Some Good News Being Reported

 

That was how I looked last summer when it was so nice and warm out.  I think I need to report some good news to start off our summer soon.

After all, we need some good news stories published here to warm us up now after all the problems that we have seen reported recently. For our good luck, some interesting stories were published in the Windsor Star News sections recently that I thought I would report to you. Finally some good stuff being published that should make everyone feel excited again. 

HIPS, HIPS, HOORAY 

It's good to see that one of the Windsor hospitals will be getting some good publicity overseas about what it is doing in the hips area. 

The hospital has been able to achieve some good results for its patients: 

"Dr. Abdelrahman Elashaal, chief of the hospital’s orthopaedic department and vice-president of professional staff, will be leaving Sunday for the International Forum on the Quality and Safety of Health Care in Gothenburg, Sweden to give an address on the hospital’s exceptional results in treating hip fractures. 

“It is important because we want to show the work we did as an institute here,” Elashaal said. “We want to show the co-operation in different services from the LHIN to the leadership in the hospital and the CEO and the group of orthopaedic surgeons in the hospital who work as a group. We were able to achieve these good results.” 

Windsor Regional ranks first in Ontario in wait times for people who present in the emergency room to the time that surgery is performed, which is 48 hours." (Chris Thompson, Windsor Star, April 8, 2016) 
 

I find it quite exciting than one of our local hospitals is leading hospitals in Ontario on some emergency room matters. I would imagine that the local patients are pretty excited and especially overjoyed as well! 

UNIVERSITY OF WINDSOR DOES WELL TOO 

It's nice to see that this time the University of Windsor is not making a mess of things but is becoming a leader in the field. How many problems have been disclosed recently in which they have been involved? Now it is good to know that they are taking positive steps as well as in this matter to solve any that exist here: 

"University conference leaves CSI in the dust

Sarah Sacheli, Windsor Star April 8, 2016    

At the University of Windsor Friday, what looked like nothing more than teenagers making faces at a computer screen is technology that would make law enforcement agencies green with envy. 

Emotions biometric analysis was one of the technologies on display at the Trends in Forensic Sciences Conference. Paired with sensors that detect involuntary skin and muscle responses, it not only makes for a sophisticated lie detector, it makes the University of Windsor a leader in forensic sciences. 

The university played host to about 300 high school students, teachers and police officers for the third annual forensics conference. The event, put on in collaboration with Wayne State University in Detroit, is the only university conference in forensic sciences in Canada. 

Windsor and Wayne State universities are setting up a joint master’s degree in forensics. Wayne State currently offers a post-bachelor’s certificate in forensic investigations, said Peter Frade, chairman of fundamental and applied sciences at the Detroit university. If approved, the joint, international degree offered at Windsor and Wayne State would be the first master’s program in forensic sciences available in Canada. 

“There is no end to the fields of forensic sciences,” said Shashi Jasra, director of the forensic science program at the University of Windsor. It’s one of the fastest-growing programs at the university, offering 16 courses this fall. Students pursue combined degrees, pairing forensic sciences with studies in other disciplines."  

Just so that you know what the word "forensic" means, here is a definition: 

"Merriam-Webster dictionary-----Simple Definition of forensic: relating to the use of scientific knowledge or methods in solving crimes." 

It would be great if the University could set up more programs like this. It is vital if it is to survive well that it has special programs that train people about new areas of dealing with matters that impact the general public positively. Obviously, it gets a lot of students interested as well to attend this University rather than go somewhere else for a university education.  And increasing student population is vital for the University of Windsor these days. 

BOOSTING OUR DOWNTOWN 

To be honest, I'm not sure how good a program the hockey tournament that just took place is for Windsor's downtown economic growth.   

Oh sure, thousands of people came here to play hockey and to spend lots of money during the hockey conference events timetable because they are all living in our hotels and spending money in various restaurants and entertainment places downtown. I will write about it some more in another article but I wanted to let you know about how good it was for us as well: 

"As the downtown learned once again this week, it’s also good marketing for the city, and a lot more fun than begging Ottawa and Queen’s Park for grants, or chasing automotive plants that seem to move to Mexico despite our best efforts... 

But this grassroots hockey tournament obviously worked like a charm. Did it spin off $15 million worth of economic activity for the region as organizers claimed? Who knows. 

But it was very, very good for downtown Windsor. I saw it with my own eyes from my window-side perch at the corner of Ouellette and University avenues — dozens of teams in their national colours filling the sidewalks all day and night for a week: There go the Russians. Here come the Finns. And oh look, the Norwegians are visiting their favourite restaurant again. 

Downtown business owners said the city’s hospitality industry hasn’t enjoyed a week like this in many years. It almost felt like the early days of Casino Windsor, when visitors were on every sidewalk at all hours of the day and night, and the downtown felt lively and fun."  (Chris Vander Doelen, Windsor Star, April 8, 2016) 

There are a few other comments by the Columnist that do question the real value of this tournament that I will write about in another column. However, what is revealed here, even though we don't know exactly how much money was spent, has to be good for our City considering how many people participated in it. 

SENIORS EMPLOYMENT 

One has to wonder really whether it makes good sense to allow people who are over 65 years of age to continue to work and even find new jobs. It means that it is taking this work away from people who are younger and who may need cash that they would receive as a salary rather than someone who is "retired" probably. 

Nevertheless, it is exciting for a person who is older and who may have given up his/her job for some reason to find a way to get back into the employment market and to get back to enjoy his/her life and to make a few extra dollars as well. 

Here is what I mean: 

"Seniors want to keep working in 'unretirement'

Vancouver Sun, Denise Ryan, April 8, 2016 

"A few times a week, 66-year-old retiree Ditmar Rufenach spiffs himself up, dons an orange apron and lives out a little fantasy: he works at Home Depot. 

Rufenach is part of a growing number of seniors who have discovered retirement isn’t what it was cracked up to be, and decide to keep working either because they have to for financial reasons, or because they want to. 

The former BC Housing employee took early retirement at 61, and settled in to enjoy his golden years.

“I did a lot of work around the house, but then it got kind of boring,” said Rufenach. The dog was happy, but he was not. “The reason I went back to work is that I missed the regularity I’d had for my whole life. You start sleeping in, you’re having a long shower, you go online and then it’s 12 o’clock and you haven’t done anything. I had a sense of wanting to accomplish something, and that’s a hard habit to break.” 

Rufenach, an avid home handyman, applied online to Home Depot, and within two weeks he was in the orange apron, sharing his years of experience in home renovation and all-around tinkering. 

“It’s really kind of cool,” he says, in part because his bosses are several decades younger than him, and often come to him for advice. 

It isn’t the kind of salary you’d want to depend on, but that’s not what Rufenach is there for. “Meeting people, chatting, sharing information, it gives you a sense of worth.” 

It is interesting to note that the salary is not particularly "exciting" but that is not really the reason why the employee is enthusiastic about the job or the reason is given to him/her. It gives the person a great reason to continue working even though the salary is not in this while this provides to the Employer a nice way to save money!