SPOKEMonday, March 10, 2014 conestoga college, Kitchener, ont. www.sPoKeonline.coM 45th year — no. 9

a l e a r n i n g n e w s r o o M f o r j o u r n a l i s M s t u d e n t s

region’s drivers distrust red light cameras.Page 5

Safety hazards?

Kwartzlaba place to create and learn.Page 7

Invention and innovation

BY HAILEY MERKT

Twenty-seven uniquely attired Conestoga College thrill-seekers took part in the on-campus Polar Plunge on Feb. 26 in support of the Breast Cancer Society of Canada.

Samantha Schwier, this year’s Conestoga Students Inc. (CSI) Polar Plunge orga-nizer, said this annual event has been taking place at the college for over 30 years.

Last year $6,500 was raised and there were over 38 jumpers.

This year, the daring divers raised an estimated $5,000 (a final total will be released in mid-March by CSI.

Jessica Froll, a first-year per-sonal support worker student, raised $609 of that $5,000, more than any other polar plunger.

One participant who may not have raised the most money but raised everyone’s eyebrows when taking a dip was Murray Hudon, a sec-ond-year respiratory thera-py student, who dressed as Miley Cyrus in her infamous Wrecking Ball video.

Both Froll and Hudson received a Boston Pizza gift card and movie passes for two for their ingenuity and

accomplishment. All participants received

warm hugs from Cliffy the Condor (Conestoga College’s mascot), warm towels, hot chocolate and steamy soup after making their jumps through -27 C air into an icy pool of water. The tempera-ture was 23 degrees colder than last year.

Jimmy Fallon, host of The Tonight Show, participated in a polar plunge of his own on March 2, raising proceeds for the Special Olympics Chicago.

This mainly Canadian and American charity event has grown exponentially since its inception over three decades ago.

However, polar plunges have been practised worldwide for decades as a chilling celebra-tion to welcome the new year. They tend to attract thou-sands of brave individuals who run wildly into bodies of nearly freezing water and fully submerge themselves before running back to the snow-filled land.

Conestoga’s Condors previ-ously performed this event by running into the pond on cam-pus but CSI made the switch to an above ground pool for hygienic reasons.

Taking the plunge for cancer

PHOTO BY HAILEY MERKTA polar plunger climbs out of the icy water on Feb. 26. He was helping raise money and awareness for the Breast Cancer Society of Canada. For another story and more photos, see Pages 8 and 9.

Bingemans has a wild weekend with creatures big and smallBY LAURIE SNELL

Bingemans Conference Centre isn’t used to having such wild guests take over their ban-quet halls.

However, on March 1 and 2, the exhibit, Dinosaurs Past and Present brought the out-doors inside for some strange sights and sounds – bird calls from owls, hawks and falcons, hops of a red kangaroo named Jack, slithers and hisses of a reticulated python and huffs from a mellow alligator called Crusher. However, these were nothing compared to the 38 ft. Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton that commanded visitors’ atten-tion upon entering the ballroom.

With strange sounds coming from every corner of the room, the common sound was the team of well-trained animal educators set on engaging and informing children about proper treatment of animals, using hands-on demonstra-tions and interactions with the dinosaur descendants to

showcase proper care. For educator Sean

Hemmaway, there are a few messages he hopes children take away from the event. “Leave the animals in the wild in the wild – never take animals … and do your research before you actually get an animal. Don’t just buy an animal from the pet store – you’ve got to do your research,” he said, adding that pet owners often don’t know enough about the breed or lifestyle of the pet they wish to have.

But the event and its employ-ees find it difficult to evade controversy. Educator Kevin Dungey explained to the audi-ence how they do what they can to enhance the lives of animals, and how misconstrued facts (such as the use of tape on an alligator) lead individuals to be upset with their process. Sitting on the stage, surrounded by children with Crusher the alli-gator’s head on his lap, Dungey told the story of how Little Ray’s Reptile Zoo rescued her.

“This animal here – I love Crusher. I’ve been with her ever since a couple years ago when they rescued her. When an ani-mal gets hurt in the wild – harms its fur, breaks its wing or crashed into a window and falls down, needing to be rescued – do we rescue that animal? Well, no. We let nature take its course. If you remove an injured bird from the wild, well then there’s a fox that doesn’t get dinner. So nature is nature. We don’t mess with nature. We res-cue these animals from people who think they are pets. This (alligator) was in somebody’s spare bedroom, and they gave us a phone call to say ‘hey my alligator is really sick and she’s not eating anymore, can you guys help me?’ … and we just rescued her – that’s what we do.”

He also explained the mis-conception that the alligator’s mouth is taped shut using duct tape, when in reality it is shut using electrical tape as a safety precaution. As part of his dem-

onstration, he took the tape off Crusher’s mouth and stuck it on himself to show how harm-less the tape is and that tap-ing her does not change how she would normally position her mouth. Dungey makes a point of clarifying this controversy at each show, and explained later that he left a well-paying job to pursue his passion for enriching the lives of animals.

While the travelling exhibit is meant to teach kids many valu-able lessons about the environ-ment, animals and conserva-tion, Hemmaway recalled com-ing to a similar event several years ago and feeling instantly inspired to work with animals in that capacity.

“I volunteered with the com-pany around seven years ago. I came to a display very much like this and didn’t know anybody and asked if there was anything I could do to help – any grunt work. They got me cleaning up lemur poop and cutting vegeta-bles for them and that was my very first job working for them

… once they figured out I knew my stuff and I could talk to peo-ple, working hands-on with ani-mals – I’ve been with them ever since,” Hemmaway said, adding that training is very thorough, but certain unexpected animals such as the kangaroo provide a different learning curve for the team.

“A lot of it is trial and error, learning with the animals or just book learning,” he said.

Another employee who is spe-cially trained to work with Jack the kangaroo is Kevin Orr. He said, “He gets a bit ornery. He likes to play wrestle and fight and try to procreate with the other males and zookeepers … he will socially box and fight other kangaroos and he’ll social-ly box and fight us too.” Orr added that he is on loan from the Toronto Zoo for the dura-tion of the tour and often tries to assert dominance. “We try to enhance the lives of the animals the best way we can,” he said.

continued on Page 6

Page 2 s SPOKE Monday, March 10, 2014NEWs

Now deep thoughts... with Conestoga College

Random questions answered by random studentsIf Kitchener put up $1 million

toward a community project, what would you like to see done?

“A program for kids to get involved in sports.”

Ivan Alborov,first-year

practical nursing

“A light-rail transit system that connects the whole region.”

Ilyas Bamaboor,first-year

robotics automation

“Greater investment in start-up firms.”

steve spahr,second-year

broadcast journalism

“Improve public transit wait times.”

Kai Fan,first-year

supply chain

“Parks and recreation for children – anything towards helping the kids. They are our future.”

Joe Dang,first-year

broadcast television

“A private school special-izing in 3D animation.”

Rachul saren,first-year

broadcast television

Smile Conestoga, you could be our next respondent!

Culture celebratedBY CALLIE WRIGGLEsWORTH

There are 65 differ-ent countries represented within the student popula-tion of Conestoga College. To celebrate the wide vari-ety of differences and simi-larities among the student body, Student Life, along with 15 other departments, hosted Cultural Diversity Week. From Feb. 24 to 28, each group put on activities to engage and educate students about different cultures.

“We definitely have a diverse population at Conestoga and we do want to celebrate it,” said Laura Black, Student Life programmer at the col-lege. “We have a large vari-ety of international education students in particular. A lot of the time there is home-sickness involved or they are so busy integrating and cel-ebrating Canadian culture that sometimes it is nice to try to learn more about their culture and show that we are taking a step forward to real-ly go out of our way to learn and integrate about their cul-tures as well.”

Some partners who were involved in the event offered activities in their offices dur-ing the week. Also, students in classes got together and researched different cultures creating displays that were showcased.

“They usually take a culture or a country that they iden-tify with or feel interested in learning more about and take an aspect of that cul-ture, so something like arts, recreation and leisure, his-tory, clothing or food and diet,

and they do a presentation on it,” Black said. “The display is full of information about the specific theme they have chosen and their interactive activities are supposed to be a way to get students engaged in that topic.”

On Feb. 25, Estephanie Abarca, a first-year human service foundation student, took part in the event and represented her own coun-try, El Salvador.

“It (Cultural Diversity Week) is important because I like to talk about my country since it has a lot of different cultures and things to talk about,” Abarca said.

The main focus of the week was the displays which were

done by students in different programs of the school.

“If they have any feedback about the event, we encour-age that because we do defi-nitely try to take that into consideration when planning multiple Culture Diversity Weeks throughout the year. We try to grow it each time, so any partnerships or any feedback is definitely appreci-ated,” Black said.

The event is run twice a year, in the fall and win-ter semesters. Any student interested in participating in the future is encouraged to contact Student Life. They are located across from Tim Hortons on the second level.

PHOTO BY CALLIE WRIGGLEsWORTHSoj Oshinyimika, a project management student, looks at a map of the world at Conestoga during Cultural Diversity Week. Students placed pins on the map to show where they were from.

PHOTO BY CALLIE WRIGGLEsWORTHTamvir Mamm, an enhanced nursing critical care student, adds her splash of colour to a canvas painting representing the Dominican Republic during a Cultural Diversity Week activity.

BY KELSEY DUNBAR

On the second Thursday of every month, the Homer Watson House and Gallery opens its antique doors and invites guests to come in and enjoy a lecture about the vari-ous arts and cultures in the city.

The City of Kitchener’s co-ordinator of cultural heritage planning, Leon Bensason, will be speaking at the gallery about conserv-ing cultural heritage land-scapes on Thursday, March 13. The lecture begins at noon and the admission fee is $10. All of the proceeds go to the gallery’s children’s programs. Lectures are about 40 minutes followed by a 20-minute question and answer period.

The Homer Watson House and Gallery is holding these lunchtime lecture events to create awareness of the cul-ture and heritage of our city.

“These lectures will give our guests more tools to enjoy and appreciate art, because if you don’t know what your looking at it is sometimes hard to enjoy it,” said Faith Hieblinger, executive director of the gallery.

The lunchtime lecture series will help people get the most out of art, culture and heri-tage. Guests will learn to understand nature, environ-ment, culture and even politics from key moments in time.

Hieblinger said she could talk about the historic art-ist, Homer Watson, in every lecture because there is enough information about him to share, however, they

will have other guest speak-ers in the upcoming months. For example, Joe Fansher will talk and demonstrate how he teaches how to draw portrai-tures in April, and in May Dave Schultz, manager of the Grand River Conservation Authority, will talk about the 20th anniversary of the

Grand River being designated a Canadian heritage river.

Bensason is the winner of the Waterloo Region Heritage Foundation’s Sally Thorsen Award of Excellence for his outstanding contributions to the city. As the City of Kitchener’s first heritage planner, Bensason has seen

the change in the heritage preservation community throughout the years.

Bensason volunteered to fill the position in 1992 and has been working for the city ever since.

“I am part of a round table of municipality heritage plan-ners and we meet twice a

year. Today, when we meet, there is a good 60 or 70 of us … when I started in the early ’90s we all sat around one table. There were prob-ably eight of us … It has really grown in terms of inter-est and now we have two heritage planners within our municipality,” Bensason said.

Monday, March 10, 2014 SPOKE s Page 3NEWS

Faith Hieblinger (from left) and Danya Horst are shown with Leon Bensason at the Homer Watson House and Gallery. Bensason will be speaking there on Thursday.

PHOTOS BY KELSEY DUNBARLeon Bensason looks out over the historic landscape surrounding the Homer Watson House and Gallery. Bensason is the City of Kitchener’s co-ordinator of cultural heritage planning and the next guest speaker at the gallery’s lunchtime lecture on Thursday, March 13.

Legacy, lunch and a lecture featured at gallery

Proceeds from the Homer Watson House and Gallery’s lunchtime lectures go to the gallery’s chil-dren’s programs.

Page 4 s SPOKE Monday, March 10, 2014COMMENTARY

Are video games art? It’s a question I’ve heard asked more and more in recent months because of how tech-nology for video games has advanced, making it pos-sible to immerse the gamer in a world much more than ever before, and also because games are beginning to tell much more engrossing sto-ries that can rival some of the best literature or films. Games like the Last of Us or Bioshock: Infinite, two games released in the past year, were praised for their gripping storytelling over all other mechanics of the game by some reviewers. And other indie masterpieces such as Limbo, Braid or Fez have been referred to as “art games” by many in a simi-lar way that some films are referred to as “art house.”

And as someone who has grown up right in the middle of the gaming boom, I would argue that there have always been games that can be called art. According to the Canadian Oxford Dictionary, art is “the various branches of creative activity concerned with the production of imagi-native designs, sounds, ideas, etc.”

Video games fit this description perfectly. They are filled with creative ideas and imagination, and often-times have the ability to inspire and trigger emotions in the player.

Video games are also much more immersive than other mediums. When you look at a painting you admire the technique. Some can get lost in the colours or the scene displayed on the canvas. Movies and books tell you a story and get you invested in their characters. But with video games you are the character. Every decision that the character makes (aside from predetermined decisions) are all yours. A good game can put you in the shoes of the character, and can make you feel his fear, sadness or excitement.

For example, a horror film like Saw will scare you because what you see is so

horrifying and gruesome. But in a horror-themed video game like Resident Evil you are in control of the situation. This makes it much more terrifying than any film because you are experiencing everything through the character rather than watching someone else experience it.

And with ever-evolving technology, it is becoming much easier for develop-ers to create worlds that look more realistic and tell stories in a more accessible way through voice actors as opposed to text boxes. This is why the question, “Are video games art,” has been asked more and more recently, because video games have become more mainstream and people are beginning to recognize the strength in storytelling and impressiveness of games.

So what is the answer?Some people still hold that

video games are just toys that can entertain their kids for a couple of hours before they tell them to go to bed. But for those of us who play these games and understand them better, for us they are art.

Art in a virtual world

LRT not a hitBY RANdi ClARkE

Light Rail Transit will not be making its way to Cambridge, and its residents are furious. Their mayor, Doug Craig, told 570 News on March 4 that some resi-dents want to see the city separate from the region over this issue.

However, Craig said, “You just simply can’t withdraw from the Region, that’s a provincial jurisdiction and that is a complicated and long process. I’ve been get-ting a number of emails from residents in Cambridge. I think what has to be understood – people in Cambridge are angry about this.”

Residents have every right to be upset. Think about it – it’s like your friends going out to watch a movie and expecting you to pay for everything, even though you weren’t invited to watch with them. That’s just not fair.

Geographically speaking, Cambridge can’t host LRT like Kitchener and Waterloo can. The city is too dis-persed to ever be able to meet the region’s criteria for extending the LRT there. So instead, they are getting express buses.

LRT is expected to cost $1.9 billion, which will cover con-struction, design, finance, operation and maintenance. It, and the bus expansion, will be paid for by a tax increase of up to 12.9 per cent spread over eight years.

According to Thomas Schmidt, the region’s commis-soner of transportation and environment services, the construction alone will cost $532 million. He also said money will be spent on relocations and land purchases.

The Light Rail Transit construction will begin any-where from late summer to next year.

Kitchener and Waterloo will be transformed by 19 kilometres of LRT going from Conestoga Mall located in Waterloo all the way to Fairview Park Mall located in Kitchener.

“This is a made in Kitchener and Waterloo plan, with a bill sent to Cambridge,” Craig told the Cambridge Times.

Craig said the LRT is the elephant in the room and it has had a serious effect on the 2014 budget. It has taken up too much time and has consumed too many agendas.

“This is the wrong mode of transportation in the wrong place at the wrong price and at the wrong time,” Craig said.

Cambridge residents shouldn’t be expected to pay for something that they will not use, After all, none of the townships in the region will financially contribute, as they won’t be receiving the service.

The views herein represent the position of the newspaper, not necessarily the author.

Bruce ChessellOpinion

Spoke welcomes letters to the editor. Letters should be signed and include the name and telephone number of the writer. Writers will be contact-ed for verification.No unsigned letters will be published.Letters should be no longer

than 500 words.Spoke reserves the right to edit

any letter for publication.Email letters to: www.spokeonline.com with the subject line

“Letter to the Editor,” or bring them to Room 1C30 at the Doon campus.

letters are welcome

Ellen Degeneres hosted the Oscars, invigorating everyone with her humour.

SpOkEi S P u B L i S h E D a N D P R O D u C E D W E E K L y B y T h E j O u R N a L i S M S T u D E N T S O f C O N E S T O g a C O L L E g E

Editor: Laurie SnellAssignment Editors: Steph Smith, Kelsey DunbarAdvertising Managers: Tyler Batten, ashley KowitzSpoke Online Editors: Brandon hommel, Katrina Edlefsen, Spencer Beebe, Devon hayes,

aaron Crecesproduction Managers: Casey Schellenberger, jody anderson, Tony McLellan

photo Editors: greg Stamper, Mark Lorentz, Cody Steeves, Bruce Chessell, Callie Wrigglesworth, Becky Sheasby, Cole froude, Randi Clarke

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Spoke’s address is 299 Doon Valley Dr., Room 1C30, Kitchener, Ontario, N2g 4M4. Phone: 519-748-5220, ext. 3691, 3692, 3693, 3694fax: 519-748-3534Email: spoke@conestogac.on.caWebsite: www.spokeonline.com

The views and opinions expressed in this newspaper do not necessarily reflect the views of Conestoga College. Spoke shall not be liable for any damages arising out of errors in advertising beyond the amount paid for the space. Letters to the editor are subject to acceptance or rejection and should be clearly written or typed; a MS Word file would be helpful. Letters must not contain any libellous statements.

Monday, March 10, 2014 SPOKE s Page 5NEWS

Red light camera: Proceed with cautionBY AARON CRECES

You’re approaching the intersection at a speed of 50 km/h when you see the sign that warns you of a camera ahead. The light turns yel-low as you approach and you begin braking, but the person driving the pickup in the lane beside you has other plans. Flooring it, he races to beat the red, but the light changes just before he hits the inter-section and he is forced to brake – getting rear-ended by another vehicle in the pro-cess.

Who do you blame? The guy driving the pickup, or the camera he feared so much that he risked his own well-being and endangered oth-ers?

Red light cameras were first introduced to Waterloo Region in 2008, with more installed in later years. Designed to make K-W inter-sections more secure by pre-venting angle collisions (col-lisions that aren’t direct fron-tal impacts or rear-enders), those photographed running a red are subject to a stiff $325 fine.

There are 16 cameras cur-rently in operation at inter-sections around the region, and it looks like they’ve been doing their job. Tickets were issued to 7,528 red light runners in 2011, with 9,257 issued in 2012.

One thing causing some people to question their pres-ence is the fact that revenue generated by red light cam-eras goes right into region-al coffers. This allowed the regional government to earn a cool $2 million in 2012 from ticket money alone.

It’s not quite as menacing as it sounds. The region low-ers property taxes with the money. In 2013, the budget allotted to ease taxes was $350,000.

According to the U.S. Transportation Research Board, however, property tax cuts are not where that money should be going if offi-cials want a more positive response to the cameras. The board suggested revenue gen-erated by red light tickets go toward traffic safety pro-grams.

“Otherwise,” the board stat-ed, “the public may perceive the program as being run for creating revenue instead of improving safety.”

But how does the public per-ceive the program?

Many K-W residents see red light cameras as a fair and accurate way to make sure speeders are disciplined for their actions, and with good reason. According to Waterloo

transportation engineering manager Bob Henderson, “Red light cameras have reduced angle collisions caused by disobeying traffic control in the direction the camera enforces by 27 to 34 per cent.”

Henderson also pointed out that the devices have reduced turning collisions overall at intersections fitted with them.

However, there are also many residents who believe red light cameras shouldn’t be used.

“Red light cameras are a cash grab,” said Terance Awrey, a Kitchener resident. “If you inch into the red even a little bit, no people around, nobody’s going to get hurt but you get stuck with a huge fine.

“It’s ridiculous.”This kind of opinion is not

uncommon, and not totally unjustifiable.

For instance, according to recently collected Waterloo

Transportation data, rear-end collisions at lights equipped with cameras have increased from 23 to 44 per cent. This has led to an increase in injuries and dam-ages, though those injuries are less fatal.

A small increase (seven accidents) in left-turn crash-es created some speculation by The Waterloo Region Record as to whether motor-ists may drive too aggres-sively out of fear of being ticketed if the light turns red while they remain stuck in a left-turn lane. According to Bob Henderson, this is a misguided view.

“Since information regard-ing when motorists turn left is not available, it cannot

be assumed that drivers are turning left more aggressively and getting into collision for fear of red-light camera tick-ets,” Henderson said in an email.

“There is no conclusive evidence that suggests this change was effectively a result of the camera.”

So the cameras may increase crashes, but those crashes leave motorists significantly better off than being T-boned or side-swiped. It seems that the big problem is the simple fear of being ticketed.

Driver unease appears to be the issue here.

Conestoga student Dave DeCosta agrees. The second-year radio broadcast student

said he almost hit somebody at an intersection because going through the yellow made him uneasy.

“I pulled up to a yellow light coming back from school ... it was a really icy day,” he said.

“I’d thought to myself, ‘I know this red light has a camera on it,’ so I didn’t want to go through and I stopped, but since it was so icy my car slid a bit, almost spun out, and I nearly clipped a guy just because I was so worried about that light.”

It seems that as long as many drivers fear and dis-trust red light cameras, there will always be mistakes made at the wheel.

“Red light cameras are a cash grab.”

— Terance Awrey

PHOTOS BY AARON CRECESSmile, you’re on camera! This red light camera at Pioneer Drive and Homer Watson Boulevard is just one of 16 in operation around Kitchener-Waterloo.

Watch for these friendly neighbourhood red light camera warnings.

Little Ray’s Reptile Zoo, which is based in Ottawa, has partnered with the Canadian Raptor Conservancy to pres-ent Dinosaurs Past and Present as a travelling show throughout southwestern Ontario. Over 90 per cent of the exhibit’s animals have been given to Little Ray’s by the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA), municipal, provincial and federal gov-ernments and individuals seeking proper care for a creature.

The event was free for chil-dren younger than three, cost $10 per adult or $35 for a family of four. With the goal of teaching backyard and global conservation ini-tiatives and responsible pet ownership, attendees young and old could mark petting an archosaur – the name of the reptile group that these crocs, birds and dino-saurs fall under – off of their bucket list. Most attendees left surprised and satisfied at touching the scales and slime of an alligator, kan-garoo, python or a scorpion – an unusual opportunity for the region’s residents.

The demonstrations also included eight different spe-

cies of birds of prey – includ-ing owls, eagles, hawks and falcons – and each took their turn flying around the room, causing discomfort and amusement for attendees. With staff members taking turns interacting with each animal and sharing infor-mation about them, the range of animals involved keeps the reptile zoo staff’s knowledge base consistently growing.

For demonstrator Matthew Morgan, seeing the range of reactions to the animals pro-vides a sense of nostalgia for his own childhood curiosity about wild life.

“For young kids, they usu-ally try to reach out and touch (the birds) and for slightly older kids, they ask first. I mean, they never get to see these birds up close, they only ever get to see them when they’re flying around because when they’re sitting they don’t want to be seen.

“It’s fun when you finally get to see something up close – it’s interesting and amaz-ing, even though I’m prob-ably overselling it,” Morgan said.

“But I think kids like seeing these things up close so they can really see what’s going on in their backyards.”

Page 6 s SPOKE Monday, March 10, 2014NEWS

Families dig dinosaurs FrOM PagE 1

Animal educator Kevin Dungey refutes the misconception that duct tape is used to shut Crusher the alligator’s mouth. By removing electrical tape from his mouth and placing it on his own skin, Dungey shows the audience that the tape is harmless.

Orr teaches attendees about the mannerisms, eating habits and natural environment of kangaroos in Australia, comparing their prominence to deers in Canada.

PHOTOS BY LAURIE SNELLSean Hemmaway carries a kangaroo around during a hands-on wildlife exhibit at Bingemans.

Kevin Orr holds a python and explains to families the eating habits and body structure of snakes.

Crusher and Jack make Bingemans’ wild weekend guest list

Monday, March 10, 2014 SPOKE s Page 7feature

By SPeNCer BeeBe

“Invention; innovation; co-operation.”

The Kwartzlab Makerspace is a familiar sight for anyone who frequently visits down-town Kitchener. The building seems small, homely and unin-teresting at first glance – but take a step inside and you’ll find yourself in a wondrous world of intriguing inventions, charming crafts and fascinat-ing feats of flair. The walls are decorated from floor to ceiling with gadgets, gizmos, interesting timepieces, posters and the artistic creations of Kwartzlab members.

Kwartzlab, founded in 2009, is a place where creative minds can get together and make things. Simple things, like a painting, T-shirt or vase; or more complex things like a laser-printed sculpture, a com-puter program or a robot.

“Anything to do with making things, we happily support,” said Darcy Casselman, chair of the board at Kwartzlab. “We want more people to have access to the tools to create what they want – what their minds can put together.”

He said Kwartzlab and its members openly support do-it-yourself projects and open source hardware and software.

Kwartzlab isn’t just a place to make – it’s a place to learn. Events hosted by Kwartzlab members are held regularly at the lab itself or at other locations in Kitchener, and visitors are always welcome to stop by, learn and create. Some recent events included a Repair Cafe, where visi-tors brought their broken or malfunctioning belongings to be fixed; Family Hack Jam, where kids could bring their old T-shirts and put their

own designs on them or turn them into stuffed animals; and a Bob Ross paint-along, where oil painter Katherine Marchione taught a class how to make the renowned paint-er’s “happy little trees.”

“It was a lot of fun,” said Kwartzlab’s program director Agnes Niewiadomski. “Most of the people who showed up weren’t painters, but they all left as painters.”

Events like these are held often at Kwartzlab, and every week there are repeat-ing events for the public and members alike. Every

Tuesday at 7 p.m. is “Tuesday Open Night,” where anyone can bring in anything they’re working on and use the lab’s variety of tools and resources. Sundays at 7 p.m. is BYOC (Bring Your Own Craft) Night – stop by, socialize, have a cup of tea and work on crafts.

Every once in a while, an especially quirky and fun event takes place at the lab – tomor-row they’ll celebrate “Blogging Day,” where a presentation will be given about how to create blogs; and on Friday, it’s “Pi Day Party” – 3/14 – where there will be free pies, pie-based com-

petitions and pie decorating in honour of “Pi Day.”

“The lab has been extremely helpful in making projects – both for fun and work,” said Catherine Holloway, a Kwartzlab member and grad student who uses the lab for schoolwork. “It’s nice to have access to these resources.”

Kwartzlab has resources in abundance – any tool you can imagine for any project is available. Building tools, wood, metal, glass, supplies for sol-dering and wiring, laser cutters and printers. Anyone who loves to work with their hands will

find a home at the Kwartzlab.“It’s a great community

space,” said Michael Druker, who was hosting Open Data Day at the lab. The day was organized to bring together software developers to share ideas and work on apps.

The creative, the clever, the quirky and the curious are all welcomed with open arms and friendly smiles. If you count yourself among them, be sure to check out their website – www.kwartzlab.ca – to see upcoming events, or just drop by the lab and intro-duce yourself.

PHOtOS By SPeNCer BeeBeKwartzlab’s program director Agnes Niewiadomski poses with her “mini-me;” a small statue made using 3D printing.

Computer software designers got together at Kwartzlab for Open Data Day on Feb. 22. “Maker Bot” is one of Kwartlab’s laser printers used for crafts.

Creativity at the Kwartzlab

NEWs

BY GREG sTAMPER

The temperature was a teeth-chattering -14 C with a wind chill making it feel more like -27, ice was form-ing on the water and even the spectators, who were bundled tightly in their winter coats, were shaking in their boots.

All this, however, was still not enough to prevent 27 brave Conestoga College stu-dents, staff and faculty from taking a “polar plunge” in the courtyard by the pond on Feb. 26 into a freezing pool of water to raise money for the Breast Cancer Society of Canada.

“It’s funny, I don’t go in the pool in the summer and now I’m doing this,” fourth-year architecture – project and facility management student Jeremy Schoonderwoerd said following his jump.

Every year the event, held by Conestoga Students Inc., gives students the oppor-tunity to have some fun by sporting wacky costumes and doing something they nor-mally wouldn’t do, all while supporting a good cause. Jessica Froll, a first-year per-sonal support worker student, embraced both sides of this, first with her eye-catching female Batman costume, as well as with her touching rea-son for taking part.

“I’m doing the plunge because my grandma is a two-time sur-vivor (of breast cancer) and I want to support my family.”

Second-year radio broadcast student Alex Martin had a similar costume idea as Froll, dressing as the more tradi-tional male version of Batman who, like the superhero, just wanted to help out.

“I’m doing this because it’s a good cause and you have to fight the fights that need fighting and cancer is one of those,” Martin said in his best Batman voice.

Before the students began their jumps, the crowd’s ener-gy was palpable, with both excited and nervous vibes.

First-year general arts and science – health option stu-dent Jessica Boudreau, who was doing the plunge because she knows people affected by breast cancer, embodied the emotions best as she stood in line awaiting her turn. “I have the heebie-jeebies right now.”

However, like most of the students who participated, Boudreau said she “loved it and would do it again, any day.”

Last year the Polar Plunge had 38 jumpers and raised $6,500 for breast cancer research.

The total figure for this year will not be known until mid-March, when all sponsorship money and donations are in.

PHOTO BY GREG sTAMPERConestoga students Liam Smith (left) and Jalen Lam (right), both first-year electrical technician-industrial students, and Murray Hudon, a second-year respiratory therapy student who dressed up as Miley Cyrus in her Wrecking Ball video, take time to pose together after the Polar Plunge.

Freezing for a reason

PHOTOS BY HAILEY MERKT

Conestoga Students Inc. held their annual Polar Plunge on Feb. 26 at the college, one of the coldest plunges ever. Twenty-seven brave souls jumped into an icy pool in the courtyard. Above is just one of the colourful characters who took part in the event.

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Monday, March 10, 2014 SPOKE s Page 9NEWS

PHOTOS BY HailEY MErkT Conestoga Students Inc.’s annual Polar Plunge drew the creative and the crazy. Students dressed as superheroes and other fictional characters were in abundance.

Page 10 s SPOKE Monday, March 10, 2014OpiniOn

By ScOtt Dietrich

It’s hard to believe that a story about Jesus of Nazareth could ever be boring or dull. But the movie Son of God manages exactly that, mak-ing it without a doubt the worst movie about the New Testament ever made. Even with a large tapestry of sub-ject matter to explore and work with, the film is unorigi-nal and about as exciting as washing all the windows in your house.

Son of God manages to fail in all categories of what makes a film watchable. Visual effects, script, acting and directing are all to blame for making the movie the pile of garbage that it is.

When they began produc-tion, the casting director must have said to himself, “Let’s not try to get anybody who has ever had a recogniz-able role in a movie before,” because that is exactly who stars in this film. Nobody you have ever seen or heard of before.

Jesus of Nazareth, the main character and man with a plan, is played by an Ashton Kutcher look-a-like, Diogo Morgado of Portugal. His British accent and simplified approach to the character makes you feel like you are watching Legolas from The Lord of the Rings rather than the messiah of the Christian faith.

Other mediocre performanc-es include a confusing and violent portrayal of Peter by Darwin Shaw. Peter appar-ently acted as Jesus’s body-guard, as he pummels Romans

and bears his fists through-out the movie. Apparently the writers of the script found some information that was not mentioned in the Gospels, that Peter was one ass-kick-ing apostle. Greg Hicks, as Pontius Pilate, gives a per-formance where you never for a second believe that he is Pilate, or that he thinks that he is Pilate. Rarely is there a scene with him where you cannot help but laugh at his tired scowling expression as he struggles to get his lines out.

The production values are terrible, and the visual effects are no more stunning than the visual effects of Ben Hur by modern standards. There may have been a time when an out of focus shot of Jerusalem that looks like it was built out of Lego may have been stunning, but in the 21st century, it just looks bad. The costumes are possi-bly the film’s only redeeming trait and are the only visual element worth mentioning.

The film’s claim to failure though is the script. It is so dumbed down and obvious that you can predict when certain lines will be said, especially those taken out of the good book. Like when Jesus and his merry band are

sitting near the sea of Galilee and someone asks Jesus about money, and on cue he gives his camel passing through the eye of a needle shtick.

At another point when Jesus and his apostles visit the temple in Jerusalem and confront the money chang-ers, Jesus is scowling over a table of them. The script calls for Judas to say, “I’ve got a bad feeling about this.” Really?! That’s ter-rible. This may seem like harsh evaluation but I dare you to not laugh out loud when the Romans come to arrest Jesus, and Peter, in a tribute to Forrest Gump, screams “Run Jesus! Run!” The movie is riddled with lines like this, attempting to be profound when in fact they are about as profound as bacon and eggs.

Unlike The Last Temptation of Christ, The Greatest Story Ever Told or The Passion of the Christ, Son of God offers no new perspective on the story of the New Testament, no interesting performances, and is entirely unenjoyable. Studios that dabble in the genre of religion should learn an important lesson from Son of God. Just because the story is taken from the Bible does not mean a half-ass effort will make the film a success.

A religious film is like any other film, poor acting, poor directing and a poor script will always cause a walk-out-of-the-theatre situation. Just because the subject matter is from the Bible does not make the movie any more holy.

Movie Son of God is a big boring flop

Movie Review

the not-so-stealthy thiefBy cODy SteeveS

The stealth action game Thief was supposed to be the next big steal in stealth-oriented games, but was the heist worth the payout?

Thief is for next-gen con-soles that allows the play-er to play as an actual thief set in the Middle Ages with advanced technologies. This release is the fourth instal-ment of the Thief series, how-ever, the game’s title doesn’t reflect that fact nor is the story a continuation of the previous games.

The game takes you through many different adventures as a thief and although many of them are neat for the first couple of hours, you

may eventually get bored of some of the base mechanics. Picking up every candlestick you find has that effect and rifling through drawers for a single coin makes the player feel like a common pickpocket rather than an over-the-top thief. The fighting mechan-ics are fairly underwhelming as well; you can complete an entire level by using noth-ing more than your trusty crossbow and you won’t come across any problems if you don’t run out of arrows.

Perhaps the most disap-pointing feature in this game was the stealth system itself. A game where the concept is based around being a thief, the players expect a fairly intricate stealth mode sys-

tem where you can hide in shadows and dip in and out of corridors, and one mistake could cause your mission to fail. This is not the case. Apparently, reaching out and taking someone’s cup from the table beside him isn’t noticeable, not to mention the guards and their inability to turn their heads from left to right and only ever look directly down at their feet.

Honestly, 10 feet in front of someone, even in dim light-ing, you think you would be able to notice a shadowy fig-ure leveling a crossbow at your head.

The majority of the game plays out like a first-person stealth game, where the play-er can use terrain and equip-ment to maneuver the city at will. This is definitely the highlight of Thief. The city holds many secrets and it is graphically impressive. The part that hurts the cityscape is when the developers force you to do extreme parkour near the end of the game. Throughout the last stretch of storyline your character has to make forced jumps from burning rooftops and Prince of

Persia-styled flagpole swings, which sounds cool, however, feels clunky and unnecessary. There is no point in adding new game mechanics in the last 40 minutes of the game.

The storyline overall is inter-esting, but doesn’t really tie into the previous entries of the series, taking a more stand-alone approach. This is unfortu-nate as the previous games still have a lot of unanswered ques-tions left and I was personally hoping to get them answered.

Overall, Thief is an OK game, but it did not meet the expectations that were set for it.

Riddled with errors and questionable decisions, Thief is one game that never truly stole my heart.

Video Game

Review

Expectations fall short on this once promising franchise

Monday, March 10, 2014 SPOKE s Page 11

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Go blue and bald for the cure

BY HAILEY MERKT

“I’ve been going blue for seven years now … People at the office call me Papa Smurf,” said longtime Make-A-Wish supporter Kevin Lindsay.

“I just want to see the fun of people getting their head shaved … It’s going to be a good time,” said Robert Free, a Conestoga College alumnus and Go Blue! Go Bald! fund-raiser.

Make-A-Wish Southwestern Ontario held their annual Go Blue! Go Bald! event on March 1 at Edelweiss Tavern in Kitchener.

This colourful charity event began eight years ago in London, Ont. It quickly took off and expanded into Windsor and Kitchener the following year.

Go Blue! Go Bald! is a fam-ily fun event where people go blue, bald or both to raise awareness and show their support for the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Prior to the event participants raise money to help grant 110 wishes made by children with life-threatening medi-cal conditions in southwest-ern Ontario.

“All funds raised in south-western Ontario stay in this area to grant the wishes of local children,” said Erin

Latam, Make-A-Wish man-ager of special events.

The charitable affair was hosted by Sarge from KFUN 99.5 FM and included a silent auction, head shaves and hair dying. Sarge raised $300 by promising to shave his eye-brows, beard and head on-air.

Go Blue! Go Bald! was pre-viously held at the Region of Waterloo International Airport.

“This was the first year the event was held at the Edelweiss Tavern and we absolutely loved the new venue,” Latam said.

Last year Go Blue! Go Bald! helped grant six-year-old Alex Fischer’s wish, which took him and his family of eight on a magical Disney World vaca-tion. Alex and his four-year-old sister Delia both have cys-tic fibrosis.

“Delia is in the process of having a wish granted, but has yet to decide on what she will be wishing for,” Latam said.

The average cost of a wish is $8,000. This cost includes the parents and siblings in the wish experience.

Gary Fischer spoke about the positive difference fulfill-ing a wish makes in a child’s life.

“For a moment, it made us forget about everything …

about the 20 pills Alex and Delia swallow every day — that’s on a good day — and the hours of therapy they go through each and every day,” Fischer said.

“Lots of participants go blue, year-round, in support of our courageous wish kids,” Latam said.

“We encourage every-one to get involved when it works best for them, anytime throughout the year. There are many ways they can get involved without dyeing (your) hair blue (or) shaving it off.”

Some ideas suggested on the Go Blue! Go Bald! website are to have a blue bake sale, blue jeans day or sell blue paper stars in support of Make-A-Wish.

“We just want everyone to be creative, have fun and go blue to help make more wish-es come true across south-western Ontario,” Latam said.

Approximately $20,000 was raised at the Kitchener event this year.

“We are thrilled with every-one’s amazing support of Make-A-Wish,” Latam said.

To learn more about orga-nizing your own Go Blue! Go Bald! fundraiser, contact Erin Latam at erin.latam@makeawish.ca.

PHOTOS BY HAILEY MERKTA young boy happily shaved his blue head of hair for the Go Blue! Go Bald! event in Kitchener on March 1.

Sarge from KFUN 99.5 gets a shave, live, at Go Blue! Go Bald!

Monday, March 10, 2014 SPOKE s Page 13EntErtainmEnt

BY BECKY SHEaSBY

If you are interested in the arts, Kitchener-Waterloo has a place for you. The Kitchener-Waterloo Art Gallery is home to a wide variety of art forms for peo-ple who like to dip their toes in art or for those who like to jump right in.

The gallery is currently hosting a number of exhibits such as The Same Problem. This exhibit was created by Aleesa Cohene and Benny Nemerofsky Ramsay. Over the years, the pair have been acknowledged for their explo-rations of queer history and

discussions on love and the ego.

The exhibit features video footage from various films edited together, text sprawled across the walls, statues and a distinct smell pumped into the room. The meaning behind the instal-ments is based on commu-nication, sustained longing and a strong desire to con-nect with a collective past.

“They work together with found footage from films, some that you would recog-nize, some that are obscure, some of their own footage and they edit them togeth-er beautifully with a really

gorgeous soundtrack. Then they create an experience,” said Priti Kohli, the com-munications co-ordinator of the Kitchener-Waterloo Art Gallery.

Another exhibit current-ly on display is A Story of Canadian Art: As told by the Hart House Collection. This exhibit is the first time in around 30 years that Canadians can see individual works of classic Canadian art from the Hart House collec-tion, such as the Group of Seven and Lawren Harris. These important pieces have been brought from the University of Toronto.

The exhibit gives the audi-ence a chance to learn about the formation of Canadian art and cultural history from the first half of the 20th cen-tury.

Along with a wide variety of exhibits, the Kitchener-Waterloo Art Gallery offers a large selection of pro-grams. A full list can be found at www.kwag.ca/en/index.asp. Some of the cur-rent programs include Coffee Tasting & Appreciation, a $25 course that develops a person’s knowledge of coffee and teaches how to appreci-ate it using the five senses. There is also a course called

Workshop for Artists: How to Start an Etsy Shop, a $15 course that teaches artists the basics on how to start an Etsy account, which is a website where you can buy and sell all things handmade, vintage, art and supplies.

The gallery is free to visit and explore and is open until 9 p.m. on Thursdays, mak-ing it the perfect date night destination. The rest of the weekly hours can be found on the Kitchener-Waterloo Art Gallery’s website. The gallery is located at 101 Queen St. N., Kitchener. Call 519-579-5860 or email mail@kwag.on.ca for more information.

K-W art Gallery more than just exhibits

PHOtO BY BECKY SHEaSBYA Story of Canadian Art: As told by the Hart House Collection, features many paintings by famous Canadian artists such as the Group of Seven.

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PHOTOs BY BRUCE CHEssELLEugene Petrov, James Mclean and Steve Wang work on Homefed, preparing for its launch.

BY BRUCE CHEssELL

Have you ever been hun-gry, longing for a home-cooked meal but you are sorely lack-ing any of the essential ingre-dients required to make any-thing close to edible? College students have long struggled with food, never having it, not knowing how to prepare it or just being too lazy to actually cook it. Conestoga integrated marketing communications student Eugene Petrov is help-ing James Mclean and Steven Wang launch an app that may alleviate this problem.

Homefed is an app that makes it possible to find home-cooked meals in your area. They are posted by peo-ple who are looking to host a meal or looking to teach someone how to make a spe-cific meal. People hosting can also sell that meal, with the maximum price being $10.

The app also functions like other social media websites such as Twitter and Facebook by fea-turing profiles, a chat feature, reviews, messaging as well as an offline ID that will confirm a guest’s or host’s government-issued ID to confirm that said person isn’t fabricating anything on his or her profile.

“Our target audience is basi-cally foodies as well as people who want to share their food creations,” said Mclean, who is the head designer on the project. Wang added, “We have also had a lot of inter-est from culinary students. We have been in talks with Conestoga College’s culinary

school.”Homefed was also described

by Wang as a social experience, something that can bring peo-ple together through the magic of a home-cooked meal.

“A lot of our users are telling us that their interest is food,” said Wang, “but they are also really interested in meeting like-minded people who really like food. And this is an ave-nue where we can bring these people together.”

The Homefed team is also hoping that their app will appeal to students, both as a social experience and as a way to get an affordable meal. Mclean said, “There will be students who are really good cooks or some that are food-ies, as well as students who are new to a town and want to expand their social circle. It’s a really great opportunity for them. Also, if a student is away from home and they want a home-cooked meal they can get something like that. Because when you’re a student you basically just eat whatever you can get your hands on.”

“Our philosophy is that anyone can be a good cook,” said Mclean, “you just have to find that one dish that you’re really good at.”

Homefed is currently in its beta stage of development and is open to anyone who wants to sign up and test it out. Go to www.guest.homefed.co if interested. The finished product is slated for release in the spring for Android and IOS according to the app’s creators.

Homefed is an app that helps students find home-cooked meals in their area.

Get yourself Homefed

Monday, March 10, 2014 SPOKE s Page 15fun & games

AriesMarch 21 -

April 19

AquariusJanuary 20 - February 18

TaurusApril 20 - May 20

LibraSeptember 23 -

October 22

GeminiMay 21 - June 21

ScorpioOctober 23 - November 21

CapricornDecember 22 -

January 19

SagittariusNovember 22 - December 21

CancerJune 22 - July 22

LeoJuly 23 -

August 22

VirgoAugust 23 -

September 22

PiscesFebruary 19 -

March 20

Don’t lose track of your inner child. They will keep your life light and interest-ing.This weekend: Spice it up.

Take a step back. You have become overwhelmed with your schooling. Take a break and recharge. This weekend: Nap.

Don’t always live inside your head. Get out there and try something new.This weekend: Get wild.

Other people’s emotions around you are impacting how you feel. Don’t forget to take care of your feelings first.This weekend: In tune.

Your ability to be charming and likeable will soon get you into trouble. Be cautious of how friendly you are.This weekend: Reserved.

You have forgiven but you will not forget. Time to let the past go.This weekend: Release.

You have the tendency to nitpick people. It may hurt them more than you think. This weekend: Be aware.

Lady Celeste is like bagel bites - out of this world and

microwaveable.

Horoscope Week of March 10, 2014

A friend is constantly asking for your help. Let them do things for themselves.This weekend: Go your own way.

Things are looking dark right now but perseverance will help guide you into the light. This weekend: Brightness.

Your intuition is your com-pass. Follow it and you will head in the right direction. This weekend: Follow your gut.

Your work environment is starting to get into a har-monious vibe. Keep the pos-itivity up around the office. This weekend: Smooth sailing.

Don’t be worried about how people perceive you. Know who you are and own it. This weekend: Confident.

Useless FactsOh Cliff!

Sudoku Puzzle

Word Search

Fill in the grid with digits in such a manner that every row, every column and every 3x3 box accommo-dates the digits 1-9, with-out repeating any.

No one really knows when doughnuts were invented or who invented them.

Chicken today contains 266 per cent more fat than it did 40 years ago.

Eating lemons makes you live longer.

Coffee is the world’s most rec-ognizable smell.

Carrots have zero fat content.

Grapes explode when you put them in the microwave. You have been warned!

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