Heard of a skinny double decaf? A cappuccino? A macchiato? But don’t know the difference between any of these coffee drinks featured in today’s cafes? Well here is a crash course.

Hot Coffee Drinks:

Espresso:

A shot of espresso is the basic to any speciality coffee drink. An espresso shot is a strong rich coffee, brewed by forcing hot water through a finely ground espresso bean roast. Decaf espresso can also be brewed. An espresso is traditionally served in a three ounce cup, hence being called a shot. This will keep you awake if you are up late cramming for an exam.

Americano:

This drink involves an espresso shot or two (called a double) and hot water. Add cream and sugar and you technically have a coffee there.

Canadiano:

Of course now a Canadiano has to be stronger than a mere Americano! Try a shot of espresso with hot coffee to get you awake in the morning!

Latte & Cappuccino:

Take a shot of espresso and add some steamed milk to that. So what is a skinny latte (also called non-fat) then? For this drink, skim milk is steamed and added to the espresso shot. Any type of milk can be used, including non-dairy such as soy or rice milk. With lattes and cappuccinos it is all about the foam that the milk produces once it is steamed. If it is light and creamy, it is considered perfect latte foam that should be spooned on top of the beverage. If the foam is thick and fluffy, you might just have a cappuccino there. A cappuccino has more foam than milk in its cup.

Caramel Macchiato (pronounced “maki-ato”) and Mocha:

Caramel macchiatos and mochas are flavoured lattes. A caramel Macchiato has a shot of caramel and vanilla syrup poured into the milk before or after it is steamed. In some cafes, or in Italy, if you order a macchiato, it means that a small amount of steamed milk will be added to an espresso shot therefore making it a smaller version of a latte. Mocha on the other hand is steamed milk with chocolate syrup added to an espresso shot.

1. Breakfast: Full Circle Cafe in Nelson

Start your day with a hearty breakfast of classics such as Eggs Benedict served on English muffins or French toast coated in cornflakes, graham crackers and toasted pecans served with a sweet fruit compote. Feeling adventurous? Try their grilled grapefruit. The Full Circle Cafe supports local farmers and businesses by buying local eggs, bread and meat. Breakfast prices range from $4 – $13.

2. Window Shopping: Baker Street, Nelson

After breakfast, take a stroll along the quaint downtown core streets of Nelson in the early morning light. Notice some of the years on the buildings? Most of these heritage buildings are around a century old. Take a peek into their windows. There is something for everyone here from locally-made crafts (Kootenay Craft Connection) to clothing (Bia Boro) and check out Still Eagle, the store with two prices on every item. If you come out in the afternoon, buskers emerge on each side of Baker Street playing a variety of diverse music such as folk and reggae on their guitars.

3. “Streetcar 23” Rides: Lakeside Park, Nelson

This is a must-ride. You cannot leave the Kootenays without riding this charming trolley from Lakeside Park down to the Prestige Hotel. A 10 to 15-minute ride, this heritage trolley is over a century old and costs around $3 for an adult and less for children and seniors.

4. Scenic Bicycle Route: Ymir to Nelson

In good shape? If not, you might hurt a few days after trying this little excursion. Try cycling from fascinating Ymir to Nelson along the old train trestle tracks. Do not go alone however, in case you get lost or run into some unfriendly wild animals. This scenic route in pristine backcountry could take up to four hours one way to complete, but the views from above Nelson make it totally worth the ride.

5. Lunch: Frog Peak Cafe in Crescent Valley

Halfway between Nelson and Castlegar, in the tiny community of Crescent Valley, is a hidden secret jewel of a cafe that serves mouth-watering grilled Paninis filled with your choice of items like chicken teriyaki or brie cheese. Their house salads are a work of art with grated beet, carrots, and sunflower seeds combined with healthy greens. Try the Green Goddess dressing, a creamy green garlicky dressing, with one of their salads. After devouring your meal, enjoy a cappuccino or a light beer such as Stella Artois or Okanagan cider to wash down your meal. Prices range from $6 – $14 for lunch.

6. Museum: Le Roi Mine in Rossland

A little bit out of your way? You will forget that as soon as you step into the opening of the historic Rossland gold mine. Mined a century ago, this tour is fascinating if you love history and geology. The museum has interesting displays on life in early 19^th century Rossland and tidbits on the mine’s operation. Dress warmly for the tour, since it becomes very chilly underground. Call ahead to check when tours are available.

7. Picnicking Spots: Lakeside Park in Nelson, Pass Creek Park in Pass Creek and Zuckerburg Island in Castlegar

Spend the afternoon lounging around one of these parks with a hamper full of food, a Frisbee and a towel to tan on or to use after a refreshing swim. Both Lakeside Park and Pass Creek Park have concession stands, and Pass Creek Park and Zuckerburg Island have beautiful short hiking trails. Zuckerburg Island also has a suspension bridge and don’t forget to check out the heritage home of Alexander Zuckerburg on the island, open weekdays through the summer. All three are dog and children friendly.

8. Local Youth Music: Corazon Vocal Ensemble in Nelson, and Vision of Peace Youth Choir in Castlegar.

Come support your fellow Selkirk students who sing in these local youth choirs. Corazon features world repertoire music in several languages with piano and string accompaniment. Most of their concerts are held in Nelson and area. Vision of Peace is a traditional Russian-based choir that focuses on preserving Doukhobor culture in the Kootenay area through their beautiful music. Songs are mostly sung in Russian. Check local media for upcoming performance schedules.

9. Live Music: the Old Castle Theatre in Castlegar

Check out local bands and musicians featured weekly at the quaint Castle Theatre in downtown Castlegar. Or bring some friends down for the open mic and jam session on Thursday nights. The Castle Theatre also features an eclectic vintage cafe offering a full coffee bar and creative light lunches such as butter chicken pizza and miniature apple pies. Café open 9am to 6pm, later on jam nights.

10. Theatre: Charles Bailey in Trail and Capitol Theatre in Nelson

These two theatres host weekly local and international bands, plays, ballets, orchestras, operas and concerts that appeal to all ages. Prices range from $8 and up, per ticket. Previous events have included plays such as Grease, choirs such as Corazon and Shenango, bands such as Hedley and Marianna’s Trench, jazz concerts, Canadian ballet companies…the list is endless! So if you are looking for a great performance, head over to Nelson or Trail and sit down for an evening of fun.

]]> http://selkirksentinel.ca/?feed=rss2&p=105 http://selkirksentinel.ca/?p=100 http://selkirksentinel.ca/?p=100#comments Wed, 31 Mar 2010 20:07:34 +0000 Chelsea Sweeney http://selkirksentinel.ca/?p=100 On February 25, Selkirk College hosted Kootenay Business Magazine’s annual Career and Job Fair in the Pit at Selkirk’s Castlegar campus. Smaller than the fair held at Selkirk College in 2009, the fair this year consisted of several tables promoting possible careers and jobs for students with organizations such as the Koocanusa Publications and the Certified General Accountants of Canada.

The Kootenay Career Development Society hosted a table at the fair and gave out information to students about how to update resumes and find jobs locally. The remainder of booths in the Pit promoted further education either at Selkirk College or the University of Lethbridge, with Selkirk hosting several tables promoting programs like Hospitality and Tourism, while the representatives from the University of Lethbridge happily invited students to their table to inform them about the programs and courses offered at their university.

A big hit at the fair was that each table offered something free to students, whether it was a pen, a note pad, or a cookie. Mountain FM was also in attendance and invited students to enter their names into a contest.

Overall, in comparison to the 2009 event, the Career and Job Fair this year did not offer many summer employment opportunities for returning or university transfer students. Most of the job opportunities displayed at the fair were for students who have finished their current programs at Selkirk College and are looking for full-time work in their area of training and expertise.

Maybe we do not consider it, but we as students do contribute a lot of waste during meal times. How many times a day do we go to the cafeteria and purchase a hot beverage and later toss the paper cup into the garbage? Why do we always end up buying snacks in packaging that we have to throw away because it is not recyclable? Selkirk College has been great at providing recycling bins in every accessible location for us, so we should continue to make use of these needed necessities for conserving our resources and respecting our planet.

Here are a few of my own personal ideas on how to reduce waste even more as a college student when it comes to eating meals and snacks here, by going back to the ideas of reduce, reuse and recycle.

Use a travel mug for your hot beverages. This will save a lot of paper cups from getting thrown away. The cafeteria sells its own travel mugs and gives a discount for those who use them. You could also reuse your paper cup more than once instead of directly throwing it away. And buy bottled drinks that can be recycled or reused again.

When eating at the cafeteria, order food to stay, rather than to go, because eating on real plates cuts down throwing away take-out containers. However, if properly washed out, the plastic salad containers can be used again and eventually recycled. I have definitely collected a few salad containers at my own home! Or try bringing your own containers for soup and salad in the cafeteria.

Consider using the metal cutlery provided in the cafeteria instead of the plastic ones. It may not seem like much, but little choices like this can make a difference on a large scale. If you absolutely must use plastic cutlery, think about bringing it home and reusing it again, instead of adding it to our landfills.

Food items that come pre-packaged such as chips, granola bars, yogurt, and sandwiches bought from the cafeteria or brought from home, can also contribute to more garbage once you throw the wrappings away. Consider substituting these packages by putting bulk granola, yogurt, chips, and sandwiches into reusable containers, or by bringing unwrapped fruit instead.

By doing these things and thinking about our impact on the planet, we can change our bad habits and become more conscious of the world we live in.

On November 19, a memorial for Selkirk College student Will Thacker was held at the Castlegar campus Residence.

Approximately 40 students and instructors gathered together in Kekuli house’s common room at 1pm on November 19 to share memories and to celebrate his life.

Born on January 20, 1984 in Misson, BC, Will died in a tragic accident in Whitecourt, Alberta on May 27, 2009. He was well known at Kekuli House residence where he lived prior to his unexpected passing.

The small ceremony included a moving letter from Will’s parents read aloud by Selkirk College instructor Rob McRae, followed by bagpipe music played while the mourners reflected on memories of Will during his time at Selkirk College.

In honour of Will’s memory, a river stone containing a plaque with his name engraved was placed in a selected garden outside the residence, in front of a rose bush planted in Will’s memory.

A booklet was passed around where students and instructors could sign their names and recount their memories of Will. Students at Kekuli House remembered Will for things such as his wonderful cooking, and thus eagerly shared their memories with his fellow residents, while instructors’ recalled an enthusiastic student in the Recreation, Fish and Wildlife program.

Pat Rodrick, manager of Kekuli House, was kind enough to provide refreshments and snacks for everyone who gathered that day, taking time from their classes and busy school schedules.

A Facebook group, RIP-Will Thacker, was created by Johnson Fung with photos and messages of Will’s life. Anybody can post memories or view this site on Facebook.com

]]> http://selkirksentinel.ca/?feed=rss2&p=89 http://selkirksentinel.ca/?p=84 http://selkirksentinel.ca/?p=84#comments Sat, 21 Nov 2009 04:04:41 +0000 Chelsea Sweeney http://selkirksentinel.ca/?p=84 This past October, Bailey Williamson from Renaissance Hair Company in Nelson, held two successful, affordable, haircutting days at Kekuli House, the Selkirk College Castlegar residence. Students were offered trims, stylish bangs, and bouncy bobs for reasonable prices.

Bailey is a recent graduate of the Selkirk College hairdressing program in Nelson, and as such, understands that students cannot afford expensive hair cuts with their tight budgets. For this reason, Bailey has made herself available to Castlegar campus residents to give students a bit of a break this semester.

Bailey will be holding another student hair cutting day at Kekuli House sometime during the upcoming month, so keep an eye out for posters! Advance sign-up is necessary, and can be done via the posters at Kekuli House.

Hair cuts at Kekuli cost $20 per female hair cut and $15 per male hair cut.

Students interested in hair colouring can make appointments with Bailey at the Renaissance salon in Nelson. Students will receive a 20% discount on hair colouring. Hair colouring appointments can be made with Bailey via her Facebook page “Bailey’s Savoir-Faire” or by contacting her at Renaissance in Nelson at 250-352-1955.

Some of the feedback and comments that students made to BC Transit were that the Castlegar area needs a weekend bus and the Castlegar-Nelson connector needs an evening bus back to Castlegar. Time was another factor that frustrated students. Busses leaving the Selkirk Castlegar campus take roughly 45-50 minutes to reach downtown Castlegar. Students requested at least one additional bus to service the Castlegar campus to uptown Castlegar route, as well as another bus dedicated to servicing the Castlegar downtown core.

On a financial note, some students burdened with the responsibility of paying off loans, school fees, rent and other costly daily expenses, believe that bus fare should be free or at least further subsidized for students.

BC Transit collected surveys from Selkirk students several years ago, however improvements to the transit system since then have been slow. During the summer of 2009, new bus shelters were erected around Castlegar, at Selkirk campuses and other areas of the West Kootenays, however a limited budget from the Ministry of Transportation, has resulted in little else for the Kootenay area.

Check out www.bctransit.com/kootenays for more information on proposed improvements to West Kootenay regional transit, or to fill out a transit survey.

The current Swine Flu Pandemic appears to be being used as a new tactic to scare people into being vaccinated. Vaccinations are a touchy subject. Some people really believe in them, others have their doubts, myself included.

So for those of you planning on getting vaccinated this fall, do your research! Make sure you are making the best decision for yourself. Some of the information I have discovered about the Swine Flu vaccination currently being developed, shows that it is clearly unsafe and unreliable.

Since the World Health Organization (WHO) announced this summer that H1N1 was a level 6 pandemic, the use of untested vaccines and drugs will be permitted in Canada. By the time the vaccine comes out this fall, not enough testing and human trial runs will have been conducted, since human trials only began in mid-August.

More alarmingly, some of the ingredients being used in the H1N1 vaccines are disturbing and incredibly harmful to the human body. They include chicken embryos and/or chicken tissue culture, influenza virus (live, attenuated), ASO3 (containing squalene which is linked to autoimmune diseases such as Gulf War Syndrome), polysorbate 80, a harmful preservative), and thiomersal (mercury, which is already an ingredient in the commonly used seasonal influenza vaccine).

So be safe, do not get sick during this flu season, take precautionary measures for H1N1 and have a great semester! Check out these sites for more information.

General information about Swine Flu and Vaccinations:
http://vran.org/about-vaccines/specific-vaccines/influenza-vaccine-flu-shot/h1n1-pandemic-influenza-vaccine/ (Vaccine Risk Awareness Network, a Canadian site)

http://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2009/08/14/swine-flu-vaccine.html (A CBC article)

http://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2009/08/06/swine-flu-vaccine.html (A CBC article)

Symptoms of H1N1
http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Pandemic-flu/Pages/Symptoms.aspx (A British and Irish national health site)

Pandemics
http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2008/pandemic-0411.html (Massachusetts Institute of Technology article)

The Swine Flu (H1N1) pandemic that originated in Mexico in April 2009, has been mass-propagandized to be seen as a deadly virus.

In fact, given current statistics and data available, most researchers are declaring it no more deadly than the seasonal influenza virus that infects Canadians nearly every year.

Because the Swine Flu has identical symptoms to the seasonal flu, such as sore throat, runny nose, fever, and achy muscles, it may be hard to initially diagnose.

One key step towards preventing illness is to stay healthy. Frequently wash hands, cough and sneeze into shirt sleeves, rather than hands, and do not come to school if you are feeling unwell. Having a healthy diet rich in fruits and vegetables, and taking vitamins such as vitamin C and vitamin D everyday have been known to be beneficial in the prevention and treatment of illness by boosting the immune system.

A healthy diet along with considerable rest and exercise should keep people healthy during the current flu season, so try to cut down on the all-night cramming and get some rest!