MV Miner The Famished FoodieRequest for proposals for MV Miner posted.

SEE PAGE 2

Our roving restuarant reporter Holly Kennedy visits and reviews Sami Pizza and Kabab in Sydney.

SEE PAGE 7

March 24, 2014Volume 41, Number 13www.capertimes.ca t @caper_times f fb.com/cprtimes

Sydney, Nova ScotiaYour community campus newspaper since 1973

Feature Editor Allison Redmond’s Insights into the Future Project, part one of two.

SEE PAGE 6

Testing under the influence: how to recover from a dreaded drunk text.

SEE PAGE 8

Special feature Drunk texting

SPRINGthe start of

Photo: Anita Martinz

The Caper Times stands for the progress and development of Cape Breton County, for our island hertiage, and the community values we all hold dear. The Caper Times is dedicated to the service of the people, that no just cause shall go unchampioned, and that wrong shall not thrive unopposed.

Patricia McCannChairperson and Publisher

Mitch Ramsay-MäderEditor-in-Chief@ mitch@capermedia.ca

Frederick BoutilierNews and Sports Editor@ frederick@capermedia.ca

Celine CookeArts and Lifestyle Editor@ celine@capermedia.ca

Allison RedmondFeatures and Social Justice Editor@ allison@capermedia.ca

Holly KennedyAdvertising Director@ holly@capermedia.ca

The Caper Times is a community orientated newspaper and acts to provide a forum for the people of Cape Breton County to debate and celebrate the trials, errors, and successes of their communities. The Caper Times is distributed free county-wide and relies on advertisements for revenue. While the Caper Times possess a highly skilled and dedicated core staff, the Caper Times relies chiefly on contributors from the greater community. The Caper Times welcomes one-time and repeat contributors. Please contact the appropriate editor to contribute content and to access contributor meeting times and locations. The Caper Times is published by Caper Media, a news organisation owned collectively by the students of Cape Breton University and managed on their behalf by a publishing board, with the chair of the board holding the title of publisher. The Caper Times is proudly printed in the unionised print shop of the Cape Breton Post in Sydney, Nova Scotia. The Caper Times welcomes questions, suggestions, comments, or contributions via our contact information below. Our offices are located in the Students’ Union Building of Cape Breton University. The Caper Times has been a full, voting member of the Canadian University Press since June 1, 1979. All employees of the Caper Times are associate members of the CWA Canada journalistic union.

Advertising Sales:

( (902) 563-1890 @ holly@capermedia.ca

General Enquiries:

( (902) 563-1890@ mitch@capermedia.ca

- PO Box 5300Sydney, NS B1P 6L2

2 Local & Provincial News

ISSN 1929-1140

ASSOCIATED PUBLICATIONMAINE & MARITIMES ASSC. UNIV. JOURNALISTS

On Thursday, March 6th Shire Can-ada Inc. announced that their ADHD Scholar-ship Program would be expanded to include Nova Scotian students.

The scholarship, now in its second year, is offered to Canadian stu-dents living with ADHD who are the age of major-ity in their province of residence and who have been accepted into an accredited post-second-ary institution in Canada.

2014 will be the first

year the award is offered to stu-dents in Nova Scotia and Manitoba.

The award is for a one-time payment of $1500, and a year of free ADHD coaching (provided by the Edge Foundation, who provides coaches to students at multiple levels with learning dif-ficulties not limited to ADHD) with an estimated value of $4,400.

One award is given in each prov-ince in which the award is offered, including Alberta, Quebec, Mani-toba, Nova Scotia, and Ontario.

Applications for the award are accepted online and consist of the application itself, a personal essay consisting of no more than

500 words (consisting of personal information such as aspirations and how the award would help), an ADHD coaching essay (a statement of less than 100 words about how the award’s free ADHD coaching would be helpful) and the sign-ing of a consent and release form.

“Since I started my ADHD coaching sessions, I learned how to be more mindful, focused, and purpose-driven in my academic efforts. My ADHD coach has guided me in improving my sup-port system around me as well as my relationships with family and friends. It’s truly been a life-changing experience: I have never felt more empowered, confident and motivated,” said last year’s award recipient from Alberta

Zac Erickson in a press release.ADHD coaching is a

one-on-one approach that part-ners a client and a coach. While the coach provides help in dealing with typical difficulties of ADHD, they integrate this with general life coaching, focusing on achiev-ing goals and learning new skills.

While it is helpful to individu-als with ADHD to receive coaching, it is not intended as replacement for medication-based or therapy-based treatments, but rather a supplement.

To learn more about the Shire ADHD Scholarship Program or complete an online application, visit www.shireadhdscholarship.com/.

Shire ADHD coaching scholarship now available for Nova Scotia studentsFREDERICK BOUTILIERNEWS EDITOR

On Wednesday, March 12th the Nova Scotia provincial gov-ernment released its Request for Proposals for the removal of the derelict ship MV Miner.

While thousands of litres of fuel and a vast amount of other pollut-ants had been removed from the vessel in 2011, the Request for Proposals (RFP) notes that a report was done that showed the MV Miner still had a significant amount of potential pollut-ants onboard (including asbestos and mercury).

The RFP, which with its attachments is over 300 pages, includes several reports that were done by both government sources and private contractors and also provides a gen-

eral background on the MV Miner. It also includes a list of require-ments for any contractor involved in the removal of the vessel.

While the contractor hired by the government will assume all cost

for the vessel’s removal (including labour, equipment, etc.), the RFP notes that some of this cost might be made up with the salvage of onboard recyclable materials. This

also seems to indicate the desire for an environmentally sound removal.

In addition to openly soliciting acceptable disposal options from applicant contractors, the RFP also provides three such options; float-ing the vessel to deeper waters and then sinking it (which would likely be the easiest and cheapest

method of disposal, but also the one with the most environmental impact), sectioning the vessel into pieces able to be moved by barge through traditional means for sal-

vage, and sectioning the vessel into similar-sized pieces for sal-vage using controlled demolitions.

There are an estimated 10,000 recoverable tonnes of scrap onboard the vessel. The bulk of this could likely still be recov-ered in the event of an ocean dis-posal, though sinking a ship at sea still carries more impact than separately disposing of its pieces.

The MV Miner, which ran aground on Scatarie Island on Sep-tember 20th, 2011, has been a point of contention between the pro-vincial and federal governments, with the provincial government insisting on its expedient removal and the federal government saying its involvement is not necessary.

The Caper Times has been following the story of the MV Miner since last year and will continue to provide updates as they become available.

The full RFP may be reviewed online at www.novascotia.ca/tenders/pt_files/t e n d e r s / N S L A N D S 6 3 . p d f .

Request for proposals posted for MV MinerFREDERICK BOUTILIERNEWS EDITOR

3International News

Crimean crisis continuesOn Thursday, March 6th, a

special referendum to be held by the Crimean government was moved from Sunday, March 30th to Sunday, March 16th.

The referendum, which asked voters whether they wished to remain part of the Ukraine (though under different terms than their cur-rent status, reverting to the 1992 Constitution of Crimea) or become part of the Russian Federation passed overwhelmingly in favour of seceding from Ukraine and request-ing to be part of the Russian Fed-eration, even amidst threats that if the referendum passed, water and electricity would be cut off.

Over 96% of vot-ers voted in favour of join-ing the Russian Federation.

The referendum’s validity was disputed by western nations

as well as the Ukraine, as it did not provide an option to main-tain the current constitution. The electoral process itself, however, was described as fair by a number of third-party electoral overseers.

Before the referendum, on Monday, March 10th, a small group of armed men took control of a naval base in central Crimea.

On Thursday, March 13th the Russian military once again massed on the Russia-Ukraine bor-der with the renewal of military operations, though Russian Presi-dent Vladimir Putin had previously stated that force was unnecessary.

The day following the referen-dum (Monday, March 17th), things moved quickly. Crimea declared itself independent of the Ukraine, and it was almost immediately rec-ognized as a sovereign state by the Russian government, who approved

a draft bill approving the annexa-tion of Crimea the following day.

While the referendum’s result is not the one that most western nations and the Ukraine were hoping for, it is possible that the accession to the Russian Federation could bring at least a short-term end to the conflict, with most of the violence having been in support of joining Russia. Importantly, native Russian speak-ers make up a majority in Crimea and some felt strong connections to Russia even before the crisis.

On Wednesday, March 19th Crimea and Russia formally signed a treaty, with Putin announc-ing that Crimea is now officially a part of Russia and that Rus-sia did not plan to take over other Ukrainian territory, but was merely protecting its own people.

Toyota fined $1.2 billion by

US governmentOn Wednesday, March 19th

Japanese automotive company Toy-ota was fined $1.2 billion by the US government over an apparent effort to conceal potentially fatal defects in cars imported into the US.

The root of the case began in 2009, when Toyota recalled several million vehicles that had a critical defect; a pen-chant for sudden acceleration.

While that same year Toy-ota said it fixed the problem, another recall was announced in 2010 for the same issue that had caused the 2009 recall.

Toyota admitted that it had attempted to cover up that and other flaws in order to retain consumer confidence, and agreed to pay the hefty penalty.

The fine is the largest-ever levied against an automotive com-

pany by the US government, and its acceptance does not include a condi-tion of immunity from prosecution.

Quiznos files for bankruptcyOn Saturday, March 15th Quiz-

nos (officially QIP Holder LLC), an American submarine sandwich chain formally filed for Chap-ter 11 bankruptcy in an apparent attempt to restructure its operations.

Quiznos had seen a turn in its operations starting in 2007 when Quiznos began announc-ing several store closures, cit-ing rapidly declining sales.

Reasons for the poor finan-cial performance of the com-pany include tough competition and the apparent failure of their business plan to expand rapidly.

The bankruptcy filing is just one of many filed recently in the US by fast food chains.

4 Local & Provincial News‘Salternatives’ hit Canada - Major North American cities experiment with snow melting alternatives

ANTIGONISH (CUP) — If you’re planning on taking a trip to the metropolis of Toronto any-time soon, leave the white Uggs at home. In an attempt to cut costs and provide a more environmentally friendly winter in many parts of North America, Toronto has begun to test the use of beet juice to melt icy roads and sidewalks instead of salt.

Living in Canada, we have become all-too-familiar with the necessary use, and negative effects, of salt on icy roads. We know that without it, our daily commute across campus would be more treacherous and daily wipe-outs a guarantee. We have seen the salt-stained boots, and the white-tinted porch tiles, but we may not all know of some of the other negative

effects that salt has throughout the winter months. Some sources are now linking salty sidewalks to neg-ative impacts on the environment.

The Toronto Conservation Authority believes declining fish and insect populations can be linked to salt usage by the city during the frigid winter months. Salt used to melt ice and snow from highways and streets has been running into streams and watersheds according to the TCA, harming the natural habitat and inhabitants of the affected areas.

Not only is salt harmful to the environment, but it is also not very friendly to Toronto tax-payers. According to the city’s website, Toronto dumps an average of 130 thousand tons of salt on city streets

and sidewalks each winter, with even more being used with the weather the city has been expe-riencing this year. All this comes

with a hefty price tag — upwards of 10 million dollars every year.

In response to environmen-tal and economic concerns, the city has been experimenting with beet juice. Although the substance comes with complaints of a slight odour and a dark colour that can often stain footwear, it seems to be working well with regards to melt-ing ice and snow. Experts have said that beet juice is a great alterna-tive to massive salt use, as it works very well in low temperatures.

Toronto is not the only city trying to cut costs with more envi-ronmentally friendly alternatives; many North American cities have been trying their hands at dif-ferent ice-melting substances as well. Michigan state has experi-mented with beet juice alongside Toronto. A mixture of beet juice, calcium chloride and sodium chloride (similar to table salt) is used to wet the streets of Michi-gan before an expected snowfall.

Although beet juice makes up only 20 per cent of the salt solu-tion, it’s the method of its use that

is making the biggest impact. Less solution is used overall in Michi-gan; instead of waiting for the snow to fall and the temperature to drop,

crews in Michigan wet the streets with the beet juice and salt solution before the snowfall occurs. Less solution, and therefore less salt, is used in this method because salt is used to break the bind between snow and pavement. By prevent-ing the bond from occurring in the first place, less solution has to be used — which is cost efficient.

Cheese brine is another popu-lar choice in the US, although the substance has yet to be tried in Can-ada. The state of Wisconsin, one of the largest supporters and contribu-tors to the American dairy industry, is one of the most noted partici-pants in the usage of cheese brine. Cheese brine is the liquid used in factories to soak certain cheeses, namely mozzarella. Cheese brine is without question one of the most economically efficient when it comes to melting snow and ice. As it is a byproduct that cheese factories typically simply dispose of, using cheese brine to melt ice is literally free. Polk County, Wiscon-sin, home to 44000 people, saved an estimated $40000 in the first

year of substituting a portion of salt usage with the dairy byproduct.

Molasses, garlic salt, and kitty litter are all other “salternatives”

that are being tested across the con-tinent. Some may say this is taking things too far, but others are seem-ingly supportive of the environ-mental and economic savings that come with these less environmen-tally damaging choices. It is impor-tant to note that no methods listed have completely replaced the use of salt on streets — they have sim-ply been added to the salt solution to swap out a portion of the salt.

So if you are ever looking to change things up a bit and save a little money, maybe you should take the ideas of these North American cities into consider-ation and raid your cupboards for some snow-melting alternatives to salt. But remember — wear your pub shoes while doing it; no need to ruin your expensive boots on your beet juice covered walkway.

JULIA O’HANLEYTHE XAVERIAN WEEKLY / CUPWIRE | PHOTO: PUB. DOM.

StudentsNS hold summit on youth economy

On Wednesday, March 19th and Thursday, March 20th StudentsNS held their Summit on Youth in the Nova Scotia Economy in the Halifax Dalhousie campus.Cape Breton University President Dr. David Wheeler served on a keynote panel at the conference, while CBU Students Union President Matt Latimer was also in attendance.The first evening was a more casual setup, with plenty of space for attendees to network. The StudentsNS website joked, “appetizers and innovation provided free of charge.”The second event, starting at 9:00 AM on Thursday, March 20th, was more serious, with a host of panels, workshops and presentations all focusing on how

to create jobs for youth in Nova Scotia and otherwise further engage them in an active economy.“This event is all about bringing together young people and decision-makers to understand our challenges and opportunities, and build a movement where we each take action to turn around youth economic outcomes in Nova Scotia,” said StudentsNS Executive Director, Jonathan Williams in a press release. “Given the choice between now or never, we’re opting for now.”

FREDERICK BOUTILIERNEWS EDITOR

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‘Salternatives’ hit Canada - Major North American cities experiment with snow melting alternatives

year of substituting a portion of salt usage with the dairy byproduct.

Molasses, garlic salt, and kitty litter are all other “salternatives”

that are being tested across the con-tinent. Some may say this is taking things too far, but others are seem-ingly supportive of the environ-mental and economic savings that come with these less environmen-tally damaging choices. It is impor-tant to note that no methods listed have completely replaced the use of salt on streets — they have sim-ply been added to the salt solution to swap out a portion of the salt.

So if you are ever looking to change things up a bit and save a little money, maybe you should take the ideas of these North American cities into consider-ation and raid your cupboards for some snow-melting alternatives to salt. But remember — wear your pub shoes while doing it; no need to ruin your expensive boots on your beet juice covered walkway.

BE PART OF THE THINKING

THINKING ABOUT OUTPERFORMING THE COMPETITION? SO ARE WE.OUR WORLD-RENOWNED FACULTY BRING FRESH THINKING TO THE CLASSROOMS OF OUR GRADUATE PROGRAMS WHERE WE ARE PREPARING THE NEXT GENERATION OF BUSINESS LEADERS.

CAPE BRETON : 10.5 (W) X 5.25 (D/H)

YOU DON’T NEED AN UNDERGRADUATE BUSINESS DEGREE OR ANY WORK EXPERIENCE TO STUDY AT ONE OF THE COUNTRY’S LEADING BUSINESS SCHOOLS

ALL OF OUR PROGRAMS ARE OFFERED IN THE LEED SILVER-CERTIFIED JOHN MOLSON BUILDING, DESIGNED WITH THE NEXT-GENERATION BUSINESS LEADER IN MIND.

OUR ONE-YEAR* GRADUATE DIPLOMA IN BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION provides students with non-business backgrounds with graduate-level business skills:

• Differentiate yourself from other graduates in your field• Learn about the latest modern business strategies• Expand the range of your career options* (two years, part-time)

OUR ONLINE INFORMATION SESSION IS AVAILABLE ON-DEMAND AT

JOHNMOLSON.CONCORDIA.CA/GDBA

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This post-degree program will provide the variety of courses and extended field experiences that will allow you to develop the knowledge and skills needed to teach in the modern classroomor apply to many career contexts.

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6 Feature

There are many people with great ideas in the university set-ting that want to make the world a better place. With the Insight into the Future Project, our class has sought to look at how we can improve or create a more positive future by discussing various issues that affect society. I have sat in class all semester hearing passion-ate voices analyzing and discussing different viewpoints, viewpoints not usually covered in mainstream media. There is such a wide variety of voices talking about social jus-tice issues and being heard within a classroom context, why not bring it into a wider viewership? The media is meant to bring democracy into the discussion but this is not always the case. During my time at the Caper Times, part of my job has included seeking out volunteers to write for my section. Something I have heard time and time again is that they fear backlash, or that what they say might influence their future employment or happiness at the university. There is a fear of censorship, if their voices will be muffled or edited to become less controversial they wonder why write at all. Hearing critical voices talk about social problems helps us see new and interesting viewpoints that were previously unknown. The goal of this column, which will run for the final two issues of the publishing year of the Caper Times, is to incorporate the voices of students here at Cape Breton University into the discussion. With a public forum that lets individu-als set out a way for a more posi-tive future, I hope that these voices are heard and considered. In this issue, we see discussions on posi-tive affirmation, the concept of Bit-coin, and special needs education.

Positive Affirmations Claire Chabassol

Positive affirmations helps cre-ate inner happiness, strength and

inner peace. They can help boost the spirits of someone who is hav-ing a bad day and make people think twice about the little things in life that often go unnoticed. Positive affirmations can help people change how they feel about their self-image, they can take away the focus from the negative and bring the attention to the positive. Conscious autosuggestion trains the mind to change how it thinks so in turn tak-ing the attention from the negative and bringing it to the positive things that one may have in their life.

If people in society have a more positive self-image then they are more likely to have a positive impact on society in general. The energy of their behavior, attitude and actions can be focused on the bettering of society, rather then focusing on the negative and therefore having a more negative impact on soci-ety. By rereading positive affirma-tions we train our mind to believe what we are reading and then we can put those beliefs into practice.

My challenge for the class for the insights into the future proj-ect is, to take the time to write a positive message on a piece of paper, stick that paper to a bath-room mirror in a public place and pass on a positive affirmation to a stranger! This may not change the world, but it can be a tiny move-ment to help boost the self-image of other individuals in our society and hope that this can help indi-viduals make a positive change in their life and bring positive energy to different aspects of our culture.

Insights Into The Future: A look at Money, Power, Cor-ruption, Inequality... Bit-coin?Joseph B. Gracie

What if the world realized that Money, Power, Corruption, and Inequality are all intertwined? What if the world realized that our entire system’s ideologies and cul-

tural acceptance in that the negative symptoms (i.e. inequality, corrup-tion and power control) our society creates is far from normal, and that the acceptance that these symptoms have come to be a cultural norm are purposefully built into our soci-ety to mislead us. “We,” the future of our children, and our children’s children must come to see the truth behind one of the greatest schemes our world has ever fallen victim to. The blinders must come off our eyes and realize that the system we live in is a perfect grand design by the highest of classes (elite), whereby suffering, misfortune and unfair-ness lurks around every corner and that although slavery has been said to be abolished it in fact exists in every aspect out our reality today. Money has essentially brought with it a world of difference in allowing us to trade in a more proper way. However, because of the wide-spread adoption of the money sys-tem those who craved power had stepped their foot in and had seen massive potential for control. They essentially worked the development of the money system in such a way where few individuals had accu-mulated large quantities of wealth, these few people have become what is know as the Elite of today. With such wealth came even more power. This is because money itself has granted power to whoever holds it, as it can be used to buy almost any-thing. Additionally, those who have more money can have more access to the things they want, increase their lifestyle and even make deals with others to manipulate what one’s desires in the system itself (i.e. political opinions, laws and decisions on who gets what). As for everyone else, those who have less receive less access to the things they need or want. Since power and control had became evident in the system people would now have to constantly offer their service in the form of work to earn money or pro-duce items of value to be exchanged for the things they needed. This idea of working for someone else to

produce money (or a living) can be viewed as a debt or even an enslave-ment, especially when those who have less are subject to working dead end jobs to produce enough money to buy the things for basic survival. And as such this usually ends up in a vicious circle with very little advancement in gain, since the money one earns is typically spent out for basic needs of survival. Although, some people have even-tually figured out how to earn more, through education, hard work, mar-riage of families, unique inven-tions, and business’ there still tends to be a larger poor based popula-tion than not (and that’s the point).

Well, it goes without saying and bugs bunny said it best “If you can’t beat um’ join um” and that’s exactly what I propose. We need to use the system of money, power and control to increase our own class and wealth to have the push-ing power to change the system. Anything less, such as lobbying to make change in a certain aspect of society, developing ones education to great lengths, or building a fol-lowing/advocacy would only result in a blurp of attention or offer a result so small that it only becomes forgotten about; the elite classes will always continue to sustain the system of inequality. Rather to truly bring it down, we would need to destroy its infrastructure, that is, weaken its inner workings until it comes toppling down. Now, what I mean by all this is if we have enough “like minded individuals” that wish to put an end to inequality, the class system, and the corrupt-ing aspect of money with an elite status (i.e. power, super high class and wealth) we could essentially have enough push to form change that is surely needed. Money is power after all. Now, I’m not talk-ing about becoming a millionaire or a billionaire, but rather a trillion-aire. You might all be thinking, now how on earth does someone like me sustain that kind of income? Well, that’s where things become very interesting, as one can increase

their wealth and power to a very high degree with a new fast grow-ing digital currency called Bitcoin.

Bitcoin is a rapidly grow-ing digital currency that is being adopted by people and organiza-tions all over the world. Since its release Bitcoin’s popularity has grown exponentially. It has been woven and used and accepted by many individuals and merchants in a wide variety of countries. How-ever, its real value lies in its abil-ity to be digitally mined by anyone through the use of computer proces-sors. Bitcoin has similarity to gold as its rarity increases with its devel-opment. The more bitcoins that are created and put into circulation the more rare the bitcoins become. This is because the total num-ber of Bitcoins in existence will never exceed 21 million. At which point the price of bitcoin could be exceptionally high, possibly far higher than that of the price of gold. Therefore, bitcoin could essentially become one of the most valuable tradable commodities in existence. So adopting into gathering bitcoins while it’s growing today, either through purchase at its current price per coin or through mining this digital item could essentially develops one’s assets to exceptional lengths, even as far as some of the highest elite classes/families today.

Special Needs Education- Involving allVictoria Bonang

Every child learns is a differ-ent way, but our education system does not allow room to involve these different ways of learning. Our education system is set up for the dominant group of people and is not flexible for any marginal-ize group. A lot of children who have learning disabilities belong to the dominant group, but yet noth-ing is being done. For people in the marginalized groups, school is struggle from the beginning and having a learning disability makes it that much more challenging.

Insight into the Future ProjectALLISON REDMONDFEATURES EDITOR

Our system needs to realize that there are different ways that children learn. Most children find it difficult to learn in the tradition setting, sit-ting in a desk while listening to the teacher and spit it back out to her. My sister has been diagnosed with CONTINUED ON PAGE 7...

7Arts and Lifestyle

In a strange twist of fate, I was taken to a food establishment that I had never been before. It

was a suggestion from a friend of mine who also opted to pay for the meal as well (and I’d never look a

gift horse in the mouth). I found myself being taken to Sami Pizza & Kabab, a simple little nook located on Townsand St. in Sydney. He boasted that this establishment had the best Indian food at the cheapest price. Being as Sydney is lacking in Indian Restaurants, I was intrigued and went along for the ride.

Upon walking into this place, I was hit with an array of wonder-ful smells. The layout was simple with two tables with dual chairs at each, a small counter, and a drink cooler. I was curious at first, but my tummy told me to quiet

the mind as my friend led me to order. I didn’t know what to get, unfamiliar with the menu or the items so I let him order for me. Good faith hasn’t killed me yet.

In no time at all we were given plates of Chicken Biryani with yogurt sauce and a bottle of water. I was astounded at the amount of rice that was on my plate and my nose near fell in love with what-ever spices were roaming around in that deliciously aromatic sauce of theirs. I dug in and, for the first time in a long time, did not regret. The rice was cooked perfectly,

the chicken was fall-off-the-bone delectable, and the mix of spices and seasoning were to die for. I feel as though for the first time in 2014 I was handed a plate that was completely soothing to my palate.

The menu is small as is the res-taurant, but the people are humble and lovely to talk to and the food is worth the greatest of praise.

I will certainly be back to Sami Pizza & Kababs (very soon if red curry remains the promised Wednesday special).

Eat on, my friends!

visits the Sami Pizza & Kabab

HOLLY KENNEDYCAPER TIMES FOOD REVIEWER

Our system needs to realize that there are different ways that children learn. Most children find it difficult to learn in the tradition setting, sit-ting in a desk while listening to the teacher and spit it back out to her. My sister has been diagnosed with

ADHD since she was 6 years old, she is now 13. Concentrating for her is a hard thing to do because he gets distracted so easily. If she has headphones on listening to music, she excels at school work, and gets her homework done in no time. The problem with this is that her

school won’t allow it because they don’t understand that it makes her concentrate more and that it is not fair to the other children who can-not listen to music. Now, with Zoe allowed to listen to music quietly through her headphones, she’s not falling behind in her school work.

In order to make the future a better place we need to help and get these children a better educa-tional experience. Education is a key component in a child’s life; they go to school every day. Some children excel in school and oth-ers not so much. We need to find

a way to help better the education for children that have learning dis-abilities so that they have the same chance as everyone else to succeed.

INSIGHTS CON’T...

Optimism is key in surviving graduation

For those of us in our final year of our undergraduate degrees, we have passed the halfway point of the last semester and graduation seems to be rushing towards us.

This is not a message for those of us who are graduating and have their whole life mapped out before them from the second they trium-phantly whisk off their graduation robes — you know who you are.

This is a message for the rest of us who are beginning to realize that graduation is a cliff that we are about to jump off of and we were too opti-mistic, distracted, confident, lost, or involved to figure out the bot-tom might be filled with boulders.

To add insult to impend-ing injury, everyone seems to care so much about how we plan to be a successful human being after graduation. They want to know how we plan to sur-vive this colossal free fall jump.

For four or more years people have been asking us the same ques-tion; “What are you going to do?” They always say it with a sweet, interested smile spread across their face, but in the glint of their eye we can see a reflection of our flailing, falling body and it con-vinces us that behind our back these overly involved persons are slowly drumming their fingers together waiting for our inevitable failure.

The problem with this age old question of “What are you going to do?” asked by mainly well-intentioned people is that it tries to apply a formula to life. It makes the assumption that you know what’ll happen in your life a year or five from now.

While there are a select few people who this formula works for, you’re probably not one of them. So, what is to be done about you?

First of all, it may be healthy

to adopt the attitude of “[exple-tive] everyone” for a while. As you fall from that graduation cliff, you are going to have people try-ing to catch and contain you with their advice and opinions.

Listen to your own intuition. Do not panic or latch on to your first safety net. Learn to not care too deeply what other people think of you. Ultimately you are the only person responsible for the outcome of your life. Know what you love and chase that — no matter what you believe people are saying about you in whispers.

Do you know what you love? Maybe you know your dream already or maybe you are learn-ing what your dream is. Which-ever the case, in the words of the Oscar-winner Lupita Nyong’o, “Your dreams are valid.”

These are hard words to remember if you are dealing with a recent graduate school or dream job rejection. They are hard words to remember if you

have no sense of what direction to go in the pursuit of your dream.

However, your dreams are valid, and they are worth fighting for. They are worth going off the beaten path for. Your self-worth is not the sum of your successes and failures. It is how you react to, and move forward from, these events in your life that prove your character.

This kind of relentless press-ing on requires you to be a bit of an optimist. It requires you to crawl out of the safe womb of self-pity and allow yourself to be hopeful, confi-dent and eager for all the opportu-nities and possibilities before you.

Perhaps there are those who graduate with you that seem to be living your dream more effec-tively than you are. While life is not a formula, it is also not a com-petition. Find your own niche, make your own goals and do not allow the apparent success of oth-ers to cripple your own ambitions.

Your dreams continue to be valid even when they are not being

fully realized. Your dreams continue to be valid even when someone else seems to have your same dream. Your life will not be a straight path.

You will have obstacles, detours and doors closed in your face. To return to the falling metaphor, keep building your makeshift wings or your patchwork parachute. Pity the smug so-and-so’s whose lives will not be as interesting as yours.

When your Plan A falls through, make a Plan B — and probably a Plan C and D. Try to give yourself a sense of direction, but do not smash to pieces when that direction inevitably changes.

Allow yourself to be an opti-mist. Believe in your intrinsic self-worth and acquired skills. Let life surprise you. Your life is not a formula and there are plenty of clever, intriguing ways to make it out of this cliff jump alive.

NATAHNA BARGENTHE SHEAF / CUPWIRE

8 Arts and Lifestyle

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Texting under the influence: How to recover from a dreaded drunk text

It’s 4 a.m. and you’re at a house party. Your friends are any number of things: passed out, belligerent, making out — the list goes on. As the party slowly clears out, you feel truly alone with your thoughts the first time that night. They are stronger than ever now, leap-ing logical chasms that appeared insurmountable mere hours ago. In a moment of weakness, you pull your phone out and start writing a text the length of a PhD disserta-tion. It could be because you had a fight with a significant other, you are wondering that you have been

friend-zoned or maybe that one person that one time looked at you funny and you want to make sure you’re cool with each other, you know? The list, again, goes on.

Later that morning, you wake up with a headache and the nagging feeling that you did something you shouldn’t have. When you check your phone you see the text you sent in all its elementary-school-level-English glory; your Grade 2 teacher would’ve been proud, 10 years ago. After swearing off alcohol, now it’s time to figure out what to do next.

Since high school, I have

heard the same lies constructed to recover from a drunken text: my friend did it as a sick prank, I didn’t mean to text you but I was really drunk or I meant to send that to someone else. No one is convinced and the situation just became 10 times more awkward.

Not acknowledging the truth only makes it worse, because you are convincing the other person that the issue has implications that you don’t want to admit. They read the text. There’s no going back. So how do you recover from a drunken text? Well … you don’t. Even if you pass off your lie, the nagging prob-lem in your mind is unresolved and will come back stronger eventually.

Often when we have feelings that we feel we shouldn’t have, we bury them deep inside. Not only are you giving them undue power, you are also invalidating your own emotions. This is fun-damentally wrong because your emotions are always valid, no mat-ter what you or others say. Maybe you understand that you should not have these feelings, but it is impor-tant to accept that you are having them and to understand why you are having them rather than letting it fester in the back of your mind.

Instead, you should make use of this opportunity. You’ve opened the can of worms, now you might as well just talk it through with

the other person. The hardest part of bringing the issue up is not a problem anymore, so have an hon-est conversation to hash things out. It may not always end well, but it’s the best shot you have, and at least you always get closure.

JASON WOOTHE SILHOUETTE / CUPWIRE