Scientology in Cambridge New church opens on Bishop Street.
SPOKE
Fundraiser for cancer Preparation for annual ride underway.
A LEARNING NEWSROOM FOR J OURNALISM STUDENTS
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M o n d a y ,M a rc h 4 , 2 0 1 3
C o n e s to g a C o lle g e , K itc h e n e r, O n t.
GUELPH’S CON-G
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w w w .s p o k e o n lin e .c o m
a t t r a c t s a l l k in d s
PHOTO BY ALLANAH PINHORN
Patches and Josh of Underw orld LARP, introduce Con-G goers to the jo ys of live-action role playing. For story and m ore photos, see Pages 6 and 7.
Preds football recruits Conestoga students BY DYLAN PACOSTA The Twin Cities Predators football team is recruiting new members for their next assault on the Canadian Junior Football League (CJFL) title, and they have targeted Conestoga students to help them achieve their goal. Head coach Tom Arnott and head of recruitment Jim Macarthur were at the college for four days to try and pique interest and recruit Conestoga students to become part of the Predators’ upcoming season, which starts in July. The Predators endured a difficult season last year but Macarthur believes they can “quickly turn it around and becom e a championship level team.” “Our end result was te r rible, our record was o ffi cially 0 and 8 but we w eren ’t as bad as the record m akes
us sound,” said M acarthur. “W e w ere extrem ely com p etitive in every gam e and w ere even leading sig n ifi cantly in som e.” He attributed the team ’s poor results to the challenges o f entering second year; the team brought in a new head coach and started working on a new philosophy and sys tem. The team’s defence was the main reason they were able to keep their games so tight - they led the entire country wide 20-team league in take aways and interceptions. Offensively though, they lacked a running game. They will also be recruiting potential quarterbacks since their cur rent QB is in his last year of eligibility (players can only play until they are 23 years old). This year, like last, the team will be looking to carry roughly 55-65 players on their
roster - around 10-15 of las year’s roster were Conestog; College students.
" I wish our stadium was closer to the college so we could draw some fans from there as well." - J i m Macarthur “W h en stu d e n ts com e for in fo rm a tio n w e d is cuss the k ind o f system s we w ant to run and our ph ilosophies and attitudes tow ards the gam e its e lf,” said M acarthur. “They can also talk to me to get an understanding of the business side of the program and what the financial costs are.” M acarthur believes that the biggest challenge for the Predators recruiting efforts is
actuallyAgetting the word out so more people can be aware of the team and, the opportu nities available to potential players and fans. “I wish our stadium was closer to the college so we could draw some fans from there as well,” he said. “But the college is a perfect fit for us not only from a recruiting perspective but from a fan base; the students could real ly adopt this team as being their team.” Despite that, the Predators haven’t attempted to recruit at any other school in their three-year existence - they haven’t felt the need to look any farther than Conestoga’s large pool of students. “W e usually do (get a lot of interest), as potential play ers walk by they’ll come over and talk to us” he said. “But this isn’t entry level football - we want guys who really
want to play for us, we don’t want guys who will come out once a week and goof around because it’s a serious level of football.” Joining the Predators would provide players with great opportunities - the coaching staff is made up almost entire ly of ex-CFL players and the team is a farm club of the Toronto Argonauts so players will have a chance to catch the eye of scouts and move higher up the football chain. The team will be back at Conestoga for an evaluation camp at the recreation centre on March 24 to evaluate the players who have shown a serious interest in joining the Predators. Anybody still interested in joining can go to www.predatorsfootball.ca and fill in the player profile application under the “Become a Pred” tab.
NEWS
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Now deep thoughts ... with Conestoga College Random questions answered by random students
What would be the first thing you would do if you won the lottery?
“ Buy a case of nice light lager beer.”
Craig Veenstra, first-year graphic design
“ Buy a Nissan GTR.”
Victor Teodoroiu, second-year supply chain & operations
“Go on a trip to Mexico or somewhere warm .”
Just seven more weeks As I return from a weeklong vacation in sunny Florida, I’m left wondering if I’m the only one struggling to finish the year out with the same passion that I started with way back in September. This being the last semes ter of my program, you would think that should be all the incentive I need to really dig down and complete my year, but here I am in my last seven weeks and I can’t seem to focus for some reason. The end of Reading Week also means that final stretch for many graduates-to-be, and the last semester can be one o f the most challenging. There’s even an official name for this malaise that strikes students at this time of year, “senioritis,” which defines a student who is struggling in his or her final semester of a multiple year program. W hen seniori tis kicks in and studying becomes a low priority, you could be putting your gradu ation in jeopardy. Low moti-
second-year health office admin
“ Buy a big house.”
Josh Seitz, first-year pre-health
“ Buy an old M ustang and give half to charity.”
Ravikumar Patel, second-year marketing
“ Give half to charity and go on a trip to Vegas.”
Katelyn Govier, second-year office admin executive
Smile Conestoga, you could be our next respondent!
Rob Mendonsa
Opinion vation, skipping classes and simply giving up too easily on projects and assignments are a few warning signs of senioritis. Some of the hints given online for us to stay moti vated are to stay focused, eat well and to get a planner. Get a planner, really? These are the same things that are told to us at the orientation for our program, I need some thing better than a good meal and a calendar to reignite the fire that seems to be barely smouldering right now. Journalism students also all seem to suffer from another “disord er,” called procrastination, w hich ju st adds to the effects o f senioritis. Instead o f w ork
ing on my assignm ents when we were made aware of them in the syllabus back in January, I’ve left everything until the last minute and now find myself buried under a mountain of paper that would challenge some of the greatest climbers of Mount Everest. A lot of students have the mindset that the semester is over during break and don’t realize that they still have to finish finals and projects upon returning to school. It is always difficult to come back after a week off, but as long as you keep reminding yourself that the finish line is within grasp you’ll be fine. So here I sit staring at the blinking cursor, which has become the bane of my exis tence, wondering how I will ever get through the next seven weeks with my sanity and self-respect intact. And in my mind the words “just seven more weeks,” keep replaying in my mind. Just seven more weeks.
New degree program in the works BY RYAN BOWMAN
Kara Beirnes,
Monday, March 4,2013
Conestoga College is hoping to launch a new program in 2014. At a board o f governors m eeting Feb. 25, members were told about the four-year bachelor o f environm ental public health degree pro gram. It will be introduced as an advanced standing program in 2014 and fully im ple mented by 2016. Curt Monk, chair of inform atics and life sciences at the
college, said demand for pub lic health inspectors has been growing steadily over the past decade. S im ila r program s are offered at only five post-sec ondary institutions across Canada, with only one in Ontario. According to Monk, who formerly worked as a certi fied public health inspector, Conestoga’s existing facili ties, which include the new Institute of Food Processing Technology, a daycare and a health clinic, would serve as
an ideal “living laboratory” for students in the program. In the coming months, the college will pitch the pro gram to both the Ontario Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities, and the Canadian Institute of Public Health Inspectors. M onk expects the college will know by early 2014 whether or not the program gets a green light. The college’s next board of governors meeting is sched uled for May 27 at the Doon campus.
NEWS
Monday, March 4,2013
SPOKE* Page 3
More than a bike ride
BY KRISTIN MILANI
The sixth annual Grand River Hospital Ride for Cancer kicked off Feb. 21 at Wildcraft Grill Bar in Waterloo. The ride itself isn’t for another five months but the training, preparation and fundraising has officially begun. On Aug. 24, people will gather for the 120-kilometre non-com petitive ride across Waterloo Region. The night before the ride, there will be a reception and silent auction. On ride day, those involved will get to enjoy a barbecue after the race and later attend a live auction and team dinner to celebrate. The Ride for Cancer launch began with an informal cock tail reception for the sponsors, VIP guests, committee mem bers, Grand River Hospital Foundation (GRHF) staff, peo ple affected by cancer and the riders. It was an opportunity for them to socialize, reunite, reminisce and talk about the upcoming ride in August. The event was hosted by 105.3 Kool FM’s radio personality, Angie Hill. She kicked off the speech portion of the night by talking about what the riders should expect at this year’s event. Some heartfelt and emotional speeches were then delivered by Olympic medallists Steve Bauer and Curt Harnett, can cer survivor Marcel Portelance,
committee member of Ride for Cancer Rainer Mueller and the executive director of GRHF, Nancy Hewat. Portelance is riding for the second time. He was first diag nosed with cancer in 2009 and went through a lot of chemo therapy and radiation for the next 18 months, which proved to be very hard on his system. “Throughout the whole ordeal, I always tried to stay very positive and very confident that I would beat this disease. I wasn’t going to go out without a fight,” he said. Portelance said he never thought he would be privi leged to take part in the ride. Although he has only partici pated in one so far, he has attended every ride since 2009. After watching his good friend and inspiration in the ride in 2010, Portelance decided he would no longer be on the side lines and he would become one of the riders. On Dec. 13, 2010, he officially committed himself to the ride and set a goal to have the highest donation total. On his team, he had his wife, his daughter, his son and two of his good friends. Portelance found the training aspect to be difficult because he hadn’t rode a bike for years. He focused on his training and the team took care of the fundraising side. Together, they raised a total
of $58,000. It wasn’t the high est overall donation total but it exceeded the amount of money he had hoped to raise. Leading up to the ride, Portelance said he was over whelmed by all of the support he received from friends, fam ily and even from people he had never met before. He even formed friendships with some of the riders after his first Ride for Cancer. “The whole event itself, it surpassed my expectations. I got stronger. I got more con fident. The outlook on my life got better. Since then, I’ve never looked back to those dark days,” he said. At each ride, the individual who raises the most money receives a yellow jersey and are awarded the honour of lead ing the ride. Dan Einwechter, last year’s top fundraiser, rode beside Portelance and found out that he postponed his last surgery in order to take part in the ride. He was so amazed by Portelance’s determination, training and recovery that he gave him the yellow jersey. “To me, that was a champion,” Einwechter said. Portelance’s motivation to participate in the ride was to give back to Grand River Hospital for all the help and support they gave him while he was battling the disease. He
PHOTO BY KRISTIN MILANI
Dan Einwechter, left, and cancer survivor Marcel Portelance hold up a Ride for Cancer je rse y at the event’s launch party Feb. 21. The ride will take place Aug. 24 across W aterloo Region.
said the cancer treatment cen tre is fantastic and the hospital has great doctors and nurses. “They did everything for me,” he said. Nancy Hewat is someone who spends her time helping those in need at the hospital but is also battling cancer. GRHF helps the hospital to provide exceptional health care by raising funds. When it comes to the Ride for Cancer, she is amazed by the camaraderie of the cyclists and how they come together to not only raise funds but to have a fun time. “The heartfelt passion I think
that I have seen with new and repeat cyclists has-been a big part of making this event a suc cess. Their passion has been my highlight,” she said. One of the committee mem bers and top fundraisers, Emmanuel Patterson, has been involved with the Ride for Cancer from the very beginning in 2008. In August, he will be participating in his third ride. “It means so much to do some thing in the community, for an amazing community facil ity with incredible foundation staffers who live and breathe these projects,” he said.
COMMENTARY
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Monday, Match 4,2013
Hockey parents need to let kids play BY RYAN BOWMAN Behind every minor hockey player in Canada - up to 400,000 in any given season - there are hockey parents. And while their duties range from chauffeuring to cheerleading, the guardians behind the glass can occa sionally take their role as spectator a step too far. In recent weeks, a pair o f separate off-ice incidents have shifted the spotlight to the stands and exposed the dark side of our national sport. First there was Jason Boyd, who was attending his 15-year-old son’s hockey game at W innipeg’s Southdale Community Centre. W hen a player on the opposing team fell to the ice following a body check (a hit which resulted in a pen alty for a headshot), Boyd berated the injured player, repeatedly calling him a “midget.” After Boyd was approached by the father of the kid on the receiving end o f the hit, he threatened to “cave his (expletive) glasses in.” The entire incident, which was caught on tape, w ent viral on YouTube. One of the most shocking details o f the footage was Boyd holding a baby in his arms. Closer to home, a Cambridge man allegedly assaulted an official at his 17-year-old son’s game at Preston Auditorium on Feb. 10. In this case, the parent allegedly grabbed a lines man and pushed him against the wall after a player on his son’s team was escorted off the ice. The accused, it turns out, is Const. Neil Moulton, a 12-year veteran of the Guelph Police Service. And while these incidents may be extreme, what makes them so disturbing is that they’re far from isolated. According to Todd Cook, president of the Lord Selkirk Minor Hockey Association, outbursts like Boyd’s are all too common. “We can’t go on in hockey with the way it is right now with the fans and everything else,” he told Global Winnipeg. “We have to put a stop to this somewhere.” Not only does it embarrass and humiliate their kids, it also goes against the values sport is meant to teach. How can we expect our next generation to learn sports manship, leadership and respect when we behave like children ourselves? W hen it comes to supporting our amateur athletes from the stands, it’s important we act our age - not our skate size.
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 contacted 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.
Parents need to dem onstrate respect and sportsmanship at all times.
Guns have got to go In our wonderful world full o f knowledge and technology, why are so many o f our youth dying needlessly? The type o f deaths that happened in the Toronto area last month used to be something we thought only happened south o f the border. Now, it’ s here and on the rise. In under a month, three teenagers died as a result of being shot by other teens. My first question is, where are they getting these guns and, secondly, why is it OK to settle our differences with guns? Why can’t people just talk trash and walk away like they used to? I’m not saying that’ s OK, but it doesn’t leave a family missing a son or brother all because some one didn’t like the way someone looked at him. The truth is, if you were to ask adults who bullied someone in high school if they could change what they had done, the majority would say they wish they hadn’t done it and that it was mean or wrong. We all have watched the news and seen young boys fighting wars around the world and have been horrified that children are carrying guns. We know guns kill. But, after the Sandy Hook massacre on Dec. 14, 2012, where 20-year-old Adam Lanza
Wendy CzakoMah Opinion
shot and killed 20 children and six adults in the United States and talk o f a gun ban, what hap pened? Gun sales went through the roof as people feared they soon wouldn’t be able to buy them. Instead o f people talking about getting guns o ff the street, they lined up to buy more. What is wrong with people? I’m the type o f person who always sees the brighter side o f life. When my daughter tells me about a situation, she says I always side or defend the other person. The truth is I’ d rather give “them” the benefit o f the doubt that their intentions were good. When they look at other people, I don’t see them giv ing dirty looks. Rather, they’ re squinting because they don’t have their glasses on or their thought was they wished they looked good in that outfit. It’ s all about a person’ s own insecuri ties.
Have you ever heard someone say, “Before I knew you I thought you were a bitch? But actually you’re really nice.” I used to get in trouble all the time because of the apparent look I gave some one and in reality it was just me looking. My grandmother once told me I gave her a look that could kill. These days it’s referred to as “knife eye.” The truth was I had been listening to her very intently and she had been speaking German which I was in the process of learn ing. I felt terrible, but that is just how simple things can be misunderstood. It used to be girls didn’t physically fight. But now they get down on the ground and punch each other out. I’d hate to think of what would happen if they had guns in their purses. Boys, on the other hand, used to have fist fights. But now they pull out a gun and settle the score. We need to get guns off the streets and we need to get kids back to being kids. We don’t want to end up like the United States.
SPOKE IS P U B L I S H E D A N D P R O D U C E D W E E K L Y BY T H E J O U R N A L I S M S T U D E N T S OF C O N E S T O G A C O L L E G E Editor: Whitney South Assignment Editors: Lindsay Tessier, Caleigh McLelland
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FEATURE
Monday, March 4 ,2 0 13
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Not all who are blind lack vision BY JESSICA REPIKER
This is the second of a fivepart series on visual impair ment and what it is like for the people who live with it. From the moment we enter the education system it is drilled into our heads that to achieve greatness, we must achieve great grades. We are convinced that our future success depends on how well we can turn the material we see into memorized concepts, applied in a variety of situa tions. So much of how school is taught is geared toward the m ajority o f students who have full vision, but for stu dents who have experienced vision loss, learning becomes a different kind of challenge. M ichael M ieln iczek, a first-year student at the University of M anitoba has viewed the world through this perspective since he was in Grade 4, when his glasses no longer corrected his vision and he had to become better acquainted with technology. As a result of M ielniczek’s condition, a juvenile type of macular degeneration, he has no central vision. “I can’t see faraway details. For example, if you’re stand ing five feet away from me I’ll be able to know it’s you by your body shape and height but I won’t be able to recog nize your face or anything,” he said. “M y peripheral vision is all good and dandy.” A lth ou gh his p e rip h eral vision is in full focus, Mielniczek has had to view the traditional school atm o sphere from a distance. “I was so far out o f the loop socially. I was off to the side because it took me longer to do homework. Alm ost every evening I couldn’t go and hang out with friends,” he said, adding that even though he felt behind in some regards, he never lost his ambition. “Despite my disability I was on the honour role through out high school and actually graduated with honours.” M ielniczek’s vision loss may have placed new obstacles in his path, but it has inspired him to do more, not less. In middle school, he would stay after class with a teacher who would teach him HTML, something that sparked an insatiable curiosity and a new idea - M ichael’s World. M ichael’s W orld is a w eb site created by M ielniczek to educate people about vision diseases and how they affect people as well as the technol ogy available to assist every day living. The website was a result of M ielniczek’s interest
in turning black and white code into som ething visual and was propelled not only by his motivation to raise aware ness, but also by his visual aid consultant. “ Every year she’d bring in som ething new for me to try and I’d do a report and add it to my website. I just kept developing it,” said M ielniczek, whose website has grown to include his own personal writing and artwork. The greatest piece of tech nology M ielniczek has found in recent years is the iPad. 'I ’ve done two presentations to my school division on how great the accessibility is on the iPad and Apple devices in gen eral. Since then, the depart ment of education has been buying iPads each year to give to vision impaired students.” Already leaving a legacy behind at his high school, he is looking forward to what lies ahead: a master’s degree in psychology and a road full of surmountable challenges. “I chose psychology because I feel that it will constantly challenge my mental ability and skill compared to say, getting an office job like w ork ing at a bank where it’s a basic routine. I find psychol ogy very inspiring because as you go along and you learn and develop your skill and abilities, it develops your
PHOTO BY JESSICA REDIKER
M agnifiers com e in ail different sizes and levels of m agnification. The y are essential tools for people with even slight vision loss.
overall self.” M ielniczek has had time to adjust to his visual im pair ment and learn how to over come the obstacles it pres ents him with, but this is not always the case for people who lose their vision. Andrew Zylstra, a first-year general business student at Conestoga College, lost his vision all at once when he was driving and crashed into a tree just over a year ago. The crash shattered his entire face, leaving him in a coma for four weeks and in the hospital for three weeks after he regained conscious ness. For Zylstra the process of losing his vision was a matter of waking up and not being able to see. There was no time to understand what was hap
pening, just to realize that things would never be the same. Zylstra said the new chal lenges of school haven’t hin dered him in the least. ‘Without vision you have to remember everything and there are no more hard copies. You have to be really good on the computer and be able to access everything,” he said. “It’s fairly easy to imagine a document because I can kind of remember how it used to be set up.” Zylstra has maintained an above 80 average throughout his first year at Conestoga, though he feels there is room for improvement in how the school is equipped for visually impaired students. “My biggest concern is the computers. I use Macintosh com puters and they’re just
not readily available at Conestoga. I’m trained to use JAWS (a screen reading soft ware,) but they only have one computer with it.” While being blind has cre ated m any exterior chal lenges for Zylstra, the biggest challenge he faces come from inside himself. “It takes a fair amount of time to do something when you don’t have sight and it can be quite frustrating at times. Just trying to keep your head up and stay moti vated is the hardest part.” Although staying motivated can be difficult at times for both Zylstra and Mielniczek, neither of them feel complete ly limited by their disabilities. “I can do anything the same as anyone else, just in a dif ferent way,” M ielniczek said.
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FEATURE
Monday, March 4,2013
Daleks
Guelph’s comic-con Con-G boasts
and z o m p ie s
COMIC-CON 101 Here are some useful tips to help you survive your next comic-con:
and
ew^>
■ Schedule What do you want to see most? A panel? Autograph session? Just walk the booths and browse? Create a schedule before hand to maximize your opportunities.
O w ner-operator of Ice Phoenix Art, Sabrina S calarini, show s off her platypus. Ice Phoenix A rt w as a first-tim e guest this year.
■ Timing Seasoned veterans of a convention may be up before the birds to get a spot in line, so make sure to beat them to it. Lines will be everywhere, so expect a long wait even when arriving early.
■ Badges Without your badge (or ticket) you won’t be seeing anything, so hang onto it, even when inside the venue.
■ Backpack it Bring your own back pack (not a purse!) and keep your wallet and valuables inside! Bring a lunch and lots of water as it’s all very expensive inside the convention.
Popular com ic book series and A M C show , the W alking Dead, w as a popular them e at this ye a r’s Con-G. Series protagonist and sm all-tow n she riff’s deputy Rick G rim es w as one of m any foam stand-up figurines available for purchase.
■ Money Some places do not accept debit or credit, but there is usually an ATM around the venue.
If the feet fit: Rob Howell cam e dressed as popular JRR Tolkien character Bilbo Baggins, from the book-turned-m ovie, The Hobbit.
Monday, March 4 ,2 0 13
FEATURE
SPOKE ♦ Page 7
P H O TO S & STO RY B Y A L L A N A H P IN H O R N Conspiracy com ics, of Burlington, sells a varie ty of anim e-them ed stuffed toys.
here have “I walk in here with a rainbowbeen elves, coloured wig and no one looks at daleks, zom me weird,” she said. “They all run bies and up to me and say, ‘Oh my god, the gunslingers wig looks great. Where did you get in Guelph it? Can I give you a hug?”’ for years, if Indeed, Con-G is well known for you know creating a safe-haven for shy and where to usually self-proclaimed nerds. Along look. An with the usual artist and swag oasis for all tables, over 75 different panels and things geek, events were held over the three anime, steampunk, furry or WHO, days, including geek speed dating, Con-G, a kanji-based pun that is wig styling, ask a scientist, prop short for Convention Guelph, has making, cosplay 101 and armour been delighting cosplayers, nerds smithing. High-profile topics ranged and comic book fans alike for five from My Little Pony to 18+ Hentai, years. HP Lovecraft and Sherlock Holmes. Held from Feb. 22 to 24 at the Also featured were: Pokemon and Delta Hotel in Guelph, the event Ojther gaming tables, music and the attracted over 1,500 people, most of atre geared toward geeks, a weeka like mind. Local artist and part- end-long interactive murder mys time costumer Sabrina Scalarini tery, the Dr. WHO lounge and the manned a booth at the show this Masquerade, an adjudicated cos year for the first time. tume contest.
T
Special guests included Derek the outlining races, talents and abili Bard, Big Mike of the 404s, Dr. ties shapes cbmbat; it often includes Holocaust and acclaimed voice-over spells, shields, weapon damage and artist Rob Paulsen. Many will recog healing. nize Paulsen as the voice of Yakko M any players becom e very on Animaniacs, Raphael in the orig attached to their characters. inal Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle “When you play a character for cartoon and Pinky from Pinky and five years, it’s like a second you,” the Brain; he treated the audience U nderw orld co-ow ner David to a good ol’ “Narf!” Ashby told the National Post. One of the biggest presences at LARPer Conor Goodeve knows Con-G this., year was Toronto-based this all too well. “I feel like I Underworld LARP. An immersive could switch into my character at game usually played outdoors, anytime, I’m just so linked to my LARPing, or live-action role-play character. It’s awesome.” ing, combines fantasy and horror. Goodeve, who is from Owen Players create and live as their Sound, is used to being judged by characters 24 hours a day during a people who don’t understand the game, which follows a broad story joys of live-action role-playing. He line dictated by the actions p i the loves events like Con-G for the sim characters. Much like acting out a ple reason of being able to fit in. Dungeons and Dragons campaign “There is a social stigma against or living a video game, relation it (LARPing), but in general every ships form, alliances are broken and one here has enjoyed hearing about combat ensues. A complex rule book Underworld,” he said.
Ricky Dick, costum er and co-founder of the Castle Blood haunted attraction in Pennsylvania, peddles his w ares during the three-day Con-G event. Dick has been creating costum es and building props since the’70s and caters to the horror crowd.
NEWS
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Monday, March 4,2013
Scientology: The controversy continues BY BRAD COUGHLIN Plenty of controversy revolves around the Church of Scientology, a religious movement founded by L. Ron Hubbard in 1950. But, with a new location opening in Cambridge on Feb. 16, the church hopes to silence the rumours. “Our philosophy is mainly based on practicality,” said Catherine Kristensen, a staff member of the church, refer ring to the church’s teachings of self-improvement in the modern world. “Scientology is a religion in the true sense of the m ean ing ... our main commodity is knowledge about life.” According to Wikipedia, Scientology teaches that people are immortal beings who have forgotten their true nature. The church attempts to use methods of spiritual rehabilita tion, in which practitioners aim to consciously re-experience painful or traumatic events, to aid followers in freeing them selves from the limiting effects of their past. Study materials and auditing are made avail able to members in return for specified donations. Scientology is a legally rec ognized religion in a num ber o f countries, including the United Sates. However,
Canada is among the coun tries that does not recog nize the movement as a taxexempt religion. The new, multimillion-dol lar facility, located at 1305 Bishop St., offers a wide vari ety of courses to aid anyone of any creed looking to address problems in particular areas of their life. “We have life improvement courses that address different areas - the rearing of chil dren, communication in rela tionships, even finances - and they’re knowledge you can take away,” said Kristensen. However, Dr. Lom e Dawson, chair of religious studies at the University of Waterloo and an expert on new religious movements who’s studied Scientology for decades, said fees for these courses are part of the controversy. “It eventually started to becom e quite expensive as the courses started to mul tiply and the fees started to increase,” said Dawson. “Am erican evangelists and televangelists certainly are running large business enter prises ... but Scientology is a little more explicit about it.” In addition to life improve ment courses, the church sells Hubbard’s books, printed inhouse, for those interested in the teachings of Scientology.
'M ore and more people nowa days are wanting to find out for themselves and make their own opinions as opposed to living in an environment that is very dogmatic,” said Kristensen. “W e’ve done everything we could to make it accessible.” P u b lish ed in 1950, H ubbard’s book, Dianetics: The M odern Science of Mental Health, was the book that started the movement and remains the most popular today. But, as many books and concepts followed it, so did the controversy. “They violated a lot of the tra ditional assumptions about how a religion’s supposed to oper ate,” said Dawson. “It started out much more as a kind of psy cho therapy than a religion with Dianetics, and it evolved into Scientology in bits and pieces with various inventions and revelations by Hubbard.” “They are combining notions coming from a wide variety of sources, secular and religious, eastern and western religions and that, of course, causes some controversy,” he said. “Their core beliefs are plausi ble and systematic and they’re as plausible as the beliefs of any other religion. If you want to press the core beliefs of Christianity, they’re equally as absurd from a modern sci entific perspective.”
PHOTO BY BRAD COUGHLIN
Lecture DVDs of Church of Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard line a wall at a new church in Cam bridge.
Kristensen, a Scientologist for 14 years, said, “When you look at any big movement and anything for the good of the people, it always ends up hav ing controversy. W hile the Church of Scientology is open to people of all faiths, it’s paranoid in its interactions with the world, said Dawson. Having received
a tremendous amount of criti cal attention from the media and distorted material about Scientology, Dawson believes some of their paranoia to be justified. “They overreact to critics by becoming very defensive and offensive,” said Dawson,” meaning the church will ... try to intimidate (people).”
NEWS
Monday, March 4,2013
Make sure you are pet ready BY ASHLEY CURRIE It’s hard to find a Canadian that has never in his or her lifetime had a pet. Whether they are currently a pet owner or they had a beloved dog, cat or goldfish as a child, most Canadians have shared their home with an animal at some point. This comfort level with animals can lead some people to decide to bring home a new pet before they know all the work, time or money involved. Here are some tips on what you need to know before selecting a new pet. For starters many people don’t quite realize the cost of owning a pet. A basic vet checkup for a cat or dog usu ally starts around $50 and that can go up quickly if your pet needs special treatments or medications. These bills can be considerably larger if you are purchasing a puppy or kitten which needs shots and possibly surgery. The cost of pet food and toys also adds up quickly. “For food and essential sup plies, cats usually cost about $40 to $50 per month,” said Jessie Lee, a veterinary stu dent at the U niversity of Guelph. “Dogs can cost $50 to $100. This all depends on what brands you’re buying and how much you pamper your pet, but even if you try to stick with the bargain prod ucts it still adds up.” Lee suggests going with
PHOTO BY ASHLEY CURRIE
Reptiles can be a unique choice of pet, but they need heat lam ps and m any of them eat live grubs, or even live mice.
something a little more low maintenance such as a gold fish or a hamster if you’re worried about the cost of adopting a pet. Another thing pet owners often forget to consider is the time that they must put into their pets. Many parents or grandparents buy puppies as gifts for children. “I’ll love it and brush it and walk it every day,” the six-year-old will say, but the likelihood of that child waking up at 6 a.m. to walk that puppy everyday is slim to none. Dogs need to exercise, cats’ litter boxes need to be cleaned, small animals need their cages cleaned, even fish bowl water should be changed regularly. “Basically no matter what
pet you get you’re going to have to clean up their poop. If you can’t deal with that you shouldn’t be a pet owner,” said D aniella M arshall, a Guelph resident and pet owner. M arshall currently has a dog and bunny but says that at their peak her family had three hamsters, two bud gies, a tank full of goldfish, a dog, a kitten and even a neighbourhood squirrel that would stop by their door every day for a snack. No matter what pet you are thinking of getting for your self or a loved one, remem ber that the pet owner has to be ready and willing to take proper care of the pet. A responsible pet owner equals a happy pet.
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CONESTOGA
Monday, March 4.2013
FEATURE
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Waterloo Public Square was the site of the 10th annual Ice Dog Festival, which has now been rebranded, “Winterloo,” on Feb. 18. This year the festival expanded to welcome more winter-related events. Previously the event featured dogs of the north including huskies, with dog sled rides and ice sculptures.
Families were able to take rides in a horsedrawn wagon, ride sleds, tour a historic steam engine, skate or go through an ice maze. This year there was also a chili cook off and THEMUSEUM opened with crafting for children.
What started out as something small in the downtown core has now become a communi ty event. The festival is now three days, end ing on Family Day. This gave the public the opportunity to take snowshoe walks through Laurel Creek, a new feature added this year. The goal is to give people a taste of Quebec’s Winterlude.
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Monday, March 4 ,2013
Volunteering abroad:
Who does it really benefit? STORY AND PHOTOS BY CALEIGH MCLELLAND W ith eagerness and good intentions, more people every year are taking off to devel oping countries on volunteer vacations. This type of experi ence, which has been termed “voluntourism ,” is exactly what it sounds like: volunteer work mixed with travel. And while seeing a new place, doing fun activities and giving back sound like the perfect combination, there is a lot more to think about before jetting off than how much money to bring or what clothes to pack. There have been questions as to who really benefits from voluntourism and if it is actu ally doing more harm than good in developing countries. This is something that people need to consider before choos ing an organization to volun teer abroad with. First, “know what you can offer,” said Sean Kelly, head of com m unications at Cuso International, an organiza tion that sends skilled volun teers abroad to promote sus tainable development. “Just helping out and build ing a school may be a good thing to do, but rem em ber that local folks can also do this, probably better than you,” he said. For this reason, it is im por tant to carefully research a variety o f organizations in order to find one that does not interfere with local em ploy ment, but also allows you to help out and use your skills. At times, voluntourism has also been criticized for its lack of sustainable development. W hile many people choose long-term volunteer place ments, many more are choos ing short-term volu n teer vacations. Students who want a unique experience over their summer holiday, or want work experience before applying to post-secondary school or the job force, often volunteer for just a couple of weeks. According to Kelly, “most Cuso International place ments are one to two years in length, as experience has shown us that it takes some time to adapt, build relation ships, be effective and make an impact.” That is not to say that short term placements are not ben eficial. But, like giving a onetime donation to a charity or temporarily sponsoring a child, depending on the job,
Projects Abroad volunteers stand outside Abura Literacy School in Cape Coast, Ghana, w here students show off their new uniform s, which w ere donated by the organization.
short-term volunteer place ments can end up not being so helpful after all. It’s easy to help build a school, promote human rights or educate people about envi ronmental conservation, but unless the volunteer orga nization continues to follow up and maintain the projects once the volunteers leave, projects can quickly fall apart. “A month may seem like a fairly long time in a com plete ly different environm ent,” said Benjamin Price, former Projects Abroad volunteer. “But is it really a reasonable length o f time to make a dif ference?” The answer to making a dif ference while only volunteer ing for a short amount of time is to choose an organization that thinks about the long term impact. Even if volun teers are unable to stay for months, working alongside local groups who know first hand what their community’s needs are is the best way to create sustainable develop ment. For example, as the world’s leading international volun teer organization, Projects Abroad helps to “create local em ploym ent wherever they send volunteers. And because they w ork with local col leagues at all levels, they are able to channel the skills of
Projects Abroad volunteers help build a school, along with local w orkers, in Cape Coast, Ghana.
volunteers to places they are really needed.” “I feel really strongly about working with people, and em pow ering them to find ways of combining their tra ditional way of living with techniques that make sense,” said Jenna Niven, a Toronto resident who volunteered with children in Ecuador. Being culturally aware, accepting the lifestyle and taking local advice is a great
start to any volunteer place ment. By doing this, volun teers are better able to make a long-term difference, as they are supplying the com munity with the help they really need. And this way all parties benefit. “From a volunteer’s point of view, volunteering is obvious ly a great way to understand other cultures a bit more something which is vital in a global com m unity,” Price
said. And if done properly, it can be very beneficial for the locals, too. N iven added that people should “look for local orga nizations who know w hat their population needs, as w ell as organizations that are actively w orking w ith the com m unity they are in, and follow the principle of not giving a hand out, but a hand up.”