THE COMMUNITY PAPER OF NIAGARA COLLEGEf Bastien Graphic Design Second year he Movember facial hair...

Tom PostParamedicFirst year

InsideNiagara

News

NC students start a new chapter in their lives»

International department welcomes a new face »

Parkingcontinues to be a collegeproblem »

More than 500 students received diplomas during the Oct. 27 and 28 convocation ceremonies.

On Page 7

A new international adviser has been hired after 29 per cent growth in the international student body.

While some parking issues have been resolved, handicapped spots remain rare.

On Page 9 On 5

T H E C O M M U N I T Y PA P E R O F N I A G A R A C O L L E G EFREE November 19, 2010 Vol 41 • Issue 5

Photos by Sam Cino

Kyle Widdifield

Civil Engineering Technician

Second year

Josh Lalonde

Construction Engineering Technology

Second year

Jamie RankinBroadcasting – Radio, Television and Film

First year

Brendan PurcellComputer Programming

Second year

ManiaMania

Mark SilvestriHuman Resources Third year

Jeff Bastien

Graphic Design

Second year

MoustacheMoustache

Movember facial hair growth supports cancer research

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For more on Movember, see page 2.

NIAGARA NEWS Nov. 19, 2010

NEWS

By TONI KARANStaff Writer

I moustache you a question, but I’ll shave it for later.

This month, members of Niagara College’s Student Administrative Council (SAC) have donated their faces and time to participate in Movember.

According to the Movember website (http://ca.movember.com), Glenn Murray’s motivation is “to bring attention to this terrible affl ic-tion (prostate cancer) by growing the most awesomest mo in the world.”

Murray, team captain and SAC’s logistics manager, created the team name, The Niagara Mo-Trotters.

The other team members include Paul Savoy, bar supervisor at the Welland campus; Tom Anello, the director of student and community relations at the Niagara-on-the-Lake campus; Shannon Hulley, the director of clubs and volunteers at the NOTL campus; Brian Costan-tini, SAC president; Kim Fretz, SAC’s offi ce administrator at the NOTL campus; Lindsey Maki, the director of media at the NOTL campus; and Garrett Lehman, the executive vice-president at the

NOTL campus. On Nov. 22 SAC is having a

“Moday” at the NOTL campus to support Movember.

Costantini says, “It wasn’t hard to get everyone on board.”

The name Movember is a combi-nation of the words moustache, the “Mo,” and November. Movember challenges men to grow a mous-tache during November to raise awareness of men’s health issues, and funds are raised for prostate cancer research.

Costantini says the team goal is $400. As of Nov. 12 the Niagara Mo-Trotters have raised $325. There is a display of the team’s moustaches in The Armoury at the NOTL campus and in The Core at the Welland campus.

Students are eligible to make ßdonations to the team either on-line or in the SAC offi ce.

Hulley says, “I have really high hopes to reach our goal.”

Fretz, who is a cancer survivor herself, says she will do any-thing she can to promote cancer awareness.

Each year about 4,400 men die of prostate cancer in Canada, and one in six men will be diagnosed with it during his lifetime.

Hulley says her dad had prostate cancer last summer and beat it with “a lot” of treatment.

“It wouldn’t have been possible without this awareness.”

Men growing moustaches dur-ing November are known as Mo

Bros. They have become human billboards for raising awareness for men’s health, and they also collect donations from friends and family.

Mo Sistas (women who support

the cause) get involved by regis-tering online, organizing events, making donations and supporting the men in Movember.

The money raised in Canada as a result of Movember benefi ts Prostate Cancer Canada by allow-ing the organization to fund vital research that improves screening tests and treatment options and to run support services for men sur-viving prostate cancer.

Last year’s Canadian campaign, which was the second largest in the world, raised $7.8 million for Prostate Cancer Canada.

Although there is not a specifi c cut-off date, donations should be received before Dec. 10, when the judging takes place and the prizes are given out.

For more information on Movember or to donate to the Niagara Mo-Trotters visit the website http://ca.movember.com/mospace/561436/index/tp/2.

Support a bro and grow a mo

By EDEN ARMSTRONG Staff Writer

Female musicians, performers and artists are needed.

Gillian’s Place and Women’s Place South are inviting females from the Niagara region to perform at the 1st Annual International Women’s Day Festival: Celebrat-ing Women in Arts.

The day-long festivities will take place at the Greg Frewin Theatre on Sunday, March 6, 2011, in Ni-agara Falls.

The event will be raising funds for Gillian’s Place and Women’s Place South, both of which sup-port women’s rights through empowerment.

Joanne Doyley, fundraising events co-ordinator for Gillian’s Place, says the proceeds from the event will fund programs run by the safe haven.

“There are 35 beds in the shelter, and the average stay for a woman is 35 days. We have been at maxi-mum capacity since January.”

Local professionals will form the panel of judges and will select the performers for the event.

“Deadline for applications is Nov. 30,” says Doyley.

For registration and information on the festival, contact Doyley at 905-684-4000 ext. 235.

By KAYLA CABRALStaff Writer

The College Student Alliance (CSA) is offering 17 new annual scholarships recognizing outstand-ing college/university student lead-ers across Ontario.

The CSA was founded in 1975 and is a “member-driven advocacy and student leadership organiza-tion” as stated on the application form. Students who demonstrate involvement within their college/university as well as in their com-munity, and have the ability to motivate and show leadership to improve the lives of other people while attending a post-secondary institution in Ontario, are eligible to apply for the scholarship.

They must be full-time students and be in good academic standing.

Brian Costantini, Student Ad-ministrative Council president, says, “Each school is eligible for one scholarship,” and it’s the “fi rst year” for these awards. The awards

are funded by the CSA. Applica-tion deadline is Dec. 17.

Costantini says there will be a

“committee who chooses the top three applicants” from each college

and then the fi nalists are passed on to the CSA for the fi nal decision.

“It’s a great opportunity for stu-dents. I know some students need fi nancial support and it’s another chance for them to get their hands on some cash.”

Cindy Karikari, director of so-cial programming at the Niagara-on-the-Lake campus, says she hasn’t heard too much about the scholarship yet and is always “re-ally busy.”

She says she doesn’t “have the patience to fi ll out forms for schol-arships” but she would apply for the CSA scholarship if it “weren’t too time consuming.”

Lindsey Maki, director of media at the NOTL campus, says she has “already won a lot of scholarships” for this year and would be “taking away from other students” if she were to apply.

She is graduating this year and says her tuition “is already paid.”

Lesa Holmes, chair of the Many Hands Project, says the scholarship is a “great idea.”

“It is always fantastic when leaders within the college commu-nity are given the opportunity to be recognized by the College Student Alliance and other student leaders. This scholarship will defi nitely be an asset to any winner’s resumé as well as a wonderful acknowledge-ment of their personal commitment to their community.”

Holmes says the students in-volved in the Many Hands Project are responsible for the planning and completion of a renovation project for a non-profi t organization.

Both the Event Management graduate certifi cate students and Construction Studies program students are responsible for select-ing a renovation project for a non-profi t organization in Niagara.

For more information regarding the CSA and application criteria visit www.collegestudental-liance.ca or contact Costantini at [email protected].

Illustration by Toni Karan

SAC members raising cancer

awareness

‘It’s a great opportunity for students.’

— Brian Costantini

17 new scholarships for post-secondary studentsCSA searching for outstanding students across

Ontario

Women’s Day Festival celebrates arts

‘I have really high hopes to reach our goal.’

— Shannon Hulley

NEWSNov. 19, 2010 NIAGARA NEWS

By TONI KARANStaff Writer

He’s looking insightfully into the minds of students and seeing their futures.

Dan Valkos, psychic entertainer, visited the Niagara-on-the-Lake (NOTL) campus on Nov. 9 from 11 a.m. to noon in The Armoury and the Welland campus on Nov. 10 from 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m., in The Core.

Cindy Karikari, the Student Ad-ministrative Council’s director of social programming at the NOTL campus, says Valkos is a comedian and a psychic because of the way he jokes around with people.

Students wanting to participate

lined up in front of the stage. When it was their turn, they were able to ask Valkos any three questions of their choice.

Karikari says the budget for the event was between $1,000 and $2,000 for one to two hours.

Valkos says he started as a skep-tic and thought the psychic world was “garbage.”

After learning more about the psychic profession in 1969, Valkos has now performed at about 40 other schools in the past 17 years. He teaches psychic devolvement and re-incarnation workshops at the NOTL campus.

When asked why he does these events, Valkos says, “They pay me

to be here. [He laughs]. I also like the students.”

Robert Perron, SAC’s director of social programming at the Welland campus, says the event went well with over 100 people participating.

“The students would like to see him back [next year].”

Courtney Cooke, 19, a fi rst-year student in the Tourism Manage-ment – Business Development program, says the event was “cool” and that Valkos was “really funny.” Valkos told Cooke she would marry once and have two children.

Cooke says, “It was shocking to fi nd out that I’m going to have kids and get married. I don’t want either.”

Dan Valkos, psychic, answered Courtney Cooke’s three questions in The Armoury on Nov. 9. Cooke, 19, is a fi rst-year student in the Tourism Management – Business Development program.

Photo by Toni Karan

Psychic mystifi es both campuses

By KRISTEN SPRUITStaff Writer

We’ve all been there, the fi rst year of high school. Not one year in and you’re already being bom-barded with the infamous question, “What do you want to do with the rest of your life?” The infamous response, “I’m not sure yet.”

Take Our Kids to Work Day, an annual program across Canada, sees that over 200,000 Grade 9 students are connected with the workforce through various busi-nesses and organizations.

Niagara College participated in the event Nov. 3, hosting about 40 high school students between the Welland and Niagara-on-the-Lake campuses. Students from Catholic

and public school boards partici-pated, shadowing either full-time or part-time faculty members.

Mark Silvestri, who works at the Info Centre at the Welland campus, says the purpose of the day is to introduce high school students to not only the college’s programs, services and environment but also to their parent’s workplace.

The program, now in its 16th year, was designed to give students a chance to explore their future, to understand the importance of stay-ing in school and to appreciate their parent’s role in earning an income to support their family.

“It’s also great at an early age to be able to tell Grade 9 students overall what a college experience can offer

them in the future, but the primary intent is for them to have some fun,” says Carly Root, campus recruit-ment co-ordinator at the Welland campus. Scheduled events were held in the morning, including a campus tour, a presentation about college life and a trivia game.

At the Welland campus, students participated in a demonstration by the Niagara Regional Police Cen-tre for Policing and Community Studies, where they were shown the facilities and various train-ing exercises. Since high school students have limited access to the workplace, the program was cre-ated through the philosophy that awareness leads to knowledge.

Mickey Calder, 14, of Sir

Winston Secondary School in St. Catharines, shadowed his mom, Lynn Calder, in the scheduling of-fi ce, a division of the Information Technology Services department, in the afternoon. Calder says it’s interesting to see subjects learned in school being used in a real-world setting.

Rachel English, 14, a special needs student at Eden High School in St. Catharines, shadowed her mom, Jill English, who is an enrol-ment and graduate adviser at the Welland campus. She helped with mailing, fi ling and emails.

“That’s what’s so great about having an internship, co-op or a program like this. You get an in-sight into a job,” says Jill English.

Jill English and her daughter Rachel participated in Take Our Kids to Work Day at Niagara College on Nov. 3.Photo by Kristen Spruit

Watch and learn: Take Our Kids To Work Day

Comedian humours students with predictions

MondaysCamp Hour presentations

S202 (Welland) 12:30 – 1:30 p.m. W14 (NOTL) 1:30 – 2:20 p.m.

-The Core Monday Night football

Tuesdays Employer in the Hall

(outside the cafeteria) 11 a.m. – 2 p.m.

Nov. 17Haim Goldenberg @ The Core 7 p.m.

Nov. 18Women’s Volleyball vs Fanshawe

College 6 p.m., Men’s 8 p.m.

Nov. 19Latin Party @ The Core

8 p.m. – 12 a.m.

Nov. 20SAC Ice Dogs Trip 7 p.m.

-Women’s Volleyball vs Canadore College 4 p.m., Men’s 6 p.m.

Nov. 21Women’s Volleyball vs

Nipissing College 1p.m., Men’s 3 p.m.

Nov. 22 Career Decision Making

Workshop 12:30 p.m. -1:30 p.m. Lundy 3 (Welland)

Nov. 26Women’s Basketball

vs St. Clair 6 p.m., Men’s 8 p.m.

Nov. 27International

Canada One Outlet Mall trip, Depart noon return 4:30 p.m.

-Men’s Basketball vs Lambton 4 p.m.

Nov. 29 Pursuing a Degree Workshop

Lundy 3 (Welland)12:30 p.m. -1:30 p.m.

For more information, visit the SAC office, the Info Centre and the International Department.


Whoever said nothing is impossible really knew what they were talking about.

The age-old tale of rags to riches happens to be one of the biggest motivations for those at the bottom, and for those at the top, one of their best claims to fame.

Take for example TV host Oprah Winfrey, inventor Benjamin Franklin, performer Elvis Presley singer Dolly Parton and fashion designer Ralph Lauren.

What more is the epitome of success than to defy all odds and obtain what everyone says can’t be done?

In this 21st century, a sad but true reality is that money and fame tend to be the standard measure of success. Achieving this is not the only defi nition for defying the impossible.

Two weeks ago I was on my way to an apple orchard outside Welland, when I passed something that caught my eye.

It was a rock. Possibly the biggest rock I’ve ever seen. Growing out of the side of this rock was a tree. Not a big tree, but still a tree.

I could only wonder how it was possible a tree, an organism that needs water, minerals, carbon dioxide, oxygen and

light, could be growing out of a big, solid rock?

How did the seed get there? Where did the roots plant themselves? And what is the tree using to sustain itself?

Impossible. But not. American boxer Muhammad

Ali summarized it well. “Impossible is just a big word

thrown around by small men

who fi nd it easier to live the world they’ve been given than to explore the power they have to change it. Impossible is not a fact. It’s an opinion. Impossible is not a declaration. It’s a dare. Impossible is potential. Impossible is temporary. Impossible is nothing.”

KRISTEN SPRUIT

So many people are succumbing to illness today – heart disease, cancer, obesity – why not listen to your body and do something to avoid becoming a statistic?

In some cases cancer is not preventable because it could be hereditary. Smoking for 20 years and getting lung cancer is something that you can control.

Some diseases can be treated. Diabetes can be controlled with insulin and a managed diet. Cancer can be treated with various forms of surgery, chemotherapy and radiation. Heart disease can lead to extensive medications and surgery.

If people start taking care of their bodies now, these diseases and these treatment plans could be avoided.

People who are at high risk because of thier family history should take the initiative and be screened early for diseases known to affect their relatives.

The Childhood Obesity Foundation estimates that in Canada over 26 per cent of children and youth are considered overweight and obese. It advocates eating fi ve servings of fruits and vegetables a day, viewing fewer than two hours of television and computer time a day, doing daily physical activity and consuming zero sweetened beverages.

We all should pay attention to what they are eating. Foods

with preservatives and high in hydrogenated oils should be avoided along with processed foods.

High blood pressure, physical inactivity, excessive alcohol consumption, obesity and diabetes are taking over, but what can we do to stop it?

There are more than nine million Canadians living with diabetes and for some, the condition could have been prevented. A meal plan, weight control and moderate physical activity are important steps in the prevention process.

Exercising daily, consuming water, and nutricious food are some ways to stay in good physical shape and fi ght off diseases, but there are also extra precautionary steps one can take to ensure good health.

See a doctor once in a while. Go for regular physicals. If you are not feeling like your normal self, go to the doctor. You are the only person who can tell when your body isn’t doing what it is supposed to do. You are the only one in control.

It is not too late to start caring about what happens to your body. Pay attention to how you feel.

Eat with a mindset that everything that goes into your body is fuel. The idea of everything in moderation – alcohol, sugar, fat – is what everyone should strive for.

EDEN ARMSTRONG

It’s never too late to think about your health

B2, 300 Woodlawn Rd.,Welland, Ont. L3C 7L3

Telephone: (905) 735-2211Fax: (905) 736-6003

Editorial email: [email protected] email: [email protected]

Editor: Eden ArmstrongAssociate Editor: Kristen SpruitAssistant Editor: Anton Mwewa

Photo Editor: Kimberly Smith

Publisher: Annette HemerikManaging Editor: George Duma

Associate Managing Editor: Phyllis BarnattDesign/Layout Consultant: Peter Conradi

Editorial Consultant: Nancy Geddie, Gary ErbPhotography Consultant: Dave Hanuschuk

Technology Support: Kevin Romyn

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T H E C O M M U N I T Y P A P E R O F N I A G A R A C O L L E G E

EDITORIALGetting out from between a rock and a hard place

Photo by Kristen Spruit

Recently, I had a lucid dream so real I awoke in tears.

It involved my maternal grandfa-ther, Oreste “Rusty” Chindemi.

In my dream, I travelled to 1976, 12 months before I was born.

I took a job at his bar, Rusty’s Steakhouse and Tavern now called Trappers, on King Street in Welland,

I spent the next year getting to know my grandfather in a way I never had in my fi rst 25 years of life.

I was much more appreciative of the chance to get to know him in this way. Every day felt very real.

When it came time for me to leave, he told me something he said many times before.

“Just remember to be who you are supposed to be, and not what others want you to be.”

I awoke immediately. It was 3 a.m. I was in tears.

Rusty died on Sept. 1, 2002.Not a day has passed in the eight

years since since he died when I haven’t thought about how much I miss him.

He was also one of my best friends growing up.

When I was 14, he and I drove to Florida for two weeks. We were just two guys heading down to the Sunshine State.

He always drove straight through to Florida, stopping only for food or gas.

I remember when my ex-wife, and I drove home from Florida in 2003.

We too drove straight through in his 2001 Dodge Caravan, which I still drive: 20 hours, 57 minutes.

I remember telling my grand-mother about the drive and her saying

“Jesus Christ, Chris. You’re just like your grandfather.”

Nothing makes me prouder than

when someone says that to me.If I needed advice or someone

to talk to, he was the fi rst person I would want to turn to.

He always seemed to know ex-actly what to say to motivate me.

Maybe it’s all those years of be-ing a bartender that just gave him a sage-like ability to dispense advice to me.

I remember breaking down and crying at my wedding, one year later. I wish more than anything he had been there.

I wish he were around to see the birth of my daughter, Chloe.

His funeral was one of the hard-est days of my life.

Some people referred to Rusty as my dad at the funeral because we spent so much time together. That at least in part, it was true.

Nothing makes me happier than to see that same relationship devel-oping between my father and my daughter.

I hope I’m making you proud, Grandpa, because I have always tried my best to be who I am sup-posed to be, and not what others want me to be.

CHRIS FORTIER

Columnist

Gone, but never forgotten

OPINIONNov. 19, 2010 NIAGARA NEWS

Another election has come and gone.

Once again we hear how young people did not vote. The turnout among youth ages 18 to 25 is atro-ciously low.

After seeing the low level maintained year after year, I begin asking myself why young people aren’t voting. Laziness? Apathy? Xbox addiction?

Possibly it is a combination of all those things.

I think the issue lies with whom young people are supposed to be voting for.

I was having a conversation with a friend recently about the political structure in Canada and the U.S. He mentioned a clever political cartoon he’d seen, in which a man wearing a cap saying “Capital-ism” was driving a cab that said “Democracy,” the message being “democracy is the vehicle for capi-talism.”

When the Greek philosopher Plato thought up the noble idea of “rule of the people,” did he realize it would transform into a power-driven, money-fueled system ruled by personal ambition?

I’m thinking no. That is what our political system

has become though. These days, every politician

is in the pocket of some corpora-

tion, making deals and fi lling their pockets with taxpayers’ money.

It reminds me of the medieval feudal system, in which the nobil-ity made all the money and the servants toiled and worked in the fi elds to make them that money, whilst they saw none of it them-selves.

These people in government col-lect their ridiculously huge salaries and are entrusted to act on behalf of the people.

I fail to see how this can happen while these men and women are trying to push their own agendas in Parliament and Congress, or sometimes pushing agendas given to them by the highest bidder.

Young people are apathetic when it comes to government and voting.

The reason for the apathy is the lack of change young people are seeing in government.

It is a vicious cycle. The Conservatives screwed it up

last time. So let’s vote Liberal. The Liberals manage to screw it

up, so in come the Conservatives. The dilemma is young people

aren’t voting, so for now we’re stuck in this stalemate where the only people benefi ting are the crooks that are running the country … into the ground.

If the government wants young people to get out and vote, give us someone worth voting for.

Young people, if you really want to see change, put aside your apathy and reconnect with your parents’ passion that fueled the protests for change of the 1960s.

I highly doubt those hippies didn’t care about voting because they were getting high and play-ing Xbox, though they were most certainly high.

The cynic in me thinks the system is too far gone and we are doomed to live under the govern-ment until human beings are no more.

The idealist in me hopes I’m wrong.

It’s not a matter of simply step-ping on toes. Rather, it is a matter of embarrassing victims, families and emphasizing the wrong points.

I’m talking about the now infa-mous Col. Russell Williams mur-der case.

It’s true, society has become more jaded toward television vio-lence, and more open-minded to the idea that mental illness is often a factor in horrendous crimes such as this.

What do we need to know about this case, and what could we have

done without?The Toronto Star stirred up con-

troversy regarding its front-page photo of Williams dressed in a victim’s underwear.

What is more, the paper offered a slide-show image gallery of Wil-liams in women’s bathing suits and underwear, and photos of the neatly arranged undergarments he stole from victims.

This goes above and beyond the call for truth in reporting.

Williams deserves to be embar-rassed by what he’s done, just as all wrongdoers deserve to be. But haven’t the victims and their fami-lies have suffered enough?

The public doesn’t need to know what the murdered girls wore under their clothes while they were alive nor photos of Williams wearing them splashed on pages of newspapers.

The public does not need to

know, in every gory detail, what Williams did while he stalked his prey or what he did in the over 80 bedrooms he was reported to have broken into.

The photos of Williams cross-dressing send the wrong message.

The point is not that he is a cross-dresser; the point is he invaded the privacy of over 80 people and murdered two young women.

The records he kept could be put to use through proper channels to help professionals in criminal psy-chology understand his illness and perhaps create new ways to screen for this particular disorder in the future.

They serve little purpose, how-ever, in public view other than to create controversy and to make people afraid.

Just because the information is readily available doesn’t necessar-ily mean it needs to be printed.

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Has the media gone too far?

Watching our wallets

Apathy breeds contempt

Photo by Anton Mwewa

KRISTAASHFORD

Columnist

STEPHNIKITA

Columnist

Greed makes the world go round? False.

Love makes the world go round?Maybe.Money makes the world go

round? True.It’s a well-known fact but I’ll

reiterate. No matter how smart, good-looking or innovative you may be, you’ll never amount to a single thing without money. Dis-agree? Try living without it.

As a college student, I, like many others like me, feel the pres-sure when it comes to money. The concept is ironic.

Today’s college students are prob-ably the country’s biggest spenders: we buy the latest technologies and the nicest clothes, and we hunger

for the best foods and restaurants. Ironically, however, we are the ones who make the least amount of money, if any at all. Besides that, college students probably have the worst budgeting skills.

This may not be true for many, but my budgeting skills are abys-mal. My futile attempts at drawing up a budget, or following one, have been miserable.

What is it that compels us to live beyond our means? If one were as impressionable as I am, the answer would be some kind of juvenile spontaneity. Similar to children with uncontrollable impulses, many college students are probably compulsive and spontaneous buy-ers, particularly when it comes to smaller items.

Spending opportunities such as random snacks between classes, unnecessary trips to McDonald’s and unplanned bar nights may seem trivial in the beginning. In the end they add up.

Most people eventually grow out of their spontaneous spending,

while others don’t. For those of us burdened with the problem for ex-tended periods of time, we should adhere to some form of money management program.

As you may have guessed, I am a person with considerable money management diffi culties. I spend more than I have and run short of money before the middle of the month.

If you are like me, I wish I could tell you I have had an epiphany and discovered a solution. I haven’t.

I hope this is merely a phase in my life and I will soon get back on track with my ability to manage my fi nances because money really does make the world go round, and if you’re short on it, your world might just stop spinning.

I’m guessing there are many col-lege students in the same situation as I am.

If any of you have a solution to the crazy spending habits of our generation, I hope you will come forward soon – or at least, before we spend ourselves onto the streets.

ANTONMWEWA

Columnist

Young people are not being given a good enough reason to vote

NIAGARA NEWS Nov.19, 2010

NEWS

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOUTHANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOUTHANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOUTHANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOUTHANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOUTHANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU

For many years Avondale stores have generously distributed

2,400 copies of each Niagara News issue across the Niagara Region.

Avondale demonstrates how good corporate citizens support

student learning.

The staff of the Niagara News wish to thank Avondale for its

past, current and future assistance.

supporting your Niagara College

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www.avondalestores.com

By CHRISTOPHER FORTIERStaff Writer

The development prospects of the Niagara region have taken a turn for the better.

Last Friday, Niagara College and Brock University each re-ceived $750,000 in federal funding as part of the Applied Research and Commercialization Program (ARC) in an announcement at the Niagara Interactive Media Genera-tor (nGen) in St. Catharines.

Support by the Federal Econom-ic Development Agency for South-ern Ontario (FedDev Ontario), will allow Niagara College and Brock University to work with small- and medium-sized companies (SMEs) and provide funding to help get ideas to market.

“The ability to take your idea and get it out into the market is the biggest limitation factor and that is often a limit of money and time. Hopefully, this program will give those resources to small companies,” says Steve Hudson, vice-president academic at Niagara College.

Hudson says the college hopes to work with 15 to 20 companies in the region.

The project is open to almost all SMEs from Southwestern Ontario, identifi ed as having less than 1,000 employees.

“SMEs are the backbone of the Canadian economy. SMEs comprise 98 per cent of Canada’s business,” says Dr. Ian Brindle, vice-president of research at Brock University. “Experience has taught us time and time again when SMEs are a component of the communi-ties, the future prospects of those communities improve signifi -cantly.”

Niagara and Brock got the maxi-

mum $750,000 ARC funding.“This investment is another way

of our government partnering with education and business to help our economy make the transition from traditional manufacturing to one that is knowledge-based,” says St. Catharines MP Rick Dykstra.

“As someone who works with a lot of startup and small busi-nesses in Niagara, this defi nitely impacts what we have going on here [nGen], so it’s great to hear,” says Jeff Chesebrough, executive director at nGen.

Companies that have a project selected for funding will be given $25,000 and FedDev will provide $50,000. Niagara College and Brock will each be working with a committee of business and industry leaders to review proposals. The projects must be identifi ed, ap-proved and initiated by March 31, 2011, and be completed by March 31, 2012.

“Programs like these [ARC] are critical to building a more in-novative and versatile economy in Canada and Niagara. It speaks well to the future,” says Brindle.

“I think that it’s a great collabo-ration where the base research and the pure research that is done at

Brock is highly complemented by the applied industry-led research that is done historically at Niagara College,” says Hudson.

Dykstra supports the collabora-tion, saying that in three to four years the success will be visible.

“We’re very fortunate here in Ni-agara to have two post-secondary institutions that realize the value of working hard at hand with lo-cal businesses,” says Dykstra. “They understand the importance of nurturing growth in high-tech industries and creating successful ventures that will not only help to retain our young people to the area but attract new businesses and investment. I think this is a great opportunity.”

Prime Minister Stephen Harper created FedDev Ontario in August 2009 to help businesses, workers and communities take advantage of opportunities for economic growth. FedDev funded about $206 million to support economic and commu-nity development.

Launched as a part of Canada’s Economic Action Plan, FedDev was started as a fi ve-year, $1-bil-lion plan.

ARC is a pilot initiative created by FedDev Ontario to address the gap between research and com-mercialization in southern Ontario. It has been started with the idea of encouraging collaboration between SMEs and post-secondary institu-tions like Niagara College and Brock University.

By encouraging greater col-laboration, ARC has as its goal the acceleration of innovation and im-provement productivity in SMEs in southern Ontario.

For more information on the ARC initiative, call 1-866-593-5505 or email [email protected].

By SHAYLENE ABBEYStaff Writer

It was a night of excellence.The Alumni Circle of Excellence

Awards were held in the college’s new Learning Commons at the Welland campus last Saturday in recognition of Premier’s Award nominees, past and present.

Since 1992 Niagara College has nominated 57 graduates for Pre-mier’s Awards. The graduates are nominated in one of four categories

based on exemplary career suc-cess and community involvement related to their college experience.

The evening started with a tour of the new campus facilities fol-lowed by a cheese and wine recep-tion. Presentations and speeches were made throughout the dinner service.

A Premier’s Award nominee in 2006 and a part of Niagara’s fi rst graduating class in the Journalism, Advertising and Public Relations program in 1970, Ken Cherney says he hasn’t been to the campus since the 1970s.

“It’s absolutely amazing,” Cher-ney says regarding the campus’s new facilities.

He says students spent most of their time in portables when he was a student here.

Cherney is from Welland and now resides in Grimsby, where he runs a corporate communications business. He has been married to his wife, Jan, for 12 years.

2010 Premier’s Award nominee Darryl Culley, of Beamsville, graduated from the Ambulance and Emergency Care program in 1981. The last time he visited the campus was in 1984.

He described the look of the Learning Commons as “amazing” and says that it’s a big difference from temporary buildings the stu-dents of 30 years ago were taught in.

“We didn’t have much of any-thing,” he says, with a smile. “We used to hang out in our cars.”

As for his participation in the

evening, he says it’s “very exciting and a real privilege” to be a part of the awards event.

“It demonstrates the leading edge, the advantage that Niagara College gave us [students] in life.”

Culley says the faculty was es-sential in his college experience.

“We had opportunities to excel right from the beginning.”

He and his wife Cheryl have been married for 28 years. They live in Barrie, Ont., where Culley is president of an emergency man-agement company.

Niagara College will be rep-resented by six nominees at the Premier’s Awards.

The awards take place on Nov. 22 in Toronto.

Dr. Ian Brindle, vice-president of research at Brock University, St. Catharines MP Rick Dykstra and Steve Hudson, vice-president of academics at Niagara College, were on-hand for the announcement.

Photo by Christopher Fortier

Darryl Culley and his wife, Cheryl, attended the Alumni Circle of Excellence Awards at Niagara College on Nov. 13. Culley is nominated at this year’s Premier’s Awards being held in Toronto on Nov. 22.

Photo by Shaylene Abbey

The Learning Commons at the Welland campus was transformed to accommodate the attendees of the Alumni Circle of Excellence Awards on Nov. 13.

Photo by Shaylene Abbey

College, Brock each receive $750,000 funding

Alumni excellence celebrated at Niagara

‘Hopefully, this program will give those resources to small companies.’

—Steve Hudson


By YUKI KAJIStaff Writer

Niagara College held two fall convocation ceremonies at the Niagara-on-the-Lake campus on Oct. 27 and 28. More than 500 students received diplomas and certifi cates and left a familiar col-lege life behind for a new life.

On Oct. 27, graduates were from the Community and Health Studies division, the Environment, Media and Technology division, and the Workforce and Business Development divisions. On Oct. 28, students from the Business, Hospitality and Tourism divisions, Canadian Food and Wine Institute, Academic and Liberal Studies di-vision and Continuing Education division graduated.

President Dan Patterson ex-tended his congratulations to graduates. “Your success is our success.”

David Gracia, 26, a gradu-ate of Geographic Information Systems—Geospatial Manage-ment, says, “I feel good. It’s our graduation.” He says the happiest memory is “friendship.”

“At the beginning, nobody knew each other at the class and then we made good groups, work-ing together. Now we are almost

a family.”Many international students

also graduated. Singam Prem Anand Rajasek-

aran, 27, from India, a graduate

of the Human Resources Man-agement program, says he had worked in India for three years. He decided to study abroad and quit his job because, he says, “I wanted to change my life.”

He says studying abroad is an enriching experience for students.

“Canada taught me many things. I’m going to fi nd a good job here because I want to stay more in Canada.”

After the convocation, the col-lege held a reception, and culinary students served.

Rich Storin, 23, a fi rst-year

student of Culinary Management, says the students started to prepare food two days before and on the convocation days there are night and day shifts. Twenty-fi ve people worked that night.

“It takes a lot of time, but we enjoy this time. Graduates say [the food was] delicious.”

Grant Keep, 21, a graduate in the Automotive Service Techni-cian program, says, “The economy is bad. It’s very, very hard to fi nd a job, but I want to fi nd a job in the fi eld I studied.”

In addition, on Oct. 27, Mike Trojan, a chief administrative of-fi cer of the Regional Municipality of Niagara, received the Niagara Award. Cheryl Reid, a student of Dental Hygiene, received the Dean’s Academic Award, which is presented to the graduates in each division with the highest cumulative grade point average in a program of at least two years in duration.

Lloyd Schmidt, the president of International Viticulture Service Inc, received an honorary diploma in Winery and Viticulture. Mack-enzie Brisbois, a graduate in the Winery and Viticulture Technician program, received the Dean’s Academic Award on Oct. 28.

Graduation signals new beginning

Niagara College President Dan Patterson and Satbir Singh, a graduate of General Arts and Science, pose for a picture after the convocation Oct. 28.

Photo by Yuki Kaji

Don’t miss

SNOWBALL HUNT225 Snowballs will

be hidden throughout the college.

Find one & win a PRIZE

“SNOWBASH”#1

in Student Satisfaction

Join us Thursday, December 2, 2010 for Niagara College’s 16th annual

Student Appreciation Day

Throughout the College, students will find treats, giveaways, prize

draws, food & campus store specials and many other surprises.

AROUND THE WORLD

‘I wanted to change my life ... Canada taught me many things.’

— Singam Prem Anand Rajasekaran


NEWS

By SARAH FERGUSON Staff Writer

Forget the sugar-fi lled and calorie-loaded snacks and jump off the couch.

Health-conscious students were warmed up and ready to tell you about what’s good for you and your body.

On Nov. 8, students from the Health Promotions program greeted students outside the Welland cam-pus cafeteria with information about eating right and being active.

Students in the program were asked to create a project related to health, fi tness or nutrition.

The goal was for “students to educate students about health, fi t-ness and living an active lifestyle,” says Melanie Sequin, an instructor for the program. From 11 a.m. until 2 p.m., a Twister game, exercise balls and endurance testing games demonstrated ways to keep people healthy.

Marieka Ouimette, a student in the program, says fl exibility is something everyone should be concerned about, “it’s the most important part [of physical activity] because it reduces injury.”

Ouimette says people often forget to stretch before taking part in a physical activity.

A surprising fact, says Ouimette, is fl exibility helps you sleep better.

Being more fl exible “helps your muscles relax and it gives you a wider range of motion.”

Ouimette says the more a person stretches before physical activity, the greater the benefi ts. “You will be more mobile and fl exible at an older age.”

Courtney LeGood, student, talked to students about endurance testing and says endurance testing is important.

“It shows you how fi t you are compared to other people.” LeGood adds this can help by giving your body fat percentage so you can compare it to other people’s, giv-ing you an idea of an appropriate weight based on your height.

Alison Wiseman presented stu-dents with information about yoga.

Wiseman says yoga helps to im-prove your posture and works every muscle in your body “without over-working it.”

“Yoga brings your mind, body and soul together.”

Jeremy Whitakel talked about nu-trition, as he gave away free water bottles, Cheerios and granola bars.

Whitakel had all the nutritional information about places students might like to eat, such as Tim Hor-tons, McDonald’s and Subway.

“We’re trying to attract people to make healthier choices than just fast food.”

Jeremy Whitakel tells students his group is giving away healthful snacks and drinks, such as Cheerios, granola bars and water.

Photo by Sarah Ferguson

Avoid being a couch potato Students helping students eat right and stay active

By KIMBERLY SMITHStaff Writer

On Nov. 15 the international fl avour of Niagara College was

showcased with food, costumes and cultural items at Benchmark res-taurant at the Niagara-on-the-Lake campus.

Marking International Education Week, students and staff were in-vited to sample food from six coun-tries served mostly by Bachelor of Applied Business — Hospitality Operations Management (BABH) students.

Tables were set up in the circular dining room by country: China, Ghana/Nigeria, Jamaica, Japan, Mexico and Russia. Served at China’s table were pot stickers and sweet and sour spare ribs.

Jacy Lu, 24, of Shanghai, China, says she is “proud to represent her country.” Lu, a third-year BABH student, says she chose to come to Niagara College because she wanted the opportunity to travel.

“I think we have [the] most popu-lar food here,” Lu says with a smile on her face.

The Jamaican table had jerk chicken and fried plantain. Iam Gooden, 30, of Kingston, Jamaica, says the food at his station was as good as if it was made in his home country. Gooden says he chose to come here because he read it was rated No. 1 in student satisfaction.

At the Japanese table tempura shrimp and sushi were offered. The students also demonstrated how to make origami.

Melissa Mallari, 20, of Fort Erie, Ont., and Christine Moore, 20, of Sauble Beach, Ont., both students

of the BABH program, were mak-ing tacos on the spot for students at the table representing Mexico. The tacos were made of a fl our tortilla, pulled pork, salsa verde, pico de gallo and guacamole.

Moore says, “It’s been a great learning experience.”

The four women representing Russia were clad in red, white and blue, the colours of the Russian fl ag.

Smoked salmon blinis and sweet

cheese fritters with cherries were served to represent Russia.

From 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. stu-dents fi lled the restaurant, walking around with plates full of food.

Marketing student, Jared Legere, 19, of St. Catharines, says he is a member of the International Club and fi gured he would “drop by” the event. Legere says, “I think the col-lege needs to be more vocal about international events on campus.”

Anna Yadigarova, Maya Tremeeva, Svetlana Volkova and Viktoriya Polyanskikh served smoked salmon blinis and sweet cheese fritters with cherries at their table representing Russia.

Photo by Kimberly Smith

Getting a taste of culture, one plate at a time


By ANTON MWEWAStaff Writer

Those who frequent the col-lege’s International Department are in for a surprise: there’s new blood in the team.

Recognizing the 29 per cent growth the college’s international student body has seen this year, the International Department has taken on another team member to better cater to student needs.

Few people are as heavily relied on as the international student advisers. They assist students with anything from academic advise-ment, to housing and immigration. They are, in essence, an interna-tional student’s link to all the ser-vices the college provides.

Until a few weeks ago, the col-lege managed with two advisers for a population of about 800 in-ternational students. Now that has changed.

Tibor Toka, 41, is the new addi-tion who will join the current staff of Shawna Luey and Laura Fakla, the college’s well-known inter-national student advisers. Toka, who is a Hungarian native, began his duties as a part-time adviser on Oct. 14 and has been learning about, and adapting to the position.

“What I like about this job is you have to deal with people,” he says. “You can change people’s lives not only directly, but indirectly.”

A holder of a Master of Arts degree in sociology, Toka moved to Canada from Hungary early last year when his Canadian wife de-cided she wanted to come back to her home country. He and his wife now reside in Welland, a location that is one of the reasons he took on the job.

Sean Coote, director of Interna-tional Services and Recruitment, says Toka fi ts the bill and standard set by the International Department for hiring new staff.

“We look for somebody who has cross-cultural experience and knowledge,” says Coote, “hope-fully, someone who has lived overseas and has foreign language skills and abilities.”

Coote says social background is important for an international stu-dent adviser as it allows him or her to empathize with students better.

Toka is no stranger to a strong social background. Besides his degree, he has worked at institu-tions of higher learning for the last nine years in Europe and the United States and dealt with “50 different students from 50 different countries.”

His presence will ease the workload of Luey and Fakla, the college’s international advisers from the Welland and Niagara-on-the-Lake (NOTL) campuses respectively. With a focus on international student housing and

immigration, Toka’s part-time position allows him to work four days a week – two at the Welland campus, and two at the NOTL campus.

Luey says that while she and Fakla were able to meet the cur-rent needs of the students, they had diffi culty in fi nding time to plan future events.

“This addition to our team will allow us to try to be more proactive with our planning and be able to have one more person here to keep our service levels up as our [inter-national student] numbers grow,” she says. “Am I feeling the benefi ts yet? Yes, already.”

Although his position is part-time for now, Toka hopes it will grow into a full-time one.

“I look at this position as a start-ing point. … You have to pick up on things and then move in and up inside of the organization.”

The one thing international students can be assured of is con-sistent service, according to Coote. He says if students demand more or better service, his department will make sure it can accommo-date them.

“It is important for us to be able to not only meet students’ needs, but exceed them.”

By LINDSAY COSTELLOStaff Writer

It’s a chance to capture the world through your viewfi nder.

Stephen Dominick, professional photographer and co-ordinator of the Digital Photography program at Niagara College, is organizing a photo tour of Italy.

The trip, scheduled for mid-May, is being directed by Education First (EF) Educational Tours. The 10-day excursion includes guided tours of Florence, Siena, Cor-tona and Rome with visits to The Vatican, the Sistine Chapel and the Colosseum.

Dominick says he has been trav-elling to Italy for years and wanted to bring a group of photography students to share the “visual expe-rience of a lifetime.”

“Everywhere the eye turns, there is a photograph,” he says.

Although the trip has been ar-ranged for photography students, being a photography expert is not required. Students and faculty of all programs and experience levels are welcome to join.

Dominick says the trip will change one’s perspective by help-ing to “develop a better appre-ciation of literal and visual beauty” while offering “fabulous opportu-nities to capture it with a camera.”

“You can’t help wanting to bring a piece of this home with you.”

Simone Tessitore, tour direc-

tor for EF Educational Tours, has directed more than 40 tours. He has been working with EF for fi ve years and has directed tours in Italy, France, Spain, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.

Tessitore, originally from Torino, Italy, says he became interested in tourism early in his life. With a degree in tourism business, he has spent 14 years in the tourism indus-try working at resorts, as a tour rep-resentative and now as a director.

He says travelling is a good ex-perience because it allows you to “challenge yourself” with different cultures and people. He says for most, it is the fi rst time they leave their home country.

“Travelling to me is a life-chang-ing experience,” he says. “Travel-ling is learning.”

The trip to Tuscany is not a bro-chure trip and has been specifi cally designed for Niagara College.

The cost is estimated at $3,616 and includes airfare from Toronto to Rome, accommodations, daily breakfast and dinner, guided tours, admission and a dinner in Rome. The combination of guided sight-seeing and free time will also include a wine tour and pizza-making demonstration.

Dominick is hoping to have 25 to 30 participants.

Those interested should contact Dominick by emailing [email protected].

The latest addition to the International Department, Tibor Toka, joined the team in October as the college’s newest international student adviser.

Photo by Anton Mwewa

Facts about ItalyOfficial name: The Italian

RepublicCapital: Rome

Population: Estimated at 58 million

Size: 301,338 km Currency: Euro

Language: Italian

New adviser hiredTibor Toka joins team to help with

international-enrolment growth

‘It is important for us to be able to not only meet students’ needs, but exceed them.’

— Sean Coote

The view of St. Peter’s Basilica dome in Vatican City from the Ponte Umberto Bridge in Rome.

Submitted photo

Students get chance to capture Italy

NIAGARA NEWS - Nov. 19, 2010 Page 11

Niagara Region fighters make their mark Niagara Region fighters make their mark Local fi ghters trained, bled and sweat for MMA in N.Y.Local fi ghters trained, bled and sweat for MMA in N.Y.

By SHAWN SMITHStaff Writer

The Niagara area is known for many assets. Grapes, wine, and, of course, Niagara Falls are the aspects usu-ally used to describe the region. However, after the recent Raging Wolf mixed martial arts event, at the Seneca Ni-agara Casino and Hotel in Niagara Falls, N.Y., there may be soething else to add to that list.

Two combatants from Welland’s Modern Vision Mixed Martial Arts and one from Port Colborne’s Dayboll Jiu-Jitsu participated.

The highlight was Top 10 in the world-ranked Port Col-borne native and Raging Wolf Bantamweight Champion Alexis Davis defending her title against Tonya Evinger.

The fi ght began as a competitive standing exchange with both fi ghters throwing strikes. Davis quickly took control of the bout by putting it on the mat. Less than two minutes later, Davis was able to submit Evinger with a rear naked choke for the victory.

“We knew her submissions were her weak spot,” says Davis.

“We worked a lot on striking and avoiding her jab,” says Davis. "It felt good [to beat her] because I

know she’s a good fi ghter.”“The fi rst time we fought her we didn’t have

any fi lm. This time we really fi gured out her me-chanics. Yes, fi ghters improve, but they have the same movements and mechanics,” says Dave Dayboll, head trainer at Dayboll Jiu-Jitsu in Port Colborne.

Matthew DiMarcantonio, of Modern Vision Mixed Martial Arts, won a unanimous deci-sion against Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu purple belt Kevin Cummings. “The triangle choke he locked in early in the third round was pretty tight,” says DiMarcantonio. The Welland fi ghter dominated the fi rst two rounds be-fore facing a more evenly contested round in the third. “We’ve trained the triangle choke many

times, and I can’t submit Matt with it so I knew he’d be fi ne,” says Chris Bonfoco, Modern Vi-

sion head trainer. “We have a philosophy of no tapping.”

In one of the three professional bouts of the evening, Welland’s Eric Attard took on former UFC fi ghter Tom Egan in an entertaining bout. The fi rst round was close as Attard used his kicks to keep Egan at bay. Eventually, Egan’s advanced wrestling and groundwork put him in a dominant position as he was able to fi nish Attard in the second round by punches.

“He [Attard] had many opportunities in this fi ght,” says Bonfoco.

"This is just part of the process for getting better. This is just a stepping-stone against someone who less than two years ago fought in the UFC. I’m not doing my job as a coach if they are not learning from their losses. I train, bleed and sweat with these guys on the mat.”

Left: Raging Wolf Bantamweight Champion Alexis Davis talks about her victory.Clockwise from top left: Matthew DiMarcantonio of Modern Vision MMA and trainer Chris Bonfoco; Eric Attard of Welland; Rashad Evans, UFC fi ghter, being interviewed during the intermission; DiMarcanontio again; Matt McCook trying to submit John Franchi in a triangle choke.

Photos by Shawn Smith


NEWS

By GENESIS FALCONStaff Writer

A season ends and a new one begins for the Chorus Niagara Children’s Choir (CNCC).

On Nov. 9 the CNCC’s fi rst per-formance was at St. Barnabas An-glican Church, in St. Catharines.

Melanie Marlin, choir director, says it’s the end of autumn and it’s getting cold, but it’s not winter yet. With the beautiful blue sky, this is the perfect time of the year.

“We want to bring that to you guys tonight,” she says during the performance.

The CNCC is a choir of 32 chil-dren from around Niagara, says Lyn Hibbitt, CNCC manager. She says the children are from Grims-by, Niagara Falls, St. Catharines and Thorold.

Hibbitt says the choir is for children between the ages of seven and 17. She has been working with the choir since it was formed four years ago. When the new choir season started in September, they began practicing for this benefi t concert, called Radiance.

The choir has two groups, which practise every Tuesday. One is for training young and less experi-enced singers who are just starting out. The concert group is for more experienced singers.

The concert was a thank-you to the church, and the money col-lected by the admission tickets will go back to it.

This is the second season for

choir director Marlin. Marlin is originally from Nova

Scotia, where she was raised and earned a Bachelor of Music in voice and conducting. She went to the University of Alberta for a Master of Music program in choral conducting, after which she came to Niagara.

“I started with these guys right away,” she says.

Marlin describes the choir as a group of enthusiastic singers.

“We have kids from all over the Niagara region, from all the little communities.” For Marlin, music has always been part of her life, so she decided to now not only do it but also teach it.

Lynne Honsberger will be the pianist accompanying the choir.

The choir has some upcoming

events. The next concert is for the Christmas season, on Dec. 11 and Dec. 12 with the Niagara Symphony Orchestra at Brock University, where Honsberger will also perform.

There will be another concert Feb. 26, 2011.

Auditions will be held in January for the second part of the season, says Hibbitt.

By SAM CINOStaff Writer

Life after college doesn’t always “come up roses.”

Mike McCormick graduated from Niagara College’s Business – Accounting program in 2008, but since then he has had his share of bad luck. A severely broken wrist, not being able to fi nd a job, and his wife leaving him are just a few of the main things.

“I basically Superman-dove into the pavement,” he says about his broken wrist.

“I was working at Wal-Mart while going to school. I crossed a big patch of ice, and my feet came out from under me.”

With a broken wrist, McCormick had a harder time with his studies and was put on light maintenance duty at work.

After his recovery and gradu-ation, he and his wife moved to London, Ont., to seek jobs.

“I worked at the Wal-Mart there, which was OK, for a bit, but I wanted to fi nd an actual accounting job, which didn’t exist out there.”

After a timeout in London, the couple moved back to Niagara and decided to go their separate ways.

“It’s a good thing we are still civil with each other. We are still friends.We didn’t have any kids, just a cat and a big screen TV. I got the TV,” he says, smiling.

He is still pursuing his goal of becoming a Certifi ed General Accountant and plans to take the courses in the future.

By ALANNAH CAMPBELLStaff Writer

This week, the fourth annual Intrigue Sale raised money and awareness for International Edu-

cation Week.Dr. Mary Kilmer-Tchalekian,

manager, international projects — Latin America, solicited dona-tions of funds and internation-

ally sourced items such as textiles, handcrafts, books and various other items.

The sale proceeds went toward bursaries for students who will be studying or working abroad and toward a tourism and hospitality training centre in Yryatu, Argentina.

“The main point [of the sale] is to get money to pass on to other deserving individuals.”

Kilmer-Tchalekian says the sale has “always been relatively suc-cessful but it is hard to put an exact qualifi er on it.”

The sale brought in about $800 the fi rst year, about $1,000 the next and about $1,200 last year. Final numbers from this year are not yet available but, she says, the more people hear about the sale and donate items each year the success will increase.

Tom Dwyer, third-year student in the Bachelor of Applied Busi-ness – International Commerce and Global Development at Niagara College, sold items at the Intrigue Sale on Monday. He said it would be “great” if they could reach last year’s numbers.

“It’s a really good cause and it gives people an opportunity to buy merchandise from around the world.”

Next to the tables of items was a booth to raise awareness about fair trade. Students from the Ni-

agara College International Club (NCIC) offered certifi ed fair trade coffee along with fl yers provid-ing information about fair trade practices and certifi ed fair trade organizations.

They also sold a few handcrafts that workers were paid fair wages to make “which helps them be able to develop their community,” says Andrés Valencia, another third-year student in the Niagara College program.

Valencia, active in the NCIC for three years, is vice-president of fair trade. He volunteered at the booth and says fair trade items help

people “work toward a sustainable economy, they are able to do this [make items] and survive.”

The event ran from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Monday at the Niagara-on-the-Lake campus, in conjunc-tion with an international culinary taste testing, and Wednesday at the Welland campus.

The rest of the week was cele-brated with guest speakers, talking about their international travels, and a lecture series, Promoting Global Citizenship.

For more information about fair trade visit http://www.fairtrade.org.uk.

Saundra Patterson, left, wife of college President Dan Patterson, and Dr. Mary Kilmer-Tchalekian sell internationally sourced items at the Intrigue Sale.

Photo by Alannah Campbell

From left, volunteers Adam Gaudet, Andrés Valencia, Cassandra Musungayi and Derek Gaudet, provide information about fair trade practices at the launch of International Education Week.

Photo by Alannah Campbell

The Chorus Niagara Children’s Choir in performed its fi rst concert of the season at the St. Barnabas Anglican Church in St. Catharines.

Photo by Genesis Falcon

Praising autumn in musical formChildren’s choir performing thoughout the holiday season

College afterlife blues

International sale intriging to students

NEWSNov. 19, 2010 NIAGARA NEWS Page 13

A committee from Facilities Management Services at Niagara College held two fundraisers last month for an educational fund to support the children of Frank Rubino, a part-time general maintenance worker who died suddenly on Aug. 12 while working at the Niagara-on-the-Lake campus. On Nov. 11, Rubino’s children and his wife, Barbara, were presented with a cheque for $13,071.25. From left: Brad Barnhart, supervisor; Mal Woodhouse, Director; Tanera DeBeau, project planner & coordinator for planning and development; Ange Bruni, operations manager; Cathy Disomone, secretary and Mike Czerleau, general maintenance worker at the Welland campus present a cheque to Trina, Barbara, Jairus and Talon Rubino.

Photo by Lindsay Costello

By NATE POORTINGAStaff Writer

In 2008, the month of October saw two notorious campus fi res in Ontario, which stunned fi re and campus offi cials.

On Halloween night, an off-campus house fi re involving Brock University students precipitated the need for a program to prevent this from happening again.

“It was at that scene a fi re pre-vention offi cer said to a colleague, ‘It’s only a matter of time.’ A fi re chief overheard this and knew what they meant; it’s only a matter of time before we have a multi-fa-tality fi re involving young people,” says Niagara College’s Director of Student Services Brigitte Chiki.

The fi re chief, she says, then ap-proached Brock to try to look for a “better way to educate students.”

Niagara College’s solution: the knowfi re.ca campaign.

Chiki says when Brad Clark, director of student life and com-munity experience at Brock Uni-versity, asked her to participate in the knowfi re.ca campaign, she didn’t hesitate in agreeing.

One of the reasons, she says, is because the Niagara-on-the-Lake campus residence experienced a fi re within the fi rst six months of being open.

Knowfi re.ca became an online-video campaign after the founding members were able to recognize that students spend more time online than they do watching TV, says Chiki.

“We know that students are dif-ferent these days, so we engaged a company made up of Brock grads Fourgrounds Media, who produced the fi lms ... and we learned through them that students are more ori-ented to electronic media.”

Adrian Thiessen, 24, president of Fourgrounds Media Inc., of St. Catharines, says reaching the 18-24-year-old demographic was a “no-brainer” for his company.

They used a student focus group who suggested the campaign be “really edgy and really powerful” in terms of its message and media use. Thiessen says this was integral in communication with a “critical group of consumers.”

“They recommended the shock-and-awe technique,” says Chiki.

The end result is a series of one to two minute “commercial-size” videos containing powerful mes-sages and images.

This included burning a real dorm room for the fi lming.

“We wanted to bring in a tan-gible presentation of inward think-ing and logic to make them see how this would affect them,” says Thiessen.

He explains the focus group was sometimes pitched alternate end-ings, and they’d use the one the group found more effective.

“We even asked the students, ‘What’s the right ending? Does the person die or not?’ and students gave us the ideas and we went with

them,” says Chiki.The knowfi re.ca campaign com-

prises members solely from the Niagara region.

“What is especially thrilling for us, and we’re so proud, in many videos are Niagara College acting students. Niagara College broad-casting students were involved as videographers. Those are real fi re-fi ghters, and the other actors are from the Niagara community...Those are local scenes. Those are real fi re trucks.”

“It’s defi nitely something that doesn’t happen too often as far post-secondary education [pro-grams] getting together with even the region itself,” says Thiessen.

“It’s great to see all of the de-partments come together with the school to form one voice.”

Shaun Ferguson, a recent gradu-ate of Niagara College’s acting program, played a role in one of the videos as a second-year student.

He was part of a clip where a careless group of students throw a

party, unknowingly trapping their roommate in the basement.

While dancing, Ferguson stum-bles back and knocks over a group of candles.

“I was responsible for setting the house on fi re,” he says.

Ferguson says, although the work on set was “laid back” he found himself constantly learning new information and lessons.

“In the scene that I shot with the candle, they wanted me to sort of stumble back but not actually knock the candle over. I think it was the fi rst or second take that I did and I actually did knock them over, which worked great for the scene, but it just sort of reinforced how accidents can happen like that.”

Since the website went live, knowfi re.ca has received recogni-tion on provincial and national levels.

Chiki says they immediately started getting requests from fi re departments and schools across North America.

“It was wonderful. No pun in-tended but it literally spread like fi re, the knowfi re message.”

In April 2010, the campaign re-ceived one of 12 honourable men-tions for an international award in the partnership category by the Conference Board of Canada, which accepts worldwide applica-tions and is presided over by an international panel of judges.

In June, the presidents of Brock University and Niagara College

were recognized at a St. Catharines city council meeting and presented with a certifi cate.

Firefi ghters and other represen-tatives of the campaign also trav-elled to Capitol Hill in Washing-ton, D.C., as part of a conference for Fire Safety Month in the U.S.

They were invited by Campus Fire Watch, an organization that has recorded 134 campus fi re-related deaths in the United States since 2000.

“It’s been such a feel-good thing in that it’s made entirely in Niag-ara, and that it’s being recognized certainly in North America but re-ally around the world,” says Chiki.

Most recently, knowfi re.ca received the Bernard A. Moyle Public Education Award by the Fire Marshall’s Public Fire Safety Council.

Part of the award is a $5,000 credit note for products from the Fire Safety Council’s distribution centre.

Chiki says she there has been talk of spreading awareness by trying to get the videos shown as previews at local cinemas and is planning for more videos to be made in the near future.

Similarly, Thiessen says, “Given the success of the campaign, there has been mention of producing more videos. This is not a one-time campaign.”

The six Niagara written and directed clips and other fi re safety information are available at the campaign site: www.knowfi re.ca.

Photo illustration by Stephanie Nikita

Fire safety a hot issue for students

Family will benefi t from college fund


NEWS

By KRISTA ASHFORDStaff Writer

For many years, human beings have been addicted to fossil fuels. The hunt for oil resulted in one of the most disastrous spills the world has ever seen. The BP oil spill off the Gulf of Mexico’s coast will have long-lasting effects on the en-vironment. Politicians debate end-lessly over what the best options are to sustain the human need for these diminishing resources.

Tom Rand, a venture capitalist, philosopher and engineer, hopes to fi nd the answer.

Rand will be visiting the Niag-ara-on-the-Lake campus on Nov. 25 to promote his book, Kick the Fossil Fuel Habit: 10 Clean Tech-nologies to Save our World.

Rand, a Niagara-on-the-Lake na-tive who now lives in Toronto, be-lieves he has solutions to displace or even replace fossil fuels.

“I’m really just a guy trying to slow our gallop toward an over-heated climate. [I’m] doing the best I can with what I’ve got,” says Rand on his website.

Rand is involved with the Clean-

tech venture capital and the MaRS Discovery District and is the found-er of VCi Green Funds. In 2008, Rand and a partner converted an abandoned building in downtown Toronto into a low-carbon hotel called The Planet Traveler Hotel. It boasts high-effi ciency lighting, drain water heat recapture and so-lar thermal power.

His book documents different methods Rand believes should be the next step toward a green future. He addresses the benefi ts of solar, wind and geothermal power, biofu-els, smart buildings, transportation and conservation in an easy-to-understand way that makes these ideas accessible to the public.

On Nov. 25 at 7 p.m., Rand will be speaking in the Yerich Audito-rium. Staff, students and members of the community are welcome to attend. The event is free. There will be a reception in The Armoury after the presentation, the college’s fi rst-ever Green Drinks event.

For more information, contact Krystle Grimaldi, Niagara Envi-ronmental Corps co-ordinator, at [email protected].

By SHAWN SMITHStaff Writer

As a First World country, Canada is considered to be a modernized and progressive state. Most homes have running water, and people have food on their plates. However, Canada is not without problems.

One of the key political issues is the lack of female representation. Only 21 per cent of elected politi-cians in Canada are women. Add to that the fact that 52 per cent of eligible voters are women.

Why are so few women involved in politics?

Livianna Tossutti, associate pro-fessor of political science at Brock University in St. Catharines, offers a few reasons. Some of these in-clude the adversarial style of poli-tics practiced in Canada, attitudinal factors such as women being less interested than men, the “fi rst past the post” electoral system in which only fi rst place is elected, and me-dia that ignore female politicians or judge them based on looks.

“It’s diffi cult to pull the double duty that women play in terms of holding down a job and raising a family,” says Tossutti. “It’s dif-fi cult for a woman to raise a child when they are in a demanding pro-fession such as politics. That’s why you see that many of the women who do enter into politics are often

older women who have already raised their family.”

These are major problems for women to overcome, but there are solutions.

“Countries that use proportional representation often get 30 to 40 per cent female representation compared to Canada and the U.S. that get far lower female represen-tation. Sweden used proportional representation and has 47 per cent female representation. France and Belgium have laws requiring par-ties to run equal numbers of female and male candidates. If they do not, they are penalized from the state. In Canada we don’t have any such laws.”

This idea is generally not prac-tised in North America, but one Canadian party has taken the ini-tiative.

“The NDP [New Democratic Party] are the only Canadian politi-cal party that has set internal party quotas and require the party to have women run in 60 per cent of ridings that have a shot at winning. Conservatives reject the idea of affi rmative action, and the Liber-als have adopted a more voluntary initiative,” says Tossutti.

Martha Hall Findlay, 51, of Willowdale, Ont., is a member of parliament with the Liberal Party of Ontario, says there is a strong

need for more women in Canadian politics.

“I don’t subscribe to one gender being better than another at being a politician. You cannot vote for women if they aren’t running,” she says.

Findlay agrees with Tossutti there is a media slant that needs to be addressed. “No one asks what a male politician does with his chil-dren when he is running for offi ce. It is not the same with women.”

How can Canada get more wom-en to become politically active?

“Institutions can make politics more female friendly by offering onsite services such as daycare facilities or support for child care expenses. Anything they can do to help support child care would go a long way to encourage young women to get into politics,” says Tossutti.

Another option suggested was to get Canadian youth interested in politics through a proper political education.

“We need to reach young women at the high school age with better civic education classes – and they will benefi t young men too – bet-ter civics classes that are serious about the importance of politics in people’s lives just to get young Canadians interested in it,” says Tossutti.

Enviromentalist, engineer to visit Niagara campus

Tom Rand’s new book, Kick the Fossil Fuel Habit: 10 Clean Technologies To Save Our World.Submitted photo

Unproportional representation?Canadian women need a stronger role in politics

By STEPH AZEVEDOStaff Writer

NaNoWriMo means many things to those who participate. For some, it is a way to breathe life into the ideas that fl oat around in their heads. For others, it means testing their limits and trying something they have never done before.

For many, it will become a means of producing a novel.

The literal meaning is National Novel Writing Month, November. Self-entitled “wrimos” (partici-pants in NaNoWriMo) all over the globe sit down at their laptop or grab a pen and paper to begin writ-ing down 50,000 words within a deadline of 30 days.

Is pen-to-paper or fi ngers-to-lap-top the best way to go? Melody E. McIntyre enjoys writing by hand at fi rst, but fi nds that “the computer is just faster. My hand can smash through my writing block better.”

On the other hand, there is El-eanor MacVeigh, who has been a wrimo for eight years. She prefers to use the computer. “My shorthand isn’t nearly fast enough to keep up with the ideas in my brain.”

“I’m also very particular on the computer,” MacVeigh says. “The font cannot be larger then a size 10, and it has to be Arial. It makes me feel like I’ve done a lot when I for-mat it for the CreateSpace freebie at the end of June.”

Tyler Meehan, a fi rst-time wrimo, says he fi nds “writing on a

computer to be too distracting.”“You can easily put on a movie

and use Facebook. It keeps you from achieving your goal.”

“I prefer writing with pen and paper,” says Meehan. “Each page is like a blank slate. I can write a short story, the beginnings of a new script, a journal entry, or even a drawing. I fi nd it’s just so much more versatile.”

Some remain alone as they work on this journey, while others get together with other wrimos in their region for “write-ins.”

“Write-ins are amazing,” says MacVeigh, who is the municipal liaison for the Niagara region.

“People have mentioned to me that their most productive days wordcount-wise is when they’re surrounded by everyone else struggling to survive the month together. When we have word wars, there’s the sound of everyone typing madly away, and it brings out your inner competitiveness. … I normally write between 800 and 1,000 words an hour, but on a 30-minute word war I clear 1,000 words easily.”

The opposite is true for Tawnya Jackson, who started NaNoWrimo in 2004. Jackson found she “had the night off” when attending the write-ins. “I’m one of the unlucky few that don’t have a [laptop]. … Whatever I wrote never made it to the actual document once I got home.”

One person who knows the dif-

fi culty of meeting a word count is Meehan, who is in China teaching children English.

“Every morning and night I sit at the computer, put on some TV in the background and write as much as I can. I do my best to reach the word count and try not to lose too many hours of sleep.” He advises wrimos to “set aside a few hours every morning and night for writ-ing.”

Donna Blake, a wrimo for three years, says her biggest hint for reaching the 50,000 word count is to “make a NaNo commitment in advance and make it stand the tallest among the other chores and duties. Carve out the time and then stick to it with a vengeance! Be selfi sh about it.”

Benjamin Pratt, a fi rst-year wri-mo, suggests some less life-chang-ing solutions: “Trim the fat off life, cancel subscriptions to email newsletters or YouTube channels, tell friends you’ll be busy, [and] if you have a break in the middle of the day, work!”

There are always new friends to be made through NaNoWriMo. One of the biggest joys is “every-one pulling together to make sure we all get our ideas down, even if we don’t make the word count at the end of the month,” says MacVeigh. “It’s amazing the ca-maraderie NaNo creates.”

For the offi cial NaNo website, visit www.nanowrimo.org.

By NOKNOY XAYASANEStaff Writer

“I like to call it disadvantage, not disability.”

Wendy Boardman, a third-year Broadcasting – Radio, Televi-sion and Film student at Niagara College, like many others, has had trouble with parking on the Welland campus. Since the con-struction here has made for dif-fi cult parking, there is another, but similar issue. There are not enough handicapped parking spaces.

Boardman was injured while on the job and had surgery on Oct. 18.

“I park wherever I can. I can come in at any time of the day and there won’t be any parking,” says Boardman, adding, “It can take up to 20 minutes to fi nd a spot.”

This issue doesn’t simply affect Boardman. She has written many letters and made many phone calls to the parking department of the college.

“It turns out I wasn’t the only one doing it. Others are also in my position. It took about a month to gain momentum.”

Boardman has been determined in achieving her goal of having more available and accessible parking spots.

“I didn’t give up. I documented everything: the days I couldn’t fi nd parking to the number of

times I have been late to class be-cause of the parking issue.”

Mike Wales, communications offi cer in the college’s market-ing and communications depart-ment, says the demolition of the

Mackenzie building, in spring 2011, will create more accessible parking spots.

Mal Woodhouse, director of facilities management services, says, “All staff must purchase

parking passes like everyone else or their vehicle will be ticketed,” adding he has personally seen automobiles without a parking permit or a handicapped parking permit in the handicapped parking spots.

This could contribute to the un-available areas for those who are required to use them.

Those vehicles, without a per-mit, are reported and ticketed.

Niagara College meets and ex-ceeds the Ontario Building Code and Municipal Bylaws standards. These codes and bylaws deter-mine the minimum handicapped parking spaces in any given lot.

Woodhouse says 19 handi-capped parking spaces will be created although 16 are required. These numbers are not confi rmed as construction is ongoing.

“We try to facilitate and ac-

commodate to every student’s and faculty member’s needs,” says Woodhouse. When his staff hears of issues, they try to the best of their abilities to provide a solu-tion.

“There was a complaint about the roads behind the old Student Administrative Council building and we paved it.”

In addition to new parking areas being made, construction workers are building new paved cross-walks, which are slightly elevated. They will act as a walking path as well as speed bumps. This will be benefi cial to those with dif-fi culty walking because the speed bump will be the same height as the curb.

Boardman received her General Arts diploma on Oct. 28 and will be completing her fi nal year at Ni-agara College in April. She says she hopes to see immediate pro-gression in the parking matter, but if she doesn’t see change, she’s just glad to get the ball rolling.

“I hope I can make a difference through my efforts because I am not the only one having diffi culty.”

Woodhouse says that within the next two weeks the col-lege will have new paved areas for new parking lots. The lines will be painted once paving is done, but weather can delay the fi nished product.

NEWSNov. 19, 2010 NIAGARA NEWS Page 15

Wendy Boardman stands outside the Technology Centre beside some crooked handicapped parking signs.

Photo by Noknoy Xayanase

Handicapped parking a problem

Get writing this November

6451

6638

‘It can take up to 20 minutes to fi nd a spot.’

— Wendy Boardman

Students upset over the lack of designated spaces


NEWS

By KIMBERLY SMITHStaff Writer

On Nov. 5 the Niagara College Wine and Visitor Centre will be a year old, but don’t expect a birth-day party the likes of the grand opening.

Last November, Niagara Col-lege welcomed His Royal High-ness, the Prince of Wales, Prince Charles for a historic visit to open the $3.6-million facility.

The new building is the only on-campus vineyard and commercial teaching winery in Canada.

In just a year, the centre person-nel and students have been keeping busy producing award-winning wines, participating in wine festi-vals, hosting educational seminars and providing the highest quality hands-on education for students.

Upon entering the centre, visi-tors are greeted with a wine-tasting bar in the middle of the circular hall and a backdrop of glass doors

leading to the patio overlooking the vineyard. The wooden shelves display the three levels of wines produced on campus: college se-ries, street scenes and the premium dean’s list.

“Because of the proximity to the Queen Elizabeth Highway, the centre is hoped to be thought of as a ‘hub’ where visitors can stop in and fi nd about all wineries in the region,” says Lorraine Snihur, the wine and visitor centre’s event planner.

Snihur, a graduate of the Wine Business Management program, was one of the students who took the Prince of Wales on his tour of the vineyard.

Now as event planner, Snihur says she is “proud to be a part of this place” and enjoys meeting the guests, whether dignitaries or visi-tors from out of town.

The lower level of the building is where the magic takes place. It’s

home to a wine barrel cellar, wine production cellar, crush area, oe-nology and fermentation lab, wine library, three viticulture labs and a terroir classroom.

Although the upper level’s activ-ity has slowed because of the sea-son, the lower level is a different story.

With a successful harvest re-cently completed, excitement fi lls the air as students and professional Winemaker Terence Van Rooyen work hard to make potential award-winning wines.

Gavin Robertson, a student com-pleting his second-year practicum with the winery, says the weather this year was “ideal” and the fruit was picked properly giving it “great fruit condition.”

With the last of the grapes picked on Nov. 2, the winery is at capacity. Robertson has been using picking bins for fermentation.

This year the winery had an

early harvest, but the 2009 yield was late, meaning more time was needed in the barrels for the wine.

Although the college has a full-time professional winemaker, the students are involved with the pro-cess from start to fi nish. From put-ting on rubber boots and going into the vineyard to crushing the grapes and bottling, they learn fi rst-hand what it takes to perfect the craft of wine making.

Adding to the buzz of excite-ment, fi rst-year Winery and Viticulture Technician diploma students are learning to make a table wine, red or white, in their fi rst semester.

Lisa Indras, 19, of Toronto, cur-rently making a cabernet franc, says so far they have “been really involved. We started in the middle of harvest so we just show up and help.”

“The easiest way to learn is in the winery. It just sticks.”

A student coming to the program with a winery apprenticeship under his belt says he likes the hands-on involvement. Justin Grendel, 18, of Warkworth, Ont., says the class was taught proper procedure and then were sent out to make their fi rst wine.

The visitor centre is looking forward to another successful year, adding more exciting events and improving the current space.

With the recent addition on cam-pus of a brewery, Snihur says they will have beer on tap at their tast-ing bar and will have the product available for sale in the near future.

On Dec. 5 from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., the teaching winery will be hosting its annual open house. New wines will be released and hors d’oeuvres from the Canadian Food and Wine Institute will be served.

Visit the centre’s website, www.nctwinery.ca, for more de-tails.

Students crush grapes picked from the Teaching Winery to make their own wine. First-year students are holding their grapes that will be made into a cabernet franc wine.

Photos by Kimberly Smith

First-year winery and viticulture technician students Lisa Indras and Justin Grendel are learning hands-on how to make their own wine. Currently they are in the process of making a cabernet franc.

Students producing award-winning wines

Town and Gown initiative keeps off -campus students safeBy JESSE CARTER

Staff WriterThere’s a saying that says it

takes a village to raise a child. What if that village was putting that child through college?

Between Brock University and Niagara College, probably 10,000 students are living off campus throughout the Niagara region, and there are town-and-gown committees being put together to deal with them.

Since about 2003, Niagara Col-lege has been involved in local town-and-gown initiatives.

The fi rst was with the City of St. Catharines. The Mayor’s Student Housing Advisory Committee is made up of representatives from city hall staff, councillors, the police department, the fi re department, Niagara College and Brock University, as well as local

residents, students and landlords.When the committee would

meet every two months or so to discuss issues associated with students living off campus, the is-sues typically focused on disrup-tive behaviour such as vandalism, theft, rowdiness, parking, property standards and fi re safety.

Around 2005, the City of Welland formed an ad hoc com-mittee similar in structure to St. Catharines’. An ad hoc committee is one formed for a specifi c task or objective and then dissolved after the completion of the task or achievement of the objective. The police and college co-facilitated those meetings.

In 2009, the City of Thorold formed an offi cial Town and Gown Committee to deal with the growing number of college and university students living in

Thorold.Brigitte Chiki, the college’s

director of student services and community relations division, says the college also has faced challenges associated with stu-dents living in the Niagara on the Green subdivision across from the Niagara-on-the-Lake campus because no formal committee is in place there. However, the col-lege attends meetings as called by town offi cials, police or others.

In Welland, more recently, elected councillors had moved to introduce a system of licensing for rental properties. Any property owner would have been required to register with the city and meet certain property standards before renting out units. There are prob-lems because if it only applies to student housing, it could be con-sidered discrimination. Oshawa

was successful in passing a bylaw that allows the city to control rent-al units within a certain number of kilometres.

In Chiki’s opinion, the city should be able to handle this with-out bylaws.

“In my view, the city is in the best position to manage this com-mittee, as they do in St. Catharines and Thorold. The city has access to and authority for many of the standards and issues that apply, such as parking, property stan-dards, noise, nuisance and waste management.”

The status of the initiative is on hold because of the municipal election on Oct. 25.

For now, Niagara College has partnered with Brock University to offer a joint off-campus hous-ing listing service.

Information can be found on the

website www.niagaracollege.ca/ocl.

Provided there are the listings and descriptions of off campus accommodations, but also lots of helpful information, tips, and links for students, parents and landlords. Also featured is the award-winning knowfi re.ca link, which contains a series of fi re safety videos.

As members of the provincial Town and Gown Association of Ontario, Brock University and Niagara College set up informa-tion booths at fi rst-year orienta-tion events and spring open house events.

For further information, visit the website or contact any Town and Gown Committee in Thorold and St. Catharines or Chiki at Niagara College. She can be reached by calling 905-735-2211 ext. 7783.

ENTERTAINMENTNov. 19, 2010 NIAGARA NEWS Page 17

By CHRISTOPHER FORTIERStaff Writer

For Barbara Mantini, music is her life.

Mantini, 49, has been singing professionally since 21, most nota-bly with her sisters Sandra and Ann as The Mantini Sisters.

“I’ve been singing since I was a little girl. It’s the only thing I’ve ever wanted to be,” says Mantini.

Growing up in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Mantini is the fi fth of seven children, which includes two boys and fi ve girls, and is the middle child in the Mantini Sisters trio.

“[Musically] we all have differ-ent tastes. We have different voices, and in our productions we kind of play that up: who’s the youngest, who’s the prettiest, who’s mama’s favourite and all of that stuff.”

Mantini’s studies in music were all private, studying with a bass-baritone in Toronto as well as studying opera. She now plays the role of teacher herself.

For the past three years, Mantini has been on the faculty in the Act-ing for Film and Television pro-gram, teaching the course Finding

Your Actor’s Voice Through Sing-ing. The class involves learning how the voice works by examining the anatomy and the respiratory system and by practicing diction through singing.

In addition to teaching at home, for the past fi ve years, Mantini has been a teaching artist through the Learning Through the Arts program.

“We go into elementary schools and teach arts using our art form. There are different artist’s disci-plines that are involved. So I would go into the classrooms and we’ll either write songs to whatever it is that they’re focusing on in class.”

Mantini says she would consider teaching as a full-time career when she stops singing, but would she ever stop singing?

“I hope not, because I love it. I’m sure there will be a day where I am too old to do it, the voice isn’t there anymore and, hopefully, it’s not for a long time. But I do enjoy the teaching. I enjoy working with the students.”

Music seems to be in almost ev-ery facet of Mantini’s life.

Her husband of 18 years, Dave Colonico, is a music teacher at Centennial Secondary School in Welland. He also plays saxophone in the band Introduction, featuring Mantini as a vocalist. Together they have two sons, Andrew, 15, and Robert, 16. Mantini says both sons are musically inclined.

“We’ve always supported them in their music lessons, and there has always been music around,” says Mantini. “In fact, I was sing-ing when I was expecting. I was almost full-term and I would be in the band singing. They heard it in the womb.”

Since she herself has a career in music, teaches music, married a musician and is raising two aspir-ing musicians, what would she ad-vise to anyone considering a career in music?

“I would say get as much train-ing as you can,” says Mantini. “Get a degree because it does allow you to do other things later on perhaps when your career is slowing down. You have to keep performing because you need the experience. And experiment. Just keep learning

always. I’m always learning. As a vocalist, styles have changed so much, especially for stage.”

Mantini says after years of per-forming, she only gets nervous when trying something new on stage.

“You always get butterfl ies and you always get nervous, but it’s that initial doing it for the fi rst time, that’s when I feel it the most,” says Mantini. “I think that nerves are what help get you through it. It gives you energy, but the more you do it, the more you can handle it.”

The Mantini Sisters have an upcoming show at Centennial Sec-ondary School in Welland on Dec. 10 at 7:30 p.m.

The show will feature songs from their Christmas CD and uti-lizes elements from their Christmas production. The concert will also feature French-Canadian recording artist Michel Berube, local artist Mark Lalama and former Canadian national fi ddle champion Frank Leahy.

Tickets are available at www.ticketpro.ca or by calling 1-888-655-9090.

By SARAH FERGUSON Staff Writer

Sometimes you might not be in the mood for a blockbuster movie.

However, you can jazz up your movie-going experience on Wednesday nights with something less mainstream.

On Nov. 3, The Brock University Film Series (BUFS) showed the fi lm Nowhere Boy, a biographical fi lm about Beatle John Lennon. It’s one of 10 fi lms in the fall season running until Nov. 24 in St. Catha-rines.

Amanda Bishop, operations manager for BUFS, says fi lms are chosen for various reasons.

“Patrons aren’t shy about asking for things they’d like to see, so we try to accommodate them.”

“We like to get a wide variety of fi lms in order to appeal to different tastes. In November, we’re doing a music biopic, a street art docu-mentary, a French historical fi lm and a drama based on a popular novel that already has Oscar buzz.” Bishop adds, “It’s something for

everyone.”Bishop says BUFS has “been

through a few incarnations” since its inception over 35 years ago.

She adds there was a fi lm soci-ety that held regular screenings at Town Cinemas in downtown St. Catharines. Later, the screenings were held on campus on Sunday nights.

As of January 2009, the program “re-launched as BUFS, running weekly screenings.”

BUFS is able to show fi lms because it is a Film Circuit group. The Film Circuit is “a division of the Toronto International Film Festival. [It] co-ordinates distribu-tion of fi lms for groups like ours all over Canada.”

Many factors determine which fi lm BUFS will get each week. It depends on “critical response to the fi lm, availability of a copy of the fi lm for us to screen, whether the fi lm has played in the area, when the DVD release is due, and audience interest,” says Bishop.

The Film Circuit helped BUFS arrange theatre rentals to play fi lms, says Bishop. “We chose to move to the Pen Centre to make BUFS more accessible to the pub-lic.”

Janessa Snippe, Vincent Trem-blay, Tony Larocca and Mizuho Nakai, all volunteers for BUFS,

say they enjoy doing it because they see movies they would never get a chance to see otherwise.

Snippe says a variety of people come to screenings. “There are 120 to 140 people. Usually it’s a major-ity of adults, but it depends on the fi lm.”

“It’s a great opportunity,” says Nakai, who has been volunteering for four years

“These showings are not for peo-ple who just want to watch block-buster fi lms … most of the fi lms I want to see don’t come here.”

Bishop says there is one multi-plex “in each Niagara city,” a situ-ation that does not leave room for much variation in what fi lms are playing. She says BUFS gives the opportunity to check out the award buzz around fi lms. “Last year we opened the series in September with The Hurt Locker. It was a little-known fi lm at the time, but it went on to sweep during award season, and our patrons were lucky enough to see it on the big screen.”

The fi nal fi lm for the season is Never Let Me Go on Nov. 24. The winter season continues on Jan. 12 running until April 6 with 12 fi lms.

Tickets are $10 each with the proceeds going to cover the cost of screening the fi lms.

For more information on what’s playing, visit www.brocku.ca/bufs.

NC professor set for singing, teaching

Brock fi lm series widely viewed

Barbara Mantini’s life, from her family, to her job, to her hobbies, completely revolves around music.

Barbara Mantini ready for the classroom and the stage

Weekly movie showings entertain St. Catharines with new releases

Phot

o by

Sar

ah F

ergu

son

Photo courtesy of Helen Tansey


ENTERTAINMENT

By LINDSAY COSTELLOStaff Writer

It’s all about the details.This was made clear when

Maggie Craig, a Niagara College graduate and script supervisor, conducted workshops for second-year Acting for Television and Film students on Nov. 12.

Craig spoke to students about her experience as a script supervisor and offered advice on how actors should present themselves on set.

While working as a script su-pervisor, Craig’s job was to be the fi nal set of eyes for every craftsper-son on set to maintain accuracy and continuity within scenes.

She was able to simulate her work through an interactive dem-onstration in which a group of students acted out a scene while another group watched the action on a monitor and checked for con-tinuity.

According to Craig, it is impor-tant for actors to have a good rela-tionship with their script supervisor because they are “there to help.”

Despite the script supervisor’s duty, Craig says actors should be responsible for their own actions and must be aware of what they are doing at all times.

A former teacher in the Broad-casting — Radio, Television and Film program at Niagara College, Craig taught second-year fi lm pro-duction and third-year documen-tary fi lmmaking before pursuing a career in the industry.

Although she pictured herself in front of the camera, her interest in fi lm production began when a pro-fessor brought her along to a fi lm shoot.

“I was hooked,” she says.Having studied theatre during

university, Craig says she liked the permanent nature of fi lm and how it can be shared with everyone rather than one audience.

Her most recent project was working on a television series di-rected by Steven Spielberg.

She says she had a great time working on the project and with an

“amazing cast.”Stacy Scalisi, a third-year broad-

casting student, was able to work with Craig on the Spielberg project as an intern.

Scalisi described her internship as an “incredible experience”, add-ing the cast and crew were “won-derful” and “accepting.”

Despite the hours of a script supervisor, she says she realized the importance of organization and having a wealth of knowledge of the project.

Scalisi says she hopes to con-tinue with this line of work.

Although Craig would like to pursue directing in the future, she says she is happy with the way her career is going.

“I hope to continue to work with great talent and be lucky enough to maintain a career in the fi lm industry.”

Craig says she likes the opportu-nity to travel and meet new people while working.

She says Niagara College has a “huge place” in her heart and is a “big part” of her life.

It was Craig who came up with the concept of starting an acting program at the college. She says it was an “honour” to visit the and see success within the program, add-ing that Martin Doyle, Acting for Television and Film co-ordinator, is “making it a success.”

She says there is a “great sym-biotic relationship” between the broadcasting and acting programs adding it gives students an op-portunity to develop talent while practicing their craft.

Doyle says bringing in guest speakers has been “incredible” and students are still talking about the experiences weeks after they occur.

He says it is “wonderful” to see graduates attain success in the in-dustry.

Although major acting jobs can be found in larger cities, Doyle says Niagara College is a place where students can receive the “best education” in order to suc-ceed in the industry.

By EMMA RUSSELLStaff Writer

She was playing piano at 8, guitar at 12, drums at 15 and the harmonica at 18, and she is a suc-cessful and talented Canadian.

Niagara College’s pub, The Core, welcomed Billy the Kid, also known as Billy Pettinger, to the stage on Oct. 20. Pettinger is on a tour that started in her hometown, Vancouver. Joining her is Canadian Idol’s Rex Goudie.

“I’ve been all over the country 40 times,” she says.

Pettinger says music saved her when life was rough at fi rst. When she was 18, she and a group of friends got together and created Billy the Kid and The Lost Boys. Pettinger says even if the band couldn’t make it, she would still play. They travelled around in her van, which became her home.

“It is the most fun job in the world. Not every girl can do make-up in their car like I can.”

The band started a manifesto or a code of conduct, she says, called the Lost Cause. Children world-

wide have joined in Pettinger’s Lost Cause, many getting the same tattoo she has across her forearm reading ‘Lost!’

Pettinger’s MySpace page de-fi nes the cause as “conventional lifestyle.”

“With music I didn’t have a choice. It was already decided for me, and it is in my DNA.”

Pettinger says her music is in-spired by real life, hard times, and her daily grind. Raine Maida, the lead singer of Our Lady Peace, produced her CD, The Lost Cause.

Pettinger jokes and says in 25 years she sees herself much older. “At what point do you stop? I’ll just stop when I’m over it.”

Between songs, Pettinger told the crowd you have to do some-thing you don’t love so you can do something you do love. It is easy to tell while she plays that music is what she loves.

“I love the quote she said. It’s so true. She has a really beautiful voice,” says Alison Montoux, a Niagara College student.

Pettinger is a gifted artist and

a genuinely nice person. While snacking on strawberries, she laughs about a story over how a fan started crying the second the met.

“It was weird at fi rst.” In a few words, Pettinger de-

scribes herself as “completely independent.” She says she used to think of herself as “one of the boys” growing up, but realizes she is actually “super girly.”

“I love dresses: vintage dresses and tights.”

The show went on till 11 p.m. Goudie and Pettinger did a duet at the beginning.

“My favourite song to play to-night will be Recovery because I can’t wait to scream, ‘This is my recovery.’”

The advice she gives to all col-lege students is to “never listen to anyone but yourself. Listen to others’ advice, but in the end, you know what you want.”

For more information on the band, visit www.myspace.com/billythekid and follow Pettinger’s Twitter www.twitter.com/billypet-tinger.com

Maggie Craig, a Niagara College graduate and former faculty member who now works as a script supervisor, demonstrates her job to a group of Acting for Television and Film students. Craig (standing) walked students (clockwise from left) Amera Atiyeh, Erik Bahm and Samantha Barber through a scene while Liam Corkal fi lmed the action for another group of students watching it on a monitor tracking accuracy and continuity.

Photo by Lindsay Costello

Billy Pettinger singing a song from her new The Lost Cause CD.Photo by Emma Russell

Billy the Kid serenades Th e Core

Professor jumps into the fi lm industry

‘At what point do you stop? I’ll just stop when I’m over it’

SPORTSNov. 19, 2010 NIAGARA NEWS Page 19

By NICK BEDARDStaff Writer

Defeat can really weigh on a team’s chemistry. Being blown out on your home court by your conference rival is nothing short of pitiful.

The Niagara Knights men’s basketball team suffered their fi rst loss of the season at the hands of the Humber College Hawks, of Toronto, by a score of 92-72.

The Hawks beat Niagara at their own game, keeping a high tempo style of play throughout the match.

“We started out with an early lead,” says Humber Hawks head coach Shawn Collins. “I think we executed well on both ends of the fl oor and we were able to maintain it for the 40 minutes. That’s what it takes to win tough road games.”

Hawks point guard Mark Perrin proved to be a major factor off the bench for the Hawks. He led the team in scoring with 17 points while guard Michael Acheampong chipped in with 16 points.

The Knights had trouble keeping up to the aggressive tempo dis-played by Humber. From running the uptempo break to getting back on defence, it was a tough night all around for Niagara.

Inside scoring was a key factor for the Hawks, most of which came on second chance opportunities. Both teams shot well from the

fi eld, the Hawks shot 53 per cent from the fi eld while Niagara shot 45 per cent.

The Knights saw solid play from freshman shooting guard Elvis Momat. He fi nished with a game-high 18 points off the bench.

The injury bug continues to strike the Knights. Starter Matt Thomas was held off the stat sheet as he continues to nurse a sore ankle. Dylan Pilasssero has lost his starting role, he has also seen a de-cline in minutes due to a sore knee.

Knights captain Lamar Grant says, “They were very fast and athletic, better than any team that we have played so far. I think in the fi rst half they jumped on us and we couldn’t really recover. As a team, we were not ready for this.”

Attendance has dropped dra-matically for the Knights as ap-proximately 150 fans showed up to the new athletic facility that seats a little over 1,000.

For Humber, this marks its fi rst week of regular season action coming out victorious against Re-deemer College, of Ancaster, Ont., on Nov. 9.

The Knights held a 3-1 record going into this week when they travelled to London, Ont., to face off against Fanshaw College.You can check out video highlights of the Niagara vs. Humber game at www.niagara-news.com.

By NICK BEDARDStaff Writer

The Niagara Knights women’s basketball team capped off Re-membrance Day with a win they will never forget.

The Knights engaged in an up-and-down battle in Welland against the rival Humber College Hawks, of Toronto, fi nally winning by a score of 70-63.

“It’s probably one of the tough-est defensive teams that we played against,” says Knights head coach Ron Lemon. “We had a 15-point lead but we let it go because we got sloppy. Fortunately, our girls played good enough to come back. They are playing better and better each game, so I am pleased.”

A key factor for the Knights was hitting free-throws when it counts. The Knights went to the free-throw line a total of 41 times, hitting 65 per cent of their shots for a total of 29 points.

First-year player Anita Newton, 19, is a student in the General Arts and Science program. She has pro-vided a much-needed spark in her role as a guard. Newton had a great performance last Thursday night, scoring a game-high 17 points.

Newton says, “At halftime, we talked about recognizing our defence. Coach Lemon noted key words such as ‘hustle’ and ‘getting

stronger,’ so that really motivated us. I’m really liking the team this year. We are starting to come around as strong contenders.”

Niagara Knights captain Kai-tlyn Mckenna had her usual fi ne night offensivly. She elevated her game at both ends of the fl oor.

Mckenna fi nished with yet another double-double and went six for six from the free-throw line. She fi n-ished the game with 16 points and 12 rebounds.

The play of point guard Al-lana Arundell, 22, of the Child and Youth Worker program, is really starting to show for the Knights.

Arundell had a statistical stuff-ing game. She ended the night with seven points, four rebounds, two assists and four steals. Arundell showed some aggression dur-ing the second half, getting into a physical confrontation with a Humber player.

Arundell says she is normally one of the calmest players on the team.

“They are a scrappy team [and there is] a lot of pushing and reach-ing. I don’t like that. I am a calm player, but she grabbed my shirt so I had to let my emotions out. After that, I relaxed.”

The Knights hold a 3-0 confer-ence record thus far this season.

The Knights will faced another tough challenge as they toke to the road to tp-off against Fanshaw Col-lege in London, Ont., on Wednes-day Nov. 17.

Knights remain unbeaten

Niagara gets outworked on home court

‘A win like this shows that we belong in the CCAAs,’ says Lemon

Humber Hawks forward Raymon Rumier elevates past Niagara Knight defenders during the fi rst half of Humber’s 92-72 win over the Knights.

Photo by Sam Cino

Niagara Knights point guard Allana Arundell attempts to get past Humber Hawks guard Sainney Caravery as the Knights bench looks on. Arundell helped lead the Knights to a 70-63 win over the Hawks.

Photo by Sam Cino

Humber shines while Knights get sloppy in athletic battle

NIAGARA NEWS Nov.19, 2010

SPORTS

By TONY ALTOMAREStaff Writer

The Welland Tribune Basket-ball Tournament has a new major sponsor.

Niagara College is the newest sponsor for the oldest high school basketball tournament in Ontario.

The college has agreed to spon-sor the tournament for the next fi ve years, with an annual fi nancial contribution of $5,000.

The Welland Tribune newspaper will still be involved as the main media sponsor and the tournament will keep the original name.

The tournament will run from Jan. 12 to 15 in 2011, and the new athletic centre at the Welland campus will play host to the games on the Thursday night. The centre features seating for up to 1,000 spectators to watch the exciting high school basketball action.

Ray Sarkis, co-ordinator of athlet-ics and recreation at the Welland campus, says it is “fantastic” the college has become part of the tournament.

Sarkis says Niagara has been involved in the tournament in the past with full-page ads in the tournament programs and “player of the game” T-shirts. It will now be hosting some of these exciting games.

“This is a major step for the col-lege as we move forward and see the championships of both tourna-ments [boys and girls] coming to Niagara college in the next couple of years,” says Sarkis.

At a press conference at the Welland campus, tournament co-chair Bob Muir said he was “really pleased” about the college coming on board.

Sean Kennedy, vice-president of the college’s student and external relations, was also at the press con-ference and said that the college was “thrilled to be involved with such a great local sporting tradi-tion, and to host games in our new facility.”

Sarkis also views the tournament as a way to potentially showcase the college and the new athletic centre to prospective students.

“We hope that the new athletic centre will be an attraction for some of the top athletes in the province when it comes down to making a decision as to where they will go to continue their aca-demic and athletic career.”

The Tribune tournament was established in 1955. Every year the tournament includes 16 teams from Ont. Other schools hosting the tournament in 2011 include East-dale Secondary school in Welland, Notre Dame College School in Welland, Centennial Secondary school and Ecole Secondaire Catholique Jean Vanier also in Welland. Notre Dame will host the championship games of the tourna-ment on Saturday, Jan. 16.

By JEFF BLAYStaff Writer

Long-time Welland resident, frequent guest of TSN’s Off the Record (OTR) and professional hockey scout Ed Burkholder has plenty of motivation to get in-volved with Mustache November, otherwise known as Movember.

“It’s important for people to get involved in causes such as Mo-vember, and I think it’s catching on,” says Burkholder. “It’s making people more aware of men’s health, and it has to become one of those things that is just as important to be aware of as breast cancer.”

Burkholder not only lost his father to liver cancer, but also survived a battle of his own with testicular cancer.

“With the type of cancer I had, if it had got to me 10 years earlier, I wouldn’t be around,” he explains. “The advances they’ve made with research were instrumental in sav-ing my life, so I am a huge believer in raising awareness to get more research done so hopefully we can save more lives.”

After battling through a tough seven-month bout with testicular cancer, Burkholder wasted no time in getting involved with raising awareness while also offering his words of wisdom to men who are going through a similar battle.

“I think they’ve done a great job with breast cancer and the aware-ness they’ve created,” he says. “We’ve got to do the same thing with prostate cancer and testicular cancer because those are subjects that can be embarrassing for men to talk about, and they need to be addressed.”

Luckily for Burkholder, he was able to beat the cancer after reach-ing stage two of three, and has now been cancer free for over 14 years.

“When I fi rst was in pain with it, I kept it to myself for a while because I was embarrassed of it, but it’s so important to get it out there to make sure men know to get checked,” says Burkholder. “I always tell guys, ‘Check your nuts all the time,’ and to the average person it sounds like a joke, but it’s a serious thing.

“You have to be aware of it and know the symptoms because if you catch the cancer early enough, you could beat it.”

Although Burkholder has been through some tough times, he hasn’t let that get in the way of his successful career.

Born in Stratford, Ont., Burk-holder moved to Welland at a young age. He has always been in-volved with local hockey, whether it was playing as a kid or coaching as an adult.

Burkholder grew up in a hockey family and played three years of Junior B hockey with the Thorold Blackhawks before moving on to coach minor hockey.

After gaining experience while coaching, Burkholder was ready to take his involvement in hockey to the next step.

A close friend of Burkholder, Nick Vitucci, hired him on as a scout for the East Coast Hockey League’s (ECHL) Greenville Grr-

rowl (once an affi liate of the Bos-ton Bruins), giving him his fi rst op-portunity in professional scouting.

Within two years of accepting his fi rst scouting position with the Grrrowl, the team won a Kelly Cup Championship, so Burkholder received a Kelly Cup ring, which he still wears proudly today.

“The night the Grrrowl won the Kelly Cup, I was scouting in Erie [Pennsylvania], and a close friend of mine worked for the Erie Otters

who were about to win the Ontario Hockey League’s Memorial Cup,” says Burkholder. “That night we both knew we were getting rings, so it was a really neat experience and a very special time for me.”

After working with the Grrrowl, Burkholder took a job as the head scout and director of player per-sonnel with the ECHL’s Toledo Walleye, a farm team of the Detroit Redwings and Chicago Black-hawks, a position he still holds today.

“With Toledo, it’s great. Nick [Vitucci] is now the head coach of the Walleye, so we have stuck together over the years, and there

is a lot of respect there,” says Burk-holder. “We’ve had a lot of success together, and I’ve really enjoyed my time working with Toledo.”

In 2005, Burkholder became involved in the media aspect of hockey by pitching an idea to The Welland Tribune about getting more coverage on the successful hockey personalities that have come out of Welland. Tribune sports editor Bernd Franke sug-gested Burkholder freelance the articles himself.

Burkholder gladly accepted the offer and wrote over 20 articles for the Tribune from 2005-2006. The articles, along with more of Burkholder’s memorabilia, can be found in a showcase in the main entrance of the Welland Arena.

That same year also marked Burkholder’s fi rst appearance on OTR with Michael Landsberg. Burkholder and Landsberg hit it off right away. Since then Burk-holder has been asked back to the show many times and still making regular appearances. On Oct. 12, 2010, Burkholder would appear in his 50th show on OTR.

“Just to go do the show once, I mean, not a lot of people can’t say that,” he says. “When they asked me to go back the second time and third, as it went on an on, to now have done my 50th show is just un-believable, and I have a blast there.

“To meet all kinds of different people in different circles on the show was really humbling, and I can honestly say I didn’t do the show with one person I didn’t like.”

In 2007, Burkholder accepted a position as a part-time scout wwith the National Hockey League’s De-troit Redwings.

“It was a thrill getting hired by Detroit, and I will always remem-ber working with the team,” he says. “I met lots of great people and learned a lot about hockey.”

With Burkholder also running a local business in Welland called

Burkholder Auto Network, the po-sition with Detroit was quite time consuming because of the frequent travel demands of the job, and it became tough to balance the job with his business and family.

“I bit off more than I could chew with my business and scouting,” Burkholder explains. “With Detroit I was on the road all the time, and it just became very busy.”

Around the time Burkholder decided not to continue with the Redwings, he was contacted by TVCogeco, who offered him a colour commentating position cov-ering the Niagara IceDogs for The OHL Tonight.

“I started thinking about the pos-sibilities with The OHL Tonight, and I really did enjoy doing Off the Record, so I ended up taking the job with TVCogeco,” he explains. “It was a great decision for me, and I’m really having fun with that.”

Burkholder is also active within the community through his busi-ness. A Burkholder Auto Network Citizenship of the Month award is presented to elementary school students who are displaying good behaviour and treating their teach-ers with respect. The winners get tickets to an IceDogs game and a behind-the-scenes tour of the rink prior to game time.

After experiencing all the trials and tribulations and highs and lows of a battle with cancer, the healthy Burkholder now relishes his happy family life and a successful career in the hockey industry, and he looks forward to what the future brings.

“It sounds clichéd, but if you want something bad enough, you can get it, and I fi rmly believe in that,” he says. “From when I was a kid I wanted to be in the NHL. I wasn’t good enough as a player, so I had to fi gure out a way to get there, and scouting was my way. Everyone can fi nd their way if they work hard enough at what they are passionate about.”

Fighters never stop believing

Burkholder’s Thorold Jr. B Blackhawks hockey card.

Submitted photo

Ed Burkholder and Michael Landsberg on the set of TSN’s Off the Record.Submitted photo

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