This is an incredible little video by Dylan Winter, a cinematographer from the UK. It is a stunning example of the mysterious power of nature, as you see a group of European starlings fly through the air in massive numbers en route to their roosting site.

As a regular gravel-road bird watcher, I’d highly recommend finding a stretch of gravel road to head down, and see if you don’t catch site of a red-tailed hawk, a sand hill crane, or even the odd duck (or two) that are currently soaring over fields this time of year.  Bird watching is good medicine this time of year (or any time of year, for that matter).

Ever wonder where you can find information related to how you can participate in improving workplace approaches to wellness? Mental health is one aspect of workplace wellness and employers, employees and student bodies are gathering information on how to keep healthy. Our work and study affect our health and we want to be as best prepared for challenges as we can.

Take the plunge!

Safe Manitoba has  excellent recently posted information that includes ideas for employees and employers on how to make workplaces better from a psychological perspective. It is called the mental health toolkit.

Feeling safe, well and appreciated whether staff or student is important for today but good habits also impact our future health. Challenge yourself, co-workers and fellow students to change one habit for the better.

Be involved on a safety committee, staff or student wellness committee and help make your work/educational organization a better place. Be involved! It’s good for your health!

from Health Services

by Cole Skinner, Athletics and Recreation Cooridantor

With exams currently taking place, and the rush to get summer jobs, this is often a busy and stressful time for Red River College Students. Rebels Athletics and Recreation Services has a great way to relieve stress, get fit for summer, and be at your best for exams and job interviews! RRC Athletics and Recreation Services offers Group Fitness Programs suited to all interests and fitness levels. Our highly trained and enthusiastic instructors will lead you through a fun and challenging workout suited to you. Use these classes to get a leg up on your personal fitness goals, with summer right around the corner, why not get active and have fun in the process. We offer a wide variety of classes that can help relieve stress, and improve your personal wellness.

Registered Programs For 2014 Spring Term

Yoga with Amanda on Mondays from 4:15 to 5:15.

Rapid Revolution Spin with Lesley on Tuesdays from 11:05 to 11:50 and Thursdays from 11:05 to 11:50.

Dynamic Core with Leslie on Tuesdays from 12:05 to 12:50 and Thursdays from 12:05 to 12:50.

Cardio Complete with Ming on Tuesdays from 4:00 to 4:45

Boot Camps with Karly on Fridays from 11:05 to 11:50

Stott Pilates with Karly on Fridays from 12:05 to 12:50

Regular classes will start April 28th and run until June 27th.

Drop in cards for 4 or 8 classes per term can also be purchased. An unlimited Full Fitness Pass can also be purchased, allowing to attend as many classes as you want.

Register

To register for a class download the attached form, fill it out and take it to the Student Service Centre to make a payment. 2014 Spring Fitness Classes Registration Form

100 years ago, infectious diseases were the leading cause of death worldwide. In Canada, infectious diseases now cause less than 5% of all deaths—thanks to immunization programs.

As spring is upon us – finally; it is timely to remember tetanus; an acute, often fatal,  bacterial infection.  Thankfully, again due to immunization, it is rare in Canada. Tetanus bacteria are present in soil and animal digestive systems; and cause disease when they enter through even a tiny cut or abrasion. Tetanus immunizations should be renewed every 10 years.

Other diseases like measles, chicken pox, polio, Hepatitis B and many others  are vaccine preventable. Even in Canada
though; people miss immunizations. One reason misses occur now is that disease is less common and people have forgotten about these diseases.  “The Inside Minute” on Immunization shows current day, real life examples of well recognized complications of vaccine preventable illnesses.

The World Health Organization hopes their 2014  slogan, “Immunize for a healthy future: Know, Check, Protect” encourages you to check whether you and your family are up-to-date with the vaccines you need. The recent release of the new ImmunizeCA app will make that easier to do.

It is important that all of us get immunized. It is excellent assurance.

Submitted by Health Services

2 in 5 Canadians will develop cancer in their lifetime and about 1 in 4 Canadians will die of cancer.[1]

In 2013, it is estimated that 187,600 Canadians will develop cancer and 75,500 will die of cancer. [2] April is Daffodil Month. The daffodil is considered a symbol of strength and courage by the Canadian Cancer Society. Funds raised during Daffodil Month are used to lend a helping hand for families and those receiving treatment for cancer, fund lifesaving clinical trials, advocate for cancer patients and provide access to services in your community.

For more information on Daffodil Month, check this information from the Canadian Cancer Society.

Prevention

There are a number of factors that contribute to whether you are susceptible to cancer. You can help minimize your risk by[3]:

1. Quitting smoking and limiting your exposure to second hand smoke.
2. Eating a healthy diet with lots of vegetables, fruit and fibre with little fat and sugar.
3. Maintaining a healthy body weight.
4. Keeping physical activity as an important part of your day with at least 30 minutes of moderate activity a day.
5. Reducing your alcohol intake.
6. Being safe in the sun by covering up, wearing sunglasses, using sunscreen and staying hydrated.
7. Getting the right amount of Vitamin D.
8. Monitoring environmental factors such as what household cleaners are being used and what residues are left behind especially if you have young infants and toddlers who spend an ample amount of time on the floor.

Screening

You know your body better than any one else as you will know what is normal for you. When cancer is found early, it is often easier to treat. Having regular checkups with your doctor will help reduce the risk of a health problem being ignored.  Screening tests help find some types of cancer before you have any symptoms. Talk to your doctor to learn more about your risk of cancer and what screening tests you should have. Be sure to mention any family history of cancer.

Benefits and risks of screening[4]:

Benefits:

• Better survival rates
• Better quality of life

Risks:

• False positive results
• False negative results
• Over-diagnosis
• Increased exposure to harmful procedures

Upcoming Events

There are a number of events throughout the year all over Manitoba in support of the Canadian Cancer Society and the fight against cancer.

• Relay for Life – numerous dates based on location from May to July across the province.
• River City Dragon Boat Festival – June 6^th and 7^th at the Lake Shirley Water Ski Park

If you enjoy the intrinsic benefits of being a volunteer, consider supporting the Canadian Cancer Society and volunteering your time and skills to a wonderful cause. There are a variety of volunteer opportunities available.

For more information about fundraising events and to access the volunteer application form, please visit www.cancer.ca.

For many people exercise presents a special set of challenges. Here’s a realistic guide for getting started and not getting discouraged.

What’s love got to do with it? When it comes to fitness, in the end, love is all that matters. Exercising in public when you’re out of shape can be an emotionally bruising experience. Huffing and puffing to keep up, you feel inadequate and self-conscious, hating every moment you spend on the treadmill or pacing the track. Maybe you’re trying to tell yourself something.

One of the most common mistakes people make when starting to exercise is trying an exercise program that doesn’t suit them or was designed for someone else. People make the decision that they are going to “Do it right”, they join a health club and get a program and commit to working out four times a week. Most people taking this approach fail and failing makes them even more disheartened. What they don’t realize is that it was the wrong approach.

The first goal is to increase your physical activity and not to punish yourself for being out of shape. Begin by recognizing the benefits of diversity and explore the many options open to you and your individual interests. 

Learn to dance, take up a martial art, learn to swim, dig a garden, take up wall climbing, find a tennis partner. What’s important is to find something that you enjoy and works for your lifestyle.  Recreation Services on campus offers a wide variety of different programs that will help get you active.  Visit our website at http://blogs.rrc.ca/rebels/ for a complete listing of classes and start dates.

Regardless of what shape you are in, you can derive tremendous benefit from physical activity. Research indicates that exercise can reduce risk factors for cardiovascular disease, for example, and can mitigate the effects of stress and depression.

For most people beginning an exercise program, the biggest considerations is losing weight and this in turn can also be the biggest emotional hurdle. An exercise program may or may not lead to weight loss, but it definitely will lead to an improvement in physical, metabolic and emotional fitness. When we learn to let go of ‘losing weight’ as the main goal of fitness training it frees us to focus on the real benefits and achievable goals of exercising.

In their eagerness to get started, the non-active people frequently fall into a pattern of error, which can sabotage the project before it gets off the ground.

Common mistakes are excising too hard and exercising too easy. There are those who try to get started with an exercise program, fling themselves at it only to get exhausted, injured, and realize few improvements in their health and fitness: they try to exercise too hard. Conversely, there are those who spend plenty of time exercising but don’t get their heart rate up enough to realize the benefits they are seeking.

Don’t swim laps just because someone says it’s an ideal exercise even though you hate it. Learn to ballroom dance, fence, ice skate, or snowboard.  Join a sports team.  Many leagues let you sign up as an individual with a free agent team or as team with a group of friends. This type of social(yet physical) activity could be just the thing to get you kick started on the road to a healthy active lifestyle.

Your Options:

• Find your starting point. Do some fitness tests to see where you are now.
• Forget the fat. Reprogram your thinking to focus on fitness not fatness.
• Find fitness goals. Learn about physical and emotional fitness and why these should be your goals. A rounded exercise program takes all goals into consideration and gives you training in all elements of fitness.

The main determinant of whether an exercise program is successful is how hard it is in relation to your current level of fitness. No program will get results unless you stick to it, which is why you have to find an activity you love. One of the main reasons for people not sticking to their exercise plans is lack of time, so don’t waste time with an exercise program that might not work for you. Tailor your program to your fitness level and unique emotional, and physical characteristics and you will be sure to achieve your goals.

Dig out your ball and glove and come out for a fun and friendly competition at the 8^th annual Red River College’s Staff Co-ed Slow-Pitch Community Event!

You can register as a team or register as an individual and be placed on a team.  Teams consist of at least TEN players and must have a minimum of FOUR females playing in each inning.  Every team can play up to three games.

The event takes place on June 11th from 9 am to 4 pm at the Little Mountain Park ball diamonds, just 10 minutes north of the Notre Dame Campus.  Registration are available from the RRC Wellness Portal page or by contacting “Super” Mario De Negri (mdenegri@rrc.ca).

Each player must contribute $15.00, which covers park fees, use of equipment, and a lunch that includes one main dish and two side dishes and a drink. Please state if you are a vegetarian in your registration. This will also get you one raffle ticket to win one of many prizes through out the day. Make cheques payable to Red River College Slow-pitch event.

You can also register to play one of our many Low Organized Games such as bocce and ladder toss or bring a musical instrument to jam if slow pitch isn’t your forte but would like to be a part of the event. $15.00 will also include a lunch and raffle ticket.

If you feel you would just like to come out for the day or even a few hours please feel welcome at no cost. Food can be purchased on site from the clubhouse.

This is an eco-friendly event so please minimize all waste. Bring reusable water bottles or jugs as water is not supplied at the diamonds but refilling can be done in the clubhouse. Pack out what you pack in. Bring your own gloves, sun lotion, and hat.

Registration deadline is May 16 ^TH 2014

Location of the tournament is Little Mountain Park at 64-128 Klimpke Road. Every registered player will be forwarded game rules and a game schedule.

Directions to Little Mountain Sports plex from NDC is north bound on King Edward St, then west bound on Inkster Blvd. Turn North on Klimpke. The Sports plex will be on the left.

Red River College is pleased to be holding our 4th annual State of Sustainability. This is a great way to check out what mother nature has to offer and get rid of some of those “winter blues.” This annual event is an opportunity for students, staff and the community to celebrate Earth Day, recognize RRC’s sustainability accomplishments, learn a little and have a bit of fun.

Here’s the line-up…

Pipe Ceremony, Mother Earth Teachings & Feast –Tuesday, April 22, 10:00am – 2:00pm, Aboriginal Student Support Centre, F209 (NDC).                                           

RRC Elder May Louise will lead a pipe ceremony and will share her personal experiences and observations on how Mother Earth is changing and its impacts. Participants will be invited to share their experiences too.

This event will help participants to learn how the Aboriginal worldview and sustainability are inextricably linked. All are welcome. **Traditionally, women wear long skirts for ceremonies. ** Times may vary.

E-waste Drop Off (from work and home) Tuesday, April 22 – Thursday April 24, 11:00am – 1:00pm daily, Library Hallway (NDC) & William Building near Print Services (EDC)    

Time for Spring cleaning! Get rid of that broken Nintendo in your basement, the old calculator on your desk, or the old microwave in the lunch room. All materials will be sent to a licensed recycling facility.

Sustainability Office Year-in-Review Wednesday, April 23, 12:05pm – 12:55pm, eTV Studio B, GM33 (live and streamed)

Learn about how we’ve advanced our sustainability journey this year. In addition to the Sustainability Office, hear from Food Services, Applied Research & Commercialization  & the Bookstore.

Lunch will be served. Registration is limited to 40 people, so don’t delay! Read More →

Although there is a vaccine for influenza, there is no vaccine for the nasty stomach flu or norovirus as it may be called. It causes serious illness, can incapatitate for a number of days and is contagious (you can shed the virus and spread it). Children and elderly are high risk for complictions but everyone is susceptible and anyone can spread it.

It is the one that causes nausea, vomiting, cramps and diarrhea to the point where you want to be in bed, curled up in a ball and as close as possible to a toilet. It hits quickly and hard.

Did you know that just using alcohol santizer instead of washing your hands does not protect you  the same as with some flu and cold strains?  Why? This type of virus does not have the same cover or “envelope” around it which is what the alcohol santizers help destroy in some cold and flu strains, so it is not that affected by the alcohol. It is however, senstive to bleach.

Can I prevent it? Yes and with a basic and easy routine.

Wash your hands with soap and water! Often. When cleaning hard surfaces use a bleach based product following manufacturer directions. Many such wipes are on the market now.

A CDC study in health facilities found those who mostly used hand sanitizers instead of washing with soap and water were 6 times more likely to have stomach flu (gastro) outbreaks  in their long term care facility over facilities whose staff washed with soap and water.

Tips

• Food preparation areas need constant cleaning and if handling food, washing hands often is a must.
• If you have a dishwasher use it even for small loads as it has higher temperatures then can be tolerated by hand washing.
• If you must hand wash, put on rubber lined gloves and use as high a heat as possible.
• Don’t share. If you have a person in the house who has the stomach flu, isolate that person and what they use.
• Wash affected laundry on high heat. You can also run the machine on its own with some bleach to keep cross contamination at a minimum.
• Clean clean clean any surfaces a person who is ill may or could touch. A bleach based product whether liquid or wipe is best.
• Do a routine wipe down of things like keyboards, phones, remote controls and any other items that people share.
• To prevent a bout of stomach flu going around the office, class, meeting rooms, lunch rooms or coffee areas; Institute a routine of wiping down hard surfaces. Wash hands with soap and water even if you wore gloves while cleaning.
• The virus sheds from an infected person 1-2 days  before that person even knows they are sick.
• The virus can live for days on hard surfaces happily waiting for someone to pick them up.
• Drinks lots of fluids- water, milk white or chocolate and real fruit juices. It keeps you hydrated which allows your body to function at its best.

• Eat foods that replenish your system needs, protein, vegetables, grains and reduce those that put stress on the body such as energy drinks and sugars.

From Health Services

Indoor air, VOCs and our Health

Welcome back.  Our first post in this series about VOCs provided a glance at what VOCs are and where they come from. (VOCs are organic compounds / chemicals that easily become vapors or gases.) This second post will relate VOCs to our health.

VOCs in the outdoor air influence our quality of life (e.g., smog affects our breathing and exercise tolerance) and also negatively impact plant growth, including crops.   Though related;  indoor and outdoor VOCs are usually discussed separately.  This series focuses on indoor VOCs.  Indoor VOC concentrations are much greater than outdoor concentrations and in some cases, they behave differently (chemically).  Concentrations are estimated, on average, to be two to five times outdoor concentrations; but up to 1000 times outdoor concentrations when something such as painting or stripping paint is occurring. (Have no fear. Again, healthier home solutions will be the subject of future posts.)

Some VOCs change our cells! (…Can that be healthy?)     The Environmental Protection Agency¹ (EPA)  says indoor VOCs can cause eye, nose, and throat irritation; headaches, loss of coordination, nausea; damage to liver, kidney, and central nervous system. Some … can cause cancer in animals; some are suspected or known to cause cancer such as leukemia, in humans. Other signs or symptoms include allergic skin reaction, difficulty breathing, declines in serum cholinesterase levels, nausea, vomiting, nosebleeds, fatigue and dizziness. Formaldehyde and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are risk factors for asthma and wheezing.  We also know children are more likely than adults to experience toxicities. The Children’s Environmental Health Centre at Mount Sinai (Toronto) has produced a fact sheet about VOCs.

Multiple Chemical Sensitivities

Processes involved in the development of sensitivities are not understood; but there is increasing agreement that some people become ‘sensitized’ to some chemicals including some VOCs. These changes in our bodies can involve the immune system and once they occur; future exposures to the particular chemicals will trigger allergic or sensitivity reactions.  It is important therefore to reduce exposures to VOCs both to prevent illness but also to reduce symptoms for those where illness has developed.

For more information on “Multiple Chemical Sensitivities”;  Oregon Public Health, the government of Australia and the government of
Massachusetts provide excellent fact sheets.

Reflection:

Wow… VOCs can cause people to feel acute symptoms like headache and can also cause cell or organ damage that might even – in time – cause cancer! That paint I stored has got to go…but what should I do with it? I’ll find out and let you know in the next post.

This second post in our series about VOCs in the home has pointed to the kinds of health effects people face as a consequence of VOC exposure. Our next post will give practical suggestions on reducing VOC exposure at home.

References

1. The Environmental Protection Agency¹ (EPA)  

From Health Services