Student Protester Arrested for Being ‘Annoying’

Charles Kline, a 24-year-old university student at Kutztown, Pennsylvania, was heading to lunch when he heard a commotion across the campus. A large group of religious protesters were shouting that gays deserved to go to hell, so he decided to do something about it. Armed with a sign that read ‘Equal Rights for Robots’, Kline began his anti-protest a good distance from the original group. He was then led away by police, arrested and charged with ‘intent to cause annoyance or alarm’.

Full story is up on nowpublic.com

17-year-old’s Self-portrait Used for Porno DVD Cover

Three years ago, Lara Coton took a self-portrait and uploaded the image to deviantart and flickr. Today, that image is being used as the front cover to a pornography DVD. The only problem is, Coton was 14 when the image was taken and she never gave permission for anyone to use her picture.

Full story on nowpublic.com.

Resident Life Advisor Assaulted in Bernadine Hall

(Cadre Nov. 2005) RLA Assaulted -

A female residence life advisor (RLA) was assaulted in Bernadine hall on Friday the 18th after attempting to enforce the university’s drinking policies. Myanna Adams, a third year student and fourth floor Bernadine hall RLA, was in the middle of rounds at approximately 12:45 a.m. when the altercation took place.
According to residence life officials, a signed in guest was leaving Bernadine Hall through the back entrance and was seen on video holding the door open for three young males who had been drinking. The three males, none of whom were UPEI students, entered the premises and were drinking in the stairwell when Adams confronted them.
Residence food and conference services manager Mark Braithwaite says when Adams asked the men not to drink in the hallway they apparently became irate, and when questioned about their guest status the situation became violent.
“Specifically, one of them grabbed her by the arm and jammed it in the stairwell door,” says Braithwaite. “[They weren't] going to co-operate with the Res Life advisor.”
Luckily, two male students were in the area and came to help, restraining the assailant and holding him until UPEI security police arrived. The other two men fled the scene and the third was arrested and removed from the building, says residence co-ordinator Donald MacLellan.
“The assaulter was arrested and removed from the building by UPEI security police, the other two ran off,” says MacLellan. “Later in the evening one of those two other gentlemen were discovered coming into the building and he was arrested as well.”
Braithwaite says their staff is appalled at the actions of these young men, but are pleased with the reactions of Adams, campus police and the two students who stepped up to help. Colin porter is one of those students.
“It’s pretty much like what people were saying,” said Porter. “One guy grabbed her [Adams] and me and one other guy held him until security came.”
After the men were removed from the building, residence staff made the decision to not allow guests for 48 hours to determine if there was any further threat to students and if there was a breach in security.
“Our first response is OK, let’s restrict the guest visitation privilege,” said Braithwaite. “After we were satisfied with our own investigation, that it wasn’t the fault of anyone living in residence, it wasn’t the fault of any breach of anything security attendants did. It was just a matter of one person exiting the building and three people snuck in.”
“I’ve been here for 11 years and this is one that’s new for me. It’s incredibly isolated, I’m appalled by the behaviour of these young people. Three males coming in and doing this to a female staff person? On university property, with security police here, that’s just over the top ass far as we’re concerned.”
According to Braithwaite and MacLellan, one of the men is being charged with assault, resisting arrest, trespassing, being drunk in a public place and illegal possession of alcohol. Court documents had not been processed at the time of publication and so specific charges, court dates and names of the accused cannot be published.

Sloan Rocks Wave, Gets Beer in Face as Thanks

(Cadre Sept. 2005) Sloan-

After a seven year hiatus from Prince Edward Island, Sloan came back to a packed house, energized crowd and beer in the face. The last time this seminal Canadian band played at UPEI was in 1998 in the Barn, which they were a little disappointed to find out had been turned into a parking lot.
After jetting (or rather bussing) around Canada and the US to promote their new album, a greatest hits compilation titled ‘A Sides Win’, Sloan decided to do a small Maritime tour. The desire to play some shows near his hometown of Halifax came from not having been back in a few years, said guitar player Jay Ferguson.
“We kind of started touring in May, so we sort of did a US and Canadian tour,” said Ferguson. “Once the summer hits then you end up doing a lot of festival shows. So that’s kind of all we’ve been doing, lots of festival shows here and there then little runs to the US or out west.”
“Out here, we’re doing a little maritime tour. We haven’t done really a maritime tour in a couple of years, so we’re just playing a bunch of shows. We’re playing here in Charlottetown, we played Moncton and Antigonish and we’re going to play Halifax and Fredericton.”
Opening for Sloan at the courtyard was The Stills, a smoking hot band hailing from Montreal, Quebec. While some felt they started their set a little early, the crowd quickly grew and the floor was nothing but arm-raising, head-banging praise for these rockers.
There were only 14 tickets left at the door when Sloan sauntered on stage and were met by over a thousand yelling, screaming fans.
Since they were touring to promote their greatest hits album, fans were treated to classic tunes like ‘other man’ and ‘the good in everyone’.
“Earlier in this year, like in May, we put out our greatest hits record ‘A Sides Win’. It was kind of like singles from 1992-2005,” said Ferguson. “It was time to reflect. We really needed to just look back on our career and think about what we’re supposed to do next…no it was completely a cash grab(laughs). No I’m just kidding.”
During their show, several plastic cups filled with beer were thrown at the members of the band, mostly at an increasingl frustrated Chris Murphy.
By the time the fourth cup had been thrown and soaked frontman Patrick Petland, Sloan was fed up. They left the stage and although this reporter has heard from people who think the whole incident was staged, as someone who was backstage when they came off I can tell you firmly this was not a planned event. They were pissed.
“It’s too bad, it happened a couple times during the show and I could see Chris getting frustrated,” said Ferguson. “After the fourth time when Patrick got hit, it just got too much. Whatever, it’s happened before, it’s not big deal. I thought the crowd was good, there’s always a couple of goofs who try to ruin the show…”
Ferguson says there is always a chance of something like this happening at a university gig, especially in smaller places like PEI and Antigonish.
“It’s hit or miss with universities sometimes, ” said Ferguson. “Sometimes I feel you can just get a bit of a ‘what’s going on at campus tonight, I guess we’ll go.’ and you get a casual crowd. What I prefer, I want everyone there to be in to the gig instead of being distracted and drinking or whatever.”
“Antigonish was a bit of a drag. There was a large contingent of our fans there, but there was also a large contingent of people who were just there because it’s the one thing to do this month in Antigonish. ‘So we’re all going to go and get plastered and ‘who’s playing’ ‘oh I don’t care’, and ‘hey baby, how you doin’. It’s a very disassociated kind of crowd.”
“Other than that, it was fun. Getting a glass of beer tossed on you is a bit of a drag, it makes it hard to do your job. If it had been a glass of ginger ale, I would hav ebeen psyched (laughs).”
“I wasn’t hit with anything, but I was once hit with a full un-opened can of beer, that was fun. It was like: ‘I’m going to buy a full can of beer to throw at this idiot on the stage.’ It was in Newfoundland actually. These things happen once in a while.”
Despite the beer-throwing incident, Ferguson says it was one of the best shows of their maritime tour.
“That one and Halifax were definitely the best ones of the tour so far,” said Ferguson. “We really liked the location, it was a good stage.”
“We thought the encore was good, it had kind of cooled off and we played just for fun.”
Sloan went on to play in Halifax on Friday night and Fredericton on Saturday before heading back to Toronto. They have a few more one-off shows at various colleges before settling in to record their new album.
“I don’t know when we’d be back, we’ve got a record to make,” said Ferguson. “But I don’t really think it will sour us on coming here. But that’s just me speaking personally.”

Such a Simple Thing

(Surveyor Dec. 2003) Small Things editorial -

It seemed like such a simple thing.
Such a small, useless, petty little thing. It wasn’t the worst thing I’d ever done, not by a long shot. It wasn’t the meanest or the dumbest…but looking back on it, years later, it’s the only thing in my life I can say with honesty that I regret with all my heart.
A few years ago, I saw a friend at a local bar. I was out with a group of friends from school, and he was sitting with some people who I wasn’t getting along with at the time. There were no ill feelings between the two of us, but when he asked me to join them for a beer I refused, not wanting to talk to anyone from their group. I walked away and I didn’t say a word to them all night.
It was the last time I saw him alive.
A week later, my friend Niall, a 6″2, 190lb basketball player, was killed by a single punch to the head. He fell, hit his head on a curb and a blood vessel burst in his face. He slipped into a coma and died the next day. That was exactly two years ago to the day of this writing.
I have to walk by the spot he was killed on my way to school and not a day goes by that I don’t think about him. I’ve only told one other person that story. I don’t know why I’m writing it now.
I guess my hope, even though it contradicts my point, is that maybe it will keep someone from having to feel the same way I do.
Because life can change. And when it does, it can sweep down like the wrath of God and nothing you know will ever be the same again.
Most times I’ll just take the hit, feel like an idiot, learn from what I’ve done and move on. It’s how we grow as human beings.
But this time was different; this was so much more than a mistake.
Because even though I know my friend, if he were still with us, would never even think twice about my actions that night and would forgive me in a heartbeat- I just don’t know if I can forgive myself.
It’s always the simple things you regret, the small things. You miss them more I think because they happen so often, so frequently that you don’t even notice how important they are until they’re gone. Although his death hurt us terribly and I will always miss my friend, my last memories should have been of laughter and good conversation. Instead they are filled with pride and anger, sulking and self-pity.
Life, God, Karma or just plain luck conspired to give me the chance to sit down and have one last conversation with my friend and I spit in its face. It cost me more than I would have ever imagined and the shame of it haunts me still.
There is a movie called ‘The Big Kahuna’, with Kevin Spacey, Danny Devito and Peter Facinelli. The following conversation takes place between Devito’s character Larry Mann and Facinelli’s character Bob Walker. I’m using it here because it fits with what I’m trying to say and the character and I are both named Robert Walker.
Bob: “Are you saying I won’t have any character unless I do something I regret?”
Larry: “No, Bob. I’m saying you’ve already done plenty of things to regret. You just don’t know what they are. It’s when you discover them, when you see the folly in something you’ve done and you wish you had it to do over. But you know you can’t because it’s too late. So you pick that thing up and you carry it with you. To remind you that life goes on. Then you will attain character. Because honesty will reach out from inside and tattoo itself across your face.”
I would give nearly anything to be able to make that decision again, to have one last beer with my friend. But that’s the thing, as much as you want it, as much as you may need it, the time is past and will never come again.
For all those people who say “I regret nothing” I say you’re either lying, haven’t lived a very full life or just haven’t realized you already regret something. Because as much as we hate it, regret is a part of life and sooner or later it will come to you. And while you can try to prevent it, the only important things are how you face it when it comes and how you carry it with you afterwards.

New Residence Finally Opens

(Cadre Jan. 2006) New Residence Finally Opens -

A new year is here and with it the opening of UPEI’s new residence, the aptly named ‘new residence’. While some students were pretty much moved in at the time this article was written, many more were still waiting for a chance to swipe their keycards and sleep on their much larger beds.
The $11 million facility, after a six month extension, is finally opening its doors to students. Hosting a new keycard security system, where students have to swipe to get in and out, along with new washers and dryers and everything else, most of the students we spoke to were happy to be there.
“I love it,” said Nick Jessome, a 1st year arts student. “It’s huge (compared to marion). I love having my own room.”
With separate, large bedrooms, double or 54 inch beds and having to share your bathroom with only one person, the New Residence is a definite step up from the aging Marion Hall. High ceilings and cool colours add to the sense of largess that permeates the new facility. It also connects directly to the cafeteria, so new residence students don’t have to leave the building in the cold to eat.
Although the fridges, microwaves, TVs and internet weren’t installed yet, it was a gaff on the part of the phone company that kept students fro mmoving in right away. Without phones in the rooms, the university would be liable if anything were to happen, like a fire or polar bear attack.
While many students were waiting since September to move in, Jessome was glad the wait was over.
“Oh yes, I’ve been waiting a while,” said Jessome. “It was definitely worth the wait.”

Tanning article – 2003

(Surveyor, Dec. 4, 2003) – Tanning

As another dark and dreary winter bears down on PEI, more Islanders are turning to tanning salons to keep their skin looking fresh.
But experts say the price might be higher than people think.
Although used by people from all walks of life, most tanners tend to be younger women like Janelle Cahill, who worked at a gym and used to tan for free.
“I first started tanning in Grade 10,” said Cahill. “My dad was tanning in preparation for a trip south and he paid for my first lesson. I liked how warm it was, and of course, the benefits of being darker. I felt prettier.”
Cahill, like most people who tan, would go for 20-minute sessions three times a week. Since she’s stopped working at the gym, she now only goes around once every two weeks. She is among a growing number of people who tan even during hte summer.
“If I was working that day, more than likely I didn’t get to the beach. It was easier to get into a tanning bed than go to the beach. More convenient for the same results,” said Cahill.
Most people begin tanning in preparation for an event, like a trip south or a party, said Atlantic Fitness Centre manager Stacey Lund.
In recent years, people with skin conditions such as excema or seasonal depression have been referred by their doctors for short sessions.
If they person hasn’t tanned before, they usually put them in for only a few minutes, to gain a ‘base tan’.
“Some people we only recommend using for five or 10 minutes,” said Lund. “Depending on skin type or what have you.”
However, photobiologist Pascale Reinhardt, who works with the Consumer and Clinical Radiation Protection Bureau, said Health Canada warns against using tanning beds, citing numerous health risks.
“Tanning is essentially damage under the skin,” said Reinhardt, “It enhances the speed of aging and wrinkles int he skin, and later in life goes towards developing skin cancer. The problem is it builds up, so it might take 20 years to get cancer.”
Skin cancer is the most common form of cancer in Canada, affecting 75,000 people each year. There are three types of skin cancer, the most serious being melanoma.
About 3,900 Canadians each year will be diagnosed with melanoma and about 850 people will die because of it.
“There’s no such thing as a healthy tan,” said Reinhardt.
Lund, who’s been working at the AFC for more than seven years, said regular tanning use is no more dangerous than laying in the sun. She says there are regulars who come in too much and staff members try to monitor them.
“Basically, when you do go into a tanning bed you are going in at your own risk, just like if you were going to lay in the sun,” said Lund.
“We do recommend that they use a tanning product or moisturizer if they are going to go, just for the aging process.”
People who tan shouldn’t go in every day. If you’re going to use it on a regular basis, go around three times a week, explains Lund.
“We do have people who abuse it and we don’t like that.”

Barcamp Toronto

Last saturday I had the pleasure of going to Barcamp Toronto, a ‘un’conference that lets the attendees plan and book their own subjects. There were some really interesting seminars and discussions on technical writing, engaging online communities and more geeky stuff like search engine optomization.

I met a lot of great people and hosted a discussion regarding online and citizen journalism. Thanks to all the folk who stopped by and made it a great conference, and congrats Will, Dan, Ryan and Bryce for putting on a great time! (I look very evil in this pic, but I swear I’m having fun!)

Lazy summer days

Hey folks, uploaded a bunch of pics to flickr, figured you might enjoy checking out where I live now and what I’ve been up to.

We went to a Jays game last night but arrived after the 3rd inning, only to find out that they aren’t doing toonie tuesdays anymore. Decided we should hit up the game when we can watch the whole thing.

Writing

Here are a few of my short stories. Hope you enjoy them.

9 point 8 (2007)

A police officer confronts a crazed kidnapped while dealing with the psychological effects of time travel.

Special Ed

At a school for children with special abilities, Thomas Ashland can barely keep up. No one is ready for the truth behind the school, however, and what he learns will shake the world.

Unforgiven (2005)

A father and son share a day off together.

The Only Living Vampire in New York

A script for a short film involving a police interrogation.