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Wednesday, August 16, 2000 THE OAKVILLE BEAVER C ham ber m usic scores in Oakville On Saturday afternoon at Appleby College, SOCMI (Southern Ontario Chamber Music Institute) began its 12th season - its fourth con secutive year in Oakville - of comprehensive chamber music studies. Advanced students,.ages 13 to 26, arrived from Ontario and Quebec as well as Vancouver, Florida, Oregon, Spain and Venezuela to begin an intensive two-week program. This 14-day chamber music experience includes daily coach ings, rehearsals, master classes, performances by faculty and guest artists, and public student concerts. With members of the Orford Quartet, the Penderecki Quartet (in residence during the first week), the Alcan String Quartet (in residence during the second week), the Adaskin String Trio, and the St. Lawrence Quartet as coaching faculty and visiting artists, students learn to lis ten to professionals. With their selected quartets or quintets, stu dents also learn to practise and work as a group. In the end, they put it all together in a Student Showcase Concert on Saturday, Aug. 26th at 2 p.m. in Calvary Baptist Church, 1215 Lakeshore Rd. W. Tickets are $15 or $10 for students and seniors. In an attempt to reflect the self-sufficiency needed for a quartet as well as co-ordination and a diversity of sound, SOCMI strives to teach young people the ability to listen and con tribute to an entity that is "greater than the sum of the individuals themselves." But SOCMI is not all work and no play. Stu dents also enjoy the basketball courts at Apple by as well as the lounge and the lakeside paths. A variety of concerts will take place through out the two-week period in Calvary Baptist Church, unless otherwise stated, with a $20 admission price; $15 for students and seniors. The Penderecki Quartet will perform the music of Mozart, Glenn Buhr and Brahms on Wednesday, Aug. 16th at 8 p.m. The Adaskin String Trio will play compositions by Gareth Cook, Beethoven and Taneiev on Saturday, Aug. 19th at 7:30 p.m. in the John Bell Chapel of Appleby College, 540 Lakeshore Rd. W., and the Alcan String Quartet will focus on the music of Beethoven on Wednesday, Aug. 23rd at 8 p.m. Tickets are available at L'Atelier Grigorian or at the door. For more information, call 844-2076. For story and more pictures on camp partici pants, turn to page B6. Photo by Barrie Erskine Meridith McCallum from Fergus began prac tising shortly after she arrived at Appleby College for the Southern Ontario Chamber Music Institute's summer camp. Leaving Venezuela opened her eyes (Continued from page 1) She's written her share of letters, in Spanish, helping to release political prisoners o f conscience in Cuba. She is a member of its co-group, CARRAN (Caribbean, Cuba, and Haiti), acting as a bridge between political prisoners of conscience and their families. "W hen I lived in Venezuela, I was living in my own cocoon where these things didn't happen...didn't affect me ...I heard about the tortures and the abuses, but when it's not happening to you, you're not concerned." Had she not left Venezuela, Carmichael believes she would have never gotten involved with human rights issues, and feels it has become her "destiny." "I'm a great believer in destiny. Good things have happened to me since I came to Canada." O f her work, she says "I really love working with people. I feel very lucky to have met a lot of extraordinary people, and to be able to learn from them. `T h e greatest gift Canada has given me is how much I have learned from other people." She has also learned to set aside time for herself, to meditate. "As women we are nurturers, always taking care of other people, and never taking time for ourselves, for our own personal growth." She has worked with refugees and new immigrants, and sat on the origi nal race relations committee of the Halton Regional Police Service, a citi zens group formed by former chief James Harding in 1989. Smitten by improving understand ing and communications between the police and Halton's ethnic communi ties, Carmichael has maintained this interest in working with the police, and was a key organizer of the Hands Across the World multicultural cele bration tw o years ago at the St. Volodymyr Cultural Centre to mark the 25th anniversary of the region's police service. It was the first celebra tion of its kind in Canada, linking a police anniversary with a multicultural event. "I'm proud of my work with the police. I come from a part of the world where we don't trust the police, along with many other immigrants. In Hal ton, we are lucky to have a proactive service." She describes Police Chief Ean Algar as a "very special man" and "a friend." "H e's concerned about equality and diversity, and he's gone out of his way to keep the issues front and centre, bridging the police service with differ ent cultural groups. "It's too quick to say `you're in Canada now, so act as Canadians.' We have to respect and understand their cultures and beliefs, yet at the same time make them aware the policies (laws) are different in Canada." Domestic violence is a major issue, says Carmichael. Through her work, she gets involved with conflict media tion, "dealing with violence and anger. "In most cases, a person just wants somebody to listen to them, and we've become so busy living in the `rat race' that we don't take the time to listen." She got involved with the Women's Survivors Advisory Group of Halton, a support group for survivors of domes tic violence, aiming to create aware ness to reduce "partner abuse." The group plans to speak in schools and to community organizations about the "perspective of the survivor." Carmichael is the group's co-ordinator. "We also deal with sexual assault and male abuse . . . and emotional abuse. `T h e physical blows can heal but the emotional blow will never h e a l. . . and it's the emotional that is more dan gerous than the physical. We tend to bottle it up and hide it. We have to learn how to talk about it, because by talking about it can we start the healing process." The Women's Survivors Advisory Group of Halton has produced a video i about domestic violence, featuring the true stories of three women. It will be launched at RattleSnake Golf Club on O A K V IL L E H O R T IC U L TU R A L SO C IETY Sept. 28th. "We're hoping this will be a pilot project for a series of videos," said Carmichael, adding the group plans to produce videos dealing with violence against men, same sex violence, and the "effects of dom estic violence against children, who end up becoming either victims or abusers." Carmichael is also involved with training police officers, teaching them how to deal with domestic violence in the ethnic communities. "We'll never stop discrimination until we learn to respect and accept each other more, and make the world a better place to live in." Recently, she was appointed to the National Crime Prevention Centre's community mobilization program by the federal justice department, which reviews grant proposals for crime pre vention programs, with a special emphasis on youth, women and aborig inals. It's a volunteer position. Her travel back and forth to Ottawa to attend the monthly meetings is paid. Carm ichael has received three awards for her work. She received the Halton Award of Excellence for her efforts in Hands Across the World in 1998; the Silver Jubilee Award for the Halton Regional Police for her community work in 1999, and the Humanitarian Award given by the Church of Scientology earlier this year. "I was shocked to receive this award from the Friends of L. Ron Hub bard (founder o f Scientology). Last year was the first year that the church gave this award to people outside of the church." Carmichael was one of seven recip ients honoured outside of this church. She was nominated by Mervin Wit ter, the Ontario regional director o f the Canadian Human Rights Commission, and Surinder Singh Gill, a well-known human rights activist in Toronto. She was also nominated for last spring's third annual Halton Women of the Year award presented by the W omen's Centre. Suzuki music program expands The Oakville Suzuki Association will welcome a number of new music teachers this year to accommodate its growing demands. All teachers, in addition to the accredited expertise they have acquired in their instrum ents, also have the necessary Suzuki method training. This method is based on the premise that music can be learned in the same way language is acquired in early childhood - through listening, incremental successes, and positive reinforcement. Guitar lessons are being introduced this year with Joe Fazakas, who is experienced teaching students o f all ages a wide variety of styles. In addition, two new piano teachers will join the Suzuki team. Award-win ning pianist Ewa Swoboda, trained in Poland, has made recordings for CBC radio, and Louise Gravel, who is trained in Early Childhood Music and ORFF, will be teaching piano this fall. Three new violin teachers will also join the staff: Natalie Delic, Corey Walden and Deborah Howell. Fall sessions start in September. For more information or to register, call 338-7128. Information brochures are avail able at all Oakville Public Library branches. A N N U A L FLO W ER SH O W SATURDAY, AUGUST 19th at Trafalgar Village Mall on Cross Ave. The public is welcome to view the creative decorative and horticultural entries between 1 and 4 p.m. Adult competition open to OHS members only. Junior competition (ages 6 to 16) open to any child who resides in Oakville. Phone 825-4182 for details. Art grants available Oakville's community arts organizations are invited to apply for 2001 Cultur al Grants. Applications are reviewed by a peer-advisory committee selected by the Oakville Arts Council (OAC) on behalf o f the Town of Oakville. The deadline for applications is Sept. 20th. Cultural grants are avail able to duly-con stituted not-forprofit organiza tions only - indi vidual artists and for-profit enter prises are ineli gible. To receive an application or information, contact the OAC at 815-5977. IN V IT A T IO N The Office o f Natural H ealth Products at Health Canada would like to consult with interested Canadians on a proposed national regulatory fram ew ork for natural health products (e.g., vitam ins, minerals, herbal remedies and hom eopathic preparations). Two sessions are planned for the G reater T oronto R egion. A reas o f discussion will include the requirem ents for product labelling, product quality and health claims. The first consultation will be held on August 30, 2000 from 9:00 am to 12:30 pm at the Living Arts Centre 4141 Living Arts Drive, M ississauga, Ontario Staging Room The second consultation will be held on August 31,2000 from 6:00 pm to 9:30 pm at M etro Hall 55 John Street, Toronto, Ontario Room s 308 - 309 All m em bers o f the public are invited to attend either session. Pre-registration for either session is required. Please call 1-877-903-8202 to register, indicating which session you would like to attend. For inform ation on the proposed regulatory framework, or on the consultation process, or for a copy o f the consultation workbook, please visit the Office of Natural Health Products Web site: www.hc-sc.gc.ca/hpb/onhp Printed copies o f the consultation workbook are available upon request. Please call 1-877-903-8202 for your free copy. For more information, please contact your public health department. 1 + 1 H ealth C anada S ant6 C an a d a f 3 * *. . ' It would save even more lives if it responded to second-hand smoke. Second-hand tobacco smoke causes heart disease and lung cancer. Second-hand smoke is the third leading preventable cause of death. Ask a smoker to take it outside. / .. - ? r , \ b r e a t h in g I I-- s p a c e . Y -- UJ ; Canada Funding for this program has been provided in part by the Ontario Tobacco Strategy, Ministry of Health and lo ng Term (a re No endorsement by the Ministry is intended or should be inferred