myUsearch post & Kill Jill closure
August 12, 2009
A new post of mine has been published at the myUsearch blog. I really enjoyed writing this article. I included a lot of my own personal experiences and it was just nice to write a good old-fashioned college article again. Click the link below to give it a read:
Also, WordPress (which I usually strive to recommend to other bloggers as a great place to host a blog) has deactivated Kill Jill Goes To College because they seem to think the blog is meant for selling affiliate links and promoting other websites.
Gee. Last year, Kill Jill was named Blog of the Day by WordPress. Now it’s deactivated. How ironic.
So, if someone at WordPress is reading this post, I ask that you reinstate Kill Jill. I’m a poor college student who, yes, makes a few bucks from some small ads. I’ve been getting a lot of visitors lately because of a giveaway I’m doing with HP. That’s probably why your people think I’m up to no good. I ask you to reactivate my blog because I did nothing wrong. Thanks.
Mothers not breastfeeding long enough: survey
April 14, 2009
TRURO – Roxanne Beavers of Lower Onslow said she’d like to nurse her seven-month-old son for at least a year.
Medically, she’s golden. But statistically, she’s going against the grain.
Many moms are choosing to stop nursing their babies sooner than they perhaps should, despite increasing breastfeeding rates for 20 years.
A recent survey by Maternity Experiences Study Group, the Public Health Agency of Canada and Statistics Canada, showed 90 per cent of women planned to breastfeed their babies longer than six months – but only 14 per cent of those women actually did so.
“A lot will depend on work, and a lot will depend on him,” Beavers said, referring to her son Oliver.
Many women have to stop breastfeeding earlier than planned for health reasons, too.
“Usually it’s a physical as opposed to an emotional choice,” Beavers said.
Communities – and hospitals in particular – need to be more supportive of breastfeeding, Beavers said. A ‘nurse-in’ was staged in February at the IWK Health Centre in Halifax after a woman was told to “cover up” while breastfeeding her baby.
Beavers said she tries to cover up in public while nursing but wishes she didn’t have to worry about not exposing anything.
“But what does it matter? It’s food – the original fast food.”
Workplaces, too, need to be more supportive of breastfeeding and allow mothers to pump milk at work.
“Pumping will keep your supply up,” said Beavers, 32. “If you’re only nursing a few times a day, I think it’s harder to keep going.”
Janet MacNeil, mother to eight-month-old Georgia, said the statistics of women breastfeeding long-term are discouraging but she understands why some women can’t do it.
“Some people have to go back to work or they just feel the baby is ready to move on,” said MacNeil, 35.
The Onslow Mountain resident said starting out nursing can be daunting. “If you make it to six weeks, you’re doing good.”
Kathie Sutherland, a parent educator and co-ordinator at Maggie’s Place in Truro, suggests more support groups and more information for new mothers are the keys to improving duration rates.
“The goal is that every baby be breastfed, exclusively for six months, and continue breastfeeding for two years, as the World Health Organization recommends,” said Sutherland.
She cites negative connotations and myths about breastfeeding as some possible reasons why women choose not to breastfeed long-term.
“In North America and western cultures, that’s not the norm,” she said. “There’s still lots to be done to inform people and to advocate for babies and mothers.”
The health benefits of long-term breastfeeding can do wonders for a baby, Sutherland added.
“The longer babies are breastfed, the stronger those benefits are and the longer they last.”
But the health benefits of breastfeeding don’t only benefit baby – but mom, too.
“Many people think of breastfeeding as being hard on a woman’s body but while you’re breastfeeding, you absorb calcium and other nutrients very efficiently,” Sutherland commented. “Most women don’t know about these things.”
Unfortunately, Sutherland said, the longer you breastfeed your baby, the less community support you’ll probably get.
“The challenges of breastfeeding change as the baby gets older.”
Maggie’s Place is a support centre for families with young children and babies. The next breastfeeding support group at Maggie’s Place is scheduled for Monday, May 4 at 10-11:30 a.m. For more information on breastfeeding, visit the La Leche League of Canada’s website at www.lllc.ca.
(This was published in the April 13, 2009 edition of the Truro Daily News.)
See no evil
April 10, 2009
Dog doing fine after eye removal surgery and wandering away from home late last year
NOEL – It’s been a few months since Maggie the blind dog wandered away from her home at Foggy Hollow Farm in Noel, Nova Scotia.
The 14-year-old Boston Bull Terrier returned after 11 days, weighing five kilograms underweight. Maggie was treated at the Truro Veterinary Hospital by Dr. Gwen Mowbray-Cashen.
‘The Grand Old Lady of Foggy Hollow’, as owner Marjorie Densmore affectionately nicknamed her, still resides at her owners’ commercial flower farm.
Maggie rules the roost at Foggy Hollow but had both eyes removed because of an ulcer on one and the risk of ulcer to the other.
“She is now sightless,” Densmore said. “There was no sight before – they were just there.”
Densmore, a continuing care assistant at the Mira Nursing Home in Truro, still doesn’t know where Maggie wandered off to that day.
“Can you ask a dog?” she said with a laugh. “I know she was on the farm because the farm is 240 acres.”
While missing, Maggie bumped her head and damaged one of her eyes, causing a painful ulcer. She bumped it again after her return.
“She cried and cried,” Densmore said. “It was horrible.”
However, despite being blind and 14 (98 in dog years), Maggie is still a lady with a mind of her own.
“If she doesn’t want to do anything, she certainly won’t do it,” Densmore said with a snicker. “That part of her hasn’t changed.”
The only difference Densmore sees is Maggie’s unwillingness to lead with a leash. She plans to take her to a dog trainer and see if this problem can be fixed.
“If she won’t lead, that’s fine. She’s still the Grand Old Lady,” she added. “She can sit up on the couch and look pretty.”
Maggie’s determination, headstrong attitude and zest for life seems to be what’s keeping the old blind dog going.
“You make the decision – do you put her down or do you keep her?” Densmore commented. “And after her coming through so much, you don’t put her down. You do (your) best.”
Densmore has put a lot of money into Maggie’s health but knows she made the right decision.
“Would I do it again? Yes,” Densmore said firmly. “As far as the amount of money… If you sat back and thought how much in your head is she worth to you? Not in your pocketbook.”
(This story was written for the Truro Daily News but never made it to print.)
Truro woman celebrates milestone birthday
April 9, 2009
Jeanette Muriel Brown has experienced ‘some good times, some bad times’ during her 100 years
Jeanette Muriel Brown wishes she could turn back the clock.
Brown, who celebrated her 100th birthday yesterday, became a wife at 16 and a mother at 17.
“I couldn’t get back to school because I had to look after the children,” said Brown, who lives at Wynn Park Villa in Truro.
She was determined to get her high school diploma, however, and finally did at the age of 63.
“If I can do it at 63, (kids) should be able to do it at 18.”
Brown was born in Truro in 1909, three years before the Titanic sunk and five years before the First World War began.
She doesn’t remember much about Truro from her childhood since she moved to Cape Breton when she was about seven. She later lived in the United States for many years, married her first husband Charles Paris, had three children and managed a successful co-op store in Hartford, Conn.
“We went to the various stores and we sold the stuff to them as we bought it. We didn’t make a profit,” Brown explained. “That’s not what it was all about. It was about helping the people.”
Brown also moved back and forth between the U.S. and Truro during the Great Depression in the 1930s.
“The only thing I can remember from the Depression is that we all had to tighten our belts. You couldn’t spend what you didn’t have.”
During the Second World War, Brown worked in an ammunition factory in Montreal.
“I worked there for two years as an inspector,” she said. “I inspected the casings.”
Brown married her second husband, Lewis Brown, in 1958 (he died in 2002) and moved back to Truro for good about 30 years ago. Unfortunately, some of the same problems she witnessed in her younger years regarding people of her race was still evident.
“I was so surprised when I came back home and found that it had not changed as far as black people were concerned. I didn’t see them (being offered) jobs. I still don’t.”
Besides her three children (two of whom have died), Brown has nine grandchildren and said she can’t count how many great-grandchildren she has.
“But my great-great-grandchildren, I think I have 15 of them,” she said. “I’m happy I’m at this age and I can see some of my great-great-grandchildren.”
She reflected on reaching the century milestone.
“Let’s just say it’s been half-and-half,” said Brown, who was surrounded by friends and family at a birthday party at the fire hall in Truro. “Some good times, some bad times.”
Good genes is one of the keys to Brown’s longevity. Her mother died at 92 and her grandfather was in his 90s.
Brown cites hard work and common sense as two other important ingredients to leading a good life.
“I was taught to do what you have to do with what you’ve got.”
(This was published in the April 8, 2009 issue of the Truro Daily News.)
Big bowlers break record
April 2, 2009
TRURO – Local residents raised a record-breaking amount of money for the Big Brothers Big Sisters Association of Colchester last weekend.
The three-day event, which included a bowling tournament at the Bowlacade in Bible Hill, raked in a whopping $86,500. This represented a 28 per cent increase from the $62,000 raised last year.
“Our goal was $75,000 and we thought that was a pretty ambitious goal for these economic times,” said executive director Michelle Misener. “They just blew the doors off of our goal. We’re thrilled.
“People generally dig really deep and they understand that everybody is really struggling, trying to handle these difficult times.
“It’s the regular everyday people that really doll you up and give big.”
About 130 teams took part in the bowling tournament this year.
“We had a lot more teams than we ever had so that was a big factor in it,” Misener said.
“So, more teams mean, obviously, more money.”
Everybody had a lot of fun and enjoyed themselves, said Misener.
“I’d really like to thank everybody who came out and bowled and who supported and who sponsored.”
The money will go towards various programs run by Big Brothers Big Sisters including an in-school mentoring program, a scholarship and a self-esteem fund which finances programs for kids who couldn’t afford it otherwise.
“If they want to take music lessons or something along those lines, we’ll fund that for them,” Misener explained.
Everybody had a lot of fun and enjoyed themselves, said Misener.
“I’d really like to thank everybody who came out and bowled and who supported and who sponsored.”
Big Brothers Big Sisters is a charitable organization that offers programs and assistance for school-age children. Its next major fundraiser locally is a golf tournament on Friday, June 26 at the Mountain Golf and Country Club in Truro.
(This was published in the March 31, 2009 issue of the Truro Daily News.)
TRURO – When former Truro resident Ian Cameron was five years old, he caught scarlet fever.
“I just remember being very sick,” recalled Cameron, who was the class valedictorian at Colchester County Academy in 1961.
His family’s home was quarantined. A sign was placed in the window and he was secluded from his siblings in an effort to stop the disease from spreading. The family wasn’t permitted to leave the house.
“I can’t remember how my father got groceries,” said Cameron, 65, who will be discussing the history of quarantines in Nova Scotia this evening at the Colchester Historical Society Museum.
Typhus, cholera and smallpox put a nasty dent in Nova Scotia’s medical history. The worst of these diseases were found in Halifax and Pictou. Truro was more fortunate.
“I think because of it not being a port, it just wasn’t at risk,” said Cameron.
Truro’s strongest link to quarantine history lies with Adams George Archibald, a father of Confederation based in Truro.
When he was 18, Archibald volunteered to be a medical assistant in a quarantine hospital in Halifax in 1832. His life of pubic service is honoured in Truro.
“Adams Street is named after him. Archibald Street is named after him. George Street is named after him,” Cameron said.
Cameron, who is now a professor of Family Medicine at Dalhousie University, is a Fellow of the Canadian College of Family Physicians and a Diplomat of the American Board of Family Practice.
In 2007, Cameron published Quarantine: What is Old is New. It focuses on the history of Truro,
Pictou, Halifax and Lawlor’s Island and the devastating diseases that were passed from port to port.
He also will comment on the fact that infectious diseases still make headlines, only now the names are SARS virus and bird flu rather than smallpox and cholera.
Elinor Maher, chairwoman of the program committee at the Colchester Historical Society, is looking forward to Cameron’s discussion, particularly considering his strong connections to the area. “His father was the principal of the high school and his mother was a delightful lady who was a well-known artist. They were very much a part of Truro,” said Maher.
(This story was published in the Truro Daily News on Thursday, March 26, 2009.)
Teacher travels with a passport and a hammer
March 27, 2009
Cobequid Educational Centre teacher Suzanne Fougere is travelling to Macedonia this summer to help build homes for low-income families. Submitted photo.
TRURO – Cobequid Educational Centre teacher Suzanne Fougere has been putting her passport to good use for the past three years.
Fougere, 39, has been circling the globe with Habitat for Humanity, a non-profit organization devoted to building simple and affordable housing.
In 2006, the Truro native traveled to Madagascar, an island off eastern Africa. The next year El Salvador was her destination and last summer she touched down in far-off Mongolia. Now, the countdown is on for a summer visit to Macedonia, a poor eastern European country that used to be part of Yugoslavia.
Fougere said many of her students don’t know where Macedonia is.
“They think, ‘Where is that?’ I have to point it out on a map,” she said with a laugh. “They say, ‘Why do you go to all these weird places?’
“I see first-hand the need for assistance for low-income families and impoverished families here in Truro. But going to another country also brings a cultural element to it.”
A lot of these places are desperately poor, added the English 11 and Law 12 teacher.
“They don’t have the social services and charities and assistance that we are fortunate to have in Nova Scotia.”
Fougere said she enjoys working with Habitat for Humanity because it adds to the traveling experience.
“I love travelling but I like doing something with my traveling and giving back to another country, another community.”
Every trip is different from the last, said Fougere, who also volunteers in Truro at St. Vincent de Paul Society.
“What doesn’t change is the appreciation and smiles and gratitude that you get from people who really need help and deserve help and are so appreciative.”
The Habitat for Humanity plans in Macedonia include construction of about 90 homes for low-income families in the next three years, particularly for married couples who are economically active and have children but low incomes.
Anyone interested in helping the organization closer to home doesn’t have to travel any farther than metro.
“Sackville, Spryfield and Dartmouth,” said Fougere. “So, if someone wants to go, there’s an affiliate down there. Pick up a hammer and help out.”
A portion of the profits made today at the King Lam Restaurant in Bible Hill will go directly to the project Fougere is co-leading in Macedonia.
(This story was published in the Thursday, March 26, 2009 edition of the Truro Daily News.)
Oceanic ‘dead zones’ a major concern for fisheries industry
March 12, 2009
Dead zones in the ocean will have a major impact on the fisheries industry, says an aquaculture student.
Trisha Lewis, 20, is a student at the Nova Scotia Agricultural College in Truro and the daughter of a Five Islands fisherman.
Oceanic dead zones are caused by human-made chemicals, like certain fertilizers, entering the water systems. These particular ocean areas are low in oxygen and have become inhabitable by many species of fish.
All living species need oxygen to live, said Lewis.
“When there is a lack of oxygen, living species may no longer be supported. In areas where there is a decreased oxygen, many fish may be faced with hypoxia.”
Hypoxia is a lack of oxygen in the fish’s tissues. This can be lethal if the species doesn’t find a way to get the oxygen it needs, she said.
“Hypoxia can lead to death very quickly and it is very stressful for the fish, which means the immune system will also become weak and the fish will be more susceptible to disease.”
The oceans are affected by a decrease in fish and also an increase in organic matter settling on the bottom of the areas with decreased oxygen.
“If dead zones are created, many aquatic species will no longer be able to live in those areas and be forced to go to other areas of the ocean which do have an adequate supply of oxygen,” Lewis said.
These dead zones can have a huge impact on the fishing industry if something isn’t done soon, she said.
“Since these dead zones are usually along coastal areas, fish will begin to move into deeper waters.”
Many people fish for recreation along the coast and many fish for a living, she said.
“If the fish are forced to move, the fishermen may see a decrease in their catch which directly affects their pocket book as well as the supply of fish for people to eat.”
Central Northumberland Strait Fisherman’s Association president Mike McGeoghegan is troubled by the issue.
“It is a concern,” he said.
McGeoghegan, a commercial lobster and crab fisherman, said it doesn’t take much to upset the environmental balance.
“The ecosystem is very fragile.”
However, he’s skeptical about these types of reports and the science community.
“Our voices are not heard very well,” he said.
These dead zones – and other oceanic anomalies – could be better understood by the scientific community by working closer with people who are impacted by them most, he said.
“When you’ve been out on the water, you learn a few things.”
(Published in the March 12, 2009 issue of The Surveyor.)
Two stories in the Panther Post
March 9, 2009
I was catching up on some work at school this afternoon and I grabbed an issue of UPEI’s paper (The Panther Post) on my way out. Low and behold, two of my stories were inside: “Facebook bans photos of mothers breastfeeding” and “Woman who sold virginity in online bid could have relationship problems in the future: UPEI prof”.
Both articles can be found in the March 4, 2009 edition. (Click here to visit the University of Prince Edward Island website.)
