Hockey linked to nearly half of brain injuries in Canada’s kids, teen athletes
Hockey accounts for almost half of all traumatic brain injuries among Canadian children and teens taking part in team sports, says a study, which also looks at how and why kids are getting hurt. The toll taken by five other sports, including soccer and baseball, is also broken out in the study – as well as what steps could be taken to help prevent such potentially devastating injuries as concussions, brain contusions and brain hemorrhages, reported CTV News and others March 29. The study looked at almost 13,000 injured children aged five to 19 between 1990 and 2009, using data from the Canadian Hospitals Injury Reporting and Prevention Program (CHIRPP), which tracks visits to emergency rooms at 11 pediatric hospitals and three general hospitals across the country. Alison Macpherson, professor of kinesiology and health sciences at York University in Toronto, said knowing where and how children are getting hurt when they play sports is important. “And I think that’s important first because we really, really want to keep kids in sports,” she said Thursday. “The take-home message is not ‘Don’t play these sports.’ The take-home message is ‘Play these sports in the safest way possible’.” Read full story.
Clever Canadian Accountant Creates Interactive Game Using Excel
Cary Walkin, a CA and video game enthusiast in Canada, found a novel way of using Excel for something other than number crunching. Walkin, who is also an MBA candidate at the Schulich School of Business in Toronto, created a basic video game using nothing but Excel sheets, reported the website Accountingweb.com March 29. The game, Arena.XIsm (Arena), is a fantasy game based on you – the hero represented by a smiley face – fighting various monsters in order to level up and survive. Equipped with basic weapons, such as a sword and bow and arrow, the player can pick up weapons and items along the way to help with each arena round. The game took over four months to complete, according to Walkin, and includes eight bosses, thirty-nine random modifiers, and thirty-six achievements. Since its release March 17, Walkin has been receiving lots of praise from Twitter members. Read full story.
Colleagues, friends express shock at death of Niagara political ‘titan’ Peter Kormos
A giant in Ontario and Niagara politics has died. Regional Councillor Peter Kormos, the former NDP MPP for Welland and a provincial cabinet minister, passed away earlier today, reported the website Niagara News Now and others March 30. He was 60. Kormos, a lawyer turned politician, was born in Welland in 1952. He attended Niagara College, York University and Osgoode Hall Law School, prior to being called to the bar in 1980. He was first elected as a NDP member of parliament in 1988, having won a byelection called to replace former MPP and long-time mentor Mel Swart. He briefly served as Minister of Consumer and Commercial Relations during the 1990-1995 government of former premier Bob Rae, until he was kicked out of cabinet having fallen out of favour with leader. Read full story.
Stratusfaction guaranteed
York alumna Trish Stratus built a career out of defying the odds and breaking new ground. So it should come as little surprise that the Canadian-born WWE legend will again be breaking new ground when she is immortalized in the WWE Hall of Fame next weekend in New York City, reported Canada News.com and others March 29. Stratus, born Patricia Anne Stratigias in Toronto in December 1975, will become the youngest person, at 37, to be inducted into the prestigious hall during WrestleMania weekend, another first for the likable legend. Read full story.