The Converged Citizen - November 27, 2014.

VOLUME X ISSUE 7 WWW.THEMEDIAPLEX.COM NOVEMBER 27 , 2014

CONVERGED CITIZENTH

E

PAGE2

NEWS

PAGE7

SPORTSGALLERY

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Photo by Sean Frame

Three Fan Expo attendees pose in their X-Men costumes at the Metro Convention Centre in Toronto on Aug. 30,

Cosplayin’ around

Sean Frame

Managing Editor

Halloween is a chance to

dress up and be someone you

are not. Unfortunately, for

those who want to dress up all

the time, Halloween only hap-

pens once a year. But hell if

Mr. Dressup can do it all year

round why can’t everyone

else?

Costume play or ‘cosplay’ is

the act of dressing up as a

character from fiction or even

reality, though is mostly popu-

lar for science fiction, video

games and anime genres. The

term cosplay comes from the

Japanese portmanteau which

in English translates to cos-

tume play. This term wa

coined in 1984 by Nobuyuki

Takahashi, who was so

impressed by the costumes at

Worldcon in Los Angeles that

a story of this portmanteau

was published in the Japanese

magazine My Anime.

It is popular for people who

attend geek conventions and

also popular on the Internet.

Cosplayers sometime partic-

ipate in what is known as role

playing, which is a sub-culture

where people act-out charac-

ters using storytelling and dia-

logue on site forums.

Mckenna Roberts became

interested in cosplay when she

heard of an anime convention

just across the river in Detroit,

called Youmacon. She had

always been a fan of anime

and when she heard about

Youmacon, she wanted to

dress up for it immediately.

She soon found out cosplay is

very time consuming. Not

only does it take up a long

period of time if you inde-

pendently design and create

your costume, but it does not

come cheap.

“The more pieces associated

with the costume, the more

money it will cost,” said

Roberts, who is currently

working on a new costume.

“Half of it is stuff you don’t

even see. For example, the

hair piece for her (the costume

she is currently working on).

People think ‘Oh okay, money

for a wig’, but in reality her

hair is so big that it requires

one very long wig, plus three

extensions, along with EVA

foam for shape,and pins, and

glue. That is just the hair.

Everything adds up very

quickly.”

Despite the long process of

creating a costume, Roberts

says the best thing about cos-

play is it’s always a learning

experience. Great detail goes

into each costume, unlike

Halloween costumes you can

just buy for $50. The more she

talks to different cosplayers,

the more she learns, like

which materials work best and

how to shape things using dif-

ferent techniques. The work is

never over for Roberts; she

said as soon as she finishes

one costume it is on to the

next. She has currently com-

pleted two costumes and has

another four in the works.

Convention organizers usu-

ally lay out rules and regula-

tions for cosplayers, which

can make somecostumes diffi-

cult to finish. Some rules

include no folded steel

weapons– usually prop-weapons

are made of wood– and limited

prop sizes as to not take up too

much convention space. This year

Youmacon made it a rule that

while at the convention on the

Renaissance Centre premises there

were no weapons allowed and no

masks that covered faces. These

rules sparked some outrage for

SEE PAGE 8

Ashley Ann Mentley

CP Editor

Washing your face and hands

and brushing your teeth could

be contributing to contamina-

tion of the Great Lakes.

Of the five Great Lakes,

Lake Erie has the highest con-

centration of micro plastic

contamination – and research

has only just begun said Paul

Helm, a senior research scien-

tist at the Ontario Ministry of

the Environment and Climate

Change office. He spoke Nov.

12 at the Ojibway Nature

Centre as a part of the Green

Speaker Series hosted by the

Windsor Essex County

Environmental Committee.

Helm addressed the issue of

visible plastic contaminants,

otherwise known as micro

plastics, which are smaller

than five millimetres in diam-

eter, in the Great Lakes. Helm

said one of the biggest issues

is how little is actually known

about the micro plastics.

“Other than one study col-

lecting it on water in the Great

Lakes and another having

some pellets wash up on

beaches, we haven’t actually

done very much yet,” Helm

said. “We don’t know the

scope and scale of the prob-

lem.”

What is known, however, are

some of the sources of these

small, yet visible pieces of

plastic. The primary source is

micro beads, which come

from exfoliating skincare

products such as face wash,

hand soap and toothpaste.

Helm said other sources may

be items like synthetic fibres

from clothing, fishing lines,

plastic bottles, litter and

debris.

SEE PAGE 5

Micro plastics

in Great Lakes

2CONVERGED CITIZENNEWS NOVEMBER 27, 2014

CCAC to cut nursing visitsCitizen Staff

The Erie St. Clair

Community Care Access

Centre is planning to cut

services to address its

deficit.

According to documents

acquired by the Converged

Citizen the local CCAC has

a deficit of $5.9 million.

They have been meeting

with the Local Health

Integration Network to

devise strategies to ensure

they have a balanced budg-

et going forward.

The 11-page document

explains how they got to this

point and what they plan on

doing to balance the budget. It

even instructs service

providers how to answer

patients’ questions about why

they are being discontinued or

having their visits reduced.

The CCAC plans to reduce

visits by 33 per cent or 300

visits a week. They also plan

to hire seven more care co-

ordinators and reduce the

average cost per short-stay

patient by 23 per cent.

Many of the strategies

include fostering partnerships

with community support serv-

ice agencies and connecting

patients with these agencies

instead of treating them

through CCAC. One such

example is respite services.

“We can no longer provide

respite services as it is a dupli-

cation of resources when there

are community agencies that

provide this service,” accord-

ing to the CCAC documents.

The Hospice of Windsor and

Essex County provides many

different services, some of

which fall under services that

CCAC is looking to eliminate,

like respite care. Several

agency spokespeople said they

are not able to comment on the

CCAC cuts until there is more

information about the effect

on their programs.

Another community service

provider, the Canadian

Diabetes Association, offers

services and programs to peo-

ple who have diabetes.

Diabetes can lead to foot

ulcers and other medical con-

ditions that could require

CCAC involvement. In an

email statement, Harriet Lee,

the communications manager

for CDA, said they are leaders

in the fight against diabetes

and are aware of the CCAC

cuts.

“The Canadian Diabetes

Association believes people

living with diabetes should

have access the best health

care possible in order to live

their lives to their full poten-

tial,” said Lee. “We’re aware

of the changes CCAC has put

in place, and we will be

assessing the impact it may or

may not have on people living

with diabetes in Ontario.”

Numerous attempts to con-

tact CCAC for clarification

have gone unanswered. If you

or someone you know has had

their services discontinued or

changed by CCAC recently

and you don’t agree with the

changes you can file an appeal

with CCAC on their website at

http://healthcareathome.ca/eri

estclair/en . This site also has

other useful information about

CCAC and the services they

provide. If you would like to

speak to someone in person

you can call 1-888-310-7230

for more information.

Mark Brown

Citizen Staff Reporter

Windsor’s downtown business

association is calling attention to

the diversity of the neighbour-

hood’s restaurants while reaping

the benefits of the recent film fes-

tival.

The Downtown Windsor

Business Improvement

Association is using social media

to promote the uniqueness of

eateries in the downtown core.

Debi Croucher, acting director of

the DWBIA, said participants can

benefit from showing off

Windsor’s restaurants.

“We really wanted to use social

media to spread the word,” said

Croucher. “A lot of ‘foodies’ enjoy

taking photographs of the meals

that they’re having. What we

wanted to do was encourage them

to post those photos to Twitter,

Facebook or Instagram.”

Croucher said the promotion,

which runs throughout the month

of November and is called “30

Days Dining Downtown,” is very

user-friendly and anyone with a

cellphone can take part.

“Just snap a photo,” said

Croucher. “It (the restaurant) has to

be within our boundaries, then

they would tag it ’30 Days Dining

Downtown.’ At the end of the

month, we will pick an overall

winner and then a number of win-

ners would win gift cards to vari-

ous establishments.”

Croucher said the response to the

program has been varied so far.

Among the restaurants that have

had photos sent in are Maxim,

Terracotta, Windsor Star News

Café, Squirrel Cage, Naturosweet

and Chanoso’s. Croucher said the

program is also a terrific way to

promote Windsor’s downtown

restaurants ahead of the holiday

season.

“This is a great time to do that,

we’re leading up to the holidays,”

said Croucher. “For folks who are

looking for that perfect gift, per-

haps folks would have seen a par-

ticular restaurant and consider a

gift card.”

The buildup to the holidays

comes in the afterglow of the

Windsor International Film

Festival which had its run earlier

this month at the Capitol Theatre.

Croucher said downtown busi-

nesses got a real boost from the

eight-day event.

“It’s been huge,” said Croucher.

“Restaurants, particularly those on

University, Pelissier and Chatham

have raved about the attendance,

which is really encouraging. They

always do well with WIFF

because of the demographic that

the independent film attracts.”

Restaurants that are popular with

the downtown lunch crowd saw

an increase in business during the

film festival. Brian Khan, coordi-

nator of special events and mar-

keting at the DWBIA, said the

response at some places exceeded

expectations.

“Frenchy’s (Poutinery) had a

lineup outside the establishment

because of the film fest. And this is

around 10:30 a.m. or 11 a.m.

when they open on a Tuesday,”

said Khan. “This is not a normal

crowd that you would have on a

weekday.”

Croucher said she is hopeful the

energy provided by the film festi-

val will carry over into the upcom-

ing Winterfest, set for Nov. 29

with the traditional Santa Claus

Parade.

The “30 Days Dining

Downtown” promotion runs

through Nov. 30. For more infor-

mation, contact the Downtown

Mosaic offices at (519) 252-5723

or visit

www.downtownwindsor.ca.

Downtown restaurantsget support from WIFF

Photo by Mark BrownBrian Khan, marketing and special events coordinator of theDowntown Windsor Business Improvement Association andDebi Croucher, acting director, pause outside the DWBIAoffices on Pelissier Street, downtown Windsor, Nov 10.

A ‘magical’ experience at the U of WKristine Klein


Windsorites experienced their

first Tedx at the University of

Windsor which featured many

speakers, including a young magi-

cian.

Tedx is an event much like a Ted

Talks, where guest speakers have a

chance to share their ideas or dis-

coveries. The event started with

the hosts taking a selfie and

encouraging the audience to do the

same.

After many speakers, magician

Keith Brown took the stage. He

has been performing magic since

the age of six and his speech was

“The Magic of Thinking.”

“Magic and creativity go hand in

hand,” said Brown. “In order to be

creative I need to be willing to go

the distance. I need to be willing

not to quit…I need to immerse

myself completely because I’ve

noticed my creativity evolves over

time.”

Brown talked not only about cre-

ativity, but also other magicians,

one being Canadian Dai Vernon,

who he considers to be one of the

greatest magicians of the last cen-

tury.

“Vernon once said ‘most magi-

cians stop thinking too soon.’ He

believed that magicians were shal-

low thinkers instead of deep

thinkers, that magicians would set-

tle with the first possible answer as

the answer instead of an answer as

one of many,’’ said Brown. “What

if this doesn’t apply to just magi-

cians, what if we all can stop think-

ing too soon?”

Brown said his goal is to get the

people of the world to believe in

his show.

“My job as a magician is to give

you every single opportunity to

entertain the idea that what I am

doing really is magic,” said

Brown.

Brown successfully made the

Tedx audience believe in magic by

the show of hands after his per-

formance. If it really was magic,

the audience will never know

because a good magician never

reveals his secrets.

The goal of a Tedx event is to

change your life with something

exciting or different. Jenny Van, a

U of W student, said that she will

be participating in the 30 day chal-

lenge, with was part of a pre-

recorded video shown at the event.

It is a challenge where you do

something for 30 days to create a

good habit or to do something

interesting.

“The 30 day challenge really

stood out to me… My 30 day chal-

lenge will be to take photos every-

day with friends because I don’t

take many photos with them,” said

Van.

Keith Brown preforming his teleporting card trick in front of theaudience at the Tedx at the University of Windsor on Nov. 8

Photo by Kristine Klein

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The town of LaSalle’s website:

www.town.lasalle.on.ca

WEBSITE


Windsor-Essex County housing market is booming

Photo by Johnathan Hutton

Dave Antovski, 42, stands in front of his recently sold residence in South Windsor.

Johnathan Hutton


Home sales in Windsor-

Essex are up 6.22 per cent

since September and are

predicted to continue ris-

ing, according to the

Windsor Essex County

Association of Realtors.

Windsor has been hit

hard by the 2008 recession

which led to the closure of

its General Motors trans-

mission plant in 2010 and

several other business

resulting in job losses and

layoffs. As a result many

Windsorites lost their

homes or had to move else-

where.

According to Cindy

Sorkopud, a realtor from

Royal Lepage Realty in

Windsor, after the all time

market low in 2008, they

have no where to go but up.

“Windsor is currently a

balanced market, leading

towards a sellers’ market.

There has been a shortage

of inventory but there is

also supply and demand,”

said Sorkopud.

Other reasons Sorkopud

gave included lower inter-

est rates for home buyers.

“Of course supply and

demand always drives the

market, but I think low

interest rates have helped

also, said Sorkopud. The

interest rates have been

low for quite some time. I

think right now you can get

a five year mortgage for

2.89 per cent.”

According to a study

done by Statistics Canada

in 2011, about four in five

people who bought a home

between 2006 and 2011

had a mortgage.

Favourable interest rates

encourage home buyers to

sell and buy new homes.

A study by the WECAR

showed that the housing

market in the region is

making a comeback.

In one year housing sales

have increased by 12 per

cent.

This demand for homes

in Windsor is reflected in

the prices of the homes,

which have slightly

increased. According to

the WECAR, the average

price of a home has

increased by $9,005 since

last September. The most

common price point of the

year so far for houses are

the ones that are between

$100,000 and $139,999,

with 782 being sold so far

this year.

New housing develop-

ments have been springing

up to meet these demands.

Typically home buyers

tend to be older as they are

usually the ones with

greater job security.

Statistics Canada shows

that 31.5 per cent of

recently purchased house-

holds between 2006 and

2011 were by people less

than 35 years old. This

means that approximately

70 per cent of all home

owners in Canada are over

the age of 35.

“For me, my demograph-

ic market is more between

age 40 and 60,” said

Sorkopud.

Many buyers who can’t

find what they are looking

for in this demanding mar-

ket are deciding to build

their own homes.

Dave Antovski, 42 , is a

resident of south Windsor

and has researched the

housing market for over

three years. Although he

and his wife tried to find a

home in the south Windsor

area, they were unable to

find the house they wanted

in the area they preferred.

“It was this indecision

that helped us decide to

build our house instead of

buying,” said Antovski. “It

was important to move into

a home that was specked

out exactly the way we

wanted. We dictated the

layout, how big the rooms

were going to be and what

features we wanted to add

to it.”

Eventually they bought a

property in LaSalle that he

said was close to friends

and family and in a nice

area.

Whether people are look-

ing to build their own

homes or buy them, they

should be prepared to pay a

little more to get the home

they are looking for.

Taylor Busch

CP Editor

In the weeks following the

election, LaSalle councillors

reflect on their town’s recent

purchases as they decide what

to do next.

Dale Langlois is the current

deputy treasurer and manager

of finance for the town.

He said the outgoing council

did a good job of putting away

money for unexpected pur-

chases and the new council

should do the same.

“We had to take on some

debt for a new building but we

didn't fully fund it with debt,”

said Langlois. “For other

building projects around town

we will make sure we have the

money available before we

spend it. That's just sound

financial planning.”

In addition to growing costs

and staff wages, Langlois con-

firmed that the council will

announce increased spending

in other areas. In LaSalle’s

2013 final budget, the town

reported spending less than

$100 on employee training

and $2,500 on tuition fees.

This year, the council planned

to spend roughly $1,000 on

employee training and $5,000

on tuition fees.

“We have a program where if

people take a course and it's

related to their employment

the town will pay for it, and

more people have been taking

advantage of it,” said

Langlois. “It's a very minimal

part of our budget and it bene-

fits the town.”

Newly appointed deputy

mayor Mark Bondy said he

thinks the new buildings were

a good investment for the

town. He believes more

investors will be drawn to

LaSalle as a result of the

development.

“We spent a lot of money on

new facilities, but if we want

investors to come to our town

we have to invest in our town

which we’ve done,” said

Bondy. “If you talk to other

municipalities they might not

say it publically, but off the

record they're saying they

want to emulate LaSalle finan-

cially.”

According to Langlois, no

departments are expected to

spend less than they did in

2013, but some of the depart-

ments expected to spend near-

ly the same amount.

New sidewalk construction

is expected to cost $200,000,

sidewalk repairs $60,000 and

trails $50,000.

“I think we've been building

those items up over the last 15

years,” said Langlois. “Our town

slogan is ‘Healthy, Vibrant and

Caring,’ so we want people to get

more active. And because the pro-

gram has been around for about 15

years, some of the stuff is starting

to need to be replaced.”

Re-elected Mayor Ken Antaya

said he does not feel pressure from

residents to decrease spending this

term because of the overwhelming

support he received from voters

during the election.

Not unlike Eddie Francis during

his term in office, Anatya said new

buildings are the key to drawing

more businesses and big-ticket

events to LaSalle.

“Over the past four years we

reconstructed all of our municipal

buildings. It cost us over $30 mil-

lion, but now we are set for the

next 30 or 40 years,” said Antaya.

During the election, one of the

concerns raised by LaSalle resi-

dents was a lack of transparency in

spending.

Langlois said residents can view

the town’s budget at each council

meeting or by visiting their web-

site.

“I don't know how we could be

more transparent,” said Langlois.

“All projects go through council

and every single cheque that's writ-

ten is included in the council's

report each meeting.

Everyone is welcome to go to

the council meetings and voice

their ideas on how to make things

more transparent if they have any.”

LaSalle’s next council meet-

ing is scheduled for Dec. 1.

The current agenda calls for

new councillors to be sworn

in, property taxes to be debat-

ed and the 2015 proposed

budget to be announced.

LaSalle council reflects,looks forward


Sports centre’s future debated at meetingMark Brown


The fate of a sports and

recreation complex was a key

component of the agenda at

Monday night’s town council

meeting in Lakeshore.

Lakeshore Town Council

voted 6-3 to begin the process

of seeking the help of a realtor

for the listing of the Puce

Sports and Leisure Centre,

which houses the Lakeshore

Academy of Fine Arts. The

operator of the school, Sarah

Ilijanich, had been hoping to

purchase the building and ren-

ovate it, but council stuck to

its bottom-line price tag of

$500,000.

Ilijanich had told council

members at Lakeshore Town

Hall she had access to up to

$300,000 to renovate the

building, but members

believed renovations, includ-

ing asbestos removal, would

push the cost up further.

Ilijanich said her only concern

is keeping her school an

important part of the

Lakeshore arts scene.

“I’m not asking you to build

me a building,” Ilijanich said

in front of council. “All I’m

asking is that you quote me a

price. I’m here fighting for the

arts. I’m here fighing for

Lakeshore.”

Ilijanich had offered the

town one dollar for the build-

ing earlier this year, similar to

the arrangement Windsor

made with the Windsor

Symphony Orchestra for the

Capitol Theatre downtown.

Council rejected that proposal.

Ward 4 Councillor Steven

Bezaire told Ilijanich that her

latest proposal will not work.

“Some things just aren’t

meant to be,” said Bezaire. “It

just doesn’t seem viable…this

is not the right building for

you to buy.”

Steve Salmons, Lakeshore’s

director of community and

development services, said the

Puce Sports Centre had been

appraised for $860,000, and a

similar building in the area

had sold for $1.2 million.

Ward 2 Councillor Dave

Monk noted the asbestos pres-

ent in the building and that the

cost of its removal would

account for much of the pur-

chase price.

Council members eventually

passed a motion to turn the

process of selling the property

over to a realtor. Councillors

Bezaire, Monk and Dan

Diemer voted against it.

Ilijanich said she was disap-

pointed and is already looking

to relocate elsewhere.

“I have $300,000 to spend

and it won’t be in Lakeshore

anytime soon,” Ilijanich said

outside council chambers.

She said that she has

been talking with a casting

director about working in

London, but she believes in

the Windsor-Essex area

and has spoken with an

unnamed company about

the possibility of moving

the school to St. Clair

Beach.

The meeting was the

first regularly-scheduled

one held in Lakeshore

since the Oct 27 municipal

election. Councillors

Bezaire and Charles

McLean did not win reelec-

tion, though Mayor Tom

Bain and Deputy Mayor Al

Fazio will join the remain-

ing councillors and return

for another term.

Photo by Mark Brown

Members of Lakeshore Town Council confer following their meeting Monday, Nov 10. From left,Councillors Dave Monk and Charles McLean, Mayor Tom Bain, Chief Administrative OfficerKirk Foran, Councillors Steven Bezaire and Linda MacKinlay.

British theme lost on Fox and FiddleSharon Ramirez


I have been in the Fox &

Fiddle restaurant twice

now and both times I was

impressed with the food.

The first time I was able

to get a soft drink, the

potato boat appetizer, the

macaroni and cheese and

dessert for $40, including

the tip I gave to my sweet-

heart of a waitress. The

second time, I tried the

spinach, cheese and bacon

dip as appetizer, a glass of

wine and the mushroom

cheese burger which came

to around $38 including a

tip.

Not only did I get so

much for little, I got some

incredibly delicious food.

At other restaurants, I

would have paid a $100 or

more for all of that.

Despite the delicious

food at low prices, the

restaurant’s theme was far

from British.

Fox & Fiddle calls itself

a British-style pub, but if

they had removed the

nameplate from the build-

ing, I would have thought I

had entered a themeless,

no-name restaurant.

When I think of a British

pub I think of old, cherry

or mahogany tables,

Victorian-style, black

wrought-iron chandeliers

with light bulbs meant to

look like flames. I also

think of a more rustic feel,

one exhibited through

autumn-coloured walls.

Instead, what I got was a

bar with a white marble

counter top, black leather

seats and black and grey

walls. I’m assuming the

point was to take the origi-

nal old-English, British-

style pub and modernize it,

but in doing so they lost

the British aspect altogeth-

er.

The only thing that felt

British to me was the live

band playing instrumental

songs reminiscent of old

English pubs. This band

only plays on Tuesday, so

on any other day they play

the same music I hear on

my radio.

The waitresses wore kilts

that were incredibly short

and not made for manoeu-

vrability when they had to

clean the tables. For a

British pub, the kilts were

culturally off-base, not to

mention completely

impractical.

Despite their attire, the

waitresses were very

sweet. My second time

there, one drew a heart and

a smiley face for me on my

bill, so that was new. I’ve

definitely never had that

before.

The British theme was

more obvious on their

menu, offering Shepherd’s

pie, fish and chips and a

beef and Guinness pot pie.

I give this establishment

seven out of 10 because

although the theme was

lacking, their food was

incredible. I would recom-

mend it to those who are

interested in great food and

able to overlook the inabil-

ity to match their establish-

ment to their theme.

REVIEW

TUESDAYS @ 6PMCogeco Channel 11

5CONVERGED CITIZENHEALTH NOVEMBER 27, 2014

Breast cancer awarenessIesha Coburn


The month of October is

Breast Cancer Awareness

month. Although many people

are aware of what breast can-

cer is, the National Breast

Cancer Association is taking

the extra step by making the

whole month to inform people

on how to check themselves to

prevent it, and to educate on

the fact that even men can get

breast cancer. They also

fundraise for the whole month

of October.

Breast cancer is a malignant

tumour that can start in the

breast tissue. Malignant means

that it may spread. It is the

second most leading cause of

death from cancer for

Canadian women. On average,

67 Canadian women will be

diagnosed with breast cancer

every day. According to the

Canadian Cancer Society, men

can also develop breast can-

cer, although less than one per

cent of breast cancers do occur

within men.

That is what makes Breast

Cancer Awareness Month so

important. Knowing these sta-

tistics, St. Clair College held

multiple breast cancer aware-

ness fundraisers by selling t-

shirts, popcorn and cotton

candy at both the Main

Campus and the TD Student

Centre.

Sarah Ryrie is the Student

Representative Council

President at St Clair College.

She organized the fundraiser

and feels very fortunate to

come from a family that has

minimal family members that

have been affected by cancer.

I do have friends who their

families have been torn apart

from cancer so it’s a vicious

cycle and it’s something that

needs to end. I have friends

who have lost friends, I have

friends who have lost moms, I

have best friends that their

families have been torn apart

from this disease so although

I’m not a scientist and I know

that I don’t have it in me to

develop a cure, said Ryrie. She

does as much as she can to

help.

“Whether it be cotton candy

or making popcorn and sell-

ing it to students for mini-

mum donations of 50 cents

cause we want students and

know that that they don’t

have a lot of money to spare,

but we’ve had a lot of people

giving $20 bills for a 50 cent

popcorn or cotton candy, it

gives me chills but it just goes

to show that people are being

affected,” said Ryrie.

One of the things that Ryrie

thought to help girls be fully

aware of their bodies is put-

ting posters in the bathrooms

of the school showing how

girls can check their breasts

for lumps, etcetera. She

understands that college stu-

dents can’t be as proactive as

desired because of classes

and other daily activities that

may take their time and

money.

“People may not have the

money to give us but their

time, everybody as a little bit

of time- if you have time to

change your Facebook status

or upload an Instagram photo,

you probably do have spare

minutes of your day that may

be promoting the things that

are happening around the

county,” said Ryrie.

Amanda Broski is a St. Clair

College student and talked

about her experience this

month raising awareness for

breast cancer.

“You know you just have to

give support. I did the breast

cancer run and it was very

emotional but I think that what

people have to understand is

you have to be aware, you

have to help them and you

can’t look at it as a sentence

you can’t be like, ‘I’m affected

now I’m done, you have to

know that there is hope,” said

Broski.

Run for the Cure is a nation-

al fundraiser for breast cancer.

It not only raises money for

more innovative research but

it brings a lot of emotions and

has different ways of getting

more people involved. When

Broski attended the Run for

the Cure she was one among

127,000 participants and vol-

unteers that had come together

to show support, and accord-

ing to CIBC’s Run for the

Cure website over $25 million

was raised this year.

“Everyone was smiling and

crying, different teams had

different names. My favourite

team was called “Steps for

Strength” and then they had

this part where all of the peo-

ple who had cancer were on

top of this stage and they were

holding up signs and everyone

had ‘I’m still fighting’ signs or

‘I’m going to get through this

in months.’ There was this girl

that was there that had four

different types of cancer. It

was just emotional and then

laughter, everyone had fun,”

said Broski.

To find out more infor-

mation about Breast

Cancer such as where to

research prevention, risks,

signs and symptoms, or

even on where to donate,

you can go online to

http://www.cancer.ca/.

“These things that wash our

face and help us look pretty

are having a huge impact on

the Great Lakes,” Helm said.

Sherry Bondy, Ward 4 coun-

cillor in the Town of Essex,

addressed what she called “a

disconnect” between Essex

County towns and the Great

Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities

Initiative, the organization

responsible for conducting the

research.

“As a councillor in the coun-

ty, and my family lives on

Lake Erie, I’m surprised how

disconnected the local munici-

palities are to the Great Lakes

and how disconnected their

elected officials are to the

Great Lakes (and St. Lawrence

Cities) Initiative,” Body said.

It’s kind of upsetting.”

Various locations in the U.S.

such as Illinois, New Jersey

and New York have begun to

introduce legislation that will

require companies using micro

beads to remove them from

their products. Helm said the

argument is that micro beads

are present in the Great Lakes

and they’re coming from prod-

ucts that don’t need to be

there.

“As a result of that kind of

public awareness and advoca-

cy, the industry has said,

‘You’re right, we can find

alternatives,’ and so many of

the companies have commit-

ted to removing them from the

products starting in January

2015,” Helm said.

Ontario has yet to create

such legislation.

Stefan Grigorakis is study-

ing micro plastics for his mas-

ter’s degree at the University

of Windsor. He agreed with

Helm that one of the biggest

obstacles is how little is cur-

rently known about the topic.

“There’s only been a handful

of fresh water studies of micro

plastics and all of those have

been pretty much quantifying

how much is in the water…”

as opposed to looking into

sources or effects, Griogorakis

said. He is more interested in

researching the effects of

chemical build up and how to

remove the micro plastics,

whereas Helm’s studies are

focusing largely on the sources

of the plastics.

“We don’t really see the

micro beads, but we’ve heard

a lot about them,” Helm said.

“It’s easy to show that these

things are there, it’s not so

easy to show what kind of

effects there are. It’s very dif-

ficult to make claims that it’s

having a huge impact at this

point.”

Helm said this current lack

of information about the con-

taminants and the potential

effects should not stop people

from taking the issue seriously

and acting responsibly.

Photo by Josh Teixeira

Paul Helm speaks to an audience at the Ojibway Nature Centreon the cause and concern of micro plastics in the Great Lakes.

MEDIAPLEX CONVERGED TEAM

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Bobby-Jo Keats

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FROM PAGE 1

6CONVERGED CITIZENGALLERY NOVEMBER 27, 2014

We will remember themDan Gray

Managing Editor

Veterans and citizens came out by

the hundreds to take part in a solemn

Remembrance Day service at the

Windsor Cenotaph.

The City of Windsor held their

annual Remembrance Day ceremony

at 11 a.m on Nov. 11. It started with a

Howitzer firing to mark the beginning

of two minutes of silence.

There was a noticeable spike in

attendance upon the previous year

and a highly visible police force. The

police were on rooftops, among the

crowd and shut down much of the

downtown core during the ceremony.

A poll conducted by AM800 listeners

says 93 per cent of their listeners

believe events in Ottawa and Quebec

had something to do with the

increased turnout across the area.

Ministers of parliament and minis-

ters of provincial parliament joined

veterans and citizens in the act of

remembrance, wreath laying and the

playing of last post. This year’s event

also held the opportunity for those

gathered to re-affirm their citizenship

to Canada.

It was reported at the service that

three World Ward 2 veterans had died

in the past week. Their diminishing

number was noticeable from the pre-

vious year’s event. Although not a

World War veteran,

Ray Silvius served during the

Korean War. He sat proudly in

the front row in his uniform

during the event. There

were 516 Canadian soldiers

killed in Korea including

some from Windsor and

Essex County. He said it is important

that we don’t forget those sacrifices.

“I think that we should remember

what everybody died for, so this

country could stay free,” said Silvius.

“I believe that emphatically.”

Windsor Mayor Eddie Francis was

attending his final Remembrance Day

as mayor. He said although this is one

of his last ceremonies as mayor every

Remembrance Day is more than a

ceremony to him. According to

Francis he views this as an opportuni-

ty to work closer in hand with the vet-

erans after he’s done in office. He

doesn’t view attending as some-

thing he does as mayor but as a

good citizen. Although he’ll be

in a different position he

believes it is important to con-

tinue to help the veterans and

remember them.

“I think it’s important for all of us to

personally recognize the sacrifices of

vets the sacrifice of the men and

women that are in service and to rec-

ognize what we do for all of us so that

we are able to enjoy the freedoms that

we are enjoying,” said Francis. “I’ve

heard many, many stories told by so

many vets as to what they faced and

what they had to deal with and what

they had to deal with when they came

back home and are still dealing with.

For me and for this community we

owe them a tremendous amount of

gratitude and thanks.”

The mayor’s thoughts were echoed

by veterans including Ken Knighton,

a former army mechanic who spent

time as a peacekeeper in Israel.

“It’s important for people to under-

stand that the memory of these people

cannot go away.”

Windsor indignitaries comemmorateRemembrance day at the Cenotaph inWindsor on Nov. 11.

Photos by The Converged Citizen Staff

7CONVERGED CITIZENGALLERY NOVEMBER 27, 2014

Gathering shows respectCaleb Workman


November 11 is a day to remember

and many in LaSalle took time to

make it out to the new Cenotaph to

pay their respects.

The commemoration of all who

have sacrificed took place at

Cenotaph Park, the new park outside

of LaSalle Town Hall. The ceremony

started at 11 a.m. and veterans, old

and new, stood alongside the civilians

of LaSalle to look back and remem-

ber the service of those who fought

for the country.

Retired Master Corporal of the

Essex and Kent Scottish Regiment

and current town council elect, Mike

Akpata, was there to remember his

service and the service of those he

fought alongside.

“During the moment of silence, I

usually think specifically about the 22

Canadians that were killed on my tour

in Afghanistan. The ones whose

ramp-ceremonies I attended,” said

Akpata. “My mind starts to expand to

the 158 killed in total, but then I look

at what I call the senior veterans

whose friendships I’ve made… So it

starts off intimate and small and it

begins to grow as I look at the losses

of members of the military communi-

ty who have served.”

Akpata said he was very happy with

the number of people who made it to

the cenotaph.

“It says that people care. It says that

people, despite the busy-ness of life,

will stop by,” said Akpata. “It says

people will remember. It says that

people understand the sacrifice that

has taken us to this point where we

can gather in a beautiful place free

and unafraid.”

Among the people gathered at the

cenotaph was silver cross mother

Theresa Charbonneau, mother of Cpl.

Andrew Grenon who died during his

last tour in Afghanistan in 2008.

“Every year, as I prepare for

Remembrance Day, my feelings do

get stronger and get more resolve,”

s a i d

Charbonneau.

“I feel more

fortitude and I

realize that

when I

s p e a k ,

because of

what I’ve

b e e n

through, I’m hoping that I teach and I

give others a reason to remember and

a means for them to thank present ser-

vicemen and veterans that the see.”

Charbonneau said she hopes to see

everyone remember, not just today,

but throughout the year as she does.

“If you saw my house, you would

see remembrances everywhere, front

and back,” said Charbonneau. “Every

time I see somebody who I recognize

is a veteran, who I know is a service-

man, I always give them a hug and a

kiss and I thank them.”

Charbonneau said she feels it

shouldn’t take a specific day for peo-

ple to take the time to remember

those who have laid down their life.

“Every citizen

should react

when they see a

uniform. That

should be all it

takes,” said

Charbonneau.

L a s a l l e ’ s

mayor, Ken

A n t a y a ,

said he remembered his uncle, who

had served during the First World

War, during the moment of silence.

“You never heard a word of com-

plaint from the guy and that’s what

you find from most of the veterans,”

said Antaya. “Even though a portion

of their lives was taken away by

being injured, by service, or by seeing

a friend die next to them they never

complained.”

Antaya said he was very happy

with the day’s event and was

proud of all the people who came

out.

“It was moving. Well done, well

organized by the Legion. We

were proud to be part of it and I

think that it was a great day to

launch our cenotaph and I think

everybody is embracing it,” said

Antaya.

The new cenotaph, placed at the

northern edge of the park, hon-

ours World War One, the Second

World War, the Korean War, the

United Nations Peace Keeping

Missions and the newly added

Afghanistan War.

“It’s beautiful just to see

Afghanistan at the bottom,” said

Akpata. “To have Afghan on it, in

the year 2014, without problem,

without political crash or fight-

ing, is a testament to those gen-

tlemen for what they fought for to

get Korea included on their ceno-

taphs.”

“It’s been a phenomenal day, as

it always is,” said Charbonneau.

“It’s not over yet though, and we

will remember.”

8CONVERGED CITIZENENTERTAINMENT NOVEMBER 27, 2014

RPGs provide access to other worldsKenneth Bullock


When people think about

church, humorous nuns are

not usually their first thought,

but Put the Nuns in Chargemight change that.

The improv comedy play

written by Chicago. resident

Vicki Quade will be coming to

St. Thomas of Villanova

Catholic High School’s

Festival Theatre on Nov. 28

and 29.

Quade is the creator of the

longest-running religiously-

themed Chicago play LateNight Catechism. That play

has been in theatres across

North America for over two

decades with positive recep-

tion and a 4.2 rating from tick-

etmaster.com.

Put the Nuns in Charge,

which came after Late NightCatechism, is regularly per-

formed at its home theatre, the

Royal George Theatre, in

Chicago. It has been traveling

around North America due to

its positive reception and fam-

ily-friendly nature. The play’s

religious background tries to

teach the world about certain

religious aspects through

laughter.

“I love writing religious

comedies and it’s just a no-

brainer to do something on the

seven deadly sins,” said

Quade. “We take a look at the

seven deadly sins and take a

modern spin on relaying the

story.”

Quade said she tries to iden-

tify the worst sins that are

being carried out by people in

the world now and, through

the play, teach the audience

how to avoid continuing with

these sins.

The play is a two-hour, one-

character show which features

several actresses.

The school in LaSalle will

be visited by Kathleen Puls

Andrade, an actress who has

been with the show for almost

ten years. The Chicago native

considers herself a “Jill of all

trades.” She has been

involved in acting since the

mid-90s and is also involved

in writing, voice acting and

teaching others to voice act.

“About ten years ago I asked

Vicki Quade, the writer and

producer, if she was hiring,”

said Puls Andrade. “She was

coming up with a new show

called Put the Nuns in Charge,

so I auditioned and I’ve been

doing it ever since.”

Puls Andrade said audience

participation is essential for

the play to be carried out the

way it was intended to be.

“It’s almost as if there is

another character in the show

which makes it a lot of fun,”

said Puls Andrade. “You have

to suspend yourself from dis-

belief as an audience member

and enjoy yourself.”

Puls Andrade said she

believes a lot of people enjoy

the show because the show

has a way of bringing up old

memories. Although the play

has religious ties, the main

goal is to get everyone to

laugh. She said it doesn’t mat-

ter if people are Catholic, the

play is intended for every-

body.

“The tagline is ‘laugh your

sins off’ but it is really meant

for anyone,” said Puls

Andrade. “No matter what

background they come from,

everybody laughs. It’s very

respectful to Catholicism and

people will come up to me

after the show and ask me if

I’m a real nun.”

The play itself takes place in

a classroom setting with the

character Mary Margaret

O’Brien, an ex-nun who still

has nun-like qualities about

her. While the audience learns

about the seven deadly sins

they take part in the play’s

overall outcome.

“Each show is different,”

said Puls Andrade. “It’s

because each audience is dif-

ferent. In essence, no two

shows are alike, but everyone

still laughs and has a good

time.”

Quade said she hope the

show does well in LaSalle so

they can bring more opportu-

nities here.

“We have tons of shows

and we hope to be bringing

entertainment there for

several years to come,”

said Quade. “Bring your

kids, bring your mother

and bring your grandmoth-

er. It’s going to be a good

time

You are an extension of

yourself, transcending what

limits you in real life.

If you search online for

Dungeons & Dragons, video

game role playing games or

cosplay, entire followings can

be found. This is because

RPGs and roleplaying in gen-

eral are a lifestyle. The feeling

some get from RPGs is almost

magical.

Clinton Hammond, a long-

time D&D player said he first

tried the imaginative game

back in 1979. Hammond said

he enjoys the game for the

social aspect and the ability to

make characters based on

your personality. However, he

said there are too many rules

to the game and it takes away

from the openness role play

brings.

“Running a fast and loose

game for people who have

never played before can be

thrilling when you watch

them open up,” said

Hammond. “It’s when they

lose themselves in the story

and exhibit some truly lateral

thinking.

The longer Hammond

played RPGs for, the more he

realized their one glaring

flaw: The idea of having a

game system in general. The

hardcover rulebooks and

accessories drew away from

the stories Hammond

immersed himself in. After

this epiphany, he threw away

character sheets with num-

bers and focused more on the

Nun-busting comedyCaleb Workman


several Youmacon attendees,

according to Roberts.

Her advice was “Rules for cos-

tumes change based on the event

organizers and venues, so before

attending a convention, everyone

needs to familiarize themselves in

order not to cause any

problems.”

CEO and founder of Z-Day

Production Micheal Reeve is

well-known in Windsor for his

very detailed costumes. He was

recently featured on The Comic

Book Syndicate sporting his

Deathstroke costume. For Reeve,

cosplaying is having fun and pay-

ing homage to characters you

enjoy.

“I got into cosplay from expand-

ing my enjoyment in dressing up

for Halloween to other events that

allow me to have more fun and

more often making and dressing

up in costumes,” said Reeve.

“Generally I wear my costumes

anytime I have a justifiable reason

for it. Any costume party, event or

anything that can be construed as

a reason to wear one. ”

According to Reeve, most of the

time he spends working on a cos-

tume goes into research. Research

for Reeve is watching the source

material, finding a design version

of the character and deciding

whether to stay true to the source

material or make his own version.

Instead of dressing up and cele-

brating due to a holiday, cosplay-

ers truly try to replicate their char-

acters. Replicating these charac-

ters is more than just specific

detail on the costume, they also

reflect the characters movements

and mannerisms. Cosplayers are

truly dedicated to playing dress

up.

descriptions of the characters

themselves.

The purpose of an RPG is to

place yourself in a different

world and mindset. Aside

from RPGs, there are also

people who merely role-play

online. Care Schrei, a cos-

player and online roleplayer

said one of the reasons for her

love is to break away from the

norm.There are story-role

plays people can participate

in, but Schrei prefers one-on-

one roleplaying.

“I like seeing what will hap-

pen with different actions and

reactions,” said Schrei. “It’s

sort of like a book written by

two people.”

Schrei explained how

important is to have similar

interests with someone, or

else it’s difficult to co-ordi-

nate a story. Another impor-

tant facet of doing a roleplay

is setting guidelines. Trying

to improvise without some

kind of plan will not end well.

An amateur roleplayer may

want to make their character

invulnerable. Schrei calls this

“godmoding.” A potential for

death makes a character more

realistic and closer to life.

Roleplaying isn’t about

breaking every limit of the

human experience, but rather

making little tweaks to give

you more leeway while still

keeping life-like limitations

such as emotion and injury.

Some people will take an

established idea, like from an

anime or television show.

Others will create an entirely

new concept. D&D was one

of the first forms of RPG to

appear.

“Who your guy was, what

he was good at, what he

wasn’t good at, as Game

Master, I had a pretty good

handle on what was probably

going to happen,” said

Hammond. “The better play-

ers were at creatively impact-

ing and interacting with the

storyline, the more things

tailed to them.”

Hammond said he has

more fun when his charac-

ter has many different lim-

itations. One of his

favourites was a legless

warrior, riding around on a

saber-toothed cat. When

asked what Hammond

would say to someone who

wanted to try out D&D, he

merely said…“Do you

wanna play?”

Mckenna Roberts poses in her Faith Connors costume from theseries The Mirror’s Edge on Nov. 3.

Photo by Sean Frame

FROM PAGE 1

9CONVERGED CITIZENNOVEMBER 27, 2014ENTERTAINMENT

Sean Frame

Managing Editor

A little over nine years ago

Shawn Cousineau and two of

his friends opened up Rogues

Gallery comic book shop, at

327 Chatham St. W., with a

start-up fund of around

$30,000.

With help from a self

employment assistance pro-

gram, Cousineau put $10,000

towards the company, and

two others put up $20,000 col-

lectively. According to an arti-

cle written by Chuck

Kosanski, owner of Mile High

comics online store a smaller

comic shop costs roughly

$50,000 to start up with

$10,000 for fixtures, such as

racks and shelves, $30,000 for

basic inventory, $5,000 for

advertising and a safety

reserve of $5,000. In the arti-

cle Kosanski also said most

comic shops end up buying

their fixtures secondhand due

to the high cost for new equip-

ment and the labour involved

in putting the fixtures

together.

A basic breakdown of the

monthly cost for Rogues

Gallery Comics is $21,600.

This includes rent for the

month at $1,600 and the cost

for stock each week being

$5,000 on average. Based on

those overheads, Cousineau

would have started off in the

negatives.

“My biggest struggle upon

starting up was money,” said

Cousineau. ” Having enough

money each week to make my

stock orders was a bit of a

struggle.”

For a new store owner,

Diamond Distributors,

where most comic shops

get their stock, offers a 40

per cent discount for stock

and as the store gains

momentum the discount

may raise as well.

For 500 trades, which

would be a startup in order

to stock the store, and each

trade paperback on aver-

age costing $19.95, cost

for trades would be $9,975

at full retail. With the dis-

count, owners would still

owe $5,985 to the distribu-

tors and 500 comic trades

is roughly only one copy

of each popular comic

title. A single issue comic

cost roughly $2.99, and on

average a store stocks

more than 200 issues a

week. According to

Kosanki’s article, a suc-

cessful comic shop won’t

only stock books but col-

lectibles as well to bring in

a wider demographic of

customers, adding to the

cost of an already expen-

sive stock.

Currently, Cousineau is the

sole owner of Rogues Gallery

and spends most of his time at

the store, which has cut labour

costs for him. Every month

Cousineau makes a profit, but

it took almost four years for

him to start earning a profit.

Now, Rogues is one of

Windsor’s most popular spots

for comic books, in a prime

location close to downtown

and right across from the bus

station.

Pushers hosts firstfashion show

Ryan Brough

Photo Editor

Katrina Kryza is seen walking in the fashion show held atPushers Collective Saturday Nov 15. It was the release of theclothing line Tie Brain.

Photo by Ryan Brough

Pushers Collective held a

fashion show to help bring

local fashion designers to the

public.

Pushers Collective had their

grand re-opening on the after-

noon of Nov. 15. Pushers is a

clothing line, record label,

idea shop and production

company founded in 2011.

They released their new cloth-

ing line Push or Starve. Doors

opened at 2 p.m. and by 5 p.m.

the place had customers com-

ing in and out frequently. The

store’s owner and founder, Ali

Ahmed El Gamrini, said the

release of their new clothing

line was very successful.

“We had a great turnout and

were pleased with the amount

of supporters. We sold out of

all our promotional clothing

from the Push or Starve col-

lection,” said Gamrini.

One of the artists releasing

his new line-and his first line-

was Anthony Di Fazio. Di

Fazio, the designer of Tie

Brain, is an artist on many

platforms. Born and raised in

Windsor, he is currently work-

ing on a book, performs in two

local bands, draws, paints and

has just released his first

clothing line called Tie Brain.

He said he wants to do film

next.

“This is a cool way to

release some art work, to have

people wear it, it’s just so

cool,” said Di Fazio.

When Di Fazio displayed

artwork at the Alley Art Show

last summer, one of his cus-

tomers turned out to be Ana

Stulic. Stulic is the owner and

founder of Chelsea Studios,

which organized the fashion

show. Stulic got in touch with

Di Fazio shortly after pur-

chasing his art work at the

Alley Art Show. A couple of

months later, Di Fazio’s first

clothing line, Tie Brain, was

released at the Pushers event.

Di Fazio admitted he had no

idea what he was getting him-

self into but was excited to get

started.

“It was a lot of work but I

didn’t mind, I felt like this is a

sign,” said Di Fazio.

Stulic’s fashion background

comes from studying Fashion

Design at Istituto di Moda

Burdo in Milan, Italy. She has

worked in Paris, Montreal,

and Toronto and also worked

for a label called Minga

Berlin, in Germany.

Stulic is currently working

on her online store and getting

Tie Brain in shops around

Windsor.

Next for Pushers, they

plan to expand and have

Pushers flagship stores in

all major cities in North

America.

Holistic retreat teaches how to live happy life

Shelbey Hernandez

Associate Managing Editor

People can increase their

happiness by paying attention

to their health, wealth and

consciousness.

During a day retreat at

Gesstwood Camp and Retreat

Centre, three women who

practice holistic medicine

focused on how individuals

need to regain control of their

lives and do what makes them

happy.

This retreat was called a

holistic retreat, with a focus

on spiritual elements. Those

who practice holistic medicine

believe if someone’s emotion-

al or spiritual self isn’t work-

ing correctly, it can affect the

physical body. Using yoga,

meditation and crystals is

common in holistic practices.

Holistic therapy does not use

medications to help with ail-

ments. Nearly 40 per cent of

American adults use some

form of alternative medicine

which includes non-tradition-

al therapies.

Although some people sup-

port the use of alternative ther-

apies, others argue there is no

proof holistic therapies help.

When people say the therapies

help them, it’s often assumed

to be a placebo effect. A place-

bo effect is when someone is

told something will react a

certain way and because they

are told that beforehand, their

body mimics the reactions.

The host of the event,

Heather Chauvin, is a mental

health and self-esteem expert

with a bachelor’s degree in

social work and a number of

holistic therapy certifications.

Chauvin also works on the

medical advisory board for

Enchanted Makeovers, a not-

for-profit organization that

transforms women’s shelters

by funding renovations. In her

presentation, she talked about

how dealing with cancer

changed her. She also said it is

important for mothers to not

feel guilty taking time for

themselves and that people

should not let their lack of

confidence get in the way of

doing what they want.

Heather Nodello is a spiritual

counselor who helps people

deal with family, relationship

and divorce issues, she created

Truthful Healings in 2010. She

and two others, use a holistic

approach to counsel people by

focusing on what they really

want in life. At Truthful

Healings she offers services

including intuitive readings,

counselling and emotional

freedom techniques. She said

people assume the more

friends they have, the happier

they will be. However, accord-

ing to Nodello, the need to get

approval from others can actu-

ally do more damage to some-

one’s happiness.

Chauvin said the retreat was

able to teach women about

things they may not have been

taught before.

“I think health, wealth and

consciousness are three main

areas of our lives that we kind

of don’t know how to bring

SEE PAGE 12

Rogues Gallery Comics is expanding

10CONVERGED CITIZENLIFESTYLE NOVEMBER 27, 2014

Networking and awards night funding soughtShelbey Hernandez


For the eighth annual

Journalism Awards Night to

happen, journalism students

will have to make more than

$700 per month by April.

Last year, JAN cost more

than $4,000. Former JAN

president Sarah Ryrie had

made a little more than $1,000

but was able to make up the

money she didn’t have by sell-

ing the JAN tickets according

to Ryrie. These tickets were

$40 each and there were

approximately 180 sold. Food

alone made up 92 per cent of

the total cost for JAN.

This year, although the club

is close to making $1,000

from the first semester, there is

still a long way to go.

The JAN club is a journalism

student club that works to

raise money for an end-of-the-

year event. This event is called

the Journalism Awards Night,

where students from each year

are presented awards for a

variety of categories.

Last year, some of the cate-

gories included Bell Media

Journalist of the Year, Beat

Reporting, Convergence

Technology, CP Editing and

Photojournalist of the Year.

At last year’s event, there

were many media outlet repre-

sentatives present, such as

Dan Appleby, the news direc-

tor at CTV and CBC’s David

Common, who was the guest

speaker.

Taylor Busch, the current

president for the club, said

part of the problem was not

having any money at the

beginning of the year.

Everything had to come out of

her own pocket for the first

event which cost approximate-

ly $300 to put together.

Busch also said she may not

personally know how much

she has to raise, but she does

have a goal in mind.

“My goal is to make about

$500 every month and I only

came up with that because for

the barbecue thing which we

were hoping to break even, we

made $400,” said Busch. “So

my goal is to do a little better

than that every month going

forward.”

Ryrie said when she was the

JAN club president, one of her

main issues was not having

much help. She only started

with $14 in the bank, so like

Busch, she had to pay for a lot

of things.

Last year, many students

were unhappy with the cost of

JAN tickets, but Ryrie said she

had no choice. She had hoped

to have extra money for the

next year’s club, but it was

impossible. She was a full-

time student, a vice president

for the student government,

the JAN club president and

worked part-time so she never

had enough help. Since she

had to do so much with little

help, she said it upset her

when people complained.

“There was times when I

was doing so much JAN stuff

that I didn’t even have time for

my own stuff. My grades defi-

nitely even took a toll… and

that’s why it bothered me that

the people were complaining,”

said Ryrie. “I was like, ‘You

don’t have to do any of this.

You get to go to bed at a

decent time. You get to just go

to your work.’ It was so hard

to work and do all of this at the

same time.”

Ryrie also said the awards

night is crucial for students to

develop future careers. At that

event, she said journalism stu-

dents are able to make connec-

tions with potential employers

so it is important for students

to support the JAN club. “At

the end of the day, we go to

school because we want to get

a job and our Journalism

Awards Night really helps

people make those connec-

tions and increases our chance

of getting a job. We’re not in

an easy field, so we need to do

as much mingling and meeting

people as we can.”

JAN club president Taylor Busch poses for a picture, dressed upin costume to exhibit school spirit during the journalism pro-gram’s newspaper day on Oct. 31,

Photo by Shelbey Hernandez

Mark Brown

Columnist

OPINION

The news on Nov 7 that a

bankruptcy judge approved

the process that helps the city

of Detroit emerge from bank-

ruptcy did not particularly sur-

prise me. I knew that the

Motor City was resilient and

could bounce back from any

challenge. The city’s motto is

Speramus Meliora; Resurget

Cineribus. Translated from

Latin, it means:

We hope for better things, it

shall rise from the ashes.

The 313 has been to hell and

back many times over its 313

years of existence, and

Windsor-Essex has been along

for the ride for much of that

time. The motto goes all the

way back to the early 1800s

and was penned by a French-

born priest who would later

become a U.S. territorial dele-

gate – Father Gabriel Richard.

The town of Detroit was

destroyed by a fire in 1805,

but was quickly rebuilt. The

seal of Detroit depicts this

event by showing two women

– one grieving over the ruined

remains of Detroit, the other

happier and looking toward

the future…



Throughout the early 1900s,

Detroit became the city that

put the world on wheels, a city

of unbelievable work ethic

and where Henry Ford intro-

duced the $5 work day. But

the Great Depression hit

Detroit hard like it did almost

every American city. It took

the Second World War to show

that Detroit could reinvent

itself and produce the

weapons that fought off fas-

cism and anti-Semitism.

Detroit became the Arsenal of

Democracy…



Detroit had a population of

almost two million when it

celebrated its 250th birthday

in 1951, but it’s been declining

ever since. The exodus of res-

idents moving to the suburbs

began at this time, while in

tandem, the pressure cooker of

racism began to rise through-

out the ’50s and ’60s. It all

exploded on a hot summer

night in July 1967 when the

city burned for over a week in

what was then the deadliest

civil unrest in US history. It

took the city rallying around a

baseball team that won the

World Series the following

autumn to help the city heal…



Since then Detroit has dealt

with rising crime, racially-

based politics, widespread

urban blight, poverty and

unemployment. TV crews

would come to Detroit from

all over the world to watch a

city setting fire to itself around

Halloween each year. The

city’s downtown is certainly

undergoing the renaissance

that was meant to have been

started by the opening of the

RenCen, but all that has been

outweighed by corrupt, greedy

politicians and gross civic

mismanagement. That mis-

management brought Detroit

into bankruptcy. True to the

motivation that guided her

through three centuries,

Detroit is now out of bank-

ruptcy…



Being a native Detroiter, the

news of Detroit conquering

bankruptcy is good for me,

because it means that a Detroit

treasure will be protected – the

Detroit Institute of Arts. The

museum’s priceless collection

was at risk of being sold to

appease creditors. Now that

the collection is safe, I’ll still

be able to enjoy it as much as

I did while I was growing up.

While watching WDIV-

TV’s coverage in 2001 of

Detroit’s 300th birthday

party, a montage was run of

great moments in the city’s

history. When it was over,

anchor Carmen Harlan tear-

fully said into the camera,

“Happy birthday, Detroit.” I

get that feeling as well when-

ever I read the city’s motto,

which is pure testimony of a

city that refuses to quit under

any circumstances…



Detroit, a city rising from the ashes

CONVERGED CITIZENFEATURE NOVEMBER 27, 2014

Vegetarianism, an alternative lifestyleShelbey Hernandez


Everyone has probably had

their mothers tell them, “Don’t

forget to eat your vegetables!”

But can eating just vegetables

be bad for you?

Although some studies have

shown that following a vege-

tarian lifestyle can reduce the

risk of cancer, heart disease,

diabetes, stroke and obesity,

other studies have shown get-

ting specific vitamins is much

harder to do on a vegetarian

diet. Plus, with fewer options

to choose from, many vegetar-

ians may resort to eating easy

and cheap boxed food.

Even with these issues, it is

still possible to become a

healthy vegetarian. You just

have to know how to do it

right.

# 1 Ask yourself why you

want to be a vegetarian

There are a few reasons why

people become vegetarians.

Some do it for philosophical

reasons, some to improve their

health and others, like Leesa

Larochelle, do it because eat-

ing meat appears to make

them ill.

Larochelle is an employee at

Carrots n’ Dates, a gluten-free,

vegetarian and vegan café.

She has lived as a vegetarian

for almost five years. At first,

she stopped eating red meat

because she said it made her

feel “dense” and “sick.” Later,

she cut out all meat, including

fish.

“…I kind of stopped eating

red meat and I was feeling bet-

ter and it was a natural pro-

gression,” said Larochelle.

“…it’s definitely allowed me

to come into a whole lifestyle

of it as opposed to just not eat-

ing meat.”

According to Trisha Wilson,

a registered dietician, it is

important to consider your

health if you want to be a veg-

etarian. For example, some

people may want to lose too

much weight, so Wilson said

you may need to talk to a dieti-

cian or doctor before changing

your diet.

# 2 See a dietician or doctor

Even though you may have

done plenty of research, it is

still important to see a dieti-

cian or a doctor.

For every type of vegetarian,

there are different nutritional

needs. These nutritional needs

change depending on how

restrictive a vegetarian diet

you have. A vegan’s nutrition-

al plan will be much different

from a pescetarian, for exam-

ple, who has access to more

alternatives.

# 3 Ask yourself what kind

of vegetarian you want to be

Vegetarians are more than

‘herbivore hippies’ and their

motives, beliefs and practices

vary. According to

Wilson,there are three types of

vegetarians. The first are

lacto-ovo vegetarians who eat

eggs and dairy, the second are

pescetarians who eat fish and

the third are vegans, who

don’t eat anything that is made

of, or comes from, an animal.

Think about these categories

and decide which one would

work best for you. In the case

of Larochelle, by not eating

any meat, she says she feels

much better.

“Emotionally, I feel better.

Mentally, my head’s clearer,

physically, my skin’s better,

my hair grows longer, I’ve lost

weight over the years,” said

Larochelle. “I have so much

more energy.”

# 4 Do your research

Vitamins such as B12 and

iron are found in much higher

concentrations in meat than in

plant-based foods. Wilson also

says the body only absorbs

half of the iron found in any

single plant-based food

source, so you have to double

your plant intake to get the

right amount of iron. To help

with absorption issues, she

suggests taking Vitamin C.

If you are a lacto-ovo vege-

tarian or a pescetarian, it is

much easier to get B12

because it can be found in

eggs, dairy and fish. For veg-

ans, these vitamins are harder

to get. Also, vegans can often

have issues getting essential

amino acids. However, there

are soy-based substitutions

which can provide these acids.

# 5 Remember that just

because you’re a vegetarian,

doesn’t mean you are automat-

ically healthy

Many people assume that

becoming a vegetarian is

always a healthy choice.

However, if you are a lacto-

ovo vegetarian, you can still

have cake and Kraft Dinner,

among other unhealthy food

choices.

To combat this issue,

Wilson says she uses the

quarter plate method. The

top half is all vegetables

and the bottom half is

divided into two separate

quarters, one quarter for

protein, the other for

starch. For pescetarians,

the protein quarter which is

usually for meat will be

replaced with fish, eggs if

you’re a lacto-ovo vegetar-

ian, or nuts, seeds and soy

if you’re a vegan.

Although mothers are

right to tell their children

to eat their veggies, it is

important to know that

there are certain vitamins

that need to be supplement-

ed accordingly when on a

vegetarian diet. It is not

enough to eat those dread-

ed lima beans. You have to

do your research, see a pro-

fessional and find some

supplements so you can do

it right.

‘Strange feeling’ sparks a YouTube sensationKlay Coyle


Have you ever felt a light

tingle shiver through your

body from the tip of your head

and down through your spine?

If you’ve experienced it, the

sensation may seem ran-

dom—a reaction without a

noticeable cause or pattern.

For those who have developed

a greater awareness of this

physical phenomenon—

known as ASMR—there’s a

growing community dedicat-

ed to helping people repro-

duce these feelings.

ASMR, or autonomous sen-

sory meridian response, is a

sensation that often occurs

first during childhood.

Generally discovered by acci-

dent, ASMR can be a very

calming experience produced

by a variety of audio and visu-

al stimuli commonly known

as triggers. If you’re having

trouble understanding what

this means, imagine the click-

ing sound of fingers on a key-

board. How about the distinct

yet soft sounds produced by

flipping through the pages of

a magazine. Do any of these

sounds trigger a reaction?

Perhaps hearing them simply

produces feelings of calm.

These are examples of trig-

gers that have been effectively

delivered in videos and used

by people to make them relax.

ASMR content creators, also

known as Asmrtists, create

ASMR videos with either a

single trigger or a combina-

tion of multiple sounds or

actions, such as hand move-

ments. A common trigger,

found in most ASMR videos

is whispering or soft-speaking

because of the mood it cre-

ates. Everyone has their own

personal triggers, so experi-

menting with multiple videos

is a good way to find what can

set off your ASMR.

Max Percy, 21, discovered

ASMR by chance when his

babysitter introduced him to

Bob Ross videos. Ross is

known for his soothing narra-

tion while teaching people to

paint. At the time Percy, didn’t

know that he was experienc-

ing ASMR, but now he’s

rediscovered it through videos

developed for YouTube. Percy

likes to listen to ASMR videos

as background for when he is

gaming.

“Normally I use it to relax

when I’m playing a game that

doesn’t have much in-game

sound,” he said. “I’ll just lis-

ten to that and relax. It’s awe-

some.” Percy’s favourite trig-

gers are the sound of scissors

snipping and the variety of

soft sounds created during

role-plays.

When it comes to the ASMR

community, there are as many

different kinds of triggers as

there are Asmrtists to recreate

them.

Justin M, 25, is an Asmrtist

known as FatFr33Pudding

who makes ASMR videos for

YouTube. He does this part-

time while attending college.

ASMR has had a positive

impact in his life and he wants

to share his experience with

others.

“I’m hoping to pave a way

in the ASMR community,”

said M. “Help invigorate it

and help shine a light on the

benefits of what we as content

creators can provide.”

M has been experiencing

ASMR since he was young,

usually using it to help him

focus while doing school

work. He thinks that ASMR

helps people in many different

ways, even if they don’t expe-

rience the tingle effect nor-

mally associated with it.

According to M, ASMR can

help with relaxation, anxiety

control, insomnia and de-

stressing after a long day.

Other things I’ve heard from

people in the community are

relief from headaches to re-

living childhood memories of

experiencing ASMR,” he said.

The ASMR community is

ever-growing with new videos

and Asmrtists surfacing regu-

larly. With such a large variety

of content, chances are any-

one can find something that

gives them the shivers.

Max Percy listening to ASMR while he plays a video game in hishome on Oct. 29, in Windsor.

Photo by Klay Coyle

11

CONVERGED CITIZENSPORTS NOVEMBER 27, 2014

Windsor Legion youth boys team earn gold

Justin Thompson

Production Manager

NIAGARA FALLS, Ont. —

The Windsor Legion Track

and Field Club’s youth boys

team took home the gold at the

Athletics Ontario Cross

Country Championship Nov.

16.

Track and field clubs from

across Ontario met at

Firemen’s Park in Niagara

Falls for the Cross Country

Championships, where the

Windsor Legion placed sev-

enth overall.

Miles Matthews, 16, placed

third overall in the six kilome-

tre youth boys race, despite

facing injuries.

“My shins have been in pain

but it was a pretty good battle

of a race,” said Matthews.

“Four guys were battling back

and forth and I ended up

sprinting right at the end and

getting beat by a second or

two. It was a good race but it

could have went better.”

Matthews said he was unsure

if he would even race that day

and decided to as a “game day

decision.” Matthews’s main

focus now is the Canadian

Cross Country

Championships in Vancouver

on Nov. 29.

“Just hopefully heal up a

bit and I’ve got a few more

workouts over the next two

weeks,” said Matthews. “I’m

just really looking to prepare.

It’s eight kilometres, so two

kilometres longer. There’s

going to be more competition

there but I’m hoping to finish

in the top six.”

Matthews said the extra

two kilometres is a big differ-

ence and feels more difficult

in the middle of the race than

at the end. If Matthews fin-

ishes in the top six in

Vancouver, he will qualify to

represent team Canada in the

North American Central

American and Caribbean

Championships.

Miles’s father, Brian

Matthews, coached the club

temporarily because the

club’s full-time coaches were

attending a coaching clinic in

Montreal. Brian said he first

started coaching as a volun-

teer when he was in college.

“We know we’ve got a real

strong team, the youth boys

are the strongest in Ontario,”

said Brian. “We ended up win-

ning the gold medal today so

that was very good. That was

our focus coming in today to

this meet.”

Brian said he spends a lot of

Photo by Mandy Matthews

Miles Matthews (left) approaches the finish line of the six kilometre race at the Athletics OntarioCross Country Championship in Niagara Falls, Ont. on Nov. 16.

time with all of the kids at

practices but had to shift his

focus from being a parent to a

coach for the day.

“I had to definitely make

sure I caught everybody today

because sometimes my focus

is on Miles by quite a lot,”

said Brian.

The Windsor Legion will

continue training and making

preparations for the trip to

nationals. The club is hoping

to capture a team title in

Vancouver.

“We want to win a team title

there,” said Brian. “We’ve

won six years in a row so it

will be our seventh in a row if

we happen to win there.”

Vipers support fansChelsea Lefler

Sports Editor

Eight-year-old Maiysn

Spencer lost his battle with

cancer early Monday, Nov.

17.

Spencer died from Non-

Hodgkin lymphoma. This

cancer affects the lymphatic

system, that filters out bacte-

ria and viruses from the body.

Non-Hodgkin lymphoma

makes the cancer cells start to

grow uncontrollably. If a

child is diagnosed with this

cancer it is likely their sib-

lings could develop it too.

Acording to the Canadian

Cancer Society website, says

Non-Hodgkin lymphoma is

the fifth most common cancer

with 8,000 people diagnosed a

year.

Spencer was a supporter of

the LaSalle Vipers and the

team is paying its respects by

wearing green skate laces and

using green stick tape.

The Spencer family was at

the Vollmer Recreation Center

for the LaSalle Viper game.

His two siblings Maddiysn

and Mackennze, delivered the

official game puck to the ref-

erees and there was a moment

of silence for Spencer.

“That kid has been a huge

fan for us since he was born,

…, everyone is pretty sad in

the room. I’m sure we will be

rocking green for the rest of

the season,” LaSalle Viper

forward Brett Primeau.

Vipers forward Brendan

Harrogate said it’s important

to recognize him, because he

came to a lot of the games.

“We try to give back to our

community and to our fans,”

said Bill Bowler head coach

of the LaSalle Vipers. “It’s a

little gesture, the guys love

doing stuff like that and hope-

fully it was a good moment.”

Photo by Chelsea LeflerMaiysn Spencer’s siblings Maddiysn and Mackennze deliver thepuck to the referee on Nov. 19, at the Vollmer RecreationComplex in LaSalle.

abundance to and we’re not

really taught these things.

We’re not taught in school,

it’s not in the mainstream typ-

ically and it’s all connected,”

said Chauvin. “When you

understand how to better

them, your whole life is trans-

formed.”

Near the end of her talk,

Nodello had the participants med-

itate. She also had people take a

10 minute walk. She said in every

retreat, she has tried to get partic-

ipants to go for a walk because

doing so helps them get connect-

ed to nature.

“When you go out for walks,

nature and energy go together. So

when you’re out for a walk, espe-

cially on a retreat, I like that break

so that people can go in their own

thoughts,” said Nodello. “The

outside helps them because it just

increases everything plus it’s a

beautiful setting so every retreat I

make people go outside.”

The last speaker Christa Realba,

a yoga instructor, encourage par-

ticipants to have confidence in

themselves and worry less.

“We create a life we love by

doing what we love,” said Realba.

“It’s not rocket science.”

Health, Wealth and Consciousness Day Retreat speakersHeather Chauvin (left) and Christa Realba (right) join partici-pants at the Gesstwood Camp and Retreat Centre on Nov. 16.

Photo by Shelbey Hernandez

FROM PAGE 9

12

The Converged Citizen - November 27, 2014.

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