niagara-news.com N playoff spot real, true page 12 n iagara n e W s · 2018-10-10 · Chris Fraser,...

NNWomen’s basketball

team pushing for playoff spot

page 13

niagara neWs

real, true detectives

page 12

January 24, 2014 • VOL. 45 Issue 8

niagara-news.com

By GauTaM aILaWaDHIStaff Writer

Are leaders born that way or can those skills be taught?

LEAD NC, launched this year by the college, helps pre-pare students for leadership roles. Exemplifying leader-ship potential, 40 students, from different educational streams, were nominated by a Niagara College staff or fac-ulty member to participate in LEAD NC, the new Student Leadership Exploration and Development program.

LEAD NC is a co-curricu-lar program designed to give students the opportunity to explore and further develop their leadership skills. Suc-cessful participants after the program will be earning a LEAD NC Distinction in Leadership credential on their co-curricular record.

Through workshops, a speaker series and leader-ship experience, this free-of-charge program will offer students a unique opportunity to develop their resumé and portfolio, gain a competitive advantage, and valuable lead-ership skills and experience.

The LEAD NC program started last December with an orientation on Dec. 12, and will end in April 2014.

Carolyn Finlayson, LEAD program co-ordinator, says, “I believe leaders are both born and nurtured. People are born with characteristics but I think we need to look at lead-ership in multifaceted ways.

“Leadership skills can be learnt. There are silent lead-ers who have skills, which allow them to take a step and achieve their own goals.”

Continued on page 2

By KyLe MeLansOnStaff Writer

Awkward, uncomfortable and an invasion of personal space. No, that isn’t describ-ing a trip to the dentist but the often-unheard side effects of a hug.

Jan. 21 marked the 28th annual National Hug Day. Twenty-four hours in which you are encouraged to give hugs to family members, friends, companions and if you’re up to it, strang-ers. The hugs are meant to be given without reason, all casual hugs, all day. A

widespread thought is that people love hugs. It is com-monly believed hugs bring joy and comfort to all, and, at times they do. However, a day created just to celebrate the hug is a nightmare for some.

Chris Fraser, 22, of Welland, says that hugs are not for him.

“They are an invasion of my personal space. I would rather wave or shake some-one’s hand. I hate when a friend wants to hug because they haven’t seen me in awhile.”

Continued on page 9

By aLeXanDra MOnTanaStaff Writer

Hug the one you’re with. If you received a few

extra hugs on Jan. 21 it may have been because Tuesday was the annual unofficial holiday coined National Hug Day.

It was created in Michigan by Reverend Kevin Zabor-ney in 1986 and has since gained much attention.

Jan. 21 was chosen as the perfect time for a hug holiday because it is after Christmas and New Year’s

when people are generally in dismal moods.

Hug Day encourages peo-ple to embrace family and friends more often due to the emotional and psycho-logical benefits it has. Today, Canada, Australia, Germany and China are some of the countries celebrating the unofficial holiday.

Chantelle Henszke, 22, of Niagara Falls, says, “I like hugs because they’re warm and welcoming. They are a great way to greet people and break down awkward barriers.”

Continued on page 9

New course making leaders out of students

Hugs: a gesture of love or an unpleasant exchange?some believe that hugs are healthy others would rather shake hands

By nICK Fearns Staff Writer

It’s Monday. Who’s been in town announcing what? It’s byelection time. There has been a parade of politicians and party lead-ers in the last two weeks as

they vie for voters’ support on Feb. 13.

Last week the Liberal Kathleen Wynne govern-ment announced an invest-ment of $75 million towards a wine and grape strategy and a $26.2-million plan-ning grant for a new South

Niagara hospital prior to calling a byelection for the Niagara Falls riding. All three parties leaders have been supporting their candidates, with Federal Liberal Party Leader Justin Trudeau tagging along to support Liberal party

candidate Joyce Morocco. Progressive Conservative candidate Bart Maves and his party leader Tim Hudak have been promoting their “One Million Jobs” plan. New Democratic Leader Andrea Horwath was also in town for the announcement

of Wayne Gates as the offi-cial NDP candidate. Horwath and Gates were in Fort Erie calling on the Liberal gov-ernment to “pony up” for a Festival Meet at the Fort Erie Race Track before the end of the month. For more byelec-tion coverage see Page 5.

Premier Kathleen Wynne and Liberal Party Leader Justin Truedeau visited several Niagara High schools last week. PHOTO By nICK Fearns

Let the campaigning begin

“I believe leaders are both born and nurture.”CarOLyn FInLaysOn

Juan Mann, FLICKr

NIAGARA NEWS • Jan. 24, 2014

NEWS

By CARLIE CHERNENKOStaff Writer

“Nursing is a high stress, fast-paced profession where actions and decisions result in instantaneous positive or negative outcomes for another human being.”

That is how Meghan Fri-esen, a 28-year-old Practical Nursing student, views the profession she has chosen.

Friesen is “very proud” of her program work, but will always feel she could have done a bit more. “It’s like the house is clean, but it’s never really clean.”

She says that, despite hav-ing won the 2013 SIM Student Award. She entered the SIM-one Simulation Student Contest with an essay about how health care simulations have changed her learning. According to Friesen, the con-test was open to any health care student in Ontario.

“It could be a chiropractor student, a dental hygiene student, med students, any health care student in the province.”

Friesen is in the modified Practical Nursing program here, which is delivered in a slightly different way than the regular program.

It is carried over three years instead of two and most of the classes are on weekends or in the evening.

Friesen is completing her program’s last placement in

the emergency room at the new hospital in St. Catha-rines. She will complete the program on Jan. 31.

Although she has enjoyed her program “very much” she adds, “You absolutely have to want to do it. The more time you put into it, the better off you are.”

As for spare time Friesen

said the modified delivery allowed her to work outside of class.

It was in October 2013, af-ter an announcement by one of her professors, Friesen entered the SIM-one Simula-tion Student Contest.

On Nov. 18, Friesen was announced as a recipient of the 2013 SIM Student

Award, alongside Lucy Dong Xuan Li from the University of Toronto, and was pre-sented with the award at the 2013 Ontario Simulation Exposition in Toronto.

From Dec. 5 to Dec. 6, Fri-esen attended the 2013 SIM Expo at the InterContinental Toronto Centre Hotel along with over 300 other people.

While there, she participated in workshops and listened to the keynote speakers.

In her winning essay she wrote, “I have come to real-ize there are two moments where I am most thankful for my simulation experi-ence: the moment immedi-ately before and the mo-ment after I have safely and successfully performed that skill on a patient.”

Friesen notes that she found the simulations dif-ficult to appreciate fully until she had gone from using them to being out in the community with real people.

“You can say OK, I’m about to give an injection to this person and I’m feeling a little bit more comfortable because I’ve had this experi-ence in the lab. I mean, that being said, it’s still really scary, but it is a feeling of being much more prepared and until you’ve had the lab training and then gone out into the real world, it’s hard to understand.”

Her overall experi-ence with simulations has changed her outlook on the way she goes about doing her job.

“From an education standpoint it’s helped me to appreciate the tools that we have in the skills lab at the school and it’s made me want to sort of help get the word out and help other students to access different resources

to help in learning.”Through a few chuckles,

she offers that if she had the chance to go through the program again she would take the lab components “a lot more seriously.”

On the SIM-one website, Dr. Bruce Ballon, SIM-one’s direc-tor of education, says, “Having read and watched the entries, we see that health care train-ing has become more expe-riential and transformative. I anticipate the entrants of this award will having exciting careers ahead.”

On that note, Friesen is unsure about what she wants to do after gradua-tion. She says she enjoys caring for others, but has been contemplating going to medical school to further her education in the health care field.

“There’s a lot of consider; it’s a big commitment. I’d like to have a family at some point [and] it’s a lot of time, a lot of money. I would have to make sure that I was in it completely.”

While Friesen mulls that over, she says she feels like she might miss the hands-on aspect of nursing, or the “people care”.

“You know, I really, re-ally, really like caring for people; I love it. It sounds so cheap, but it makes me feel full. That sounds so embarrassingly cheesy, but it’s true.”

For many years Avondale stores have generously distributed 2,600 copies of each

Niagara News issue across the

Niagara Region.

Avondale demonstrates how good corporate

citizens support student learning.

Thank YouThank You

Niagara student wins nursing award

Continued from page 1Jane McTavish, study-

ing in the Public Relations Graduate Certificate pro-gram here, was nominated for the leadership program. “Lead NC has been reward-ing with new skills I’ve learned. It’s helped me rec-ognize strengths I possess and given me the oppor-tunity to meet and mingle

with experts in the industry that mentor us. I see this program as a great stepping stone for my future as it is helping me grow personally and professionally.”

Lesley Calvin, manager student engagement and leadership, says, “The launch of student engage-ment and leadership hap-pened in September 2012.

It helps students in a lot of ways such as engaging the student to gain co-curricular experience for getting in-volved. It helps in creating opportunities that students can take advantage of. It also differentiates them from other students.”

LEAD NC received grant funding from the provin-cial Ministry of Training,

Colleges and Universities and the Productivity and Innovation Fund to facilitate the program.

Calvin adds, “Niagara College supports leadership development. In addition to the academics in Niag-ara College and leadership skills outside the classroom, we look forward to graduate tomorrow’s leaders.”

Teaching leadership skills

Meghan Friesen, 28, proudly holds her award certificate as a 2013 SIM Student Award recipient. PHOTO BY CARLIE CHERNENKO

Nominated students pose at the Orientation for the LEAD NC program at the Niagara-on-the-Lake campus.SUBMITTED PHOTO

NNfans excited for

breaking badseason finalepage 14

niagara news

affleck to face off against supermanpage 14

September 20, 2013 • vol. 45 iSSue 1

niagara-news.com

by NiCK FeArNS Staff WriterClick, click, add to cart,

enter credit card informa-

tion and confirm.You aren’t ordering a book from Amazon, you’re

selecting one of the Niagara

College Teaching Winery’s

award-winning wines, now

available online.The Niagara College Teaching Winery is partner-

ing with eWinery Solutions

to sell wine in Ontario, Brit-

ish Columbia and Manitoba.

Future plans to sell Niagara

College wine in the United

States are in the works but

could be finalised this fall.“The solution that we’ve

built for Niagara College

Teaching Winery has vastly

increased their customer

service and reach,” says Ron Scharman, president

of eWinery Solutions, in a

press release.“They are now capable

of selling wine to anyone

in Ontario, and will shortly

be able to do the same in

the U.S.A. Not only that, but their new wine club

gives them a consistent customer base to leverage

and expand.”

Members of Niagara College Teaching Winery

‘Top of the Class’ Wine Club

receive a monthly shipment

of wine along with wine

tasting notes and food pair-

ing suggestions. Members

will also receive invitations

to exclusive club events and

wine education seminars.Steve Gill, general man-

ager of Winery and Beer

Operations, says the new

site “provides flexibility

and keeps us up to date

and relevant.”The new wine club and

online sales will help to generate more revenue for

the Winery program.“All the money stays in

the Winery program,” says

Gill. “All the equipment the

students learn from is paid

for by wine sales.”For those worried about

minors using a parent’s credit card to order wine,

they can rest assured. Gill

says Canada Post knows the

laws regarding the ship-ment of wine and requires

someone with identification

to sign for the shipment.Amanda Houser, 29, of

Dunnville, says she likes

to drink wine and was interested in checking the

online selection.Many wines will be avail-

able on the website includ-

ing the 2010 Dean’s List

Chardonnay, gold medal

winner at InterVin and the

Canadian Wine Awards, and

2011 Unoaked Chardonnay,

gold medal at All-Canadian

Wine Championships.The Niagara College

Teaching Winery at the Niagara-on-the-Lake cam-

pus is the only commercial

teaching winery in Canada.

The Niagara College Teaching Winery website

is http://www.niagaracol-

legewine.ca.

by GAutAm AilAWADHi

Staff WriterOrientation is a big thing

for any college.It welcomes returning

students to the old rou-tine while allowing new

students to get familiar with

the college culture. Niagara

College achieved another

milestone this year by pushing student enrolment

beyond 10,000.Over 5,000 full-time first-years and about 750

international students are joining nearly 4,500

students returning to finish

their programs.Some are coming straight

from high school and for

other it’s their first inter-

national experience, which

presents its own unique

challenges.Peter Zhang, 26, is origi-

nally from China but is here

studying Electronic Engi-

neering.“The orientation was very well organized and

my professors helped me

and my classmates to settle

down,” says Zhang. “Overall,

the staff of college was very

friendly and guiding us very

well. The best thing what I

liked was the ‘Ask Me’ pin,

which the staff was wear-

ing. It made it very clear for

me or any new student of

Niagara College to ask ques-

tions and get familiar with

the college.”“Niagara College has a

hundred programs and have

a wide variety to choose

from. The college brand

is going international and

this is very good,” says Eric

Silvestri, associate registrar

Admissions and Financial

Aid. “Students are getting

to understand the value of

education, as these days

employers are looking for skilled workers. The

Brewmaster program is also

getting popular among the

students who come from

the U.S.”However, Silvestri says

the majority of the students

here are from the Niagara

region because students

prefer living at home with

their families.The college offers a wide

variety of programs, and a

lot of cost is saved.“The percentage of

dropout is about one to two

per cent and the reasons

depend [on the situation],

such as personal reasons,

financial problems, academ-

ics and living arrangement

issues,” says Silvestri.Continued on page 2

Run oR Dye DRaws 5,000

by JeNN JoNeSStaff WriterHard work doesn’t go

unrecognized when you’re a

great businessman.According to their web-

site, on March 7, 2014, the

Niagara Entrepreneur of the

Year Awards will host a gala

to recognize those whose

entrepreneurial businesses

have made significant im-

pacts and differences within

the community.The awards will celebrate

the successes and accom-

plishments of Niagara’s “best and brightest” en-

trepreneurs and business

leaders, and draw special

attention to their hard

work, determination and

creativity.“There are many busi-ness owners out there. …

Every recipient up there

[on stage] is not only pas-

sionate about what they’re

doing, but passionate about

their employees,” says Lisa

Cairns, executive director,

Niagara Entrepreneur of the

Year Awards.Since 1994, there have

been more than 795 nomi-

nations in fields ranging

from crop management services to leading edge bio-

technology, with 257 of the

nominees receiving recogni-

tion through the awards

program.Continued on page 2

Coloured powder being thrown into a crowd of people at the music and dye stage.

pHoto by miCHelle AlleNberG

College welcomes 10,000

Awards celebrate community leadersCollege wine now available online in Ontario, B.C., Manitoba

advertising information:Adreach [email protected]

advertise in the only paper dedicated to the niagara College community


news

By MICHELLE ALLENBERGStaff Writer

It won’t be the first time Junior Culinary Team Can-ada team member Rebekka Schmitt will be travelling to Germany.

Schmitt, 19, has been participating in culinary competitions since high school.

After being reviewed by chefs through Niagara Col-lege, she was chosen to be part of the Junior Culinary Team Canada to participate in the Culinary Olympics.

It will be held in Germany in 2016, but this won’t be the first time she has been to a European country. Born there, she moved to Canada 17 years ago. In the past, she stayed with her aunt and uncle for six months and has visited almost every year.

Being a German citizen on Team Canada has some obstacles. She needs to be Canadian and is working toward dual citizenship be-fore the Culinary Olympics in 2016. The problem is that Germany does not allow dual citizenship. She must give the German govern-ment a “good” reason for having dual citizenship. It is a “pretty long process” involving paperwork. If it isn’t granted she can’t be part of the four core team members.

“This is a big decision.” She is unsure if she would relinquish her German citizenship because one day she would like to work in

Europe and it would give her that opportunity.

“This work means a lot to me. I’m not going to give up so easy.”

Fellow teammate and friend Daniella Germond, 19, says Schmitt is “a very dedicated student,” and “every time I see her around campus she is either in class, working in the Central stores or working extracur-ricular activities.”

Besides cooking, she “loves to travel”, actually has a “passion” for it. In high school she went on

an exchange to Argentina through the Rotary Youth Exchange. Living with a host family, she learned about the culture, something she likes to do. Talented as a cook, fluent in German, she can speak a bit of Spanish too.

She has “always loved cooking” as her family does a lot of it at home, especially German cuisine.

Avi Hollo, chef professor here, says she met Schmitt three years ago in a cooking competition. Hollo remarks that she has a “strong work

ethic” and her best quality is attention to detail.

Tiramisu, an Italian des-sert made with sponge cake and mascarpone cheese, tops Schmitt’s dessert favourites list, so it’s natural she chose to prepare it for the recent Niagara College Caps, Corks and Forks.

Of the 20 people who put their ideas for a dessert for-ward, hers was selected.

But, this Tiramisu had a unique twist: ladyfingers soaked in a Niagara College Stout beer with poured Niagara College ice wine

syrup on the plate.Germond says, “I think

Rebekka’s cooking is very good,” noting that one of her own favourite dishes was Schmitt’s Caps, Corks and Forks Tiramisu.

Hollo says Schmitt is “at-tentive, enthusiastic, and always trying to improve herself” as a student.

As a team member, Schmitt acknowledges it’s a “once in a lifetime oppor-tunity”, but “there is quite a bit of pressure.” There has been a higher expectation for her in class.

Hollo agrees. “She is looked upon and judged differently now, to a higher standard. Not only by her colleagues, but by her other professors.”

“I feel like I should know everything because I am on the team,” Schmitt explains.

Germond asserts Schmitt is great to work with and “she has an amazing energy in the kitchen” as she is always striving for the best.

Since joining the team Hollo has observed Schmitt has become more self-confi-dent and “a better leader.”

By SHEILA PRITCHARDStaff Writer

“It’s been a big week for post-secondary.”

Brad Duguid, minister of Training, Colleges and Universities (MTCU), ad-dressed students across Ontario in a teleconference to discuss new investments announced last week as part of the transformation of Ontario’s post-secondary sector.

Beginning on Jan. 13, Du-guid introduced “exciting” new initiatives to improve online learning accessibility, make it easier for students to volunteer for the 2015 Pan Am and Parapan Am Games, and increase credit transfer options.

First addressed was the province’s plan to improve online learning.

The MTCU is creating a Centre of Excellence for Online Learning to give stu-dents one window of access to high-quality, transferable online courses and reduce course duplication.

“This is a huge under-taking and frankly what it

does is it moves Ontario from being a jurisdiction that was, at best, middle of the road when it comes to implementing online technology to a jurisdiction that, I think, is fast going to become a global leader,” says Duguid.

To launch in time for the 2015-16 school year, Ontario Online will improve collaboration between colleges and universities by minimizing duplication, allowing students to take the same, centralized online course.

The online platform will also give students the flex-ibility to receive world-class instruction wherever and whenever it works best for them.

The system will operate through three inter-related hubs. The instruction hub, or knowledge hub, will al-low institutions to develop and share best practices, research, and data on how best to teach online courses.

“The knowledge hub is really exciting,” says Duguid. “It will provide a resource that we currently don’t

have. This will help reform Ontario Online and ensure that the product that comes out of Ontario Online will be the best online learning technology in the world.”

The support hub will pro-vide academic and techni-cal assistance to students, instructors and institutions “on how to best utilize this new tool and how best to utilize the technology that it offers.”

Third, the course hub will offer state-of-the-art online courses fully transferable between participating colleges and universities, giving students more op-tions to earn credits and complete their education.

“[This hub] will establish and provide the best online courses to a variety of dif-ferent disciplines that will provide every student and institution that’s a partner in Ontario to go online with full access and recognition, no matter where they are in the province.”

Duguid says there are some leaders in Ontario when it comes to online learning, but there needs to

be more consistent partici-pation.

“We have a real hodge-podge across the province when it comes to college and university systems, so with Ontario Online, what we’re establishing is an organi-zation that will now help provide a more co-ordinated approach to online learning to ensure that every student in this province ultimately will get access to overly competitive online courses and products.”

Feridun Hamdullahpur, president and vice chan-cellor at the University of Waterloo, says he looks forward to collaborating with the MTCU.

“Over its history, the University of Waterloo has been a leader in online edu-cation and through the new Ontario Online initiative, we look forward to using this experience for the benefit of students throughout Ontario.”

The second announce-ment addressed the MTCU’s efforts to make it easier for about 4,500 college and university students who

receive support through the Ontario Student Assistance Program (OSAP) to volun-teer for the 2015 Pan Am and Parapan Am Games.

New and returning students who volunteer will not be required to make a pre-study financial contribution, ensuring they can receive more support through OSAP to account for the fact they volunteered instead of taking paid jobs during their summer break.

“We want to make sure that students who volunteer for the games, and thereby forgo a period of time they could be earning income, aren’t in any way hurt by that,” says Duguid.

New graduates who vol-unteer will be able to defer paying their OSAP loan until one full year after com-pleting full-time studies, allowing for an additional six months before interest is charged on the loan and they are required to start repaying.

“Students graduating and volunteering in the 2015 academic year will get this break.”

Duguid says the MTCU wants to encourage the maximum number of students to participate in and volunteer at the Games.

“The Games are going to require 20,000 volunteers overall and it’s going to be a great, once-in-a-lifetime experience for this genera-tion.

The last time an event of this magnitude was done in the Greater Toronto Area, or Ontario, was in 1931, so we want to make sure students don’t miss out on the oppor-tunity if they choose.”

Michael Chan, minister responsible for the 2015 Pan Am/Parapan American Games, says volunteer par-ticipation is essential.

“The success of interna-tional sporting events is truly thanks to the efforts and enthusiasm of the volunteers.

This is the power of sport hosting – maximizing meaningful opportunities for Ontarians while creat-ing a lasting legacy that will benefit the province well beyond 2015.”

Rebekka Schmitt prepares a specialty dish at the college. PHoTo By MICHELLE ALLENBERG

Culinary student looks forward to visit home

New program to make online courses more accessible

Junior team member faces long process involving citizenship


Editor: Jesse Cole

Associate Editor: Krysta Putman

Assistant Editor: Meaghan Mitchell

Photo Editor: Sheila Pritchard

Editorial

2009 WINNER2009 WINNERC A N A D I A NCOMMUNITYNEWSPAPERAWARD 2011

BNC2009

Publisher: Greg Unrau

Program Co-ordinator: Paul Dayboll

Managing Editor: Charles Kopun

Associate Editor: Phyllis Barnatt

Photography Consultant: Dave Hanuschuk

The Alberta oil sands’ website lists the most com-mon uses for its product as heating, fuel, plastics, lubricants, asphalt, syn-thetic fabrics (swimwear, lingerie), plastic dishes, TVs, perfume (ew, what?) sneak-ers, Velcro, carpeting and computers to name a dozen.

So, the oil sands, or tar sands as they’re often referred to by opponents of the massive industrial proj-ect, have a real reach into Canadians’ lives. Aside from our basic daily wants and needs (who can live without Velcro and plastic dishes?), it is an irrefutable fact the project has and is creating immense wealth for our country, our citizens and particularly the province of Alberta.

Alberta gained 22 per cent of its gross domestic product in 2012 from oil sands, according to the Oil Sands Division of the Alberta Department of En-ergy. What’s more, over the next 25 years, oil sands are expected to produce some $350 billion in royalties and $122 billion in tax revenue, according to the Canadian Energy Research Institute.

The billion-dollar indus-try has cemented Alberta’s place as the go-to province for a career regardless of whether you have a degree or didn’t finish high school. Fort McMurray (Fort Mac’ as it’s known by Albertans)

has a place for all of us.All of this sounds wonder-

ful – prosperity in a time of economic disparity and hardship; it’s the answer we’ve all be looking for, right? But what are the costs associated with such a complex and controversial project? Personally, I’ve been a critic and staunch opponent of the oil sands since I first learned about them in high school and I am by no means the only dissenting voice. No, Fort Mac’ and the oil sands are on the receiving end of a ton of flack and opposition the world over with artists, activists, scientists and con-cerned citizens speaking up about what has been hailed as the most environmen-tally destructive industrial program in the world and in Canada’s 147-year history; it is visible with the naked eye from space.

Most recently, Canadi-ana music icon Neil Young added his name to that list after he came out against the oil project saying, “It’s the greediest, most destruc-tive and disrespectful dem-onstration of something run amok that you can ever see,” adding, “Get a grip and understand what is really happening.”

What is really happening? Detailing the program’s in-ner workings and envi-ronmental ramifications requires much more space

than our modest paper will afford me (and to be honest I’m not sure I completely understand the process, ei-ther), but the brief overview is that oil sands bitumen is mixed with sand, grit, petro-leum by-product and other waste that renders the oil useless unless it is prop-erly extracted. It must be extracted by a difficult, toxic and expensive process that has drastic environmental consequences, namely its effect on local watersheds due to its excessive process-ing need for water.

When fresh, clean drink-ing water is at a premium, we simply can’t afford to be throwing it away. The extraction process also concentrates heavy metals naturally found in the oil sands, such as lead, mer-

cury, arsenic and chromium, which can then leak into ground water.

There is a human face to the opposition, too. The Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation (ACFN) has teamed with Young in the fight against what they feel is a violation of treaty rights promising to refrain from interfering with the ACFN’s ability to make a living by hunting, fishing and trap-ping in their ancestral lands.

Eriel Deranger, a ACFN tribe member and com-munications co-ordinator, said in an interview to Al Jazeera that the forthcom-ing legal battle was “a David and Goliath story” with the 1,200-member tribe facing down the federal government, provincial government and a great

deal of invested workers, chief executive officers and foreign corporations that are all pushing forward the project.

To get back to the envi-ronmental consequences, the extension of the oil sands into ACFN territory would effectively destroy some 20 kilometres of the Athabasca River, accord-ing to David Schindler, a member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences. While 20 kilometres may not seem far, I assure you it is.

More than 10,000 fish inhabit the Athabasca River, according to Schindler. The extreme pollution and de-struction of that area would mean the death of those fish and the destruction of that eco-system.

Deranger added to the

worry saying the forthcom-ing project would impact a number of species living in and around the area includ-ing wood bison, caribou, fisheries and the water-sheds of the areas. To date, there is no proven method to fix or reinvigorate these tainted landscapes.

So what does this mean? It begs the question. What’s worth more; the land or the oil beneath it? Are we, as a country and world, will-ing to poison our wildlife, rivers, ground and people in exchange for currency? Is the temporary wealth and solution to our energy crisis worth leaving our children with a landscape that looks like the picture featured above?

The answers are ours to decide. I can only hope that Young’s and the ACFN’s crusade will inspire more people to get involved – for all our sakes.

JESSE COLE

During a pre-season professional hockey game the world saw one of the most violent hits in league history. After all, violence is just part of the game.

Wayne Maki, of the St. Louis Blues and Boston Bruins’ Ted Green got into a stick-swinging duel ending with Green being hit in the head and falling to the ice. He had fractured his skull and suffered mild brain damage. He would miss the entire 1969-1970 season and be required to wear a helmet for the following season, but that wasn’t the end of the violence.

In March 2004 the Vancouver Canucks were looking for revenge after Colorado forward Steve Moore checked captain Markus Naslund in the head in a previous game. This game would find Todd Bertuzzi viciously and care-lessly attacking Moore from behind. The media loved it and knew the public would

too. National and local news stations were broadcast-ing replays of the fight. Bertuzzi’s public apology was replayed to the point of boredom.

In March 2007 Chris Simon, of the New York Islanders, slashed Ryan Hollweg, of the New York Rangers, across the cheek. Hollweg delivered a check to Simon on the play. In retaliation Simon skated over to Hollweg and took a heavy stick swing hitting the Rangers forward on the shoulder pads and in the face. Hollweg fell to the ice and required multiple stitches. The punishment for this incident was a 25-game suspension for Simon.

Vancouver Canucks coach John Tortorella has been suspended 15 days for his actions during and after Saturday’s brawl with the Calgary Flames. This 15-day span will include six games. Tortorella got in trouble for entering the Calgary

dressing room area, in an attempt to get at Flames coach Bob Hartley, after the first period of a game that started with line brawl fol-lowing the opening faceoff. Calgary Flames coach Bob Hartley has been fined $25,000 for his responsibil-ity for the incident that took place during the opening faceoff. Hartley is being held responsible for the actions of Flames right wing

Kevin Westgarth who took the game’s opening faceoff and attempted to instigate a fight with an unwilling opponent, Kevin Bieksa.”

Opening night of the Na-tional Hockey League (NHL) 2013-2014 season started with the Toronto Maple Leafs versus the Montreal Canadiens in a strong rival-ry. It also saw Habs enforcer George Parros flop face-first onto the ice. He bounced

his head off the unforgiv-ing surface, was put on a stretcher and taken to the hospital. Hockey fans froze for a moment as Parros was carried from the arena.

Fans now have many in-cidents from which to draw their “proof” that things must change. Some even speak of automatic season long suspensions. Really?

Everyone needs to stop pretending that fighting in hockey should be elimi-nated.

From experiencing games myself, I know that the atmosphere is very different when a fight is happening .

You scream, jump, laugh, cry, swear; anything that can express the fury and passion you feel. It’s embar-rassing to some and yet almost everyone does it, myself included. You can cheer and jeer when the fight is on but as soon as your player is injured every-one causes a stink? I don’t think so.

The NHL fan base has grown tremendously since the early 1900s and fighting has always had a crucial role in the outcome of games. The owners, play-ers and league officials all benefit from NHL profit, as do the fans. The latter like what they see and will pay to see it again.

Players are completely aware of the risks of being an NHL player and if the league or broadcasters didn’t want the fights to be publicized they would turn the cameras away. Do they turn the camera away? No. You get replays from differ-ent angles.

Argue to your heart’s content, but the fact is that fighting is part of hockey and without it the hockey world would be a very cold one indeed.

Let the teeth be knocked out and the fighters be jersyed because fighting is here to stay.

KRYSTA PUTMAN

Tar Sands, Canada’s Hiroshima?

Just let them fight: It’s a part of the game

Aerial view of Canada’s billion-dollar tar sands. Submitted PhotoS

Current Maple Leafs tough guy Colton Orr battles it out with Boston’s Shawn Thornton, while Orr was still with the Rangers. Submitted Photo

Canadian musician Neil Young.


Politics

By NICK FEARNSStaff Writer

Wayne Gates will be the Niagara riding Ontario New Democratic Party candidate in the Feb. 13 byelection.

Andrea Horwath, Ontario NDP leader, introduced the veteran campaigner Gates to a room full of supporters who flooded the Niagara Falls Public Library with supportive orange.

“I can’t tell you how happy I am that my friend Wayne Gates has stepped forward to accept the NDP nomination for the riding of Niagara Falls,” said Hor-wath.

“He knows how to work with all levels of govern-ment and he knows what it means to be a working person in Niagara. Wayne Gates cares about creating and protecting jobs and improving healthcare. He will deliver results.”

Gates is a City of Niagara Falls councillor who is tak-ing a leave while campaign-ing for the provincial post.

Gates spoke eliciting cheers and laughs from the enthusiastic crowd.

“I want to talk about Niagara Falls. Something’s gone wrong in Niagara,” said Gates. “It has the high-est unemployment rate in Ontario. We need a jobs strategy that works!”

“I’m honoured to be the NDP candidate for the rid-ing of Niagara Falls and I’m hitting the ground running,” said Gates.

“People here need good jobs now not later. We need a new hospital. We don’t need any more excuses. We need results. We don’t need any more empty promises

from the Wynne Liberals. We need action.”

Following the announce-ment Horwath spoke to the media responding to Liberal Party attacks on the NDP’s jobs plan.

“Our jobs plan gives tax breaks to companies, but only when they are hiring people and only when they are supporting jobs.”

Horwath also mentioned the NDP’s First Start, on-the-job training program. First Start gives young people a chance to gain the experience that is now necessary.

“Young people are frus-trated because they can’t get their first entrance into the workforce,” said Horwath. “They go to

school, they get a degree or a college certificate and when they go to enter the workforce employers say, ‘You have a good education but you don’t have experi-ence.’

“By partnering with em-ployers, paying the wages of young people, that helps employers open that door to invite young people in to

get some experience.”Bette Anne Chevalier,

of Niagara Falls, said she “absolutely” supports Gates and the NDP. “It’s about time they [NDP] get in.”

Federal MP Malcolm Al-len (Welland) was also in Niagara Falls to show his support for Gates.

“I’ve known Wayne for a long time. He’s the right

guy at the right time for this riding,” said Allen. “He will keep working for the folks like he always has, but on a bigger scale for the folks across the Niagara Falls riding.”

Gates is competing against Liberal candidate Joyce Morocco and Progres-sive Conservative candidate Bart Maves.


For Bart Maves, Progres-sive Conservative candidate in the Niagara Falls byelec-tion, the main issue for constituents is jobs, jobs and jobs.

Maves was joined by PC Party Leader Tim Hudak to promote his “One Million Jobs” plan Tuesday.

“We definitely have to reverse course from what we’ve been under the last 10 years,” said Maves, a former member of provin-cial parliament. “We’ve lost 300,000 manufacturing jobs in Ontario and the Niagara Region has one of the high-est unemployment rates in Ontario.”

Maves says when you talk to businesses, they say the combination of too much regulation and too much

red-tape is limiting their opportunities.

Hudak’s Million Jobs Act would lower costs to em-ployers of hydro rates and taxes to “keep our current businesses and attract new ones.”

Last Friday Premier Kathleen Wynne said the proposed bill would cause the “elimination of jobs, driving down of wages and weakening of pensions.”

Maves has said that he supports two state-of-the-art hospitals in the Niagara Region – one in the north and another in the south. He says existing facilities can be converted to long-term care centres, but should not be closed until both new hospitals are up and running.

Having served as the member of provincial par-liament for the Niagara Falls

riding from 1995 to 2003, Maves has the most experi-ence in provincial politics of the candidates.

“I’ve got a lot of experi-ence in my business. I start-ed working federally years ago and in my business I do government relations for companies at the federal level. I’m a regional coun-cillor so I understand the municipal level and I have been at the provincial level for eight and a half years, so I know my way around all governments,” said Maves, adding, “I’ve been gearing up for this election for a long time now.”

Maves is competing against Liberal Party candidate Joyce Morocco, New Democrat Wayne Gates and Green Party candidate Clarke Bitter for the Niagara Falls riding. The byelection is on Thursday, Feb. 13.

NDP names candidate for Niagara Falls

Wayne Gates, the NDP candidate in the Niagara Falls byelection, speaks at his nomination meeting in the Niagara Falls Public Library. PHOTO BY NICK FEARNS


The Ontario Liberal Party is determined to keep Niagara Falls red, and it is bringing out the big guns to do so.

On Friday Premier Kathleen Wynne and fed-eral Liberal leader Justin Trudeau toured Niagara Falls in support of Liberal candidate Joyce Morocco, the party’s candidate in the Niagara byelection slated for Feb. 13.

Wynne and Morocco met with business leaders in Fort Erie before heading to St. Michael’s Catholic High School in Niagara Falls were they met with Trudeau.

After speaking to a school assembly, the three took questions from the media.

Wynne spoke about her commitment to investing in education and infra-structure that will attract jobs and retain youth in the region.

“Joyce has dedicated her life to this community and she’s going to build a better future for Niagara Falls, Niagara-on-the-Lake and Fort Erie,” Wynne said, adding, “She is going to put our action plan, our Liberal plan, in place to create jobs and grow the economy.”

The Premier touted the Liberal Party’s education policies, including the 30 per cent tuition reduction.

“There have already been 8,200 tuition grants at Niagara College alone,” she said.

Wynne took shots at Progressive Conservative

Leader Tim Hudak’s jobs bill saying his “One Million Jobs” plan will cause the “elimination of jobs, driving down of wages and weaken-ing of pensions.”

Trudeau made his support for Morocco clear. She met Trudeau in 2008 when she ran for the Niagara Falls rid-ing in the federal election.

“I’m here to support Premier Wynne and the ex-traordinary candidate Joyce Morocco, who is going to be an excellent addition to Kathleen’s team at Queen’s Park,” Trudeau said.

Bart Maves is the PC candidate.

Wayne Gates is the New Democratic Party candidate, having been named at the nomination meeting at the Niagara Falls Public Library on Saturday.

Liberal leaders show support for Niagara Falls candidate

Opposition leader Andrea Horwath comes to Niagara to introduce city councillor Wayne Gates as the candidate for the Feb. 13 byelection

Tories promise to create jobs


NEWS

By GAUTAM AILAWADHIStaff Writer

It is a small world after all, and the travel industry is at its financial peak.

That famous Walt Disney-ism is re-enforced when one considers the ease of inter-national travel today versus how onerous it was before the advent of air travel, trains and the Internet.

India, a geographical distance of approximately 11,469 kilometres from Canada, is accessible by air in 19 hours; Singapore Airlines offers the world’s longest non-stop flight to Newark’s Liberty Interna-tional Airport in 19 hours. Popular websites such as makemytrip.com, kayak.com and expedia.com offer airline, train and hotel deals that give customers options.

From private jets to trains, airplanes and tube-trains, the kind in the United Kingdom, everything is available. One needs only to find the right place and the right time.

Travelling is the best investment in yourself; it makes you a better person and individual. Maturity follows an understanding of different cultures and people. It’s a gradual learn-ing process.

Triumphing, even slightly, over language barriers and new food preferences is an accomplishment. Food pref-erences or allergies may not be easily accommodated in some venues, forcing the traveller to head for the tra-ditional tourist destinations or facilities when a cultural adventure might have been preferred.

Some savings might result from staying with relatives if they are in foreign locales;

many people who venture forth for the first time choose that route.

Diwakar Sharma, an inter-national student recruiter from Canada, says, “I have been to over 20 countries. International travel is important for broadening an individual’s view and understanding of the world and the cultures around the globe. When we travel to different countries where we might face a language barrier and cultural differ-ences, we tend to be careful and submissive.

“As a traveller, we travel and learn the differences, and this makes us mature in living in today’s multicul-tural world.”

Travelling safely and smartly requires some consideration by the novice

traveller. Will you visit a country where English is not the first language? Pass-ports and visas can present a bureaucratic nightmare if not obtained far enough in advance of departure. Travel.gc.ca gives people living in Canada information about other countries and sugges-tions before anyone decides to travel abroad. It also has information about visas and how to apply for them.

Countries offering visas on arrival, such as Thailand, Maldives, Mauritius and many more, pose no issue for travellers entering the country. The issue can be in countries whose visas are not available on arrival, and, for that, one has to wait a while.

This is common in Eu-ropean countries where a

Schengen visa is needed as a waiting period is required. European backpacking trips are common among youth, but visa issues might ruin the holiday planning and the time invested as they are not guaranteed. Even if one goes through a travel agent, it still can’t be as-sured that the person will be granted a visa.

Safety is paramount. All destinations are not safe, and, before travelling to any inter-national destination, proper research needs to be done.

Felipe Carlos, from Ar-gentina, says, “I have been to almost 40 countries, and travelling is my passion. One thing I can say is that whenever someone travels abroad, there is a sense of fear of the unknown, which means that what if this

happens and what if that happens? A lot of questions revolve in mind, so there is a sense of insecurity.”

The best travel informa-tion source is on google.com. Many airlines, before landing in the destination site, provide country facts and tips on places to see and food information. Trav-ellers’ blogs are another

invaluable source as they share their experiences and post them online.

Carlos adds, “One should be careful with the local people, regardless of how hospitable the country is or not. Also, proper research should be done before one travels abroad. I make sure that I follow sites such as tripadvisor.com and hostelworld.com and see the recommendations or feedback given by the clients who have stayed in the properties and the place before. Then, I make a final decision. Feedback helps you understand what other people have experienced, and it gives you an idea as well. In short, one should do the homework carefully before taking any step go-ing abroad.”

BEGINNING FEBRUARY 3rd, students will have the chance to complete the Ontario College KPI Student Satisfaction Survey — a survey that the Ontario government asks each college to conduct.

The survey results are very important to NC and to its students. The survey results help us fi ne-tune and improve our programs and services, and realize our goal of ensuring greater student success.

The in-class survey will be administered between February 3 and February 14.

Please plan to participate, and make sureyour voice is heard.

Thank you!

StudentSatisfactionSurvey

Feb. 3 – 14

Your voice MATTERS!

Things to know before travelling abroad

Gautam Ailawadhi sitting in an Arabic restaurant with friends Felipe and Priscilla in Itajaí, Santa Catarina, Brazil. SUBMITTED PHOTOS

Diwakar Sharma stands at a restaurant with his friends during his recent visit to Cambodia.

International student recruiter, Diwakar Sharma, and frequent traveller, Felipe Carlos, talk about their experiences and importance of travelling the world

“Safety is paramount. All destinations are not safe, and, before travelling to any international destination, proper research needs to be done.”DIWAkAr SHArMA


NEWSLeadership centre helps connect people

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Contact Krista Woodhouse, Recruitment Specialist 905-735-2211 ext 7784 • [email protected]

Niagara College students mingle before the start of the second annual etiquette dinner at Benchmark restaurant on Tuesday night. From left, Kevin Kirkpatrick, Jamie Sterman, Matt Cowell, Ethan Fairchild and Janet Truong.PHOTO BY COLLIN STACHURA

By COLLIN STACHURAStaff Writer

The Niagara College Benchmark restaurant was serving up plates full of etiquette, on Tuesday night, and it was not the nightly special. The entire facility was closed to the public so it could play host to the sec-ond annual etiquette dinner put on by Niagara College’s First Generation and Career clubs.

Organizer was Courtney Meyer. As the event co-ordinator First Generation Students, Center for Student Engagement and Leader-ship, she jumped at the opportunity saying she was excited to work on it with the Career Club.

Last year’s hugely suc-cessful dinner saw over 40 students attending the over-subscribed inaugural get together. This year, Meyer upped the number of seats.

“It gives students a chance to try a free Benchmark din-ner while learning how to navigate their way through a business lunch, dinner or networking event,” says Meyer.

Covering all aspects of how to dine out properly they couldn’t have found a better person to do so than by getting adviser Han-nah Melindy, Benchmark

supervisor and Niagara College graduate. Melindy broke down the rules and nuances of dining etiquette for students, everything they would need to know at a formal dinner setting. She ran through a complete list from A to Z of proper table manners, afterwards open-ing the floor to questions.

The dinner was open for all Niagara College students to attend, and a wide range did, from business students, to electrical engineers and technicians. Even a few of the Niagara-on-the-Lake Student Administrative Council (SAC) members were there.

“I came for the free food, and, of course, the network-ing,” says Jamie Sterman, NOTL SAC director of social programming. Joining her was Matthew Cowell, SAC director of media.

There was a wide range of students who didn’t neces-sarily need an etiquette course but, like Arlene Mar-tin, a second-year student in the Social Service Worker program, always to get a refresher.

“I’ve been self-employed for years so I like to make sure that I’m caught up on networking and meeting new people,” says Martin.Many of the students at-tending were invited by the

First Generation Student Center for Engagement and Leadership via e-mail, just like Jasmine Olah, a first-year student in Recreational Therapy.

“They help you connect with others.” No newcomer to First Generation events,

Olah has been taking ad-vantage of the seminars the Center for Student Engage-ment and Leadership an-nually offers on money and stress management.

Speed friending was one of the most success-ful events this year. “We

just tried it on a whim. We thought it would be a good networking opportunity for students to meet each other and make friends,” says Meyer.

So if you missed out on the etiquette dinner, speed friending and all the

seminars First Generation organizes to help students, the annual events are run at the same time every year. For more information on the Center view the Niagara College website, or stop in at the Welland campus of-fices in Lundy 21 (L21).


News

By NECHELLE VENTURINIStaff Writer

Travelling abroad can be an intimidating prospect but also the most rewarding experience of your life.

Be World Ready wants to ensure every Niagara Col-lege student the opportunity to have this experience by offering a $500 grant to any full-time or recently graduated student, up to six months after graduation, wanting to study, work or volunteer abroad.

The International Depart-ment here supports studying abroad, through interna-tional field studies and se-mester exchanges, working abroad through internships, practicums or international working holidays, as well as volunteering abroad through endorsed opportunities.

“The idea of the Be World Ready Travel Grant is to help facilitate and sup-port students who want to travel abroad,” says Maxine Semple, the study and work abroad co-ordinator for

the college.There are two steps to

apply for the funds. The forms can be found on the Blackboard website under co-curricular records.

Once you register through Niagara International to go abroad, you are automati-cally registering for the Be World Ready travel grant. That is step one.

Step two is to complete the Be World Ready travel grant completion form within 30 days of the expe-rience.

Once both steps are com-pleted and approved $500 is reimbursed directly onto the student’s Niagara Col-lege financial account. If the account is at zero dollars the $500 will become avail-able to pick up at Financial Aid.

If you are a full-time student or recently gradu-ated student you can apply for this grant, and receive it, for an unlimited amount of travels.

Semple stresses the importance of knowing that the only way you can

be denied the grant is by not following the two-step process.

“These is no reason you shouldn’t be able to get these grants,” says Semple. “We want to give you $500 and we want to make it as simple as possible.”

“Like students every-where, money is tight, so having access to the $500 Be World Ready is a tremendous help,” says Bill MacDonald, a Niagara College professor for the School of Environmental and Horticultural Science. “The Be World Ready grant is really what has made the trip possible for many students.”

Semple says Niagara College is all about employ-ability and they want you to take your personal experi-ence and apply it to your employability.

“This is just another way for us to create more employable students by adding that international diversified experience that a number of students won’t get elsewhere.”

Mathew Polanco, a Busi-ness Administration — Pro-fessional Golf Management student, travelled to Florida to learn about a different golf community and was educated on “a variety of in-

ternational cultural experi-ences, as well as a different golf environment.”

“Travelling offers a vari-ety of new experiences and an abundance of knowledge that can be used later on in

life,” says Polanco. “One has to be open to new ideas.”

For more information on travelling abroad or the Be World Ready Travel Grant contact Maxine Semple at [email protected].

By CATHY McCABEReviewer

Choosing the right foods may be more complicated than you think. The Sustain-ability Committee declared January food month. The objective of getting stu-dents thinking about their food choices, with events like the Veggie Challenge, which asked students to refrain from eating meat for one week.

Before this month comes to a close, I would like to do the same.

As someone who has been critically examining her own food choices for many years, I find this topic has endless facets to explore.

I am biased because I have been a vegetarian for almost nine years.

My original decision to do that had nothing to do with my health or the fear of global warming. I became one simply because I loved animals. I felt my life was a contradiction because I wanted to devote my life to protecting animals, but, at the same time, I was eating them.

I am not suggesting that everyone needs to be vegetarian in order to look critically at his or her food choices; I am saying it’s what I needed.

After becoming a vegetar-ian, I began reading about factory farms: the unethical

treatment of animals and the impact on the environment.

For anyone considering making changes to their diet whatever the reason, here is a list of books I have read and found helpful.

• Eating Animals by Jona-than Safran Foer is a good introduction to the animal

husbandry industry. It is about the author’s personal quest to understand the industry. He explains how factory farming began and how it developed.

Foer interviews animal activists, but also factory farm supporters and own-ers of family farms, in order to give a balanced account

of the industry.• The PETA Practical

Guide to Animal Rights by Ingrid Newkirk is a detailed guide that looks at the treat-ment of animals in today’s society. It gives a detailed account of the cruelty that takes place in factory farms, fish farms and fur farms.

It also looks at humans’

use of animals as compan-ions, as well as looking at animal testing and dissection.

It questions why humans feel they have the authority to treat animals as products rather than sentient beings.

• Harvest for Hope by Jane Goodall with Gary McAvoy and Gail Hudson is about

how the western world’s current lifestyle is destroy-ing the environment. She explains genetically modi-fied foods and how we are unaware of the impact this can have on the future. She also looks at the damaging effects of factory farming.

Goodall says that today’s society have forgotten les-sons from the past about farming and working with nature rather than working against it.

She calls on her readers to take simple steps like buy-ing from farmers’ markets, in order to create a sustain-able world.

• The Kind Diet by Alicia Silverstone is an excellent book for those who want to begin a vegetarian or vegan diet. She gives suggestions for those flirting with the idea of vegetarianism and for those who wish to be-come what she calls “super-heroes” (someone who eats locally grown foods that are in season and someone who avoids processed foods).

Half of this book is vegan recipes and suggested meal plans.

She explains how to get the nutrients you need while living on a plant-based diet.

She uses the original definition of diet, “a way of living, of thinking, a day’s journey”, rather than the modern idea of dieting, which involves deprivation.

Rebecca Power poses for a picture during a trip to Peru with the Be World Ready group. SUBMITTED PHOTO

Shown is Alicia Silverstone’s The Kind Diet, Jonathan Safran Foer’s Eating Animals, Jane Goodall’s Harvest for Hope and Ingrid Newkirk’s The PETA Practical Guide to Animal Rights. PHOTO BY CATHY MCCABE

Some knowledge about being vegetarianGood starter books to help with your new animal-friendly habit

Travelling or studying abroad can help you ‘Be World Ready’College offering $500 grant for students to study, work or volunteer in another country


Feature

Continued from page 1“They’re always comfort-

ing in times of need, and a great way to celebrate someone’s happiness. Hugs are always great.”

Research has shown that a hug or 10 minutes of holding hands with your romantic partner can lower a person’s risk of heart dis-ease and help reduce stress and its harmful effects.

Kaitlin Tulle, 25, of St. Catharines, says she enjoys giving and receiving hugs,

“I also think if you are going in for a hug you have to make it worth it. I hate those pat on the back hugs.”

In an article by Fox News, studies have shown a hug increases the level of oxyto-cin in the blood, known as a bonding hormone because it releases a “caring” re-sponse in men and women.

Ian Brooks, 21, of

Welland, says that depend-ing on the situation hugs can be uncomfortable.

“If it’s offering sympathy or someone you haven’t seen in a while then that’s different. But I wouldn’t want a stranger to hug me.”

The unofficial holiday also included hug coupons that may be purchased online for $3 and redeemed for a hug from anyone you choose. The coupons do not expire and can be used at any time.

Those who participated in National Hug Day were encouraged to ask the per-son first if they would like to be embraced in case they were uncomfortable with the offer.

For more information on hugs, hug coupons, and the most huggable people of 2013 visit www.national-huggingday.com.

Continued from page 1Since the hug can take on

many different manifesta-tions, it becomes important to know what is out there. We have your normal hug, two to three seconds, the handshake that becomes a weird half shoulder hug, the bear hug, the pick up and twirl hug and “why isn’t this ending hug” to name a few.

Kara Lutes, 23, of Welland, says she is not a fan of the casual hug but does note distinct situations of when a hug is acceptable.

“There is a time and place for hugs. I think hugs should be reserved for loved ones and close friends and should only be given in situations that call for a hug. Such situations would include: in celebra-tion, in sadness, in greeting when you haven’t seen the person for a long time and

in saying goodbye when you won’t see the person for a long time. All other types of hugs are just awkward and uncomfortable.”

Garrett Kelly, 22, of Niagara Falls, agrees with Lutes on there being a time and place for a hug.

“Depending on the situation they can make me uneasy. It’s weird to hug people you know in public.”

To some, a hug can feel as though someone lit a firecracker in their cerebral

cortex as it causes a flurry of questions and thoughts to come crashing through at breakneck speed.

Some of these may in-clude: Why is this happen-ing? Why hasn’t this ended? I met you 30 minutes ago. That’s not my back! Seri-ously, why hasn’t this ended and I don’t even know you. Many times the thinker has long since stopped the hug and their arms are limp, dangling at their side.

Thankfully, at the time of publication, three days have passed since National Hugging Day; so all of you who detest the hug are safe for another year. We hope this look at the darker side of the hug has been infor-mative and you have taken something away.

For more information go to www.nationalhugging-day.com.but please don’t.

To hug or not to hug ...

that is the question

Scholarships readily available for those in needBy AMANDA-SUSAN CARSONStaff Writer

Are you a new student to Niagara College this year? Are you low on money for tuition and living expenses? We’ve got your back.

There is over $14,000 in

scholarships up for grabs. The deadline to apply for these is Jan. 31.

Not many students are aware going into post-sec-ondary education that there are many options available when it comes to handling expenses

Many students apply for

the Ontario Student As-sistance Plan and receive loans and grants from the government or they apply for a bank loan or the bank of mom and dad.

Niagara College has six academic scholarships available and even some for students who participate in

extra-curricular activities. The forms are easy to fill

out and are available on the Student Administrative Council’s website.

The six key ones are: NCSAC President Schol-

arship ($3,000), NCSAC Executive Vice-President Scholarship ($1,800),

NCSAC Health and Well-ness Scholarship ($1,800), NCSAC Community Events Scholarship ($1,800), NCSAC Communications/Promotions Scholarship ($1,800) and the NCSAC Student Life Scholarship ($1,800).

These scholarships are

available to students in a full-time post-secondary diploma/degree program or in an advanced study di-ploma/certificate program here.

For more information and how to apply visit http://ncsac.ca/apply-for-ncsac-scholarships-now/.

Hugs have been linked to reduced stress and lowered blood pressure. SUBMITTED PHOTO

Hugs come in many different forms. From a bear hug, side to side and one hand, hugs can make people feel awkward and uncomfortable. SUBMITTED PHOTO

“They are an invasion of my personal space. I would rather wave or shake someone’s hand.”

CHRIS FRASER

Humans are not the only ones who find comfort in the occasional hug. SUBMITTED PHOTO


Feature

By KYLE MELANSONStaff Writer

Icewine, ice sculptures and icy temperatures.

The second week of the 19th annual Niagara Icewine Festival lived up to its name as fans of both wine and food braved the cold in Niagara-on-the-Lake last weekend. A section of Queen Street was blocked so the Icewine Village could be erected allowing specta-tors to enjoy their favourite drinks and dishes. Twenty-six local wineries brought their icewines, including the college’s own 2010 Dean’s List Cabernet Franc.

Local restaurants such as the Cannery Restaurant, The Epicurean, Oban Inn and Zees were on hand, dolling out samples of their most popular dishes. Some of these included a lamb stew, seafood chowder, barbequed ribs, homemade sausages and a grilled cheese with duck confit and pickled apples, which sold out in less than three hours.

The food paired nicely with many of the wines, but as Christine Montana, of Niagara-on-the-Lake and re-tail manager of Southbrook Wineries, says it can vary on the individual’s pallet.

“There are so many di-verse ways you can serve it.”

Montana says that icew-ine itself can be served in more than just wine.

“It’s gaining popularity as a martini. The shelf life is 10 years, which indicates a little bit of variety it can be used for.”

The village was dotted with pedestals made of ice, for weary travellers to take a break from walking and enjoy the in-hand food and drink. Those who were not dressed for the occasion were able to warm up their frozen limbs next to the many propane-powered heaters scattered through-out Queen Street.

Yet the main attraction had nothing to do with food or wine. At mid-village stood a long table, made entirely of ice, where people could set their wine down and take pictures. The table had various bottles of wine frozen into it as well as the official Niagara Icewine Festival logo frozen in the centre.

What many may be unaware of as they sipped one of the many offerings is just how much work goes into the making of just one bottle of icewine.

The process of making this sweet dessert wine is much more than simply picking “a grape.”

Graeme McMillan, of

Beamsville, and tourism and communications at Southbrook, says it’s a com-plicated procedure.

“A lot of people think it’s cold grapes that you add sugar to, that’s not really the case. You have to meet certain conditions, a big one is it must be minus eight to minus 12 degrees Celsius before you can even think about picking.”

McMillan says you need to use your fingers to pick the grapes, and you will only get one drop from each grape.

“You literally get the size of a little tree sap.”

Even though the yield of icewine can be small, Mon-tana says her experience in the wine industry is show-ing that icewine is growing in popularity.

“You can see the numbers coming out to the events are growing. However, the weather can affect it [the event] and the numbers.”

The Niagara Icewine Festival will wrap up next weekend for another year. For information on up-coming events visit www.niagarawinefestival.ca.

Ice wine is nice wineThe Niagara Icewine Festival saw about 15,000 brave the cold for a chance to enjoy some local drinks and dishes

Festivalgoers gathered at The Niagara Icewine Festival to sample wine from 26 local wineries.

Chantelle Henszke rests at an ice sculpture at The Niagara Icewine Festival in Niagara-on-the-Lake. PHOTOS BY KYLE MELANSON

Lamb stew with preserved cherry and minted icewine syrup was one of the dishes offered by the Cannery Restaurant.

Cattail Creek Estate Winery and Joseph’s Estate Wines offered samples of their wine at this month’s festival.


ENTERTAINMENT

Best Canadian cinema in Welland

By SHEILA PRITCHARDStaff writer

Bring your own popcorn and an open mind.

Until Feb. 23, Welland Public Library will be screening the newest National Film Board (NFB) of Canada productions, including documentaries, animated shorts and feature films.

Every other Sunday after-noon from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m., library visitors are invited to enjoy an afternoon of the best Canadian cinema has to offer, at no cost.

“I think the NFB produces very good films, both en-tertaining and educational, and those films can relate to our daily lives, especially the documentaries — like with environmental, social and political issues and historic events,” says Ken Su, librarian and NFB event organizer at the library.

“These films help open people’s minds and remind us we don’t live in a cocoon. They sort of give us a win-dow to see the world in a bigger view.”

Vivian Learn, of Welland, came to see the Jan. 12 screening of Stories We Tell, a film directed by Oscar-nominated writer-director Sarah Polley.

Learn, who was in the li-brary’s cozy screening room for her first NFB viewing ex-perience, says she had been looking forward to seeing the film so she jumped at the chance to watch it for free.

“I was reading the paper

the other day and saw this movie was playing here. I had been hearing about it for a while and it sounded very interesting.”

Learn says she enjoyed the film, a documentary that unpeeled layers of myth and memory to find the elusive truth at the core of a family of storytellers. Learn says she would like to come back to the library to see more

NFB screenings.“Certain things like docu-

mentaries really interest me, these films about real people. I hope to come out for more showings over the next few weeks.”

Deb Soska, of Welland, read about the screening on the library events board and says she came to see Stories We Tell not because she had heard of the film, but

because the thought a free Sunday afternoon movie was appealing.

“I don’t live far from the library and had noth-ing planned for the day. I thought it was a great way to spend the afternoon.”

Élise Labbé, head of festi-vals and audience develop-ment for the NFB, says the idea of the screenings is to give all Canadians access

to new and independent Canadian releases.

“The key word here is accessibility. We produce many films every year and some of these are released through broadcast, some-times they are released in theatres, but many of our films play only in festivals and in other countries and Canadians do not have easy access to them.”

Labbé says the NFB makes sure there is bal-anced content in the films it distributes for screenings.

“We see every film that is produced. The film’s subject matter is important to Cana-dians. Sometimes we have films that are more enter-taining, others are tougher subjects, but we try to offer a bit of everything and only our best films.”

The NFB provides Cana-dians with the most recent and most interesting titles, and libraries are the perfect place to show the films, says Labbé.

“The whole idea is to re-ally give everyone access to some outstanding Canadian cinema. Also, it’s for people to come together for the experience of seeing a film with others in their com-munity. It’s what we call the true experience of cinema.”

The next screening will be Jan. 26, featuring The Fruit Hunters, a documentary showing the intertwining relationship of humans and the fruit we eat.

February screenings include The People of the Kattawapiskak River, a film examining the cause of a housing crisis for 1,700 Cree people in Northern Ontario and Buying Sex, a movie exploring points of view on the state of prosti-tution laws in Canada.

For more information about the NFB and to watch films, excerpts, trailers and interactive works, visit the award-winning online Screening Room at www.nfb.ca.

Every other Sunday afternoon until Feb. 23, Welland Public Library will be screening the newest National Film Board of Canada productions for free. SUBMITTED PHOTO

Bullock earns best actress nomination

Welland Public Library will be screening the newest National Film Board of Canada productions every other Sunday afternoon at no cost

By AMBER-LYNE BRICKERStaff Writer

Movieland’s Oscar nomi-nations have finally been announced as disappoint-ment and complaints begin to roll in.

For many, award season is the time for fans’ favourite actors and movies to receive the recognition we believe they deserve.

The 86th Academy Awards are a high point for fans and celebrities alike. What better way to honour your success than to have a shiny gold man sitting on your mantel? However, this year it’s seems excitement for the award show is low and disappointment is at an all time high.

2013 was a good year for movies: films like Gravity, which has taken home a whopping 26 awards, and The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug, dominated the box offices.

With so many films smashing box office open-ing weekend records it was clear that many would be left out.

The nominations were announced by Chris Hemsworth, at the Samuel Goldwyn Theatre in Beverly Hills, Calif., on Jan. 16. This year, the ceremony will be

hosted by none other than comedian and talk-show host Ellen DeGeneres.

Awards for Best Picture, Best Original Screenplay, Best Animated Feature and Best Cinematography are among the 24 categories.

Mark Hughes, a writer for Forbes magazine, wrote an article on the nominations,

having a few bones to pick with the academy’s deci-sions.

“Admittedly, it was a very strong year for Oscar con-tenders, making it difficult to decide who to leave out and who to invite in. And, overall, the Oscars got alot right. But what they got wrong, they got very wrong.”

He proceeded to outline all that the Academy has gotten wrong: snubbing ac-tors like Tom Hanks, Emma Thompson and Robert Redford in the Best Actor/Actress categories being the largest. Fans worldwide agree. Twitter blew up with complaints about the Acad-emy leaving too many films out of the running.

Lee Daniels’ The Butler and The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug were among the few films with zero nomina-tions.

“I was really disappointed when The Hobbit didn’t

get a single nomination,” Lindsay Lobins, 20, of Ni-agara Falls said. “I thought it deserved more recognition.”

There are a few happy notes. Leonardo DiCaprio, a fan favourite since he did Titanic, has never received an Oscar and with his nomi-nation for The Wolf of Wall Street many fans are hoping that he gets the recognition he deserves.

DiCaprio is not the only actor fans are pulling for. Sandra Bullock has been nominated for best actress for her work on Gravity and people are hoping she’ll be able to pull ahead of vet-eran winner Meryl Streep, nominated for her work in August: Osage County.

While the negativity runs high, fans don’t hold much hope for it getting any bet-ter once the winners are announced. The Oscars will be broadcast live from Hol-lywood on Sunday, March 2 at 7 p.m.

“I was really disappointed when The Hobbit didn’t get a single nomination.”LINDSAY LOBINS

Sandra Bullock in the award-winning film Gravity. SUBMITTED PHOTO


EntErtainmEnt

By ALEXANDRA MONTANA

Staff WriterBig stars hit the small

screen.Matthew McConaughey

and Woody Harrelson star in HBO’s new anthology series True Detective. The show will run for eight epi-sodes and follows two Louisi-ana State Police homicide detectives Rust Cohle (Mc-Conaughey) and Martin Hart (Harrelson) through a 17-year obsessive search for a serial killer in the unusual murder of Dora Kelly Lange.

The 1995 killing’s in-vestigation is resurrected in 2012 when the case testimony and story show a connection.

If the series continues, the second season will consist of a different cast and a new case similar to the show American Horror story that follows a new story each season.

Laureen Beaton, 25, of Welland, says that she will “definitely” be watching True Detective.

“I’m excited because it’s only eight episodes, so it’s not a big commitment. Matthew McConaughey has been making a lot of really good movies lately and this one looks great.”

Although the show debuted the same evening as the Golden Globes, 2.3 million viewers tuned in to watch the premier. Enter-tainment Weekly reported that it was HBO’s leading series opening since Board-walk Empire in 2010.

For the last two years, McConaughey has gained respect from fans and critics alike, he is no longer just a pretty boy starring in chick flicks with his shirt off.

McConaughey won Best Actor in a Drama at the Golden Globes for his lead-ing role in Dallas Buyers Club.

Trevor Ward, 27, of St. Catharines, says, “It’s great not seeing him in every romantic comedy and chick flick. He’s doing good, and important roles now, and this one [True Detective] looks to be no different.”

The show has received many positive reviews since its premier, but only time will tell if it will be deemed a success. For now, fans must wait another six episodes to find out what exactly happened to Lange.

By MICHAEL SORGEStaff Writer

“Lucky.”It’s a word that shouldn’t

be surprising coming from any young, successful actor asked to describe their en-tire career in just one word.

“So much of this business is luck – the right place, the right time. … It takes a lot of work [in order] to be lucky.”

Alex Paxton-Beesley, a relatively new actor in her mid-20s from Toronto, visited the college on last Friday to hold a television-show screening and a two-hour Q-and-A session with students from the Act-ing for Film and Television program.

Martin Doyle, the pro-gram co-ordinator, says, “Alex is certainly very suc-cessful in the business for someone her age. Her luck is based on her personal work ethic, to be sure.”

First, an episode of the period-drama series Copper was played, a show she con-siders her favourite project to date.

Copper takes place during the American Civil War, and includes Paxton-Beesley playing as Ellen Corcoran, the mentally unstable wife of the show’s main protago-nist, an Irish immigrant po-lice detective named Kevin.

“Copper was an absolute joy to work on,” she says. “Clark Johnson [who direct-ed at least three episodes] was phenomenal.”

In the beginning, long before her role in Copper, Paxton-Beesley says she “tried really hard not to be an actor,” but ended up per-forming in a play and loving it – the beginning steps of her career in theatre, film and television.

“I’m lucky. My parents are artists, so they were very supportive.”

Reflecting on the begin-ning of her career, she says, “[Acting seemed to be a] really hard job [but] something that I loved. [It contributed] to my confi-dence.

Paxton-Beesley graduated from George Brown Theatre School in 2008, a drama school and department of Toronto’s George Brown College. To her, it seemed like the “most interesting” school, with a “great reputa-tion.”

She says, “Acting school provides you with a foun-dation. [It] taught me to ask questions.” Before she became better at acting, she says she was “probably scared, and scared [about] doing the right thing. … That was something that I really struggled with at school. I’m a bit of a control freak. I like getting things right.

“When I started to realize that questions are more important than answers, it made a really big differ-ence.”

In her final year of theatre school, Paxton-Beesley worked with a director named Jason Byrne on Toronto’s production of the play Festen, a stage adapta-tion of a Danish film of the same name.

She says Byrne’s meth-ods of allowing actors to remember their lines was unique and very helpful, and urged a more-creative flow of expression.

“His method of working is astounding. … Sometimes, [directors] don’t say any-thing, and that is terrifying.”

Soon after graduating, Paxton-Beesley got an agent, started auditioning and getting film interviews.

“My agent [Alicia Jeffrey] is amazing,” she says. “She made it very clear from the very beginning [that] I should and could talk with her about everything.

“You want to have an agent that you’re not afraid to call. … They work for you and with you; you work with them and for them.”

Paxton-Beesley says the transition into film and tele-vision was tough and “very strange” at first because of having no technical film or television training.

“I had a mentor [Dixie Seatle],” she says. “I needed an outside eye [and] she was a supportive guide, someone that really boosted my confidence.”

From 2010-11, she went to the CFC Actors Conserva-tory at Toronto’s Canadian Film Centre.

“It was a professional development program. … It’s like an incubator of Canadian film.

“[While there] I could stop worrying about all the [various technical stuff] and focus on my craft. … They’re phenomenal. I can’t say enough good things about them.

“I think that being in an incubator where the only thing you have to focus on is your craft is the most glori-

ous, beautiful gift. … To be surrounded by people with the same focus as you is [also a fantastic] gift.”

While starting to find her own method of audition preparation, she says she began by “literally writing pages and pages of ques-tions.

Sometimes I can answer them, and sometimes I can’t, but I think the process of allowing my mind to consider all the possibilities makes it more real for me. It gets my imagination going.

“I’m a very intuitive [and curious] actor. I like to feel things out. … I have the ability to draw from within myself and my history of education.

“That’s what I love about this gig: figuring stuff out.”

When discussing the posi-tives about playing recur-ring characters versus non-recurring characters, she says it’s “so much better. … The fun thing about being a recurring character is that you don’t know what’s going to happen. You don’t know where they’re going [with the show].

“It’s a lot more respon-sibility [but it’s] so much more fun. Well, most of the time.

“Ellen Corcoran [from Copper] was fun and tough, but Sarah was super intense. She was the first re-curring character I [played] to really sink my teeth into. She was crafty, strong, vul-nerable and scary. She was fascinating.”

In describing how to go about playing character roles, she says she thinks it’s “really easy to inter-pret every character as ourselves, but finding the differences [between a character and yourself] is more useful. … The way I prepared for [my first film role] was figuring out how [the character] was differ-ent than me. … It unlocks the imaginative [process].”

Doyle says, “When Alex talks about being ‘lucky,’ she stands in a long line of actors who, the harder they worked, the luckier they got.” On various topics of what every actor needs to have and do in the acting industry, Paxton-Beesley says a support system is very important, “whether it be people around you or simply a method of devel-oping [and] taking care of

yourself. … Your body is your instrument.

“It is impossible to separate our physical being from the work that we do [so] invest in your physical being.”

She stresses that it’s very important to “[learn and] know your lines. I can’t say it enough. … Know them better than you think you know them. … Know them by heart; know them like they’re on your skin.

“You never really know what [the directors are] going to ask of you, so be prepared [mentally, physi-cally and emotionally] as you possibly can.”

About rejection, Paxton-Beesley says she’s been lucky because she’s never experienced cruelty in the profession.

“I’ve probably [had] 400 auditions and booked may-be 10 per cent of that [or less],” she says. “If I carried each individual rejection with me, I’d probably never get off the floor. … It hurts, but it’s so much of what this job is.

“Figure out a very specific methodology of dealing with [rejection]. … If you show up and you haven’t done your work, and you deserve to not get that part, you’re going to feel a whole heck of a lot worse.”

Like many actors, she says she finds it “really difficult to watch my own work … but you have to. … We are our own worst critics.

On the brighter side of the acting industry and her profession, Paxton-Beesley says, “I love this job. It’s really easy to forget that, sometimes. … It’s a joy.

“The really cool thing about doing this job is that I think it’s impossible to work in this profession and not be continually expand-ing your craft. … I learn stuff every single day, which is humbling, frustrating and fun. … [I’m going to] rely on my craft, maintain my confidence and have fun.

“I have worked to main-tain a level of self-aware-ness and realism. … I’m still figuring this out.

“The best piece of advice I got [was from actress] Rosemary Dunsmore: be kind to yourself.”

Throughout her career, Paxton-Beesley has trav-elled to various cities across Canada for work.

Other productions she’s been in are films The Colony (2013), Malody (2012) and The Good Shepherd (2004), as well as episodes on tele-vision shows Lost Girl and Warehouse 13.

Paxton-Beesley has a tattoo that says “maybe” on her wrist – “a reminder of possibility.”

She says she really hopes to continue working in television and film.

“Ideally, I want to bal-ance that with a play every couple of months, or once a year. I love and miss theatre.”

Premiering in July, Paxton-Beesley will be in an upcoming vampire-horror series called The Strain, a Toronto television produc-tion from filmmaker Guill-ermo del Toro and writer/executive producer Chuck Hogan.

“It’s awesome,” she says. “I’m excited for people to see it.”

Toronto actor Alex Paxton-Beesley was at Niagara College for a Q-and-A session with the students from the Acting for Film and Television program. PHOTOS BY TIM LEYES

“So much of this business is luck – the right place, the right time. … It takes a lot of work [in order] to be lucky.”

McConaughey and Harrelson star in HBO series True Detective

“It’s great not seeing him in every romantic comedy and chick flick.”TREvOR WARD

Young actor gives Niagara College students an inside on acting business


Campus sports

Knights’ women’s basketball team eyes playoffsBy ETHAN FAHEYStaff Writer

The Niagara College women’s basketball team is playoff bound.

Strong early-season play helped the team achieve this success.

“We are currently 8-4 and looking forward to a positive playoff run,” said head coach Michael Beccaria. It is one of the best starts in the college’s history for the women’s bas-ketball team.

Beccaria was hired as the head coach of the women’s basketball program last May. He had a successful off-season recruiting talented players to add to the already well-equipped team.

Hayley Tamo was added first last June. Tamo, the Mis-sissauga native, attended John Fraser Secondary School and most recently played for the Mississauga Monarchs club team. She can play both shooting guard and small forward.

Next to be recruited was Mary Ingribelli from St. Catharines. Ingribelli at-tended Governor Simcoe Secondary School and played for the Niagara Falls Red Raiders. Despite receiving United States-based scholarship offers for rowing, she decided to do

the same as her brother and father and attend Niagara College.

Alyssa McCabe joined the team in July of last year. McCabe, from Niagara Falls, attended high school at A.N. Meyer and played for the Niagara Falls Red Raiders. She most recently played for the Brock Uni-versity Badgers.

Also joining the team dur-ing the off-season was Tara Giallonardo from Fonthill. She is an “accomplished guard that can pass, score, re-bound and defend just about any position.”

Giallonardo played four seasons with the Brock Badgers, earning an Ontario

University Athletics (OUA) bronze medal and was named a member of the OUA All-Rookie team.

The last addition was Katie Beaucock of St. Catharines. She is a graduate of the University of Waterloo. She has the ability to play both the guard and small forward, and will bring experience to the team.

Beccaria spreads out the credit for the team’s success this season saying all of the players contribute key roles.

Leading scorer Tara Gial-lonardo and leader in assists, Alyssa McCabe, help the team put up the points they need to win games.

Miranda Ross is the leading rebounder, and along with Shelby Johnston provides “outstanding defence,” said Beccaria.

“Katie Beaucock gives us veteran leadership off the bench and new players Heather McKay, Ingribelli, Anna Jawrowicz and Tamo provide excellent support. As does veteran Kaitlyn McPherson.”

The team has six regular season games remaining until Feb. 14. Their next game is Jan. 25 at Fanshawe College in London at 6 p.m.

For more information and statistics visit www.gok-nights.ca.

By JAMES HERBERTStaff Writer

The past week has not been kind to Niagara’s men’s volleyball team.

On Sunday, Humber College of Toronto, ranked second in Canada, visited Niagara College. Although they came close, the Knights could not beat the Humber Hawks, and were handed their second loss in a row, putting them at 11 wins, two losses so far, with just five games remaining in the season.

The Hawks used block-ing to their advantage, with two of their blockers, Matt Isaacs and Andre Brown, scoring 18 points com-bined throughout the set of games.

Last Thursday the Knights, who were coming off their 11th straight win, a perfect season at the time, played Mohawk College of Hamilton for the second time this season. Things didn’t go their way, and although the Knights played hard and almost mounted a comeback, the Mohawk Hawks took the game three sets to two.

“Both games were won/lost in the middle of the court,” says Nathan Groen-veld, the Knights’ head coach.

“As a group we will continue to improve the efficiency and volume of our middle attack, specifi-cally from Logan Varga and Travis Waite.

“When we are winning matches those two are contributing big points for us. The last two matches we have gone away from them offensively, but both have contributed blocking and serving wise.”

“We are serving and pass-ing really well right now, we just need to fine-tune our offensive game, especially to close out sets and matches.”

Although the losses could be disheartening, Groenveld says that winning every game was not the objective.

“Our goal has not been to have an undefeated regular season, from day one it has been to medal at both the provincial and national championships,” he says.

“As a result of this mind-set we were able to take some lessons from the Mohawk, and subsequent

Humber, losses and quickly move on. This team has been great all year win or lose of getting right back to work and the task at hand.”

Although the Knights did not win either of the games, they pushed each match to game five, an impres-sive feat. Their next game will be played at Fanshawe College of London, tomor-row. The Fanshawe Falcons are ranked ninth nationally, with eight wins and three losses.

“As far as Fanshawe is concerned the only adjust-ment will be more volume to our middles,” says Groen-veld.

“We are serving and pass-ing really well right now, we just need to fine tune our offensive game, especially to close out sets and matches.”

They follow up that game on Wednesday by host-ing the Redeemer Royals, then three February games against St. Clair College of Windsor, Boreal College of Toronto and Cambrian Col-lege of Sudbury. So far, the Knights are still in the run to take home a champion-ship.

Knights suffer first loss of the seasonHeather McKay waits for the offence to get set up, during an exhibition on Jan. 21 against Erie Community College. PHoTo BY ETHAN FAHEY

Frustration starts to build as the Knights suffer their first loss on the road Thursday night, against Mohawk College with a (3-2) loss. PHoTo BY JAMES HERBERT

‘Katie Beaucock gives us veteran leadership off the bench and new players Heather McKay, Ingribelli, Anna Jawrowicz and Tamo provide excellent support.”MicHAEl BEccARiA


sports

By COLLIN STACHURAStaff Writer

It was a sea of blue and white at the St. Catharines Pen Centre as 500 fans stood in line for hours last Thursday for a chance to meet some of their Toronto Blue Jays idols.

Excited fans of all ages and walks of life were there for one reason – to meet the Jays. The two-hour evening ran well past its 8:30 p.m. shutdown time when the Jays put down the pens.

It was Stop No. 5 on the fourth annual Toronto Blue Jays 2014 Winter Tour presented by Toronto Dominion Bank.

The annual tour was resurrected in 2011 as a modern version of the winter caravans that travelled across Canada during the early years of the franchise. It is focused on Ontario cities and towns in the home area of the Toronto Blue Jays.

It was not just an opportunity for old and

young Jays fans to see their favourite players up close but also a chance to get their autograph, something Rob Perrson, 34, was taking advantage of this year.

“I’ve been a fan of the Blue Jays ever since I was three years old,” says Perrson, who had been waiting in line since 4 p.m.

Over 500 excited fans started lining up before 2 p.m. Jays players that were at this tour stop were starting pitcher Brandon Morrow, pitchers Dustin McGowan, Esmil Rogers and Todd Redmond. They were accompanied by Jays management and staff, and one Royal Canadian Mounted Police escort who stood next to the players the

whole time.With spring training a

few months away, the Pen Centre was one of the last stops on the Jays’ Winter Tour. And support for the sport franchise is there for the future too.

The Moccio and Jantzo families are passing down their love for the Jays to their children.

Thirty-year fan Jeff Jantzo hopes his two sons will follow in his footsteps. “I’ve been a Jays fan since the 1980s, you know, when they used to win,” says Jantzo.

So, with no shortage of fans, it looks as if the Toronto Blue Jays will have a place in the hearts of Southern Ontarians for years to come.

Local baseball fans show up by the hundreds for the Toronto Blue Jays fourth annual Winter Tour

Blue and white wave hits St. Catharines sh re

“I’ve been a fan of the Blue Jays ever since I was three years old.” ROB PeRRSON

Toronto Blue Jays pitching staff sign autographs for fans at Pen Centre, St. Catharines, on Jan. 16.

Dustin McGowan is signing the excited fan’s shirt on the fourth annual Toronto Blue Jays 2014 Winter Tour.

Lincoln Mills poses for the photo with Ace, Toronto Blue Jays mascot, while waiting in line with his father Aaron Mills. PHOTOS BY COLLIN STACHURA

“I’ve been a Jays fan since the 1980s, you know, when they used to win.”

Jeff JANTzO


Feature

By MEAGHAN MITCHELLStaff Writer

In his 1980 book, Cosmos, Carl Sagan wrote, “Imagina-tion will often carry us to worlds that never were. But without it we go nowhere.”

The Niagara Falls History Museum will be igniting imaginations with its new-est exhibit, Space.

Clark Bernat, museum manager, thanked staff, mu-seum members and the me-dia for attending the launch last week at the Ferry Street location.

A portable planetarium, which looks like a giant space tent, is on loan from the Royal Ontario Museum and showing daily at 11 a.m., 1 p.m., 3 p.m. and Thursday nights at 6 p.m. and 8 p.m.

A blue wall holds five pho-tos of the Apollo 15 mission, one of the space shuttle

blasting off on July 26, 1971, another of the astronauts David Scott, Alfred Worden and James Irwin, and three photos taken on the moon.

On a shelf in exhibit are three toy spacesuit helmets and several books on space and the moon.

The most unique part of this exhibit is the lunar sample on display. The rock comes from the largest sample harvested in the Apollo 15 mission.

Apollo 15 marked a significant part of “human history,” Bernat said.

On July 20, 1969 Neil Arm-strong, during the Apollo 11 mission, became the first man to step on the moon. Two years later, on July 31, 1971, astronauts David Scott and James Irwin, on the Apollo 15 mission, were the first men to drive a vehicle, the Lunar Roving Vehicle (LRV), on the moon.

The LRV made it possible for astronauts to travel far-ther distances on the moon and collect larger and more diverse samples.

Scott and Irwin drove about 28 kilometres and returned to Earth with 77 kilograms of lunar rock samples.

An engraving, dating back to 1852, of a moon bow, a rainbow that occurs at night from moonlight, over Niagara Falls is also on display. Moon bows are no longer visible above the Falls because of city lights and artificial illumination. The piece is on loan from the Castelanni Art Museum of Niagara University in New York.

Curator Suzanne Moase said she is thrilled to have an actual lunar sample on loan from NASA.

“It is the tangible nature of objects that help muse-

ums to connect with their audiences. Objects provide a jumping off point for discussion, learning and sharing,” she said.

Joan Onofrio, of Niagara Falls, is a new member to the museum and said she enjoyed the display. She was coming out of the plan-etarium.

“It will be fantastic for the kids. … The little ones will really get a thrill out of it.”

The space exhibit will be available until mid-April.

Admission is $5 for adults, $4 for six to nine year olds and students with student identification and free for anyone under six years old.

The museum is open daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and until 9 p.m. on Thurs-day. It is closed on Monday. For more information visit www.niagarafallsmuse-ums.ca.

An out of this world exhibitNiagara Falls History Museum is igniting imaginations with Space

A wall of photos at the Niagara Falls Museum displaying NASA’s Apollo 15 mission. PHoToS By MEAGHAN MITCHELL

The crew of Apollo 15 pose before the mission with a satellite and the Lunar Roving Vehicle. From left, Commander David Scott, Command Module pilot, Alfred Worden and Lunar Module pilot, James Irwin. SuBMITTEd PHoTo

Lunar Roving Vehicle from Apollo 15. SuBMITTEd PHoTo (TAkEN By CoMMANdEr dAvId SCoTT)

A lunar sample from the Apollo 15 mission is on display in the space exhibit at the Niagara Falls Museum.


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niagara-news.com N playoff spot real, true page 12 n iagara n e W s · 2018-10-10 · Chris Fraser,...

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