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 January18,2013 Vol44•Issue7

By STEVEN AULDSpecial to Niagara News

Sounds of drum beats and chant-ing filled the halls as a group of Idle No More movement protesters surprised Niagara College students and staff at the Welland campus Friday. The noon-time protest was in recognition of issues affecting aboriginal communities around Canada.

“We are here in solidarity with Chief Theresa Spence. She is on a hunger strike. She’s been on a hun-ger strike for a month now,” said the organizer of the demonstration, former Niagara College student and Caledonia protester Jamie McGean.

Spence, the chief of Attawapis-kat, has been on a hunger strike since early December. Her hunger strike doesn’t allow for solid foods, and she’s only consumed fish broth and medicinal tea for the past four weeks. Spence took up the hunger strike to try to secure a meeting with Prime Minister Stephen Harp-er and Governor General David Johnston and the Assembly of First Nations (AFN). Those meetings came to fruition the day of the pro-tests, although the AFN met with Harper and Johnston separately and at different sites.

Continued on page 8

Idle No More hits Niagara

ShaynePetrusma,left,watchesJeffScottserveinthegameagainsttheFanshaweFalconsonJan.9.Submitted photo

INSIDEOntarioeyesnewIDtohelpfightunderagedrinking.

PAGE 2

NHLhockeyisback,butarethefans?

PAGE 13

KNIGHTS SHINE AT NO. 9Men’s volleyball team breaks Top 10 in Canada’s national rankingsStory on page 12

WhAt ArE you lIStENING to, NIAGArA CollEGE?Takealook–andlisten–tothemusicstudentsareplayingbyscanningthecodeorvisitingwww.niagara-news.com

Stayingontracktostayinshape.

PAGE 6

By JANE MCTAVISHStaff Writer

Calculating someone’s age by subtracting one number from an-other numbers might seem easy, but many bartenders or bouncers struggle with this on a regular basis when the night turns dark, loud music plays in their ears and a crowd of people is desperate for attention.

The Ontario government is mak-ing it easier for bars and retailers selling alcohol or tobacco to iden-tify someone of legal age.

Since New Year’s Day, all new issue driving licenses and photo cards will display when the card-holder turns 19.

Located at the bottom of the card next to the date of birth, it will read in bold letters “age 19” followed by the date the cardholder turns the legal drinking age.

“Our government has heard from the retail sector and public health units across Ontario.

“We’ve taken action to keep youth in Ontario safe by including the date a person is 19 years of age on Ontario’s driver’s licence and photo cards,” says Bob Chiarelli, minister of transportation.

Dianne McLaughlin, security guard from Risk Protection Group in the Niagara region, says it will be easier for owners of facilities reviewing people’s IDs.

“If you are busy, it takes a while and if you have a lot of people to check, [the new identifier] is right there.

“Lines will be shorter and people will be happier.”

“I think it is a really good thing.”Drivers’ licences and photo cards

will now have the new identifier. Existing cardholders who wish

to have the identifier applied to their card can pay a replacement fee of $10 for a photo card and $15 for a driver’s licence.

“It’s not that hard,” says Danielle Ulch, 18, from Welland, adding the new identifier seems pointless.

“I’ve never tried to get into a bar or club underage nor have I ever owned a fake ID.

I have every intention on waiting until I [turn] 19.”

Michelle Evans, 18, server and

bartender at Niagara College’s pub The Armoury in Niagara-on-the-Lake, says it will be “very” beneficial.

“There will be no excuse to serve people underage.”

The provincial government is spending less than $5,000 to add the information and now it is in all Canadian provinces, except Quebec.

Statistics show that drivers under 19 years of age who are drinking are two times more likely to be involved in a fatal collision com-pared to older drivers.

“Ontario’s new age identifica-tion on drivers’ licences and photo cards is just one more way we are helping to reduce under-age smok-ing and drinking and keep our roads safe,” says Minister of Gov-ernment Services Dwight Duncan.

NEWSPage 2 NIAGARA NEWS Jan. 18, 2013

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By JOHNATHAN TONGEStaff Writer

Like gods making worlds, the second-year Game Development program students have been mak-ing game environments all year.

Conor MacNeill, a professor of the game environment course, says the students often come from an art or programming background and gain a strong foundation in 3D work in the first year.

The students start working on their environments in September with guidance from professors at various checkpoints throughout the year. MacNeill says the students put in, on average, 100 hours of work. The students surpassed his expectations.

“I was amazed with what they were able to accomplish.”

Shane Cleverly started with a flat plane template and made a sprawl-ing environment with mountains, trees, a grove and its own version of Stonehenge.

In his game, which he calls the Rise of the Silverthorn, The player is a warrior out to kill an evil Druid who has ruined the land. The en-vironment allows the player to explore a library, a dark forest, a grove and a sacrificial area.

While encountering pixies, de-monic symbols, and blood-filled goblets the player must collect gems in order to break the firewall

around the druid’s tower. Cleverly said he has put about 60

to 70 hours into his game environ-ment and hopes to develop it fur-ther next term when the program starts character creation.

Nick Benbow started with the same flat plain as Cleverly but made a dark church’s grounds with gravestones, cawing crows and a dead and burning tree.

The supernatural undertones are intense, and seeing grave plaques of dead pastors through a flashlight

point of view makes his environ-ment undoubtedly creepy.

Benbow says he likes his envi-ronment but is very excited to go on to making a character next year because the “characters are what make games.”

MacNeill too says he is really excited to see what the students will do in their third year when they will work in teams to make a fully functional game and hopes some of the students’ work will be entered into gaming contests.

DianneMcLaughlin,securityguardfromRiskProtectionGroup,checksastudent’sdrivinglicenceatTheArmoury’spubnight.

PhotobyJaneMcTavish

NickBenbow,withhiscreepychurchenvironment.PhotobyJohnathanTonge

Gaming students creating worlds of their ownGame Development program students showing remarkable skill

New ID hitting the sceneOntario government introduces new easy-to-read identification

NEWSJan. 18, 2013. NIAGARA NEWS Page 3

By BRAYDEN MCCULLAGHStaff Writer

The International Department is travelling.

With the large increase in in-ternational students’ enrolment in recent years, the International De-partment is expanding its facilities. Construction has broken ground and is expected to be completed by March 31.

International Student services has been temporarily relocated to

the Secord Wing, across from Secu-rity. English as a Second Language (ESL), support, administration, recruitment, and contract training have all been temporary relocated to Mackenzie gymnasium.

Anna Jarero, social event as-sistant in the International Depart-ment, says the expansion will be beneficial to international students.

“Now it’s going to be better distributed because it will be big-ger. The students will have better

attention, more personal attention, which will be great. We didn’t really have enough space there [previously].”

Jarero says the expansion was needed as a result of the recent growth of the international student population.

“The International Department is growing. It’s one of the fastest-growing departments in Canada actually, together with Niagara College. We’re one of the fastest-

growing colleges in the entire country.”

“Each term, every four months, we get in between 100 and 120 stu-dents, so we have a lot of demand from the students and we didn’t have enough space or enough per-sonnel.”

Sean Coote, International De-partment director, told InsideNC, “International is expanding. We have had unprecedented growth in international students, ESL pro-

grams, contract training and study/work abroad over the past three years.”

“We currently have over 1,600 international students at NC, up from 700 three years ago. This expansion will help us to better serve students and accommodate our growing staff.”

The International Department is scheduled to move back to its home in the Simcoe Wing in May 2013.

By EVAN LEEStaff Writer

It’s that time of year again: picture day – or month, in this case. It’s the time of year when kids everywhere cringe and fidget while their mothers wrestle with bed-head and wrinkled clothing that hasn’t been worn since the last family gathering. It’s the only time of year it is socially acceptable to send your child to school wearing a garbage bag over his or her best sweater.

Despite a mother’s best efforts, this day rarely goes smoothly. Most people have at least one story of a picture day that went terribly wrong, some more than one.

Recreation and Leisure Services student Emily Sauer, 21, of Niag-

ara Falls, Ont., says that hers took place in Grade 8, during eighth- grade graduation to be exact.

“I came down with chicken pox and I had to go anyway, so I had chicken pox all over my face,” she says, adding it was embarrassing and she was happy when her Grade 12 graduation photos turned out better so she could replace the old ones with the new.

Cynthia Craig, 19, of St. Catha-rines, studies Early Childhood Education at Niagara College’s Welland campus. She says that when she was younger she had braces so most picture days came with extra jitters.

“It was stressful, plus the fact that they were green didn’t help,” she says, adding there was nothing

she could do to hide them. After getting her braces off in the eighth grade, she says picture day got bet-ter. However, don’t ask her to show you any of her old pictures.

“I tried to hide them all. They are in a special drawer,” she smiles.

Even people who like to spend their time behind the camera can sometimes become awkward in front of it. Jenessa Jessum, 19, of St. Catharines, is a Digital Photog-raphy student here.

“When I was in Grade 12, I used to have bangs. When I smiled too big, my eyes disappeared, and I didn’t know this happened.” When the photographer told her to give a big smile, as they always did, she obliged, only to be horrified with the final result.

“I looked like a sheepdog,” she laughs. “I hated it.”

How can you avoid having a picture taken you will regret? Pho-tographer Bryan Groff, who will be taking the upcoming graduation photos, has a few tips.

In an email, he says the most important thing is to stay natural and simple. Women should wear makeup but not enough to domi-nate the photo, while men should make sure to be clean-shaven or trimmed.

To sign up for a graduation photo, visit your Student Admin-istrative Council office where you can put down a $5 deposit to save your spot. Photo packages start at $60, but individual photos can be purchased.

Evan Lee poses for a headshotthatdoesn’tturnoutwell.

Photo by Brittany Stewart

The good, the bad and the ugly

More students, more spaceExpansion to accommodate increasing number of students, programs

ArenderingofhowthenewInternationalDepartmentisprojectedtolook.Submitted photo

Graduation photos taking place on campus

The Boo birds are slowly mi-grating to the deep, dark crevasses, never to be seen again. That is, until, the National Hockey League decides to implode again.

After more than 100 days with-out hockey during the first half of the 2013 season, a cancelled All-Star game and Winter Classic, the NHL owners and National Hockey League Players Association have finally come to an agreement.

During this huge affair, there were many questions whether fans would wipe away the tears and embrace the greediness that has overshadowed Canada’s most beloved sport.

The 48-game season will begin on Jan. 19, and I can already tell that a lot of Canadians will be tun-ing in to Hockey Night in Canada on CBC to watch the opening cere-monies with excitement. However, if you’re a Toronto Maple Leafs fan, that excitement will probably turn to anger and utter disgust within the first 10 minutes of the first period.

After heavily relying on the World Juniors to keep our spirits alive, Canadians wanted more hockey, especially after Canada’s disappointing attempt at winning a medal.

I don’t know if fans will actually follow through with their empty promise when whimpering the words, “I’m done with watching the NHL. They’re all greedy millionaires!”

What I do know is that the NHL is back on its skates and ready to continue playing. I can’t wait to watch the Leafs attempt a playoff run before miser-ably failing.

JESSE JOHNSON

People’s insecurities are shaped two ways: by real life or encoun-ters experienced only by the hu-man mind.

Everyone has insecurities. They are caused by experiences or ideas that have been firmly planted and will not be removed willingly.

As we know, our planet is a dan-gerous place. By pushing through the insecurities and surpassing comfort zones, we keep on living life every day, one day at a time.

Growing up isn’t as easy as it should be. Media, family and peers have a large impact on how we feel and what we believe is right and what is wrong.

Body image has certainly had one of the largest impacts on so-ciety. No matter how you look or feel about yourself, the perception is that there is always something to be worked on, changed or altered.

Of course, there is a difference between being healthy and un-healthy but every person has a dif-ferent body. It’s about time we got over it and stopped trying to make

something that works for one work for another. Men and women suffer self-doubt and are self-conscious but, unfortunately, body image is

one of the top insecurities for most and will not be hitting the road anytime soon.

The successful people make it look easy. Success is different, by definition, for each person. The word success doesn’t always bring a smile to your face unless you be-lieve that you are reaching it.

Being insecure about being suc-cessful can be caused by not having

realistic goals. Success by either paying off a bill, buying something you’ve been saving for, talking to a crush, making the first move, talk-ing to your parents, apologizing for a fight, or standing up for some-thing that is right are all small, but powerful views of success. Reach-ing each smaller goal will lead you closer to the bigger outcome.

Plan ahead, make small tweaks to things to make them better, or leave them alone if you’re on the right track. Success also comes to those who work for it. Don’t forget that because success will come gradually.

If you have this obsession to make yourself into a perfect hu-man being who doesn’t exist, here are some realistic ways to better yourself without making degrading sacrifices. Get better sleep, eat healthful foods on a regular basis and be happy with who you are, what you have ac-complished and what dreams you have for the future.

JESSICA MUIR

EDITORIALPage 4 NIAGARA NEWS Jan. 18, 2013

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Hockey’s backWe will be watching

Trying to be perfect not a healthy choice

No matter how you look or feel about yourself, the perception is that there is always something to be worked on, changed or altered.

We all hate something. I passionately dislike waking up

in the morning. However, don’t expect me to

take to the streets with a picket sign protesting early classes – although it’s within my right to do so peace-fully if my passion ran that deep.

We have freedom of speech and the ability to protest whatever we deem worthy of a dollar store’s arts and crafts aisle.

Stick glue, markers and Bristol board aside, my protest may offend some people as I march up and down the street chanting,

“We are the future. Let us sleep until then.” What if the govern-ment stepped in and took away my sign and told me I couldn’t protest that because someone finds it of-fensive?

However asinine my protest, I still have the right to be this awful anti-morning protester.

In recent years, one protesting group has taken centre stage in the protesting world, The Westboro Church of America has stepped into the light with their famed ignorant slogan: God Hates Fags. Religion aside, these people have the right to be horribly despicable.

They further their own sanctimo-nious backwards goals by painting their placards with weak religious ideologies.

Westboro Church members make it their sole mission to protest anti-gay and dead soldiers, stand-ing outside funerals waving signs

and chanting hateful slogans.Many others have taken up a

petition to ban them and ban hate speech in general.

I’m not defending them, but they have the right to protest and flaunt their backwards beliefs as much as they want. They are exercising the rights that we are all granted.

As people set their sights on ban-ning hate speech, many are missing the future repercussions.

If you start limiting what people can say freely, what stops the eventuality of banning anything someone finds offensive?

Hate speech cannot be defined without encompassing all general language. If hate speech is respec-tively banned, what stops the re-strictions on other forms of speech others may find offensive?

You begin to limit self-expres-sion and lose control of free speech

and eventually the freedom to be-lieve in what you stand for.

Restrictions on the aggressive believers is hateful against the peaceful ones.

Other means to curb the hatred is to take away the group’s church rights and have them face taxes, thus limiting their reach and bog-ging them down to perhaps reshape their awful beliefs.

Hate, whether it be racism or

homophobia, is a backwards way of thought. Without banning any type of speech, it should be taught early that hate of this magnitude is shameful and through education show these backward beliefs hold no water.

To hate someone based on condi-tions that have zero effect on you, yourself, is illogical.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have early mornings to protest.

OPINIONJan. 18, 2013 NIAGARA NEWS Page 5

WestboroBaptistChurchmembersprotestatadeadsolider’sfuneral.Submitted photo

It was just after 9 p.m. when my buzz began to take hold.

I was on par for an average Thursday night, consisting of stiff drinks and video games.

Completely immersed in the task at hand, I was suddenly torn out of my virtual world by the screeching of a smoke alarm.

“My neighbour must be cooking again,” I thought to myself.

Since this was the second time that day I heard the incessant beep-ing, I did not take it seriously – un-til I heard the screaming.

“Baking soda, I need baking soda,” came a panicked voice from the hallway.

“Good god” I thought, still more

annoyed than frightened. I opened my door and was im-

mediately hit with a thick black smoke.

It stung as it seeped into my lungs, and my eyes felt as if they had been sprayed with mace.

I could faintly make out one of my neighbours through the smoke, standing only a few feet away from me holding out an empty box of baking soda, asking if I had any. I didn’t.

I figured from the request that it must have been an oil fire.

The fear began to take hold the moment my eyes confirmed my suspicions.

Flames danced around the top of his gas stove as he tried desperately to snuff it out with a pot lid.

I immediately realized the only chance we had of putting an end to the dance was a fire extinguisher.

I ran past the hole in the wall where the fire extinguisher should have been, out the back door and sped down the stairs in what seemed like a single step.

I dashed through the alley, near-ly losing my balance as my slippers slid along the black ice.

I arrived at the front door of my downstairs neighbour, but the door was locked.

I could see him sitting about 15 feet from the door, and I began banging frantically on the window, yelling for a fire extinguisher, but he couldn’t hear me.

For a half second I wondered if he recognized me, or if he thought I was some blood-thirsty fiend in a drug-fueled rage.

Upon opening the door he re-gretfully informed me that he did not have a fire extinguisher and, with a puzzled look on his face, asked why.

Why indeed. There is only one reason a person would be franti-cally running door to door looking for a fire extinguisher, but this was no time for a smart-ass comment.

I shouted something about a fire as I looked across the road.

The fire department was no more than a twenty-pace run, a run I was

about to make when I was told that someone had already called 911.

Against my better judgment I ran back up to the apartment in question where the resident was at-tempting to suffocate the fire with a blanket.

Fearing an explosion at any sec-ond, I yelled at him to get out and that the fire department was on its way.

I’m not sure if he didn’t hear me or if he was too caught up in what he was doing to take any notice.

Again I screamed for him to get out of the building, using as many expletives as could possibly fit into a single breath.

He mumbled something and seemed to ignore my warning. I turned to leave, stopping halfway down the stairs to again yell back for him to get out.

The firefighters had arrived by the time I exited the front door. Once they were told of the situa-tion they told everybody to get a safe distance down the street.

Everybody was safe by the time

I saw the firefighters pull out the hoses.

More trucks had shown up now, three in total, as well as two trucks I did not recognize, with a green flashing light as they closed the street for a block in each direction.

There must have been 15 to 20 firefighters, organized like a mili-tary garrison and ready to do battle.

I stood with my neighbours, shivering in my hoodie and slip-pers, for what seemed like forever when I noticed them rolling the hoses up.

“Good sign,” I said to one of my neighbours as the firefighters pulled out an industrial size fan to blow the remaining smoke from the hallways.

It felt like hours but in a matter of minutes we were given the all clear to return to our homes. Just like that, it was over.

Once back in the apartment, I quickly poured a stiff drink to calm my jittery nerves and slowly, drifted back to my average Thurs-day night.

The freedom of hate speech

EVAN LEE

Columnist

MICHAEL PAGE

Columnist

When a typical Thursday night gets a little hazy

FEATUREPage 6 NIAGARA NEWS Jan. 18, 2013

By MELISSA SOLAZZOStaff Writer

New year, new you — here’s how it’s done.

As the New Year is cheered in, people worldwide begin to think of ways to make this year better than the last.

These New Year’s resolutions can be anything: studying harder, gossiping less, being more adven-turous and, of course, the infamous package of eating better and exer-cising more. They all include the idea of transforming one’s physical self.

According to Forbes magazine, going on a diet is number 1 on people’s list and is one of the most difficult resolutions to achieve. Forbes explains this goal is rarely achieved because “most people get tired of following such a strict regimen.”

Everyone wants to see instant re-sults, so their initial strategy tends to be over the top and demanding, making the goal nearly impossible.

Jennifer Potter, 23, of Hamilton, Ont., studied community health, workplace wellness, health promo-tion and holistic nutrition at Brock University in St. Catharines, Cen-tennial College in Toronto and The Institute of Holistic Nutrition in Toronto. She says people making unobtainable goals is the number 1 reason so many fail to achieve their diet and exercise resolution.

Potter works as an independent nutrition consultant and freelance

programmer within the Greater Toronto Area, and she is a wellness and vitality assistant at a retirement community.

For those hoping to get into bet-ter shape this year, Potter recom-mends making small daily goals that can easily be achieved, such as drinking a few extra glasses of water and adding more fruits and vegetables to your snacks.

“Your New Year’s resolution is not always to take something away but instead add in healthy habits,” says Potter.

Potter’s best advice is to have “one achievable long-term goal and a daily short-term goal and be sure to write it down in a place where you will see it every day.”

“Follow your smart rule when creating your goals: specific, mea-surable, attainable, realistic and timely.”

Daniel Godinho, 25, of Milton, Ont., is studying kinesiology at Brock University. He says people’s failure is due to their initial re-sponse to “dive right into a fitness or healthy eating goal with no prior knowledge or guidelines.”

Godinho says the problem with that approach is it becomes easy to become discouraged and intimi-dated at the gym. Godinho used to work for L.A. Fitness in Oakville as a personal trainer prior to re-turning to school and continues to offer personal training out of people’s homes.

Godinho recommends people

make a resolution that is realistic and include smaller goals they can achieve along the way to help maintain motivation.

He encourages a cheat day to avoid the increased cravings for unhealthful foods that follow jumping into the diet and forbid-ding junk food.

Godinho says, “Every long-term goal is exactly that, long term. Goals take time and effort so don’t expect results in the short term.”

“One bad day or one bad week is minimal in a month or year’s worth of hard work so allow yourself to stray from your regimen every now and then. It will increase the likeli-hood of you sticking to your goal.”

Robert Chraszcz, 24, of Guelph, Ont., is studying here in the Health and Fitness Promotions program and works as a personal trainer at the college’s gym.

Chraszcz says, “It takes time to change your body, and often people will quit because they don’t see results quick enough.”

“Never skip breakfast. Your metabolism is the highest in the morning, so make good use of it.” Chraszcz says it helps to keep a journal to track your progress as well as to share the goal with a friend to keep each other moti-vated.

“Set three realistic goals that can be reached within a few short weeks, stay focused and remem-ber, slow progress is better than no progress.”

By ALANNA RICEStaff Writer

I resolve to keep my New Year’s resolution. But does anyone else follow through with them?

Time magazine reported last year that the most popular resolu-tions are also the most commonly broken.

Losing weight, quitting smok-ing, learning something new and eating more healthfully are all notoriously given up each year.

several Niagara College students offered suggestions for staying on track.

Mike Lee reported a smartphone can be the answer in achieving your resolutions.

Posting goals and resolutions for friends and followers to see online can help keep you on track and motivated to succeed.

He also recommends using your phone to motivate with music and help track your progress with apps.

Some students have differing opinions whether this is something they could get behind.

Holly Phillips says if you care what other people think about your goals then social networks would help and add “more appeal” to keep resolutions.

She says technology and social media sites are all about “instant gratification” and may help people feel they are achieving their goals.

Phillips, 20, says she never makes New Year’s resolutions, nor will she this year. “Nobody sticks to them.”

Krysta Putman says she makes resolutions each year and tries to achieve her goals. She adds that some people “need a boost” to get motivated and use New Year’s resolutions “as a catalyst to change your life.”

Putman, 23, says using technol-ogy to help with resolutions can help. If “more people know [your goals], you’re less likely to fail.”

Brady Beruble says he rarely makes resolutions each New Year. When he does, “I don’t keep them.”

Beruble, 19, says using technol-ogy and social media sites to help with resolutions can be “helpful or detrimental.”

He says groups on sites such as Facebook could lead someone to break their resolutions rather than keep them.

Troy Roberts says he never makes New Year’s resolutions.

“I don’t see a purpose doing it once a year.”

Instead, Roberts makes resolu-tions throughout the year when needed.

Roberts, 31, says resolutions are important for others. “If it works for them, why not?”

For him using technology can help “keep it [resolutions] top of mind” and act as a “form of en-couragement.”

He adds he has used technology to help him with his goals in the past. “It does help.”

Melissa Charlesworth, 35, says she used to make New Year’s reso-lutions when she was younger, but now when she needs something to be done, she does it right away.

“Looking at your life and making positive changes are important.”

She says using technology “de-pends on the person” and may be “distracting” for some.

For herself, “technology isn’t going to make much of a differ-ence.”

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NEWSJan. 18, 2013 NIAGARA NEWS Page 7

By JARROD CUNLIFFEStaff Writer

Saying “Happy Old Year” might have been more appropriate.

People from across Niagara and beyond rung in the celebrated ar-rival of 2013 – and 1813 – at the New Year’s Day Levee on Jan. 1, at Navy Hall in Niagara-on-the-Lake.

The levee, hosted by the Friends of Fort George volunteers, saw hundreds of residents from Ontar-io, Manitoba and even the United States come to commemorate the end of the first year of the War of 1812’s bicentennial.

Visitors were treated to free cof-fee, tea, hot chocolate and punch, along with musket and fife and drum demonstrations.

Amanda Gamble, executive assistant to the Friends of Fort George, says she was very pleased with the attendance of so many.

Several dignitaries were on hand – many dressed in period kit – to express their gratitude for the suc-cesses of 2012’s events.

Fort George Site Supervisor Dan Laroche says he is “extremely pleased” by the “huge success” of the 2012 season at the fort. He says site visitation broke the all-time at-tendance record, with over 100,000 visitors.

“We’re looking forward to the next two years.”

Jarred Picher is the manager of national historic sites in Southwest Ontario, agrees and says that 2012

was one successful event after another. He thanked those who worked long hours and put “blood, sweat and tears into creating these memorable events for this genera-tion of Canadians.”

“My hat is off to everyone.”The year 2012 saw many spec-

tacular events commemorating the 200th anniversary of the War of 1812 between Great Britain with her Canadian colonies and the United States. Re-enactments, festivals, concerts, education pro-grams and much more brought the bicentennial to life for people in Canada and the United States.

Historically, New Year’s Day levees are almost exclusively Canadian, used as a community gathering with the British colonial representatives to exchange well-wishes for the coming year.

Also in attendance was Niagara Falls Liberal MPP Kim Craitor, who is marking his 10th year as MPP this October. He says the first event he attended after being elected was the New Year’s Levee, which made him a “little nervous.” However, he admits that Niagara-on-the-Lake is the best location for a levee because “there are some people who dress really cool when they come to these levees,” draw-ing a laugh from the crowd.

Craitor says he told his col-leagues in Parliament to visit Niagara-on-the-Lake, as they’d see the “history of Canada.”

Craitor drew another laugh when he asked the Niagara-on-the-Lake Lord Mayor David Eke to ensure nobody in attendance received a parking ticket, referring to the long line of parked cars up Ricardo Street.

On a more serious note, Craitor says the location of Niagara-on-the-Lake for the levee adds signifi-cant importance becuase it was the first capital of Upper Canada.

The year of 1812, although the titular year of the war, saw com-paratively little action compared to 1813 and 1814. Many re-enactments, despite being carried out annually, are celebrating their 200th anniversaries this year. Some include the battles of Fort George, Stoney Creek, Beaver Dams, the Thames and Lake Erie. The year 2012 also saw the destruction of the town of Niagara-on-the-Lake by American forces, an act that will be re-enacted this year.

The levee was ended in style by the firing of a blank round from a six-pounder cannon across the Ni-agara River towards the American side. This year’s annual “Honorary Cannoneer” was Dr. Richard Mer-ritt, author of the book On Com-mon Ground, which details the use of the area known as the Commons in Niagara-on-the-Lake.

For more information about 2013’s upcoming events, visit www.friendsoffortgeorge.ca or call 905-468-6621.

New Year with an old bang

Smoke trails from the six-pounder cannon after Dr. Richard Merritt, sets it off at the New Year’s Day Levee beside Navy Hall 2013’s “Honorary Cannoneer.”Photos by Jarrod Cunliffe

Hundreds gathered at Navy Hall, Niagara-on-the-Lake, to take part in the New Year’s Day Levee marking the end of the first year of the War of 1812 bicentennial

Friends of Fort George Board Director Bernie Nehring, dressed in a period British colonel’s kit, addresses the crowd inside Navy Hall.

2013’s “Honorary Cannoneer” Dr. Richard Merritt receives earplugs from Fort George National Historic Site interpreter Elizabeth LeBlanc-Martin.

NEWSPage 10 NIAGARA NEWS Jan. 18, 2013

By JESSICA MUIRStaff Writer

Broadcasting has a night life.Students in the broadcast-

ing program take part in a lot of outside activities for assignments they must complete.

The High-tech equipment need-ed, is provided by the college and is only available on campus.

Late nights at the college cam-pus are a common thing for the average broadcasting student.

Maximus Coleman, 21, of St. Catharines, says that college se-curity personnel are an important part of creating a safe environ-ment for students and staff.

“They also protect the build-ing as a whole and the equipment required in certain courses.” Coleman says he has had positive and negative experiences with security.

“My program is solely based in the Voyageur Wing in the edit-ing labs. They come to check my [building] passes and make sure that everybody there is supposed to be.” He says that’s necessary to ensure equipment is being used correctly.

He sees security patrolling the halls, and at the office on cam-pus. “There are enough security guards.”

Coleman says his experience with being let into the college after hours for editing an assign-ment was a bit of a hassle.

“I wasn’t aware that you had to get into contact with security and that certain doors were locked. After trying several times, I had to Google the extension. That took a while.”

He says it would be a great idea for it to be made clear for students

when doors are open.“My experience with Niagara

College’s security has been gener-ally positive.

However, when I was in second year editing in one of the Mac labs, I had to wait about an hour roughly for the tape to digitize. There is nothing I can do while the computer is doing this, so I decided to surf YouTube to pass time. The security guard on duty came to check the room I was in. She tried telling me what I can and cannot do on a computer. This is not her job description.”

Coleman adds that he has walked into the security office on a number of occasions in the evening to see security officers watching videos on YouTube.

“I pay a lot for my tuition, and it’s irritating to see staff of Ni-agara College wasting resources. If there isn’t anything for them to be doing, then I would prefer less guards on duty during the quiet times of the day,” he says.

Elisa Piccirillo, 21, of Winona, says her experience with Niagara College’s nighttime security has been more on the positive side.

“I think they do a pretty good job, but sometimes they are very slow unlocking doors [for students] to return broadcasting equipment.”

She says while being there at night she feels safe when all the doors are being locked. However, while she is passing through the hallways, there isn’t an over-whelming feeling of safety.

“I don’t ever see the security in the hallways. They’re always in their office.”

Piccirillo says the time she encountered a security guard, he

was friendly, did his job and was polite because she had her your after-hours pass.

“I think that broadcasting stu-dents have to stay later because

they can’t do a lot of their home-work at home. They need the equipment that the broadcasting program offers and supplies at the school.”

She says to make the broadcast-ing students’ lives easier to return equipment, there should be more set times when security guards are available for that.

By SHANE LEONARDStaff Writer

Many have already discounted Nintendo’s newest console, The Wii U, as a kiddie, or family game system that offers nothing to the “hardcore gamer.”

However, they need only look at the line-up of games for the system and innovations it brings to the

table to know they are wrong.Nintendo has been known to

take risks with its systems with the motion controls of the Wii, to the hand-held 3D gaming of the 3DS.

Nintendo takes another risk with the Wii U’s GamePad controller.

It’s a console specific (one per console) controller that resembles a tablet device with traditional

controller buttons. The GamePad’s primary feature

is a 6.2-inch touch screen in the centre of the controller.

This has the potential for many different uses, as some games al-low the player to play games or watch videos straight from the GamePad’s screen even if the TV isn’t on.

The GamePad also features a gyroscopic function similar to Nin-tendo’s 3DS.

The controller is a little awkward to get used to, but within a few plays it becomes as natural and familiar as any other controller.

It is lightweight and ergonomi-cally designed to fit easily into most hands.

The Wii U is a full high-definition system, finally bringing Nintendo up to par with the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.

The system is completely com-patible with everything released on the Wii.

This goes for games and periph-erals, in essence giving you access to two consoles for the price of one.

Third-party support for the sys-tem is already well established, whereas the Wii failed to gain much support outside of Nintendo-affiliated developers.

The Wii U has many game de-velopers excited about the new features and ease of access. The third-party support for the Wii U was seen straight out of the launch gate with such triple A titles as Darksiders 2, Assassin’s Creed III, Batman Arkham Asylum, Call of

Duty Black Ops 2 and ZombiU. With these and many more on the horizon, the system already is one up on its predecessor.

The Wii U is completely wire-less, so to access its online features, players would need WiFi or a Wii LAN adaptor (sold separately, of course).

This feature is a downfall as many people don’t have WiFi and the adaptor can be hard to find, at least at this point in the console’s life-span.

The system is relatively cheap for such a new launch.

The deluxe edition is $349, while the standard edition is $299.

The deluxe edition is the best bang for your buck, as it comes with Nintendo Land game, a GamePad cradle and a 32 GB hard drive.

The Wii U has the potential to revive Nintendo and put it back on the radar of hardcore gamers, as long as it stays the course. Great for gaming-on-the-go or just relax-ing at home.

It can be a family-friendly con-sole or one used by the hardcore gamer. Because of its price, it’s a perfect balance for everyone.

Elisa Piccirillo, a third-year broadcasting student, returns broadcasting equipment after hours.Photo by Jessica Muir

Studying late? Feel safe?

A Wii U, with a GamePad Controller next to the system.Submitted photo

Nintendo Wii U — don’t say it’s just for kids

COMMUNITYJan. 18, 2013 NIAGARA NEWS Page 11

By ALANNA RICEStaff Writer

Raise pledges or walk the plank!This was the slogan for Big

Brothers Big Sisters Niagara regional Bowl for Kids Sake cam-paign last Thursday.

Celebrating 100 years in Canada, the organization created the theme “Pirates of the Niagara Region” with supporters sporting shirts with the slogan.

Niagara Regional Police Chief Jeff McGuire was the host and in-troduced each mayor whose town or city benefits from Big Brothers Big Sisters. “This is an incredibly important event,” said McGuire.

Each mayor offered a memento for the organization’s time capsule that will be opened 100 years from now by those involved with Big Brothers Big Sisters in Niagara.

Mayor Brian McMullan of St. Catharines had a personal connec-tion with the organization.

“It is one of my fondest memo-ries, the time I spend as a Big Brother,” adding, “I don’t think there’s any other organization that has a bigger imprint on the youth in our communities.”

Councillor Jim Larouche, rep-resenting Mayor Barry Sharpe of Welland, dedicated a picture of the mayor’s youth council to be placed in the time capsule, showcasing the importance of youth in the com-munity.

Other mementos included the West Lincoln flag, a Port Colborne Pirate hockey jersey and a Niagara-on-the-Lake bicentennial desk flag.

Joel Porter, the vice-president of revenue development of Big Brothers Big Sisters, said the goal this year is $350,000, which, he says, will help the agencies in the Niagara peninsula match the 500 kids that are currently on the wait-ing list.

“As you know, having a waiting list is necessary but a difficult thing because ‘littles’ are really seeking to have their mentors as soon as possible,” adding, “We’re only in 900 elementary schools across the country so far; we really need to be in more.”

Porter said in the Niagara region there are 2,000 kids being served and in the last few weeks, the or-ganization’s 500,000th “little” was matched.

CJ, a local “little,” said being with the organization is “continu-ing to be a phenomenal journey.”

“It has shown me that I am use-ful, that I am needed, that I have a purpose and that I change others and others can change me.”

She said Big Brothers Big Sisters has taught her that, although she’s “little” she can still “contribute to the community.”

Dale Davis, CEO of Big Broth-ers Big Sisters of the St. Catha-rines-Thorold district, thanked the organization’s sponsors, adding Big Brothers Big Sisters does not receive government funding.

Celebrating her 10-year anniver-sary with the organization, Davis said, “One of my dad’s standard phrases was, ‘Remember kid, wherever you live, charity begins in your backyard and it begins at home.’”

With support from sponsors, friends, families and communi-ties, Big Brothers Big Sisters will continue to help children across the country.

To learn more on how you can become involved, visit bigbroth-ersbigsisters.ca.

Region bowls for Kids Sake campaignBig Brothers Big Sisters celebrates

100 years in Canada

Dale Davis and Joel Porter, of Big Brothers Big Sisters, stand on the bowling lanes of Parkway Bowling Alley during the kick-off of the South Niagara Region Bowl for Kids Sake campaign.

Photo by Alanna Rice

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SPORTSPage 12 NIAGARA NEWS Jan. 18, 2013

By DALE HALLSpecial to Niagara News

You really do get better with age.That, at least, is the case for Ray

Barkwill. A Niagara Falls, Ont., native, Barkwill, 32, had the op-portunity to represent Canada this past November in a rugby series in the United Kingdom.

To top off his experience he was able to score the only try for Can-ada in an exhibition game against the New Zealand Maori in the 71st minute of the match.

“I think, from being older, I knew now that we were one score away from putting us ahead of New Zealand,” Barkwill said.

“I guess it hasn’t sunk in yet,” he added about scoring his try.

Barkwill is one of the oldest members of the squad, and with age comes skill and experience. He was the captain of Brock Univer-sity’s first championship winning

rugby team, and he has won a premiership championship in Aus-tralia while being named player of the year for his club.

He is looking forward to his summer tour with Canada.

The schedule still has not been finalized, but it is confirmed that Canada will play the United States. If he performs well, he is setting his sights on competing for a spot on the 2015 Rugby World Cup team.

Now that Barkwill has some down time from the national level, he is back in Niagara working with the club he first started with, the Niagara Wasps Rugby Football Club (RFC).

He is working very closely with head coach Gary Macdonald on pre-season training and fine-tuning the players’ skills.

“He, Macdonald, is going to take what I know and apply it to what he knows,” says Barkwill.

“Let’s get back to some basics.”This is what looks to be the focus

on the Wasps’ pre-season training this year.

“My teams always win, and this is probably why I am successful; that is because I work on basics continuously.”

Barkwill said after having a “tough year” in the Ontario Rugby Union’s provincial level, the team is looking forward to playing in the Niagara Rugby Union’s “A” division.

He said the team is in a little bit of a lull now, and he is looking to help and improve the team.

The Wasps are looking to start their pre-season training on Jan. 31 at Stamford Collegiate in Niagara Falls. They have a few tourna-ments planned to prepare for a tough season ahead.

For information on Wasps play-ing and training, visit niagara-rugby.com.

By JEFF JOHNSTONStaff writer

The Niagara College men’s vol-leyball team is a gold medal winner after emerging undefeated in the two-day annual Niagara College Invitational Tournament.

The Knights put on a stellar per-formance for the home crowd by winning all five games.

“Winning at home is always huge, and winning your own tour-nament is even better. We have been getting tremendous support from fans, family and the college as a whole this year, and this was a great way to reward that,” says Ni-agara Knights head coach Nathan Groenveld.

The tournament featured eight teams from schools from Ontario and Quebec, including the Out-aouias Griffins, who are ranked fifth in Canada.

The Knights started strong with a 3-1 win against Conestoga of Kitchener-Waterloo and continued their dominance with straight-set wins over Sudbury, Gatineau and Ottawa.

The final game was against the Fanshawe Falcons of London. The Niagara Knights captured the gold medal with a 3-1 victory, 18-25, 25-20, 25-18, 27-25.

“It was complete team effort,” says Groenveld.

Canadian College Athletic As-sociation men’s volleyball athlete of the month and Ontario College Athetic Association (OCAA) men’s athlete of the week Shayne Petrusma of Burlington continued his collection of accolades by cap-turing the Tournament MVP and getting named to the tournament All-Star game along with Knights’ outside hitter Jeff Scott of George-town, Ont.

“Shayne carried us offensively and serving. Jeff led a defensive charge that I have seen very few times in my 10 plus years at the highest levels of volleyball,” says Groenveld.

He went on to commend setter

Brad Wall of St. Catharines for “executing the offensive game plan to near perfection” and Bret Polfuss for playing “incredible at a position he never played before.”

The Knights are in third place in the western division of the OCAA

with a record of 6-3. The team has won nine of the

last 10 games. Groenveld says the success of

his team came from “defensive intensity.”

“When you play defense with as

much effort and passion, added to the high skill level of our players, you are going to be successful.”

With this win, the Niagara Knights join the national rankings, and are sitting ninth overall in Canada.

National rugby team player makes Niagara proud

Ray Barkwill passing off the rugby ball in a game.Submitted photo

Niagara spikes competition

The Niagara Knights men’s volleyball team celebrates its third win in a row against Sheridan Bruins, of Oakville, Ont.Photo by Jordan Aubertin

Men’s volleyball team wins Invitational Tournament

SPORTSJan. 18, 2013 NIAGARA NEWS Page 13

By STEPHANIE TAYLORStaff Writer

It’s over.Hockey fans have been waiting

for this for over 100 days, but are they happy?

Since the National Hockey League (NHL) players were offi-cially locked out on Sept. 15, there had been a number of times when fans’ hopes were tested. There were times where you could sense a lot of fans were giving up.

After a negotiation session last-ing 16-plus hours, both the com-missioner Gary Bettman and the players’ association’s executive director Donald Fehr made a state-ment in the early hours of Jan. 6 that a tentative agreement had been reached.

With the work stoppage lasting so long, fans’ reactions to hearing that hockey is back are scattered.

“I’m very excited about hockey coming back and the lockout be-ing over,” says Rhys Evans, 20, a Recreation and Leisure Services student here.

Don Dear, a die-hard Boston Bruins fan from Surrey, B.C., had a slightly different view.

“I am honestly thrilled that hockey is back. I just can’t help but think we, the fans, got slapped in the face by the NHL.”

The media coverage of the talks between Bettman, Fehr and others, shed light on the business side of the league, something that was mostly seen in suspensions, firings and trades. This aspect brought out more opinions about Bettman and Fehr and the league as a whole.

“I’m glad that they finally could agree on something,” says Jason Miron of Hamilton, Ont., “but Bet-

tman is still a goof in my mind. Fire Bettman. I’m happy that hockey is back, but I’m so fed up with this whole thing that I’ve moved on.”

“At one point, it was pure and was played because they loved to play,” says Dear. “Now, more than ever, you can see it’s all about the money. I don’t feel like they have the fans’ interests at heart anymore, and we are what makes the NHL a global phenomenon.”

Had the season begun on time, each team would be playing 82 games. With the months’ time that have passed, each team will now play 48 games, beginning tomor-row. Fans are split on whether

they’ll watch it or not.“I’ll watch a 20-game season

if that’s what we got,” says Dear. “I love my team and the sport too much to ignore it. I think Nike summed it up perfectly in their lat-est ‘Hockey’ commercial.”

While she may have been one to always defend the Toronto Maple Leafs, Chantal Paquette, of Brant-ford, Ont., was not sharing the joy that others, like Evans and Dear, relished.

“I’m not going to watch it, and if I can get others to boycott, then I will.”

“I might watch it here and there,” Miron says. “I have more

important things to do.”Miron and Evans also weigh in

on whether they think the fan base of the league had been affected by the lockout and what it may look like come Jan. 19.

Evans says the fan base will be smaller “because not many people want to watch a such a short season with not as much time to watch their team improve.”

“I don’t think the fan base will be the same,” says Miron. “They have already lost too much revenue due to this. It will take some time.”

Is it too late to salvage the fans’ appreciation?

“I think that the NHL knows

how passionate and dedicated its fans are and takes advantage of it,” Dear says.

“There are a lot of people saying they’re not going to go to games or buy merchandise. The NHL isn’t worried,” adding, “Let’s take To-ronto as an example. They’re one of the most promising yet disap-pointing teams in the league today. Yet, year after year, they sell out and remain one of the top two in gross sales.”

Dear says, “The NHL knows we will spend and attend, just as the players know that if they lace up to play, we’re going to be somewhere supporting them or their team.”

By ANdRES TORRESStaff Writer

The Niagara Region is one of the few areas in the province that doesn’t hold an annual Boxing Day soccer cash tournament, but Ni-agara College student and Knights soccer captain Martin Mamic took it into his own hands to get one going for the second annual money tournament in Niagara Falls.

Toronto, Vaughan, Brampton, Oakville and Scarborough are well known by the soccer community for their big money cash tourna-ments every Dec. 26 in their soccer stadiums.

St. Catharines, Niagara Falls and Welland do not hold these tourna-ments, even with the new Welland Soccer Centre in place.

This year Mamic, 22, an Interna-tional Commerce student, took on the responsibility with some help from HNNK (Croatian National Soccer Club). St. Catharines Hrvat, the club he plays for, was able to host a successful tournament for the second year in a row.

The tournament was played in

the Niagara Falls Sportsplex and a registration fee of $400 was re-quired per team. This year’s prize was $1500.

“People from all over showed up. We had teams from Hamilton, Mississauga, Toronto, London, Niagara Falls, St. Catharines and Welland,” says Mamic. “It started off as a Croatian tournament, but the word spread and we had many teams show up that heard of it from word of mouth, over 200 people showed up.”

The money raised by Mamic not only went for the prize money but was also used to help fund the host team in new kits and travelling expenses.

“On top of raising extra money for the club so we can buy new

kits for the season and have some good pre-season training, getting a bunch of Croatian teams together to play a soccer tournament is always fun. The more soccer, the

better,” says Mamic.HNNK Streetsville Dalmacija,

who faced Niagara United and won 2-0 in the finals, won the tourna-ment.

HNNK Hrvat St. Catharines will be holding open tryouts for anyone in the Niagara area who is inter-ested. For more information, call 905-321-6439.

ShownaretournamentchampionsHNNKStreetsvilleDalmacija.Photo by Andres Torres

Getting ready to drop the puckNow that hockey is back, will anyone watch it?

AsigninthewindowofFamilySportsoftheSeawayMall.Photo by Stephanie Taylor

College student takes responsibility for tournamentThe more soccer, the better.

— Martin Mamic

ENTERTAINMENTPage 14 NIAGARA NEWS Jan.18, 2013

By ALEXANDRA STAVROULLAKIS

Staff Writer

Girls, Girls, Girls — the 70th Annual Golden Globes were buzz-ing about HBO’s hit TV show Girls, with show creator, writer and star Lena Dunham, 26, picking up the award for Best Actress in a TV Comedy.

Dunham and her Girls later won Best TV Comedy or Musical. The HBO hit comedy’s second season began airing Jan. 13.

The Globes brought out Hol-lywood’s brightest stars of the big and small screen, live from the Beverly Hilton hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif.

The Golden Globe Awards recognize excellence in film and television as decided by the 93 members of the Hollywood For-eign Press Association.

NBC’s golden girls, Amy Poe-hler, 41, of Parks and Recreation ,and Tina Fey, 42, of 30 Rock, hosted the event with a laugh.

The two poked fun at the 2012 host Ricky Gervais and Kathryn Bigelow, director of Zero Dark Thirty, along with other celebrities in attendance.

Erin Josefchak, 23, graduate of the Niagara College Digital Pho-tography program, says hosts Fey and Poehler are “funny so it makes [award shows] more enjoyable if they have hosts that have a sense of humour.”

Some of the night’s top contend-ers included Ben Affleck’s Argo and Homeland.

The musical hit Les Miserables’ star Anne Hathaway, 30, gave a

touching acceptance speech de-scribing herself as “The girl who started out as the princess of Geno-via,” referencing her first film The Princess Diaries.

Laura Kelly, 19, of Occupational Therapist Assistant and Physio-therapist Assistant program, says she enjoys watching award shows for movies and TV.

“I love seeing great actors win such amazing awards. They must feel so good and accomplished,” says Kelly.

She says her favourite part of the shows is hearing acceptance speeches from her favourite celeb-rities.

The red carpet was rolled out for celebrity fashion. New Girl star Zooey Deschanel, 32, donned a red sweetheart neck-lined Oscar de la Renta gown paired with a pearl necklace and bracelet.

Silver Linings Playbook star and Golden Globe winner, Jennifer Lawrence, 22, attended wearing a Christian Dior dress in coral.

Brianna Roy, 19, of the Commu-nity and Justice Services program, says she watches award shows to see live entertainment and the way everyone is dressed.

“I think one downside to these award shows is their choice of performances.

“They need to incorporate differ-ent genres, less rap,” says Roy.

With the Oscars approaching, Roy says she is rooting for The Hobbit.

“The whole storyline was incred-ible and being someone that never followed The Lord of the Rings trilogy it was very easy to follow and it was magical.”

2013 Golden Globe winnersMOVIESBest Motion Picture, Drama: “Argo”Best Motion Picture, Comedy or Musical: “Les Misérables”Best Actress, Drama: Jessica Chastain, “Zero Dark Thirty”Best Actor: Daniel Day-Lewis, “Lincoln”Best Actress, Comedy or Musical: Jennifer Lawrence, “Silver Linings Playbook”Best Actor, Comedy or Musical: Hugh Jackman, “Les Misérables”Best Director: Ben Affleck, “Argo”Best Supporting Actress: Anne Hathaway, “Les Misérables”Best Supporting Actor: Christoph Waltz, “Django Unchained”Best Foreign Language Film: “Amour”Best Animated Film: “Brave”Best Screenplay: Quentin Tarantino, “Django Unchained”Best Original Score: Mychael Danna, “Life of Pi”Best Original Song: “Skyfall” (music and lyrics by Adele and Paul Epworth), “Skyfall”

TELEVISIONBest Series, Drama: “Homeland,” ShowtimeBest Series, Musical or Comedy: “Girls,” HBOBest Actress, Drama: Claire Danes, “Homeland”Best Actor, Drama: Damian Lewis, “Homeland”Best Actress, Comedy or Musical: Lena Dunham, “Girls”Best Actor, Comedy or Musical: Don Cheadle, “House of Lies”Best Miniseries or Movie: “Game Change”Best Actress, Miniseries or Movie: Julianne Moore, “Game Change”Best Actor, Miniseries or Movie: Kevin Costner, “Hatfields & McCoys” Best Supporting Actress: Maggie Smith, “Downton Abbey”Best Supporting Actor: Ed Harris, “Game Change”

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Hosts Tina Fey and Amy Poehler on the red carpet at the 70th Annual Golden GlobesPhoto by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association

Girls rule the Golden Globes

Jan. 18, 2013 NIAGARA NEWS Page 15

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By BRITTANY STEWARTStaff Writer

Curling teams sweep funds into Niagara College.

Network with alumni, raise money for student success and have a little fun on Feb. 23, when the Niagara College Alumni Foun-dation will be hosting its sixth an-nual Curling Rocks Bonspiel.

Lyn Russo, director, Develop-ment and Alumni Relations, says it’s a crucial fundraising event for the Alumni Foundation. Aside from bringing community mem-bers, alumni and students together in an interesting tournament, Russo says it plays a vital role in achiev-ing the foundation’s fundraising goals. Any profit from the event, above expenses, funnels directly to student equipment.

“The money goes to student resources, so it’s a really important event for us.”

Alison Burgoyne, events co-ordinator, Foundation and Alumni Relations, says the target is to raise $5,000, aiming a little higher than the $4,600 brought in last year.

Although Niagara College re-ceives about $350,000 from the Ontario government for equip-ment each year, Russo says it isn’t enough.

“We need at least 10 times that. We’re trying to raise as much money as we can. It’s a pretty criti-cal event from that point of view.”

While it is a competition, Jeff Germond, general manager of the St. Catharines Golf and Country Club, says more emphasis is placed on fun, adding the tournament can be what you make of it.

“It’s a very social game. It can be as fun, competitive or challeng-ing as you want to make it. Stay for lunch, have some fun; enjoy a social afternoon with friends.”

Germond says there are many curling clubs in the Niagara region.

“A lot of our leagues are at ca-pacity. It’s a very social game.”

Russo says students, alumni, corporate sponsors and community members all take part in the fund-raising tournament.

“We want people to come out and have fun.”

The bonspiel, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the St. Catharines Golf and Country Club, is open to expert and novice curlers. There will be an hour of free lessons beginning at 9 a.m. for those unsure of how to play.

For $150 per team of four, play-ers are provided with necessary equipment, light snacks and lunch at the club. There will be three mini-games and prizes awarded, including a team spirit award for the team with the most creative jerseys. Additional non-players are welcome to cheer on friends, with snacks and lunch included, at $20 per person.

Burgoyne says there’s still time to sign up. She says students would benefit from a fun day out and have an opportunity to meet and network with Niagara College alumni, staff and community members.

Getting to know the game

• Curling is a sport in which players slide stones across a sheet of ice towards a target area broken into four rings.

• 1.2 million curlers are registered worldwide.

• Curling was founded by the Scottish in 1541.

• Canada is the world leader in curling.

• The maximum weight of a curling stone is 20 kgs.

• The curling broom is used to sweep the ice surface in the path of the stone.

• Curling has been an official Olympic sport since 1998.

NEWSPage 16 NIAGARA NEWS Jan. 18, 2013

TeamABunchofHackscompetedinthefifthannualCurlingRocksBonspielonFeb.23,2012,]attheSt.CatharinesGolfandCountyClub.Submitted photo

Curling Rocks Bonspiel aims to raise $5,000 for Niagara College

Curling for a good cause

TeamTheGentlemencompetedatthefifthannualCurlingRocksBonspielFeb.23,2012,attheSt.CatharinesGolfandCountyClub.

Submitted photo

‘The money goes to student resources, so it’s a really important event for us.’

— Lyn Russo

Page 8 NIAGARA NEWS - Jan. 18, 2013 Page ##

Continued from page 1.“The reason for today, why we picked today, is the Prime Minister finally

decided to sit down and have a meeting with the Governor General and the AFN,” said McGean. “Our events today coincide with their meetings. Their meetings started at 10 o’clock this morning, and it goes until two, so at 10 o’clock we started at Brock [University] and we’re going here until two. It’s part of the Idle No More Global Day of Action, so there’s stuff like this going on all over the world.”

Shawn Atleo, the national chief of the AFN, met with Harper and Johnston to discuss some recently passed bills that affect Aboriginal people in Canada and is part of an uprising of Native people to get more recognition across the globe.

Chiefs across Canada originally came to Atleo last year with concerns over Bill C-10, dubbed the Safe Streets and Communities Act, which would mean mandatory minimum sentences for drug trafficking and sexual assault. Atleo then brought his concerns on how these sentences might make it harder to lower the number of youthful offenders in aboriginal communities. His concerns, and those of others from around the world, are how Idle No More originally started, but now it encompasses many different people and many different problems worldwide.

“Idle No More is like a Tim Hortons cup. You can look at it from one side and see three different perspectives,” said McGean.

The meetings didn’t pan out the way that Spence would have hoped for, so she has decided to continue her hunger strike despite calls for a stop from other chiefs across Canada. While some chiefs believe she has accom-plished her goal by getting the meetings, a spokesman for Spence released a statement saying that she be-lieved the meeting at Rideau Hall was only “a photo opportunity” for Harper.

On campus, McGean and the group of peaceful protestors danced in a circle, held signs and occasion-ally gathered in a group circle to shout out why they were there. Flag-bearer Graham Paradis would then begin a chorus of yelling “Idle no more,” while oth-ers joined in. When it was McGean’s turn to speak, he talked about how he feared the government would “get away with hiding” bills in other bills, referring to the omnibus bills at the federal level in which changes to environmental protections were buried in 400-plus pages.

He said it was time to educate people and tell them what was really happening, which he reiterated in an interview with Niagara News later.

“What it is, is a bunch of bills compiled into one bill. So, what they do is they highlight one, two or three major bills out of it and then they hide a hundred in it. So, by one bill getting passed, it is passing a hundred other bills.”

The group was formed from people of different genders, races and ages. It was about 22-people strong, although some group members came and left and took turns sitting and getting drinks and food. Some mothers came with strollers to watch their children take part. McGean said anybody can join the Idle No More movement, as long as they bring “a good mind and a good heart.” He also hopes taking action to places where youth are plentiful will raise awareness with non-aboriginal people.

“It is a place of education. It is a place where not just young people, but old people are learning stuff. So this is the kind of stuff that can be spread out because this isn’t just affecting native people. Although we are the ones freaking out about it

and getting mad about it, if you actually look into the bills, it ruins Canada. It’s a good place to get people who have a voice and a voice that will be listened to by other people because people in college and university are the future. They’re the leaders.”

Although some of the group’s claims seemed to come from emotion more than fact, such as China buying the Northwest Territories and mainstream media not covering an omnibus bill to help it pass, the participants were there with good intentions, and they caught the attention of some.

Third year Broadcasting – Radio, Television and Film student Jon Garo-falo said he’s intrigued and wants to learn more.

“I’ve never seen people tap drums and dance in a circle before. I’ve never seen people protest here before. It definitely makes me want to do some-thing. The world is already dying, and they’re [federal government] just

making it die a lot faster.”As for the dancing and chanting, McGean said it’s part of life for

aboriginal people.“With Catholics and Christians, they pray. Well, singing and

dancing is our form of praying. It’s the way we connect with our higher power, if you want to call it that. We don’t have church. This

is what we do.”As for the future, there will be protests again on what Idle No More’s Facebook page is calling a Worldwide

Action Day on Jan. 28. McGean says he’ll be doing “something” and hopes his role as a leader and his influence from his Reztor Pride musical project will inspire those younger than he is to stay in

school and make a better life for themselves. “It’s what stops me from just going and

hanging out with people on the street. That was my outlook on it, especially with Native views on that. There’s high amount of gangs in aboriginal youth, there’s high drug use, there’s overdoses, and the best way to stay away from that is to educate yourself. Without education, you have nothing.”

Asked if he will lead more events in the fu-ture, McGean said he likes taking a part but isn’t sure of his organizing skills. He says he will do whatever his elders ask of him, though.

“Being one of the influential youth here, they kind of told me to do it, not that I wouldn’t have, but they told me to.”

In the Niagara region, McGean said that everyone has been overwhelmingly sup-portive and they’ve received “nothing but good feedback” aside from the “odd racist comment or misunderstandings.” He said that

if people wish to get involved with Idle No More in Niagara, they can get information from the Facebook group, which gives details of group meetings and in-formation on why they protest. He said the response is good, but non-aboriginals need to act too.

“The biggest challenge is non-aboriginal people because, frankly, a non-aboriginal person has no reason to care about aboriginal issues. So we push not what it’s doing to us, but what it’s do-ing to you.”

To learn more, visit www.IdleNoMore.com.

“The world is dying, and they're just making it die a lot faster.”

`I’ve never seen people tap drums and dance in a circle before. I’ve never seen people protest here before. It definitely makes me want to do something.'

— Jon Garofalo

Sabrina Isaacs, of Fort Erie, Ont., plays a drum and sings. at the Idle No More protest at Niagara College, in Welland, Ont. Photo by Jordan Aubertin

Sabrina Isaacs, of Fort Erie, Ont., with son Joeseph in front of a warrior flag at the Idle No More protest at Niagara College.Photo by Jordan Aubertin.

A young protester wraps herself in the Mohawk Warrior flag at Niagara College’s Welland campus.

Photo by Jeff Johnston

Idle No More protester Graham Paradis holds a Métis flag at Niagara College’s Welland campus.

Photo by Jeff JohnstonA protester holds a flag representing Munsee-Delaware Nation.

Photo by Jeff Johnston