Life of Lakeshore residence assistant celebrated

(Originally published on March 13, 2006)

On Friday Mar. 3, 2006, the Humber Lakeshore campus auditorium was transformed into a place of reflection as friends and family grieved the loss of Marci Fenwick, a fourth-year developmental services student.

Fenwick died in an accident in her hometown of Owen Sound over reading week.

About 100 of Fenwick’s friends and family members watched as fellow students, teachers and co-workers presented their memories of the 24-year-old residence assistant (RA).

The memorial, referred to frequently as a celebration of Fenwick’s life, paid tribute to her undying spirit, her passions for dance, and even her phobia of feet. A standing ovation followed a slideshow presentation of Fenwick’s time at Humber put together by her friends and fellow classmates.

Kawa Ada, Fenwick’s supervisor at the Lakeshore residence, delivered a moving and comical speech to the crowd, remembering his personal experiences with whom he calls “Marcikins”.

“She chose me to be one of her friends. And little did I know that I was among countless others, but I still feel special just as all of us felt,” he said.

“I’m sorry that she will never get to fulfill her hopes and dreams for the future. The ones that I knew about, I will carry with me forever.”

Fenwick was struck by a mini-van on the morning of Feb. 26, 2006 while walking along a country road with her boyfriend. The pair was just returning from a night of socializing in downtown Owen Sound.

The van was operated by an 18-year-old Owen Sound resident who was reported to be impaired, although no alcohol was involved.

A local snow plougher who witnessed the accident immediately called emergency services. Fenwick was taken to a nearby hospital and was pronounced dead shortly after.

Andrew Kaszowski, an RA at Humber North and fourth-year media studies Guelph-Humber student, says the close-knit residence assistant team never thought such a tragedy would happen to one of their own.

“She was always terrific to talk to and her smile never left her face,” he says. “She was terrific teammate, RA and a great human being.”

The Lakeshore campus RA’s bid farewell in their own way by performing Tim McGraw’s “My Old Friend” at the memorial. Sign language was also done along side the vocal performance, in honour of Fenwick’s passion for the developmentally disabled.

Stacy Fenwick, Fenwick’s older brother, joked about the performance later as he addressed the audience.

“I think I sure could have used some of that sign language on the way down here,” he said. “We ran into some yakkers on the road and I had to give them the ol’ one-finger.”

He followed the comment with heartfelt thanks on behalf his family and a suggestion to organize a walk-a-thon or scholarship program in Fenwick’s name.

Many also paid their respects at St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church earlier that week during Fenwick’s funeral in Owen Sound. She was buried at Annan Cemetery thereafter.

Photography: Ashley McKee

Source: The Guelph-Humber Radix, March edition

First computing graduates will receive recognition in 2007

(Originally published on February 20, 2006)

The fourth-year computing co-op class will not officially graduate until 2007, a decision that has several senior students talking.

The students will be completing their final eight-month study term in December 2006 and will have their official commencement ceremony the following June.

For some of the seniors, a later commencement comes as no surprise. For others, the idea of not being with the other two programs brings discomfort.

“There always could be something done,” says Terence Yip, a fourth year computing student and graduation candidate. “I’m sure you can see the sentimental value in graduating all at once.”

The idea of an earlier ceremony has been repeatedly shot down, although a “walk-through” is currently being discussed. This allows computing students to attend the June 2006 ceremony as guests and receive their documentation at a later date.

Although still not an ideal choice, some graduates like Daniel Marcoux would settle with this solution just to see his media and business friends receive their degrees and diplomas.

“At the least I would very much like to be there to see them graduate, even if I have to wait another six months,” he says.

“When I first thought of graduation, I always assumed it would be with the business and media students. Co-op putting us behind two semesters never crossed my mind.”

John Walsh, vice provost of Guelph-Humber, sympathizes with the graduates although he agrees nothing can be done about it.

“Yes, to some extent, that’s just how [the computing program] is,” he says. “But at the same time I think it’s a very, very human reaction. I’d be very surprised if there wasn’t a bit of emotion when it comes to graduation.”

He also adds that Guelph-Humber will only hold one commencement a year, although in the future he sees program-specific ceremonies occurring in one day.

The 2006 ceremony for media and business graduates will be held at the Pearson Convention Centre in Brampton on June 19.

Photography: Kimberly Fu

Source: The Guelph-Humber Radix, February edition

Humber talent bites Big Apple

Humber theatre student premieres film in L.A. and showcases in New York

(Originally published on March 13, 2006)

Philip Phangsoa wanted to make some money.

Now, the third-year theatre student at Humber College will bring his first feature- length film, Time in a Life, to the New York Independent Film and Video Festival in May.

Phangsoa says the script creation and finalizing, casting, rehearsing and filming happened over three months. Their longest days, he says, were during a weekend of filming in a Toronto hotel, which was paid from his own funds.

“The film is a stepping stone so we could make the film that we actually wanted to make,” Phangsoa explains. “The thing with this film is that we had to think of something that we could film right now, that we were capable of filming right now.”

Based on a video game, the film follows the life of a young hit man, Chame Leon, played by Humber theatre student Sefton Jackson, that must face some serious decisions when his best friend’s sister gets abducted.

When rescuing the girl (film and television student Jessica Boivin), Leon is pulled along through a series of unexpected twists and turns.

Phangsoa and his co-director, Michael Luckett, say they had no idea it was going to turn into a feature length project.

“For me, I was always like, ‘Okay, let’s dumb it down. Let’s keep it simple,’ But [Phangsoa] kept pushing the script,” Luckett says. “And I was like, ‘Alright.’ And it worked.”

It was during a meeting at Denny's in the summer of 2004 when Phangsoa told him the idea.

Phangsoa was taking a year off school at the time, working as a quality control agent at a pharmaceutical company where he earned the money to buy the camera used for the film, their biggest investment on the project.

Theatre student Rory Shaw Duddy was asked to play the role of Leon's best friend the same time Jackson was cast as the lead character. Boivin was then recommended for the part of the abducted sister.

The film has been presented to production companies, including Lion’s Gate Entertainment (Crash, Saw III), where Phangsoa and Luckett hope it will be picked up, even if it goes straight to video.

The film is planned to be the first out of a trilogy, with a prequel and sequel in the works. The sequel will be a spin-off based on a character from Time, Hite Linden, which is played by Phangsoa.

Time in a Life premiered this past weekend in Los Angeles as part of the New York Independent Film and Video Festival on March 11 and will be screened again in New York in May.

Photography: Young Aria

Source: The Guelph-Humber Radix, March edition

Cannabis Week lights it up in Queen’s Park

20,000 activists and supporters participate in rally for marijuana legalization

(Originally written on: May 8, 2006)

Toronto’s annual Cannabis Week reached a whole new high on Saturday when about 20,000 pot smokers visited Queen’s Park North to advocate the legalization of marijuana and participate in the Global Marijuana March.

The amount of participants doubled this year, as last years estimated attendance only reached about 10,000.

The day, which boasts a combination of a crafts fair, a political rally and a concert promoting Canadian talent, kicked off at 11 a.m. Booths promoted cannabis education and awareness and vendors sold a variety of cannabis merchandise, from hand-blown glass pipes to reasonably priced rolling paper.

Teenagers, university students and hippies scattered themselves on the mound beneath the equestrian statue of Edward VII, where bongs were passed around and joints were smoked in a surprisingly calm manner.

A Cannabis Week spokesperson, who only goes by Neev, says the daylong festivities never ran into problems with the political authorities.

“It’s a peaceful event,” he said, unaware of the clouds of pot smoke looming overhead and colliding with the scent of the hot dog stand nearby (the stand sold out by days end). “They’ve never tried to shut us down.”

“It’s more of a cultural celebration, not to create political change. However, we want to change mainstream culture and destigmatize cannabis.”

Only two or three security guards were present to monitor the day’s events, well below the average of a guard per 200 people.

About 30,000 people were estimated to have attended between Queen’s Park and the march along the Yonge St. stretch between Bloor and College. No reported disputes or arrests were made.

Connor, 19, says he’s glad to be living in Canada rather than in the States, where the war against illegal drug usage is much more prominent.

“[The Canadian government] is not necessarily going after us,” he said, while being flanked by three female friends that blocked the spring breeze as he rolled a joint. “They’ve more or less left us alone.”

The Global Marijuana March, now in its eighth year, is held in over 200 countries worldwide, Toronto being one of the biggest demonstrations of cannabis culture.

But there is no denying the event’s timing, as it is at the heels of Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s pledge last month to strengthen punishment for marijuana growing operations. The PM also declared that he plans to abolish the former Liberal government’s plans to decriminalize the simple possession of the drug.

Still, activists like Neev said that, unfortunately, the matter of legalizing marijuana is in the hands of the higher authorities.

“It’s kind of a done deal,” he said. “It’s really an American issue. The drug war will end with the right president. Unfortunately, not with the right prime minister, although a strong prime minister will find a way out of this.”

For now, he said, Cannabis Week and the Global Marijuana March will remain as peaceful events where everyone just has a good time.

Saturday’s events ended with a Marijuana March after party, DJ-ed by such names like Eon and Jay from Bedouin Soundclash, Ollie Mac and Kenny Glasgow. Proceeds of the party were donated to the non-profit organization and event architect, CALM (Cannabis as a Living Medicine).

CALM is a Toronto-based organization that provides information, services and products to those depending on marijuana as medical solutions.

For more information on CALM and upcoming events, please visit www.cannabisclub.ca

Photography: Kimberly Fu

This article was not published

The Salads

The Big Picture
Maui Wowie Records/Kindling Music

The Salads’ latest release shows that growing up really isn’t that hard to do. You just have to focus on The Big Picture and these guys hit the nail right on the head with this album.

The disc consists of 10 of the band’s most personal tracks, partly due to an unfortunate break-in at the studio during the recording of The Big Picture. Their original material may have been stolen, but the thieves couldn’t steal their determination to produce the record.

A mere month after the robbery, they recreated the songs again, focusing on more mature subjects like Alzheimer’s disease (‘Circles’) and body image (‘Individual’). The most notable track that reflects this maturity has to be ‘Growing Up’, which deals with the life changes and reality of getting older. It encompasses their entire journey during the process of making this album.

Having played together since they were in grade seven, the Toronto-based band has declared that this album contains their best material to date. And their unprecedented effort to please their fans with this great collection of songs is definitely reflected.

The Salads play Lee’s Palace (529 Bloor St. W) on June 8

Photography: Maui Wowie Records

Source: Scene and Heard.ca (www.sceneandheard.ca), June 2006 issue