CHRONICLE 16-17 ISSUE 08

I wouldn't have graduated 

if it hadn't been for Gerry. 

page 9 

Volume XLIV, Issue 8 chronicle.durhamcollege.ca January 24 - 30, 2017 

Building 

a bright 

future page 11 

Photograph by Barbara Howe 

Oshawa blues rock page 18 


Lords dominate 

at the beach 

Photograph by 

page 20 

Students 

should reach 

for the stars 

page 3 

Photograph by Joshua Nelson 

Photograph by Kayano Waite

2 The Chronicle January 24 - 30, 2017 chronicle.durhamcollege.ca 

BACK 

of the 

FRONT 

DC journalism students look at Durham College and UOIT, 

and beyond, by the numbers and with their cameras 

Photograph by Dan Koehler 

Rebecca Ropp, Lindsay Pachan, and Riana Costa, promoting 

beach volleyball night. 


An inspirational quote by Nelson Mandela 

posted on the wall at Durham College.

Campus chronicle.durhamcollege.ca January 24 - 30, 2017 The Chronicle 3 

Hadfield lands on campus 

Travis Fortnum 

The Chronicle 

Retired astronaut Chris Hadfield 

thinks today’s college students 

might need to beef up their long 

distance calling packages – because 

he says living on the moon 

is a real possibility. 

“Some of you folks are going to 

have the opportunity in your lives 

to live on the moon,” Hadfield told 

a crowd of almost 1,000 at Durham 

College and UOIT Jan 11. 

“To go live in a permanent human 

outpost on the moon. Maybe 

even as far as Mars in your lifetime.” 

With 166 days spent outside the 

Earth’s atmosphere, Hadfield’s 

resume is not shy of accomplishments. 

He partook in three different 

missions to space in 1995, 2001 

and 2012. He served as Commander 

of the International Space 

Station (ISS) from December 2012 

until May, 2013. 

On top of this, Hadfield was the 

first Canadian to walk in space. 

The Student Association announced 

Hadfield would be coming 

to campus just before the winter 

break. 

Through social media promotion, 

they sold more than 900 advanced 

tickets with the rest sold at 

the door on the night of the event. 

Hadfield believes incredible 

achievements are only possible if 

people allow themselves to dream 

big. 

“The only way you can do impossible 

things,” Hadfield told the 

crowd, “is to imagine something 

crazy, and then start changing 

what you’re doing so that you can 

learn about it enough that it can 

Photograph by Travis Fortnum 

After talking to the crowd, Chris Hadfield took the time to greet anyone willing to wait in line. 

Little Aurora had an easier wait than most, held in the arms of her mother Kathleen Flynn. 

It's really 

liberating to 

realize that 

impossible 

things happen. 

be part of what becomes normal.” 

Since retiring from the astronaut 

life in June of 2013, Hadfield has 

gone on to become a national bestselling 

author, a top ten recording 

artist and a coveted public speaker. 

The famed former astronaut 

brought stories of experience and 

expertise with him to educate and 

inspire students. 

Growing up in southern Ontario, 

Hadfield found himself inspired 

by the fantasy of Star Trek, 

as well as the reality of the Apollo 

11 moon landing in July of 

1969. 

“On the morning of July 20, 

it was impossible to walk on the 

moon,” Hadfield said. 

“Nobody had ever done it. But 

by bedtime on July 20, Neil (Armstrong) 

and Buzz (Aldrin) had 

made all those footprints. That was 

now something that was possible. 

“It’s really liberating to realize 

that impossible things happen.” 

From his time with the Royal 

Canadian Air Force in the 90s to 

performing at a David Bowie anniversary 

in New York City earlier 

this month, Hadfield has experienced 

things that many can only 

dream about. 

As he described the process of 

launch and exiting the Earth’s 

atmosphere, the audience was 

captivated. 

“After eight minutes and 42 

seconds the engines shut off,” 

Hadfield said, “you’re at the right 

height, speed and direction and 

the engines shut off. And you’re 

weightless.” 

He paused for a second, and you 

could hear a pin drop. 

Hadfield filled an hour and a 

half with anecdotes of his life and 

a wealth of knowledge on the past, 

present and future of space exploration. 

Hadfield closed his talk by performing 

bits of an original from 

his 2015 album and David Bowie’s 

Space Oddity, which he famously 

covered aboard the ISS. 

After the conclusion of his performance, 

nearly all the people in 

attendance lined up for a chance 

to shake hands and take a picture 

with the first Canadian to walk in 

space, as well as get a book signed. 

Hadfield stayed until he had the 

chance to meet them all. 

Johnny Humphrey, the SA’s 

campus life coordinator, played a 

big role in organizing Hadfield’s 

speaking engagement on campus. 

“The SA is really happy with 

how it turned out,” Humphrey 

says. 

“We received a lot of positive 

feedback.” 

Hadfield has taken his public 

speaking across the pond, where 

he will finish the month touring 

Ireland and the UK. 

DC, UOIT students inspired by former astronaut 

Kayano Waite 

The Chronicle 

The lights were dimmed in the 

school gym, with rows of students 

and locals hanging on to the words 

of the first Canadian to walk in 

space. 

“Using the time you have now 

to prepare for the probable things 

that are going to go wrong in your 

life,” Chris Hadfield said. “To me, 

that’s the very essence of success.” 

This was the message former colonel 

and astronaut Hadfield, who 

was one of the highlights of Winterfest 

at Durham College and UOIT. 

The first Canadian commander 

of the International Space Station 

was the focus of the event, The Sky 

is the Limit. 

Hadfield spoke on his life in and 

out of space as well as his hopes for 

others to achieve their best. 

Hadfield’s son Evan, who works 

alongside his father, said the advice 

given is applicable to anyone’s 

average goals in life, not just those 

interested in a particular field. 

“He doesn’t necessarily teach 

about space,” the younger Hadfield 

said. “He uses space as an example 

of how you should live your everyday 

life.” 

Talib Ali, president of the UOIT 

Engineering Student Society, met 

with Hadfield before the event, 

and gave him engineering coveralls. 

According to Ali, coveralls 

are traditional for engineering 

students. 

Hadfield graduated from mechanical 

engineering at Royal Military 

College in Kingston in 1982. 

Due to the dress code at the college, 

he did not wear these during his 

time there. 

Ali said Hadfield was surprised 

He uses space as an example of 

how you should live your 

everyday life. 

by the gesture. “He was really excited 

by it, and we were grateful 

that he accepted our gift.” 

Mechanical engineering student 

Dustin Curry was one of the last 

people in line, but didn’t mind the 

wait. 

“This is probably the closest I’m 

going to get to space,” Curry said 

jokingly. 

Curry said his takeaway from the 

night was for the audience to not 

settle for less in life. 

It was not only students who got 

a lot out of Hadfield’s words. 

Abdul Hameed, a former army 

Colonel and electrical engineer in 

Pakistan, was also there to meet 

Hadfield. 

Hameed heard about Hadfield’s 

appearance from his son who attends 

UOIT. Hameed, who has 

followed the space program from 

childhood, said it was a “rare” 

moment for him to get to hear the 

thoughts of Hadfield, who he called 

a proud Canadian. 

Hameed attended the event with 

his daughter and thought Hadfield’s 

words were important for 

younger people there to hear. 

“There will be failures, there will 

be challenges in life,” Hameed said. 

“They should not despair of any 

moment that comes.” 

Photograph by Kayano Waite 

Hadfield left those in attendance feeling educated and inspired.


PUBLISHER: Greg Murphy 

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Brian Legree 

AD MANAGER: Dawn Salter 

Editorial 

CONTACT US 

NEWSROOM: brian.legree@durhamcollege.ca 

ADVERTISING: dawn.salter@durhamcollege.ca 

Cartoon by Toby VanWeston 

Leading young minds from Twitter 

For all Americans and probably 

most Canadians, the next four years 

will be remembered as the years of 

President Donald J. Trump. 

Republican candidate Trump 

was elected Nov. 8, 2016 after beating 

out his democratic opponent 

Hillary Clinton. 

Depending on whether a person 

is conservative or liberal they might 

have different opinions on Trump. 

Regardless, Trump encourages 

more people to pay attention to 

politics. He has led more young 

adults to turn to social media for 

their news, and lastly Trump is 

gaining votes due to false media. 

Although some young adults did 

not take Trump seriously before 

the election, now that he’s president 

millennials are paying closer 

attention to politics. 

While Trump did not have more 

millennials voting for him in 2016 

than Obama in 2012, he definitely 

has our attention. 

According to civicyouth.org 

Trump received 37 per cent of 

young (18-29) voters during the 

election, while Obama garnered 

60 per cent of the young voters in 

2012. 

Although Trump received a 

small portion of votes from young 

voters, only 50 per cent of the 48 

million eligible youth voters turned 

out during the election: meaning 

17.5 per cent of young people actually 

voted for Trump in the 2016 

election. 

This shows just how little young 

people had wanted Trump in 

power or even how few took him 

as a serious threat. 

Although the exact numbers are 

unclear, it is evident through social 

media that 18-29 year olds in U.S. 

and Canada are now taking more 

of an interest in Trump. 

Trump’s Twitter, Facebook and 

Instagram accounts come to a total 

of 42.1 million followers on social 

media. It is this participation on 

social media, which has engaged 

so many Americans and Canadians 

during and after the election. 

While many people follow 

Trump for electoral updates, many 

people follow him to see what outrageous 

or salacious statement he 

will come up with next. 

For example, Trump’s recent 

comment about Meryl Streep after 

her speech at the Golden Globes 

stating, “Meryl Streep, one of 

the most over-rated actresses in 

Hollywood, doesn’t know me but 

attacked last night at the Golden 

Globes. She is a.....” This tweet received 

39 thousand retweets and 

125 thousand likes and was trending 

on Facebook. 

However, a negative aspect of 

Trump’s involvement with social 

media is the fact millennials use social 

media as a news outlet. The 

consequence? False news. 

Millennials may be collecting 

their political views from the social 

media, something baby boomers 

are less likely to do, since statistically 

boomers are less involved 

on social media platforms. 

With more millennials being of 

age to vote, social media can have 

a negative effect on election results 

because facts are misconstrued or 

misrepresented on Facebook, Twitter, 

etc. 

To combat fake news, Facebook 

has even started an initiative called 

the “Journalism Project”. 

The future elections are in the 

hands of millennials as they outnumber 

the baby boomers, according 

to the U.S. Census Bureau. It 

is important younger voters have 

the correct information rather than 

rely on the power of social media 

to come to a decision. 

With the results of the election, it 

is clear to see that more 18-29 year 

olds are participating in politics. 

Social media is the outlet. 

Hopefully this outcome will encourage 

more millennials to vote 

in Canada for the next election. 

Perhaps millennials will now see 

how much power is in each citizen’s 

possession when voting for a 

nation-wide decision. Anyone can 

win when you don’t vote. 

Dean Daley and 

Jenn Amaro 

EDITORS: Jenn Amaro, James Bauman, Rebecca 

Calzavara, Sharena Clendening, Dean Daley, Alexander 

Debets, Travis Fortnum, Tyler Hodgkinson, 

Barbara Howe, Noor Ibrahim, James Jackson, 

Christopher Jones, Frank Katradis, Daniel Koehler, 

Angela Lavallee, Laura Metcalfe, Tommy Morais, 

Joshua Nelson, Nicole O'Brien, Samuel Odrowski, 

Devarsh Oza, Trusha Patel, Matthew Pellerin, Asim 

Pervez, Emily Saxby, Tyler Searle, Jessica Stoiku, 

Euvilla Thomas, Toby VanWeston, Kayano Waite, 

Brandi Washington, Michael Welsh, Jared Williams, 

Erin Williams. 

The Chronicle is published by the Durham College School of Media, Art 

and Design, 2000 Simcoe Street North, Oshawa, Ontario L1H 7L7, 721- 

2000 Ext. 3068, as a training vehicle for students enrolled in Journalism and 

Advertising courses and as a campus news medium. Opinions expressed 

are not necessarily those of the college administration or the board of governors. 

The Chronicle is a member of the Ontario Community Newspapers 

Association. 

MEDIA REPS: Brandon Agnew, Justin Bates, Zach 

Beauparlant, Kayla Cook, Nathalie Desrochers, 

Charlotte Edwards, Yannick Green, Madeline Grixti, 

Stephanie Hanna, Lijo Joseph, Sarah Judge, Shannon 

Lazo, Megan Mcdonald, Ashley Mcgregor, Josh 

Mcgurk, Katie Miskelly, Louisa Molloy, Jasmine Ohprecio, 

Alex Powdar, Olivia Randall-Norris, Kaela 

Richardson, Madeleine Riley, Alex Royer, Spencer 

Stevens, Rachel Thompson, Geroge Tsalavoutas, 

Alexandra Weekes, Cameron Westlake. 

PRODUCTION ARTISTS: Rachel Alexander, Angela 

Bahnesli, Sarah Bhatti, Anokhi Bhavsar, Steven 

Brundage, Chanel Castella, Brandon Clark, Scott 

Cowling, Leanne Howorth, Bryce Isaacs, Erin Jones, 

Natasha Kowo, Samantha Mallia, Alyssa Matthew, 

Alexandra Rich, Bethany Seaton, Kristian Seepersad, 

Georgina Tsoutsos, Marisa Turpin, Rachel 

Wendt, Travis Yule. 

Publisher: Greg Murphy Editor-In-Chief: Brian Legree Features editor: Teresa Goff Ad Manager: Dawn Salter 

Advertising Production Manager: Kevan F. Drinkwalter Photography Editor: Al Fournier Technical Production: Keir Broadfoot

chronicle.durhamcollege.ca January 24 - 30, 2017 The Chronicle 5 

Opinion 

Easy. Breezy. 

Social media helps journalists 

Beautiful. 

CoverBoy. 

For years, makeup companies everywhere 

have been using females to 

model their products. In early October 

2016, history was made. Cover- 

Girl took to their Instagram account 

to announce something to forever 

change the face of makeup: the first 

ever CoverBoy. 

James Charles, a 17-year-old You- 

Tube star is now the first CoverGirl 

male ambassador.CoverGirl is giving 

males who want to wear makeup 

a role model and in doing so erasing 

the gender roles previously assigned 

to makeup. 

For over 50 years, CoverGirl only 

used women in their advertisements. 

Celebrities like Ellen Degeneres, 

Queen Latifah, Katy Perry, have 

all been the face of CoverGirl. 

This time we get to see a male 

who is not afraid to represent male 

beauty. Charles started wearing 

makeup a year ago, and said he got 

noticed by CoverGirl on Instagram. 

Charles has his own style seen on his 

YouTube videos. He incorporates 

bright and bold colours on his face. 

Society is to blame for such a long 

wait on a male model for a makeup 

company. There are many groups 

online who petition for men to wear 

makeup. Change.org has two petitions 

titles “Allow men to wear 

make-up” and “Stop discrimination 

of men wearing makeup.” 

Musicians in rock bands like 

KISS and Green Day have been 

wearing makeup for years. Singer 

Adam Lambert said he started 

wearing makeup in his teens. So this 

Brandi 

Washington 

is not a new concept. It just hasn’t 

fully been accepted. Charles started 

his Instagram one year ago to 

inspire others. On his Instagram 

account he says, “I truly hope 

that this shows that anyone and 

everyone can wear makeup and 

can do anything if you work hard.” 

CoverGirl is the first makeup line 

to give such a positive change to 

the face of cosmetics. In August, 

YouTube star Georgie Aldous posted 

a video online and asked “Why 

can’t boys wear makeup?” Aldous 

says wearing makeup makes him 

feel gorgeous. Aldous said if guy 

is wearing makeup people often 

assume, they’re trying to be a 

woman. As for Charles, his parents 

asked him if he was transsexual because 

he started wearing makeup, 

he had to do a lot of explaining 

to convince them this was not the 

case. 

Hopefully people can start to 

embrace men who wear makeup 

and not question their sexuality. 

Men should be able to look glamorous 

just like females. CoverGirl is 

using the hashtag #LashEquality 

to brand this product which brings 

to mind #GenderEquality. 

Because we all can be a Cover- 

Girl. 

Facebook, 

Twitter, 

Instagram and 

Snapchat share 

stories around 

the world 

Social media is still evolving. 

There is no doubt some changes 

are needed in order to differentiate 

between what’s real and 

what’s not. It is clear there is a 

need for trained journalists, and 

social media is seeing the need for 

this change. Recently, Facebook 

launched the “Journalism Project” 

to work closely with journalists and 

to limit fake news. 

While there have been some 

concerns about what’s real and 

what’s not on the Internet, it is 

clear social media has allowed 

journalists to find news easily. 

Reporters are able to share and 

receive content in matters of minutes, 

reach a wider margin in one 

go and also created new job positions 

such as social media editors. 

This is remarkable, as social 

media has only been around for 

just about a decade. 

And yet the relationship between 

social media and journalism 

has been a controversial one. 

When news broke Facebook users 

were posting fake news during the 

U.S election. 

The conversation was moved to 

the forefront. 

Over the years, social media 

has evolved and become a platform 

for breaking news, and also 

Euvilla 

Thomas 

a tool for the journalism world. This 

new age of reporting has journalists 

scrambling to adapt. For readers, 

the Internet is the go-to place for 

news updates. 

According to a survey by Canada 

News Wire (CNW), 62 per cent of 

young adults in Canada prefer to 

read their news online. 

There has been a growing problem 

in journalism: social media 

has caused some hiccups between 

trained journalists and citizen journalists. 

Let’s use the recent U.S. election 

as an example. During the election 

debate teams of live fact-checkers 

on Facebook ensured the statements 

being made by the candidates were 

accurate. This tactic revealed some 

of the statements made by Donald 

Trump were false. 

According to Journalist Resource, 

63 per cent of Facebook users get 

their news from Facebook. This 

could potentially pose a problem if 

this forum is spreading fake news. 

But Facebook is just one of a wide 

range of options. 

According to an article in Recode, 

an online media website, 

President Obama was quoted, on 

his last international trip as president, 

saying, “If everything seems 

to be the same and no distinctions 

are made, then we won’t know what 

to protect.” Daniel Dale would 

agree. 

Daniel Dale, the Toronto Star 

writer dubbed the “the lie-tracker” 

for his part in fact checking 

Trump’s statements, has received 

some great reviews. Fact-Checkers 

are very important to journalism, 

especially today when fake news is 

easily attainable and hard to detect. 

There is some room for improvement, 

but we can’t dismiss the fact 

that social media has changed the 

way we give and receive news in an 

easy to use format. This Facebook 

fake news conundrum has set back 

the collaboration between traditional 

reporters and the social media. 

But, let’s not forget the time when 

social media kept us updated on the 

news. 

On May 12, 2008 Twitter users 

tweeted an earthquake had hit 

Beijing, China’s capital city and 

had taken thousands of lives. The 

video was then later picked up by 

the press. 

In another instance, on Feb. 12, 

2012, a Twitter user tweeted-out 

that famous singer Whitney Houston 

was found dead in a Beverly 

Hills hotel about 20 minutes before 

the press were briefed. 

These are not the only two instances 

when social media became a 

source of information for reporters. 

There are many more. 

Social media has not only affected 

reporting but also bring about 

new job positions. 

Canada’s own broadcasting organization 

CBC, now has 18 social 

media editors who only deal with 

the content that goes up on sites like 

Snapchat, Twitter, Facebook and 

Instagram. 

It’s safe to say that journalists 

should not be afraid of social media. 

It should be embraced. 

It is clear social media has 

changed journalism for the better, 

and journalists should change with 

it or get left behind. 

We are the women of today; give us our freedom 

Brock University student, Harpreet 

Kaur survived child molestation. 

Her abuser was close to home. 

Once she found the voice, strength 

and bravery to speak out, the blame 

was put on her. At 16 years old, 

Harpreet was told she tainted the 

honour of her father’s Pagh (turban) 

by speaking of the unspoken. 

Many young brown women do 

not have the privileges, freedoms, 

or independence required to be 

considered equal to males. 

Women from countries like 

India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and 

Afghanistan are being pressured 

by their own families to maintain a 

‘good girl’ act in their community. 

This is so they do not taint their 

family’s name and honour in front 

of the community. 

This pressure to conform needs 

to change. 

Women should not feel guilty for 

being themselves, for living their 

life the way they want to, for loving 

and being with someone they want 

to be with, and for standing up 

against injustice. It is unfortunate 

Trusha 

Patel 

for women in Asia who do stand 

up for themselves, have limited 

freedom, are blamed for tainting 

family honour, and are victims of 

honour killings. 

According to the Vedas, the 

most ancient Hindu scriptures, 

which contain hymns, philosophy, 

and guidance, Hindu women have 

limited freedoms. 

For example, many young Asian 

women do not get to date. Bella De- 

Paulo, a Project Scientist of Psychology 

at the University of California 

says people who have not been 

in relationships are viewed as less 

happy, less well-adjusted, and lonelier 

than people who have been in 

relationships. 

For some Asian families, dating 

before marriage is seen as breaking 

a social norm, which would bring 

shame to the family’s honour. 

The concept of family honour is 

very extensive in India. According 

to the History of Sex in India journal, 

the term ‘izzat’ refers to honour or 

reputation in the culture of India 

and Pakistan. Izzat applies to both 

females and males, but in completely 

different forms. 

Women must keep the family 

honour by being chaste, compliant, 

and submissive. The men must 

be courageous, powerful, and have 

the ability to control the women in 

their families. 

Woman carry izzat (honour) like 

a materialistic object. When they 

are unmarried, it is their responsibility 

to not do anything, which 

would cause harm to the family 

name. 

When they marry, their izzat 

passes along to their new family: 

their in-laws. Without good izzat, a 

family’s reputation in a community 

means nothing. 

In the name of protecting the 

so-called ‘family honour’, women 

are shot, burned, buried alive, 

strangled, beheaded, and stabbed 

to death. 

Honour killings are unfortunately, 

a familiar act in the South 

Asian community. According to the 

statistics presented by the Indian 

parliament, the Indian police registered 

251 cases of honour killings 

in 2015, 223 cases more than the 

year before. In Pakistan, 1,100 

cases were reported in 2015, though 

the Human Rights Commission 

of Pakistan (HRCP) estimates another 

1,000 were unreported. The 

act of vengeance, usually death, 

is committed by the males of the 

family against the females who are 

claimed to bring dishonor to the 

family. 

According to the Thomson Reuters 

Foundation, in 2012, India 

ranked as the worst country to be 

a woman, because of the violent 

victimization through rape, acid 

throwing, dowry killings, marital 

rape, and forced prostitution of 

young girls. 

In a country where people worship 

female goddesses, voted for a 

woman president, and have had a 

female prime minister, it is a shame 

women are completely on their own 

when it comes to their safety. 

Mahatma Gandhi said, “Of all 

the evils for which man has made 

himself responsible, none is so degrading, 

so shocking or so brutal 

as his abuse of the better half of 

humanity; the female sex.” 

91 years ago, Gandhi encouraged 

Indian men to treat women 

with respect. It is truly upsetting 

to know that the lesson is yet to be 

learned. 

The voice of a strong, independent 

woman, fighting for herself, 

needs to be heard in this male supremacist 

world. Women can be 

independent, self-reliant and successful. 

Women to women relations are 

what strengths us and give us a 

voice that can be heard. A woman’s 

life is her own, and she can live it 

however she wants. 

The next generation needs to 

fight these fights, and stop the injustice.

6 The Chronicle January 24 - 30, 2017 chronicle.durhamcollege.ca Campus 

Michelle Cole, Manager of Program Development and Quality Assurance at Durham College, at work in her office. 

Photograph by Toby VanWeston 

Managing our success 

This is one in a series of conversations with experts at UOIT and Durham College 

Michelle 

Cole 

manages the 

programs 

students 

take at 

Durham 

College 

Toby VanWeston 

The Chronicle 

Michelle Cole is the Manager of 

Program Development and Quality 

Assurance at Durham College. 

She has been in this position for 

four years, and has overseen the 

development of existing programs 

and the addition of new programs 

during this time. 

In 2011 she won an Outstanding 

Research Award from the Ontario 

College Administration Staff Association 

(OCASA) for Student 

Perceptions of Faculty Classroom 

Practices the Influence Student 

Persistence. 

Cole’s job is to make sure the student 

experience is as positive and 

fulfilling as possible. 

Can you explain what you do 

and how you do it? 

Sure. I work with the executive 

deans and the associate deans in 

each of the schools, since you know 

we have seven schools, to work out 

a plan for new program development. 

So in my role, I guide the new 

program development process and 

I support the deans through that 

process. We have a five year roster 

of programs that is fluid, so every 

year we review the plan, and revise 

as needed. 

It’s fundamentally based on 

labour market needs, and student 

demand also, so taking both into 

consideration, we will develop a 

plan accordingly. 

[In regards to her OCASA 

award] Would it be accurate 

to say that finding ways for 

students to succeed in their 

academic careers is a passion 

of yours? 

It sure is. The other part of 

my role is the quality assurance. 

I would say now that I am doing 

this work, there is an enhanced passion 

for it. I have the opportunity 

through program review to interview 

students and I love that. 

I would say that the only reason 

I’m here is to ensure that students 

have a good experience while 

they’re on campus, that they’re 

learning, that they’re meeting the 

expectations of their education, 

that they find value in their education, 

and they see the importance 

at the end of the day. 

And then of course that they 

find jobs. So that they leave here 

well-equipped, good citizens and 

mature, so they can go and find 

work in their field. 

And if it’s not in their field that’s 

OK too, because they have skills. 

They shouldn’t leave here without 

having something that they can be 

proud of. 

Can you tell me about your 

background and how you ultimately 

arrived in Oshawa? 

I went to school at Brock University, 

started working in Toronto, 

then moved to Whitby. I worked for 

a member of parliament in Whitby. 

I enjoyed that experience very very 

much. We were unelected by the 

people [laughs]. And so when the 

new member of parliament came 

in, I applied to the college and was 

successful. 

I’ve worked at the college for ten 

years now. I started in the President’s 

office as an administrator. 

I was an executive assistant to the 

vice-president of Student Affairs. 

And when this position came up I 

got very excited and I applied and 

got it. 

They shouldn’t 

leave here 

without having 

something that 

they can be 

proud of. 

What’s your favourite part of 

your job? 

I do enjoy the process stuff, I’m a 

bit of a geek that way. I like the order 

of things, and so helping people 

get to an end result, I do get a kick 

out of that. And I do enjoy, when I 

can, meeting with students. 

What’s the toughest challenge 

you are faced with in this positions? 

Working with faculty [laughs]. 

No, it’s more about timeliness. We 

have a short window of time to get 

the program to the point where we 

can present it to the Ministry. The 

challenge is getting that approval. 

Are there any new programs 

that you are trying to trying 

to get off the ground right 

now? 

Yes there’s a few of them. I can 

tell you what we just launched for 

2017, which is really exciting. 

We’ll have a new program in Office 

Administration Real Estate. So 

considering the real estate market 

as it is, that’ll be exciting for those 

who are interested in the real-estate 

market but may not want to 

be agents. 

Massage therapy is coming to 

Durham College, which is a big 

deal. 

I’m looking forward to as many 

free massages as I can get, I will be 

that guinea pig [laughs]. 

The other one that’s really cool 

too is called Mechanical Technician, 

Elevating Devices. So your 

lifts, elevators, that kind of thing. 

Right now the industry is literally 

taking people off the streets, without 

experience. 

This way, with a post-secondary 

diploma, they would have a lot of 

experience with the mechanical 

and electrical side, so that they 

could start their apprenticeship 

with some knowledge. With a twoyear 

under their belt, they will be 

very successful. 

This interview has been edited for style, 

length and clarity.


When 

research 

meets 

passion 

Photograph by Laura Metcalfe 

Durham College professor Randy Uyenaka has been bringing his energy to the Social Socail Worker program since he started teaching at the college in 1999. 

Uyenaka makes the Social Service Worker program work for you 

This is one in a series of conversations with faculty experts at UOIT and Durham College 

Laura Metcalfe 

The Chronicle 

When Randy Uyenaka enters the 

room one can’t help but notice his 

boundless energy and bright smile. 

His passion and drive to help 

people is evident when you talk to 

him about social services. As the 

coordinator of the Social Service 

Worker Program at Durham College, 

he is helping to teach the social 

service workers of the future. 

What is your expertise in? 

I am the program co-ordinator 

of the Social Service Worker program. 

I have been teaching at Durham 

College part time since 1999. 

I came here full-time in 2008. As 

you know, Durham, they like to hire 

professors who have a lot of experience, 

prior experience, in the field 

they are teaching in. 

So when I was hired back in 1999, 

I taught a course well, two courses, 

one called addictions counselling, 

and another was called family and 

family systems, so it was kind of consistent 

with the work I was doing. 

When I actually came here I was 

more involved in teaching, probably 

more in the year 2000, when the 

college launched the Addictions and 

Mental Health graduate certificate 

program. 

Once that program got off the 

ground I was teaching courses in 

counselling youth, grief therapy, 

basic counselling services, problem 

gambling, those types of things 

since 2008. 

Was there anyone who 

inspired you to go into this? 

Inevitably, all of us are going to 

have some contact with a social 

service agency. 

I’ve been fortunate to work with 

many individuals who just had that 

passion for the field of helping. I 

think it’s interesting because he just 

retired. 

One of the individuals, he was actually 

a supervisor before he came 

to the college full-time as a teacher 

and he was the one who lead me 

into the field of teaching as well, 

his name is Ken Lomp. He was an 

individual when I joined Pinewood 

Centre in 1992. 

You could tell that he had this 

real passion for the field and under 

his leadership I think I really grew 

in terms of feeling a lot more comfortable 

being a counsellor and trying 

to help people with substance 

abuse issues. 

What kind of work have you 

done? 

Maybe not specific to the area 

of addictions but since I have been 

at Durham I have been involved in 

three significant research projects 

that have been funded by provincial 

bodies. 

What happened was in 2012 we 

applied for funding from an organization 

called the Social Sciences 

and Humanities Research Council 

of Canada. 

We were fortunate enough to get 

granted roughly about $30,000 to 

look at a lifespan perspective of how 

social services impact individuals 

through the lifespan, starting from 

issues in childhood, but having a 

social services program to help support 

an individual going through 

that difficult period. Childhood 

and adolescence into adulthood 

and beyond. 

What should people know 

about your field? 

I think really the value, the impact 

of social services is really just 

not realized. Inevitably, all us are 

going to have some contact with a 

social service agency, the unemployed 

and we need employment 

counselling. 

We experience an issue concerning 

our mental wellness or mental 

health, we are seeking support from 

a mental health organization or an 

individual or someone they know 

has a substance abuse problem. 

What is your favourite part of 

your research? 

Each research project that I have 

been involved in we’ve been fortunate 

to allocate part of the funding 

towards funding students in terms 

of them learning. 

...the impact of 

social services 

is really just not 

realized. 

Our particular program, Social 

Service Worker, has benefited three 

times. Each time we have hired a 

minimum of about four to six research 

assistants and they get to 

do actual research in an area they 

are interested in and I think it gives 

them new opportunities that they, as 

college students, wouldn’t typically 

experience. 

We have seen them really develop 

a passion for the research we are 

doing. At the end of it they get their 

name on a publication, which really 

is unheard of from someone coming 

out of college, actually having 

their name on a publication that 

has been shared provincially, if not 

internationally. 

This interview has been edited for style, 

length and clarity.


The presentation by Jungle Cat World was one of many events students could attend at Winterfest 2017. 

Photograph by Michael Welsh 

Winterfest eases back to school 

Michael Welsh 

The Chronicle 

Coming back to school from 

Christmas break can be a tough 

time for students. After spending 

a few weeks relaxing with family 

and friends, getting back into the 

grind of class isn’t something many 

people look forward too. 

Winterfest made the transition 

back to school a little more fun for 

students. 

“It was cool coming back to 

school to all kinds of great events,” 

says Durham College student 

Mike Powers. “There is lots of fun 

stuff going on for everybody.” 

Winterfest featured two weeks 

of activities put on by the Student 

Association, including public 

skating, video game gatherings, 

bubble soccer and animal encounters. 

The SA hosts Winterfest at 

the start of second semester every 

year. A similar event, Campusfest, 

usually takes place in September 

to kick off the first semester. 

However, there was no Campusfest 

this year. The SA has been 

dealing with internal conflicts for 

much of the year, which led UOIT 

and Durham College to withhold 

funds from the association. 

The problems from within the 

SA stemmed from unexpected 

There is lots 

of stuff for 

everybody. 

changes on the executive committee. 

The SA says it understood 

students were upset about Campusfest 

being cancelled, so they are 

glad to see the success of Winterfest, 

according to the association’s 

photographer, Sami Jewer. 

“There was a lot of comments 

coming in but now I think everyone 

is excited about the fact that 

we are starting back up,” she says. 

For students who weren’t aware 

of Winterfest, such as Meghna 

Vijay, returning from Christmas 

break to fun events like the presentation 

by Jungle Cat World was a 

treat. 

“I saw the event and there are 

a few events coming around, I saw 

in the catalogue. Then I knew it 

was Winterfest,” says Vijay. “It’s 

very much a bonus. A week of fun 

and entertainment, it’s a bonus.” 

Students hope there will be 

more events in second semester 

than the first. The issues did not 

stop the SA from hosting Winterfest 

and doing their main job of 

serving the students. 

“We wanted to do Winterfest to 

be sure the students had a lot of 

great events to go out to and enjoy,” 

says Jewer. “We’ve had a really 

great turnout this year.” 

The association currently sits 

without a full-time president. 

Nominations and elections for 

next school year’s SA will be held 

in January and February. 

Move your muscles for engineering awareness 

Noor Ibrahim 

The Chronicle 

The Women in Engineering association 

at UOIT sure knows how to 

get the people up and on their feet. 

Students from Durham College 

and UOIT took part in a first-ofits-kind 

Engineering Olympics 

event organized by the association 

on January 12. 

More than 30 students playing a 

dozen games kept their brains and 

muscles active, by doing everything 

from designing their own rollercoasters 

and stacking party cups, 

to kickball to even challenging 

themselves with cards. 

But Women in Engineering 

wanted the students to walk away 

with more than just a fun experience. 

The event aimed to raise students 

awareness towards the Women in 

Engineering Association and the 

struggles women face within the 

field. According to Engineers 

Canada, 87 per cent of Canadian 

engineers are men. However, according 

to WIE president Shae 

Contois, that number is as high as 

90 per cent at UOIT. 

Domains such as www.STEMfeminist.com 

and hashtags like 

#ILookLikeAnAnEngineer try to 

show people that women engineers 

do not fit into the stereotypes set 

for them. Because of that, Contois 

says that stigma has formed about 

women’s abilities compared to men. 

“It feels like in a male-dominant 

career that women aren’t as good,” 

she said. 

Contois says she has come faceto-face 

with that stigma herself at 

UOIT. She says male classmates 

are often surprised about things 

such as her ability to use the right 

tools. She adds some students on 

campus don’t even expect women 

to be engineers. 

However, after proving herself in 

the classroom, she says the men’s 

perspective began to change. 

“I think it’s really opening up the 

eyes to a lot of people, said Contois. 

“A lot of my classmates are like 

‘Wow! You can do what I can do, 

if not better.’” 

Participant Patrick Krokwood 

said he’s keen on backing the cause. 

“I’m an engineering student,” he 

said. “It’s good to show support and 

help the girls out and bring a little 

pride to the school.” 

Krokwood also said the event 

was more than just a way to meet 

new people. 

“The fact that they’re out here 

putting out great events really helps 

and brings their name out to the 

forefront.” 

According to Contois, the WIE 

also serves as a support group for 

those women who face the same 

stigma she did may consider giving 

in. 

“As there are so few of us,” said 

Contois, “[the association is here] 

just to say hang in there. You’re just 

as good. “ 

Shae Contois organized and 

ran the event alongside President 

Mellissa Fracz. According to Fracz, 

the event shows the students 

women’s ability to be in control, 

not just in engineering. 

“Women in Engineering created 

this event. We are running this 

whole event ourselves,” said Fracz. 

“It kind of shows that we can take 

charge and control an event as well 

as anyone else can.” 

Just like Contois, Fracz feels 

women who plan on becoming 

engineers need to hear words of 

encouragement. 

“Don’t feel discouraged or scared 

to come into engineering just because 

you think it’s all male-dominated,” 

said Fracz. “A lot of girls 

are successful in engineering. We 

can basically do anything we put 

our minds to.” 

The association has been trying 

to debunk women stereotypes 

for eight years now at UOIT but 

it also celebrates women’s accomplishments 

in engineering. 

With events such as the Olympics, 

as well as previous Christmas 

and Halloween movie nights, the 

students are drawn to the organization’s 

name. After they join the 

organization, the organization tries 

to help them understand the bumps 

that women engineers sometimes 

deal with along the road of their 

career. 

With all the energy students gave 

at the event, Contois and Fracz 

hoped they’d also gain awareness 

and knowledge about women in 

engineering in return.


Mourning the loss of former Chronicle editor 

Frank Katradis 

The Chronicle 

Gerald (Gerry) Rose, former editorin-chief 

of the Chronicle, the campus 

newspaper at Durham College 

and UOIT, has died. He was 67. 

Rose died peacefully, at Lakeridge 

Health, Oshawa, on Jan. 9, 

2017 after a brief battle with pancreatic 

cancer. 

Rose was born Jan. 22, 1949 

and grew up in Pasadena, Nfld. In 

the mid-1970s he moved his young 

family to Ontario to pursue work 

before deciding to go back to school 

at Durham College for journalism 

in 1976. 

“I taught Gerry from the years 

of 1976-77 and ’77-78,” says former 

Chronicle editor Bill Swan. Swan 

says Rose’s previous experience 

helped him with his journalistic 

abilities. 

“Gerry was ten years older than 

his peers,” says Swan, noting that 

Rose’s university background also 

played an important role in his 

abilities. 

After graduating, Rose was hired 

where he did his field placement, 

the Oshawa Times (the Times was 

a daily newspaper in Oshawa for 

more than a century before it closed 

in 1994). 

He was the Times' editor for 10 

years before Swan offered him the 

positon of editor-in-chief of the 

Chronicle newspaper at Durham 

College in 1991. Swan believed that 

Rose had the exact skills needed to 

fit the position. 

“Gerry was a very quiet individual,” 

he says. “He didn’t dominate 

the room. But, when you talked to 

him, you’d see he had a lot to offer.” 

Rose was the editor-in-chief of 

the Chronicle for more than two 

decades before retiring on June 

30, 2014, exactly 23 years after he 

started at Durham. 

He was admired by his peers 

and loved by his students. On his 

Facebook page, many former students 

expressed how sad they were 

to hear that he passed, but praised 

his abilities as an educator. 

“Gerry was the dream teacher,” 

says former student Evan Barr. 

“He was very busy, but always 

available for his students. There 

were always students asking for 

edits.” 

Rose was well known for his 

edits. With his famous green pen, 

as opposed to the standard red, he 

would edit his students’ work. 

Former office mate Ginny Colling 

recalls students being devastated 

seeing their work covered in ink, 

but says Rose would always give 

them a thumbs up to assure them 

that they were on the right path. 

“He would always say ‘It’s OK 

with fixes',” says Colling, indicating 

when a story had met final approval. 

Rose wanted the Chronicle to be 

professional like any other newspaper, 

says Colling. Rose expected 

good work from his students and 

had the patience to help them 

achieve good work. He always 

helped out his students and would 

make sure the paper was filled with 

interesting stories. 

“Gerry ran the Chronicle in 

a very organized fashion,” says 

current Chronicle editor-in-chief 

Brian Legree, “but you couldn’t 

tell looking at his desk.” Rose’s 

desk was always buried under a 

mountain of paper, Legree adds 

with a smile. 

Legree also worked for Rose at 

the Oshawa Times and took over 

Rose’s position at the Chronicle 

when he retired. He adds Rose 

was loved by his students. 

Rose taught with a “get it done 

right attitude, with a smile on his 

face and a twinkle in his eye,” Legree 

says. 

Rose invested in students beyond 

the classroom. 

“I didn’t think I was going to 

graduate,” says Durham College’s 

credit transfer coordinator Kimberly 

Boss, another of Rose’s former 

students. 

“Gerry really helped me believe 

in myself the final semester. I 

wouldn’t have graduated if it hadn’t 

been for Gerry.” 

Boss says she was going through 

some personal issues in the final 

semester of her second year, and 

Rose took the time to get her the 

right connections and helped her 

graduate the program. 

Calling him the “dad” of journalism, 

she says Rose would never 

criticize in his feedback, but instead 

offer a different way of looking at it. 

“He was just amazing in and 

out,” she says. 

Rose will always be remembered 

as the editor who sipped soup at his 

desk filled with papers and pictures 

of his grandkids, marking papers 

with his green pen in hand. 

(Above) Journalism professors Ginny Colling (left) and Gerry Rose retired from Durham College 

on the same day in 2014. Current Chronicle student-editor Toby VanWeston honours Rose 

(below). 

The importance of networking: Learn, connect and build 

Years ago, the Kids in the Hall 

comedy troupe did a great sketch 

on networking that I always think 

of when I hear people talk about 

networking. 

Why? Because I think that’s what 

people picture – a bunch of guys in 

suits (guys only, of course), exchanging 

handshakes and clichés; essentially 

how it’s defined in the sketch: 

“businessmen meeting businessmen 

for the purpose of meeting again at 

a later date.” 

The true idea behind networking 

is to learn, connect and build 

relationships. It allows you the opportunity 

to talk to people whose 

work fuels their spirit and lights 

their fire, and find out if that’s work 

Devon 

Turcotte 

you would like to do, too. 

LinkedIn defines networking as 

being “about meeting a few wellconnected 

people who can vouch 

for your ability and who are willing 

to refer you to a few other wellconnected 

people.” 

A huge benefit of networking is 

that you can tap into what we call 

the “hidden” job market, which is 

significant. According to a LinkedIn 

study published in February, 

2016, 85 per cent of all jobs are 

filled through networking. 

Most jobs are never posted outside 

an organization and some are 

never posted at all, because the hiring 

manager already has someone 

in mind for the role and contacts 

that person directly. 

Networking allows you to be 

on their short list before jobs even 

become available. That’s worth 

spending some time on.The average 

student today is at a disadvantage 

when it comes to this. When you 

were very young, you were probably 

warned about “stranger danger.” 

Now, you’re suddenly in a position 

where you need to know how 

to talk to strangers to further (or 

start) your career, and you don’t 

know how. 

To add insult to injury, you also 

have likely spent more time than 

previous generations connecting 

with others through social media 

or online gaming. You have people 

in your life that you would count as 

friends, and yet you’ve never met 

them offline. Employers generally 

aren’t a part of the same generation, 

so you need to learn how to meet 

them where they are. 

The good news is, there are ample 

opportunities to start, right now 

and right nearby. Take some time 

to talk to your professors, sports 

coaches, fellow volunteers, coworkers 

or neighbours. Ask people 

about what they do, why they do it, 

what led them there and where they 

would like to go next. 

At this year’s Job Fair on Feb. 8, 

one of the activities running is a 

Speed Networking Lounge. There 

will be alumni and business leaders 

available to help you learn the 

subtle art of networking, then you 

can use your newfound skills to 

make a splash with the employers 

in attendance. 

It’s time to put “stranger danger” 

aside. You’re a grown-up now and 

you get to own that. Networking is 

one way to start. 

This column is courtesy of Career Development 

at Durham College.


True love is only 

a swipe away 

Chamberlain 

found 

soulmate 

on mobile 

app Tinder 

Sharena Clendening 

The Chronicle 

On a chilly day in March, Kimberly 

Chamberlain decided it was time 

to try out Tinder. Her first thoughts 

were optimistic. 

“I felt like a hookup site and 

that’s what it was meant for…but 

every guy that I met tried to make 

it seem like they wanted a relationship, 

then BOOM they wanted in 

my pants. It was awkward but also 

very entertaining,” says Kimberly. 

On average over 36 per cent of 

Canadians use online dating sites, 

according to Global News. Tinder, 

Plenty of Fish, eHarmony and 

Match are just a few of the dating 

sites out there for singles to mingle. 

Kimberly Chamberlain is part of 

the 36 per cent of Canadians who 

signed up for online dating. 

Andrea Braithwaite teaches at 

UOIT. Her research focuses on 

gender and pop culture. 

“Part of what online dating 

brings is another way to meet 

people, which can be beneficial,” 

says Braithwaite. “Not everyone 

enjoys or is able to go out to meet 

people — things like personal preferences, 

money, schedules, and mobility 

can all get in the way, and online 

dating offers another option.” 

But Braithwaite says online dating 

can also open up another avenue 

for harassment and abuse. 

This growing trend of online romance 

has increased six per cent 

per year in Canada since 2010, according 

to IBISWorld. One would 

assume it would be easy to start a 

conversation with a stranger you 

are interested in but according to 

Kimberly Chamberlain, it is still 

a struggle. 

“It was super awkward; a Tinder 

user told me I was pretty so I 

replied thank you. Then he asked 

if he could get into my pants. I 

laughed and said no but thank you, 

and then he told me I was super 

ugly,” Chamberlain says. 

After that encounter Chamberlain 

was asking herself why she 

downloaded the App. 

Boys will be boys, she was thinking 

to herself, wondering if she 

should give up finding someone 

or if she should continue using the 

App for a little bit. She decided 

to keep the App and then started 

Part of what online dating brings is 

another way to meet people. 

talking to this guy who gave her a 

huge list of questions before asking 

her out. 

“He asked me out on a date after 

five hours of messaging back and 

forth,” says Chamberlain. 

It took around two weeks before 

they went on their date. Then it all 

fell into place. Kimberly and her 

boyfriend Christopher have been 

together since March 10, 2015 and 

are now expecting a baby girl, due 

March 4, 2017. 

Trying to find true love is hard 

whether you choose the old-fashioned 

way or use online dating 

Apps. But Kimberly Chamberlain 

didn’t stop till she found what she 

was looking for. 

UOIT professor Braithwaite explains, 

“There are a bunch of options 

out there, and they all work in 

different ways, some are subscription 

services that require monthly 

payments in order to participate, 

some are simply Apps.” 

With many different opinions on 

online dating, would you consider 

the choice of possibly meeting 

someone you could fall in love with 

through a mobile App?


'Technology stars' battle it out in LEGO League 

Barbara Howe 

The Chronicle 

Hundreds of aspiring young scientists 

descended on Durham College 

recently for the 2016 FIRST LEGO 

League Ontario East Provincial 

Championships. The event brought 

40 teams of elementary students 

aged nine to 14 together to pitch 

their autonomous robots, built from 

LEGO pieces, against each other in 

a series of challenges. 

Justine Lam, a student from Forest 

Hill P.S. in Toronto, said her 

team, “Batteries Not Included,” 

had a small chance of winning at 

its first time at the provincial championships. 

“It’s about the experience. It’s not 

whether we get placed or not. We’re 

just going to try our best,” said Lam. 

FIRST LEGO League is a 

non-profit organization created by 

Dean Kamen with a goal of inspiring 

young minds to love science, 

technology and mathematics with 

a view to choosing it as an exciting 

and engaging career choice. 

Dave Ellis, director of the FIRST 

LEGO League, has been involved 

with the organization for 12 years. 

“We celebrate our sports heroes 

and our movie stars, but we don’t 

celebrate our technology stars,” 

said Ellis. “There was nothing to 

get kids excited about technology. 

There was no event where kids got 

to be inspired.” 

Ellis explained the program has 

three components. 

First there is a research project 

where the students research a problem 

relating to the annual theme. 

This year’s theme is Animal Allies. 

Examples of some of the projects 

submitted include an app, which 

tracks lost pets through an electronic 

collar, a weighing machine for 

dogs which spits out the appropriate 

portion of food dependent on the 

animal’s weight, and a dehumidifier 

for a beehive. 

The second component is the robot 

design where the teams design, 

build and program autonomous 

LEGO robots to perform a series 

of missions. 

Lastly, students are encouraged to 

develop core values which include 

life skills which honour the spirit of 

friendly competition and respect. 

There were cheers, whistles and 

even some tears from the hundreds 

of supporting teams, parents and 

coaches who crowded around the 

corral surrounding the competition 

tables, as the robots bumped around 

the courses. 

Austin and Mackenzie Bailey and 

David Feenstra are three homeschooled 

students who travelled 

from Kingston to take part in the 

challenge. Their “Home Grown” 

team is so concerned about the depleting 

honey bee population that 

they designed a dehumidifier to 

attach to a standard hive. 

The simple idea adds an extra 

layer full of wood shavings and a 

black painted roof which allows 

moisture and heat to escape through 

vents. Together with a thermostatically-controlled 

heating mat, the 

hive is kept dry and mite-free which 

prevents disease infecting the colony. 

The winner of the event moves to 

the FIRST LEGO League World 

Festival in St. Louis, in April. 

r 


Mackenzie Bailey (left) and David Feenstra get set to battle with their robots in their FIRST LEGO League eastern provincial 

championship at Durham College.


Reduce waste one cup at a time 

DC hoping to 

replace cups 

for mugs 

Laura Metcalfe 

The Chronicle 

Tim Hortons cups are a common 

sight around campus. Students 

and staff need their tea or coffee 

to make it through early mornings 

and late nights. 

But with all these cups comes a 

lot of waste. Between September 

of 2015 and April of 2016 more 

than 230,000 disposable cups were 

thrown out. 

The Sustainability Office at 

Durham College is hoping to alter 

this behaviour through its #muglife 

campaign. 

"It’s a pledge that you take that 

says 'I will not use a coffee cup 

anymore, and I will use a mug instead,'" 

says Sonal Birdi, sustainability 

co-ordinator assistant. 

The goal is reduce waste by promoting 

the use of reusable mugs, 

says sustainability co-ordinator 

Tanya Roberts. 

“If you get other people thinking 

of the impact in their head 

and what is the impact, then they 

will reduce it. They’re not going 

to eliminate it totally with some 

people,” says Roberts. 

Durham College president Don 

Lovisa signed the pledge last year. 

Now Roberts plans to gather more 

pledges and hand out more mugs 

in February. 

It’s not just the school that is endorsing 

the campaign. 

After a century of 

photos, Aldsworth's 

shutters its doors 

Aramark, food service provider, 

hires employees for Tim Hortons 

locations around campus. 

According to Roberts, the company 

supports the #muglife campaign. 

It offers discounts when 

you use a reusable mug. Students 

Photograph by Laura Metcalfe 

Tanya Roberts (right), and Sonal Birdi pose with their mug campaign poster on campus. 

have purchasing power, so companies 

would be smart to embrace 

reusable cups, she says. 

She hopes the campaign will 

catch on and go viral, and make 

other colleges and universities think 

about starting a #muglife campaign. 

of their own. 

Roberts says there may be obstacles 

ahead, especially for those 

who look forward to the upcoming 

Roll up the Rim to Win event, 

which gives people a chance to win 

cash and prizes just by rolling up 

the rim of their Tim Hortons cup. 

I will not use 

a coffee cup 

anymore. 

While they are not giving incentives 

to use the mug or checking 

in to see if people do use the mug, 

students will get a free mug if they 

sign the pledge. The campaign is 

based on an ‘honour system,' says 

Roberts. 

She says adjusting mindsets to reusable 

mugs will take forethought. 

Students and teachers need to plan 

ahead and have their mug on them 

when they go to get their coffee or 

tea, says Roberts. This will not be 

an easy transition, but she says it is 

worth the diversion of waste. 

Toby VanWeston 

The Chronicle 

January 20, 2017 marked the end 

of an era for Durham Region, as an 

institution of Oshawa for the past 

100 years closed its doors for good. 

There is one less place for photographers 

to get their equipment and 

develop their prints: Robert Aldsworth’s 

Photo World is now closed. 

They're like 

friends to us, 

and in some 

cases like family. 

The store which closed under 

the Aldsworth’s name started in 

1898 as a passion project of William 

E. O’Brien, an Oshawa 

resident who had an interest in 

photography. In 1957, it was taken 

over by Robert Aldsworth, where 

it became a family-run operation 

dedicated to supplying quality 

photo services to Oshawa photolovers. 

Robert Aldsworth and daughter 

Kathy have run the store, at 

907 Simcoe Street North, together 

for the past 30 years. They say 

working together has been a great 

experience, and one they will 

miss. 

“We’re going to miss the camaraderie. 

We’ve been fortunate 

enough to work together for 30 

years. So I’m grateful for that 

opportunity.” says Kathy. 

While the Aldsworths say that 

business has continued to run 

relatively well, it’s time for them to 

move on. 

“We’re closing because though 

we’re still pretty busy, and things 

are going OK, it’s time to move on 

and do other things,” says Robert. 

Changes in photography production 

have taken their toll on 

the business over the years. The 

advent of digital photography 

has meant the decline of classic 

printed photography. Though the 

store has adapted to this changing 

landscape, Kathy notes that shift 

has been significant. 

“Society has changed. Younger 

people aren’t printing as much,” 

she says. 

Kathy does note that while 

most photographers today gravitate 

towards digital photography, 

there is still a niche market who 

prefer the classic print process. 

This group of photography lovers 

has contributed to the store’s longevity 

over the years. The store 

owners say that with the store 

closing, these customers are left 

with fewer options to practise 

their craft. 

“A lot of customers are not 

very happy that we’re closing, 

and they’re asking where they 

can go for printing. I don’t really 

know what to recommend. People 

are happy with our quality, and 

maybe not so happy with some of 

these other places’ quality. So like 

I said, they’re not so happy about 

Photograph by Toby VanWeston 

Robert Aldsworth and daughter Kathy say goodbye to Robert Aldsworth's Photo World. 

us closing,” says Kathy. 

This loyal customer base 

has helped the store’s business 

throughout the years, but it has 

also become more than that for 

the Aldsworths. Certain customers 

have become friends, while 

others still have become “family”. 

“Were going to miss all of customers, 

especially our really loyal 

customers. They’re like friends to 

us, and in some cases like family,” 

says Kathy.


Long live the internet meme 

Dan Koehler 

The Chronicle 

In a quiet park on Niagara Drive, 

just down the road from Durham 

College, a lively crowd gathers. A 

sense of excitement and whispers 

of laughter flow throughout the 

group. A man can be seen sporting 

a homemade gorilla t-shirt. 

The heart-wrenching How To 

Save A Life, by alternative band 

The Fray, flows out of speakers 

as one man directs the crowd in 

a sing-along. Candles burn, and 

bananas pile up on the park bench, 

while the group chants a familiar 

name. 

“Harambe,” the crowd unanimously 

cheers over and over again. 

“Harambe.” 

The 50 person strong Oshawa 

candlelight vigil of for the lowland 

gorilla killed at the Cincinnati Zoo 

had started. Similar to the 2,000 

strong event held earlier in the 

month at Ryerson University in 

Toronto, according to Vice. 

Harambe became an Internet 

sensation when he was shot at the 

Cincinnati Zoo on May 28th after 

a young boy fell into the gorilla’s 

enclosure. The boy was dragged 

over 15 feet before zoo officials 

intervened and killed the gorilla 

with a single gunshot. 

After an initial uproar from the 

public and activists, due to the 

meaningless of the killing, the story 

quickly fell out of the mainstream 

light. But the Internet doesn’t forget 

so quickly. 

Over the last decade, the Internet 

has been producing an increasing 

number of memes, through platforms 

such as Vine, Snapchat, and 

viral videos. 

Memes are defined by Google as 

“a humorous image, video, piece of 

text, etc. that is copied (often with 

slight variations) and spread rapidly 

by Internet users.” 

In 2015 a similar situation to 

Harambe occurred; an African 

lion, Cecil, who was the mascot 

of Hwange National Park in 

Metabeleland North, Zimbabwe, 

was killed by an American dentist, 

Walter Palmer, during a canned 

hunt. 

According to Google, a canned 

hunt is ‘a trophy hunt in which an 

animal is kept in a confined area, 

such as in a fenced-in area, increasing 

the likelihood of the hunter obtaining 

the kill.’ 

Memes quickly spawned all over 

the web, and an investigation was 

opened into the killing. 

According to an article by National 

Geographic, Palmer was 

never charged because he was 

able to show proper paper work 

to the Zimbabwean authorities. 

Cecil’s death set the course for the 

Harambe trend to take off. 

the website Reddit.com, sometimes 

known a the front page of the 

internet, has a thread dedicated to 

memes, and this is where many 

of them, including Harambe and 

Cecil memes, begin. They have a 

list of rules that memes have to follow 

and offer links to other websites 

that users can use to create their 

own memes. 

The Harambe story received so 

much attention that the Cincinnati 

The death of Harambe in May, 2016 quickly spawned a firestorm of memes and many student-organized vigils. 

Zoo had to disable all of their social 

media accounts. 

Since then the Harambe trend 

has stayed steady. Internet ‘trolls’ 

have been busy mocking the incident 

through memes and songs, 

using phrases like “dicks out for 

Harambe,” a phrase used in similar 

fashion as “get your lighters 

in the air” at a concert, just not as 

literal, while others see the gorilla 

as ‘god-like’. 

Even sports teams have fallen 

into the Harambe craze. According 

to RT.com, the Trenton Golden 

Hawks, an Ontario Junior Hockey 

League team, sported jerseys honouring 

Harambe during a warmup 

before a game recently. 

But why have we become so infatuated 

with these trends? 

One idea is these trends let us 

share our ideas about a topic to the 

whole world without going deeply 

into it. 

Stephen Forbes, a Durham College 

professor for the School of 

Business, IT, and Management, 

has been going on the Internet for 

most of his life. He says memes ignore 

borders and let us connect past 

cultural and physical boundaries. 

“Memes are simply highly relatable 

ideas that have high potential 

to spread through cultures 

very quickly, precisely because of 

their ‘any man’ way of expression,” 

Forbes says. “The web has closed 

the distance between people in 

terms of sharing information, and 

ideas.” 

As much as memes can be passed 

off as a waste of time, Forbes says 

they play an important role when it 

comes to discussions about society. 

“They (memes) are the publicly 

generated one liners everyone loves 

the Daily Show for, often adding 

They (memes) are the publicly 

generated one-liners everyone 

loves The Daily Show for. 

a brevity and charm to hot topics 

without going too deep,” he says. 

“They are in fact, albeit often hard 

to see, a valuable piece of the overall 

discussions taking place across 

society.” 

Kristina Crawford, a Durham 

College student in the Practical 

Nursing program, thinks Internet 

trends have become popular due to 

people seeking a sense of belonging. 

“Everyone wants to be a part of 

one thing, so everyone just kind 

of goes with it,” Crawford says. 

“It’s really different right, so no 

one brings a different view to it, so 

everyone just follows one another.” 

Keir Broadfoot, Durham College 

fabrication studio specialist, 

says memes are news and events 

that take a twist on the absurd, but 

can also touch on important topics. 

He’s a lover of Reddit.com, and 

goes on all the time. Reddit even 

has subthreads covering specific 

meme topics. 

“For the most part, it (memes) 

can bring to light stories of interest,” 

he says. 

Although memes can be a positive 

thing, they can sometimes 

mock or ridicule serious topics or 

people. 

Throughout the United States 

presidential election both candidates, 

Democrat Hillary Clinton 

and Republican Donald Trump, 

had their photos turned into 

memes. The memes usually show 

an unflattering picture and have a 

word or phrase mocking the candidate 

or their idea. 

“There are memes and vines that 

can be mocking in nature where 

they fish for a photo of somebody 

that’s not very flattering,” Broadfoot 

says. “Then they become an 

Internet sensation but not in a positive 

aspect.” 

Memes have even started to 

crossover from the internet to the 

real world. Memes like the Harlem 

Shake, which started in February 

2013 and involved a group dancing 

to the song Harlem Shake, have 

started taking place in workplaces. 

Even the Norwegian military 

and the US army both did their 

own Harlem Shake videos. More 


recently, the Mannequin Challenge 

has been sweeping across campuses 

around the world. St. Lawrence 

College in Kingston Ontario, recently 

had their students in the 

Advertising and Marketing Communications 

program do their own 

version of the challenge. 

For now it seems Internet trends 

aren’t going anywhere. The conclusion 

of the US presidential election 

brought forth a whole new 

area of memes focusing on Vice 

President Joe Biden and President 

Barack Obama, and theoretical 

conversations between them and 

President Elect Donald Trump. 

Harambe memes continue to flood 

Facebook pages. 

Media organizations have started 

utilizing these tools. Buzzfeed has 

a news page dedicated to memes. 

They offer lists of top memes to 

their readers as well. 

Websites such as MemeGen, 

LiveMeme, MakeAMeme, and 

WeKnowMemes, exist for the sole 

purpose of allowing people to make 

memes. 

Although the Durham College 

vigil for Harambe has come and 

gone, the joke lives on. As a student 

at the vigil who didn’t want to be 

named says, “Its a great end, to a 

great legacy.” 

Meme created by Twitter user @notacroc 

An example of a meme centring around the relationship 

between Joe Biden and Barack Obama.


Entertainment 

Streaming can't 

detune Oshawa 

music store 

Tyler Hodgkinson 

The Chronicle 

Online music services such as 

Apple Music, Tidal, and Spotify 

have cemented their legitimacy as 

hubs for catalogues, but this can 

also be said for longstanding Oshawa 

music store Wilson & Lee. 

According to co-owner Bill Wilson, 

the downtown shop, which is 

currently celebrating 95 years in 

business, isn’t greatly affected by 

the rise of streaming services because 

they bring in a “different 

kind of customer.” (Wilson & Lee 

Some people 

love to have 

a tangible 

experience. 

Jared Williams 

The Chronicle 

is also owned and operated by his 

younger brother, Dave.) 

“[People who download] are a 

portion of people we didn’t really 

have to begin with,” the 77-year old 

says. “We have a lot of customers 

looking for vinyl records.” 

In a report published last year, 

Nielsen says the amount of streams 

in Canada has risen to 18.6 billion 

in 2016 from 10.5 billion in 2015. 

The study takes into effect both 

video and audio streams. Nielsen 

also reports physical album sales 

are down 16 per cent, however, 

vinyl LPs sales have risen 39 per 

cent. 

According to Official Charts, the 

late David Bowie’s Blackstar was the 

best-selling vinyl of 2016, with Amy 

Winehouse’s Back to Black and the 

soundtrack to the Guardians of the 

Galaxy film in second and third, 

respectively. 

Wilson believes the resurgence of 

vinyl is a direct result of consumers’ 

need for something physical. 

“Some people love to have a tangible 

experience,” Wilson says. 

“I remember buying records, 

showing them to my friends, arguing 

about what certain lyrics did or 

didn’t mean.” 

Nowadays, some music fans 

Bill Wilson, co-owner of Wilson & Lee music store in Oshawa. 

collect vinyl because it may sound 

better when played through an 

optimal system, while others love 

to grab everything their favourite 

artists release. 

Albums by The Beatles, Elvis 

Presley, and Taylor Swift are big 

sellers at the store, Wilson says. 

New vinyl is often priced between 

$20 and $45, however, it depends 

on the popularity and availability 

of the product. Additionally, used 

vinyl bins are often rummaged 

about by customers, as buying preowned 

records is a cheaper solution 

for the mass collector type. 

The store began bringing in used 

vinyl after a customer offered to 

sell his collection before throwing 

it away. 

“It was either me or the dump, 

so I gave him a fair, reasonable 

amount and we put them on sale. 

I didn’t know what was going to 

Photograph by Tyler Hodgkinson 

happen, so I priced them, threw 

them up, and people started to 

buy them,” says Wilson. “It sort of 

dawned on me that this is something 

I may want to expand a bit.” 

Wilson & Lee has continued to 

“flip” records ever since. 

Vinyl alone does not keep the 

storein business. In fact, its main 

source of business is instruments, 

but it also sells movies, CDs, and 

notation books. 

Wilson & Lee music store celebrates 95 years 

It’s fair to say the music scene in 

Oshawa has seen some highs and 

lows since the days when then-bar 

bands like Rush and Triumph were 

opening acts. 

But one constant on the scene 

has been music store Wilson & Lee, 

which has earned itself a reputation 

as a quality establishment since 

opening its doors in 1922. 

Original owners William Wilson 

and his sister in-law Mary Lee 

opened up the store in his house 

on Albert Street in Oshawa. Aside 

from being able to purchase music 

there, Wilson also taught piano lessons 

at the shop. 

After William Wilson died in 

1943, Lee and other immediate 

family members minded the store 

selling instruments and records. 

When Bill Wilson II returned 

from serving in the Second World 

War in 1946, he accepted the 

tradition of buying into the family 

business. 

“After the war there was a shortage 

in almost everything so that 

certainly made it easier to find 

work [for those looking at the 

time],” Bill said. 

It was also then that General 

Motors was at its peak employment 

for the city. 

A piano being moved into long-standing Oshawa music store Wilson & Lee. 

By 1953 the store had moved and 

re-opened in its current location on 

Simcoe Street, just north of Bond 

Street. 

Bill Wilson III started work at 

the store when he was 14-years-old. 

He says he wasn’t even completely 

aware of how much he enjoyed 

the music business until he began 

working at the store. 

“I just found that I loved this 

stuff. I found when I got in here I 

had an affinity for knowing what 

people liked and what they wanted.” 

By 1967 Bill was joined my his 

Photograph provided by Wilson & Lee 

younger brother David working at 

the store. 

“I was sitting at a table when I 

was 14 years old and my father said, 

‘Get your suit on, you’re going to 

work!’ I have never had a Saturday 

off after that,” Bill’s brother and 

co-owner David Wilson said. 

I just found 

that I loved 

this stuff. 

“I enjoyed being here, I enjoyed 

being social, I enjoyed looking after 

people.” 

It wasn’t until 1989 that the two 

brothers bought the family business 

and took over ownership. 

It was then vinyl sales were at 

their peak from the local disc jockeys 

(DJ) buying up single records in 

attempt to keep their record collections 

contemporary and relevant. 

“Thirty years ago there was a 

pretty good bar scene going, there 

was lots of places for young musicians 

to play – not so much anymore,” 

Bill Wilson said. “For us the 

DJ was a saviour in the 70’s and 

80’s because we used to have up 

to 60 guys come in on a regular 

basis.”

Entertainment chronicle.durhamcollege.ca January 24 - 30, 2017 The Chronicle 15 

Lion: A true story of hope and survival 

The 

inspiring 

true story 

of a young 

man out to 

rediscover 

himself 

Barbara Howe 

The Chronicle 

Imagine waking up on an empty 

train, thousands of miles from 

home. Imagine screaming for help 

though the barred windows. Imagine 

that nightmare. Imagine you 

a five-year-old boy. 

That is the predicament of the 

main character, Saroo Brierley, in 

Garth Davis’ debut film drama, 

Lion. 

Lion is an emotional 

roller-coaster of a movie which 

continually drenches your senses 

with the colourful and exotic 

sights and sounds of India. 

Wide-eyed Sunny Pawar, the 

newcomer actor, picked from 

thousands of hopeful candidates 

to play the leading role. 

Panwar steals your heart for 

the first hour. 

The movie follows the true-life 

story of a five-year-old Indian boy 

who gets separated from his older 

brother and ends up, over a thousand 

miles from his home, in the 

mean streets of Calcutta. 

It is 1986, a world away from 

today’s multi-connected society. 


Dev Patel portrays main character Saroo Brierley as a young 

man. 

There are no smart phones. It is 

a time when it was possible to disappear. 

His world 

of danger 

is framed 

in colourful 

and mystical 

vibrancy. 

The exotic images, which surround 

the painful real-life challenges 

this street urchin encounters, 

are taken from the young 

boy’s perspective. His world of 

danger is framed in colourful and 

mystical vibrancy. 

The journey is long and bittersweet. 

The young Saroo ends up in 

a government-run orphanage, 

and despite newspaper appeals, is 

never claimed. 

He is eventually adopted by a 

middle-class Australian couple, 

John and Sue Brierley (David 

Wenham and Nicole Kidman), 

who offer him a privileged upbringing 

in Tasmania. 

The second-half of the film 

does not have the same intensity 

or nail-biting moments as the 

first; the audience knows the hero 

is safe and removed from the perils 

of Calcutta. 

It is 2010, and Saroo has 

morphed into a grown man, 

played by Dev Patel, (Slumdog 

Millionaire). 

We meet him again as he 

moves away from his home to start 

a college in Melbourne. 

Kidman plays Saroo’s plain, 

selfless adoptive mother. She 

and her husband John struggle 

to raise their second adoptive 

son, Mantosh, who is not only estranged 

from the family, but also 

has autistic behaviours and battles 

substance abuse. 

This is in stark contrast to Saroo’s 

memories of his own caring 

brother, Guddu. 

However, Saroo is haunted 

by flashbacks. Sights and smells, 

which remind him of his homeland, 

trigger images of his childhood 

in rural India; his hardworking 

single-mother, (Priyanka 

Bose), and his beloved older brother 

Guddu (Abhishek Bharate). 

With the help of Google Maps, 

Saroo immerses himself on a 

quest to retrace his journey back 

to his home village and re-unite 

with his family. 

Saroo plots the possible train 

route. He sets up a map on his 

apartment wall where he pins 

possible locations for his home 

village. The project takes over his 

life, he is conflicted between his 

need to connect with his roots and 

disappointing his adoptive family. 

Saroo drops out of school and 

loses his girlfriend. But he never 

gives up. 

Lion is a story of hope, determination 

and human survival. It 

shows how we are all connected to 

our past, and our need to be reassured 

of that connection before 

our future is fulfilled. 

Dive deep into The 

Old Man and the Sea 


The Chronicle 

Ernest Hemingway’s novel, The 

Old Man and the Sea, is a powerful 

story and one of his most enduring 

works. 

Written in 1952, this tale is 

still popular today and conveys a 

strong message that can be related 

to anyone in their daily lives. The 

Old Man and the Sea has won 

many awards such as the Pulitzer 

Prize, and even helped Hemingway 

win the Nobel Prize for Literature 

in 1954. This piece has been 

mentioned to be the best work ever 

done by Hemingway by critics 

throughout the ages. 

The novel tells the tale of Santiago, 

an old Cuban fisherman who 

has not caught a fish in 85 days. As 

bad as his luck is, the old man stays 

positive, and on the 85th day, Santiago 

finds himself in a battle with 

a great marlin: the biggest he has 

ever seen. 

As he tries to catch the monster 

of a fish and bring it home to the 

mainland the old man finds himself 

having an epiphany about his 

life. 

The language in the novel is 

simple but the book is well-structured. 

Hemingway creates a vivid 

image of a man on a boat out in the 

sea. With each page turned, the 

reader feels the suffering of the old 

man as he tries to catch his prize 

fish. The reader also feels his love 

for the creature. To Santiago, the 

fish is not only his greatest challenge 

as a fisherman, it is his greatest 

personal battle with himself. 

Hemingway has an art for creating 

stories that explore the ways 

a person can look inside themselves 

to find the strength to see things in 

a different light. 

The Old Man and the Sea 

shows that objects can be metaphors 

and also illustrates how the 

simplest task can have a deeper 

meaning. 

Inspired by Hemingway’s time 

in Cuba, The Old Man and the 

Sea is an iconic novel because of 

its simplicity to convey a deep message. 

This book is recommended 

for young teens to adults. 

The message of internally viewing 

success is extremely powerful, 

to the point of a personal epiphany 

through the words of Hemingway. 

It is not a long read, but an important 

read. Those who are already 

well-read will thoroughly appreciate 

this voyage on the open sea.

16 The Chronicle January 24 - 30, 2017 chronicle.durhamcollege.ca Entertainment 

Radio manager thinks job is a 'riot' 

Salima 

Kassam 

details her 

journey 

from school 

to station 

Michael Mascarin 

The Chronicle 

During his placement, Michael 

Mascarin met with Riot Radio’s 

new station manager, Salima 

Kassam, to find out what she does 

and where she came from. 

How did you arrive at Riot 

Radio? 

Riot Radio station manager Salima Kassam (left) meets with Michael Mascarin to talk about her roles and responsibilities. 

I’m a certified teacher. I completed 

my B.A. and B.Ed. at York 

University in History & Philosophy. 

I then went on to do my M.Ed. 

at OISE in Sociology and Equity 

Studies in Education and graduated 

from that program in summer 

2016. For two years, I worked with 

Basics Community News Service, 

a working-class orientated, propeople’s 

media organization. 

I was one of several radio hosts 

for a program called Radio Basics 

at CHRY 105.5 FM. I conducted 

interviews with community organizations, 

local artists, musicians and 

activists on issues that were topically 

relevant such as racial profiling, 

tenants’ rights, indigenous 

issues, and the 2015 TA (teaching 

assistant) strike at York University. 

I also wrote articles and commentaries 

for publication in Basics’ free 

community newspaper. I consider 

myself a very creative person. In 

general, I thrive in creative spaces 

and love to experiment with different 

mediums of expression. What 

appealed to me about this position 

at Riot Radio was the format of visual 

radio, which I feel opens up a 

lot of creative opportunities. 

How long have you been 

working at Riot Radio? 

I have been working here for 

about five months and have been 

enjoying every minute of it. I have 

met so many creative, talented and 

intelligent students and faculty. I 

suppose I’m now in that phase 

where I’ve settled into my position 

at Riot Radio, and am now trying 

to move forward to make Riot 

Radio a more effective platform for 

student advocacy and engagement, 

and to increase our visibility/presence 

on campus. 

What are your roles and 

responsibilities? 

team at Riot Radio. As a critically-minded 

educator, I’m extremely 

passionate about student advocacy, 

rights and representation and nothing 

excites me more than seeing 

students excited about being part 

of Riot Radio. 

The purpose of Riot Radio is to 

promote and enhance the values 

and initiatives of the Student Association 

through the medium of 

radio broadcasting. As the station 

manager I’m responsible for all 

broadcasting and programming 

decisions. I work to advance student 

interests by giving a voice to 

student issues and interests. 

I oversee day-to-day operations, 

including station programming, 

financial management, and the 

creation/implementation of policies 

and procedures. I oversee and 

coach a team of direct reports including 

student volunteers and paid 

employees. I create and manage 

content – I review, approve and 

decline all content and requests. I 

work to build partnerships between 

Riot Radio and other organizations 

on and off campus. I am responsible 

for monitoring viewership 

analytics and setting goals for students 

and the station. 

Alongside the Broadcast Technician, 

I am also responsible for 

troubleshooting/problem solving 

operational and programming 

issues. 

What do you like most about 

working at Riot Radio? 

I love that I never know what to 

expect when I come in to work. I 

am constantly learning and developing 

new skills on the job. I love 

working with students at DC and 

UOIT who make up our volunteer 

...I have been 

enjoying every 

minute of it. 

It’s extremely exciting to see 

students develop diverse, intelligent, 

and creative content, and it’s 

fulfilling to see students grow and 

gain confidence throughout the 

process of hosting and ‘tech-ing’. 

I really appreciate the format of 

a visual radio station. It provides 

an opportunity for audiences to 

engage and interact with radio 

programs and personalities in a 

meaningful way. 

I like that Riot Radio has the 

potential to develop a presence for 

students on and off the Durham 

and UOIT campuses. It can serve 

as a meaningful platform to discuss 

topics of concern to students, and 

it can also help to create a sense 

of identity, unity, and student engagement. 

I like working at Riot Radio because 

it has the potential to enrich 

the learning experience of students 

while also developing a sense of 

community among them. 

This interview was edited for style, 

length, and clarity.

Entertainment chronicle.durhamcollege.ca January 24 - 30, 2017 The Chronicle 17 

Pushing 

all the 

right 

buttons 

An intern's 

first-hand 

experience at 

Riot Radio 

Michael Mascarin 

The Chronicle 

Over the last two semesters, I did 

my placement for the CICE program 

at Riot Radio. I have always 

been interested in radio and TV 

broadcasting and I was excited to 

find out that Durham College had 

its own radio station. I could see 

myself working there when I saw it 

for the first time. 

During my time at the radio 

station, I was a technician, operating 

the audio sound board and 

working the cameras during the 

various shows. I organized songs 

for the different shows in a file after 

I have found them from different 

sites. 

Also, I have done research for 

different campus events that the 

Inside the studio at Riot Radio at Durham College and UOIT. 

station could be involved with. 

Last year, I had a show with a 

guest speaker from Career Development. 

I conducted an interview 

and created my own playlist. 

This was the highlight of my 

year as I have always wanted to 

research, write, prepare and produce 

a radio show. 

Last December, I had the 

opportunity to produce another 

show with the DSW (Disability 

Working at Riot helped me realize 

some of my potential. 

Photograph by Tyler Hodgkinson 

Support Workers) from my program. 

It was wonderful to develop 

my skills in broadcasting in a supportive 

environment. The team 

at Riot Radio was enthusiastic 

and positive about my placement. 

Working at Riot helped me realize 

some of my potential and encourages 

me to persuade my goals. I 

encourage students that have an 

interest in this area to try out Riot 

Radio.

18 The Chronicle January 24 - 30, 2017 chronicle.durhamcollege.ca Entertainment 

Local talent jams 

at Simcoe Blues 

and Jazz Bar 


Oshawa sees its fair share of talent step into the spotlight at the Simcoe Blues and Jazz Bar.. 

Barbara Howe 

The Chronicle 

There is a hidden gem on Simcoe 

Street in Oshawa for anyone interested 

in live music. 

If you are looking for local talent, 

or have an inkling to try your 

hand on stage yourself, Simcoe 

Blues and Jazz Bar (SBAJB) holds 

a weekly open mic evening called 

The Woodshed. 

The event allows those with 

musical skills to perform in front 

of a live audience. 

The emphasis is on encouraging 

participants to experiment with 

new material and fine-tune their 

performance skills. 

“I came here eight years ago,” 

said Ajax resident Kevin McKendrick, 

“My daughters talked me 

into coming to the open mic. I play 

all over the place now. I have a 

full band backing me up. This place 

changed my life.” 

McKendrick is one of a core 

group of about 15 musicians who 

have built a friendly camaraderie 

at the bar. The players take turns 

performing a mixed bag of jazz, 

blues and country music on the 

small stage at the back of the darkened 

bar. 

The setup gives each artist the 

opportunity to perform three songs. 

The rest of the musicians mingle in 

and out of the set, exchanging their 

guitars and mandolins in well-organized, 

supportive, harmony. 

Linda Wright is a singer-songwriter 

who has been coming to the 

bar for three years. She said some 

of her songs were picked up by an 

up-and-coming artist in Nashville. 

“Deanna Dunning just put two of 

my songs on her album right now 

and she has three songs lined up 

for her next album,” said Wright. 

“That’s what you do as a songwriter.” 

The event is hosted by Don 

Niblett, Noel Conway and Frank 

Zachodne, who is a former faculty 

advisor at UOIT. 

Niblett said the event is open to 

everyone. 

“Any kind of music, any age, you 

are welcome to come in and have 

some fun,” Niblett said. 

It is not only local talent who perform 

here. Jack de Keyzer, the Juno 

award-winning blues guitarist, has 

also played here. 

“That’s a big name,” said Niblett. 

Gary Forster said he has been 

playing at SBAJB for seven years. 

He said he started to play during a 

break in his employment. 

“My goal is to learn how to play, 

and then entertain the less fortunate,” 

he said. 

He told a story of how an elderly 

lady in a nursing home gradually 

became more animated after she 

heard him sing and play. 

“Music is an international language,” 

said Forster. 

Liam Currie, a Durham College 

finance student, was at the open 

mic event to celebrate his birthday. 

“I’m from Wasaga Beach where 

there is no live music. I always try 

and hunt for live music,” said Currie. 

He said he likes all different 

genres of music.“It’s good to have 

variety,” said Currie.

Sports chronicle.durhamcollege.ca January 24 - 30, 2017 The Chronicle 19 

Steroids: Taking the easy way out 


The Chronicle 

Muscle fibers tear in the arms of 

21 year old Matthew Kalisz. With 

each set of weights he lifts, more 

fibers tear. This is how muscles 

grow. After a workout, the human 

body repairs damaged muscle fibers 

through a cellular process to 

create a new muscle with thicker 

fibers. This is what people do to 

achieve their desired body goals. 

Sometimes the natural process isn’t 

enough. Many people who work 

out opt to add supplements to help 

make the process faster, to make 

their muscles even bigger. Matthew 

Kalisz is no stranger to this. 

“I started when I was 13 years 

old,” says Kalisz. “I took a basic 

protein powder at first.” 

Protein powder is the most commonly 

used supplement for gym 

goers. According to WebMD.com, 

protein shakes hold all nine essential 

amino acids needed for dietary 

needs. Amino acids help muscles 

grow and repair muscles faster. Yet, 

to many gym-goers, the basic supplements 

are not enough and take 

many different supplements to help 

make their muscles bigger. 

One of the main reason people 

take supplements is body image. 

Surprisingly, these body issues 

mainly affect men. According to 

yearofthemale.com, a study of 394 

British men showed men are more 

uncomfortable with their body 

image than women. The results 

showed that 80 per cent of men talk 

negatively about their body compared 

to 75 per cent of women. At 

least 60 per cent of the men thought 

their arms and chest were too small. 

To reach the ideal image, many 

men who go to the gym take quite 

a lot of supplements. 

“For the first two years I was taking 

whey protein, creatine, glutamine, 

amino acids, multi vitamins, 

all that stuff,” Says Kalisz, “But, 

I’ve cut down.” 

They look at the various supplements 

out there that work on their 

specific body image goals and take 

what they believe is needed to reach 

their goal. Sometimes, they will 

take more than the recommended 

Dean Daley 

The Chronicle 

‘New year, new me’ is a common 

phrase said by many whenever the 

year changes and 2017 is no different. 

Anyone from children to the 

elderly make 

New Year’s resolutions each year 

that focus on just about anything, 

but according to some media reports, 

getting healthy is the most 

common resolution made. 

dose to help the process go faster. 

As they see a difference in their 

body, they begin to find more supplements 

to help reach their goals 

since results have been shown on 

their body. However, the more 

supplements, the more possibility 

of side effects. 

Kalisz took many various supplements 

to help him achieve his 

body image goals in his first two 

years of working out. Though, as he 

kept working out, he began to realize 

there wasn’t any point to many 

of the supplements he was taking. 

Kalisz found alternative ways to 

get the nutrients his body needed 

through a changed diet. 

The overuse of supplements can 

actually be a danger to the human 

body. According to livescience.com 

a study of 193 men showed that 29 

per cent were concerned for their 

health because of the amount of 

supplements they were taking and 

3 per cent where hospitalized because 

the supplements damaged 

their kidneys and liver. 

Liver and kidney damage is 

With the increase of people going 

to LA Fitness it’s clear to see those 

reports are accurate. 

According to Sudesh Tambyana, 

the general manager of LA Fitness 

at 350 Taunton Road in Whitby, 

there is a considerable increase of 

interest in the gym. 

“I’d say it’s an increased amount 

maybe 20 - 25 per cent than normal,” 

says Tambyana about the 

increase of memberships per day 

since the New Year. During other 

times of the year LA Fitness sees 

Games in your backyard 

Generals: Jan. 29, Oshawa vs. London, 6:05 p.m. 

Tribute Communities Centre 

Photograph by Frank Katradis 

Ryan Shivpaul holds a poster with information about steroids. 

common to those who abuse supplements, 

the content of these supplements 

are sometimes too hard on 

the organs. Nicole Foster, a nurse 

in the Durham Region, says the 

effects of liver and kidney damage 

could be very serious. 

“I’m sure there could be either 

acute or chronic effects,” says Foster. 

“I’m sure that the worse the 

addiction gets, the more sever the 

effects would be. “ 

Both effects hold very serious outcomes 

on the human body. 

“Acute injury on the liver would 

cause bloodwork abnormalities,” 

Foster says, Vomiting, diarrhea, 

bleeding in the gastrolienal intestinal 

track. If it gets worse all of it 

could turn into turn into chronic 

effects, which would be bad. That 

would include jaundice, ascites, liver 

shut down and needing a new 

liver or you probably wouldn’t survive.” 

The effects for kidneys are just as 

unpleasant. According to Foster if 

there is chronic damage to the kidneys 

it would be irreversible. “The 

Creating a solution for that resolution revolution 

about eight new members per day, 

but since the year has started that 

number has increased to about 12 

new memberships per day. 

“Everyone wants to start the 

New Year the right way,” says 

Tambyana. 

More members are not only joining 

but attending gym regularly as 

well, Tambyana says. More members 

are also asking about personal 

trainers. 

“A lot of people wait for the calendar 

to turn to make their goals 

individual would need to be dialysis 

for the rest of their life.” Foster says. 

To increase their size and reach 

their goals, some gym-goers use 

steroids. Kalisz says he has never 

taken steroids, but knows what they 

do. 

“It helps you gain muscle in 

a short period of time,” he says, 

“But, it’s nothing compared to 

supplements, there are a lot more 

side effects.” 

According to mayoclinic.org, 

some of the side effects of steroids 

include: aggressive behavior, severe 

acne, psychiatric disorders such as 

depression, drug dependence, high 

blood pressure, liver abnormalities, 

and tumors. 

Not many people want to talk 

about taking steroids. It is something 

that wouldn’t be brought 

up in friendly conversation in the 

gym. However, steroids are there 

and while they might not be visible, 

their syringes are. Many gyms such 

as Goodlife have syringe dispensers 

in the change rooms of their gyms. 

It is a way to clean up the change 

rooms so they are not littered, and 

to help get rid of the evidence of 

steroid abuse. 

Ryan Shivpaul is a personal 

trainer at FLEX; the Durham 

College and UOIT gym, where 

there are no dispensaries. He helps 

people achieve their goals in the 

gym every day he is there, and he 

has seen it before. 

“It’s definitely more of an underground 

thing,” he says of steroids, 

“. Seems to be a popular with 

people just trying to get a quick fix 

for getting big as fast as possible, 

a lot of the people don’t consider 

the draw backs about it when do it, 

yeah, your muscles are growing.” 

According to Shivpaul, the human 

tendons and ligaments don’t grow 

as fast as muscles do on steroids, 

because of this people who are on 

the drug are likely to get injured 

quite often. 

Dangers come with taking steroids: 

your muscles could tear, you 

could develop more features of the 

other gender (depending if you are 

a male or female). Steroids have a 

lot of effects. 

According to MayoClinic.org, 

and start their goal setting, which 

is good, but we feel it’s better to 

get proactive any time of year, but 

if New Year is the gimmick that 

works why not.” 

LA Fitness is not the only gym 

benefiting from the New Year Durham 

College and UOIT’s shared 

gym is also seeing more activity. 

Daniel Blagrove, who works for 

the school's Flex facility, says there 

has been a lot more people at their 

gym. 

“Yeah, we’re definitely seeing 

Men’s Volleyball: Jan. 26, Durham vs. Georgian, 

8 p.m., CRWC 

anabolic steroids have two main effects. 

Steriods increase muscle mass 

and strength, as well as giving the 

body a higher dose of testosterone. 

This can add male traits, such as a 

deeper voice and hair growth. Steroids 

can also increase estrogen levels, 

giving men female features such 

as breasts. Many athletes who take 

steroids for performance enhancing 

purposes take much more than the 

recommended dosage. This can 

have major negative effects on the 

body, as well as their carrier. 

Ken Babcock, the athletic director 

for Durham College, helps 

student athletes who are trying to 

achieve their physical goals without 

using steroids. 

Babcock knows steroids are 

illegal and stats that all student 

athletes fall under Sport Canada’s 

anti-drug and drug doping policy. 

“Sport Canada and under the 

Canadian Centre for Ethics in 

Sport. So the CCES has a program 

so that applies to our student athletes 

as well, all our student athletes 

have to comply, go through education, 

go through online education, 

go through screening and there all 

subject to testing with their collegiate 

careers here with penalties, 

much like penalties to Olympic athletes, 

they will be penalized, should 

they break the rules.” Babcock says. 

The coaching staff are aware of 

these rules. If student athletes want 

to compete in sports, they have to 

abide by these rules, or risk not being 

able to play the sport they are 

passionate about. 

Kalisz is also passionate about 

a sport, he does Muay Thai and is 

training to face others in the ring. 

He wants to win, but he refuses to 

risk his chances by taking steroids. 

Kalisz believes nowadays there is 

no need to take so many supplements, 

and certainly not steroids. 

He says there is more to achieving 

body image goals as well as keeping 

in fit shape for sports. 

“It’s a supplement, it’s meant to 

help you,” he says, 

“However, you shouldn’t have 

to rely on them. You also need a 

good diet, you need a steady workout 

program, a workout program 

that makes sense. 

a lot of new faces,” says Blagrove. 

The Flex facility is seeing a lot of 

action because of the free fitness 

classes being offered for the week. 

Blagrove agrees the New Year has 

attracted a lot more students and 

staff to the gym. 

Although the school gym is free, 

LA Fitness has a lot of amenities 

that impact their membership, says 

Tambyana. 

LA Fitness, opened on the final 

day of 2014 and also features a 

swimming pool. 

Men’s Basketball: Jan. 24, Durham vs. Seneca, 

8 p.m., Campus Recreation and Wellness Centre 

(CRWC) 

. 

Women’s Basketball: Jan. 24, Seneca vs. Durham, 

6 p.m., CRWC 

Women's Volleyball Jan. 26, Durham vs. Georgian, 

6 p.m., CRWC


Sports 

Lords win gold at home 

DC women's 

volleyball 

team wins the 

Adidas Cup for 

the first time 

in 12 years 

Christopher Jones 

The Chronicle 

To say that the Durham Lords 

women’s volleyball team has been 

good this season is an understatement. 

The Lords have been unbeaten 

through 11 games in their own 

conference, (at the Chronicle’s 

deadline). 

No moment better exemplifies 

the Lords play as their performance 

at the Adidas Cup hosted at 

Durham College on Jan. 6-7, where 

they won all but one set, defeating 

the Loyalist Lancers in two straight 

for the final. 

“We are actually so excited that 

we won that,” said Megan Romain, 

a second year setter on the team. 

She also said winning the Adidas 

Cup at home was a big boost to the 

team’s morale. 

While the team feels confident, 

head coach Tony Clarke admits 

there was not a significant challenge 

for the Lords in the tournament. 

“It was nice to win, but not all of 

the best teams were there,” Clarke 

said, adding it’s been a long time 

since Durham won its own tourney. 

“However, it was nice to come out 

with a win after having a 12-year 

drought.” 

The Lords hope to keep this 

trend going through the rest of the 

season. 

“We’ll keep on continuing to 

build, and try to turn that switch 

on because we compete well in our 

league and all that stuff,” Clarke 

said. 

“So we have to turn that switch 

on in order to get a little bit better 

and to push and compete well 

against the west teams in the provincial 

championships.” 

Photograph courtesy of Scott Dennis 

The Lords women's volleyball team celebrate after winning the Adidas Cup at home. 

Ridgebacks hockey teams 

shooting towards the playoffs 

Logan Caswell 

The Chronicle 

The UOIT men’s and women’s 

hockey teams are more than halfway 

through their seasons, and 

both teams are shooting towards 

playoffs. 

The men started strong winning 

eight of their first ten games. However, 

things have been a little rocky 

recently with Ben Blasko and Jason 

Shaw battling injuries. 

After a strong start, the men 

were ranked fourth on the national 

U-Sport rankings. But it’s been an 

up and down season ever since. The 

men dropped to sixth in the standings, 

one point behind the Université 

du Québec à Trois-Rivières 

(UQTR) Patriotes for fifth place, 

and two points behind the Carleton 

Ravens for fourth place. 

Cameron Yuill, captain of the 

Ridgeback’s men’s team, said his 

team needs to get focused before 

the playoffs, and he hopes to see 

his team get healthy. 

“We have seven games to build 

towards playoffs, get in good habits 

and get everyone healthy, so we 

can hit the playoffs in full stride,” 

said Yuill. 

The men finished fourth last 

season, and eventually lost to the 

Carleton Ravens in the second 

round of the playoffs. 

We're starting 

to see what we 

want. We know 

the task at hand. 

It'll probably 

come down to 

the last week. 

Ridgebacks coach, Curtis 

Hodgins, thinks his men have a 

chance, as the top eight teams from 

each conference make the playoffs. 

Hodgins is in his second year in 

charge of the men’s team. He says 

his team’s confidence isn’t high now, 

but he hopes to see his team get into 

the right mindset come the playoffs. 

“All we’re worried about here is 

playing the right kind of hockey and 

getting that confidence back up,” 

said Hodgins. 

The men are not the only team 

on the ice. The Ridgebacks women 

have won four of their last six games. 

The women have also had a season 

of highs and lows. They lost 

their first three games of the year, 

and at one point, sat at 3-7. 

However, they have been clawing 

their way up the standings, and are 

only one point behind Brock University. 

This gives them a chance at 

the eighth, and final, playoff spot in 

their conference. 

Women’s head coach, Justin 

Caruana, says he’s happy with how 

his team is playing, but he knows it 

won’t be easy to make the playoffs. 

“We’re starting to see what we 

want,” said Caruana.” We know 

the task at hand. It’ll probably come 

down to the last week of the season. 

We take care of ourselves and we 

should be fine.” 

The Adidas Cup won’t breed 

overconfidence within the Lords, 

Romain said. 

“We constantly know that there 

are things we need to improve on. 

Although, as a team we know we 

have the skills and abilities to do 

what we need to do to win. But 

there’s times that we know that we 

need to do something to make it 

even easier for us to go where we 

need to go without getting overconfident.” 

We have to turn 

the switch on 

in order to get 

a little bit better 

and to push and 

compete against 

the west teams. 

Romain and Clarke both 

stressed the need for the team to 

remain grounded and to not let 

their winning ways get to their 

heads. Romain noted the importance 

of making sure everyone goes 

to practices, remembers to train, 

and that everyone stays on top of 

their school work. 

While the Lords have had a 

strong season up to this point, they 

still have a long way to go before 

the end of the season. Their next 

game will be played on Jan. 26 at 

home versus the Georgian Grizzlies 

at 6 p.m. at the Campus Recreation 

and Wellness Centre. 

Lords dominate 

at the beach 

Joshua Nelson 

The Chronicle 

Beach volleyball? In the middle 

of winter? It was a cool idea and 

Durham College made it happen 

– sort of. 

Durham brought its fans out of 

the cold and then the Lords turned 

up the heat indoors, sweeping Seneca 

in a beach-themed men’s and 

women’s volleyball doubleheader 

on Jan 12. 

“Second semester, it’s the winter, 

a lot of people maybe have the 

blues, so it was just something to get 

students engaged, have something 

different go on at a home game 

as opposed to just regular T-shirt 

tosses,” said Chris Cameron, special 

events coordinator for DC athletics. 

The women’s team kicked off the 

doubleheader with a 25-23 win in 

the first set against Seneca. The 

team then moved into the second 

and third sets winning easily over 

the Sting, 25-14 and 25-16. 

“We have some good options offensively…we 

have the experience 

too... but we just need to get going 

more and to keep pushing and I 

think that with the experience, 

that helps out,” said women's head 

coach, Tony Clarke. 

The Lords men’s team capped 

off the night with a sweep over the 

Sting, which improves its record to 

9-1. 

The Lords fought through the 

first set to come out on top 25-21. 

Durham continued to fight through 

the second set coming from behind 

to win 25-20. They finished off Seneca 

with a resounding 25-11 victory 

in the third set. 

“I know sometimes when we play 

weaker teams we tend to get really 

cocky, we tend to get mouthy. As 

long as we stay humble we will do 

very good,” said John Pham, who 

finished with 30 assists in his game. 

“One of the things we have to 

work with as the coaches for this 

group of players is making sure that 

we play for each other and that we 

come together as a team,” said 

George Matsusaki, head coach for 

the men’s team. 

The men’s and women’s teams 

will move on to face the Georgian 

Grizzlies at home on Jan. 26 

in another doubleheader with the 

women’s team playing at 6 p.m. and 

the men’s team play at 8 p.m.

CHRONICLE 16-17 ISSUE 08

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