BY JESSICA PETT

There’s one thing that stu-dents have in common – they can all use a pick-me-up on occasion. That is where Random Act of Kindness Day comes in. On Nov. 6 the col-lege will be participating in this special day in an effort to promote kindness between all staff, students and visitors.

Conestoga College part-ners with the Kitchener and Waterloo Community Foundation, which start-ed holding Random Act of Kindness Days in 2008. The event is also held worldwide.

The official website, www.randomactsofkindness.org, provides new and creative ideas to be kind as well as stories of kindness by people around the world so that oth-ers can learn new ways of performing kind acts toward one another.

On Nov. 6 Student Life lead-ers at Conestoga will promote the day by holding activities (which are being kept under wraps until that day). Acts of kindness can be as simple as buying a stranger a coffee or making a donation to a local charity.

In addition, there will be “hot

spot” booths scattered around all of the college campuses, each with its own focus, wheth-er it be for people who are having a bad day or for people who want to learn new ways to spread kindness. These booths, which will be run by volun-teers, will be able to meet the needs of people in all sorts of situations, as the volunteers are there to talk about avail-able resources in addition to showing kindness.

Laura Black, a Student Life programmer for community ini-tiatives at Conestoga College, finds that getting to know some-one on a deeper level is a great way to brighten a person’s day.

“I find that taking the time to get to know a person and their story is the most important thing you can do,” said Black, “but I think you can apply that into the community setting within the college too, so I try to get to know all of my volun-

teers’ names, the programs that they’re in and their family situ-ations, as much as they want to share with me.”

Black said the reason the college continues to partner with the Kitchener-Waterloo organization each year is because they can see what a difference it makes in the community.

“To see somebody walking down the hall that day who looks busy, tired, exhausted, especially because it’s just after midterms are happening, they’re gearing up for all their big projects and really to stop them and give them a one-min-ute break of happiness shows them that good things are hap-pening around them.”

Evan Reinhart, a first-year bachelor of community and criminal justice student, thinks it is easier to spread kindness when having a positive attitude to begin with.

“I think the best way to spread kindness is to demonstrate a positive mindset at all times. When people have a positive outlook on life they’re much more likely to spread positivity onto others. With a generally positive mindset, acts of kind-ness come naturally and are more genuine,” he said.

SPOKEMONDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2015 CONESTOGA COLLEGE, KITCHENER, ONT. WWW.SPOKEONLINE.COM 46TH YEAR — NO. 19

Rugby team tramples Sheridan Bruins.Page 16

Condors are victorious

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

Siblings create haunted house as a fundraiser.Page 12

Spooks have a heart

SHOWS OF STRENGTH

PHOTO BY ETHAN KOMPFA contestant at Oktoberfest’s eighth annual Bavarian Strongman Challenge in Kitchener had to lift a 275-pound log as many times as he could. For additional photos, see Page 8.

Seasonal part-time job hiring now underwayBY JASON MOTA

Students hoping to work this Christmas season had better start sending out their resumes, as many retail stores have started hiring already.

Timeliness is just one of many skills to make use of when looking for employment, since the retail job market is as competitive as ever, and a single mistake can often mean the difference between landing a job and losing it.

“If you bring your resume in with a friend, right away, that’s it for us,” said Ryan Goetz, a manager at Zumiez, a skateboard-clothing store at Fairview Park Mall. “Also, I would say negativity. People are pretty easy to read usually, and if you get that negative vibe right away, that’s a deal-breaker for sure.”

According to Goetz, the best way to improve your chances of getting a job is to avoid showing any unprofessionalism – dress appropriately, show up on time to all appointments and appeal to the place you apply to – don’t make it seem like an impersonal, rehearsed application made for the sake of getting any possible job.

“Make your face known, show us that you want to be here, and not necessarily that you’re just looking for a job,” said Goetz. “Christmas is a crazy time but it’s a really good time to get into retail.”

These tips and sentiments are the same for many retailers looking for seasonal part-timers – they don’t just apply to one or two places. Loyda Rodriguez, a manager at Bluenotes, a youth clothing store widely popular for its

jeans, looks for many of the same things in applicants.

“We’re looking for somebody with confidence, with really good demeanour walking in,” said Rodriguez. “Make sure your resume is clean, make sure it’s to the point, ask for the manager on duty, and specify whether you’re looking for a part-time job or full-time job, and what your availability is.”

Handing in an application without friends or family tagging along is also something that Rodriguez urges, because of how unprofessional it looks.

“Just yesterday I had a young boy come in (and apply for a job). He had his resume, everything was good, but then his mom kind of popped over his shoulder and said, ‘He needs a part-time job!’ And that was an instant deal-breaker right there.”

Kindness comes to Conestoga Nov. 6

PHOTO BY JASON MOTALoyda Rodriguez, a manager at the Bluenotes clothing store in Fairview Park Mall, holds an employee training handbook. Her store is one of many that have already begun hiring part-timers for the Christmas rush.

Page 2 s SPOKE Monday, October 26, 2015NEWS

Now deep thoughts... with Conestoga College

Random questions answered by random studentsWhat movie have you seen recently

that you would recommend?

“Everest. It had a good storyline (and you) get connected with the char-acters.”

Brandy Fulton,first-year

journalism print

“Ex Machina gives a cool perspective on artificial intelligence.”

Sean Scott,second-year

international business management

“Brooklyn Nine Nine. (It’s) really funny.”

Nolan Jones,second-year

business administration marketing

“Black Stallion because it was a good movie.”

Kyle King,first-year

educational support

“Maze Runner: Scorch Trials because it was full of action and suspense.”

Brittany Hennessey,first-year

protection/security and investigation

“The Trust Cost because it was an eye-opener.”

Kathryn Cooper,first-year

green management

Smile Conestoga, you could be our next respondent!

FILBERT CARTOONS

Seminar teaches womenhow to find lasting love

BY MICHELLE MAISONVILLE

Single? Sick of dating the wrong people? Have you had it with dating? A female empowerment “dating smart” seminar is being held in Kitchener that could help.

Dating coach Chantal Heide held her last workshop in Kitchener on Sept. 26. It was a success so now she’s back with another seminar on Nov. 28 from 1 to 5 p.m.

The seminar will give women a clear understand-ing of human behaviour so they can apply it to dating, but it’s also about confidence and self-esteem so you can take it and go out into the world.

Attendees will learn about Heide’s seven steps to last-ing, intimate love: grounding, clarity, overcoming fear, con-necting, discovery, intimacy and love.

Through these steps they will learn how to meet “the one” and why it hasn’t hap-pened yet.

Throughout the seminar there will be a series of exer-cises. One of these exercises is to make a list of what you’re looking for in a partner. This is part of step three, clarity.

“If you’re not clear he could be right in front of you but if you’re not clear on what you want, you’re not going to realize that that’s the guy for you,” Heide said.

Mothers who buy tickets are encouraged to bring their daughters with them for free. Heide said her current audi-ence is 30 years old and up but she wants to reach out to a younger audience.

Heide said the feedback has been positive. She’s had peo-ple come up and say, “I wish I would have known this soon-er,” and “It taught me how to value myself first.”

Kathy Smith attended one of Heide’s seminars and has kept in touch since then. Smith had positive things to say about the seminar.

“The message that resonat-ed with me was gaining the self-confidence and empower-ment so you don’t date the wrong kind of guy or someone who is not right for you,” she said.

Smith added that the envi-ronment at the seminar was very supportive and friendly.

“I would definitely recom-mend it to either someone who is trying to find the right partner or someone who is

just looking for improved self-confidence in their life and relationships,” she said.

The seminar will also fea-ture guest speaker, Davor Cvijic, vice-president of sales for iNutrition Inc.

He will be talking about people’s relationship with food, what he calls “one of the most intimate relationships we can have,” and how fol-lowing some simple general principles can enhance your energy, mood, self-confidence and even relieve symptoms of anxiety and depression.

“Looking great helps with the confidence thing too,” he said.

Following the right diet principles, Cvijic said, will provide proper hormonal balance, making it easier to cope with stress, providing more energy and resulting in improved body composition.

“All of this results in being the best you that you can be,” he said.

“I believe that to find love, you need to love yourself first and creating the optimal envi-ronment internally is the first step in that journey.”

Tickets are $65 and are available at www.canadasdat-ingcoach.com.

PHOTO BY EMMIE SIROKYTim Murton is an artist originally from England but now lives in Elora. Every year, he makes these creatures and puts them around downtown Elora. He’s been doing this for 17 years. For video story, go to www.spokeonline.com

THE MONSTER MAN RETURNS TO ELORA

Monday, October 26, 2015 SPOKE s Page 3NEWS

Social media fundraising on the riseBY JOE WEPPLER

Ten years ago, no one had ever heard of crowdfunding. Today, websites like Kickstarter, Indiegogo and GoFundMe are expanding at an incredibly rapid pace. According to Los Angeles-based crowdfunding research firm, Massolution, the global crowdfunding market is expected to reach $34.4 billion US in 2015.

For the uninitiated, crowd-funding is the practice of funding a project, campaign or venture by raising money from a large number of peo-ple, most commonly via the Internet. As a form of alter-native finance, it’s easy to see the appeal. It’s evidently a lot easier to get $1 from 10,000 people than it is to get $10,000 from one person.

Taylar Graves, a second-year bachelor of science in nurs-ing student from Conestoga, recently started her own crowd-funding campaign to raise funds for a volunteer trip to Fiji in association with Volunteer Eco Students Abroad. The trip involves spending three weeks overseas, staying with a host family in a local Fijian village and working with volunteers to take part in a sustainable com-munity development program.

“We’ll be doing things like refurbishing schools, build-ing washrooms, teaching English and hygiene tech-

niques,” said Graves. The second part of the trip

involves working with marine biologists to help with tur-tle conservation and coral replanting. When Graves first learned that she could fundraise through crowd-sourcing, GoFundMe was her first choice.

“I’ve seen some people use the site to raise funds and they were very successful,” said Graves. “I’m not really expecting it to go viral, but I’m using it more for getting my message out there, allow-ing friends and family that aren’t in the area to help and to track the overall progress of my fundraiser.”

Stacey Hughes, a physio-therapist assistant original-ly from Kitchener, is also using GoFundMe to raise money.

“It’s about my grandma’s breast cancer treatment. I want to raise money to surprise my grandparents with enough funds to cover gas, parking and any other drug expenses they may need,” said Hughes.

Hughes originally decided on crowdfunding as an avenue when she saw others using it to great effect.

Hughes and Graves would both recommend crowdfund-ing to others.

“Even if you don’t reach your set goal, any money you can raise via the website will

definitely help,” said Graves. “It’s a great way to get your cause out there and people you don’t even know may sympathize with your cause and decide to donate.”

Some people use crowdfund-ing as a form of comedy, such as Zack “Danger” Brown’s kickstarter aptly titled, “I’m making a potato salad.”

Brown’s stretch goals (a funding target set by the proj-ect creator beyond the origi-nal goal) included such entic-ing rewards as “I will say your name out loud while making the potato salad.”

A year and $55,492 later, Brown’s kickstarter was offi-cially funded. The money was spent paying out the stretch goals, creating a potato salad cookbook and even hosting a massive, charitable potato salad party, lovingly labelled PotatoStock 2014.

A more recent example of comedic crowdfunding capers include the bid to “Rescue Matt Damon from Mars” and comedian Kurt Braunohler’s kickstarter to pay a “plane message” artist to write “how do I land?” in the sky above Los Angeles.

Others, however, try to use crowdfunding for less than noble or comedic causes. One example was the case of Erik Chevalier, who kick-started a project for a board game called “The Doom of

Atlantic City,” which had been designed by a couple of prominent board-game art-ists. With nearly 1,250 back-ers pledging more than $75 hoping to get a copy of the game, hiss kickstarter raised a whopping $122,000.

He eventually announced he was cancelling the project. According to the Federal Trade Commission, who settled the fraud case against Chevalier, he promised to refund the contri-butions but in fact spent them on personal expenses such as rent, personal equipment and licences for a different project.

“I think you should defi-nitely know or contact the person you want to donate to before donating to make sure it’s a legitimate cause,” said Hughes.

Other “scampaigns” include an Iowa woman who raised thousands of dollars to pay for her healthy daughter’s “cancer treatments” or the case of Jen Hintz, who was accused of using the $26,000 raised on Kickstarter for her indie yarn-dying business, to fund her move to Massachusetts.

Perhaps the most interest-ing scam of all was “Kobe Red Jerky,” wherein a cou-ple of guys claimed that they had an uncle in Japan with a herd of Kobe cattle and they fell in love with the taste. They wanted to give the

world a chance to try out the real, delicious jerky.

The primary goal of $2,374 was met within four days. Eventually, the project reached $120,000 and 3,000 pledges. After some detective work between Kickstarter and an independent film-maker, the project was shut down just minutes before its conclusion. It was found that Kobe Red Jerky didn’t exist and all the reviews were faked.

Chantal Rivard, a second-year public relations student at Conestoga, urges people to take care when donating.

“I think it’s a great idea, as long as it’s used in a respect-ful way,” she said. “I believe it’s as safe as you make it. Only donate to funds you are certain are legitimate and to people you trust.”

David Villalpando, an employee at GoFundMe, echoed that sentiment.

“It’s all in our TOS. Only give to people you know and trust,” he said. “If we find (people) are being intentional-ly misleading, we take action.”

GoFundMe’s website states that it’s not feasible for GoFundMe to investigate the claims stated by each campaign organizer and that instead it provides visi-tors with the tools to make an informed decision as to who they choose to support.

BY MARISSA CUDDY

Student Price Cards (SPC) have become a popular loyalty card for many students. The discounts are well worth the $11.30 that they cost.

SPC can be purchased at Conestoga at the Bookstore or CSI service hub.

“Specifically for the Conestoga Bookstore we have 10 per cent off all Conestoga crested items. All you have to do is show your card,” said Grace Sham, retail services co-ordinator at the Bookstore. “And there is also a whole lot of retailers that have a lot of discounts for students.”

Over the last few years SPC has changed and added more deals to the card which has made it more popular.

Some of the stores and res-taurants you can use the card at are American Eagle, Bluenotes, Forever 21, Old Navy, Boston Pizza, Jack Astor’s, McDonald’s and Menchie’s. For a full list go to www.spccard.ca/deals.

There is also an app avail-able that lists all the deals and mobile perks such as dif-

ferent contests and deals that are not included in the email newsletters.

To get the most out of a SPC card, sign up for email news-letters to help you keep up on contests and limited time offers.

Following their social media pages is another way students can stay up-to-date.

Amanda Power, a Conestoga accounting student, said,

“When everybody’s in school finances are strapped so get-ting any discount would be beneficial.”

Sham said, “Get one for the discounts, that is what the SPC card is for.”

In addition to the many deals, discounts and contests the company also has a blog that is aimed at students. It focuses on student life, enter-tainment and their “#real-studentproblems”. Many of the posts from the blog are shared on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

One thing students who pur-chase the card must remem-ber is that they are the only ones allowed to use it and they may be asked at any time to provide their school student card as identification. The stu-dent card and SPC both must be valid for the current school year. They normally expire July 30.

Ashley Jenah, an office administrator at SPC, directs anyone who has questions or wants to know more about the loyalty card or to order a card online to go to www.spccard.ca.

PHOTO BY MARISSA CUDDYGrace Sham, a retail services co-ordinator at the Bookstore, shows off SPC cards.

SPC cards worth it WEIRD AND WONDERFUL MANNEQUINS

PHOTO BY JENNA BRAUNVisual merchandising students create all kinds of weird and wonderful props for their new in-class “store.” For a video story, go to www.spokeonline.com.

Page 4 s SPOKE Monday, October 26, 2015COMMENTARY

When unions first rose up to defend workers’ rights in the second half of the 19th century, they had a signifi-cant and meaningful role in Canadian society. They fought for the rights of work-ers and ensured the prosper-ity of the middle class for decades to come.

But today, unions seem to cause more trouble than they’re worth. The most recent example of this is the ongoing teacher’s union dis-pute in Ontario.

October has been con-sumed by talks between the Ontario Public School Boards’ Association (OPSBA) and the Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario (ETFO). The teach-ers are eager to increase wages and working condi-tions, and the association is focused on a settlement similar to the one currently in place with the Catholic and high schools.

On Oct. 14, OPSBA published a news release informing the public that the association and the ETFO had been able to resolve the majority of the issues that were disputed. The release was concise

and informative. It gave the public a brief update on the progress of the bargain-ing process with the ETFO, and nowhere in the release were there any accusations toward the union.

And yet, on the same day, the teachers released their own statement criticiz-ing it as a “media stunt,” and that it was, “another example of bad faith bar-gaining.”

In an article in the Waterloo Region Record, Michael Barrett, president of the school boards’ asso-ciation, said the move was intended to, “inform the public on the progress made in negotiations and to clear up any misinformation after six weeks of silence sur-rounding the talks.” In the Hamilton Spectator, Premier Kathleen Wynne chimed in and said she was frustrated at how long it was taking to

come to a resolution.“Parents don’t know why

there isn’t a resolution to this, and out of the frustra-tion that the boards were feeling, they wanted to put information into the public realm that demonstrated that there has been move-ment,” she said.

Wynne is absolutely right. Since when did transparency and openness become a con-tentious issue? Parents have every right to know what the status is on these negotia-tions because this is and will affect them the most. It is not bad faith to do so, and the EFTO knows this. If any-one is pulling a media stunt, it’s the union.

The EFTO has said it is willing to return to the bargaining table, but as of press time, talks have not yet resumed. It is para-mount that they do so sooner rather than later, because the success of the students they claim to be interested in helping depends on them doing so.

Unions may still have a role to play in Canadian soci-ety, but this sort of behav-iour and response should not be part of that.

Teachers desperate for attention

Who are we?BY SARAH VEENSTRA

Is the niqab debate unveiling something greater than the temporary removal of a headdress? We think so.

In recent weeks, Conservative Leader Stephen Harper struck a cord with Canadian citizens by asking that niqabs be banned for public servants and those taking citizenship ceremony oaths.

Non-Muslim Canadians are also weighing in, arguing the niqab could be used by terrorists, and not just by Muslims who are using it as a declaration of their reli-gious beliefs and a way for women to be modest.

As Canadians, we define ourselves as multicultural. It’s the one commonality that Canadians can agree upon to define our culture; that we have more than one (besides hockey, beer and your local Tim Hortons.)

We pride ourselves on being different from those with whom we share a border; we are more worldly and more accepting.

We condemn the United States for being a melting pot; taking all who enter and churning them into small soldiers with a united front.

Multiculturalism by Canada’s definition is the equal celebration of racial, religious and cultural backgrounds. However, the theory may be better executed than the action.

According to Statistics Canada’s 2011 data, we have over 200 ethnic groups in Canada, making up 22.1 mil-lion people, just over two-thirds of Canada’s population.

Yet, do those 200 cultures interact with one another? Do we live in segregation? Toronto, for example, is eas-ily the most multicultural city in Canada, yet many of these immigrants live in Chinatown, Little Italy and so on. Arguably the millennials may be the first genera-tion to obliterate this segregation.

According to Environics Analytics, they’ve grown up alongside the highest number of visible minorities Canada’s ever seen – 25 per cent. Can this acceptance be attributed to an abandonment of religious beliefs? Environics Analytics found a second highest number for Canadians – 31 per cent don’t affiliate themselves with any religion.

Yet, what does the millenials’ laissez-faire attitude mean for multiculturalism? Are millennials finally able to make Canada a true multicultural country or are they doing what we’ve fought against from the begin-ning?

The real question is, is the removal of the niqab a step forward or backward as a country and culture?

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

Chris Hussey 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

Stephen Harper’s opinion no longer matters.

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.

Editor: Paul BorehamAssignment Editors: Leah Morrow, Garrett BurchettAdvertising Managers: Sarah Veenstra, Sara SasilaSpoke Online Editors: Kandace Gallant, Joe Weppler, Christel Allison, Matt Linseman

Production Managers: Jessica Hammer, Ashley Nequest, Ethan KompfPhoto Editors (print): Jenna Braun, Marissa Cuddy, Adam Schwartz, Brea BergenPhoto Editors (online): Emmie Siroky, Sean Malinowski, Jason Mota, Jessica Pett

Social Media Editor: Chris Hussey, Mike Stromme, Josh Van OstrandCirculation Manager: Michelle Maisonville, Taylor SchweitzerFaculty 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

BY CHRISTEL ALLISON

You’re in college and preg-nant. That shouldn’t be the end of your life.

If you’re pregnant and con-fused, make you way down to Health Services. College is really complicated and stress-ful in its entirety so, go get all the support you need. The first step will be getting a test to confirm that you are real-ly pregnant, and then you’ll get an appointment with the doctor before having blood-work done to find out how far along you are. You’ll also have someone to talk to about your options.

“There are options. They can look at adoption,” said Conestoga College nurse Lyndsay Enright. “There’s termination but that’s contro-versial.”

The college doesn’t direct-ly offer those options; they refer students to Grand River Hospital or an obste-trician.

The issue of financial insta-bility poses a problem most times but OHIP does cover the costs you might incur in the process and, for international students, it varies depending on the actual situation so you have to find out what applies to you personally.

If you feel more comfortable seeking support outside of the college environment, you can walk through the doors of Planned Parenthood in Kitchener. They understand that young women have a hard time finding someone who won’t judge them or pres-sure them into making deci-sions.

“We provide pregnancy

options, information and sup-port,” said director Lyndsey Butcher.

These services are free and confidential so even if you don’t have a health card, you’ll still be attended to. All the sessions are private and they also provide emotional support and options.

The options available to you are abortion, adoption and parenting. They’ll work you through whatever decision you make.

Another option is St. Monica House. They provide profes-sional support, community programs and housing for single youth who are preg-nant, placing for adoption or parenting.

Planned Parenthood can be reached at 519-743-9360 and St. Monica House at 519-743-0291.

Monday, October 26, 2015 SPOKE s Page 5NEWS

PHOTO BY CHRISTEL ALLISONLyndsay Enright, a nurse at the college, said students who find themselves pregnant and over-whelmed always have support available to them at Health Services.

Pregnant and alone?

BY BREA BERGEN

Pink. This is the colour that comes to mind when people think about breast cancer. Mammogram. This is the word that may painfully come to mind when they think about being tested.

Mammograms are some of the most commonly known diagnostic tools when it comes to breast cancer, because they are the most frequently used. Mammograms, however, are not always the most accurate.

According to Mary Kubisewsky, clinic direc-tor of Thermography Clinic Kitchener Inc., young women have a more difficult time being diagnosed through mammograms because their breasts are more dense while they’re young. She said, “When a breast is dense and you do a mammogram, it comes out looking like two clouds.”

Mammograms are consid-ered a late diagnostic tool, and are better for finding lumps that have already been growing for between eight and 10 years. They are more likely to be successful detect-ing something right away in women over the age of 50 than in younger women.

“In my case, the mam-mogram missed my lump,” Kubisewsky said.

They may also make test-ing in males more difficult, as they have less tissue to compress in order to X-ray. Although breast cancer in men is more rare than in women, it does occur. According to the Canadian Cancer Society’s website, www.cancer.ca, it is estimated that 220 new cases of breast cancer in men will be found in 2015.

According to Shawn Chirrey, senior manager, health promo-tion and community engage-ment of the Canadian Breast

Cancer Foundation, mammo-grams are being updated from the traditional machines to digital machines to better test women with denser breasts.

An article written by Dr. Alexander Mostovoy, a board certified clinical thermogra-pher and clinic director of Thermography Clinic Inc. in Toronto, suggests mammo-grams are outdated. In it, he says, “The first mammogra-phy trial began more than 50 years ago and the last trial was conducted in 1991. The benefits that were found during those trials were from another era of breast cancer treatment.” It continued to say the benefits of mammog-raphy shown in old trials will most likely not occur if they were to conduct the same trial today.

This is where thermography steps in. Thermography is not the only step toward diagno-sis; however, it is an excel-lent first step. If something is abnormal in a thermogram, the patients will need to take a closer look at their lifestyle and have blood work done before possibly going in for an ultrasound and a mam-mogram to be fully diag-nosed. “Thermography is very early risk assessment,” said Kubisewsky.

Rather than using compres-sion and radiation to X-ray the breasts, as in a mammogram, thermography measures the heat coming off of the skin. It’s based on the blood vessel activity surrounding a cancer-ous mass being higher than that of one in a healthy breast, making the skin surrounding a mass warmer than the skin of an unaffected breast.

It is a non-invasive proce-dure, which could provide the knowledge that something is wrong eight to 10 years before something physically appears.

FAMILY GOES ABOVE AND BEYOND

PHOTO BY ASHLEY NEQUESTAfter a year of fundraising the Carmichael family raised $2,500 for the Wishmaker’s Walk. As a team they raised twice as much as any other participant or team. For video story, go to www.spokeonline.com.

Think pink

College and community have support services

Page 6 s SPOKE Monday, October 26, 2015NEWS

BY MATT LINSEMAN

Some students struggle to put food on the table for a variety of reasons. However, there are various resources available at the college that can help, includ-ing the Conestoga Students Inc. food bank and the Aboriginal Services food bank.

CSI’s food bank is avail-able for any full-time student once a month. It’s located in Room 2A119. The Aboriginal Services food bank is available for aboriginal students who attend Conestoga and is located in Room 1A103.

“Anyone can donate to the food bank by dropping off items at the food bank or at our main office,” said Jeff Scherer, presi-dent of CSI. “We are also affili-ated with the Food Bank of Waterloo Region and often stu-dents donate through events and class projects.”

The Aboriginal Services food bank is supported by a partner-ship with the Cambridge Food Bank.

Both food banks accept and provide all non-per-ishable food items such as cereal, soup, canned vegetables and past, and have hygiene products available.

Approximately 60 to 70

students per month use CSI’s food bank and the Aboriginal Services food bank usually receives between five and 15 requests per month. According to Myeengun Henry of Aboriginal Services, students seem to access the food cup-board more in the middle and at the end of the month.

“We have found students need to have food and eat in order to be successful,” said Lois MacDonald, administra-tive support clerk at Aboriginal Services. “If there is no food to eat, then the students will not be successful in their studies.”

CSI’s food bank is a budget item, with money set aside for staffing and for restocking when needed.

“Many student groups run events throughout the year that benefit our food bank,” said Scherer. “Around the holiday season we ask for donations of special items to put together holiday packages.”

Aboriginal Services also holds an annual food drive at their powwow event where anyone is able to donate and help out.

If you’d like to get involved, visit CSI’s main office in Room 2A106 on Doon campus or Aboriginal Services in Room 1A103.

You don’t have to go hungry

PHOTO BY MATT LINSEMANConestoga has many different resources for students, including two food banks. One is run by Conestoga Students Inc. and the other by Aboriginal Services. They provide non-perishable foods and other items such as hygiene and baby products.

BY CHRIS HUSSEY

It’s a rainy evening in down-town Kitchener, and Josh Martin is celebrating.

The 35-year-old man is standing at the front of a small room inside the Kitchener Public Library. The room is simple and unobtrusive. The white walls and grey chairs seem far more corporate than they should be for an event like this. There is a projector in the back that illuminates the wall beside him with the words, “More than a coin flip: five things cancer taught me about overcoming cancer.”

After gathering his thoughts, Martin looks up and introduces himself to the small audience in front of him. He has a calm, steady tone, and has a very easy-going demeanour. It feels less like a speaking event and more like a conversation with an old friend.

As holds his notes in his hand, he tells the group in front of him he is celebrating the seven-year anniversary of receiving his bone mar-row transplant. Without hesi-tation, the room, filled with many of Martin’s friends, bursts into applause. Not long

after, he abandons his notes and just talks.

Martin was diagnosed with leukemia in 2008, and spent

the next eight months under-going chemotherapy and radi-ation while his doctors looked for a bone marrow match. He

does have seven siblings, but unfortunately none of them were a match, so his doctors had to turn to the interna-tional bone marrow registries. They eventually did find him a match – an anonymous donor in Europe. It was that donation that ended up sav-ing his life.

But those eight months were not easy by any means. During his talk, he spoke about how the disease took a toll on him, both physically and mentally.

“I remember breaking down at one point and saying, ‘I can’t do this,’” he said.

While the physical impact the disease had on his body was hard enough, Martin said it was the psychological obstacles that were the hard-est to handle.

“24/7 I was just thinking about being sick, and it was just a constant beehive in my head that I really struggled to keep control over,” he said.

During Martin’s presenta-tion, the audience was trans-fixed, and it was clear he had connected with them in a pro-found way. George Nickerson, a retired teacher, said he was facing his own hardship when he discovered this event and Martin’s story resonated with

him. “As I rebounded from the

loss of my wife of 31 years, I faced adversity and was look-ing for a path forward,” said Nickerson, who was one of the first people after the event to buy a signed copy of Martin’s book, Simple(ton) Living: Lessons in Balance from Life’s Absurd Moments.

Martin has done many talks like this, but this was the first time he had done this particular talk. He described the event as a trial run so he could iron it out in the hopes of delivering it to bigger audiences. In the future, he hopes to deliver these talks to younger audiences, particu-larly students.

Martin’s life has changed significantly since the bone marrow transplant seven years ago, and he always looks back at that day and uses it as inspiration for the work he does now.

“It’s one of my favourite times of the year,” Martin said. “It reminds me of how lucky I am to have gotten through that, and it’s like an annual reminder to make the most of the time I’ve got.”

For more informa-tion, visit Martin’s blog at www.badgeofawesome.com.

Cancer survivor speaks publicly

PHOTO BY CHRIS HUSSEYJosh Martin shares his story to a small group at the Kitchener Public Library during his event, Five Things Cancer Taught Me About Overcoming Cancer, on Oct. 15. Martin was diagnosed with leukemia seven years ago, and spent eight months fighting the disease until he received a bone marrow transplant on Oct. 15, 2008.

Monday, October 26, 2015 SPOKE s Page 7NEWS

Foster an elephant this ChristmasBY KANDACE GALLANT

When people walk in my bedroom they immediately notice all my elephant figu-rines, my elephant pillows and the elephant painting hang-ing on my wall. Friends and family also comment on all the elephant clothing articles I have; a few shirts, elephant rings, bracelets and necklac-es. This leads to the question, why are you so obsessed with elephants?

But my question to the asker is, why aren’t you?

Last year for Christmas I ended up fostering an ele-phant named Kora through the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust (DSWT) in Kenya. My mom immediately starting pestering me about making sure it was a reliable and legitimate website. I had just found it by accident and hon-estly knew nothing about it. Once I started reading more about it, and more about Kora and all the other elephants that needed fostering, I was intrigued. I couldn’t look away. I couldn’t not fund one. So, instead of getting a hip-popotamus for Christmas, I thought an elephant would suffice.

Kora is around 10 years old now, growing into a healthy and strong adult, but when he was a young calf, his fam-ily was chased down by a group of poachers. Luckily he was able to get away,

but his family and his moth-er were not so lucky. They were found dead, their tusks taken from them, and blood sprayed all over the ground. Kora was found miles away running around lost, mal-nourished, scared and con-fused. The DSWT team was able to bring him into their conservation area and nurse him back to health. It took a while for them to gain his trust because the only other human contact he’d known was scary men chasing him with a big stick that had a pointy, uninviting end.

Seeing pictures of him now, which are sent every month over email outlining what he’s done since the last time they were sent out, is thrilling for me. I love knowing that my money is going toward help-ing out another living crea-ture – one that had little hope and was facing death.

I look forward to foster-ing more elephants this Christmas.

I saved a kitten a few months ago and when I took her to our vet, Dr. Kate Flanigan in Guelph, she heard that I was a part of the DSWT and she was overjoyed. She couldn’t stop asking me questions about it because she wanted to start fostering elephants as soon as she got to a computer.

“It’s unimaginable,” she said as she started tearing up. “The way they’re slaughtered and their bodies are just left there

to rot with blood everywhere. Elephants and humans are so much alike with the way they look after their young, the way they mourn the loss of their fallen herd member and visit their graves … it’s amaz-ing, but a sad tragedy.”

Seeing someone else getting teary-eyed over the matter made me feel like I wasn’t the only one who was passionate about such an amazing crea-ture. I felt like I wasn’t the only one who cared about bringing the ivory trade to a stop.

A couple of weeks ago Prince William spoke to millions of Chinese viewers on TV outlin-ing the importance of ending the ivory trade, and earlier this week it was announced that there is now a one-year ban on all ivory imports and trade in China. I was glad that they made that deci-sion, but at the same time I was fuming with anger. I don’t understand why it didn’t turn into a permanent ban. Elephants are an endangered

species that are being killed off because of, what? It’s not a matter of needing their tusks at all. It all comes down to pure greed. But then again, what doesn’t?

I ended up buying the book The Last Chain on Billie. It talks about this elephant who endured so much pain and torture her whole life. She was taken from the wild, ripped away from her mother, and forced to start performing in circuses. She was traded back and forth a lot between dif-ferent big-name circuses and many trainers took on the task of trying to tame her and get her to listen to their commands, but Billie wouldn’t have any of it. She didn’t like being near people or learn-ing new tricks, and because of that she was punished with a bull-hook. I won’t go into detail, but believe me when I say I cried through the whole book. It made me change my views on zoos and circuses and the way they take advantage of animals that belong in the wild, not for our entertain-ment. I couldn’t believe some of the things that I was read-ing, and the information that was given to the author was, like my vet put it, unimagina-ble. Some parts were so grue-some that it made me cringe and I had to take a break from reading it.

So it seems to me that throughout history, these majestic, wild, beautiful

creatures have never really been given a break. They’ve been used for entertainment since the 1800s, they’ve been slaughtered for their tusks, they’ve been taken at a young age from their mothers and forced into an environment in which they have never belonged … to the point where conservation areas have had to be made in order to keep them alive and well.

Can’t nature thrive without the constant negative inter-ference of human kind?

As quoted by Daphne Sheldrick, founder of DSWT, elephants can teach humans a great deal about caring.

I encourage people to rethink spending their money on anything that may be made with real ivory. I encourage people to foster the orphaned elephants from the DSWT. You can also foster baby rhi-nos, since they are so scarce and near extinction. I encour-age people to try and read The Last Chain on Billie and to gain knowledge on how animals are used for enter-tainment and what they go through.

I know that I may not be changing the world by fos-tering one elephant, or by writing this article, but when I’m passionate about some-thing I don’t stay silent. And I also may be called the weird elephant-obsessed girl, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.

PHOTO BY SARAH VEENSTRAFrancisco Caledon has been visiting Victoria Park in Kitchener almost everyday since moving to the area. The park is scenic and serene, especially at this time of year.

PHOTO BY MICHELLE MAISONVILLEColton Lauzon, a Conestoga Students Inc. board of director, holds a pumpkin at the CSI’s farmers’ market event that took place on Oct. 5.

ENJOYING THE VIEW AT VICTORIA PARK FARMERS’ MARKET COMES TO CAMPUS

NEWSPage 8 s SPOKE Monday, October 26 , 2015

BY JENNA BRAUN

Autumn is the perfect time to listen to dark, eerie music.

If you’re a lover of indie, folk, light rock or alterna-tive music, I think you’ll find The Paper Kites is the perfect mixture. The Australian band falls under a range of different genres, known for their “ethe-real and moody” sound.

“We have a vibe we want to keep, but we want to expand it as well,” said Christina Lacy, the band’s female vocalist, in a trailer promoting their new album.

Twelvefour was recorded in March and was released on Aug. 28.

According to the band, the album got its name because all of the songs on the album were written between the hours of 12 and 4 a.m., when band members were most inspired. All of their music videos are set between those hours too, each featuring dif-ferent characters, plots and locations.

In the trailer, Sam Bentley, the lead singer, said these were his “most creative hours.”

The album, which was pro-duced by Grammy-nominated Phil Ek (who also produced both of Fleet Foxes albums), is a few steps forward in terms of their older work. Their lyrics are even more poetic and their keyboard and gui-tar solos are even sweeter, if that’s possible.

The band formed in 2010. All five members have been close friends since high school; Bentley and Lacy began writ-ing and playing music togeth-er as teens. They currently have two extended plays and two albums.

Every time I listen to the newest album, my favou-rite song changes. Each one flows into the next perfectly, yet they’re all so different in terms of lyrics and tone. Right now, it’s Relevator Eyes; the guitar flux at the end of the song will make your hair stand up.

To my excitement, they announced they’re playing at Starlight in Waterloo Nov. 30, featuring music from their latest album and a short film on the making of it. Ecstatic, I bought tickets immediately.

The best part? They’re still a fairly underground band, so their tickets are dirt cheap at just $14.

Visit www.ticketweb.ca/event/the-paper-kites-star-light-tickets/6138995 to buy tickets.

Late nights under neon

lights

BY JOSHUA VAN OSTRAND

THEMUSEUM’S new exhibit, Light Illuminated, is designed to show people in the community some aspects of light that affect their daily lives. The museum is host-ing the exhibit as part of the United Nations’ International Year of Light, a global initia-tive to raise awareness of the importance of light and light-based technologies.

Spread across six rooms, Light Illuminated uses many inter-active exhibits to show muse-um guests some of the more interesting properties of light.

These exhibits were created with help from students at the Optical Society, the Institute for Quantum Computing and the University of Waterloo. Guests are invited to race light and to create artwork that is affected by ultraviolet light.

The exhibit covers five main topics: the properties of light, understanding polarization, understanding the spectrum of light, and understanding reflec-tion and refraction. The exhibit also includes works of art that incorporate the sciences behind light.

“The whole purpose for doing an exhibit about light is to cel-

ebrate it and help people to understand how light affects them every single day,” said Aimee Gunther, a physics PhD student at the Institute for Quantum Computing and founding member of the Optical Society chapter in Waterloo Region. “(We want to show) what technologies they use that actually are light based as well as what companies in the sur-rounding region are light-based and how the technologies of light affect this region.”

All the exhibits culminate in a timed lazer maze, a favourite part of the exhibit for both staff and the students who helped

put the exhibit together. The lazer maze covers approximate-ly 200 square feet and incorpo-rates elements such as smoke and mirrors to help educate about the reflection of light.

“In this technology-based community, along with the UN’s International Year of Light, with exhibits cre-ated and built by the com-munity, I am just delight-ed that we’re hosting here at THEMUSEUM,” said David Marskell, CEO of THEMUSEUM.

The exhibit, located at 10 King St. W., runs until March 28.

Light Illuminated at THEMUSEUM

Contestants had to carry 275 pounds in each hand and walk a cir-cuit at the eighth annual Bavarian Strongman Challenge.

A competitor lifts a 375-pound stone onto a pedestal. He was the only one to lift all five stones. The event resulted in one contestant being taken away in an ambulance.

In one event, contestants had to clean and overhead press a 275-pound log for as many reps as possible.

The first event of the competition was an 825-pound tire flip. The fastest time was under 30 seconds.

Maxime Bondean, a contestant at the strongman challenge, lifts a 275-pound log over his head. He took third place in the competition.

PHOTOS BY ETHAN KOMPF

Feats of strength displayed at

strongman challenge

Monday, October 26, 2015 SPOKE s Page 9FEATURE

PHOTO BY JASON MOTA

PHOTO BY JESSICA PETT PHOTO BY LEAH MORROW

PHOTO BY JASON MOTA PHOTO BY JASON MOTA

As the leaves turn

Fall brings rain and chilly weather, but also vibrant, ever-changing landscapes. Many people enjoy hiking at this time of year, taking in the colourful leaves. Pumpkins are also symbolic of this season. Below, Ayla Boemer is ready for all the pumpkin food, drinks and activities fall has to bring. The Farmer’s Almanac predicts a harsh and snowy November, so enjoy the red and orange while it lasts.

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Car show concludes Oktoberfest

BY SEAN MALINOWSKY

Hot rods and polka music are a perfect combination to help wrap up the final day of Oktoberfest.

The 18th annual Oktoberfest Car Show filled the streets of downtown Kitchener on Oct. 17, one of the final events held during the Bavarian fes-tival.

To participate, car owners had to register their ride in the morning, and find a spot on King Street. This year saw nearly 100 clas-sic cars, all different makes and models, being displayed right next to the kegs and sausage grills.

The event saw a good crowd, with the odd lederhosen in the mix. Steve Arthur, 36, attend-ed the car show with his nine-year-old daughter Erica.

“I used to work at my uncle’s car shop as a kid,” Arthur said. “I’m a car fanatic.”

It was Erica’s first car show. She spent most of her time

dancing to the live polka band, but when asked what her favourite car was, she quickly pointed at a lime green Mustang GT, and said “that one.”

John Adlington, a proud owner of a 1977 Pontiac Firebird Trans AM, said he has been participating in the car show for three years now. Adlington’s Pontiac is in original, un-restored con-dition.

“I get invited to a few car shows a year, I try to get to as many as I can,” he said, add-ing, “I love cars, always have.”

If you have a sweet set of wheels that you would like to show off next fall, check out www.oktoberfest.ca for more information on how to register. Arthur said he enjoyed his first visit – con-versing with fellow grease monkeys and Oktoberfest-goers alike.

“Car shows are a great time to talk to people with the same passions as you,” he said.

Province needs to do more about cost of education

BY ADAM SCHWARTZ

Nothing looms over students quite like the paralyzing fear of debt. Right now the annual average cost of a four-year degree in Ontario is $8,691 according to the Canadian Centre of Policy Alternatives (CCPA). This makes Ontario the most expensive prov-ince in Canada to get a post-secondary education. The runner-up is Saskatchewan where the price is $7,406.

“Directly as a result of declining public investment in university operating revenue, tuition fees across the board, almost without exception, con-tinue to increase,” said Erika Shaker, CCPA education director in a news release.

Since 1993 the price for post-secondary has tripled. The Canadian average then was $2,320 and has since risen to $6,971. The trend upwards is something we can continue to expect until provinces begin to do more to help mitigate the rising costs. Until then, students will keep having to foot the bill.

This is just the price of

tuition and compulsory fees from the schools, so it doesn’t include the price of rent. In the City of Kitchener, accord-ing to Numbeo.com, a website that takes the value for goods across specific regions and averages them out, a one-bed-room apartment outside the city centre will run you $763 per month. You still need gro-ceries, insurance, Internet and a cellphone with a data plan. These numbers really add up and fast.

“I feel there should be a system in place for students so they don’t have to pay it back as much,” said Alyssia Depths, a second-year tele-vision broadcast student at Conestoga College. ”OSAP is great, (but) it’s like water; you drink it and drink it and drink it, then you look and it’s like, ‘Oh I’ve drank all of my water.’ Then you’re like $20,000 in debt, you have to pay all of that back and it’s awful. I feel that there should be more bursaries available, so you don’t have to pay all of that back and don’t feel so stressed right when you’re done school.”

The pressure from the

debt comes after you have graduated, when you think you will have no problem getting a job. OSAP is cer-tainly a help, but students should also look into bur-sary and scholarship money. Bursariescholarshipscanada.com says that there are 80,927 awards available that are worth a total of $177 mil-lion but many of them each year are not taken advantage of by students.

A rising cost of education isn’t something new, it’s something many other countries have faced and dealt with, some more successfully than others. Finland, Norway and Sweden have a free post-secondary education system at the cost however of higher taxes. Other countries are less successful like the United States, where the cost of education has been rising higher and has become largely unaffordable for much of the population.

“It could impair their abil-ity to go to school,” said Maddie Demart, a first-year journalism broadcast stu-dent at Conestoga College. “It could impact their stud-ies.”

REC CENTRE ONE BOLT AT A TIME

PHOTO BY BREA BERGENA construction worker works on the rec centre at the Doon cam-pus of Conestoga College. The extensive renovations are expected to be completed early in the new year.

PHOTO BY SEAN MALINOWSKIA 1956 Ford Thunderbird was parked on King Street during the 18th annual Oktoberfest Car Show on Oct. 17.

Almost 100 classic cars on display at annual event

BY PAUL BOREHAM

“I wouldn’t belong to any club that would have me as a member,” said Groucho Marx in jest. But it begs the ques-tion: Who would want you in their club? At Conestoga College there is a vast army calling out your name to join.

There are 33 clubs and soci-eties reaching out for mem-bers, and a sampling of these set up shop in the hallway outside Tim Hortons and in the atrium at Doon campus, Oct. 15. The information boards were up, pamphlets were out and even goodies were being displayed in hopes of attracting recruits.

“A lot of clubs transition year after year, but we have so many new and interesting ones this year, so it’s excit-ing,” said Justine Voll, stu-dent engagement co-ordinator for Conestoga Students Inc., who arranged the event.

The Conestoga Mature Student Association is one of those newly-formed clubs. The club was set up in the atrium and had a pile of suckers in every colour of the rainbow out to entice people. Michelle Belonzo, a third-year busi-ness administration-manage-ment student, is the president and said it is high time there was a support group for older students at Conestoga.

She turned to some statis-tics written on her informa-tion board and said 61 per cent of college students are over the age of 22, adding the age would be higher if univer-sity students were excluded from those numbers.

While a mature student at Conestoga College is techni-cally defined as over age 19 and without a GED, “To us, a mature student means you just need help. You’ve been out of school long enough for it to be a problem,” said Belonzo.

Standing beside her, help-ing out, was Robbin Melrose, a first-year general arts and science student. It has been 22 years since he graced the halls of a school, he said, and his arrival this past January was quite a shock.

“I had my paper, my pen and my textbooks, and I find I don’t need all these things ¬– it’s all on computers.” There was a learning curve and the use of computers is one issue mature students need help with, including using eCones-toga. Other issues are juggling home-and-school life and deal-ing with the stress of getting assignments in on time.

The club, he said, is meant as a support system for older students, to get together and discuss each others’ challeng-es and simply just for the social aspect.

“I just woke up one day and realized, ‘I’m going to be 50 and I’ve never done what I wanted to do when I was 20, and I’m not going to have that,” said Melrose, who is now in his 40s and realizing that dream.

Both Melrose and Belonzo laughed recalling the times they have been mistaken for faculty. “’Oh, the guy with the grey beard must be the instruc-tor,’” said Melrose, mimicking comments he sometimes over-hears. Belonzo is still young, in her 20s, but if she dresses up even a little, she is treated differently, she said. Age dif-ference is another issue mem-bers have in common. They come from another time, creat-ing a big gap between younger students, but at the same time bringing with them a host of experiences to share.

The club is still setting up a schedule for weekly meetings.

Jess Wright, a second-year health office administration student, was calling out for singers outside Tim Hortons. She has started an a capella group and is raring to go.

All that is required is “you have some singing ability and you’re not completely tone deaf,” said Wright, adding there is an audition, but she has yet to bang the gong and send anyone away broken-hearted. The club has over a dozen singers so far, but they need more, especially male voices to round out the choir.

“We had one girl who sang for less than 30 seconds and jaws dropped to the floor,” she

said of an audition. She was that good.

The first song the club is working on is Under the Sea, from the Little Mermaid. Wright also plans on work-ing on some songs from Pitch Perfect, “a huge a capella movie,” she said. She is plan-ning an inter-school competi-tion and a Christmas concert.

The club meets Tuesdays and Thursdays, 5 p.m. and 6 p.m. respectively. Wright said there is a cut-off date of Oct. 31 for auditions this semester.

Not to ignore a more estab-lished club, the Conestoga College Accounting Association – with a member-ship topping 50 – is a must for anyone studying account-ing at the school, according to Voll. The club’s booth had pens as give-outs and the stu-dents minding the store had everything laid out in per-fect order. Asked why they liked accounting, they both smiled and admitted they love to see a balanced worksheet. The Chartered Professional Accountants of Ontario were mentioned as speakers in November – a chance to min-gle with would-be employers and be seen.

Voll said joining a club is a great way to get involved. She stressed the opportunity for net-working, but also just to meet friends outside of regular class and have fun. “These activities will go on your co-curricular record as well,” she said.

Anyone wanting to start a club will need to apply on CSI’s website for Voll’s

approval. A minimum of seven members is required, with one event planned for each semester. They are pro-vided with $200 along with a $100 credit for printing

costs. Voll said they will also help book a classroom for meetings.

All of the clubs will be listed on CSI’s website with their contact information.

Monday, October 26, 2015 SPOKE s Page 11NEWS

Clubs offer fun and friendship

Conestoga College Clubs ListConestoga College has many clubs for you to choose from.

� Conestoga Power Lifting � Conestoga Fishing Club � Conestoga’s Wallflower � Conestoga A-Capella Group � Conestoga College Accounting Association � Ballroom and Latin Dance � Conestoga Breakers � Conestoga Bhangra Crew � Conestoga Gamers Club � Conestoga Cosplay Club � S.A.F.E House � Power to Change � Conestoga Cycling Club � Conestoga in Action � Conestoga Camera Club � Laughing Yoga � Music Club � Conestoga Cheerleading Team � WIHSC � Conestoga Sikh Student Association � Conestoga Mature Student Association � International Students Club � Young Liberals of Conestoga College � Muslim Student Association � Conestoga Bollywood Club � Conestoga Starship Command � Conestoga Boxing Club � Matia Club � Chess Club � Condor Paintball Club � Conestoga Hip-Hop Crew � The Poutine Association of Conestoga � Aboriginal Students Association

PHOTO BY PAUL BOREHAMRobbin Melrose, left, a first-year general arts and science student, and Michelle Belonzo, a second-year business administration – man-agement student at Conestoga College, stand in front of the Mature Student Association’s booth during an information session at Doon campus Oct. 14. It was a day of show and tell for college clubs and a chance to recruit new members.

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Haunted house raises money for cancerBY SARA SASILA

Three siblings turned their home into a haunted house to raise money for cancer research.

Kia, Dhillon and Leela Taggar have been showcas-ing their own haunted house for the past five years. It all started when their three-year-old friend was diagnosed with cancer. He overcame the battle but that didn’t stop these siblings from continu-ing their support.

The haunted house ran from Oct. 16 to 18.

The first Spooky Tours start-ed in 2009, when their garage was converted into a small haunted house for the chil-dren in their neighbourhood to attend. They raised $5.

Last year, they expanded their tour into the garage and the basement. Former Waterloo Mayor Brenda Halloran attend-ed as well as CTV’s Nadia Stewart. They raised $500.

This year, their sixth, the Taggars transformed three floors of their house into one big scary haunted house for chil-dren and Halloween lovers to enjoy. Their theme was “Circus Gone Wrong” which resulted in clowns, dead dolls and more.

Jayne Hembruff, the mother of the three children, said she couldn’t be more proud of what they have accomplished.

“Their passion to help is incredible,” she said. “My chil-dren have been touched by cancer from both sides of their

family as well as friends so it’s amazing to see them take action for something they feel so strongly about.”

The idea of Spooky Tours as a fundraiser was created when the Taggars would hear about how much money Relay for Life raised.

“My children wanted to do more to help put an end to cancer by helping to fund research,” said Hembruff.

This year, they gathered 25 volunteers to help make the haunted house the best yet. They also had the support of Value Village, Spirit Halloween and Home Depot, who have generously donated props, cos-tumes and craft supplies.

Door prizes totalling $600 were donated by local business-es such as Starbucks, Canadian Tire and National Sports.

“We have put in more 1,000 hours of work for this,” said Hembruff.

There were three levels to the haunted house. Level 1 was for children and level 3 was for those who were brave enough to enter.

Sixteen-year-old Kia said she loved putting a show on for everyone. “I hope people enjoy what we have all created.”

Hembruff said her children make a list of people they want to attend and do every-thing they can to entice those people to come.

“This year they wanted the past and present mayor to attend,” said Hembruff, adding

the two mayors did show up.Over 100 guests were

courageous enough to go through Spooky Tours includ-ing Waterloo Mayor Dave Jaworsky, Waterloo MP can-didates Bardish Chagger and

Diane Freeman and Canadian Cancer representative Sarah Bradshaw. “It’s so refreshing to see children care so much about raising money for can-cer,” said Bradshaw.

Although they didn’t reach

their goal of $1,000, they raised $298 for cancer research.

“I am so proud of my chil-dren for finding their passion and putting their heart and sole into this project to help fight cancer,” said Hembruff.

PHOTO BY SARA SASILAFriends and family dress up in spooky costumes to scare those who dared to enter their haunted house entitled “Circus Gone Wrong.” The house was a fundraiser for the Canadian Cancer Society.

PHOTO BY SARA SASILAKia Taggar, one of the creators, dressed up as a dead bride and guided guests through the haunted house.

PHOTO BY LEAH MARROWKia Taggar, shown holding a lantern, and her siblings have organized a haunted house tour every Halloween for the past six years as a cancer fundraiser. For video story, go to www.spokeonline.com.

Monday, October 26, 2015 SPOKE s Page 13NEWS

BY TAYLOR SCHWEITZER

When it comes to animal concerns, the humane society reaches out with help from volunteers and aims to make a difference.

Students at Conestoga College shared what they can do to help make a difference at a shelter while the volunteers are hard at work.

“I would definitely play with every single animal, at least I would try to,” said Vinicio Monzon, a second-year protec-tion/security and investigation student.

Allen Bezeau, a second-year journalism broadcast student, said, “I worked at a shelter as a volunteer before, so I know the importance of getting involved. I’m a dog person, so if I see a dog, I’m there. I’d walk it or play with it.”

Helping out at a humane society doesn’t cost a thing, except giving your heart, along with a little bit of your time.

“Volunteers are extreme-ly important to the Guelph Humane Society,” said Lisa Viet, the associate director at the Guelph Humane Society. “We currently have over 100 volunteers who assist with cat care, dog walking, socializing pets with special needs, provid-ing foster homes, assisting at events (such as adoption promo-

tions or awareness activities), to name just a few.”

With a lot of animals in the community, it is impossible to save them all. However, one act of kindness can help reduce the number of home-less pets.

“The most effective way that we can prevent pet abandon-ment is to ensure that those who are interested in bringing a pet into their home are well-informed on responsible pet ownership,” Viet said. “Many times, the decision to bring a pet into the home is made impulsively, and there is a failure to plan for the long-term commitment associated with being a pet owner.”

Karen Harnock, a first-year business administration-mar-keting student, said, “Helping out humane societies can make anyone feel good. I’ve made a lot of donations, as well as my family, online and through donation of toys for animals. It’s worth putting in the time to help animals in need.”

She added, “If I had to help out at a shelter for the day, you would definitely see me making sure that animals were given the attention that they need, as well as making sure they had lots of food and water.”

The Kitchener-Waterloo Humane Society provides

various services including adoptions, animal protec-tion and a cruelty helpline. They also have job opportu-nities posted on their web-

site and you can also call 519-745-5615 or email them at info@kwhumane.com.

Anyone interested in mak-ing a difference in the life of

an animal can either visit the Kitchener-Waterloo, Guelph or Cambridge humane soci-ety or can go online to access more information.

PHOTO BY TAYLOR SCHWEITZERDanijela Hoek, an animal attendant at the Kitchener-Waterloo Humane Society, holds onto a kitten that is trying to escape from her arms on Oct. 18.

Humane society needs volunteers

FREE FOOD FRIDAYS FEED THE HUNGRY

PHOTO BY MICHELLE MAISONVILLEConestoga Student Inc. staff hand out free pretzels for CSI’s Free Food Friday event that happens every other week. Students were lined down the hallway a half hour before it was scheduled to begin so CSI decided to start handing them out early.

Page 14 s SPOKE Monday, October 26, 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

You like to experiment and have a knack for learning new things. You should go as a crazy mad scien-tist, witch or wizard this Halloween.

Take a walk on the wild side and dress up in something funky or sassy. You may have to plan ahead but your awe-some costume will be worth it.

You should learn from your past mistakes and be more decisive with your deci-sions. You are pretty artis-tic so be sure your costume stands out.

You should stand out and let your inner beauty shine. Not many people get a chance to see the real you so dress up and dance like there’s no tomorrow.

You are feeling like every-thing and everyone is against you. Don’t fret because things will get better. Get to bed early so you can get a head start the next morning.

You will have to make your true intentions known if you intend to do a cou-ples-themed costume this Halloween. Get out and have a spook-tacular Halloween.

You have good people skills and can often sway a crowd. If you dress up as a vam-pire you will probably make people believe you are one.

Go forth and make all these things happen. It is written in the stars!

Horoscope Week of October 26, 2015

You will be going on an unexpected trip. This trip will be very beneficial for your career, so be sure to put your best foot forward.

Be careful of who you put your trust in. Be wary of a sweet-talking young man who starts up a conversa-tion with you. He might be a vampire so wear a scarf.

Plan out your Halloween cos-tume now if you want it to be different than everyone else’s. Go to some cool shops and you will find the perfect costume.

You need to take a step back and analyse how your goals are affecting your career plans. Stop worrying about classes, take a night off this Halloween.

Get out of your comfort zone. This Halloween dress up in something wild, that way you can look back on your craziest moments in college.

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.

An Angry Birds Land is open at a theme park in Tampere, Finland.

Stewardesses is the longest word typed with only the left hand.

The average person laughs 10 times a day.

Shakespeare invented the word “assassination” and “bump.”

Chinese Crested dogs can get acne.

Monday, October 26, 2015 SPOKE Page 15NEWSEXCITING NEW DESIGN FIXTURESCONESTOGA STUDENTS PREPARE FOR COLDER WEATHER

PHOTO BY KANDACE GALLANTStudents are starting to bundle up as the temperatures dip. This week will be colder than normal, with lows hovering around the freezing mark.

PHOTO BY JENNA BRAUNMargie Hedges, co-ordinator of the visual merchandising program at Conestoga, has been involved in the creation of a mock store situated in C-wing for visual merchandising students. Clothes from Moore’s, fixtures from Target and pieces from other retail stores have been purchased or donated. For video, visit www.spokeon-line.com.

Page 16 SPOKE Monday, October 26, 2015SPORTS

Condors storm back in women’s rugby

PHOTOS BY GARRETT BURCHETTScarlette Jarquin celebrates with teammates after a hard-earned 22-12 win against Sheridan.

BY GARRETT BURCHETT

As the Conestoga Condor’s varsity women’s rugby team warmed up for their game against Sheridan College on Oct. 13, they noticed some-thing wrong. Sheridan hadn’t shown up yet.

The Bruins had gotten lost on the way to Bill Struck Field in Cambridge. They arrived just after the 5 p.m. start time. After being given time to warm up, the game got underway after only a slight delay.

However, that delay seemed to have a bigger effect on Conestoga. The Condors came out playing sloppy and Sheridan quickly took control.

The Bruins scored less than two minutes into the game, and led 12-0 at half-time. On a cold, damp and rainy day, it would have been easy to roll over and give up. But the Condors have championship aspira-tions, and weren’t about to

go down without a fight.“I don’t know what changed,

we had a couple of fresh legs go in, we had a bit of a chat about being passionate, about what they were doing here,” said assistant coach Anna Kirkey. “The girls turned around and started playing rugby.”

Conestoga came out in the second half looking like a dif-ferent team, dominating pos-session, making solid tackles and breaking long runs with both their forwards and back-field.

As the sun went down the Condors’ offence woke up. Forward Natalie Kwiecien scored two tries, as did back Morgan Minke. Scarlette Jarquin added a convert for the Condors.

And when the final whistle blew, the Condors were victo-rious, winning 22-12.

The win moves the Condors to 4-1 on the season, and into first place in the west divi-sion.

With only one game remain-ing in their regular season, a matchup against winless Mohawk, the Condors are looking for greater consis-tency down the stretch. The team is no stranger to playing Jekyll and Hyde rugby, losing their only game of the season 59-0 to Humber, and then beating that same team 20-0 just two weeks later.

“Next game we need to work on keeping that confidence and aggression for the entire game,” said Kirkey.

The Condors have their sight set on the Ontario Collegiate Athletic Association cham-pionship game on Nov. 14. The Condors reached the gold medal game back in 2011, but lost to Humber and settled for silver. This year, the sky is the limit.

“This team can go as far as they choose to go. This team has so much potential, and so much aggression and ability, if they use it, they can go all the way,” Kirkey said.

Morgan Lowe (No. 11) awaits the ball after a scrum during Conestoga’s win at Bill Struck Field in Cambridge.

Jarquin pushes through a Sheridan defender during the second half of women’s varsity rugby action on Oct. 13.