W alper Hotel a hidden gem Historic and contemporary, it has it all. Page 9 Monday, March 26, 2012
SPOKE
Brave entrepreneurs donned their armour and sharpened their sales pitches on March 16 for a chance to enter the dragon’s den. One of the 40 auditions across Canada for CBC’s hit show, Dragon’s Den, was held in the Acceleration building at the University of Waterloo’s Conrad Centre for Business, Entrepreneurship and Technology. Priscilla Sreedharan, an associate producer for the show, was screening possible participants throughout the day. “It’s an open audition, so we ask people just to come down. They can fill out an applica tion online or fill one out here. We ask them to pitch to us like they would pitch on the show,” said Sreedharan. “Anything that’s pitched here we take back to our team and pitch it to them and we decide what’s right for the show.”
I can only do so much on my own before I need more money for equipment. - Joanne Van Liefland
Joanne Van Liefland and her business partner Perry Catena were one of the teams who auditioned. Van Leifland and Catena went to Waterloo with their organic wrap look ing for $75,000 for 20 per cent of their company, Healthy Living. “It’s an organic, raw wrap. It’s gluten free, dairy free and wheat free. It’s an alter native to the traditional tor
Designer helps women go back to school. Page 10
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
Conestoga College, Kitchener, ONT
Enter the dragon’s den By ALEXANDRIA PEER
Handbags for education
tilla wrap. It’s great for peo ple who have allergies to cer tain things,” Van Liefland said. Van Liefland began making her organic wraps three years ago for family and friends and began selling them two months ago when a health food store in Simcoe, Ont., was intrigued by her product. She came to the audition with the hopes of being able to one day produce her wraps on a mass scale. “I can only do so much on my own before I need more money for equipment,” Van Leifland said. One of Sreeharan’s favourite pitches that day was for an online exercise subscription called Make Your Body Work, which embraces the idea of elimi nating gym memberships to work out at home. “He had this great online system where he would post new workouts every week. So you would subscribe to it for $5 a week and they were just great body workouts, espe cially if you were female,” Sreedharan said. “He figured out how to capture that mar ket that doesn’t have time to go to the gym but they have 45 minutes at home to do a workout. He was really ener getic and passionate about what he wants.” Of the 35 people who audi tioned, Sreedharan said any of them could make it to the den. ‘You get some really inter esting stuff when you’re on the road. People take their businesses very seriously so it’s very important to them that we give them the respect of auditioning. You never know what’s going to be the next big money-maker. What you may think is silly could be an amazing idea.”
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RETIRED TEACHER a
44th year - NO. 11
real w oodsm an
PHOTO BY KAREN HAYNES
Peter Findlay, a retired Conestoga faculty member, displays a Noah’s ark replica he hand-carved for Castle Kilbride in Baden, Ont. Findlay displayed the ark along with many of his tools and other creations at Bingeman’s woodworking show in Kitchener on March 18. See Page 8 for story and more photos.
College partnerswith Laurier By DEVON SMITH
Shameless self-promotion was the theme of March 19’s College Council meeting. Council members talked about everything from how to hook college applicants, to pizza and a new campus in Brantford. The campus is to be in col laboration with Wilfrid Laurier University, on their existing site at 73 George St. Conestoga president John Tibbits believes that this is a move in the right direction for the college. “I never understood why there weren’t closer part nerships between colleges and universities,” he said. “This is a real opportunity for us to work closely with Laurier.” The executive dean of the School of Business and Hospitality at Conestoga, Gary Hallam, is one of the organizers of the project. He
is working to ensure that students from both Conestoga and Laurier feel comfortable in the new cam pus. “We’ll be on campus, right in the Laurier buildings, right in the Laurier class rooms,” he said. “But the goal is for the students to be dual students. They’re not going to be Conestoga students sitting in Laurier space. They will have equal use of all the facilities. They’ll have one card. They will be co-branded stu dents.” The programs offered at the campus will be mainly busi ness-related, initially, but could eventually include health, media and liberal studies. Brantford is one of the fastest growing cities in Ontario and, according to Tibbits, the people there are quite excited about the new campus. They’re not the
only ones who are psyched about the collaboration, however. “It’s not just a question of adding some programs,” said Tibbits. “That partnership, I think, will raise our profile and raise our brand over time.”
I never understood why there weren’t closer partnerships between colleges and universities. - John Tibbits
This is good news for Alan Vaughan, the executive director of Registrar Services & International Education, who is in charge of enrolment management strategies for the college. See APPLICATIONS, Page 3
NEWS
Page 2 ♦ SPOKE
Monday, March 2 6 ,2 0 1 2
Now deep thoughts
Class and phones don’t mix
... with Conestoga College
But cellphone policy not being enforced
Random questions answered by random students
By ASHLEY WELFORP-COSTELLOE
If you could participate in any event You’re sitting in the classroom working on assignments or trying during the Summer Olympics, to listen to your professor give the day’s lecture. The class is quiet what would it be and why? “High jump. When I was a little kid I always wanted to do it but couldn’t.” Marlee Shore,
first-year, community and criminal justice
“Rowing. I like boating and being on the water.” Drew Mitchell,
first-year, pre-service firefighter education and training
“I don't know. I don't really like sports.” Hope Smith-Bos,
first-year, business administrative management
“D iscu s... it would be great to take your aggression out on it.” Laura Erskine,
first-year, general arts and science, health option
“Cycling. Because it would be a lot of fun.”
Karen Mortimer,
first-year, general arts and science
“Swimming. Because it’s so hot in the summer.” Caitlin Meenan,
first-year, pre-health sciences
Smile Conestoga, you could be our next respondent!
except for the sounds of fingers flying across keyboards or pens scratching on paper. Then it hap pens. Somebody’s cellphone goes off, the annoying ringtone disturb ing the peace. But is this an issue people should be concerned about? Are students spending more time on their phones in class instead of school work? Is it really that much of a distraction? The policy for cellphones in the classroom is that all phones, pagers and personal electronic devices must be turned off and removed from the desk during
class hours as a courtesy to fellow students and faculty. If someone’s phone must remain on because of an emergency situation, the stu dent is asked to advise the profes sor before class begins. Any stu dent who disrupts a class may be asked to leave the room. However, this does not always happen. “They tell us not to have them out on the desk or anything but if someone has one on the desk they’re not going to ask you to put it away as long as you’re not using it,” said Michelle Piwowarczyk, a first-year student in the post-grad human resources management program. Piwowarczyk said although she won’t usually react when a cell phone goes off in the classroom, she does find it distracting espe
cially during a test. Connie Tutty is in her second year of the early childhood educa tion program. Her professors have a similar cellphone policy. “We’re not supposed to have any cellphones used in the class room,” Tutty said. “If you’re expecting a call, leave it on vibrate. Then you have to leave the class to use it.” Although students don’t always follow this rule, instructors don’t always enforce it. Sometimes the student is asked to put his or her phone away but for the most part nothing happens. Like Piwowarczyk, Tutty does n’t usually react when a person’s phone goes off in class. However, she said sometimes she is tempted to just “take the phone and whip it.”
NEWS
Monday, M arch 2 6 ,2 0 1 2
SPOKE‘ Page 3
Staying connected with Conestoga By BRADLEY ZORGDRAGER
TH E S E G M EN TS
So, you managed to finish all your homework, and studying for that test can wait, but you don’t have any extra money for the bar. So what do you do? Conestoga Connected - a television program made by second-year broadcast-televi sion students - aims to help out students in this dilemma. “Do you like going out? Do you like having fun in your community? Do you like being active?” asked supervising producer Connor Cheeseman. “Our show can help you find a way to do that on a young adult or student budget.” There are eight episodes of Conestoga Connected, each consisting of six main seg ments, which offer insights into different happenings around Kitchener, Waterloo, Cambridge and Guelph. No matter what your interests, the show will likely have a segment pertaining to them. Rogers TV also broadcasts the show throughout the week in the aforementioned cities, as well as Stratford. The wide r a n g e is some thing that the show’s main host, Mike Zakrzewski, does-
Get Out There: Showcases fun alternative ways to stay fit. The Scene: Features vari ous destinations and spots around the area. Overtime: Focuses on local sports organizations and athletes. Tech It Out: Showcases the technology industry of Waterloo Region The Next Step: Focuses on post-secondary gradu ates’ careers. Spotlight: Features in studio demonstrations and interviews with local fig ures. n’t take for granted. “This is the only college in Ontario that has a TV show that’s broadcast on cable, on actual television. This is an opportunity that doesn’t come around all that often.” The opportunity doesn’t only entail having their work broadcast, but also the real world experience that comes with producing it. Faculty member and execu tive producer Rachelle Cooper stressed the practicality of the experiential learning
model the students are get ting. “There’s no better way to learn than to actually do what they’re going to be doing ultimately in the television industry.” All eight episodes are com pletely produced by students, while Cooper and fellow execu tive producer and faculty member, Matt Pancer, oversee it. Ultimately, the aim is to showcase the students’ talents. “It’s showing everyone that we are able to produce quality television at the second-year level,” said Cooper. The student perspective also gives Conestoga Connected a unique perspective. “I think Conestoga Connected is different than most shows because it is pro duced by the age group that we’re catering towards,” said Zakrzewski, emphasizing the 18- to 25-year-old target demo graphic. “Those are the people that we want to cater to and I think the show reflects it.” Students can see for them selves on the show’s website www.somad.ca/conestogaconnected/, as well as on Rogers TV at various times through out the week. Exact times can be found on the website.
Applications to Conestoga up 2.1 per cent ♦From Page 1
These strategies are basical ly the means taken by the col lege to keep people signing up. They are important to the growth of the college, Tibbits said. “The high school population is in decline in general and there’s been a great capacity increase, especially at the universities,” he said. “So stu dents have options, and you have to make sure you let them know that you want them here.” The number of applications to Conestoga is up 2.1 per cent from last year, com pared to the 4.2 per cent overall decline at colleges in Ontario, and Vaughan and his team are working hard to maintain the Conestoga trend. Some of the ways they are doing this are advertising new programs and new cam puses, reminding adult stu dents about enrolment dead lines, hosting open houses and doing phone campaigns to invite students and parents
to the open houses. The efforts of the enrolment management staff are appar ent, but they aren’t the only ones giving the college a good name.
The study was designed to let people know what the college is doing in the community.
Tibbits brought out a report by economist Larry Smith, called Adapting for Prosperity, during the meet ing. The report was released on March 5 and was meant to highlight the accomplish ments of Conestoga gradu ates and their contributions to the region. The area in question was made up of Waterloo Region, Guelph and Stratford. The study showed that 65 per cent of Conestoga gradu ates still live in this area. That’s 10 per cent of the
area’s adult population, which Tibbits noted, is a very big number. Also, almost 2,200 local businesses are run by Conestoga graduates, which is about 10 per cent of the businesses in the area. But most impressive was the fact that 47 per cent of the local population have taken a course at Conestoga. The study was designed to let people know what the col lege is doing for the communi ty. But Tibbits also hopes to use these numbers to encour age government funding. “Certainly we’ll let the min istry know about this,” he said, “because if we’re trying to advocate why we should get growth money sooner, it’s nice to let them know how important we are in the com munity.” The next meeting will be held on May 7 at noon and will feature free pizza, some thing Tibbits was happy to discuss. “The pizza, I’m looking for ward to it,” he said. “I mean it’s two months away, but it’s on my radar.”
PHOTO BY BRADLEY ZORGDRAGER
Tija Smith, senior producer for Conestoga Connected, shoots some throws for the show at Conestoga College on March 16.
COMMENTARY
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Taking a gamble on gambling By REYHAN ENVER
The Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (OLG) is taking a gamble and adopting more gaming facili ties and services, but Ontarians aren’t embracing the idea. The plan is to start modernizing gambling by mak ing lottery tickets available online and at store check outs such as Wal-Mart and Costco within the next five years. In addition, underperforming gaming facilities will be closed or relocated and a new casino will be built in the Toronto area. Three racetrack slot operations are being shut down — those in Fort Erie, Windsor and Sarnia — which will result in 560 people being out of work. And, if the government doesn’t continue to share the slot revenue with the horse industry, it will go out of business, resulting in the loss of 60,000 jobs. Gambling has become big business in Ontario. Making the accessibility of lottery tickets even easier will not help those who struggle with an addiction to gambling. According to a survey from Gambling Watch, six per cent of the total population will most likely have a gambling problem within their lifetime. Once gambling becomes an addiction, it can ruin someone’s life and that of their family’s. By making it so easy to buy lottery tickets when you are shopping for food or surfing the web, it, in turn, makes it easier to become addicted. According to Statistics Canada, a household with a $20,000 income already spends an average of $395 on gambling, while those with incomes of $80,000 or more spend $555. They also say gambling becomes a problem when someone can’t control how much he or she spends. A casino’s “high roller” area can cost as much as $500 for one play on a slot machine. Money disappears very quickly when gambling with out the gambler even realizing it. The Ontario govern ment should not be making it easier for people to lose their shirts. The views herein represent the position of 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. Address correspon dence to: The Editor, Spoke, 299 Doon Valley Dr., Room 1C30, Kitchener, Ont., N2G 4M4
Excuse me, I'm looking fo r th e new Conestoga B ra n tfo rd campus.
The Taliban’s hypocrisy U.S. told to leave Afghanistan after claims of ‘savagery’ As a group, the Taliban might be the biggest hyp ocrites on Earth. On March 10, an American soldier was accused of killing 16 Afghanistan civilians in a rampage. He’s since been detained and flown out of Afghanistan for a trial. This was met by Afghan protests; that’s fully understandable. Americans and Afghans are both tiring of this war, which is also understandable. What isn’t understandable is the response of the Taliban. They said the “American Savages” committed this “blood-soaked crime.” Sorry, but how many Afghanistan civilians have the Taliban killed over the last 10 years in suicide bombings? You can’t blame an entire country for the actions of one soldier after all the people you’ve killed as an organiza tion. The sheer level of hypocrisy is astronomical. It’s as if Hitler declared war on Russia because one Jewish Russian detained 16 German soldiers, didn’t give them any food and eventual-
Ben Stoddard Opinion ly gassed them. Even the Taliban’s counter attack on March 16, which happened at the site of the massacre, killed an Afghan soldier and injured a civilian and two more Afghan sol diers.
It’s as if Hitler declared war on Russia because one Jewish Russian detained 16 German soldiers without food and eventually gassed them.
Is this what they call revenge? This is not to say that all
Muslims are like the Taliban. Most of them are as peaceful as any regular per son. The Taliban taint their image the same way that all extremists and/or fundamen talists taint their own reli gion’s image. The people of Afghanistan have plenty of good reasons to want the United States’ armed forces out of their country. The military has tortured prisoners, recently burned the Qur’an, per formed numerous raids and plenty more. The Qur’an burning in particular led to a protest that killed 30 peo ple. Should the United States pull out of Afghanistan sooner? After the recent con troversies they probably should. Civilians of Afghanistan are even more upset than before. Many cit izens of the United States are growing tired of all this as well. But the Taliban have no right to call anyone savages after all the pain and death they’ve caused over the years.
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COMMENTARY
Monday, March 2 6 ,2 0 1 2
SPOKE ♦ Page 5
Things don’t have to happen for a reason Lately I have been told that, “everything happens for a reason.” It’s been a reoccurring question of mine as to what does this phrase mean? If “everything happens for a reason,” what happens when the reason is unknown? You’re left with many unan swered questions, allowing your mind to process every little bit of what could have been, but why continue to search when there possibly isn’t a reason? It just simply happened. I mean, sometimes we have control over the reason and that’s when everything makes sense. For example you drove carelessly and ended up getting into an accident and broke your arm. You created that rea son and are now suffering the consequences.
Tiffany Wilson Opinion I think it is possible that some people take the easy way out by using the phrase as a coping mechanism while they deal with difficult situa tions in their lives. I find it’s normally used when a person doesn’t get a job he or she wanted, during a loss and after the demise of a relationship. All that has happened to me in the past year. Having been told these things happened for a reason over and over again, has kept my mind searching for some thing that I believe happened by chance or accident
because trying to look for the reason felt impossible. So I suggest instead of thinking every crisis or diffi culty we face in our lives happens for a reason, think ing of it as it happened by chance or by accident. According to an article written by Paul Thagard, a philosophy professor at the University of Waterloo, “Even if events that affect human lives do not happen by quantum chance, many of them should be viewed as happening by accident, in the sense that they are the improbable result of the intersection of independent causal chains.” This proposes that maybe using the word reason isn’t actually the correct word to finish the phrase. Needless to say, defining the word reason is the next
Media coverage of trials very different In our society, beauty and youth are held in the highest regard. For women, this is especially true. They are constantly bom barded with ads on TV urg ing them to look younger by pushing expensive facial products on them. They’re told they can only please men if they’re young and hot like the models who pose on magazine covers at grocery store checkout lanes. As many of you know, March began with Tori Stafford’s trial. The blond haired, blue-eyed eight-yearold was kidnapped and killed one year ago. However, I believe not nearly as many of you will know of the Nadia Gehl trial. The 28-year-old, slightly overweight brunette was shot twice as she walked to a bus stop near her house in Kitchener three years ago. These murder trials have had their gruesome details dramatically told by the jour nalists who cover them. In
Andrew Soulsby Opinion
Stafford’s case, the media attention has been national, with the Globe and Mail pro viding their coverage of the trial, while Gehl’s trial has seen only local coverage. In first-year journalism, we learned about the criteria which makes a story news worthy. Some of these include timeliness, signifi cance, proximity, prominence and human interest. If we were to measure the Stafford and Gehl stories by each of these criteria, they would be nearly identical. However, there is one exception. Human interest stories are unique in that they often disregard the standard rules of newswor thiness. This is due to how they date slower than other
stories, need not affect a large group of people and the location of the story can be anywhere. With human interest in mind, we can see how Stafford’s trial has become a national story, however, in the same light we should also see how it’s wrong. With the publication of this story, our national media has decided what should interest us and what doesn’t. However, I’d like to believe everyone agrees that a life’s value cannot be measured against another based upon age and physical appear ances alone. In fact, they shouldn’t enter into the equation at all. With that being said, we should all take a minute to think about why we’re read ing a story about the mur der of an eight-year-old Woodstock girl with blond hair and blue eyes and basi cally ignoring a story about the murder of a 28-year-old Kitchener woman with brown hair and eyes.
step to understanding the saying. There are two ways of approaching it. Science and religion. Let’s start out simple. As I mentioned earlier, most of the time we have control over the reason some thing happened. It’s like a cause-and-effect model. If you decide to drink and drive, you take the chance of getting into an accident which could harm yourself or others. However, when our fate is undetermined and unan swered, so many of us per petually end up crediting these misfortunes to the con spiracy of a higher power. This takes us into the sec ond way of approaching the meaning of reason — one that I have a hard time wrapping my head around.
If there is a God out there, I find it hard to believe that he has managed to plan out a day-to-day destiny for every single person, animal and thing on this Earth. For example, you get in an accident because you had a drink and then drove. It is not because God planned it for you in order to teach you something. Instead you cre ated your own fate. It’s just like Thagrad said in the article, “Life can be highly meaningful even if some things that happen are just accidents. Stuff happens and you deal with it.” I’m not suggesting reli gious beliefs are the cause of misunderstanding the phrase. I’m simply suggest ing that we stop looking for a reason when there isn’t one, and embrace life and its randomness.
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STUDENT LIFE WINTER’S OVER EARLY t h i s
SPOKE ♦ Page 7
year
PHOTO BY TIFFANY WILSON
The air was brisk, the lake was calm. Photographers, runners and couples gathered on the sandy beach of Southampton to watch the sunset over Lake Huron on March 18.
PHOTO BY DEVON SMITH
The trees outside Conestoga’s Doon campus started to bud even though spring hadn’t officially arrived.
PHOTO BY SARAH SHAW PHOTO BY ELISSA DEN HOED
Robyn Roopchan and Gerima Harvey play the drums at Victoria Park on March 18. Roopchan was just passing by when she decided to try one of the drums and was surprised to find she was a natural.
First-year pre-health student, Sarah Doucette, lounges on a picnic table by the pond on campus before class. Warmer temperatures have left many students feeling the heat and opting for summer clothing.
FEATURE
Page 8 ♦SPOKE
Peter Findlay, a retired Conestoga faculty member and master woodworker, displayed his crafts and tools at Bingeman’s woodworking show in Kitchener on March 18. Above: Findlay holds a woodsman figure he carved. “It reminds me of my dad, he was a woodsman,” Findlay said between conversations with visitors at his booth.
C
Monday, March 2 6 ,2 0 1 2
Findlay takes a moment to teach a young girl about wood carvings. Here she uses a long wooden stick to make Findlay’s lumberjack figure dance. Its head, arms and legs are all constructed to move independently. Findlay purposely dresses like his wood creation.
a r v in g c h a r a c t e r By KAREN HAYNES
He’s considered a master woodworker, and for good reason. Peter Findlay, a retired woodworking facul ty member from Conestoga College, has com pleted enough projects to warrant this superi or title. These projects include a 52-inch quarter-scale model of a 1931 Chrysler Imperial and a child’s Noah’s ark replica commissioned by Castle Kilbride in Baden, Ont. Both give strong evi dence to his passion for woodworking. “It’s all about the process,” Findlay said in reference to each project as he watches them come to fruition. This is a reoccurring theme that runs through Findlay’s life. Another theme that he incorporated into his 20 of years teaching while at Conestoga was being prepared for each opportunity leads to success. Suitably, his life’s story mimics this recipe for success. Working 20 years in the wood working industry prepared him for the teach ing opportunity he had at Conestoga, he said. This formula was again mirrored in his approach to teaching. Taking advantage of each “teachable moment” in the hallway or in shop class he said was one way he reached the students and prepared them for future oppor tunities. And his students were grateful for the extra efforts Findlay made. This was evident at Bingeman’s woodworking show held March 16 to 18 in Kitchener, where many of his for mer students paid him a visit to talk shop and offer updates on their current careers. “I’ve seen over a dozen former students this weekend.” And yet, despite spending 20 years teaching his trade at Conestoga, Findlay is not a selfproclaimed academic. Instead, Findlay sees himself as an artist. “I’m a spacial person, seeing things more in 3D, as they are designed.”
Findlay’s hand-crafted Noah’s ark was on display for onlookers to appreciate. Miniature wooden animals, including tigers, giraffes, donkeys and camels, board the ark, two-by-two. This masterpiece was commissioned by Castle Kilbride in Baden, Ont. where it is now housed year-round.
" - P E T E R F IN D L A Y
Reminiscent of his 20 years of teaching at 'onestoga, Findlay instructs a young student about dated drilling methods when she visited lis woodcarving booth.
PHOTOS BY KAREN HAYNES
Monday, March 2 6 ,2 0 1 2
FEATURE
SPOKE* Page 9
A walk down memory lane By JEFF BOMBEN
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The Walper Hotel is one of Kitchener’s greatest hidden gems. Located at 1 King St. W., the hotel has been serving Waterloo Region and area for 119 years and doesn’t look like it’s going to stop anytime soon. Over those years, the hotel has changed names, changed owners and even shut down for a brief three-year period in the ’70s. Lots of people have trav elled through the hotel including U.S. First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt who famously enjoyed her break fast in the courtyard. The Walper, wanting to honour Roosevelt, did so by renaming the courtyard after her. Another famous person, Louis Armstrong, once per formed on his trumpet on the King Street balcony. Now guests can check out that exact spot. Canadian prime ministers used to love coming to the hotel for political talks, including William Lyon Mackenzie King, Wilfrid Laurier, Pierre Elliott Trudeau and Lester B. Pearson. When a person first walks into the hotel, it seems like most others, with a standard lobby and elevators nearby. It isn’t overly large, only having five floors, but what sets it apart is how the owners have been willing to adapt to socie ty and all the changes that come with it. Guest services manager, Domini Baldasaro, says the hotel continues to find a way
to stand out from other chain hotels. “Certainly the history and the fact that every room in the hotel is unique sets the hotel apart,” she said. “There isn’t a box concept like a lot of the other hotels have which means we have a whole vari ety of room types. Every time there is a renovation done, they have to work with win dows that are completely dif ferent sizes, flooring that doesn’t go in a traditional shape. This might not be a square, it might be a “U,” it might be an “L,” it might even be a “V.” The hotel is owned and run by Michael von Teichman and is loved by his staff. Sales co ordinator, Lindsay Slaughter, describes von Teichman as a passionate person who is will ing to listen and wants to keep the tradition of the hotel alive. According to Baldasaro, changes have been made to make the hotel modern by embracing artwork in both the guest lobby and in the guest bedrooms. “The idea behind that is to move forward and embrace a new generation of interests,” she said. “So not just focusing on the historical details but tying in what people want to see now. Giving people the chance to embrace the two parts of Canadian culture, the art and our historical building, and sort of tying in that idea of keeping a land mark to bringing in fresh ideas that don’t take away from that.” The hotel recently released its new marketing campaign with the slogan being, “As
PHOTO BY JEFF BOMBEN
Bottled water is sold as a fundraiser.
unique as you are.” The concept behind the idea was for the company to stay true to itself. The Walper staff wants guests to not only come for a good night’s sleep but also have the chance to explore it. The guests can check out the structure of the hotel and also explore the history behind it. With the decision to add art to the mix, the key was to get a different piece for each room. Every piece has its own story to tell which is similar to the hotel. “By bringing in art by Canadian artists but individ ual pieces of art so no two pieces are the same, we’re able to tie those two things together again. It really enhances the idea of it being a unique building, of being a unique property and also hav ing a unique history and own ership,” Baldasaro said. The hotel staff wanted to help out internationally so the company started the Walper Education Project in January 2010. They chose the building of an elementary school in Uganda as their project and have been raising money ever since. In fact, a dollar from each stay goes to the project. The company also decided to donate a dollar for every dinner served at any function at the hotel. In addition, water bottles are now being placed in each room and if purchased the money goes directly to the fund. The bottles also catch the eye of guests, who then ask questions about the proj ect and take the time to check out the hotel’s website for more information.
PHOTO BY JEFF BOMBEN
Louis Armstrong once performed at the Walper.
FEATURE
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Purses with a purpose Designer’s creations help women in Third World countries By VANDA POBRITOIU
Cambridge designer, Joanne Jones, creates hand bags in order to help women in Third World countries get a secondary education. The 42-year-old woman always dreamed of creating her own designs. At the age of five, Jones’s mother showed her how to operate a sewing machine, and then left her unattended to practise threading on paper, with no thread in the machine. When she returned, Jones had designed, cut and sewn a strapless bikini out of five metres of forest green fabric. At 19, Jones was accepted into the International Academy of Merchandising and Design in Toronto. Before she began her stud ies, in late August, Jones was diagnosed with a blood infec tion that had her bedridden through half of the first semester. During the time she missed from school, her parents per suaded her to study political science and economics at uni versity. The following year, Jones was enrolled at McMaster University, putting her dream of being a fashion designer on hold. At the age of 30, Jones made a U-turn in her career, going from working as a financial planner to designing her own handbags. “I figured it was now or never,” said Jones, smiling. “I tried different fashion looks with recycled clothing.” In 2005, Mined reCreations came to life, when Jones met a handful of ladies from Soweto. “I tried different names. Then I was inspired by how Oprah named her shop Harpo, and thought ‘What is denim spelled backwards?’ That’s how mined came to be,” Jones said. With over 3,500 products sold over the past five years, Jones is recognized by fashion designers in the community. Since 2007, her designs have been displayed seasonally at high-end artisan shows such as the One of a Kind Show and Sale in Toronto, Originals Shows in Ottawa and the Art Market in Calgary. Her handbags are found as far as Calgary and Saskatoon where they sell year-round. “She’s wonder woman,” said Yvonne Thermann, store owner of Rainbow Glass in
Calgary. “Jones is just the most incredible person. Her purses are useful, functional and of great quality.” A winner of the Bernice Adams Memorial Award, Jones does not keep the prof its for herself, but rather helps others around her. While teaching Going Green with Your Sewing Machine at the Cambridge Centre for the Arts, she is also helping women across the ocean receive a proper education. From the money she makes selling the handbags, Jones, along with the Central Presbyterian Church in Cambridge, sponsors a young woman through the Pennies Project. People who want to be spon sored must live in a Third World country and fill out an application that has ques tions about themselves, what they hope to accomplish in school and their vision after they finish their education.
INTERNET PHOTO
Joanne Jones, a local designer, crafts purses to fund education for women in Third World countries.
While these girls were intelligent and spoke nine languages, they lacked the financial means to go to university or college. -Jo a n n e Jones
“We want to help people who desire to be educated in their countries and go back into their communities to make a difference. We want them to be who they are, where they’re from,” said Jones. With approximately $30,000 donated over the past five years, Jones sponsors one student at a time, throughout her whole time in school. They are given 100 per cent of the tuition in the first two years. In their third year they are given 75 per cent and 50 per cent in their fourth. The pur pose is for them to get started and then they can get a parttime job and fund the rest on their own, said Jones. The student currently being sponsored is named Tsapong, from Lesotho, a country in Africa. The 19-year-old is studying accounting. In the near future, Jones plans to continue her studies in Milan, Italy where she will further her knowledge of handbag making.
PHOTOS BY VANDA DOBRITOIU
The purses are made of recycled clothing material, belts, buttons and other clothing accessories.
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NEWS
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A great ’80s remake By REYHAN ENVER
21 Jump Street is a hilari ous hit, thanks to taking a comedic spin on the former television show from the ’80s that starred Johnny Depp. In this film, usual romantic comedy heartthrob Channing Tatum takes on a different role as Jenko. Alongside Tatum is Jonah Hill, who plays Schmidt. The entire movie features non-stop hilarity thanks to the interesting matchup of Hill and Tatum. The two per fectly contrast each other’s characters, while still work ing off of each other’s humour. Jenko and Schmidt end up in the police field, helping each other either with aca demics or fitness. The two become best friends and partners. They get assigned to go down to 21 Jump Street, where police who have not yet made an arrest
are sent. Their mission is to go undercover as high school students to find out who is the supplier of a new drug at a local high school. When the two head back to school, playing students much like themselves during school, they find out that the newer generation is very dif ferent than what they remember. Jenko’s “cool” ways, which consist of not caring and being academically lazy, are no longer considered cool. He finds that he doesn’t fit in like he used to, whereas peo ple come to like Schmidt, making him the popular one. Dealing with the confusion of
their roles makes focusing on the youth drug crimes even more difficult. As the two face identity mixups, car chases and unwanted drug use, there is not a boring moment. Most remakes are never as good as the original, but this film took the old television show to a completely different place. A surprise cameo is also made by star Johnny Depp, showing that the film’s pro ducers took a light-hearted approach with the new ver sion. Directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller took a very sim ple spin on the movie that allows the actors to make it entertaining and funny. The comedy, which was released on March 16, is being called “the next Step Brothers.” It topped the box office its first weekend, raking in approximately $35 million.
Winooski’s a great place to eat By JAKE DAVIDSON
I recently dined at Moose Winooski’s and found the food amazing, but the service was even better. We were seated the moment we arrived, and our server, Chris, appeared seemingly out of nowhere like some sort of restaurant ninja. We looked over our menus but oddly enough there weren’t any drinks on them. Chris listed off the drinks from memory, and brought them back three minutes after we’d ordered them. The restaurant was full including the patio thanks to an oddly warm March day. Twenty-one minutes after arrival our food was deliv
ered. My father’s Alaskan steak sandwich was cooked perfectly and a plate of nachos my mom and dad shared was huge. Both said they were fantastic and loaded with toppings includ ing some very spicy peppers. The nacho chips remained crunchy which to my parents is important. I had Papa Winooski’s Famous Pizza and it wasn’t hard to see why it
SWEATING AND
got its name. The sauce was tangy, the pepperonis were delicious and the crust was very crunchy. We were offered dessert but we were too full. Next time I go I’ll have to make sure I try the apple pie — if it is anything like the other food it’ll be delicious. Forty-three minutes after arrival we had our bill, which totalled $57, an amount that was well worth the quality and quantity of food and service we received. Overall, Moose Winooski’s is a great place to eat. The serv ice is fast and the atmosphere is fun. I strongly recommend the restaurant to anyone who loves good food and an amaz ing atmosphere.
EARNING MARKS AT THE SAME TIME
PHOTO BY JAKE DAVIDSON
Office administration - executive program students heid a Zumba exercise class on March 14 as a class project. They encouraged passersby to join them.
ENTERTAINMENT
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Go Green! Look lor the follow ing Green W eek events being held by CSI and the college this week: TO D AY C offee: Free mugs, tea and coffee are being given away for students to promote reusable mugs and to cut down on “ cup waste.” 9 a.m.-12 p.m.; E-wing, near Door 6. Run by CSI. W aste audit: An audit of the cafe teria waste will be done and it will be prop erly separated for recycling. 12 p.m.; Lower Atrium. Run by Jana Vodicka (Environmental Co-ordinator). TUESDAY D us ticket event: Two hundred free bus tickets will be given away to pro mote riding the bus. As well, an info booth will be set up to display features of the new Hybrid buses. 11 a.m. -1 p.m.; Outside CSI; run by CSI. Evening P resen tation : O rganic Backyards To RSVP, email Jana Vodicka, Environmental Co-ordinator, (jvodicka@conestogac.on.ca). Space is limited.
7-9:20 n.m.
W E D N E SD A Y Everyone W ea r G reen: Students, faculty and staff are encouraged to wear green today. C hartw ells: Chartwells is featuring a special Green Week menu. V endors: Vendors will be on campus to promote Green Week, including Ontario Hydro and the Ontario Seeds Company. 10 a.m-2 p.m.; Hallway in Upper Atrium. Run by CSI and Jana Vodicka. Thursday P resen tation by George K ou ron is from Angry P lan et Storm C haser: Event includes a question and answer period. 12-1:30 p.m. in the Sanctuary. Run by CSI.
Friday Student L ife: Booths will be set up in the hallway and CSI will be giving away green cotton candy. 10-1 p.m.; Upper Sanctuary. Run by Student Life and CSI. A borigin al Services: An eld ers presentation will be held. 10-11:30 a.m.; Lower atrium.
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Festival has environmental focus By SARAH SHAW
Summer always goes handin-hand with a popular stu dent favourite — music festi vals. Many think they have to travel long distances and spend a fortune when it comes to enjoying great enter tainment outside, but that’s not the case. Guelph’s annual Hillside Festival is described on their website as a “not-for-profit music festival that celebrates creativity through artistic expression, community engagement and environmen tal leadership.” With five stages, the threeday-long event hosts musi cians, spoken word artists, workshops and more on Guelph Lake Island, which becomes a summer hotspot for many. “The festival’s vibe is one that clearly attracts people to come back each year, having the opportunity to converse with like-minded individuals
Green efforts include biodegradable beer mug while participating in work shops and enjoying woodburned pizzas,” said Guelph resident, Morgan Coffey, who will be attending Hillside for the fourth time this year. Since 1984, the festival has promoted a positive environ mental focus which is often overlooked at many outdoor summer events. Some of their green efforts have included offering a fully biodegradable beer mug made from a cornbased resin and partnering with Green Legacy to give white pine seedlings to all loyal ticket buyers who pur chased tickets on the first day of sales. But what makes the festival so exciting is the sense of community and fun it offers for music lovers and local artists during the last week end in July. “The music is unreal and it
offers some really awesome opportunities for young musi cians like myself to meet with people and network. The fans, the other musicians and the staff were phenomenal peo ple,” said guitar player Wes Chase, whose band Captured Anthems played during last year’s festival. Another thing that sets Hillside apart is where it is centred. Guelph Lake, which is a man-made reservoir on the Speed River, is a conser vation area that is frequented by many in the area for swim ming and other beach activi ties. “The fact that Hillside takes place at a Guelph Lake Conservation area just adds to the romance of the week end. The co-ordinators do an excellent job at transforming the area while still keeping its charm by keeping the
walking trails and strategi cally setting up the stages around them,” said Coffey, adding, “Visitors can sit under a tree all day listening to music and head back to their campsite in the evening to relax with their friends before doing it all over again the next day.” Chase said, “I got to camp out for the weekend with my closest friends, party, meet people and all that good stuff. The fact that everything was outside and the weather was perfect helped make Hillside one of the best weekends I’ve ever experienced.” Past performers have included The Arkells, The Barenaked Ladies and Sloan. This year’s lineup has yet to be released. Tickets go on sale May 5 at 10 a.m. and can be purchased through the festi val’s website. For more information, including volunteer opportu nities, to make a donation or for directions, visit hillsidefestival.ca.
Sexfiend69 sent you a message! Internet dating is the worst. I’ve come to this conclusion after using most, if not all, of the popular dating sites on the web. This includes, but is not limited to, websites such as eHarmony, Plenty of Fish and most recently okCupid. While each of these websites offers a different approach to helping you find your soul mate, they typically offer the same awful experience. First, because I am a male, I have automatically been placed into the “bro” catego ry. This stereotype lumps me in with a group of guys who typically don’t wear shirts in pictures, drink copious amounts of beer and are only interested in scoring. Naturally then, I have done the opposite. My pictures include all articles of clothing and my profile is written as if I were submitting it to my editor. The problem with this approach is I have now alien ated myself from a large majority of the people who use Internet dating. What I’m saying is, reading people’s profiles is a lot like reading a string of Youtube comments mashed together. People have completely removed proper grammar and spelling from the equation in presenting themselves as any thing other than a preschooler. Second, and perhaps most terrifying, is how evident our
Andrew Soulsby Opinion society’s obsession with sex is and how we respond to it. The vast majority of women between the ages of 19 and 30 on dating sites have at least one picture of their cleavage on their profiles. This wouldn’t be an issue if these same women didn’t write next to nothing in their profiles and yet expect Mr. Right and not Mr. Right Now to send them intelligent mes sages. Worse still, is the moral stand some of these women take against guys who post pictures with their shirts off. Even after finding someone who appears to be a good match, several months later she will reveal herself as being insane. This is due to the inherent nature of the Internet. Without the face-to-face interaction we miss the social cues that would normally tell us the person isn’t our type. While I realize good can be found on these websites, there’s really only so much dumpster diving a person can tolerate before giving up on the gem hidden beneath the trash.
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Conestoga on Canvas Flash art exhibit showcases college’s talent By RACHEL HENRY
She presses the end of her pencil to the paper sitting atop the drawing board. With a keen eye she takes in her subject, translating details into lead lines as the clock ticks down, counting the sec onds. On March 13, project man agement students held Doon campus's first Conestoga on Canvas, a flash art exhibit held in the F-wing from 1-2 p.m. The exhibit showcased tal ent from Conestoga students and faculty, including Professor Jan Tito, profes sional p h o t o g r a p h e r Ian Sprague of Bo Casey Photography and a sculpture instalment from University of Waterloo fourth-year fine art student Adam Frank. Art appreciators were invited to vote for their favourite artist, and Conestoga student Chelsea Dawn Friesen walked away with a “starving artist” gift basket worth over $
100.
Students were also invited to take part in timed portrait drawing competitions, with gift cards for the top five sketches. Winners of the com petition were Hang Huynh, Ina Mason, April Gray and Caitlin Norman. Co-ordinator Carmen Peters said one of the main goals of the event was to bring some art culture into the spotlight. “We want to make art not scary and very accessible to people,” she said. The event was brought to fruition by project manage ment students Jonathon Molson, Alishia Baker,
Students were invited to use pencils, charcoal and pencil crayons to create portraits of their partners.
Heather Reid, Eowyn Layng, Jill Cudney, Krista Wallace and Carmen Peters. “There’s a lot of work that goes into it,” Cudney said. “(Planning and running the event) gives us the informa tion we need for our program. It’ll help us plan events for our future employers.” With a $150 budget, the stu dents set out to gain support from local sponsors, which included M&T Printing Group, Turtle Jacks, Eidelweiss Tavern and Zehrs. Facing the challenges of a condensed semester due to a work term, the team used online promotions via Facebook and email, flyers and word of mouth to spread the word about the exhibit. “We all took a little piece and merged it together into a successful event,” Cudney said.
PHOTOS BY RACHEL HENRY
Above, winners of the timed drawing competition pose with their sketches at Doon campus’s first Conestoga On Canvas on March 13 Winners were (left to right) Hang Huynh, April Gray, Caitlin Norman and Ina Mason.
Above, the project management team takes a quick break from running their successful event. Jonathon Molson, Alishia Baker, Heather Reid, Eowyn Layng, Jill Cudney, Krista Wallace and Carmen Peters were the co-ordinators behind Conestoga on Canvas.
Listen - your food is talking to you How often do you think about what you're eating? If you’ve seen the movie Ratatouille you'll remember the advice Remy the rat gave to his brother Emile on a piece of fine cheese: “Don’t just hork it down!” Last Sunday I attended the International TEA (To End Abuse) Festival, and the Chinese woman who led a tea-pouring ceremony taught me how to drink tea in a way I’d never thought of before. After giving everyone a cup of tea, she said, “Close your eyes” and told us to picture where the tea had come from. I’m not much of an expert on tea, and I don’t really know
Elissa Den Hoed Opinion
where it comes from, but I did close my eyes and I pic tured a misty mountain and an orchard of trees some where in China as I drank the delicately-flavoured tea. She invited us to have a “con versation” with the tea and insisted, “It will speak to you.” Through the imagery, the tea did speak to me, but I was too dumbfounded to say
anything back. The whole experience reminded me of a course in wellness I took two years ago. My instructor, Bob Bamford, said, as an example of mindful eating, when you open a bag of chips, the first chip always tastes the best, because you are fully aware of it. You start grabbing handful after handful, and while you might taste it, are you really enjoying the chips? Are you even really that hungry? This is espe cially true if you are distract ed, which you usually are when you’re watching TV. Before you know it you’ve eaten the whole bag and
don’t have any left for later. Sometimes I am eating lunch while reading the paper, often concentrating way more on the paper than on the food, and before I know it, I’m thinking, “Where’d my lunch go?” I’ve read that part of the reason we waste so much food (40 per cent of all food produced) is we don’t appre ciate it enough. Say you grow a head of lettuce and it goes bad before someone’s had the chance to eat it. That would probably seem like a waste to you. But if you buy a head of lettuce from the store, having no knowledge of where it came
from, watching it grow out in the field, or the amount of time and energy needed to make it grow, it likely won’t bother you as much if it wilts before you can eat it. Mindful eating might even cause you to eat healthier: if you look closely enough at a McDonalds meal, you might lose your appetite. I’ve even heard some people go so far as to smell, touch and listen to their food before consum ing it. If you’re concerned about appearances, especially if you’re on a dinner date, you don’t have to go this far. Just pause and think about what you’re about to eat. What will your food say to you?
SPORTS
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Kitchener boxer wants to wear champion’s belt again By BRENDAN DALEY
Kitchener’s own world box ing champion, Fitz (The Whip) Vanderpool, is lacing up his gloves and stepping out of retirement for a second go at professional boxing. Vanderpool will train hard er than ever to obtain the Canadian Professional Championship Belt - a belt he held once before. “I’m ready to come back. I’ve got unfinished busi ness,” said Vanderpool, standing in his third floor boxing gym, located at 121 Charles St. At 44 years old, Vanderpool is confident that his age won’t hold him back. “They’ll tell you one of the first things you lose in boxing is your speed. My speed ain’t gone nowhere,” he says with a grin. Two years ago, while watch ing one of Canada’s boxing champions fight on TV, Vanderpool thought to him self, “I could beat that guy. That’s my belt. I’m gonna wear it again.” “I’ve always told myself I could be the best in this country at 40.” Although four years passed,
Vanderpool, who has been training aspiring boxers, has underwent training himself in preparation for his return fight. “It’s a matter of how you live and how you conduct yourself and whether you’re willing to work to whatever is necessary to get the job done,” said Vanderpool regarding his age. Neither a date, nor an oppo nent, have been selected for Vanderpool’s return bout. However, Vanderpool figures his first match will take place around April or May. Since he broke the news about his return to profes sional boxing, many have been quick to “bully.” As reported by the Boxing Examiner, fellow Canadian boxer, Jason Douglas, has called Vanderpool a “phantom champion” who has won “no real world title.” Although Vanderpool has offered to go head-to-head with Douglas in the ring, Douglas has yet to a c c e p t the offer, saying that there is no honour in beating up an “over-the-hill fighter.” “I’m getting all these haters who don’t wanna see me go back and do what I’m gonna do,” said Vanderpool.
PHOTO BY BRENDAN DALEY
Formerly retired world boxing champion, Fitz Vanderpool, is going to step back into the ring after seven years.
In addition to a barrage of tests - neuropsychological testing, neurological testing, EEGs, EKGs and ECGs Vanderpool had to undergo a skills test in order to return to professional fighting. In front of a panel of offi
cials, Vanderpool had to spar 12 rounds with five different partners to demonstrate his capabilities. “The tests and the path that I went through getting ready to get licensed, if it wasn’t God’s will, I would never have
passed those tests,” said Vanderpool. To track Vanderpool’s jour ney back into professional boxing, visit his website at www.vanderpoolfitness.com, or follow him on Twitter — @fitzroythe whip.
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