Big bowlers break record

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.)

NSCC students learn about the risks of gambling

NSCC student Laura Martin, 21, fills out the Know The Score quiz while learning about problem gambling. Hamilton photo.

TRURO – Like some of his peers college student Caleb Clyke occasionally gambles a few dollars while playing cards with his friends on the weekend.

He sometimes plays online poker, too, but not usually for money.

At Nova Scotia Community College yesterday, Clyke, 20, took a quiz on problem gambling and learned about some of the risks involved.

“Gambling is very addictive,” he said.

Educational assistant student Laura Martin also took the quiz even though she chooses not to gamble.

“It wastes money that could go towards my education or my dream of owning a horse,” she said.

The quiz was part of an interactive problem gambling awareness program called Know The Score designed by an Ontario-based non-profit organization committed to problem gambling prevention. The program was successfully piloted in 2001 in Ontario and has since appeared in other Canadian provinces.

NSCC students were enticed to take part in exchange for a chance at winning a $1,500 scholarship award.

“By completing the quiz, we hope to make students aware of local services for help with gambling-related problems and suggest ways they can limit the risk of developing a gambling problem,” explained project coordinator Kathleen Baldwin.

Gambling is not a way to make money and young people need to understand that, she said.

Student council and diversity committee chairman Ashley Brown, 35, said the quizzes made for a unique way of teaching students. “By filling them out, they may learn a few things about themselves or some of their friends,” he said.

Brown said he gambles with friends on occasion. “Knowing the score and knowing your limits makes it a lot easier to know when to call it quits,” he said.

By having this type of display set up at school, it shows students that money is important, Brown said.

“We want our students to realize that by damaging their credit and, by using their credit card, they’re accumulating debt.”

The gambling presentation will be set up in the NSCC residence dining hall today from 4:30 to 6 p.m.

(Published in the March 24, 2009 issue of the Truro Daily News.)

P.E.I. Rocket overtake Halifax Mooseheads with ease

Impressive goaltending and hometown spirit helped the P.E.I. Rocket defeat the Halifax Mooseheads 7-5 last night at the Civic Centre.

The Rocket defeated the Mooseheads last Sunday 6-4 in Charlottetown and the Mooseheads returned to the Civic Centre with vengeance, antlers waving.
Loyal P.E.I. hockey fans filled the stands and cheered at every goal that skimmed across the ice and into the Mooseheads’ net with ease.

Rocket goalie Evan Mosher had a puck flying his way 45 times during the game but deflected almost every shot effortlessly. The Rocket took 33 shots on the Mooseheads net in total.

Simon Ollson, 19, is the Swede with speed. He scored the first goal of the game in the first period, a goal in the second period and grabbed an assist in the second and third period.

“It’s always nice to win,” he said after the game.

Ollson said he wish the Rocket could’ve won in a better way.

“We didn’t play very good for 60 minutes. We just scored on our chances.”

The team let the Mooseheads get in too many goals, Ollson said.

“We let them get into the game too much. We should have won earlier. I dunno, better defence.”

Halifax played well, he added.

“They circluated the puck well. Got to the nets, got a lot of shots. They just couldn’t get the puck in.”

Joël Champagne, 19, scored two goals as well, one in the first period and one in the third period. He also had three assists.

The Mooseheads got a five-minute penalty for fighting during the second period. Gabriel O’Connor and of the Mooseheads and Jason Legault of the Rocket both received a penalty in the third period.

Hockey fan Katelyn Arnold, 16, was thrilled that her team won the game but couldn’t choose a favourite player.

“I don’t have a favourite. I like them all.”

The Rocket is scheduled to play the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles tomorrow evening at the Charlottetown Civic Centre.

Oceanic ‘dead zones’ a major concern for fisheries industry

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.)

Weather not problem on doomed climb: Ferguson

Twenty-one-year-old mountain climbers fall to their deaths in the French Alps

The weather likely wasn’t a factor in the recent death of a young mountain climber, says a climbing enthusiast.

Substitute teacher Chris Ferguson made the comment following the recent deaths of two young mountain climbers in the French Alps.

Ferguson lives in British Columbia and has over 15 years of mountain-climbing experience. He has climbed in Alaska, the Yukon, the Rockies, Wyoming, Nevada, California and British Columbia.

Ferguson said he’s likely summitted about 200 mountains.

“This, however, tells you nothing about skill and real experience when it comes to climbing. I’ve also spent probably hundreds of days climbing where getting to a summit was never the point.”

Mountain climbing features several different categories: ice, rock, mixed, big-wall, alpine/mountaineering and bouldering.

The range of ability in each of these is exceptionally broad, Ferguson said.

“Many of the world’s elite climbers do things on par with world record holder Olympians and dedicate their lives as much or more. Some climbing types are very safe while others have very serious consequences.”

Rob Gauntlett set a record in 2007 when he became the youngest British climber to reach the summit of Mount Everest.

Randy Campbell, an outdoor leadership instructor in the Sport and Leisure Management program at Holland College, said Gauntlett’s climbing training would have been extensive.

“I don’t believe that Mount Everest is an incredibly technical mountain, but being that it is the tallest in the world, it is huge challenge.”

Gauntlett’s age would have been an asset while climbing Everest, Ferguson said.

“Young legs and heart would be an advantage. Too young and you might have a harder time carrying some of the weight required to move up the mountain, although that can be minimized through the use of sherpas.”

Between April 2007 and October 2008, Gauntlett and John Hooper, his climbing partner for Everest, traveled from the North to the South Pole to help raise awareness of climate change. They traveled using skis, dog sled, yacht and bicycle.

In January, the bodies of Gauntlett and a climbing companion were found in the Chamonix-Mont-Blanc area of the French Alps. The two climbers fell while ice climbing. Gauntlett and his partner were 21.

They were on a route called the Gervasutti Couloir,  Ferguson said.

“A couloir is a 45-50 degree gash up the side of a mountain, usually filled with snow and or ice.”

This particular couloirs was flat enough to ski, Ferguson said.

“Other climbers found them accidentally, so I do not think the weather was a factor.”

Ferguson said it’s hard to say what exactly went wrong during the climb.

“Fatigue and poor decisions are almost always involved.”

Mount Everest was first summitted by Edmund Hillary of New Zealand and Tenzing Norgay, a Nepalese sherpa, in 1953.

The record-holder for youngest person to climb Everest is held by Temba Tsheri of Nepal who reached the summit at age 16 and lost five fingers to frostbite. 

(Published in the February 26, 2009 edition of The Surveyor.)