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Let’s Talk about This: Racism as We Know(?) It

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Let’s Talk about This: Racism as We Know(?) It

Unless you are hiding in the spaces of an anonymous comments section, talking about racism is hard.  I have never had to reckon with the consequences of racism—that is my privilege showing through.  As someone who’s never had to worry about racism impacting my day-to-day life, I relate when you say that there’s an almost embarrassing guilt that swells in your cheeks when you try to form words on the topic.

It would be easy to say that the days of racial segregation are over and that we don’t publicly spew hate in the streets anymore. Rationalizing the quieter forms of racism is easy if you really want to do it.

That racial joke: “I was just kidding. It’s funny!” At whose expense though?

The idea that we should look after our own first: “we’re giving refugees money that should be going to real Canadians.” As if dividing people into us and them categories is somehow okay.

Apologizing for the nastier things said by the people who you love: “they don’t know any better!” And maybe they don’t.

But that’s precisely why we need to have these conversations. And on the second-to-last week of classes, that’s exactly what we did.

The event was called Unlearning Racism: A Conversation About Ethnicity and Multiculturalism. We had planned a talking circle for twenty bodies, but as the clock ticked past one, there were more than fifty people crowded into the UC Landing. Chairs materialized out of the unused corners of the room and we all crowded into a haphazard circle, bumping knees and balancing our food on paper plates.

The talking stone passed from palm to palm and people tried their best to answer the question: what does race mean to you and how does race impact your everyday life? The answers to this question were as varied as they were breathtaking.

Some people made jokes about the ways they had been treated—satire is sometimes the best medicine. Others spoke loud and proud about their heritage, confidence red in their cheeks. Others still lamented the ways their children were suffering the quiet prejudices of their neighbours.

As I listened to these truths spill into the circle, I couldn’t help but think about all of the ways that my life is made easier by the way that I look, by how white my skin is, by the way my hair falls, or the blue colour of my eyes. Maybe there are things about the way you look and act in the world that make your life easier too. Maybe that’s why we have such a tough time acknowledging the racism of our day-to-day lives and maybe that’s why the words get stuck in my throat when I try to talk about it.

There is a question that comes up a lot when we manage to talk about racism. “I’m not racist,” people will insist. “So, what can I do?”

It is events like this that can give people in a position of privilege some direction.

Whether it was the crush of economic inequalities, the innocent-seeming generalizations absorbed by children, or the way that the university differentiates between local (us) and international (them) students, there was no shortage of issues experienced by the marginalized people in a room of fifty. Two hours of talk answered the question “what can I do” a dozen times over.

The trouble is, there are so few spaces where we take the time to listen to the voices of people living with racism. The echo chambers of our digital lives are warm and comfortable. Accepting the failures of a society that rationalizes devastating conditions in northern Indigenous communities or sees a man walk into a mosque and murder Canadians at prayer is no easy task: this topic hurts.

After the event wrapped, after all the food was packed away and the chairs stacked up, I felt the words that everyone had spoken during the day settle over me. Unlearning racism is not easy. Owning your privilege feels weird and recognizing that you will sometimes make mistakes can twist your pride. But if we can manage to create more spaces like this, spaces where we can look around a circle and hear the words of everyone in it, maybe we can do better.

What we do next is up to us. I don’t think change can exist in a vacuum. I think change comes alive in the happy accidents, in the brilliant moments of truth and honesty of an afternoon, in a space where everyone feels safe. These conversations are not easy—not for me, not for you, not for anyone—but they need to be had.

The next talking circle will be on April 17th at the University Centre Landing. All are welcome.

Reporter: AmyAnne Smith

In Conversation with Kathryn Schneider, Renowned Clinician Scientist

Modeline Longjohn
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In Conversation with Kathryn Schneider, Renowned Clinician Scientist

Knowledge is continuously evolving in our everyday aspects of life. One of the key drivers of this ever-changing phenomenon is research and development. Research in all fields digs deep into the basics and underlying mechanisms of the said field, with scientific research leading the way more often than not.

Scientific research has provided and is continuing to provide answers that are applicable in agriculture, fertility and even in sports. In sports, for instance, one of the key areas that remained grey for a long time was the area of sports-associated brain injury. However, certain researchers have taken up on this somewhat unexplored territory, and have unlocked several layers of knowledge through painstaking research, with one such researcher being Dr. Kathryn Schneider.

Dr. Kathryn Schneider is an Assistant Professor and Clinician Scientist in the faculty of Kinesiology at the University of Calgary. She is also a physiotherapist and epidemiologist. She obtained a Physiotherapy degree from McMaster University, and holds a PhD in Sport Injury Prevention research from the University of Calgary, where she studied the effects of multimodal physiotherapy and vestibular rehabilitation in athletes who have sustained sport-related concussions.

Speaking on what inspired her to pursue a PhD in concussion research, Dr. Schneider said “While working as a clinical epidemiologist treating cervical spine, neck and bowel systems, I saw a lot of concussions at a time where there were no mainstream treatments for concussions. This led me towards the path of evaluating treatments for concussions, a venture that eventually turned out to be successful.”

“In looking at sport related brain injuries (concussions), we discovered that for concussions with symptoms lasting longer than 10 days, when treated with individualized physiotherapy to correct neck and balance system, the patients were four times more likely to be medically cleared to return to sports within an 8 week period.” She added. “This treatment regimen included head and neck control exercises, manual therapy for the neck, training balance and reflexes (to clear the eyesight).”

Dr. Schneider’s research has made changes in how concussions are treated. With her research going from laboratory bench-to-bedside, her work has influenced key decisions on the management and treatment of concussions. “The recommendation of rest after concussions, before patient resumes being active, is one of such solutions.”

As part of her impressive research career, Dr. Schneider was one of the science partners at the first international consensus on concussion and spirit, which was held in Berlin, in the October of 2006.

Speaking on the future directions of her research and work as a scientist, Dr. Schneider, who is also a mother of three, had this to say:

“A lot of studies have been done on concussions and a lot more needs to be done. Thus, we still have a long way to go with minimizing the risks of concussions and optimizing ways of treating concussions. It is basically a sort of lifelong work, in collaboration with other researchers and clinician.”

Furthermore, she also hopes to delve into concussions in youths and children, using her research.

Killam Properties’ Shoot For Your School Competition Awards $2000 to MUN

Yousef Alabed
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Killam Properties’ Shoot For Your School Competition Awards $2000 to MUN

Killam properties, a company founded in 2000 in the city of Nova Scotia, consist of apartment buildings throughout six provinces, namely Alberta, Newfoundland, Ontario, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Islands. Moreover, Killam participates in various events and occasions by giving away grants to the lucky winner. Since 2016, Killam’s Shoot For Your School competition have been taking part in the AUS Championship Basketball Tournament which has over 17,000 spectators.

The Shoot For Your School competition encourages everyone at the event to come to Killam’s booth and try shooting as many baskets as they can in 30 seconds and each participant is asked to pick the university to which they want their score to go to. The winner of a grant of $2,000 is chosen based on the highest percentage of points which is points scored over shots taken while the winner of the $1,000 grant is chosen based on the highest amount of shots taken for that specific university. Whether it is the $2,000 or the $1,000 award, both go to the university’s basketball program.

The winner of Killam’s Shoot For Your School competition this and last year’s award is MUN for being the one with the highest percentage of points which totals to $4,000. For 2019, Memorial won by scoring 78 % of the shots taken for them, followed by CBU which had a score of 72% while Acadia came third with 71%.

Photo Credit: Killam Properties

Along with the Shoot For Your School competition, Killam still had some magic up their sleeve. The company went on with on-floor activations during the tournament, such as ball tosses to the crowd for prizes and free throw shots for bonus points for the university of their choosing.

And the icing on the cake comes with a currently running promotion for students that cuts down almost a thousand dollars by allowing them to skip August’s rent, removing a burden off of their back, especially before starting the academic year. Additionally, when you sign the lease, you enter into a draw for a $1,000 Visa card. All that on the condition that you sign up before April 30th.

International Women’s Day 2019: Celebrating with NLOWE

Modeline Longjohn
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International Women’s Day 2019: Celebrating with NLOWE

International Women’s Day (March 8th) is a day set aside to recognize, celebrate and encourage women, as they continue to strive for gender equality. Across the globe, several organizations, companies and groups commemorated the day in various ways. St. John’s and Newfoundland was not left out in these celebrations.

The Newfoundland and Labrador Organization of Women Entrepreneurs (NLOWE) in partnership with the Business Development Bank of Canada (IBDC), Royal Bank of Canada (RBC), and the Genesis Centre hosted a commemorative event in St. John’s on March 7th, 2019. The event which was held at the beautiful Conference Centre on Signal Hill played host to over 200 attendants.

The lineup for the event included opportunities for networking over coffee and an entertaining presentation by motivational speaker and humorist Meg Soper. Meg Super, who has previously presented at NLOWE conferences, is an inspirational woman, a nurse turned stand-up comedian and motivational speaker. Her presentation included finding the humor in every situation. She also spoke about women finding good career/life balance, maintaining good mental and physical health as well as personal relationships.

Photo Credit: Kristy Hoddinnott (NLOWE)

The event was live streamed with participants at Happy Valley-Goose Bay and Grand Falls-Windsor. In addition, NLOWE also held similar celebration events in Corner Brook on March 6th and Clarenville on March 8th.

This year, NLOWE hosted a total of five events across the province to commemorate the day, with the support of the aforementioned collaborators and other community partners including Quality Inn, CBDC Labrador and Violence Prevention East amongst others. Proceeds from these events will be donated to several meaningful charities and courses to advance Women’s opportunities.

Refugee Hunger-strikes, Inmates “Served Garbage”, and Worse: What You Should Know about Aramark

Jacob Laybolt
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Refugee Hunger-strikes, Inmates “Served Garbage”, and Worse: What You Should Know about Aramark

In light of the recent debacle involving the campus petition to reform and improve the dining hall service for resident students, it may serve the current campaign to take notice of the company’s known history in recent years. As a warning to those who might be easily upset by the graphic details involved in Aramark’s incident track record, this article might not be for you.

While Aramark has been the subject of external complaints for many years, one issue that is given less attention is the labour relations issues. In a few instances, Aramark has fired workers for reporting unsanitary food conditions while being provided with low wages, unpaid hours, neglected backpay, and firing employees making EEOC claims.

The company also has an extensive history in the private prison industry, where a great portion of the corporation’s contracts are made. Among these contracts, in Burlington County Jail, Aramark was serving “substandard and spoiled [food], and often made prisoners sick with diarrhea and vomiting”. These findings were made by Chris Hedges, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, in 2013.

Similarly, prison conditions were worsened in another contract at Parnall Correctional Facility where maggots were discovered in food areas, and likely caused an outbreak of food-borne illness. Identical contamination concerns had been reported in both the Ohio Reformatory for Women, and the Trumbull Correctional Institute around the same time. Despite these issues being brought to light, the Michigan Dept. of Corrections appears to have cleared Armark of any responsibility for inmate illness or pests in Michigan, and it is unclear why.

More recently, in April 2015, the Cavalier Daily, the University of Virginia’s student newspaper, revealed that the company had “served garbage” to prisoners at Saginaw Correctional Facility in Freeland, Michigan. Additionally, they had “underfed inmates and fed them dog food, worms, and food scraps from old meals”, arguing on this basis that the university should accordingly reconsider its business with the food provider. Also contained in the same source, a leaked company email, “[the] prison food provider served cakes nibbled on by rats.“

Aramark has also had a history of overcharging clients: state governments of Michigan, Kentucky, and Florida have had skewed prison food pricing for low-grade food which reportedly caused a prison riot in Kentucky.

In other correctional facility contracts, Aramark faced controversy in 2015 when Ohio inmates working in kitchen settings under their management conducted a strike “because they were required to cut meat with pan lids instead of being allowed to use meat slicers.” Multiple accounts of inappropriate conduct with prisoners (sexual, letter writing, and contraband smuggling) have also been made in this same facility. Over two hundred and four employees have been banned from entering Ohio prisons. Ohio continues to renew the contract, despite the union head of Ohio Civil Services Employee Association stating “[Aramark] continues to violate their contract every day with food shortages, health and safety violations, bad employee conduct, low food quality.” A year prior, in 2014, Aramark was penalized with a total of $272,000 in contract violations fines. Later that same year, nine employees were fired for violating contraband regulations and another fifteen for violating security codes.

As previously mentioned, and well known by residence students, prison contracts are not the sole source of the company’s business. In 2015, Aramark received an annual $2.65 million dollar custodial contract for maintaining the Wichita Falls Independent School District. The contract was promptly eliminated shortly after, when one of the schools under the contract had become infested with rats and mice after a County Public Health inspection. Janet Powell, the district’s Director of Support Services said, “Everyone on the committee felt lied to and deceived (by Aramark).”

Just this month, the University of Manitoba seemed to be struggling with issues similarly faced by MUN students. As reported by Jacob Singleton of the Manitoban, “The red flag of revolution yearns to be hoisted… in the name of healthy, delicious and sustainable grub on our campus.”  However while it may remain unclear how long Aramark intends to stay on Memorial Campus, University of Manitoba’s contract is not set to expire until 2024.

While Singleton makes a great observation, it’s also noteworthy that the corporate atmosphere appears to be equally dissatisfied with the current performance. While Aramark has raked in $14.6 billion during 2018, the organization has long been plagued by hostile takeover attempts.

Elected CEO Joseph Neubauer, a Republican Party member from Mandatory Palestine, defended the company during 1984 during a failed coup. Neubauer would later go on to lead a group of investors to buyout outstanding shares and complete a merger in 2007, while fulfilling the role of VP of PepsiCo and Chase Manhattan Bank. It appears that in his absence the company has been pushed towards regime change by some Wall Street analysts.

While a town hall meeting was held by MUNSU on March 28th, its concerns might echo the pessimism expressed by those who remember a similar attempt at intervention during 2015. As MUNSU grapples with the situation, it appears as though a wider company issue may be on the horizon. Considering the concerns raised by previously mentioned universities, in just the past few months, three different universities in Ireland have launched a boycott campaign over Aramark’s conduct with regards to “direct provision centres”.

These centres reportedly operated under ethically dire circumstances which involved the mistreatment of refugees and asylum seekers. While the matter is ongoing, it had started with a hunger strike in 2014. The crisis reached a low point when Aramark was compelled to publicly apologize to a Zimbabwean mother for withholding food from her sick child.

It is unclear whether or not these independent movements to oppose Aramark’s dubious services are aware of one another, but if coordinated, a mass-mobilization could spell a dubious future for the company. This danger to the organization could only be worsened when coupled with the threats made by the corporate sector now hanging a buyout over their heads. This, in the midst of a managerial law suit over thousands of withheld bonuses, provides a vulnerable moment for the company.

Relay for Life: Changing Lives through Fundraising

Rahatil Khan
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Relay for Life: Changing Lives through Fundraising

Relay for life is another name of hope for people battling against cancer here at St. Johns, Newfoundland. It is a 12-hour long, overnight fundraiser that is carried out by MUN students. All the participants and the organizers get together at The Works, Field House, to walk for 12 hours around the track in support of the fight against cancer. Before the event starts, the participants collect pledges from contributors and donors. There are also lots of interactive and engaging games and content during the event as different teams gear up for it in the spirit of which team can raise the most funds. rather than being solely focused on fundraising, the event ensures an experience of a lifetime as well.

“It’s not just about the money but spreading the love and support and how it has an impact over our lives,” said Courtney who herself has been working consistently with Relay for Life with her heart and soul and has been a part of it ever since her high school years.

She also added that all the money collected through the fundraiser goes to Daffodil Place on Ropewalk Lane, the Canadian Cancer Society wing dedicated o supporting those battling cancer. This is where patients are provided with an alternative accommodation during their treatments, at a much cheaper cost than in hotels or alternate options. Daffodil Place strives to provide them with the sense of community and belonging where they share the same story and hope. They also get access to services like transportation, food, prosthetic and a lot more, for free.

Just like every year, the bar is set high in terms of raising the fund for Relay for Life. In 2018, the event raised about $40,000. This year, the event was even bigger and almost double in team size. It reached far and wide and a lot of people were enthusiastic about taking part and volunteering for the event. In 2019, Relay for Life made a whopping $30,000 more than the last year. “And I feel like that’s a huge jump for us,” says Courtney.

Relay for Life started off as a community-based event. There are two variations: one is done in community organizations and the other is run by post-secondary and high school students. The main initiative of getting this event into these academic institutions was to get the youth involved. It has been so far reaching that even junior high school students are warming up to the idea. “Our idea behind it is that to get involved young and stay involved over the years. We really want people to get together to share love and support and hopefully there will be a day where no Canadian has to fear cancer” says Courtney.

In the following years, Relay for Life will run strong, hopefully helping out and recruiting even more people throughout the process.

“We are already looking forward and planning ahead for the next event and already recruiting team members”.

Courtney Garland, Co-Chair Relay for Life

Every one in two persons has the probability of developing cancer over their lifetime. This can impact a lot of lives, both the affected and the surrounding loved ones as well. Relay for life is spread throughout Atlantic Canada, with the goal of changing and helping as many lives as possible through all their ventures, carried out with love, support and the highest of care for the brave souls battling cancer.

Local Reality TV Series Exposes Real Issues Facing Newfoundland and Labrador Businesses

Announcements
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Local Reality TV Series Exposes Real Issues Facing Newfoundland and Labrador Businesses

Entrepreneur NL ( Season 2)  Premieres on NTV

Launch: Saturday  April 6 at 2:00 PM

Recurring Sundays for six episodes and repeats.

Entrepreneur NL  is a six-episode television series by Creator and Producer, Donny Love of Big Jib Productions Inc. It will premiere on NTV Saturday  April 6 at 2:00 PM 2019.

Entrepreneur NL, a six-episode lifestyle documentary series is set in the beautiful backdrop of St. John’s Newfoundland.  This series follows the lifestyles of four highly driven and passionate entrepreneurs: Chris Hollett – Jiffy Cabs, Lisa Walsh – Indigena Skin Care, David Primmer – The Fifth Ticket and Judith Bobbitt – Oceans Ltd as they go about their day to day business inspiring us to know more about their endeavors.

Throughout this series, you will get to know these local entrepreneurs, understanding what really motivates them as they push through boundaries by making tough decisions to excel their ventures.

Long hours, passion and continuous improvement are what makes an NL Entrepreneur! Watch as they push themselves to the limit in order to achieve ultimate success.

Each episode will also feature entrepreneurial business advice from The Board of Trade, NLOWE, Futurpreneur Canada, The YMCA, and DC Design house.

Entrepreneur NL is made possible by the following sponsors: NTV, Hickeys Timber Mart, Freshii, Hot Tub Pros, Freshii, Canadian Energy, Concrete Products, Home Shield Insulation,  Dream Kitchens , Massage Ninja, Bins on Demand, Cooper’s Heating Solutions, Big Red Electric Inc,

Produced and Created by: Donny Love

Directed and Edited by : Roger Maunder

$8.45M Invested in Research Projects at McMaster University

Rahma Tasnim
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$8.45M Invested in Research Projects at McMaster University

The Government of Canada is always supportive and proud of all the health researches being conducted so meticulously throughout the country. As a show of their continued support, McMaster University was awarded $8.45 million, which is a part of $275 million national investment to support Canadian researchers studying the full spectrum of health issues affecting the Canadian lives. Canadian Institute of Health Research (CIHR)’s largest funding program, Project Grant, supported the projects funded through the $275M investment.

Investments in health research are some of the most important that we can make as a nation. These federally funded projects hold the potential for scientific advancements, new treatments, and improved quality of life for Canadians living with a variety of health conditions, while creating high-quality middle-class jobs at hospitals and universities across the country.

-The Honourable Ginette Petitpas Taylor, Minister of Health

At McMaster University, Minister Tassi met with grant recipients to celebrate their achievements and to learn more about their research projects. Drs. Sharon Kaasalainen and Hsien-Yeang Seow, who are studying ways of improving palliative care in the home and in long-term care homes were also present at the event.


From left to right: Charu Kaushic, scientific director of the CIHR Institute of Infection and Immunity; Filomena Tassi, MP and minister of seniors; Sharon Kaasalainen, associate professor, School of Nursing; Hsien Seow, professor, oncology and Susan Denburg, executive vice-dean and associate vice-president, academic, Faculty of Health Sciences.
Photo by Sarah Janes

When asked how the CIHR investment will benefit the research programs, Dr. Rob Baker, Vice-President of Research at McMaster University explained,

“This CIHR investment will have a tremendous impact on a number of our research programs. From improving post-operation anesthesia confusion and finding better ways to treat muscular dystrophy to studying extremely low birthweight babies as adults and improving palliative care, our researchers are committed to advancing human health.”

Dr. Rob Baker

Marlene Creates First Newfoundland Visual Artist to Win Governor General’s Award

Timothy Parsons
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Marlene Creates First Newfoundland Visual Artist to Win Governor General’s Award

Marlene Creates is an environmental artist and poet who works in a six-acre patch of boreal forest in Portugal Cove, Newfoundland, where she creates magnificent photography pieces showcasing the beauty of nature. She has also included other people’s stories and memories in her work to reflect on the relationship between language, land, and their impact on each other. She has also been commissioned to create signs and markers that incorporate people’s stories about specific places.

Most impressively, she is the first Newfoundland artist to receive a Governor General’s Award in Visual and Media Arts in recognition of her artistic achievements. I spoke with her to learn more about herself as well as her work.

How did you get your start in photography?

I don’t use much of my imagination, I pay attention to what’s around me. I don’t feel the world needs me to add anything to it from my imagination. Photography is the perfect medium to pay attention to the world around you.

Though photography is my main medium, I also make videos and assemblages and sometimes I write poems. I host poetry walks in the boreal forest surrounding my home.

Poetry walks, what are those?

I write poems about what I observe, and I invite people to go on a walk through the woods, which is a patch of fairly dense forest with a stretch of a river running through it. On the walks, we pause in certain spots and I read a poem out loud to the group. They’re site-specific poems and they refer to something where we’re standing. I’ve been holding a few events every summer for the past eleven years. They’re on different themes each year, such as local geology, boreal forest ecology, our five senses, and for the past four years, the themes have been the four elements — earth, air, fire, and water. This year’s theme is “Rambles and Mammals,” which will focus on the animal creatures we share the island with, like moose, fox, snowshoe hare, and coyote. These walks always cover some aspect of ecology.

Many of the guests are faculty at MUN. The university has been a terrific resource for me to find contributors for these walks. They have included Carissa Brown, Christine Carter, Luise Hermanutz, Bill Montevecchi, Faye Murrin, and Peter Scott. Anyone interested about these walks can contact me directly through my email marlene.creates@nf.sympatico.ca

How did you decide to focus most of your work on the Newfoundland boreal forest?

I lived downtown on Bond Street for 15 years, and the only land I owned was the footprint underneath the house. Because I’m an environmental artist, I usually had to travel somewhere else to find my subject matter, although I have done work looking at the relation between the city of St. John’s and its topography. In 2002 I moved to Portugal Cove and, ever since then, I haven’t needed to travel for my subject matter, I can just pay attention to the natural world around me. It’s been wonderful.

What advice would you give to aspiring photographers?

I would say you need to pay attention to something you are curious about and care about. Be true to yourself. Try not to imagine someone looking over your shoulder and judging what you’re doing.

After more than 40 years working with photography and visual arts, have you had to adapt your technique in any way?

I’ve used many different kinds of cameras. Of course, when I started, it was all on film — I didn’t get a digital camera until 2008. I’ve also used underwater cameras. Currently I’m working with trail cameras, which are left in the woods and are triggered by the movement of animals, such as a passing moose or snowshoe hare. Often, the camera only captures just the nose of a moose entering the frame, or the hindquarters just leaving. I’m interested in these non-traditional wildlife photographs, which I’m not taking myself but leaving to chance.

What were the works that you found most enjoyable, and which were the most difficult?

I just love taking photographs so it’s hard to choose the most enjoyable. Most of my work is an inquiry. I often set up a situation to see what will happen. For example, I’ll give myself a challenge and say, “If I do this, what will the results be?” I don’t try to imagine the thing I want to create, I’m working with uncertainty, I’m comfortable with leaving things to chance. I’m working in collaboration with the natural world, so everything that happens is much richer than anything I could have imagined.
The most difficult is hard to say. There are physical challenges to doing my work. I’ve had mishaps, some broken bones, and accidents during white water canoeing. It’s not the artwork itself, but the circumstances doing my work that I sometimes find difficult.

What was the most memorable thing you’ve seen you wish you got a photo of?

I have a wish list for my trail cameras. They’ve taken pictures of moose, silver foxes, snowshoe hares and, just this winter, a ruffed grouse. At the top of my wish list is a lynx, which is unlikely because they don’t usually come very close to human habitation. And I’d really like to get a picture of a coyote as well.

If you could go anywhere in the world, what location would you most want to visit and photograph?

I’m perfectly happy spending my time with this particular patch of boreal forest, because it’s constantly changing with the seasons, the day to day changes with the vegetation, the light, the water levels in the Blast Hole Pond River. I’ll never live long enough to take it all in.

Do you have any exhibitions or lectures scheduled for the near future?

People in Newfoundland will be able to see my work this coming fall. There’s a large retrospective exhibition that’s been touring Canada and it will be at The Rooms Provincial Art Gallery, opening on October 12 and continuing until January 19, 2020. In the meantime, the exhibition will be in Ottawa at Carleton University Art Gallery from May 21 to August 25.

How did you react about getting the award?

It was very unexpected, I was very surprised. I think it’s a great endorsement for environmental art, which is very heartening. There are eight people this year receiving this award for visual and media arts and I’m the only one not from Central Canada and the first from Newfoundland. This is just the start for artists in Newfoundland and Labrador.

Hacking Health St. John’s Hosts its Third Annual Health Hackathon

Abis Abbas
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Hacking Health St. John’s Hosts its Third Annual Health Hackathon

Hundreds of developers, designers, nurses, healthcare technicians and professionals, physicians, students, entrepreneurs, and the general public came together on March 1st, 2019 to participate in the third annual Health Hackathon at the Health Sciences Centre, Memorial University, to try and solve some of the pressing challenges in healthcare.

The event fostered a positive climate for inception and development of novel ideas unique to the healthcare sector.

The Hackathon was organized by Hacking Health St. John’s, which is one of the 53 active chapters of Hacking Health. Hacking Health is an international movement designed to improve healthcare by inviting technology creators and healthcare professionals to collaborate on realistic, human-centric solutions to front-line problems. More information on the organization can be found here.

The Health Hackathon was preceded by a year-round series of Health Cafes, which facilitated in developing ideas for the hackathon.

Further Reading

[display-posts tag=”hacking-health” exclude_current=”true” ]

The hackathon spanned over three days to give teams ample time to develop working products and enough time to network with fellow professionals.

Day 1

The hackathon commenced on the eve of March 1st, 2019 with a warm welcome from the organizers. Mike, the host for the evening, briefly ran through the format of the event and what the participants could expect to get out of this experience.

Soon after the orientation was complete, the pitchers for the evening were asked to present their idea to the audience. For this hackathon, there were eight pitchers who were looking to take their idea to the next step over this weekend. A vast array of ideas was tackled, such as patient no-show reduction, surround-sensing for wheelchair users, at-home chemotherapy, decreasing surgery wait time, medicine up-cycling, and more!

“Wheeler Tech” kicked off the pitches looking to develop proximity and edge detection sensor for visually impaired wheelchair users. For most wheelchair users who are visually impaired, getting around is quite difficult, which leaves most of them reliant on others for transportation. Using a series of mountable sensors, Wheeler Tech aims to give control back to the user and let technology be their eyes and ears.

A team of healthcare professionals from “Eastern Health” was looking to reduce the no-show rates of outpatient appointments. Eastern Health faces more than 96,000 missed appointments annually which translate to wasted opportunity for a lot of patients. To curb this problem, they proposed to develop an interactive communications tool over the weekend that will facilitate communication between patients and the staff and serve as a single point of contact for all appointment related queries.

“Pharmafind” was in next, seeking to up-cycle returned medications. Every year, thousands of kilograms of pills are returned to pharmacies who dispose of them. Most of those pills can be reused for new commercial and industrial purposes. Sorting those pills is a challenge. The team’s mission was to develop a prototype that would be able to identify and sort pills.

Next in was “Tabula Rasa” with their brilliant idea of reducing wait time for patients by matching supply with demand, followed by “Breaking Barriers” who were looking for ideas to make the health care system more accessible to those with multi-level barriers.

The next team aimed to tackle the problem of lack of private hospital rooms by providing in-home services to immuno-compromised individuals, reducing their treatment costs and providing a much safer environment for their recovery.

Last but not the least, PatientHR intended to tackle the problem of digitization of paper records and patient data visualization.

More information regarding the pitches can be found here.

Once all the pitches had concluded, participants were asked to network at the social mixer and form teams. Now that the teams were formed, it was time to start hacking!

Day 2

The second day started with breakfast and all the teams got to work. As most of the ideas were still concepts and there was no product developed until then, most of the morning was spent in figuring out the problem statement for the idea and potential solutions to the problem.

By lunch, most of the teams had switched from ideation to creation. To re-energize the teams, The Indian Express food truck provided lunch catering. Now that all the times had their energy levels back to 100% and had some idea of what exactly they were trying to solve, they started developing their prototype.

At this stage, it would be important to mention that professionals from Allscripts, gold sponsors for the event, were present throughout the day to answer any questions related to using Allscripts developer API. Allscripts is an Open platform connecting all points of the care community. More information can be found here.

By the end of the day, most of the teams had some sort of solution ready. Dinner was served followed by some more time for product development and design refinement.

It is also noteworthy that the Bouncelab team mentored a lot of the teams and provided them with resources such as hardware, and working space. Bounce Health Innovation is a catalyst for accelerating the growth of Newfoundland and Labrador’s emerging health innovation sector. Click here for more information.

Day 3

March 3rd, 2019 was the last and final day for the hackathon. Pitchers worked on refining their pitches for the final presentation whereas each team worked on finalizing the demo they would present to the panel of judges.

Genesis Centre, an innovation hub for technology start-ups, coached the teams on how to deliver a concise, effective pitch without going over the time limit. More info about their services can be found in the link here.

The much-awaited pitching round started soon after lunch with all the teams coming up to the stage and presenting what they had managed to accomplish over the course of the weekend. Each presentation was top-notch, addressing critical problems in the healthcare sector.

After much deliberation, the judges awarded first place to team Pharmafind and runners-up to team Wheeler Tech, each team also securing $3,000 and $2,000 respectively and free admission to Genesis Centre’s Evolution Program.

The event was a remarkable success and was attended by the likes of Dr. John Haggie, Provincial Health Minister, Kendra MacDonald, CEO of Ocean Supercluster, and Dave Diamond, CEO of Eastern Health.

Full-length Video Links

https://www.facebook.com/HHStJohnsNL/videos/380299602795250/
https://www.facebook.com/HHStJohnsNL/videos/304599963591234/

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