Brock Nursing student Hilary Tyler was recently selected as a top finalist in the province-wide Innovative Designs for Accessibility (IDeA) student challenge

Brock Nursing student Hilary Tyler is helping to make our world more accessible for people with disabilities.

She was recently selected as a top finalist in the province-wide Innovative Designs for Accessibility (IDeA) student challenge for her “Everybody Hurts Campaign” idea. The initiative is designed to promote empathy in order to break down the attitudinal barriers that exist for people living with mental illness.

The aim of the IDeA contest was for students to develop innovative, cost-effective and practical solutions to “barriers” to accessibility in our communities. The challenge was co-ordinated by the Council of Ontario Universities (COU) in partnership with the Government of Ontario.

“The loose guidelines for the contest allowed for me to address accessibility from a unique angle,” says Tyler, who is in her third year of the Nursing program at Brock.

“While it is easier to look at building empathy on an individual basis, my idea was to promote empathy on a larger scale,” she says. “The intent was to a to help members of the university community become better able to connect and empathize with students who are living with mental illness.”

To represent this, Tyler’s campaign utilizes the mental health continuum, which displays a range of emotional states from maximal to minimal mental health.

“As one of the action steps to build empathy, the continuum would be placed in a university common area to show how emotions can range on a daily basis,” says Tyler.

“The Everybody Hurts Campaign was developed out of Hilary’s observation of the need for change in public knowledge and perceptions of mental illness,” says Lynn McCleary, the professor of Nursing at Brock who introduced the IDeA challenge to students in her Promoting Mental Health course. “This initiative will help to reduce stigma and improve the accessing of mental health services by those who need them.”

The project was first adjudicated by a committee at Brock and was then selected to represent the University in the second round of judging by a panel of experts. The COU has since selected Tyler’s idea as one of the top finalists of the IDeA challenge.

Tyler’s awareness campaign will be on display at the COU booth at this year’s Ontario Centres of Excellence (OCE) Discovery conference taking place next week on May 14 and 15 at the Toronto Metro Convention Centre. The annual research and innovation showcase features more than 330 exhibitors and 2,600 delegates.

Prizes will be awarded at the OCE Discovery conference to the first place ($1,500), second place ($1,000) and third place ($500) ideas.

Welch Hall, Scotia Bank Hall, South Block, Walker Complex, Taro Hall, Alumni Student Centre, Plaza Building, Lowenberger Residence, Village Residences, Kenmore Centre, Harrison Hall and Rosalind Blauer Daycare Centre will all be powered down and closed from 10 p.m. on Friday, May 11 to 10 a.m. on Saturday, May 12.

All doors will be locked and swipe card access will be unavailable at these buildings during these times. These areas will also not have network or Wi-Fi connectivity (internet, email) during the shutdown.

There will also be no phone service in Plaza Building, except for the emergency phones. Emergency phone systems in the affected buildings will be operational, however the outdoor blue strobe lights near these buildings will be out of service.

For emergency-only access to any of these affected areas, please contact Campus Security Services (x3200) to make arrangements.

In all affected areas, faculty and staff are reminded to clean out fridges and remove anything that is at risk of spoilage prior to leaving for the weekend on Friday, May 11.

In the unlikely event that power cannot be restored to these areas by 10 a.m. on Saturday, information will be posted on the Brock homepage (under “News”). Every effort will be made to communicate this decision by 7 a.m.

The rest of the University’s Main and East Campuses will have normal power and will be operational as usual.

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact Joanne Phelan, customer service co-ordinator, at x3905; facilitiesmangement@brocku.ca, or Scott Johnstone, electrical services manager, at x3752; sjohnstone@brocku.ca

• Facilities Management’s shutdown bulletin
  

Karl Kaiser, CCOVI professional affiliate and co-founder of Iniskillin wines, with Debbie Inglis, director of CCOVI, after his 2012 Lecture Series talk

Brock’s Cool Climate Oenology and Viticulture Institute (CCOVI) enjoyed another successful Lecture Series this year.

The series featured 11 talks by CCOVI fellows and professional affiliates and presented current topics of importance to grape growers and winemakers, ranging from viticulture and winemaking to wine business and culture.

All of the 2012 lectures have been posted to the CCOVI website for viewing, along with accompanying Power Point presentations used by the speakers during their talks.

A workshop at Brock this week will delve into the role of African Canadians in the War of 1812 - a topic researchers say is underrepresented in scholarly and popular literature.

“We Stand on Guard for Thee: African Canadians in the War of 1812,” takes place at the University from Thursday, May 10 to Friday, May 11, in Pond Inlet.

The event is co-sponsored by the Harriet Tubman Institute at York University in co-operation with the Department of History at Brock, the Central Ontario Network for Black History and the St. Catharines Museum.

The workshop will provide a forum for scholars, students, educators, historians and members of the public to explore the important role played by African Canadians in the last war fought on Canadian soil.

The gathering will also showcase a new web-based project to help children “virtually” experience the history surrounding the Underground Railroad, the first phase of which will be unveiled by the Hon. Jean Augustine, Fairness Commissioner for Ontario.

Wilma Morrison, an Order of Ontario recipient, will be an honorary patron at the event. Morrison, a local historian, curator, advocate and educator of black history in Niagara, received an honorary degree from Brock in 2010.

The opening reception on May 10 at 6:30 p.m., will feature the Honorable James J. Bradley, Deputy Government Leader of the House and Environment Minister for Ontario; Brian McMullan, Mayor of St. Catharines; Paul Dyster, Mayor of Niagara Falls, New York; Brian Merrett, CEO of the War of 1812 Legacy Council for Niagara; and Bonnie Rose, Executive Vice-President of Niagara University.

Guest speaker Gareth Newfield of the Canadian War Museum will present “Free Men of Colour: The Coloured Corps during the War of 1812,” followed by a musical performance by Diana Braithwaite and Chris Whitely. The launch of Conestogo Bound: Black Pioneers of Wellington County, an original film by Queen’s Bush pioneer descendant Diana Braithwaite, will conclude the evening.

Friday’s workshops will discuss topics including the Coloured Corps stationed at Fort George in Niagara-on-the-Lake, the wartime experience of Black women and children, African Canadian service in the battle for the Great Lakes and on the high seas, and the post-war migration to Maritime Canada of the so-called “Black Refugees,” some 2,000 African Americans who fought on the British side in the War of 1812.

Also on Friday, Jean Augustine will launch Breaking the Chains: Presenting a New Narrative for Canada’s Role in the Underground Railroad. The web-based project includes 24 original biographies of people who came to Canada in search of freedom before the U.S. Civil War.

This event is made possible by funding provided by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC).

For more info, the complete conference program and registration details, click here.

As the centenary of the First World War approaches, attention will increasingly be focused on the relations between that first global conflict in 1914 and whatever conflict happens to be erupting or progressing at the moment.

In the 21st century, all conflicts are potentially global conflicts.

Over the next few years, issues related to war stories and conflict studies, child soldiers and child victims of war, will increasingly come into focus.

The upcoming multidisciplinary conference “From the Garden to the Trenches,” taking place in Niagara and Toronto from May 10 to 12, will examine issues of childhood, children’s literature and culture, and the First World War.

By studying children’s literature and culture in the pre-war years, “we’ll gain insights into how children were enculturated,” says Lissa Paul, one of the conference organizers and professor of Education at Brock.

“And the lessons from the Great War, the war that was supposed to end all wars, offer insights into our current cultures of war - and peace,” she says.

Lissa Paul

Michael Morpurgo, author of the award-winning WWI drama War Horse, will be one of the event’s keynote speakers.

Canadian authors participating include Hugh Brewster, Deborah Ellis, Sarah Ellis, Linda Granfield, Kevin Major, Art Slade and John Wilson. International scholars include Andrew Donson, Margaret Higonnet, Michael Joseph, Andrea McKenzie and Paul Stevens.

A one-day registration for the Niagara portion of the conference, at White Oaks Conference Centre in Niagara-on-the-Lake on Thursday, May 10, includes lunch, dinner, snacks and “From Page to Stage,” a conversation between Michael Morpurgo and Tommy Luther, associate puppetry director of the Toronto production of War Horse, from 8 to 9 p.m.

The Toronto portion of the conference, at Trinity College, University of Toronto, on Friday, May 11 and Saturday, May 12, includes lunch and a reception, and a keynote address by Michael Morpurgo, “War Child to War Horse.”

There are student, teacher and senior discounts available.

“From the Garden to the Trenches,” the second of three international “Approaching War” conferences marking the centenary of the First World War, will focus on childhood culture and war from the perspectives of the Americas.

The first conference in Sydney Australia (December 2011), centred on the Global South, and the third, in Newcastle UK (March 2013), will focus on Europe.

The UK’s Leverhulme Trust is partly funding these international conferences to study children’s literature and culture in the years approaching the First World War. The Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) is also providing funding for the Canadian conference.

We extend our deepest sympathies to her family and her friends at this time.

Obituary and funeral service information:
http://obitsforlife.com/obituary/512038/Feddema-Chelsea.php

Visitation at Mountainview Christian Reformed Church, 290 Main St. East, Grimsby, on Wednesday from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 p.m., where the funeral service will take place on Thursday, May 10 at 4 p.m. Private burial.

In lieu of flowers, donations in Feddema’s honour may be made to Rose City Kids, Welland.

• “Communal grief for natural teacher” The St. Catharines Standard (May 8, 2012)

Please see www.70Hillcrest.com for more info.