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Wednesdsay June 7, 2000 THE OAKVILLE BEAVER A3 Sheridan high-tech centre receives additional $7.2-m from Province B y S c o tt M a c A rth u r SPECIAL TO THE BEAVER Photo by Barrie Erskine Golden Horseshoe Marathoners (1 to r) Charlie Cetinski., Cheryl Fitzgerald, Bruce Petrie,Rich VanderWal, David Harrison and Chuck Mealing are raising funds and awareness of the Rehabilitation Resource Centre at the Hamilton Health Sciences Corporation. They were in town yesterday as part of their Queen's Park to Wheelchair marathoners carry message of hope for paraplegics B y H o w a rd M ozel OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF Despite the arduous task ahead of them, the athletes participating in this year's Golden Horseshoe Marathon had nothing but smiles for well-wish ers at Town Hall, Tuesday morning. The six paraplegics were part way through their 210 km odyssey from Queen's Park to Niagara Falls - and had Hamilton Mountain to scale later that day - but each was in a buoyant mood. "Everyone's in high spirits now and ready to go," said Waterdown's Charlie Cetinski, 57, a former Oakville resident who was injured in a 1997 plane crash in Flamborough. "The reception everywhere has been great." The Golden Horseshoe Marathon is Cetinski's brainchild, a co-operative effort to raise both awareness and funds for the Rehabilitation Resource Centre, which was opened by the Hamilton Health Sciences " Corporation (HHSC) in November 1997. The Centre is open to people in all stages of rehabilitation, their families and caregivers, plus anyone with an interest in learning about physical dis ability. Counselors, access to support groups and printed material as well as freer support. Last year's marathon - a nine-day, round trip between Hamilton and Niagara Falls - raised $50,000 and this time the athletes hope to reach the $250,000 mark to help make the cen tre a truly world-class facility. "The day Charlie told me about this I said, `absolutely,'" explained team member Rich VanderWal, 28, who was injured in a 1992 motorcycle acci dent. "Everyone takes this so personal ly and passionately." From Niagara Falls, VanderWal, who took part last year, exemplifies all the athletes' dedication: he trained relentlessly for the marathon while studying for exams at Brock University. "These are just the hardest-working people," said Cetinski, who explained that team members sustained injuries even in training, but persevered. Burlington is well-represented on the team by three athletes. They include team captain David Harrison, 32, Cheryl Fitzgerald, 37, and Bruce Petrie, 34. Rounding out the group is Chuck Mealing, 36, of Niagara Falls. "Bless you for heightening our awareness," said mayor Ann Mulvale. Donations can be made to the Golden Horseshoe Marathon, PO Box 699 Waterdown, Ontario, LOR 2HO. Call 905-318-3892 or e-mail ghm@canada.com. The marathon began Monday at Queen's Park where 15 politicians accompanied the athletes in wheel chairs, three of them for five kilome ters. Contrary to what many think, said Cetinski, this week's cool weather is perfect for the athletes. "Forty-two kilometers a day is an awesome distance no matter how you do it," he said. "This way is four times the effort to walk or jog." To maintain this kind of pace, Cetinski explained that breakfast goes heavy on the carbohydrates and sugars while dinner "is when we reload our batteries." Most important, however, is the teamwork between athletes that manifests itself in everything from moral support to repairs on one anoth er's wheelchairs. "This demonstrates that people are the best resource," said team ambas sador LeeAnn Cayer, 22, of St. Catharines, who in 1996 fell 44 feet from a balcony. "We do it because of the feeling of being a part of some thing so great." Cayer, who completed the marathon last year, is one of three ambassadors who linger at venues such as Town Hall to explain the Resource Centre and the event's goals. Her colleagues include David Helsby, 31, of Stoney Creek, who was injured in a 1991 car accident, and Dennis Hernandez, 22, of Fort Erie, who was injured in a 1997 car accident The marathon ends in Niagara Falls on June 9th. Even before the new Sheridan Centre for Animation and Emerging Technologies (SCAET) opens this fall, plans are underway to expand the facil ity. On Monday morning, Dianne Cunningham, M inister of Training, Colleges and Universities, announced Sheridan College would receive an additional $7.2 million from SuperBuild to create 400 new spaces for post-secondary students. Sheridan will use the money to expand capacity at the SCAET facility, due to the popular demand of multime dia courses. "I believe that this funding enhances Oakville and Sheridan as one of the leading places in the world for digital technology," said Sheridan president Sheldon Levy. The college will begin to expand SCAET this September, but the imple mentation of all 400 spaces will not be completed until the start of the 20032004 school year. "We are going to start our expansion right away," said Levy. "It will be grad ual and take place over the course of the next few years." New student facilities at Sheridan will include 15 new classrooms and 33 new laboratories. The total cost of the expansion will be $31.2 million, with the remaining $24 million coming in the form of $12 million from private contributions and $12 million from the college. Cunningham feels funding projects such as the SCAET expansion will enable Ontario post-secondary institu tions to be ready for the double-gradu ating year of 2002-2003. "We are expecting 88,000 new post secondary students in 2003," she said. "Many people have been wondering just how we're going to deal with such a large number of students and this is one of the initiatives we have put into place." The Ontario Government has com mitted $1 billion for SuperBuild to cre ate a total of 73,000 new student spaces in colleges and universities across the province. Along with the province's $1 billion investment, an additional $800 million will come from the private sector. `T his truly is a partnership combin ing the funds of the government, the private sector, and the school itself," said Cunningham. "The private sector has always been very active in its sup port of universities and with their money going into the project, there is a sense of ownership that they can take pride in." Oakville M PP Gary Carr was excit ed about the announcement and the prospects it creates for the town. "With more graduates coming out of Sheridan there will be more jobs creat ed and the economy will continue on the up-swing," he said. "This funding means more money for great students and I think it's wonderful for the col lege and the future o f the town of Oakville." McMaster University honours alumnus Oakville resident Howard Minich was inducted into the McMaster Alumni Gallery on Saturday. Established in 1982 by McMaster University's Alumni Association, the honour formally recognizes the achieve ments of graduates. The Alumni Gallery is a connection of almost 300 graduates who have lived interesting lives since graduation there and exemplify how the University's alumni positively affect and contribute to all aspects of society. Minich graduated from McMaster with a B.Sc. in psychology in 1972 and an MBA in 1974. After graduation, he joined Otis Canada Inc., and served in a variety of positions in Ontario, including sales manager, distribution manager and service manager. In 1993, Minich was appointed pres ident and CEO and regional vice-presi dent, North America. He also serves as a director of the board for Otis. He is member of the Canadian Construction Association, president of the National Elevator and Escalator Association of Canada, and a member of the board o f directors of Technical Standards and safety Authority (TSSA). He also finds time to devote to his alma mater as a member of the McMaster University's governing body. Minich has also been actively involved in the Oakville Mines' Hockey League, and as a volunteer basketball coach. THREE DAYS OF THRILLS GYMNASTIC CHALLENGE 2 0 0 0 June 15 - 17, 2000 Hershey Centre Mississauga, Canada Outdoor program for youths Bronte Creek Provincial Park is holding a Youth O u t d o o r Leadership Program for chil dren from 11-15 years-of-age this summer. This program gives youths an opportunity to learn leadership skills required for any job. Participants will be given a certifi cate indicating their successful completion of the course, and an opportunity to volunteer at spe cial event week ends in the park. The program is free and runs every Wednesday evening from 7 to 9 p.m. Participants may sign up for either July or August and must be provincial park pass holders. For more information about the Program, call 905-827-6911 ext. 231. B u yin g a BM W is s m a rt. B u yin g one fro m B u d d s ' B M W on J u n e 8th , 9th , o r 10th b o rd e rs on s h e e r g e n iu s. Canada's firs t International m en's/wom en's com bination team gym nastic com petition welcomes: A ustralia, Brazil, China, Canada, France, Lithuania, Russia, Ukraine and the United States. See Olympic and W orld Champions Svetlana Boguinskaia, Lilia Podkopayeva, Shannon Miller and Vitaly Scherbo. 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