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12 The Chronicle November 29, 2011 Campus Communities share with Freecycle.org By Ray McNeil The Chronicle The Global Class is in session at Durham. In an age of technological breakthrough, the class connects students with activists trying to make a difference. “It gives them the opportunity to speak to the next generation of problem-solvers,” said founder Lon Appleby. “Twenty years from now, when you’re in a position of real responsibility, and you’re higher up in your career, you’ll be the decision-maker.” On Nov. 8, students from Durham took part in an endof-the-semester discussion, spanning four countries around the world. Classrooms from Seoul, South Korea and Mumbai, India joined the Skype feed for an opportunity to speak with filmmaker Adolfo Doring, streaming from Brooklyn, New York. Doring is the director of the documentary Blind Spot, about the current oil and energy crisis, specifically peak oil, and the impending end of our fossil fuel supply. Appleby was present to start the class off, but he does not consider himself a moderator. “I’m just participating in this, I find it very stimulating,” he said. Despite some technical difficulties with the Indian classes’ bandwidth connection, the class gained momentum as it went. With his film, Doring hopes to wake people up and attempt to get them to address the problems ahead. “My intention was to make people uncomfortable.” He added that our evolutionary path has its disadvantages to accomplish this. “Our wiring is to respond strongly to things that have to do with the short-term. If it’s shopping for something right now, or saving the money for 20 years from now, 99.9 per cent of the people would go shopping right now.” Appleby added that, even when it comes to history, humans still tend to be focused on the immediate. “It’s remarkable. Generally these days I’ve learned from my students, (history teaching) often consists of just studying the First World War, the Second World War, and maybe go back and do a bit of the Industrial Revolution.” The governments of the world must do what they can to increase awareness in order to “raise new generations with the right frame of mind,” said Doring. He also added that real answers need to be explored, and real change needs to come about. “Changing your light bulbs ain’t going to save the world,” said Doring. While the energy crisis was the jump-off point, the discussion quickly evolved into talks about political corruption, the recent Occupy Movement, and the failure of the mainstream media’s responsibility to the public. Ray McNeil THE GLOBAL CLASS: Durham College teacher Lon Appleby andhis Short History of the World students conducted a discussion, “The Global Class” Students from Seoul and Mumbai participated through Skype. Global class thinks positive world change “There should be more independent media out there; passing along information (and) making films,” said Doring, who feels that independent documentaries are one of the last bastions to communicate real information. The Global Class is part of Appleby’s Short History of the World elective. Along with the classes, there is also a website where students can upload their videos and writings. Started two years ago by the Durham College teacher, The Global Class has held a discussion at the end of each semester since. Past guests include Manufactured Landscapes’ Ed Burtynsky and Jenifer Baichwal, journalist Richard Heinberg, and Freedom House activist Robert Guerra. Appleby said that finding people to speak during the classes has been as easy as sending an e-mail or making a phone call. “I am finding that there are a lot of people out there who want to engage young people in big ideas,” said Appleby. “They welcome the opportunity to speak to people about important issues that are not privy, but matter to all of us.” Appleby says that’s the whole point to The Global Class, to kick-start this kind of communication and to give students a forum to express their ideas, and along the way “exchanging and creating new ones.” Hillary Di Menna The Chronicle May 1, 2003 a used but still useable bed was declared garbage after thrift shops refused it out of store policy. What happened after kept not just the bed out of the landfill but over a million more tons as well. “I started The Freecycle Network while working at another local recycling nonprofit called RISE,” said Deron Beal, Freecycle founder, in an interview with The Chronicle. “It provided transitional employment to Tucsonans in need while providing valet recycling to local shops, store fronts, etc. who didn’t have room for recycle bins from the city out front. These businesses began giving us other still good stuff that was unfortunately not recyclable and I couldn’t give stuff away quickly enough and our warehouse filled up. So, I set up Freecycle.org. And, it took right off. We’re a nonprofit org with 10,000 volunteers and two staff members. It’s the beauty of working at a grassroots and globally local level.” The group that began with 30 members now has nine million. The non-profit group released a press release earlier this month declaring it is now the world’s largest web community. Freecycle.org allows people to sign up to a group close to where they live. They can search message boards or receive e-mails about items being offered or needed in the area. Items can be something big like a bed, something small like a tennis racket or something as useful as a bag full of toddler clothes. Freecycle members will find posts for items like these as well as bicycles, hockey memorabilia, kitchen supplies as well as countless others. The moderators of the Oshawa/Whitby Freecycle group have few rules. “Keep It Free, Legal and Appropriate For All Ages,” they said. The group currently has 4903 members. Members may fill out a request form. They must specify if the post is an offer or request for an item, as well as a general location. Other members then reply, whether it is that they would like a posted item, or have the item another is looking for. Items may be delivered to the recipient or left on a front porch for a pick up. Members refer to giving items away as gifting. Everything is free; no one is to use the group to make profit. Money for site maintenance is raised through donations and the group has two sponsors; Nokia and Kramer Levin, a law firm that does pro bono work for the organization. The group’s mission statement is found on their website. “Our mission is to build a worldwide gifting movement that reduces waste, saves precious resources & eases the burden on our landfills while enabling our members to benefit from the strength of a larger community.”
Campus The Chronicle November 29, 2011 13 Building bridges in Pickering Tracey Fidler The Chronicle A bridge to the future. At least that’s what the City of Pickering hopes it will be. The new pedestrian bridge under construction just east of Liverpool Road and spanning 14 lanes of the 401, will link the Pickering GO station on the south side of the 401 to the newly constructed office tower on the north side. Durham and Centennial Colleges are also a part of the project, with a joint learning centre at the foot of the bridge scheduled to open in the fall of 2012. The two-storey structure will feature classrooms, student space, a computer lab and offices, and will offer eight programs, four from each college, as well as continuing education courses. “It will be Pickering’s first post-secondary presence,” says Mark Guinto, the public affairs co-ordinator for the City of Pickering. The $23 million bridge is scheduled for completion in the spring of 2012, however pedestrians and cyclists will have access as early as the end of this year. “There will be a soft opening late this year or early next year, but not all the features will be installed yet,” says Guinto. Those “features” will include a mesh covering, enveloping the entire bridge, and LED lights, which will illuminate the bridge at night. The bridge will also provide access to much needed additional parking for the GO station. The newly constructed parking garage attached to the office building on the north side will create 500 more parking spaces. For over 15 years, the idea of this bridge has been tossed back and forth. Guinto says there was “difficulty gaining the political support to get the [project] off the ground.” However, in 2006, the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (MPAC), which occupied a building on the northeast corner of Liverpool Road and the 401, outgrew its space. When MPAC considered moving their office out of Pickering, officials knew they had to take the steps to keep the business. So, in 2009, Pickering mayor Dave Ryan announced the construction of a 10-storey office building in part of the Pickering Town Centre’s parking lot, with MPAC as the anchor tenant. Several months after this announcement, the decision was swiftly made to also begin construction on the bridge. “When the office tower was secured, it gave the City of Pickering a window of opportunity to lobby the government,” says Guinto. The provincial and federal governments have given $10 million toward the project, and Metrolinx, the company behind GO Transit, has provided $13 million. But the bridge is only the beginning. Tracey Fidler BUILDING A BRIDGE: A pedestrian bridge is being built east of Liverpool Road. Guinto says it is a “catalyst” for further development, with talks of a hotel or convention centre down the road. He also hopes it will attract people from outside of Pickering, and make the city stand out. “Driving down the 401, communities tend to blend together,” says Guinto. “This will be our landmark.” Archiving our local history Nancy Ellis The Chronicle What’s just around the corner, has three houses, and is full of knowledge? —The Oshawa Community Museum and Archives. The Henry House, the Robinson House and the Guy House are all part of the museum at Lakeview Park. The three buildings are used to bring history to life. The Henry House is decorated as a fully functioning Victorian home and dates back to 1849. The Guy House dates back to 1835 and hosts the administration part of the museum, gift shop and Verna Conant Galley—a section devoted to Oshawa’s industrial roots. Robinson House dates back to 1846, and houses the semipermanent exhibits including a 19th century one-room schoolhouse and local archeological findings. “What’s unique about our buildings is that they are standing on their original foundations,” said Melissa Cole, museum curator. Cole has worked as curator for 11 years and designed the popular exhibit Mourning After about the Victorian customs of life after death. The exhibit ran from May to November 2009 and exceeded expectations. When the constructors widened Harmony Road in the 1950s they discovered graves from a pioneer gravesite underneath where they were digging, Cole said. The “coffin jewelry” found in the graves was used in the Mourning After display. “I’ve always had a particular interest in gravestones,” executive director Laura Suchan said. She has worked at the museum for 22 years and cites Mourning After as one of her favourite exhibits. The museum recently received a collection of artifacts from the mortuary program at Humber College that included Victorian era items used in Canadian morgues. Suchan said these pieces and new information will be included in the next Victorian exhibit hopefully on display in 2013. The museum also offers programs for children, using archeology, wizards and pirates to entice learning. The programs incorporate crafts, activities and sharing. The museum even offers birthday parties with programs, loot bags and dress up clothes, available by request. Lisa Terech has been the visitor experience co-ordinator for a year but a volunteer since 2007 and she encourages students to involve themselves in their town’s history. “If you’re not from the Oshawa area, it’s nice to learn about where you live,” Terech said. She explains that a lot of people end up settling in the town or city where they attended school. And if you’re curious about what happened to your family, long lost relative or friend, you can explore the archives. The archives include local history and Oshawa’s newspapers up until 1965, anything more recent can be found at the library. Jennifer Weymark has been the archivist since 2000 and if you’re looking for information on local archival history she is the one to talk to. Although “sometimes you just can’t find an answer,” she said. She cares for the collection, researches and makes sure the museum’s facts are correct. “I enjoy the research, digging thorough and finding new things,” Weymark said. Currently she is working on the museum’s online exhibits, both new and already existing exhibits. The online exhibits are used Nancy Ellis LEFT TO RIGHT: Laura Suchan (executive director), Melissa Cole (curator), Jennifer Weymark (archivist), Lisa Terech (visitor experience co-ordinator). to attract viewers and encourage people to visit; they can also be used as a research tool. The archives cost $5 to view. Printout and photocopies are available from 50 cents to $2. Archival assistance is $25. Next year is the 200th anniversary of the War of 1812 and Weymark is designing an online exhibit about the war and its impact on Durham Region. Currently Milk Stories, an exhibit detailing the history of dairy farmers, occupies part of the Robinson House, and next year a new exhibit will open about Oshawa’s shipping industry, which the staff is excited about because of the museum’s location on the harbor.
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