SPOKEMonday, March 2, 2015 conestoga college, Kitchener, ont. www.sPoKeonline.coM 46th year — no. 7

rumours swirl that subway taking its place.Page 6

Mr. Sub closing?

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

students compete in Minute to win it challenge.Page 15

Fun in the Sanctuary

By HEATHER STANLEy

We often take for granted the things we’ve always had until they are gone. A home and food are readily avail-able to many, so we often forget those who don’t have those luxuries. To help people who are displaced, hungry, and hurting, hundreds took part in the Coldest Night of the Year’s annual walk in Kitchener on Feb. 21.

“It started five years ago in two cities: Kitchener and Toronto,” said event organizer Mika Takamaki. “We had about 400 walkers the first year. It’s grown year by year. We are now in 80 locations across Canada from Newfoundland up to Yellowknife.”

An estimated 500 people par-ticipated in this year’s event that took place at Cameron Heights Collegiate Institute. To warm up for the walk, attendees shook to the well-known beat of the Harlem Shake. They then walked either a five- or 10-kilome-tre route from the school to the Ray of Hope Community Centre, the charity which was receiving the proceeds.

The Ray of Hope Foundation is an organization dedicated to providing care and hope for those struggling with crime,

addiction and homelessness. It was started in 1967 by a group of men and a Baptist pastor named Arman Wright. They run a variety of ser-vices which include justice, employment and addiction service for youth as well as community support services. Ray of Hope also operates freedom ministry for those who feel they’re hindered from being like Christ.

According to the Coldest Night of the Year’s web-site, approximately 235,000 Canadians experience homelessness each year. Homelessness is defined as not having a consistent, safe or affordable place to live. Although the most obvious form of homelessness are those who live out on the streets or in shelters, there is also the hidden type. People in this category may be stay-ing with friends, family or in an institutional setting or be at risk of living in precarious, unknown or unpredictable situations. Over 35,000 are homeless on any night.

Volunteer June Wideman said, “Some use the Ray of Hope’s community centre as a temporary help and some through circumstances have to use it on a regular basis. They provide a hot meal seven

days a week, 365 days a year. They serve over 200 people, usually up to 250 plus, so no one in K-W has to go hungry.”

Wideman believes a lot of homelessness is caused by the high cost of living. Other rea-sons can vary from mental health issues, addictions and nervousness. This year the

fundraising goal for the K-W walk was $150,000.

“We have been walking for, I guess, this is our third year now,” Christa Wideman said, who walked five kilome-tres with her two daughters and a friend. “I have raised $225 myself. It’s just a great time to have fun and to raise

money for a great cause.” Wideman was part of the

Emmanuel team from Elmira which raised $2,255 in total. As of Feb. 23, the K-W event had raised $131,142. Across Canada $2.8 million was raised, just short of the $3-mil-lion goal. Donations will be accepted until April 10.

Helping them off the streets

PHOTO By HEATHER STANLEyWalkers, who pose in front of a Ray of Hope banner, participated in the Coldest Night of the Year annual walk on Feb. 21 to raise funds for the homeless and displaced.

By JORDAN JOHNSTONE

On Feb. 6 Conestoga Students Inc. (CSI) announced on its Facebook page that the Sanctuary pub at the Doon campus would no longer be serving alcohol.

The post reads “Good Morning Condors. This is a notice that the Sanctuary Pub Days will be can-celled for the remainder of the semester due to a staffing/security issue on campus.

“The Sanctuary is still open to use the cafe, attend special events, and we will continue to host evening events. The only immediate and temporary change is that you cannot purchase alcohol from our tradi-tional Pub Days and evening events.

“We are sorry for the inconvenience, we value your business and attendance at everything we do in the Sanctuary. We will keep you posted on updates and future events.”

The rumour mill was swirling as to the reason for the cancellation.

One student posted on the CSI Facebook page that a student was over-served at a Pub Day and an ambu-lance was called. That post has since been removed.

However, CSI president Jeff Scherer said they have never had an incident like this take place.

“We had a human resources turnover and we wanted to look more into the policies of the bar and the Pub Days so that is why it closed,” he said.

He added CSI has posted job openings for between two and four part-time bartenders, and also dis-cussed the possibility of having full-time CSI staff manning the bar until part-timers could be hired.

While the pub closure may not bother some people, who believe that the college is a place for learning, not drinking, others weren’t so easygoing about it.

“God this school is pathetic. University of Guelph has their bar open every day starting at 8 a.m.,” wrote Anum Baig in a post on the CSI Facebook page.

Michael Legault posted, “This will only encourage people to bring alcohol from home and consume it secretly. Whatever conflict happened that sparked this decision will not be solved by ending Pub Days.”

Prior to Reading Week Scherer said he hoped Pub Days could resume by the beginning of March. However, he said at that time they didn’t have any bartenders, so their official stance was “Pub Days

and bar events are closed until the end of the year.”However, after Reading Week it was decided that

the Sanctuary would reopen March 3 with a three-drink maximum policy. Previously, the number of drinks served to an individual was up to the discre-tion of the bartender.

“For Pub Nooners, a three-drink maximum was decided on to eliminate the possibility of over-serv-ing as well as a few other things such as students going to class intoxicated and ease for security. We felt this was a fair number as the Nooner has been described as a way to ‘relax’ for students between or after classes,” Scherer said in an email.

Scherer said no faculty has ever complained about intoxicated students in class.

“We have been lucky that for the most part stu-dents have acted responsibly with the Sanc Nooners and possible concerns like that have never been an issue,” he said.

Another policy change is all students will now be required to show their Conestoga student card in addition to age of majority ID in order to get a bracelet and be served at the Sanctuary, with no exceptions.

Annual walk raises $131,000 for hungry, homeless and hurting

csi’s Pub days back on with new drink limit

Page 2 s SPOKE Monday, March 2, 2015NEWs

Now deep thoughts... with Conestoga College

Random questions answered by random studentsWhat was the last picture you took

on your phone?

“The last picture I took was for school like two weeks ago.”

Zachary Carreon,first-year

design foundations

“I found an action figure from the ’90s and took a picture of it.”

Joseph Dang,second-year

television broadcast

“I think I took a selfie this morning.”

Kristian Archibold,second-year

general arts and science

“Was with Lyndsay Morrison from CTV News.”

Long Nguyen,second-year

journalism broadcast

“I took a selfie with my boyfriend.”

Amanda Delrosso,first-year

practical nursing

“It was of a lab I was doing for school.”

Dylan McComiskey,second-year

marketing

Smile Conestoga, you could be our next respondent!

FILBERT CARTOONS

BY MARYssA MCFADDEN

It’s Friday night, you’re headed out to meet your friends and you’re running later than you had planned. As you’re driving down the darkened road at a comfort-able 50 km/h you realize you forgot to tell your friends that you’ll be late to dinner.

You grab your phone and send a quick message telling them not to order without you. It’s harmless and you only took your eyes off of the road for a second or two, so it is no big deal, right?

But now, go back in time. You take your eyes off the road, focusing instead on the words you are typing to your friend, when you hit a person.

According to the Ontario Provincial Police, drivers quickly typing those short replies to friends and hitting send are becoming the larg-est group of killers on the roads. Texting while driving is so dangerous, it accounted for more deaths in 2013 than impaired driving or speed-related accidents.

“Honestly, I’ve been guilty

of texting and driving once or twice, but if I can avoid it at all costs I do,” said Summer Anstee, a police foundations student. “I really don’t trust myself to multi-task that way,” she said.

The sad reality is many peo-ple do not think it is a problem or, at least, believe it is not serious enough to stop doing it.

“Two of my friends text a lot while driving. Like they phys-ically can’t put their phones down for a short drive and it doesn’t seem to matter who tells them to stop,” Anstee said.

People are so wrapped up in being connected to the rest of the world at all times that they are losing sight of what really matters, the lives of all the people who share the road with them.

Kelsey Dyals, a 23-year-old mother, had her life altered last July when a car came out of nowhere and collided with the side of her car. When she looked in the backseat to where her 15-month-old son was strapped into his car seat, she saw he was bleeding from his mouth.

After being rushed to the hos-pital it was discovered that her son’s brain was bleeding on the right side. He was taken into surgery where the doctors successfully stopped the bleeding. Her son is now almost two and is a normal, healthy child, but he is still on anti-seizure medication.

All of this could have been completely avoided if the driver of the other vehicle had not been reading a text mes-sage at the time of the crash.

“Teenagers think phones are the priority, but they aren’t. One text message nearly killed my son,” Dyals said.

The current fines in Ontario for texting and driving range from $60 to $500, howev-er, Ontario legislators are attempting to change the fines to range from $300 to $1,000.

“Higher fines would help, but I think the biggest change needs to be made in the driv-ers,” said Christina Welham, a police foundations student. “They need to realize it is unsafe for themselves and make a conscious decision to not text and drive.”

Texting takes livesPHOTO BY MARYssA MCFADDEN

Summer Anstee checks her phone before getting ready to drive through town. Although she does not text and drive unless absolutely necessary, she finds it difficult to put her phone down in her vehicle.

Monday, March 2, 2015 SPOKE s Page 3NEWs

Long-term care homes short on staffBY CARsON DEsHEVY-RENOUF

The plights of Ontario’s long-term senior care homes can often seem like distant problems for younger gen-erations, or for those not directly affected. The real-ity, however, is that one way or another everyone will be affected, and according to the Ontario Association of Non-Profit Homes and Services for Seniors (OANHSS), if action isn’t taken soon, the quality of care in these homes will decline quickly.

“We simply do not have enough staff in our long-term care homes to provide both the quality of care and the level of care that we would like to provide, and that we think our residents deserve,” said Donna Rubin, the CEO of OANHSS dur-ing a presentation at the Fairview Mennonite Home in Cambridge Feb. 12.

The problem, according to OANHSS, is that the number of seniors needing placements in homes is rising along with the level of care requirements for people with special condi-tions, whereas the number of staff available in nursing homes to assist these people remains the same.

“At 3.4 hours per resident per day, current staffing lev-els continue to fall far short of the 4.0 hours per resident per day recommended in a 2008 report on staffing in long-term care homes,” said Rubin in a release provided by OANHSS.

Without proper staffing, patients in nursing homes have been suffering, and will continue to do so. The

inadequate number of staff on hand means that every person receiving care has to be treated less like a human being and more like a process. Every staff member must rush through his or her routines to move on to the next patient because they are constantly needed, and this means that the one person who many peo-ple in long-term care homes see each day is unable to treat them like the person that they are because they simply don’t have the time.

According to Rubin, the solution to this problem lies in the hands of the provincial government.

“We want to see, and call on

the government to put more money, more funding in this provincial budget into long-term care so that we can have more frontline staff: nurses, personal support workers, more boots on the floor to deliver care,” Rubin said.

Jim Williams, the admin-istrator of the Fairview Mennonite Home, also spoke during the presentation, and gave perspective of what this problem looked like on the ground level.

“In February of last year … 47 of the residents (out of the 84) at that time needed extensive (staff) help to go to the bathroom … Today, it’s 55 residents out of the 84.

That is a change of eight … So, that is eight more resi-dents that the same number of staff that we had a year ago, with the same num-ber of hours to do the work, have to take to the bathroom every day before breakfast,” Williams said.

This was just one example of how things are becoming more difficult across Ontario for those involved in the care of seniors. Every time the staff in these homes become further limited, the quality of care subsequently suffers.

Long-term care staff feel that they are further hin-dered by the sheer amount of paperwork that follows every

procedure. The Long-Term Care Homes Act that was introduced in 2007 tightened a lot of regulations regarding the care of seniors in Ontario. Homes like Fairview are vis-ited by provincial inspectors who ensure the act is adhered to for the safety of patients. For those on the home level of this, however, it feels like they are drowning in docu-ments.

“We are not micro-managed, we are micro-regulated … The government has gone too far with its regulations. Everything has to be written down,” Williams said.

The request by OANHSS, representing the non-profit sector, to reach the average of four hours per resident per day over the next three years will cost an additional $385 million.

This request is not a new one. According to Rubin, this problem has been years in the making and the cry for help has been made before.

Multiple conferences have been held by OANHSS in the hopes of improving the under-standing of the problem at hand. During the Feb. 12 con-ference, Williams asserted his hopes that the message that OANHSS has been spreading would eventually reach the provincial government, and that it would have a positive effect on the current state of long-term care.

“I hope that our remarks … have helped you, and resi-dents and families, even the public and eventually our government, to have a better understanding of this need, and to respond positively to it,” Williams said.

PHOTO BY CARsON DEsHEVY-RENOUFFollowing the Feb. 12 conference on the understaffing of long-term care homes at the Fairview Mennonite Home in Cambridge, Marlene Goerz, the director of care at Fairview Mennonite Home (left to right), Jim Williams, Fairview’s administrator, and Doma Rubin, CEO of DANHSS, gathered to answer questions.

PHOTO BY JUsTiN FORDJim Williams, Fairview Mennonite Homes administrator, delivers a speech stressing the importance of getting funding for more long-term care staff across Ontario. For the video story, go to www.spokeonline.com.

Measles OUtbreak FORCES DiSCuSSiON

PHOTO BY BETH CROUsEAn outbreak of the highly contagious virus, measles, has Toronto residents scram-bling to check records or get vaccinated. Measles hasn’t reached Waterloo Region yet, but that has not stopped residents from discussing vaccinations. For video story, see www.spokeonline.com.

Page 4 s SPOKE Monday, March 2, 2015COMMENTARY

This September, students at the elementary level will be introduced to an updated sex-ed curriculum called The Talk.

The curriculum hasn’t been updated for 17 years, so it was much needed. To break it down, the updated curriculum will be teaching the proper names for body parts and genitals in Grade 1, introducing same-sex rela-tionships in Grade 3, and teaching online safety, text messaging and the dangers of sending sexual pictures in addition to puberty in Grade 4. In Grade 6, students will be taught about masturba-tion, healthy relationships and consent followed by the risks of “sexting” and sexu-ally transmitted diseases in Grade 7.

However, the new curricu-lum is getting mixed reviews from parents all over the province. Educators believe it needed updating because of the influence the Internet has on kids. But many par-ents are upset with the new changes because they feel that it is too much informa-

tion at a young age. Have they stopped and

thought about the fact that kids have easy access to the Internet?

By introducing this concept at a young age, students will probably have a better, more mature understanding of the concept than when most of

us had sex-ed growing up. Some parents have an issue

with the concept of teach-ing about same-sex mar-riage, especially in Catholic schools. However, we live in a democracy where same-sex marriage has been legal since 2006 and same-sex par-ents are nothing new to the younger generation. It is now part of Canadian living and society.

Up to 2,000 angry parents protested outside of Queen’s Park on Feb. 24 against the new curriculum, however, parents need to remember that the curriculum is taught at school – values and mor-als are taught at home. Therefore, the update is a good thing.

The Internet has become part of the way we live. It has fast tracked the younger generation to be familiar with concepts that the older generations were exposed too much later in life. Students will be taught in a way that is in keeping with their age but in a supervised and safe environment, so students and parents will benefit.

Ontario updates sex-ed curriculum

Sexual assault policy long overdue

BY iAN MCBRidE

When women attend post-secondary institutions, most people would think they would be safe while on cam-pus, or at least have policies in place to help protect them from sexual predators, and provide support for victims of sexual assault.

Unfortunately, a recent investigation conducted by the Toronto Star found that only nine of 78 universities across the country had a special sexual assault policy, and none of Ontario’s 24 public colleges had one in place.

However, since that investigation was done, a sexual assault policy was drafted by the colleges.

According to a Dec. 23 article in the Toronto Star, “The presidents of 24 public colleges have voted to endorse a uni-form policy that provides a clear path for victims of sexual violence and clearly outlines a school’s responsibility.”

They will spend the next two months consulting with local groups before finalizing policies at each school.”

Premier Kathleen Wynne recently toured colleges and universities in Ontario, and the prevention of sexual violence on campuses was one of the main concerns she heard from student groups.

According to the Star article she told them, “At a very minimum I can say to you that I will expect that uni-versities and colleges will involve their student body in a very meaningful way in the development of policies around sexual assault and sexual violence. I can hardly believe that we are still having this conversation and that there would still be students in this province who say we need to have these policies on our campuses and we need the university administration or the college administration to involve us in the policies.”

There should be greater awareness at colleges and protocols need to be established for responding to cases of sexual assault and violence. We need to pro-tect the privacy of people who have witnessed a sexual assault or have learned about a sexual assault. Victims throughout the province should have immediate access to 24-hour emergency hotline services.

We as Canadians should band together to provide support to victims of sexual assault, and also try to put an end to sexual violence, including on post-secondary campuses, by looking out for one another and being vocal about this particular issue.

These steps are necessary to ensure the safety of women at Canadian post-secondary institutions.

The views herein represent the position of the newspa-per, not necessarily the author.

Carmen Ponciano Opinion

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.Address correspondence to: The Editor, Spoke, 299

Doon Valley Dr., Room 1C30, Kitchener, Ont., N2G 4M4

Letters are welcome

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

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.

Money woes, getting good grades and transportation are always on students’ minds.

Editor: Nataleigh McCallumAssignment Editors: Kali Caudle, jordan johnstoneAdvertising Managers: beth Crouse, justin fordSpoke Online Editors: Matt howell, Nicole

Nemeth, Nathan brownproduction Managers: Alex Riese, Maryssa Mcfaddenphoto Editors (print): Cassie Tulecki, Carmen Ponciano, ian Mcbridephoto Editors (online): Rachel Roy, jack

Parkinson, josh KennedySocial Media Editor: Carson Deshevy-Renouf, Cody MudgeCirculation Manager: heather StanleyFaculty Supervisor and Adviser: Christina jonas

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

Parents outraged, but decision is sound

“Parents need to remember that

the curriculum is taught at school – values and

morals are taught at home.

Therefore, the update is a good thing.”

Monday, March 2, 2015 SPOKE s Page 5NEWS

By CODy MUDGE

This May, the Marvel uni-verse will change. Or to those more versed in the realm of comics books, it would be more aptly put that the Marvel uni-verse will be changing again.

Superstar writer Jonathan Hickman will be capping off his multi-year run on the Avengers and New Avengers titles with the Time Runs Out story-line which leads directly into the Secret Wars event, also to be penned by Hickman. Secret Wars, which takes its name from one of the first ever event comics, will result in various Marvel universe locales and worlds amal-gamating into Battleworld. Instead of separate universes for various popular charac-ters, Marvel will now offer all characters in one place, Battleworld. This means that readers who want to see Ultimate Spider-Man Miles Morales and Miguel O’Hara, the Spider-Man from the year 2099, web-swinging beside the venerable Peter Parker, the original Amazing Spider-Man, will see their wish come true.

Battleworld represents per-haps the greatest shift of chronology and continuity in Marvel’s history. In 2012 Marvel NOW! was a re-launch of sorts, and looking back on that might give readers some inclination of what to expect as new titles begin to roll out in May.

“From what we’ve been told, Battleworld won’t be as

sweeping as Marvel NOW! was,” said Andy Brast, owner of Waterloo’s Carry-On Comics. “That rebrand-ing ended many series that had run for decades, many as long as Marvel Comics had existed up to that point, and replaced everything with a new No. 1 issue. Battleworld doesn’t seem to be as wide sweeping although new readers will certainly find many new entry points into Marvel’s lineup.”

And gaining new reader-ship seems like the goal of Battleworld. Marvel’s web-site has a large interactive graphic where readers can go to see the geographical makeup of Battleworld and also read about the origin of each unique region. Like any shake up of a comic book uni-verse, many new series will debut starting in May with more being announced every week. Though many new series have been confirmed Marvel has stressed that the events that have taken place in the Marvel universe will still be considered canonical.

Battleworld will draw several series to a close, despite the fact that they were just re-launched in the past few years as a part of Marvel NOW! something that doesn’t sit right with some. After 15 years the Ultimate universe, which captured the hearts and minds of a new generation of comic readers, will also be discontinued in Ultimate

End, another part of the Battleworld restructuring. The Ultimate imprint served largely as the inspiration for the structure of the Marvel cinematic universe and is beloved by many of Marvel’s faithful for its modern, edg-ier take on Marvel’s oldest heroes. The cancellation of so many popular series and the birth of new ones might be appealing to new readers but existing ones might not share the same sentiment.

“Overall it seems like most of our regular readers aren’t

very eager for the change. A number of them have gone so far as to request that we don’t pull their normal titles for an issue or two. It gets frustrat-ing as a longtime reader to see established and loved char-acters changed for a flashy new debut that will buoy sales briefly. Those attracted by that little number aren’t the ones who keep the indus-try relevant and profitable,” Brast said.

Yet many readers seem to be interested in Battleworld and what it will mean for

these characters who have reached a massive untapped audience through various movies. Comics book heroes are as recognizable and in vogue now as they have been in decades.

“I’m very curious to see what happens during Secret Wars and then after with Battleworld. I know it isn’t universally something people are excited about but as a longtime reader I can’t real-ly help but be excited,” said Sherri Moyer, a life-long com-ics fan.

Marvel U to become Battleworld

PHOTO By CODy MUDGEAndy Brast owns Carry-On Comics on King Street in Waterloo. His store has a wide range of weekly comics as well as collected editions.

Worlds collide in the Marvel universe

NEWsPage 6 s SPOKE Monday, March 2, 2015

By Cody MudgE

Mr. Sub in the Coz-E Corner cafeteria on the first floor of Conestoga College’s Doon campus may be closing. A tip to Spoke’s newsroom sug-gested that Mr. Sub, which

has been at that location for a number of years, has not had its contract renewed.

Chartwells, the company responsible for food services for many post-secondary insti-tutions, including Conestoga, is in charge of handling the

contracts that decide the food providers on-campus.

Jennifer Bruder, the director of food services for Conestoga, refused to comment on the closure. However, an employee of Mr. Sub, who wished to remain

anonymous, was able to con-firm that the restaurant is indeed closing, likely at the end of the semester. The employees currently staffing Mr. Sub are not guaranteed positions at whatever new establishment takes over

Mr. Sub’s area, the source said.

It is rumoured that Subway, which is already located at the Cambridge campus and has a contract with Chartwells, will be the new restaurant in Coz-E Corner.

Is Mr. sub getting toasted?

Donate BlooD – THE NEXT LIFE YOU SAVE MIGHT BE YOUR OWN

PHoTo By JosH KENNEdySantosh Chacko, president of the Save a Life Club, stands by a display for the club on Feb. 16 at the college. The Save a Life Club hopes to convince students to donate blood. For video story, go to www.spokeonline.com.

ChasInG away THE WINTER BLUES

PHoTo By MATT HoWELLWais Yardam, a second-year business accounting student, and Eric Barbosa, a first-year television broadcast student, stay warm by staying inside and having fun in the Den on Feb. 23.

Monday, March 2, 2015 SPOKE s Page 7

Page 8 s SPOKE Monday, March 2, 2015NEWS

By RACHEL ROy

Whether you attend a col-lege or university, students all across the country are dealing with financial problems.

Money woes can have you second-guessing whether you should swipe for a Tim Hortons coffee, pay that over-due bill, spend that extra cou-ple of dollars on groceries or make sure you make rent.

Financial woes also contrib-ute to student worry about how they perform in the class-room because working all hours of the night to pay for classes doesn’t lead to the best marks. Passing classes gives students a small window of peace because their degree or diploma should result in a job which will help pay for all their debt.

Some students do not have to worry too much thanks to mom and dad helping them out. But others do not have that luxury – instead they accumulate OSAP or bank loan debt.

Students have other issues to worry about along with their debt. These include liv-ing arrangements, moving, going to school, passing, pos-sibly an extra job and gen-erally worrying about their

well-being. These issues can hang over students’ heads causing their stress levels to skyrocket.

“I think it’s scary, it’s over-whelming and it stresses people out,” said Lindsay Dietrich, a first-year recre-ation and leisure student. “I think it’s a big reason why some people don’t do post-secondary.”

Horror stories from older siblings and friends have some people worrying about attending post-secondary schools because of the fear of student debt.

According to the Canadian Federation of Students web-site (cfs-fcee.ca), in 2010 the total amount of student loans owed to the government was $15 billion, the legislated ceil-ing set by the Canada Student Financial Assistance Act.

This figure, however, only accounts for a portion of total student debt because it does not include provincial and personal loans, lines of credit and education-related credit card debt. Knowing this, the amount of student debt in 2015 could be much higher.

The CFS website says stu-dents who study in Ontario or the Maritimes have the highest average debt loads in

Canada, averaging more than $28,000.

“I think Ontario is bigger and has bigger schools and more schools,” said Tracey Goldie-Mascoll, a financial aid officer at Conestoga College. “Just think about this area alone. University of Guelph, University of Waterloo, Wilfrid Laurier, Conestoga, that’s a lot of schools in one small area so imagine the number of students in those schools alone collecting OSAP and debt.”

Students may be worrying about debt but there are sev-eral ways to get free money without having to pay it back, such as bursaries and schol-arships.

These are usually easy to apply for; all that is normally required is a filled-out appli-cation and possibly an essay. These essays, however, are not a five-page-long, double-spaced essay about a random topic. Mascoll said the essays are usually asking ‘why?’

“They’re saying, ‘OK you have a financial need, tells us why,’” Mascoll said.

Despite these opportuni-ties, students still miss out on them.

The Financial Aid Office advertises scholarships and

bursaries through the college website, and sends an email to students through their stu-dent portal.

Conestoga has a general bursary as well but students had to apply for it by Feb. 6.

“It’s amazing how many people never hear about it,” Mascoll said. “We’re trying to hit all those spots where stu-

dents are looking.” Mascoll estimated that they

only received roughly 1,400 general bursary applications, but Conestoga has between 10,000 and 11,000 students.

Students are encouraged to visit the Financial Aid Office in the Welcome Centre on Doon campus if they are wor-ried about their finances.

PHOTO By RACHEL ROyStudents who are worried about their finances are encouraged to go to the Financial Aid Office, where Emily Morley (above), a finan-cial aid/fees officer, will help answer your questions.

Finances weigh on students

Monday, March 2, 2015 SPOKE s Page 9entertainment

Boathouse celebrates grand openingBY aLeX rieSe

After a well-publicized purchase from the City of Kitchener and extensive ren-ovations, the Boathouse in Victoria Park is open for busi-ness once again.

The popular music hub and Kitchener staple was closed in September 2013 due to the need for a complete update of the venue’s facilities. It was purchased from the City of Kitchener by Bill MacTavish, owner of Imbibe Food’n’Drink, and his investor Mark Forwell. After many delays due to extensive renovations to the space, the Boathouse officially opened to the public on Jan. 11. Its grand opening was on Feb. 24.

According to a Nov. 9, 2014 article in the Waterloo Region Record, Forwell and MacTavish quadrupled the seating capacity of the his-toric building and installed a full commercial kitchen and state-of-the-art sound system for local musicians.

Although the main attrac-tion of the Boathouse will still be the live music acts that perform there on weekends, Natalie Herzig, the new front of house manager, said there will also be more of a focus

on the dining experience pro-vided to patrons.

“We definitely have more of a focus on food,” she said. “We have an awesome local and eclectic menu with food sourced from local farms.

MacTavish and Forwell have bands booked solid for the next month. On Feb. 21 Ties That Bind, first-time performers at the Boathouse, took the stage. Sean Gilders, bassist in Ties That Bind

and former patron of the old Boathouse, said he was impressed with renovations and the experience of per-forming at the venue.

“The size is probably the big-gest difference I’ve noticed,”

Gilders said. “I don’t know if it’s twice as big or if it’s a third bigger. It’s also cleaned up a little bit so it’s not quite as rustic, but as far as I’m concerned, it’s a good groove for a music venue.”

PHOtO BY aLeX rieSeThe dance floor at the newly renovated Boathouse in Kitchener was packed on Feb. 21, as Ties That Bind played their inaugural gig at the venue.

Page 10 s SPOKE Monday, March 2, 2015

Monday, March 2, 2015 SPOKE Page 11SPORTS

BY CARMEN PONCIANO

Conestoga Condors’ men’s varsity soccer team has bounced back with a suc-cessful indoor season so far. Though it was a rough out-door season for the Condors, finishing with six losses, two ties and no wins, they have been able to make a strong comeback as they reached the semifinals and finals in their last three indoor tour-naments and look forward to making it to the region-als.

“Going from an outdoor season where we were 0-6-2, it’s been quite a turn-around,” said Matthew Davidson, a Condors’ player. “It’s incredible, we’re really turning a new leaf.”

The players have found a hidden appreciation for indoor soccer. Working with a much smaller field it can be difficult to score goals, so their coach has them play-ing more defensively, pro-tecting the goal and working

together as a unit which makes it harder for, as Davidson said, the opposing team to break them down. So far, this has made a sig-nificant difference, result-ing in success.

Aldo Krajcar, head coach of both men’s and women’s varsity soccer, said the play-ers had a hard time adapt-ing to this concept during the outdoor season, but a change in the players’ men-tality has also been a factor in their success so far.

“I think they finally

understand,” Krajcar said. “My motto is: having good defence wins you the games and tournaments and the team that works hard usu-ally wins the game.”

And the hard work has paid off, though most of the 16 players have school com-mitments, work and, like Davidson, play on other soc-cer teams as well. Despite this, the majority of them still make it out for practice every Wednesday evening. Though Krajcar admits he can be hard on the players, he is confident that this sea-son the Condors will make it to the regionals. And it looks promising as the Condors have already beat-en Sheridan, the defend-ing champions, twice in a row even though they are a much larger college, giving them more players to choose from.

“It’s amazing, it has become one of our most memorable parts of this season so far,” Davidson said.

Condors take flight indoors

“Going from an outdoor season where we

were 0-6-2, it’s been quite a turnaround. It’s incredible, we’re really turning a new leaf.”— Matthew Davidson

PHOTO BY CARMEN PONCIANOCoach Aldo Krajcar talks to the team during one of their practices on Feb. 11.

Men’s soccer team finds elusive success during winter season

Page 12 s SPOKE Monday, March 2, 2015entertainment

XXX Bingo racy and raunchy

Photos By nataleigh mccallum

Conestoga Students Inc., which held XXX Bingo in the Sanctuary on Feb. 13, surprised students with a special guest this year – Spencer Rice from Kenny vs. Spenny. In addition to playing bingo, students raced with blown-up toys (above) and showed their favourite sex positions (right) in order to win some silicone playthings. On the opposite page, female students were asked to fit their fists in their mouths in order to win a prize, two female students participate in a blow-up toy race and a student who yelled “bingo” receives a silicone prize. For video story, go to www.spokeonline.com.

Monday, March 2, 2015 SPOKE s Page 13entertainment

Page 14 s SPOKE Monday, March 2, 2015fun & 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

Sagittarius, keep your eyes open and stay on guard. Not everyone around you brings good fortune. This week be observant.

Don’t blame others for any misfortunes that have hap-pened. Keep in mind that everyone makes mistakes. This week forgive those around you.

Aquarius, get along with those around you even if you don’t like them. This could benefit you in the long run. This week be positive.

Pisces, you will have to deal with negative energy from those around you, don’t let this get to your head. Keep your chin up and smile.

Gemini, this week someone will test you. Be assertive and polite. The results could improve your skill set, which is helpful for your future.

Leo, it’s time to take action. You’ve spent too much time planning and waiting for the right moment. That moment is now.

The stars have aligned. You are headed in the right direction. Keep focused and work hard; your efforts will pay off.

The Stars have spoken.

Horoscope Week of March 2, 2015

Aries, this is not the time to stress about the “whole” picture. Focus your ener-gy on one thing at a time. Patience is key.

Taurus, work on your com-munication skills. People around you misinterpret what you say which may cause some tension.

Scorpio, it’s time to wrap up any loose ends you may have. To better your future, end a relationship, which is stressing you out. Move for-ward, it will only get better.

If you “favourite” those around you, you may find yourself short of a few friends in the near future.

Cancer, others find your assertiveness intimidating yet attractive. Use this, but don’t take advantage of it. Things could backfire.

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.

Name:

Created with TheTeachersCorner.net Word Search Maker

St. Patricks DayDUBLIN

ESCAPE

EYES

FAIRY

GREEN

HERDSMAN

IRELAND

IRISH

JIG

LEGENDARY

LEPRECHAUN

LUCK

MARCH

MISSIONARY

MONK

MUSIC

PATRICK

PINCH

POTATO

SHAMROCK

SHEPHERD

SNAKES

S A L E P R E C H A U N U N O E

A O Y D W G U S S W B D L H G G

Q Q R A E F E H Q Y N U A S X U

O E I F V K A M V R M B L X Z I

H F A R A M O M D N A L E R I D

K E F N R P I N C H R I D Y Q Q

C H S O J M P K T K C N H R B G

U U C J U E C M D J H L N A Y K

L K H A Z I C R J I E O A N Q L

Z H X M R K E Z U G T I M O S X

M W T T N H H D E A T Q S I E C

R J A O P S M N T G I A D S Y L

M P M E I U D O R P Z Z R S E E

P M H R S A P E P A C S E I X E

H S I I R T E V W V A Q H M G O

Z R C Y V N O W P Q F S P A L L

The average Japanese house-hold watches more than 10 hours of television a day.

A female ferret will die if it goes into heat and cannot find a mate.

An average human loses about 200 head hairs per day.

Despite a population of over a billion, China has only about 200 family names.

Beethoven dipped his head in cold water before he com-posed.

Monday, March 2, 2015 SPOKE s Page 15Student Life

BY KALi CAudLe

A lot can be done in a min-ute. Students proved this while showcasing their skills during the Minute to Win It competi-tion on Feb. 10 in the Sanctuary.

Three teams of four compet-ed in mini challenges that had to be completed in 60 seconds. The competition consisted of six rounds which were: Don’t Blow the Joker, Movin’ on Up, This Blows, Stack Attack, Face the Cookie and Hanky Panky.

Before each round started, CSI program co-ordinator Samantha Schwier would show a “blueprint” from YouTube (a video that would fully explain each challenge) to the partici-pants on the projector. After the videos were played, Schwier would go into further detail to ensure the students under-stood what had to be done in order to successfully complete each round in one minute.

For the first round, Don’t Blow the Joker, one contes-tant from each team had to attempt to blow an entire deck of cards off the top of a bottle until a joker was revealed.

During the third round, This Blows, the contestants had to blow up a balloon, and then use the escaping air to knock down plastic cups. This

process had to be repeated until 15 cups were completely knocked off the table.

For the sixth round, Hanky Panky, the competitors were only allowed to use one hand to empty a full tissue box, by removing one tissue at a time in one minute.

After the sixth round, the teams were tied. To deter-mine a winner, the competi-tors had a tie-breaker game of rock-paper-scissors.

The winning team, consist-ing of Anthony Beg, Sean Malinowski, Ashliegh Hill and Brandon Twaddle, received four $25 pre-paid MasterCards.

Sean Malinowski, a first-year journalism student, said the challenges he and his teammates faced were harder than they looked.

“They were extremely dif-ficult, more difficult than I expected,” he said.

Schwier said in the future she will host the event on a different day, in hopes of get-ting a better turnout.

“I found that today (Tuesday) in the Sanctuary it was a lit-tle quiet,” she said.

However, she said she hopes the students who did partici-pate enjoyed the event and made some new friends as well as some great memories.

Students show off in a minute

PHOtO BY KALi CAudLeAshliegh Hill, a first-year community and criminal justice student, attempts to build a tower during the Minute to Win It contest at Conestoga College’s Doon campus on Feb. 10.

Page 16 s SPOKE Monday, March 2, 2015