University’s Neurological Institute and St. John Ambulance. Raising money by sharing things on Facebook and Twitter is not all that can be done for mental health. “We (CSI) just think that it’s so important to address mental health concerns on campus,” said Cameron Jones, CSI president. And that is exactly what the Different Story; Same Page campaign is going to do. “The campaign will focus around one- to two-minute videos featuring staff, faculty members and students of Conestoga College sharing their mental health story,” Jones said in an email. These videos will all end with a list of resources that people with mental health issues can use both on campus
and regionally. “The stress of being a student is prevalent all year-long. We want to make sure that, at all times throughout the year, people feel like they are being heard and represented, and to tell them that they’re not alone,” said Jones. CSI is aiming to have the video series finished by the time exams roll around in April. “Hopefully it will help with exam relief and other stressful things around that time of year,” he said. According to the Canadian Mental Health Association, 20 per cent of Canadians will personally experience some sort of mental illness in their lifetime, and almost half of those people will not see a doctor or a therapist. “These times in our lives while we’re at school can be extremely difficult,” said Jones. “People need to remember that there are resources out there to help them get through whatever they’re going through.” If you or anyone you know is experiencing what you think may be a mental illness, do not hesitate to contact Counselling Services or Good2Talk at 1-866-9255454. If you would like to tell your story as part of CSI’s video series, email csibod@ conestogac.on.ca or call 519748-5220, ext. 3595.