Embracing Diversity in College Setting by Agnes Ramos
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Rooted in tradition · Exploring the future Vol. 44 · Issue #8 Thursday, February 10, 2011 Loyalist College · Belleville, ON · Canada Embracing diversity in college setting By Agnes Ramos February is the shortest month of the year. It features Groundhog Day, Chinese New Year, Valentine’s Day and Heart and Stroke Month. How- ever, many Loyalist College students may not know this: February is also Black History Month. The first celebration of Black His- tory Month in Canada was in Toron- to in 1950 and in 1995, the House of Commons nationally declared the month of February as Black History Month. Across the metropolitan areas of Canada, elementary schools, high schools, and post-secondary insti- tutions will be commemorating the achievements of black Americans and Canadians. From extravagant presentations and assemblies to simple tidbits of facts and quota- tions, students will be learning about the contributions of the Afri- can diaspora to the history of North America. But some schools, such as Loyal- ist, do not formally mark Black His- tory Month. “The college is an educational fa- cility with a large responsibility to the community…It doesn’t matter if we had just one person of colour here, we should still be educating ourselves. Black history is our his- tory,” said Shawn Doyle of the ab- original resource centre at Loyalist College. Ghanaian-Canadian Victoria Odzenma, 26, a student in Loyalist’s customs and border services pro- Agnes Ramos gram, said the school not acknowl- Ghanaian-Canadian Victoria Odzenma, 26, from Loyalist’s customs and border services program, belongs to the small, but growing population of minority stu- edging the month doesn’t disap- dents. Odzenma understands the circumstances as to why there is a lack of awareness of Black History Month but also wishes the school celebrated diversity. point her. ...See Diversity, page 2 Communication issue for student government “It’s something that’s incredibly three years long so students are not election for next year’s student gov- Information provided hard to market,” says Scott. “Stu- “It’s something that is here for long enough to develop a ernment is coming up at the end of through various dents are generally only interested relationship with their student gov- this month. in what we do when they have an incredibly hard to ernment. Just 10 per cent of the Loyalist media venues issue with it. People often show up Mandy Burgess, a practical nurs- population participated in voting to events just for the free meal and market.” ing student, disagrees this is a valid last year. The government hopes By Natelie Herault then leave.” Student Government president Ryan excuse. that incentives, such as the fact that Ian Beaton, a television and new “I’ve been at this school for two students who vote have the chance Loyalist College’s student govern- media student, disagrees that stu- Scott years, and I have never once heard to win up to $500, will help encour- ment says it is doing a good job of dents should have to search for in- the student government come up in age voting. communicating and connecting with formation. conversation.” Nominations closed Tuesday at students. Another student, Jarin Fischl, in “The student government doesn’t Scott says this has been a very noon and information on candidates However, not everyone agrees. the recreation and leisure program, make it apparent how to communi- successful year for the student gov- will soon be made available on the gov- Student Government president feels that students don’t get a prop- cate with them, and there is no way ernment. The school has seen its ernment’s website, LoyalistStudents. Ryan Scott says he feels while a lot er say. to give feedback.” best survey results ever with nearly com. of information is being well distrib- “I don’t even know who the gov- The student government com- 60 per cent of students taking part. At least one person is running for uted, it is the responsibility of indi- ernment is. I think that they municates with students through As well as, the Shark Tank pub has each position, which is an improve- vidual students to seek it out. should be more open and verbal, e-mail, posters, websites and word- seen its best attendance records this ment over last year. Recently, the student group held that they should come around of-mouth, Scott says. They have also year. This year, voting will be open on an event for students to meet their and introduce themselves to set up a Facebook page, but say that Last year, only two students ran LoyalistStudents.com between 10 student government leaders. Fewer classes.” people have to be open and willing for the position of president and all a.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 22 and 4 than 10 students attended. Scott says one issue is that pro- to accept these new platforms. grams at Loyalist are only two to other positions were acclaimed. The p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 24. Clean water focus of provincially-funded initiative tic tanks, decommission six wells, said Belch. portunities for people to address tance of the initiative. Landowners fund five agricultural projects and Belch also explained that she and these problems so they don’t pose “It’s important because people are will make use of five projects related to the safety of her neighbours noticed an increase a threat to our drinking water sys- drawing water to drink. People like our chemical storage. in the number of minnows and frogs tems…We really have to communi- children, grandchildren or loved ones second phase “Treating the water is important, in the lake. cate it to people,” said Taylor. play in the water in the summer… but so is tackling the problem before For Taylor, this is a very impor- “You have to get the landowner People are happy to know the lake is of program it starts. It’s easier to protect our tant project but minor problems involved and want to participate. It getting taken care of and to know that water if it started out cleaner,” said lie in trying to convey this mes- could be very expensive, but 80 per our water’s clean,” said Belch. By Mariza Dunham Gaspar Taylor. sage. cent funding is, in my mind, very For applications or more informa- The past three years of the pro- “We’ve spent the money well and good incentive.” tion about the project, visit www. Old or leaky wells and septics will gram resulted in $221,600 funding we want to continue to provide op- Belch said she knows the impor- quintesourcewater.ca. soon be replaced or upgraded as for the decommissioning of 10 wells part of a provincially-funded initia- and 34 septic repairs or replace- tive to help protect Quinte’s drink- ments, most of which were along Ro- ing water. blin Lake in Prince Edward County. The Ontario Drinking Water Stew- Among the landowners who re- ardship Program, which started in ceived help as part of the $28-mil- 2007, has entered the second phase lion, four-year agreement by the of its four-year plan with a $223,000 ministry was Lois Belch of Amelias- grant from the Ontario Ministry of burgh. the Environment. The program sets Already in the process of upgrad- out to address significant drinking ing her home septic system in 2008, water threats while delivering fi- Belch was glad to hear of the pro- nancial assistance to landowners to gram from a neighbour. eliminate current hazards or prevent “It was quite expensive, so I was potential ones. glad to receive the help…Everyone “It’s the continuation of a really was very helpful and good to deal great project. For the past six years with as well,” said Belch. we’ve been doing the research, but Belch also decided to take advan- this is a tangible project that we can tage of the funding to help upgrade do to physically protect the drink- her seldom-used cottage septic sys- ing water sources for this area,” said tem. The stewardship program pro- project manager Keith Taylor. vided $7,000 funding, leaving $2,300 After the application and inspec- for Belch to pay. tion process, landowners could be “It was expensive and it was a eligible for grants that would cover huge job, but I really appreciated 80 per cent of the costs of upgrad- the help. Now it should be good for ing or replacing septic systems and 10–15 years,” said Belch. wells. Taylor said the water quality in The new phase will focus some the area is already starting to show of its attention toward agricultural positive results. projects with safe management and Residents along Roblin Lake have storage of source materials such as noticed a difference as well. manure. Safe chemical storing will “This past summer, we noticed also be on the agenda. These ‘bigger that there was not as much green Mariza Dunham Gaspar ticket’ projects, Taylor said, could be algae. Since the program started Keith Taylor, project manager for Quinte Conservation, has been working in the industry for 28 years. He is entitled to funding of up to $20,000. three years ago, there are already currently promoting the second phase of the Ontario Drinking Water Stewardship Program, which helps pro- In 2011, Quinte Conservation ex- results with clearer, cleaner water,” tect Quinte’s water sources. pects to repair or replace 13 sep- Page A2 · The Pioneer · February 10, 2011 Diversity… Continued from Page 1 “I think the more African-Canadi- ans you have in the community, the more that kind of stuff is appreciat- ed,” said Odzenma.