C h e e se p le a se ! Get the lowdown on your favourite snack. Page 6
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A L E A R N I N G N E W S R O O M F OR J O U R N A L I S M S T U D E N T S
Critters with crunch Conservatory serves up bugs as tasty treats. Page 7
Making dreams reality KW Princess Project grantsiwishes, one princess at a time BY WHITNEY SOUTH
It seems fairy godmothers do exist. For many girls, prom is a chance to put on something glamorous and dance the night away. But for many who can’t afford the cost associ ated with such a milestone, even something as simple as a dress can make all the dif ference. That’s where the KW Princess Project comes in. The project, which can be found in cities all over North America including Kitchener and Waterloo, is about recy cling prom, grad and semi-for mal dresses and getting these dresses to young women in the community who could not otherwise afford them. Rebecca Lofsnes owns Gloss Boutique and Salon in down town Kitchener, one of the project’s drop-off locations. Lofsnes said her store got on board right away promoting the project to customers while offering them a 15 per cent discount on store merchan dise in exchange for a gently used donation. “Oftentimes special occa sion dresses, whether they’re a bridesmaid dress or a prom dress, we wear them once and they end up in the closet,” she said. “There’s so many girls out there who can’t afford a dress and they miss out on some thing like prom because of it.” Even though many people appreciate a discount incentive,
Lofsnes said the majority are just happy to give. The KW Project Princess accepts donations year-round. Dresses can be dropped off at Waterloo Sports Medicine at 65 University Ave. E., Waterloo, Gloss Boutique and Salon at 87 King St. W., Kitchener, or at The Shoe Diva at 730 Belmont Ave., Kitchener. With over 500 dresses donat ed so far, Lofsnes said this year the project is expanding to include things like shoes, acces sories and even cash donations. “We’ve started trying to branch out and do something where we’re actually raising some funds,” she said. “Not only do these girls need a prom dress, but oftentimes there’s a ticket involved as well.” In an effort to further encour age donations, the KW Princess Project will be hosting Prom Sense, a fashion show fund raiser tonight at The Museum in downtown Kitchener. For more information on how you can donate, contact the KW Princess Project at k w p rin cessp roject@ y a h oo. com.
PHOTO BY WHITNEY SOUTH
Rebecca Lofsnes, owner of Gloss Boutique and Salon in downtown Kitchener, is just one of many fairy godmothers helping to make a difference in the lives of underprivileged teens.
CSI president passes on the torch BY KRISTIN MILAN!
Each year, someone is given the opportunity to lead Conestoga Students Inc. (CSI) and make a difference at the college. Starting this May, third-year marketing student Jason Wright will be that per son. Wright was elected as CSI president by current presi dent Ciara Byrne, the board of directors and a new stu dent elections committee in February. CSI took a new approach to the election process this
school year. Until recently, you had to be a CSI board of director to run for presi dent. It was approved by the board last year to change that requirement, opening the position to all students. “We wanted to open the opportunity for students as a whole because many students may want to get involved and may be a good leader as well,” Byrne said. She said Wright will have an advantage, because he wasn’t a part of the organization as a board of director and will be coming in with a fresh eye.
“It’s all about new perspec tive,” she said. To be eligible to run for president, candidates have to be 18 years old or over, have a 70 per cent average or greater and graduating or taking a year off from full-time studies since it’s a full-time job. Next, they have to prepare a presentation and put togeth er a package that includes their resume, cover letter, and updated transcript. They also receive and must read an in-depth description of what will be required of them if elected. After they complete
the package, they move on to a 60-minute question and answer segment. On Feb. 13, a selections meeting took place. The deci sion on who would become the new CSI president was made by Byrne, the seven current members of the board of direc tors and the seven students on the new student elections committee. At the meeting, candidates had to make a 15-minute speech on why they should be elected. Then, they were asked questions for 60 min utes on everything from per
sonal interests to professional and academic background. Byrne said they created the committee because they wanted the selection of a new president to be fair and hav ing seven unbiased people who are also interested in bettering the student experi ence ensured this. After the questions ended, the directors, committee and Byrne took a final vote. To be successful, the winning can didate had to receive 51 per cent of the vote. SEE STUDENT, PAGE 3
NEWS
Page 2 ♦ SPOKE
Monday, March 25,2013
Now deep thoughts ... with Conestoga College Random
questions
answered
If you could transform into any type of transportation, w hat would it be? “A sports car because I like driving fa s t I’ve had a few speeding tickets in my day.” Brandon Haskins, second-year accounting
PHOTO BY WESLEY BUTLER
Lynne Milnes (left to right), Carla Perrota, Cathy Erskine and Barbara Hankins of the Licorice Allsorts recited poetry and played classical music at their second annual Spring into Spring event at the Cambridge Libraries and Galleries on March 17.
“A plane because I would be able to get places quickly.”
Spring into Spring
Shawn Fitzpatrick, third-year electronics engineering
chases away winter blues “A Vespa just because I think they are really cool.”
Marcus Silva, third-year electronics engineering
“A tank because they are powerful.”
Jonathan Mansilla, first-year international business
“A fighter jet because it flies and it’s fast.”
Vlad Panait, first-year international business
“A Bogati because it is one of the fastest cars in the world.”
Collins Atsikidi, first-year international business
Smile Conestoga, you could be our next respondent!
BY WESLEY BUTLER
To help welcome the spring season, the Licorice Allsorts played classical music and recited poetry at the Spring into Spring concert at the Cambridge Libraries on March 17. People of all ages were treat ed to classical music such as Camberwell Green by Felix Mendelssohn and The Four Seasons by Antonio Vivaldi, as well as several poems about the transition between winter and spring. “We want to show people that spring isn’t just anoth er season,” said Barbara Hankins, who plays clarinet in the Licorice Allsorts. “It’s a time in peoples’ lives when they feel rejuvenated, so our goal is to inspire them as much as we can.” The quartet, which also consists of Lynne Milnes,
Carla Perrota and Cathy Erskine, form ed in 1980 when all four women studied music in Toronto. Toward the end of their program, one of their instructors assigned students to differ ent groups and told them each group had to perform a song. The four women ended up in the same group. Each of them had an immediate chemistry with the others, and they knew they wanted to perform together perm a nently. This is the second year the Licorice Allsorts has held the Spring into Spring con cert, which was organized by Karen Murray-Hopf, the cultural and special events planner at the Cambridge Libraries. “This quartet is very pow erful,” said Murray-Hopf. “I made sure they performed at the library because they
have a way of connecting with people, which I think is very important.” The Licorice Allsorts want people to walk away feel ing optimistic about their future after hearing clas sical music pieces about springtime, and being told stories about what the sea son truly means. Typical performances by the quartet usually consist of one theme, or one story and song that are played all the way through. “The winter can be a long season for some people, so our quartet wants to make the transition to spring happy and cheerful,” said Milnes, who also plays the clarinet in the Licorice Allsorts. “It can be really hard to shake off those cob webs, and we want to make it a lot easier for people to do so.”
NEWS
Monday, March 25,2013
SPOKE* Page 3
Student president job not to betaken lightly ♦ FROM PAGE 1
Byrne said she was impressed and happy with the election process. However, an issue that arose was the num ber of people who applied. There were initially four peo ple who pursued the role as president but two of them dropped out after discovering it was a full-time job. It ended up being between Wright and a member of the board of directors. Byrne believes the reason for the sparse turn out was because people may have not known enough about what the job entails. As for the board of direc tors, there are normally eight people chosen but only five applied this year. The board and Byrne are currently deciding how they want to fill the three remaining spots. Byrne, whose term ends in April, said her time as presi dent was an amazing experi ence and that she couldn’t have asked for anything more. "It’s taught me what I want to do for the rest of my life. I love being a voice for people who just don’t really have one. More specific, being a voice for students,” she said. Byrne said being president of CSI is a great way for young students to learn the process of a business but in a very safe environment. She said she got to learn about business practices, govern ment and how colleges work. ‘It’s a real business. I feel like I’m set for anything that the real world throws at me,” she said.
In addition to being presi dent of CSI, Byrne is a parttime student in the busi ness management program and president of the College Student Alliance, an orga nization which advocates on behalf of 135,000 college students on issues such as tuition and accessibility. In order to take on the role as president, Byrne had to put her education on hold. She completed two years of her three-year program and then switched to part-time. She will be returning in September to finish her third year. Once she walks across the stage at commencement and is handed her diploma, she is pack ing up and moving to Ireland. Byrne is an Irish citizen and has family residing there. “It’s my home,” she said. She will be continuing school in Ireland, enrobing in a bache lor of business degree program and then a master’s program. Someday, Byrne hopes to be chief of staff to the prime minister of Canada. “I feel like nobody dreams big anymore and I’m just going to dream big for every one,” she said. Looking back on her time as president, Byrne said she is proud of how much CSI has grown in the past two years and of creating a team that is 100 per cent here because they love CSI and want to better the experience for students. “I’m most proud of how much we’ve been able to expand to represent more students and not just Doon,” she added.
PHOTO BY KRISTIN MILANI
Current CSI president Ciara Byrne officially beings on May 1. The organization now has physical space on all four cam puses and is looking to expand the new shuttle service. Although Wright will be tak ing over as president on May 1, Byrne will remain at CSI for two months to train and help him ease into his new role. Byrne says Wright has a professional demeanour but is nice and easy to approach. She said CSI’s biggest prob lem is figuring out how to communicate with students and since he is big into com munications, he could bring innovative ways to solve that. “He has big ideas that he wants to bring forward and they do line up with the stra tegic direction of the organiza tion. He thinks that anything can be possible and that’s what the president should
sits with newly elected president Jason Wright, whose term think,” she said. The 28-year-old said he is nervous and excited to be president but also relieved he can now relax and enjoy his last months as a student as he graduates in June. He hopes to bring student issues to the forefront and help solve them. He said the biggest challenge will be prioritizing the issues that students bring to his attention. As to why he decided to run, Wright said it was for a number of important reasons. “Honestly, it was the experi ence that went along with the position, as well as being able to come in as a student and know what we like. And hav ing that new fresh eye on the type of issues that my fellow classmates and fellow student body have witnessed over the past few years,” he said.
Wright said Byrne has done a great job as the president and is impressed with her work. “She has given us and future presidents a great framework and foundation to just con tinue to build on,” he said. Although he isn’t a mem ber of the board of directors, he has played a part in the organization. He previously worked as a CSI self-serve kiosk leader for two years at the Waterloo campus and is currently a bartender at the Nooner Pub in the Sanctuary. Byrne’s biggest piece of advice for him is to make the position his own and to not try to be like her or past presidents. “If he thinks that something is right, he needs to make sure he trusts himself and he doesn’t doubt it. He needs to have that confidence,” she said.
Mentalist wows Sanctuary audience BY WENDY CZAKO-MAH
A day that started in Los Angeles ended in Kitchener as Wayne Hoffman, mentalist and illusionist, flew in and performed in the Sanctuary at Conestoga College March 14. With a 6 a.m. flight to Miami, Hoffman leads quite a life. Born in a rural town outside of Reading, Penn., Hoffman had a dream, to be a magician and tour the world. Everyone told him he was crazy. His father, now his biggest fan, told him he needed to get a real job. Conestoga is just one of those crazy places he would have never visited, had he listened. You might ask yourself, what is a mentalist? The clos est reference people have is the TV show, The Mentalist. According to Hoffman, a men talist is someone who uses psychology and human behav iour for entertainment. They manipulate the mind and do
demonstrations that appear to be psychic, using Nero lin guistic programming along with a bit of hypnotism and reading body language. Although he barely appears more than 25, Hoffman has been performing for over 23 years. His first paid show was at the age of 15 and he has been performing profession ally for 16 years. It’s the only job he’s ever had. Hoffman started as a sleight of hand artist and then an Illusionist. At the age of 18 he went to university to study psychology. This sparked his interest in mentalism. “The downfall is, there isn’t a mentalism 101 course, so you really have to do your own self studies. I left school to do my own research,” Hoffman said. He claims not to have any psychic ability, but rather highly tuned senses. Because of what he knows, Hoffman is skeptical of anyone who claims to have psychic ability.
“I can reproduce anything that a psychic claims to be able to do, without supernatu ral powers.” During his Conestoga per formance, Hoffman had two siblings stand on stage with their eyes closed. When he tapped one on the back, they both felt his touch. He also used a Sharpie marker to make an X on the one sister’s arm, only to have it appear on the. other’s. For his final trick, Hoffman, uncrumpled, refilled and resealed a can of pop he had originally opened and drank from throughout his perfor mance, all while the audience watched. Audience member and recipient of the can of pop, Steph Roman, a first-year public relations student, said, “Amazing, mind freak over here. I’ve seen an illusionist before, but never like this.” For Hoffman, the most amazing part of what he does is getting to meet all
PHOTO BY WENDY CZAKO-MAH
Mentalist Wayne Hoffman prepares audience member Steph Roman for a mind-reading trick in the Sanctuary on March 14. kinds of people from all over the world. To date, he has performed in 44 countries and is about to embark to his 45™1 - American Samoa, a country he didn’t even know existed. The best part he says is watching people’s reactions, watching people freak out after seeing him perform. He has appeared on a num
ber of shows such as, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Phenomenon and The Howard Stern Show, and has written a book. What does the future hold for Hoffman? “Wow, I’ll have a family, a home and I’ll still be perform ing. I’ll still be performing till I can’t physically move any more,” he said.
COMMENTARY
Page 4 ♦SPOKE
Monday, March 25 ,2013
New Pope for new generation BY ASHLEY CURRIE
White smoke rose from the Sistine Chapel in Vatican City on March 13, marking the election of a new Pope, and possibly the beginning of some much-needed change in the Roman Catholic Church. Jorge Mario Bergoglio from Argentina was elected and chose the Papal name of Francis in honour of St. Francis of Assisi, who is known as the patron saint of animals and the environment and who chose to give up his worldly life to live a life of poverty. This new Pope also embraces the simple life. According to www.guardian.co.uk, Pope Francis, the son of an Italian railway worker and a housewife, likes to travel by bus, used to live in a small flat instead of a formal bishop’s residence, and he told Argentinians not to travel to Rome to celebrate if he was appointed but to give their money to the poor instead. He also chose a simpler, and less expensive, silver papal ring instead of a gold one. His election marks some firsts for the church, leading people to be cautiously optimistic about some possible progression in its old-fashioned ways. Pope Francis is the first pope to be a Jesuit, the first to come from the Americas, and the first to come from the Southern Hemisphere. According to guardian.co.uk, Pope Francis has said he believes that adoption by homosexuals is a form of dis crimination against children, but that he also believes that condoms “can be permissible” to prevent infection. Although he is conservative on church doctrine, Pope Francis has also criticized priests who refuse to baptize babies born to single mothers. Although he is head of the Catholic Church, Pope Francis is showing some sympathy toward the gen eral beliefs and practices of many modern Catholics. Although allowing condoms or baptizing babies born to single mothers are small steps, they are steps in the right direction. For the Catholic Church to have a leader who is at least open to some changes is a really big deal. It won’t be tomorrow and it won’t be next year, but these positive signs mean, hopefully one day, the Catholic Church will recognize it is in the 21st century and finally embrace change. The views herein represent the position o f the newspa per, not necessarily the author.
Letters are welcome Spoke welcomes letters to the editor. Letters should be signed and include the name and telephone number of the writer. Writers will be contact ed for verification. No unsigned letters will be published. Letters should be no longer
than 500 words. Spoke reserves the right to edit any letter for publication. Email letters to: www.spokeonline.com with the subject line “Letter to the Editor," or bring them to Room 1C30 at the Doon campus.
Homophobia brings world of hate I don’t want to live in a world of hate. Hate is an ugly and festering emotion that hinders a pro ductive life. People say that to despise someone puts more of a burden on you than them, as it actively uses up both brain power and energy that could be focused on good. I disagree. It takes almost no effort to hurl insults at someone; akin to tossing a paper cup onto a highway, you’re miles away and have moved on while some sorry sap is left to pick up the mess. I’m that sap. When I was a sticky-faced kid I had a friend. On the surface we were the same: two little girls with noth ing better to do than throw rocks into ponds and giggle about boys. We both went to the same school, our families probably were in the same income bracket and we both loved each other’s company. We spent hours, in typical little-girl fashion, playing imaginary games under blan ket forts and dreaming of what our lives would bring: we’d grow up, meet a boy and get married. Back then it was so simple. Turns out, deep down we
Allanah Pinhorn Opinion
were very different. The boys we were whispering about held little sway over my mind and eventually I real ized I was different. I grew up and fell in love with a woman. My life took me plac es I never thought it would. Her life brought her the joys of motherhood and mar riage. Last week our paths crossed for the first time in almost 20 years. That encounter was a tempest of vile and depraving words. Derogative and anti gay slurs hurled at me for simply extending my hand in friendship after years of radio silence. I’d never experienced any thing like it before. This person, this stranger, changed me. Being straight isn’t normal. It’s not ‘right’ to my ‘wrong;’ it’s just more common. I’m just a woman trying to live my life the way I was made, by God or by nature,
and it’s a life that is no dif ferent than yours. I’m ordinary: I buy grocer ies and do the dishes with my fiancee, we argue and sometimes one of us sleeps on the couch. We read the paper on the weekends over coffee and watch movies in our pyjamas and sometimes we slow dance in the living room. We live a normal life with the calming and won derful monotony of com mitted love. I try my best to make my soon-to-be-wife happy because she is the most important part o f my little, ordinary life. We hope to have children soon and I wonder now what hate they may face? What will be taught to their future classmates by women like my former friend? How will I teach them that love, of any kind, is not only more power ful than animosity but also the only way to live a life fulfilled? It is often said that there is a fine line between love and hate, but I’ll tell you right now that is not true. Hate, in its purest and most raw form, is a dark and seething thing that is noth ing like the love I have in my life.
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FEATURE
Monday, March 25,2013
SPOKE ♦ Page 5
Out of the shadows Student speaks out about living with depression BY LINDSAY TESSIER
This is the first of a fourpart series on the faces of mental health. Allanah Pinhorn is urging me to look at the shadows, at the way the light is streaming through the trees and east ing shadows across the fresh snow. “Look at the shadows com ing off those trees,” she says. “No, seriously, look at it! It’s gorgeous.” Pinhorn is a fellow secondyear journalism student at Conestoga College. I know her as a coffee-addict, a tal ented writer and a friend who can leave me breathless with laughter. She also happens to have depression. The 26-year-old is bluntly open about her experience with mental illness. “I think it’s important to share my story,” she says. “I think it’s important for people to see the face of depression and to know that they aren’t alone. Also, to see that it does get better.” Pinhorn describes her depression as “a heavy being sitting on your shoulders and a lead weight in your stom ach.” “It feels like you’re the only person to ever feel so low, so dejected. Like the world is grey and colourless, and mov ing slowly, and you have no idea why or how to get it back to normal.” She’s not alone in feel ing this way. According to Health Canada, one in five Canadians will experience a mental illness in their life time. The remaining four will have a friend, family member or colleague who will. Young adults are particular ly at-risk. It is estimated that 10 to 20 per cent of Canadian youth are affected by a men tal illness or disorder. Despite the numbers, only one-third of those who need mental health services in Canada actually receive them. The typical age of onset for many disorders is 18 to 24, meaning young people often have their first encounter with mental illness while pur suing post-secondary educa tion. There are a number of rea sons why college and univer sity is a stressful time for stu dents, says Barbara Kraler, co-ordinator of Counselling Services. Many students are living away from home for the first time - far from their famil
iar support system of fam ily and friends. On top of that, colleges and universities are often demanding, costly, high-stress environments, which can trigger anxiety and depression. As far as Pinhorn can remember, her battle with depression began in high school but worsened when she went away to Sheridan College for theatre studies. “Seventeen is when it hit me really hard,” she says. “To the point where I had to drop out of college because I wasn’t going to my classes. I was very successful when I did go to class but I was just so depressed that I couldn’t get out of bed.”
"
It wasn’t scary
because finally there was a reason for it and there was hope." — Allanah Pinhorn She attributes some of her depression at that time to wrestling with issues of iden tity and sexuality. “I think a lot of it was due to the fact that I didn’t know who I was at the time,” she says. “I was struggling with my sexuality and I didn’t really realize it. Once I real ized it, I mean, I was still depressed but I was fine with that. I didn’t have a problem with coming out as a lesbian and realizing who I was, it was just trying to get there was a lot of the struggle.” Pinhorn says that having a strong support system around her was incredibly helpful. “I don’t know what I would have done without my family going through it.” Although she had a rocky relationship with her mom during her teens, the depression helped to heal that rift. “We didn’t have a very good relationship then and ironi cally, because of it, we formed an incredibly strong relation ship.” She says that although she
has a supportive network of family and friends now, many people she thought were her friends turned their backs on her in the midst of her depres sion. She says that living through the worst of her depression was much scarier than any diagnosis. “I was probably at the low est place I’ve been and I had just tried to kill myself. I kind of realized at that point, what am I doing? I mean, I still didn’t really want to live but I didn’t want to die either.” She spent time in a hospital after the suicide attempt. “That was a wake-up call, where I went, I don’t real ly belong here, and then I thought, well, maybe I do. I want to get help.” She says the experience of being in hospital was scary but when the doctor told her she was depressed all she felt was relief. “It was like a weight off my shoulders. I was like, it’s just me, I’m not crazy. A lot of this I can’t control. It wasn’t scary because finally there was a reason for it and there was hope. I don’t have to live like this forever. I can go back to who I was.” After being officially diag nosed with depression at the age of 18, she was treated with antidepressants. “Then everything was sud denly OK,” she says. Pinhorn still takes medica tion, though she did go off it for a few years. “Then it (the depression) came back, but I recognized it and instead of fighting it I went, OK, time to go back on.” She says it’s important to be able to recognize the symp toms of your illness and to not be ashamed to take medica tion if necessary. “If I was diabetic I’d take insulin, so if I’m depressed I’m going to take whatever the little white pill is they give me.” She hopes that someday mental health disorders will be treated the same as any other medical condition. Pinhorn says there are still many misconceptions surrounding mental health issues. “I think there’s still a huge social stigma against it that says if you have a mental ill ness you’re ‘crazy’ which is not the case. It’s just a medi cal condition that you need to manage. It’s unfortunate that it’s an invisible medical condition. “We don’t look sick, so peo ple don’t think we are.”
PHOTO BY LINDSAY TESSIER
Conestoga College journalism student Allanah Pinhorn was diag nosed with depression at the age of 18. Treatment gave her a new outlook on life. Many people still believe that mental illness is some thing you can simply “snap out o f’ or wear down with enough willpower. Pinhorn says that’s not the case. “When you’re in that dark place, you can be doing the thing you absolutely love and at that time it was the arts and theatre for me. I lived and breathed it. You can be doing the thing you abso lutely love and still be miser able if your mental health is in a bad state. Sometimes you just need help.” She says she wants other people struggling with men tal illness to know that they aren’t alone. “So many of those people are dealing with the same things you’re dealing with so don’t be ashamed of it. Also, that it
gets better. No matter what, it gets better. You can be incred ibly successful and happy after going through that. You can find a career, you can do well at school, you can find love, you can have a family and nothing is too dark to get through. Even if it seems like it is now, it never is.” Pinhorn returns to the interplay of light and shadow outside the cafeteria window. “Little things like that make you wonder how you could ever think that life wasn’t worth getting up for,” she says. “For me to be able to sit here almost 10 years later now and have a completely different outlook on life is just proof that it’s liveable. You can live with it. I still live with it every day. “I probably always will.”
MENTAL HEALTH FACTS ■ One in five Canadians will experience a mental illness in their lifetime. ■ It is estimated that 10 to 20 per cent of Canadian youth are affected by a mental illness or disorder. ■ The total number of 12- to 19-year-olds in Canada at risk for developing depression is a staggering 3.2 million. ■ Suicide is among the leading causes of death in 15- to 24-year-old Canadians, second only to accidents; 4,000 people die prematurely each year by suicide. ■ Once depression is recognized, help can make a difference for 80 per cent of people who are affected, allowing them to get back to their regular activities.
FEATURE
Page 6 ♦SPOKE
Monday, March 25,2013
Cheese is an easy and healthy snack to feed your hunger BY ASHLEY CURRIE
Cheese comes in many forms and varieties including soft, spreadable cream cheeses, cheese dips, hard cheeses and even extra spicy ones. Most people enjoy cheese, but it can sometimes be dif ficult to tell which cheeses are good for you and which ones you should avoid. Luckily some of the best cheeses for you are favourites such as cheddar which has a particularly high calcium count, mozzarella which is low in calories when compared with other cheeses, and Swiss which has the added bonus of a lot of vitamin bl2. Overly processed cheese spreads and snacks should be avoided. Cheese is most typically made from cow’s milk but can
also be made using the milks of other animals such as goats, sheep, reindeer, camels or yaks. It is made by acidifying the milk and then adding an enzyme that causes it to coagulate or clump. These clumps are the cheese curd, which in some cases can be used just as they are for cer tain foods such as poutine. More often, however, the cheese curds are separated from the liquid and pressed into shape, sometimes by hand, and sometimes with the use of a mould. Kristin Fulford is a nutri tion student at the University of Guelph and had a lot to say about cheese. “Cheese is great but only in small amounts. It is high in fat but it’s also high in cal
INTERNET PHOTO
Swiss cheese has holes in it due to a specific bacteria that is used during its creation. This bacteria reieases carbon dioxide, creating bubbles in the cheese, When these bubbles pop, the cheese is left with holes.
cium and vitamin A so it’s not all bad,” she said. Fulford added that it can be better to eat cheeses with a stronger flavour. The inten sity of the flavour makes you want to eat less of the cheese, and, therefore, there is less of a risk for overin dulgence. Cheese.com contains a data base of nearly 600 cheeses. When viewing the database you can sort the cheese alpha betically by names, by coun try of origin, by type of milk, or by texture. The site also contains helpful tips on how to serve and store cheese, and what cheeses go well with what wines. Cheese.com even has some recommendations for how to cut certain cheeses properly. They suggest cutting cheese wheels in wedges like you would cut a cake, and cut ting sliced cheeses length wise instead of across. They also suggest that you cut a truckle of cheese (which is a wheel of cheese that is taller than it is wide) by slicing it horizontally to make it easier to serve. No matter what cheese you are cutting they say the most important thing is to make sure everyone gets an equal share of the inside and out side of the cheese. Fulford also notes that many products that are marketed as cheese should not be considered as real cheeses as they do not con tain enough actual cheese and are mostly comprised of other ingredients such as salt or sugar. For example, the nacho cheese sauce served at some movie theatres lists cheese as the fifth ingredient, just ahead of jalapeno peppers. “Another healthier way to have cheese is to go with the low fat varieties; you still have to use moderation though.” Fulford said.
INTERNET PHOTO
A truckle of cheese (right) is a wheel of cheese that is taller than it is wide. Experts recommend cutting a truckle of cheese by slicing it horizontally to make it easier to serve.
PHOTO BY ASHLEY CURRIE
Although it is quite tasty, movie theatre nacho cheese sauce contains very little actual cheese. Cheese is listed as the fifth ingredient, just ahead of jaiepeno peppers.
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PHOTOS BY ROB MENDONSA
A young boy gets a bird’s eye view of a tarantula at BugFeast at the Cambridge Butterfly Conservatory where children and adults alike got to sample some insect treats.
It's dinnertime, so don't bug me BY ROB MENDONSA
The chef at Cambridge Butterfly Conservatory was busy preparing sweet sam ples for kids of all ages dur ing March break. But don’t expect to see any of the treats he prepared on the menu of any fine restaurant in town anytime soon. Cricket car amel corn, salt water taffy ants and maple mealworm fudge just don’t cut it at these establishments. However, at the Butterfly Conservatory in Cambridge, these treats were just what the kids ordered. They were offered up during its annu al BugFeast, and as usual, drew large crowds of kids
and adults who clamoured for an opportunity to show their sense of adventure while devouring some creepy crawlies. In its 12th year, the annual event is the big gest event of the year, accord ing to Andalyne Tofflemire, an employee at the Butterfly Conservatory. “It’s only here in North America that eating bugs is strange. If you grew up in one of the 90 countries around the world where eating bugs is normal, this wouldn’t be odd at all,” Tofflemire said. Eating insects, also called entomophagy, is more com mon than people may think. Insects have served as a food source for people for tens of
thousands of years. Insects remain a popular food in many developing regions of Central and South America, Africa and Asia. It is estimat ed that there are 1,417 spe cies of insects and arachnids that are eaten by humans on a regular basis because they are readily available and highly nutritious. Insects can be a good source of not only protein, but also vitamins, minerals and fats. For exam ple, crickets are high in cal cium, and termites are rich in iron. One hundred grams of giant silkworm moth larvae provide 100 per cent of the daily requirements for cop per, zinc, iron, thiamin, and riboflavin.
The insects used at the conservatory have to be fed a specific diet of oats and sweet potato so that they can be served at BugFeast. The chef then roasts them all in house and prepares them in their delicious, candied state before serving them to the folks on-hand. For the more adventur ous kids, like nine-year-old Jordynn Boyce, there were also live mealworms avail able to savour, if you could stand the wriggling around while dropping them in your mouth. “It’s not that bad. Was a lit tle salty and really crunchy,” Boyce said. Once the kids were done
sampling their bug treats, visitors were invited to enter a lush tropical garden in the conservatory and walk amongst thousands of free fly ing butterflies. At the emer gence window, visitors could watch as butterflies emerged from their chrysalides, dried their wings and prepared for their very first flight. All in all it was a great day for kids and adults looking for an escape from the cold weather. The Butterfly Conservatory is located at 2500 Kossuth Rd., Cambridge, and is open seven days a week from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Prices range from $13 for adults to $6.78 for kids. For further details call 519-653-1234.
Oh WORMI
No longer a slow-moving caterpillar, a butterfly emerges from its chrysalid at the emergence window.
Janice Hall enjoys a live mealworm at the BugFeast on March 16.
ENTERTAINMENT
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Monday, March 25,2013
Rainbow Reels celebrates diversity BY BRAD COUGHLIN
Sticky floors littered with crunching popcorn, conces sion stand candy and the aroma of butter in the air set the tone for The Rainbow Reels Queer Film Festival at Princess Twin Cinema in Waterloo. Filling theatres for the 13th year, the festival aimed to entertain, celebrate and edu cate patrons and supporters about the lives and issues of the lesbian, gay, bisex ual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) communities. “Most films that you see don’t show LGBTQ people they show people in more nor mative relationships or with more normative sexualities,” said Suzie Taka, the 2013
project co-ordinator. “This is a celebration of being queer as well as a way to make it more widespread and open for everybody.” Running from March 13 to 17, the festival presented 11 handpicked movies rang ing from a comedy called Codependent Lesbian Space Aliens Seek Same, to a docu mentary about Audre Lorde, a lesbian feminist who played a big role in the Afro-German feminist movement. “They’re not all gay, they’re not all lesbians, they’re a vari ety of different queer sexu alities,” said Taka about the movies, adding choosing them is a fun but time-consuming process. Orchestrated by the Waterloo Public Interest
Research Group, a social and environmental justice non profit organization, entrance fees are not for monetary gain. “We’re really lucky that we’re supported by a lot of local organizations,” said Taka. “We sell tickets to cover our costs and that’s it.” Organizers are accustomed to seeing film buffs, those who identify with LGBTQ, lots of students and a wide age range come through the doors every year. “It’s kept going because it’s become important to a lot of people,” Taka said. The celebration really began on March 14 with a screen ing of a comedy called Gayby and a gala that followed at the Canadian Clay and Glass Gallery.
INTERNET PHOTO
The Rainbow Reels Queer Film Festival featured 11 movies which celebrated the lives of those who are LGBTQ.
The not-so Great and Powerful Oz BY JOANNA DITMER
The cat is out of the bag. The mystery of the Wizard has been solved. In the newly released pre quel to the 1939 classic The Wizard of Oz, viewers return to the Land of Oz with excite ment. It opens in classic black and white, with magician, Oscar Diggs (James Franco), a.k.a. Oz, pondering his decision to leave the ordinary world behind and enter the life of show business after a visit from the woman he loves who informs him of her upcoming nuptials. After a show gone wrong, Oz gets chased by a potential lov er’s man, who, unluckily, hap pens to be the circus strong man. Running for dear life, Oz jumps into a hot air bal loon, cuts the rope and drifts off scot-free. Or so he thinks. Enter the twister that Oz gets trapped in. Around and round he goes, where he stops? Well, everyone knows by the yellow-brick road in the Land of Oz. At this point, colour has crept in and the screen wid ens. The viewer gets a look at the beautiful scenery before glancing at the gorgeous Theodora (Mila Kunis). With the help of Theodora, Oz makes his way to the Emerald City where he believes he will assume the throne. Being the conman he is, he has assured Theodora that the prophecy is true, that he is indeed the great wizard who has come to save her city and rule over it. It doesn’t take long for his lie to unfold which in turn turns the beautiful Theodora into her ugly and mean inner self.
Sam Raimi, director of Oz the Great and Powerful, and best known for the Spider-Man tril ogy, brings to life the perfect nostalgic beginning, before losing it all in colour. A movie that had great potential was a real letdown to some fans of the original. The scenes were very drawn out and the secondary charac ters not as well developed as they could have been. The film proves to be a good film in its own regard - it is much more comical than The Wizard of Oz, and what it lacks in narration, it makes up for with special effects - but it almost overdoes it. Once the black and white film fades and the viewer is introduced to colour it seems as though they let a preteen edit the movie and he completely over exposed everything. The colours are so vivid that it hurts the eyes at times, and some of the computer generated images are easily identified as fake. However, Franco plays the perfect Oz. He portrays a great version of a man who is attempting to find his place and learn the value of love and friendship. Kunis is seen in a new light, as an evil witch - literally. Theodora is a complete 180 degree change from what fans have come to know Kunis by. She did a great job at stretch ing herself as an actress, but at times it was like she should have stayed where comfort able. Kids will likely love the movie, the colours and the sto ryline. But those old enough to remember - and love - the original, will leave the theatre disappointed. I give this movie three out of five stars.
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SPORTS
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Monday, March 25,2013
Condors badminton club caps competitive season in a short period of time with limited gym time and some The last of the shuttlecocks times prior commitments have been smashed as the from players. Conestoga Condors’ badmin Kam, who has been playing ton team wrapped up its five- badminton for about 30 years, month-long season on March knows it takes more than skill 1 and 2 at the Regionals at to make an impact on a team Mohawk College. Michael and was astonished to see Kam, coaching his first-year how close his team became of collegiate level athletics, during the season. “One of the nicest things sent 10 players to take on the best of the OCAA West region from the season is how well in an attempt to make it to the team came together. There was a lot of good cama Provincials. Kam said, “There were raderie and it was a pleasure mixed results, with some wins to see them as a nice, cohesive and some losses, but overall team at the end.” the team did extremely well Kam encourages other (at Regionals). Unfortunately, sports teams to plan social not quite well enough to get to outings outside of scheduled Provincials.” practice and game times to really bring everyone together as a solid, single unit. He said " There was a lot of good once the team members got to know each other better, it camaraderie and it was a made them less afraid to point pleasure to see them as a out each other’s strengths and weaknesses during practice. He said that aspect helped his nice, cohesive team team tremendously. at the end." Kam believes only two or three players will be return - Coach Michael Kam ing next year, so he is encour aging anybody with a slight interest in badminton to come There were 14 players each out for the team. However, in the men’s and women’s sin Kam means business and gles pools and seven teams again wants to have a com each in the three doubles petitive team next season. “I am looking for players pools. Only the top three from each pool advanced to who are dedicated and are ready and willing to learn. Provincials. That is all in the past now, as Badminton is very much a Kam is already concentrating game of skill, hand-eye co on new tactics for next season. ordination, speed, strength “Next year I plan to work on and endurance and it takes conditioning right off the bat a lot of those qualities to be instead of focusing on trying successful.” to determine which players More importantly, he is to cut. Once everyone is up strongly urging females to to par on strength and con come out. He said sometimes ditioning, then I will start they couldn’t field a complete with the fundamentals and team because there weren’t continue to build from there.” enough women available He said he found that no because of prior commitments matter how skilled some of and other reasons. his players were, they were “I am very proud of all the more prone to injury because team members for their com they were missing some key mitment and dedication and fundamentals and lack of all their hard work. I think proper conditioning. it was a learning curve for It is difficult to condition all of us and I thank them your players, teach them the for absorbing the informa key fundamentals and con tion I gave to them and being stantly push them to improve patient with me,” Kam said. BY MiKE VIELMA
PHOTO BY RYAN BOWMAN
Members of the Kitchener Ice Pirates await their final game of the 2013 Special Hockey International tournament at the Kitchener Memorial Auditorium. The hosting Pirates were one of 60 teams com peting in the annual event for players with special needs, which ran from March 14 to 16.
Kitchener hosts international tourney celebrating special needs hockey BY RYAN BOWMAN
On an autumn weekend in 1994, a group of developmentally challenged hockey play ers gathered at a community rink in St. Louis, Mo., for the inaugural Special Hockey International (SHI) tourna ment. Nearly 20 years later, Kitchener played host to what has become one of the largest celebrations of special needs athletes in the world. Held from March 14 to 16, the event featured 60 teams and nearly 1,000 players from across Canada, the United States and England. Over the course of the three-day tour nament, a total of 120 games were played at the Kitchener Memorial Auditorium and the Activa Sportsplex. John Thompson, chair of the tournament’s host committee, admitted he had no idea what he was getting into when he agreed to spearhead the orga nization of the event nearly four years ago. “Like a lot of people, I didn’t really know anything about special hockey,” he said. “But once I learned a little bit more, it was something that pulled at my heart strings pretty easily, and I knew I wanted to be involved.” Adapted specifically for players with developmental delays or special needs, spe cial hockey varies from the traditional sport in several ways. There is no contact, no icing and no offsides. There are no tryouts. The emphasis is not on winning and losing, but on making friends and hav
ing fun. Most importantly, special hockey transcends age and ability level. Participants as young as five years old may face off against fully grown adults, and individuals new to the sport may skate for an entire game with the assis tance of an on-ice aide. Thompson, who was a mem ber of the city’s Memorial Cup organizing committee in 2008, said planning the SHI tournament presented its share of challenges. “It was a significant learn ing experience for all of us to understand what the word special means in special hockey,” he said. “From how we timed and scheduled our games to how we fed every body, we knew we had to approach this differently than if it was a Bantam triple-A tournament.” That approach included a number of unique off-ice initiatives which Thompson referred to as “wow factors.” The biggest addition to this year’s tournament was Hockey Avenue, a series of exhibits lining the concourse of the Aud. Players, coaches, families and spectators could do everything from bid on autographed NHL jerseys in a silent auction to test the speed of their slapshot or sing karaoke. Each team also had a local sport celebrity serve as their honourary captain and a local rally team - a group of citi zens who cheered them on at the opening ceremony and all of their games. All 946 players also received goodie-filled gift bags before
their first game and shiny participation medals follow ing their last. “We could have thrown these kids on a pond in St. Jacob’s, set up two nets and they would have had a great time,” Thompson said. “But we really wanted it to be about more than just the hockey.” Equipped with a team of more than 200 volunteers, Thompson said he began pre paring for the event nearly a full year in advance. His objectives from the outset were simple. “We wanted to put on the best tournament we could, and we wanted to raise awareness about the sport of special hockey.” Kirsten Carr, director of special hockey operations for the Kitchener Minor Hockey Association, said both of those objectives were achieved “ten fold.” “All weekend, I heard noth ing but good things,” said Carr, who also serves as gen eral manager of Kitchener’s special needs team, the Ice Pirates. “I feel honoured to have been a part of it - not only as a member of the Ice Pirates, but also as a member of this community.” According to Carr, the tour nament was as beneficial for the general public as it was for the participants. “I think this will help others understand that people with developmental delays are able to do things, that they’re capable of playing sports,” she said. “I hope that’s the legacy this tournament will leave behind.”
FEATURE
Monday, March 25,2013
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The visually impaired have to fight for rights BY JESSICA REPIKER
This is the final instalment of a five-part series on visual impairment and what it is like for the people living with it. In what world is it accept able that 75 per cent of work force-aged people are actively seeking work that they know they will never find? The answer: our world. This is the case for blind and partially sighted people in developed countries and it is one of the primary focuses of World Blind Union (WBU), the umbrella organization for all blindness organizations in the world. WBU strives to improve the quality of life for visually impaired people through the support of global and local ini tiatives that focus on creating equal opportunity for education, overall safety and employment. One of the primary focuses of WBU is an initiative called Right to Work which focuses on bridging the employment gap that has been created by a lack of meaningful posi tions available for visually impaired people. According to WBU, in developing countries, only 10 per cent of workforceaged people with limited sight have a job that can sustain their lifestyle. Marianne McQuillan, manag er of fund development and com munications at WBU, says this is not an issue of capabilities, but of people’s misconceptions. “People’s perception is that
visually impaired people can’t do the same thing,” she said, adding the jobs that partially sighted people get are often more introverted work such as legal work, research, banking and insurance —but there are very few limitations on what they could do if employers took additional steps to make their workplaces inclusive. “There can be a wide vari ety of jobs if materials are made accessible for them. It depends on your level of blind ness because the public has to understand that blindness is varied, it’s not either black or white,” she said. “If you have some vision, you can still do certain things and anyone who wears a pair of glasses has a visual impairment that’s been corrected by glasses, so they can function normally.” Some of the simple accom modations that could be made to create more positions for partially sighted people would be to install screen-reading software like JAWS on com puters, having work-related reading materials available in large print and having carpool options available since, according to McQuillan, there
isn’t a lot of good public trans portation for blind or visually impaired people. In addition to the limita tions that are externally being placed on a visually impaired person’s career suc cess, McQuillan said selfimposed restrictions, such as convincing oneself that they aren’t as capable as a fully sighted person, can be just as, if not more, hindering. In addition to fighting for the right to work, WBU focus es on one of the foundations of being employable - literacy. Right to Read is an initia tive that focuses on putting books in the hands of visu ally impaired people across the world — something that McQuillan explains isn’t as simple as it sounds. “Even though the Canadian National Institute for the Blind creates a lot of English Braille books and materi als, we can’t ship them to other English-speaking coun tries because that’s copyright infringement,” she said, add ing this book famine affects a person’s ability to be educated and literate in society, mak ing the person less hireable. According to WBU, over 90 per cent of all published mate rials cannot be accessed to be read by blind or low vision people due to these copyright issues. WBU’s overall mission is to make society more accessible and inclusive. One of their most recent successes was championing a new amendment that was
PHOTO BY JESSICA REDIKER
Ninety per cent of books and reading materials are not accessible to people with low vision due to copyright protection law. adopted by the European Parliament in early February that requires car manufactur ers to equip their silent cars, such as electric and hybrid cars, with an Acoustic Vehicle Alerting System that ensures the vehicle can be heard by people with sight loss. According to a press release from the European Blind Union, the crash rate of silent vehicles is twice as high as that of cars with internal com bustion engines when moving slowly, stopping, backing up or entering a parking space, which puts not only visually impaired, but all pedestrians at risk if they are not paying attention. In addition to this prog ress, the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities was a monumental success for not only those who are partially sighted or blind,
but people with any disability. “People with all kinds of dis abilities went to (UN head quarters in) New York City and said, ‘You can’t make up something that talks about my rights without me saying what my rights are,”’ McQuillan said. ‘“Nothing about us, with out us’ was their slogan.” The UN website outlines the mission of the convention as the movement from view ing persons with disabilities * as charity cases and medical burdens toward viewing them as “subjects” with rights, who are capable of claiming those rights and making decisions about their lives. As long as the world gets on board with this viewpoint and people continue to fight for these basic rights, the future of those with a visual impair ment is a promising one.
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