Durham Chronicle 17-18 Issue 12

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12 The Chronicle April 24 - 30, 2018 chronicle.durhamcollege.ca Campus Porn can affect intimacy in young couples A debate on the 'new drug' Tegan Sonley The Chronicle Pornography addiction is a cause for concern, especially among young people, according to some experts. Clay Olsen, founder of Fight the New Drug based in Utah, was on campus earlier this year to talk about the very real consequences of this addiction. He says Fight the New Drug was created to inform people of the harmful effects of pornography on the brain, heart, and more specifically, intimate relationships. “The rising generation today is dealing with these issues to an intensity that no generation in the history of the world has ever seen,” Olsen says. “That alone should warrant some attention or some discussion around the subject.” Kyra Cooper, student president of the Campus Ministry at Durham College, helped to put together the event for students and residents in the community. “I think the main point was that we recognized as a group that pornography was something that impacted a lot of peoples’ lives,” she says. “It’s something secretive that people don’t want to talk about.” It’s difficult to find statistics on porn addiction in Canada because until recently, this addiction wasn’t studied as a serious problem, according to Olsen. He says only in the last few years have doctors been treating it more seriously. Jade Cyr, a student at Durham College in the General Arts and Sciences program, says it should Photograph by Trisha Kundu Acting Det. Drew Groves of Durham Regional Police Services' Investigation Unit. be treated like any other addiction. “It can be debilitating for the person undergoing it and embarrassing because it’s not like conventional addictions,” she says. And this is just the start. Generation Z, which includes anyone age 3 to 23 as of 2018, is the first generation to have pornography readily accessible to them by way of the internet, according Olsen. “Due to the digital nature of their upbringing” young people, especially young couples, are more at risk of pornography addiction, he says. This addiction, according to research gathered by Fight the New Drug, can affect future relationships if it’s not addressed. “We talked to countless individuals about how pornography has affected all, if not almost all, aspects of their dating and relationships,” says Olsen. “What the research shows is it warps sexual templates. And so, individuals over time start to develop a new template.” He says the rewiring of these templates can affect who these individuals have interest in, as well as how they view and treat their partners. Olsen says, the impact can be “profound and can affect intimacy in young couples.” For years, there was nothing known about recovery other than “white-knuckling’” through it, according to Olsen. But now he says there’s more research on porn addiction, and groups in the community have been popping up to help people recover. These can range from rehabilitation programs to therapy. One such group is the Fortify program, started by Olsen as an extension of Fight the New Drug. He says nearly 100,000 people have entered the program from more than 150 countries to date. The program measures outcomes of depression levels, loneliness scores, and pornography use, as well as duration. “We’re seeing that those that participate in the program have a significant decline in pornography use, depression and anxiety symptoms, as well as a significant increase in connections with other people and hope for the future,” Olsen explains. “I can’t speak for all options out there, but as far Photograph by Tegan Sonley Clay Olsen, founder of Fight the New Drug, spoke at an anti-pornography seminar at Durham College on February 12. as results, I can speak to what we have.” According to Cooper, students need facts to see how dangerous this addiction can be for their own relationships. “You can’t ignore cold hard facts so that’s why we brought Clay in,” she says. Olsen says having the facts will help convince one of the least trusting generations, Gen Z, of the dangers of pornography addiction. He understands not everyone will agree but he hopes that enough people will listen to the research to start helping people recover. “That’s our goal. That’s where we stop. We say here’s the facts, here’s the research, make your call,” says Olsen. The art of forensics can fill gaps in investigations Trisha Kundu The Chronicle Gordon Jenish, president of Jenish Forensic Engineering in Oshawa, has investigated many cases. He recalls one story from early 2000s when he was contacted by the police to investigate a car accident. The accident involved a husband and a wife whose car swerved off the road and fell into shallow waters, killing the wife. There were no witnesses and the “driver’s story seemed credible… someone cut him off,” said Jenish. However, he said a deeper investigation revealed it was likely a first-degree murder. He said police initially treated the case as an accident and they missed some evidence, such as tire marks. They were gone due to workers walking on the grass, according to Jenish. He said the police later discovered the husband’s motive for the murder and he was convicted, in part due to Jenish’s work. He said that happens sometimes. “But if there are shortcomings in a police investigation we may be able to uncover that,” said Jenish. William Jennings, a forensic engineer at the same firm, describes the difference. He said police are “accident re-constructionists” while his company works mainly with forensics. Forensic investigators collect evidence or reconstruct scenes using computer simulation techniques, physical laboratory evidence, and their inferences are based on science. They use 3D-scanners and UAV laser scanners, a machine that collects data using drones, to identify blood patterns which might have been wiped off of a crime scene. One of the main challenges with forensics is that each side hires an expert who interprets the evidence in different ways, making it sometimes an “adversarial” business, according to Jennings. Forensic investigation is an “interpretation-based business,” said Jennings, with police having a certain expertise because they are the first to arrive on scene. He said private investigators often face the challenge of lack of circumstantial evidence because they might be contacted to investigate a case which has been going on years. On the police side, there are other challenges too. Changing technology, extended working hours, and mental and physical demands of the work itself are some of the challenges faced by forensic investigators, said Acting Det. Drew Groves of Durham Regional Police Services. He said the police sometimes deal with infant deaths, which makes them question, “Could that be your child?” “Keeping everyone’s mental health here good is one of our main challenges. But we take care of ourselves very well,” said Groves. Some of the things they see are so graphic, it might affect them, he said. “I think if you do this job and nothing affects you then I think there’s some serious issues that need to be addressed.” He said the duration of an investigation depends on the complexity of the case itself. For example, a recent discovery of human remains in Oshawa took months of investigation. Sometimes investigations can take years to solve because of the “meticulous, methodical and tedious work,” he said. People have tried to clean up scenes and hide the crimes they’ve committed, according to Groves. The Forensic Identification Unit of Durham police works with the homicide unit to solve a case with the former collecting the evidence and the latter investigating the cases, said Groves. Forensic investigators, private and the police, say they have a duty to the public, before anyone else, to convey the truth.
Campus chronicle.durhamcollege.ca April 24 - 30, 2018 The Chronicle 13 You really can't 'beet' UOIT's Regional Science Fair Cameron Andrews The Chronicle Some schools have them, some schools don’t. But there are some science fairs that you can apply to even if you don’t go to that school or plan to go there. The Regional Science Fair is one of them. It has been held at UOIT for the last 14 years. The science fair is open to all students in Grade 4 to Grade 12, and even students that are homeschooled are allowed to compete. The fair consists of four age groups, including Elementary Grade 4-6, Junior Grade 7-8, Intermediate Grade 9-10 and Senior Grade 11-12. This year’s fair had 68 projects and 70 students from more than two dozen schools from Durham Region. The event also had more than 250 visitors from family to teachers and the general public. Baasil Khan from Valley Farm P.S. in Pickering, brought a project that was on the master controller. It makes a remote able to control for everything that has a power source in your room or house. His project won an honourable mention at the fair. He said this fair was the first he competed at and he wanted to try it out because it looked fun. His mother told him about the fair. His project was made for elderly people so that they wouldn’t have to get up and be in pain when turning a light on or off, or turning off something that didn’t have a remote. “I want to do something more advanced next year,” he said. Vincent Allert’s project showed how salt can help preserve food and Science Fair projects on display at UOIT. how long food would be preserved for judging by the amount of salt put into beets. Allert had a partner help him with the project. “For the science fair, we wanted to do something that would change the world and the human race,” he said. The jar of beets that lasted the longest lasted four weeks and it had 50 per cent salt in the jar. For the science fair, we wanted to do something that would change the world and the human race. “I want the competitors to learn and have fun at the fair, the prizes are bonuses,” said Mary Olaveson, the co-ordinator of the event. Olaveson says there are no restrictions to type of science projects for any level but there are restrictions on what students can do for the projects, like no testing on people without their consent. “If you are doing biology, you can’t use diseases or manipulating cells and no testing on animals for safety reasons,” she said. Olaveson also said some of the students are keen about science and want to learn more about other types of sciences. “It can get competitive at some points in the fair. Photograph by Cameron Andrews But it is still all about learning an having fun,” she said. There was also a special award given out this year. The Lake Simcoe Conservation Authority (LS- RCA) Award was given to Eric Taipale from Chris Hadfield P.S. in Brooklin. The grand prize winners were Shiv Patel and Jordan MacKellar who will now advance to the national Canada-Wide Science Fair that is being held in Ottawa from May 12 to the 18. The week-long CWSF features 500 top young scientists from all across Canada. This year, there were 11 award winners and five students that were given honorable mentions. Durham College's curriculum-building project continues in Kenya Photograph courtesy of Michelle Hutt Katie Boone (left), Durham College’s manager of International Projects and Partnerships, and Michelle Hutt, associate dean of the School of Business, with Tom Makomere and Samson Maswari, department heads at Sigalagala National Polytechnic in Kenya. DC makes return trip to Africa Tegan Sonley The Chronicle Durham College is working with post-secondary institutes in Kenya to help strengthen curriculum and teaching practices and work on gender equality. One project is led by Durham College at both Kitale National Polytechnic and Eldoret National Polytechnic. Its focus is on gender mainstreaming and bringing more women into leadership positions, as well as more female students into male-dominated industries. Durham College is also working alongside three other Canadian colleges at Sigalagala National Polytechnic to propose and create curriculum that would get students ready for certification in the solar PV and renewable energy industries. Solar Photovoltaic (PV) is a method of generating electricity by using solar cells to convert energy from the sun into electrons. These two projects are part of a bigger eight-project initiative called the Kenya Education for Employment Program (KEFEP). KEFEP is a five-year, $20.6 million program, funded by Global Affairs Canada. Durham College visited the three institutes in Kenya in February. While at Kitale and Eldoret, Katie Boone, Durham College’s manager of International Projects and Partnerships, spoke at a gender equality seminar during their 10-day trip. This workshop aimed to follow up on the gender mainstreaming, a concept that had been introduced earlier, and help institutional leaders recognize that it needed to be addressed within their schools. Michelle Hutt, the associate dean of the School of Business at Durham College, says the seminar helped define the differences between the biological sexes and how that can affect curriculum in terms of safety requirements. “If you have an individual who has built curriculum around a typically male industry, it might not address some of the physiological female characteristics,” she says. “For example, if I was in that program, it may not tell me to tie back my hair if I’m welding or working with something that generates flame.” While at Sigalagala, Durham College representatives worked with educators to host their first Industry Advisory Committee, which would help get real world industry feedback that could be used to help improve curriculum for future students. “My role, alongside the executive dean of our department, was to share a Canadian framework around program advisory committees,” says Hutt. “And for a Canadian perspective to be presented in terms of how they might shape their thinking.” One of the requirements for this project was for Canadian schools to propose curriculum that would engage industry, all while keeping in mind that what they’re developing would have to meet the needs or bridge the gaps for growth in industries where there are jobs. With this program, not only are the students in Kenya benefitting from a perspective outside their own locally driven education, Hutt says students at Durham College and partner colleges, Humber and Algonquin, are also getting the chance to benefit from an international perspective on education that is being brought back to shape their own curriculum. Hutt says the experience was “monumental” and “marked history in Kenya.” The next visit to Kenya takes place in May of this year and will include representatives and students from Durham College.
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Durham Chronicle 17-18 Issue 12

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