Chronicle 35 10 Jan 2009 - Digilog at UOIT and DC - DC-UOIT

VOLUME XXXV, Issue 10
Lords win - page 25
January , 
Rockers at EP’s - page 17
Obama fever hits DC campus
By Nicki Lamont
Chronicle Staff
Over a hundred students and
staff gathered in the Gordon Willey building on Jan. 20 to see the
44th president of the United States
of America take office. So what will
a new president mean for youth in
Canada and Durham College and
UOIT students? If we can believe
Barack Obama, the world may be
in for positive changes.
Now that Obama, the fifth
youngest president in U.S.history,
is in office, youth across the continent are showing a higher interest in politics. Before the Nov. 4
election, Obama held a steady 80
per cent approval rate with young
people in Canada, and according to CTV Canada, almost twice
as many Canadians followed the
American election as the Canadian federal election in October.
Politics in Canada have followed a visible trend in our generation: boring, slow and repetitive.
Having an election that has
brought new issues to the table,
with a leader young people can
Photo by Krista Paxton
HISTORY IN THE MAKING: Students and faculty at Durham College gathered to watch in awe as Barack Obama
was inaugurated at the White House in Washington DC as the first African-American president on Jan. 20.
See Inauguration page 2
Students called to vote on UPASS
By Edith Zikmann
Chronicle Staff
Photo by Patrick O’Connor
RIDE ON: Student Daniel Desouza proudly holds up his UPASS. The pass saves students who take the bus to campus approximately $520 each school year.
To continue with the UPASS
or not continue with the UPASS?
That is the question students are
being asked at this year’s UPASS
referendum vote taking place at
all campuses Feb. 3-5.
Durham Transit’s three-year
contract with Durham College
and UOIT is coming to an end
and the SA is now in the process
of renegotiating a new contract.
Due to an increased need for
bus service to campus and higher
operating costs, Durham Transit
has proposed an increase in the
semester UPASS fee from $50 to
$60.
“Being a commuter campus, it
is really important that we need
to think about whether (the UPASS) is something beneficial to
us or if it’s something we don’t
want,” said Christa Andrews, Student Association VP of UOIT.
“It is really important that the
students who are using the service or aren’t using it are the ones
to determine,” she added.
“We don’t want to stir students
to vote yes or vote no, we want to
make sure they’re voting on what
they believe.”
Under the new agreement,
Durham Transit has agreed to
provide increased bus service to
campus, as well as more buses
during high-volume commute
times. If voted in, the increases in
services would come into effect
shortly.
Durham Transit has also proposed additional benefits for
students registered in summer
courses by extending UPASS usage over the summer months for
an additional $80.
Under the new agreement,
the UPASS would save commuting students about $520 during
the school year and $240 in the
summer term. If students vote yes
to the fees, benefits will come into
effect September 2009.
However, if students vote
against the continuation of the
UPASS, notice will be given to all
students about the termination of
the program and commuters will
have to pay for their own transportation costs outside of their
tuition. The mandatory $100
UPASS fee would no longer be included in tuition costs and commuting students would have to
pay $80 a month and $960 a year
for an unrestricted bus pass.
Students can vote Feb. 3-5 in
these locations: SW hallway: 9
a.m. - 4 p.m.
UA West: 9 a.m. - 4 p.m.
Simcoe Residence: 9 a.m. - 4
p.m.
South Village Residence: 9
a.m. - 4 p.m.
Whitby Campus: 9 a.m. - 1
p.m.
2 The Chronicle
January 27, 2009
CAMPUS NEWS
Bake sale to help war-torn Gaza
By Jaspinder k Jassal
Chronicle Staff
The Middle Eastern Student
Association at UOIT is joining
forces with UNICEF to support
the children of Gaza.
MESA decided on holding a
bake sale at UOIT to raise money
for those affected by the warstruck Gaza.
Gaza is located in the Mediterranean coastal route between
Egypt and Israel.
For many years now there
have been conflicts between the
Israel and Palestinians. Most recently sparks flew when the political group Hamas fired rockets
into Israel.
Israel retaliated by invading
the Gaza strip. Considering this
to be a huge tragedy as residents
are being killed every day, MESA
made the choice to help those in
suffering by raising money.
The bake sale included cookies, muffins, brownies and Mid-
dle Eastern treats such as baklava
(sweet puff pastry, filled with pistachio or cream cheese.)
UNICEF is supporting MESA
through this event and they will
make sure a percentage of the
funds are sent to help those in
need.
“When we spoke to UNICEF,
we couldn’t get the exact percentage of where the money is going
exactly,” said Rima Karam, president of MESA.
“UNICEF said the needs
change every day. Today if the
need is very great for hospitals,
tomorrow the need may be greater for malnutrition.”
Besides selling baked goods,
Karam and her team of executives
put their creative sides to work by
making Gaza strips of hope. The
strips were being sold for $1 with
all proceeds going towards Gaza
relief.
Students passing by showed
their support for the people of
Photo by Jaspinder k Jassal
Gaza by picking up an informa- RIBBON OF HOPE: UOIT student Robert Salem gets a Gaza Strip of hope from
tion leaflet provided by MESA.
Zaineb Al-Haddawi, VP of MESA, the Middle Eastern Student Association.
Photo by Jaspinder k Jassal
PEACE OUT: Members of MESA help raise funds for the children of Gaza by selling baked goods, and passing out leaflets and ribbons.
Inauguration inspires hope for future
Continued from page 1
relate to, has finally re-sparked an interest in politics. As a
result, young Canadians are now comparing our country’s
political game to the United States’, making them more interested in politics in general.
“I’ve never cared about politics before,” says Public Relations student Ashley Ruth. “This has been the first year that
I’ve been interested in something like this. It’s mostly because Obama seems like such a personable guy. You want
to see him succeed.”
Not only is Obama attracting more Canadians to the
world of politics, he’s also promising to make changes that
will affect our country’s environment.
“All Canadians should be involved with this election. It
will affect us just as much as it will affect them,” says Kevin
Marshall, an employee at the Democrats Abroad Canada
centre in Toronto. According to the centre, Canadians are
going to be affected throughout the next four years.
“With the United States and Canada, it’s a total butterfly
effect,” says Marshall. “Everything they do, we feel. Every
change, positive and negative, will change us with them.”
During his speech at the presidential inauguration,
Obama had this to say about making good on his promises:
“Now, there are some who question the scale of our ambitions who suggest that our system cannot tolerate too many
big plans. Their memories are short. For they have forgotten what this country has already done; what free men and
women can achieve when imagination is joined to common
purpose, and necessity to courage.”
He has said before that the best way to judge the future
is by looking at the past, and according to him, that means
positive changes.
But with the American economy in a slump as George W.
Bush is exiting office, the North American Free Trade Agreement has been weakening. The U.S. has been concentrating
on using homegrown goods and services, making them less
dependent on products Canada has to offer. This diminishes our economic state, because our goods are no longer in
high demand. But according to an article in Queen’s Journal
by Brandon Thao, the problem could be headed for a solution with Obama in office. If president Obama can bring his
country out of a recession and back into a good economic
state, Canada will be able to follow suit. This will pave the
way for better working conditions when Durham students
graduate and become a part of the working world.
Canada is going to be affected by Obama’s term in office politically, but socially as well. Many people think that
having a country so powerful elect an African-American as
president will bring real and necessary change to the world’s
views on race.
A powerful statement was made at the inauguration
when Obama was sworn in using the same bible Lincoln
was sworn in with in 1861. This has been the first time the
bible has been taken out of the Library of Congress since
Lincoln’s term in office, and the symbolism spoke loudly to
all who watched.
Lincoln said many times during his presidency that black
men were worth three-fifths of an average white man. The
fact that a black man has not only overcome that statement,
but is now the most powerful man in the country gives inspiration to minorities all over the world.
So with change promised to the United States, and Canada only a step behind, what do students think it will mean
for their future?
“We have something to look forward to,” says Ruth. “We
really can do anything we want. No race or gender issues.
Just people working hard for what they deserve.”
President Obama has big expectations to fill, and he’s
publicly said he’s going to do everything he can to live up
to the hype. He’s determined not to disappoint his country
and hopefully his success in office will inspire more young
Canadians to transfer their enthusiasm with American politics to Canada.
The Chronicle
CAMPUS NEWS
January 27, 2009
3
I wear my sunglasses all day
By Matt Bird
Chronicle Staff
Lose the gift of sight, gain the
gift of gab.
Whether or not this is true for
Canadian author Ryan Knighton,
no student in attendance at Durham College’s Jan. 19 Abilities Day
presentation could deny Knighton’s love of talking, as he had to be
told to wrap up his speech.
“This is what I do,” he said. “I talk
until people tell me to shut up.”
Knighton, author and co-author of three books, spent an hour
regaling his audience with stories
of his blindness, all tinged with his
wry sense of humour. Most were
anecdotes left out of his latest
book, Cockeyed, an account of his
experiences as a blind man.
Knighton, 37, was diagnosed
with retinitis pigmentosa when
he turned 18. His vision has since
gradually receded to near total
blindness.
With characteristic flair, however, Knighton put a humorous spin
on the initial discovery of his impending disability. He said his uncle compared him to Popeye while
eating spinach at dinner, pointing
out a squint in one of Knighton’s
eyes.
“Somebody at the table suggested I got winking half right,” he
said.
Knighton treated his audience
to a reading of the first few pages
of Cockeyed. He used a Chinese
translation of the book to read,
noting that he’d memorized the
passage.
“I’ve noticed over the years that
if I just recite the first couple passages people think it’s just some
bad dramatic monologue, while
if I pretend to read people think it
Photo by Matt Bird
CAPTIVATING THE AUDIENCE: Not being able to see his audience didn’t stop Canadian writer Ryan Knighton from
fascinating and entertaining them during his speech on Abilities Day.
sounds better written,” said Knighton. “And once in a while, for your
amusement, I’ll actually turn the
page.”
Though he pointed out the
foibles of the public in regards to
the disabled – including a “gimp
pen” at some airports used to keep
lost disabled people corralled
– Knighton freely discussed his
own mistakes as well. His stories
ranged from installing a towel rack
against an electrical wire and then
shocking himself to getting lost in
the wilderness while attending a
screen writing conference.
Tell me about it
when it comes to things they choose to deal with.”
Harvey explains that her role is to connect people to community resources and to help individuChronicle Staff
als get assistance, while Keeley deals more specifiDo you feel like your life is out of control? Are cally with the fundamentals of counselling. The two
you dealing with issues that you feel you can’t solve complement each other in their areas of expertise.
The most common issues that Harvey deals with
on your own? There is help available. The campus
wellness centre offers counselling services to all are depression, anxiety, stress and a wide variety of
relationship issues.
students.
The main goal of the service is to manage the
There are two counsellors available at the centre: Mary Alice Harvey, a Registered Nurse with a barriers that are getting in the way of academic sucmental health speciality, and Dan Keeley, a coun- cess. This is a service that is becoming well known
and is frequently used by students,
selor.
When you start although some students are hesitant
All counselling is strictly confidential except under three circum- to feel that situ- to get help.
“When you start to feel that situastances within the Mental Health
ations are out of tions
are out of control, and beyond
Act. These circumstances include
control,
and
beyou, or you’re feeling overwhelmed
if the student is a danger or a threat
and there is a reason to believe the yond you... That’s with situations you can’t solve or fix.
That’s when you should come for
student will carry out harm or violence to others or to themselves, when you should help,” says Harvey. “ Its better off to be
preventative and if you foresee that
if there is reasonable suspicion of come for help.
things aren’t going to go well you can
abuse of a child under the age of
16, which is currently occurring or
Mary Alice Harvey take some steps of prevention prior
to things actually going wrong.”
may occur, and situations that in“It’s about staying on top of issues,
volve court action. In the event of
court action the individual is aware and releases making decisions, providing yourself with education
and
knowledge
which helps you make an inare signed.
Harvey explains her approach during her coun- formed decision,” she said. “It’s important to make
selling sessions. She explains that she uses a meth- the decision.”
Sessions last about 50 minutes and individuals
od called solution focus, meaning the client is the
expert in their life, and they know what resources can decide how many sessions they will need depending on their specific goals.
they have available to them.
Harvey and Keeley aren’t available during the
“Counselling is client directed and the client is
involved in the direction and the route they want summer, so students will have to seek out one of
the counselling to go,” she said. “It’s their choice, the other counselling services available to them.
By Shawntee Russell
‘
’
“Yes, a blind man writes movies,” said Knighton. “That tells you
Hollywood has truly run out of
ideas.”
Knighton ended his talk by
thanking Durham’s Students for
Equal Access committee for inviting him. The committee is dedicat-
ed to easing the experience of disabled students attending Durham.
“I think it’s great what your
equality for access committee
does,” said Knighton. “They basically imagine the slapstick that
goes on but nobody else notices
and try to stop it.”
UOIT wins
$135,000 grant
By Andrew Huska
Chronicle Staff
The Canadian Foundation for
Innovation awarded the University of Ontario Institute of Technology $135,000 on Jan. 7 to go
towards research at the university.
$32,000 is going to Dr. Franco
Gaspari, an associate professor
with the faculty of Science. His
share will help advance UOIT’s
material science characterization
laboratory.
Gaspari has purchased two
units already, a Fourier Transform
Infrared Spectrometer and a UV/
VIS spectrometer.
“They allow me to study the
properties of matter throughout
the light spectrum,” said Gaspari.
Gaspari is researching alternative energy application materials,
specifically photovoltaic and solar energy. This research will help
deal with the energy crisis. He said
the competition for a grant from
the foundation is tough, but he’s
happy.
As well, Dr. Yuping He, Dr.
Greg Rohrauer and Dr. Ruth Mil-
man from the faculty of Engineering and Applied Science will get
$73,000 towards the development
of a reconfigurable motion base
vehicle simulator.
Milman said that getting the
grant is extremely important. She
also said that everyone involved is
using the equipment for different
purposes.
“It’s a great tool because it allows all of us to come together to
use it for research,” she said.
Finally Dr. Ayush Kumar, an
assistant professor in the faculty
of Health Sciences, will receive
$30,000 to help him develop a bacterial membrane transport laboratory. This will help him study two
specific drug-resistant bacteria
and could one day help with the
development of better treatments
for these organisms.
The CFI is an organization
started in 1997 by the federal government to fund research infrastructure, according to its website.
It’s mandated to help universites,
colleges, hospitals and non-profit
groups. According to its website
the organization has given $4.5
billion in support of 6,000 projects
since its founding.
4 The Chronicle
January 27, 2009
E
DITORIAL
Where has all the money gone?
TO CONTACT US
Durham College-UOIT Chronicle
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Dawn.Salter@durhamcollege.ca
Show me the money! Tom Cruise wasn’t
kidding when he shouted that famous line
in the 1996 blockbuster Jerry McGuire. We
all need it, we all want it, but there never
seems to be enough to go around.
Unless the Bank of Canada prints millions of bills, and sends inflation through
the roof, we must look to our government
officials for an answer.
And while politicians are never short of
answers, Ontario students are counting on
those answers to be more than just pie in
the sky. Colleges need funding--there are
no ifs, ands or buts about it.
The 2008 provincial budget stated that
almost $19 billion would go to education,
with $6 billion set aside for post-secondary
institutions and higher learning programs.
That’s a lot of money, even Tom Cruise
would agree.
However, with 28 publicly funded colleges in need of financial support toward
salaries, infrastructure, scholarships and
bursaries, those billions of dollars disappear faster than corn goes through a
goose.
And that’s in good times.
This economic disaster has eliminated
thousands of jobs in the Durham Region
alone, and leaves little choice for workers
but to return to school in hopes of training
for a second career.
In June, Premier Dalton McGuinty
launched the Second Career program to
fund laid-off workers up to $28,000 to cover tuition and living expenses. For a maximum of two years students can train in an
effective college-based program, and not
worry about one penny.
A wonderful idea, in theory. But program critics stated in a recent Toronto Star
article that eligibility criteria are too narrow, and red tape prevents easy access to
the program. Just show us the money.
But even if funding was readily available, colleges don’t have the capacity to
accommodate the influx of students, both
returning and new. Since jobs have vanished college enrolment has skyrocketed,
as high school students compete with returning students for admission.
“People are wanting to come and get
educated and they can’t,” said Robert Gillet, president of Algonquin College. “We’re
turning away students who want a postsecondary education.”
Gillet added that Algonquin is forced to
wait-list students because the college, one
of the largest in Canada, doesn’t have the
capacity to admit them all.
And if $6 billion isn’t cutting it Mr.
McGuinty and Mr. Harper have to reach
deeper into their pockets for more. A garage sale on Parliament Hill perhaps, or a
lemonade stand at Queen’s Park. Whatever it takes, just show us the money fellas.
It doesn’t make sense to withhold
knowledge from eager minds. The only
way to fuel the economy, and boost it from
the ashes, is to light a fire under government officials, and get the gears in motion
for educating and training as many people
as possible.
“Even though we have an economic
crisis right now, there is going to be a massive skills shortage in Canada and we can
do something about that during this economic crisis, if we have the capacity to take
more students,” said Gillet.
And though funding must be spread to
other areas such as health care and social
services, the only way to create jobs in the
future is to invest in education today.
“I love visiting colleges,” said McGuinty
to a group of staff and students at Seneca
College on June 5 when he announced the
Second Career program. “I love the
energy and the enthusiasm. Colleges are
just what Ontario needs to stay ahead of
the game.” That’s great Mr. McGuinty, now
show us the money.
So while Tom Cruise has seen the money, so much so that he bought a piece of
the moon, all we’re asking for is a little
help for Ontario students. Educated and
skilled people build a stronger economy,
leading to a better quality of life for all Ontarians.
Krista Paxton
Krista Paxton asks...
If there is increased college funding where would you like to see the money go?
Maverick Swift
Brad Thompson
Christine Vrantsidis
Michael Stroyan
Cory Rawn
Law and Security
Durham College
Police Foundations
Durham College
Early Childhood Education
Durham College
Chemical Engineering
Durham College
Pro Golf Management
Durham College
“Better lab equipment, and
more space.”
“Tutors and assistance for all
students in academics.”
“More supplies for teaching
materials.”
“Lowering tuition, and free
textbooks.”
“I go to the gym a lot so I would
use it for better gym equipment,
and sportswear.”
E
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Shawntee Russell, Shenieka Russell-Metcalf, Liisa Sahamies, Krystin
Spittal, Samantha Stewart, Mike Terminesi, Lauren Thomas, Lynn
Wayling, Edith Zikmann
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OPINION
The Chronicle
January 27, 2009
5
The puzzling prohibition of pot
The prohibition of alcohol early in the last
century was a terrible idea. This is widely
accepted today, as evidenced by the abundance of bars, liquor stores and beer ads.
And even though about 6,701 Canadians die every year from consuming alcohol,
according to Health Canada, most people
ignore it and justify their right to partake in
some liquid pleasure.
So why is cannabis, a substance that has
been enjoyed for thousands of years all over
the world without causing a single death,
still prohibited in 2009 when the ban only
profits organized crime?
“This (prohibition) brings crime into it,”
said Senator Larry Campbell, former mayor
of Vancouver and the RCMP Drug Squad.
“The benefits and the ability to make money
are so huge in it.”
Well it’s obviously not because of health
issues.
Cigarettes kill 45,000 Canadians per year,
which is more than AIDS, heroin, cocaine,
alcohol, car crashes, fire and murder combined.
Thousands die from prescription drugs,
caffeine and Tylenol every year as well.
Even lightning kills more Canadians than
weed each year with seven, according to
Environment Canada.
“People say, well you don’t know – we
haven’t been smoking it long enough, look
what happened with cigarettes,” said Dr.
Lester Grinspoon, professor emeritus at
Harvard Medical School.
“We’ve had about four decades of experience, if this was going to show up, it should
have shown up by now!”
The Le Dain Commission, funded by the
Canadian government, released an interim
report in 1972 stating there is no evidence
smoking marijuana causes cancer.
However, cooking weed into a meal or
using a vaporizer to smoke is an option for
people who’d rather not take the chance.
Many other reports, including Marijuana
Use and Lung Cancer: Results of a CaseControl Study by Dr. Donald Tashkin, come
to the same conclusion, explaining that tobacco smoke differs from cannabis smoke.
Of course the Canadian and American
governments have ignored the numerous
reports on weed that have been released,
all of which state marijuana should have no
Cotey
Paterson
criminal penalty attached to it.
Despite the illegality of the plant, cannabis use continues to rise.
Canada leads the industrialized world in
marijuana use, according to the 2007 World
Drug Report by the UN. About 16.8 per cent
of Canadians 15-64 smoked weed in 2006.
But the numbers are probably higher;
how many people answered truthfully when
their government asked if they had done illegal drugs?
So if pot doesn’t cause cancer, brown
lung or emphysema, surely it destroys brain
cells and makes you an idiot, right?
In 1974, Ronald Reagan announced the
Dr. Heath/Tulan Study where the most reliable scientific sources were claimed to have
proven permanent brain damage is one of
the inevitable results of marijuana use.
To complete the study, monkeys were
apparently given 30 joints per day and when
they began to atrophy and die after 90 days,
scientists counted the monkeys’ dead brain
cells.
Not until 1980 was the real method revealed: smoke from the equivalent of 63 Colombian joints was pumped into a gas mask
strapped to each monkey’s face for five minutes at a time over three months.
“They suffocated the monkeys,” said Todd
McCormick, author of How to Grow Medical Marijuana. “They put these gas masks
on their face and pumped pot into it, but
without additional oxygen. Well if you suffocate, the first thing that’s going to happen
is your brain cells are going to die with lack
of oxygen.”
After showing off the dead brain cells, the
researchers went on to associate the damage with marijuana use and the American
government had what they wanted.
“And how many people, not knowing the
origin of the study, have gone on to quote it
and re-quote it? And now people believe it,”
he added.
A more recent study published in the
Journal of Clinical Investigation in 2005 by
Xia Zhang at the University of Saskatchewan actually suggests cannabis use may
stimulate brain cell growth. This report
didn’t quite get the same attention.
It has been shown however that smoking
pot may induce psychosis or schizophrenia
in people that have a predisposition to the
disorders or long-term daily users.
Marijuana can’t be that harmless, though.
Potheads are all addicts hunting down their
next fix, aren’t they?
“It’s undoubtedly true that there are more
teenagers and kids in treatment for marijuana than all the other drugs combined,” said
Kirk Tousaw, lawyer and B.C. Marijuana
Party manager.
“What the DEA never tells you is why
that’s true.”
According to Tousaw and Grinspoon,
marijuana users who are caught are given a
choice: jail or treatment. The choice seems
fairly simple, no?
Furthermore, the Le Dain Commission
report states, “It would appear that there are
normally no adverse physiological effects or
Is porn really that bad?
As I crept through facebook profiles on a lame
Monday night, I came across a posted note, which I
read on one of my friend’s profiles.
“Really, I don’t understand what the problem is
with all the women out there being upset with their
boyfriends for watching porn. I think you all should
loosen up. Does anyone agree with me?”
As I clicked on the write your message here box,
my intentions were simply to respond, “Well, yes, I
agree.”
Instead I wrote this.
For many years, many feminists viewed pornography as evil and derogatory towards
women.
In the 1970s and 1980s, a New York
radical feminist activist group formed
called Women Against Pornography,
or WAP. This group came to be an influential force during the anti-pornography movement at the time.
WAP believed that pornography
depicts women as objects rather than people, and
also believed that porn influenced men to rape and
harass women, commit incest, and battery.
I disagree with that. What I do agree with is an article published in Hot Press magazine called Sexed
Up: The Pros And Cons Of Porn.
“Far from leading to violence, studies show that the
availability of porn leads to a reduction in sex crimes.
And besides, perfectly normal people enjoy it.”
Does that not make more sense? Well to me, at
least, it does.
In my opinion, porn can be used as an outlet for
men. For example, if a guy in a relationship is dating
a girl who is not ready to get too intimate, he can use
porn as an outlet, while still respecting her choice.
And besides, just because a guy watches the occasional porn flick does not mean he is a woman beating sex addict, does it?
Speaking of women beating sex addicts, a report by
onlineopinion.com, an e-journal of social and politi-
cal debate, tells us that porn has rape on the decline:
“The incidence of rape in the United States has declined 85 per cent in the past 25 years while access to
pornography has become freely available to teenagers and adults. The Nixon and Reagan Commissions
tried to show that exposure to pornographic materials produced social violence. The reverse may be true:
that pornography has reduced social violence.”
Apparently society believes that if men watch
porn, it will brainwash them into going out and raping women to mirror these pornographic films.
I do admit that there might be the occasional oddball who probably will do that.
But can’t the same be said about
murderers in relation to crime
Krystie
shows?
Last year in Edmonton a
Spittal
29-year-old man was obsessed
with the crime show Dexter and
committed a murder simulating
the show. According to the Toronto Star’s article on the case, in the crime show, the
victim is lured into a garage and was chopped up into
pieces. That is exactly how the man in Edmonton was
murdered.
So basically my point is, why is society worried
about videos of people getting it on when there are
far worse things for people to replicate? Perhaps jealousy?
The more I think about it, the more certain I am in
my mind that jealousy is really to blame for the negative thoughts on porn.
Girls don’t want their boyfriends to watch it because they are insecure with their bodies, wives don’t
want their husbands looking t another woman’s body.
Come on girls, we all do it. We feel ugly compared
these girls sometimes and so we pick apart the situation to rid the problem. But the problem, if it is even a
problem at all, has not been rid.
Should we really be this concerned about pornography?
withdrawal symptoms occurring with abstinence from the drug, even in regular users.”
Grinspoon says researchers found cannabis
to be less addictive than cigarettes, alcohol
and coffee.
But marijuana is a stepping-stone to
harder drugs – everyone knows that.
“If you have a black market, and you have
a dealer that’s dealing in marijuana and LSD
and everything else, the dealer might say to
you, hey do you want to try anything stronger?” said John Conroy, criminal defense
lawyer.
“Well in that sense, because of the black
market – because of prohibition – people
may be more susceptible to seeing these
other drugs and being willing to try these
other drugs.”
There is nothing in cannabis that makes
you a candidate for crack or heroin.
“So what you see is that there is a gateway effect, but it’s a gateway effect caused
by prohibition and the blending of the hard
and soft drug markets,” explained Tousaw.
Another problem caused by marijuana
prohibition and the unregulated market is
that dealers don’t care who they deal to; any
child with money is a customer.
If weed was legalized and sold like alcohol or cigarettes, kids wouldn’t have easy
access.
With cannabis legally sold and taxed by
the Canadian government, millions or billions of extra dollars would flow into the federal coffers, the economy and our wallets.
The taxpayer money spent fighting the
drug war, most of which is for marijuana,
could also be used for better things.
“If you took the using population of all the
other illegal drugs combined and you eliminated cannabis from that equation, there
wouldn’t be a big enough drug problem in
either this country or the United States to
justify the massive expenditures that go towards fighting the war,” said Tousaw.
Why be a wine snob?
“What good is knowledge
in enjoying the experience of
drinking wine?” asked modern
philosopher Kent Bach, in 2004.
Now, Bach had a 4,000 and
growing bottle cellar, so he may
know more than most of us, but
the man has a valid point. There
are wine aficionados out there,
or wine snobs as they are so politely called, that would have us
believe only a well-trained pro-
Amanda
Allison
fessional can truly enjoy drinking wine and have something
important enough to say about
it.
I, however, beg to differ.
Knowing about wine, or coffee, or chocolate, is great. And
there is plenty to learn. From
the product itself, to the terroir
(that’d be the importance of the
exact place its grown, which
can never be fully replicated,
for those who skipped French
class), to the history of the producers, one could study for
years and never quite catch up.
But we don’t turn on those
who stand behind us in the
Timmy’s line as they mumble
“Mmm..that’s a good cup of
joe” and ask them about Cru
classé’s, noble rot, or if they can
taste wet dog and musty library
books. Why isn’t it the same
with wine?
Some would argue that wine
knowledge helps you get a better understanding about where
the wine came from, if it does the
grape justice, and what it should
taste like, but not knowing those
things has its own perks. Wine
doesn’t have to taste the way
it’s supposed to in order to be
enjoyable. Plus, it’s kind of like
walking into a bookstore with
a blindfold on – you can’t judge
a book by its cover. If you aren’t
tainted by fancy labels or terms
and don’t know one vineyard
from another, you can actual
enjoy the wine for what it is.
Others would say that knowing about wine helps you put
words to a thought in your head.
When you are trained to pick out
certain nuances on the palate, it
can be a lot easier to answer the
question “How does it taste?”
But, as Bach argues, does
being able to describe a sunset
or love make it any more enjoyable? Does being able to describe it make the wine actually
taste better? I doubt it.
So, though being an expert
is great, and you can show off
to your friends and colleagues,
there is actually a benefit to being a novice wine drinker – you
get to enjoy it.
6 The Chronicle
January 27, 2009
CAMPUS NEWS
Cut the crave for seven days
By Amanda Press
Chronicle Staff
National Non-Smoking Week
has been running for 30 years, and
this year the theme is What Have
You Got To Lose?
NNSW ran from Jan.18-24,
and is considered one of the longest running and most important
events in Canada’s ongoing public education efforts. According
to NNSW.ca, a few of National
Non-Smoking Week’s goals are to
educate Canadians about the dangers or smoking, help people quit
smoking and to prevent people
who do not smoke from beginning
to smoke and becoming addicted
to tobacco.
“I think the reason why they
named this week what have you
got to lose is because people are
putting so much money into buying cigarettes, and just by not
smoking for a week you really
don’t have anything to lose. I think
also it could be a contradictory or
sarcastic comment to make people
pay more attention,” said Sayeeda
Jaweriya, Team Leader for Leave
the Pack Behind.
Throughout the week, Leave
the Pack Behind held information booths in the UA atrium and
Vendors Alley, as well in front of
the Wellness Centre, where they
handed out free nicotine replacement therapies, such as Nicorette
samples and the patch, which
were donated to Leave the Pack
Behind by Johnson & Johnson.
“Everyone who requested the
sample were given a referral to the
campus health centre so if they
want more information they can
Photo by Amanda Press
BUTT OUT: Leave the Pack Behind members Kirsten Rae (left) and Sayeeda Jaweriya (right) had booths set up
around campus where they had a smoking-related Jeopardy game. They were also giving out information packages and free nicotine replacement therapies such as Nicorette samples and the patch.
talk to the pharmacists or make an
appointment,” said Lindsay Scott,
campus program co-ordinator for
Leave the Pack Behind.
According to NNSW.ca, smok-
ing is the number one cause of
preventable home fire deaths in
Canada.
As well, Tobacco kills three
times more Canadians each year
than alcohol, AIDS, illegal drugs,
car accidents, suicide and murder
combined.
“It’s good to promote something
like this because smoking has be-
Province pays for interns
By Asmahan Garrib
Chronicle Staff
Students seeking employment with the government can now apply for a two-year paid internship in the sector that best suits their qualifications.
The Ontario Internship Programs, located
across the province, help up to 150 graduates
gain work experience in their field while earning from $42,000 to $50,000 a year.
“The program was launched in 1999 for the
purpose of recruiting a new generation of employees into the Ontario public service,” said
Dan Petoran, outreach and new partnerships
development co-ordinator at the Ministry of
Government and Consumer Services.
Experts in each field designed the curriculum to create a structured learning plan. Interns
will develop a personalized learning plan while
working closely with placement managers who
offer coaching and guidance.
“The Ontario Public Service Internship provides learning and development opportunities,
giving graduates the ability to perform in structured environments and to be challenged,” said
Petoran.
With internship positions in: business and
financial planning, communications, human
resources, information and information technology, labour relations, policy development,
program and service delivery and project
management, the Ontario Public Service helps
graduates gain experience, skill and contacts to
further their careers.
“The internship allows me awesome net-
working opportunities,” said a current OIP intern in the Human Resources focus area. “But
the best advantage is the exposure that I don’t
think I would have gotten in the private sector.”
As an organization capacity consultant in
the Work Development department, the intern
deals with three deputy ministers on a daily basis, works with interns in other focus areas and
attends continuous learning workshops provided by the Ontario public service.
“The interns are so highly regarded here and
there is so much support from co-workers,” said
the intern. “ The most difficult aspect is the transition from being in school every day to being
in a position with pressure to prove yourself.”
The internship is open to any college or
university student who graduated within the
last two years and is legally entitled to work in
Canada. There is no age limit.
“We’re looking for innovative and dynamic
individuals who can demonstrate how their
skills support their focus area,” said Petoran.
Out of 3,000 graduates who applied last
year, 124 were hired. Finding a career with the
public service after the internship is also likely,
with 75 per cent of interns obtaining ongoing
employment in 2007 and 88 per cent in 2008,
according to gov.on.ca.
“I studied six weeks before I submitted my
application,” said the intern. She advises applicants not to write the application responses
once and send it in, but to review them three to
five times and keep in mind that there is always
a better way to word the responses.
“The application is the most important factor,” said Petoran. “It highlights those who are
passionate, leaders and have had previous vol-
unteer experience.”
Students must demonstrate written and oral
communication skills, teamwork and customer
service.
“I’m going to do my best and see what happens,” said Melissa Bies, a second-year journalism student at Durham College, who applied
for the Ontario Internship Program in the Communications focus area this year.
“I’m hoping it leads to a career because public service is one of the few places left that has
job security, good pay, benefits and room for
growth.”
Bies hopes that working for the Ministry of
Revenue last summer will give her an edge in
the extensive hiring process, which takes four
months.
The application is the first step, in which
perspective interns must explain three work
experiences that relate to their selected focus
area, as well as three additional questions that
narrow in on academic studies, skills pertaining to the selected focus area and the key priorities of the Ontario government.
Next, successful candidates will be contacted for a written test, after which the candidates
with the highest scores will be invited to an
interview. The final step is passing a reference
check, before being offered a position.
“You have to be 100 per cent prepared and
100 per cent sure when you are walking in
there that you are walking out with the job,”
said the intern. “It’s a frustrating process, but it’s
so worth it.”
Anyone wanting to apply can go to www.
internship.gov.on.ca to submit an application
by Jan. 30.
come the norm among people in
society, so with having something
like National Non-Smoking Week,
we can try and promote that it is
not the norm,” said Jaweriya.
You
breast
become
aware
By Jayme Quinn
Chronicle Staff
The fifth annual Breast
Cancer Awareness Day campaign kicks off with an information session on Wednesday, Feb. 4th.
People who would like to
be involved with the campus-wide competition are
asked to meet in room A144
at 12:15 p.m. The meeting
will be based on getting the
faculty and staff around the
school, Oshawa, Whitby and
Uxbridge, involved in raising
money for the cause and getting students informed on the
issue.
For more information you
can email Patti Lyn Cheesman at pattilyn.cheesman@
uoit.ca.
The Chronicle
January 27, 2009
7
CAMPUS NEWS
Working out don’t cost a thing
Keep your
new year’s
resolution
and get in
shape
By Shawntee Russell
Chronicle Staff
A few weeks ago many people
pledged to make changes for the
new year, changes that involved
living healthier lifestyles by eating better, or joining a gym to lose
those unwanted pounds.
The month of January can be
one of the busiest times for many
gyms across the country, as new
members want to follow through
with their new year’s resolution.
The downside of joining a gym
is that many individuals give up on
their new year’s resolutions within
a few short weeks, and are stuck
with lengthy gym contracts.
What many fail to realize is
that you don’t need fancy equipment or a gym membership to
stay in shape or to lose those extra
pounds. There are other options
available.
Quado Service, fitness co-ordinator at the campus recreation
and wellness centre, explains that
you can get the same benefits from
working out at home or at the campus gym as you would by working
Photo by Shawntee Russel
WORK OUT AT THE FLEX CENTRE: Leo Kaplan, Salsa Styles teacher at E.P. Taylor’s
poses in front of the Flex Centre - the gym on campus. Full-time students pay for the
gym membership with their tuition fees.
out at a public gym. “If you have
everything you need at your home
you really don’t need to come to
a public gym, but if you don’t, a
public gym would have more than
everything that you would need,”
he said.
Students on campus pay for the
gym membership with their fees,
but a gym membership outside of
the campus can cost between $300
and $500 a year and members are
often put on a contract.
Service explains that wherever
an individual works out, they will
get the benefit of working out.
Counsellors on campus
are ready to help out
By Shawntee Russell
Chronicle Staff
Do you feel like your life is out
of control? Are you dealing with
issues that you feel you can’t solve
on your own? There is help available. The campus wellness centre
offers counselling services to all
students.
There are two counsellors
available at the centre: Mary Alice
Harvey, a Registered Nurse with a
mental health speciality, and Dan
Keeley, a counselor.
All counselling is strictly confidential except under three circumstances within the Mental Health
Act. These circumstances include
if the student is a danger or a threat
and there is a reason to believe the
student will carry out harm or violence to others or to themselves,
if there is reasonable suspicion of
abuse of a child under the age of
16, which is currently occurring
or may occur, and situations that
involve court action. In the event
of court action the individual is
aware and releases are signed.
Harvey explains her approach
during her counselling sessions.
She explains that she uses a method called solution focus, meaning
the client is the expert in their life,
and they know what resources
they have available to them.
“Counselling is client directed
and the client is involved in the
direction and the route they want
the counselling to go,” she said.
“It’s their choice, when it comes to
things they choose to deal with.”
Harvey explains that her role is
to connect people to community
resources and to help individuals
get assistance, while Keeley deals
more specifically with the fundamentals of counselling. The two
complement each other in their
areas of expertise.
The most common issues that
Harvey deals with are depression,
anxiety, stress and a wide variety
of relationship issues.
The main goal of the service
is to manage the barriers that are
getting in the way of academic
success. This is a service that
is becoming well known and is
frequently used by students, although some students are hesitant
to get help.
“When you start to feel that
situations are out of control, and
beyond you, or you’re feeling
overwhelmed with situations you
can’t solve or fix. That’s when you
should come for help,” says Harvey. “ Its better off to be preventative and if you foresee that things
aren’t going to go well you can take
some steps of prevention prior to
things actually going wrong.”
“It’s about staying on top of issues, making decisions, providing yourself with education and
knowledge which helps you make
an informed decision,” she said.
“It’s important to make the decision.”
Sessions last about 50 minutes
and individuals can decide how
many sessions they will need depending on their specific goals.
Harvey and Keeley aren’t available during the summer, so students will have to seek out one
of the other counselling services
available to them.
Students are also covered by
external counselling plans outside
the campus. These councilors will
go to the students who can’t make
it to them.
“It all depends on that person’s
motivation and how focused they
are on their physical fitness.”
If an individual lacks motivation, a gym setting would probably
be best to keep them motivated.
Getting a workout partner would
also be beneficial.
If all else fails there are personal trainers available to students
to keep them on task and to help
them accomplish their goals.
Students can get a personal
trainer by going through a binder
with a list of the names of qualified personal trainers, both male
and female, that are available to
students.
They can then pick which trainer’s qualifications meet their needs
and register at the front desk in the
main athletic centre. Once the sessions are purchased the trainer
will have 48 hours to set up a mutual time to meet with the student
to begin the workout sessions.
One session can be purchased for
$30, three sessions for $80 and six
for $160.
The campus fitness centre also
offers classes such as pilates, spinning, spinning core, and yoga.
Fitness equipment can be purchased from various suppliers
as they all carry the same types
of equipment. It all depends on
where the individual feels comfortable purchasing the equipment.
Service said it is important to
purchase equipment from a supplier that has a good customer service base so that if something does
go wrong with the equipment the
supplier will be willing to come in
and fix it right away.
The most common areas to
lose weight among both males
and females is the mid-section, the
stomach area.
“That’s one area that is really
difficult to tone up,” said Service.“ It
takes a lot of hard work, dedication
and focus”.
To target these areas Service
recommends jogging, cardio, enrolling in yoga or pilates fitness
class and doing different ab exercises for both the abs and the
back.
Beginners should start off
slowly by working out two to three
times a week and should slowly
build their way up.
Leave the pack
at the gym
By Amanda Press
Chronicle Staff
Leave the Pack Behind will
be hosting an open gym night
on Tuesday, Jan. 27 from 7-9
p.m. to help promote Healthy
Lifestyles, which is their theme
for the month of January.
“Our whole team is going to
be there being active in the gym,
and everyone is welcome to
come and participate, smokers
or non-smokers, it’s for anyone
who wants to get active in the
new year,” said Lindsay Scott,
campus program co-ordinator
for Leave the Pack Behind.
The open gym night will be
taking place in the large gym in
the athletic centre. Come with
your friends or by yourself and
get active!
New registrar
By Andrew Huska
Chronicle Staff
The University of Ontario
Institute of Technology announced on Jan. 10 it has named
Victoria Choy as the university’s
new registrar.
Choy is currently Centennial College’s associate registrar,
Admissions, Recruitment and
Communications. She will start
at UOIT next month.
According to the release,
Choy has more than 20 years
of experience working in postsecondary schools.
8 The Chronicle
January 27, 2009
CAMPUS NEWS
Start fresh:
ditch the cigs
By Amanda Press
Chronicle Staff
Each month Leave the Pack Behind has a theme related to smoking, and this month, the theme is
Healthy Lifestyles, which seems
very appropriate, seeing as it is a
new year, which means new year’s
resolutions.
The new year gives a chance
for everyone to have a fresh start.
Leave the Pack Behind felt it was
appropriate to christen this month
healthy lifestyles, as many people
choose their new year’s resolutions to quit or cut back on smoking.
Leave the Pack Behind has
put up numerous posters around
campus to promote this theme,
and during their walkabouts they
have been handing out tips on
how to remain healthy.
“A lot of people in January focus
on new year’s resolutions, whether
it’s to be healthier or to quit smoking, which also ties in to being
healthier,” said campus program
co-ordinator Lindsay Scott. “A lot
of people find it hard to implement
their resolutions, so we’re trying to
give out tips to be a positive reinforcement.”
As well, to promote the theme
for January, Leave the Pack Behind
will be hosting an open gym night
Photo by Khadija King
EATING HEALTHY: Marlie Boville, left, and Ashley McGregor are diabetes educators
from the Oshawa Community Health Centre who are responsible for the support seminars, which will continue to be offered to help people with the illness.
An apple a day to
keep diabetes away
By Khadija King
Chronicle Staff
The Oshawa Health Centre
held one of five diabetes support
classes for the year on Jan. 12 at
the Oshawa Public Library.
The Living Well With Diabetes
classes are helping those with diabetes learn to live healthier with
their illness. This week’s theme, the
first class, was teaching attendants
how to self-manage.
During the class, Marlie Boville,
a nurse and diabetes educator,
and Ashley McGregor, a dietician
and diabetes educator, taught the
attendees what pre-diabetes is
and its difference from the actual
illness. They also discussed gestational diabetes, a temporary form
of diabetes only found in pregnant
women.
Diabetes is a very serious illness that many Canadians deal
with. African Canadians and Aboriginal people or those who are
overweight are the most at risk for
developing diabetes. The illness is
categorized under two types: Type
1 and Type 2. Type 1 is more commonly found in children, which
means they have no insulin and
rely on an insulin pump. Type 2 is
usually found in people who are
overweight. Those who suffer from
Type 2 diabetes usually develop it
from an unhealthy lifestyle.
“Diabetes is the second leading
cause of amputations after accidents,” said Boville.
If those affected by diabetes
do not take proper care of themselves, it may lead to amputation
of their feet, tooth loss, or loss of
nerve endings.
During the class, those who attended shared their own stories
regarding diabetes. McGregor
shared an interesting story about
how diabetes was discovered.
“In the Roman times, there
were no washrooms, so people
had to pee outside. They noticed
ants would go to one person’s pee,
and they discovered that there
was sugar in it and called it sugar
diabetes,” said McGregor.
Boville and McGregor demonstrated how the body works by
using an apron that had plushy organs attached to it. They also had
fake food to show the class what
they should be eating and how
much. However, McGregor said
there is no real diabetes diet, just
eat healthy.
For those who have diabetes,
self-management is one of the
most important things to do to
keep yourself healthy.
“A lot of it is self-management
and that’s what we’re trying to promote,” said McGregor.
For students who have diabetes, get regularly checked and keep
a healthy diet.
on Jan. 27 from 7-9 p.m., which is
free. The purpose of this event is to
get people active in the gym and
active in the new year.
“Everyone is welcome to attend, smokers or non-smokers, especially if someone doesn’t have
anyone to go with, our team will be
there participating. As well people
can come with their friends,” said
Scott.
Since being formed, Leave
the Pack Behind has had a different theme for each month of the
school year, which focuses on different aspects around tobacco,
which allows the group to be creative and get people thinking.
The group focuses on certain
things throughout the whole year
such as smoking cessation and
information, but target themes so
people have something new and
are not bored of the information
they are putting out there.
Each campus that has a Leave
the Pack Behind organization has
a theme every month as well, but
it varies by school. All groups have
a list of themes to choose from
for each month, but most schools
tend to all focus on healthy lifestyles or smoking cessation during
the month of January.
For more information on the
theme for this month, or Leave the
Pack Behind, visit www.leavethepackbehind.org.
Organic food a
healthier option
By Jaspinder k Jassal
Chronicle Staff
Consumers willing to pay
a little more for their groceries
may be choosing the healthier
option.
At your local supermarket
organic products are on the rise.
Organic foods are grown without the use of conventional pesticides and artificial fertilizers; it
is healthier because your body
absorbs less.
Organic farmers also respect
the environment and are deeply
rooted to sustainable farming,
which means less pollution.
Foods need to go through
an organic certification in order
for supermarkets to sell them as
organic products. The process
includes study, compliance,
documentation, inspection and
record keeping.
Even though organic foods
still take up small shelving
space in supermarkets, there
is a steady double-digit growth
that has happened over the last
few years.
Hari Seshadri, an employee
of SunOpta - one of the largest
organic and natural food distributors of Canada – speaks about
the benefits of going organic.
“Where possible I prefer to
choose organic. Even if it means
paying more for the satisfaction
and peace of mind knowing that
what I am putting into my body
is all natural,” said Seshadri.
Organic products come in all
forms, not just fruit and vegetables. “Organic food range from
things such as seeds or nuts, or
all the way to bread and cookies,” said Seshadri.
Most supermarkets price
organic foods higher than the
conventional food, since there
is a high cost involved in strictly
monitoring every step of the organic production.
According to Wikipedia, as
of April 2008, organic food accounts for one-to-two per cent
of food sales worldwide. Future
growth is expected to range between 10 and 50 per cent.
According to the Canadian
Organic Industry Report (www.
agr.gc.ca), approximately 1.5 per
cent of the farms in Canada are
certified. Fresh vegetables also
account for 25 per cent of all supermarket organic food sales.
Organic is not just good for
the average person’s diet but it
can benefit those who are unwell.
The Journal of Alternative
and Complementary Medicine
describes organic foods as being
used for various types of cancer
therapies, due to the absence of
pesticides.
The Chronicle
CAMPUS NEWS
Bands
battle
Janurary 27, 2009
9
By Patrick O’Connor
Chronicle Staff
Oshawa is looking for the
most talented musicians the
city has to offer for the 2008
Battle of the Bands.
The Oshawa Public Library is looking to find talent
in anyone from kindergarten
and up. This is no friendship
ring and every band is competing against each other.
Competitors are divided
into two categories based on
their age. The first group is
grades 9 through 12 and the
other group is for adults. The
majority of the band members will determine age categories.
A third group was scheduled for those in kindergarten
to Grade 8 but was cancelled
at the last minute.
“We didn’t get any submissions for the younger group
so we are sticking with the
teen and adult groups,” said
Jennifer Goodman, Librarian
for the Oshawa Library.
To enter the competition, you must read over the
rules and procedures from
the Oshawa Public Library’s
website. An application is
available online that can be
printed off and submitted to
the library.
Each band must consist
of a minimum of three members and the majority of the
members must be residents
of Durham Region.
Applicants can enter and
play with only one band and
must submit an audio or
video recording of an original song, no longer than 10
minutes in length, as well as
a lyric sheet.
The top three to five bands
will be selected by library staff
to perform a set on Feb. 21.
If chosen to perform in the
battle, applicants must provide lyrics to all songs in their
set.
The battle will be held at
McLaughlin Branch of the
Oshawa Public Library’s.
Band members must arrive
one hour prior to their set.
Disqualification can happen in a variety of ways. Failure to be present one hour
before stage time, obscene
or offensive lyrics, and being
under the influence of alcohol or drugs will result in an
automatic disqualification.
Band members are responsible for transporting
and assembling equipment.
A panel of qualified judges
will decide the winners and
all decisions are final.
Winners of each category
will be competing for a grand
prize. Adults have the chance
to compete for 10 hours of
free studio time at the Wellcraft Music Group in Oshawa,
while teens will be competing
for five hours of studio time.
There is no guarantee that
this will become an annual
event, but Goodman said she
hopes for it.
Photo by Rachael Coombs
PRO STYLE ON THE CHEAP: The Dollar-rama on the corner of Wilson Road and King Street has a large selection
of cheap design options. Students can find a plethora of material to make their dorms feel like home.
Design on a dime
By Rachael Coombs
Chronicle Staff
Off-white cinderblock walls
engulf the room, your bags drop
to the floor because you realize
that this will be your sanctuary for
the rest of the year, but it’s less of
a sanctuary and more of a prison
cell.
There is only one thing to do to
incorporate home in to your dorm
room and that is to design on a
dime.
And interior designer/home
stager Sue Pitchforth said that
it’s easier to do than most people
think.
“My greatest philosophy to
decorating is to make it appear
that you have paid more for your
design than you really have,” she
said. “There are different ways to
create this illusion.”
Pitchforth said that one way to
do this is to go to a thrift store like
Goodwill or Value Village. There
you can find items on the cheap
price and revamp them. With a bit
of spray paint they can appear to
be like brand new. Also there are
always promotions at Goodwill
and Value Village, like the 50 per
cent sale at Goodwill stores every
so often.
“At Goodwill I once saw this
lady bring in a DeBeors table that
was worth at least $1,800 and another lady bought it for about $20,”
said Pitchforth.
A thrift store is also a good way
to inject your own personality into
the room as well.
“The best part about decorating
is that you get to show your personality through the design,” said
Pitchforth.
Stores like Walmart and Bouclair often have nice items, though
these stores, prices are more than
a thrift store; there are sales on all
the time.
Another idea Pitchforth suggested is to take at look at the items
you already have and try reusing
them by giving them a spray with
the appropriate paint.
‘
Make it appear
that you have paid
more for your design than you really have.
’
Sue Pitchforth
Rearranging the layout of the
room is another suggestion, because sometimes it’s just about
creating the illusion of a new
room.
The Dollar Store is a great place
to get items like picture frames,
candleholders and other decorating items because they are literally
$1, said Pitchforth.
She said with a picture frame,
you can frame a decorative postcard, fabric or picture or anything
else your heart desires.
“Any accessory is a good buy
because they are cheaper than the
major items but they make a dramatic change,” said Pitchforth.
Casino Rama awards excellence
By Rachael Coombs
Chronicle Staff
The deadline for the Casino
Rama Award for Excellence is on
Jan. 30, and the winner will be
awarded up to $2,500.
Any aboriginal student, First
Nation status or non-status, Inuit
or Metis, can enter if they are a
permanent resident of Ontario
and have completed one year of
full-time study in university or college.
The students also must be currently enrolled in a full-time university or college program.
For more information contact
Casino Rama at 1-800-832-PLAY.
Also a can of paint can make a
world of a difference, said Pitchforth, and most stores have a section of reduced paint that simply
was tinted the wrong colour, but is
still good for sale from $5 to $10.
In dorm rooms however, painting is not encouraged or allowed,
so by hanging a piece of fabric, you
can create the illusion of a jazzed
up wall, she said.
Pitchforth said that choosing
items that reflect yourself is the
only way to design properly, because trends will come and go, but
to truly be happy with your living
space, go with your intuition.
And since this year’s decorating theme is Eco-green, meaning
sustainable and producing little to
no Eco-footprints, by revamping,
reusing and recycling, Pitchforth
said that anyone could accomplish this new way of living and
feel good about it, ethically and
financially.
“This generation is more aware
of the environment and how to
take care of it,” she said.
Mensa
deadline
coming
By Rachael Coombs
Chronicle Staff
The deadline for the Mensa Canada Scholarship Program is coming up on Jan. 31
and there is an opportunity to
be awarded up to $1000.
Students must be 18 or
older, a Canadian citizen or a
landed immigrant enrolled in
a full-time program at a Canadian post-secondary school.
Essays must be written in
either English or French and
must not exceed 250 words
or identify the writer as it will
be disqualified.
The content of the essay
must describe the entrant’s
goals and contain detailed
ideas and information.
For more information visit
the Mensa website at www.
mensacanada.org.
10 The Chronicle
January 27, 2009
CAMPUS NEWS
An ancient brotherhood’s story
The
outside
looking in
By Rachael Coombs
Chronicle Staff
A fraternity called the Freemasons has faced a lot of scrutiny
over the years. With books like the
DaVinci Code, the conspiracy
theories of the Illuminati and New
World Order, the Masons need
damage control and Brother Terence Shand, Grand Secretary of
the Masons of Ontario, tells their
side of the story.
Sitting at his desk in a wood
paneled room with dark navy blue
carpet, Shand gestured for his
guests to have a seat.
“Hello my name is Brother
Shand,” he said in a deep baritone
voice.
He started by talking about the
history of the Masons.
He said that before beginning in
1717 in Britain, the Masons were a
guild of brothers who were quite
literally stonemasons or operative
Masons. They would help build
castles and stone houses and they
would travel from one location to
the next.
After 1717, the guild started to
grow by taking in good men from
the community, who may not
have been stonemasons or as they
called them, speculative Masons.
This is where the secret handshakes originated from, so that
a Mason could identify another
brother.
According to Shand, who has
been a Mason since 1970, there
are approximately 100,000 Masons in Canada, with 52,000 in Ontario alone, scattered amongst 571
lodges. Each province has a head
office, also known as the Grand
Lodge and a constitution based
on society’s view that they follow,
which may differ from province to
province.
There are female and co-ed
lodges women can join, but they
follow their own constitutions.
Women cannot join a regular Masonic lodge.
Each Masonic member pays
an annual $12 fee, which goes to
fund the organization. If a member
would like to donate more, they
can. There is also a charitable division that supports various endeavours like Parents Against Drugs
(PAD) and Voice Program (a program for children who are hearing
impaired).
Shand summed up Masonry as
a philosophy for living a lifetime of
good moral conduct by demonstrating kindness at home, honesty at work, and being a considerate
individual.
He also said that they use the
symbol of a square to suggest
square conduct. Their other symbols, include the ever-seeing eye to
signify watchfulness and the arm
to signify fidelity. The ever-seeing
eye is also on American currency,
which Shand thought might be
Photo by Robyn DePratto
SQUARE AND COMPASS: The most recognizable symbol in the Masonic world, this symbol teaches the lessons of
conduct that are encouraged through the Mason tradition.
because George Washington was
a Mason.
But he did warn about becoming too involved in the organization.
“The Masons has influence in
life in a good way, but you can let it
get into your life too much, he said.
“Some men become too wrapped
up in Masonry and it takes away
from family life.”
To become a Mason a man
must ask a current member, then
the lodge votes to see if he is eligible. He has to be a good man, according to rules of the constitution
and he must be 21 years of age or
older.
The member requires two
sponsors and they start out on
an apprentice degree level. From
there they work their way to a fellow craft member and then into a
master Mason third degree, they
are tested about their knowledge
of Masonry to get from one degree
to the next.
Aside from the three degrees,
there are also 32 levels of Masonry
and some people make it to the
top level, 33. Shand has received
that honour.
Even though a member can
advance to the next level, it is not
required.
“There’s no point in having all
chiefs and a little amount of members below them,” said Shand. ”If
a person follows the rules, then
‘
The Masons has
influence in life in a
good way, but you
can let it get into
your life too much.
’
Bro. Terance Shand
they will advance naturally. There
are many long serving members,
but they might teach separate new
work to a new member coming
in.”
And while Masonry was set up
as a fraternity to bond and make
friends, Shand did say that there
are some people who join without
pure intentions.
“As in any organization, some
people gain entrance into masonry for the wrong reasons. They
are not interested in the fellowship
or the fraternity particularly. They
may be interested in furthering
their business. It should not be
used as a networking system,” he
said.
If members are accused of
abusing the constitution, a Masonic trial will commence and the
member may be expelled forever.
Masons believe by following
their constitution, a member will
become a better person.
The conversation shifted to religion.
“When joining, we ask the member if they believe in a supreme
being,” said Shand. “And the object
that you take your obligation on
has to tweak the conscience of the
individual.”
“We don’t call our book the bible, we call it the volume of the sacred law. And in most cases, it can
be the King James Version of the
bible. But if a member falls under
a different faith, a book of his faith
will be placed there for him.”
Atheism? Satanism?
A film crew of longhaired men,
many holding Starbucks, interrupted the interview and Shand
got up to introduce his visitors.
One member of the film crew
said that the interest in the Masonic lodge was because it resembled
a magnificent psychiatrists office,
which was the premise of the film
and which they said was starring
Woody Harrelson and Sandra Oh.
Shand took the crew for a tour,
returning 20 minutes later to finish
the interview. The conversation
shifted from religion to the controversial ideas of Masonry.
He said one of the biggest misconceptions of the Masons is that
it is a cult. ”We are not. We are a
fraternity that has a philosophy of
good living.”
The reason they meet behind
tiled doors is not because they
want to meet in secrecy, it’s because they want to meet in priva-
cy, he said.
My attraction to Masonry is
what other fraternity could I join
where I could go to a lodge meeting in a tiled lodge, be completely
comfortable and be at ease with
my peers in that lodge room and
be with people of all different
walks of life in different social and
financial statuses and be on an
equal plane.”
When it comes to the controversy about Masonry, Shand said,
“I don’t read a lot of the criticisms
quite frankly. The books that are
being published, that have opened
up Masonry in the last few years,
one has to remember is that it is
one person’s viewpoint on a subject.
People in reading the DaVinci
code, well that is Dan Brown’s
opinion on what Masonry is, it’s
not what 50,000 Masons think it
is. People need to look at the misconception of us being a secret
society.
They can go to the malls or the
lodges and see that there is nothing secretive about us. The secrecy
issue is a misconception.”
And what about rumours of the
Illuminati?
“Take everything with a grain of
salt,” he said.
To read up more on masonry,
Masonry for Dummies and Masonry for Idiots can be found on
Amazon.com.
The Chronicle
January 27, 2009
CAMPUS NEWS
11
Support Centre lends a helping hand
By Shenieka
Russell-Metcalf
Chronicle Staff
The Learner Support Centre
not only helps students who are
struggling in their classes, it helps
those who want to just get better
marks.
“A lot of students come to college/university thinking they’re
well prepared but they aren’t,” says
Willona Blanche, director at the
Learner Support Centre.
With the gap between high
school and post-secondary, students often struggle with the differences academically, the volume
of work, the pace of work and the
overall expectations of more independent work, says Blanche.
The centre offers a variety of
workshops: tutoring, ESL services,
as well as many other resources.
The workshops include learning
styles, organization, time management, memory skills and reading
comprehension.
“ We provide supports in all areas,” says Blanche.
There is also academic supports
that help with research, avoiding
plagiarism, APA citations, MLA citations and proofreading.
College peer tutoring and university peer writing tutors are also
available for all students of Durham College and UOIT. The tutoring costs students $ 5 per semester,
for up to three courses.
Subject specific support is also
available for biology, technical
math and statistics, says Blanche.
Over 2,000 students visit the
Learner Support Centre every
month. Why not you?
Come check out SW201, right
above the computer commons to
take full advantage of the staff’s
expertise and other resources, that
can better prepare you for classes
and career choices.
In the next school year, there’ll
be more supports for students and
more things will be available 24/7.
There’s a monthly calendar online at www.dc-uoit/learnersupportcentre with a listing of the
workshops that are coming up this
semester.
Photo by Shenieka Russell-Metcalf
HARD AT WORK: Kathryn Bryers and Alicia Boardman in the Learner Support Centre
in the South Wing right above the learning commons.
Former DC student designs
car wrap for upcoming movie
By Josh Dillon
Chronicle Staff
Design by Chrys Bodurka
PREPARED TO BE SCARED: An official mock-up of the
vehicle wrap designed by Chrys Bodurka, for the new
Friday the 13th movie set to hit theater’s next month.
The vehicle is a 2009 Hybrid Toyota Tacoma.
Durham College graphic design alumnus and lifetime horror
film fan Chrys Bodurka was lucky
enough to bridge his career with
his hobby early last month.
Bodurka was tasked with designing the official vehicle wrap
for the new Friday the 13th movie.
“I was more so excited to start
it. Being a huge fan of the original
series, it was a big treat to work on
it,” said Bodurka when asked if he
was intimidated by this project.
Working on other high profile
work has helped Bodurka keep
his fan boy tendencies in check.
The avid comic book fan also
did some work for the Star Wars
franchise and another upcoming
major film release through his
‘
Being a huge
fan of the original
series, it was a
big treat to work
on it.
’
Chrys Bodurka
employer Unique Mobile Media.
“We do work with Warner Bros. so
we did get to work on other titles
like Star Wars Clone Wars, The
Dark Knight and many more.
As far as the next job goes, we
will be working on the Watchmen,” said Bodurka.
Bodurka graduated Durham
College’s Graphic Design program in 2008.
He has worked for Unique
since last summer.
When not working on designs
for major movie productions,
Bodurka spends his time skydiving,.
He is also working on an upcoming internet show titled Plan
B and adding to his ever-expanding action figure collection.
Friday the 13th will hit theatres
next month.
Looking for a job?
By Shenieka
Russell-Metcalf
Chronicle Staff
Want to get hired? Come to the
Hired Career Services Job Fair on
Feb. 11. The fair will be held in the
new gymnasium from 11 a.m. to 3
p.m.
“We have tons of employers
coming,” says Monica Aggarwal,
employer outreach co-ordinator.
“You get to meet face to face with
hiring managers and employers.
This is an opportunity to show
them what you have to offer.”
No registration is necessary but
Durham College and University
of Ontario Institute of Technology students should bring their
student cards. Whitby campus
students are welcome to attend as
well.
Alumni can attend but they
should bring their alumni cards
for free admission. Members of
the community can also attend
but there will be a $10 community
fee.
Employers who will be attending include the City of Oshawa
Recreation and Culture, Hydro
One, Durham Regional Police Service and ClubLink Corporation.
Job fair participants will be hiring for full-time, part-time, summer, seasonal, internship and coop positions, says Aggarwal.
(The job fair) is a great opportunity to find full-time employment
and make inroads,” says Aggarwal.
“Ask relevant questions and take
the opportunity to network with
these employers.”
Students who need help with
their cover letter and resume can
come in and meet with an adviser
in the Hired Career Services office
B205 in the Gordon Willey Building. They can also go to the web
site www.hired.mycampus.ca for
quick tips on what to expect and
questions they can ask.
As for advice for the job fair:
make the most of the fair. Be well
prepared and put your best foot
forward, says Aggarwal.
12 The Chronicle
January 27, 2009
CAMPUS NEWS
Vagina Monologues coming in March
By Amanda Press
Chronicle Staff
This March, the Women’s Centre will be performing the Vagina
Monologues in response to the
ongoing violence against women
all over the world.
Playwright and founder Eve
Ensler’s award-winning play, raises funds and awareness to help
women affected by violence, rape
and sexual slavery.
Now in its 11th year, the Vagina Monologues has been put on
all over the world by schools and
communities, and according to
vday.org, in 2008, over 4,000 V-Day
benefit events took place in the
U.S. and around the world, educating millions of people about the
ongoing violence towards women.
According to vday.org, the ‘V’ in
V-Day stands for victory, valentine
and vagina and is a global initiative
to stop violence against women as
well as promote creative events to
increase awareness.
“From a young age, women
have been taught not to be proud
of their vagina, but one of the parts
that completes us a women is the
vagina, so I think this is one way of
having people take a look and listen. It is something that makes you
a complete person,” said Women’s
Centre program co-ordinator Alison Hector-Alexander.
The Vagina Monologues is produced and put on by students and
volunteers at their own school and
consists of various monologues
done by students.
Once the school is given approval, they are able to pick and
perform different monologues
such as The Vagina Monologues, A
Rant and A Prayer, as well as a new
one this year called, What I Want
My Words To Do To You.
Schools all around the GTA,
including U of T, York and George
Brown, have all put on this play as
well.
“Once the script is picked, we
gather a group of women and they
read that script and that is what
makes up the play,” said HectorAlexander.
Last year, the cast at Durham/
UOIT consisted of 11 actresses
who were all students as well as
one community member, and six
additional people who helped out
with production. Volunteers also
sold vagina-shaped cookies and
chocolates at the performances.
About 220 people were in attendance for both nights the play was
held. Starting at the beginning of
February, the Women’s Centre
will be hosting auditions for anyone who is interested in reading
various monologues in the play.
Auditions will take place at the
Women’s Centre.
“We are not looking for seasoned actresses, because you will
get to read the script and have it
with you when you are doing the
monologue,” said Hector-Alexander. “It is all just about putting in
the emotion and getting comfortable reading the monologue. All it
is, is you and a spotlight.”
Each year, funds go to a specific cause. This year a percentage
of the funds will be going towards
women in the Congo, where they
are continuously being severely
violated sexually. Proceeds will go
to help to build hospitals and tran-
sitional houses for these women to
have surgeries to correct what was
done to them. An information session will take place in March about
what is happening in the Congo.
Anyone is welcome to attend.
“There will be a voice and people speaking up against violence
against women, and that voice will
not stop until that violence stops,
and I think generally that is what
the message is,” said Hector-Alexander.
For more information about
the Vagina Monologues, auditions
or the Women’s Centre, visit, www.
vday.org, or the Women’s Centre,
now located in rooms G2029 and
G2030. Tickets are $5 for students
and $7 for people in the community. There will be notices and posters around campus about when
tickets will be going on sale.
Alistair Lowe asks...
How are you coping with the snow and the cold?
Chris Stacheruk
2nd-year Mechtronics
Durham College
“I go to bed and wrap
myself in blankets.”
Chris Jordan
1st-year General Arts
and Science
Durham College
Nancy Bettencourt
1st-year General Arts
and Science
Durham College
Dave Reid
2nd-year Police
Foundations
Durham College
“I run to wherever I
have to go.”
“I put on extra layers
and imagine I’m
somewhere warm.”
“I bundle up with
gloves and a hat
and I take the bus to
school”
Mark Hutchinson
2nd-year Mechtronics
Durham College
“Other than wearing
a coat, I drink hot
chocolate”
A night of comedy alleviates some tears
By Melissa Bies
Chronicle Staff
A total of 96 cats, three dogs
and 40 hamsters and guinea pigs
lost their lives on Dec. 17, and another 10 dogs, two cats and one rat
lost their home due to a fire at the
Durham Region Humane Society.
This tragedy inspired Canadian
comedian Chris Quigley, his wife,
and their three dogs to organize a
benefit comedy show.
And so on Jan. 14, on what MC
Al Joynes from Q107 called “the
coldest night in four years”, 21 Canadian comics joined forces to use
laughter to raise funds to help rebuild the Humane Society.
The event was held at Yuk
Yuk’s comedy club in Ajax, which
opened its doors on a Wednesday (the club is usually only open
Thursday-Sunday) and volunteered to donate all proceeds from
the $20 tickets to the shelter.
Yuk Yuk’s and Q107 helped raise funds for rebuilding the Oshawa Humane Society. A fire on Dec. 17 destroyed the building and killed close to 150 animals.
In keeping with the furry friend
theme, many of the comedians
who performed chose to tell jokes
about their pets. Quigley opened
the show by having two of his
dogs, Monet the Chihuahua and
Chelsea the Schnauzer do tricks
for the crowd.
Laurie Elliot, another comedian
chose to stray from her normal set
of jokes and instead said, “tonight
I’m just going to tell stories about
my dogs, because they’re not just
made up jokes, they’re true, which
makes them funnier.”
The sold-out crowd of pet lovers
reacted well to the show, not letting the club rest a moment with-
out laughter through the course of
the night.
Clarie Nicklin, treasurer of the
Humane Society of Durham Region, was thankful for the event’s
success.
“We have to thank Yuk Yuk’s
and everyone for all the support,”
she said. “We can’t say how much
the Humane Society appreciates
it.”
The first show was such a success that Yuk Yuk’s has since hosted a second sold-out show, and
a third show is scheduled for this
Wednesday, Jan. 28.
For ticket information, as well
as listings of other benefit events
for the shelter, go to www.humanedurham.com.
The Humane Society has said
that the damage from the fire has
been estimated at $250, 000. They
are still searching for a new home
for the shelter, but have been overwhelmed with the community’s
support and donations.
The Chronicle
January 27, 2009
CAMPUS NEWS
13
The proper way to party politely
Be the kind of
partier people
want around
By Michael Terminesi
Chronicle Staff
This is college, and we like to party. And
why shouldn’t we like to party? We’ve waited our entire lives to reach the point where
we’re legal to drink and with the added
stress of school and work, partying afterwards seems like the only logical course of
action. Although we’ve earned our right to
party, that doesn’t mean we have the right to
act like a pack of wild, ravenous, foaming at
the mouth beasts who lose all form of con-
trol the second alcohol, music, the opposite
sex and masses of people you don’t know
pile into a house. It’s called house party etiquette, and it’s something many partygoers
need to learn and put to good use before going to any more shindigs.
The first step in following proper party
etiquette is not showing up to a party you
weren’t invited to. An exception to this is
allowed only if you are with someone who
was invited and is close enough to the person throwing the party that they won’t mind
you tagging along. Once in, behave respectfully. You’re actions will reflect on the friend
who vouched for you in the first place. So
don’t make a drunken fool of yourself.
If you know you’re going to a party, make
sure to be prepared. Stock up on everything
you need, whatever that may be. No one
likes mooches who roam around the party
asking anyone and everyone if they could
grab a beer, cigarette or whatever else off
them. It will only bring negative attention
to yourself and make you look slightly pa-
thetic. If you plan on partying all night long,
then you best bring the goods for an all night
long party, because you definitely aren’t getting a beer from me.
The worst thing a person can do is go to
a party with the intention of causing trouble.
Parties are about having a good time with
a few drinks and good people, but when
someone goes to a party to look for a fight, it
can have some serious repercussions. Take
what happened in September on Dalhousie. A group of guys show up to a party they
weren’t invited to looking for trouble. Next
thing you know, someone ended up getting
stabbed. No good comes from fighting or
stabbing, so just don’t do it. You’ll end up in
jail or beaten to death from the entire party
coming down on you. Leave your anger at
the door. Hopefully by the end of the party,
it will have gone home without you.
Sometimes you’ll find yourself at a party
that is filled with wondrously rich material possessions that you believe you can
no longer live without. Slowly the ideas of
taking these items home with you pop into
your brain and you ponder whether or not
you’ll get caught. But how could you? There
are so many people at the party that they’ll
have no idea who the stuff. Whether you’ll
get caught or not, taking stuff that isn’t yours
is wrong, especially from a party. It’s a complete betrayal of trust. They let you in their
house to party and have fun, why would you
steal from them? Do the right thing, put
down that George Forman Grill and have
another drink.
By following these simple guidelines,
and generally being a good person, you’ll be
considered a party favourite and people will
enjoy having you around at their parties.
They’ll trust you and you’ll end up being
invited to many more. Lets face it, life will
always be stressful, but having many parties to go to will allow you to lighten up and
drown your sorrows with the bottle. We’ve
earned it, but we still need to be responsible
with it. Remember, it’s a poor bird who shits
in his own nest.
Enjoy cuisine and chronic
By Michael Terminesi
Chronicle Staff
Looking for a restaurant to relax in a stress free environment,
eat some market fresh food and
smoke a joint while surrounded
by like-minded people? Don’t
want the hassle of traveling all the
way to Amsterdam for that kind of
service? Most people think they
have to scale the world to find a
weed-friendly restaurant, but all
they have to do is head to Kensington Market in Toronto and give the
Hot Box Café a visit.
Abi Roach is the owner of two
places sharing one building in
Toronto; Roach-O-Rama and the
Hot Box Café. Roach-O-Rama is a
bong shop that’s been open since
2000. The Hot Box Café opened
in 2003 and is a restaurant where
you can smoke weed.
“We are a legal restaurant with
a menu that includes sandwiches,
soups, salads and good munchies that are all market fresh,” said
Roach. “As for the police, I guess
I’m just a really nice person. We’ve
never really had problems with
them.”
One of the items off the menu
is Ganja Lover’s Grilled Cheese,
which is served with three kinds
of cheese, layers of bread and tomato.
There are rules to follow in order to hang out at the Hot Box
Café. There’s no drinking or already being drunk (or on hard
drugs), no dealing, asking, fishing
or mooching, all patrons must be
18 years old or accompanied by
a legal guardian, you must order
something off the menu, seating
maximum is one hour and all dogs
must be on a short leash .
“Usually everyone that comes
in I like, but if anyone is caught
dealing they are asked to leave,”
said Roach. “We are a BYOP (bring
your own pot) so you can’t walk
from table to table asking if you
can score a hit off anyone. Caught
dealing, we most likely won’t let
the person back in, depending on
the circumstances.”
There aren’t any other places
like Hot Box Café in Toronto except for The Kindred Café. The
difference is that Kindred requires
a membership in order to use the
rooms.
“Yeah, the Kindred Café is the
closest thing to us,” said Roach. “I
don’t really like the membership
system though. I believe in normalization, not legalization, but I
still didn’t want my place to be like
a private club. I wanted a place for
people to come in, smoke a joint
and feel completely normal. Private clubs make it feel more like
you’re hiding. More like you’re doing something wrong. That’s just
not our philosophy.”
The Hot Box Café doesn’t aim
for a specific age of their customers. Anyone who accepts the culture and philosophy of the Hot
Box are welcome.
“We take customers 18 and up,”
said Roach. “Everyone and anyone can come in. Anyone who
smokes, all races, all ages, and all
genders.”
Not only do a wide variety of
people use the Hot Box Cafe, but
famous and the unlikeliest of people have been known to pop in.
“Woody Harrelson came in
when he was in Toronto,” said
Roach. “He was here every day for
a month and a half. It was interesting. We also had a priest that came
in from a church down the street.
We got a kick from seeing a priest
smoking weed from a pipe.”
A new feature is being brought
to the Hot Box Café in February as
well. It’s called Hot Box After Dark
Vapor Lounge.
“It’ll be opening up soon and
it’ll give a night-life twist to the
Hot Box where people can come
in and smoke our vaporizers.” said
Roach.
It’s hard to believe that places
like the Hot Box Café exist in Toronto, but the most interesting
things are always the ones that are
just under the surface. Do a little
digging and you’ll be surprised
what you can find.
Research
at UOIT
By Liisa Sahamies
Chronicle Staff
The Office of Research
Services for the University of
Ontario Institute of Technology (UOIT) will have the annual Student Research Connections Day on Jan. 27 from
5 p.m. to 7 p.m. in UA 1350.
Signed up undergraduate students inquiring about
research at UOIT, and interested in finding out about research funding and summer
employment opportunities,
will gather for this event.
Here they will be able to
learn about current research
initiatives undertaken by
UOIT faculty members, discover undergraduate student
research employment opportunities for the summer, and
interact with faculty members.
Colleen McKay, grants
officer for UOIT’s Research
Services, said, “students can
apply for an award…and then
based on marks gain a summer research position with a
faculty member.” The position
hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Showing
some flair
By Jaspinder k Jassal
Chronicle Staff
The Student Association will be
presenting Shawalk 101- flair bartending at E.P. Taylor’s on Feb. 11
at noon.
Students will be taught bottle
tricks by professionals and will be
given the chance to try them out
too.
“You will learn cool flips, twists
and tricks with safe liquor bottles,”
said Scott Toole, events programmer at the Student Association.
14 The Chronicle
January 27, 2009
The Chronicle
CAMPUS NEWS
January 27, 2009
15
Socializing could get How is your
dangerous for students juggling act
By Robyn DePratto
Chronicle Staff
The symptoms include fever,
headaches, tiredness, muscle
aches and pains, loss of appetite,
and painful swelling of your cheeks.
Complications range from meningitis to hearing loss and deafness.
If you become infected you need
to be isolated from others for nine
days. This is what could happen
if you become infected with the
mumps. It doesn’t sound very
pleasant does it?
Well, if you were born between
1970 and 1990 it’s very likely you
got only one dose of the measles,
mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine intended to protect you
against it.
“They found that one shot isn’t
enough to protect you forever,”
says Jeannine Bennett, a nurse at
the campus health centre. “It only
lasts a certain amount of time”.
So now the Ontario ministry of
health is offering mumps catch-up
vaccination clinics at many college
and university campuses across
the province, as well as making
it available at doctor’s offices and
walk-in clinics, to help protect the
young adults who are at risk of
catching this disease.
“A year or two ago they started
getting big outbreaks in Canadian
universities in particular,” says
Bennett.
College and university students
are particularly at risk, because of
the fact that they live in such close
proximity to each other and socialize so often. Mumps is a viral
illness that is spread through saliva. Coughs and sneezing, sharing food or beverages, or kissing
someone who has it can cause infection. The virus can even survive
on surfaces.
Getting the vaccine for the second time provides almost 100 per
cent immunity to mumps. Allergic
reactions to the shot are rare, and
the most common side effects of
getting the shot are mild redness,
swelling, or pain at the injection
site.
However, not everyone needs
to get the second shot. For some
people, one shot is enough to
protect them. You can easily determine if you’re immune to the
mumps by visiting your doctor’s
office and getting a blood test.
Durham College is going to be
offering a mumps catch up-clinic
of its own on Feb. 11 and 12, in
room G2021. For more information about the mumps and the
MMR vaccine, visit www.ontario.
ca/mumps.
treating you?
By Amanda Press
Chronicle Staff
Feeling that everyone expects too much from you? Not
enough time to do the things
you want? Wishing you could
achieve a healthier balance?
Cate Gibson will be returning to
campus again on Thursday, Jan.
29 starting at 4:30 p.m. for a ses-
sion to talk about ‘mastering the
juggling act.’
The information session
will be taking place in portable
UL100 and is put on by the
Women’s Centre. For more information about this upcoming
session or about Cate Gibson,
visit the Women’s Centre located in rooms G2029 and G2030
or email, SAWomensCentre@
dc-uoit.ca
A smart way to
your smart serve
By Jaspinder K Jassal
Chronicle Staff
Photo by Queen’s Printer for Ontario 2008
NO KIDDING: Those born
between 1970 and 1990
may need to get a mumps
catch-up vaccination
The Student Association will be
presenting Shawalk 101- mixology/ smart serve at E.P. Taylor’s on
Jan. 28 at noon.
Students will be given the
chance to learn how to mix popular drinks properly; those taking
part will also receive a smart serve
certificate.
“Smart serve certificates will
qualify you to serve and make
drinks in restaurants and bars. It
is a requirement,” said Scott Toole,
events programmer at the Student
Association.
16 The Chronicle
January 27, 2009
The Chronicle
January 27, 2009
ENTERTAINMENT
17
Durham College-UOIT Chronicle
Final Thought rocks Durham
By Nicki Lamont
Chronicle Staff
Final Thought rocked Durham
College on Jan. 16 when they
opened for The Ocean Buried’s CD
release party at E.P. Taylor’s.
The band, who originally
formed in 2006, got more crowd
response than the other three
opening bands, and seemed to
please just as much as the headliners themselves. Surprising, considering they’re from Barrie, and it
was their first time setting foot in
Oshawa.
“It took us six hours to get here,”
says Emmett Morris, guitarist for
Final Thought. “We had to stop in
Toronto to get our merch and CDs.
It took forever.”
Final Thought, who have their
own CD release party scheduled
for Jan. 30, gave Durham students
a sneak peak at their album, selling
it for the first time at the show—
their second one with The Ocean
Buried.
The two bands, along with Futures Past, played together for the
first time during their episode of
Much Music’s DisBand in December.
“They had a new format,” singer
Dustin Dopsa says of the episode,
which was filmed at Toronto’s
famous Kool Haus. “There’s usually only one band an episode, but
ours had six.”
Although neither of the bands
made it to the last round of the
show, they both stayed in touch
and have become fans of each other’s work. Final Thought even has a
shout-out in the thank-yous of The
Ocean Buried’s CD.
It’s not just the attention of local
crowds and Oshawa bands that
Final Thought has earned. They’ve
already caught the eye of Barrie’s Rock 95 and Toronto’s Q107
(each has given airtime to the rising group), and popular bands like
Boys Night Out, 10 Second Epic,
Social Code and Silverstein (who
have all invited Final Thought to
play shows with them). But their
most impressive show wasn’t one
Photo by Nicki Lamont
SHOWING OFF HIS SKILLS: Guitarist of Barrie`s Final Thought, Emmett Morris,
rocked the stage at E.P. Taylor`s on Jan. 16. in celebration of the band`s CD release.
that had a lot of fans waiting to see
them. In fact, the show had only a
handful of people watching.
“We got to play a show for Gene
Simmons,” says bassist Brandon
Hawthorne. “Someone called us
up one day and asked if we wanted
to play for him. He’s starting a new
record label in Canada with Uni-
versal Records, so we went to the
Rock Parlor in Toronto and played
a private show.”
The former Kiss front man was
so impressed with the band that
he went on to mention them in
Hello! Canada magazine.But the
attention to the new album hasn’t
been a string of luck. The boys have
brought undeniable talent and energy to their new EP,
“We’re going to be the new Mugshot,” says Dopsa, referring to a former band from Barrie who toured
across Canada and Australia. But
aiming to be the next Mugshot
might be selling themselves short.
Judging by the crowd’s reaction at
their E.P. Taylor’s show, the band
seems like they could make their
way to being the next Blink-182.
With a singer who has more stage
presence than Tom Delonge, a
drummer who would give Travis
Barker a run for his money, a bassist who, at 17, has already written
better riffs than Mark Hoppus, and
a guitarist who has as much musical talent as the whole band combined, Final Thought has started
the road to mainstream success in
the industry.
So what does the band want to
do with all their talent? Shockingly
enough, the boys aren’t aiming for
international recognition; they’re
staying local.
“Our music scene is dying,” says
Morris. “We’re going to give it a
swift kick in the butt to get it going
again.”
That shouldn’t be a hard task
for the boys. The band has local
scenes on the hook and ready for
more, playing only one show every three months in order to bring
more people out.
“We don’t want to play shows
every week,” says Dopsa. “When
bands do that, no one’s excited to
see them, and it’s never anything
new. When you only play a show
once in a while, more people
come out to see it. It’s better for everyone.”
So with a new album, a tour of
Ontario and Quebec in the works,
and their release party just around
the corner, what are the boys most
excited for?
“We’re working on a project to
get free McDonalds,” says drummer Tom Watson. ”We love McDonalds. It’s a project we’ve been
working on for a while now and
we really hope it works.”
Their sense of humour may not
be on the album, but their talent
is painted all over it. The new EP
Take You Home can be purchased
online at www. finalthoughtband.
com and songs are available for
download from iTunes.
So if you’re looking for a band
with style, talent and impressive facial hair, check out Final Thought.
You’ll be glad you did.
E.P. Taylor’s says happy birthday
By Artem Boykov
Chronicle Staff
E.P. Taylor’s celebrated the early birthday of its namesake Edward Plunket Taylor on Jan. 20.
This is marking it the sixth year
of honouring one of the biggest
names in Canadian horse breeding, brewing and business societies.
He was also the owner of
Windfields Farm north of campus. Some of the land the campus
is built on was donated by Windfields.
“It helps to keep the name
alive,” said bar manager Mike Farrington. “It’s a good way to show
thanks.”
Some, however, think that
there used to be more hype about
it few years ago.
“There’s a lot less tradition now
than four or five years ago,” said
Kyle Gaiger, a second-year Game
Development student at UOIT.
“There used to be photos of horse
racing and information about E.P.
Taylor.”
Born on Jan. 29, 1901, to a
wealthy family, Taylor became
most known for his contribution
to horse breeding..
He twice won the Eclipse
Award for outstanding breeder
for being the leading thoroughPhoto by Artem Boykov
bred breeder in North America,
first in 1977 and then in 1983.
Nine times his horses won Cana- E.P. TAYLOR’S CELEBRATES WITH CAKE: E.P. Taylor’s bartender Valerie Jarzyla
stands behind the birthday cake in celebration at the campus pub.
dian Horse of the Year.
18 The Chronicle
January 27, 2009
ENTERTAINMENT NEWS
Toronto has gone to the brides
By Rachael Coombs
Chronicle Staff
Thousands of exuberant but
eager brides-to-be piled into the
Metro Toronto Convention Centre for the annual Canadian Bridal
show on Sunday, Jan. 11.
Women from all different ethnic backgrounds, social statuses
and age groups excitedly jumped
from retail booth-to-booth looking
for the perfect makings for their
fairy-tale weddings.
Hundreds of vendors from different areas of expertise lent a
hand and a discount to get bridesto-be into their booth, to choose
their services to create the dream
wedding.
Bus limousine services, Brazilian dancers, $10,000 cakes, fake
hair and glossy nails were the
items of appeal and the brides-tobe scooped them up with smiles
as future grooms looked on with
frowns.
Then music broke out with everyone focusing their attention
on the centre stage where it was
announced that the fashion show
was to begin, but not before the
competition to win a diamond
ring.
Five couples got up on stage
and the MC began the competition by getting the couples to sing
a duet of Summer Nights on stage
in front of thousands of people.
While all the couples nervously squeaked out the lyrics to the
song, only two couples wowed the
crowd and moved onto the competition.
Both men were then asked to
put on high-heeled shoes and strut
their stuff down the runway.
In delight the MC told the
crowd that groom number one
looked like he just “got a French-
Photo by Rachael Coombs
ON DISPLAY: Just two of many dresses found at the Jan. 11 Bridal Show in Toronto. The event showcased the latest in wedding trends for brides and grooms alike, complete with a fashion show.
tipped manicure” and that groom
number two “shaved his ankles”.
The first groom performed an
awkward yet Bollywood-esque
dance by shaking his behind and
waving to the crowd.
The second groom did an even
more impressive dance by shaking
his chest and bottom and gracefully running down the runway, end-
ing with a knee slide that dazzled
the crowd.
In the end, the second groom
won, and gave his fiancée a diamond ring. And the first groom,
though enthusiastic, lost the ring
but won free DJ services for the
couple’s big day.
At one o’clock a fashion show
began, where models wore elab-
orate designer wedding gowns,
haute couture bridesmaid dresses
and spectacular jewellery.
Male models came out wearing
impressive suits and wide smirks.
Flower girls and ring boys timidly
walked the aisle and waved at their
parents in the crowd.
The fashion show ended with
brides yearning for a designer
dress and also wondering what
diet to go on.
Trends this year at the show
were bright colours, small to no
veils and simple but sparkly bouquets.
When the show came to a close,
the thought that went through almost every bride’s head was, there
is much to do but so little time.
VIP pub night
Seven Pounds shoots
high but falls on its face
By Jamilah McCarthy
Chronicle Staff
By Melissa Bies
Chronicle Staff
Seven Pounds is a movie that’s
trying to be deep, but dives shallow.
Directed by Gabriele Muccino
(The Pursuit of Happyness), and
starring Will Smith and Rosario
Dawson, the motivation behind
the film is for viewers to feel empathy, to feel passionate, and maybe
even to feel uplifted.
Though the premise had good
intentions, it’s tough to get emotional during the dramatic climax
of a film when you haven’t been
able to get attached to the story
or characters simply because they
are boring.
Will Smith plays an I.R.S. agent
who chooses to use his position
to collect money from those only
who he decides are not ‘good’ people. He does this by asking them,
their kin and their co-workers per-
sonal questions. Coincidentally,
all these people are also dying. Of
course, Smith falls in love with one
of those in question (Dawson),
who has heart complications.
Through a candlelit dinner over
eggplant parmesan and a prance
through a field, they discuss the
meaning of life (which, again, dives
shallow in deep waters).
As scenes creep by, the viewer
might begin to wonder either, a)
what the heck is going on here?,
or b) why do I care what is going
on here? The plot seems to want
to keep viewers out of ‘the know’
purposely, but unfortunately it
keeps them out so long that when
it’s time, they don’t want to come
back in.
Giving viewers a little guesswork works in some movies, when
the content of the first three quarters of the movie is still intriguing and entertaining. But Seven
Pounds didn’t deliver. As the plot
unfolds, the viewer grows to re-
alize that they weren’t left out of
‘the know’ for effect, but instead
because the ending couldn’t be
much more predictable.
The guesswork for me instead
laid in how unrealistic the film
was. I mentioned that Dawson’s
character is dying from heart complications. So she cannot jog or do
any physical activity without going
into cardiac arrest. But this tidbit
of truth and reality wasn’t important to the film when it came to
whether or not to include a sex
scene. And where does an I.R.S.
agent get deadly poisonous jellyfish to use as décor in his motelroom apartment?
Before the film’s release on December 19, buzz words surrounding the film included ‘revolutionary’ and ‘oscar-worthy.’ But I think
the only people involved with Seven Pounds that deserve an award
are those who marketed it in a way
that got those buzz words associated with it.
Black history month is just
around the corner and with
the recent election of Barack
Obama black history month is
particularly special this year.
To celebrate, VIP Entertainment is hosting Black History
Month pub night on Feb. 5 in
the pub at E.P. Taylor’s. Doors
will open at 8 p.m.
The event is all-ages for Durham College, UOIT, and Trent
students and guests 19 and
over.
“This year the charities we
are raising money for are the
Canadian Cancer Society and
the Lakeridge Health Centre in
Oshawa,” says Jeremy Lall, the
founder of VIP Entertainment
and a UOIT mechanical engineering student. “I plan and
promote the events, and the
main goal is to raise money and
awareness for specific charities.”
Many successful pub nights
have been hosted by VIP Entertainment.
“VIP was asked to host the
Black History Month pub event
by the Student Association because our events have proven to
bring out the largest population
of West Indian, Caribbean, and
African students at our school,”
says Lall.
The event is a continuation
of last year’s The Jump Off as the
same DJs are returning. Flow
93.5’s DJs Dr. Jay De Soca Prince
and Riddim Track Master Spex
will be providing the music,
as well as Klymatik De Crowd
Pleasa, who has sold out every
event he has played at Durham
College and UOIT.
“ I think this year will be the
biggest pub event yet. Everyone
is going to celebrate Black History Month this year,” Lall says.
In addition to the famous
DJs there will also be live performances by local reggae artists MYS3 and Blessed, and free
giveaways.
Students are reminded to
bring their Student IDs.
“2009 is an important year in
black history with the inauguration of Obama. This is our opportunity to celebrate the world
we live in,” says Lall.
The Chronicle
January 27, 2009
19
ENTERTAINMENT NEWS
Winning the audience’s hearts
Bollywood
drama
flying high
By Asmahan Garrib
Chronicle Staff
What can make Bollywood
dance breakouts, a stale game
show and the theme of destiny
seem cool? a) a unique perspective, b) a beautiful setting, c) flawless acting, or d) all of the above.
Saying Slumdog Millionaire is
the best movie I have ever seen
may sound like an extreme over
exaggeration, but it is in fact an understatement.
I can’t remember a movie that
is all at once thought provoking,
creative and suspenseful, that
combines a fresh and dynamic
cast, storyline and soundtrack.
Danny Boyle, director of films
like Trainspotting and The Beach,
is a pro at adapting books for film.
With Slumdog Millionaire, Boyle
takes Vikas Swarup’s novel and
turns it into a thrilling movie for all
audiences.
Dev Patel plays Jamal Malik, a
20 year-old, uneducated kid who
grew up as an orphan in Mumbai,
India. He goes on the Indian version of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire in hopes that it will reunite
him with his long, lost love Latika
(Frieda Pinto).
Able to answer questions that
stump even the most intellectual
SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE: A collection of good acting, engaging story and a soundtrack that hits the right notes
with the audience, leaving people cheering for the characters as they make their way through the thick and thin.
Another great adaptation that won’t leave anyone indifferent, bored or going for their watch every five minutes.
of contestants, game show host
Prem Kumar, played by Bollywood legend Anwar Kapoor, is
convinced he is cheating.
The movie follows Jamal
through a series of flashbacks uncovering the life events that led
him to the answers to each question. Through those flashbacks
the audience gets to know Jamal’s
rebellious and trouble-seeking
brother Salim, whose personality perfectly contrasts that of the
trusting, do-gooder Jamal.
With every question unfolding another layer of Jamal’s life,
the audience goes along on a ride
through the slums of Mumbai and
the trials of surviving alone, penniless and in love.
If the young, fresh cast of flawless actors or bright, engaging sto-
ry aren’t enough, the movie also
touts an energetic soundtrack.
The collection of songs that mesh
hip-hop with Bhangra add another
level of boldness to the movie that
audiences can bop their heads, tap
their toes, and singalong to.
M.I.A.’s Paper Planes plays like
an upbeat anthem while O…Saya
by A R Rahman and M.I.A. mix rap,
rhythm, techno and drums to cre-
The queen of R&B is back
Beyonce’s
new double
disc is a
winner
By Jamilah McCarthy
Chronicle Staff
It’s been three years since Beyonce’s last album B’day hit the
charts and now she is back and
has re emerged as her alter-ago
Sasha Fierce.
I am Sasha Fierce was released
on Nov. 12 and is Beyonce’s third
solo album since leaving her former group Destiny’s Child and
with this album she definitely
proves that she is all grown up.
The album is a double disc, one
side titled Beyonce and the other
Sasha Fierce.
The first two singles, If I Were a
Boy and Single Ladies (Put a ring
on it) have both became internationally successful anthems for
women. Single Ladies has spent
several weeks atop Billboards Hot
100 chart.
For this album Beyonce has
pulled all the stops to ensure that
people continue loving her and
start to love Sasha, working with
some of today’s hottest producers
such as Ryan Tedder, The Dream,
Jim Jonsin, and Bangledash.
The Sasha side is filled with in
your face dance tracks that offer
just as much sass and fierceness as
the first single, Single Ladies. The
second single off Sasha is Diva,
which is the best one word description for Sasha. Sweet Dreams
is an 80s influenced dance tune
that won’t put anyone to sleep.
Video Phone is as raunchy as it
gets, as Sasha sings about taking
naked pictures and making sexy
movies on her videophone. The
track Radio, an ode to music is a
definite stand out with its heavy
beat and vocal genius.
The Beyonce side is a much
softer side than Beyonce has ever
shown. The tracks are all mellow
and Beyonce lets people know
that even a multi-platinum superstar can be vulnerable.
If I Were a Boy has become
a huge hit and touches on role
reversal as Beyonce sings about
what she would do if she were the
opposite sex.
The Ryan Tedder produced
Halo is a song about falling in
love with someone who is like an
angel. Beyonce’s interpretation of
Ave Maria is a future classic, as it
simply reiterates why she is most
successful female R&B singer in
the industry.
Disappear, Satellites, and Broken-Hearted Girl are all standouts
as well as they showcase Beyonce’s
amazing growth as a songwriter
and vocalist.
Unlike her previous two albums there are no collaborations
on I am Sasha Fierce, which works
because it shows that Beyonce
doesn’t need help to make a hit
single.
The only flaw with I am Sasha
Fierce is that there are only 11
songs for a double disc. More
songs of the same quality would
be the only thing that could improve this future classic.
This album solidifies Beyonce
as the queen of the charts and the
reigning queen of R&B music.
Whether you’re a single lady, or
a boy, after listening to this album
you will know that both Beyonce
and Sasha are definitely fierce.
ate an original sound for an original movie.
After winning four Golden
Globe Awards and five Critics
Choice Awards, including Best
Picture at both, Slumdog Millionaire is sure to clean up this awards
season.
With all the gushing about this
movie, I do have one con, that not
everyone has seen it yet.
Making
music
with the
Light of
D.A.E.
studios
By Artem Boykov
Chronicle Staff
Light of D.A.E. Studios
charity event will happen on
Feb. 6 at E.P. Taylor’s. The show
will include performances by
The Organ Thieves, Isles Of
Thieves, Men On Fire and
Spec Of Dust.
The tickets are $10 in advance. All donations will go
to the Light of D.A.E. Studios.
Located in Pickering, in the
Doyle Audio Engineering
warehouse, the studio focuses on giving young people a
shot at learning about professional recording in exchange
for community service.
20 The Chronicle
January 27, 2009
ENTERTAINMENT NEWS
The Ocean Buried releases CD
By Artem Boykov
Chronicle Staff
E.P. Taylor’s grew loud with
chatter, laughter and music on Jan.
16 as the crowd of students, family members and friends anxiously
waited to see The Ocean Buried
perform at their first CD release
party of “Can You Spill A Secret?”
The show also featured performances by Phrygia Fall, Final
Thought, Future’s Past and Spec Of
Dust, an acoustic performance by
the show’s promoter Craig Megill.
“There was a huge amount of
effort put in because we wanted
to do it as professionally as possible.” says Tim Stead, singer of The
Ocean Buried.
The band, consisting of Kyle
Wallace on lead guitar, Mike
Steward on rhythm guitar, Jeremy
Hebert on bass, Luke van den
Kroonenberg on drums and Stead
on vocals, got together in April
2008. Since then, the band appeared on an episode of disBand,
landing them a spot as an opening
band for Canadian rock band Ten
Second Epic.
“The hardest part is finance,”
said Stead. “We have to pay for studio time, merchandize and rent.
Being in a band is expensive.”
Despite the business aspect and
other harsh realities of life, Stead is
keeping a positive attitude, saying
that the mentality of the band is
to transmit a positive attitude towards the listening party as well as
the band itself.
“I am extremely lucky to have
Photo by Artem Boykov
THE OCEAN BURIED: From left to right: Mike Steward, Tim Stead, Luke Van Den Kroonenberg, Jeremy Hebert
and Kyle Wallace. Their hard work on the album pays off as they celebrate with a CD release party at E.P. Taylor’s
playing with other bands Phygria Fall, Final Thought, Future’s Past and Spec of Dust.
four of my best friends to hang out
with every day, and make music
that we have fun playing,”
Upcoming The Ocean Buried
shows include The Final Thought
CD Release Party on Jan. 30, Feb.
13 with The Reverb and Future’s
Past, and April 2 with The Kathedral, Outspoken and Wasting
Time. More information can be
found at The Ocean Buried myspace page.
The Chronicle
January 27, 2009
ENTERTAINMENT NEWS
Thompson’s legacy still lives
By Michael Flynn
Chronicle Staff
It’s been three years since
Hunter S. Thompson put a gun in
his mouth and pulled the trigger.
Even before his suicide there
were hundreds of tributes to his
remarkable legacy. Some accounts, print and film, have been
the typical eloquent exaggerations
of his wild-man antics like Terry
Gilliam’s 1998 ‘Fear and Loathing
in Las Vegas’ starring Johnny Depp
as Thompson. Others in the years
since Thompson’s death paint a
picture of a man as deep and dark
as his writings.
Released on DVD Nov. 25, Alex
Gibney’s ‘Gonzo’ is a biography
in one sense, but is constructed
almost entirely of footage from
his friends and family. For the
first time since his death, Anita
Thompson, his son Juan, and his
widow Sandy all talk about the
real Hunter S. Thompson in his
less-publicized later years.
Gonzo is the first Hollywood
attempt to strip away Thompson’s
hideous drug and alcohol-fueled
persona. For the first time the real
man emerges in video interviews
with his closest friends and family
and through excerpts of his darkest writing.
Writer Tom Wolfe knew the
many faces of Thompson over the
last few decades.
“To feel compelled to be Gonzo all the time must have been a
burden,” he says in the film. “He
so identified with the life he was
describing; it was hard for him not
to be in costume, not to be the actor that was required. Hunter must
21
have felt trapped in Gonzo.”
Wolfe isn’t talking about the
purple, big-nosed Muppet. He’s
talking about is Thompson’s writing style, Gonzo Journalism, which
became so prominent it was actually personified as the psychotic
hound-like reporter Thompson
became on the outside.
In addition to the film, Rolling
Stone’s Jan Warner has published
a sort of oral biography, and filmmaker Alex Gibney has released a
collection of Thompson’s personal
voice recordings on 5 CDs.
There are still movies being
made about the man who lived
his real life like he was a character
in a weird action film. According
to imdb.com, a movie based on
Thompson’s 1959 novel The Rum
Diary is scheduled for 2009, again
starring Johnny Depp as lead Paul
Kemp. Scheduled to direct is Bruce
Robinson (Withnail & I), and further casting will begin in March.
Guitar playing just takes a little practice
By Matt Bird
Chronicle Staff
Some argue that video games are good
for nothing. I say to these people, not true: if
nothing else they’re a pathway to new hobbies.
Especially with the recent influx of simulation games. Not SimCity-brand, but fantasy fulfilment style. Think Guitar Hero and
you’ll know what I mean. .
I acquired a love of Guitar Hero last
August. Finally, I was playing a musical instrument like I’d always wanted. After a few
months, however, I discovered a sense of
dissatisfaction, probably because pressing
buttons on a piece of plastic isn’t actually
playing an instrument.
This Christmas I decided to remedy the
situation by asking for a real guitar. I was rewarded with a trip out to Durham Music, a
little shop in Pickering Village that had supplied my brother with an electric guitar almost 10 years earlier.
I wasn’t in the market for electric, however. I wanted a down-to-earth acoustic. My
dad had owned one when I was a child and
I’d loved listening to him strum.
The shop was ready to oblige. The back
wall was lined with a beefy selection of
hardwood acoustics. I made a beeline for
them, mentally salivating at my prospects. I
even (very, very briefly) considered getting
a banjo instead.
The proprietor was a short man with
spectacles, thin, wispy hair and the voice
of a guru. Every word passing his lips was
carefully considered. “What kind of guitar
are you looking for?”
Acoustic. Within the $300 range. No need
for a tuner; I wanted to tune by ear. It’s not as
hard to learn as you might think, and tuning
was the first step on a long road.
The anatomy of a guitar isn’t complex.
Most guitars have six strings, running vertically up the neck and connected to a series
of knobs called tuning heads. As the name
implies, twisting these knobs tunes the guitar.
Knowledge of the sound you want is
necessary, however, so you also need to
know how to play different notes. Doing so
requires pressing down hard on the strings
with the tips of your fingers. This is done between the metal strips, or frets, that line the
guitar’s neck. The further down the neck you
press, the higher the note will be. The thicker
the string, the lower the range of notes.
I watched the man tune my chosen guitar
– a Fender - with expert ease, listening to the
sound of each string and twisting the tuning knobs accordingly. I didn’t know what
magical combination he was listening for,
but I did know that the instrument sounded
perfect when he was done.
“You’ll learn how to do it in time,” he
said.
“In time” turned out to only be a few days,
as my dad knew how to tune. The key is to
match the sounds of the strings up. Starting
with the thickest string, press down on it in
the space after the fifth fret – positioning the
pointer finger just a little short of the sixth
fret – and pluck the string.
Then, while that note is still ringing, pluck
the next string down. Listen to the resulting sound. Do the sounds match? If so, the
strings are tuned. Move on to the next. If not,
you need to tighten or loosen the tuning
knobs until the strings sound the same. All
strings are tested on the same fret except the
third (which is the fourth from the top). That
string requires pushing on the fourth fret.
My dad told me the same thing as the
guru. “You’ll learn with practice.” He was
surprised to see I could tune in two days.
Certain songs require different tuning, but I
had the standard down. That brought me to
the next hurdle: actually playing something.
The real roadblock is building up a callus.
If you’ve never played a guitar before you
won’t realize how much pressing the strings
down hurts. I had numb fingertips for the
first week, not to mention piles of blisters on
my thumbs from strumming.
“You’ll get used to it,” my brother said.
And I did. After a week of stumbling
through simple songs with painful lines
gouged into my fingers – I managed to belt
out a decent rendition of the Mario Brothers tune – I moved on to more complex arrangements. And that required chords.
Chords form the soul of songs. They’re
not necessary to play a tune, but they make
songs sound infinitely more interesting. Unfortunately chords are also tough to pull off,
as they require dextrous fingers.
The webbing between each digit doesn’t
seem pliable enough to stretch from one fret
to the next, and that’s exactly what chords
need: pressing down on multiple strings at
the same time.. Hand cramps are inevitable,
especially when songs need quick chord
changes.
Throw in strumming and the whole arrangement seems horribly complicated. I’d
teach how to strum with a pick, but to be
honest I haven’t learned myself. Every time
I take a pick to my guitar it sounds like a cat
caught in a toaster oven.
There are lots of other techniques to
learn. I’m only beginning my musical journey. And everybody seems to know it.
Last week I interviewed Durham College
president Don Lovisa on a matter of school
finance. By the end of the conversation we’d
drifted to the décor of his office. He joked
about bringing in a Nintendo Wii for students, and told me he played with his son.
Naturally, I asked if he’d ever played Guitar Hero. And he had. He even preferred it
to Rock Band, hinting at some experience.
Much to my surprise, Lovisa revealed that
he’s played guitar for years.
Wanting to look like a seasoned pro I
mentioned the difficulty I have with pick
strumming. I should’ve known, before the
words left my mouth, what he would say.
“You’ll learn with time.”
22
The Chronicle
Jaunuary 27, 2009
SPORTS
Durham College-UOIT Chronicle
Ridgebacks fight the good fight
By Paul Bates
Chronicle Staff
The Ridgebacks women’s
hockey team played a pair of good
games against the University of
Toronto Varsity Blues on Jan. 17
and the Laurier Golden Hawks on
Jan. 18.
Unfortunately, both games
ended in losses.
The Jan. 17 game against the
University of Toronto ended in a
close 3-2 loss for the Ridgebacks
as they played their first game on
home ice in 2009.
The evening was a special night
as the Ridgebacks welcomed the
Oshawa Lady Generals for Ontario Girls Hockey Association night.
After the game Shantel Brown,
Nicole Pigeon and Breanne Hadley took time to sign autographs
for the young fans in attendance.
Victoria Hayne of the Oshawa
Lady Generals performed the
puck drop at centre ice in front of
the crowd of 450, which saw Kristie Smithurst, a former Oshawa
Lady General step in for team captain Megan Friel.
As well as being a part of the
puck drop Smithurst was in on
both of the Ridgebacks’ goals, scoring one and assisting on the other.
Despite UOIT having the lead
on two separate occasions, the
Varsity Blues found a way to tie
the game and eventually take the
lead early in the third, which is
Photo by Paul Bates
TRYING TO GET AWAY: UOIT Ridgeback forward Vanessa Johnstone tries to put distance between herself and the opponent when UOIT squared off with the University of
Toronto Varsity Blues on Jan. 17.
how it would stay for the rest of the
game.
Emma Thompson, despite the
loss, had another good night, making 41 stops. She still holds second
place in the OUA and continues to
be the team’s number one starter,
having started six consecutive
games, but she would sit out the
next night.
Taking the ice the following
night, the Ridgebacks faced off
against the Laurier Golden Hawks,
who are ranked number one in the
OUA.
Fans could probably have
expected to see the team play a
tough, possibly high-scoring game.
The last time two times the teams
have faced off, Laurier shut out
UOIT both times. This time would
be no exception.
However, this was the closest
game for the Ridgebacks against
Laurier, as veteran goalie Carleigh
Taggart allowed four goals.
Taggart looked strong during
the game as the Ridgebacks were
outshot 19-2 in the first period, 1410 in the second and 10-8 in the
third.
The first goal for the Golden
Hawks came late in the first period
at 14:11.
This seemed to get the Ridgebacks fired up.
Going into the second period
the team played more defensively
but could not score, while Laurier
gained three more in the second
period, leading to the 4-0 shutout.
When asked how the Ridgebacks have improved since the
last time they faced Laurier, UOIT
head coach Gary Pitcher said,
“Laurier is the best team in the
OUA. We played defensively better against a fast team.”
Pitcher said the team’s biggest
weakness on the ice is still the
rookie status of the team.
“We have 14 rookies on the
team, I think that is the most in
the OUA, and we still have a lot
of learning to do. We are working
hard and putting systems in place
but little mistakes hurt us.”
Pitcher pointed out some of the
standout players this year have
been veterans Kathleen Edwards
and Megan Friel on defence, as
well as forward Rikki Palmateer,
but he also took time to point out a
few of the rookies who have played
well.
“Jordan Whatley just came back
from injury and is playing well,
and Breanne Hadley has been out
for the last month with an orbital
bone fracture but we look forward
to having her back on the team.”
The next game for the Ridgebacks was Jan. 24 and 25 at the
University of Guelph. Results were
not available at press time.
Lords rocked by
Algonquin Thunder
By Ryan Joseph
Chronicle Staff
Photo by Ryan Joseph
DEFENCE!: Durham Lords guard Jill Leistra defends the post in the
game against the Algonquin Thunder on Jan. 17. The Lords lost to the
Thunder 44-57.
The Lady Lords basketball team’s home
struggles continued as they fell to
0-5, after they were defeated by the Algonquin Thunder 57-44 on Jan. 17.
With the winner of the game controlling
their own playoff destiny, the Thunder came
out of the gate the hungrier team. They
opened the game on a 25-6 run.
“We came out flat,” said head coach Tim
Baulk. “Algonquin wanted the game more,
and they came to play.”
Things only got worse as guard Erin Emery picked up three early fouls, which sent
her to the bench for the remainder of the
half. She finished the half with no points,
and three rebounds.
“Our intensity drags when she is on the
bench,” Baulk said.
The Lady Lords struggled to make shots
in the first half, shooting a season-low 17 per
cent from the field.
They also committed nine turnovers,
which the Thunder turned into eight points.
At half time the Thunder led 32-16.
In the locker room at half time, Baulk
said the morale was low. He told them to
play with heart and keep chipping away.
With their playoff hopes slowly slipping
away, the Lady Lords started the second half
on a 7-2 run to cut their deficit to 12 points.
They used a full court press defence to
frustrate to the Thunder and the crowd
started to get into the game.
However, mid-way through the second
half, Lords captain Ashley Visser went down
with a knee sprain, and didn’t return to the
game.
“The reason why I didn’t tear my anterior
cruciate ligament (ACL), is because I work
out my hamstrings,” she said.
Visser said it was frustrating for her to
leave the game because it was a big game,
and she was playing well.
With their captain out of the game, the ladies kept fighting and they managed to cut
the Thunder lead to 48-43 with six minutes
left.
However, the comeback ended there, as
the Thunder went on a 9-1 run to close out
the game.
The ladies were defeated by 13 points.
After a poor first half, Emery was able
to score 14 second half points. Visser had a
strong game before getting injured, netting
10 points.
The loss doesn’t knock the Lady Lords
out of playoff contention, but it makes their
road a lot more difficult as they have to depend on other teams.
Visser said the team needs to be focused,
and they have to take their play to another
level down the strech.
“Every game from now on is going to be a
playoff game,” she said.
The next game for the Lady Lords was at
home against the Georgian Grizzlies on Jan.
23.
Result for the game weren’t available at
press time.
The Chronicle
SPORTS NEWS
January 27, 2009
23
Tavares waves farewell with win
By Thomas Cranston
Chronicle Staff
Oshawa welcomed two fan favourites back to the General Motors Centre with a rousing, standing ovation each time they were
introduced.
John Tavares, former team captain and possibly the best junior
hockey player in the world, and
Bobby Orr, one of the greatest
players and Generals of all-time,
both took part in the CHL Top
Prospects Game/Skills Competition as members of Team Orr on
Jan. 13/14 in Oshawa.
Tavares remained the talk of
the town, after being traded by the
Generals to the London Knights
less than a week earlier.
Oshawa fans have clearly not
forgotten about him, saving the
loudest cheers for the night for
their former captain.
“I’m going to try to focus on
playing my game and show them
what I can do out there,” Tavares
said after team practice on Jan. 12.
Team Orr, coached by the great
Bobby Orr, rolled over their nemesis Team Cherry, coached by
Hockey Night in Canada icon Don
Cherry, 6-1 at the 14th annual Top
Prospects Game in Oshawa.
Orr improved his overall record to 7-3 head-to-head against
Cherry with the lopsided victory
even though his team was outshot
43-39.
This prestige CHL event showcases 40 of the best junior hockey
players in Canada every year.
Cody Eakin of the WHL’s Swift
Current Broncos scored two goals
for Team Orr and was named the
player of the game for his team.
“It was a good game,” Eakin said.
“It’s always nice to get a win. The
talent out there is incredible (and
the coaching was phenomenal).”
Goaltender Edward Pasquale
of the OHL’s Saginaw Spirit earned
player of the game honours for
Team Cherry.
“Many of them worry about not
playing well tonight, they think it’s
the end of the world if they don’t
play well tonight or if they’re not
quite up to their game, that’s not
the case at all,” Orr said. “These
are the top players. They will be
watched the rest of the season.
They will all do very well. Very good
solid hockey players will come out
of this bunch, I believe.”
“It’s been fun being here, it’s
been great working with the kids
and obviously with my dear friend
Don, and it’s always great to be
back here in Oshawa,” Orr said.
Team Orr did go the first 12
minutes of the game without registering a shot on net yet still led
3-1 after the first period.
“You go into a room after a
game like that, we had come out
flying,” Cherry said after the game.
“I think the shots were 10-0 (at the
start).”
Orr jumped in, “8-0”.
“Well close,” Cherry said.
“We hit the crossbar, which is
nine. We hit the crossbar and that
would’ve made it 1-0 and then
we hit a couple posts but we still
played good.”
Every player was excited to
have the opportunity to show off
their skills in front of the many
Photo by Thomas Cranston
Photo by Thomas Cranston
BOBBY LEADS TEAM ORR TO VICTORY: Former General and NHL great Bobby Orr coaches Team Orr to victory over Team Cherry at the CHL Top Prospects Game
at the General Motors Centre in Oshawa on Jan. 14.
ORR TOO MUCH TO HANDLE FOR CHERRY: Team
Cherry starting goaltender Nathan Lieuwen of the WHL’s
Kootenay Ice allowed 5 goals on 18 shots as Team
Cherry dropped the affair 6-1.
NHL scouts watching the game in
anticipation of the upcoming NHL
draft.
“I’m kind of glad we got this
game here,” Generals rookie defenceman Calvin de Haan said.
“It’s good for the city and it’s good
for the fans as well. We got some
of the best fans in the country and
it just feels good to have it in your
hometown.”
Team Cherry starting goaltender Nathan Lieuwen was no different.
“It’s a great accomplishment. It
means a lot and you get to meet a
lot of great guys,” he said.
The Skills Competition took
place on Jan. 13 and Team Cherry
was victorious, winning by a total
score of 8-6.
Team Orr started off on the
right foot, winning the puck control relay, led by Tavares, de Haan
and David Gilbert, much to the
fans delight.
Team Cherry answered right
back as London Knights Nazem
Kadri held on to win the one-onone puck control relay against
Brayden Schenn, who had difficulty maintaining control of the
puck.
Philippe Paradis of Team Orr
rifled his pucks into the net, winning the hardest shot with a high
score of 95.7.
“At least, we won the skills (competition Tuesday night). They were
all happy about that but so much
for skills,” Cherry said sarcastically
of his team after the Top Prospects
Game.
“I would like to make it clear
that my coaching had nothing to
do with the victory,” Orr said.
Cherry shot back, pushing the
crowd into hysterics.
“And I would like to make it
clear that mine had nothing to do
with the defeat.”
The prospects game featured
several other faces every person in
Canada should know by now.
Team Canada world junior gold
medalists John Tavares, Evander
Kane and Ryan Ellis participated
in the game while nine other
members of Team Canada’s goal
medal-winning squad took part in
last year’s event.
Tavares and Kane were their
team’s respective captains.
The Oshawa Generals were represented in fine fashion as rookie
Calvin de Haan started on defence
for Team Orr alongside junior sensation Ryan Ellis of Team Canada
and the Windsor Spitfires.
Generals head coach Chris
DePiero and trainer Bryan Boyes
also represented the city, assisting
Bobby Orr with the bench duties.
“It feels good to be a part of
these elite prospects,” de Haan
said.
“It’s a pretty prestigious event
to be a part of but I just treat it like
another hockey game. No matter
who’s watching it, I don’t think it
really matters, you’ve just got to do
what you do best.”
“It was a lot of fun. It’s good to
be a part of this elite group of hockey players. Not a lot of guys get to
do it, all these guys who have, have
been very fortunate and I feel really good to be apart of that group.
I think the crowd really got into it
at the start, it was good to see our
great city of Oshawa here to be behind us.”
The OHL led the event with 16
players, including three from the
Guelph Storm, to lead all teams. 14
players came from the WHL and
10 from the QMJHL.
“I missed out on the chance at
the ADT (Canada-Russia Challenge) because of a broken jaw,”
Team Cherry and London Knights
forward Nazem Kadri said. “This
is really my first time to play in
something like this. Obviously, I
want to make some noise and get
my name out there.”
“But it’s like any other game.
You just try to leave everything
on the ice. You got 60 minutes to
prove yourself and hopefully you
can use that time,” Kadri added.
Despite losing the game badly,
Cherry said it was important to
remain positive because young
players can lose their confidence
quickly.
“When you’re losing like that,
you really have to be positive,”
Cherry said. “They (the players)
wanted to do so well in front of all
the scouts and you get whacked
and down 6-1. You have got to go
into the dressing room after and
say, hey, you played a great game
and the whole deal, because they
will get down on themselves.”
When asked whether the officiating was frustrating, seeing how
it was one of the most penalized
games in history, Cherry said, “No,
he (Orr) got all of the penalties.”
“No comment,” Orr shot back
with a laugh.
“I think there was a lot of penalties,” Cherry said. “Usually they let
it go but the penalties had nothing
to do with us losing.”
There were a lot of obstruction
penalties in the game but no fights
like in previous years, much to
some young fans’ dismay.
A few boys were chanting: “We
want a fight” throughout the entire
first period. But there was a still lot
of physicality as each player had
something to prove.
“The kids, I thought, played so
well,” Orr said. “As Don has said
many times, this isn’t your typical
all-star game. It’s a game where the
kids are trying to show their stuff
and every one of them did.”
Cherry agreed and added,
“Those kids are the greatest kids in
the world and I was just proud to
be amongst them.”
The big story after the game
was not the score or the number
of penalties but rather the injury to
Team Orr captain John Tavares after being checked into the boards
by Team Cherry’s Taylor Doherty,
just minutes into the third period.
Doherty was given a minor
penalty on the play and Tavares
left the game with a shoulder injury and did not return.
Cherry said he didn’t think Tavares was a target.
“When you carry the puck a lot,
you get hit,” Cherry said. “It’s that
simple. Bobby used to carry the
puck a lot and he got hit. It’s nothing against him.”
Meanwhile, de Haan was just
proud to get the win and enjoyed
meeting some of the best players
this country has to offer.
“The coaches just told to us to
compete at the start of the game,
compete for every battle and success comes with hard work and
that’s what we did and it paid off,”
de Haan.
“Some guys made some great
friendships over these past two
days and you’re never going to forget this.”
24 The Chronicle
January 27, 2009
SPORTS NEWS
Men’s volleyball team
thrust into tie with win
By Michael Terminesi
Chronicle Staff
The Durham Lords men’s volleyball team did it again last Tuesday with a 3-1 victory over Trent
University, placing them in a tie
for third place.
“It was a big win for us,” said
Gord Williamson, head coach of
the Lords. “Hopefully this will
mean a third-place finish for us.”
Both teams were putting points
on the board, but it was Durham
who came out victorious, 25-17,
32-30, 20-25 and 25-20.
“We play very well at times, but
we still need to work on a more
consistent performance,” said Williamson. “We got a strong performance from all players but it’s just
a matter of everyone playing well
at the same time.”
The game was PJ Cornelius’
third game for Durham, earning
him 15 kills (attacks that lead to an
immediate point or side out) and
10 digs (passing spiked or rapidly
hit balls that are low to the floor).
Cornelius is averaging 12 kills
per match. Other notable players
for Durham were Kevin Horne,
who scored six kills, two aces, two
blocks and nine digs, and Dave
McMann, who scored seven kills
and three blocks.
“PJ Cornelius is getting better
and better with each outing and
our middles are starting to play
more like they were before the
break,” said Williamson.
Earlier in the season, Trent defeated Durham by the same score
of 3-1. Both teams have nine wins
so if the teams end up tied after the
regular season, the team’s overall
set win/loss ratio will determine
the tiebreaker.
“Overall, another confidence
boost for our team,” said Williamson. “We are at a point now where
we feel like we can compete with
and beat any team in the province.”
Women’s V-ball
teams show Coyotes
who the Lords are
By Stephanie Pollard
Chronicle Staff
The Durham Lords women’s
volleyball team may have lost
to Algonquin but they placed
third after beating the La Cite
Coyotes 3-2 (25-13, 25-23, 2426, 16-25 and 19-17) on Jan. 17
in Ottawa.
The lady lords came together for a complete team effort,
recording 10 plus points.
Freshman Julie Hakkesteegt
led the team with 20 points
(12 kills, 7 blocks and one ace)
while Kristen Conner had 19
points (13 kills, 4 aces and two
blocks).
Captain Mandi Doris scored
10 blocks in two games over the
weekend bringing her season
total to 60.
She is now a single block
shy of the OCAA single season
record of 61 blocks in a year set
by Mohawk’s Courtney Warren
in the 2002-03 season.
She also has 136 career
blocks for the Lords, moving
her to third place in the OCAA
charts.
Thanks for the memories John!
By Thomas Cranston
Chronicle Staff
While John Tavares tenure with
the Oshawa Generals is now over
(lasting 3 ½ seasons), he will likely be remembered as one of the
best players in Oshawa Generals’
history, having helped the team
both on and off the ice, departing
as the franchise’s all-time leading
goal scorer with 183 and second
all-time in points with 383, just 30
behind current NHL forward Marc
Savard of the Boston Bruins.
Oshawa sent John Tavares, their
best player (and perhaps, maybe
even the best junior hockey player
in the world), their best overall
defenseman in Michael Del Zotto
and goaltender Darryl Borden to
the London Knights just days before the OHL trading deadline.
A common saying in hockey is
in order to get something, you’ve
got to give up something. In this
case London did, sending three
players to Oshawa: defenceman
Scott Valentine, forward Christian
Thomas (the son of former Toronto Maple Leaf Steve Thomas),
goaltender Michael Zador along
with six draft picks (four second
rounders and two third rounders).
I’m a big fan of loyalty myself so
I’m not sure I would have the courage to make this deal. Tavares did
a lot for the Generals, being their
leading scorer, team captain and
bringing lots of fans to the General
Motors Centre, as his impact was
not just felt on the ice.
Generals rookie defenceman
and a former teammate Calvin de
Haan, who played alongside Tavares for the last time at this year’s
Top Prospects Game, was to no
surprise a little disappointed with
the trade.
“I think everyone was a little
disappointed at the start, but we’re
just going to battle through it,” de
Haan said. “You know, it happens.
You’ve just got to bear with it. I
think everyone was pretty shocked
to see Del Zotto’s name in there.
I think actually most of the world
was. I think we’re going to do our
best, obviously, we’re going to become the hardest working team in
the OHL and hopefully make the
playoffs.”
Photo by Thomas Cranston
WELCOME BACK: Former Oshawa General (and current London Knight) John Tavares practises as a member of Team OCC at the CHL Top Prospects Game in Oshawa.
Tavares will be missed. He had
the unique ability of bringing fans
to the edge of their seats with nifty
moves. He also restored somewhat of a winning tradition in Oshawa, leading the Generals to the
playoffs during the 2006-2007 season (and then again in 2007-2008)
after three years on the sidelines.
His first season with the Generals
was in 2005, a dreadful one in the
standings for the team, which finished second last in the OHL with
a 18-45-4-1 record, yet Tavares still
managed to wrap up OHL and
CHL Rookie of the Year honours
with 45 goals and 77 points as a
15-year-old.
He has proved to be incredibly
durable, having never missed a
game due to injury during his tenure with the Generals even though
he left what could be his last game
(the Top Prospects Game) at the
General Motors Centre with an
apparent shoulder injury.
Tavares is coming off a World
Junior Hockey Championships
gold medal as a member of team
Canada (the country’s fifth straight
gold) while being named tournament MVP.
He also won gold with Canada
at last year’s tournament.
However, the trade is still what’s
best for the Generals and that’s
what people have to do in this
business to be successful. Improve
their team for a chance a championship or stockpile young talent
and draft picks for the future.
If a GM is confident their team
does not have a shot at a championship then they almost have to
make a deal or risk getting nothing
when Tavares departs.
I think trading Del Zotto was
more disappointing than seeing
Tavares go.
Whenever I have seen Oshawa
play, I’ve always been impressed
with Del Zotto’s skating, his puck
moving ability and offensive skills
as a defenseman.
Maybe it was more of the shock
than anything but Oshawa must
have felt confident they were getting the best deal they could.
It got to the point where I think
everyone around the hockey
world had a feeling Tavares could
be on the move and the question
was not whether he was going to
be dealt but rather, where was he
going to end up?
We all know the answer now
that the trade is a few weeks old
but I still believe Tavares is just a
case of too much hype.
He’s a great player who can take
control of a game offensively but
his skating and defensive game
weaknesses could still use work.
And while he did break Wayne
Gretzky’s OHL goal-scoring record
as a 16-year-old with 72 goals (previously 70), junior success doesn’t
always equate to NHL stardom
(although in Gretzky’s case, it did).
Of course, there’s always that slight
chance Tavares could be even better. You never know.
At the start of the NHL season,
Toronto Maple Leafs GM Cliff
Fletcher said there were no potential “franchise” players in this year’s
NHL Draft. However, it does raise
the question whether Tavares or
Swedish defenceman Victor Hedman will go first overall.
Back in September when I talked with Hockey News columnist
Adam Proteau, he seemed confident Hedman would be the man.
“He (Tavares) just didn’t show
the ability to dominate. He just
doesn’t seem to have that extra gear just yet in a lot of scouts’
minds, when you have a sure thing
in Victor Hedman.”
While I’m not sure whether his
opinion has changed after Tavares
solid world junior and Hedman’s
less impressive tournament, I
guess where Tavares gets drafted
may just depend on which team
has the first overall pick and what
their needs are.
London
Knights
forward
Nazem Kadri, who participated
against Tavares at this year’s Top
Prospects Game, had only good
things to say about London.
“It’s (London) an unbelievable
organization, I can’t say enough,”
Kadri said. “Adding a player like
Johnny is a bonus. And hopefully
we can take things far this year
and get a Memorial Cup berth. The
trade didn’t happen too long ago. I
think he’s (Tavares) still got some
General in his blood but I think
that will be soon washed out.”
The Generals did what’s best for
Tavares, allowing him a chance at
a championship and maybe even
a Memorial Cup, which he probably would not have gotten here
and most importantly, Oshawa
did what was best for them, building towards the future.
The Chronicle
SPORTS NEWS
January 27, 2009
25
Lords weather the storm,
keep winning streak intact
By Ryan Joseph
Chronicle Staff
Photo by Andrew Huska
POOR SHOWING FOR LORDS: Trevor Darlington
takes the ball beside goaltender Andrew Macleod
during indoor soccer tryouts on Jan. 13.
Men’s indoor
soccer team
has hands full
By Andrew Huska
Chronicle Staff
It was a disappointing day
on Jan. 17 for the Durham
Lords men’s indoor soccer
team.
The Lords failed to win any
games in the round robin portion of the Centennial College
tournament at the Milan Sports
Centre in Woodbridge. In their
first game against a team made
up of Humber College alumni
they lost 1-0.
Their next game against the
current Humber Hawks, ended 1-0 for the opponents. Next
the Lords faced off against
Conestoga, which ended in a
1-1 draw. Finally Durham met
the defending OCAA champions the Redeemer Royals,
losing 2-1.The Lords finished
the tournament in third place
in their division and failed to
make the playoff round later
in the day. “We didn’t do as
well as I would have liked,” said
head coach Stan Bombino.
“However, the guys played really well and were up against
some stiff competition.”
Bombino said a proper
playing facility and experienced players are key to indoor
soccer success. “Most of these
teams have the opportunity to
play and practise in an indoor
facility, which gives them a
great advantage,” he said.
“We have a fairly good indoor team, but [we] could use a
couple of experienced players
that played in the fall but, because of other commitments,
were not able to play indoor.”
Bombino said Durham has
some experienced players like
Trevor Delpippo, Jason Walker
and goalkeeper Andrew Macleod. “Compared to other colleges, who have seven or eight
players, it is very challenging,”
he said.
The Lords’ next tournament
is the Sheridan College tournament on Valentine’s Day.
After that it’s the OCAA
regional championships and
provincial championships in
March.
“We will continue to work
hard and hopefully we will be
able to bring home another
medal as we did a couple of
years ago at the provincial finals,” he said.
The Campus Athletic Centre
is becoming a tougher place for
visiting teams to play, as the Durham Lords men’s basketball team
improved to 7-0 with a win against
the Algonquin Thunder on Jan. 17.
Things didn’t start off well for
the Lords as the Thunder were hot
from the three- point arch, going
eight of 14 for the first half. As a
result the Lords trailed 27-10 midway through the first half.
“We were nervous, and they
shoot the ball well,” said head
coach Desmond Rowley.
The Lords, however didn’t hang
their heads as they used the momentum from the home crowd
to go on a 27-10 run to end the
half. The run included a Courtney
Small layup to tie the game at 37
in the last minute. At the half the
teams remainded tied.
In the second half it felt like a
playoff game with each team exchanging the lead. The Lords managed to grab their first lead of the
game at 43-42.
However, the Thunder suddenly began to pull away as they built
a 10-point lead at 61-51 with 9:56
left. Just like the first half the Lords
kept their heads up and went on a
12-2 run to tie the game at 63 with
7:40 left.
In the next three minutes the
see-saw battle continued from early in the half as each team traded
baskets. However, the Lords managed to hold a 73-68 lead with 4:20
left. Timeout Thunder.
After the timeout Thunder
guard Charly Spurr briefly took
over the game, hitting a tough shot
with Small’s hand in his face to cut
the Lords lead to 73-70. Then on
the next Thunder possession he
hit a three-point basket to tie the
game at 73. After a Lords turnover
he hit a jumpshot to give the Thunder a 75-73 lead with 2:20 left. Timeout Lords.
The Lords got the ball to Anthony Batchelor who drove aggressively to the basket. He made
a layup while being fouled, and
the Lords fans erupted out of their
seats. He then made the free throw
to give the Lords a 76-75 lead.
Spurr would come back to
haunt the Lords as he hit another
jumpshot to give the Thunder a 7776 lead with less than a minute to
play. The Lords got the ball to Eric
Smith and he laid the ball into the
basket. The Lords re-took lead 7877 with 20 seconds left.
“I was thinking, get the ball into
the basket. If I missed I would go
for the rebound,” said Smith.
The Thunder fouled Smith to
stop the clock with 13.2 left.
Smith hit both free throws to
give the Lords an 80-77 lead.
The Thunder got the ball to
Spurr for a game-tying three point
basket, but it rimmed out.
A battle for the rebound took
place, but a Lords player knocked
the ball out of bounds with 3.6 seconds left. Timeout Thunder.
Thunder forward Luc Minani was the inbounder as Smith
jumped up and down blocking his
view.
Photo by Ryan Joseph
LORDS DEFEAT THUNDER: Durham College’s Dave
Parks drives past two Thunder defenders, helping lead
the Lords to an 81-77 home victory on Jan. 17.
Minani was forced to move to
see the passing lanes, resulting a
travelling violation.
The Lords got the ball back and
Batchelor was fouled quickly. He
hit one of two free throws to secure
the win. The crowd cheered loudly
as the clock struck triple zeros.
“They know we are right there
with them,” said Rowley after the
win.
Smith had his second double
double of the weekend, scoring 20
points, and grabbing 14 rebounds.
He also added a season high six assists, while playing 40 minutes.
“He is a freshman in years, but
he plays like a senior,” said Rowley.
Batchelor had a solid game,
netting 14 points. He also shot well
from the free throw line, going six
for seven. Spurr led the Thunder
scoring attack with a game-high
26 points.
The Lords did a good job controlling the boards as they out-rebounded the Thunder 40-20.
Rowley said his team played
well, but he has seen them play
better.
In the locker room after the
game Smith said everyone was
happy for the win, but they weren’t
cocky.
With the win the Lords improved to 11-3, placing them in an
East Region first-place tie with the
Thunder and St. Lawrence Vikings
with 22 points.
The three teams, and West Region leader Niagara Falcons are
tied for the most points in the
OCAA.
The next game for the Lords
was at home against the Georgian
Grizzlies on Jan. 23. Results for the
game where not available at presstime.
Small’s advice for his teammates for the next game is don’t
take the opponent lightly, and play
with a mentality like the score is
0-0.
“As long as we play defence no
one can beat us,” he said.
26 The Chronicle
January 27, 2009
SPORTS NEWS
UOIT Ridgebacks win 1 of 2
By Lauren Thomas
Chronicle Staff
It was a roller coaster weekend
for the UOIT Ridgebacks men’s
hockey team who experienced
both a win and loss at the Campus
Ice Centre on Jan. 16-17.
Squaring off against the Ottawa Gee Gees on Friday, the
Ridgebacks won 4-2 and followed
it up with a 4-2 loss to the second
place nationally ranked Universite du Quebec au Trois-Rivieres
(UQTR).
The Ridgebacks were out-shot
38-32 against the Gee Gees but it
was Ridgeback assistant captain
Brent Varty who opened up the
scoring, got two goals and earned
himself first star of the night.
Assists came from Kyle Wetering, T.J. Legge and two from Dustin
Turner.
Making his debut on home ice
was goalie Jeff Dawson, whose
presence, along with special teams,
played a big part in the win against
the Gee Gees.
“He’s a very calm, cool and unemotional goalie,” said head coach
Marlin Muylaert. “He made some
great saves for us.”
Another first appearance was
made by newly named captain
Derek Bagshaw, former assistant
captain. The decision was an easy
one, said Muylaert.
“There wasn’t any question
within the team as to naming Derek the captain.”
Taking Bagshaw’s place as assistant captain is Nathan Spaling
who was the Ridgebacks leading
scorer last season.
The third period ended 3-1. The
third goal of the night was scored
by Mike Noyes, assisted by Bagshaw.
Clinching the win for the Ridgeback men was Tony Rizzi with assists from Ryan Spencer and Mike
Noyes.
UQTR proved a tougher challenge for the Ridgebacks, who
played a solid 40 minutes during
the first and third period but fell
apart during the second period.
“Our emotions got the best of
us in the second period… rather
than show mental toughness they
overreacted in the situation,” Muylaert said.
Ridgeback Shane Nolan scored
the first goal of the day. However,
UQTR would end the second period with a 3-1 lead.
Penalties proved a big problem
for the Ridgebacks and key players
Josh Vatri and Steve Spade were
ejected from the game.
Starting the third period without two important players captain
Bagshaw scored for the Ridgebacks and brought them within
one goal.
Unfortunately for the men,
UQTR got an empty net goal bringing the final score to 4-2.
“The last five games have been
the best of this program,” said
Muylaert. “We’re starting to reach
a level of consistency.”
With the weekend results the
men fall to a 4-14-2 record and
will play their next game at home
against the Ryerson Rams on
Jan. 28.
Photo by Lauren Thomas
RIDGEBACKS DEFEAT OTTAWA: Ridgeback Ryan Spencer dashes past the Ottawa
Gee Gee’s during Friday’s 4-2 win at the Campus Ice Centre.
Lords defeat Golden Shield
By Ryan Joseph
Chronicle Staff
The Durham Lords men’s
basketball team continues their
strong play as they defeated the
Cambrian Golden Shield 95-73,
on Jan.16.
In the first half it was a see-saw
battle as both teams held a lead of
less than five points. The Lords led
17-13 with 13:58 left. A few minutes later the Golden Shield tied
the game at 17.
The teams remained close
for the remainder of the half. The
Lords outscored the Golden Shield
26-23, to take a 43-40 lead after 20
minutes.
In the locker room, head coach
Desmond Rowley said his team
needed to pick up their defensive
intensity.
The Lords followed Rowley’s
orders as they opened the second
half on a 15-6 run. The run included
a flagrant personal foul by Golden
Shield guard Lucas Wiebenga.
A flagrant personal foul is excessive or severe contact during a
live ball. The player fouled receives
two free throws and their team
gets the ball back on the baseline.
Anthony Batchelor went to the
free throw line and made both free
throws. Then off the inbound pass
Eric Smith cut to the basket for a
layup, after the Lords jumped into
the passing lanes and stole the ball
resulting in a layup by guard Tyler
Pelley. At that point the Lords led
58-46.
The Lords didn’t let the Golden Shield get close again as they
cruised to the 22-point win.
“We are playing well at the right
time,” said Rowley.
The Lords defence held the
Golden Shield to 33 second-half
points. They also held OCAA second leading scorer Brady Boland
to 14 points. Coming into the game
Boland was averaging 26 points
per game.
Smith shook off his poor performance against Seneca, scoring
a game-high 28 points. He also
grabbed 17 rebounds, and dished
out five assists.
“This isn’t his best, he keeps
maturing every game,” said Lords
forward Calvin Nkwe.
During the team’s six-game
conference winning streak, Smith
is averaging 20 points and 11 rebounds. He is also second in the
OCAA with 109 rebounds.
Batchelor chipped in with 23
points. During the winning streak
he has scored at least 20 points in
five games.
He leads the team with 18
points per game.
Missing from the game was
Lords forward Nicholas Brown because of an ankle injury suffered in
the Seneca game.
“The ankle feels good,” he said.
“The therapist worked me hard to
get me ready for the Algonquin
game.”
Lords
upcoming
schedule
By Ryan Joseph
Chronicle Staff
Durham Lords men’s basketball team schedule for the second half of the 2008-09 season.
Jan. 27: Tyndale (Exhibition).
Game time is 8 p.m.
Feb. 4: at St. Lawrence (Kingston). Game time is 8 p.m.
Feb. 6: La Cite. Game time is
8 p.m.
Feb. 10: Centennial. Game
time is 8 p.m.
Feb. 13: Fleming (Peterborough). Game time is 8 p.m.
Feb. 17: at Loyalist. Game
time is 8 p.m.
OCAA playoffs: TBA
Photo by Ryan Joseph
LORDS WIN: Eric Smith (left) drives his way to a spectacular night against Cambrian Golden Shield on Jan.
16. Lords won 95-73.
Brown said he could have
played, but the coach didn’t want
him to re-injure the ankle and miss
more time.
March 6-7: OCAA Provincial
Championships at Algonquin.
Game times TBA.
March 19-21: CCAA National
Championships at University of
Northern British Columbia.
March 28: OCAA All-Star game
at Durham College.
The Chronicle
SPORTS NEWS
January 27, 2009
27
Stat Pack
OCAA Men’s Basketball standings
(East)
School
Durham
Algonquin
St. Lawrence K
Fleming P
W
11
11
11
10
L
3
2
2
2
T
0
0
0
0
OCAA Men’s Basketball standings (East)
continued
PTS.
22
22
22
20
School
George Brown
Cambrian
Seneca
Centennial
Team Leaders
School
Fleming
Algonquin
George B.
Durham
Player
Jovain Wilson
Charly Spurr
Collin Whitely
Anthony Batch.
GP
12
13
14
13
PTS
274
314
254
237
GP
23
23
23
20
W
11
9
8
4
L
9
12
12
15
School
Seneca
St. Lawrence
Cambrian
La Cite
PPG
22.83
24.15
18.14
18.23
Team
Laurier
Guelph
Toronto
York
Brock
GP
19
18
18
20
18
W
19
12
11
10
8
L
0
4
6
10
7
T
0
0
0
0
PTS.
16
14
8
6
February
Feb. 4 - @ St. Lawrence
Feb. 6 - La Cite
Feb. 10 - Centennial
Feb. 13 - Fleming
Feb. 17 - @ Loyalist
Player
Vadim Halimov
Ajhmo Clarke
Brady Boland
Emerick Ravier
GP
13
12
13
11
PTS
177
198
328
258
March
PPG
13.62
16.50
25.23
23.45
Mar. 6-7 - OCA Prov.
Championships
Mar. 19-21 - CCA National Championships
UOIT Men’s Hockey
Upcoming Schedule
Team Leaders
T
0
0
0
0
OTL PTS
3
25
2
20
3
19
1
9
OUA Women’s Hockey Standings
Rank
1
2
3
4
5
L
7
6
9
10
Team Leaders
OUA Men’s Hockey (Mid West)
School
York
Guelph
Brock
UOIT
W
8
7
4
3
Lords Men’s Basketball
Upcoming Schedule
Player
Jesse Grespan
Kris Belan
Nathan Hooper
Josh Vatri
GP
28
22
21
17
G
13
9
8
9
A
15
4
2
11
Jan. 28 - Ryerson
Jan. 29 - @ York
Feb. 6 - Brock
Feb. 7 - @ York
Feb. 13 - Guelph
Feb. 14 - @ Brock
PTS
28
13
10
20
UOIT Women’s Hockey
Upcoming Schedule
OUA Women’s Hockey Standings
T
0
0
0
0
0
OTL
0
2
1
0
3
PTS
38
26
23
20
19
Rank
6
7
8
9
10
Team
Queen’s
Windsor
Waterloo
Western
UOIT
GP
18
19
18
19
19
W
9
9
7
5
3
L
8
9
9
8
16
T
0
0
0
0
0
OTL
1
1
2
6
0
PTS
19
19
16
16
6
Jan. 30 - York
Jan. 31 - @ Brock
Feb. 14 - @ U of T
Feb. 14 - Waterloo
Feb. 21 - @ Western
Feb. 22 - @Windsor
Lords women defeat Trent
By Stephanie Pollard
New
record
for Lords
V-ball
Chronicle Staff
Lords captain Mandi Doris set
the single-season block record as
the Durham Lords women’s volleyball team beat the Trent Excalibur 3-2 (15-25, 18-25, 25-20, 25-20,
15-11) inside the varsity gym on
Jan. 20. Doris set the record with
66 blocks for the year. The win
holds the Lords in third place in
the East Region.
In the first and second set the
Lords came to the court with no
focus or control, allowing Trent to
crush them.
The Lords struggled to keep up
with Trent, who jumped ahead,
forcing head coach Shane Christopher to use up his timeouts, the
final one being called when the
Lords were down 12 points.
The Lords started coming back
after the timeout ended but they
had gone too far too fast and lost
the set 25-18. But the Lords, who
play to win, made a huge turnaround in the final three sets.
In the third and fourth sets the
Lords started slowly but steadily
caught up to Trent until they
trailed by as little as two points.
The Lords easily won and
maintained their service and they
put the ball on the ground quickly.
Trent called a worried timeout
once the Lords were up by two.
The Lords became their old team
again, rocketing past the Excalibur
with six points.
Freshman Julie Hakeesteegt
and Kerri Fatherby came up with
the final block to end the fourth set
Photo by Stephanie Pollard
LORDS BLOW PAST TRENT: Lords player Samantha Roelofsen waits for Trent’s serve
when they faced Durham on Jan. 20. Durham won by a score of 3-2.
25-20. The Lords greeted the final
set with solid defence and went up
three points.
Long rallies took place throughout the set with players from either
team diving to save the ball just before it hit the ground.
But the Lords kept their focus
and a final block from Steph Baggot and Meghan Renwick sealed
Durham’s victory and ended the
set 15-11.
Head coach Shane Christopher
was happy that Durham won, but
happier with what his team did in
order to win the game.
“(When) they come together as
a group and they start relying on
each other and trusting each other,
they’re fine,” he said.
The Durham Lords hosted Boreal on Jan. 24 at 3 p.m. and Cambrian on Jan. 25 at noon. Results
weren’t available at press time.
Lords captain Mandi
Doris set a single season block record with 66
blocks.
28 The Chronicle
January 27, 2009